Tag Archives: Villiger

by Craig Vanderslice | October 4, 2019 · 8:38 am

News: Villiger Cigars Rebranding La Libertad Line

I’ve been thinking a lot about Villiger lately as I’ve smoked a few of the little Exports here and there and was lamenting the fact that I just ran out of time to catch up with their PR guy when I was in Miami, an old friend. I always liked the La Libertad, nice to see them standardizing the branding. Now, can we talk about the Trill? 😜

VILLIGER CIGARS TO DEBUT REFRESHED BRANDING FOR LA LIBERTAD

Villiger Cigars announces that the highly rated Villiger La Libertad will display an elegantly designed new cigar band, that prominently features the Villiger handmade premium cigar logo. The Villiger La Libertad originally featured a band with only the name “La Libertad” displayed.

Villiger North America President Rene Castañeda said: “The Villiger La Libertad is a cigar that is personal favorite and we are happy that this high rated brand will now be properly represented as a Villiger brand.”

The Villiger La Libertad (which translates to the word ‘freedom’ from Spanish) in 2016 ranked amongst the Top 25 Cigars in CigarSnob Magazine and was included in Cigar Aficionado’s “Best Buy” list while receiving a rating of 92.

The Villiger La Libertad is made in the Dominican Republic at the ABAM factory by Master Blender Matias Maragoto. Medium in strength, this cigar is known for its complex flavors. It starts with initial impressions of nutmeg, cinnamon and crushed peanuts, transitioning to cedar intonations and black tea with a floral finish. The Villiger la Libertad is packaged in 20-count boxes and expressed in four vitolas with an MSRP of $6.00 – $7.00

Robusto: 5×52

Torpedo Box Pressed: 5.5×52

Churchill: 6.5×50

Masivo: 6×60

ABOUT VILLIGER SONS LIMITED AND VILLIGER NORTH AMERICA:

Villiger Sons Limited was established in 1888 by Jean Villiger in the small town of Pfeffikon, Switzerland, where Villiger remains headquartered to this day. The company manufactures and sells more than 1.5 billion cigars annually, world-wide. Today, under the leadership of Heinrich Villiger, the company prides itself in its commitment to quality, in all their products made in many countries around the globe.

Follow Villiger Cigars North America on social @VilligerCigar #TheOriginalClassic

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, La Libertad, Villiger

by Craig Vanderslice | August 11, 2019 · 8:08 am

A few More PDR Cigars and Some Villiger News

Let’s see, what do I want to talk about today? I’ve been stuck working weekends and evenings a lot, so I’ve been kind of slacking on smoking the newer stuff, plus i don’t have a great many new cigars to smoke around. Earlier this week I reeved a news release from Villiger Cigars that I wanted to share, but I had just posted the contest on Wednesday, and wanted to leave it front and center for as long as possible. So I figured I’d enjoy a Villiger cigar Friday evening, and selected a La Vencedora Churchill since the only La Flor de Ynclans I had were the mis-named Lancero, and I couldn’t find them! I wanted a longer smoke anyway, and I enjoy the Joya de Nicaragua made La Vencedora. La Vencedora is a Nicaraguan Puro with a Habana Oscuro wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The Churchill is Americanized in size, it’s 7″ x 50, which is OK by me, it’s like a toro, only an inch better. It’s a medium-plus cigar, with some dark sweetness and some spice. Here’s the News about the new La Flor de Ynclan:

VILLIGER CIGARS TO PRESENT THE VILLIGER LA FLOR DE YNCLAN IN NEW TORO SIZE

The Villiger La Flor de Ynclan Toro will come in an elegant 10 count box

Villiger Cigars announces that the Villiger La Flor de Ynclan will be presented in a new Toro 6X52 size. The Villiger La Flor De Ynclan robusto in 2017 garnered a 93 rating, ranked as the number 10 cigar in the world by Cigar Aficionado Magazine and voted the 2017 number 6 cigar in the world byTobacco Business Magazine.

