Smoking on Toronto

[kayaker]

I just got back from a trip to Toronto where I got to check out some different cigars (for me) and shops.

First stop was Cheers Smoke Shop on McCaul. Thanks to fury165 for the tip. They were selling MC#4's for $11! I've been kicking myself for not checking out their price per box. They have a very small walk in humi (enough for the staff person to grab your sticks) and a decent selection. I picked up a couple of Bolivar Coronas Junior.

Next was Correnti's cigar factory. It was a neat place to visit, being the only Cuban cigar factory in Canada. The smell of tobacco in the place was intoxicating. I didn't get a chance to take a real good look around but I did pick up a fiver of petite coronas, and a fiver of robustos.

Prices were decent for the sticks but I'm not sure about the cigs. Each fiver came in a plastic, resealable bag and when I opened each bag the smell wasn't that pleasant. Not like good cigars normally smell, more like horse manure. Not a really bad smell, just not pleasant. I wouldn't want to put them in my humi with the rest of my cigars.

Finally, I went to Thomas Hinds. They had Maestro Torcedor Crisanto H. Cardenas Miranda from Cuba giving rolling demos and selling his product. It was great watching him at work and how quickly he could turn out a nice looking stick. His interpreter told me that he comes up to Canada for 3 months at a time, touring around giving rolling demos. I bought a couple of his creations, not sure of the size but probably about the size of a petite corona or slightly longer.

I also bought a couple of Joyo de Nicaragua Antano Consuls and some pipe tobacco from a friend. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable and also gave me an empty wooden cigar box (Partagas Series D. #4) that I plan on using as a travel humi or extra storage.

Here's how the smokes lined up:

After keeping one of the Correnti PCs in my leather 2 stick pouch all day I lit it up to try it out. I'm far from an expert but, the construction looked good and the cigar smoked well. However, I was not that keen on the smoke itself. It wasn't harsh but the taste left something to be desired. For me that is.

I was disappointed enough that I lit up another cigar so that I could end the evening on a positive note. I sparked up a Bolivar CJ. It reminded me a lot of the cigar I just had. I had thought the Bolivar was a more full flavoured cigar, but I didn't get that impression from the CJ. It also smoked well but just wasn't that tasty. I pegged it at marginally better than the Correnti.

On Saturday night a friend and I smoked the cigars by Crisanto. I was told the tobacco was aged for 4 years and that it would be most similar to a MC. We enjoyed it but it certainly wasn't as spicy and full as the MC #4s that I like. Definitely enjoyed this more than the last two.

Finally, I had one of the JdNs Sunday afternoon. This cigar was my favourite from the weekend. It was tasty and full flavoured. It smoked well, but I did have to use the torch a bit to keep it on track.

So after all that, I'm going to isolate the Correnti sticks in the Partagas box with some humidity and leave them alone for a while. I'm hoping they will get better with a bit of time. I may also throw a couple out over the NST circuit and get some feedback from someone else. It's too early to say that they are bad cigars. They may need some time and they may just not be the type of cigar that I enjoy.

Thanks for reading.

Ian

[nasa25]

wow....didn't know you could do all that in Toronto....sounds like a good time. I just went to a cigar shop in North York (Toronto area) on my lunch break looking for a decent cigar cutter....$30 for a cutter than I can get for $10 on ebay....reminded me why I never buy any cigars or cigar related items in Canada anymore.....what a ripoff!

but, glad you had some good experiences.....thanks for sharing.

[DonnieW]

Great feedback Ian.

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by nasa25

wow....didn't know you could do all that in Toronto....sounds like a good time.

Those were not the only places within that area of Downtown. I didn't get a chance to drop in to la Casa Del Habano and Tabac. I'll hit those next time.

Ian

[CohibaMan]

Originally Posted by kayaker

Those were not the only places within that area of Downtown. I didn't get a chance to drop in to la Casa Del Habano and Tabac. I'll hit those next time.

