Rocky Patel Super Ligero Toro

June 9th, 2021 This is a 6.5 inch by 52 toro - large by toro standards. 

At the time of ordering this box, I had finished half a box of the robusto vitola of this cigar. The quality ranged from excellent to disgusting. But it is one of my favourite cigars, because when it's good, it's very good: rich, complex, smooth. The day after I ordered the box of toros I tried one of the robustos. It was disgusting: tarry and dirty. I tried to cancel the order for the toros. It was too late. It had already been dispatched. 

I was lucky that I failed to cancel the order - at least judging by the first sample. It was excellent: rich, smooth, full bodied with a deep rich aroma. It was everything one would ask from a Nicaraguan/Honduran ligero.

Construction: Beautiful, long, slender, cylindrical cigar with a shiny, oily, wrapper described by Cigardojo as Cuban-seed Honduran San Agustín Habano

Draw: a bit resistant, but not a problem.

Burn: Perfect burn. The ligero is famed for being wavy and requiring touch-ups. This one was a bit wavy. But it easily corrected. I had to relight twice. But this was more due to my neglect than any defect in the cigar. 

Flavour: Deep, rich, slightly peppery but not too much, a sweet tinge, but no bitterness at all, smooth and balanced. 'Balance' would be the outstanding quality. 

Body: Full from start to finish. There were no transitions to speak of. This was a consistently full bodied stogie.

Strength: It didn't seem too strong - no head spinning, no sweats. But see my post script.

Finish: Nice, long finish, allowing me to put the cigar down and enjoy the aftertaste. 

Aroma: Excellent, complex aroma, marred by a little wind. 

Ash: Held on valiently for around twenty to thirty minutes per ashing.

Balance and Consistency: This is a cigar with no transitions. But who needs them? It started with optimal and finished close to that mark. Balance was excellent - strong, slightly spicy and slightly sweet; the perfect combination. 

Time smoke: 115 minutes - just shy of two hours.

Overall: Very satisfying. But! I fear there was too much nicotine. I was plagued all night with those nicotine dreams: first a nightmare, now forgotten, which woke me up. Thereafter, I was tormented with dreams: I had to catch a plane, but first, I had to pay hotel bills. I had somehow managed to maintain several hotels at the same time. So I had to scurry around the town, checking out of multiple hotels and paying multiple bills with wads of cash, all the time anguishing over whether or not I would make it to the airport on time. Total nonsense of course! But these are the sorts of haunting dreams that too much nicotine can effect. As I mentioned, I had no nicotine symptoms after finishing the cigar; so this was an enigma. But I will be cautious but eager to sample another from the box.

2. August 9, 2021: This cigar started out very smooth, cool and mellow, with dark roasted espresso and a touch of pepper, but degenerated into a dirty, burnt coffee, vegetal flavour towards the end. That might sound disgusting, but in fact, it was still complex and interesting, so much so that I smoked it to the nub. 

The aroma is one of the most attractive features of this cigar: it is one of the deepest, darkest and most complex aromas of cigars in my collection. 

Draw was very easy throughout with no discernible resistance. Finish was long and satisfying. Burn required a couple of minor touch ups. The cigar's humidity level was just right, neither too wet nor too dry. 

Strength increased throughout. It never became overwhelming. At most I noticed a mild sweat in the 30 degree C. evening heat. But despite the lack of apparent reaction, I had the same weird, vivid, dreams that night, as I had had after the first cigar, sometimes anxious, other times just weird.

The cigar gave two hours of enjoyment, during which I listened to three podcasts; first, a podcast about a Harvard evolutionary biology professor who was pilloried for stating that sex is binary and follows the size of gametes that one produces: big one for girls and little spermy ones for boys; the second, a discussion of Hegel and his relation to other romantics and his rejection and subsequent readoption of Christianity, after having redefined god, and thirdly, a discussion of Hegel and Beethoven. The last podcast was more about Beethoven than Hegel and made the point that Beethoven was the first composer to incorporate Aristotle's notion of mimetics into music - imitating reality; first with the 3rd Symphony, which reflected the mood of the Napoleonic wars, second with the Fifth Symphony which represented Fichte's dialectics and third, with the Sixth Symphony which represented man's relation to nature.  

Thirty minutes down: quite a slow burner.

November 17th, 2021: Despite being maintained at not more than 70% humidity, this cigar was soft and squishy. It burned well. Draw was fine. The cigar only required a minor touch up towards the middle. Flavour was a good, rich dark roast, reminiscent of the Tatuaje Fausto. There was a bit of strength but not overwhelming and I didn't notice vivid dreams last night. 

The flavour and finish were both a bit tarry, leaving a bitter aftertaste the next day. I think this cigar would benefit from finding a dryer space in my humidi-cabinet, probably on the lower level as humid air, being of lower density, tends to rise. I think this cigar will be delicious if it ages well. I could sense the beginnings of a rather complex, fermented flavour. With a bit of age, body and strength would come down a bit and flavour would go up. Let's see. Overall, quite satisfying. 90 minutes.

March 2nd 2024: After a couple of years, this cigar was smooth, but lacked complexity. Aroma was good, but for a full bodied cigar it was unbalanced, tarry and way too much strength. I left it at 75 minutes. Not delicious. Not particularly satisfying.