Best B&M Cigar Shop?

[BrightonCorgi]

The LCDH thread got me thinking...  What are the best retail cigars shop in the world?  Best by my definition is price, selection, and customer experience.  Certainly there are a few duty free's that great, but this is about regular walk in retail locations.

Whether the store ships is irrelevant, this thread is about stores where it's presumed you are walking in the door.

[Corylax18]

5 minutes ago, BrightonCorgi said:

The LCDH thread got me thinking...  What are the best retail cigars shop in the world?  Best by my definition is price, selection, and customer experience.  Certainly there are a few duty free's that great, but this is about regular walk in retail locations.

Whether the store ships is irrelevant, this thread is about stores where it's presumed you are walking in the door.

Havana is King!! Smoking as you shop is the only way to go!

The Partagas store will get a lot of love from this group and rightfully so. The team is amazing, the atmosphere at the old shop was amazing. I wouldn't change anything about how they do what they do. This shop was the top of the list for me, easily. I cant wait to see the new location, hopefully later this year. 

I also love the Club Habana Shop. The team there isnt as warm/welcoming as the group at Partagas, but they're still very helpful. I've also found some gems here, 6 boxes of Upmann PCs 24 months after they where discontinued, they always seem to have Fundies and Coloniales in stock, Hoyo DCs, etc. 

I wouldn't argue with any of the more popular Havana shops being on this list though. I've smoked/bought cigars at several LCDH's in Mexico, they're fine, but not at the same level as the LCDH's in Havana. 

[BrightonCorgi]

1 minute ago, Corylax18 said:

Havana is King!! Smoking as you shop is the only way to go!

Well, I should've expanded my criteria to say outside of Cuba... 😔

[Puros Y Vino]

Not much experience outside of Havana for me except for the Toronto LCDH, which was nice but pricey due to taxes. The Montreal LCDH had a great indoor smoking lounge but not much better on prices, though the selection was excellent.  Being able to sit and enjoy a cigar made the added cost worth it.   I did enjoy my trip to the Rome LCDH Fincato.  Beautiful setup, very classy.  Can't smoke in it though, which sucks.  The selection was meager too. I was there in July 2019 looking for LGC Invictos. They had none but staff there pointed me to a smaller tobacconist who had stock.  That worked out well.

[BrightonCorgi]

3 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

The Montreal LCDH had a great indoor smoking lounge but not much better on prices, though the selection was excellent.  Being able to sit and enjoy a cigar made the added cost worth it.

That was a great LCDH!  The front run had an impressive selection of Regional's.  LCDH's can really vary.  LCDH in Zurich is awful.  How he has a franchise is beyond me.  Meager selection, lousy decor, and a poor experience.  Not a friendly or sociable guy either.

[Cigarsmoker81]

Switzerland has nice shops, stocked with aged cigars and selection I have not seen anywhere else. Prices are reasonable for regular production, discontinued/ el/re on the expensive side.  

[BrightonCorgi]

3 hours ago, Cigarsmoker81 said:

Switzerland has nice shops, stocked with aged cigars and selection I have not seen anywhere else. Prices are reasonable for regular production, discontinued/ el/re on the expensive side.  

Which are your favorites?  Gerard, Portmann, Gestocigars? 

[RDB]

Peter Heinrichs in Köln is pretty impressive. Always something interesting there amid a broad and deep selection of the main lines. Decent pricing and good people.

[Digi]

9 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Not much experience outside of Havana for me except for the Toronto LCDH, which was nice but pricey due to taxes.

Quoted for truth.  Visited way back in 2016 and paid $70 for a single Cohiba Lancero.  Good god.

[mprach024]

Davidoff’s London.  Easy peasy.  Hands down.  

[GaryK 54]

11 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

The LCDH thread got me thinking...  What are the best retail cigars shop in the world?  Best by my definition is price, selection, and customer experience.  Certainly there are a few duty free's that great, but this is about regular walk in retail locations.

Whether the store ships is irrelevant, this thread is about stores where it's presumed you are walking in the door.

For me, hands down, it’s LCDH The Hague. Haven’t been there in over a year because COVID has stopped my travel back to Europe from China. But whenever I am in the Netherlands, Brian’s LCDH is where you’ll find me. Great selection of CC, chocolates handmade by his wife and a great bunch of BOTL and SOTL with whom to enjoy a cigar and a conversation. 

 

11 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

The LCDH thread got me thinking...  What are the best retail cigars shop in the world?  Best by my definition is price, selection, and customer experience.  Certainly there are a few duty free's that great, but this is about regular walk in retail locations.

Whether the store ships is irrelevant, this thread is about stores where it's presumed you are walking in the door.

For me, hands down, it’s LCDH The Hague. Haven’t been there in over a year because COVID has stopped my travel back to Europe from China. But whenever I am in the Netherlands, Brian’s LCDH is where you’ll find me. Great selection of CC, chocolates handmade by his wife and a great bunch of BOTL and SOTL with whom to enjoy a cigar and a conversation. 

[mprach024]

3 minutes ago, GaryK 54 said:

For me, hands down, it’s LCDH The Hague. Haven’t been there in over a year because COVID has stopped my travel back to Europe from China. But whenever I am in the Netherlands, Brian’s LCDH is where you’ll find me. Great selection of CC, chocolates handmade by his wife and a great bunch of BOTL and SOTL with whom to enjoy a cigar and a conversation. 

