Featured Brand // HVC Cigars

January 15, 2020

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Written by Jeff Zeiders

January 15, 2020

·

Written by Jeff Zeiders

One of the most exciting parts of running a cigar subscription service is finding new brands for our members to try. Over the past month we've been hard at work, blind sampling different blends from several boutique brands. Throughout all of our smoking, one brand continued rising to the top: HVC Cigars

HVC is a boutique cigar brand from Miami, FL - founded in 2011 by Reinier Lorenzo. The brand pays homage to Havana City, where he lived for most of his life, eventually learning the art of blending and rolling handmade cigars.

HVC cigars are made at the TABSA [Aganorsa] factory in Esteli, Nicaragua - which happens to be one of my favorites right now. His blends range from Medium - Full body and offer profiles similar to classic cuban brands - bread, cinnamon, caramel and white pepper. His more full bodied blends us Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers and bring deep, constantly changing flavors like: espresso, cocoa, black pepper, cinnamon and earth.

We wanted to feature a heavy dose of HVC in our January and February boxes so all of you could get a taste. Here are a few lines you may see in one of your upcoming boxes:

HVC Serie A Perlas

Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaragua (Corojo '99)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Size: 5 5/8 x 46

This is one of my favorite cigars right now and it uses only the highest graded tobaccos at Aganorsa. A beautiful, tan, Corojo '99 wrapper brings those classic Aganorsa and Cuban flavors to the front of your palate: hay, cedar, nutmeg, oak and white pepper. As the cigar progresses you'll get: milk chocolate, earth, cinnamon and caramel.

Pairing: I recommend going with water or club soda only while smoking this cigar for the first time. There are a lot of nuances and flavors that develop over the length of the cigar that you don't want to miss!

HVC Pan Caliente

Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaragua (Criollo '98)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Size: 5 5/8 x 46

Literally translating to ''hot bread', Pan Caliente delivers an aroma and flavor just like it: Toast, hay, cream, cinnamon and spice. This was one of the first cigars I noticed an enjoyable aroma from the foot. It's... toasty - seriously! This is one of those easy smokes that offers a few, really nice transitions and shows off the lighter side of Nicaraguan tobaccos.

Pairing: Cuban Coffee! This is the type of cigar I picture people in Cuba waking up with. It's light but flavorful with a nice dose of pepper throughout. Pair it with sweet cuban espresso and you''re in for a real treat.

HVC Cerro Maduro [& natural]

Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper [Maduro]: Mexican San Andrés
Wrapper [Natural]: Corojo '99
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Size: 5 x 50

Maduro: Rich chocolate, coffee and black pepper lead the way on this cigar. It has perfect construction with a razor sharp burn that leads into each of it's transitions in flavor. Pair this one with a stout, dark rum or bourbon.

Natural: Every so often you smoke a cigar after reading the tasting notes and think to yourself "oh, this is what ___ tastes like". Well I can tell you one thing, you will taste oak when you smoke this cigar. Right around the end of the first third into the second, bam - this woodsy [oak] profile takes over and it's awesome. Expect other notes like nutmeg, caramel and light spice to join the party as well. Pair with cuban coffee, lagers or rye bourbon.