Hello everyone! Another fantastic week has gone by in Norfolk! We have had many happy customers, keeping us all incredibly busy.

On Monday, I was in the shop with Josh. We worked incredibly hard to pick all of the online orders as quickly as possible. Afterwards I was needed in the parcel booking on department, just to keep a good flow of orders going through the system. I also served a lovely customer who wanted to get a few cigars for him and a friend. We started looking at the Cubans and he mentioned how he liked the Por Larranaga Montecarlo, but unfortunately we were out of stock, so I suggested the Petit Corona as that seems to be the most popular Por Larranaga (from what I have seen). He also wanted a suggestion of a light Cuban, so I suggested an ol’ reliable – The H. Upmann Majestic. Afterwards we looked at the New World Cigars, he wanted something a bit different, so I recommended one of my favourites – The Drew Estate Blackened M81 Maduro Robusto, he liked the link to James Hetfield of Metallica as well as the idea of a full Maduro cigar. I really enjoyed serving that customer and I hope to see him again soon.

On Tuesday, I was in the shop with Will! I had previously taught him how to serve customers, but he has never really had a shift in the shop, so I spent time with him showing all of the different things we get up to. I showed him how to do the price tags for alcohol bottles, as well as how to stock up and order cigars for our humidors. I could really tell he was enjoying himself. I let him create a display for our Stalla Dhu limited releases too. What do you think? Will also served all of our customers too. I really wanted him to experience a full day in the shop with as little help from me as possible. He did a really good job!

On Wednesday, I was picking online orders. We have been recently rewarding our customers by giving them a good cigar for £10! Last month it was the Flor de Oliva Robusto, and it proved very popular. This month it is the Zino Nicaragua Short Torpedo, it’s just a way to say thank you to our loyal customers. You can find this great offer at the checkout. This offer has been very popular, it feels like I have been picking it with every order! Afterwards, I spent some time uploading Josh’s article for the C.Gars cigar library. He has been reviewing cigars and this latest one is very fascinating. You can read it here. Afterwards, my customer who purchased the Rattrays pipe on Saturday had returned. He loved the American blends tobacco, and wanted to try some more. He started by purchasing the Alsbo selection sampler, as well as the Golden Blends sampler – He was particularly interested in the Golden Blends No. 3 as he liked the idea of an Amaretto flavouring. In the afternoon, I started the New World stock count with Lisa. We completed the full box cupboard as well as the Camachos and Zino stock. This gave us a great head start for the next day.

Thursday was stock count day. Lisa and I work brilliantly together and get through it all incredibly quick! We were completed before lunch time! So afterwards I wrote another article for the cigars of the month! This month they are the Cuaba Divinos and the Hiram & Solomon Master Mason Robusto. Afterwards I took the pictures and uploaded the article. You can read it here.

On Friday, I was back in the shop. My first customer of the day was a very polite gentleman who knew immediately what he wanted – The Cohiba Maduro 5 Secretos box of 10. As I always do with customers – I opened the box to show him the cigars inside to make sure he was happy, and he was. He also purchased a Lotus Travel Humidor, I assume to put them in and away he went. Afterwards we were joined by James, he is the master distiller of the Snowdonia Distillery, he everything to do with Foragers Gin, Y Bet Vodka and even created one of the most delicious whisky liqueurs I have ever had in Marsette . We certainly learned a lot. In the afternoon, I completed the Cuban stock count with Josh.

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks goings on in Norfolk, and I hope to see you all very soon.

So long for now.

Oliver

Hi everyone! It’s felt like a while since I wrote my last blog, I certainly enjoyed my holiday, but I did come home with a foot injury. I can see the team has taken good care of the shop whilst I was off.

So I came back on the Tuesday after the bank holiday and wow it was busy online! I helped in the morning with online pickings and then moved into parcel booking with Porscha, meanwhile, I was still on hand to serve in the shop. I’m not the most experienced with booking parcels on, but Porscha certainly helped by doing all of the difficult parcels which need different couriers and I got through the Royal Mail parcels as quickly as I could. Meanwhile, I also served a regular gentleman who loves a Gurkha cigar and a Maduro wrapper – He is a regular buyer of the Gurkha Cellar Reserve 15 Year Old Maduro, as well as the Gurkha Heritage Collection Limited Edition Robusto Corto – So when I showed him one of the latest releases from Gurkha – the Heritage Collection Limited Edition Robusto Maduro Corto, he was really excited and bought one immediately. 

