Cigar & Tobacco World
5227 Leetsdale Drive
Denver, CO 80222
I must have driven past this place a hundred times before my buddy did an internet search and discovered it. I couldn’t believe I’d driven past this gem so many times!
If you look at it from the street it doesn’t look like a place worth stopping for. From the street it looks like one of those Smoker Friendly stores that are an insult to brothers of the leaf. But, actually, once you pull into the strip mall and park in front of the place, it’s actually quite charming. The mess, as it looks from the street, is actually hundreds of neatly piled empty Punch and Romeo Y Julietta boxes in the front window. Those boxes are so faded and old, you can tell this place has been here for a while. That’s also apparent once you walk inside.
This place is full, but neatly so, of all things that make a tobacco lover drool. Pipes, accessories, tobacco-related reading material. This place is the same size as your average Subway restaurant, but it’s carefully organized with a gazillion (is that a word?) products that could keep a tobacco lover busy all day. It’s awe-inspiring and, at first, difficult to notice the walk-in humidor in the back left hand corner.
The walk-in humidor is small; about the size of an apartment walk-in closet. Given the limited space, it doesn’t have a lot of product, but he does carry some good product. And current product. I was surprised to find the Romeo Y Julietta REAL which had just came out. In fact, there were a lot of newish products that would interest someone looking to try something new.
His prices are reasonable. Quite a bit higher than what you would pay on the internet, but not nearly what you would pay at a cigar bar or at a cigar shop downtown. He had things for every price range; even some good bundle cigars. It doesn’t take but 5 minutes to look at every box of cigars he has in there - I would guess about 60 boxes, only. In this tiny humidor it’s easy to gather a small handful of cigars because he tends to carry the interesting things you’ve always wanted to try. For you old, dyed in the wool types, he carries old brands like A. Fuente, but only expect to find a couple each of those old standards. This guy, obviously, likes to hedge his bets by keeping some of the old favorites around along with a lot of the fresh new models that just came out.
The best part of Cigar & Tobacco World is when you come out of the humidor with a handful and get to meet the guy behind the counter. I don’t know if it’s from being left alone in his store all day or if he’s just that kind of guy, but I’ve never met a friendlier cigar-store owner anywhere. (Did I mention that he didn’t bother me and my buddy once while we spent about 15 minutes in his humidor when it would have taken most people 5 minutes?) This guy is just happy to see you and happy that you’re in his store.
I came out of his humidor with a big handful of cigars and he was ecstatic to see me, chit-chat and ring me up. Strangely, my buddy came out of the humidor with nothing in his hands; the old guy treated him equally as graciously.
As the old guy rang me up, I noticed that I was standing in front of one of those old revolving display cases where you press the button and the trays inside go round - you know the kind - they have them in pawn shops full of coins. This thing was chuck full of cigar cutters of all sorts. New and old. The old man stood there as I marveled at all the tobacco trinkets as it went round, drooling (that's me doing the drooling, not the old man who was far from it) all the time.
This place is great for cigar accessories - in fact, accessories of all kinds - they even have a small display case of those (ahem) tobacco smoking accessories that you often see people smoking OTHER things out of on TV, but we won’t get into that because it’s just one tiny display in one corner of the store.
I was impressed that this guy had a decent selection of tobacco-related reading materials. Books. Magazines. Hell, he had VINTAGE copies of Cigar Aficionado magazine for sale at the regular cover price! (I should have bought them up. What was I thinking?)
The owner and I chit-chatted about cigars and accessories for a while. He gave me a discount card that I could use anytime and every time in the future. It was totally not the usual experience of the people in the store being a pain in the ass. It was quite the opposite, in fact. It was the best cigar shopping experience I’ve had in Denver, ever, that included an employee/owner.
Cigar & Tobacco World doesn’t have the best selection or quite the best prices (though, they’re good prices) but it’s the kind of place I’d frequent. It’s comfortable. They have cool new and old products and the owner is simply a pleasure to meet and talk to. I highly recommend it.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Edward’s Sets a High Standard By Which All Others Will be Judged!
Edward’s Pipe & Tobacco Shop
3439 S Broadway
Englewood, CO 80113
This jewel of a cigar shop is tough to find, but will reward you once you do.
This establishment has dedicated about 2/3rds of it’s floorspace to pipe tobacco but the final 1/3rd, dedicated to cigars and completely blows away every cigar store I’ve ever seen. Ever.
Be aware that, once you find this place (I recommend Google Maps) there is plenty of free parking in the back. Enter through the back and walk past the smoking area with the TV into the store. Once you reach the store, your first impression will be something like, “Holy crap, this is the nicest pipe-tobacco store I’ve ever seen!”, and it is. But once you find your way to the front counter you’ll see the little door to their humidor tucked away off to the left, beside the counter.
