Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano ‘92
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 5.5 x 50 Robusto
Strength: Full
Price: $8.50

My cigars have been lying naked in my humidor for 4 months.
Original release was October 2022. Therefore, the cigar has had an additional 8 months of aged box time.
Cigars Released: 600 Boxes of 50 Cigars.
Factory: Fabrica de Tabacos HVC S.A. Blended by Reinier Lorenzo.
The HVC Black Friday has been released, in limited quantities, every year since 2015.

THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
I’ve never understood the mindset of releasing cigars in quantities of 50. The manufacturer never explains. You really need to love the blend with all your heart to buy this many. Not to mention that you need to have a lot of space in your humidor. Some things are not meant to be understood.

Wrapper aromas deliver delicate floral notes, mixed nut butter, black and red pepper, maple syrup (I read the Halfwheel review, and this note was mentioned. I smell sweetness and I’ve been mind melded such that it could easily be maple syrup), black coffee, bittersweet chocolate and malt.

I use my new PerfecPunch & Stand to remove the cap. Like butter. A friend told me that none of his friends use a punch. I get it. Neither do I. Why? Because all of the punches I’ve used for decades fail miserably after a short period of use. The blades become dull, and the punch is rendered useless. This punch, designed by Dr. Rod, is a mold breaker. I’ve had my prototype for nearly a year. It’s never dulled, so punching the cap becomes muscle memory. It will take a while to convince smokers that this punch is a game changer but Dr. Rod ain’t going anywhere…although Bubbles the chimp is not making his life easier. I wouldn’t be telling you about this unless I believed that this is the real deal. I’m not going to fuck up my rep (I heard that) to advocate a cigar accessory that is shit. Just like smokers were suspicious of the PerfecDraw adjustment tool, they will hear from bold friends that purchased the punch that it is a necessary tool for serious smokers. I’m done proselytizing.

There will be a big giveaway contest for Dr. Rod’s entire line of cigar accessories that begins on Monday, June 26. Heaps of accessory packages will be given away. Well worth your time to enter. Watch this space.

My music accompaniment this morning on Amazon Music is Pink Floyd Redux. Feeling psychedelic.

The stick has a good feel to it. The weight seems right. No toothpick here.

Great start. A blast of flavors gets my attention…spicy black and red peppers make me swallow my tongue…aged tobacco is noticeable…depth, just short of 2-1/2 miles down, is reached immediately. Creaminess grabs the steering wheel and drives into a light pole. Brown sugar and cinnamon waffles with maple syrup covered in crumbled cashews sits on my ass so I can’t get up.

Ha. “Smoke on the Water” Deep Purple. I believe it is the first set of chord changes any new guitarist learns. We opened for them a couple times. These boys knew how to have fun. But getting the police called on us because we used the hotel pool late after a gig was not fun. It was reported that a bunch of naked women were in the pool. Unfortunately, that wasn’t true. We long hairs were mistaken for women. The police left with a bunch of autographs and big smiles.

Strength hits medium full in the first quarter inch. Uh-oh.

The char line is the Mona Lisa.

The tobacco compresses after being lit and its fattitude slows the burn. Nice.
HVC is one of those brands that constantly surprises me. They put out some nice blends. Some are good go-to blends…and others slap you with a white glove and demand a duel.

“Live And Let Die” McCartney. Sir Paul wrote the song for the Bond film. When the owner of the franchise, Albert Broccoli heard it, he told producer George Martin to find a female singer to do the song for the film. Martin told him no way. It was a struggle, but Broccoli relented and for the first time, a Bond opening theme was done by a guy instead of a chick. Martin’s balls must have been sweating during that negotiation.

Very rich smoke. I’ve burned 1” in 20 minutes. A long haul awaits. My snickerdoodle is up for this journey.

A wide spectrum of interesting flavors are going Bozo crazy…creaminess, cashews, dark chocolate, espresso, maple syrup, lots of malt, cinnamon, brown sugar, graham crackers, cedar, corn flakes, and seriously sophisticated tobacco.

Strength hits full with 4-1/2” to go. Oy. I don my reading glasses so I can see the laptop screen.

“Space Oddity.” Bowie. A friend engineered some tunes for the man back in the early 80’s. Bowie was in the studio alone doing vocals…just sitting on a stool in front of a mic. At one point, he began to cry after finishing a great take. My engineer friend told the intern to go give the man some Kleenex. The brain-dead kid grabbed a roll of toilet paper and threw it at Bowie, hitting him in the head. Bowie stopped crying as he tried to regain his senses. Yeah, shit like that is stranger than fiction.

