Rocky Patel II XXVI 2014 Burn

Wrapper: Not disclosed
Binder: Not disclosed
Filler: Not disclosed
Toro: 6 1/2 x 52
Price: ~$14.00

This cigar was assessed in depth on Cigar Coop.

The Rocky Patel II-XXVI 2014 is the second release in Rocky Patel Premium Cigars’ limited production II-XXVI line. II-XXVI stands for “2-26” and it happens to be the birthdate of company President Rocky Patel. Last year, the first Rocky Patel II-XXVI was released and it got considerable attention by the company. This year the company has followed up with a 2013 edition, but has not disclosed many details on this. In fact, it was quietly rolled out to retailers. Like the 2013 edition, the 2014 edition is being limited to 1,000 boxes of 20 per size (three sizes total).

I really loved the 2013 edition. The 2014 edition is good, but it fell short of some of the magic of the 2013 version. It has notes of cocoa, bittersweet espresso, earth, and white pepper. This cigar lacked some of the nice sweetness produced by the 2013 edition. I also found this cigar considerably stronger in strength. The 2014 starts out medium to full, but the strength really sneaks up in the second half. The body of the flavors follows a similar pattern. Construction was excellent as was burn and draw.

I’d still go fiver with this as it wasn’t a bad smoke, but the 2013 was more worthy of a box split. The price point will be the deterrent here.