What a week !

Sunday I headed back to London from Havana,you just have to love Jose Marti airport….it’s like a giant cigar smoking lounge!  Virgin Upper Class…highly recommended.The best way to fly to Havana for sure

 

The only other airport I can think of where I herf with friends is Lubeck in Hamburg ( the airport looks like it is made out of a few sheets of plastic and string…..but smells like a cigar divan after my friends and I have herfed there !)

 

Back to the cold of London and the pandemonium of my London office where Por Larranaga Magnificos have finally arrived after the longest wait for a new cigar in living memory but oh boy…..they were worth the wait:-)

 

It’s lucky they did arrive now as we were worries that these 2007 regional editions cigars exclusive to the UK would not arrive till 2008 !

 

The most perfectly crafter cigar…..the most beautiful smooth vein free wrapper….a most splendid blend that reminds me of Davidoff Dom Perignon when they were around in the 1980’s…..the best cigar bands I have ever seen ( Bravo Simon Chase !) ….and for now….SOLD OUT!

 

Well done to all who pre ordered and pre registered their interest.Your cigars are now on the way to you.

 

If I have ever seen a cigar that is likely to rocket in value let alone be a fantastic smoke,this is the one.

 

Hunters and Frankau have kindly given us 3 allocations so far but overall it was far less than we had hoped for so we are still hoping for a further allocation and if so we will gladly make them available again on a first come first served basis. Email to be placed on the waiting list [email protected]

 

The new limited edition Trinidad Ingenios,presented in beautiful cabinets of 12 cigars 6 1/2″ length and 42 ring gauge.Available now but very limited supplies at this stage.

 

So that’s the end of another busy month and Christmas season is upon us πŸ™‚ My sales team have packed a zillion fabulous Christmas samplers which make ideal gifts and they tell me we are shipping right up till 72 hours  before Christmas day! We will even ship to Central and North London areas on Christmas eve. If you are in Central London and in a hurry we do motorbike deliveries in 45 minutes from placing your order…how’s that for fast service?!

 

Have a smoky weekend:-)

 

Peaceful puffing y saludos

 

Mitchell

 


 

Happy Anniversary Partagas :-)


 

This report comes to you from sunny Havana where I have been enjoying the Partagas LCDH 15th anniversary celebrations.

 

The gala dinner was held at the Melia Cohiba Hotel and was a splendid affair with Massimo holding the auction and raffle and raising 32,000 Pesos for the Cuban National Health service. Well done Massimo, conducting an auction in 3 different languages at the same time is no mean feat.

 

The evening was filled with entertainment provided by some first rate Cuban singers and we were given many excellent and specially banded cigars including Flor de Leopoldina rolled by La China and some fantastic “109’s”

 

It was quite an honour to be called to the stage and recognized as an “Amigo de Partagas” as well as presented with a book style cabinet of 10 cigars specially made for the event.

 

Cigars certainly do bring friends together and as well as half of Italy being in Havana πŸ™‚ I herfed with friends from the UK, Japan, Costa Rica, Canada, US and France to name a few countries that attendees came from.

 

Great to see my Italian friends Angelo, Massimo, Salvatore, Francesco, Valerio and others, I’m sure I heard more Italian than Spanish on this trip!

 

Zaff aka “UK Smoker” was spotted smoking his way through Havana. Finally met up with Scott from Canada ( and his lovely wife Kathleen) My old friends Amir and Tim from Canada are here of course. Naka from Tokyo looked very smart in his tux at the dinner.The only other British cigar merchant spotted was Ajay from Broadweighs cigars (where is everyone else from the UK???!!!)

 

Sadly no interesting cigars to be found in the cigar shops or should I say nothing we don’t have already in the UK or Germany so I’m guessing that Habanos now supplies Europe before they supply the Havana LCDH shops but that didn’t spoil the fun as we had some fantastic custom blended “Maravillas” sized cigars rolled for us at the Melia Habana as well as Villa Conde de Nueva. Both of these shops are a real buzz as is the Partagas LCDH which really has become my Havana meeting room πŸ™‚ I’m afraid the rest of the shops had nothing special going on.

