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New York's Best Kept Smoke

Building a business from the ground up is no easy task. Especially when you are trying to create a product you love. The Green Magazine recently caught up with David Wells, the owner of the NYC Cigar Company to learn why his cigars and smoking lounge are second to none.


What makes the smoke shop so appealing to your customers?  We have done quite a few venues and everyone said, “There is no place to smoke.” When you walk into an average smoke shop and you see people sitting around in folding chairs watching one TV, it’s kind of a cliquish thing. What we wanted to do was to have a comfortable lounge where you feel at home and there are no barriers. There are no cliqs. I have a fantastic crowd here. Whether you wear a suit or pick up the garbage, when you put a cigar in your hand and sit down in here; everybody’s the same. There is a common bond among guys that smoke cigars. That was our goal and we have achieved it so far.

What are some of your best-selling cigars? Well, we manufacture all our own cigars. We have a small facility in the Dominican Republic. We come out with our own blends, different types and sizes of cigars. We are more of a boutique shop. We are not trying to be a major label. All of our cigars are hand rolled. Quality control and customer service are big with us.  We built up quite a following here.  We are looking to expand and everything with us is word of mouth. We really don’t advertise.

You’ve worked with many celebrities, is that correct? We’ve worked with many people. We’ve done Marc Ecko’s events. We did Larry Johnson’s 28th birthday party. Last year we did La Douchavaia an event for the Duchess of York’s foundation at Cipriani’s. Celebrities like Clive Davis, and LL Cool J were there.  We also provide cigar rollers for golf events.

Is a franchise in your near future? Yes, that is in the future. We are looking to open and operate many and this is the first. The reception has been tremendous. Our motto is: “If you chase the money, it’s not coming.” You treat the people the correct way and do the right thing by the customer and everything else takes care of itself.

Tell us about your Liberty Series Cigars? It’s what we call a mild plus cigar; somewhere between a mild and medium bodied cigar. It’s a Dominican filler with a hint of Nicaraguan tobacco and it’s available in either a Connecticut or Ormadora wrapper. They come in different sizes: robust, corona, and torpedo. Obviously, it has a yellow label with the Statue of Liberty and a taxicab. For a full body smoke, we recommend our Empire Series.
 

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