Ask near-any seasoned cigar smoker for their favorite brands and 9 times out of 10 that list will include the famed Oliva Cigar Company. And critics will surely agree, with the brand ranking among Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 Cigars of the Year every year since 2006!

The Olivas proudly trace their lineage in the tobacco industry back to the late 1800s, with the brand’s patriarch, Melanio Oliva, first growing tobacco in Cuba’s famed Pinar del Rio region. But it wasn’t until the mid-90s, in the wake of the “Great Cigar Boom,” that cigar smokers became acquainted with the family—as they shifted gears towards the manufacturing side of the industry. Introducing a straightforward lineup that smokers could easily identify with (Serie G, Serie O, and Serie V), enthusiasts were suddenly stocking their humidors with the astonishingly low-priced, high value Olivas.

The “gateway smoke,” so to speak, is the Oliva Serie G—a premium, Nicaraguan blend that continues to baffle enthusiasts to this day—with prices starting as low as the $3 range! Sure, your average, run-of-the-mill ‘gars can be found for less, but the Oliva Serie G not only utilizes a filler blend of premium, Nicaraguan leaf, but is capped with the “crème de la crème” of wrapper tobaccos: African Cameroon. Because of the exotic leaf’s difficulty to acquire (often requiring Narcos-level deals in dangerous territories of Africa), cigars wrapped in this variety often carry the highest price ranges in the industry… Which makes the value of Oliva Serie G just that much more astonishing!

Oliva Serie G claimed Cigar Aficionado’s #11 spot in 2006, offering a medium body and pleasant notes of cedar, drip-brew coffee, creamy sweetness, and superior balance