Los Angeles, April 7 – Kaizad Hansotia missed his calling. The head of the Gurkha cigar empire should have been in television programming.
Audiences are always asking for new and different kinds of entertainment and for the cigar smoker, few can match his track record for inventiveness, presentation and flair. Welcome the Gurkha Signature 1887.
This newest blend has a personal aspect to it, as Hansotia notes his family’s history. “1887 was the year my family entered the world of business and commerce,” he said. “Their first venture was a long-lived, successful import-export business. Commerce and prestige items have been a part of my family’s heritage ever since.”
Made in Honduras as with almost all of the Gurkha lines, the Signature 1887 is offered in just one shape, a 6 1/2-inch by 55-ring toro, but in two styles. The 1887 Red uses an aged Connecticut Shade wrapper while the 1887 Black has a Nicaraguan-grown wrapper, but both blends such a common, Dominican-grown binder. The filler is the same for both styles, but is unique in itself, using powerful Peruvian tobaccos and East Indian leaf, heretofore mostly unknown for use in cigars. Hansotia uses the Indian filler as a tribute to his own heritage: “My father founded a watch-manufacturing company in India in 1950,” he recalled.
These are flavorful cigars, but aren’t expected to overpower most smokers. They will be – as is typical for the Gurkha line – a treat for the eye, packaged in chests of 48 cigars each in either a red lacquer or black lacquer finish, depending on the style.
“We launched the line with 300 boxes of each,” said Hansotia, “which were sold out in four days. We plan to produce 1,500 more boxes of each in 2008, although we expect shortages as we expect customer demand will exceed supply.” With a total of just 172,800 cigars made in total, it’s not likely the brand will last long.