Vitola: Diademas Finas- 6.75 x 50 ring gauge
- MSRP ~$36
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
To celebrate 50 years of filling people’s time beautifully we will be specially creating cigars, cigar accessories and cigar events which reflect our passion for tasting the wider world. We think Zino would approve. He believed that, with a fine cigar, it is not just where it comes from, it’s where it can take you to.
That is directly from the marketing materials announcing the official Davidoff 50th Anniversary cigar: Diademas Finas. This blend was first introduced in 2006 in limited quantities, crafted to celebrate the 100th birthday of Zino Davidoff.
To commemorate Davidoff’s 50th Anniversary we have rolled everything which makes Davidoff cigars special into this elegant Diademas Finas format. The craftsmanship of our master rollers. The age of the tobaccos from ten-year of fillers from one of the best crops in 2005. The native Dominican Olor binder from the island that saw the birth of so many iconic cigars. But most of all, our unparalleled sense of balance.
The fillers of this cigar are Piloto Seco, San Vicente Ligero, Piloto Ligero, Hybrid Corojo/Olor Ligero & San Vicente Visus, all from the Dominican Republic. It uses a Dominican Olor Seco binder and an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper.
These are listed as “available in limited quantities” but I couldn’t find anywhere where those quantities were specified. There are 4 unique designs to the boxes and porcelain jars that the cigars come in, all designed by French artist, Mariana Léger, and each one representing a different region of the world: Americas, Orient, Asia, and Europe. Each jar contains 10 cigars.
I bought one of these cigars for review, with the intention of only smoking the one for the review. Some people might balk at a “single stick review” but in my opinion, if a cigar costs this much, every one should be as good as the last one in the box…or the next one, for that matter. There’s simply no reason why any cigar as extravagantly expensive as this should have a problem with burn, construction, blend, etc. That being said, someone bought me another one and I smoked it before this review session, so this will be the second one I’ve smoked. Also of note, a couple of the images I’m using here are from Davidoff…I figured why take my own when theirs are so beautiful?
Prelight
Instead of the regular Davidoff white label, this release employs the 50 year gold label that reverses the colors. The background is gold foil, while Davidoff, the stylized 50, the circle made of dots, and the type on the arms of the band are all in white. The secondary band is more like what we normally see from them: white background with gold foil stripes and type reading 1968-2018.
The wrapper leaf was an even milk chocolate brown color with a slightly oily feel and a strong earthy barnyard aroma to it. I also got little bits of cedar and funk in the mix. The Diadema foot being almost a point had practically no aroma to it except that coming off the wrapper leaf.
After clipping the head, I got a fantastic draw that tasted of hay, cedar, bell peppers and that trademark Davidoff funk.
Flavor
It doesn’t take much to get a tapered-end Diadema lit, at least it doesn’t if it’s properly made. I applied a minimal amount of flame and had the Davidoff 50th producing smoke very quickly. The first few puffs had tons of Dominican notes like hay and bread, with just small touches of sweetness, pepper and funk. As the burn started to widen out, I got a strong cedar note, along with a white pepper burn on the tongue and a more aggressive peppery note on the nose. That complex mix made up the rest of the first third.
The second third saw the body increasing from mild to medium, while earth found its way into the mix. The hay and bread took a back seat while citrusy sweet and tart notes came through. Pepper and funk rode along steadily.
The last third of the Davidoff 50 Year Diadema had plenty of citrus leading the way, along with a good amount of pepper, earth and funk. The cedar notes were practically gone by this point.
Construction
I expect top-notch construction out of a cigar with the Davidoff label on it…and this did not disappoint. It was perfect in every way.
Value
I had a little bit of a hard time with the value on this one. On the one hand, it’s fantastic…on the other hand, they have raised the bar for fantastic with the Master Selections and Vault releases in the past year, so it feels like the price on this one is driven more by the packaging than many other releases. Employee discount pricing puts it at about $25 after tax and I would gladly pay $30 for it…but $36 to $40 (depending on your state’s tax rate) is too much. So I’m going to say .5 point for value.
Conclusions
The 50 Year Diadema is definitely a fantastic expression of Davidoff, showing just how flavorful and complex a Dominican cigar can be. The flavors built and changed over the course of the cigar with body building from mild to medium-plus at the end. I was never disappointed by it…but…I still think the price point is a little too high when I have had more pleasing cigars from them for a few dollars less. Still…it’s hard to deny that this is a great cigar that I wish I could smoke on a regular basis.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 9/10
