Gurkha Monogram Robusto

[Tigerfellow]

Upon purchasing this cigar, I was hoping to be satisfied with a nice 5x50 robusto for an hour or more. However, when I got it back to my room, I more closely inspected the product. I slipped it slightly out of the cellophane wrapper to examine the product and thus the disappointment begins. I could feel rather prominent imperfections, not exposed by the exterior appearance, in the double dom. rep. filler. There were a few rather prominent veins in the conn shade wrap, but nothing all too bad. When I went to sniff the stick, I picked up a rather musty smell, supported by a rather heavy earth note... and I really started to wonder if this could end badly for me as a buyer. I started the smoke with wooden matches, letting the tip burn off, and had trouble keeping it lit. This stick was incredibly bland and smoked extremely unevenly. The smoke, for an advertised medium-mild, was very harsh with a musty, almost stale, earth note. The smoke itself, for a robusto, was not milky at all and my friend who was smoking a $3 rum runner had a far more eye-pleasing smoke production. The only plusses I observed were a decent exterior appearance and despite the imperfections in construction and uneven burn, I was able to maintain a decent ash at a peak of 1 1/2 inches. In the end, this cigar left me with a generally dissatisfied feeling and I would advise no one to pay the $6.00 price lest you be very disappointed.

Joe