Price: $8.50 – $10.50

Size: Box-Pressed Robusto 5.0″ x 50

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan

Initial Impressions: With a 95 rating and a serious fan base, the Decade by Rocky Patel is very well regarded. This cigar looks beautiful with a seamless Sumatra wrapper, clean cap, and great even firmness throughout the stick. After cutting the cap there was a slight bit of fraying but it was my own fault for making a hasty cut and not lining up the blades on the box right.

Pre-light draw: Light leather and nuttiness are making my taste buds happy. The cigar lit nice and easily and toasting the foot really brought a pleasant nutty aroma. It’s a balmy 28 degrees and snowing so this is basically the perfect time for a hike with a cigar right?

First Third: The cigar starts off nice and creamy and nutty with just a bit of coffee. There is a little bit of pepper on the finish in the smoke but it is not overpowering at all. It was interesting because the smoke definitely suggests a medium body, but the initial flavor profile and strength was almost that of a mild cigar. Still, the balance was very nice with a good amount of complexity. The draw is a little on the loose side, but each draw is producing a large amount of dense white smoke that just hovers in the air. The burn is fantastic as well.

Second Third: Now the flavor is stepping on the gas. A light leather is coming on as well as a cedar and oak. The pepper is still a great finish and is now complimented by the wood flavors. The smoke is still thick and creamy and that medium gray ash is holding on like a champ! In fact it’s rather beautiful wouldn’t you say?

Final Third: The wood and leather flavors become even stronger in the final third as the light pepper and nuts remain great on the finish. After the ash fell off the burn became a little wonky, but after a minor correction went right back to a nice even burn. The smoke is cool as a cucumber and slightly thicker right toward the end.

Conclusion: It’s safe to say that I enjoyed this smoke. 95 ratings aren’t handed out for free and certainly I would give this cigar a 90+. However, I really wanted a little bit more from this smoke. The complexity was good, and so was the balance of flavor, but I also found the flavor lacking in strength and kept wanting a little more. Still, the smoke was smooth, the burn was great, the flavors were good, and the pricing was alright. I have to respect this cigar for all of its merits, even if it wasn’t exactly what I wanted at the time.

I give this cigar a 4.25 out of 5

P.S. Pairing – I had another one of these (indoors thankfully) with a nice strong cup of espresso. Nothing else really jumped out at me as being the right choice with this flavor profile but the coffee accented this cigar very nicely.

Notes: Nuts, Pepper, Leather, Oak, Cedar, Coffee, Cream