If you’ve been following my cigar journey, you know I love visiting all the different cigar venues whenever I travel to a different place. I recently spent a few days in Manchester, the UK’s third-biggest city. Unlike London, there are only a few cigar venues up there. Whenever I speak to a cigar enthusiast from that neck of the woods, I always hear the same places recommended: Astons of Manchester, an experienced tobacconist and supplier of cigars, and the cigar terrace/cigar garden at Dakota Hotel Manchester.
Since then, these venues have been on my radar and of course I had to check them out! 😄
*Brace yourself – this may be a long read as I’ve got two reviews in one page!*
The Dakota Hotel
The Dakota Hotel is situated on Ducie Street on the edge of Manchester’s cool Northern Quarter and a five-minute walk from Manchester’s Piccadilly railway station, next to Rochdale Canal.
The hotel opened its doors to guests in May 2019. The brand was founded by Ken McCulloch and is owned by Evans Property Group. I’m not sure whether Ken is a cigar smoker or not – but I see he also founded Malmaison and I’m sure they’ve run a few cigar events in London (with Davidoff?) in the past. So my gut feeling is he must be a cigar enthusiast! 🤔😄
The luxurious boutique hotel offers 137 bedrooms, a brasserie-style grill, and cocktail bars. The most important feature in my eyes is obviously the cigar terrace or ‘Cigar Garden’ as referred to on the hotel’s website, where guests can unwind with a cigar 👌.
The Cigar Garden is a terrace built to bring a touch of old-school Mayfair to Manchester. Amanda Rosa, an interior designer, was responsible for the interior of the hotel and its terrace.
This outdoor space is exclusively reserved for cigar aficionados and is heated by gas fires, making it a perfect spot to relish a couple of cigars paired with a premium cognac or whisky.
My experience:
A few weeks prior to my visit , I tried to reserve a seat in their cigar garden via the hotels website, but I couldn’t find the option. I then emailed reservations@mcr.dakotahotels.co.uk and received a response a day or so later from grill@mcr.dakotahotels.co.uk who were very helpful. They shared their cigar menu, which you can view here, and thankfully reserved a spot for me. 🙏.
Upon arriving at the hotel on a Sunday afternoon at midday, I was surprised to find it super busy. It was only later that I realised it was the day of the Manchester City vs. Manchester United derby match. Football fans crowd bars and pubs prior to heading to the stadium to watch the game. The city feels like it comes to a complete standstill once the match starts! Find out who won here. 😁
I gave my name for the reservation and staff checked me into their system. After I gave my coat and bag to the cloakroom, I was taken to my reserved seat in the cigar garden, passing through the bustling hotel and grill.
As soon as I walked in, I was immediately drawn to how trendy and cool the vibe of the place was. The cigar terrace was quieter than the grill – thankfully 🙌
The seating area had approx 15 seats, some with blankets for extra comfort, a few tables, heaters and a plastic roof to keep everyone cozy and warm.
I loved the aroma of cigar smoke from the other cigar smokers that were in there – a couple of Man City fans were trying at speed to finish their cigars so they could make it to the football stadium in time for the game.
The cigar terrace manager Brad came over and asked me whether I wanted any drinks, he recommended I try a Raspberry Whiskey Sour – which was a decent choice. Then it was time to pick a cigar. I looked through the cigar menu…
… but was super keen to see the cigar humidor in all its glory! 🚀
Five years ago, the venue started selling cigars via a tabletop humidor. Two years ago, they upgraded to a larger one due to its popularity among guests. The latest humidor was purchased from a German humidor maker at a cost of approximately £150,000.
If anyone knows the make of the humidor – please let me know! 🙏 Am becoming slightly obsessed with humidors lately.
I noticed a larger selection of cigars from the New World and Davidoff brands, including those supplied by Tor Imports and Davidoff, although Cuban cigars were also available from Hunters & Frankau.
I went for a Partagas Serie P No. 2 cigar, which is full-bodied and costs £65.00.
