Yesterday I enjoyed an excellent evening at Boisdale Belgravia (I think the staff there must think I never leave) with friends and clients including Gordo, Craig, Zaff, Vimal, Wilkes and Chris.

We spotted Malcolm Rifkind on the cigar terrace – good man 🙂 Food, wine and service was excellent as usual. Boisdale is also great value. Probably why its packed full every day/night. Best to book ahead.

I went back to smoking BBF’s and Diplomaticos No.2 yesterday as a change to my Montecristo No.2 and Partagas P.2 routine which is a lovely contrast.

My cigar auction date has been changed to the 1st December and catalogue will be on the website in PDF approximately 6 weeks beforehand. If you want to sell something,drop me an email and if you want to bid, you need to register so again, drop me an email [email protected] Venue will be…. Boisdale Belgravia

So far we are having a fabulous September, with my whiskey business Robert Graham Ltd having won 2 prestigious awards from Whiskey Magazine for our independent bottling and our cigar sales booming no doubt partly thanks to the exchange rates (why buy abroad when you can but the finest English Market Selection?) The next few weeks should be interesting as we plan to open another new cigar and whiskey shop in Edinburgh which will keep us all busy for a while 🙂

La Casa del Habano-Hamburg is busier than ever and the big success story of the year is the German regional edition Bolivar Especiales. This really is an excellent blend that smokes well now and will age very well indeed.

In answer to many emails about the Cohiba Gran Reserva, we hope and expect a small quantity to be released by November but I understand the bulk of the release will not be till early next year. I would guess the cigars have been made but the beautiful cabinets (15 cigars) that they come in have not yet arrived in Havana. These incredible cigars have 5 year old tobacco (filler, binder and wrapper)

I reckon we are now the biggest cigar advisory service in the world! We receive well over 1000 emails a day. Lots of very basic questions as well as many sophisticated questions from connoisseurs or aspiring connoisseurs.

The point to remember is that there are never silly questions. I say that as so many people start their emails with ” I am sorry to be a pain” or “I’m sure you have been asked this a thousand times ” or “is this a daft question”. We are delighted to advise as best we can and are online 24 hours a day – every day of the year.

Most popular questions this week include:

– What cutter do you recommend? A: No contest it’s Palio

-What humidifier do you recommend? A : Puck is fast becoming a best seller for us and is highly recommended

-Can you recommend a Havana cigar for the novice? A: Monte 4 and Monte 5 you can’t go wrong or try one of our cigar samplers.

– I want to try something different and a bit more sophisticated. A: If you can handle a big cigar go for the UK regional Punch Serie D’Oro no.1. This cigars has to be one of the best blended Havanas from the last decade. Simply incredible

Happy New Year (Shana Tova) / Happy Ramadan – delete as applicable! …but enjoy with a fine cigar, but please do remember to cut your cigars before sunset and light from an existing flame. (but not on Saturday!)

I’ll be offline from tonight till Sunday night and then back on late shifts next week as usual but Michelle and the Girls will be around to answer your questions in my absence.

Have a great weekend

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell