Cigar Review: Rocky Patel Edge Maduro

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Review was picked from the Monthly Cigar Review Group and is by DcnCan.

Thanks again Cigars Direct! (They sponsored this months review)

This is rather long and sophomoric to say the least…but I had fun! Read at your own risk:

The Edge Toro Maduro-

Rain on and off today, it is fifty four degrees with just a wisp of a breeze. The day looks, and even sounds a little lazy, a little laidback with post Thanksgiving “ahh” while the belt is cinched down to its original pre-turkey notch.

It is a perfect day to relax with the RP Edge Maduro. The presentation of the Edge is “understated.” A simple narrow band, scripted “THE EDGE” with a more modest “Rocky RP Patel” following, traced in three horizontal lines, wraps the foot. That’s all. No finger band, no huzzah, hoorah or pizzazz. Just the band nestled against the edge of the cigars foot, leaving the rest of a gorgeous, oily, darkly tantalizing wrapper exposed, saying all that needs to be said about presentation! The last color has drained from the late November leaves, dark tightly drawn sapless leaves, balanced, one might say, by this oily, tight veined leaf, rich in its earthen color.

The first scent of the Edge as it slips from the cello is as rich and deep as the maduro wrapper is in color. It has a robust tobacco bouquet. The punch slipped easily into the cap, it held, and presented a pre-light draw tempered with a mite of resistance. I could have opened it up a little or used a guillotine, but I chose to let this be and enjoy the play. The cigar wasn’t reluctant to release its breath, yet it held a certain tension like the last vestiges of summer giving way to fall.

The Edge lit well, a nice black ring descended evenly for the first half inch and then began to show some minor inequalities. The grey/white ash flaked some as the core seemed to burn a little quicker than the wrapper. I had to re-light, or rather touch up the wrapper to equal its burn with the core. Then the ash began to show even rings layered along its length like the age rings of a tree are layered along its width. There had been some initial spice, but the spice was now being dominated by a fuller cocoa and sweetness from the maduro wrapper.

The Edge rested well with a wisp of smoke rising, every now and then being teased away by the tiniest of breezes. The cigar had good weight and firmness; it felt sturdy between the thumb and forefinger. Hints of vanilla, leather, possibly mocha coffee escaped from beneath the cocoa occasionally. The thrust of the taste profile is somewhat subdued, I mean by that a certain lack of “fullness.” There seems to be a promise of an explosion of deep, rich tobacco that just fails to reach the tongue.

The burn righted itself by mid-cigar. Another flavor emerged, I couldn’t put a name to it, but it was pleasant. The Edge definitely has dimensions. Smooth, never harsh, it continued to exude a hint here, a taste there of more to come. The black ring turned the dark leaf to a grey ash, burned silent and crept slowly toward the head. It never formed a perfect circle around the circumference of the cigar, yet it never threatened to burn too quickly or to quit abruptly.

Unlike the dying leaves that are pulled from narrow branches by the wind and the rain gathered on their bodies, the Edge never seems to let go, to release its full potential. This isn’t to say the Edge doesn’t possess a plethora of flavor; it is to say rather that the Edge is aptly named. It keeps one on the “edge,” waiting, anticipating the next turn. It is tempting to smoke without resting the cigar. This would be a mistake, because in the resting comes the exploration of the aroma: the full, robust aroma of truly refined tobacco. The sweetness of the Edge’s maduro wrapper is not found in the next draw but in the cloud, the wreath of slowly drifting smoke.

With a third of the cigar left I quit writing. I just let the pleasure of smoking the RP Edge Maduro set me adrift into the joy of a lazy winter’s day.