Cigar: Rocky Patel '10 Year Panatelas' (8/10)

Rocky Patel is a well known name in circles of cigar aficionados and his company produces a range of cigars from the moderately priced to premium cigars in the same price range as the best Davidoff or Montecristos. The company is relatively new, however, it has certainly made a name for itself, and we were very impressed with the cigars we tried.

My associate and I tried the small panatelas which were aged 10 years. These are among the cheapest cigars produced by Rocky Patel, but we were very impressed. They are made of Nicaraguan long filler in a dark Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper. Typical of a dark maduro cigar, the panatelas had a very strong and spicy but well-balanced flavour that was quite enjoyable. For the first few minutes of the smoke, the cigar was a little too hot for my taste, but as soon as the tar built up slightly, they were considerably nicer, and thankfully the tar did not build-up to excessive levels towards the end.

A tin of five of these small panatelas will cost around £25, so about a fiver each. For their size, this might seem a bit expensive, but they have as much flavour in them as a churchill would at three-times the price. We definitely recommend the Rocky Patels for any special occasion or times in which you just want a great smoke.

Smoking time: 20-25 minutes

Flavour: 9/10

Smoke Sweetness: 4/10

Tar (1=very wet, 10=very dry): 5/10

Value for Money: 5/10

Indulgence Factor: 8/10

Overall Rating: 8/10

Cigar: Jacob van Meer Corona (4/10)

Jacob van Meer is another Dutch cigar manufacturer, and I have found it very difficult to find them for sale in the UK via the internet. Nevertheless, they are readily available in the EU. Their coronas are made of Belgian short filler (stems and bits) in an Indonesian tobacco wrapper.

We thought these cigars were alright, certainly nothing special, and I have very little to comment on. Moderate tar, neither a dry nor sweet smoke, they were simply a fairly average cigar. I have little complaint, except that they were loosely packed which made them smoke a bit hotter than would be desirable.

In the Netherlands a box of ten of the Jacob van Meer Coronas will cost around €13. In the UK, if you can find them, I would expect the price to be at least £17 for ten, due to the extra tax.

Smoking time: 20-30 minutes

Flavour: 5/10

Smoke Sweetness: 5/10

Tar (1=very wet, 10=very dry): 5/10

Value for Money: 5/10

Indulgence Factor: 3/10

Overall Rating: 4/10

Pipe Tobacco: Kendal Kentucky Nougat (7/10)

Nougat [noo-guht, noo-gah]

-noun

A chewy or brittle candy containing almonds or other nuts and sometimes fruit.

Kentucky [kuhn-tuhk-ee]

-noun

A southeast-central state in the USA, known as the bluegrass state, and famous for breaded chicken, horses and conservatives with unintelligible accents.

Well, when it comes to the Kendal Kentucky Nougat by Gawith and Hoggarth, I am not sure about 'Kentucky' descriptor, but certainly I would agree that 'nougat' is an appropriate term. Not that the tobacco is a chewy or brittle candy, but rather that there is certainly a nutty caramel butterscotch flavour to the smoke. It is also sweet, but overtly so, and for the most part, is quite pleasant. The primary problem is that the tar itself is quite sour, and there is a considerable amount of it.

Overall, this tobacco is definitely worth a try, I suspect many will like it, but be prepared for the tar... I personally decided to smoke this one through filters to cut down on this detractor.

• Flavour: 7/10
• Smoke Sweetness: 6/10
• Tar (1=wet, 10=dry): 2/10
• Value for Money: 5/10
• Indulgence Factor: 7/10
• Overall Rating: 7/10

Cigarillo: Panter Mignon Sweets (4/10)

Upon first seeing the name 'Mignon Sweets,' the only thought that ran through my head was 'what a bloody pretentious name!' Upon having done a bit of research, Panter is a very well-selling brand, so they must be doing something right... but onto the cigarillo itself.

The Mignon Sweets were most certainly sweet, a little too sweet for my taste, but I can appreciate that some people enjoy that, and certainly many non-smokers prefer to sit in clouds of sweet smoke rather than non-sweet smoke... I also found them to have an incredibly nutty flavour (macadamia nut perhaps?), more so than any other tobacco I have tried. The cigarillos were made of a hybrid filler and were moderately tarry. Unfortunately they also succumbed to the bane of most cigarillos- becoming unbearably hot towards the end.

