Cigar Lounge Experience (Mandan, North Dakota)

[Lucas Buck]

Family trip to BisMan, NoDak and was excited to hit up the first and only cigar lounge in all of North Dakota. Big Stick Cigar Lounge in "legendary" downtown Mandan (actually more infamous as the badlands in the region haha).  This would be my second public lounge ever and after an outstanding experience at my first I was hopeful. 

Nice space, small, cozy and well appointed as a prohibition 1920’s style speakeasy. Well stocked bar with a bit of everything (except a decent tawny port 😩).  Nice walk-in but the hygrometer showed 73rh 😒 and selection was pathetic to say the least. Lots of flavored sticks and bottom shelf gar-bage. The only boxes that would even be smokeable were Padron 3K ($18) & 4K ($25) or Ashton VSG Tres Mystique ($18) & Pegasus ($20). 

Asked if I could smoke my own - emphatic NO. WTF?!

Figured the Peg was mis-marked as everything else I recognized was 2-3X srp. VSG were once a favorite and I smoked a ton of them fresh back in the early days when they were first released. 

Bought an ounce of McCallan 15 Double Oak for $40 (am I at a high roller bar in Vegas?!) and sank my fat ass in to a comfy leather couch. Tempted to lift the band off the VSG and stealthily light up one of my own but thought better of it. I was so looking forward to smoking my all time favorite ‘01 Esplendidos. As ridiculous as their policy is I should respect their rules. So Pegasus it is. 

Clearly well constructed and under the nose the cold aroma was familiar if distant (been more than 20 years since I smoked any VSG).  Sungrown wrappers were my first love and they are still so aesthetically pleasing. V-Cut and used their wood matches to toast the foot and fire her up. It’s been a long while since I smoked indoors and it’s so nice to be out of the wind and use matches instead of the ubiquitous torch. 

Whelp, the damn thing is clearly too wet (picked the driest one I could) but started off ok. Plenty of smoke, lots of pepper, full strength & full flavored. After the first inch and a half it starts to canoe on me and does so until I put the poor thing out of its misery. Fun! Had to repeatedly touch it up the rest of the way. It’s just ok. Not terrible, not great. Maybe because it’s too wet? Maybe too young? Maybe I just don’t fully enjoy NCs anymore? Maybe my dank attitude towards their forcing me to smoke something I don’t want to biased my taste buds? The Scotch was tasty if overpowered by this full strength cigar. 

I was planning on smoking there on at least on 2 occasions if not more. Was even going to take my wife for a smoke and drink but it ended up being one a done. Such a bummer. I understand they need to make a profit. I ran my own retail shop for almost 30 years and I want to support their business. But why not offer a cutting fee or drink minimum or bar tab minimum or if you buy one of their sticks you can smoke your own as well? Am I off here? I mean their huge markup on everything would support these more patron friendly policies surely? 

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk 🤓

[Chibearsv]

Nice honest review. I’ve smoked bunches of those and always enjoyed them but like you said, it’s been a while.

[Montezüma]

I miss the Tres Mystique. I used to stock them, years and years ago now. I agree with the bar tab minimum, I always thought that cigar lounges should have a door charge and make complementary for members. This makes a lounge service oriented instead of product focused, which there should be more money in services anyway. Forcing guests to their humidor always seems like a defeating business model because personal preference is everything, then there is catering to avid groups who spend proper during visits and the final crucial aspect is how trying to generate margin from cigar mark-up makes a lounge feel inhospitable. When I was in Tokyo, there was a lounge with a policy whereby if you take from their humidor you are welcome to enjoy their lounge but if you didn't (or bring your own) then there was a door charge. Its a nice arrangement. Its a lounge in the end, not a retailer.

17 hours ago, Lucas Buck said:

... or if you buy one of their sticks you can smoke your own as well?

This is interesting, so if they fear that having a door charge might make customers feel unwelcome, then this route could to work. I don't think people would  mind this. But is it perhaps a case that lounges in the USA are concerned that customers might be lighting up the forbidden leaves of Cuba?

Thanks for the review!

 

[riderpride]

Appreciate the review, despite the experience. 

Did you have a chance to visit the thriving metropolis of Maxbass?

Cheers!