Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the box pressed Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022 is dark brown with some lighter marbling and a network of lightly raised veins. The seams are smooth and the tapered head is extremely well finished. There are two bands, both in a blue, black and gold color combination. The primary denotes the line name, and the secondary denotes that it is a limited edition and the year. The aroma from the wrapper is dark earth and wood while the foot brings wood and anise. The pre-light draw brings dark stewed fruit and cedar.
Seth: A well pressed torpedo, with a long tapered finish, the Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022 is firm throughout and sporting a nice Colorado Maduro color. Dark Colorado Maduro. Coloring of coffee beans without the oils. Small veins throughout, the cigar has a slightly gritty texture. Aromas of cocoa, raisins, rich earth and tobacco.
John: The Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022 comes in cellophane and has a UPC sticker with an integrated tear space so it remains intact when opened. There are two bands on the cigar, with the primary Villiger de Nicaragua band and the secondary Edición Limitada 2022 band. The cigar also has an artisanal complication of being box pressed. Aromas from the cigar included rich tobacco, almost a fire cured or barbeque aroma, and sweet wood. From the foot, there was raisin and sweet tobacco.
Jiunn: The Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022 has a quality and attractive Colorado Maduro wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the aggressive torpedo head is well wrapped. Aromas from the wrapper tell of toasted cedar and slight campfire. Aromas from the foot give wet hay and a light red pepper spice. Cold draws reveal sweet hay and cedar.

Team Cigar Review: Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with a very light combination of cedar and black pepper. At a quarter inch in, the cedar gains a toast note. At a half inch in, some mustiness joins the profile. The retrohale is musty, toasted cedar with light black pepper and earth. At an inch in, a light earthiness joins the profile. As the third comes to a close, the profile is musty, toasted cedar up front with light black pepper and earthiness in the background. The strength in this third was mild.
Seth: The first third starts out with some sugar and raisin qualities. Cereal, rich spices, chocolate and coffee beans present as well. Medium in strength and body. Rich cigar.
John: The first third gets things going with super sweet, creamy wood that gives way to medium, almost medium-full spices through the retrohale and finish. A mildly dry wood takes up the center of the retrohale after a few puffs. Bread joins the retrohale as the first third settles in. The spices move down in strength to light-plus by the bottom half, and the flavors are all roughly around the same strength level.
Jiunn: The first third provides a leathery mouthfeel with some nice tannins. Flavors are decently balanced with dry cocoa and cedar leading the charge. Retrohaling gives spicier cedar as well as accentuating the cocoa notes. The finish is long with leather. Strength and body is medium.

Team Cigar Review: Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, some minerality joins in. At a half inch in, the earth and minerality increase a bit. The retrohale is now musty, toasted cedar, earth and minerality. As the third wraps up, the profile is musty, toasted cedar, just ahead of minerality and earth with a mild black pepper in the background. The strength bumped up to mild-medium.
Seth: The second third delivers some raisin, peanuts, rich spices, chocolate and coffee qualities. Again, medium in strength and body. Rich and solid blend.
John: The second third starts with sweet, creamy wood and a more complex tobacco sweetness to follow in the center. Mild, spicy wood finishes each puff here. Bread returns to the retrohale as it settles in. The profile remains largely unchanged through the remainder of the second third.
Jiunn: The second third teeters between having a “good” flavor profile vs an average one for many of the same reasons as the first third. It’s still a very smooth delivery of flavors but the smoothness doesn’t quite spell out enough boldness in flavors. Strength and body remains medium.

Team Cigar Review: Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the earth is now even up front with the musty, toasted cedar. The retrohale is now musty, toasted cedar, earth and light minerality. At three quarters of an inch in, the black pepper has departed and the minerality becomes very light. As the cigar wraps up, the profile is musty, toasted cedar and earth even up front with minerality in the background. The strength bumped up to slightly below medium.
Seth: The final third delivers that raisin, rich pepper spice, chocolate and coffee flavor profile. Medium in strength and body. Nice smooth finish. Rich cigar.
John: Sweet, spicy wood is present on the initial puffs, with a mild, dry wood through the finish. Some earth moves into the center of the profile as the cigar reaches the halfway point. I pick up on occasional floral notes in the bottom half.
Jiunn: The final third confirms that the flavor profile isn’t capturing my attention enough because it is too meek in flavors. Especially for a Nicaraguan cigar, this really shouldn’t be the case. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

Team Cigar Review: Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022

Burn

Aaron: The burn was perfect throughout and the ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: Very good burn from start to finish.
John: The burn was straight through the entire review, with the ash holding on in up to one inch increments.
Jiunn: Flawless burn performance. Even burn, tight ashes and cool burning temperature.

Team Cigar Review: Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022

Draw

Aaron: The draw was a bit tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
Seth: Perfect draw.
John: The draw was quite resistant, roughly 3-1/2 to 4 notches into the resistant spectrum.
Jiunn: Ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with a very light combination of cedar and black pepper. The cedar gained a toast note fairly quickly and some mustiness and earth joined a bit later. The second third saw some minerality join in. The final third saw the black pepper depart. The Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022 had a very muted flavor profile through the first half and then became fuller in the second half. Overall, the flavor profile was pretty average and didn’t really bring anything that captured my attention. I’m curious as to the experience of the other guys to see if they had a similarly muted start or it was just the one I smoked. Not something I really see myself coming back to unless my experience was an outlier.
Seth: This Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022 was a solid blend from beginning to end. Love the diversity of tobacco in the cigar. Rich profile that is one of the few examples of dark Ecuadorian Sumatra flavor working well. Some transitioning, but it made up for it with the depth and complexity. Nice strength and body level as well. If I recall, this is a somewhat new factory. If the factory keeps producing cigars like this, I see good things for Villiger.
John: The Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022 was an enjoyable cigar to review, with dessert like flavors through the first and second thirds. The last third lost most of what made the cigar engaging to that point and became largely earth driven. The burn was flawless, while the draw had a significant amount of resistance to it. I would happily smoke another Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022 again. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 2 minutes.
Jiunn: This Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022 was an overall miss for me. The experience although smooth (both in terms of flavors and strength), did not deliver enough depth. For the majority of the smoking time, the flavors seem a bit too hollow and unengaging. I’ll have to look forward to the next release because this one quite simply just isn’t it.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.60

Cost/Point

$2.68

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

7.07

Cost/Point

$2.12

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.37

Cost/Point

$2.36

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$2.46

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Villiger Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2022