When Oliva released their latest big release, the Oliva V series, it turned out to be an instant hit and due to popular demand Oliva decided to create a V Maduro. The only problem was finding enough maduro wrapper leaf that would fit with the V blend and passed the Oliva quality control. Due to a lack of that wrapper only a limited amount of Oliva V Maduro could be made and only in one vitola, a 6.5 x 52 torpedo.



I tried to buy a few of the original release V Maduro but I failed miserably. However, on my American road trip I was gifted a few by some generous BOTL's and that is the reason why I am able to write this review.

The Connecticut broadleaf wrapper is quite oily and looks like leather with some veins. The cap looks quadruple capped. The cigar has a barnyard and hay aroma, which is quite nice to smell. The construction feels great and the predraw is fine. I can taste a lot of pepper.



I can taste a peppery coffee, full flavored and after half an inch I taste some chocolate on the background. The flavor is mainly pepper. After an inch I discover some wood underneath the pepper and the pepper flavor sticks to the back of my throat and makes me thirsty.



Halfway the pepper is almost gone and I taste wood with some herbs and an aftertaste I never discovered or expected in a cigar, something that reminds me of raw carrots. Weird but interesting and pleasant.
After ⅔ the pepper disappears completely, both from the palate and from the nose, the smoke smelled peppery up till this moment. The cigar makes my mouth feel sticky. The wood and herbs disappear and I can taste the carrot flavor and something I don't recognize but I like it. Soon after the pepper returns while the carrot grows stronger. Near the end I also get a fresh, mint like, flavor.



In the one hour and 40 minutes I enjoyed this cigar I got a lot of smoke that had a peppery aroma to it. The draw was fine and the burn was phenomenal, never had a cigar with a burn this straight. The firm ash is light colored, light gray to white. This cigar is full flavored and full bodied.



Would I buy this cigar again? The original release was sold out quickly, I hope the 2009 release is just as good as I have a box of those sitting in my humidor.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 9 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 8 / 10
Aroma third part: 8 / 10

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Colón is a Panamanian puro by the German owned company Darier & Cleef. Their Colón Grand Vintage is their ultra premium and ultra expensive cigar. They also produce Marca Fina, a bundled budget cigar in several vitola's and available as Panamanian, Honduran and Dominican puros, so you can really discover the taste differences in the tobaccos from these countries, Campo Verde, the first Fair Trade cigar ever and the Colón Especiales line which is much nicer priced with a price tag below 15 euro. I had a sit down with the owner and the Dutch representative Gerhard Weigl in the smoke lounge of restaurant Klein Kalfje in Amsterdam where we talked about cigars, promotion and so on.



First thing I notice is the nice band, which has nice lettering but what really got my eyes were the golden dots that create the shape of Panama on the band. I think that is a nice touch. The light colored wrapper has lots of small thin veins and some spots. The wrapper is oily. The construction feels good and the cigar has a mild barnyard and wood smell. I punched the cigar and got a great predraw with a mild wood flavor which is mild spicy. This Colón Especiales is 6 inch long and has a ring of 42.



I taste a warm coffee flavor with some wood. It strikes me again that tobacco from Panama tastes so different than tobacco from other countries, much smoother. The flavors are full and complex. After an inch the coffee has disappeared and I taste herbs with wood and some earth. The flavors aren't Cubanesque but the complexity of the cigar is. The flavors are mild sticky.



Halfway I taste a nut flavor for a short amount of time as a support of the wood and earth. The herbal flavor is gone. The flavors are still full but smooth. After ⅔ the herbs return and become dominant rightaway with earth on the background. After ¾ the nut flavors return, I can taste hazelnuts and walnuts with the herbs.



The smoke time of this cigar is about 90 minutes. The cigar produces a nice amount of thick white smoke. The draw and burn are very good. The salt & pepper colored ash isn't very firm. There is a built up of nicotine in the cigar which leads to a nice flame while purging. This cigar is full flavored yet mild to medium bodied and quite complex. I would not smoke this right after a heavy dinner, but this is a very nice cigar late in the morning, early in the afternoon or after a light dinner.



Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, I liked it a lot.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 8 / 10
Draw: 8 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 8 / 10
Aroma second part: 8 / 10
Aroma third part: 8 / 10

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The CI Legends series is a series of cigars, all toro's in a 5.7 x 54 size except for the Perdomo blend which is a torpedo, made by several well known cigar makers especially for the online retailer cigarsinternational. By the color of the band you can see who the maker is, too bad they don't mention it on the band, you need to check the website before you know who made the specific blend. So far I smoked the CI Legend yellow by Don Pepin, the CI Legend red by Perdomo and the CI Legend black by La Aurora. This is the review for the CI Legend white by Camacho.



