It’s great to get back to the usual routine after the holidays, especially as I am finally getting over the cold from hell which left me half deaf for the last week <groan>…

So, my offices and shops are a hive of activity as ever and it feels like my clients must have chomped their way through a lot of cigars and chugged through a lot of Scotch over the holidays if the first week of January sales are anything to go by 🙂

Royal Mail in their wisdom advise they we are no longer able to ship cigar matches. Despite all our matches being safety matches! Sooner RM is privatised the better as they have no common sense at all and in times of recession should be helping not hindering their customers.

So I’m afraid if you need cigar matches you will need to visit one of our shops across the UK. Could be worse I guess and at least you can of course get our website prices in store as well as sample a cigar and a dram in England at least. Never understood why Scotland doesn’t have the sampling exemption… Always thought Scotland was part of the UK but for some bizarre reason they have different laws.

My friend Ivo has come out with a cracking new cigar book that we were delighted to provide many images for. Bad news is that it’s in Slovakian! I’m trying to persuade him to do a translation to English! Ivo is a super huge Havana cigar aficionado and I had the pleasure of herfing with him in Israel a few years back.

We bid a fond farewell to our Kamila who was one of Michelle’s assistants at Kingsgate offices and also assisted us at many of our cigar auctions. Kami is expecting a baby in March and we all wish her the best and look forward to her returning in the future.

Tomorrow I’m checking out the latest cigar terrace in London with friends. The Wellesley promises to be THE best smoking venue in the UK and I can’t wait to see it. We wish the owners the very best of luck with their new venture. I understand that my old friends including Giuseppe and Pasquale from the Lanesborough cigar terrace are running the show and it will be good to catch up with them. Together they have a terrific knowledge about cigars and wine/spirits and I always enjoy chatting with them.

I’m heading off to Chester on Thursday to agree final designs on some refurbishment and improvements to Turmeaus Tobacconist on Watergate street. I bought this dead business many years ago and it has just got better and better every year. Our new tray display system in the walk in humidor has increased range substantially and clients are welcome to sample cigars in store.

Thursday evening I am at Thornton Hall for a cigar, Cognac and chocolate tasting evening. Can’t think of a better way of spending an evening! Especially as my team from Liverpool and Chester will be herfing with me 🙂. Friday I’ll be at Turmeaus shops in Liverpool doing a little quality control ‘testing’ 🙂

I’ll be in Cambridge Robert Graham shop on Sunday so if you want to join me to for a sampling session… I’ll be there from 10 a.m. 🙂 Has to be one of the loveliest sampling lounges in the country! Truly a specialist cigar and whisky shop with an unrivalled range of mouth-watering product.

On the 7^th February I’ll be hosting a cigar and whisky sampling featuring Ashton Mi Amor cigars and our latest single cask single malt whisky from the Dancing Stag range – Exclusive to Robert Graham Ltd. This Mortlach is the perfect partner to a good cigar. Places strictly limited and tickets are available here.

Have to make Boisdale Burns night herf arrangements pretty soon, drop me an email if you would like to join me and smoking chums.

My Inka brand of cigars from Peru are still breaking sales records for a new launched cigar and exclusive to C.Gars Ltd/Robert Graham Ltd. These characteristically rich and spicy handmade cigars are great value and if you mention my blog when ordering a bundle of 10 tres petits this week I’ll  include a Prometheus lighter for you to light them with!

Inka– Secret Blend cigars are selling so fast that we have already (again) sold out of some of the sizes and are hoping for a new enormous shipment to arrive later this month.

Hoping to release a new range of Torano cigars later this month… Watch this space.

… It’s good to be back to routine lol

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

Ho Ho Ho indeed and thank heavens for Christmas as it gives me the opportunity of realising just how good my Team in our London mail order office is. This has been our best year and our best Christmas season ever (Thank you customers!) but Monday was really a laugh as we had almost 2000 packages shipping out and we filled 2 complete Royal Mail vans!!!!!!

I have been zooming round a few of our shops in Cambridge, Liverpool, Chester and London to make sure they are giving the best customer service and check the condition of our cigars are as good as it gets (Easy week for me then!) Lots of happy customers and a very happy sales Team in England and Scotland so I reckon we’re in good shape.

