Gurkha Legend Vintage 2001 Toro

The Gurkha legend comes from when colonial soldiers, at the height of British rule in India, started making their own cigars from local tobacco, some of which was produced in the Portuguese territory of Goa. Expatriates from Britain who were still living in India continued smoking the cigars, but eventually the cigars began to wane into history and legend, as did the rajas’ rule. Today the Gurkha brand stays true to the original essence of those first cigars made so long ago so the legend will live on. The Legend Vintage 2001 is the rebirth, so to speak, of the infamous Gurkha Legend cigar that was taken off the market in 2008 due to a shortage of the very rare and uber-expensive tobaccos used to make the cigar. This smoke starts with Cuban-seed long fillers grown in the famous Cibao Valley in the Dominican Republic, and is then hugged by African Cameroon binders. The “pièce de résistance” is the dark, triple-fermented Connecticut broadleaf wrapper which was cultivated in 2001 and gives this medium to full-bodied cigar rich and satisfying flavors that are creamy and buttery-smooth. The creaminess of the smoke leads to notes of dark chocolate, leather, and black espresso, with hints of raspberries and licorice yielding to a peppery-sweet finish. This impeccably rolled cigar has not only a slow and even burn but also a smooth and effortless draw. We love to enjoy this cigar with a nice dark rum or a rich stout.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.