We met El Artista at the Intertabac show in 2019 and have been excited to work with them ever since.
HISTORY OF EL ARTISTA
Tamboril, Dominican Republic (1955). A cigar craftsman named Ramon A. Rodriguez (aka Don Pulita) decided to create a new business in the tobacco industry with his friend Don Jose J. Dominguez. The Tabacalera was born in 1956 with the name of Puros Cibao and producing the brand with the same name. The business began in a warehouse with a small staff of 9 craftsmen and a monthly production of 10 thousand to 12 thousand cigars that were sold in the local market.
In the early 70’s, the distribution began through the country with a monthly production of 500 thousand cigars. Because of the acceptance of our good quality brand, other cigar factories followed our steps; this was seen as a business opportunity to become a raw material supplier.
In the same period Mr. Dominguez decided to transfer it shares to Don Pulita, leaving him as the absolute owner of the company. By 1976, Osvaldo R. Rodiguez (Don Pulita's youngest son) passed to be the president of the company, a meritorious student of business administration with the experience, the wisdom and the vision of take the company to a higher level. The goal was achieved by making radical changes in the company but maintaining the traditions and techniques that his father and mentor taught him.
By 1995 the company made huge changes on its products and techniques. Also, the name changed to Tabacalera el Artista S.A. a name chosen to reflect that their members are artist in the production of premium cigars.
In 1996 there was the famous BOOM of the Dominican cigars and the company took advantage to commercialise worldwide the renowned Don Augusto brand, breaking expectation of sales and production of cigars.
Today Tabacalera El Artista S.R.L. is a combination of tradition and decades of experience, with an adequate infrastructure of 60,000 sq ft for the production and packing of any kind of tobacco product. It specialises in the manufacturing of premium cigars and supplying raw material to many large and highly known companies all over the world. Now you can experience these fine smokes for yourself in the UK here: El Artista
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It’s been 3 years since we were last able to visit. Our hotel and flights have been carried over from 2020 to this month. We didn’t really make plans on who to see, other than our current brands. We had heard rumours of some rather significant absentees this year - Davidoff and Perdomo cigars jumped to mind.
Nonetheless, Joe and I got in a taxi on Thursday morning at 4am to begin our journey from Heathrow to Düsseldorf, train to Dortmund and then a taxi to the exhibition centre in Westfallen.
We checked into our hotel opposite the exhibition centre and got hot-footed it over to the show. Westfallen is a huge exhibition space covering eight halls of various sizes.
Over 500 exhibitors and over 14,000 visitors. The first day was a bit of a blur as we wandered a little aimlessly between halls before getting our bearings. Cigars are actually a smaller part of the show than you would expect, the show is dominated by shisha and cannabis products - Mike Tyson came to represent blunt wraps (think he’s made more money with cannabis than from his boxing career!)
Our main aims for the show were to catch up with the brands we represent and see what’s new and interesting. Sadly Dean from Epic Cigars, Dr. Gaby Kafie of Kafie 1901 cigars and Ian of Dapper Cigars couldn’t make it - we’ll get them next year! It was great to have a catch up with Daniel of El Viejo Continente as well as spend some time with Laurent of Skull 77.
Having been involved with cigars for the last 10 years, we’ve made a lot of friends and after this pandemic break, it was great to be able to say hi to them in person.
We noticed a lot of Intertabac first timers but, also the reduced size of several big stands previously. Shows we are still recovering from the pandemic. Next to PCA Las Vegas, Intertabac is the next biggest trade show.
Highlights of Intertabac 2022
A must attend event of the trade show is the annual Cigar Journal Awards, the only awards for the industry.
It’s amazing to see all the legendary producers, master blenders, brands of all sizes, shop owners, distributors and accessory makers together in one small venue waiting with baited breath for the announcement of each category winner.
BEST BRAND 2022
Best Brand Cuba 2022: Partagás Serie D
Best Brand Dom. Rep. 2022: Davidoff Dominicana
Best Brand Honduras 2022: Rocky Patel Number 6
Best Brand Nicaragua 2022: Oliva Serie V Maduro
Best Brand USA 2022: The American
BEST CIGAR 2022
Best Cigar Cuba 2022: Partagás Serie D No.4
Best Cigar Dom. Rep. 2022: A. Fuente Don Carlos Presidente
Best Cigar Honduras 2022: Plasencia Cosecha 149 Azacualpa
Best Cigar Nicaragua 2022: Undercrown 10 by Drew Estate Toro
Best Cigar Italy 2022: Toscano Antico
BEST VALUE 2022
Best Value Dom. Rep. 2022: La Aurora 107 Nicaragua
Best Value Honduras 2022: C.L.E. Corojo
Best Value Nicaragua 2022: Padrón Classic Series
BEST CIGAR ACCESSORY 2022
Les Fines Lames Le Petit
BEST LOUNGE 2022
Grand Cathedral Cigars, Tampa | USA
CHARITY & COMMUNITY 2022
Escuela Oliva Estelí
AMBASSADOR 2022
Didier Houvenaghel
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
A.J. Fernandez
Overall it was a good show with quite a few new brands showcasing their products, We probably needed to stay another full day to get the best out of the show but we did find several interesting brands to talk to. It was good to see Laurent of Skull 77 and Daniel of El Viejo Continente and also to chat with our upcoming brand launch owner. Yes, finally we are ready to launch our 6th brand partner for the UK market very soon. Keep an eye out on our IG (@boutiquesmokes) and your email inbox for news on the new brand launch……….
