Factory: Tavicusa, S.A. – Estelí, Nicaragua
Size: 6½” x 52
Strength: Medium-Full
Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Varietal
Dual Binder: Nicaraguan, U.S. Pennsylvanian broadleaf
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran broadleaf
Presented in boxes of 20
If there’s one thing you can say about Rocky Patel, he never runs out of ideas for creating some pretty enticing blends. By doing so, he’s built one of the world’s most prolific cigar companies. Enter the Rocky Patel DBS cigar selection. “DBS” stands for Double Broadleaf Selection in reference to the U.S. Pennsylvania-grown Broadleaf and Honduran Broadleaf tobaccos used in the binder and filler respectively. According to the Rocky Patel website, “If it had a mouth, it would speak volumes about its unique intricacies and undeniable perfections. This hand-rolled gem is resigned to letting its acumen speak for itself…actions speak louder than words and no action is more significant than a blazing trial by fire.”
The Rocky Patel DBS Toro is one of the more attractive cigars I’ve seen lately. The Mexican San Andrés wrapper is a beautiful dark chocolate color with a light oily patina. (It looks like a reddish sun grown Maduro to me.) The cigar was seamlessly rolled, firm throughout, and finished with a triple seam cap. I also like the choice of colors for the bands. The orange, navy blue and gold really pop against the wrapper. There’s also a second “Rocky Patel” band at the foot. Sniffing the wrapper, I got a nice rich tobacco aroma, while the foot had a more barnyard quality to it. The cap cut cleanly and the cold draw issued flavors of hay, some fig, and sweet tobacco.
The initial puffs offered some light peppery spice and sweet tobacco. Shortly after, a fair amount of earthiness arrived. Additionally, the draw, smoke volume and burn got off to a great start. The body was mostly medium at this stage. By the half-inch mark I noticed a very firm, light grey ash forming. At this point a sweet tobacco flavor emerged, nudging the earthy tones out of the way. I also detected a note of nutmeg struggling to break through.
By the midpoint, the cigar was exhibiting excellent balance. Plus, the sweetness increased and the body inched-up to medium-plus. The earthier flavors gave way to what seemed like a virtual eruption of baking spices. I clearly tasted nutmeg, a little hazelnut, and that sweet tobacco flavor—which I could not assign a specific name to—pretty much stayed the course. Further along, the balance continued to be spot-on, and I concluded that this cigar was more than fairly complex.
Baking spices continued to rule in the final inches. The smoke was now officially full-bodied. I also felt more strength coming through. Notes of nutmeg, cinnamon, hazelnut, and even a pinch of espresso arrived.
At the nub, the earthy notes returned including some light bitterness. So, with only about an inch left anyway, that’s all she wrote for me. That said, I was satisfied and also glad that such a big, medium-full smoke wasn’t heady afterwards.
Yes. There were a lot of impressive things about this cigar. Dual Broadleaf binders are nothing new. Yet here we have a luxury-class cigar that employs two different Broadleaves in the binder and the filler. The flavors were rich, deep, perfectly balanced, and the blend demonstrated a respectable amount of complexity.
I also thought the Pennsylvania Broadleaf binder melded perfectly with the Nicaraguan binder, while the Honduran binder filler leaf gave the blend some welcome intensity.
It’s well above average in price per-cigar, but the DBS may also be one of those cigars you’ll want to have around for special occasions. In any event, both of my DBS Toros were right up there with Rocky’s best.
Executive Editor
Gary Korb has been writing and editing content for CigarAdvisor.com since its debut in 2008. An avid cigar smoker for over 30 years, he has worked on the marketing side of the premium cigar business as a Sr. Copywriter, blogger, and Executive Editor of Cigar Advisor. A graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, prior to his career in the cigar business, Gary worked in the music and video industry as a marketer and a publicist.
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