Today, we review the Davidoff Maduro in the Toro size. Davidoff is not a company that is well-known for having a large number of Maduro releases, especially in their Dominican-made products. Under their flagship Davidoff line, a Maduro release was introduced in 2008. However, by 2016, Davidoff had discontinued the Davidoff Maduro, thus leaving its flagship brand without a Maduro offering. Fast forward to earlier this year, when the Davidoff Maduro re-appeared at the 2024 Procigar festival. About a month later, the Davidoff Maduro was announced as the company’s latest limited offering.

The Davidoff Maduro released in 2024 is a different blend than the one released in 2008. This cigar is highlighted by a dark Ecuadorian wrapper, rather than the dark Dominican wrapper used in 2008. While the 2008 Davidoff Maduro was a regular production offering, Davidoff has stated that the 2024 release is a limited one, but has not indicated what exactly that means.

Let’s break down the Davidoff Maduro Toro without further ado and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Davidoff Maduro Toro (2024) – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Davidoff Maduro is highlighted by a dark Ecuadorian wrapper using a Corte #7 grade. The remainder of the blend consists of Mexican and Dominican tobaccos.

Davidoff invested 16 months of fermentation and two years of aging on this cigar.  This wrapper leaf grows on the upper part of the tobacco plant, where it receives the most sunlight, which results in a thicker structure. This, in turn, has led to a more extended fermentation period. Davidoff says the longer fermentation has increased the sweetness of the wrapper.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Maduro Corte #7
Binder: Mexican
Filler: Dominican Republic
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Cigars Davidoff

Vitolas Offered

The Davidoff Maduro is being released in three sizes: Short Corona, Robusto, and Toro. Each comes in 20-count boxes. One interesting thing is that the cigar’s ring gauge matches the U.S. MSRP. In this case, the 6 x 54 Toro is priced at $54.

Short Corona: 4 x 43
Robusto: 5 x 50
Toro: 6 x 54

Appearance (*)

Davidoff’s efforts on the wrapper of the Davidoff Maduro also paid off aesthetically. The Ecuadorian Maduro wrapper had a beautiful cocoa shade of brown. The surface of the wrapper had a light coating of oil on it. While there were some visible wrapper seams and veins on the surface of the wrapper, there was still a pristine quality to the wrapper.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

Before lighting the Davidoff Maduro Toro, a straight cut was made to remove the cap. Once the cap was removed, it was time to commence with the pre-light draw ritual. The cold draw delivered notes of cocoa, leather, and a slight amount of pepper. There wasn’t anything radically different flavor-wise that the Davidoff Maduro Toro brought to the table, but it did deliver excellent flavors on the pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to toast up the Davidoff Maduro Toro and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Davidoff Maduro Toro opened with notes of cocoa, fruit, and earth. The cocoa notes didn’t take long to move into the forefront, while the fruit and earth notes settled in the background. The sweetness that Davidoff advertised for this cigar was spot on, but it was not overpowering. As the cigar moved through the first third, some mixed pepper emerged, on the tongue. Meanwhile, there was a mix of cocoa and pepper in the retro-hale.

During the second third of the Davidoff Maduro Toro, the cocoa notes remained grounded in the forefront. Meanwhile, the fruit, earth, and pepper notes remained in the background. The pepper notes gradually increased throughout this third—on both the tongue and the retro-hale. The sweetness from the first third remained.

The final third saw the earth notes displace the cocoa notes. The pepper was the second most prominent note in the background. The fruit and cocoa delivered some sweetness, but there was a drop in sweetness from the first two-thirds. This is how the Davidoff Maduro Toro came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

The burn of the Davidoff Maduro Toro performed excellently. This cigar maintained a straight burn path and straight burn line without an excessive amount of touch-ups. The resulting ash was a near medium-gray color. It was not overly firm but not loose, either. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature maintained ideal levels.

Draw

The draw of the Davidoff Maduro Toro also performed excellently. This cigar had a touch of resistance, and if you have read many of my reviews, you know this is the sweet spot for me.

Strength and Body

The Davidoff Maduro Toro delivered a medium-strong and medium-bodied cigar experience from start to finish. While the intensity levels increased nominally along the way, the strength and body remained in the medium range of their respective spectrums.

The body maintained the edge throughout the smoking experience in terms of strength versus body.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

On the positive side, I like Davidoff Maduro’s presentation. The white wooden boxes are a nice touch, and the black and gold labels are excellent. The cigars have a classic Davidoff white band with a black and gold secondary band.

I also like the fact that the Davidoff Maduro boxes were upgraded to a more elegant look from the old cabinet boxes. The problem is that the cigar banding is still relatively the same—namely, the Davidoff white band with the black and gold secondary band. I would have put something on the 2024 band to distinguish that this as a different blend than the 2008 release.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

I was quite pleased to see Davidoff re-introduce a Maduro offering – although I firmly believe a different blend should be a different cigar. However, branding doesn’t influence the score – it’s performance. The Davidoff Maduro Toro delivered some pleasant flavors in the first two-thirds. The final third became ordinary. There wasn’t a lot of complexity to this blend and there were points I was waiting for this cigar to do something amazing. The cigar was good, but it didn’t deliver on amazing.

The cigar comes in at a solid 89. The Davidoff Maduro Toro price is $54.00, that’s a hefty price tag. We recently introduced two new value ratings (separate from the merit score, where we determine a purchasing recommendation). These value ratings are geared toward ultra-premium cigars over $29.99. The Davidoff Maduro Toro comes in with a Don’t Splurge. This is a little different from a Not Recommended. This means this cigar is just too expensive to splurge on. If the price were lower, then it would be worth considering.

Summary

Key Flavors:  Cocoa, Earth, Fruit, Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Minus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good

Rating

Value: Don’t Splurge
Score: 89

REFERENCES

News: Davidoff Maduro to be Re-Introduced as Limited Edition
Price: $54.00
Source: Davidoff
Brand Reference: Davidoff

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, unless otherwise specified

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

 

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