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Zino Davidoff was born in 1906 in Russia and it was in fact his father
Henry who opened the first tobacco shop in Geneva in 1911.
In his youth, Zino travelled extensively to study the cigar business and
in 1929 Zino returned to the family business in Geneva and introduced
probably the first cellar style humidor to store cigars in perfect
conditions of temperature and humidity. In 1946 the famous Chateau series
of Davidoff was created after the Cubans found that their cigar sales were
flat following the 2nd world war and they enlisted Davidoff to lend his
name and reputation to a superb line of cigars which were in fact some of
the best Havana cigars ever made. These were originally marketed as Hoyo
de Monterrey specially selected by Zino Davidoff and distributed in
Switzerland by the Zurich importer Durr.
Davidoffs were made in El Laguito from 1969, firstly the No. 1 and No. 2
as well as the Ambassadrice where production at El Laguito peaked to
almost 1,000,000 Davidoff. The largest amount of Davidoff made
in any one year reached 3 million cigars.
Due to a quality control dispute between Davidoff and Cubatobacco
production officially ceased of all Davidoff cigars in 1991 and thereafter
the brand relocated to the Dominican Republic. Although there have been
persistent rumours in the industry that Davidoff would one day return to
Havana, this has never materialised. It goes without saying that the
Dominican version of the cigar whilst an excellent non Cuban is completely
different to the Cuban Davidoff. Yes, the Dominican Davidoff looks good,
smells good and is constructed to perfection, but the blend does not have
the same complexity and cannot be considered an alternative for the Cuban
Davidoff.
At the height of the dispute between Davidoff and Cubatobacco in 1987,
Zino Davidoff appeared on French television and condemned the Cubans for
their shoddy workmanship. Quite the Maverick Davidoff burned 130,000
cigars in a huge bonfire! to make a point about the unacceptable quality
of the cigars that Cubatobacco was making under his name. The best
vintages were said to be between 1980 and 1985. Throughout the 1970's and
1980's Davidoff were always concerned about the black market sales of
their cigars as well as counterfeits in Switzerland.
One of the most famous Davidoff cigars and indeed the most expensive is
the Chateau Y'Quem named after the French sweet wine estate in Sauternes.
This rare cigar has sold for over £6,000 for a cabinet of 25 at auction in
recent years.
The owners of the estate objected to their name being used and the cigar
was subsequently renamed after another Bordeaux Estate, first growth
Mouton Rothschild......... the value however of the Mouton Rothschild
never reached the dizzy heights of the Y'Quem.
At around 1986 many Davidoff cigars were produced at the La Corona factory
in Havana, but Zino was reported as saying 'he could not guarantee the
quality' which angered Cubatobacco .
When production stopped and people became aware of the potential
collectible value of the cigars, demand shot up and supply was depleted
rapidly. Edward Shakian the owner of the Davidoff Shop in London St
James's told me a story about one gentleman in 1991 purchasing 7000
Davidoff No. 1's and 2's for a staggering $115,000
In 1967 Zino Davidoff wrote his excellent book 'The Connoisseurs Book of the Cigar' which advises on many aspects of cigar smoking, including his recommendation that one should not smoke the last 3rd of the cigar but let it die a 'natural death'. I'm not certain that many cigar smokers would like to waste the last 3rd of a Davidoff at todays prices!
In Zinos words 'the pleasure of a cigar, you will remember, begins
before you smoke it and lingers after it is finished'.
In 1970 the Oettinger group in Switzerland took over the business of Zino
Davidoff and Zino continued in the business almost up until his death in
1994. Whilst the Davidoff shops around the world still sell wonderful
Havana cigars, the Davidoff cigars they sell are Dominican and not Cuban.
But, the Davidoff legacy lives on and collectors around the world buy,
sell, trade, exchange vintage Davidoff cigars from the mild and
flavourful, No. 1, No. 2 and Dom Perignon, to the 1000 series with its
punchy caramel and chocolate flavour characteristics, through to the full
flavoured rich tasting Chateau series.
The values go up and down according to the market but Davidoff will one
day be completely unavailable as there are few around that can be found.
Whether it's the tiny Ambassadrice or the enormous 80th Anniversario, the
Davidoff cigar has a unique flavour and a unique blend that in my humble
opinion has never been bettered in the Havana cigar.
I never had the pleasure of meeting Zino Davidoff but my grandfather, a
Havana cigar connoisseur, did meet Zino in his shop in Geneva on Rue de
Rive and I remember him telling me what a gentleman Zino was to deal with,
always taking time to chat about cigars and current affairs. Its a
shame that these two great men are no longer with us today.
The old Davidoff shop has now been refurbished into a beautiful new and
modern shop and humidor which is well worth a visit when in Geneva.
The Manager, Thomas Mathys is one of the most helpful and knowledgeable
cigar store managers in the industry. Zino's advice was to smoke
softly, nobly and peacefully.........
Our thanks go out to Angelo and Alberto for the kind invitation and Angelo for his overwhelming generosity.
Click on the picture to view a larger image
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