Gurkha Evil XO Review

Wrapper: Brazilian

Filler: Nicaraguan

Price: $8.00 - $9.00

Gurkha cigars are always in my humidor. Ever since I was in college, I always appreciated cigars made by them. The first time I had an Evil was my sophomore year of college. I remember walking into a new smoke shop and seeing them sitting on the shelf. They drew my attention because they had a very unique band. Up until that time, all of the Gurkhas I had smoked had roughly the same band. This one, however, had a very rustic look to it. After I smoked a few in college, I never saw them in another store.

A few months ago, Gurkha released the XO sizes for some of their biggest brands. The XOs are a series of 6” x 60 cigars. One of them happened to be the Evil. A friend of mine sent me one of them that he received and asked me to review it. After sitting in my humidor for a while, I decided it was a good day to enjoy a huge cigar like this one.

Gurkha Royal Challenge Toro Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut

Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican

Price: $7.00

As some of you may remember, Gurkha sent me a couple samples of their newer lines to try out and review. The first one I reviewed for them was the Seduction. I have reviewed several Gurkha cigars, and the majority of them have been pretty full-bodied. So when I got the chance to review a Connecticut shade cigar by them, I was very interested. I figured this would be a good cigar for me to try out in the morning.

Like most Connecticut shade wrappers, this one was very light brown and very smooth. There were a couple thin veins throughout the wrapper, but they were not a worry to me. There were also a couple thin cracks in the very thin wrapper. The cracks tended to be more towards the cap, so the huge, ornate, bands helped to prevent the wrapper from peeling off. Other than that, this stick appears to be constructed great. It is a very solid stick with a flush cap that cut clean. There is also a sweetness to the earthy smell coming off of this stick.

Gurkha Seduction Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano

Filler: Columbian Corojo

Price: $7.00

 A couple weeks ago, someone from Gurkha Cigars found my reviews on some of their cigars. After going back and forth by email for a couple days, they offered me a couple samples to review for them. Once I reviewed the package about three days later, I let the cigar get readjusted to the humidity. The first of the cigars I chose to review was the Seduction because it was smaller and I didn’t have a couple hours to spare to smoke a larger cigar.

This cigar has a very nice, medium brown wrapper that does not have a single thick vein in it. The cigar is very solid throughout. The cap is perfectly flush and consisted of a few layers. The cap also cut clean, which was very nice. This cigar had a very sweet smell to it, almost like bittersweet chocolate mixed with a little bit of earth.

As soon as I lit up this cigar, I knew I was in for a treat. There was a good amount of spice right away. The earthy tones are also very strong. There was a sweet chocolate flavor that I was getting off of the draw. About an inch or so into this cigar, the sweetness mellows out. Once the sweetness dissipates, there are some wood notes that start to take over. The spice is also quite mild as the wood and earthy notes take center stage.

Gurkha Spec Ops Review

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro

Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican

Price: $8.00 - $10.00

A couple days ago, I received a package in the mail from a cigar trade. There were three of these cigars inside of it. I had never had any of these before. I have smoked several different Gurkha cigars in the past few years, but the Spec Ops has never been in a store near me. So when I was asked a fellow cigar smoker was interested in trading a few, he agreed to send me some. So I finally had my opportunity to smoke this special edition cigar.

The maduro wrapper is dark brown and slightly oily. There were no veins throughout it that would cause any burn problems. The wrapper was also very smooth to the touch. This stick was solid throughout with a slightly softer foot that made it very easy to light. The cap was placed on very flush and produced a very clean cut. This stick gave off a very distinct aroma of chocolate and wood.

This cigar started off  completely different than what I expected. It was very sweet right away. Almost like a sweet tea flavor. There was a very creamy taste to it as well. Within about an inch, there was a mild spice that comes out as well as a little bit of a chocolate flavor. As the cigar progresses, the spice picks up a little bit more. There is a good amount of earthy and wood notes that develop as well. The wood notes become prominently cedar.

