What a delightful surprise! We finally received the 2012 UK regional edition Ramon Allones Petit Belicosos last Monday just when I was started to worry that they would never arrive!… And another smashing cigar blend for the UK market.

Full and very typical Ramon flavours with medium to full strength, a complex and smooth smoke reminiscent of the first regional edition ever produced for the world in 2004 the fabulous Ramon Allones Belicosos UK regional edition.

Colorado maduro smooth and vein free wrapper, cool and easy draw, sweetness from the first puff to the last leaving you longing for another one. Only 5000 numbered boxes that are selling like maaaaaaaaddddddddd!!!!! Try a single or a box or lay down some stock but I can tell you these cigars will age and improve for many years.

Had a couple of days off at the start of the week and blasted through half a box of Punch Serie D’Oro no.1 1008 regional edition. Well, I loved this cigar when it first came out (after all – I did lend the original 1970’s full box to Habanos SA to replicate!) but I love them even more now as they have developed into a cigar for the connoisseur. Deep and complex, full flavour and full strength. These fabulous piramides will continue to develop and become a classic over the next 20 years. We have just released a further 20 boxes from our Directors Reserve to give you another opportunity to smoke or stash!

Great new sampler of the 2012 releases here, all first rate smokes that are sure to please.

6 weeks to go before the next Vintage Cigar Auction at Boisdale. Event details should be on the website fairly soon so you can book tickets to the pre-auction herf as well as the auction event. We’ll be smoking some great UK regionals, drinking some fabulous scotch and enjoying canapés from the lovely Ten Manchester street and Boisdale Canary Wharf. Be sure to book tickets early to avoid disappointment as our events sell out fast!

We expect to have some splendid limited edition cigars, Davidoff’s, mature and vintage cigars as well as pre-Embargo’s as usual… and we expect to have a great few days of herfing!

Spent the day at our fabulous La Casa del Habano in Hamburg which has just been awarded The Best cigar shop in Germany award from Cigar Clan magazine. My partner Christoph Wolters and I smoked our way through a load of German regional editions including the amazing Bolivar 5^th Avenida and Juan Lopez Distinguidos. These regional editions were presented in the most superb jars and only 600 of each were made. If you are visiting Hamburg… The only cigar shop to herf in is ours 🙂

Sorry, sorry, sorry to all of our clients who are desperate for more of our Inka Secret Blend cigars. I have never had so much interest in a new cigar line in my entire career! Thanks for your patience – they will finally be arriving on our shelves within the week including some additions to the range 🙂

Finally the Empire continues to grow as we have now acquired fabulous new premises in the heart of Cambridge. We expect to open our new Robert Graham Cigar and Whisky shop late November and will have two huge walk in humidors- One with the largest selection of singles in the UK and the other with a humungous range of full boxes/cabinets/jars/limited editions. Our Cambridge shop will also have a very comfortable cigar sampling lounge and client lockers. We will have a massive range of our award winning Independent bottles Robert Graham single malt whisky and other fina libations 🙂 More news over the coming weeks.

Have a smokey weekend

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

When oh when will this delightful sized regional edition be released??!!! I only wish I knew – First we thought it would be in September and now we can only be hopeful it will be available in October.

I love Ramon as a brand and I love UK regional editions as I truly think the UK market receives the most consistent first rate blended Havanas. Great brands, sizes and blends – Who could ask for more?

Measuring in at 5” length and 52 ring gauge and limited to only 5000 boxes of 10 cigars, this is going to be the usual manic sell for my Sales Team 🙂 If we only knew when they will come out. Hey ho… Fingers crossed for this week… Or this month, sooner the better! Shoot me an email if you want to be the first to know. [email protected]

Short week for me due to holidays last Monday and Tuesday and same again next week, (Yes, yes, I’m a part timer lol)  splendid fun doing nothing except figuring what cigar to smoke next. At home I have some great smokes in my humidor to satisfy the daily rotation including:

Partagas Shorts – Ideal with my morning espresso
Montecristo Edmundo 2009/Montecristo no.2 2010 – My standard daily smokes/always very reliable
Diplomaticos no.2 – When I want a change from Monte 2’s
Bolivar Belicosos 2009 – Perfect after lunch smoke
Cohiba BHK52/54 and 56 from 2010 – The finest blended Cohiba’s I have ever smoked
Punch Serie D’Oro no.1 UK regional edition (Slowly running out now so I’m savouring these!) The perfect after dinner smoke when I’m doing the late shift

Had a splendid evening herfing at the Lanesborough on Thursday and lovely to see my old chum Neil Millington working at the cigar terrace, smoked our way through a Cohiba piramides Extra followed by a Partagas Serie C no.3 with some Mac 18, great finish to the weeks herfing for me.

Heading off to Hamburg on Wednesday to herf at our fabulous La Casa del Habano – Loads of regional editions to smoke there including the beautiful Bolivar and Juan Lopez jars exclusive to Germany (Best jars I have ever seen!)