It took a while to get through the many samples we brought back from the trade show but, Dapper Cigars was one of those brands that made us sit up when we smoked their cigars. The La Madrina Robusto was a stand out smoke for us. The beautiful dark Ecuadorian Cuban seed Habano wrapper with this cool skeletal hand holding a rose was not only eye catching but the cigar had bags of flavour to boot.
We began chats with Ian Reith (founder of Dapper Cigars) and Habib in mid-2020, to see if our business model was compatible with their expansion and distribution plans for Europe. Coincidentally a friend, Emmanuel of Bosquet Paris (exotic and exclusive humidors and cases) mentioned in a chat, a cigar company he knew in California and also introduced me to Ian.
A year later and we are so proud to introduce our first new brand of 2021, say hello to Dapper Cigars.
WHO ARE DAPPER CIGARS?
Founded in 2013 by Ian Reith. Ian’s love of cigars and launching a cigar brand is not an uncommon story in America. Based in Fresno, California, Ian’s background is tech and software. A quote Ian is famous for, is that “Dapper Cigars was founded with the goal to make just one great cigar for him and his friends”. What started as a small personal project has since grown in to an internationally distributed artisanal cigar brand in 7 years.
It was his next door neighbour, Chris Alvarez, who came up with the name of the brand after seeing the early creations and said, “now that’s a dapper cigar”. The brand name has an old vintage ring to it and that is reflected in the decoration of the boxes too.
Presently Dapper Cigars are made in Nicaragua. Ian started working with a small factory in Estelí, Nicaragua to begin with. Smaller factories were probably happy to get the extra work and probably had lower minimum orders than the bigger factories. The original project was the Cubo Claro which has a Connecticut wrapper, very popular in the USA. Cubo Claro started the ball rolling and word spread quickly expanding quickly from just his friends to finding their way into local cigar shops. Something I noticed when researching Dapper Cigars is that they use a lot of tobacco from the Oliva Tobacco Company. Oliva is one of the oldest tobacco growers in the New world and started back in 1969. From humble Cuban roots to the successors having one of the world’s best stock of tobacco, the Oliva name means quality tobacco.
We're very excited to welcome 3 cigars from Dapper to our line-up; the Cubo Sumatra Short Robusto, the La Madrina Robusto and the El Borracho Natural Edmundo, all available here: Dapper Cigars
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Cigars are not perfect and neither is the tobacco used or the people making them. Every leaf is unique, as is every roller and every step involved in cigar making, and therefore every cigar is unique. They just try to make them within limits regarding weight and draw.
If you’ve smoked a few cigars, it’s quite probable that you have encountered at least one of these burn issues. All burn issues can affect the taste because something isn’t right with the leaf/ cigar/ construction and any correction needed using a lighter or match would in some small way, affect the taste ever so slightly. In general, the majority of us wouldn’t taste the difference unless we scorched or burnt the tobacco by being a little overzealous with a lighter.
The most common examples of burn issues are:
Canoeing -
(Picture from http://www.talkingtobacco.com)
Canoeing is a type of burn issue which makes the wrapper burn unevenly down one side of the cigar. There are several causes which include incorrect lighting, humidification, uneven thickness of the wrapper and wind or air conditioning. They are correctable in most cases if you catch them. Most canoes do stop at some point but if you don’t manage it, you could say goodbye to the cigar.
“Touching up” is the easiest way to manage a canoe and this is not something you will get arrested for. Using a lighter preferably, light the unlit wrapper part at the top and work your way down to where the wrapper meets the bottom of the unburnt wrapper. As the wrapper is thin, it will burn quickly alone so you can do this with the cigar in hand and not in your mouth, as it’s easier to see where you are burning.
If you catch a canoe before it gets bad, you can slow it down and even it out by licking your finger and moistening the wrapper below the fast burning point. You might need to use your lighter to touch up the burn and allow it to catch up.
Another way to handle a canoe if you catch it early, is to rotate the cigar whilst you smoke, so different parts of the foot are exposed to wind or air conditioning. It does happen quite often when you are out walking just due to wind direction. Indoor smoking can cause canoes because of the air conditioning/ extraction. Just change your seating position and/or rotate your cigar whilst you smoke.
We mentioned humidification as a possible cause for canoeing. It pays to rotate your stock on a regular basis as well as move the source of humidification around. Plenty of us now use Boveda packs, which we place directly on cigars and leave it. Move them around. If you leave it in one position, there is always the chance the contact side of the cigar receives more humidification that the rest of the cigar. This means the contact side will be a little bit more moist than the other part of the wrapper so will burn slower than the slightly drier sides. Recommendation - keep your humidification systems separate to your cigars and avoid direct contact if you can.
Tunneling -
(Picture courtesy of www.holts.com)
Tunnelling is a construction issue whereby part of the filler of the cigar burns quicker than the outer filler, binder and wrapper. It looks like a hole in your cigar in the centre (usually) that goes deep into your cigar. It could be a missed out leaf or wrongly located leaf. The ligero leaf is the thicker, slower burning leaf of the filler, not all fillers contain ligero so it would be more down to construction mistake in these cases, so if the ligero is misplaced or missing then it is possible for tunnelling to happen. It has been said that it comes from very slow smoking. Again, the centre of the cigar tends to be the hottest point and if you are a very slow smoker, the centre can go out whilst the binder and wrapper continue to burn as they are thinner.
