Top 10 Cigars, Whisky Flight Nights, A Big Move Around

Hello everyone from the Norfolk Warehouse! Another week goes by and the realisation of us being a warehouse is in full flow.

On Monday, we were amazed by the amount of online orders we had – at this time of the year and especially considering the weather currently – We don’t expect loads of orders but it really shocked us. We didn’t panic and just like a well oiled machine we got the job done. Afterwards I contacted all of our cigar suppliers to see if there were any stock issues, of which I am pleased to say there aren’t many and then I sent a stock report on our out of stock Cuban cigars to our Head of Operations to see what she could do. In the afternoon, I ordered some Cuban stock (in the hope we get it all). It does seem like the popular cigars are easy to get but not the more obscure lines like Sancho Panza and Saint Luis Rey. 

On Tuesday, I focused on the C.Gars cigar library. I now have the help of one of our marketing specialists Lewis (you may have seen him on our Youtube channel). Together we have been given a large list of articles that need writing and uploading. This week four articles were uploaded! A highlight for me was the Top 10 cigars of 2025 – It is fascinating to see what our most popular cigars are chosen by you! You can read it here, but make sure you check out all of our articles. As well as creating articles, I improved some old ones so they will get more views from people using Google. In between articles, I had a look at some of our oldest out of stock products to see if there was any I could put online. I then contacted our suppliers to see if they have stock of which I found some we will never get again, so I then have to take them off the website.

On Wednesday, I focused on the shop newsletters. Even though I no longer run a shop anymore, my knowledge on the products certainly helped me create the newsletters with the shops. Like I have always said, you need to travel to each of the shops to truly appreciate the uniqueness of each store. C.Gars Leeds have started doing Whisky Flight Nights on Fridays (when they don’t have a cigar sampling event). I think it’s a great idea for £15. Afterwards, Lisa and I started our weekly stock count. We decided to start with Cuban cigars to get them fully completed in a day and then move onto New World cigars. Late on in the day I was tasked to check a price difference between two suppliers. It looks like we can now get PDR cigars from two different suppliers and so I was tasked to see the price difference so we can pass those changes onto our customers. So if you see some PDR cigars go down in price, you are welcome. 

Thursday was stock count day. We were given a new stock sheet to use as a lot of our cigars have had slight name changes, but this was good as the new sheet only had everything that was online at the time, and so anything we found that wasn’t on the stock sheet I put online, it felt like a fantastic day. Afterwards, I was given another task from Chris our assistant manager and my Yoda – He wanted me to find out the sales of certain cigars for January and compare them to February, all the ones he had chosen were on sale in January and not on sale in February and he wanted to see the difference in sales and see if its a popularity issue with the cigar or a price issue. Again I found it very fascinating to see and completed it as soon as possible.

Friday was upon us. We started our day by picking orders and then we started moving stock around the warehouse. We are now moving all pipe tobacco into one room with Ben, so he can manage our stock levels a lot easier. It certainly is an interesting office for him but he will soon get used to it and the best part? His office is next to mine! By the way, I still haven’t moved from where I used to sit in the shop. I have now just claimed it as my office! Afterwards I started to organise our New World humidor, just like I did with the Cuban cigars a couple of weeks ago, all New world cigars will be placed alphabetically. It helps a lot during stock count and if we have any new starters it will help them when picking orders. We have already organised our Davidoff/Plasencia section so it goes alphabetically perfectly – the rest of the brands will just be a bigger task – But as always we will get there!

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s going on.

So long for now.

Oliver.

Regius Orchant Seleccion Nicaragua 2024 Robusto, Cigar Subscriptions and Punch Néctares No. 50

Hello everyone from the Norfolk warehouse! As I get used to having no shop my new role has really taken over!

Monday was the usual busy day of online pickings. Josh and I have always worked well together and this was no different. Both Josh and I worked together to pick all of the orders extremely fast. We both noticed how we are getting more orders for the Regius Orchant Seleccion Nicaragua 2024 Robusto. We had it as a try something new previously and I think it’s really opened some people’s eyes to how good it actually is. After picking orders, I set to work ordering some Cuban stock from our lovely suppliers Hunters & Frankau. We are never guaranteed what we are going to get but we always try to get your favourites like the Montecristo No. 4. Later on in the day I helped pack orders just to get us over the finish line and make sure all of the orders go out on the same day.

On Tuesday, I was learning some more about my new role. I have been thrown in at the deep end with this, but I am loving it! This time I learnt when to take a product offline altogether. So you may see some items saying currently out of stock, but some products disappear altogether. Those that have disappeared should never come back but those that are still visible means we may get them back at some point. I also created all my leaflets for all three April cigar subscriptions. These take a lot of energy out of me due to the amount of concentration but I always feel a sense of accomplishment when complete. Also make sure you sign up to the subscriptions as you save a lot of money doing so! 

