Don Fernando’s cigarblog

A friend bombed me with this cigar and he said it was one of his favorites so my expectations of this 7 x 54 torpedo were pretty high. The wrapper is dark, almost leathery with one huge vein running over it. Even the feeling of the texture of the wrapper is leather like, dry and stiff or sturdy.

I tasted some coffee, not too strong though, with a bit of sweetness. After an inch the coffee turns into sweet chocolate. The texture of the flavor is mild creamy. The first half of the cigar is pretty blend and consistent with the flavors mentioned and in the second half I tasted some mild coffee which is replaced by chocolate and white pepper but unfortunately the pepper disappears quickly, only to return for the final couple of puffs combined with a strong dark chocolate flavor. This is the first Oliva that I wouldn’t have recognized as an Oliva stick in a blind taste, as it lacks the specific Oliva sweetness that you find in any of their sticks.

The draw is fine, the ash is white and the cigar produces a lot of smoke. The burn is very straight. This cigar is medium bodied and medium flavored.

Would I buy this cigar again? No, I had better cigars from Oliva

Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 8 / 10
Appearance: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Aroma (first part) 7 / 10
Aroma (middle part) 7 / 10
Aroma (last part) 7 / 10

A lot has been said about the nubs, some love them, others call them a hype, well, I smoked one now, the Habanos version and I think I am the second category, I don’t dislike the nub but it isn’t what it’s supposed to be when you believe the (sales) stories.

Yes, it looks funny, short, fat, a bit like me, the 466 is a referrence to the size. 4 inch long with a 66 ring. The wrapper is nice and clean, a bit oily. The predraw is just fine and the cigar has an aroma of dry hay.

I could taste some coffee with a bit leather, not really good though. After about half an inch I could taste the typical Oliva flavor and the coffee disappeared. After an inch the Oliva flavor goes away and I could taste a nutty flavor. The nutty flavor is consistent and only grows a bit in strength.

I can only say great things about the smoke, the smoke is awesome. The ash is quite firm and right before I want to re-act the famous “look at this cigar standing on its ashes” it broke off all over my shirt (again).

This short cigar is good for 75 minutes of smoking and is strong enough to feed me some vitamin N. The burn was just a little off, but I won’t hold it against this cigar.

Would I buy this cigar again?  Don’t think so, or maybe as a ‘look what I got’ cigar when I go somewhere with less informed botl’s

Construction: 14 / 20
Draw: 14 / 20
Appearance: 14 / 20
Smoke && ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 7 / 20
Aroma (foot) 6 / 10
Aroma (body) 7 / 10
Aroma (head) 7 /10

As you may have read, last October I got to smoke two El Cobre by Oliva cigars, a torpedo and a robusto. The El Cobre is a very heavy cigar, nicknamed ‘the lobotomizer’ and ‘el muerto fuerte’ and till this month only available at Brian Shapiro’s shop but now Non Plus Ultra in Den Bosch will start selling them too. As the torpedo’s were not available, I ordered a bundle of toro’s. When I got them last Thursday I thought that there was a mix up, as there toro’s look more like coronas to me with the 152mm length and ring 46.

The El Cobre cigars have a very nice appearance, dark wrapper and a sophisticated black and copper band. The wrapper has some nice veins which give it a strong and rough look, the aroma is heavy and full but the cigar does feel a bit hard, rolled to tight and that causes the predraw to be kind of heavy. The cigar was a bit dry though, so hopefully it will improve if I let them rest for a while in my humidor. The predraw gave a black pepper flavor.

The pepper is also clearly there when I light the cigar. It’s like being kicked in the balls, this cigar is heavy, very heavy. There was a piece of paper at the bottom of the bundle warning me, it said “super fuerte” but I thought I was a big boy, until I lit the cigar, damn, what a power. To the palate again, heavy black pepper with leather and after a couple of centimeters a few hints of dark chocolate. The pepper is so strong it completely overpowers the chocolate and all other flavors, if there were any. I do notice that the pepper is not really consistent, with some puffs the pepper is stronger then with the next puff or the puff before, sometimes is heavier and spicier then the other time.

At about ¾ of the cigar I start to feel light headed, like I drank too much wine in a short period of time. This cigar is beating me, it’s too strong for me. I felt like Michael Spinks in a fight with Mike Tyson (Spinks was the reigning champion in the light heavyweight champion who had the idea that he could beat Tyson back in 1988, “the fight of the champions” lasted 91 seconds). I try to take control and keep on smoking, but like a fish on a line, I know I will lose the fight anyway. This cigar got me and it got me good.

