Tag Archives: Davidoff of Geneva

January 4, 2026 · 9:14 am

Davidoff, Rojas and San Lotano Cigars and the Giveaway Winner

Happy New Year! Another year of writing stuff about cigars! I’m a few years away from the twentieth anniversary of CigarCraig.com, I’ll have to come up with something big to celebrate. Speaking of celebrations, last Wednesday was New Years Eve, and I celebrated like I celebrate just about every evening, with a cigar on the porch! Davidoff was kind enough to send a couple of the Year of the Horse cigars, their 2026 Limited Edition. I know, the Chinese New Year isn’t until February, but I couldn’t wait to try this. This is the first “Year of the” Davidoff I’ve ever smoked, they are way out of my price range. Kudos and thanks to Law Ream and Jack Heyer for getting these out to those of us who choose to write stuff about cigars! The Davidoff ornament looked great on our tree. Anyway, I decided to close out what was not the greatest year for me with a great cigar (I hoped). I have previously stated that I have a very limited range of experience with the Davidoff line overall, so I was hoping for the best. I believe this is the best Davidoff I’ve smoked to date. There wasn’t a hint of horse at all in this cigar. This is a 6½” x 55 cigar with wrapper and binder from Ecuador and Dominican fillers. I have to assume the wrapper is a Habano varietal, it’s too dark to be a Connecticut Shade, and doesn’t taste like it either. It had an interesting sweetness, with some nuttiness and what I think of as a lemon zing. It was delicious, burned perfectly and was a great way to spend New Years Eve. After that I watched hockey until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. Great cigar, as it should be for $65.

Getting back to reality, I smoked a Rojas Street Tacos Al Pastor Gordo Friday, after treating myself to a Padron Damaso (not as good as I remember, but still tasty), and a Diamond Crown Black Diamond, one of my favorites. I chose the 6″ x 60 gordo, as Noel Rojas is the self proclaimed king of the small ring gauges, and it seems funny to me that he even makes a 60. The Al Pastor has an Ecuador Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan fillers. Like the Davidoff, which is in excess of six times the price, this burned perfectly. I looked at a few other reviews, as Rojas doesn’t seem to have a working webpage, and one reviewer listed flavors of “earth and cedar”, “espresso, and white pepper” and “dark brown sugar and cream”. I don’t get any of that. I got some leather and baking spices. I liked it, it was a good cigar, and well worth the price. I’ve enjoyed a lot of cigars from this factory, especially some of the Stolen Throne lines, and this was a good one. I’m sure I’ve smoked the Carnitas and Barbacoas before, I needed to give this one a shot and I think it’s my favorite of the bunch.

Yesterday I dropped a few things off at Goodwill and stopped into JM’s Cigars in Exton PA. Unlike Rojas they have a website, however it hasn’t been updated in 12 years. It’s fine to have a static landing page, but delete the event from 2013 please! This was the first shop I sent to in the mid-90s (apparently when the website was created) and it’s been a while since I stopped in. It really hasn’t changed much over the years (like the website). I picked up a couple cigars that I hadn’t had before, one of which was the A.J. Fernandez San Lotano Requiem Habano in the “Churchill” size. It’s probably closer to a Double Corona, as a Churchill is 7″ x 47, and this is 7″ x 54. Actually, I don’t even think a Double Corona is 50 ring, but times change. It’s a big cigar. I think the last San Lotano I smoked was an Oval, and it’s been well over a decade. This has a Brazilian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. It started out spicy, and had some nice coffee flavors. I liked this and I think it was around $10 so I call it a very good value. I may be overly concerned about the shops website.

It’s time to pick a winner for last week’s giveaway! I haven’t even selected cigars yet, but I don’t think the winner will be disappointed. The random number generator spit out the number 4, which corresponds to Ron Hunt! To answer Ron’s question, While I purchase most of the cigars in the northeast, most should be available all over. There are some brands that just seem to be regional, All Saints comes to mind, but that’s a function of the brand being small and maybe one or two people involved and they can’t get all over the country to support the sales. Different shops in the same area will have a different mix too. I’ll try to include some cigars that may not be widely available in your package. Ron is the host of the All About Wine podcast. I had the good fortune of meeting him a few years back at the Tampa Heritage Festival, and I talk to him regularly. Send me your address Ron!

