Wrapper: Dominican Criollo
Binder: Peruvian Corojo
Filler: Dominican -San Vicente, Piloto
Size: 5.25 x 54 “Toro”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $18.00

This cigar review is my first for a Davidoff cigar. Davidoff is a rich man’s cigar line. They are very expensive and carry a lot of cache’ with them while smoking one at your men only club in Beverly Hills.

I think it is more important to display the reason for this award than it is to regurgitate a bio of Davidoff Cigars.

Davidoff even has their own web site just for this special event and this is what I found there:
“The Second Annual Davidoff Golden Band Award Show will honor those Appointed Merchants that truly embody the Davidoff standard of excellence. Building on the enormously successful inaugural event, the second annual awards show will be part of an exclusive Davidoff event on July 15th at IPCPR in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Golden Band Awards materialized from the brand’s success, rooted in decades of long-standing partnerships with trusted merchants. Davidoff has a long history of working with its family of retailers to help them expand their businesses, discuss best practices and grow the Davidoff brand, hand in hand. The awards are an opportunity to officially recognize these retailers for their commitment and passion for Davidoff.”

“The awards ceremony was held in the Orange Ballroom of the Hilton Orlando on Saturday, August 4th – a black tie event that brought some of the most prominent cigar retailers together for a night of excellent food, wine, music, dancing and of course, Davidoff cigars. After the awards were presented and dinner was finished, a special cigar was brought out for the attendees to cap off the evening with: the Davidoff Golden Band Awards 2012 cigar. Blended by Henke Kelner, the cigar was created for the awards event and uses the Davidoff Yamasa wrapper that Kelner developed, on top of a Dominican binder and filler.”

There is another award called the Zino Davidoff Legacy Award that goes to:
“…an individual in our industry, from amongst out Appointed Merchants, who has stood out over the years as a true champion of what premium cigars and premium cigar retailing is all about.”
And this year’s winner was:
David Berkebile, Georgetown Tobacco

Also from their web site:
“The San Vicente and Piloto fillers are combined from four different cultivation areas in the Dominican Republic. Before processing, the tobacco was aged for more than five years gaining their characteristic and balanced flavor. A Peruvian Corojo binder and a Dominican Criollo wrapper award the cigar with a balanced stimulation. The new “White Edition” 2011 inspires with spicy, slightly sweet notes and a long lasting aftertaste, rewarding the aficionado with an exceptional smoke indulgence. The Davidoff “White Edition” 2011 is only available in a limited quantity of 8,000 individually numbered boxes worldwide. Approximately 3,000 boxes will be available in the US in September at all Davidoff Appointed Merchants.”

OK. So by now you have figured out that this was the Academy Awards for the Davidoff Cigar Company. These cigars that I am about to review were given out to the patrons of the event.
My buddy, Paul Stulac, got a few and sent me one. Many thanks Paul. You are a true mensch. I consider myself to be a lucky man to have such a good friend.

The Criollo wrapper is a darker brown than most Davidoffs. It is a tawny brown. Construction is very good. The cigar is jam packed with tobacco. There is no shortage of big and small veins. The cap is so impeccable it is impossible to tell it has a triple cap. There is a very nice oily sheen. And the wrapper feels sandy to the touch; thereby meaning it has a bit of tooth.

I find it odd that cigar is called a Toro with its length barely 5.25” long. I checked around and some others said their cigar was 5.5” long.

The white and gold double cigar bands are simple and elegant. On both sides of the main band which only says, “Davidoff,” it says “Geneva” on one side and “Genève on the other.

I clip the cap and find aromas of tobacco and toast. There is just a modicum of spice. The tobacco aroma is very fresh and intoxicating. But other than that, no other aromas.
Time to light up.

Wow. The flavors hit you like a hammer. The body immediately becomes a classic medium/full. There is a nice spicy element. Smoke just pours from the foot and the draw is spot on. So far, this is a very unusual and unique cigar.
Half an inch in, some sweetness appears.

