Author: Calum

Are you a Condor smoker? I’m going to have a wild stab in the dark and guess that you’re a little bit annoyed at the moment as there seems to be a nationwide shortage of the stuff! We’ve had people from all over the country in recently, hoping that we’d be able to get some for them, but unfortunately, it’s looking like it’ll be a few more weeks before we’ll be able to get any in! Fear not though, we’re on hand to help with some alternatives in the mean time! You can also request a notification when Condor arrives, via the website.

There’s a particular range of tobacco that is part of Gawith Hoggarth’s Kendal range, that are often referred to as the “Lakeland flakes.” These share some pretty similar characteristics with Condor, so I thought I’d use this week’s blog to give you a run-down of some of my favourites, in case you’re missing Condor and need an alternative!

Coniston Cut Plug In my opinion, this is the closest to Condor that we have. As a cut plug, it’s most similar to condor long cut (although technically a little shorter cut) but if you prefer Condor Ready Rubbed, it’s pretty easy to rub out to the same consistency… if you ask us nicely, we might even do it for you 😉. As for the taste, it shares Condor’s cool, medium bodied character and distinctively floral and woody notes on the palate. Even when we’re not struggling to get Condor, I often recommend this to Condor smokers who fancy a change… but not too much of a change!

Bosun flake Bosun has a similar body and a very similar character, with hints of geranium and wood, but this time, the emphasis is far more on the woody side than the floral side. This gives a far richer tasting smoke, with a little more sweetness than the Coniston. One of my personal favourites for a day to day smoke.

Grasmere Flake

Now we’re going in the other direction: Grasmere flake holds off on the woody notes in favour of a full dose of powerful floral notes and aromas with a sweet cream undertone! Be warned: This is easily the most potently aromatic of the range, so it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, as the powerful floral taste can almost taste a little soapy (in fact, I once read a review for it that simply said “Whoops, I think I just put Imperial Leather in my pipe by mistake!) But if you like that element of Condor’s character, then this blend will give you it by the bucket load!

Glengary Flake In no way related to the curse word laden David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross (/film adaption staring Al Pacino) this flake sits at the milder end of the spectrum. It still has some of the floral notes, but with a far sweeter and more delicate taste, with hints of honeydew. We’re straying a little away from the Condor-esque blends here, but it could make for a nice change while you’re waiting for your old favourite to return!

Ennerdale Flake I’m going to finish with a bang, as this is the most full bodied of the range. While the strength of the casing isn’t quite as potent as the Grasmere, it more than makes up for it with a base of rich dark tobacco that gives this blend a full, dark chocolatey backbone. Interestingly, there’s also a hint of clove in there which would normally put me off, but I think it works really well with the overall sweetness of the blend. So, there we go, I hope that helps a few readers keep going until their Condor arrives!

Until next time:

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Calum

Now, THAT’S an intriguing title, right? You’re probably wondering how that relates to tobacco and cigars? Well, as you may have picked up, I’m one of those people who has a habit of squeezing pop culture references into conversation. One that comes up surprisingly often is a quote from classic US Sitcom, 3^rd Rock from the Sun. For those not familiar with the show, the quote comes where one character is describing the often abrasive, but ultimately lovable main character and she compares him to a piece of “Really stinky cheese.” I don’t remember the quote exactly but it goes something like this:

“Have you ever had a piece of really stinky cheese? I love it. You get all these rich layers of complexity and deep flavours, but to get it, you have to put up with the stink. That’s kind of what being with you is like.”

The reason this comes up so much is that there are a lot of products out there that are ultimately very rewarding and totally delicious, but may initially put off first timers.  So, this week, I’m going to run through some of my favourite “Stinky cheeses” to see why they’re worth persevering with.

 

Twist Pipe Tobacco

This is a time-tested tobacco that is favoured by many experienced pipe smokers. It’s quite naturally off-putting if you’re not familiar with it; dark, oily, somehow slightly evil looking tobacco, coiled into a snakelike rope with names like “BLACK XXX” adding to the air of intimidation. The cold aroma is deep, dark and powerful and the nicotine content is sky high; It’s easy to understand why less experienced smokers might shy away.

