Tag Archives: HVC

by | January 26, 2025 · 10:12 am

Some Viaje Cigars, an HVC and an Espinosa Rerun

I try to include new (to me, or actually new) cigars in my Sunday posts, if nothing else but to create a searchable database of sorts for myself.  This is a blog, with is short for “Web Log”, and I write it for my own benefit and it’s a happy accident that other people choose to spend their time reading it.  This is something for which I am grateful, by the way!  Once in a while I smoke a cigar that I’ve written about in the past that I feel deserves mentioning again.  In this case it was the Espinosa Laranja Azulejo. This week I smoked both the Robusto Extra (5½” x 52) and the Gordo (6″ x 60) and enjoyed them very much!  This has a sungrown Sumatra wrapper,  a Brazilian Arapiraca Binder and Nicaraguan fillers and is made at the San Lotano factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua.  I smoked this back in 2021, and loved it, a recent mention somewhere put it back on my radar, and I picked up a few when I visited a shop in the area that has some Espinosa cigars.  Oddly, not a lot of my local shops have them for some reason. Anyway, I smoked the robusto in the shop on Monday evening, one of the friendliest visits I’ve had to that particular shop in quite some time, and it was an excellent smoke. I picked up the Gordo on the way out because I was so impressed. The gordo is box pressed, so it smoked more like a toro, both shapes have deep, rich espresso and spice flavors, all my favorite flavors. This is a supre good cigar, if you like the cigars I like, you’ll like this one.

 

On to the “new to me” cigars!  On that same visit to a shop on Monday I picked up a Viaje Birthday Blend Collector’s Edition. This shop has a pretty “classic” selection, it was hard for me to find a cigar I hadn’t smoked before.  By the way, Viaje’s website sucks, it’s just a landing page with rudimentary contact info. I got information from Cigara, which is owned by Scandinavian Tobacco. This is a 6¼” x 52 classic torpedo, which comes with a birthday wrapping paper sleeve.  I admit that I don’t know what year this cigar is from, they seem to change every year, and I am not familiar enough with Viaje to know to look. I’m guessing it’s the latest, based on wrapper color and flavor alone, which is Criollo, not one of my favorite tobaccos.  Anyway, I found this to be an interesting cigar, with some mild spice and a somewhat floral quality.  It performed very well and while I wouldn’t seek this out again (unless I find myself in the same shop in the near future and can go look at the box!), but I wouldn’t pass one up if offered.  

 

Smoking the Viaje prompted me to visit Cigar Mojo close to home here knowing that they had some Viaje cigars in stock. I selected a Satori Nirvana, which is the 6″ x 50 toro in the line.  When I see “Satori” I’m reminded of a song off one of my favorite albums, King Crimson’s Beat from 1982, “Sartori in Tangier”.  I know, Satori is different from SaNtori, but my mind goes there.  This has a rather ugly, mottled wrapper, bu that usually means it’s going to taste great. It’s listed as San Andrés wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler, made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras. There were some earthy flavors and some chocolaty flavors, and I rather enjoyed the cigar.  They had a couple other Viaje cigars at Mojo, but they were on the smaller side, maybe I’ll pick them up for the future. 

 

Finally, I got around to picking up an HVC Hotcakes Golden Age in the Laguito No 5 vitola, 6″x 54.  I probably have passed this by in the past because it’s Connecticut wrapped, but I think I’ve worked my way through the HVC line, and had to try this one. I’ve heard good things. This reportedly has some “Corojo 2006 Maduro” in the Nicaraguan filler blend.  This cigar combines the bready, sweet grassy Connecticut Shade flavors with some gutsy sweetness from the fillers.  I like this, and it was very nice smoking this on the porch watching a movie last night, amongst my favorite activities (or lack thereof).

