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Davidoff
kuzi16
Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
Davidoff Has New Size and New Look For Puro dOro
"...Davidoff plans to release a sixth size in its Davidoff Puro dOro line next month called the Gigantes, and the new, fat size will debut a new band.
...the Gigantes (a 5 1/2-inch by 56-ring robusto) is matching current market trends that lean toward larger ring gauges."
One of the few companies that have seemed to be sticking with Cuban traditional sizes is finally making a cigar that i probably wont ever buy. I know, it will make them money given the market trends. I am still a bit disappointed to see it.
For most of its existence Davidoff has been making cigars that they can describe as "elegant" in flavor and appearance. they have been selling a lifestyle, not just a cigar.
are they starting to compromise their style to follow trends? why would Davidoff ever have to follow anyone?
in their defense, even Cuba has been bucking their own traditions: BHK56, Montecristo Eagle, PSP2, RyJ Wide Churchill to name a few. those are the ones coming out and if you look at the list of discontinued Cubans in the last 10-15 years almost none of them have a ring over 46.
maybe im just expecting too much out of Davidoff. i mean, im just a guy. they have no obligation to keep me (personally) happy.
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Then when they started to sell online, to me, that practically ended their mystique. It was no longer special to walk into a B&M and say "woah they carry white-label".
I still enjoy them but have lost a lot of the respect I once had for them, they did it their way ... this is no longer remotely true.
Hopefully Svenson will chime in on this.
1. I usually don't have the time nor want to sit there for 3+ hours with a cigar.
2. They always seem washed out flavor wise, to me.
I get why people ESPECIALLY newbs like them.
1. It seems like you are getting the most for your money.
2. They burn a lot cooler, you don't have to take your time with them or worry about the cigar "biting" near as much.
They are more user friendly, especially if the user can handle nicotine because they formerly or currently smoke cigarettes or smoke cigars very frequently. I do none of these, so I've learned how to smoke smaller vitolas.
As for Davidoff, the original purpose of this thread, I think if they can manage to do this and maintain their exceptionally high quality standards (from what I've heard, can't speak from experience), then I think that's a good thing. I think a great artist should be able to excel in all media, and cigar making/blending is no different. Along the same lines, as striving aficianados, should we not work to appreciate all forms of the art? If a great large RG cigar opens some minds to that form, then that's a great thing.
Or maybe it'll be pandering crap. That would bet terrible.
It is just you. a few months ago i took part in a poll that was on facebook started by Perdomo. the poll was simple. "what is your favorite size?" i was part of a very very small minority that said something under 50 (lonesdale). there were people that were posting things like "i never smoke anything uned 50" or "nothing under 55" or even just "60+"
you dont see people talking like that here because we are the uber nerds of the cigar world. the guys that have a few thousand posts on a forum are looking for the lanceros, coronas, and lonesdales. us cigar nerds on forums with massive post counts are a tiny minority in the overall community. i remember when i was early in cigars i walked into a B&M and was looking for a cigar in a lonesdale and the guy looked at me and said, "you dont want that"
i responded, "uh.. yes i do"
when he started to tell me that i didnt want it again i interrupted him and said, "oh, you DONT want me to buy cigars here ever," and i walked out. i dont think it will be crap. at least not yet. i see it more as a start to a potential slide to mediocrity. Davidoff has always made things the way they want. they have run their business for themselves. they set their standard. I feel the larger ring IS pandering. and when you pander, you move to mediocrity because you are no longer using your standards.
I see people smoking big rg cigars everywhere. For most people I believe it's an aesthetic, the Tony Soprano look. They want to smoke a cigar, a REAL cigar (lol). I'm not holding anything against Davidoff for offering a wider range of vitolas as long as they keep their quality up.
I also STRONGLY disagree with everyone here saying it's smart business, or they have to follow the trends or someone else will. The brand is what sells Davidoff, especially the White label. You don't jeopardize that by breaking the tradition it is built upon. It may result it sales in the short term but in the long term they are devaluing the Davidoff name. Clothing lines are a great example of this, once you allow certain stores to carry your brand the value that name carries detoriates. Levi's actually fought numerous court battles to keep the Levi branded jeans out of Wal-Mart because they knew what it would do to the name. I'm not calling Ccom wal-mart but you get the idea.
using a different wrapper is just changing a blend.
selling on-line (to select merchants) doesnt cheapen them. they still have very strict price controls, soil controls, growing conditions, fermentation process, blending aging, etc.
adding a huge vitola to a brand that is known for keeping cuban tradition seems like a very good line to draw as far as pandering goes.
this also wouldnt be the first time that a cigar is not what it calls itself (if thats what it was actually doing). remember the Punch Rare Corojo?
maduro is also a subjective thing. some say its a color some say it is a process. even people that have spent all their lives in the industry disagree on this point.
this is NOT a misrepresentation.
im not exactly sure why but whatever. I mean he did produce a killer cigar in the Davidoff maduro. I mean, it IS my number one regular production smoke.
kinda wish it came in a lonesdale.