I've only tried a few RPs over the years and haven't been that impressed, but I did notice some rather copious buys when car salesmen sent their wives in to a certain shop to pick up a box or two for the showroom, and the boxes had like 100 cigars each in them. I asked the clerk about those and he told me the car salesmen like to have a cigar to thank a customer for buying a car!
Maybe it's all about money. Just because a man is buying a car doesn't mean he knows what a good cigar is or even if he likes cigars at all. But the gift of a cigar is a gesture of opulence, perhaps?
When I saw the OP video I was impressed with the way the video is put together, really gives a wide-ranged view of their operation from seedlings to nursery to field, then harvest, stages of curing, care, sorting, rolling, pressing, draw testing, wrapping, grading, and boxing. I thought the first time that he might be giving away trade secrets, but then I noticed that some of his information is self-contradictory so perhaps it's more of a snow-job for the uninitiated.
A few comments criticized the draw testing operation saying it's a wast of time, especially to test EVERY SINGLE CIGAR, which must pass the test in order to get its wrapper put on. They say these experienced rollers don't mess up very often and testing the draw means their skill level is not trusted, so the roller personnel probably feel like they're not appreciated. Sounds like a long chain of logic and maybe it's all speculation, or, perhaps it comes from knowing some of the workers!
But the overall effect the video has made appears to have been very good. You can see by the lighting and photography that he trusted someone who knows how to use a camera well. You don't get results like that by accident. I read through some of the Comments and found many posts from cigar smokers who had never tried RP but after seeing the video they can't wait for their first one. So the video goes a long way to sell the product, for it makes the viewer consider the dedication and love that goes into the long-term commitment it takes to have a going concern in cigar making.
There is an aspect of this being a political statement in a climate of looming suppression when tobacco products are under fire from liberals. Children are taught in school that TOBACCO is EVIL and many civil ordinances have gone into effect to make smoking ANYTHING (except marijuana of course) illegal in public. Patel takes a moment at the end, sitting in the empty factory room, to press home the point that many people rely on this industry for employment.
There must be something about the owner, Rocky Patel, that has rubbed CB members the wrong way, I figure. It's not a judgment of the people who work for him but more likely the man himself. And perhaps his cigars!
