Oliva V maduro short robusto 'edicion Europe'

[Don Fernando]

Finally, a limited edition especially for Europe. It always seemed that the big manufacturers outside Cuba didn't care for Europe at all, but Oliva invested in relationships with the European retailers and cigar aficionados for years, making them one of the best known and selling non Cuban cigars in Europe. To enhance that relationship they released an Oliva V maduro short robusto 'edicion Europe', a 4½x50 short robusto that will be sold in Europe only. 1500 boxes of 10 were manufactured and I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the release party in the beautiful restaurant The Hunting Lodge in Rozendaal, The Netherlands with Dave Wagner and Brian Shapiro from Oliva and Sasja van Horssen of the Oliva Cigar Lounge in Den Bosch.



The Oliva V short robusto Edicion Europe is the same blend as the regular Oliva V maduro releases but with a Mexican San Andreas maduro wrapper instead of the Nicaraguan maduro wrapper that was used for the Oliva V maduro torpedo releases from 2008 and 2009. The wrapper is dark with quite some veins and oily. The cigar has a warm horse stable smell and a triple cap. The wrapper is quite thick, something I noticed while punching the cap. The construction is good, just like the raisin flavored predraw. The cigar is quite short but has the same size bands as the other Oliva V cigars, which almost covers half this short robusto.



I taste herbs with some coffee and an earthy flavor. The flavors are full but not too strong and I even taste some mild chocolate which slowly grows stronger. The coffee and earthy flavor fade away after half an inch, after that I taste herbs with chocolate.



The flavors are dry while the chocolate and herbs keep changing as main flavor. The chocolate slowly turns into dark chocolate and even stronger, the herbs fade to the background. Halfway the cigar gets spicy too. Those flavors stick with me till the end, when the cigar also gets minty fresh.



This is a short robusto, but I managed to make it last and hour and twenty five minutes. The smoke is thick and plenty. The draw is great, the burn is good too. The ash is medium dark gray and firm. This cigar is full bodied and full flavored.



Would I buy this cigar again? You bet I will, already have a box but I want more, best Oliva cigar I have smoked so far.

Appearance: 8 / 10
Construction: 8 / 10
Draw: 8 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 8 / 10
Aroma second part: 9 / 10
Aroma third part: 8 / 10