These past few weeks I have sampled quite a few medium to full body cigars. Tonight I am smoking the AVO XO Toro which was part of a sampler box I received from Davidoff at this years IPCPR.

AVO cigars are a creation between Avo Uvezian, Hendrik Kelner,  and Davidoff of Sweden.  If you did not know,  Avo Uvezian is an Armenian-American jazz pianist and composer.  He may be best known for his song  “Broken Guitar” – the prototype for “Strangers in the Night”, and as we know, one of Frank Sinatra’s most famed songs.

According to Wikipedia – “In 1983, when Avo’s daughter Karyn was born, he went to Switzerland for her christening. Avo had a Cuban cigar after the meal and was not happy with the price. His friend mentioned that they should make their own. Uvezian travelled to the Dominican Republic, where he searched for two years for a satisfactory production facility. Avo finally met Hendrik Kelner, and after smoking samples, Avo offered Kelner twenty-five percent more than he had originally offered. His presumption was that paying Kelner more would ensure that Avo cigars would receive the best tobacco. Michael Roux advised Avo to use attractive packaging. In the first year, 120,000 Avo cigars were sold. By the third year, Avo sold over 750,000 cigars. In 1995, Davidoff paid Avo Uvezian an estimated $10 million for the rights to distribute his cigars. In 1996, more than two million Avo cigars were sold”

The AVO XO Toro (6×50) is a medium body cigar that is loaded with flavor. It is expertly constructed with Dominican filler and binder and an Ecuadorian wrapper. The barrel is smooth and velvet to the touch with no soft spots, bumps, or noticeable veins. The AVO XO has a woody scent  and a pre-light draw that is of sweet tobacco. One could say that the construction is like Avo’s compositions; smooth and delightful. The AVO XO is graced with a Coral and Gold band with the AVO logo centered.

I clipped the head with a double blade cutter and gently fired it up with my four flame torch lighter. The draw was smooth and the smoke was creamy. The AVO XO ash was pinpoint. The early burn was crooning notes of oak and toasted nuts. It was the beginning of a wonderful symphony of flavor.

The flavor shifted near the second half to more floral notes as the wrapper developed an oily patina. There was no spice in this stick, just smooth flavors and palate filling smoke. At the half way point there was a hint of bitterness, but that quickly changed, like a syncopated rhythm, back to the nutty flavor. You can even smell the nutty scent in the smoke. This rhythm lasted throughout the burn –  nutty, floral, oak.

The ash was a light grey and lasted a good half of the stick before surrendering to a second dance partner that continued to the finish.

The AVO XO is an excellent cigar to smoke, while relaxing outside on a weekend morning enjoying  the sounds of nature or the rhythm of jazz playing in the background. This is a good hour and half smoke.