The Good Stuff:

Follow the success of last years Supreme Leaf, Aganorsa Leaf swiftly released the Rare Leaf Reserve this year which is a cigar created to focus more heavily on Nicaragua Criollo tobacco. The blend features a Nicaraguan Jalapa Cafe wrapper over dual Nicaraguan Criollo 98 binders which were grown on two different farms which cover a mixture of Nicaraguan Corojo 99 and Criollo 98 filler tobaccos. Created at the TABSA factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, Aganorsa Leaf released the Rare Leaf Reserve in three sizes: Robusto (5 1/2 x 52), Toro (6 x 54) and the Titan (6 x 60). All three sizes come packaged in boxes of 15 running between $10.99 and $12.10 a stick. I purchased mine over from our good friends at Cigars International.

• Size: 5 1/2 52
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan
• Binder: Dual Nicaraguan Criollo 98
• Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo 99 and Criollo 98
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $10.99
• Pairing: Trillium Brewing Barrel Aged Adjunction Junction (Imperial Stout 14% ABV)

Prelight:

The Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve starts out with a beautiful, consistent, orangish-brown wrapper that displays a few darker areas around the foot of the cigar. The wrapper’s texture is tough, yet brittle while it carries a good amount of tooth and almost no oils. The cigar feels nicely packed and rather light while the foot of the cigar has a bit of a softness to it. The cigar carries some vey light veining and quite a bit of natural tobacco webbing in the wrapper leaf as it leads up to the cigar’s round, triple-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with a great looking maroon, gold, white and black band that show cases the “Aganorsa Leaf” crest on the front as well as an added secondary band with “Rare Leaf Reserve” embossed across the front.

The wrapper on the Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve gives off tons of pecan and oak aromas while the foot of the cigar carries some great caramel and natural tobacco scents. The cap took a considerable amount of effort to clip using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter, but once it did come off the Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve released a ton of caramel, vanilla, musk, and natural tobacco on the cold draw.

First Third:

The Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve starts out with a huge blast of cayenne pepper which really kicked the crap out of my tongue and lips for a minute. After the pepper faded out the cigar greeted me with bold notes of cedar, vanilla, musk and caramel over lighter notes of hay and earthiness over some lighter floral flavors. The draw was a bit snug through the initial inch or so but had completely opened up after that allowing the cigar to release a whole mess of thick, white smoke with each puff with the cigar itself releases only a very small amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is a bit wavy, but very sharp leaving behind a tightly compacted trail of light gray ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve and the flavors are still pounding. The cedar, vanilla, musk and caramel are still leading the charge backed up earthiness, pecan, and a sharp spice that keeps coming and going. The retrohale really brings the spice to the front of the taste. The draw is still great, and the cigar is burning a bit wavy, but very manageable as I close out the second third with a good little nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve and this is where the cigar is really starting to shine. The leading flavor is now that awesome, deep cedar flavor that the corojo and criollo are capable of pumping out along with those great cedar notes I tend to pick up in most Aganorsa Leaf blends. Underneath that the musk, caramel and vanilla are still rocking hard over lighter notes of spice and floral flavors. It took me an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I experienced no harshness, nor any extended heat while the cigar left me with a great little nicotine buzz.

Overview:

I am a huge fan of Criollo 98 and Corojo tobacco and I think that the Rare Leaf Reserve is a perfect showcase on exactly the amount of flavors, and the nuanced profiles the tobaccos can offer. This cigar was very complex, but at no point did I feel like I needed to waste the experience on dissecting everything. The construction was flawless and the price point was very reasonable. Add another hit to the already packed Aganorsa Leaf portfolio.

Pairing:

Brewed by Trillium brewing in collaborations with some very heavy hitters: Monkish, The Veil, Other Half, and Cloudwater, this barrel-aged version of this beer comes in at a whopping 14% ABV. Brewed with coconut, coffee, vanilla, macadamia nuts, pecans, and almonds, this beer leads with a bunch of black coffee, vanilla, toffee, chocolate, plum and pecan with a very heavy, sticky mouthfeel before finishing with more flan-type flavors of caramel, pecan, toffee and still a ton of vanilla and a nice almond on the aftertaste. To say that this beer is sweet is an understatement. I’m really surprised with how this beer held up and how pronounced each of the adjuncts are. I would have figured it was just going to be a mash up of sweetness. The bold pecan, caramel, and vanilla flavors found in the Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve made for a perfect pairing.

