Villiger 1888

A Cigar 120 Years in the Making

The Villiger 1888 is the newest offering from the Swiss company of Villiger and Sons.  Villiger is known mainly for their small, machine-made cigars.  Their Export series are known by most cigar smokers, although opinions are divided on whether or not that is a good thing.

For their 120th anniversary, the company wanted to introduce something new to their offerings.  The 1888 marks their first entry into premium, long-filler, handmade cigars.  Introduced in most of Europe in 2008, they debuted in Mexico at the Tobacconists Association of America Expo in March; however the name started to get out more in the US after their showing at the IPCPR convention in New Orleans.

The sample that I was able to smoke came to me courtesy of a Twitter trade with ChiefHava (Thanks, Chief!); please check out some of his insightful articles on his blog, Smoke Signals.

Mine was a smaller size of 4″ x 40, I just found out from Labman that this size is a new one released at IPCPR called the Perla, thanks for the info!  Shops that carry these can offer 5 sizes – the perla (4″‘ x 40), a corona (6″ x 43), a short robusto (4″ x 50), a robusto (4 3/4″ x 50) and a torpedo (6″ x 52).  I found very few sources of these online to cross-check pricing, but it looks like we’ll see prices in the $9.00 – $11.00 range on these.

The Stats

Villiger 1888
Wrapper:  Ecuadoran Connecticut Shade
Binder:  Dominican
Filler:  Proprietary, multi-country blend*
Size: Perla – 4″ x 40
Price: TBD (estimate $9.00 – $11.00 based on the info I can find)
Beverage: I paired this with an ice cold IBC Cream Soda!
Cut/Light: I cut this with my Xikar cutter and lit it with a cedar spill

*It’s interesting to note that the original blend of the Villiger 1888 contained 30% Cuban tobacco but was reblended due to the importance of the American market.

Let’s Smoke!

This is a great looking cigar, it is very well constructed and the wrapper is almost flawless.   It has a wonderful, oily sheen and feels slick to the touch, almost like satin.  The pre-light aroma is a pleasant mix of sweet spices and hay.  I had a bit of trouble cutting it, perhaps the small ring gauge was a challenge for my clumsy hands, but I finally shaved off the cap and lit the cigar with a cedar spill.  The Villiger lit easily and produced a nice amount of pleasant smoke right off the get go.

First Third: From the start I loved flavors in this cigar; I detected sweet floral notes and a very faint cinnamon-nutmeg flavor.  The smoke was very velvety and light, it drifted away easily after exhaling.  The burn was very good, with just a slight wobble self-correcting.

Second Third: The second third offered much the same experience as the first third, however at 4″ x 40 it doesn’t take long to move from the first to the second third.  Flavors and burned quality remained consistent and still very enjoyable.

Final Third: Sweet floral notes and spices continued to be the most noticeable in the last third of the cigar, however I did start to detect some cedar as well.  The burn and draw remained excellent right to the nub.

Final Thoughts: I really, really enjoyed this cigar.  If you have a poor opinion of Villiger based on experience with their machine-mades, let that go or you’ll miss out on a great smoke.   This was an excellent cigar and I look forward to finding more of these as soon as possible in hopes they will produce the same results.

The Short Version

- Great construction
- Burns well throughout, no touch-ups
- Great flavors – sweet floral and spices moving to cedar
- Paired with an IBC Cream Soda and really enjoyed it
- I will smoke more of these