The Emory Hotel’s Cigar Lounge: A New Haven for Aficionados

The warm, fragrant air of the Emory Hotel's rooftop cigar lounge buzzed with an energy on Thursday night. Not that of the panoramic city views, the soft glow of the ambient lighting, or the expertly crafted cocktails that created the atmosphere (as marvellous as these were), but the palpable excitement of a celebration. The lounge, a hitherto private sanctuary for hotel guests, was throwing open its doors to the public, and the evening was designed to be nothing short of spectacular. To cap it off, turns out the 27th of February was National Cigar Day, just when you worried the world did not have its priorities straight, they come up with this wonderful day of celebration.

At the heart of this grand unveiling was Blue, the Emory Hotel's esteemed cigar sommelier whose name is the most romantic case of nominative determinism we have yet to hear, dealing as he does with fragrant blue smoke as a vocation. With a quiet confidence and an encyclopaedic knowledge of tobacco, Blue guided guests through a curated experience, transforming a simple cigar smoke into an artful appreciation. He is, you see, a Master of Cigars, and wears his lapel pin just as proudly as any who wear the bunch of grapes off their button hole. Dear Editor hosted alongside him in what he feels was an unabashed act of coattail riding in the presence of the man with the actual knowledge.

The centrepiece of the evening was the limited-edition Hoyo de Monterrey Regalos, a limited edition from 2007. These cigars were a testament to the lounge's commitment to quality, and put the smiles and sense of ease onto the guests in a way that cigars so efficiently manage to do. Guests from journalists, cigar cognoscenti and luxury industry luminaries, there was never going to be a lull under these circumstances.

The rooftop lounge, with its elegant décor and ingenious air purification system, provided the perfect setting for this celebration. The air was filled with the gentle hum of conversation, the clinking of glasses, and the fragrant aroma of what turned out to be a gentle cigar. It was before supper after all.

The truth is that the idea of the cosy smoking area and sampling lounge has been around since the smoking ban. However, as the years have trotted on, there have been poor efforts to join the throng, but the Emory can count itself as the polar opposite. To some seasoned smokers, it is the most beautiful and best of the lounges in London. The Maybourne Hotel Group have made great efforts to evolve their hotels in London to accommodate cigars, and the Connaught’s cigar shop is superb, but this gave them a chance to start such a challenge from scratch and what a total victory they can claim. It was a bitter pill to hear it was purely for guests, but now that it has made itself to the broader cigar community, we shall be surprised if you’ll find them anywhere else.