Greetings from rainy London where we just passed another milestone with the 26th anniversary of C.Gars Ltd (est. 1997) and the 206th anniversary of Turmeaus Tobacconist (est. 1817).
Quite a feat to have not only survived but also thrived in the cigar trade for so long! I believe that only our friends at J. J. Fox have been around longer.
I vividly remember the early days of C.Gars when Laura and I started the business online selling Havanas only and technology was a lot more primitive than it is now! We couldn’t even put photos on our website as the connections were so slow!
We have come a long way and the website is now crammed full of content, photos and over 10,000 products. Literally a hypermarket of tobacco, accessories and premium spirits.
This year has been a busy one in terms of expansion starting with the complete refurbishment of our boutique cigar friendly hotel. The Mash Tun in Aberlour in beautiful Speyside… the perfect spot for the cigar smoker and whisky lover with luxurious guest bedrooms, a 4 bedroom lodge, bar, restaurant, terraces, cigar bothy and sauna overlooking the River Spey. Check out the new website here www.mashtun-aberlour.com.
C.Gars St James’s went through some upgrades with a better smoke extraction system, new furniture and a new bar arriving this week. This has to be the busiest cigar shop and sampling lounge in the UK . Crammed full of the finest premium spirits, premium cigars as well as aged and rare Havana cigars.
We opened our 3rd London shop in the City back in May to the delight of our clients in the Square Mile. This beautiful shop and sampling lounge firmly plants the C.Gars flag in the City.
Finally, we recently opened La Casa del Habano – Edinburgh and Puffin Rooms in Lister Square in the centre of Edinburgh. It’s good to be back in Scotland with the best cigar terrace in the country.
We have a magnificent walk in humidor, crammed with La Casa del Habanos specialties, a premium range of accessories and premium spirits. Client lockers are of course available.
Puffin Rooms Edinburgh follows the success of Puffin Rooms Liverpool and features live music, super comfortable seating and a splendid bar and dining options.
I hosted a packed opening event recently featuring 2 excellent Havana cigars, canapes from our talented chefs, live music and Sean Croley from Hunters & Frankau as our special guest.
Our Leeds C.Gars shop, opened last year, celebrated its 100th tasting event with a splendid evening featuring the rather enormous Davidoff Aniversario No.1 Limited Edition no.1 measuring in at 8 2/3″ long and 48 ring gauge. Bursting with flavour, this medium strength cigar was a real treat for attendees, paired up with Stalla Dhu single cask whisky and Dominique London Privee Liberation Cigar Cognac.
We have sampling events throughout the year at all of our locations. The perfect
opportunity to experience new cigars paired with premium spirits as well as meet the brand ambassadors. Truly social evenings with like minded aficionados.
On the 4th December I’m hosting our largest table ever (over 30 guests!) for the Cigar Smoker of the year event at Boisdale Canary Wharf. This sold out event is the biggest and best on the annual UK cigar calendar with great entertainment, food, drinks and smokes and the best of company. We will put up an article with the award winners later this week.
It is great to hear from so many of our UK clients visiting our overseas locations, La Casa del Habano – Tenerife seems to be a firm favourite! If you are visiting, shoot me an email so I can VIP you. Click here for the full listing of all of our locations in 4 countries.
My auction department is enjoying a record year and we are finishing this year with a grand auction featuring over 600 lots of aged, rare, mature ore embargo, Davidoff and Dunhill cigars on the 19th December. Lots will be online and bidding will open on the 19th December.
Havana cigar shortages continue to be troublesome but we continue to release our reserve of stocks to ensure a comprehensive range. Your favourite cigar may be out of stock but we will always have a noble alternative. Now is a good time to order because there is a fairly imminent price increase following the Chancellor’s Autumn statement last week once again bashing the cigar smoker sadly.
There is a very good new website for bang up to date industry news, content and reviews well worth checking out Cigar Inspector.
I have added a few additional lines to some of our exclusive brands over the last few months. Check them out on these links:
We also continue to recommend the incredible Arrturo Fuente range of cigars but we don’t have sufficient supply to sell online and they are only available in our cigar stores (and other fine cigar specialist stores).
Our best selling ranges continue to be my Orchant Seleccion cigars I am planning on adding a very exciting new range early next year.
Wishing all clients and friends of C.Gars a very happy and smokey December and hope to see you soon at one of our events.
Peaceful puffing
Mitchell
