Villiger TAA 2022 Shipping on Monday
Villiger’s cigar for the 2022 class of the Tobacconists’ Association of America’s Exclusive Series is ready to make its way to retailers.
Rene Castaneda, president of Villiger Cigars North America, told halfwheel that the cigar has arrived at the company’s warehouse in Florida and is being packed up to head to TAA member retailers on Monday.
The Villiger TAA 2022 is a 6 x 52 box pressed toro that uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder from the Jalapa region, and Nicaraguan fillers, specifically corojo from Estelí and criollo from Jalapa. The company calls it a medium to full-bodied blend. The La Zona Cigar Factory in Estelí, Nicaragua produced the cigar for Villiger.
Production is fairly limited, with just 500 boxes of 20 cigars made, a total of 10,000 sticks, each of which has an MSRP of $10. The cigar will be identifiable by a pair of orange bands, as the primary band indicates that it is a TAA exclusive, while the foot band bears the TAA’s logo.
This is the third consecutive year that Villiger has produced a cigar specifically for the TAA, which is a group of some of the country’s top tobacconists, with about 80 retailers as well as 40 or so manufacturers as members.
The association gathers annually to discuss issues facing the industry and retailers, as well as to have its annual trade show, a unique event that works on a group buying format in order to secure exclusive deals for these generally high-volume merchants. During the event, there are two selling events, one is known as the Dream Machine where the retailers collectively order to secure larger discounts, while the other is a more traditional trade show. Typically, around a dozen manufacturers release new, exclusive cigars for the retail members of the organization under the TAA Exclusive Series Program banner. Those manufacturers agree to give a portion of the proceeds to the organization, a minimum of 50 cents per cigar.
Image courtesy of Villiger Cigars North America.
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 Major League Baseball, 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.
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