Davidoff Year of the Tiger

This tobacco came to me by chance. I was told that there was a tin of Davidoff's exclusive tobacco from the Chinese Zodiac series available. After reading the description, I was interested and picked it up. After all, it's not every day you come across an English-based aromatic blend.

Appearance: The manufacturer exaggerated a bit about the 5,000 tins produced. At any rate, my tin box of beautiful dark red had a white and gold label that said "#3163 of 4750," the composition of the blend, the origin of the tobaccos, and the blender's signature. The blend itself in the box was packaged in a tightly sealed black opaque plastic bag, which I suspect is able to keep the tobacco moist for a while. The various varieties of Virginia, as well as Burley and Latakia, are sliced in large sloppy ribbons, among which there are quite large flakes of pale and red Virginia. I found a few pieces of light Virginia that resembled noodles - as long as a phalanx of a finger and a wide by five millimeters. Despite this, the tobacco is well-mixed, the moisture is ideal for puffing, except that it should be crushed a little, otherwise it will smoke unevenly.

Flavor: foreground - tart and dense red dry wine, cloves, cinnamon, ginger; middle - orange peel, musk; background - leather, some smoke, light woody note, a little bit of tar. General association - a mug of Gluhwein from the pot on the fire. The flavor of wine and cloves in the air quickly become softer, after a few minutes giving way to more typical tobacco notes, and then the blend becomes similar to a light English blend.

Taste: initially, the bread and hay notes of Virginia are almost completely hidden under the spicy topping of the Gluhwein - dry red wine, cloves, cinnamon, some ginger. However, a sweet, slightly herbaceous note, which could belong to either molasses sauce or red Virginia, is quite clearly present in the palate. Barely noticeable nutty and earthy notes of burley are juxtaposed with equally subtle notes of latakia – smokiness and light resin. Gradually, somewhere in the middle of the pipe, the topping dissolves into the overall flavor, leaving a soft but still tangible spicy clove flavor in the foreground. Resin, a slight smokiness, and woody notes gain some strength, but they don't lack brightness, and the tobacco as a whole lacks strength and density of flavor. It remains a light blend that won't give out a nicotine kick even in a extra large pipe. The tobacco is able to smoke slowly without relights, but being warm, it easily warms up the pipe if smoked carelessly. The blend doesn't bite, but has a somewhat uneven taste, which is especially noticeable with slow, long puffs. The aftertaste is sweet, not persistent.

The smoke from the tobacco is light, quickly disperses, has a sweet and woody flavor.

What's the result? If initially I thought of the famous William Blake's poem, after trying the tobacco, I was convinced that there is no fearful symmetry in it. Rather, the following dialogue, written by another English author, would suit tobacco:

‘and what are "TOVES"?’ ‘Well, "TOVES" are something like badgers—they're something like lizards—and they're something like corkscrews.’ ‘They must be very curious looking creatures’ ‘They are that…’

Nevertheless, the tobacco is not without a strange appeal, and its lightness allows you to smoke it from the biggest pipes. Perhaps I'd be interested in trying other annual releases in this series. But I'm not going to chase after them specifically. About this one... 2.5 of 4, I presume. Be it more English and cut much well, I'd give it 3.