Backstory: The RP Ocean Club is an exclusive release for Holt’s Cigar Company based out of Philadelphia, PA. At 6.5” long and a 52 ring gauge this was certainly a larger cigar and presented very well. I have not been able to get too many specifics on the wrapper and blend, but here is what I do know.
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Binder: Mexican (I’m guessing San Andres) Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Appearance: I have to say that this really is a beautiful appearance for this RP, it has very tight seams that nearly appear as a barber pole with how the wrapper is pulled around the stick. There are no significant veins, and a slight box press that gives this an almost oval shape. A medium red-brown wrapper is a great contrast to the blue and gold double bands.
The Nose: Off of the wrapper alone, I get notes of a slightly sweet caramel and mild dry hay notes that remind me of a hay loft in summer. The foot gives off the same notes, but stronger and slightly more pungent, with the sweetness being more dominant here.
The Lick: Very strong spice notes make the lips tingle slightly as well as very strong salty caramel tones as well.
1st Light & 1st Third: Light time is 12:36 MST December 14th, 2011. Drink of choice today is regular Coca-Cola which I think will add to some of the sweetness that I received off of the nose and lick. I cut the torpedo tip at a 30 degree angle which cuts cleanly and easily. I spark up my Xikar Stratosphere and toast the foot for around 20-25 seconds and then pull on it revealing an easy light and a dead nuts perfect draw. Slightly resistance offers just enough to produce a good amount of smoke while also not making me feel like I am sucking on a straw either. It is a very cool and light mouth feel smoke with notes right off the light of caramel, black pepper, and toasted almond but also being slightly bitter at first as well. So far at the start the dominant flavors are the caramel, vanilla and half and half cream with a touch of that initial toasted almond. It is worth noting, that the sweetness is just slightly overpowering at the moment and is reminiscent of Southern Sweet Tea. The burn is already wonky however regardless that the light was even and didn’t start with a run. So far the uneven burn has not affected the smoke but it does bother my OCD side lol.
After the first inch the pepper disappears immediately and the spice ratchets down a notch as well, but still present enough to keep me interested in the stick. The smoke thickens up and some more body to the mouth feel is added along as well, along with a sweet and chewy cedar too. The toasted almond and cream are now rolling in and out somewhat randomly, sometimes starting at the front of the tongue and other times only present on the retrohale. It isn’t hugely complex at this point; not to say that I don’t enjoy it, the creamy and woody profile has certainly been enjoyable and kept me entertained. The smoke is still cool and the draw is still spot on, but I have not picked up many other notes as of yet, especially the leather that I was expecting. A very slight twinge of anise shows up at the very start when the smoke hits the tip of your tongue. At this point the run has become severe enough that I ash it (1.5” long at the short end of the run, 2” at the long end) and then touch up and even out the burn.
2nd Third: I don’t feel that the RP is complex enough to warrant a ¼ stick breakdown so I am limiting it to thirds instead. After the ash and touch-up, the same flavors are still present but the prominence of them and their order at when and how they hit the palate have changed. The main profile has now switched to a “new” type of caramel, more of a burnt one that reminds me of what you get when you caramelize sugar or… well caramel lol. Vanilla with the Southern Sweet Tea sweetness and the richer half and half have now taken over the spice and woody notes instead. A little later on, the spice and anise start to build at a slow but constant rate, hitting the middle to back of your tongue. The Coca-Cola is pairing significantly well at this point in the stick, meaning that it is enhancing and bringing out that sweetness and burnt caramel. Towards the end of the 2nd third, a mild oak comes to play and helps to round out and balance the sweetness better. The ash falls again at another 1.5” of burn but is still wonky and uneven.
Final Third: With just about 2.5” left on the stick, I am astonished at how quickly mine has burned. I have not been puffing on it hard, nor have I been smoking it like a chimney, but it is appearing that I will finish this right around the hour mark or so. The hand feel before I lit it was somewhat light, but not overly so. I’m going to speculate that it was not super densely packed and that it might have been very slightly dry, leading to a quickly smoked RP. The smoke just now starts to get warm and some bitter tones start to show as of now. The black pepper comes black out to show its face again, along with oak, cedar and caramel still. The sweeter flavors take a back seat though and the spice and anise become the big players for the rest of the stick. At the very very end I finally pick up some of the “old” leather that I was expecting to taste from the beginning, but it is only picked up mildly and only at the end of the retrohale and as an aftertaste. The heat from the smoke finally gets warm enough that it starts to burn my tongue and mouth, signaling the end of this smoke for me. Final burn time is 1:23 MST.
