I need to vent.

I have been lamenting the fact that the best humidor is 35 miles away from me. After doing some research, I found a local liquor store that, according to them, has a walk-in hmidor with over 500 cigars in stock. I wonder how many people here have more than that in their coolerdors.

Anyway, I get there, and walk into the humidor. Some nice ones, but not many sizes in the brands. Plus, they had them in painted wood bins instead of keepng them in their original boxes. This put me off. They did have the Spanish cedar sheets , and sold wood boxes for $1.00 and cardboard boxes for 50¢. It seemed to me the humidification was off.

As I was checking out, I mentioned liking La Gloria Cubanas. The girl cashing me out said, "I've never heard of those." Needless to say, I might not go back.

Looks like I'll have to find a reason to travel to the good humidor once a month or so.
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You can always buy online :-)

But I feel your pain. I do not have a GREAT B&M here in my town. It sucks.
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I also have no Local shop so I buy all mine online .
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Buy online, stay away from CI and win! :-)
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I like to buy online as much as possible, but I also like to have a "relationship" with the B&M's. I feel your pain. A good B&M is hard to find sometimes.
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I'm in the same boat, closest B&M is around 40 miles away. Online shopping is a blessing....and a curse. :-)

It's a liquor store. If they have even a half decent selection and their temp/humidity is in the ballpark I think you're ahead of the curve.
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I fell your pain as well. When I am at school up in Arkansas the closest B&M is about 45 minutes away. It's not too bad when I go for the pipe club meetings but just going to pick up a few cigars and to smoke it is kind of a hassle. I started ordering online instead and now have a coolidor and a desktop. I hate to not support the local shops but there is the distance and the 65% tax on top of what he pays so the cigars get expensive.
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I didn't realize 35 miles is considered to be that far away. :-)
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This
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Especially here in Texas! :-)

Order online is best for you there in the Valley. Of course you could go over to Matamoros and get some glass top Cohibas, but I strongly advice against that idea. I haven't made it down to the Valley recently, so I really don't know what is around there anymore.
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Sorry to hear your troubles. Hell my office is 35 miles from the house. I can think of half a dozen online places where it is close the same experience as a B&M. But I feel your pain it is nice to have a place to go and smoke and discuss smokes. Oh wait you can do that here. I joke I joke sorry but like others say the liquor store places are like the ER of smokes you only go there when you need to.
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I feel fortunate to be in Atlanta, it's as if we have a cigar shop on every other street corner. No joke. Someone told we have more cigar stores per capita than any other city in the US. Not sure if that is true, but man I feel fortunate after reading this.
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Thanks for the understanding.

35 miles isn't a long way. It's kind of out of the way, a nuisance...remember, it's 70 miles round trip. plus, with the price of gas, wear and tear on the vehicle, plus, I have my kids right now. So, it's kind of a pain.
The good thing is, we go to San Antonio and visit family at least once a month. (Or try to, at least). In a couple of weeks, we're going to the Evil Empire (Austin). So I can grab two or three there, as well.
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This. But 35 miles is very much out of the way when it comes to driving to pick up some cigars. When I am home in Dallas the cigar shop is 5 minutes away but at school it is 45 minutes. 40 minutes is a big difference just to go grab a cigar or two. The 45 minute drive makes it cheaper to buy online and pay s&h at school. Hell, the taxes make it cheaper to buy online. I can get 4 to 5 times as many cigars for the same price online as I can in the shops around where I live. Call me a cheap bastage but it makes more sense for me to stock up and age them at my house than to try and go to the shop. The only benefit of the shop is being able to try a few sticks before you buy but even then you can pick up samplers online. I hate not supporting local shops but when the prices are so much more expensive (4x-5x) of what I can get online it is a little ridiculous to buy from them. Sorry for my rant and just my 2cents. :-)
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Get yourself a girlfiend out in that area so you can kill two birds with one stone... :-)

You should start buying on-line. That way when you get home it's like Christmas home. You'll have a gift just waiting on the door step... :-)


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You've got a point there. It is like Christmas when all the packages arrive but then you are reminded you had to pay for them lol.
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What about Thompson's?

I'm spoiled. I literally lived across the street from a Humidor in San Antonio for a while. We moved, it was 5 minutes away. We moved down here, and friends would always give them to me, or buy them for me. I really haven't bought online.
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I think most would say to stay clear of Thompson. I have used CI and Famous Smoke without any real complaints. The only issues have been damaged cigars in shipping with CI but they sent replacement cigars and told me to keep the damaged ones. I normally shop on Cigar Bid (Owned by Cigars International) or Cigar Auctioneer (owned by Famous Smoke). Everyone has their own opinion about companies but I have had great success with these companies and I would say that about 85% of my cigars have come from them. You can also check other websites such as Cigarsatyourprice.com That website works by allowing you to put in what you will pay for the cigars and it automatically tells you if it is accepted. Start really low and work your way up when you are putting in the amount. I have found some great deals on there as well. The only problem is shipping charges. You might also want to check out Cigarmonster.com and joecigar.com for great deals. Cigar Monster deals change hourly wheras Joe Cigar deals are daily (unless they do this special thing where it is hourly lol). I believe these are also owned by CI and FS but a majority of the time they have great deals on 5 packs, 10 packs, and samplers with free shipping to boot. Sorry if this is all overwhelming or confusing but I hope it helps. :-)
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Not confusng at all. I'll try the ones with the free shipping first. Thanks.
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I have heard the same and it feels as if it is true

Stay away from Thompsons
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