The Wikipedia page on the brand:
As you can see, Cigar Aficionado rated it a 95 out of 100 in 2008.
Vitola: Robusto (5" x 50RG)
Price: $8-$10 stick
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Secret
Filler: Secret
Aged in Humidor: 1 month
Appearance and Construction:
The cigar looks vintage. Even the band has a yellowish hue with brown stars and lettering. The double bands below the cap were glued on tight. The wrapper is an oily black brown (almost oscuro), like a leather coat. It is constructed with noticeable veins right into the cap but it is rolled well. I love rustic toothy cigars like this that don't have this smooth mold look to the wrapper. My stick had no construction flaws. It wasn't bunched super tight and bounced back only slightly. It's squarish but not to proportion. Hey!, numerous retail vendors did not indicate it was box pressed, especially where I bought it. The only way I fount this out was a little further research after I noticed it's squarish shape.
Draw: Even and easy throughout
Aroma: From two or three feet away there is this sweet musky, slightly stinky aroma of wet leather, an unrefined wooden barrel of fermenting rum or skunk like scent
Ash: Very ashy throughout, not wavy or cone like
Fumes: The beginning had fumes coming out but once it got going it streamed only when lit and when puffed on, otherwise if left alone: mellow
Burn: Consistent and slow
Strength: Medium
Tasting Notes:
The scent that comes out of the foot while still in the cellophane cover is of a chocolate tea mix. The wrapper's scent is lightly cinnamony with oak and hay notes. The cold draw is a lighter version of that, like tangy hay.
On the initial light, I get a bit of ammonia but it quickly dissipates. Two flavors hit me as I give it a minute to burn: a milk chocolaty creaminess and dark tobacco. I get a mouthful of smoke.
1 cm in: the cigar has flavor notes of dark coffee, as I take a sip of my coffee, it matches. My first retrohale is very toasty.
1 inch in: I get toasty oak.
By the end of the first third a chunk of the ash falls but a smidgen remains. Holding the cigar upward gives it a crown of ash. Along with toasty oak and the aforementioned notes, I got a lightly sweet tangy tasting profile I can't associate with anything, it's like an odd tasting floral spice.
The beginning of the second third I get a bold note of the wrapper's Maduro. I think it's because I scorch it just a little bit with my butane lighter to even out the little pieces of wrapper bits hanging. After a few minutes in: toasty bread followed by sweet tangy almost spicy good earthiness. By the middle of the 2nd third, the ash crown falls completely off. At this point I get notes of grilled meat and hints of wine like flavors. By the end of the second third the musky aroma disappears. This is when it begins to get really good.
Between the end of the second third and beginning of the final third, without the musky aroma and the notes of unrefined fermented flavor notes, the cigar comes together to smoke great. With light hints of sweetness, floral, tangy, oak, earth and grill-like notes, it is now tasty and creamy.
My final thoughts on the Rocky Patel Decade is I think the rest of those I have will need more aging for the profile to get a little better. I thought this was a great cigar except for the musky aroma that again smelled similar to at it's best burnt vanilla to an unrefined barrel of rum or reminiscent of skunk. This aroma was also present on other cigars I have smoked including being even stronger on the Ave Maria Lionheart (also a box pressed). So the first two thirds were enjoyable except for the aroma and the final third was just great.
Complexity: Just a little bit with changing tasting notes throughout
I rate this a 90 out of 100
It took me a little less than two hours to finish the cigar up to the final inch.
It gave me a mood for getting a cheeseburger.
Between the end of the second third and beginning of the final third, without the musky aroma and the notes of unrefined fermented flavor notes, the cigar comes together to smoke great. With light hints of sweetness, floral, tangy, oak, earth and grill-like notes, it is now tasty and creamy.
My final thoughts on the Rocky Patel Decade is I think the rest of those I have will need more aging for the profile to get a little better. I thought this was a great cigar except for the musky aroma that again smelled similar to at it's best burnt vanilla to an unrefined barrel of rum or reminiscent of skunk. This aroma was also present on other cigars I have smoked including being even stronger on the Ave Maria Lionheart (also a box pressed). So the first two thirds were enjoyable except for the aroma and the final third was just great.
Complexity: Just a little bit with changing tasting notes throughout
I rate this a 90 out of 100
It took me a little less than two hours to finish the cigar up to the final inch.
It gave me a mood for getting a cheeseburger.
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