Rocky Patel Mulligans Groundhog 460 Connecticut Staff Review
Now that it’s after the holidays, let’s crank the discounts up a notch, while everyone digs out of their annual credit card debt, by smoking another blend from Rocky Patel’s bestselling Mulligans franchise called the Groundhog. These 4 by 60 troll-sized gems look and act like Nub cigars from head to toe. Truth be told, I love to smoke a Nub every now and then, but they’re a bit rich for my blood when I need a daily go-to in a short, fat format. My billfold is about as thick as a strip of crispy bacon. Thank God Rocky Patel gave us bona fide Nub knockoffs for a fraction of the price, and rating these squatty specimens is just the job for yours truly.
If you’re a voracious reader, curl up with my previous reviews of other Rocky Patel Mulligans cigars, including Masters Collection, Calcutta, and Golden Ferret. With three decades of bundle buying under my belt, I’m the de facto Mulligans maestro at Holt’s. The Mulligans brand was developed to give Rocky unlimited breathing room to blend as many cigars as humanly possible while he obsesses over which ones deserve to get packed into the fanciest boxes he can get his hands on. Mulligans, however, only come in bundles, and that means you’re paying for pure cigars without an ounce of packaging baked into the price.
Just like Nub, the Groundhog comes in four popular wrapper options: Cameroon, Connecticut, Habano, and Maduro. You can sample them all at once in our top-selling Rocky Patel Mulligans Groundhog Monster Deal, but I’m dedicating today’s review to the Connecticut version. A butterscotch-blond wrapper conceals an eventful blend of 100% premium long-fillers aged to perfection. I’ve even procured a legitimate Nub Connecticut for a side-by-side visual comparison, and I’ll be darned if Rocky didn’t copy the gold and burgundy color scheme on the band. I heard a rumor the head honchos at Oliva had to lock up the Nub blueprints in a safe once word of Rocky’s Groundhog got out.
After I gently extract a plump and promising smoke from the center of a fresh bundle, I can’t believe the stunning presentation in my hand or the quality and taste of the cold draw after I slice the flawlessly applied cap from the head. A sumptuous profile of cedar, cashews, and pepper teases my taste buds with hints of Angel Food Cake batter. Yummy is the first word that comes to mind.
I take my time toasting big ring cigars like Mulligans Groundhog because they get bitter if you ignite them too fast. After a few blasts from my Jetline Grenade Triple Torch, the foot of my Groundhog is fully aglow and burning with perfect syncopation as fluffy plumes of white smoke float out of my mouth and nostrils. A luscious profile of café con leche and Madagascar vanilla beans develops after fifteen minutes.
I know the question you’re wondering: is Rocky’s Groundhog as good as Nub? That’s a tough call; they’re a bit different from one another. But, Nub is twice the price, and the Groundhog hasn’t indicated the slightest bit of acidity or bitterness after thirty minutes of smoking, and it’s only getting better as I head into the final stretch. Notes of cedar and pepper return with more gusto when I get down to the band and take it off.
The Groundhog in a Connecticut wrapper concludes with a finish of blonde roast coffee, baking spices, and wood. Tossing a 20-cigar bundle in the cart for under sixty bucks is an easy prospect in my opinion. I’ll admit I’m a softy around the holidays. I like Christmas music and wearing my fluffy slippers in front of the fireplace, but January is really my favorite month. Why? After all the gifts are doled out, the wrapping paper is packed in the recycling bin, and the guests are long gone, I head straight to the return counters where I can take back every nonessential item that landed in my stocking and exchange ‘em for cold, hard cash I can spend on the deeply discounted bundles, like Rocky Patel Mulligans, that I need to tide my coolerdor over for the winter.
Until next time, long ashes to you!
