This year, Davidoff is celebrating a few anniversaries.

Most notably, it’s the 150th anniversary of Davidoff’s parent company, Oettinger Davidoff AG. But 2025 also marks the 10th anniversary of two different cigar lines: Davidoff Escurio and AVO Syncro Nicaragua.

Davidoff is celebrating both of those anniversaries by releasing limited editions that use modified versions of the respective blends. Brooks Whittington already reviewed the Davidoff Escurio 10th Anniversary Limited Edition and I am reviewing the AVO Syncro Nicaragua.

It’s known as the AVO Syncro 10th Anniversary Limited Edition,  a 6 5/8 x 50 diadema that uses an Ecuadorian wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Like the regular production Syncro Nicaragua cigars, it is box-pressed.

“The AVO Syncro 10th Anniversary Limited Edition celebrates a decade of innovation and craftsmanship,” said Edward Simon, cmo at Oettinger Davidoff, in a press release when the cigar was announced in March. “With this cigar, our Master Blenders showcase their unwavering commitment to expanding the boundaries of taste. The unique blend and distinctive vitola honour the Syncro legacy, delivering an unforgettable experience for our cigar enthusiasts around the globe.”

• Cigar Reviewed: AVO Syncro 10th Anniversary Limited Edition
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: O.K. Cigars
• Wrapper: Ecuador
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
• Length: 6 5/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Shape: Pressed
• MSRP: $22 (Box of 20, $440)
• Release Date: April 3, 2025
• Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The first thing I notice about the cigars are the secondary bands, specifically the black triangle—I think it’s supposed to represent a volcano—with an X running through it. More than anything, I like how it sort of floats above the rest of the cigar. I had forgotten that Davidoff markets the shape as a box-pressed diadems finas, but that is exactly what it is. The wrappers are very dark with a deep brown that has some reds and black stripes breaking through. They are also very matte, nearly completely devoid of oils. The aromas from the first two cigars’ wrappers are medium-full with barnyard and acidity over secondary notes of sweet orange, paste and bark. The third cigar is different, medium-plus with the smell of a bag of beef jerky leading tree bark and no signs of barnyard or acidity. The feet of the three cigars smell mostly like the smell of a box of saltine crackers, with secondary notes of leather and the smell of a glass of unsweetened iced tea. Cold draws show little in common. The first cigar is a bit tight with a saltiness that reminds me of chicken noodle soup over earth and some black pepper. The second cigar’s draw resistance is great while the flavors are much creamier with some melted chocolate ice cream over sweet woods, around medium-plus. The third has a slightly open draw with a medium-full mixture of woods, peppermint, leather and a muted milk cocoa.

Similarly, the first two AVO Syncro 10th Anniversary Limited Editions start quite similarly: the draw tightens. For the first cigar, that’s really not great as there’s just not much smoke coming to my mouth, though I get hints of chewy earthiness, gingerbread cookie and some sharpness. The second cigar delivers a lot more smoke with a deep woody flavor that is temporarily cut off by some hoisin sauce flavors before the woodiness and a sweetened coffee flavor return. The third cigar is much more what I would have expected: very woody with different wood sensations hitting different parts of the palate while there are some mild butter and toast accents, altogether around medium-full. Predictably, once the bottom portion of the cigars is mostly smoked through, the draw gets a lot easier. Flavor-wise, the third cigar is a lot better with crisp woods and nuttiness fighting for the top spot while secondary notes of minerals, saltiness and sweetness accent things. The second cigar is at least a shell of that profile with less interesting versions of those flavors and more creaminess, though it’s also got the ability to turn sharp. The first cigar is quite a bit more bland with a starchiness and leather masking the interesting parts of the woodiness, though there are some unique purple grape juice accents. The finish of each cigar tends to turn bitter without adding much of anything interesting, though again, the third cigar is far and away the best version of this, as the woodiness and nuttiness are much more vibrant. Retrohales of the first two cigars add a lot more sweetness—Arnold Palmer-like in the first and Dr. Pepper in the second—though the drier flavors also return. The third cigar is again different, with things turning saltier, an enjoyable change, but I’m glad it’s an optional thing and not something I have to experience with each puff. Flavor is medium-full to full, body is medium to medium-plus, and strength is medium to medium-plus as well. The draws are all fine, but combustion requires more effort than I’d like to keep the cigar going, though I’m able to get through each first third without using the lighter.

