Okay folks, time for a bundle review. Thanks to Saxjazzman I have the opportunity to give a few of these bundled/low cost cigars the chance to shine. Today’s smoke is a cigar clalled Vibe, which I have heard from others is a Rocky Patel creation. *** After doing some research, this cigar is indeed a Rocky Patel creation, released in 2005 along with the Old World Reserve.
Appearance – You know this is a pretty good looking cigar. :blush: One can’t help but feel a bit of intimidation from its size. This thing is big!!! The filler looks very good with a nice blend of dark and lighter colored tobaccos. The wrapper is dark and a bit spotty and the cap was far from flawless. None the less, the clip with my Xikar was clean and the pre-light draw was near perfect. Pre-light draw was very pleasant with sweet notes of tobacco and nutty flavors. No spice what so ever tells me that this is going to be a pretty smooth, mild cigar. This cigar smells good as well. Very nice with no “what the hell is that” odor or anything out of the ordinary.
Score – 8.7
Taste – Right from the get go this thing is screaming Rocky Patel. The accompanying drink is my typical morning coffee, Ruta Maya, a Mexican blend. The light was very reminiscent of the Vintage series with that earthy/nutty flavor. I mean I am already surprised at how this cigar tastes (meaning its good). It’s giving me lots of leathery, earthy and nutty notes. There is almost no doubt in my mind that Rocky Patel has his hand in on the production of this cigar. The aroma is very pleasant and, okay, it smells like a damn Rocky Patel. Are you getting my drift here? I’m gonna go ahead and smoke on it for a while, and I’ll check back in here in a bit…
Alright, so I’m about half way done with this cigar now and what else is there to say but, if you like Rocky Patel, especially the Vintage lines, then I think you are going to like this cigar. It’s a mild cigar in my opinion and it is delivering loads of nutty, leathery and sweet smoke. I’m not getting any “spiciness” from it at all, which is kind of nice considering everything these days has to be “spicy”. It’s going wonderfully with my coffee, staying a bit sweet on the palate after each draw. I’m really diggin’ it! I’ll check back in towards the end and give my final review and score of the flavor profile.
I’m now entering into the final third of this LARGE cigar and as with most RP’s that I smoke, especially the Vintage lines, the flavor is just too damn consistent. I guess its something about that same flavor profile pounding away at the palate that starts to turn me off from it. The cigar is getting a bit hot now and I’m left with a not so pleasant after taste from each draw. Still hints of nutty, leathery and earthy cigar on the palate though. Really this cigar has its shining moment, and it was pretty damn good when it did! :whistling:
I find that when a cigar is starting to turn “bitter” or unflavorful on me at the end of its life that a little help from the torch does it some good. With this cigar, a touch from the torch to the wrapper really helps to revive that well balanced Rocky flavor that I like so much. I’ll stick in there with it to the end…
Well, that’s about it for me. This cigar was pretty damn consistent. I am definitely looking forward to experiencing the “VIBE” again.
Score – 8.7
Construction – Okay, so let me just tell you that this cigar is giving me loads of smoke right from the beginning. I like that in a cigar. I also am kind of digging the ring gauge of this thing. Definitely larger that I am used to, but it feels good in my mouth and makes the draw nice and smooth. I’m about an inch into it and the ash is beautifully white and a bit flaky and burning very well. So needless to say, the construction on this cigar, so far, is pretty damn good.
Well that first ash held up very nice. It was damn near over two inches long before it finally let loose of the cigar into my ash tray. I had to give the wrapper a little touch with the torch to even things up a bit, but nothing out of the ordinary. I’m kind of a torch whore! I’m still getting a lot of smoke from this cigar, which is nice. All in all up to this point, the construction on this cigar is top notch in my book. Hmmm… interestingly the second ash fell of with ease after only a quarter of an inch or so…
As the cigar progressed, so did its construction. :angry: The flaky ash got flakier. The draw stayed pretty damn good throughout the life of the smoke. The burn began to appear more and more uneven, which is something that I usually don’t make too many bones about. But as the pictures show… this cigar performed pretty damn good.
Score – 8.8
Final Score - 8.74 :thumbs:
Thank you Saxjazzman for the opportunity to feel the VIBE. I really enjoyed it. I'll be reviewing another from the wonderful selection next Sunday... :whistling: :thumbs:
mac
Thanks SJM...and again, I'm so sorry about being a hugeeee slacker