Drunk-bidders beware....

[c.ortiz108]

No offense to anyone who enjoys Gurkhas, but personally I think this brand is strategically developed and carried on to make newer smokers think they are everything that they purport to be in the ads, and simultaneously actively trying to deceive people into believing the hype. I smoked a Master Select when I was new from a sampler loved it.. So I then got on CBID and searched for some more lines and bought a couple 18 samplers. I couldn't hardly believe my auction proficiency scoring 2 x 18 stick samplers valued at 225$ for 24 and 26$ respectively. WELL...they came and honestly the 20 cabinet of victor sinclairs I bought around the same time were FAR superior in every possible way from construction to flavor and consistency. They put a good one in samplers so people will take all the other 95% of them off their hands. Also I have heard the internet stuff and the B&M stuff are completely different.

They make some good $2 sticks. I enjoyed the Beast, Symphony, Class Regent. The Status and a couple of others I've forgotten were terrible. I don't think they even make any of their own cigars, so no wonder they're inconsistent.

 

[Argus17]

No offense to anyone who enjoys Gurkhas, but personally I think this brand is strategically developed and carried on to make newer smokers think they are everything that they purport to be in the ads, and simultaneously actively trying to deceive people into believing the hype. I smoked a Master Select when I was new from a sampler loved it.. So I then got on CBID and searched for some more lines and bought a couple 18 samplers. I couldn't hardly believe my auction proficiency scoring 2 x 18 stick samplers valued at 225$ for 24 and 26$ respectively. WELL...they came and honestly the 20 cabinet of victor sinclairs I bought around the same time were FAR superior in every possible way from construction to flavor and consistency. They put a good one in samplers so people will take all the other 95% of them off their hands. Also I have heard the internet stuff and the B&M stuff are completely different.

Since you are kind of new to this, let me give you a little education about Gurkha and a "certain online/auction site". Though I rarely smoke the brand, I've had Gurkhas from other online places that where surprisingly good, so it's not that the internet and B&M stuff are completely different. What many do not know, is that sometimes when a manufacturer is ready to retire a cigar, "a certain online/auction site" will make an offer to buy the rights of the label. They then take the label which they now legally own, and slap it on whatever they desire. Nothing wrong with that, as it's their label, and they can use it as they wish. The problem is that most of the time they represent it as the original. That is my biggest beef with this "certain online/auction site". If you check Gurkha's web site, you'll discover that most, if not all of those bad Gurkhas you got from a "certain online/auction site" are no longer made by Gurkha. Sadly this has been done with other labels as well. My rule of thumb is that if a name brand cigar is no longer shown on a manufacturer's web site, and only available at this "certain online/auction site", I stay far, far away. With that said, this "certain online/auction site" do have some exclusive brands that are very good. What I'm referring to are "retired", high rated $8 - $15 labels, that sell day in and day out on this "certain online/auction site" for a buck or two. Cigars that they should have run out of years ago.

One more thing to add to the mix. This "certain online/auction site" has a wholesale division that sells to B&Ms. So just because you find a Gurkha at a B&M, it does not mean that it is made by Gurkha.

 

[c.ortiz108]

Which raises the question, does Gurkha actually have its own factory with their own blenders, rollers etc? I was under the impression that their cigars are made for them by AJF, Plasencia, etc., and that Gurkha labels are then slapped on them. Of course this is common practice (Fuente making Sosa, for example) so it's not a criticism. I'm just not sure it's possible to generalize at all about a brand that uses multiple factories.

 

[Argus17]

Which raises the question, does Gurkha actually have its own factory with their own blenders, rollers etc? I was under the impression that their cigars are made for them by AJF, Plasencia, etc., and that Gurkha labels are then slapped on them. Of course this is common practice (Fuente making Sosa, for example) so it's not a criticism. I'm just not sure it's possible to generalize at all about a brand that uses multiple factories.

No, Gurkha does not have their own factory or rollers. What I should have said in my reply, is that these "questionable" cigar labels are no longer owned/controlled by Gurkha.

Then again, I really don't understand why some companies are willing to sell the rights to some of their labels. They know that the sold labels will more then likely be slapped on inferior cigars, but passed off on the unsuspecting public as their product. I would think that the damage to their reputation would well offset any monetary profits gained by selling of said labels.

 

[The_Rev]

No, Gurkha does not have their own factory or rollers. What I should have said in my reply, is that these "questionable" cigar labels are no longer owned/controlled by Gurkha.

Then again, I really don't understand why some companies are willing to sell the rights to some of their labels. They know that the sold labels will more then likely be slapped on inferior cigars, but passed off on the unsuspecting public as their product. I would think that the damage to their reputation would well offset any monetary profits gained by selling of said labels.

Exactly why I personally stick with brands that don't engage in that practice. I primarily smoke Tatuaje because if I have a question about a certain stick, I text Pete and he answers my questions definitively. Pete knows the answers because he is in direct control of every aspect of every one of his cigars.

 

[The_Rev]

Exactly why I personally stick with brands that don't engage in that practice. I primarily smoke Tatuaje because if I have a question about a certain stick, I text Pete and he answers my questions directly and definitively. Pete knows the answers because he is in direct control of every aspect of every one of his cigars.