Cigar Blog 101

Cigars and cigar aficionados discuss their favorite cigars, humidors, cigar accessories and more.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

3 Regular Guys Review: Gurkha G3


The 2 Regular Guys were happy to welcome Corona Chris as the new 3rd Regular Guy. See, Colm and Scott convened in a smoke-filled room, or possibly it was a tiki-bar for a Friday lunch, and determined getting Chris onboard would actually be best for us. While Corona Chris has the unfair advantage of choosing which cigar we smoke next, we have the fair advantage that by making him smoke the same cigars as us, we drastically reduce our exposure to crappy cigars. Thus far, our scheme is working nicely, and we’re not too proud to say we look forward to eventually reviewing ANY Padrón 1926 Serié cigar for our loyal blog subscribers! Soon maybe?

Next up in our rotation is the Gurkha G3. If you consult the Gurkha website, Kaizad Hansotia intones how Gurkha doesn’t make really strong cigars. We would agree. He then calls out the G3 as a possible exception. Well, the name G3 appears to come from Gurkha and triple-Ligero.

Ligero leaf comes from the top of the tobacco plant, so they get the most sun exposure and also are the newest leaves as the plant matures upward. They are noted to be oily and strong in flavor. Add to that a Nicaraguan wrapper and this cigar just may live up to Hansotia’s safety warning that the G3 is for experienced smokers only and you should be seated when smoking this cigar.

Despite not being for the amateur, none of us were blindsided by this cigar. Chris and Scott both pegged it as being mild to medium in strength. Colm failed to make note of strength for this stick; and, from much experience transcribing his cocktail-napkin cigar reviews, that indicates a medium bodied cigar. Maybe we’ve been enjoying sweating through too many 601’s lately but the G3 offered up a great smooth flavor with a nice aftertaste and lingering finish. The strength was nowhere near oppressive.

Scott noted what he thought was a sweet taste to the wrapper; but, after consulting Gurkha’s website, he opted to re-calibrate his conclusion to the Cameroon binder instead. Perhaps the Cameroon binder went a long way to rein in the zestiness of the triple-Ligero leaf in this stogie.

The aroma was woody and the burn wandered a little but posed no difficulty. None of us recorded this cigar as cranking out smoke. The smoke, while somewhat sparse, was cool and flavorful, with a pleasant tobacco undertone and a light to medium mouthfeel. That could be the culprit of the triple-Ligero filler as well since it tends to burn quite slowly. In defense of the quality of the G3, there were no instances of it turning hot or harsh no matter how steadily we puffed on them.

This is a rather complicated cigar with plenty of subtle nuances that are tough to pin down. That complexity definitely makes it enjoyable to ponder the G3. In conclusion, the Gurkha G3 wouldn’t quite earn a three-drawn-sword salute, but all of the 3 Regular Guys would be willing to offer Genghis Kahn one to smoke next time he drops by the Thompson Cigar yurt.

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