Leading up to the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show there was a lot of buzz around the release of the Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro. Being a Muduro Guy, I was pretty eager to get my hands on a few. As much as I loved the original Oliva Serie V Melanio, this new release just had to be something special.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to Vegas for the Trade Show and had to rely on local availability to get my maduro fix. I bided my time and waited. Then I waited some more. The months rolled by and I had zero luck in getting my hands on some.
Ultimately, I had to turn to cigar weasel tactics to finally get my hands on the Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro. I reached out to a friend at Oliva and was able to score some for review. When they arrived, I couldn’t contain myself and lit one up immediately.
The Melanio Maduro is a lot like the Melanio. The smoke is full flavored and very dynamic. The primary flavors don’t change much but the background flavors are loaded with subtle changes. One puff I tasted cashews, in the next the nutty flavors were gone and replaced by bitter chocolate. The core was made up of leather and earth with a nice spicy punch through the sinus. The body was medium while the smoke was mildly creamy and easy on the palate.
I’ve always had issues with the Torpedo vitolas from Oliva. They tend to be tight and produce a stiff draw. My review sample was a little stiffer than usual but the density of the smoke produced solid flavor, even with a lack of smoke.
This particular review got rather long-winded. In fact, it is probably close to 2012 Review Proportions as it passes the twenty-minute mark. Grab yourself a smoke and a nice beverage before clicking play. When finished, head down to the comments and tell us what you thought of the Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro.
Hey Walt, great review. Quick question….i am in search off air purifiers, any suggestions…which one are you using(running in the background). Thanks.
Jon,
My office is small enough that I can get away with running an exhaust fan (that is what you hear running, vented outside). If the room were any bigger, or I had more than just me smoking in it, I would take a hard look at a Rabbit Air Unit.
Mike reviewed one a while back. While they are a bit pricy, I really like what I see.
Rabbit Air – Full Review: https://stogiereview.com/2011/11/12/rabbit-air-minusa2-spa-780a-full-review/
Rabbit Air – Unboxing: https://stogiereview.com/2011/08/16/rabbitair-sneak-peek-unboxing/
Whirlpool Air Purifier – Full Review: https://stogiereview.com/2012/01/28/whirlpool-ap51030k-air-purifier-review/
Whirlpool Air Purifier – Unboxing: https://stogiereview.com/2012/01/07/whirlpool-ap51030k-air-purifier-teaser/
Walt, I have the same situation…my office is in the basement, I also have an exhaust fan, but my basement is about 1300 sq ft. It’s a lot of space to cover. My office area is only a 6×6 area of that…I put the exhaust fan near that area…but it is not closed off and is part of the entire basement. The exhaust fan does the job, but the cigar aroma lingers for days. I looked into the Rabbit Air…it only covers a max of 600 sq ft (the newest model). I found an air purifier called Rocky Mountain Air http://www.rockymountainairpurifiers.com, it is capable of covering up to 3500 sq ft. It is a 7 stage system purifier and ozone generator. If you or any one reading this has any in put on this…it would be appreciated. Thanks.
By the way…I have had Olivia Serie V and do enjoy them…have not tried the Melanio Maduro. I do prefer maduro, but at that price point chances are slim on purchasing it in the near future. (Maybe one day if I ever win any $$ in the lottery.)
Hey Walt,
I have had this cigar and I really enjoyed it, I agree with you the draw was a little thicker then I would have liked but I made it through it. I looked it up online it looks like this maybe the Only size they make of this cigar? I’m kind of a big Oliva fan I have always enjoyed their lines and the Melanio lines are in my opinion the best cigars they make. Great review
Corey
Corey,
I haven’t seen them pop up in store just yet so I’m not sure what sizes are available. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were only produced as a Torpedo though. The Serie V Maduo was initially released as a Torpedo only.
Walt, I’m sure you are aware I’m a big fan of Oliva / ST stogies. My favorite / go to stogie is still the Oliva V Mumcero (Lancero), second is the Cain Daytona. I prefer the Oliva Serie V Melanio over the maduro. I liked the flavor profile slightly better than the maduro. Slightly more chocolate (like you said in the maduro) but I thought the regular Melanio had more consistency.
Just my thoughts.
Jimmie,
I love the Serie V in the Lancero and the No 4 (What ever happened to that, it was initially a Euro Vitola but it was a huge success and offered at the TAA Show. Did it end there or is it still being produced?).
The Nbr. 4 is a great little smoke. I refer to them as crack stogies (LOL). Sadly, I only have about 4 or 5 left. Got a few boxes in 2011 and haven’t seen them since..
I have to check if they are still being produced for our international friends.
Actually rumor has it the Nbr, 4 will be in regular production starting 2/1. 🙂
Walt,
I applaud you for admitting that you didn’t want the Melanio to succeed. I can relate to that. With price as a consideration, it can be tough to justify the expense, but when it’s worth it, well, it’s worth it. I haven’t had a chance to try the maduro version of the Melanio, but due to the generosity of a couple of people (including Mike), I have been able to enjoy the natural version of the Melanio.
As to the Serie V, the lancero is absolutely one of my favorite smokes, along with the No. 4 corona. I think the No. 4 was a limited run, and whatever was released then was all there was to be had. 🙁 I also love the MB3, and have had no problems with the torpedo size in terms of burn and draw.
Always great to see you posting here on a regular basis.
Have to agree with you on Oliva and their tight-drawing torpedoes. Every now and then I forget about that and then I have that “aw dammit” moment. Happened to me just the other day. The cigar in question was pretty good, but the draw made it hard to enjoy it.
Nice review. I stumbled on this trying to search something that I can’t find and maybe somebody would feel free to elaborate. About the time the melanios were coming out about a year and a half ago, the regular V’s seemed to have changed. To me, I don’t get all of the same sorts of spices and sweet creamy coffee cocoa notes that it used to have, particularly in the double robusto. The flavors are now more earthy and mineraly with a savoury pepper flavor. What happened? Is it the last couple boxes my shops had aren’t kept right, has my pallet burnt out on em, is the crop for the past couple years just not as good, or do you think they changed the blends. Even CA has noted this changes.
if you have smoked any recently, that would be cool to hear some opinions compared to experiences with them about 1.5 years ago or so. These were my absolute favorites for the price and purposely never smoked tons so they would still be good. Honestly, I think something has happened to the Pepin Blues too ever since that new packaging with the ribbons on the foot, they don’t taste like they did either… Opinions would be cool.
Walt,
Excellent review!! I have been looking forward to finding these at a couple of local shops near me, and was debating doing a review myself, but when I finally found some, I looked up reviews while lighting this one up and found yours. You covered it better than I would have. I have been hooked lately on Nica Libre’s 25th anniversary cigars and tried this because I had heard that they were really similar. I was impressed with the one I just finished. I didn’t experience the draw issues you had, and the flavor was excellent throughout (maybe I got a good one?). I will stick to the Nica Libre for an every day smoke because of the price ($2.00 a smoke) but these are going down as one of my favorite high end smokes. I’ll pick up one of the naturals next as opposed to the Maduro and we will see how it goes! Thanks for the detailed review, I will be sharing with my friends!