The medium- bodied Villiger La Flor de Ynclan was described in Cigar Aficionado Magazine during their unveiling of the best cigars in the world in these words: “The cigar is a fantastic smoke, sweet and charming from first puff to last, anchored by simple-yet-pleasing notes of chocolate and salt, and then refined by more precise intonations of walnut and orange marmalade. “

Heinrich Villiger and Master Blender Matias Maragoto once again came together to tweak the Villiger La Flor De Ynclan. Feeling that the blend could once again be improved on, the Toro 6X52 was agreed upon.

Chairman of the Board Heinrich Villiger said, “The Villiger La Flor de Ynclan seems to be a blend that we keep going back to. Over ten Years ago Matias Maragoto and I began on this journey to create a blend that would pay homage to the Pre-Revolutionary style of Cuban cigars. Although, the brand has received many important accolades, I still felt that the blend can be an even better version of itself. We expect the Villiger La Flor de Ynclan in this new Toro size to be an upgrade from the already highly rated robusto vitola.

The Villiger La Flor de Ynclan in Toro 6X52 Toro size will come in elegantly packaged 10 count boxes.

MSRP: $13.00

About the Villiger La Flor de Ynclan: Diligently crafted by Heinrich Villiger and master blender Jose Matias Maragoto of ABAM Cigar Factory in the Dominican Republic, the Villiger La Flor de Ynclan was a cigar 10 years in the making. Villiger Cigars produced a small batch of La Flor De Ynclan over a decade ago. Unsatisfied with the result; the decision was made to cease production. The tobacco was set aside and aged, while Matias meticulously tweaked the amount of the Indonesian, Dominican, and Nicaraguan tobacco within its Ecuadorian wrapper. Present day, the La Flor De Ynclan is what both imagined it could be. The result was a smashing success as it received numerous accolades after its re-launch in 2017. The highlight being a 93 rating and being named the 2017 number 10 cigar in world by Cigar Aficionado Magazine.

ABOUT VILLIGER SONS LIMITED AND VILLIGER NORTH AMERICA:
Villiger Sons Limited was established in 1888 by Jean Villiger in the small town of Pfeffikon, Switzerland, where Villiger remains headquartered to this day. The company manufactures and sells more than 1.5 billion cigars annually, world-wide. Today, under the leadership of Heinrich Villiger, the company prides itself in its commitment to quality, in all their products made in many countries around the globe.

Follow the Villiger Cigars on social @VilligerCigar #TheOriginalClassic

I smoked a few more cigars from PDR Cigars this week too. One of the cigars that I had been looking forward to smoking was the 6″ x 60 DBL Magnum size of the El Criollito. Now, I have historically not had a great appreciation for Criollo 98 tobacco in a lot of cases. so I always am curious to see if a cigar will change my mind. This cigar does have a rosado colored Criollo 98 wrapper, as well as Dominican and Nicaraguan Criollo 98 fillers, with a Mexican San Andrès binder. Maybe I hoped the binder would turn the tide for me on this one. It was a perfectly good cigar, the burn and draw were excellent, and I smoked it to the end, but the flavor wasn’t in my wheelhouse particularly. I think it had a leathery flavor that isn’t one I really lean toward. Some people like that, I prefer the sweeter and spicier flavors.

Finally, last night I smoked a PDR 1878 Capa Sun Grown Toro. This 6″ x 52 toro has an Ecuador Sun Grown wrapper, Dominican Criollo 98 and Dominican Corojo fillers and a Criollo 98 binder. Yeah, more Criollo 98. Funny enough, I found this to be very good tasting cigar! Perhaps the sweetness and creaminess of the Corojo and Ecuador balanced out the leather of the Criollo for me and made for a really pleasant smoke. Like the other cigars in the 1878 line, this is finished with a closed foot and a pigtail cap, but I still used the Screwpop Magpulse cutter to give it a nice, clean straight cut which gave a nice draw and plumes of sweet, creamy smoke. Part of me wanted to to just reach for a favorite “safe” cigar last night, but I figured I’d be adventurous, fortunately, I had a great smoke.

