Edmonton Cigar Shops
Edmonton, like all cosmopolitan cities, has cigar shops. While there are a number of shops that sell cigars in River City—ranging from newsstands to convenience stores to hotel gift shops—there are only a few that can truly be called cigar shops. There are only a few stores that are operated by true tobacconists.
To my knowledge, there are only 3 such shops in Edmonton There are at least 5 such shops in Edmonton (thanks to Greg for reminding me about a few of them): La Tienda, Humo, Burlington, River City Cigar, and Hav-a-Cigar.
I am most familiar with Burlington. Burlington is my favourite cigar shop in the city. I go there often and always get good advice from Chris and Aaron (or is it Eric? I can never seem to get his name right). Whether you’re looking for cigars, cigarillos, pipes or pipe tobacco, or even “all natural” cigarettes, Burlington can provide.
They’re also stocked with all of the accessories you’ll ever need—cutters, humidors, ashtrays, and more. Though, to be honest, I find that I can get most accessories a lot cheaper online, and so I tend to buy these things through eBay or other sources.
La Tienda is a nice little shop, but I can’t really comment much on it. I’ve only been inside once or twice, and that was back before I really got into cigars. I went in not really knowing anything, but Curtis managed to help my friend K and I pick out a few decent cigars to celebrate becoming university graduates.
While I can’t say much about La Tienda, I can definitely say that Curtis is a helpful guy who knows his shit.
Humo is a place I’ve been hearing more and more about lately. It’s the one place I’ve never been inside. Ironically, it’s also the closest place to my apartment. I’ll definitely have to go in and check it out one day soon. Until then, I can’t really comment on the place.
But, I know that at least one of my readers is a cigar enthusiast. I’m sure there are others out there who might be reading this blog. So, tell me which of Edmonton’s cigar shops is your favourite, and why. And, if it’s La Tienda or Humo, please feel free to go into great detail, since I’m not familiar enough with either of these establishments to fairly recommend (or not recommend) them to my readers.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:52 am
You’re forgetting a critical member to the list…
“River City Cigar” on 50th, just north of the yellowhead (and another location in Fort Sask) is a good bet also. Murray runs a good shop and is both fairly priced, and a genuine fellah.
Another ‘close to home’ for me is Hav-a-cigar on 99th and 36th ave. While not a ‘traditional’ cigar shop - they carry good quality stock and great selection at a reasonable price.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:56 am
River City Cigar! Yes! I’ve driven past it on occasion, but I completely forgot about it when writing this list.
I can’t believe that I forgot Hav-a-Cigar…I used to drive past there several times a week.
Thanks for the reminders, Greg. I’ll have to check both of those places out sometime in the future, along with Humo.