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as A.J. Fernandez, aj fernandez, Al Pastor, All About Wine, davidoff, Davidoff of Geneva, Rojas, san lotano, Street Tacos, Year of the Horse

November 23, 2025 · 10:52 am

Blood Medicine, Davidoff Chef’s Edition and Black Star Line Cigars

Next week is going to be busy with some travel and Thanksgiving and all, so I’ll try to come up with something to write about next Sunday. It may have something to do with the travel, or perhaps the Cigar & Lifestyle Fest next weekend at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds in Oaks, PA which I plan to check out. I’m not at all sure what this is going to be all about, I know there’s one cigar related vendor listed that I’m familiar with, and two brands that I’ve heard of, but they are super small companies. I’ll likely go Saturday, let me know if anyone’s going to be there. It would be more fun hanging out with someone rather than going alone. I probably should have mentioned this Wednesday when I met up with Craig (the Breadman) for an impromptu Craig summit. Anyway, let’s talk about some cigars I smoked this week. A few weeks back I was at the Wooden Indian and bought a selection of cigars. I smoked the Crowned Heads Broadway that night, and was really impressed. When I was deciding what to smoke, the gentleman working there, we’ll call him “Mark”, asked if this would be my first cigar of the day and recommended the Blood Medicine B+ as it was the mildest of the bunch. I told him that he just doesn’t know me very well, as that’s not really a thing in my world. Unless it’s a breakfast cigar, I don’t really ever concern myself with cigar strength. Thirty years I’ve been smoking cigars. Anyway, I smoked the Blood Medicine B Positive toro this week. It’s a 6″ x 52 toro with Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, Ecuadorian Connecticut binder, and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s made at Pichardo’s D’Hatuey factory in Estelí. “Mark” set me up to think it was mild, and maybe compared to the other cigars I had selected that day it was the mildest. It starts with a citrus tingle, has some interesting baking spice flavors, and is, overall, a really nice cigar. I kept thinking there was a mineral/metallic flavor, but that might just have been the blood reference in the naming. I’m O Negative, by the way, so I will be obliged to purchase a Blood Medicine O- if it ever come to that.

Friday evening I was feeling fancy, so I picked out this year’s Davidoff Chef’s Edition, generously provided by Davidoff. I had just finished what is probably considered the polar opposite of a gourmet meal, Dominoes Sausage and Pepperoni pizza, with some Parmesan bread bites. It’s a very pedestrian fare, but I fed two of us for two day for $15, I deserved a reward! Don’t judge me, I’d rather have a great cigar than a great meal. For the Chefs Edition 2025 cigar, Davidoff collaborated with five renowned chefs, holding eleven Michelin stars between them. Paolo Casagrande (Lasarte, Spain), Christian Bau (Victor’s Fine Dining, Germany), Kirk Westaway (Singapore), Nick Bril (The Jane, Belgium) and Michael Beltran (Ariete, USA), all passionate Davidoff aficionados whom I’ve never heard of, see above. Back in 2017 we were invited to a Davidoff Chef’s edition event in New York City (here) which was a special evening. Anyway, the 2025 is a 6¼” x 52 toro, with a wrapper from Ecuador, binder from Mexico and Dominican fillers. My main takeaway from this flavor-wise was umami. It was a savory cigar, maybe a touch of floral, but largely earthy and some sice as it progressed. It’s quite good, but me smoking a cigar like this is like if I mowed the lawn with a Cohiba Siglo 6. It was a very good cigar, and it was really enjoyable to smoke as it performed perfectly. It’s a little out of my league, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

