Sound Advice - Nic's Blog

Saturday 4th September - Jermyn Street London.

2010-08-07T04:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the 4th September you need to be in Jermyn street London to share this view and so much more!!

The Art of being British is a new event happening on Jermyn Street on saturday 4 September, between 12pm and 5pm. Supported by the Crown Estate, the event is designed to raise the profile of the Jermyn Street and St James's area, by focussing on the quintessentially British heritage of this part of London and highlighting it as a specialist shopping destination for bespoke clothing, wine, food speciality produce.

For the day Jermyn Street will become a traffic-free zone, with a display of vintage cars and a catwalk fashion show.

It is going to be a fantastic event, with loads of the retailers and restaurants doing some great things. Participants include Fortnum & Mason, who will host a tea making demonstration and then a high tea, Church's, who will be having bespoke shoemaking demonstrations out on the street, Paxton & Whitfield who will have cheesemakers on the street in front of their store, and be selling take-away cheese platters.

The Cavendish Hotel will be offering a complimentary hog roast, with proceeds going to the St James's Church and Links of London will raffle off some of their sterling silver pieces, whilst serving homemade lemonade and tea cakes.

The Ritz will have one of their chefs out on the street, giving cooking demonstrations, and Franco's will offer a value added champagne tea.

Other participants include Wilton's, Green's, Favourbrook, St James' Hotel & Club, TM Lewin, Thomas Pink, Alfred Dunhill, and Hackett.

Davidoff's contribution to the day will be to have the latest roller in the store:

Hamlet Jaime Paredes is classified as a 9th grade roller – the highest achievable grade and is able to roll every vitola (size and shape) within the Habanos SA portfolio. His career a torcedor began nearly twenty years ago at the legendary Partagas Factory in the heart of Havana. During his time there he rose to the position of Second Chief of the Rolling Room before moving on to a high profile role in various Tobacconists in Havana.
In 2000 he was selected to conduct promotional tours around the world for Habanos SA and since this time he has visited Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Australia, Japan, China, Macau, South Korea, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Canada.
When he is not travelling he is based in the world famous Romeo y Julieta factory in Havana.

Entire Churchill archive to be published on line.

2010-07-29T05:27:00.000-07:00

The BBC is reporting today that the entire archive will be available on line in 2012.

The archive includes over 1,000,000 pages of documents and private letters from the archive of the greatest Englishman of the 20th Century.

See the full story at the BBC Web site

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10800829

There is Gold in the Cigar stores of London if you ask the right people.

2010-07-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

If you visit London Cigar stores as we do on the Cuban Cigar Walk London, you will meet some of the most charming and knowledgeable people in the cigar business. Put yourself in their hands and revel in the delights you can discover.

When I recently visited small but wonderfully stocked cigar store in Selfridges on Oxford Street I met Magali who runs the store. Magali comes from Cuba and a trip to see her is always a pleasure because she knows so much about cigars.

We talked cigars for a while, and I always learn so much because Magali, like so many of her colleagues, is so giving of her wealth of knowledge and experience.

After a while we moved on to discussing Trinidad cigars which I had been introduced to by Edward Sahakian of Davidoff in Jermyn Street.

Magali said that if I enjoyed the Trinidad Reyes I should really I search out the original gold banded ‘Fundadores’ made at the famous El Laguito factory. She said that in her opinion the taste and the blend were fantastic and that this was a cigar worth searching out if there were still some around.

The old gold band with it's simple type can easily be differentiated from the current 'triple T' band design (see below)

I headed off and after a hunting around a few stores I found my way to JJ Fox in St James’s street where I found in the walk in humidor a box of Fundadores that they were selling as singles.

This is one of the great delights of London cigar stores, you can find some wonderful rare, aged cigars which you can sample rather than having to invest a weeks wages to buy a whole box only to find that they are not to your taste.

I was told by Jean at Fox that ‘those have got some real age on them because they aren’t a popular size, no one smokes them these days’. The bottom of the box had a date code for 1998 and the band and the code confirmed that they were from the El Laguito factory. I had struck gold, twelve year old gold!

A friend and I bought one each and retired upstairs to the sampling lounge to give them a proper sampling and what a great hour and a half that was.

To start with they smell just sensational and if you compare them with their younger brothers and sisters they are a good shade darker.

They are a truly wonderful cigar. I was counselled to take my time and smoke slowly. The narrow ring gauge means the cigar can get over heated if you drawer like a much larger cigar. The first third was very light but as I moved into the second half it started to get more spicy and complex. This is by no means a strong cigar but it has all the subtlety and delights of the smaller Reyes but if you have the time it is so much more rewarding.

Having tracked down the cigar and enjoyed it so much I went back to some notes which Simon Chase of Hunters & and Frankau had sent me after a Trinidad tasting at Boisdale. With his permissions I have included them here (shown in italics)

Trinidad is named after the beautiful, 16^th Century city of La Santísima Trinidad, which lies on Cuba’s south coast and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The History of Trinidad

The Early days

Trinidad cigars were first released to the public at the beginning of 1998 in one size only, the Fundadores or Founders (7 ½”/192mm x 40 ring gauge). However, long before that Trinidad had earned a worldwide reputation amongst aficionados as Havana’s mystery cigar.

Production started in 1969 at El Laguito, the Cohiba factory, but only very small quantities were made exclusively for the Cuban Council of State, which gave them as gifts to foreign diplomats and visiting dignitaries.

These cigars, known unofficially as Trinidad ‘Diplomats’, were thinner than the Fundadores, in fact they were standard Laguito No. 1s like the Cohiba Lancero, but contained a very different, fuller flavoured, tobacco blend. They remained completely unknown outside diplomatic circles until September 1992 when their existence was revealed in the first issue of the American magazine, Cigar Aficionado.

From then on Trinidads became the Holy Grail of cigar enthusiasts, if only because they were virtually impossible to obtain. A few were tasted and some were auctioned for the Cuban Health Service in boxes signed by Fidel Castro at Cigar Aficionado’s Dinners of the Century in Paris in 1994 and London in 1995. Then, in 1997, some of the diplomats, who had been privileged to receive them, tested their price at auction. They were well rewarded when boxes of 25 Trinidad Diplomats sold first for £7,000 each and then, later in the year, for £10,000 each – that’s £400 per cigar!

Soon afterwards the Cuban industry decided that, if people would pay so much for Trinidads, the time was ripe to launch the cigar to the public. A team was assembled at El Laguito under the factory’s Director, Emilia Tamayo, to prepare Trinidad for the market. Its work was completed in November 1997 and the brand was launched in Havana in February 1998.

The Master Blender and his Blend

The key member of Tamayo’s team was Raúl Valladares, who is a Master Blender of tobacco. In fact he is known as the ‘Maestro de Maestros’ (Master of Masters) in the Cuban cigar industry.

Raúl took the original essence of the Trinidad Diplomat and softened it to produce a blend that concentrated on the aromatic fragrance of Cuban tobacco with a distinct medium flavour. Above all it has an approachable taste designed to please both the novice and seasoned smoker alike.

The Launch of Three New Sizes

At the end of 2003 three new sizes with a newly designed band were launched at a dinner hosted by Hunters & Frankau and Habanos SA at the London Hilton. These were: the Robusto Extra (6 1/8”/155mm x 50 ring gauge), the Coloniales (5 ¼”/132mm x 44 ring gauge) and the Reyes (4 3/8”/110mm x 40 ring gauge). All these sizes, like the Fundadores, are unique to Trinidad and cannot be found as standard sizes in any other Havana brand.

Raúl Valladares attended the dinner to ensure that the same blend he had created for the Fundadores was faithfully matched in all the sizes. He was satisfied with the result.

The Move to Pinar del Rio

By the end of 2004 demand for Trinidad had outstripped the production capacity at El Laguito. It was decided that the manufacture of all the brand’s sizes should be transferred to the Francisco Donatien factory in the heart of Pinar del Rio City.

It is here that Trinidad is made today within a few miles of the famous Vuelta Abajo plantations where all its tobaccos are grown.

Brand Notes - The Distinctive Pigtail

All sizes of Trinidad are distinguished by a twist of the wrapper on the cap, as is found on the Cohiba Lanceros and Coronas Especial as well as the Montecristo Especial and Especial No. 2. However, Trinidad is the only Havana brand where all sizes have this distinctive pigtail.

