The Velvet Cigar

Posted By ironmeden on July 28, 2007

There was a lot to fit in this busy day. I was leaving work early at noon. My plan was to head over to Stogies on Grand in St. Paul and talk to the owner about hosting our cigar club Havana Nights Cigar Club at his cigar shop. Next I was going to pick up Elvis and we were going head on down to the Blue Max Liquor store in Burnsville, MN where they have over 200 single malt scotches and 1100 different beers available. After that we were heading over to Burn, the newest cigar shop in the Twin Cities area. Again we would be discussing the opportunity to host our club meetings there.

I got out of work sharply at noon. High tailed over to Jimmy Johns for a quick lunch. About 12:20pm I was on my way from Golden Valley to St. Paul. Normally a 10 to 15 minute drive. I made the mistake of taking HWY 394 East into Minneapolis. The drive turned into a 30 minute drudging along the highway.

I make to Stogies on Grand and chat with Howard for about 10 minutes and I explain the concept of our group. I gave him my info and he said he would get back to me if they were interested in hosting the club.

Onto my next stop was where Elvis worked. He was also in St. Paul, just a few minutes away. I arrive and let him know I was there and waited until 2pm when he would be getting off of work. Right on time we headed out to Blue Max. We get there and were quite amazed by the selection of scotches. There were no sales going on so everything was priced as is. We were hoping to walk out of there with a bottle each, but prices were a bit high. We instead checked out the wine and each purchased 2 bottles. We didn’t want to waste our trip down there.

With wine in hand, we trekked on to Burn which is also in Burnsville but a few miles north of Hwy 42. We get there and had a little trouble with my GPS system. My trusty ElvisElvis just couldn’t pinpoint the exact location of Burn. We finally found it, we drove past it twice. We walk in and Joel was working. We had known Joel who also worked at their other store, Tobacco Grove in Maple Grove MN. We both were amazed by the warmness of the cigar lounge. To the left is the counter and to the right is a sitting area with a leather chair and couch and a widescreen TV. In the back there was a pool table and a poker table. On the left past the counter there were the lockers for customers to store their cigars and just past that the double doors which opened into a large humidor. Its rectangle in size and the long wall is lined with premium cigars.

Elvis and I wanted to pick out 2 cigars each, one we would smoke there and another we would bring home. I chose the Gurkha Black Dragon and the Tatuaje West cigar. Elvis got th East Version. This version of the cigar was distributed where one side of the country received the East and the other side the West which was separated by the Mississippi River. Being that the Twin Cities area is cut in the middle, Burn got both. The West has a lighter shade wrapper then the East version. Elvis said his was a spicy in taste, while the West was smooth. My first Tatuaje experience was positive. I enjoyed this smoke.

Also one of the reasons for my trip to Burn was to discuss with Joel the possibility of working part time at the store. I was originally asked by Greg who owned Roberts about about a month ago if I was interested in working the cigar lounge on week nights and some weekends during their live shows. I thought about it for a few days and couldn’t find a reason not to. I thought this was a great opportunity to expand my hobby from just smoking cigar to selling them while also learning the retail side of the business. With Robert’s now out of business I had to look elsewhere. I went over to Tobacco Grove and talked with the owner Jeff and he was open to the idea and he mentioned that with Burn open, there would be a better opportunity for some assistance at that location. That store is about 30 miles from my house, which is no big deal since I would be working Saturdays from 11am to 7pm.

Joel was enthusiastic about having me work part time and I was thrilled to death that I was being able to take my enjoyment of cigars to the next level. So next Saturday will be my first day as an employee of Burn in Burnsville, MN!

We finished out Tatuaje cigars and headed home. It was a busy afternoon and we were both exhausted from smoking cigars in the middle of the day. We are not custom to smoking them while there is still light out.

Now onto the Gurkha Black Dragon. This cigar is the newest in the ever expanding line of Gurkha cigars. It seems every quarter there is a new cigar coming out from them and of course this cigar splashes onto the seen like the recent lines like the The Grand Age and Beauty.