The draw is heavy, maybe because the cigar is too dry. The smoke is white, but it could be fuller and the burn is pretty and straight. The ash is fantastic, strong and firm. It breaks only once.

Construction: 14 / 20
Draw: 12 / 20
Appearance: 16 / 20
Smoke && ash: 7 / 10
Burn: 16 / 20
Aroma (foot) 7 / 10
Aroma (body) 7 / 10
Aroma (head) 7 / 10

This cigar has a great appearance, very jaunty with its nice shape but small size of 127mm and ring 54. A nice oily wrapper and a heavy aroma. This promises to be a full bodied cigar, and it feels well constructed with a pepper flavor in the fine predraw.

It’s like setting fire to a can of black pepper with some leather on the background, but soon the leather picks up and grows but after about 2 centimeters there is a hint of chocolate. Then the pepper is back and how, strong, full of flavor. Halfway there is some sweetness in the pepper soon to be replaced with chocolate and nuts. Near the end the nuts gets stronger while the pepper fades away.

The smoke is thick and the ash is silvergray. The draw and burn are very good.

Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, a complete case, soon!

Construction: 18 / 20
Draw: 14 / 20
Appearance: 18 / 20
Smoke && ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 16 / 20
Aroma (foot) 8 / 10
Aroma (body) 8 / 10
Aroma (head) 8 / 10

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.

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

Construction: 16 / 20
Draw: 13 / 20
Appearance: 17 / 20
Smoke && ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 14 / 20
Aroma (foot) 8 / 10
Aroma (body) 7 / 10
Aroma (head) 7 / 10

The El Cobre by Oliva is a very special and unknown cigar, it is the personal blend of the old man Oliva, the father of current Oliva CEO Jose Oliva and they are only sold at the shop of Brian Shapiro in the USA. The blend was used for family use only and was named after a little mining town in Cuba and is nicknamed ‘the lobotomiser’ and ‘el muerto’ while discountcigars mentions on their website that this cigar should come with a warning label because it’s such a full bodied and full flavored cigar.

A friend of mine met Brian Shapiro and Jose Oliva at a dinner in Amsterdam and Brian Shapiro was kind enough to send a bundle of torpedo’s and a bundle of robusto’s to the Non Plus Ultra shop in Den Bosch, as the owner of NPU is also the official importer of Oliva cigars in The Netherlands. My friend invited me to come to Den Bosch to try the El Cobre torpedo & robusto in the smokers lounge at NPU. And I gladly accepted that invitation, my curiosity was bigger then my fear of the reputation of this powerhouse.

We started with the 6.5 inch ring 52 torpedo, which has a heavy scent of manure, a nice dark wrapper and a distinctive band that compliments the cigar. The predraw released some sweetness.

While we all expected a big bang right at the start, the cigar surprised us with a nice, easy coffee flavor, not a powerhouse at all, but we could feel that the cigar was building up to something heavy and something special. The coffee was replaced by herbs and pepper and about halfway I discovered dark chocolate, my favorite. At the end of the cigar the pepper made a comeback.

The El Cobre torpedo produced a lot of smoke and light gray ashes. The draw was fine.

Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, if it becomes available in Holland or online.

Construction: 16 / 20
Draw: 16 / 20
Appearance: 18 / 20
Smoke && ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 18 / 20
Aroma (foot) 8 / 10
Aroma (body) 8 / 10
Aroma (head) 9 / 10

Marjolein Hartman of Hartman Cigars in Amsterdam advised me to try the Oliva Masterblend series, so I bought some torpedos and some robusto’s. The first thing that you notice when you see this cigar is the logo which is lasered into the nice, smooth wrapper. The cigar has a 52 ring and is approximately 165mm long and smells heavy and sweet.

The first flavors that come to mind are a spicy pepper and some leather, but the pepper fades away soon and the leather grows stronger. Further on the way, I can taste some cacao which slowly evolves into toast with a slight taste of nuts on the background and then back to cacao again. The cigar doesn’t have a noticeable turning point, I smoked it till about an inch was left, but there was still no bitter taste.

I had no problems with the burn whatsoever, nor with the draw. The smoke is rich and thick and the ash is almost white. A very nice medium bodied cigar, a delight to smoke.

Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, if it’s still available.

Construction: 16 / 20
Draw: 16 / 20
Appearance: 18 / 20
Smoke && ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 18 / 20
Aroma (foot) 7 / 10
Aroma (body) 7 / 10
Aroma (head) 7 / 10

Price / value: 15 / 20