Cigar:            Angel 100 OTC (Oliva Tobacco Company)

Size:             48 x 6.0"

Country:          Nic

Wrapper:          ECSU, Sungrown, EMS

Binder:           Nic

Filler:           Nic

Flavor Strength:  Medium

NicotineStength:  Medium

Date Received:    2006-01-03

Suspected Age:    ?

Vendor/Price:     Gift, Bill Berris, ASC, Thanks Bill!

Hype:       These are potent, rich cigars, made from a hearty Nicaraguan ligero filler blend, and binder all grown on the Oliva's La Joya plantation. Plus they are wrapped in their signature Ecuador sun-grown wrappers. This is a true Cuban-style cigar with all the body and flavor you would expect in an after-dinner smoke. Rigidly pressed and packed in unique boxes of five cigars each, this is a legitimate connoisseur product blended for the experienced cigar smoker only.

Beverage(s):      Water, Full Sail Pale Ale

Smoke time:       1:00

Date:             2006-02-04

Posted to ASC:    2006-02-04

Overall score:    2.0/5.0

Overall:    Damn, I really wanted to like this cigar.  A stick in honor of the 100th anniversary of Angel Oliva's Oliva Tobacco Company should be a sublime experience.  This was not.  Burn problems and a tendency to go out suggest these may be a little wet, so take them out of the cello for a couple of weeks.  This one was in cello at 65% for a month.  These would probably benefit from a year or more of aging.  Will not hold a long ash so don't trust it as it nears an inch.  Looks great and smells great, but the smoking is not so great.  Starts with overpowering pepper then wanes within the first inch, then nice leather, cedar/citrus peel, flavors develop.  Cocoa/coffee is fleeting.  Some tangy aromatic notes in the aftertaste with hints of cinnamon and ginger.  At the halfway point it starts to go downhill becoming increasingly funky and musty.  When one becomes reluctant to puff, time to call it quits.  I think I'll assuage my disappointment with a small cuban.

Ambience:   Evening in the sunroom.  Relative calm after a five-year storm.  Winds currently gusting to about 30 knots after sustained winds earlier in the day and overnight of 50 knots.  No appreciable leaking.  Working on year-end reports while the little woman sews in the living room.

Appearance: Very attractive.  Mottled, shiney, dark reddish brown wrapper with small dark veins, slight box press, and long double cap.  Evenly yielding along its length. 

Cut & Prelight:   Sweet, rich, leather, barnyard aroma.  Unprompted the little woman said, "Ick, barnyard."  Yumm.  Cut well, yielding a restricted draw.  I may cut it again.  Very sweet, thick, creamy draw flavor.

First third:      Initially, sweet and musty, with a lot of pepper - a lot of pepper - cleared my sinuses.  Pepper still eye-wateringly overpowering - I hope this settles down soon.  Half inch in the pepper is settling down and other flavors are revealed - leather, cocoa/coffee, some tingly cedar or is it citrus?  Good smoke volume with a white, compact ash holding only to an inch.  Yep, citrus peel.  Aftertaste is tangy, aromatic, and slightly sweet - nice in the sinuses.  Thankfully, the pepper has waned considerably.  Leather with cedar/citrus. 

Second third:     Has mellowed, losing most of the pepper and now full of leather and cedar/citrus.  Aftertaste slightly sweet with spicey notes - cinnamon, ginger.  A good massage has helped the burn.  Nicotine buzz apparent at the half-way point.  Has become quite tangy in a citrus peel sense - I'll call it lime peel.  I think these need a year of aging. 

Third third:      A bit of funk.  Now needs constant stoking to stay lit.  Turned inceasingly funky, musty, dirty - bleah.  Abandoned at about 2.5".