Heinrich Villiger, chairman of the board of Villiger Soehne AG, came across a young ambitious Cuban native 22 years ago in the Dominican Republic. That Cuban, Jose Matias Maragoto was an unknown cigar maker, who was beginning a new life in a new country. Fast forward two decades, the once untested Matias Maragoto is the overseer of all Villiger made product made in the DR. The Flor de Ynclan cigar, is the fruition of a bond between two different men from different backgrounds, over the love of tobacco.
Villiger Cigars produced a small batch of La Flor De Ynclan over a decade ago. Unsatisfied with the final result; the decision was made to cease production. The tobacco was set aside and aged, while Matias meticulously tweaked the amount of the Indonesian, Dominican, and Nicaraguan tobacco within its Ecuadorian wrapper. Present day, the La Flor De Ynclan is what both imagined it could be.
Choice Nicaraguan and Dominican filler tobacco, along with a true Indonesian binder, wrapped in a beautiful Ecuadorian wrapper make the La Flor De Ynclan a cigar that has been worth the wait.
The Villiger – La Flor De Ynclan is produced in three sizes in 25 count boxes Robusto 5X50 – $11.00, Torpedo 6X52 – $12.00, Churchill 7X48 – $12.00
Pre-light
This robusto has a fairly shiny light brown wrapper with a few noticeable veins. There is a nice triple cap and the wrapper feels soft. There are a couple blemishes/tears in the wrapper and is slightly shorter than the filler. The wrapper does not smell spicy at all and the foot has a nice fresh tobacco smell. The v-cut produces a nice snug draw and aroma of curing barn.
The first puffs produce almost no spice, and very little flavor, just a touch of aged tobacco. But, a few puff in and a bit of spice comes in with more flavors of nuts and wood. The wood flavor is indiscernible at the moment. Towards the end of the third, the spice suddenly kicks up a notch and added is a bit of pumpkin spice flavor.
Second Third
Not a ton of change in this third so far, the dramatic shift in flavor was in the previous third. The pumpkin spice has turned into more general kitchen spice and the wood has come into its own as cedar.
Final Third
In the final third, some of the sweetness I was hoping for starts to come through, round out this profile. It finishes out with earthy and vegital notes with some sweetness, definitely the best third.
I paired this cigar with Zafra 21 year Rum as this is the recommended pairing by the company. I did find it to be complimentary and I smoked the first almost third without trying it to get a good idea of the flavor without.
Quick Cigar Review: Villiger | La Flor De Ynclan Robusto
Summary
"This was a good cigar, but I had higher expectations. The flavors were pleasing, but I felt for most of it it could have used some sweetness. If the whole cigar had tasted like the final third, minus the bitter nub, it would have scored higher for sure. I definitely want to try the other vitolas and give them more rest. Construction was great and I could see this turning into a very good smoke." - Emmett