Length: 6 1/8″
Ring Gauge: 52
Strength: Full
Vitola: Piramides
Pricey, but as I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts – I expect that when visiting cigar terraces in fancy hotels.
It took me about 60 mins to smoke the Partagas cigar. It was lovely, slight woody, chocolatey flavour notes but I do struggle to get these when I drink a cocktail with the cigar. Nothing compares to the Partagas Series E No 2 for me. I know that sounds really specific but I bleeding love that cigar! I’m also aware that the cigar folk really rate the Partagas Series D No 4 (aka ‘the D4’) – which I can’t recall if I have smoked. So will need to try that if I havent.
I got chatting with guests – including a newbie cigar smoker Abdul 👋 thanks for the great conversation – hope I didn’t bombard you with too many cigar recommendations 🙏
Once I was done, I paid up and made my way out of the terrace, I spotted an outdoor smoking lodge, but I suspect that is for cigarette smokers.
Would be wonderful to have a cigar event here!
My rating: 8.5 out of 10 – A lovely venue, quite trendy and modern. It does feel aimed towards a slightly younger group of cigar smokers. I felt obliged to dress up fairly smartly here – and I’m glad I did. A good atmostphere. Northerners are usually much friendlier than us Southerners – but like most cigar lounges – cigar smokers are ALWAYS great to chat with no matter where they are from. I got chatting with a few folk – and had a brilliant time! I definitely recommend it. I would also make a reservation as there are only 15 seats on the cigar terrace and you wouldn’t want them fully booked when you turned up!
If you’re keen to visit the Dakota Hotel cigar terrace / garden, you can find it at
29 Ducie Street,
Manchester,
United Kingdom
You can reach them at 0161 674 9180
or via email at grill@mcr.dakotahotels.co.uk.
For more information, visit their website at https://dakotahotels.co.uk/life/cigars-at-dakota/
They also host cigar events, so you can sign up to their mailing list to get notifications when they are due to take place.
*Right, are you still with me? Ready for the next review? Here we go…*
Astons of Manchester
During this trip I also had to pop over and check out Astons!
Astons of Manchester have been running since 1978 and is currently located at The Royal Exchange in Manchester.
Back in the 70’s, they were one of the first tobacco stores in the UK outside of London to have a walk-in humidified cigar room. Business was booming until 1996, when Manchester was the target of an IRA terrorist bomb attack. Unfortunately, the business could not continue trading due to the damage the Royal Exchange building sustained, with internal repairs taking over two years to make the building safe again. Trading resumed in June 1998, with low sales initially after an extended closure. However, they persisted, and it paid off. The shop relocated to the Royal Exchange Arcade where they now offer better facilities and expanded product lines. These include walking canes, grooming products, gentleman’s accessories, and a variety of old and rare spirits. They currently have over 300 whiskies, 50 gins, 40 rums, and many other cognacs, vodkas, grappas, and liqueurs. They also offer both Cuban and non-Cuban/New World cigars to choose from.
There are individual cigars on display for customers to purchase; in the background, there are cigar boxes, but it was unclear initially to me whether customers could walk around that part of the store – it seemed like that bit was for staff only. So not sure if they stopped having access to the walk in humidor once they moved locations.
I appreciated the owner Michael’s honest recommendations, which ensured I had a cigar that was right for me and affordable. He is really approachable which will ease you in if you are a new cigar smoker and don’t know where to start! The only downside was that I couldn’t find a decent spot to smoke the cigars I purchased after. Sadly they don’t have a sampling lounge 😔. However upon further investigation, I’ve heard these could be worth checking out: Hotel Gotham and King Street Hotel.
With such a good reputation, if you’re near Manchester this is a must do stop to pick up some cigars!
If you’re keen to visit this shop, you can find it at
Astons of Manchester
Manchester, Greater Manchester
*And that’s all folks! You made it to the end of the blog post 🙏*
If you liked this review, check out my others at cigar bars, terraces and smoking lounges.
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