Gurkha Vintage Shaggy
Tonight’s smoke was something I picked up recently at a Gurkha event Ed was having at his shop. Before things get started, I should mention that I’m pairing up with water, and a few sips of The Balvenie 17 year scotch. Gurkha refers to themselves as the Rolls Royce of cigars. When I think of Rolls Royce, I think of an over priced, unreliable car driven by the muckiest of muckity mucks. Tell me it’s the Toyota of cigars, and you’ll get my attention. Let’s see how this goes…
Gurkha Vintage Shaggy
Wrapper: Dominican (aged 8 years)
Binder: Dominican (aged 6 years)
Filler: Dominican (aged 6 years)
Size: Torpedo 6.5 x 53
Price: $6 – $8.00 a stick
Pre-smoke/construction:
The cigar was very firm when squeezed, and the wrapper looked bumpy. Sniffing the foot revealed a woody smell, and the wrapper honestly had a slight odor of poo. I can’t forget to mention the foot, and what I assume is the cigar’s namesake. The wrapper is cut short about a half of an inch, revealing the binder and filler. The pre-light draw was good, and had notes of wood and hay. The ash was firm and only came off because I initiated it. The burn required no touch-ups.
Flavor:
The first third kicked things off with a smooth spice & pepper. Very smooth and different eathy notes appeared about an inch in. I can’t help but wonder if what I tasted was leathery. Its hard for me to tell, since I always have problems identifying leathery flavors.
The second third introduced itself with a sweet, somewhat chocolaty taste. I came to the conclusion that I was indeed tasting earth/rich soil as opposed to leather. The pepper and spice were really noticeable when passing though the nose, but remained smooth.
The last third became what I think it should have been all along. That sweet mocha really intensified and made me pay attention. As I progressed towards the end, rich coffee notes became prominent, and the pepper/spice smoothed out even more. Earthy notes lingered in the background.
Conclusion:
I can’t deny it… This was a good cigar. The flavor profile, mainly the last third, was really enjoyable. Is this the Rolls Royce of cigars? Definitely not. But I can’t deny Gurkha makes quality cigars, and this was no exception. If medium to full body cigars are your thing, give this a try.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Cigar Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Tom January 28th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Thanks Tom, glad you like the site. Stay tuned as I get my hands on more cigars to smoke!