REVIEW--Rocky Patel Vintage 90 (Box-Pressed Churchill)

After my last experience with a Rocky Patel cigar I had to try another, and the one I picked out was the Vintage 90 Churchill, box-pressed. I don't know about you, but I'm  really starting to like box-pressed sticks. I was skeptical at first, because why would anybody bother to do that? Cigars should be round, ham blammit. But then somebody got me a Punch Elite Rare Corojo for my birthday and it was box-pressed and there was no way I would going to turn down a Punch so I lit up and decided that a box-press wasn't so bad.

Anyway, this 7x48 stick is a good one, but doesn't have the same flavor as the Fusion MM I reviewed; this tells me that Rocky uses a variety of blends and this is a good thing indeed. Smoke any size Punch and you get the same flavor. That isn't a bad thing, either. But I liked the surprise with this particular Rocky; I thought I knew what I was getting, and I got it (a robust full flavor) but it was different enough from the other one and I didn't think I was smoking the same thing in a different size. It's a whole different cigar.

The draw was terrific, the flavor, as I said, robust and full, the construction was great and it took about two hours to smoke. It was never bitter or harsh and remained very smooth throughout. In fact, toward the end, the robust flavor turned a little creamy; a nice finish.

Check one out if you haven't already!