Gurkha Havana Legend Torpedo

Gurkha Havana Legend Torpedo

Size: 6½ inches x 53 ring gauge (Torpedo)

Many of us are familiar with the Gurkha line of cigars. Depending of which one of the thousand or so varieties we are speaking of, the cigar in question could either be ‘eh’ or ‘holy smokes’! It might be a $2 bargain bundle special or one of their 95+ rated, excellent, high-end offerings. In fact, there are so many Gurkhas (and associated lines) that one practically needs a program just to keep track of all of them.

Having never heard of the Havana Legend until I picked one out of the box, I did not know what to expect. The Gurkha Havana Legend Torpedo – not to be confused with the Gurkha Legend – is an umber-colored, classically shaped and sized torpedo. It’s a multi-national cigar of sorts, with filler leaves from Peru, binder from Cameroon and a Nicaraguan wrapper.  

My sample squeezed okay. The cold smell was sweet and rotten, like old, cut flowers.  A generous clip was needed to achieve an adequate draw and good smoke. The 47-minute burn was razor even, and left a smooth, pale-gray, finely segmented ash. I could find no deficiencies in construction. I gave this one a 5 in that respect. 

While some sources have characterized the Gurkha Havana Legend as full-bodied, I found it to be rather mild in nature. Mine was smooth, with subdued notes of wood, coffee and leather. The cigar was alright, but it didn’t exactly excite me. I gave it just 3 points for flavor, and a total mark of 8 out of 10. 

I feel confident in my assessment that this is not one of Gurkha's finer products. Like many Gurkha cigars, the price point is all over the place. I paid $8 retail for my sample.