AVO Expressions Limited Edition 2024

In December 2023, on the AVO brand’s social media account, Davidoff began teasing some sort of collaboration with Derrick T. Jones, better known as D-Nice, a hip-hop DJ and performer who garnered a new wave of recognition during the COVID-19 pandemic for his Club Quarantine live streams on Instagram Live.

Shortly after the teasers emerged, the company said it was developing an AVO cigar with D-Nice, announced as the AVO Expressions Limited Edition 2024. Jones traveled to the Dominican Republic to see Davidoff’s operations, smoke test blends, and do what most people visiting cigar factories end up doing at one point: take pictures in tobacco fields.

As for the cigar, it’s a 6 1/2 x 50 toro extra that has a wrapper from Ecuador, a binder from Mexico, and fillers from the Dominican Republic and the U.S. One of those filler tobaccos was aged in spent bourbon barrels.

Expressions Limited Edition 2024 is a limited edition release, with a total of 6,900 boxes of 15 cigars produced and shipped to stores worldwide.

D-Nice is probably best known for being part of Boogie Down Productions, the hip-hop group that consisted of D-Nice, KRS-One and Scott La Rock. After the dissolution of BDP, Jones continued working in music while also taking an interest in web design and photography. During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, he gained popularity for his Quarantine DJ sessions he hosted on Instagram Live. I recall seeing clips of him smoking cigars during some of these.

Collaborating with D-Nice is part of the AVO brand’s longstanding musical theme. Avo Uvezian, the late founder of the brand, was a famous pianist and composer, a theme Davidoff regularly used for the AVO brand.

• Cigar Reviewed: AVO Expressions Limited Edition 2024
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: O.K. Cigars
• Wrapper: Ecuador
• Binder: Mexico
• Filler: Dominican Republic & U.S.A.
• Length: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Toro Extra
• MSRP: $18 (Box of 15, $270)
• Release Date: April 18, 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: 6,900 Boxes of 15 Cigars (103,500 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

While I cannot know, the wrappers used for this cigar seem thicker than the normal Ecuadorian Connecticut shade leaf. The color is pretty typical, but they have more oil than what I’d consider normal and fairly integrated veins. The first and third cigars have very full, pungent smells with scents of hot pavement and barnyard. The second cigar is medium-full and still pungent, though not as much as the other two, with smells of paint, barnyard and something that reminds me of the smell of hot pavement. Similarly, the first and third cigars have full aromas from the feet and a sweet roasted flavor that reminds me of a generic “something’s baking in the oven smell,” along with some paint and some ammonia. The second cigar is nearly full but has a roasted chicken skin smell. Cold draws taste like animal crackers. Yes, each cigar has animal cracker sweetness edging out acidity, woodiness and some generic red wine tastes.

The AVO Expressions Limited Edition 2024 starts with more dryness than expected. Nuttiness, dry bread, minerals and white pepper are the leading flavors, though I can taste some of the animal cracker, woodiness, barnyard and leather. Pretty early on, I discovered the very fine line between the puff rate that the AVO would like to be smoked at and going too fast. When I smoke at the ideal rate: nuttiness and woodiness, the crust of a loaf of French bread and generic earthiness sit atop creaminess, fruitiness, herbal flavors, acidity, leather and some toastiness. When I puff too quickly, the pepper and toastiness take over and drown out most of the aforementioned flavors. Regardless of puff rate, the finish gets toastiness, though creaminess and soapiness help to cut through it. Pepper can range from barely noticeable to the strongest sensation, though I’m unsure if I can do anything to control it. Similarly, retrohales depend on the puffing rate. Creaminess, medium-dark roast coffee, nuttiness and some floral flavors can emerge, always accented by some sort of pepper. When I smoke too quickly, it’s a barrage of pepper and toastiness. Flavor is full, body is medium-plus and strength is mild. Construction is excellent, though the burn line on the cigar seems thicker than average.

