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Cigar Shopping

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Started 3 years ago by mrblue1022
Latest reply from Mercurius

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mrblue1022

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Just moved to north Columbus (Powell/Worthington/Dublin area) and I've been looking for a good cigar shop. I've found a couple so far:
Shawnee Cigar Co: great lounge, friendly staff, limited selection
Timba Cigars: fantastic selection, nice lounge, prices seem a little high, staff not that friendly
Stogies & Stix: great prices, pretty good selection, friendly staff, okay lounge
Barclay: no lounge, unfriendly staff, boring selection, over priced
Tinderbox: has been closed every time I have tried to go there (when other shops were open)
Am I missing any other shops in the area? Does anyone go to any of these shops and have different experiences?
I'm trying to find a home shop, some place were I can go on a regular basis to get good sticks and have a place to lounge and smoke when it's too cold to sit on the deck. Any suggestions?

Posted 3 years ago #
Cyclist
Peach District (State of Mind)
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There's a Smoker's Haven in Washington Bluffs.

Posted 3 years ago #
golden

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Pipes & Pleasures
http://www.pipesandpleasures.com
Voted "Best Smoke Shop in America". A traditional tobacco shop as opposed to an annoying mall shop. They actually make pipes in-house.

Posted 3 years ago #
enzo

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Europa in the Short North

Posted 3 years ago #
vestanpance
Harrison West/at work OSU
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I go to timbaa... the old guys in there seem a little rude at first but they warm up. Just go to one of their events (most of the time on fridays) and you'll be on the ins. I almost always smoke CAO cigars and they carry the full line.

Posted 3 years ago #
Bear
The woods
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enzo wrote Europia in the Short North
Fixed that (hard to find on Google otherwise)... also look for Twisted Vine on 5th.

Posted 3 years ago #
The Wayfarer
Short North
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Most of these have been mentioned, but my personal favorites are:
TinderBox at Easton - Huge selection, knowledgeable and friendly staff, comfortable lounge. They'll have most anything you want. Plus, you can take your cigar next door to Fado's and smoke on the patio while enjoying a pint.
Smoker's Haven in North Campus - Decent selection with an emphasis on the classics and almost the entire CAO line, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and -- while not particularly aesthetically pleasing -- a large lounge. These guys mostly focus on pipe tobacco and even boast a huge selection of handcrafted pipes, but their offerings in the way of cigars is nice too.
Burning Leaf in German Village - Limited, but good selection. Carries many of the classics and, unexpectedly, a large variety of Trinidads. I guess they're the owners favorite. You can smoke in there, however, it's tiny with only two chairs and a table. The owner is pretty amusing.
Pipes and Pleasures in Whitehall - Large selection, particularly in regards to Davidoff. They're one of the very few shops in the cigar I know of where I can pick up a Davidoff Double R (one of my very favorite cigars). It's sort of far removed from anywhere I go, so I don't make it out to this place too often. Definitely a nice oasis in the otherwise barren and sketchy suburb.
Europia in the Short North - Extremely limited selection, some Cohibas, Padron 300s, Dunhill, and then flavored boutique cigars like Acids and Maker's Mark flavored cigars. They keep the flavored cigars in the same humidor as the others and, to me, that's almost unforgivable. The strong scents they give off permeate into the other cigars and adversely affect the taste. Bad, bad, bad. With that said, I appreciate that they at least sell cigars and I'll pick up a Padron every so often while buying liquor (only liquor store I know of that accepts debit card). Very friendly staff, although not too knowledgeable about cigars.

Posted 3 years ago #
The Wayfarer
Short North
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House of Cigar in Worthington is probably worth mentioning as well. They have an enormous walk-in humidor with a huge selection of most anything you can imagine. When I stopped in, I was impressed by the selection but the staff didn't seem to know much about the different brands. The guy I was speaking with was completely unfamiliar with Tatuaje and Don Pepin and, if you're going to be in the cigar business, you've got to be aware that those two are the hotness right now. Also, what I found to be questionable was that they carried a few boxes of Davidoffs. In order to Davidoff, a store must become a certified Davidoff retailer and carry their entire line. There's not an option to carry just a box of Double Rs, for example. Not saying what House of Cigar is selling is fugazi or anything, but it sort of leads me to believe that they bought much of their selection second-hand.
If they manage to stay in business long, it'd really surprise me. They very well may have the largest selection in Columbus, but their uninformed staff, poor location (if you go, you'll see what I mean), and questionable sources weighs heavily against their chance of success. It's a shame, too. The owner seems very enthusiastic and said he could order anything we wanted. I think it's been his lifelong dream to own a cigar shop and probably used much of his savings and retirement to do so. Unfortunately, it appears he's gotten himself way in over his head. I hope thing work out for them, but it's going to take some series changes and really good promotion to do so.

Posted 3 years ago #
Mercurius
First Avenue
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The Wayfarer wrote
Europia in the Short North - Extremely limited selection, some Cohibas, Padron 300s, Dunhill, and then flavored boutique cigars like Acids and Maker's Mark flavored cigars. They keep the flavored cigars in the same humidor as the others and, to me, that's almost unforgivable. The strong scents they give off permeate into the other cigars and adversely effect the taste. Bad, bad, bad. With that said, I appreciate that they at least sell cigars and I'll pick up a Padron every so often while buying liquor (only liquor store I know of that accepts debit card). Very friendly staff, although not too knowledgeable about cigars.
Vino 100 has a better selection, better humidor and no flavored ones stored in there if in the Short North.

Posted 3 years ago #