PCA 2025: Oliva

I chose to highlight the first exhibitor report from the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, which features Oliva, for a specific reason. Fifteen years ago, at IPCPR 2010, I attended my first Trade Show in New Orleans, and the first booth I visited (and the first booth report I filed) was from Oliva. Today, Oliva is a very different company from 15 years ago, but one theme is constant. I noted back in 2010 that Oliva bridged classic and contemporary in their booth, and that has remained.

Usually, I don’t get involved with describing a booth layout. In some ways, it’s more boring than discussing wrapper, binder, and filler. Yes, there was a giant panoramic screen where Masters Golf was broadcast, but in this case, the booth layout had a lot to say about where Oliva is heading.

For the past two years, one could argue that the company has given a lot of attention to its flagship brands, Serie V and Serie V Melanio. While certainly those brands are important to Oliva, there was little doubt that Oliva is also trying to give attention to its other brands.

Cuba Aliados

First up was Cuba Aliados, a brand that falls into the “classic” category in my book.. This was a brand acquired by Oliva and reintroduced to the market in 2022. Over the past two years, Cuba Aliados had been separated from the Oliva booth. This year, it was back in the Oliva booth and took its place alongside the other Oliva brands.

Cain

Cain is a very contemporary brand in the Oliva portfolio that has been around for almost two decades. While it has always been part of the Oliva portfolio, it seemed to be getting less and less attention. This year, it seemed as though Cain was much more prominently featured.

Nub

Nub represents a contemporary brand within the Oliva portfolio. This year, Oliva has established a dedicated website for Nub while simultaneously showcasing it as part of its family of brands.

This year, the new item introduced is the updated boxes for Nub. These boxes are now more modern, painted white, with each blend featuring its own unique color scheme for the banding.