Today, we review the AVO Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023, the fourth and final installment of the 2023 AVO Seasons series.

AVO is a brand with over two decades of limited edition releases going back to 2001. From 2001 to 2014, the series was used for commemorative birthday releases for brand founder Avo Uvezian. Many of them coincided with Uvezian’s March 22 birthday. In 2015, the series morphed into the AVO Improvisation Series, which also were limited editions (“improvised” or based on existing AVO products). In 2022, Davidoff announced that AVO Cigars would be retiring the annual series as we know it. Then, in 2023, the inaugural AVO Seasons Limited Edition series was launched. As the name indicates, this is a series of four cigars that each pays homage to one of the four seasons: spring, summer, fall (autumn), and Winter. AVO returned to a single limited edition release with AVO Expressions for 2024.

AVO Seasons Limited Edition 2023 Series

Each of the four Seasons cigars features a different blend offered in a Diadema vitola format. AVO says each cigar blend is meant to be enjoyed in the season for which it was named. Continuing with information on the series, the following are the four AVO Seasons Limited Edition cigars released for 2023 (with the wrapper in parentheses). Each cigar has a unique and distinct blend. In addition, each of the blends contains a (undisclosed) tobacco that has been aged for 14 years.

AVO Seasons Spring (Ecuadorian Corojo)
AVO Seasons Summer (Ecuadorian Corojo)
AVO Seasons Fall (Mexican San Andres)
AVO Seasons Winter (Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade)

Incidentally, the idea of a limited-edition cigar series named and released for each of the four seasons is not new. Rocky Patel Premium Cigars introduced a similar concept back in 2008.

Now, let’s turn our attention back to the AVO Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023 cigar and see what it brings to the table.

AVO Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023 – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023 features an Ecuadorian-grown Connecticut Shade wrapper. The remainder of the blend is made of Dominican tobacco. Production came from the O.K. Cigars factory in the Dominican Republic.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: O.K. Cigars

Vitolas Offered

The Seasons Fall Limited Edition 2023 comes in one size—a 50 x 6 5/8 Diadema. The cigars are presented in ten-count boxes, and 4,000 boxes were produced.

Appearance (*)

While it wasn’t “golden brown”, the Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper of the Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023 had a classic light brown color seen on many Connecticut-seed shade wrappers. There was not much oil on the surface of this wrapper. There were some visible veins. The wrapper seams were minimally visible. The Diadema has two gentle tapers on each end of the cigar. The head of the cigar has a cap on it while the footer is open.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

Like I have done on Seasons cigars in the past, I used a straight cut to commence the smoking experience of the Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023, removing about three-fifths of the tip to still allow for a tapering effect on the smoking experience. From that point, it was on to the pre-light draw ritual.

Tasting Notes

The Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023 opens with notes of wood, orange peel, natural tobacco, and baker’s spice. Early on, the natural tobacco and orange peel moved into the forefront. As for the wood and baker’s spice, there was a mild layer of black pepper on the retro-hale.

The second third of the Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023 saw an increase in the wood notes. Just past the midway point, the wood joined the natural tobacco, and the orange peel was at the forefront. Meanwhile, some black pepper notes were added to the flavor profile. There also was a decrease in the baker’s spice notes.

The final third saw the orange peel notes take over as the sole primary note. There was a slight bitter component to the orange peel. The wood and natural tobacco notes receded in the background, joining the baker’s spice and pepper. By the end of the cigar experience, there was a slight muddling of the flavors. This is how the Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023 came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

The Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023 delivered an excellent burn. There was a little bit of jaggedness from time to time, but overall, the cigar maintained a straight burn path. Any touch-ups needed were cosmetic. The resulting ash was mostly medium gray, on the firm side. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

Draw

The draw to the Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023 was on the open side. I usually prefer a little more resistance on the draw, but in the end, the draw didn’t cause any adverse effects.

Strength and Body

In terms of strength and body, the Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023 delivered a medium-strength and medium-bodied smoking experience from start to finish. Strength was on the lower end of medium, while the body was a dead-center medium. There wasn’t much variance in the intensity levels of strength and body. When it came to strength versus body, the body had a slight edge over strength.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

As I’ve mentioned, the packaging for the Seasons Series’s Spring, Summer, and Fall installments has been quite impressive. The blue and gray color scheme of the Seasons Winter Limited Edition was my favorite of the four. The packaging definitely delivers a winter vibe. The only drawback is that, like many AVO cigars, the band was challenging to remove.

Box of the AVO Seasons Winter Limited Edition 2023 (Photo Credit: Davidoff of Geneva)

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Of the four AVO Seasons, I felt the Winter blend did the best job of representing the season it was blended for. Seasons Limited Edition 2023 came out of the gate fantastic. For the first two-thirds, I felt this might finish the best of the four blends. Regarding the final third, some of the muddling and bitter notes took things down. As I said with the Fall Edition, Winter is not a bad cigar. If you want to smoke through the four-cigar collection, you will probably want to pick this up. In the end, I recommend trying a sample (which is getting hard as these cigars become more scarce). Still, in the end, I’m much more likely to reach for the Spring and Summer editions first.

Summary

Key Flavors: Wood, Orange Peel, Natural Tobacco, Baker’s Spice, Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good