Oliva Serie V Ligero Especial Belicoso (5x54)

I smoked this one on Friday night, in preparation of the wedding my wife and I would be shooting on
Saturday. I selected it before doing my final check on all my equipment. I had all the memory cards formatted and in a handy pocket case, all the batteries were charged, and all lenses had been cleaned. I received this cigar from @Cigar_G on twitter as one of his many giveaways (Thanks G!). I have had the serie G, which was pretty darn tasty, so how would this compare? Upon inspecting the wrapper I found no soft spots and it was rolled tightly. The Nicaraguan Habano Sun Grown wrapper housed a Nicaraguan binder and a blend of Nicaraguan tobaccos, including a specially fermented ligero from the Jalapa Valley. Veining was minimal and there was a slight toothiness to the oily wrapper. I clipped the cap with my trusty scissors and the draw was perfect and tasted of dark chocolate and rich tobacco. I toasted the foot and lit it up. The first puff carried an unexpected kick to seat of my pants, not overpowering but a tad more powerful than I was expecting. The first third opened with Notes of coffee, dark chocolate, and occasional hint of raisin.  It left a nice mild sweetness on the lips after each puff. The second third brought more of the coffee and dark chocolate and added a nice mild pepper to the finish as the raisin notes faded away. The finish took on a bit of peppery spice to the finish and on the retrohale. Nearing the half way point of the smoke the spiciness kicks up a notch but never becomes overwhelmingly powerful. As I entered the final third the ash was still holding tight. The coffee notes turn more to leather, with the dark chocolate still present in the final third. The raisin notes also make a bit of a comeback in the final third but are not as defines as in the initial third. The ash was still intact as I nubbed this cigar, I was thoroughly impressed with the construction of this sucker. I enjoyed this more than the serie G from Oliva. The subtle sweetness that was present throughout the burn was a nice compliment to the spice that came in toward the second half. It was a solid full body cigar but ultra smooth and chock full of flavor. The resting smoke seemed to have a woody aroma and burn required no corrections. Thanks again to @Cigar_G for the giveaway and giving me the chance to try this fantastic smoke on his dime. If you don't already follose him you can find him at www.twitter.com/Cigar_G. Retail price, from what I could find, is around $7.22 per stick for the Belicoso size reviewed here. You can find more information about Oliva and their blends at www.olivacigar.com

Wrapper: Habano Sun Grown Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Jalapa Valley Ligero Vitolas: 7 Natural

SERIE V Oliva Serie V - Ligero Especial  Serie V is a complex blend of Nicaraguan long filler tobaccos. Blended with specially fermented Jalapa Valley ligero, and finished with a high priming Habano Sun Grown Wrapper. Blending Notes: This cigar is blended to deliver full body taste while maintaining an unparalleled smoothness. This flavorful blend exhibits complex tobacco with rich coffee and dark chocolate tones. A subtle and well balanced spice is present throughout.

 
 

 

 

Sosa Sungrown Belicoso (6x54)

I received the new Cigars International catalog and flipped through it one afternoon after work. I noticed a familiar favorite brand but a unrecognized stick. This particular stick was advertised as low as 1.50 a stick for the robusto size. I put it on my list to try and went about my work week as usual. While running the rounds at work, my cell phone buzzed with an email notification from Cigars International. It was to inform me that their weekly deal was a bundle of sosa sungrown in the belicoso or churchill size for the same price that the robusto is usually offered for. Well that sealed the deal and I placed my order for the belicoso and waited in anticipation. As I have said before, I have never had a bad cigar with the Sosa name on the band. When these arrived a couple of days later I opened the box and was greeted with the smell of cocoa. They had the most wonderful chocolaty aroma when I opened the cellophane holding the bundle together. I almost forgot they were cigars and not candy bars, but caught myself before taking a bite. The only information offered on the Cigars international site is that these were maduro wrapped with a Dominican and Honduran long filler. I have smoked about 5 of these and so the time for a formal review is at hand. The dark oily wrapper was smooth and shiny with minimal veins and fantastic construction. The smell radiating from the body was cocoa but had mellowed a bit after about a week in the humidor. The aroma at the foot was also of cocoa and rich tobacco. I straight cut the pointy cap with scissors and pre light draw was perfect with a hint of cocoa and earth. Upon lighting the initial flavors that make themselves known are of cocoa and earth with a nice mild sweetness from the maduro wrapper. Burn through the first third was excellent with no corrections needed and produced a tight salt-and-pepper ash. Going into the second third the cocoa notes mellowed a bit and notes of cedar and spice joined in with the earthy tones of the rich tobacco with a hint of leather starting to shine through. The ash was still holding through the second third. the ash finally fell after the start of the final third. In the final third the leather tone came to the front as the cocoa faded to more of a light coffee with a faint pepper tone. The burn did get a bit erratic before the final third but corrected itself without any help from the torch. It maintained a consistent medium body through the entire cigar and produced ample amounts of smoke even at rest. I have to be honest, I didn't expect this to be such a complex or well constructed cigar for the price despite being a sosa cigar. I will absolutely be purchasing more of these as part of my normal rotation and look forward to trying the other sizes as well. A homerun from Sosa Cigars and Cigars International. Get more information about Sosa Cigars on twitter at www.twitter.com/sosacigars and at their website www.antilliancigars.com and Cigars International at www.cigarsinternational.com. The link to this particular cigar can be found HERE. With a price point of $1.50-$2.00 per stick at the time of this review, this is a super bargain on a tasty smoke!

 

 

The ash had just fallen.

Surprised at the ash strength