Wrapper: Nicaraguan Criollo 98
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 6.5 X 56 “Figurado”
Body: Medium
Price: $10.40 MSRP
Today we take a look at the fairly new HVC Vieja Cosecha No.2.
A gift from a good friend, Carter Tinsley.
BACKGROUND:
Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Raíces Cubanas S. de R.L.
Debuted at the 2015 IPCPR trade show.
Date Released: Aug. 27, 2015.
Limited production.
200 Boxes of 20 Cigars.
Vieja Cosecha translates to “Old Crop.”
I reviewed the HVC Vieja Cosecha No.1 back in May, 2015.
HVC Cigars does not have a web site. They do have a Face Book page. Therefore, I have no source for additional information.
I did discover that only AGANORSA tobaccos were used that have been aged for five years.
As this is such a limited production, the big online stores don’t carry them. Not even the usual discount boutique stores. If you Google the cigar, there are plenty of smaller online stores that still carry them.
DESCRIPTION:
Nice looking stick. A very mottled, oily, dark coffee bean colored wrapper. Seams are tight. Lots of veins. A perfect example of journeyman rolling. A gorgeous cap.
But the HVC Vieja Cosecha No.2 is very light in the hand. Could have been packed with more fillers…my opinion.
The double cigar bands are sort of garish. The main band is OK. But the secondary band is a friggin billboard. Not the best looking design.
AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I smell wonderful floral notes, sweetness, spice, cinnamon, and hot cocoa.
From the clipped cap and the foot, I smell barnyard, spice, cinnamon, chocolate, floral notes, and shortbread.
The cold draw presents flavors of shortbread cookies, vanilla bean, spice, cinnamon, and dirt. (Thought that would be a nice change from “earthiness.”)
FIRST THIRD:
The open foot is only 7/16” diameter. Every time I light a small foot, it’s a disaster. Not the cigar’s fault. Mine.
Here goes nuttin’ honey.
Wow. Spicy, baby, spicy. It is difficult to hold the pointy end of the cap in my mouth while typing. It wants to shoot out like a turd after a hard night of drinking. And I don’t want to resort to my bad habit of chewing the cap as it makes for disgusting photos.
Flavors kick in immediately: Creaminess, spice, coffee, chocolate, malts, salty pretzel, and maple.
The foot tries to canoe on me. My fault, as usual. So I correct it and lay it down to cool off. And re-organize its thoughts.
There is an immediate nice balance. And the makings of an interesting tasty finish.
What was light in the hand, is now heavy in the mouth. I believe the prophet, Jim Jones, said that.
The combo of cocoa and coffee becomes mocha java. Better than any infused form of this flavor.
Godamm the Pusherman! The light switch turned on like a hooker seeing a $1000 bill for the first time. (You should have seen the look on Charlotte’s face). I’m in trouble now. Charlotte’s boss’s husband is a cigar smoker and occasionally reads me. This will get back to Charlotte on Monday. Thanks Fred.
It’s right at freezing at the moment…32°. And it’s a little windy and I have the big dining room window open. So it’s more like 25°. Yesterday, we had 25 mph winds and it was unbearable. Can’t imagine what the poor folks down south and east of us are managing. It is usually Wisconsin that gets this horrifying weather. So far, so good. May the Cosmic Muffin smile down upon us Wisconsinites and the PACKERS!
Strength is medium body.
The HVC Vieja Cosecha No.2 is picking up steam now.
Flavors include the addition of ginger, graham cracker, roasted nuts, and a touch of black licorice. The shortbread was replaced by the graham cracker.
Flavors aren’t big and bold but they are delightful and gratifying. Like me.
Construction is good. And the char line? Not a lick of trouble. Badda-bing!
For a cigar that felt so light in the hand, it is a very slow smoke.
This is a blend is a great follow up to the HVC Vieja Cosecha No.1 last year. Carter also sent me the HVC Edición Especial Toro 2015 to review and I can’t wait to get to it.
I took a look at some reviews that popped up from a year ago, or longer, due to them being on some daily specials. My site stats page shows the review and how many times it was hit. So when I see a shit load of Torano Hogshead, I know CI is having a sale. (Terrible cigar, by the way..I slammed it good).
Anyway, I went back and read some old stuff. I’ve been kidding myself. I really clever and a worthy wordsmith back then. This dreaded disease has allowed me to believe I write just as well; when I clearly don’t. So thanks for sticking with me my lovelies.
SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 35 minutes.
Flavors have flattened out some. Transitions have come to a halt.
Strength has dissipated to mild/medium.
All spiciness is gone. The cigar is on life support.
Wha’ Happened?
Flavors are more subliminal than actually there.
The most alarming thing for me is the now absent malts. We are left with chocolate, creaminess, espresso, cedar, and graham cracker. That’s all folks.
