Tag Archives: Villiger

by | July 16, 2023 · 10:14 am

Some Blackbird Cigars and Some Villiger Cigars

I had a different idea of what today’s post was going to be, but that plan changed at the last minute. To be honest, the plan was tentative, at best. I’ve got some new and not so new cigars to talk about this week, lets start with the not so new, but great cigars.  When I went to the TPE show in 2020, right before the world shut down, I met Jonas Santana and his crew from Blackbird Cigars.  Jonas flattered me by knowing who I was, after 4 years of doing this it still takes me aback. Jonas had worked for Artista (then El Artista) who I had been working with, so he was familiar with my work.  I’ve kept up with Jonas over the years and while this old white dude may not be able to keep up with a young, hip-hop cat, we connect on the cigar level, I dig his smokes.  The Crow is my main jam, but this week I decided to take a wander through the range again as it’s been too long.  What prompted this was one of my wife’s cigar band furniture projects, which required a bunch more Blackbird bands!  So I had to by more cigars. I picked up some Toro singles locally, and bought a Robusto sampler from my friends at Trash Panda Cigars.  Let’s talk about the Cuco first. This is probably the last cigar I’d go to because it has Criollo on the band and that tobacco usually doesn’t work for me. This is listed as a Brazilian wrapper, Indonesian binder and Dominican fillers, so I imagine it’s a Brazilian Criollo wrapper, perhaps that makes the difference for me, because I quite enjoyed this cigar in both Robusto and Gran Toro vitolas. It’s medium bodied with some cocoa and a hint of spice. very nice cigars. 

 

The Finch from Blackbird is one of two Sumatra wrapped cigars in the portfolio, the other being the Rook.  The Finch is only available in the Robusto size, has an Indonesian binder and US and Dominican fillers. It’s just me, but I think if I were going to have one cigar in my lineup that was just a robusto, I might call it the Rook, thinking like the chess piece, but I suppose finches are small birds so I get it. It’s a bird themed line, not a chess themed line, what am I thinking?  I guess what I’m thinking is that while I really enjoyed the Finch I forgot to take any notes, so I don’t really have anything to say about it except that I found it quite enjoyable and it makes me want to pick up a few more.  I do recall a bit of the sugar cane I get from Sumatra sometimes, along with a sweet spice, perhaps from whatever US tobacco (PA maybe?).  Good smoke.  As I type, I’m smoking the Unkind in Robusto, which has a dark Cubra (Brazil) wrapper and works exceptionally well with my black coffee. Even the shade Jackdaw has some pop to it and is quite tasty. It’s hard to go wrong with the Blackbird line, Jonas is doing some great things at his factory in the DR. 

 

A few weeks ago I received a few new cigars from the folks at Villiger Cigars.  I’ve had a very long history with Villiger. If you dig through my site (or YouTube channel), you’ll find interviews going back to 2012 I think.  They have gone through some transitions, probably made some mis-steps, but they’ve always made good cigars.  A few years ago they brought on René Casteñeda to head North American sales.  René was previously with Miami Cigar and Co. and La Aurora, and is a super-nice guy.  The Villiger Miami started out as a cigar for him to have to share with his friends and visitors to his office.  It’s made in their ABAM factory in the DR, where they make Flor de Ynclan and a ton of cigar for the European market. Last year they put this out in a Lancero, this year it was released in a toro format. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, undisclosed binder and fillers, except that they say there is some Peruvian leaf in the filler blend.  This is a really nice, complex blend, with some delicate flavors.  It’s one of those cigars that you want to think about while you smoke it. I got a little citrus tang, with some nuts, light coffee, and a hint of cocoa. 

 

Finally, I smoked the Villiger 1888 Nicaragua in both the Toro and Robusto.  The 1888 was the first premium cigar that Villiger made back in 2009, and it was reissued around 2017 with updated blend and branding, made in the Dominican Republic.  The 1888 Nicaraguan is made in the Villiger de Nicaragua factory, which in my imagination is somehow a part of the Joya de Nicaragua factory. I could ask around and verify this I suppose, but that seems like work.  The cigar has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Pennsylvanian fillers. I’m generally partial to cigars with PA tobacco, considering it’s grown within an hour from my home, and I tend to like Sumatra.  This was a Medium bodied cigar in both vitolas, and had some sweet coffee/cocoa flavors.  I don’t recall favoring one size over the other, but almost always like a toro over a robusto.  I have a corona yet to try, but I expect that to have slightly sharper flavors.

