Popped over to Paris for lunch!

Popped over to Paris for lunch yesterday to work on a very exclusive humidor project 😉

Lunch was first rate at my usual hang out Cafe Ruc (159 Rue Saint-Honoré 75001 Paris, France) just opposite the beautiful Hotel du Louvre and round the coroner from my favourite cigar shop A la Civette – Palais Royal (- 157, rue Saint Honoré 75001 Paris ) which is always well worth a visit.

 

We smoked the delicious Bolivar Libertador followed by the Juan Lopez Obus ( French regional edition cigars)  accompanied with a copious quantity of Chateau Becheval 2004. Splendid smokes and delightful wine.

 


 

I rate the Bolivar as one of the finest regionals that has been made and there’s nothing wrong with the Juan Lopez either.

 

Since the smoking ban in France of course it is no longer possible to smoke indoors but the weather was glorious and sunny so no problem sitting outside watching the world go by. ( many many restaurants in Paris have covered outdoor dining areas ( sadly not as many in London!)

 

Eiffel Tower

 

Back to the office today and in fact for the next couple of weeks as my lovely assistant Michelle is on vacation so I’m stuck here with the lovely Eli,Marci and Lucy…could be worse;-) and yes now I really have to work terribly hard!

 

My favourite rep Ken from Hunters and Frankau popped in for coffee this morning and kindly gave me a delicious Monte C Limited edition which I am smoking as I blog….full flavour and full strength,doesn|’t taste anything like a Monte but what an excellent smoke. Ken also brought us some delicious hand made chocolates….there goes my diet…yet again!

 

Ken tells me that the Partagas P2 tubos should be out next month which I’m looking forward to ( it’s my favourite Havana) as the tube should be very cool ( torp cigar in a tube…great idea!)

 

No confirmed dates yet for the UK regionals or limited edition but we are still hopeful for something new and interesting in lat September

 

Looking forward to the cigar and whisky tasting evening at my current favourite restaurant Boisdales Belgravia on the 8th September. ( email me if you would like details [email protected] )

 

Oooops…there goes the phone… I better get back to work!

 

Peaceful puffing

 

Mitchell

Seleccion Orchant Ramon 898

Those jolly nice people at Hunters and Frankau, the exclusive importers of Havanas to the UK market (English Market Selection) have kindly allowed me to select 16 cabinets of the splendid Ramon Allones 898’s (now a discontinued cigar) to continue my range of the best of the best “Orchant Seleccion” double gold banded cigar range.

 


 

Each cabinet has been signed and individually numbered and I don’t need to tell you what an exquisite smoke this cigar is. Matured to perfection from 2002, full flavoured, complex and well balanced, these first rate Havanas were a major success with my clients.

 


 

Register with us for the next exclusive “seleccion Orchant” release” [email protected]

 

Peaceful puffing

 

Mitchell

 

Plugs :-(

 

A lot of talk on the internet about “plugged ” cigars recently

 

Plugs? very very rare indeed. Yes, they do happen from time to time but the vast majority of construction flaws are “twists” that constrict the air/smoke package. As frustrating as a plug is …. I reckon that 9 out of 10 cigars that have a twist construction flaw can be cut in half and both halves are then perfectly smokeable. Not ideal …agreed, but at least not a dead loss.

 

Construction flaws were more common as we all know 98-01 but quality control since then has seriously improved. I can remember in earlier years getting daily complaints about construction but we now rarely get complaints about construction. Better roller training and more draw testing in Cuba has certainly paid off.

 

Best tip: avoid 98-02 as far better cigars were made in later vintages. Filler tobacco is already aged in most Havanas from the last few years so why try and find a 6-10 year old box that may be problematical when a 1/2/3 year old box is likely to be a far better smoke in all respects…. construction, blending and even wrappers.

 

Food for thought

 

Peaceful plugless puffing 🙂

 

Best

 

SmokeyMo

Airports bloody airports!

Having been overseas for a month I thought I should do a few trips round my retail empire:-) over the last few days.
 
First stop was my Hamburg cigar store…..Heathrow airport Terminal 2 was fabulous…it was so quiet I thought it must be closed seriously there was no one around and no queues anywhere. Security were great….I didn’t have to take my laptop out of my case,didn’t have to take my belt or shoes off and just zipped through security in seconds.
 
Zoomed up to my Chester cigar store  by good old Virgin first class train where I counted being offered tea 30 times in 2 hours 20 minutes….bravo Richard Branson although he needs to sort out the taste of that Virgin Cola as it tastes fairly awful!
 
Yesterday I popped up to Glasgow and Edinburgh from Luton airport where I was more or less strip searched! laptop out,belt off,shoes off….and I still beeped going through the metal detector…go figure. You have been warned!
 
I was ready for a smoke by the time I got to Glasgow and luckily the weather was great so I enjoyed a Monte 2 with Bobby from Hunters and Frankau and Fraser from Robert Graham Ltd outside my Glasgow cigar and whisky store.



 
Back to the luxury of my London office where I am finally adjusting back to UK time ( I kept waking up at 3 a.m needing to smoke a Partagas!) and I’m now testing out the Hoyo Epicure especial and H Upmann magnum 50 which have so far proved to be extremely popular with my clients. Oh and I see Partagas SD4’s now come in boxes of 10…great idea.
 
OK…I better pretend to be doing some work I guess before Michelle and Laura notice….that I’m not 🙂
 
Peaceful puffing
 
Mitchell