Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive is medium brown with a lighter shade surrounding the lightly raised veins. The seams are smooth and the tapered head is well finished. There are two bands, both in a brown, gold, red and cream color combination. The primary band is the traditional design for this long standing line while the secondary band carries the TAA logo and line name. The aroma from the wrapper is a mellow mix of wood and earth while the foot brings Panettone, the Italian sweet bread, and cedar. The pre-light draw brings more Panettone and some cedar.
Seth: The Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive is a beautiful looking cigar. The extra inch from the standard torpedo really thins out the cigar and makes it look incredible. The wrapper has a nice Colorado coloring, and there are some faded and reddish brown throughout. There are few veins, but those present are medium in size. The cigar is firm in hand with a great tapered head. Aromas of leather, coffee, spices and barnyard.
John: The Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive came in cellophane and had a UPC sticker with the cigar information which tore when the cellophane was opened. There is a primary Oliva V band along with a secondary TAA band. I weighed the cigar at 19.5 grams and measured the humidity to 62.4% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included tobacco, aged wood and bread. From the foot, a mild combination of sweet hay, wood and tobacco.
Jiunn: The Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive has a beautiful copper bronze like Colorado red wrapper shade. The wrapper quality is great, giving ample natural oils. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the torpedo head is nice and pointy. Pre-light aromas give intense wet barnyard, cedar and nuts.

Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with a mellow mix of aged, toasted cedar, earth and very mild black pepper. At three quarters of an inch in, the toasted cedar becomes a bit fuller. The retrohale is a fuller mix of toasted cedar, earth and black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, some mustiness joins the profile. At an inch and three quarters, the earth increases a bit. As the third comes to a close, the aged, toasted cedar is up front, with the earth just ahead of the middle of the profile with black pepper just behind the middle and some mustiness in the background. The strength was mild-medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with those classic Oliva Serie V flavors. Leather, tobacco, rich earth and coffee with sweet spice. There is some pepper as well, and a finish of more earth. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: My opening flavor impression is coffee, cream, faint spices, wood and tobacco. Wood and spices group up on the finish and have a delayed creaminess through the post draw. The spices move up to medium strength on the center of the retrohale. Some mild hay joins the finish as the first third settles in. A while later, chocolate is detectable on the retrohale. Through the bottom half, some mild tannins join the woody finish.
Jiunn: This is the Oliva V that I know. Whole black and red peppercorns, citrus zest, black coffee and natural sweet nutty creaminess. Retrohaling intensifies the citrus zest and peppercorns. The finish has a nice fullness in body and slight meatiness. Strength and body is medium.

Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the earth increases a bit more. At three quarters of an inch in, the mustiness and black pepper switch places. At an inch in, a light wood bitterness joins the profile. The retrohale is now toasted cedar and earth with light mustiness. At an inch and a quarter, the earth is now even with the aged, toasted cedar up front. At an inch and three quarters, the pepper has departed from the profile. As the third comes to a close, the aged, toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with mustiness in the middle of the profile and wood bitterness in the background. The strength bumped up to slightly below medium.
Seth: The second third delivers some nutty qualities with the coffee notes. Rich earth, tobacco and leather are present as well. The finish shows notes of spices with pepper and wood. Like the first third, the cigar is medium-full in strength and body.
John: The second third opens with creamy, tannic wood. Wood is defining the post draw after a few puffs. As the cigar continues towards the halfway point, creamy wood and tobacco lead off the retrohale. Spices and wood combine in the center of the profile and finish.
Jiunn: The second third is still quite enjoyable. The combination of citrus zest, wood and peppercorns, mixed with just the right amount of creamy sweetness is such a winner. Strength ramps to medium-full, while body remains medium.

Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the earth becomes a bit dry and takes a slight lead in the profile. At a half inch in, a damp vegetal note joins in. The retrohale remains toasted cedar and earth with light mustiness. At an inch and a quarter, the vegetal note loses the dampness. As the cigar wraps up, the dry earth is just ahead of the aged, toasted cedar, with mustiness in the middle and some wood bitterness and a vegetal note in the background. The strength remained at slightly below medium.
Seth: The final third has a minor rise in the mineral notes with the pepper spices. It still has that rich earth, tobacco, leather and coffee core, and there are some sweet spices with toasted nuts as well. Like the first and second third, medium-full in strength and body.
John: The last third brings creamy tobacco with a combination of mild spices and wood on the finish. That profile remains stable until the halfway point where bitterness comes into the finish. Earth moves into the post draw through the bottom half of the final third.
Jiunn: The final third reduces to namely cedar, peppercorns and citrus zest. The profile is lacking sweetness and that meaty body. Strength and body finishes the same medium-full and medium, respectively.

Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy at times, but never needed any attention. The ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: The burn was perfect from beginning to end.
John: The burn was wavy throughout the review but never required intervention.
Jiunn: Flawless burn, providing tight ashes, even burn and cool burning temperatures.

Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive

Draw

Aaron: The draw was interesting as it would fluctuate between a bit looser and tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
Seth: The draw had a great level of resistance, which was to my liking, but some may need to cut more from the tapered head.
John: The draw had some resistance to it, roughly 2-1/2 to 3 notches towards the resistant spectrum.
Jiunn: The draw was perfect, giving the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with a mellow mix of aged, toasted cedar, earth and very mild black pepper. Some mustiness joined in a bit later. The second third saw the mustiness and pepper switch places. Later the earth became even with the toasted cedar and the black pepper departed. The final third saw the earth take a slight lead in the profile. A damp vegetal note joined in and later lost the dampness. The Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive had an average flavor profile throughout. It seemed like an aged, mellowed version of other Serie V’s that I have smoked. It didn’t provide the fuller bodied and dynamic profile I’ve experienced previously. Overall, a pretty average cigar, and while the price point is attractive, I don’t see it as a cigar I’d return to.
Seth: It’s hard to go wrong with an Oliva Serie V. It’s great to smoke these cigars now and think back to when they were first released. At the time, they were so strong, but we’ve grown as smokers, so they don’t smoke at that same intensity. There are so many more cigars now that are stronger. The Serie V’s are balanced, flavorful, and come with great strength and body level. I love the long torpedo for TAA, and it is a cigar I would come back to and smoke. I am not sure if I would buy a box of these, but the Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive is a cigar I would love to smoke on summer evenings. Notes of coffee, earth, leather, tobacco and spices. Great smoke.
John: I thought the Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive had a nice start to it, with a fair amount of complexity and layered flavors through the first third. As the cigar progressed, the profile became linear, and given the large vitola, was a bit of a chore to finish. The burn was amazing, although wavy throughout, and the draw had some resistance to it. The price point doesn’t do any favors for the cigar, and the fact that this is a TAA release seems to be at odds with the flavor delivery. There are a long list of excellent Oliva Serie V vitolas already widely available, and I think almost all of them deliver a better smoking experience than this. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 14 minutes.
Jiunn: The word nostalgia comes to mind when smoking this Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive. Oliva V has always been a cigar that I enjoyed in multiple sizes. This one is no different. The profile has structure, good range of flavors and consistency that few brands core lines can touch. Good job TAA by going with the tried and true.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.50

Cost/Point

$2.61

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.67

Cost/Point

$2.15

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.80

Cost/Point

$2.47

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$2.10

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Oliva Serie V TAA Exclusive