Having a real taste for Sherry Cask and Port Cask finished Single Malts I am always drawn to the fabulous flavours these two regions have to offer.

Benria0ch, Glendronach and Glengoyne have to be my three favourite distilleries and always win my approval with the fruity, sweet and smooth taste that’s so satisfying!

First up is the BENRIACH 21 year PORT CASK.

This remarkable 21 Year Old from Benriach Distillery was first matured in the traditional style – American bourbon barrels and then finished in a small batch of top-quality Tawny Port casks sourced from the Douro region in the north of Portugal.

During this second period of maturation, the slow interaction of the whisky with the Port cask results in sublime flavours and aromas.

Bottled at 46% ABV, this Benriach 21 year Old is a phenomenal Speyside single malt and one for all whisky lovers!

Colour: Rich amber with a copper glow.

Nose: A perfect balance of fresh cranberries and warm white pepper develops into an equally perfect combination of tart raspberries and boiled candy.

Palate: Delicious toasted oak spices and hints of orange peel develop to a lively contrast of wild red berry compote and sour cherries.

Finish: The red berry compote and sour cherries are immediately followed by a rich stewed barley character throughout the finish.

The next Single Malt I must review is the Glendronach 18 year Allardice.

This Glendronach 18 year old Allardice, is named after the distillery’s founder. The 18 year old, or as it is now know, Allardice is the third expression in the Glendronach core range.

This exceptional single sherried malt is non-chill filtered and of natural colour. Matured in the finest Spanish Oloroso sherry casks and bottled at 46%, this sublime richly sherried malt is truly unforgettable.

Appearance: Bright deep gold with a tawny centre.
Nose: Sweet aromatics of delicious fudge and muscovado sugar. Fruit compote and cherries provide added complexity.
Palate: Rich and seductive, there are remarkable flavours of stewed fruits and all-spice marry together with classical aged Oloroso and toasted walnut bread and chocolate orange.
Finish: Quite long with touches of toasted oak, ginger, faint sultana and dry earth.

The third favourite of mine and anyone who has tried it is the stunning Glengoyne 18 years!

Non chill filtered as you would expect and all natural colour from the cask!

This is the result of 18 long years and a generous proportion of first fill sherry casks, and of the patience they take over the slowest distillation in Scotland. A mix of refill sherry casks and a generous slug of first-fill sherry-matured whisky.

Appearance: Medium gold with a rich glow.
Nose: Awash with red apple, ripe melon and fresh banana. Heavenly and well rounded, it drifts into hot porridge topped with brown sugar.
Taste: Full bodied, round and rich. At first macerated fruits, marzipan and walnuts; then warm spices, dry cocoa and lingering Seville marmalade.

Finish: Long, warm and dry.
Comments: Remarkable depth. Each glass unveils more layers.

If these three Single Malts don’t tantalise your taste buds nothing will!

Slainte

Pete0

Finally our wonderful UK regional Havana Cigar has been released. I can confirm it’s been worth the wait.

Hunters and Frankau treated a few lucky Masters of Cigars and a few cigar merchants to a first rate launch event at The Churchill hotel on Tuesday evening.

We kicked off with a Cuaba Divinos and followed it with the Juan Lopez Seleccion Superba. The smokes were paired up with some delicious cocktails which I thoroughly tested out  😉

The Seleccion Superba measures in at 5 7\8 inches length and 54 ring gauge, the draw was very easy allowing a kaleidoscope of rich full flavour through this medium strength Puros.

They were of course sold first in the UK though our La Casa del Habano in Chester and already proving to be very popular.

Wednesday morning we woke up to a different world with Donald Trump as President of the USA (he’s not a cigar smoker as far as I know!). We don’t have political views at C.Gars Ltd but we all thought how funny that the pollsters had got it dramatically wrong for a third time (previously wrong about the UK General Election and Brexit Referendum). Maybe they should take up cigar smoking to help them concentrate?!
Off I zoomed up North on the Virgin train with our first stop at Turmeaus Liverpool. What a cracking cigar and whisky store and lounge. It was great to catch up with our brilliant architect and building contractors and very exciting to see the second part of this project well under way now with a lot of construction work being done.

On to La Casa del Habano Chester for a whisky and cigar tasting event. Whisky from Paul John (very interesting indeed, thank you Krishna!) Paired up with Montecristo Medias Coronas and Bolivar Royal Coronas. Late evening attendees were treated to some Orchant Selection Cigar Malt, Santiago 20 rum and Davidoff Chateau Yquem cigars… Not too shabby 🙂

Canapés, by our friends at Bar Lounge, were provided to a very crowded 2 session tasting event (almost 100 attendees overall!). We even had some friends from the USA join us 🙂 Fair to say a good evening was had by all. My thanks to Sara, Roy, Calum, Chad, Peter and Henry – the brilliant Turmeaus team in Chester.

