通用雪茄在2021年推出了CAO至宝（Arcana）系列，这是一款新产品线，每年生产和发布一次，重点是向雪茄爱好者们推荐不同寻常的烟草。今年推出的这一款“雷声”（Thunder）是通用雪茄公司历史上第一次采用全非洲种植的烟叶作为茄芯。这款产品预计9月中旬向全美国的零售商发货。

Thunder这个名字源自津巴布韦的维多利亚瀑布，茄芯烟叶中的一部分就种植在瀑布附近。这个瀑布在当地语言被称为Mosi-Oa-Tunya，意思是The smoke that thunders，雷鸣般的烟雾，是世界上最大的瀑布之一。这款雪茄的其他茄芯烟叶是南非烟叶和喀麦隆烟叶。在雪茄行业，喀麦隆烟叶常用于茄衣或者茄套，很少用于茄芯。

这款雪茄的茄衣是洪都拉斯的奥兰乔地区的圣奥古斯汀烟叶，茄套是墨西哥的圣安德烈斯烟叶。公司介绍这款产品是中等强度。

雪茄是在多米尼加共和国的通用多米尼加雪茄厂卷制的，只有一个尺寸，52环径，6.5英寸。每盒20支装，每支售价12.99美元。大概生产多少盒，还不得而知。

2021年和2023年，通用雪茄发行了至宝系列尘世牵挂（Mortal Coil），2022年发行了至宝系列火行者（Firewalker），雷声是至宝系列的第三款产品。

General Cigar Co. is adding a new cigar as part of its CAO Arcana series called Thunder Smoke, and its filler tobacco is all from Africa. 

Introduced in 2021, the Arcana series is an annual release that highlights unusual tobaccos. Thunder Smoke marks a first for the company as no cigar in General’s portfolio has ever been blended with all-African filler. The cigars are expected to ship by mid-September.

Thunder Smoke is named after Victoria Falls, a waterfall in Zimbabwe, close to where some of the filler was grown. Known locally as “Mosi-Oa-Tunya,” it translates to “The smoke that thunders” in Lozi (a Bantu language), and is one of the largest waterfalls in the world. The other African fillers come from South Africa and Cameroon. While the latter is not unusual in the cigar world, it is more commonly used as a wrapper or binder rather than filler. 

The rest of the five-country blend includes a Honduran Olancho San Augustin wrapper and a Mexican San Andrés binder. According to the company, CAO Arcana Thunder Smoke is medium-bodied.

Made in the Dominican Republic at the General Cigar Dominicana factory, Thunder Smoke is available in only one size, a toro that measures 6 1/2 inches by 52 ring gauge with a suggested retail price of $12.99 each. The cigars come in 20-count boxes and are limited in production, though exact numbers have not been disclosed.

Thunder Smoke is the third cigar in the Arcana series, with Mortal Coil released in 2021 and 2023, and Firewalker in 2022.