If you’ve been following me on my social media (X and Instagram), you’ll know that the past couple of days have been a lot of fun.
I’ve been out and about at a couple of City of London Cigars events, including the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace meeting some awesome people, sampling some great cigars and generally enjoying what has been a pretty busy few days in the London cigar scene.
Last night, I headed over to the City of London Cigars shop and sampling lounge in Spitalfields, just around the corner from Liverpool Street Station. I’m there fairly regularly because it’s so accessible and, importantly, stays open late.
This time, though, I was there for An evening with Christian Eiroa of CLE Cigars.
London traffic had held Christian and the Eiroa family up slightly, which must have been a little awkward for the team running the event. Thankfully, they did a brilliant job of keeping us entertained in the meantime — not least with some whisky samples! As soon as they arrived, Christian got straight into it, and there was certainly plenty to talk about.
Four generations of Eiroa tobacco
If you know CLE, you’ll know Christian Luis Eiroa — the man whose initials give the company its name.
But long before founding CLE in 2012, Christian had already made his mark with Camacho, which his family acquired in 1995. He was instrumental in developing the brand, most notably with the launch of Camacho Corojo in 2000, helping cement his reputation for bold, full-bodied Honduran cigars. After Davidoff acquired Camacho in 2008, Christian eventually went on to do his own thing with CLE.
Today, he’s also the driving force behind Asylum Cigars, a brand with a reputation for doing things on a rather grand scale — remember those massive April Fools 9×90 cigars? Yep, that was Christian’s fault 😁
I’m actually working on a separate blog post about oversized cigars at the moment, after smoking a seriously substantial cigar earlier this year, but I’ll come back to that another time.
What really interested me about this event, though, was seeing the next generation of the Eiroa family getting involved.
Christian’s son, Santi Eiroa, who is just 20, is now the fourth generation of the family to work in tobacco.
He was there to talk about his new cigar, 1916 Tabacalera Eiroa.
I first came across 1916 in footage from this year’s PCA show, so it was particularly nice to hear the story behind the brand straight from the family.
The name 1916 goes back to the Eiroa family’s history in tobacco. Christian also shared more of that family history, including the story of his great-grandfather, who came from Galicia to Cuba and became involved in tobacco. According to Christian, 1916 was the year he acquired the farm that became La Victoria, a name connected to Christian’s grandmother.
That same family history is now being carried into Santi’s cigar.
A cigar built around family history
Santi explained that every component of the 1916 blend was chosen for a reason.
The blend is built around traditional tobacco genetics connected to previous generations of the Eiroa family, including tobacco grown from seed that traces back to his great-grandfather.
Santi said it took him around two and a half years to develop the cigar, going through numerous blend variations before arriving at the final version.
Christian spoke with obvious pride about watching his son go through that process.
He described how Santi would turn up with another blend idea, then another, and another. What might normally have had a factory manager rolling their eyes instead became a project everyone wanted to see through because of Santi’s enthusiasm.
It was clear that Christian genuinely enjoyed watching the next generation become involved.
And there was a nice symmetry to that.
Christian himself initially had no intention of joining the family business. After studying and working outside the tobacco industry, he eventually agreed to give working with his father a try.
He expected to stay for a few months. Instead, he found himself completely absorbed by tobacco.
He talked about becoming fascinated by every stage of the process — growing the plants, curing the tobacco, fermentation, cigar making and even the construction of the tobacco barns.
That same fascination now seems to be happening with Santi.
Christian joked that he gets to sit back and watch it happen this time.
The story behind the tobacco
A large part of the evening was devoted to the history of Cuban tobacco, the movement of tobacco genetics around the world and the importance of preserving older varieties.
Christian explained how the tobacco industry changed dramatically following the Cuban Revolution and the U.S. embargo.
His father eventually ended up in Honduras, where the Eiroa family became deeply involved in growing tobacco.
Christian also spoke about the challenges of preserving older tobacco genetics.
Many traditional varieties have been replaced by newer hybrids developed for greater resistance to disease and better yields. Older varieties can be much more difficult to grow and are vulnerable to problems such as black shank, blue mould and other diseases.
