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So what happened between Rocky and the warehouse?
Vidarien
Posts: 246
It was suggested on the sister that theres been some fallout between RP and the forces that be, which is why Rocky daily deals of any kind have essentially disappeared, kind of like what happened with Cusano a year back or so. I was just wondering if there was any truth to any of this because RP has essentially disappeared from the radar when it comes to deals etc. Not to say I mind because I only really liked 3 or so of his new-brand-a-week blends, but still its kind of odd how his stuff has just kind of disappeared from being spoken about.
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"Long ashes my friends."
haha true
Maybe the moral of the story (aside of not turning into a RP or Gurkha buisness model just to sell more) is to save a couple cigars from a really special blend in your humidor for the long-term, just in case the producer decides to ruin it after it gets too popular.
on that note, the only Patel cigar that i truly liked was the OSG. the Nording was good as well but that wasnt 100% rocky so i cant say that it is "his" blend. i can see why others are into RP, i just cant get behind his blending style.
Definitely going to take them up on it since I love the few Rocky Patel cigars I've smoked.
In fact, I'll always have a box worth of Vintage 1999's in my humidor.
To each his or her own!
there are plenty of brands out there that are inexpensive that have nothing but respect on this and many other boards. (5 vegas, Cu-Avana, Sancho Panza, etc...) these brands dont have 50, 60, or 100 different blends to their name.
the perception is summed up in the concept:
"Jack of all trades, master of none"
it doesnt matter if that sentiment is true, its the perception that counts. perception is everything in a business like this, and (ive heard this a million time in my business) perception is reality.
the more blends that come out, the more the existing blends get muddied in peoples minds (was that the Renaissance or the Patel Bros? ) ... especially since there is a very distinct blending style in most RP cigars.
this leads to people not caring about many, if not all blends. who cares if you cant remember what one it is or if it doesnt taste THAT much different than 5 other cigars in the brand
Most Gurkha's never suited my taste and it used to be they had a distinct creamy flavor. Now they've got so many cigars out there everyone could find one that they like.
Unfortunately Rocky went this same way. Rocky used to have a distinct flavor as well now he's all over the board. There are still some good cigars out there, Edge Sumatra and Patel Bros come to mind. But I can't pick up an RP cigar anymore and know 9 times out of 10 I'll like it. It used to be that way for me. It wasn't that he made my all time favorites but he was my go to brand. Now I have to ask someone who's had one about it before I'll try a new one. A lot has changed for the RP brand, first off he continued making cigars that were very specifically named (and should have been limited) long after that tobacco ran out (1990, 1992, 1999).
Second he changed where cigars were made and by whom they were made and in a lot of cases completely changed where he got the tobacco from. I can't even get into this without going on my rant about how cigars should be labeled with years just like Wine is.
Finally and most importantly, IMHO, Rocky parted ways with the guy who blended all those original award winning cigars. Jesus FuegoI've since discovered that it wasn't RP cigars that I liked it was Jesus Fuego. Again he doesn't have any cigars in my top 5 and only one that debateable for my top 10 but I know I can reach for a J. Fuego and enjoy in 9 times out of 10.
For anyone that used to be a RP fan like I was try a J.Fuego. They aren't the easiest to come by as he handles his own distribution but they're worth it.
If you really want to get me on a rant just ask me how I feel about Pete Johnson and Tatuaje .... speaking of which I need to remove this tatuaje signature ...
So he gets:
a) His cigar in most of his merchants' customers humidors
b) A boost in sales, at his normal price to the merchant
c) A perception of quality by those customers
Honestly, if Rocky has a problem with that, he should just close up shop and do something else, because he has no business sense whatsoever.
I used to be a total Tatuaje ****. Pete had the Midas touch for me, everything he did was awesome. Probably still is. I mean one of my top 3 cigars is still the Tat Cojonu 2003. His cigars are still good to me but his damned business model pisses me off. Without going overboard I'll explain. I chased down a Tat Black then the Ghost Cigar (El Truinfador) then first Halloween cigar. Now it seems everytime I turn around I'm supposed to be chasing down some new limited edition, hard to find cigar.
Don't get me wrong I enjoy a limited edition cigar if there is a reason for it, i.e. Carillo Short Run. If there is only enough tobacco to make 1000 cigars cool go for it. But if you're doing it just to have people chasing it down.
F**k You.
None of these limited cigars have truly limited tobacco or anything really that special to them.
If you want to control who is selling them or create some mystique to them follow the Opus X model or Davidoff's model. Don't just be a pain in the @ss.
Rocky built a lot of his rep by travelling from B&M to B&M if those guys are no longer carrying his brand ...
You get what I'm saying about following the Opus X or Davidoff white label model? You have to meet all kinds of requirements to carry those, online retailers included. That is enough mystique to me.
one more thing...the Winter Blend 2009 cigar was a damn good cigar.
"Long ashes my friends."
Also have you tried any J. Fuego's?
"Long ashes my friends."