This Father’s day I was treated to a box of Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2012 Toros. I am big Oliva V fan and was very pleased to get this box from my wife.
To start off with, these are limited edition cigars, only 5,000 were produced. This is the 5th year that Oliva has produced the Especial Limited. Like previous years the wrapper is a Mexican San Andrés Maduro with Nicaragua filler and binder. The wrapper of this fine vitola was dark brown in color with little to no veins.
The pre-light draw offered up hints of chocolate with a little spice on my lips, and tip of my tongue. As I fired it up, it gave me spice and what seemed a little nut flavor. It had a perfect draw and excellent burn. The smoke was rich and creamy. I noticed that there were no soft spots along this stick, and was tightly rolled and stuffed for flavor. The ash was a nice light grey.
As it burned through the first third, there was a sweet scent in the retrohale and not to harsh from the spice, there even was a hint of floral, but that could have been from the Highland Park 15 I decided to pair this with. The spice mellowed out near the end of the first 3rd and then progressed into coffee undertones as the 2nd third began. Being a rich maduro it surprised me not being overbearing but just pleasant to the palate and the nose. This is not a typical maduro. I certainly did not get the “nicups” from this stogie.
As it transitioned into the final 3rd, there was a wonderful sweetness developing. With a mix of coffee and cocoa. This was a delightful surprise and a welcome to my senses. This sweetness continued all the way to the finish with the final finish having a little spice added back in.
I may have to pair this with my morning espresso.
Great job Oliva. Now i need to hide the rest of the box from myself, which is usually quite difficult to do.