The Gurkha Ghost Connecticut (CT) was officially introduced during the 2023 Great Smoke held by Smoke Inn March 18^th. The Ghost CT came in a Robusto Vitola and features a smooth Connecticut rapper with some visible veining, and tightly pinched seams. The cigar is light weight with a slight give when pressed. The cigar was well humidified, offering up no audible crunch when squeezing the foot.

The wrapper leaf had almost no scent when I removed it from the cellophane. There was a smell that reminded me of Rosewater, a sweetness that was hard to put to a food comparison to. That floral, herbal scent was heavier on the foot of the cigar. I am not used to smelling something this floral on my cigars. The most common scent has been sweet tobacco or barnyard.  Let’s see what the Gurkha Ghost CT offered for all of us with this new addition.

The earlier mentioned sweetness seemed to carry through to the aroma of the smoke once the foot was lit. First draw had good smoke production, but it felt frail on the pallet, not offering a whole lot of body or flavor. Upon expelling the smoke, I was left with a lingering sweetness on the palate. This cigar is not infused or flavored. It is very light in strength and body and I’m not sure which component of the blend gave it the floral aroma and sweetness. I reached out to my contact at Gurkha, Armando, and he sends me the 10,000 ft makeup of the cigar.

• Ecuadorian Connecticut Wrapper
• Mexican Binder (San Andres?)
• Dominican/Nicaraguan Fillers

Combustion was very good, the foot of the cigar smoked on its own as I admired the lit cigar.

About an inch in, there was a dramatic change that made me sit up and take notice. The smoke when inhaled had developed a bite of bitterness that I was enjoying.  There were loads of citrus notes on the palate. It was bitter, tangy and light when the smoke first hit your mouth and my saliva production ramped up. The retrohale was tolerable, with most of the burn coming on the back end, the notes of citrus were strong, overwhelming the palate after a large retrohale. I could almost visualize a peeled citrus fruit right under my nose.

The burn through the smoking time was excellent, and while drawing in smoke, the burn line would thicken and then catches up and leaves a thin combustion line.  Ash had a nice gray, white color, some little loose flakes were flaring and breaking off, but generally it clumped together nicely. I’ll also say that the smoke when drawn in had slightly thickened and became more noticeable when drawn in with strong citrus notes. 

Approaching the second half, the Gurkha Ghost CT was burning great. The burn line was near perfect. The ash was still holding through the entire first third and was nearly two inches now. The citrus spice began to calm down not as noticeable as it was in the beginning, or my palate had adjusted to it. Ash was holding on to the foot of the cigar tightly and survived a shake test and being put down roughly.

At about the midway point on the Cigar, the flavor changed again. This time starting to get a chocolatey note and the smoke is definitely taken on a creamy buttery consistency on the pallet.  

The final third burned the same, but the flavors became muddled and lost their citrus zip completely. Char become more prominent, and I had already smoked this cigar well past where most smokers would put this down. With the smoke getting hotter on each draw, my time with the Gurkha Ghost CT came to an end.

The Gurkha Ghost Connecticut was a welcome surprise and fans of citrus spice in their cigars should seek this blend out. I would smoke this cigar again when the opportunity presents itself. 

The cigar reviewed came as part of my sampler for the Great Smoke 2023.