Yes!!! Finally off from work and loving it. Got two more days 'til I hit the beaches of Playa del Carmen with my friends, but decided to get some early loungin' out of the way. Mowed the yard, edged, and watered the lawn this morning then strayed down to the local Bush's Chicken to get some lunch. For those that aren't familiar with Bush's Chicken (it's a CTX thang), its like Chicken Express, but much better and much cheaper. A gallon of their famous sweet tea is $2 and a 32oz is $.46 cents. Of course you got to top it all off with the serenity seasoning too. But anyways, as I digress; after stuffing my yap, I jumped on the 317 towards McGregor from Temple. It was a nice peaceful ride through some quaint towns, and approximately 25 minutes later, I was there.
The place where I was heading to was Tobacco Junction's Cigar Lounge. I had heard about this place from the employees of Tobacco Junction in Temple, where I get some of my cigars from. The place was quite impressive, very large, and the staff very accomodating and helpful. Though at first glance, in the expansive humidor, I was not entirely impressed, but was reassured by the employees they were working on bringing in much more stock. The humidor, at this moment in time, contained the cigar staples of CAO, Hoyo, Perdomo, Rocky Patel, Cusano, Avo, and some Fuente's and Ashton's. Unfortunately for me, there were hardly a Pete Johnson, Don Pepin, nor Padilla in sight. This was quite a horror for me. But, after speaking to the owner, David, he filled me in on the reason he didn't bring many of the cigars into this Central Texas area. The reason was that they weren't selling! He said the cigars would just sit on the shelves. I definitely could understand the business sense in not bringing in those cigars now, and was perplexed to know that the Central Texas clientele of cigar smokers were not familiar with these cigar brands/makers. From where I'm from in Dallas, and many cigar lounges in Austin, Pete Johnson, Don Pepin, Padilla , and for an additional few, Oliva, are all anyone or most of what everybody smokes and demands. I guess, different place, different clientele, and I will have to live with this notion.
Other than the humidor and selection of cigars, this place brings class and comfort to the cigar lounge realm. It is considered, and probably is, by some experts, the largest cigar lounge in Texas, with over 5000 square feet of smoking pleasure. The place is filled with tobacco paraphernalia, a coffee bar, and loads of super soft leather couches, seats, and flat screen television's. I kicked back, entirely laid out with a book I am reading, and immediately was asked by the staff if I would like a large pillow to make me more comfortable, of course I obliged. With book in hand, I accompanied the situation with a La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tobaqueros Belicoso (6x52). The La Gloria is a new one to me, and odd, cause it has two wrappers, the first third had a Connecticut shade leaf wrapper and the rest was wrapped in Ecuadorian Sumatra tobacco. At $6-$7, the cigar was eh, it began well with floral and cedar notes and then became unsmokeable at the end of the cigar. Afterwards, it seemed as though a cedar tree had caught fire in my mouth.
Overall, besides the cigar of my choosing, the TJ Cigar Lounge was a great experience. I definitely will bring my buddies back to this place to hang out. The hours are open late 'til 10pm, and it's BYOB, which definitely gets a "Go" from me. At the end of August they will have their official "Grand Opening" with many of the cigar vendors in attendance. I will probably be present with some friends ready to enjoy some cigars with some fine drinks. Thanks to David and his staff at Tobacco Junction.
Ratings: La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tobaqueros Belicoso (6x52)= 85-86
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