Bocock Brothers Signature Edition Toro

There are many cigars that honor the fathers of the people who make the cigars. In case it wasn’t clear, My Father Cigars, Inc.—the García family’s cigar company—was named to honor José “Pepín” García, the father of Jaime and Janny García.

While the latest release from Bocock Brothers Premium Cigars honors Roberto Bocock, the father of Bryant and Douglas Bocock, the inspiration is not immediately obvious in the name. That line is called Bocock Brothers Signature Edition, which marked a new chapter for the cigar company that the Bocock brothers launched in 2021.

Bryant Bocock managed and co-owned Club360, a nightclub in Honduras. During his time there, he added a walk-in humidor which did well for the club. After the club closed, Bryant wanted to continue working with cigars and he and his brother Douglas launched their own cigar company with the first lines produced in Honduras.

The Bocock Brothers Signature Edition is not made in Honduras, instead, production is handled by Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. in Estelí, Nicaragua. Blend-wise, it uses an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over a Nicaraguan habano binder and fillers from Nicaragua.

• Bocock Brothers Signature Edition Robusto (5 1/2 x 52) — $11.95 (Box of 10, $119.50)
• Bocock Brothers Signature Edition Toro (6 x 54) — $12.60 (Box of 10, $126)
• Bocock Brothers Signature Edition Gordo (6 x 60) — $12.95 (Box of 10, $129.50)

The line debuted at the 2022 Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) in January 2022 with a target ship date of April 2022, though it didn’t begin shipping to stores until August 2022.

• Cigar Reviewed: Bocock Brothers Signature Edition Toro
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Sumatra)
• Binder: Nicaragua (Habano)
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Toro Extra
• MSRP: $12.60 (Box of 10, $126)
• Release Date: August 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

This cigar has a pretty dark wrapper, certainly darker than most of the cigars I’ve been reviewing lately. It’s not black, but it’s dark enough that any bit of light color creates an immediate contrast. This plays a role in the vein structure because the veins have a lighter color, almost looking like they are cracks in the earth’s surface. The other thing that stands out from a visual perspective is that the cigars are about as cylindrical as a cigar gets. I had forgotten most of the details about the cigar, but upon sniffing the cigar, I’m immediately reminded that this cigar is made by AJ Fernandez. It’s not that there’s a unique smell of cigars from AJF, but it’s got the aggressive melted chocolate, red pepper and charcoal combination that many Nicaraguan cigars have. And like I find with many AJF products, even the smell is more aggressive than it is intense. The foot is much more stronger with scents of a Yoo-hoo chocolate drink over leather, dried fruits and something that reminds me of the smell of dry sake. The cold draw is similar to the foot: Yoo-hoo and sake mixed together. It’s an interesting combination, not one I’d like to try in liquid form. Some tobacco falls out of the top of the cigar and into my mouth, adding an intense spiciness. I’d peg the overall effect around medium-full.

Before taking a first puff, the first thing I notice is how toasty the cigar smells. Flavor-wise, it’s got a deep mud flavor with some watered-down milk-like creaminess, a burnt waffle flavor, black pepper and leather. Toastiness varies from cigar to cigar, sometimes being a secondary flavor intertwined with that aforementioned burnt waffle flavor, other times dominating the first few puffs of another cigar. After a less than harmonious start, the Bocock Brothers Signature Edition quickly turns to a flavor of dry earthiness over some watered-down whiskey flavors. It’s got the toastiness, the grains, the woodiness, a subtle sweetness and a bit of a burn—but it’s not like drinking some of Kentucky’s finest. Outside of an occasional meatiness and some more isolated toasty flavors, it does a very good job of staying true to the earthy and whisky description. The finish is where that starts to waver. Toastiness, creaminess and some salty cracker flavors. While there’s a whiskey-like burn, there’s no pepper to speak of. Retrohales have more of the salted cracker flavor, joined by some bottled water flavors. Secondary flavors include meatiness, white pepper and leather. The finish has cinnamon and bits of white pepper before the next round of flavors comes in: creaminess, salted crackers, saltiness and a flavor that reminds me of the beef broth of instant ramen. The longer the retroahle’s finish goes, the less crisp the flavors get. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium and strength is medium. Construction is excellent on two cigars, though the third cigar needs a small touch-up to help with some combustion issues.