So having learned so much about these great cigars and having smoked one it was about time to get a few for my humidor. Luckily a Facebook and Cigar Forum chum from Dublin also shares my passion for these great cigars and he managed to not only find a full box of 24 from 1998 but also a third person to split the box.

Since then I have seen that two boxes were sold in the C.gars auction at a very good price (for the buyer). These great cigars are out there and if you go to the right stores and ask the right questions there is something old and magical waiting for you to try. You too can strike gold!

I must again thank Simon Chase of Hunters & Frankau for allowing me to use his notes on the history of Trinidad and also to Yiorgos Manesis for the wonderful pictures of our box before it was ‘split’

Rare Meerschaum pipes in London antiques market

2010-06-21T04:23:00.000-07:00

Until recently I had not fully appreciated just how many people treasured and collected old pipes.

Then I met Michael Clements who runs a regular stall on one of London's best known antique markets and he explained to me how old pipes are so prized by collectors and in particular the fantastic carved Meerschaum pipes made from the rare fine clay.

The highest quality Meerschaum (from the German - sea spray) is only found in sufficient quantities in two places in the world.

Craftsmen have long prized this fantastic material and carved the most incredible and ornate pipes.

Over many years, as the pipes are smoked they take on a beautiful colour as the tars from the tobacco infuse the fine clay. For this reason older pipes are much prized by collectors.

Michael explained to me that in many cases the pipes are waxed when they have been finished so that different parts of the pipe colour at different rates.

This can be clearly seen on this magnificent example where the hat and clothes of this figure have been waxed and the face has coloured as the pipe has been smoked to create the most wonderful contrast.

Many of the very finest examples of Meerschaum pipes come in their own beautiful shaped wooden boxes, covered in leather and lined with velvet to ensure these masterpieces have a long life.

The craftsmen who made these pipes produced many weird and wonderful creations and I like to think that if Keith Richards were ever in the market for a pipe he would beat a path to Michael's door for this particularly wonderful example.

Michael is one of London's foremost pipe experts and his stall includes many old and collectable pipes.

His stall is only open on a Saturday but if you would like more details on his regular stall please contact Nic Wing via this blog

Opening of another wonderful new smoking spot in London -The Terrace Garden, at the Langham, London

2010-06-17T04:58:00.000-07:00

I was lucky to be invited to attend the opening evening of what could well be one of my favourite London summer haunts.

The compact and surprisingly peaceful Terrace Garden at the Langham in Portland place. The hotel is right opposite the BBC and a very short walk from Oxford Circus and the hustle and bustle of Regents street and Oxford street.

This great old Hotel is coming to the end of a major refurbishment and one of the final pieces in the jigsaw is the stunning flower lined terrace at basement level. As you head out to the terrace you will pass the compact Champagne bar and cocktail bar on the left.

Either inside or out this is going to be a great place to relax and take the weight off your feet after a prolonged shopping trip in the west end or after walking the Cuban Cigar Walk London.

It will also become one of London's favourite spots for a fine Cuban cigar and to top it all it's the ideal destination for all major sporting events. Thinking about it I may well just move in!

Outside on the Terrace there are rattan tables and chairs which nestle under huge umbrellas to shade you from the sun or possible a light English summer shower.

The whole area is surrounded by greenery; shrubs, trees and planters giving it an almost colonial feel and a great place to take time over a cigar from the well stocked humidor.

Inside and the Champagne bar is replete with an excellent selection of Laurent Perrier Champagne. It also serves a wide range of cocktails and that cooling and moreish staple of every British summer event; a jug of Pimms.

To top all of that it has large comfortable leather chesterfield chairs and settees surrounding a large plasma screen television which will show major sporting events while you make yourself comfortable.

I can’t think of a more civilised spot to watch the World Cup and they serve a fantastic meze platter which will keep you happy until full time.

The Hotel and cigar team have done some research to bring you a recommended quick half time cigar and something more substantial to smoke with a glass champagne to celebrate that all important victory.

The sales team at Hunter & Frankau (the UK's importer of Cuban Cigars) have recently undertaken a rigorous few days of champagne and cigar tasting in order to provide us champagne and cigar lovers with the perfect match.

The results of their labours reveal that for a short break between sets or at half time the perfect cigar is a tubed H.Upmann Junior which you can just get through during half time if you put your mind to it. It combines beautifully with Laurent Perrier NV Champagne.

Assuming your team or favourite achieves a famous victory and you are heading out to the terrace for a celebration and with a little more time the recommended combinations are a Romeo y Julieta short Churchill with Laurent Perrier Rose champagne or a Cohiba Siglo VI with Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle champagne.

To celebrate the opening of The Terrace Garden The Langham, are giving you the chance to win an evening on The Terrace but you will need to be quick as the competition closes on Friday 18th June.

Cigar store Indian returns home after a 'holiday'

2010-04-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

JJ Fox at the bottom of St James's street in London has a wonderful history and in it's long history has supplied to cigars to such famous figures as Sir Winston Churchill and Oscar Wilde.

I recently visited the store and as I wandered in to the Humidor and spied a new friend standing on the left (see picture)

The history of Cigar Store Indian's is a British tradition which goes back to the 17th Century. Cigar stores placed small wooden models of Indians or 'Virginie Men' on the counter tops which were supplied by the tobacco companies. The statues grew in size to be almost life size and were often placed outside the Cigar stores.

I asked about his history and heard an amazing story.
For many years the Indian had stood outside the store. Then on a Winters evening some 2 years ago someone rushed into the store to report that a drunken group had 'kidnapped' the Indian and were heading off with it.

A search of the area revealed nothing and the staff of the store resigned themselves to his loss.
Then about 2 months ago the store got a call from a customer who had been into a pub in Surrey and thought he recognised their Indian standing in the bar.
Bill who works in the store and who lives near-by dropped over to the pub one evening with a copy of a picture showing the figure standing outside the store.

It turns out that the Surrey Landlord had received a call from a friend who refurbished pubs. He was preparing to clear out an old Mayfair pub and wondered if there might be anything of interest before it all went in a skip. The only thing that took his fancy was the figure and he returned to Surrey where he took pride of place in the Bar.

Having established the statues bona fides the Landlord agreed to hand him back to JJ Fox and they arranged with a customer to collect it in his delivery van.

So after his 2 year 'holiday' he is back in his rightful position.

So the question for our American friends is does anyone know where he originally came from?

On his base is painted the legend:

Stuckell's Cigar Store

Old honesty 5c Cigars

Does anyone know where Stuckell's store was or is?
Is it still open or when did it close?

Now he is back in his London home it would be really great to know a little more about his origins and his original home State side.

JJ Fox and Robert Lewis is one of the four great Cigar stores on the route of the Cuban Cigar Walk London.

Spring at last?

2010-03-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

I am delighted to report the first sighting of the first outside cigar of the Spring at the fantastic Bourdon House, the new home of Dunhill in London yesterday.

I sat beneath the brazier with my jacket off and no jumper and enjoyed the fantastic and almost forgotten experience of an out door cigar.

A Trinidad Reyes combined with a beautiful Cappuccino and as ever the most wonderful company.

Cigar smokers are almost exclusively great company and yesterday was no exception. I chatted for half an hour about classic cars and cigars with a guy who I only met because I sat down at his table.

If you are in London and it's warm there is no more charming spot for an out door cigar.

Hold on a few days and the staff may even be out of their body warmers!

Design your Own Cigar

2010-02-02T06:46:00.000-08:00

I have just come across a wonderful 'backwater' of the La Casa del Habanos web site which allows you to design your own Cuban Cigar.

So here's mine, 220mm long, 40 ring gauge, straight with a traditional tail, colorado colour, medium strength and a classic band.

If you want to design your own cigar give it a try at http://www.lacasadelhabano.cu/site/content/view/32/63/lang,english/

Your suggestions will be gathered together and used as part of the process to decide on new cigars so who knows, in a few years you could be buying your design in one of the great cigar stores on The Cuban Cigar Walk London .

Brandy & Cigars in London. Sir Winston Churchill & Armenian Brandy on the Cuban Cigar Walk London.

2009-12-20T15:27:00.000-08:00

Sir Winston’s Libations – Part 2 – Armenian Brandy

Walking around Mayfair and St James in London is one of the great pleasures of a visit to London. The Cuban Cigar Walk London visits four of the finest cigar stores in London and the Audio Guide also includes many stories of British Cigar history.

