Gurkha Legend Torpedo Review

[TU09]

Smoked a Gurkha Legend tonight and was pretty disappointed. And to think, this thing costs as much as three Boli PCs! Thought I would throw out a review to share my experiences. This is the second of these I have smoked and the review holds true for both.

General Background: Purchased a 10 pack from cbid about a month ago which has rested at 65% rh ever since. This specimen was smoked outdoors on my patio.

Cigar: Gurkha Legend Torpedo

Size: 6 x 52

Prelight Impressions: The most gorgeous cigar I have ever seen! Dark reddish brown wrapper with minimal veins, a slight tooth, and an oily sheen. Heavy and firm in hand. A very attractive oversized band complimented the appearance of the cigar nicely. The prelight draw was perfect and left a spicy sensation on the tongue.
10 (only ten I have ever given any cigar in any category)


Construction: Required frequent touchups and began to tunnel at the beginning of the final third. Held a tight, light grey, two inch ash with a slight yellowish tinge.
6


Flavor: Medium bodied. First inch and a half was characterized by a light, creamy milk chocolate flavor and leather. The chocolate notes then yielded to a more robust cocoa flavor and the leather disappeared. A slight white pepper spice began to build and topped out at a moderate intensity with the cocoa flavor building throughout the remainder of the cigar.
8


Overall Impressions: This cigar was something of a disappointment given the prelight impressions. The flavors were okay but a bit thin while the constant burn problems detracted substantially from the cigar. This cigar is not worth its $20 msrp by any stretch, maybe $8 but no more. The draw was good but it didn’t produce the volume of smoke I expect. I would not buy this cigar again despite the fact I typically love Gurkhas.
5


Score: 7.25 (normally a decent score on my scale but not so in this case)

[Bigd417]

Wow, that's the second such review I've heard on the legend. I convinced a friend to invest in Gurkha after I spotted him a Nepalese Warrior and a Vintage. He said both of those were better then the legend. I guess I'll stick with the non-premium Gurkhas. Thanks for the review.

[billybarue]

TU09,

I think we may have talked about this before, but I had burn problems with my first legend a couple of weeks ago as well. I liked the flavor, but about half way through the burn problems were at the very least distracting and definately changing the flavor profile of the stick.
I speculated it might have to do with the humidity in Louisiana. There were mixed inputs to that. I am not goint to try another until it gets cooler and the humidity goes down. When will that happen, probably not until I move out of Louisiana!!!

BillyBarue

[TU09]

Originally Posted by billybarue

TU09,

I think we may have talked about this before, but I had burn problems with my first legend a couple of weeks ago as well. I liked the flavor, but about half way through the burn problems were at the very least distracting and definately changing the flavor profile of the stick.
I speculated it might have to do with the humidity in Louisiana. There were mixed inputs to that. I am not goint to try another until it gets cooler and the humidity goes down. When will that happen, probably not until I move out of Louisiana!!!

BillyBarue

This was my last shot in decent humidity for a while. I'll be back in NOLA next week and won't be back in VA until December when it is too cold to smoke outside.

Let me know if you ever work your way down to NOLA, there's a great little B&M (Mayan) that would be perfect for a mini herf.

[billybarue]

Will do.

Oddly enough I am from NOVA (ALexandria, VA) and I get back there quite a bit for family. My job allows me to do that. I wanted to make the NOVA herf, but couldn't pull it off.

BillyBarue

[Full Bodied Bruce]

Thanks for the valuable review.

[donp]

I have some legends and smoked one or two before they had enough rest; my experience was the same as reported. But, now with about 9 months rest the burn problems are no longer a problem, and the flavors are much more defined. Whenever I have burn problems I look to find the usual suspects (humidity, wetness or soft spots). The legend is a well made stick in general with a decent flavor profile, because it is Gurkha though, the price tends to be ridiculous. All the gurkhas and K.Hansotias I have ever gotten have been from C-Bid.

[KASR]

Good review! I've seen these and I've wanted to try them. I think I'll wait based on your review.

KASR

[berk-m]

I had my first Legend Torpedo this evening, got it in a Gurkha sampler with quite a few others came out to about 6 bucks a stick, really liked it, the only one I’ve had so far had perfect construction and a great even burn. Great flavor as expected from Gurkha, I may be bias as I love most of their smokes. Wouldn’t pay the single stick price, but if you find a package deal I’d say defiantly worth a try. For my money the Master Select is one of the best out there.

[Ivory Tower]

You get them on cbid for dirt cheap, right? Otherwise they are way too expensive for what you get - although not a bad smoke.

[ky toker]

The Gurkha Legend Aniversario was the 1st Gurkha that I really liked. To be fair I haven't smoked many of Gurkha's cigars. Don't know (think) there is anything different than the shape, they seem to be the same blend & years aged.

I did have a bit of a burn problem on one, but if it smokes good then I'll look past that.

[TU09]

I think I'll set these things aside for a bit of a rest. Maybe if I come back in 6 months they will have improved but, as they advertise, the things are already "8 years aged."

[ca21455]

Ordered these from CI @ 10 for $29.99. Figured this was a good deal. Smoked the first one after a TTT maduro churchill. It had a really nice flavor, as you discribed. Did not experience the burn problems you had, was real even throughout. The ash fell off very even.

For the price through CI, this is a great cigar! I think I'll let some rest, if I can.

[berk-m]

CA21455 – You found 10 Gurkha Legend Torpedoes for $29.99 on CI??? I looked and the best they have is a 5 pack for $75. I couldn’t find 10 Gurkha anything for 30 bucks, the wall clock is around that price. Not just at CI either, they usually have really good prices, but that deal is nowhere to be found. If you have some secret, please fill us in.

[donp]

Originally Posted by berk-m

CA21455 – You found 10 Gurkha Legend Torpedoes for $29.99 on CI??? I looked and the best they have is a 5 pack for $75. I couldn’t find 10 Gurkha anything for 30 bucks, the wall clock is around that price. Not just at CI either, they usually have really good prices, but that deal is nowhere to be found. If you have some secret, please fill us in.

CI has some incredible deals every now and then. It needs to be one of the sites you troll through every now and then.