The Wooden Indian Expeditions

[Smoked!]

Nice post, Edgeman. Bobalu's looks like a cool little cigar factory. Too bad about the missing Indian, though.

I think there are still a couple small factories near Tampa in Ybor City, FL, that teach rollers. I'm going over that way in a couple weeks so maybe I'll try to stop by one. Who knows, I may even run into a celebrity or two.

[EdgeMan]

Nice post, Edgeman. Bobalu's looks like a cool little cigar factory. Too bad about the missing Indian, though.

I think there are still a couple small factories near Tampa in Ybor City, FL, that teach rollers. I'm going over that way in a couple weeks so maybe I'll try to stop by one. Who knows, I may even run into a celebrity or two.

Yeah, no Indian but very cool place. Great smokes too.

[Smoked!]

Shop: The Humidor (soon to be Club Humidor – San Pedro), San Antonio, Texas

Location: The Humidor is located on San Pedro about a mile south of the 410 Loop in fabulous San Antonio, Texas. It is a stand alone building and has ample parking both in front by the road and behind the building. You can’t miss it.

Wooden Indian: Absolutely! There is an excellent Indian statue out front and a few more specimens inside. The only one I was permitted to photograph is a resin copy of a Plains Tribesman wearing a buffalo-horned headdress. It is not the best production on the premises. If this is a scaled model, the rifle appears to be some kind of break-action 50 BMG. That would handle a buffalo… or a light tank.





This shop was founded by Col. Rumbo and his wife back in the day. He established the business and added locations as the opportunities arose. The guys in the shop are awesome. It feels like a neighborhood smoke shack, but offers much more. I made two trips here during my stay in San Antonio. On the second visit, I remembered to bring my camera along. Unfortunately, one of the owners denied my request to photograph the interior.

The Exterior… from the parking lot:




Service: All the guys know their business and most are trained tobacconists. Even the customers are well versed in cigar-speak. This is a busy shop so I tried not to bother the staff.

Walk-in: The Humidor boasts “the largest walk-in in the Southwest”… or so I am told. Alas, no photos.

Cigars: You name it. There is a concentration on higher end merchandise, but they offer something for everyone. This chain of shops lays claim to the title of largest Davidoff distributor in the region. The regional sales representative, Chris, happened to stop in and he filled me in on the details. Their sales volume is so strong that the Davidoff people pitched in to build a Winston Churchill Cigar Lounge. Sorry, no photos.

Additional offerings: The Humidor offers a great selection of cigars as well as a broad range of accessories, toys, and gadgets - none of which I was allowed to photograph. *sigh*

Additional amenities: They are adding an AVO Lounge, similar to the existing WCL. Access to the AVO Lounge will require membership. They do offer a special “members only” AVO club cigar. However, no photos are permitted.

Summary: Despite my sarcasm about the photos, this really is a “must see” shop. Next time you’re in San Antonio, haul your butt up to The Humidor and plan to spend a little time browsing and hanging out in the lounge. IMO, it’s the second best cigar lounge in Greater San Antonio. Who is tops? I’ll tell you later.

Disclaimer and Full Disclosure:
Do not smoke too much; it is bad for you. I have the utmost respect for our Native American brothers. They never wear metallic armor. Ice cream is good. Sometimes I use Stay-Puft marshmallows in hot cocoa. I have no financial interest or ownership interest in any cigar shop, store, retailer, wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, packager, shipper, stevedore, roller, farmer, harvester, or tobacco farm land lease holder, nor do I receive any other benefit, explicit or implied, from the inclusion of or review of any establishment herein named, referred to, or otherwise described. One guy did give me a free cigar. I watch the Big Bang Theory on CBS. We should promote more old-school pirates. Arrrrgh. The most common commodity in this country is unrealized potential. I think Wooden Indians are cool. I wish more Cigar Store Indians were made from actual wood. Please, no flash photography.

[Smoked!]

Episode #17 – Club Humidor – The Quarry

Shop: Club Humidor – The Quarry, San Antonio, TX

Location: This edition of Club Humidor is located in the Quarry Shops off 281 and Basse Road - Deep in the Heart of Texas! Special note: This is one of five local shops owned by the same family. Take a look back at Episode # 16, “The Humidor”, in post # 67.




