Tag: Raphael Street

Cigar Keep

IT’S always a joy when someone comes into the cigar world with a fresh perspective. It’s such a traditional industry – the bulk of the growing and processing of tobacco hasn’t changed a jot for centuries – that sometimes it can feel a little tired and repetitive in the way it deals with things. Things like communicating with its ultimate customers, for example.

Tutored Leaf Tasting

I HAVE attended and hosted hundreds of cigar events over the years, and many of these were notched up during the dreaded lockdown when we discovered the benefits of communal online get-togethers for the first time.

Juicy Lusi

LONG, dark nights mean long, dark cigars. Winter just got a whole lot better. Most of us look into the near future of short days, cold temperatures, blustery winds and rain, rain and more rain with a deep sigh. Hibernation is not an option.

Kit^J

IT’S a funny old business, the cigar one. Sometimes it feels like it’s full of fuddy duddies and that nothing really changes. And at others, it’s possible to feel overwhelmed at the sheer magnitude of stuff going on – new lines, new vitolas, new blends, new kit.

Porto

THE latest in our series of exclusive stories from the pen of NICK HAMMOND sees our intrepid explorer plunging headfirst into the wonders of Portugal…

Dortmund

Ah, the smell of Dortmund in the Autumn. I’ve come to love my seasonal jaunts to this funny little German town – usually, it’s a lovely tail end to Summer, with a wistful, melancholy air – and yet this year was the first time the great and the good (and me) of the cigar industry were able to gather for the first time in three years.

Slow, Slow, Quick, Quick, Slow

DID you know there’s an international world championship in slow cigar smoking? It’s actually become a big thing over the last few years.

Vive Les Cigares!

I’M in my post-holiday blues funk at the moment, so I thought – if you’d be good enough to indulge me – that I’d take the opportunity to bore you with a little something personal for this week’s blog.