However, for the more experienced smokers, twist can be extremely pleasurable to smoke. Similar to plug tobaccos that I talked about last week, the act of slicing and rubbing twist into a smokeable mixture is an incredibly relaxing process. The high nicotine content also means you need to really take your time when smoking this tobacco. The Black variants are actually quite mellow and sweet, taste wise, whereas the Brown twists have more of a spicy, complex, almost cigar-like character.

Latakia

On its own, Latakia smells quite terrifying. Intense tingly smokiness and an obviously high strength. The idea of filling your bowl with it isn’t very appealing. But that’s sort of the point. It isn’t meant to be smoked alone, but is intended as a “Blending Tobacco”. When added to a blend, it adds a layer of silky, rich complexity. There are plenty of awesome blends on the market that use latakia for flavour, such as Scotch Mixtures, Balkan Mixtures and a majority of the Rattray’s range. However, you can also buy it on its own to add some depth to any other blend. I like to keep a pouch of this handy at all times, just in case I end up with a blend that doesn’t have enough oomph for me.

Peated Whisky

Ok, I know this is a tobacco and cigar blog, but we also sell whisky. Also, peated whisky is easily the biggest “Marmite” product that we sell; You either love it or hate it! So, I had to give it a mention here. I’m also a relatively recent convert to peated whisky, so I can understand why it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. More often than not, peated whisky comes from the Islay region of Scotland. Common tasting notes include Iodine and TCP, so it’s not the most appealing of things for the uninitiated! However, once you adjust to the slightly unexpected flavour, you’ll find that no other type of whisky can rival Islays for the different layers of flavour and complexity. Many are like an explosion of flavour across your palate that linger for a satisfyingly long time. When combined with something sweet like sherry or bourbon casks, it can also give a delightful sweet and salty character. Popular Islay whiskies include Caol Ila, Ardbeg and our very own Stalla Dhu, which – as I’m sure we’ve mentioned – recently won a silver medal at the International Spirits Challenge.

 

So those are my biggest “Stinky Cheese” items. Have you been avoiding trying them because you found them off-putting? I hope this encourages you to give them another try. If you do: Let me know how you got on!

Until next time: Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Calum

With this being a cigar and tobacco related blog, it’s not very often that I talk about my other interests (Other than shoehorning in the odd Pro Wrestling or Simpsons reference where I can…) However, one thing I’ve been getting into recently is yoga and last Thursday was International Yoga day, so I’m going to take the chance to talk about that a bit! Personally, I do “DDP Yoga” which is a bit more focused on the physical side of yoga, rather than the “Spiritual” side of it. I’m not really into the whole concept of spiritual yoga and “chakras” or that side of it (No offense to anyone who is, it’s just not my cup of tea!) Even so, after a year or so of doing it, I’ve started to really appreciate the sense of focus, serenity and contemplation that comes along with it. Yoga and smoking might not seem like things that go hand in hand, but when you delve into it, you can see that for many people, the act of smoking is its own form of meditative contemplation. In fact, Einstein once said:

“I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgement in all human affairs.”

So, with that in mind, here are a few of my top choices for a moment of peace: A quiet contemplative smoke.

Plug Tobacco

There’s nothing in the world quite like preparing a plug of tobacco for smoking. From the pungent aromas hitting you as you open the tin, to firmly slicing it into your personal choice of cut, to gently teasing it into a smokeable mixture with your fingers, every stage of smoking this tobacco requires you to take a peaceful moment. My favourites are:

Peterson – 3ps (Peterson’s Perfect Plug) – A dark, strong plug with hints of spice and fruit

Murray’s Warrior Plug – Pure Virginia plug with a full bodied, sweet and treacly taste.

With thick slices and minimal rubbing, any plug becomes a mix that can be slowly “sipped” while your mind gently wanders. Perfect.

