Well, Las Vegas wasn’t hot enough for me, so I’m spending a week in Phoenix. I brought a few cigars along with me, but since I’m not smart enough to go someplace with a more temperate climate I’m still smoking the small gars.

The Rocky Patel Juniors are nice looking small cigars, and they taste very similar to the larger 1992 Vintage smokes. I have developed a preference for the 1990 Vintage because I’ve had some back luck with construction on the 92s. But the Juniors have been perfect so far: they light up easily on a single match, burn straight, and have a firm but easy draw.

Cigarcyclopedia classifies this one as a “short panatela.” At 4 x 38 it’s too big to be a cigarillo, but not fat enough to be a petite corona.

The Ecuadorian wrapper on these is a nice looking rich colorado maduro and has all the great flavor of the larger sized Vintage 92s. There’s a woody flavor throughout most of the stick with a little bit of cinnamon spice upon first light. Along the way there are sweet notes of chocolate and some darker coffee flavors that float above the wood. The flavor is not as pronounced as it is on the larger sizes, for obvious reasons, but it’s a faithful replication on a much smaller scale.

I’ve smoked three of these so far and have found that they last about twenty minutes to the first band. Take that off and you can get another good five minutes out of the stick before it starts to burn a little too hot and sharp for comfort.

I purchased a tin of these for about 9 USD, a pretty good deal considering the price of the regular sizes in this line. The reasonable price and full flavor of these little guys gives them a thumbs up from me. One of the better short smokes I’ve had this summer.