FINALLY...a Rocky Patel I actually liked. Rocky Patel Sun Growns

[CigarHoss]

I've tried them all...all at the suggestion of my tobacconist. The Edge, the Vintages (1990 and 1992 - various sizes) and just couldn't get into these cigars. Never liked the Indian Tabac either.

Read the interview of him in CA last month or so...tried them all again. Same thing...they're just ok, nothing spectacular.

Then...was sitting around the Up In Smoke VIP room when an acquaintance there fired up one of the Sun Growns. I was immediately interested in the aroma. Decided to put the wet end of his cigar in my mouth to try it (ok...THAT i'm KIDDING about...just seeing if anyone was paying attention)...actually, I went and bought one of the Toro's (6.5 x 52).

Oh...heavenly.

Prelight: Very nice armoa. Not musky, but very rich smelling. Appearance was A+. Firm...I was almost worried that it was going to be tight. Beautiful Ecuadorian wrapper...one of the smoothest I've seen.

Light: Like a charm. Nice aroma.

Smoking Experience - 1st half: Meaty. Spicy. Mouth filled with incredible pleasantries. Perfect draw. Very, very tasty.

Smoking Experience - 2nd half: Meaty, but a little more floral in taste. I like it here too. Spice was gone...but that could have been my tongue being used to the cigar.

Endgame: Wish it never ended.

The only complaint I have about the smoke is the wrapper at the lit end of the cigar. Continued to slightly flower out and little pieces of it would continually fall on my desk. Was kind of a messy smoke...but this could have just been this cigar.

If you like a full-bodied smoke that's not going to knock you out...I'd suggest trying this cigar right away. At 6.00 or so a stick, it's not an everyday smoke for me...but pretty durn tempting. Hope the rest are this great.

CH

[floydp]

Nice review, gonna have grab one of these. Thanks

[Franksmith]

Welllll

I have a vintage 1992 in the humi and figured it would be pretty good but I'll make sure to temper that expectation now.

[Artoud]

I recently smoked my first RP, a Vintage 1992. I loved it--here is my review (I wrote in LaTeX format, but have tried to remove formatting marks where I noticed them).

April 8, 2005
Location: Walking about my neighborhood
Tasting notes: My theses from this are long passed love, the
beauty of the stars, the futility of (most) vows, and the joy of the
RP Vintage. First, I remember a young woman I was in love with as a
young man. She was too much of an influence--a bad one--and not in
love with me. Nonetheless, my burgeoning cigarette habit was all the
more influenced. She told me about the ``walking buzz,'' and so did
Rocky Patel. This fantastic smoke had my feet numb by 3/4 inch ash.
I was over 300 lbs. at my heaviest, I have been well under 200 lbs.
for nearly a year. I must have spent eight or ten years swearing and
vowing not to eat too much. Yeah, eight or ten years. I could as well
have cursed the stars. So now I have a baby on the way, and I have a
a sixteen year habit of swearing that I need to curtail, even when
Rocky Patel makes me exclaim ``God damn, this is good!'' I won't
waste my breath swearing not to swear, but I will practice good
speaking, and swearing only among the appropriate company.

When I lit this cigar I was stoked--the taste was marevlous. A very
full flavor, but without the flaws I've experienced even in mild
cigars. The flavor is strongly tobacco, but no harshness or burn in my
throat. As I smoked I noticed new flavors developing. I should notice
that I could not finish this. It is a slow smoke, and I was
afraid I'd be giving back the nice sushi I made for supper. So despite
my long casual walk through the neighborhood I did not finish the
cigar. The last third disappeared down a storm drain, after developing
a very potent flavor. The taste included woody undertones, aromatic
and tannic, but definitely ``tobaccoy.''

I meant to mention the stars. Before I took this stogeywalk I looked
up the current starmap in kstars. Jupiter west of Orion in the
western sky, and Saturn in the eastern sky. Leo nearly overhead, and
the climate comfortable. What more could an incompetent astronomer want.

[txmatt]

Thing with Rocky Patels is they will smell and taste vegetal when young. You get some time on any of his products and they really improve. Even with the "15 year old" wrappers, the vintage cigars won't taste right until they have 6 months+ box aging time and then they come into their own.

Out of all his products I like the Cameroon Legend the best still. The Diesel line in the ugly orange box that Plasencia makes for him is probably my second pick.

I had the Sun Grown petite corona a month or so ago and it had the young Patel flavor. I figure I will wait six months to a year and they will be mature and selling for $30 - $40 a box on cigarbid; then I will pick up more.

Thanks for the review!

[Trooper27]

I've been sampling the Rocky Patels lately and I've really enjoyed the vintages and the sun growns...a friend turned me on to them a few months ago and there hasn't been one that I don't like...I am still sampling so if I find one I don't like I will let you know.

Trooper

[CigarHoss]

Originally Posted by Franksmith

Welllll

I have a vintage 1992 in the humi and figured it would be pretty good but I'll make sure to temper that expectation now.

HAHAHA...don't let my review stop you. I seem to be the only one I know that DOESN'T like them. They're all the rave at Up in Smoke in Lewisville, TX.

[JohnnyCashFan]

I have not had the 1992 vintages, but have smoked several of the 1990 line, and I don't know if it was just the few that I had, or that they had not aged sufficiently, but they seemed to grow unpleasantly bitter in the last half, particularly as the experience wound down. Seeing these posts however, I suppose I should buy a few and let them sleep for a while.

[altbier]

thanks for the reviews

[miketafc]

Originally Posted by txmatt

Thing with Rocky Patels is they will smell and taste vegetal when young. You get some time on any of his products and they really improve.

Can't agree more, I love these cigars with some age.

Can't wait to try the sungrown.

[Cobrajet]

Good review, thanks! I can now say I totally agree about the Sun Growns as I had some last night. As a result of last night a new box is on the way to me! Very enjoyable.

[Spagg]

Excellent review! I will give one of these sun growns a shot.

[RPB67]

Nice review. Next time I am at my local shop, I may give one of these a try.

[eef]

this cigar came about an inch from making me puke - in a good way.
-eef

[Gargamel]

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10258