During the first cigar, I wondered if the second third seemed softer because I better understood the puff rate, but I found the second and third cigars to also get softer in the middle part. By “softer,” I mean the edginess of the individual flavors is reduced, almost like the difference between adding black pepper to your steak before you sear it versus the sharper taste of black pepper that is added after the steak is cooked. Similar to the first third,  it’s tough for any individual flavor to consistently rise above the core flavor profile as a standout, but the most common flavor to do that is an unsalted and unbuttered popcorn flavor. It’s joined by creaminess, cedar, bread and nuttiness. The bread flavor often reminds me of a piece of bread that still has bits of flour from the oven. The finish is sharper—like the first third—with popcorn flavors over nuttiness, creaminess, generic harshness and leather. Retrohales haven’t changed much, though floral and red grape flavors seem a bit stronger than before and the dryness is reduced compared to the first third. One cigar has a slightly uneven burn line, though it corrects itself without any assistance from the lighter. I’m happy to report that construction is excellent.

The softening of the AVO Expressions Limited Edition 2024 seems to peak in the middle parts of the cigar. Regarding edginess, the flavors are somewhere between the first and second thirds. Bread and nuttiness are typically the strongest flavors, though sometimes coffee or black pepper will take the top spot. The dryness of the finish reduces a lot, allowing the bread, creaminess and woodiness to show more of themselves than before. Retrohales continue to have a great fruitiness—berries and grapes—along with woodiness, earthiness, leather and a distinct caramel sweetness. Typically, the finish isn’t all that different, though one cigar has some potato chips and onion powder. Flavor is full, body is medium-full and strength is still pretty mild, maybe mild-medium. One cigar needs a touch-up to help with smoke production, the lone construction issue I have with any of the three cigars.

Final Notes

• For years, Davidoff would release the AVO Limited Edition each spring to coincide with Uvezian’s birthday, March 22. The cigars would differ in size and blend, though every March, they would show up. In 2015, Davidoff said it was ending the AVO Limited Edition Series, replacing it with the Improvisation Series. To some degree, there were differences between the two series; on the other hand, eight of the 11 Improvisation Series releases came out in March, most recently in 2022.
• I’m not sure if the Expressions Series will become the next iteration of the annual AVO limited edition released in March tradition, but I would just bring back the concept for good.
• Given the frequency of construction issues with new cigars, it’s nice to be able to smoke a cigar that is more or less free of construction issues. Beyond the negative impacts that construction problems might cause, it’s also nice to not have to worry about it.
• This is a great cigar to learn about the value of keeping the cigar cool by slowing down your smoking rate. When I puffed every 90 or seconds so, the burning sensation tends to be a developed black pepper flavor. If I cut that time in half, I found that sensation presented itself by making every flavor harsher.

• The background of the secondary band has some subtle graphics. Davidoff says that the part to the left of the “e” is a record with a turntable’s arm, while the part on the right is an equalizer. Making substantial adjustments to the contrast of a scanned image of the band shows a lot more detail elements, like “AVO” on the record.
• I am curious to see if partnering with musicians becomes a regular part of the AVO brand going forward. I hadn’t thought of it before, but I think it makes a lot of sense.

• These cigars are listed at 6 1/2 x 50. My understanding is that most factories do not include things like pigtails in the length measurement, so I measure the length below the pigtail, which likely explains the length discrepancy.
• Davidoff advertises on halfwheel.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel. Davidoff of Geneva USA sent a box of cigars, but we are using that for the giveaway. See below.
• Final smoking time is a pretty brisk two hours and 15 minutes.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars Direct, Corona Cigar Co., Famous Smoke Shop and JR Cigar carry the AVO Expressions Limited Edition 2024.

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Update (July 16, 2024) — Congrats to the winner Sean, who left this comment.

Davidoff of Geneva USA sent us a box of the AVO Expressions Limited Edition 2024, now that box can be yours. Leave a comment on this post between now and July 15, 2024 and you’ll be entered to win.

• Must be 21-years-old or older to enter.
• Only open to U.S. residents with a continental United States shipping address.
• Comments must be left on this post on halfwheel.com. 
• Only one comment per person will be counted as an entry.
• Prize is (1) box of AVO Expressions Limited Edition 2024. Shipping to an address in the continental United States is included.
• The winner is selected randomly using random.org.
• Winner will be announced on July 16, 2024.
• Total value is $270.
• Contest rules are here.