JDog
BoM Nov '12 & May '13
I apologize for the short notice, but I'll be in Connecticut on Wednesday evening through Friday afternoon. Here's my schedule:
Wednesday after 6 PM (9/21/11) - Hartford, CT
Thursday after 6 PM (9/22/11) - Danbury, CT
I could also meet on Friday in the afternoon but in New Haven, CT area.
Let me know if you want to meet-up even if it means I'll need to drive 20 to 30 minutes outside of these cities.
Here are the B&Ms that I was able to visit during my business trip, which I added on 9/26.
I hope you find this information helpful or at least entertaining. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to meet up with any brothers, which is the only regret that I have with the business trip.
B&M 1 - Tobacco Shop, Harford - http://www.thetobaccoshophartford.com/
The cigar shop used to be located across the street under a different owner. A couple of the customers purchased the shop when the previous owner retired. It’s in a nice general area with plenty of places to listen to live music and enjoy something to eat, although parking was difficult to find. I ended up using a parking lot instead of the street and it cost me $10 for a few hours.
The Cigar shop had a decent selection and was impressed that they carried Davidoff. Except for the Davidoff line, they only had a few cigar vitolas of each line within a brand.
The published hours are M-W 9am – 7pm and 9am-9pm Thu – Sat, but because it’s between a few clubs, it’s the shop’s discretion to stay open late within its club area, sometimes like 1 AM and even open until 3 AM on certain nights. For the lounge area and the extended hours, membership is $200 and $300 with a locker. It is BYOB. As a member there’s a 10% off discount on singles and a 20% off for box purchases. Currently there are 86 members that have access to the lounge. Interestingly there’s a ladies night every 2nd or 3rd Wednesday of the month. Apparently a lot of members show up on those nights.
I would definitely go this shop again if I was in the area. I enjoyed myself and had some great conversations with the patrons.
B&M 2 – Exceptional Cigars, Ridgefield - http://www.exceptionalcigar.com/
This is smaller cigar shop with a decent collection but not an extensive selection. The seating area was very comfortable.
If I was traveling in that area again, I would stop by to have a smoke but I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit the location. If I lived in the area I would frequent this stop.
B&M 3 – Butthead's Tobacco Emporium, Danbury - http://www.buttheadstobacco.com/
This is by far the most interesting Cigar shop I’ve been to in the last 10 years. I live in the Chicagoland area and frequent Casa De Montecristo. This place is the antithesis of Casa. First off, I got some ice cream prior to going to this shop and was happily eating it while walking in. Immediately, a customer sitting outside said, “we don’t want any f**kin ice cream.” You can't see him in the photo but there were a few guys and girls sitting out there. What do you say to that? I said, “good, because I only have a f**kin enough for me.” They thought that was funny.
As you can see they sell more than just cigars, but their cigar line-up was impressive. I kept asking the owner Kevin Page if he had anything unique or with some age. Finally, he showed me an interesting EPC 2010 Short Run and stated that he had it made for one of his event. As an EPC Short Run junkie, I immediately noticed that this may be special as I never saw an EPC Core Line Churchill format with that blend. Needless to say I purchased the EPC travel humi and 10 sticks of that event cigar.
I had an amazing time at this cigar shop. The customers were great! The atmosphere was unique. I need to go to this shop again.
M & M Cigar & Gifts, Norwalk – no website.
The cigar shop is located in Norwalk, CT, and I couldn’t find a website URL. I only got a photo of the front because I found too many HTFs and forgot to take any more photos. Needless to say, they had a great selection, although some of the display cases showed that the cigars may be over humidified as I saw slight evidence of mold on some of the sticks. The main humidor didn’t seem to have that issue. I was able to locate some Tatuaje RC184s from 2007 and a box of Tatuaje Black Tubos. They also had some Noellas from 2006ish and the band and wrapper color appear to be correct for that period… I have a few of these sticks myself to know. If you’re an Opus X or Fuente fan, there were some finds as well but I hit my spending limit by the time I located those. For example, there were some sharks. My only complaint is the prices, which were slightly too high.
If you’re in the area, I highly recommend going to this shop and checking out the selection. You need to be aggressive because not everything was displayed. The sales person that I dealt with was Sam Desai and his number is 203-853-9748 in case you want to call ahead of time.
Cigar Factory Outlet, Norwalk - http://www.cigarfactoryoutlet.com/
I needed a place to light up and get on a few conference calls prior to my flight. This place was nearly 4 blocks from M&M. It almost looks like an Oliva outlet. Since I hit my spending limit, I purchased a single and sat down. Interestingly, they had a man on staff that rolled house blends. Unfortunately, due to my schedule I didn’t have that much time to ask questions or even really inspect their inventory. After I got off of my calls, I had to hit the road again to the airport.
Well, as I said earlier I hope you found this information helpful. I wanted to make sure folks had a chance to see some of the cigar shops I visited during my business travel. I wasn’t able to meet up with any brothers but that was my fault – I waited to the last minute to ask if anyone was available.
