REVIEW: Davidoff Puro d’Oro Sublime

Tonight's cigar comes to me in a blind trade I did with a fellow BOTL Lee (@sirpantsornot on Twitter). I sent Lee some sticks he'd been looking to try, and in return, he fired back with a few of my favorites and one of these little guys that I had been hoping to get my hands on. Davidoff cigars have a long and famous history in the cigar world and it would be really silly of me to repeat all of that info in this post when I'm sure you can easily find it yourself with a quick Google search. The one thing I do want to mention is the  Puro d'Oro line is different from the normal Davidoff cigars as this is their first (non-cuban) endeavor into a true "puro" (made from a single country's tobacco) vitola.

A quote from the Davidoff site:
The Davidoff Puro d’Oro cigars are made according to a long-established, traditional method using only tobaccos from the country of origin – including the unique Dominican Davidoff Yamasa™ wrapper leaf developed especially for this new cigar series. 

It was a hot day outside, so a short smoke suited me nicely.

Due to the size of this cigar, this review is only in two parts instead of the traditional thirds. 

Specifics

Vitola: Petit Panetela
Length: 4.875
Ring Gauge: 38
Wrapper: Dominican "DavidoffYamasa
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Price: $9.50 each
Smoking Location: My back deck
Beverage: water

Pre-Light 

My Puro d’Oro Sublime was a very classic-looking small cigar. The wrapper had a very natural mixture of light brown and yellow tones to it and only a few minimal veins. Running my fingers up the wrapper, the cigar had quite a bit of oil to it but still felt very smooth and not slick in anyway. Pinching the vitola from head to foot, there were no soft spots - just a perfect amount of give with pinched more firmly. The pre-lit aroma coming off of the cigar smelled strongly of hay with just a slight note of sweet tobacco. This was more of a clean hay smell, not that earthy barnyard smell you get with a lot of other cigars. The pig-tailed cap clipped effortlessly and the cold draw had mainly hay flavors to it, but I also got what I would describe as an applesauce flavor on the finish. This is not a flavor I tend to pick up in cigars, so to me, this was very interesting.

First Half 

I used a soft flame lighter to light this cigar due to it's size and me not wanting to scorch the foot of the stick. Once evenly lit, the cigar gave off a medium amount of smoke, which is what I expect from such a small vitola, and was drawing perfectly. The initial flavors were somewhat muted but tasted of a mild black pepper, that I really only picked up on the taste buds on the front of my tongue, with a woodsy finish. The wood flavor was not of any particular type of wood, but more of a burnt wood taste. The body of the cigar started off in the medium to medium-full range and the burn was straight. Davidoff must have some high quality rollers because the construction of this little guy was top notch. About 3/4 of an inch into the cigar the flavor profile really changed. I started getting a very spicy strong red pepper flavor. These flavors I would compare to the red pepper flakes that you can pick up at pizza joints. The woodsy notes were still there on the finish, but the spicy red pepper was really starting to dominate.

Second Half and Final Thoughts

The flavor profile of the second half of my Puro d’Oro Sublime continued on and finished, the same way the first half ended. The cigar had a very spicy red pepper flavor that dominated my palate making it hard to taste anything else. One big change from the first half of the stick to the second was the amount the strength increased. I smoked this little cigar after having an average-sized dinner and I still could noticeably feel the nicotine kick in my body. The closer I got to the nub, the nicotine seemed to build even more so much that I started to feel it hit my stomach also. It's safe to say, this was not very relaxing or enjoyable on a hot day.


My final thoughts on the Puro d’Oro Sublime by Davidoff? Some will call me crazy, but this stick didn't do it for me. Besides the flavor change up close to the beginning of the experience, I found this cigar to be flat and uneventful. I do like spicy cigars but I also like them to have a bit more dimension to them and not just be an all-out burner. My wife is going to laugh at that statement because I tend to like the food I eat to be so spicy that she won't even touch it. (And yes...she did laugh.) I think maybe in a bigger size this blend might show more and have a few more tricks up its sleeve, but at the cost of these cigars I doubt I will risk spending the money on many more.

Would I buy it again? For the reasons stated in my final thoughts, I probably won't be buying anymore of these cigars. But again, I want to thank Lee for doing a trade with me and for sending me this stick to try. I really appreciate it. 

Would I buy a box? See above.

Dan