Opening our Cambridge store this year secured our continuing position as the largest cigar retailer in the UK and we plan to expand further in 2013 as well as continue to improve our existing cigar and whisky shops wherever possible. So, if you don’t have a Robert Graham Ltd or Turmeaus Tobacconist shop near you right now… You may have soon 🙂

Biggest selling new cigar of the year was the Inka Secret Blend from Peru… Created by… Me 🙂 I’m going to continue to expand the range over 2013 and hopefully launch in the USA as well. Inka cigars are now available at all of our stores across the UK.

Our C.Gars Ltd Nicaraguan cigars kindly made for us by Torano have also gained a loyal following and we are happy to announce that we will be launching an excellent new range of Torano cigars in January… Exclusive to C.Gars Ltd.

Arturo Fuente cigars remain ever popular and it’s been an honour to be the official distributor of this top end brand of cigars.

Surprise newcomer Regius cigars from Nicaragua are also performing very well and gaining a loyal following. Great smokes at great prices. We look forward to introducing a C.Gars exclusive with Regius next year.

UK regional edition Havanas have been storming out every day of the year. Thanks to our friends at Habanos S.A. and Hunters and Frankau for such superb cigars.

Hottest accessories have been Palio cutters and newly introduced lighters – Perfect for the cigar smoker. Yup, we are the exclusive distributor but the products really are great!

We’re also exclusive distributor for Cigar Oasis humidifiers and Caliber IV hygrometers – Great products and great prices, and happy to say they are flying off the shelves this Christmas season.

So, all in all a banner year of the best products, the best Sales team in the Country and the nicest customers in the world 🙂… I think I deserve a Christmas drink! Luckily, I have plenty to drink thanks to the lovely Christmas presents from our suppliers 🙂 and Champagne will be accompanied by Por Larranaga Magnificos, followed by a Davidoff 5000 on Christmas eve and Dunhill Estupendos on Christmas day… Life is good 🙂

We are of course online 24/7 every day of the year so if you have any questions over the holiday regarding your orders, cigars or humidors, you are welcome to drop us an email and we’ll be happy to help.

Wishing all of our Team, suppliers and of course our retail and mail order customers a very merry Christmas

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

Photographed below is a very happy Managing Director together with 10 of the Girls from the London sales Team at our Christmas dinner!

Good week for publicity lol 🙂

– Cigar Aficionado Magazine
– Wall Street Journal article at Boisdale Canary Wharf
– Daily Caller
– Hunters & Frankau website

… And a good week to be a cigar smoker in Cambridge as our latest cigar and whisky emporium has just opened. I have to say it was bloody hard work for an old boy like me, working 18 hours a day to get it finished made just about every muscle in my body ache.

I have to try and remember to stop tearing around like I am still a 17 year old. I guess old habits die hard. Never mind, it’s all good and we now have a comfortable location to sample cigars inside a very comfortable cigar and whisky sampling lounge as well as outside on Sussex street when the weather turns a tad kinder.

So, if you are in Cambridge it would be our pleasure to welcome you and I’ll be there Sunday morning for a couple of hours from 10 a.m. if you would like a coffee (Or something a bit stronger!) and a cigar with me.

Huge range of cigars in two walk in humidors and a superb range of whisky and wine too. Oh, I almost forgot, we have a delicious range of handmade chocolate… There go the profits for this store! (My diet starts tomorrow!)

Bumped into the college bursar the other day who is trying to dig out old archive photos of the shop which was apparently a tobacconist 100 years ago – How cool is that?

Inka cigars still flying off the shelves to my continuing delight and amazement. I reckon Bombaso in blue and red are just about sold out which could well be a record sell out for a new world cigar. Needless to say we have just organized another huge import from Peru which should arrive in the next two weeks or so.

Still buying and selling aged and rare cigars daily so if you have a wish list drop me a line as we have contacts for most desirable cigars throughout the worlds collector community.

Currently selling on behalf of clients:

Cohiba Double Coronas limited edition box of 25 – 2 boxes available codes FPG 08/2003 and DTF 7/2003
Cohiba Sublimes Limited edition box of 25 code LLN DIC 04 -2 boxes available
Cohiba Piramides 2006 box of 10 code POS DIC 06 – 3 boxes available
H Upmann Magnum 50 Limited edition cabinet of 25 English Market Selection 2 boxes available with codes SXF AUG 05 and FIN MAR 05
Juan Lopez Obus regional edition for France cabinet of 25 code ERU AUG 06
Montecristo Edmundo Dantes Box of 25- code USE ABR 08
Partagas Piramides box of 25 English Market Selection- code ECA ENE 01
Partagas Serie D no.3 Limited edition English Market Selection – code ECA SEP 02
Partagas Serie C. no.1 Coleccion Habanos book of 20
Por Larranaga Magnificos regional edition for UK box of 10- code EMA OCT 07
Por Larranaga Regalias de Londres regional edition for UK box of 25 URG Jun 10
Ramon Allones 898 cabinet of 25 English Market Selection- code OSU FEB 02
Romeo y Julieta Robustos limited edition box of 25 English Market Selection – code OSU OCT 02
Romeo y Julieta Fabulosos no.6 Coleccion Habanos book of 20 cigars- code LLN SEP 04
Montecristo Gran Reserva
Davidoff 5000 1980’s
Dunhill Don Candido Seleccion Suprema no.501 pre embargo

