Tasting Note

Rocky Patel loves to celebrate birthdays, milestones or anniversaries of any kind. So, when he turned 60 years old in 2021, nobody was surprised that Patel thought a new cigar was in order. In reality, he had been thinking about a 60th birthday project for quite some time. According to Patel, the cigars were already aged for two years before they were released, and it shows. Made in Nicaragua at his Tavicusa factory, the cigar is composed of Nicaraguan tobacco wrapped in a dark Mexican cover leaf from the San Andrés region. On paper, this combination of tobaccos isn’t particularly uncommon, but two years in the aging room have given these cigars a cohesive elegance and refinement. Big and box-pressed, the Sixty resembles a chocolate bar, and Patel takes advantage of the large ring gauge by loading it with bold tobacco that lays down a foundation of leather and wood and continues to build in flavor with tasty layers of coffee, walnut and a ground red pepper spiciness. This cigar doesn’t just represent Patel’s six decades on earth, but also demonstrates how he’s developed as a cigarmaker and how his understanding of raw materials continues to evolve.