 

Dunhill Nightcap

I know that I’ve written about this before, but it definitely deserves a mention here. I know that these days, blend descriptions on tins of tobacco are fading away to be replaced by health warnings, but the official description for Nightcap used to be along the lines of “A blend perfectly suited for the evening and its period of quiet contemplation.” I could just leave it there really, couldn’t I?! To elaborate: The blend is a rich and full bodied mix of all the classic English ingredients: Latakia, Turkish, Perique, all combined with classic Virginia. The result is a blend that forces the smoker to slow down for a moment, to simply take it easy for a short while and relax.

Trinidad Fundadores

It’s more the size of cigar here, rather than actual blend. So, a Montecristo Especial would be just as fitting (Even if it is technically a different vitola.) This long, slim, elegant cigar format allows the full flavour of the blend to be gradually revealed over the course of the hour or so required to smoke one. If you’re used to smoking the more popular, short and stocky, robusto-esque formats of cigar, you’ll be surprised at just how differently these smoke. Relaxing quietly somewhere with one of these and noticing the way the flavour delicately changes with each puff is a truly serene experience.

Cohiba Behike

I’m finishing with the heaviest hitter of the bunch. I’ve said a lot about the awesomeness of Behikes in the past, so I won’t ramble on about them too much. But the unique complexity of them is perfect for a meditative smoke. Each puff reveals a new layer of flavour, with new notes appearing and then blending seamlessly into the taste. A smoke to really think about as you smoke it! We’ve managed to get our hands on a few boxes lately, but they’re insanely hard to find at the moment, so they could’ve already gone by the time this blog goes live!

That’s all for me this week. I hope you’ll join me in a relaxing, contemplative smoke, in the honour of Yoga Day 😉.

Until next time: Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Calum

It’s been a few weeks now since the new tobacco legislation came into effect and people are still adjusting to it. In the grand scheme of things, it hasn’t been too horrible for us. Sure, our packets are now a little more off-putting, (or very off-putting in the case of cigs) but – other than certain flavoured tobaccos- we’ve not actually lost a huge amount of our range.

There were a few bits that didn’t survive though and one thing that we’ve noticed people are really missing is our range of “Custom Blends”. These were “Hybrid blends,” i.e. blends that we concocted in store, consisting of pre-exiting blends, combined to make an entirely new taste. Since the new laws, any blend we sell has to be officially “Registered” which means we’ve had to cease selling them.

However, there’s nothing to say that you can’t buy the individual components yourself and then mix them at home. I’m going to look at getting some samplers containing the blends made up and listed online, so you’ll just be able to buy a pack and mix them yourself at home. But for now, I’m going to give it the Masked Magician treatment and reveal our secrets (serious hats off to anyone who gets that disgracefully dated reference 😉)

Wave Crest

This was one of our earliest custom blends and it predates me my several years (possibly decades). It was also one of our bestsellers, with a crisp maple scent and sweet, aromatic undertone and cool smoking characteristics. The blend for this one was actually pretty simple.  It is:

1 part Gawith Hoggarth New Prince

1 Part Gold Block

I’ve always liked the way this blend works, it mixes a classic “Supermarket Tobacco” with something a little more unusual, with excellent results!

Sweet Leaf/Sadorian Blend

Now, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news. We can’t really replicate Sweet Leaf any more, as a large component of it was shredded cigar leaf, which cannot be “Registered”, so we can no longer do it. Also, I always used to blend it by smell, rather than exact measurements, so I can’t really give you a true recipe.

Fortunately, I actually based Sweet Leaf on one of our older Custom Blends: Mr. Sadorian’s Mixture. This was very much a labour of love, between many staff members and Mr. Sadorian himself. It was an attempt to replicate Balkan Sobranie after it went off the market and was tested and tweaked several times before the final mixture was set.

The recipe is:

2 parts Peter Stokkebye Kentucky MS

1 Part Latakia Blending Tobacco

1 part C.C.

This creates a blend that is a true hybrid: Sweet and mild American Style tobacco, mixed with a light Scandinavian style blend, topped off with a classic, English Mix style Latakia. Something for everyone! If you really miss Sweet Leaf, you can always shred a bit of cigar leaf into the recipe above… it’s a great way to get some use out of any damaged cigars you might have!

