Rocky Patel has a large portfolio of cigars that seems to grow by two or three lines each year. This year, that includes the Year of the Dragon, the Rocky Patel Gold Label, and most recently, the subject of this review, the Emerald.

• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Nicaraguan, Mexican
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Size: Toro 6 1/4 x 54

The Emerald is a soft box-pressed cigar with a silky coffee-brown wrapper and a light oily sheen, largely hidden under three bands: a primary band with the Rocky Patel logo, a secondary band with the Emerald brand, and a third band that covers about 60% of the cigar. This third band is a patterned emerald green foil with a second Rocky Patel logo on a white stripe at the foot. While I am usually not a big fan of banding the cigar so much that most of it is hidden, it does look sharp and makes the cigar pop, making it easy to find in the large selection of Rocky Patel cigars carried at Twins Smoke Shop.

The large emerald band slides off the body of the cigar easily. There is an imperfection in the wrapper leaf hidden under the band, but it should not affect the performance of the cigar.

The draw is nice, with just the right amount of resistance. On the cold draw, I get notes of chocolate, coffee, and hay. Upon lighting, there are notes of cocoa, nuts, dark coffee, and a bit of earth. The retrohale has some significant pepper. The finish is creamy, with chocolate and a peppery zip. The ash is white and a bit flaky. The burn was a bit wonky at first, but it corrected itself. The ash held for well over an inch before naturally falling off.

In the second third, the earthy notes come more forward, the cocoa darkens and is less sweet, and there is a bit of charred oak. The burn continues to be okay, but not great. It seems that there was a section that was tunneling, as seen in the picture here.

The retrohale still has that peppery zing, but it has calmed down from what it was in the first third.

In the final third, it looks like whatever was causing the uneven burn and tunneling is past, and the burn improves significantly, becoming very even. The flavors become sweeter but retain the deeper tones they progressed to in the second third. The finish becomes smooth and creamy with chocolate and hints of dark coffee.

The Rocky Patel Emerald is a medium-bodied and medium-strength cigar that delivers lots of cocoa and dark chocolate notes. While the cigar I smoked had some burn and construction issues, they did not significantly affect the overall performance. I did not ever actually need to touch up or relight the cigar. In my review of the Rocky Patel Conviction, I said that I hoped Rocky would come out with a cigar with a similar profile more in line with the MSRP of the rest of his portfolio. This comes close. The Emerald is not just blowing smoke. Highly recommended.