Due to the economy slowing down over the past year, some of the local shops in West Reading are having a difficult time competing with the Berkshire Mall and VF Outlets on the other side of town. In an effort to promote one another, a few shops wanted to get together in one location and get the word out about their shops.

When the day of the event came around, I headed over to Kensington to see what was going on. Shortly after arriving, I had a cigar in one hand and a glass of Old Weller Bourbon in the other. I got to talking to Kurt for a few minutes before we were joined by another regular, which I hadn’t met before the event.

After a little conversation, I headed upstairs to the lounge to grab something to eat. The food was prepared by GNA Italian Ristorante, just a few stores down from the cigar shop. Having had GNA food on a number of occasions before, I was more than happy to dig in. Just as expected, the food was fantastic.

After eating and having a little small talk with a couple of the other regular customers, I headed to a separate room on the second floor to take a look at some displays that were set up. What I found was some very nice stuff from a few local businesses I had no idea even existed.

Following some more conversation, we got word that the fashion show was set to begin shortly. We all made out way to the temporarily smoke-free basement to take a look at some clothes. One of the presenters was Jon King from Sharp Dressed Man.

Recently relocated to West Reading, Sharp Dressed Man is located directly across the street from the Kensington Tobacconist parking lot. Every week, for the past several months, I have been getting out of my car and seeing the store across the street. Judging by the window display, I never though the store would have anything inside to suit my taste.

After seeing two suites, I had an entirely different outlook on the store. Not only were they some good looking suites, they were surprisingly affordable. I was so impressed, I actually purchased a suite the following day after my Friday visit to the cigar shop.

In addition to suites from Sharp Dressed Man, we were shown some Ladies Lingerie and Lounge Wear from LiLiBea’s. Robin Horman, Founder of LiLiBea’s, had two absolutely stunning women show us six outfits in all. Unlike Sharp Dressed Man, I had never heard of LiLiBea’s before the event. Having been impressed with the presentation, I made my way over to see Robin later on that evening, to purchase a gift certificate for my wife.

After leaving LiLiBea’s, I headed back to Kensington for one final cigar and a cup of coffee. That one cigar actually turned into two as Kurt, Joe (from Camacho Cigars), and I got to talking about the cigar industry. I wound up heading home about an hour after closing time. In addition to having a great time, I discovered a few local businesses that I’ll definitely be purchasing from again.

Even though there were not any deals or specials going on for cigar purchases, I had a blast and hope to see an event like this again in the future. Even though this was not a manufacturer centric event, Joe from Camacho made sure that all patrons received a complimentary Camacho Cigar for coming out to the shop.

Post from: Walt in PA

Mens Night Out: Kensington Tobacconist

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More than a year ago I was an active member of an up-and-coming cigar forum. As people got to know one another they began talking about having herfs (local meet ups revolving around cigars). As it turns out, one of these meet ups was being held at my local cigar shop by someone that was coming back to Pennsylvania to visit family.

I decided that I wanted to take part in this get-together and meet some of the people in person that I was conversing with on the forum. This particular herf was small and consisted of about four people in all (apparently, Reading doesn’t have an abundance of forum savvy cigar smokers).

One of the people in attendance was my areas Oliva Cigar representative. We got to talking about a variety of things, cigars being the prime topic of discussion. At some point in the conversation the El Cobre cigar was brought up. The rep went on to tell me that it was produced by Oliva and was only sold in Connecticut at the shop he used to go to when when he lived in the area.

Some time down the line we met up once again, this time he had a couple of El Cobre for me to try. Ever since then I have been hooked on the cigar. It packs alot of punch with lots of flavor, something I have come to enjoy greatly in a night-cap cigar. Any earlier than that and it tends to ruin my palate for other cigars.

The most interesting part of the cigar is its story. I’m told that Jose Oliva was out to dinner with some of the people from this shop in Connecticut. During dinner they got to talking about what makes a cigar enjoyable. Someone mentioned that the more strength it had, the better it was for them. As a bit of a joke, Jose had a bundle of cigars shipped to Connecticut that was fresh off the rolling table and loaded with Ligero.

The guys at the shop got together one night at the shop and unwrapped the oil stained paper from the bundle. Each person lit up a cigar and sunk in their chair from the power. The stick was later nicknamed The Lobotomizer and soon after became the house brand of this shop.

Post from: Walt in PA

Cigar of the Week: El Cobre By Oliva Cigars

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