Did you miss me?! Hi again, Calum from Turmeaus Chester here, back in the blogosphere after a few month’s hiatus! I took a little break from blogging to focus on doing more video related things for 
our growing YouTube channel. If you haven’t checked it out yet, make sure you do, for reviews, how to videos and other video-based hi jinks (I even had a go at combining cigar smoking and yoga in celebration of of World Yoga Day a few months ago!) However, I’m now bravely attempting the challenge that is multi-tasking (considering that I often have trouble merely ‘tasking’) and will hopefully now be back to bringing you weekly blogs as well as my video ramblings.
So, what’s been going on since I last blogged? Well, not a huge amount is new with me personally, but Turmeaus and C. Gars are continuing to grow. Our shops are busier than ever and our groundbreaking evening destination, the Puffin’ Rooms, in Liverpool has gone down an absolute storm. As I mentioned earlier, we’re also putting much more focus on video content on our YouTube channel now, with me, James, Ant trying to keep videos coming thick and fast.
As for products, we’ve had some very cool new releases over the last few months. Some of which are simply very enjoyable, whereas others have been a genuine surprise. So let’s have a quick run through of some of my favourites.
NEW EXCLUSIVE CIGARS
I won’t go too in depth here, as some of these were released a few months ago now, so I’m sure you’re already aware of them. Ever since our exclusively made Inka Secret Blend range came out and went down so well – several years ago now – we decided to keep going with the exclusives. In the last year, we’ve added:
Mitchelleros, an exceptionally good value Nicaraguan cigar, mellow and easy going, ideal for newbies and experienced smokers alike.
Seleccion Orchant Alec Bradleys: After the success of the Orchant Olivas, we decided to give Alec Bradleys the same treatment. This are medium bodied cigars, but with a beautifully complex, sweet flavour. Think caramel and crème brulee, possibly my favourite of all our exclusives.
Davidoff Orchant Seleccion: Another cigar made elusively for us by a pre-existing manufacturer. The only size available is an elegant Lancero, which is a prefect change of pace in today’s robusto-dominated market.
OTHER NEW CIGARS
There have been a few other new releases recently that I’ve taken a bit of a shine to:
Highclere Castle Cigars: If you haven’t heard of Highclere Castle you’ve probably at least seen it; It is the site where they film Downton Abbey. Highclere Castle has a rich history of cigar smokers, so the current owner decided it would be fitting to create the Highclere Cigar Company. The cigars are produced by AJ Fernandez and are a Nicaraguan blend, with a Connecticut Shade grown wrapper and Brazilian binder. Mellow and easy, they are said to be especially blended for British Palates.
New Backwoods Flavours
Changing pace a bit, we have some new releases from the American style flavoured cigars from Backwoods. I know flavoured cigars aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re a fan of them, then Backwoods make an excellent smoke with a cool, rustic presentation. I have a massive sweet tooth, so I’ve always enjoyed their range, but this time it almost felt like they’d looked down the list of “Calum’s favourite flavours” and picked my top two. That’s right, we now sell Backwoods in Grape and Honey flavours. Grape is basically my favourite flavour for anything, whether it be soft drinks, sweets, fruit juice, but I’ve never known a cigar (or tobacco) with that flavour available in the UK. So it’s pretty safe to say I was bouncing off the walls when I saw that these were coming. As for the honey variety, I’ve always said honey flavours go really well with tobacco too and Backwoods have nailed the flavour here, so they’re another very worthy addition to the range.
Speaking of surprises… I might have been a bit surprised when the Backwoods Grape flavour, but nothing compares to how surprised I was when I found out about these. If you’ve heard for Snus 
(Bags of damp, snuff-like tobacco, that are placed under the lip for oral consumption) you will probably;y know it’s never been allowed for sale in the UK. Well, technically it still isn’t, but these new “Chewing Bags” fill the void extremely well, but are different enough that they are classed as an entirely different entity to Snus. I’ve only tried Snus a limited amount of times, but personally I can’t see any significant differences between the two. So if you or anyone you know has been lamenting the lack of Snus in the UK, make sure you let them know about these. There are a few flavours available, from the rich and spicy natural tobacco taste of Cut Titanium Original to the cool, sweet menthol taste of Thunder X Icebomb (my personal favourite). They’re definitely a very unusual way to taste tobacco with quite a unique flavour. They’re also extremely invigorating; I’m a certified caffeine addict, so they’ve proven extremely useful for perking me up through my inevitable mid-afternoon caffeine crash!
So those are my top picks for some of the new products we’ve had in. I’ll be back to weekly blogs from this point (hopefully!) so I’ll be back soon!
Until then: Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Calum
