Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare is light brown with a network of lightly raised veins that carry a lighter color to them. The seams are slightly raised and the tapered head is well finished. The band is the traditional design for the line and has no designation for Rare of Rare. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of cedar and slightly damp earth while the foot brings lightly musty cedar, bread and mild spice. The pre-light draw brings an airy, musty cedar along with a mild spiciness on my lips.
Seth: Finished with what I would consider a classic Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, the HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare has small veins and tooth present throughout. The torpedo is firm in hand and has a nice dark Natural coloring with a touch of Colorado in the right light. The cigar gives off an aroma of sweet spices, leather, tobacco and wood.
John: The HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare comes in cellophane and does not have a UPC sticker. The cigar is single banded and is torpedo shaped. Smelling the wrapper, I could pick out sweet bread and tobacco, along with faint underlying hay. From the foot, there was faint bread and sweet tobacco with subtle floral aromas.
Jiunn: The HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare has an oily but slightly blotchy Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the torpedo style head is well wrapped and pointed. Aromas from the wrapper tell pungent barnyard, cedar and stale roasted nuts. Aromas from the foot provide the same, but with white pepper spice. Cold draws reveal creamy nuttiness and dried red pepper spice on the tip of the tongue.

Team Cigar Review: HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, sharp baking spice and light mustiness. At a quarter inch in, the baking spice loses the sharpness. At a half inch in, the mustiness picks up a bit. At three quarters of an inch in, some dry earth joins the profile. The retrohale is musty, toasted cedar, lightly zingy baking spice and some dry earth. As the third comes to a close, the profile is musty, toasted cedar just ahead of the dry earthiness with baking spice just behind that. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with buttered popcorn and nuts. Sweet herbal and pepper spices present with touches of tobacco and faint cream on the finish. Medium in strength and body. Interesting profile. Unique, and enjoyable.
John: The first third gets going with spicy wood and tobacco sweetness and a pepper and wood combination at medium intensity into the post draw. A nutty wood center evolves after a few puffs. The wood is largely driving the post draw as the first third settles in. Toasted nuts are present through the retrohale with a sweet tobacco finish as the first third progresses. Some cinnamon is defined through the retrohale some time later.
Jiunn: The first third exhibits a well thought out and executed blend. There’s harmony in cedar, dried red pepper spice, game/meat, barnyard, roasted coffee beans, minerality, leather and natural mixed nuts sweetness. Retrohaling provides greater depth in mixed nuts and spice. The finish is approachable and long, having cedar and dried red pepper spice on the back palate. Strength is medium-full and body is medium.

Team Cigar Review: HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the baking spice becomes even with the dry earth, which is right behind the musty, toasted cedar. At a half inch in, the baking spice becomes a bit dull. The retrohale is now musty, toasted cedar and dry earth with mild baking spice. At an inch in, the mustiness increases a bit and the baking spice becomes pretty mellow. At an inch and a quarter, some wood bitterness becomes present. As the third comes to a close, the profile is musty, toasted cedar ahead of the dry earth with baking spice a fair distance behind and light wood bitterness in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The second third is delivering herbal spices, leather, earth and wood qualities. Tobacco and nut flavors present as well. Medium in strength and body. Nice transitioning from the first third.
John: There is more spicy tobacco and wood to lead off here as the finish is sweet wood. A general lingering wood is present in the profile between draws as it progresses. Spicy bread moves into the retrohale, with sweet tobacco finishing as the cigar moves to the halfway mark.
Jiunn: The second third shifts to showing more minerals and barnyard. There are still the other components, but the order of flavors are mixed up. Strength and body remains medium-full and medium, respectively.

Team Cigar Review: HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the dry earth is now even with the musty, toasted cedar up front. At a quarter inch in, the wood bitterness departs. The retrohale remains musty, toasted cedar and dry earth with mild baking spice. At an inch in, the wood bitterness returns and it is fuller than it was before, while the baking spice is no longer present. As the cigar wraps up, the profile is musty, toasted cedar and dry earth even up front, with wood bitterness a bit behind. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third continues by delivering those herbal spice qualities that are paired with nuts, leather, wood and a faint creaminess like before. Not a sweet cream though. Bits of tobacco present as well. Medium in strength and body.
John: Spicy wood leads off the last third, with a tannic wood at the end of the puff. As the cigar continues towards the halfway mark, nutty wood is the primary flavor driver in the retrohale. Through the bottom half, the finish in the post draw is defined by dry wood.
Jiunn: The final third becomes a bit dull, leaving me with a combination of cedar and nuts. Not a distasteful flavor experience, but a tapered down one. Strength and body finishes the same medium-full and medium.

Team Cigar Review: HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare

Burn

Aaron: The burn line was a bit wavy at times and the cigar went out once, requiring a re-light.
Seth: Perfect burn. Perfect.
John: The burn was straight through the entire review with no intervention required.
Jiunn: Burn performance was nearly perfect. A small portion of the wrapper had a difficult time burning, which required a couple quick touch-ups.

Team Cigar Review: HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare

Draw

Aaron: The draw was a bit tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
Seth: Great draw on this torpedo. Maybe I actually just cut it right though.
John: The draw starts out well into the resistant spectrum, roughly 3 to 3-1/2 notches. As the cigar progressed, the draw opened up to 2-1/2 to 3 notches into the resistant spectrum which is some snugness, but enough to provide a good rating.
Jiunn: The draw was perfect, striking the ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, sharp baking spice and light mustiness. Some dry earth joined a bit later. The second third saw the baking spice become a bit dull and some wood bitterness joined in. The final third saw the bitterness depart early but rejoined a bit fuller as the baking spice departed. The HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare had a nice start, but from the second third on, dropped a level as the baking spice became dull and wood bitterness became a player. Overall, the cigar isn’t something I’d really see coming back to, and the high price point is also a bit of a detractor.
Seth: The HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare was a balanced cigar with a complex flavor profile. Lots of depth with some transitioning throughout the thirds. More of a fluctuation in dominant flavor profile, but some changes. Nice strength and body; match the flavors of the cigar well. It has been some time since I have had a really good Ecuadorian Sumatra release, feels like years, but this delivered that great lighter Ecuadorian Sumatra flavor profile I enjoy. Smoking Sumatras like this brings me back to smoking in the mid-2000’s with some fun Ecuadorian Sumatra releases on the market.
John: The HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare combines a number of flavors with spice and manages to walk a fine line of an interesting and engaging profile without overwhelming the palate with too much intensity. The burn was perfect, while the draw started out quite snug and opened up as it progressed. I would happily smoking another La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare, this falls in line with most of the other good cigars that HVC has been producing for some time. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 11 minutes.
Jiunn: Big ups to HVC for continuously creating great blends outside of TABSA. Blends like this shows me that Reinier knows his craft and has at least a great palate to bring quality blends. I’m excited to see who else he may be working with to continuously bring quality blends like the HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$3.48

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

7.17

Cost/Point

$2.79

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.52

Cost/Point

$3.07

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.72

Cost/Point

$2.98

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: HVC La Rosa 520 Rare of Rare