House of Cigars

I recently moved to the Dallas area and started trying out Cigar Lounges and after visiting a hand-full, came across House of Cigars.  I have smoked cigars off and on for 25 years and have finally found home.  Not only are the Owners like family, but the product is amazing.  The cigars are all hand rolled in the US by their own rollers and the cigars are all composed of different blends of fillers and wrappers for a wide range of flavors.  Most importantly, the cigars and tobacco are not chemically treated as are all commercially produced sticks, so the smoke is clean and pleasant all the way to the end with no harshness.  It is a very noticeable difference (improvement) over and commercial stick.   Definitely worth a try.

I tried a great Brooklyn cigar at the Dallas Derby.  I love that all the cigars are hand rolled and the people at the booth were very knowledgeable and helped me pick out a cigar to my taste.  It was very smooth and flavorful.

I travel around the entire USA a lot on business, and everywhere I go, I look for cigar lounges. I found this lounge in Dallas and thought I'd look in. I was greeted by Nicole (she and her husband Willie own the place) and she offered to help me pick out a cigar. I was amazed to find that there were no cigars there except the ones they make themselves. Their cigars have no bands, either. Nicole told me that they don't put bands on because everyone smokes their cigars right down to the fingers. I thought, "Yeah, right..."

Then Nicole began to tell me that their cigars are better than everyone else's because they don't have to use insecticide fumigation on their cigars, and everyone else does. All tobacco has tobacco weevil eggs on the leaves, and if the cigars get warm and dry enough, the eggs hatch and the weevils eat holes in the cigars and ruin them. So, all the cigar makers fumigate their cigars because they won't be able to control the environment of their cigars when they leave the factory. But Nicole's company only makes small batches which they can control. Keeping the cigars cool and humid keeps the eggs from hatching and therefore they need no insecticide. Nicole said that the insecticide is what makes cigars taste harsh and metallic (the insecticide is aluminum based) and why a cigar sometimes makes one sick to the stomach. Again, I was doubtful, thinking that I probably wouldn't notice any difference between a fumigated cigar and one that wasn't.

Nicole asked me about my cigar preferences and I told her that I liked a medium-bodied cigar with a touch of sweetness. She steered me to a robusto that she said was exactly that, a medium with a sweet Dominican wrapper, cost about $13, which is reasonable for a lounge. I also asked about getting a Coke to drink with the cigar, since I find that drinking something with a cigar helps to tame the harshness that most cigars have at least some of. Nicole said she would sell me the Coke, but suggested that I drink water or coffee instead. She said that water and coffee both help the taste buds open so that the full flavors of the cigar can be enjoyed. She offered to make me an espresso, so I took her up on it.

So, I began smoking. SHE WAS RIGHT on every point! That cigar was the best cigar I've ever smoked! Not merely a little better than some others, but best by far! It paired perfectly with the espresso, and I smoked it until it began to burn my fingers. Usually, I let a cigar go when it's down to the last third or last quarter, but for this one I considered finding a roach clip! The nastiness that I just thought was a part of tobacco wasn't there because the insecticide wasn't there. The perfection of the blend and the sweetness of the wrapper told me that Willie and Nicole know their stuff!

The only problem now is that I'm spoiled! When I go to a cigar lounge in another city, I'm not going to find a House of Cigars cigar! I'm going to have to settle for a Davidoff, Cohiba, Ashton, Rocky Patel, or Romeo y Julieta. I'm definitely going back to House of Cigars any time I'm anywhere close to Dallas!