Gurkha Archive 1887 Churchill Review

Wrapper: Connecticut Maduro

Filler: Nicaraguan

Price $9.00 - $10.00

Before I lit up this cigar, the wrapper smelled great.  Upon inspection of the stick I found no veins thick enough to effect the stick in any way.  This cigar was wrapped very tight, almost to the point that it felt like a rock.

One I lit up this stick, it burned very slow. Quite possibly one of the slowest burning sticks I have ever smoked. The cigar was packed so tight that the draw was a little too difficult to enjoy. Now for about the first inch and a half, the primary flavor that was coming through was the general earthiness of the tobacco. Then, once the cigar started burning a little further, I started getting bit of pepper coming through.  After about two inches, or a half hour in, there came a subtle sweetness to the smoke.

Once I got down to the start of the second third of this stick, the sweetness became a little more prominent. I was actually gathering little hints of cocoa and sugar, but these flavors couldn’t compete with the earthiness if the smoke. Not much of the peppery flavor remained by this point of the cigar. And right around the half-way point, I could feel the cigar become more full-bodied.

Now once I got down to the last third of this stick, the draw never got any easier. This was a hard stick to get smoke out of. The last big of the cigar tasted identical to the second third, but the flavors got a little more robust and started leaving the flavor on the palate a little better.

Now given that this cigar was a Gurkha, I assumed it was going to be a good stick. Well, we all know what happens when you assume. This cigar didn’t produce much smoke at all. The draw was entirely too difficult, and the ash was really weak. I was lucky is the ash stayed on for an inch.  If I didn’t draw on this cigar every twenty to thirty second it went out. I think I had to relight this stick at least four times.

I feel that I can’t give this cigar any more that a 4 out of 10. I was highly disappointed that I had to work that hard to smoke a cigar.

Enjoy your next smoke for me,

Zack the Stogie Man