mjolnir01
El Cañón de Latón
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2008
- Messages
- 2,704
Let me start off by saying, today was a blast.
With my wife and daughter stateside visiting her parents, I decided today would be a great day to venture on into London and check out a few things that they wouldn't miss. I rolled out of bed at 6:30 to take our Basset Hound for a nice long walk. My goal was to get her good and tired-- she doesn't like being home alone very much, and I wanted to make my day out as easy on her as I could. I finally left at 8:00 and drove to Epping, which is the northern-most stop on the London Underground. I hopped on the tube and an hour later I was at Harrod's, the gargantuan world-famous department store.
Oddly enough, the Mrs. says she doesn't want to see Harrod's. What can I say? She's a Walmart woman. After seeing the prices there, I'm counting my blessings. At any rate, it was a pleasant couple hours of walking around the massive store. I stopped for lunch at Ishbilia, Harrod's Lebanese restaurant. The food was fantastic and the humus was easily the best I've ever had.
I made my way out of Harrod's and back to the tube station, where I took the Piccadilly line east two stops, getting off at Green Park. I walked down to St. James Street, where I knew the fun was about to begin. St. James Street is an older part of London with many shops that cater to gentlemen. Not like the American "Gentleman's Club" kind of thing, but true, gentrified and urbane shops. I walked by Truefit and Hill, the well-known shaving supplier. I thought about going in for a shave and a haircut, but figured that'd take time away from my true destination. I ducked into Berry Brothers' and Rudd Wine and Spirit shop and picked up a bottle of 20 year old Tawny Port. The port was made by Pickering but bottled under the shops' label in 2007 after 20 years in casks. I felt like £23 was a steal for this, and I'm going to save it for a special occasion. I checked out everything I was curious about while saving the best for last-- J.J. Fox Cigars.
J.J. Fox was established as Richard Lewis Cigars in 1787. That's right... a B&M older than the American Constitution. This had been planned as something of a pilgrimage for me and it didn't disappoint. The shop has impressive paraphernalia you instantly recognize when you walk in-- Royal Arms indicating they are suppliers to the Royal family and many pictures of Winston Churchill, whom I would learn more about later.
I went back to the humidor and made a few selections, deciding to smoke a Vegas Robaina Famousos in the shop. J.J. Fox is one of the handful of places exempted by the UK's draconian smoking ban. The clerk rang up my order, clipped my cigar and lit it for me, asking me where I was from and noticeably taking time to provide great service. I was impressed. I sat down in the seating area to enjoy my smoke and immediately drummed up a conversation with Gary from Michigan, an avid fly fisherman who was in town visiting family and friends. He soon finished his Hoyo and had to leave, but a group of about a dozen men showed up. They seemed to be a friendly lot, and after speaking with them, I learned they were members of cigar group here in the UK and were on a Cuban Cigar walking tour of London. Nic, one of the gentlemen who put it together, does these walking tours you can download to your portable MP3 player and take at your convenience. The cigar tour is here for 10 quid, and seems very impressive. I'll try it out sometime and let you all know how it goes.
These folks were getting the red carpet treatment from the staff at Fox and were gracious enough to invite me to join them. A few fingers of whisky were supplied per patron and the manager took us downstairs to the museum.
The museum seems to be just a small room with a table, some chairs, several display cabinet humidors, and tons of memorabilia. Then the gentleman leading the tour told us what that memorabilia was: A hat that had belonged to Sir Winston himself and had originated at the hat shop a few doors down on St. James Street. Boxes of Romeo y Julietas dating back to the 40s. A worn leather chair in the corner, that Churchill left to the shop-- which he invited us to take turns sitting in. An old ledger with meticulous logs from the shop's past patrons including Oscar Wilde, who upon his death owed them £37 and Churchill, who by their estimates bought 200,000 cigars from them. Incredible.
Practically swooning from such a great experience, I went back upstairs, my whisky gone and my VR a smoldering nub, where I met another ring-leader for this tour, Deano, whom I instantly recognized. DeanoUK, who joined Cigar Pass about the same time I did and still logs in on occasion- at least as much as his busy schedule allows. I was floored at what a small world this is. I told him I would love to get in on the next cigar tour his group does if my schedule will allow it.
The group asked me to go on with them to their next stop, but at this point it was 4:00 or so and I knew I had a Basset Hound I had to get home to let out. I bid them all goodbye and headed back home to Suffolk, happy that my love of cigars had led to such a fun day.
