Today, we review the Davidoff Oro Blanco Special Reserve 111 Years cigar.  This is the second cigar from Davidoff to carry the Oro Blanco name. In 2014, Davidoff released the original Oro Blanco cigar. This cigar was highlighted by tobaccos from a 2000 to 2001 crop grown in the Mao region of the Dominican Republic. Davidoff has always been a player in the ultra-premium space, but with Oro Blanco, they raised the bar with a price point of $500.00 – the highest price to date. Oro Blanco eventually had its price raised to $600.00 before it was retired. Late in 2024, word came of a new Oro Blanco with a new blend and a $750.00 price point. That cigar was the Davidoff Oro Blanco Special Reserve 111 Years.

Oro Blanco is a blend with exquisite packaging made by Davidoff’s most skilled master supervisors with 20 years of experience. However, Davidoff has a fantastic tobacco story. The “111” in the Oro Blanco Special Reserve 111 Years is significant. That is because if you add up the age of the leaves used in the blend, it comes out to 111 years. Not only that, but Davidoff has also said the tobacco is quite rare.

For now, let’s turn our attention to the Oro Blanco 111 Years cigar first, and in our conclusion, we will revisit the elephant in the room, the $750.00 price point.  One final note, this assessment was based on a single smoking experience.

Davidoff Oro Blanco Special Reserve 111 Years – Cigar Review

SPECFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

Like its predecessor, the original Davidoff Oro Blanco, the Oro Blanco Special Reserve 111 Years is a Dominican puro. As mentioned, the Oro Blanco 111 Years is an entirely new blend. Davidoff Oro Blanco 111 Years includes what is considered to be rare tobacco.

• Wrapper: Dominican (Aged 4 Years)
• Binder: Dominican (Aged 20 Years)
• Filler: Dominican (Three leaves each aged 17 years, two leaves aged 18 years)
• County of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: TABADOM Holdings

If you add up the age of the wrapper, binder, and filler, you will come up with the 111 years number.

Davidoff doesn’t map the blend specifics to the wrapper, binder, or filler of the Oro Blanco 111 Years blend. They have disclosed the regions where the Dominican tobacco comes from: Mao, Piloto, Navarrete, Yamasá, and Bonao. According to Davidoff, this is the first time Davidoff has blended with tobacco from Bonao.

Vitolas Offered

The Oro Blanco 111 Years is offered in one size, a 54 x 6 Toro.  The cigar comes packaged in either individual wooden boxes or ten-count wooden boxes.

Appearance (*)

The Dominican wrapper had a classic Colorado reddish tint to it. The wrapper had a light amount of oil on the surface. The surface of the wrapper also had a few visible veins as well as a few visible seams. Upon closer examination, there was a touch of mottling. Don’t let a few veins or mottles fool you, this is quite an exquisite wrapper, and the description and photos probably don’t give it the justice it deserves.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

A straight cut was used to commence the cigar experience. Given that the Oro Blanco 111 Years is a premium cigar priced at $750, precision in your cut is crucial. I encourage you to opt for a straight cut and ensure that the cutter you use has both clean and sharp blades. This attention to detail will help you enjoy the full flavor and quality of the cigar.

As for the pre-light draw experience, there were notes of dusty earth, dried fruit, and a baker’s spice. Overall, this was an excellent pre-light draw experience. At this point, it was time to toast up the Oro Blanco 111 Years and commence the smoking experience.

Tasting Notes

The Oro Blanco 111 Years opened up with more notes of dusty earth, dried fruit, and baker’s spice. In addition, there were notes of milk chocolate and a slight clove note present. Early on, the dried fruit and baker’s spice moved to the forefront. The earth and clove notes settled in the background. As for the chocolate notes, they alternated between the forefront and background. Meanwhile, the retro-hale delivered a slight white pepper note and additional chocolate and fruit sweetness.

