From the desk of Smokeymo…. www.cgarsltd.co.uk
By smokeymo
We have had some remarkable Havana cigars released over the last few years. I am always surprised that some of them are actually available as long as they are. Some of the finest will be out of stock soon as our stocks are now steadily dwindling. So if you need to top up the humidor, now would be a good time!
Por Larranaga Regalias de Londres UK regional edition
Cuaba Piramides Limited edition 2008
H Upmann Magnum 48 Limited edition 2009
Trinidad Short Robusto T Limited edition 2010
The Larranaga is one of the finest regional editions I have ever smoked (I should know as I have smoked most of them!) The Cuaba is a first rate blended limited edition and the Upmann and Trini are perfect smokes when time is short.
I’m still looking forward to this year’s new releases in the UK including :
Montecristo Gran Reserva 2011 – In varnished cabinets of 15 due 6 1/8” length and 52 ring gauge
UK regional editions…
Bolivar Britanicas 5 3/8” length and 46 ring gauge in boxes of 10
Punch Medaille de Oro 6 1/8” length and 50 ring gauge in boxes of 10
I’ve almost given up trying to guess release dates as it never seems to quite work out! So hopefully sometime in 2012!
The latest Seleccion Orchant Havana cigars are due to be released first week of February
Punch Royal Seleccion No.11 – 2007 vintage, cabinet of 25.
An exceptional corona gorda vitola cigar that I can highly recommend. Full strength and full smooth sweet flavour typical of the brand. This one is not for the novice but for the experienced Havana cigar smoker.
Limited release of 32 cabinets Seleccion Orchant Havana cigars
are selected at Hunters and Frankau
and considered the best quality, condition and appearance Havana cigars.
I did a bit of a single malt whisky pairing with Orchant Seleccion Punch cigars from our fabulous Dancing Stag range and I am pleased to announce the winners are *drum roll*…
Robert Graham Ltd, Dancing Stag series, Strathisla 1997
Robert Graham Ltd, Dancing Stag series,Glenallachie 1995
Both bottled at 46%. First try neat and then add a few drops of water but please no ice! I really do love Speyside’s with a good Havana cigar!
Our newest cigar shop in Shepherd Market Mayfair is already proving to be very popular with cigar smokers around Mayfair although this week we seem to have had as many visitors from the cigar trade over the last week as customers!
Fabulous new DVD by James Suckling out now – Cigars : The Heart and Soul of Cuba. well done James, really superb and highly recommended.
Had a spot of lunch with Tom from Tom Tom Cigars at Boisdale Belgravia on Tuesday and enjoyed some delicious Romeo Short Churchills on the terrace with a glass of port. Is it me or is this a totally under rated cigar?
Looking forward to our Burns night herf at Boisdale Canary Wharf next week 
Have a smokey weekend
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell
By smokeymo
Back to my usual routine this week with a herfette in our fabulous La Casa del Habano in Hamburg, I’m not sure cigar shops get any more beautiful than this! Fabulous cigar lounge that is packed with smokers morning till night, huge walk in humidor crammed with stacks of the finest Havana cigars and a tasting room with shelves full of the best rum and other premium spirits.
Herfing my way through a few of the German regional edition Sancho Panza Escuderos with a bottle or 3 of Champagne was a fine way to have a ‘business’ meeting with my partner Christoph Wolters :) Christoph teased me with a stack of Montecristo Gran Reserva (sadly or gladly – all sold already!) but we managed to smoke a crafty one of these magnificent smokes before I left the shop. Now if only we could fine another 100-200 cabinets…
Back to London and it was time for a Mayfair herf at our newest shop in Shepherd Market where the humidor already needs restocking and we have been pleased to welcome existing and new clients. Jimmy from Hunters and Frankau popped in to check out the new shop and his report is in the Hunters website.
No sign of the Montecristo Gran in the UK as yet although we are still hopeful for first allocation this month and I should have a better idea on release dates later this month for UK regional edition for this year too.
