Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In this video, Charles-Philippe reviews the Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro, the most recent version of the celebrated classic range from this prestigious family. Watch to learn all about its tasting notes and recommended pairings.
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Check out the Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro Formula & Read The Review:
bespokeunit.com/articles/cigars/oliva-serie-v-melanio-maduro
Learn about the Bespoke Unit Cigar Formula:
bespokeunit.com/cigars/formula
This Video's Wardrobe:
Shirt: awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=16047&awinaffid=676545&clickref=&p=
Suit: shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=931486&u=1010333&m=68570
Tie: click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=84gKhJ8XAxE&mid=41518&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hawesandcurtis.com%2F
Video Summary:
00:00 Introduction
The Oliva Serie V was reviewed using the Bespoke Unit Cigar Formula, a quantifiable review matrix. Furthermore, the cigars have been stored in a Boveda acrylic humidor with 69% Boveda packs for a period of three weeks to ensure that they were properly acclimated and ready to be evaluated.
01:02 Cigar Overview
Launched the year after the original Melanio in 2013, the Melanio Maduro is made at the Tabacalera Oliva de Nicaragua S.A factor, which is also known as Tabolisa.
01:48 Look & Feel
The reviewed cigar is a box pressed 5 by 52 robusto. It features a Mexican San Andrès wrapper and is packed with Jalapa valley tabaccos held together by a Nicaraguan binder. The Maduro offers some of the best construction of the entire Serie V line. It's perfectly straight with no visible soft spot and non-existant veins. Its body delivers notes of cacao, nutmeg, and cinnemaon.
03:11 Prelight
The cigar offers the perfect draw with just the right of resistance. Its flavours consist of Birchwood, rooibos tea, and chicory.
03:29 Tasting Notes
The Melanio Maduro's first third opens with fragrance rosewood and syrupy molasses with a hint of boise, an ingredient often used in cognac production. Meanwhile, black pepper can be detected on the retrohale.
The second third reveals pistacio nut, charred bay leaf, and toasted rugbrød, a Danish rye bread. Once into the final third, expect a dominant aroma of liquorice with hints of espresso beans and agarwood.
The Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro is the line's most complex cigar with an overtly velvet mouthfeel. Its palate stimulation is balanced overall. Meanwhile, the lifecycle develops nicely to tell a different story in each third. As for its finish, it's impressively long and leaves a relatively inoffensive residual scent in the room.
05:36 Burn
The burn is excellent. It produces a razor-sharp burn line and a cool temperature. Similarly, the draw is consistent but the ash backbone is a little week. While the ash is attractive, it does get a little flaky.
05:59 Overall Experience
The band is identical to the original Melanio except that it features "Maduro" rather than "Grand Reserva Limitada" on the secondary band. Had the secondary band not been there, the only way to differentiate the two would be from the colours of the wrapper. Similarly, the box is also almost identical to the original Melanio.
In terms of pricing, individual cigars cost $10.60 each but they can come down to $8 when you buy an entire box on sale.
It's a great cigar for personal enjoyment but it's also an excellent choice for special occasions, especially if other connoisseurs shall be attending.
07:42 Pairings
Consider enjoying the cigar with cured ham like prosciutto or dark chocolate. You could also consider ratatouille thanks to the aromatic bay leaf notes.
Ideally, the cigar pairs best with cognac but you could instead opt for dark rum or even an espresso.
Check out our guide to learn more about cognac: bespokeunit.com/spirits/cognac
Already tried the Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro cigar or have any questions? Leave us a comment to let us know your thoughts!
CONNECT:
Web: BespokeUnit.com
Instagram: Instagram.com/BespokeUnit
Facebook: Facebook.com/BespokeUnit
Twitter: Twitter.com/BespokeUnit
Subscribe to Newsletter: BespokeUnit.com/newsletter
In this video, Charles-Philippe reviews the Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro, the most recent version of the celebrated classic range from this prestigious family. Watch to learn all about its tasting notes and recommended pairings.
