THOLT 4

Saturday

THOLT 4 kicked off at the same place as the previous THOLT, namely the The Churchill Bar and Cigar Divan at the Churchill Hotel at 9 Portman Square.

First to arrive, were Keith (The Pilot) Rawson, and Ian Pepper from Ireland, followed by Paul (El_Ingles) Dixon, Steven Wayne, J. B. and lastly Roy Juniper who is based in Switzerland.

From there we got a couple of taxis, and headed for a café in the heart of London's "cigar quarter" Franco's at the corner of Jermyn Street and St. James's Street . Waiting for us there were Karl Yeo and his wife Jenny. We then headed for Dunhills. Llewelyn Hill, one of the managers, normally gives us a superb welcome, but unfortunately he was on holiday, so we perused what they had on offer, and departed for lunch.

Ian, Karl & Jenny

Arriving in Shepherds Market, where the restaurant had been on THOLT2, we found it to be shut. No, it was not justshut, but shut down. 30 seconds away was the Kings Arms, where we decided to wait for some more herfers, Andy and Co from Cornwall. Luckily, it was then that we saw that the restaurant we booked had moved location about 200m around the corner.

Norman, Jenny & Karl	Steve Wayne	Brian, Hilliary & Norman. Keith in the background
JB, Andy, Keith and Ian

About a few pints and an hour later, we left the pub, and headed for Sofra's.

We were shown to the basement dining area, tables were hastily rearranged, and we could start to order. Sofra is a Turkish restaurant, with a fine selection of dishes, the only disappointing thing was that printed on the menu, was a message that Cigars and pipes should not be smoked. But did that stop us? Hell No! There was no problem about smoking cigars there, perhaps that’s why we were consigned to the lower floor - it made for a fine private dining area! The food was excellent, with most of the herfers going for the Mezes, washed down with a fine Turkish house red or white. Only two of us had a pudding, again very good, Either Turkish or regular coffee followed.

Brian, Andy & Norman Is that a come on - or someone being rude?		Andy, Norman & Keith		Keith, Roy and Ian
Norman, Keith And Roy			JB, Ian, El_ingles, Jenny, Keith & Roy,relaxing with coffee, liquors and of course, a cigar

Keith had arranged for a blind testing of cigars for the group, and as usual had come up trumps with counterfeits, and some not so common cigars. Only Ian Pepper managed to guess the cigar he was given and won a Siboney for his troubles.

We left about 4 p.m. and headed back to St James and J. J. Fox. We stopped near Davidoff to get some cash from a hole in the wall and Paul was sent off to find Tim, the manager of J. J. Fox to ask him if he could show us the vaults. Tim obliged. Part of the herfers arrived at the shop, and we began the tour. Paul Dixon almost had a very costly trip (Pun intended) as he nearly fell over on top of 2 humidors with Partagas Salamons and Torpedoes, total value somewhere near £20,000 ! With the tour over, we located the rest of the group, who had gone to Davidoff as they had just seen Billy Connely go in there. It was time to go to Che's (between Davidoff and JJF's).

We had just arrived and we here "Are you the Cigar group by any Chance?" Frazer had found us. Apparently he had been chasing around the West End looking for us, for about 4 hours! It was Quiz time. Ian and Keith in THOLT tradition had prepared a Cigar Quiz. Frazer won it, with Roy coming second, and Jenny getting third place.

Frazer scutinising his first prize

Roy (2nd) and Ian

Jenny came third

Just before leaving Che's, we held a raffle for an ashtray and a blazer holder that Rudy Salazar of A.S.C had donated to the herf. Everyone who wanted to participate donated two ISOM cigars and chose a number. We then asked one of Che's staff to pick numbers unyill we had two matching ones Andy was the winner of the Ashtray, and Roy the winner of the Blazer holder. (Rudy there should be 16 winging their way to you, via Mitch. From all of us a very big THANK YOU).

Some of us were getting a thirst for some real ale (not like the bottle stuff in Che's), so we crossed the road to go to the Blue Post. There we met up with Mitch Orchant and friend, and downed a few jars there.

Time was getting on, and since some of the group had trains to catch, it was a reduced group that went to the traditional evening venue, Little Havana, in Leicester Square.

The Pilot had pre-booked a V I P area there, but in true Little Havana manner they had no record of it, but waved us in anyway! It was mohitas and cigars, and without the crowds who were squashed in the non VIP areas !

Keith (The Pilot)	Suzanne, JB,& Keith	Are you OK, Frazer? asks Suzanne
Ian & Roy in deep conversation		Mitch's other half

Mitch enjoying the moment

Mitch and Ian

About 10.15, Fazer left, followed by El_Ingles at about 10.45. One by one everyone left leaving only Roy and Ian. Deciding that Little Havana's drinks were not that satisfing, Roy and Ian left Little Havana in search of fine ales and a quiet place to smoke. They trudged around St James to no avail as all West End pubs close at around 11pm. There was nothing for it but back to the hotel where Ian was staying (fine choice as it onlt about 500m from Davidoff). En route they bumped into Andy Wright, a veteran THOLTer who was unable to attend because of work commitments. All three headed into the bar and ordered a brace of Beck's each (small bottles, what could they do but double up). Next came the cigars. It felt like a celebratory evening so out came the Lucis, the Punch Punch and so on. Our heroes herfed on until 2am until they were removed from the bar.

Next stop, the residents lounge. They had the place to themselves, and more beer was ordered from the strange night porter. More beer of course means more cigars, a Boli for Ian, and whatever the other two were having. On they herfed. A lady of the night threatened to ruin our communal herfing, but she was dispatched with aid from Andy and his able bodied assistant the desk clerk. On they beered and herfed until Ian could stand no more, at about 3:30am - "I'm off", said he, leaving a delicious Punch Punch smouldering in the overflowing ashtray. By all accounts Andy and Roy herfed on until 5am and Andy in true herfing style finished off Ian's Punch Punch!

Next day when Ian and Roy came around they managed to squeeze a brace of beers down their necks, before Roy caught his plane to Switzerland and Ian, well he just wandered about in the cold air looking for somewhere dark to rest in until his plane left. Andy on the other hand had actually managed to make it into work

A bakers dozen of cigars were consumed by Ian with Roy not far behind.

Sunday

Venue - Billy's, Harpenden, Buckinghamshire.

6 of us had signed up to go for Brunch at Billy's, where mini-herfs had been held before. El_ingles & family met Keith and Gordon Johns at the bar of the restaurant, only to be told that the rest weren't comming due to hangovers from the night before!

We had a table at the back of the restaurant and ordered food and drink. For about three hours we talked, ate, and herfed.

Now when can we do it again?

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