Ghurka Cigars

[SMQQKIN]

If you like them that's great & smoke them if you got em. However, it will be tough to find an advocate on this forum. BTW -

IMO dog rockets.

[AndrewNR]

Hmm... I got a little whitewashed with the bad press and my attention waned.. Which lead me too..

Cigars named after warriors and how that could end badly.. For example.. Bare with me here..

Barber pole cigars.. "I smoked a barber pole" .. Ok so while this still isn't going to find you allot of discerning respect and admiration for your choice in cigars it hypothetically won't find you chastised when you proudly exclaim at the bar..

I smoked a mounties pole!

Ok thats me done, I'm here all night thanks folks..

[cigcars]

Of the varying Gurkha's I've tried I have been reasonably impressed with their Cellar Reserve, and the Centurion Anniversary perfecto. Those two aren't bad at all...

[garbandz]

When you can order up a 20 pack of mixed Gurkha cigars for 60.00..............doesn't that really tell you something?

I have tried 12 to 15 different blends from them,never puked from one,and never found one I would buy a box of.

I find the company's hype to be most irritating,and the pricing structure optimistic,at the very least.

Gurkhas are the Puros Indios of the 21 st century,imho.........................

[Maplepie]

Speaking of which, what IS it with their fascination with warriors with funny names?

I swear, in the Dom Rep., do they have 'Green Beret' cigars? Or Maori?

Oh I know! "Mounties"

I smoked a mounties pole!

yeah.... you're right, Andrew.

saying things like 'I'm smoking a Mountie' or 'i lit a Green Beret on fire' wont really fly well if the NSA are listening in on your phone conversations...

[Guyman1966]

I read somewhere that Bill Clinton smoked Gurkha's as his cigar of choice. Based on his taste in women (i.e. Hillary and Monica) I'm sure its a great cigar. LOL!

[Maplepie]

Okay, after my stream of 3 bad jokes, i can finally be serious about these.

What i heard is that Gurkhas used to be nice and good for the price. Somewhat alright tobacco and just a small little brand that tried to compete with Macanudo and A. Fuente without having a distinct taste. This worked well for them.

Until the cigar boom. The short lived mass-production seemed to have spiked their need for tobacco so they had to downgrade their quality to keep up with demand. This meant they needed a new method besides tobacco to sell their cigars. In comes the fancy labels and amazingly crafted boxes. Apparently, it did them well. [Apparently, it's still fckn doing them well].

Quality never rose back to what it used to be. And now the term is a joke among cigar blowers everywhere...

Anyone who was smoking before the cigar boom that wants to confirm this? Were Gurkhas from '91 still as pretty? Were they still as shite?

[Skyfall]

I read somewhere that Bill Clinton smoked Gurkha's as his cigar of choice. Based on his taste in women (i.e. Hillary and Monica) I'm sure its a great cigar. LOL!

Not to sidetrack too much:

I think since George Bush Sr, most of the cigars provided to the President and preferred by the Presidents, are Paul Garmirian's.

This is what I have heard from numerous sources.

[Guyman1966]

Not to sidetrack too much:

I think since George Bush Sr, most of the cigars provided to the President and preferred by the Presidents, are Paul Garmirian's.

This is what I have heard from numerous sources.

I don't know. I was just looking for a cheap joke.

If I was Pres of USA, I'd make friends in the land down under

[Skyfall]

I don't know. I was just looking for a cheap joke.

If I was Pres of USA, I'd make friends in the land down under

I did hear that Clinton liked to store his in very "wet" conditions!

"rimshot"

[Guyman1966]

I did hear that Clinton liked to store his in very "wet" conditions!

"rimshot"

What color would the mold be?

[Skyfall]

What color would the mold be?

what color is yeast?

[Maplepie]

what color is yeast?

happy bi-millennial post!!

amazing what you commented as a 2000th post!! or the thread that you've commented on as a 2000th pos?

[Skyfall]

happy bi-millennial post!!

amazing what you commented as a 2000th post!! or the thread that you've commented on as a 2000th pos?

Thanks

I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't pay too much attention to post counts. I've already started over at zero once after 3k+ posts here on FOH.

