Vitola: Toro Box-Pressed- 6” x 54 ring gauge
- ~$9
- Samples provided by Villiger Cigars
Background
Way, way back in a different lifetime…somewhere around the beginning of March when there was still going to be a Tobacconist Association of America Convention happening in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, later that month…Villiger Cigars announced they would be releasing their first TAA Exclusive cigar.
The cigar was given the imaginative name of “TAA Exclusive 2020” and the company team up with Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr., and his Tabacalera La Alianza in the Dominican Republic, the first time the two parties worked together. As with most TAA exclusives, the blend is a single size. It features Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers, a Nicaraguan binder, and an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. They come in 20 count boxes and are available only at TAA-member stores nationwide, of which there are approximately 80.
I received two samples of the Villiger TAA Exclusive from the company and this is the second one I’ve smoked. I got information for this background section from h news story on the release.
Prelight
The band of this release uses the basic style as other recent Villiger releases. This time the top half of the band has a white background, while the bottom has a dark red. Both halves contain lots of gold foil and embossing. I’m going to call this look “adequate” without being exciting.
The wrapper was a medium brown, almost like a Habano leaf and I didn’t see the characteristic lighter-color veins that a lot of Ecuadorian Sumatra out of La Alianza seem to have. I got a good amount of cedar and hay on the nose from the wrapper leaf, with just a touch of bell pepper. The foot of the cigar had a rich, sweet earthiness, with some cocoa powder and a slight bready note.
The cold draw was open enough to call “good” and it had flavors of cedar, earth, and copper.
Flavor
Fired up, the Villiger TAA immediately had cedar and bell pepper notes, with some earth and black pepper toward the back of the throat. I picked up on some bread and citrus in the mix, while the retrohale had red pepper, wood, and nuts. That continued on through the first third.
The second third had more nuttiness and earth on the palate, while the black pepper on the tongue and red pepper on the nose toned down quite a bit. It continued on tasting good, but I was having a hard time getting anything “special” from it.
In the last third, the Villiger TAA Exclusive was more woody and some of that mineral/copper note came back into play. Pepper had pretty much left the building at this point although there was a good amount of earth in the mix.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line, and solid ash.
Value
It’s a good cigar and a fair price, so I’m giving it a full point on value.
Conclusions
The TAA Exclusive from Villiger was a good cigar, but I simply couldn’t find any “wow” in it. I felt it had a moderate amount of complexity and burned along without much drama. Maybe if you are Sumatra wrapper fan, this cigar will bring more to the table for you, but for me, it was just kind of average.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
