Rocky Patel LB1 Cigar paired with Doolhof Signature Single Vineyard Chardonnay

Summer months in Gauteng offer hot, dry days. Bursts of thunderstorms light up the afternoon sky. The rain moisture is ideal to light up a cigar in cooler temperatures. The rainy highveld days paired with a sip of yellow wine and a balanced mild cigar allow you a moment. Slow down time between the mad rush to year-end with a Rocky Patel cigar.

Rocky Patel Cigars History

Rocky Patel love for cigars started as a lawyer to Hollywood stars and studios. A friend introduced Rocky to premium cigars and urged him to join the Grand Havana Room in Beverly Hills. He realized that the beauty of smoking cigars is that it slows down time. Smoking a cigar allows great conversations, daydreaming and collecting your thoughts.

The Indian Tabac Years

In 1996, Rocky Patel introduced his brand, Indian Tabac, at an industry trade show. Although Patel is Indian, he named the company the Indian Motorcycle brand. He paid a royalty for the use of the name. The cigars became an instant hit with retailers during the cigar boom.

At the start, Rocky Patel didn't know much about cigars. A business partner made his first cigars. In 1998, he took over the complete manufacturing process.

Patel nonstop visits to retailers established Indian Tabac as a premium brand. In 2003, with steady growth, Rocky decided to shift his focus away from Indian Tabac. It was time to launch his new Rocky Patel Vintage Series.

The Indian Tabac cigar stopped in 2015. But building the brand into a success was a valuable learning experience for Rocky Patel.

Making Premium Cigars

Authentic premium cigars never rush into production. The top cigar manufacturers use the best tobacco. The highest quality tobacco age for long periods makes it hard to find. Rocky Patel had to form relationships with a select group quick. Tobacco brokers, growers, and cigar factories had access to all the premium tobacco.

Rocky Patel started to cut production for his cigar rollers down to 250 cigars per day. The process ensured consistent construction. Rolling 400 or 500 cigars per day produced varying quality and consistency.

Today Rocky Patel handcrafts premium cigars in Nicaragua and Honduras.

Taking control of the Cigar factory in Honduras

They then moved into the old factory in El Paraíso, Honduras. They took complete control of the fermentation and blending of the tobacco. The manufacturing processes, the way the bunchers bunched the cigars. They started buying tobacco and the curing process to make the Rocky Patel blends. They then launched the Vintage in 2002. After the Vintage, The Edge, the Sun Grown, the Decade, Olde World Reserve and all the other lines followed.

It is a learning and maturing process. Every day is a learning process with tobacco. The more time you spend with it, the more you realize what you can do with cigars.

You can smoke a cigar from the same farm, and tobacco and the cigar will taste different.

There are so many variables in making cigars. The seed, country of origin, type of fertilization, fermentation, and blend all play a role.

Changes to the Cigar Blends

Rocky Patel started making changes to some of the Old World Reserve blends. The tobacco that came out of the rainy season was much milder. The tobacco that comes out of the summer season, the ligeros, are more punchy. You have to balance out the percentages to achieve consistent tastes.

The key to Rocky Patel success is the excellent quality wrapper, filler and binder.

He collaborates with some of the biggest growers globally. Tobacco sourced from brands like Nestor Plasencia, A.S.P. and the Oliva family blend into the cigars. It took a long time to gain the trust and acceptance of the major suppliers.

Not everybody believed he would make it. It was a complex challenge. At the start, Rocky Patel produced 150,000 cigars. Today the production is millions of cigars yearly shipped worldwide.

Rocky Patel Charismatic Philosophy

Cigar lovers love to meet Rocky Patel. His charisma and passion for his cigars draw you to him.

He is one of the most active marketers in the industry, with a rigorous schedule of events. He takes the time to meet his consumers in person. Today, Rocky Patel Premium Cigars is a leading cigar brand. Rocky Patel schedules continuous marketing initiatives.

A Family run whirlwind of New Cigars

Today, Rocky Patel runs his growing cigar company as a family enterprise. His brother, Nish Patel, and his cousin, Nimish "Nimmy D" Desai, works with him.

In 2010, Rocky opened Burn by Rocky Patel. It is a high-end cigar bar in Naples, Florida. The group since branched out to new locations in Pittsburgh and Oklahoma City. Each Burn cigar bar reflects the brand's vibrant colour, lighting and designed interior.

Rocky's business model in the cigar industry differs from several premium cigar-makers. Rocky Patel produces a comprehensive line of cigars.

Rocky Patel LB1 Cigar

LB1 stands for the original factory code of the cigar blend.

Rocky Patel LB1 name originates from the codes used during the creation of the cigar. It's a medium-bodied cigar rolled in Honduras. The blend includes Ligero from the Jamastran Valley of Honduras and a mix of fillers from Condega and Estelí in Nicaragua. The cigars tobacco grows on Rocky Patel's farms. The wrapper of this beautiful cigar is an Ecuador Habano.

