Rocky Patel Number Six is anything but ordinary. @Lord Puffer Cigars, Escondido CA

The Number Six is anything but ordinary.  I visited the El Paraiso town where these cigars are crafted in early October of 2019.  A small colorful town, espresso and bright walls welcomed me each day.  Rocky Patel hosted us 4 miles from where this cigar is made.  Named the Number 6 as it was the 6th blend that they chose, simple, and not very creative.  But the name is the only thing that is ordinary.

It all starts with the Honduras grown Corojo wrapper.  It's sweet, full of caramel and cafe latte hints and just enough power to make the palate perk up.  I've been smoking these cigars on the trip, one after another, and when you combine seeing the leaves emerge from seeds, watching them being sorted and then smoking a finished, aged product, it changes how you look at the cigar.  It becomes less of a Honduras binder, Nicaraguan and Honduras filled singular smoke, and much more of an experience.  It's very different than other Rocky Patel offerings.  Subtle and flavorful, billows of smoke, and a flavor that almost seems like it was made to accent your afternoon shot of espresso.

I'm flirting with falling in love with this cigar.  I think maybe its just because I'm on this trip, drinking lots of Flor de Caña, and experiencing this with good friends.  You know what I mean.  Putting my face in the bunches of leaves and smelling the sugar and acrid smells of fermenting tobacco, eating homemade Honduran meals, and the bus rides with open windows dusting me with third world cigar affection.

I returned home from the trip hoping that the cigars tasted as good as they did while I was immersed in all things Rocky Patel.  Worried that the experience would overshadow my objectivity, I wait.  Patiently I looked at the black box gold foil packaging, and the cool large band that makes the cigar stand out against the huge portfolio Rocky Patel has created.  

Then, last week, I smoked my first one since my trip.  Yes I was transported back to the bumpy bus ride and the smells of the pilon fermenting in the barn. But I also realized that this cigar can stand on its own.  Flavor, construction and smoke production, the three things I value about any enjoyable cigar experience, all three hit close to perfect.  The Honduran Corojo wrapper is elegant and bumpy.  The wrapper isn't perfect to the eye, but the retrohale is full of caramel and earth.  

All in all, I think you should give this smoke a try.  Factory trips may be designed to make you madly fall in love with cigars, especially the ones you smoke while on the trip.  But they can also open you up to new experiences and new cigars.  It worked for me.  The Number Six is a truly unique offering from Rocky Patel and the team from Honduras. It is anything but ordinary.

JJ Williams

Lord Puffer Cigars

Escondido, CA