Back from a long trip up North to my Turmeaus whisky and cigars retail empire 😉 I think I have finally got my whisky, cigar and pipe product mix right judging by how busy the shops are and the feedback from many customers over 4 days travelling back and forth between Liverpool, Knutsford and Chester. 6 very busy shops indeed! I do love retailing, its constantly challenging for me and the team to get the right products at the right prices as well as provide the best in customer service and ambiance at our beautiful stores, bars and sampling lounges.

I finally decided to put a full wine department into Turmeaus – Knutsford and the wine room is now open! It will take another week or so to get the full range in but when complete we will have almost 1000 bottles of wine in stock. Something to suit everyone’s budget from around £12 quid a bottle to £1000 + per bottle. My colleague Andrew at Turmeaus – Knutsford is a bit of a wine buff and will be holding regular samplings and is a mine of information. Andrew has plenty of sampling stock too so Knutsford is a great place to sample wine as well as cigars 🙂

Chester – La Casa de Habano hosted another first rate whisky and cigar sampling event for Paddies Day with a flight of Irish and Single Malt Scotch whiskies paired up with some of our finest Havana cigars. The choice of cigars is endless at our Chester location with the LCDH humidor having a massive range of Havanas from all brands and in all presentations and the New World humidor having a huge range of all of our favourite brands such as Davidoff (have you tried the Winston Churchill range? it’s quite excellent) Oliva, Fuente, Alec Bradley, Padron as well as our best-selling range of Inka – Secret Blend from Peru.

I popped into the lovely Ten Manchester street cigar terrace for a quick herf this week, the menu has changed and he food was quite excellent as the service. Parking is always easy outside so this herfing location is highly recommended.

STOP PRESS! C.Gars are now the UK Exclusive Distributor for STG handmade cigars which include Macanudo, Torano and Don Tomas. We will be rolling out the product range over the next few weeks and launching the superb Macanudo Inspirado at an event on the 11^th April at The Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge. Limited availability book early to avoid disappointment. It’s great to be the importer, distributor and retailer as we cut out the middlemen and ensure our clients get very keen pricing on some very very good cigars.

As expected tobacco got a fair bashing from the Chancellor at last week’s Budget. Between tax increases and manufacturers annual increases we expect prices to increase by 6-10% depending on range. We are holding prices as long as we can so clients can grab a stash of their favourite cigars ate pre Budget prices.

The latest cigar from Havana is out! Partagas Corona Gorda Anejado. Aged for between 5 and 8 years these cigars pack a full flavour punch and are for the experienced cigar smoker. I smoked them in Havana recently and stashed a few boxes in my locker which is high praise from someone as fussy as me. That’s said my favourite Anejado is still the Hoyo Hermoso No. 4 which is simply delicious.

4 day weekend coming up and I can’t wait to kick back. The baggie is crammed full with:

Davidoff Winston Churchill Robustos

Oliva Melanio Figurado (I’m smoking one as I’m typing this blog!)

Partagas Corona Gorda Anejado

Inka – Secret Blend Robustos

And for a little treat! A Davidoff Chateau Y Quem.

All matched up with a bottle of Glendronach 25 Year Old #yumm!

Happy Eater weekend

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

Just back from the 18th Habanos Festival and by my calculation I have attended 17 out of the 18! I’ve attended all but one Partagas Festival too. I’m steadily heading for my 100th trip to Cuba over the last 20 years ☺ It’s a tough job and all that…

The Festival celebrated the 50th anniversary of Cohiba in great style. Well over 1000 people attended the gala dinner with Chuchu Valdez heading up the non-stop entertainment over a very long and rather loud evening!

We were presented with a beautiful twin pack box of the Cohiba 50th Anniversary Cohiba Majestuoso 1966 which I don’t think many people smoked (its rather collectible at this stage!) I can confirm mine are well and truly smoked and were thoroughly enjoyed.

We were also given heaps of other cigars including the more or less impossible to find BHK 54, Cohiba Robustos and Siglo VI. We also tried out the Cohiba Medio Siglo which was a good smoke and a perfect size at 4 inches and 52 ring gauge.

The 1966 Majestuoso measures in at 5 9/10 by 58 ring gauge, think of a Robusto Supremo on steroids. It will be presented in 1966 humidors of 20 cigars.

The Cohiba 50^th Anniversary Elie Bleu Humidor will be a limited edition of 50, with number 1 having sold for a whopping €320,000 at the auction. The Cohiba 50th Anniversario cigar is a monster, it measures 7 inches by 60 ring gauge. We hope to see these cigars later in the year.

