Cigar shops in houston?

H

HornsHornsHorns

500+ Posts
I'm sure this gets covered on this forum from time to time, but what are the top few cigar shops in houston? I am fairly new here and enjoy a good cigar from time to time, so I just want to know where I can expect to find a good smoke. I'll hang up and listen.
 
There used to be nice humidor in the back of a ritzy clothes shop in the Galleria. I loved the cigars but I picked up a sweater marked half price one time and saw that it was marked down to $900. I stuck to cigars after that.
 
Frank, you are thinking of Dunhill.

I usually go to Spec's on Smith Street. They have a pretty big selection.
 
what area of town are you in? the dunhill store is no longer located in the galleria. the closest shop to the galleria is jefferey stone that is across westheimer from it in that "strip mall".
 
Hornimal's house probably has the best selection in Houston.
biggrin.gif
 
if you're north, like in the Willowbrook/1960 area, serious cigars is a nice place to score good smokes.
 
There is a great one in the Post Oak shopping center (the one where McCormick & Schmick and Champp's is). Great selection.
 
007 is talking about The Cigar Vault. It's in the Uptown Market at Post Oak and 610. Mitch is the main guy there (or was.) Good selection and a place to smoke inside the store.

Brirar Shoppe in the Rice Village is a great place too. All female staff that knows there stuff.

Croft's carries a lot of stuff that the other places don't.
 
I spend a lot of time visiting cigar shops. talking to owners, price shopping, checking out the facilities, etc. I would rank the stores in the houston area as follows:

1. serious cigars -- ron, the owner, started operating out of his house as strictly ebiz. this past year he finally opened a brick and mortar shop. he still operates his webstore (www.seriouscigars.com) and offers excellent prices and promotions. the price you see online is the same you see at the store, and he has live inventory. he's very knowledgeable, friendly, and aproachable. his store has the largest humidor in texas I have seen. he has accounts with all of the major manufacturers (CAO, a. fuente, padron, general cigar, altadis, carlos toraño, perdomo, ashton, newman) as well as offering a wide array of boutique brands (gurkha/k. hansotia, bucanero, litto gomes, la flor dominicana). he does not yet have an opus x account, but he's working very hard to obtain one. whenever he has a chance he gets his hands on a few boxes and offers them up at a fair price, and does not place purchase restrictions on them when you walk into the store (you have to spend at least $100 online to get them). he also has a lot of hard to find cigars in stock that for contractual reason cannot be listed online. call him up and ask. he'll probably kill me for saying this, but he has the work of art maduro hemingways in stock.

the store has a nice smoking loungue that is equipment with cable television, a free 2005 golden tee machine, leather chairs, and free WiFi. the accessory selection is a bit lacking, but he offers the essentials. if any of you guys are interested in visiting or giving him some online business PM me and I'll tell him I sent you. only drawback is that it is not centrally located. but well worth the drive.

2. mc coy's cigars -- located on the corner of texas avenue and main st, downtown. mike the owner is extremely knowledgeable and so is his son-in-law travis (don't let him blow smoke up your *** that a camacho diploma tastes just like a cuban). great selection, and unlike many stores in town he does place a purchase limit on rare cigars. unfortunately, the store is very small. only two smoking chairs in front of the counter. get there early and snag one before the cops or the budweiser reps park their asses on them. they stay open until 2am on fridays and saturdays. if they like you they'll give you beers out of their cooler in the back

3. briar shoppe -- rice village. operated by an all female staff. has the best pipes, humidor, and cigar accessories selection in town. their humidor is small, but well stocked. they, too, have an opus x account but they hide them along with the rare cigars behind the counter when available and place strict purchase limits on them. don't even bother calling to ask for them. even if they have a box sitting in front of them they will tell you they haven't arrived yet. prices are a little on the steep side.

4. cigar vault -- located in the uptown park on post oak. very cool destination as there are a lot of shops and restaurants in the surrounding area. mitch is a super nice guy, but not as knowledgable as his competing proprietors. his prices have dropped sinced I started visiting. has all the major accounts, but not yet an opus x. one time I called over there and asked for a fairly well known cigar and he said he had never heard of it. the humidor is small, but well stocked. smoking area consists of a leather couch and chair. there's a cable tv hanging from the ceiling. if you know what you like I would suggest you go there to shop, I wouldn't trust his or his staffs suggestions. he's also trying to move pipes out of there, so you might be able to swing a great deal on one.

5. lonestar tobacco -- the owner used to be partners with mike mccoy. they are in the veterans memorial and 1960 area. relatively hidden and small store, but proportionally huge humidor. get all of the rare cigars, but have purchase limit on them. good guys to talk to.

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someone mentioned a store at westheimer and hillcroft. I believe it's called havana house. it is a **** hole. the manager or owner rolls cigars there, that's something to see when their are rolling but I wouldn't buy a cigar from there. way overpriced as they are not techinally an authorized dealer of several brands, but a reseller. the mark up takes them out of consideration for me.

jeffrey stone ltd. is a very nice store...if you want to buy pens, pipes or pipe tobacco. it looks a lot like what the dunhill store in the galleria used to look like. the owner had a tiff with the people at fuente and pulled their products from his shelves. they are expensive. but if you are looking for davidoff cigars that is the place to go to.

spec's is nice, but only for certain cigars. again, they are technically a reseller. their stock actually belongs to the same person that stocks most of the bars, clubs, and supermarket humidors in town. they have decent prices on a. fuente sungrowns and hemingways. if you know what to look for you might score an aged cigars, but their storage conditions are horrible. again, only do this if you know how to spot a well-aged cigar.

downing street is a kickass cigar bar, but they will rape your wallet if you buy a cigar there. it is not a store, they resell all of their cigars (they USED to buy their opus x from mc coy's until he found out, but he's not going to let them buy anymore since they try to sell them for $50+).

stogies (that is the one next to the palm) is a shady place. everytime I walk in there is a dude sitting behind a laptop giving you the evil eye and some airhead manning the register and they ALWAYS follow me into the humidor to try to sell me fuckin' helix cigars. overpriced and a lot of their cigars are way overhumidified and have mold in them.

another place worth visiting is caribe premium cigars (new name, probably still listed as tobacco center) on kirkwood and memorial. the owner, kris rodriguez, is a trip. he has a very small humidor that is well stocked. he's also working his way up the ranks and is starting to see some quality stuff. he has three leather couches and a big screen in the loungue, and serves some fantastic complimentary coffee.
 
I forgot to add that Spec's quality sucks. I've seen more mold in their humidors than every place else combined.
 
Why is their name slipping my mind? I remember that when I went there during the "cigar boom", they were pompous asses. I never went back...
 
yeah, macanudo hit the nail in the head. richmond avenue cigars (it is the one right next to an antique shop, right?). the place is under relatively new ownership. this is about the 3rd or 4th set of owners they've had since I started smoking cigars. do not shop there. the crap they sell is way too over priced.

I once made a mistake of buying a leather carrying case from them. it was priced at $85 bucks, because they claimed it was made out of english leather. upon close inspection I found an "hecho en españa" tag tucked into the lininng and told the ******* behind the counter that I'd give him $25, he took it. and when I go in there acting like I don't know ****, they try to sell me all of their overpriced crap cigars.

if you don't know **** about cigars, but want to know if a store you visit is legit do this litmus test:

1. see if they carry drew estate "acid" cigars
1a. if they don't, you have found a "smoker's" shop. thumbs up

2. if they do, ask them what they think about that cigar?
2a. if they try to sell you a box by claiming they are the greatest thing. never return to that store ever again, because it is run by a bunch of phonies.
2b. if they talk **** about the cigars, or say they only carry them "because I have a crazy customer that likes them" or "carry them, because we often get "smokers" who ask for them, but we keep them an an obscure corner". then you have found a legit place.
 
Yes and no on the antique store. It's a militaria/gun shoppe.

Antique Pipe Shoppe used to be down there too but they moved and renamed as Croft's on Richmond inside the Loop.

I just ordered some stuff on-line from Serious. Very competitive and there are some nice extras available. I called and talked to Ron for a good 10 minutes. Just shooting the breeze kind of stuff. Great guy. The're on 1960 at 249. The pics of their hunidor are cool. Biggest walk-in I have seen in Texas. Probably the 3rd or 4th largest I have ever seen.
 
those pics are almost a year old. the store looks a lot nicer, and the humidor is maxed out on shelf space.

ron is a hell of a nice guy. he will not disappoint.
 
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