Only 10 of the most-skilled rollers at Rocky Patel’s Nicaraguan Tavicusa cigar factory are allowed to craft this Second Edition of Rocky’s exclusive A.L.R. (Aged, Limited and Rare) line.
The box-pressed Toro vitola of this limited-edition (restricted to 120,000 cigars) series won extremely high accolades from Cigar Aficionado in 2019. Taking fifth place on that year’s Top 25 list, with a rating of 94, the Toro of the line was limited to just 2,000 boxes. Part of the reason for this limitation is the strict aging process accorded to these smokes; every cigar in the line is kept in a locked storage room for a full two years after they’ve been rolled, in addition to the aging of the individual component tobaccos before they’re rolled.
The result is a cigar that’s been exalted by industry insiders and veteran smokers alike; the first edition of the A.L.R. series was released in 2018 to immediate industry buzz (it quickly sold out), and the Second Edition has made no fewer waves.
The flavors of the A.L.R. Second Edition have been described as a glorious mixture of cedar, semi-sweet chocolate, dark cherry, pepper, nuts, leather and earth, balanced by a hint of coconut. The finish is spicy, the construction is solid and the burn is even and steady. These are refined, medium-plus-bodied smokes that are some of the best cigars Rocky has put out; if you missed out on the first A.L.R. edition, don’t sleep on this one!