Zino Cigars: Zino Davidoff's Own Name, Relaunched

Zino carries the first name of Zino Davidoff, the man behind the white band, and it exists for a specific reason: to put the Oettinger Davidoff approach to blending into a cigar most people can buy without ceremony. It launched in 1978, manufactured in Honduras to reach the United States market, and the brand was relaunched in 2021. Our Zino collection carries the Nicaragua line across four formats, the Platinum Crown Series and the mini cigarillos.

This profile covers the three families, the factories, the published blends leaf by leaf, and where Zino sits against Davidoff and Camacho.

1978, and the 2021 relaunch

Zino was introduced in 1978 and made in Honduras, a decision driven by market access rather than by blending. The brand ran through several sub families over the decades, including Classic, Platinum and Z-Class, before Oettinger Davidoff relaunched it in 2021.

The relaunch matters because it changed what Zino is for. It is now positioned as the accessible entry to the group, sitting below Davidoff on price while sharing the same blending discipline and, in the case of the Nicaragua and Honduras lines, the same Honduran factory that makes Camacho.

The Zino Nicaragua range

Four formats of the same blend, in the multi packs rather than singles.

Zino Nicaragua

Released globally in May 2021 and made at Diadema Cigars de Honduras S.A. The blend is unusually well documented, and it is a good illustration of how a modern multi origin cigar is built.

Published sizes are the Short Torpedo at 4 by 52, the Robusto at 5 by 54 and the Toro at 6 by 50, in cabinet boxes of 25 and four count fresh packs. We also carry a Half Corona and a Gordo format.

An Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper is what keeps this cigar approachable. Ecuador's persistent cloud cover shades the plant naturally, which produces a thinner, silkier leaf than sun grown tobacco. See the rest of our Connecticut range for comparison.

Zino Platinum and the Z-Crown

Zino Platinum is the higher tier, blended by Eladio Díaz, Davidoff's master blender and director of quality. The Z-Crown, released in August 2017, uses a Dominican Semilla 702 wrapper and an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder over a filler of Dominican piloto seco from Santiago Rodriguez, piloto viso, San Vicente ligero from Jicomé and Nicaraguan Ometepe viso. It is made at O.K. Cigars in the Dominican Republic.

Two published Z-Crown formats: the Chubby at 4 and 15 sixteenths by 54, a perfecto, and the Stout at 7 by 52 tapering to 38, a torpedo. We carry the Crown Series in tubos, including the Chubby Especial perfecto and the Barrel Gran Toro.

Platinum, plus the cigarillos

Zino Honduras

Released on 26 June 2026, Zino Honduras is the stronger line and is also made at Diadema Cigars de Honduras in Danlí. It uses an Ecuadoran wrapper over filler from Copán and Jamastrán. The binder is not disclosed by the company, so we do not state one.

Published sizes are the Half Corona at 4 by 44, the Robusto at 5 by 54 and the Toro at 6 by 50, at 6.70, 7.50 and 8.00 dollars respectively. The unusual feature is that heads come capped or pre cut, which is a genuine convenience if you smoke without carrying a cutter.

What we notice first-hand

Zino is the cigar we reach for when someone wants Davidoff construction on a Tuesday. The blends are built to be forgiving, they light easily and they do not punish a fast draw the way a ligero heavy Nicaraguan will.

The format worth knowing is the Half Corona. A short 4 inch cigar with a small ring gauge is the most underrated shape in the category, because it delivers a complete experience in twenty five minutes instead of an hour, and it does not go bitter the way a large cigar does when you put it down halfway. Our mini cigars and Petit Corona collections cover the rest of that territory.

An honest positioning note. Zino is not a small Davidoff. It is a different blend at a different price, made in a different factory for two of its three lines. Buy it because it is a good cigar in its own right, not as a substitute.

Zino at Cigar Inc., live

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The bottom line

Zino Nicaragua Robusto is the place to start. Move up to the Platinum Crown Series when you want the Dominican Semilla 702 wrapper and the extra complexity, and keep the mini cigarillos in a jacket pocket. If you want the same house at full strength, read our Camacho profile; for the refined end, the Davidoff profile.

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