Stogie Reviews: Gurkha Class Regent Torpedo

It’s a good thing this Gurkha Class Regent Torpedo sports one of the manufacturer’s typically distinctive bands. Otherwise it might be mistaken for a block of chocolate candy. The dark Habana 2000 wrapper looks nearly good enough to eat.

But this box-pressed beauty is better for smoking.

This particular stick was a gift from Stogie Guy Patrick S, who said he got it from CBid. He generously passed it along when we met last month in Ybor City.

My experiences with Gurkha have been fairly limited, so I had no real preconceptions when I clipped and lit this one. Before even beginning to concentrate on the taste, I was bowled over by the smoke: incredibly thick, rich, and creamy. Few cigars can match the level of smoke produced by the Regent. It really did hang in the air as if you could slice it with a knife.

After blowing a few smoke rings, I began to concentrate on the taste. There was an initial sharpness that smoothed out about a third of the way down, replaced for a short period by a sweetness and then a nuttiness. As the gray ash grew, the tobacco taste began to meld with a warm, earthy tone. In the final third, hints of caramel came and went.

According to Gurkha, the cigar has a Habana 2000 Indonesian binder and Dominican filler. They call it medium to heavy; to me, it was closer to medium on the scale.

The draw was fine, and the heavy smoke continued throughout. A roomful of politicians puffing these Gurkhas could set a new standard for smoke-filled rooms.

The only problem I encountered involved the burn, including a little canoeing about halfway down. But I was able to correct that fairly easily with a touch up light.

All in all, this is a very satisfying cigar and one I plan to smoke again. It also got me interested in exploring more of the Gurkha line. I give this stick four out of five stogies.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–George E