Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga

• Davidoff Puro Dominicano Short Robusto (4 1/2 x 52) — $19.80 (Pack of 5, $99/Box of 12, $237.60)
• Davidoff Puro Dominicano Perfecto (5 1/2 x 50) — $25.20 (Pack of 5, $126/Box of 12, $302.40)
• Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga (5 7/8 x 44) — $23.30 (Pack of 5, $116.50/Box of 12, $279.60)

“With Puro Dominicano, we are strengthening the foundation of our Black Band Collection by highlighting the Dominican Republic’s exceptional tobacco heritage. This line reflects our commitment to innovation within our core competencies and our continued pursuit of excellence in craftsmanship,” said Javier González, svp head global marketing & innovation at Oettinger Davidoff AG, in a press release in March. “But above all, Puro Dominicano offers our consumers an experience that is both deeply Dominican and unmistakably Davidoff: warm, rich, and multi-layered, with a flavour progression that evolves throughout the enjoyment. It is a journey of discovery – creamy, refined, and compelling – crafted for aficionados who appreciate depth, balance, and the pleasure of being continually surprised.”

• Cigar Reviewed: Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Cigars Davidoff
• Wrapper: Dominican Republic
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic
• Length: 5 7/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 44
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $23.30 (Pack of 5, $116.50/Box of 12, $279.60)
• Release Date: April 23, 2026
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Given the bands, my first thought is whether I’d be able to tell this and the Davidoff Nicaragua apart. If someone were to take off the bands and put five Nicaraguas and five Puro Dominicanos on the table, I suspect I’d be able to pretty accurately identify which five are which because of two main things: the Nicaragua’s wrapper has more redness, and they are far cleaner than these cigars. I’m surprised by just how many veins are visible on the third cigar; a small section of the wrapper is folded over, which makes for one of the ugliest seam lines I’ve seen in a while. The cigars have a concerning number of hard spots, especially in the top third.

The wrappers of the first and third cigars are pretty similar, with scents of acidic barnyard, asphalt and milk cocoa, though the third cigar has less acidity. The second cigar has the asphalt and chocolate scents, but with none of the barnyard. Each cigar is around medium-full. The feet also smell pretty similar: brown batter, a scent that reminds me of the taste of a very neutral oil like avocado oil, and some unsweet berries, around medium-plus.

The first cigar’s cold draw is quite tight with sesame oil, woodiness, saltiness and a bit of the funky Davidoff flavor that some of the company’s blends have, around medium. The second and third cigars have plenty of airflow. The second cigar tastes like chocolate pudding and cedar with a touch of creaminess and leather, while the third cigar is dominated by cereal with muted milk chocolate and earth; both are around medium-full.

The first Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga starts off with a nondescript woody flavor that transitions into earth and buttered toast, with a creamy, herbal finish. That continues until right after I take the picture you see below, when a blast of the funky flavor—some people call it mushroom, though that’s not really how I taste it—shows up. That flavor is present on about 20 percent of the puffs; when it’s present, it drowns out everything else.

The rest of the time, it’s a mixture of oak, harsh creaminess, leather and woods. The finish gets earthier with grass, white pepper and some creaminess. Retrohales seem to take the two parts of the flavor profile and put them in a blender. While the second cigar has some flavor, it’s straight up plugged. About five minutes into the cigar, I realize that the only reason it’s still burning is because of how well the tobacco was fermented, though pretty early on, I’m having to use my lighter to keep the cigar burning. More on that in the Final Notes.

The third cigar is the best of the bunch, with a starting profile of dry pasta and woodiness with secondary notes of milk chocolate and barnyard. After just a few puffs, a semi-sweet grain cereal flavor has taken over as the strongest flavor, though after another inch, it’s now much more integrated into a mixture with woodiness and some secondary notes of ground beef with a sharp pepper that cuts through the other flavors. Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga

Retrohales are earthy with glazed doughnut sweetness, woodiness, black pepper and creaminess, though a much smoother profile than the other two cigars. Flavor is medium-full or full, body is medium-full, and strength is non-existent in the first two cigars, though medium-plus in the third. None of the cigars draw well, though the third cigar is clearly better than the first. Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga

At times during the second third, I wonder if this is what the Puro Dominicana—bunched properly—should taste like. There’s a semi-sweet earthiness with accents of woodiness, black pepper, and saltiness. An enjoyable and decently complex mixture, though it’s missing the finesse and richness that Davidoff is known for. The third cigar, which is now requiring regular touch-ups, is getting toastier and bringing out flavors of terroir, acorns and leather, though towards the end, it completely shifts to a buttermilk creaminess. Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga

