Tasting Note

Rocky Patel has long been considered one of the hardest-working men in the cigar business, and the Rocky Patel Decade Torpedo is his masterpiece. The pressed figurado is made of Nicaraguan tobacco wrapped in a dark leaf of Ecuador Sumatra. Made in Nestor Plasencia's El Paraiso factory, the Decade celebrates Patel's reaching 10 years in the cigar business. Given his Indian surname and lack of Cuban roots or family history in the cigar business, few would have bet on Patel's long-term future when he began selling cigars in 1995. Not only has he made it past 10 years, he has become a cigar industry star, and one who has put his name on a balanced and elegant smoke, which has a creamy texture with black cherry notes and a nutty finish.