The Classic Gentleman

This was a funny one. It was initially made as part of our “Blended by you” Range, where we released a few of our customers’ favourite custom mixes as ready-made blends. However, the customer in question for this blend is none other than Henry, who now works at our Knutsford and Chester stores! This is one we blended together, trying to make a mix that represented the classic English style blends. To make it yourself simply combine the following:

2 part Mac Baren Roll Cake

1 Part Latakia Blending Tobacco

1 Part Perique

I’m a big fan of this one too. It shows how varied and interesting tobacco blends can be, without the need for adding extra flavours.

From what I’ve seen, they were our three most popular and easy to replicate blends, so I’ll leave it there for now. If you have any blends that you like, I’d love to hear it! Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @see_a_con

Keep an eye out for our custom mix samplers!

Until next time: Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Calum

It’s a weird time to be writing this, as it is currently the morning of Thursday 8^th June, General Election day! I’d love to try to do some kind of arduous tie-in between the election and smoking choices, but by the time this goes up, we’ll already know the result. So, I’ll pass on that and look at something a little more stable: Father’s Day!

Even if I do say so myself, we’re a great shop for Father’s Day, as almost everything we sell is a classic “Dad” gift; from Cigars, to whisky, to pipes and even our range of traditional shaving accessories. Hell, we’re just a few golf clubs and pieces of gardening equipment short of just being able to rename ourselves “Turmeaus Dad Supplies”. Not to say that all of those things wouldn’t also make great gifts for ladies, of course!

Ironically, this actually makes it kind of tricky to actually recommend specific products as Father’s Day gifts, as we could just as easily say “Shut your eyes and pick up literally anything” but there are a few things that I think are particularly cool.

Pipes

What’s more Dad-like than a pipe? Now, I’m lucky enough to live in a rare pro-smoking bubble, but I always try to remind myself that not everyone is into it. Therefore, I’d never recommend encouraging a non-smoker to start smoking a pipe. However, if your Dad is already a smoker, giving them the option to try a pipe for the first time can make a lovely, traditional Father’s Day gift. Especially if they’re mostly a cigarette smoker!

I Often put together a “Pipe Starter Kit” for customers, which consists of the following:

A budget pipe

A small portion of tobacco

A basic pipe tool

A packet of pipe cleaners

That’s pretty much all you need to get started on a pipe and if you pick wisely with the tobacco, you can get it all for roughly £30. All you need to do is add a pair of slippers and you’re good to go! Should you wish, you can always make the kit more elaborate with extra accessories: Pipe pouches, Pipe Racks, Lighters and more! You can always save those up if you’re short of ideas for birthdays or Xmasses in the future. Sorted.

Cigars

Ok, I know this is an easy one, but I can’t think of a more apt present for a cigar smoking father than My Father cigars. It’s not because of the name… ok, fine, it’s a little bit about the name. But they’re also an excellent range of New World cigars. We’ve use the My Father – Flor de las Antillas Belicoso at New World tasting nights in the past and they’ve always gone down a storm. Not to mention that the Toro from the same range managed to get the top-spot of Cigar Aficionado’s “Top 25 Cigars of the Year” in the year of its release, 2012.

Alternatively, we’ve also picked a few of our favourite cigars to release with a special “Best Dad in the World” band… because “No.1 Dad” mugs are SO passé…

You have quite a selection of cigars to choose from, with plenty of favourites, including: Cohiba Robusto, Partagas Serie D No.4 and Romeo y Julieta Exhibicion No.4. We also have a few of our top exclusive New World cigars, such as Inka Red Robustos and Oliva Orchant Seleccion Shorty.

For the Non-Smoker

If your Dad isn’t a smoker, we still have plenty to offer! We carry a huge range of Gentlemen’s’ Shaving Accessories, including some beautiful Mahogany Shaving bowls that come with shaving soap in a variety of traditional gentlemanly scents. Traditional razors are always popular too, with many Dads appreciating them over the new-fangled types of razor on the market.