Auction time is drawing near, well 8 weeks away and we start work cataloguing and photographing auction Lots from next week to hopefully have our catalogue out 4 weeks before the auction. Should be a great selection of interesting Havanas and its always a fabulous few days herfing for friends from all over the world.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Facebook!

The Orchant empire is due to expand again fairly soon… More details on next blog 🙂

Have a smokey weekend

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

I’ve had some fast selling cigars this year but the brand I created from Peru has taken the Team completely by surprise. Inka Secret Blend have literally stormed out of the humidor since they arrived and are more or less out of stock now even though I was sure I had imported enough to last for 6 months!

The project started out some time back when I challenged my friend, who owns the cigar factory and tobacco plantation in Peru, to create a blend that would have character and merit, handmade cigars that are smooth but with some ‘zing’, easy draw and a competitive price. We created two lines, a red and a blue, long filler and medium filler in 3 popular sizes. Clearly its ticked all the boxes for our clients.

So, we expect our next shipment of Secret blend to arrive in a week or so and we are also adding additional sizes in maduro and natural wrapper. Apologies to clients who have been patiently waiting, particularly for the robustos but they will all be available again soon!

It’s been a Cohiba piramides Extra week for me 🙂 and although we always say that cigars are not addictive (unlike cigarettes) I could easily get addicted to these puppies! They are like candy for me, so sweet, rich, smooth and complex with excellent maturing potential. The 54 ring gauge makes it an exceptionally cool smoke.

No surprise that the new Partagas Serie C no.3 have been flying off the shelves at our cigar shops since their launch. I rate this as one of the best limited editions ever made, don’t smoke it on an empty stomach or in the morning though as this is a full bodied-full strength Havana and it will make your head spin!… Not for the novice.

The collection we were offering last week sold so fast I actually wonder if people are investing in cigars instead of putting money in the bank, probably sensible as the right cigars certainly increase in value over time. The trick is picking the ones that increase and not the ones that don’t!

We still have a couple of new releases to go this year: Ramon petit Belicosos UK regional edition for the UK (This is going to be a treat!) and Montecristo 520 Limited edition, a monster sized 6.1″ and 55 ring gauge cigar in boxes of 10… Now that’s a gobstopper! (May even shut me up for a few minutes!)

Looking forward to kicking back on the weekend but will be at Mayfair – Alfie Turmeaus cigar shop on Sunday at noon if anyone wants to speed herf with me and have a wee dram as we start offering our award winning Robert Graham single malt whisky this weekend in store.

2 days off for me again Monday and Tuesday but I’m armed with a baggie overflowing with UK regionals 🙂 Just released another 10 boxes of Punch Serie D’Oro no.1, singles available too, one of my faves if not the best of the UK regionals so far, at least for my palate.

If you are not already following me on Twitter… why?! You should be! and my Facebook site is good fun too!

Have a smokey weekend

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

So, we have had the interesting H Upmann Robustos limited edition a few weeks ago, followed by the Cohiba Piramides Extra which is like a slightly milder version of a Behike and a most splendid cigar in appearance and construction and a few days ago we saw the release of the Partagas Serie C no.3 Limited edition, now this cheeky smoke is more my kind of cigar.

First thing I noticed was that the size was wrong as the ring gauge is supposed to be a 48 but all the boxes we have opened so far (quite a few) are 50 ring gauge cigars – Marvellous. 5 1/2″ length, perfect dimensions for me. Smooth silky dark and oily maduro wrapper and a price tag that I thought was pretty reasonable. I tried 3 cigars from 3 different boxes as soon as they arrived (to see if there was any blend variation from box to box) and they were all perfectly consistent in blend. Construction and pre light were excellent and this cigar truly has a rustic, full flavour (sweet, earthy and a bit of spice too) and full strength Partagas blend. I think this will mature for many many years and turn into a classic.

Yes, yes I know many of us are no longer big fans of limited edition maduro cigars as many have disappointed and never been potentially anywhere near as good as some of the early LE’s such as Monte robustos, Partagas Piramides and SD3’s , Cohiba Sublimes and Piramides but I reckon this one is at least as good as any of the aforementioned. Anyway, awesome smokes so my advice (If you have the space) – Buy a box to smoke and a box to stash away for later and you won’t be disappointed.

Funny old trade which even after many years of being a Havana specialist I still don’t really understand – In the UK we have an incredible range of Havanas, new sizes. Limited editions etc. and literally as much stock as we could dream of from our fabulous importers Hunters and Frankau. You name it and we have it Partagas Sere E, Behike all sizes, Cohiba 1966 LE and on and on. So, no complaints from me there but the contrast is at our La Casa del Habano in Hamburg supplied by an equally excellent importer affectionately known as FAPT (5^th Avenue Products) and we struggle to get many of these new lines which seems so odd. Ahh well, count ourselves lucky in the UK I reckon.