On Thursday the day was kicked off with espresso and ERDM Demi Tasse at La Casa before we headed off to Turmeaus Knutsford. Roy and I chilled in the cigar sampling lounge with Sara and Karyn for a couple of hours. We whammed through some 2008 Hoyo Epicure Especial which are smoking like a dream.

Knutsford is a beautiful town with great bars and restaurants and Turmeaus fits in perfectly. Huge range of cigars, whisky and wine and a very comfortable sampling lounge as well as super friendly staff.

We headed back to Liverpool and had a spot of dinner with friends at San Carlo (one of our favourite restaurants) and herfed a D6 on the terrace of the Indigo before calling it a night after a pretty full on day!

Breakfast smokes at Turmeaus Liverpool (Partagas Shorts) and now heading back to C.Gars London to wrap up the week with a sampling session with friends who are visiting from the USA .

Auction catalogue will be online and posted to clients on Monday (that’s 2 weeks before the sale) I must say it’s a very very good and interesting catalogue indeed.

Next week I’m off to the annual Partagas Festival and looking forward to catching up with friends of Partagas from all over the world 🙂

The weekend baggie is filled with:

Montecristo Medias Coronas
Bolivar Orchant Seleccion
El Rey Del Mundo Demi Tasse
Juan Lopez Seleccion Superba
… And a bottle of Orchant Selection cigar malt 🙂

That should keep me chilled out for a couple of days!

Have a smokey weekend.

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

Hi everyone, it’s that time of the year when the nights are drawing in and it’s time for something to lift your spirits and inspire you to try and enjoy some exciting new drinks!

One of my favourite tipples has to be aged rum. The Santiago de Cuba aged 20 years. Flavours of butterscotch, toffee and spices just explode on the palate, and the finish is incredibly smooth!

As a lover of Sherry cask finished whiskies I was excited to sample the Benriach 17 year Pedro ximenez finish! Coffee, dark chocolate, figs, Christmas cake flavours, everything I look for in single malt and what a polished finish! This is one superb bottle to enjoy now and a definite one for the Christmas holiday!

Even though our summer has come to an end I still love to relax at the end of the day with a super smooth gin and tonic. Having been spoilt and sampled most gins we stock I always return to my favourites!

The Botanist from Islay, with 22 foraged botanicals from Islay in Scotland. An absolutely stunning gin!

Another firm favourite has to be the new Skin Gin from Germany. Flavours of lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange, coriander! These gins are so unique and incredibly well made!And what stunning packaging!!

Til next time,

Slainte

Peter

Yes it’s that time again, a happy birthday to C.Gars Ltd, 19 years old late Thursday 🙂 and a very fast and enjoyable 19 years that was! If you want a laugh have a look at some of our old website versions: C.Gars through the ages.

I was in fact selling cigars on the internet way back in late 1993 as ‘Mitchell’s Cigar Company’ which I reckon makes me the first cigar merchant in the UK to have gone online. Our website was originally created by my Co-Director Laura and in fact Laura and her Team at C.Gars Norfolk still take care of all of the website stuff in house from start to finish leaving me with the fun stuff to do in the business 😉

The business has grown to a staggering size over the years, with specialist mail order offices and warehouses in London and Norfolk and specialist cigar shops that I reckon are the best in the UK in Liverpool, Chester, Knutsford, Mayfair and Norfolk. We also opened our La Casa del Habano a few years ago in Chester and also have an interest in the fabulous Robert Graham whisky and cigar business with shops in Glasgow, Cambridge, Edinburgh and London. Along the journey I was one of the owners of La Casa del Habano in Hamburg but sold out some year ago to concentrate on my growing UK business. You could say I am well experienced in the cigar trade by now… (but ever learning).

It’s hard to believe that the business that Laura and I created from our homes all those years ago has become our little cigar empire employing over 50 people. Not to mention the complete madhouse of mail order with 1000’s of orders going out every week.

Laura and I used to play a game years ago that every time a client would phone us we would remember what they last ordered. They were very impressed! We got it right most of the time and made the service very personal. Though the business has grown, our management team is still deliberately tiny so we can ensure a real high level of consistent personal service. In fact I am more or less online 24/7 and always pleased to help and advise our clients. I can always be contacted at [email protected]. If you don’t get a reply within a few minutes… I’m probably on a plane!

Next year we will be celebrating the 200^th anniversary of Turmeaus Tobacconist. Quite a milestone which I reckon makes our retail cigar business one of the oldest in Europe (I think we are still just about in Europe!) We are already making plans for celebrations including anniversary tasting events, special release cigars and a limited edition humidor (200 of course) of Havana cigars.

Onward and upwards as we say and the C.Gars expansion marches on. We have finally cut the ribbon on our London C.Gars expansion which has given us more warehouse and packing area as well as a super new walk in humidor that we are using just for aged and rare Havanas and client lockers. We store our aged and rare Havanas more cold and dry to slow down the maturing process and it’s great to finally have the space to show off some of the rarest Havana cigars.

