Oliveros Classic Collection Maduro
I ran across this cigar from a couple sources. I won one in a raffle, and I believe I was sent one in a grab bag awhile back. There really isn’t a big story behind this cigar that I’m aware of. As we all know, I paired up with PUR filtered water and got to the review.
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Maduro
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican & Nicaraguan
Size: Robusto 5 x 50
Price: Around $3.00
Pre-light & Construction:
First things first… During the pre-light inspection I was immediately annoyed. This cigar was rock hard. I had to massage it and ended up using a draw poker to make it acceptable. I was moments away from trashing the cigar and review, but I pressed on. Not a good way to start a review. Moving on… The wrapper looked nice and had a woody, earthy, and grassy smell. The foot produced a similar smell, with a tinge of pepper. As for the pre-light draw, as I mentioned, it was tight. I was too annoyed with that and didn’t even take notes on what it tasted like. The burn required a few corrections, and the ash was rock solid for over an inch.
Flavor:
The first third had a simple earthy taste. As I reached the end of this third, a slight sweet, dry mocha flavor arrived. Not bad, not great.
The second third didn’t offer much more then the first. I still had plenty of earthy notes, and a buttery flavor came about. Later on I had a bitterness that wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t pleasant either.
The last third really didn’t do anything for me. I was pretty bored at this point, but I pressed on. The earthy flavors fell back a lot, and that buttery component remained. That bitterness remained and started to get on my nerves. As the cigar came to a close, I may have gotten some slight nutty notes that weren’t bad.
Conclusion:
This cigar wasn’t for me. The flavor profile just rubbed me the wrong way. The tight draw was the most annoying part of the experience. If you took that away, I would have enjoyed this cigar a little more. I think it boils down to a cigar that doesn’t fit what I like in a flavor profile. Your mileage may vary, so give it a shot. It wasn’t horrible.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Cigar Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
MountChuck June 30th, 2009 at 6:53 am
I’ve yet to find an Oliveros I like. I heard the King Havano was worth trying, so I got one from their rep at Cigar Fest. I lit it up, and found another disappointing cigar. I heard on Twitter that the King Havano oscuro is the one worth trying. I’m not sure it’s worth spending the money on at this point I’ve been disappointed so many times before.