Cigar Buyer author Dominic Roskrow
In the thick of it
John Hollingsworth & Son has faced far worse than the current wave of anti-smoking legislation and survived so why shouldn’t the future be as bright as the past? Dominic Roskrow reports
Occasionally you get the feeling that some things are destined not to be. And so it turned out with Cigar Buyer’s interview with John Withers, proprietor of John Hollingsworth & Son. First John got stuck in traffic and the interview had to be rescheduled. Then my car broke down and attempts to sp...
Retailer watch from Issue 12 published on 12/09/2007
The importance of being Bertie
Burlington Bertie has traded in cigars in the heart of London for 11 years. Dominic Roskrow spoke to Vimal Shah
Talking to Vimal Shah of Burlington Bertie about the impending smoking ban is a strangely paradoxical experience. If you’re looking for a positive spin on events post July 1, then he’s definitely not the man to talk to. But if you want to sense evolution, survival and gutsy determination then throu...
Retailer watch from Issue 11 published on 11/05/2007
Rumble in the Ramblas
Dominic Roskrow seeks out the Catalan capital’s cigar havens
Barcelona in North Eastern Spain is a bastion of independence. It was the last city to surrender to Franco. It’s a great place for cigar smokers to hang out. Madrid may be the cool capital of Spain, home of movers and shakers, Galacticos and high fashion. But the country’s coolest, most stylish an...
City Watch from Issue 10 published on 22/11/2006
Western ho!
In search of quality cigar outlets in the Bath and Bristol area
This edition we delve into the West Country, taking in Bristol, the gateway of the West and Bath, the jewel in the crown of the region. Cigars are often associated with boom times and both cities have seen rises in wealth associated with industry and the arts. Let’s take Bath first, a major touris...
City Watch from Issue 9 published on 18/09/2006
From the Editor
It is heartening to hear that there is life after a smoking ban for retailers, as in the case of Robert Graham featured in this issue. But it is also important that the battle to squeeze out every concession from the authorities continues apace so that cigar retailers can continue to run legitimate...
From the Editor from Issue 8 published on 20/05/2006
What happened to common sense?
England looked set to follow Scotland in to a ban on smoking in public places as Cigar Buyer went to press after a major Uturn over the issue. A free vote in February looked set to call for a complete ban in pubs and restaurants, after the partial ban option was dismissed as unworkable. The Govern...
Smoking Issues from Issue 7 published on 10/02/2006
From the editor
In Britain, when football managers get something wrong, the fans have a habit of chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing.” This month we’ve been aiming the insult at the British Government. Over the issue of smoking in public places, it has acted with the sort of panic you expect from a pen of s...
From the Editor from Issue 6 published on 11/11/2005
Styles of presentation
Choices and more choices. There are six forms of presentation for individual Habanos, and an abundance of options when it comes to the packs you can buy.
With bands The classic fully-dressed Habano. Sometimes for special limited editions a second band is added. Without bands Some brands’ vitola escape the Anilladora’s attention entirely whilst others do so only occasionally. See ‘Cabinet Selection - SLB’. Cedar-wrap (cedros) The subtle aroma of ced...
Cigar Production from Issue 6 published on 11/11/2005
Keeping Habanos
Habanos can be kept for a good 15 years, sometimes longer, and will, like exceptional wines, improve with age.
The right conditions. Habanos should be stored at between 16°C and 18°C and in a relative humidity of 65 to 70 percent. The humidity is most crucial. If a Habano becomes too wet it will not smoke. If it dries out, it will taste harsh. As humidity varies with temperature changes, it is also import...
Cigar Production from Issue 6 published on 11/11/2005
Stick this in your pipe and smoke it
A quick guide to pipes and the products you put in them
You might be wondering what pipes and pipe tobacco are doing in a cigar magazine. But if we stop to think about it, cigars and pipes have some what more in common than at first glance. Both products have an iconic status in today’s society, just look at the figures linked to pipe smoking, people l...
Pipe Smoking from Issue 6 published on 11/11/2005
Lighters
The essential items for the holy trinity of cigar smoking – slice ‘em, light ‘em and smoke ‘em.
Around 100 million lighters are sold every year in the United Kingdom, most of them inexpensive and disposable. But it all depends on the magic £5 barrier which some see as a dyke to keep the sales of cheap lighters from being washed away. “When a smoker spends £5 on cigars or cigarettes, the chang...
