Flor De Oliva Natural
Continuing with my exploration into value, or bundle cigars, I ran across Flor de Oliva. This is a bundle cigar offered by Oliva, the maker of many fine cigars. I took a chance and ordered a bundle recently, as I was looking for a cheap morning cigar. Let’s see if the Flor de Oliva natural does the trick…
Wrapper: Sumatra
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua & Dominican
Size: Toro 6 x 50
Price: Around $40.00 for a bundle of 20
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The natural wrapper looked nice, with no major flaws or veins. The cigar was moderately packed with tobacco. When I squeezed the entire length, I found a few soft spots, but nothing alarming. Sniffing the wrapper and foot revealed a simple natural tobacco odor. The pre-light draw was good, and had a sweet earthy flavor.
The burn required a couple corrections in the first third, and the ash held for just under an inch before falling off.
Flavor:
As I got into the first third, I though to myself… “Is the cap sweetened on this thing?” I say this because of a distinct sweetness that was left on the lips. Anyway… when exhaling through the nose, there was that definite Nicaraguan pepper I so often speak of. It was on the mild side and combined with earthy notes for an overall good experience. The main flavor was basically a natural tobacco and earthy taste.
The second third saw the addition of woody and cedar notes. The sweetness that was like a sweetened cap reduced in strength. Other then that, there wasn’t any more change. That peppery zing remained, as did the natural earthy tobacco taste.
The last third had minimal change. The smoke feel took on a thicker, somewhat creamy feel. The pepper remained but calmed and smoothed out. The sweetness basically went away, which left the basic woody, natural earthy tobacco flavors.
Conclusion:
First things first… Does this have a sweetened cap? I could only find conflicting or vague information on the web. Anyway… This was a decent mild to medium bodied cigar. Basically you get what you pay for. It obviously isn’t the most complex or interesting smokes out there. But if you are looking for a yard gar, or something to smoke while sipping your morning coffee, I think this will fit the bill. Not a bad value cigar!
