Summer of '20 Spotlight: Davidoff of Geneva

Photo Credit: Cigar Coop

Before it was cancelled for 2020, Davidoff of Geneva had not been planning to attend the Premium Cigar Association Trade Show. The company had announced earlier this year that it had pulled out of the Trade Show along with Altadis USA, Drew Estate, and General Cigar Company. Like the other companies, Davidoff formulated its plans for 2020 and what was unique about Davidoff’s approach is that for the most part – the product announcements were made at the very beginning of the year. As a result, the Summer of ’20 wasn’t about Davidoff making new announcements, but more about executing on the announcements that were made.

The COVID-19 pandemic did have an impact on the rollout of several of these new products. In particular, some of the release dates of products in the AVO and Camacho lines were affected. To date, most of the products announced across all three brands (Davidoff, AVO, and Camacho) have been released.

Davidoff

The years 2013 to 2017 will be remembered as the “innovation era” for the Davidoff brand. The Davidoff brand saw many new releases highlighted by the Discovery Series, incorporation of the Winston Churchill brand into the main Davidoff line, and many limited releases. Since 2017’s Davidoff Winston Churchill – The Late Hour, there hasn’t been a new regular production Davidoff line released. Instead, Davidoff has been reaching into the past and for the most part, has been bringing back some of its iconic limited editions for a short encore. These cigars making a return have either been through the traditional appointed merchant channels and/or through the Davidoff Vault program.

This year, Davidoff’s signature release was the «53» Capa Dominicana. This is a cigar that was first released as a limited edition back in 2002. The Davidoff Special «53» Capa Dominicana is a Dominican puro. It was released at a time when creating an all-Dominican cigar was a challenge – particularly when it came to the wrapper. The <<53>> refers to the size of the cigar. The Davidoff Special <<53>> is a 53 ring gauge perfecto that is 6 1/8 inches in length. The Davidoff Madison 515 Toro was released last month.

The Davidoff Robusto Intenso is also making a limited return. This is a cigar last released in 2005 as a limited edition. The Davidoff Robusto Intenso features tobaccos aged up to seven years. The blend ifeatures a highlighted by Davidoff’s proprietary Ecuador 702 wrapper over a Dominican San Vincente binder and Dominican fillers. The cigar is being released in one size – a 5 1/8 x 52 Robusto. The cigars will be packaged in ten-count boxes. There will also be five-count boxes made available for Global Travel Retailers. The cigars are scheduled to ship in September.

Part of the Davidoff Vault Series is the Davidoff Madison 515 Toro. This was originally an exclusive cigar for Davidoff’s Flagship Store on Madison Avenue in Manhattan that is now being released for a limited national run. The cigar itself features a Dominican wrapper over a Mexican binder and all-Dominican fillers. It comes in one size – a 6 x 54. The cigar is sold in a ten-count pack. The Davidoff Vault Series is a vehicle that serves to re-release limited editions and other private collection cigars from Davidoff. The releases come out in small batches with allocations split between the Davidoff of Geneva website and select appointed merchants. The Davidoff Madison 515 Toro was released this month.

AVO

AVO’s strategy included the return of a regular production line, a regional release, and another installment to the Improvisation Series. The brand has moved on following the fallout of the AVO Unexpected Series.

The AVO Maduro, a regular production line that was discontinued during the brand’s makeover in 2015, is coming back. The cigar is now being rebranded as the AVO Classic Maduro. The AVO Classic Maduro is based on the AVO Classic blend, but it replaces the Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. The remainder of the blend consists of Dominican fillers. The AVO Classic Maduro returns in three sizes: Robusto (5 x 50), No. 2 (6 x 50), and No. 3 (7 1/2 x 50) – each presented in 25-count boxes. The box design is in-line with the other AVO regular production offerings. The AVO Maduro had made a return in 2018 as a part of the brand’s 30th-anniversary series. The AVO Classic Maduro has now been released to retailers.

Last year, AVO released a pair of limited edition regional releases with the AVO Regional East and AVO West Editions – which as the name indicates targeted the east and west geographies of the U.S. This year comes the AVO Regional North and South Editions – targeted to the north and south areas of the U.S. The AVO Regional North Edition is a long 6 5/8 x 50 Perfecto featuring a Dominican wrapper over a Dominican Hybrid Olor/Piloto binder and all-Dominican fillers that include the Hybrid Olor/Piloto leaf. A total of 4,250 ten-count boxes have been produced. The AVO Regional South Edition is a long 7 x 52 Torpedo featuring an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper and binder over a blend of Dominican, Honduran, and Peruvian tobaccos. A total of 4,100 ten-count boxes have been produced. Both releases will also be made available to the international market. This cigar has not shipped as of yet.

For the 20th consecutive year, there has been an annual limited edition release. For the past five years, this limited release comes under the AVO Improvisation banner. 2020’s release is dubbed the AVO Improvisation LE20. This is highlighted by an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper over a Dominican Semilla 150 binder, and an all-Dominican filler. The LE20 comes in one size – a 6 1/2 x 50 Toro. It’s packaged in 14-count boxes with a total release of 4,400 boxes worldwide and 2,500 of them slated for the U.S. market. Pricing is set at $16.00 SRP and the cigar was released this past spring.

Camacho

Camacho adds one new core line, and has also released a new installment to its Liberty Series.

Camacho Nicaragua is a new regular production offering. The Camacho Nicaragua features an Ecuadorian wrapper over a Honduran binder and fillers from Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. It will come in three sizes (Robusto, Toro, Churchill) presented in 20-count boxes. Camacho Nicaragua will also be a regular production offering.

Meanwhile, for the 19th consecutive year, there is a Camacho Liberty release. The blend of the Camacho Liberty 2020 features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over a Honduran Corojo binder and a combination of Honduran Corojo and Dominican Tobacco. The blend also undergoes four years of aging. One departure from most of the past releases is that the Liberty 2020 is not the brand’s signature 11/18 viola, but a box-pressed 6 x 60 one. The Liberty 2020 keeps to the tradition of each cigar being packaged in a coffin. The coffins come packaged in 20-count boxes. A total of 4,185 boxes are slated for worldwide release with 2,500 allocated to the U.S. market.