Davidoff Malawi Dark Cavendish

I like Lakelands and scented tobaccos and I also dip, albeit infrequently, in a Danish blend, but generally I regard full-fledged aromatics with trepidation. I would never have bought these new Davidoff products to start with, but I was kindly given a generous sample of each and I did smoke them.

They all smelled exuberantly, Malawi smelled of butterscotch, Brazil of tropical fruit and Argentina like a sweet Christmas pastry.

They all seemed to need some drying time and I obliged without letting them dry out completely. All took to light easily and burned well, fairly dry and cool, without need of relights. None produced any tongue bite to me and all smoked well to the end without becoming harsh or moistening the pipe excessively. So these blends do not seem to consist of inferior tobaccos heavily cased to mask the dullness or harshness of the tobacco, on the contrary these are extremely well crafted aromatics.

Now as far as flavor is concerned I got what I smelled from all three. With Malawi in particular the flavor of butterscotch with a pinch of salt (I do not get vanilla) is very close to the real thing. And I could still taste some tobacco, Cavendish. So Malawi is rounder and less zingy than Brazil but with less tobacco taste.

I also tried it completely dry (still burned cool and did not become harsh) and I actually preferred it that way. The only problem for me is that the taste is not only exuberant, some Lakelands are also exuberant, but that the taste of the casing is a little bit artificial and I think I prefer tobaccos more naturally aromatized. I do not think I would ever buy these tobaccos, but since taste is subjective and quality-wise these blends seem to me to be very good for what they are –i.e. full-fledged aromatics, I will give them three stars. Were I more experienced with true aromatics I might have judged them differently, so take my review with a pinch of salt. Actually for their category they might very possibly merit four stars…

Davidoff - Malawi Dark Cavendish.

You can call me pedantic, but to me the name Dark Cavendish is indicative of a blend that's dark, or black in colour. So when I opened the pouch to be met by a 50/50 split between black and golden brown ribbons I felt cheated!! Okay, that's way over the top, to call the name a slight misnomer would be a lot more apt!

It's a good smoke though, not exactly my cup of tea, but worth a recommendation nevertheless. The vanilla gives a fairly strong, and sweet flavour, masking the tobaccos somewhat. Of the tobaccos', it's the black Cavendish that gives the biggest flavour, it takes until I'm well into a pipe to get any of the Burley. Towards the end of a bowl the vanilla takes a big leap in strength, and again resumes its stance as the lead taste. I'd expect a heavy aromatic to bite hard but this one doesn't, and the smoke's cool.

The nicotine's VERY mild, and the room-note's brilliant.

The only real negative is the price: £14.99. That's a touch high.

Three stars.

Mild to moderate flavor with an average smoking pleasure. Vanilla aroma is almost unnoticable. However, an over-the-average sample of black cavendish. One might carry a pack in his bag.

Okay, I completely agree with the guy above who's complaining about the colour of the blend. Last week I've found one of the "Brazil" blends and tried it for the first time - well, it says "Virginia" and it's way darker than this "Dark Cavendish".

However, on the side of the blend itself - well, it's awesome. I don't enjoy full aromatics, that's why this - which I've expected to be one - came as a pleasant surprise. It doesn't bite, the aroma and taste is more than fantastic and goes well with black and green tea, but also with a drink. There are honey and some brandy-like taste which holds for most of the cup.

Shortly: perfect for a pleasant day.

My favourite tobacco......excellent puff,no tongue bite,right humidity in the bag......people ask me what i am smoking when they smell the tobacco.......duty free price was 10 euro/50 grammes........unfortunately they only had one pouch!!! Recommended !!

Excellent quality pipe tobacco, whose vanilla flavour does not mask that of the leaf content. It manages to keep an old-fashioned feel, I even detect some liquorice in the Burley. Well worth the few extra pennies.

The lover of sweet and mellow black cavendish will enjoy this smoke. I tried this tobacco 8 months after opening the pouch for the first time, and brought it to optimal humidity with a little slice of apple. The pouch note is intensely sweet, "butterscotch-like". Throughout the bowl i couldn't detect much vanilla, but rather a sweet and dark aroma, with hints of caramelized brown sugar and molasses on retro-haling. The flavor is wonderfully persisting throughout the bowl, and the sweetness becomes mellower and darker in its second half, when the topping fades away and the quality black Cavendish becomes even more enjoyable. Slowly and evenly burning, no tongue bite. The room note is marvelous: after emptying my pipe, I walked back to my smoking room only to catch a nostalgic whiff of this excellent aromatic tobacco. For lovers of strongly aromatic tobaccos.

A l'ouverture de la blague c'est une vanille puissante que je rencontre. Suivi d'un coté sucré. Pour sur que c'est le BC. Je pense que je vais me régaler.
Par contre je suis surpris car il est marqué sur la blague : Dark; donc pour moi plein de Black Cavendish. Arrivé là, le mélange est relativement équilibré. Ce n'est pas bien grave mais tout de même. Pour les amateurs de BC ne soyez pas surpris.
Le tabac est très humide, je le fais sécher.
Dès les premières volutes la room note est superbe. Un mélange de caramel vanillé et de tabac. Pourvu que ça dur.
Au premier tiers le mélange à déjà du corps. C'est léger mais ça me dis qu'il va falloir que je fasse attention à partir du deuxième tiers.
Pour l'instant c'est surtout le coté sucré qui ressort. Mais aussi les tabacs.
Ma langue ne pique pas et la combustion se passe bien.
Au deuxième tiers la fumé est un peu plus chaudes et savoureuse. C'est à ce stade que l'on profite pleinement de ce mélange ( comme beaucoup d'aros d'ailleurs )
Je suis sur des notes de caramel vanillé avec des aromes et des saveurs grillées. Mais pas trop. Un très bon moment de dégustation. La room note est superbe.
Les tabacs prennent leur place de plus en plus.
Toujours pas de morsure et ma belle ne chauffe pas.
Au dernier tiers, l'ensemble prend du corps. Les aromes et les saveurs ce sont développées. Je suis plus sur des notes grillées, vanillé et sucrées; Un peu comme un quatre quart que l'on aurait laissé un peu plus au four.
J'ai été agréablement surpris par ce mélange. Parfois déroutant, parfois complexe mais toujours bon après une blague complète.
La room note est superbe et la combustion parfaite.

Davidoff signe là un très bon mélange que je reprendrai à l'occasion pour le mettre dans ma rotation.

Altough there is definitely plenty dark cavendish in the blend, it does not surpass half of the amount. When I smoked it a couple years ago, the tobacco burnt me easily, but some drying toned this down. The same happened with the sweetness. Although still an aromatic, the experience no longer comes close to walking past a candyfloss booth (a reference that was imposed on me and which stuck due to its accuracy).

I am divided on this one. It smokes cool (after some drying) for the beginning of a smoke, but I find that as you keep puffing, it invites for a quick cadence - which is when it becomes uncomfortable. I needed quite a few relights and there is a lot of moisture.

The tobaccos are sweet, liek sugarfloss or butterscootch candy. I do not notice vanilla in a manner that could not have been provided the black cavendish, but the tonge bite betrays the aromatic additives. Definitely recommended for aromatic smokers, not so much for non-aromatic fans.