I’m happy to report that C.Gars – The City opened last month and we have received a very warm welcome from old and new clients in The City. The premises on very busy Lime Street has a delightful charm about it and a relaxed ambience. There is a comfortable sampling lounge where we serve a delicious espresso to accompany your cigar. The walk-in humidor features a comprehensive range of premium Cuban and New World cigars, singles, small packs, boxes, gift packs and cabinets. We have the perfect cigar for everyone! The range of whisky and premium spirits as well as pipe tobacco and cigars access ..read more

The Mash Tun – Aberlour Greetings from my sunny garden herfing deck where I’m enjoying the new UK launched Aladino Elegantes with a wee dram of Orchant Selection cigar malt whisky.  It feels like Summer is finally here and I’m looking forward to a lot of garden smokes over the next few months Lanceros were out of fashion for a long time but they seem to have become super popular again. I love this size, most elegant for a gentleman and Aladino have completely nailed the blends on their fabulous Elegante range.  Measuring in at 7″ length and 38 ring gauge and available in Cameroon ..read more

Good grief, what a fast and fabulous year it has been. I can hardly believe the holidays are almost upon us! It has been a crazy busy time with the recent and much awaited launch of the splendid Ramon Allones Private Stock 230 UK regional edition 2020 cigar. The ‘ 230’ commemorates the anniversary of our esteemed UK importer Hunters & Frankau. Possibly one of my top 5 cigars of all time. The blend in this cigar is incredibly complex and sophisticated. Very full on flavour, sweet, creamy and smooth.  Measuring 6 ¾” length and 50 ring gauge, the cigar specialist trade first sa ..read more

Greetings from rainy London… Happy to say the weather was far better in New York (sunny and 30c!) where I herfed with friends last week and continued the 25th Anniversary of C.Gars celebrations. My Rat Pack herfing crew spent long evenings herfing at Carnegie and it was delightful to receive such a warm welcome from the boys at Davidoff on 6th Avenue. The final and main event was held at the magnificent Liberty Warehouse overlooking the Statue of Liberty. We enjoyed a decadent evening which included splendid Oliva Melanio cigars (Thanks to Brian Shapiro and Oliva cigars for all of their s ..read more

Greetings from sunny London Hope you enjoyed a smoky Easter break and are stocked up for the May bank holiday fast approaching. This October marks the 25th anniversary of C.Gars Ltd. A quarter of a century in a very tough and highly legislated industry is quite a milestone! To say it’s gone fast would be an understatement. It seems like yesterday that Laura and I set up the business with very little money but great determination to become the biggest and the best in the cigar business. Fair to say we achieved that dream though we are still super excited for the future growth of the mighty C.G ..read more

I’m not sure how merry this Christmas will be with the threat of another Lockdown looming but we are trying to stay as positive as possible and working hard at fulfilling a record amount of mail orders as well as serving record amounts of customers across our retail stores. It has been a crazy fast year and a crazy good year for C.Gars Ltd. Although business has been a bit stop start due to the Pandemic we have still somehow managed to continue with our expansion plans having opened our super popular C.Gars – St James’s store at the beginning of the year and we have another specialist whisky a ..read more

Today, I will talk about a brand that set new standards for the market many times and is now re-emerging from the shadow: Charatan. The story begins in London (1863), more precisely in Masell Street, where Frederick Charatan, a Russian immigrant, opened his shop in which he sold his own Meerschaum pipes. The business quickly bloomed, and the artisan relocated to a more extensive facility in Prescot Street. Around the same time Charatan changed location, the news about the discovery of briar’s quality started to spread. The crafter quickly embraced the new material and started to carve briar pi ..read more

When passion guides your hands, you are bound to create something incredible. Such is the story of Caminetto/Ascorti. If you have followed these posts of late, you will know already that Italy is one of the most famous countries for pipe making. This is further proof. Get ready; we are going back to the Sixties. Just before the decade began, Giuseppe Ascorti started his path to pipe-maker supreme in 1959 when he joined Castello. At the time, Carlo Scotti was the owner. Perseverance and talent immediately meant Ascorti stood out as an impressive, prospective pipe maker. A year later, Giuseppe’s ..read more

Consider the family history of Lorenzetti and you will also glimpse Italy at the beginning of the twentieth century. The founding father of this historic name, Otello Lorenzetti, was born in 1911 in Castelnuovo, Recanati. He was not only an entrepreneur but also a creative man with many passions. Like many other natives, he was from a big family. In his case, he was the fifth child. The family-owned a tavern where he started to work from the age of seven. He would go to nearby St. Agostino and purchase fizzy drinks to resell at the bar. His story is not uncommon for Italians of the same genera ..read more

  I am so happy to have received our shipment of this limited-release Ardbeg. A bottling born during what was a global lockdown, this is definitely one for the history books. Leave it to Ardbeg to create something so delicious in the midst of such an uncertain time.   The third batch of this extremely rare 19-year-old is inspired by the “Singing Sands” of Islay, Traigh Bhan beach. When the wind blows there, the sand is whipped around creating a sound that is almost like voices. To make the whisky, casks – American oak and Oloroso sherry – taken from the deep, dark corners of Ardbeg ..read more