The humidor is smallish. About the size of a large apartment kitchen. However, this humidor is completely chuck-full of product. From floor to ceiling all the way around, and an island in the middle, are open boxes of cigars crammed side-to-side with not a square inch to spare. There are even cheapies on the floor and cigar bundles, out of reach, on the top shelves. I’ve never seen such a selection, anywhere, let alone in such a small walk-in humidor!
They have everything, for everyone, at every price. Some notable mentions are: the biggest selection of Punch cigars I’ve ever seen even at online stores. They have the complete Davidoff selection. They have a ton of Macanudos. Probably all the La Glorias. Probably all the A. Fuentes. A bunch of the more interesting Rocky Patels and CAOs. They have quite a selection of bundle cigars including La Unica cigars. (Singles of the #400s, by the way, were the proper $4.50 each.)
Pricing? The prices are a little more than what you can get them for on the internet. I figure that’s fair, considering their overhead. At the posted prices I, honestly, found it hard to choose and to stop picking up cigars once my hands were nearly full.
Best of all, I was in the humidor for about fifteen minutes of browsing and choosing before I walked out and left my buddy in there who took an additional ten minutes. Neither of us were bothered or questioned or given the evil eye by anyone; not even once. That’s a combined 40 minutes of blissful cigar-browsing freedom! Sure, they have security cameras in there that they keep an eye on from the cash register; understandably enough, but, outside of that, they entirely leave people alone to browse in peace.
I really can’t say enough good things about the time we spent in this amazing humidor.
I carried out two big hand fulls of cigars I wanted to try, as well as some favorites I bought at prices that made me happy. Unfortunately, while the boxes have the prices on them for individual cigars, the individual cigars don’t. When it came time to check out, the owner seemed irritated to have to go back into the humidor and write down all the prices for what I got. This surprised me and I began to wonder if this was like the screw & bolt section of the hardware store where you’re supposed to write something down to bring to the register, but I saw no sign or instructions posted about anything like that. It’s a little inconvenient and uncomfortable that the person behind the counter has to go back in and find out the prices of what you bought, which can be time-consuming if you grabbed a lot. (The employees do a good job of concealing their discontent at having to perform that task and don’t seem irritated at the customers.) When he emerged and rang me up, I was nearly giddy at the sub $40 total for what I got.
If I had to tell a strange story about this experience it would be this: Their cash register counter is sort of like a bar where retired men sit and smoke and shoot the bull (chit-chat). I noticed one old white guy was wearing a hat that said, “Gun...” (something), and I couldn’t read the rest. He had been deep in conversation with the owner ever since I first walked in. When I came out of the humidor, a business-professionally dressed African-American man walked in and, on his way into the humidor, asked the man what his hat said. The guy turned, you could now read his hat, and he said, “Piss on Gun Control!”. There was an awkward moment and it was apparent that these two men had nothing in common; that they, in fact, were from opposite ends of the political spectrum. The owner just stood behind the counter, straight-faced; he was staying out of it. The African-American man laughed it off and entered the humidor. I hung around, browsing, but really just loitering while I waited to see how this panned out. When the African-American man emerged with a handful of cigars, the owner rang him up and treated him as graciously as he treated me. As someone who frequents gun dealers, I know how owners can let their politics affect how they treat customers who don’t seem to fit their ideology. This was not the case. Apparently, everyone is welcome at Edward’s.
It’s a good thing. I’ll be going back often and bring all sorts of friends.
[Update]
I’ve been to Edwards many times since my first experience. It seems I never tire of their awesome selection at fair prices. I always maintain a “want to try” list. Edwards has been the perfect place to grab as many things on that list as I can find. I usually have pretty good luck finding things on that list but not always. As the owner said when my buddy inquired about Don Pepin Blue, “It’s not that we WON’T carry it; we just don’t have the room!” I guess, when you carry such complete lines of so many brands, you have to sacrifice somewhere.
Edwards also has an excellent selection of accessories, including old-fashioned things you rarely see anywhere. I won’t detail what those are because, after all, I’ve got my eye on a few of those myself.
Edwards is head-and-shoulders above any cigar shop I’ve ever seen anywhere. If they had the man-power to put prices on each of their cigars they would belong in cigar history books. Since that’s their only flaw and since they were more than happy to give my buddy two cigar magazines with his $30 purchase - along with their selection, prices and hospitality, I have to give them a 10 out of 10 in my book. They’re the best I’ve seen.
3439 S Broadway
Englewood, CO 80113
This jewel of a cigar shop is tough to find, but will reward you once you do.
This establishment has dedicated about 2/3rds of it’s floorspace to pipe tobacco but the final 1/3rd, dedicated to cigars and completely blows away every cigar store I’ve ever seen. Ever.
Be aware that, once you find this place (I recommend Google Maps) there is plenty of free parking in the back. Enter through the back and walk past the smoking area with the TV into the store. Once you reach the store, your first impression will be something like, “Holy crap, this is the nicest pipe-tobacco store I’ve ever seen!”, and it is. But once you find your way to the front counter you’ll see the little door to their humidor tucked away off to the left, beside the counter.
The humidor is smallish. About the size of a large apartment kitchen. However, this humidor is completely chuck-full of product. From floor to ceiling all the way around, and an island in the middle, are open boxes of cigars crammed side-to-side with not a square inch to spare. There are even cheapies on the floor and cigar bundles, out of reach, on the top shelves. I’ve never seen such a selection, anywhere, let alone in such a small walk-in humidor!
They have everything, for everyone, at every price. Some notable mentions are: the biggest selection of Punch cigars I’ve ever seen even at online stores. They have the complete Davidoff selection. They have a ton of Macanudos. Probably all the La Glorias. Probably all the A. Fuentes. A bunch of the more interesting Rocky Patels and CAOs. They have quite a selection of bundle cigars including La Unica cigars. (Singles of the #400s, by the way, were the proper $4.50 each.)
Pricing? The prices are a little more than what you can get them for on the internet. I figure that’s fair, considering their overhead. At the posted prices I, honestly, found it hard to choose and to stop picking up cigars once my hands were nearly full.
Best of all, I was in the humidor for about fifteen minutes of browsing and choosing before I walked out and left my buddy in there who took an additional ten minutes. Neither of us were bothered or questioned or given the evil eye by anyone; not even once. That’s a combined 40 minutes of blissful cigar-browsing freedom! Sure, they have security cameras in there that they keep an eye on from the cash register; understandably enough, but, outside of that, they entirely leave people alone to browse in peace.
I really can’t say enough good things about the time we spent in this amazing humidor.
I carried out two big hand fulls of cigars I wanted to try, as well as some favorites I bought at prices that made me happy. Unfortunately, while the boxes have the prices on them for individual cigars, the individual cigars don’t. When it came time to check out, the owner seemed irritated to have to go back into the humidor and write down all the prices for what I got. This surprised me and I began to wonder if this was like the screw & bolt section of the hardware store where you’re supposed to write something down to bring to the register, but I saw no sign or instructions posted about anything like that. It’s a little inconvenient and uncomfortable that the person behind the counter has to go back in and find out the prices of what you bought, which can be time-consuming if you grabbed a lot. (The employees do a good job of concealing their discontent at having to perform that task and don’t seem irritated at the customers.) When he emerged and rang me up, I was nearly giddy at the sub $40 total for what I got.
If I had to tell a strange story about this experience it would be this: Their cash register counter is sort of like a bar where retired men sit and smoke and shoot the bull (chit-chat). I noticed one old white guy was wearing a hat that said, “Gun...” (something), and I couldn’t read the rest. He had been deep in conversation with the owner ever since I first walked in. When I came out of the humidor, a business-professionally dressed African-American man walked in and, on his way into the humidor, asked the man what his hat said. The guy turned, you could now read his hat, and he said, “Piss on Gun Control!”. There was an awkward moment and it was apparent that these two men had nothing in common; that they, in fact, were from opposite ends of the political spectrum. The owner just stood behind the counter, straight-faced; he was staying out of it. The African-American man laughed it off and entered the humidor. I hung around, browsing, but really just loitering while I waited to see how this panned out. When the African-American man emerged with a handful of cigars, the owner rang him up and treated him as graciously as he treated me. As someone who frequents gun dealers, I know how owners can let their politics affect how they treat customers who don’t seem to fit their ideology. This was not the case. Apparently, everyone is welcome at Edward’s.
It’s a good thing. I’ll be going back often and bring all sorts of friends.
[Update]
I’ve been to Edwards many times since my first experience. It seems I never tire of their awesome selection at fair prices. I always maintain a “want to try” list. Edwards has been the perfect place to grab as many things on that list as I can find. I usually have pretty good luck finding things on that list but not always. As the owner said when my buddy inquired about Don Pepin Blue, “It’s not that we WON’T carry it; we just don’t have the room!” I guess, when you carry such complete lines of so many brands, you have to sacrifice somewhere.
Edwards also has an excellent selection of accessories, including old-fashioned things you rarely see anywhere. I won’t detail what those are because, after all, I’ve got my eye on a few of those myself.
Edwards is head-and-shoulders above any cigar shop I’ve ever seen anywhere. If they had the man-power to put prices on each of their cigars they would belong in cigar history books. Since that’s their only flaw and since they were more than happy to give my buddy two cigar magazines with his $30 purchase - along with their selection, prices and hospitality, I have to give them a 10 out of 10 in my book. They’re the best I’ve seen.
Stanley Pappa Baby-sat Me and Broke My Bank
Stanley Pappa’s Cigars
As you know by now, I’m a big proponent of being left alone in a humidor to look around without being badgered by the store staff. When it comes to being baby-sat in a humidor, this place is the worst I’ve seen.
This establishment is well-hidden in a crappy strip mall that’s undergoing construction. You cannot see the place from the street - you have to know it’s there - and even then, you drive the strip mall wondering, “Are you SURE this is the right strip-mall?”, before you see the sign that simply says, “CIGARS.”
When you first walk in, the first thing you notice is the huge humidor which is immediately apparent as it begins just inside the door and can be entered in 5 steps from the door. It’s easily the size of a, lengthwise, two-car garage. Two full-size SUV vehicles could easily park in there nose-to-nose and leave plenty of room for the cigars. It’s a masterpiece. A cigar-lover could spend all day in their browsing. But, alas, is would never happen. (Believe me, I’ll get to that.)
The rest of the store is very nice. They have cigar lockers that you can rent and plenty of seating so you can smoke after buying a cigar and a coffee from their coffee counter. They practically have a Starbucks-sized coffee counter in there. They do have a decent selection of cigar accessories. They’ll gladly sell you a $65 Colibri lighter for $90. They’re the one retail place I’ve ever seen that has a selection of top-quality lighter fuels at good prices.
As soon as you walk in, a man magically appears behind you with a note pad. He writes down the price of every thing you pick up. If you put it back and choose another, he scratches out the price and writes the new price. I imagine an intentionally indecisive cigar shopper could drive said note pad carrier to drink. I haven’t quite gotten bored enough with my life to do that, but it’s a fun fantasy to consider.
Their prices are obscene. I have a few cigars that I know what they should cost at a retail store, so I always take note of the prices on those to get an idea of how reasonable (or unreasonable in this case) their prices are. One of these is the La Unica line by A.Fuente. I have the regular price for these (I use the #400 as a guide) at about $4.50 per stick. This place had them at $6.00. That makes them about 25% too high. I found that to be pretty consistent throughout their humidor. That’s not bad on a $4.00 cigar, but it begins to really sting when you’re looking for $10.00 cigars.
Wanna hear something funny? I was walking around with a handful of $5.00 cigars that were going to cost me $7.50 each, when I found myself pondering at length a considerable display of Opus X cigars. (They have a damned-good selection of Opus X.) I’ve only ever smoked one Opus X, so I was considering dumping the $35.00 for one of the coronas I saw staring back at me. The man with the pad walked up behind me and, jokingly, suggested I put back all my cheaper cigars to buy an Opus X. I considered it for a while until I figured that I could buy 2 Opus X for that price elsewhere. Maybe it just felt better to get screwed on four $7.50 cigars than on one $35.00 cigar. I don’t know.
In a perfect world, a person who loved cigars could easily spend 30 minutes in their humidor in cigar-browsing glory. The place seems to be built for that very thing. Unfortunately, their customer-service philosophy highly-discourages such browsing.
I don’t like paying double for a cigar in a place that doesn’t even serve alcohol. Even more, I hate trying to browse with someone breathing down my neck. This place gave me both irritations to the extreme. A big thumbs-down in my book.
As you know by now, I’m a big proponent of being left alone in a humidor to look around without being badgered by the store staff. When it comes to being baby-sat in a humidor, this place is the worst I’ve seen.
This establishment is well-hidden in a crappy strip mall that’s undergoing construction. You cannot see the place from the street - you have to know it’s there - and even then, you drive the strip mall wondering, “Are you SURE this is the right strip-mall?”, before you see the sign that simply says, “CIGARS.”
When you first walk in, the first thing you notice is the huge humidor which is immediately apparent as it begins just inside the door and can be entered in 5 steps from the door. It’s easily the size of a, lengthwise, two-car garage. Two full-size SUV vehicles could easily park in there nose-to-nose and leave plenty of room for the cigars. It’s a masterpiece. A cigar-lover could spend all day in their browsing. But, alas, is would never happen. (Believe me, I’ll get to that.)
The rest of the store is very nice. They have cigar lockers that you can rent and plenty of seating so you can smoke after buying a cigar and a coffee from their coffee counter. They practically have a Starbucks-sized coffee counter in there. They do have a decent selection of cigar accessories. They’ll gladly sell you a $65 Colibri lighter for $90. They’re the one retail place I’ve ever seen that has a selection of top-quality lighter fuels at good prices.
As soon as you walk in, a man magically appears behind you with a note pad. He writes down the price of every thing you pick up. If you put it back and choose another, he scratches out the price and writes the new price. I imagine an intentionally indecisive cigar shopper could drive said note pad carrier to drink. I haven’t quite gotten bored enough with my life to do that, but it’s a fun fantasy to consider.
Their prices are obscene. I have a few cigars that I know what they should cost at a retail store, so I always take note of the prices on those to get an idea of how reasonable (or unreasonable in this case) their prices are. One of these is the La Unica line by A.Fuente. I have the regular price for these (I use the #400 as a guide) at about $4.50 per stick. This place had them at $6.00. That makes them about 25% too high. I found that to be pretty consistent throughout their humidor. That’s not bad on a $4.00 cigar, but it begins to really sting when you’re looking for $10.00 cigars.
