The Old Fashioned Cigar Bar — Local services in Paducah

Have been recommended this place to visit when I was driving through so figured I'd try it out but was pretty disappointed. The place appears nice, decor is nice, but the service and atmosphere is severely lacking. They have a great selection of whiskeys i wanted to pair with a cigar but when I asked the bartender what they'd suggest to pair they didnt seem to really know anything about cigars and could only tell me what was popular and sold well but nothing else. And the whole process of getting the drink and the cigar seemed a little convoluted and awkward compared to other similar establishments I've been to. As well I though it was really weird that they have tap to pay but I couldn't use apple pay? When I mentioned it the bartender just said its a decision the owner made and it doesnt make sense to them either. Well fast forward a little into the night it all seemed to make sense. The bar got pretty busy and the owner (who lives in the apartment above the bar) came down from up the stairs and was clearly pretty drunk, slurring speech, clumsy and throwing off the flow of the staff around him. You could feel the whole mood shift and all the employees get stiff and clearly uncomfortable. Ended up talking to one the "members" (I don't really understand the members only for both lofts) I asked if this was usual and how the bartender seemed so uncomfortable, they told me that is was pretty usual and they've really struggled to keep staff here. From what I could see I could believe it. He kept interrupting the bartender to tell them a drink order they were already working on. I could feel the tension of the micromanaging. The guy I was talking to told me its gotten worse the last 6 weeks or so after losing one of the bartenders they've either been short staffed or the owner has been hanging around drinking with some of the other members then fumbling around to "help." From the other reviews I see it seems like this is commonplace here and the owner seems very argumentative in the replies. Maybe I just came through at a bad time but I dont know that I'll give it another try. It felt like the camera crew was going to bust in for bar rescue any minute itbwas painful to watch. And with so few good cigar bars with full humidors left...

This is a 1 star review based upon 3 experiences within one night each getting progressively worse until they decided I was no longer even welcomed in the business.

I'm 34 yo, clean cut and have grey in my beard. I am in town in a cross country trip and felt something special about it so wanted to check out the town. First stop is this place. I was pretty abrasively and quickly asked for my ID, okay born in 1990 so I showed them. Not enough, had to pull the id out and get scanned before I could even sit down and this is 7pm on a Saturday. Procedure, I get it...

When I inquired about it as this has literally never once happened to me, I was told that everyone does it here. Okay, so I'm ready for it. Buy a $21 shot of whiskey go check out five other places. Not a single one Even card in me let alone had me remove my card to be scanned.

I go back to let the bartender know. Hey y'all made me feel very weird and not a single other place. Did what you did. Owner mentioned my beard and thought I was profiled. I just wanted to let em know that businessman to businessman I wouldn't shop there anymore. Bartender took it as a personal beef, I just hate people who lie and are judgemental.

We're good I think until I'm looking for desert. Decide to check if they have any now that we've made our peace. Well, I was told heavily I'm not invited in as soon as I entered the 3rd time. The two "nice* bartenders treated me like a bum and vagrant for being honest with them.

Low key, still charged me for the whiskey. Worst $21 I ever spent and if you don't look like how they 2qn5, they'll profile you.

The rest of the town is amazing though and not a bunch of problems. They scan every single id here I'm told, yet when I asked if they scanned the guys outside they didn't. Don't go here imo. Ty for the weird experience but the town...

I read a lot of reviews of this place prior to visiting and there were a number of negative reviews, so I'd like to both address them and share my experience here.

My wife and I stopped here during a visit to Paducah (despite some concerns after reading reviews). Overall, we had a great time. Let me comment on some of the critiques.

The owner wants someone to escort you into the humidor. We did see this in some reviews and asked a staff member to let us into the humidior, and had no issues. It's not typical in my experience, but it wasn't an issue and we had no problems.

I read that people were asked to leave "members only" areas. I can see where this could be a problem as members only areas aren't clearly identified, but we asked before we sat down and had no issues. My only comment to the owner would be to better identify members only areas.

I also read that some non regulars felt watched and I did not experience this at all. Bar staff was attentive and friendly. The younger guy that was escorting people into the humidor was actually very friendly. He made two good recommendations and when my second cigar wasn't drawing, he didn't hesitate to grab me a replacement.

I read a review that also referenced erratic whiskey pricing. Overall, I'd say that pricing was very good based on my experiences outside of Paducah. Buffalo Trace products were a little high, but that's normal. Most of what I drank was below the price point i would expect.

Lastly, there was a band on the night we visited and no cover charge. And they were good.

Overall, an enjoyable visit and...