While the big splash by Rafael Nodal and Aging Room cigars at this years IPCPR was the new Solera cigar line, another new cigar introduction was announced. In keeping with his musical themes for cigars. Rafael rolled out the Oliveros All Stars cigar.
Oliveros All Stars
Unlike the Oliveros “Flavors” cigar, the Oliveros All Stars is not flavored and stands in a line by itself. It was a collaboration, or as Rafael would say, a Duet, between himself and Ernesto Perez Carillo. That is a show any cigar smoker would want to see or in the case smoke.
The Oliveros All Stars blend is described as:
- Wrapper – U.S. grown Broadleaf Maduro
- Binder- Dominican
- Filler- Dominican & Nicaraguan
They are available in 20-Count Boxes and come in 4 vitolas:
- Aria (4.5 x 48)
- Fugue (5.5 x 52)
- Chord (6.5 x 52 Torpedo)
- Basso (6 x 54)
With a little help from our friends at Wikipedia we can explain the musical references of each vitola.
Aria derives from the Greek and Latin ‘aer’ (air) and first appeared in relation to music in the 14th century when it simply signified a manner or style of singing or playing.
Fugue is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the course of the composition
Chord is any harmonic set of usually three or more notes (also called “pitches”) that is heard as if sounding simultaneously.
Basso is an instrumental part written for a bass instrument.
Though I do not know the origin of “Oliveros”, it is interesting to note; Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of experimental and post-war electronic art music.
For this review I sampled the Oliveros All Stars Basso
Cigar Review Notes
- Rugged and toothy dark brown wrapper
- Foot gives off nut and fruit aromas
- Barrel has a sweet “curing barn” aroma
- I chose a punch to open this up
- Cold draw is quite earthy with some peppery tingle on the tongue with a touch of leather
- Medium pepper burn to start
- Light grey to white ash on a medium char line
- Coffee notes enter as pepper diminished
- Ash is developing well
- Buttery toast into second third
- Wrapper is oiling up well
- Background of spice
- Coffee and fruit delight the palate
- Smooth retro-hale
- Flavors maintain through the remainder of the smoke to the nub
- Medium strength and body
- 80 minutes of smoking pleasure to the nub
Overall, the Oliveros All Stars was a finely rolled cigar that is a welcome addition to the ever-expanding Aging Room portfolio. Though not overly complex, it offered flavor notes that should please any cigar smoker and had an excellent burn. I think this would pair very nicely with a rich cup of dark coffee in the middle of the afternoon.
Oliveras All Stars