Rocky Patel Royale Torpedo Cigar: Fit for a Queen, or a pretender to the throne?

I have taken part in a fair number of cigar tasting events, be they formal or casual. When Emily, a fellow Sister of the Leaf, asked me to do a live tasting event and cigar review on Instagram, I jumped at the chance. As she had quite a selection of cigars on hand, and was relatively new to the cigar world, I suggested that she choose the cigar rather than me. Her choice was the Rocky Patel Royale Torpedo.

As we talked about the cigar and what flavours we were likely to get from it, I got rather excited to try the cigar myself. I’ve hade a few Rocky Patel cigars over the years, mostly from their Edge and Vintage ranges. This was going to be my first from the Royale cigar range. The three things that appealed most to me were the vitola, both as a box pressed and torpedo, and the maduro wrapper.

Unwrapping the cigar I was met by rich aromas of chocolate and cinnamon. As I posed for a few pre-smoke photos, these filled the room without really losing any of their close-up potency. I chose to straight cut the cigar as I tend to do with this vitola. Taking a good long cold draw, the chocolate notes were very prominent with a hint of nuttiness in a supporting role. It wasn’t until I lit the cigar that I was able to pin this down as almonds and roasted chestnuts. The first draws enticed me to enjoy the cigar.

Smoking the first third of the cigar, conversation flowed from cigars and cigar culture, to family and how to make the perfect cup of tea. We touched on the flavour notes that different people can get from the cigar and how what you have eaten before smoking, as well as the drink you are pairing the cigar with, can affect the flavours that you pick up. I had enjoyed a light quinoa salad for lunch, and was sipping on a strong shot of Parisian coffee whilst smoking. The flavours that I was getting were full of nuts with the milk chocolate and cinnamon.

Despite chatting away I managed to get a good inch of snow white ash before it dropped straight into my ashtray, where it maintained its shape. The smoke from the Rocky Patel Royal was voluminous and clean. There was a good light texture to it even though it was very thick when released.

Entering the middle section of the cigar, the nuttiness was still present, but it had transitioned to more of an oak smoked walnut flavour. It was at this point that both Emily and I noticed that a peppery spice had started to creep in. It was very subtle and not too in your face like a soupçon of ground pink peppercorns, with a pinch of the sweet fruitiness you get from a scotch bonnet chilli once you’ve taken the eye wateringly hot seeds and membrane out!

By the final third, the Rocky Patel Royale Torpedo had changed character almost completely. The chocolate and cinnamon had very much taken a back seat but they had left a light, lingering note on my lips to be replaced with dried mixed fruit that had been soaked for way too long in sherry. There were also feint aromas of sweet fermented manure, which might sound disgusting to some people, but trust me, growing up in the countryside as I did, it was almost as rich and delicious as Turkish Delight.

Having finished the live chat, I smoked the last inch and a half on my own. The head had started to get a little dark which introduced a slight bitterness into the flavour. I recut, taking another millimetre or two off and this brightened up the taste allowing the chocolate and nut notes from the beginning of the cigar to come back into the mix. Overall, the experience that I had smoking this cigar was exactly what I expected when I looked at its details and unwrapped it.

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Rocky Patel Royale Torpedo Cigar Details