Ain't no thang but a chicken wang!

[Guyman1966]

what color is yeast?

congrats on your 2000th post. May my 2000th be as important! LOL

[Skyfall]

congrats on your 2000th post. May my 2000th be as important! LOL

Thanks brother! I couldn't be more proud to have the 2000th talking about Bill Clinton, Ghurka's, and nasty broads!

NOT! ....I despise all 3, but thanks anyway

I started over at zero a while back, in reality, it's actually up in the 5k range.

[Armaniac]

Funny I was just checking my email and a US vendor has a mixed pack of 20 Gurkhas at 87% off. What a deal!!

[CaptainQuintero]

I tried a number of them early on, and thought they were fine - no better or worse than other stuff out there at that time. I went and checked, and lo and behold, I still have one of the perfectos (fatter in the middle, tapered at both ends - the original torpedo) - they were called the Centurion. I also found I still have a few La Aurora Preferidos, both cameroon and maduro (same shape as the Gurkha). I tend to doubt any of these will have stood the test of time, but will endeavor to try them soon.

You can never go wrong by trying things for yourself and coming to your own conclusions, and need not apologize for doing so

P.S:

prfcts2.jpg

Just looking at that vitola makes me want to try those cigars! Just beautiful.

I think regardless of the cigars, RP is a fantastic business man, at the very least he has helped keep cigar smoking mainstream and keep the fraternity growing. I'll drink to that and anyone who helps keep stogies being lit

[canadianbeaver]

yeah.... you're right, Andrew.

saying things like 'I'm smoking a Mountie' or 'i lit a Green Beret on fire' wont really fly well if the NSA are listening in on your phone conversations...

Best name on an NC, Opus X BBMF

For years I have referred to Ghurka as "brown pickles".

La Aurora figurados are one of the only NC's that I like.

[bradbrennan]

Not to sidetrack too much:

I think since George Bush Sr, most of the cigars provided to the President and preferred by the Presidents, are Paul Garmirian's.

This is what I have heard from numerous sources.

Not to sidetrack too much, but curious about the PG cigars, truth to that, do you know much about them, good, bad, indifferent, special???

[Skyfall]

Not to sidetrack too much, but curious about the PG cigars, truth to that, do you know much about them, good, bad, indifferent, special???

To be honest, I was introduced to PG's about 12 years ago, and received a serious education on them by an old timer who knew everything about them and thought they were superior to all other NC's. I will say this, PG's were the only NC's I ever consistently enjoyed. My local shop was one of their big regional supporters, so I had access to all of their lines. If you've never had one, give them a try. I haven't smoked one in 4-5 years but if I had to smoke an NC, it would be a PG for sure!

[stillinger]

They're in the B/M near me, and they're pretty good (PGs). Pricey, but that's because they're seen as more boutique than general consumption.

I must also attest Gurkha still sells well near me. There's a group of people who love baby arm sized stuff and steer towards the Gurkhas and others

[kuzi16]

on a non-Cuban forum i frequent i shared my feelings about Gurkha. nothing has changed since i posted this, so here is that post in its entirety:

An open letter to Gurkha

Dear Gurkha,

as i was looking through my humidor today for a noon smoke, i found a cigar that was given to me as a gift in August of 06 for my wedding in the following September. this cigar just happened to be a Gurkha Legend perfecto.
i hesitated for a moment. i have had this cigar aging for about 7 years. i remember the day i got it. i opened the bomb up to find a hand full of really good smokes. At the time you (Gurkha) did not have the increasingly poor reputation that you are probably starting to become accustomed to. Gurkha was not discounted the way it is always discounted now. At the time i got the gift, this was a $20 cigar.
i was excited to place this Legend Perfecto in my humidor.
i was also determined to put it down for some age.
over the years, this cigar got buried in the humidor, then humidors. i would run across it every now and then and smile to myself as i set it back to sleep for another time.