The second third of the Oro Blanco 111 Years saw the chocolate notes join the fruit in the forefront. The baker’s spice settled in the background. As the cigar progressed through the second third, the earth notes increased. The Earth’s notes lost their “dusty” characteristics. Just past the midway point, the earth notes became primary. The chocolate and fruit were close secondary notes. Meanwhile, some white pepper emerged not the tongue, and there still were touches of clove present.

The final third saw the earth notes become more dominant. Despite that, there was still a nice amount of flavor from the chocolate, fruit, baker’s spice, pepper, and clove complementing the earth. This is the way the Oro Blanco 111 Years came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

The Oro Blanco 111 Years maintained a straight burn path and a relatively straight burn line. There was an occasional jag on the burn line, but it was minor and self-corrected. The Oro Blanco 111 Years required only minimal touch-ups to maintain an even burn. The resulting ash was mostly firm, with only a few residual flakes appearing from time to time. The ash was light to medium gray in color. The burn temperature was ideal, although the burn rate was a bit slow. Overall, it took about 2 hours and 24 minutes to smoke this cigar. No relights were required.  There were no adverse effects from the slow burn. In fact, it was just the opposite; it prolonged an excellent smoking experience.

Draw

The draw of the Oro Blanco 111 Years was also excellent. It had a touch of resistance to it, which is my preference. At the same time, this was a low-maintenance cigar from which to derive flavor.

Strength and Body

With a cigar with quite a bit of aged tobacco, I was expecting a milder experience. This was not the case with the Oro Blanco 111. This cigar opened up with medium strength and medium to full-bodied flavors. There was a slight increase in the intensity levels along the way, and the strength crept into medium to full territory by the final third. The body increased as well, and came close to approaching full by the end of the cigar experience.

In terms of strength versus body, the body held a slight edge throughout the smoking experience.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

The packaging of the Oro Blanco 111 Years is excellent. There are two bands on the Davidoff Oro Blanco. The primary band resembles the classic Davidoff white band but has a silver trim around the oval, distinguishing it from the standard version. It features the text “SPECIAL RESERVE 111” on the left side.

The secondary band is similar to the one found on the original Oro Blanco. It is white with silver trimming at the top and bottom, and prominently displays the text “ORO BLANCO” in the center. Notably, Eladio Diaz’s signature is absent from the 111 Years band, which was present on the original Oro Blanco band.

The wooden boxes are excellent. These have a contemporary design. Whether you go with the single box or the ten-count box, it has a sliding tray mechanism for removing a cigar.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Let’s start with the score: the Oro Blanco 111 Years received an impressive 94 points. This is the highest rating achieved in 6.5 years on Coop. While this score may seem lower than the original Oro Blanco score of 96, we have recalibrated our scoring system. This cigar was truly spectacular, delivering fantastic flavors. I was glad this was a slow burner because it lengthened the experience. The baker’s spice, dried fruit, and milk chocolate combination was decadent. At the same time, the pepper, earth, and clove kept it grounded and prevented it from becoming overly rich.

The question at hand is whether this cigar is worth the splurge. To put it simply, I would definitely want to smoke this cigar again. While the “Splurge” rating typically applies to expensive cigars, this one is exceptionally pricey, ten to 20 times more costly than many cigars that have received the Splurge designation. I chose not to provide a specific value rating, but it’s important to say that if you are a cigar enthusiast and have the opportunity to try this cigar, you absolutely should. In my opinion, it might even surpass the original Oro Blanco.

The 94 points far exceed the Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence.  The Oro Blanco 111 Years has a complete wow factor here.

Summary

Key Flavors:  Chocolate, Fruit, Baker’s Spice, Earth, Clove, Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Minus
Strength: Medium (1st 2/3), Medium to Full (Last Third)
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Excellent

Rating

Value: n/a
Score: 94
Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence

REFERENCES

News: Davidoff Maduro to be Re-Introduced as Limited Edition
Price: $750.00
Source: Davidoff
Brand Reference: Davidoff

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, unless otherwise specified

(*) Indicates this is not factored into the score or value rating