I probably mentioned this before…cigar makers love an anniversary. When Reinier Lorenzo saw that Havana was celebrating 500 years since its founding, he chose to make a cigar to celebrate it. The HVC 500 is made of all Nicaraguan tobacco from Aganorsa Leaf, including a Jalapa grown Corojo 99 wrapper, a Jalapa binder, and Criollo 98 from Jalapa and Corojo 99 from Esteli in the filler.
This is not my first time with this cigar…I remember enjoying a smaller ring gauge version of it very much. How would this 54 ring “Short Toro” match up? I took it out on the porch with some Benchmark Bonded on a very warm early summer day.
The wrapper had aromas of natural tobacco and leather, while the foot had a more earthy notes with touches of hay. Once lit, it performed quite like a Cuban cigar in this way: medium of body, long on flavor…a subtle sweet floral notes wrapping around earth and hay and a bit of black pepper. It was not like a Cuban cigar in other ways: it was well-made with a great draw and I’m sure the build quality is consistent. And it tasted like Nicaraguan leaf, not Cuban…but that should go without saying, I think. This one’s a keeper.
