Cigars in Newyork

[Kruz]

I am going to be in New York for the first time for a couple of days in August and would like to smoke in a lounge (something I have never been able to do here in Canada). So far I'm leaning towards The Carnegie Club or Nat Sherman because of reviews I have read. Anyone have thoughts on my picks or any other recommendations? If it makes a difference I would like to have a scotch with my cigar whichever location I pick.

Unfortunetly because of other plans I will probably only be able to go to one lounge during my trip.

[Habana Mike]

Search is your friend

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=113724

I like Merchants best - live jazz and a reasonable ratio of female types.

[nikesupremedunk]

Cigar Inn is nice if you plan on bringing your own liquor as it's BYOB. They have a nice selection and decent price. If you go during the day it's nice and calm, but I really suggest not going at night since it's packed and the ventilation sucks especially in the back of the store.

Nat sherman was pretty nice too, but seating is limited. I haven't been to other lounges so I can't really say, but most other ones are probably more expensive and smaller.

[ramon_cojones]

I went to this really nice cigar bar in soho when I was in nyc last september, loved it as the huge windows opened up to the street below and service was excellent. Waitress really knew her stuff too, would definitely go back but I forgot the name.

edit - found it, circa tabac, great little spot definitely plan on going back when I go in the next couple of months (when the garbage weather turns decent)

[stogieluver]

Almost hate to throw this out there, but I believe CA has a section of their website devoted to smoking lounges in various cities. There are also a few iPhone apps for cigar smokers and some of those are cigar lounge locators city specific.

[Habana Mike]

Almost hate to throw this out there, but I believe CA has a section of their website devoted to smoking lounges in various cities. There are also a few iPhone apps for cigar smokers and some of those are cigar lounge locators city specific.

I've tried several of these and find for the most part they are outdated, incomplete or both.

I always check ahead before dropping in on a "smoke friendly" cigar bar according to CA so I don't arrive and find it no longer allows smoking or even still exists.

[polarbear]

I spent some time in NYC a couple of months ago and made it my mission to try as many of the cigar lounges as i could

I was able to get to a few and wrote a big run down of them for another site.

I cant for the life of me find my old write up but here are my notes from the trip:

Diamante:

Small Lounge

BYO drinks. Alcohol Permitted with $8 corkage

Limited Humidor

Good House Rolls

Open from 5pm- Midnight

Stock the following (usually single boxes) Liga #9 & Undercrown, Fuente Hemingway, Aging Room, RyJ, MUWAT, Ashton, AVO, Acid, Opus X, Red Dot Cohibas

BYO Cigars Acceptable, cut fee of $5 or in store purchase

Martienez:

Very Small Shop

BYO drinks- no booze

House Rolls only

Nat Shetman:

BYO Drinks- no booze

Well Stocked Humidor

Places to sit and smoke within the store

Great Accessories

Friendly Staff

Stock large range of Tatuaje, Room 101, Fuente, La Flor Domincana, AVO

Very good house brands

No BYO cigars

Pipes, accessories and tobbaco also stocked

Davidoff:

BYO Drinks- no booze

Well Stocked Humidor

Lounge with TV

Expensive compared to other NYC stores

No BYO cigars

Stock large range of Padron, Tatuaje, Davidoff, Room 101

Barclay Rex:

Well Stocked Humidor

Great House Rolls

Coffee and Soft Drinks Available

Lounge with TV- $12.50 in store purchase to use the lounge- not strict on it

Good range of accessories

No BYO Cigars

Stock large range of Fuentes (inc Opus), Liga Privada (inc L40), La Flor Domincana, Davidoff, Ashton, AVO

De La Concha:

Good range, counter service only (no browsing)

BYO drinks- no booze, Starbucks 2 doors up

Lounge with TV

Great range of accessories

No BYO cigars

Great house rolls

Stock a large range of Davidoff, Liga Privada, Room 101, Fuentes (no Opus), AVO, Illusionary, Ghurka, Ashton, LP Tatuaje

Pipes, accessories and tobbaco also stocked

Cigar Inn/ Cigar Aficionado Lounge:

Very Well stocked walk in humidor

Soft Drinks and Coffee Available

BYO Booze permitted

Waited service

Huge lounge with various TVs and couches

Good House Rolls

Huge range of accessories

Barber Shop and Shoe Shiner also in store

Pipes, tobbacco and accessories stocked

BYO cigars- $8 cut fee or in store purchase

On site WiFi

Good house rolls

Stock a large range of Davidoff, Ashton, AVO, Illusionary, Fuentes (inc Opus), Room 101, RyJ, Montecristo, Liga Privada, Rocky Patel, Tatuaje, La Flor Domincana

Mulberry Street Cigars:

No seating

No smoking in the store

Very Small Shop

Stocks a small range of Montecristo, Ashton, Fuente (no Opus), Acids

Good house rolls (rolled on site, only reason to stop by really)

Cigars 5th Ave:

No Seating

Smoking in store

HUGE store and MASSIVE inventory

BYO Drinks- No Booze

No BYO cigars

Stock all the Cuban Brands and pretty much every decent Non Cuban Brand on the market inc Opus X and high end Padrons.

