Cigars From MBombay

[bluegrassbrian]

My first (and only) experience with cigars from the MBombay label was some time ago.. 2018 or maybe 2019.
A local shop had gotten several boxes in- perhaps one or two boxes of each variety.

My initial impression was that they were beautiful.. not just the bands/boxes, but the sticks themselves.
My second impression was the price.. yeesh.
I asked the proprietor about them.. he admitted he didn’t know a ton, but did say that the prices reflected a small margin. He wasn’t making much on them- they were just that damn expensive.

I had a little extra bank in my wallet that day so I picked up two sticks- the box pressed Gaaja (guy-yuh) toro, and a robusto Gaaja maduro. If memory serves they were something like $17-18 per.

It took a few weeks in the home humidor before I reached for one.
The toro Gaaja was (I’m not being hyperbolic) practically a religious experience.
I’ve smoked a lot of different cigars.. in general I know what I like. This thing was just so damn good. Flawless construction and burn for starters but the flavors.. it was such a voluminous yet mild smoke and delivered an array of bold flavors that ran from floral to spicy, creamy coffee, toffee..

I went back to the shop the next day to grab more but they were gone.. and they weren’t coming back.

The maduro version was every bit as flavorful, albeit toned down a notch, with extra hints of cappuccino and dark chocolate covered cashews. I feel ridiculous saying that but.. there it is.

Anyway— I never saw them anywhere else and mostly forced them out of my mind. I would occasionally remember them to myself or to someone else.
They seem to get fantastic reviews online. In fact, while reading one lately (I was feeling nostalgic), I discovered they could still be ordered online from one of about a dozen shops sprinkled about the country.
So, I’m elated to say I ordered another Gaaja and another I never tried before, a Mayura (which also had fantastic reviews).
I haven’t been this pumped about a forthcoming cigar in a long time.
I just hope they come close to measuring up to my memories.

Does anyone else have experience with any of their offerings?
Love them? Hate them? Overpriced? (The Gaaja robusto I ordered was $18 and the Mayura was close to $30!)

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I don’t recall having had these—I’d like to think I would’ve remembered their interesting decorative bands (I’ve had a lot of one-offs from large event bundles over the last bunch of years, so who knows?) but I think they went out of business about three years ago. If you really love them, you should grab more sooner than later, if budget allows. They sound tasty.

 

[BronzeAgePiper]

Someone I know who’s smoked everything, just the other day was saying how the gaaja he smoked years ago was prolly his most fond memory smoking a cigar. I’ve seen em around a few times just never broke down and acquired one but now I’m really eager to.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

A google search will yield some retailers and they all seem to have the same pricing.

 

[huntertrw]

so I picked up two sticks- the box pressed Gaaja...

For a brief moment I read that as, "...box-pressed Ganja..."

 

[huntertrw]

Here's a link to a page titled "Discontinued Brand Alternatives - Mbombay" on the jrcigars.com Website. It has some interesting background information on the brand and its founder.

 

[BenMN]

My first (and only) experience with cigars from the MBombay label was some time ago.. 2018 or maybe 2019.
A local shop had gotten several boxes in- perhaps one or two boxes of each variety.

My initial impression was that they were beautiful.. not just the bands/boxes, but the sticks themselves.
My second impression was the price.. yeesh.
I asked the proprietor about them.. he admitted he didn’t know a ton, but did say that the prices reflected a small margin. He wasn’t making much on them- they were just that damn expensive.

I had a little extra bank in my wallet that day so I picked up two sticks- the box pressed Gaaja (guy-yuh) toro, and a robusto Gaaja maduro. If memory serves they were something like $17-18 per.

It took a few weeks in the home humidor before I reached for one.
The toro Gaaja was (I’m not being hyperbolic) practically a religious experience.
I’ve smoked a lot of different cigars.. in general I know what I like. This thing was just so damn good. Flawless construction and burn for starters but the flavors.. it was such a voluminous yet mild smoke and delivered an array of bold flavors that ran from floral to spicy, creamy coffee, toffee..

I went back to the shop the next day to grab more but they were gone.. and they weren’t coming back.

The maduro version was every bit as flavorful, albeit toned down a notch, with extra hints of cappuccino and dark chocolate covered cashews. I feel ridiculous saying that but.. there it is.

Anyway— I never saw them anywhere else and mostly forced them out of my mind. I would occasionally remember them to myself or to someone else.
They seem to get fantastic reviews online. In fact, while reading one lately (I was feeling nostalgic), I discovered they could still be ordered online from one of about a dozen shops sprinkled about the country.
So, I’m elated to say I ordered another Gaaja and another I never tried before, a Mayura (which also had fantastic reviews).
I haven’t been this pumped about a forthcoming cigar in a long time.
I just hope they come close to measuring up to my memories.

Does anyone else have experience with any of their offerings?
Love them? Hate them? Overpriced? (The Gaaja robusto I ordered was $18 and the Mayura was close to $30!)

Cool story. Ain't it great when a $$ smoke does what it should?!

It's too bad that this is not more common...

I'm not familiar with the MBombay brand. As @TheIronMonkey and @huntertrw have pointed out it looks line they have folded, for whatever reason...

I can practically guarantee that the few weeks humi rest you gave helped them to show their best. I'd encourage anyone to try this- buy 3 (or 5) of something and stagger them out- perhaps 1 month, 2, 3, 6, then 12. It matters (usually)

I'll share a few ultra-premiums that have, at least for me, been (consistently) worth the price of admission:

Paul Garmirian-
15th, 20th, Reserva Exclusiva

Byron Petite Poema

There are many more, but it seems odd to recommend "here's an expensive cigar that's absolutely fantastic 25% of the time. Go spend $100 on a fiver and they'll almost certainly be a good one in there."