Rocky Patel Decade

Starting out as an entertainment lawyer and slowly making the transition into cigar maker, Rocky Patel not only made it through the cigar boom of the 1990’s but has settled into being one of the most renowned cigar makers around. To commemorate his ten years in the cigar business, he released the Rocky Patel Decade. This amazing cigar was named as one of the Top 25 Cigars of the Year in 2008 and given a 95 rating from Cigar Aficionado.

Made at Nestor Plasencia’s famous El Paraiso factory in Honduras, the Decade is rich, smooth and full of flavor. Using a blend that has been called his best yet, the Decade is chocked full of Nicaraguan and Honduran long-fillers, bound with a Nicaraguan long-leaf and finished with a dark and oily Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. The result is a smoke rich and creamy in texture with flavors of bourbon, oak, wood, black pepper, and coffee, with a leather core and finishing with a lingering hickory sweetness. Pair it with a vanilla stout in the cool afternoon and you will quickly want more.

The Nicaraguan cigar industry originated when Cuban cigar makers escaped the revolution and re-established their livelihood in Nicaragua with Cuban-seed tobacco. Blessed with dark, rich soil, their new home was ideal for tobacco cultivation and Nicaragua quickly became known for cigars that rivaled Cuban quality. Unfortunately, revolution and war came to Nicaragua in the 1980s and devastated the industry, but it’s rebounded dramatically and is once again producing tobacco considered by many to be the finest in the world. The Esteli Valley is in many ways the heart of Nicaraguan production and is known for its very powerful and spicy tobacco. The Jalapa Valley produces arguably the finest tobacco in the country: somewhat sweeter and less intense than Esteli, but extremely complex. The tobacco of the Condega Valley is often described as a blend of the other two regions.