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Swiss cigar specialist Villiger has launched a new San’doro brand said to offer the best of Nicaraguan and Brazilian tobaccos.
Three formats – Robusto, Toro and Churchill – sourced from Nicaragua are available, with a wrapper of Claro (clear) or Colorado (brown) tobacco. An aromatic cigar in the Toro format with a Maduro wrapper and tobaccos of Brazilian origin is also included.
Villiger said the San’doro Claro and Colorado cigars are hand-rolled according to Villiger quality specifications in the Tabacalera Oliva in Esteli, Nicaragua. With a “sustainable character”, the filler consists of selected Nicaraguan leaves, while the wrappers come from mature tobaccos growing in the tropical climate of Ecuadorean plantations.
The San’doro Maduro is also handmade. All three formats are presented in wooden boxes of 20 cigars.
Villiger Owner and Board President Heinrich Villiger said: “By launching the brand Villiger San’doro we comply with our cigar friends’ demand for authenticity and realness. For the creation of these cigars we have, for more than one year, synchronised the best tobaccos from Nicaragua and Brazil to achieve qualities ranking with top-of-the-line tobaccos worldwide.”
At TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes in October, Villiger also launched an extension to its colour line, adding Green Mini Caipirinha 20 small cigars to the Gold, Black and Red already available in duty free and travel retail. Export Director for Africa, Middle East Asia (excluding Greater China) Ioakeim Gavalas described the small cigars as offering an easy draw and sweet taste.
He said reaction to the extended line in Cannes and at the MEADFA Conference in Jordan in November was “very positive”.
Gavalas expects further growth from Villiger in travel retail. “We are still growing and still going everywhere,” he said, adding that in 2014 Villiger sold around 1.5 billion cigars and cigarillos in more than 80 countries.
