Davidoff

A Cuban-made Davidoff Dom Pérignon with its namesake, Dom Pérignon champagne

The brand name Davidoff originates from the surname of its Switzerland-Jewish-born founder, Zino Davidoff (born Sussele-Meier Davidoff; 1906, Novhorod-Siverskyi – 1994, Geneva),[4] who ran a tobacco specialist shop in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1926 to 1994.[5] He was known as the "King of Cigars".[6]

Dominican-made Ambassadrice

After the Second World War, Zino Davidoff decided to acquire a license to produce his own series of cigars.[5] As he had discerning international customers, he named the various formats of this "Château" cigar series after famous Bordeaux vineyard estates. The first in the series was the "Château Latour" in 1946.

In 1967, Zino Davidoff was approached by Cubatabaco, Cuba's state tobacco monopoly, about creating a line of cigars carrying the "Davidoff" name. The cigars were rolled in the newly established El Laguito factory in Havana, which had been established to roll Cuban President Fidel Castro's own personal cigars, named Cohíba.

In 1968, the first cigars carrying the name "Davidoff" were released. The first formats were the No. 1, the No. 2 and the Ambassadrice. In 1970, Oettinger AG, located in Basel, Switzerland, acquired the rights to the Davidoff trademark.

In 1971, the Davidoff "Mini Cigarillos" (short fillers made of 100% tobacco) and, in 1972, the first Davidoff pipe tobaccos were released. As of 1975, the cigars of the Château series were delivered in cabinets bearing the Davidoff logo.

In 1976, the "Mille Series" and, in 1977, the “Dom Pérignon” cigar, named after the champagne, were released. In 1986, a limited release of "Anniversario" cigars were produced, to celebrate Zino Davidoff's 80th birthday.

The Zino Davidoff Group was spun out of Davidoff in 1980[7] to exclusively market non-tobacco luxury goods such as watches, leather goods, pens, fragrances, eyewear, coffee, and cognac.[8] Public health researchers have suggested that this was in order to engage in trademark diversification (also known as "brand stretching") to promote the tobacco products, because it allows for advertising the brand in the face of restrictions on the direct promotion of tobacco products.[9][10]

After numerous disputes over quality and ownership rights, Zino Davidoff and Cubatabaco decided to end their relationship. Leading up to this, in August 1989, Zino had publicly burned over one hundred thousand cigars that he had deemed of low quality and unfit to sell. All Davidoff products produced in Cuba were officially discontinued in 1991. An agreement was signed that no more Davidoff cigars from Cuba would be sold.

In 1990, after discontinuing Cuban-made products, Davidoff started to produce cigars in the Dominican Republic. After numerous test runs, Zino Davidoff found a partner in the local producer “Tabadom”, owned by Hendrik Kelner.

In 1991, the first Dominican-made Davidoff cigars were launched, continuing the product lines and cigar formats of their Cuban predecessors. With the move to the Dominican Republic, the Château series was renamed "Grand Cru", and the individual formats were numbered instead of carrying the names of vineyard estates.

In 1991, the limited release called "Aniversario" became an ongoing cigar series, called the "Aniversario" series. In 1992, the "Special" cigar series was released, with the format "Special R" as the first product. In 1994, the 87-year-old Zino Davidoff died in Geneva, Switzerland.

A pack of Davidoff Classic cigarettes

Imperial Brands has owned the Davidoff cigarette brand name since purchasing it in 2006.[1]

• List of cigar brands
• Zino Davidoff Group

• Min Ron Nee, An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars (2003, Reprinted: 2005).
• James Suckling, "In Search of Davidoffs: Connoisseurs are Buying Up Stocks of the Swiss Cigar Maker's Discontinued Havanas," Cigar Aficionado, vol. 2, no. 1 (Autumn 1993), pp. 46–55.
• Dieter H. Wirtz, Davidoff - Legend, Myth, Reality, Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, Berlin 2006

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Davidoff Cigarettes.

• Official website (may be inaccessible for UK and French internet users because UK and French legislation bans tobacco advertising and promotion)
• Oettinger Davidoff AG – company website