The Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 -The Raconteur is first limited edition to be released under the revamped Davidoff Winston Churchill brand. It was in late 2014 where Davidoff decided to give the Winston Churchill brand a complete makeover. This included creating a whole new blend, revamping the packaging, and rebranding the cigar as “Davidoff Winston Churchill”.  Since then, the line has undergone expansion. Two petite-sized offerings featuring a new blend were added this past summer. Early this year, The Raconteur was announced as a limited edition offering under the Davidoff Winston Churchill line. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 Raconteur. Davidoff has certainly been hitting on all cylinders with the Davidoff Winston Churchill line. The Raconteur is certainly another great offering under the brand.

A raconteur is someone who is an exceptional storyteller. Sir Winston Churchill, the cigar enthusiast for whom the Davidoff Winston Churchill brand pays homage to was a considered a renewed master of word and storytelling. The Davidoff Limited Edition 2016 Raconteur pays homage to Churchill’s skill by including a secondary band on each of his cigars that will contain one of his memorable sayings. The quote differs on each cigar in the ten count box.

The Davidoff Winston Churchill is the seventh frontmark in the Winston Churchill line.  Each of these frontmarks are name for a “face” or characteristic of Churchill himself.

• Davidoff Winston Churchill Churchill – The Aristocrat (1)
• Davidoff Winston Churchill Robusto – The Statesman (1)
• Davidoff Winston Churchill Toro – The Commander (1)
• Davidoff Winston Churchill Petit Corona – The Artist  (1)
• Davidoff Winston Churchill Belicoso – The Traveller (2)
• Davidoff Winston Churchill Petit Panetela – The Raconteur (2)
• Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 – The Raconteur (3)

(1) Core Blend
(2) Petit Blend
(3) Limited Edition 2016 Blend

If you review the list above, there are two cigars known as the Raconteur. The Davidoff Winston Churchill Petit Panetela and Davidoff Limited Edition 2016 are both known as the Raconteur. It is important to know that there these are two different cigars and two different blends.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the The Davidoff Limited Edition 2016 Raconteur and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

There are some parallels blend-wise to the Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 Raconteur and the blend on the four regular size core Davidoff Winston Churchill offerings. At the same time, there are two significant differences. First, he Limited Edition 2016 uses a Habano Ecuador wrapper (as opposed to a Rojiza wrapper on the core sizes). Second, there is 15 aged San Vincente ligero in the blend of the Limited Edition 2016.

Wrapper: Habano Ecuador
Binder: San Andres Mexican Negro
Filler: Nicaraguan: Esteli Ligero, Condega Seco; Dominican: Piloto Visus, Hybrid Olor/Piloto Visus,  Piloto Seco, 15 Year aged San Vincente Ligero
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic

Vitolas Available

The Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 Raconteur is available in one size – a 6 x 56 Gran Toro. The cigars are packaged in ten count boxes. Total production is 6,000 boxes.

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper has a medium brown color with a slight rosado tint to it. There is a light coating oil on the surface. On the whole, I found the wrapper itself to be slightly bumpy. There are some visible veins, but most of the visible wrapper seams are well hidden.

There are two bands on the Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 Raconteur. The primary band of the Limited Edition 2016 is the same one found on the other Davidoff Winston Churchill offerings. This band is 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.

As mentioned the secondary band contains a quote from Winston Churchill. Each cigar in the ten count box has a different quote. The band is white with gold trim and gold font.

For the two cigars used for this assessment, one of these quotes were on each cigar:

“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind”
“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often”

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I normally do, I went with a straight cut to remove the cap of the Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 Raconteur. Once the cap was successfully clipped, I moved on to the pre-light draw. The dry draw delivered some notes of slightly sweet natural tobacco as well as floral and cedar notes. Overall I found the pre-light draw of this cigar to be satisfactory. At this point I was ready to light up the the Raconteur and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 Raconteur delivered notes of cedar, natural tobacco, and black pepper. The cedar and natural tobacco notes became primary early on. The black pepper receded to the background where it was joined by notes of hay and nut. Meanwhile the retro-hale delivered black pepper spice.

As the Raconteur moved through the first third, I found the nut and hay notes got more prominent and moved into the forefront. The cedar and natural tobacco became secondary notes. As the cigar moved into the second third, there was a fusion with the cedar and natural tobacco that formed a nice sweetness. Meanwhile, the black pepper notes remained in the background.

Later in the second third, I found the pepper start to move toward the forefront. By the last third, I found the primary notes were a combination of the black pepper and hay. There still were notes of nut and the cedar /natural tobacco sweetness present. This is the way the cigar experience of the Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 Raconteur. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Overall the burn performed quite well. The Raconteur had no problem maintaining a straight burn path from start to finish. There was a slight jaggedness on the actual burn line, but I didn’t find this was a cigar that required any excessive touch-ups. I found the resulting ash to be on the firm side. The ash itself had a salt and pepper color. Both the burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

The draw performed quite well. This was a draw that was not too tight, nor was it too loose. I found this to be an easy cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

Davidoff has positioned the Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 Raconteur as a cigar with more intensity than the core Davidoff Winston Churchill line – and that is exactly what the Raconteur brought to the table. From a strength perspective, I found this cigar to have just enough kick to be considered medium to full. The strength slightly increased along the way, but still remained in the medium to full range. As for the body, I found it also started medium to full, but by the second half I found it to be in the full range.

In terms of strength versus body, I gave the edge to the body.

Final Thoughts

Overall I was quite pleased with the Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2012 Raconteur. From a flavor standpoint, I didn’t find anything revolutionary or unusual. Instead I found a bunch of solid flavors that all seemed to complement each other nicely. The 56 ring gauge also seemed to work very well with this blend. I also liked that this cigar was bolder than the rest of the Davidoff Winston Churchill line. While this was a cigar that was ready to smoke, I do feel this is a cigar that has some serious aging potential.

It’s a pricier cigar – and one that at $27.00, you will have to weigh out if its in your budget.  Overall it’s a cigar I’d recommend to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is a cigar I’d smoke again – and it’s worthy of a box split in my book.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full (1st Half), Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 3.5-Box Split
Score: 90

References

News: Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 “The Raconteur” Launching in January
Price: $27.00
Source: Purchased
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 176, Episode 182
Stogie Feed: Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 – The Raconteur (Paul), Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 The Raconteur (Will)