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| Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 White Edition |
Davidoff has long been engaged with limited edition cigars. Davidoff’s history in this area can be traced back to 1997 with the launch of the Davidoff “535” (commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the company’s store once located at 535 Madison Avenue). It wasn’t until 2002, where Davidoff formally launched its “Limited Edition” series. On almost an annual basis, each release in the series would feature a different blend and a different vitola (in 2002 and 2006 there were two vitolas). In 2010, there was no Davidoff Limited Edition cigar that was released, so fans of this series had to wait an extra year. The series returned the following year with the Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 White Edition. I recently had a chance to smoke and assess this cigar. Overall, I found it to be a positive cigar experience.
The Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 had only 8,000 boxes of 10 cigars produced (for a total of 80,000 cigars). The cigars are stored in white lacquered boxes and each box is individually numbered. There was an initial allocation of 3,000 boxes was made for the American cigar market.
Let’s take a closer look at the Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 White Edition. I will disclaim this cigar assessment was based on a single cigar experience.
Blend Profile
Davidoff says that the Dominican San Vicente and Piloto fillers come from four different cultivation areas in the Dominican Republic. The use of a Peruvian tobacco (in this case for the binder) is not a new concept for Davidoff or its master blender Henke Kelner. It is also worth noting that the tobaccos are aged five years.
Wrapper: Dominican Criollo
Binder: Peruvian Corojo
Filler: San Vicente Ligero, Piloto Ligero, San Vicente Visus (all Dominican Republic)
Vitolas Available
The Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 White Edition is a belicoso known as the “Belicoso Supremo”. The size of this vitola is 5 1/2 x 52. This is the only frontmark that was made for this year’s release.
Appearance
The wrapper of the Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 White Label basically looks a shade darker than a classic Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper. The wrapper itself is slightly oily. It does have some visible veins as well as a few visible wrapper seams.
There are two bands on the Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 White Label. The first band is similar to the classic Davidoff White label. It features the name “Davidoff” in classic cursive gold-colored font on an oval field of white. There are small gold circles going around the perimeter of the oval. The word “Geneve” (in gold font) flanks to the right of the oval field. To the left of the oval it features the text “White Label”. The second band is on the footer. It is also white in color and has “2011” in an embossed-like fashion.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
For my Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 White Label, I clipped the belicoso tip with a straight cut. I commenced with the pre-light draw and detected notes of wood, cream, and some cedar spice. The dry draw notes didn’t have me doing handstands, but it still wasn’t a bad pre-light draw – just not very exciting. At this point it was on to fire up my Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 and see what kind of cigar experience it would deliver.
Flavor Profile
The initial draws of the Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 White Label provided a peppery start. Throughout the entire smoking experience, the pepper could be detected through the nostrils. The pepper on the tongue subsided into the background and notes of toast and wood emerged in the forefront.
Toward the end of the first third, the pepper picked up again and moved back into the forefront joining the toast and wood. As the cigar reached the midway point, a light sweetness emerged in the background. The best way to describe this sweetness is that it was a natural tobacco sweetness.
Toward the end of the second third, the pepper diminished again and some cream notes joined the equation. I was a little surprised to detect cream notes this late in a smoking experience. The cream notes moved into the forefront and the toast and wood notes moved to the background. Later in the final third, the pepper notes made one more move into the forefront.
As the final third of the smoke started, the cream and pepper remained in the forefront. Soon enough, the cream notes would diminish and the pepper notes remained. The finish was peppery. The nub was firm, but on the warm side.
Burn and Draw
I’ve said many times that I am not a fan of torpedo/belicoso vitolas. I find they often have inferior draws and a lot of times it impacts the burn. In the case of the Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 White Label, there were no such issues. The burn was very sharp from start to finish. The burn rate was ideal and with the exception of the finish being on the warm side, the burn temperature was ideal for the majority of the smoking experience. I found the draw of this belicoso to be outstanding. This was the way a torpedo/belicoso should draw.
Strength and Body
The Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 White Label is not going to set the world on the fire in terms of being a tower of strength. This cigar provides just the right amount of nicotine – making for a medium cigar from a strength perspective. The flavors are not going to be overpowering, but are still very good. I assessed this Davidoff to also be medium in terms of body. There is good balance between the strength and body attributes – making for a classic “medium-medium” cigar.
Final Thoughts
I will admit, the flavor profile of the Davidoff Limited Edition 2011 is not one that I normally reach for. While I normally don’t like cigars with a lot of “toast” notes, this cigar brings enough to the table where it made this an enjoyable smoke from a flavor standpoint. I was pleasantly surprised by the cream notes at the end of the smoke. This is a pricey cigar – going for about $19.00 to $20.00. While price is not a factor in my assessment rating, it is important to know this if you are going to try this cigar. For someone starting out, I might not spend the money, but if they are a novice enthusiast looking to be serious about cigars, this would be a very good smoke. As for the experienced cigar enthusiast, those who particularly like Dominican tobacco (even though this is not a Dominican puro) will enjoy this cigar. As for myself, I wouldn’t mind, I’d still give this cigar another smoke.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Good
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 90
Source: The cigar for this assessment was given to me by a friend.
With a criollo wrapper and corojo binder and that mix of fillers I'll have to try one, but at that price point I might not be trying many unless I'm in love with it.