Year of the Tiger Toro (Masterpiece)

Backstory: Released as the 2022 entry in Davidoff's annual Chinese Zodiac Limited Edition series, celebrating the Year of the Tiger. The Masterpiece is the ultra-exclusive, top-tier humidor expression of the release — the Toro vitola is exclusive to the Masterpiece humidor and was not sold separately.

Backstory: The Masterpiece humidor was designed by French marquetry artist Rose Saneuil in collaboration with Chinese contemporary artist Qi Xie (a Hubei Institute of Fine Arts graduate and 2018 iArt Youth Project finalist). The lid features two intertwined tigers — one green roaring with strength and ambition, one red crawling through the jungle ready to pounce. Saneuil called it "the most complex and complicated piece of art I have ever created."

Backstory: The humidor itself was crafted by the luxury cabinetmaker Moevus in Virieu-le-Grand, France, using Atlantic Jarrah wood, mahogany interior, tigerwood, tobacco leaves, tulip tree, and straw across nearly 1,000 individual marquetry pieces.

Release: Launched 2022 as a limited edition. Only 24 Masterpiece humidors were produced worldwide, each containing 88 Toro cigars (88 symbolizing fortune and good luck in Chinese culture) — for a total production of 2,112 Year of the Tiger Toros. The Masterpiece humidor carries an MSRP of $35,000; the Toro cigars are not sold individually.

Tobacco: Filler is a five-leaf Dominican blend featuring Davidoff's proprietary Hybrid 254 Viso and Hybrid 259 Seco seeds, plus Piloto Ligero, San Vicente Mejorado Seco, and San Vicente Mejorado Viso. Binder is Davidoff's Hybrid 257 Seco. The blend marks the first Connecticut-wrapped cigar in the Year of the [Animal] series.

Tobacco: The Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper undergoes a proprietary 48-hour treatment in which darker, wet tobacco veins are placed crosswise on the lighter Connecticut leaf and pressed together to visually replicate the fur markings of a tiger on the finished cigar. Each cigar's stripe pattern is unique.

Color: Light tan to golden Ecuadorian Connecticut base wrapper accented with distinctive darker veined stripes running across the leaf, recreating tiger fur. The base color is Claro / Connecticut despite the visual contrast of the applied stripes.

Fun Fact: The Year of the Tiger is the first cigar in Davidoff's Year of the [Zodiac Animal] series to use a Connecticut wrapper — a notable departure from the typically darker, more Cuban-style wrappers used in prior years' Zodiac releases.

Fun Fact: The number 88 is intentional — in Chinese culture, 8 represents prosperity and good fortune, so 88 cigars per humidor doubles the symbolism. 24 Masterpiece humidors × 88 cigars = 2,112 total cigars ever produced in this Toro vitola.

Fun Fact: The standard (non-Masterpiece) Year of the Tiger 2022 release is a 5 × 52 Piramides sold at $42/stick — the Masterpiece's 6 × 52 Toro is a completely separate vitola available only inside the humidor.