Pre-light Experience

This box pressed cigar has a medium brown wrapper with nicely pressed veins. The seams are visible when getting them in a certain light, otherwise they are well blended. The head is finished off with well applied caps. There are two bands, the first is primarily copper colored and carries the company and line name. The secondary band has the same color combination and denotes Corojo. The aroma from the wrapper is a light barnyard while the foot brings a mix of leather and lightly sweet tobacco. The pre-light draw brings wood and a light cherry sweetness.

Pre-light Experience

The cigar has that Rocky Patel press to it and the cap is applied in the same manner. Seamless from head to foot, the cigar sports few if any truly visible veins and it has this solid beautiful light Colorado colored wrapper. It definitely has this light reddish brown coloring and the wrapper is giving off these subtle soft, warm spices that show some earth, coffee and cocoa qualities. The foot is similar and it is showing some warm peppery spices with some cocoa, coffee, cream and nuts.

First Third

The cigar begins with oak, some baking spice and oddly enough, a light lemongrass component. At a half inch in, a faint cream joins the profile which replaces the lemongrass note. At an inch in, some mustiness has joined in to go along with the cream and be the connector between the oak and baking spice. The retrohale carries a mix of the oak and dry earthiness. At an inch and a half in, the lemongrass note returns. The strength in this third was slightly below medium.

First Third

The cigar starts up with this nice sweet spice that is balanced and showing a touch of pepper to it. There is some dry earth present and with that is some cedar and lemongrass qualities. I am getting touches of coffee and leather as well, and it’s an enjoyable first third. I would classify the cigar as being between medium and medium-full for body, flavors and strength and construction is fantastic.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the baking spice has really mellowed as the oak is up front and the combination of cream and mustiness is slightly behind it. The lemongrass note has once again left the profile. At a half inch in, the baking spice is gone and the profile is just creamy and musty oak. As the third comes to a close, the profile of creamy and musty oak has become a bit fuller. The retrohale is a similar profile, just heavier on the oak. The strength in this third bumped up to be right at medium.

Second Third

When I get into the second third of the cigar, I find an emerging toast and nutty quality to the cigar and it is pairing with those cedar, lemongrass and coffee flavors from before. The sweet spice is still present as well, more in the background now and it is pairing with some dry earth and leather. As before, the cigar is smoking at a level between medium and medium-full, and that is for strength, body and flavors.

Final Third

As the final third begins, a subtle sweetness joins in with the creamy and musty oak. At a quarter inch in, the subtle sweetness leaves the profile. The retrohale continues with the profile of creamy and musty oak. The cigar finishes out with the same profile of creamy and musty oak. The strength in this third remained at medium.

Final Third

I am in the final third now and finding there to be some transitioning from the second. It is showing a lot of lemongrass flavors that are paired with some toast and nutty qualities. There is some faint earth present as well, but the coffee, cedar and spice notes have faded all together. It finishes on the medium side of things for body, strength and flavors, and it is a smooth finish to the nub.

Burn

The burn was a disappointment as it was quite wavy and went out multiple times requiring re-lights.

Burn

Burn on the cigar was great. The burn line was fairly even from start to finish and I never came across problems with construction. Like almost every Rocky Patel I have had, construction was not an issue.

Draw

The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

The flavor profile started with a unique combination of oak, baking spice and lemongrass and then settled into a profile of creamy and musty oak for most of the cigar. The burn left a lot to be desired with multiple re-lights being required. Strength was right around medium the entire way. The burn issues didn’t seem to affect the flavor profile, but it’s hard to tell. The flavors were quite full although fairly average and smoke production was quite good the whole way. It’s worth a try to see if you like the flavors presented, as if you do, it does a good job with delivery. I’m probably not going to be returning to this cigar anytime soon, but if I was handed one, I wouldn’t have a problem smoking it.

Draw

I liked the draw on the Olde World. Rocky packs his cigar full of tobacco so it helps in making the draw a little snug from time to time. That was the case with this smoke, and it made it smoke to my liking.

Overall

It has been so long since I had the original Olde World Reserve that I can’t compare the two. But, I will say the Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Corojo Robusto is a good cigar and a solid release from Rocky Patel. It wasn’t overly complex, but it had some depth to it and some transitioning throughout which were positive attributes. The lemongrass and coffee flavors were particularly enjoyable and it is a combination that I get with some Habanos. I like that it is still sporting a Honduran Corojo wrapper, and I like the flavor profile that it delivers on top of the Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The construction was solid from start to finish and the ash really held on well. I would say that the ash held on throughout the first half, and that’s impressive. In terms of packaging, I think both the old and new packaging have their pros and cons. The new main band is better, but I loved the foot band/wrapper that was present on the old packaging. With that said, glad to see Olde World Reserve has returned and it is reminding me of the old school Rocky Patel. I think some old school Rocky Patel smokers will be happy with this return. Now if we would just see the Winter Collection come back.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.55

Cost/Point

$1.62

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.05

Cost/Point

$1.49

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Corojo Robusto