Every cigar in the 1888 line carries the same idea forward: exceptional tobacco, sourced with intention, under the name of the year when it all started for Villiger. First came the Dominican. Then the Nicaragua. Now the line adds its boldest release yet, the Villiger 1888 San Andres. Built around a single, unmistakable component, this cigar features a wrapper grown in one of the most distinctive tobacco valleys in the world.

Why San Andrés
The Villiger 1888 San Andres takes its name directly from where its wrapper is grown, the San Andrés Tuxtla Valley in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The valley sits within the Sierra de los Tuxtlas mountains where they meet the Gulf of Mexico coastline. Indigenous strains of tobacco have grown wild here for thousands of years, long before cigars existed, and were woven into daily life and ritual across Mesoamerica. Ancient Mayan stone carvings in the region even depict priests smoking tobacco through long tubes, a plant they regarded as a sacred gift from the gods.

Volcanic soil, high elevation, and humid coastal breezes combine to create a set of growing conditions unique to the area that are ideal for thick and flavorful wrapper leaves. Cigar makers have returned to this valley for generations and this wrapper is a major reason why.

The Blend

The Villiger 1888 San Andres has an oily, rich Mexican San Andrés wrapper while an Ecuadorian Habano binder holds together a Nicaraguan filler, built from well-aged tobacco that gives the cigar both character and balance. It's medium to full-bodied and available in three vitolas: Robusto, Toro, and Churchill.
The result delivers notes of espresso and black pepper, finishing with an elegant nuttiness. The wrapper itself plays a quiet but important role here too: San Andrés leaf is known for its natural sweetness and earthiness, which softens the pepper without dulling it.

Yellow By Design

Looking at the band and box you'll notice a striking yellow, a color choice as deliberate as the blend itself. It's the same shade found on the colonial houses of San Andrés Tuxtla, Veracruz, lining the main cathedral, doorways, and walls along the streets where the tobacco is sorted and prepared. Walk through the town and that yellow surrounds you before you ever see a tobacco leaf. Bringing it to the packaging means the cigar carries a piece of that place with it, long before it is in the humidor.

Three Origins, One Line

With the Villiger 1888 San Andres, the line now spans three distinct tobaccos: Dominican, Nicaraguan, and Mexican San Andrés. Each has its own character while sharing the same name and the same standard.
The Villiger 1888 San Andres is available at your local tobacconist.