Wednesday was a bit different for me. I was back in the parcel booking on department, ensuring all of our parcels go out on time! To say I nailed it would be an understatement. In between parcels I had another lesson. This time it was learning from my mistake – I tried to order some boxes of cigars that statistically don’t sell very well. Chris, the assistant manager, alerted me to this and then showed me how sales reports will be my friend and showed me what actually does sell well and what doesn’t. Before this I had just used my own experience picking the cigars to think if we needed to order more. It was really enlightening to see.

On Thursday, I concentrated on creating an article for the C.Gars cigar library. This time I chose to do one on the Mitchellero Robusto – It’s called Why Mitchellero Robusto Is One of Our Most Popular Cigars. You can read it here. This new style for the cigar library on top of what I’m learning has been tricky but I certainly see why we are doing it. I also opened an incredible delivery! The recently released Punch Nectares No. 50 Regional Edition Ireland 2025 – Cabinet of 50 – Launched 22nd June 2025 in Dublin, the Punch Néctares No. 50 became the first ever Habanos Regional Edition to be produced for the Irish market and the first Habanos to feature “Exclusivo Irlanda”. I carefully checked over the cigars to make sure they haven’t been damaged in transit and put them into stock ready for our aficionados to get their hands on them. Towards the end of the day Josh and I completed the Cuban stock count. Since changing the room so it is alphabetical, it has made it a lot easier.

On Friday, I started my day by picking orders and even doing some packing, and then I went to work making another article for the cigar library. I had more cigars go out of stock of which I organised quickly and then had to send some sales reports off to management.

Overall it has been another great week here in Norfolk, I would like to personally thank Chris for all of the training he has shown me this week. Without him C.Gars wouldn’t run properly!

So long for now.

Oliver.

Vegafina 1998, Cohiba Cigars, Warped Cigars

Hello everyone from the Norfolk warehouse! It has been a truly fascinating week here at the Norfolk Warehouse! A lot has changed for me and our shop sadly doesn’t longer looks like a shop anymore – But onwards and upwards, we will be a fantastic warehouse!

On Monday, we had the usual mountain of online orders! It seemed like lots but as a team we got through them incredibly quickly. I have noticed a lot of people are enjoying our special thank you cigar – The Vegafina 1998 Short Robusto. You can find this at the checkout page. It’s a nice little add on for £12 instead of £21.49! An incredible discount, but you can only purchase this once. After I completed my online orders, I then set to work checking all of our cigars that have gone out of stock and added what we still have online. I’m slowly getting through a long list of cigars that are currently out of stock and seeing if we can get them back – So you may see some of your old favourites make a comeback. Afterwards, I stocked up our Cuban humidor and started placing an order. As many of you know, Cuban stock is very hit and miss, we never truly know what we are going to get in our next delivery. We order what we need but if our fabulous supplier doesn’t have the stock then we have to go without. I spent a lot of time ordering what I felt we needed and luckily we got most of what I wanted. We had quite a few orders for Click and Collect, which I was happy about – We did still have a few that missed the memo about our shop closing but once I explained, they understood and soon ordered online.

On Tuesday, I focused on creating a new article for the C.Gars cigar library. I was about How Much Do Cohiba Cigars Cost in the UK – You can read it by clicking here. Afterwards, I contacted all of the shops to get ready for their shop newsletters. I still get excited to see what they have to offer for their customers. Later on in the day, I was organising sending the last few bits of the shop to other stores for them to get use out of. Again it was another sad moment, but I am loving my new role currently.

On Wednesday, I started my day by picking online orders and then afterwards I sorted through our out of stock list. I am always in contact with my manager and assistant manager as I am new to this sort of role but it seems to be whatever I have asked, I have been correct about. I have been shown how to see how certain cigars perform sales wise and then been able to decide from that if we need to order more. It has been incredibly interesting. Meanwhile the rest of the team have been moving around our pipes. Our pipe room looked beautiful but not suitable for a warehouse and so now we have moved them so they are fully in alphabetical order and easy to pick. In the afternoon, I stocked up our New World humidor and ordered some new stock. We have had a delivery of a very interesting cigar, it’s from a brand that I am unfamiliar with. It’s called Warped Isla Cocodrilo Corona Gordos – The name Isla Cocodrilo translates from Spanish as “Island of the Crocodile” which is a tribute to Cuba, long said to resemble a Crocodile.

Thursday was stock count day. Lisa and I decided to do it a bit different – We completed the Cuban humidor in its entirety and then moved to New World humidor to complete that room. It certainly worked as we completed it by 2.30! Which is incredible! So afterwards, I worked on getting more cigars in stock. I also compiled a list of cigars which wasn’t selling to check that they were online. 

On Friday, I helped out in the packing department! I packed a lot of awkward orders to help the packing team pack the orders that were priorities. Afterwards, I decided to re-arrange my desk. As previously we were a shop, I didn’t have much freedom on my desk but now I can do what I like, so I got a monitor which is high up so I’m not looking down at a laptop screen and moved around some electricals to make my desk nicer. In the afternoon, I started writing a new article – This one is to celebrate the C.Gars top 10 cigars of 2025! I like to do this yearly, but so far this year, I haven’t had the chance to get around to it as I have been learning the new cigar library style.

