Oliva Serie V Maduro Lancero (Preproduction)

As I said in my first review, while chatting with Ian Hummel and Bryan Scholle of Oliva/Studio Tobac fame at the IPCPR Show in Las Vegas earlier in the year, it came to light that Schools, who rolls cigars at STUDIO TOBAC events, rolls quite a few different combinations of blends for attendees of said events.

Ian sent me a few of those blends, including:

• Studio Tobac CC-001
• Oliva Serie V Maduro No.4
• Oliva Serie V Maduro Lancero
• Oliva Connecticut Reserva Lonsdale F
• Cain Daytona 646 Maduro

As part of my research, I asked Hummel about the possibly of any of these specific blends being released, and he said:

No plans at this time. Just myself and Bryan having some fun and playing around with different ideas we had during events.

The third blend we are reviewing is the Oliva V Maduro Lancero. The basic idea was to take a regular Oliva Serie V Lancero, keep the same filler and Binder, but replace the normal Habano Sun Grown wrapper with a San Andrés Maduro Wrapper.

Here is a photo comparing the Oliva V Lancero (Bottom) with the Studio Tobac V Lancero Maduro (top):

• Cigar Reviewed: Oliva Seie V Maduro Lancero
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Tabacalera Oliva de Nicaragua S.A.
• Wrapper: San Andrés Maduro
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Jalapa Valley Ligero
• Size: 6 7/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 38
• Vitola: Lancero
• Est. Price: N/A
• Date Released: Unreleased
• Number of Cigars Released: N/A
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 1

The cigar itself has a very dark brown wrapper that is very rough to the touch, and has almost no oil at all. It is also quite hard when squeezed, much denser than a Regular Serie V Lancero. The wrapper smells of barnyard, dark chocolate and leather. It is also about a eight of an inch shorter than the Oliva Serie V Lancero and is bent just a little towards the foot of the cigar.

The first third starts of strong, with strong notes of gritty earth, dark chocolate, leather and black pepper. There is almost not spice at all at during the whole first third, but the pepper on the retrohale more then makes up for it. The draw is just a bit tight, but not enough to be anything except mildly annoying.

The second third continues the trend of rich, gritty flavors, with dark earth, dark chocolate and slightly bitter espresso flavors the main players. There is still quite a bit of pepper on the retrohale, but almost no spice on the tongue or lips.

The final third is much the same, with very little change in the core profile flavors. However, I did notice just a bit of sweetness trying to break through, although it was never strong enough to be a major factor in the profile, it was there. The pepper from the first two thirds decreased towards the end, but the cigar never got hot, and I was easily able to nub it.

Final Notes

• This is a totally different animal from the regular Oliva Serie V Lancero and a perfect example of how nothing more then a different wrapper can change cigar’s profile so completely. Where the regular Oliva Serie V Lancero has a lighter profile, creamy and nutty, the Maduro version has a very dark profile, peppery and rich.
• The San Andrés Wrapper used on this cigar is the same wrapper used for the, Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2011 and the Oliva Serie V Maduro No.4.
• I would LOVE to try out this blend with a Sumatra wrapper (say, the same wrapper that was on the CC-001) instead of a Maduro. I honestly think the Sumatra wrapper would compliment the blend quite a bit better.
• The ash on the Serie V Maduro Lancero was a very light gray, almost white.
• The burn was fine, albeit a bit wavy, but the draw was just a bit tighter then I like. Not bad enough to have a negative effect on the flavors, but enough to notice.
• The final smoking time was one hour and 25 minutes.

Brooks Whittington

I have worn many hats in my life up to this point: I started out as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, then transitioned to photographing weddings—both internationally and in the U.S.—for more than a decade. After realizing that there was a need for a cigar website containing better photographs and more in-depth information about each release, I founded my first cigar blog, SmokingStogie, in 2008. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars, and it was one of the predecessors to halfwheel, which I co-founded.