Upon tracking down every different Oliva Serie V ever released, I stumbled across the fact that there was one or two releases I had no idea existed. One of them was the Oliva Serie V Corona Gorda, create specifically for BURN by Rocky Patel in Naples, Fla.

BURN is both the name of a cigar, but also the Naples cigar bar that Patel and co. opened and 2010. Shortly thereafter, the store receive the Illusione Burn, an exclusive line of four cigars. At the time, the store claimed that there would be nine exclusives from other companies, none of which have ever come to fruition. In addition, Oliva wasn’t mentioned as one of the nine manufacturers.

Oliva’s BURN Exclusive was released in late 2013 around the same time that the Oliva Serie V Tampa Humidor 10th Anniversary shipped. No one we spoke to at Oliva nor BURN managed to recall when it exactly that was or how many were shipped, but the details we can confirm are as follows: it’s a 6 x 44 cigar sold in 12-count boxes at around $10 per piece.

Oliva Serie V Corona Gorda Box 1

Oliva Serie V Corona Gorda Box 2

It’s one of 37 different Oliva Serie V-banded products that have been released in some shape or fashion.

Oliva Serie V Collection

  • Oliva Serie V Belicoso (5 x 54) — 2007 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Churchill Extra (7 x 52) — 2007 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Double Robusto (5 x 54) — 2007 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Double Toro (6 x 60) — 2007 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Special V Figurado (6 x 60) — 2007 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Lancero (7 x 38) — 2007 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Torpedo (6 x 56) — 2007 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Culebra (7 x 38) — 2007 — 200 Coffins of 1 Culebra[ref]The Serie V Culebra was given out at select launch events in 2007 and again at the 2011 Puro Sabor festival.[/ref]
  • Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2008 (6 1/2 x 52) — October 2008 — 5,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2009 (6 1/2 x 52) — October 2009 — 5,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V Diadema (7 x 49)  — October 2009 — Limited Edition[ref]Part of the 2009 Serie V Sampler.[/ref]
  • Oliva Serie V Diadema (6 x 46)  — October 2009 — Limited Edition[ref]Part of the 2009 Serie V Sampler.[/ref]
  • Oliva Serie V Edición Europa 2010 (4 1/2 x 50) — September 2010 — 1,500 Boxes of 10 (15,000 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V Maduro Den Bosch (7 x 48) — September 2010 — 50 Boxes of 10 Cigars (500 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2010 (6 x 54) — October 2010 — 5,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V No. 4 (5 x 43) — February 2011 — Limited Production[ref]The Serie V No. 4 was first released at event, then sold to retailers of the Tobacconist Association America and others.[/ref]
  • Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2011 (6 x 50) — November 2011 — 5,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V Melanio Petit Corona (4 1/2 x 46) — August 2012 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Melanio Robusto (5 x 52) — August 2012 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Melanio Torpedo (6 1/2 x 52) — August 2012 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado (6 x 52) — August 2012 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Melanio Churchill (7 x 50) — August 2012 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2012 (6 x 50) — December 2012 — 5,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V Diadema (9 x 52) — November 2012 — 400 Boxes of 10 Cigars (4,000 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V NUb 460 (4 x 60) — December 2012 — 1,000 Samplers of 1 Cigar
  • Oliva Serie V Maduro Diadema (6 x 49) — December 2012 — 1,000 Samplers of 1 Cigar
  • Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro Torpedo (6 1/2 x 52) — July 2013 — 10,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (100,000 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V Corona Gorda (6 x 44) — October 2013 — n/a
  • Oliva Serie V Tampa Humidor 10th Anniversary (6 x 54) — October 2013 — 200 Boxes of 12 (2,400 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2013 (5 x 54) — November 2013 — 8,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (80,000 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V Melanio Double Toro (6 x 60) — November 2013 — Regular Production[ref]The Melanio Double Toro debuted in Europe as a limited edition in November 2013 before becoming a regular production item in the U.S. in early 2014.[/ref]
  • Oliva Serie V Melanio DeSocio Toro Extra (6 1/2 x 54) — December 2013 — 500 Boxes of 10 (5,000 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V Melanio Robusto Extra (5 1/2 x 50) — January 2014 — 200 Cigars (Nicaraguan Cigar Festival 2014)
  • Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro Churchill (7 x 50) — April 2014 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro Robusto (5 x 52) — April 2014 — Regular Production
  • Oliva Serie V 560 (5 x 60) — September 2014 — 500 Boxes of 24 Cigars (12,000 Total Cigars)
  • Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2014 (6 x 60) — October 2014 — n/a

