About six or seven months ago, Andrew handed me a cigar that I didn't think I'd ever actually see in person: the Davidoff Oro Blanco. I wasn't prepared to fall in love with it at just a glance, but it's nearly impossible not to. The coffin is easily the most extraordinairy presentation I've ever seen, so I took a few pictures before getting started this morning. Thanks again, Andrew!
My first few glorious puffs of the Oro Blanco are much sweeter than anticipated. I’m picking up a heavy dose of sweet cream, a bit of cedar, subtle cashew notes, and just the barest amount of hay. The profile is delicate, much softer than anything I’ve smoked in recent weeks.
So gentle and buttery, it just screams to be retro haled. Through the nose, I get more sweet cream, puffed wheat cereal, and brown sugar. This is easily the smoothest smoke I’ve ever retro haled, and I think every single puff could be enjoyed that way. Should be, even.
With not even an inch of ash on this Oro Blanco, the profile begins to develop additional tasting notes: fresh croissants, hints of vanilla, muted citrus, very mild peppercorn, and more of that sweet cream. I can no longer tell when I’m retro haling or not unless I purposely focus my attention – it’s just that gentle.
Citrus is really refreshing here, coming and going almost like a palate cleanser. It also makes you scratch your head for a few minutes, being so faint at times that you wonder if it was just a memory. And then it builds as we approach the second third and gets caught being conspicuous.
Dropping the ash to begin the second third, what was mild-medium in body now cranks the dial to the right. I’m tasting some sort of chocolate pastry, a bit of hay, and a healthy dose of citrus at the end. The finish seems to be a mixed bag of citrus and mocha. Citrus is way more apparent in this segment, and I can’t get enough of it. Hay exits stage right pretty quickly as the ash builds.
All I can say is wow. I’ve always heard that this is a once-in-a-lifetime cigar, but I sincerely hope that’s not the case…
I believe I’ll take my leave here and discover the last third of the Oro Blanco in solitude. If you’ve also enjoyed the Oro Blanco, I’d love to hear your thoughts below!
Suggestions:
As a fellow cigar enthusiast, I completely understand being trigger shy on this cigar. MSRP is often a competition between expectation and delivery, and it’s rare that a cigar over $40 truly blows your mind in a way that makes you excited to do it again.
If you enjoy mild-medium and medium-bodied cigars, I can only say that I hope you get the chance to fire up the Oro Blanco like I did today. While the value of this cigar will have to defend itself to every palate, I personally think it’s the best cigar I’ve ever smoked. Huge props to the Davidoff team for such an amazing work of art!
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