Don’t forget about out award winning Stalla Dhu and C.Gar Malt too, for a delicious dram for your old man!

That’s all from me for this week. I hope I’ve given you some ideas if you’ve been stuck!

Until next time: put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Calum

I’ve written quite a lot about how far I’ve seen C. Gars and Turmeaus grow in the time I’ve been with the company and since our mad week of 200^th anniversary celebrations a few weeks ago, I’ve been thinking about it even more. To my knowledge, before C. Gars took over the Liverpool store, and later the Chester stores, they were both quiet little tobacconists with uncertain futures. I can’t speak for Liverpool, but I know when I started in Chester, not too long after C.Gars acquired it, it was in something of a “Transitional” stage. A new cigar room had been added, but it was still a small, fairly quiet shop. Fast forward to now and both stores have been expanded to two of the largest tobacco and cigar stores in the country! Not only do our stores now attract people from all over the country, but they also host packed out tasting evenings and private functions, something we could have only dreamed about, back when I first started. It’s so crazy!

For mw though, one of the coolest thing about the growth of the company is the fact that we’re now able to have a range of exclusive products that are totally unique to us! I’ve just realised that when you put them all together, there’s really quite a lot! So, here’s a quick rundown of all our awesome smokes and drinks that you can only get through C.Gars and Turmeaus:

Inka Cigars

I believe these were the first exclusive thing C.Gars released. Not only are they totally exclusive, but they’re already pretty unique as the first ever 100% Peruvian Handmade cigar. They’re one of the least expensive handmade cigars out there too, while remaining extremely high quality. They smoke with a sweet and slightly spicy flavour and are available in Long Filler (Red) or short filler (Blue). Popular sizes include the beefy Bombaso and the more slender, Cristales which come in convenient glass tubes.

Orchant Oliva

Oliva cigars aren’t exclusive to us, but they are awesome, with the Flor de Oliva Robusto and Serie V Belicoso currently sitting amongst my favourite New World cigars. However, we do have a range of sizes produced especially for C.Gars Ltd. We have the  Shorty, Chubby and Skinny (Nice descriptive names too, eh?). They are all pleasantly cool smokes, with a medium woody flavour.

Stalla Dhu and C.Gar Malt whisky

I know I don’t usually write about whisky in this blog, but I love all three of these! They are “Mystery Malts” (I.E. Mitchell won’t tell us exactly which distilleries they come from!) Stalla Dhu Speyside is one of the easiest drinking whiskies I’ve ever tried, with notes of Christmas cake and very subtle spice. The Stalla Dhu Islay was the first whisky to get me over my Peat-phobia, as it is easily the most approachable peated whisky I’ve tried, sitting more on the smoke and leather side of the profile, rather than the “Medicinal” side, that seems to put some people off Islay Malts.

The Orchant Selection Cigar Malt (or C.Gar Malt) has a similar character to the Stalla Dhu Speyside as it is from the Highlands, but it has a far more complex taste, a longer finish and slightly more intensity on the spice. Stall Dhu Islay and C.Gar Malt both recently won a Silver Medal at the International Spirits Challenge 2017, so it’s not just us that thinks they’re awesome!

Skin Gin – Turmeaus 200^th anniversary edition

Our latest Exclusive! Skin gin has always been popular at our stores and now we have our own one to celebrate our birthday (In classic Turmeaus Colours too!) These Gins are handmade from a variety of botanicals, which means (like our stores) no two are exactly alike, but you’re guaranteed a quality experience from whichever one you choose. Clean and fresh, great for drinking neat or mixing!

Turmeaus Pipe Tobacco

The new laws may have prevented us from making our own custom blends (such as Sweet Leaf and Wavecrest… but watch this space, they might be back in a slightly different form…) but we can still sell our official exclusive Turmeaus pipe blends. These are a selection of traditional English style pipe mixtures, flavoured with rich Latakia and other “spice” tobaccos. My personal favourite is the Orchant Selection, which uses finest Havana Cigar leaf, to enrich an already delicious blend!

So that’s a rundown of our totally exclusive products! Make sure you check them out if you’re looking to try something new!

