What's new
  • BOTL UPCOMING MAINTENANCE

    Hi Everyone, as mentioned in my introduction post, BOTL needs quite a bit of updating, patching and whatever else I might come across. Over time BOTL may be unreachable on occasion as I do migrations or updates, etc. Just be patient - we'll be back! I'll generally try to keep these maintenances until later in the evenings.

Davidoff Special Short Perfecto

Rating - 96.7%
32   1   0
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Messages
559
Location
TX
Davidoff Special Short Perfecto



DavidoffOrigin : Dominican Republic
Format : Perfecto
Size : 4.8 x 52
Wrapper : Ecuadorian Shade Grown
Filler : Dominican Republic
Binder : Dominican Republic
Hand-Made
Price : ~$13 each


Also see this review @ http://www.cigarinspector.com

It has been a loooooonnnggg time since I smoked my last Davidoff, so I thought it would only be appropriate to revisit them again. Awhile back, I picked up a variety pack of Opus X’s and decided to throw in some Henke Kelner smokes along with the shipment. The hitchhikers in the Opus package were the Avo Heritage Short Robusto (future review coming) and the Davidoff Special Short Perfecto. I like smaller format cigars, and really took an intrigue in the little perfecto shape from the Special Series. I knew I was taking a gamble purchasing it at $13, but sometimes gambles pay off. So check it out below:

Appearance : ★★★★★
I can’t say this little perfecto lacks beauty. It is cloaked in a light brown/caramel colored Ecuadorian wrapper. Very much looks like the usual Davidoff Yamasa wrapper that they use on a lot of their smokes. The cigar is light in the hand, smooth on the outside with no bumps, and has no loose seams. No discernible veins are a rare sight to see and very much welcomed. Squeezing down the length reveals no soft spots and feels very well packed. At the foot is a nice little pointy end (which I call a nipple!). I stick my nose to the cigar and smell barnyard, caramel, and vanilla. The band is one of my favorites, very classy indeed.

Construction : ½☆☆☆☆
The cigar cut clean, and once snipped straight across the head, the dry draw seemed very, very tight. But upon lighting, the draw did not impede the smoke curiously. After the burn reaches past the nippled end, the draw opened up and a good amount of thin smoke then could be pulled. A common problem with perfectos was noticed soon afterwards when the perfecto started to burn unevenly. The ash was very flaky and didn’t hold well, dropping in my lap several times and almost setting myself on fire. About an inch into the cigar it began dying out, and I could only pull small amounts of smoke. Eventually it did die out. This ultimately happened twice before reaching halfway through the stick. The misery only continued through the second half when it went out another three times.



Flavor : ★★½☆☆
After sparking the foot, thin to medium smoke revealed a funky hay flavor laced with a hint of vanilla which was slightly sweet. The retrohale is intoxicatingly unique with funk, barnyard, and cedar. A little farther down the cigar revealed some graham cracker flavors. So far not overly complex, nor exciting except for the retrohale. The flavors just seemed to be okay with me, and scored around the mild to medium body for me. In the 2nd third the flavors died down to a simple hay note. Definitely one dimensional at this point and this Davidoff started to leave me bored. Due to multiple burn problems and outages I chunked the last third in frustration.

Value : ★☆☆☆☆
$13 a pop,……..wowza! Won’t make that mistake again. I’ve smoked other Davidoffs before this one and have always been okay with them, but this was a complete let down. I can guarantee I won’t be buying this ever again.


Overall Rating : ★½☆☆☆
I truly hate slamming cigars, and try to look at the brighter sides of the smoking experience of each smoke, but this was downright unacceptable at the price point. I was left very disappointed with this one, and it kind of left me doubting whether I would ever smoke another Davidoff. I can’t really say that others would perform better, but I only smoked one of these for this review (just didn’t see the need to try this one multiple times). I even dry boxed this one for awhile before smoking in hopes of avoiding the imperfect perfecto burns I usually experience. I felt like Davidoff owed me something after this experience. But anyways, it did after all deliver a unique flavor profile that may appeal to many other people, but personally I am just okay with them. The flavors kind of reminded me of a Cuban Romeo and Julieta with its aroma and hay flavors. I would much rather have bought a R&J though, so all in all I recommend spending your money elsewhere than on this little doozy.
 