Stock Pipes, tobbacco and accessories

Make a decent mild house roll but have a good range of exclusive in store brands and sizes

Wall Street Humidor:

Good sized lounge with plenty of seating

BYO drinks- Booze Permitted but you pay a corkage

No BYO cigars

Counter service- No Walk In Humidor

Large inventory

Stock a large range of Tatuaje, Padron, Fuente (inc Opus), Four Kicks, Viaje, Ashton, La Aroma De Cuba

They carry Cubans but you need to ask for them (not on display) and you pay a premium

If you've got any other question feel free to drop me a PM

[TM-US]

I'll have to check out Merchants next time I'm in NYC- I usually go to Circa Tabac in SoHo, because it's convenient. I'll also have to visit Barclay Rex- I've bought from them but have never visited their store.

[livedavid]

As someone who has lived in Manhattan for my whole life, I have to say that polarbear's description of each cigar lounge is spot on and he covered the most well known lounges in the city.

If you are only going to go to one lounge in the city, I would say Cigar Inn is your best bet.

The only lounge I like not covered in his post is a very small one hidden in the back of Bar & Books called "Max's Tobacco Shop". It is very small and intimate. You can basically take the whole lounge over with a few buddies as it is often empty. Their cigar menu is lacking, so they are very relaxed about bringing your own cigars and will serve you some port they keep in the back and play any music to your liking. The room is beautiful and there is dedicated service. It is like having your own private lounge.

For those interested in this type of setting, you can find some pictures of it here: http://www.barandbooks.cz/beekman/ (click the Max's Tobacco Shop link on the bottom left)

That being said, I bring every BOTL from out of town to Cigar Inn. Since I really don't smoke NCs, I usually bring my own cigar to smoke, but everytime I go, I buy a few expensive sticks from them as I think it is important to support a great local business. The owners Bass, Gus and Billy are great guys and couldn't be nicer or more knowledgable. They'll even order some food out from neighboring restaurants for you if you get hungry watching a game on TV. P.S. Try to go during off hours - it can get very crowded.

[Ghabanos]

This is extremely extremely informative. Thanks bros.

[Kruz]

Very very thorough! I'll update you guys when I get back in August.

[stargazer14]

I have not seen it mentioned, but other than Cira Tabac (i wrote about that in the other thread)

is Hudson Bar & Books, this place is small but comfortable, nice clients (not stuck up cuz they had to pay $40 to even get in)

drinks are great, in a fun neighborhood. On the lower west side.

Do not overlook this one.

OK, after re-reading a post i see it was mentioned, but I still say give it a try, I have had a few nice times there with the lady.

[ewipper]

Hi, so I live in New York and if you are going out out rather than smoking in a shitty cigar shop environment, there are only really three or four good places.

1) Club Macanudo on East 63rd. By far the best selection of drinks and cigars of any public lounge.

2) Lexington Bar and Books on Lex and East 73rd st.

3) Merchant's on 1st Ave

4) Hudson Bar and Books.

I personally find Carnegie Club to be too smoky and Circa Tabac to be too dingy.

[Habana Mike]

I'll have to check out Merchants next time I'm in NYC- I usually go to Circa Tabac in SoHo, because it's convenient. I'll also have to visit Barclay Rex- I've bought from them but have never visited their store.

I also enjoy Circa frequently since I spend most of my time in the city around Wall Street - even have a member's card, saves on the cutting fee plus drink discounts. Agree it's a bit dingy but love the 40's art deco feel to the place.

May be there next week, so if anyone's up for a smoke Tuesday or Wednesday night (clients permitting) let me know.

[ramon_cojones]

Do you guys really buy cigars at these places? I would never go somewhere I'm forced to smoke from their stock, I'd rather buy drinks and be able to smoke my own. I'm going to check out HBB next time I'm in the city.

Circa dingy? I guess I just don't need a fancy place to smoke but the environment is so pleasant I'd never refer to it as "dingy".

