My Weekend Cigar: Oliva Serie G Maduro Perfecto

By Gary Korb

Having been sick almost all of last week, I was looking forward to this past weekend for two reasons. First, I was able to smoke a cigar again. Secondly, I was excited about being able to light my new outdoor fireplace. Nothing fancy. Just a small, square, cast-iron base enclosed by four mesh screens. Since the weather here has dipped considerably during the past week, my timing was perfect. I stacked up a few small logs on some kindling and voila! - a warm, happy little fire ensued.

As is often the case, I was joined by my good neighbor, Richard from up the street. Today he was treating me to a cigar. He had won a 5 pack of Oliva Serie G Maduro Perfectos on CigarAuctioneer.com two weeks ago and brought one along. I'm a big fan of the Oliva Serie G Cameroon. I've only had a few Serie G in the Maduro, so it was a nice change of pace. Ironically, Richard brought a G Cameroon in the 4½" x 50 Robusto for himself.

The Oliva Serie G Maduro Perfecto is a 5½" x 54 square-pressed cigar that sort of resembles a chocolate kazoo. Yes, definitely one of the more interesting cigar shapes out there. The color was completely even in tone. The cigar was also well-packed, and the foot, which is a bit wider than most typical perfectos, lit evenly and burned true for the entire journey.

This is not a particularly complex cigar. The smoke was smooth, medium in body, and predominately woody in flavor with a clean finish. The natural sweetness of the maduro comes through from the get-go, too. As the cigar burned toward its plump, rectangular center it took on an earthier and spicier flavor, while maintaining a smooth, rich-tasting smoke. Finding it to be extremely consistent in flavor, and impressively resilient to the nippy afternoon wind, I smoked it down to about an inch.

By the time I let go of the cigar, my fireplace had waned to a little pile of crimson and gray matter for a perfectly-timed ending to an enjoyable late-day smoke.