Oliva Serie O Natural
It was time for me to reach into the grab bag Cigars Direct sent me. Thanks to them, this review was possible. The Oliva Serie O was reviewed by Jeremiah in a guest review awhile back. He had a good experience with it, so I was more then happy to grab a glass of water and get started on my review of the Oliva Serie O.
Wrapper: Sun Grown Nicaraguan Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan Habano
Size: 5×50
Price: Around $5.00
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The oily wrapper had a few bumps in it, with small to medium sized veins. The cigar was evenly packed with tobacco with no soft or hard spots. I had trouble pinning down what the wrapper and foot smelled like. It was basically a natural tobacco smell with an interesting spice at the foot that made my nose tingle a little. The pre-light draw was perfect, and had a simple tobacco/earthy taste.
The burn was great. I only corrected it once, and I probably didn’t need to. As expected, the ash was firm, required a firm tap on the ashtray at around an inch.
Flavor:
The first third went well. The first flavor I noticed was wood, cedar to be exact. A smooth pepper was noticed when passing through the sinus. I also felt the spicy sensation on my tongue and sides of the mouth. The peppery spice remained, but also took on a sweet tone, much like cinnamon.
The second third kicked things off with the addition of black coffee. Other then that, there were not any significant flavor changes. Something that should be noted is… The addition of coffee really went nicely with the pepper, sweet spice and wood. They melded together into a very interesting overall flavor with an added punch, or “Zing.”
The last third kept black coffee notes. The pepper took a back seat, but the sweet spice remained. I’ll have to call it cinnamon or a spice similar to it. The smoke feel became thicker with a caramelish feeling but not necessarily the flavor of caramel. The woody flavor was there and quite noticeable as it was in the first two thirds. At times I had problems picking the flavors apart. Everything melded together into a soup of great flavor.
Conclusion:
Yea, I used the word “soup” to help me describe this cigar. It’s a first, but probably not the last. I’d have to say this is a very good medium to full bodied cigar. If you are an Oliva fan like I am, you definitely need to try the Serie O. Even when the body went into the full spectrum, it was still an easy smoke, yet had a nice punch. If this sounds like a cigar you’d like, you can find a variety or Oliva cigars over at Cigars Direct.