Cigar Accessories from Issue 6 published on 11/11/2005
From the editor
Where does the time go? I find it remarkable that a year has gone by since I was listening to the great Freddie Truman recounting tales of cricket tours in India at the Association of Independent Tobacco Sellers annual exhibition dinner. But here we are, the football season underway, the end of sum...
From the Editor from Issue 5 published on 15/09/2005
Shapes and sizes
One of the glories of Habanos is the sheer choice – 33 brands with more than 240 different cigars between them. Here are 12 of the main shapes and sizes it is useful to know about.
Habanos come in lengths from under 4 inches (100 mm) to over 9 inches (230 mm). The industry standard measure for diameter is known as ring gauge, and is expressed in 64ths of an inch. Ring gauges vary from 23 (ie 23/64 inch or 9.1 mm) to 52 (ie 52/64 inch or 20.6 mm). In Cuba, the sizes are calle...
Cigar Production from Issue 5 published on 15/09/2005
Catching the ash (Ashtrays)
What’s happening in the world of cigar ashtrays
Something that is not immediately obvious to the novice cigar smoker is that a long cigar needs a longer than average ashtray, otherwise the cigar may overbalance and dislodge its residue over everything else aside from the receptacle designed to accommodate it. And the serious cigar smoker surely n...
Cigar Accessories from Issue 5 published on 15/09/2005
From the Editor
Shortly before we departed for Havana for the Whisky and Cigar Challenge we heard the news that Fidel Castro had decided to ban smoking in public places. But if the ban had come in to force there was scant evidence of it during our stay. Perhaps the ban had been suspended for the cigar festival, o...
From the Editor from Issue 4 published on 10/05/2005
Saints and sinners Ireland's smoking ban
The smoking ban is reality in Ireland. What have the effects been?
Whether it’s for the craic, the booze or the music, the pub has long been the focal point of Ireland’s social life. The Irish love good company and prefer to drink in public rather than at home. Which is probably why there are more than 11,000 drinking establishments in Ireland – and that’s not cou...
Cigar Trends from Issue 4 published on 10/05/2005
Looking good
No product on earth enjoys a more painstaking treatment in its presentation and packaging, starting with the perfect colour-matching of the wrappers
SORTING THE COLOURS Wrappers come in many finely distinguished shades of colour, and great care is taken to ensure that all of the cigars in any one box are the exact same shade. The colour of a Habano wrapper is purely natural – no artificial process is used to force it. Leaves from the upper lev...
Cigar Production from Issue 4 published on 10/05/2005
Cuba up in smoke
The final of the Whisky and Cigar Challenge was held in Havana. Dominic Roskrow reports
This is weird. We’re in a large, high-ceilinged conference room and in front of us about 250 people are seated and another 100 or so are pressed against the walls. Many of the people sitting have comicly large white ear-pieces on, and high up to our right women in glass-fronted booths are translatin...
Whisky and Cigars from Issue 4 published on 10/05/2005
From the Editor
And so to plan B… Last issue we argued that we should encourage an alliance of smokers and tolerant non smokers to protect us from the ‘ban it at all costs’ lobby. Since then Scotland has gone for a total smoking ban and the ‘against’ lobby has become emboldened. So it’s time for a change of tactic...
From the Editor from Issue 3 published on 01/05/2005
Liverpool prospering once again
Liverpool is to be the Capital of Culture in 2008, and already it’s benefiting. Anwer Bati looks at how the cigar market is doing there
Money is pouring in to Liverpool, now that it’s Capital of Culture 2008” says Mick Orchant, owner of Turmeaus, the city’s only specialist cigar stockist. But it isn’t, of course, the first time the place has prospered – which is why Turmeaus, founded in 1817 by a Frenchman, is the second oldest ciga...
City Watch from Issue 3 published on 01/05/2005
How a Habano is made
Time has done its work, and the leaf is ready at last to play its part in the making of a Habano. Here we describe the extraordinary craft that has changed little in almost 200 years.
VARIATIONS IN THE METHOD OF MAKING All but a small number of Habanos are made totally by hand with a filler composed of complete leaves. These are the classic Totalmente a Mano Tripa Larga (long filler) Habanos. Some others are made totally by hand, but the filler is partly composed of shorter sec...
Cigar Production from Issue 3 published on 01/05/2005
From the Editor
Democracy is a Holy Grail of a word, regularly offered up to us, unreservedly and unchallenged, as an elixir that we all should strive for. But is it really all it’s cracked up to be? Nobody ever challenges its importance, but what if majority rule means oppression of a sizeable minority? And what ...
