Vitola: Robusto- 5” x 50, box pressed
- MSRP $10.90
- Purchased from Burns Tobacconist
Background
Davidoff’s Avo brand is on a roll the last few years, with Syncro Nicaragua and Syncro Fogota added to the regular line-up, plus a steady stream of limited editions in the Improvisation Series and re-branding of the entire catalog. For 2016, the new “regular release” is again in the Syncro line, this time referred to as “Syncro South America” or “Ritmo.” Ritmo is Spanish for “rhythm” and is another way to continue with the musical themes of the Avo line. They introduced it with this story:
Rich with mystery and possibility, the unknown is a place to be savored and shared with like-minded souls. Located far below the equator, beyond the dense vegetation of the Brazilian jungles and over the highest Peruvian mountains. Amidst the fertile soil of South America lies a region where the most primal tobaccos grow wild.
Once hidden beneath towering ruins along the burgeoning Amazon River Basin, the untamed rhythm of this land has been uncovered and cultivated for Avo Syncro Ritmo – a cigar that composes the rugged flavor of an ancient civilization with the sophisticated style of Avo.
Avo Ritmo uses 7 different tobaccos from 7 different countries: fillers from Nicaragua, Peru, Brazil, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic; a Mexican binder; and an Ecuadorian wrapper leaf. I have smoked this blend about 3 times previous to this review cigar, which I purchased at Burns Tobacconist. In the interest of trying different sizes and seeing how such a complex blend plays in those sizes, I have smoked this in Toro and Special Toro (6×60) sizes as well as the Robusto.
Prelight
The packaging of the new Avo Ritmo uses dark teal, light teal and gold colors for the color scheme that is essentially the same basic design we’ve seen on other Syncro installments. To me, this one is more pleasing to the eye than that used on the Fogata…but I also think this cigar is more pleasing to the palate, so it could be coloring my judgement. Regardless, I like the way the company has been branding the new Avo lines…distinctive, colorful, and with a good description of the cigar inside the box lid, so shelf talkers are all that necessary.
The color of the cigar itself was a medium brown with a bit of darker mottling on it. It was smooth and just slightly oily to the feel, with a clean earthy aroma emanating from it. The foot of the cigar had more earth, along with some grassiness and cedar.
The cold draw was nice and open, giving up flavors of cedar and grass, with touches of earth and citrus.
Flavor
Avo Syncro Ritmo opens with a muted earthiness, enveloped in flavors of dark chocolate, lemon, and cedar. The smoke was medium in body to start and had a thick creamy texture to it. The retrohale had a roasted nuttiness and a dash of pepper spice, while the finish was bready with a touch of baking spice.
The one thing I have noticed about the Robusto size of this blend is that it tends to burn pretty quickly. It seemed no time before I was into the second third, which delivered up denser bread notes, with the citrus changing to a sweeter note and the chocolate and wood notes fading a bit. There was some cinnamon and a little more pepper spice in the mix.
The last third was crisp and snappy…which is admittedly an unusual way to describe a cigar, but that’s just how it felt. It had plenty of citrus, some pepper bite, and a resurgence of cedar, laying over sweet hay and subtle chocolate notes.
Construction
I had no normal construction problems to speak of: draw was great, burn line was even enough and ash was solid. There was way too much glue on the band, though, and it ripped the heck out of the wrapper when removing it. Not the first time I’ve seen this on the Avo line, but it is something that never fails to make me shake my head…this is not a “cheap” cigar line, so there’s really no reason for this kind of issue.
Value
It’s easy to trace the increased prices of the regular Avo line directly to the time when FDA costs started to become “a thing” in the cigar industry. This blend is the first one to debut nationally since the start of the FDA regulation era and the price is almost a buck higher than the same size of Syncro Nicaragua. Disappointing, but not unexpected. I guess this is the new normal for the Avo line. It does give more reason, though, for the company to make sure the blend is a great one, because otherwise people will tend to ignore it. This one justifies the expense, in my opinion.
Conclusions
This Avo Syncro Ritmo was an excellent cigar and now occupies second place for me in the regular release Avo lines, after the original Syncro Nicaragua. It had a very pleasing complexity due to the seven different countries’ tobaccos used and had flavor change-ups on a fairly regular basis. Just throwing in a bunch of different tobaccos may not have the result of a well-balanced, enjoyable and complex cigar, but the blenders of Davidoff definitely know what they’re doing in this area and this is just a great cigar. Now they just need to use less glue on the bands.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10