Again, using your lighter and focusing on the centre of your cigar can fix the heating issue. You can also allow the cigar to go out totally and then cut the cigar below the tunnelling burn. You do risk the chance of having to make several cuts and losing a fair bit of your cigar.
Runners -
(picture from www.stogiefresh.info)
This is one of the rarer burner issues and this hasn’t been personally experienced. A runner as its name suggests is when the wrapper burns very fast and with a strange wonky burn line (burn lines tend to be fairly even). This is a leaf issue, as runners occur when a vein in the wrapper catches and burns down very rapidly, producing the strange burn line. It’s like burning tissue paper, a runner can happen fast.
Like a canoe burn, you can moisten your fingertip and wet the wrapper below the runner burn to slow it down.
Splitting -
(picture from https://i.imgur.com/rgFLldg.jpg)
This is the odd burn that makes your ash split into two like an exploding stick of dynamite in a Road Runner cartoon (ok, the majority of you might be too young to remember these cartoons) or the exploding cigar might be easier to visualise?
Over-humidification of the filler and a dry wrapper can be a cause of this. If you didn’t already know, cigars actually absorb moisture from the inside out. If a cigar becomes over humidified, the filler can expand faster than the wrapper and literally explode out of the cigar. Often seen at the foot of cigars but can happen along the body of your cigar anywhere.
Lower humidification level can help sort this issue out or dry boxing your cigars before smoking.
Another possible cause of ash splitting is fast smoking. By this we mean, rapid draws on the cigar. The filler overheats, expands rapidly and bursts through the wrapper.
Easy fix for this one, slow down! Not only can fast smokers cause exploding cigars, the over heating of the cigar can also change the flavour and cause more bitterness in the taste.
Holes -
(picture from https://allthecatsjoinin20.wixsite.com)
Random holes can appear along the wrapper out of nowhere and these are construction issues. A channel within the cigar is accidentally created by the roller which allows the heat to travel down within the cigar and then exit via a hole in the wrapper lower down. You may even spot the hole forming as it starts with a black spot, like when you use a magnifying glass on a piece of paper.
You can try to manage a hole burn by catching the unlit wrapper with your lighter and burning it even down to the hole.
This list of burn issues isn’t exhaustive and the methods to deal with them are just suggestions. We hope you don’t encounter them but at least you know how to deal with them in some way.
Long ashes
]]>U.K. cigar pricing - it’s not price gouging, so we'll show our workings.
]]>The environment includes the layout, the decor, the furniture, the music, the temperature and even the smell of the room. As we noticed over the last 6 months, many of our customers smoke indoors and whilst it is very pleasurable, there is sometimes the issue of stale cigar smoke. The issue is sometimes solved by simply opening a window, however we looked at a few options which would be more effective in terms of smell and still kind on the pocket.
We discovered Half-cut Candles on Instagram and really liked the idea of working with a UK company. Even better was that one half of the couple was actually buying cigars from us already (thanks for the support Marco). We chatted over IG and we really liked the idea of their business. They “up-cycle” wine bottles (which would normally end up in a landfill and take 1 million years to decompose). They don’t stop there, the wax is sourced sustainably and they have a qualified candle maker who is also studying perfumery. Each bottle, used for these candles is cut and finished by hand. The wax is 100% natural and they use the finest quality candle oils.
They have a large selection of fragances to choose from but we quickly narrowed the standard selection down to 3 scents:
Tobacco & Oak
This scent has a heart of rich sweet tobacco and warm spices. Smokey notes of oak and a hint of cognac combine to complete this fragrance.
Mocha
This scent is fresh brewed coffee with a chocolate undertone which is sweet and has a rich aroma.
Cedarwood
A clean scent, with bold notes of cedarwood and fir needle, combined with notes of grass and hay.
Note: thanks to Louise for the descriptions as there’s no way we could have written that
Each candle has a burning time of approximately 30-40 hours. Available now, find out for yourself here
]]>The father of Epic Cigars is a chap called Dean Parsons who, in his previous incarnations was a semi-pro hockey player, a Canadian Police Officer and a Real Estate mogul in the Caribbean. Dean has enjoyed cigars for over 25 years but, it wasn’t until he had relocated to the Dominican Republic in 2009 and was touring the island on a Harley Davidson, that he came up with the name that would represent his cigar - Epic. An Epic cigar for epic moments. Rather think he hit the nail on the head with the name.
Epic was launched in 2010 and Dean took the role full time in 2012. The cigars are made at the Charles Fairmon factory in Santiago de los Cabelleros, Dominican Republic.
Joe and I met Dean at the 2019 Intertabac show. It wasn’t a brand I knew much about, although I had seen it on IG and Facebook. He’s a self-made guy and made cigars that represent him and his tastes. After smoking a few samples we got, we agreed, we had to get these cigars in the UK.
