HVC Black Friday 2021

When it comes to seasonal and holiday releases, we have seen many cigars released to coincide with these times of the year. Over the years, cigars have been released for Independence Day, Christmas, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving, etc. In 2015, Reinier Lorenzo of HVC Cigars decided to release a cigar for what has become an unofficial holiday particularly in the U.S. and that is Black Friday. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and has emerged as the biggest retail shopping day of the year. It’s the day when it is said that many retail stores move into the “black” (profitable) from the “red” (not profitable). Since 2015, we have seen at least one Black Friday release a year from HVC Cigars. Today we take a closer look at the 2021 edition – appropriately titled the HVC Black Friday 2021.

Since 2015, there have been eight installments of the HVC Black Friday Series. (There were two Black Friday releases in 2020.) Each year’s installment of the HVC Black Friday has been in a different size. There have been a variety of different wrapper options.

HVC Black Friday 2015: 6 1/2 x 48 (Nicaraguan Corojo ’99)
HVC Black Friday 2016: 6 3/4 x 48 (Nicaraguan Corojo ’99
HVC Black Friday 2017: 4 x 48 (Nicaraguan Corojo ’99)
HVC Black Friday 2018: 5 x 50 (San Andres)
HVC Black Friday 2019: 4 1/2 x 52 (Habano Café)
HVC Black Friday 2020: 5 5/8 x 46 (Habano Café)
HVC Black Friday Firecracker 2020: 3 1/2 x 50 (Habano Café)
HVC Black Friday 2021 4 3/8 x 54 (Connecticut Broadleaf)

Without further ado, let’s break down the HVC Black Friday 2021 and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The HVC Black Friday 2021 certainly has an intriguing blend. The blend is highlighted by a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. HVC makes its cigars at the TABSA factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. This is a factory not known for using Connecticut Broadleaf. In fact, the first major Connecticut Broadleaf release to come out of TABSA came from HVC – the HVC First Selection Broadleaf. Now HVC is bringing another TABSA-made Broadleaf cigar to market.

The remainder of the blend consists of all-Nicaraguan tobaccos from the Aganorsa farms including a heavier component of Corojo 2012 and Criollo ’98. The Corojo 2012 is a newer varietal that has been harvested at the Aganorsa farms and is starting to be used on blends coming out of the factory. HVC used this wrapper on the HVC 10th Anniversary cigar.

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan (Aganorsa)
Filler: Nicaraguan (Aganorsa)
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A. (TABSA)

Vitolas Offered

The HVC Black Friday 2021 is available in one size – a 4 3/8 x 54 chunky petite robust offering. A total of 600 50-count boxes were produced.

Appearance

The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper of the HVC Black Friday 2021 had a dark espresso bean color to it. There was a light sheen of oil on the surface of the wrapper. The dark wrapper did a good job at hiding the wrapper seams. There were also some visible veins on the surface of the wrapper.

The band of the HVC Black Friday 2021 has a black and gold foil color scheme. The center of the band has a black field surrounded by a gold foil frame. On that field is the text “Black Friday DE HVC” in white font. The remainder of the band has a black background surrounded by gold foil trim. On the left side of the band is the text “HAND MADE” in white font. The right side of the band has the text “NICARAGUA” – also in white font.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

A straight cut was used to remove the cap from the HVC Black Friday 2021. Once the cap was removed, it was on to the pre-light draw phase. The cold draw delivered notes of dark chocolate, leather, and cedar. Overall this was a satisfying pre-light draw experience. At this point, it was time to toast up the HVC Black Friday 2021 and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The HVC Black Friday 2021 started off with notes of dark chocolate, white pepper, cedar, and dried fruit. Early on, the dark chocolate moved into the forefront with the pepper, cedar, and fruit settling into the background. As the cigar continued to move through the first third, earth notes also settled into the background. Meanwhile, the retro-hale produced additional layers of chocolate and earth.

The second third of the HVC Black Friday 2021 saw coffee notes emerge with the earth in the forefront. The coffee and earth notes alternated in intensity throughout this phase of the smoke. Meanwhile, dark chocolate settled into the background with the pepper, fruit, and cedar notes.

By the last third, the cedar notes spiked up in intensity and moved into the forefront joining the earth and coffee. Meanwhile the dark chocolate, pepper, and fruit notes still remained in the background. This is the way the HVC Black Friday 2021 came to a close. The resulting nub was slightly soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

On each of the samples of the HVC Black Friday 2021 that were smoked, the cigar started out low maintenance in terms of maintaining a straight burn path and straight burn line. As the cigar experience progressed, the cigar required more in the way of touch-ups to maintain the straight burn path and straight burn line. The resulting ash was silver-gray. This was an ash that was on the firm side. Both the burn rate and burn temperature maintained ideal levels.

Burn of the HVC Black Friday 2021

Draw

Normally I like a touch of resistance on a cigar. In the case of the HVC Black Friday 2021, the resistance was a little more than I prefer.

Strength and Body

In terms of strength and body, the HVC Black Friday 2021 delivered a medium to full strength, medium to full-bodied smoking experience from start to finish. Throughout the smoking experience, there wasn’t much in the way of variance of the intensity levels of the strength and body. Both the strength and body balanced each other nicely with neither attribute overpowering the other.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

The HVC Black Friday 2021 delivered a solid Connecticut Broadleaf experience. I’d categorize this as a straightforward Broadleaf smoking experience. I will admit, I was expecting something a little more radically different with the Broadleaf – Corojo 2012 combination, but that didn’t affect the overall score of value rating. The 4 3/4 x 54 format seemed to work well with this blend. This is a cigar I probably would steer to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast, but I wouldn’t discourage a novice from trying. As for myself, this is a cigar I would buy and smoke again.

Summary

Key Flavors: Dark Chocolate, Earth, Coffee, Cedar, Dried Fruit, Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Very Good