The Velvet Cigar

Posted By Elvis on July 9, 2007

Well it looks like we might have waited a little too long to review the cigar we did a teaser post on two weeks ago or so because now I am seeing a couple reviews out there in the wide world of smoky laptops. But I am still proud of the tenacity we took to realizing we probably shouldn’t have the chance to buy our prized cigar tonight and jumping all over it like a teenager who stumbles upon a Playboy in the woods. Yes, this really happened to me and I will never forget it. It was like manna from porn heaven almost growing there under the leaves like man moss. Maybe some trolls left it there for me to find in lieu of a pot of gold. I think I was 13 and had just discovered there was something in my pants down there and it could do magical things like a genie’s lamp when rubbed.

Whoah….sorry. The sad part to the story is that since that time I have smoked many large gauge cigars bigger than my magic lamp. I tore out Miss September in her leopard skinned outfit and I think I still have it somewhere in a mementos box along with all the other cool things I came across in my youth. A shark’s tooth my dad bought for me somewhere on a trip. Early girlfriend love letters and theatre stubs from movies I went to on dates. A few of those wheat-back pennies and a silver dime…pre-1965. Probably a couple of autographs from various athletes including Tommy Kramer. Damn…I need to find that box and check it out!
Anyway…back to my cigar of the night. First I want to send out a thank you to the couple of cigar blogs who have doing “round-ups”of the other various cigar blogs including this one. And I now realize IronMeden and I need to be putting up at least one review a week to share with all of you. Trust me, we are readers of all your blogs and it’s really cool to see what other people are smoking and trying out.

If you haven’t guessed the stick I lit up..it is the Oliva Series V. From everything I’ve read this thing isn’t supposed to be out until late August or September and will be Oliva’s big entry into the RTDA show this year. The V is for Vigoroso and this is meant to be Oliva’s strongest cigar to date. Everyone seems to be doing this and it must be the trend that customers are wanting more bang for their buck. Now since the Velvet Cigar is not a retailer and doesn’t yet have any ties to cigar distibutors or stores directly, we have to hunt and peck to get these new things. And being based in Minnesota probably doesn’t help our cause. Except for one store in town we seem to be some of the last stores around the country to get new stogies. Thank God for the internet. But recently many new cigars are being saved for the brick and mortar shops and there are several brands that aren’t being allowed for sale online. I fully support this notion of leaving the good stuff for the brick and mortars..at least for the first year or so the cigar is out there.

All of this makes the way I came about this cigar more interesting. I check out www.cigarbid.com nearly every day looking for bargains. Often I think people actually bid more than the cigars are selling for on their main site www.cigarintl.com. Maybe they don’t know the connection or spend the time to do their homework. But if you do, you can find some damn good deals and sometimes I just buy sticks because the deal is too good to pass up. Anyway, I saw a 5-pack of the Series V and nearly did what I did to myself when I found that skin mag in the woods. I quickly searched the whole site for more of these and went to their sister site to see if they were indeed in already. Nothing. Could this be a mistake? A typo? The picture was right so I went for it and I think I bid up to like $50 for the 5-pack. Talk about over bidding! I ended up winning them for $25…$5 per stick which is probably a slight savings for the price point these will eventually fall in. I think there wasn’t much bidding on them because no one knew about them or was looking for them. I still didn’t believe it until they arrived the next Monday. I have no idea why they were there. I’m sure CI got a bunch to sample and maybe they thought they would throw a few out there to tease us. But since that day I haven’t seen any more for sale. I think it was destiny that the Velvet Cigar finally got something before the general public!

So, on to the review. First of all this is a gorgeous stick. A real chocolate brown with noticeable oils and a slight sheen. The band is different than the normal buttery yellow on the other Oliva lines and bigger, sporting red lines. In the hand this thing is heavy and you can tell it’s densely packed. The unlit aroma of the stick has almost a floral note and is very pleasent. The pre-light taste has the slightest bit of zing to it on the tongue, but nothing scary.

Time to light up. I used a wooden match and had no trouble getting it stoked. The burn was fairly even throughout the cigar. But the first few puffs really got me worried. First of all, I got the torpedo version which is an ample 6×56. There are 5 sizes in all and I really want to try the monster figurado which will be 6×60. I noticed right away the draw was tough and it was linked to the head of the torpedo. The head was much more dense and packed than the rest of the cigar. When I lit it up I nearly gagged. There was an almost jalapeno or buffalo wing spicyness to it. After the first three puffs I put it down and this spicyness seriously lasted in my mouth and throat for well over a minute. This was not the black pepper punch that a lot of high powered cigars have, but a total take-your-breath away zip. I let it burn for a minute or two after that and got up the courage to puff again. The zing was still there but not as bad. About a quarter of an inch later it was totally gone! I was more awake than I was at the start that’s for sure, but now the cigar became smooth with a nice woody taste the rest of the way through.

I’ve always thought that cigars are made to be balanced througout, but part of me thinks Oliva maybe has intentionally put more ligero at the very head of this thing to announce its presence. Since this cigar is so new perhaps that opening “pow” will mellow slightly through aging. But overall, this is a great cigar and it is definately different from the other Olivas I’ve tried like the Series G which is buttery and smooth throughout. I should mention this smoke is a “puro” meaning all the tobacco is from one country…Nicaragua just like the Series O. On a side note I LOVE the Oliva website. they list every cigar they offer with pictures of every size and tasting notes on each blend. They also talk about how each one should be aged and stored for optimal taste. Several other cigar makers should take note. www.olivacigar.com

Well, until the next surprise comes along I will keep looking for older cigars to try and review. And thankfully there are hundreds to choose from! Be good to yourselves my friends!

Elvis

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