Ho Ho Ho!

It’s that crazy Christmas time of year again 🙂 and my December kicked off to a cracking start with our Winter auction of some 440 Lots of mature, aged and rare Havana cigars and the usual high 90’s (%) sale rate. So, I’m pleased to say, we have a lot of happy bidders and sellers out there.

Prices went somewhat crazy on Cohiba limited editions, Seleccion Reserva and Gran Reserva. Clearly there is no end to the demand for these cigars. It will be interesting to see how fast the new Cohiba Robustos Reserva sells out when they are finally and fully released. But will they be fully released > that’s the big question? I heard that some countries received such small deliveries that cigar specialists only received one single box each! I’m hoping that won’t be the case for the UK but it is a possibility.

Davidoff, Dunhill and pre embargo prices held firm. Some of the early limited editions sold very well and good quality stock from the 70’s and 80’s were in great demand as expected.

Our next auction is planned for early March 2019 and the catalogue is filling up fast as ever. For any information check out the C.Gars auction website or email the auction team at [email protected].

As if we were not busy enough with our regular business as well as the Winter auction we thought lets do a little more “crazy” (we do crazy very well!) and have The Cigar Smoker Of The Year event at Boisdale Canary Wharf the next night 🙂

Great to be the sponsor of this star studded event as well as present the cigar manufacturer of the year award. Chris Noth won the main award and was it was delightful to have him as the star guest of the evening, whilst legendary British actor and Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons scooped the Boisdale Lifetime Achievement Award.

The glamorous evening, hosted by prominent food writer, critic and three-time event host Tom Parker Bowles, had in attendance the cream of the cigar smoking crop; British acting royalty and Hollywood stars, 2016 Cigar Smoker of the Year winner Kelsey Grammer and wife Kayte, singer songwriter Rebecca Ferguson who performed on the evening, entrepreneur Nancy Dell’Ollio, Cuban Ambassador, Her Excellency, Mrs Teresita de Jesús Vicente Sotolongo, as well Love Island reality television show stars Rosie Williams and Charlie Brake.

Notable awards went to:

• Cigar Smoker of the Year – Chris Noth
• Lifetime Achievement Award – Jeremy Irons
• Cigar of the Year – Davidoff Late Hour Churchill
• Cigar Writer of the Year – Tobias Gorn
• The Cigar Producer of the Year – Joya De Nicaragua

Okay so now back to business, we have received a few more of the new Bolivar Limited edition, Trinidad la Trova (at our La Casa del Habano), the new Hoyo Rio Seco (in tiny quantity) as well as some Upmann Sir Winston and Romeo Wide Churchill Gran Reserva… woohoo! Grab them while you can though as we expect them to disappear again rather quickly.

I’m up North for the week pretending to be of some use at our Turmeaus shops in Liverpool, Knutsford and Chester, and thoroughly enjoying the evenings Turmeaus Late Hour Cigar Shop & Sampling Lounge, and of course Puffin’ Rooms in Liverpool.

We recently introduced the single malt whisky range of Tomintoul to our stores and online and it’s fast becoming a firm favourite. This superior Speyside pairs up exceptionally well with a good premium cigar. They describe it as ‘The Gentle Dram’… not sure about that lol but the 21 y/o is one hell of a perfect malt for me.

Already planning my Christmas baggie and its looking something like this:

Davidoff Orchant Seleccion Lanceros – my favourite Davidoff ever… no surprise there!

H. Upmann Sir Winston Gran Reserva – a sublime smoking experience

Bolivar Belicosos 2007 Orchant Seleccion – candy sticks for me lol

Alec Bradley Orchant Seleccion Shorty – I can’t get enough of these

Avo Orchant Seleccion – recently introduced and quite delicious as a day time smoke

Oliva Orchant Seleccion Chubby – full bodied for the serious Nicaraguan cigar smoker)

Arturo Fuente Opus X 20th Anniversary Believe – words fail to describe how incredible the blend of this cigars is

Hoyo Maravillas Colección Habanos – I adore this cigar. Massive volumes of smooth full sweet flavour with a balance light – medium strength
Davidoff 4000 1988 – just for a treat… I love aged Davidoff!

Regius Orchant Seleccion Campanas 2019 limited edition – due out in the next few days – just arrived from Nicaragua and a superb smoke as expected

And I’m grabbing a bottle of Orchant Seleccion Cigar Malt as well as a 21 y/o Tomintoul to take home and enjoy with the smokes 🙂

C.Gars is open 24-7 throughout the year including Christmas so if you have any questions or need any advice don’t hesitate to email [email protected]… you may well get me replying 🙂

Our Turmeaus shops are open 7 days a week for the next week and have a huge range of… everything you could dream of in terms of whisky and cigars! Come in, enjoy a sampling session and the warmest welcome.

Have a peaceful, smoky and very merry Christmas.

Mitchell

Gallery from the Cigar Smoker of the Year Awards:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*