On Thursday I had a promotional day. I started by finalising all of the shop newsletters, ready to be sent on the 1st of September, afterwards I wrote two articles for the C.Gars Cigar Library! It had been a while since I was able to upload an article and so I thought I’d get ahead and post one this week and then schedule one for next week! This week’s one was about J Cure accessories – They are certainly a high quality product that any cigar lover should be proud to own. You can read that article here. My second article? You’ll have to wait until next week to read it! I also wrote a news piece for the news page about the new Stalla Dhu expressions previously mentioned. You can read it here. Afterwards I took some pictures for next week’s article as well as the Cigars of the Month. I always like to promote them on our humidor monitors as it occasionally helps our customers make a decision.

In the afternoon, I created a poster for our latest offer in store – Lucky dip pipe tobacco. You can get a random 10g for £3.00 Norfolk exclusive. Towards the end of the day, I got the retail team together to discuss our promotions for September. We had a long brainstorm and decided on a few different offers. We will be having 20% Rattrays pipes and accessories! As well as ⅓ off a quality Peter James lighter. We also came up with the idea of purchasing three Glencairn glasses and getting a Glencairn tray for free!

On Friday, I was back in the shop. Firstly, I took down our centre display, I had decided what gets promoted in our shop newsletter should be promoted in the centre of the shop. So I filled our humidor with Fratello Oro cigars, Peter James lighters and then behind it we have the Stalla Dhu Single Cask Craigellachie 12 Year Old Rye & Ruby. I also served a gentleman who wanted a nice, short, unique cigar for his son. I suggested the Plasencia Dominique Seleccion 2024 Exclusive Petit Dominique, as the volcanic Ometepe tobaccos create a lovely charred oak flavour. He then picked up some La Aurora Principes Blond as a little treat and left very happy. In the afternoon, Josh and I completed the Cuban stock count.

On Saturday, I was joined by Josh and Will. We picked all of the online orders and then Will started to pack them as Josh and I worked through creating a nice Rattrays display in our pipe room.

I also served a regular customer, who came in with two of his friends. They treated themselves to some Drew Estate Deadwood Fat Bottom Bettys and then had a look at our cigar cutters. One gentleman like the Cigarism Cassette range, however didn’t want something so bulky in his pocket and decided on the v-cut in a lovely glossy red. The regular liked the cassette style and decided to get the gift set as he thought it was a bargain… And it is! Afterwards, I served another gentleman who was relatively new to pipe smoking, he was given a pipe by his grandfather and some St Bruno tobacco. Many pipe smokers will know St Bruno is great for experienced smokers but not beginners! So he wanted to try something cherry flavoured. I suggested the American Blends BC, which he loved the smell of as well as the American Blends C&V. He then mentioned about getting a new pipe. He loved the look of the Rattrays Rannoch range but it was well above his £50 budget. We looked at others around his budget, but he kept looking back to the Rattrays. In the end he took the jump and purchased the pipe! I could tell he was very happy with his purchase!

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s goings on in Norfolk and I hope to see you all in store very soon.

So long for now.

Oliver

Hi everyone, another great week has gone by here in Norfolk, with plenty of fun but also hard work.

On Monday, I was working with my usual shop partner Josh! We had lots of online orders to pick. We worked together to pick all of the orders and one thing we had noticed is how many people took advantage of the Flor de Oliva Special Thank You offer! We got through at least 2 boxes in one day! You can find the offer at the checkout page as a nice add-on. Meanwhile, I served a lovely gentleman who likes a corn cob pipe. He was amazed by the selection we have! I showed him the entire range. I even showed him some hidden ones, please remember to ask a member of staff if you are looking for something that you can’t see. Later on in the afternoon, I helped out the packing department, altogether we packed all of the parcels.

On Tuesday, I was back in the shop. I served a lovely gentleman who I served before, he wanted an English whisky and some pipe tobacco. He noticed one from the shelf that he had never seen before, it’s called The Cheshire, he chose the Special Release IPA Cask, as he could imagine the flavours going well together. He then picked up a tin of Cornell & Diehl Black Frigate as he had enjoyed it before, he then wanted to try something else – So I suggested the Sunday Picnic – he seemed happy with the flavour notes and took a tin too. I look forward to seeing him again. Afterwards I served a gentleman who had seen the shop previously but was too intimidated to come in. He thought a cigar shop is only for the wealthy, but after coming in and speaking to me, he realised that we accept everyone. That is one of my favourite things about the cigar community – we all share the same interest – Cigars! So I introduced him to our walk-in humidors, and he was amazed by the selection. I suggested the Mitchellero Robusto – as it is a great one to start with, the Alec Bradley Orchant Seleccion Skinny – as it is my favourite, and the Drew Estate Blackened S84 Shade to Black Corona – as he liked the connection to James Hetfield (Singer of Metallica). He left happy and I’m certain he will be back. 