At last the builders are out of the London office and improvements include a redec for the offices which was somewhat overdue and completely new lighting (a lot more slick) as well as our walls being filled with our fabulous collection of original photographs of Cuba/Che/Fidel etc. looks very cool if I do say so myself. I can’t believe how many times we have improved/refurbished/redesigned our offices/humidor/warehouse over the last 12 years! I reckon we are finally done! We also have the new Rabbit smoke air purifier installed which is quite incredible. I saw this on a recent visit to the incredible Nat Sherman cigar store in New York where manager Michael Herklots very kindly showed me how the system worked and I was sold on it immediately (TYMH!) we are now installing it in our Mayfair sampling room too.
Planning a trip to Liverpool and Chester stores next weekend and will be herfing just a bit on the Monday morning so if anyone is around… Yes the shops are of course exempt from the ban
The C7GAR car is in for a service today but my trusty assistant Michelle drove me to the office and we smoked LFDC’s on the journey – perfect 30 minute smokes and good to calm my nerves now that London traffic is back to its awful normal levels.
Looking forward to our Burns night herf at Boisdale Canary Wharf on the 26th drop me an email if you would like to join me and my smoking chums.
Have a smokey weekend
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell
By laura
The New year has started in style with record numbers of orders so I can only assume our clients had a blast over the holidays and humidors need some serious replenishing :) which works for me!
Our retail cigar and whisky shops took a good bashing over the hols but we are already restocked and looking as good as ever with our usual humungous range of Havanas and other premium cigars as well as our niche range of single malt whisky and rum. I had a serious herf with journalist James Leavey at our new Mayfair shop yesterday to test out the sampling room air/smoke filtration- which worked perfectly.
We went through some fab Juan Lopez Orchant Seleccion matched up with our Benrinnes 1998 which made for a great combo. Lunch was opposite the cigar shop at the Kings Arms Great food and great service. Followed by Por Larranaga Magnificos and some Deanston 1995.
James was in a pretty good documentary on smoking that was on BBC4 on Wednesday evening which was partly filmed at our West Hampstead shop The documentary had some brilliant old footage. I just wish they would have distinguished more clearly between cigarette and cigar smoking.
You can’t buy our whisky at the Mayfair shop although we are likely to get it licenced in the next month or two as well as our Liverpool Turmeaus shops as we can’t find a specialist whisky shop in Liverpool so that will be a good addition to the range. We will be setting the date for the Summer Cigar Auction later this month and entries are already coming in.
We do of course buy and sell vintage and unusual Havanas all year round so if you can’t wait you can always drop me a line and I’ll be happy to advise sales@cgarsltd.co.uk if you are looking for anything unusual drop me a line as I may have it or be able to source it for you I’ll need to slow down on my smoking UK regionals as stocks are running very low on many of them.
All great cigars and a great range of brands and vitola. I have always thought that the UK market gets the finest Havanas cigars available and still do :) Burns night herf this year will be at Boisdale as usual although my smoking chums have not yet decided whether we will herf in Belgravia or Canary Wharf. If you would like to join us just email me ! I’m off to La Casa del Habano – Hamburg next week for some German regional sampling with my partner Christoph Wolters as well as some rum sampling in our amazing new sampling room :)
Have a smokey weekend
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell
By laura
Just back to the office after 4 days of holiday herfing :) smoked through a stash of good stuff including some great vintage Davidoff and some of the early UK regionals which are all maturing very well indeed.
Best of all was a Davidoff Dom Perignon 1988 matched with Dom Perignon champagne 1988 – very tasty combo! Por Larranaga Magnificos with Bollinger RD wasn’t too shabby either
We were of course available 24/7 by email and phone over the weekend and I was surprised how many people were online ! but we love hearing from our clients and I think many of them were happy to have advice available immediately.
Same goes for the 3 days New Year’s weekend- drop us an email anytime sales@cgarsltd.co.uk
All our cigars shops are open as normal if you need to top up for New Year’s eve and we guarantee mail order delivery for next day arrival if you order online before 3pm.
The new Mayfair shop – Alfie Turmeaus Tobacconist has started up in style with loads of local clients happy to have a shop in Shepherd Market. Our sampling area will have its finishing touches completed early in January and our walk in humidor is crammed full of every Havana cigar you could possibly want. My assistant, Lucia who has years of experience at C.Gars Ltd and Robert Graham in West Hampstead is always happy to help you choose the perfect cigar, humidor or gift. We have also now made available a great range of loose and pre-packed pipe tobacco.