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The Good Stuff: A few samples of this blend was sent over to me by our friends at Rocky Patel. As the name states the 15th anniversary cigar is being released in celebration of Rocky Patel’s 15 proud years of production. Since the begenning of his time, Rocky Patel has produced enourmous amounts of award winning blends and has become a staple in just about any cigar smoker’s humidor. The 15th Anniversary is being produced in Rocky Patel’s own factory in Nicaragua in 4 sizes, Corona Gorda, Robusto, Toro, and Torpedo. I don’t have the specs on the sizes but I’m sure you get the jist of it from thier names. They will come in boxes of 20 with a release date set of July 30th, 2010. The size I am going to be reviewing is the Robusto.

Size: 5 x 52 (I’m guessing the ring gauge) box-pressed  –  Wrapper: Habana Ecuador  –  Binder: Jalapa  –  Filler: Nicaraguan  –  Body: Full

Prelight: The Rocky Patel 15^th Anniversary is a beautiful, boxpressed cigar. The wrapper is an extremely consistant, milky brown that leads up to a perfectly applied triple cap. The cigar is very firm to the touch in all spots accept close to the foot, where it is noticeably softer. There are a few very small veins, but nothing too big or in need of any concern. Outside of a very small tear close to the foot of the wrapper the 15^th anniversary’s construction is spot on.  The scent of the cigar is a very, very pungeant tabcco flavor. It stinks so good. Really. Outside of the very strong tobacco aroma the 15^th anniversary gives off slight earthy and cinimon tones, only to be more prominent from the foot of the cigar. The 15^th anniversary clipped with ease using my Cuban Crafters perfecto double blade cutter. The cold draw is effortless and produces a very sweet, spice and cinnamon mixture with tobacco undertones.

First Smoke: The Rocky Patel 15^th anniversary surprised me with a splash of pepper right off the bat that was only present long enough to tickle my toungue. The pepper faded quickly and was quickly replaced with organic tobacco, chocolate, cinimon, cedar and a slight zesty tart flavor I couldn’t really pick out. It wasn’t prominent at all.  The burnline was a bit wavy right away with a few little runs that I hope don’t get too crazy. The draw was thick and effortless producing a very cedarisque scent upon release. This cigar prodces almost not stationary smoke, and the slight breeze made it extremely difficult to detect any scent being produced by it. The ash produced from the 15^th anniversary is a light grey with subtle darker spots and very flaky around the edges and held on for about an inch and a half before giving way. The ash and burn produced from this cigar reminds me of most cubans I have smoked. One note is how much I enjoy this vitola. Fits perfectly in your hand, and even more comfortably in your mouth.

Halfway there: Just as the tart flavor was beginning to overpower this cigar, I was pleasantly surprised with a burst of floral flavors.  The flavor has now became  much more sweet with hints of sweet tobacco, the floral I announced prior, cedar and cinnamon. This was a very welcomed change up as the tartness was just about to become unbearable. The retrohale is very pleasant, and helps coat the nasal pasagges with a cedar aroma/taste. I am starting to feel a slight dash of nicotine, but nothing too powerful at the moment. Still running very smooth, with no signs of harshness.

Finish: The tart, and harshness is starting to form now, but is casually cloaked by a strong boast of cedar. Along with that the floral flavor is still running full steam. This cigar definitely has it’s share of surprises. Each time the experience starts going down hill another characterstic is brought to the center stage. I am actually starting to feel the nicotine ramp up to a slight nicotine kick in the final third. The burnline is still even for the most part with no need to touch up, or relight the cigar. There was a quite ramp up in harshness within the final third, which sadly I expected. I took my time smoking this one too in hopes that it would offset any harsh buildup.

Overview: Honestly, There aren’t a lot of Rocky Patel cigar that really stand out in my opinion. That being said, the 15^th anniversary is one of the better sticks produced by Rocky Patel. This isn’t a cigar I’d pick up a box of, but due to the great change ups and constant differences in flavor it is something that I wouldn’t mind smoking again. It does keep you on your toes. But don’t let my opinion discourage your from picking up this product. I think the flavors produced and the overall experience would be stellar as far as other people’s wants from a cigar goes. Just not mine. Pick a few up if this sounds like something you’d like. Especially if you’re a fan of Rocky Patel.

Pairing: I paired this cigar with one of my all time favorite beers, Ayinger Breweries Celebrator Dopplebock. As many of you know, I love my Double’s and this beer is the cream of the crop.  Produced in Germany… you know.. Germany.. the country that should have won the world cup… but that’s a story for another day. (kidding of course, Spain is a really good team and deserved it) most, if not all of Ayinger beers are produced under the Germany beer brewing purity law of 1516 which limits of  all beers to be produced using only 4 ingredients. Barley, Wheat, Hops, and water. This Dopple Bock boasts a alcahol content of 6.7% enriched with flavors such as wheat, caramel, chocolate, and wheat. This made a great pairing for the cigar, but overpowered the mild stages in the experience. This cigar is best paired with something more mild such as tea, a nice pilsner or wheat beer, and even milk. That’s right milk.

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