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An interview with Rocky Patel of Indian Tabac Cigars
(Posted September 1, 2004)
NEXT ISSUE: Wednesday, Octobber 6th
*** IN THIS ISSUE ***
1. Feature Story: Eye of the Tiger: A few minutes with Rocky Patel
2. Survey Says: One more time: Has a cigar sampler ever prompted you to buy a box of cigars?
3. Smoker's Ed (Cigar Terms & Tips): Figuring out a Figurado
4. Rating Lunatic: Soledad Toro; Macanudo Gold Label Somerset; Vintage By Rocky Patel 1990 Robusto; Gispert Robusto; Trinidad Robusto; Partagas Black Label Magnifico
5. Cigars in the News: "An Ode to Cuban Cigars"
6. Eyes on the Prize: Celebrity and Customer Cigar Sightings
*** FEATURE STORY ***
Eye of the Tiger: A few minutes with Rocky Patel
Before doing this brief interview with Rocky Patel at this year's RTDA in Las Vegas, I had met him a few times on visits to our offices and at last year's RTDA at which a tentatively scheduled interview never actualized. One year and much more success later, I had the opportunity to sit down with him at the Indian Tabac booth. As usual, Rocky was dressed in an Italian tailored suit and we spent a few minutes talking about how he got into the business and some of the new cigars he'll be debuting this year.
Let's start with how you got into the business.
"I started out as an attorney in Los Angeles and I was doing a lot of entertainment work. We'd go onto a movie set and on the set it's always 'hurry up and wait,' so while we were waiting for lights and sound, we'd smoke cigars. Then I became a member of the Grand Havana Room, which was about a block away from my office. So I'd go there for lunch, smoke cigars, I'd bring clients there for dinner and started to meet a lot of celebrities. Then, through a contact I had in Honduras I started making cigars for fun. At that time I really didn't know much about tobacco, but pretty soon a lot of celebrities are smoking the cigars."
So now comes the birth of an idea, right?
"I did 6 cigar dinners with Arnold Schwarzenegger at his restaurant called Shotzie. At that time I thought that the industry packaging on most cigars was boring. Basically, they were just plain wooden boxes, so when I began manufacturing my own cigars, we came out with really cool graphics and neat packaging, and the cigars started selling. This was in the late 90s when the cigar boom was coming to an end. That's when I realized I needed to start making better quality cigars. So I went and lived in Honduras and Nicaragua and began working in the fields and the barns and the fermentation rooms."
So you went from a comfortable attorney's office to the nitty-gritty of the Tabacaleras.
"That's right. Once I saw how it was done, I started blending hundreds and hundreds of cigars so I could tell the difference between Dominican, Nicaraguan, Costa Rican and Honduran tobacco. And while I educated myself, I asked a lot of dumb questions until I felt it was time to just go for it."
I think a lot of cigar smokers like the retro look you have on your packaging. Maybe it reminds them of the days when a cigar was A CIGAR.
"Thank you very much. In fact, I've seen many other companies since then imitating our original packaging. But now we're going back to a cleaner, more elegant packaging with an equally good product, because I've been concentrating primarily on the quality of the cigars. In the last two to three years, my knowledge about tobacco has really improved and I'm spending a lot of time making rich, complex cigars that have a lot of flavor but yet are balanced. And that's what you see in our Vintage line and the new Sun Grown line."
From the reaction of our customers, The Vintage Series looks like it's been a grand slam. For those who may not yet have discovered them , can you describe how it's put together?
"The 1992 Vintage cigars have a 10 year-old Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper and it's got seven year-old Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers with one leaf of Brazilian Mata Fina. It's a medium to full bodied cigar. It's rich, well-balanced and very smooth. The 12 year-old cigar [Vintage by Rocky Patel 1990], has a 12 year-old broadleaf wrapper with the same filler but is more mild to medium bodied. The key characteristic of both cigars is that they burn and draw well and are consistent from box to box."
