Oliva Series V: Good, but Not "Very" Good

Review of Oliva Series V robusto:

I was all excited because a friend of mine gave me an Oliva Series V, which has gotten some attention because a particular size in the series, the torpedo, recently won a 94 rating in Cigar Aficionado.

94... Wow! Hardly any non-Cuban cigar ever gets a 94 from the lucky aesthetes at Cigar Aficionado. So I scurried down to my local cigar shop, bursting with anticipation to try the robusto. If one size gets a 94, my thinking went, the other surely would rate high as well.

Not quite. The Oliva Series V robusto was GOOD, but not VERY good. It burned well, drew fine, blasted out amazing amounts of heavy smoke, and tasted... well... adequate. Heavy flavor mostly smacking of pepper. Not a lot of nuance, no notes of this or hints of that. Not creamy, not tangy, not spicy, just a big fat peppery cigar.

So, due to lack of interesting flavor characteristics, I would not give the series V robusto anything near a 94 rating. The cigar went out on me about halfway through, and I didn't fire it back up. I'd had enough, it was time to move on to something else. Life is too short for a cigar that doesn't taste interesting. Maybe the torpedo is a completely different story, but I'm not sure if I want to lay out 9 bucks to find out.

My favorite Oliva is still the Oliva Series G Cameroon robusto. Loads of flavor, hints of tart sweetness, brawn and oomph. Sometimes it pays to stick with what you already know.