Cigar Review: Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Robusto

Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Robusto

Just prior to the 2015 ProCigar Festival, Davidoff showcased the soon to be released Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015. This cigar was donated to be a part of ProCigar’s annual charity auction. This is the second limited edition in three years that has a golf theme in mind – following up the Davidoff Masters Edition 2013 Club House Toro. The Masters Edition 2015 incorporates two areas where Davidoff has been excelling at these days – creative blending and creative packaging. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to sample the Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 in a Robusto format. Davidoff has been on a roll for the past couple of years, and the Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 is a prime example of the excellent products this company has been producing.

From a packaging standpoint, Davidoff packages eight cigars with the Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015. There are four toro sized vitolas and four robusto sized vitolas. The toros are packaged in tubes and have the theme “For the Course” – designed to be enjoyed on the golf course. The robustos are packaged in cellophane and have theme “For the Clubhouse” – designed to be enjoyed after a round of golf. Both the toros and robustos are packaged in an innovative “book styled” box.

Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Packaging (Front)

Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Packaging (Left)

Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Packaging (Right)

Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Packaging (Inside)

The Limited Masters Edition 2015 Robusto and Toro have different profiles with the Robusto being positioned as “richer and spicier”. There is one Robusto cigar that contains a gold colored secondary band as opposed to the white colored ones contained on the other cigars. The concept here is that the winner of a round of golf can be awarded the special gold banded cigar in the clubhouse. While the gold band cigar is more of a collectable cigar, it is identical blend-wise from the other cigars.

Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Robusto (Golden Band)

At press time, I’ve seen several retailers choosing to not break open the eight pack boxes and sell the box as a whole. My gut tells me as time goes on, that will change and more of the cigars will be available in singles. The cigars do have suggested retail pricing individually – namely $26.00 for the Robusto and $32.00 for the Toro Tubos. The set is carrying a price of $232.00.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Robusto and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

Davidoff has said the filler of the Masters Edition 2015 contains eight year old filler tobaccos.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Dominican Criollo
Filler: Piloto Volado, San Vicente Visus, Piloto Visus, Hybrid Corojo/Olor Seco
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (TABADOM Factory)

Vitolas Available

A total of 7,500 boxes of the Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 has been produced. This means there is a total of 30,000 cigars per size produced.

Robusto: 5 x 52
Toro: 6 x 54

Appearance

While the wrapper is listed as “Ecuadorian Connecticut”, this doesn’t look like a shade grown wrapper. The color of the Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Robusto has a medium to dark brown color. The wrapper is more on the silky side as opposed to being oily.  There are some visible veins and there are thin visible wrapper seams.

There are two bands on the Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015. 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 “LIMITED EDITION” – in gold font.

The secondary band is white with gold trim. The text “GOLF” has red font, but the “O” is a solid red circle surrounded by a gold wedge. The secondary band of the “golden band” is all-gold in color with gold embossed golf wedge / “O” design going around it.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting my Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Robusto, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut.  I then moved on to the pre-light draw.  The cold draw to the Masters Edition 2015 Robusto delivered some notes of sweet natural tobacco, and chocolate.  As I progressed with the cold draw, it seemed to migrate toward a more herbal / grassy profile with some black pepper.  Overall I was satisfied with the pre-light draw of the Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Robusto. At this point I was ready to light up this cigar and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Robusto continued with the herbal / grassy and black pepper notes I had derived toward the end of the pre-light draw.  I also detected some natural tobacco sweetness in the background. The black pepper notes soon receded into the background as well. The retro-hale produced an herbal spice. Overall, the flavor profile was definitely classic Davidoff.

Later in the first third, I detected some notes of coffee and chocolate. These notes did surface in the forefront – particularly in the second third. There were times each of these notes had their moment in the sun – mostly in the second third. The points where these flavors were prominent varied on each of the three cigars I smoked.

Toward the last third, I found the chocolate notes dissipated.  The coffee and grassy / herbal remained in the forefront. I found the pepper to be a little more prominent and the natural tobacco remained in the background. This is the way the flavor profile came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Overall the Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015 Robusto is a very well-constructed cigar and this was reflected on the burn and draw. The burn path of the Masters Edition 2015 Robusto remained straight from start to finish. There was a slight bit of waviness on the burn line itself. The cigar didn’t require many touch-ups and just about all of them were cosmetic. The resulting ash was a charcoal gray color. The ash was firm and came off the cigar in clean chunks.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Burn of the Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015

While the Masters Edition 2015 Robusto did not have that “touch of resistance” I prefer, I didn’t consider this to be a loose draw either. Overall this was a low maintenance draw to derive flavors from.

Strength and Body

Earlier on I mentioned this flavor profile was “classic Davidoff”, but there was one difference. I found this to be a stronger and bolder Davidoff. I found this was a cigar that was medium to full in both strength and body. Neither the strength, not the body will be over-powering. I also found there was a nice balance between strength and body in this cigar.

Final Thoughts

Overall this was an excellent cigar.   If you want a cigar that smokes like a Davidoff, but wants a little more power, this is going to be the cigar for you.  Because the filler didn’t have any ligero listed, I also surprised at the amount of spice this cigar delivered. This isn’t a cigar that is going to undergo a lot of predictable flavor transitions, but it will deliver plenty of flavor nuances along the way. The one thing that I’ll say is I’m not sure if I would want to smoke cigars like this on the golf course or even in the clubhouse as I would prefer a more traditional lounge or smoking room setting (then again I’m not a golfer). Overall this is a cigar I’d recommend to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast. As for myself, looking at the Robustos, I would consider this a box worthy cigar.  I realize at $26.00, this is not a cheap cigar, but it does deliver as I would expect a cigar like this to deliver.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 4.0 – Box Worthy
Score: 92

References

News: Davidoff Golf Limited Masters Edition 2015
Price: $232.00 (Box), $26.00 (Single Robusto)
Source: Purchased
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