When I stopped in to Harrisburg Beer & Cigar last week, another cigar I grabbed was the Black Star Line Lalibela in a toro size. I was surprised to see this in their discount bin. I hope I don’t get in trouble for disclosing that. For $6 for a cigar I’d been wanting to try it was a no brainer. I’ve never met Aric, the owner of the brand, but I’ve heard him on a lot of podcasts and he sounds like someone I’d like to meet. If I’m not mistaken, the guys at Cigar Dojo do the graphic design for these cigars, and they are made at Aganorsa Leaf. I should have bought more than I did. This has a San Andrés wrapper, with Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The name Lalibela comes from the area in Ethiopia where a bunch of chapels were cut into the bedrock. It’s quite a fascinating place as there are all these big holes with solid stone churches carved out of them. It’s an engineering marvel. It kinda has to be the work of aliens, right? I joke. Anyway, the cigar was quite good, presented with a closed foot and pigtail cap, it had some nice coffee and spice flavors. I forgot to take notes, which is usually an indication that I really like the cigar. I have to hunt down more cigars from Black Star Line now.

That’s about it. There’s still time to get in on the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa. Go HERE to sign up. Have a great week! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Black Star Line, Blood Medicine, Chef's Edition, cigar, cigars, Crowned Heads, Davidoff of Geneva, Lalibela

July 27, 2025 · 9:05 am

My Father Blue, Diamond Crown Tampa and Davidoff Maduro

I smoked a few pricey cigars this week, outside my usual comfort zone. However this first one wasn’t one of those! I picked up a few of the new My Father Blue in toro and gordo, and smoked one in each size. This is from the company’s new Honduras factory and uses tobacco grown on their Honduran farm. It has a Connecticut rosado broadleaf wrapper, and Corojo and Criollo tobaccos from Honduras. My first impression was what a gorgeous cigar this was. The bands are beautiful, tying in the whole “Blue” thing, they really pop on the shelf. Blue was once considered the kiss of death on a cigar band, but now longer, this is a stunner. It starts with some spice, who’s surprised? The best food comparison I can make is rye bread (TY NK for putting that in my head). I smoked both the Toro Gordo and the Toro and they were superb, a real winner. I’ll be very interested in smoking more cigars from the Honduras factory, including whatever Tatuaje might do there.

I was fortunate that J.C. Newman shared some of their new Diamond Crown Tampa cigars with me, it’s hard to say when I’ll get back to Tampa, as these are exclusive to shops in the city. I also have a hard time dropping $30 on a cigar. This is a Diamond Crown with a little extra, which is the Florida Sun Grown tobacco grown at Jeff Borysiewicz’ farm in Clermont, Florida. These are still made at Tabacalera Fuente, and still have an Connecticut Shade wrapper, although it looks darker to me than I’m used to. It’s only available in a 6½” x 52 Toro. The guts are Dominican, except for the FSG ligero. I was amazed at how good this cigar was, but I shouldn’t have been, I guess. My first Diamond Crown cigar was back in 1998 and it, along with all it’s siblings, have been favorites ever since. The new Diamond Crown bands are beautiful, and they added a large band on the body of the cigar that has Tampa imagery, El Reloj (not El Rehol, dammit Coop!), a rooster, Gaspar’s ship and other Tampa landmarks. It’s my week for smoking beautiful cigars! This was another bready cigar with the FSG spice which is unique. I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to try it, and recommend it, it’s a special treat.

I could have smoked something more ridiculously expensive than this next cigar, but I’ll hold off on that one for a couple weeks. Once again, I was fortunate to receive a sampling of the newish Davidoff Maduro, and selected the 6″ x 54 Toro for my Friday evening smoke. This has a chocolaty maduro wrapper from Ecuador, a Mexican binder and Dominican fillers. A box will run you a little over a grand, make sure you get free shipping if you buy online! If I ever have a box of these you’ll know I won the lottery. This was another pretty cigar, the bands are classic, in this case it’s the wrapper that catches the eye. This cigar burned perfectly, razor straight with a perfect draw. It had some of the cocoa one expects, some spice, and that musty umami that I think Davidoff cigars usually have. This was stronger than I expected, it being a Davidoff and all, and I had to put it down sooner than I usually do (most cigars are finger burners for me). I had to take Zino’s advice and put it down around the band, which made me sad. My value brain saw me leaving $15 in the ashtray! I inherited frugality from my late mother. This was an impressive cigar anyway, and I very much appreciate Davidoff sharing these with me. It was a special treat.

