The Cigar Room (permanently closed)

Address: May Fair Hotel, 70 Stratton Street, London, W1J 8LW, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 20 7915 3894
Style: Cigar bar

Review

The May Fair Hotel already has a dedicated cocktail bar, a separate restaurant (Quince) with its own cocktail bar, and now it counts a third, rooftop bar designed with cigar smokers in mind. Clever use of glittering drapes and awnings mean you feel like you've stepped into somewhere special, and disguise the surrounding buildings looming over you. High quality furnishings make you feel like you're inside, outside.

The menu kicks off with four pages of cigars, listing each with notes on strength and flavour, ranging from £12 to £45. A small service bar, complemented by the requisite Martini trolley, is focused on brown spirits, particularly armagnacs, cognacs and whiskies, with a smaller selection of rum and tequila. Many of the top-end spirits are several hundred pounds a shot.

There's also a very small selection of smoke-themed cocktails, including a Smoky Martini and one with a [thankfully] judiciously cigar-infused rum in the Daiquiri that heads the list. These are potentially the capital's most expensive cocktails not made with vintage spirits at £20 each. Note the £20 minimum spend per head.