Oliveros Classic Toro

This month we're bringing you the original Oliveros blend, the Classic. It's a well-made, mild-bodied cigar that can be enjoyed by novice as well as seasoned smokers. The choice blend consists of Cuban-seed Dominican and Nicaraguan long-leaf tobaccos wrapped in a chocolate-colored Sumatra wrapper. The wrapper melds with the fillers to create a nutty flavor and a pleasantly smooth smoke from start to finish, including a rich, creamy undertone. The construction is impeccable--firm with no soft spots. The burn is even throughout, unusual for a cigar of this ring size. Check out the re-order prices on these puppies: at under $3 a stick, this could be your go-to everyday smoke. Oliveros Classic is a great breakfast cigar so savor it with your favorite cup of java and the morning paper.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S. The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.