It is well known by now that I don't smoke Rocky Patel offerings as part of my daily routine, hell I don't even smoke them as part of my yearly routine. This particular brand just plain lost me several years ago and I don't return to the fold easily. However, as part of my ongoing commitment to smoke all new cigars that come on to the market I must offer this one up to the cigar gods as well and I couldn't dodge it any longer. Recently, Rocky himself was a guest on my radio show so I decided I should do a Rocky review as a way to be relevant to the show and it's guests. Not the best reason, but it's the one I'm going with.
This cigar was part of the cigars gathered at the 2012 Great Smoke in West Palm, as an aside if you have not gone to this event you really should, it is the premiere smoking event in Florida every year. This cigar was sitting in my humi for few weeks and I'm not going to lie, I thought about foisting it off on some unsuspecting newbie as part of a moochidor purge, but then I realized that wasn't being fair to the newbie, the cigar or my readers so I manned up and smoked this mother myself. Someday there will be songs written about my courage my friends!
The cigar actually presents well. The wrapper is applied and has very few veins. There is something about a nicely applied Cameroon wrapper that gets the taste buds humming and ready for some smoke. I detect a few tight spots, but the test draws show no ill effects, so I decide to soldier on. My only complaint about this cigar, and all of Rocky's cigars really, is the cheapness of the bands. Can I get something that does not look like it is sold on the shelves of a truckstop on I-10? The pre light draw showed some nice nutty richness. The pre light aroma was decidedly woody.
The cigar opens with a profile that I would describe as all Cameroon. There are some pleasing sweet nut flavors and a brush of spice as the wrapper really speaks for itself. Sadly it is the only part of the cigar doing any talking as there are no complementary flavors and this leads to a lack of depth and complexity. I love Cameroon, but it can't ever stand on it's own in my mind, and without some creative blending (a la Fuente Don Carlos) it just does not do enough for me. At the back of the palate there are some nice light pepper hints and some light wood presentations, but they are not deep enough to impact the experience.
The first half of the cigar lumbers on, there is no nuance or complexity here, just straight Cameroon impressions. The core profile is still just full of sweet nutty flavors, and the sweetness is actually ramping up at this point. I am struggling to find more here, but there just isn't anything. The back of the palate continues to show some light pepper and wood flavors that are not bold enough to much more than annoy me because I am looking, straining, reaching and praying for more. The burn is fine to this point and the draw has performed well thus far.
In the final half trouble is a brewing. The core profile becomes way too sweet for me and it takes on a dry grassy tone that overwhelms the subtlety of the nutty flavors that had been prominent. The back of the palate becomes more tart, almost sour really, as a bitter and wheaty flavor takes over the presentation. A small split has also begun to develop near the shoulder and it is starting to syphon of draw ability, I absolutely hate when this happens, and in this instance I can see it is being caused by a stem in the bunch. The last couple of inches of the cigar become nearly impossible to manage as the split rips open.
The finish was tart, but there were some nice nutty flavors to hang on to.
Appearance- 87 aside from the band work it is a nice looking smoke
Taste- 85 very average for me, more complexity and depth were needed
Construction- 80 not bad until the end, that issue blew it for me
Strength- 88 a nice medium
Overall- 84.25 just below par all around
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