Oliva Serie V Double Robusto Review

The Double Robusto is the thick, short workhorse of the Serie V lineup - a 5 by 54 wearing that oily Ecuadorian Sun Grown Habano wrapper over all-Nicaraguan innards. Mine had a dark reddish-brown sheen, a few raised veins, and a cap that clipped cleanly. The prelight draw was easy for such a thick ring, giving cocoa and a faint barnyard sweetness. This is Oliva's flagship blend packed into a stout, high-priming format built for density rather than length.

Right off the light this thing pushes power. Coffee and a dark bittersweet chocolate lead, black pepper snapping behind them, and there is a resiny cedar that the fat ring gauge seems to concentrate. The extra girth means a cooler-drawing, mouth-filling smoke, and the flavor arrives thick rather than sharp. Oliva built the Serie V around a high-priming Jalapa ligero, and the Double Robusto puts all that oil right up front. My burn tracked straight, the smoke output heavy from the start.

Midway the cigar settles into its groove. That coffee-and-cocoa core stays put while an earthy leather note works in underneath and the pepper eases from a snap to a warm hum. The 54 ring keeps everything broad and creamy on the palate, so even at full strength the smoke feels rounded rather than jagged. Around the forty-minute mark a touch of dried fruit sweetness peeks through from the wrapper. Construction stayed faultless for me, the grey column firm, the draw generous.

The last stretch deepens. Espresso, dark chocolate and cedar thicken toward the nub, the pepper returning with a bit more bite as the oils build over roughly an hour. My verdict: the Double Robusto is Serie V at its most concentrated and unhurried - a dense, powerful hour of Oliva's best blend. The honest caveat is strength; this is a genuinely full smoke with real nicotine, so it wants a full stomach and a bit of patience. For a thick, oily, coffee-and-cocoa Nicaraguan with no wasted length, though, it delivers.