Cigar Review: Gurkha Evil

Robusto, 5.0" x 50 ring gauge, approx. $4.95 online when purchased in a box of 20
Another new release debuting at this year's IPCPR show is the latest from Gurkha: Evil. I was present at one of the first public herfs of this stogie at CBC/Burns on August 27 and got a chance to talk with the local rep about this stick. According to him, a group of Gurkha reps went to company owner, Kaisad Hansotia, to tell him they felt the company was missing out on a large segment of the market: those B&M shoppers that wanted a quality cigar fir $10 or less. He instructed them to blend it, so they went to the Central American factory (I forget the country) and did so. The result in the Evil, a medium-to-full bodied smoke that retails from $5 to $10 depending on the size, where you purchase and how many you buy at a time. I got two sticks that night; the first was a bit dried out and the wrapper became disconnected with the rest of the stogie, so I let my second stick rest for an additional 2 weeks in my humidor before this review.

The band of the Evil is rather understated for a Gurkha; it is made of light-brown paper with black ink and some metallic gold splashed of ink randomly mixed in. It is a rustic look for a company that normally tries to exude luxury, but I like it. What I do not like is that the band is about 1.5" tall, obscuring a good portion of the body of the stick; this will make it hard to spot flaws on individual sticks before purchasing. The wrapper is a very nice dark brown color and this example looks flawless. My previous cigar emphasized the fact that this Brazilian wrapper is extremely thin and delicate so I tried to be extra careful removing the band. The aroma of chocolate is easily the most prevalent, from the wrapper it is more of a subtle milk chocolate, while the foot is a richer mocha. The cigar feels quite solid; hopefully this does not portend a draw problem.

To keep wrapper damage possibilities to a minimum, I elected to punch the Evil. The ended up with no cracks in the cap and what seemed like a decent draw that had subtle cocoa and coffee notes. After lighting, though, I did not like the draw, so I opened up the original hole with my scissors and got a much better burn. Right away, the Evil presents a nice peppery blast along with some cocoa, which can especially be tasted on the restohale. The first time I smoked an Evil, my thought was "very full-bodied...for a Gurkha." This one actually struck me as quite full-bodied by any standard, at least in the early going. This contributed to an underlying black coffee bitterness that became very apparent once the pepper settled down a bit.

During the second third, the body eased up a bit and more chocolate flavors were evident. The construction was very good so far--slightly tight draw, but very straight burn line and solid ash that grew to an inch or more before letting go easily.

By the time the last third came around, the Evil was still medium-to-full in body with plenty of chocolate and some nice black coffee notes. The smoke had gotten very creamy as well. On the whole, a very tasty cigar that will surprise Gurkha fans and critics alike: a well-rounded, flavorful stogies with a decent amount of strength and body and a very reasonable price point.

Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 7/10

AFP Scale:
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10