From the desk of Smokeymo…. www.cgarsltd.co.uk
By smokeymo
Yes its true our Directors favourites sampler is ridiculously good value 
Check it out on this link
- Por Larranaga Magnificos UK regional 2007
- Punch Serie D’Oro No.1 UK regional 2008
- La Gloria Cuban Gloriosos UK regional 2008
- Juan Lopez Seleccion UK regional 2009
- El Rey del Mundo Choix de L’Epoque UK regional 2009
- Cohiba Gran Reserva 2009
- Bolivar Centenary Belicosos UK exclusive 2002
- Bolivar Centenary Royal Corona UK exclusive 2002
….all the best of the best English Market selection Havana cigars and the price includes VAT and delivery
Just back from my Robert Graham Ltd whisky and cigar shops in Scotland where we have finally opened our “tasting room” at our Canongate store. We sell a splendid range of chocolate ( even chocolate cigars ) and I managed to consume twice my bodyweight in hot chocolate shots over a 48 hour period.I never realised it at the time as I was intermittently sampling the Robert Graham range of single malt whiskies! I reckon our walk in humidors at the Rose street and Canongate branches must have the largest range of Havanas in Scotland and I always spot some unusual stuff there.
Searching round our London store yesterday I found some Upmann Magnum LE’s which I was sure had sold out some time ago. Had to smoke one for testing purposes but there are another 24 left if you hurry
Click here to order
Whisky and Cigars
by Robert Graham Ltd
4 Broadwell Parade
Broadhurst Gardens
London
NW6 3BQ
Tel: 0207 624 3351
My manageress Lucy would be delighted to welcome you
Colin Ganley from European Cigar Cult Journal popped into the shop for a quick smoke so I recommended the rather delish UK regional El Rey del Mundo Choix de L’Epoque which seemed to hit the spot. Colin’s kindly reviewing the Vegas Robaina range of cigars for us as well as the Robaina book and we hope to publish his review in the coming weeks.
Colin is also reviewing my book Once Upon a Time in Cuba which I understand he enjoyed browsing through whilst smoking a good Havana.
I popped into Mill Hill Wines last night and was really impressed by the range and the service and they have a great range of single Havanas too. Support your local Havana Cigar Specialist
Last call on Bolivar Centenary cigars,they have been selling like mad this week
Available Now - Rare Bolivar Centenary Cigars
Only 100 of these humidors were made for the UK market and released in 2002.
The humidors were numbered and contained
50 specially double banded Royal coronas and 50 specially double banded Belicosos Finos.
English Market Selection. Pristine condition.
Bolivar Centenary specially banded Royal Coronas (25 cigars)
Bolivar Centenary Special Sampler - 10 cigars
Bolivar Centenary Double Sampler - 4 cigars
Bolivar Centenary specially banded Royal Coronas
(25 cigars) £525.00
4 7/8″ length and 50 ring gauge
Click here for more details
Bolivar Centenary specially banded Royal Coronas £25.00
4 7/8″ length and 50 ring gauge
Click here for more details
Bolivar Centenary specially banded Belicosos Finos £26.00
5 1/2″ length and 52 ring gauge
Click here for more details
Bolivar Centenary Double Sampler - 4 cigars £99.00
2 each Royal Coronas and Belicosos Finos - total 4 cigars and free delivery
Click here for more details
Bolivar Centenary Special Sampler - 10 cigars £250.00
This sampler contains five each of the specially made cigars from the Bolivar Centenary Humidor.
Click here for more details
All prices include free shipping.