We have plenty to get on with in Hamburg of course as we still have a huge range and will be busy for the next few months selling a gigantic collection of interesting Havana cigars on behalf of a client. If you would like details, drop me an email. (Sorry; not possible to deliver these particular cigars to the UK)

I wasn’t surprised to see that one of our best selling accessory ranges is rapidly becoming Cigar Oasis they look good, they are good value and yes, they actually work. Three cheers for Cigar Oasis. These have been so successful for our mail order division that we’ll roll them out to our retail shops in the next few weeks as well.

Squeezed in a Thursday evening herf at the Lanesborough with friends/clients from overseas and puffed through a few Cohiba Piramides Extra which worked very well with Macallan 18, that said, any good smokes work with Mac 18 for me!

My assistant Mishie headed off to Gib for a cigar dinner hosted by our friends at Stagnetto and left me in charge of the office (Good grief!) I managed to cope but missed some good herfing activity at the Mayfair cigar shop – Alfie Turmeaus cigar shop which by the look of things on our webcams had a busy days nonstop client sampling sessions. When it was time to close up I understand we sent all the clients over to Boisdale Belgravia to continue smokes/drinks/dinner and I dare say they likely had a great evening.

London is once again the Mecca for cigar smokers with great new smoking venues opening all the time. I can’t wait for the Wellesely to open in December. I reckon this will be the premier cigars smoking location in the UK if not Europe.

Have to start work on Cigar Auction catalogue in the next week or two as time is marching on. Catalogue will be online and in print around 4 weeks before the auction. The pre auction herf will be at lovely Ten Manchester street as usual, as they take very good care of us and the auction event at Boisdale Canary Wharf.

I hear the next UK regional edition Ramon Allones Petit Belicosos is likely to arrive in our humidors early October now and I just can’t wait for this one. I love the Ramon brand and remember of course the Ramon Belicosos from 2004 which was the first regional edition as such to be made despite not being double banded. We even had our own Orchant Seleccion version of this cigar in 2007. They were simply magnificent smokes and I am hoping that the petit Belicosos will be of the same calibre.

I’m off to smoke another Partagas C No. 3 🙂

Have a smokey week

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

Time flies when you’re enjoying yourself and I have to say that the last 6 years of my life have been the best 6 years of my life – filled with love and laughter as well as lots of good smokes and drinks. So, it really has flown by 🙂 BIG happy anniversary to my wife, and co-Director of C.Gars Ltd, Karyn (KJ as many know her).

KJ has met hundreds of my clients worldwide over the last 7 years and most of you will know her as my (overseas) events organizer although KJ has also been very involved in a lot of our UK cigar parties and events. Now if only I could persuade her to work a few more days in the week…

I need to find something unusual to smoke/celebrate with on my anniversary and I have decided to do a day of UK regional’s; starting with a 2004 Ramon Belicosos, moving all the way through to a Bolivar Britanicas and then finishing the evening with an Old Dunhill, probably a late 80’s Cabinetta and I’ll match it up with some of that old champers from my ever diminishing vintage Champagne collection lol. Probably some Bilecart Salmon ’89. I don’t think it gets much better than that.

New cigar season is upon us again with the launch of the H. Upmann robustos limited edition and H. Upmann Half Corona in tins (How cool is that for presentation?!) last week and Cohiba Piramides Extra launched this week. It’s already a success as we have been receiving tons of reserved order on this cigar. I must admit the few that I have smoked since they were introduced to the trade at the Festival dinner have been very very good indeed. It seems that the cigar world is having a huge love affair with Cohiba as they are becoming uber popular.

I’m desperately excited to try out the new UK regional Ramon Allones Petit Belicosos due out in the next week or two. I really think UK regional’s rock.

Mayfair Turmeaus now has its liquor licence and stocks are arriving early this week so you should be able to try out our fabulous range of exclusive single malt whisky by Robert Graham Ltd later in the week at this location.

Success story of the month is Inka Secret Blend cigars. I created this blend with my friend who owns the only cigar factory an plantation in Peru with the idea of bringing a different type of blend of cigars entirely to the smoker. I wanted something smooth and sweet enough for the novice but with a bit of ‘zing’ to be interesting enough for the experienced NC smoker. Well it has proved a runaway success, way beyond my expectations and we have already sold out of our robustos with repeat order rates at scary levels. Great value and well crafted, available in singles and boxes of 10 and of course exclusive to my cigar shops throughout the country as well as our websites. We expect a massive new shipment in the next few weeks.

I met up with my partner Ron last week at our potentially new but still top secret location! If all goes to plan this will be the finest venue for cigar and whisky aficionado’s in the UK and we hope to be open well before Christmas although builders and surveyors as usual tell me it’s impossible.

Just getting my body clock adjusted back to London time from West Coast time difference but not for long as I’m off to the East Coast on Friday! Hope to have a little herfing time with friends in between business meetings.

Have a smokey week

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell