Brrrrrrr… I’m finally back in London after a few weeks of Caribbean sunshine. The R&R has done me the world of good after the busiest year I can ever remember in my life (thank you lovely clients!).

I relaxed on a fabulous cruise that fortunately was cigar friendly and herfed my way through 8 beautiful Caribbean Islands. Great coincidence that one of my old pals Robert White was on Aruba at the same time as me so we met up and herfed our way through 5 cigars and as many cocktails in the sunshine and then popped into the very well stocked La Casa del Habano for a mooch around.

Whilst on Barbados I found the LCDH which has a lovely modern designed humidor and a few interesting cigars. Nice bar, friendly service and located in a very nice shopping area.

My favourite stop was on the beautiful island of St Kitts, I swear I have never seen such clear blue ocean waters and beautiful sandy beaches in my life. My friends Celal, Kaan and Michael run the LCDH in St Kitts and were fabulous hosts. It’s a very new La Casa and they have an excellent humidor. They are building up their stocks and this could well end up to be one of the very best humidors in the Caribbean.

I enjoyed the Caribbean regional edition La Gloria Cubana Paraiso immensely. One of the best regionals I have smoked in a long time. The La Casa has a spacious and super comfortable lounge, excellent bar and an outdoor smoking terrace (if you can stand the heat!) The business is very ably managed by Cuban Orlens Guerra and his excellent staff. Can’t recommend this place highly enough. Check them out on this link.

My next herfing stop was at the La Casa in St Maarten. I visited last year but the shop has now expanded to include a comfortable sampling lounge and owner Carol was as charming as ever. This La Casa has a huge range of cigars and cool accessories.

As I’m typing this blog I’m smoking an Inca Secret Blend Reserva D’Oro, I made 5000 sticks available a few weeks ago at a very attractive £9.99 a stick price but with a limit of 5 cigars per order so we could share the love around 🙂 The take up has been overwhelming and the feedback universally excellent. These cigars are made with the very difficult to successfully grow Pelo De Oro leaf as it’s so susceptible to Blue Mold disease. We grow Pelo de Oro by choosing the right season with little rain and we try to give the plant a lot of space with very good water drainage. Fair to say we have produced an exceptional cigar.

Stocks of Trinidad Topes are coming through again and I reckon these are at least as good as the now sold out Cohiba Robusto Supremo. They certainly seem to be as popular. The latest release from Havana is the H. Upmann Magnum 54. This is a great size for me at 4 3/4” length and 54 ring gauge. Volumes of smoke through this large gauge, well-crafted cigar. Available in singles, cabinets of 10 and 25.  Highly recommended.

Cohiba BHK’s and Montecristo 80^th anniversary are trickling in at a very slow rate and selling out at an alarming speed. Great smokes, grab them when you can.

I have a few of the Spanish regional edition Punch Jars available – double banded, 5 years aged and limited edition of 2000 jars made. Quite beautiful.

Our Turmeaus shops have a rolling program of whisky and cigar tasting evenings that can booked online. I’m looking forward to the next one on the 20^th February at Liverpool.

If you aren’t already aware the tobacco health warnings are all changing by May of this year. If I understand correctly, very sadly there will be plain packaging for pipe tobacco. Such a shame as some of the tin and pack designs are really quite beautiful but they will be destined for the dustbin of history. Pipe smokers may want to order a few extra tins now so they can decant later. All cigars under 3g will also be plain packaged whilst other cigars will have new health warnings but not the ridiculous plain packaging.

I understand the reasons for the department of Health and others to discourage children starting to smoke cigarettes and cigarettes play no part in my business but I can honestly say that having opened a lot of tobacconist shops over the last 20 odd years I have never seen an underage person coming into my shops trying to buy a cigar or pipe tobacco! (We don’t even let children into our shops!)

Our February 26^th Vintage Cigar Auction catalogue is complete and will be posted out to registered bidders late next week and Lots will be online here as usual 10 days before the sale. We will be taking bids online for almost 300 Lots of interesting, aged, rare and mature cigars. Bidding is easy, fast and fun and no doubt there will be some bargains to be bagged!

Valentine’s Day next week and I believe my Valentine is treating me to a decadent day and evening. Spoil yours with something special here.

I’m off to herf at Turmeaus Mayfair for the rest of the day as I haven’t been there for a while and I understand the range of whisky and cigars have had a bit of a spruce up, so I better do some quality control checks 😉

Peaceful puffing,

Mitchell

The first recorded mention of the distillery was in 1779, the first on Islay.

Bowmore Distillery is situated on the shores of Loch Indaal, right in the heart of the lovely town of Bowmore, which means great reef or Sea Rock. A few distinctive characters of Bowmore Single Malt Whiskies are smoke, salt and sea-weed, a great combination which will appeal to most fans of Islay drams!

Bowmore 9 years Limited Release Sherry Cask.

