Sautter of Mayfair, London Cigar Merchant

Desmond Sautter is one of the United Kingdom’s most experienced cigar merchants. His shop on Mount Street in Mayfair has been a haven for cigar aficionados for many years, sporting an impressive list of celebrity clients from Hollywood to the world of blue-chip businesses. Despite their reputation, the shop remains an unstuffy affair, with no pretensions other than to provide the very best Havana cigars that money can buy, to whoever wishes to buy them. Thankfully the shop remains untainted by the current trends of interior design and sports wonderful wood panelled walls and a carpet that looks like it came straight out of Winston Churchill’s study.

I have entered the shop a number of times very casually dressed in jeans and sporting a healthy growth of afternoon shadow – looking quite the antithesis of your average gentlemanly cigar smoker - and they have never batted an eyelid or treated me with anything other than the utmost respect. The staff are very courteous and friendly, and only too happy to advise both novice and experienced buyers on a variety of top cigars to consider. They also stock a wide array of humidors, cigar cases, lighters and cutters.

In contrast, the majority of staff at J.J Fox in Selfridges just up the road are primarily young sales assistants who quite frankly wouldn’t know a Siglo IV from an Epicure 2, although to be fair they do employ some very knowledgeable people too. Granted, you will pay less ordering cigars from an online merchant than you will at either J.J Fox or Sautters, but in the latter case you would loose out on the cosseted experience of visiting one of London’s best cigar merchants.