Wharf Wednesday last week really pointed me in a new direction.  As I have said in other blog posts, every Wednesday some friends and I visit The Wharf and smoke a cigar before heading back to the office.  It's a ritual and a double defense mechanism.  First, smoking a cigar is relaxing and calms the nerves, second is the cloud of cigar smell it surrounds us with.  Remember Pigpen from Charlie Brown?  It keeps people from bugging us while we work.  Maybe I am kidding about that second one....but maybe not.

On this particular WW, I was directed at a new offering by Oliva.  The Serie V Melanio, which is an odd little box-press cigar that is actually a maduro disguised as a natural wrapper.  The fermentation of the wrapper does not conclude with coffee stain to enhance the dark color....very interesting, eh?  How does it smoke?  Let's find out....

Construction: I selected the robusto size.  I was pleasantly surprised that the name was just " robusto" .  Simple and classic.  No hard to pronounce odd name here.  The construction was very well done here as well.  Smooth red-brown wrapper with a nice smooth tooth and light veins.

Pre-light Aroma and Draw: The aroma out of the cellophane was grassy and leathery.  A nice change from the usual heavy sweet maduro smell.  Clipping was easy and the draw was somewhere between loose and tight...which is nearly always a good thing.  A plugged cigar (tight draw) is never a good thing, and too loose means for a fast hot smoke.  Expectations were high.

Light and Burn: She lit up without complaint and started burning evenly right away....another good sign.  There was plenty of gray ash and it didn't want to drop off early either.

Tasting: I noted flavors of pepper, leather, wood, and a sweet cocoa throughout in this beauty.

Value: At around $9.50, the Melanio is not an every day cigar.  I tend to classify those as $8 or less, but still this was an excellent cigar for the price.

Final Thoughts: I typically don't like box-press cigars but this one really surprised me at being easy to smoke and very flavorful.  Highly recommended.

Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

Strength: Medium

Size: 5x52 box-press