This Bowmore 9 Year Old is the latest addition to the Islay favourite’s core range. Matured in the finest Oloroso sherry casks, Bowmore 9 Years Old reflects the natural elements that surround the No. 1 Vaults and the generations of tradition within. The result is a rich whisky with notes of cocoa, dark fruits and crème caramel, along with Bowmore’s trademark smokiness.

Colour: Treacle amber.
Nose: Breathe in rich cocoa, pepper and raisins balanced with citrus tang and wisps of Islay smoke.
Palate: Complex sherry with peat smoke followed by dark fruits and sweet crème caramel.
Finish: Savour the perfect balance of sea salt and peat smoke.

The next Bowmore Single Malt that really stands out for its perfect harmony of peat smoke and Sherry sweetness is the Bowmore 15 Years Darkest.

Matured in an inspired combination of both bourbon and sherry casks, this stunning 15 year old edition spent its final three years in Olorose sherry casks which is what gives this 15 year old ‘Darkest’ a beautiful Bowmore balance.

Colour: Burnt Sienna.
Nose: Dark, delicious rich chocolate and raisin aromas compliment the classic Bowmore smokiness.
Palate: Wonderful Cedar wood and rich treacle toffee flavours.
Finish: Robust and warming with just a hint of sherry tannin’.

As a really special dram that combines character, balance and incredible complexity has to be the Bowmore 18 Years. Cosseted away in the finest, hand-selected oak casks and allowed to mature at its own sedate pace, this is one of the most remarkable, perfectly balanced malts of its kind. A rare exceptional bottle, the stocks of Bowmore 18 Years Old may be limited but there’s no end to its enjoyment.

Colour: Mellow mahogany.
Nose: Creamy caramel toffee, with ripe fruit and smoke aromas.
Palate: Incredibly complex, with beautiful soft fruit and chocolate, all balanced together nicely with a light smokiness.
Finish: The finish is long and wonderfully balanced.

Slainte

Pete

Greetings from rather chilly London where I’m staying warm with a large dram of Orchant Selection Cigar Malt and a 2007 Bolivar Belicosos.

I’m delighted to introduce my Inca Secret Blend Reserva D’Oro Robusto in strictly limited quantity. Now available in singles HERE.

As there are only 5000 sticks available, I am limiting customer orders to a maximum of 5 sticks per order. Reserva D’Oro is an exceptionally difficult leaf to successfully grow as it is susceptible to blue mould disease, however, we have managed to harvest enough grade A leaf at Tabacalera del Oriente in Peru to blend a remarkably sweet full flavour complex premium cigar that I believe is one of the best ever new world cigars!

It’s taken us over 18 months since we started this project, so treat yourself whilst they are around… as they won’t be for long!

Our February 26th cigar auction catalogue is now all but closed with almost 300 Lots to be offered. It’s an online auction and very easy to get into the action- a bit like bidding on eBay. Think of us as cBay 🙂 We have a fine selection of mature, aged and rare cigars including some magnificent pre embargo cigars as well as limited editions, Davidoff, Dunhill Seleccion, Gran Reserva and limited edition humidors. The auction Lots will be online with photographs and descriptions as usual 10 days before the auction end date. Lots are available for inspection at my swanky new vintage cigar walk in humidor at our London offices 🙂

So we’re kicking off the new year in style with a new cigar from Peru and I understand that our beautiful La Casa del Habano in Chester is soon to receive some specialities including the new Hoyo Coleccion Habanos book and Partagas 170^th anniversary humidor. Hopefully a few more new releases from Cuba over the next few months too.

If my market intelligence info is good (and I think it is), the shortages of Havana cigars are continuing in earnest with many European and other distributors out of stock on many, if not all, Cohiba cigars as well as many other Havana cigars. Fortunately, we work closely with our colleagues at Hunters & Frankau, the best Havana importer in the world and whilst we don’t have every single cigar available all the time, with their help and our huge cigar reserve (built over the last 20 years) we do have almost the full range of every Havana cigar most of the time.

We have also released some of our interesting aged cigars including La Gloria Cubana Tainos from 2001, Romeo Celestiales Finos from 2001 and El Rey del Mundo Grandes de Espana from 2003 – all quite excellent smokes with the benefit of many years maturing. (The Romeo’s would make super special Valentine’s gift!)

We have added the 50^th anniversary edition of the Cohiba Maduro Genios to the already very popular 50^th anniversary Cohiba Maduro Magicos that we have been offering for the last few months. Both quite splendid smokes and beautiful presentation.

On the expansion front, I’m heading to Liverpool this week to check the progress on our second phase of Turmeaus Liverpool development on Old Hall street. The amazing design has been signed off with the architects and the builders are crashing away to create the most beautiful whisky bar, tapas lounge restaurant and late night Turmeaus cigar shop and sampling lounge. If all goes to plan we will open this new venture late March. It will also be one of the venues for our 200^th Turmeaus anniversary celebrations this year.