OK so friends keep asking me what my favourite cigars of the year have been and here’s the list of my top 5 :
Partagas Serie E No.2
La Flor de Cano Short Robustos
Partagas Serie D No. 5
Cohiba 1966
Cohiba BHK54
All truly outstanding smokes. The 1966 will age and mature perfectly for many years to come, the LFDC has become my go to morning smoke on the drive to the office, the BHK 54 was the best of the 3 IMHO and I just love the 2 new Partagas cigars.
I’ll be smoking a few of these cigars over the weekend and have 4 Dunhill Cabinetta tucked away for New Year’s eve to enjoy with my Father (together with a Magnum of Pol!)
What a great year for Havanas and what a great year for C.Gars Ltd and Robert Graham Ltd! we now have (far) more cigar specialist shops that anyone in the UK specialist cigar trade and our mail order service has grown dramatically yet again. No sign of recession in this business! We are already planning our next shop opening around Easter 2012 and it will be our flagship cigars and single malt emporium in the UK.
We’ll carry on trying to give the best service, the fastest delivery, the largest choice and of course the most competitive prices that are at the heart of our business.
Wishing all of our Staff, Management, Suppliers and Clients a very happy and smokey New Year
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell
By smokeymo
Ho Ho Ho :) by now all our Clients will have their humidors brimming with cigars for Christmas and we are available for advice online 24/7 throughout the holidays as ever sales@cgarsltd.co.uk Its been a crazy Christmas season in our mail order division with record numbers of orders and so far 100% successful fulfilment so I have to say well done to our mail order Teams in London and Norfolk.
I managed to get away from the madness of my office this week and visit a load of our retail shops thinking I could have a quite smoke and a dram but they were all crammed with customers ( thankfully!) and I ended up (trying!) to assist my retail Teams.
My Partner Ron and I paired up some amazing Clynelish 1995 from our Dancing Stag range exclusive to Robert Graham with the my Orchant Selection Juan Lopez and the match was quite perfect.
Our Chester and Liverpool shops were so busy that we had queues to the door at some times during the day! Rose street in Edinburgh and West Nile street in Glasgow shops were selling so many cigars we could just about refill the shops fast enough every few hours to keep up with demand- just incredible. Canongate in Edinburgh seemed to be selling as much chocolate as whisky from the great range we carry. Finally it’s great to see so many new customers at our latest cigar store in Mayfair in the heart of London.
From humble beginnings back in 1997 on the internet we have grown into the largest specialist Havana cigar merchant in the UK with an ever growing group of fabulous retail cigar and whisky stores. We are already planning another shop opening for Easter which will in fact be our flagship store in the UK – an emporium of cigars, whisky and chocolate with a fabulous tasting and sampling lounge… more details in the new year!
Each shop is very individual in style and carries a comprehensive range of product- something to tempt every cigar smoker for sure as all of our shops have walk in humidors crammed to the ceiling with the finest cigars. If we don’t have it in store, we can overnight it from our mail order warehouses to your home or office.
My favourite cigars of the year have been the La Flor de Cano short robusto and Partagas Serie E no.2. Simply delicious blends from the first to the last puff. I can’t wait for the new Montecristo Reserva to be released which we expect sometime very soon.
I’ll be kicking back over the long weekend with some delicious Margaux from 2007 ( TY H&F!) and a variety of planned smokes including Dunhill Cabinetta, Davidoff Ch. Latour, La Flor de Cano short churchills and a few Haut Brion too
Wishing all of my clients, Partners, Management, retail and mail order Teams a very merry Christmas!
Peaceful puffing and Slainte
Mitchell
Havana cigars - still the best cigars in the world! C.Gars Ltd - the best Havana cigar merchant in the world :-) How wrong can I be? I have 22,000 clients and that doesn't even include my retail customers at my cigars shops in Liverpool, Chester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Hamburg! Kick back with a good cigar and enjoy my blog. Long ashes, Mitchell
