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10 Questions with Rocky Patel

Dec 28, 2009 Interviews

As our final interview for 2009, we are pleased to present our 10 Questions interview with Rocky Patel.

Rocky is one of the hardest working people in the cigar industry and his hard work has proven to be fruitful as his Rocky Patel brand has grown by leaps and bounds over recent years.

The popularity of his cigars has grown significantly and his smokes have received numerous high scores in Cigar Aficionado and other publications.

Rocky has established himself as a major player in the business and his brand is flourishing.

And now, 10 Questions with Rocky Patel…

SmokeScore: Rocky, can you tell our readers a little bit about how you went from Lawyer to Cigar Manufacturer? It’s quite an interesting story and a testament to following one’s dreams.

Rocky Patel: It’s my pleasure.  Well, I was working as an entertainment attorney in LA and while working on the set one day some one offered me a cigar.  I was leery but since it was a major celebrity I decided “What the Heck!” BTW, I had never smoked anything in my life!  I immediately fell in love!  So the short version: I left my practice, went to Honduras and learned everything I possibly could about cigars.  From the farming, curing, fermentation and finally the manufacturing and quality control of the cigar making process.  Many people remember the Indian Tabac Cigar Company, which was my first baby. Well, we had a lot of bumps and bruises along the way.  To tell you the truth, sometimes I look back @ all of the traveling and just say, “WOW! I can’t believe we are we are.“ So we keep pushing harder and harder. I truly believe that NO ONE works harder to make a better quality cigar than we do.  So we will continue to do whatever it takes, continue to bring what we consider to be, the best cigar in the world, to the end consumer! On a personal note, we love what we do and thank you for making our dreams a reality.

SmokeScore: I’ve tried all of your seasonal blends and enjoyed them all. Can you tell us how you came up with the idea and what future plans you have for the seasonal releases?

Rocky Patel: Sure…  I’m a big fan of wine and Dan Cohn from B.R. Cohn winery is a great friend of mine.  So I tasted some of his special selection quite some time ago and thought to myself, “Hey We Can Do This”.   So a few years ago we branded the Rocky Patel Seasonal Collections.  Once a quarter, we do a limited short run on a specific season: Summer, Winter, Spring, and Autumn.  The theory behind the release is simple:  use the best tobacco’s available that reference the freshness and quality of that particular season.  You really have to have the feeling of a season.  So when we make a seasonal blend, we work exceedingly hard to depict what it feels like to smoke that particular brand during that particular season. The end consumer should take a puff of the Autumn Collection and say to themselves, “WOW that makes sense it tastes just like Autumn!!”  On another note, the Cigars have to be perfect; we will not rush the tobacco under any circumstances.  In conjunction with that statement, we had a lot of blends using specific tobaccos for winter but we just couldn’t hit the nail on the head, so there will be no Winter Collection for 2009.  I just wasn’t happy with the outcome.  It has to be perfect for us to release a Seasonal into the market place.

SmokeScore: You must have been elated with the recent 95 point score the Rocky Patel Decade Torpedo received. Does receiving a score like that validate all the hard work you put into your products?

Rocky Patel: Absolutely!  Believe me ratings don’t mean everything.  However, it’s nice to receive the gratification for all of our hardwork, time and effort.

SmokeScore: At a recent event in New York I had a conversation with you about the Rocky Patel Edge Sumatra and how much I loved that cigar. You were explaining the differences and similarities between that and the Rocky Patel Renaissance.  Can you elaborate on how the two lines compare?

Rocky Patel: It’s the same cigar! Unfortunately the cost of Sumatra wrapper has increased dramatically over the last two years.  I did not want to raise the cost of the entire Edge series so I decided to rebrand the cigar and call it Renaissance.

SmokeScore: How different is it for you to now be making cigars in your own manufacturing facility? What are the advantages?

Rocky Patel: Believe it or not, there is not much of a difference.  We control 95% of the entire production in our Honduran Factory.  So essentially, we have carried over everything that make our cigars great!  The quality and consistency standards remain the same:  from the seedling in the ground, to the time you put a cigar in the box. BTW, we have a new Rocky Patel DVD being released, the second week in December: “Against All Odds”, which thoroughly depicts why we make some of the best cigars in the world!  It also shows the quality control standards that we have set and why you could eat off of the floor in all of our factories.

SmokeScore: What are your thoughts on the possibility that we’ll soon see an end to the Cuban Embargo?

Rocky Patel: I think it’s going to be analogically compared to myths of the past.  Once she “Cuba” finally opens up, there is going to be even more controversy over where the best cigars are made.  The products that are coming out of Nicaragua and Honduras are very good and will be tough to beat. As a matter of fact, many people feel that they are just as good, if not better, than the “hype of a Cuban cigar;” if you can get one that’s not bitter, turns sour half way through or that you can draw on that is. In retrospect I, think its going to be HUGE for all manufacturers when she opens up, based on the fact that elements of Cuban tobacco will be added to many blends and new creations.

SmokeScore: To what do you attribute the explosive growth of your company in the recent years?

Rocky Patel: Hard Work! Simply Stated.  Great blends with complexity, quality and consistency.  When you smoke a Rocky Patel cigar you can be certain that it will draw perfectly, burn well and deliver great flavor.  We thrive to work harder everyday.  We’re on the road or in the factory in some capacity everyday! Weather it’s myself, my brother Nish, my cousin Nimish or the rest of the Rocky Patel sales force.  We do this because we love to meet and educate the end consumer as to what Rocky Patel Premium Cigars is doing in the market place, to make a great quality cigar.  We thrive on outworking our competition, to deliver a superior product for you!