ciggy

"TommyBoy"
Rating - 100%
326   0   0
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Messages
9,703
Location
Southwest Michigan
Thanks for the review and pics! The cost of these to me don't warrent the smoke. There are just way to many mixed reviews for someone to spend there hard earned coin on. JMHO.
 

dpricenator

BoM March 08
Rating - 100%
175   0   3
Joined
Jul 25, 2007
Messages
14,899
Location
The OC
bummer, Some of my best cigars ever were kelner's stuff. i love this one in particular, but the cost is prohibitive.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
24
thanks for your honest point of view...for shure i will never test it...usualy i don't like davidoff !
 
Rating - 96.7%
32   1   0
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Messages
559
Location
TX
bummer, Some of my best cigars ever were kelner's stuff. i love this one in particular, but the cost is prohibitive.
I am in the same boat as you. There are cigars that I love that he creates like the Avo Heritage and the Paul Garmirians. But $13 for a short perfecto, not a regular perfecto, but a short perfecto, are you kidding me? :cursing:
 
Rating - 100%
14   0   0
Joined
Sep 8, 2010
Messages
888
It's a shame that the wrapper (and perhaps the blend) was changed from a shade grown Connecticut to a sun grown ecuadorian. Supposedly to avoid over-reliance on a particular integrated cigar producer/ leaf supplier.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Jun 24, 2009
Messages
183
Location
Ohio
im actually a big davidoff fan. however i have yet to try this particular cigar. i find that many people are very critical of Davidoff because of the price and that is at worst understandable. I do find that this critical look at davidoff leads people to enter the review with a bit of a skewed look at them. again, not that there is anything wrong with that. i have entered many a cigar with a skeptical point of view and then been blown away...


i guess my ramblings get me to this point:

dont be afraid to try a cigar because of a poor review. this review has actually inspired me to go out to my local Davidoff dealer and pick one up just to see if this will be the first Davidoff that i DONT like.

i love to read reviews but i always take them with a grain of salt. (even my own reviews)
 
Rating - 100%
22   0   0
Joined
Oct 11, 2010
Messages
1,373
Location
Dallas, TX
im actually a big davidoff fan. however i have yet to try this particular cigar. i find that many people are very critical of Davidoff because of the price and that is at worst understandable. I do find that this critical look at davidoff leads people to enter the review with a bit of a skewed look at them. again, not that there is anything wrong with that. i have entered many a cigar with a skeptical point of view and then been blown away...


i guess my ramblings get me to this point:

dont be afraid to try a cigar because of a poor review. this review has actually inspired me to go out to my local Davidoff dealer and pick one up just to see if this will be the first Davidoff that i DONT like.

i love to read reviews but i always take them with a grain of salt. (even my own reviews)

a nice thing about letting your sticks sit for a while is you're able to forget about price. I smoke every cigar as if they cost the same, get more enjoyment that way. but if it sucks and it cost 13 dollars, you better be damn sure i'll remember the price then.
 
Rating - 96.7%
32   1   0
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Messages
559
Location
TX
im actually a big davidoff fan. however i have yet to try this particular cigar. i find that many people are very critical of Davidoff because of the price and that is at worst understandable. I do find that this critical look at davidoff leads people to enter the review with a bit of a skewed look at them. again, not that there is anything wrong with that. i have entered many a cigar with a skeptical point of view and then been blown away...


i guess my ramblings get me to this point:

dont be afraid to try a cigar because of a poor review. this review has actually inspired me to go out to my local Davidoff dealer and pick one up just to see if this will be the first Davidoff that i DONT like.

i love to read reviews but i always take them with a grain of salt. (even my own reviews)
Agreed! The thing pissed me off so much that I want another one. Does that even make sense. I haven't bought anything in awhile because I have been going through samples from manufacturers lately for reviews, but this one had me perplexed. I know where I can get more but the place I am thinking of going has these for around $15 a stick. I got mine through OVTC along with a bunch of Opus X's and Avo's I purchased from them.
 
Rating - 96.7%
32   1   0
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Messages
559
Location
TX
But at that price point it's hard to not pass up other Davidoffs I haven't tried yet. I'm sure I will come around another one again, and then I can see where my final judgement stands.
 
Top