Cigar Review: Gurkha Evil
Length: 6.5″
Ring Gauge: 53
Vitola: Torpedo
Wrapper: Brazilian
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Lower Full
Pricing: $9 (£5.50)
I’m going to be honest, I’ve never been a big Gurkha fan… I used to smoke them every once-in-awhile sometime back but haven’t had one in quite awhile… in fact I think the last Gurkha I smoked was a Avenger G5 (and, if I remember, I didn’t find it to be a good cigar)… Recently a friend suggested I try the Gurkha Evil… now with a name like that I was a bit suspicious, but I figured I’d give it a try, see what I found in it and then do a review…
The Evil is not a new cigar, it’s been out for a couple of years and is considered by Gurkha head Kaizad Hansotia one of his “bad boy” cigars (along with the Gurkha Assassin)… it’s described as a strong full-bodied cigar although I find it to be a much tamer lower full-bodied smoke… The Evil line is comprised of 5 vitolas – Robusto (5×50), Toro (6×50), Churchill (7.5×52), XO (6×60) and the one I chose to smoke, the Torpedo (6.5×53)…
The stick is comprised of a Brazilian Maduro wrapper, Dominican binder & Nicaraguan filler… The wrapper is not a dark Maduro we are normally used to, it’s a much lighter chocolate brown color that has an oily & toothy look and feel to it… the wrapper presents honey sweet tobacco & cedar notes while the foot presents more of an earthy sweet tobacco and barnyard scent… the pre-draw presents sweet tobacco and chocolate flavors and gives a clean, free-flowing draw…
Upon lighting you are presented with light black pepper/red pepper spice and muted sweet sugar cane sweetness flavor notes with a light orange citrus undernote… going into the second part of the smoke I discovered a bitter/sour orange note that while not off putting was a bit unusual… the sour flavor subsided in the third part with a bit of semi-sweet chocolate along with the continuing black pepper notes… The smoke was thick and creamy and provided a medium finish with the flavors lasting for a few minutes between puffs, retrohale presented black pepper, chocolate and coffee notes… the ash was tight & compact with as much as 2″ of ash forming before cracking…
Check out the video review below:
Cigar Review Verdict: The Evil was neither an “Evil” cigar in intensity nor was it a bad smoke… I was impressed by the flavors and smoke quality and will definitely try this line again in the future… I know there’s many Gurkha fans in the cigar aficionado world and this is one stick that while I wouldn’t go out of my way to get, I wouldn’t turn down if it was offered (or was available at a shop I was visiting)… I want to try and see how the remaining sticks of the 5-pack I bought smoke 6 months down the line…
PAIRINGS: The Evil is a lower full-bodied smoke with a sweet component running through it that makes it a good mid-day stogie… pair it with a grilled sandwich, steak, grilled or bbq’d chicken, Mexican food and a bold red wine or sweet tea or espresso latte… it’s not so strong that will overpower milder foods but not so weak that it won’t stand up bolder, spicier fare…
Review by Tony Blake's 365 Cigar Review
No comments:
Post a Comment