Lunch in Paris….sounds like a good idea

Bloody awful weather in London…may as well have lunch in Paris instead!

My herfin’ Amigo Zaff ( from The3Amigo’s herfing crew!) and I decided that we were tired of the cold and rain in London so we would hop on Eurostar for the day and suffer the cold and rain in Paris instead

Well fortunately there was no rain and it wasn’t too cold either so Zaff and I arrived in Paris and started searching for friendly cigars shops as we wanted to smoke some of the regional edition Bolivar Libertadors and Juan Lopez Obus.

We experienced excellent attentive service at La Civette and Tabac George V…thanks Guys!

The cigars were better than we could have hoped for…the chunky (Cohiba sublimes) sized Bolivar was a veritable power house that I can only imagine will become better and better as the cigar ages.

The Juan Lopez Obus is a campana sized cigar ( I love this size ) and although young already shows balance and complexity.I think this will become a great Havana.

Made in small quantity in numbered boxes/cabinets in 10’s and 25’s these cigars can only be purchased in France…..I’ve stashed a few in Paris for our annual Paris herf ( the Nomorescots herf crew will enjoy these beauties I’m sure!)

Our friend Arnaud joined us for lunch at Cafe Ruc opposite the Hotel du Louvre and is highly recommended.

Service was impeccable and smoking was permitted.Food was very enjoyable as was the Chateau Beychevelle which worked very well with our cigars.

After lunch we retired to the bar at the Hotel du Louvre and enjoyed Partagas P2’s ( surprise surprise!) before we took the train back to…rainy London)-:

Best

Mitchell

Mews Of Mayfair is the happening nightspot in Town currently…cool places come and go but I think this one is here to last.

Located in Lancashire Mews just off New Bond Street and situated in two converted mews houses over three floors,Mews offers a cocktail bar,lounge and restaurant ( smoking permitted in the bar)

I was surprised to see some old friends at the door who used to work at The Atlantic bar …and had a feeling this place would be cool.

The decor is chic and the service too attentive for words…well done Mews….very impressive.

Food and wine were excellent and the splendid meal was finished off with a bottle of Recioto della Valpolicella 1995…expensive at £95 a bottle but a sublime drink:-)

I have a feeling I’ll be back

Off to my La Casa del Habano this week to restock the shop with some rare Cuban antiques and photos…and herf some with the 3Amigos herf crew.

Happy birthday to my partner Zanetta Wolters ( 2nd February)…21 again !

Smoking ban looms large for July 1st sadly ( and pathetically) and our herfing friends in Cornwall are planning a “Last Gasp ” herf on the 30th June weekend….should be fun.

Havana Festival time draws near….I’ll be at the Hotel Nacional as ever and am looking forward to the gala Festival dinner on the 2nd March.

Best smoky wishes from freezing London

Mitchell

Burns night herf was as usual held at Boisdale in Bishopsgate last night. Attended by members of the NoMoreScots herf group and the splinter group The3Amigos, and excellent evening was had by all.

A delightful 4 course meal with Haggis of course ( Veggie for me!) accompanied with The MacCallum 21 year old scotch….whilst the Pipe blasted away in my ear !

Gordon chose the red wine and we toasted both Burns as well as Gordon’s birthday…happy birthday Commander…power herfer extraordinaire !

Thanks to Sandra for the aged Punch Punch…splendid smoke.

Craig was enjoying his usual Monte 2’s and me …P2’s,Zaff was on BBF’s and Sandra Trini Robusto Extras,Chris was too busy eating to smoke

Vimal popped in for a quick smoke and drink but had to race off…something about a few family weddings that evening If you are in the City I can tell you the finest cigar shop can be found at http://www.bbertie-cigars.com/

Likely to be our last Burns night herf in Bishopsgate due to the stupid smoking ban due 1st July but we hear that good old Ranald is planning a smoking roof terrace in Boisdale of Belgravia …well done Ranald …and see ya next year.

Thanks to Katie for the most attentive service.

C.Gars Ltd thoroughly recommends Boisdale restaurants http://www.boisdale.co.uk/ …tell them we sent you when you book ( and they will charge you double!)

Slanj !

McMitch

Just back from a lightening visit to New York City where my cigar buddy Gary was married on Sunday….Congrats Gary and Cathy!…..we enjoyed some of the new Cohiba limited edition piramides with some excellent old Balvenie

Great value for us Brits with the current exchange rate:-)

Managed to sneak in a quick smoke at Club Macanudo which I am delighted to confirm is a most delightful venue for smokes/drinks/eats www.clubmacanudonyc.com

Good to see that there is somewhere that smoking is still ( barely ) legal.

Back to the office and a zillion emails as well as a server delay with no doubt another zillion emails delayed by up to 24 hours…hope to have the problem sorted out by the morning.

For an urgent response please email me at [email protected].

Stacks of vintage Havanas waiting for me to quality check and list this week…looking for something special ?…drop me an email.

Good smoking

Best

Mitchell

Sorry for the lack of blogging of recent…if not busy selecting finest Havanas,have been waaay busy spending time with the family over Christmas weekend:-)…OK so now I have 8 Pounds in weight to lose after 4 days of non stop eating in and eating out !…and just a little drinking too Thanks to J and J for a magnificent marathon Xmas lunch!…and welcome to Niall as our newest and youngest herf club member

Herfed with Zaff and JB at the London office last week and matched up the new Cohiba piramides LE with some splendid 1990 Lanson…needless to say we all agreed that match was perfect…we then continued to smoke some awesome Partagas SD4 Reserva that I was keeping back for a suitable occasion….sublime.

On the matter of “Sublimes” there are no more left! not a single cigars…we have totally and utterly sold out…thanks to all of my clients no happily enjoying a good Cohiba Sublimes.

Popped over to my Father yesterday and we smoked Davidoff Dom Perignon 1988 with a wee dram off 1975 Littlemill…now that was a great pairing.Both subtle taste and flavour combos with great balance and complexity.

Looking forward to next year…should be a BIG cigar year…great regional editions including the PL magnificos for the UK market ( thank you Simon Chase!) and the new Cohiba maduros which I am hoping to see at the Festival at the end of Feb.

Launch party for my La Casa del Habano in Hamburg now scheduled for late April with many famous personalities from the industry due to attend ( email me for more details should you wish to attend) Christoph and Art at LCDH-Hamburg tell me business is booming in the shop and we will be opening our private cigar meeting/tasting room early next year which we are really excited about as we will be holding regular tastings of vintage cigars that will be reported by the cigar Press no doubt.

So I’m off for a week in the sunshine….herf’dor full of P2’s and BBF’s…blazer full

Happy new year All…good smoking and long ashes.

Best

SmokeyMo