Wanna hear something funny? I was walking around with a handful of $5.00 cigars that were going to cost me $7.50 each, when I found myself pondering at length a considerable display of Opus X cigars. (They have a damned-good selection of Opus X.) I’ve only ever smoked one Opus X, so I was considering dumping the $35.00 for one of the coronas I saw staring back at me. The man with the pad walked up behind me and, jokingly, suggested I put back all my cheaper cigars to buy an Opus X. I considered it for a while until I figured that I could buy 2 Opus X for that price elsewhere. Maybe it just felt better to get screwed on four $7.50 cigars than on one $35.00 cigar. I don’t know.
In a perfect world, a person who loved cigars could easily spend 30 minutes in their humidor in cigar-browsing glory. The place seems to be built for that very thing. Unfortunately, their customer-service philosophy highly-discourages such browsing.
I don’t like paying double for a cigar in a place that doesn’t even serve alcohol. Even more, I hate trying to browse with someone breathing down my neck. This place gave me both irritations to the extreme. A big thumbs-down in my book.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Cigars on Sixth Frightens and Surprises!
707 East 6th Avenue
Denver, CO 80203
Que the old-west gunslinger movie music! “Weeooo, weeooo. Waaant, waaant, waaa.”
I stepped through the door, stopped, and let my eyes adjust to the darkness inside. Time seemed to stop. All eyes were upon me. The card players stopped playing. Men, involved in conversation, held their words and looked my way. Silence. Smoke hung in the air. Tension rose as everyone in the place seemed to share a single thought, “This man is not one of us. Who the hell is this stranger? And, what the fuck does he want?”
I straightened my glasses, nodded and smiled, “Hi. Howya doin’.”
Critical eyes looked me up and down, evaluating me. Friend or foe?
I stepped forward. The place was a place of beauty. Dark hard woods - well kept - defined the environment. I saw glass-fronted cases filled with all the things I love. Lighters, humidors, cutters, and humidifying devices. This was my kind of place, yet, I felt unwelcome, unwanted, a bother, but mostly... uninitiated. I was an outsider. This was a place for people who knew... the owner.
OK. OK. That was fun because it was sort-of how it happened when colored by my creative mind, but this is where I dispense with the drama in this review.
The first time I walked into Cigars on Sixth I had the distinct impression that it was a place where the locals hang out and that they’re REALLY not very good at welcoming walk-in traffic.
It was 6:00 PM on a Friday in March. I was lucky enough to find a place to park on a side street and walked a block to the store, enjoying a cigar as I walked. Surprisingly, for such a place, there was no ashtray out front, so I tossed my butt into the gutter. When I walked in, there were about a dozen people in there sitting on sofas in a lounge area on one side and a few playing cards around a card table on the other. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at me. I don’t think anyone was exactly scowling at me, but they definitely looked at me with an expression of, “What the fuck is HE doing here!” They looked displeased with my presence.
The place looked fantastic, done-up well in hardwoods and cases full of cigar accessories. The place looked simply beautiful, but in the interest in getting down to business and avoiding all the uncomfortable looks from the patrons, I immediately started looking around for the humidor. Once I saw the doorway to the humidor beside the cash register, I headed in that direction. I was met halfway by the owner who didn’t exactly seem glad to see me, but asked me if I needed any help. He opened the humidor door for me and I walked in to meet a crowd of people. OK, it was only 4 people, but in this walk-in humidor it was a crowd. It’s the size of a very large sport utility vehicle with an island in the middle which gives you a small walkway to see all the cigars around the walls and the table in the middle. The crowd of 4 people prevented me from moving but, once they cleared out, I got a chance to look around.
This is where it gets good! This is where Cigars on Sixth really shines!
They have a good selection. And I don’t just mean they have a lot. I mean they have something for everyone. They have some high-end stuff, but the best part, in my mind, is that they have plenty, plenty of good cigar brands for around $5.00 or less. Moreover, some enterprising individual took what must have been an enormous amount of time and research to label every single box or display with labels of, “Mild”, “Mild-medium”, “Medium”, “Full-bodied”, etc. For someone like me who loves, and is always interested in trying new mild-to-medium cigars, I was simply astounded! Still-impressive was the fact that everything was clearly labeled with a price. I was beside myself. This is a rarity in Denver - I imagine a rarity anywhere.
I sensed that the owner was watching me like a hawk. (Perhaps, he thought I was a shoplifter despite the fact that I arrived fresh from the office in my business clothes? I don’t know.) After I began filling my hands with singles of things I wanted to try, the owner seemed to relax and stop watching me through the window.
When I emerged from the humidor holding a considerable selection of cigars between my hands, the owner warmed up to me. We chit-chatted about places smoking was still allowed on bar and restaurant patios in and around Denver as he rang me up. I paid no attention to the regular customers in the store as I browsed their selection of, mostly high-end, accessories before I left.