The Black Friday is exhuming the dead with its approach of grabbing my palate like a wild zombie. Great cigar blend. And I’ve only just begun. What could lie ahead? Hopefully, not The Carpenters.

The HVC blend is quite different from the norm of their cumulative style. I like it. If I was blind tasting it, I’d say it was a $30 stick. Killer intensity and complexity.

So…oh crap…now I need to buy some because if there was ever a great inexpensive premium cigar to have at your disposal, this is the cigar. No shit. $8.50. And can be had for less with sponsors Atlantic Cigar and Small Batch Cigar. The price will drop to around $7.50. That’s just nuts. I cannot think of a single cigar in recent memory that carries such sophistication at this price point. Sorry. I’m stopping and snagging a fiver. Be back in 5.

The strength is full tilt. Holy shit. Newbies will David Carradine themselves.
1-1/2” burned. 35 minutes. Screaming laughter.

“Walk on the Wild Side.” Lou Reed. I learned that classic opening bass line in 1972. I didn’t realize till later that Reed used both an upright player and electric bass guitar playing together to fatten the riff.

I’m doing a Linda Blair due to the strength…or is it a Linda Lovelace? Not sure. Guacamole with mayo.

As my brain leaves the planet with extreme prejudice, I am floored by the intensity of the richness and depth of the cigar. Clearly, the extra aging didn’t mellow the power. Wow. Mind you, I’m smoking this cigar on an empty stomach at 8am. For me, this is the only way to appreciate what the blender has done. Once I have food in my belly, cigars aren’t as good.

Taking my time. Conserving pockets of available brain space. Midnight toker.
Construction is immaculate. Conceived like the baby Jesus.

I’m way past my normal rants. And I still have 3-1/2” to go. I fill out my Advance Directive.

This ain’t no girly man cigar. Only sophisticated smokers need to apply. This blend will go great with premium bourbon. If you’re going to exit the planet, you might as well have a sensible amount of alcohol in your system.

No new flavors. No previously described flavors have exited. Swirling. Transitions are doing a George Jetson. Ha. “Brain Damage” by Pink Floyd is playing. Appropriate and scary.

This is, by far, the most powerful cigar I’ve smoked in a very long time. Most cigars start at a lower speed and gain momentum. Not this baby. It goes for the jugular immediately and then finds a speed akin to a rocket heading towards the moon.

Ever done ‘shrooms? Smoke the Black Friday. Same thing.

Hand one to an unsuspecting friend and watch his head explode. Have some rags and Clorox Cleanup at hand.

Meanwhile, back at Roy Rogers’ ranch, the flavor profile is now a flavor bomb. The creaminess is killing it. Nuttiness, chocolate, espresso, brown sugar, malt, and golden raisins sweep the series with nothing but no hitters. Trigger the horse is still stuffed after all these years.

I shall stop typing and just smoke so that my manifesto isn’t Unabomber style.

I shall let the music soothe the savage breast. I hope that you appreciate that I’m shortening my life span by smoking this cigar to a nub. Cigar Reviewer Union Rules.

Halfway point. One hour. A major sweet spot. All of my hair has fallen out.

The light color of the Ecuadorian Habano wrapper is all deception. I was fooled. The strength is a man killer.

The cigar band just slides off as a means to save itself.

Candied lemon peel. Cinnamon surges. Six cups of espresso. Chocolate Mounds Bar. My entire cabinet of baking spices. Peppermint Christmas sticks. Creamy caramel Dulce de Leche. Aged bourbon barrel.

My brain switches gears in order to survive and the strength becomes tolerable. Another insignificant life is saved.

A $7.50 stick. Un-fucking-believable. I tip my merkin to HVC. They could have charged twice or more for a blend this complex and satisfying.

I now understand the availability of a 50-count box. If I were a rich man…

Frosted Flakes. Tony the Tiger is executed using a portable guillotine.

Smoothness returns in spades. The finish is all consuming.

This was a near death experience. I can’t wait to smoke another one.

Smoke time is over 2 hours. I only fainted twice.

You can snag this must have go-to cigar from my sponsors Atlantic Cigar (no promo code) and Small Batch Cigar (10% off with promo code ‘katman’).

RATING: 95

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: cigar reviews, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, HVC Black Friday 2022 | Cigar Reviews by the Katman, hvc cigars, katman, phil kohn