I enjoyed the new Sun Grown and have already published my impression, but I think the readers would like to hear more about it from you.
"You could say the Sun Grown is another version of the Vintage. The wrapper is a fifth [high] priming Ecuadorian Sumatra with essentially the same Nicaraguan Dominican filler blend. It's a little more spicy and full-bodied and has a sweet finish to it."
I see another new selection here called "Royale."
"The Royale is a work in progress project that we're doing with the help of Cigar Aficionado and many of the retailers. It has a very unique wrapper grown by the Olivas; a Cameroon seed grown in Ecuador by the Olivas exclusively for us and that cigar will have full-bodied fillers in it. As we come up with different blends, the idea is to pass the blends around to a ton of people until everyone agrees that this is the perfect blend. This is going to be a very high-end premium cigar."
What do you think is the biggest misunderstanding, if any, about your cigars?
"I think, originally, everybody thought of us as a full-bodied cigar company, because we launched the Super Fuerte and everything we made was full-bodied. Now, we've gone to a more elegant, complex cigar that's well-balanced and we've improved the curing of the tobaccos; spent a lot of time on aging and fermentation and the cigars have improved dramatically in quality."
Looking around the cigars shown here in the booth, I get the impression that you've streamlined your products.
"That's correct. We're really concentrating on the Vintage and the Sun Grown and the Royale and now Edge. It's the fullest bodied cigar you're going to find on the market. It's on the edge of being bitter and harsh, but it's not. It comes in a factory tray of one hundred cigars and retails for about five dollars a cigar. It comes in a natural Corojo and a Maduro wrapper.
I heard tell of something you're doing with Drew Estates. True?
"Yes. It's a new joint venture called Chocolat. It's a premium long filler cigar that tastes perfect with an essence of mocha in it."
Is it a chocolate flavored cigar?
[emphatically] "Not at all. We're calling it Chocolat because it has the essence of mocha in it. It doesn't have a sweet tip, it's not overwhelming in the mocha taste; it just has a light hint of mocha. You should start to see this cigar in store by October."
Since you've been at the show, has anything grabbed your attention?
"What I see is a strong growth in the cigar market overall. With all this legislation and the other problems we are facing I see a lot of strength in the consumer market with new customers coming into the cigar market. I also see better cigars made now than ever before at a better price."
To what do you attribute that?
"The competition is fierce, so the manufacturers are making better quality cigars."¶
(_[GK]__[[~~
*** HTML EMAIL IS HERE!! ***
It may have taken a lot longer than expected, but if you receive our weekly email sale, many of you will be happy to know that starting with this week's email sale (September 3), it will be coming to you in gorgeous, graphic-laden HTML! For now, the email will look just like the Email Sale page currently found on the web site, but in the weeks ahead it will go through some design changes, which we hope will make it even better and easier to read. Please feel free to send us your suggestions, too. The same goes for all future emails from Famous Smoke Shop including the next issue of Shop Talk. If you prefer to receive email from us in text format only, be sure to go into your account settings and check the box that says: "Send me TEXT email ONLY...Never send HTML." If your account is already set to this option, you should be fine.
*** SURVEY SAYS DEPT. ***
Has a cigar sampler ever prompted you to buy a box of cigars? If yes,
how often?
If this question looks familiar, that's because we only received 8 responses to this question last month. We think that because of a virus-infected spam called "Survey," our email server kicked out just about every response, so I've changed the mailbox address, which I hope will allow all your responses to get through, and running it one more month. For those of you who missed it or received a failure notice, here it is again:
There's little doubt that cigar samplers have become one of the hottest marketing ideas to hit the cigar industry in recent years. Often they will motivate a customer to try a box of a given brand, resulting in a
"win-win" repeat sale for the dealer and an educated selection for the consumer. How about you?
Send an email to: and type or copy &
paste ""Cigar Samplers" in the SUBJECT line. As always, your comments are welcome.