This week, I went back.
It was a Tuesday about 6:00 PM. It wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable, this time, when I walked in. There was about six patrons sitting on sofas conversing. As soon as I walked in, someone (not the owner I’d met before) stood and asked me if I needed help. I told him I was just looking for some smokes and headed for the humidor. He followed me.
Now, as a careful cigar buyer, one of my pet peeves is not being allowed to browse freely in a humidor. Frankly, if I can walk around a super-market or hardware store without anyone on my tail, I should be able to browse a humidor without someone looking over my shoulder every second. When I’m browsing for cigars I want to be left the fuck alone to consider, inspect, pick up cigars, carry them around, change my mind, put something back, as I feel fit. It’s a sensory and emotional experience and I don’t need the fucking pressure, OK?
But this guy followed me and quizzed me about what I wanted and wouldn’t leave and that pissed me off. So I asked him if he had Troyas. No. I asked if he had Davidoffs. No. He rambled on about cigar vendors while I tried to look around. Finally I asked him what kind of Punches he had. He showed me. I grabbed two big Corojos and left. $11.00 and I was out the door!
If he had left me alone in the humidor for ten minutes I would, surely, have found many cigar brands I’ve been meaning to try, collected two big hand fulls, and checked out with about $50 worth of cigars. If I haven’t already made my point about allowing customers to be free to browse, that’s the difference between pressuring a customer and leaving him the fuck alone to look around.
Overall, I’d recommend Cigars on Sixth to anyone with any budget. They conveniently post their prices for everything in their humidor and go the extra mile by labeling their cigars with their relative strengths. These two features make Cigars on Sixth special among cigar sellers. Their employees do need to learn to leave customers alone to browse in their humidor, sans-pressure. And, if the owner would only have a talk with is regulars, “Hey, you guys, when someone walks in here you need to smile and wave and say ‘Hi’ or something!”, that would go a long way to improving first impressions.
Go to Cigars on Sixth with a $20 dollar bill in your pocket and walk out with 4 cigars that you’ve never tried before that suit your strength tastes. Wear your white hat and smile real-friendly-like, else they might string you up from a tree out back.
Denver, CO 80203
Que the old-west gunslinger movie music! “Weeooo, weeooo. Waaant, waaant, waaa.”
I stepped through the door, stopped, and let my eyes adjust to the darkness inside. Time seemed to stop. All eyes were upon me. The card players stopped playing. Men, involved in conversation, held their words and looked my way. Silence. Smoke hung in the air. Tension rose as everyone in the place seemed to share a single thought, “This man is not one of us. Who the hell is this stranger? And, what the fuck does he want?”
I straightened my glasses, nodded and smiled, “Hi. Howya doin’.”
Critical eyes looked me up and down, evaluating me. Friend or foe?
I stepped forward. The place was a place of beauty. Dark hard woods - well kept - defined the environment. I saw glass-fronted cases filled with all the things I love. Lighters, humidors, cutters, and humidifying devices. This was my kind of place, yet, I felt unwelcome, unwanted, a bother, but mostly... uninitiated. I was an outsider. This was a place for people who knew... the owner.
OK. OK. That was fun because it was sort-of how it happened when colored by my creative mind, but this is where I dispense with the drama in this review.
The first time I walked into Cigars on Sixth I had the distinct impression that it was a place where the locals hang out and that they’re REALLY not very good at welcoming walk-in traffic.
It was 6:00 PM on a Friday in March. I was lucky enough to find a place to park on a side street and walked a block to the store, enjoying a cigar as I walked. Surprisingly, for such a place, there was no ashtray out front, so I tossed my butt into the gutter. When I walked in, there were about a dozen people in there sitting on sofas in a lounge area on one side and a few playing cards around a card table on the other. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at me. I don’t think anyone was exactly scowling at me, but they definitely looked at me with an expression of, “What the fuck is HE doing here!” They looked displeased with my presence.
The place looked fantastic, done-up well in hardwoods and cases full of cigar accessories. The place looked simply beautiful, but in the interest in getting down to business and avoiding all the uncomfortable looks from the patrons, I immediately started looking around for the humidor. Once I saw the doorway to the humidor beside the cash register, I headed in that direction. I was met halfway by the owner who didn’t exactly seem glad to see me, but asked me if I needed any help. He opened the humidor door for me and I walked in to meet a crowd of people. OK, it was only 4 people, but in this walk-in humidor it was a crowd. It’s the size of a very large sport utility vehicle with an island in the middle which gives you a small walkway to see all the cigars around the walls and the table in the middle. The crowd of 4 people prevented me from moving but, once they cleared out, I got a chance to look around.
This is where it gets good! This is where Cigars on Sixth really shines!
