Avo 77th LE 2003

📌 Brand: AVO
📌 Line: 77th Anniversary Limited Edition 2003
📌 Size: Toro (6 1/2" × 50)
📌 Weight: 17 g
📌 Age: 22 years
📌 Origin: Dominican Republic

Tasting Notes

• Cream – Smooth and mellow base

• Cedar – Classic woody undertone

• Toasted Nuts – Soft sweetness in the background

• White Pepper – Mild spice on the retrohale

First Impressions

The Avo 77th LE 2003 presents with a slightly weathered wrapper from its two decades of age, yet still attractive with a gentle sheen. Pre-light aromas show cedar, cream, and faint nuts. Cold draw is a touch airy, but still delivers promise.

Smoking Experience

• First Third – Opens with cream and cedar, light toasted nuts underneath. Burn is even and smooth.

• Second Third – Pepper emerges softly, creaminess holds, but cigar requires the first relight.

• Final Third – Construction falters, draw loosens further, requiring a second relight. Flavors flatten into mostly cedar and faint earth.

Pairings

• Alcohol – Glenlivet 18 Year Single Malt, offering honey, oak, and dried fruit to complement the cream and cedar while boosting the muted final third.

• Tea – Darjeeling First Flush, light and floral, adding brightness to the cigar’s mellow profile.

Music Pairing

“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” – Bob Dylan,

timeless yet weary, echoing the cigar’s decline in the last third.

Final Thoughts

The Avo 77th LE 2003 starts with the elegance typical of the brand, creamy and balanced, but construction struggles in the final third and two relights hold it back. A cigar more to be appreciated as a piece of history than for flawless performance today.

Final Score: 7/10
Why not a 10?
Relights and construction issues in the final third muted the profile and disrupted the balance.

Only cigars that deliver flawless draw, balance, flavour evolution, construction and satisfaction get a 10.