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It's a Bluebird Tuesday afternoon on St Patrick's day 2015. It's nearly 80 degrees here in Eastern Tennessee and I have the day off from work. Great afternoon for a good cigar and a bit of adult libation.

This is the Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado. It has an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper that is beautiful to look at. A few seams and some visible veins are present but still a beautiful stick. The binder and filler are both Nicaraguan. I guess this is the stick that won the CA Cigar of the year. It is heavily boxed pressed. In fact it is near rectangular in shape. It measures 6 X52 and the foot comes down to be blunt point.



After a toast and straight cut the pre-draw was sweet cocoa, leather with some herbal essence there as well. Straight cut and light went fine. Initial impressions were of very light pepper in the background riding on a smooth core of sweet cocoa and a toasty bread taste. Right away the smoke was heavy, dense and the strength and flavor were on the top edge of Medium. It didn't stay there long. Toward the end of the first third the smoke developed into the Full category at least for my tastes. All the flavors were well integrated and there was just an underlying clue that this cigar was going to deliver a bit of a nicotine hit.
The second third could best be described as salty and nutty. A lot of both flavors. The smoke was now definitely on the full side with some earthy, meaty flavors. Toward the end of the second third that herbal flavor started coming in again and I didn't identify what I thought it was until the final third.
The cigar produced a heavy volume of thick smoke. The draw was a bit open but the burn was excellent. No re-lights or touch-ups required.
throughout the smoke. The ash was solid and held well throughout the smoke. I only ashed 3 times.


The final third of the smoke was all earthy and meaty. The saltiness continued. I finally was able to pinpoint the "green" flavor that I had picked up earlier. It was Bell pepper. Combined with the meatiness of the flavor it reminded me of a meat loaf that my Grandma used to make. The cigar performed excellent all the way to the nub.


Good solid smoke. Taste being subjective as it is, I probably would not agree with this being the best cigar of 2014. I discovered years ago with wine that no matter what experts claim only the person drinking the wine could decide its enjoyment level for themselves. I think the same thing applies to cigars. There are no great wines really just really great bottles of wine. I don't know how many times I have enjoyed a great bottle, bought a case of the same wine and then be disappointed.
This is a fine cigar that is well constructed. Not cheap but on this beautiful afternoon it left me with the impression that I will enjoy the remaining 7 that I have left in the humidor.
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