Olivia Serie V Churchill Extra (7x52):Photo Review

[DoctaJ]

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Well, I went into my B&M this weekend with the idea of buying a Padilla Miami to try out (as I have heard great things about it). Sadly, they only had the old Pepin blend in stock. I thought perhaps this wasn't such a bad thing as they had a tin of 3 Opus X's in stock (the last one at that), which was the 1st time I have even seen these sticks in the wild! I quickly grabbed it up and walked...quickly...to the employee to see what the price was. I waited eagerly as he came back to say....$79 :r:r. Needless to say, I quickly put that last Opus back where it was. I want to try an Opus, but not that bad. Well, as said, they didn't have the new blend of the Padilla Miami, but I did see another stick I have been meaning to try for a while: the Olivia V. The review you will read will tell you the experience I had with this smoke.

Appearence:
Veiny medium brown wrapper that had a noticeable well wrapped triple cap. This stick as a whole seemed to be well made. The wrapper had a faint sweetness upon smelling it and the pre light draw also brought hints of subtle cocoa. The one downside seemed to be a slightly tight draw before lighting up.

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Location:
Smoked this cigar on my 3rd floor apartment patio on a VERY humid day (this will come into play later) with a temp of about 75 F. I paired this smoke with a Crown and Coke.

[DoctaJ]

1st Quarter:
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This smoke started off spicy right off the bat. However, this quickly subsided and the spice was more subtle as the flavor turned more to a slight sweetness that had a slight nutty flavor to it. The one problem that I had with this section was the burn. It became a little uneven on one side as I smoked. The draw was perfect (which was a nice thing to experience considering the tight draw pre-light). As for the dark picture...well...the humidity did a nose dive while I was smoking and a thunder storm hit! It passed quickly, but luckily I was shielded from the rain as I smoked my stogie :ss
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2nd Quarter:
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As I got more into this section of the cigar, the burn started to correct itself. The sweetness continues, which is now paired with a subtle peppery taste and also starts to make for a creamy smoke. At this point, all the flavors were very subtle, but they mended together very well.

[DoctaJ]

3rd Quarter:
At this point of the cigar, the creaminess and pepper starts to subside and the sweetness flavor starts to take hold. There is still a hint of peppery spice, but the sweetness is the most apparent flavor, which I can only say tastes like cherries. This was a great flavor point of this cigar. It reminded me a lot of the best points of another cigar, the RP Vintage 1990.

4th Quarter:
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The sweetness starts to slowly go away as it gets to this point and the spice starts to gain momentum. I also tasted a slight woody taste...I want to actually say it was cedar! However, as I got closer and closer to the nub, the spice got greater and greater. It was very peppery and it reached a point where this was pretty much the only flavor this cigar gave. This was by far the strongest point of the cigar. Where the rest of the cigar was more medium to medium/full...this part was definitely full.

Conclusion:
This is a cigar I have been meaning to try for a while now based on the reviews. I must say I am impressed, but also maybe a bit dissapointed. I'm not saying this was a bad smoke by any means. Quite the contrary, this was a very good smoke. However, I think I was expecting a little bit more. All the flavors were great, but I don't think any one particular section of this cigar was great. It was a very good consistent cigar from beginning to end which makes me say this will be a great everyday smoke. However, no one section of this cigar blew me away and made me think I was smoking an outstanding cigar. Perhaps it was the band that makes me say this, but I'll say my expectations weren't met by the experience. Saying that though, this is a good smoke, that brings changes in flavor, from sweetness to spice, that I will try again.

Grade:
Appearence: 9.2
Draw/Burn: 7.5
Taste: 8.5
Value: 8.5

Final Score: 8.6

[marge796]

Great review & thanks for your time and efforts.


:ss


Chris.....

[s15driftking]

very good review.

Note - why do you have an aluminum foil cup in the ashtray... to keep the ashtray from getting dirty with.... ash?

[kelmac07]

Very nice review with great pictures!!! What's up with the foil in your ashtray? Don't want to get it dirty?

[DoctaJ]

I put the foil in there so I can easily get the ash out of it when I dump it :D

[tuxpuff]

Great review and pics...thanks!

[m69c44]

Great review. I have a few of these with about 2 months rest on them, will have to dig them out and retry Thanks

[elderboy02]

Nice review! Try the Double Robusto. It is a very good smoke.