Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado Review

• Size: 6.5″ x 52 (Figurado)
• MSRP: $140.00 (box of 10); $14.00 for a single
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium to Full
• Strength: Mild
• Humidor Time Prior to Review: 5 months
• Cigars smoked prior to review: 5
• Date Smoked: January 21, 2018

What can I say about the Oliva Serie V Melanio that hasn’t already been said? It won Cigar Aficianado’s “Cigar of the Year” award in 2014. In this very vitola, actually. It’s a unique cigar. I’ve had a number of them in a couple different sizes. Although it’s a $14 cigar, you can find these on deep discount occasionally. I believe I paid $7.50 a stick for a box of 10.

It’s a unique looking cigar with the tapered ends and a strong box press. Even my girlfriend, who hates cigars, asked what I was smoking. “It’s square,” she remarked. Yes it is.

Appearance and Prelight Aromas

The Serie V Melanio series all comes in a lovely box press. The figurado is especially striking with its tapered ends. The wrapper is a light brown with golden brown highlights. There is a light amount of tooth, and the cigar exhibits a soft oily sheen. Seams are tight, veins are minimal. It’s a smooth and beautiful cigar and it looks expensive. There is what appears to be a spiral wrapped double cap. This is the best looking Oliva I’ve handled to date.

The cigar feels nice in the hand. Not too heavy, not too light.

From the wrapper I smell earth, cedar, and barnyard aromas. From the foot, cedar, barnyard and light baking spices.

I clip off a 1/4″ or so of the torpedo head. A pre-light draw reveals little in the way of flavors, but a free and easy draw.

I start toasting and light her up. Start time is 2:50 P.M.

First Third

The initial light yields soft and delicate flavors. Cream, cedar, graham cracker, and bread. Not much in the way of pepper, but I get a little on the retrohale. The aroma is sweet and loaded with baking spices.

Contrasted with the overcast and somewhat yucky weather experienced in yesterday’s review of the Padron 1964 Natural, today is beautiful. Blue skies laced with strings of fluffy white clouds, no wind, and a balmy 77 degrees. A seagull meanders overhead.

I’ll try not to rub it in much more, but all this to say I’ve been looking forward to a cigar all day. After a myriad of errands and domestic chores, I finally got a chance to sit down with this Melanio.

10 minutes in and the cream has stepped up slightly. The pepper has also been building since first light. It is now significant, and I can feel it in the back of my throat. Plenty of yeasty bready notes are coming from the cigar along with cedar and pepper on the retrohale. I’d peg the body at medium. Smoke pours from the foot and plays in the sunlight. The aroma is intoxicating.

So far the burn qualities have been excellent. Plenty of smoke, and the burn line is dead even, leaving a beautiful light gray ash. We are just getting over the pointed tip of the cigar into the box pressed body of the stick.

Toasty and nutty flavors are entering the mix. Something malty is also present. I’m getting floral notes on the retrohale along with an aromatic cedar. It’s picking up steam and building in complexity, but it’s smooth and balanced. Black pepper continues to linger on the finish with wood, more exotic spices, and a light tobacco flavor.

At the half hour mark coffee is joining the armada of flavors. It’s a lightly roasted coffee, but it’s present and building. It plays nicely with the cream.

Second Third

Smoke time is at 35 minutes.

We have built up an impressive conical ash. It reminds me of the tail of those fat desert lizards. They live off those tails when times are tough. In a pinch you may be able to subsist on this Melanio as well.

Here is where we are at with the flavors: heavy cream, coffee, cedar, toast, light nuts, black pepper, floral flavors. The finish is delicate and mostly black pepper, wood, and light tobacco. The cream is heavy and cool on the draw. Then you get the cedar. It is strong and aromatic, and it interplays with the coffee. Malty nutty flavors move in and out, and on the finish you get the flora and peppery notes. That’s my take on it at least.

I take a long slow draw from the cigar, and the approximately 2 inches of ash falls and glances off my pocket. Whoops. Oh well, not the first time and won’t be the last. I was wondering how long that ash would hang on…

The burn has grown slightly wavy but not needing a correction. I’m guessing it will correct itself now that the first chunk of ash is gone. I’ll give it a few minutes.