But there’s a reason to preserve them: flavour.
The older genetics may produce smaller leaves and lower yields, but they can bring something very different to the finished cigar.
That philosophy is clearly important to the Eiroas, and it forms a big part of the story behind cigars such as 1916.
It’s about the whole experience
One of the other things that came through strongly during Christian’s talk was just how much attention goes into the cigar beyond the tobacco itself.
He talked about the importance of consistency at every stage of production — from the seedbed through to growing, curing, fermentation, rolling and finally the person who packs the finished cigar into the box.
His point was simple: if one stage of the process goes wrong, it doesn’t matter how good the other stages were.
He also talked about the importance of presentation.
The box, the band, the way the cigars are packed and, ultimately, the experience of smoking the cigar all form part of the product. I thought that was particularly relevant given the current UK proposals to introduce standardised packaging for cigars.
If someone is spending £20, £25 or more on a cigar, it needs to be worth it!
Unfortunately, no 1916 for me
Unfortunately, we didn’t actually get to smoke the 1916 last night because samples weren’t available.
Which, if anything, has made me want to try one even more.
Instead, we smoked the EIROA “The First 20 Years” Maduro Robusto.
It was a decent smoke and certainly did the job. By the end, though, I was left wanting a little more and was already thinking about having another cigar. I wanted the 1916! 😁
Whisky and cigars
The evening was also paired with whisky from Lindores Abbey, which made for a pretty good combination. Chanel Liquori did a great job talking us through each tasting.
There was some interesting discussion about the similarities between whisky and cigars — particularly the way both industries deal with traditional varieties, ageing and the pursuit of flavour rather than simply maximising yield.
There was also plenty of discussion about why whisky and cigar companies don’t collaborate more often. It seems like an obvious pairing, but there are branding and regulatory considerations around associating alcohol and tobacco brands, particularly in the UK.
Who I met along the way
One of the best things about cigar events is the people you meet — and last night was a perfect example of that.
I met some fantastic people from different corners of the world, all brought together by the same passion for cigars.
First up, a big shout-out to Elio Rojas — a Cuban cigar smoker living here in the UK and, as I discovered, a brilliant musician too. It’s the second time we’ve sampled cigars together We definitely need to get him playing at some UK cigar events!
Then there was Julio and his wife Laura. I originally connected with Julio through Instagram, where they’ve been following my cigar journey from across the pond.
Julio is originally from Nicaragua but now lives in the USA with Laura. They’re currently over in the UK on holiday, and somehow the planets aligned and we finally got the chance to meet in person at the event.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Ashok from India, who I first connected with through X. He happened to be in London on the same night. Sadly, we didn’t get a photo together, but it was a real honour to meet him in person 🙏🏻.
And finally, I met Aaron from Dagenham, Essex, who is starting his own YouTube channel The Humidor Is Empty about cigars. It’s early days for him, but he’s putting the work in, so definitely check him out and support his journey!
Looking back at the evening, we had:
🇭🇳 Honduras — Christian Eiroa
🇨🇺 Cuba — Elio
🇳🇮 Nicaragua — Julio
🇮🇳 India — Ashok
Different countries. Different backgrounds. Different cigar journeys. But one shared passion that brought everyone together in the same room.
That’s what cigar events are really all about.
So, where can I get a 1916?
Of course, after hearing the story behind the 1916, I’m now online trying to find out where I can get my hands on one! I do believe they are available in the UK now. And as I type this, the Eiroa family have just finished sampling the 1916 at J.J. Fox tonight as part of their UK tour, before heading off to next week’s InterTabac in Dortmund, Germany.
All in all, a fantastic night — great cigars, great conversations and, most importantly, some brilliant people.
A night I won’t forget in a hurry.
Want to visit City of London Cigars – Spitalfields?
City of London Cigars – Spitalfields
124 Middlesex St,
London
E1 7HY
Email: info@cityoflondoncigars.com
Telephone: 020 3649 9504
Website: https://cityoflondoncigars.com/
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