We are proud to welcome Dean and Epic cigars to the Boutique Smokes portfolio for the U.K. cigar smoker. But don't just take our word for it, you can try them now here; Epic Cigars
]]>For Father’s Day on June 21st we’ve put together 2 great offers for you (or your loved ones) at special prices. Offer 1 is for the Cigar Journal and El Viejo Continente cigar stand and Offer 2 is for the Cigar Journal, El Viejo Continente cigar stand and a 3 cigar sampler pack (El Viejo Continente Classic Robustom, Kafie 1901 Sumatra Toro Bello and the Skull 77 El Niño), both offers at reduced prices!
I wish I had something like this when I first started smoking cigars, seriously. A customer from my Edward Sahakian cigar shop days, told me he used to write little notes on the back of his bands and that’s how he remembered them. I did this for quite a few months, I can write small. I’ve collected bands since I took up cigar smoking seriously. I started an annual “guess the number of bands” competition a couple of years ago for fun. I’ve seen a couple of different types of cigar journals or diaries which have varied wildly in quality and content. You can even use a simple lined notebook if it works for you. If you’re looking for something a little more special to record your cigars or even a gift, this Cigar Journal could be just for you.
The journal was created by my friend Norio Hattori, the Marketing Director of Pacific Cigar Company (the Asian Cuban cigar distributors). It is an official Moleskine product but, not available on their website as it is made exclusively for PCC. You won’t get them anywhere else in the U.K. I believe.
The Journal is based on the Moleskine Passion Journal series on their popular line covering 12 subjects. It’s a series for the passionate connoisseur. The journals are more than just notebooks or diaries, they provide more information and then some more interesting sections for records.
Norio approached Moleskine over 3 years ago with this idea and they initially turned him down because they really didn’t understand the subject matter. After several more meetings, Norio was able to convince them that cigars were not like cigarettes and that smokers were extremely passionate about them.
Moleskine journals are renowned for the texture of their covers and the Cigar Journal is no exception. On closer inspection you will see that the pattern is in fact tobacco leaves!
The Cigar Journal has 7 sections to it, easily accessed by tabs:
1. General cigar information
2. Your tasting notes
3. Your cigar collection
4. Events
5. Shops
6. Blank section
7. Index
Now as you may have read earlier that the Moleskine Cigar Journal is exclusive to PCC in Asia and maybe asking yourself, “so why is he telling us about it?”. I have been given the opportunity by Norio personally to sell these Cigar Journals on our website In the U.K.
Get your Cigar Journal, get smoking and get recording your cigars! Long ashes everyone.
Mike
]]>In our own little way, Boutique Smokes wants to say thank you to all the key workers with a little promo; so have a drink and a cigar on us. If you are a key worker, email us after you place an order of cigars (minimum 3 singles) with your order number and picture of your work ID and we will send you a Thank You gift with your order (Subject to availability - offer valid only in June).
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In our own little way, Boutique Smokes wants to say thank you to them with a little promo; so have a drink and a cigar on us.
If you are a key worker, email us after you place an order of cigars (minimum 3 singles) with your order number and picture of your work ID or other proof of your work and what you do to confirm your qualification and we will send you a Thank You gift of a cigar and a dram with your order (valid in June).
This promotion is subject to availability, and the cigar and dram may vary.
Boutique Smokes thanks you all for your hard work, dedication and sacrifice in these dark times.
Long ashes
----- Please note this offer is subject to availability in June -----
Here's an in depth look at the fantastic Kafie 1901 Sumatra Toro Bello, starting with the basic details;
Vitola: Toro Bello
Size: 54 x 6”
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Binder:
Honduran Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican
Many people will see the name Sumatra and just assume Indonesian which may or not be a good thing. Ecuador has become one of the best countries to grow tobacco and has been doing so since the 1950’s. The Los Rios province is highly regarded as the most fertile region of Ecuador. Back in 1967, it is claimed that Jose Aray (he owned several large plots of land in Los Rios) crossbred Cubano and Sumatra plants and developed Ecuadorian Sumatra. Many Cuban migrant farmers worked in Ecuador to supplement their income by growing different crops there. The demand for Ecuadorian tobacco was given a great boost by the Cuban trade embargo which Kennedy signed in 1962. What is so special about Ecuador? The soil is the key. Like the amazing rich red soil of Pinar del Rio in Cuba, the quality and nutrients in the soil in Ecuador is unparalleled. The country has 32 active volcanoes, 32! Nicaragua has 19, Honduras 9 and Dominican Republic 5. Volcanic ash and other nutrients from the volcanoes equals organic fertiliser, which means the soil is extraordinarily rich in minerals and exceptionally good for growing everything, especially tobacco.
Ecuador has a long growing season from May to January and an average of 500 hours of sunshine a year, add to that continuous cloud cover (a natural sun filter), tobacco plants just grow better here. They produce taller plants with oilier and more flexible leaves. They are renown for Ecuador Connecticut, Ecuador Habano and Ecuador Sumatra wrappers. Ecuador is all about wrapper and binders. Ecuadorian Sumatra wrappers are best chosen from the upper and mid priming’s of the tobacco plant. These leaves are known for rich flavours and aromas with woody and peppery notes.
