Can Rocky Patel make a bad cigar? I don't think so.
Case in point: The Fire Corojo, robusto size, which I received as part of a Rocky sampler pack. I'd never even heard of a brand named "Fire", much less of its association with the Rocky Patel name. A quick lookup at Famous revealed that they're cheapies, selling in boxes of 20 for only 34 bucks.
I couldn't wait to "Fire" it up and see how bad it was.
Not so fast, buster! This turned out to be the best cheapie cigar I've ever had. It burned well, drew well, and tasted not far removed from the Indian Tabac Super Fuerte robusto line. Perhaps not quite as complex - and certainly not as complex as the top-of-the-line Rocky "Vintage" blends, but jeeze, for $1.70, it went way beyond the call of duty. Worth at least double the price. I smoked it for 50 minutes, right down to the nub.
Once again this goes to show you that price and quality are not necessarily proportionate. In fact, it seems that the more you pay, the less "extra" quality you get per dollar. Call me asinine, but I would consider the Fire Corojo about "half" as good as a Rocky Vintage. Yet it is one-fifth the price! That is a strong value proposition, especially if you don't happen to have 10 bucks to fork over for a decent smoke.
The Fire Corojo had thick, strong smoke and a no-nonsense flavor, with hints of peppercorn and cream, and a bit of flinty earth tone. It fell right in line with my predilection for what I call "heavy naturals", crackly rather than ashy like so many of the market leaders that leave me shaking my head (Montecristo, Macanudo, Excaliber, La Gloria).
If Congress ends up passing the much-feared cigar tax to support child education, "Fire" might be the only brand I can afford and still feel like I'm smoking a good cigar. I'll keep it in my back pocket for further reference.
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1 comment:
You are correct, sir. These are great smokes that get short shrift for two reasons: One, they have ridiculous bands, and Two, they're affordable. These have been flying under the radar for a long time. Glad to see you picked up the signal.
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