For the last 22 years not only has he made some of the most popular cigars in the industry, but he has also fought for our rights as cigar smokers in the public eye like no other manufacturer has done.
To commemorate the 20th Rocky Patel has released a cigar that is described on his website as, “Celebrating 20 years in the business of creating iconic cigars, we couldn’t deliver something short of magnificent. This cigar follows the lineage of the Rocky Patel Decade and Fifteenth Anniversary brands and takes things to a whole new level. With 4 years in development, this blend combines fillers from Esteli and Jalapa, Nicaragua, as well as Jamastran, Honduras. It is encompassed in an elegant Honduran wrapper. Box-pressed, beautiful and soon to be legendary.”
Cigar Review: Rocky Patel 20th Anniversary
Size: 6 x 52 (Toro)
Wrapper: Honduras
Binder: “Trade Secret”
Filler: Nicaragua (Esteli, Jalapa), Honduras (Jamastran)
The Look: The box pressed cigar is flawlessly presenting with a wrapper that is as pristine as they come. The dual bands of black, gold, and silver pop, and despite the secondary band denoting natural the cigar is quite dark. The wrapper has a chestnut color to it that feels like silk under the fingers. The cigar is firm to the touch with no soft spots.
The Notes: The cold draw of the cigar serves up notes of warm chocolate with a touch of dry marshmallows. The background is slightly nutty and the aroma off the foot of the cigar is almost nonexistent. Once the cigar is lit, there is a tingling in the nostrils that causes me to sneeze a few times.
The first third of the cigar sees notes of pepper through the nose and some citrus notes on the palate. There is a hint of fig lingering in the background as the cigar develops notes of dark chocolate. As the first third comes to a close a slightly floral note develops on the finish.
Moving into the second third of the cigar the floral note is front and center til about the half way point when it fades away. The 20th continues to offer notes of chocolate with a subtle espresso on the finish.
The last third of the 20th Anniversary continues to serve up chocolate notes with a touch of coffee and a bit of nuts, the moderate finish has me feeling if I just ate a snickers bar and that’s a good things as the 20th Anniversary has fewer calories.
The Finish: Over the last 22 years; Rocky Patel has probably produced some of the most well known brands over that time period. Make no doubt about it Rocky Patel is one of the original cigar-lebrities and his cigars continue to dominate humidors around the country. The Rocky Patel 20th is worthy of the anniversary it was meant to celebrate and is recommended to smoke on any occasion.
Score: 91
Price: $12.19 / $215.99
Rocky Patel 20th Foot
Rocky Patel 20th Burn
