Today’s review is about a cigar I’ve been waiting to smoke since it was first announced one month ago. The cigar is the Villiger Cuellar Black Forest. Villiger declared that this cigar will serve as a line extension to their very popular Villiger Cuellar Connecticut Krēmē.
Black Forest is manufactured by Master Blender Jochy Blanco at Tabacalera La Palma in the Dominican Republic. The blend is comprised of a Mexican Maduro wrapper and Dominican Binder and Filler leaves.
I received samples of the Gran Toro Box Press vitola from Villiger for review.
The Black Forest is a beautiful cigar to look at. There are two green and silver foil bands at the top of the cigar. The Maduro wrapper is gorgeous; rich, dark and oily. There is a very rich tobacco aroma coming off the wrapper as well. The cap is a smoothly applied triple cap while the foot is finished and has a sweet aroma.
I sliced through the cap with my guillotine cutter and took a cold draw. I was hit with a very strong taste of what I thought was fire-cured tobacco. The taste was very similar to a couple of fire-cured blends I’ve smoked in the past. I asked Villiger about this but they told me that fire-cured tobacco is not used in this blend. So, I’ll just say I was reminded of fire-cured tobacco and it’s still a great flavor.
Bringing my trusty quad torch to bear, I toasted the foot and took my first puff. The draw is easy and produces thick, creamy smoke.
Overall combustion characteristics are wonderful. The burn is even with a thin carbon ring. The tight, firm ash is light gray and I drop it at my normal 1 ½ inches so I don’t make a mess on my keyboard.
The flavor profile of the Black Forest is fairly consistent with subtle changes. The retrohale is strong throughout the session and at first really opens up the rich, savory tobacco I’m tasting on my palate.
Moving into the center of this cigar, I experience a tingling sensation on the tip of my tongue and the flavor coats my entire palate.
The end of the cigar is full of rich tobacco flavor that dances across my tongue as it leaves a long satisfying finish.
I am happy to say that the Villiger Cuellar Black Forest absolutely lived up to my expectations. This is an awesome medium to strong strength cigar with medium body that I found very enjoyable. I will absolutely be adding more of the Black Forest to my humidor.
After enjoying all three samples provided, I can enthusiastically rate this cigar at a 95.