 

That’s all I have for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | February 12, 2023 · 10:57 am

Villiger de Nicaragua, Alec Bradley Fine and Rare and Bocock Brothers Cigars

I’ve been getting into a pattern of smoking what I want to smoke in the beginning of the week, then smoking new cigars for here at the end.  So Thursday I smoked a Villiger de Nicaragua torpedo which I had received in a package from Villiger  a week or so ago. This is a $15 limited edition ciga made in Villiger’s factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.  It’s a pointy 6″ x 52 box pressed torpedo, with an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, San Andrés binder and Nicaraguan and Pennsylvanian filles. This cigar has nice, dark, rich flavors.  It’s. got some spice with dark chocolate, very nice smoke.  It burned without incident, it was among the best cigars I had all week.  Very nice. VIlliger opened their factory in Esteli in September of 2021, they are also making La Meridiana, San’Dorp, La Vencedora, La Libertad, Casa De Nicaragua, and Corrida in that factory now. 

 

I had a trying Friday, so I went to the special humidor where I keep the Secret Santa cigars I received this year.  I chose the next Alec Bradley Fine and Rare in the series I received, the 2018 Second Edition.  This is the JRS10=(86) blend, all of the Fine and Rares are a blend of ten tobaccos, and they keep those tobaccos to themselves.  This one was a 6½” x 56 Gran Toro.  I needed a great smoke and I got just that. This is outside of my normal comfort zone, it’s bright, floral, slightly fruity, but it sure tasted good.  Perfect construction was a big factor in my enjoyment, if I had encountered one of those cigars that produced loads of smoke when blown through, but you don’t get any when you draw, I would have been homicidal.  Why does that happen, by the way, it really pisses me off, I had it happen yesterday.  Anyway, the Fine and Rare was just that, thanks again to Mitch for sharing with me, very generous.

 

Finally, I went into some cigars that I got at last year’s TPE show.  I thought about going this year, but I have some scheduling conflicts which made it impossible.  I did a video with Bryant Bocock then, and have smoked a few of their Bocock Brothers cigars, but came across this 5″ x 50 World Traveller, which I initially thought was Habano, but now that I think back it might have been the Maduro.  I like the rooster on the band, I suppose “cock” in the Bocock name is the reason they use that imagery. I like chickens, we have a few.  This was an interesting cigar, it had a nice, meaty flavor.  Very dense, rich smoke.  I know it was 5″ x 50, but it somehow seemed thinner to me, which was OK, it was the right size cigar for the time available.  I know they were doing some cigars with AJ Fernandez, although this wasn’t one of them. It was different from your standard maduro, I enjoyed it quite a bit, I need to see if I have some more floating around. 

 

That’s all for now.  I know I’m from the Philly area and should be losing my mind over the Super Bowl, but I honestly don’t give a rats ass about football. Good for them if they win, I hope the city survives the carnage whichever way it turns out.  Thanks to all this Philadelphia has become known for having the grease all the light and traffic signal poles so fools won;t climb them, when there are so many other great things about the city to focus on.  Whatever, I guess it’s good for business. Until he next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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by | October 2, 2022 · 10:41 am

Villiger Miami and Exclusivo USA and an Abuelo Cigar

It’s raining, 54 degrees and I’m not having a cigar on the porch as I type this.  Autumn is here. Soon I’ll have to close in the porch for the winter, because, you know, I need to have a comfortable place to smoke! Over the last few days I’ve enjoyed some cigars, let’s talk about them a bit. When I was at the PCA show I talked to my old friend Rene Castenada, who is the president of Villiger North America.  Rene gave me a pair of their  Villiger Miami Laguito No. 1 cigars, and I  received another pair in the mail later.  This blend originated as Rene’s special cigar to gift people, and is being released as a limited edition. in this Lancero size (7½” x 38) and a Robusto, made in the ABAM factory in Santo Domingo, DR. The wrapper is Ecuador (Connecticut Desflorado), and the fillers and binder are Dominican. I shouldn’t really care for this blend, but I really enjoyed it.  It was kind of nutty with some sweetness. Like the Joya de Nicaragua Numero Uno, it’s a really good cigar that is accessible to most palates.  I smoke Lanceros very slowly, so as not to overheat them, which brings up a point I often make about the small ring myth.  Small ring cigars taste different because they burn hotter, it has nothing to do with some magical ratio.  Tobacco flavor is dependant on varietal and primings, wrapper tobacco isn’t some special leaf with loads more flavor than the rest of the components of a cigar. Small ring cigars can taste sharper and be perceived differently because of the temperature of the combustion. I get so tired of the myth of the wrapper to filler ratio. Watch the ash on this one, it’s a bit messy! 