Until next time: Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Calum

Phew. I think I’m still recovering from the insanity of last week. After back to back tastings, we also hit the dreaded deadline of May 20^th. That meant that all the new laws officially came into place for retailers, so a large quantity of our stock had to be taken off the shelves. We’re still working our way through the fallout of this, with many disappointed customers finding out that they can no longer buy a small portion of tobacco (or any portion of flavoured rolling tobacco.) The new “Plain” tobacco packaging is going down exactly as well as expected too, but never mind!

Thankfully, there are plenty of alternatives about. If you’re looking for small portions of tobacco, the rule doesn’t apply to coarse cut/pipe tobacco, so the you can still buy little portions of it. If you’re missing the massive Auld Kendal range of flavoured rolling tobacco, you’ll be pleased to know that the Kendal range offers the exact same range of flavours. While it is technically for pipes, I know many people use it as an alternative for cigarette tobacco, so at least there’s something to fill the void!

Alternatively, you can buy Flavouring Sprays or Cards that will alter the flavour of pretty much anything you put them with. So, all is not lost!

Anyway, I’m currently sitting out in my garden in beautiful sunshine, enjoying a pipe that I’d almost forgotten about: My Falcon. I brought this ages ago, but I ended up putting it away and it’s been years since I last picked it up, until I spotted it a few days ago.  After a quick clean up, I lit up a bowl of Rattray’s Marlin Flake (Treacle in a bowl!) and wondered why I ever stopped smoking it in the first place. If you haven’t seen one before; Falcon pipes have a stem that is entirely made of metal and has a very thin, central passageway for the smoke to pass through. This makes for an unbelievably smooth and cool smoke. Off of the top of my head, I can’t think of any other pipes that do something like this, so it certainly makes them unique. For me, that feature alone is impressive enough, but they have a few other tricks up their sleeves.

Falcons are also one of the only pipes I’ve ever seen that have interchangeable bowls! Rather than attaching at the shank like most pipes, the bowl is screwed directly on top of the stem and smoke is drawn through a hole at the bottom. This makes it easy to mix it up and experiment with different shapes. You can buy the bowls directly from our Chester Store. As a final unique twist, they also use a “Dry Ring”. This is a small ring made out of the same stuff as pipe cleaners, it sits under the bowl and soaks up some of the unpleasant goop (excuse the complicated jargon) to give an extra clean smoke.

Considering how much you get, I think they’re pretty good value at £31.99, so I’d definitely recommend trying one out if you’re looking for a new pipe to try, They’re really quite unlike anything else on the market!

Anyway, it looks like we’re in for a bit of a heatwave, doesn’t it? So just for tradition’s sake, here’s a quick mini-entry for my obligatory annual “My top smokes for enjoying on a hot day because we finally have nice weather for a change”-blog!

Samuel Gawith’s English Summer Flake – I tried this for the first time today and it came as a very refreshing surprise. A lot of “Summer” blends tend to lean towards traditionally summery things: Flowers, red fruit, tropical fruit, sun tan lotion, etc., etc.  This blend goes the other way and is a simple, uncased, Virginia flake with subtly sweet flavour with occasional natural hints of citrus and straw. Stays very easy and pleasant throughout and leaves a clean finish.

Romeo y Julieta – Wide Churchill – Obligatory cigar mention! I’m not always into Romeos, but I find these really hit the spot. The extra few millimetres in the gauge allows for a flavour that is more complex than the average Romeo, but still remains mellow. Satisfyingly huge clouds of smoke that never get too heavy for a hot day.

New Prince – This is a great example of a and aromatic blend that takes “aromatic” pretty literally. It has a very pronounced, crisp maple and vanilla aroma, but the flavour is actually extremely subtle. Light, golden tobacco adds to the overall mellow taste of it, so it will never be too heavy for when you don’t want to clog up your palate.

Of course, it also goes without saying that the aforementioned Falcon pipes are also a great choice for hot weather, due to how clean and cool they smoke!