Remember the contest for the Illusione prize pack from Fox Cigars is going on until Wednesday. I fixed the date, originally it had last Wednesday’s date, which was the date it was posted! Oops. I’ll post a winner the morning of Wednesday, August 14. That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 1878, Capa Sun Grown, cigar, cigars, El Criollito, La Flor de Ynclan, La Vencedora, PDR, Villiger

by Craig Vanderslice | June 2, 2019 · 9:54 am

A Couple of CLE Cigars, Villiger La Vencedora Churchill and Joya de Nicaragua

Last week when I was at Goose’s in Limerick I picked up some CLE cigars I hadn’t tried before, the Prieto and the Corojo, in the Toro size. Christian Eiroa is another one of those guy who was a regular in the alt.smokers.cigars Usenet group back in the ’90s, so I’ve known him a long time. That being said, I’ve bought every cigar made by him or his family I’ve ever smoked, going back to the Camacho days. Not complaining, just saying that I always pick up a few of Christian’s cigars when I see them to give them a try, as he’s an old friend and I try to keep up with what he’s doing. That being said, I haven’t really found a CLE cigar that’s hit my palate right yet. I’m going to go a little bit backwards in today’s post and talk about last night’s cigar first, the CLE Corojo Toro. This was a surprise, because I really expected to like this cigar, like I loved the Camacho Corojo of old. Oddly, is had a metallic component to it that I just couldn’t wrap my palate around. It brought to mind the same experience I had with the CLE Corojo from the original 2014 release (I had bought some at Corona Cigars during the 2014 IPCPR show). I suppose if this is something you like in a cigar, and I guess a lot of people do because they seem to sell a lot of them, it’s a great cigar, and there was nothing wrong with the construction. It’ll just have to be a pass for me, not my cup of tea.

I had better luck with the CLE Prieto Toro a few days prior. This one is a box pressed Broadleaf cigar, what can go wrong with that? Again, the Prieto had a beautiful burn. The flavor was what one expects, some coffee, some cocoa, all pretty good. Here’s the thing though, I expected to be really impressed and I was just mildly impressed, ya know? I Know what I liked from the old days of what Christian did, and I really like many of the Asylum offerings (admittedly, I have not tried any of the 70 or 80 ring gauge cigars save for one Ogre, which was quite good although obscenely large). Maybe I expect too much, or perhaps my palate just isn’t in tune with what Christian is going for with his CLE line. I just haven’t found the right one for my palate. I have an Eiroa The First 20 in the humidor on deck, maybe that will be the one that trips my trigger! I like the presentation of the line, the tissue paper sleeve over cello is a classy touch, and offers some protection over nothing at all. Christian is vehemently anti-cellophane, but the market requires some barrier between the consumer and the leaf, so the paper is a nice compromise.

Next up are two cigars that are made at the Joya de Nicaragua factory in Esteli, first being the Villiger La Vencedora. This isn’t a new brand, it’s been around since last year. It was billed as Villiger’s first full bodied offering, which may or may not be true, I thought the Trill was on the fuller side of medium, but that’s all pretty subjective anyway. The La Vencedora is one of my favorites in the line, although the new La Meridiana is gaining ground. I recently received some Churchills from Villiger and had to give one a try (although, I’m quite sure I’ve smoked this size before). I like a Churchill, although this is a 7″ x 50, that’s OK, I like this size too. (a Churchill is 7″ x 47 traditionally, everyone takes liberties with the names). This is a good, stronger cigar that I find quite satisfying. There’s a nice spice from the Habano Oscuro wrapper grown in Nicaragua. It is a NIcaraguan puro, so the spice is consistent throughout, and it has the espresso flavors I like too. This is a nice long smoke and one that I find enjoyable.

Finally, I smoked the new Joya de Nicaragua Seleccion de Torcedor Exclusivo de TAA. This is what Joya has to say about this program:

Inside our factory, you will find a dedicated group of people working passionately to deliver the best-handcrafted cigars. Our team focus is to always create, always improve. As a result of this commitment, we are introducing Selección de Torcedor, a new program that we are launching this 2019 through our good friends at TAA.

From now on, every year, Joya de Nicaragua’s torcedores will select a special blend and size. After that, it will be shared with a selected group of retailers around the world. To give our friends overseas a piece of what our torcedores are working on the factory floor thrills us.

Also, this program will work as a way to know the acceptance of the product by consumers. If it turns out to be well received, we will certainly make this special blend into a regular one.