 

This week I got another new cigar from Villiger.  This one, the Villiger Exclusivo USA, is made at La Zona, like their TAA release.  This was a box pressed toro, and it also comes in a box pressed torpedo. I like the sizes, 6″ x 52 and 54 respectively.  The make-up of this one is a Nicaraguan Habano Rosado wrapper, Jalapa Binder and Esteli, Jalapa and Condega fillers, making it a Nicaraguan Puro.   I’m a fan of a lot of Espinosa’s La Zona offerings, this one is no different.  It’s a really good tasting Nicaraguan cigar, with some Espresso notes and sweetness.  I liked it, maybe not as much as the TAA cigar, but it was really quite good. I’m not real sure of Villiger’s presence around the world in the premium cigar space, obviously they are huge in the “mass market” cigars internationally. I kind of thought a lot of their premium cigars were US exclusives!  

 

Yesterday I smoked an Abuelo Nieto, which I had been looking forward to trying for quite some time.  This is a cigar from United Cigar Group, made by Julio Eiroa celebrating Dave Garofalo’s grandparenthood.  It’s funny to see guys my age and older becoming grandparents for the first time, I’ve been at it for eleven years!  Anyway, I’ve heard rave reviews of this cigar, I was anticipating a great experience.  It’s a good cigar, well made, good flavors. It didn’t bowl me over, it was just very nice.  I think I’d opt for any number of Aladino cigars over this, but I like the branding, and appreciate the sentiment!  

 

That’s all for today. I’m hoping that this week is a little bit lighter on the news than last week was.  There were a ew items I didn’t post, some because I didn’t find them interesting, and some that I just didn’t get around to.  I’m not dedicated to news, so I pick and choose.  Anyway, I’ve got some stuff to do on this rainy Sunday, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | June 12, 2022 · 11:09 am

Villiger TAA, Punch and Partagas Cigars

I was going through some of the newer cigars I have and realized there was one I hadn’t written about yet, but more on that in a bit.  I want to start off talking about the new Villiger TAA Exclusive for 2022.  This cigar is interesting for a couple reasons. Foremost, it’s made at Espinosa’s La Zona factory. Villiger has been making cigars with a lot of different companies, Joya de Nicaragua comes to mind, as well as having their own factory in Brazil. I suppose logistics would make it less favorable to make the cigars in Brazil, but I would think they’d want to highlight that operation. Villiger is still not very well known in the premium market, and may still suffer from the abysmal way that they handled changing their outside sales model (stranding reps on the road around the holidays isn’t a very nice way to sever ties!). I’ll tell you this, I’ve always enjoyed their premium cigars, and have had a good relationship with them for a decade or so, through various regimes. This TAA exclusive is a good cigar. It has a San Andrés maduro wrapper with NIcaraguan binder and fillers. It’s a box pressed 6″ x 52, and is priced at $10. Honestly, it tastes like a cigar with that blend should taste, and I liked it. Does it have any overly distinctive flavors? Not really, but it’s a good, solid Mexican maduro, and if you like those, you’ll enjoy this. Of course, that;s m take, and someone with a more refined palate will have a different take. 

 

I made plans to be in Las Vegas for the weekend of the PCA show, although I have no plans to get into the show. There are a couple avenues I could take to get in if I wanted to, but I’m on the fence as to whether I want to do that or catch up with people after hours. I neither want to waste the trip, nor compromise my position on media being admitted to the show (I want to do it the right way, their version of that is selling me a membership which gets me nothing but entry to the show, my version is the media being invited to promote the show). I still have some things to work out. Anyway, I smoked the newest cigar from Punch this week, The People’s Champ. The blend on this was basically crowd-sourced. Apparently there’s a “Punch Brotherhood” group of Punch enthusiasts that were polled on what they wanted in a cigar, and this is what they came up with. I maintain that this is rarely a good idea, and cigar making should be left to the experts. The blend is a Honduran Talanga Habano wrapper, San Andrés binder and fillers from the DR, Brazil, and Nicaragua. There’s a lot going on there. These will be in 5 and 10 packs and will SRP for $6.49 for a 5″ x 50 robusto, so at least it’s not an expensive cigar.  I found the flavor to be very pungent, with some spice, which could be confused for acidity, I suppose. I’m guess some age will do these a lot of good.  I put this down for a while while running an errand, and came back to it a few hours later and finished it and it was a little better. I am hopeful that the enthusiasts who suggested this blend enjoy it, it wasn’t for me. 

