Blind Review: AVO Improvisation 2022 Black Label
Earlier in March, Davidoff released the final act for one of its widely celebrated series, the AVO Improvisation 2022. It started out in 2015 to celebrate the life of Uvezian AVO and his love for music. Since then, a total of eleven blends has released in a span of eight years. Whether its the presentation or the blends, each one can be as impromptu as its jazzy origin.
Unlike the AVO Improvisation 2022 White Label, the Black Label separates itself with a completely different blend. Visually, Davidoff did a great job selecting the wrapper leaf where it contrasted perfectly with the White Label. I wonder if the blend is as distinctive.
Blend Specifics
- Cigar Reviewed: AVO Improvisation LE 2022 Black Label
- Wrapper: Ecuador
- Binder: Mexico
- Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
- Size: Robusto Gordo (5 1/2 x 55)
Blind Review Notes: AVO LE 2022 Black Label
Appearance & Construction
The chocolate color cigar has a very smooth and silky feel to it. The longer I hold it in my hand, the more oil I can feel ON it. There is a visible vein from the cap to the halfway mark. The cigar is filled proportionally with no soft spot. Overall, I can’t wait to clip off the pigtail and light it.
Flavor and Smoke Characteristics
Like its visual representation, the wrapper smells like cocoa powder and leather. The foot has the scent of molasses and pepper spice. After shaving off the pigtail, I went in for a cold draw and got sweet, creamy oats.
I slowly toast the foot of the cigar with my St. Dupont Hooked lighter, enjoying the sweet aromatics coming off the foot. Once the foot became bright red, I went in for a puff and got bitter dark chocolate, leather, damp log, and granola. The finish was quite long, sweet, and creamy. I then retrohale after a few puffs, and it is very smooth. I got roasted nuts, maple syrup, and a hint of black pepper spice, like waking up on a Christmas morning. So far, this cigar is checking off everything on the list: it has impeccable construction, wavy but burns evenly, and has balanced flavors.
I arrive at the second third, and the sweet taste of maple syrup is in the spotlight, along with oak wood, dark chocolate, with a slight charcoal bitterness. I followed the puffs with a retrohale, and the spice level picked up but still very satisfying. This time, I taste dark berry notes, like blackberry or blueberry, leather, and ample black pepper spice. The profile bounces back and forth between medium and medium-plus.
And just like a piano after being tuned, the cigar became harmonious when I reached halfway through the final third. The sweetness on the cigar mellowed out, and I could taste more of the roasted peanuts, dark cocoa, leather, and simple syrup. The retrohale gain more body with more strength on the spice. I was drowned in maple syrup, tree bark, dark chocolate, and red pepper spice. The finish is longer than the first two-thirds of the cigar, and I can’t get enough of it. Fortunately, the memory of this cigar did not dematerialize right away, all thanks to the extremely long finish.
Conclusion
Unlike the White Label, the AVO LE22 Black Label is balanced from the start. The entire smoking experience revolves around flavors that remind me of a chocolate caramel nut bar that includes bitter dark chocolate, roasted nuts, maple syrup, and oak wood. The retrohale makes up for the missing spice on the palate but in a very satisfying way.
I was not surprised when I found out this was an AVO cigar. Like most of their cigars, the construction was near perfect. What amazed me the most about this cigar was its consistency of flavor across the extremely long finish. Each puff connected with the previous one, making you want more and more.