Villiger Celebrates 25 Years of Bock y Ca.

There is some dispute about which German invented the cigar brand. Most of the time, the story goes that it was created by Hermann Upmann, a German banker turned Cuban cigar manufacturer. There is a competing story that gives the credit to Gustav Bock, another German who ventured to Cuba in the mid-19th century.

In the late 1800s, Bock started El Águila de Oro—Spanish for the golden eagle—and acquired a handful of Cuban cigar factory, a number that ballooned to 23 by the turn of the century. Bock died in 1910 and his factories and brand faded. In 1999, 88 years after Bock died, Villiger introduced the Bock y Ca. brand as a premium cigar made in the Dominican Republic by Matías Maragoto’s ABAM Cigars S.R.L.

Now, the company is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its reintroduction with the Bock Renacimiento 25 Años, a 5 2/3 x 58 double robusto with a pigtail. Villiger is not disclosing any of the details about the blend, other than it is made by ABAM.

The Bock Renacimiento 25 Años is only sold in Villiger’s two home markets. In Germany, it is priced at €25 per cigar, in Switzerland it is priced at CHF 25. Production is limited to 250 boxes of 25 cigars and the cigars are already shipping to stores.