But no Cigar walk in London would be complete without including Sir Winston Churchill, the Greatest Englishman of the last Century, who bought his cigars from two of the stores on our walk (Alfred Dunhill and JJ Fox).

Churchill once said: “When I was younger I made it a rule never to take strong drink before lunch. It is now my rule never to do so before breakfast.”

In addition to Pol Roger Champagne Sir Winston was also partial to a glass of Brandy and it came from an improbable source.

Lunch and dinner at Chartwell was always accompanied by Champagne. Sir Winston was also fond of Port, claret, Scotch and brandy. As I mentioned in part one Pol Roger was his favourite Champagne house. Johnnie Walker Red Label was his favourite Scotch, and then there was brandy.

South African Prime Minister Jan Christian Smuts once brought him a bottle of South African brandy. Churchill sipped it and said, "My dear Smuts, it is excellent." And then added, "but it is not brandy."

“ I saw my father many times the better for drink – but never the worse’” Lady Soames

At the end of the second World War Sir Winston was at the Yalta Conference with the other Allied leaders and it was there that Joseph Stalin introduced him to ten-year-old Dvin Armenian Brandy and this 52% proof spirit quickly became the favourite brandy of the British wartime leader.

Stalin anticipated that the pungent, chewy Dvin would make a good match for Churchill's prolific cigar habit.

Among those who have sampled it I have read reports that “Dvin is unusually light due to its complex bouquet of vanilla tones, harmonious aroma of woody flavours with a strong hint of vanilla, suggestions of dried fruits and hazelnuts, and its fruity-caramel taste”

It is reputed that Churchill enjoyed Armenian Brandy so much that he asked for several cases of it to be sent to him each year. It is calculated that up to 400 bottles of Dvin were shipped to Sir Winston every year.

During my research for this article I came across a lovely article from Cigar Clan which combines tasting Armenian Brandy with three Cuban cigars; Punch Corona, Hoyo de Monterrey Churchill and a Montecristo No2 Torpedo.

At this point I have to acknowledge the generous help of Edward Sahakian the owner of the Davidoff cigar store in St James’s street in London.

Edward, himself an Armenian, brought this story to my attention and has provided some great photographs and a video from his own personal travels.

The history of Brandy making in Armania goes back to 1877 when a local Merchant and Philanthropist Nerses Tairyants started to produce wine and ten years later he expanded his production to include Brandy.

In 1898 Nerses Tairyants leased the factory and in 1901 became confident enough of his product to send samples to an exhibition in Paris. But he didn’t reveal the origin of his Brandy and the French tasters unanimously gave the Brandy a Grand Prize. In addition when the judges found out the Brandy was from Armenia they gave the distillery permission to use the name Cognac rather than Brandy.

Following a period of exhaustive testing Shustov’s brandy was honoured by becoming a supplier to the Russian Court.

There are a number of stories about the period of supply of Brandy to Sir Winston Churchill. It is reported that on one occasion Sir Winston noted a change in the quality of the Brandy and this was reported to Stalin. It turned out that the chief blender in the distillery, Margar Sedrakyan, had been exiled.

On learning this Stalin had him reinstated so that Churchill could continue to receive brandy of a suitable quality. In fact, in recognition of his work Margar later received a medal as a ‘Hero of Socialist Work’

Today the Distillery produces 3 Brandies:

Noy Araspel 3 & 5 years old

Noy Classic 7, 10, 15 and 20 years old

Noy Tirakal, 25 year old

“Brandy Noy Tirakal is a unique brandy which is reputed to be superb when drunk with dessert, fruits, tea, coffee and cigars!

One barrel at the distillery however is not for sale. Churchill's personal supply of Dvin still rests dark and cool where it has been for many decades. It is only rarely disturbed by the occasional privileged visitor.

Today tours of the EREVAN ARARAT distillery are available and visit the Distillery, Cooperage, Museum, and the catacombs which have been preserved as wine cellars from the times of Farad Pasha.

The tour finishes with an opportunity to taste some of the distilleries product.

Edward Sahakian the owner of the Davidoff Cigar store in London visited the distillery and took this short video which contains a nice Churchill story.

As ever there are a wealth of Churchill quotes on the subject of ‘strong drink’

Field Marshal Montgomery told Churchill: “I neither drink nor smoke and am a hundred per cent fit” Churchill responded: “ I drink and smoke and I am two hundred per cent fit.”

Churchill was lunching with the King of Saudi Arabia who informed the Prime Minister that his religion forbade drinking and smoking. Churchill responded: “I must point out that my rule of life prescribes as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars, and also the drinking of alcohol before, after, and if need be, during all meals and in the intervals between them.”

However, we all have our favourite Churchill quote and this is mine, often quoted but none the worse for repeating once more

Labour Party M.P. Bessie Braddock once had the misfortune of accusing Churchill of drunkenness in public. "You're drunk!" she scolded. "Yes," he retorted, "and you are ugly, but tomorrow I shall be sober."

Champagne & Cigars in London - Sir Winston Churchill & Pol Roger on the Cuban Cigar Walk London

2009-12-20T09:47:00.000-08:00

Sir Winston’s Libations – Part 1 – Pol Roger Champagne

On the Cuban Cigar Walk London we have taken great care to select the finest Cigar stores and combined our visits with wonderful history on sites on the route in Mayfair and St James’s together with a wealth of information on the history of Cuban Cigars in Britain.

We also include details of Sir Winston Churchill, the Greatest Englishman of the last Century, who bought his cigars from two of the stores on our walk (Alfred Dunhill and JJ Fox). But Sir Winston Churchill loved the good things in life and that included Pol Roger Champagne.

The Cuban Cigar Walk London passes Berry Brothers and Rudd in St James's street, the oldest wine merchants in central London. The business was established in 1698 by the Widow Bourne and the store has changed very little since that time.

The shop front, which was built in the 1730s, is one of the few surviving 18th century shop fronts in London.

The stores wine cellars stretch beneath St. James's Street and Pall Mall. In 1852 the cellars had to be shored up for the Duke of Wellington's funeral due to the enormous weight of the funeral carriage.

In 1908 Sir Winston Churchill, at the time in the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade, was a customer of Berry Brothers and records, including his earliest invoice show that at that time he was buying the 1895 Pol Roger vintage.

The Champagne House of Pol Roger was established in the Epernay in 1849. Today it is one of very few family-owned independent Champagne houses. It has “a respect for nature, a devotion to quality and a certain joie de vivre”.

Pol Roger owns 87 hectares of vineyards on prime sites in the Vallée d'Epernay and the Côte des Blancs. Its cellars, extending to 7 km, lie on three levels in the chalk below the streets of Epernay and are among the deepest and coolest cellars in the region: contributing to the slow maturation and creation of fine, persistent bubbles which are the hallmark of all Pol Roger champagnes.

Sir Winston famously said “A single glass of champagne imparts a feeling of exhilaration. The nerves are braced, the imagination is agreeably stirred, the wits become more nimble.”

In 1944 his long friendship with Odette Pol Roger the grand dame of the famous champagne house began. Sir Winston first met her at the British Embassy in November 1944. Churchill became Pol Roger's best, and certainly most influential, customer. Odette sent him a case of his favourite vintage (the 1928) for his birthday every year while stocks lasted.

Odette had a “merry smile, ebullient charm and love of parties, she had no trouble in fulfilling the task she set for herself - "to encourage people to enjoy champagne" - and she soon came to seem the sparkling embodiment of Pol Roger.” Reported the Daily Telegraph in her obituary.

When Sir Winston died in January 1965, as a tribute to their most loyal client, through whose cellar it is estimated more than 500 cases of Pol Roger had passed in the last ten years of his life, a black border was added to the labels of all bottles of 'White Foil' sold in the United Kingdom.

My favourite story about Odette Pol Roger is taken from her obituary published in the Daily Telegraph in December 2000.

She spent summers at her chateau in Normandy on the Andelle, one of the best trout rivers in France, to which she often invited friends from Britain. There was little that could distract her from the chance of a fine catch. "The other night," she told The Daily Telegraph in 1970, "I was in Paris, dining at the Embassy with Christopher Soames, and afterwards I got into my car and drove to Normandy.