Our Liverpool expansion is cracking on with the builders now bashing away at the second phase of the project. This will feature a whisky bar and tapas restaurant as well as another cigar shop and sampling lounge that will be open till 11 pm. I’m planning on opening early in the new year.

Where do we go next though? Lots of requests for another shop with a larger sampling lounge in London. Hmmm… very tempting.

Lots of panicky debate on the forums about bloom/plume/mould again. Everyone is an expert as we say. My colleague James did  Facebook post with a photo of a beautiful mature cabinet of BBF’s which had a lot of bloom on the wrapper and there was outcry lol ‘How can you sell mouldy old cigars?’ Well I will stick to an earlier article I wrote some time ago https://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/cigar-library/plume_or_mould.html relax, don’t panic, brush off smoke and enjoy.

Winter auction catalogue closed and at the printers. Over 350 Lots will be knocked down by C.Gars auctioneer Jonathan Humbert. Lots will be online two weeks before the sale. Tickets for the auction and the tasting event available now. Hurry, limited availability.

Tickets have been selling like mad for the Cigar Smoker of the year event at Boisdale canary Wharf on the 12^th December. I reckon the event will be sold out in the next few days. Here’s a link if you would like to join me and Karyn on the C.Gars tables for a truly incredible and decadent event.

I’m off to Turmeaus Norfolk on Thursday for a cigar and whisky tasting event. If the weather is as beautiful as today it will be a brilliant topless herf all the way. Turmeaus Norfolk has a fabulous range of cigars and very comfortable sampling lounge. Looking forward to catching up with the team as well as our local clients.

It’s a pretty long drive to Norfolk so I have the boot’ador well stocked with:

Ramon Allones Orchant Seleccion
Macanudo Inspirado
Oliva Orchant Seleccion
Bolivar Belicosos
Inka Secret Blend Robustos

That should keep me in good shape for the drive 🙂

Have a smokey rest of the week.

Peaceful puffing,

Mitchell

The most interesting news recently is the breaking down of the US trade embargo with Cuba. If I understand the latest changes, American citizens are now legally allowed to purchase Cuban cigars and rum in any country and bring back 100 cigars for personal use.

Mail order is still not allowed as far as I know and over 100 cigars can be brought in to the US but will be taxed. Interesting situation for us as retailers with some cigar shops in very busy tourist locations because we expect a spike in tourism due to the continuing weakness of Sterling following Brexit.

Even more interesting as this will likely dramatically increase demand for Havana cigars which are going through significant supply issues. The supply vs demand situation may well force prices up as we see stocks of Cohiba and other large formats dwindle or cease completely till the agricultural issues in Cuba are resolved.

C.Gars and Turmeaus are heavily stocked as ever to try and iron out the rough spots of supply but I gather even we will expect stock outs on popular large format Cohiba over the coming months. Stock up your humidors early for Christmas (or try some new brands!)

Our first cigars and whisky tasting events at Turmeaus Liverpool, flagship store, were a resounding success with two packed sessions. We enjoyed sampling some great Havanas (Montecristo Media Coronas and Bolivar Royal Coronas) and a ridiculously large range of Dalmore single malt whisky. Paul Williams from Whyte and Mackay gave a wonderful introduction to each single malt and a great evening was had by all. More events to follow in the near future.

Last Saturday I gave a little cigar talk at ‘ The Succa herf’ for friends in Hampstead Garden Suburb which was great fun. We enjoyed some 2007 H Upmann tubed Monarchs which were quite deelish. I was surprised at how many smokers weren’t aware to check box codes and buy certain years that are better than others. Hopefully my message was put across and they will all be searching for 2007’s!

Back to the office for a few days after yet another 4 days off and catching up on auction work. Catalogue now full and closed for the 28^th November sale which premises to be an interesting one. We have an incredible catalogue of aged and rare, pre embargo and limited edition cigars that our resident auctioneer Jonathan Humbert will be knocking down. It will be interesting to see where prices go given the weakness of Sterling and the fact that Americans can now bid/purchase/collect their cigars.

UK regional edition Juan Lopez Seleccion Superba is due for introduction to the trade on the 8^th November at a little industry bash at the Churchill, which I’m looking forward to. We expect to be selling these first from our La Casa del Habano and then roll them out across all Turmeaus stores and of course C.Gars online.

The Cigar Smoker Of The Year Event at Boisdale canary Wharf is now confirmed for the 12^th December and C.Gars Ltd are proud supporters as ever. Book tickets directly through Boisdale website or email me to join me on the C.Gars table [email protected]. We are expected a star studded evening and the best of Boisdale hospitality.

Final Orchant Seleccion releases of 2016 now available. Just 20 boxes each Ramon Allones Specially Selected and Bolivar Royal Coronas. Two of my very favourite Robustos.

That’s the news for now… I’m off to herf a RASS 🙂

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell