Time to do a review. My palette is not what I'd call advanced, so take this as you will- a review by a n00b who may or may not know what they are talking about. Where I might find subtle hints of sage and elderberry, you may find indistinguishable one dimensional crap. Hence the name of the review. 
Cigar: Rocky Patel Fumas
Length: 6"
Ring: 46
Wrapper Color: Maduro, very dark
Filler: Trimmings from RP Vintage 1990, 1992 and Fusion
Shape: Lonsdale
I had a bit of a highway drive today and decided to have a morning cigar with a cup of road coffee. The cigar had been in my humidor for maybe a week at 70% RH, stored in cellophane. I smoked one last week and the impressions were the same as this.
Prelight
The wrapper is very very dark. There is no way it is this dark naturally, especially with a budget cigar like this. It smells good, sweet and earthy. The wrapper is not toothy, the construction is pretty good, and the tip tapers to a twisted finish- whatever you call that. The thing just looks good, to me, with the exception of the mysteriously dark wrapper.
Light:
The Fumas lit easily and the first few puffs were very light tasting, pleasantly tasting of cocoa. Seemed to light evenly all the way around. Nice easy draw with just the right amount of resistance.
First Third:
The first third of the Fumas was a very tasty combination of cocoa, nutty flavors. It was delicious, producing a decent amount of smoke (though I was in a car with the window cracked, so it was a bit hard to tell. The taste ranged from cocoa and nuttiness to a hint of woodiness, almost like a boat building shop, if you know what that smells like ( I love the smell personally.) Not overpowering, and the tasty, toasty, chocolatey flavors prevailed throughout the first third.
The ash burns dark- really really dark, almost black- I’ve never seen anything quite like it in a cigar ash- you almost couldn’t tell the ash from the wrapper if the light was bad. The burn was a bit uneven, and required a couple of touchups. The ash actually fell off only ¾ of an inch into it, which I should have anticipated, being a short filler cigar. My shirt was none the worse for wear.
Second Third:
The taste completely, and I mean completely changed in the second third- mostly gone was the nutty, cocoa taste, and it was replaced by a startling sweetness with vanilla overtones, a but grassy/vegetably but still very sweet and creamy. ( I guess I must have hit a different part of the filler). This lasted the entire second third of the cigar, and was very tasty. There was still a hint of the earlier tastes, but it became much more velvety sweet. I really couldn’t believe how much the flavor had changed.
The burn issues improved, but it required one or two more minor touchups from the lighter. The taste improved when it was burning evenly, and became less good (but still not bad) if it was uneven, as you’d expect.
Final Third:
The final third of the cigar started with an abrupt varnish like taste, which moved on to a more harsh grassy taste. This never went away, and the varnish taste remained despite purging so I let it go out with about an inch and a half to two inches to go. It’s probably not worth smoking the final third of the cigar. Pitch it as soon as you hit the first bad taste.
As far as the dark wrapper goes, it is not a terrible dye job, as my lips remained their normal color and did not turn black, and my saliva was not black. Whatever they did to make it this color, it seems to stick to the wrapper.
Cliff Notes:
Good budget cigar, great first third, good but way different second third, worthless finish. I wonder what the hell they did to the wrapper to make it burn so dark. Would Smoke Again. Quite tasty. I wanted to smoke another after this one was done, but alas, I only grabbed it as a road stick so I didn’t have a second one.
Cigar: Rocky Patel Fumas
Length: 6"
Ring: 46
Wrapper Color: Maduro, very dark
Filler: Trimmings from RP Vintage 1990, 1992 and Fusion
Shape: Lonsdale
I had a bit of a highway drive today and decided to have a morning cigar with a cup of road coffee. The cigar had been in my humidor for maybe a week at 70% RH, stored in cellophane. I smoked one last week and the impressions were the same as this.
Prelight
The wrapper is very very dark. There is no way it is this dark naturally, especially with a budget cigar like this. It smells good, sweet and earthy. The wrapper is not toothy, the construction is pretty good, and the tip tapers to a twisted finish- whatever you call that. The thing just looks good, to me, with the exception of the mysteriously dark wrapper.
Light:
The Fumas lit easily and the first few puffs were very light tasting, pleasantly tasting of cocoa. Seemed to light evenly all the way around. Nice easy draw with just the right amount of resistance.
First Third:
The first third of the Fumas was a very tasty combination of cocoa, nutty flavors. It was delicious, producing a decent amount of smoke (though I was in a car with the window cracked, so it was a bit hard to tell. The taste ranged from cocoa and nuttiness to a hint of woodiness, almost like a boat building shop, if you know what that smells like ( I love the smell personally.) Not overpowering, and the tasty, toasty, chocolatey flavors prevailed throughout the first third.
The ash burns dark- really really dark, almost black- I’ve never seen anything quite like it in a cigar ash- you almost couldn’t tell the ash from the wrapper if the light was bad. The burn was a bit uneven, and required a couple of touchups. The ash actually fell off only ¾ of an inch into it, which I should have anticipated, being a short filler cigar. My shirt was none the worse for wear.
Second Third:
The taste completely, and I mean completely changed in the second third- mostly gone was the nutty, cocoa taste, and it was replaced by a startling sweetness with vanilla overtones, a but grassy/vegetably but still very sweet and creamy. ( I guess I must have hit a different part of the filler). This lasted the entire second third of the cigar, and was very tasty. There was still a hint of the earlier tastes, but it became much more velvety sweet. I really couldn’t believe how much the flavor had changed.
The burn issues improved, but it required one or two more minor touchups from the lighter. The taste improved when it was burning evenly, and became less good (but still not bad) if it was uneven, as you’d expect.
Final Third:
The final third of the cigar started with an abrupt varnish like taste, which moved on to a more harsh grassy taste. This never went away, and the varnish taste remained despite purging so I let it go out with about an inch and a half to two inches to go. It’s probably not worth smoking the final third of the cigar. Pitch it as soon as you hit the first bad taste.
As far as the dark wrapper goes, it is not a terrible dye job, as my lips remained their normal color and did not turn black, and my saliva was not black. Whatever they did to make it this color, it seems to stick to the wrapper.
Cliff Notes:
Good budget cigar, great first third, good but way different second third, worthless finish. I wonder what the hell they did to the wrapper to make it burn so dark. Would Smoke Again. Quite tasty. I wanted to smoke another after this one was done, but alas, I only grabbed it as a road stick so I didn’t have a second one.
