…good grief I have loads of them!

I’ve been buying pre embargo cigar humidors and cabinets of all different shapes and sizes for years!

My office is overflowing with them…looks like a Cuban cigar museum ( too cool I hear you say:-))

Ceramic jars ( yes blues and browns) glass jars ( yes yes I have the Benson one as well!) Bakelite jars ( these are the best of all..Ramon and Partagas) Tronquitas and barrels…they are all proudly on display.

Photographs of Che and Fidel ( smoking cigars of course) …all originals….post cards,price lists books and mags..loads of them:-)

Thanks goodness Christoph called today and asked me to send a consignment of antiques to the new La Casa del Habanos in Hamburg:-) Our shop in Hamburg is soooo big …I may even have to head back to Havana to bring back more antiques !

Michelle is so happy as I almost had her desk covered in pre embargo humidors! So shipping starts tomorrow and if you visit Hamburg from next week,the shop should have a nice Cuban feel to it….at last.

Well,I’m off on a field trip to visit my Turmeaus gold medal specialist in Havanas shops in Liverpool and Chester for a couple of days,looking forward to seeing some of my regular customers for a cigar or two.

If you need me I’m on email…back in London offices on Friday:-)

Best

Mitchell

Congratulations to us!…we finally got the keys to our very own La Casa del Habano in Hamburg

Hamburg is the second most affluent city in Europe after London and cigar friendly too…no major smoking bans on the horizon!

Located in the coolest part of Town our Casa is in Chilehaus and will feature a comfortable cigar lounge as well as cigar shop and walk in humidor with an enourmous selection of Havanas available by the box and in singles.There will also be regional editions ( Bolivar and Por Larannaga this year) and limited editions ( Trinidad book,Upmann and Partagas humidors) The shop will also display and offer a splendid range of Cuban cigar related antiques.

My dear friend Christoph Wolters will take care of the retail side of the business whilst I am heading up the internet sales team.

Christoph welcomes customers old and new and assures you a warm welcome with complimentary libations to enjoy with your cigar

Full contact details will be on our “contacts page” in the next day or two.

La Casa del Habano is the exclusive franchise from Habanos S.A. and C.Gars Ltd are proud to be involved with both this venture and the Wolters family.

Auf Wiedersehen !

Mitchell

Sounds like war zone around my house this evening…fireworks going off all around!

I’m off to a fireworks party with the family now armed with a fistful of partagas shorts.These are my favourite small cigar as they seem the perfect size when I’m short of time and the perfect smoke for any time of day.

I usually start my day off ( around lunch time) with Party Short and a strong Cubita…nice combo…instant zing

I have noticed a distinct improvement in quality in 04/05/06 vintage…perfect draw,appearance and blend…full; strength,medium flavour,balanced and complex.

Buy some…smoke them…if you don’t agree with me that they are a great smoke…I’ll give your money back!

Happy Guy Fawkes and Bonfire night all

Best

Mitchell

Sometimes I venture out to look at the sad politically correct world the non-smoking elves live in. And what do I find? Would you believe that around two thousand elves celebrated Guy Fawkes Night (5 November) early this year with a virtual bonfire. For £2 a ticket, they watched footage of the flames projected on to a giant screen at the Ilfracombe Rugby Club in Devon, while a smoke machine and the sound of crackling wood added to the party atmosphere. The event was initiated by the club to get round stringent local Health and Safety rules governing the lighting of fires at public events.

How about a virtual smoke-in, direct from the Smoking Troll’s Cave? No, it’s too bloody sad. Get out there and light up a clutch of cigars while you can. Who the hell needs a video link when you can enjoy the real thing. You’ll be watching films of Gandalf fighting balrogs next…

I had the pleasure of welcoming Simon Chase and Ana Lopez from Hunters and Frankau to our London premises today…they looked impressed with our refurbished humidor:-)

We had coffee ( Cubita of course) and smoked Henry Clay Diamontinos ( glass tubed) that we dated from late 1940’s/early 1950’s ! They were a truly delightful smoke with “tingle of the tongue” quality.Great draw,sweet flavour and medium strength and a smooth colrado maduro wrapper.I was surprised that such an old cigar reteianed so much flavour.I suspect the glass tube worked as an excellent flavour vacuum.

We moved on to The Churchill cigar bar and divan on Portman Square for lunch and Siglo VI’s and a chat about the cigar business in general.

I was pleased to hear that the long awaited arrival of Cohiba piramides L.E. Maduro would finally be with us very early next week.Packed in splendid presentation boxes of 10 cigars with a delicious looking dark and oily 2 year aged wrapper.

Simon mentioned that quantity on the first batch to arrive was very small but we are expecting to get a decent allocation:-)

Best wishes from chilly London

Mitchell