Villiger San’Doro Colorado Staff Review
Today I’m smoking a cigar that got some buzz a few years back when it first came out, Villiger San’Doro Colorado, and I’m firing up a 5-by-50 Robusto. Holt’s carries a solid selection of Villiger cigars for a hefty everyday discount, making the brand a great option when you’re looking for a reliable box you can toss in the coolerdor.
Villiger cigars have actually been around for over 130 years. The European company is best known for its machine-made cigarillos, but over the past twenty years family patriarch Heinrich Villiger focused his efforts on developing a portfolio of premium handmade cigars for the U.S. market. Well into his 90s, Heinrich plays an active role in managing the company his grandfather started in 1888. Villiger cigars are popular with bargain hunters, and the company opened a new factory in Nicaragua in 2021 to increase production. That’s where Villiger San’Doro is made along with Flor de Ynclan, which I reviewed a while back.
San’Doro Colorado is blended from a Cuban-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador and a long-filler recipe of Nicaraguan tobaccos on the inside. The cigars come in brown 20-count boxes, and they’re dressed in gold-and-brown cigar bands. I can tell the Robusto I’m about to smoke is well made when I give it a gentle pinch from head to foot. Apparently, “San’Doro” is the name of a sacred plant in India. When Columbus brought tobacco back to Europe from the New World, Europeans called it San’Doro at first. The critics in Cigar Aficionado included Villiger San’Doro Colorado in their annual ‘Top 25’ list for 2018. Let’s find out if it lives up to the hype.
The cold draw opens with noticeable hints of pepper, leather, and cocoa after I clip the cap with my guillotine cutter and take a few pulls. The construction is spot on, offering smooth and effortless airflow with the right amount of resistance, and the wrapper shows a few veins but is otherwise seamlessly applied. Once I toast the foot with my torch, I pick up a pronounced profile of earth, hay, and pepper. Lots of spice erupts in the nose, but after a few minutes, subtle hints of oak and vanilla bean give San’Doro Colorado more balance.
The Robusto puts out an abundant amount of smoke. It’s not an overly complex cigar but I’m getting a nice wave of cocoa and wood as the spice recedes. A stable ash forms at the foot, showing the cigar has been put together by an expert roller. Unfortunately, the flavors turn a bit sharp once I get into the second half. Villiger San’Doro Colorado isn’t a bad smoke, but it loses some of the sweeter intonations I enjoyed when it started, and the texture is kind of dry.
As I power through the final third, the Robusto burns perfectly. Tasting notes of leather, cedar, and cocoa come through in a relatively one-dimensional cigar. When you want a decent and basic smoke without a spending a fortune, Villiger San’Doro Colorado is a good candidate when you factor in the discount you get with a full box. After fifty minutes, the finish is pleasant but a bit charry before the nub gracefully expires in my ashtray. I’m going with an 83-point score as I expected a bit more complexity based on what the critics said. In the meantime, I may age a few in my humidor and revisit San’Doro down the road.
