Randy and I are in the Man Shed enjoying a lovely cool evening (9-25-09). Tonight we are joined by Randy's son-in-law Brett and our pal Justin Sherfick. Randy and I are both smoking the Oliva Master Blend 3. Neither of us have smoked this cigar before, but we both enjoy many of the cigars produced by Oliva.
Here is what the Oliva website says about this cigar - Master Blends 3 is the third offering in a series of limited artisanal blends. Liga Maestra is specifically blended to deliver the richest characteristics of Nicaraguan ligero fillers and Broadleaf sun-grown wrappers. It is a complex cigar crafted for the most developed palette. Wrapper: Broadleaf Sun-Grown; Binder: Nicaraguan Habano; Filler: Nicaraguan Ligero. It sells for between $8 and $12/cigar. But, we got ours as part of a sampler and paid much less than that.
Tonight we are pairing these cigars with the award winning Oatmeal Stout from Liquid Bread brewery in Hays. We are still waiting for the Porter to come back in season.
We both felt that the cigar was well constructed but not particularly firmly packed. It was mostly solid to the touch but there were a couple of spongy sections. After clipping the cigars we both felt that it had a good draw and the initial taste was a strong spicy flavor but not bitter or harsh. The cigar burned well in the beginning and produced voluminous smoke. The flavor mellowed considerably but continued to be moderately strong and enjoyable. We decided it had a spicyness with an earthy quality to it. It had a bitterness reminiscent of a strong cup of coffee so it was very enjoyable.
For the first half of the cigar it burned perfectly, creating a solid ash that when it fell off I was able to pick up without it falling part. There was also no tunneling or blooming evident in the ash. The ash was mostly white and very compact. All of these are signs of how well constructed the cigars is.
We both experienced burn problems in almost exactly the same place. Just above the band the cigar seemed to have a soft spot and both of us experienced our cigars going out. I had a burn problem after relighting that required a touch up. After that the cigar again burned perfectly.
Overall we liked this cigar but did not love it. We thought this cigar was reminiscent of a Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 or 1992. Both of these are also strong and flavorful cigars but not at all harsh or acrid. We could both think of a number of cigars we enjoyed more that cost much less than this one, but we would not turn it down if it were offered to us.
Our scores:
Randy - 3
Dave - 3
With that the band was ceremoniously placed on the Wall-of-Fame.
Next up for us the Alec Bradley Tempus.
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