Final Thoughts: Overall, the taste was pretty solid for a medium bodied stick for me, but the shortness of the smoking time and the severe burn issues which were present throughout the entirety of the stick took away from the experience enough for me to give this a bit of a lower score. It was a solid medium bodied stick at best up until the very final inch where it finally turned medium+. The construction was solid though, and the draw was perfect which helps to balance the score as well.
Great review as always Irish. Do you think it burned fast or you smoked it fast? I'm just asking because you said it got hot at the end and all. It'll be interesting to compare burns between yours and Robbys to see if this is a weird stick or something more common.
Thanks a ton Wolf and Ken!! I think it burned quick simply because I have greatly lower down my smoking speed. Also it did feel rather light in the hand but I'm very interested in what Rob had to say!!
Thanks for the info! Also, do you normally cut on an angle? I've heard some people do this...does it help the draw or something? By any chance, did the run coincide with the angle of the cut? It seems theoretically possible that an angled draw could cause any angled burn...but maybe I'm just nuts from playing with mice inside a concrete basement for the past 5 or so hours...LoL
I did cut it at a 30 degree angle. I do this because it directs the smoke in different ways, so it will hit your tongue mainly or the roof of your mouth and it does change how the flavors present themselves and how strongly. I don't think it messes with the burn but I could easily be mistaken.
Ocean Club - Rocky Patel
Country of Origin: Honduran
Strength: Medium
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Mexican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
Vitola: Torpedo - 6.5 x 52
Time in Humi: 3 weeks
Rocky Patel is the energizer bunny of the cigar industry. Every few minutes he releases something new. The Ocean Club is an exclusive cigar and can only be found at that particular retailer. Ok, I'm done with the pre-game show.
Prelight: It's a good looking smoke. The wrapper has a nice oily look, but for the life of me I cannot find any info on it other than it's a Cuban Seed Nicaraguan wrapper. So that's what I'm going with. The wrapper gives off some leather and earthy notes prelight. I clipped the cap with my Xi and found a PERFECT draw. I mean, it was the best draw I've had. Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust right. The prelight draw gave me some sweet tobacco notes as well.
Beginning: I fired it up with my Colibi hybrid and the fist puff was a yawner. I really got nothing out of the first few puffs. After about 10 minutes it started to get going. The flavors were very subtle. Some creamy and toasty notes were the main things I noticed. Absolutely no pepper. It was devoid of pepper, if you will. The retorhale was super smooth, but didn't offer up much. The first inch or so was Mild and kinda boring.
Middle: But I've learned to be patient. I grabbed my book and took a seat. The burn was pretty straight throughout and the smoke seemed to get a little thicker as we went. The flavors built up as well. Nothing too huge, but they got to a nice level and I was reminded that I was smoking a pretty solid cigar. It is the kind of smoke I would give to someone who was new to the hobby. It had some nice things happening and there is no way it could overpower you. It's was really perfect for what I was doing, which was sitting in the sun on a winter afternoon and reading my book.
End: So this turned out to be a nice little smoke. Nothing fancy, but it held my interest and even sruprized me toward the end. The last 2 inches were really nice. It had kicked things up to a mild/medium body. the flavors were more pronounced. The creamy texture held strong and the sweet tobacco notes really took off. For me, the main players were tobacco and ceder. Throw in some tasted bread and nut flavors and you're smoking something that is pretty nice. I keep saying nice, but that's the best word for it. It was a nice smoke. Not earth shattering or life altering, but just a nice smoke. Kinda reminded me of a less potent Morrow Castle.
Construction: Perfect. The look was great, the wrapper was pristine, the draw was godly, the burn was crisp. I couldn't complain about the construction even if I wanted to. Spot on.
