I just loved the "Gurkha/Drew Estate" special event at the shop yesterday! My favorite shop, great locals and regulars, and one of my favorite boutique cigar makers... GURKHA!
Well, for those of you that did not attend or did not know, Tobacco Barn had a special event with Gurkha and Drew Estate cigars as their special guests. I was late to the event myself, but felt right on time as I walked in the door. The smoke was in the air and the cigars were all lit... including mine... before I even knew that it was mine. The rep for Gurkha already had an "Ancient Warrior" clipped and lit and headed to my mouth.
From then on it was talk, smoke, listen and talk smoke, listen. Good times.
I did do a lot of talking and took in a lot of information from the people around me... but I was also paying close attention to my cigar. I have had an "Ancient Warrior" before, however, I was smoking a smaller gauge vitola than I had previously had. Where as the "Ancient Warrior" was previously a mild to medium bodied cigar for me (remember, I had only smoked the bigger sizes), this particular smoke in my hand was a medium to full bodied cigar. It gave off lot's o' smoke and was more powerful than before. Perhaps the smaller gauge of the cigar had a lot to do with it. I find that coronas, robustos, and the like give me more "punch" in most of my cigars.
The flavor was earthy and pleasing. There was an aromatic touch to the smoke for me too. The construction had no problems. It burned evenly all the way down to an inch and half and went out on me (I am usually done at that point anyway). That did not bother me because I had gone outside in the high gusty winds while smoking this cigar and the dang thing stayed well lit and smoky. The cigar seemed to handle some abuse with ease. What a great cigar! It is not my favorite, but I was very pleased with it. The wrapper and label weren't high points of the cigar, but if that mattered much then Padron and other makers of "ugly but great" cigars would be out of business, wouldn't they?
Thank you to Mike, Ron, Pete, and Chad for the great time and the shop! A separate thank you to Tom for being the best Tobacconist I know. A pipe smoker who smokes cigars with us underlings.