Well that was fast year ! I can hardly believe it’s Christmas already.

I spent the last week up North at our Turmeaus shops in Liverpool and Chester, our La Casa del Habano shops in Knutsford and Chester and of course Puffin’ Rooms in the evenings.

To say we were ‘busy’ would be a bit of an understatement. Perhaps the feel-good factor has returned to the UK after the General Election as it has finally put a little more direction and certainty back into the economy…. Thank goodness!

It’s been a banner year for the C.Gars Group , having opened our new HQ building in Norfolk in the first quarter of the year which included an all singing and dancing Turmeaus retail cigar and whisky shop and comfortable sampling lounge.

We also dramatically increased our premium spirits division with a massive range release and unbeatable pricing. Our Independent bottling Stalla Dhu range of single malt whisky won multiple awards and goes from strength to strength.

We launched the Orchant Seleccion by Drew Estate  to add to our very successful and popular Orchant Seleccion ranges of Oliva, Alec Bradley and Regius cigars.

Our exclusive ranges of AVO ( a Davidoff brand)  and Inka- Secret Blend cigars from Peru clocked up record sales. Our exclusive range of Arturo Fuente had a record year as so many cigar aficionados are now trying out these incredible premium cigars.

We refreshed the image of Turmeaus – Mayfair, our smallest but one of our busiest locations. I think I will have to open a larger Central London store very soon to cope with the demand.

The auction department again held 4 very successful sales with record prices being achieved. Our next sale will be held on March 15^th and we are considering consignments now.

It’s been an interesting year on the Havana cigar scene. I attended the Festival in February as usual and am looking forward to the next Festival. Supply in the UK was generally pretty good it has to be said thanks to our brilliant importer Hunters & Frankau.

We hit some dry patches with Siglo VI, Behike, Esplendidos and Lanceros but they do come in from time to time in small quantity so we have been able to keep the majority of our customers well supplied thankfully. We are hoping that supply will improve next year.

The high point was the release of the UK regional El Rey del Mundo La Reina which was quite superb and sold out in record time. We hope to have more available soon.

The Trinidad Topes and Media Luna cigar were released and the blends are quite stunning so we are confident that the tobacco quality coming out of Cuba is first rate.

The last minute of the year surprise was the release of the Romeo Maravilla. The presentation is superb. Probably the best I have seen and the quality of the cigar is magnificent. This has proved to be a madly popular cigar.

All in all a great year!

So my thanks to my brilliant Turmeaus Retail and C.Gars Mail Order Teams for all your hard work and the biggest thanks to all of our loyal customers. Our database has finally hit the 100,000 mark which is quite a milestone for a cigar business that started out with just Laura and I some 22 years ago.

We continue to be the most successful cigar specialist in the U.K. and look forward to bringing our customers more exclusive products in 2020 as well as more exciting expansion plans in the new year.

I’m heading home soon for the holidays with a bag rather stuffed full of my favourites from 2019 including :

El Rey del Mundo La Reina

Romeo Maravillas

Trinidad Topes

El Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme Orchant Seleccion

Punch Short de Punch

Upmann Sir Winston Gran Reserva ( bit of a treat)

Cohiba 1966 ( a lot of a treat!

… and a bottle of Orchant Selection Cigar Malt ( BIG award winner this year!)

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah.,. Whatever you are celebrating – I hope it’s with a great cigar and a good dram or two of our award winning single malt whisky !

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell

It’s been a rather madly busy time at C.Gars over the last week!…

Our Winter auction took place on the 1st December with a massive catalogue of aged and rare Havana cigars as well as some rather delicious looking whisky. Some incredible prices were achieved including the following:

Lot 120 – Trinidad Gran Panatela – £31,200.00
Lot 305 – Partagas 165th Anniversary – £14,700.00
Lot 292 – Dunhill Cabinetta – £12,100.00
Lot 295 – Dunhill Estupendos – £8,900.00
Lot 325 – Partagas Humidor – £8,750.00
Lot 396 – Cohiba Siglo VI Gran Reserva – £5,050.00
Lot 397 – Cohiba Siglo VI Gran Reserva – £4,950.00
Lot 66 – La Flor de Cano Diademas – £4,750.00
Lot 307 – Ramon Allones Imperiales – £4,100.00
Lot 64 – La Escepcion Gran Gener – £4,000.00

There was substantial interest from many new bidders in the Far East as well as collectors from the UK and Europe. We leave all previous sold Lot prices on the website as a resource that’s easy to access using the sold search function. Our next auction will be held on the 15th March 2020 and we are now considering entries. Email the auction team.

The Cigar Smoker of The Year event was held the next night at Boisdale Canary Wharf. This was the 7^th year for this amazing event which has become the largest event in the UK cigar calendar. The main award went to Dolph Lundgren. Habanos S.A. were presented (by me!) with the Producer of the year award. Giuliani Santilli was awarded Cigar Sommelier of the year. The ticket price included Partagas Serie D No. 6, Davidoff Entreacto, Inka Cristales and AVO Orchant Seleccion Syncro Robusto cigars for sampling on the terrace and we were treated to a sumptuous dinner with splendid wines and whisky to follow.

The Christmas season kicked off with a bang with rather insane amounts of orders being placed last week hitting an all-time C.Gars record of over 4,000 packages shipped last week! Well done to my C.Gars mail order team. No idea how you coped… and it looks like this week will be even busier. If you’re not sure what you need, we are here to assist and advise 24/7 just contact our team. The Turmeaus shops were equally busy and despite being up to the rafters in the finest cigars, pipes and whisky we had to do daily restocking to cope with the demand. Amazing!

The new Havana releases have proved unbelievably popular and for good reason. The blends and tobacco quality on the new Trinidad Topes, Media Luna and Punch short de Punch are simply outstanding. Best cigars I have enjoyed in a long time. Shortages of supply continue however with no sign of Siglo VI (other than in tubes) Behike, Lanceros and Esplendidos.

Cohiba Piramides Extra (I love that cigar!) are also out of stock but we are releasing stock of them from our reserve as well as Cohiba Behike this week as I dare say many of our clients will want one of these special smokes for the Christmas cigar.

My partner Ron Morrison who heads up the whisky division of C.Gars was invited to a lunch awards event in Scotland last Friday and I’m delighted to announce that we picked up a load of award for our already multi award winning Stalla Dhu range:

 

 

 

 

HIGHLANDS

Scotch Highlands Independent Bottler of the Year

C.Gars Ltd

No Age Statement

Gold – C.Gars Malt Orchant Seleccion

Silver – Stalla Dhu Ardmore Single Cask

SPEYSIDE

No Age Statement

Silver  – Stalla Dhu Speyside

Bronze – Stalla Dhu Saorsa Single Cask

We really have become the one stop shop for whisky and cigars in the UK. Best product range, best prices and hopefully always the best service. If not …let me know as I personally guarantee the best of everything for my customers.

Have a smokey week

Peaceful puffing

Mitchell