Construction remains in control. The char line is dead nuts.
But I am very disappointed that the cigar blend in the HVC Vieja Cosecha No.2 didn’t take off like a rocket. Instead, it crawled back into the whole whence it came.
This is not the behavior of a $10.00 blend. Now I’m beginning to wonder about why there were only 200 boxes made and you can still buy them on several online store web sites.
I check Halfwheel. He gave both last year’s version and this version a rating of 90. I read my review of the No.1 and it was a helluva cigar! I wasn’t rating cigars then but if I did, based on what I read, I would have rated the No.1 a 93 or 94.
I guess HVC released two new cigar blends in the same year. I check Halfwheel once again and they gave the new HVC Edición Especial 2015 Toro an 87. Yikes. But it is a buck and half less than the No.2.
At the moment, the HVC Vieja Cosecha No.2 tastes like any decent $7.00 cigar. Nothing special. No mind blowing experience. For $10, I want to trip out. The old fashioned way.
The char line is beginning to need regular touch ups. I now think that Halfwheel was being very generous with that 90 rating.
I near the halfway point. Smoke time is nearly 50 minutes.
Some new flavors: caramel, vanilla (It had shown up early and then disappeared), the mocha java returns, malts return: Chocolate Malt and Caramel Malt, chocolate salt water taffy, and pecan wood…gives it a nice sweetness.
Thank goodness I’m not on the HVC reviewer’s list. I’d be bummed if I had to diss a cigar that a manufacturer had given me. I don’t purposely write good reviews when samples have been doled out. But then, I don’t like to write negative reviews either. I have one very nice customer that sent me a bunch of $2-$3 house brand cigars. They are pure shit. I’ve now had them for months waiting for them to improve and they just get worse. I will continue to hang on to them in case they miraculously get better. Because of his generosity, I don’t want to write a negative review. Call me a hypocrite. It’s OK.
Flavors are beginning to pick up now. I’m right at the halfway point. Damn. This cigar experience is beginning to feel like it started yesterday.
Strength moves back to medium body from mild/medium.
But while the early flavors return, the spice doesn’t. I love my spice. It gives a cigar character and oomph. And when it disappears totally, the cigar feels like it has a great big doughnut hole in it.
The HVC Vieja Cosecha No.2 is not an impressive blend. I raved and raved about the No.1 blend.
First, HVC needs to get serious. Get a damn web site. People don’t take you seriously if you don’t have one. You seem to be a hobbyist. A Face Book page doesn’t replace the importance of a dedicated web site.
And that’s what all of this feels like…a hobby for the owner. Only 168 people Like the HVC FB page. What does that tell you? This is not a popular brand. And without the web site, there is no retailer list. I see FB members posing unanswered questions on where can I buy these cigars?
Clearly, HVC is a run by the seat of your pants operation. They don’t need a fancy web site. There are plenty of free ones to be had. That’s how I started back in 2009. And then you grow. So is it laziness or I don’t give a shit?
The little growth spurt a few minutes ago is a mile away from making this a better blend.
If this were a $6 stick, I’d say, “OK. You get what you pay for.” But at $10.40 a stick, I want a black eye from pounding my face into the laptop from joy.
Halfwheel was extremely generous. There is absolutely no way the HVC Vieja Cosecha No.2 deserves a 90.
I just want this to end.
LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is one hour 20 minutes.
Now the real test of the cigar begins. If it is to have redemption, it will be in the last third.
I can’t help but notice that in the sunlight, the wrapper is quite beautiful. Now if only the wrapper’s flavor was beautiful….
And sure enough, flavors begin to emerge as they should have two hours ago.
The spiciness returns; giving new meaning to life for the HVC Vieja Cosecha No.2.
The creaminess, chocolate, coffee, graham cracker, caramel, roasted nuts, and malts are pushing hard on the accelerator pedal.
This makes me sad for the folks who paid good money for this cigar. Those who rushed out and bought them thinking that a 200 box limited release would be something very special. 200 boxes is nothing. Who got them? How do you divide that up amongst B & M’s?
Cigar King carries them. Thompson Cigar carries them. Tobacco Grove carries them. And Jack Schwartz Importer carries them. Some at reduced prices and others gouging the public by charging more than MSRP. So be careful.
The last 2” are muy flavorful. Exactly how it should have started and then used it as a platform for the rest of the blend to excel as flavors, balance, and finish could have built upon. The draw becomes difficult. Of course.
I have several good cigars for review and I think that the HVC Edición Especial 2015 Toro (Yet to be reviewed) earned its position at the back of the line.
Instead of being harsh or bitter, the HVC Vieja Cosecha No.2 does excel during the last vestige of its life. It is bold. It is so flavorful. Shame on HVC. Were they taking a doob break when the final blessing was given to the released version of this blend?
RATING: 82
