Soggy and inspirational north

I've spent the last couple of days exploring the wonderful Hotel du Vin outlets at York and Newcastle - not to mention the lovely Mal Maison in Toontown too - researching for a forthcoming series of articles.

These classy outfits provide everything that cigar-lovers enjoy; fine food, vintage wines, whisky and spirits of every hue and description, comfortable and well-equipped rooms - and best of all, humidors stuffed with delicious Cuban smokes and heated, covered Cigar Shacks to enjoy them in.

Not all 14 HdV hotels have a dedicated shack or bothy because of lack of room, but half or so do. Replete with a small gas fire, leather chairs, cushions, lighting and table service, it's a simple matter to adjourn from your meal with a coffee and Scotch and light up in comfort outside.

And inevitably, when a group of disparate people with similar tastes are thrown together, you make new friends. Over the course of two nights, I met a millionaire Scottish IT wizard who hardly drew breath; a proud mum and dad celebrating their son's graduation (brandy and port cocktail anyone?!) and a smashing group of ex-Navy lads computer mapping the bottom of the Tyne.

There's no doubt that without the cigar shack, we'd have slipped away forever, never having exchanged a word. But thanks to the brotherhood of cigars, we shared a laugh, a smoke, taste-tested each other's drinks pairings and learned something new about the world.

Tell me that's not healthy.

I've put together a little compilation video that gives you a flavour of what Hotel du Vin is all about. Once your appetite is whetted, go one step further and visit yourself. The hotels regularly join forces with local shops to host cigar dinners, and each outlet has a dedicated 'Cigar Champion', trained by Hunters and Frankau. Find your nearest HdV hotel at www.hotelduvin.co.uk





While in the soggy north, I made a point of dropping in on city newcomers, Cuban Cigar Club. What a pleasant surprise to dash in out of the rain to a warm, well lit and beautifully presented cigar 'showroom' with a large and extremely well-stocked humidor. Two real enthusiasts in Justin Clayton and Manager Nick Houghton treat visitors with respect and understanding, and are building up quite a following. Plans are afoot to build a lounge under in the cavernous back of the shop - can't wait for that. Watch this space for further details and get up their and support the lads if you can. You can find them at www.cubancigarclub.co.uk
To send you on your way, here's a quick wander around the shop, courtesy of MontyCristoTV.





All the best,


M.

Cool rules at No. Ten Manchester Street

EVENING friends, just a quick note to make you aware of recent videos I've taken at one of my favourite London cigar stops and watering holes - No. Ten Manchester Street Hotel.

You'll know from previous blogs that this luxurious and welcoming hotel is VERY cigar friendly - down to the warm and comfortable Cigar Terrace and well-stocked walk-in humidor. Take a look for yourself.




If you choose to stay over and make the most of the place, why not also settle for your own private Cigar Patio? Peace and quiet and somewhere dry to enjoy a smoke - what more could you ask?



Tell the guys Monty sent you.

Best,

M.

Saviours of the Cameroon leaf

IT'S one of the perks of the job as a roving cigar reporter that a) you occasionally get invited to some seriously swanky bashes and b) you continually get to meet Cigar People, for which - generally speaking - you could replace the word 'Cigar' with 'Great'.

I was fortunate enough to dine with Josh and Jeremiah Meerapfel last night at the C.Gars Ltd Summer Cigar Auction. These two lads - lovers of life, there's no way around it - come from a 136-year-strong family bond with cigar tobacco. Their father, Richard, is credited with saving one of my favourite wrappers from extinction.

Cameroon wrapper - the part that forms the 'cloak' of the cigar and gives it its silky feel and looks, as well as an important hit of its flavour - is renowned for its incredibly pure and sweet taste across the palate.

Over dinner, I discussed the leaf with Josh, who along with Jeremiah, now runs the Meerapfel tobacco empire after Richard's untimely death in 2003.

The first - and I guess, most obvious question - was how on earth does the African Cameroon wrapper retain this incredible flavour profile?

The answer, appropriately enough, was indeed because of earth. Virgin, unspoiled tracts of fertile land in the poverty-stricken country contain incredible amounts of magnesium which aid the traditional burning quality of the Cameroon wrapper - fine, white ash with little or no impurities.

"We use no chemicals, no pesticides," Josh told me. "That's why the ash is white, not a dirty grey. The soil gives that distinctive flavour and we use a plot of land to grow our Indonesian-seed wrapper just one season and then leave it fallow for seven years before we use it again. That's organic farming - and that's why you can taste that amazing Cameroon flavour that is unlike anything else on the planet."

Richard Meerapfel stepped in and began growing in Cameroon when everyone else had bailed out in the 1990s. It was a country in virtual civil war, hugely diverse with a population bordering on the starving.

Things are still hard, Meerapfel told me, but the company now employs some 36,000 workers and a foundation started by Richard helps provide schools, hospitals and churches.

It's a moving story, and one day I will stand in a Cameroon tobacco plantation and relay to you what it feels like to stand on that remarkable, virgin earth.

Monty.