 

I’m not sure what next Sunday’s post will be, it will probably be TPE heavy, as that’s where I’ll be Wednesday thru Friday. So, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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by | February 18, 2024 · 8:34 am

A Couple Rocky Patel Cigars and a HVC Seleccion No. 1

I stopped in to my local Cigar Mojo Thursday evening as the Rocky Patel rep, Alex, was stopping in. It was a fairly quiet evening there, people wise, not really sound wise. Between the air system and the music, I struggle with being able to hear people talk in there (most places, really), it’s fine if I’m there alone, but it’s hard for me to carry on a conversation. I have some specific hearing loss issues, so that’s my problem, if we are ever together and I ask you to repeat yourself, that’s why.  Anyway, I picked out a couple cigars I hadn’t smoked before, that weren’t the $100 Conviction.  I lit up a, A.L.R. Second Edition in the Toro size.  I always liked the Rocky Patel Toros, 6½” x 52, I like that extra half inch.  The A.L.R. has a San Andrés wrapper, although not maduro to my eye or palate. The binder and filler are Nicaraguan and the “limited” part of the “aged,” “limited” and “rare” is that they only made 120,000 of them. While that seems like a big number, it’s not UNlimited, so there’s that. They are aged 2 years and rare?, not sure about the rare part.  I’ve heard raves about this cigar, and it wasn’t inexpensive (by my standards), so I had expectations.  Sadly, those expectations were not exceeded, however it was a fine cigar.  It has some cocoa and woodyness, I liked it enough, but it wasn’t mindblowing. Solid B+.  I left Mojo after the cigar to watch hockey a home, it literally only takes me a TV timeout to get home from there. 

 

Friday evening I smoked another Rocky Patel cigar that I hadn’t smoked before, the Disciple. Why is this Toro only 6″ insead of 6½”?  Seems like it comes from the same factory in Nicaragua.  I was drawn to the color scheme, and the fact that it was the only other one (besides the aforementioned silly $100 cigar), that I hadn’t moked before. The copper and black bands look sharm against the San Andrés maduro wrapper.  With the binder and fillers listed as Nicaraguan, the blend looks identical to the A.L.R., but this is a vastly different cigar!  For one, this is one I really liked, which means it will probably be discontinued soon, as happens with every RP cigar I’ve found that I liked.  I hope this isn’t the case, this one was right up my alley. It had dark chocolate and dark dried fruits, a flavor combo I like a lot.  No complaints about the burn and draw on either of the RP cigars I smoked, I generally have no problems with TAVICUSA output.  They do a nice job in that factory, although I’ve probably moked more All Saints than Rocky Patel.  This is a must try.

 

Also while I was at Mojo I grabbed a HVC Seleccion No. 1 Maduro Podorosos, the toro size.  I’ve really been enjoying the HVC line and have been trying to sample something new whenever I stop in there.  I’ve got some catching up to do.  This is yet another San Andrés wrapped cigar with Nicaraguan binder and fillers, I’ve apparently fallen into a rut.  A delicious rut, as this is another cigar that I really enjoyed.  It would have been totally appropriate for me to have smoked an Upsetters from Foundation as we saw the Bob Marley: One Love movie yesterday, but I neither had one on hand, nor do I desire to smoke an infused cigar.  Not even the least bit curious.  The HVC Seleccion No. 1 Maduro was really tasty, rich and meaty.  I feel compelled to sample the natural version next time.  I continue to be impressed with the HVC line.  If you’re wondering, “Poderosos” translates to “Powerful”, which I don’t think this cigar necessarily is, but I would call it full bodied.

 

I believe I promised to announce a winner of the giveaway, which includes a five pack of the Crowned Heads Mother Church, along with five other cigars from my humidor.  I have to say, I’m disappointed in the turnout for this one, although it’s better odds for those who entered!  I consulted the random number generator and it selected the third comment, which is Craig Gilpin!  I might be able to save postage on this one as Craig in addition to having an excellent name, is local. Congrats Craig! Let’s plan to meet up! 

 

That’s all for today, we’re off to tour the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia today.  I’m going to resist the urge to smoke some Al Capone cigars (probably not hard).  Until the next time. 

 

CigarCraig

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by | January 7, 2024 · 10:32 am

Gurkha, Adrian Magnus and HVC Cigars, and a Story

Seems like almost a replay of last week, eh?  Some of the same brands, different cigars.  I smoked the Adrian Magnus XO, which is Cognac infused, and decided it wasn’t for me. Besides the fact that I haven’t touched spirits in over 30 years and have no frame of reference for that flavor palate, it just wasn’t my cup of tea.  Less said about it, the better, but if you like that sort of thing, go for it.  So I hoped for some redemption with the Gurkha 35th Anniversary Toro.  This has a Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder and Criollo 98 Nicaraguan Esteli fillers in a 6″ x 54 format, made at the Artista factory.  I don’t usually look up the stats on cigars before smoking them, but I was not at all surprised when I read that this was predominantly Criollo. This is a really nice looking cigar, the Habano wrapper is a nice café au lait brown, and it was well made.  Criollo tobacco has a tart bite that I don’t care for, going back many years. So much for redemption. If I smoked cigars I really liked all the time this would be a boring blog.  If you like Criollo tobacco, you’ll really like this Gurkha 35th Anniversary, and it’s reasonably priced.

