Busy, busy, busy! This past month has been non-stop, for many reasons – good and bad.

Let’s get the bad out of the way. Over the past few weeks (realistically the past couple of years), the industry has been faced with battling the UK Government’s proposal to introduce standardised plain packaging for all tobacco products – which categorises premium cigars in with cigarettes and vapes, which of course, should not be the case. I won’t bore you with the details, as it’s something I’ve written and spoken about many times, and I’m sure if you’re reading this, you’re already aware about it all. But the panic truly set in over the past couple of months especially, as the consultation closes at midnight on 1^st October, and it has caused mass unsettle for not only retailers, but consumers alike. For more information, you can visit www.savecigars.co.uk. This consultation not only affects the UK but also supplying countries. Anthony from Bright Leaf and I spoke about this in our latest video ‘The Importance of Cigar Education & the Biggest Threat to the Cigar Industry Right Now’, which you can watch here.

Moving onto more positive things, as I mention above, I filmed with Anthony, where we highlight the importance of cigar education, and discuss the latest update to the Rocky Patel Portal. The aim of our Portals is to educate you, the consumer, so you can make more informed decisions when it comes to purchasing your next box of cigars. Where do they come from? Who’s behind the brand? What does the brand represent? These are all questions we answer in our Portals, and being more informed about such things is crucial.

Last week I also filmed with Cally from TOR, where we sat down to review the Oliva Serie V Belicoso – a fantastic cigar I might add! – and we also talk about the brand and its achievements over the years (see the recurring theme – education!).

We also just hit 10,000 subscribers on the C.Gars Ltd YouTube channel, which I could not be more grateful for. Creating content for you guys has been such a passion of mine, and I strive to keep the quality improving each video and I hope you enjoy the videos that Kim and I have been putting out.

Upcoming this week, I’m absolutely stoked to announce a few things. Firstly, the C.Gars Ltd Autumn/Winter 2026 Magazine starts shipping from October 1^st, which is our 5^th edition and arguably our best. I’m super proud of the team (Billie, Courtney, Liam and myself) for coming together to create such amazing content, and no doubt our 6^th edition will be even better. This edition contains a special feature from none other than award-winning Author and warming personality Nick Hammond. Nick’s ability to write about personal experiences connects to not only cigar smokers, but also non-smokers. In his books ‘Around the World in 80 Cigars’, he takes us on his journeys across the globe, from the good to the bad, whilst incorporating cigars into it. I must say, I’m not a big reader, however something about the way Nick writes is absolutely fascinating and he makes real life experiences sound like a fantasy that you could create a movie from. In this edition of the magazine, we give 5 opportunities to win a signed copy of his latest edition to the series ’Around the World in 80 Cigars’ for only £1.00. Be sure to place an order from October 1^st to receive your copy of the Magazine so you can enter!

The second thing is we have a great friend and another incredible personality visiting us in sunny Norfolk to film content with me. George Frakes. Some of you may know this name already, but for those who don’t, George is the Diector of 1573 Cigars, and Director of International Sales for Foundation Cigars.

George has the most incredible personality, and is such a likeable character, always bringing wonderful stories and telling them in an engaging tone. He’s truly somebody you could listen to all day long. I envy his future Grandchildren.

We will be sitting down to film some content surrounding Foundation Cigars, and I can’t wait!

Lastly, more content – shock! That is my job after all! I’ve put some plans in place to create some Autumn themed videos, such as my top 5 Autumnal cigars, and even a video I’ve never done before – 5 cigars I do and DON’T like. Working and creating for a retailer, sometimes people feel as though my opinions are just biased to sell a product. I understand why some would think this way, but those who know me, know that I share my genuine thoughts and feelings on cigars. Wording is important. If I say ‘this cigar tastes like s***’ then of course that doesn’t look great, but I’d also be very closed-minded. Cigars are very subjective, so if I dislike a particular cigar, it doesn’t mean it is objectively bad, it just means it’s not for my personal palate. In this video, I’m going to highlight five cigars I do like, but also five cigars that I personally dislike. This is to fit with the Halloween ‘Trick or Treat’ theme. I’m excited to film and post it!

Over the next few weeks, the team will be planning ahead for Black Friday and Christmas, so it’ll be a pretty intensive couple of months ahead. But we love coming up with ideas together and we can’t wait to share the deals and promotions with you all.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this month’s blog and have a wonderful rest of the month and I’ll see you in the next one!