Davidoff released their third installment of the Chef Edition this year. This time Davidoff assembled an elite team of 4 world-renowned chefs who share the same value highlighting the focus on purity of the ingredients, local sourcing, sustainability, and attention to detail and quality. The following chefs created the 2021 Chefs Edition along with Davidoff’s Master Blenders:
- Juan Amador – Restaurant Amador, Austria: 3 Michelin stars
- Norbert Niederkofler – AlpiNN, Italy: 3 Michelin stars
- Masa Takayama – Masa, USA: 3 Michelin stars
- Jorge Vallejo – Quintonil, Mexico: 24 out of 50; The World’s 50 best restaurants.
With 9 Michelin stars and the 24th best restaurant in the world, let us see what comes to fruition “when kitchen pioneers meet cigar visionaries.”
Blend Specifics:
- Cigar Reviewed: Davidoff Chefs Edition 2021
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Hybrid 238
- Binder: Mexican San Andres Negro Seco
- Filler: (Dominican Republic) Piloto Seco, San Vicente Ligero, Piloto Visus, Hybrid 192 Seco
- Size: Churchill (7″ x 48)
Blind Review: Davidoff Chef’s Edition 2021
Appearance & Construction:
This Churchill size cigar has a very smooth and dry chocolate shaded wrapper leaf. There are no blemishes on the surface, except for one visible vein, and it also gives off a sheen when exposed to the sunlight. Lastly, the tobacco is filled evenly from head to toe.
Flavor and Smoke Characteristics
There is a slight mustiness on the wrapper and a fruity and floral scent when I trace my nose down to the foot. After shaving off the cap, I do a cold draw and take a few puffs of the cigar, and taste cocoa powder on my tongue with a burning sensation on my lips. So far, I find myself being slowly addicted to the cold draw.
Once lit, I find this cigar being very forward with black pepper spice. The black pepper spice lingers on the tip of my tongue for a while before fading away. Getting past that, I get a strong taste of cocoa powder, tree branch, dark leather, and black pepper spice. The combination of the flavors reminds me of a cup of hot chocolate made with water instead of milk.
I should’ve taken the spiciness I experienced on my palate as a warning when I retrohaled, as a plethora of white pepper spice jam-packs my nostril. It made me tear up as I forced every breath I took out through my nose, trying to recover from the spice attack. After a few minutes, my sense of smell returned, and I got more cocoa powder and oak wood through the retrohale. The finish on this cigar is as long as the cigar itself. The finish gives off a natural sweetness, and it is fighting against the lingering spice for my attention.
I can tell this cigar was rolled by an expert, the construction up to this point is excellent. The burn line is razor-sharp. The ash holds on until 1.5 inches in and would probably be longer if I was indoors and sitting, instead of walking.
I arrive at the second third. The flavors have been pretty consistent so far. On the plus side, the spiciness on the palate becomes much more manageable as it mellows out; and I taste hot chocolate, oak wood, dark leather with cinnamon spice. Unlike what I had experienced on the palate, the white pepper spice is still very much alive when I retrohale the smoke; still stinging my nostril, yet I am able to get a hint of cocoa cedarwood.
I finally get to the final third and notice the smoke becomes quite floral. Halfway through, the floral scent becomes more and more distinguishable with each puff until it suddenly takes a turn for the worse, and I got a mouth full of ammonia taste that overpowers any preexisting flavors on my palate. Needless to say, that became the last puff I took as it joined the rest of the nubs in my cigar graveyard.
Conclusion
I was honestly a little bit shocked when I learned the identity of the cigar. It explains the high-quality looking wrapper, as well as the construction. Despite that, the flavor profile was very un-Davidoff-like, especially with the overpowering amount of spice on the palate for the first third and throughout the whole retrohale experience. Unfortunately, the ammonia in the final third became the nail in the coffin for my experience and really hurt the score.