#hansotia

Being a man of virtue and life long goals Kaizad Hansotia has always been disciplined and hardworking. His admiration for the armed forces has inspired him to create his world-famous cigar brand Gurkha Cigars. The brand highlights the famous military contingent with vivid imagery and a unique prowess and proud history that captures a great tasting cigar. That’s passion!

It’s no surprise Kaizad  and the cigar community came together to support the Navy Seals Foundation event, hosted at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL by donating cigars and other merchandize for silent auction and raffle items.

It was a fantastic event with all proceedings going towards the Navy Seals Foundation. Sponsors included Gurkha, Drew Estate, Padilla, Oliva and Alec Bradley.

Navy Seals Team 6

So what does SpecOps Team 6 celebrate with? A Gurkha Grand Reserve sent specially by Kaizad Hansotia, Former owner of Gurkha Cigars to his friends in the Navy. Gurkha has been known more recently as the world’s most expensive cigar, releasing the Black Dragon in 2007. Gurkha has the premium cigar market redefined from their $20,000 boxes of ‘HMRs’ to their special collector’s edition that demands over $150,000 for a box of cigars.

The cigar community came together to support the Navy Seals Foundation event last night, hosted at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL by donating cigars and other merchandise for silent auction and raffle items.

Now seen as a status symbol of luxury and the Rolls Royce of cigars, Gurkha continues to be the choice when a celebration in necessary. “Our focus has always been on exclusive, limited availability tobaccos, serving up the most unique and flavorful blends,” said Hansotia, affectionately known in the industry as ‘Kaizer.’

India-born, Parsi cigar baron in the US who have been giving the Cubans a run for their money, Kaizad Hansotia, makes the world his address. Born and raised in Mumbai, Hansotia moved to Hong Kong because of the demands of his import-export business. This was followed by a move to London,  before making Miami Florida his home.

Kaizad Hansotia is a hardcore own to earth man. It’s apparent even before you meet him. As the former Chairman and Founder of Gurkha, a prolific collector of fine goods, and a creative force who draws inspiration from all quarters, Hansotia has unified his passion and profession into a seamless cognac-infused continuity.

From his business roots as the 1980s U.S. grey-market source of Seiko, Citizen, and Swatch timepieces to his current status as a collector of iconic Swiss watch maisons, Hansotia’s journey reads like a roadmap for channeling boyhood dreams into adulthood realities. The notion cuts to the very core of Hansotia’s philosophy of collecting and his lifelong pursuits.

With famous clients such as Bill Clinton which enjoys the most expensive cigar in the world.

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Kaizad Hansotia exclaimed,

“broke no more”.

From a chance encounter that started with a Portuguese man rolling and selling cigars under the name of Gurkha. Kaizad was so fascinated by this art he decided to buy all of the man’s tobacco and entire inventory for a grand total of a whopping $149. The original plan was to use these cigars to hand out to customers as gifts for his family timepiece business. After all, who doesn’t love a good cigar, right?

Kaizad sent one of the first boxes of Gurkha Cigars to his friend who owned a duty free shop, and his customers went nuts wanting to buy more. Kaizad saw an opportunity to make money off of high-end cigars which lead him to pursue well known manufacturers in the industry to help him get started. The first person he talked to was Charlie Torano (perhaps you’ve heard of him?) and Torano cigars agreed to roll Gurkha’s first ever cigars. After this momentous occasion in the history of Gurkha cigars, a brand was born so wonderful that it even made its way to the White House in the 1990s, which will forever be part of  Oval Office history.

The pride on delivering the best, always pushing the boundaries and exploring the art of business has given Kaizad Hansotia a very unique place on in the cigar world and shaping of it’s history.