Gurkha Rogue Rascal.

0patience

I had written this short review intending to post it here too.
If you've tried this cigar, I'd like to know your impressions of it and how far off base I am.

I'm not a big Gurkha fan, but in researching another cigar, I came across the Rogue.
It sounded intriguing, so I tried one. In trying it, my impression was that I must have gotten a fluke.

So I tried my second Gurkha Rogue Rascal, thinking the first one was a fluke. I have to say, what ever Gurkha is doing now, they should keep on doing it.

While it still has a bit of a green taste to it, I think that with a little rest, this could be a very good cigar. Cedary, Woody and earthy definitely come to mind. But there is a taste of molasses to it.

While a lot of descriptions state that there is spice and red pepper, I wasn't getting that a lot. I did get more of a molasses, cedar taste to it. And you can almost taste some cherry in it.

This thing has tons of flavor. I'm totally surprised by it the second time around.

The construction was not perfect. Kind of the standard thing that plagues Gurkha. Some soft spots, slight burn issues and that sort of thing, but a smooth draw. If you can get past the slight construction issues, this is not a bad cigar at all. I can't believe I'm saying that.

So, if you get a chance to smoke one of these, don't let the Gurkha name put you off. Try it. It has loads of flavor to it and I think you'll be very surprised. I was. Not to mention the totally cool band. LOL!

rzaman

Very interesting read. I want to try one now. Here is some information from a cigar source of mine. Gurkha has been financially suffering a lot lately so a financial source came to rescue the company and instructed the company switch from glamorous packaging to the quality core products- the cigar. This is a reason Gurkha went to Pinar del Rio factory to create their 125th Anniversary cigar. The result was good. Gurkha is taking time with their new blends rather then packaging.i smoked it and it was a good smoke and ordered a box. However the price is still high and the company need to stop the Rolls Royce jab and frequent sale marketing strategy. Now after reading your experience with this I have a second thought. Perhaps we can wait and see what the company release in the future. However again, a lot of companies sell bad cigars with marketing hype so why are we so hard on Gurkha? Please do not quote me on my cigar source. I am just sharing what I have heard. The fact is, the cigar industry is full of hype.

0patience

Thanks for the info Rip. It would explain their shift in cigars.
If Gurkha continues to work on cigars like this, it may get them out of the introduction and high end market. It seems to me that they focused on those people first getting into cigars and the high end people. Missing the middle market. But that's my impression of it. LOL!

Trying the Rogue has changed my mindset a little and I will be looking at a few other lines of theirs now.
The Red Witch is the next one that I am going to be looking at. It sounds similar with a Rosado wrapper.

rzaman

Rosado is a good wrapper and now days grown in most of the cigar producing country. I heard it is a hybrid of original Cuban Criollo 98 with something. However, the top Rosada wrapper still comes from Cuban Pinar del Rio. Hiroshi Robina is the pioneer of this wrapper. I smoked a custom made recently with a Nicaraguan grown Rosada wrapper- boy it was good. Thanks for sharing the advance information.

0patience:

Thanks for the info Rip. It would explain their shift in cigars.
If Gurkha continues to work on cigars like this, it may get them out of the introduction and high end market. It seems to me that they focused on those people first getting into cigars and the high end people. Missing the middle market. But that's my impression of it. LOL!

Trying the Rogue has changed my mindset a little and I will be looking at a few other lines of theirs now.
The Red Witch is the next one that I am going to be looking at. It sounds similar with a Rosado wrapper.

Puff_Dougie

Yup. I had one a few weeks ago at Joey D's Cigar Lounge. Joey recommended it himself, so I gave it a shot. It was a great stick. Solid construction, good flavors, even draw. I didn't even realize it was a Gurkha at first, because the name isn't featured on the band and wasn't prominent in the B&M display. I hope Rip's source is right and the company is turning a corner.

perkinke

Puff_Dougie:

... I didn't even realize it was a Gurkha at first, because the name isn't featured on the band and wasn't prominent in the B&M display.

I wonder if this is part of the restructuring Rip talked about, putting out good sticks without the brand name and let that help to rebuild the reputation. Then after a reputation for quality is restored go back to putting their name on.

Puff_Dougie

perkinke:

Puff_Dougie:

... I didn't even realize it was a Gurkha at first, because the name isn't featured on the band and wasn't prominent in the B&M display.

I wonder if this is part of the restructuring Rip talked about, putting out good sticks without the brand name and let that help to rebuild the reputation. Then after a reputation for quality is restored go back to putting their name on.

Could be, Kevin. It's marketed under Gurkha's East India Trading Company brand. I do hope they are able to shift their focus from branding to quality product, because this offering definitely shows they are capable to producing a fine cigar if they put their resources into it.

The Kid

Smoking one now,, 2nd one, all n all these rascals are pretty good.