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Rocky Patel - Vinatage 1990

M

mr.mac

New Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
1,174
Well, I figured I wanted to try something new today so I went down to a local wine store that has a walk in humidor. This place isn't my perferred B&M, but it's much closer and I can usually pick up an AF or something comperable that I don't have in my humi. The porblem is that this guy is pretty $$$ so I don't make it a habit.

Anyway, I was torn between Rocky Patel - Vintage 1990 (damn it looked good) or an AF Chateau Fuente, which I've had but figured I would try a different size. Well I wish I had, because I was majorly disappointed with the RP.

Everything started off pretty good. The cigar smelled good and gave a relatively mild pre-light draw. Initailly upon lighting it I noticed it wasn't drawing to my liking. Not enough smoke and kind of "light" smoke, almost like it was semi-plugged. I hung in there with the cigar and at times it wasn't bad, but never anything to brag about either. When it got down to the label, it started to give me that "bitter" or "sour" taste that I hear about. I prayed that it would subside... but it didn't. I chucked it with a good 3 inches worth of smoke left.

I have to say that for $8 I expect much more from a cigar. I know that I can't judge a cigar from only one experience, so maybe some other time down the road I'll give it another go around. For now though, I would have been better off picking up a Padron 2000 for half the price!

mac
 
Mac, I would suggest trying the 1992. I'm not a fan of the 90, but a big fan of the 92. check it out! :thumbs:
 
I buy the 90 seconds all the time and love them. I have 10 of the real thing in glass tubos that I hate. I can not figure this one out.

Les
 
All the things in your post point to an overhumidified cigar. Very typical as most that come from the B&M are too wet. Some down time at 65% would probably do wonders. :thumbs:
 
I don't smoke very many medium priced domestics these days but I do enjoy the RP 1990s and more so than the 1992s. Marcos is probably correct about your cigar being too wet. I mail order mine or have received them as gifts or from passes and once they sit in my 60%RH humi for a while, they smoke great.
 
Yes, I have to agree. This thought did cross my mind. As I mentioned, I got this cigar from a shop that primarily sells wine, but that also has a little 10X10 walk in humidor. While I was in there this afternoon I checked his hygro... 71% and 80 degrees F!!! I told him as was checking out... "You know your humi is pretty hot. 80 degrees hot! That's asking for beetles at that temp." He looked at me like... "Beetles?" Anyway, I think I'm about finished with making regular trips over to his store, as he's always about $1-2 more expensive than my B&M (a real cigar shop) of choice.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

mac
 
I like these a great deal. Way more than I like the 1992s.

The only time I've had a bad experience with the 90s was when they were over humidified as this one seems to have been.

I'd try another that has been stored in proper conditions before writing them off. They really are a pretty fine smoke.
 
Had a similar experience with low quantity of smoke produced and a metallic type taste. Not worth the $s. Numerous other good sticks at that price. I do like the 1992 however.
 
The 1990 is an awesome cigar if it isn't wet. Period.
 
Marcos said:
All the things in your post point to an overhumidified cigar. Very typical as most that come from the B&M are too wet. Some down time at 65% would probably do wonders. :thumbs:
Click to expand...
I agree.

Many B&Ms over-humidify in an effort to protect their stock. This is an over-reaction typical of many new smokers. You'd think shop owners would be more educated but I've found many do this.

It's not a bad idea to rest purchases from unfamiliar B&Ms and/or just be aware of the possibility.
 
A guy at my last job gave me a RP 90 to try out becuase I mentioned I never tried one. I gave it a shot and wasn't terribly impressed either. I guess it wasn't bad, but not something that would have me coming back. I'll give the 92 a shot next.
 
I'm about to light up a '92 figurado. With my experience these have a fuller taste to them than the '90's do. It seems the '90's are a bit boring. But I certainly wouldn't rule them out, as they are just fine cigars as well.
 
