Villiger showed off the new San’Doro line at both the IPCPR Convention & Trade Show in 2015. There are three blends in the San’Doro line: Brazilian Puro Maduro, Claro and Colorado. The name San’Doro comes from the Latin phrase, Indorum sang sancta, which translates to “Sacred healing plant from India.”
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
The Colorado is made in Estelí, Nicaragua at Oliva’s TABOLISA factory. It uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The Colorado is produced in Churchill, Robusto and Toro vitolas. The price ranges from $11-14.50 and each vitola comes in boxes of 20.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Toro
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 50
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Jalapa Colorado
Binder: Esteli and Ometepe
Filler: Nicaragua
Factory: TABOLISA (Oliva)
Blender: Roy MacLaren
Number of reviewers: 4 – Jason H.(Jokey Smurf) Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd) Gregg (McGreggor57) Matt C. (Big Matt)
Price: $9.00
Age: 1 Year 1 Month
Release Date: July 2015
Contributed by: Villiger Cigars
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 88
“Sample 538 is a good looking cigar. It has a nice Colorado color to it, sports some very prominent looking veins for what appears to be a thin wrapper. The wrapper is pulled back a little bit on the foot exposing the binder ever so slightly.. I have an inkling that this cigar might have extensive humidor time prelight. Cold draw is hay and grass, stick and the foot of the cigar smell faintly of inhabited barnyard.” –Matt C. (Big Matt)
Aroma: 90
“Hay and mild barnyard along the wrapper with a little cedar joining the mix at the foot. The cold draw is a nice leathery cedar.” –Gregg (McGreggor57)
First Third
Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“As commonly happens with so many cigars, a blast of pepper on the first few puffs. When the cigar has had a moment to warm up, the pepper moves to the background and some toasted oak and vanilla comes into the front of the palate. A sweet graham cracker note is on the retrohale. The ash is extremely flaky.” –Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
“This cigar starts with a toasted oak and leather. Some black pepper is noticeable on both the retrohale and palate. As the spice fades the profile shifts to a creamy leather and oak.” –Gregg (McGreggor57)
Second Third
Flavor: 87
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“As the cigar progressed to the middle it began to pick up some charred oak flavors and maintained the pepper burn. There were really no subtle or nuanced flavors that I could detect but it was becoming pleasantly medium strength and more interesting.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
“The creamy leather and oak continues into the second third. Some returning pepper is a welcome addition, adding a bit of interest. Near the end some allspice begins to develop in the background.” –Gregg (McGreggor57)
Final Third
Flavor: 86
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The final portion of this cigar kept getting more and more of the char flavors until it reached the point where I was no longer getting anything but burned tobacco. I tried purging, and changing the time between draws but charred tobacco was the flavor of the day at the end.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
“Strength is medium, body ramps up into the medium-full spectrum. Burn remains a little wonky but never is in need for a touch-up from my single flame Xikar Allume. The finish is clean as it damn gets and my palate is still fresh after this premium cigar offering. We still have aged tobacco, salt, citrus and cream on the exhale. Retro is cedar, citrus, pepper and cream. This cigar just has classic qualities to it that are very enjoyable; from the look of the stick, to the burn, to the hand feel, to the smoking experience. Kudos to the blender, I dig it.” –Matt C. (Big Matt)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 88
“The pack felt very hard at the head of the cigar, but the draw was open and produced plenty of smoke output.” –Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
Burn: 88
“Despite a bad initial light on my part and a breezy day, the burn line self corrected. Plenty of smoke, even during the section with a very firm draw.” –Gregg (McGreggor57)
Construction: 89
“This cigar wasn’t exactly beautiful to look at but it performed like a champion in the areas of draw and burn…and really, that’s what it’s all about (except for flavor). Very well done.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Experience Overall: 88
“This cigar smoked well, and was a possible contender for a long ash contest, but in the end flavor matters. The flavors started bland, became very nice, and ended poorly. I wish the middle portion of the cigar was the duration of the smoke, but unfortunately this was not the case. This is not something I’d choose to smoke again.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
“Not a cigar that blew my mind. The flavors were consistent and pleasant, but the appearance and feel were not great. I would not recommend this as a drive time smoke because of the flaky ash, unless you like arriving at your destination looking someone dumped an ashtray on your head.” –Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
“The first two thirds showed some promise, although a bit one dimensional. The combination of creamy leather and oak was very enjoyable. During the final third, however, was my samples unraveling. A harsh cedar and tight draw almost had me tossing this one. Based on other reviewers experiences, this might be a candidate for the golf course.” –Gregg (McGreggor57)
“Overall, this is a very good cigar that tastes like a cigar. Aged tobacco, cedar, cream, salt and pepper. Citrus zings in and out of the cigars profile never letting you know where its going to be hiding out..sometimes it’s on the exhale, then she pops up on the retro..and when you think the citrus has exited the cigars profile… well I’ll be damned it’s chilling on my palate with her feet posted up on my desk. Burn is a little wonky at times but the combustion line is sharp. I taste Nicaragua and the mouth-feel is very good. I would pair this cigar easily with a bottle of dry champagne. Additionally this offering doesn’t deflate my palate, which make it a perfect candidate for first cigar of the day.” –Matt C. (Big Matt)
Cigar Info
Flavor: 86
“Overall, this is a very good cigar that tastes like a cigar. Aged tobacco, cedar, cream, salt and pepper. Citrus zings in and out of the cigars profile never letting you know where its going to be hiding out..sometimes it’s on the exhale, then she pops up on the retro..and when you think the citrus has exited the cigars profile… well I’ll be damned it’s chilling on my palate with her feet posted up on my desk. Burn is a little wonky at times but the combustion line is sharp. I taste Nicaragua and the mouth-feel is very good. I would pair this cigar easily with a bottle of dry champagne. Additionally this offering doesn’t deflate my palate, which make it a perfect candidate for first cigar of the day.” –Matt C. (Big Matt)