Davidoff Aniversario No. 1 Limited Edition Collection

In 1986, Davidoff released a cigar to celebrate the 80th birthday of Zino Davidoff, bearing the appropriate name of Davidoff 80 Aniversario. The cigar debuted at a time when the company was still making cigars in Cuba; in fact, it was the last new Cuban Davidoff to be released. It was notable also for its massive size—the cigar was officially listed 9 1/4 x 47 though Cuban Cigar Website says it was closer to 8 2/3 x 48—and unique packaging options, which included cigars coming in wooden tubes and boxes that swung open with cigars packed on both sides.

In the 1990s, Davidoff moved its cigar production from Cuba to the Dominican Republic. One of the cigars new Dominican Davidoffs to be made was the Aniversario, which became its own line, including a 8 2/3 x 48 double corona size called No.1. However, Davidoff discontinued the Aniversario No.1 and the No.2 vitolas—the latter cigar was a 7 x 48 Churchill—along with the entire Puro d’Oro line during a restructuring that took place in 2016.

Earlier this year, Davidoff announced it was bringing back the Aniversario No. 1—albeit as a limited release instead of a regular production release—packaged in 10-count boxes. While nine cigars of cigars in the box are packaged in cellophane, one cigar is packaged in a large wooden tubo in a nod to how the cigar was originally sold.

 

As was the case with the original release, the newest incarnation of the Aniversario No. 1 is made with a Connecticut-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador covering a binder also grown in Ecuador and a filler blend made up of Dominican piloto viso, San Vicente viso and San Vicente Mejorado viso tobaccos. The MSRP for each cigar is set at $64 in the U.S., and the release is limited to a total of 6,500 boxes of 10 cigars—although it should be noted that the release is also being sold internationally—which started shipping to retailers in mid-October.

• Cigar Reviewed: Davidoff Aniversario No. 1 Limited Edition Collection
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Cigars Davidoff
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Connecticut)
• Binder: Ecuador
• Filler: Dominican Republic (Piloto Viso, San Vicente Viso and San Vicente Mejorado Viso)
• Length: 8 2/3 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 48
• Vitola: Double Corona
• MSRP: $64 (Box of 10, $640)
• Release Date: October 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: 6,500 Boxes of 10 Cigars (65,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The first thing I noticed about the Davidoff Aniversario No. 1 is pretty obvious: this thing is huge. In fact, I can actually wrap both hands around the cigar and still have an inch and a half left over. After I get over the physical aspects of the cigar, other characteristics become noticeable, including the golden brown wrappers that are silky smooth to the touch and seem to glow when I put them in sunlight. All three cigars have at least one protruding vein—although none of them are overly distracting—and all three are nicely firm when squeezed, other than identical soft spots just under the cap. Aromas from the wrappers are fairly faint, but I can make out notes of generic nuts as well as woodiness, barnyard, white pepper, floral and vanilla sweetness. Notes from the feet are quite a bit more obvious with dry hay leading creamy nuts, earthiness, nutmeg and sweet cedar as well as a small amount of white pepper. Finally, after straight cuts, all three cigars exhibit flavors of creamy cashews, hay, cedar, earth, white pepper, nutmeg and brewed espresso.

All three cigars light up very easily, and all three start with the same combination of espresso bitterness, earth and a touch of spice on my lips. After about eight puffs, the profile transitions in a significant way, with flavors of peanut butter and creamy hay easily outpacing secondary notes of yeast, toasted bread, leather, cinnamon, and dark chocolate. There is also some very complementary white pepper combined with some distinct fondant sweetness present on the retrohale, both of which do seem to be getting stronger as the first third down. The flavor is at medium-plus, while both the strength and body lag behind at just under medium and mild-plus, respectively. There are no issues at all when it comes to construction, with all three cigars exhibiting razor-sharp burn, excellent draws and copious amounts of smoke.

While creamy hay and peanut butter continue to top the profile of the Aniversario No. 1s during the second third, two of the cigars develop a noticeable—albeit fleeting—grapefruit flavor on the finish. Additional flavors of leather tack, plain oatmeal, brewed coffee, earthiness and a slight charred meat note flit in and out at various points, while the combination of fondant sweetness and white pepper continues to dominate the retrohale. The strength hits a solid medium by the end of the second third, and the body increases to a point just under the medium mark, but the flavor is the big gainer as it easily passes into the full territory after the halfway point. One cigar has a minor issue that needs to be corrected with my lighter, but the burn line on the other two is razor-sharp, and there are no problems with either the draws or the smoke production for any of the cigars.

Although the main flavors of rich peanut butter and creamy hay do not change during the final third of the Davidoff, there are a couple of new secondary flavors, including dry tea leaves and pizza crust. The secondary flavors also include dank earth, coffee beans, powdery cocoa nibs, earth, cinnamon and a very slight floral note that is present for no more than six puffs before dissipating. Sadly, the grapefruit note on the finish is long gone, but the fondant sweetness and white pepper are still going strong on the retrohale. The flavor remains at full, and the body remains at a point just under the medium mark, but the strength increases slightly to land at a point just over medium. Finally, the construction for all three cigars is once again unblemished during the final third, as the burn lines, draws and copious smoke production all work together with no issues until I put the nubs down with about an inch remaining.

Final Notes

• Legend has it that the Aniversario No. 1 was created for Zino Davidoff after he said he wanted a cigar that he could light up while he was still 79 and smoke well into the first hours of his 80s.
• The Aniversario No. 1 is actually one of three different regular production cigars that were discontinued at some point in the past that Davidoff has rereleased this year as limited editions, following the Davidoff Classic No. 1 and Davidoff Millennium Blend Lancero. According to the company, a fourth cigar is planned in the same vein at some point in the future, but no further information has been announced about that cigar yet.
• A small number of people were able to smoke the new Davidoff Aniversario No. 1 about a month before its release during a dinner event that halfwheel and Davidoff put on at Tei-An.
• The construction on these three cigars could hardly be any better: other than a minor correction on one cigar, the burn lines rarely wavered, the draws were excellent and there was a copious amount of thick, gray smoke. Just a joy to smoke in that regard.
• All three of my cigars had a large soft spot in between the cap and the main band. However, I did not notice any negative effects that could be attributed to it.

• In addition to the above, when I took the cigars out of our box in order to photograph them in the studio for this review, I noted that the wrapper of two of the cigars in our box had a strange mark on them close to the foot.
• Davidoff of Geneva USA advertised on halfwheel.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel. During the aforementioned Tei-An event, Davidoff gave us a few of these cigars, none of them were used for this review.
• Our box of Davidoff Aniversario No. 1 was numbered 16,591/20,800.
• This is a very long vitola, so the fact that the average final smoking time came in at two hours and 48 minutes was not exactly a surprise.
• If you would like to purchase any of the Davidoff Aniversario No. 1 Limited Edition Collection, site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Famous Smoke Shop and JR Cigar all have them for sale on their respective websites.