Cigar Terms & Tips (Collect and trade em'!)
Clear Havana - A cigar made in the United States prior to the embargo with Cuban tobacco.
Figuring out a Figurado
Q: Smoked an Onyx Belicoso No.2 (7" x 52) last night. Problem: hard to draw. Is that normal or does it mean it's not mature yet? Also, how much do you clip off the end of torpedos & Belicosos (pointed end cigars)? [I find it] hard to draw on them. Is a slow draw natural? And one more question: When clipping a cigar, if the wrapper cracks, does that mean its old & dry?
Thanks,
Steven Newburgh
A: Plugging has more to do with the rolling than the aging. Occasionally, even the best cigars get a stem or large vein caught in the bunch. Sometimes you can relieve the pressure with a gentle turning of the cigar between your thumb and forefinger. I've noticed, particularly with pyramids, that if you gently bite down on the head, the draw will sometimes loosen up dramatically. It's usually in a certain spot that you'll find as you rotate the cigar in your mouth. As far as clipping pyramids and torpedos, clip off at least 1/4 inch. If you cut off too little it may not draw well. Three-eights of an inch is about the max.
About the wrapper cracking when clipped: The wrapper could be too dry, or you might have a dull cutter. Sometimes it helps to lightly wet the end in your mouth first. Also, when clipping, sometimes you can "squeeze" the cap off, in effect. The cap is a separate piece of tobacco and will literally "pop" off if you get the blade in just the right position.
Reader Feedback and Tips from Our Mailbag
Show us your stash!
Simple suggestion for the next newsletter: Maybe you can have your customers submit photo's of their private collection. Pictures are always neat and cool to look at and in addition...words, names, captions, etc. for pictures will allow more "hits" onto the website. That is, if the customers allow captions etc. to be printed on your website. It also allows customers to kind of "show off", hee hee. It also might "motivate" other customers to increase their stash of cigars from FS itself. Just a "fun kind" of suggestion...I enjoy looking at your event pictures every now and then, makes me wish I could be there too!
- Wes Chun
Thanks Wes. OK, anyone reading this wants to share a picture of their private stash, please feel free to send in the photos in .jpg format to . Please be
sure to put "My Cigars" in the subject field.
Got A Good Cigar Tip? Send it in and share it with our readers by
sending an email to . Please be
sure to put "CIGAR TIP" in the subject field.
*** SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DEPT.***
Have a question about the care and feeding of your cigars or another
cigar-related topic? Send your questions and comments to me at: . I will try to respond as quickly as possible, but some replies may take a few days.
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Want to catch up on your Famous Smoke "Shop Talk" reading or reference an article, tip, or other bit of information that appeared in a past issue? Go to our Famous Smoke “Shop Talk” archives page.
*** RATING LUNATIC DEPT.***
August cigar reviews from Famous Smoke Shop customers. Reviews are
selected at random and may be edited for length, not content. (Rating numbers shown may have changed since time of publication)
* Mild Cigars *
Soledad Toro (6" x 50)
These are an excellent smoke! They taste great, draw perfectly, are consistent and cost about $2.00 a stick. I shared them with my friends, who are cigar nuts, and they liked them as much as I did. Grab a bundle and enjoy. - Shawn Carmody, Phillipsburg, NJ, August 30, 2004
Macanudo Gold Label Somerset (5" x 54 Pyramid)
Superb! Mellow rich and creamy to the end. This is truly a superb cigar! I don't want to put this cigar down until I almost burn my lips. It maintains its rich, creamy, mellow flavor from the start to the end. - Steve White, Canyon Lake, TX, August 7, 2004
* Medium Body Cigars *
Vintage By Rocky Patel 1990 Robusto (5 1/2" x 50)
The best cigar I've ever smoked. Just smoked one of the Rocky Patel 1990 Robusto's. WOW! The best I've ever smoked. smooth, great flavor and an easy draw. - Rich Pharo, Sonoma Ca., August 23, 2004