Final Thoughts: Here it comes. It was a really nice smoke. If I had someone who I wanted to turn on to smoking, this would probably be the stick I'd share with them. It looks good, smokes good, tastes good. It's a great first smoke. But it also has it's place with seasoned smokers. It's not quite a "yard gar", but it's something you can smoke and enjoy while reading a book or cleaning the gutters or taking the dog for a walk. Actually this would be a GREAT golf smoke! Oh, that just hit me. You could go through 2 of these in 18 holes without wanting to puke. I like that!
Scores:
Smoke Time: About 95 minutes
Price point: N/A - This was courtesy of Mike, but I think they are like $5, which is just about right.
Appearance: 9 - Change up the 1994 band and this could be a beauty.
Construction: 10 - Dead. Ass. Perfect.
Flavor: 8.5 - Simple notes that gained strength from the start.
Overall: 8.75 - This cigar impressed me by the end. I think I found my new golfing stick!
Thanks again to Mike for supplying Irish and I. Sorry for the delay on getting these up as well. Hopefully Brett and I can get this thing moving from here on out!
Great review as always Irish. Do you think it burned fast or you smoked it fast? I'm just asking because you said it got hot at the end and all. It'll be interesting to compare burns between yours and Robbys to see if this is a weird stick or something more common.
I had no burn issues at all and it lasted about as long as I anticipated. I noticed that Brett said it felt light in hand, I actually remember mine feeling pretty good in hand. Not overly substantial or heavy, but a nice weight to it.
Great review as always Irish. Do you think it burned fast or you smoked it fast? I'm just asking because you said it got hot at the end and all. It'll be interesting to compare burns between yours and Robbys to see if this is a weird stick or something more common.
I had no burn issues at all and it lasted about as long as I anticipated. I noticed that Brett said it felt light in hand, I actually remember mine feeling pretty good in hand. Not overly substantial or heavy, but a nice weight to it.
Thanks guys! Yeah I think mine just wasn't packed too tight, but all in all we both got extremely similar notes from it and other than my burn issues we both came to about the same conclusions. Very very nice review Rob, spot on again!!!
Great review as always Irish. Do you think it burned fast or you smoked it fast? I'm just asking because you said it got hot at the end and all. It'll be interesting to compare burns between yours and Robbys to see if this is a weird stick or something more common.
I had no burn issues at all and it lasted about as long as I anticipated. I noticed that Brett said it felt light in hand, I actually remember mine feeling pretty good in hand. Not overly substantial or heavy, but a nice weight to it.
Excellent review, this has really turned out to be a great thread! I kinda want to try one of these now, from your tasting notes...would you say it is possible to compare to the Park Ave? I've also heard that described as having toasty flavors, and creamy like Brett said. Maybe a bit more substantial than the Park Ave though?
Great job guys! We in the field get a great feel for a particular smoke when you guys do em back to back like this. Because of your great information I would never smoke this particular stogie. However, there are a number of cigars I would not have had the desire to try and have changed my mind after your reviews. Keep up the good work boys! ROCK!
that's correct... I thinks we have the AB Trilogy next, then the Fonseca then we are wrapping this baby up with the AB Black Market... I'll confer with that crazy Irishman and get this moving again...
so i've dropped the ball on this a little... got swept up in some other ventures and work got in the way a little too... so I conferred with Brett and we'll have another review up by this weekend and hopefully wrap this all up next week... sorry for the delay on this guys... but it's gonna get pretty good with these last three sticks!
The AB Black Market is one of the best cigars ( for me at least) released last year. As soon as I can, I intend to get a box of these and start putting some time on them.
The AB Black Market is one of the best cigars ( for me at least) released last year. As soon as I can, I intend to get a box of these and start putting some time on them.
+1 except for me one box to age and one to smoke from
The AB Black Market is one of the best cigars ( for me at least) released last year. As soon as I can, I intend to get a box of these and start putting some time on them.
+1 except for me one box to age and one to smoke from
These sound good. Another new release that I haven't tried yet. I just can't keep up to all of them. Maybe it's a good thing that I don't have access to all these sticks and B&M's and whatknot. I may never be home otherwise.
If anybody has a few of these lying around and wouldn't mind parting with one of them, I'll make it worth your while.
