How do we love thee? Consider this an official public display of affection...

I was just writing a super bunch of stuff for our forthcoming website and decided, hey! I should self-plagiarize! So here's a portion of what's to come...

n.b.: If we left you off the list even though we have publicly professed our love for you in the past, it's because your lovely blogger was distracted by the bubbles in her ginger ale. Literally, it's not you; it's me.

Another n.b.: These are in no particular order.


Anyway, these are folks who actually speak to us in public. We support them, their businesses, their endeavors. They don’t look away when we make eye contact. Win-win!

Habanos Cigar Lounge—Where the magic happens. And by “magic,” we mean where words are written, friends made (where we found Caballero #2!), and cigars smoked. We consider this our “home base.” (Hi, well, everyone!) If you come by and we aren’t here, there’s a good chance we will be soon!

 

So...many...things...

Mr. J’s Havana—Owned by our SuperFriend Paul Joyle, this cigar shop in West Warwick, RI (located within Joyle’s Liquor) requires your immediate presence. Go ahead. We’ll wait. While you’re there, say “Howdy” to Mark and Nate and many of the regulars. They’re all awesome. Oh! And make sure you try the J Grotto cigars. You’re welcome in advance.

Actually, there's a new sign outside and the inside has been completely redone!
Broadway Cigars: Now! With more coziness!

Broadway Cigars—We’re big, big fans of this cigar lounge in Providence, RI, even though we don’t get there nearly as much as we’d like! They have fantastic in-house events and cigar dinners. Go for the ever-expanding repertoire of cigars and regulars, stay for the conversation and fun. Tell Bobby and JV we sent you! Oh! And it’s BYOB, just so you know!

This picture doesn't do The Humidor justice. But when you're swiping
pictures from the mighty internets, beggars can't be choosers.
Well, they can...

The Humidor--With three Rhode Island locations, all unique and yet amazing, our favorite is the East Greenwich, RI, shop, which features a huge lounge area, big enough to hold an excellent Drew Estate dinner, which we went to this past Thursday. Owner Jana is one of the coolest chicks we know; she hosts fabulous events and provides a fantastic selection of cigars and accessories. Tell her we said "Hi!" when you go!

Cigar Cellar and Lounge—A bit further from home than we’d like, this Miami spot is heaven. We happened upon it by accident and now we’re trying to figure out how to relocate the business, owner Rhea Planes, and all the regulars up to us. (And no, relocating to Miami is not an option. Too hot there for one of us.) Learn how to play dominos before you go and tell Rhea we said "Hi!" and we miss her, when you get there!

As wonderfully eclectic inside as it is out.

Leaf + Bean, Pittsburgh’s Strip District—There are almost no words for how eclectically awesome this place is. Owned by our pal Jim Robinson (he who created the Leaf by Oscar cigar, among others), this shop happens to be near Valentino’s hometown and not too far from Penny’s son’s home. We visit both a lot more now.

Churchill's Smoke Shop--Not a huge place, but definitely a hugely welcoming place! Valentino found this on his own, and when I eventually got there myself, I felt the need to arm-punch him for holding out. Owner Bryan and Joe are definitely guys you want to be friends with--trust me on this.

Yes, an actual old firehouse.

Old Firehouse Smoke Shop--This is another shop we'd heard about for ages and then practically stumbled over by accident while we were in Fall River, MA. So so so glad we did! John only carries boutique cigars; if you wander around for even a bit of time, you'll say, "Hey! I heard about these..." or "I've been looking for these..." more than a few times. Plus...there's a shop dog named Wyatt to love while you're there...

Premium 70/70 Cigar Shop and Lounge--Who's an ass? Make that a clueless ass...This girl. Premium 70/70 is in my hometown. The town I lived in for mumblemumble years! And I've driven by no less than one hundred million times, making a teeny tiny mental note of it. One day we had some extra time and said, "Hey, we should go there.." And we did. And we loved it, especially Nolan and the great cigar selection. Plus, there's a shop cat named Bob... If I still lived in town, I would make that my homebase for sure.

Havana Cigar Club--If you have an hour or ten, you should visit Havana's humidor. Take it in like an art gallery; that's what I do, while Valentino stands there saying, "Come onnnnnn" and one of the awesome staff members tells me about the cigars I regard with obvious longing. If you do actually choose (because you aren't indecisive like me), settle into a cozy leather chair and...ahhhhh. Become a member and you can settle into even cushier chairs in the private member room.

Ale House Cigar Bar—This really cool place to hang out, located in downtown Providence, RI, has its cache upped by the staff—welcoming, funny, and thoughtful. Honestly, we don’t get here nearly enough.  That needs to change—stat--partly because we miss Humidor Manager Jake!
 

