Patoro Gran Añejo Reserva Juancito

At one point in time, there was a roller at the De Los Reyes factory, who I’m told was a special one. His name was Juan, though was nicknamed Juancito, little Juan, and he was the only one at the factory that could make a particular petit perfecto size.

Patoro, the Swiss company that has its cigars made at De Los Reyes, has a cigar named after Juan. It’s the Patoro Gran Anejo Reserva Juancito, a 4 x 44 petite perfecto. Blend-wise, it uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut-seed wrapper over a Dominican binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic.

This vitola is not new, as it debuted in Europe more than a decade ago but wasn’t previously sold in the U.S. Over the years, Patoro has incrementally expanded its offerings for American retailers by adding some of the cigars that were previously only sold in Europe to its U.S. catalog. For the Juancito, that happened in March 2024.

• Cigar Reviewed: Patoro Gran Añejo Reserva Juancito
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: De Los Reyes
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Connecticut-seed)
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic
• Length: 4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 44
• Vitola: Petit Perfecto
• MSRP: $14 (Box of 50, $700)
• Release Date: 2010s
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

This a very small cigar. The shape makes me think of an Arturo Fuente Short Story, but it’s noticeably smaller than that. If I were asked to guess, the wrapper looks more like the American-grown Connecticut shade wrapper with a duller color and texture than what I often see from the more popular variant of the seed that is grown in Ecuador. To be clear, the wrapper is from Ecuador, so I guess I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The aroma from the wrapper is medium with faint hints of soft caramel sweetness, newspaper and some ammonia. The foot of the cigar is tiny, far thinner than a standard #2 pencil. Given that I am uninterested in sticking a cigar inside my nostrils, I don’t have a list of aromas from the bottom of the cigar. Cold draws range from mild to medium-full. The first cigar is the mildest, with cinnamon candy, some metallic flavors and a blueberry sweetness. The second cigar has coffee and tangerine sweetness leading to woodiness. The third cigar is the strongest and is dominated by the tangerine sweetness beating out some generic earthiness. It’s also the only cigar that doesn’t have a very tight cold draw.

Given the shape, I’m not concerned about the tight cold draws, though I’m not surprised that the first puffs are very tight. Each cigar begins with a classic Dominican profile with lots of cedar accented by some sweetness, creaminess and, on the second cigar, a black olive flavor. Once the nipple has been burnt through, the flavor profile settles to a very intertwined mixture of Corn Pops cereal, woodiness and creaminess with accents of fresh-cut grass, caramel and some mild black pepper. The woodiness picks up during the finish and especially during the retrohale. Beyond the woodiness, there’s milky creaminess, some vanilla taffy-like sweetness and just a bit of black pepper. Flavor is medium-full, body is mild and strength is mild-medium. Outside of the predictably tight draw, construction is great though the ash can be flaky.

Given the extremely short size, it’s not surprising that there are not many differences in the 15 or so minutes that have elapsed between the first and second third. The woodiness continues to lead the Patoro Gran Añejo Reserva Juancito in the second third, sitting atop a milky creaminess, an increased amount of leather, some dry flavors that remind me of a Triscuit, and at times, a sour fruitiness. The second cigar has a very defined milk chocolate flavor, though it’s nowhere to be found in the other two. The flavor of the third cigar smooths out a lot, and for five or so minutes, there’s a flavor that reminds me of the subtle flavors of a bao bun. Retrohales tend to be pretty similar, though, at times, there’s a brighter peanut flavor or a more defined earthiness. The finish of the first cigar has a charred aspect that the other two don’t, but all three are pretty similar, only separated by a flavor note or two. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium and strength is still pretty non-existent. While the draw has loosened up slightly, it’s still tighter than most cigars, though it never threatens to mess with the combustion.

Predictably, woodiness remains the star of the show in the final third of the Patoro Gran Añejo Reserva Juancito. While I don’t think the woodiness is smoother, the overall profile seems smoother with secondary notes of leather, saltiness, meatiness and, in two cigars, a subtle charred mushroom flavor. The cigars finish with creaminess and saltiness more or less on par with the woodiness. Retrohales continue to provide the bao bun-like flavor with creaminess, mushroom and something that reminds me of a cardboard. As the retrohale finishes, minerals and black pepper pick up, providing a rare disruption to the overly smooth profile. Flavor is close to full, body is medium-plus and strength is medium. The draw loosens just a bit, which really helps to increase the volume of smoke production. It’s still tighter than a typical cigar, but not something I found to be an issue.

Final Notes

• Adding -ito onto someone’s name is the equivalent of putting “Little” in front of someone’s name in English. So Juancito would be “Little Juan.”
• The most prominent example of the -ito in the cigar industry is Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr. His father was Carlos Fuente Sr. and his son is Carlos Fuente III. It’s still a bit jarring to hear someone refer to Fuente III as “Carlito.”
• A quick scan of the scores on this site would suggest that Patoro is the best candidate as a “hidden gem” in the cigar industry. I’d certainly endorse that statement. Unfortunately, Patoro’s prices don’t make it a candidate for “great bargain that you’ve never heard of.”
• If you are someone who cannot stand a tight draw, this probably isn’t going to be the cigar for you. There weren’t issues with a lack of combustion nor reduced smoke volume into the mouth, but I had to work to get the smoke more than I normally would. I don’t think this is a manufacturing flaw, rather, the combination of thinner ring gauge and unique shape are probably going to make this an inevitability.
• I would not recommend trying to slide off the bands. I tried doing this on the cigar and it shifted the wrapper off the binder. I’m pretty sure I could have taken the wrapper entirely off the cigar, almost like it was a protective covering.
• I found the ash to be flaky whenever it broke apart, but when it was on the cigar it formed in a beautiful fashion with very thin lines and a very even burn.

• These cigars are listed at 4 x 44. Given the taper, I didn’t measure the ring gauge.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was around an hour and 15 minutes. The cigar seemed slower at the very start and very end, though the second third felt like it took less than 20 minutes.