Vitola: Toro- 6” x 52 ring gauge
- MSRP $35
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
There really isn’t going to be much background for this cigar as I went over all the pertinent details when I reviewed the Master Blender Selection 1 about a week ago. There is nothing in this particular cigar that differs from what I wrote about the first stick…so read that.
“Why did I choose this one?” Is a valid question, though. There were 14 other options to make a choice from after #1 was done (well, 13 since I had smoked #9 already and wasn’t so wowed by it that I wanted by buy another). There are a couple customers I trust in their opinions about Davidoff and other high-end cigars…they both said the #11 was amazing…so I opted to get one for the next time I reviewed this series.
Prelight
The prelight details are pretty much the same as what you read in the previous review, as well, so there’s no reason to repeat myself about the banding.
The wrapper leaf of this stick was a light brown with a touch of red visible outside in the shade. It had a soft and oily feel to it and an aroma that mixed barnyard and a bit of Davidoff funk. The foot had tons of the funk aroma, as well as hay and peppers and wood. Stopping for a moment to see what the Davidoff marketing department said I should get from this cigar, I see that they say I should taste hazelnuts, chocolate and cream in a cigar that is 4.5 of 5 on their intensity scale.
The cold draw was pretty much perfect and I got flavors of cedar, roasted nuts and an almost honey sweetness.
Flavor
Lighting up the Master Blender Selection 11, I got black pepper and cedar right up front, with a mellow sweetness that came in right after the beginning of each puff and lingered on the finish. On the nose, I got more of the hazelnuts note, but even more pepper heat, which I was not really expecting at all based on the description given. Deeper into the first third, though, the description was making a lot more sense, as I was getting a definite hazelnut bitterness along with chocolate sweetness on a creamy, rich smoke. The pepper continued on spicing up the proceedings.
Getting into the second third, I continued to get hazelnut and pepper notes up front, while a citrus zing was playing about underneath and earthiness played a solid supporting role. The retrohale continued to give up cedar and roasted nuts.
The last third was so damn good I started to run out of words to describe it…but it’s my job, so here goes…Earthiness rose up in the flavor profile to be the dominant note, while nuts and pepper and citrus took turns playing secondary roles. There was some creaminess at the beginning of the third, but by the end the cigar had become more aggressive…almost Nicaraguan in character.
Construction
As expected, the construction was nothing short of perfection.
Value
This is the kind of cigar I expect for this price tag…so I’m calling it worth the price.
Conclusions
So the “4.5 out of 5” in intensity definitely was accurate. This Master Blender Selection 11 was the best of the three I’ve had so far and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the best of the lot. Honestly, if there is something better, I might have to give it an 11 out of 10 because this was just about the best experience I could hope for in a cigar: complex, rich, and completely satisfying.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 10/10
