Vintage Cigar Lounge — Restaurant in Huntsville

This business has an excellent marketing team, for sure. They spend a lot of money to give off the impression that they are a prestigious cigar lounge. However, I have spent quite a lot of time and money in cigar lounges, and this establishment is not one I will be returning to for multiple reasons.

This is the second time I've been in here, last time was in February. Both times, the staff member attending the humidor lacked basic knowledge of major cigar brands, and had no idea where anything was. I also asked if one specific cigar was in stock, and was constantly peppered with pushes to purchase other cigars by that brand after the staffer couldn't find the cigar I asked about on the computer, despite those cigars having nothing in common with the one I asked about besides the logo on the band.

Beyond the lack of basic cigar knowledge, proper etiquette seems to be thrown out the window here as well. Not only were customers allowed to smoke cheap cigarettes inside the lounge, but the place actually sells them! There is nothing a cigar smoker hates more than to see an otherwise nice cigar lounge ruined by the stench of cheap cigarettes. For an establishment that seems to rigidly enforce "etiquette" rules to a rather severe level according to other Google reviews I'm now reading, they can't seem to get the basics right.

The second star in this review is due to their excellent selection of cutters, lighters, and specialty pipes, even though they appeared to be slightly overpriced (although it's Bridge Street, so I'll give them that one). I was shopping for family gifts, and may have purchased some if I didn't have to stand in cigarette smoke to do it, as a customer was sitting in front of the items I wanted to look at, puffing away. Neither I nor my wife wanted to smell like trash. I was able to find some red tin Romeo y Julieta cigarillos that aren't always easy to locate.

Cigar smoking isn't just a hobby. It's a rich culture, with its own rules and traditions. It's about comraderie and meeting new people. It's about appreciating the finer things in life, and relishing complex flavors that can't be found in anything else. This place seems to have abandoned everything that makes real cigar lounges great, and has instead chosen to focus on pure profit and a feeble attempt to fake being a "high class" establishment.

A real cigar lounge is like a priceless work of art, a fine wine, or a perfectly aged single malt scotch. This loung is a rather feeble attempt at an expensive forgery. All the dress codes and exclusive backrooms in the world can't replace a thorough knowledge of premium handrolled tobacco and a focus on good fun and friendship.

There are plenty of fantastic cigar lounges in the area. This isn't one of them. I'd recommend The Cigar Room on hwy 72. They know their tobacco and how to treat people.

P. S. For what it's worth, the employee I dealt with seemed perfectly nice. This is in no way a criticism of him. It's up to the owners to hire people that are qualified tobacconists. If your employee doesn't yet know what a Kristoff is or whether it starts with a C or a K, and has never heard of Hammer & Sickle, they certainly shouldn't be manning the humidor by themselves on a busy...

I went to the Google page for Vintage Wine & Cigars in order to write this review. That was the FIRST time I had any idea that this store had a #2 rated cigar lounge or had a walk-in humidor. And I've been there twice! This is a complete failure of this business to promote itself and to increase its customer base.

The first time I walked into this store it was very awkward. When you enter I guess you're on the wine side and it doesn't look anything like the picture on their website. There are no display cases in the middle. It's just a big room with wine on the walls. Very weird. The cashier wasn't very helpful. I was looking for a nice, high quality prong type wine bottle opener. I didn't see one, so I asked the salesperson. She said no, they didn't have any. I asked if they usually do stock them and they're out or they just never carry them. She responded saying that they sometimes get them. That's it. End of conversation. I left, disappointed.

After smoking a cigar with family over the holidays, I was thinking to maybe get into the hobby a little bit. What could be more perfect than a store dedicated to the hobby! I went into this store with every intention of buying a number of cigar accessories including a lighter, a cutter, and maybe even an ash tray. I started talking to the salesperson about cutters and lighters, and she seemed to know very little and it was very awkward. Since I know nothing, she had the perfect opportunity to sell (and upsell) me since I was ready to buy. When talking about lighters, she showed me this large display case. I asked if any were made in the USA. She said "some of them", but didn't offer which ones. I asked if she had any recommendations and she pulled out one and said this one is $30 and lit it showing me that it worked. I said that there seemed to be a lot of choices and that I would have to do some more research and left.

To me, this is insanity. She had the perfect opportunity to tell me about the different kinds of lighters and cutters and why I would want one vs another. She could have told me about the cigar lounge. She could have even tried to sell me a cigar or two. Instead, she had no energy, possibly very little knowledge, and made no effort to help me. She lost a sale as now I will buy online. I left thinking how can this store even stay in business.

If this store caters to the customers that already know about its existence and are already experts in the hobby, I guess that's fine. But isn't part of doing business to expand your customer base and make sure that customers -- especially those who WANT to spend money -- don't leave empty handed? At this point, I really couldn't care less that they have some amazing lounge. They didn't even put in the slightest bit of effort to sell me a $30, $50, or $80 lighter. They had no interest in helping to educate a novice -- which ultimately would result in more sales and revenue for them. Just one more paying customer coming back time and time again. The whole point of brick and mortar stores is customers service. At this point, I've learned more in searching online than I did walking into this store. So bother driving over...

I really enjoy visiting smoke shops while traveling. I live in Cleveland Ohio where there are many. Ohio City Cigar, Cousins, Sam Klein, Mayfield Smoke Shop to name a few are wonderful each with its own personality. When I'm in New York, no trip is complete without a visit to Nat Sherman and Papa Juan, in Miami it's Little Havana. I love, love, 💘 the 850 (San Francisco) and the Macanudo (NYC) because you can eat, drink, and smoke. These are some of America's and the world's best smokarias. Yes I made that word up. VINTAGE WINE and CIGAR (VWC) is at the top of the food chain. The shop is exciting and the wines and cigars.. AND VWC is absolutely unparalleled in customer service. Ya can't even call it customer service. It's beyond that. However, the chairs in the downstairs lounge are things to be mastered. One either has to give in to an uncomfortable reclined slouch or to a perch on the front of the beast to be vertical. I was just shy of a Jerry Lewis comedy routine last time there. The upstairs lounge sits fine. They're renovating the downstairs lounge as this is published.. VWC has Friday night wine tastings. They do a "Game Day Special" every week. It's a package deal that includes a range of preselected cigars and beers plus access to the members only lounge. Great for me since I don't live in town so I'd rather not buy a membership. They have "tons of Cigar Deals, Freebies, Wine Tasting, Free Beer Tasting during" ... and "Cigar Event!" And finally, "Vintage Wines & Cigars is located in the luxury atmosphere at Bridge Street Town Centre." Restaurants and clothing stores abound. Price range category below doesnt work for cigars. I've only been to a couple of shops that sell only high end cigars. Most aficionados know it's the taste you like that counts and damn the price. If a $4 smoke does it for ya have at it. The same goes for the $40 smoke. VWC...