Thank you again for the shop recommendations within this original thread.
Wednesday after 6 PM (9/21/11) - Hartford, CT
Thursday after 6 PM (9/22/11) - Danbury, CT
I could also meet on Friday in the afternoon but in New Haven, CT area.
Let me know if you want to meet-up even if it means I'll need to drive 20 to 30 minutes outside of these cities.
Here are the B&Ms that I was able to visit during my business trip, which I added on 9/26.
I hope you find this information helpful or at least entertaining. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to meet up with any brothers, which is the only regret that I have with the business trip.
B&M 1 - Tobacco Shop, Harford - http://www.thetobaccoshophartford.com/
The cigar shop used to be located across the street under a different owner. A couple of the customers purchased the shop when the previous owner retired. It’s in a nice general area with plenty of places to listen to live music and enjoy something to eat, although parking was difficult to find. I ended up using a parking lot instead of the street and it cost me $10 for a few hours.
The Cigar shop had a decent selection and was impressed that they carried Davidoff. Except for the Davidoff line, they only had a few cigar vitolas of each line within a brand.
The published hours are M-W 9am – 7pm and 9am-9pm Thu – Sat, but because it’s between a few clubs, it’s the shop’s discretion to stay open late within its club area, sometimes like 1 AM and even open until 3 AM on certain nights. For the lounge area and the extended hours, membership is $200 and $300 with a locker. It is BYOB. As a member there’s a 10% off discount on singles and a 20% off for box purchases. Currently there are 86 members that have access to the lounge. Interestingly there’s a ladies night every 2nd or 3rd Wednesday of the month. Apparently a lot of members show up on those nights.
I would definitely go this shop again if I was in the area. I enjoyed myself and had some great conversations with the patrons.
B&M 2 – Exceptional Cigars, Ridgefield - http://www.exceptionalcigar.com/
This is smaller cigar shop with a decent collection but not an extensive selection. The seating area was very comfortable.
If I was traveling in that area again, I would stop by to have a smoke but I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit the location. If I lived in the area I would frequent this stop.
B&M 3 – Butthead's Tobacco Emporium, Danbury - http://www.buttheadstobacco.com/
This is by far the most interesting Cigar shop I’ve been to in the last 10 years. I live in the Chicagoland area and frequent Casa De Montecristo. This place is the antithesis of Casa. First off, I got some ice cream prior to going to this shop and was happily eating it while walking in. Immediately, a customer sitting outside said, “we don’t want any f**kin ice cream.” You can't see him in the photo but there were a few guys and girls sitting out there. What do you say to that? I said, “good, because I only have a f**kin enough for me.” They thought that was funny.
As you can see they sell more than just cigars, but their cigar line-up was impressive. I kept asking the owner Kevin Page if he had anything unique or with some age. Finally, he showed me an interesting EPC 2010 Short Run and stated that he had it made for one of his event. As an EPC Short Run junkie, I immediately noticed that this may be special as I never saw an EPC Core Line Churchill format with that blend. Needless to say I purchased the EPC travel humi and 10 sticks of that event cigar.
I had an amazing time at this cigar shop. The customers were great! The atmosphere was unique. I need to go to this shop again.
M & M Cigar & Gifts, Norwalk – no website.
The cigar shop is located in Norwalk, CT, and I couldn’t find a website URL. I only got a photo of the front because I found too many HTFs and forgot to take any more photos. Needless to say, they had a great selection, although some of the display cases showed that the cigars may be over humidified as I saw slight evidence of mold on some of the sticks. The main humidor didn’t seem to have that issue. I was able to locate some Tatuaje RC184s from 2007 and a box of Tatuaje Black Tubos. They also had some Noellas from 2006ish and the band and wrapper color appear to be correct for that period… I have a few of these sticks myself to know. If you’re an Opus X or Fuente fan, there were some finds as well but I hit my spending limit by the time I located those. For example, there were some sharks. My only complaint is the prices, which were slightly too high.
If you’re in the area, I highly recommend going to this shop and checking out the selection. You need to be aggressive because not everything was displayed. The sales person that I dealt with was Sam Desai and his number is 203-853-9748 in case you want to call ahead of time.
Cigar Factory Outlet, Norwalk - http://www.cigarfactoryoutlet.com/
I needed a place to light up and get on a few conference calls prior to my flight. This place was nearly 4 blocks from M&M. It almost looks like an Oliva outlet. Since I hit my spending limit, I purchased a single and sat down. Interestingly, they had a man on staff that rolled house blends. Unfortunately, due to my schedule I didn’t have that much time to ask questions or even really inspect their inventory. After I got off of my calls, I had to hit the road again to the airport.
Well, as I said earlier I hope you found this information helpful. I wanted to make sure folks had a chance to see some of the cigar shops I visited during my business travel. I wasn’t able to meet up with any brothers but that was my fault – I waited to the last minute to ask if anyone was available.
Thank you again for the shop recommendations within this original thread.
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