Davidoff has released the details of its latest creation, the Davidoff Limited Art Edition 2017 that will be coming to retailers beginning on June 1.

The cigar uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper, with an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and fillers that include Brazilian Mata Fina and Cubra visos, as well as Dominican San Vicente mejorado visos, Piloto visos and a seco that is a hybrid of olor and pilotico. Davidoff describes it as a creamy and complex blend of sweetness and spice, with flavors of wood, ginger and leather found throughout.

It is being released in a single 6 x 54 toro vitola, priced at $39 per cigar and coming in boxes of 10 cigars.

The art for this year’s release comes from Rodell Warner, a multimedia artist who was born in Trinidad & Tobago. According to a press release from Davidoff, he has exhibited in Kingston, Johannesburg, London, New York, Washington, and Maracaibo. Warner was a recipient of the 2011 Commonwealth Connections International Arts Residency, and he was an artist in residence at Caribbean Linked II in Aruba in 2013, and at New Local Space (NLS) in Kingston, Jamaica, in 2014.

The series will feature five works from Warner under the header Nature Reimagined; those pieces are titled Aerial View; Marble SkyHyper Flower; Sun Scene; and Water Sculpture. There will be 1,000 numbered boxes of each of the five pieces produced, for a total run of 5,000 boxes and 50,000 cigars.

“We quickly learned that what we wanted to discover and communicate is what connects the cigars and the art,” Warner noted in a statement. “What goes into the production is what we care about; with both the cigars and the images. We realized that we are designing experiences that are sought out for the pleasure they give, and that we take pleasure in giving only our best.”

Davidoff says that “Warner was granted free rein to create an entirely new body of work, highlighting both his strengths as a visual artist and Davidoff’s own commitment to excellence in its handcrafted, luxury products.”

The inspiration for the series comes from photographs of the Caribbean islands, with Warner creating a collage of patterns that he turned into a digital three-dimensional object. He then saved images of the digital 3D object viewed from various angles and used these images like puzzle pieces to build the final artwork. He added that he believed his images should reflect the care given to Davidoff’s cigar production, noting that “they are nurtured and crafted to create a visual experience full of texture and surprise; they are impressions made in the spirit of the products they represent.”

In addition, Warner is creating a special series of photographs by projecting the Limited Art Edition images onto subjects, a further maturation from his earlier series First Light and Negatives, which both involved photographs projected onto subjects in increasing degrees of experimentation. The special Collector’s Edition will consist of the Limited Art Edition 2017 cigar box and one photograph signed by the artist from the series, as well as the Davidoff Book Collection. Specific details about that release have not yet been announced.

During Art Basel, Davidoff will host a lounge that seeks to be a creative retreat and forum to exchange ideas and enjoy discourses. It will feature the Limited Art Edition 2017 cigar as well as a selection of works from Warner and previous Limited Art Edition artists Quisqueya Henríquez and Olivia McGilchrist. There will also be a program of talks and salon presentations.

This is the third installment in the Davidoff Limited Art Edition series, joining releases in 2014 and 2016. It was born out of the Davidoff Art Initiative, which supports contemporary art and artists in the Caribbean, strengthens art organizations, and fosters cultural engagement between the Caribbean and the rest of the world. It brings opportunity and visibility to the art and culture of the wider Caribbean region, including the Dominican Republic, where much of Davidoff’s production and many of the employees are based.

A portion of the revenues generated by the Limited Art Edition 2017 will be dedicated to sustaining the Davidoff Art Initiative and supporting young emerging artists from the Caribbean.

Images courtesy of Davidoff of Geneva; all images © Oettinger Davidoff AG 2016.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.