Gurkha Details Four Year of the Dragon Cigars Ahead of Releases (Update)

In February, Gurkha announced that the company had commissioned four factories to create different Year of the Dragon cigars. This surprise announcement came only a few months after it had released its first Year of the Dragon cigar, a 6 3/4 x 52 figurado made by El Artista.

Update (April 4, 2024) — This article originally indicated that all four box releases would ship in August and September. That information is not correct and this post has been updated. See the bottom of the article for more details.

When the announcement was made in February, the company disclosed only certain details about the cigars. Now, those details are out and the first of four cigars is preparing to get its full release.

• Gurkha Year of the Dragon 2024 (AJ Fernandez) (6 5/8 x 52) — $25 (Box of 10, $250)
  • Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano)
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua

This was originally announced as a February release but is now expected to ship to stores in April.

• Gurkha Year of the Dragon 2024 (Ernesto Perez-Carrillo) (6 5/8 x 54) — $25 (Box of 10, $250)
  • Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
  • Binder: Ecuador (Connecticut)
  • Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua

This is also expected to ship in April.

• Gurkha Year of the Dragon 2024 (Oliva) (6 1/2 x 60) — $25 (Box of 10, $250)
  • Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
  • Binder: Cameroon
  • Filler: Nicaragua

This is expected to ship in June.

• Gurkha Year of the Dragon 2024 (Oscar Valladares) (6 x 52) — $25 (Box of 10, $250)
  • Wrapper: Honduras (Jamastran Corojo)
  • Binder: Honduras
  • Filler: Honduras

The Oscar Valladares release is the final cigar to ship, expected to ship in August or September.

Each blend is limited to 2,000 boxes of 10 cigars.

In addition, Gurkha has begun shipping the Year of the Dragon 2024 Humidor, which will include 20 of each of the four blends. The humidor is designed to hold up to 200 cigars and has an MSRP of $2,000.

Technically, the cigars have already been released. Smoke Inn, a South Florida retailer, sold a limited number of five-packs as part of its Great Smoke 2024 event in February.

Asylum, Davidoff, Drew Estate, El Septimo, General Cigar Co., Habanos S.A., JM Tobacco, La Galera, Oliva, Maya Selva, Plasencia, Rocky Patel, United Cigars and Vega Fina have also announced Year of the Dragon-themed cigars.

Brian Burt contributed to this story.

Update (April 4, 2024) — This post was originally published with the title “GURKHA SCHEDULES FOUR YEAR OF THE DRAGON RELEASES FOR LATE SUMMER.” It also said that Gurkha had changed its original shipping plans to instead schedule all four releases for August or September. After the article was published, a company spokesperson described the article as “completely inaccurate.” The article was updated with a new headline and the information about shipping dates was changed back to what was previously announced, with the exception of the AJ Fernandez release, which was delayed. 

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.