Coinguy89 said:
I'm about to light up a '92 figurado. With my experience these have a fuller taste to them than the '90's do. It seems the '90's are a bit boring. But I certainly wouldn't rule them out, as they are just fine cigars as well.
Click to expand...

I haven't tried the little figurados yet. I do know I was blown away by the big ring gauge version.

RP Vintage 1990 Sixty :thumbs: They might be too much for a beginning or occasional smoker, though. :laugh: They were the most flavorful vitola of the blend that I have tried so far, IMO.

Steve
 
Picked up another RP - 90 at a different B&M today. I'll let it rest for a bit before giving it another go around. Hope it's better than that last one... ???

mac
 
I heard a podcast interview of Rocky on Cigar.com.....recorded several months ago. He said when the Vintages first came out the 92 held a 60/40 sales advantage over the 90 but now that ratio is reversed. I've smoked alot of the 90s and maybe my tastes have changed but they seem milder now. I too enjoy the 92s more. I don't know if one is 'better' than the other.....the palate of the beholder hehe.
 
Seems like all of the RP's and IT's are too wet when you get them. I like to let them rest at 65% for a month or two. I prefer the '90s over the '92s.
 
well on my personal scale of hmm,ok,good and wow both the 90and 92 get goods.
 
Well, it's time to give this cigar another go around. This Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 has been resting for about a month now. This is the same vitola that I smoked when I originally started this thread. I must admit though, I have learned a lot in the last month and a half (mostly from this forum) and smoked even more. I feel much more confident about doing this review some justice.

The construction was very descent on this cigar. It had a nice box press which made if comfortable in the mouth and in my hand. There were some spots on the wrapper, but that didn't deter me one bit.

First Third
The light on this cigar was tasty. Right off the bat there was some of that RP pepper on the lips and in the mouth, accompanied by RP flavors. To me, these flavors are very earthy and full of tobacco flavor. This particular smoke also gave me some tangyness early on.

This cigar was giving me much more smoke than the last one, which was clearly overhumidified. The aroma was nice, but I got my first indication of "harshness" early on. The draw was full of earthy and sweet tobacco. The pepper had subsided and the aftertaste was a little.... blah...

f_ResizedRP1m_0055d3c.jpg


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The draw started picking up a bit and the flavors began to open up. I'm getting a lot of sweet tobacco flavor and a hint of pepper. All around earthy charachter to this cigar. A little "Mmmmmm" after a draw tells me this cigar is okay in my book! Almost a bit fruity at times. By now it seems that the aftertaste has subsided a bit and the flavors have balanced out nicely. Leathery sweet mouthfuls of smoke! I'm enjoying this cigar... :thumbs:

I let my girlfriend take a puff... she made a face and then spit off the front porch. To each is own I guess... :whistling:

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This cigar had a beautifully white ash on it. Guess this tells me that the humi is holding everything steady...

Second Third

The draw on this RP is nice. Flavor is still full of sweet and earthy tobacco. I'm also starting to detect a bit of that harshness again, mostly in the aftertaste. A little uneven burn has straightend itself out with a little help from the torch...

f_ResizedRP4m_5a19269.jpg


Final Third

The draw is giving loads of smoke by now. I'm still getting a lot of the same sweet and earthy flavors. Also, more of that harshness that I could do without...

f_ResizedRP5m_1fe018a.jpg


I took a couple of phone calls and kind of lost track of time here. The shorter this cigar gets, the more distant the rich flavors get. Now I'm getting more harshness and less flavor. Still not too bad though...

f_ResizedRP6m_b5dde62.jpg


By now, the harshness has become overwhelming. This is as far as I go with this smoke...

All in all, not bad. Not great either, but definately better than my original post points to. I'd give em another go around in the future. Not the most exciting cigar, but definately a descent smoke for a nice September evening.

mac
 
I really like the Vintage 92 Sixty followed by the Vintage 90 Sixty over the smaller ring gauges. The Sixty's smoke and taste better IMO.
 
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