There’s a very defined transition into the second third of the Bocock Brothers Signature Edition Toro. Roasted flavors quickly emerge and take over, though the toastiness and grains remain. The whiskey-like parts of the profile might be there, but the sum of the parts no longer reminds me of a glass of bourbon. Other flavors include leather, a fruit-forward coffee taste and salted crackers. There’s not much pepper, but what little is now present is a mild, yet sharp red pepper. The finish has a salted pasta water flavor, hay, some sake-like fruitiness, mild amounts of black pepper and mineral flavors. Retrohales are dominated by an intense cinnamon flavor that drowns out almost all of what’s left. There are certainly other flavors, but outside of some generic ground beef meatiness I can’t confidently say what else is there. It takes a bit for the cinnamon flavor to reduce itself, but the finish of the retrohale eventually reminds me of the inside of a French loaf of bread, mild earthiness and some white pepper. Flavor is generally full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-full. Pretty predictably, the construction is excellent in the second third. One cigar has a burn line that wavers slightly, but it’s not enough to where I need to touch up the cigar.

While there are certainly clear flavor changes between the second and final third of the Bocock Brothers Signature Edition, the largest change is that the cigar is now solidly full strength. It’s not overwhelming, but the linear progression of nicotine has reached its predictable conclusion. Nuttiness and a Pringles-like potato flavor take over the top spots of the profile. For the first time I can recall, a regular puff is now delivering a noticeable dose of black pepper. Unfortunately, the profile is getting both drier and harsher, which means the rocky mineral flavor that emerges doesn’t have much contrast. The finish gets even sharper, emphasizing the mineral and black pepper flavors even more. Toastiness also picks up during the finish, but there’s not much else to speak of. Retrohales have a sharp nuttiness, over the Pringles-like potato flavor, white pepper, herbs and some honey sweetness. As the transition to the finish happens, the mineral flavors reemerge. They are joined by a more lively red pepper sensation, peanut shells and some of the aforementioned black pepper. Flavor is closer to medium-full than full, body is medium-full and strength is full. One cigar needs a touch-up, though construction is very good overall.

Final Notes

• This is a great reminder that there are many different ways to classify tobacco: origin, seed varietal, priming, size, color, grade and use case. If you compare the most recent cigar I reviewed with a Sumatra wrapper, the Tatuaje Limited DB Capa Especial, there’s not much similarity to the wrapper used here.
• Anytime I see a cigar company go out of its way to specify the type of wrapper used—as done here on the foot band—I get the sense that there will be additional wrapper options. That said, I’ve heard nothing about a second wrapper option for the Signature Edition.
• The secondary band appears to have Roberto Bocock’s signature on it, which helps to tie the story together.
• When you have a name like “Bocock” and find yourself dealing with adults trying to make middle school level jokes, you can either change your name or embrace it. In this case, the family is doing the latter. The company’s tag line is Be Cocky. 
• That tag line is odd because I’ve always found the people behind Bocock Brothers, i.e. the Bocock brothers, to be extremely friendly and not at all cocky.
• More than most cigar companies, Bocock Brothers is interested in an accompanying apparel line. The company already sells some golf apparel via its website but I’ve been told there are more clothing options coming.
• I find it quite odd that others from Honduras are now making cigars in Nicaragua. In fairness, the debut lines came from Honduras, but I would have thought it would have made sense to keep that going.
• While I’m indifferent to the artwork itself, the printing quality and color scheme of the bands are top-notch. It’s very difficult to go wrong with red, gold and black as a color scheme.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel. I believe that Bocock Brothers sent us some prerelease samples in mid-2022, but those cigars were not used for this review.
• Final smoking time was right around two and a half hours for each cigar.