Growing up in Cuba, there is probably no avoiding the cigar culture, but Reinier Lorenzo, founder of HVC Cigars, studied medicine before he studied cigars. After nearly twenty years in the cigar business, Lorenzo continues to create new blends and pay homage to Havana City. He spoke to Cigar Life Guy about getting his start, the recipe of a perfect cigar, and his plans to keep HVC Cigars selling like pan caliente.
Reinier Lorenzo: First Premium Cigar Experience
Cigar Life Guy: Tell me about your first premium cigar experience.
Reinier Lorenzo: I was living in Havana, Cuba. I was probably around eighteen or nineteen, and it was the Cohiba Siglo VI. I wasn’t in the cigar business when I was in Cuba — I was in medical school. It was at a family friend’s party. The Cohiba Siglo VI came out around 2004, and a guy passed a box around. I knew nothing about cigars, but when I smoked it, I was like, “That feels good”! (laughs)
Cigar Culture and Blending the Perfect Cigar
Cigar Life Guy: You are originally from Cuba, so there was probably no escaping cigar culture, but tell us how you got your start and what drew you to the cigar industry and culture.
Reinier Lorenzo: When I left Cuba in 2008, my family worked for Tropical Tobacco in Miami. In 2009, the owner of Aganorsa (Eduardo Fernandez) invited me to Nicaragua. He showed me the process and what they do with the cigars from start to finish. That was the moment that grabbed me. When something makes you say, “This is incredible.” Little by little, you have something inside of you. I stopped and said, ”I must do something because I enjoy this so much.” That’s when I started my business, HVC Cigars, in 2011.
Cigar Life Guy: What should the average cigar smoker know about blending? How can it help them appreciate a premium cigar?
Reinier Lorenzo: People have to know. For example, I love to cook, right? When you cook, you have a recipe. If you don’t have a recipe, making a really good dish would be impossible. Cigars are the same thing. It’s a recipe. It’s not just putting in tobacco because you want to put in tobacco. You have to know the family and the leaf. You have to know what farm gives you more flavor. When you have the perfect recipe for a cigar, you get a cigar that’s really, really good. When you know the tobacco for a blend, you get a winner. You have to know tobacco, and that takes years. I was blessed and fortunate to be around guys with much experience. I was always learning.
Keeping Cigar Tradition Alive
Cigar Life Guy: Why is keeping the cigar tradition alive vital, and how do you merge it with new ideas and blends?
Reinier Lorenzo: When you think about cigars, they are relaxing. Cigars are my business, but it’s really a leisurely thing you want to share with friends. You want to sit down. You want to have a drink, and you want to have a cigar. Let me relax. Let me have a conversation. That’s why I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life. When I started smoking, I started smoking cigars. It’s also the culture around cigars. Let me share it with friends. It’s a beautiful thing.
For the blending process– I don’t blend cigars for people. I blend cigars for myself. What I mean is when I blend a cigar, I’m looking for four things: flavor, balance, construction, and a clean finish. If you give me a cigar with those four characteristics, I will love it. How can I create something I don’t love? I always want to share something that I really enjoy. We came out with new packaging in the last year and a half. We were thinking about how to gain more attention in the humidors -humidors are like real estate. The packaging is a minor detail for us as a new cigar company on the way up. You can have the best packaging in the world, but if the cigar is no good, people won’t rebuy it.
Reinier Lorenzo and HVC Cigars
Cigar Life Guy: Tell us about the HVC portfolio.
Reinier Lorenzo: We’ve been around for thirteen years now. Our cigars had to be attached to where I come from, Havana City. You can’t find a really mild cigar with our blends. Everything is medium or medium-full-bodied, rich with a lot of flavor- that’s the most important thing for me. It’s flavor. You give me something with flavor, I’ll be smoking all day long.
With our portfolio, many people said, “You’re crazy! How can you come out with ‘Hot Cake’?”. I said, “What do you mean? It’s going to be a hit”. That cigar got made because we owned the name “Pan Caliente.” When a product sells really fast in Cuba, they say, “That sells like pan Caliente (hot cake)”- selling like hot cakes. When I trademarked the Pan Caliente, we trademarked “Hot Cake” as well. That’s the best-selling cigar in our portfolio. People love it.
The other crazy product that we have is Black Friday. In 2015, I called my lawyer and asked if I could trademark “Black Friday.” The concept behind Black Friday is that I give you a unique product every year. We never replicate those blends. It’s always a new blend in a new size. We sell that blend for less than ten dollars. So what does that mean? That’s my way of saying thank you to all the consumers and retailers who have supported us. It’s something so unique and so special at a great price point.
Reinier Lorenzo: Favorite Part of Cigar Life
Cigar Life Guy: What is your favorite aspect of cigar life?
Reinier Lorenzo: That’s a really good question. The most essential part of cigar life is the people around you- those with whom you share cigars. But sometimes I want to be by myself. I want to be intimate with the cigar. Just yesterday, I was smoking a Hot Cake Robusto by myself. I was enjoying that moment. It was a moment with just me and the cigar. I was paying attention to all of the flavors. All the beauty of making a cigar was there, right? There was nothing but me and the cigar.
As I said before, the other part is when I am with friends, conversing and sharing a cigar. It’s a beautiful moment as well.
The Future of HVC Cigars and Reinier Lorenzo
Cigar Life Guy: Anything else the cigar world should know, and what can we expect from HVC in the future?
Reinier Lorenzo: We are always working. There’s a new blend that we’re testing out, and we want to bring it out soon. For us, it’s always about working and improving. We try to put out the best we have. It’s a family business. When people buy HVC Cigars and say, “Hey, I love your blends,” To me, that’s the jackpot.
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Photo credit: HVC Cigars