(Description taken from Halfwheel.com website)
In the cigar world, using the term Gran Reserva as part of the name oftentimes—though not always—means a particular blend has received extra aging. For Villiger’s newest release, it means the cigars were aged for at least one year after rolling.
At the 2025 PCA Convention & Trade Show, Villiger Cigars North America will show off the new Villiger 1888 Gran Reserva, a new limited edition box-pressed 6 x 54 toro. Blend-wise, it uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over an Ecuadorian habano binder and fillers from Nicaragua. The Gran Reserva part of the name is a classification given by Villiger that means that all of the tobaccos used were aged for at least two years in bales before the cigars were rolled. The cigars themselves were rolled and then aged for an additional year at Villiger de Nicaragua, the company’s factory in Estelí. While Villiger sells other 1888 blends, this appears to be an all-new blend and not simply an existing blend that has received extra age.
Each cigar will have an MSRP of $22 and production is limited to 1,000 boxes of 10 cigars.
According to the company, the Villiger 1888 Gran Reserva is medium-full in strength and has notes of leather, black pepper, nuts and roasted coffee.
The cigar is nicely made and box pressed. It has a nice feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were tanned leather, brown sugar, baked pear, some earthiness, a little nougat, and light black coffee. There was black pepper rated at 7 1/2. Nice start.
At the first third (26 minutes) the cigar is burning pretty evenly. The flavors are about the same. The pear is now more of a citrus peel type note. The other notes are still in play. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is leather with very good lingering black pepper. The notes are working well. I rated the first third 94.
As I moved through the second third (1 hour) the cigar had some changes. There is faint pear, light brown sugar, quite a bit of black coffee, a tough of earthiness, and a little leather. The cigar is medium to full bodied. The finish is a leathery black coffee with very good lingering black pepper. The cigar lost a little for me. Not much, but the reduction of pear and brown sugar hurt. I rated the second third 93.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 38 minutes. The pear notes came back nicely, brown sugar, hints of nougat, quite a bit of black coffee, and faint leather if any. The cigar is medium to full bodied. The finish is black coffee with some earthiness and very good lingering black pepper. The cigar slightly changed again but for the better. If you swap out leather in the first third for black coffee in the final third you would be close to the same. I rated the final third 94. This is a good cigar from Villiger. A little pricey but good.
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