Tried a new Gurkha last night, the Gurkha Cellar Reserve Kraken (6"x60)

While not an economical smoke ($12), it's a gem. Excellent construction -- burns slow, even, and cool. Each time I ashed, it broke neatly and cleanly without a hint of crumble.

Now for the good part -- the flavor.

A grassy start, which quickly leads to notes of oaky-vanilla. After about five minutes, it develops a roasted nut flavor. Flavors stabilize to the constant oaky-vanilla taste on the palette, and the aftertaste is a bit spicy. As you smoke it, the flavors seem to deepen but that's it -- no surprises. I smoked this one down to 1.5" before giving up on it, and the flavor was fantastic the whole time. The draw is effortless, and the amount of smoke you get from this thing is almost humorous.

I'd give this one a 9.5 out of 10... The flavor wasn't the most dynamic, but it never went wrong and the construction/draw made it a pleasurable smoke for the entire 90 minutes.