I’ve been wanting to visit the Edward Sahakian Cigar Shop & Sampling Lounge at the Bvlgari Hotel for quite some time. It brings a smile to my face knowing that this place honours the remarkable Edward Sahakian – who is truly a gentleman of the cigar world 🙏.
If you’re unfamiliar with Edward Sahakian, he’s the owner of Davidoff of London, a prestigious cigar shop founded in the 1980s – now run by his son Eddie.
Edward is renowned as an expert in premium cigars, he is celebrated for his keen eye for quality and exceptional customer service.
Source: Sonder Creative
As a devoted fan of the Sahakians, as regular readers of this blog will know, I’ve written about them before, see “A visit to Davidoff of London cigar shop – with an unexpected and delightful ending!”. I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting them several times along my cigar journey.
Background
The Edward Sahakian Cigar Shop and Sampling Lounge is nestled within the Bvlgari Hotel London, conveniently located between Hyde Park and Harrods.
You’ll find it at 171 Knightsbridge, London SW7 1DW, just a brief 5-minute walk from Knightsbridge tube station.
The Bvlgari Hotel opened its doors in spring 2012, just before the London Olympics. Alongside the cigar shop and sampling lounge, the hotel features 85 opulent rooms and suites, an Italian restaurant, a two-story spa, a private cinema, and the Nolita Social cocktail bar.
The cigar shop offers a treasure trove of rare Havanas, handpicked from Edward Sahakian’s private collection — a remarkable selection he’s been meticulously curating for over 40 years.
If you follow the Tate brothers—Tristan and Andrew Tate, British-American social media personalities and former kickboxers known for their contentious views—you might recall a memorable video featuring them sampling one of Edward’s rare Cuban Davidoff cigars.
Source: YouTube/Tate Confidential
Although Tristan wasn’t even born when the cigar was rolled in 1986, he relished this extraordinary smoke, which was crafted to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Cuban factory before Davidoff moved production to the Dominican Republic and discontinued their Cuban line. Nico, the Cigar Lounge Manager, explained that the cigar had been aged for around 35 years in a unique humidor before arriving in the UK. It was part of Sahakian’s collection at the cigar shop, with a retail price of £1,300. The Tates enjoyed it alongside a glass of Hennessy Cognac priced at £350.
After Tristan had the cigar straight-cut and lit, he was impressed by its quality. However, Andrew remarked that it was “basically the same” as his H. Upmann Connoisseur A.
This video gained widespread attention and became a viral sensation.
Whatever your opinion of these guys, they have certainly had a positive impact on the sampling lounge, with many young cigar smokers visiting the venue to sample a cigar, and I’ve heard that bookings soared after this went viral.
The shop has also gained additional attention thanks to Kirby Allison, a gentleman’s social media influencer dedicated to quality, craftsmanship, and tradition. Allison has featured the venue in several interviews, including a notable one with Edward Sahakian’s son, Eddie, which attracted over a million views.
This sophisticated setting, combined with the Sahakian family’s esteemed reputation, exclusive cigars, and viral influencer content through the likes of the Tate brothers and Kirby, makes this destination a highly sort after place to visit.
My experience
After weeks of trying to find some free time to visit the venue, the planets finally aligned when I discovered that the cigar shop and lounge would be hosting the 3rd UK heat of the Cigar Smoking World Championship. I’ve covered this event extensively before—take a look at my blog post from the 1st UK Heat 2024 and the UK Final 2024 for all the details. I won’t repeat everything here, but stick around for some photos later in this post!
That evening, after work, I made my way to Knightsbridge, the nearest tube station to the Bvlgari Hotel. I’m familiar with the area, known for its excellent cigar spots like Sautters Knightsbridge, see Sautter Cigars – in the heart of Mayfair, Knightsbridge, London and JJ Fox at Harrods.
Walking into the Bvlgari Hotel can be pretty intimidating as it’s proper posh!
I had to tap into my ‘inner millionaire’ and stride in with real confidence. I asked the porters for directions to the cigar lounge, and they pointed me in the right direction.
The lounge is located at the corner of the bar, up a short staircase.
Luckily, I know the excellent David, the lounge’s cigar sommelier, through Cigar Club LDN. David is a fantastic, passionate cigar smoker, and I guarantee you’ll be lucky if you get the chance to be served by him. As soon as I spotted him, I knew I’d be in great hands!
I was introduced to the walk-in humidor.
It’s actually a lot smaller than I imagined size-wise, but of its 3 sections, the first has a very good range of standard production Cuban cigars, the second has a good and expanding range of New World Cigars including a dedicated Davidoff shelf, and, get ready for this – in the third section at the back of the walk-in humidor are shelves of treasures from Edward Sahakian’s personal collection, including vintage cigars such as Cuban Davidoffs from 1989 – almost as old as the cigars the Tate brothers sampled.
You can see the cigar menu here.
Next to the walk-in humidor is the sampling lounge.
This space, which looked much smaller in online footage and photos, turned out to be a wonderfully elegant area with leather seats and sofas—approximately 22 seats altogether.
Classic black-and-white photos of famous, cigar-enjoying celebrities – actors, singers, musicians, film producers, and business tycoons, adorn the walls, and there are tables with cigar cutters, lighters, and ashtrays for sampling your cigar. It’s super relaxing. There was a steady flow of people sampling cigars in the lounge. I sampled the Rocky Patel Mareva cigar as it was part of the slow smoking competition.
What struck me immediately was that, as it gets darker outside, you feel like you’re in an expensive, fancy London apartment somewhere—it feels incredibly homely!
The service was excellent (David smashed it with his hospitatlity!), and the ventilation was good. You can order drinks and food from the bar.
The toilets are located on the other side of the hotel and downstairs near the Nolita Social cocktail bar, so I recommend using them before you enter the sampling lounge or as you leave.
My rating: 8.5 out of 10
This charming cigar sampling lounge is a must-visit for any cigar enthusiast. It has a fantastic, classic feel to it and is a great place to try at least once.
The humidor and sampling lounge was a little smaller in person compared to what I had seen online.
The cigars are a little on the pricey side, but that’s to be expected in a hotel cigar shop. It might be a good place to visit for a special occasion if you’re on a budget.
Cigar aficionados will appreciate Edwards’ personal cigar selection.
The venue is popular with locals, and visitors alike, and regularly hosts cigar tasting events.
I think it would be a great place to meet friends for a cigar.
It might be a bit intimidating for solo newbie cigars – so maybe build yourself up to this one – by visiting a few other lounges first.
It’s also worth noting that the Edward Sahakian Cigar Shop & Sampling Lounge and Davidoff of London shop are separate businesses – so you cant for example pick up a cigar from the Davidoff of London shop in St James and sample it here.
Keen to visit?
Edward Sahakian Cigar Shop at The Bulgari Hotel
171 Knightsbridge
London
SW7 1DW
View on Google Maps
Telephone: 020 7151 1101
Email: London-Cigar-Shop@bulgarihotels.co.uk
Website: Edward Sahakian Cigar Shop & Lounge
Social media – Instagram
If you enjoyed reading this blog post check out my other reviews at Cigar bars, terraces, sampling lounges in London.
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