Drop me an email for more details [email protected]

I don’t have a drop of alcohol during December if I am driving but no driving for me till Sunday so I’m off home for a dram or three of Robert Graham Dancing Stag Linkwood it pairs up perfectly with a Punch Serie D’Oro no.1… After the busy week just passed… I deserve it 🙂

Have a smokey weekend

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

Late blog due to huge work effort last week at our new Cambridge Whisky & Cigar shop. We were hoping to open last Tuesday but the builders had not quite finished so I decided to delay for a week and we now plan to open this Tuesday.

The shop looks quite beautiful if I do say so myself! Spacious and comfortable for browsing and for sampling.

Our range is just about complete with huge stocks of Havana cigars, other premium cigars, machine made cigars and Continental cigars. In fact if you can’t find it here it’s probably not worth smoking 🙂 We have two humidors – On the ground floor we have an absolutely massive range of single cigars and on the lower ground floor our main humidor. Our main humidor showcases other singles and a large range of full boxes of Havanas and other premium cigars but we are always happy to open any boxes for single sales.

We have a great range of pipes and a massive range of pre-packaged and loose tobacco. Also pipe and cigars accessories, cases, lighters, ashtrays and humidors.

Robert Graham Ltd – Cambridge features the full range of our Independent bottled award winning whisky as well as a comprehensive range of other single malt whisky that can only be found in specialist whisky shops. We also have a great value range of wine and champagne.

My favourite feature is the sampling lounge where customers are welcome to sample our whisky as well as cigars and pipe tobacco (You will need to complete cigar sampling forms of course) in comfort. We are planning some great whisky and cigar tasting evenings in January.

The shop is easy to find as its at 9 Sussex street in the centre of Cambridge. Sussex street is pedestrianized but we have a loading bay outside the other entrance to the shop in Hobson Street (You may need to print off directions from Google maps as most navigators seem to give up a few hundred feet away!)

My thanks to my merchandizing Team (Lucia and Marcie from C.Gars Ltd, Rosie from Turmeaus Chester and our new Robert Graham boys Alasdair and Freddy) and a warm welcome to Cailin Morrison who will be managing Cambridge and Chris Morrison who is assisting us at Robert Graham Edinburgh… Yes we are a family business!

Thanks to all of our suppliers for their kind assistance in making our Cambridge emporium a reality. I’m looking forward to welcoming C.Gars Ltd and Robert Graham Ltd customers and expect to be popping into the lounge weekly. All comments/criticism on the humidors appreciated – Especially as I merchandised them (I have the aches and pains to prove it!)

If you’re one of our customers at Chester Turmeaus check out the photo of the remerchandised walk in humidor – Larger range than ever and looking better than ever – Well done to Calum, our resident cigar specialist and Manageress Jayne.

15 days till Christmas and don’t I know it! Literally 1000’s of mail orders over the past weekend – We can hardly see the doors of our warehouses for post bags! Plenty of time to get your orders in time still, we have huge stocks of just about everything on our websites whether you are buying a gift or treating yourself to some fine cigars or whisky for the holidays.

Have a smokey week

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

Looks like it’s going to be a very busy auction this evening as we had a full terrace of cigar aficionados at our pre-auction herf at Ten Manchester street last night not to mention a very full office of prospective bidders all day yesterday and this morning inspecting Lots. We smoked our way through a few boxes of UK Regional El Rey del Mundo Choix de L’Epoque and Ramon Allones Petit Belicosos to name a few.

Our IT Team will be publishing the selling prices for the Lots live from the auction room at Boisdale Canary Wharf as the bidding happens but bear in mind these are preliminary results and subject to final verification. Results will of course also be published on our Auction website as soon as practical

Successful bidders will be emailed invoices within 48 hours or so following the auction

Best of luck to all of our bidders and sellers

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell