Review 1 - Grapevine Cigar & Tobacco including next 5 locations and dates

Keeping with the goal of reviewing different cigar venues around the DFW area, we started with the closest and most trusted venue.  The Grapevine Cigar & Tobacco Club, established in 1996 during the Cigar boom by Ken Wiles.  Ken's parents were already in the cigar business in Ft Worth and had been for over 20 years.  The shop sees a brisk business due to a central location, specifically surrounded by the Gaylord hotel, DFW Airport and many corporations in the area.  I personally had always thought the smoking ban in Southlake would have helped business, but Tom and Carl stuck to their guns and attributed the bulk of their business to local flow.

Ken owns 2 other stores - one in Arlington, the other in Addison.  We'll have to add those to our list.  The store boasts 3 walk in humidors, an awesome selection and includes a members only smoking lounge in the back of the store.  Membership can be had for $250 initiation fee and a 40, 50 or 60 dollars a month fee depending on having a locker.  The membership also brings discounts on individual cigars or boxes.  Those in the area know how quaint downtown Grapevine is and the shop holds with this tradition.  Tom and Carl were manning the store this evening.  Tom's been there for 12 years and has always been very pleasant, knowledgeable and helpful.  Literally you can see he has a passion for cigars.

I tried pumping the two for other local cigar locations, but their loyalty drew an uninspiring benign answer, as if saying - why would you go anywhere else.  I didn't impede on the member’s area as it appeared to be a place where guys come to enjoy their privacy, watch a game all while escaping from their day to day lives.  What right did I have to intruded upon their desires.  The shops hours are 9-9 Monday through Saturday and 12-6 on Sunday; although the door AND the website indicate closing at 8.  If you want to learn more about the store, visit the website.  There is a great little write up from Jeff Bolton on the About Us  page - Early memories have helped propel Tobacco Lane’s Ken Wiles to a prominent position in the North Texas retail tobacco store landscape.

Fun little fact (meaning I didn't know):  The embargo on Cuban cigars is still in effect.  If you visit Cuba, you're allowed to bring back about 100 cigars; however, because of the embargo you cannot purchase Cuban's in the US.  Tom's belief is if the embargo is lifted, there will be chaos as demand will far exceed supply.  But if you ponder the allure of the Cuban for a moment, won't it lose some of its luster when it is no longer illegal to purchase in the ole U S of A?  Having lived abroad for a while and having full access to Cuban's, I can't say they are miles ahead of their competitors.  Sure, the Monte Cristo torpedoes are excellent, but the Dominican's and others are producing quality products as well.  Certainly, worth pursuing the differences...

We drifted over to the Tap-In Pub  next door to enjoy a couple of pints and smoke our recent purchases.  Dan went with his Dominican Monte Cristo, Kevin's favorite is the Ashton and I stuck to my Arturo Fuente.  Mark was to show, but huh - last minute something changed and he no showed - who would have figured?  The Tap-In tries to pull off the pub experience, but personally having lived in London, I always find it difficult for a place to pull off a London/British feel in the deep south or specifically, the always proud Texas.  Never the less, we had the opportunity to catch up on family and friends before diverting to solving the world’s problems.

We had a brief diverge while Kevin and I talked business, specifically VOIP phones, network packets, and QoS. Dan, rightly so, drifted off to that special place that was nowhere, all the time enjoying the Cristo with his wry little smile.  The Tap-in held, for the most part an older crowd and gauging the west wing, many regulars, while the main seating area for dinner appeared to be true visitors.  About 9:00 Strange Love started playing, which ended all but 20 second sound bites of conversation between songs, as we were sitting too close to the band and the sound system.  Annoyed the conversation had halted, Strange Love allowed us to drift away from the world’s problems and brought back days of our youth when U2 had entered scene.  Strange really nailed some Carlos Santana tunes and I found myself asking - what could be better than a great IPA with a Fuente and Carlos? Yes, I know, she's ...  well we all have our fantasies. Let's stick with reality.  The bass player was their lead singer and was solid enough we all had to stop and focus to see if it was lip sync or the real deal.  It was the real deal.

We concluded the night, not agreeing on the next 10, but did settle on the next 5 venues and dates.  We clearly need more to make it to the end of the year and we all agreed, that one of the venues should be little Havana in Miami, so more planning to come.  We even ventured a trip to Cuba, so make sure your passport is up to date.  Please we need additional suggestions.  Also, need some consensus on the best night - should we shoot for Thursday, Friday or Saturday.  Current thinking is Thursday.

Cigar Lounge at Chamberlain's:  Feb 23rd.

Pop's Safari:  March 16th

Javier's Lounge & Cigar Bar:  April 6th

Cool River Cafe:  April 27th

Havana Club:  May 18th

So please join us.  Make additional suggestions, or give us knowledge of upcoming venues.

And thanks for following Dan and Steve's Excellent Cigar Bar Review

Special shout out to Jarod, who couldn’t be with us this evening as he was helping his wife, bring into this world, the next bundle of joy, Avery at 6lbs 12 oz. and a PERFECT reason to hand out some cigars (hint hint).  A tradition forgotten, but not lost.