Want a legal Cuban cigar? Largest cigar bar in Mississippi gears up for opening

[JohnS]

Want a legal Cuban cigar? Largest cigar bar in Mississippi gears up for opening

 Story by Ross Reily - Mississippi Clarion Ledger

After completing what he calls a regular career, John Higgins retired and started pursuing his dream.

Now, the Tupelo native is getting set to open the 10th location of what has become an institution across Mississippi and West Tennessee.

That will happen on Monday, May 5, when Higgins has a soft opening of Spring Street Cigars in the Rogue Building along I-55 in Jackson in what promises to be one of the more interesting locations in Central Mississippi.

In 2018, Higgins bought Spring Street Cigars in Tupelo.

Seven years later, the location in Jackson will be No. 10.

Higgins has long wanted to be in the Jackson area, but finding the perfect location wasn't as easy as he had hope. He poked around in Madison and Ridgeland, but city smoking regulations wouldn't allow it. He looked in Flowood, but there wasn't a fit.

John Higgins, owner of Spring Street Cigars, speaks about the venue while standing in the entry-level floor of the new location going in at The Rogue building on I-55 N in Jackson, Miss., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. Spring Street Cigars will be a three-floor venue located behind The Rogue. © Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger

"We got to the 11th hour in Madison, but it just didn't work out," Higgins said.

In his other locations, including Tupelo, Oxford, Starkville and Hattiesburg, he has looked for downtown locations.

"In Jackson, there just wasn't a real fit for a downtown location," Higgins said. "So, we kept looking."

In comes Rogue owner Luke Abney.

"When I heard John was looking for a place to be located, I immediately reached out," Abney said. "His clientele matches mine, and it seemed like a perfect fit if we could move some things around in the building."

Move some things indeed.

Abney went to work redesigning the interior of the building to move his longtime clothing business to stretch across the front of the building that was built in 1971.

Newk's Eatery, which has been in the building since 2008, stayed just like it was.

Then, Higgins went to work to build his three-story cigar bar and lounge that will boast an elevated outdoor patio and a completely different ventilation system.

"We needed the ventilation system to be different," Abney said. "But that was never a sticking point."

Higgins says, that while this will be his 10th Spring Street Cigars, it promises to be unlike any of his other locations.

On the first floor, there is a full bar, where customers can enjoy a cigar and a cocktail or any other beverage they like. Along the wall facing the interior hallway leading to Newk's and The Rogue has several humidors that house many of Spring Street's selections.

Just up the elevator and a few steps upstairs is the second floor that has a view down onto the bar or the first floor with seating and five more large-screen televisions. It also has a giant humidor room and some of the most special selections in all of the country. Some of those selections will be pre-1955 Cuban cigars that are in fact legal in the United States, because they pre-date the 1960 U.S. trade embargo with Cuba.

Also on the second floor, there are double glass doors that lead to an outdoor patio that is heated in the winter to allow for seating virtually year-round. Higgins said it has one of the best views in the Jackson area. It actually sits atop the highest point in Jackson and the Butler Snow building in Ridgeland six miles away can been seen from this vantage point.

"I really believe this might be the most unique cigar store in the country," Higgins said. "I am very passionate about cigars, and I want to have a place where people can come and enjoy them as much as I do. I think this will be that."

Spring Street Cigars is expected to open on Monday, May 5, 2025. This view shows an unfinished balcony where there will be seating that will be completed soon after the opening.

This is the private lounge for members only on the second floor at Spring Street Cigars in Jackson.

This is the walk-in humidor on the second floor of Spring Street Cigars in Jackson.

This shows 1961 Cuban cigars at Spring Street Cigars in Jackson. They are legal in the United States because they were made before the embargo between the United States and Cuba.

Members only area

On the third floor, there are two lounges. One is a public lounge, but there is also an area dedicated to a private, members-only lounge that has a spiral staircase leading down into the humidor room. There is a private concierge that hosts the members and be able to bring selections from the humidor room.

"We want all of our stores to be a little bit different and they are," said Higgins, referring to different aspects of each location. "We want each to be a destination location. We know that the Jackson area doesn't have anything like this."

The Jackson, Tennessee, location has a basement with a comedy club in it. The Tupelo location has one of the largest humidors in the nation and the Hattiesburg location has a baby grand piano as a feature.

"We know we have to have the right environment and the right people to make each location special," Higgins said. "We have to have the right culture and we believe we will have that."

Source: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/business/2025/05/01/want-a-legal-cuban-cigar-largest-cigar-bar-in-ms-gears-up-for-opening/83362482007/

[David8406]

Sounds like I have a few places to visit. I do frequent the location in Oxford. The location is great but nothing unique about the store…this Jackson store sounds like a neat place. I’d go just to see the humidor room.

Jackson and Tupelo are both within a 1.5 hour drive for me.

[Greenhorn2]

If you want one of those Cubans, just bring the deed to your house. Jees, I wouldn't even want to see one.