Focus on the North West
Regional Cigar Stores
La Casa Del Habanos in Chester
There is certainly something smokey going
on in the North West of England and we
decided to high tail it out of London to go
and find out what we happening.
C.Gars have long had stores in the Liverpool and
Chester areas. With the Turmeaus Tobacconist,
which the company acquired in 2003, being the
second oldest surviving Havana cigar merchant
in the UK, having first opened its doors in 1817 in
Liverpool.
In December last year they opened only the
second La Casa del Habanos in the UK in Chester
adjoining the ‘compact’ Turmeus tobacconist store.
As Mitchell Orchant described the process of
redeveloping the shop it became clear that this
was a project with providence written all over
it. When the site next door to his original store
became available he told me, it took a long time to
see how it could work, and then it all became clear,
the deal was done and work began. As the builders
cleared away the back of the new store a beautiful
stone arch was revealed and a vision began to
emerge.
Now with the store open it’s a wonderful blend
of the original fabric of a historic building and all
of the requirements for a modern contemporary
cigar store. The front of the store is a very large
walk in humidor dedicated solely to Cuban cigars,
including aged, vintage and special La Casa Del
Habanos exclusive cigars. Walk through towards
the back of the store and you enter a substantial
VIP sampling lounge where it’s possible to sit
and evaluate our cigar before making a major
purchasing decision.
Carry on through to the very rear of the store and
down a couple of steps and you enter a whisky
sampling bar complete with a natural stone
vaulted ceiling.
All put together with a highly knowledgeable staff
including the affable Calum Conn who is one of
a very short list of specialist cigar store staff to
proudly wear the lapel pin which marks him out
as someone who has passed the arduous Masters
Of Havana examinations.
With the new store planned for Liverpool due to
open in the summer and the excellent Bar Lounge
and two other cigar spots we visited on our trip
north and will report on in a future issue, it’s clear
that the North West is rapidly becoming the focus
for cigar lovers outside London.
To see a full gallery of photographs from our visit
follow this link
La Casa Del Habanos Chester is at 32 Watergate
Street, Chester, CH1 2LA
Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday 9:00 17:00 and Sunday 11:00 - 16:00
Telephone: +44 (0) 1244 348 821
Website: http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/document.
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