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.

Hi everyone, it has been another great week here in Turmeaus Norfolk! We had the honour of hosting, Andy Swain – The UK Manager for Dominique London as well as our lovely customers.

On Monday, it was the usual team of Josh and myself, picking many cigar orders that our loyal customers ordered over the weekend. I noticed a lot of customers purchasing from the Perla Del Mar range – mainly the Toro. I actually used it in my New World subscription, a month or two ago and since then it has become very popular – It seems to be once you have tried – You love it! After my order pickings, I helped the packing department. When there are lots of orders to pick, there are also lots to pack too! So I do try to help out when possible. In between orders I served a lovely gentleman who was going to a wedding and was in charge of getting the cigars. He wanted 10 nice cigars as well as around 10 cheaper ones for those who don’t smoke as often. So I suggested a few boxes of 10 for the nice ones, in the end the gentleman chose a box of E.P Carrillo Encore Noir Majestic No. 2 – He liked the look of the box and the cigars suited the theme of the wedding. For the cheaper smokes, of course I originally suggested the Mitchellero Robusto, but then I thought to myself, if a darker cigar like the Encore Noir went well with the theme, how about the Puffin cigars, they have a jet black box and the bands are dark too. The gentleman loved it and purchased a box of the Shorty. I don’t know why but this sale filled me with joy, maybe it was talking about cigars that would fit in with the theme of the wedding.

On Tuesday, I was picking orders with Lisa and Ben. We also received a rather large delivery from our Cuban cigar supplier – Hunters and Frankau. There were many rare cigars like the Trinidad Robusto Extra which had recently returned to the UK market as well as a new release – Partagas Cedros Year of the Snake – This is a limited edition from Habanos S.A to celebrate the Chinese New Year. I thoroughly enjoyed looking through all of the cigars as you get to smell the aroma of a freshly opened box of Cuban cigars. Afterwards I started to organise my September subscriptions, I always try to find some unique cigars for our loyal subscribers to try and even get some new releases that either haven’t been out for long or aren’t regularly available. I also served a regular customer who loves Twist tobacco, he purchased some of the Kendal Black Irish XXX and then asked for a large ring gauge cigar cutter as he uses that to cut it. I thought that was genius! Instead of using a knife or scissors, use a tool that is designed to cut through tobacco!

On Thursday, we were having a Norfolk management meeting with Andy Swain. Many members of staff were in attendance, myself included. We discussed many things which I can’t talk about, but it was very positive and all I can say is watch this space! Before working at C.Gars, I had always been nervous about meeting senior members of staff, but what I can say is all senior members of staff here are incredibly nice and accommodating. From Mitchell shaking my hand every time he visits and asking about my family, to Andy shaking my hand and making sure we have everything we need to succeed in our goals – It is such a nice feeling knowing I work for such a lovely company. When I came back from the meeting, I wrote an article for the C.Gars Cigar Library, about which gas to use for your ST Dupont lighter – It had always confused me that there were many different gases for ST Dupont products but each lighter has its speciality. You can read it here. I also spent some time taking pictures. Afterwards towards the end of the day, I started to create a poster to advertise our pipe tobacco samplers. I used to depend on others for posters for the shop, but now I will be doing them all myself. What do you think?

On Friday, I was back in the shop. I started by writing an article to help promote the return of the Trinidad Robusto Extra, which you can read here, and then I concentrated on making the shop newsletters. Since I have started doing them, I would say the staff in the other stores have massively improved the content they provide – So if any of them are reading this… Thank you all! I served a lovely American gentleman who wanted to look at our pipe tobacco range. He likes a big range of tobacco but settled for two tins of Peterson Dark Flake, Solani Virginia Flake With Perique Blend 633 and a tin of Germains Royal Jersey Perique Mixture. The Germains is currently out of stock on our website but you should always ask your sales assistant as you never know what they might be able to find. In the afternoon, Josh and I completed the Cuban stock count, I must say I have never seen us have so many different Cuban cigars in stock!

