Welcome to The Cigar Advisor! Thank you for checking us out!
The Cigar Advisor was started by two longtime friends that really wanted to create a source for all like-minded individuals that love a good cigar. As we both began our cigar journeys, we always enjoyed going to different cigar shops, lounges & bars. In doing so, we’ve met a lot of really cool people along the way; most of the time, complete strangers to us. However, that’s the amazing thing about cigar culture. You can literally pop into any cigar establishment, grab your favorite stick, relax and start up a conversation with a complete stranger that may live a completely different life from you.
As we continued to visit different cigar establishments, we thought to ourselves, wouldn’t it be awesome if we could have a place where we can look up different places. I mean, I guess you can do that on Google, but we were striving for a little bit more. Not just a place that you can look up cigar establishments but a place where cigar patrons can also leave their reviews and experiences.
So we took both ideas and mashed them together! A place where people can search for the best cigar establishments but also review and rate them. A place where we can all come together and share our collective knowledge on some of the best cigar places out there.
The Cigar Advisor is as much our idea as it is yours. Thank You for coming along on this journey with us!
Meet The Cigar Advsiors
Matt S. (Smoke N Barrel)
I started my cigar journey in 2014 while on visiting The Virgin Islands and have been on a journey on becoming a true enthusiast these past few years. I like to think I am very opened minded when it comes to cigars, I typically will try any cigar atleast once, twice or even three times. I often find myself going back to brands, that I felt on the fence about. I then try them with different pairings, possibly different blends, sizes. I have found even a difference in years can make a difference when visiting previous cigars. I am originally from Tampa Bay (home of cigar city) and have since moved to Orlando, Florida. Growing up and living most of my adult life in Tampa Bay can truly engulf you into cigar culture. On this cigar journey, one of my closest friends and I, have enjoyed many cigars, cigar lounges and drinks together. After traveling to many different shops and lounges we kept saying, we “wish there was a place that had cigar shops listed where we could go on and talk about our experience and see what others had experience there.” We then created “The Cigar Advisor” a place specifically for cigars, where cigar lounges could go into detail of there offerings, hours and share pictures and we as consumers could post how much we enjoyed specific details or differences of their shops. Keep it smokey peeps. ~Matt S.
Favorite Cigar Shop/Lounge/Bar: Cigarz on The Avenue (Winter Park) or Cigars International Tampa
Favorite Cigar(s): Joya De Nicaruagua Decades, Room 101 Doomersayer Aggressive, Montecristco Espada, Romeo y Julieta Reserva, My Father La Opulencia
John D. (Leaves & Rice)
Coming from the Tampa Bay Area, I started smoking cigar shortly after I left The Cigar City for Orlando, Fl for college. For 15 years I lived in the Orlando area and my love for cigars was kind of supressed; aside from the occasional vacations on cruises or to St. Augustine, where I would indulged my latent cigar habit. However all that changed at the end of 2021 as I had the fortunate luck to move back to the Tampa Bay area and my love for cigars re-awoken. You can all it a re-discovery of my love of cigars, cigar culture and cigar lounges. It be truly a pleasure and exciting time starting The Cigar Advisor with Matt. We’ve put a lot of thought and passion into what we wanted to see in a cigar website and the things that we were searching for. We are hoping that The Cigar Advisor is something that many like minded individuals have the pleasure of experiencing for themselves. Come along this wild ride with us, with a drink in one hand an a cigar in the other. ~John D.
Favorite Cigar Ship/Lounge/Bar: Cigars International Tampa, Davidoff of Geneva Tampa, Cuban Paradise
Favorite Cigar(s): Drew Estate Undercrown 10, Room 101 Doomsayer Aggressive, Plasencia Alma Del Campo, Joya De Nicaruagua Decades