What's new

Rocky Patel, what the hell?

Rating - 100%
68   0   0
Joined
May 30, 2018
Messages
1,225
Location
Northern New Jersey
I’ve been out of the game for quite a while but remember Rocky Patel’s to be some good cigars. At the time they had the 90’s and 92’s that I enjoyed and had put out a couple more blends that were meh to me. Looking into cigars available now I see they have somewhere around 525,000 different blends and are lumped in with Gerka as pretty crappy sticks. What happened with them? Are the 90 and 92’s they roll now crap or just some of the stuff? Any help getting back up to speed would be appreciated.
 

Nacho Daddy

Irrepressibly Irreverent Inveterate Ignominy
Rating - 100%
121   0   0
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Messages
3,480
Rocky used to make great sticks........in the FIRST BATCH.
subsequent batches never seemed to measure up to the first ones.
This is because it is not possible to reproduce the same crops year after year.
Or,there was a component leaf unavailable.
It's true there are many different blends from Rocky,but I do not find the ones I have tried recently up to the level of the ones from 2008 or 2009,the exception being the Renaissance.
It was good until around 2013 or so.
It is a shame,I really enjoyed his cigars.
 
Rating - 100%
68   0   0
Joined
May 30, 2018
Messages
1,225
Location
Northern New Jersey
Rocky used to make great sticks........in the FIRST BATCH.
subsequent batches never seemed to measure up to the first ones.
This is because it is not possible to reproduce the same crops year after year.
Or,there was a component leaf unavailable.
It's true there are many different blends from Rocky,but I do not find the ones I have tried recently up to the level of the ones from 2008 or 2009,the exception being the Renaissance.
It was good until around 2013 or so.
It is a shame,I really enjoyed his cigars.
Thanks for the update. Good to know before dropping $$ on sticks that won’t live up to expectations.
 
Rating - 100%
27   0   0
Joined
Apr 26, 2008
Messages
1,581
Location
Tacoma
Just on Holt's weekend sale there seem to be 25 offerings of Rocky Patel. Do people buy these random "blends"?
Do you know anyone who has tried the full line?

Or are these a loss leader to make the other ones sell better?
i.e. "the "Ocean Club" was alright, but I think I'll stick to "The Edge" because its better even if the price point is higher"

The sales team must be fantastic to get these places to stock 197 different blends with knowledge that they are slow movers. Unless the wholesale cost and MAP is set low enough to offer sale on top of sale to move em.

(I like "The Edge" but i don't see myself trying the rest of the blends. Too many other cigars out there)
 
Rating - 100%
19   0   0
Joined
Jan 14, 2017
Messages
2,526
Location
Grand Prairie, Texas
The Edge line, Sungrown Maduro, 1990 and Decade are the only ones I have that I come back to over and over. I have bought boxes of most of the above and are favorites. Other than those most have been meh......


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Rating - 100%
97   0   0
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
2,299
Location
Indiana
I've revisited the Sungrown Maduro a few times and have been satisfied with the results. I just smoked the orange label San Andreas and it offers the same profile as just about any run of the mill SA, so take that for what its worth. The rest of their stuff is either been bland or non-complex. At least for me.
 

Glassman

Glass Gars Guns Garden
Rating - 100%
93   0   0
Joined
Aug 27, 2017
Messages
8,312
Location
North East Tennessee
Rocky used to make great sticks........in the FIRST BATCH.
subsequent batches never seemed to measure up to the first ones.
This is because it is not possible to reproduce the same crops year after year.
Or,there was a component leaf unavailable.
It's true there are many different blends from Rocky,but I do not find the ones I have tried recently up to the level of the ones from 2008 or 2009,the exception being the Renaissance.
It was good until around 2013 or so.
It is a shame,I really enjoyed his cigars.
But a good blender will source other leaf, or adjust the ratios to get back to the intended flavor, right? Think Rocky is just lazy about it, or just sticks with his original recipe and to hell with it?
Or just try to us the cheapest leaf he can get away with?
 

Glassman

Glass Gars Guns Garden
Rating - 100%
93   0   0
Joined
Aug 27, 2017
Messages
8,312
Location
North East Tennessee
The Edge line, Sungrown Maduro, 1990 and Decade are the only ones I have that I come back to over and over. I have bought boxes of most of the above and are favorites. Other than those most have been meh......


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The edge Corojo isn't bad, plan to give the sun grown maduro a shot at some point. I think someone has those on sale at the moment. Didn't really care for the Decade I had, and no other Rocky blend has stood out to me.
And with so many great blends and lines out there right now, it's hard to spend the budget on mediocre stuff.
 
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
Joined
Jan 30, 2017
Messages
4,819
RP 10th Anniversary Decade Sumatra is pretty decent and the Super Ligero is good with 12 months age. I think Rocky has already made a lot of money, owns a big new boat and spends a lot of time traveling, selling cigars. He's also involved with opening new stores and acts as an ambassador for the cigar industry. I don't see how he has the time to be involved with quality control or developing new blends.
 
Rating - 100%
68   0   0
Joined
May 30, 2018
Messages
1,225
Location
Northern New Jersey
The Edge line, Sungrown Maduro, 1990 and Decade are the only ones I have that I come back to over and over. I have bought boxes of most of the above and are favorites. Other than those most have been meh......


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
An Edge was part of why I started this thread. I picked up a couple at my local B&M to take camping because they were cheap enough and I figured, based on my RP experiences of the mid 2000’s, that they would be half decent for smokers or non-cigar guys. I smoked 1/3 of one and tossed it into the camp fire it was so bad. I only wish I could remember why I hated it....damn you Don Julio!!!
 

Glassman

Glass Gars Guns Garden
Rating - 100%
93   0   0
Joined
Aug 27, 2017
Messages
8,312
Location
North East Tennessee
RP 10th Anniversary Decade Sumatra is pretty decent and the Super Ligero is good with 12 months age. I think Rocky has already made a lot of money, owns a big new boat and spends a lot of time traveling, selling cigars. He's also involved with opening new stores and acts as an ambassador for the cigar industry. I don't see how he has the time to be involved with quality control or developing new blends.
Well in that case he needs to hire the right person to do it because his name / brand is becoming a joke.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
May 5, 2018
Messages
18
I had a royal robusto the other day and didn’t care for it. Kind of harsh with uneven burn. I really do like the decade in toro though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Prine

Nerf herder
Rating - 100%
18   0   0
Joined
Apr 2, 2015
Messages
1,125
Location
Colorado
Only RP I smoke is the 1990. It’s a decent smoke, at least to my palate. Other then that’s I haven’t found any I am that fond of
 

squaresoft

It's dangerous to go alone, take this.
Rating - 100%
59   0   0
Joined
Aug 15, 2015
Messages
2,706
Location
nc
perhaps back then you had a gutter palate, and since it has evolved into something that cant accept the trash that is RP. there is no reason to ever buy RP. there are much better cigars at the same price or cheaper.
 
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Joined
Jan 25, 2017
Messages
343
Some RP are fine - and everyone has an opinion. Seems so many variables come into play that it’s hard to blame one aspect or another. RP does have a ton of blends, but from a business standpoint he is making money.
 
Top