Diademas - The Smoke Of The Century!

Zino Davidoff no doubt would have enjoyed smoking this cigar that is made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth. The limited-edition Diademas Finas and the even more exclusive Diademas 100, will be officially introduced on July 18 in Las Vegas at its St. Mark’s Square store in the Venetian hotel. The aged Dominican Republic tobaccos for this rarity were blended to emulate the strength of the pre-Castro Havana Punch—a brand that represented Cuba’s cigar-making heyday.

Davidoff, who died in 1994, was the first non-Cuban permitted to export private-label Havana cigars, but that relationship ended in 1989, when he declared that Cuba was no longer capable of producing the quality he demanded. He underscored his proclamation by publicly burning a reported $3 million worth of Havana-rolled Davidoffs. Since then, the brand, which is owned by Switzerland’s Oettinger Imex AG, has been making Davidoff cigars in the Dominican Republic.

The Diademas Finas and the Diademas 100 both were created by Davidoff's master blender Hendrik “Henke” Kelner. At the size of 63¼4 x 50 unbanded perfecto, they appear similar to the first Cuban Diademas that Davidoff introduced in 1948. Davidoff will sell the cigar in boxes of 10 priced at $ 220. The cigars will only be produced to the end of this year - after that no mas!

The Diademas 100 is a 91¼8 x 55 version of the Diademas Finas. Although it has the same perfecto shape as the Finas, the larger size of the 100 requires an entire half of an unblemished tobacco leaf for each wrapper. This is the most difficult, old-style shape to make. Davidoff can only roll 100 of these a day, and even then, they can be made by only the most skilled torcedors.

The Diademas 100 will be sold in 50-cigar bundles (called wheels), tied with a silk ribbon, and packaged in a cedar cabinet box. Unlike the Finas, the 100 is available only at Davidoff shops, of which there are seven in the United States (two in Manhattan and five in Las Vegas). Davidoff is allocating only 100 boxes of the Diademas 100, priced at $ 2,300 each, for this country.

The binder of the Diademas 100 is made from 1992 and 1993 vintage Dominican, two of the best harvests on record. This tobacco may have a sentimental value, because maybe Zino actually touched some of the leafs with his hands. But the real difference between the Diademas Finas and the Diademas 100 is the age of the tobacco crop used. The Diademas Finas tobaccos are aged from three to four years, but with the Diademas 100, the tobacco has from seven to 13 years of aging.

The wrapper on this cigar is silky smooth, oily, and deeply tanned from years of aging. This is a special, secret wrapper that has been saved and aged, to now be used for Zino’s cigar.