"As the sun was coming up I was thinking of getting a bit of sleep when I looked down from my bedroom window and saw a huge trout in the stream which runs through the property. So I grabbed my rod and rushed down and caught him - still in my dinner gown. Well! Life must be enjoyed, no?"

I am a fly fisherman and after I read this article I made my way to Normandy and fished on the Andelle on a beat very close to the chateau and it is one of the most beautiful chalk streams in the world. For more details the Gourmet Fly Web site has full information and some wonderful pictures.

In 1984, The Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill was launched made from a secret blend, and only produced in exceptional years, is a Champagne of exquisite finesse and balance and one that rivals the very best of the region. The grapes are all from Grand Cru vineyards which were under vine during Churchill's lifetime and it is only ever made in the very best vintages. It is made in a style which Churchill himself favoured: robust, mature and long-lived.

There are many great Churchill quotes and many associated with Champagne:

At the time of the first world war -"Remember gentlemen, it's not just France we are fighting for, it's Champagne! "

"In victory I deserve it, in defeat I need it." (he borrowed this quote from Napoleon)

"I am easily satisfied with the best"

"A single glass of champagne imparts a feeling of exhilaration. The nerves are braced, the imagination is agreeably stirred; the wits become more nimble. A bottle produces the contrary effect. Excess causes a comatose insensibility. So it is with war: and the quality of both is best discovered by sipping."

"Meeting Franklin Roosevelt was like opening your first bottle of champagne; knowing him was like drinking it."

G Smith & Sons - One of the oldest purveyors of cigars and snuff in London

2009-11-23T04:48:00.000-08:00

When we put the Cuban Cigar Walk London together we focussed on St James's and Mayfair but there are some really excellent stores in other areas of town, I feel a Cuban Cigar Walk 2 coming on!

If you are searching London for some well kept cigars, a pipe of tobacco or a pinch of snuff you may well miss the unique old Tobacconist in Charring Cross road if you didn’t know it was there.

I suspect there was a time in London when many of London’s gentlemen would take a pinch of snuff, but today I find it amazing that such a huge range is still available from a store in London.

G. Smith & sons in the Charring Cross road is a totally unreconstructed snuff store and tobacconist which was established in 1869 and it looks as though it hasn’t has a major refit since that day, Fantastic!

The taking of Snuff is first documented from the second visit of Christopher Columbus to the Americas where he found the Taino-Indians on Haiti taking this form of ground up tobacco in 1497.

It was first brought to Europe in 1561 when Catherine de Medici is first reported to have taken it and she was followed by other famous French snuff takers including Napolean and King Louis XIII.

Snuff became more common through the 20^th century until it was gradually replaced by cigarettes. However snuff taking did still remain popular in certain communities such as Ireland, Western Scotland, Iceland and Southern Germany and it also appears there must be a rump of users in London judging by the wide range available here.

G Smith & sons blend their own snuffs and although I have taken it I can’t pretend to be an expert. Those who are recommend the George IV and Café Royale blends.

So if you want to try something that your great grandfather probably did then the knowledgeable young men at G Smith & sons will be able to help you select the blend to suit you and I will almost guarantee that you will be the only person in the pub gently teasing a small pile of snuff onto the back of your hand tonight!

The store also sells pipes and cigars.

You may well miss the humidor which is in a room through a door on the right of the shop. It obviously used to be a back room and it must be the only humidor in the world with a fireplace.

The shelves are stocked with a few Cuban cigars but my advice is to take a good look at the Non Cuban cigars here including a number of Rocky Patel cigars.

The full address of the store is 74 Charring Cross Road, WC2H 0BG but if you have an iPhone you should download a great new iPhone app called Topsee and it will guide you to Smith as well as showing you over 270 other Top things to eat, drink, do, see and buy in London.

Auction of Cuban Cigars in London including Pre Revolution Cuban Cigars

2009-11-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

You will need some where to rest when you have completed the Cuban Cigar Walk London and we include a list of recommended places to eat, drink and smoke on our web site which are useful during and after the walk.

One of our favourite spots if Boisdale of Belgravia and if you pop along there on the 1^st of December at 7.00pm there is a fantastic auction of some 142 lots including some exceptional Cuban cigars.

There are some great Pre Revolution/Pre Castro Cuban Cigars and a number humidors in the early lots including a Cubatobacco 1492 original humidor with 15 original cigars with an estimate of between £3,500 to £6,000.

To find a link to the full catalogue of the lots for sale follow this link

If you wish to attend the auction you will need to register. If you are unable to attend the auction you can still bid by email up to 24 hours before the event. If you are not an existing client you will need to register by emailing your details with details of which Lots you wish to bid for as well as your maximum bids.

Looks like a great opportunity to pick up some Christmas presents for the Cigar lover.

Sir Winston Churchill's 'Romper" Suit

2009-10-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

The Cuban Cigar Walk London audio guide includes many stories about Sir Winston Churchill who was probably the most recognised cigar smoker in the world. The walk also passes many London stores which have Royal warrants or which are frequented by the rich and famous and Jermyn Street has more than most.

At numbers 71 and 72 Jermyn Street we pass the shirt maker Turnbull and Asser who have make shirts for Prince Charles and James Bond.

They are also famous for their connections to Sir Winston Churchill. During the war they were called on to make an all together more exotic garment for the Prime Minister.

During the war Sir Winston asked Turnbull & Asser to produce for him brightly coloured Siren suits.

These one piece zip up suits were ideal wear during air raids.

The Siren suits were comfortable and eminently practical outfits soon and soon became as much part of the Prime Ministerial ensemble as the hat, the bow tie and the cigar.

Typical of his maverick behaviour, Churchill would make a point of appearing in the most formal of situations in these eye catching zip up and belted ensembles.

Churchill cheerfully referred to his Siren suits as his ‘romper suits’

Some examples of the suits still survive. There is one in the Metropolitan Museum in New York also The Churchill Museum Cabinet War Rooms has one.

On the lower floor at Turnbull and Asser on Jermyn Street there is a fine Emerald green example, complete with a cigar in the top pocket, in a glass case complete with a letter of thanks from the great man.

Turnbull and Asser had to make constant repairs to his suits during the war. Mainly due to damage from cigar ash rather than enemy action.

After the war Churchill put his Siren suits aside but he continued to buy his dress shirts from the Jermyn Street store.

If you head into the bespoke store a little way down Bury Street, you will be able to see both the original measurements for some of his orders and also a pattern for one of his shirts.

In 1970 Turnbull & Asser opened a new showroom in Bury Street and called it the Churchill room.

There was an earlier connection between Turnbull and Asser because the block on which the shop is located is named Marlborough Chambers, since it was built on the site of the house where Winston Churchill’s great ancestor, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough lived in the 1670’s.

Alfred Dunhilll's Windshield Pipe - a great innovation for the first car drivers

2009-10-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

Alfred Dunhill's new London home at the magnificent Bourdon House in Mayfair is the first store on the Cuban Cigar Walk London.
The history of what is today a global luxury brand is fascinating and when you visit Bourdon House you will find many of Alfred's novel creations in cases at either end of the Discovery Room on the first floor near the spa and hairdressers.

Alfred Dunhill was a serial innovator. When, at the age of 21 he took over his father’s business which supplied equipment for horse drawn carriages.

He quickly realised that the future lay in the new motor powered vehicles which were starting to appear.

He changed his companies name to Dunhill Motorities, and started to develop luxury accessories to supply the drivers of these new motor cars

In 1904 one of Alfred’s customers who had acquired one of these new modes of transport complained that he could not keep his pipe lit while driving in an open top car

Alfred set to work and designed the famous Windshield pipe with a raised section at the front of the pipe bowl.

He patented his new design and the new pipe proved to be a huge success and was a best seller. Users found that it was also very useful for stopping ash from falling onto the table when playing billiards or snooker.

Interested in further developing this trade led him in 1907 to open, at 38 Duke Street St James’s, a small tobacconist where he specialised in the supply of tobacco.

The store had a ledger called the “my mixture book” where each customer had their own blend listed. The customers loved this as they could develop and refine their own mixture until they were satisfied and once they had their final blend this was entered in the book.

The blends of many famous smokers were included in the book including among others the Prince of Wales and Rudyard Kipling and many London Ambassadors.

The fine tobacco Alfred was selling was not matched by the poor French briar pipes which many smokers used.

This had the effect of making the tobacco taste rather bitter so Alfred focussed himself on developing a pipe which would smoke better than any other.

Through long research he developed a multi stage process including seasoning and heat treating the wood so that by 1910 he produced the first Dunhill pipes which were available in the Dunhill shop.

In around 1914 he started to add a little white spot on the mouth piece of the pipe to indicate which way round the hand cut mouth piece should be put back on the pipe after cleaning.

In 1922 there was a famous court case when another pipe manufacturer was accused of passing his pipes off as Dunhill because he was putting white spots on his pipes. In court a witness gave evidence that no gentleman would be admitted to one of London’s Gentleman’s clubs unless he was smoking a Dunhill pipe identified by its white spot.

In 1914 the first world war began in Europe and to ensure sales continued he would package up pipes, wrapping each one carefully in a piece of toilet tissue, knowing that this was probably the most welcome luxury for those serving in the trenches.

He discovered that some of the packages of pipes were being intercepted and were not getting to their intended recipients so he produced “Castor Oil” labels which increased the delivery rate significantly. He included invoices with the pipes to “pay when they returned”. The pipes were passed around Officers Mess’s and introduced many new smokers to Dunhill.

Nero's rotating dining room discovered in Rome

2009-09-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

Archaeologists in Rome have unearthed what they think are the remains of a circular rotating dining room that belonged to the Emperor Nero.

They say it was probably his banqueting hall that imitated the earth's movement so he could impress his guests.

Cities in Sound has three wonderful Audio Guides around Rome: From the Forum to the Colosseum, The Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain and The Award winning Heart of Rome Walk

More details and Video report on the latest discovery click here.

Smoking Cigars in the rain in London?

2009-09-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

Sautter of Mount street is a charming little traditional Cigar store in Fashionable Mount Street Mayfair.

It has been selling Cigars since Desmond Sautter started his business 50 years ago and developed a world wide reputation as a the pre eminent supplier of pre Revolution Cuban cigars in London.

It is the second cigar store on The Cuban Cigar Walk London and as part of the celebrations for their 50th year Johnny Burman has produced a range of umbrellas so that you can smoke your cigars even in the most inclement London weather.

There is a choice of three umbrellas but this one caught our attention because it has a hollow handle with a spring loaded mechanism which is designed to accommodate one of your finest cigars so you need never be without a cigar what ever the weather.

For more details please visit the Sautter web site

A great home for your Cigars in London - The Ultimate Humidors - Part Two

2009-09-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

While I tramp the streets of London in search of cigars and stories and likely locations to include in my Audio Guides I frequently make extra ordinary discoveries. I recently visited the Tom Tom shop in London where four of the Hunters and Frankau / Linley limited edition humidors are currently on display. They looked great in the pictures but they look totally stunning in the flesh.

They are due to move on soon and I will try to keep track of them and let you know where they are but I thought you might like to see some pictures. To see part 1 of this Blog item and more details on these amazing humidors follow this LINK

Cigars over London - Huge cloud of Havana smoke spotted over London

2009-09-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

Recently a group of Cigar smokers who first met on the UK Cigar Forum on the internet got together to walk the Cuban Cigar Walk London and then in the evening smoking cigars by London's river Thames to celebrate one year of the forum's existence.

A group of 20 completed the Audio Guide and for the first time we used radio head sets which ensure that everyone hears the guide simultaneously.

We lunched at the wonderful Red Lion pub in crown passage and many bemused passers by could not understand why the old gas lit alleyway was filled with vast clouds of cigar smoke on a quiet September Saturday afternoon.

We ended the walk at the Churchill Museum Cabinet War rooms and a group of 14 of us made our way into the museum where you can see Sir Winston Churchill's war time head quarters and the remains of one of his exceptionally well chewed cigars.

In the evening we met up with a larger party at a great pub calledhe Doggetts Coat and Badge on the South bank of the Thames overlooking Blackfriars Bridge and proceeded to produce huge clouds of Havana smoke.

One of the advantages of smoking cigars with a group from an internet forum is that everyone posts a note to tell you what they smoked and of the 12 that smoked here are the details:

They smoked a total of 54 cigars

The most cigars smoked by one person was 8 (Lascau)
20 different brands and 44 different types of cigars were smoked of which over 98% were Cubans

I did a quick check and the most popular brand was Hoya de Monterrey with the most popular cigar being the R&J short Churchill

The full list of cigars smoked was:

Hoyo De Monterrey -Petit Robusto, Epicure Especial, Regalos, Depute, Epicure No 2, Double Corona
San Cristobel -Moralles
Juan Lopez - No 2, Petit Corona
Cohiba - Sublimes, Esplendidos, Robusto, Siglo IV, Siglo V, Genios
Cuaba - Distinguidos
Ramon Allones - Corona, Small Club Corona
Montecristo - No 2, No 4, Sublime, Edmundo, Open Regata
Bolivar - Royal Corona, Petit Corona, Belicosos Finos

El Rey Del Mundo - Demi Tasse

La Auro - Leoninos
Partagas- Charlotte (1998), P2, D4, Lusitanias
Por Larranaga- Belicoso Extra
Punch - Petit Corona, Double Corona
Romeo & Julietta - Short Churchill, Dukes
Trinidad - Fundadores
Upmann - Magnum 48
Vegas Robaina - Famosos
Non Cuban - OPUS X, Placeres Reserva, Dunhill Petit Corona

As you can imagine the smell on that terrace was wonderful and the few drops of rain didn't spoil a great evening.

Same time next year everyone?

Trinidad Robusto T launch seminar at Boisdale

2009-09-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

A short while ago I wrote here that I had seen the new Trinidad Robusto T cigars at Davidoff in London which is one of the stores on the route of the Cuban Cigar Walk London, and today I got to sample one in illustrious company on the wonderful cigar terrace at Boisdale

And what a great evening, when you consider that these cigars retail for £21 each, we got a cigar a glass of the new house no 4 claret and an extremely instructive introduction on this great new cigar from Simon Chase of Hunter and Frankau for just £25.

There were only 10 lovers of fine cigars at this inaugural Monday evening event and Simon started the evening by giving us a potted history of the Trinidad brand, which is named after the beautiful 16th century city of La Santisima Trinidad which is on the south coast of Cuba and is a Unesco World Heritage site.

Simon explained that Trinidad cigars were first released to the public at the beginning of 1998 but long before that they had been Havana’s mystery cigars having been first produced at El Laguito, the Cohiba factory , but in very small quantities for distribution by the Cuban Council of State.

Cigar Aficianado confirmed their existence in it’s first issue. Trinidads became the holy grail of cigar enthusiasts, mainly because they were almost impossible to obtain. Prices rocketed and it did not take the cigar industry long to decide to fully launch the brand.

The essence of the original cigars was taken by Raul Valladares who is a Master blender of tobacco, known as the ‘Maestro de Maestros’ (Master of Masters), he softened the flavour to produce an aromatic fragrance with a medium flavour.

The new Trinidad Robusto T was announced at the Festival del Habano in February 2009 and has just landed in England.

The Trinidad Reyes has been one of my favourite cigars for a while now, I find it extremely complex and tasty without being too strong and overbearing.

It’s big brother the Robusto T has the same complexity but is more muscular. Simon took time to explain to us the way the cigars are constructed and why we should anticipate different strengths and we worked through each third of the cigar due to the construction of the cigar and it’s filler.

I always learn something when I smoke a cigar with Simon and it’s not surprising with the years he has spent in the business but what also helps is that he is such a charming host.

If you are in the London area I suggest you quickly get the details of a future event and try it for yourself.

The next event is on the 26th October between 6pm and 7pm at Boisdale and will include the Bolivar Petit Belicoso (5’’ 52 RG) and a large glass of Hennessy 1982 Grand Champagne Cognac to drink as you smoke.

With the masterful Simon Chase to host the event, talk you through the background and history of the brand and the new cigar, I can't imagine a better place to be on a cool Monday evening in October than on the Terrace of Boisdale under the heaters with some good friends and a warming drink.

For more details and to get tickets go to the Boisdale web site You can also register here for updates on future events.

Every office should have a Cigar Park?

2009-09-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

It's not an uncommon site to see people standing outside an office having a quick cigarette. But if you are a cigar smoker you normally make your pleasure last a little longer than a 5 minute break.

While I was visiting the office of Hunters and Frankau recently I spotted a wonderful device in their 'Out Door Smoking area.

