My passion for cigars is taking me on quite the journey. I recently “competed” in the first UK heat of this year’s Cigar Smoking World Championships. Yep, even I have surprised myself . Here’s how it went down… Background For those of you that don’t know, the Cigar Smoking World Championship is an international competition in the “slow smoking” of cigars. If cigar smoking were an Olympic sport, this would be the closest thing to it. Competitors compete in how slow they can smoke their cigar, with time penalties given for things like dropping your ash or burning the cigar band. The sm ..read more

I love smoking cigars at different cigar venues across London! Did you know that I’ve managed to track down 43 locations to exclusively smoke cigars throughout the capital, including 22 cigar ‘sampling lounges’ and 21 ‘cigar terraces’? So far, I’ve visited 32 of those and have just 11 more to go! My goal is to visit all 43 by the end of the year and continue documenting my experiences on this blog. Of course, this does not include the numerous ‘private members cigar clubs’ or the many ‘comfortable outdoor smoking areas’ or ‘cigar-friendly smoking areas’. Nor does it consider the upcoming cigar ..read more

A few years ago, I visited Tomtom Cigars & Coffee, super close to Victoria train station in London. I sat outside the shop and enjoyed a cigar during my visit. Later, I discovered that there was a cigar lounge downstairs, but it was only open on certain days of the week. Regrettably, I missed out on this opportunity In my previous blog post about the store, I mentioned my intention to revisit the sampling lounge. Recently, I had the chance to fulfill that wish and explore the lounge firsthand Background: Tomtom Cigars & Coffee opened in December 1997 on Elizabeth Street, Belgravia, Lo ..read more

In the last few years, I have been attempting to visit as many cigar venues as possible. My current goal is to explore all the cigar-sampling lounges and cigar terraces in London then as many across the UK and beyond. I am still determining if I can complete this challenge, but I will try my best. The more cigar shops I visit, the more nuanced details I notice about each and every venue. The centrepiece is usually the humidor where the cigars are stored. Cigar humidors are popular and expensive. At the recent 2024 Habanos Festival, a Cohiba humidor sold for €4.5 million (£3.8 million). Du ..read more

I love to keep up with the latest cigar venues opening across London. Last year, it came to my attention that Primrose Hill, near Camden, London, was getting a new cigar shop and sampling lounge, OM Cigars London. So, for a while, this has been on my wishlist of places I want to visit—as I try to visit every single cigar merchant, cigar sampling lounge, and cigar terrace in London. I know, I’m slightly mad! This venue is described on its website as ‘a boutique Cigar shop with sampling. In the heart of Primrose Hill. With a selection of curated Cuban and New World Cigars. We sto ..read more

Hunters & Frankau together with Habanos s.a. are delighted to announce that London and the United Kingdom will host a series of Habanos events over the course of three days, on the 20th, 21st and 22nd June 2024. Each day will have a distinct theme but all will be dedicated to the 55th anniversary of the Trinidad brand. Cocktail Party Thursday 20th June 2024 Source: https://cigars.co.uk/hwd/ Guests will enjoy a classic English garden party with a Cuban twist. Cocktails, Havana cigars, live music and a host of other surprises will be served up, all intended to stimulate t ..read more

It’s incredibly sad waking up to the news this morning of the passing of Min Ron Nee. Min Ron Nee. Source: http://flyingcigar.de/ For those of you that don’t know, he was the author of ‘An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars.’ At the time of release it was the most comprehensive book ever written about post revolution (1962) Cuban cigars. This has been a legendary book amongst the cigar community and very hard to get hold of due to its rarity and often sells for high prices. Min Ron Nee spent a lot of time living in Hong Kong. He had one of the most extensive collec ..read more

If you’ve been following my cigar journey, you know I love visiting all the different cigar venues whenever I travel to a different place. I recently spent a few days in Manchester, the UK’s third-biggest city. Unlike London, there are only a few cigar venues up there. Whenever I speak to a cigar enthusiast from that neck of the woods, I always hear the same places recommended: Astons of Manchester, an experienced tobacconist and supplier of cigars, and the cigar terrace/cigar garden at Dakota Hotel Manchester. Since then, these venues have been on my radar and of course I had to che ..read more

Over the past couple of years, whilst blogging about cigars, I’ve become familiar with the various accessories that come with our wonderful hobby and the cigar companies working hard to ensure we have these accessories to the highest of qualities. A few years back, I came across The Cigar Holder, which sold a wonderful collection of cigar cases. I was so intrigued I had to purchase one of their Cuban cigar cases; see below. View this post on Instagram A post shared by London Cigar Smoker (@ldncigarsmoker) Fast forward a few years, and The Cigar Holder is about to launch a fantastic new c ..read more

So for those of you that don’t know there is a brand new cigar book available to cigar newbies, enthusiasts and connoisseurs at James J Fox, it’s called El Habano Modern: A Collector’s Guide to Cuban Cigars and it’s written by Aussie author Alexander Groom. Alexander Groom. Source: naseerov Some of you may already be familiar with his name, as he is the guy that took over the running of the Cuban Cigar Website at cubancigarwebsite.com from founder Trevor Leask – together they have created ‘the world’s best Cuban Cigar information website’ and it’s been running since 2006. Trevor Leask (on th ..read more