Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2018

In 2013, Davidoff Cigars launched its “Discovery Pillar” also known as its black label cigars. This pillar in the Davidoff portfolio has essentially served as an avenue for Davidoff to produce some of its more innovative blends. There have been three lines released under the Discovery Pillar: Davidoff Nicaragua (a Nicaraguan puro), Davidoff Escurio (a blend highlighting Brazilian tobacco), and Davidoff Yamasá (a line using Davidoff’s proprietary Yamasá region tobacco). Late last year, a fourth line was introduced, this one utilizing Florida Sun Grown tobacco grown by Jeff Borysiewicz. This one was a limited edition line known as the Davidoff Florida Sun Grown Selection 2018. Today, we dive deeper and take a look at this cigar.

Davidoff is no stranger to working with the Florida Sun Grown tobacco. There have been two other projects for which Davidoff has used the Florida grown tobacco from Borysiewicz’s farm. These projects include two shop exclusives for Borysiewicz’s retail stores (Corona Cigar and the Davidoff of Geneva Since 1911 Tampa store): Davidoff Corona Cigar 20th Anniversary FSG and the Davidoff Exclusive Tampa FSG. What is different about this cigar is that it is the first Davidoff cigar utilizing the Florida tobacco that was taken to a national level offered to Davidoff Appointed Merchants and Flagship stores.

Outside of the Davidoff release, there are two other companies that offer national releases that utilize the Florida Sun Grown tobacco. This includes the popular Drew Estate FSG line and the recently launched The American by J.C. Newman Cigar Company.

Without further ado, let’s break down the Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2018, and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2018 utilizes tobaccos from four countries: Ecuador, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and the U.S. grown Florida tobacco.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano 2000
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano Jalapa
Filler: Dominican (Yamasá Ligero, Piloto Visus, San Vicente Seco from the Dominican Republic), Estelí Visus from Nicaragua, Sun Grown Seco from Florida (USA)
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Cigars Davidoff

Vitolas Offered

The Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition was produced in one size – a 6 x 52 Belicoso. The cigars are presented in ten-count boxes with a total allocation of 2,500 boxes produced.

Packaging for the Davidoff Florida Selection 2019 (Photo Credit: Davidoff of Geneva)

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Habano 2000 wrapper of the Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2018 had a chocolate brown color with a slight rosado tint to it. The wrapper also had a nice coat of oil on the surface. There were some visible veins and some thin visible veins. The belicoso shape of the cigar also had a moderately tapered tip.

The primary band uses the same design as the rest of the Davidoff Discovery Pillar cigars. This is a black and silver-colored version of the Davidoff White Label design. The background is black with the font text and surrounding trim in silver. The Davidoff scripted logo is on the front. To the left of the logo is the text “LIMITED EDITION”. To the right is the text “GENEVE”.

There is a secondary band just below the primary black and silver Davidoff Nicaragua band. It is gold in color with black trim across the top and bottom. On the center of the band is the text “FLORIDA SELECTION” in black font. To the left and right is a gold etched logo with a sunshine-styled imaged.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

A straight cut was used to remove the tip of the Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2019. The Credo Special T cutter with the 36 ring gauge hole was used to get an ideal cut of the belicoso. This allowed for a smaller ring gauge cut and taking advantage of the tapering of this cigar. After clipping the tip, it was on to the pre-light draw stage. The dry draw delivered notes of classic wood, cedar, and a subtle lemon-citrus sweetness. I considered this to be a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, I was ready to toast Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2019 and await what the smoking experience would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2019 commenced with notes of chocolate, classic wood, lemon, earth, and black pepper. In the very early stages, the chocolate note had a slight edge, but it quickly receded into the background giving way to the classic wood and lemon sweetness. There were also notes of earth and black pepper in the background. The retro-hale delivered a nice sweet lemon and pepper fusion.

As the Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2018 moved into the second third, the classic wood notes morphed into a cedar note. The cedar and lemon notes were the forefront as the cigar progressed through the second third. The pepper and earth notes still remained secondary.

By the midway point, the cedar notes took a slight edge over the lemon sweetness. The pepper notes increased becoming a close secondary note. There still were notes of earth present, but the chocolate notes had dissipated. There wasn’t much change to the Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2018 as the cigar moved through the final third. The resulting nub was slightly soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

While the Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2018 maintained a straight burn path overall, it required some touch-ups above the norm. The resulting ash wasn’t overly firm. This was an ash that had a silver-gray color to it. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

Burn of the Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2018

Draw

The Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2018 had a touch of resistance on the draw – which is something that I like. At the same time, the smaller ring gauge where the cut was placed did not constrict the flow of the draw.

Strength and Body

In terms of strength and body, the Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2018 started out in the medium range. As the cigar experience progressed, both the strength and body increased in intensity in a linear fashion. Just past the midway point, both attributes progressed into medium to full. Both the strength and body continued to increase in intensity during the second half, but at a slower rate.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

In the past 18 months, Davidoff has focused on bringing back many of its classic limited releases for an additional limited run. While this is something that I can see excites a lot of people, I’m more excited about seeing Davidoff continue to deliver innovative products. While certainly, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deeming Rules has put a monkey-wrench into it, it’s still good to see the innovation. The Davidoff Florida Selection Limited Edition 2018 is one such example. While some of the flavors might not seem exciting on their own, put them together and they perform like a symphony. This is also a Davidoff cigar that is going to be bolder than most of the white label offerings. In the end, this is a cigar I would recommend to either an experienced cigar enthusiast or a novice looking to progress to something “medium plus.” This is a cigar I would buy and smoke again – and even at a near $30.00 price point, it’s worthy of multiples for your humidor.

Summary

Key Flavors: Cedar, Lemon, Black Pepper, Chocolate, Classic Wood
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Minus
Strength: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Body: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Very Good