I should have mentioned earlier that you can buy these cigars. I saw Corona Cigars is selling them online. Other than that, I saw no one else. And you can only buy them by the singles.

I also expect this cigar to knock my socks off. They were made for important people and they are expensive and one of a kind. And I am pretty sure these were aged properly before being distributed to the crowd at the dinner.

The sweetness turns to a buttery caramel. The body is still at medium/full. The char line is close to being dead nuts.
I was expecting a mild cigar. Clearly, Davidoff tapped into the needs and wants of today’s smokers who prefer the medium/full to full bodied sticks. Kudos. I have never understood why one would pay $28 for a mild bodied cigar.
The ash is fragile and delicate and disembarks at this point.

At halfway through the first third, the flavor profile is muted. It is an excellent tasting cigar and a nice change from the Nic puros I’ve been smoking. No cocoa, coffee, etc.

It has a grown up approach. It is beguiling me with its incredible tobacco. I can taste the caramel sweetness and a bit of spice but most is plain well blended tobacco. Maybe this is what Davidoff prides itself in. No focus on being flavor bombs; but rather, the emphasis is on quality of the tobacco in bringing the smoker a true experience of what farming and blending can do in the right hands. It’s all a lovely idea but I still cannot afford them.

The second third begins. And some creaminess enters the arena. The red pepper makes resurgence and becomes stronger. The strength of the cigar remains at medium/full; getting closer by the moment to a full bodied cigar.

It is here in the second third that the cigar seems to settle into its objective. A bit of leather shows up. And that toastiness that was once an aroma becomes a flavor.

Unique. I am always surprised when I never see CA give this line any ratings. Did Davidoff offend them? Did they not want to pony up? It makes no sense. But yet Davidoff typically takes full page ads in both cigar catalogs and in men’s magazines. Davidoff loves The Robb Report. But I don’t recollect if they advertise in CA. They must. Animosity is always put aside when it comes to money.

While I am thoroughly enjoying this cigar, it is not a complex stick. A new flavor arrives. It is unusual and stumps me at first. I read a couple reviews of Davidoff cigars and they refer to the “Davidoff twang.” I did my research, including Cigar Aficionado, and apparently, no one can agree on what the word infers. There is a Cuban twang, etc. It is a common term that no one uses the same way twice.

It is completely foreign to me. It is a combination of sour, sweet, spice, zesty, and something so unique, I cannot explain it properly. The “Twang.”

I am at the halfway mark and remove the secondary band. It comes off easily. The char line gets a hint of waviness for the first time.

The sweet caramel and the creaminess lead the pack. The red pepper lays back a bit. That toastiness aids in that buttery component. So what we have is not a flavor bomb. But rather, a very sophisticated smoke. The price is ridiculous but you can see where the money went. Davidoff takes cigar making very seriously. And clearly, the taste of the tobacco is the most important factor here. Not the foo foo gingerbread stuff.

I begin the last third and it is pretty much the same as the halfway point. I wouldn’t call it a one trick pony because of the sophistication of the tobacco profile, but it is not a cigar with many variations of taste. It is about character, nuance, and finesse. Without many flavors, it is still a marvelous cigar.

If I was bucks up, I would love to try more Davidoff blends. But my wife has a heart attack when I spend $10 on a cigar at my local B & M. Try explaining that I just spent $100 on 4 cigars. RIP Charlotte, my dear.

The body has pulled away from the precipice of being full bodied. It is more medium now. How odd. A bit of nicotine shows up but is manageable. The char line corrects itself quickly.

The cigar finishes out as just a delight to smoke. The body lurches forward once more to medium/full and that’s how it ends. The flavors are much more intense at the end.

This was a great cigar experience for me. As I either get my cigars from Atlantic Cigars, Cbid, Cigar Monster, or Cuenca Cigars. All on the cheap.
I want to thank Paul Stulac for sending me the sample. Made my day.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS