Rocky Patel Vintage 2003 Cameroon - Cigar Review

Long story short, I spat the sparkling cider back into the glass and went to bed, having successfully avoided both Steve Harvey and Jenny McCarthy. Huzzah.

NOTES:
This RP Vintage 2003 is a Churchill which performs on an even and well-paced burn. Nada retouches/relights. The ash grows long and toothy with silver flecks on a medium/dark grey canvas. Draw begins workably stiff then loosens by opening act's end to a lower-medium+ tension. Seams hold well, as does the shoulder, delivering cool smoke from gate-to-wire.

Piquant meanderings are a driving but gently-so black pepper and baking spice, with some sweet attachments via thin molasses and shaved dark chocolate. Bitter notes of espresso bean get salted-some and play well with sour bits featuring tannic tendencies with acidic lilts. Smooth in a talc manner, no bite by a mile. Interesting nuance smatterings but lacking in complexities. Rounded richly 'nuff and finishing cleanly with pleasant sweetly spiced wood notes. Balanced well and delivered in an unerring straight-forward manner. The whole thing, performance, and delivery -- speaks to a certain refined precision.

WRAPPER: Cameroon
BINDER: Nicaraguan
FILLER: Nicaraguan, Dominican

STRENGTH: Medium-Full
FORMAT: Churchill
ORIGIN: El Paraiso, Honduras

FINAL GRADE: A-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59

This RP is the Cigar Aficionado sweet sixteenth ranked stick for 2017. Sez they: "There aren’t too many cigar brands left made with Cameroon wrapper. It’s become quite pricey, difficult to get and most of the high-quality Cameroon grown today is bought before it’s even planted. These hurdles have not stopped Rocky Patel from creating his namesake brand: the Rocky Patel Vintage 2003 Cameroon. According to Patel, it’s wrapped in a Cameroon cover leaf harvested from a 2003 crop, so stocks of raw materials are limited, but he was sure to blend the cigar properly."

Get this (yer own) Rocky Patel Vintage '03 Cameroon Churchill from my pals over at Cigars City. From the site: "The lush Cameroon wrapper leaf is the star of the show and surrounds an 8 year aged Nicaraguan binder leaf that shelters a blend of 8 year aged Dominican and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos. The resulting 7” x 48 Churchill is the perfect stick to soak up about more than hour and half of your leisure time."

Cheers to the (still rather) New Years.

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"(Pardon My) French Toast" Kaplowitz Radio: December 27, 2017