Perfecto, 4" x 48 ring gauge, approx. $5One of Rocky Patel's most heralded ilnes is the Vintage series, both 1990 and 1992. The 1990 I smoked for this review has Nicaraguan and Dominican filler, a Nicaraguan binder, and a Honduran Broadleaf wrapper that is aged 12 years. As Rocky Patel's website is one of the worst in the industry, there is pretty much no other information available.
The wrapper on this little sparkplug is very dark and has very little oil, even though kept in a cello wrapper. Construction looks good. There are no large veins or defects noticeable. The aroma from the body is very faint, but of tobacco with a hint of leather. Being a perfecto, there is really no aroma from the foot. In the interest of making things...well, interesting...I poured some Wild Turkey Rye Whiskey to enjoy with this cigar. As I compare my whiskey to my cigr, it occurs to me that this little bit of a cigar would be completely submerged if I dropped it into the glass--and I did not pour that much!
After carefully clipping (very carefully--you don't want to cut the cigar in half!), I observed that the prelight flavor was mildly sweet and creamy while the draw was crap--but it was a perfecto, so that is to be expected for the first few minutes (of course, this thing is so small, it might not last more than a few minutes).
As I was starting to run out of insulting remarks about the cigar's size, I decided to light it up. The draw was pretty bad for the first puff only, then opened up very nicely. The flavors are earthy and leathery. I know Rocky hates it when his cigars are described as leathery, but if the shoe fits...shoe leather, that is! There is some underlying sweetness, too, and a bit of a chemical aftertaste that is not all that pleasant.
Through the first third, the Vintage 1990 displayed a medium-body and flavors of earth and tobacco. Unfortunately, it just did not get more interesting than that. It was not a bad cigar, but it simply does not have the level of flavor interest that something similarly sizes, like a Fuente Short Story, has.
The second third was pretty much the same and the last third...well, this thing was so small there was no last third. Overall, it was an okay cigar and I would be curious to try it in a regular-sized vitola, but there just was not much flavor packed into this one. Good things come in small packages...but not this time.
Body: 4/10
Strength: 3/10
Complexity: 4/10
AFP Scale:
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 2/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 6.5/10
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