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Old 04-14-2018, 11:43 AM   #1
xrundog
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Oliva Master Blend Torpedo

Kinda crappy weather here today. It went from rain to sleet to snow and back to sleet. It let up about 1PM. The temp was in the thirties. Dressed properly and parked in my smoking spot in the woods it was pretty nice compared to the weather I had been enduring for the last month or so.
Keeping with the shaped cigar challenge I decided to try a "one off" cigar from my humidor. It was an Oliva Master Blend Torpedo. I've never had one and know nothing beyond what the band tells me.
The cigars measures in at about 6 x 50. The band is colorful with a wealth of information. It reads: Master Blend. Oliva Cigar Company. Limited Production 375,000 cigars. There is a half moon cutout and the bottom front where a design has been stamped on the wrapper. Does Oliva make anything other than Nicaraguans? My assumption is that's what it is.



The wrapper itself was a medium brown. It was smooth and without flaws. I cut the pointy end off and tried the draw. It was tight. I used my Perfect Draw tool and the result was a nice open draw. This thing really works!
A whiff of the foot presented a light earthy aroma. I lit the end with a match and puffed a bit. Hey, I got a nice sweet flavor right off the bat! It had a nice light cedar flavor I really like and don't get often enough in a cigar. It's Nicaraguan for sure. So I smoked away enjoying every flavorful puff. The cedar seemed to intensify and the strength increased a bit. It was like eating a meal in which everything is perfectly seasoned. The cedar never became overwhelming and it was never too strong. I'd call it a medium body cigar.
The cigar just seemed to get better all the way. The burn was relatively straight with the typical white ash. I thought the wrapper might be too delicate, but it held up just fine all the way.
This is a really fine cigar! I easily give it a 9 of 10. I enjoyed it very much.

Epilogue: A cursory search shows me the Oliva Master Blend 3. That one sports a broad leaf wrapper and Nicaraguan ligero fillers. Looks like mine was from the first offering. The wrapper didn't look like a broad leaf, but that doesn't mean it wasn't. I'd expect more strength from ligero fillers. But I smoke some pretty strong cigars so that doesn't mean much. Damn good cigar in any case!
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Old 04-14-2018, 03:49 PM   #2
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Great read! 👍🏼
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Old 04-16-2018, 08:56 AM   #3
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Hey Tim!

How have you missed these before now?

The Oliva Master Blends are great LTD release cigars. They are also fairly reasonable, price wise, for a vintage special release smoke. You did indeed have a MB Original Release. After the OR's they have numbered them II, III and IV, so far. An additionally interesting note for ya, the "stamp" below the arch is actually a laser etched symbol. That was also a first and last event, they only did that for the Original Release cigars. As you so correctly observed these are Great Cigars. You also benefited from another nice aspect of the Oliva MB's and that is, that they age wonderfully. The OR's are now rare and very desirable, the II's were a slight touch below the OR's in initial flavor. The III's are by all accounts excellent, while the IV's really benefit from a bit of nap time before consumption. I try to always keep a few in stock, but alas, that is a hard task indeed, for me.

Great Review, Sir!

Cheers!
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Old 04-17-2018, 02:33 PM   #4
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I was busy smoking pipes when these were released. I bought very few cigars for about 10 years. I'm getting back on track now.
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Old 04-24-2018, 09:02 AM   #5
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Tim,
I saw this and thought of you. There's an excellent sale on a Oliva Master Blend's at Holt's 20 assorted sizes for under $70. That's a deal and it let's you try the various sizes. It's good until tomorrow afternoon or until sold out. Good Luck!

Cheers!



https://www.holts.com/samplers/featu...ster-deal.html
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Do not Hold Your Heart's True Words, until they can only fall upon the saddened ears and broken hearts, already filled with the loudness of grief. -unk

...Quick to Judgement...Quick to Anger and Slow To Understand... -Rush (it was true then and it's still applies today.)

Remember EVERY American Soldier Past and Present.-You -Me -Everybody
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