This weeks Wednesday review is of the Oliva Serie O Perfecto (5×55). According to the Oliva web page the Serie O is a Nicaraguan puro made in the Cuban style of growing the same seed in different regions. The sun-grown Habano wrapper was very silky with only a few small veins.
The pre-light draw was easy for a perfecto, which I find often start tight, and the pointed head makes clipping a no-brainer. The small foot lit quickly and the first few draws gave a good volume of smoke with a rich tobacco flavor and the slightest bit of spice. The flavor profile is similar to the previously reviewed Serie G, though quite a bit fuller bodied. At this point the burn was fairly straight and the ash a very light gray and not the least bit flaky.
The slightly crooked burn in the picture above continued to get worse until it required a touch up. From this point forward it had to be touched up about every half inch or so. Two reviews in a row with the same burn problem on cigars from different makers, go figure. The body continued to build while the burn progressed toward the largest part of the cigar with a nice spiciness making regular appearances. A small crack also formed in the wrapper and grew slowly as the burn got closer. The picture below was taken shortly after the split started.
The split grew quite a bit rather quickly after a small touch up, note splitting wrappers do not like a touch up. 🙂
A testament to the construction, the cigar continued to smoke without any problems producing large clouds of smoke with every draw. The body leveled out at what I would call full, but not overpowering. The spice wasn’t as apparent after the half-way mark, but I was really paying attention to the wrapper and burn at that point. I think I’ll pick up some more singles of these in both natural and maduro. This one was a little more flavorful than the Serie G, and I’m a sucker for a nice perfecto, I even really liked the natural version.
brian,
great review. shame about the burn problems and the wrapper splitting, but still sounds like you enjoyed it. i also have a quick question. whats your opinion on smoking down to the nub? i would also appreciate any comments from anyone else. lol
Matt, I don’t usually get all that far into the last third of a cigar. So anytime I do nub a cigar I know that’s one I’ll be buying by the box. I don’t feel the need to try and nub every cigar, I just stop smoking it when I stop enjoying it.
Brian,
i agree with you, i only smoke while i enjoy it. although sometimes i want to get my moneys worth, especially if its a high priced cuban. howcome you dont do video reviews?
Yeah Brian why don’t you do video reviews lol? 😉
Walt is the professional nub smoker. I have a bad habit of stopping at the band which with this cigar would mean at least half of it would go to waste.
Nice picture on the split…how long had you been aging this guy?
Jerry,
do you always stop at the band? even on cigars like this one? I didnt mean to get brian in too trouble by asking about the video reviews, LOL
LOL…Brian is no trouble at all. He has a good camera presence and I can’t get enough of that Texas accent.
For the most part I do stop at the band. Like I said in comment on another review, I have a lot of bad habits and this being one of them. Once I hit the band, I put it down. When it comes to naked cigars, I use my imagine where I think the band would be and put it down then. Its a totally bad habit and totally a mental thing I can’t get past.
I smoke very few Toros, and usually only smoke Churchills or Double Coronas on the golf course, so for most of my cigars the band is right about the beginning of the last third.
Matt, I just got everything set up for the QA this weekend. I’m hoping to find time to start doing some video reviews as well but we’ll see.
Jerry, I’ve had this one a couple of months. It came in as a bonus with a trade, I can’t wait to try the maduro. A little birdie told me the Perdomo Lot 23 Maduros are to be hitting shelves soon too.
Jerry,
Its all down to personal preference, i just wondered what other people did, lol. i cant bring myself to stop at the band. especially on cigars with large bands. Brians reviews are very good and hes great with a camera, as it shows in the picture of the split. I just wondered why he didnt do video reviews, and i still dont know, lol. while im here, is there any cigars you recommend i try?
Brian
I posted my comment just before i read yours, which is why i still said about the video reviews,lol. I hope you can find the time to do some video reviews, and i hope you can continue to join in the Q&A with walt and jerry.
Jerry, what do you do when you smoke a Rocky Patel Edge? Light it, take one puff and put it down? For you guys that don’t know…the Rocky Patel Edge has the band at the foot of the cigar instead of the normal place which is up by the head of the cigar.
I smoked my first Oliva O Classic… the old version of the Serie O. This is an incredible cigar IMO… they can definitely go head to head against the Pepin Nicaraguan Puros.