Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 Torpedo

Overall Score

1 review for Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 Torpedo

  1. Lee

    Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 Torpedo

    Rocky PatelOrigin : Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
    Format : Torpedo
    Size : 155 x 25 mm (6.1 x 52)
    Ring : 52
    Wrapper : Ecuador
    Filler : DR, Nicaragua
    Binder : Nicaragua
    Hand-Made
    Price : ~$8 each

    Where do you even begin a review of this cigar? Here you have one of the more popular mid-range stogies from a celebrated manufacturer, Rocky Patel. If that’s not enough to garner respect, peruse the glowing reviews exuding from major cigar publications and online retailers. There’s no way this isn’t a superb cigar, right?

    After all, you’ve been told it’s a great smoke. You can’t argue with the popularity of Rocky. What if you were to say this is just a decent smoke? Uh oh!! Faux pas!!

    Well, that’s what the Patel Vintage 1992 is… a decent smoke.

    Appearance : [rating:5/5]
    The wrapper (10 year old Ecuadorian Sumatra) is dark brown and oily enough to offer a nice sheen to contrast the stogie’s classic double band. Make no mistake, this is a superb example of how a nice cigar should look. The wrapper does contain visible veins, but I have yet to understand how that detracts from appearance. The only knock I could imagine as relates to appearance is that the tip is crooked. However, I have seen numerous premium cigars exhibiting such a characteristic and, personally, do not consider it a flaw.

    Construction : [rating:4/5]
    The construction of this cigar is very nice. My Xikar cutter made quick work of the receptive head and the burn was excellent. The initial ash held tight for about 2” and exhibited decent color (not the whitest, but certainly a respectable burn).

    Flavor : [rating:3/5]
    Ah… the meat of the review. Well, let’s back up a minute. I consider it a treat to smell fine tobacco. A whiff off a great smelling foot is almost as enjoyable as the smoke itself. I was anxious to inhale the aroma of this aging smoke. Its cellophane wrapper was dingy yellow. What a treat… a ripe stogie, begging to be enjoyed!!

    The mood was quelled rather quickly by the inability of this Patel to offer anything more than a faint smell of fine tobacco. I have had numerous cigars offer more aroma from the nose than this stick exhibited from the foot. Bad start.

    The initial light was rather easy. A few quick puffs and we were off. The initial inch or so of the smoke was fairly boring. There were hints of spice, but this was drowned by an unimpressive woodsy, earthy taste. Somewhere in the initial third, I started to pick up more of the spice. There were also faint instances of a sweet taste, but far too isolated to be of real note.

    The last half of the cigar saved the classification of “decent” smoke. The spice picked up, turning into a peppery taste. The inhale would leave a tingle of spice on the tip of my tongue, with a nice coffee taste to follow. Overall, the flavor of this torpedo was of earthy tones with what I would call nice spice.

    Value : [rating:2/5]
    At $8 or so a stick, this is probably not truly a mid-range cigar… maybe upper mid-range. Unfortunately for Rocky Patel, there are many, many smokes in the $3-5 range that would match this offering. The Punch Rare Corojo is of similar construction and wrapper and offers much more bang for the buck. One of my other low-priced faves, the Partagas Black Label, wipes the floor with this offering in the flavor department.

    Overall Rating : [rating:3/5]
    This is a decent, yet uninteresting smoke.

    [sz]rocky patel 1992[/sz]

    Helpful?
    0 0
    • Kyle

      I agree with the review. I am a fairly new smoker and though I was missing something on my uneducated tastes buds. However, I did get a couple of muddy hits from it similiar to most of what I got from the Cusano 18 (weird wet dirt aftertase) The 92 was mild smoke and would try it again if given one but I would not go out looking for it. I did have a bit of problem with the wrapper. Started coming apart at initial cut and twice from the burning end during the smoke. I bought a 90 at the same time and will try that later.

    • TriMarkC

      I agree with Ashumus – these are a bit expensive, but if you can get them as secondos at a great price then ththe RP 1992 becomes a very good cigar.

    • tobacmon

      I will agree on this review also–Not much in the flavor department and kind of bland.

    • rosomax

      I fully agree with this review. And for a long time I thought my palate was “tone-deaf”. Compared to Joya di Nicaragua, Casa Magna, Series-V, this is a mediocre cigar indeed

    • Saint Jimbob

      Depending on the tobacco variety, being grown in full sun, as opposed to shade-grown, makes the leaves thicker, more pronounced veins, and more flavor. That’s why the pale, shade-grown wrapper tobaccos are usually smoother, almost paper-smooth, than sun-grown wrappers.

    • k0mmissar

      This may seem a foolish question, but i’ve only just come across “Sun Grown” cigars, my interest piqued in the Arturo Fuente line…. What difference does Sun Grown make to the cigar? A darker wrapper, fuller taste, etc?

    • Kalutika

      Eshamus, that is true but the 90 was always my favorite of the two. I still have some 92s left in my humidor so it’s hard to justify buying what could essentially be the same cigar while I still have plenty.

      Jimbob, I agree regarding the quality.
      the fusion was supposed to be a blend that married the aspects of both blends. I am not too sure that was achieved but it is a good smoke. I was very confused though that the name sake of the vintage line is the vintage wrappers yet the fusion did employ either one. It’s frankly not the prettiest cigar i could find but the flavor is good.

      I am getting a little tired though of all the variations on the blend. It’s quite removed from the original concept now that there are three different versions.

    • Saint Jimbob

      I thought the RP V’92 was a decent smoke: Sure you could get better, but I’ve done worse too. I enjoyed the 1992, and construction’s never been an issue.

      I even liked the RP Fusion, which was allegedly a blend of tobaccos from the 1990 and 1992 lines (Leftovers, anyone?).

    • Eshamus

      Well, Kalutika, it won’t cost you much to find out…

    • Kalutika

      I just read that review of the 92 seconds. I am sorry but I find it very hard to believe that the dominant flavor is pumpkin pie. could the 2nds really be so far removed (and apparently above) the first run vintage 92?

    • Kalutika

      I am a fan of the old 1990s but they seem to be slipping. the 92 was never a favorite of mine but it was a good smoke. Neither one was ever as exceptional as they were being advertised. I buy the seconds if I want a 90. I have not done so for a long time and the ones I have left are still beauties. But the most recent batches seems less interesting by comparison.

    • Eshamus

      I’m with you all the way – love the Partagas Black at half the price of the RP Vintages and twice the taste.

      However, having said that, the blogger at 99cigars posted this review of the RP 92 SECOND: http://99cigars.blogspot.com/2007/10/its-great-pumpkin-rocky-patel-2.html

      I bought a cheap batch of them – and was blown away – he nailed the flavor, aroma and palate of the SECOND. I couldn’t be happier.

    • wflor421

      I must say that RP being one of my favorite smokes, I tended to like the 92 over the 90.
      Maybe you got the bummer out of the box, happens.
      It is very overpriced non-the-less. You can get a Sun Grown for 6 bucks, oh so good.

    • Jason T

      Finally. Someone else who thinks the 92 is just a so-so cigar. I much prefer the 90. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a bad cigar. There are others that are better for less. One thing is for sure though. I’ve never had a 92 with construction issues.

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Cigar Region Honduras
Filler Dominican, Nicaragua
Wrapper Ecuadoran Sumatra
Binder Ecuador
Length 6 1/4
Ring Gauge 52
Vitola Torpedo
Construction Hand Made