As usual I was sitting on the Hunters & Frankau table and next to Jemma Freeman (the chairman!) we all missed Simon Chase being at the gala and look forward to seeing him at the gala next year.

The auction lots were at least as stunning as all other festivals and some €865,000 was raised for the Cuban National Health service.

I love going to the Festivals as I meet up with so many friend from all over the globe to share in our common passion for the finest Havana cigars. The rum’s not too shabby either!

I don’t think I have ever seen Havana so busy, tons of tourists generally and a huge number of Americans as travel restrictions seem to be more or less lifted. Most of the cigars stores were well stocked with standard lines and selling tons of stock to the tourists.

Various areas around the Capitolio building and National ballet look like they are being well spruced up in readiness for President Obama’s visit. It’s so sad to see so many crumbling streets if you look just a little further. I hope as the embargo ends and investment rolls in this beautiful city is restored to its former glory and full potential and even more important a better life for the Cuban people.

The two other new cigars I tried in Havana were the new Partagas Corona Gorda Anejados which was a pretty decent smoke from my favourite vintage (2007) and the UK regional edition Juan Lopez Seleccion Superba due out later this year which was no less than Magnificent. For those who remember the Juan Lopez Seleccion Suprema, you are in for a treat as this cigar was even better.

So, I’m finally back in the UK for a few weeks at least and looking forward to heading up North to my Turmeaus Empire next week 😉 Wednesday evening I’ll be enjoying a whisky and cigar sampling evening at La Casa del Habano – Chester and I understand we have some fabulous entertainment lined up which should be a great laugh!

Our next Cigar Auction is already booked for June 20^th at The Bulgari Hotel and by the look of the Lots coming in already, I have my work cut out for me for the next month or two. Email us if you would like any details about our vintage cigar auctions.

In the baggie this weekend I have :

Hoyo Anejados
Por Larranaga Sobresalientes
Bolivar Belicosos

… and a bottle of Robert Grahams Dancing Stag 19 year old Deanston.

Have a smokey weekend

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

Pictures from the Festival: 

Our February auction attracted bidders from across the globe numbering some 200 online at its peak. Almost 300 Lots were offered with a very high sale rate. Dunhill’s were again the star of the show as the market shows insatiable demand and record price trend continuing.

Davidoff prices looked soft considering the weakness of Sterling at this time. Regardless, all Davidoff Lots were sold. Perhaps C.Gars auctions have done such a good job sourcing sellers that bidder demand remains temporarily subdued despite the quality of the Davidoff stock in this sale being unparalleled.

Limited edition prices showed some declines particularly for Cohiba Siglo VI Gran Reserva and Sublimes which came as some surprise. Pre Embargo prices remained robust with substantial interest for quality Lots of all shapes and sizes..

Highlights of the sale included :

Davidoff 4000 cabinet of 25 £2,250

Davidoff 5000 cabinet of 25 £3,000

Davidoff Chateau Yquem cabinet of 25 £3,010

Dunhill Malecon box of 25 £7,810

Dunhill Don Alfredo Seleccion no.51 -10 singles £1,710

Dunhill Cabinetta 5 singles £1,310

Dunhill Mojito box of 25 £59,10

Cohiba humidor made for the 170th anniversary of Partagas £15,740

H. Upmann Varieties Pre Embargo cabinet of 50 cigars £4,800

H. Upmann Upmann’s Sealed box of 10 cigars from 1905 – 1012 £2,610

Hoyo de Monterrey Humidor Pre Embargo cabinet of 50 cigars £6,410

La Corona Pre Embargo cabinet of 50 cigars £3,610

Ramon Allones Coronas de Lujo Pre Embargo cabinet of 100 cigars £12,760

Cohiba 35th anniversary humidor £7,200

Total Sale revenue (including buyers and sellers premiums) was some £395,000

Our next Vintage cigar auction will be held on the 20th June. This sale will be held at The Bulgari Hotel and as with our Winter auction will be available for live online bidding as well. We are accepting Lots now: [email protected]

I’m looking forward to the gala dinner celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Cohiba brand and I can’t wait to try out the gob stopping 60 ring gauge Cohiba 50^th anniversary cigars  full report and photos next week when I’m back.

Have a great weekend.

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

Ouch indeed as I have damaged a disc in my back schlepping a rather too heavy for Mitchell humidor last Sunday whilst sorting through auction lots for the upcoming February 28^th auction sale.

