Sunday, May 31, 2015

Cigar review: Rocky Patel, American Market Selection

My first knowledge of the juggernaut that became known as Rocky Patel was with his early brand Indian Tabac. It was at a tasting of these cigars in Los Angeles at Wally's , a fine wine store which also sold cigars. The product was good, I bought a box, entered a raffle and ended up with two more boxes.
Of course we now know Rocky as a prime mover and shaker in the cigar world. 
 The appearance had a good looking wrapper with some slight veins and a bit oily to the touch. Overall I would rate this a 3.5 out of 5 which is respectable.
Using a Xixar cutter and lighter the smoke started as a slight vanilla bean flavor, with a creamy smooth taste, even burn and the operative word would be mild .
 At the 1/3 mark the smoke was pleasant, no overwhelming characteristics , but so far was still enjoyable.

ROCKY PATEL AMERICAN MARKET SELECTION ROBUSTO
Strength: Mild
Shape: Robusto
Size: 5 1/2 x 50
Country: Honduras
Wrapper Color: Natural
Wrapper Origin: Ecuadorian
Wrapper Leaf: Connecticut
Here is another view of the smoke , check the even burn,

Final thoughts: A mild smoke which is geared to the cigar smoker who does not want any rough edges. It is a definite Conn. flavor profile. I had one relight which did not distract from the overall experience. It makes for a respectable hour of smoking but not going to thrill anyone who might want to tell their buddies about this blend. As always the best way to determine if you like something, is try it yourself more than once. In my book, 3 out of 5. 

Also know I received this sampler gratis from Famous Cigars which did not impact my thoughts about the cigar.

Smoke away

Thursday, May 28, 2015

A piece of history

My friend sent me this great picture of Sir Winston Churchill 's cigar case. What an honor

Monday, May 25, 2015

Buying cigars. Online or B and M?

We had this discussion the other day with some of the cigar brethren. Where do you buy your product? Is supporting your local cigar shop more important even if they charge more for your sticks or do you shop all the catalogues for a better price and selection?
It was a good discussion with no right or wrong answer. The larger concerns usually delivers a better price point and a vast selection of stock. Yet, several of the crew felt many of the cigars  are items that do not sell and are just re badged smokes that manufacturers are trying to get rid of. This is probably true but does that make them bad smokes? There are all shades of product out there with all types of price points.
However, smaller shops may often times just sell products that everyone knows and will buy. They cannot afford to keep cigars on their shelves knowing very few consumers will purchase them. So the better known cigars will be given shelf space and perhaps they may take a chance on cigars with a small boutique name and sometimes keep them in stock. It's always great to find an unknown brand that might be found at your local B and M.
As we know there are hundreds of brands in the market place that do not make a big dent in the overall cigar world but could be a quality product. They do not have the resources to market their brand or it might be just a regional appeal.
 I have gone to cigar shops with a selection of this type of cigar and have tried a cigar that I may not know or heard of. Sometimes this   does happen in cigar blogs and in magazines so the overall cigar public might learn of a cigar of note. Word of mouth also helps these brands.
Still most of the big cigar catalogues will rarely carry a boutique brand. Some brands also manage to get known through cigar events in B and M's or big events. I go to several of these type of cigar gatherings throughout the year. They are always fun but more importantly I am exposed to brands I might never get a chance to learn about.
The best mix I think is going to your local favorite cigar haunt, try a product and if you like it , try to find the best price you may find.  There is no one way to finding or buying your cigars. What works best for you is what you should be doing. 






Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Cuban cigar for the masses: The people's cigar

The Quintero has been described as being machine made and hand bunched. I describe it as the "People's Cigar", a stogie you give to a friend who wants to smoke a Cuban but has no clue what they are smoking. 
I am not being totally a jokester here. In actually this is a pretty good smoke for a 20 minute jaunt into cigar world. It has reasonably good flavor, construction and burn.  Somewhat earthy and chewy in that it has a good smokey content. You don't feel that this a wimpy smoke or lightweight  I get thiese through on line Cuban cigar sites and they are very reasonable in the price point. A box of 25 comes out between 50 and 70 dollars depending on the size of the cigar. These are well suited for a back yard cookout, a walk around the block with your hound or just because you feel like smoking and don't feel you need to explain yourself to anybody.
It's about a 3 paw rating in my system. Worth keeping in your humidor if you have the space. Not a great brand but so what? You need not worry about spending a couple of dollars on this one.
Quintero habano 

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Women invited ?



A friend of mine sent me this photo of a cigar holder with above printed message.  This got me thinking about how many women I know  smoke cigars and the number was very scant indeed.
 Years ago in my regular cigar group we had an occasional women who would join us for a smoke. Most of them were the wife's or girlfriends of their male counterpart and smoked for various reasons. They did seem to enjoy the cigars and the friendship of all the smokers.
I have also gone to cigar events where there is female presence among the cigar crowd but again, not many overall.  This question came up for me. Should women join the overall population of cigar smokers, should dealers and cigar brands cater to more women?
There seems to be a larger number of women smoking cigars at least by observing tweeter and face book accounts. I wonder what overall percentage of women would be classified as regular cigar smokers?
Another thought would be would men accept women in their circles or do most still think of cigars as a last bastion of cigar exclusivity?  How do cigar brands market their products to women? We know of course of many brands having a staple of flavored cigars such as Drew Estate and CAO but I imagine they are not looking for just female smokers. I have tried several of the flavored or infused cigars which are not what I like , yet I can understand why smokers may enjoy them.
Given that it is better for the cigar industry in general to expand their markets, I would bet most manufacturer's would more than welcome many more women in the fold.
What do you think of this overall and if any cigar brands reps have any information on my questions , would like to hear from them.


Friday, May 8, 2015

Two good hits

There are always certain cigars which are reliable. Not the special occasion smoke, or the trendy at the moment hot smoke. It's a cigar that will give satisfaction, have a good price point and you know in a couple of weeks you will come back again.
Two good choices for me are the Punch Champion and the El Rey Del Mundo Choix Supreme. Both these are medium to full body, with well made construction points , even burn and good for about an hour. I purchased the a vintage version of the Champion from J & R cigars. Likewise the Choix Suepreme came from their humidor too. If you want the background of the blend check out website. My purpose is just to let you know that both smokes are always available and should be an addition to your humidor. The shapes of the smokes are quite different so expect a different type of burn. Go ahead start with a five pack sampler and light up and enjoy.