AVO

Avo Uvezian was a working musician who came to cigars late, commissioning a private blend in the Dominican Republic in the mid-1980s and taking it to market under his own first name in 1988. The blending work was done with Hendrik Kelner, the Dominican manufacturer who also built the Davidoff line, which is why the two brands have always shared a construction style and a mild-to-medium register.

Oettinger Davidoff acquired the brand in the 1990s and has run it since as a distinct house within its portfolio. The catalogue covers AVO Classic, XO, Domaine and Heritage, with the Syncro Nicaragua and Syncro Fogata blends adding Nicaraguan leaf and considerably more strength. An annual limited release tied to Uvezian's birthday has been issued for many years and is one of the longest-running series of its kind.

Uvezian remained the brand's public figure into his late eighties, appearing at events with a piano as often as a humidor. He died on 24 March 2017 at the age of 91. Because published accounts differ slightly on the year Davidoff took ownership, that detail is omitted here. Uvezian was also unusual among brand founders in having no background in tobacco: the cigar was a second career built on a public name earned in music, and the company has kept his image at the centre of its presentation.