Gurkha Black Dragon-Robusto-Maduro

I must really be liking Gurhka Cigars these days, 2 Gurkhas back to back. As said before Gurkha is in a class of its one. Their cigar presentation is one of the best. When I got the stick it was wrapped in cedar with the typical silk sleeve towards the foot, the box that this guy came from was also elaborate. So does this cigar present itself as a mid grade BMW as the Warlord did, or is this cigar in a class of its own?

SPECS-
Size- Robusto 4.5x52
Wrapper-Connecticut Maduro Wrapper
Binder-Cameroon
Filler-Dominican
Price-$8.00
Smoke time-1 hour and 20 mins
Cut-Punch/Guillotine
Drink-Iced Tea,Cherry Coke

FIST IMPRESSIONS-After unsleeving the dress-up of this cigar it presented itself with a dark oily brown and with a rarely veiny wrapper, it looked gorgeous. The wrapper had a good aroma of cedar and the same is true for the foot. Punching the cigar was slightly tricky, but I was able to get a good constructed draw that tasted like a woody barn, which rewarded my efforts.

FIRST THIRD-There's not much going on in this third. The spice is decent, it hits you just like a chili pepper and it gives you a nice mental image of that pepper. Along with the spice a good bit of cedar is thrown at you. The finish is sweet and earthy and it brings along a mocha to that's not quite yet there. The cigar took the flame well and ash held strong up to the band, great construction.

SECOND THIRD-The mocha that wasn't quite there on the first third is here and its worth the anticipation. The cedar gets a little lighter and crispy working its way up towards more of a nutty taste, this was a good transition into thirds. As the smoke makes its way to the last third it gets creamier, the smoke is very thick and coats your palate with a slight leather taste. By far this is the best third of the smoke.

FINAL THIRD-This stick works backwards, as you smoke it the lighter and lighter it becomes. Yet it's still a strong and dark complex smoke. The leather gets more present here and its easily welcomed. The second third warmed this leather up well for your palate. This cigar is very well blended, the thirds that you experience also showcase the next third you're going to experience. The mocha fades away to a roasted coffee bean flavor that is slightly sweet, it compliments the leather. I sipped this cigar slowly this morning and I was rewarded well for my patience.

LAST IMPRESSIONS-This cigar is good for what it is. It uses its blends very creatively, I wish all cigars introduced their next third the way this one. Its also the only thing that saves this cigar. The flavors are good but are not easily recognizable it takes some digging, but once you find them they are good. For $8 dollars though there is better smokes, but I don't regret the price point of this smoke.This cigar is in a class of its own. It's not like the Warlord, it differentiates itself a little bit better, it'd say this is still a 5-series like the Warlord, but just the better trim model.

RATING-87
Buy it again-Why not?
Recommended? It's a pretty solid smoke so yes.

Gurhka Warlord Special:Warlord:Maduro

This was my first adventure into the Gurkha world. Gurkha always markets itself as a high-quality smoke. The Cigar only the virtuoso's smoke, the Rolls-Royce's of cigars if you will. So, does this cigar feel more like a Kia than a Rolls-Royce? Let's start this test-drive.


SPECS-
Size- Warrior 7x55
Wrapper-Nicaragua
Binder-Dominican
Filler-Nicaraguan
Price-$12.00
Smoke Time-1 hour
Cut-Punch/Guillotine




FIRST IMPRESSIONS-When you pick up this cigar the first thing you think is,"wow that's huge". That's the best way to sum it all up. The Cigar is very ornate, a nice cedar strip with some silk at the foot presented by a gorgeous Gurkha band, what a good way to start. The wrapper is a nice shade of brown with small veins branching throughout the cigar. The wrapper was slightly salty with a good aroma of cedar,the foot had hints of earth that gave the draw no particular taste. This stick has a great construction, so it's no Ford, it's a Honda.



FIRST THIRD-This Warrior introduces you into some very simple but yet, non-archaic flavor tones. It's simplicity introduces you to a roasted nut flavor that leaves a good bit of mocha behind on the palate for you to savor. For being such a Warrior this cigar isn't very up in your face like you think it'd be, the spice is very subtle and leaves a nice backdrop for the mocha. So far it feels like a Toyota, simple but good.

SECOND THIRD-The spice mellows out quite sublimely in this third, its very short,smooth,and creamy, its a great backround for the main flavor of nuts to settle in. The spice is more likely to remind you of clove and with the roasted nut feeling you may think its Christmas. Its developing really well for such full-flavored smoke, its starting to feel like a Cadillac.




FINAL THIRD- The best of the thirds, the spice is almost subdued here by the Coffee that takes the place as the main flavor. As the coffee fades to the back an introduction of sweet and subtle leather is added to the blend that stays that way trough the rest of the smoke. The leather and coffee flavor was rather enjoyable but it wasn't anything over the top. The ash held respectfully trough the length, flaking here and there, almost like a Chevy.



FINAL IMPRESSIONS-This was a good intro to what Gurkha has to offer, but the admission was just a tad too high. If this stick was cheaper it would rate higher, albeit it was a good relaxing smoke for $13 dollars there are better varieties you can be looking into.But overall with decent flavors, the best use of spice I've ever tasted and construction that was remarkable this stick is good, but not Rolls Royce good, more like BMW's 5-series good.

RATING-85
Buy It Again? Yes, its worth to keep in rotation once in a blue moon.
Recommended? It's worth the test drive.