Manufacturer: Gurkha
Series: Beast
Price Paid: +/- $23
Shape/Vitola: Toro
Length: 6.5”
Ring Gauge: 58
Body: Medium-Full
Strength: Low
Wrapper: Costa Rican Maduro
Binder: ???
Filler: Dominican, Honduran & Columbian
Number Smoked For Review: 1
Before you read further, I just need to make it known that I am a fan of Gurkha as a manufacturer. I have seen their best and know the quality they are capable of and their Beast line falls very far from some of their truly magnificent cigars such as the Regent and Grand Reserve series. This is not as much a review as it is a rant. If you want the skinny, just read the “Last Word” section.
Gurkha’s are renowned for being drop dead gorgeous cigars and the Beast is no exception. The maduro wrapper was practically flawless and very oily. The Gurkha bands are some of the most ridiculously lavish bands out there. It’s very classy and elegant looking with a touch of baroque elements. At the foot of the cigar is a very neat and beautifully scented cedar sleeve to preserve the cigar beyond the cellophane and a smaller, simple black and silver band around the tip of the cedar sleeve that merely reads” “BEAST” in silver lettering. Ok so, if this was a dog and pony show, the Gurkha Beast would get a prize of some sort, but unfortunately for Gurkha I need something more than a pretty stick to feel validated spending over $20 on a single stick. The next paragraph is a rant, so feel free to skip it.
The construction of this cigar was. fucking. abhorrent. Whoever let this one get off the line should be fired and then mercy killed so he never unleashes another overpriced stick with such poor quality ever again. Before I go on, I know that this is might seem like I didn’t give it a fair judgment because I only smoked a single stick for this review, but think about it: If you’re going to be paying between $20-30 per stick, it should be of high quality with no exceptions. I would liken it to someone going out and buying a $30,000 Mercedes and having the god damn frame fall to shambles while they’re doing 105 mph on the highway. Just because Mercedes is a good company and that was the only car it ever happened to, does that make it right? Not for me. Times are too hard to go out and buy an expensive stick for a special occasion if you can afford it only to have it self-destruct in your hands. But I digress – what actually happened you ask?
I had bought this cigar as my choice smoke for my friend’s 4th of July party. I figured I had the extra change at the time and it was going to be a long night and one to celebrate, so why not go all out for a nice cigar for a fine night? After clipping it and nearly having an orgasm at the pre-draw aroma of the freshly toasted foot, I began to actually draw on the cigar. No more than an inch into the cigar, I heard a very loud cracking sound and realized the wrapper had split almost three inches up. For those of you who may be mathematically challenged like myself, let’s solve this problem:
This stick is 6.5”. If I smoke 1”, I’m down to 5.5”. The wrapper cracked through roughly 3” above that. We’re currently at 2.5” of cigar to smoke and as a gentleman I usually leave at least 1”-1.5” before I finish it. So I could have only smoked about 3.5” at most of this nearly 7” cigar. And it didn’t just unravel, it fucking fell apart. After the wrapper cracked, filler spewed out, the burnt wrapper corkscrewed off and left me essentially holding a slightly torn binder less than 4” long. I just found this to be unacceptable and seeing as how I only even smoked so little of it I don’t even feel it necessary to speak of the tight, choked draw or the flavors (No matter how good and complex they may have been).
Presentation: 5/5
Construction: 1/5
Draw & Burn: 3/5
Flavor/Taste: 1/5
Overall: 1/5 [Not an average]
Last word: This turned into a bit of a rant, but in the eyes of fairness I will say that the flavors I was tasting were really very good, but when the construction is so poor, you can’t enjoy the smoke because you’re barely able to keep the cigar together to smoke it anyway. I’ve heard a lot of people have the same problem. The cigar was most likely just over-packed and hit a dry spot in the wrapper, but that shouldn’t matter. Gurkha makes incredible high-end cigars. But this is not one of them. If you’re a Moneybags McGee kind of guy and want to spin the wheel to see if you get a well made Beast, be my guest. But for the rest of us who can only afford a high priced stick on occasion and you want a Gurkha, go with the Regent or Grand Reserve. It will be money well spent.
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