Have a smokey weekend
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell
By smokeymo
Stop Press just had the latest news of the exciting new Havana cigar releases expected this year from Hunters and Frankau
Expected March/April
All presented in boxes of 10
Cohiba Behike BHK 56 6 1/2″ length and 56 ring gauge
Cohiba Behike BHK 54 5 5/8″ length and 54 ring gauge
Cohiba Behike BHK 52 4 3/4″ length and 52 ring gauge
————————————————————————————————-
Expected May/June
Romeo Wide Churchill 5 1/4″ length and 55 ring gauge in boxes of 10 and 25 with 3 packs to follow later in the year
Romeo- Julieta 4 3/4″ length and 33 ring gauge
————————————————————————————————-
Expected June/July
2010 Limited editions
Montecristo Gran Edmundo boxes of 10 5 7/8″ length and 52 ring gauge
Partagas Serie D Especial -boxes of 10 5 1/2″ length and 50 ring gauge
Trinidad short robusto - boxes of 12 4″ length and 50 ring gauge
————————————————————————————————-
2010 UK regional editions
Expected August/September
La Flor De Cano Short robusto-cabinets of 25 ( a re-creation of the famous LFDC short churchill with shorter ring gauge) 4″ length and 50 ring gauge
Por Larranaga- Regalias de Londres- boxes of 25 5 1/2″ length and 50 ring gauge
————————————————————————————————-
I’m looking forward to sampling the new Behike range and the new LE’s at the Festival in Havana at the end of this month tough job…
Have a great week
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell
By smokeymo
Happy Friday Folks and a very warm welcome to our new Customer Care Manager Jessica Taylor,you may well be hearing from Jess by email or phone in the coming weeks and if you have any suggestions or complaints she is going to want to know You can email her at Jess@cgarsltd.co.uk
And another warm welcome to our new Operations Manager Chris Scullion. Based in our Edinburgh office Chris has a wealth of experience in the booze biz and we are now forcing him to try every cigar in our range all in the interests of education and training
I have selected some of my favourite smokes for my latest sampler pack which really does represent the best of English Market Selection Havanas carefully stored and cared for in our walk in humidors. An unbeatable price for some of the finest Havanas you will ever try
Best of the best sampler
Por Larranaga Magnificos UK regional 2007
Punch Serie D’Oro No.1 UK regional 2008
La Gloria Cuban Gloriosos UK regional 2008
Juan Lopez Seleccion UK regional 2009
El Rey del Mundo Choix de L’Epoque UK regional 2009
Cohiba Gran Reserva 2009
Bolivar Centenary Belicosos UK exclusive 2002
Bolivar Centenary Royal Corona UK exclusive 2002
8 of the finest Havana cigars at a truly unbeatable price including shipping £179
( If you buy these in singles you would pay £232.72)
Only 50 sampler packs will be made available due to limited stock availability
Orders by email only, hurry to avoid disappointment sales@cgarsltd.co.uk
I zoomed over to Hamburg on the Squeezy jet last Tuesday to do some rather tasty rum testing at La Casa del Habano Hamburg with my partner Christoph Wolters. I was knocked out by an incredible Diademas that Christoph gave me to try. This cigar was rolled 5 years ago at the Partagas factory and banded for Christoph (or Cristobal as he is affectionately known) The vitola was “Diademas” and it was a sublime smoking experience. TY CW.
It never ceases to amaze me how busy our cigar lounge is in Hamburg, literally packed every day with the nicest bunch of guys, talk about a regular nightly herf! If you get a chance to visit Hamburg, our LCDH is a must. Christoph is probably the most knowledgeable cigar merchant in the world and a delight to herf with ( as I’m sure his customers will agree!)
Checkout the new additions to the range that we enjoyed
Cuban rum - perfect with a Cuban cigar! Lowest prices in the UK guaranteed and free shipping in the UK as well ( just this weekend)
Ron Caney Oro - Cuban Rum 70cl 38% - £19.99
Ron Caney Oro is a premium golden rum made by blending rums aged
from three to five years — Oro is superb on its own, in cocktails and with mixers.
http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/caney-cuban-70cl-p-8315.html
Ron Caney Anejo Centuria - Cuban Rum 70cl 38% £20.99
Ron Caney Anejo Centuria winner of the Havana taste trials,
is a blend of rums aged for up to seven years.
http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/caney-anejo-centuria-cuban-70cl-p-8316.html
Santiago de Cuba 20 Years Old - Cuban Rum - 70cl 40% £69.99
One of the best rums anywhere and one of Fidel Castro’s favourites.