 

Adrian Magnus does made some really good cigars, and the Supremos is another one that I tried and really enjoyed.  Maybe I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the Imperials, but I certainly liked it more than the XO.  This is a medium bodied cigar made in the Dominican Republic in a 5″ x 50 format.  It boasts seven year aged tobaccos, and to my eye, the only way I could tell it apart from the Imperials is by the color of the band.  Again, the company is not forthcoming with blend details.  The flavor is different though, so it’s definitely more than just the age statement.  This starts with a sourness, not off putting, but like a sourdough bread.  Eventually a sugar cane sweetness takes over, not excessive, but enough to be interesting. I enjoyed this one, but find myself wanting to go find an old favorite to smoke.  

 

I have a story to tell that I probably should have told nearly 2 years ago when it happened, but I had some reasons for holding off. Since I just heard that the store has closed, I’m going to put it out there.  When Son’s Cigars opened up in late 2020 I was told by the manager that if I ever wanted part time work to let him know. It wasn’t until the winter of ’21 that I was in the position to work some extra hours, and I offered my services for Friday nights. Knowing the manager (who has since moved on to another shop), I trusted that compensation would be handled at some point, I wasn’t looking to get rich, but I wasn’t looking to do volunteer work either.  Over the course of three months I put in over 40 hours before I said “enough is enough”, I gotta start seeing a paycheck here, and the fun started. I was told that the owner, who also owned a shop or two in NY, and owns a cigar brand, hadn’t approved my hiring, so I couldn’t be added to the payroll.  He offered to compensate me with a store gift card.  Then, he came back and reneged on that and said that my purchases using an employee discount was equal to the compensation I was due.  I could have made a scene, I only mentioned it to a couple people, and I avoided the owners offer to meet to tell me his side of the story because I really didn’t want to hear it, I’ve heard plenty of stories about this guy and just wanted to chalk it up to experience. It was just better for my sanity to let it go and walk away. I spent a few Friday nights smoking cigars and helping customers select cigars that they might enjoy. In the future, I’ll get some details ironed out up front, I was dealing in good faith, and that was taken advantage of. I think the manager was complicit in this as well, he had to know, as I knew he was getting screwed over by the owner as well. I wish he’d have been a friend enough to cut things off before I had to.  I distanced myself from the establishment, I even gave back a sample of the owners cigar to his distributor at the trade show on principle.  I’ve left the names out to not be a complete d*ck, but it’s not hard to put things together. It’s a shame that Son’s wasn’t handled better, but there are better places around now. Karma gets you every time.  I have Cigar Mojo less than a mile away, which has a much nicer lounge, and the selection is getting there…

 

Speaking of Cigar Mojo, I stopped in yesterday looking for something that I hadn’t smoked before, but I felt would scratch that itch I was having. I was fortunate to run into Trae, one of the owners, there and we had a nice chat. I ended up getting a couple HVC Black Friday 2023 Petit Gordo that I hadn’t smoked. This turned out to have been a great choice.  The Petit Gordo is 4½ x 56, just the right size for a hockey period!  It has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper with a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua, which are lower primings.  This is a medium bodied cigar, like a larger Black Friday Firecracker, without the kick!  It was smooth and chocolaty, not that it didn’t start with some spice, it did, but it was quite good. It scratched my itch and I’m glad I got more than one and there’s a bunch of them a mile away if I want more!  I need to sample more of the HVC line as I have always enjoyed the ones I’ve smoked.  I haven’t met Renier Lorenzo, but I’ve heard good things about him. I’ll grab some more HVCs.  