The cigar has a silky wrapper and the construction feels firm. The wrapper is quite light colored with a few big veins and looks quite thin. The predraw is a bit loose and leaves me a spicy but musty flavor in the mouth.



I taste a sweet earthy flavor, mild musty and after an inch I also taste some leather and a flavor that reminds me of chocolate paste. All the flavors disappear except the chocolate paste flavor which is sweet and a bit musty.



There isn't much going on at the palate, just after the mid of the cigar it becomes a bit spicy. At ⅔ the cigar get sweeter and I have to correct the burn. After that the cigar is harsh and unpleasant. I purge the cigar, but that only helps for a few puffs.



I get a decent amount of reasonable thick smoke and the draw is fine. The cigar is mild to medium flavored and also mild to medium bodied. The burn is ok and the pepper and salt colored ash is quite firm. Even though the turning point came early I smoked this cigar for 75 minutes.



Would I buy this cigar again? No, this cigar was boring.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 6 / 10
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 6 / 10
Aroma third part: 6 / 10

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Last year, while visiting the USA, I bought a few El Originals, the house blend for The Island smoke shop at Key Largo, Florida. I reviewed the natural lancero and the claro lancero before, this maduro lancero is the last of the series. Talking about the Island Smoke shop, every cigar smoker that is heading to south Florida should visit this shop, get some El Originals and don't forget to tell Bill I said hi.



This cellophane wrapped 7x40 lancero has a nice pigtail, a simple band and a price tag of $ 5.95 for a single. The dark wrapper looks nice, it is quite oily and leathery and only has one vein. The construction feels good. Once I remove the cellophane wrapper I smell a full and rich barnyard aroma. The predraw is a bit on the hard side and I can taste herbs, some pepper and a bit of wood.



The first flavors I taste are a deep, rich, sweet combination of coffee and earth flavors with a hint of chocolate. The chocolate slowly becomes the main flavor and after an inch I only taste chocolate with some wood and earth on the background. The chocolate is full flavored.



Halfway the earth disappears and the wood gains some strength but not enough to overpower the chocolate. The chocolate is still the main flavor with wood as a support. Near the end the chocolate loses some strength and I can taste a herbal flavor.



The duration of this smoke was about an hour and forty five minutes. This full flavored, full bodied cigar gave me a lot of thick smoke. The draw and burn were good. The firm ash is quite compact and has a light gray color.



Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, I'll be in Florida in november and pick up a few of these

Appearance: 8 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 8 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10

0 Comments

Habanos SA release the Montecristo Open series last year to lure in the novice cigar smokers. The Montecristo Open series is a mild blend that is easy on the not experienced smoker that might be turned off by the power that some Cuban cigars can pack. And from day one I heard horror stories from my cigar smoking friends, they could not discover any flavors or even noticed green leaves in the cigar which means that the cigars are released way too young. I stayed away from these cigars, but one showed up in a cigar pass



The wrapper has a nice milk chocolate color with some minor veins. The whole color scheme of the bands is awful, the green and gold band from the Open series doesn't match with the traditional brown and white Montecristo band. I also notice that the foot of the cigar is crooked, the cigar looks like the famous tower of Pisa, this must be a cigar produced on a monday morning after a heavy night in the town by the roller. The construction feels good though but the predraw is tough. The cigar doesn't have a lot of aroma, just a faint bit of hay.



I can taste an earthy flavor, stronger than I expected, although the strength fades to almost none pretty quickly. After half an inch I can taste a mild leather flavor and half an inch later the flavors are typical Cuban, leather and earthy, and the strength is medium strong.



After ⅔ I get a very mild chocolate aftertaste. The leather is becoming the dominant flavor and the chocolate disappears again. The flavor strength is getting close to full now.



The draw is a bit hard and therefore I only get a poor amount of thin smoke. The ash is dark but firm. The burn is ok and I would rate his cigar mild to medium bodied and medium flavored. It lasted me an hour.



Would I buy this cigar again? Don't think so, even though I kind of liked this cigar.

Appearance: 6 / 10
Construction: 6 / 10
Draw: 6 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 5 / 10
Aroma first part: 6 / 10
Aroma second part: 7 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10

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