Surprising lack of a good cigar reviews coming out of the UK

[99call]

The UK has a unique heritage in the world of cigars, but pretty underwhelming when it comes to online reviews.

I find Ajay, and Sautter entertaining, but I find their ability to communicate anything of any use, to be pretty limited. 

I actually find "London Calling with Simon" and "Cigar Smoker UK" the best available in the UK, but they are both super honest (very commendable) and come from it, form a, 'I'm just a passionate enthusiast' angle.     

Don't get me wrong, I fully bow down to anyone who puts in the hard work and passion to put out a review, but does anyone else find it surprising that there isn't anyone like Simon Chase etc putting out a stream of informative content from the uk?

It's a terrible shame that Nick Wing met such an untimely death and that his fabulous "Uk Cigar Scene" is no longer. 

Would be great to see one of the UK industry stalwarts put out some informative content.......maybe they're just making too much cash?

 

[El Presidente]

3 hours ago, 99call said:

 

Would be great to see one of the UK industry stalwarts put out some informative content.......maybe they're just making too much cash?

 

I think that last part is a touch harsh 

When you lose someone like Nic Wing in a community, it is going to leave a massive hole. He was a true passionista outside of the retailer loop. His skill,  verve, drive, insatiable desire to learn ,experience and willingness to  share, set him on a different plane.  You can't replace that in the short term. 

As for Simon? He is unique in the world of cigars and I doubt that I will see his like again. In 22 years I haven's seen anyone come close. 

The UK has had remarkable fortune in producing and enjoying two fantastic people to whom cuban cigar enthusiasts around the world owe a significant debt.

The next person to step up will have his own style. It may be a while. 

[Connoisseur Kim]

I think that last part is a touch harsh  When you lose someone like Nic Wing in a community, it is going to leave a massive hole. He was a true passionista outside of the retailer loop. His skill,  verve, drive, insatiable desire to learn ,experience and willingness to  share, set him on a different plane.  You can't replace that in the short term. 

As for Simon? He is unique in the world of cigars and I doubt that I will see his like again. In 22 years I haven's seen anyone come close. 

The UK has had remarkable fortune in producing and enjoying two fantastic people to whom cuban cigar enthusiasts around the world owe a significant debt.

The next person to step up will have his own style. It may be a while. 

 

In terms of cigar business, UK is way better than Korea since not only anti tobacco policies are becoming more harsher (no outdoor smoking at all, almost similar to US, AUS, Canada...) but also cigar environment is still lackluster in Korea (one good thing is cigars are slowly gaining popularity in Korea). Because of that, good cigar sites like FoH (no one practice 24:24 like service in Korean cigar shops) are not well known in Korea, wineador and coolidor are not that popular (traditional humidors like Elie Bleu are most popular cigar storage method in Korea), using 70 Rh method instead of 65RH and so on... 

By the way, there were many misinformation about cigars that I stood correct about two years ago like inhaling cigar smoke tastes better than tasting it in mouth only (still continuing fixing cigar documentation on Korean wiki). I surprised that local B&M used my contribution on wiki for cigar info post... I honestly found my self lucky for using FoH since I learned many useful things for cigar smoking :-)!!

 

- An opinion from 22 yr old cigar aficionado

 

 

[99call]

8 hours ago, El Presidente said:

I think that last part is a touch harsh 

Yep you're probably right. 

With the prices in the UK, and the showiness of the shops, we (or I) nearly always forget, it's only bloody expensive because of taxes etc. 

 

[Wilzc]

What?? What about Laurence Davis! Hahahahha


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[Tommy_Tao]

The UK has an unbeatable position in Cuban cigar history. There are uncountable great people in the cigar trade, passionate collectors, and therefore fancy shops/smokes. One thing to note is their anti-smoking policies, another is mainstream online social media is pretty much occupied with American bloggers - consequently a lack of new and young cigar reviews on Cuban cigars.

I just got my bachelor's degree from UK and enjoyed two fantastic years there. Myself had been mainly a non-Cuban smoker initially but in the UK I started to see the charming side of Cuban tobacco. So, if I have to attach myself to the topic of UK cigar reviews, I'd post the very first video of my channel here. I am immature and lack knowledge, but got some pure cigar life to share.

 

https://youtu.be/EYbREtJTeIg

[CaptainQuintero]

  Just came across this while searching for something else but missed it at the time.

  I think the main thing to get something up a running apart from time, is that you really need to get out and work the people in the know. Nic had some great connections within the scene and even then he really had to put in a huge amount of time and effort in to get things moving, sort interviews, arrange articles etc. It was great to be able to write and work with him during the short run the magazine had, but even that small insight showed me just how much energy it took.

  Unless you're doing it as a paying job, and that bring in a huge load of extra issues, it really is an unpaid extra job and there's not too many people who can take on an extra job, without pay and have all the enthusiasm/commitment to do justice to a really niche market alongside your usual 9-5.

  Just looking at places like Halfwheel, the time going into creating that and keeping the momentum must be immense.

[RichUK]

On 10/4/2018 at 11:07 PM, El Presidente said:

When you lose someone like Nic Wing in a community, it is going to leave a massive hole. He was a true passionista outside of the retailer loop. His skill,  verve, drive, insatiable desire to learn ,experience and willingness to  share, set him on a different plane.  You can't replace that in the short term. 

 

The next person to step up will have his own style. It may be a while. 

Agreed.

I dare say that Nic is irreplaceable. He just had his finger on the pulse and could answer any question you asked of him. 

His loss will continue to be felt for years.