This was a painstaking task but I think I narrowed down our 7 sexiest cigar bands. Let me know what you think!
The Life Of A Cigartender
I didn't quite know what to expect when I first started at Havana Castle Cigars in December.
I knew, at the very least, I liked cigars and as far as I can tell, liking something you're about to do is a pretty good starting point for any venture you're about to under take.
The job has its obvious learning curves: product knowledge, customer service, ordering processes, scheduling, and so on. It is, after all, a retail job and from afar, it appears to be nothing more.
But upon further firsthand inspection, the job of a cigar salesman is a lot more than that.
I'm more a bartender than I am a salesman.
Think old school bartender, not some college girl in a skirt. Though for the right price, I'll swear a skirt if that's what the people want.
Murray, our shoppe's owner, looks at our store as if it were cigar version of the show Cheers. We're the place where everybody knows your name. And you know our name.
We're Cigartenders.
(How's that for totally made-up millennial lingo? Annoying or ingenious?)
In an age where everything can be ordered online, our customers choose to drive to us and personally, I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Why?
Because we offer community here. Or so it seems from my perspective behind the counter.
I know for certain customers give those of us working here a sense of community, I can only assume that that's a mutual feeling.
And that's why this isn't a retail job in the traditional sense. A lot of storytelling and bonding happens over a cigar. It's like being around a campfire, except the fire is in your mouth...so to speak. It's amazing how comfortable total strangers become with one another when they have a hobby in common. I think our Grand Opening proved this more than any other day we've been open. Total strangers sat together and spoke for hours. It was terrific and exactly what we hoped would happen here.
As I type this from the checkout counter, my stream of consciousness gets interrupted by the door opening. A regular customer comes in, buys a couple sticks and leaves. Shortly after he left and I got a few more sentences typed, a brand new customer shows up and I give him a tour. We talk about how we spent our long weekend and he makes his way to the patio to enjoy a house blend cigar and read a book.
Yeah, cigartending is more than selling product. It's about selling a community. And since I came on board in December, I'm convinced we've a pretty good community here.
PICTURES: Havana Castle London's First Cigar Night In Toronto
Kate, Murray and I didn't know what to expect during our first industry party in Toronto hosted by our supplier, Kretek. We're still kind of new to the cigar scene in southern Ontario.
We knew, at minimum, there'd be cigars and there'd be beer and, to be honest, if the event was nothing more than that, it'd be worth the two-hour drive anyways.
Turns out the event was a lot more than that. We got inundated with deals on everything from brand new ashtrays to free cigars we'll be handing out to customers.
Heck, there were two FULL pigs on a spit.
While we're talking about the pig, I turned to Murray and Kate whilst they were tearing through the crunchy skin of the beast, and asked them, "Did it occur to you that we just ate a pig fresh out of its casket?"
There's no surer way to ruin a perfectly fine meal than shining light on the reality of what we just did. Ha!
Oh well...it was a delicious swine and none of it got wasted. Trust me.
Arguably the coolest part of the entire day was the Steamwhistle truck handing us free beer.
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The guy in the sweatsuit straight out of Rocky VI is Brian. He was a good guy who, at one point, brought out a pellet gun for reasons he never got into but I believe it had something to do with a gopher causing havoc on the grounds of the Lions Club.
All in all, it was a great experience and Kretek hosted one hell of an event.
We picked up a ton of new stock for the store including the PSyKo Seven Maduro and the Asylum 13 7x70, which will officially be the biggest cigar we carry once it comes in.
Now, I don't mean to gloat, but I thought it'd be worth sharing the loot bag I got from attending the event.
Not a bad haul, eh?
So remember: the next time we are selling tickets to an event, make sure to buy one for yourself. The value of the cigars and other swag is WAY more than what your ticket costs so it's totally worth it for the cigar enthusiast old or new.