Construction: Sam Leccia, or we should say Oliva Cigars, have a great reputation for creating high quality products at an amazing low price. Initially hearing this cigar was a “straight Ligero” I figured we were going to be looking at a very dark, rough, sun beaten wrapper. As you can see from the video this was far from the case. The Cain was firm to the touch and the wrapper was very smooth containing minimal veins.

Draw: Let’s chalk another one up for the reputation and quality of Cain Oliva. Punch the cigar, use scissors, bite it – either way you are getting the perfect draw full of thick, butt kicking, smoke.

Burn: Has anyone ever seen the thick white ash a Nub creates? If not, you might have noticed it on the Oliva V, V maduro, or the Master Blend. The Cain cigar follows suit creating the photogenic ash everyone would love to show off. A small 5×50 from Cain took about 1 full hour to smoke.

Taste: With three different type of Ligero composing 82% of this cigar would anyone expect, or even accept, anything less than a blast of spicy power?

Initially your palate will be flooded with a very full bodied cigar producing a black pepper profile. After some initial puffing you may start get a feel for the toasty and leathery notes you will encounter later. Cain is very complex on the profile despite being extremely powerful.

Continuing to be complex and interesting the black pepper blast has finally decreased enough to enhance the overall smoke. The woodsy note will be the most prominent secondary flavor assisted with a bit of earthiness. A sweetness comes through with the thick smoke and remains on the palate until your next draw.

Finishing the cigar is an absolute joy. Much to my surprise the Cain cigar is very creamy and smooth.  You will get an equal mix of black pepper, spice, wood, and earth finished off with just that right amount of sweetness. Cain is a complex smoke that any full body cigar lover will enjoy.

Final Verdict: Price range for the Cain F is about $6 per stick at your local B&M. The F, which stands for Fuerte, is used to designate this specific cigar/package as something different from the Cain line. If you find these boxes or individual sticks online you might be required to make a regular Cain purchase but that’s a good idea anyways. I am interested to see how such a Ligero filled power house cigar will age. Regardless this is a complex and wonderful smoke now and you should go out and pick up a box.

Construction: Oliva always makes cigars that have excellent construction, very minor veins, and that are packed full of tobacco – The Oliva Connecticut Reserve is no exception.  The wrapper is a nice gold-brown color that appears silky under light. You might find a little blemish (or two) on the wrapper.

Draw: Oliva Connecticut Reserve has a loose draw that requires very little effort. I would suggest using a small punch on this cigar.

Burn: Again, with Oliva in general, this cigar acted how you would expect every quality stick to act. The burn was very even and never showed any signs of tunneling. The ash was solid and white. Oliva Connecticut Reserve might burn a bit quick depending on how you cut/punch the stogie. Another credit to the Oliva team for quality control.

Taste: The Oliva Connecticut Reserve starts off with a light sweet aroma (if you are able to detect anything at all).

Oliva Connecticut Reserve starts off with a nice, yet light, peppery spice and a bit of earthiness. The creaminess of the cigar immediately introduces itself leaving you will a palate comfortable. At this point the cigar is in the mild-medium range.

The Oliva Connecticut Reserve settles down through the middle of the cigar. The spice is less dominate and the cigar turns into a medium body stick. The creaminess increases and the overall flavor can be described as toasty. You might pick up some woody notes with a slight touch of sweetness. Now this can be defined as a mild cigar.

As you finish the Oliva Connecticut Reserve the flavor profile becomes even more muted. The finish is still slightly creamy and there is no harshness to be found. It’s impressive that the end of the mild Oliva does NOT get hot or finish poorly (which can tend to happen with other “mild” cigars).

Final Verdict: The Oliva Connecticut Reserve is in the $4.xx – 5.xx price range. This is a verstile cigar that can be smoked by anyone who enjoys a full body cigar (due to the complex) or someone just getting into the cigar smoking game (because it’s mild). It would be a great cigar in the morning, after a light lunch, or even mid day as your first smoke. At the fabolous price point I can only suggest one thing: Buy a box of the Oliva Connecticut Reserve.