today when i saw it i said to myself "today is the day"

before i even clipped the cap i was trying to determine if i should put this in the "what did you smoke today" thread. given today's reputation of Gurkha and the cigars i usually smoke, it may seem a bit strange so see me post it there. i determined that i would post that i was smoking it and i could defend/justify it by talking about how Gurkha did not always have this reputation, how the quality got worse over the years, about how i used to be a fan of Gurkha early on.

i clipped. i toasted. I attempted to draw. before i even had time to taste the cigar i was stopped by a plug.
i re-clipped to no avail.
i searched my house to find the draw poker i made a few years ago and ran it through.
problem solved. of course, this was a 20min process because most reputable companies have some level of quality control, so i rarely have to use a draw poker.

i re-toast. I took a draw on it. the foot is fairly small so when there is little flavor i was not really surprised. As the ring got wider, it was still lacking flavor.
maybe its past its prime?

i am trying to determine in my head if it has been over aged when i notice that the burn is all kinds of crooked and the wrapper is starting to crack further down.
now, i know for a fact that it is not user error on this. this cigar has not been out of an environment that was more than two points plus or minus 68% for the last seven years and i smoke slow so this was not a symptom of over zealous puffing.
this was clearly a construction issue.
I corrected the frequent unevenness of the burn with a torch and tried to move on with life.
the ash was flaky and seemed to be "blooming like a flower" as i smoked. the ash was inconsistent in how it falls. sometimes early, and sometimes it holds for almost an inch.
after a bit of this struggle, i tried to focus back on the flavor. This would have been easier to do if it didnt want to keep going out. when it was puffing the flavor was flat and thin. again, i wonded if this is due to a bit too much age. This was supposed to be a medium-full bodied cigar and in my gut it felt like a medium-full cigar. but the flavor was weak. it is unrefined. it reminds me of a very light version of smoldering savaday (if you have ever worked in the food service industry you know what im talking about). this is a blending issue.
a cigar that has blending issues and construction issues offers me nothing.


Gurkha, this was the last straw.


i tried to forgive you for years. i tried to say that your original lines were still good. i tried to say that you expanded so fast that you couldnt keep up with QC so "give em another shot" because the issues are not as common as we think. (I mean, people notice when things are wrong and make note of it more often than when they go right. things are supposed to work.) i tried not to speak ill of your brand overall because i wanted to hold myself to a higher standard understanding that Gurkha was somebody's life's work. I tried to brush off all the negativity of the brand and it was a classic case of "just not my taste" in the cigar world.

i cant do that anymore.

this cigar represented an earlier incarnation of Gurkha. an incarnation of the brand from when they still seemed to care. they were not trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes by claiming they were the "Rolls Royce" of cigars. they were trying to make good cigars. they still failed.
this brand is a joke. they make Ford Pintos and place the silver "RR" on the hood and claim its a Rolls Royce. yes there are people that love the pinto, but every now and again the car's gas tank blows up much like the wrapper of the legend i tried to smoke today.
i will never smoke another Gurkha again. i will not be fooled by this brand. i will not be lulled into thinking that "this one may be better" for another time.
I dont care if your brand one day has a huge change in the way it does business and quality goes through the roof. i am done with you.
Gurkha, you ruined my day, and wasted precious humidor space for the last seven years. This was a wedding gift; a gift that i am now ashamed to have been, at one point, proud to have in my humidor.

you did me wrong Gurkha.
you have done my friends wrong.
i wont even give away the remaining trash you have in my humidor.
I wont even give them an honorable funeral by fire in my fire pit.

i will place them in the trash, where they belong.

-kuzi

[DrunkenMonkey]

Ouch.

[Grahamsant]

WOW! Some heated responses! Haha!

Well, unfortunately (I'll let you change that word when reading if you so wish ) after all of this discussion; I've just been informed that the Ghurka Assassin Churchills I'd ordered are actually out of stock at the moment from the US supplier. They offered me an alternative but on this occasion I have declined and they are refunding the cigars back (I also ordered a beautiful new desktop humidor which will be shipped out on Monday)

Every cloud having it's silver lining - that does mean that I now have the money to order another box from our host's clearance or wait until the next LFTW and order a box then . So that's exactly where I'm heading right now...let's see what we have left!!