Villiger TAA Exclusive 2022

For the third straight year, Villiger Cigars North America released an exclusive cigar to the Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA), an organization that is made up of approximately 80 of the country’s top tobacconists along with about 40 manufacturers.

The cigar is a 6 x 52 box-pressed toro that uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder grown in the country’s Jalapa region and Nicaraguan fillers that include corojo from Estelí and criollo from Jalapa. The cigar is produced for Villiger by the La Zona Cigar Factory, which is best known as being home to many of Espinosa Premium Cigars’ blends.

• Villiger TAA Exclusive 2020 (6 x 54) — 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Villiger TAA Exclusive 2021 (6 x 54) — 350 Boxes of 20 Cigars (7,000 Total Cigars)
• Villiger TAA Exclusive 2022 (6 x 52) — 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)

As with most TAA exclusives, this is a limited release, with just 500 boxes of 20 cigars produced, a total of 10,000 cigars. The MSRP is set at $10 per cigar and $200 per box.

While this marks the third year for a Villiger TAA release, it also marks the third different factory to produce such a cigar and the first to be located in Nicaragua. The 2020 version was produced by Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. in the Dominican Republic, while the 2021 version came from Tabacalera Palma, also in the Dominican Republic.

• Cigar Reviewed: Villiger TAA Exclusive 2022
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: La Zona Cigar Factory
• Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
• Binder: Nicaragua (Jalapa)
• Filler: Nicaragua (Estelí Corojo & Jalapa Criollo)
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $10 (Box of 20 Cigars, $200)
• Release Date: May 23, 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The bright orange bands that the Villiger TAA Exclusive 2022 wears are the first things that catch my eye and I immediately find myself liking how straightforward the design is. There’s still some flash with the silver trim of the bands, and some brightness with the colors selected, but there is no opaqueness when it comes to what these cigars are. On the first sample, I have to confirm that it is indeed described as a box-pressed cigar as the press seems quite subtle, though the other two cigars’ are a bit more pronounced. The density of the cigar is just a touch firmer than I expect from a box-pressed cigar, though it still shows the familiar trait of being just a bit softer front-to-back than it is side-to-side. The wrapper is evenly colored and a fairly dark brown, with the leaf having both small veins and a bit of toothy bump in places. I struggle to find words for the aroma off the foot of the first sample, as nothing really stands out. With repeated sniffs, I can make the case for subtle floral aromas that lead into thoughts of the garden section of a home improvement store. Then some pepper comes along and behind that, a base note that reminds me of both dense, dark breads and a dry, light earth. One sample has an aroma that reminds me of packaged chocolate donuts, such as Hostess Donettes. Air movement on the cold draw is very good with just a touch of resistance. The flavor here can be equally as coy as the aroma, barely giving me a slight bit of sweetness that suggests unflavored hard candy, and in one sample, what I’d imagine an unflavored candy cane to taste like. There’s also a bit of wheat bread that gives off as much of a soft texture as it does a flavor. Finally, a bit of pepper comes along to finish off the profile.

The Villiger TAA Exclusive 2022 opens with a sensory punch of earth and black pepper, a familiar sensation and one that stands as a contrast to what the cigar offered prior to being lit. There’s just a bit of creaminess to the smoke, which gives it a softness and gloss as it hits the taste buds and provides a counterbalance to a dry, fresh cut wood that is focused on the sides of my tongue. The flavors don’t all hit at the same time or at the same pace across the samples; one cigar takes a much slower and gradual approach, while another has them compressed into a much quicker sequence during the first inch, and the third is somewhere in the middle. After the first clump of ash falls off, white pepper becomes prominent in retrohales, while creaminess becomes more prominent on the palate. The creaminess might not necessarily be driving the profile as much as the bolder flavors are, but it is certainly steering it into a place where both the components and the overall profile are mellowing. The profile gets a bit dry at the end of this section, seemingly drawing from changes to the earth and wood in the profile. Flavor is medium-plus, body is medium, and strength is medium. Construction and combustion in the first third are both very good, as there’s plenty of smoke production, the draw is easy, and there’s no need for a touchup.

Building on the first third, there is a bit more mellowing of the flavors, or more specifically just how dynamic they are on the palate. The cigar still has flavor, it is just more nuanced than it was earlier. Retrohales, however, are still fairly packed with black pepper and a heartier body. It’s an impressive balance of two different experiences that are good on their own and very good when combined. Right around the midpoint, the creaminess almost completely departs from the profile, revealing a dry, slightly rocky and gritty earth highlighted by white pepper that leaves a lingering finish throughout the mouth. The flavor stays fairly steady from this point through the rest of this section, with the second third finding what I would describe as a pair of sweet spots and for good reason spending as much time with each of them as possible. The second third closes out with a complexity that has me thinking of some types of Scotch, as there are subtle hints of dried fruit, woodiness, a bit of campfire smoke. Flavor is closer to medium in this section, while body is closer to medium-plus and strength is medium. Construction and combustion are still pretty flawless, though the first sample is burning a good bit slower than the others.

There’s a bit more of the chocolate donut flavor from earlier that joins the profile not long into the final third, and then a touch of a dry pretzel, which makes this portion of the cigar one of the more quickly changing. The earthiness continues to develop largely in the background of the other flavors and aromas, finally stepping forward as black pepper does the same, both on the palate and through the nose. Nuttiness comes in with just about an inch left to provide one more layer to the flavor, though depending on the sample it can add a bit more gruffness to the profile, which isn’t overpowering by any means but is plenty noticeable. One sample adds a bit of dry heat, which feels unnecessary and detracts from the better parts of the profile. Flavor finishes medium-full, body is medium-plus, and strength is medium. Construction and combustion are both generally very good, though one sample seems to burn a good bit slower than the others. The draw, smoke production and burn line are all very good across the three samples.

Final Notes

• While the Villiger TAA Exclusive 2022 might not win any packaging awards, I do like the simple, straightforward design of the bands, as well as the colors selected for the bands.
• I was a bit surprised to find that there are only two bands on the cigar, as I assumed there were three.
• As part of releasing a cigar for the TAA’s Exclusive Series Program, the manufacturers agree to give a minimum of 50 cents per cigar back to the organization.
• There’s a saying in sports that you have to do something five times in a row before it can be called a streak. It’s a point I raise because I was intending to start this review off by saying that Villiger has been on a streak of TAA releases, so it looks like I’ll have to save that lead-in for 2024.
• In his review of the Villiger TAA Exclusive 2021, Charlie Minato commented that “I imagine it’s pretty rare for a manufacturer to produce consecutive TAA exclusives from two different factories, particularly given that the majority of the companies that participate in the program operate their own factories.” I have to think three consecutive TAA releases from three different factories might be a first.
• Two of the cigars gave me just a bit of a nicotine buzz, while I didn’t feel anything from the third. None had me reaching for the white sugar, though.
• Villiger Cigars North America advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel. Villiger Cigars North America also provided cigars, but they were not used for the review.
• Final smoking time was all over the place, with one cigar at about an hour and 40 minutes, another at two hours and another at three hours. I think the three-hour smoke was by far an outlier, so consider this to be about a two-hour-long smoke.