On Saturday, Josh and I was joined by Porscha! We worked through the online orders and then all got on with our tasks. Porscha has been adding every barcode onto our till system to make it easier for everyone to use. Josh has been reviewing cigars for the Cigar Library and me? Well I have to find some time to write this blog. Afterwards, Porscha packed the online orders and Josh and I worked through our humidors, stocking up where we can.

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

So long for now.

Oliver.

Hi everyone! It’s been another brilliant week here in Turmeaus Norfolk. The sun has been shining and we have had plenty of customers – which is always great to see!

On Monday, I was in the shop with Josh. We had lots of online orders to complete! But this time we did it a little differently. We both picked cigars orders, but I picked the majority of them whilst Josh went and picked any accessories that were needed for the orders. By doing this it meant orders made their way into packing a lot quicker due to my speed at picking cigars and Josh’s knowledge of knowing where all the accessories are. We were done a lot quicker than usual, which made everyone happy! Meanwhile I served a lovely customer who had just started a new job and wanted to celebrate by joining the cigar community! As fellow cigar smokers, you will know how great of a community it is to be a part of, everyone has opinions and we all love to talk about it! I’m lucky to be in the position where I get paid to talk about cigars. So I showed him around our humidors and discussed some cigars for him to try. I suggested the Mitchellero Peru Gordo range as the sweetness really takes away the bitterness that some tobacco can contain. I then introduced him to Davidoff and explained about the craftsmanship behind the brand, and so he tried the Davidoff Winston Churchill Traveller Belicoso. I hope to see him again to see how he got on with his cigars. 

Afterwards I served one of my regulars who wanted a nice long smoke for the evening. I suggested the Montecristo no. 1 as it suits his relatively new cigar palate, he then said he enjoyed the no. 5 so it makes sense for him to have the bigger version. In the afternoon I worked very hard to stock up both Cuban and New World humidors. At the end of the day, Josh and I sat down, exhausted from our brilliantly productive day, and we started talking about the Frontier cigars – At the end of the chat I decided to treat Josh and myself to a Frontier Cheroot Purple cigarillo. It smells amazing, I can’t wait to try it.

On Tuesday, I was picking online orders and again there were loads to do but Robyn, Ben and I worked through them thoroughly! I then spent some time writing an article for the C.Gars cigar library – This one was about the VegaFina brand – You can read it by clicking here. I spent some time taking the pictures and It didn’t fully go to plan, but I tried again and it came out looking better than before! It’s why you should never give up! I also posted two news articles on our news page. It was about the return of the Trinidad Robusto Extra and the latest Chinese Zodiac release from Habanos S.A. The Partagas Cedros Year of the Snake – Limited Edition – Both are very exciting for us to have and I am looking forward to seeing the Trinidad Robusto Extra again. I then spent some time creating the August shop newsletters, ready to be sent on the 1st.

On Wednesday, I was in the shop, my first customer of the day wanted a Zippo lighter, we only have a few varieties currently but the gentleman didn’t mind, and I then mentioned the gift kit which comes with the fuel and flints as an add on. In his words he said “well i’m gonna need them so I might as well have a fancy box too”. He’s not wrong too, I bought a Zippo a while ago and you do get through the fuel quite quickly. Afterwards I served a gentleman who wanted some flavoured cigars, I suggested the La Aurora Principes and they have a variety of flavours and smell very nice. However he wanted to have something else, so i suggested the Leon Jimenes cigars, they have Blond, Bee and Caribbean. He had one of each and this seem to prompt Josh to purchase all three too! And then he gifted me a Blond, which I am very appreciative about. I then started to write another article, but I ran out of time to take the pictures so you will have to wait until next week to read it all.

Thursday was New World stock count day for Lisa and I – but this time with an added twist! I was only working half a day as I had a family event to attend. So we kind of cheated a little by starting a room the day before and then when I came in we focussed hard and got through all of the stock count by 12.30! Definitely a new record and it gave me enough time to leave for my family event! 

On Friday, I started the day by picking online orders with Lisa and Ben, the three of us are like a well oiled machine and got through the vast amount of pickings very quickly. We then started opening all of the deliveries, We had a large one filled with Cuban cigar stock from our brilliant supplier Hunters & Frankau, I have noticed the Cuban cigar supply has started to improve since Covid times and now we have a lot of the stock available. I was also discussing with Lisa, our humidor supervisor about new cigars we could fit out onto the shelves. We found space for the latest Charatan range as well as Fratello and the latest Liga Privada – Nasty Fritas and Papa Bravas.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks blogs and I hope you come into the Norfolk store very soon.

