No. 17 Cigar of the Year 2025 – Patina Red Pill

“You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Drawing heavily on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Morpheus delivered this now-iconic dichotomy in 1999’s The Matrix, a metaphor that has since become cultural shorthand for the choice between comforting illusion and unsettling truth in an increasingly fractured information age. Mo Maali (owner of Patina Cigars) expanded the concept into the realm of premium cigars in 2025 with the Patina Red Pill, being inspired by his transition from a contractor with the FDIC to cigar brand owner following the Global Financial Crisis of 2009. The cigar may be something of a red-pill moment for Patina as well, being more narrative rich and departing from the core-line appearance of virtually every Patina release that’s come before it. As for the blend, it’s loaded with hearty tobacco, including a San Andrés wrapper, Broadleaf binder, and fillers from Nicaragua and the US. Despite being billed as a fuller-bodied direction for the brand, it was almost the opposite experience that caught our attention. Yes, it’s loaded with texture and volume, but the profile comes across as more measured and balanced than anticipated. Flavors range from milk chocolate and creamy coffee to notes of fresh oak, sweet earth, and molasses.

Patina Red Pill Breakdown

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