Rocky Patel Decades

RP Decades Torpedo just received a 95 rating from Cigar Insider and is being touted as the best cigar that Rocky Patel has ever put out. I had a couple a few weeks back and found them uninspiring. Yesterday I went to the local B&M and had another and I must say that I found absolutely no enjoyment in this totally flavorless cigar, even while sitting in a large overstuffed chair and watching soccer on a big screen while talking with a bunch of great guys and drinking coffee from a Jura F7.

So, what gives with this cigar? Are my taste buds totally gone? Does anyone think this cigar is equivalent to the Padron '26? Or did Rocky just pay off CI?

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Originally Posted by Shelby07

RP Decades Torpedo just received a 95 rating from Cigar Insider and is being touted as the best cigar that Rocky Patel has ever put out. I had a couple a few weeks back and found them uninspiring. Yesterday I went to the local B&M and had another and I must say that I found absolutely no enjoyment in this totally flavorless cigar, even while sitting in a large overstuffed chair and watching soccer on a big screen while talking with a bunch of great guys and drinking coffee from a Jura F7.

So, what gives with this cigar? Are my taste buds totally gone? Does anyone think this cigar is equivalent to the Padron '26? Or did Rocky just pay off CI?

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my first thought when i smoked one of those things was "hmm... tastes ALMOST as good as the Edge.... wait, the edge costs half what i paid for this one, damnit."

as for comparing to a padron 26? haha, no. The cigar aint bad, but ~$9 for a robusto is just a ridiculous price point for what it is... like i told another guy who asked me about these, i'll smoke one if you give it to me or they go on 'buy 1 get 1 free' sale, but i damn sure wont dish out that much per stick for that cigar.

No doubt his advertising dollars helped that rating.

I agree.

Well, at about $25,000 (last time I checked) per page to advertise in CA........you do the math.

The same can be said for other advertisers / manufactuers as well. Although I'm do not like their products .........have you ever seen Fuente get a bad review? Look how many pages they take up in CA. I always tell my customers to use CA as place for a suggestion.....maybe to try something new, not the bible. We all have different tastes.

Have you tried the Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve? That's my favorite RP product......specifically the Corojo Robusto. Its worth a try.

...have the Toro size resting in my humidor. I'll light it up this weekend and see what all the fuss is about it.

What is this Meritage cigar I've also been hearing about? Is it similar? Has anyone had one?

I'm smoking mine as we speak. While I by no means think this is a bad cigar, I think I much prefer both the Vintage lines and, my favorite RP, the Sumatra Edge. The Decade has some wonderful flavors, especially in the first 2/3, but nothing to warrant the $11.50 price tag. The final third is just uninspiring....

It's one of those cigars that makes me think twice about relying on CA's reviews. But we already know this, right?

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Originally Posted by Shelby07

RP Decades Torpedo just received a 95 rating from Cigar Insider and is being touted as the best cigar that Rocky Patel has ever put out. I had a couple a few weeks back and found them uninspiring. Yesterday I went to the local B&M and had another and I must say that I found absolutely no enjoyment in this totally flavorless cigar, even while sitting in a large overstuffed chair and watching soccer on a big screen while talking with a bunch of great guys and drinking coffee from a Jura F7.

So, what gives with this cigar? Are my taste buds totally gone? Does anyone think this cigar is equivalent to the Padron '26? Or did Rocky just pay off CI?

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I am not a huge RP fan at all. Some are not bad, but generally I just steer clear of the brand entirely.

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Originally Posted by islcigar

I agree.

Well, at about $25,000 (last time I checked) per page to advertise in CA........you do the math.

The same can be said for other advertisers / manufactuers as well. Although I'm do not like their products .........have you ever seen Fuente get a bad review? Look how many pages they take up in CA. I always tell my customers to use CA as place for a suggestion.....maybe to try something new, not the bible. We all have different tastes.

Have you tried the Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve? That's my favorite RP product......specifically the Corojo Robusto. Its worth a try.

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How many Cuban advertisments have you seen in CA or any other publication for that matter? None, and yet they score high very often. I thought that advertising dollars bought ratings, but when you think about the Cuban side of it, it takes a lot of air away from that point.

Altadis SA (or now Imperial Tobacco) owns the majority of the Cuban cigar distribution....Yes? And you do not think their ads and money spent on other brands under Altadis USA / Imperial umbrella imapct overall ratings? That's just naive. Unfortunatly the cigar industry and big business is not run that way......Sorry. The only way I would believe CA ratings system would be if CA was a non profit organization.

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Originally Posted by Cabaiguan Juan

How many Cuban advertisments have you seen in CA or any other publication for that matter? None, and yet they score high very often. I thought that advertising dollars bought ratings, but when you think about the Cuban side of it, it takes a lot of air away from that point.

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Yes, but just because parts of the magazine are objective doesn't necessarily mean all of it is. Someone very close to me works for a magazine, and now that I have an insiders view of what goes on, I don't believe ANYTHING I read anymore. I was shocked at the lack of journalistic integrity- money buys positive articles, period, and advertisers are king.

I rarely ever read reviews, and even more rarely will try a cigar because of a review, as to each his own - meaning the greatest cigar I've ever had may taste like a dog rocket to you.

I'm much more likely to consider - Who makes it and what is their track record? And what kind of tobacco went into it? I also consider the opinions of my friends who have tastes similar to mine.

Ummmm.....isn't this one of the reasons we share opinions and reviews here.....with each other? :smiley2: I know I pay a hell of alot more attention to what I read here than any magazine I pick up......although the reader reviews in Cigar Magazine are kinda interesting sometimes.....but who knows who makes the "cut" when they go through them all.

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Originally Posted by islcigar

Altadis SA (or now Imperial Tobacco) owns the majority of the Cuban cigar distribution....Yes? ......Sorry. The only way I would believe CA ratings system would be if CA was a non profit organization.

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I do question how one never sees low ratings, but wasn't the Altadis aquisition withj ion the last few years? If so, then what about the time beforehand?

I do read the cigar description, but my choice of cigars comes from word of mouth more then anything else.