Sometimes I venture out to look at the sad politically correct world the non-smoking elves live in. And what do I find? Would you believe that around two thousand elves celebrated Guy Fawkes Night (5 November) early this year with a virtual bonfire. For £2 a ticket, they watched footage of the flames projected on to a giant screen at the Ilfracombe Rugby Club in Devon, while a smoke machine and the sound of crackling wood added to the party atmosphere. The event was initiated by the club to get round stringent local Health and Safety rules governing the lighting of fires at public events.

How about a virtual smoke-in, direct from the Smoking Troll’s Cave? No, it’s too bloody sad. Get out there and light up a clutch of cigars while you can. Who the hell needs a video link when you can enjoy the real thing. You’ll be watching films of Gandalf fighting balrogs next…

I had the pleasure of welcoming Simon Chase and Ana Lopez from Hunters and Frankau to our London premises today…they looked impressed with our refurbished humidor:-)

We had coffee ( Cubita of course) and smoked Henry Clay Diamontinos ( glass tubed) that we dated from late 1940’s/early 1950’s ! They were a truly delightful smoke with “tingle of the tongue” quality.Great draw,sweet flavour and medium strength and a smooth colrado maduro wrapper.I was surprised that such an old cigar reteianed so much flavour.I suspect the glass tube worked as an excellent flavour vacuum.

We moved on to The Churchill cigar bar and divan on Portman Square for lunch and Siglo VI’s and a chat about the cigar business in general.

I was pleased to hear that the long awaited arrival of Cohiba piramides L.E. Maduro would finally be with us very early next week.Packed in splendid presentation boxes of 10 cigars with a delicious looking dark and oily 2 year aged wrapper.

Simon mentioned that quantity on the first batch to arrive was very small but we are expecting to get a decent allocation:-)

Best wishes from chilly London

Mitchell

Christies are holding another wine and cigar auction in South Ken on the 16th November.

Sadly not the incredible quantity of cigars we have seen in past auctions but still a few rare beauties including:

1996 limited edition humidor of 50 awesome salomones.Created by my colleague Christoph Wolters and only 100 made this delightful humidor has a price estimate of £6,000

A rare cabinet of 50 Romeo Casa Reales from the early 1970’s containing 100 cigars with a price estimate of £10,000- £15,000

Cigars from the 60’s to present day as well as a few interesting pre embargo Havanas will all be on offer.

C.Gars Ltd acts for many clients at auction as it is most important to check provenance as well as condition of the cigars.We check,we bid,we check when we collect and most important…we deliver worldwide!

I think my company has probably been the single largest buyers of cigars at Christies auctions over the years:-)

I deal almost exclusively in aged and rare Havanas and rarely a day goes by that we don’t see “new” vintage cigars being brought in to our offices for us to buy outright or sell on commisson.Some of the cigars make it onto my online store…most don’t! If you are looking for something in particular…Davidoffs,Dunhills.Pre embargo,Cuban cigar related antiques….let me know,if I don’t have it now…I can probably find it for you

G’nite from London:-)

Best

Mitchell

Sigari magazine from Italy just arrived in the post and featured my article “The cigar scene in the UK” 5 pages including some rather mouth watering photos of some of the vintage cigars that I deal with.Published in Italian but with a lot of English translations this truly is an excellent cigar mag complete with loads of excellent cigar photos throughout.

My friend Ron Wagner has also written a first rate article on Havana cigar packaging which is a must read.

The Italian cigar scene has been booming for the last 5 years or more and there are cigar clubs in most major ( and many smaller) cities.The importer “Diadema” is supportive and pro active as well as very proffessional, no doubt recognized by Habanos S.A. giving the Italian market two splendid regional releases last year namely the Punch Superfinos and Ramon Allones Selection Suprema.

The cigar club association and Diadema also hold a “Habanos Day” Festival that is quite outstanding.

Thanks to Angelo Bigi for inviting me to write for the magazine.

Best

Mitchell

Got a call from a good friend at importers Hunters and Frankau to advise they had spotted some incredibly dark and oily maduro Bolivar Belicosos Finos ( currently my favorite cigar together with Partagas P2’s)…so of course I said “send ‘em!”

Good grief!…these cigars look like they have been painted in oil

If you hurry you can order some singles or a full box
http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/default.aspx?CategoryID=10122&ItemID=cuban_cigars_452

If you don’t hurry…I’ll have smoked them all !

The last two years have seen a complete return to form for this Bolivar with perfect construction,excellent appearance and most important that good old spicy full flavour blend that is associated with the brand.

Good smoking and best wishes

Mitchell