Taylors, Brighton

Third time I’ve been in there, still no loose tobacco. What sort of tobacconists doesn’t sell loose pipe tobacco? Rubbish.

If you don't smoke then going into Taylors will probably make you nauseous. It really, really smells of tobacco.

But that's because it's a tobacconist, a proper one with stuff in jars.

It's all very new-retro, it manages to seem authentically classical but surely the idea of cherry/chocolate/whatever-flavoured tobacco is a new invention?

If you smoke, then go here to be a bit experimental. After all doesn't it get a bit boring having all of your fags tasting like fags? After all you don't always drink pure ethanol do you?

A throwback to the days when men were men and smoking was compulsory. All the main hand-rolling tobacco brands are here alongside aromatic pipe tobacco and a ‘herbal high’ called Spice. Pipe enthusiasts can choose from Falcon, Peterson, Dr Plumb, Comoys, BBB, Big Ben, Dunhill, GBD, and Charatan. Cigars on offer range from Cuba, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.

The friendly proprietor, Robert Caulfield, is an Arsenal fan and proudly displays his photo of the old Highbury ground, signed by Arsène Wenger – and he’ll happily indulge you in a manly chat about the beautiful game.

This is the place to stock up on your post-prandial smokes before heading to one of the many al fresco eateries in the area. It almost made me want to take up the habit (again)...

As a smoker I don’t know if I would go with chocolate or cherry but, if you fancy a different flavour every day of the week they’ll have one. Not only do they do tobacco for hand-rolls and pipes, they have PROPER cigars for those special occasions. I shave with an open-razor and had ran out of soup. I hadn’t shaved for several days so, I popped in too see if they had a stick or a cake of soup. Oh yeah, they do shaving stuff too. It was then that I was introduced to a lather of my dreams! “Ditch the can foam guys!!! Get a brush and tub of cream.” You won’t look back I promise.

If you are a smoker and you like roll ups then I suggest you look this place up. Its a proper old style tobacconist in the North lanes. It’s run by a very nice gentleman who is always so friendly and helpful, and very kindly overlooks my standing there for ages, looking at the million different jars of tobacco, trying to decide between chocolate or cherry flavour. Fantastic