Cigar Pre-Review: Davidoff Winston Churchill Toro

Davidoff Winston Churchill Toro

The Davidoff Winston Churchill is a revamped line by Davidoff Cigars that will make its way to retailers early this year. Late last year, Davidoff announced it was doing a complete makeover of its Winston Churchill line – namely from a branding, packaging, and blend standpoint.  It was back in late 2007 when Davidoff launched Winston Churchill Cigars. The line was launched as a tribute to Sir Winston Churchill, the famed British Prime Minister. The project was done in collaboration with Churchill’s grandson, Winston Spencer-Churchill.  The original brand had been a slow mover for Davidoff, thus it made this a good candidate for a makeover. The line has now been rechristened under the Davidoff name – Davidoff Winston Churchill Cigars.  Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke a pre-release of the Davidoff Winston Churchill in a Toro format. Davidoff has done an amazing job at producing some great cigars over the past few years. This new blend, combined with a whole new look is a winner for Davidoff.

Closed box of the Davidoff Winston Churchill Photo Credit: Oettinger Davidoff AG

The Winston Churchill brand now brings the total number of brand makeovers in the Davidoff portfolio to three. In 2013, a major revamping occurred to the Camacho brand. Recently, the subtle revamping of the Avo Cigars brand was announced.  Given the original Winston Churchill Cigars brand had one blend, the scope of this makeover is somewhat smaller, however the changes are still quite impactful. The changes include the new name (Davidoff Winston Churchill), new bands, new boxes, and a completely new blend.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Davidoff Winston Churchill in the Toro size and see what this cigar brings to the table. Given this assessment is based a pre-release, we will share our thoughts and perspectives. After the Davidoff Winston Churchill is released, we will revisit this line and provide an assessment rating and score.


Blend Profile 

The wrapper is an Ecuadorian Rojiza wrapper. This has been seen on other Davidoff brands – most notably on the Zino Platinum Collector’s Edition 2013 – The Make of New York

Wrapper: Ecuador Rojiza
Binder: San Andes Negro (Mexico)
Filler: Dominican (Piloto Mejorado Seco, Piloto Seco, Hybrid Olor/Piloto Seco), Nicaraguan (Esteli Seco, Condega Seco)
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic

Vitolas Available 

The Davidoff Winston Churchill is available in four sizes.  The cigars will be packaged in 20 count boxes.

Petit Corona: 4 1/2 x 41
Robusto: 5 1/4 x 52
Toro: 6 x 54
Churchill: 6 7/8 x 47

Four vitolas of Davidoff Winston Churchill (Churchill, Toro, Robusto, Petite Corona) Photo Credit: Oettinger Davidoff AG

Open box of Davidoff Winston Churchill Photo Credit: Oettinger Davidoff AG

Appearance

The Davidoff Winston Churchill’s Ecuadorian Rojiza wrapper has a medium brown color. There is a light coating of oil on the wrapper’s surface. The wrapper itself has quite a silky complexion to it. While there are some visible wrapper seams and visible veins, the wrapper has a smooth surface as well.

The band seems like an off-shoot of the Davidoff white label band. The band is white with gold colored font on it.  Prominently displayed on the center of the band is a silhouette profile of Winston Churchill. Below the silhouette is the Davidoff script logo. A dotted oval surrounds the silhouette and Davidoff logo. On the left side of the band is the text “WINSTON CHURCHILL”. On the right side is the text “GENEVE”. The band also has gold trim around it.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I normally do with most cigars, I opted for a straight cut to remove the cap of the Davidoff Winston Churchill. Once the cap was removed, I proceeded to the pre-light draw. The cold draw provided a mix of natural tobacco sweetness, a subtle floral spice, and a subtle cocoa note.  Overall I considered the pre-light draw of the Davidoff Winston Churchill Toro to be excellent. At this point, I was ready to light up the Davidoff Winston Churchill and see what the overall smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start of the Davidoff Winston Churchill delivered quite a variety of flavor right out of the gate. The cigar produced notes of natural tobacco, earth, a grass, and black pepper. The black pepper was also prominent on the retro-hale.  I also detected a slight cocoa note in the background.

As the Davidoff Winston Churchill moved through the first third, the natural tobacco notes emerged as the main primary flavor.  The cocoa, pepper, and grass were secondary notes.  Later in the first third, a slight fruit sweetness entered the equation.

In the second third, the cocoa notes made their way back into the forefront and alternated with the natural tobacco in intensity as to which was the primary flavor. The fruit notes increased somewhat in intensity, but were still a secondary flavor. The grass and pepper were more distant notes in the background.

In the last third, the fruit sweetness subsided into the distant background, but the pepper moved more toward the forefront. I still found the cocoa and natural tobacco to be the primary flavors. This is the way the flavor profile finished on the Davidoff Winston Churchill. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

The Davidoff Winston Churchill lives up to Davidoff’s high standards of quality in terms of its construction.  This also was very nicely with both the burn and draw.  The burn remained on a straight path from start to finish.  There was some jaggedness on the burn line, but relatively speaking this burn remained straight and only some minor touch-ups were needed.  The resulting ash was tight and firm with a mostly white color.  The ash came off the cigar is nice clean chunks and was not prone to any significant flaking.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Burn of the Davidoff Winston Churchill Toro

The draw was outstanding. I did not find this draw to be too loose, nor did I find this to be too tight. This was a low maintenance cigar to puff on and derive flavors from.

Strength and Body

The original Winston Churchill was not known as a powerhouse cigar.  As for the new Davidoff Winston Churchill, it will more or less be in the same wheelhouse.  I found this cigar to be a medium strength cigar from start to finish. As for the flavors, they had the right amount of depth to them. I found Davidoff Winston Churchill started out as a medium-bodied cigar. There was a slight increase in the body toward the last third of the cigar – resulting in the body progressing to medium to full. Overall the strength and body balanced each other nicely. It was in that last third where the body increased where I gave the edge to the body.

Final Thoughts

The original Winston Churchill was a nice cigar, but it was a problem that lacked what I term a “wow factor”. With the Davidoff Winston Churchill, I found this to be a very different story. This was a cigar loaded with flavor. At the same time, it is not a cigar that overpowers you with nicotine and weighs heavy on the palate. At press time the final pricing for the Davidoff Winston Churchill was not published, however the original Winston Churchill line was priced in the $15 to $20.00 range.  In terms of pricing versus value, I found the Davidoff Winston Churchill to live up much better than the original if it is priced similarly. This is a cigar I’d recommend to either the novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is a cigar I would definitely smoke again.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium (1st 2/3), Medium to Full (Last third)
Finish: Excellent

References

News: Davidoff Winston Churchill Details Announced
Price: n/a
Source: Cigars Provided by Retailer
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 125
Stogie Feed: n/a