Gurkha "Nepalese Warrior"

I decided to brave the "wind advisory" in effect for today (40 mph gusts in KC equals a temperate breeze in Dodge City) and enjoy the unseasonably warm temperature of 61 degrees. However, my ignition tool is less than adequate on a still day let alone a very windy one. Combine that with some questionable construction and the total score for this admirable smoke suffered more than perhaps it should. We'll see. My wife gave me 20 of these delightful stogies and I'm looking forward to refining my opinion after really getting to know it.

The Nepalese Warrior is the same cigar as the Class Regent with the exception of the dark brown Cameroon wrapper.

Construction: 4?
W.T.F? This shipment of cigars suffered some slight damage in the factory perhaps. I gently pulled two more out of their wrappers and found flaws in all of them; though most are very small. The wrappers all feel a little dry and brittle. A few more weeks in the humidor might ease that a bit but I don't know. In any case, taking the guillotine to the end of it make a horrid crunching sound and caused more flaking and peeling than I think is normal. As it burned, the much vaunted Cameroon wrapper gradually peeled off and blew away. Still, I managed to smoke it down to the nub; that is, it held together well enough for me to smoke it. Others in the shipment might be better.

Appearance: 8
I love Gurkha's labels. I particularly like the Legend Aniversario and the Royal Brigade colors but this one is nice as well. While brittle (see above) the wrapper is lovely to look at and I like box-pressed cigars. Still, they feel a little....delicate in the hand and they're not very big. Not that I'm preoccupied with size mind you.

Burn: 7?
The wind was kicking my arse on this one. I never did get it evenly lit (crappy butane torch) so it didn't burn evenly. My guess is that it would normally burn easy and even under anything less than hurricane force winds. I never had to re-light it.

Flavor: 9
Here is where this baby shines. I like medium-bodied consistent smokes and this one fits the bill without par. Slightly sweet with a very nice leathery smell throughout. Earthy and super smooth all the way. There was only a dash of pepper toward the end.

Unlit Smell: 8
I love smelling cigars. In fact, I think I like smelling them unlit more than I like smoking them. However, man can endure only so much foreplay; it's going to get smoked sooner or later. The smell brings more of that leathery goodness. A fine sniffer despite not being a powerhouse smoke which typically smell better but don't suit my palate.

Value: 10
On the small size, it only took me about an hour to finish. For me that's not a detractor. My patience level with cigars is about 60 minutes anyway. I got 20 for $30 plus shipping. Perfect.

Plumage 8?
Hard to say when I was smoking in a tornado. It put out a fair amount of smoke under the circumstances. Another smoke will tell me more.

Special: 8
It's a Gurkha, yo. Some some respect.

Total Score: 8