Willy's Cigars cigars

About Willy's Cigars

Willy's Cigars is the work of William Figueroa, a tabaquero in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He founded the brand in 2016 as a tribute to the rollers and blenders of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, where he has lived most of his life. Every cigar is rolled by hand in small batches, never mass-produced.

Before he rolled, Willy smoked for more than two decades. He began making his own cigars because he was tired of finding the same flavors everywhere. A friend taught him to roll, and he spent years experimenting before settling on his blend. After Hurricane Maria he started over from home, and his customers, by word of mouth, helped him rebuild. He also teaches cigar rolling for free, because, as he puts it, you can't only take: you have to give too, or the circle is not complete.

He works with tobacco from Nicaragua (Estelí, Jalapa and Condega), the Dominican Republic (Olor seco and ligero), Brazil (Arapiraca) and San Andrés, Mexico, with Ecuadorian wrappers in Maduro, Connecticut and Candela. How he combines them in each vitola is his secret, and it stays that way.

Instagram is his home base: that is where he shows his work and where people write to him for cigars. My note for the brand is the Shorty, which I expected to be a quick smoke and which turned into a complete experience. Willy describes it well: first it hugs you, then it shakes your hand, and finally it gives you a punch.