Davidoff Celebrates Its Heritage With Two Limited Edition Cigars

Special edition stogies from the renowned Swiss cigar brand.

Swiss cigar icon Davidoff is celebrating the anniversaries of two of their best contemporary lines of smokes, and both celebrations include a limited edition you’ll want to add to your humidor ASAP if you’re a fan of their modern portfolio.

First and most recently, Davidoff is celebrating a decade of its Escurio line with a bourbon barrel fermented limited edition cigar. The Escurio blend highlights Brazilian tobaccos along with traditional Davidoff leaf from the Dominican Republic. The line was first conceived of in 2013 after the launch of Davidoff Nicaragua. Escurio arrived in 2015, featuring what Davidoff calls a “salty-sweet” medium-bodied smoke in a number of quirky new formats. 

For the tenth anniversary of the line, Davidoff’s limited edition showcases some unique tobacco aging. The cigarmaker claims that the tobacco in the new Davidoff Escurio 10th Anniversary Limited Edition is a combined 45 years old between the Dominican and Brazilian leaf. That claim leaves some interesting and unanswered questions, but as with whiskey, age can be quite relative anyway — what matters is flavor.

Speaking of whiskey, Davidoff fermented some of this selection of Brazilian tobaccos in bourbon barrels, which the distillery claims adds deep sweetness to the final cigar. Tasting notes describe a toasty, coffee-forward smoke, starting with flavors of cappuccino, vanilla bean, then spicier flavors of leather and licorice before a mild honey finish. The Davidoff Escurio 10th Anniversary Limited Edition Gran Toro measures 6 inches by 56 ring and comes in boxes of 12. The SRP is $37 per cigar plus any local taxes, for a box total around $450. 

Davidoff also recently announced an anniversary LE for the Avo Syncro Nicaragua line. The Syncro line is very much a release of its time — it was one of the first times that Davidoff had used its increasingly popular Nicaraguan tobaccos in the Avo line. Davidoff launched Davidoff Nicaragua a few years earlier to raving reviews. Rather than release an “Avo Nicaragua” for the portfolio, though, they instead worked to thoughtfully implement Nicaraguan leaf in a blend that fit Avo. 

Ten years later, it’s hard to argue that Nicaraguan leaf has been anything but world-changing for Davidoff’s entire portfolio, but particularly for the Syncro line. In fact, the Syncro line has since expanded to include several other featured blends. The Syncro South America line marries Ecuadoran wrapper and Mexican binder leaves with a multi-country mix of filler tobaccos from Brazil, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. Syncro Caribe, meanwhile, gets its wrapper from the Dominican Republic, its binder from Ecuador, and its fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

As for the anniversary release, it’s available in one size: a 6 5/8 inch by 50-ring box-pressed diadema. They’ll be sold in commemorative boxes of 20, with a $22 price tag per cigar. Tasting notes describe a creamy, full-bodied smoke, with warm spices, brown sugar, cedar, coffee, and developing notes of chocolate and leather as it smokes. Both cigars are available this month — Avo’s already on shelves and the Davidoff arrives April 10.

G. Clay Whittaker is a Maxim contributor covering lifestyle, whiskey, cannabis and travel. His work has also appeared in Bon Appetit, Men’s Journal, Cigar Aficionado, Playboy and Esquire. Subscribe to his newsletter Drinks & Stuff for perspectives on drinks, and stuff.