I tend to think that booth placement is quite overrated. Ultimately, if a company is popular enough, people will walk to wherever the booth is. However, for smaller companies, booth placement can dramatically affect how the show flows—this is perhaps most true for HVC Cigars this year.

Reinier Lorenzo’s booth has been fairly busy over the last few years of the trade show, but he told me that this was his best Day 1 he’s ever had, and it wasn’t even halfway through Saturday when he was telling me that. It’s likely because HVC is located right across from Arturo Fuente and J.C. Newman, and not that far away from Padrón, Boveda and others. If nothing else, it’s a very different vibe compared to the back of the trade show.

As for the booth, it’s a fairly basic wide booth with some display cases and tables to meet at. While the lighting is pretty atrocious, I like that Lorenzo put all of his new products in one case, which makes it a lot easier for me to figure out what’s going on.

HVC 500 Years Salomon

The 500 Years line was introduced in 2019 to commemorate the 500th birthday of Havana, Cuba, the hometown of Reinier Lorenzo and actually the inspiration for the name of HVC: Havana City.

What’s perhaps most interesting about this Salomon is that the original 500 Years, along with the two subsequent sizes, have all been made at AGANORSA Leaf’s Agricola Ganadera Norteña S.A. factory, but the new size is being made at HVC’s Fábrica de Tabacos HVC S.A. de Reinier Lorenzo. Even more interesting, HVC will continue to have two sizes made at Agricola Ganadera Norteña, while the Salomon will be made at a different factory in the same city.

  • Wrapper: Nicaragua (Corojo 99 Jalapa)
  • Binder: Nicaragua (Jalapa)
  • Filler: Nicaragua (Criollo 98 & Corojo 99)
  • HVC 500 Years Salomon (6 3/4 x 56) — $13.50 (Box of 15, $202.50)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: August 2022

HVC Selección No. 1

I heard Lorenzo tell a number of retailers “after dinner” when handing them this cigar. “After dinner,” he said in his thick Cuban accent. There are either two things at play here. Either A. Lorenzo was hoping that all of the people he gave samples to would smoke it after dinner so other people would ask them what they are smoking and people would reply, “this new HVC.” (This would be some sort of marketing technique.) Or B., this cigar might be strong.

I’m going with B.

  • Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua (Estelí & Jalapa)
  • HVC Selección No. 1 Short Robustos (4 1/2 x 52) — $9.30 (Box of 20, $186)
  • HVC Selección No. 1 Esenciales (5 5/8 x 46) — $8.40 (Box of 20, $168)
  • HVC Selección No. 1 Poderosos (6 x 54) — $10.40 (Box of 20, $208)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: July 2022

Not pictured.

HVC Black Friday 2022

This came up in conversation and I’m told it’s already in production, though it is not at the trade show. It will be a robusto extra size.

Not pictured.

HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare

This was announced in January at TPE 2022 and was supposed to ship in late March. It still has not happened, and I was curious to see if it would be here in Las Vegas. It’s not, but Lorenzo told me that he hopes to have it in stores at least a month before the HVC Black Friday 2022, meaning it should be mid-October.

The HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare is a 6 x 52 belicoso that uses an Ecuadorian Sumatran wrapper over an Ecuadorian habano binder and Dominican criollo 98 and medio tiempo fillers from Estelí, Nicaragua. It will be rolled at El Titan de Bronze in Miami.

  • Wrapper: Ecuador (Sumatra)
  • Binder: Ecuador (Habano)
  • Filler: Dominican Republic (Criollo 98) & Nicaragua (Estelí Medio Tiempo)
  • HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare (6 x 52) — $20 (Box of 10, $200)

Production: 500 Boxes of 10 Cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)

Release Date: October 2022

Overall Score

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.