Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Halfwheel.com website)
June 25 was the launch of the new AVO Expresivo, which is said to mark a new chapter for the brand. Blend-wise, it uses an Ecuadorian wrapper over a Honduran binder and fillers from Honduras as well as Jalapa, Nicaragua. The use of Honduran tobacco is not normal for the AVO brand, but an even larger change is that the cigar is made at Diadema Cigars de Honduras S.A., Davidoff’s Honduran factory, best known as the home of Camacho. Every other AVO is made in the Dominican Republic. Davidoff has described this cigar as stronger than a typical AVO.
Expresivo is offered in three vitolas:
AVO Expresivo Robusto (5 x 52) — $16 (Box of 20, $320) REVIEWED TODAY
AVO Expresivo Toro (6 x 54) — $17.80 (Box of 20, $356)
AVO Expresivo Churchill (7 x 48) — $17.30 (Box of 20, $346)
It’s not just the blend and where it’s made that are quite different. The packaging is different than the rest of the AVO portfolio. Previously, representatives from Davidoff told halfwheel that the AVO brand will undergo a makeover, with many of the elements found on the Expresivo packaging coming to other lines in the coming years.
This is the first new regular production AVO line since the Syncro Caribe launched in 2021.
The cigar is well made and has an average feel in the hand.
A little background:
AVO sent me 3 cigars to review but only 1 of each size. So I decided to review the Robusto before having either the Churchill or Toro. After a mock review of those the Churchill scored 93.33. It's also the smallest ring size. The Toro scored the worst; 86.67. It's also the largest ring size.
The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were lime/apple, brown sugar, light leather, and earthy black coffee. There was black pepper rated at 7 1/2. Pretty good start.
At the first third (22 minutes) the flavors are nice. The lime/apple and brown sugar are very good and the notes seem to be starting to morph into another flavor but it's not there yet. There is some earthiness and quite a bit of leathery black coffee. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is an earthy lime/apple and it's rather light with very good lingering black pepper. The front end flavors are nice and there is not much earthiness at this point. I rated the first third 94.
As I moved through the second third (44 minutes) the earthiness has increased. The sweet notes are suffering due to the increased earthiness. The leather is light and the black coffee is still in play. The sweet notes have not transitioned like I thought they might. The Churchill had the transition by this point. The cigar is medium to full bodied. I rated the second third 92.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 10 minutes. The cigar kept getting a little more earthy. The transition I thought might happen never did. The lime/apple is light while the earthiness is up. The cigar is full bodied. The earthiness is getting in the way. The finish is unchanged in notes but more prominent. It's actually the best part of the cigar because the finish is fairly bold and lingers. I rated the final third 90. The Churchill is definitely the best of the 3.
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