Cigar Info
Davidoff Cigars rolled out its Master Selection Series in June 2017, a line of unique cigars blended by Davidoff‘s Master Blender, Eladio Diaz, each year for his own birthday. Today we are reviewing the Davidoff | Master Selection 2008.
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 blend is made of A-Estelí Visus, Piloto Mejorado Ligero, SV Mejorado Ligero, Piloto Mejorado Visus and Piloto Visus with a Negro San Andrés binder and a “Habano” Ecuador wrapper. This blend is said to have a strong, robust and aromatic cigar. Pepper and spice notes combined with honey sweetness give it a powerful flavour. They give it a Strength: 4 out of 5.
All of the Master selection cigars come in a Toro format: 52 RG x 6”/ 2.1 x 15.2 cm. Every cigar has an MSRP $ 35.00 USD per stick. The Master Selection Series are boxed in a simple, rustic, cabinet of ten, with a ‘Master Selection‘ stamp. Every box has a sticker with its own number and the blend creation year. Eladio’s signature appears on the second ring and the box. The year of creation is also on the ring. In Europe, Asia and Global Travel Retail, the cigars are naked and presented in bundles held by a wide gold band.
Eladio Diaz is said to have one of the best palates in the world. He has been working with tobacco since a young age and has developed a passion and unsurpassed expertise in the field. “As a young boy, I had great dreams but small gifts,” he said an interview. “Later in my career, I created my own favorite cigars to celebrate every year of what is my life and passion today.”
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Toro
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 52
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: “Habano” Ecuador
Binder: Negro San Andrés
Filler: A-Estelí Visus, Piloto Mejorado Ligero, SV Mejorado Ligero, Piloto Mejorado Visus and Piloto Visus
Factory: TABADOM
Blender: Eladio Diaz
Number of reviewers: 5 – Ryan H. (Ryan H.) John A. (John A.) Steve (ThaGreatWazoo) Mickey T. (irratebass) David F. (dfafjf)
Price: $35.00
Age: 7 Months
Release Date: June 2017
Contributed by: Davidoff
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 89
“A real nice looking cigar. Appears to be about a toro size. There is a real pleasant creamy milk chocolate looking wrapper. A nice blend on the lines of the wrapper. Overall, the look is of high quality. ” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
Aroma: 88
“Smells fantastic. I’m excited to light this cigar up. Dark cocoa, hints of a sweet vanilla cream (I know that sounds crazy but thats what I’m detecting.) Also some nutty, barnyard smells mixed in. ” –David F. (dfafjf)
First Third
Flavor: 91
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium
“A fair amount of spice and strength at medium+ very pronounced graham cracker also salted carmel sweetness, the spice is subttle but stays with you for quite some time. Burn already has a diviot and a split ash. But draw is very nice” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“From the initial light, strong notes of sweet tobacco with a nice oak finish and perfect draw. Pepper and a slight sweet citrus note that gets stronger throughout this portion… deliciously complex. ” –John A. (John A.)
Second Third
Flavor: 92
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium
“A bit of complexity is beginning to show. The profile is switching from earth to pepper and meat. A nice steak flavor is coming through. Has my mouth watering. A lovely switch for the second third. ” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
“Some mustiness has popped up in the beginning of the second. There is an undertone of walnuts now, and maybe some cream (??) Tar decided to poke it’s ugly head in my v-cut, so i clipped it with a straight cut, and now it’s gone. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Final Third
Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“The final third retains the woody and sweet tobacco flavors from earlier. Towards the backend the flavors tend to mute out and black peppery leather profile begins. Bitterness begins to develop, letting me know its end has come. ” –John A. (John A.)
“Now we are talking. Take me to flavor town. Nutty, creamy, spicy, yum yum! The cigar excels in the final 1/3. Excited to know what it is. Up until this point I wasn’t overly thrilled with it (although it has been a very consistent enjoyable cigar) but now I’m happy. Not overbearing with the spice but a good amount to excite me. The creaminess is also mixed in with the nutty earthy flavors. No one flavor really dominates but everything works well together. ” –David F. (dfafjf)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 94
“Nice open draw, but not too open. Lots of smoke when I puffed and exhaled. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Burn: 93
“Burn was great, no touchups were needed. It burned nice and cool through the duration.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Construction: 89
“A very well put together stick. ” –John A. (John A.)
Overall Strength: Medium-Strong
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Experience Overall: 93
“I would put in for a fiver” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“This was a thoroughly enjoyable stick with its strong points being the first two thirds. Whoever blended this cigar meant to create something special with a very flavorful mix of tobaccos that pleased my pallete immensely. I can only hope the price point on this stick is reasonable so I can stock up!” –John A. (John A.)
“A real gem of a cigar. From start to finish, I was enthralled and engaged with every turn this cigar took me down. The build and look have me thinking top end cigar. Get some of these or lots of these because they are worth it. ” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
“This was a good cigar, but I wasn’t crazy about it. It was just kinda there. No real flavor impacts other than walnuts and a mustiness. Some milk chocolate did show up but didn’t stay long enough to hold my attention. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
“The final 1/3 of this cigar is where it shines. Up unto that point, it is a very enjoyable smoke but nothing I would probably search out for. But once I neared close to the final 1/3 that is where the magic is. Lots of enjoyable flavors come together and supporting each other perfectly. Great peppery spice mixes in with a delicate sweet creaminess. ” –David F. (dfafjf)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 83
Reviewer
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Apr
|
Aro
|
1/3
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2/3
|
3/3
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Draw
|
Burn
|
Const
|
Ovr
All |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ryan H. | 85 | 88 | 90 | 88 | 85 | 90 | 92 | 85 | 88 |
John A. | 90 | 90 | 95 | 97 | 92 | 100 | 92 | 95 | 95 |
Steve | 90 | 88 | 88 | 92 | 92 | 90 | 92 | 90 | 95 |
Mickey T. | 85 | 88 | 85 | 88 | 88 | 90 | 92 | 88 | 88 |
David F. | 92 | 97 | 95 | 95 | 97 | 100 | 95 | 97 | 97 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.