If you smoke cigars you might like to consider getting one of these your office.

Each of the cigars is held on it's own little numbered 'shelf' and there is a small roof to keep the rain off.

So you can enjoy a cigar break throughout your working day.

What a great idea, every good office needs a 'cigar park'.

Cuban Cigar Walk London

Beautiful little now you see me, now you don’t Humidor

2009-09-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

Walking around London, smoking great cigars and meeting wonderful people, what could be better? And it’s what I do for a job.

I am currently getting ready to do a group audio walk of the Cuban Cigar Walk London where we will be taking a group of about 20 around the four cigar stores in Mayfair and St James.

I popped in the oldest store on the walk, JJ Fox and Robert Lewis. This store first opened it’s doors in 1787 and it has so much history they have even opened up the ‘Cigar Museum’ downstairs. It has lots of great history including what are reputed to be the oldest cigars in the world.

The first cigars were shipped to London in about 1830 and in a case at the far end of the museum you will find two glass cabinet containing cigars of the La Cabanas brand and these are some of the first cigars shipped to the UK and it is believed that these are probably the oldest cigars in the world.

Having supplied cigars to England’s Royal Family for many years the list of past customers is long and distinguished and includes Tsars of Russia, Lord Salisbury, Bing Crosby and the Bengal Lancers Regiment.

As I entered the store the staff were demonstrating the most exquisite Humidor or cigar case, to me it looked like something out of a Harry Potter film.

As you will see from my pictures it has a small knob on the top which when turned rotates each individual face of the case to reveal holders for three cigars.

I was quite captivated by this wonderful little treasure. You can see many more fascinating objects like this at the Cigar Museum at JJ Fox and Robert Lewis which is on the route of the Cuban Cigar Walk London.

Venice opening times!

2009-09-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

I visited Venice this summer and saw this great sign in a shop window which captures a very relaxed Italian attitude to commerce.

Although we do not have Audio guides for Venice yet, if you are visiting Italy we have three wonderful Audio guides for Rome including the award winning “Heart of Rome” Audio guide where you will discover the best ice cream in the world.

To hear samples and to find maps of the three rome audio guides follow this link:
Cities in Sound Rome Audio Guides.

I tested them all recently and have some snippets of information to give if you are heading for the eternal city so keep watching my blog for new posts in the near future.

Alfred Dunhill's little devil - The Tweenie Devil

2009-09-14T08:03:00.000-07:00

The Cuban Cigar Walk London visits four of the finest retailers of Cigars in London including the new home of Alfred Dunhill at Bourdon House.

Built between 1723 and 1725 Bourdon House is the former home of the Duke of Westminster, the Grade 2 listed Bourdon House is an oasis of Luxury and calm in the hustle and bustle of London’s Mayfair.
If the weather is fine there is a court yard where you can have a coffee and enjoy your cigars purchased from the wonderful humidor in the basement.

On the wall of Alfred Dunhill’s stylish London home, outside the exclusive Alfred’s Club you will see a polished brass plaque bearing a strange looking mystical figure. This is the Tweenie Devil, a sign of Alfred’s devilish sense of humour.

In 1893 the young Alfred Dunhill took over control of his fathers business making all of the accessories that the carriage owning Gentleman of the time required.

But although he was only 21 years old, Alfred quickly realised that the invention of the motor car posed a serious threat to business.

He changed the name of the business to Dunhill Motorities and started to produce a wide range of luggage, waterproof coats, in fact all of the accessories required to make the motor car luxurious and exclusive.

On the boot of Alfred’s own car was the Tweenie Devil, a grinning figure thumbing it’s nose at all those left in it’s wake.

Today it is possible to get a pair of Tweenie Devil cuff links from Alfred Dunhill stores. I have a pair and they never fail to start a conversation.

To hear a sample of the Cuban Cigar Walk London go to The Cities in Sound Web Site.

Partagas Culebras – the twisted cigar

2009-08-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

I was recently given a Patagas Culebras which is the wonderful twisted three cigars in one.

On Friday I was in London visiting the cigar stores featured on the Cuban Cigar Walk London and I spent some time at Davidoff where Armando, who is in the UK on a break from his usual job as a roller at the Partagas factory in Havana.

I spoke to Armando and Edward Sahakian about the Culebras and got some really interesting details.

I asked Armando about rolling the Culebras and he told me that in order to achieve the twist it was necessary to roll the very loosely and also with very moist tobacco.

Edward told me that he had been told the history of the Culebras by one of the old Cigar importers.

The rollers are apparently allowed to smoke any number of cigars while they are rolling but are only allowed to take 3 cigars home every evening.

In order to discourage them from selling them the three cigars were twisted together.

However as they were for their own consumption the rollers made sure they always used the very best tobacco.

I told Edward and Armando that I intended to smoke mine with a couple of my friends who love cigars. Remember said Edward "that you are smoking the tobacco not the shape".

Newly released Trinidad Robusto T

2009-08-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note this evening, while I was at Davidoff in London today I saw the new Trinidad Robusto T cigars which were released today.

Just look at that lovely little piggy tail there!

Yummy!

I haven't smoked one yet but James Suckling likes them:
Cigar Aficionado

Sir Winston Churchill's cigar part of War Time bunker exhibition

2009-08-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

The Cuban Cigar Walk London naturally has many references to the life and cigars of Sir Winston Churchill as on our Audio guide we visit two of the Cigar stores (Robert Lewis and Alfred Dunhill) which supplied Sir Winston during his long life.

The Cuban Cigar Walk London finishes at the Churchill Museum Cabinet War Rooms just next to Downing street and a new exhibition revealing the day to day workings of life inside Sir Winston Churchill's secret World War II headquarters is being opened to the public this week.

Marking the 70th anniversary of the start of the conflict, the exhibition will showcase the stories of the people who worked alongside Churchill in the secret bunker.

For those of you who are keen Cigar smokers interested in the specific cigar that Sir Winston smoked you can see an example of one of his cigars in the museum.

It's partly smoked and well chewed but it's a contact with the great man himself.

Whether you can get to the exhibition or not I strongly recommend that you buy a copy of the book "Churchill's Cigar" by Stephen McGinty.

Stephen was kind enough to read extracts of his wonderful book for inclusion in the Cuban Cigar Walk London and it's a authorative and beautifully written book.

For more details see :

BBC News Article
Churchill Museum Cabinet War Rooms Web site.

The Ultimate Humidor? (Part 1)

2009-08-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

If you like good Cuban Cigars then you need somewhere to keep them and while working on a group version of my Audio Guide the Cuban Cigar Walk London I recently met Simon Chase of Hunters and Frankau who told me about the new Humidors which Hunters had commissioned from Linley the famous bespoke furniture company which is run by the Queen’s nephew.

The Cuban Cigar Walk London passes very close to the Linley store in Mayfair and you can be sure that we will be making a detour on group walks to ensure that we get to see these wonderful pieces of design.

Of the three designs, the reproduction of the El Laguito factory in Havana, the home of the world famous Cohiba cigars is the most stunning.
Only one of these humidors will be made and it will be available filled with a fabulous selection of Cigars all carefully selected by Hunters and Frankau.

Slightly more accessible to mere mortals are the two other designs in this exclusive range. The Skyline Humidor is the second in the collection and five of these will be produced. This humidor contains 50 cigars and features the panoramic skyline of London in marquetry detailing around the box.

Finally The third humidor in the collection marks the bicentenary of the Cuban Revolution. Only fifty of the Cuban Flag humidors will be available and each one is numbered.

The box features marquetry inlay depicting the Cuban national flag in ripple sycamore, satin walnut and Santos rosewood encased within walnut lippings.

The box is distinguished by an undulating ‘ripple’ effect on the surface which evokes a flag fluttering in the wind.

For full details and to place your orders go to the Hunters and Frankau web site:
Hunters and Frankau Humidors

Top ten jokes at the Edinburgh Festival 2009

2009-08-24T05:33:00.000-07:00

If you are in Edinburgh for the Edinbugh Festival, for the Edinburgh Tatoo or just for a visit Cities in Sound has two Audio Guides for Edinburgh Old Town and Edinburgh New Town:

http://www.citiesinsound.com/

Found these on the BBC News Web site:

The Top 10 jokes were judged to be:

• 1) Dan Antopolski - "Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?"