The flavors are moving around a bit. Still heavy cream on the draw, but the retrohale is getting nuttier now. Coffee is finding its way into the finish and the cigar is developing an earthy element to it.

As predicted the burn has evened out on its own. We are getting close to the first band. It slips off easily.

A tangy flavor is developing on the draw. It’s buttermilk, and it’s mingling with the cream. Semisweet chocolate is joining the coffee and earth. These flavors are a little surprising given the warm golden brown wrapper, but I’ve taken a few puffs to confirm that’s what is happening. The Melanio is full of surprises.

Still getting some cedar and nuttiness on the draw flavors and the retrohale. The finish is stronger now. It’s earthier, and I’m not getting as much pepper.

A second chunk of ash fell off on its own while the cigar was resting in the ash tray. We are nearing the second band and the final third.

Final Third

Smoke time: 1 hour 10 minutes.

I think Oliva may have been the company that started this two cigar band craze. I have to admit these cigars look good. Especially when you buy a box of them. They are handsome. I like to think I’m immune to advertising (yeah…) but the marketing folks for Oliva know how to make a gal feel special with these Melanios.

At any rate the second band peels away as easily as the first. Whoever put the bands on had a very light touch with the glue.

The burn has gone slightly wavy again. I’m hoping it will correct itself once more.

The flavors are tangy buttermilk, cream, cedar, coffee, semisweet chocolate, light earth, and black pepper. We appear to have lost the nuts. The indistinct floral notes from earlier has grown to more of a herbal flavor. The flavors continue to be smooth and balanced. The aroma is sweet and bready, with a cinnamon spice to it.

Body remains at a solid medium, and I haven’t noticed much in the way of strength. I’m relaxed, but not nauseated. When I stand up to take a photo my head doesn’t spin. This is a sharp contrast with the regular Serie V. The regular Serie V is a strong cigar that I can only handle on a full stomach.

With 2-1/2″ remaining, the cream and buttermilk elements slipped away in the space of a single puff. In its place is a stronger tangy coffee taste with a strong wood backed by earth and dark semisweet chocolate. Body has ramped up to a medium full. The finish is a long dark coffee and earth with pepper. This is a strong and dramatic transition.

The cigar has taken on a much bolder, darker note to it. The sharp coffee flavor hits me on the tongue. I slow down with my puffing. The nuttiness has re-emerged on the draw flavors, and I’m also getting it in the aroma of the cigar.

It has been a good while since I last had one of these cigars, and this change in the final third is surprising but also welcomed. This cigar is taking me on a journey. Two enormously fat ducks float past me overhead.

The burn line has grown haggard in the last third. It’s a good half inch off now. I decide to give it a small course correction, and a deep nutty flavor escapes from the torched wrapper.

Suddenly a strong sweet flavor emerges on the draw. I’ve got a real sweet tooth, so I’m on this cigar like a dog on a bone. Absolutely lovely, and another unexpected surprise. It has a fruity element to it. A deep sweet cherry. It intermingles with the coffee and chocolate. Like a coffee laced cherry cordial. That said, I’ve never noticed this in the handful of Melanio V Figurados I’ve smoked in the past.

The smoke is growing warm, and the Melanio is losing complexity, but with flavors like sweet cherry, coffee, and chocolate I won’t be able to put the cigar down.

Eventually the cherry sweetness fades. The remaining flavors are warm and fuzzy. Mostly coffee bean and earth. I end the cigar with under an inch remaining.

Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado Review – Final Thoughts

Say what you will about Cigar Aficionado and their “Cigar of the Year” awards. In this case I think they got it right. The Melanio is a beautiful cigar. The entire experience is excellent. From first light to the nub you are treated to a host of balanced flavors, interesting transitions, and a largely trouble free burn.

In my mind this is what a good cigar is all about. It transcends a mere activity, and is truly an experience. Magnificent.

On the 0-2 scale I give this a “2”. Box worthy. Especially when they offer this in boxes of 10 and the cigar can be had on sale in the $7 range. Well worth it and highly recommended. I also recommend checking out the Melanio Maduro. That one is great as well.

Final Score: 4.5 / 5

Final Smoke Time: 2 hours