Long time no blog!

I decided to hold my own “Apalachin” style cigar mafia dinner in sunny Texas
last weekend !…. which took a lot of planning and was of course held at a
secret location 🙂

Cigar connoisseurs from all over the country flew in for the event which was
a great success and enjoyed by all.

A pre herf was attended by the heads of the 5 families and whilst I handed
out some splendid Ramon Allones Belicosos,the attendees followed them with a
selection of rarest of rare 1492’s,1994’s Cubatobacco 25th anniversary
cigars to name a few.

The main event can only be described as a gastronomic delight,I am
salivating at the memory!…

Veuve Cliquot champagne reception….perfect with a cigar of course 🙂

Smoked salmon crostini on fruit bread with capers

Calamari with arrabiata sauce

Ceviche Bianca with mango and avocado

Shrimp cocktail

Lobster cocktail with endive and granny smith apples

Corn and shrimp bisque

Melanzanna Parmigiana

Mozzarella with heirloom tomatoes

Farfala pasta with mushrooms,bolognaise and spring peas

Roasted sea bass with clam broth and spinach

Apple tart and sauce caramel

Petit fours

Coffee

Accompanied with some delicious wines….Stonestreet Chardonnay Alexander
Valley 2005 and 2005 Chateau St Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon

….and just a few bottles of Chateau Margeaux 1986

The cigar menu included:

Romeo Prince of Wales 1998 Hunters and Frankau vintage Selection ( Thank you
Simon Chase)

Por Larranaga Magnificos ( UK Regional edition)

Ramon Allones Belicosos ( UK Regional edition)

El Rey Del Mundo Vikingos ( Baltic regional edition)

Taboada custom blends

The wining,dining,smoking and great conversation went on till 4 in the
morning !!!…and a great herf was enjoyed by all. I may have to make this
an annual event 🙂

Many thanks to all my friends and clients who attended…looking forward to
seeing you at the next herf 🙂

Click here to check out the photos

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

Global Whisky Shop Launch! 10% off your first order!

Just back from a quick smoke with my friend and business partner Christoph where the weather in Hamburg seems to be worse than London ( can’t believe that’s possible!) but at least the cigars were good and so was the rum 🙂

We smoked 3 Hoyo Epicure no.1’s from 2005 back to back as we could not believe how good these cigars are.Darkest oily wrappers…simply incredible.

We followed the Epicures with the regional edition El Rey Vikingos….what a smoke,quite sublime.

This weeks featured Havanas …shipped overnight intact by courier service guaranteed for safe delivery and superior quality ( sorry only for delivery outside the EU!)

Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No.1 in cab of 50 – very dark wrappers – Sep 2005 £399 highly recommended

La Gloria Cubana Tainos box of 10 – Mar 07 £99

Rey del Mundo Vikingos – rare regional edition from Baltics – Sep 07 £449

H.Upmann Monarch Tubos – Feb 2001 £309

4 Montecristo Mini & Club Humidor with 25 of each in each ! total 100 minis and 100 clubs £129

Ramon Allones Specially Selected box of 25 – Nov 06 £149

2 boxes of 25 Flor de Cano Petit Coronas – Aug 07 £99

Shipping to North America….no problem!

Regular stocks available on this link http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/cigars-north-america-c-308.html

We have been making some extremely rare Havanas available in sampler packs.not sure anyone else in the world ever does this but I always figure it’s great to make these cigars available in samplers otherwise you have to buy the whole humidor for big Bucks! check these out 🙂

Very rare- Special Sampler Partagas and H.Upmann 160th Anniversary Sampler LAST THREE SAMPLER PACKS AVAILABLE!!!

Delightful and rare, specially banded cigars on the occasion of the 160th Anniversary of Partagas and H.Upmann brands.

Including one of each of the following:

Partagas 160th Anniversary Robusto Extra
Partagas 160th Anniversary Gran Piramides
H.Upmann 160th Anniversary Connoisseur no 1
H.Upmann 160th Anniversary no 2
H.Upmann 160th Anniversary Prominentes.

Simply place your order online via the following link
http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/partagas-hupmann-160th-anniversary-sampler-only-p-5012.html or email [email protected] to place your order.

Rarest humidor sampler pack £89.00

-single Montecristo B ( Compay)
-single Partagas Sobrasaliente

Inclusive shipping £89

http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/rarest-sampler-pack-p-5024.html

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Collectors item……Festival del Habanos X Presentation pack £120.00

H.Upmann Magnum 50 and Hoyo Especial, double banded specially for the 10th Festival Del Habanos.

http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/presentation-case-festival-habanos-2007-p-5020.html

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Rarest of the rare sampler

Montecristo B (from limited edition Compay humidor)

Partagas Sobresaliente (from limited edition Replica humidor)

H Upmann Tacos Imperiales (from limited edition Replica humidor)

H Upmann connoisseur no.1 (from limited edition 160th anniversary humidor)

H Upmann no.2 piramides (from limited edition 160th anniversary humidor)

H Upmann Prominente (from limited edition 160th anniversary humidor)

Partagas Rodolfos (from limited edition 160th anniversary humidor)

Partagas Dobles (from limited edition 160th anniversary humidor)

H Upmann Magnum Especial ( from limited edition book humidor)

Por Larranaga Magnificos ( UK exclusive regional edition)

10 cigars £349

http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/rarest-rare-sampler-p-5051.html

Por Larranaga Magnificos UK exclusive regional edition available now by courier service

Still my favourite cigar of the last year. Medium strength and full flavour,Great potential to mature to perfection over the next few years and with only 400 boxes made of the 25 count boxes highly collectible

Boxes of 10 http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/larranaga-magnificos-email-check-availability-p-4509.html

Boxes of 25 http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/larranaga-magnificos-email-check-availability-p-4510.html

If you are into single malt ( I know I am ! ) checkout my new website http://www.globalwhiskyshop.com/ Happy to ship worldwide and the selection is quite mouth-watering. Plus you get 10% off your first order!!

