Vitola: Belicoso- 6” x 52 ring gauge
- ~$30
- Purchased from Burns Tobacconist
Background
Macau is a very densely populated city in the Pearl River Delta area of China. Formerly a Porteguese colony, it was returned to China in 1999 and they signed an agreement to allow it to be run as a “special administrative region” until 2049. This allows it to remain mostly free and independent; as a result, it is the gambling capital of the world with most of its economy dependent upon gambling and tourism.
Davidoff originally released the Macau Exclusive for its store in the city back in 2016, along with exclusives for 3 other high-profile cities internationally. As part of the Vault program, they shipped a limited number of 10-count paper-wrapped packs in December 2018. Burns being part of the Vault program, I was able to get my hands on a few. So far I’ve smoked one and saved this second one for review purposes.
The Macau Exclusive uses Dominican fillers (Piloto visus, San Vicente, San Vicente visus, and Olor Ligero), a Hybrid Olor/Piloto visus binder from the Dominican Republic, and a Habano Oscuro wrapper from Ecuador.
I got information about Macau from Wikipedia. Small Batch Cigar is connected to Maxamar, a B&M retailer that is part of the Vault program; at the time of this writing, they had the cigar in stock.
Prelight
The main band on this cigar is standard Davidoff white label…the simple elegance of gold foil and light embossing on glossy white paper. The secondary band has “MACAU EXCLUSIVE” written on it with the emblem of Macau in between the two words. The emblem is interesting and notable in that it combines stylized renditions of stars, a lotus flower, the Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge, and sea water.
The wrapper leaf of the cigar was a peanut butter brown color without much oiliness to it. It was smooth and velvety to the touch and had an aroma combining earth and leather and hay. The foot of the cigar had a slightly more pungent earthiness, along with hay, wood, and bell pepper notes.
I’ve quit worry about torpedo-tipped cigars when they have the Davidoff name on the band; simply put, their higher standard haven’t disappointed me yet. I had a great cold draw on the Macau and it displayed flavors of Davidoff funk, salt, earth and cedar.
Flavor
The Macau started off with fairly intense flavors of hay and molasses, cedar and white pepper, all against a background of salty Davidoff funk. The retrohale had roasted nuts, leather and red pepper. As I got toward the end of the first third, I picked up more leather on the palate and a bit of a decrease of pepper on both palate and nose.
Getting into the second third, I got notes of citrus and an increase in the musty Davidoff funk joining the leathery flavors. The salty notes continued on in the background, as did cedar and a slight pepper spice.
In the last third, the Macau Exclusive saw a resurgence of heat in the form of white pepper, along with more citrus and cedar. The salty notes were present in the background still while the musty notes diminished to join them.
Construction
I had a perfect draw, very even burn line and solid ash.
Value
This is another Davidoff super-premium, very-expensive limited edition that is worth the money based on the experience it delivers.
Conclusions
The Macau Exclusive was another brilliant entry from Davidoff’s Vault program, offering a medium-plus body, full flavor and a tremendous amount of complexity. For those who don’t see the value in Davidoff’s more expensive cigars, this is one of those that could change your mind, simply because it delivers so much flavor all the time. I would rate this just behind the Superior in terms of overall experience and in the top 3 or 4 releases from the Vault program so far.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10