We’ve been busy with the stresses that go with handling an estate, getting a house ready to sell, going through generations of stuff, and trying to turn some of it into cash. Cigars have been my therapy, hopefully it’ll be behind us soon. That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Blue, cigar, cigars, davidoff, Davidoff of Geneva, Diamond Crown, J.C.Newman, maduro, My Father, Tampa

November 24, 2021 · 11:12 am

News: Davidoff Debuts Gastronomy Series During Miami Art Week

If you happen to be in Miami next week, and are a fan of art, food and cigars, this might be s

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omething to check out!

THE DAVIDOFF GASTRONOMY SERIES: THE MIAMI EDITION TAKES PLACE DURING ART WEEK 2021

Tastemakers are invited to an exclusive culinary experience designed to excite the senses this December.

Davidoff Cigars, proudly announces that their “Gastronomy Series”will return during Miami Art Week, when close to 100,000 art lovers and event goers will once again descend all over Miami. The weeklong event in collaboration with Sunny’s at Lot 6 will be located at 7357 NW Miami Ct., in the Little River area of Miami from Wednesday November 30th through Saturday December 4^th, 2021.

Due to COVID- 19, annual festivals, and the most nationally and internationally recognized annual events were postponed. December 2021 marks the time where Davidoff Cigars looks forward to bringing the public the ultimate lifestyle event during Miami Art Week. Those wanting to enjoy a journey of the senses are invited to dine at this exclusive location and enjoy their after-dinner cocktails at the Davidoff Lounge. The lounge will feature a delicious array of specialty cocktails and spirits selected to pair perfectly with one of Davidoff’s world-class and iconic cigars.

Sunny’s, the pop-up that celebrated much popularity during the pandemic, is the brainchild of the same team behind Jaguar Sun. The beloved eatery returns this winter serving a wide selection of steaks and seafood, all cooked over a live fire. Guests can expect all their favorites from the original menu to return, along with an expanded seafood and raw bar selection, more sides, and vegetarian options. The menu will also feature brand new cocktails and the signature assortment of ice-cold martinis and Manhattans, poured tableside, re-creating the outdoor steakhouse experience. This extraordinary culinary experience, curated to speak to the most sophisticated palate, will finish with an exquisite Davidoff Cigar.

The Davidoff Lounge at Sunny’s will be open Wednesday November 30th through Saturday December 4^th, 2021, and dinner reservations will be available by booking via their website: www.jaguarsunmia.com

The Davidoff Gastronomy series during Art Week promises new and innovative culinary flavor experiences paired together with beautiful, classic Davidoff cigars. We invite you to join us…

ABOUT OETTINGER DAVIDOFF

Oettinger Davidoff Group, with 3,100 employees around the world, traces its roots back to 1875 and remains family-owned to this day. The company is dedicated to the business of producing, marketing, distributing, and retailing premium-branded cigars, tobacco products and accessories. The premium-branded cigar business includes Davidoff, AVO, Camacho, Cusano, Griffin’s, Private Stock, Zino and Zino Platinum.

ABOUT DAVIDOFF FOUNDER ZINO DAVIDOFF

Zino D

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avidoff was a man whose entire life, was dedicated to creating the very best cigars possible. Zino’s journey began in 1911 with his first store opening in Geneva, Switzerland and now has evolved to the brand that we know today. Zino Davidoff believed in the importance of time. How it should, at every opportunity, be filled beautifully. Time lies at the very heart of our philosophy. It is, after all, the one thing everyone at Davidoff – then and now – has dedicated to cultivating, drying, curing, blending, and tasting the very best tobacco in the single-minded pursuit of creating only the very finest cigars. It takes time to create an exceptional cigar. And, as Zino would undoubtedly agree, it takes time to properly enjoy that cigar.

For more information visit on the web: www.davidoffofgeneva.com

Follow Davidoff via social media @DavidoffCigars

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Davidoff of Geneva, Gastronomy Series, Miami Art Week

July 18, 2019 · 9:25 am

News: Largest Premium Cigar Manufacturers Join Together to Challenge Improper FDA Regulation

This news came to me by way of Drew Estate, but involves them, General Cigar, Davidoff, Perdomo, C.L.E. and Tabacalera U.S.A. This is a big deal getting these six companies putting up a united front. I love that they use the FDA’s own studies against them. Check it out.