Ian

I was in Toronto about a week ago and I have to say, of the seven or eight places I stopped (walking distance of the Greyhound Terminal) Tabac was by far the best!

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by CohibaMan

I was in Toronto about a week ago and I have to say, of the seven or eight places I stopped (walking distance of the Greyhound Terminal) Tabac was by far the best!

Well, I'll definitely have to hit that shop when I go back again.

What other shops did you visit?

[CohibaMan]

Posted this elsewhere but here are my reviews:

First: Casablanca Tobacconist; 4 King St W (though the entrance is on Bay St I believe)

Nice little shop, there seemed to be a fair selection in the walk in humi and a ok amount of accessories in the shop. The shop keeper seemed very uninterested with even being there and quite antisocial. We were there for about five minutes without a hello or offer of help even with us peering intently into the humi. Being the first stop of the day and both hungry for lunch we didn't ask to go in; so it is partially our fault we didn't get much service but he could have asked us. All in all not a bad experience, just uneventful.


Second: Metro Cigar; 712 Yonge St

A smaller shop with no walk in humi, but about 6 large cabinets with a fairly good selection for the space they had. There was a decent selections of desktop humi's and some other accessories. As we are looking through the glass of the various cabinets we pulled out my sheet of suggested cigars to see what we could find. The owner/employee, a middle aged east Indian man, came over to ask what we were doing with the sheet of paper. I told him we were looking for some cigars that had been suggested to us and he seemed quite content with the answer and told us if we needed any help to ask. Once the one other customer in the store left a couple minutes later he became quite angry, said we should have asked permission to look at the cabinets (they were closed and I assume locked, we hadn't tried to open them as we were only looking through the glass doors) and that he did not want us in the store. After some back and forth resulting in me showing him my shopping list we left completely unhappy with the service. I don't know if we violated some taboo but the owner/employee was a complete jackass and should not have acted that way to customers that had every intention of dropping some money there. Will NEVER return and advise others to avoid as well.


Third: Tabac; 526 Yonge St

Quite discouraged by this point we walked into a gem. Very uncluttered and very friendly staff. The walk in humi was nicely organized and had a decent selection, though not the largest of the day. Asking to go in the humi was no problem with the staff, even letting us in there alone to take our time. Once we had found a few we liked, some brands from the shopping lists though not the actual cigars of each brand on the list. The staff was knowledgeable of the brands and even recommended a couple cheaper ones for everyday smoking. Quite enjoyed the experience, decent prices and would recommend the place to everyone!


Forth: Tobacco Haven; 595 Bay St

Kind of a variety shop, but with a main focus on the smoking culture and quite a large shop at that. The humi at the back is long and thin with full glass walls making it easy to see what's in there without actually going in. Since we had picked up some stogies already at Tabac the selection while fairly decent did have anything that really jumped out at us. The staff was nice enough and quickly helped me when I asked about some items for the travel humi I'm going to be putting together. All in all a good place, worth a check out. Being across the street from the bus station makes it a quick trip before catching a bus.


Fifth: Sleuth & Statesman; 130 King St W

A smaller shop with a smaller walk in humi. They have quite a good selection of some certain cigars, the best we had seen all day but seemed to be lacking somewhat in overall brands. The staff member was quite helpful and seemed to have a good knowledge of the cigars they carried. While we only picked up one stogie I would say this place is more then worth a stop, the prices seemed to be better then most places.

[DonnieW]

As someone who works downtown and knows these shops intimately, I completely agree with your sentiments. Excellent feedback.

[nasa25]

I have made many purchases from Casablanca....back in the days when I didn't mind paying $50 for a stick...now I just wait until I go to Cuba. Nice shop though. I got a great deal on Opus X's a couple times.

[kayaker]

Thanks for the extra shop reviews CohibaMan.

We could start a b&m ratings page, at least for some of the major centers.

Ian