Davidoff Master Selection 2012 (english)

 Davidoff 

Master Selection 2012

For a while, Davidoff competed with Marvel because they also had their superheroes, their Fantastic Four, with among others Eladio Diaz (the alchemist) but also Hendrik Kelner, Hamlet Espinal and Manuel Peralta. Each one had his own specification and knowledge. When in 84, Eladio joined Kelner who had just created Tabadom (the Davidoff factory in Rep. Dom. ), he had been rolling cigars for 5 years.

It was in 1991 that his career exploded and he became the alchemist by becoming a master blender; he creates cigars from tobacco, which can come from anywhere in the world. It's a bit like medieval alchemy in which practitioners tried to create precious metals from base metals. The big difference is that he achieves a result far greater than the sum of their individual components. Diaz was intimately involved in the creation of Davidoff's Dominican mixtures; he never let up. Winston Churchill, Davidoff's Millennium Blend, Yamasá and Escurio, and Zino Platinum are just a few of the blends Diaz has worked on over the years.

Her job was also to train and teach the young people of Tabadom the art of blending so that the company would remain a leader in cigar making for years to come. With all that the company owed her, she had established a tradition: Eladio would roll a cigar for his birthday, an exceptional cigar and often with aged and rare tobaccos.

When he retired, the tradition continued. Each year, the highly trained members of the Davidoff Master Blending Competence Centre gather in the Dominican Republic to celebrate a new anniversary of Davidoff White Band cigars (Davidoff Aniversario, Davidoff Dominicana, Davidoff Grand Cru, Davidoff Millennium, Davidoff Signature, Davidoff Winston Churchill The Original Series, Davidoff Winston Churchill The Late Hour Series. )

Since a while and with their agreement, a small quantity of these cigars are put on sale to allow us to discover and appreciate them.

If the 2014 version featured Julio Ramirez, one of the Master Rollers, the 2012 version features Pedro Pablo Perez, director of production, quality and innovation at Davidoff. And it is his signature that we find on the 7,000 boxes distributed worldwide, right next to the numbering of them.

To bring out the old-fashioned look, they come without cellophane in a rustic wooden box and held in place by a silk cord.

I have a Toro type cigar with a nice wrapper covered with sublime veins: I have always appreciated this vein side which gives a living aspect to the leaf. Of course the leaves have to be trimmed because the center vein is too thick. Too many people complain about the other veins, however, if they are well flattened (as it is very often the case), they are an integral part of the cigar.

My cigar has two bands, in white, black and gold. One classic with just Davidoff, Geneva & Limited Edition, and the other The Master Selection 2012.

So the work in black (the blend) was conceived in 2012, the work in white (the roll) two years ago and the work in red (the distribution) this year. I leave it to you to calculate the age of the tobaccos that go into this philosopher's stone that is this Master Selection.

A short moment of contemplation then I practice my cutting and lighting ritual.

Cold, I'm really into a Dominican and Davidoff with that barnyard, dry hay, oily earth and cedar feel.

A good dose of smoke arrives from the start; the ignition is perfect and the draw a pure wonder. I notice directly the old tobacco aspect: no unpleasant spiciness, no sensation of mineral that tears and no ammonia smell.

This bodes well for the future...

A slight salt lining my lips as my mouth fills with smoke accompanied by almond flavors. The first centimeter reveals a powerful cigar but this quickly fades: I think that the Yamasá tobaccos visus of the filler, which were aged in Bourbon barrels, have largely entered the dance and bring this soothing sweetness by injecting a dose of coffee cream and that at the expense of the fat earth and oak. This brings a very interesting balance.

While continuing my tasting, I have a touch of vanilla which titillates me, you know from reading me that it is not a flavor that I particularly appreciate but in small doses as it is the case here it remains pleasant.

We are in hunting season and yet the leather I feel has nothing to do with this period; it makes me think of old tanned leather that has already lived well, like Aurora's deer skin drum (mine is made of buffalo skin). And it makes its entrance with great pomp and circumstance!

I slow down the pace to take full advantage of this moment of plenitude and go to the discovery of other flavors; but before, a small retro-olfaction to have a slightly spicy cigar in the nostrils. I am not at the end of my surprises since my tasting takes airs of white pepper coated with a nuance of acidulous citrus.

The combustion becomes a little irregular but this is minimal and it regulates itself. The quantity of smoke is imposing; it is in a fog that I finish my tasting and that I am going to deposit with respect the butt on the Mother Earth.

The tastings of two Toro modules of 15.2 cm for a cepo of 52 were carried out for the writing of this article.

Wrapper : Ecuador

Binder : Hybrid 192 Seco (Dom. Rep.)

Filler: San Vicente Mejorado Visus, Bourbon cask aged Yamasá Visus, Piloto Seco, Hybrid Corojo/Olor Ligero, Dominican Criollo Visus (Rep. Dom)

In conclusion: I think that the Yamasá leaf has favorably influenced my tasting because if I prefer a more powerful vitola, the balance brought by this one has glued me. If I enjoyed the 2014, I have a small preference for the 2012. By the way, Davidoff will have to stop making excellent cigars otherwise he will still be grumbling when I list my 20 best tastings of this year. In the meantime, if you want to make your own opinion, I invite you to go to one of the Davidoff stores to acquire this jewel while there is still some left.

Price at the time of broadcast: 33 euros.

 

We all share something really special. The joy of fun and precious things. That's what family is all about.

Pedro Pablo Perez, Director of Production, Quality and Innovation.