Cigar 101: When You’re New to the Lounge

If you’re new to cigars and think they are something you can really get into, you’ll need to educate yourself on what you’re smoking, how to smoke them, and more or less get encultured into what is actually a very open and friendly group of people. You’d benefit most by hanging for a bit at your local cigar lounge. There is absolutely no reason to be intimidated by them. Most gentlemen and even ladies whether patrons or clerks, are forthcoming and helpful to people that are new to it and willing to learn.

After all, cigar lounges are one of the last places left on earth where you can find a Jaguar and a beat up Taurus parked out front, and the two gentlemen sitting inside, puffing away and having a fine conversation together. There’s something leveling about the place for white collar folks, blue collar folks, young and old. You’re there for the same reason, more or less: relaxing and taking it slow. Most can dig that. And you share an obvious appreciation for something in common — your new or old favorite cigar and the aromatic smoke drifting between you.

Every place is unique
Locations, clientele, median prices, and selection, and accoutrements vary by location. One cigar bar may serve food, another may not. Some only have a beer and wine selection, and some only serve bottled water and soda. In some, you’ll see people working quietly on their laptops while they tap away and answer emails. Others, you’ll see men gathered around the television, quietly puffing away at their sticks and watching the ball game together. Some have pool tables. Some might have a friendly poker game going on in the back. This is for sure: each cigar lounge, no matter where you go in the country, will have its unique personality. After you visit a few, you’ll realize that that’s part of the fun. Most people don’t pick a cigar lounge for the prices, which are all similar anyway. It’s about the environment.

Prepare to hang
Keep in mind that some cigar shops are only retail establishments with no lounge in which to light up and enjoy your freshly purchased cigar. We recommend calling ahead to ask if the place has any sort of a lounge or if they are simply a retail shop. Finding one with a lounge where you can relax and inhale and get a feel for the quiet environment is important when you’re starting out. It puts you in proximity to the people that can answer your questions and show you how it’s done.

Look for friendly
When starting out, finding a friendly place where the owner or sales person can take the time to help you pick something out is key. Good news is, these people are used to many questions, and educating the customer (you) is something that is a natural part of the sales process. Expect to feel mentored more than “sold to” no matter where you go for the most part. If you’re in a cigar shop where you get ignored when you walk in the door or into the humidor, that’s usually telling. If someone doesn’t offer to help within ten minutes after you’re in the humidor, make sure you ask for help. The shop owner might not be able to make it over yet for some reason, or he or she may not recognize you and might think you’re a one-time retail customer that knows what they want.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help
If you’ve never cut or lit a cigar before, go ahead and tell the guy helping you. Trust me, they are glad to. If someone ever makes you feel uncomfortable as a first-timer, then that’s a place that you shouldn’t go back to. Cigar shops are some of the friendliest environments around, and if you’re snubbed, then know that it’s not you, and that it’s rare, and that there will be another place down the road with the friendliest people in town. Just don’t give them your business again. The person should show you how to cut or punch your cigar and will usually instruct you on how to keep it lit.

Respect the volume
Because cigars go hand in hand with relaxing, it’s probably safe to assume that other patrons enjoying their cigars are there to take a load off or have a leisurely afternoon of work away from the office. It’s best to respect the noise volume, which is rarely high. It’s not a library, but it’s not a bar either. If you like to hoot and holler at the TV during a sports game, or if you like drinking more than your smoking, then it’s best you stick to a sports bar or other kind of bar and hope that they allow cigars.

Buckhead Cigar Lounge in Atlanta, Georgia which does, incidentally, serve food!

This isn’t a restaurant
This means that you will have to clean up after yourself. It’s up to you to throw away your empty bottle before it gets knocked over, and to make sure your plastic cigar wrapper goes into the trash and not onto the floor or under the couch. It’s always polite to return your dirty glass to the bar. If you take the lighter from the main bar or counter to light your cigar, always return it to the counter so other patrons can find it and use it as well. Think of yourself as a guest in someone’s home or like you’ve been invited to someone’s treehouse. Respect the fact that it’s an open hangout and be willing to be a proactively polite guest.

This also means that you will usually have to ask for what you want. People rarely come to your spot to ask you if you need anything else or to clear your table. If they do, then that’s wonderful. But don’t expect it. So be prepared to go up to the desk or bar and ask the merchant for a drink or to ask for more matches or the location of the shop lighter or whatever you might need.

As for food, either prepare to eat before or after your visit to the cigar lounge. Zoning and licensing laws, which vary by city and county, often if not in nearly every case, prohibit food service at your cigar lounge. Bottom line: don’t expect it to be available. And it should go without saying, but don’t bring your Chik-fil-A with you into the lounge. The man smoking the $20 cigar probably doesn’t want to smell your ketchup or watch you eat. And the merchant doesn’t want to have to worry about you cleaning up after yourself or getting mayo on his leather couches. It’s just not polite, and if he makes a separate concession for you, he’s got to do it for others. So don’t ask. Just plan ahead.

Remember that it’s not Taco Bell or Wendy’s. At a fast food restaurant it seems okay to take all of the extra free stuff that is available, loading yourself up with extra napkins, hot sauce packets, ketchup packets, and Splenda. Your local cigar merchant is a small business owner. The bags that cigars go in, the boxes of matches, and even the “free” butane he uses to fill up your empty lighter for you come at a cost to him. Use only what you need.

This is a business
Keep in mind that cigar shop owners make absolutely zero money on the lounge. Don’t expect it as a service. It’s a convenience to you. If there’s no Sweet and Low for the coffee, and the coffee is free, deal with it. He’s giving that stuff away to make his customers happy and enhance the experience. Everything there, from the coffee to the comfortable couches, water dispenser, and whatever extras are available is there as a courtesy to you. If you needed to drop by and see Bob, try not to be the one that takes the free coffee, eats three of Jerry’s wife’s cookies, and leaves without dropping a dime. You should know better.

Don’t ignore the tip jar
If you’re in and out for a quick purchase, then this probably doesn’t apply to you. Not all establishments have a tip jar, but some do. If you sat down to use the lounge and someone was very helpful and kept you happy with drinks and suggestions for smokes, then throw in a few bucks on the way out. It’s a way of paying it forward and showing that you appreciate someone’s help. Don’t worry about tipping a standard 18%. It’s not like that. It’s more like a simple nod from gentleman to gentleman.

Don’t pressure yourself
Don’t feel like you need to know the ideal temperature and humidity of the humidor on your first visit, or feel like you need to go home with an expensive lighter, personal humidor, and cutter. That’ll come when you’re ready. And you may never want to get into it that far. It’s all up to you. But feel free to take it slow and learn as you go. Every visit will bring new knowledge, experience, and new waves of enjoyment as you figure out what kinds of cigars you like. Go with that flow, and this might stick with you for life.

Enjoy yourself
Take in the environment. Flip through the magazines. If you feel like you want to chat a little, asking other people what they are smoking is a great conversation starter. Bring a book if you like. Read the paper. See what people are watching on the television. A note on the television… pay attention to who’s watching it. Chances are, the trio of gentleman held in rapt attention by the tube have probably been frequenting that cigar lounge for years and look forward to that programming. You’re probably the new kid on the block, so asking the merchant to change the channel will probably just get you the answer you should already be expecting. I’d go with the flow here.

If nothing else, just enjoy the taste of your cigar as you puff.

See the sidebar to the right where I interviewed our local Tobacconist in Residence about lounge etiquette. He’s got a lot to add!