Pioneering Spirit: Celebrating 50 Years of Davidoff Cigars

Oettinger Davidoff is celebrating 50 years of Davidoff cigars and honoring Zino Davidoff’s legacy in a big way.

In 1911, Henri Davidoff established an eponymous specialty tobacco retail shop in Geneva, Switzerland, creating the foundation of what would become a globally recognized leading luxury brand. While Henri started the tobacco shop, his son Zino would guide it into worldwide prominence through his constant quest to provide his customers with the very best products available.

Born in 1906, Zino traveled to South America at age 19 to visit a friend of his father’s and to learn all he could about tobacco. Working the farms and factories in Argentina, Brazil and Cuba, Zino discovered a passion for tobacco, and especially for Cuban cigars. After an apprenticeship of five years abroad, Zino returned to his father’s store in 1930 and added Cuban cigars to its selection. From the 1930s on, the Davidoff store became the best-known purveyor of Cuban cigars in Europe, with customers from around the world coming to the shop to not only purchase their cigars but to spend time with the eminently charming and worldly Zino.

In close partnership with Cuban cigarmakers, Zino, who was one of the first to draw a parallel between wine and cigars, recommended that new brands being made exclusively for his store be named after Bordeaux wines, thus raising the profile of premium cigar enjoyment. Zino’s sales and marketing techniques proved so successful that, in appreciation of his business acumen, Cubatobacco, the government-run agency that managed the Cuban cigar industry, honored Zino with the opportunity to launch the first cigars under the Davidoff name in 1968. Featuring a small white band that read “Davidoff” in gold letters, Zino created three sizes with the Cubans: Ambassadrice, Davidoff No. 1 and Davidoff No. 2. The cigars were simple yet refined, the perfect example of Zino’s constant chase for the finer things that life can offer.

By the time of his death in January 1994, Zino’s name had become synonymous worldwide for the pursuit of pleasure. He had sold his business to Oettinger in 1970 but had remained with the company, known afterward as Oettinger Davidoff, to represent Davidoff cigars worldwide. While he’s been gone for 24 years, Zino Davidoff’s spirit, passion and pioneering vision are still very much alive.

“Zino still is our guiding light when developing cigars and campaigns or interacting with valued consumers in our stores every day,” says Edward Simon, Davidoff’s head of global marketing and innovation. “Zino’s spirit keeps us always rooted in the things that he valued most—treating people with respect and working hard to present them with the best experiences possible. He cared not for borders and boundaries. It was his restless pursuit of new tobaccos, blends and personal connections [that] has proved the inspiration for everything we have done in the past five decades.”

Celebrating 50 Years
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Davidoff cigars, the company is inviting its retailers and consumers to join in the celebration, which will include special events and product releases throughout 2018. The company kicked off its iconic brand’s golden anniversary at the beginning of the year with the introduction of a special 50th anniversary commemorative band on its Signature No. 2, Signature 2000, Aniversario No. 3, Aniversario Special R and Aniversario Entreacto cigars.

In May, the company re-released the 702 Seleccion Limited Edition, but the celebration will kick into high gear beginning at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) show in July, where Davidoff will host a special launch party on the show’s second day for the re-release of Diademas Finas—a cigar that was last available in 2006 to commemorate what would have been Zino Davidoff’s 100th birthday.

Dubbed the 50 Years Limited Edition, Diademas Finas (6 3/4 x 50) cigars are made from an Ecuadorean Habano wrapper, Dominican Olor seco binder and an all-Dominican blend of filler tobaccos. The cigars carry a special golden band that reads “50 years” and a second white band that reads “1968-2018.”

“If Davidoff had a signature, it would be written with this exceptional Diademas Finas cigar,” Simon explains. “It’s a celebration of the craftsmanship of our master blenders, built with 10-year-old filler tobaccos from one of the best crops in 2007, giving it an unparalleled sense of balance and signature Davidoff sophistication. It stands as proof of Zino’s pioneering spirit and the most diverse and stimulating offering for our customers to choose from.”

The cigars will be packaged in 10-count porcelain jars, a first for Davidoff. Each of the jars is numbered and contains a humidification device. There will be 4,000 jars available in the U.S. The jars will also present four distinct art designs. The designs, which were created by French artist Mariane Leger, reflect Davidoff’s drive for discovery and the brand’s desire to deliver a wider world of extraordinary cigar experiences.

Gastronomy and Other Collaborations
In September, Davidoff will introduce its second limited Chef’s Edition cigar, which will be tied into the 50th anniversary celebration as well. The 2018 Chef’s Edition cigar is a collaborative effort between Davidoff and five Michelin-starred chefs. Each of the chefs—Thomas Keller, Shaun Rankin, Alvin Luong, Klaus Erfort and Heiko Nieder—will also host an event in their respective markets.

“The 2018 Chef’s Edition is a representation of global gastronomy and shows where we’re going with Davidoff,” Simon explains. “Zino Davidoff was a pioneer and an explorer who was always looking for new tastes and innovations in flavors. The chefs collaborating with the project embrace that philosophy by searching to find new flavor experiences themselves. It’s a perfect marriage between what they’re all about and what Davidoff is all about.”

The Churchill family will even be joining in on the celebration. In 2008, the family approached Davidoff about making a cigar to honor the celebrated British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Since then, Davidoff incorporated the entire Winston Churchill cigar line into its Davidoff brand portfolio, giving it the same level of prestige as any of the cigars that bear the iconic Davidoff white ring. Throughout the year, Randolph Churchill, Winston’s great-grandson, will make appearances atDavidoff stores to share stories about his great-grandfather’s love for cigars and why the family chose Davidoff to make the cigar that would bear his name.

While 50 is an age when most people start to look forward to retirement, Davidoff is looking forward to its evolution over the next half-century. As part of the 50th celebration, Simon promises that the company has a few more surprises in store for its consumers and retailers later in the year—surprises that will honor the company’s heritage and that might even indicate Davidoff’s future exploration into new taste experiences. Considering his own lifelong pioneering pursuit of excellence, Zino Davidoff would most assuredly be pleased.

This story first appeared in the July/August 2018 issue of Tobacco Businessmagazine. Members of the tobacco industry are eligible for a complimentary subscription to our magazine. Click here for details.

– By Stephen A. Ross, senior editor of Tobacco Business Magazine. Photos courtesy of Oettinger Davidoff AG