• 2) Paddy Lennox - "I was watching the London Marathon and saw one runner dressed as a chicken and another runner dressed as an egg. I thought: 'This could be interesting'."

• 3) Sarah Millican - "I had my boobs measured and bought a new bra. Now I call them Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes because they're up where they belong."

• 4) Zoe Lyons - "I went on a girls' night out recently. The invitation said 'dress to kill'. I went as Rose West."

• 5) Jack Whitehall - "I'm sure wherever my dad is; he's looking down on us. He's not dead, just very condescending."

• 6) Adam Hills - "Going to Starbucks for coffee is like going to prison for sex. You know you're going to get it, but it's going to be rough."

• 7) Marcus Brigstocke - "To the people who've got iPhones: you just bought one, you didn't invent it!"

• 8) Rhod Gilbert - "A spa hotel? It's like a normal hotel, only in reception there's a picture of a pebble."

• 9) Dan Antopolski - "I've been reading the news about there being a civil war in Madagascar. Well, I've seen it six times and there isn't."

• 10) Simon Brodkin (as Lee Nelson) - "I started so many fights at my school - I had that attention-deficit disorder. So I didn't finish a lot of them."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8216991.stm

H Upmann Magnum 48 Limited Edition

2009-08-22T16:50:00.001-07:00

I had a wonderful afternoon yesterday and I sat with Edward Sahakian at Davidoff in London . It was the first day of the release of the 2009 limited edition Cuban Cigars and I sat with him and smoked one of the new H Upmann Magnum 48 Limited Edition 2009.

It’s a great cigar, not to strong, which is ideal for me. It is made with tobacco which as been aged for a minimum of 2 years. Edward had smoked one the day before and he says they will age very well.

We will be heading back to Davidoff on the Cuban Cigar Walk London on the 19th September for a group walk which will be followed by a Herf.

http://www.citiesinsound.com/shopWebSite/php/showProducts.php?plu=13

Make the most of the smoke

2009-05-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

Quite simply, it was one of the most pleasant and informative afternoons I’ve had in London”
Mark Hedges, Editor – Country Life, May 2009

I recently spent a sunny afternoon doing the Cuban Cigar Walk London with the editor of Country Life and you can read his article on the Country Life web site:

http://www.countrylife.co.uk/blogs/article/341534/Country-mouse-on-a-pleasant-tour-of-London.html

Step by step tube map

2009-02-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

Have you ever though it might be quicker to walk than to take the tube. Health Company PruHealth has engaged some energetic walkers with pedometers to measure the number of steps between each station.

As you can imagine we here at Cities in Sound are ardent fans of anything which involves more walking to help you improve your health.

To find the map follow the following link

The Beatles in Saville Row

2009-01-25T12:26:00.000-08:00

We try to make our walks as cosmopolitan as possible and in a new audio guide due to be released in the next few days we will pass the site of the Beatles last performance at the old Apple Corporation building at number 3 Saville Row.

On 30th January 2009 it will be the 40th aniversary of that famous last live outing for the 'Fab Four.

It had been planned to re enact the concert and broadcast it to the world but somehow Westminter Council have managed to bog the idea down in red tape and it had to be cancelled.

So to get a true flavour we suggest you head to You Tube for a replay. There are three sections of film available and it's a real time capsule, I love the guy on the other side of Saville Row in the Bowler hat, with the pipe. They don't make them like that any more. Oh and aren't the police polite!

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

So watch out for the release of our new walk. To be sure of getting details of new walks be sure to register for updates.

New Year Diet?

2009-01-12T05:52:00.001-08:00

No trip to Paris would be complete without a visit to a traditional baker or boulangerie.

The Gastronomic Pleasures page of the Le Marais web site will allow you to review some of the wonderful spots on the Le Marais audio walk so that you can carefully plan your snacking as you go. A croissant here a pain-au-chocolat there.

Just remember that you are on an audio walk so you will probably be walking off those calories, now where can I get a wonderful rhum baba?

Paris home from home

2008-12-09T13:33:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last post the reason we selected Le Marais for one of our Paris Audio Guides is that it’s a wonderfully eccentric and eclectic area of Paris.

If you are thinking of heading to Paris for a little light shopping we recommend you look at the site of our good friends at http://www.parismarais.com/.

It’s a great site with lots of information including a wide range of apartments for rent for days or weeks. What better way to visit this great area than to live like a local behind your own front door, so much better than a hotel.

If you are not planning to head out for a while it’s well worth signing up for their monthly newsletter here to keep you up to date.

Sound Advice – added treasures to enhance your walking pleasure courtesy of: http://www.citiesinsound.com/

Where is everyone going?

2008-12-04T01:39:00.000-08:00

I like to keep an eye on what people who are planning to travel think of the cities in which Cities in Sound have Audio Guides.

I was recently looking at the top cities being watched by the subscribers of Trip Advisor which today has 20 Million subscribers.

I see that Three of the Cities in Sounds locations are in the top 10 locations being watched by subscribers including:
· Paris at 3
· London at 6
· Rome at 7

Then I started to dig a little deeper on Paris, Le Marais comes up as the 18th most popular attraction/area which considering the competition in Paris is pretty amazing.

The comments by people who have been there include: “Finally, the real Paris”, others described it as a “charming, perfect location”.
What better way to get under the skin of this wonderful area than to tune in to the Cities in Sound Le Marais Audio Guide.

Our friends in Le Marais have a great web site which complements the walk perfectly. Don’t forget to check it out when you plan your visit: Le Marais – The Art of Living Guide

Sound Advice – added treasures to enhance your walking pleasure courtesy of: http://www.citiesinsound.com/

Saved ! House by the Thames

2008-12-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

Cities in Sound’s ever popular Bankside Audio Guide ends between the Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern. As you gaze across at the spectacular Millennium Bridge, look back towards the Globe and you will see three small houses which look very isolated and incongruous.

These day’s old houses survive because they have preservation orders slapped on them by the authorities. Many years ago houses that we would love to see today were torn down in the name of progress.

In her book “The House by the Thames” Gillian Tindall tells the story of one of these three houses, 49 Bankside which was built in 1710.

It survived, escaping demolition thanks to a past residents who put up a plaque claiming that Wren lived here while building St Paul’s. This held off the developers, but now this claim is proven to be false.

Today we can just delight in seeing a bit of old London standing proud and tall on the South Bank of the Thames gazing across at a City skyline which has changed so much in it’s life time.

Mediatheque

2008-11-22T15:16:00.000-08:00

No I had no idea what it was either!

But it’s worth finding out and it’s a great place to spend a rainy autumn morning or afternoon.
Mediatheque is an unique collection of film and video archive which you watch in your own little booth with a set of headphones on and it’s located at the BFI Southbank, you may know it as the NFT, beneath Waterloo Bridge.

So when you have finished your trip on the London Eye, with the wonderful Cities in Sound
Flightseeing commentary, or when you have completed our Bankside Audio Guide it’s a great spot to rest weary feet.

And as you know, here at Sound Advice we like nothing more than a free deal when we have completed our Audio Tour of London and this wonderful resource is completely free.
We took the kids and they sat spell bound by an old black and white episode of Dr Who, complete with Daleks, while we watched old news reel film.

Follow this link for a complete list of all the films available from an 1896 film of Blackfriars Bridge to WH Auden’s wonderfully evocative Night Mail via a 1967 documentary about swinging London.

So something for all the family there I think.

Seven connections between Southwark Cathedral and The United States

2008-06-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Pausing your ipod to explore new discoveries is one of the many advantages and delights of an Audio Walk as I was reminded whilst reviewing our Bankside walk.

It was at the peaceful garden at the entrance to Southwark Cathedral that my hand pressed the pause button. Inside the cathedral is bright, certainly built to the glory of God, yet having a warmth and intimacy that is a haven of peace without stuffiness or overbearing formality. I received a friendly welcome from Kandeel Egbe who gave me a copy of The Cathedral Trail, which guides visitors around all areas of the Cathedral including The Retro Choir, the oldest part of the Cathedral dating back to 1215 – 1260.

David Payne, Visitors’ Officer for the Cathedral has kindly sent Cities in Sound.com some useful information in advance of the Cathedral web site relaunch later this year.

Southwark Cathedral is renowned for the link to John Harvard the Founder of the famous Boston Ivy League College but there are 6 more links between the Cathedral and the USA and thanks to David I am able to bring them to you.

