Smoked: Rocky Patel Decade

Smoked at: The woods of East Texas

I stopped by and grabbed a sixer of Real Ale's Axis IPA to enjoy during the game. The game was a barn burner of a pitcher's duel for the first several innings and a couple of the beers. Around the middle of the fourth inning I decided to raid my tupperdor for something special.

I saw something I've had a couple times before, and thought she'd be perfect. I pulled out a Rocky Patel Decade robusto I got in a 5 pack back with an order a few months prior. I sat back in my chair and looked at the wrapper. It was a rich dark chocolate color and looked to be oily and luxurious. Not many noticeable seems or veins, no soft spots so I sniffed the foot and could smell chocolate and berries. I made my v cut and found another near perfect draw. The flavor was lightly fruity and tasted of chocolate.

After lighting her up I noticed a strong woody flavor with a little pepper. She had a very pleasant smoke with a strong chocolate and spice retrohale and began to pick up nuances of bourbon the closer I got to the middle third of the cigar. I sat her down long enough to crack open another IPA near the end of the sixth inning of a scoreless game. The smoke paired very well with the beer as it also does in the morning with a strong dark roast.

Into the second third I noticed that the woody flavor from earlier on was much less pronounced and more reminiscent of bourbon. The retrohale now tastes peppery with vanilla and a bit of clove. I also noticed that Texas was finally on the board with a run in the seventh. This was turning out to be another great cigar experience. I've followed this team since before they acquired Nolan Ryan in the late eighties. One $hitty season always led to another. Must be what Cleveland fans felt. No offence to Cleveland here. LOL

The final third finds me tasting mainly pepper with the flavor increasing as you get closer to the nub. I was still tasting clove and vanilla on the retrohale. Very nice flavorful smoke. As I finished the nub Texas finished Arizona with a 5 - 0 victory in game five. 'Bout damned time they brought one home. First one in over 50 years.

After a hell of an experience like this, I cracked open one last beer and began writing this review. Now it's time to focus on Dallas' game Sunday with the Eagles. Not going to be an easy one.....