Cigar Info – AVO Regional South Edition
AVO released their first regional edition cigars, East and West, in 2019. Then, in 2020, to follow that up, they released the second version of this series with the North and South regions. We reviewed the north edition last week and gave it a 92. The Avo Regional South Edition is a a torpedo vitola that the company says delivers both balance and complexity.
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
The AVO Regional South Edition torpedo measures 7 x 52. The blend uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, Ecuadorian Connecticut binder, and San Vicente Visus, San Vicente Seco, Honduras Jamastran Seco and Peruvian Seco filler. Each cigar costs $14.00 MSRP and only 4,100 boxes were made worldwide.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Torpedo
Length: 7″
Ring Gauge: 52
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Filler: Honduras, Dominican Republic
Factory: TABADOM
Blender: Hendrik Kelner
Number of reviewers: 4 – Jason H. (Jokey Smurf) Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi) Isaac M. (The Nothing) John I. (John I.)
Price: $14.00
Age: October 2020
Release Date: 4 Months
Contributed by: Davidoff Cigars
Initial Impressions – AVO Regional South Edition
Appearance: 91
“This cigar is presented in a pyramid format with a softly pointed cap that grows gradually in circumference until it reaches the foot. The toothy brown wrapper is mostly blemish-free with a few veins and a slight wrinkle. The rustic look is a good fit for the format.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
Aroma: 88
“The smell of the cigar put an image in my head of an antique leather chair. I could also smell the mahogany and brass tacks used to taut the leather.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
First Third
Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The very first puffs were sharp and acrid… making me apprehensive about the possibilities of this smoke. Fortunately, the flavors quickly settled into earth and leather… focusing primarily on a slightly metallic dirt tang with salty leather on the finish. The ash in the first inch flowered significantly, looking like a cigar from a cartoon.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
“This cigar started off salty as if I had licked a big hunk of pink Himalayan salt. There were flavors of walnut, finished leather, and green peppercorn.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
Second Third
Flavor: 87
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The nutmeg becomes the main focus of the profile with some floral notes joining the pepper in the retrohale. The sweet wood note comes back and stays till the end of the third. As the third comes to a quick close, there is a green vegetal that starts to shine but it is fleeting. The smoke stays thin and the finish does as well.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
“Going into the second third their developed a bready flavor, kind of a rustic white loaf. It was joined by oak wood and still the slightest hint of green peppercorn.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
Final Third
Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“The final portion of this cigar changed completely from the rest as the bitterness and metallic notes left entirely. The new figures are peppery and have hints of baking spices… it’s like I’m smoking an entirely new cigar! Through the nose, the smoke has settled a bit and now doesn’t leave my eyes watering and nose burning. Instead, through the nose, the smoke is enhancing the allspice notes and I’m retrohaling every puff. The ash is solid now as well… literally a completely different experience.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
“This is the best the cigar has to offer. The burn slows down and delivers some sweeter notes. Maraschino cherry and black licorice can be found in abundance now. As it gets closer to the cap it gets really creamy. It definitely goes out on a high note. The smoke becomes thicker and the finish becomes a little longer too.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 88
“The cigar started off quite loose with a single v-cut, which was quite surprising. Going into the final third, however, I had to cut the cigar again as the draw had grown to be quite firm.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
Burn: 86
“Very uneven for the majority of this cigar. Likely contributed to the draw issues.” –John I. (John I.)
Construction: 83
“While it looked good on the outside, there was clearly a mess of things on the inside with the draw that started off too light and finished too tight. Then, of course, the burn issues wreaked havoc on everything.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Experience Overall: 88
“Thank goodness I didn’t decide to toss this early on… the initial flavors were not at all good, and the ash was really frustrating. The final portion, however, was really tasty and the ash was impressively solid. Based upon this, I would love to try another to see if my sample was an anomaly. Now I am intrigued!” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
“If the cigar smoked as well as the last third did I would have loved this cigar, but the first two-thirds were kind of flat for me. I would have expected a longer smoke time cause of the size but I feel like this is a mix-filled cigar so it burned a little quicker than I would have liked. I would recommend this cigar to a newer cigar smoker cause it shows some small transitions and won’t overwhelm them.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
“Man this cigar had some problems burning. At some stages it was like a light switch, going from burning to dead in a moment between puffs. The flavors I found to be quite nice, and the transitions were pleasurable. I think if you can get one that will burn this could be a great cigar. Otherwise, it’s just there to burn up your butane.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
“Not much happening in the flavor arena and the construction issues were tremendously off-putting. Typically I’d want to give something like this another shot assuming the construction was an anomaly, but they’re really weren’t even hints of anything here I’d want to explore in a better-crafted version.” –John I. (John I.)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 77
| Reviewer | Appear. | Aroma | 1/3 | 2/3 | 3/3 | Draw | Burn | Constr. | Overall Experience |
| Jason H. | 90 | 90 | 87 | 83 | 95 | 92 | 92 | 85 | 87 |
| Estevan Z. | 92 | 88 | 87 | 87 | 90 | 92 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Isaac M. | 92 | 92 | 90 | 87 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 82 | 85 |
| John I. | 90 | 88 | 87 | 85 | 85 | 83 | 83 | 80 | 78 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.