Buy Now:
Boveda Acrylic Humidor: amzn.to/3deJ2I8
Boveda 69% RH Packs: amzn.to/2RLCJ4W
Boveda Butler: amzn.to/35IdGX8
Check out the Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro Formula & Read The Review:
bespokeunit.com/articles/cigars/oliva-serie-v-melanio-maduro
Learn about the Bespoke Unit Cigar Formula:
bespokeunit.com/cigars/formula
This Video's Wardrobe:
Shirt: awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=16047&awinaffid=676545&clickref=&p=
Suit: shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=931486&u=1010333&m=68570
Tie: click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=84gKhJ8XAxE&mid=41518&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hawesandcurtis.com%2F
Video Summary:
00:00 Introduction
The Oliva Serie V was reviewed using the Bespoke Unit Cigar Formula, a quantifiable review matrix. Furthermore, the cigars have been stored in a Boveda acrylic humidor with 69% Boveda packs for a period of three weeks to ensure that they were properly acclimated and ready to be evaluated.
01:02 Cigar Overview
Launched the year after the original Melanio in 2013, the Melanio Maduro is made at the Tabacalera Oliva de Nicaragua S.A factor, which is also known as Tabolisa.
01:48 Look & Feel
The reviewed cigar is a box pressed 5 by 52 robusto. It features a Mexican San Andrès wrapper and is packed with Jalapa valley tabaccos held together by a Nicaraguan binder. The Maduro offers some of the best construction of the entire Serie V line. It's perfectly straight with no visible soft spot and non-existant veins. Its body delivers notes of cacao, nutmeg, and cinnemaon.
03:11 Prelight
The cigar offers the perfect draw with just the right of resistance. Its flavours consist of Birchwood, rooibos tea, and chicory.
03:29 Tasting Notes
The Melanio Maduro's first third opens with fragrance rosewood and syrupy molasses with a hint of boise, an ingredient often used in cognac production. Meanwhile, black pepper can be detected on the retrohale.
The second third reveals pistacio nut, charred bay leaf, and toasted rugbrød, a Danish rye bread. Once into the final third, expect a dominant aroma of liquorice with hints of espresso beans and agarwood.
The Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro is the line's most complex cigar with an overtly velvet mouthfeel. Its palate stimulation is balanced overall. Meanwhile, the lifecycle develops nicely to tell a different story in each third. As for its finish, it's impressively long and leaves a relatively inoffensive residual scent in the room.
05:36 Burn
The burn is excellent. It produces a razor-sharp burn line and a cool temperature. Similarly, the draw is consistent but the ash backbone is a little week. While the ash is attractive, it does get a little flaky.
05:59 Overall Experience
The band is identical to the original Melanio except that it features "Maduro" rather than "Grand Reserva Limitada" on the secondary band. Had the secondary band not been there, the only way to differentiate the two would be from the colours of the wrapper. Similarly, the box is also almost identical to the original Melanio.
In terms of pricing, individual cigars cost $10.60 each but they can come down to $8 when you buy an entire box on sale.
It's a great cigar for personal enjoyment but it's also an excellent choice for special occasions, especially if other connoisseurs shall be attending.
07:42 Pairings
Consider enjoying the cigar with cured ham like prosciutto or dark chocolate. You could also consider ratatouille thanks to the aromatic bay leaf notes.
Ideally, the cigar pairs best with cognac but you could instead opt for dark rum or even an espresso.
Check out our guide to learn more about cognac: bespokeunit.com/spirits/cognac
Already tried the Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro cigar or have any questions? Leave us a comment to let us know your thoughts!
CONNECT:
Web: BespokeUnit.com
Instagram: Instagram.com/BespokeUnit
Facebook: Facebook.com/BespokeUnit
Twitter: Twitter.com/BespokeUnit
Subscribe to Newsletter: BespokeUnit.com/newsletter








![What Leather Are Beckett Simonon Shoes Made Of?
