Stogie Reviews: Rocky Patel ITC Robusto

19 Feb 2008

ITC Robusto Perhaps the most striking aspect of this cigar is the prelight aroma. It is sweet, thick, and alluring. The first impression is of a cigar worthy of commemorating a tenth anniversary. However, as looks can be deceiving, so can olfaction.

This five inch by 50 ring gauge, double-banded cigar was released to celebrate Rocky Patel’s decade run with Indian Tabac, his first brand. I smoked quite a few Indian Tabacs in years past, and the ITC didn’t fit at all with what I remember of them. Not that that really matters. Purely on its own, I thought the ITC was just an average cigar.

The draw was too easy and, as you might expect from that, the ash was flaky.

The smoke was wonderfully thick. The burn was somewhat erratic but never required a touch-up.

Where it suffered most, though, was taste. Not bad, just not particularly interesting or memorable. A medium strength cigar, it had a white wood taste at times and a fairly flat tobacco taste at other times. About halfway, it got very dry and added harshness in the final third.

This stick was a gift, but I think I’ve seen them for around $6. I believe it is a Nicaraguan puro, but I couldn’t find any information about it on the Rocky Patel web pages and there doesn’t seem to be an Indian Tabac site.

I’ll give this stick three out of five stogies on the StogieGuys.com scale.