A Discussion with Rocky Patel

A video from the vault of Rocky Patel Premium Cigars.
Name is Rocky Patel. I'm the president and CEO of Rocky Patel, Premium Cigars. I think the first cigar I smoked, um, was actually with this playmate at the Grand Havana room called India Allen. She was on the cover of Cigar Aficionado, and uh, that was the first time I smoked a cigar, was with her. But then slowly I started smoking cigars, and then we joined at the Grand Havana room. Cause Grand Havana Room opened up. And we'd go there and it was next to my office in Beverly Drive. And we'd go there after work. I was one of the original members. And all of sudden cigars blew up and became a big thing.
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Story of Rocky Patel:
In an industry built on name recognition and reputation, Rocky Patel’s passion has brought his luxury brand to heights unseen by most boutique cigar manufacturers. His hard work and long hours have been paying off in big ways. A survivor of the cigar boom, Patel has outlasted his competition with unrivaled persistence on his quest for perfection. With a grueling travel schedule, office responsibilities and production, Rocky still maintains the enthusiasm that he has had since day one. As he travels the world, putting his cigars in the mouths of his consumers, his passion extends beyond the retailer, allowing his customers the experience of meeting the man behind their favorite smokes. Rocky Patel has created a company that outshines even those created by multimillion dollar corporations, and he’s doing it one customer at a time.
In the early 1990s, the premium cigar market began to drastically change. Rocky Patel lived and worked in Los Angeles as an entertainment and product liability lawyer. Through a friend, Rocky was introduced to cigars and became instantly fascinated by them. He joined the Grand Havana Club in Los Angeles as one of its founding members. While dabbling in various investment ventures, Rocky was approached with a business plan to manufacture cigars. It was still the early days of the cigar boom, and Rocky was still apprehensive. However, the investment was made, and the inaugural Indian Tabac cigars rolled in Honduras began to flourish on the American market.
While his friends and colleagues had said, “Don’t be foolish, you’ll never make it in the cigar industry,” Rocky had already completed the first step of his journey. In 1996 at the RTDA trade show in Cincinnati, Ohio, Indian Tabac Cigar Co. had arrived. People flocked to the booth to purchase hundreds of these new, brightly packaged sticks. Rocky felt that it was up to the young companies to come into the marketplace with fresh ideas, bold packaging and fuller cigars. With his eye-popping packaging, Patel has gone against the grain and the strategy certainly paid off.
In constant search for perfection, not a single moment goes by that Rocky is not thinking about cigars. From packaging, marketing, improving blends and every other facet of creating the finished product, Rocky is always formulating fresh ideas and new techniques. It is important for Patel to have a product that can sell itself. Yet partnerships are at the forefront of Rocky’s business, which is why Rocky takes to the road as often as he does. Traveling also gives him the time to contemplate new marketing ideas and production concepts before implementing them.
Often heralded as the hardest working man in the business, Rocky Patel is married to his arduous schedule. He rarely sees his home and headquarters in Naples, Florida. Yearly, he logs more than 300 days on the road and over 150,000 miles. He has once been in 600 cities within 750 days! However, the time on the road is worth it, considering that in every town, Rocky strives to win over new customers to his lifestyle brand. This practice is an extension of Patel’s plan to get his cigars in the hands of as many people possible. In the ‘mom and pop’ world of tobacconists, it is important for Rocky to share his enthusiasm for his stellar product. That enthusiasm is often times contagious, and it shows in the faces and attitudes of consumers worldwide.
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