My colleague James at C.Gars – Norfolk has been doing some super January Flash Sales which have been ridiculously successful! For advance notice on all of our offers you need to subscribe to our newsletter HERE.

Last Saturday we had our quarterly Management (Michelle, Sara, Roy, Karyn and I) meeting at The Crazy Bear in Beaconsfield – beautiful restaurant but the food and service didn’t live up to the hype sadly. The low point was the table not being ready for 40 minutes after the reservation time and to be told to enjoy a drink at the bar. No big deal I thought, only to stand at the bar for 15 minutes and then be told ‘we don’t serve drinks at the bar’. Rather pathetic. C’est la vie. Another vote with my feet I think will be in order.

Michelle and I went to the new Boisdale restaurant in Mayfair last week and had a splendid business lunch. I love all of the Boisdale restaurants, great food, the best service and cigar friendly of course. What’s not to like? Mayfair is a great location for us so we will no doubt make that a regular stop on the way to Turmeaus Mayfair 🙂

I zoomed over to Holland on Thursday to meet with our friends at Scandinavian Tobacco Group and over a very long day/night we have agreed plans for some very new exciting cigars exclusive to the UK market for release this year.

My Co – Director Laura is now back from her hols and I’m on mine. Time to recharge the batteries after our most successful year yet and come back fighting fit and ready to make 2017 even more successful! So I’m taking a rather large baggie filled with all of my favourites to herf my way through till the middle of February.

I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Mitchell’s Angels 🙂 (Michelle, Laura and Sara!) but I’m always available on email… wherever I am in the world!

Peaceful puffing,

Mitchell

As a big fan of Speyside Single Malts the Balvenie Doublewood expressions are a must to try! The 12 Year Doublewood acquires its complex rich smooth taste from its maturation in two different types of oak casks. One of the classic after-dinner malts, Balvenie Doublewood’s is a result of being aged in ex-bourbon casks before being finished in sherry casks.

Double Wood is an excellent example of what the Balvenie distillery can craft, even at 12 years.

Nose: Gristy with a subtle nuttiness to it and slightly grapey.

Palate: Sweet with a good body. The bourbon characters quickly develop and as they do, a gentle spice and the slightest hint of vanilla appear. A balancing peat.

Finish: Dry and spicy.

Overall: Beautifully warming.

For something richer and with more complexity I would definitely recommend the Balvenie 17 Year Doublewood also having maturation in two different types of oak casks!

First cask: Traditional whisky oak maturation mellows the maturing spirit and imparts warming layers of vanilla spiciness.

Second cask: Further maturation in original European Sherry casks increases complexity bringing fruity, honeyed depths to the resulting single malt.

Colour: Deep amber.
Nose: Honey, malt and vanilla. Fruity with unripe bananas and green apples.
Body: Creamy.
Palate: Dried fruits, malt, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves.
Finish: Lengthy with softly spiced oak.

Hope these double delights have inspired you to enjoy and try also more great drams from this legendary distillery!

Slainte

Pete

Happy New Year to all our customers and we hope you all enjoyed some fantastic tipples over the holiday season! One whisky that always stands out for being a firm favourite and all-rounder are the Highland Park Single Malts!

Highland Park 18 Years is a stunning expression to appeal to most palates.

Considered by many whisky writers across the globe as the ‘industry’s favourite whisky’, Highland Park 18 year old is a masterclass of balance, complexity and refinement.

Lingering layers of sweet honeyed malt meet characterful dried fruit notes, marzipan and golden syrup, all wrapped up in swathes of distinctive, subtle floral peat smoke.

A whisky, which reveals more layers with every glass you enjoy.

Colour: Natural colour, burnished gold, clear and bright.
Nose: Rich, mature oak, top note of aromatic smoke.
Palate:Rich, full flavour, honey and peat.
Finish: Soft, round and long.

Now if you really want to push the boat out and indulge in sheer luxury I could not think of anything better than the Highland Park 30 Years! A real legend from Orkney rarely tasted apart from the privileged few! So here’s your opportunity before these older bottlings become even harder to find!

Released at the beginning of 2013, this 30 year old Highland Park is the second oldest expression in the Highland Park range.

After spending 30 years maturing, this stunning single malt whisky has been bottled at a lower strength than previous editions, 45.7% ABV.

This Highland Park 30 Year Old is an outstanding whisky, with rich flavours which we have come to expect from older Highland Park bottlings.
Nose: Sweet and floral, with some fruits such as unripe peaches and mango, and lime zest. Sweet buttery pastry, marzipan, sticky cherries and a touch of plum jam also come to light.

Palate: Marzipan and sherry fruit firstly dominate, with sour spices and wood. There is also Cinnamon, maraschino cherries with a big woody spice.

Finish: Spicy, with nutmeg, ginger, soft brown sugar and dark unfinished wood.

Slainte

Pete