The Villiger Anniversary 2020, a cigar celebrating two milestones in the company’s history, has arrived in Germany and will be coming to the United States shortly after the new year.

The cigar is a Brazilian puro, a rarity in the industry but not unfamiliar territory for the company. In 2014, the company released Tobajara, a Brazilian puro, while in January 2020 the company released Villiger do Brasil, a two-blend line that are Brazilian puros.

Villiger also owns and operates a premium cigar factory in Feira de Santana, a city in the eastern state of Bahia. It opened a new factory in May 2018, replacing a previous factory in that same location. While the company has not yet announced where the Villiger Anniversary 2020 is being made, the Villiger do Brasil factory only produces Brazilian puros for the company, so it would seem likely to be made there.

It is being released in a toro vitola, with the dimensions listed as 155 mm x 20 mm by a German retailer, which equates to about 6 1/10 inches long and a 50 ring gauge. Each cigar comes in a coffin, with 10 cigars per box. Only 1,000 boxes are being produced for worldwide distribution, and each are individually numbered.

The Villiger Anniversary 2020 is priced at €19.50 ($22.86) per cigar and €195 ($228.64) per box of 10 in Germany.

It celebrates both the 90th birthday of Heinrich Villiger, as well as the founding of Villiger Söhne GmbH by Louise Villiger, his grandmother, 110 years ago. Inside the lid of the box is text acknowledging the combined history of those two events, recognizing 200 years of tradition, innovation and success.

Rene Castaneda, president of Villiger North America, told halfwheel that they will be arriving in the United States in January 2021, with 200 boxes of cigar heading stateside. He added that more information would be announced next week.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.