Rocky Patel has been steadily releasing cigars for some time now and since the release of the Rocky Patel Sixty, that celebrated his 60th birthday, most have been pretty good. There has also been a theme of naming cigars after stones and precious medals such as the Rocky Patel Emerald and the Rocky Patel Gold Label. Today’s cigar review is the latest precious gem with the new Rocky Patel Sapphire toro that was first showcased at the 2026 Premium Cigar Association Trade Show and lated shipped to retailers back in June.
Under the Lid
- Origin: Nicaragua
- Factory: Tabacalera Villa Cuba S.A.
- Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
- Binder: Double Binder (Nicaragua & Honduras)
- Filler: Nicaragua/Honduras
- Size: Box-Pressed Toro (6 1/2 x 52)
- MSRP:$16.95 (Box of 20, $339)
- Production: Regular Production
The Rocky Patel Sapphire is available three other sizes:
- Robusto 5 1/2 x 50 – $15.95
- Sixty 6 x 60 – $17.95
- Corona Gorda 6 x 46 – $13.50
Pre-Light
The second I slid the Rocky Patel sapphire out of the cellophane, I immediately got an overwhelming sense of warm, sweet fruit. The draw is nice and smooth and loose and I would give it 6.5 out of 10. Almost instantly, my mind goes to fresh fig newtons right tout of the pack. Between the fig and the baked crust..it takes me back to my packed lunches from when I was a kid and my mom would stick them in my lunch box. Come to think of it, I think Pat’s mom still makes his lunch, I wonder if she even packs him any Fig Newtons? Visually, the Sapphire sports beautiful blue and gold foil bands with the primary featuring the “RP” Rocky Patel logo and a long secondary band band with the word Sapphire running up the middle. This seems to be the theme for most of the Rocky Patel releases lately as well. The wrapper is dry in texture, very sweet and only slightly on the veinier side.
First Third
The cigar lights nice and slow which gives it a nice slow roast. When I take the first few puffs, there is a small amount of white pepper upfront, but not too strong. The Sapphire toro is definitely full body and rich in flavor with plenty of notes of dry oak, sweet cherry, more like a Luxardo cherry in syrup, and rich dark chocolate, specifically, the 70 to 80% dark with deep cocoa tones. In addition, there is plenty of smoke production coming off of the cigar, both blue and white smoke, that smolders right out of the cigar with barely any draw to it so it burns and breathes incredibly well. This cigar is burning slow, but also has a somewhat fragile ash that has already begun to break off easily without much effort. Overall, the burn line stays pretty consistent, I haven’t needed to touch up this far and I find it to be an effortless smoke. The flavor is complex, full of flavors coming from multiple directions and dare I say, smoking this cigar so far reminds me of *gasp* a good certain maduro from a Nicaraguan brand that begins with P. You can figure out which one.
Second Third
As I continue to smoke my way into the second third, the ash is holding a little better than I previously mentioned, but it is still soft and flaky. I am beginning to get a strong taste of anise, otherwise known as black licorice, that also gives me a sour tanginess but what what I can only describe as a floral-cedar mixture underneath that is very subtle but kind of takes the edge off of that licorice taste making it more bearable. If I have never mentioned it before, I do not like black licorice and despite being of Italian heritage and very connected to it – the anise cookies were never my jam. The burn line is a little bit uneven at times, but nothing drastic however this does mean points off for not being perfect but not a major penalization.
I wan to add that the further I go through the second third the more that licorice flavor actually fades away and more of the core earthy notes take place with some white pepper returning slightly at the back of the pallet that re-emerges more than it was at any other point in the cigar thus far. There is also a slow transition to a warm toasted walnut that reminds me of a warm cookie skillet with oily walnuts being soft and a little chewy that also have some of that molten semi-sweet chocolate chip mixed in with it. This makes it difficult to not want to smoke the cigar like a Gatling gun.
Final Third
The final third is good but to be quite honest, it’s a little bit more one-dimensional. I didn’t feel that the flavors were very complex and changed. The Sapphire stayed very earthy and very dry yet full bodied while retaining some of the tanginess from earlier. Other than that, it just felt like an extended version of the second third which don’t get me wrong was good and I mean it isn’t the worst final third, I had hoped for just a little more. I had tasted some leather notes along with some of the walnut but with the addition of toasted almond, which was somehow amusing to me. To finish it off at the end little bit of creama espresso.
I wish the Sapphire was a bit more complex in the end and had a little bit more character. It does not lose as many points because I enjoyed the cigar and the experience, but had it been better, it would have probably gained many more points. Overall, the burn quality was very good, briefly slightly uneven, but nothing major and nothing that ruined the overall burn experience and I never really felt the need to do any heavy touchups. The ash was not as firm as I would’ve liked it to be, especially in the beginning, but as the cigar continued after the first third, it really was not that bad and I didn’t find that it was problematic. The draw and smoke production were fantastic all the way throughout the cigar, allowing it to breathe very well even though despite this it still burned slow and never got too hot for me.
Smokin Wrap
Overall, I found the Rocky Patel Sapphire toro to be a great cigar. There was not much I could really complain about. I find that the better the cigar is, the harder you try to critique it. Cigars that don’t perform well are easy because the red flags pop up like a bad date at dinner. But with a cigar like this, you keep digging deeper just to make sure she isn’t still going to try to kill you when she gets you home after dinner. I think that this one will be a safe bet for some late night coffee. I did struggle a little with the score because I was on the edge with the final third. Ultimately, I decided where I would have scored it if it was where I wanted and the score was much higher. But despite the slight disappointment, that final third was still better than most I have smoked lately even if it was much like the second third so it will still get a very good score. Rocky Patel has been, for the most part, on his game the last few years ever since the launch of Sixty. That cigar really created momentum with the releases that followed with few exceptions. I guess that means I have to hold Rocky to a much higher standard but I think he can handle the heat.
Smokin Facts
- Cigars were purchased by Smokin Tabacco
- Rocky Patel does not advertise with Smokin Tabacco
- Average smoking time: 2 Hours & 12 minutes
