Pre-light Experience

Seth: The Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro is a decent looking cigar. The wrapper has a nice coloring from afar, sporting a nice maduro coloring, but at closer look there are imperfections in the wrapper. The veins are very small, and the cigar has some soft spots throughout. Aromas are that of earth and soft spices.
John: The Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro appears to be a Churchill vitola with a Colorado Maduro wrapper and an aggressive box-pressed shape. The wrapper and cap look immaculate. I weighed the cigar at 12.2 grams, which seems a little on the light side for the vitola. I measured the humidity at 65.8% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included mossy, funky wood with some mild earth and vegetal notes sitting underneath. From the foot, I was getting a combination of sweet tobacco, hay and wood.
Jiunn: The wrapper on the Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro is hearty with a uniform maduro shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give cedar and a hint of earl grey tea.

Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro

First Third

Seth: The cigar begins with warm spices, earth and musty barnyard qualities. It lingers on the palate, but the profile is not overly pleasant. There is a slight richness from the earth qualities, but it doesn’t help the blend. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third gets going with an earth and tobacco combination, with some herbal spices sitting underneath. Earth and wood team up through the finish and linger into the post draw, where they’re joined by delayed spices that linger on the palate between each puff. Through the retrohale, there is a combination of dry herbal tobacco and baking spices at medium minus strength. Creamy chocolate quietly moves into the retrohale as the first third settles in. The profile remains largely stable through the first third, with no significant changes in intensity or flavor.
Jiunn: The first third gives a medium-full body and medium strength profile. There’s a chalky texture to the profile with flavors centered around cocoa, prunes, dried red pepper spice, cedar and dry leather. Retrohaling gives a mixture of fuller dried red pepper spice and prunes. The finish is pretty tame with some lingering soft cedar.

Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro

Second Third

Seth: The second third is fairly in line with the first. There isn’t much transitioning, and it’s not overly complex either. I am continuing to get those musty barnyard, damp earth and spice flavors. There is a rise in mineral notes. Medium in strength and body.
John: The second third gets going with creamy tannic wood leading off, with light plus strength earth making up the center of the profile and lingering into the finish. As the second third settles in, baking spices return to the center of the profile at medium strength. The baking spices join the creamy wood at the front of the retrohale as the second third continues. The baking spices then move into the finish, teaming up with the wood already present. By the halfway point of the second third, the baking spices are largely carrying the profile, with earth, wood and spices teaming up through the finish.
Jiunn: Oddly, the second third falls flat. It’s not a mild mixture of cedar and dried red pepper spice. Smoking the first third vs the second third almost feels like two different experiences. Strength and body is medium and medium-full, respectively.

Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro

Final Third

Seth: The final third does not show any improvement, or even the cigar remaining at the same level in the final third, and I am getting the same profile with more mineral notes. Medium in strength and body.
John: The last third begins with creamy earth, wood and baking spices taking the cigar into the final third at medium strength, with dry wood making up the finish. As the final third moves toward the halfway point, creamy chocolate, earth and wood define the profile. Through the bottom half, the earth intensifies to just over medium strength, taking over the finish and the post draw.
Jiunn: The final third is essentially the same as the second third. Still overall less full flavors of cedar and dried red pepper spice. There’s an on and off creamy mixed nuts but the only downside is the inconsistency of it. Strength and body finishes the same medium and medium-full, respectively.

Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro

Burn

Seth: The burn has been off for the entire cigar.
John: As with every review, I lit the cigar with my Xikar Tactical single torch lighter. The burn was uneven to start the first third but self-corrected. The cigar spontaneously went out in the second third, requiring a re-light. It was slightly wavy for the remainder of the second third and became wavy through the last third.
Jiunn: Great burn performance featuring an even burn, tight ashes, cool burning temperatures and ample smoke production.

Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro

Draw

Seth: The draw was decent, but with the poor profile and burn it did not matter.
John: As with every review, I used my Colibri SV to make a V-cut. I measured the draw with the Cigar Medics draw machine at 28 inches of water. Subjectively, I found the draw to be ½ to 1 notch towards the resistant spectrum, which puts it in the ideal range between open and resistant.
Jiunn: Great draw performance as well, striking the ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Seth: I do not like the Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro. The cigar has not smoked well, and the flavor profile is a mess. I hate smoking a bad pressed cigar, but that’s the way it goes. Will not be returning to it, and I also received complaints on the aroma.
John: Blind Cigar #1611 is an interesting example of a cigar that presents extremely well visually but doesn’t quite deliver the same level of consistency in the smoking experience. The aggressive box press is striking, and the wrapper and cap are both immaculate, giving the cigar a very polished appearance. The aroma profile also provides some indication of what follows, with mossy, funky wood, earth and vegetal notes setting the stage for a profile that remains firmly rooted in earth, wood and tobacco. The first third is the strongest portion of the cigar. Earth and tobacco establish the core of the profile, while herbal spices and delayed baking spices provide some additional movement. The retrohale is particularly effective, bringing together dry herbal tobacco and baking spices at medium minus strength, with creamy chocolate quietly appearing as the third progresses. At the same time, the profile remains quite stable, without much evolution in either flavor or intensity. The second third shifts the balance somewhat, with creamy tannic wood moving forward and baking spices becoming increasingly important. The spices eventually reach medium strength and carry much of the profile, particularly through the halfway point. There is still enough earth and wood present to provide continuity from the first third, but the experience becomes more spice and wood driven. The final third brings the earth back into prominence. Creamy chocolate, earth and wood define the profile initially, but the earth continues to build until it reaches just over medium strength and takes over both the finish and post draw. While that gives the cigar a stronger sense of character, it also pushes the profile toward a more dominant and less balanced earth component. Construction is adequate overall, although the burn starts unevenly, requires a re-light after going out in the second third, and remains wavy for much of the remainder of the cigar. The draw, by contrast, is excellent, sitting in the ideal range between open and resistant. Ultimately, the Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro offers a solid opening and some worthwhile transitions through the middle of the cigar, particularly the interaction between herbal tobacco, baking spices, creamy wood and chocolate. However, the profile becomes increasingly centered on wood, spices and finally earth as the cigar progresses. The excellent draw and generally manageable burn keep the smoking experience on solid footing, but the limited evolution early on and the increasingly dominant earth in the final third prevent the cigar from reaching the level suggested by its excellent presentation. The result is an Average overall experience. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 57 minutes.
Jiunn: While I enjoyed the texture and density of the profile, there wasn’t enough fullness in flavors to make it worthwhile. For a cigar to be fuller bodied, it’s especially disappointing when the flavors don’t match up to it. The Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro is for sure a pass for me. My guesses: Wrapper looks Mexican San Andres but the flavors lend to more of a Pennsylvania Broadleaf.

Seth Geise

SCORE

3.83

Cost/Point

$4.42

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.90

Cost/Point

$2.87

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$2.78

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Rocky Patel Sapphire Toro