Davidoff Club Humidor 20th Anniversary

During the 2014 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show in July, Davidoff announced plans for an anniversary program that would give retailers who carry the company’s flagship White Label brand a way to commemorate anniversaries with a special Davidoff of their own.

Each year Davidoff will choose a specific size and offer it to Appointed Merchants who are celebrating major anniversaries. Charlie Minato described the program a few weeks ago:

We are told that the blends are not identical to existing Davidoff blends, for example, you should not be able to choose a Millennium Blend in a 5 1/4 x 54 format—and that multiple retailers could in theory choose the same blend. Each retailer must purchase at least 300 boxes of 10, although they can order more and the cigars are shipped at the same time.

There were four retailers that decided to take part in the program this year.

• Davidoff Blend Bar Cigar Inaugural Anniversary (5 1/4 x 54) — $29.50 (Boxes of 10, $295)  — 500 Boxes of 10 (5,000 Total Cigars)
• Davidoff Cigarz on the Avenue (5 1/4 x 54) — $34.99 (Boxes of 10, $349.90)  — 500 Boxes of 10 (5,000 Total Cigars)
• Davidoff Club Humidor (5 1/4 x 54) — $20 (Boxes of 10, $200)  — 300 Boxes of 10 (3,000 Total Cigars)
• Davidoff Tobacconist of Greenwich JGL 40 Years (5 1/4 x 54) — $20 (Boxes of 10, $200)  — 400 Boxes of 10 (4,000 Total Cigars)

Keith Rumbo, who owns Club Humidor with his wife Tiffany, told us that he did not want to know the blend of the cigar. He and his staff simply smoked the available blends and picked which one they liked the best.

As the name implies, the Davidoff Club Humidor 20th Anniversary commemorates the San Antonio, Texas-based retailer’s 20th year in business. Club Humidor selected to have 300 boxes made and priced the release at $20 per cigar. It was introduced to customers on Oct. 11 at the retailer’s annual cigar dinner.

• Cigar Reviewed: Davidoff Club Humidor 20th Anniversary
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Cigars Davidoff
• Wrapper: n/a
• Binder: n/a
• Filler: n/a
• Size: 5 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Robusto Gordo
• MSRP: $20 (Boxes of 10, $200)
• Release Date: Oct. 11, 2014
• Number of Cigars Released: 300 Boxes of 10 (3,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 3

Covered in a golden brown wrapper that is parchment-like to the touch and shows almost no sign of oil, the Davidoff Club Humidor 20th Anniversary is just a tad spongy when squeezed. There are almost no seams visible at all, but there does seem to be some bumps running up and down the length. Aroma from the wrapper is a combination of barnyard, creamy nuts, hay, manure and white pepper, while the cold draw brings flavors of strong oak, leather, cinnamon and creamy nuts, along with a touch of spice on my tounge.

The cigar starts off immediately with a dominant flavor of creamy almonds interspersed with oak, along with lesser notes of leather, dark cocoa, barnyard and bitter espresso. I am noticing a touch of musky mushroom every once in a while, but it is fairly light so far. There is a nice, slight maple sweetness on the finish that seems to be getting stronger as the first third burns down and the smoke production coming from the foot is well above average so far. Construction-wise, the burn is excellent so far and the draw is just a touch loose, although not bad enough to detract from the overall experience. The strength is nearly non-existent so far and ends the first third closer to mild than the medium mark.

As I expected, the maple sweetness on the finish increases enough to be come a dominant player in the profile during the second third of the Club Humidor 20th Anniversary, although the creamy almond note is still very present as well. Other flavors include barnyard, coffee, mushroom, leather and oak along with some slight grain notes. I am picking up an interesting peppermint note on the retrohale that combines quite nicely with the rest of the profile, along with a touch of white pepper. The draw tightens up and the burn remains excellent. The overall strength increases slightly, although it still has not hit the medium mark yet.

The creamy almond flavor is replaced by a distinct oatmeal flavor interspersed with the maple sweetness that is still present from the second third, a wonderful combination that dominates the final third. Other flavors of mushroom, leather, espresso, oak and hay flit in and out, but none come close to the strength of the aforementioned notes. The peppermint on the retrohale is long gone at this point, but the white pepper remains. Both the burn and draw continue to impress, and the overall strength manages to hit the medium mark by the time I put the nub down with a little more than an inch left, albeit just barely.

Final Notes:

• Club Humidor was founded by Keith’s father, Ralph Rumbo. Keith and his wife Tiffany eventually started their own locations, while other family members owned other stores. By 2009, Keith and Tiffany had acquired all the locations and unified them under the Club Humidor name.
• The vitola for the retailer exclusives next year has already been announced as a toro.
• Davidoff’s Kris Miller told us that the Davidoff of Geneva Las Vegas stores would be getting their own 15th anniversary cigar this year, but it’s unclear what the status of that project is.
• Interestingly, the size of the anniversary releases for this year is identical to Davidoff’s Oro Blanco, the new $500 cigar Davidoff began shipping last week.
• Club Humidor is one of the 10 U.S. retailers that will carry Oro Blanco.
• The San Antonio store also has a Davidoff lounge in one of its stores. Coincidentally, Tobacconist of Greenwich also has a Davidoff lounge, will carry Oro Blanco and had an anniversary cigar made for it this year.
• You can see the portrait I took of Hendrik “Henke” Kelner at Club Humidor during the opening of their Davidoff Lounge here.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Davidoff advertises on halfwheel.
• The final smoking time for all three of the samples averaged one hour and 20 minutes.
• If you would like to purchase any of the Davidoff Club Humidor 20th Anniversary, the only place you can get them is at Club Humidor in San Antonio. Don’t forget to tell them halfwheel sent you.

Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.