Rocky Patel The Edge Maduro

[wolfandwhisky]

Other CA RP The Edge Maduro threads:
Rocky Patel edge maduro double corona
Rocky Patel The Edge Toro Maduro

Another review... same structure as last time... notes here, pics with my personal note record (website).

This smoke was the Rocky Patel The Edge Maduro. This stick was like a constant little battle... sweet notes versus pepper and sea notes. Lacking in balance but still a decent stick.

For no particular reason, I have yet to buy a Rocky Patel stick. This one was gifted to me by a forum BOTL, and I was very thankful that it was a maduro. Aside from being a Fuente junkie, I’m also a Maduro junkie.

On to the notes:

Construction: The maduro wrapper had at least 3 or 4 noticeable veins, but the dark chocolate color still made this a good looking stick. The footband is a little nontraditional, which isn’t visually intriguing, and it needed to come off right at the beginning which wouldn’t be appealing to some. But, it came right off with no damage to the wrapper.

It took a little time to really start churning out the smoke, but it burned very evenly. Somewhere after the first third, a hole opened up, and while the burn corrected it, it wasn’t something one would expect.

Initial Flavors: The initial notes of coconut and chocolate led me to believe that this might be a sweeter smoke, but they quickly faded to pepper and salty seaweed and I changed allegiances in terms of my expectations of palate profile.

However, shortly thereafter, some of the sweetness returned, with a mocha-like flavor that barges in on the pepper. They don’t really mesh – it’s almost like a fight for control. But it is intriguing because with each puff you wonder how the battle is going. And this is only past the 1st 1/3rd.

Continuing Flavors: Eventually, the mocha, now with heavy cream, seems to take over. There is a small amount of spice, like cinnamon mixed with a tiny bit of subdued cayenne (i.e. the flavor without the burn). Past the halfway mark, a tiny hint of coconut is back.

And then, the sweetness fades and we’re back to pepper with a newly introduced steak note (unseasoned and without steak sauce), with notes of mocha lingering in the background.

And back again… mocha is taking on more of a cocoa flavor – same spectrum, different execution.

With Whisky: N/A – water only.

I was not expecting much out of this stick, but it surprised me. There was an odd complexity that was based in multiple flavors, but there weren’t a number of flavors that struck together at the same time in a balanced way. This lack of balance was probably one of the most detracting aspects of the stick, and reduces the score to what it otherwise could have been. Admittedly, I do not think it is easy to balance peppercorn and mocha, but the constant battle of flavors, while moderately enjoyable, justified knocking the score down a notch. This rates an 8. Perhaps a better blend of this stick would smooth out the variability, but I’m not holding out hope that this is the case.

Regret This Purchase: N/A – generous gift from a BOTL
Buy Another Stick: Likely not.
Buy A Box: No.