Complaints!

Greetings from my deckchair in the sun where I’m continuing to herf for a little while longer before returning to Blighty, just in time to move Liverpool Turmeaus to its fabulous new premises on Old Hall street at the end of August.

I’m having a superb Summer herfing with friends and clients in and around Los Angeles and enjoying a wonderful selection of new world cigars including Oliva, Alec Bradley, Fuente, Davidoff, Inca – Secret Blend and Nat Sherman to mention a few. I think what strikes me most about these cigars is the consistency of blending and quality of construction as well as the fine and uniform appearance.

I’m having such a good time watching the US Presidential election on TV, if I would not have know better I would have thought it was one of those reality shows! What will I do after November 8th?!

Working with an 8 hour time difference is actually very interesting as by the time I wake up in the morning I’m around 800 emails behind (we receive 2500 emails on an average week day!) so I actually see a pretty clear sales perspective of the day in one session. The volume of sales this year is growing at a staggering rate. I’d like to think that’s down to customer service but I’m sure our vast range and super pricing play a big part.

We receive something like 1 complaint a day which considering the 1000’s of orders a week is not too bad I guess. Occasionally we make a pick error although that’s fairly rare, thankfully. The main complaints are always about construction and more frequently minor foot nicks.

So let me share some basic thoughts and advice if I may:

If you receive a cigar that you plan to smoke and it has a minor nick in the foot, forget about it as it will disappear when you light the cigar! Of course, If its anything more substantial in damage and/or it’s for a gift, simply drop us an email and our client care team will take care of the issue rapido. No quibble guarantee as I have always offered.

If you receive a cigar that has a construction issue when you try to smoke it i.e over filled, under filled, plugged, twisted etc. don’t stress… just trash it and drop us an email. Again, our client team will rapidly resolve the issue. We never make a big deal about anything. After all, cigars are for relaxation and not worth stressing about!

My favourite vitola for Havana cigars used to be a lonsdale (cervantes) but tightly rolled cigars were becoming too frequent and even though cutting them in half solved a lot of issues if the construction problem was a twist, there are only so many 1/2 lonsdales I wanted to smoke! These days I stick to robustos, campanas and piramides, generally. They’re less likely to have a draw issue although… anything’s possible though!

Havana cigars are very delicate by nature and the wrappers are more so over the last couple of years. All hand made premium cigars can potentially have construction flaws. It’s the nature of the game and not worth stressing about . Simply let your cigar merchant know so the issue is resolved to clients satisfaction. Over the years I can’t remember ever getting a Davidoff, Padron or Fuente with a construction flaw. Their quality control is legendary but even with these super premium cigars its still a vague possibility.

Montecristo 80th anniversary cigar I understand came into stock and sold out the same day (small allocation) but we are hopeful for some more availability in the next few weeks. Cohiba BHK’s remain illusive but we have managed to release some of our reserved stocks over the last month. Clearly there’s no way of satisfying demand for this range of cigars currently and we don’t expect the situation to improve any time soon.

In fact from everything I hear and see, supply is going to be an ongoing issue for the foreseeable future especially with large format Cohiba cigars (think Cohiba Siglo IV and larger) so its best to top up your humidors whilst you can.

If you’re one of our cigar auction clients, we are taking entries for our winter sale (28th November) email us soonest to check eligibility and ensure inclusion in the catalogue, which we expect to close mid October.

If you’re one of my overseas clients, no doubt you will be very happy at the weakness of Sterling since Brexit… I know I am 🙂

Righto… back to my deckchair, Mojito and a rather tasty Fuente Opus X 🙂

Peaceful puffing,

Mitchell

“What happens in Vegas…”

I think the subject title is supposed to continue ‘… stays in Vegas’, however I am happy to confirm that the HUGE quantity of cigars and accessories I bought at the annual IPCPR Trade show will indeed be coming to the UK very soon 🙂

By my reckoning this was the 19th trade show I have attended in the USA and I think I enjoyed it the most of all. It was held at Sands convention centre which is part of The (extremely loud bing bong, bing bong) Palazzo Hotel.

