Hello and welcome to the new JJ Fox website!

 

With the acquisition of the Robert Lewis brand in the last century my family is able to lay claim to retail cigar experience dating back to 1787. However those of you with good memories, who know us well, will recall that the Fox name only dates back to a mere century before the acquisition when, in 1881, James John Fox, my great, great grandfather, opened our first shop. His philosophy was simple – to build and pass a viable business onto the next generation of Foxes. Four generations later, mine is to ensure it reaches the next generation in even better shape than it was when it arrived to me. Success in achieving this will ultimately be determined by you, our customers. I like to think that much in the same way as each of our customers has their own story; there is a story behind every cigar and brand. Many of these stories began well before I was born with each generation of customers adding to them in some way or other over time.

 

 We as retailers are the custodians of these stories. I believe the industry has to some extent started to rely on the cigar brands to sell themselves. It cannot any more. Nor must we rely on reputation alone to sell our wares. It is my view that not nearly enough effort is made to articulate the “nature” of our product to aficionados – I am very keen that we develop our knowledge and experience and work on novel ways to impart this knowledge to you, the customer. For years we have been accumulating a vintage cigar inventory which is the envy of any competitor, and are continuing to build these stocks with a view to releasing them in time, for sale to discerning connoisseurs.

 

We will only stock and sell cigars with an unquestioned provenance and which meet our quality standards. We do not have a monopoly on cigar knowledge, if you have sampled a cigar you can add to that cigars story and we want to hear it. Where better than in our blog? Our online store is going to be a very valuable tool in leveraging these strengths as we develop them further. We value your feedback and we will listen. The pride we have in our heritage in this industry is difficult to articulate through the internet; to sample it most effectively I would encourage you to visit our flagship store on 19 St James Street in London where I trust you will receive a warm welcome and a memorable insight into our proud past.

 

Stuart Fox

Chairman

A SUMMER CIGAR PARTY

and launch of the

Punch Medalla de
Oro

Hunters & Frankau is delighted to invite you to “A
Summer Cigar Party”in the Middleton Garden at The Langham, Portland Place in
the heart of the West End on Thursday 31st May 2012.

Our Summer Cigar Party is now in its sixth year and is
dedicated to the fine art

of smoking outdoors. We are pleased to announce that
at the event we are planning to launch the second of our 2011 UK Habanos
Regional Edition, the Punch Medalla de Oro (Gold Medal), held back for release
this year.

We will also be enjoying the Hoyo de Monterrey Short
Piramide, one of the 2011 Habanos Limited Edition releases, while enjoying
something to eat and drink and listening to some of Cuba’s finest live music.

We very much hope you will join us on the 31st May.

Ticket Price £95.00
inc.vat

www.cigars.co.uk

Contact Kasheena on 020 7471 8419 or email
k.lewis@cigars.co.uk for

more information. Payment must be received in advance.

We are expecting the evening to sell out quickly so
please do book well in advance.

Tickets will be sent by post and must be brought with
you to gain entry to the venue.

 

 

 

 

 The Bolivar Britanicas are figurados, 5 3/8 inches long with a 48 ring gauge. They are slightly plumper versions of the old Romeo y Julieta Celestiales Finos, which were the same length but had a ring gauge of 46. The old Romeos, which are no longer made, carried the Cuban factory name Britanicas.   There were 3,000 boxes made of the Bolivar Britanicas, each of them containing 10 cigars. A slight difference from this particular vitola to previous Regional Editions is the regional band no longer states ‘Exclusivo Reino Unido’ (United Kingdom Exclusive) but now read ‘Exclusivo Gran Bretaña’ (Great Britain Exclusive).

 

 

 

 

 The announcement and presentation took place during  the Gala Dinner of the 14^th Habanos Festival  in Cuba, where she

fended off stiff competition to claim the prestigious trophy.

Every year Habanos identify a short list of candidates for Habanos Person of the year. There are three categories: Production, Communications and Business, with the latter seen by many as the most prestigious award.  This year at the Festival Gala dinner the award was presented to Jemma Freeman, CEO of Hunters and Frankau.

 

Congratulations Jemma from all the team at Fox Cigar Merchants.

The Havana City Cigar shop tour is always one of the busiest days of the Fox Cigar trips to Cuba. The relationship between the day and shopping in the cities cigar stores isn’t mutually exclusive – in fact we spend a large part of every day of the Havana Festival trip in cigar shops and their VIP smoking rooms. However, we do like to put one day aside to visit some of the iconic cigar outlets. The key is to get to the shops before the rush, so we usually mark it down for Monday. 

 This year that meant starting in the Romeo y Julieta Factory shop to visit our friend Hamlet. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the Partagas factory is currently closed for renovations, most if not all the package tour buses in the City were directed to the Romeo factory. As a result the Romeo factory shop was absolutely mobbed. A quick hello, and coffee served by Elvis and Jorge at the bar, and we were out en-route to the Casa del Habanos at the Partagas factory. 