[Habana Mike]

For those places with cutting fees e.g. Carnegie's I'll either buy a small house stick at about the same cost then light up my own, or just pay the $10.00

Easy to spend $20.00 at Merchants with a couple of drinks.

Prefer Hudson B&B over the Lex location since the crowd''s not as UES snooty. The Tynska B&B in Prague's nice too.

[polarbear]

Do you guys really buy cigars at these places? I would never go somewhere I'm forced to smoke from their stock, I'd rather buy drinks and be able to smoke my own. I'm going to check out HBB next time I'm in the city.

Circa dingy? I guess I just don't need a fancy place to smoke but the environment is so pleasant I'd never refer to it as "dingy".

I dont mind NC's so when i was at all of these places it was easy to find something i'd be prepared to pay for.

Most of the lounges had very good house rolls and they were my first choice when standing in the humi

You cant blame a business for asking you to purchase instore in order to use thier lounge

[ramon_cojones]

I'm not blaming them, I think they would prefer us to bring our own and to buy $60 min. in drinks vs $20 in smokes w/no drinks. No brainer really since the margin on alcohol is astronomical in addition.

[Habana Mike]

Do you guys really buy cigars at these places? I would never go somewhere I'm forced to smoke from their stock, I'd rather buy drinks and be able to smoke my own. I'm going to check out HBB next time I'm in the city.

Circa dingy? I guess I just don't need a fancy place to smoke but the environment is so pleasant I'd never refer to it as "dingy".

By dingy I mean the upholstery's well worn in and there's a nice patina to the walls and ceilings. Not the Havana Club's fine leather, wood paneled walls and Persian carpets, but not the attitude either.

[thechenman]

Of all the locations that have been mentioned in this thread, if you want to enjoy a cigar indoors and don't want to bring your own booze, Club Macanudo is the best. The liquor selection is better than any other spot mentioned in this thread. Yes, there is the cutting fee, but there is no better, more comfortable setting. The caveat here is that there is a dress code. No sneakers, jeans or shorts.

They have full food service, from steaks to sandwiches. Also...the chocolate truffles are fantastic. Check with our very own Lisa...she's had the truffles here...although I know she prefers the fluffer nutter sundaes at Blue Smoke.

The ventilation in this establishment is bar none the best in the city as well. You won't come out of there, even on a busy night reeking too heavily of cigar smoke.

If you only have time for one lounge and you want to drink...this is the place to go in NYC.

That said...for the raucous crowd Cigar Inn is fantastic, but it can get real smoky in there. While I go here for the NC cigar selection and the convenience, I prefer Wall St. Humidor.

You will find no better proprietor/host in NYC than Richard @ Wall St. Humidor. A real class act. He's an ex Wall Street fixed income banker. Great conversationalist. He runs his shop/lounge not so much to make a living, but more for his love of cigars. I've even met his daughter before. Great girl...she studies architecture at Yale.

Wall St. Humidor also has the best cigar locker set up in Manhattan. It's behind a climate controlled wall of glass, but ask him...he'll let you in to check it out. Trust me, it's worth taking a look at. Truly state of the art. The creme de la creme of Wall St. Humidor is the member's lounge. Far superior to the public lounge upstairs. He has live jazz musicians performing down there every week, and a fantastic grand piano if you play. He's a big music lover and a real audiophile, the sound system downstairs is incredible and you can even bring in some vinyl to play on the turntable. Vinyl...how often do you see that in a cigar lounge.

[ramon_cojones]

Nice post chenman, too bad the dress code is a real deal breaker for me. I can understand not permitting shorts/sandals but no jeans or sneaks is preposterous. I wouldn't go smoke in attolini and g&g.

[polarbear]

I got bounced from Macundo because of the dress code. Tried to explain to the door man that I'd come all the way from Australia to see the place and wasnt going to pack a second pair of shoes purely so I could visit one lounge.

I had my best Leather Converse All Stars on and everything...

Wall Street Humidor is a nice spot. Its also close to the WTC Memorial if you plan to check that out

[canadianbeaver]

The Carnegie Club is a dump but they had this incredible live orchestra and a tribute to Frank Sinatra that night. Hey, once they turned the lights down and after a few Manhattan's...

[Kruz]

The Carnegie Club is a dump but they had this incredible live orchestra and a tribute to Frank Sinatra that night. Hey, once they turned the lights down and after a few Manhattan's...

When were you there? I was reading they did a big reno recently and a new vent system.

[canadianbeaver]

Sounds like great news. That was a couple of years ago.