Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales is light brown, with a network of raised veins that carry a green tinge to them. The seams are a bit raised and the caps are well applied. The band is the same as the previous cigar in the line and carries no delineation for the wrapper type. The aroma from the wrapper is a light mix of wood and earth, while the foot brings cedar and earth with light bread and spice. The pre-light draw is a smooth mix of cedar and light earth.
Seth: The HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales is a nice looking cigar. Simple, but nice in presentation. Well constructed, the cigar is finished with a lovely cap and is firm throughout. There are small to medium sized veins present, and marbled coloring on the wrapper. I would say between Natural and Colorado. Has a somewhat light brown. Aromas of earth, nuts, tobacco, spices and cedar.
John: The HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales comes in cellophane and has a UPC sticker that tears when opening. The cigar has a single band indicating HVC Seleccion No. 1. For aromas, I was getting sweet tobacco, nuts, wood both dry and green, and cereal. From the foot, I was getting sweet tobacco, dusty hay and dry wood.
Jiunn: The HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales has a gorgeous oily and even shade of Colorado. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and head is well wrapped and capped. Aromas from the wrapper tell of whole wheat grains and aged cedar. Aromas from the foot tell a blast of white pepper spice and dried nuts. Cold draws reveal red pepper spice, salt on the lips and dried nuts.

Team Cigar Review: HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, a cinnamon forward baking spice and some earth. At a quarter inch in, some black pepper joins the profile, in addition to the already existing baking spice. At a half inch in, a light creaminess joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted cedar, lightly zingy baking spice and light earth. At an inch in, the creaminess increases in fullness. At an inch and a half in, the baking spice and pepper both mellow. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front with the creaminess, earth, baking spice and black pepper all a fair bit behind but even with each other. The strength was medium-full.
Seth: Balanced, the cigar delivers flavors of sweet tobacco, earth, cedar, rich spices, nuts and coffee beans. There are some leather and barnyard qualities as well. Smooth and well constructed. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third begins with creamy baking spices as cinnamon and wood finish the draw. Mild dry wood quietly moves into the post draw. Red pepper flake comes into the post draw as the first third settles, and rapidly builds from light-plus strength which lingers on the tongue and lips. Dark chocolate comes through the retrohale as the cigar progresses. Mild leather joins the post draw as the cigar reaches the halfway point of the first third.
Jiunn: The first third does a great job of touching the primary cigar flavor spectrums. Barnyard, fresh seeded black pepper spice, soft brioche bread and minerals. Retrohaling gives increased black pepper spice and toasted nuts. The finish is long and lingering with barnyard and fresh black pepper spice. Strength and body is medium.

Team Cigar Review: HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins the baking spice has departed and the black pepper is now very mellow. At a half inch in, a light meatiness becomes present. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and light creaminess. At an inch in, the overall profile is now pretty dry and the meatiness has departed. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front, with earth right behind and light creaminess and black pepper in the background. The strength w remained at medium-full.
Seth: The second third is in line with the first third and I am picking up some great barnyard and leather qualities. There is some nuttiness and toast, and a finish of earth, cedar, coffee and spices. Really well done. Medium in strength and body.
John: Creamy baking spices lead off the second third, with wood and earth finishing into the post draw. The wood moves into the center of the draw as it settles in. Powdered cocoa is present on the retrohale as the cigar continues to the halfway point.
Jiunn: The second third continues to impress. All the same flavors are there but the only material difference is more tannins in leather. This isn’t a bad thing. Instead, it adds another layer to the profile. Strength and body remains medium.

Team Cigar Review: HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales

Final Third

Aaron: The final third starts off being very drying on my palate as the earth is now even with the toasted cedar up front. At a half inch in, a light wood bitterness becomes present. The retrohale is now just toasted cedar and earth. At an inch in, the toast level increases as the creaminess has departed. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with wood bitterness in the middle and light black pepper in the background. The strength remained at medium-full.
Seth: The final third delivers a little bit more earth and spices. Some nice barnyard and leather qualities as well. Nutty, toasty and coffee like finish. Again, medium in strength and body.
John: Creamy cinnamon starts the last third. Wood is again present on the post draw. As the last third settles in, earth also joins the post draw, which leaves a finish similar to the second third. The profile remains consistent for the rest of the review.
Jiunn: The final third has reduced to just barnyard, fresh black pepper spice and leathery tannins. Much of the sweetness in bread and nuts is gone. Strength and body finish the same medium.

Team Cigar Review: HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight the entire way, but the cigar went out once in the second third, with no warning, requiring a re-light. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.
Seth: Great burn from start to finish.
John: The burn suffered through the entire review. The cigar went out and required four re-lights in total. The first was 25 minutes in, then at the end of the first third, again in the second third and finally in the last third.
Jiunn: Great burn performance. Even burn, ample smoke production and cool burning temperature.

Team Cigar Review: HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales

Draw

Aaron: The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
Seth: Perfect draw.
John: The draw was perfect, right in the ideal zone between resistant and open.
Jiunn: Great draw performance as well, giving the ideal air flow.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, a cinnamon forward baking spice and some earth. Some black pepper joined in fairly quickly and some creaminess a bit later. The second third saw the baking spice depart and some meatiness join in for a short time. The final third saw the creaminess depart and a wood bitterness join in. The HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales had a really nice start, but like alight switch, dropped a level in the second third and became pretty dry as some components started dropping out. I had high hopes with how things started, but it quickly fell off and became a very drying profile. I would lean towards the original version of the line if choosing between the two and wouldn’t really see myself coming back to this one.
Seth: Good for HVC on opening their own factory, and good for them on producing great blends. Better than what they have been getting recently at other factories. The HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales is a balanced cigar with tons of flavors. This was a great Ecuadorian Habano release. I look forward to smoking this cigar in other vitolas, and I will definitely buy a box. Great value. Nice job, Reinier!
John: The HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales averaged at medium strength but swung between light-plus and medium-full at times for flavor intensity. I found the flavor profile to be interesting, engaging and consistently good through the entire cigar review. The draw was perfect, while the burn was quite bad with four re-lights required through the review. What’s puzzling for me is that the flavor profile was good when typically re-lights have a fairly negative impact on flavor performance. It does make me wonder how this cigar would be if I smoked one with a much better burn. The price point is quite affordable and the flavor profile was consistent so I would definitely be looking for these in the future. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 18 minutes.
Jiunn: HVC, in utilizing their own factory, continues to impress. This time around, it is especially impressive given the cheaper price point and at the same time delivering a full flavored experience. Give me more examples of these HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales and the brand will soon become a blind buy recommendation.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.85

Cost/Point

$1.44

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

7.42

Cost/Point

$1.13

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.57

Cost/Point

$1.28

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$1.23

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: HVC Selección No. 1 Natural Esenciales