Rocky Patel,friend or foe?

[Jbailey]

My fav from the RP line was the Olde World Reserve maduro torpedo. Started not to like the RP line when I was smoking a Decade and had my lips turn black from the dye in the wrapper. Wasn't happy at all about that!

[icehog3]

Only Rocky Patel I have ever liked was an Olde World Reserve.

That being said, I would consider Rocky a "friend". He loves cigars, loves cigar smokers, and makes cigars that many of my friends enjoy.

[groogs]

I like a few of Rocky's smokes, I just think he pumps out to many blends that are sub par. I wouldn't say I consider him a foe, because he is a fellow cigar enthusiast and that goes a long way.

[scoot]

The only cigar of his I smoke with any regularity is the Edge Maduro Missile. That said, the Edge is a nice smoke for what it is, and, as said previously, extremely well put together.

Regardless of those who are critics of the volume or quality of the blends he produces, Rocky's zest for the industry and his amazing work ethic certainly make him a "friend."

[jaycarla]

I give him a thumbs up!

Decade, Edge Corojo, Olde World Reserve, and the 1990 Vintage. The other 50, not so much.

[Mirrorlure7m]

I enjoy smoking alot of Rocky's cigars. The Decade , Edge and Renaissance are my favorites.

I enjoy his Decade and OWR. But I love the Sun Growns...

[Bax]

Never really got into his stuff. The few I tried weren't to my tastes.

[Tio Gato]

I think that I have a bias against anything RP because for years I had smoked a lot of really bad Indian Tabac cigars. Nice boxes and hype couldn't help these cigars, they were just lousy.
It seemed, IMHO, that Rocky finally decided to blend a better cigar and put his name on it because he finally made something he could be proud of. That's OK, good for him and his business. I guess when I see RP's at the store I can remember that IT bad taste and I just pass up the RP's.

[Catfish]

Patels are some of my favorites. Namely, the Edge series and the Sun Grown. Not to mention, RP seems to be a good promoter of his product. A top quality web site and he's active in cigar smoker's rights activities.

People like that I'm proud to support.

[TripleF]

Makes the best cigars available today....IMHO.


In addition Rocky spends most of his time traveling the country, fighting those who are attempting to reduce or eliminate our freedom of choice. He's a class act and I've never met him.

[borndead1]

I like some of his cigars...and don't like some.

Friend or foe? Meh, I don't hate the dude.

Also, he is really just a "figurehead" for his cigar company. I am more interested in who is making the cigars than who is selling the cigars. I could care less who runs the company, I wanna know who makes the cigars and if they are any good.

I truly enjoy the RP Sungrown and Edge. Both are great smokes in my opinion. I love the way they draw and they burn even too.

[zmancbr]

My feelings go something like this:

I will never smoke another RP cigar... they really do suck that much.

[kaelaria]

He has some awesome stuff, for the price. I have tried 3/4 of the line and there are only a few I would choose not to buy again, and have about 50 in the humidor right now.

Usually not a fan, not really sure why, I guess they never did it for me. However, I recently got turned on to the sungrown and Winter blends and I am a fan of those two.

[Dunkel]

I have smoked an Olde World Reserve Corojo, and a Fusion Torpedo so far and liked both of them very much. I have a few I-Press' waiting their turn patiently in the humidor. So far Rocky is batting 1000 from what I've tried.

[Dunkel]

Originally Posted by Dunkel

I have smoked an Olde World Reserve Corojo, and a Fusion Torpedo so far and liked both of them very much. I have a few I-Press' waiting their turn patiently in the humidor. So far Rocky is batting 1000 from what I've tried.

I was wrong. I checked and it was not a Fusion Torpedo, it was an Edge Corojo Torpedo.

[shilala]

The Esteban Carerra is an RP blend produced by Oliva, and it absolutely rocks.
I LOVE Indian Tabac Super Fuertes, and have enjoyed a bunch of other Indian Tabac blends.
I have yet to find any with Rocky's name on them that I have enjoyed. I had a Fusion MM a few days ago and quite frankly, I'd be ashamed for my name to be on it.
The flavor was lousy, the construction sucked, the draw was crap, the burn very inconsistant, and these are cigars that I have let set for a year.
Chuck made some points earlier about "all the brands".
My answer to that is "do you want to make good cigars, or do you want to make money?"
Look at Oliva and Fuente, for instance.
They don't have to introduce a new cigar every week because they are committed, proud, and absolutely insist on producing a product of the highest queality that they can put their name on with pride.
Rocky drags maduro wrapper through dye and syrup so he can make a few bucks.
Big difference. Real big.
So far as Gurkha goes, I have no idea what the hell they're thinking.
CAO falls somewhere in between. If there's a company that fits the thinking Chuck was talking about, I think it would be them. Their intent is to provide quality and variance, and they have limits.
I think Rocky's heart is in the right place, but I think he's willing to compromise at any level just to move cigars. I think it's a shame because he has real talent, and it doesn't take many compromises to ruin a guy's good name.

[Smokin Gator]

There are still a few of his cigars that I like... but I posted a long time ago somewhere... that if a manufacturer dyes their cigars so much that they leave stains on my fingers I am not buying them anymore. Peace... Out!!!