Rocky Patel Burn Naples Florida

Rocky Patel Burn Naples Florida

• Honduran Habano wrapper
• Honduran long-fillers
• Top-secret filler
• Medium to full bodied
• Some veins
• Solid build except for a few spots
• 1 3/4 months in personal humi
• Sweet hints in dry draw

Background: Burn Naples Florida is Rocky Patel’s newest cigar named after his swanky cigar lounge located in Naples, Florida. If you haven’t been, Burn is a place where beer flows like wine, and local cigars enthusiasts flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I kid, the place is legit, and this once rare handmade reserved only for Burn lounge patrons is now available to the masses. (Cigarinternational.com)

1st Third: One of the first things I noticed when i first started smoking this stick is a smooth pepper flavor. Most prevalent on the exhale, this spice lays on the tongue in a unique fashion. Another dominate flavor in this cigar is a creamy wood. This wood flavor lingers on the tongue long after you have exhaled and the pepper hints fade. Moreover, hiding in the background, in faint fashion, are sweet hints. These sweet hints tease the taste buds with sweet grass, and light hints of cocoa. The smoke billowing out of this cigar is excellent. The ash is strong with a nice white color. However, I do have a few hot spots on the cigar which are unpleasant to the touch.

2nd Third: During this third the cigar really smoothed out. The smoke is creamy and and thick on the exhale providing an ambiance i truly enjoy. The pepper flavor still remains however, not as prevalent as before. The wood flavor also remains however, almost taking on a toasty flavor at times. Slight hay flavors jump in and out as the sweetness has now morphed into taking on more cocoa and coffee hints, although not to strong. The ash has finally fallen off during this third of the cigar. The hot spots that were present before still linger in unpleasant fashion.

Final Third: The background sweetness that I had enjoyed previously in the cigar has diminished significantly. This has taken away from the complexity of the cigars flavor pallet and has lessened my enjoyment of the cigar. I did not realize how well those sweet flavors complimented the cigar until now when they are lacking. The spice/pepper has intensified and without the sweet to balance it, just is not my cup of tea. The smoke is still billowing well, just not as strong as previously. I didn't have much issue with hot spots during this smoke.

Final Thoughts: In the end I felt this was a medium-full bodied smoke, leaning more to medium. In the end I did not feel this cigar played much to my particular pallet but I can appreciate it for what it is...a good smoke. The chorus of flavors really played in concert well until the end when I felt the complexity of flavors diminished. I have never been a fan of to much pepper without other complimentary flavors to balance it out. However, I am happy this cigar was released and not hidden away in Florida. It was definitely an above average smoke and one of my favorite from the Rocky Patel Line. Personally I would smoke it again if it was given to me, however, with my flavor pallet, i wouldn't stock up on these. I give these a respectable 6.3/10..Above average but not unforgettable.

Alec Bradley Black Market

Alec Bradley Black Market

• Jamastran, Honduras and Panamanian long-fillers
• Sumatra binder
• Nicaraguan wrapper
• Minimal veins
• Nice oily appeal
• Solid Construction
• Toasty, earth pre-smoke draw
• 7 months in personal humi

Background:  Black Market, was launched at the 2011 IPCPR.

1st Third: The smoke began with a tight draw, however, not enough to detract from the experience. The initial flavors are very woody with enough pepper to remain pleasant. Hints of sweetness dance in the background and compliment the main flavors well. Thus far the smoke has been very creamy, very pleasant. The construction has been true to its appearance, very well built. The ash has a nice charcoal color, the burn is even, and the smoke is billowing nicely.

2nd Third: The smoke maintained the woody, toasty taste that had been so pleasant in the beginning of the smoke.  It is still a rather creamy smoke and the sweetness that was in the background began to come forward a bit more. The sweet flavors hinted towards coffee and cocoa and was a good compliment to the woody, sometimes earthy flavor.  The construction has remained strong and ash has remained in tact. I am very pleased with the nice even burn.

Final Third: The last third had a good finish that left me satisfied. The pepper taste did not intensify towards the end as I had expected it would. Much like the sweetness, the pepper hints were a good compliment to the over all flavor pallet of the cigar. Towards the end the woody taste became almost entirely earthy then almost taking on a charcoal flavor. It was around that time that the sweetness exited the pallet. The construction remained strong throughout, this did not surprise me. It was at the beginning of this final third that the ash finally fell off the cigar.

Final Thoughts: A very solid cigar. I am very satisfied with tonight's smoke. Initially the oily, dark, look of the cigar wet my taste buds and invited  me to smoke. The cigar remained pleasantly creamy throughout and had the perfect amount of sweet and spicy hints to compliment the main toasty, woody flavor. This cigar was a solid 6.8 out of 10. Above average and very tasty.

