OCCS member at The Cuban Cigar Factory in Las Vegas

I checked several cigar shops out in Las Vegas and The Cuban Cigar Factory was the friendliest, most inviting and coolest shop I visited. (I lost the list of cigar shops that I intended to visit, so by no means did I visit all of them and there may be many other cool shops).

The shop was half lounge with big screen TV and very comfortable leather chairs to relax in. And the other half of the store was a pretty good sized walk-in humidor. They also offered plenty of cigar paraphernalia at the counter as well. Many of the cigar shops on the Las Vegas strip were small, poorly taken care of (usually around 50% humidity if displayed) and EXTREMELY overpriced. I bought a very dried out Partagas 1845 perfecto...for $14 pre-tax at the hotel's cigar shop where we stayed at (The Monte Carlo)!!!! The Cuban Cigar Factory displayed their humidity level and it was over 70%.

When I walked into the cigar shop (which appeared to be completely empty) around 10:30 on a Tuesday morning I was welcomed by a very rich and lovely cigar smell. Then, a head poked out from behind the big screen TV and welcomed us to come on in. The head turned out to be Nelson Ventura, the store's Master Cigar Roller. Behind the TV was a little working area with presses, tobacco cutting equipment, glue, stacks of tobacco leaves and a smell that I wish I sweated out of my pores. Nelson was back there making cigars for purchase from the store. He gave me a tour of the store and the humidor explaining things as I asked questions. Nelson was very friendly and laid back. We then walked back to where he was rolling wrappers on the cigars. I watched and was impressed by his speed and ease about it. He was kind enough to let me take a couple of pictures while he was in action. I bought a double corona maduro that he rolled. It was a Dominican puro, very moist and rich. I ended up waiting until we got back to our hotel and smoked it in a lounge chair by the pool. It was a very excellent smoke that was full, thick and moist all the way down to the fingertips. Pretty cool!

I could not find a link to their store but here is a video by a website that does a show on cigar shops and they did one at The Cuban Cigar Factory. It is episode number 4, so scroll down to find episode number 4. Here is the website:

http://www.lasvegashtv.com/Episodes/Default.aspx

-Joe