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Date: 11/9/2017
ENFIELD, CT – Walk up to The Connecticut Valley Tobacconist at 337 Hazard Ave. and there is a good chance the aroma of cigars will greet you.
Even during a weekday morning, there are several cigar afficionados gathered on the couches and easy chairs in the front of the historic building enjoying a cigar.
This, however, is not just an ordinary cigar establishment. Established in 1996, the shop predates the cigar boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s. It is also a cigar store that makes its own line of cigars, which are distributed nation-wide to 150 outlets.
Manager Victoria Tarnowicz said the goal of the shop is to “make people feel welcome.”
She added, “We want them to come to a safe place and have a good time.”
The walls of the shop are lined with vintage floor to ceiling humidors offering hundreds of cigars brands and types. There is a vintage cigar store Indian statue in the window and a plaster bust of author and well known cigar smoker Mark Twain mounted on the wall.
One area of the humidors is dedicated to the shop’s own line, Battlefield Cigars. Tarnowicz said that after the Eastern States Exposition the stock on their own cigars is low. The shop has two retail areas at the annual fair and Tarnowicz has another locations in the Connecticut Building where she rolls hundreds of fresh cigars during the fair’s run. She said it was the shop’s largest marketing efforts.
The shop’s own line reflects the history of Hazardville and its connection to the Civil War. Col. Hazard manufactured gunpowder for the Union Army there and one of the cigars is named aptly “Old Powder Keg.”
Of course, she added, their cigars feature the world-renown Connecticut shade tobacco.
She said the Battlefield line is “slowly getting out there more and more” into the marketplace and is considered a “boutique” brand, not unlike a craft beer.
She has worked in the shop for the past 11 years and she said there is no typical cigar smoker. There are white collar and blue collar folks smoking together.
“That’s what I like about my audience,” she explained.
A cigar smoker herself, Tarnowicz said she and her staff pride themselves on customer service. “We really do educate people on cigars. We want them to come back and enjoy the experience,” she said.
If you’re a cigar neophyte, spend a couple of minutes with Tarnowicz. Through a series of questions about your previous experiences and taste, she will make several recommendations.
Don’t know how to cut or light a cigar? She’ll help you with that as well. She explained how a person cuts a cigar and with what implement – there are several choices – is important. Lighting a cigar is also a teachable moment for the novice, as she said some people prefer a wooden match, while others use a gas “torch” lighter. The secret is not to set the cigar on fire.
She showed this writer how to cut one of the shop’s Old Powder Keg cigars, which has a “torpedo” end. By cutting at the right spot the cigar releases more flavor, she explained.
Cutting at the wrong spot, “completely changes the taste,” she cautioned.
How one stores a cigar – in a home humidor and not in a plastic bag – and how one cuts and lights it affects the flavor of a cigar.
A final word to the newcomer from Tarnowicz: never inhale.
For her “cigars are luxury – always have been.” She added, “You’re getting away from it all. It’s not a habit, it’s not quick.”
The store hosts informal cigar nights on Thursdays and Fridays – call ahead (888-566-7879) to confirm – during which people buy a cigar and enjoy it. There is complimentary water and coffee, Tarnowicz said.
For more information go to www.cvtobacco.com.