The show used to be known as RTDA but changed its name to IPCPR a few years back to reflect the international nature of the organisation and trade show I believe. I can’t help but think IPCPR sounds like something you do to someone with a dodgy ticker though! That said, I did notice a chap walking around with a surgical mask on and couldn’t help thinking ‘Dude, you have chosen the wrong industry as a life occupation choice’ lol. This is one smokey industry!

But, what on earth am I doing at this US trade show? Well dear blog readers, I am sourcing the finest New World cigars and accessories for my lovely C.Gars and Turmeaus clients in the UK 🙂 and , I am also promoting Inca – Secret Blend cigars in the USA.

My business partner Ron and I were joined at the Inca stand by my trusty smoking chums George and Barry as well as Gennaro from Tabacalera del Oriente in Peru where we were delighted to introduce new sizes to the secret Blend range, including a piramides and robusto.

I’ll be introducing a host of new products in store and online over the coming months including some beautiful humidors, cutters and lighters. We have some very exciting new cigars being made by Alec Bradley and will be increasing the superb range of Nat Sherman cigars too.

Another run of Orchant Seleccion by Oliva is also being made and Inca – Secret Blend (thats the one for the USA!) is planned to be available in the UK and throughout Europe before the end of the year.

We also plan to release more range of Macanudo and Torano as they have again become so popular in the UK.

I reckon the Fuente stand was the busiest at the show,this brand must now be one of the most popular in the world. Personally, I love them. If you are looking for superior quality , a perfect draw and true blend integrity at a very decent price check out the range here.

I tried out the new Davidoff Yamasa and it was far more to my taste than Escurio. I think it will be popular with my clients looking for a very very full flavour and full bodied cigar.

Back in the UK I gather the Monte 80th finally arrived (should be the 81st, no?) in teeny weeny quantity and accordingly has already sold out. Here’s hoping for a further installment in the very near future.

Various other cigars toys will be winging their way over to the UK for my clients and I’ll keep you informed of course on my regular newsletter.

I settled back into vacation routine, at least for the weekend, herfing my way through a baggie of all of the aforementioned smokes whilst watching what I’m sure must be one of those reality shows, I think its called ‘ The Trump & Clinton show’… Most amusing indeed.

Have a smokey weekend.

Peaceful puffing,

Mitchell

Summer – What Summer?

Here I sit in my rather comfortable London office sampling a Cohiba Robusto Supremo in the middle of July and I am watching the most torrential amount of rain through the windows, just unbelievable. I love London but this weather is too bad for words (very British to complain about the weather!) hey ho, nothing I can do about it… or can I? Yup, I’m the hell out of here till the end of August, heading for a deckchair in the sunshine and some non-stop herfing and R&R 🙂

And I will need that R&R because when I get back to Blighty I’ll be working very hard up North as we will be opening the new Turmeaus flagship store in lovely Liverpool on the Tuesday 30^th August. Long time in the planning but I’m a bit of a tortoise in business and have that OCD thing going on so I have to have everything perfect of course. Located at The Albany in old Hall Street, our latest expansion will provide our Merseyside and Lancashire customers with an all singing and dancing cigar, tobacco, accessories and whisky retail store together with cigar sampling lounge and whisky tasting bar.

But dear blog reader, that’s just the first phase as I expect to start developing the second phase soon after which will provide an additional Turmeaus cigar store and sampling lounge open till 11 pm and a drinks and tapas lounge as well as the hugest whisky bar in the North West. Splendid 🙂 that should keep me entertained for a little while I reckon.

I have to laugh when I think back to buying the original Turmeaus shop on Water Street many years ago. So many people asked me ‘why?’ and inferred that it was a daft place to have a cigar shop. Righto, proved them wrong (no surprise). I thought, and still think, that Liverpool is a super cool city. Trendy bars, excellent hotels and restaurants and very friendly people. I’m looking forward to some splendid tasting events with old and new Turmeaus – Liverpool clients.

