January 9, 2024 Patrick Lagreid Cigars,  HVC Cigars,  Limited Edition,  Nicaragua,  Reviews

HVC Black Friday 2023

While it won’t get acknowledged as an anniversary cigar, the HVC Black Friday 2023 marks the 10th installment of HVC’s line that recognizes the consumer shopping day that follows the day after Thanksgiving, though the line has only been around for nine years.

The HVC Black Friday 2023 is a 4 1/2 x 56 petit gordo that uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua. The company says those Nicaraguan filler tobaccos come from Jalapa and are visos and secos, meaning the tobaccos come from the lower two-thirds of a plant.

Each cigar has an MSRP of $9.80 per cigar, and production was limited to 600 boxes of 50 cigars.

With Black Friday taking place on Nov. 24, 2023, the company began shipping the cigars in late October to ensure they were on store shelves ahead of the 24th.

  • Cigar Reviewed: HVC Black Friday 2023
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos HVC S.A. de Reinier Lorenzo
  • Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Length: 4 1/2 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 56
  • Vitola: Petit Gordo
  • MSRP: $9.80 (Box of 50, $490)
  • Release Date: October 2023
  • Number of Cigars Released: 600 Boxes of 50 Cigars (30,000 Total Cigars)
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The wrapper leaves on the HVC Black Friday 2023 are on the rough side with a good amount of texture for my fingers thanks to its toothy bumps, with some traces of oiliness to be found as well. The cigars are rolled firmly enough to warrant being described as hard, giving them a noticeable density and mass in the hand. While I can see the seam lines and there are some veins, there is little in the way of what I would call a visual distraction, as the wrapper leaves are a consistent shade of dark brown with very little variation. The foot has a very enjoyable aroma of a light grape jelly on wheat toast, almost exactly mimicking what I’d expect as part of breakfast at a diner. There’s a bit of a cool cream note as well, prominent at the first sniff but steadily fading into the background with subsequent sniffs. The cold draw is smooth and more toast-forward, almost the last piece on the plate used to wipe off the jelly from the knife, though one sample has a rather airy and creamy flavor.

Given the prelight profile, I’m not surprised that the HVC Black Friday 2023 starts off with a toasty profile, which then gets joined by light earth, pepper, and wood through the retrohale. One cigar has a bit of chalk, which is a turn-off, but I’m willing to call it an aberration. A bit of soil joins the profile in the first inch, as does a touch of creaminess that makes the soil taste a bit damp. Retrohales aren’t shy with the pepper, a sensation that comes across as typical black pepper at first but then adds either a bit of chili oil heat on the finish or a chalky bright note, making for two distinct experiences. The one knock I have with the retrohales is that they aren’t in alignment with the puffs, with neither part complementing the other. Flavor is medium-plus, body is medium and strength is medium-minus. Construction is very good, and with a bit of conscientious handling, the ash can easily hold on into the second third.

The second third of the HVC Black Friday 2023 makes a bit of a pivot, embracing the lighter profile suggested by the chalkier note, a somewhat odd directional choice for my palate, as I find it to be the less desirable parts of the profile. While I’m not happy to report this, retrohales are now more in line with the puffs, though that just means more of the chalk with a funky pepper as the secondary sensation. Somewhere around the midpoint, the flavor sheds the chalk, shifting to a robust, earthy gruffness that seems to signal the transition to the final third, consistently appearing right around the same spot in each cigar. There’s a thin, light flavor that reminds me of the remnants of a glass of root beer, with some funky, herbal sweetness that brings this section to a close. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium and strength is still medium-minus. Construction stays good, with one relight needed across all three cigars in this section.

The final third starts off with the gruff earth that ended the second third, with the flavor making a decided pivot from where things have been thus far. There is a bit of wood making itself known, which for a fleeting moment seems like a good addition but quickly renders itself as an addition that sharpens up to make me question that assessment. There’s a point in all three of the HVC Black Friday 2023 when I struggle to identify exactly what it is I’m tasting; at some times, it seems like a flavor that I’d find in a dram of Scotch whisky, slightly sweet but also with an undertone that doesn’t immediately register. The final puffs of the cigar leave something to be desired as it dries out and sharpens up the earth and soil, and there are some new dry woods joining in to further enhance the effect. Flavor finishes at medium-plus, body at medium and strength at medium-minus. Construction is very good, though combustion is the one challenge in this department, as it is the most finicky than any of the other aspects.

Final Notes

  • This is one of the rare times that a cigar band features the name of the vitola.
  • That secondary band with the vitola on it was quite tightly attached, not sliding or twisting whatsoever. The end was also affixed quite well, requiring me to work up a corner before being able to peel it off, though all three came off cleanly.
  • The main band was equally as challenging to twist or slide but was easier to peel off.
  • As I was taking the very first puffs of the second cigar I smoked, the head of the cigar came unraveled, almost springing off the cigar as if it were stretched as far as it could go and just looking for anything to release the tension.
  • I didn’t get any strength from the HVC Black Friday 2023.
  • The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel. HVC Cigars provided a box of these, but they were not used for this review.
  • Final smoking time was one hour and 55 minutes on average.
  • Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Famous Smoke Shop and Smoking Pipes carry the HVC Black Friday 2023.
87 Overall Score

The HVC Black Friday 2023 starts off with enough vibrancy to have me engaged and intrigued, but after the first third, the rest of the cigar left me lacking, failing to capture my attention and forcing me to pay attention to a profile that felt like it lacked the ability to offer the kind of distinctive flavors that push cigars into a level of high regard. The HVC Black Friday 2023 does a decent job in terms of construction, but once its first third is done, the flavor stumbles through a set of decent but rather pedestrian profiles that have a hard time capturing my attention. It's a cigar that's certainly worth a try, but it won't be replacing any of the other blends from HVC that I find to be more engaging.

Fábrica de Tabacos HVC S.A. de Reinier Lorenzo HVC Black Friday HVC Black Friday 2023 HVC Cigars Nicaragua Petit Gordo
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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.

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