Your favorite B&M/Smoking Spot

[scottbtdmb]

Good afternoon Brothers,

I will preface this post with the saddened news of a local B&M that I worked at for the past 2 years closing shop yesterday. We had two shops in my county (Main Street Cigar) and I worked at the smaller shop down in Havre de Grace, MD and unfortunately, business just wasn't cutting it for that store anymore. I realized this morning when I got up how crappy it can be when weekly rituals are forever broken. I used to get to the shop at 9:45 and make up a strong blend of Italian Roast and Espresso Roast coffee in a French Press. When the store opened at 10am, a buddy of mine and fellow co-worker Donn would always come in and we would have coffee and enjoy a cigar to start the morning. Sometimes we would put on an old black&white Western or Film Noir flick, but most of the time we would just smoke and talk about life. After eating lunch at noon, we would take a pinch of snuff and then load up a pipe with some fine tobacco. At 2pm, I was relieved by my good friend Jonathon, who you may know as Cigar2You.

So basically, this was a weekly ritual that I looked forward to and now it is no more. This was a part-time job mind you and it certainly wasn't about the money at all. There were perks of course like the employee discount and occasionally getting to try out new cigars or pipe tobaccos, but it was mainly all about camaraderie and enjoying a Saturday morning at a nice little shop down by the water. I suppose now I will either hang at our other shop on Saturdays or make the drive down to Faders in Baltimore to hang out with other folks. At any rate, it won't be the same and I lament the passing of yet another B&M that has gone to the wayside. Any of you guys have a favorite B&M that you frequent or did any of you have a favorite B&M that you used to go to that shut down? Would love to hear some stories.....this board doubles as a therapy session sometimes

-Scott

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Not a fun post to read, kind of a sign of the times (economically and in decades...) and a sad one at that. Sounds to me like you had a pretty cool thing with some damn cool folks.

I enjoy my bi-weekly visits to my Tinder Box. According to those who go, I should be so lucky to have them, a place to sit, friends and acquaintances to B.S. with, peruse pipes, try tobacco, and generally chill out. We have another place, Fumare here in Reno, but it's not nearly as friendly to pipesters--the staff are all wonderful, it's the cigar clientele that will literally get up and stop talking if you bring out a pipe and sit with them, or they focus their attention on you and ask stupid questions about the pipe smoking..."...do you inhale?" (laughter ensues).

So yeah, I do have a cool spot to go to, and I know they're doing pretty well, and I'm happy to have them around.

8)

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Sorry to hear about your job and that local B&M. A lot of the great B&M's where I am from bit the dust too. The political BS in California's war on tobacco really messed things up for a lot of the cool old shops.

There's a few places that I really like in an around my area. For cigars, Casillas Cigars is the best. It's a cigar shop where they roll everything they sell on premise. For the price, they are just as good and in some cases better than anything I have smoked. For pipe tobacco and cigars, there's a place called the Briar Patch that has the best selection around. Killer smoke lounge there too.

 

[monbla256]

"... ask stupid questions about the pipe smoking..."...do you inhale?" (laughter ensues).

You expect INTELIGENT questions from people who pay today's prices for cigars on a regular basis?

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Nah. Just expected them to be a little more chill--lesson learned. I buy my stuff and leave, which is a shame.

 

[Harlock999]

Nah. Just expected them to be a little more chill--lesson learned. I buy my stuff and leave, which is a shame.

Chill, they are not.
The cigar lounge crowd around here are all wanna-be alpha male douche bags.

 

[Brewdude]

Used to have a way great B&M about 10 yrs ago. It was a TB but it went waaaaay beyond the "normal" TB experience.

The proprietor was a young 20-something tobacconist who was the son of an 1st generation tobacconist. And he learned well. Wise beyond his years.

The facility was well thought out. Very large main front area with cigars behind humidified glass (all the brands you care to name), pipes/pipe tobacco displays on the "back bar". In fact you could sample a bowl of anything you wanted, as long as it was in a bulk jar or open tin (and there were many).

He had a glass case with upper end pipes, as well as a large wall display of factory pipes at attractive prices.

I bought 3 of my original Petes from him - 999, the Sherlock Holmes Mycroft Dublin, and the Sherlock Holmes Supreme (which I call my "Fat Boy"). As well as my most favorite Wiley Rhody with a tobacco leaf carved into the bowl.

There was a great smoking lounge in the back, complete with leather chairs, couches, big screen TV, superb stereo system, great food and beer (they served my own Snoqualmie Falls line), and an overhead smoke eater system that insured that your smoke wouldn't bother the person sitting next to you.

And one could smoke anywhere in the place. In the front room there were chairs and tables where you could sit and smoke to your hearts content! There were many regulars, and I got to know many of them. Great community.

