Rocky Patel Vintage 1992

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Cigar Stats
Brand Owner: Rakesh Patel
Factory: Danli, Honduras
Vitola: Toro
Size: 52 x 6.5
Wrapper: Ecuador Sumatra
Binder: Mexico
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan

Background on Rocky Patel and brand:
Rocky Patel is a shining example of what passion and hard work can achieve. He uses what he calls the shoe-leather express, his arduous but successful way of getting out the word on his cigars. He started in LA but now home and headquarters is in Naples, FL but you rarely find him there. His road shows began in 1998, and they never seem to end: in both 2001 and 2002 he logged more than 300 days on the road. His travel schedule never seems to get any lighter.

Rocky is a natural born salesman. He sold china and cutlery door-to-door in high school, participated in Junior Achievement, sold grapefruit by the case and raised money in college for muscular dystrophy research. He moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, as a teenager, where he developed a lifelong love of the Packers to rival that of local born Cheeseheads. (In one proud moment he presented members of the team with his cigars.)

Patel, an entertainment and product liability lawyer turned cigar salesman, had a cigar-smoking girlfriend who “made him” join the Grand Havana Room in Beverly Hills. He went to his first cigar trade show in 1996 and was mobbed for business. This was the beginning of his strong relationship with the cigar industry as a major player.

Patel’s original Indian Tabac brand has nothing to do with his heritage (he was born in India) but everything to do with the on-again-off-again Indian Motorcycle brand. Patel, who owns the Indian Tabac Cigar Co. with a silent partner, has to pay Indian Motorcycle a licensing fee on the brand. In 2003 he put aside the Indian Tabac brand name he worked so hard to build to create another — Rocky Patel Vintage Series. It was risky, but a huge success.

Both the 90 and the 92 Vintages are made in Danli, Honduras with tobacco that was meant for Astral cigars. In the mid nineties U.S. Cigar thought Astral would become the next Montecristo and stockpiled bales of wrapper leaf in its warehouses. A large quantity of this never made it to market, and sat quietly ignored, gracefully aging and awaiting its fate. Patel came across it and snapped it up after discovering its quality. There were two types of leaf in the stockpile: Ecuadoran Sumatra from 1992 and Honduran broadleaf from 1990(1).

The 1992 was introduced in 2003 is box pressed, the wrapper is aged 10 years and the fillers are aged 8 years and is all ligero leaf.

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Smoking Experience
The apperance is great as ussual with Rocky products. It has a smooth wrapper with some veins evident. It has a floral aroma which suprised me and the pre light draw is a little on the tight side.

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It has an easy start with a nice looking smoke coming off of it that has a blueish tint to it. It starts with some pepper off the bat then becomes creamy. It started as a slow burner but picked up later on, some nuttiness comes and goes and the ash is gray. Approaching midway there is hints of cocoa and coffee. This is a medium bodied smoke that picks up on intensity halfway through then mellows out approaching the finish.

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At this point there it is smooth and sweet with some woody flavors and a floral aroma in the final 1/3. In the finish there is some caramel, with a grassy taste, and some wood notes. There is a good even burn the whole way through.

Final Thought:
Good quality appereance and construction with a good bit of flavor changes. Most of it just does not fit my flavor profile. I like how it starts out but the flavors never really blew me away and I could have done without the grassy finish. Like most Rocky cigars I think his presentation and marketing are excellent but the majority of the flavors in his blends are not for me.

Like it: Its OK I do like the superb construction and no burn problems
Recomend it: Yes, if your a fan of his products or never tried it.
Buy it Again: Not anytime soon

MSRP: Around $7.00 a cigar
(1) courtesy of Cigar Fan
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Nice review. Gotta admit have smoked a bunch of these. When we used to visit the CI store in Bethlehem Pa they had them in bundles taht were used to make samplers. They used to sell us the bundles of 25 for $ 50. Fancy box version was over a hundred right outside the closet where they kept these.