The blend in 2019’s Selección de Torcedor is a very approachable smoke, smooth yet flavorful. With the selection of tobacco, this cigar unquestionably reflects the historic ties between Nicaragua and the US.

“We are very excited that consumers in the US will enjoy Dr. Cuenca’s favorite vitola with a rare piece that we’ve been working at the factory for quite a few years. I’m sure they’ll enjoy this 6×52 toro. As much, as we do in the factory.” – Said Mario Pérez, JDN’s Factory Manager.

This an interesting cigar in that it isn’t the strong blend of the Antaño at all, it’s on the milder side, but loaded with flavor. It’s rich and quite tasty, and, of course, the size is perfect. If you can get your hands on these, they are well worth trying!

That’s all I have today, I’ve got a lot to do and little time to do it in! More stormy weather is expected and one cant cut the grass in a thunderstorm! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by CigarCraig | May 12, 2019 · 2:03 pm

Micallef Grande Bold Mata Fina and Villiger La Meridiana Cigars

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there (take that any way you want!). There was some interesting news this week from Cornelius & Anthony regarding both restructuring their staff and not attending IPCPR. I happen to enjoy a good professional relationship with the company, and several of their cigars are among my favorite cigars. That being said, this news causes me concern for the future of the brand. I don’t want to speak out of turn, because it would be speculation on my part, but I’m glad I have a stockpile of favorites, and will continue to support the brand as Stephen Bailey notes that he has no intention of shutting it down.

I continued pretty much smoking what I wanted to smoke this week, but I did smoke a few new cigars to talk about today. First was the Micallef Grande Bold Mata Fina that I picked up at an event I attended a few weeks back at CigarCigars in Phoenixville, PA. I hadn’t smoked any cigars from Micallef before that event, and I’m not too much further along than that now, this is only about the third one I’ve smoked. This was the 5″ x 56 robusto, wrapped in a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. I found this to be a very unique and interesting tasting cigar. There was a savory meatyness as opposed to being a sweeter maduro. The first draw was almost like when you take a drink out of a class thinking it’s coke and it turns out to be tea, I was expecting sweet and got something different! IT certainly wasn’t unpleasant, once I got used to the idea that I was getting an entré and not desert! The burn and draw were perfect, and the cigar provided me with a very satisfying experience. I bought a handful of cigars that night and I don’t remember the price but they all seemed to be reasonable. I still have a couple left to sample.

Villiger Cigars, like Cornelius & Anthony Cigars, is also skipping the IPCPR show this year, which is probably much bigger news. While Villiger is pretty small in the premium cigar world, they are huge in the mass market segment, especially outside of the US. They have struggled to increase their footprint in premiums, and have put out some really good cigars in the last few years. The latest is another partnership with Joya de Nicaragua, which makes their La Vencedora line and is called La Meridiana, which has been available in Europe for 20 years. They say they believe that now is the right time to bring this cigar to the US, but I’m confused by this, because this seems to me to be quintessentially American in flavor profile. I’m actually surprised that this has been so well received in Europe. The samples I received were the 6″ x 54 box pressed Toro, which is not a size I believe is available in Europe. Still, checked all my boxes as far as favorite flavors. It’s all Nicaraguan, obviously something that Joya de Nicaragua excels with, so it’s loaded with cocoa and coffee notes, which we all know I enjoy. It had a sweetness I enjoyed, THIS was a desert cigar, and I liked it a lot. Even though these had only had a few days in the humidor since arriving, the cigar burned perfectly. I was very happy with the experience.

Well, that’s enough from me for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by Craig Vanderslice | March 17, 2019 · 12:29 pm

