Don Fernando’s cigarblog

This cigar came in a bomb from Shellie. The pretty 6 x 48 cigar, made by Rocky Patel, has a pretty wrapper with some light veins and feels pretty tight. It came packed in cellophane. The tobacco used for this cigar is triple fermented corojo and comes from Nicaragua and Honduras. The predraw is fine and tastes like straw.

I get a sweet coffee like flavor with a chocolate aftertaste. After half an inch the coffee is replaced with wood. At the 2 inch mark the flavors swap again, the wood is gone, the coffee is back. Halfway the chocolate disappears too and is replaced by hay. The chocolate aftertaste returns when I reach the 2/3^rd point and I can also taste a light pepper flavor.

The flavors are nice but mild to medium, just like the overall power of the cigar. The burn is perfect, the draw and the smoke are fine.

Would I buy this cigar again?  Yes, this is a nice cigar to start the day with.

Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Appearance: 7 /10  
Smoke && ash: 6 / 10
Burn: 9 / 10
Aroma (first part)  7 / 10
Aroma (second part)  7 / 10
Aroma (third part)  7 / 10

Some time ago I got myself a Rocky Patel vintage 1990 robusto, a 140mm long ring 50 cigar made with a 12 year old Honduran broadleaf wrapper and a 7 year old filler and binder. This particular cigar received a ‘best of the best’ at the 2004 Robb report and a 92 score at Cigar Aficionado so my expectations were high.

It is a beautiful cigar, pretty wrapper, nice stylish band, a real looker and it also feels good. The predraw was light and easy and lighting this cigar was a piece of cake. An easy draw but no flavor. It took a few puffs to finally get a flavor and it was very light leather which grows stronger when I reach the 1/3^rd point where a hint of cacao and a light fresh sour flavor also enter my palate. Somewhere around the half of the cigar the cacao grows a bit stronger but it’s still to light for my taste.

The ash is beautiful, white & gray and firm of construction. Just before I reach the half of the cigar the burn starts to get crooked so I have to correct. My correction was just a short success because the burn keeps on getting crooked and I keep on correcting. It is hard to keep this cigar burning correctly

This cigar is mild bodied, way too mild for me. Maybe I should try the 1992 vintage, that cigar is medium to full bodied according to the Rocky Patel website.

Would I buy this cigar again? No.

Construction: 13 / 20
Draw: 16 / 20
Appearance: 18 / 20
Smoke && ash: 6 / 10
Burn: 5 / 20
Aroma (foot) 6 / 10
Aroma (body) 6 / 10
Aroma (head) 6 / 10

Price / value: 10 / 20