Rocky Patel Disciple Robusto 5″ x 50

Rocky Patel practiced law in Los Angeles before he made cigars, and he spent his early years in the trade buying production from other people’s factories. He owns his own in Estelí now, TAVICUSA, which is where the Disciple is rolled.

A dark Mexican San Andrés wrapper covers Nicaraguan binder and filler grown on Rocky Patel’s own land in Condega and Estelí. Medium to full: leather off the light, then espresso and earth take the front, with black pepper and a raisin sweetness on the retrohale. At 5 by 50, the robusto keeps a blend like this concentrated, holding one character from light to finish rather than wandering.

San Andrés is thick, tough leaf, which is exactly why it survives the long, hot fermentation a maduro wrapper takes. Thinner leaf falls apart well before it gets that far, and that fermentation is where the cocoa note comes from.

Pairs well with bourbon, espresso, or porter.