Oliveros King Havano Oscuro

And now on to lighting our first cigar: the King Havano Oscuro by Oliveros.  My buying experience with these was the quintessential impulse purchase.  While checking out at an online cigar retailer, with the intent of simply buying a new cutter, my eye was drawn to the section marked "suggested for you" where among the selections I noticed a box of twenty of these triple fermented maduro beauties.  Having previously smoked the King Havano Dark Knight, I had some notion that these would be something that I would enjoy, and so I jumped at offer, paying around $80 for a box which retails for $136.  At four dollars a smoke, I figured even if they were mediocre it would still be a decent value.  It turned out far better than I had expected.


I decided to make this the first cigar I would review on here because I've smoked four of these in the last five days, and felt it appropriate to share this gem of a find before other more well known cigars.  To start, the band on this cigar is one I find quite beautiful.  It sports the King Havano name and is trimmed in a shiny gold color which really makes these sticks look nice in my humidor.  There is also a smaller band on the foot of the cigar which denotes it as an Oscuro.  These bands are a nice touch, and you can tell that time was taken in their design.





The construction of these cigars is another area which demonstrated the care that was put into crafting these cigars.  The stick was firm throughout, and the wrapper was free of major veins.  The triple fermented maduro wrapper has a nice dark coloring with a slight sheen to it. The size of this cigar is 5x48 which Oliveros have dubbed their "Squire" size, although one may appropriately call it a somewhere between a corona gorda and a robusto. The pre-light aromas were slightly earthy, and I couldn't shake the sense of a subtle sweetness about the wrapper.



On first light the cigar opened slightly harshly, but mellowed almost instantly with a slight cedar taste perhaps acquired in the humidor.  The initial retrohale didn't offend the nostrils and enhanced the bouquet which was quite aromatic.  This cigar then displayed its primary characteristics which it maintained throughout, which included notes of coffee and an almost semi-sweet chocolate flavor.  I also detected the slightest hint of spiciness, which was very mellow but ever present.  The maduro wrapper complements the Nicaraguan tobacco excellently, and really helps to round out the flavors.  The stick maintained most of these qualities throughout and although it was not a terribly complex cigar, it was certainly a pleasure to smoke. 

Having smoked it using both a double guillotine straight cutter and a wedge cut I can say the draw was moderate, although the wedge cut allowed for more air flow and therefore a slightly lighter draw. The ash was a light gray color and has a habit of falling off the cigar after about an inch and half. The burn was not fantastic at first but evened out decently after the head fell off.  While we could discuss the merits of ashing one's cigar versus letting the head fall off naturally, it came as an unpleasant surprise when it landed in my lap. That with the more even burn post ashing makes me advocate knocking the ash off this one early, and then tending to it as necessary for a more pleasant smoking experience.

Right after it ashed in my lap. Not an awful burn but might bother some

As described, the burn evened out

As for what to pair with this cigar (and there are as many schools of thought on pairing as there are cigar smokers) I have had a couple interesting experiences.  As previously mentioned, I've smoked four of these recently and have paired this stick with a couple of different beverages.  The first one I tried was an Eagle Rare Single Barrel Bourbon.  What I found interesting was that the cigar brought more flavors out of the bourbon than vice versa, drawing notes of fruit out of the bourbon.  What I found to be more appropriate, however, was a coffee/cappuccino drink my girlfriend made me.  The coffee's robust flavors mellowed by the semi-sweet cappuccino paralleled the flavors of the cigar and made for quite the experience.  Adding a little cinnamon and nutmeg also brought out that hint of spiciness that is inherent to the cigar, which was a nice surprise.  

All in all, this medium strength, full flavored cigar provides a pleasurable smoking experience and makes me glad that occasionally I don't regret my impulse purchases.