Ghurka Cigars

[Philski]

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

I hate bullshit marketing. Hate it. Reading this thread led me to check out their website, and there on the front page, as bold as brass, is trumpeted their "125th Anniversary Edition" cigar with what looks like a ripoff Opus band from a distance. At the top it states Gurkha "Est. 1887".

Well, if good old Wikipedia is to be believed, the current ownership dates to 1989, which makes this claim about 100 years off.

[Quick edit: I just deleted about three paragraphs of rant on this. I'm on my second large Laphroiag and a rather good Siglo II is burning in the ashtray. I feel much better now.]

[Colt45]

Every cloud having it's silver lining

I went ahead and fired up my remaining Centurian - I guess a little back story might be in order...

I've had this cigar for around ten years, give or take. I can't recall exactly, but I realized I still have the cedar lined canister they came in, and a label inside the lid says 2002 - I'm just not sure when I acquired them.

I've never paid retail for these kind of cigars - at the time I was getting them from an auction site, which was nice as you could also get five packs of things to try.

So, though I usually keep an open mind when igniting any cigar, I admit I wasn't expecting much due to the age. Lighting up, I was a bit surprised that I was not simply smoking air. Spicy right off the bat, overall it was cherry cough drop with a bit of almond. It's main character though, was a kind of sour acidity, which I've come to expect from Dominican tobacco.

In small doses, in balance with other elements, I feel this trait can lend character. When dominant, it can be a "distraction". Medium / medium light in body, great construction / draw / burn. Wouldn't buy more, but wouldn't turn one down if I were out having a couple of beers with friends.

[Stogieninja]

Cellar Reserve is pretty good. Ghost is decent. Crest is very mild, but ok. The rest are worthless, and those three I wouldn't pay money for, but would smoke if given and I had nothing better to do.

[Maplepie]

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

[canadianbeaver]

Then you will like Rocky Pootel too.

[Skyfall]

Then you will like Rocky Pootel too.

Lisa knows her way around a pickle!

[Duxnutz]

I actually met a store Rep in LA that claimed to be from Ghurka (no interest whether his story was true but don't know who would make that up). Actually purchased a Cellar Reserve to try but gave him a good ribbing about the 'brand' and their utter b.s marketing bordering on false advertising.

[CdnLimitada]

Other than sub par cigars, my biggest problem with Ghurka is the marketing hype. They list the MSRP for their cigars in the stratosphere then discount them by like 80% to make it seem like you are getting a real bargain for a high brow cigar. A certain online vendor here in the U.S. has about 4000 varieties of Ghurka. I have never seen a line of cigars that can pump out such a low quality product in such volume and variety then act like they are super rare and exclusive.

After further review, my prior post is a touch snotty (its still true but needed a much more caring and understanding tone

That being said, I have smoked a ton of different cigars both NC and CC. Still smoke a fair number of NC's.

Best advice...try anything you want. If you like it, buy more. If you don't, don't make the same mistake twice. They are your tastebuds so smoke what you like and enjoy.

Everything HarveyB says on this I 100% agree with.

[canadianbeaver]

Gurkhas premier cigar, His Majestys Reserve.

Rightfully touted as the most expensive cigar in the world, these cigars arent just made with premium tobaccotheyre also infused with a generous portion of Louis XIII Cognac in a process that retains the flavor of the tobacco. Louis XIII Cognac, as you may know, is one of the finest cognacs on the market today.

Each year, fewer than 100 boxes of His Majestys Reserve cigars are produced and Gurkhas president oversees their allocation to retailers. At $750, just one of these most expensive cigars will probably cost more than your vintage smoking jacket, but for the true aficionado, it may be a smoke too good to pass up.

[DrunkenMonkey]

Wow, $750 for one cigar? A flavored cigar? Brilliant. Someone needs to research who's buying these (if anyone is).

[Pedro2486]

$750 a piece and they still must be quarantined from your humi like the cheapest Acid or Port Royal. Ironic no?

[Maplepie]

$750 a piece and they still must be quarantined from your humi like the cheapest Acid or Port Royal. Ironic no?

i would.... Gurkhas are fearful whilst sober.

no idea what they'd be like when they're all on some cognac. i don't want to infuse other cigars in my collection with Cognac, either!

also, no online review of these that i trust has ANY good mention of of the infusion. half of them can't taste it, half of them says it's no better than the Maker's Mark cigar (which, honestly, i don't find all that bad)

[Maplepie]

Oi! Take em to a google!!

Prices are down to $400 a stick

[Grahamsant]

Whether it's $750 or $400 it's still a heck of a lot cheaper than the Original Gurkha black dragons. In their Camel Bone humidor at $115,000 per box of a hundred (only 5 released!)

P.S. I've only just now realised that I spelt Gurkha wrong in my original posting (according to this box, I've also spelt realised and spelt wrong but they're spelt right in English at least...U.S. Dictionary???)

[Maplepie]

P.S. I've only just now realised that I spelt Gurkha wrong in my original posting (according to this box, I've also spelt realised and spelt wrong but they're spelt right in English at least...U.S. Dictionary???)

depends on the browser you're using and its settings.

i use Opera which makes it very easy to spell check and switch between English, German, and French. also helps as i don't know the ALT codes for circumflex and umlaut. i've hated the edits for US English as it tells me Colour and Organisation are spelt wrong. ah well...

[cigcars]

I remember when those Black Dragons were first introduced and at over $1,500 each Then they were available some time later at my tobacconists' for about $8 or so. Got it, tried it...ordinary at best. I believe these crazy prices of theirs is just to see if or who would be out of their mind enough to spend that much - and on a Non-Cuban at that. And you're right, Pedro2486 - you'd have to quarantine that cigar from the rest anyway, being all infused and such. Even if that $750 smoke comes down to a sane price I still can't see myself curious enough to try it.

[finecigar]

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

I have had a few boxes worth of the 1990s vintage PGs that are incredibly smooth. The great ones have a wonderful Carmel and almond flavor with creamy smoke. They aren't bad... I would still at the end of the day prefer my CCs to smoke. never had a bad rolled PG though

[Grahamsant]

I have had a few boxes worth of the 1990s vintage PGs that are incredibly smooth. The great ones have a wonderful Carmel and almond flavor with creamy smoke. They aren't bad... I would still at the end of the day prefer my CCs to smoke. never had a bad rolled PG though

Sorry for the noob question!! What is a PG?? I'm presuming it's not rolled up tea leaves ;-)

Having looked around - Paul Garmirian?

[bradbrennan]

Sorry for the noob question!! What is a PG?? I'm presuming it's not rolled up tea leaves ;-)

Having looked around - Paul Garmirian?

Yep, and according toSkyfall, they're worth a try

[Skyfall]

Yep, and according toSkyfall, they're worth a try

Worth a try, yes!

Would I choose them over a good CC, no!

I gave all of mine away a long time ago, or I'd send you out one!

[finecigar]

Yep they are definitely worth the try. A stellar NC from my experience