Saint Patrick’s Day Cigars, CAO, Villiger and Diesel

I have a slightly different take on Saint Patrick’s Day, not being of Irish descent. I have been known to smoke a candela cigar on March 17 over the past few years, considering the cigar companies like to put them out around this time to capitalize on just this sort of thing. Admittedly, I do enjoy a good candela cigar from time to time, I find them a refreshing change of pace. I may pull out an old Alec Bradley Filthy Hooligan today, I have one of the original candelas, and the first year the made the barber pole, unless I stop at the store and they happen to have this year’s iteration, and/or the Shamrock, which I’m quite interested in smoking. I kinda dig the triple-wrapper barber pole treatment for some reason. Anyway, the main reason I like Saint Patrick’s day so much is less about the green and Irish part, and definitely not about the drinking part, but all about the snakes part. You see, I hate snakes, and I’m a huge fan of anyone who can drive them out of an entire country. This is one thing I find appealing about Ireland and New Zealand, they are the two places that are naturally bereft of snakes. I get it, in 400AD there weren’t a lot of affordable direct flights to North America, but I certainly would have helped get this guy over here to get rid of the slithering bastards. So if I had a Culebra to smoke today, that would be my choice, but the only one I have is an LFD that was gifted to me in 2004, and I feel guilty for not smoking it at the time it was gifted, but that’s another story. It’ll keep the story and the cigars).

I guess if that were the case, I wouldn’t have had a CAO Amazon Basin Anaconda to smoke this week, unless he drove them to South America, which seems plausible! In honor of the coming anti-snake holiday, I smoked a CAO Anaconda, perhaps my favorite in the Amazon Basin line. I didn’t care for the original Amazon Basin, lots of people raved about it, but it didn’t do anything for me. the subsequent releases were more appealing to me. The Fuma em Corda was very good, although I only smoked it in the robusto size, and I really enjoy this Anaconda, although I hate the name, I mention I don’t like snakes, right? I do like the 6″ x 52 size of this, and the recipe of Brazilian Bahiano Habano Ligero wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Brazil (Bragança & Fuma Em Corda), Colombia & the Dominican Republic are very interesting. The Brazilian fillers used in this are a combination of those used in the Amazon Basin (Braganca) and the Fuma Em Corda (obviously). I guess it wasn’t the Branganca that turned me off in the Basin, unless it just worked better in the blend in this Anaconda. This is a woody smoke with some spice, more on the savory side than sweet to my palate. Like I said, love the cigar, hate the name.

Thursday was a brilliant spring day, I got the bike out of the garage and rode it to work, however, when I left work, it wouldn’t start. it’s a 2005, I’ve had it since 2008, put 29k miles on it, and it’s started every time. I guess it decided that day was the day it wanted extra attention. Better it let me down in a parking lot than on the side of the road, I guess, so today’s project will be getting it to the shop, but I came home and took a walk with a Villiger La Vencedora Churchill. It was warm for a change, I wanted a Churchill, dammit, and this one was front and center screaming ” smoke me!” So I did, and it was good. I guess it’s ironic that La Vencedora means “The Victor”, and I was feeling rather defeated that day, as the bike letting me down wasn’t the only odd thing to happen. Perhaps I was not letting all the little defeats ruin the day completely. The La Vencedora is a Nicaraguan puro, wrapped in a dark Nicaraguan grown Habano Oscuro leaf. I had to take a break from writing to go get the bike to the shop, so I lost my train of thought…OK, the wrapper on this wasn’t pretty, it’s a mottled brown, but it makes up for it in flavor. It’s got some sweet earthy flavors along with a bit of spice. I rather enjoyed it and I spent quite a while with it on my walk, then on the porch watching hockey on the iPad. It’s a 7″ x 50 Churchill, with I don’t mind at all, although a 47 ring Churchill is traditional. All in all, a darned yummy cigar, no surprise this is made at Joya de Nicaragua.

Finally, last night I decided to revisit a cigar that people have raved about, and I haven’t really “gotten” in the past. Last year the Diesel Whiskey Row came out and people were excited, especially people close to the blend, which I understand. I suppose this is another St. Patrick’s day tie in. To me it’s just another woody/earthy cigar with great construction, and, if that’s your thing, it’s a great cigar. I will say that I enjoyed this one perhaps more than previous cigars, so maybe time in the humidor has added value, but it’s still not a cigar I get excited about (about which I get excited? I regularly dangle participles…I guess I write the way I talk). I’d rather smoke a Diesel Unholy Cocktail as I find that it more closely aligns with my flavor preferences. But that’s me, and if the Whiskey Row is your kind of cigar, great! That’s what’s great about cigars, there’s something for everyone and who’s to say what’s not right for me isn’t right for you! That’s why I try most everything, which I can’t say for food, some foods I look at and know I won’t like…I know it’s wrong, but it just is!