So long for now

Oliver

Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying the start of summer! It has been lovely and sunny in Norfolk! We have had many happy customers treating themselves to some nice cigars to have in the sun.

On Monday, it was the usual team of Josh and myself in the shop! We had an incredible amount of online pickings to pick which is always great to see. I also served a regular customer who usually comes in looking for whisky, however this time he wanted a couple of quick smokes to enjoy with his vast array of whisky. He’s a novice when it comes to cigars and usually purchases whatever we recommend, so I suggested for him the Casa Turrent 1880 Maduro Coronita, which is one of my favourite cigars and the Inka Secret Blend Red Tres Petit Corona. He was happy to give them a try and then looked at our whisky collection and decided to try a bottle of Longrow Peated, he certainly loves anything that comes from the Springbank distillery. After I completed my online orders, I helped out in the packing department. I have started to enjoy packing online orders again as it helps me see what is selling online and seeing if I can sell the same products to our customers in store.

On Tuesday I was in the shop. I started my day by helping with online order picking and then I spent some time stocking up and labelling pipes and spirits. Afterwards I stocked up the New World humidor, we pick so many cigars that stocking it is becoming a daily task! Luckily, due to our new cupboard, we have a lot of the stock ready to go out. I also served a gentleman who I see every six months or so, he always loves a Cuban cigar and wanted to enjoy a cigar or two in the evening. He purchased two Romeo y Julietas No. 2 – One for himself and one for his friend, and then he purchased a Montecristo No. 2. On his way out he decided to try a whisky miniature – I suggested the C.Gars malt as it’s an easy going whisky and one of my favourites. I also decided to try something new – In my investigation into cigarillos, I decided to try a pack of Neos Ruby. The aroma of cherry was incredibly strong! And I was very excited to try – However the cherry didn’t transfer over to flavour, it was still a nice smoke but not enough cherry flavouring for me. So if you like a small 10 minute smoke with a slight hint of cherry it could be a good one to try.

On Thursday, I was back in my comfort zone – The shop. I started by taking pictures for the cigars of the month for July, unfortunately I was a little behind this month, but the shop has been so busy I haven’t been able to keep up! I was very proud of my picture of the New World cigar of the month – My Father Connecticut Robusto. What do you think? I also started to research my next article for the C.Gars cigar library! It has felt like a long time since I have written an article, but I certainly enjoyed researching this subject. I can’t wait to write and upload for you all to see. I served a gentleman who wanted some larger cigars to enjoy in the sun. We spent plenty of time going through the humidors and finding cigars within his price point and in the end we settled on the Regius Orchant Seleccion Peru 2025 Corona Gorda and the Conquistador Churchill – Both of which I haven’t tried! He also purchased a cutter and lighter and left very happy to have kept within budget!

On Friday, I found myself in the packing department for the whole day! It took me back to when I first started at C.Gars. Lisa and I packed all of the orders and had a great laugh too! Will joined us after his order pickings to help stock up on packaging. 

On Saturday, It was just Josh and myself. We picked all of the orders and then I packed what I could whilst Josh served the majority of the customers. I also got to have a lovely chat with a couple who I had served a couple of years ago with their son. Back then their son was getting divorced and life was tough but now they have just told me he is getting married again and so they were getting him a wedding cigar! He wanted a Hiram & Solomon Master Mason Toro, which I was surprised about. I was so happy to see them and Josh certainly looked after them. I also served a gentleman who wanted vanilla cigars, I instantly suggested the Principes Blond Chicos, as they ooze vanilla flavour. He then mentioned a green cigar which puzzled me for a little bit until I remembered the Drew Estate Acid Krush Classic Green Candela! He said it’s the best cigar he ever had! It’s even made me want to try one! Not many people have heard of a Candela wrapper and there’s not many cigars that use it. If you want to know more about Candela wrappers you can read this article by clicking here.

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

So long for now

Oliver