SmokeScore: Can you let us in on any new products in the pipeline?

Rocky Patel: In every respect!  I promise you no one works harder to bring you a great quality cigar than we do.  We learn everyday to assure that tradition is redefined.  We are pushing all boundaries to discover new tobaccos, better fermentation and great flavor, while guaranteeing the consistency and quality.

SmokeScore: Have you recently smoked any cigars other than your own that made you say, “Damn, I wish we had made that?”

Rocky Patel: Today premium cigars are better than ever.  There are some great all around brands that I enjoy smoking:  Padron, Litto etc.

SmokeScore: We end all of our interviews with a look into the future. Where do you see Rocky Patel cigars in 5 years?

Rocky Patel: I promise you no one works harder to bring you a great quality cigar than we do.  We learn everyday to assure that tradition is redefined.  We are pushing all boundaries to discover new tobaccos, better fermentation and great flavor, while guaranteeing the consistency and quality.  So in 5 years we’ll be working just as hard as we did 10 years ago: to push the threshold!

Thank you to Rocky Patel and to Sam Phillips for their generosity with their time.

Tags: Interview, Rocky Patel

COMING SOON – Exclusive Rocky Patel Interview

Oct 15, 2009 Interviews

SmokeScore is happy to announce that we’ve been in touch with Rocky Patel’s people and he will be granting us an exclusive interview. As busy a guy as Rocky is, we sincerely appreciate him taking the time to answer some of our questions.

Following our Pete Johnson interview a few months ago, we couldn’t think of any better cigar personality to talk to than Rocky. His company has grown by leaps and bounds over the last several years and his products are garnering rave reviews.

Check back in the coming weeks for our exclusive interview with Rocky.

Tags: Interview, Rocky Patel

Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Corojo

Oct 11, 2009 Cigar

Tonight’s review is the Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Toro.

Introduced at RTDA 2005, The Olde World Reserve (OWR) comes in either a Corojo or Madoruo wrapper. Tonight we will be reviewing the Corojo version in the Toro vitola.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Size:  6.5 x 52 (Toro)
Origin:Honduras
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan

APPEARANCE and CONSTRUCTION – (17 of 20 pts.)

The OWR has a medium chocolate brown wrapper that’s a little dry looking. It’s nicely constructed with a clean even wrap and neat cap. The Toro is a little spongy to the touch, but not quite soft. Overall construction is pretty good.

SMOKING CHARACTERISTICS – (21 of 25 pts.)

Clean cut with a punch cutter. Draw was a little looser than I normally like. Not horrible, but a touch looser than I would have wanted. Generally, if a draw is going to be off, I’d rather it be loose than tight. A loose draw can be dealt with slowly and the cigar is still very much smokable. A stiff draw is pretty much a dud of a smoke. Great volume of smoke with each puff. Smoke was fairly dense. Ash burned beautifully. Stayed firm for a good inch to inch and a half. Ash was more white than gray. The OWR burned pretty well except for going out a couple of times which required a relight. I was smoking outside, so I can forgive the burn out.

FLAVOR – (28 of 30 pts.)

The flavor in the OWR was fantastic. It had a nice mix of sweetness, wood, earth and subtle spice. The first third had more of a sweet tobacco flavor mixed with a spanish cedar flavor. That transitioned to a more solid woody flavor in the second third. The final third had more of the woody flavor along with a light spice in the background. Flavors were all well balanced and integrated.

OVERALL IMPRESSION – (22 of 25 pts.)

I enjoyed this cigar very much. The flavor profile is one that I generally like a lot. Some sweetness mixed with wood and earth is the perfect combination for me. With an MSRP of around $10 a stick, it’s reasonably priced for what you get. I would most likely grab this one again.

TOTAL SCORE – 88

Tags: Corojo, Olde World Reserve, Rocky Patel, Toro

Rocky Patel Event at Cigar Inn

Jun 1, 2009 Events

Had a great time on Saturday at the Rocky Patel event at The Cigar Inn in New York. It was a beautiful sunny day here in New York and it was tempting to simply spend the day outside. Living only a block away from Cigar Inn though, I had no excuse not to go. I am certainly glad I did. Rocky was as gracious as ever and chatted to everyone there. They were running a special where any box purchase would include a free box of a special Rocky blend made specially for Cigar Inn. There was plenty of food, drink and music to keep the party going late into the night.

I spoke to Rocky for a few minutes about all sorts of things, but most importantly, about doing a 10 Questions interview with us. He graciously agreed, and we should be doing that interview in the coming weeks.

Tags: Cigar Inn, Event, New York City, Rocky Patel

Rocky Patel Decade Toro

May 14, 2009 Cigar

Tonight’s review is the Rocky Patel Decade Toro.

Rocky Patel Premium Cigars turned ten-years-old and made a cigar to celebrate the milestone.

The full-bodied smoke has a soft box press and sports an Ecuadoran wrapper around a binder and filler from Nicaragua. It is made in Danlí Honduras at the El Paraiso Factory – the facility owned by Nestor Plasencia and family that has produced the Rocky Patel Sungrown cigars among others.

Each box of Decade cigars says “Against all odds” on the inside, refering to the 10 years during which the brand has been in business. The underside of each box lid features black and white illustrations of cigars being produced.

It’s hard to believe, considering the top-notch cigars he has produced in the past, but the Decade may very well be his finest blend yet.

The decade previously received a whopping 95 point score in Cigar Aficionado. Let’s see where it’s at.

Tags: Decade, Honduras, Rocky Patel, Toro