Rocky Patel recently conducted a cigar tasting and rolling session. He told Iknoor Kaur that Cuban cigars are among worst in the world
Haven’t we all admired the way some of our favourite Hollywood actors sat on luxurious couches and lit a cigarIJ A lot of us have even tried to copy the way Al Pacino held that hand-rolled stick of clean tobacco while he rolled the smoke over his tongue and let it out with cinematic perfection. However, none of us managed to really do what they are doing because we never got our hands on anything that could be called a real cigar. Thus, to fulfill that need of almost every Indian fan of Hollywood, Rocky Patel brought down his own brand of premium cigars to the country. He recently collaborated with Cigar Conexion and conducted the first tasting and rolling session in the Capital where he cleared misconceptions and educated Indians about cigars.
According to him one of the most common myths that Indians have about cigars is that all the best cigars in the world are Cuban. Rocky rubbishes the idea and says, “If anybody who really understands the cigar industry was to evaluate Cuban cigars, they would find out that Cubans don’t even have the money for fertiliser. Their land is undernourished, they don’t spend enough time on the fermentation of the tobacco and don’t pay enough attention to the quality and construction of cigars. So honestly if cigars are Cuban, they are some of the worst quality of cigars in terms of consistency.” Managing director Cigar Conexion, Hemanth adds, “There is a world beyond Cuba. Today the quality which comes from the Caribbean side, like the Dominican and Honduras, are way superior to Cuban.”
Rocky feels that Indians have less knowledge about cigars. He explains, “A lot of people here think that cigars are harmful and not good for health. But that is not true. We don’t inhale cigars, they are not a habit-forming product, there are no chemicals in them, they are completely natural and the only thing we use to ferment the tobacco present in it is water. Plus the tobacco is fermented for five to six years which makes it an almost tar-free product. So technically, cigar smoking is much healthier than cigarette smoking. Also cigars come with different intensities. They are mild, medium and full-bodied and have different flavour profiles, too, just as wines do.”
Elaborating on the flavours of cigars, he adds, “There are no added flavours in a cigar. They are all inherent in the tobacco. One can get flavours like caramel, chocolate, white pepper, nutmeg or cinnamon that are all characteristic flavours that one gets in the mouth depending on the origin of the tobacco, the kind of plant it was and how it was fermented. The sowing of the seed, process of making and the way it is rolled impact the flavour of the cigar.”
Cigars are considered as luxury products and rightly so, says Rocky. “From the time you plant a seedling into the ground till you have a cigar in the box it takes atleast six to seven years. Three hundred different hands touch that leaf of tobacco in order to make a cigar. It is an art that has been transferred through generations. There is a labour intensive unit behind what looks like a simple cigar. This effort makes it a luxury product,” he adds.
Rocky shelves accessibility as one of the biggest reasons for the lack of popularity of cigars in India. “Premium cigars were not readily available in India. If somebody wanted to learn how to smoke a cigar they didn’t know where to go. Now the market is slowly opening up,” he informs.