Oliva’s tobacco story begins with Melanio Oliva, who cultivated his first crop in Pinar del Río, Cuba, in 1886. His son Facundo continued the family work, and after the Cuban Revolution grandson Gilberto searched from Panama to the Philippines for soil suited to Cuban-seed tobacco. The family ultimately settled in Nicaragua, where Oliva developed into one of the country’s leading growers and premium cigar makers.

Serie V Melanio honors the family patriarch with carefully fermented ligero from Jalapa beneath an Ecuadorian wrapper; the Maduro expression adds a Mexican San Andrés wrapper. The line’s Figurado was named Cigar Aficionado’s 2014 Cigar of the Year. Since joining the Vandermarliere Cigar Family in 2016, Oliva has continued investing in its Estelí production while carrying forward the family’s focus on cultivation, curing, fermentation, aging, blending, and hand-rolling.