Rocky Patel Smoking World Championship

 

Coming soon to ESPN 8 "The Ocho" is the Cigar World Smoking Championship! No, really. This is a thing. The Cigar World Smoking Championship (CWSC) has been around for 10 years and is a worldwide competition for "slow smoking" of cigars. The slower a competitor smokes their cigar, the better. Time penalties are, then, added for such faux pas as breaking ash or burning the band. The winner of the competition is the person who smokes the longest without the cigar burning out unintentionally or the ash reaching the band. The 2019 winner smoked a 5 1/8" 42 ring gauge cigar in 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 8 seconds. Sounds like it is just this side of watching grass grow or water freezing. And what fantastic prizes are in line for The World Champion, you ask?

PRIZES OF GRAND FINAL

• Rocky Patel Farm & Factory Tour
• Rocky Patel Special World Champion Humidor
• Rocky Patel Travel Humidor
• Rocky Patel Burn Lighter
• Rocky Patel V-Cutter
• ST Dupont Golden World Champion Lighter – one in the World, 24k Gold, hand made
• 24-hour all-inclusive mega-yacht experience for the World Champion and 10 guests – 180 ft Seagull yacht, private chief, cigars, champagne, water fun, cruising.
• Cuervo y Sobrinos World Champion watch
• Writing Instrument
• Boveda Humidor and Humidification Pack
• A unique bottle of spirits
• Les Fines Lames Golden Cigar Knife – only one made with gold for the World Champion
• World Champion Ring

I mean, the 24 hours of the yacht sounds cool, I guess. But otherwise, count me out Cotton.

Let me take that back for a second. Look at how they deliver the winner the trophy! Okay, count me in.

The 2020 competition was the first year that Rocky Patel was the official cigar. Rocky provides a Nicaraguan assembled cigar that features tabacco from Honduras and Nicaragua and is wrapped by a Mexican San Andreas wrapper.  These Rocky Patel cigars should not be too difficult to source and should only set you back around $9 or $10 USD per smoke depending on which of the 3 available vitolas you select.

Wrapper: Mexico

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Honduras and Nicaragua

Length: 5"

Ring Gauge: 50

Size: Robusto

The Smoke: I smoked the Robusto sized cigar on my drive to work the other morning. It was paired with a plain old cup of Joe. I used my Palio straight cutter to remove the head. The San Andreas wrapper is oily with some toothiness. The wrapper is a burnt sienna brown hue. 

The dry draw is a bit tight. It features a large amount of cedar on the palate. After lighting the cigar, the smoke is a bit harsh. The draw remains tight for the first half inch of the smoke before it begins to open to a more acceptable standard. Once open, the draw remains good for the remainder of the session. Flavor for the cigar is fairly one dimensional. The notes are leather, cedar, nuts, and some light earth. The notes are good but lack complexity during the life of the cigar. 

The construction of the cigar is okay. The burn rate is slightly uneven during the first 1/3 but it straightens out after that and never becomes an issue. Overall, the cigar is decent. Pretty one dimensional and probably not quite worth the price of entry. If you are wondering, I blazed through the 5" cigar in about hour. Far from World Champion status. Damn, I am no where near getting yacht time.

The Score: Buy a 5 pack.