After the halfway point, all three cigars begin to show more of a Ritz cracker flavor, first on the finish, but then it also emerges in the retrohale. Other flavors in the nose include some very dry white wine, floral sweetness, earth and a cleaner wood flavor than before. It finishes with the Ritz cracker flavor, some creaminess and even a sweet vanilla, a much smoother profile than before. Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga

Flavor is full, body is medium-plus to medium-full, and strength is medium-full or full. However, I wonder how much of what I’m feeling is the actual nicotine of the tobacco versus the construction issues, more on that in the Final Notes. The first cigar needs a touch-up and also loses a point for its tightening draw; the second cigar is still plugged, while the third cigar’s draw is a bit worse than before, but the larger issue is regular uneven burns. Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga

All three cigars head into a woodier profile, which is not for the better, as it tends to be more bitter and non-descript. The third cigar is the best; an added earthiness and leather sit atop Ritz crackers and black pepper, with creaminess binding everything together. Despite being an abject disaster construction-wise, the second cigar’s finish is somehow enjoyable. There’s a potato crisp flavor with creaminess, some sugar and woodiness. What’s unique is how smooth the flavor is. Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga

The third cigar is similar but with an added woodiness and no sweetness. Retrohales have black pepper, sourdough bread, creaminess, leather and potato crisps, though there’s the occasional dose of the signature Davidoff musty flavor. Again, I’m surprised that I’m enjoying the flavors from the plugged cigar slightly more than the other two, though it’s difficult to get enough smoke to regularly perform a retrohale on that cigar.  Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga

During the finish of the third cigar, there’s some apple liqueur sweetness that joins a mixture of black pepper and earthiness. Flavor is medium-full to full, body is medium-full to full, and strength is medium-full. The first and third cigars have better, though hardly flawless combustion in the final third. If not for the mess of a second cigar, which requires assistance from my lighter every five or so minutes, I’d make a much bigger deal about it. Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga

Final Notes

• In recent years, I’ve noticed that a lot of the time when I smoke cigars with tight draws, I feel it in my head, similar to the effect of a cigar with too much nicotine but not entirely. I suspect that’s what happened here, as I didn’t get any of the stomach-turning sensations that I’d normally associate with heavy tobacco. Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga

• If you are wondering what the original Puro Dominicano looked like, and whether you might confuse the two releases. I don’t think you will.
• When reviewing cigars, we do not use draw pokers. While it might have fixed some of the issues I had with these three cigars, using one seems unfair to the cigars that don’t have draw issues.
• I do not think the second cigar was smokable. Rarely did I see any signs of smoke coming from the top of the cigar, I regularly would take draws that brought no smoke in my mouth, and I was using my lighter to touch it up at least every five minutes. I’m unsure if I was really smoking the cigar as much as I was burning it. Needless to say, it got the lowest construction score I can recall ever recording for a cigar. Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga

• Parts of the cigar weren’t burning properly, to the point that completely ashing it required actual force to knock off the various solid ash pieces, and it produced a cracking sound.

• After smoking the cigar, or at least trying to, I cut open the cigar. I’m no expert on cigarmaking, but there wasn’t anything abnormal like a piece of debris or something. While there were some veins including areas where a few different veins at different angles were touching, if I had to guess, the cigars were just overfilled, especially at the top.

• This is what the third cigar looked like when I cut it.
• I wish we had an x-ray machine, or something more advanced, so we could scan the cigars and potentially be able to point out exactly what the issues were.
• I felt the remaining cigars in the box to see if they suffered from the same issues. Seven of the eight had a solid hard spot in the area just above the top of the main band.
• The reason why you see more low-scoring reviews from bestcigar than many other cigar reviewers is not because we are the only ones getting cigars with problems. Many other reviewers, but certainly not all, choose the path of least resistance and end up not publishing reviews of cigars with serious problems. While it’s not the decision we make, I certainly understand the choice. Smoking cigars with problems isn’t fun, writing up reviews of cigars with problems is not enjoyable, and I’d imagine that 75 percent of the poor relationships we have with cigar companies are based on low-scoring reviews. It would be a lot easier for us to not publish reviews like this, but there are some benefits to doing so. First, I believe that it benefits you, the reader, for a long list of reasons. Second, publishing reviews of bad cigars ends up rewarding the good cigars.
• Davidoff advertises on bestcigar.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by bestcigar.

• Davidoff lists the cigar as a 5 7/8 x 44 corona. Above are the dimensions I found for the three cigars smoked for this review.
• Final smoking time was just over two hours for the first and third cigars. The second cigar took about an hour and 40 minutes, but that’s likely due to the fact that the cigar was being burnt as much as it was smoked.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars Direct, Corona Cigar Co. and Small Batch Cigar carry the Davidoff Puro Dominicano Corona Larga.