Wooden Indian: Yes! Here is a fine Cigar Store Indian proudly displayed on the walk in front of the shop. There are also a couple old-school Punch statues inside. Check out this fine example:




Atmosphere: The Quarry is a high end shopping destination that includes retail, dining, entertainment, and anchor tenants such as Whole Paycheck Foods, Gap, Old Navy, and Victoria’s Secret – Ooh, la, la! or… whatever… should have taken some photos there…

Here’s a Punch guy in lieu of pictures from Victoria’s:



The other Punch guy is near the front door:





Service: The youngster at the counter that day introduced himself as Ed. I liked his style. He allowed me plenty of time to snoop around and fielded all my questions with big-league skill and reasonable responses. He demonstrated a thorough knowledge of his stock and of the cigar trade in general. My impression is that he is very honest in expressing his opinions. No nonsense, no hedging – just good responses.

Walk-in: The walk-in is fairly large and well stocked. They offer all the expected brands. This is the first look I had at the recently introduced Xicar Havana Collection cigars. I haven’t smoked one yet, but they offer a few different wrappers and sizes to suit tastes from mild to wild. Ok, maybe not that wild.









Additional offerings: There is an excellent selection of humis, cutters, pipes, oh my! You will find everything you expect in a high end shop.

Additional amenities: There is an indoor lounge with comfortable seating, a giant television, and a variety of cold and hot drinks available. You will also find strategically placed seating out front. I ran into a group of guys enjoying cigars out on the benches. You can see them on the right in the first photo. There was a lawyer, a retired gentleman, a businessman, and an Army Staff Sergeant. We conversed for twenty minutes or so about cigars, cigar guys, and the lost cigar shop community. When you run into people that enjoy cigars, they aren’t strangers for long.

Summary: It is worth a trip to visit if you’re in town. I suggest that you ditch the female wimmin types at the shopping center and spend some quality time in the smoking lounge.


Disclaimer and Full Disclosure:
Do not smoke too much; it is bad for you. I have the utmost respect for our Native American brothers. They never wear metallic armor. Ice cream is good. Sometimes I use Stay-Puft marshmallows in hot cocoa. I have no financial interest or ownership interest in any cigar shop, store, retailer, wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, packager, shipper, stevedore, roller, farmer, harvester, or tobacco farm land lease holder, nor do I receive any other benefit, explicit or implied, from the inclusion of or review of any establishment herein named, referred to, or otherwise described. One guy did give me a free cigar. I watch the Big Bang Theory on CBS. We should promote more old-school pirates. Arrrrgh. The most common commodity in this country is unrealized potential. I think Wooden Indians are cool. I wish more Cigar Store Indians were made from actual wood. Please, no flash photography.

[ndv21]

I agree with your assesment! Great place to come and enjoy a smoke.

[Smoked!]

Episode #18 – Club Humidor, Huebner Oaks Plaza - San Antonio, TX 78230

Let’s try to shake up the formula a little.

This is the Huebner Oaks edition of the Club Humidor family of stores. If you are familiar with their location in The Quarry, you can see the family resemblance. It is nothing like the Mother Ship down in SA off San Pedro (The Humidor – please, no photos.)

My visit was on a Saturday back in November of ’09. There was quite a crowd gathered around the giant TV watching the Longhorns issue yet another beat down to a hapless conference foe. The Big 12 ain’t what it used to be… There were quite a few men and women enjoying the football game and a cigar, as well as the soft drinks and caffeinated beverages available in the store. This is exactly how a local cigar shop should work.

I chose not to take photos while the shop was jammed with customers. I estimated the mix at about 60/35/5 (male/ female/ indeterminate). My thinking was that if I whipped out the camera and started snapping candids, some of those frenzied football patrons might take exception, rough me up, and toss me out of the store, ala Ron White. … Some of the dudes looked pretty tough, too… and no one wants to get tossed out of a cigar shop by a bunch of girls… or an indeterminate bipedal hominid.

I was surprised at the traffic volume during my brief visit. There was a steady flow of customers in the walk-in humidor and at the accessory cases. Some of the volume may be attributable to holiday gift shopping, but I bet this store is turning in solid numbers year-round.

The photo below is the only one I have to offer. You can tell from the façade that the store is in a fairly new shopping plaza. Most of the other tenants are boutique and specialty shops. The Humidor fits in perfectly with this retail market segment. I left this image full size so you can zoom in a little and pick out a few details. If I had a 10x10000 lens like some people, you could see the UT logo on the shirt of the guy just inside the door.





What you can readily see is that the plaza is clean and well-maintained, the signage is easily visible, and the disabled are encouraged to park right up front. What you can’t easily spot is the fine Wooden Indian just inside the entry on the right and the fat little Punch statue on the left, facing out.

