Rocky Patel The Edge Anniversary 20th Toro

Sometimes cigar companies can get a little bit fuzzy with the anniversary dates of their brands. My favorite is when Drew Estate’s Liga Privada 10 Aniversario came out in 2018, which would have been the 12th year of Liga Privada. The company said that the 2018 date referenced the 10th anniversary of Liga Privada getting expanded to more than one size, which happened in 2008. The numbers checked out but the logic was, umm, over my head.

While Drew Estate might have been a bit late to its birthday party, in the case of Rocky Patel and The Edge 20th, it was—in my opinion—two years too early.

Rocky Patel’s The Edge debuted in 2004 and has become one of the company’s best-selling lines. It is known for its unique packaging, the original sizes debuted in and are still offered in trays of 100. Over the years, the brand has gone from being the $5 cigar offered in crates of 100 in one of two wrappers to now eight different blends, each designated by a different wrapper.

The eighth blend, The Edge 20th Anniversary, debuted in 2022, 18 years after those first two wrapper options did. However, it was two decades after work on The Edge began, which is what the company says the 20th anniversary references. Rocky Patel, the company’s founder, said he blended this cigar around a 10-year-old Ecuadorian Sumatra as the original The Edge used an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. Underneath that is a Honduran habano binder and fillers from Honduras and Panama.

The Edge 20th Anniversary is made at the company’s Tabacalera Villa Cuba S.A. factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

• Cigar Reviewed: Rocky Patel The Edge Anniversary 20th Toro
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: El Paraiso
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Sumatra)
• Binder: Honduras (Habano)
• Filler: Honduras & Panama
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $12 (Box of 20, $240)
• Release Date: November 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Most of the time a company chooses to do an updated version of a popular brand, there are usually some clear tie-ins to the original branding. That’s not really the case here as nothing immediately stands out to me as a carryover from the original The Edge, which I guess in some way makes sense given The Edge originally did not come with bands. That said, there’s nothing on the band that really seems to tie in with the current packaging for the other versions of The Edge. It’s a darker chocolate-colored wrapper with some reds but a very consistent color throughout. The dark wrapper helps to hide all but the largest veins, though a closer inspection shows that there’s a lot of smaller veins. The overall rolling quality is very good with particularly high marks for the seams, which are extremely flat. The aroma from the wrapper smells very Nicaraguan with artificial cocoa over red pepper and a bit of what reminds me of a new car smell. By the third or fourth sniff, I’m not picking up much; seemingly, my nose has adjusted to the pretty mild aroma. While the foot is more medium in intensity, it’s a similar story in terms of aroma: an artificial chocolate that reminds me of a milkshake over red pepper and some new car smells. Somewhat surprisingly, that new car smell seems to carry over to the cold draw. It’s not entirely the same sensation, but the roots are there. At times, it’s more like the frothed milk flavor that I get from a cappuccino; other times it’s more like coconut. Whatever it is, it overwhelms the other flavors, leaving just some mild chocolate flavors underneath.

The Rocky Patel The Edge 20th Toro begins with a very intertwined profile led by nuttiness and earthiness with some roasted flavors and a white pepper, the latter of which gets sharper as time passes akin to the sensation of a first drink of Scotch whisky. Very little of those flavors are present after the first inch as black tea, leather, cedar and white pepper lead the dance, with creaminess, lemon, bread flavors, potato starchiness and some umami as secondary and tertiary flavors. The finish seems more addition by subtraction: the leather and potato flavors come to the forefront while black pepper, white pepper, umami tingling and some citrus sit underneath. Retrohales have peanut shells, damp earth and leather over black pepper, charcoal toastiness and creaminess. The finish isn’t all that different in terms of the list of flavors—there are some added peanut shells—but the characteristics change with the finish tasting drier and, at times, a bit more sour than the retrohale itself. Flavor is medium-plus—though retrohales are medium-full—body is medium-plus and strength is medium. Construction is great on two cigars, though one cigar has some minor burn issues and needs a correction.

During the first third, it seemed like the profile was getting less intertwined, but by the midpoint of the cigar, it’s very difficult for me to tell which, if any, flavor is stronger than the others. Leather, earthiness, a more mineral-laden earthiness, black pepper and coffee are all present in a very compact profile. The flavors separate more in the finish as roasted flavors edge out bread crust and black pepper. I also find the finish a bit drier, perhaps because the mineral flavors are more isolated than before. Retrohales have black pepper, apple cider, leather, lemon zest and coconut flavors. Again, the profile is much more intertwined, though I feel like there’s more separation than the main flavor. Similar to before, the finish has some of those flavors isolate themselves and as such become more prominent. At this point, it’s roasted and mineral flavors that get the focus. Flavor is medium-full, body is full and strength is medium. All three cigars make it through the second third without any issues. One cigar, in particular, has virtually flawless construction.

More than before, in the final third the cigars go different paths. For two cigars, that means roasted flavors, peanut shells and espresso lead a mineral-laden earthiness, leather, white pepper, creaminess, black pepper and a mezcal-like toastiness. The other cigar sees the coconut flavor become a lot more prevalent and ends up being a strong secondary flavor to earthiness, toastiness and black pepper. All three cigars have some tartness, a quality I find in some Sumatra-wrapped cigars. The three cigars are more similar in the finish as all have peanut shells, leather and creaminess, though there are varying levels of sweetness. Retrohales have roasted flavors, leather, a toastiness that reminds me of Liquid Smoke, and some peppermint. While the peppermint isn’t as strong as the other flavors, it stands out in a very big way. The retrohales finish in a style that has become quite familiar: peanut shells and roasted flavors stand out, though peppermint and black pepper stick around. Flavor is medium-full but trails off as the cigar burns further down, body is medium-full and strength is medium-plus. Two cigars make it to the end without any issue, though the cigar that needed a touch-up in the first third requires another touch-up. Smoke production drops on all three cigars, making solid retrohales a lot more difficult than they had been before, though that’s something I find during the final thirds of many cigars.

Final Notes

• Adding to the further confusion of when this 20th anniversary cigar should come out: in 2015, Rocky Patel released the A-10 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Edge.
• It would have been cool if there was a limited run of 100-count boxes as a tribute to the original The Edge. Most people wouldn’t care, but there’s probably enough that would find it cool. Coincidentally, Drew Estate used to do that with the Liga Privada No. 9 Parejo, the former name for the original 6 x 52 size. It was originally offered in 48-count cabinets and for many years Drew Estate continued to make the 48-count cabinets in limited quantities even after the rest of the brand had shifted to 24-count boxes.
• I find about half the cigars I smoke with Ecuadorian Sumatra wrappers to have a distinct tartness to them, this would be one of those times.
• I’m not sure if I’ve ever smoked the original Sumatra version of The Edge. I know I’ve smoked an original The Edge, but at the time I wouldn’t have been paying attention to which wrapper it was.
• I really like the design work here, especially the font choices used on the bands.
• Rocky Patel Premium Cigars advertises on halfwheel.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was around two hours and 15 minutes.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars Direct, Corona Cigar Co., Famous Smoke Shop and JR Cigar carry the Rocky Patel The Edge Anniversary 20th Toro.

Update (March 22, 2023) — The original version of this review said the cigar was made at TAVICUSA, it is made in Honduras at the El Paraiso factory.