LB1 Sizes available

• Rocky Patel LB1 Robusto (5 1/2 x 50)

• Rocky Patel LB1 Sixty (6 x 60)

Rocky Patel LB1 Robusto

Cigar

Rocky Patel LB1 Robusto

Country of Origin

Honduras

Factory

El Paraiso

Wrapper

Ecuador (Habano)

Binder

Nicaragua

Filler

Honduras & Nicaragua

Length

5 ½ Inches

Ring Gauge

50

Vitola

Robusto

Price Check Website

LB1 Blend and Origin

The LB1 cigar consists of an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. It is a blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos. The Honduran tobacco is a ligero priming sourced from the Finca La Musica farm in the Jamastran Valley. The Nicaraguan tobaccos are viso and second primings from Rocky Patel's farms in Condega and Estelí.

LB1 cigar Appearance

The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper of the Rocky Patel LB1 Robusto has a milky brown chocolate colour and oily tint.

The oily wrapper has a silky smooth complexion. The impressive band trim is white with copper-coloured writing.

LB1 Cigar Dry Aroma

Due to the current moisture in the air, the cigar delivers a wet soil aroma. The dry fragrance is nutty with light pepper spice and light caramel scents. There is a light apple scent on the cigar wrapper.

LB1 Pre-Light Draw

Cut with a V cut. The dry draw is subtle with woody notes. There is light caramel on the dry draw.

The LB1 Cigar First Puff

The first puff is smooth with dry, earthy tones. A sweetness develops between apple and pastry flavours, almost like a hot cross bun.

The tobacco is smooth but with a dry aftertaste unique to the LB1 cigar. The flavour is caramel pastry blended with milky chocolate tastes.

LB1 Cigar Evolution

The cigar smokes super slow. It is a cigar to puff during an entire morning, lunch or evening.

The cigar reminds me of a Cuban profile. All the flavours blend well. The dry and earthy flavours are mild. Mild milk chocolate and pastry flavours harmonize into a rounded cigar profile. During the smoke evolution, an extra layer of pepper develops the retro-hale.

The sweetness of the LB1 cigar fades into the dry, earthy tastes.

Doolhof Signature Single Vineyard Chardonnay wine

The Doolhof Vineyards

The Doolhof farm is in a valley blessed with unique and varied terroirs. The Estate lies between Bain's Kloof and the Groenberg Mountain Range. It is a wine-growing area with finer balanced soils.

A combination of Malmesbury shale, Glenrosa and Clovelly soils ensure healthy vineyard roots. Doolhof experiences cooler winters and moderate summers compared to Wellington.

The white varietals grow on the eastern slopes of the Groenberg. The eastern slopes allow the grapes cooler days and less direct sunlight. A Late sunrise and early sunset allow for a longer ripening process. The growing conditions help to enhance the wine's balance.

Tasting Notes

The wine colour is pale straw yellow. You experience distinct scents of fresh apple and citrus. It is a chardonnay wine with a crisp, fruity, balanced and dry finish.

Winemaker's Notes

The winemaker harvests the grapes early to ensure the cool grapes reach the cellar quick.

Whole pressed bunches deliver juice that settles and ferments with two different yeasts. Each adds an extra character to the wine. After fermentation, the wine spends two months on the yeast lees before bottling.

Doolhof Signature Single Vineyard Chardonnay Nose

You experience oranges, citrus and soaked apples with the first swirl. The wine releases chalky honey scents that blend with vanilla and light oak aromas.

Doolhof Signature Single Vineyard Chardonnay First Taste

The wine taste is oaky but light. It is a fresh, balanced chardonnay offering rounded flavours with soft acidity.

The Chardonnay drinks full and smooth with a light alcohol balanced finish.

Serving suggestion

Drink your wine with a bite of apple crumble while you light up your Rocky Patel LB1 cigar. The pairing is super tasty.

LB1 Cigar Burn

The cigar burns slow, very slow. I never touched up once. It is an enjoyable cigar to slow time.

LB1 Cigar Draw

The draw to the Rocky Patel LB1 Robusto performed well. The draw has a touch of resistance, making the cigar smoke slower.

Lb1 Cigar Strength and Body

The Rocky Patel LB1 smokes medium strength with a medium body.

The cigar ash is light and white with an even wavey burn.

LB1 Cigar and Doolhof Chardonnay Pairing

The combination of the two delivers a mild honey sweetness on the palate. You can taste apple crumble. Buttery croissant shavings and caramel blend into a mixture of mild flavours.

A dry delicate almond flavour rounds the flavour profile of the cigar. The wine and cigar have an oaky dry taste.

Rocky Patel LB1 Conclusion

The opening milky chocolate and malty notes deliver a rounded pastry flavour. The flavours develop into a bit of a drying effect on the palate.

The prominent LB1 cigar flavours are earthy. You can taste apple, pepper, milk chocolate and warm pastry flavours.

The flavours develop with a slow burn that is consistent with an excellent light draw.

The medium complexity and strength evolve into a cigar with a good finish. You never get a burst of flavour or power. The cigar balance is subtle. The final smoking time was almost three hours, thanks to a very slow-burning cigar.

You can pair the cigar with apple crumble and vanilla ice cream. A sip of lightly wooded Chardonnay or a slow sipping shot of Cointreau Liqueur is magic.

The LB1 cigar paired with a shot of contreu liqueur delivers full caramel flavours. The nutty taste enhances the caramel in the LB1 cigar.

To smoke a Rocky Patel LB1 cigar, click the link.

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