Blended from the oldest and best casks in the reserves,
all apparently a minimum of twenty years old.
http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/santiago-cuba-years-cuban-70cl-p-8317.html
Try a few of these whilst you can, not for the novice as this is one sophisticated strong puppy think rustic old style full on Boli and you are getting the picture
Last few - Rare Bolivar Centenary Cigars
Only 100 of these humidors were made for the UK market and released in 2002.
The humidors were numbered and contained
50 specially double banded Royal coronas and 50 specially double banded Belicosos Finos.
English Market Selection. Pristine condition.
Bolivar Centenary specially banded Royal Coronas £25.00
4 7/8″ length and 50 ring gauge
http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/bolivar-centenary-specially-banded-belicosos-finos-p-5043.html
Bolivar Centenary specially banded Belicosos Finos £26.00
5 1/2″ length and 52 ring gauge
http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/bolivar-centenary-specially-banded-royal-coronas-p-5042.html
Bolivar Centenary Double Sampler - 4 cigars £99.00
2 each Royal Coronas and Belicosos Finos - total 4 cigars and free delivery
http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/bolivar-centenary-double-sampler-cigars-p-8257.html
All prices include free shipping.
Treat yourself to some of my limited edition Cigar Malt. When I say limited I really mean it as there are only 60 numbered bottles in presentation case.
Cask strength and non chill filtered this 1992 Speyside Distillery is simply splendid.
A must for whiskey and cigar aficionados.
Speyside Distillery 1992 CIGAR MALT 70cl 61.2%
http://www.whisky-cigars.co.uk/speyside-distillery-1992-cigar-malt-70cl-p-4617.html
Well that’s the another month more or less wrapped up and a fabulous start to the year with all of all of our outlets reporting record sales again http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/document.php?id=contact.htm&title=Contact+us Please don’t forget to “buy less but buy the best” EMS Havanas- it doesn’t get any better
Next week I’m visiting my splendid Robert Graham cigar and whisky stores in Glasgow and Edinburgh http://www.whisky-cigars.co.uk/ form a little product sampling and we are also hoping to unveil our new website design for C.Gars Ltd (always very exciting for us!)
Have a smokey weekend
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell
By smokeymo
Happy Friday Readers and it certainly has been a happy week for us as we started the week off with a loooong meeting at the UK Havana importers Hunters and Frankau and had a fab time rummaging through their incredible humidor.
We managed to persuade the Hunters team to let us have a stock of the 2002 Bolivar Centenary cigars which was a great surprise as we thought they were sold out long ago but these have been gently maturing since 2002
I remember attending the launch dinner for these cigars back in the days when we could enjoy smoking indoors!
I have smoked my way through quite “ a few” of the Belicosos Finos and contrasted them with 08 BBF’s and they are remarkably great cigars. The effect of age has produced a rich,complex, balanced cigar that is medium strength and full flavour with hints of spice and a sweet creamy character. Perfect construction and a smooth colorado shade wrapper topped off with the extra Centenary band make this an absolute winner. Try them while you can ( or I may smoke them all!) Oh and the Royal Coronas aren’t too shabby either!
Bolivar Centenary specially banded Royal Coronas (25 cigars)
4 7/8″ length and 50 ring gauge
£525.00
Bolivar Centenary specially banded Royal Coronas
4 7/8″ length and 50 ring gauge
£25.00
Bolivar Centenary specially banded Belicosos Finos
5 1/2″ length and 52 ring gauge
£26.00
Bolivar Centenary Double Sampler - 4 cigars
2 each Royal Coronas and Belicosos Finos - total 4 cigars and free delivery
£99.00
Bolivar Centenary Special Sampler - 10 cigars
This sampler contains five each of the specially made cigars from the Bolivar Centenary Humidor.