I didn’t realise how much trouble I was in until the evening when I met friends at the Bull and Bush for a few stiff drinks and that didn’t ease the pain. So, it’s been a very light weight weeks work for me whilst the physio does her stuff to try and get me back in shape, and next week looks the same.

I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not as tough as I used to be and can’t quite work the same as I did in my teens. 20’s, 30’s or 40’s! (now I sound like an old boy!) I’ve actually been working for the last 36 odd years having started my first (and only paid employment!) when I was 15. I left the education system rather young convinced that many would be smarter than me but no one could ever work harder than me. Generally I was correct though, with the experience of many years and some ups and downs in business neither hard work nor a brilliant education bring a guarantee of business success. I rather think it’s a combination of business acumen and luck with luck playing the greater part.

In my early 30’s I would routinely work huge hours in the office only to continue doing my famous ‘sell outs’ all night from home. Great fun, financially lucrative and a hell of a buzz despite the tiredness the next day I merrily soldiered on feeling invincible! My favourite memory was knocking out 200 boxes of Bolivar Gold Medals in a marathon 8 hour night shift.

Age catches up with everyone and it’s caught up with me with the back ache signal! Note to self: Leave the heavy lifting to the younger chaps in the team!

Whilst stuck at home I busied myself re-evaluating some of the limited editions stuck at the back of the humidor (good way to pass the time!) including the Cohiba 1966 which was no less than magnificent, The PSD2 which has evolved into a beast of a smoke, quite excellent and the Hoyo Piramides which used to be my favourite LE but is now a tad too mellow to be on my favourites list. I also managed to blast through a complete box of Orchant Seleccion 2007 vintage BBF’s which were sublime smokes. Simply like candy for me… edible.

So despite health issues it looks like the Auction Catalogue will be online on time, a week before the sale on the 28^th February and if I do say so myself I am rather impressed with this catalogue of almost 300 Lots.

There are around 50 Pre Embargo Lots including singles (great if you want to try a rare pre embargo on a budget) boxes of all shapes and sizes as well as some outrageous cabinets of 25, 50 and 100 cigars in pristine, if not magnificent condition and appearance. There are some super Dunhill cigars, an excellent range of almost every Davidoff vitola and a good variety of aged, mature and limited edition Havanas. I know of no other cigar auctioneer or merchant in the world that is able to offer this type of auction service for almost 1000 lots of vintage cigars annually.

The auction finishes on the 28^th of February and I’m sure you’ll find it’s a very user friendly online system that we created in house and continually tweak to ensure fastest speed and reliability. Most of the Lots are available to view at our London offices but if you don’t live near you can always email Laura and the Auction Team quoting Lot numbers and asking for a further detailed condition report. We also assist with shipping arrangements to complete a full service.

In other news this week our next three planned whisky and cigar tastings are almost fully booked already so don’t delay if you want to have a fun evening at Turmeaus or our beautiful La Casa del Habano. I’m planning to be at all of these events.

Last call on Cohiba Robusto Supremo, as we are down to our last 200 boxes so if this is a cigar you enjoy, get them while you can. Bit of a gob stopper but a total flavour bomb that I love. Same deal with Por Larranaga Sobresalientes. Get them while you can, this cheeky smoke is delicious and one of the best regionals ever made in my opinion.

Welcome back to Sara from Chester who has just had a fantastic visit to Nicaragua. I dare say she was very impressed with Drew Estate and will give us a full report as soon as she has recovered from the jet lag. Check out the Drew estate range on the website.

The Davidoff Year of the Monkey Toro is now available in boxes and singles and a very fine smoke it indeed is.

Our whisky range is now rounded off but for the best range of all visit our partners and check out the new Robert Graham website.

Finally the wine room at Turmeaus – Knutsford is nearing completion #yay! And should be ready for stocking up with a mouth watering range of fine wines to suit everyone’s budget in the next week or so.

Righto, I’m off for a herf with Mr Voltarol and another Cohiba 1966 🙂

Have a smokey week.

Peaceful puffing.

Mitchell

I feel like I have been away for ages! But, I’m back; toned, tanned and into the C.Gars action after 3 weeks in the sunshine 🙂 I love to get away after the physical pain of working like a madman during December but I think this is the first time in many years Karyn and I were actually able to escape the cold January in London and herf in the sunshine. And… we did indeed herf!

Starting off in South Beach and hanging out at Deco Drive cigars on Lincoln every day watching the craziness pass us by whilst enjoying Orchant Seleccion by Oliva, Alec Bradley Prensado and a few Fuente Opus X to get us well chilled and ready for the main event which was a 2 week cruise round the Caribbean.

