The Gurkha 125th Anniversary cigar was Cigar Aficionado’s #9 cigar of 2013, with an outstanding 94 rating! Surprisingly, for a company that has sold high-priced cigars to the international elite for decades, this one was the first to hit Cigar Aficionado’s vaunted Top 25 Cigars of the Year list.
After all those costly sticks, this one finally brings certified luxury along with a premium smoking experience. (We have to wonder, did any CA reviewers ever get their hands on the crazy expensive Gurkhas – that is, the private blends sold to exclusive clientele? You can’t exactly walk down to your local smoke shop and put your hands on a box of Gurkhas like that, so we’ll be left wondering there.)
Gurkha traces the year of the first cigar smoked by Gurkha soldiers to 1887. While this date may have been pulled right out of… the soil, it’s the figure the company has chosen as a sort of root year of import. The British East India Company, and later the British Crown, would be compelled to tangle with the native Nepalese warriors known as Gurkhas for many years. They would learn that these soldiers had a courage and ferocity matched by the very best troops throughout history.
As Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw put it, "If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha."
So the Gurkha 125th Anniversary cigar celebrates the rough estimate of the year when those legendary badasses got into smoking rolled tobacco leaf (India’s love affair with smoking ganja was already thousands of years old at that time). Outside, the cigar features a Brazilian Habano (aka Brazilian “Cubra”) wrapper, and then follows up with an Ecuadorian Habano binder, and a filler blend of Nicaraguan, Brazilian, and Dominican tobaccos.
There’s a lot going on here, but like all artful cigars, it comes together perfectly. There’s the leather and cedar you might expect, but also a dried orange peel note that Cigar Aficionado called “lovely.” If you’re looking for a Gurkha that finally delivers aficionado-pleasing quality to match the brand’s often outlandish pricing and flair, this is it.
You can also find Gurkha 125th Anniversary Special Edition cigars that feature Honduran Corojo, Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade, or Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrappers.
Please browse our selection of Gurkha 125th Anniversary cigars at your leisure.