Gispert Robusto (5" x 54)
What a pleasant smoke! The draw and burn were very consistent and the ash hung on for about 3 inches. I normally prefer Maduro's but this is a nice alternative. Flavorful and smooth almost to the nub but I almost burned my fingers 'cause I didn't want it to be over. I had a Vintage (99) Victory Old Horizontal barleywine with it and it was a great pair. Gonna have to get more of these for the reasonable price. - Homebrew, New Paltz, NY, August 18, 2004
* Full Body Cigars *
Trinidad Robusto (5" x 50)
This is a very high $$$$ smoke, but very well worth it. I came across a great deal on a couple of boxes of these and picked them up. Now I only treat myself to one every now and then because they are very special. Great taste, great flavor, one of the very rare costly smokes worth the money! Buy a 4 or 5 pack for those special occasions, and relax and enjoy. - Jason Caldwell, New Jersey, August 5, 2004
Partagas Black Label Magnifico (6" x 54)
Paean to the Partagas Black Label Magnifico: I thank God and Daniel Nunez for the Partagas 1845 Black Label Magnifico 6x54. (In particular, the specimen now smouldering gently in the ashtray next to my keyboard and accompanying me through another too-long night.) Thank you for this oily oscuro, this perfect combination of length, ring gauge and heft-in-hand. Praise the Lord for the sunshine, soils and rains that fed and watered the plants that grew these dark and lovely leaves. And God bless you, sirs, for this veined and muscular cigar with the densest, richest flavours and aromas of bitter chocolate, peat and leather; so rich and creamy, it feels like you could pour it into a shot glass and sip it. Thank you Kaz for placing the Partagas Black Label Bravo among my earliest cigar experiences - and for letting me have those subsequent six to confirm the delicious effect of the first. But the Bravo is a Rothschild, while the Magnifico is a Toro: all the Bravo's Wagnerian flamboyance, plus a full inch- and-a-half and fifteen minutes of overture. There's no doubt the Bravo seduced me completely with the way that fat 54 sat in my fingers, adorned with its ornate black-and-gold band. But the Bravo lasts less than an hour, while the Magnifico lasts more than two. This limits it, therefore, to those fairly rare occasions when time is not an issue. For me, this means times such as now, in the dead of the night, in the velvet silence of the empty hours, sleep denied by restless ghosts and lurking demons soothed into a momentary truce by the softly curling smoke of my cigar. At times like these, when what needs to be done is the hardest thing of all to do, which is to do nothing at all, one is grateful for the contemplations compelled by a cigar such as this. So thank you again, God and Daniel Nunez, for helping me make it through nights when hope is gone but there's still a few of these in my humidor. - Rehman Rashid, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 10, 2004
AGREE/DISAGREE? Your opinion may be similar or completely different and is also appreciated, so don't be shy. Rate the cigars you smoke on our web site and write a review. You might even get your quote re-printed in our monthly mailorder catalog! What you say can help others make a more informed decision, even you!
*** CIGARS IN THE NEWS ***
In an August 24th article that appeared on mensnewsdaily.com titled, "An Ode to Cuban Cigars," writer, Jonathan David Morris, expounds on why he's a "Castro Supporter."
"I am not, in the literal sense, a fan of Fidel," wrote Morris. "I have no sympathies for communist despots. I am a freedom-loving libertarian-type of person; I am not a team player, and I abhor central planning. But I am, by conventional wisdom, a Castro supporter. I came to this conclusion when I returned to the States from Aruba last week with a single Cuban cigar. They're easy to buy in Aruba, you know-like buying a box of Blueberry Morning. The one I brought home was a $25 Cohiba. I smuggled it into the country by wrapping it in a hotel washcloth and stuffing it in between toothpaste and hairspray."