Gurkha Vintage Shaggy Foot Maduro Toro Review

Wrapper: Connecticut Maduro

Filler: Dominican

Price: $9.00 - $10.00

Gurkha cigars are always hit or miss with me. There are some where the construction is flawless, and then some that unwrap upon cutting. I smoked the Shaggy Natural while I was in college and enjoyed it very much. When I went into The Smoking Dog the other day, I saw the maduro version. I was unaware that the shaggy came with a maduro wrapper. So the owner asked me to review this stick. I was excited to get to give this one a chance since I remember the natural being quite good.

The maduro wrapper on this one is very nice. It is dark brown, very oily, and very smooth. There are no veins throughout that entire wrapper that would pose a problem with the burn. The construction is actually very good. The shaggy foot makes it very easy to light, but difficult to light evenly. The cap was perfectly flush which led to a nice clean cut. This cigar also gives off a very sweet, earthy smell.

The flavor was actually harsh and powerful off of the light. But it slowly eased it. When the harshness went away, it opened up to a nice spice and a little bit of coffee flavor. About an inch in, the coffee dulls down and allows a sweetness to come out. The sweet cedar flavor becomes a nice compliment to the spiciness. There is also a good amount of earthy tones that pop out as well. As the cigar progresses, the earthy tones open up and the spice winds down to just being an accent flavor.

Gurkha Blue Steel Double Headed Monster Review

Wrapper: Costa Rican

Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Colombian

Price: ~$15

For a while now I have been trying to get my hands on this box of the “Double Happiness.” When the opportunity came up for me to get them for a great price, I jumped all over it. So this passed Saturday was the town festival in my home town. So I walked around town, and kept thinking about this box I had just received. So when I came home I closed my eyes and just grabbed on. Then I had to decide to cut it in half or smoke the whole 10 inches as a whole. It was only noon, so I figured it was late enough to smoke the whole thing. So here is the review of my first 10 inch cigar.

This monster looked amazing. The wrapper was flawless. It was wrapped in a way that it could be enjoyed as two separates. Both ends had perfectly flush caps. The wrapper was a chocolate brown shade. There were no veins in this cigar at all, which really surprised me. Once I cut both caps, I was ready to light up this beast.

Gurkha Gran Reserve Robusto Review

Wrapper: Connecticut

Filler: Nicaraguan and Honduran

Price: $8.00 - $9.00

A couple weeks ago, someone within the cigar community posted online that he had a couple of these that he was willing to send out to other cigar smokers. He said he wasn’t a fan of these after smoking a couple of them. He was nice enough to send one of them to me for me to review and to get my take on this cigar.

After spending a few weeks in my humidor, it was time to smoke this cigar. I was highly disappointed when I noticed the wrapper had been cracked a few times. The wrapper itself was a very light brown with an extremely earthy aroma coming off of it. There were no veins in the wrapper, and the cigar itself was very solid. The construction was just a bit disappointing.

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.

Gurkha Crest Review

Gurkha Crest Torpedo

Wrapper: Connecticut Maduro
Filler: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan

Price: $22.00 - $25.00

As you will learn, I am a huge fan of Gurkha cigars. I went into this particular stick with high hopes. Its not a cigar for the Average Joe just looking for an occasional cigar. If you are lucky enough to find this guy on a cigar store shelf, it will set you back at least $25, but I can say with confidence, you will enjoy it.

Let me start off by saying this, the cigar itself smelled absolutely amazing. And the cigar band was stunningly glorious on all counts. When I cut it, and saw how even the fillers were and how tight the filler tobacco was wrapped, I knew right then that I was in for a treat.

Gurkha Ancient Warrior Review

Wrapper: Brazilian
Filler: Dominican and Honduran

Price around $7.00 - $8.00

This isn't the first time Ive had an Ancient Warrior, I first had one back in probably 2008 or so. But since then I have upgraded my taste for fine cigars. So I feel it fitting to now take my love for a fine stogie and bring it to you by making regular entries on cigars i encounter.

The Ancient Warrior is indeed a fine cigar; its beautiful dark Brazilian wrapper adds a nice oily texture to the cigar, and its fantastic combination of Dominican and Honduran tobacco for the fillers combine for great flavor. The wrap was solid, there were no cracks, and no splits. Even the cut was amazing.