OZ Family Cigars
Source: ozfamilycigars.com

Cigar maker

OZ Family Cigars

4 brands

Overview

About OZ Family Cigars

The OZ Family story begins not with a cigar, but with a meerschaum pipe. Cano Aret Ozgener, a first-generation Armenian Turk, immigrated to America in 1961 to attend Columbia University on a scholarship, where he met his future wife Esen Sever. They married and settled in Nashville, Tennessee, where Cano — a natural tinkerer — began modifying meerschaum pipes from his home basement and stamping them with his initials: C.A.O. Humidors and cigars followed, and the Ozgeners launched CAO cigars in 1995 — a brand that became a hit with striking, non-traditional packaging and blends that reached more than 40 states and 60 countries. By the time the family sold CAO in 2007, Tim Ozgener had grown the company's revenues from $5 million to $25 million as its president. After the sale, the family channeled that same creative energy into a different kind of art — converting the former CAO headquarters in Nashville into OZ Arts, a contemporary performance and installation space.

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, Tim reflected on his family's heritage and their place in the cigar industry — and felt inspired to return. In 2022, he launched OZ Family Cigars, with his first lines crafted in homage to the family's Turkish heritage — and the Bosphorus line immediately achieved the highest vertical rating in the Ozgener family's long history in the industry. The brand won the 2022 New Company of the Year award from Halfwheel in its debut year, a remarkable achievement for a boutique operation built from scratch. Today, OZ Family's tightly curated portfolio — the pepper-forward box-pressed Bosphorus, the San Andrés Maduro Aramas, the Connecticut Shade Firsat, and the Sumatra-wrapped Karatoba — reads like a blender's personal journal: each line a distinct statement, each blend a deliberate expression of Tim Ozgener's 40-plus years of accumulated tobacco knowledge and his family's unmistakable Nashville-meets-Istanbul story.

Company Brands

OZ Family Cigars Brands

OZ Family Aramas

OZ Family Aramas

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Aramas pairs a San Andrés wrapper with an Ecuador Sumatra binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and U.S. Connecticut Broadleaf fillers. Launched in 2023 and offered in four rounded vitolas, it sits in the medium–full strength lane and is routinely mocha‑forward, with roasted nuts, baker’s spice and a persistent black‑pepper edge. Independent reviews highlight its even burn, steady draw and firm ash—traits tied to production at Tabacalera La Alianza/Casa Carrillo.

  • Made in Dominican Republic
  • Medium-Full
  • Mexican San Andrés
  • Roasted nuts, dark chocolate/mocha, black pepper, powdered sugar, oak
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OZ Family Bosphorus

OZ Family Bosphorus

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OZ Family Bosphorus debuted in 2022 as Tim Ozgener’s flagship, built around an Ecuadorian Habano (Habana 2000) wrapper with dual binders and Nicaraguan fillers. The box‑pressed line lives in the medium‑full lane, opening on black pepper and toasted oak before moving toward cocoa, coffee, cedar and a toffee finish. Bosphorus has collected strong scores from Cigar Aficionado and even includes a limited Laguito No. 6 with a closed foot and pigtail cap.

  • Made in United States
  • Medium‑Full
  • Ecuador (Habano / Habana 2000 seed)
  • Black pepper, toasted oak, cocoa, coffee, cedar, leather, nutmeg, toffee
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OZ Family Firsat

OZ Family Firsat

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Firsat is OZ Family’s Connecticut‑shade expression, launched in 2024 with a higher‑priming Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, an Ecuadorian Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers. Produced at Casa Carrillo in the Dominican Republic, the soft box‑pressed series sits mild–medium and leans to cedar and cream with light baking spices over an earthy base. The line is offered in four sizes and ships in 20‑count boxes.

  • Made in Dominican Republic
  • Mild–Medium
  • Ecuadorian Connecticut
  • Cedar, cream, toasted bread, light baking spices (cinnamon, ginger, clove), mild black pepper, earth
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OZ Family Karatoba

OZ Family Karatoba

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Karatoba, introduced in 2025, is a Sumatra‑wrapped, medium‑to‑full release built on a Nicaraguan binder with Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. It opens on savory spices that develop into coffee, toasted‑nut notes and a restrained brown‑sugar sweetness. The line ships in four sizes in 21‑count boxes; early coverage places production at NACSA in Nicaragua and positions Karatoba as the brand’s strongest regular production release to date.

  • Made in Nicaragua
  • Medium-Full
  • Ecuadorian Sumatra
  • Savory spices, coffee, toasted nuts, earth, leather, brown sugar
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