And it wasn't a bad smoke for the $9.50 I paid for it at Empire Cigar. The hype is just hype plus fancy-ass packaging, but the cigar wasn't atall bad despite some horrendous reviews I've seen online.
The Gurkha Crest is a rich, meaty, well rounded cigar, with an interesting edge of spice to it. There is a deep earthiness to this smoke, which may be why one reviewer from this board described it as tasting like dirt. There is definitely some dirt here, but it's pretty tasty dirt, with hints of peat and black truffle mushroom. The construction was good and tight, with a nice firm ash, and it yielded a pleasant, mellow and complex smoke all the way down.
I would not pay a huge unreasonable amount for this stick, but this really ain't a bad ceegar at all for a sawbuck. Thumbs up from the herfer girl.