This story was released by Reuters. The text in the red writing is additional information  embedded by PuffingCigars.com.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Europe’s largest cigar manufacturer, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, said on Thursday it had bought two family-owned cigar factories in Central America for an undisclosed sum to expand its global footprint.

From the Scandinavian Tobacco Group website: STCG cigars are sold throughout the world, the most important brands being Café Crème, Nobel Petit, CAO, Henri Wintermans, Mercator and Colts. STCG, which is also known as Henri Wintermans Cigars, is the world’s largest cigar exporter and has sales companies in France, Belgium, UK and Canada.

The factories are in Danli, in Honduras, and Esteli, in Nicaragua, and jointly employ around 950 people producing about 17 million hand-rolled, premium cigars a year, Denmark-based Scandinavian Tobacco said in a statement.

The sellers are the Olivas and Torano families. No financial details were provided.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group is the world’s largest pipe tobacco maker and the world’s third-largest cigar producer.

Bigger is better! To keep up with my true American way of life I have to have the big things. This includes a big million dollar house, next to my big powerful red 69 Camaro, protected by my big Rottweiler, and I need to smoke a big fat cigar: Oliva V. The only problem is I do not have the house, car, dog, and well… to go with the flow I’ll ditch the big cigar too (in terms of ring gauge).

Allow me to introduce you to the Oliva V Lancero. Seven inches in length and with a ring gauge of 38 this tasty Oliva cigar brings a slightly different taste to the “V” series of cigars. The reason is simple: There is more Habano Sun Grown relative to the Jalapa Valley Ligero filler.

Construction: The wrapper is a dark brown in color with a hint of oils on the wrapper (as this should describe any full-bodied cigar).  I would say this cigar is not as firm as other Serie V in larger sizes, but at the same time this was not a “loose” cigar. It was packed just right for the size.

Draw: Many people have expressed concern when I inform them of my intentions to smoke a lancero because sometimes you may get that “dud” that just wont draw. I think this only happens on the lower quality sticks. The V has given me no problems, ever. I have complete confidence in this stick as the draw has always been perfect.

Burn: My favorite quality about the lancero, especially one constructed as well as the Oliva V, has got to be the burn factor. I always have grate luck with this cigar burning even and at just the right rate. Obviously your cigar ash will not be as large/long as the fuller sized brothers – but I don’t care.

Taste: First puffs on the Serie V brings about a nice prominent woody profile with some very enjoyable nutty tones. You will also notice that this stick packs a great spiciness that really ties everything together.

The second third of the Oliva looses much of the spice, nut, and woody profiles.  Coffee and cocoa kick in that make the middle the most enjoyable (in my opinion).  A sweeter type of spice is still in the mix with the woody/nut hints protruding every so often.  Again this happens to be my favorite part of the cigar – and lets be thankful this section is so long.

The final third of the cigar is when the body really becomes “full“. You still have the great cocoa, woody, spice – just kind of hidden.  I want to go out on a limb and say that I was getting leather flavors but I’m not sure that was the case for every cigar. Oliva V is a quality cigar that ends very well and you will have no problem nubbing the smoke all the way down.

Verdict Is: Buy this. As stated in the introduction to this cigar you have more Habano Sun Grown wrapper relative to the Jalapa Valley Ligero filler. This means that the taste is somewhat different than what you might know as the “V” taste, or cigar profile.

So give this a shot and see where it fits with you. You may think it has that same V taste or maybe you will side with me and think of it as a whole new cigar that has its appropriate time to smoke. EITHER WAY: you are going to love this cigar – just get over the “ring gauge” issue . I took the liberty of going down to my local B&M and picking up a whole box to age (just to see how the cigars change).

The Nub Habano review is finally here. The Nub cigar is a product of Sam Leccia in conjunction with Oliva Cigars. Nub was created with this theory in mind: Cigars have a sweet spot of flavor between 3.5-4 inches. Nub cigars are no longer than 4 inches so that the smoker starts at the sweet spot and ends at the sweet spot.