The Panter 'Mignon Sweets' (as well as most of the rest of their cigarillo line) will cost about £8.50 for twenty, so not a bad price. They can also often be found in Duty Free at airports for considerably less (my associate found them for €4.40 for 20 in Amsterdam).

Smoking time: 4-7 minutes

Flavour: 4/10

Smoke Sweetness: 8/10

Tar (1=very wet, 10=very dry): 4/10

Value for Money: 7/10

Indulgence Factor: 2/10

Overall Rating: 4/10

Cigar: Quintero Panatelas (7/10)

Quintero is a very old Cuban maker- they have been around since 1924, long before la revolución, and are still producing cigars. While 100% tobaco Cubano for everywhere other than the States, they are only Honduran tobacco for the Yanks. Of course, being in the UK, we tried the Cuban ones, and definitely enjoyed them.

The smoke was good in every way, by no means excellent and amazing, but good. The panatelas were tightly rolled and made of long filler. The smoke was neither sweet nor dry, but balanced and definitively Cuban-flavoured. If you can find these (most retailers in the UK seem to only stock the more expensive tubulares and churchills, of which we have no doubt would be at least as nice), we definitely recommend them. A pack of 5 will cost around £10. We found ours in Duty Free for €3.70 (at which price they are amazing value for money!)

Smoking time: 10-15 minutes

Flavour: 7/10

Smoke Sweetness: 4/10

Tar (1=very wet, 10=very dry): 5/10

Value for Money: 5/10

Indulgence Factor: 6/10

Overall Rating: 7/10

Cigarillo: Davidoff 'Minis' (7.5/10)

Davidoff is certainly one of the most well-recognised brands of luxury tobacco products; indeed some of their cigars can cost well over £100 each. As poor students, we unfortunately cannot offer our reviews of their upper-range, but we did try and thoroughly enjoy a box of their 'Minis.'

Although a Swiss brand, nearly all of Davidoff's cigar-tobacco supply comes from Cuba, and they are made in the Dominican Republic. Their cigarillos are no exception (well, the ones they sell in the States possibly are), and one can certainly taste that Cuban je ne sais quoi in their Minis. The cigarillos were tightly packed, had little tar but were moist nonetheless, and had a very nice flavour.

The Davidoff Mini cigarillos are definitely one that will impress (although much of that will be psychological simply because of the brand-name), but they are certainly a nice and enjoyable smoke. A pack of 20 cigarillos will cost around £17 in the UK (so certainly they are not cheap), but most certainly less in the EU (as a result of lower tobacco tax in most places).

Smoking time: 6-10 minutes

Flavour: 7/10

Smoke Sweetness: 5/10

Tar (1=very wet, 10=very dry): 6/10

Value for Money: 4/10

Indulgence Factor: 8/10

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

Cigar: P.G.C. Hajenius 'Kleine Tuitknak' (6/10)

P.G.C. Hajenius is another Dutch manufacturer, but a bit less common than La Paz. This is unfortunate, because their 'Kleine Tuitknak' cigars were significantly nicer than the similarly sized and priced 'Wildes' from La Paz. The cigars are a primarily Sumatran blend of tobacco with a pinch of Havana and Brazilian, of what appeared to be pure leaf tobacco (no pesty stems). Although machine-rolled, they were well-rolled and tightly packed in a torpedo figurado, measuring about 9cm long and 30 gauge.

The smoke was moderately sweet and had good flavour. There was neither too much nor too little tar and overall they were a pleasant smoke. However, they lacked a that certain something that one only finds in high quality cigar.

The P.G.C. Hajenius 'Kleine Tuitknak' will cost around £15 for ten in the UK, and around €10 for ten in the EU.

Smoking time: 10-15 minutes

Flavour: 6/10

Smoke Sweetness: 6/10

Tar (1=very wet, 10=very dry): 5/10

Value for Money: 7/10

Indulgence Factor: 4/10

Overall Rating: 6/10