Also inside is a large accessory case on the back wall, the main service counter, and a well-stocked humidor that takes up most of the bay to the left of the main room. There is an excellent selection of all the national brands and premium cigars you expect. The conditions are perfect and the stock appears to be in excellent shape. I picked up a couple figurados for the trip home.

This location is quite a drive from downtown San Antonio, but if you have a reason to travel up to Huebner, you should definitely stop here. If you live nearby and enjoy watching sports with other cigar smokers, put Club Humidor in Huebner Oaks on your list.

Disclaimer and Full Disclosure:
Do not smoke too much; it is bad for you. I have the utmost respect for our Native American brothers. They never wear metallic armor. Ice cream is good. Sometimes I use Stay-Puft marshmallows in hot cocoa. I have no financial interest or ownership interest in any cigar shop, store, retailer, wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, packager, shipper, stevedore, roller, farmer, harvester, or tobacco farm land lease holder, nor do I receive any other benefit, explicit or implied, from the inclusion of or review of any establishment herein named, referred to, or otherwise described. One guy did give me a free cigar. I watch the Big Bang Theory on CBS. We should promote more old-school pirates. Arrrrgh. The most common commodity in this country is unrealized potential. I think Wooden Indians are cool. I wish more Cigar Store Indians were made from actual wood. Please, no flash photography.

[Smoked!]

Episode #19 - Latin Gold - Rivercenter Mall, San Antonio, TX 78205

Shop: Latin Gold - San Antonio 78205

Location: Rivercenter Mall – Downtown SA, up the street from the Riverwalk.




Wooden Indian: Uhhhh… negative. The place is called Latin Gold. The logo depicts a type of Aztec pyramid, so perhaps an image of Quetzalcoatl would be more appropriate. I’ll have to brush up on my fourteenth century Mesoamerican history.





I respectfully submit for your approval the ancient Aztec Deity, Quetzalcoatl.




Atmosphere: It’s in a mall… next to Macy’s. <p>

Service: Maybe I made the guy a little nervous. I don’t know. He seemed suspicious at first, but after I explained the TWIE thread, he lightened up. He probably thought I was an insurance inspector or BATF agent. My impression is that most of their business is online, by phone, and through mail-order.

Humidor: There are climate controlled display cases in the customer area of the shop rather than the typical walk-in. This type of display seems appropriate for the setting. Yes, Latin Gold rolls their own. At first, I thought they had only a small selection of private label hand-made cigars. They offer many blends, shapes, and sizes. There is also an assortment of flavored cigars for those who are so inclined.

Additional offerings: The focus is obviously on the house blends, but they also keep a small stock of national brands. You can see some display humidors and related accessories for sale in the photo. I saw some nice pipes on the wall display to the right. Smoking is prohibited in the mall, so there is no lounge or cigar smoking area.




One cool feature at Latin Gold is the cigar roller at the front of the shop. The poor guy must feel like he’s working in a fishbowl. He does attract a fair amount of attention from passers-by. There’s no way to know if all the production is done on site, but the dude can turn out some product on short order. I noticed he had a few short stogies set aside for the way home. I didn’t hassle him. He looked pretty handy with that sharp-ass blade.








Summary: Is it a destination or just a local depot? Actually, I was surprised at the amount of stock Latin Gold has on hand. I picked up a couple robustos. IMHO, Latin Gold maduro robustos are a solid smoke, but not exceptional. If you’re in town and you get dragged to the mall by your shopaholic wife, ditch her at Macy’s and stop here.

A little SFW cigar p0rn:

Maduro Robusto, 50 x 5








Disclaimer and Full Disclosure:
Do not smoke too much; it is bad for you. I have the utmost respect for our Native American brothers. They never wear metallic armor. Ice cream is good. Sometimes I use Stay-Puft marshmallows in hot cocoa. I have no financial interest or ownership interest in any cigar shop, store, retailer, wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, packager, shipper, stevedore, roller, farmer, harvester, or tobacco farm land lease holder, nor do I receive any other benefit, explicit or implied, from the inclusion of or review of any establishment herein named, referred to, or otherwise described. One guy did give me a free cigar. I watch the Big Bang Theory on CBS. We should promote more old-school pirates. Arrrrgh. The most common commodity in this country is unrealized potential. I think Wooden Indians are cool. I wish more Cigar Store Indians were made from actual wood. Please, no flash photography.