Comments
Backstory:
The RP Ocean Club is an exclusive release for Holt’s Cigar Company based out of Philadelphia, PA. At 6.5” long and a 52 ring gauge this was certainly a larger cigar and presented very well. I have not been able to get too many specifics on the wrapper and blend, but here is what I do know.
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Mexican (I’m guessing San Andres)
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Appearance:
I have to say that this really is a beautiful appearance for this RP, it has very tight seams that nearly appear as a barber pole with how the wrapper is pulled around the stick. There are no significant veins, and a slight box press that gives this an almost oval shape. A medium red-brown wrapper is a great contrast to the blue and gold double bands.
The Nose:
Off of the wrapper alone, I get notes of a slightly sweet caramel and mild dry hay notes that remind me of a hay loft in summer. The foot gives off the same notes, but stronger and slightly more pungent, with the sweetness being more dominant here.
The Lick:
Very strong spice notes make the lips tingle slightly as well as very strong salty caramel tones as well.
1st Light & 1st Third:
Light time is 12:36 MST December 14th, 2011. Drink of choice today is regular Coca-Cola which I think will add to some of the sweetness that I received off of the nose and lick. I cut the torpedo tip at a 30 degree angle which cuts cleanly and easily. I spark up my Xikar Stratosphere and toast the foot for around 20-25 seconds and then pull on it revealing an easy light and a dead nuts perfect draw. Slightly resistance offers just enough to produce a good amount of smoke while also not making me feel like I am sucking on a straw either. It is a very cool and light mouth feel smoke with notes right off the light of caramel, black pepper, and toasted almond but also being slightly bitter at first as well. So far at the start the dominant flavors are the caramel, vanilla and half and half cream with a touch of that initial toasted almond. It is worth noting, that the sweetness is just slightly overpowering at the moment and is reminiscent of Southern Sweet Tea. The burn is already wonky however regardless that the light was even and didn’t start with a run. So far the uneven burn has not affected the smoke but it does bother my OCD side lol.
After the first inch the pepper disappears immediately and the spice ratchets down a notch as well, but still present enough to keep me interested in the stick. The smoke thickens up and some more body to the mouth feel is added along as well, along with a sweet and chewy cedar too. The toasted almond and cream are now rolling in and out somewhat randomly, sometimes starting at the front of the tongue and other times only present on the retrohale. It isn’t hugely complex at this point; not to say that I don’t enjoy it, the creamy and woody profile has certainly been enjoyable and kept me entertained. The smoke is still cool and the draw is still spot on, but I have not picked up many other notes as of yet, especially the leather that I was expecting. A very slight twinge of anise shows up at the very start when the smoke hits the tip of your tongue. At this point the run has become severe enough that I ash it (1.5” long at the short end of the run, 2” at the long end) and then touch up and even out the burn.
2nd Third:
I don’t feel that the RP is complex enough to warrant a ¼ stick breakdown so I am limiting it to thirds instead. After the ash and touch-up, the same flavors are still present but the prominence of them and their order at when and how they hit the palate have changed. The main profile has now switched to a “new” type of caramel, more of a burnt one that reminds me of what you get when you caramelize sugar or… well caramel lol. Vanilla with the Southern Sweet Tea sweetness and the richer half and half have now taken over the spice and woody notes instead. A little later on, the spice and anise start to build at a slow but constant rate, hitting the middle to back of your tongue. The Coca-Cola is pairing significantly well at this point in the stick, meaning that it is enhancing and bringing out that sweetness and burnt caramel. Towards the end of the 2nd third, a mild oak comes to play and helps to round out and balance the sweetness better. The ash falls again at another 1.5” of burn but is still wonky and uneven.
Final Third:
With just about 2.5” left on the stick, I am astonished at how quickly mine has burned. I have not been puffing on it hard, nor have I been smoking it like a chimney, but it is appearing that I will finish this right around the hour mark or so. The hand feel before I lit it was somewhat light, but not overly so. I’m going to speculate that it was not super densely packed and that it might have been very slightly dry, leading to a quickly smoked RP. The smoke just now starts to get warm and some bitter tones start to show as of now. The black pepper comes black out to show its face again, along with oak, cedar and caramel still. The sweeter flavors take a back seat though and the spice and anise become the big players for the rest of the stick. At the very very end I finally pick up some of the “old” leather that I was expecting to taste from the beginning, but it is only picked up mildly and only at the end of the retrohale and as an aftertaste. The heat from the smoke finally gets warm enough that it starts to burn my tongue and mouth, signaling the end of this smoke for me. Final burn time is 1:23 MST.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, the taste was pretty solid for a medium bodied stick for me, but the shortness of the smoking time and the severe burn issues which were present throughout the entirety of the stick took away from the experience enough for me to give this a bit of a lower score. It was a solid medium bodied stick at best up until the very final inch where it finally turned medium+. The construction was solid though, and the draw was perfect which helps to balance the score as well.