In between customers, I started writing a new article for the C.Gars cigar library, it’s not quite ready to be put online yet, but it’s a very good read. I also spent a lot of time stocking up both of our humidors and ordering stock. Towards the end of the day, I made a start on the shop newsletters.

On Thursday, I was back in the shop, with a big focus on trying to complete the shop newsletters and I was relatively successful, I completed 3 out of 6 which isn’t too bad! I was particularly impressed with the content C.Gars Leeds provided, I won’t spoil anything but make sure you read their newsletter on the first of September. Meanwhile I served a regular who enjoys mini cigarillos, his usual go to’s include Charatan Mini and Dutch Label Long Brazil Cigarillos, however he wanted something different.  I had remembered from a recent training video about the Zino range, they have the Red Mini Cigarillos which are a lovely mix of Mexican and Dominican tobacco, not too strong but a lovely peppery taste to them. Josh bought a pack on the same day and let me try one, it was delightful! 

On Friday, I was picking online orders and continuing the shop newsletters. I opened a delivery we had all been waiting for… Rattrays has made a return in loose tobacco format! We have all been really excited for this to come in and I am sure it will be well received!

On Saturday, I was back in the shop with Josh and Will! We had loads of customers from the moment we opened! So Josh and I dealt with the customers whilst Will picked and packed. I served a gentleman who had always asked about Rattrays tobacco and so I was over the moon to tell him that we have some in stock now! He was so happy and bought some Old Gowrie and Bagpipers Dream. 

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s blog, I will be away next week, but don’t worry the team at Norfolk will look after all of our brilliant customers.

So long for now.

Oliver.

Hello everyone! I treated myself to a shorter week this week, it’s the summer holidays and so, for me, it’s time to spend some quality time with my family. But the team here in Norfolk will always have you covered. But what’s been going on during my shortened week.

My week started on Wednesday in the shop! And it was busy. My first set of customers was two gentlemen who have only had a few cigars before. They wanted to get some for themselves and a friend to enjoy, they had a look around our beautiful walk in humidor and decided to purchase a box of Regius Orchant Seleccion Peru Wide Churchill. They liked the idea of a sweet and smooth cigar – they also liked the box it was presented in. Afterwards they were looking for a lighter and cutter. The Cigarism display caught their eye and chose the Cigarism Jet Flame Lighter, Cutter & Cigar Stand Gift Set in gold. I love the Cigarism range as their cutters and lighters are very reliable for a great price. Afterwards, I did the finishing touches on the shop newsletters. We have some great deals for August so make sure you keep an eye out in each store to see what they have to offer.

I was then asked to create an article for the C.Gars cigar library about a new range of cigars coming soon. They are called The Upsetters by Foundation Cigars. They sound so unique and they use tobacco which I had never heard of – Jamaican “Cow Tongue” tobacco. I look forward to seeing them come in.  I had a brilliant regular come in with his son. They usually just have pipe tobacco but for a change they had a few cigars. My regular likes very strong pipe tobacco and cigars, he loves the Regius Orchant Seleccion Nicaragua Campana, but wanted something different. I suggested the Don Pepin Invictos Robusto as that is very full strength with lots of peppery notes. His son enjoys the Charter Oak CT Shade Petit Corona, so I suggested the Original Petit Corona as it was a new release from Foundation Cigars. I can’t wait to see what he thinks of them. Later in the day I popped out to get my new poster printed and now it is on the wall catching many customers’ eyes.

On Thursday, I was doing New World stock count with Lisa! We charged through the entire room with plenty of time to spare! Since having the new humidor for our full boxes, stock counts have been a lot easier! So in the afternoon, I created the leaflets for August’s cigar subscriptions. I was able to get two out of three done, which is quite good considering I completed big stock count beforehand.

On Friday, I was back in the shop, I started the day by helping Josh with online order picking and then I finished my article of The Upsetters cigars. I served a gentleman who comes in about twice a year, he decided to bring his friends in who had never been in before. They all absolutely loved the shop and didn’t know this many fabulous cigars existed. We were also given some amazing news! We have just received stock of four new Stalla Dhu expressions! A Strathmill 14 year old, Craigellachie 12 year old Rye & Ruby, Pitilie Burn 1825 Cask Strength and an Auchroisk 12 year old Margaux Cask Finish, the latter of which I am excited to try. The latest Stalla Dhu will be available on our website extremely soon so keep an eye out! In the afternoon, I completed the Cuban stock count with the assistance of Josh.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s slightly shorter blog, but don’t worry, next week is back to being a full week for me, here in Norfolk.

So long for now.

Oliver.