My crew and I have smoked a lot of Gurkhas. I guess that is why I am not a daily smoker, because I have never been thrilled with most of them. There are a few acceptables. I recently won a fiver of pre release Gurkha Abuelos. Interesting flavor. I sent one to each of my noobs and we are going to do a live simulsmoke and see what everyone thinks.
Hansota was brilliant with his marketing tricking a lot of people into believing what he sold was fabulous because of the price, and like Black and Decker there are enough fools willing to pay too much one time for so long that he got rich. Those who smoke a long time drift away rapidly, but there are some accidental good Gurkhas out there.
I have never had the exploding problem, or the splitting for the past 5 years. I keep my cigars at 69% and 70 degrees. I also smoke late at night when the humidity is high outside on the porch or on the bridge wing if on board ship.
I did have one Gurkha Blade unravel on me, but it has been passed around a lot.
I have had the privilege the past two years to be introduced to some great cigar brands by the BOTLs here and have to say that it does not make much difference if it is a 2 dollar smoke or a 10 dollar smoke, There are a lot of ok cigars but few standouts. yes there are dog rockets all over.
I draw the line there. The Tats always please. I have had several Fuentes, most were nice, none were standouts. I am waiting on a few opus X's that were promised to me recently. I have one 2003 that is waiting for my anniversary, and a 2015 that is going to nap for a while.
I was gifted 10 ccs this past new years. 5 of one brand five of another. I absolutely love the El Mundo Rey, they were as smooth as a silk nighty. The other fiver had ones with the R on the band they were not standouts to my pallet. Both were 2004 and earlier vintage. I really appreciate Buckwheat's RAOK.
I have a policy. For my taste and those around me that I give a lot of cigars to, I will bid no more than 3 dollars a stick for most stuff. I am happy with the CAO's I pick up at that level. I have ordered a few boxes of other recommended cigars to try. I have found a good local BM that has a cigar club in the back and it is nice to hang out play some cards, do a bit of PS4 and generally get silly and smoke.
What i enjoy the most is trading, and I have never been disappointed trading with the BOTLs here. Thank you!
C Green
By the way Puffy says hi. He got the ban hammer for some personal issues. He will be back as soon as he gets everything straightened out. A lot of guys are having financial issues as of late, lets remember that we are all brothers and sisters and can often help.
