Don Fernando's cigarblog

When I got back my cigars had arrived and owner Sasja had a special offer, a case of Oliva classic Oasis & Ovation cigars, the predecessor of the current O series, for a price you can never get these well aged cigars. He gave me a torpedo to try, and well, what can I say, I bought a case so a real review can be expected soon.

A friend of mine bought a case of this Tavago cigars on his recent trip to Trinidad & Tobago. It’s a handmade local cigar, made by a refugee from Cuba and I cannot find any information on the internet about this brand so it’s unique to smoke and review this. Nootje, thank you for sharing this cigar and making this review possible.

The wrapper is nice oily and smooth, I don’t know the precise ring but I guess its around 40 and about 130mm long. The aroma reminds me of manure.

Leather, that is the first flavor I can discover and soon after the leather I can taste pepper. When the cigar reaches the body there is a clear toast flavor at the palate which is replaced by leather and pepper after a few centimeters. At the end the pepper grows stronger.

The smoke, draw and ash are all fine, the cigar is light to medium bodied and not complex at all. A nice cigar to start the day with, nothing special but not bad either

Would I buy this cigar again? It could be a nice morning cigar, if the price is right.

Construction: 12 / 20
Draw: 12 / 20
Appearance: 14 / 20
Smoke && ash: 7 / 10
Burn: 14 / 20
Aroma (foot) 6 / 10
Aroma (body) 7 / 10
Aroma (head) 6 / 10

I got this ring 42 112mm long shortfiller from a friend who had these in a box for years. This cigar, with a light wrapper and the aroma of hay, is pre cut with a V. Unfortunately the cigar was damaged at the mouthpiece so it leaked a little. The construction is not too good, weak spots under the wrapper and the predraw is too easy.

After lighting I taste leather which is accompanied by a tobacco flavor after a few puffs and pretty soon the cigar gets a bit sour. Halfway it becomes sharp and bitter.

The smoke is medium, the draw too easy and the burn crooked.

Would I buy this cigar again? No

The thinnest cigar of the Oliva V series, a very elegant ring 38 178 mm long lancero has a nice wrapper with lots of small veins which make the cigar look natural and real and the aroma of manure. The cigar feels well constructed, a bit on the hard side though while the predraw is very light. I don’t usually smoke cigars this thin, so my judgment could be a bit false.

The leather aroma is very much like the leather that you get from most Cuban cigars, stronger then the Dominican leather but there is something more that makes it a bit salty and soon black pepper kicks in. After a while I can taste some coffee soon to be replaced again by the leather.

This cigar produces lots of smoke with nice light grey ashes. The burn is a bit crooked and the draw is light, a bit too light for my taste.

Would I buy this cigar again? No, it is a nice cigar but I prefer a bigger ringsize

This is a ring 48 and 127 mm long cigar, boxpressed so a bit square. There is just a light aroma and the wrapper is nice, oily and light of color. It feels well rolled, no soft spots in the cigar but not to hard either.

The first flavor isn’t leather like I expected from this Cuban cigar but a very deep earthy flavor, but pretty soon the leather, which is so characteristic for Cubans, shows up. Halfway the cigar gets smoother, bit creamy. Still there is not a lot of progress in flavors. At the end there is a very strong wood flavor. Right before the turning point there is a light hint of chocolate

The ash is very dark, the smoke is medium, burn is even.

Would I buy this cigar again? No, this cigar is too one dimensional for me

Construction: 16 / 20
Draw: 15 / 20
Appearance: 15 / 20
Smoke && ash: 7 / 10
Burn: 16 / 20
Aroma (foot) 7 / 10
Aroma (body) 6 / 10
Aroma (head) 7 / 10

This is a small 95mm ring 32 shortfiller, with a nice pretty dark wrapper and an aroma of dried hay.

The cigar tastes pretty harsh, but that can be expected from a cigar this size but it’s not unpleasant. I can taste some leather and something grassy. Halfway the flavors change a bit to a tobacco flavor. Towards the end the cigar gets harsh again, sharp and unpleasant.

It’s a surprise how much smoke this little cigar produces. The ash is firm and light and the burn is nice and even. Draw is a bit to easy.

Would I buy this cigar again? No, too small for me

G. de Graaf is an old Dutch brand and they have produced a Costa Rican longfiller for some time now. Recently the owners decided to change the blend and the wrapper. The wrapper is now Ecuadorian and comes in both natural and oscuro. I got a sampler with both cigars to try out and review. I smoked the oscuro this afternoon while watching soccer on TV.

The cigar looks pretty, a nice smooth wrapper, quite dark but no maduro. The full aroma reminds me of a stable and at the top of the cigar you can clearly see different kinds and colors of tobacco in the filler.

The first flavors are distinct leather with a nice pepper, but pretty soon these flavors fade away slowly. The cigar becomes a bit creamy but not creamy enough to deserve that label. Halfway there is a harsh sharp flavor for just one puff and then the light cream flavor comes back with now and then a hint of chocolate, but just as the cream, the chocolate flavor never really comes trough.

This cigar is not complex, there is not a lot of development in the flavors but then again, what I taste is not unpleasant.

The burn is fine, only at the end of the cigar I had some problem, the ash is uneven and the smoke is quite full and pretty white.

Would I buy this cigar again? Perhaps, it’s a nice cigar although there are better cigars in this price range.

Btw my team won the match with 6 to 1

Construction: 16 / 20
Draw: 16 / 20
Appearance: 16 / 20
Smoke && ash: 7 / 10
Burn: 16 / 20
Aroma (foot) 7 / 10
Aroma (body) 6 / 10
Aroma (head) 7 / 10

Today I went to Den Bosch again, to smoke some cigars and taste some whisky’s at Non Plus Ultra today with some friends. We tried several whisky’s, had some local table delicacies, nice conversations and ofcourse some cigars, I smoked a Partagas presidentes and an Ashton VGS torpedo.

Later on Smokey, Nootje, Jeronimo and me went to restaurant Havana in Tilburg and we enjoyed a nice dinner with mojito’s, beer and cocktails, accompanied by two Partagas De Luxe and a Leon Jimenes Churchill. It was a good day.

This is a new cigar for the Dutch market, made by Intercigar and sold exclusively at Compaenen cigar shops. It is a hand made Dominican cigar with Piloto cubano ligero, Criollo 98 ligero, Viso Nicaragua,
Mata Norte ligero and Seco Criollo 98 tobacco. There are two versions, one with a sun grown Cameroon wrapper and one with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper. Today I smoked the sun grown Cameroon robusto.

The cigar is nicely packed, a cardboard 3 pack and the cigars individually packed in cedar with a cellophane wrapper, the sun grown Cameroon wrapper looks pretty and then the nice words stop. The band is pompous and over the top, the cigar doesn’t feel as firm as I like and the predraw has the aroma of raisins.

The first flavor that I taste is unpleasant and musty mixed with light leather; the musty flavor fades away just like the leather but then? What do I taste? I don’t know, I can’t place it, mushrooms? It is a dry flavor. Intercigar produced another cigar in the past for the Dutch market and review mention polystyrene foam and this could be what the reviewers meant. It could also be the flavor of rice crackers that I taste. Anyway, it makes me feel a little nausea and it gets worse, there is a metallic aroma coming to the palette and the cigar is hot, much hotter then other cigars I have smoked in the past.

The smoke is pretty full but not nice colored, the ash is white and firm.

Would I buy this cigar again? Hell no, this cigar is only 4 Euro a piece and you can’t expect a premium cigar for that money, but this isn’t even worth the 4 bucks, I know cigars twice as cheap like the Flor de Oliva or the Vegas de Santiago puros who are so much better