Gurkha Crest Short Cigar Review
I received this sample from Cigars Direct, which does have a good selection of rare cigars.
0/3: Ah, another Gurkha. How many different lines do they have now? At least a couple dozen. I guess it is a sign of the times. Cigar companies, just like every other company out there, needs to do things in order to stay relevant and for many that means either line extensions (new vitolas or a different wrapper) or new products.
Back to the cigar now. It is a good looking torpedo. The wrapper is a little dry to the touch, the feel of the cigar is uniformly properly packed with just the slightest give and the wrapper looks mottled – vacillating between medium brown and dark brown. The prelight draw is a little tight.
Wrapper: USA/Connecticut | Binder: Nicaraguan | Filler: Nicaraguan | Box of 10: $100.00 | Single: $28.00 | Torpedo | 6″ x 52
1/3: The first third is enjoyable with soft spicy notes and bread. While the draw is a little tight it does not hamper the flavors all that much. There is also a bit of sweetness that is trying to punch through.
2/3: Spice continues with a small helping of sweetness that borders on cherry flavored. The tight draw is beginning to hamper the flavor development somewhat. There is a sharpness that is borderline unsavory to the flavor profile at this point. Wood is an addition during this third.
3/3: The final third sees a great increase in the intensity and the enjoyability of the spice. I would have to peg this cigar in the medium-full bodied range and it has a good burn with a somewhat tight draw.
4/3: Overall, I cannot say that this cigar justifies it’s very expensive price tag. The flavors, while good, are somewhat muted due to the fact that there is a tight draw. Additionally, the flavors are not all that complex and leave much to be desired. However, if this cigar is available in a sampler pack with some other sticks that you like do not be discouraged because it is a good cigar overall; just nothing special.
3.5 points
Camacho Diploma Corojo Cigar Review
With just a quick glance it is fairly evident that this is not one of the best looking cigars ever made. It is dotted with a couple of pinprick-sized holes, a number of bumps that runs from foot to cap and a number of veins mixed in as well. There is not much oil covering this cigar and it feels like it may be too loosely packed; which is something that happens frequently with Camacho cigars. This cigar’s wrapper is made with corojo tobacco but also comes in a maduro (which has received some pretty bad scores).
According to the Camacho website, the Camacho Diploma is comprised solely of Cuban seed corojo tobaccos. The leaves come from the fifth priming, which is important because these are the leaves at the top of the tobacco plant and they are the ones that receive the most exposure to the sun and the elements. This means the leaves that make up this cigar should have a lot of flavor packed into them. Oh, and it should also be a full bodied cigar. Let’s see.
Cigar Stats
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Honduran
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Honduran
Price: $30.50/5 Pack | $191.00/Box of 21
Contagion Conflagration!
Cutting the cigar reveals a good pre-light draw that is accompanied by a slight molasses sweetness and a mildly spicy tingle that lingers for a moment on my tongue. The smell is akin to a robust barnyard (think more hay than excrement).
Lighting the cigar confirms some of the pre-light flavors right away. Barnyard is prominent but it is perceptibly lighter than I thought it would be. Spice is evident in both the inhale and the retrohale but it is not overpowering; it is a soft and warm spicy flavor. That molasses sweetness is not present, however.
In addition to those flavors there is a strong oak presence. It starts out dark and smoky but then the oak starts to gradually become sweeter. Of course, this is no pushover of a cigar, so sweeter is a relative term.
Another flavor, which I can only identify as tobacco, is a major flavor in the beginning. I like it because it provides an edge to the flavor profile of oak and barnyard hay.
So far (about an inch in), this cigar is a very good cigar. It is a full bodied cigar with a lot of hearty flavors – I’m loving this cigar. The draw is a shade below effortless and the burn is even. Also, at around this point, a fleeting anise flavor is present on the back of the tongue. It is nice and adds to the complexity (and to my enjoyment as well).
If billowing clouds of smoke was the mark of a great cigar then this would truly be one of the best that I have ever had. While I can’t say it is one of the best that I have ever had it is still very good. The flavors are very alive and are enjoyable.
Over halfway through now and the anise flavor has only grown in prominence. That doesn’t mean it is the major flavor in this cigar, not by a long shot. The main flavor profile is still the smoky tobacco and oak mixture. Burnt hay is also a major flavor as well.
I really want to peg the Camacho Diploma as this dark and brooding cigar. One that is full of force and in-your-face flavor. But it isn’t that at all. It is much more refined than that. Yes, it has some strength to it but the flavors are a melodious mix of farm, oak, spice and a touch of sweetness.
The end of this cigar is an uninterrupted continuance of the middle segment. Barnyard flavors may increase a bit – so have the oak flavors – and the anise fades just a touch but it is basically the same. The strength has grown somewhat.
I can call this a delicious cigar. And that is what this cigar is: delicious.
91 points
Cigar.com Corojo Label Cigar Review
In my quest to find a good cigar for very little money I have decided to do some testing. Due to Cigar.com’s easy form of delineating their house blends (colors, wrapper variety or Cuban) I decided that would be a good place to start. After trying all of these cigars I can safely say that none of them are excellent but that is not much of a surprise since the purpose of these cigars is not to wow people but to provide them with a quality alternative for an everyday type of smoke.
That is why I am going to change the format here a little and either give the Cigar.com house blends a PASS or FAIL. To keep things fair, all the cigars sampled are in the 5″ x 50 robusto vitola. Now onto the cigar.
