• Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

Going to Tampa

T

TampaSupremo

Hellbent for Glory-land
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
234
Location
Atlanta
Hey all,

I'm leaving on a much needed vacation to visit my folks in Tampa. I'll definitely be making a stop to Tampa Sweethearts, but I wanted to try some of the locally made fare. La Herencia de Cuba (Ybor City) and Gonzalez Habano Cigars (W Tampa right near La Teresita-yum!) are two that I have enjoyed in the past, and the Columbia in Ybor has their own line of smokes (Gonzalez y Martinez) which are rolled on-site. Does anyone here have any recommendations on a good local handroll? I tried looking up Cammarata Cigar Co, but they have no website that I can find.

Here are some links:
La Herencia de Cuba
Gonzalez Habano Cigars
Columbia Restaurant-Gonzalez y Martinez

Thanks all,
TampaSupremo
 
Yeahthatsme said:
Don't forget to go to pepin's factory!
Click to expand...
That's in Miami across the state and South...4 hour ride.

We're talking 'Day Trip'...when I'm in Florida visiting my family, they really dislike when I reserve a whole day devoted to cigars!...short trips I incorporate into other activities, but whole days :angry:

A mans gotta' do what a mans gotta' do :laugh:

TS...

Have a great vacation and give us a full cigar report upon your arrival back home. :thumbs:

...oh yeah, and say hello to your folks for me :laugh:
 
There's plenty of stuff in Ybor City. If you have the chance for a historical view visit the Ybor City Museum State Park.
Check out Ybor Square also.
 
If I were closer to Miami (or single) I would definitely go to El Rey de los Habanos, but I don't think the wife or my 2-year old (or my gas budget) would appreciate it.

I tried Havana Dreams a couple of years ago. I think the smokes were okay. I remember, however, picking out a cigar which was a tad darker in shade than the ones in the same stack. Some guy (an employee) tried to tell me it was a maduro. I didn't argue 'cause I was like super-noob back then, but even then I was pretty sure that maduro meant more than just an off-color wrapper.

A little OT: I do want to make kind of a day of going to Ybor with my wife and kid and my parents. My son loves watching this -video- of the -TECO Streetcar- line which goes from the Channel District to Ybor City so we are going to ride it anyway. I think if we pick up some chow, go to a museum, and pick up some nice sticks then it won't be seen as "Daddy's cigar outing". I just don't want it to turn into "C'mon, hurry up, just get one and let's go, I don't know why you like those things, this place smells, etc."

TampaSupremo
 
Tampa is a great city to visit. Ybor City, steeped in it's Greek culture, is also a great day, with great food.
It's wise to make the cigar thing a little more causual, and really enjoy your stay.
 
MadMonk said:
Tampa is a great city to visit. Ybor City, steeped in it's Greek culture, is also a great day, with great food.
It's wise to make the cigar thing a little more causual, and really enjoy your stay.
Click to expand...

Ybor City has always been Cuban. Tarpon Springs in north Pinellas County is the Greek area.

Havana Dreams has changed since you were there last. They have completely renovated and the quality of their cigars is much better.

If you haven't been to the aquarium at channelside, you should give it a look see.
 
sssfox said:
MadMonk said:
Tampa is a great city to visit. Ybor City, steeped in it's Greek culture, is also a great day, with great food.
It's wise to make the cigar thing a little more causual, and really enjoy your stay.
Click to expand...

Ybor City has always been Cuban. Tarpon Springs in north Pinellas County is the Greek area.

Havana Dreams has changed since you were there last. They have completely renovated and the quality of their cigars is much better.

If you haven't been to the aquarium at channelside, you should give it a look see.
Click to expand...
Yep, your right. I used to buy some kind of Cuban coffee there too. Damn I'm getting old. Thanks for the correction. It's been around 20 years since I've been. I really do need to try and get there myself! Go to all three places!
 
Update:

Well, I haven't yet set foot in a cigar shoppe, and yet I have already been bombarded with smokes. My parents recently returned home from an extended trip to Mexico. They brought back two Te Amo #4's (5"x42), two Te Amo #7's (5 1/4"x35-a size I have not seen in their lineup here), and a Te Amo Cabinet Selection Toro (6"x50). In addition, one of my father's friends sent back a fiver of Matacan #4's (5"x42) with him to give me. Curiously, they are labeled on the pouch as #4's (which I confirmed on their website: www.aturrent.com), but the #4's marketed here are 6 5/8"x42.
My brother got a White Montecristo sample from the free sample offer then turned around and gave it to me. His birthday present to me is a trip to Ybor City to buy cigars.
My folks also bought me a box of K Hansotia East India cigars for my birthday.

So, from a cigar standpoint, this has been quite the profitable trip. Looking forward to making it more so.

