Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV
Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV
Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV
Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV

Vital Stats:

This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.

Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5.5″
Ring Gauge: 52
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Brazillian Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano and Nicaraguan Ligero
Factory: Fabrica de Tabacos
Blender: Fidel Oliva
Number of reviewers: 3 —– Dave (mdwest) Ron (shuckins) Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
Price: $4.00
Age: 4 years
Release Date: 2010
Contributed by: Blind Man’s Puff

Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV
Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV

Initial Impressions

Appearance: 90

Nice looking cigar. Very dark, almost black wrapper, with an oily sheen to it.” –Ron (shuckins)

Aroma: 90

A slightly sweet aroma with hints of dark earth and chocolate. Very pleasant.” –Dave (mdwest)

Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV
Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV

First Third

Flavor: 90
Strength: Mild-Medium
Body/Complexity: Light-Medium

Light coffee with woodsy tasting tobacco on light up. Allspice with light pepper and a little more coffee flavor joins the woodsy tasting tobacco as the first third ends.” –Ron (shuckins)

The first puffs of this cigar are dry with predominantly woody flavors, mainly cedar. I do detect some spice but not really clear regarding what they are. There is no pepper to speak of, and the retrohale is pleasant.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV
Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV

Second Third

Flavor: 93
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

Rich, creamy notes of chocolate with a tiny bit of pepper on the finish. Earth and tobacco on the front and the middle. A very nice blend of flavors.” –Dave (mdwest)

This third develops more of the baking spices to go along with the cedar. The flavors of nutmeg and cinnamon are subtle, but delicious.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV
Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV

Final Third

Flavor: 93
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

No flavor shift noticed from the second to the final third, but that’s OK. I am really enjoying the ongoing chocolate, pepper and earth symphony that this cigar is providing. Great flavor without being overly strong or super complex.” –Dave (mdwest)

As the final third begins, a sweetness develops and is quite welcome. Unfortunately, a few minutes into this third the wrapper split increases and the wrapper begins to peel away from the binder. As a result the flavor changes significantly and the sweetness and spices disappear, leaving cedar.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV
Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV

Overall Impressions

Draw: 93

Smooth and easy draw with plenty of cool smoke, just the way I like it.” –Ron (shuckins)

Burn: 95

The burn was excellent on this cigar. Nice and slow…cool with bright white ash.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

Construction: 91

Very well constructed. Performance was excellent, and it is obvious that much attention to detail was put into getting the appearance right. A well made stick. ” –Dave (mdwest)

Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Overall Experience: 90

“Great flavors and excellent performance. A very good experience.” –Dave (mdwest)

“An enjoyable after dinner cigar with a nice blend of hearty flavors.” –Ron (shuckins)

“The flavors, while the cigar was intact, were quite nice. Unfortunately, the construction issues made the cigar nearly unsmokable at the end. Hopefully I’m the only person who had that issue.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)

Smoking Time (in minutes): 48

Total Score: 91 (Very Good)

Edit
Reviewer Appea-rance Aroma 1/3 2/3 3/3 Draw Burn Constr. Overall
Dave 90 95 50 93 93 93 95 93 93
Ron 90 90 90 90 90 93 95 90 90
Jason H. 88 90 90 95 93 98 95 85 88
Overall 90 90 90 93 93 93 95 91 90

To view the complete scores and notes, click here.

Blind Cigar Review: Gurkha | Empire IV