A gentle reminder… the Cathedral is a place of worship, please respect this, turn off your iPod and remove your headphones whilst you are in the Cathedral.

On every hour there is a two-minute break for prayer. This time for quiet reflection is an oasis of calm in the normal hurly burly of London life.

Visitors are asked to make a ‘voluntary donation’ to assist in the maintenance of this historic building.

Wonderfully peaceful and perfectly positioned on the Thames side of the Cathedral The Cathedral Refectory is open every day. Stop and refresh yourself before switching back on the ipod, heading on towards The Globe Theatre and more of the delights of our Bankside walk.

Southwark Cathedral Web site can be found at: http://www.southwark.anglican.org/cathedral/

So here they are: Seven connections between Southwark Cathedral and the USA:

1. John Harvard

The baptismal records for St Saviour’s Church record that the son of parishioners Robert and Katherine Harvard was baptised here on 29 November 1607. He was given the name John. Robert was a prominent businessman who had a butcher’s business in Pepper Alley and was also warden of St Saviour’s.

John lost many family members, including his father, in the Southwark Plague. His mother Katherine went on to remarry, possibly twice more. However, after the death of both his mother and elder brother, John and his wife, Ann, left for Massachusetts in 1637. He died of consumption in 1638 and left half his estate and his library of books to the proposed new college, now known as Harvard University.

The Harvard Chapel in the Cathedral commemorates this ‘godly gentleman and lover of learning’.

2. Oscar Hammerstein II:

Inside the Chapel there is a plaque to Harvard-educated Oscar Hammerstein II. Oscar fell in love with the English Cathedral Choral tradition and would regularly visit the Cathedral and take the head boy of the Boy’s Choir to lunch with him. He gave the Cathedral Choir an endowment and two of the choir members are, to this day, known as the Hammerstein Chanters.

3. John La Farge

The window in the Harvard Chapel is by the New York stained glass artist, John La Farge. It was commissioned and paid for by Joseph Hodges Choate (1832 -1917), himself a Harvard graduate. Choate had an illustrious career in law, and headed many organisations, including the Union League Club and the Century Association. A life-long Republican he was appointed Ambassador at the Court of St James’s in London in 1899, where he worked closely with John Hay, Secretary of State on the territorial treaties between the US and Britain concerning Canada.

The main subject is the Baptism of Christ, alluding to the baptism of John Harvard in the church in 1607. This depiction is after Nicolas Poussin.

On the upper left are the arms of Harvard University and on the right those of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where Harvard studied. In the centre are the Royal Arms, as they appeared between 1415 and 1603; however, the supporters and crest are of a later period, probably dating from the restoration carried-out in 1948.

4. Charles Morton

In 1686 Charles Morton, son of Nicholas Morton, rector of St Saviour’s (now Southwark Cathedral) emigrated to Massachusetts, where he became Fellow and Vice-President of Harvard.

5. Mahomet Weyonomon

On 22 November 2006 HM The Queen accompanied by HRH Prince Philip visited the Cathedral to unveil a granite boulder from Connecticut in the churchyard to commemorate the Sachem Mahomet Weyonomon.

The story goes back to an entry in the Daily Journal for August 11th, 1736:

On Sunday last about one o’clock in the Morning died of the Small Pox, in the 36th Yeare of his Age, Mahomet Weyonomon, Sachem of the Tribe of the Mohegans in the Province of Connecticut in New England. He was Great Grandson to the famous Sachem Uncafs or Onkafs, who took part with the English upon their firft fettling of that Country. He was very decently interred laft Night (from his Lodgings at Mr Midhurst’s in Aldermanbury) in St Mary Over’s Burial-place.

The background to the story is the familiar colonial tale of settlers appropriating the land belonging to the original native population. In this case it was the tribal lands belonging to the Mohegans in Connecticut. When the settlers first took the land, Mahomet’s grandfather Oweneco came to England to petition Queen Anne. The Queen ordered a commission who found in favour of the Indians that they were unjustly deprived of their lands and the governor and company of the Colony of Connecticut was ordered to return the lands. Not only was this ignored but further encroachments took place. to the point where the Mohegans were unable to subsist on the remaining territory.

So in 1735 Mahomet Weyomon accompanied by John Mason, his son Samuel and Zachary Johnson came to London to petition King George II for restoration of their lands. They lodged in the City in the Ward of St Mary Aldermanbury. But before they could present the petition the whole party died of smallpox. The city authorities were happy to bury Mahomet’s European companions in the City but Mahomet had to be buried in the churchyard of St Mary Overie. It was quite a common custom at that time for burials to take place at night and we may imagine what a dramatic spectacle when the body was brought by torchlight over London Bridge.

At the simple unveiling ceremony in November, present with the Queen was the tribal chairman Bruce Two Dogs Bozsum and other members of the tribe. An audience with the monarch that failed in 1735 was finally achieved.

6. Sam Wanamaker

On the right of the memorial to William Shakespeare, is a memorial tablet to the American actor, Sam Wanamaker, who was the driving force behind the building of the present Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on Bankside. His ambition was achieved despite opposition at the time from local councillors, who did not want it to become a tourist attraction! How times have changed! Unfortunately, did not live to see his dream become a reality, dying before it opened its doors to the public.

7. Southwark pottery exported to the British Colonies

Within the Archaeological chamber which can be viewed in Lancelot’s Link (the internal glazed street) on the north /river side of the complex, are the remains of a 17th century pottery kiln. It was in 1614 that an application was made to make pottery ‘after the manner of Fiansa’ (Florence). Part of the old ‘fratree’ of the monastery was used as a pot house and colour house. The kilns were uncomfortably close to the church walls and a small fire in the 18th century ensured that the pottery was finally closed. Southwark Delftware (i.e. tin-glazed) was in production before it was made in Delft. Its distinctive yellow and blue colouring was popular in the American colonies and one of the largest collections of it is at Williamsburg, Virginia.

I am very grateful to David Payne for allowing me to use this information and for supplying some pictures. I returned to my Bankside walk re-invigorated after my break in the peace of the cathedral.

Borough Market – Now 3 days a week

2008-06-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

Borough Market – Now 3 days a week

Borough Market (London SE1) should be on everyone’s must do list. Even when the market is quiet, the local streets are likely to be familiar as they are frequently used as locations for film and television productions.

Until recently, however, those wishing to sample the finest produce and the buzzing atmosphere at the food market would have to visit on a Friday or Saturday…

Reviewing our Bankside Walk I paused (10 a.m. Friday) at the Only Organics fruit and vegetable stall and met Paul who runs the stall with his partner Harriet.

Paul gave me some tips on the best times to visit the market. On Saturdays the market opens at 9.00 and gets really busy around 11 a.m. with crowds peaking at lunchtime when it can be a jostle to get a leisurely look at what is on sale. So…

Get there at opening time for a traditional English (or vegetarian) breakfast followed by great food shopping!

Friday is a quieter day with the “calmest” time between opening at 12 and 1 p.m. and then after 3 when the lunchtime surge of locals and tourists has eased.

Paul also gave me the great news that around 30 stalls now open for trade on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. so even more opportunity to discover this treasure!

Check out the Borough Market web site for more details at http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/

Sound Advice – added treasures to enhance your walking pleasure courtesy of: http://www.citiesinsound.com/

Evensong at Westminster Abbey - Arrive early and get the best seats

2008-05-31T14:08:00.000-07:00

15.45 and Westminster Abbey’s main West entrance was closed. Guided on through Dean’s yard by my audio walk I found the entry to the cloister, I discovered that the main entrance would reopen at 16.30 offering free entry for sung evensong.

Helpful Vergers pointed the way as a queue forms by large blue gates to the left of the nave. Early, and close to the front of the queue, at exactly 16.30 I was shown to my seat, actually in the choir stalls, an honour extended to the first 100 visitors.

With 30 minutes before evensong, there was time for contemplation and the chance to study the magnificent carving and gilding on the stalls. Evensong began at 17.00 prompt, the choir surrounded us, lifting my spirit in song and allowing the imagination to wander to Coronation day, viewed from the best seat in town.

Look out for the marked seats in the back row for Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, for a real special experience.

Check out the Westminster Web Site and click on the “What’s on” feature on the Abbey Web site for Evensong times: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/events/

Sound Advice – added treasures to enhance your walking pleasure courtesy of: www.citiesinsound.com