Quick Review: Oliva Series “O” Maduro Torpedo

This had always been one of my hidden gem cigars and I was sorely disappointed when they where discontinued/renamed. i found these recently aging in a store found in my travels. I had been dying to try one again.
Dark and chocolatey it was everything I remembered and more. Aging has been kind to this cigar. I wish I could fine more!

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Nub Cameroon 466 BPT (JUN 08)

:  4″ x 66

Vitola: Torpedo

Wrapper:  Cameroon

Origin: Nicaragua

The Nub is another new and very popular cigar made by Oliva, and is available at  Capital City Cigars.  It is available in Cameroon, Connecticut Shade, and Habano wrappers.

The 466 BPT is the only box-pressed cigar in the line.  I chose this torpedo because i really don’t like big ring gauge cigars and the torpedo helps accommodate that with the tapered head.  The wrapper is attractive, a golden brown leaf with a satiny feel and a little tooth.

First off, I understand this cigar is supposed to be short but because of the length and the big ring gauge i almost set my face on fire trying to get it lit.

The cigar starts off nice and spicy, a little pepper on the tongue that mellows out soon after lighting. 

Almost right off the bat, I found this to be a really hot smoke, and I don’t mean pepper.  I found this cigar burns way too hot for me, and this is directly related to the large ring gauge and short length.

The flavors present was wood and toast with some spice in the background.  This was consistent throughout the smoke, which is also another drawback as a short cigar makes it nearly impossible to blend in complexity.

The burn was also slightly uneven, and when the “sweet spot” was attained, there were notes of coffee and chocolate and some bitterness.

I found this hard to score as i did with the first Nub I reviewed, because if i scored this as i would a normal cigar it wouldn’t fair well.  But the Nub does not claim to be a normal cigar.  So with that in mind, I’ll just give it a…

Rating: 85 (B)

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Nub Connecticut 464T (2008)

Size:  4″ x 64

Vitola:  Torpedo

Wrapper: Connecticut Shade

Origin: Nicaragua

Since I’m on such a roll on smoking all of the hot new cigars, I might as well grab another one.  The Nub.  No kidding!  4” by 64 ring gauge.  That’s exactly 1” in diameter for all you math types.

The Nub is a new concept cigar, the brainchild of Oliva Cigar Company and Sam Leccia, friend to my buddy Hal Rubin of Capital City Cigars (have I mentioned this place before?).  The idea is to capture the “sweet spot of the cigar” (read more here), which is commonly the lower half, when the tobaccos heat up and produce tar which delivers a richer licorice and chocolate flavor.  I’m skeptical, so we’ll see.

The cigar took a minute to light, because it’s so damn wide, but once I got it started, we were under way.

The initial flavors are woody with a little spice.  The aroma was almost overpowering.  They must have thrown a lot of ligero in the front (ligero often gives off a strong pungent aroma).

After the first ¼” it settled down, but no real Connecticut creaminess or woodiness yet to be found.  I’m okay with that as they are trying to something different with a cigar.

Well, sure enough a half inch into the cigar, the “sweet spot” appeared!  To me it is a function of the large ring gauge and therefore high combustion to surface area ratio, which would accelerate the production of tar, but regardless, the “sweet spot” was there.  So the Nub delivered! 

Now, my one complaint about the cigar is that it gets hot.  This is a cigar that needs to be “sipped”.  No power herfing here (as long as you don’t want your lips ignited)!  In fact, I would recommend, like the ad, shows, to keep the ash on as long as possible as it helps limit the oxygen to the smoldering part, thereby keeping the burn a little cooler.

In summation, flavor wise, nonstandard to Connecticut Shade cigars, but still enjoyable as long as you take your time with it.  Enjoy!

Rating: 87 (B)

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