Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 Churchill review

[Royale Duke]

As promised, I am delivering a review on this cigar. I have had these before, right around when I first started smoking 3 years ago, in fact I think this was one of the first premium cigars I ever had.

Brand: Rocky Patel
Line: Vintage 1990
Size: 7 x 48 churchill, box pressed
Wrapper: 12 year old Honduran Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan

Setting: A comfy computer chair in my bedroom.
Music: No. I forgot to put some on.
Drink: Water

Pre-light examination:

Absolutely flawless construction with a nice firmness to the touch and a DROP DEAD GORGEOUS wrapper that is a beautiful dark brown color. Smelling the wrapper itself, I can smell lot's of cocoa and pepper which is the same at the foot of the cigar. TONS of oils on this one, these were kept in optimal conditions!

Cutting the cap with my trusty Cusano guillotine cutter that I've had for 3 years, the draw is perfect and lot's of pepper,cocoa, and spiciness is left on the palate. I actually just kept sucking on the stick for about 5 minutes because the flavor was so awesome.

1st Third:

Whoa! Upon lighting I get hit with a pepper bomb! Seriously, I was actually quite surprised, the pepper bomb continued throughout the first third and in the beginning the pepper was accompanied by a spiciness on the palate mixed with cocoa and ceder as well as a light and pleasant tobacco flavor. Towards the end the pepper had calmed a bit, but was still very apparent! The cigar was also very smooth and I could really taste all the ceder, pepper, cocoa, and towards the end, a bit of citrus.

Transition into the second third was a bit flat but the cigar picked up with gusto. The smoke also smells DELICIOUS, not to mention it is VERY thick and there is copious amounts of it thanks to that wonderful draw! I also practiced my smoke rings.

2nd Third:

First of all, this thing smokes soooooo cooooooool. No hot smoke at ALL, even if you puff at it enthusiatically! I think I can attribute this to the churchill length.

The pepper bomb has subsided a bit and the stick overall has mellowed so that all the previous flavors could combine with the new ones. Throughout the 2nd third, there was lot's of citrus,mocha,ceder,cocoa, and leather as well as the ever present spiciness on the palate. There was also a traditional maduro sweetness which I can only assume came from the wrapper.

I would like to add that along with the spiciness on the palate, you could feel the nicotine and pepper in the back of the throat. Very exciting and interesting so far. No burn issues, no going out, lot's of smoke.

The transition into the final third is were the fuller bodied side of this stick comes into play.

Final Third:

Lot's of leather and woody flavors mixed with peat, a lot of the previous flavors are gone except for the sweetness of the maduro wrapper and the citrus.

I ended up nubbing the cigar with under half an inch left, even though it got that far it still didn't get bitter at all. Very impressive, no burn issues and one hell of an awesome draw.

Conclusion:

I loved this cigar, especially in this size which is odd since I prefer a robusto sized smoke. The flavor profile on this stick was definitely in the medium-full range in my opinion and as many have said it is a very smooth smoke(not nearly as smooth as an Oliva Series V though). I'm glad I have 4 left to smoke because MAN I am not sure how long these will last. Very tasty cigars, of which the 10 I received all look and smell the same which looks like consistency might be pretty good!

I'd rate this box pressed lovely a resounding 92/100 for overall excellent flavor and craftsmanship. I'd definitely buy a box or two to keep around for when I want something different.

It is amazing how much the cigar has changed in flavor to when I first smoked one when I didn't have an as developed palate as I do now. I remember buying these for 10 bucks a stick when I first started smoking cigars and thinking: eh, it's okay I kinda like it.

I think that if you have a nicely developed palate you will enjoy this more then if it was your first cigar, and if you have a pretty good palate I'd say this would be a safe bet for smoking.

[eyesack]

Thank you for the review David! I've been wondering about these vs the 1992's myself; and this review definitely helps me out as it has given me one more good opinion about the cigar. Actually, I'm more interested in buying the seconds, but I hear they're identical, just one is priced differently than the other. Thanks!

[zeavran1]

I really love this cigar. It seems like it's the one I always go to when I just can't make a choice about what to smoke.

[danmcmartin]

While they may smoke completely differently, I have a 5'r of robustos on the way. Glad you liked them.

[Royale Duke]

Let me know how the robusto's taste man, I'm definitely curious.

Smoking a second one now, pretty much the same experience. +1 for consistency to Rocky Patel.

[fiddlegrin]

Nice review Sir!!!

Thanks a lot!

[GJProductions]

sounds good, i have a box pressed torpedo in my humidor waiting for me

[Laserjock]

How do these compare to the "60"? I have a couple of the PR V1990 60s in my humi that have been sitting their for about 6-7 months but have yet to pull one out to try it.