Vitola: Toro
Size: 6″ x 54 ring gauge
Price $39 MSRP
Review Sample from SmallBatchCigar.com
Background
Today I’ll be looking at the latest Art Edition release from Davidoff. This year’s release is comprised of Brazilian Mata Fina, Dominican San Vicente and Piloto, a Ecuadorian Sumatra binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. The artist that they chose to feature in this year’s release is Rodell Warner who is a multimedia artist. There are five works to be released on 1,000 boxes each for a total of 5,000 boxes. Each box holds 10 cigars and the cigar retails for $39 each. This review sample was the first one of these I smoked.
Prelight
The wrapper on this sample is a very dark ruddy brown, with some lighter golden colored mottling. It is also quite oily and has a good amount of tooth. Honestly this wrapper is a little more rustic than I’m used to seeing from Davidoff. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t well constructed or pleasant to look at though. The oils shined in the sun when I took the pictures. When I gave it a squeeze there was a slight amount of give and no soft spots. When I put my nose to the wrapper I noted the aroma of leather and barnyard, with wood and leather coming from the foot. After clipping it and taking a cold draw I got a good draw with the flavor of wood and nuts.
Flavor
It starts off with a good amount of spice on the tongue and retrohale. I noted flavors of wood, leather, graham, cinnamon, with a sweet finish in the first third. The cigar starts off medium-full strength. The spice mellowed out a bit as I moved into the second third. I got flavors of cocoa, beef jerky, wood, earth, coffee, marshmallow and cinnamon in the second third. The cigar moved into the bottom end of full by the of the second third. As I got into the final third the spice started to build back up especially on the tongue. During this third I got flavors of wood, leather, cocoa, grill meat, cinnamon and a sweet finish. By the end I did get a pretty good nicotine hit from it as it was definitely a full strength cigar.
Construction
The draw was perfect throughout and the burn line was only slightly wavy.
Value
I didn’t know the price of the cigar when I smoked it, but I was a little surprised when I found out what the price is. If I remember the previous art cigar was in the ~$20 range. I don’t know why the large price jump.
Conclusions
I didn’t really care for the last Art Edition release, but I really enjoyed this cigar. It was complex and flavorful, had great construction and had a good amount of strength. The price is a little high but I’ll still try to pick up a couple and see how the cigar ages.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 9/10
