Pairing cigars with beer and whisky is something my old man and I have been doing since way before CASC opened it’s doors in 2013. We knew people were drinking whisky and beer but rarely together and certainly not with a good stogie in their chops. This is something we’ve been doing for years and it seemed we were pretty much the only two who truly mixed things up.

This became more apparent from watching youtube reviews and reading blogs and witnessing the horror unfold in front of us; bloggers smoking a great stick or sipping on a fantastic scotch while drinking a Stella or some other kind of horrid, mass produced tasteless lager. We could never understand why these so called "experts" were spending so much time and money enjoying a great product only to pair it with swill. Not only are they tarnishing the taste of the main event but they’re also missing out on great pairing opportunities.

The next problem for us was and still is, bars around the country tend to focus on one or the other (providing you're lucky to find a decent beer or whisky bar in the first place) but with that extra kicker - a lack of cigars or a decent brew. We needed change and we needed our own bar, pronto.

CASC acts as a hub for fellow drink and cigar enthusiasts to experience more; more choice, more flavours and more importantly, more options for mixing those flavours! We'll compound your senses and we'll do it right! This is the message we drill into all of our staff, past and present. We know it's worked as we now see previous staff utilising the knowledge gained and bringing it with them to their next endeavours (fly my pretties, FLY!) and so far the reaction from the public has been phenomenal. People all over the country talk of CASC and its plethora of delights; I mean we have more beer than most taprooms, more whisky than most whisky bars, more cigars than most tobacconists, our coffee kicks ass compared with the high street pish and the great thing is, we have them all under one roof. This is what makes CASC so special, no where else will you find a selection quite like we have or the attitude we bring to the industry.

For us, CASC has continued down the path we set out on but has also grown in a totally organic way. The craft beer movement had gained some momentum around the time we opened as did the huge boom in whisky appreciation and we continue to create our own ever expanding cigar and coffee aficionados.

It was clear we weren't the only two who wanted change and wanted more, we just so happened to be some of the few to do something about it.

It was time for us to kick start the bar evolution.