One man, one brand, one legend
Zino Davidoff – His Philosophy
He believed in the original and in pleasure. Davidoff – connoisseurs knew that. They came from around the world to share with him this philosophy. To enjoy the finest and purest of cigars. They understood what Zino Davidoff meant by when he said: ”smoke less, but better and longer – make a cult out of it, a philosophy!”
Zino Davidoff’s guiding theme did not come out of nowhere. Tobacco, and only the best of it, was given to him already at his birth, as his so called central them for his life. Already his father and with him his whole family were real “Harmandgis”. They were a specialist cottage industry for the selection, cutting and mixing of noble oriental tobacco.
Zino Davidoff was born on 11th March 1906 in Kiev, but he had to leave Russia already in 1911, in early childhood, together with his relatives and they fled to Geneva, where his father opened a tobacco shop on the Boulevard des Philosophes still in the same year . The irony of fate: one of the first customers was a certain Vladimir Iljitsch Uljanow, better known as Lenin.
Henri taught his son already early on how to mix tobacco for cigarettes and pipes. In 1924, after finishing school, the young Zino went to South and Central America; Argentina, Brazil and naturally Cuba, where his main stops. Within five years he learned the ABC of Tobacco from the bottom up; he studied the art of cultivation, drying and fermenting as well as mixing and to degust.
After retuning to Geneva in the year 1929, he opened in the family shop in Geneva a special section for cigars. In the cellars he built a special room for the proper storing of cigars and this was a first for Europe. This and his profound knowledge contributed decisively to the incredible success of the brand. Starting in France, then throughout Europe, it became very well known throughout the world.
At this stage they are checked one more time during the packing stage, stored for an additional ripening process and then they are sent to the nearly 500 distributors. Davidoff is the only producer of cigars that has made a written agreement with all its distributors as to presentation and handling of the product. Today Davidoff is a global corporation with 53 Davidoff-Shops worldwide. Under the brand Davidoff they are also selling now cigarettes and cognac, as well as leather goods, glasses and coffee. The perfumes “Cool Water” (1988), “Good Life” by Lancaster are licensed products of Zino Davidoff SA.
To enjoy a cigar, according to Zino Davidoff, „has something to do with pleasure and lifestyle, with savoir vivre”. In 1946 he created the famous “Chateau-Line”; cigars that he named after some of the most exclusive and rare „Grand Cru’s“ out of Bordelais; they became a symbol for exclusive pleasure in the whole of France.
Zino Davidoff sold his business in 1970 to the Oettinger IMEX AG, a company based in Basel, Switzerland, without really retiring from the business. He became the worldwide ambassador for the brand Davidoff. When the joint venture with Cubatabaco ended in a fiasco in 1989 (when Cuba did not deliver tobacco to Davidoff anymore, he publicly burned Cuban cigars worth three Million US Dollars), the production was moved to the Dominican Republic in March 1990 and they already presented new brands of cigars a few years later.
The knowledge of tradition, coupled with innovation, and a sense for elegant functionality became the key to the success of the Davidoff brand. They are painstakingly made with a lot of attention to detail. Quality is of the topmost order within the company and therefore a Davidoff cigar has to pass three quality checkpoints before this cigar is distributed via its worldwide distribution centers.
At this stage they are checked one more time during the packing stage, stored for an additional ripening process, and then they are sent to the nearly 500 distributors. Davidoff is the only producer of cigars that has made a written agreement with all its distributors as to presentation and handling of the product. Today Davidoff is a global corporation with 53 Davidoff-Shops worldwide. Under the brand Davidoff they are also selling now cigarettes and cognac, as well as leather goods, glasses and coffee. The perfumes “Cool Water” (1988), “Good Life” by Lancaster are licensed products of Zino Davidoff SA.