 

That’s more than enough for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | July 30, 2023 · 10:40 am

Cohiba HVC Black Friday, Reinado and Iron Pigs, Bacon and Flying Pig Cigars

We went to a baseball game last night, but more on that later, lets recap a few cigars I smoked earlier in the week. At the Atlantic City Cigar Festival I saw an old friend, Sean Williams, who was handing out Cohiba Rivieras at his booth.  I met Sean back around 2011, I think, at the Delaware Cigar Festival, or the IPCPR show, I forget which. I do remember seeing him at the IPCPR show and he introduced me to his friend Willy Herrera, who was helping him blend some of his cigars at the time. I hadn’t tried this Cohiba Riviera, so Thursday seemed like a good enough day to smoke one.  This is the first Box pressed “red dot” Cohiba, and the first that doesn’t have any Dominican tobacco. It has a San Andrés wrapper (another Cohiba first), Honduran Connecticut binder (broadleaf?) and fillers from Jamastran, and La Entrada in Honduras and Condega and Esteli in Nicaragua. The Robusto I had is 5″ x 52, the box press makes it feel small, which is probably why it took me awhile to get around to smoking it. This smoked very well, as one would expect a $20 cigar to smoke. It tasted much like one would expect a Honduran/Nicaraguan blend with a Mexican wrapper to taste, which, to me, was quite good, with rich, earthy coffee, cocoa, espresso, etc. notes.  I rather enjoyed it. As with most things in the “luxury” segment, be it food, cars, watches, I’m not the target audience. I’m a low frills kind of guy, but I do appreciate it, there’s just more affordable luxuries I appreciate as much. 

 

I had picked up a HVC Black Friday 2022 a few weeks ago, I had smoked the Firecracker and maybe one other iteration of the Black Friday series ( I think the 2021) and enjoyed it. This is the first of the series that is made in Fábrica de Tabacos HVC S.A. de Reinier Lorenzo as opposed to Aganorsa, although I can’t say I noticed any quality difference.  I would have liked it if my example had been a tad drier, which is the fault of my humidors, I guess. The tobaccos in this may need to be stored with less humidity, or dry boxed, I don’t know, most cigars burn fine out of my humidors, every now and then one is weird. My fault for not being as diligent with my Humidimeter as I should be!  The Black Friday has an Ecuador Habano wrapper and the rest is from Jalapa and Esteli with, apparently, no ligero.  It was on the medium side, with nice, nutty flavors and some syrupy sweetness.  It was a hot and humid evening, which may have added to my issues, also not a great time for a nicotine-heavy cigar for me! I’ll try again with some dry down time. 

 

I was up obnoxiously early yesterday morning so I pretty much went from bed, to the coffeemaker to the porch and lit up a Reinado Connecticut C29 that Antonio Lam had given me when I saw him at the aforementioned AC Cigar Fest. Before I go on, I’d like to mention that as I type I’m smoking an El Güegüense that was from the original release (probably a 2016 trade show sample) that is simply divine. I don’t think I appreciated this blend as much then as I do at this very moment, whether it’s the age on this cigar, the beautiful morning, or what. It’s creamy, it’s got a hint of light spice, it’s just perfection.  What made my think about that, besides being distracted by the smoke, was that I had the same thought yesterday morning as I sat in the dawning hours of the day, as the sun came up, enjoying the Reinado C29. The details of this. cigar are veiled in secrecy, obviously it has a Connecticut wrapper, Ecuadoran would be my guess, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s made at Aganorsa, like his Grand Apex (which is also exceptional). I have trouble loving a lot of Aganorsa cigars, however, Antonio’s cigars I do love, and if the C29 is made there, it’s one more I really loved.  It was creamy, plenty of flavor, and burned perfectly. It was a great cigar to smoke on a quiet morning unencumbered by distractions. 

 

Last night some friends treated up to a baseball game in Allentown, PA.  The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs are the Philadelphia Phillies Triple A farm team, and the upside is that they have a heavy bacon-centric theme.  We snacked on chocolate covered bacon and skewered candied bacon, but sadly they were out of the bacon cannolis. Between innings they had races with people dressed as various pork based meats, and the players uniforms had Bacon emblazoned across the front.  Fred Rewey would have been severely overstimulated. I misunderstood the team name and wore a Flying Pig shirt, and smoked a Kentucky Fire Cured Flying Pig on the ride home, as Coca Cola Stadium is non-smoking. When I first smoked the KFC at Cigar Safari 10 years ago I didn’t like it at all, it was too “campfire” for me. This Flying Pig, and I don’t remember where I got them, or how long I’ve had them, was very good, it had some nice sweet woodiness. I can’t recommend smoking a 4″ x 60 in a dark, stick shift car, though, that was less than ideal, but it was a good smoke, and it was a really fun game, with fireworks after the game. I’m not a baseball fan, and I’m confused by some of the new rules,  but it’s nostalgic, I went to a lot of games as a kid, and I always enjoyed minor league games for the entertainment value. 

