The San’Doro Maduro is a Brazilian puro cigar launched by Villiger Cigars in 2015. It was one of three blends under Villiger’s San’Doro line. Villiger is a cigar company well-known in the machine made business, but over the past several years has invested in growing its premium hand-made segment. Villiger has teamed up with many leading factories such as Tabacalera Oliva, Tabacalera Palma, and Placencia. At the same time the company does own a factory in the Bahia region of Brazil known as Charutos Tobajara Ltda – and that is the place where the San’Doro Maduro is produced. While Brazilian puros are not a common offering in the U.S. market, it is not Villiger’s first Brazilian puro as the company produces another one out of the same factory known as Tobajara. Today we take a closer look at the San’Doro Maduro, a cigar offered in a Toro size. Overall, I found this to be a very enjoyable cigar and one definitely worth seeking out

It was in 2015 when Villiger unveiled its San’Doro line, a line that pays homage to Christopher Columbus. The name San’Doro is actually derived from “Indorum Sana Sancta” which translates to “Sacred Herb of India”. During the time of Columbus’ expeditions, many thought he had found the route to India and when tobacco was brought back, it was referred to as “Indorum Sana Sancta”.

The San’Doro line consists of three blends: San’Doro Claro (a Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper option), San’Doro Colorado (a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper option), and San’Doro Maduro (a Brazilian Mata Fina) option. While San’Doro is made at a Villiger-owned factory, the Claro and Colorado offerings are produced at Tabacalera Oliva.

The San’Doro line is distributed in the U.S. market by the Villiger North America subsidiary. Over the past year, Villiger North America has undergone a significant restructuring, including moving its company headquarters from Charlotte, North Carolina to Miami, Florida; restructuring its sales force; and naming Rene Castaneda its new President. With changes in structure and operation of Villiger North America, the focus at the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show wasn’t on new product, but it re-connecting the U.S. division with its retail and consumer base. As a result, the recently unveiled San’Doro line was prominently showcased at the 2016 show.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the San’Doro Maduro and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The San’Doro Maduro consists of 100% Brazilian tobacco. The cigar incorporates the two major varietals of Braziliant tobacco – Mata Fina dn Mata Norte.

Wrapper: Brazilian Mata Fina
Binder: Brazilian Mata Norte
Filler: Brazilian Mata Fina, Brazilian Mata Norte
Country of Origin: Brazil (Charitos Tobajara Ltda)

Vitolas Available

The Villiger San’Doro Maduro Toro is available in one size – a 6 x 50 Toro. The cigars are packaged in 20 count boxes.

Appearance

The Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper of the San’Doro Maduro has a color that is a lighter shade of chocolate brown mixed with a colorado tint. There was a coating of oil on the wrapper. The wrapper was slightly bumpy as there were some visible veins and visible wrapper seams.

The band to the Villiger San’Doro Maduro has two sections. The upper part of the band has an almost mahogany-wood style background surrounded by gold and red trim. The center portion of the band has a semi-circle shape to it. Sitting on that semi-circle, is the Villiger coat of arms – and just below that is the  text “VILLIGER” in gold font. The lower portion of the band is dark green in color with gold and red trim surrounding it. Sitting on that portion of the band is the text “SAN’DORO” in red font with gold trim. Just below that text “MADURO” in a smaller sized font that is red in color with red trim. On the left side of the band is the text “PREMIUM” in gold font while the right side has the text “HANDMADE” in gold font.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting the San’Doro Maduro, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut. Once the cap was removed I moved on to the pre-light draw. The cold draw delivered notes of cream, toffee, and a slight cedar note. Overall this was an outstanding pre-light draw. After finishing the pre-light draw ritual, I proceeded to light up my San’Doro Maduro and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the San’Doro Maduro delivered notes of coffee (not toffee as above), maduro sweetness  (a cross of natural tobacco with some dried cherry mixed in), cream, cedar, and touch of red pepper. It didn’t take long for the coffee and maduro sweetness to become primary. The other notes moved to the background. Meanwhile there was an additional layer of cedar on the retro-hale.

As the San’Doro Maduro progressed through the first third, I found the creaminess joined the coffee and maduro sweetness in the forefront. Meanwhile the red pepper now joined the cedar notes on the retro-hale.

The second third saw the maduro sweetness diminish into the background joining the cedar and red pepper notes. The coffee notes remained in the forefront with the creamy notes. A slight bitter (but not harsh) component surfaced with the coffee note, but I didn’t find this to be a negative, but something that added balance to some of the complementary sweetness and spice.

Late in the second third, the coffee notes remained. I found the cedar and red pepper spices ramped up. As the San’Doro Maduro moved into the last third, the spices were now on par with the coffee notes. The creaminess subsided. At the same time there still was some maduro sweetness in the background helping the San’Doro Maduro maintain its balance. As the cigar came to a close, the resulting nub was cool in temperature, but slightly soft to the touch.

Burn and Draw

The Villiger San’Doro Maduro maintained a straight burn path from start to finish. While there was some waviness on the burn line early on with each of the samples I smoked; this seemed to correct itself. As a result, the last two thirds of the San’Doro Maduro would have a straight burn line. The resulting ash had a silver-gray color. This ash was on the firm side and came off the cigar in clean chunks. The burn temperature remained ideal. Meanwhile the burn rate was slightly on the slower side, but this had no adverse effects and actually prolonged the cigar experience.

The draw to the San’Doro Maduro was open, but not loose. Since the cigar was burning at a slower rate, I was surprised given the draw was on the open side. Overall this was a low maintenance cigar to derive flavors from.

Strength and Body

Overall I found this cigar to perform medium in terms of strength and body. In fact, I would assessed both attributes on the lower side of medium. There was a slight increase of both strength and body along the way, but both attributes remained in the medium range of the spectrum.

In terms of strength versus body, I found both attributes to balance each other very nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

Final Thoughts

Overall I found the San’Doro Maduro Toro to be a very good offering from Villiger Cigars. In general Brazilian puros tend to be on the medium minus / medium side of things and the San’Doro Maduro pretty much falls into this category. I found the fact that the San’Doro Maduro’s medium profile worked perfectly with the flavor profile delivered. There was a very nice balance to the flavor components – namely the sweetness, spice, and even bitterness all played well together. Finally, where there wasn’t a lot in the way of radical flavor transitions, there was plenty in the way of flavor nuances. Overall this is an excellent cigar for either the novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is easily a cigar I would smoke again – and it’s one worthy of a box split.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium+
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Good
Assessment: 3.5-Box Split
Score: 90

References

News: Villiger San’Doro Launched at 2015 IPCPR
Price: $8.50
Source: Cigars Provided by Manufacturer *
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 193
Stogie Feed: n/a
Brand Reference: Villiger

* Villiger North America is a sponsor of Cigar Coop / Stogie Geeks

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, except where noted.