Back to the Kafie 1901 Sumatra Toro Bello. The wrapper has been aged for 4 years. Let’s just take a second to think about that. In Cuba, 12-18 months is the average time for all the tobacco to be matured on standard current production cigars. Limited Edition cigars have tobacco aged for 24 months. Reserva cigars have tobacco aged for 36 months. Gran Reserva cigars have tobacco aged for 60 months. You will notice that it is rare for people to say that New World cigars taste fresh or have ammonia, there’s your answer. The tobacco from the New World on average is aged 3-5 years. Even more amazing is finding cigars that have 10- year-old plus tobacco at fair prices! The Kafie 1901 Sumatra was the 3rd line released by Dr. Gaby Kafie in 2015 and has received plenty of reviews. What I like about Dr. Gaby’s principles is that he’s sourcing the best tobacco he can from Central America and rolling great cigars. He doesn’t own cigar plantations for this reason. He’s focused on maturing the raw materials correctly and producing. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should. It makes a good regular smoke at competitive price point.
Try it for yourself here
]]>I first met Dr. Gaby Kafie at Intertabac in 2018 but, we had chatted a few times over Facebook before then. When I met him at the stand he was exhibiting on, he was with several other brands being distributed by a European company. If memory serves me right, there was Mombacho, Hiram and Solomon, San Jeronimo and Blanco cigars on the stand. This was a fun stand to visit as they were all so friendly and generously offered cigars and rum. Gaby is a very humble man, his manners and personality reminded me of my former employers, Edward and Eddie Sahakian of Davidoff of London. I was very pleased that Gaby said yes to UK distribution by Boutique Smokes. Last year, Gaby also set up a new corporation called the Boutique Cigar Association of America which only allows brands which are family owned and produce less than 1 million cigars per year (www.thebcaa.org). Currently they have 33 brand members.
The B.C.A.A. aims 'to promote and protect small boutique cigar makers, their cigars and the community of boutique cigar enthusiasts'.
The Core Values & Beliefs At the Boutique Cigar Association are:
• Promoting and celebrating the small, independent, traditional and innovative culture of boutique cigars
• Vigorously defending our industry and proving boutique cigar makers with a unified voice
• Fostering transparency with our own organisation
• Supporting and encouraging the responsible enjoyment of cigars among legal aged individuals
• Providing stewardship for more than 300 years of cigar making history
• Educating boutique cigar makers and consumers about the diversity of tobacco, blends, and quality
• Improving the economic health of the boutique cigar makers
• Working to build a collegial community of boutique cigar makers, brand owners, retailers, and enthusiasts
• Promoting ethical and legal trade practices
• Building relationships and collaborating with our industry partners
It seems fitting that we found a brand that is supporting boutique brands in America and supporting Boutique Smokes in the UK. For those who don’t know, Dr. Gaby Kafie is a licensed physician whose passion for cigars returned him to his country of birth, Honduras. His ancestors emigrated from Europe to Honduras in 1901, hence the name Kafie 1901. Gaby is now based in Miami. Whilst he does not own tobacco plantations, he set up the Kafie Trading Company LLC in 2013. Whilst he had the passion and heritage to make something in Honduras, he did not have the expertise to set up his own factory. Cleverly, Gaby partnered up with the one of oldest cigar factories in Honduras, Tabacalera Puros Aliados. This factory was founded over 25 years ago by the late Rolando Reyes Sr. As partnerships go, this was a good one. Gaby immediately had access to a wealth of experience and knowledge which only fuelled his desire to produce more cigars. Eventually this led to the creation of Tabacalera G. Kafie y Cia in 2016.
Tabacalera G. Kafie y Cia is housed in a 2000 square foot building in Danli, Honduras. As cigar factories go (especially compared to Cuban), this would be considered state of the art. Air conditioning, cellophane wrapper production, cigar box production and 100% Spanish cedar wood ageing room are housed there along with the entire cigar making process. There, they produce the 4 core lines of Kafie 1901: Don Fernando Maduro, Kafie 1901 Connecticut, Kafie 1901 San Andres and Kafie 1901 Sumatra. They started with just 12 rollers with an aim to produce 100-150,000 cigars a year when they opened in 2016. As of this year, 2020, they now employ 24 cigar rollers and produced 480,000 cigars in 2019!
Strangely enough, it was the San Jeronimo Habano Natural cigar which I first smoked and not a Kafie 1901 cigar. This was gifted to me by Gaby. It’s actually a brand his company distributes and is owned by Oscar Orlando Ferrera, who is also Gaby’s factory manager. The San Jeronimo is currently our only torpedo vitola and has sold well.
In 2019, Joe and I attended Intertabac and met up with Gaby before the event. I was already sure when we met and spoke again that I wanted Kafie 1901’s. As I’ve said before I base my choices on a variety of criteria but, one of the most important factors is the people behind the brand. Gaby’s personality and demeanour reminded me of my mentors, Edward and Eddie Sahakian. These are people I trust and respect. Gaby felt like an old friend and he welcomed us to his apartment in Dortmund. We got to hang out with his friends including Armen Caprielian of DAV cigars, drink wine, smoke cigars and talk. After we pitched Boutique Smokes and what we wanted from our partners, I think we had the deal sorted.
To try these fine smokes for yourself, and find out more about each of the three vitolas we stock head to the Kafie 1901 brand here and further info on Kafie 1901 can be found on their website; https://www.kafiecigars.com/news
]]>You might have noticed that several lines are out of stock on our website. We really apologise for this. We are in extraordinary times right now and are having difficulty in getting the stock ready and shipped over. This has affected our business and is probably causing frustration to you as cigars are out of stock.
We are doing our best to get orders processed and shipped from our suppliers but, covid19 has caused many disruptions in terms of factory closures and shipping delays. During this time, please bear with us. We hope to be able to restock by the end of the month.