 

Saturday evening I was invited to dinner at the home of Valerio Cornale the owner of LCDH Grand Cayman and also the owner of one of the most important collections of Cuban cigar related antiques (another important and ever growing collection is on permanent display in my London office !) Valerio is a most gracious host and the Champagne did not stop flowing !

 

Time for some Afro Cuban jazz, mojitos and cigars at Casa Amistad followed by modern jazz at The Jazz Cafe opposite the Melia Habana….. tough life and all that πŸ™‚

 

I’ll pop some photos up on the website in the next few days:-)

 

Peaceful puffing from Havana.

 

Mitchell

…and here is the news :-)

…well sadly no news really as Por Larranaga Magnificos have still not been released(-: We are expecting these imminently so we still hope to get all of your orders for these exceptional cigars delivered before Christmas which is fast approaching.

 

We do have the splendid Montecristo Reserva available ( outside EU only at this time ) at Β£299 per cabinet

 

This years Trinidad limited edition is also expected to arrive in the next few weeks

 

H Upmann book series has already been and gone…fabulous cigars.

 

Michelle,Elle and Marci have made up some fabulous Christmas samplers that make great stocking fillers http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/christmas-cuban-cigar-sampler-best-seller-p-4650.html

 

I|’m off to Havana to celebrate the Partagas anniversary for the weekend so I escape the cold weather of London for some 30C heat of Havana πŸ™‚ Looking forward to herfing with many friends as ever. I|’ll be looking out for the new Partagas Replica humidor which will hopefully be released for the event.

 

I|’ll be making another load of vintage cigars available next week so if you are on my mailing list look out πŸ™‚

 

….and we hope to open another whisky and cigar store next week in Glasgow

 

Peaceful puffing

 

Mitchell

The Prime of New York :-)

Continuing my quest to smoke,eat and drink my way through New York :-),I spent the afternoon herfing in Little Italy at Florios Grill and Cigar Bar ( 192 Grand Street NY NY 10013 )

 

Florios is something out of the Sopranos !….and very cool it is too.Super friendly service,very nice menu and cigar friendly inside and out. If you’re in the Big Apple….visiting Florios is an absolute must www.florios.com

 

4 hours and 3 cigars later….time to drop into The Carnegie Club for my early evening drink and smoke with friends:-)

 

…. and now for dinner, Prime Grill is probably the premier kosher restaurant in New York and rightly so.The restaurant is a good size and was absolutely packed full,in fact there was a queue of around 20 people as well! First rate menu and service Check it out on this link http://www.theprimegrill.com/

 

Yes and I spotted cigar smokers dining in the outside dining area as well πŸ™‚ G-d bless America !

 

Well that’s all from New York… I’ve chomped my way through The Big Apple for the last week at an average $2.05 to the Β£1 and had a great time herfing with many good friends…. thanks to all I met up with and for those I did not see on this trip,I look forward to catching up on my next trip.

 

Peaceful puffing

 

 

Mitchell

Solo in New York :-)

Even more sunny warm weather today in the Big Apple :-)….and loads of people in fancy dress for Halloween !!!!!….everywhere !!!!…scary πŸ™‚

 

Spent a few hours at the incredible Blatt Billiards http://www.blattbilliards.com/EnterPage2.html and was kindly given a guided tour of the entire Billiard table restoration process by my friend Vic who is soon to publish an incredible Encyclopaedia on Billiards ( a must for all devotees)

 

Lunch and a stroll round The Village followed by drinks and smokes at Club Macanudo with friends in the early evening.

 

Superb dinner at Solo www.solonyc.com  with friends Matt and Jeff completed a splendid day:-)

 

Peaceful puffing

 

 

Mitchell