Size: 5.75″ x 50.5″ was measured (supposed to be 5.5″ x 52, Gran Robusto?)
Strength: Full
Wrapper: Brazilian Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan, Peruvian, and Dominican
Binder: Corojo

Appearance:
This is a pretty good looking stick. A darker wrapper with one medium vein. If you start to look closely you can tell where the wrapper was rolled though. It has one nice understated, yet somewhat “modern” for a cigar, ring. A step up from a regular Oliveros, but not a show stopper.

Construction:
The stick appears to be rather well rolled. It comes in over on length but under on ring gauge? Unless this is a size I don’t see online at the moment? (Don’t think that’s the case b/c these are pretty limited as it is). Density seems consistent throughout. After cutting the head, the wrapper did come apart a little, but I did cut less off of the cap then usual, so we’ll chalk most of that up to that…

Aroma:
Aroma isn’t necessarily strong at first, but it’s powerful when you get a whiff. Has a ting (spiciness) to it along with those full flavored cigar notes. A little sweet with plenty of spice. Not quite sure where to put this one… So, since I wasn’t sure where to place it at first, I had to refocus on the aroma a little further in and I have to say, it’s stronger now, yet less powerful – creating a tastier combination. A lot of the “ting” in the nostrils is gone and there’s now a pleasant spiciness. None of those dried fruit spice notes though from some of the other full sticks.

Burn/Ash:
Burn into the first third has been fairly good. Pretty sharp and no issues whatsoever. The first ash fell at 1.25″. Burn continues to be good and the second ash falls at 1.25″ again and so on for the rest of the stick.

Draw/Smoke:
Draw is a bit on the tighter side – I’d have to place it as a medium-tight. It’s bearable, but takes a serious puff. And therefore smoke is on the lighter side. Not too plentiful and it seems to lack the creaminess I desire. Now that we’ve moved about 1 1/2″ in, the draw is still rather tight, but the smoke has considerably increased – definitely a welcome surprise.

Flavor:
The flavors are hard for me to decide on… there’s definitely some earth and leather in the aftertaste, but the draw is actually somewhat mellow for a full cigar – almost a creamy earthiness with some nuttiness. Definitely a hint of spice, but it seems like the aftertaste becomes fuller than the draw. A little further in and now there’s a hint of pepper in both the draw and aftertaste. Almost 2″ in and there’s a little more earth and leather with a hint of pepper in the draw, and the aftertaste is now mostly the same. Continuing through the stick, the flavors didn’t develop too much and they never became much stronger… They were always pretty good, but not as full flavored as I would have hoped.

Overall/Value:
Overall this is a pricier stick, especially for an Oliveros. On sale on CI (currently) it’s about $3.50/stick, which puts it up there with some rather serious contenders. I just don’t know that the flavors wow me enough to spend that kind of coin on this stick. I think I’d prefer a JJ maduro, Diesel, MOW, Intenso, Serie ‘A’ or many others before this stick.

Retail Price: $6 – 10 (depending on where you look)

Appearance: (4.25/5)
Construction: (4.5/5)
Aroma: (8.5/10)
Burn/Ash: (9.5/10)
Draw/Smoke: (13.5/20)
Flavor: (27/35)
Overall/Value: (9/15)
Final Score: (76.25/100)