Pre-light Experience

The first thing I notice about the cigar is how stout it is for a Davidoff being at 55 ring gauge. The wrapper is a lighter brown with a few darker marbled spots. There are a couple of slightly raised veins while the seams are very smooth and hard to detect. The head is finished off with a well applied triple cap. There are two bands with the primary being the traditional white company band. The secondary band is a strip band that denotes the Gold Edition. The aroma from the wrapper is a pungent barnyard funkiness while the foot brings wood, a light leather and a very faint white pepper. The pre-light draw is creamy leather along with a decent amount of white pepper and and equally spicy tingle on my lips.

Pre-light Experience

The Davidoff Golf Scorecard Edition 2016 has a gorgeous silky caramel wrapper shade. The large 6×55 cigar has tight seams, overall well pressed veins, even bunch and roll and a well adhered triple cap. Aromas from the wrapper give chestnuts, barnyard and aged cedar. Aromas from the foot tell rich nuttiness, sharp white pepper and cedar. Cold draw gives nuts, cedar shavings and cream.

First Third

The cigar begins with a mix of aged wood and slight creaminess while the draw has a decent black pepper finish to it. At a half inch in, the wood loses the aged complexity and becomes slightly fuller while the cream level and black pepper finish remain. The retrohale is a mix of wood and a mild black pepper. At an inch in, the cream increases to become even with the wood while the black pepper finish has mellowed a bit. As the third comes to a close, it has maintained the equal levels of wood and cream while the mild black pepper is now a supporting note and not just on the finish. The strength in this third was slightly below medium.

First Third

The initial first inch gives classic Davidoff style of hay. Past that mark, a medium bodied buttery cream develops. Retrohaling introduces spice (black pepper) into the mix as well as increased nuttiness. The finish is medium in length with soft aged cedar and nuts. Strength and body is medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the equal amounts of wood and cream along with a mild black pepper continues. At a half inch in, a slight char joins with the wood while the cream remains at an even level. Just before the inch mark, a mild wintergreen note joins the profile of charred wood, cream and slight black pepper. The retrohale also carries the charred wood and wintergreen note. As quickly as the wintergreen note appeared, it left the profile. At an inch and a quarter, the char begins to increase slightly. As the second third comes to a close, the profile is charred wood with a slight creaminess and the black pepper has left the profile. The strength in this third bumped up to right at medium.

Second Third

The second third picks up some spiciness in black pepper and cedar mixture. The buttery cream and hay is still intact. The finish also picks up a slight spice in addition to the soft aged cedar and nuts. Strength and body continues to be medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the cream increases to become even with the charred wood. At three quarters of an inch in, some mintiness joins the profile while the charred wood lessens significantly. The retrohale consists of the cream and mintiness. At an inch and a quarter, the mintiness has picked up some more, but the cream remains up front. As the cigar comes to a close, the mintiness continued to increase and became even with the cream. The strength remained at medium.

Final Third

The last third is unchanged from the second third. Still a medium bodied and strength delivery of spice coming from black pepper and cedar, buttery cream and hay. At times, the spice does dial it up a notch but it’s not consistently doing so. If anything, that just kept me engaged.

Burn

The burn line was slightly wavy at times but never needed any attention. The ash held on in inch and a half increments.

Burn

Burn performance was overall solid. The only negative was some flaking of the ash. Other than that, burn temperature was cool, even burn with fairly solid ashes of 1.5 inch increments.

Draw

The draw was perfect with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.

Overall

The flavor profile wasn’t overly complex, but the flavors it provided were pretty good. The profile was centered around wood, cream and black pepper and as the cigar went along, the black pepper dropped out in the second third and the wood in the final third as some mintiness paired up with the cream. Construction was fantastic, allowing me to focus on flavor only. This is a good cigar and one that I think fits the golf concept pretty well. For being a larger ring gauge, it allows the ash to hold on well which is something that would come in handy on a breezy course. I would have no problem revisiting this if price was no object, but even so, I could see myself going back to this from time to time.

Draw

The draw was perfect. Doesn’t get much better than perfection.

Overall

The Davidoff Golf Scorecard Edition 2016 is another good example of the company showing off their good tobacco and blending capabilities focusing on the milder strength, full flavor recipe. Although the list of flavors I tasted wasn’t exhaustive (black pepper, cedar, buttery cream, hay), the large format cigar kept my interest and enjoyment throughout the entire time. Is the higher price point of $24 worthwhile? That’s a tough one, but I surely wasn’t disappointed in the delivery of flavors.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

7.20

Cost/Point

$3.33

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

7.20

Cost/Point

$3.33

Scoring System

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