Oliva Serie O Maduro Robusto (5 x 50). The wrapper has a interesting rich color and a rough, toothy feel. Felt firm all the way around. Looked great. The dry scent was really mild and not sweet at all. Burn was pretty much perfect. Honestly, it'd be really hard to find fault with anything to do with the construction. It started out really mild and not much flavor, actually. There was a little bit of a bite to it though, not harsh or strong, but just something to remind you that it's there. There was a steady progression from beginning to end. Slowly but surely, the flavor grew and the body got a bit stronger. I'd say it went from really mild at the beginning to a medium at the end. Interestingly, that little bit of bite eventually went away and it was totally smooth. I think this is exactly the kind of smoke that inspired the Nub. Just chop off the first inch or two and it would've been ideal.
The ash was ridiculously solid. You can see in one of the photos below where I tried to tap it off and just took a chunk out of it. When it finally dropped off, it hit the ashtray with this satisfying thunk. It also didn't get hot at all, nice and cool right down to the nub. And I definitely nubbed it. I don't ever seem to go wrong with anything Oliva.
Related threads:
The ash was ridiculously solid. You can see in one of the photos below where I tried to tap it off and just took a chunk out of it. When it finally dropped off, it hit the ashtray with this satisfying thunk. It also didn't get hot at all, nice and cool right down to the nub. And I definitely nubbed it. I don't ever seem to go wrong with anything Oliva.
Related threads:
- Kingantz review of the Oliva Serie O Petit Perfecto. (Mar 2008) <- This was before Kingantz had his photo template down to a science. He thought it developed the flavor of "buttered toast", which I find such a strange comparison and flavor that now I'm going to have to smoke another one just to see if I can figure out where that came from. He was also surprised that it didn't get less mild as it developed, but I'm thinking that has more to do with the shape and size differences between the two than anything else.
- Boomer52 reviews the Oliva Serie O Torpedo (Mar 2008) <- It's interesting that he classified it as medium to full body. I wonder if there's any really objective way to judge the overall strength except just by common consensus. Personally, I just think about how strong something is in comparison to things I already know and roughly gauge that way. Seems to be a lot of room for error in that method. He also noted a strong "nic kick" at the end, which I didn't get at all.
- SewerRanger reviews the Oliva Serie O Perfecto (Apr 2009) <- He said he originally picked it up "mainly because it looked neat" but then followed that up with saying it was "probably not the best reason to buy a cigar" - Yeah, well no apologies from me there. I'm totally willing to say that I take the look of a cigar in to account when I'm trying to find something new. I mean, there's really only that and the smell to go on when you haven't tried it yet. Plus, I think the construction and the wrapper does usually say a lot about what you can expect. And damn it, who doesn't like a good looking cigar anyway?
- Dr. Marneaus reviews the Oliva Serie O (Feb 2008) <- He rated it "just under the Patel Sun Grown" - I'm totally the opposite, I'd rate this one much higher.
