February 1997

The wives headed out the door to go shopping and suggested that we think of something constructive to do while they were gone (They still haven't gotten over the Super Bowl). Well After about two minutes of discussion, we decided to visit the Tinder Box, a new cigar store in a nearby city.

The store featured an assortment of cigars, humidors, and accessories as well as ties, tee shirts and other novelty items. It also carried a decently sized inventory of pipes, but no pipe smokers showed up while we were there.We were told that Tinder Box is a franchise with locally owned stores much like the fast food industry. There are nearly 100 Tinder Box locations around the country, although this is the first one we visited. We guess you'll see more of them popping up if the interest in cigars continues.

The shelves were predominantly stocked with newer and/or lesser known brands. Mexico's Madrigals got a lot of shelf space along with some others that were unfamiliar to us, e.g., Penguins. (That's right. Penguins. They are Dominican, but we assume they are wrapped with Alaskan shade.) The selection of old-guard, premium labels was rather thin; however, the staff more than made up for this in friendliness and information. Most of the customers seemed interested in trying newer, more reasonably priced brands anyway. Several remarked that they could not afford a steady diet of $9.00 or $10.00 cigars. ( Neither can we. Of the three of us, only Bill is a man of Significant Means.)

We each purchased a Paul Garmirian Lonsdale which was one of the higher end cigars carried by the shop. Unlike the "Celebration" that we reported on last month, these PGs were fresh. We settled down in several of the comfortable easy chairs and sofas that occupied the center of the store and lit up. A nearby coffee table was stacked with back issues of Cigar Aficionado.

We were quickly joined by one of the store's clerks and three other customers. Everyone identified what he was smoking and then critiqued his selection for the benefit of the others. The PGs burned beautifully and while their medium flavor was agreeable, it was not unique; we questioned whether they were really worth $7.60 each.

One of the fellows said he tasted some peppery flavors in his Mexican cigar. We asked if anyone tasted coffee beans accompanied by full-bodied notes of chocolate and leather. No one responded affirmatively. Apparently, we are not the only ones with unsophisticated, palates.

Customers came and went. One big guy perused the shelves. "You call this a cigar store?", he blustered. "Your roster is filled with the second string!" He then proceeded to buy $118 worth of cigars. We wonder what he would have spent at Arnold's. (See CGJ Entry No 1, December 1996.)

Another customer made a few selections and then entered into an extended discussion with an affable clerk. As the customer was leaving, he handed the clerk a Romeo y Julieta Habana. The clerk said he sometimes got cigars from customers but never one as impressive as this. He let us all take a look and then declined several offers to trade (the best offer being a Fuente Opus X torpedo). This led to a roundtable debate on the merits of Cuban cigars.

One guy entered with a friend, looked around and proclaimed, "Now this is a real man's store." Two minutes later, a woman came in and asked to try something mild. She also purchased a humidor.

We finished our cigars and then tried some of the gourmet coffee that was brewing in the corner. It was good and complemented the cigars nicely. We said goodbye to our new friends and asked them to check us out on the Internet.

If you're looking to stock up on AVO XOs or La Gloria Cubanas, you will have to go elsewhere. If you're looking for reasonably priced cigars and accessories, a relaxed atmosphere and good company, you'll likely find it at the Tinder Box.

Next the Cigars Guys Head off to Las Vegas in search of the real Western Cigar ( Buffets and some winning at the crap table too, I hope).

You can Bill@Enter.netfor any comments or questions.