Arrived back from Havana on Monday and went straight to the office for a sip of rum and a BBF….. no reason to stop the party 🙂

Seems I beat jet lag for the first time this year which was just as well as we completed on our new London shop (Whisky and Cigars by Robert Graham) and I needed to have my head straight to deal with the builders who I can now confirm have started and yes …we have a floor! Well that’s a good start at least. If all goes to plan, we will open on Thursday. I’ll pop some photos on the website as soon as we have the shop merchandised. I’m planning on opening till 8 every night as I don’t think there is any cigar specialist in London where you can buy your boxes of Havanas from in the evenings. Oh! and we will be open Sundays as well 🙂

Also opening on Thursday at The Treasurer by Robert Graham – 254 Canongate Edinburgh (Royal Mile) worth a visit if you are in the area as we will have a mouth watering selection of product.

Sorting through some of the old photos and price lists in our collection last week it was great to dig out a pre war Robert Graham catalogue of Havana cigars and hand made chocolates! I’ll get some scans done and put on the website, it’s pretty cool.

And we are now open (till the start of next year) at the Edinburgh Highland Village drop by for some whisky infused hot chocolate 🙂

Had a very late night last Wednesday at Boisdale with my friend Jay from the US who popped over for a quick smoke and a dram or two and my partner Ron Morrison (the whisky connoisseur) The smoking terrace was packed till closing time and I think the restaurant was too, this has to be one of the most successful venues in London and it deserves to be, great food (at reasonable prices) splendid scotch and its cigar friendly who could ask for more?

Hmmm… losing count of all the locations we are trading in…. does that make us the biggest cigar retailer in the UK ? by trading units? I think so…. by value? …I think so…. by volume? …I think so. Hey, I could be wrong but I reckon we are the largest Cigar merchant in the UK ! I guess there has to be a reason (or a few reasons) why more cigar aficionados prefer C.Gars Ltd and Robert Graham Ltd.

Cigars seem to be a booming industry in the UK, maybe I’ll open more retail stores in some other busy locations in 2010, I’m having great fun developing different retail concepts with Ron

Christmas season seems to have suddenly started with an upsurge in orders that is quite staggering, I sometimes wonder how everyone decides to order on the same day?! Our London office/warehouse is so full of stock I don’t think we could squeeze another item in! Michelle has 6 girls in her team this year and expects to have 100% order fulfillment on time this year.

Karyn and Laura are busier than busy with their new website Great Gifts and I have been “told” to mention the new puppet toys that have just arrived in stock 🙂

This Tuesday evening the C.Gars Ltd auction will be held at Boisdale from 7 p.m and it already looks like it will be a great success. There are a variety of different Lots from the rarest of the rare to some more recent limited editions. The C.Gars sales team are looking forward to the event and very pleased to be having famous ex Christies auctioneer Brian Ebbesen conducting the auction.

So Mish and I are at the office Sunday preparing the commission bids for the auction and Lotting up the final boxes of cigars, it could be a long day!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell