Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Halfwheel.com website)
Davidoff, the Swiss company that made the Zodiac calendar-inspired cigars a common trend in the industry, is releasing its newest cigars: the 2026 version of the Year of the Horse. This is the 15th consecutive year Davidoff has created limited edition cigars for its Zodiac Series, the second time that Davidoff has released a Year of the Horse cigar; there was a Year of the Horse release in 2013.
There are actually three different new Year of the Horse cigars, each more limited than the other:
Davidoff Limited Edition 2026 Year of the Horse (6 1/2 x 55) — $65 (Box of 10, $650) — 17,500 Boxes of 10 Cigars (175,000 Total Cigars) REVIEWED TODAY
Davidoff Limited Edition 2026 Year of the Horse Flagship Exclusive Torpedo (6 x 52) — $89 (Box of 24, $2,136) — 600 Boxes of 24 Cigars (14,400 Total Cigars)
Davidoff Limited Edition 2026 Year of the Horse Masterpiece Toro (6 x 56) — $556.82 (Humidor of 88, $49,000) — 20 Humidors of 88 Cigars (1,760 Total Cigars)
All of the cigars use the same blend: an Ecuadorian wrapper over an Ecuadorian binder and three Dominican fillers; Davidoff said the combined age of the tobacco used is 43 years.
The standard cigar, the 6 1/2 x 55 gran toro, is the one that most people will smoke. It is sold at stores worldwide and Davidoff has created 175,000 of those cigars. The 6 x 52 torpedo is only sold at Davidoff of Geneva — since 1911 flagship stores, i.e. the Davidoff-branded stores around the world. The most limited of the bunch is the 6 x 56 toro that is only sold inside of a $49,000 Masterpiece Humidor. Because only 20 humidors have been made, there will be about 100x more gran toros sold than toros.
The cigar is a medium brown and well made. It has a nice feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were lime, apple, brown sugar, a little earthiness, and leather. There was black pepper rated at 7. Pretty good start.
At the first third (25 minutes) the front end flavors have morphed into more of a baked peach with a nice amount of brown sugar, leather, and earthiness. But you get a lot more of the sweet notes than leather or earthiness. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is leather with very good lingering black pepper. The notes at this point, how they've changed and come together, are very good. I rated the first third 94.
As I moved through the second third (57 minutes) the cigar changed. The peach notes and brown sugar are light. There is a lot more leather, earthiness, and now black coffee. The cigar is medium bodied, leaning toward medium to full. The finish is leather and black coffee with very good lingering black pepper. The cigar made a major turn. I rated the second third 91.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 32 minutes. It stayed on the same path. Now there are hints of peach and very light brown sugar, a lot of earthiness, some leather, and a good amount of black coffee. The cigar is medium to full bodied. The finish is unchanged. The first third made me think I had something very nice but it steadily declined. I rated the final third 88. This is a very pricey cigar that starts out great but could not hold.
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