Gurkha Titan Review

[Ratters]

Cigar: Gurkha Titan



Vitola: 6.2x56 (though I had two others that were a toro size 6.25x50)
Wrapper: Costa Rica
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua, Dominican, Columbian
Price: Way too much ($22 at cigar.com), though I was gifted the one I'm smoking and got two others for pretty cheap in Gurkha samplers about a year ago.


Setting: Sun room, maybe 80 degrees or so, about 4:15, and pairing with a Peach Snapple.

Prelight: Cigar is a beautiful dark brown color with some prominent veins and a visible wrap underneath the cedar wrap and typical large Gurkha label. The cigar was very firm with no soft spots. The foot had a tiny bit of damage from being knocked around in the humidor for awhile. I've had this one sitting for about a nine months at 65% in the humi. The wrapper had a slight spice to it and the foot a very sweet smell, very pleasant. The cap peeled off easily with the Palio and the initial draw was just a tad on the free side of just right and very sweet as well.



First third: It took a bit to get this beast, excuse me, Titan started. But once going it rewarded with copious amounts of smoke. The initial flavors were hints of coffee, cedar, and a hint of molases. Right off the bat it's pounding the sweet buttons on the tongue and very little spice. The wrapper on this thing is very thick and has somewhat of a wavy thick burn line in first stages of the smoke. Though the body is in the medium range the aftertaste is very thick and lasting. Overall off to a pretty good start.



Middle third: As I reached the middle third of the cigar a slight spice and bitter chocolate hit the tongue, but in a pleasant way. The sweetness is starting to fade a bit, that or my tongue just got ovewhelmed. But a really nice wood and coffee flavor is becoming prominent. The finish remains heavy and pleasant and the body in the medium range. The ash lasted a bit under an inch and a half then promptly deposited itself in my lap. The ash is pretty firm with just some flakyness on the edges. The wave disappeared but the burn was still a bit uneven so I touched it up after the ash fell and it remained even for the rest of the third.



Final third: The woody taste is really coming to the forefront at the beginning of the last third. The body has remained medium and there is no discernable nic kick to it so far. Burn has remained relatively even since the retouch though there is a crack under the label when I removed it. The body remains in the medium range and the smoke is smooth with only a tiny bit of harshness coming in on the last inch. The wrapper did start to come apart at the head with about an inch and a half to go but it was manageable.



Final thoughts: Overall I really enjoyed this smoke. I found it very reminiscent of the Gurkha Fuerte, probably because they share the same wrapper, though this one has a double wrapper and held together much better than most of the Fuertes. It was a fairly complex cigar, much moreso than the fuerte, with the flavors if not strength and body changing throughout the smoke. It left me with a really pleasant and lingering aftertaste as well. For the price I wouldn't buy them but I'm happy I still have a couple more in the humi. At first I was surprised to see the different ring gauges, as there is no designation differing them, I'm assuming they must have just come from different years. Overall smoke time was 1:50.



Smoke again: Yep, at least twice.
Reccommend: Sure, nice smoke, full of flavor but accessible to someone who doesn't like strong cigars.
Buy again: Only if there is an amazingly cheap deal. Certainly not for $22 when I can get a similar smoke out of the Gurkha Fuerte for a little over $2.

[bigloo]

Excellent review. I should have mine rested/ready to go in 2-4 weeks and cant wait to fire one up.

[Mullet]

I generally had the same tasting notes as you. I think I substituted "wood" for "nutty" in my mental recollection. I have never seen this guy for $22 because I bought it in a CI deal that was like $60 for 20 cigars. I got 2 of these guys in that deal and never really thought about the price.

I agree, would not pay $22 for it. I would pay $10 for it though.

[TDIvey]

C-Bid should help you to avoid the heavily inflated rate that you mentioned - but still, they go high for what you get.

Nice review and thanks for the pics.

[bigloo]

Originally Posted by Mullet

I generally had the same tasting notes as you. I think I substituted "wood" for "nutty" in my mental recollection. I have never seen this guy for $22 because I bought it in a CI deal that was like $60 for 20 cigars. I got 2 of these guys in that deal and never really thought about the price.

I agree, would not pay $22 for it. I would pay $10 for it though.

As I reported on the other titan thread, if you place an order on CI,during checkout it is giving the option to add 10 of these for $50. I actually bought a hygroset, added the free shipping code and 10 titans, all for $70 shipped! Anyway, if you will pay $10 per and want more, you could jump on this for a lot less.

[groogs]

Great review. I have been thinking about trying the Titan. and with the deal on CI right now I think I am going to pull the trigger.

[bigloo]

So I am finally smoking one of my titans tonight, they should be well rested. I am 2/3 through the smoke. I agree with the review, but really need to stress while this is an excellent cigar, it is nowhere near worth the money they ask for it. At $5 a pop, this is a good smoke, but for me, I really doubt it is worth more. The cigar is smooth, very smooth. But the flavor profile has yet to change from sweet cedar. Actually, for my taste, this is probably too much cedar (cammie and maddie lover here).

CI/the devil is giving these things away right now, multiple deals where you can pick these up for $5 a stick (AND LESS!). For this price, grab a couple as they are worth it to try. Tonight the devil had a deal for 5 titans + 5 MC Media Noche for $40. I smoked this to see if I really wanted more titans and liked the devil deal (I have 10 in the box). I decided against. There are so many other cigars I would go to before this one that the remaining 9 will last me a long long time.

If you love sweet cedar, this gars for you!

[Volt]

I too love this stick and as others have noted, they can be gotten easily on c-bid all the time from ~$4.50 to $6 a stick in fivers. well written and very good pics.

[elderboy02]

Thanks again for a great review. I have been thinking about picking one up

[Full_Metal_Humidor]

i would like to get a couple of these but they are a little too expensive, and if i wanted to spend $22 on a cigar, i would just buy a Padron Serie 1926 then.

Great review though!

[Volt]

Originally Posted by Full_Metal_Humidor

i would like to get a couple of these but they are a little too expensive, and if i wanted to spend $22 on a cigar, i would just buy a Padron Serie 1926 then.

Great review though!

If you really want some - c-bid....

[jamesb3]

Really great review. I just wish my experience would have been the same. Found the cigar to be flat to my taste buds. It was aged a year but it just still fell flat for me. That's just my HO thou.

[boonedoggle]

Killer review. I have to add my 2 cents. I had one a few weeks ago and found it to taste worse than a dog turd. It was not smooth, and was just chocked full of power and umph. I thought it might be good after a hearty dinner, but even then, I can think of a thousand other cigars that would be much better...and for that price?! Come on.

[Big D]

I have smoked 2 of these, but for some reason, I can't remember the taste profile. I think I liked it better than the beast? Damn short term memory

[CigarDood]

Originally Posted by Big D

I have smoked 2 of these, but for some reason, I can't remember the taste profile. I think I liked it better than the beast? Damn short term memory

I have the same problem, but these really stick out in my head. They were just too leathery for my taste.