What to do? What to do???

[Daviso27]

As some of you guys may know, Im a Chef at restaurant in a 4 diamond hotel in Central Florida. The theme is kinda of like a "upscale sports bar"/chop house/Lounge. WE are in the process of updating a lot of items, we just revamped our menu, beer and wine selection and now we are looking to totally revamping our Cigar selection. Our guests range is huge so its hard to gauge everything. Currently we have a humidor shelving unit that holds about 10 boxes. Right now our selections are: Avo 2, AF signature, Macanudo tubo, RyJ tubo, and a Cohiba tubo.

My vision is to have more boutique smokes(Tatuage, DPG, NHC), a Fuente or two, a local smoke and maybe an infused stick, like a java, tabak or acid.

So my question to ya'll is, if you were to sell 10-12 sticks in your establishment, what would they be? Take in consideration that these would be "After Dinner" smokes...

Our cigar menu change will take a while before it will take place, but the brother who has the most influence on our new list, will receive a nice bomb from myself...

 

[hogfarmer]

tatuaje brown lables, they are great smokes and are made relativly localy, why not?

 

[Craig Mac]

AVO #2 is a classic, so keep that one. You want some brand recognition in there, I know you want stuff that you like, but truth be told most of the general public will hardly recognize those cigars. So throw brands like rocky in there as well. My list taking in all factors would be....

RyJ Bully
Macanudo Hampton Court
My Father #2
Padron 1964 Exclusivo
Rocky Patel Edge Lite
Tatuaje 7th Natural
CAO Earth Nectar or CAO Moontrance(for your flavored cigar)
AVO #2
Cohiba Toro Tubo
Montecristo #2
Fuente 8-5-8 Maduro and/or Work Of Art Maduro

 

[mwlabel]

I think CMac hit the nail on the head. I might consider swapping something out for a Davidoff something or other. In my area, they seem to draw A LOT of attention. I don't know what they are like in your area, however.

 

[bballbaby]

I would add an Ashton in there too. The white label. They're mild and have that light wrapper. the occassional smoker tends to think that the darker the wrapper the stronger the cigar so they like those light colored cigars like the Edge Lite, which is a good cigar by the way.

I vote for Acid for the flavored. People know that brand.

 

[sean]

Is there a way you could have a rotation that would have your humidor replacing some cigars with other comparable sticks? You could swap the Bully's for a Punch, and the Tat's for something else made at the MF factory?

Then if someone comes in looking for a cigar you have rotated out, your server takes that opportunity to "broaden" the client's cigar horizons under the astute recommendations from the chef? If your entre menu rarely changes, you could even have pre-suggested lists on hand for the servers to take their cues from.

Yes, it takes away from a certain sense of consistency; however, if done well, it could give your guests the sense of a custom-fitted experience.

Just thinkin' out loud... tryin' to come up with a way where you don't have to commit to ten sticks.

 

[javajunkie]

Mac potrifino
HdM excalibur I mad
RyJ reserva real toro
monte white no2
fuente hemi signature
fuente magnum R r54
avo classic no2
avu heritage toro
ashton classic prime minister
ashton vsg eclipse

unless you REALLY have the stogie clientele, or have the opportunity and their trust to guide by recommendations, stick with the known. like wine lists: you find something cool like orin swift prisoner (which don't travel far into kentucky), but everyone wants beringer white zin, you feel let down. skip davidoff if you are planning to buy direct, it won't happen without a lot of inventory, from what I've heard. and infused, if you do: cao rocks decent stuff, but i would go with j.d., like a tabak especially and acid kuba and blonde belicoso. just me.

and good luck with the project!

 

[Alwayslit]

Mac potrifino
HdM excalibur I mad
RyJ reserva real toro
monte white no2
fuente hemi signature
fuente magnum R r54
avo classic no2
avu heritage toro
ashton classic prime minister
ashton vsg eclipse

unless you REALLY have the stogie clientele, or have the opportunity and their trust to guide by recommendations, stick with the known. like wine lists: you find something cool like orin swift prisoner (which don't travel far into kentucky), but everyone wants beringer white zin, you feel let down. skip davidoff if you are planning to buy direct, it won't happen without a lot of inventory, from what I've heard. and infused, if you do: cao rocks decent stuff, but i would go with j.d., like a tabak especially and acid kuba and blonde belicoso. just me.

and good luck with the project!

......:thumbsup:

 

[L8A]

I agree 100% with the list Craig put up. I travel a bunch and always bring my own but most guys that are going to buy and smoke that cigar probably went for drinks or dinner and are more casual smokers that aren't going to be bringing anything along. That being said the brand recognition is key and that list covers all of the bases. Good luck with the overhaul. Sounds like a nice place.

 

[bdc30]

I'm on board with Craig's list as well. Good balance of 'known' brands for Joe Random, and finer sticks for people who know what to look for.

 

[Palmettoguy]

CA's top 5 for the year (excluding CC's of course) with CAs review posted below each box

Tabak Especial Corona Dulce (For the ladies, yes, some guys like them too-Or any other coffee infused stick)

Small cigar like Namakubi Papi Chulo (For a quick smoke-Or any other short/small ring smoke)

LP Feral Flying Pigs (Ppl like to buy strange/unusual stuff-Or any other neat/interesting looking stick) I do understand that stocks of FFP would be limited so as stated above, any neat/unusual looking stick...

A local boutique stick w/ history information posted below it. Not everyone that comes into the establishment is going to be from FL, some will buy just to take home for a souvenir.

A "baller" stick (Any expensive stick that they can show off to their friends to show how deep thier pockets are)

Macanudo Tubo (Simply due to brand/name recognition)

Cohiba Tubo (Simply due to brand/name recognition)

Not every person thats enters the establishment is going to be a cigar snob, those that are probably already have a travel humidor with them.

 

[Craig Mac]

I would bet that if you did bring in Feral Flying pigs, namakubi or a local boutique brand that those 3 would be the slowest moving sticks. Ideally it would be all tats, Liga, Padron, high end Fuente, ect... to accommodate the aficionados, but the reality of it is you have to accommodate more people that are going to buy on impulse in the restaurant. Think of it like the beer selection at the average restaurant, people will drink more Budweiser, Michelob, Yuenling, ect... than they will Dogfish Head. And knowing that you make available what you think will sell, not always what you would personally want. I think 3 or 4 of the ones I mentioned are in Tubos, you know why I mentioned those?? Because for some reason people think cigars in tubes are fresher than loose cigars, and I only suggested one Maduro because of the reason stated in this thread, the misconception that a dark cigar is strong, that was the reason I suggested 3 cigars with very light wrappers for the "give me something mild" crowd. The Maduro is there for Mr. "I like a dark cigar because it is stronger" as well. You want enough brand name there to help move the cigars and a few cigars that the guys who "get it" can find one to smoke. you can easily change out cigars from my list depending on a desired price point or availability. Keep in mind that the prices he will be selling these cigars at will likely be above retail like they typically are at restaurants, golf courses and other places that have small humidors. I have paid close to double for cigars here locally at clubs, but that is all a part of the convince.