Frankly, I was quite skeptical of purchasing this stogie because I felt like I was purchasing half a cigar at full cigar prices. I bit my lip, walked into my local shop Stogie Cutter, pulled out my wallet, and purchased a couple of the Nub Habano 466.

Construction: The Nub Habano has a beautiful colored wrapper. The shade told me it had power, but nothing I should be afraid of. The wrapper did not have an oily sheen. Dense with tobacco the Nub was very firm and well constructed.

Draw:I was afraid the Nub would have a difficult draw due to the dense large ring gauge. I decided to punch the cigar – from light to finish the draw was perfect.

Burn: Nub produced an even burn throughout, something you come to expect with Oliva products. The ash was thick and did not fall off.

Taste: The initial puff of the Nub gave me a plethora flavors, but the most prevalent was the spice. I was also picking up some wood flavors, just enough to compliment the spice. The only downfall is that the great spice flavor of the nub dies down too quickly for me (maybe I’m just greedy?)

About 2/3 of the way in on this smoke the spice takes a back seat to what I think are some more leathery flavors. The body is also getting a little heavier; I’m not sure if its truly the flavor or the short stick getting a bit too hot.

The rest of the cigar was a joy as the spiciness picked up again. In my personal opinion, the cigar now, and perhaps even in the 2/3 area, produced a sweet taste to assist the spice.

Let me mention this now: My first Nub tasted a bit different then the second Nub. The reason? Because I realized that with such a short cigar you have to smoke this with pace or it gets super hot – really quick.

Verdict Is: I like the Nub Habano 466. From start to finish I enjoyed the taste and this cigar will be added to my collection. Another factor to wanting to add this to the smoke collection is the size of the Nub – IT’S UNIQUE. Why not have such a unique cigar in your humidor? I feel like this is a good tasting, in fact the beginning is great, it burns great, takes an hour to smoke, and its a conversation piece. At least go out and try one of these, you will not go broke at $6.

Other Cigars:
Higher Priced: Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario cigars by Arturo Fuente
Same Price: La Gloria Cubana Series R
Lower Priced: JFR Maduro by Tabacalera Tropical

The Oliva Serie G Maduro is a world class cigar that has a pricing point anyone can afford. I do not have much of an introduction to this amazing cigar. Read the review and follow my advice at the end.

Construction: Dark, oily, and looks like silk. Oliva G has got to have one of the best wrappers for the price of this cigar. I happened to smoke the torpedo during the photo session (actually remembered my phone) but every cigar in the line feels and looks absolutely wonderful. The lines on the wrapper were clean and the maduro cigar felt firm, but not too tight. There were no wrapper issues during smoking.

Draw: By the feel of the cigar I thought the G would have a slightly rough draw. I was wrong. Sorry for the doubt Oliva; this produced a perfect draw.

Burn: Perfectly even throughout the entire cigar, nice white ash that stays on, and it didn’t get too hot. Can I say anything else?

Taste: Oliva G Maduro gives you the full maduro taste without being overpowering, even for people who are not used to smoking maduros. From start to finish the G is just super creamy and leaves your pallet wanting more. Throughout the smoke you get a hint of coffee and dark chocolate. The spice from the Nicaraguan filler was introduced in the beginning of the cigar but seemed to fade out as I continued to smoke. Around the mid point of the cigar I would say the G really graduates to the big boy club. Everything that I thought was fantastic – turned GREAT.

Verdict Is: GET THIS CIGAR NOW. Add some to your humidor if you don’t have any already. This is the kind of cigar that you purchase by the box. If you must try it out first, which is understandable, you will also notice that this stick retails for about $4.00.

Again, if you are new to cigars, new to maduros, or afraid to try it because of the wrapper – don’t be. This is a great cigar that everyone will love.

Other Cigars:
Higher Priced: Casa Fuente by Arturo Fuente
Same Price: I would also consider the JFR Maduro by Tabacalera Tropical.
Lower Priced: Yet to be discovered.