Sadly, the smoke nazis put a stop to this. No smoking anywhere, even in tobacco shops. Plus the excessive taxes, as well as the allure of the internet. He could just no longer compete!

His establishment was an oasis that I enjoyed frequently. But it's all gone now.....


:|


Cheers,

RR

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Nah. Just expected them to be a little more chill--lesson learned. I buy my stuff and leave, which is a shame.

Chill, they are not.
The cigar lounge crowd around here are all wanna-be alpha male douche bags.

It's a shame. I don't blame the cigars, but I'm punk rock enough to blame society! :cheers:

Brewdude's account of his Tinder Box is a deluxe version of what my Tinder Box is--no big screen, just a little 19" VCR combo in the corner and a few chairs, but it gets the job done. We smoke, we hang out, we drink something someone brought in, we stay for hours... it ain't much, but it's rad.

The other place where the cigar douchery happens is huge and jaw-dropping gorgeous, too. The owner, Dion, used to be in a rockabilly band here in Reno, and he's awesome (as are his staff), but they make big bucks on the cigar crew. Can't blame 'em, I'm just bitter. :lol:

 

[Puff Daddy]

There's a few places that I really like in an around my area. For cigars, Casillas Cigars is the best. It's a cigar shop where they roll everything they sell on premise. For the price, they are just as good and in some cases better than anything I have smoked. For pipe tobacco and cigars, there's a place called the Briar Patch that has the best selection around. Killer smoke lounge there too.

I used to go into Cassillas cigars in downtown Sacramento all the time. Cool place, good smokes. They're fresh cigars, intended to be smoked fresh. Not so great when aged, but fantastic freshly rolled.

I've not yet been in the new Briar Patch store, only thr old one in the mall, too small for anything but a quick pop in and look around. My fav spot in Sac town in Tobacco Road, the best staff, the owner is a genuinely great guy. Sadly, I live too far out of town to make the trip to any of these places, and there's no B & M in my town

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Nah. Just expected them to be a little more chill--lesson learned. I buy my stuff and leave, which is a shame.

Chill, they are not.
The cigar lounge crowd around here are all wanna-be alpha male douche bags.

Well you can't be too hard on those guys, at least as douchey as they are, they are trying to refine themselves in some fashion. Sure they are a step down in the evolutionary chain. They can't be expected to take care of themselves let alone maintain a pipe. Show them how to work a lighter and they'll figure it out, but give them a manager job for a professional baseball team in Miami and they'll start talking about how much they respect Fedel Castro and stuff like that.

 

[monbla256]

Brewdude's experience at his TB reminded me of the first Edward's shop over in Dallas and the one in Ft. Worth back in the late 60s/early 70s. These were PIPES ONLY shops at that time, pre-Cigar Afficionado days. As I recall, they both had similar layouts, a sort of central circular "counter" with stools for you to sit at and BS and smoke to your hearts delight. The "Blending Bar was at the back with all the proprietary blends in glass jars for you to sample with all the "pipe boards" of the medium and lower priced Edwards pipes on the surrounding walls. They had a couple of small glass cases with the high-end Edwards pipes out in the shop. They DID NOT sell any other pipes or tobaccos other than Edward's, at least at the Dallas shop though I recall the Ft.Worth shop carried a range of Dunhill tobacco's and pipes. No TV or sound system other than a Muzac type, though the Ft,Worth shop did have a small B&W Zenith on a back counter to watch sports on at times. We thought it was pretty neat, at least you could smoke ! ( we could smoke at our drawing tables in the Architectural Offices I worked at then as well ) Truly "... back in the day"

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

There's a few places that I really like in an around my area. For cigars, Casillas Cigars is the best. It's a cigar shop where they roll everything they sell on premise. For the price, they are just as good and in some cases better than anything I have smoked. For pipe tobacco and cigars, there's a place called the Briar Patch that has the best selection around. Killer smoke lounge there too.

I used to go into Cassillas cigars in downtown Sacramento all the time. Cool place, good smokes. They're fresh cigars, intended to be smoked fresh. Not so great when aged, but fantastic freshly rolled.

I've not yet been in the new Briar Patch store, only thr old one in the mall, too small for anything but a quick pop in and look around. My fav spot in Sac town in Tobacco Road, the best staff, the owner is a genuinely great guy. Sadly, I live too far out of town to make the trip to any of these places, and there's no B & M in my town

I'll have to check out Tobacco Road. Yeah the Briar Patch location I frequent is not in the mall but rather the Loehman's Plaza. Nice place and a good knowledgeable staff. Casilla's is great. I have never tried to age their smokes only puffed on them right away. My humidor is mini.

 

[jlong]

The B&M near me is a book and tobacco store. Their biggest sellers are cigars, RYO tobacco, and magazines. They were big into pipes and carried a good selection of Petes, Nordings, Stannys, etc. until recently when they let it sell off and never re-stocked.

