Pre-light Experience

Seth: The Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto is nice in appearance. It’s a well-rolled figurado with a nice cap and foot. The wrapper is dark Natural in coloring, almost Maduro, and it has this dark coffee bean coloring. The veins are small to medium in size, and the wrapper is silky in texture. There are faint aromas, and they are of damp wood, tobacco and earth.
John: The Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto features a double perfecto shape with a Colorado Maduro-colored wrapper. I weighed the cigar at 13.0 grams and measured the humidity at 68.2% using the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included barnyard, earth and dry wood. Due to the barely exposed foot inherent to the double perfecto shape, no additional aromas could be detected from the foot.
Jiunn: The Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto has an attractive perfecto shape with the wrapper in between a Colorado red and Colorado maduro. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give faint cedar and barnyard.

Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto

First Third

Seth: The first third begins with damp wood, cedar, earth and leather notes. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third opens with creamy bread leading the profile, followed by mild wood and baking spices through the center. The baking spices intensify to medium strength through the post draw, bringing lingering wood along with them. As the first third settles in, the retrohale develops into a combination of creamy sweet tobacco, followed by spices, leather, wood and earth that carry through the finish. The earth increases in intensity and begins to take over the center of the profile as the cigar continues. Through the bottom half of the first third, the retrohale is defined by creamy earth and wood, while baking spices at just over medium strength dominate the finish and post draw.
Jiunn: The first third starts off with a forest musk and grass/hay. Soon, minerals, subtle black coffee and cream joins. Retrohaling shows amped up minerals and black coffee. The finish is short with soft cedar wood. Strength and body is medium.

Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto

Second Third

Seth: The second third delivers a lot of the first third notes, cedar, rich earth and leather, with some currants, tobacco, cocoa and coffee qualities. Like before, medium in strength and body but complex. There is depth in this third.
John: The second third begins much as the first ended, with creamy earth leading the profile and lingering through the finish alongside medium-strength spices. As the cigar progresses toward the halfway point, the earth develops a distinctly loamy character. The earth continues to intensify, reaching medium-full strength and gradually becoming the dominant flavor component. Through the bottom half of the second third, a mild acrid note joins the finish, reducing some of the balance established earlier in the smoking experience.
Jiunn: The second third’s flavors meld more cohesively. All the notes from the first third are there and in addition, there’s grain cereal mix. The addition of this note adds a good layer of breadiness and body. Strength and body remains medium.

Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto

Final Third

Seth: The final third starts by showing a lot of the second third qualities but quickly returns to the first third traits. Finishes with some mineral notes and smoking at a medium strength and body.
John: The final third opens with acrid, loamy earth leading the profile while bitterness lingers between puffs. As the cigar progresses toward the halfway point of the final third, the acrid note begins to fade and wood moves into the center of the profile, helping to restore some balance.
Jiunn: The final third’s strength and body is unchanged but in terms of flavors it lacks character. What remains is primarily creamed coffee and minerals.

Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto

Burn

Seth: The burn on 1566 is average. At times it is perfect, but at other times it is off.
John: The burn started straight before becoming wavy. The waviness continued into the second third, where the burn eventually became uneven but self-corrected. The cigar went out in the final third and required a re-light.
Jiunn: Burn performance was good in the sense that past the initial light, I didn’t need my lighter. The bad was the wrapper burn was uneven, at times even leading to unburnt wrapper portions.

Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto

Draw

Seth: Draw is decent. It’s close to being loose.
John: The draw measured 48 inches of water on the Cigar Medics draw tester. The initially resistant draw was likely influenced by the double perfecto shape. As the cigar burned and reached the wider point of the shoulder, the draw opened up and settled between one-half and one notch into the resistant spectrum, placing it comfortably within the ideal range.
Jiunn: Draw was on point, providing a good balance of air flow and resistance.

Overall

Seth: The Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto is a lacking cigar. It’s not a blend I am crazy over. I am also not crazy on the vitola, and I imagine I would like the blend more in a traditional parejo. It smokes like a Dominican blend, and gives off some damp cedar, earth, cream and leather notes. The highlight is the middle third of the blend, when the filler is more pronounced.
John: Blind Cigar #1566 begins with a profile that offers a fair amount of complexity early on. The combination of creamy bread, sweet tobacco, leather, earth, wood and baking spices creates a layered opening that is engaging without becoming overwhelming. The retrohale is particularly enjoyable during the first third, delivering a well-balanced mix of sweetness, spice and earth that helps elevate the overall experience. As the cigar progresses into the second third, the earth steadily gains prominence. While the loamy quality adds another layer, it also begins to overshadow the sweeter and more nuanced components that made the opening portion more dynamic. The increasing emphasis on earth gradually moves the cigar towards a more linear experience. The final third continues this progression, introducing acrid and bitter elements that detract from the balance established earlier. While the acrid note eventually recedes, the cigar never fully recaptures the complexity of the first third. Instead, it finishes as a much more earth-driven experience. From a construction standpoint, the cigar performs reasonably well. The burn requires only a single re-light despite some waviness and unevenness, while the draw settles into an ideal range once the cigar moves beyond the constricted opening of the double perfecto shape. In the end, the Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto delivers an enjoyable opening third supported by a rich retrohale and a good mix of flavors. However, the increasing dominance of earth, coupled with the acrid and bitter notes that develop later, prevent the cigar from maintaining its early momentum. The result is an overall average smoking experience that starts stronger than it finishes. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 2 minutes
Jiunn: This Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto has good and not so good aspects. On one hand, I can view this as a smooth and refined smoking experience. On the other hand, I can view this as being too smooth where the flavors don’t pop enough and isn’t intricate enough. I overall view it the latter after smoking this singular cigar for review. But I do think it warrants going back to it a few times to make a more concrete answer.

Seth Geise

SCORE

3.93

Cost/Point

$6.41

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.90

Cost/Point

$4.27

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.90

Cost/Point

$4.27

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto