Cigar Review: Davidoff Royal Release Robusto

Vitola: Robusto
Size: 5.5″ x 55 ring gauge
Price $80.00
Purchased at Maxamar’s Cigars

Background

A few years ago Davidoff released the first cigars in the Royal line the Royal Salomone and the Royal Robusto, which from what I can find was a limited release.  This new one seems to be even more limited.  You can tell the difference pretty easily with the royal blue bands and the word “Release” added to the name.  Even though they are using (relatively) the same name the blend is completely different.  The only thing I can find is that the wrapper is from the Dominican Republic, they are keeping the rest of the blend secret.  They come in two sizes an 8.25 x 57 ring gauge salomone and the 5.5 x 55 ring gauge robusto I review here.  They both come in 10 count boxes and range from $80-$100 per cigar, MSRP.  How did I get to smoke one of these cigars for review?  Well last month was our anniversary and my wife gave me some money and told me to go buy something that I normally wouldn’t get to buy myself.  This is what I choose because the one previously given to me was so good.

Prelight

The wrapper on this cigar is a dark brown in color with some darker mottling and a golden sheen to it.  The royal blue, white and gold band help make it pretty clear this isn’t some regular Davidoff cigar.  The wrapper was pretty oily to the touch and there was some tooth to it.  When I gave it a squeeze it was fairly firm without any soft spots.  Putting my nose to the wrapper I detected hay and leather with barnyard coming from the foot.  After clipping it and taking a cold draw I got notes of hay and leather with a good draw.

Flavor

It starts off with an intense sweetness on the tongue.  After a few puffs some leather, wood and spice come though.  Even further in I get some green herbs along with the signature Davidoff mustiness.  The cigar start off at the upper end of medium strength.  As I moved into the second third the spice mellowed out a bit.  I noted flavors of leather, wood, the signature Davidoff flavor, and copper with a sweet finish.  The cigar moved into the bottom end of full strength.  Once I got into the final third the spice starting to build backup.  The flavors I noted in the final third were leather, wood, green herbs, copper with a sweet finish.  The strength built firmly into full strength with me getting a slight nicotine hit from it.

Construction

As to be expected from Davidoff the draw was perfect throughout.  The burn line was fairly straight.  The ash was a little flaky but that could have been a result of the wind while I was smoking it.

Value

This cigar retails for more than double the previous release.  I know costs have gone up, but it seems a little high.  I definitely enjoyed the cigar but it wouldn’t be something I would buy on any sort of regularity.

Conclusions

The copper flavors I got reminded me of another cigar, the Opus X a Dominican puro, which leads me to believe that this cigar has a good amount of Dominican tobacco in it.  It was an excellent cigar and I definitely enjoyed it.  If you’d like to try it for yourself head on over to SmallBatchCigar.com as they have it in stock as of now.  Also they launched a completely new site this week so head on over to check it out.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 9/10