Villiger little cigars from the baron of cigars in Cuba

When looking for premium cigarillos, you cannot avoid the Villiger little cigars of the Swiss manufacturer Villiger. The traditional company is now run by the fourth generation of the Villiger family and produces around a billion (!) Cigars and Villiger little cigars every year.
The era of the House of Villiger began more than a century ago: In 1888, in the small Lucerne municipality of Pfeffikon, the accountant Jean Villiger and his wife Louise decided to found a small cigarette factory in their own home.

With a little knowledge of the product, but a great entrepreneurial spirit, Jean Villiger managed to establish what was once a small cigarette manufacturer as one of the big market leaders at the beginning of the 20th century. On the recommendation of his wife Louise, Jean launched a cigar called “Villiger Kiel” in 1907, surprising the cigar world. The innovative product has a mouthpiece with which tobacco should no longer get into the mouth. To this day, this product is one of the best-selling mouthpiece cigars in Europe.

In 1910, Jean Villiger’s wife, Louise, initiated the relocation of the company’s headquarters to Waldshut Tiengen. Later, Max and Hans Villiger took over the business. Things continued to improve, as the Villiger family was always keen to develop product innovations. And so, over generations, it brought a large number of new products onto the market, such as the Rio 6, which fit exactly into the cartridge belt of Swiss soldiers. Villiger Export brought it to the Havana of the “little man”, Villiger little cigars wrapped individually in tissue paper. It is the most widely smoked cigar in Switzerland.

The fact that Villiger products occupy an outstanding position worldwide is not only due to the Villigers’ enthusiasm for innovation. The family’s professional way of working has also made a significant contribution to the company’s success.

In the meantime, Heinrich Villiger himself has been praised as the baron of cigars in Cuba, and not without reason: for more than six decades, he led the company as Chairman of the Board of Directors and dealt intensively with his love of cigars.

The original production country Switzerland was from the beginning just a “pillar country”. In order to be able to work more productively, the cigars were made longer and divided in half. This way you could make two cigars in one go, which was very effective. At first, pillars were also produced in the Villiger company. The cigarillos, which formed the core business, were added later.