"Come on baby, light my fire..." or Cigar Review: Oliva Serie G (Cameroon)

So what does The Lizard King, Jim Morrison, have to do with The Tiki Bar (besides a kitschy lyric that could be applied to lighting up?)  The answer is plenty!

Both The Tiki Bar and Morrison got their start in Southern California.  The original meetings of what would become the Tiki Bar centered around music and politics, while enjoying cigars.  Morrison made music, was often on the wrong side of the law, and also enjoyed his cigars. And with my long hair, I have been told I favor Jim. So adopting the persona of The Lizard King kind of makes sense while posting my reviews.  And the fact that one of my friends manage the estate of Jim and the Doors, and another friend works at the firm Ziffren Brittenham, who represents said manager, it kind of further gives me the, "Eh, why not?! Go with the flow" hedonistic attitude for which Morrison was so well known.

Blues guitarist Albert King lighting Jim's cigar.

(King's 1st guitar was a hand built cigar box guitar)

Jim smoking a cigar during an interview

So, one might ask:
"Hey!  Is your first post just going to be a history lesson?  What about a cigar review?"

No!  Of course not, although hopefully this does help put Morrison in a new light for some of you.

I decided to find something that wasn't necessarily new, but after doing a search here on The Tiki Bar, I noticed that the Serie G (Cameroon) by Oliva had not been reviewed, only the Maduro back in 2009.  I had bought a couple over last Summer to try out and decided to pull one out to review.

On this particular day of reviewing the cigar, I was in a bit of a bad mood and decided I'd grab a quick lunch then head over to hang with my friends at Big Star Cigar to smoke the afternoon away. I don't typically do reviews in a cigar lounge because I'm always a bit distracted socializing but I figured a Thursday afternoon would be pretty quiet and just what the doctor ordered.  So I get there, cigar and Gentleman Jack in hand (exchanged pleasantries with Tony and Scott and picked up a few new cigars), and got to business.

I pulled the box-pressed cigar out of the cellophane and saw no visible flaws and small veins.  There was just a bit of sponginess in this very slightly oily, mottled stick.  The Nicaraguan Habano filled, African Cameroon wrapped robusto had a bit of a sweet tobacco aroma with a hint of toffee in the pre-lit aroma.

Lighting this stick was a breeze.  The draw was near perfect and there was plenty of smoke.  Into the first third, the flavors were very much the same as the aroma: a tobacco and toffee with a bit of a barnyard aspect.  The cigar was pretty mild but solid.

Entering into the 2nd third and that was when things picked up a bit.  The toffee profile morphed into a bit of a graham cracker-y taste with a hint of cedar.  Then in the middle of the cigar is when all of a sudden I got a burst of raisins. I totally wasn't expecting that but I did rather enjoy it.  Finishing up the last third, the profile went back to a bit of a toffee mixed with nuttiness near the nub.

The G was a well constructed cigar, but never was it over bearing.  In fact, it was more of a mild/slightly medium bodied cigar.  The flavors were pleasing, and for someone new to this pastime, or for someone who doesn't like strong cigars, this is the cigar for them at a good price for a good deal.  For me, it was a milder than those I typically enjoy, but still a solid cigar.  If you're looking for something light, relatively quick and inexpensive, this is something you should definitely buy.

Robusto, 4.5" x 50 ring gauge, ~ $5.50

Body: 7/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 7/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8/10