This is the first development that we used architects for and it’s been a wonderful experience. I expect this premises to be one of our finest. The humidor room will have an insane selection of premium Havana and New World cigars as well as an incredible range of the finest humidors and cigar accessories. The bar will have a delightful range of premium spirits to sample and the cigar sampling lounge will be super comfortable with excellent smoke extraction. Our legendary customer service ensures a warm welcome and the best of advice.

Whilst up North last week I zoomed into Turmeaus –Knutsford which was looking lovelier than ever except it was a warm day and I thought the cigar sampling lounge was a tad too warm. No problem, air conditioning is now ordered and my clients will be chilled accordingly in a few week’s time! Always good to see Andrew, Sue and Liz who manage the Knutsford store for me, I can’t think of a friendlier team in any cigar store in the UK, just super customer service. Magnificent range of cigars and whisky and Andrews prize and joy wine room is awesome (as is his knowledge of wines!). I found this review from a customer on Google today:

I visited Turmeaus Tobacconist for the first time today, and it definitely won’t be my last. The gentleman that served me was wonderful; great customer service skills and very knowledgeable about all the products. The shop also had a lovely warm and inviting atmosphere. I think my husband is going to be delighted with his birthday gift of cigars and rum! He’ll also be visiting to sample more of the delights offered by Turmeaus. It’s been a very nice shopping experience indeed. Thank you!

Next stop was Turmeaus – Chester which incorporates our La Casa del Habano. I would say that this place is cool but on this particularly hot day I can honestly say the lounge was freezing due to the over effective aircon lol. Clients seemed to be enjoying sampling as the lounge was jammed full as was the whisky sampling bar area. I mooched around the humidor which is crammed full of gems from Havana. We really do have an incredible range of boxes and cabinet selection Havanas as well as huge range of singles.

I also managed to have a herfette in Turmeaus – Mayfair last week, it was our friend Eric’s birthday (perfect excuse) and he enjoyed a Cuaba Distinguidos birthday smoke whilst I puffed away on another Cohiba Robustos Supremo. I just love these gobstoppers!

My assistant David at Mayfair got a bit of a shock on Saturday when a car crashed right through the front of the shop next door. Thanks to all my friends on Facebook and Twitter for all their funny comments!

At last! My Inka – Secret Blend import has arrived and we will be back to full range next week. The popularity of this range is quite breath-taking. Great blend and great value, who could ask for more?

Okay so I’m off Havana cigars and on to New World cigars for the next month or so and I’ve selected a bunch of my favourites whilst I top up my tan, they include:

Inka Secret Blend,
Regius Orchant Selection,
Orchant Seleccion by Oliva,
Macanudo Inspirado.

That should keep me going!

Next blog from the swimming pool!

Peaceful puffing,

Mitchell

Back to normal…

Back to normal, if life is ever normal in the C.Gars world! We have almost finished all of our Summer auction work (some huge task!) and some 300 Lots have either been collected or are in the shipping process so I can finally see my London humidor again, which comes as some relief.

We outgrew our original London office/warehouse some years ago and expanded into the building next door 3 years ago which was brilliant but alas the time has come around again that we are bursting at the seams due to the huge increase in business. So, the other day I was chatting with Michelle and saying “if only another building would become available alongside” lo and behold, one did! Terms rapidly agreed, architect instructed, builders quotes awaited and we hope to move in by late September.

One issue is that we have utterly run out of humidor space and our auction and vintage cigar business is now so huge it needs a home of its own. I’m building a massive walk in humidor in the new premises that will just house our client lockers and rare and vintage Havana cigars. This will make the mooching around the humidor experience a lot more pleasant for my clients as its not much fun battling around 10 of my team as they run in and out the current walk in humidor nonstop!

The other issue, (nice one though it is) is that we are experiencing unprecedented growth in sales and our London warehouse team is ever expanding so we can provide on time deliveries to our zillions of clients. Thankfully the new premises will help us cope for the foreseeable future. All exciting stuff.