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks blog.

So long for now.

Oliver.

Norfolk Shop Update, Orchant Seleccion Delivery, A Fond Farewell

Hello everyone! This is a bittersweet post from me today. I am currently writing this on the last day of our Norfolk shop being open! It’s the end of an era and it has made me a little emotional. When I first moved into the shop in 2021, I went in with all of the intentions of improving sales, learning more about cigars and making our shop the talking point of Norfolk. I believe I have done that! And whilst the decision to shut the shop was devastating for me, I fully understand it and support it. Don’t worry about me though, I will still be here in a new role of Humidor Assistant. My experience with the cigars have not gone unnoticed and I am now the go to for our cigar stock.

In my new role, I have been learning a lot that gets done behind the scenes. Each day I will now be receiving emails of what products gone out of stock on our website – I will then check to see if any location has any stock before deciding if the stock should be placed back online. I also need to keep on top of what stock we have and order accordingly as well as general humidor maintenance. I will now be doing weekly stock counts of both New World and Cuban cigars as well as sending my stock lists off to numerous people for them to keep a hold of. It may sound boring on paper but in truth it is very exciting, I love administrative work so this is right up my alley. I am sure I will have more exciting developments as time goes on. 

In regards to the shop? Well it will be unrecognisable! We have already started clearing displays ready to make it into a warehouse. We plan on putting shelving throughout and be able to hold a lot more stock. Talking of more stock, we took the largest delivery of cigars I have seen! We received a lot of Orchant Seleccion cigars – ranging from Drew Estate to Oliva. You name it, we received it!

We have had many customers come in incredibly sad to see us closing, but we have to move on and mail order is certainly the way forward. I even had a nice group of lads who, when they first came in were completely new to cigars, I looked after them up until now, where they know what they like and we like having a chat about cigars, come in and surprise me by buying me my favourite cigar – The Alec Bradley Orchant Seleccion Skinny – I was almost in tears when they presented me with that. 

In case you have missed it, we will still be able to provide you with a click and collect service. So I may still be meeting you at the door with your order, but you won’t be able to come inside unfortunately.

So a rather short post today but I am sure there will be a lot more to come. There will be no retail but a lot more cigars!

So long for now my loyal customers. I hope to see you all around, make sure you order yourself a click and collect for the Norfolk warehouse and ask to see Olly.

Oliver

The Upsetters, Cusano and C.Gars Cigar Library

Hello everyone! It has been a very different week for me this week as I haven’t actually worked in the shop at all! I have had plenty of training, and I have learned a lot of new skills.

On Monday, instead of my usual picking of online orders, I was in the booking on department with Sharon. I have taught her lots in the shop and all about cigars and now it was time for her to train me fully. I always have been confident booking on Royal Mail parcels, however, it was time to learn to book on using different couriers. We use different couriers for different products, they include DHL, FEDEX and UPS – All of these on top of Royal Mail can become confusing. So I spent my day learning all of those different couriers services and i’d like to say I did really well.

On Tuesday, I was back to picking online orders. I have noticed a lot recently that people are purchasing the cigars that was originally a mystery one. For example last month the mystery was a Cusano Churchill and since then I would say I have picked lots since, it is great to see. Afterwards, I had a meeting with our SEO specialist, we discussed the C.Gars cigar library going forward and how it can be improved to help us be seen more on Google, which is always a good thing. He also showed me a very useful tool that shows me how many page visits each article gets as well as how far down the page they actually go. It’s really good to see how many people actually read what I write. Later in the afternoon, I started creating the newsletters for the other stores. I do enjoy working with the stores to see what they have going on and what they need promoting.

On Thursday, I was doing the New World stock count with Lisa. It was very interesting to see how much had changed as the last one we did was at the start of the year, just after Christmas, and you could tell we have had a big re-stock. We also received stock of a cigar that we had been highly anticipating – The Upsetters by Foundation Cigars. We had first heard news of them coming to the UK in August, but there had been plenty of delays since. So I quickly wrote and uploaded an article for the C.Gars cigar library introducing them to the UK – which you can read here. I am very interested in the Jamaican Cow Tongue tobacco that is inside them, it is a very rare tobacco to find and so I decided to purchase a cigarillo to try later down the line. 

On Friday, I was booking on parcels again… But this time by myself! I haven’t ever spent a whole day booking on by myself and so it was a bit daunting, but I got through it and got all the parcels sent by the end of the day. 

On Saturday, I was with Josh and Marcus. We quickly picked the online orders and then separated onto different tasks. Marcus made up some of the pipe tobacco samplers, ready for picking. Josh packed online orders and I used my recently renewed booking on skills to book them on. We were all a well oiled machine. 

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks goings on and I hope to see you all very soon.

So long for now.

Oliver