The Veil Archives - Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando

HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo

Tony Casas — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 22:19:21 +0000

Trying to get at least one more review in while the weather is still manageable and before the holiday craze. This week I take a look at the HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo paired with a can of The Veil/Half Acre Soaked in Shadow Imperial Stout aged in apple brandy barrels.

The Good Stuff:

The HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo is the latest addition to Famous Smoke Shop’s Exclusivo cigar series. The HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo is based on the same successful blend as when it was originally released only in a special 6 1/2 x 50 format only available at Famous Smoke Shop. “Serie A” represents the cigar’s blend which only utilizes grade A tobacco grown at the Arganorsa farms in Nicaragua. Blended by Reinier Lorenzo, the found of HVC Cigar, at the Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A. factory in Nicaragua the blend starts out with a Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. Packaged in boxes of 10 each cigar runs $10 each with only a very small amount of 300 boxes total being released. Big thanks to our friends at Famous Smoke Shop for hooking us up with a few samples for review. You can view more information and purchase yours here.

Size: 6 1/2 x 50
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corona ’99
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $9.50
Pairing: Veil / Half Acre Soak in Shadow (Imperial Stout 13% ABV)

Prelight:

The HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo is a beautiful looking cigar. Starting with it’s very rustic looking wrapper which sports inconsistent blotches of light and medium shades of brown with orangish areas scattered throughout. The wrapper’s texture carries some light grainy tooth with a ton of oils coating it. The wrapper itself is a bit thin, but very hard while the cigar as a whole is incredibly heavy and tightly packed. There are quite a few minor veins and natural tobacco webbing in the leaf as the wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself leading up to the cigar’s round, triple-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with the same HVC Serie A orange, white, black and gold band found on the blend but an added gold and black foot band with the words “Famous Smoke Shop Exclusivo” embossed across the front signifying the cigar’s addition to the Exclusivo Series portfolio.

The wrapper on the HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo gives off light cashew and natural tobacco notes while the foot of the cigar is much more pungent with loads of moss, cedar, and natural tobacco aromas. The cap cut clean and easily allowing the cigar release loads of cashew, honey, and earthy flavors on the cold draw.

First Third:

The HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo starts out with a very mild black pepper punch with almost immediately faded allowing the cigar to showcase a really bold mixture of honey, cashew, and citrus over cedar, vanilla, musk and earthy notes. Despite being packed so tightly the draw is absolutely perfect as each and every puff kicks out a whole mess of thick, white smoke which hangs around for a considerable amount of time before dissipating while the cigar releases a ton of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is dead even and decently thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo and this is where the cigar really begins to shine. The musk and cedar are now leading the charge backed by bolder vanilla and cinnamon over lighter cashew, honey and earthy notes. I am really enjoying the flavor profile here. The retrohale brings out a great spice and I find myself doing it quite often. I close out the second third with nothing in terms of a nicotine hit.

Finish:

Into the final third of the HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo and the flavor is just pouring on now. The musk and cedar are still the dominant notes with loads of cinnamon and vanilla over maple, honey, and citrus. It took me a little over 2 hours to smoke this down to the nub. It burned very slow and that’s totally ok with me. I experienced no harshness nor any extended heat. I never once had to reach for my torch to touchup or relight the cigar. I close out with only a very minor nicotine kick.

Overview:

I am quite the HVC fan and a shop exclusive which uses one of my favorite cigars from them immediately got my attention. The HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo represents the blend very well. The flavors were rich and complex, the smoking experience was flawless and the price point is very affordable considering the experience, especially for the length of time it takes to smoke this cigar. All in all, wins all around. I just wish it wasn’t so limited, but that just means I’ll need to pick some up before they are gone.

Pairing:

Soaked in Shadow is an imperial stout brewed with milk sugar aged in apple brandy barrels. Brewed in collaboration with The Veil and Half Acre the 13% ABV beer leads with a ton of sweetness, apple, grape, chocolate, roasted malt, and creaminess with a very heavy/sticky mouthfeel before finishing with much more apple brandy sweetness, chocolate, cinnamon and a lasting boozy aftertaste. While the HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo itself was fantastic, I thought adding something with a little sweetness could add another level of complexity to the experience, and this pairing did just that.

The post HVC Serie A Famous Exclusivo appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve

Tony Casas — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 13:30:11 +0000

This week, we’ll keep it simple. Great weather, great pairing. Let’s take a look at Aganorsa’s Rare Leaf Reserve paired with a bottle of Trillium Brewing’s barrel aged Adjunction Junction beer.

