Avo

Avo Uvezian was born in Beirut on 22 March 1926; an Armenian-American pianist and composer, he died in Orlando on 24 March 2017, aged 91 (Cigar Dojo, 24 March 2017). His best-known song remains disputed: Strangers in the Night is credited to Bert Kaempfert, whereas Uvezian claimed to have composed it and to have sent the melody to Kaempfert before Sinatra recorded it in 1966 (Wikipedia).

For the cigar, he turned to Hendrik Kelner, who had opened Tabacos Dominicanos (Tabadom) in 1984. According to the trade press, Kelner's first order for Avo, 17,000 cigars, dates from 1987 and the Davidoff shop on Madison Avenue was selling the brand in 1988; the first release is dated 1988. Wikipedia writes that Davidoff acquired the distribution rights to Avo in 1995, for about 10 million dollars.

The cigars are rolled in the Dominican Republic, in the OK Cigars factory of Tabadom, a subsidiary of Oettinger Davidoff (trade press, 2016 and 2025). In January 2015 the brand narrowed its offer to four current lines, Classic, Domaine, Heritage and XO; Signature and Maduro were discontinued. The XO line takes musical terms as its vitola names: Notturno, Preludio, Intermezzo, Legato, Maestoso.

Davidoff marked its anniversaries with a limited edition every year from 2001 to 2014, then the Avo 90th in 2016. In March 2026 the trade press reported that the house planned to mark Uvezian's centenary at the PCA show in April.

Range Depth

• Avo Classic

  Wrapper Ecuadorian Connecticut Seed

  The brand's original line. In January 2015 the trade press gave it as an Ecuadorian Connecticut Seed wrapper over Dominican binder and filler. The vitolas carry numbers (No. 9, No. 5, No. 2, No. 3, No. 6) as well as Robusto and Primides.

  No.1 · No.2 · No.3 · No.5 · No.9 · Robusto · Toro

• Avo XO

  Wrapper Ecuadorian Connecticut Seed

  A line named with musical terms: Notturno (5 x 42), Preludio (6 x 40), Intermezzo (5 x 50), Legato (6 x 54), Maestoso (7 x 48), according to the trade press in January 2015. Ecuadorian-grown Connecticut Seed wrapper over Dominican filler and binder.

  Intermezzo · Maestoso · Notturno · Preludio

• Avo Heritage

  Wrapper Ecuador, Special Sun Grown

  Current line from the January 2015 relaunch, with an Ecuadorian Special Sun Grown wrapper over Dominican filler and binder (Short Torpedo, Robusto, Toro, Special Toro, Short Robusto).

• Avo Domaine

  Wrapper Ecuador, Sun Grown

  Current line from the January 2015 relaunch, with an Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper from Connecticut/Cuban seed over Dominican filler and binder (Domaine 20, 10, 50 and 70).

🥃 Pairings

• Miles Davis, Kind of Blue

  Jazz

  A suggestion for atmosphere with the Classic line, with no documented link to the brand.

• Dominican coffee from Barahona

  Coffee

  A suggestion: a soft coffee accompanies a light- to medium-bodied line without overpowering it.

• Young cognac

  Spirits

  A suggestion: a supple cognac for the XO line.

👤 Associated figures

• Avo Uvezian

  Pianist and composer born in Beirut in 1926, died in 2017 aged 91. He claimed to have composed Strangers in the Night, which is credited to Bert Kaempfert (Wikipedia). Armenpress, citing Men's Journal, relates that in 1966 he played a melody to Sinatra, who had him change the title and lyrics.

✨ Notable limited editions

• Avo Classic Covers (volumes 1 à 4, 2015-2016)
• Avo 90th (2016)
• Avo Improvisation 30 Years (2018)