Price: $3 – $5.50

Size: Box-Pressed Robusto 4.5″ x 50

Wrapper: Cameroon

Binder: Cuban-Seed Habano

Filler: Nicarguan Habano

First Impressions: I wanted a smaller cigar the other day so I dug around in my humidor and pulled out a lovely couple of gems that the benevolent Jared “JMersh” from r/cigars was kind enough to bestow upon me. They are small in appearance at a strange 4.5″ and are very light in the hand as well. There are a couple of small veins running up the sides, but otherwise the construction on this stick looks very solid from cap to foot and there are no soft spots. It has a very pleasant haystack smell to it and the cap cuts just beautifully. The pre-light draw gives me a nice mild tobacco with a hint of coffee and natural sweetness.

First Third: I am surprised by how much smoke I am getting from a smaller cigar. Right off the bat the Serie G is producing loads of cool and creamy white smoke that is full of flavor. Each draw has a flavor of salty crackers, nuts, light coffee hints, and a nice earthy sweet quality, almost like a light floral. The burn is good and the ash is almost a solid white with dark gray underneath.

Second Third: Now this stick is picking up just a little bit of spice and wood. It is not too peppery and it doesn’t stick to the tongue the way a heavy spice usually does. At right about the second third the cherry hits both of the veins that I mentioned earlier and it starts tunneling a little bit. A couple of simple burn corrections fixed the problem though. The ash stayed on to just about this point but fell as I was correcting the burn issues.

Final Third: Where other sticks might get hot or harsh in the final third, the Serie G says “Nay! I shall stay cool and in fact become more creamy!” and that is exactly what it did. The smoke stayed nice and cool and even the body stayed remarkably cool as the cherry crept closer and closer to my unwitting fingers. The flavor of spice fell off in the final third and the wood took over. I smoked this cigar all the way to the nub and couldn’t have been happier to do so. My fingers on the other hand, formed a different final opinion.

Conclusion: Everybody raves about the Oliva Serie V but the oft overlooked Oliva Serie G is just a great stick. Additionally it is a great stick for a great price. It comes in a number of different sizes to fit the mood and the flavor profile is complex and delightful. There is not much more to say about this stick that I have not said up above except that this stick would be really good for beginners looking for a medium body cigar. I will always have a couple of these on hand in my humidor.

I give this cigar a 4.5 out of 5

P.S. Pairing – I actually have a number of recommendations for pairing with this cigar. This cigar goes very nicely with a coffee and Irish Cream for obvious reasons, but it also went very nicely with a Pinot Noir. The sweetness of the drink brought out the subtle sweetness present in the cigar, but nothing about the wine overpowered the sometimes delicate flavors of the cigar. In truth though, a great number of drinks go with a cigar like this. Enjoy!