From the Editor from Issue 2 published on 01/11/2004
Downtown London’s little bit of Havana
James Leavey and Dominic Roskrow visit Floridita and La Casa del Habano in central London
It’s not hard to find 100 Wardour Street in the heart of Soho. You just walk down and look for the group of tourists taking pictures. For this is the site of the legendary Marquee Club, the venue where everyone from the Sex Pistols and R.E.M. made their London debut, and within whose cramped confin...
We must lobby customers NOW
Smokers are under threat. Editor Dominic Roskrow, who has campaigned on behalf of the Smoking Charter since its launch in 1998, explains how the trade can fight back
It started as a trickle and is now a flood – the move to ban smoking in public places has grown in to being a very real threat indeed for restaurateurs, bar owners and publicans across Britain. And as the anti-smoking lobby has grown in confidence and has seen his chance to drive the smoker out of ...
Smoking Issues from Issue 2 published on 01/11/2004
Journey of the leaf
In our first issue we explained the intense growing process needed to produce leaves of sufficient quality to produce fine cigars. In this issue we follow the leaf from field to barn
Growing the leaf is just the start of the story, with many patient stages of processing yet to come. Nothing can be hurried. The diagrams show the path that each type of leaf must take, from the farmer’s curing barn to its final resting place in the warehouse where it will be aged. Many months and...
Cigar Production from Issue 2 published on 01/11/2004
The Ultimate Christmas Indulgence
So your customer has enjoyed his Christmas meal and is selecting a cigar. But what about a quality single malt, a well chosen coffee and a piece of top quality luxury chocolate? Here we offer a some wonderful combinations.
Simon Chase, Hunters & Frankau – cigars Gerard Coleman, master chocolatier, Artisan du Chocolat – chocolate Dominic Roskrow, editor Whisky Magazine – whiskies Jeremy Torz, roastmaster, Union Coffee Roasters – coffee Glenfiddich Solera Reserve Cigar selection SC: “My initial instinct was to liven...
Whisky and Cigars from Issue 2 published on 01/11/2004
Henri’s 100 years
It’s 100 years since Henri Wintermans first started his first cigar factory. Dominic Roskrow travelled to Maastricht to see how his company is celebrating the past and looking to the future.
On the face of it Maastricht is a one trick town, famous for a treaty that bound Europe together and nothing much else. Even the name conjures up an image of bland Eurocratland. And where exactly is it? Belgium? Germany? The Netherlands? Unless you’re a bureaucrat or perhaps a law student, it’s not ...
The finest combination
The Whisky & Cigar Challenge has grown in to a major and ambitious international event. And it is revealing some fascinating combinations
Glasgow and Havana. On the face of it, not much in common. But think again: both regarded as political mavericks and driven by a rebel heart; both famed for a love of firey spirits. Twinned together through their local politicians. And both championing a lifestyle product which stands as a national...
Whisky and Cigars from Issue 1 published on 01/06/2004
How to make magic
You may know how to smoke them, but do you have any idea of the work that goes in to producing a fine cigar? We go behind the scenes in Cuba
Every leaf in a Habano is Tabaco Negro Cubano – native Cuban Black Tobacco – directly descended from the plants that Columbus first discovered more than 500 years ago. Two distinct forms of cultivation produce the different types of leaf required. Wrapper leaves are grown in tapado (covered) fields...
Cigar Production from Issue 1 published on 01/06/2004
Accessories Update
Gift International has launched three new cigar cutters, which they say will meet all the needs of a discerning cigar smoker. The Xikar range of cutters are all guaranteed for life and come in a range of colours. The Xi1 is made of aluminium and has hand polished stainless steel blades. It retails f...
Cigar Accessories from Issue 1 published on 01/06/2004
Tobacco Legislation Watch
Tobacco legislation is moving fast. But remember, whatever happens it remains legal to sell tobacco products. In LegislationWatch we bring you an up-to-date guide on new legislation that could affect your business. This is not legal advice, but our summary of things as we see it as we go to press. For the final answer, please remember to seek your own legal advice.
1. EU LABELLING DIRECTIVE Date to Watch: Thursday 30th September 2004 • This is the last day it will be legal to sell cigar packs without the new Health Warnings and batch codes. • The same date applies to any cigar packs bearing names or descriptors such as ‘Mild’ or ‘Light’, which might suggest t...
Legislation Watch from Issue 1 published on 01/06/2004
