2023 Cigar of the Year Countdown (Coop’s List) #14: HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Poderosos

#14 2023 Cigar of the Year: HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Poderosos

SPECIFICATIONS

Wrapper: Habano ’92 Ecuador
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Fabrica de Tabacos HVC S.A.
Poderosos: 54 x 6
Price: $10.40

Sponsor: No
Samples Provided for Initial Review: No
Review: HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Poderosos (10/19/23)
Appearances on Countdown (By Year/Company): 3 (2019, 2020, 2023)

The Details

The #14 2023 Cigar of the Year is the HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Poderosos. Back in 2022, HVC Cigars released a Maduro offering known as the HVC Selección No. 1 Maduro. While HVC Cigars has been a company in business for over a decade, the No. 1 is significant. This is because, in 2022, HVC Cigars moved into its own factory, Fabrica de Tabacos HVC S.A. Before that, many of HVC Cigars’ blends had been coming out of the Aganorsa factory. The Selección No. 1 gets its name because it was the first cigar from that factory. In 2023, HVC Cigars added another blend under the HVC Selección No. 1 line known as the HVC Selección No. 1 Natural. It’s the Natural offering that lands on this year’s Countdown.

The HVC Selección No. 1 Natural features a Habano wrapper. This Habano wrapper is a Habano ’92 seed varietal grown in Ecuador. The remainder of the blend consists of Nicaraguan tobacco for both the binder and filler. The Poderosos is a 54 x 6 large Toro size.

The HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Poderosos delivered notes of natural tobacco, earth cedar, fruit, and pepper. While its Maduro counterpart might have been the boldest HVC to date, this one is slightly dialed back – coming in at a solid medium to full for both strength and body.

For HVC Cigars, this is the third time the company has landed on the Countdown, and it is the company’s first appearance in three years. This is also the first time HVC has landed a cigar out of its own factory. Meanwhile, if you are keeping score at home, this is the ninth cigar from Nicaragua to land on the Countdown – so Nicaragua is now beginning to pull away in terms of most cigars on the Countdown.