The good news is that we have stepped up our new release program and have decided on a new cigar brand from the Dominican Republic. That too should be arriving this month. We are very excited to launch our 4th boutique New World brand, which will have 3 lines like the rest.
We appreciate all the dm’s, emails, Instagram and Facebook posts and love sharing the pictures and feedback. The support and feedback means so much to us and keeps on driving us to find great brands and deliver them to you at competitive prices in the U.K. As soon as each delivery from each supplier comes in we'll make an announcement so you can top up your humidors straight away.
Stay home. Stay healthy. Stay smokey!
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Mike met Joe on many previous occasions at different lounges and events. Mike is not an IT guy at all and decided about 2 years ago he needed to find someone who understood the IT side of the business but most importantly had a passion for the product also. Why you ask? Mike and Joe visited many cigar websites and came to the same conclusion; too many steps to get to order a cigar, too messy and too complicated. They had the same vision of a simple, clean website which would be easy to navigate. As Joe understood the product as well as the IT side, it was easy for Mike to explain his vision and for Joe to interpret it and make it a reality. There were quite a meetings over cigars and whisky. Now launched, Joe not only maintains the website but, also does the shipping and handles the emails sent to sales@boutiquesmokes.co.uk so chances are you may have already spoken to him.
It did take a long time for Boutique Smokes to come to fruition; over 3 years as Mike recalls since the first interview he had with Cigar Journal with Nick Hammond. The main reason for this was that it was a pet side project, as Mike had his main business with Cuban cigars. It was also about setting aside the funds to make it happen.
It wasn’t an easy journey at all to launch Boutique Smokes, as brands came and went for a multitude of reasons. When Joe joined, there was more focus and motivation to get the website and the brands finalised. Communication between the brands was not always easy and initially it was a struggle to get the right photos as well as the content.
It was only in 2019, after Intertabac in September, that the final brand selection happened. Mike took Joe to his first Intertabac and it was very lucky he did. Mike caught a cold on returning from a trip to the Philippines and lost his voice just before the trade show. As Joe had listened to Mike’s cigar ramblings and ideas, he literally did all the talking for him at the 3-day exhibition. Mike couldn’t smoke at this time either, so Joe had to do all the tasting. Joe definitely got the taste for the cigar business there. It was crazy, at one point there was just 1 brand confirmed then 3 brands, then finally the launch 5 months later.
The challenge after finally selecting the brands was to get the content, photos, registration and first order done. Again, Joe was the kick in the ass that Mike needed to deliver the info on time, so he could complete the packaging designs and website ready to launch. The end result is a clean, simple and easy to navigate website for people to use.
On February 4th, 2020, Boutique Smokes went live. It was a surreal moment after 3 years. The UK’s first New World specialist cigar online site by a UK Habanosommelier Champion.
Here’s to Joe, long ashes!
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Stay smokey. Stay healthy and safe. Stay home.”
Competition Now Closed
Thank you all so much for the support and great reviews we've received since launching. To say thanks we're going to run a competition where the person who makes our 150th order will receive a very special prize
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Thank you all so much for the support and great reviews we've received since launching. To say thanks we're going to run a competition where the person who makes our 150th order will receive our all-in-one sampler pack, including one of every cigar we sell plus the 60g Boveda pack to keep them nice and fresh for you, and a rare Kafie 1901 sampler box. That's 16 cigars in total, with a whopping prize value of over £115. So place your orders and we'll announce the lucky winner as soon as we hit 150.
Thanks again for all the support, and don't forget to get in touch via facebook and instagram with your cigar reviews and photos.
]]>Every order sent out by Boutique Smokes comes “powered” by a Boveda bag. Boveda is the World leader in 2-way humidity control. We believe in sending the cigars with humidity control, just so the cigars arrive to you in the best condition and are smokeable straightaway.
Boveda is an American company and has over 20 years of experience in this business. Boveda has become the “go to” for the majority of cigar smokers and cigar makers. Boveda bags come in a range of sizes and humidity levels allowing you to choose the best level for your cigars.
Before Boveda, your humidor used perhaps a sponge or humidity beads/ crystals. These needed distilled water and possibly the addition of a chemical called propylene glycerol to prevent mould. All was fine if you were there to check but, what happened when you went on vacation or just forgot? Not to mention the need to find a source of distilled water.
Boveda changed all that. A one packet solution which needs no maintenance. Open up the clear cellophane bag and pop it into your humidor or cigar case. That’s it. They really couldn’t make it any easier. The most important things to do is actually buying the right Boveda size and humidity level for your cigars.
The number of cigars is related to the capacity of the humidor. A 50 cigar capacity humidor means 50 x Coronas (42 x 5.5”) as that’s the size used as the benchmark for all humidors.
HUMIDOR CAPACITY | QUANTITY OF BOVEDA |
25 CIGARS | 1 X 60GM |
50 CIGARS | 2 X 60GM |
75 CIGARS | 3 X 60GM |
100 CIGARS | 4 X 60GM |
200 CIGARS | 8 X 60GM |
300 CIGARS | 12 X 60GM |
65%: Designed for Cuban cigars because Cuban cigars tend to mold at a higher RH level. Keep your Cuban cigars at or lower than 65%RH. This RH is also good for Dominican or Puro cigar due to personal preference or flavor profile.
