The KC/DW Review Series

[King Catfish]

This cigar received 5 out of 5 stars from the European Cigar Cult Journal (the leading authority on cigars in Europe) in 2001. A little research indicates that it is distinguished by it's large ring guage and painstaking blend of 5 different filler tobaccos from the Jalapa, Condega and Esteli regions of Nicaragua. The wrapper is a lustrous Nicaraguan sun-grown Rasado. Personally I wouldn't know if it were 5 different tobaccos or just 1, but I do know that it is probably the most flavorful and robust cigar that I have smoked to date. It is definately full-bodied and really packs a punch. I am somewhat frugal in some ways, one being that I nearly always smoke a cigar till the very end as I did this one. Around the last 2 inches I was not sure if I could handle it. Although frugal, I don't relish passing out from a nicotine overdose.

I cut this one with my new V-cutter and took a dry draw which was perfect. I really like the V-cutter and now use it on everything except of course figuardo type sticks. Toasting took some time but is always worth the extra effort. Finally, with a good ember I took a draw and new in an instant that I had a special cigar. Thick, creamy smoke and so full of intensly rich and complex flavors and yet no harshness or bitterness. I know that a large ring guage like this 62 will attribute to some of this but oh what a pleasure.

I'll skip the next 45 minutes because I don't remember them. I think I was strolling through a tobacco field somewhere in Nicaragua (I haven't been there so I didn't recognize the place). My point is, I just kicked back and really got into this cigar. It burned perfectly and the intensity of the flavors didn't stack up like many full-bodied cigars I've had.

Toward the very end it did seem a little stronger but I'm sure is was simply the quantity and not the quality that started to kick my butt. This big boy deserves a Rib Eye, fully dressed baked potato and a glass or two of Merlot before settling in for full enjoyment. I had it with a couple beers (Sapporo) which could account for part of my dizzyness but they really did work well together.

A couple of vendor (customer) ratings put this cigar at 9.4. For those who really like a stick this big I can believe that is so. But here, I am doing the rating and don't normally smoke a half pound of tobacco at one sitting. So I am basing my rating on flavor and taste alone, not on value, size or other flambouyant visual characteristics. So here goes.

On a scale of 1-10 I rate this cigar 9.4.

Nice review, Deedubya. Thanks for sending me one of these; I will review it also and compare notes.

I noticed your reviews are evolving, showing more and more subtlety and depth. Do you notice this also? I find this exercise in writing reviews has certainly increased my sensitivity to the nuances of a good smoke. (And, I cracked up over the image of your strolling through the tobacco fields!)

[King Catfish]

Today I reviewed another gift from Deedubya, the Oliva Serie V Liga Especial Double Robusto (Natural). A little research told me that the Serie V Liga Especiale is a Nicaraguan Puro, carrying Jalapa Valley Ligero longfiller under a Nicaraguan binder, garbed in Nicaraguan Habano Sun Grown wrapper. So far, the Habano has been consistently my favorite variety of wrapper, so I was really excited about this cigar.



It was a stout robusto (5 x 54), almost a short toro in shape, clothed in a dark brown, slightly veiny wrapper with a smooth, oily texture and solid feel. The band is the classy chocolate, red and gold typical of this series. The cigar’s presentation is one of class and seriousness, a true work of tabacconists’ art. (I thought I could see the tiniest bit of plume here and there on the wrapper, and if I am right, I would guess that this cigar lived in good conditions for quite a while before sent to me.) I had allowed it to rest in my humidor for three or four weeks after its trip. To accompany this stick I poured myself a tumbler of Scotch over ice (after a bacon and turkey hoagie) and prepared to enjoy.

Prelight aroma was light and cedary, which was not what I was expecting from a cigar with this appearance. The cut was uneventful, and the prelight draw was perfect. I proceeded to toast the foot, and I was greeted with a faint dusky, cedary aroma. The first few puffs made a good showing in smoke volume and tasted woody and earthy. It had that sort of taste that suggested it was going to get rather assertive before the end. The first bit of ash was so white it was almost silvery. The burn line was razor-thin and somewhat uneven (probably my inexpert lighting technique). The wrapper left a faint earthy taste on the lips.

By the time the first third got going, the burn line had evened itself out, as if it was far too classy to permit itself to be uneven. Early in the first third this cigar was showing a really nice development in each draw. The cedar taste remained in the “front” of the taste; the flavor moved through earthiness as the smoke was held in the mouth, giving way to the aforementioned leather in the finish and on into the aftertaste. This taste of leather became respectably assertive rather quickly, and was “moving forward” into each draw. The ash became a very light whitish gray with a dusting of beige here and there; this beige is something I had never seen before in a cigar ash.



For so assertive a flavor and obviously full body, the smoke was not brash or aggressive either in the throat or on the tongue. By the time the second third got started the lovely leathery, earthy taste had become dominant, with the cedar receding into a smaller role, just a “Hello!” at the beginning of each draw. There was a bit of coffee beginning to emerge, perhaps a café mocha. In the middle of the cigar the smoke volume had become truly huge, and the ash had not yet fallen off, despite having reached more than two inches in length, the longest ash I have seen in this review series. It finally fell off and landed on its end, nearly three inches long, remaining standing there as if too proud to fall over. The cigar had been lit for 50 minutes at this point.



As the final third was beginning, the leather taste had become completely dominant, and some of the more subtle flavors had diminished (coffee, mocha) or disappeared altogether (cedar). (At this point, my wife took a puff and pronounced it “smooth”.)

The final third surprised me a bit… I had given the cigar a couple of minutes to recover its composure, and the flavors that had begun to wither under the push of leather had returned, and brought a friend, chocolate. The chocolate was shy, and kept to the corners, but was undeniably present. This was not to be the last friend brought to this soiree; I found it hard to believe, but a taste of cola, of all things, was lurking in the last third as well. I have never tasted this in any other cigar. (If anyone else regularly smokes these, please let me know if you have tasted this too.) Some earthiness reasserted itself at the nub, also. Oh, and I most certainly smoked it to the very nub, which took an hour and a half.



By the time I had reached the end of this lovely journey I was buzzing from the nicotine, which is unusual for a fiend such as I am.

Score: 19.4 (x5) = 97. The cigar was so complex, harmonious, and well-presented (especially in the middle) that I could not add or subtract points for any particular facet of its personality; it was a classic cigar experience irreducible into component parts. Similar to my experience with the Special G, also from Oliva, I was forced to look for things not to like about this stick (and failed).

The Olive Serie V Liga Especial is a great, great cigar, well worth the going retail price of approximately 6 dollars, and astoundingly complex and complete for a puro-style smoke. An experience worth one’s full devotion, I suggest smoking it with one’s favorite drink and perhaps some mild finger foods (cheese, crackers, grapes, whatever) some afternoon or evening when one has time to pay it the attention it deserves. (Take your time with it!) For me, it was an afternoon of instrumental jazz and a glass of Scotch in my sunny, breezy dining room.

This cigar has some strength, so smoke it on a comfortably full stomach. This smoke also would go really well after a solid dinner of, well, just about anything stronger than salad greens. I suggest, for a nice twist, grilled fish sprinkled with lemon and grilled tomatoes or corn on the cob. That’s what I am going to have next time I have one of these cigars… and there will be a next time.

Thanks to Deedubya for a very relaxing afternoon.