Oily & Peppery vs. Dark Cocoa: Rocky Patel Sun Grown Series

If you've been away from the cigar scene for a bit, let me just give you a quick 411 on Rocky Patel Cigars. Having been added back into our humidor after a bit of a hiatus, there's ZERO doubt that Rocky Patel still is one of the BEST when it comes to branding themselves as a company and when it come to producing an incredible line of cigars full of dynamic flavors that keeps you consistently coming back for more. 

Rocky Patel Cigars offers exquisite blends of deliciously aged tobacco while using wrappers and binders from different countries providing those that enjoy his blends a treat with every puff. Among Rocky Patel’s most successful cigars is the Rocky Patel Sun Grown released in 2004. In 2015, Rocky Patel released a follow up, the Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro.  Today we review both. Hint....THEY'RE DELICIOUS!

Rocky Patel Sun Grown

The Rocky Patel Sun Grown pays tribute to the pre embargo Cuban smokes. In other words, this tasty cigar is all vintage. The fillers alone are aged for 7 years with tobaccos from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua. With a Nicaraguan binder and a beautiful Ecuadorian Sun Grown Rosado leaf to finish it off that's aged alone for 5 years, you're about to light up a slice of heaven. 

Cold Draw:

The construction is rock solid with no soft spots from poor rolling and just the perfect level of give. For those that know how to properly feel a cigar that means it bounces back, but please don't squeeze a cigar and leave a dent. The cold draw produced sweet earthy notes, a bit of hay, mixed in with a bit of peanut butter. Don't be turned off by that description. It's quite tasty!

Toast, Light, Puff:

Roasted nuts right from the get go which mixed in oily peppery notes that start to dance across the palate. Smooth sweet tobacco establishes itself as the core note with just a little spicy heat. Retrohale and black pepper definitely lingers in the nose. The 2nd half introduces some great leathery notes still mixed with nuts and and pepper. The cigar manages to get sweeter surprisingly as you continue to smoke it. One would have thought the pepper would have just hit you in the face but it doesn't.

Construction:

The draw is incredible, as is the burn and smoke output. The boxes in our humidor contain uniformed beautiful looking cigars and not a single one looks different from the others in the box. Two beautiful bright red bands circle this cigar with gold lettering that just pops out at you on the shelf screaming to be enjoyed. 

Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro

The perfect followup even if many a years later after the original, the Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro is a full bodied delight for those that like a bit of extra horsepower behind every puff. Cigar Aficionado awarded a 95 Rating and the #2 slot in the Top 25 Cigars of the Year 2016. In 2015, it received a 93 Rating from Cigar Snob Magazine and the #8 slot in their Top 25 Cigars of the Year. That same year it was #9 on Cigar Dojo’s Top 10 Cigars of the Year while Cigar Journal gave it a 94 Rating. Translation... It's got a lot of high marks and praise for being a heck of a stick! The Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro contains Nicaraguan fillers, a Nicaraguan binder from Esteli and a flavorful USA Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. 

Cold Draw:

Dark cocoa and a little bit of spices is pleasant on the cold draw from this box pressed beauty. 

Toast, Light, Puff:

The first draw was like "wham", a punch right in the face of pepper and not at all in a bad way. The cigar makes itself known that you're in for a hell of a ride as you keep putting stick to mouth. The strength? A solid medium. After being sucker punched in the face by a pleasant slap of pepper, creamy chocolate and cedar with a long deliciously rich finish is now happening. A retrohale brings balanced sweet caramel, pepper, and cider. 

Construction:

A box pressed cigar for sure. Almost pure 90 degree angles with these beauties. Those who say "I don't like box pressed cigars" are absolutely missing out on a delicious experience if they keep that kind of thinking. Beautifully constructed with an elegant red and white label making this cigar look almost good enough to eat. 

Which to pick:

You can never go wrong with a Rocky Patel Sun Grown or Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro cigar. Even after being on the market for years (and one a lot longer), cigar aficionados still constantly go back to both these blends again and again.  A Rocky Patel smoking experience is unlike any other. We say don't pick just one because they are both to good to pass up. Rather we encourage you to perhaps get a bigger humidor.

Learn a little more about your favorite Rocky Patel Cigars here!