by club co-founder Robert
In attendance were Robert, Joe, John L., Patrick (in AZ), Bruce, John D., and Eric. As usual, we gathered to enjoy a recently recommended cigar and give our opinion on it by holding a 'group-tasting' following dinner. Our usual online attendee Patick wasn’t available but sent his score separately. This time we were hosted by Eric at his home. For dinner we had homemade spaghetti and meat balls made from wild venison blended with pork, alongside fresh salad and bread. An absolutely superb beginning to the herf. After dinner we headed outside, ducked a little rain, and began the tasting.
Our selection for this herf was the Rocky Patel 15th Anniversary Torpedo. A beautiful, trunk-pressed cigar with a medium-dark nearly flawless wrapper. Reported to be bunched in the Cuban way (read up on entubado style), with two binder leaves.
Origin: NicaraguaFollowing CA's 4-part rating system (Appearance & Construction, Flavor, Smoking Characteristics, and Overall Impression).
Wrapper: Ecuadoran Habaño
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Shape: Torpedo
Size: 6 x 52
Appearance: Very good scores here, 4’s and 5’s out of 5. Comments included firm feel and a great press, with one mentioning perhaps “too hard”. An improvement over Patrick’s first impression.
Flavor: We noticed a strong start that mellowed, with a bold spice taste without a particular dominate note. I in particular love the strong flavors found in the Nicaraguan grown tobaccos.
Smoking Characteristics: Although not dinged severely, it was mentioned that second and even third cuts were required to get a good draw before lighting. We had good and even burns with only 2 mentions of a relight.
Smoke volume was listed mostly in the “pretty good” range of 5 out of 6 points. The ash was nice and white with very few flakes. I didn’t notice anyone trying for a record length of ash but it was strong and didn’t depart expectedly.After throwing out the highest and lowest, then averaging the remaining scores, The Cohiba Club's official rating for the Rocky Patel 15th Anniversary Torpedo is 88. An ‘Excellent’ cigar.
Here's the points breakdown:
I. Appearance & Construction: 14 pts (93% of the points possible)
II. Flavor: 22 pts (81% of the points possible)
III. Smoking Characteristics: 20 pts (92% of the points possible)
IV. Overall Impression: 32 pts (90% of the points possible)
For another take on this cigar, here is a link to Patrick’s Cigar Examiner article featuring his first impression of this cigar back in June of 2010.
http://www.examiner.com/article/first-taste-cigar-review-rocky-patel-15th-anniversary-torpedo-1
© 2012 The Cohiba Club – All rights reserved
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