A few nights ago I was sitting in my basement trying to write my final speech for my Public Speaking class. As the term comes to a close at school I find myself getting stressed out due to the workload of night classes in addition to the normal forty hour work week. Now, more so than ever, when I have the opportunity to smoke a cigar while doing something class related, I jump all over it.
While writing my speech I decided to dig around in the trusty cooler for something to treat myself with. I really had no idea what I felt like smoking, but when I came across a K. Hansotia Ancient Warrior, I knew what I was going to be smoking that night.
This particular cigar was appealing to me due to its rich, dark and oily wrapper. After removing the cellophane I gave it a little pinch and was pleased by the firm feel that I felt between my fingers.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cigar punch to get things underway. The cut was a quick and easy cut that left a perfectly round and clean hole. I then attempted to toast the foot but ran into a problem with my lighter. After a few failed attempts I reached behind me and grabbed a small box of wooden cigar matches. This was the first time I have ever had to use matches and was afraid I would end up with an uneven burn due to my lack of experience. To my amazement within a couple seconds I had the cigar completely lit with an even burn.
The initial puff gave way to a mouth full of thick billowing smoke. The smoke produced a dense creamy and coffee flavor with slight hints of cocoa. The finish was nice and light with a medium to full body wrapping things up.
Once I got settled in with this cigar I could taste a slight flavor change. The change added a light woody aftertaste to the already enjoyable flavor profile. The finish was still light and creamy while the body seemed to mellow a little. The burn started to get a little crooked and required a quick touchup to get things straight again.
As I closed in on the two thirds portion of this cigar, I began to taste a faint spice while blowing the smoke through my sinuses. The coffee and cocoa flavors were still dominant with a light woody aftertaste that went very well together. The body was becoming fuller while the finish stayed smooth and creamy.
After another inch it was like someone flipped a switch on me. Out of nowhere the cigar got intense. The aroma was strong enough to take my breath away while the body spiked to full. The finish was still smooth although lasted much longer on the pallet.
I did not enjoy the sudden change in flavor, body, and finish but I was still enjoying the cigar. The description above stayed consistent for the remainder of the cigar. After a little over an hour it was time to set down the cigar and let it go out.
Overall I enjoyed the K. Hansotia Ancient Warrior and would buy another in the future. The only unenjoyable experience was the abrupt change. Two days later I smoked another one of these cigars and had the same abrupt change. It seems to me that this is the type of cigar you either put out early to avoid the sudden change, or bide your time through the softer side of the cigar to get to what you like.
So I learned from Bob at the DWSC that this was a special edition cigar. Any idea on how many of these guys were made?
Jerry,
I have no idea, i found out they were special edition the same time you did 🙂
To be honest, when i saw K. Hansotia on the band rather than Gurkha I assumed that these were a lower priced Ancient Warrior.
Now that i know they are a special edition im goign to have to run back to that B&M and see if they have any left in that box that was sitting in the back corner of the humidor.
I didn’t know these were the special editions. I really enjoy these sticks. Gonna have to run out and stockpile.
I stumbled onto the Brazilian special edition Ancient Warriors about six months ago and this is the only cigar, that comes and goes from my humidor. There are many top brands in my humidor but I can not bring myself to light any other cigar, than the Ancient Warrior.This is the best cigar I have come across in some time!
Decent Cigar. Did not realize this was a special edition. Found it on the bottom Shelve below all the other Gurkhas. I smoked it while at the park with the dog, one of the best walks yet, the dog will agree to. Good ash all the way through. I too tasted cocoa. I am a big fan of the bigger Gurkhas but this might be come my favorite. On a scale of 1-10 I gave this a 7 and I have yet to smoke a 10 and I have smoked a few Cubans. So this was a good to almost great cigar.
I tried my first of these tonight and was pleasantly surprised. I’ve had it in the humidor for awhile after recieving it as a gift. I didn’t expect too much out of it as it didn’t have a Gurhka name on the band and I didn’t know much about the cigar itself (I figured it for some kind of second). I found it to be an enjoyable smoke. The ash remained firm throughout and held to about the 2″ mark without any babying. The one differance I found from your review was the drastic change in flavor. My seemed rather consistent and I took it down to the 1/2″ nub. I should probably chock this up to my inexperience. I would smoke this cigar again.