Bad experience with an Oliva Serie G Maduro

Hi everyone. I'm relatively new to cigars and stumbled onto this site while doing some internet searching. It looks like a great community and I'm looking forward to hanging out here.

Lately I've just been trying out a wide variety of cigars to figure out what I like. I recently picked up an Oliva Serie G Maduro at the suggestion of a friend. I've gotta say I was pretty disappointed. The experience I had was much different from what my friend described, and from the reviews I've read online.

The first inch or so tasted terrible. Very spicy, very harsh, and tasted like butt... Like I had taken 4 or 5 stale cigarette butts out of an ashtray and rolled them up in a maduro leaf. :smiley11:

Then, after the first inch or so, it started getting a lot better. It was very smooth and creamy, with a great flavor, just like others have described. The farther down I smoked it the better it got. By about the halfway point I was really loving it... and then it went out on me. One minute it was blazing away and putting off a ton of smoke. Then, less than a minute later I tried to take a puff and it was completely out. Nothing. I re-lit and continued to smoke. It tasted bad again for a little while, then started getting better again.. then went out again about 3/4 of the way through. At that point I just put it down.

When it was burning it kept burning unevenly and getting runners. It didn't hold much ash, maybe an inch or so at a time at the most, and the ash cap was very split and uneven. I'm not sure if I got a bad one or if I'm just used to smoking Ashtons which always burn perfectly no matter what you do. Maybe I just need more experience to learn how to keep a "normal" cigar burning evenly.

What do you guys think? Was it over or under humidified? Did some Nicaraguan prankster dump his ashtray out in the middle of my stick before he rolled it up? I really enjoyed the brief glimpses I got of what it was supposed to taste like, so will probably try one again at some point, but I'm hesitant to if they're often bad like that.

Welcome

Honestly I have not had too many Oliva duds. Occasionally one will run a bit or not taste perfect. My guess is that you left it out of a humidor too long before you smoked it. Hence the runs because the outside dryer tobacco (wrapper/binder) burn faster and leave the filler behind.
Puff, Puff, Puff. The only cigars that won't go out without constant puffing are machine rolled and dry. Take short puffs more often rather than long drags that tend to get it too hot and also contribute to runs. Learn the art of puffing just enough to keep it lit. It will stay cooler, produce more creamy smoke and taste much better.
Choose a beverage that enhances the cigar. There are 1000 different opinions. Personally, I like to swish a shot of aged Tequila, no lemon or salt. This wakes up my taste buds and cleanses the palate.

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Originally Posted by Ack

Hi everyone. I'm relatively new to cigars and stumbled onto this site while doing some internet searching. It looks like a great community and I'm looking forward to hanging out here.

Lately I've just been trying out a wide variety of cigars to figure out what I like. I recently picked up an Oliva Serie G Maduro at the suggestion of a friend. I've gotta say I was pretty disappointed. The experience I had was much different from what my friend described, and from the reviews I've read online.

The first inch or so tasted terrible. Very spicy, very harsh, and tasted like butt... Like I had taken 4 or 5 stale cigarette butts out of an ashtray and rolled them up in a maduro leaf. :smiley11:

Then, after the first inch or so, it started getting a lot better. It was very smooth and creamy, with a great flavor, just like others have described. The farther down I smoked it the better it got. By about the halfway point I was really loving it... and then it went out on me. One minute it was blazing away and putting off a ton of smoke. Then, less than a minute later I tried to take a puff and it was completely out. Nothing. I re-lit and continued to smoke. It tasted bad again for a little while, then started getting better again.. then went out again about 3/4 of the way through. At that point I just put it down.

When it was burning it kept burning unevenly and getting runners. It didn't hold much ash, maybe an inch or so at a time at the most, and the ash cap was very split and uneven. I'm not sure if I got a bad one or if I'm just used to smoking Ashtons which always burn perfectly no matter what you do. Maybe I just need more experience to learn how to keep a "normal" cigar burning evenly.

What do you guys think? Was it over or under humidified? Did some Nicaraguan prankster dump his ashtray out in the middle of my stick before he rolled it up? I really enjoyed the brief glimpses I got of what it was supposed to taste like, so will probably try one again at some point, but I'm hesitant to if they're often bad like that.

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Welcome to the board from Kansas.

Burn problems may have been caused by rh problems.....how long had you had the cigar? What rh was it kept at?

After it went out, you need to purge when relighting......exhale out through the cigar to remove stale smoke. Search around, you'll find plenty of discussion on here about that.

I bought it from a local B&M shop. Their humidor "felt" humid when I walked in, but I didn't see an RH reading anywhere. I kept it in a ziplock cigar bag (but not humidified) for around 48 hours before smoking it. Could it have dried out that quickly? They told me it should keep for almost a week in the ziplock bag.

Thanks for the tips on purging and tequila. I'll be sure to put both of them to use!

The initial harshness almost sounds like a lighting problem from my limited experience... You may try reading a bit about how to light a cigar; I know it took me quite a number of tries before my first puff wasn't harsh.

Personal question about lighting (seems pertinent to the thread) When I was reading about lighting some people said that it was okay to have one exhale before you start smoking; but they were very adamant that there should only ever be one exhale unless you're purging the cigar. Why is this?

Also, is there a particular way to hold the cigar when purging? I know that you exhale through the cigar until the flame gets back to a nice yellow/blue mix, but how close should the flame be?

I would also recommend an Oliva Serie G Figurado to try something from Oliva; I've heard they're great for newer smokers, and you can really taste the difference as the cigar burns, and they only run about 5$ for a single from a B&M.

Welcome from BC.
Give the G's another chance they are one of my favs. Special G is on top of that list.

This is a great go to stick when you need a quick and cheap smoke.

I've probably run into a similar problem with a few Series G Maduros i've smoked, but the overall quality and value, its always easy for me to grab this stick and a local B&M.

Paul

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Originally Posted by ironmeden

This is a great go to stick when you need a quick and cheap smoke.

I've probably run into a similar problem with a few Series G Maduros i've smoked, but the overall quality and value, its always easy for me to grab this stick and a local B&M.

Paul

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Have to say I agree. BTW, Welcome to the board from Kansas.