The Good Stuff:

Follow the success of last years Supreme Leaf, Aganorsa Leaf swiftly released the Rare Leaf Reserve this year which is a cigar created to focus more heavily on Nicaragua Criollo tobacco. The blend features a Nicaraguan Jalapa Cafe wrapper over dual Nicaraguan Criollo 98 binders which were grown on two different farms which cover a mixture of Nicaraguan Corojo 99 and Criollo 98 filler tobaccos. Created at the TABSA factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, Aganorsa Leaf released the Rare Leaf Reserve in three sizes: Robusto (5 1/2 x 52), Toro (6 x 54) and the Titan (6 x 60). All three sizes come packaged in boxes of 15 running between $10.99 and $12.10 a stick. I purchased mine over from our good friends at Cigars International.

Size: 5 1/2 52
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Dual Nicaraguan Criollo 98
Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo 99 and Criollo 98
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $10.99
Pairing: Trillium Brewing Barrel Aged Adjunction Junction (Imperial Stout 14% ABV)

Prelight:

The Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve starts out with a beautiful, consistent, orangish-brown wrapper that displays a few darker areas around the foot of the cigar. The wrapper’s texture is tough, yet brittle while it carries a good amount of tooth and almost no oils. The cigar feels nicely packed and rather light while the foot of the cigar has a bit of a softness to it. The cigar carries some vey light veining and quite a bit of natural tobacco webbing in the wrapper leaf as it leads up to the cigar’s round, triple-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with a great looking maroon, gold, white and black band that show cases the “Aganorsa Leaf” crest on the front as well as an added secondary band with “Rare Leaf Reserve” embossed across the front.

The wrapper on the Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve gives off tons of pecan and oak aromas while the foot of the cigar carries some great caramel and natural tobacco scents. The cap took a considerable amount of effort to clip using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter, but once it did come off the Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve released a ton of caramel, vanilla, musk, and natural tobacco on the cold draw.

First Third:

The Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve starts out with a huge blast of cayenne pepper which really kicked the crap out of my tongue and lips for a minute. After the pepper faded out the cigar greeted me with bold notes of cedar, vanilla, musk and caramel over lighter notes of hay and earthiness over some lighter floral flavors. The draw was a bit snug through the initial inch or so but had completely opened up after that allowing the cigar to release a whole mess of thick, white smoke with each puff with the cigar itself releases only a very small amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is a bit wavy, but very sharp leaving behind a tightly compacted trail of light gray ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve and the flavors are still pounding. The cedar, vanilla, musk and caramel are still leading the charge backed up earthiness, pecan, and a sharp spice that keeps coming and going. The retrohale really brings the spice to the front of the taste. The draw is still great, and the cigar is burning a bit wavy, but very manageable as I close out the second third with a good little nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve and this is where the cigar is really starting to shine. The leading flavor is now that awesome, deep cedar flavor that the corojo and criollo are capable of pumping out along with those great cedar notes I tend to pick up in most Aganorsa Leaf blends. Underneath that the musk, caramel and vanilla are still rocking hard over lighter notes of spice and floral flavors. It took me an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I experienced no harshness, nor any extended heat while the cigar left me with a great little nicotine buzz.

Overview:

I am a huge fan of Criollo 98 and Corojo tobacco and I think that the Rare Leaf Reserve is a perfect showcase on exactly the amount of flavors, and the nuanced profiles the tobaccos can offer. This cigar was very complex, but at no point did I feel like I needed to waste the experience on dissecting everything. The construction was flawless and the price point was very reasonable. Add another hit to the already packed Aganorsa Leaf portfolio.

Pairing:

Brewed by Trillium brewing in collaborations with some very heavy hitters: Monkish, The Veil, Other Half, and Cloudwater, this barrel-aged version of this beer comes in at a whopping 14% ABV. Brewed with coconut, coffee, vanilla, macadamia nuts, pecans, and almonds, this beer leads with a bunch of black coffee, vanilla, toffee, chocolate, plum and pecan with a very heavy, sticky mouthfeel before finishing with more flan-type flavors of caramel, pecan, toffee and still a ton of vanilla and a nice almond on the aftertaste. To say that this beer is sweet is an understatement. I’m really surprised with how this beer held up and how pronounced each of the adjuncts are. I would have figured it was just going to be a mash up of sweetness. The bold pecan, caramel, and vanilla flavors found in the Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve made for a perfect pairing.

The post Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.