Today we take a look at the latest offering from the small boutique cigar company – Bocock Brothers Cigars – owned by two Honduran brothers Bryant and Douglas Bocock. You may have heard about them as they have been on my Taking It To The Nub Show and are also a sponsor of the show. Recently, the company expanded their portfolio with a new line of cigars known as the “Signature Edition”. The first in the line is the Sumatra that is proudly made at the A.J. Fernandez Factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.
The cigar was announced at the 2022 Tobacco Plus Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada and the brothers Bocock noted:
“We are thrilled and honored for the opportunity to create a cigar with a master blender and cigarmaker like A. Fernandez, and we’re beyond excited to present it to our father, as well as to the growing amount of Bocock fans who have come to recognize and appreciate our thoughtful offerings.”
The blend of this new cigar i described as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian Sumatra
- Binder – Nicaraguan Habano
- Filler – Nicaraguan
They are expressed in 3 popular vitolas and come packaged in 10-count boxes:
- Robusto (5.5. x 52) – MSRP $11.95
- Toro (6 x 54) – MSRP $12.60
- Gordo (6 x 60) – MSRP $12.95
For this review, I sampled three of the Bocock Brothers Signature Edition Sumatra Toros, which I received from the company for the purpose for reviewing on Stogie press.
Pre-Light Examination
The Bocock Brothers Signature Edition Sumatra is wrapped n a medium to dark brown Ecuadoran Sumatra leaf that exhibits a few noticeable veins and a slight oily sheen. The barrel is firm to the touch with just a slight give when pressed between the fingers. A well applied cap finishes the presentation.
Three bands adorn the cigar. The primary uses a black and gold motif and displays the company’s iconic logo in the center (a rooster with a red bow tie). A secondary black and gold band is placed just below the primary and declares this as the “Signature Edition”. Finally a bold and large red satin footer band is identifies it as the “SUMATRA” blend.
Running the barrel along the nose, I picked up very faint aromas of sweet tobacco while the foot presented notes of nut, earthiness and bit of peppery spice.
Cold draw a tad more open than I usually prefer but by now means airy and it offered notes of delicate natural tobacco sweetness and cream, joined with a hint of nut and pepper. I do like the flavors in the cold draw, so much so, that I cold puffed on the third sample for a good 20 minutes just savoring the pre-light profile.
Using my single flame torch, I warmed the foot to an even orange glow and drew in the first puffs of palate pleasing pepper and coffee notes. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Initial light offered a decent peppery spice with rich coffee undertones
- Light grey ash forms on top of a medium thick char line
- Sweet Cream and mild citrus fills in early profile
- Ash falls early revealing a flat but centered burn cone
- Excellent volume of smoke
- Sweet aromas
- Slight off burn develops just before the primary band
- Smooth and creamy midway
- Pleasant roasted nuttiness enters the profile
- Sweet and spicy down to the final
- Medium in strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 40 minutes
Final Analysis
Once again a collaboration with A.J. Fernandez shows what a good quality leaf can do for a cigar. In the case of the Bocock Brothers Signature Blend Sumatra that is clear in the ever present natural sweetness that played on the palate throughout the journey on this cigar. With the addition of nuttiness, citrus, cream, coffee an spice this cigar kept me interested through the transitions. The sweet aromas only added to the pleasure. It had an average burn with a mild wave a slight off burn that appeared in the second third but did not require a touchup. Overall I found this to be a balanced and tasty cigar that would be perfect to start the day or end the evening. Pick up a 5-pack of these and enjoy. I rate this a 92.
Point Deductions: (-1) Wavy Burn; (-1) Off Burn in second third; (-1) Flat burn cone
Bonus Points: (+1) Pleasurable and consistent across multiple samples
