Oliva Serie V Melanio Edición Año 2024 Debuts at PCA 2024, Accompanied by Music from Paul Montag (Update)

Oliva has unveiled its newest Serie V Melanio Edición Año, showing it off at the 2024 PCA Convention & Trade Show which kicked off Saturday at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The cigar is a 5 1/2 x 60 vitola and uses the same components as the regular production Serie V Melanio line. That means an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper covering a Nicaraguan binder and filler. Production is limited to 10,000 boxes of 10 cigars for the U.S., and 5,000 boxes of 10 cigars for the international market, a total production of 150,000 cigars. The cigars are scheduled to ship in Fall 2024, and in the U.S., will be priced at $200 per box and $20 per cigar.

The cigar is accompanied by a 45-minute piece of music by the French musician Paul Montag. On Dec. 1, 2023, Montag sat down at his piano and lit up an Oliva Serie V Melanio Gran Toro; what resulted is described in a press release as “a 45-minute burst of creative mania—unique musical notes guided by exclusive taste notes of a long-lasting, dazzling cigar.” To access the music, consumers simply scan a QR code inside the box.

The idea for Montag to undertake the venture arose out of a conversation he had with Fred Vandermarliere, ceo of Vandermarliere Cigar Family, that started about the introspective power of both classical music and cigars.

“Music goes to the very depth of a person’s soul, and cigars enable us to achieve a sense of plenitude through a form of introspection,” Montag said in a press release. “It’s a unique experience that all aficionados will now be able to enjoy. Hence the title, which also winks at Fred’s company slogan: don’t smoke, but enjoy.”

“I think it’s a marvelous idea, and what hit me the most was that Paul, in his own way, was looking for a way to achieve what we also try to with every hand-crafted Oliva cigar: a medium to a state of mind in which introspection and enjoyment come together and shape a very intense, pure experience,” said Vandermarliere in a press release.

This is the third year that Oliva has released a Serie V Melanio Edición Año, though the company has been releasing an Edición Limitada in the Serie V Melanio line since 2017, changing the name to Edición Año in 2022.

Update (March 24, 2024) — The company confirmed pricing and an estimated shipping date, which have been added to this story.

Images courtesy of Oliva Cigar Co.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.