By contrast to Romeo, but for the same underlying reason, the Partagas shop was unusually quiet, an there is more space than normal to view the stock on offer. Abel Exposito, Partagas Director, was kind enough to usher us back to into the sampling room, where Coffee is served and cigars enjoyed. La China and Tamara Ovaldys buzz in and out dealing with customer requests – festival time is not the right time for a natter. But these people are wonderful hosts – whether that be at the Habanos Cigar Festival in February or the Partagas Cigar Festival in November.

After lunch we head down Obispo and up Mercaderes, to the Conde de la Villa Nueva. The cigar shop at this boutique hotel is home to Reynaldo, whose custom rolled cigars are highly sought after. This shop is old school. There is a coffee bar to the left, and another more private seating area to the right, although this is where a lot of custom rolled stock is kept. Commercial stocks are stored in antique cabinets and display cases. There is a carpet of tobacco leaves on the floor. The shop can get very busy, so its nice to take your purchases to the beautiful courtyard around which this townhouse is built.  

From here its back to the Hotel Habana Libre, to a Casa del Habanos which this February celebrated its 2^nd anniversary. The store fit out is excellent, and the humidor well stocked albeit with relatively new stocks – but with the current quality standards coming from the Cuban cigar industry who is complaining? Again, there is a comfortable coffee bar and VIP smoking room.

There is still time for the 10 minute stroll down to the cigar shop in the Nacionale Hotel, and its worth it just to pick up some sticks and sit out on the front terrace for some cigars and sun downers on the Malecon.   

 

 

J.J.Fox is please to introduce Tatuaje Cigars at our event on Wednesday 7th of December 2011 between 18:30 and 21:00.

Hand Made in Nicaragua

 Included in the price of your ticket are drinks supplied by Berry Bros & Rudd a selection of canapes and of course two Tatuaje Cigars.

1st - Tatuaje No.7   5 5/8  x  46

2nd - Tatuaje Noellas    5 1/8  x  42

 The ticket price for this event is £15

 

 

The man behind the brand, Pete Johnson will be present for the Event, a real cigar celebrity in the States.

 

 

 

 

Here is a little back ground history behind his brand Tatuaje Cigars.

 

Tatuaje is Spanish for Tattoo – This reflects the tattoos of brand creator – the charismatic

 

         ·       The brand was launched in 2003.

·       First 90+ rating (Cigar Aficionado) 2004.

·       Placed in Top 25 Cigars of the Year 2004.

·       No 4. Rated cigar in the world 2005.

·       2010 voted by US retail as No.2. selling brand (Cigar Insider survey)

 

 

 

If you would like to be the first to sample these cigars at our event, here is how you can book your place.

You simply need to email, freddie@jjfox.co.uk with your contact number, expressing your interest in attending. We while email you right back with your ticket number. Then nearer to the time of the event, we will call you to answer any questions about the event and to take payment over the phone.

PICTURES OF THE EVENT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are pleased to announce our next and most important event of the year.

On November 30th 2011 we will be holding an event in store to celebrate the book launch by Cita Stelzer titled Dinner With Churchill. On the same night we will also be celebrating Sir Winston Churchills birthday.

 

 

 

 

 

If you wish to attend our event on November 30th 2011, here is the information about the event so far. Further information about how to purchase your ticket/s will be made available soon. Included in the ticket price is a premium aged 1997 Hoyo Churchill Cigar, drinks from Berry Bros & Rudd house wines and glass of Pol Roger champagne, table snacks and a signed copy of the book (RRP £20). Cita Stelzer will be present on the night to give a speech on the book she has written.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Short Books for making the book signing by the author Cita Stelzer possible.

We also know that Sir Winston Churchill really enjoyed Pol Roger Champagne. J.J.Fox would like to thank Pol Roger UK for donating a bottle of the finest Sir Winston Churchill Pol Roger Champagne to our event.

 

 

 

Event: - Dinner With Churchill

Time:- 18:30 to 20:30

Ticket Price:- £50 (Non Refundable)

Where:- J.J.Fox (St James’s ) Ltd, 19 St James’s Street, London, SW1A 1ES 

Interest? - Buy your ticket here.

 

 

 

 

French 75 is a cocktail made from Gin, Champagne, lemon juice, and sugar.

The drink was created in 1915 at the Paris landmark, Harry’s New York Bar by barman Harry MacElhone. The combination was said to have such a kick that it felt like being shelled with the powerful French 75mm field gun, also called a “75 Cocktail”, or “Soixante Quinze” in French. The French 75 was popularized in America at the Stork Club. The drink’s recipe was first recorded in The Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930. A later cocktail book, The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David Embury, claims that the French 75 is a Cognac-based drink.

If you would like to learn more about how you can make this cocktail from home, please click here.