Until next time, put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Calum

Oh. My. Gosh. What an insane week! I don’t think it’s possible that you could be reading this blog and not know about what’s been going on, but just in case: We’re in the middle of our 200^th Anniversary Celebrations! It’s been one hell of an intense week so far, but also extremely satisfying. To give you an idea of how insane this week has been, I’m squeezing in writing this blog during the second set of a performance by Opera singer, Russell Watson at the fabulous Opera Grill in Chester, before Chad and I go back to providing cigars for the guests. While puffing away on a Belicoso Figurado from the Drew Estate Liga Privada No.9 Sampler, naturally. Meanwhile, our colleagues in Liverpool are simultaneously in the middle of hosting another packed out tasting night… talk about all-go!  But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s backtrack.

The birthday celebrations began on Tuesday, starting off in Chester with a huge range of guests providing free samples of all sorts of fun stuff including Masons Gin, Liverpool Gin and Jura Whisky. There was even the option to take a virtual tour of the Isle of Jura, thanks to the magic of VR technology… I told you we were going to go all out, didn’t I? Best part: That was only the first part of the day! We rolled straight into another one of our ever-popular cigar tasting evenings, with the help of Scott Vines of Tor Imports. The event had a New World vibe and we focused on Oliva cigars, a portfolio that contains (IMHO) some of the finest cigars to come out of Nicaragua.

We started the evening with the aptly named Oliva Orchant Selection Chubby which measures up at a stocky 4” x 60rg. The hefty gauge makes for an exceptionally cool and easy draw with delicate but satisfying woody flavours. This was our starter cigar, as it’s got the perfect blend for tantalising your palate and getting you in the mood for more cigars. We then moved on to an Oliva Serie V Belicoso as our main course. Even though I love Oliva Cigars, I’d somehow missed this one out and never tried one. Well, let me tell you: It blew me away! Full bodied, rich and spicy, but perfectly balanced with notes of cocoa and nuts. Definitely making its way into my rotation from now on. I’d definitely recommend trying one if you haven’t already.

On top of the delicious cigars, our guests were offered our (now award winning) Orchant Selection Cigar Malt and Stalla Dhu whisky or a selection of Cuban Rum for refreshments. But we weren’t done there. As this was our big two-oh-oh we also had a specially made birthday cake to mark the occasion. But we’re still not done! We carried on the hi-tech vibe of the daytime, with another VR tour, this time of the Oliva tobacco farms and cigar factories. We finished off with a good old fashioned  British raffle, which had some absolutely ridiculous prizes, including bottles of Tomatin Whisky, Colonsay Gin, Davidoff cigar accessories, Kopi Luwak Coffee and our star prize: A complimentary meal at Chester’s incredible “Upstairs at the Grill” followed by cigars and aperitifs at Bar Lounge. Very Jealous of the winner of that one.  We finished with delectable Dictador coffee and then called it a night. It was one of our best evenings yet, big thanks to all the staff and customers who made it so special.

Next up, the following day it was Knutsford’s turn. As soon as I finished in Chester I hopped on the train to lend a hand there. It was pretty much the same set up as Chester’s event, so I won’t repeat myself, but it was fantastic to get back over to the Knutsford store and catch up with their staff and customers, many of whom I hadn’t seen for nearly a year. I was gutted that I missed out on the Liverpool Gin themed Tesla that we had parked up out the front, but you can’t win them all.

That brings us to today. As I type this, the Liverpool tasting night is in full swing. I can’t tell you too much about what’s going on over there, but I trust it’s an awesome night us per usual. I’m sure you can see all about it on Social Media.  Meanwhile, Chad and I are just getting our table set up at the Russell Watson show at the Opera Grill, so we can provide post-show cigars for the guests. We’ve brought along a few of our favourites, including Davidoff Yamasa Toro, Joya de Nicaragua Cabineta Short Churchills, Inka Secret Blend Rojo Robustos and the classic Montecristo No.4. So we have something for all tastes!

I’m going to have to sign off there and get back to my post, but I hope I’ve given you a rough idea of just how amazing this week has been. It’s a real sign of just how much the company has grown and I genuinely can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. Here’s to another 200 years!