Here is what Cigar.com has to say about their budget Corojo Label:
Like all Cigar.com House Blends, the Corojo Label is an extraordinary value, utilizing only the finest tobaccos to blend a cigar worthy of bearing the Cigar.com name. Full-bodied with a long and pronounced finish, the Corojo Label is a bit dry on the palate and features a robust, spicy aroma that rounds out into a complex mix of wood and earth tones.
These cigars come in four different sizes: churchill (7.5″ x 50), corona (6″ x 42), robusto (5″ x 50) and torpedo (6″ x 52). As of the publishing of this post, they cost less than $3.00 when individually purchased and can cost less than $2.50 when purchased in a box of 20. That is pretty cheap.
Having already reviewed the Sun Grown and Cuban varieties I can tell you that there are some worthwhile smokes in the Cigar.com stables. This cigar is more tightly packed than the Cuban variety and it has a different look to it as well. Being both smoother and less veiny than the Cuban line it looks like a very well made cigar. The wrapper is a normal brown.
Offa Blaze!
It starts off with not much more than a dud. Flavors? Well, there is wood and a minute amount of sweetness. But both of those flavors are very watered down. It is not an unpleasant cigar it just isn’t much of a cigar.
The second third does take a good turn. With flavors picking up and becoming richer this cigar is evolving into something respectable. There is a bit of spice on the fringes and the core is a mixture of rich dirt and charcoal. Maybe a little meaty as well.
It took a bad turn during the final third. The flavor became burnt and harsh. Very little redeeming qualities during this third. For the price it is not a terrible cigar. Medium bodied with a good draw and burn and there is some flavor. Just not good enough flavors in my opinion.
FAIL
Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo Cigar Review
I have had one last Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo sitting in my humidor for about a year now. Looking back on my notes I can see that I generally liked the ones that I had before so let’s see what a year’s worth of aging has done to this cigar.
For whatever reason, probably a combination of the dark wrapper and the torpedo shape, this looks like a menacing cigar. It looks like it is just going to kick you in the butt the second that you touch foot to torch. Beyond the fact that if this cigar were a person you would probably cross the street if you saw it coming your way, it is a good looking, well made cigar. Not very many veins, sufficiently packed from tip of torpedo to foot and the wrapper is fairly oily.
Cigar Stats
Vitola: Torpedo
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $10.00/Single | $150.00/Box of 20
Marauder Torch!
After a year or so in the humidor this cigar is somewhat better than it was before. There is more nuance to the flavors, which, by the way, are led by chocolate followed by bitter coffee and generally earthy flavors. After a while the body gradually increases into the full bodied spectrum. One nit to pick is that the draw is a bit too loose and I think that is muting the flavors to a degree or two.
Gosh, this is an extremely slow burning cigar. I think it’s been nearly an hour, probably more like 45 minutes, and I can just now see the second third around the proverbial bend. At this point there has been some evolution in the cigar and that evolution is more towards the spicy side of the flavor spectrum. It’s a good twist because the main flavor other than the spice, which is fiery and long lasting (it never really leaves your palate actually), is chocolate. It’s a nice milk chocolate that goes well with spice.
The transition from the first third to the second third gets firmly set in and lasts through most of the second third. The final third is much the same with one notable departure. Chocolate becomes less of a leader and in its place there is this sweetness accompanied by toast. Almost as if you were smoking toast with a little bit of sugar sprinkled on top. And then….
It takes an unexpected turn and the sweetness becomes floral. Fortunately, it is not that fruity kind of floral flavor but it is the heartier kind, the deep, flavorful kind rather. And the spice has gone away. It’s a great way to (slowly) end a cigar that could have otherwise become too heavy on the spice.
If you were to gently prod me into saying something negative about this full bodied cigar I would quickly respond with this: the draw is too loose, which leads to the cigar being a bear to keep lit. This is all weird to me since there is a copious amount of smoke when it is lit and the flavors are excellent. It’s a pain but it’s got to be like the pain one feels when trying to keep a classic car up and running. Sure, there is a lot of maintenance required but it’s more fun than bagging your limit of yetis.
93 points
Patel Brothers Short Cigar Review
0/3: It looks like a fairly well made cigar. A little hard to the touch but it is still a visually appealing cigar. Not a lot of oils on the wrapper.
On a separate issue, is the point of the name – Patel Brothers – supposed to evoke longing memories of Mario Bros? Maybe whilst lighting the cigar you will be brought back to that time you ate the mushroom and squashed the spiked turtle – digitally, of course.
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf | Binder: Nicaraguan | Filler: Nicaraguan | Box of 20: $80.00 | Torpedo | 6″ x 52
1/3: Starts out enjoyable even though the flavors are borderline harsh. By that I mean there is a separation between the flavors, which are earth, smokiness, and bitter cocoa; and the overall smoking experience, which is bitter.
2/3: A mild sweetness has started to come through during the second third. Strong and dark is the name of the game here but, so far, I am enjoying this cigar more than I thought I would. An extremely earthy cigar.
3/3: The sweetness is still a background flavor but it has grown in prominence and it is providing a decent counterbalance to the robust earthiness that is evident in this cigar’s flavor profile. The sweetness is a little odd: it’s closer to straight, natural sugar than to anything else I can think of.
4/3: Unless you want an extremely earthy experience this probably is not a cigar for you. It also at times harsh and, because of that, the flavors can come off as being overbearing and not good. Personally, I would smoke this cigar again but I will not be seeking this cigar out. If it’s part of a deal I wouldn’t balk at it though.
3 points
