Yet another Oliva V Maduro review.

[shilala]

Scott (sofaman) and I finally got around to smoking a couple V Maduros I've been hoarding. I got them in a split over at CS that Kevin (savorthestick) hosted.
When they arrived I took them out of their cellos and placed them in the top drawer of one of my winadors. I did that for a reason.
Every Oliva I have ever bought, and I've bought a LOT of boxes, are wet and unsmokable. I've found that 8 months in the cello and they're fine. I wanted to smoke these sooner so I figured if I put them out in the open air that they'd dry and air out much quicker.
The experiment was a complete success.
They were absolutely delicious.
Scott and I both agreed that they were eerily similar to the blue band O toros that we smoked just a short time ago.

The only thing I can say about "how they tasted" is that they were exactly what I had expected. V body with a sweet maduro wrapper.

The only negative I can come up with is that the wrapper is very thin and the feet split on each of the cigars while they were resting.
I'm sure that's a result of the accelerated drying time I put them through. It's also why I'm a fan of a nice, thick, greasy, durable wrapper.
Granted, a thick maduro wrapper yields a thick maduro taste and I don't think that's what the Olivas were going for here. That's why they're the professionals and I'm not.
The wrapper delivered the perfect amount of maduro flavor to compliment the V blend. And when I say perfect, I mean perfect.
(If any of you guys feel like you got "stuck" with these V maduros, please pm me so we can hammer out a trade. I honestly loved this cigar and I only have two on the shelf. I'd be thrilled to be sitting on a few more.)

The last thing and I'll shut up...
I'm something of an Oliva Maduro fanboi. I've been pleased with every Oliva maduro I've ever smoked, bar none. I think the Special G maduro is one of the best cigars I've ever smoked and they remain consistant. The old blue band O's are stellar, and they're still easily obtainable.
The G maddies are choice.
The flavor and quality of the maduro wrapper the Olivas consistantly obtain is something I bank on. It's somewhat bizarre to me because I truly dislike the V line and I wouldn't smoke another G natural on a bet. The V lancero is one of my biggest "letdown" cigars in recent memory.
The key to these Olivas is to let them work through their short sick period.
Now that I know it's not going to be an 8 month sentence and that I can simply take them out of their cellos to accelerate the process, I'm going to be far more likely to try their new offerings.
I guessed when this cigar was released that the reviews would be awful and they were. It makes me wonder why the Olivas don't shelf their new releases long enough to make them smoke a lot better.

If you still have a chance to try one of these sweet babies, please do.
Make sure they've had their time and I doubt you'll be anything but impressed.