 

There’s a lot coming up this week.  Tonight, if you are in the Limerick, PA area, stop by Goose’s and see my friend Mike Kropp perform at the Goose Pond.  Next Saturday, August 5, at the Leaf Cigar Bar in Easton, PA celebrate Jerry Garcia’s Birthday with live music at 3. Delaware Cigar Week kicks off on Thursday, August 3th with a schedule of events running through Sunday.  Could be a busy weekend!

 

That’s all for today! Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | February 13, 2022 · 10:36 am

Some HVC and Adventura Cigars

Friday evening I started something a little new to me, I started working part time at Son’s Cigars. “Working” is a bit of a stretch, as I just helped some folks make some selections in the well appointed humidor. I told Vince that because of the physical demands of my day job, Friday evenings was a about the best I could do working in the shop, as they are open until 11. I’m much too old to stay up that late any other night, and most evenings I’m asleep by 10 anyway.  As it turns out, Adrian Acosta was there doing an event with Dapper, HVC and Adventura cigars, so naturally I smoked some cigars from those companies. HVC was one of the companies I have been interested in smoking more of anyway, so I was excited to light up the HVC Broadleaf Toro. This was a great way to both end one work day and start another! This 6″ x 52 toro has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers and is made at Aganorsa’s TABSA factory. It’s a great cigar, loaded with dark, rich espresso and semi-sweet chocolate. Like I said, it was a lovely way to start off the night.

 

I have to admit, it’s incredibly satisfying to recommend a personal favorite cigar to an occasional cigar smoker in the humidor, and have them come back and buy a second one because they enjoyed it so much. I suppose over 25 years of smoking cigars has given me some insight. I’ve been putting off actually working in the cigar industry for many years but Vince offered me the opportunity and I figured what the hell! I really like the shop and know the area and a lot of the regulars already anyway. It’ll be interesting.

 

I smoked the King’s Gold from Adventura Cigars while I was working Friday evening as well. I had smoked the Queen’s Pearls last week and it was pretty good, so I was looking forward to this one. I have a Robusto here yet that I should have smoked yesterday, because when one smokes a cigar in a cigar shop, working or not, one can’t get a really good idea about the cigar, there are too many external influences, and this was my second cigar of the night. I want to say it was medium bodied, and toasty.  I’ll circle back to it later, but it burned well. I smoked the Toro size, which is 6″ x 54, a nice size. This was another Connecticut Broadleaf cigar, San Andrés binder and fillers from Nicaragua, DR and USA. I suppose I expected more of a punch from this, it seemed milder than I expected, I put it on the medium end of the spectrum. Perhaps in the smaller vitolas, and on a fresh palate it will give me more.

 

Last night I smoked a cigar that came to me via my CigarCraig Secret Santa, an HVC Ediciòn Especial 2015 Corona. This 5″ x 46 corona has a San Andrés wrapper with Nicaraguan fillers. I was looking for a shorter smoke and this fit the bill. I was getting a later than usual start and didn’t want to be up late again! This cigar has a very unique flavor! It has a heavy, cloying mouthfeel, like black licorice, but not in flavor if that makes sense. It has an earthy sweetness, with a long finish. It was very good, and that overwhelming mouth coating was very interesting. I don’t often get that unless I get my hands on some Australian licorice. The sticky kind. Not that nasty salty kind they like in the nordic countries, that stuff is raunchy. I digress. This cigar was good, and I think I’ll try the 2018 the next chance I have. I know Son’s has some of the Ediciòn Especials.

 

That’s all for today. It’s snowing unexpectedly. It was practically 60º yesterday, now there’s a few inches of white crap on the ground and I need a haircut and have to get a propane tank filled. Oh well. I guess I can watch some Olympics today and smoke some cigars. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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