I have been reading all about the Oliva line recently. Especially the series V and the new series V maduro. Up until this point I had only had an Oliva Series G, the one that is about the same sizes as a fuente short story, which I was not overly impressed with. Well, long story short I decided to see what all the fuss was about and stopped in at a local b&m to pick up some sort of Oliva. I found the series V on the bottom shelf, at first I thought it was the maduro because they were pretty dark, but I learned that it was sungrown wrapper.

Bought the double robusto on Sunday, and when I did the guy working in the shop gave me a sample of the house brand which is apparently rolled by oliva. I'll review that soon.

Returned from the store, sat outside with a coke and got out the oliva series v double robusto. Clipped it with my xikar and took a prelight draw. The draw was a bit looser than I prefer, I probably should have punched it. My lips almost automatically got a nicotine tingle and I was wondering if I picked the wrong cigar for the morning, but I lit it up anyways. The first third had a great dark chocolate taste and the spice I associate with Ashton VSG or Fuente Sungrowns, so I guess that is the wrappers influence. Intermixed with the spice and chocolate I got some hints of creaminess. Into the 2nd third the chocolate became more like a rich coffee with hints of leather. The final third became more leathery and earthy and I caught some woodsy type flavor.

Overall I though this was a great cigar and I see why people are so excited about the maduro. The strength was a bit much for Sunday morning but this would be a great late afternoon or after dinner cigar. Instead of coke I'd probably pair it with a bourbon though or maybe a jack and coke.

Construction- 10/10 beautiful wrapper and consistent fill
Burn- 7.5/10 Burn wasn't razor sharp but for the most part even. Required one touch up. Probably if I had let rest in my humidor for a bit it would have been better. So I'll take the fall for this.

Taste-9/10 great flavors. Definitely fits my profile

Value- 9/10 for $5.50 this wouldn't be affordable for me as my everyday smoke but I could see it being a normal smoke in my rotation. Also that 5.50 got me about about 90 minutes of smoking time. Same time as a movie, it cost less than a movie and was more enjoyable.

Now I guess the hunt begins for the maduros.
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