Gurkha G3
If you receive a stack of cigar catalogs in the mail every month like I do, than you are probably familiar with Gurkha cigars. Â According to the Gurkha website Kaizad Hansotia bought the brand for $149 in the late 1980’s during a trip to India. Â Now Gurkha produces premium cigars and packages them in elaborate boxes. Â Today’s sample, the G3, is described as a complex powerhouse , so I was anxious to fire it up and see what this cigar had to offer.
Company:Â Gurkha
Made in:Â Honduras
Made by:Â Gurkha
Size:Â 6 x 50 Toro
Wrapper:Â Nicaraguan Maduro
Filler:Â Nicaraguan
Binder:Â Cameroon
MSRP:Â $9.00
Pre-light
The G3 is nicely presented with a cedar sleeve with black ribbon at the foot.  The band is black and gold and with a gold embossed G3 logo.  The cigar  felt firmly constructed, yet it felt light in my hand.  I inspected the wrapper and found a couple tears/holes in the wrapper that were conveniently hidden by the cedar sleeve.  The wrappers was medium brown color and had a couple extremely prominent veins running down the entire length of the cigar.  The pre-light aroma of the cigar was made up of cedar and dirt.  I clipped the end with my Palio cutter and took a few obstructed draws.
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First Third
I set fire to the business end of the cigar and started puffing. Â The draw did open up some, however I noticed in both samples that I really had to work to get a mouth full of smoke. Â The smoke was very light and dry with a medium body. Â The flavor was made up of woody and walnut components that blended to create a kind of dirty flavor. Â The cigar did bun nice and evenly and produced a strong white ash.
Second Third
These cigars didn’t undergo and major changes in the second third. Â The flavors remained the same and I still wasn’t able to get a lot of smoke from the cigar.
Last Third
As I smoked my way through the final third of this cigar I could begin to notice the draw beginning to open up. The flavors remained static with the exception a bitterness that began to mingle with the woody and walnut flavors. The ash remained strong, so I could easily allow the cigar to burn for over an inch before tapping the ash.
Final Thoughts
I’m unimpressed with the Gurkha G3.  Considering the cigar was touted as a complex powerhouse, I was expecting much more.  I found the flavors to be unvarying and I would categorize this cigar as being on the low end of medium bodied.  Despite the draw issues, the cigar did burn well and did not require any touch-ups.  Aging these cigars would be an appropriate action to help mellow out some of the bitterness that appeared in the final third of the cigar.  I could see myself picking up a few more if they were in the $3-4.00 range, but not at $9.00 a stick.  This cigar wasn’t appealing to me and I wouldn’t recommend it, however, I am interested in hearing what you have to say about any experiences you have had with the  Gurkha G3.
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Comments
You can take the Gurkha out of the trailer but you can’t take the trailer taste out of the Gurkha?
LoL@Hayward
I did really enjoy a Grand Age the other day though, so they aren’t all dirty tasting sticks.
I have never met a Gurkha I liked. Add to the fact the local sales rep is like a used car salesman I can’t bring myself to like any aspect of them. Though my biz partner is a fan of the shaggy.
@Barry – I was surprised at how well the Shaggy burned. Flavor was just OK.
The only Gurkhas I’ve really enjoyed are the Ancient Warriors, especially in the perfecto size, and the Legends I enjoy on an occasional basis, but they’ve never been part of my usual rotation.
Feel the same way with the Gurkha’s but i do like the legend and the centurian. Centurian not worth the MSRP but if it was a $5-6 cigar it would be pretty good.
Never bought into the Gurkha image and have always felt the Gurkhas were over priced and overhyped. There are too many better valued, better tasting cigars out there.
None-the-less, thank you for taking the time to review – always appreciated.
I’ve had various Gurka’s and none of them are outstanding cigars. Some of them were terrible and not exactly budget priced sticks.
The G3s I’ve had all left me feeling kind of “meh.” Truth be told, I’ve never been blown away by any Gurkha. To be sure, there are some decent ones, but they remind me of a trailer park girl in a pretty dress: Sure, she cleans up nice, and it’s fun to take her out once in a while, but I don’t see the relationship going anywhere serious.