The cigar is attractive. The lining of the case it came in was a bright orange in color. Here is a synopsis of Black Dragon:

Hansotia has trumped the HMR, rocking the world of cigars and opulent living with his most ambitious offering yet. Featured in the latest issue of The Robb Report, the American magazine of ultra-extravagance, Hansotia has introduced Black Dragon Edicion Especial, priced astronomically at $115,000 per box of 100 cigars. As if this price were not exclusive enough, Hansotia is only offering 5 boxes, and only as part of The Robb Report’s annual “Ultimate Gift Guide,” with no additional production planned.

Its quality and unique presentation are equal to its romance. Black Dragon is hand-crafted by the Gurkha factory in Honduras, using African Cameroon, Dominican, and Connecticut tobaccos. They are extra-aged for 12-15 years, to create a smoothness and sophistication, rare in even superpremium cigars. The richly powerful flavor of these 7-1/2″ x 52 dark maduro cigars includes subtle and exquisite spicy notes. Gurkha cigars are noted for their imaginative presentations, and Black Dragon is no different. According to Hansotia, the stunning presentation box is hand-crafted in India from intricately carved camel bone, which takes on a distressed patina with its 80-year age. Solid brass furniture is the final touch of elegance.

Black Dragon’s unheard-of $1,150-a-cigar price and extreme scarcity should certainly open five pocketbooks. For us mere mortals, however, he says top-quality, highly-rated Gurkha cigars are available for as little as $12.95 retail.

The cigar has a dark wrapper. There were some flaws in the rolling of the wrapper. It didn’t look that well glued down and there were a few angular cuts out of the wrapper. The cigar was well humidified, it has a spongy feel to it in the body of the cigar and the head of the cigar. The Black Dragon has 3 bands, the Gurkha wrapper that has a highlight of a red/orange stripe and it does say Black Dragon on this band. Half the cigar is covered in a cedar and and the foot of the cigar is wrapped in a felt band.The size I picked was the 6 1/2 x 53. They also had the gigantic 8 1/2 x 52. I just didn’t think I could handle that much tobacco in one sitting.
The cigar has a strong leather smell, a premium smell. You know when you go into Kohls and try on their leather jackets you get that great leather smell, but when you go into Wilson’s Leather store and the whole place envelopes you in the premium leather smell, this is what the Black Dragon emits.

I made a V-Cut to the head of the cigar and gave it a taste. No spice coming from this cigar. I lit the cedar band and touched the flame to the end of the cigar. The first few puffs were quite amazing. Smooth and tasty, with hints of coffee. There was no harsh or bitterness to the taste. About a 1/4 inch in while sitting outside in the dark with minimal light, I could see the bright white ash reflected in the evening. I got a call from the International Space Station informing me they locked onto the white ash of the cigar and that I should go all in with my pocket 8′s. Just like the government to be nosy.

There was no wind to be found so the smoke was surrounding me as it escaped from the cigar. I guess my air conditioner sitting a few feet away from me couldn’t keep up as my natural smoke eater.

The first 1/4 of the cigar was great, but there was something missing. After that mark the cigar seemed to get bland. It was smooth, but flavor was missing. At the half way point the white ash was still a beacon in the night, I started to get a strange chemical taste. I tasted this in the back of my mouth.

About an inch past the half way point I started to get some peppery tones to the cigar. I was waiting for something from the cigar. It hit the tip of my tongue and didn’t let go with every puff of the cigar. That odd chemical taste was still there, but accented by the spice.

At this point i’m thinking this cigar could probably stand about 6 months of aging in a humidor. I think that may calm that odd taste.

Throughout the smoke it did have a even burn. There was a time just under half way that I felt I might have to relight it, but I gave it a few tough draws and that ignited the the burning furry of the cigar.
Now towards the end the pepper tones did not let up. It was non stop. Wow! At the end of the cigar my tongue was tingling and numb. It was like I put some Anbesol on my tongue. The tip and the middle part of my tongue were on fire. What a surprise ending to this cigar. I was only drinking water with this cigar and I found I was drinking a lot of it towards the finish of this cigar. This cigar toys with you for a while but it sneaks up and gives you quite a wallop.

I was really thinking I was going to give the cigar a so-so rating, but I can’t after that finish. I’m going to revisit this cigar about December and see if it ages a little. It think after some aging this could be a fantastic smoke.

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Categories: Cameroon, Cigar Indulgence, Dominican Republic, Honduras
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