Cigar Review: Oceano by La Sirena

Vitola: Southern (Petite Corona)
Size: 5” x 43 ring gauge
MSRP ~$8.50
Purchased at Silo Cigars

Background

2014 has been a busy year for Arielle Ditkowich. She took full possession of her brand and responsibility for distribution of it at the beginning of the year. Shortly into the second quarter of 2014, La Sirena absorbed the Jaxx Cigars brand (which was co-founded by Arielle’s father, Danny). Then it was announced that the La Sirena “original blend” would be moved from the My Father factory to Eric Espinosa’s La Zona factory, with the blending getting a little tweaking (it might actually be more than a “little tweaking” as the wrapper is now listed as “Habano Oscuro” instead of the Original Original’s Connecticut Broadleaf). And finally, a brand new brand was released at the IPCPR show under the La Sirena banner: Oceano.

Oceano was designed to be a stronger cigar and is made by the Quesada factory in the Dominican Republic. It uses Dominican Criollo Visos and Ligeros as well as Nicaraguan Viso for the fillers, a Dominican Criollo binder, and a Dominican Habano Vuelta Arriba wrapper leaf. It is offered in 4 regular production sizes as well as a limited production (500 boxes of 20) perfecto called “Arctic.” I picked up my first Oceano on my last trip to Knoxville and saved it for this review.

Note: some data for the background section was from the Cigar-Coop website; check out the source stories HERE and HERE.

Prelight

This is the first La Sirena product where the band isn’t somewhat outrageously large. The super-sized bands were a serendipitous mistake on the first La Sirena release, but because so well-known that the practice was carried over to Merlion. This time, though, the band is more normal in size, though with an intricate die-cut and plenty of gold foil and embossing. Here’s the thing, though…the picture of a mermaid on the rocks with the ocean splashing around her would be much more visible and striking if the band were the larger size. As it is, it’s hard to see what it is (yes, my vision is still pretty decent…last time I had it checked, it was close to 20/20). The type is also a little lost in the background. Taken altogether the band is nice, but not nearly as distinctive and striking as the original.

The wrapper leaf was a milk chocolate brown color with some darker streaking and mottling, as well as a decent amount of oils under the fingers. It had a nice woodsy, semi-earthy aroma to it…just a touch of manure scent. The foot had more of the same manure and earth, with just a hint of cedar and sweet hay. The cold draw was excellent and tasted of muted earth and grass.

Flavor

The Dominican roots of the Oceano were immediately evident on lighting it up. I got an earthy, woodsy note that I’ve encountered before in some other cigars from Quesada, Rodrigo and even Caldwell. I should also note that this wasn’t a bad thing, although it made me doubt right from the start if this would indeed be a “strong cigar” like the company was looking for. I detected good, well balanced notes of cedar and hay alongside the earth, with some sweeter, almost raisin-like fruit notes underneath. On the retrohale I got a little burnt toast and just a pinch of black pepper.

As I started the second third, I would call the Oceano medium-plus in body. Cedar had worked its way into being the dominant flavor, though there was still plenty of toast, earth and hay in the mix, as well. As the second third continued to burn I started to get a little bit of pepper on the palate.

In the last third i got a further increase in pepper as well as a resurgence of sweetness on the palate, with the toasty and earthy flavors diminishing a bit. It did edge into the full bodied range a bit by the end.

Construction

I experienced zero issues with construction: great draw, very even burn line, and a solid ash.

Value

The Oceano mostly occupies space at the upper end of the mid-range of cigar pricing, which I define as anything between about $6 and $10.50 per stick. I would call it a good value.

Conclusions

The La Sirena Oceano is a fine example of a modern Dominican blend with a good amount of complexity, body and strength. I don’t see it as being as strong or full-bodied as the original La Sirena, but it is unique in the lineup and overall a solid smoking experience. If you enjoy the newer style of Dominican cigars that companies like Rodrigo and Caldwell have been producing in the last few years, I think you may really enjoy this cigar.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10