The Best Cigar in the Shop: Davidoff 100 Geneva

Originally published at Tiki Bar Online

Robusto, 5” x 50 ring gauge / $24.95

Well aged. That might be the best description for this stash of Davidoff 100th Anniversary Geneva cigars that Burns got their hands on a few months ago. To make matters clear, Davidoff did produce 2 100th Anniversary cigars; one came out in 2006 to commemorate Zino Davidoff’s 100th Birthday; the other came out about 3 years later to mark the time when his parents moved to Geneva and opened the family tobacco store. This is that second cigar.

Sometime in the last year, the Davidoff factory released a large batch of cigars that had been sitting in their aging rooms for various lengths of time. They did not band them, just put them in cellophane and sent them out. Burns Tobacconist ended up with a good number of some very hard to find cigars, including some Avo LEs, Davidoff LEs, and this 100th Anniversary Geneva.

When asked a couple weeks ago, Jason from Burns told me, “Out of all the cigars we have for sale in the store at this moment, this is the best cigar.” It took me ages to get around to trying one of these…actually it took going to work for Burns. Firstly, I believe it’s easier to sell something when you know something about it (and it’s worked…I have sold several of these to people who have come in). Secondly, well the employee discount helps make a lot of stick more accessible for someone on a fairly limited budget. That being said, if I wasn’t working at Burns now and had to pay full price for this cigar…I probably would try to buy a few before they are gone. Why? Read on…

Appearance is typical Davidoff pristine beauty. Flawless. Oily wrapper. Great construction. A whiff of hay and wood from the wrapper. Fungusy “Davidoff Funk” from the foot. After clipping, I tried out the draw, which turned out to be perfect. The cold flavors were of cedar and wet earth, along with a little saltiness. After lighting, the familiar Davidoff mushroomy flavor is the first thing I tasted, along with some of that saltiness from prelight. A few puffs later, I noted a pepper spice on the nose and deeper earthiness along with more wood on the palate. All of it was wrapped up in a gloriously thick and oily, medium-bodied smoke.

I sat back and enjoyed the Davidoff 100th Anniversary Geneva for over an hour and in the end, found it to be truly one of the finest cigars available at Burns right now. The best? I’m not sure I can fully agree with that, but definitely top 10, maybe even top 5.