£250.00
Last night I checked out the splendid new cigar terrace at No 10 Manchester street where my partner and whisky connoisseur Ron Morrison of Robert Graham Ltd enjoyed Juan Lopez Seleccion Suprema matched with some Alsace followed by a late herf at the Lanesborough Hotel cigar lounge for some Punch Serie D’Oro no.1 matched up with some rather crisp Roederer Champagne. Incredible cigar selection at the Lanesborough and without doubt the most comfortable cigar lounge (so far) in the UK
To finish my week I had a nice surprise when surfing H&F’s website with a couple of great articles about our new shops Good old H&F - great people and the best cigars in the world.
Have a great weekend
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell
By smokeymo
January has kicked off with a busier than busy bang and I spent a few days up in Scotland this week in the fabulous new Robert Graham Ltd whisky and cigar store in Canongate, Edinburgh where I have had the pleasure of tasting and approving my limited edition Cigar Malt. When I say limited I really mean it as there are only 60 numbered bottles in presentation case. Actually make that 59 as we have used 1 bottle for “testing purposes”
Cask strength and non chill filtered this 1992 Speyside Distillery is simply splendid.
The exclusive Robert Graham Cigar Malt was tested with one of my current favourite cigars the Cohiba Gran Reserva.
If you would like to be one of the lucky chaps to enjoy this Cigar Malt I will be offering a bottle together with a single Cohiba Gran Reserva at just £135 inclusive shipping. You may need to email us fast though sales@cgarsltd.co.uk a must for whisky and cigar aficionados.
Due to the bizarre laws in Scotland being different to England we are no longer able to legally sample cigars in our cigars stores in Scotland but fortunately we have a lovely cigar friendly apartment 2 minutes away from Royal Mile
Today I had the pleasure of a visit from Jemma Freeman (Managing Director of Hunters and Frankau) at our new whisky and cigar store in West Hampstead, London and I think Jemma was pretty impressed with our fine range of Havanas. Our London store is open till 8 p.m and I think that’s the only late closing cigar store in London which is perfect if you want to pop in for a smoke. We still have a few lockers available for clients who wish to lay down cigars for their later smoking pleasure or investment safe in the knowledge they will be professionally cared for.
Finally the printers have made it through the snow and delivered my book! so my apologies for the late shipping to clients who pre ordered and I am happy to say all orders have started shipping today
“Once Upon a Time in Cuba”
by Michael Mirecki and Mitchell Orchant is a 147 page
compilation of our original photograph collection of Cuba.
Our book has a foreword by Simon Chase
of Hunters and Frankau and includes chapters on
Famous people
The Cuban Revolution
Pre Revolution
Bars, Music and Cabaret
Buena Vista Social Club
Tobacco (of course!)
and Sport.
Only 1000 individually numbered hard back coffee table books
will be made available. Hardback size 9 1/2″ X 9 1/2″.
Price per book £29.99 plus
Postage and Packing
Within mainland UK £5.00
European destinations £10.00
Rest of the world £15.00
Click here to order
End of year stock take was a delight as usual especially as I found a few nice vintage cigars lurking at the back of the London humidor!
Punch Especiales Pre Embargo - 1s
H Upmann Singulares Pre Embargo - 1s
H Upmann Singulares Pre Embargo - 25s
Punch Double Coronas - (1996) cab selection 1s
Partagas Serie D No. 4 cigars (1996) - 1s
Ramon Allones Magnums cabinet selection - 1s
Romeo y Julieta Piramidos No.1 - Pre embargo - cab 50s
Romeo y Julieta Cedros No.1 - gold top (1960’s) - 1s
Romeo y Julieta Cedros No.1 gold top (1960’s) - box 25s (sealed)
Romeo y Julieta Tubed Churchills - 1s
Romeo y Julieta Tubed Churchills - 25s
Lots of vintage Davidoff due for release in the next month too! …and maybe a few Dunhills too 
Have a great weekend
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell
By smokeymo
And for only the second time in the history of C.Gars Ltd London office - the office is closed due to snow but fear not as our shops are sending out all mail orders so there will be no delay from us, although I dare say if you are also snowed in there may be some Royal Mail delays.
