Smokin' joe purchased this cigar on 2009-01-01.
It has 3 years of additional aging.
This is the fanciest cigar I have ever smoked - courtesy of my nice Father-in-Law on the occasion of our first born - he had these for at least 3 years & had saved a few for just such an occasion!
The Gurkha packaging is awesome - each cigar comes in a thin cedar sheath and has a very elegant black & gold band around it and a black ribbon around the foot. Very classy. Its also a bit of a monster! It took us just under 3 hours to smoke them.
The burn was almost perfect, although it had quite a tight draw to it. the ash was almost pure white and very solid. The creaminess and cocoa I had tasted on the pre-light was really what you got through the first third of the cigar. It was quite sweet on the palate - enjoyable but not particularly complex in terms of flavor - not as much as I had expected anyway.
The second third had a bit more of a chocolately flavor to it and there was a sort of coconutty quality to the creaminess which was quite pleasant. As it got to the last third there was a nutty hint that started to come through.
Unfortunately, the last third was a disappointment. The tight draw caused some problems with splitting in the wrapper and the taste went downhill with it. I don't know what it was but it tasted horrible. My Father-in-Law found the same thing with his - I don't know if it was just that batch or what but we didn't go any further with them. I was grateful for the experience but I don't think I would pay the money for one of these myself. Though I might try a smaller sized one at some time.