They have a good selection. And I don’t just mean they have a lot. I mean they have something for everyone. They have some high-end stuff, but the best part, in my mind, is that they have plenty, plenty of good cigar brands for around $5.00 or less. Moreover, some enterprising individual took what must have been an enormous amount of time and research to label every single box or display with labels of, “Mild”, “Mild-medium”, “Medium”, “Full-bodied”, etc. For someone like me who loves, and is always interested in trying new mild-to-medium cigars, I was simply astounded! Still-impressive was the fact that everything was clearly labeled with a price. I was beside myself. This is a rarity in Denver - I imagine a rarity anywhere.
I sensed that the owner was watching me like a hawk. (Perhaps, he thought I was a shoplifter despite the fact that I arrived fresh from the office in my business clothes? I don’t know.) After I began filling my hands with singles of things I wanted to try, the owner seemed to relax and stop watching me through the window.
When I emerged from the humidor holding a considerable selection of cigars between my hands, the owner warmed up to me. We chit-chatted about places smoking was still allowed on bar and restaurant patios in and around Denver as he rang me up. I paid no attention to the regular customers in the store as I browsed their selection of, mostly high-end, accessories before I left.
This week, I went back.
It was a Tuesday about 6:00 PM. It wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable, this time, when I walked in. There was about six patrons sitting on sofas conversing. As soon as I walked in, someone (not the owner I’d met before) stood and asked me if I needed help. I told him I was just looking for some smokes and headed for the humidor. He followed me.
Now, as a careful cigar buyer, one of my pet peeves is not being allowed to browse freely in a humidor. Frankly, if I can walk around a super-market or hardware store without anyone on my tail, I should be able to browse a humidor without someone looking over my shoulder every second. When I’m browsing for cigars I want to be left the fuck alone to consider, inspect, pick up cigars, carry them around, change my mind, put something back, as I feel fit. It’s a sensory and emotional experience and I don’t need the fucking pressure, OK?
But this guy followed me and quizzed me about what I wanted and wouldn’t leave and that pissed me off. So I asked him if he had Troyas. No. I asked if he had Davidoffs. No. He rambled on about cigar vendors while I tried to look around. Finally I asked him what kind of Punches he had. He showed me. I grabbed two big Corojos and left. $11.00 and I was out the door!
If he had left me alone in the humidor for ten minutes I would, surely, have found many cigar brands I’ve been meaning to try, collected two big hand fulls, and checked out with about $50 worth of cigars. If I haven’t already made my point about allowing customers to be free to browse, that’s the difference between pressuring a customer and leaving him the fuck alone to look around.
Overall, I’d recommend Cigars on Sixth to anyone with any budget. They conveniently post their prices for everything in their humidor and go the extra mile by labeling their cigars with their relative strengths. These two features make Cigars on Sixth special among cigar sellers. Their employees do need to learn to leave customers alone to browse in their humidor, sans-pressure. And, if the owner would only have a talk with is regulars, “Hey, you guys, when someone walks in here you need to smile and wave and say ‘Hi’ or something!”, that would go a long way to improving first impressions.
Go to Cigars on Sixth with a $20 dollar bill in your pocket and walk out with 4 cigars that you’ve never tried before that suit your strength tastes. Wear your white hat and smile real-friendly-like, else they might string you up from a tree out back.
Friday, March 23, 2007
The Robusto Room
9535 Park Meadows Drive
Lone Tree, CO 80124
www.therobustoroom.com
When you go to Sea World or the Zoo or an amusement park you walk into this strange universe where you don’t think twice about paying $5 for a hot dog and the same for a cup of beer. It’s OK because it’s a treat to even be at a place like Sea World and it’s not like you’re paying $5 for a hot dog every day of your life; it’s just for THAT day. And it’s a special day because you’re enjoying the environment and doing all the things you’re supposed to do when you go. You don’t get angry. If it costs you $10 for a ticket on the Sky Ride and $6 to feed squid to the stingrays you go along with it because you’re a good sport and it’s Sea World after all, and you just don’t go to Sea World every day. Fuck it; you’re on vacation.
This place is like that.
It’s attached to the back of The Rio Grande Restaurant next to the Park Meadows Mall. There’s a UA theatre right in front of it, so you can go get your three-margarita limit (yeah right - the trick is to have 3 upstairs at the bar, pay cash, tip the bartender well, and then order 3 more when you get your table) at The Rio and then walk 50 feet around back to The Robusto Room, have a cigar and a drink and then go across the way to see a movie. Make a night of it. The Robusto Room has dark one-way windows and music you can hear and feel from the parking lot so it always looks busier from the outside than it actually is. Inside, the atmosphere is trendy and smoky. I’ve hung out in there until closing time on several occasions and have always been horse the next day from screaming over the (boom, boom, boom) music - pushing all that smoke across my vocal cords, like sandpaper, since they have poor ventilation and my ears still ring. It funny how yelling, “Huh? What did you say?” over and over in a smoky room will make you sound like a frog with a rubber band around his balls.