Boulevard Cigar--A newcomer to the greater Providence area, stepping into this  place is like visiting your best friend’s living room—it’s welcoming, cozy, and…well, your BFF probably doesn’t have an amazingly stocked humidor, but ours does! A great cigar selection, especially for a new place. Bet you'll love it so much you'll want to be a member!

 

The other day, I said, “I’d like to quit my job and travel around the country in an RV, checking out cigar lounges and going to cigar events.”

Simultaneously, two friends looked at me and said, “Don’t you already do that?”

Oh. Actually, yes. Except we don’t have an RV.

What cigar lounges should we visit next? Tell us--we have the summer off, although can that possibly be long enough? Anyway, we want to find new favorites. Without an RV, obviously (harumph), but I can try to overlook that. I'll just have to settle for Valentino's luxury vehicle... 

The owl made them do it Or: La la la...Flor Dominicana

Once upon a time, there lived a La Flor Dominicana beer stein at Ale House Cigar Lounge in Providence, RI.

A certain humidor manager at said establishment contacted via the mighty text messenger in the sky that aforementioned stein lived amongst the delicious cigars. Negotiations were made and it was decided the stein would reside in Casa Awesome.

Casa Awesome: Back when the snow was pretty and delightful.
Now it's a party guest that won't leave

Then the heroes of this story decided they should be fiscally responsible and negated the deal.

Then, two things happened:

1. They found out Caballero #2 had one. (Add your own comment about best friends and men and competition.)
2. They remembered who they were and they would have the sad if a limited edition piece of awesome passed them by.

They'd visited the Ale House humidor to partake--or really just take (after paying)-- this:

I know! Right? <--hate that saying, by the way

As they enjoyed the happy, thinking the story ended there--right after the American Express journeyed through the credit card machine.

They glanced around the humidor a final time, ready to evacuate, and then saw this:

Will stakes his claim.

Apparently, our heroes would be purchasing the beer stein after all. YOu must laugh here because the heroes--they really did believe they could leave it behind. If they've learned anything over the past six months as Idiot Handlers, it's this: You don't say "no" to Will.*

And as a result, they now own this:



note bene: I took this picture, obviously, since the clarity is nonexistant.
In my defense, I stood on tippy-toes and held the camera up in a shaky-arm photo op.

...which was filled with these:

Our heroes first picked up the LFD 1994 at Premium 70/70 in Westport, MA. It was love at first puff. The stein 1994 is the most special (6 x 54 with a maduro wrapper) of the new family of five (sizes**) celebrating Litto and Ines Gomez’s 20 years in the cigar business. The stein and its super awesome cigars are limited to 5,000 units carrying 20 cigars each.

You're surely most curious about this: the cigar's magical blend. Well, that comes from a Mexican San Andrés natural wrapper binder and filler from the La Canela farms in the Dominican Republic.

If you want non-stein 1994s, you can choose one of four regular production sizes:

Aldaba (6 x 58) ~ Conga (5 x 52)
Mambo (7 x 54)  ~ Rumba (6 1/2 x 52)

Actually, you shouldn't choose between them. You should get them all--and in boxes of 20 at that.

Anyway, according to the folks at Anthony's Cigars, the cigar begins with an earthy note and then adds citrus and chocolate notes. "Compared to the Ligero and Double Ligero lines, the 1994 is a medium bodied smoke with enough complexity to confound even the most complicated palates."

The La Flor Dominicana website states, "We have set aside tobacco for years in anticipation of this very special blend to commemorate our 20th anniversary. The complex and powerful flavors of the 1994 originate from the best fillers and binder grown on our farm in the Dominican Republic and are complemented with a sweet and savory Mexican San Andrés wrapper. This blend is as special as the occasion it serves to commemorate and is symbolic of the quality and pride with which La Flor Dominicana has built its name."

As you've been told you time and again, our heroes are super BFFs*** with anything and everything LFD. Luckily, they found room in our hearts for the new 1994. And even if there weren't room there, they could always use the stein for storage.



*Nobody puts Will in a corner.

**Vitola, if you will.

***Of course LFD doesn't know they're BFFs, but that's a minor sticking point.

Premium 70/70 Lounge or: 70% chance I've been drinking from the lead cup

Honest to everything, sometimes I am the dumbest person ever to walk the earth. Or lie on the couch on Earth. Or have snacks on Earth. Or second-hand smoke on Earth.*

When this happens, my BFF (Hi Jame!) will look me straight in the eye and ask, "Have you been drinking from the lead cup?"

The answer is probably yes. Here's why:

1. I lived in Westport, MA for umpity gajillion years and never knew the Premium 70/70 Cigar Shop and Lounge existed. Westport is not a big place. There's no reason we haven't been going in there for umpity ages. I never connected the giant neon CIGAR sign outside to We Like Cigars.

