Cigar Review: Davidoff Royal Robusto

Vitola: Robusto
Size: 5.50″ x 55 Ring Gauge
Price $34.00
Obtained From Maxamar’s Cigars as a review sample

Background

As you may or may not be aware my regular shop, Maxamar’s Cigars, was the Davidoff Appointed Merchant of the Year last year and is in the process of transforming itself into a Davidoff lounge.  Along with that comes the ability to get special Davidoff shop and lounge only cigars.  When I was at the shop this past weekend I was handed one of these cigars to try.  According to the Davidoff website this cigar is comprised of five aged ligeros and of course produced in the Dominican Republic.  The cigars come packed in a really nice 50 count cabinet.  This was my first experience with this cigar.

Prelight

You can tell that this is a little different than their regular line with the gold bordered second band.  It really stands out from the wrapper.  The wrapper on this cigar a nice reddish brown in color, with a good amount of oils, fine veins and some scattered tooth to it.  When I gave the cigar a squeeze it was fairly firm and no soft spots.  Putting my nose to the wrapper I got noes of leather with a more intense leather from the foot.  After clipping it and taking a cold draw on it I got notes of leather and balsa with a nice free draw.

Flavor

While I was toasting the cigar I got the faint aroma of burnt gunpowder from it which was something I don’t get all that often.  The cigar starts off with a good amount of spice, hints of cinnamon along with what I refer to as the “Davidoff flavor” which is a slightly musty, mushroomy flavor.  After taking a few more puffs on it I started to get some creaminess on the finish.  I also noted that my lips felt a bit oily from the wrapper.  The cigar was at the upper end of medium to start off.  As I moved into the second third the “Davidoff flavor” mellowed out and pretty much disappeared.  The flavors of this third were of cinnamon, red pepper spice, leather with hints of copper.  The strength of the cigar built a bit through this third.  The spice started to build back up as moved into the final third.  The flavors I noted in the final third were of cream, leather, cinnamon, coffee, leather, wood with a slightly sweet finish.  The cigar built up to the medium-full range at the end.

Construction

The draw on this cigar was perfect throughout.  I was able to get lots of smoke on every draw.  I did have one construction issue though, the wrapper split when I got to the end of the first third.  The split was a little over an inch long and I was worried that the burn would now have problems.  My fears were not realized though because the burn line was almost perfectly straight from start to finish.

Value

Ok, most of you know that I normally don’t smoke cigars of this price point, or even that many Davidoff cigars.  I know that this is a rare cigar that can only be purchased at a Davidoff lounge or store, but I still think that is is a bit over priced.

Conclusions

So where does this leave us?  So yeah, I really enjoyed this cigar.  It started off very similar to other Davidoff cigars I’ve had but changed into a cigar that was different than other Davidoff cigars I’ve had.  While it won’t be something that will be part of my regular rotation it will be something that I will purchase from time to time for special occasions.  If you are a Davidoff fan or would like to give this cigar a try you can purchase them from our sponsor here.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8.5/10