Don Leoncio Cigar Lounge, New Orleans LA

Our most recent herf on June 30th took us to Canal St. in New Orleans to Don Leoncio Cigar Lounge. We sampled their house brand, PDR’s, and my old favorite the Java by Drew Estates. When I arrived with another new member of ours, Ross Cummings, we were casually greeted by the employees. A walk through the humidor showed it well appointed, and the staff was consistently knowledgeable about their products. The gentleman who assisted us in our purchases passed my litmus test for cigar establishments, he was smoking a cigar when we walked in. If you ever walk into a shop and everyone isn’t mid cigar, turn around and spend your money elsewhere.

With fresh purchases in hand, me with a Don Leoncio house brand and Ross with a PDR, we sat at the bar with a pair of Guinness and waited for Neil. Once the three amigos were assembled, we wasted the evening away smoking, talking club business, and getting to know each other. We wrapped up the evening with a walk down Decateur to Flanigan’s Pub for a bite to eat, and bid our farewells.

As I said before, while I enjoy visiting other areas for a herf, the inherent expense involved in New Orleans French Quarter shops (pay to park, 50% markup versus shops near my home, time to drive) mean we will not be making regular trips to The Quarter. We will investigate other shops off the beaten path closer to Neil’s home, and the other shop near my home further north of Habana Port. In the end, our plan is for one monthly visit to a shop, and one to a member’s home. we’re getting organized, but still a bit thin on the ground. If you’re lurking, whether cigar/pipe veteran or newbie, please come out and join us.

June 30th Herf

The plan for the moment is to meet up at Don Leoncio Cigars June 30th at 6PM. You can leave a reply here so we know to expect company, otherwise come on out. Expect to close the place down around 11PM.

Ya’ll missed the first event, but more are coming

The inaugural event of the New Orleans Cigar Club was low key, could have been better planned, but was nonetheless encouraging. Myself and Neil, the two founding members by default, met up at Habana Port in Covington with one of the owners who was exceedingly hospitable to us. We expressed our interest in forming a cigar club and meeting up at his place of business from time to time, and after a few minutes of that we broke into a two hour long discussion that ranged from politics to intellectualism. A half hour past closing time we finally wore out our welcome, but not after he thanked us for stopping by and cracked open the walk in humidor one last time so I could get one more for the road. We will certainly be visiting Habana Port more in the future.

At 8:30 PM, Neil and I hadn’t quite finished so we took my cigar and his pipe across the street to the local Starbucks, and spent three and a half hours just shooting the breeze and getting to know each other. I can honestly say I look forward to more varied company, but I left there at midnight thoroughly worn out and excited to grow this little club of ours.

Neil and I are looking for new recruits, and if enjoying a smoke and conversation with a few gentlemen sounds like a good afternoon, you really should consider coming out and being sociable.