I often visit my local B&M and walk past the Oliva aisle in his shop. For the last couple of months, I have noticed this good looking smoke with a fancy label. I have picked this cigar up several times, but have put it back for several reasons. First, the sticker price of $13 a stick is a little outrageous. For that price, the cigar has to smoke itself. Second, the fancy label is usually a dead give away that the cigar is flawed and the manufacture is trying to make it look better than it smokes. i.e., CAO America. Finally, I have not heard anything about this line of smokes, so they can't be that good. With all that said, the Oliva family has rarely has disappointed. So with extra cash in my pocket, I decided to finally fire up the Master Blends 3 by Oliva.

Master Blends 3 is the third offering in a series of limited artisanal blends by the Oliva cigar family. It is an extremely complex smoke constructed with Nicaraguan Ligero fillers. The binders are Nicaraguan Habano and finished with a sun-grown Broadleaf. The cigar is then box-pressed to give it a solid look with a firm feel. The end result is an oily, chocolate brown gem waiting to be enjoyed. The Master Blends 3 torpedo, which measures 6 x 52, fired up easy. The draw was painless and the burn was consistent. It held a good size ash until I decided to tap it. What makes this gem so special is it's complex taste. Each time I took a drag off this smoke, I caught a different flavor. So much so, that I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote them down. I noticed cinnamon, nutmeg, molasses, caramel, spice and coffee. The dominate flavors being caramel and cinnamon. This smoke is not for the novice, because I believe they will not be able to appreciate it's complex flavoring. For a price of $215 for a box of 20, you will be wasting your money if you have not developed your cigar palate.

The complexity of the cigar justifies it high price. In the end, the cigar is truly unique and was a pleasure to smoke. I enjoyed this creation immensely and will smoke another very soon. The Master Blends 3 lived up to my expectations. It deserves a fancy label and premium price. Kudos to the Oliva family for another fine offering. It is very worthy of a Golden Monkey Award!!

MonkeyDan Rating: 94