The company was founded in 1995 as Indian Tabac Cigar Co. by Hollywood attorney Rakesh "Rocky" Patel, who became interested in cigars when spending time with actors between takes, and sold his legal practice to start the business.
[1][2][3] It was named under license for the Indian Motorcycle[4] and began in California in partnership with Phillip Zanghi III, who ran the company's growing and manufacturing operations in Honduras.
The company later moved to Naples, Florida,[5] and was renamed to Rocky Patel Premium Cigars in 2006.
[6] In the early 2000s, the Indian Tabac Cameroon Legend Gorilla was one of the largest cigars available, and its size was emulated by other producers.
[13] The cigars were initially all produced from tobacco grown in El Paraíso, Honduras, leased from Nestor Plasencia;[1][4] Patel later expanded production to Nicaragua, where he began growing in Estelí with Amilcar Perez Castro and the company built a factory.