On October 8, 2013, Davidoff of Geneva held a gala at the Grand Havana Room in New York City to release the Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary, which commemorates the 25 years Davidoff has been in the retail cigar business. There were only 15,000 cigars made for the release, priced at $20 per cigar.

While it seemed logical that the cigar would only be sold at the Davidoff of Geneva retail locations in New York City, for a one-week period Davidoff of Geneva Distribution Inc. offered appointed merchants the opportunity to purchase the cigar in limited quantities. While it’s unclear how many cigars were sold to other retailers, since that one-week period ended, the remaining cigars have been designated for Davidoff of Geneva’s own stores.

The boxes for the Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary use a red lacquer with gold lettering. They look like this.

Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary Box 1

Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary Box 2

Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary Box 4

Inside the lid is a quote taken directly from what was written by Zino Davidoff himself in the guest book when the Madison Avenue store opened for the first time on June 10, 1987. The inscription captures Zino Davidoff’s excitement at the opening of the store, and he wishes success on the new venture.

Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary Box 3

This is the second cigar celebrating Davidoff’s 25 years of business in the U.S. The company showed off the Davidoff of Geneva 25th Anniversary at the 2013 IPCPR trade show and convention in July, although the cigar actually did not begin to ship nationally until after the Madison Avenue release.

The two releases are:

Davidoff 25th Anniversary Releases

  • Davidoff of Geneva 25th Anniversary (5 x 56) – October 14, 2013 – $22.00 (Boxes of 10, $220.00) – 3,000 Boxes of 10 (30,000 Total Cigars)
  • Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary (6 x 50) – October 8, 2013 – $20.00 (Boxes of 10, $200.00) – 1,500 Boxes of 10 (15,000 Total Cigars) 

But enough about that, lets get down to business, shall we?

Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary 1

  • Cigar Reviewed: Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary
  • Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
  • Factory: Cigars Davidoff
  • Wrapper: Dominican Republic (Yamasa)
  • Binder: Ecuador
  • Filler: Dominican Republic (Vicente & Yamasa)
  • Size: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 50
  • Vitola: Toro
  • MSRP: $20.00 (Boxes of 10, $200.00)
  • Date Released: October 8, 2013
  • Number of Cigars to be Released: 1,500 Boxes of 10 Cigars (15,000 Total Cigars)
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 2

A peanut brown wrapper that is smooth to the touch covers the Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary and it is almost totally devoid of any seams or oil. The cigar is almost hard as a rock when squeezed with very little give. Aroma coming off of the wrapper is a combination of creamy oak, leather, earth and white pepper, while the cold draw has slight flavors of mushroom, leather and creamy oak.

The first third of the Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary starts off with flavors with oak, mushroom, earth, leather, coffee and milk chocolate. There is an interesting buttery note that I am noticing, especially on the finish, and it combines quite well with the sweet milk chocolate and white pepper that is present on the retrohale. The retrohale is also extremely smooth, with just a touch of white pepper that helps the profile, but is not noticeable on the lips. Smoke production is well above average, and construction-wise, the draw has just the right amount of resistance while the burn is excellent. The overall strength is quite mild so far, and ends the first third between the mild and medium marks.

Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary 2

Coming into the second third of the Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary, and the buttery creaminess on the finish increases a bit, while the white pepper on the retrohale remains at roughly the same level. Flavors of sweet nuts, light earth, leather, milk chocolate and coffee blend well with the aforementioned butter note, and the burn and draw continue to impress. Smoke production is still copious and the strength has barely reached the medium mark by the end of the second third.

Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary 3

A wonderful combination of nuts, wood and white pepper are the dominant flavors in the final third of the Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary, while the retrohale brings even more buttery creaminess that really helps the complexity. There is a bit more sweetness present as well—mostly on the finish—as well as more notes of leather, slight earth, coffee, hay and milk chocolate. The amount of smoke coming from the foot has seemed to decrease a bit, but both the burn and draw are still excellent until the end. While the strength has increased slightly, it ends firmly in the medium range by the time I put the cigar down with less than an inch left.

Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary 4

Final Notes:

  • For those wondering, the original Davidoff of Geneva store actually opened on June 10, 1987, which means the official 25th anniversary was June 10, 2012, making this cigar release about 16 months late.
  • The Madison Avenue store is the third location since it was opened in 1987. The original store was located a block north on Madison Avenue, and it moved to another part of the same building before occupying its current location.
  • While the Davidoff of Geneva 25th Anniversary is a Dominican puro, the Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary is not, as it uses a binder from Ecuador.
  • This is a cigar that gets bitter extremely fast if you puff too often, destroying any nuance that the blend has. My advice is to slow down.
  • The finish is wonderful: nutty, creamy and slightly sweet. I personally think that Davidoff cigars have some of the best examples of a complex finish of any brand in the industry, and this release is a perfect example of that.
  • I absolutely love the presentation of the box on this release. The combination of the quote on the inside of the lid, the lacquered outside, the gold type and the sheet inside with the Madison Avenue logo on it is both classy and understated.
  • The overall construction for both samples of the Davidoff Madison Avenue 25th Anniversary were wonderful, with neither the draw nor the burn giving me an issue at any point during the time I was smoking.
  • The cigars for this review were provided by Davidoff of Geneva, which is a halfwheel sponsor.
  • The average smoking time for both samples smoked for this review was one hour and 50 minutes.
  • While none of our sponsors have the Davidoff Madison Ave 25 Years Anniversary in stock, sponsors Cigar King (1.800.669.7167), Famous Smoke Shop (1.800.564.2486) and Mike’s Cigars (1.800.962.4427) are all Davidoff appointed merchants.
90 Overall Score

My main question coming into this cigar was how it would compare to its sister release, the Davidoff of Geneva 25th Anniversary, which I loved. Where the Davidoff 25th has a noticeably sweeter profile, the Madison Avenue 25th is significantly creamier on the finish. The profile is nuanced and decently complex, the construction could literally not get any better, and the buttery note on the finish is excellent.  While not a powerhouse by any means, there is some noticeable strength behind it, and smoke production is well above average. The Davidoff of Geneva 25th is the better cigar, but the Madison Avenue 25th is a wonderful blend in its own right, and well worth picking up.

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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.