Look what I was missing:


Look at this delicious lounging area.
Valentino could smoke and chat up a storm with the regulars here!
(We hear they're wicked nice!)
(Obvs they're not in the picture. I'm not THAT bad!).
BTW, I could totally second-hand smoke here.
I could write here. Let's be honest. I could nap here no problem. 

AND!**

You guys! You have to go here and be amazed at all the great cigars in this massive humidor that made Valentino weep with jealousy--even though this is a shop and we aren't (although the new humidor makes us look a lot closer). You'd be jealous of these humidors too! You should visit them to see for yourself. We'll meet you there!

So very very pretty. And what's inside is pretty great too!

[Here's an extended aside-too big for a sparkle--Premium 70/70 is hosting a J Grotto event on Friday, February 20, 2015. We've told you a million times about how much we love all things J Grotto and adore their creator, Paul Joyle, he of Mr. J's Havana. Clear your calendar and get your butt there. We'll probably go! ::runs to tell Valentino I'd like to go::]

Anyway, while we were at 70/70, Valentino picked up one of these little babies (below) to smoke while we pestered Manager and Awesomely Cool Guy*** Nolan Perry. You have to go and you have to say "Howdy!" to Nolan. He's super fun to talk to and he knows about one thousand cubic tons of cigar things.

And when you go, say "Well helloooooo" in that creepy way to Los Carajos, "All the power & flavor of a full sized Ligero concentrated into a quick smoke that will surely leave you yelling its name… in a good way!" according to the La Flor Dominicana website.


So very very tasty!

So...this 4 x 34 is the new house favorite for a quick smoke--for example when Valentino is waiting for me to get my crap together and leave the house, even though I was ready to go three minutes prior.**** I'm thinking I should buy this for him, since my losing things and getting sidetracked is a regular occurrence.

Perfect packaging if you have OCD.

In case you didn't know, because you don't live on Planet Earth, "La Flor Dominicana is one of the premier Dominican cigar producers known for growing full-flavored and full-bodied Dominican tobacco on their La Canela farm. They then carefully age and roll these tobaccos into some of the best-selling cigars in the world." [source] 

We recently emptied out the overstuffed humidor and split the goods into its newly-arrived 2,000-count twin. Guess what we found as we started sorting? Yep! Lots of LFDs because--hand to the heavens--there's not a bad one in the bunch, so each time we're at an event, we buy more new things to try and old favorites to stock up on. Contrary to popular belief, I am not an enabler.*****

"Offered with a variety of wrappers, the La Flor Dominicana Little Cigars provide the same great tobacco flavors that fans of La Flor Dominicana have come to expect but in a smaller package. These short smokes are guaranteed to give you your cigar fill in a shorter smoking time with medium to full-bodied smoke and terrific flavors." [source]
 Speaking of none of that, guess who lives at Premium 70/70!!!

Bob the Cat!!
How can you not love a place with a cat?

You thought I forgot I was making a list, didn't you?

2. So--70/70 Cigar Shop.
I'm embarrassed at how long it took me to figure out what the shop name means.  I'm not saying it took a couple of days to click. I mean MONTHS! Maybe even YEARS! I can't remember.

I looked at Valentino the other day, all proud of my perhaps deleaded-cup brain and said, "Did you know that the 70/70 shop name means the perfect temp and humidity?"

He didn't actually say, "No der," but I could see his thought bubble. It read "No DER."******


3. Before we walked into this amazeballs shop, standing outside in the effing freezing cold, we agreed, "We're not buying anything while we're here."

Hahahaahahhahhahhah. As if that could happen--us walking out of a fabulous shop empty-handed. Obviously he's been sipping from the cup as well.

[As another aside too big for sparkles, we did walk IN empty-handed. We hadn't planned to visit the shop, so we left Will at home. When I introduced myself, Nolan said, "Where's Will?"]

Anyway, we plucked these from the shop's magic humidor, with Nolan's help. We like to ask shopkeepers what they're enjoying and what they recommend.


Jaime Garcia!
Matilde Renacer!
Quesada Oktoberfest in two sizes!
Quesada 40th Anniversary!
LFD 1994 from the stein!
And the baby LFDs!

One is trying to escape!

We're going to write about these cigars in the near future--and I promise not to forget.  Although I can't promise I won't get distracted choosing a pair of earrings or shooing Will out of the humidor--so no actual timeframe... but someday! Someday!!

 

In the meantime, we'll see you at Premium 70/70 in Westport, MA!

 

 

 

*Keeping it relevant, people.

 

**Me yelling, for emphasis.

 

***His official title, according to me.

 

****I swear I am not doing girly things, like my hair. I'm usually looking for my other glove or Will or running back upstairs to get earrings or a scarf. I am Valentino's version of unorganized hell. And proud of it.

 

*****Lie. I'm a total enabler. Does it make you happy? Get it!

 

******In case this phrase isn't common in your land, it essentially means, "What are you, fucking stupid?" in a  more sarcastic and much nicer way.