The Big Easy
Posted By Elvis on September 2, 2007
Hello everyone out there! I want to apologize for my crazy antics this past week. As Iron has told you I went a little nutty after forgetting to take my Prilosec for three days in a row, but after I was released from the insane asylum, my doctor told me I should lay off cigars for awhile and take a little vacation to forget about Roberts and the extreme sadness its closing had on my body.
Well, the nicotine has cleared and I feel reborn to start smoking again…so tonight as I light up a fresh cigar that awaited me at my Minnesota home after a short trip to Hollywood, I am ready once again to sanely talk about my my favorite passion.
First tonight’s cigar….the Gurkha Shaggy Churchill. I ordered a box of these from Tampa Humidor. This is the first purchase I’ve made from this “Mom and Pop” online cigar store if such a thing can exist ,and I am impressed at their service. First the price was outstanding…$115 for a box of 25…..and second, the fact that my box came wrapped in paper with a water pillow! First time that’s ever happened. I pryed open the nailed box and I felt like Indiana Jones opening that scary Arc of the Covenant. There they were…buried beneath freshly shredded tobaccos…the amazing and legendary Shaggy. Awesome cigar….not much to write about…this is a perfectly mild, nice smelling and tasting cigar that is cheap enough to smoke every day…something you can’t say about every Gurkha line.
Now, as I smoke I will tell you about my vacation which was done under the guise of a sales trip for work. I stay in Studio City which is the porn capital of the world and home to Vivid Entertainment. It is a small little old town located in the San Fernando Valley and is minutes from Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, LA, etc. So it’s the perfect hideout for going to these various towns to visit clients of mine. It’s actually quite quiet compared to other LA-LA land cities. And years ago I discovered a gem called The Big Easy….a cigar shop that also has a lounge and is full of old movie posters, antiques and nasty old furniture….the perfect setting to get away from the craziness of the area and enjoy a cigar once the day is done. They even stay open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, something the cigar shops in MN should take heed of.
I was finally able to stop by on Friday night around 11pm and to my dismay the owner was in the process of shutting up shop. I told him “No! You can’t do that…I was looking forward to smoking here all week! This place is legendary!”
Well, he agreed to let me stay for an hour and even declined my offer to buy him a stick for his services. He said, “Damn…I guess I’ll just have to sit with you and light up a Tatuaje”. He told me his little shop has the biggest selection of these hot cigars in the state of California and that the Tatuaje guy comes in quite often to visit…I think he called him Mike…I will have to do some research.
I was pretty lit up from another night of an expensive client dinner involving several bottles of CA Pinot…so I chose the Rocky Patel Olde World Maduro to enjoy with a bottled water. Now, this was a bad choice due to the fact that my body was devoid of any tobacco tolerance for four days and because I had been drinking. This cigar kicked my ass half way through. I bought it because it was only $16…these run $19 or more a stick in MN. But in the hour before my head was spinning I got to know this shop owner I had met several times over the last five years on visits and he had quite a tale to tell.
First I picked his brain on a number of issues regarding his cigar shop and the business since I have been thinking of opening my own business lately. His modest sized walk in humidor was missing quite a few brands you normally find all over the place. There was not a single Gurkha or CAO or even Perdomo. It was litterered with the aforementioned Tatuajes, Fuentes, Rocky Patels, Zinos, Camachos and all of your standard lines like Montecristos, Macs, etc. He made it plain to me that the integrity of the cigars was his number one priority when choosing what to carry and his independence was number two. He would not be ruled by marketing ploys like CAO uses and would not be told how many facings, sizes and garbage brands he must carry to be able to sell the big names. His cigar lockers for rent had engraved nameplates on them which was a classy touch in an otherwise blue collar joint…and some of the names like Steven Spielberg and Michael Keaton led me to of course ask him about celebrity visits. He told me the local celebs loved his shop because it was hidden away and it is a spot they can go to relax and not have to deal with anyone bugging them for pictures or autographs.
I eventually got out of him that he in fact was an actor in his own right. His name is Steve Gianelli and he’s been in movies like Godzilla, Independence Day and was in 28 episodes of Cheers! He’s listed on www.imdb.com if you want to look him up. Wow….I had been looking to see a celeb all week and right under my nose was this unassuming cigar shop owner who does acting on the side between smoking and playing golf in the mornings. We talked about cigars, taxes, the Cuban embargo, rights, etc and this guy was just a wealth of knowledge on everything cigar. What a great experience and great way to end my trip. For anyone visiting the LA area, I would make it a priority to visit this shop located on Ventura Blvd in Studio City. What a find! I’m sure many of you reading this have had this experience…seeking out the one cigar oasis you can visit while on the road for business or pleasure.
I must say it is great to be home though, and smoking this Gurkha Shaggy is a nice welcome back present. I can’t wait to get back into my nightly cigar relaxation habit and lighting up another one. Cheers!
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