Continuing the Cohiba 50^th anniversary celebrations this week, I enjoyed an evening at Mark’s Club in London’s Mayfair where Zenith watches presented their stunning Cohiba edition.

Nick Foulkes gave a wondeful talk about watches and cigars in his inimitable witty and knowledgable manner and Cohiba Siglo III and Robusto Supremo paired up with Ruinart champage were enjoyed by all. Great to bump into Reinhold Widmeyer from Cigar Journal and we’re planning a decdent vintage Havana cigar tasting in Austria in the near future.

The big news topic this week though was of course the Brexit referendum. From my perspective I can tell you I enjoyed watching TV till ridiculously early in the morning and herfed my way through 2 Cohiba Robusto Supremo, 1 Cohiba 1966 and a few shots of Stalla Dhu to keep my spirits up so to speak. Thanks for all the emails asking what effect I expect this to have on business. I’m not certain but genuinely doubt it will make any difference whatsoever. That said the weaker Pound has caused a bit of a jump in export business 🙂

Still a few places available for our wine and cigar tasting event at Turmeaus Knutsford on the 13^th July unfortunately I can’t be there as I’m jetting off to the sun for Summer (severe lack of it in London today!) but my assistant Andrew assures me he will be taking extra good care of all attendees. We have a super comfortable sampling lounge in Knutsford and a huge range of cigars, whisky and wine.

Macanudo Inspirado is selling like bonkers now that we have added two more sizes to the range. Check it out on this link, premium cigars and very good value indeed!

The Inka Secret Blend cigars success story continues with mega record sales last month. Apologies for the odd size stock out as I am still trying to cope with the sales growth of this brand. Good news is that I have another huge import from Peru due to arrive on Monday.

Last chance to get your hands on Orchant Seleccion Bolivar Royal Coronas as we only have a few boxes left. 2014 was a true return to form for this cigar and the blend is very earthy and full flavoured yet refined and smooth. Not for the beginner!

Also last chance to get the lovely cigar case with Winston Churchill robusto cigars and Winston Churchill petit coronas. Fabbie cigars from Davidoff and a lovely case to store them in 🙂 Last 10 of each and then they are done.

If you like a full flavour Nicaraguan cigar you can’t go wrong with the Regius range (exclusive to C.Gars) they are just superb value for a premium smoke.

I’m still having fun adding to our booze range. Checkout Drinks by the Dram sampler packs. These are perfect to try all different types of whisky and other premium spirits, most of them have tasting note cards in the box which adds to the fun. They also make brilliant gifts.

I hear that my rather cool marketing Team at Turmeaus Norfolk are rolling out some PRICE THRASHER promotions from Monday… look out, there should be some great deals.

That’s half a year done and did it ever zoom by for me! I’m seeing Carole King in concert in Hyde Park on the weekend (I wonder if cigar smoking will be allowed?)

Have a smokey weekend,

Peaceful puffing.

Mitchell

C.Gars Summer Cigar Auction

Our annual summer auction was held again at the Bulgari hotel in Knightsbridge on Monday (20th) night.

Our aged, rare and vintage cigar auctions always include huge numbers of unbelievable lots from pre embargo cigars to vintage Davidoffs, as well as limited edition humidors, and this auction stayed true to form!

The auction started at 2pm with over 300 lots going under the hammer, you can view the items as well as their final sale price on the auction website: www.onlinecigarauctions.com

After the auction ended, guests were invited up to the Sahakian cigar lounge to enjoy post auction smokes, drinks and canapes. The cigars that were sampled were the delicious Ramon Allones Petit Belicoso 2012 Regional Edition and the Bolivar Royal Corona Orchant Seleccion. Both the cigars paired up magnificently with the whisky which was on offer, Stalla Dhu Islay and C.Gars Cigar Malt (coming soon!)

Of course Monday night was also the football match between England and Slovakia in the European Championship which lead to some tense moments as Eli, London C.Gars Warehouse manageress, is from Slovakia!

View the pictures from the event below.