2024's Number 3 Cigar--Oliva Series V

Cigar Aficionado Magazine named the Oliva Series V Melano as their number 3 top cigar for 2024. I had the good fortune to come across one of these in June of 2023 and enjoyed it right away. One of the good things about this cigar is that it is widely distributed and you should not have a problem in locating one and enjoying it in your favorite cigar lounge. [If you done have one, go to our Gallery Section of the site for some I have enjoyed!]

This cigar I enjoyed had a wrapper identifying it as a Gran Reserva Limitada but as I said before, Oliva does a good job of making their cigars widely available. In addition to the Series V Melano, I have also had the opportunity to smoke some other Oliva’s, including the Series O and Master Blend 3.

The Series O was highly decorated in past CA selections back in 2006 and 2013, so I was surprised to find that after a very nice preview from nosing the cigar [Very refined tobacco impression with a bit of chocolate in the background] I found the flavor sorely lacking. As my friend, Gary Davis reminded me, if I am going to review cigars as a blogger, I must expect to “kiss some frogs”! Well, this one was a definite frog but I did expect to give it another chance just in case it was a fluke, but then I discovered the V series and never went back to try the O. The O was Cuban seed grown in Nicaragua and had Nicaraguan binder and filler.

The Master Blend 3 started as a family only cigar and grew into a production cigar with a very pleasant bull flavor. The nose gave me rich tobacco and I ended up giving it 8.8 out of 10 as a score. It had a sun grown Connecticut wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler. Give it a Good Stick comment which means I would buy it again.

Olivia also makes a Nub series but I will leave that for another post.

OK, back to the Series V. It was a very mild and yet flavorful taste. I originally bought it for fellow SOTL founder, Arnold Poynor who likes a bit miler profile that I usually do, but alas, I smoked it before he dropped by for a visit! I was pleasantly surprised and I understand how it got to be number 3 for this year.

My other founder/

advisor and fellow cigar buff, as identified in the site, Mac Harvey has been a long-time fan of Oliva's and has had many Series V sticks over the past couple of years was also pleased to see them recognized as Cigar Number 3 for the year. He has recently discovered some very nice sticks from Perdomo also, so he is splitting his enjoyment but still a big Oliva fan.

Go out and find one and see what you think.