Black Plague
New Member
- Joined
- May 11, 2006
- Messages
- 539
In October of 2008, the Oliva Cigar Family released the Olive Serie V Maduro Especial Torpedo. It was a limited release to certain vendors of only 500 boxes of 10 cigars each. I managed to acquire a few single sticks from that release and I hoarded them away for almost a year now. Recently, I stumbled upon a sealed box at a tobacconist's shop and immediately snapped it up. They are a fairly-favored Oliva retailer and he seemed to think those boxes had arrived recently and may have been hold-overs from last year's release. Maybe we'll see more of these in the future? So with an intact box, I decided to fire up a single I'd had stashed in the humidor.
Overall, I don't really care for most of Oliva's cigars (don't love, don't hate...just indifferent), but I love their Serie V line, especially the Lancero! But I'm not much of a fan of maduros...so let's see if José Oliva can change my mind.
Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial
Torpedo
6 1/2 x 52 Pyramid
Prelight: A chocolate bar brown Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper encasing a Nicaraguan binder and Jalapa Valley filler. Had a few pale veins but felt smooth and silky, not nearly as rough-looking or sandpapery as a lot of other Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers. Very nicely rolled and formed. Felt solid as a rock, but with a small snip of the pointed head, the draw felt just fine. Dry tasting gave pure, strong, and fresh tobacco, maybe just a little hint of chocolate and the tiniest suggestion of spice.
Beverage: What better companion to a Nicaraguan cigar than a Nicaraguan rum? For this cigar, I pour a few fingers of Flor de Caña Grand Reserve 7 Year Old Rum, one of my favorite rums (and very responsibly priced, to boot).
Flavor: The first few puffs were a little rough, but it soon settled down. The first impression was of chocolate-coated, medium-roasted coffee beans. Sweet, full-bodied, smooth, no real spice to speak of. Grew increasing more leathery as it progressed with a core of fresh, air-cured, toasted tobacco. Nuances of light oak and dried fruits soaked in honey. Around halfway, it began to pick up a middle spiciness and a woody, herbaceous quality. Paired very well with the rum, the leatheriness of the smoke and the caramel flavor of the rum intensifying under each other's influence. About one-third down, I had to snip a little more of the foot, I probably snipped a little too much, and this is when the cigar revealed its youth. Tannic, a little harsh, which is what I would expect from strong tobaccos like these. Smaller draws and a little purge helped, but I won't fault the cigar since my experience has led me to believe a mid-smoke cut adjustment runs the risk of having bad consequences. I put it down at with an inch or two to go. To the end, the full body and strength got ever stronger and the toasted tobacco and herbaceous woody flavors intensified. Very robusto and the rum was a fitting companion.
Construction: Very nicely constructed, as most all Oliva products are. A solid, snowy gray ash. Burned straight as an arrow the whole time. The initial small cut of the tapered head worked just fine until about half-way when it began to get tight, which led me to cut it a little further. I wouldn't fault the construction at all. This a cigar that obviously has a good portion of ligero, and ligero is very hygroscopic and readily absorbs moisture in youth. Add that with the natural accumulation of tars as its smoked and a small surface area and I'm not surprized it got tight.
Summary: This cigar has tons of aging potential. It's already a good cigar and I can only see it becoming great as it ages. Rare for a maduro-wrapped cigar, I really enjoyed the influence of the maduro on the Serie V blend. Judging by the appearance, texture, and taste of the leaf, the Olivas managed to get first-class Connecticut Broadleaf and I'm not surprized it was a limited release, since there can't be that much Broadleaf of this caliber out there on the market. I'm not going to touch my box for another few years. I really want to see what this smoke has got once its had a chance to mature futher.
If the Oliva Family decides to do a maduro-wrapped Serie V again, I really hope they choose to make it a Lancero. Since the wrapper is much bigger percentage of the overall blend with a thin gauge, I think the flavor of this exceptional Broadleaf would really shine in the Lancero vitola.
Overall, I don't really care for most of Oliva's cigars (don't love, don't hate...just indifferent), but I love their Serie V line, especially the Lancero! But I'm not much of a fan of maduros...so let's see if José Oliva can change my mind.
Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial
Torpedo
6 1/2 x 52 Pyramid
Prelight: A chocolate bar brown Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper encasing a Nicaraguan binder and Jalapa Valley filler. Had a few pale veins but felt smooth and silky, not nearly as rough-looking or sandpapery as a lot of other Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers. Very nicely rolled and formed. Felt solid as a rock, but with a small snip of the pointed head, the draw felt just fine. Dry tasting gave pure, strong, and fresh tobacco, maybe just a little hint of chocolate and the tiniest suggestion of spice.
Beverage: What better companion to a Nicaraguan cigar than a Nicaraguan rum? For this cigar, I pour a few fingers of Flor de Caña Grand Reserve 7 Year Old Rum, one of my favorite rums (and very responsibly priced, to boot).
Flavor: The first few puffs were a little rough, but it soon settled down. The first impression was of chocolate-coated, medium-roasted coffee beans. Sweet, full-bodied, smooth, no real spice to speak of. Grew increasing more leathery as it progressed with a core of fresh, air-cured, toasted tobacco. Nuances of light oak and dried fruits soaked in honey. Around halfway, it began to pick up a middle spiciness and a woody, herbaceous quality. Paired very well with the rum, the leatheriness of the smoke and the caramel flavor of the rum intensifying under each other's influence. About one-third down, I had to snip a little more of the foot, I probably snipped a little too much, and this is when the cigar revealed its youth. Tannic, a little harsh, which is what I would expect from strong tobaccos like these. Smaller draws and a little purge helped, but I won't fault the cigar since my experience has led me to believe a mid-smoke cut adjustment runs the risk of having bad consequences. I put it down at with an inch or two to go. To the end, the full body and strength got ever stronger and the toasted tobacco and herbaceous woody flavors intensified. Very robusto and the rum was a fitting companion.
Construction: Very nicely constructed, as most all Oliva products are. A solid, snowy gray ash. Burned straight as an arrow the whole time. The initial small cut of the tapered head worked just fine until about half-way when it began to get tight, which led me to cut it a little further. I wouldn't fault the construction at all. This a cigar that obviously has a good portion of ligero, and ligero is very hygroscopic and readily absorbs moisture in youth. Add that with the natural accumulation of tars as its smoked and a small surface area and I'm not surprized it got tight.
Summary: This cigar has tons of aging potential. It's already a good cigar and I can only see it becoming great as it ages. Rare for a maduro-wrapped cigar, I really enjoyed the influence of the maduro on the Serie V blend. Judging by the appearance, texture, and taste of the leaf, the Olivas managed to get first-class Connecticut Broadleaf and I'm not surprized it was a limited release, since there can't be that much Broadleaf of this caliber out there on the market. I'm not going to touch my box for another few years. I really want to see what this smoke has got once its had a chance to mature futher.
If the Oliva Family decides to do a maduro-wrapped Serie V again, I really hope they choose to make it a Lancero. Since the wrapper is much bigger percentage of the overall blend with a thin gauge, I think the flavor of this exceptional Broadleaf would really shine in the Lancero vitola.