TampaSupremo
 
While you are in Tampa visit TampaHumidor. You can check out their website as well ,,,tampahumidor.com
This is a great place for cigars and stay for awhile and light one up.
 
Update #2:

08/05/08:
Parents, wife, kid, and I rode the TECO Streetcar into Ybor City in the afternoon. It was HOT! I didn't make it to Tampa Sweethearts since it was about five or six blocks from the last stop and nobody wanted to go that far in the heat (which was OK since the streetcar ride was mostly for my boy, anyway). I did stop at the Columbia Restaurant's cigar shop and picked up a Figurado #1,Figurado #2, and a maduro Torpedo. I tried to stop in at La Herencia de Cuba but my wife said "aren't you coming back on Saturday?" which we all know really means "I want to go the f*** home." So Ybor was a bit of a bust, but we are all coming back on Saturday morning (the men will be cigar shopping, the ladies will go to the Ybor City Saturday Market.

08/06/08:
My father and I drove into West Tampa and hit two chinchales or small cigar factories (also known as buckeyes). First was Rodriguez y Menendez. This was the first time I had been there and I understand they moved to their current location from somewhere else close by. When we walked in, the first thing I saw was an older woman (mid-60's, easy) making cigars at the front of the shop. She was pretty engrossed and my Spanish is mediocre (very sad for someone whose father is from Mexico, but I've come to terms with it so y'all can too ;) ) so I didn't bother her. In addition to Fuentes, Camachos (including that huge 60-ring Triple Maduro-very attractive I might add), and Rocky Patels, the left wall was all their house brands which are rolled on-site. I picked up two R&M Premiums (panatela and palma especial), R&M Premium Reserve (maduro torpedo), and four Villa de Zarate (two petite corona and two nacionales). The owners were very nice and we chatted a bit (in English). The woman helping me said that some of the older men buy a bundle a week. I told her I'm lucky if I can smoke three in a week (although when all you have to do is sip tazas de cafe, munch pan cubano, play dominoes, and talk to your buddies, it's much easier to burn through a bundle or so).

Leaving there, we went to the Gonzlez Habano Cigar Factory. This time I had to use my Spanish but I got through it alright. The store front is basically a large foyer with the factory behind glass in the rear. The display is a small glass cabinet mounted to the wall with a limited selection of smokes. However small you are thinking it is, you are probably not thinking small enough. I told the lady (who I believe was the owner's wife) I wanted to try their maduros (their website lists Moroccan tobacco as part of the blend :0). I was hoping for toros and panatelas, but all they had were some short torpedos. I picked up four of them and four natural panatelas which she said had just been prepared. There was a sign saying they do not sell fresh rolled sticks but age them at least 20 days before selling them so I don't know if "just been prepared" meant "I just rolled these suckers" or "I just pulled them out of the aging room and put the labels on." I've never held a fresh-rolled cigar before, but I have a feeling this was not it. I was also looking for a figurado called the "Lord Byron" but they were out. So, I was purchasing the eight I had picked out and I guess the lady felt bad that they were out of everything I'd wanted 'cause she pulled a small perfecto called a "Short Story" (shh, don't tell Carlito) out of the cabinet and put it in the bag free of charge. Honestly, though, it really wasn't necessary, although I was grateful for it and it probably made her feel good. I was not irritated or annoyed about the lack of smokes. The factory is more a labor of love for the owners to make sure that Tampa's cigar heritage is not lost and for that I salute them.

Looking forward to Saturday :D .

TampaSupremo

P.S. Sorry about the long post.
 
Update 2 (I'll try to keep this one a little shorter):

Later in the week (I don't recall the date) I stopped in at -South Tampa Cigars- on S Dale Mabry. I saw the shop the previous day and knew they carried Cammarata cigars (another local roll). I picked up two Tampa Tropics maduros (very dark with a great aroma), a Flor de Amrando Mendez pyramid, and a Bustillo churchill. The four came in at a pretty hefty price tag (for me, anyway) at around $33 for four smokes. The labels look like they may be reproductions of old ones (i.e. the Bustillo is labeled as a "Clear Havana"). I may try my hand at posting pics later on.

Lastly, on 08/11, I stopped in at -La Herencia de Cuba- and picked up three smokes: 2 Don Robertos (6.5"x56) and a mini-torpedo. I was just around the corner from Tampa Swethearts, and I'm still kicking myself for not going, but I knew I was stocked to the gills and had no more room in my humidor. So when I return (hopefully, maybe, permanently?) I will make it my first stop...after a Cuban sandwich.

Anyway, thanks for reading all my ramblings, and I'll let y'all know how they are in case you make your way down there sometime.

TampaSupremo
 
Wow. Sounds like an awesome trip. I am thinking I need to figure out some way to slip down to Ybor City or Tampa and check out some of these shops/factories and get some of th eir cigars. I love supporting the "little guy" almost as much as I like trying new sticks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top