It used to be that you could only smoke in the cigar store and this tiny lounge next to it that seats about 20. But since the Colorado smoking ban, they changed the rules to permit smoking throughout. The other side is a “wine bar” with music videos playing on the abundant flat-screen TVs. Now, you can sit at the bar or at one of the mini tables, smoke and watch music videos. It’s your only good option, really. Engaging in stimulating conversation at the Robusto Room is simply out of the question.
One night, the CAO flavorettes were there. (models dressed in skimpy costumes - one for each CAO flavor) That was an interesting and crowded night. (Oh, and FYI, the CAO girls range from smokin’ hot to skanky trailer trash with the majority leaning to the skanky side, so you might want to observe from a distance.) But it wasn’t nearly as interesting as the night a “Swingers Club” was in there partying. Now, I had to be informed what a “Swingers Club” was because, apparently, it’s not what I thought it was. It was a large crowd of women 20-40 years old, dirty dancing with each other. Seriously. They were grinding on each other and dry humping the walls. I mean it. No exaggeration. One girl was standing on a table fucking the wall. I walked up to a guy who was watching them through the big glass windows that divides the bar. I said, “I thought a swingers club was when people traded sex partners?”
He says, “I thought so too.”
I said, “So, who are they having sex with?”
He says, “Hopefully me if I stand here long enough.”
He was wrong. The girls seemed to prefer each others knees and elbows. And the wallpaper. Oh, it was naughty. It was amazing. It was NAUGHTY! It was AMAZING! The kind of thing you’d expect to see in a New York bar. Or Vegas. Or on Cinemax. Sadly, this is not the norm at the Robusto Room.
There is good, fast, service at the bar and the waitresses do a good job of getting around to all the tables - they even keep the drinks coming in the lounge and the cigar store itself. They don’t water down the drinks, which is nice, but they have the Sea World markup price you’d expect.
I used to hang out there a lot before I knew better and before it started going downhill. I have a sense that the novelty of the place is wearing off and that they’re going to have to do better than simply exist in order to attract customers. That said, this is the perfect moment to talk about their cigar store.
The cigar section is a store with humidified cabinets all around the perimeter. About half of it is a dreadful selection of off-brand cigars that are horribly overpriced. The other half are the more popular brands that even some non-cigar people would recognize. Good luck browsing without some punk sales person (who thinks being trendy is synonymous with being a prick) bothering you. Or worse. The cigar sales people are awful liars who immediately assume that anyone and everyone who walks into the store doesn’t know shit about cigars and will make an easy victim. They will tell you they are giving you a deal - especially if they remember you from another visit; they’ll tell you they’re giving you a “friend” or “frequent-customer” deal and then charge you the same as the next guy. I know. I’ve caught them several times.
Last weekend they offered me a great deal on some $20-$25 (each) Zino Platinums. Seriously. Their prices are insane. I used to pay them before I discovered internet cigar shops or even other Denver shops that charge much less. You can figure about a 75% markup on cigars from what you would pay at a better cigar store. DOUBLE what you would pay on the internet. I’ve noticed that very few things have prices on them. You have to ask and then the sales people will huddle together around a computer and discuss it before coming back to you with the price. I think it depends on their mood or if they like you. Or if you look like a sucker.
If the sales people just lied about prices, that would be one thing, but I waked in there looking to try an Acid Blondie. They didn’t have Blondies, so the guy gave me a Waffe and told me it was the same blend. Basically, if they don’t have what you want they’ll tell you it sucks and then sell you something “better” whether it is or it isn’t. They’ll bullshit you about things being limited or hard to find. You name it, they’ll lie about it.
When I started hanging out there in the summer of 2006, the place used to be much busier. Now it’s pretty easy to find a place to sit. Granted, it used to be divided between the smoky and non-smoky sections but somehow I don’t think they’re getting fewer customers because they allow smoking throughout the bar. I suspect it’s the cigar prices, atmosphere and the heaping piles of bullshit graciously provided by the sales people. I once thought this was a good place to frequent, and did so for about a year before I changed my mind. This is the perfect kind of trendy place, for people who don’t know anything about cigars, to hang out, or for cigar lovers to hang out to entertain themselves every once in a long while. This place has two speeds: crazy standing-room-only busy because there’s some event going on (or girls grinding on each other), and boring. Wait, scratch that, there’s one more speed - irritating - that’s after you catch on to their bullshit and learn what a cigar is supposed to cost.
Conclusion:
Not a place to frequent but a fun and trendy place to, every once in a while, pay too much for one cigar, hang out and watch interesting people do interesting things. Have some ice cream on hand to sooth your throat the next day. Don’t trust the sales people in the cigar store. Like I said, it’s kinda like Sea World except at Sea World the dolphins don’t try to fuck you if you turn your back on them.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Intro
I'm on a mission to discover the best places to buy and smoke cigars in Denver, Colorado. Please join me.
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