Largest Premium Cigar Manufacturers Join Together to Challenge Improper FDA Regulation

The largest manufacturers in the premium cigar industry today filed a joint comment with the Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) opposing the agency’s Proposed Substantial Equivalence (“SE”) Rule, which would require manufacturers to submit to an extensive application and testing regime to keep any “non-grandfathered” cigars on the market.

In this joint comment, premium cigar manufacturers Davidoff of Geneva USA, Drew Estate, General Cigar Company, Tabacalera USA, Perdomo Cigars, and C.L.E. Cigar Company call for full exemption of premium cigars from FDA regulation and specifically object to the application to the Proposed SE Rule to premium cigars. According to Dylan Austin, President of Davidoff of Geneva USA, “Our joint comment filed today shows FDA’s Proposed SE Rules to be an overly broad and unjustifiably costly set of regulations that are so lacking in scientific substantiation as to be nothing more than an illegal economic ban on handmade premium cigars that will cripple the manufacturers and retailers in this important industry.”

This joint comment marks the first time these premium cigar manufacturers, who are all also members of Cigar Association of America (“CAA”), have joined together to file their own set of comments specifically regarding premium cigars. Javier Estades, President and CEO of Tabacalera USA, stated, “We are all proud members of CAA, which as the cigar industry’s oldest and most well recognized trade association, continues to robustly represent the interests of the entire cigar industry at the federal, state, and local levels. We fully support CAA’s incredible work in challenging current FDA regulations, which are wrong for all cigars, and recognize that certain aspects of FDA’s regulations uniquely and disproportionately impact premium cigars. We therefore decided to come together to address these issues head on.”

Added Glenn Wolfson, CEO of Drew Estate, “Our joint comment to FDA is very powerful because it is based on data. The FDA has undertaken extensive research about the usage patterns of premium cigars and their impact on public health. The resulting data from this scientific research is clear and unambiguous as to two critical facts. First, premium cigars are not used by youth. Second, based

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on the usage patterns of adult premium cigar smokers, there is no statistically significant difference in mortality rates or disease rates between the overwhelming majority (over 95%) of premium cigar smokers and non-smokers. Said differently, the FDA’s own data makes clear that FDA regulation of premium cigars will neither impact what is virtually non-existent youth usage or materially benefit the public health. On the other hand, due to the unique nature of this artisanal, handmade industry, the costs of FDA regulation of premium cigars will be devastating, particularly to small businesses.”

“The Premium Cigar Manufacturers have in our joint comment called upon FDA to look at their own research and reach the only conclusion their own data can support,” stated, Nick Perdomo, CEO of Perdomo Cigars, “that the Proposed SE Rules are simply inappropriate as applied to premium cigars and that premium cigars should be exempt from FDA regulation.”

Regis Broersma, President of General Cigar Company concluded, “As the leading manufacturers in the premium cigar industry, all of us proudly stand together today to protect all premium cigar manufacturers regardless of size, retailers and consumers from what can only be described as unduly burdensome, grossly over-reaching, and wholly improper regulation. We invite all industry members to review our joint comment and to speak to your local representatives about the devastating impacts of FDA’s proposed regulations on your businesses. Together we can make a difference.”

ABOUT DREW ESTATE

Founded in New York City in 1996, Drew E

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state has become one of the fastest growing tobacco companies in the world. Under their mantra “The Rebirth of Cigars”, Drew Estate has led the “Boutique Cigar” movement by innovating new elements to the tobacco industry with their unique tobaccos and blending styles that attract new and traditional cigar enthusiasts. In their Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, the Nicaraguan headquarters, Drew Estate produces a variety of brands such as ACID, Herrera Estelí, Herrera Estelí Norteño, Isla del Sol, Kentucky Fired Cured, Liga Privada, MUWAT, Larutan by Drew Estate, Nica Rustica, Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Cigars, Tabak Especial, Undercrown, Florida Sun Grown, and Java by Drew Estate.