I’ve been resisting doing a cruise for some years despite most of my friends having enjoyed them already but as Karyn assured me there would be no issues with cigar smoking I decided I was finally old enough to set to sea! The ship was huge and super luxurious and the cigar lounge more than comfortable so I was in good shape for two weeks serious herfing 🙂 We stopped at some beautiful islands, met some fabulous people, enjoyed some super excursions and had plenty of sunshine too. I think this may well have been our first totally non business related trip in memory!

I managed to stay in touch using the ships satellite internet connection which probably cost me more than the actual vacation it was so expensive!

We visited: Eleuthera, very pretty but no cigars. Grand Cayman, excellent cigars at my friend Valerio’s La Casa del Habano. Cozumel, every single cigar was counterfeit and bad ones at that (glass tops, sizes never made etc.!) Costa Maya (as Cozumel – everything fake) St Thomas where I was told it’s against the law to smoke within 25 feet of a building(!) St Martin, Dutch side, plenty of fake cigars. French side – delightful La Casa del Habano with an excellent range of cigars.

I can confirm that I am now an expert at mixing Margaritas and making various different salsa having done a class, although I did manage to escape for a cigar when the dancing part of the class started!

Straight back into the action with a meeting at Hunters & Frankau last week and great to kick off the first new release of the year with the Hoyo Anejados that I saw being boxed at the La Corona factory last November. I smoked them for the first time thanks to H&F and have to say this is my favourite out of the 3 released so far (the others being the Montecristo Churchill and the Romeo Piramides) Rolled 5-8 years ago, the blend is well balanced, sweet, full flavoured, delicate and complex. The construction was perfect and the wrappers smooth and with a good sheen. This will be a very successful smoke for my clients.

Singles and boxes of 25 available, Get them while you can, it’s a limited production!

I’m eagerly awaiting the release of the Montecristo 80^th anniversary in the next month. Its overdue (as we are used to!) but no doubt will be well worth the wait.

C.GARS have released another 100 boxes of the fabulous UK 2014 Regional Edition Por Larranaga Sobresalientes but I reckon when this lot are gone that will be the end of the line. They are just the most delicious Havanas.

Also down to our last 300 boxes of Cohiba Robusto Supremo – still online at the low mail order price whilst stocks last.

Very excited that work on our wine room at Turmeaus – Knutsford has just commenced. That’s the final part of the project which completes a very full Turmeaus offering of: cigars, pipes, smokers accessories, spirits, wines and sampling lounge. Who could ask for more?! (Knutsford Photo Gallery below)

Turmeaus – Chester has had a final few tweaks as well with additional cabinet work on the whisky side of the store and increased ‘by the dram’ ranges in both bars. I’m looking forward to getting customer reaction and feedback at the upcoming whisky and cigar tastings.

Turmeaus – Norfolk is busier than ever, possibly because there isn’t another cigar specialist around that I can think of and we have just been granted our alcohol premises licence too which completes my plan to have all Turmeaus licenced for spirits 🙂 Checkout our mouth watering range online.

I’m just waiting for some changes to the cabinets in Turmeaus – Mayfair which should happen any time now so we can better present our lovely product range in this small oasis in the heart of London.

If you like a Scotch with your cigars try a dram or two of Stalla Dhu. Highland and Islay single malt whisky exclusive to C.Gars and created by my business partner Ron Morrison. Its outstanding value for money and pairs up well with a fine Havana.

I’m still battling to keep up with the growth of Inka – Secret Blend cigars from Peru they just seem to get more popular by the week. One or two sizes are sold out yet again but we hope to have another huge import on our shelves very soon.

Michelle and I are now doing the finishing touches on the February 28^th Vintage Cigar Auction Lots will be listed online around 8 days before the sale. We have a breath-taking selection of Pre Embargo, Dunhill, Davidoff and other aged and rare cigars being offered by collectors, aficionados and estates. Cigars can be viewed at our London offices and the auction team are always happy to advise and provide condition reports by email [email protected]

A warm welcome to our management Team to Roy Price who has joined C.Gars as my personal assistant. A familiar face to many of our clients up North already Roy will sort of be ‘me’ when I’m not there!

Still plenty of time to treat your loved one to something special for Valentines whether its romantic Romeo cigars or a bottle of Champagne, C.Gars online and Turmeaus retail shops will have the ideal gift for you.

Have a smokey week.

Peaceful puffing,

Mitchell

Turmeaus Knutsford Gallery