Cheers!

Until next time: Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Calum

Oooh it’s good to be back! I had a brill week of dossing about in the sun in the Lake District, but I’ve got to admit it’s nice to be back in the shop. So here I am in my usual spot in the Whisky Shop, with a sweet and floral bowl of Bosun Cut Plug in my pipe, back to my blog as normal. I was glad to see that the shop had been running brilliantly in my absence, with preparations for our anniversary events in full swing. Norfolk have just had their event, which was a bit far away for me to attend, but I heard they had a fantastic night! There’s still time to book into one of our three remaining ones at Chester, Knutsford and Liverpool (Tickets can be found here) so don’t miss out!

We’re also approaching the final week to buy flavoured rolling tobacco and small sample portions of any rolling tobacco, so don’t forget to stock up if you’re a fan. I’ve blogged about that a lot lately though, so I’m not going to go into it anymore today!

On top of all that fun business going on, we’ve also entered the racing period in Chester. For those of you who don’t know, Chester Racecourse is a stone’s throw from our shop and we get a lot of people popping in en route to the racecourse to stock up on cigars (because cigars and horse racing go hand in hand, of course!) Naturally we’ve been making sure we’re prepared, with a selection of convenient race day samplers available in store, with a small selection of cigars, a cutter and matches, so people can grab everything they need for a day at the horses in one convenient package. If you’re heading to the races this year, make sure you pop in to see us!

Anyway, what else has been going on? We’ve been putting on our school caps in the northwest with a couple of cigar training sessions. We started the other week, with Hunters and Frankau popping up North to give host to the introductory level of their Havana Cigar School for some of the newer staff members. I stuck around for a bit of it (never too late to brush up on the basics) and was reminded of how much I enjoyed getting into cigars for the first time. Now all our staff in the north have a solid foundation of cigar knowledge, so feel free to pop in to test them at some point. During the training, the attendees sampled a box of Montecristo No.4s and I managed to nab myself a delicious Ramon Allones Specially Selected. Damn, we know how to do training right ;-)!

Keeping the ball rolling, a bunch of us popped over to Liverpool’s plush new store at the Albany (I’m still a little bit jealous of their massive, record breaking cigar room) for some training from Davidoff in their lounge.  Davidoff cigars are often a point of contention with a some of our staff and customers; They are unquestionably good cigars (the Nicaragua Robusto and Winston Churchill Churchill are two of my faves) but they do also carry a price tag that is close to that of a Havana, which some people resent paying for a New World cigar. This training session really helped open our eyes to just how much goes into the manufacture of Davidoff cigars, with some insanely elaborate blending and sourcing combined with some seriously extended ageing processes… some of their leaves are aged for up to TWENTY years before being used. Now it’s easy to understand the price tag! During the training, we all got to sample a Davidoff 2000 from their classic range, which is an excellent measuring stick for high quality Dominican cigars. We also got to try something very new and exclusive, which I’m going to keep to myself for now, but hopefully we’ll be wrangling some for our stores in the not too distant future, so you’ll be able to check them out for yourself. Don’t worry: I’ll let you know when I can ;-)!

I’m so glad that we can offer so much training for cigars, I’m pretty sure a lot of the staff in attendance will be true cigar connoisseurs in no time! Even the more experienced of us are still picking things up; I’ve definitely gained a lot more of an appreciation for some of the more unusual  cigars produced by Davidoff, such as the Yamasa range, which use tobacco from the Yamasa region, where many people thought it was impossible to successfully cultivate tobacco. This makes them quite unlike anything else on the market! If you are still a bit put off by the price, there are a couple of decent budget options: The Petit Panatela and Belicoso from the Winston Churchill range are both excellent value for short smokes. They’re both medium filler, but honestly, you wouldn’t guess it from how smooth and complex they are to smoke. Great as an introduction to the range.

That’s all for me this week, we have one more race day in Chester for the week (wish us luck!) and then we’re heading straight into our anniversary event. Hope to see some of you there!

Until then: Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Calum