In this video, we explore what Beckett Simonon shoes are made of and the benefits of the leathers used by the brands. Watch this video to learn all about its materials!
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Read The Review:
https://bespokeunit.com/shoes/shoemakers/beckett-simonon/
This Videos Wardrobe:
Shirt: https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1128484&u=1010333&m=59274&urllink=&afftrack=
Suit: https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=84gKhJ8XAxE&mid=41221&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indochino.com%2F
Cufflinks: Vintage
Tie: https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=84gKhJ8XAxE&mid=41518&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hawesandcurtis.com%2F
Suit: https://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=931486&u=1010333&m=68570
Video Summary:
00:00 Introduction
In this video, CP has a pair of Valencia wholecut shoes with the brand’s own cedar shoe trees [right] and the Yates full brogue [left]
00:26 Old Tannery
Until relatively recently, Beckett Simonon shoes were made from vegetable-tanned Argentinean calfskin. Today, this is still true for all the soles and heel stacks. Furthermore, some suede shoes may use this material and there are boots that use Argentinian pull-up leather.
00:41 Italian Gold Standard Leather
However, the vast majority of the uppers now use Italian Gold Standard leather sourced from the Conceria Mastrotto.
Now known as the Mastrotto group, it was founded by Arciso Mastrotto in 1958. It has since been taken over by his sons Santo and Bruno.
Beckett Simonon takes its responsibility very seriously and seeks to be as transparent and as traceable as possible. Consequently, its founders Andrès Niño and Nicholas Hurtado are always seeking to improve its practices.
Therefore, they looked towards the Leather Working Group to guide them towards a new tannery.
The Leather Working Group was formed in 2005 by NGOs, suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, and other leading industry experts and supports the United Nation’s sustainable development goals.
It assesses the environmental compliance of leather manufacturers and awards them scores out of 100 points according to the following criteria:
- Traceability of the hides
- Environmental policies and procedures
- Energy consumption
- Water usage
- Air and noise emissions
- Waste management
- Worker safety
Indeed, the Mastrotto tannery has been awarded a Gold standard, which means that it has earned 85 points or more.
The tannery can be found in Arzignano in the province of Vicenza. Although it values the traditions of its trade, it has also heavily invested in new technologies to improve its workers’ welfare.
It uses a water-based tanning process and has built its own water treatment plant to reduce pollution. Furthermore, the heat produced from tanning process is converted into energy to help power the facility.
02:25 Beckett Simonon & Chromium
It turns out there we have been oversimplifying the issue for quite some time. When the toxicity of Chromium was revealed, vegetable tanning was quickly heralded as the only environmentally-friendly method.
Nevertheless, there are two types of Chromium. Chromium 6 is toxic – both for the tanners and the people who wear the shoes. It causes respiratory problems as well as neurological side effects and skin burns.
However, chromium 3 is an essential element in humans and quite healthy. Indeed, we benefit from a daily intake of between 50 to 200 micrograms per day in the food that we eat.
Vegetable-tanning has its limitations and chrome is an important ingredient for producing certain results such as white leather.
Therefore, Beckett Simonon needed to find a tannery that could use it responsibly for their sneakers in particular. This is another reason why Beckett Simonon work for the Mastrotto tannery, which uses chromium 3 for certain hides.
03:30 Vegan Alternatives
The problem is that most vegan leathers are derived from petroleum. Although it doesn’t directly involve harming animals, using it creates far more pollution.
Cruelty-free doesn’t necessarily mean ecologically sound. Indeed, synthetic materials have a significant impact on the environment.
Beckett Simonon is reaching other alternatives such as leather made from food waste and fungi, called mycelium. However, they may use plastic coatings and those that are more environmentally friendly aren’t yet scalable enough for a small brand like Beckett Simonon to use.
Currently, leather is more durable, more affordable, and offers the best possible environmentally-friendly material.
Have any questions about Beckett Simonon? Leave us a comment to let us know your thoughts!
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