They still call them 1992 and 1990 but shouldn't it now be 2000 and 1998? :-)
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I had one, and wasn't very impressed. They're still on my list to buy again and try.
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I wondered about that if they still use the same harvest of tobacco for 92 and 90, but they advertise that it is aged 8 years or 10 years.
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Agree with that, I've tried it, and I wouldn't buy it again.
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I've tried several of the vintage 1992. I keep hoping for a different result that never happens. The burn is topshelf, and the ash performance is stellar , having said that the mid term on these is just like a giant Marlboro IMHO.

The finish is where it really peaks in its performance. These would be an amazing cigar if there was more substance to the midway point on these.

Just my :-) FWIW

Thanks for sharing the review with us. I appreciate it!:-)
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nice review. thanks for sharing
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I know exactly what you mean. I also do not care for the midway point either. The 1990 that I have smoked has the same problem. There also isn't a good consistent base flavor (such as earthy or leathery) like alot of smokes I like. This has that as you put it a marlboro base in the middle and I would agree. Also, Rocky as a good salesman and the nice box pressed appereance is what brings people back to buying it hoping for a differrent result.
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Way overpriced in my book for a so-so stick. It's just kinda bland to me and I ain't gonna be paying ~$30 for a fiver from an e-tailor. I think at the B&Ms the bigger/wider sticks go for around $10 or more.
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A decent stick, but the price is high because of its name.
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Thanks for the review and the back story on these cigars, very interesting.

I haven't tried the '92 although I have several waiting in my humi. I did enjoy the 1990.

I've never paid MSRP for these though.
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I have several that were sent to me in PIFs or trades, but I'd never smoked one til tonight (last night, now).

I have to agree that the beginning was nice, the middle 1/3rd was ho-humm, but the last 1/3rd was very tasty. :-)

I think I'll let the others that I have rest for a while longer; I'm hoping they'll get better with more age on them. :-)






:-):-):-)
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I like 'em.
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Wow. Resurrect time. Nice review to OP. My tastes aren't as refined, so I can't describe the tastes as well. But its yummy when its on.

I did a search for this because I smoked it tonight. I liked it well enough, but my experience was similar to a lot of people's. 1st third good. 2nd.. hmm... anyone home? and last 3rd was nice. Admittedly, i came back to the last third after dinner, so it set. Puffed out a few times, and it was a nice smoke still. I give the cigar credit for that one. Not many smoked in the past have had this ability. I did however have some ash problems throughout. It just wouldn't hold together.

As the name applies, I'm an occasional smoker and I'm trying to re-introduce myself after a hiatus (with occasional smokes :-)). My baseline is somewhat weak. I did think it had more flavor than the Perdomo Lot 23 Corojo that I had a month ago.

I'm glad for the reviews and input by everyone in this thread. I was hoping that my experience was just me or the cigar that i had, but it seems pretty typical. I think I'd smoke it again, but will probably reach for another in lieu.

I'd be curious how the aging helps alley00p.

Happy Herfing,

- fresh meat to the asylum (be gentle):-)
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This makes me want to write some more reviews. I still have 2 reviews handwritten with pictures from 6 months ago that I did before my computer was violated. Its a pain typing on a playstation 3.
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I have had quite a few of these and always enjoy them. While they are by no means, superb, they are a reliable quality smoke. I also feel inclined to add that this is one of my father's go to smokes. If he doesn't feel like trying something new, he usually falls back on a 90 or 92 box press.
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Ditto
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I like alot of Rocky's stuff. That said, these were better a couple years ago. The more recent ones I've had have seemed pretty flat. As the vintages move up, its obvious that not every year is a "vintage" one.
Though I feel the same way after the CAO hype dies down on their cigars. They seem to be less enjoyable later on.
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Nice review!

I really like the '92, but don't like the '90. In fact, the '90 is one of my least-liked Rocky cigars! Seems weird, I know. What a difference a wrapper makes!

I agree with most of you that Rocky's are pretty over-hyped, but imvho he makes a great product. If the flavors aren't to your liking, of course, then that's another matter. There are plenty of sticks I've smoked that I thought were really great cigars, I simply didn't like them, lol.

But tastes change. I used to dislike Pepin sticks, now I can't get enough of them!
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