At the IPCPR show at the beginning of August, Rocky Patel showed off seven new cigars that will be released on various dates before the end of the year. One of the releases is a new version of the extremely popular The Edge line, The Edge Habano. It is also the first Nicaraguan puro in The Edge series.

The press release pretty much says it all:

The Rocky Patel Premium Cigar Company announced today the release of Edge Habano Nicaragua.The Edge Habano Nicaragua is the highly anticipated extension of the ever- popular Edge line. The Edge Habano is a Nicaraguan puro, a first for any prior Edge blend. The dark and oily seed wrapper, accompanied by filler and binder tobaccos from Esteli, Condega and Jalapa, gives the cigar a full, rich profile with notes of spice, pepper, and cedar with a long finish.

The Edge Habano will be available in two different vitolas, each of which will be sold in boxes of 100. The sizes are:

  •  Toro (6 x 52) — $6.15 (Boxes of 100. $615.00)
  • Torpedo (6 x 52) — $6.40 (Boxes of 100, $640.00)

And here’s a picture of the box from IPCPR:

Rocky Patel The Edge Habano


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With the addition of the Habano, there are now six different The Edge releases with six distinct wrappers. They are:

  • The Edge Corojo
  • The Edge Maduro
  • The Edge Sumatra
  • The Edge Lite
  • The Edge Candela
  • The Edge Habano


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But enough of that, let’s get down to business, shall we?

Rocky Patel The Edge Habano Toro 1

  • Cigar Reviewed: Rocky Patel The Edge Habano Toro
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: Tabacalera Villa Cuba S.A.
  • Wrapper: Nicaragua
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Size: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 52
  • Vitola: Toro
  • MSRP: $6.15 (Boxes of 100, $615.00)
  • Release Date: September 15, 2012
  • Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 1

 

The Rocky Patel The Edge Habano seems pretty well made with a dark brown wrapper that has some oil as well as some obvious veins. The oil makes the wrapper slick, but there is some tooth as well. The cigar is fairly spongy when squeezed—almost annoyingly so, and the cap looks sloppily applied. Aroma coming off the wrapper is a combination of sweet cedar, leather and slight ammonia.


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The first third of the Rocky Patel The Edge Habano starts off with flavors of leather, sweet milk chocolate, coffee, toast and a bit of black pepper. There is very little spice on the retrohale and there is a slight bitterness that is in the background–just strong enough to be noticeable without being strong enough to negatively impact the flavors. Burn and draw are both excellent so far, and smoke production is slightly above average. Strength starts and ends the first third at a mild-medium, and while I would not be surprised if it gets stronger, it does not seem to want to do it very quickly.

Rocky Patel The Edge Habano Toro 2

Coming into the second third of The Edge Habano, the profile turns more creamy with a very strong, almost overwhelming flavor of leather becoming dominant. Other notes of coffee, cedar, earth and slight black pepper glide in and out of the profile, but none are even close to strong enough to touch the aforementioned leather flavor. There is still almost no spice on the retrohale, it is a very easy smoke to enjoy in that regard. Construction remains impressive, with both burn and draw perfect. As expected, the strength has increased, but not by much, and ends the second third at a solid medium.

Rocky Patel The Edge Habano Toro 3

The final third of the Rocky Patel continues the trend with leather, earth, cedar and slight chocolate notes fighting for dominance. The profile is noticeably more creamy than in the first two-thirds, and that balances well with the rest of the profile. I can still taste a persistent bitterness, but it is very faint, and really does not bother me that much in the grand scheme of things. Construction finishes perfect at the end with a cool to the touch nub, while the strength ends the cigar at a solid medium.

Rocky Patel The Edge Habano Toro 4


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Final Notes:

  • Previously, The Edge, including all limited edition versions, has been made in Honduras at the El Paraiso factory. This is the first time it has not been made there and as such developed a bit of a nickname, The Edge Nicaragua.
  • I am impressed with the fact that Rocky Patel has a specific date for the release. It is certainly not the norm among manufactures. Of course, only time will tell if they actually hit that release date, but so far so good.
  • I find it interesting that The Edge Habano is initially only being released in two vitolas, both of which are the exact same size and ring gauge, although The Edge line as a whole has not seen a plethora of vitolas.
  • I got the bright idea to try and count every blend that Rocky Patel produces to give y’all a definitive number, but gave up after I reached 95.
  • The ash is not the most attractive I have ever seen, and a bit flaky for my tastes, but interestingly, that did not seem to affect it in terms of how long it stayed on the cigar before falling.
  • The band on this sample were obviously preproduction, you can see the production versions in the picture of the cabinet above.
  • Construction was extremely impressive, with a burn line that almost never wavered and a draw that had the perfect amount of resistance, despite the overt sponginess when it was squeezed.
  • I have heard that Rocky Patel draw tests every single cigar that comes out of the factory. If that is so, it is impressive considering how many different blends they produce.
  • The leather note that was almost overwhelming starting in the second third was almost disconcerting. In fact, even the smoke smelled like leather.
  • The persistent bitterness that I tasted throughout the cigar was noticeable, but was just not strong enough to negatively impact the profile. 
  • The cigars for this review were provided by the Rocky Patel Cigar Company at IPCPR 2012.
  • Final smoking time for The Edge Habano was one hour and 25 minutes.

The Bottom Line: I don’t smoke a multitude of Rocky Patel cigars with any regularity, as most of the blends I have smoked have ranged from pretty good (think OR Decade, Xen by Nish Patel and the Fifty) to downright awful (think 1992), with most stuck somewhere in-between. Having said that, I have to give credit where it is due. The Rocky Patel The Edge Habano is a decent cigar with a decent, albeit not overly complex, profile at a great price point. The standout for the cigar is the construction, which quite literally could not be any better with a perfect draw and a perfect burn line that outperforms cigars that cost twice its price. You could do quite a bit worse for the price.



Final Score: 85

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Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.