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Cigar lovers in the United Kingdom have a new place to find their favorite Cuban cigars. A Casa del Habano opened last week in Chester, which is a city on the outskirts of Liverpool in the northwest of England. It is the second Casa del Habano in the United Kingdom; the first is located in Teddington, London.
"We are excited about the new shop in Chester," said Jemma Freeman, the managing director of Hunters & Frankau, the U.K. importer of Cuban cigars. "The market here is buoyant. And, a new shop is a good reflection of just how vibrant the market is."
The Casa del Habano in Chester is operated by Mitchell Orchant, the U.K. tobacco retailer who operates 11 cigar shops in the region, with a 12th to open in December. The shop represents a significant investment with a large walk-in humidor, a VIP locker section with approximately 24 private bins and a lounge with 22 seats where people can enjoy cigars and sample some of the wide range of whiskies that Orchant has stocked. Like all Casa del Habano shops worldwide, the cigar selection is limited to cigars produced by Habanos, S.A., the Cuban cigar monopoly, which today is a joint venture between the Cuban government and Altadis S.A, the global tobacco company.
"We have a tremendous selection of Havana cigars, with just about every one that is produced today," Orchant said in a phone interview. "We also will be stocking all the regional and limited editions, and because of our existing stocks, we sell a number of discontinued cigars that can't be found anywhere else." Orchant said he had been able to buy an adjacent space to his 10-year-old shop in Chester. "We were able to split the business, and move all our Cuban cigars into the Casa del Habano. And, we still have our traditional English tobacconist next door."
Each humidor will come with a plate describing the refill process, and detailing the serial number of the humidor. After receiving the piece, the owners will be directed to a dedicated website prompting them to register their humidor. There will also be a certificate loosely modelled after the title of a car; if someone were to sell their humidor, they sign it over to the next owner, transferring the rights of the refills.
When the refills are ready, customers will receive an email, asking them if they wish to make a purchase of the cigars. The refills will not be shipped directly from Padron, instead the customers will be directed to the cigar shop where they bought the humidor. "You can only get the new cigars from the original retailer," said Padron. A buyer doesn't have to take the new cigars. "You have the right to refuse," he said. To distinguish between the original 50 cigars that come with the humidor and those that are shipped as refills, the refill cigars will have different colored bands from the originals. Also the numbers on the refills will be different, and not in the same order as the originals, although the blend will be the same.
The white humidors were designed by Nelson Alfonso and made by Golden Age. The cigars packed in the humidor will measure 6 1/2 inches long by 52 ring gauge, longer than the other Padron Family Blend 50 Years, which is sold in boxes and is made in far larger quantities than the cigars that will come in the humidor. The maduro version of the Padron Family Blend 50 Years scored 92 points in the September 23 Cigar Insider. That smoke measures 5 inches long by 54 ring gauge, and retails for $25.
