With a number of Rocky Patel Vintage blends to work with, we’re not sure why this one became known as the Royal Vintage. Well, clearly it’s dressed like royalty with a sultry purple band. If the clothes make the man, maybe the band can make the cigar?
No on both accounts.
Dress it up however you want, the proof is in the pudding. Or in this case, the tobacco. Fortunately, this is still a super fine smoke. A nice aged Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper is twirled around a choice Nicaraguan and Honduran filler blend. The lit cigar produces flavors of earth, espresso, and spice in the smoke, which certainly can help you feel like a king or queen as you puff the hour away.
Maybe there is a way to see the royalty here. In reality, the Vintage series is a big part of why the Rocky Patel brand exists today. There are a lot of milestones on the way from “unknown cigar industry guy” to “Untouchable God of Cigar Blenders.” Certainly, Rocky isn’t up there yet with the Padrons, Fuentes, and Don Pepins of the non-Cuban cigar market, but he’s come a long way from his starting point.
Decades ago, he was a humble Hollywood lawyer working for nobodies like Gene Hackman and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was approached by Phil Zanghi while the two were at the Grand Havana Room smoking cigars. Zanghi was starting up a contract manufacturer and needed financing. Rakesh “Rocky” Patel bought in, and Indian Tabac was formed in 1995. Over time, Rocky was drawn deeper and deeper into the cigar world, until he finally found himself at the top of his own little empire. This was thanks in part to a reputation built by the Vintage Series, as well as the Decade, 15th Anniversary, 20th Anniversary, Edge, and even one called the “Royale.”
Anyway, here’s to King Rocky and his fine smokes.
Please browse our selection of Royal Vintage cigars at your leisure.