With my wife and daughter stateside visiting her parents, I decided today would be a great day to venture on into London and check out a few things that they wouldn't miss. I rolled out of bed at 6:30 to take our Basset Hound for a nice long walk. My goal was to get her good and tired-- she doesn't like being home alone very much, and I wanted to make my day out as easy on her as I could. I finally left at 8:00 and drove to Epping, which is the northern-most stop on the London Underground. I hopped on the tube and an hour later I was at Harrod's, the gargantuan world-famous department store.
Oddly enough, the Mrs. says she doesn't want to see Harrod's. What can I say? She's a Walmart woman. After seeing the prices there, I'm counting my blessings. At any rate, it was a pleasant couple hours of walking around the massive store. I stopped for lunch at Ishbilia, Harrod's Lebanese restaurant. The food was fantastic and the humus was easily the best I've ever had.
I made my way out of Harrod's and back to the tube station, where I took the Piccadilly line east two stops, getting off at Green Park. I walked down to St. James Street, where I knew the fun was about to begin. St. James Street is an older part of London with many shops that cater to gentlemen. Not like the American "Gentleman's Club" kind of thing, but true, gentrified and urbane shops. I walked by Truefit and Hill, the well-known shaving supplier. I thought about going in for a shave and a haircut, but figured that'd take time away from my true destination. I ducked into Berry Brothers' and Rudd Wine and Spirit shop and picked up a bottle of 20 year old Tawny Port. The port was made by Pickering but bottled under the shops' label in 2007 after 20 years in casks. I felt like £23 was a steal for this, and I'm going to save it for a special occasion. I checked out everything I was curious about while saving the best for last-- J.J. Fox Cigars.
J.J. Fox was established as Richard Lewis Cigars in 1787. That's right... a B&M older than the American Constitution. This had been planned as something of a pilgrimage for me and it didn't disappoint. The shop has impressive paraphernalia you instantly recognize when you walk in-- Royal Arms indicating they are suppliers to the Royal family and many pictures of Winston Churchill, whom I would learn more about later.
I went back to the humidor and made a few selections, deciding to smoke a Vegas Robaina Famousos in the shop. J.J. Fox is one of the handful of places exempted by the UK's draconian smoking ban. The clerk rang up my order, clipped my cigar and lit it for me, asking me where I was from and noticeably taking time to provide great service. I was impressed. I sat down in the seating area to enjoy my smoke and immediately drummed up a conversation with Gary from Michigan, an avid fly fisherman who was in town visiting family and friends. He soon finished his Hoyo and had to leave, but a group of about a dozen men showed up. They seemed to be a friendly lot, and after speaking with them, I learned they were members of cigar group here in the UK and were on a Cuban Cigar walking tour of London. Nic, one of the gentlemen who put it together, does these walking tours you can download to your portable MP3 player and take at your convenience. The cigar tour is here for 10 quid, and seems very impressive. I'll try it out sometime and let you all know how it goes.
These folks were getting the red carpet treatment from the staff at Fox and were gracious enough to invite me to join them. A few fingers of whisky were supplied per patron and the manager took us downstairs to the museum.
The museum seems to be just a small room with a table, some chairs, several display cabinet humidors, and tons of memorabilia. Then the gentleman leading the tour told us what that memorabilia was: A hat that had belonged to Sir Winston himself and had originated at the hat shop a few doors down on St. James Street. Boxes of Romeo y Julietas dating back to the 40s. A worn leather chair in the corner, that Churchill left to the shop-- which he invited us to take turns sitting in. An old ledger with meticulous logs from the shop's past patrons including Oscar Wilde, who upon his death owed them £37 and Churchill, who by their estimates bought 200,000 cigars from them. Incredible.
Practically swooning from such a great experience, I went back upstairs, my whisky gone and my VR a smoldering nub, where I met another ring-leader for this tour, Deano, whom I instantly recognized. DeanoUK, who joined Cigar Pass about the same time I did and still logs in on occasion- at least as much as his busy schedule allows. I was floored at what a small world this is. I told him I would love to get in on the next cigar tour his group does if my schedule will allow it.
The group asked me to go on with them to their next stop, but at this point it was 4:00 or so and I knew I had a Basset Hound I had to get home to let out. I bid them all goodbye and headed back home to Suffolk, happy that my love of cigars had led to such a fun day.
