Oliva Cigars is one of the most popular cigar brands on the market today. It boasts a wide and varied portfolio full of top-rated blends that cater to any aficionado’s flavor preferences and price points. However, that diversity can make it difficult to know where to start if you want to get into the famous Oliva brand.

To introduce you to the variety of blends to enjoy from Oliva Cigars, let’s start with a little bit of background information about Oliva Cigars and what made it a favorite for aficionados across the country and the world.

Are Oliva Cigars handmade?

Every Oliva cigar is crafted by hand in Esteli, Nicaragua at the Oliva family’s Tabacalera Oliva de Nicaragua S.A., which is often shortened to TABOLISA. Oliva has been producing its cigars at the TABOLISA factory since it opened in 2003, and there is actually a new, second factory called TABOLISA II that recently opened in 2019.

Before then, Oliva cigars were handmade by the Plasencia family in Honduras but partially blended with tobaccos grown by the Oliva family in Nicaragua. Although an Oliva-branded cigar did not hit the market until the height of the cigar boom in 1995, the Oliva family has long been involved with growing premium cigar tobaccos.

The family’s patriarch, Melanio Oliva, began growing tobacco in Cuba as far back as 1886 in the famous Pinar del Rio region, and the family continued to grow top-quality cigar tobaccos there until Castro’s Revolution in the 1960s. Gilberto Oliva Sr., the grandson of Melanio, looked across the world to find a suitable spot to recreate the flavors of Cuban tobaccos and eventually landed in Nicaragua.

However, his time in Nicaragua was short-lived, as the Sandinista Revolution in 1979 forced him to move across the border to Honduras. 10 years later when tensions had cooled, Gilberto returned to farm at his newfound home in Nicaragua. It is Oliva’s rich history and tradition of tobacco farming that makes Oliva cigars so good.

Although J. Cortes bought Oliva Cigars 2016, which is owned by the Vandermarliere family and makes popular machine-made cigars for the European market, the descendants of Melanio Oliva are still intimately involved in all aspects of creating Oliva cigars. This is why Oliva Cigars continues to be a leader in the world of premium cigars.

Which Oliva cigar is best?

When it comes to accolades and popularity, the Oliva Serie V Melanio is arguably the best. However, that does not necessarily mean the Serie V Melanio is the best for you. Every palate is different, and the Oliva Serie V Melanio’s flavors might not be in your wheelhouse. You might prefer the smooth flavors of the Connecticut Reserve or the nutty toastiness of the Oliva Serie G.

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Oliva Serie V Melanio

As stated above, the Oliva Serie V Melanio is not only Oliva’s most well-known and respected brand, but also for the industry at large. You would be hard-pressed to find a retail humidor that does not carry it, and Cigar Aficionado consistently ranks it on its yearly Top 25 lists.

Named after the family’s patriarch Melanio Oliva, the Serie V Melanio is Oliva Cigar’s flagship brand. It features high-priming ligero tobaccos grown in Nicaragua’s Jalapa Valley and aged to perfection, all draped in an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. A full-bodied yet delectably smooth tapestry of cedar, leather, coffee, toast, and caramel sweetness leads the Serie V Melanio to be a crowd favorite.

If you want your introduction to Oliva Cigars to be with a tried-and-true classic, the Oliva Serie V Melanio is the best place to start.

Oliva Serie V

The Oliva Serie V is another popular choice among aficionados. Although it might be confusing, there are a few key differences between the Serie V and Serie V Melanio that make them distinct, the biggest being the different wrappers. The wrapper plays a major role in determining the flavor of a cigar, and the Serie V wears a Sungrown Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over Oliva’s Nicaraguan long filler and binder leaf. This results in a medium-full-bodied profile brimming with pepper, espresso, chocolate, and leather.

Another difference between the Oliva Serie V and the Serie V Melanio is how they are rolled. The Serie V is rolled into a classic, rounded cylindrical shape while the Melanio is almost always box pressed. While these differing styles do not change much in the way of flavor, the smoking experience will be quite different. Rounded cigars will offer a slightly more open draw and burn slightly faster than a box-pressed cigar.

Oliva Serie O

What makes the Oliva Serie O so special and a connoisseur’s favorite is it is made entirely with Cuban-seed Nicaraguan tobaccos grown by the Oliva family across the country. The interior leaves come from Jalapa, Esteli, and Condega, with each region imparting its own unique nuances, and the blend boasts a silky-smooth Nicaraguan Habano Sun Grown wrapper as the finishing touch.

These tobaccos from all corners of Nicaragua create a deceptively complex medium-bodied medley of zesty spices, leather, coffee, cedar, and tobacco sweetness. If you want to get a taste of Cuba without traveling overseas or crossing oceans, the Cuban-inspired Oliva Serie O is your ticket. It is available for a much more affordable price than a plane ticket!

Oliva Serie G

A standout in the Oliva Cigars lineup is the Oliva Serie G, offering unique flavors from its delicate African Cameroon wrapper. Most of the Serie G sizes are box-pressed, an impressive feat considering the fragility of Cameroon wrappers. There was a time when a good deal of cigars on the market in the United States was covered with Cameroon leaf, but political turmoil almost saw the coveted wrapper cease to exist.

Oliva Serie G makes use of a Cameroon wrapper along with a filler blend of Nicaraguan Sun Grown tobacco at the core. The flavors of toast and cedar from the Cameroon wrapper perfectly complement the richness of the sun-grown fillers, summing up a medium-bodied and more traditional smoke that harkens back to the cigars of yesteryear.

Oliva Connecticut Reserve

The Oliva Connecticut Reserve is an excellent cigar for enjoying smooth, creamy flavors, making them especially good for a beginner who is inexperienced with bolder, richer blends. As its name suggests, the Oliva Connecticut Reserve is coated with an Ecuadorian Connecticut shade-grown wrapper that has a brilliant golden-tan color.

This gorgeous Connecticut-seed wrapper again covers a blend of Nicaraguan Cuban-seed tobaccos grown by the Oliva family, resulting in a mellow-medium bodied yet flavorful profile of baking spices, caramel, creamed coffee, wood, and touches of sweetness. No matter your experience level or the time of day, you are always in for a satisfying experience with the Oliva Connecticut Reserve.

In Conclusion

This list only covers a small portion of all the different cigars available from Oliva Cigars, which also include maduro versions of the blends listed above. Well over a dozen blends made by Oliva Cigars are all worthy of attention and praise, especially the understate Master Blends 3.

Now that you have a basic idea of what to expect from Oliva Cigars, you are well-equipped to start your journey and explore everything that Oliva has to offer!