Cigar Review: Gurkha Ghost

Cigar: Gurkha Ghost
Size: 6 x 52 (Angel Torpedo Tubo)
Wrapper: Brazilian Arapiraca Maduro
Binder: Criollo
Filler: Dominica and Nicaraguan
Price: $10.13 at my local B&M

In case you missed the announcement, my wife and I are expecting our second child, due date sometime this fall. And to help celebrate, I’m running a cigar giveaway in which all of you can participate in. There are still plenty of dates left to enter (and it’s free) so I encourage anyone who would like a chance at free cigars to check it out.

Walking through my B&M the other day, I started thinking about the cigars I have been smoking over the last few months and realized that they all had one thing in common: they are from the smaller cigar manufacturers in the industry. All these groups make phenomenal cigars but I feel at times that I sometimes forget about the bigger companies and their offerings. You know which ones too. Gurkha is a great example. They make a ton of different cigars but I always seem to overlook them for something else. With all this in mind, my next few reviews are going to center around the bigger manufacturers in the industry, pick a cigar and review it. We start the series with the Gurkha Ghost.

One thing I will give Gurkha: they do a great job with bands and marketing of their cigars. The Ghost band is no exception with the shimmering, almost ethereal look of the band. However, in looking over the wrapper and giving the cigar my customary pre-light inspection, I did find a small portion of the wrapper that was torn and coming off from the cigar. It ended up not affecting the cigar at all but was noticeable. I found pre-light notes of hay and straw, and quite strong as well. It was very likely a function of the cigar being contained in its tubular container. After the cut and light, I was greeted with a very open draw and woody flavor notes. I’m not sure if this is an ‘added feature’ to the Ghost or just coincidence but this cigar poured out a ton of smoke in every way that it could. We’ve all had cigars that had a bit more smoke released than normal; this was way beyond that. One person smoking in my basement makes a moderate amount of smoke (not a huge smoke haze). This was at least double that or more. At the 15 minute mark, touches of mocha flavors started creeping into the profile and at the halfway point, the strength increased to medium-to-full while adding a few minutes of spice notes. The wood and light mocha flavors finished out the cigar with a total smoking time of 1:16.

Besides the minor issue with the wrapper, I encountered no issues with the construction or smoking of the cigar.

By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 0.5/1
Total: 8/10

To recap the Gurkha Ghost:

• The Ghost is a nice offering from Gurkha but didn’t blow me away. It’s a nice representation of a medium to medium-to-full bodied cigar.
• The flavor profile of the Ghost can be enjoyed by all ranges of cigar smoker.
• This is a good cigar but the price range keeps it from being a good value. Drop the cost by a few dollars and we’d be having a different conversation.

If anyone has a specific Gurkha cigar that really stands out among the entire line, I would be interested in checking it out.

As always, thank you very much for reading and I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you.