2018 Cigar of the Year Countdown: #8: Debonaire Daybreak Corona

“I found the name Daybreak to be appropriate because it is the quintessential morning smoke in that it delivers a dialed back, creamy cigar experience.”

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Cigars De Los Reyes S.A.
Corona: 6 x 46
Price: $11.53
Review: Debonaire Daybreak Corona (12/8/18)
Appearances on Countdown (By Year/Company): 3 (2014, 2015, 2018)

Coming in at #8 is the Debonaire Daybreak Corona. This is a cigar that comes from Phil Zanghi and Debonaire House. It is his third regular production Debonaire branded line, released late in 2017.

The Debonaire Daybreak lands Debonaire House on the Countdown for the third time. For production, Zanghi partners with the De Los Reyes factory in the Dominican Republic. That makes this the fifth consecutive year that factory has landed on the Countdown.

The Debonaire Daybreak filled a couple of voids in the Debonaire House portfolio – namely a milder offering as well as a Connecticut Shade offering. As he was working on the Debonaire Daybreak, Zanghi worked on a series of blends. In the end, he decided to come full circle and work with the common components from the Debonaire Habano and the Debonaire Maduro – namely, the same binder and filler both of those blends have. This includes a Dominican binder and a combination of Nicaraguan and Dominican filler. The 6 x 46 Corona size is the one that lands on the Countdown.

Regarding flavor, the Debonaire Daybreak Corona has a nice amount of complexity to it. This cigar delivers a nice combination of smooth coffee and cream along with notes of natural tobacco, black pepper, cedar, and citrus. As advertised, this is a milder offering from Debonaire. This cigar starts out mild to medium in strength and body and progresses to medium in the second half.

Overall the 6 x 46 Corona of the Debonaire Daybreak size brought to the forefront the best of what this blend has to offer. It’s a cigar that also is great to smoke out of the box, but seems to get better over time.