Has the best War Crime section too.

[treberty]

Outside of Havana, The Cigar Shop in Andorra had a great selection and prices back in early 2000s. I was pretty impressed to see Spaniards casually buying stacks of boxes (like 25) before heading home after a long day at the Pas de la Case or other ski resorts... Cava Benito was my go-to shop for single malts, cognacs or calvados. 

The shops that I went to in London were also outstanding of course, but Andorra was cheap (for cigars anyway). 

 

[BrightonCorgi]

44 minutes ago, mprach024 said:

Davidoff’s London.  Easy peasy.  Hands down.  

If you want to consider expensive places to buy cigars...

Have to add Jimmy's at the St Regis Hotel in Singapore?  He has just about every cigar you can name from now or the past.  His wine and liquor selection is equally impressive.

[Edicion]

Personally quite like JJ Fox in London. Something pleasant about the environment, selection, history, and prices are fairly reasonable considering location.

[mprach024]

53 minutes ago, BrightonCorgi said:

If you want to consider expensive places to buy cigars...

Of course!  Gotta go for that special place, want to buy thriftily then buy online sales right?  Never been to Singapore but that sounds great.  

[Cigarsmoker81]

4 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Which are your favorites?  Gerard, Portmann, Gestocigars? 

Honestly I just walked around Geneva And it was a nice shop after the other, I can’t remember the names  tbh 

 

but there is a place Called house of grauer, in Geneva I hear it’s amazing but I haven’t been there 

[KavalanWhisky]

15 minutes ago, Cigarsmoker81 said:

Honestly I just walked around Geneva And it was a nice shop after the other, I can’t remember the names  tbh 

 

but there is a place Called house of grauer, in Geneva I hear it’s amazing but I haven’t been there 

I've seen the videos, looks amazing.

There is also this place a guy on IG i follow goes to, it looks stunning but I bet its super expensive:

https://www.thechediandermatt.com/en/Restaurants/The-Cigar-Library/

https://www.instagram.com/mr.danzag/ - He is currently visiting the place, should see his stories!!

[Habana Mike]

I like PGC Hajenius in Amsterdam. Great little cigar museum and a good selection. Nice lounge there to enjoy a smoke as well.

[SpecialK]

13 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Not much experience outside of Havana for me except for the Toronto LCDH, which was nice but pricey due to taxes. The Montreal LCDH had a great indoor smoking lounge but not much better on prices, though the selection was excellent.  Being able to sit and enjoy a cigar made the added cost worth it.   I did enjoy my trip to the Rome LCDH Fincato.  Beautiful setup, very classy.  Can't smoke in it though, which sucks.  The selection was meager too. I was there in July 2019 looking for LGC Invictos. They had none but staff there pointed me to a smaller tobacconist who had stock.  That worked out well.

Was also there at the LCDH in Rome June 2018.My experience with the selection matches yours

[Chucko8]

9 hours ago, RDB said:

Peter Heinrichs in Köln is pretty impressive. Always something interesting there amid a broad and deep selection of the main lines. Decent pricing and good people.

Agreed. The pipe selection that is there also something to marvel at!

[BrightonCorgi]

6 hours ago, Habana Mike said:

I like PGC Hajenius in Amsterdam. Great little cigar museum and a good selection. Nice lounge there to enjoy a smoke as well.

I love that shop.   Been a long time since going there, but really classy and beautiful inside.  I like their short filler petite coronas too!  They have some Cuban tobacco in it.

[mprach024]

9 hours ago, Habana Mike said:

I like PGC Hajenius in Amsterdam. Great little cigar museum and a good selection. Nice lounge there to enjoy a smoke as well.

You and your house is a cigar museum

[Nino]

On 5/17/2021 at 4:14 PM, Corylax18 said:

Havana is King!! Smoking as you shop is the only way to go!

I also love the Club Habana Shop. The team there isnt as warm/welcoming as the group at Partagas, but they're still very helpful. I've also found some gems here, 6 boxes of Upmann PCs 24 months after they where discontinued, they always seem to have Fundies and Coloniales in stock, Hoyo DCs, etc.

You can smoke in all of the Havana shops - that is a No Brainer.

While I like Club Habana for their Internet service, the service there is cold and not really personal, you feel ignored, the manager is a screaming bully occupying the lounge and not giving a rats ass about the customers and the only kind heart there is the bartender ...

Zero points in my book except for Monsdales and Internet. Mostly use it for Internet now before/after a Santy's lunch ...

On 5/17/2021 at 8:57 PM, Cigarsmoker81 said:

Switzerland has nice shops, stocked with aged cigars and selection I have not seen anywhere else. Prices are reasonable for regular production, discontinued/ el/re on the expensive side.  

Absolutely with you. Give me Portmann any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Best cigar merchant !

21 hours ago, RDB said:

Peter Heinrichs in Köln is pretty impressive. Always something interesting there amid a broad and deep selection of the main lines. Decent pricing and good people.

Yes, agreed, either at the Köln store, great guys or at their Bergheim Museum, lovely place to enjoy cigars in a quiet setting. Love to be there. Great service !

[treberty]

Club Habana isn't the same since Mons passed away... 7 years already!

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