Rating: 3+ Tobacco Leaves.
Country of Origin: Honduran
Strength: Medium
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Mexican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
Vitola: Torpedo - 6.5 x 52
Time in Humi: 3 weeks
Rocky Patel is the energizer bunny of the cigar industry. Every few minutes he releases something new. The Ocean Club is an exclusive cigar and can only be found at that particular retailer. Ok, I'm done with the pre-game show.
Prelight: It's a good looking smoke. The wrapper has a nice oily look, but for the life of me I cannot find any info on it other than it's a Cuban Seed Nicaraguan wrapper. So that's what I'm going with. The wrapper gives off some leather and earthy notes prelight. I clipped the cap with my Xi and found a PERFECT draw. I mean, it was the best draw I've had. Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust right. The prelight draw gave me some sweet tobacco notes as well.
Beginning: I fired it up with my Colibi hybrid and the fist puff was a yawner. I really got nothing out of the first few puffs. After about 10 minutes it started to get going. The flavors were very subtle. Some creamy and toasty notes were the main things I noticed. Absolutely no pepper. It was devoid of pepper, if you will. The retorhale was super smooth, but didn't offer up much. The first inch or so was Mild and kinda boring.
Middle: But I've learned to be patient. I grabbed my book and took a seat. The burn was pretty straight throughout and the smoke seemed to get a little thicker as we went. The flavors built up as well. Nothing too huge, but they got to a nice level and I was reminded that I was smoking a pretty solid cigar. It is the kind of smoke I would give to someone who was new to the hobby. It had some nice things happening and there is no way it could overpower you. It's was really perfect for what I was doing, which was sitting in the sun on a winter afternoon and reading my book.
End: So this turned out to be a nice little smoke. Nothing fancy, but it held my interest and even sruprized me toward the end. The last 2 inches were really nice. It had kicked things up to a mild/medium body. the flavors were more pronounced. The creamy texture held strong and the sweet tobacco notes really took off. For me, the main players were tobacco and ceder. Throw in some tasted bread and nut flavors and you're smoking something that is pretty nice. I keep saying nice, but that's the best word for it. It was a nice smoke. Not earth shattering or life altering, but just a nice smoke. Kinda reminded me of a less potent Morrow Castle.
Construction: Perfect. The look was great, the wrapper was pristine, the draw was godly, the burn was crisp. I couldn't complain about the construction even if I wanted to. Spot on.
Final Thoughts: Here it comes. It was a really nice smoke. If I had someone who I wanted to turn on to smoking, this would probably be the stick I'd share with them. It looks good, smokes good, tastes good. It's a great first smoke. But it also has it's place with seasoned smokers. It's not quite a "yard gar", but it's something you can smoke and enjoy while reading a book or cleaning the gutters or taking the dog for a walk. Actually this would be a GREAT golf smoke! Oh, that just hit me. You could go through 2 of these in 18 holes without wanting to puke. I like that!
Scores:
Smoke Time: About 95 minutes
Price point: N/A - This was courtesy of Mike, but I think they are like $5, which is just about right.
Appearance: 9 - Change up the 1994 band and this could be a beauty.
Construction: 10 - Dead. Ass. Perfect.
Flavor: 8.5 - Simple notes that gained strength from the start.
Overall: 8.75 - This cigar impressed me by the end. I think I found my new golfing stick!
Thanks again to Mike for supplying Irish and I. Sorry for the delay on getting these up as well. Hopefully Brett and I can get this thing moving from here on out!
Next up...
If anybody has a few of these lying around and wouldn't mind parting with one of them, I'll make it worth your while.