I was sensible enough to kidnap my General Manager Michelle by tempting her with dinner at my home, knowing of course she would be stranded by snow before dessert! Now I have Michelle working 24 hours a day (so what’s new?!)
Cigar Snowman
S’now big problem being at home for an extra day or two as I have a fully stocked humidor (Partagas P2’s, Bolivar Belicosos Finos, Punch Serie D’Oro no.1’s, Monte 2’s, El Rey de Mundo Choix de L’Epoque all in copious quantity of course) as well as a decent stock in the bar (mainly Cuban rum especially Vigia and Robert Graham whisky obviously!) So no change to my working days then, just a different venue.
The coming years plans already include 2 trips to Havana for the Festivals, trips to the East Coast and West Coast, numerous trips to Germany to our fabulous La Casa del Habano (as well as a trip to Berlin at the end of this month to give a talk at a cigar dinner) and quite a few extended trips to Scotland as we expand the Robert Graham cigar and whisky business.
There could well be a few more cigars shops coming to a Town near you! and if not, you can be sure that as the UK’s largest specialist cigar merchant with the most locations and humungous stocks our mail order prices will always be the best available in the UK. Quality - Service - Value 24/7 – every day of the year come snow or shine.
Before I know it…… it will be Christmas again
Stay warm and peaceful puffing
Mitchell
Cigar Snowman
By smokeymo
That’s it!…another year done and per my Christmas blog our best year ever
I’m spending a quiet evening in with friends and have a nice selection of Davidoff/Dunhill cigars for the long evening ahead starting with a mild Don Perignon and building up to a Chateau Y’Quem and finally a Cabinetta…and I’ve decided to stick to 1989 vintage Bilecart Salmon champagne. Should be a match made in cigar and champagne heaven
Wish you a safe and happy new year and looking forward to a smokey 2010 !
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell
By smokeymo
By the 24th December 7000 Christmas mail orders shipped - 99.9% delivered Now that’s what I call a merry Christmas.
Thank you and well done to all the boys and girls of C.Gars Ltd, Turmeaus Tobacconist, Robert Graham Ltd and LCDH Hamburg - an incredible Team - our best year ever.
Our Group expansion in 2009 has likely made us the largest Havana Specialist in the UK and with our Partners in Ireland, Germany and Mexico we look forward to further expansion Domestically and Internationally in 2010.
A full list of our locations can be seen here
As well as being specialists in Havana cigars, smokers accessories rum and whisky we added an extraordinary range of chocolate to our retail range which we will bring online in 2010. We also added our dedicated Gifts website which has already proved very popular with our clients.
Our proudest achievement of the year was winning Gold and Bronze award winning independent Bottler 2009 from Whisky Magazine
Our beautiful new cigar and whisky shops in London’s West Hampstead and Edinburgh Royal Mile are fast becoming a must stop destination for cigar and whisky aficionados.
Our Vintage Cigar Auction at the fabulous Boisdale restaurant in Belgravia was a resounding success and we are already planning our Summer 2010 auction as well as taking many fabulous entries
And to cap the year off my book with Mike Mirecki “Once Upon a Time in Cuba” is now published and will be available from next week. Our book has a foreword by Simon Chase of Hunters and Frankau and is a 147 page compilation of our original photograph collection of Cuba which includes chapters on Famous people, The Cuban Revolution, Pre Revolution, Bars, Music and Cabaret, Buena Vista Social Club, Tobacco (of course!) and Sport.
Only 1000 individually numbered hard back coffee table books will be made available at £29.99. Available by mail order, as well as in our retail stores and a few select other cigar stores and book stores
Thanks to all our clients, suppliers and friends and wish you a smokey new year!