69%: Designed for airtight humidors including but not exclusively for Boveda humidor bags, Boveda acrylic humidors, polymer travel humidor. Works well in high-end humidors including but not exclusively Elie Bleu and Daniel Marshall.
72%: Designed for most wood humidors. Wood humidors exchange moisture, it is not uncommon to see a decrease of 2–5%RH. The 72% accommodates the moisture loss allowing the humidor to maintain a high 60s RH level. We recommend the 72%RH as your first Boveda in your wooden humidor after seasoning.
75%: Designed for your inexpensive or glass top humidors. The 75% accommodates a high amount of moisture loss allowing the humidor to maintain a high 60s RH level.
84%: Designed ONLY for seasoning a wood humidor WITHOUT cigars in it. This formula is specifically designed to provide moisture directly to the cellular structure of the wood humidor. The amount of moisture required is greater than the wipe down of it. If you haven’t seasoned with Boveda 84%, you haven’t seasoned at all!
All Boveda are accurate to +/- 1% of the RH printed on the pack in an airtight environment.
Source: www.bovedainc.com
The lifespan of a Boveda bag is about 3 - 6 months but can vary depending on the relative humidity of where you are and how you use it.
Boutique Smokes is a proud partner of Boveda. It’s the only humidity system we use and recommend.
“I love Boveda...it’s the best product on the market and the easiest to use.”
· Pete Johnson, Owner Tatuaje Cigars
To find out more about these amazing packets go to www.bovedainc.com and to purchase some extra for your humidor click here
]]>Why did New World cigars emerge and why are they so different to their Cuban counterparts? The main catalyst was the Cuban Revolution instigated by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in 1960 and the ensuing Cuban Embargo declared by John F. Kennedy in 1962. This not only displaced many cigar producers to Miami and the Dominican Republic as they fled Cuba, but also created a demand for cigars not blocked by the Cuban Embargo.
]]>Why did New World cigars emerge? This is in the main down to the Revolution instigated by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in 1960 and the Cuban Embargo declared by John F. Kennedy in 1962. Overnight Kennedy made it illegal to buy any Cuban products – only after ensuring he had hoovered up as many of his favourite Cuban cigars before he signed the Embargo, ironically, he was killed a year later. As soon as Castro assumed power and started seizing all assets in the name of the Government, many fled and sort sanctuary in Miami and the Dominican Republic, this included many cigar producers. To this day many displaced Cubans and former American business owners seek recourse with the Cuban Government.
The Cuban Embargo is the longest running embargo ever in history. Back in 2014, Obama took the monumental step of holding talks with the then President, Raul Castro to move their relationship forward. When Obama relaxed some of the travel restrictions and allowed Cuban products to be purchased and brought back to the USA, smokers all over the world held their breath collectively. They were very worried that if Obama finally cancelled the Embargo, supplies of their precious Cuban cigars would be severely restricted due to this new market being allowed to buy Cuban products. To try and put this into context, in 2013/14 American’s purchased over 400 million cigars and Cuba could only produce about 90 - 95 million cigars annually. Even with that number, Cuba could not satisfy the needs of the rest of the World, so imagine what could have happened if the World’s largest cigar purchasing country was given legal access to the limited stock of Cuban cigars?
When the tobacco was being grown in other locations, they found that even though they had planted genuine Cubano Negro tobacco seeds in locations and climates similar to Cuban, the seeds knew something was different. Whilst tobacco was produced, the essential properties of the DNA of the illustrious Cuban tobacco changed. The legendary Zino Davidoff realised this when he stopped Cuba making his brand of cigars and moved production to the Dominican Republic in the early 90’s. in act of impressive defiance, it is said that Zino was so angry with Cuban production he took all of his stock in Geneva, Switzerland and on the steps of the Cuban Embassy proceeded to burn all of it.
Cuban cigars are known as “puros”, that is cigars made with tobacco from one country and in the country the tobacco was grown in. Whilst New World cigars do have “puros”, the majority are now blends, utilising the different properties of different leaves from numerous countries. The Master Blender for New World cigars, to me, has a far more difficult task as they have to learn how to work with so many types of leaves from different countries, whilst the Cuban Master Blender only deals with tobacco from one area and one country.
New World cigars were always blended with the American smoker in mind and it seems they had different expectations. They wanted value for money and they wanted a taste profile which was much more straightforward and in the main, bolder. More recently we’ve seen an increase in New World cigars with ring gauges north of 60. The biggest I’ve seen is the Asylum 13, 80 x 8” and its as big as my forearm and takes 4 hours plus to smoke. Cuba did see this and created 56 and 58 ring gauge cigars but they were limited editions rather than the norm.
The taste profile is the big talking point between Cuban and New World cigars. The first thing to know is that all these cigars are just plain different and comparing their respective flavours and profiles is ultimately unfair. Both categories have their pro’s and con’s. New World cigars can have much more complex flavours due to the variety of tobacco coming from as many countries, whereas Cuban cigars only use tobacco from Cuba. New World cigars were blended with the American palate in mind by many Cuban blenders who fled Cuba in the early 60’s, which seemed to be wanting a straightforward flavoured cigar, I guess you could call it the “bang for your buck” effect. To me, I often get a harsher first half inch and then the cigar settles down. The remaining part of the cigar tends to be fairly similar and then the nicotine and tar builds up in the final inch or so and you get a more strength in the smoke. Although there is a development of sorts in New World cigars, it tends not to be as pronounced as Cubans.
