Gurkha Grand Reserve

Here's another one that I received as a gift from Jared when we was cleaning out his humidor....never a bad idea. These looked like factory rejects as they had wrinkles in the wrapper, the band was crooked, foot cut was at an angle, etc. I reviewed one of these a while back, but since it's been some time since then, I'm going to post another review.

Gurkha Grand Reserve 5"x50 Robusto

Construction:

Other than what was mentioned above, the wrapper looked like it was good quality, just wasn't put on with the greatest precision. The wrapper was toothy with some veins, but no blemishes or soft spots were noted. The filler is long-leaf, but the guys at Gurkha won't release where their stuff is from, just that it comes from Cuban seed somewhere in Central America. The wrapper is said to be extra-fermented, and it was super oily after spending some time aging in my humidor.

Smoke:

The cold draw on this bad boy was nice and sweet with that nice aged tobacco spice. Once lit, it continued with that raisin/spice flavor, just muted some. Along with the spice, subtle wood and pepper flavors started coming out. Despite the outside appearance, the burn was solid and straight.

Overall, this is a decent smoke with solid flavors and paired good with my bottle of Belvenie. The only problem I have with Gurkhas is the price. I don't see these as being $10 smokes normally. I would smoke these as everyday smokes, but I would go with the factory rejects in order to cut the price.

Keep Smokin'!

Mick


Update:

I had the last of the Grand Reserves that Jared passed on to me, and I was surprised that these smokes didn't change with more time in the humi. I'll smoke a Gurkha if it's given to me, but other than that....I'm not a fan.

Keep Smokin'!
Mick