Oliva Serie V Corona Gorda 1

  • Cigar Reviewed: Oliva Serie V Corona Gorda
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: Tabacalera Oliva de Nicaragua S.A.
  • Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Sun Grown
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaraguan Jalapa Valley Ligero
  • Size: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 44
  • Vitola: Corona Gorda
  • MSRP: $10 (Boxes of 12, $120)
  • Release Date: October 2013
  • Number of Cigars Released: n/a
  • Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 3

The first thing you notice is the foot band. While there was definitely some attempt at making it work, it doesn’t fit in my opinion. Upon slightly closer inspection, the wrapper looks a shade or two darker than I usually find Oliva Serie Vs, albeit not dark enough to be a Serie V Maduro. Aroma out of the cellophane is very sweet with lots of leather. From the foot, it’s hard to recognize this as a Serie V with lots of mahogany and some meatiness. It doesn’t get any more familiar on the cold draw: lots of damp earth, almost like a pile of wet leaves, cherry sweetness and some mild leather notes.

Each time, the draw tightens up on the Oliva Serie V Corona Gorda just after lighting. Flavor-wise there’s a nutty and grassy core with some sweet leather and both black and bell pepper around it. It’s not what I normally find in Serie Vs, although the dose of nicotine is present from the beginning. Things don’t change much, the wet leaves and earthiness remain, although the Oliva Serie V Corona Gorda is getting sweeter. On all three samples, the burn was not great requiring quicker than average puff rates and lots of attention, although it remained fairly even.

Oliva Serie V Corona Gorda 3

The sweetness continues to increase its presence, but it’s still not the chocolate and spicy core I find with many other Serie Vs. There’s still leather and wet leaves, although they’ve positioned themselves differently from the first third. Two of the samples I smoke have trouble staying lit despite my best efforts. Even dryboxing doesn’t seem to help, but that’s not my largest annoyance with the burn—it’s just slow, very slow. Midway through strength reaches full levels, but the body is still right around medium.

Oliva Serie V Corona Gorda 2

A heavy dose of generic sweetness coats the palate as the two-inch mark, breathing a lot of life into the Serie V Corona Gorda. While the earthiness sticks around, the wet leaves are gone and coffee has been added into the fray. Burn continues to be a problem on all three samples, slow and not wanting to stay lit. Nicotine levels trail off to the medium mark and at the one-inch mark I’ve decided I’ve had enough.

Oliva Serie V Corona Gorda 4

Final Notes

  • In addition to the unfulfilled plans for nine different store exclusives, there have also been a plethora of cities mentioned as having the next BURN by Rocky Patel. None of those seem particularly close to becoming reality.
  • All three cigars I smoked for the review, and fourth I smoked just for fun, exhibited issues with staying lit and burning at a reasonable pace. The cigars were in our humidor for a few months, so I’m not exactly sure why that’s the case.
  • File this under: great size, great line, not so great cigar.
  • We paid for the cigars for this review, but were then refunded our order and sent cigars by BURN.
  • Strength was fairly full, particularly in the middle of the cigar, even if it did end quite medium.
  • While we were able to place an order by phone and BURN eventually did ship the cigars, I gather they aren’t used to doing mail order business on a regular basis. That being said, if you want to try you can reach BURN by Rocky Patel at 239.653.9013.
79 Overall Score

As I said last week, the Serie V is one of those special lines for me. At this point, I’ve somehow had almost all of the Serie Vs released, particularly from the original line, and not all of them are cigars I’d smoke again. I love lanceros, I like Serie Vs, but the Serie V Lancero rarely has done anything for me and for a while remained my least favorite size in the line, until now at least. This is the one Serie V that I have zero desire to smoke again. Perhaps a month of dryboxing would resolve the burn issues, but probably not. I’m okay accepting this just wasn’t very good, not everything can be a home run.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.