Drew Estate Java Mint

Drew Estate Java Mint

• Brazilian Mata Fina maduro wrapper.
• Long fillers from Nicaragua.
• Veiny.
• Not exceptional construction.
• Notes of mint, cocoa, coffee, and nut in dry draw.
• 1 month in personal humi.

Background: Drew Estate is certainly one of the most unique cigar makers and Rocky Patel remains one of the top enforcers of quality control. Together, Drew Estate and Rocky Patel collaborated to create this excellently constructed and equally tasty blend. Their use of infusions and rare small batch productions enables them to make cigars unlike anyone else in the world. (Cigar.com)

1st Half: During the first half you get the heavy dose of the Java, Cocoa flavor which you expect from the cigar by virtue of the name. The sweetness with the touch of mint serves well as an after dinner mint for those who are fans of the infused cigar. However, I felt the strength of taste only lasted for about the first quarter of the cigar. The 2nd quarter of the cigar had hints of earth with a more faded flavor of the java mint which had been so prevalent earlier in the smoke. Once the sweet flavor began to fade, i found the cigar to be bland with hints of sweet flavor.  Not to much smoke billowed out from this cigar and the construction was rather squishy compared to the vast majority of my cigars in my humi. The ash was weak and fell off within the first third of the cigar.

2nd Half: More of the bland flavor I received during the latter portion of the first cigar. Although if i kept extreme concentration on the smoke I could notice the sweet hints. However, I feel that I should be able to enjoy the flavors without racking my brain and taste buds. Although towards the end of the cigar the coffee, cocoa, and mint flavors became slightly more potent. However, this slight resurgence of flavor did not save my cigar smoking experience for the night. The ash remained weak and the construction was disappointing.

Final Thoughts: Let me begin by stating I have an extreme bias against infused flavor cigars. I just don't like them. However, I was convinced into trying this product. I must admit that when i tried this smoke at first I had high hopes. From the first few puffs I could see this being a good smoke after a hardy meal if one was in the mood for something sweet. However, my satisfaction quickly diminished as the flavor declined in my smoking experience. I would not have minded so much if the flavor after the sweetness had passed was not so bland. I do not know if it was a bad cigar, or maybe it did not take well to my humi, but i have had flavor last longer in a Backwood honey flavored stick. I have one more of this cigar in my humi. I feel with as much hype and praise that I have heard about this cigar maybe I just had a bad experience. I will give it another try at a later date. For now, my rating is a 4/10. It just isn't my bag of groceries.

La Duena

La Duena

• Maduro Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper
• Connecticut Broadleaf binder
• Connecticut Broadleaf  and Nicaraguan filler
• Solid construction
• Minimal veins
• 2 weeks in personal humi
• Notes of coffee, leather, and earth in dry draw

Background: Garcia, the daughter in the father-son-daughter team behind My Father Cigars, has a new brand called La Dueña. Spanish for “the female owner,” La Dueña was crafted to her tastes by her brother Jaime and Pete Johnson of Tatuaje cigars. (http://www.cigaraficionado.com/)

1st Third: Decent amount of smoke billowing from cigar after first lighting it and puffing on the cigar a few times. During this third, the ash burned a nice charcoal color and had a burn as even as any cigar i had smoked.  There was some spice, however, I could not focus on much other than the pleasant complex flavors I was getting from the cigar. Earthy, woody, leather flavors dominated the cigar while hints of sweetness in the form of cocoa and coffee complimented the main flavors. My taste buds were truly blasted by the creamy flavors.  Thus far I am pleased  and feel that it is a medium bodied cigar.

2nd Third: Smooth, smooth, smooth! All spice has left the flavor pallet of the cigar. The creamy flavors that dominated the first third were in full force during this 2nd third of the cigar. Moreover, the hints of cocoa and coffee became more prominent.  Sweetness complimented the earthy flavors very well. The burn remained extremely even and the ash kept that charcoal color. However, it was during this third that the ash finally fell off.

3rd Third: In my experience this was the most smooth  and creamy portion of the whole cigar. The now mellow flavors were very enjoyable and paired with my whiskey, made for a very relaxing and pleasurable experience. Leather, earth and sweetness dominated my pallet. Not much smoke billowed towards the end but the burn did keep its even trend right down to the very end.

Final Thoughts: A notable feature of this dark, rich cigar is its sheer beauty. It is a well built cigar that entices a smoker just by its look appeal. Moreover, its smokes and burns like a well constructed cigar. The flavors were delightful and complex, however, not overwhelming. I found that each flavor present complimented each other well. At no point did I feel any note was out of place. This cigar was one that played well to my taste. I give this cigar a solid 7/10. I will smoke this cigar again and may keep a few in my humi for the future. I expected nothing less from a cigar with ties to My Father Cigars.