Coffee seems like it is just meant to go with certain cigar styles. 

May it be a milky café latte and a lighter, nuttier-tasting cigar, a medium roast with an additional shot of espresso and a cracking good Criollo, or a chocolatey mocha with a matching cocoa-forward maduro, coffee continues to be a go-to pairing for us cigar smokers.

Being that I remain on a strict 6-gallon-a-day caffeine regimen (doctor's orders, I swear...), I am forever on the lookout for a fresh stogie selection to accompany a cup of coffee.

So when I rediscovered the 96-rated Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro the other week, I immediately set to smoking a second stick just for a review. This award-winning premium cigar blend may possibly be one of the best cocoa and coffee-tasting smokes of all time, and here's why...

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Unlit Impressions

Box-pressed, triple-capped, and adorned with a sharply contrasting red and white band, the Sun Grown Maduro by Rocky Patel is a beauty to behold and hold.

The entire length of the barrel has great spring, so you know that the draw will be on point and that slightly oily Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper smells sensational. It's also a bit on the rougher end in regard to texture, almost like fine-grit sandpaper, which I like a lot in a toothier cigar.

Aromas are a blend of bittersweet cocoa, dark roast coffee, earthen maduro maturity, leather, and a magnificent spiced finish. The latter of which blends familiar flavors like black and white pepper with a dash of star anise and cedar, and tops it all off with a smidgeon of tartness from the extended fermentation process.

Cold unlit pulls mirror this scent but with more intensity and earthy tannins.

Initial Smoke

Although it may smell and taste round and undeniably rich, this chocolatey robusto brings the right amount of smoothness and taste to the table almost immediately.

There's a lot going on over in the mocha station too, as everything we coffee drinkers salivate over sends one sensation after another. A damn near ideal start to a darker cigar, that weighs in with medium strength and flavor intensity.

1st Half

Although much of the first half stays true to the flavors from the first few minutes, the mellow maduro maltiness and subtle spiced flavors of star anise and black pepper begin to work their voodoo. 

Leather is in abundant supply as well, which results in a more complex central section of the cigar. Especially when paired with a dose of cedar and floral spiciness. 

2nd Half

Teetering toward medium-full by this point, the second portion of this cigar blend starts to offer more floral notes. It may sound like an odd entry to a coffee-like maduro, but this brightens the cigar flavor profile up quite a bit and resets the palate. 

Retrohales provide more black pepper at this point, and aromatics remain as enticing as the scent of freshly roasted coffee beans and melted chocolate.

Parting Puffs 

The final third tasting notes on the Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro are a mixture of more earth and spice than mocha. Sweeter and still slightly tangy, it's a final hurrah that showcases flavors that are both grounded and direct. 

Flavor and body are all full by this point, whereas strength still hovers in that medium-full bracket.

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

Despite running a dash hot at times, this little box-pressed robusto (and the one I smoked prior) scored extremely high points for construction, smoke, draw, and combustion. The result is a damn near flawlessly executed stogie.

Final Thoughts

By this point, I have smoked more maduro cigars than I care to count.

So when I can proclaim that the Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro scores higher than 90% of the blends I've encountered in the past 20+ years, I freakin' mean it. 

For a regular, any-given-day sort of smoke, this stick delivers on a level all to its own. Definitely a blend worth smoking again and again, and one that you too will find yourself recommending to anyone who can handle a medium-full cigar.

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