If you are in the St James’s street area and would like to try this incredible cocktail, please visit The Stafford Hotel. Our friend in the American Bar, Mr Benoit Provost, will be more than happy to be of service.    

It’s pretty clear that the Che Festival in Kilkee, Co Clare is going to be an annual event, and for as long as it runs the James Fox Store in Dublin will be there to support it with a Cigar and Rum tasting.

 50 years ago this year, Che walked into the Marine Hotel and was met by Jim Fitzpatrick – who went onto popularize what some now say is the most famous photograph ever taken. What better reason do you need to host a festival, and what better event to include than a Cigar and Rum tasting.  

 

Andy and I arrived into Kilkee mid-afternoon having made a detour to see a man about some turf. I didn’t have a lot of time before making my way to the Greyhound Bar to set up for the Cigar and Rum tasting, just enough to adorn the fatigues, the wig and lace up my boots. To say that I got a couple of funny looks on the way through town was an understatement; I thought everyone was going to be in fancy dress.

 

I quickly caught up with my esteemed comrade and chief David McGrane, who had arrived before me with tasting sets all prepared.  We set up our stall out front of the Greyhound Bar. Keith the manager had made everything extremely easy, and it didn’t take long for people to call over to see what was happening. A Che impersonator smoking a Cuban Cigar pouring Havana Club Rum will always attract a crowd.  As the rain started again, the 60 tasting participants moved out to the covered smoking area at the back of the bar. We tasted a Romeo No 3, with Romeo Churchills available behind the bar for anyone looking for a little more oomph. The rum we tasted Havana Club Anejos Especial, which was very good, although there were large scale arguments about the correct amount of ice that should accompany a neat sipping rum, it was great to see such strong opinions.

 

It was also great to see her Excellency, the Cuban Ambassador to Ireland Teresita Trujillo Hernandez in attendance supporting the event and enjoying the festival atmosphere. After the tasting, there was time to share tasting notes, or in most cases to meet new friends and get to know old ones better. Later a local band set up, and we all danced and smoked the night away to the sounds of Cuba “Irish style”.

 

I was up bright and early the next morning, and it was back over to the Greyhound to watch Ireland beat Italy in the Rugby World Cup – what a great weekend. Keep an eye out for details on the next Che Festival.  

 

 

On Friday the 30th of September 2011 three staff members took up the challenge of reviewing the newest cigar to our Cigar Room, The Partagas Serie E 2. It was a really tough job to do but we figured someone had to do it.

Here is our review of the Partagas Serie E 2 and the scores we gave this cigar from our four categories by each member of staff.

We then put some tasting notes and our top 5 similar cigar recommendations together.

APPEARANCE

13/15 ; 14/15 and 14/15

DRAW

20/25 ; 22/25 and 23/25

BURN

13/25 ; 16/25 and 21/25 

FLAVOUR

30/35 ; 29/35 and 31/35

” A big smoke. Enrobed in a great-looking oily mid brown wrapper leaf. This cigars profile epitomised the toasted tobacco earthly spicey flavours synonymous with a good Partagas. Althought one of three cigars canooed a little, we put this down to ‘Standing near a fan’ than anything else. The Partagas Serie E 2 is a tasty full bodied smoke which will only get better with time as this cuban cigar has heaps of potential.

Top 5 Similar Recommendations

1 - Juan Lopez Selecion Supreme

2- Ramon Allones Specially Selected

3 - Bolivar Corona Gigantes

4 - Hoyo Epicure Especiales

5 - Trinidad Robusto Extra

 

Following a very interesting conversation about this subject with a customer, it turns out many people have a certain ritual when it comes to smoking their cigar. This ritual starts from selecting a cigar right the way through to lighting of the cigar.

Here is a ritual we thought you might find interesting which starts once you have decided on the cigar brand and size.

 

1 – From a selection of cigars, how does the visual appearance of the cigar look to you? How are its colour, its veins, its sheen and its overall quality?

2 – Very gently squeeze up and down the length of the cigar for spring/bounce. This will help tell you how the cigar will draw, whether it is suitably humidified and, with older cigars, might uncover a hidden knot or plug. Be very careful if you prefer your cigars dry, as this step can lead to wrapper damage.  Choose the cigar with the right amount of spring for you.

3 – Press the top (cap) to detect signs of a pigtail. Many old cigars where made with a pigtail during the rolling process, then covered with the cap. Knowing if there is a pigtail under the cap could determine if you cut the cigar with a guillotine or bullet cutter.

4 – After cutting draw on the cigar before lighting. This is known as the pre burn puff. You are really just preparing your month with the flavours of un-burnt tobacco.

5 – Toast the foot of the cigar NOT actually lighting the cigar just yet. This helps to remove excess moisture which facilitates an even burn.

6 – Fully light the cigar while its in your mouth and gently rotate the cigar anti clockwise, then clockwise. Be patient and careful, a comprehensive and even light at this stage will save on frustrating touch ups latter on.  

 

What are your cigar rituals?