Some of my favorites include:
P.G.C. Hajenius in Amsterdam.
Close to 100 years old, the furnishings are luxurious. The tobacco musuem on the second floor in the back and the library are a wealth of cigar knowledge, as is the cigar display - just about every Habano produced in the past 45 years. Shames these are pinned like butterflies and not humidified as I'm sure most of them have substantial age.
Excellent selection in the humidor and I took the opportunity to enjoy a fine Cuaba Diademas on Father's Day there this past June.
Peter Heinrichs / Cologne
This shop on the Hahnenstrasse appears to be very pipe-centric upon entry. Once guided up and through a room connecting to an adjoining shop you are in the LCDH part of the store.
Lots of vintage goodies and regional edition smokes like the Por Larranaga Lonsdale and Bolivar Colosales to be had.
Downstairs from the humidor is a lovely cigar lounge with a fully stocked bar - great place to spend a reflective afternoon.
J.J. Fox / London
This St. James street fixture offers vintage cigars in an open display just inside the store. While pricey with the current exchange rate, it's worth picking out a stick that catches your fancy and enjoying it with some coffee and conversation with the staff.
The Davidoff shop just up the street also has a nice cabinet with vintage cigars inside the humidor and a host of gracious shopkeepers.
Boutique 22 / Paris
While this shop does not have a smoking area it does have a wide selection of fine smokes and accessories. A plus is that just around the corner from the shop and about a block from the Arc d'Triomphe is the Mojito Habana Club, a lovely place to spend the afternoon with a smoke and drink.
Estanco Magallanes / Madrid
Excellent selection and amazing prices. The proprietor, José MartÃnez Franco, was named Retailer of the Year at the 1st International Festival of the Habano. Again no smoking unfortunately due to new laws banning smoking in the workplace (yes, even cigar stores!).
Linzbach / Dusseldorf
This shop has an outstanding humidor and some of the friendliest people I've met.
Once Margret Schmitz, the owner, found I was looking for vintage cigars and Lonsdales were one of my preferred sizes, she exclaimed this was her son's favorite vitola and went to collect him.
Werner and I scoured the humidor finding numerous vintage samples for my selection. Once the damage was done he invited me back to the lounge for a rum tasting with my smoke of choice.
Here I also met the proprietor of a local cigar club. We exchanged conversation and I gifted a couple of unique smokes to each of them. Werner escorted me to the cellar (certainly a misnomer, this was a grand space) where he showed me through the main storage area stopping at his private cabinet.
Both he and his companion offered up a variety of smokes for my selection - I came away with two exceptional cigars, a Bolivar Inmensa and an R&J Cazadores which they proclaimed some of the best examples of each.
Le Roi du Cigare / Brussels
This unassuming shopfront at 60 rue de l'Enseignement features a well-stocked humidor and many hidden gems.
On my first visit the owner's daughter was minding the shop, and while she possessed good knowledge her English was limited (not as much as my Dutch or French however). We managed to communicate enough that I came away with some good cigars.
On my second visit M. Philippe Vanderbruggen was present and set about to provide me a tour of his selection. Quite a few boxes with 8 or more years of age were produced and we discussed the merits of each.
We decided upon a couple plus some other interesting samples though I had to decline the offer of taking home the 35th Anniversary Cohiba humidor he had for sale.
He did taunt me with the Behike he had collected at this year's Habanos Festival.
This represents just a few of the shops I've visited, many providing fond memories. There are many more I've visited and hope to in the future.
While I've previously posted much of this on other forums, I thought I'd share it here as well. I look forward to hearing from others as I'm always looking for new places to check out.
Labels: Cigar travelogue part I
posted by Ligero Man @ 7:13 PM
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