Gurkha Assassin Torpedo (Club Exclusive)

The Gurkha legend originates with colonial soldiers who, 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.

Premiering in the US market in 2009, the Assassin hails from Honduras and is blended by cigar master Paul Flores. It all begins with a thick and oily Brazilian Maduro wrapper that has been extra fermented, securing a Cuban-seed Dominican binder from the Cibao Valley and a bold core of aged long-fillers from Peru and Nicaragua. The Torpedo version hasn't been available for some time, so we're excited to be able to bring our members this rare cigar — a club exclusive! This stick is full of charisma, full of flavor, and medium to full-bodied with chewy hints of espresso beans, hearty spices, and tobacco. Try it with an IPA on a sunny afternoon.

Honduras has been a tobacco growing and cigar manufacturing area for hundreds of years, but it was the Communist revolution in Cuba that really put Honduras on the map. In the 1960s, many Cuban cigar makers fled their homeland and arrived in Honduras to re-establish their way of life. The immigrants took advantage of the climate, soil, and geography, which were well-suited to tobacco growing, and began producing high quality cigars. The center of the Honduran cigar industry is the city of Danli and the nearby Jamastran Valley. The majority of the world’s pure Corojo tobacco is grown here, now that Cuba has stopped production of this iconic, spicy, and rich variety in favor of Corojo hybrids. Other important areas of Honduran cigar production include the Talanga Valley, Copan, and Trojes.