A conversation with Ajay Patel and Bhavna Patel their new shop – No. 6 Cavendish in Central London.
Of Note: Since this article was originally published, we’re happy to announce that No. 6 Cavendish has opened!
The London cigar scene is widely regarded as one of the premier ones in the world. With so many legendary shops, many of them boasting their own impressive selection of vintage and rare cigars, opening a new one on the scene, could only be the work of the master himself, Mr. Ajay Patel. Along with his business partner and wife, Bhavna Patel, the team that we all became familiar with at the La Casa del Habano in Teddington London have ventured out into Central London.
This article is a condensed version of a video interview held on Friday June 19, 2020. Ajay Patel was at his home garden in London enjoying a Montecristo Limited Edition 2003, while I was enjoying a Cohiba Siglo III from 2008 from Whisky Café in Montreal.
About Ajay Patel.
Mr. Patel has been operating his cigar shop in Teddington, just 20 minutes outside London, since 1993. He is widely considered the expert on vintage, aged and rare cigars. His expertise and dedication are matched by the extraordinary inventory of aged Havanas. Anyone who is interested in vintage cigars knows Ajay and follows his feed on Instagram and his online channels. Some of us has have been fortunate enough to visit his shop and share a cigar or two with him. His passion is contagious, whilst his armada of cigars is jaw dropping. On practically every one of his online posts, he never seizes to amaze us. During this interview process, he posted a video of the 40th anniversary Cohiba Behike Elie Blue humidor. Only 100 of those were made. “I had 10 of them at one point” he says, “and you know you saw at least 4 of them in my shop in Teddington”. He warned me during the interview laughingly, “You wait and see what I have on deck in the next few days.” A few days later, Ajay posted 1 of only 7 Trinidad Fundadores Diplomat 50 cabinet cigar boxes, signed by Fidel Castro in 1994 for, what was called the “Dinner of the Century” organized by Marvin Shanken of Cigar Aficionado.
There are posts like this multiple times per week.
La Casa del Habano Teddington
Despite it being what I consider one of the best cigar shops open anywhere, it is sometimes overlooked by some who visit London who do not venture out into the outskirts and into a little town called Teddington. For several years now, Ajay and his wife Bhanva have been toying with the idea of opening up a shop in Central London. From as far back as I can remember him saying, he never intended it to be a Cuban only shop. The limitations of the La Casa del Habano banner make it difficult to stay alive in today’s demanding and ever-expanding cigar market, and the substantial rents that an impressive shop requires.
Adding to Davidoff of London, Dunhill, J.J. Fox and a few other wonderful shops, the latest addition is sure to set a new standard to the Central London cigar scene; No. 6 Cavendish.
No. 6 Cavendish
No. 6 Cavendish is the brainchild of Ajay and Bhavna Patel who both started this project many months ago. Bhavna was the project manager with No. 6 Cavendish having her complete touch. After months of teaser clips, the shop officially opened on December 6, 2019. The first few weeks were exciting and seemed to have a wonderful pace. Unfortunately, as the world was put to a halt, the shop was forced to close temporarily on March 12, 2020. The cigar world has been anxiously awaiting the re-opening of the shop.
According to Ajay, “Once the COVID crisis is under control, and things in Central London begin to open, we will open.” As with the rest of us, when that is remains a hard nut to crack.
The Sampling Lounge at No. 6 Cavendish
The 28-seat large smoking area offers a full bar. On hand are rare whiskies, rare rums, as well as in house “6 classic No. 6 cocktails”. As it were, their bar license does not allow them to sell beer.
To maintain the integrity of the cigar as its’ principal focus, clients are required to purchase a cigar in order to have a drink. Ajay explains, “You cannot bring your own cigars, but are welcomed to sample a cigar from the vast selection of Cuban, New World, both new and vintage cigars.”
The location boasts an impressive 1900 square feet, quite a daunting undertaking in Central London. There is a large walk in humidor, along with 50 private lockers.
Antonio Marsillo: How long has LCDH Teddington been open? And just so everyone knows, that shop remains open correct?
AJAY PATEL: The shop was opened in 1993, and we became a La Casa del Habano in 2007. And, yes! The La Casa del Habano location is staying opened!
Marsillo: How will you split your time between the shops?
(He laughs)
AJAY PATEL: The goal with No. 6 Cavendish is to run it as a stand alone. We encourage people to come because of what we have, not because of exactly who is there. I plan on being there 4 times per week when we re-open and then we’ll see.
The General Manager is a Hungarian gentleman by the name of Greg Horvath. After some time working at the Dunhill private club, as well as the Dunhill cigar shop, proceeding by being the manager at Annabelles, Greg joined our team. He is joined by cigar sommeliers Daniele Cipriano and Tomi Koti.
Marsillo: You’ve built your reputation on vintage cigars, and so we are not surprised by the great selection you have showed off at the new location. However, it is nice to see you branching out into New world cigars.
AJAY PATEL: Selling Cuban cigars since we became a La Casa del Habano franchise for the last 13 years, we were restricted on making everyone happy. We were often asked for New World cigars. So, we decided that when they open a shop in London, we wanted to increase our offering.
Marsillo: How have you managed to secure aged New World cigars?
AJAY PATEL: Before we became Casa, we used to sell both Cubans and New World. It is from that inventory that we now have some aged “New World” cigars. We have original Opus X, old Arturo Fuente Short Stories from the Hemingway series. The Opus X are form 2007 and 2008, and those boxes have box codes. We have a few boxes, but not large quantities of each like we do with the Cubans.
Marsillo: Tell us a little about your experience with New World cigars. How often do you smoke them?
AJAY PATEL: Not very often. But once No. 6 Cavendish is up again, I’ll be smoking them more often in order to be able to offer proper recommendations to clients. I can’t say I’ve smoked too many vintage New World cigars enough to compare to the Cuban vintage cigars.
Marsillo: What brands do you gravitate towards?
AJAY PATEL: I will try everything, not one particular brand. If it’s on my shelf for sale at the shop, I need to know it and I will try it.
Marsillo: Many of us are wondering, how you will split up your impressive selection between your 2 shops. How do you decide which shop to sell the box from?
(Laughing again)
AJAY PATEL: ….I haven’t figured that out yet.
Marsillo: What about aged New world cigars? Will you be ageing and have a big selection of those on hand?
AJAY PATEL: I won’t age the New World cigars. In any discussion you have about cigars, New World cigars never come into the conversation when speaking about vintage. No one ever says “I just bought a really old box of New World cigars.”
Marsillo: What more can you tell us about No. 6 Cavendish?
AJAY PATEL: This is a really high-end shop. We’ll be selling humidors and accessories by Dunhill, Elie Blue, S.T. Dupont, even Dunhill pipes, and lots more. When you walk in, you can really feel the high quality in there.
There is no membership needed to use the sampling lounge, but we ask for a minimum spend on the total tab that includes the drinks.
We have 50 lockers! The small lockers are fairly sized at half a meter by half a meter and can be rented for 3000 GBP annually, while the big keeps measuring a meter by half a meter and command 5000 GBP per year.