I dearly miss the Tinderbox near where I grew up. You could go in there, stoke up a sampling and yak with fellow pipers all morning. I wish we had that enviroment here.

Society has become too fast paced for pipes it seems. Or maybe society hasn't experienced the joys of fine tobaccos such as those blended by GL Pease, Cornell and Deihl, Sam Gwaith, etc, etc, etc...

 

[Hunter5117]

KC has a really good selection of pipe shops, including 2 mega-cigar stores that do cater more to the faux-cigar sports bar crowd. My favorite is Cigar & Tabac which is family operated, great place to hang out and boasts a world-class selection of pipes, tobacco and a huge walk-in/walk-around/jog-if-you-want-to-humidor. My second choice would be Diebels which is a legendary name in the pipe world but their closest store is small and caters mostly to cigars, their main store on the KC Plaza has a great pipe and tobacco selection but is kind of touristy and does not really encourage hanging out and smoking.

 

[idbowman]

When I was down in Columbus, I enjoyed stopping by Pipes and Pleasures...I watched the "smoking room" go from a tiny, barely tiled room with a few folding chairs to something very cozy and welcoming (haven't seen it in at least 3 years though).

It was always a welcoming crowd - it was the only place I've been where the "cigar crowd" and the "pipe crowd" managed to play in the same sandbox without someone taking their ball and going home. Great place. Here in the Cleveland area, I've never found the same experience. There is one local B&M with a smoking area (pretty nice too...nice TV, leather couches/recliners, etc), but sadly it's either empty (in which case I'd just as soon be alone in the comfort of my own home) or filled with stereotypical alphas who only smoke cigars because they saw Tony Soprano do it.

 

[BuckeyeBoy34]

I agree that Pipes and Pleasures is the only place here in Ohio where the "cigar crowd" and the "pipe crowd" play in the same sandbox.

Its sad that good B & M's do seem to be fading away due to the war on tobacco. I would have loved to have been around in the 50s and 60s and have had a chance to have visited the various cool pipe shops but I was born a few decades too late. I think a big part of pipe smoking is relaxing and talking to good pals about the blends you are smoking and your pipes, simply enjoying each others company. I think thats what I like about BoB its kind of an online version of this.

 

[Vodomagoo]

Myrtle beach has a ton of cigar shops, most of them pretty lame just trying to make money off of golfers, luckily we have smoking pipes b&m low country pipe and cigar the best b&m I have ever been in. I love going there and spending money :cheers:

 

[Storm_Crow]

Nah. Just expected them to be a little more chill--lesson learned. I buy my stuff and leave, which is a shame.

Chill, they are not.
The cigar lounge crowd around here are all wanna-be alpha male douche bags.

The thing about smokers is...the different types are so completely different from one another. The entire motivation is generally different. The personalities of each could often not be more dissimilar.

cigarette smoker: frenetic, high stress, instant gratification

cigar smoker: generally very impressed with themselves. The cigar seems to be somewhat representative of a power or status symbol

pot smoker: slacker!

pipe smoker: laid back, patient, and thoughtful

These are all stereotypes we've all seen, and while they will not apply to all individuals in a group, the reality is that stereotypes usually have a basis in reality.

This also means that the various groups of smokers, far from being kindred spirits, rarely have many similarities, and often scorn one another. Lets be honest, while suffering irritation due to the attitude of these cigar lounge guys...how often do pipe smokers look upon cigarette or pot smokers with utter disdain.

It goes beyond merely the difference of what we smoke. What we smoke is an announcement (whether accurate or not) of who we are in the eyes of others.

 

[tech2576]

I have a great little locally owned B&M about 20 minutes from the house.
Best selection of pipe tobacco I have seen and a small but well stocked humidor.
Regretfully I have yet to visit the lounge, never enough time.
The youngest is home on leave from the service this weekend, maybe I will buy him a cigar and we will stay and smoke it there.
The owner is a great guy and knows his stuff so I try to give him a good share of my business so we don't lose him, at the expense of paying a little more for my tobacco.

 

[jefe1037]

I have found my little niche at IRC... I know, I am spoiled. They have a free sitting area (they just cleaned and repainted last week, new chairs!!!) that is directly attached to the store, but the real deal is the "private club" area. for 15 bucks for a day pass or 750 for a one year membership (which comes with a 10% discount in the store) you get access to nice leather chairs flat screens, a board room, and two sitting areas that is the REAL DEAL. If you want you can BYO booze or rent the rooms for private parties, (chicago liquor laws are one step looser than smoking laws) I get the "alpha male douchebag" vibe from some of the cigar smokers in the club part "i'm important enough to spend money to join here" but the little lounge in the store for us proletariat is a great place to pass an hour or so before work, or on the way home.