The next time you see the Gurkha Royal Challenge on a store shelf, it will likely be wearing new packaging, as the company has announced that it is giving the line an updated look that is beginning to ship to retailers this week.

The new look draws on a simple and ornate rose gold foil over a black finish, and removes the buckle style clasp on the front of the box. “We decided to redesign the packaging of the Royal Challenge after years of backorder issues since the intricate packaging could not keep up with our great demand,” said Juan Lopez, vp of sales, via a press release.

The company is also hoping that the new packaging will solve issues that were caused by the line’s previously domed lid, while also creating more uniformity to its packaging and making packing, shipping and displaying the cigars easier.

“We listened to our retailers and decided to make the boxes more conducive to their needs and easier to stock and display,” said Jim Colucci, president of Gurkha Cigars, in a press release. “We hope that by doing away with the dome lid, we will drastically reduce the amount of damaged boxes that arrive to our retailers.”

The blend of the cigar is not changing and will still use an Ecuadorian Connecticut shade grown wrapper, a Honduran habano binder, and a combination of Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. The line debuted in 2011 and added a maduro version in 2014, though it didn’t arrive on store shelves until early 2015 and has since been discontinued.

Image courtesy of Gurkha Cigar Group International.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.