As the second third gets going, the cigars are getting worse. Again, the third cigar is the best as not only does the downward transition begin later—right around halfway—but it’s not as damaging as the other two cigars. There are some added sharp flavors like peppermint and even a horseradish flavor—like the flavor, but without the sharpness. The problem with each cigar is that there’s a dryness that is taking over the profile and drowning out the more interesting flavors. It’s not present on every puff, but the frequency increases as I get closer to the final third. When it’s not happening, there’s some nuttiness, dry hay, grass and the classic Davidoff musky flavor, but then there are some puffs when I’m tasting mostly just a palate-coating dry flavor that turns bitter and seems to suck the other flavors away from my taste buds. The first cigar is the worst example because there are a lot more burnt and sharp flavors, something undoubtedly related to that cigar’s combustion issues. The finish is better on the second and third cigars as they add some salty pasta, dry potato chips and a more pleasant black pepper, but the first thirds of both cigars were a lot better than the middle portions. Retrohales on those two cigars are a lot more enjoyable as the horseradish flavor remerges, joined by sawdust, bread and some berries, but there are other puffs that are dry, bitter and sharp. Flavor is around medium-full, the body is closer to medium-plus, and strength remains medium. The first cigar’s construction is not good: after managing subpar combustion for the first 40 percent of the cigar, it eventually just goes out without any warning, kicking off what becomes regular work for my lighter. The second and third cigars both need touch-ups due to poor smoke production, but neither cigar goes completely out.

While the first and second cigars are continuing to get worse, the third cigar is doing a much better job of keeping it together. Given that I’m smoking the cigars over the course of three consecutive days and not side-by-side-by-side, my best understanding is that the difference is whether the dryness turns bitter. Whereas the first two are bitter, the third cigar is dry and chalky. That allows for versions, albeit worse versions, of the familiar flavors of woodiness, saltiness and toastiness to be decidable and somewhat enjoyable. The second cigar is also dry—there’s straw, herbal flavors and even a dry wood—but many puffs are bitter, which overwhelms most of the other flavors. The first cigar’s combustion issues have added some sharpness at the expense of basically any other flavors. It’s not that the flavors are cloying or harsh; there’s just not much there other than dry nothingness and remnants of relights. Some puffs can offer exciting flavors like peppermint, the hoisin sauce, and even some fruity sweetness, but they are more one-offs than consistent features. If I want interesting flavors, a retorhale does the trick, introducing brown mustard, horseradish, bread, meatiness and hay, but consecutive retrohales allow for some of the dryness of the mouth to creep in and take away from the rest of the flavors. Flavor is medium in the mouth, fuller in the retrohale. The body is medium-plus, and strength is medium. All three cigars need at least a touch-up to help with combustion. I also deduct points from the first cigar for smoke production.

Final Notes

• For the American market, there were 3,400 boxes released. Davidoff did not disclose the total production numbers. Just based on the current ratios that Davidoff uses, my guess is there were around 10,000 boxes.
• If I had to do it all over again, I would have created a much more liberal system of scoring cigars. Even after some tweaks, our scoring system makes it difficult for cigars to score outside of an eight-point range. Unfortunately, after thousands of reviews, if we were to tweak the system to make it so that scores existed in a 40-point range, it would be difficult for readers—especially ones who read this site less than once per week—to understand the change.
• In this case, my frustration is that I think this cigar is a lot worse than cigars I review that score an 85 versus the difference between say 87 and 89.
• That said, these cigars weren’t unsmokeable or anything close to that. Part of the problem with the scoring system is that the floor for new cigars has gotten a lot better than it was even a dozen years ago.
• Davidoff of Geneva USA advertises on halfwheel.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel. Davidoff of Geneva USA sent halfwheel some cigars, none of which were used for this review.
• Final smoking time was pretty quick for me, just shy of two hours.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars Direct, Famous Smoke Shop, Fox Cigar and JR Cigarcarry the AVO Syncro 10th Anniversary Limited Edition.