Morris then gives his three reasons for ending the Cuban embargo:
"First of all, it's been around since 1961. That's a pretty long time. If it was going to work, you have to assume it would've worked by now. But it hasn't. Castro's still in power. He's the world's longest reigning dictator. Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, and Clinton have all come and gone since he first came to power. The man's even outlasted the entire combined run of M*A*S*H, Seinfeld, and Cheers. If the embargo was meant to isolate Cuba and flatten its communist framework, it's failed.
(They say insanity is using the same method over and over, expecting different results. That's a good way of looking at this situation. It's also why I'm not looking forward to the Joey spin-off of Friends.)
Secondly, what's the knock on communism? That it necessarily strangles the free market? Well, if you're against that, I'm with you all the way. But forbidding the purchase of Cuban cigars is a funny way of striking a blow for free market economics. In a free market, consumer demand writes the rules. So if America's interested in leading the free world-an oxymoronic concept, but work with me here-we would do well to lead by example instead of by force and protectionist tactics. Open the market. Lift the restrictions. Let freedom ring, and people will hear it. That's a money-back guarantee.
Finally, the third reason I disagree with the embargo is because it is dumb. I love a good stogie, but I'm no connoisseur. From what I can tell, though-after visiting Aruba-Cuban cigars aren't that much better than others. They're better; just not that much. But you'd never know this based on the way Americans savor them. Here, they're seen as deliciously wicked forbidden fruit. And that's just the thing: The Cubans I smoked in Aruba weren't more enjoyable because they were better; they were more enjoyable because I wasn't supposed to be enjoying them. It was an act of civil disobedience, and this gave me great satisfaction. Smoking a Cuban was like smoking the plank in Big Brother's eye. It served him right. And it tasted good."¶
*** GIVE THAT MAN A CIGAR! DEPT.***
If you live in or near the verdant Lehigh Valley of PA, stop by our
retail store at 1100 Conroy Place in Easton, PA for one of our cigar tasting events. For details and more information call 610-559-8800.
*** It's Like eBay® for Cigar Lovers! ***
Now you can get the cigars YOU want at the prices you're willing to pay by logging on to CigarAuctioneer.com. It's FUN, it's FAST and the ACTION is great! You'll not only find RARE cigars, closeouts, and discontinued cigar brands, but now you can bid on humidors, cigar lighters and more!
*** EYES ON THE PRIZE DEPT.***
Cigar Sightings
Brad Paisley (country singer) has a song out on his CD titled "Mud on the Tires" called "The Cigar Song" where he gets a box of Cubans and an insurance policy on them and then cashes in the policy based on a series of small fires and what happens afterward (getting arrested and jailed for 24 counts of arson). Pretty funny song. - Scott Vonhof
In the Spiderman 2 movie, the newspaper editor [J.K. Simmons] was lighting up a Partagas. - Russ Tysor
Other Famous Cigar Smokers Caught “Infumare Delecto”
Here is a picture of my dad and I enjoying a Macanudo Robust at the Macanudo Passion Tour on Aug 7th. - Mike Ventura
How about this concept for your awesome Olor Fuertes. My appreciation for your company making such a great cigar. hope you like the photo! - Brian Messick, Sacramento, CA
Enjoying my Partagas Spanish Rosado in Cozumel, Mexico. - John Vellucci
Me and the guys enjoying fine cigars trackside at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Indianapolis. - Jeff Wilcox
WANTED! Cigar-smoking photos of you and/or your friends.
Have You Made A Cigar Sighting Recently? It can be from a movie, TV show or a celebrity you've seen elsewhere or in-person puffing on a primo. If you can name the brand of the cigar, even better! Or send in a herfing photo of you and your friends to me at and please put "Cigar Sightings" in the subject line. Limit: 1 sighting or photo (preferably, a JPEG) per email.
That's all folks. Until our next issue on October 6, Happy Smokes!
Gary
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Shop Talk illustration at top of page by Robert Ingram.
Copyright © 2004 Famous Smoke Shop - PA, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Portions or all of this information may be reprinted freely, provided this
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