 

I realized that I hadn’t yet mentioned the Partagas Añejo Petit Robusto here yet, and thought I’d fix that. This s a cool little cigar, available in two 4½” sizes, one with a 49 ring (Partagas has a thing for 49 ring robustos historically), and 60 ring. This cigar is unique in that it is a barber pole presentation, with Cameroon and Connecticut shade wrappers, with the CAmeroon being from 1998. Something makes me think I saw bales of Cameroon tobacco from 1998 when I was at the factory in 2011, it sticks in my head because Skip Martin was trying to buy them. I could be wrong.  This is a cool little cigar. It has the nuttyness of the Cameroon, tempered by both age and the Connecticut. Some Mexican leaf in the filler blend, along with Dominican, adds some body. I liked it, it smoked well and tasted great. If you want to be entertained, Kaplowitz did a twelve part review series on this cigar, which is quite creative. Start HERE. It would have been nice if he had linked his table of contents to the actual articles, but he’s kinda lazy. He puts the burden on the reader to use the search feature, I’m a nice guy, I’ll do it for you (HERE). I think the takeaway here is I’m a nice guy, and that Kaplowitz character…he’s creative, give him a read.  

 

That’s all for today.  This week is the Battleship, Beef and Bourbon for the Ship Red Meat Lovers Club event. Don’t forget to check out www.battleshipbeef.com and come out and join the fun. I’ll be there with Kevin and Jess from Cigar Prop, and Saka and a few other people. I can’t wait to have a cigar on the deck of the ship!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | June 5, 2022 · 9:12 am

Liga Privada H99, Villiger San D’Oro and Nica Rustica Adobe Cigars

Monday was Memorial Day and that called for some special smokes. I pulled out the Liga Privada H99 that Joe Gro of Drew Estate gave me back in January at the TPE show. I’m not sure why I had been waiting to smoke this, but I figured a nice afternoon off was a great time to light it up.  According to the Drew Estate Website:  “Maintaining the core tenants of the Liga firebrand, the H99 features a Corojo capa from the heart of the Connecticut River Valley, where we grow the mighty leaf that graces Liga Privada with a San Andres Otapan Negro Último Corte capote over a core blend of well-aged Nicaraguan and Honduran tripa leaf.”  I like how this is written, it’s an obvious nod to the original creator of the Liga Privada line, who else uses terms like “capa”, “capote”, and “tripa” instead of wrapper, binder and filler? 😀.  This cigar burned very nicely, and was less like a Liga Privada cigar than I expected. I suppose it was more on the T52 end, obviously, it wasn’t as heavy as it’s broadleaf counterparts. I found it has a bit of spice, some salty, savoriness, and a hint of sweetness. It was very good, certainly worthy of the occasion.  As I often do, I finished the holiday weekend off with an old favorite, this time it was a Fuente Hemingway Classic, as aptly named as a cigar could be. 

 

I slacked off this week and didn’t write a midweek post. Pure laziness on my part, I have no excuse.  I did smoke some cigars I really like though, a Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms, an Undercrown 10, and a new Perla Del Mar Maduro (more on that another time). Another one I revisited was the Villiger San’Doro toro. I found a three pack in the humidor and decided to smoke one and had forgotten how much I liked this cigar. This one is the Colorado, with a ruddy brown Ecuador wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and filler. I’m not sure how old this three pack is, but I think it’s newer, which means these were made at Joya de Nicaragua.  I probably have an old one around that was made at Placencia if I dive into the humidor a little deeper. I really enjoyed the flavor of this cigar, it had a cane sugar sweetness that I like a lot, but it was intermittent, so it didn’t get boring. I know Villiger premium cigars don’t get a ton of traction, but they tend to be pretty good, as far as I’m concerned. 

 

Yesterday I stopped in to the Wooden Indian where they were having a Drew Estate event featuring the new Nica Rustica Adobe, which they had in limited supply.  I picked up five toros and smoked one there in the Liga Privada Lounge, while catching up with Dave, Dan and their excellent staff, as well as Ray from Drew Estate and Matty Rock, famous for being Matty Rock. I had my choice of the three vitolas the Adobe is available in, and stuck with the Toro, even though I haven’t had the robusto yet, but I didn’t really like the gordo I tried inthe Freestyle pack. I’ve smoked a ton of Nica Rusticas, I really like them. We even went to the Belly launch event in Kentucky back in 2015. This was the third Adobe I’ve smoked and it’s growing on me, I’m liking the smoothness and balance. It has a bit of a creaminess, the Habano wrapper instead of Broadleaf makes a big difference. When this was the Freestyle live mystery cigar I had no idea this was what it was going to be, although I know one person in particular nailed it. you can’t beat the price, both versions are going to have a place in my humidor I think.

 

That’s all for today! It’s been a beautiful weekend, and I need to get out and get some things done, maybe smoke some more cigars!  Don’t forget to check out www.battleshipbeef.com and come out to the Battleship, Beef and Bourbon for the Ship Red Meat Lovers Club event. It should prove to be an orgiastic feast of the senses! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig 

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