Mitch, Laura and Mish
By smokeymo
I think I have enjoyed this year and this particular Christmas season more than any in my memory. Simple reason is that more people seem to be enjoying a good stogie and a wee dram than ever. To forget recession? to give that “feel good factor” at home? yes probably both and add to that the favorable exchange rate, the quality assurance of English Market Selection cigars and we now know why we are busier than ever
This seasons best sellers have been the fabulous cigar cases. Beautiful presentation, first rate cigars and limited edition. It was obvious to me that these would be very popular from the start. My personal favorite is the Cohiba Siglo VI case. Here’s a link to the whole list of gift best sellers Christmas Gift Best Sellers
The years success story has been the exclusive UK regional edition cigars of 08 and 09. The release timing may have been a bit ‘all over the show’ but there is no denying these are excellent cigars. I think the Punch Serie D’Oro No.1 are likely to be sold out fairly soon.
El Rey 2009
Juan Lopez 2009
Punch 2008
La Gloria Cubana 2008
Our best selling whiskies have been our award winning independent bottlings (no surprise!) so if you enjoy a single malt with a good cigar you will, be hard pressed to find a better match.
At this time Robert Graham cigar and whisky stores are operating in Glasgow, Edinburgh Rose Street, Edinburgh Royal Mile, Edinburgh Highland Village on East Princes Street and Broadhurst gardens, West Hampstead in London. All of our shops have a great range of Havanas, Whisky and Chocolate
Turmeaus Tobacconist shops in Chester and Liverpool have enormous ranges of Havana cigars as well as pipes and pipe tobaccos. Contact details on this link and if you are visiting Dublin, please be sure to stop by the Decent Cigar Emporium on Grafton street… the best place to buy your Havanas and other fine cigars in Ireland
I’m off to Robert Graham Ltd in Scotland for a few days to check out our new stores and leaving C.Gars Ltd in the capable hands of Mishie and Laura and their sales team. Looking forward to seeing friends old and new in Scotland and then back to London for Christmas
Happy Chanukah and peaceful puffing to all
Best
Mitchell
By smokeymo
Our first auction was held at Boisdale in Belgravia and was a resounding success.
The auction was conducted by Brian Ebbesen (previously of Christies) on the splendid cigar terrace (so cigar smoking was allowed if not actively encouraged!) at Boisdale in Belgravia
Despite the cold weather, the heaters kept the auction bidders warm enough to keep raising their paddles to bid
Around 50 bidders attended the event and enjoyed UK exclusive regional edition El Rey del Mundo Choix de L’Epoque and Hoyo Epicure no.2’s (finest English Market Selection of course)
Lots were sold to commission bidders from all over the world
Many Lots sold for bargain prices whilst other mouth watering Lots sold for… mouth watering prices including:
Cubatobacco 1492 £16,000
Hoyo limited edition humidor £3,600
Punch Presidentes jar £2300
Davidoff Chateau Latour £1850
Dunhill Atados £1450
Partagas Selection Suprema no.154 £3200
Por Larranaga Dunhill Selection no.33 £3700
Bolivar Corona Grandes £3,600
Dinner at Boisdale for 24 guests after the auction was a delight and we enjoyed the company of Jemma Freeman and Simon Chase of Hunters and Frankau, Albert Stagnetto from the famous Gibraltar cigar merchants, Simon Speller owner of the splendid Simply Cigars cigar merchant, Edward Sahakian from Davidoff of London amongst other friends.
We are now planning our next auction for June 2010 Buyers and sellers welcome to register with us by emailing sales@cgarsltd.co.uk
My thanks to Brian Ebbesen for conducting the auction as well as my sales team, Michelle, Marci and Eli for all their help organizing the event
Finally many thanks to Ranald Macdonald, Nathan and his team at Boisdale for allowing us to use the cigar terrace and for all their support for our event.
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell Orchant
Photographs by Tillmann Pretscher (www.pretscher.com)
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 15,000 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