The poor draw and construction have become frustrating factors in the past 10 years with Cuban cigars and this has prompted may people to try New World cigars as they appear to employ higher quality control systems, as it is well known that they have much less issues in these areas. With that in mind, here’s a simple tip to use on your cigars before lighting up, after cutting simply draw on the cigar before you light. Straightaway you will be able to feel if the draw is too tight. Whilst this does not solve the problem of a cigar with a bad draw, it can save you time and more disappointment. If you do come across a plugged cigar, there are a couple of tools available to help open the draw in your cigar. The perfecdraw was launched a couple of years ago and won the 2018 Cigar Journal Accessory of the Year. Then there is the Redeemer which is longer, thicker and comes with a nubber tool.
I’m still learning about cigars and I love trying new cigars. I hope you’ll enjoy these boutique brands as much as I do. I look forward to hearing your feedback.
Long ashes
]]>Let’s start with, what are New World cigars? It’s a very broad and generic term which I call, any cigar brand not made in Cuba. They have been known as “non-Cubans” but, it is a term that I found quite negative and that using this term (subconsciously) made you think of these cigars as a lesser quality product.
New World cigars are just different and I strongly believe you should not compare them to Cubans. Cuban cigars are single origin (or puros) whilst New World cigars are puros and mixed blends. The clever little tobacco seed does not grow the same anywhere. Like wine grapes, tobacco plants grown in similar locations but separated by a road or a stream or slightly different exposure to the sun will produce slightly different tobacco. If this is known to be true in one country, then it is only logical that the same seed will be different when grown in a different country, even if the geographical and climate conditions are similar. If you’re a new/ inexperienced/ infrequent/ experienced/ aficionado smoker, hopefully you will approach cigars with an open mind and palate. The world of cigars can offer you so many different flavours, aromas and strengths, why restrict yourself to just one country? I truly believe that anyone who claims to know cigars and only smokes one type of cigar does not know cigars.
Speaking from personal experience, smoking nearly exclusively Cuban cigars for the first 15 years, it was incredibly difficult making the transition to enjoying New World cigars. I had been taught all these things about Cuban tobacco and cigars, it was very difficult changing these opinions and training my palate. Difficult but not impossible.
My good friend Didi Hoffman, was the man behind my New World cigar education. I met Didi by chance in Berlin in a cigar shop. We met for dinner, then a cigar and a lot of talking. Didi has a fantastic palate and already smoked Cuban and New World cigars. He convinced me to attend Intertabac in 2013. Together we smoked as much as we could at the three-day event. It was about 8 cigars a day at the event and another 2-3 in the evening. That’s roughly 30 cigars in 3 days. That first show was exhausting. My taste buds didn’t really have much idea what I was doing to it. What did I get out of it? Honestly? Not much. I struggled to enjoy most of them, as my “Cuban brain” was doing its natural thing of telling me that the cigars didn’t taste like Cubans, didn’t have the same flavours and didn’t develop like a Cuban cigar. And that folks, is where I was going wrong. I made the most common mistake of trying to compare the cigars to Cuban.
I knew my palate was decent but, I didn’t understand how I wasn’t able to enjoy these New World cigars, some of which were highly recommended. The Eureka Moment! I can’t remember if it was something I realised on my own or someone told me but, when I learnt to disengage my “Cuban brain” and told myself just to smoke the cigar and do none of the Cuban comparisons, things really changed for me and my enjoyment of New World cigars. Didi and returned to Intertabac in 2014 and pretty much did the same thing but this time, things were a little different. With this new mindset, I went in with a much more open mind and palate. This time I think I actually enjoyed 2-3 cigars a day. I call it my Eureka moment. After that show, I definitely wanted to learn more about New World cigars and of course smoke more.
As you will know by now (if you read my profile), I was firmly rooted in Cuban cigars in the beginning and whilst it didn’t surprise many people that I smoked the occasional New World cigar, it did come as a bit of a shock when I announced I would be launching a New World cigar company.
Having run an award-winning cigar lounge and shop in Central London for 5 years, I decided I wanted to do something different. I didn’t want to open a shop or run another lounge, I wanted to do something that would make New World cigars more accessible and affordable. UK cigar prices are notorious around the world (although parts of Asia are definitely more expensive than the UK now), so it’s not cheap being a cigar lover here. I wanted to import these cigars and sell them directly to you, the consumer, via an online platform and try to give you some interesting cigars at good prices. It’s been a labour of love and has taken me over 18 months to finally launch Boutique Smokes.
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Since 2013, I have been visiting Intertabac (the largest tobacco trade show in the World) and smoking around 25 New World cigars per 3 day show. Whilst this may sound like many smoker's idea of heaven, I can attest that it's much harder than you'd think and you smoke a lot of mediocre cigars to find maybe one that stands out. To put it simply, I've kissed a lot of frogs to find the true princes of the New World Cigar market.
What I set out to create with Boutique Smokes, is a personally curated selection of new boutique brands to the UK cigar smoker, that I put my reputation behind as a Champion Habanosommelier and hope you enjoy smoking them as much as I did. Not only do I think they are stand out brands but, more importantly I respect the people behind them.
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