We’ve had another fun week up in the north! Last Wednesday we had another one of our tried and tested Cigar and whisky tasting evenings. So naturally, this week, I’m going to give you a run-down of the fun we got up to across the evening!
Sadly, due to a few last-minute cancelations, it ended up being a bit quieter than usual, but personally I quite like it when we have evenings like that (and not just because it means a less hectic evening for me and my colleagues!) because it means we can shift the pace of the evening to a quieter and more intimate pace than usual, giving our guests plenty of opportunity to ask questions and get to know each other a bit better.
Our last event was a Cuban night, so we mixed it up a bit and had a Honduran evening this time! We were joined by Scott Vines of Tor Imports (our UK suppliers for Alec Bradley and many many MANY other New world brands) to give us the lowdown on what we were sampling.
We started the evening with the Alec Bradley Black Market Punk, which is one of the newer releases from Alec Bradley.
Compared to the hefty sizes of the rest of the Black Market range such as the 6” x 50rg Toro or the 6 1/8 x 54rg Torpedo, it stands at a comparatively diminutive 4 ½” x 42 , but don’t be fooled: It’s a real firecracker of a cigar; absolutely packed with rich, spicy flavours from the very first puff, which are balanced beautifully with a creamy vanilla undertone. I believe this was my first time trying this size (although I do sometimes lose track) but as regular readers know, I’m a big fan of “Big flavour in a small package” cigars, such as Partagas Shorts and Ramon Allones Small Club Coronas, so this cigar suits me down to the ground. I’ll definitely be getting more of these in the future.
Our “Main course” for the evening was from Alec Bradley’s Prensado range: The Robusto. Prensado literally means “Pressed” so it should be no surprise that the entire range is box-pressed. Nobody seems to be able to decide on exactly why manufactures started producing box-pressed cigars; Some people say it was to prevent the cigars rolling around in the box during transport (back when a majority of exporting was done by sea) whereas some people say it was to stop the cigars rolling off rollers’ tables while they were being made. Either way, the resulting cigar is another full-bodied beauty. Sweet, leathery notes with a touch of spice, albeit less spicy than the Black Market, but still very satisfying.
One thing a lot of our guests pointed out was just how consistent the quality of the cigars was, when it came down to construction and draw. It seems like New World cigars really have this element down. I always attribute it to the fact Cuba have pretty much established themselves as the king of the cigar world, so New World cigar manufacturers always seem to go that extra mile to prove they’re worthy of being mentioned alongside King Cuba. Well, Cuba may be King, but it could learn a lesson or two from the New World when it comes quality control!
Along with the cigars, our guest sampled a flight of whisky selected by Steph, our budding new whisky buff. For the evening, she had selected the light and easy Benromach 10 year old, followed by the sweet and smooth Tomatin 12 year old, capped off with something a bit special: The powerfully peaty Lagavulin 12 year old, a special release to celebrate Lagavulin’s 200th anniversary.
All in all, I think the evening went down very well with all our guests. There are plenty more to look forward to for the rest of the year, which can be found here. Keep an eye on the October events especially. I can’t say too much at this point, but we’re planning something very special, including a guest and an extremely exclusive cigar to sample… Got you intrigued? Well, watch this space…!
Until next time:
Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Calum
Thursday and Friday saw me returning to what has to be my second favourite place to work within C.Gars Ltd: Turmeaus Knutsford. Prior to taking over as Store Manager in Chester, I helped set up and run the Knutsford shop, while it was in its infancy, so it’s always nice to get back over here for a few shifts to see how everything’s getting on. The staff here are a universally great bunch (not that this isn’t true of all our stores, of course!) so it’s especially nice to get over here to see them.
They’re simply no frills pipes that we sell in assorted baskets at a great value price. The Cool and Sweet pipes have always been a customer favourite. However, there was always something missing from this range and that thing is filter pipes! Well, we’ve finally been able to plug this gap with a new assortment of 100% genuine briar filter pipes. Now you don’t have to choose between a bargain pipe and a filter pipe, you can have both! Again, these are so new that they’re not actually available online yet, but they can be found at our 
Ok, again, I guess these aren’t technically new cigars (although one definitely fits into the category of “New-ish”) but a couple of Havanas are now being released in cedar lined tubes for the first time and both of them are firm favourites of mine. There first is one of the newer additions to the Partagas Portfolio, the 
That’s right… we sell clothes! Don’t believe me? Check out the link above! Now, I know a lot of the shirts there might not be the sort of thing people who don’t smoke would wear, unless they’re doing it ironically. Although, I guess the line breaks in the “
Not content with just dressing yourself? Fear not; we can also help you dress your house! These super comfy cushions – each featuring a classic quote or image – adorn all of our sampling lounges and our guests always comment on how much they like them, so we made them available to purchase!
This may be one that’s suitable for non-smokers, but I get the feeling cigar smokers would appreciate it a little bit more. After all, what’s poker night without cigars?! Poker is one of my favourite hobbies so I’m glad we can offer a decent range of Casino quality sets, so you can stock up on chips at the same time you’re buying your cigars for enjoying during the game. The 
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 “
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 
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 
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:
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.
That’s all for me this week. I hope you’ll join me in a relaxing, contemplative smoke, in the honour of Yoga Day 😉.
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 200th 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!
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!) 
y edition
