The smoke behind this Rapid City lounge

[JohnS]

The smoke behind this Rapid City lounge

By Juliana Alford - Published: Jun. 1, 2025 at 6:03 AM AEST

This week Black Hills Insider went to a different kind of lounge.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - The Tinder Box Cigar Lounge is Rapid City’s only cigar lounge.

 Located in the center of downtown, the lounge has been under its current ownership for a decade, but the business has a long history.

“My wife and I were in and noticed that it had a ton of potential, and then we found out that it was for sale, so we purchased the business,” Chris Johnson, general manager of The Tinder Box, said.

For those who haven’t been to a cigar bar, here’s how the process works.

“You walk into the humidor, pick out your cigar, you come to the bar, and at that point in time, you pick your beverage of choice. We cut the cigar, we light the cigar, you find a comfy seat,” Johnson said.

Although the process is simple, there are a few more factors that go into it.

First, you choose a type of cigar.

“We have cigars from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, just to name a couple,” Johnson said.

Besides choosing the country of origin, Tinder Box also has multiple boxes to choose from.

“Each box is referred to as a face in here. There’s about 125 faces. Between both humidors about 185 faces,” Johnson said.

Tinder Box has two humidors to ensure their stock is always full.

“It’s always full, my wife will tell you it’s always full,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the humidors keep the cigars from drying out.

“Kept in this environment, they’ll last forever,” Johnson said.

Once inside the humidor, your senses can help you choose the cigar.

“They come in and they can touch, smell and kind of get the whole feel for the cigar. It’s like a kid being in a candy store if you will,” Johnson said.

Once you’ve made your choice, the bartenders can cut the cigar for you.

“There’s a straight cut, which is what this cigar is now. There’s a V cut that cuts a wedge out of the top of it. Then there’s a punch that punches just a little hole in it,” Johnson said.

For the final step, Johnson says “sit down and enjoy a great beverage and a great cigar.”

Source: https://www.kotatv.com/2025/05/31/smoke-behind-this-rapid-city-lounge/