Going to Miami Beach / South Beach, any cigar tours (Pepin Garcia)?

[U235]

Headed to Miami next weekend for some R&R. I'd love do something cigar oriented. I've heard rumors that Pepin Garcia has a factory tour, but I can't find any specific details on it. That sounds like a lot of fun and an interesting experience for a relatively new cigar person.

On this vein, is there anything else in that specific area that's a must-see?

 

[BArias4641]

I am going to Miami tomorrow...any places i should hit up? I have never been and want to take in as much as possible. Thanks in advance

 

[in2xshp]

Here this will help both of you, at least it's a start. CigarFriendly.US

 

[The Green Monkey]

I live out in the suburbs and when I'm heading out to SoBe I usually bring my own sticks, but based on my experiences stopping by all the little shops when I happen to be walking around the area, there aren't very many decent shops out on South Beach. Most of them are small with obscene markups on middling selections, and are more often than not staffed by a complete ignoramus who doesn't know anything about cigars just because most tourists who decide they ought to buy a cigar when in Miami don't know any better either.

That being said, at the link below, the shop at B (Deco Drive Cigars West‎- 1650 Meridian Avenue, Miami Beach, FL‎ - (305) 674-1811‎) has slightly more reasonable prices than most in that area while the shop at D (Lincoln Tobacco Inc‎- 414 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL‎ - (305) 531-8388‎) has the best selection. You can also get a drink and sit outside and watch the people go by at D.

http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=cigar+shop+lincoln+road+miami&fb=1&gl=us&hq=cigar+shop&hnear=lincoln+road+miami&ei=NzXoS_jNNYT48AbN9rmvBA&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQtgMwAA

For a more "Miami" than "South Beach" experience, dig through a few of these threads (I just searched for "calle ocho" including the quotes) and figure out a gameplan that way.

http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=search&section=search&do=quick_search&search_app=core&fromsearch=1

Personally, I wouldn't bother with Padron (there's no tour or anything, and they don't offer anything for sale that you can't get at your local B&M back home, save perhaps for the ashtrays, and they don't sell anything but full boxes), but definitely check out El Rey de los Habanos (Pepin's), La Gloria Cubana, and El Titan de Bronze (their sungrowns are delicious)--all of which are located at the corner of SW 8th (Calle Ocho) and 11th Avenue in Miami. I'd budget an hour or two--it's unlikely you'll want to spend a whole day or anything, and if you want to plan to hit up the Padilla factory last (1501 SW 8th St.), they've got a comfortable lounge area you can take advantage of.