Oliva Classic Naturel Churchill VINTAGE

[Don Fernando]

You might think “hey, it’s a monday so there shouldn’t be a review today” but when I upgraded my blog to a 100 point score and a set schedule of reviews I noticed that my first review I ever posted was on april 17 2007, so its exactly 10 years later and that deserves a vintage review. Years and years ago, it must have been 2008, the Oliva distributer for The Netherlands was blowing out old stock of Oliva Classics in several sizes, and by blowing out I mean literally dump prices. I snagged a few boxes in different sizes and still have a few of the Churchills left. And such an old cigar seemed the perfect fit for a review celebrating the birthday of the blog.Now the Oliva Classic might not ring a bell, but here’s the story. In 2001 Oliva released the Oliva Bold, a Nicaraguan puro in both natural and maduro with a embroided cloth ring. Those bands changed to paper rings and later the name changed to Oliva Classic. A few years later they renamed and repackaged the cigar into the Oliva Series O that we can buy at local retailers nowadays. I actually have one of the cloth banded maduros in my collection and the infamous “toilet seat’ box with 6 natural and 6 maduro Oliva Bold churchills.

This cigar is so old and rare nowadays that even my friend Maria Jose, who’s the factory manager at Oliva in Esteli, Nicaragua has never seen them. I told her about those while at the factory and she was very jealous, I haven’t been back to Nicaragua since but I promised to save her one of these 7×50 Nicaraguan puros that are at least 10 years old. The cigar has a nice medium brown, mild shiny and oily wrapper with the veins flattened from the inside like Oliva always does, creating a smooth surface of the wrapper. The cap is nicely placed and the double ring looks great on the cigar when it comes to colors, its a brownish red ring with a double golden lining, a thick line and a thin line on both top and bottom of both rings and then a curly golden print on both, the bigger top ring has a golden O and Oliva Cigar Family and the smaller bottom ring says Classic. The back side of the main ring says hand made. Simple yet tasteful, beautifully printed on good quality paper.

The construction feels flawless and once I release the cigar from its cellophane jacket I instantly smell a barnyard manure aroma, when I smell more precisely It smells more like a horse. The cigar has a strong aroma for its age. I punched the cigar and got a great cold draw with a little peppery but sweet hay flavor. And what better way to light a vintage cigar with a vintage lighter? I’m tasting a pleasant, not too strong coffee flavor with sugar and a little woody bitterness. After a centimeter I lost the coffee. The flavors are dry and some nutmeg.

After a third I taste dry wood with a little milky chocolate and the nutmeg. Slowly the flavor changes to the ice tea I make with the Malaysian tea dust I bought in Singapore and that’s not because I’m drinking it as I drink water while reviewing. I also taste white pepper. Soon I also taste some sweetness. After two thirds I taste spices, a little pepper a little lime on a base flavor of cedar. You can tell this is a vintage cigar, the flavors taste old but in a positive way. With 2 inch to go it’s all nuts with white pepper and a little lime. The pepper is building up near the end to a very nice and strong Nicaraguan signature.

The draw is perfect, just the right amount of resistance. The ash is beautiful light gray and dense. The smoke is medium plus thickness and a medium plus amount too, beautifully white. The burn is good, not razor sharp but even enough. The cigar is medium to medium plus bodied and medium flavored. The cigar is well balanced. The smoke time is 2 hours and 10 minutes.

Would I buy this cigar again? Impossible, even at Oliva they don’t have these anymore

score: 93

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