Rocky Patel A.L.R. Staff Review
Today, I’m smoking a Rocky Patel A.L.R. in a 6-by-52 box-pressed Toro. Over his thirty-year career, Rocky Patel has produced dozens of popular blends, including Decade, Sixty, Ocean Club, and the esteemed Rocky Patel Mulligans franchise. A.L.R. cigars are available in three sizes, which Rocky releases in limited quantities annually.
A.L.R. stands for “Aged, Limited, and Rare.” The blend I’m smoking is Rocky’s second edition of the A.L.R. line. He re-blended the original recipe from 2018 after aging the tobaccos for two years. A toothy San Andrés wrapper covers Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos grown on Rocky’s farms in Condega and Estelí. In 2023, the critics in Cigar Aficionado ranked the second incarnation of A.L.R. in their ‘Top 10 Cigars of the Year’ with a splendid 96-point rating. Let’s find out how this small-batch smoke stacks up in the hierarchy of the best Rocky Patel cigars.
Rocky Patel A.L.R. cigars come in wooden 20-count boxes, with each cigar dressed in a pair of ornate copper-and-white cigar bands. The top band features an intricate logo, while the oversized band at the bottom highlights the backstory of the blend. I recently reviewed Rocky’s White Label and Sixty cigars. Over the past few years, Rocky has invested lots of time and money in his packaging to make his cigars stand out on the shelf. Although the A.L.R. blend is less expensive than the White Label, it costs more than most of the cigars in Rocky’s portfolio, going for roughly $15-17 apiece.
When I slip the cellophane off a particularly dark A.L.R. Toro, the foot exudes a hearty aroma of cocoa, fresh tobacco, and hickory. The cap comes off with a clean swipe between the razor-sharp blades of my guillotine cutter. As soon as the Toro is in my mouth, the cold draw unleashes bold notes of earth, espresso, and toast.
Rocky Patel A.L.R. layers my palate with dark flavors of semi-sweet baker’s chocolate, almond, and nutmeg within the first few minutes after I toast the foot, allowing the binder, filler, and wrapper tobaccos to harmonize fully. A wave of black pepper intensifies after the first ten minutes. Savory notes of mesquite and leather complement the foundation while a heavy aroma fills the room.
Now that the weather is warming up, I spend my weekends at the campground, where I love smoking cigars around the bonfire while the sun goes down. Rocky Patel A.L.R. is a worthy candidate for such an occasion. It’s a delicious smoke to enjoy with a sip of bourbon, and its meaty notes of mesquite and pepper are guaranteed to go down smooth after you’ve been grilling out.
Throughout the middle of the Toro, deep notes of earth and black pepper overpower the cigar’s initial nuances of baking spices and mesquite. However, a hint of maple adds more balance, while the room note continues to exude a creamy and leathery aroma. Rocky Patel A.L.R. is a notch past medium-bodied, putting it right in the pocket with most of Rocky’s other blends.
After fifty-five minutes, I gently peel off the cigar band, content to puff the nub down until I’m pinching my fingers together. A delicious crescendo of sweet and tangy flavor comes through in the final minutes, with a hint of soy sauce. When I’m enjoying a good cigar, the nub is often my favorite leg of the journey because that’s where all the flavor and moisture culminate before a cigar expires.
Give Rocky Patel A.L.R. a shot when you’re after a well-made Nicaraguan smoke that offers the quintessential mix of peppery and sweet notes San Andrés wrappers are famous for. The price of A.L.R. is a bit steep, in my opinion, but when Rocky visited Holt’s last year, he laid out his passion for the process and his insistence on working with the best tobaccos. At the end of the day, I suppose I’ll spend a little more on a cigar from one of the industry’s most genuine cigarmakers.