Best wishes and a peaceful puffing weekend 🙂

Mitchell

10th Festival del Habanos

Just arrived back from the 10th Festival del Habanos which perhaps should be called ” the biggest cigar party in the world ! “

Whilst most countries have awful anti smoking laws,Cuba is simply heaven for the cigar aficionado as one can enjoy a Puros just about anywhere and everywhere.

The Festival is the perfect opportunity to meet friends,suppliers and clients from all over the world in the Mecca for Havanas and this is the 9th time that I have been privileged to attend and do so.

At the trade convention I caught a glimpse of the Romeo replica humidor due out later this year ..stunning,can’t wait for these to be available.The Romeo Replica follows the Partagas and Upmann Replicas from the last 2 years. These are truly stunning collectors items ( only 200 of each made) and contain cigars of the highest quality in terms of blending,construction and appearance.

The Montecristo B Compay Segundo limited edition humidor was available briefly in Havana and sold out immediately. This is sure to sky rocket in value as did the Montecristo Company 95th anniversary humidor.

The opening night gift was a splendid varnished wooden case containing a Hoyo Epicure Especial and H Upmann Magnum 50 both of which are being re-released in 2008 and the Gala dinner gift was a breath taking black varnished case containing 10 specially double banded cigars.

The Gala dinner was a slick affair that lasted till past 1 a.m. and was attended by importers,distributors,retailers and aficionados.We were treated to non stop entertainment from singers and dancers throughout the evening. We smoked Trinidad,San Cristobal and Cohibas throughout the evening accompanied by some of the finest Cuban rums.

Habanos awards were given out and special awards went to Don Alejandro Robaina as well as Simon Chase in recognition for his incredible work over the 10 Festivals. I had the honour of sitting next to Simon and being a guest of Hunters and Frankau for the evening.My thanks to Hunters and Frankau for the invitation

I’ll put photos of the auction Lots on the website in the next 24 hours. They were quite spectacular with the exception of a rather strange Romeo humidor which had two roosters on the top! Who am I to judge !:-)Jemma Freeman tells me she loves that humidor !

The auction raises money for the Cuban national Health Service and it was a great success raising some 960,000 Euros. The final lot containing 700 cigars sold to Imperial Tobacco for 260,000 Euros.

My friends and I smoked custom blend double piramides rolled last November for me by Yolanda and we were not disappointed ( well Christoph was with one cigar but he’s always complaining!) Full flavour,full strength,smooth and complex…the perfect breakfast smoke;-)

I gifted out many Por Larranaga Magnificos to friends which were well received and hopefully enjoyed in Havana where cigars always seem to taste “better” must be a combination of the mood and the location.

We did a comparative taste test on 5 regional editions and the consensus of best to worst went like this:

1 -Por Larranaga Magnificos

2 -Vegas Robaina Maestro

3 -El Rey del Mundo Vikingos

4 -Ramon Allones gran robusto ( cabinet selection version)

5- Juan Lopez Obus

That said the lowest scoring Juan Lopez still got a 92 rating. I think it just proves that Habanos simply make the most outstanding cigars in the world and it still truly is a unique combination of sun,soil and skill that can not be replicated in any other country.

My buddy Craig was enjoying his first trip to Havana so we took him on a walking tour of all the old haunts La Bodeguita del Medio…for a Mojito,and Floridita for a Daiquiri ( or 3 ! ) Ambos Mundos hotel to see Hemmingway’s bedroom and the roof terrace to take in some great views of Havana,El Morro castle…always impressive and a few great cigar shops including my favourite “Robaina shop” at the Melia Habana where manager Manuel always assures a warm welcome,Partagas factory which is probably the best place to meet all the “usual suspects” in Havana:-) and Villa Nueva which is fast becoming a favourite due to the excellent roller there who seem to be able to craft any shape and size cigar you can think of.

Prado Neptuno is still my favourite spot for dinner even though it seems funny eating Italian in Havana! Talking of Italians….always lovely to see Salvatore Parisi and thanks to Valerio for a lovely evening at his home in Havana.

I’ll pop some trip photos on the website as soon as I get over my jet lag:-)

Saludos

Mitchell

Checkout pictures to go with my Havana blog from the 10th Festival Del Habanos

http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/document.php?id=festivaldelhabanos2008.htm

Say this is just adios and not goodbye :-)

At 81 and no doubt due to his health problems Fidel Castro is standing down after 49 years in charge of one of the last bastions of communism.

I have received many many emails asking what will happen to Cuba now and in particular what will happen to the cigar industry?

I have received even more emails from friends proffering their opinions which are all very interesting.

I’m afraid my answer is that I really don’t know and any views at this stage are purely guesswork.

A senior US state department official, John Negroponte, stated that the 1962 embargo would probably not be lifted “any time soon”.

I wonder if February 2008 box codes will become collectible? (!) 🙂

C.Gars Ltd hold no political views and just want to spread a little happiness by selling the best quality Havanas available.

I’ll be in Havana next week for the Festival and it will be interesting to judge the mood.

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

Aged cigars from Hunters and Frankau

Here’s a sneak preview of some vintage cigars that we expect our importers Hunters and Frankau to make available in the next month or so.

There will be an interesting range of Havanas that have all been quality controlled ( “revisado” stamped”) and are double banded showing the vintage.

I have tested the Bolivar Inmensas and the Montecristo especial both of which had a perfect draw,consistent and good blending and excellent appearance.

I’ll make the full range available on my website in singles,samplers and full boxes as soon as they are released.

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell