La Casa del Habano Montreal - A Special Place

La Casa del Habano Montreal – A Special Place

For close to a decade, yours truly was in charge of running what is widely considered one of the premier cigar destinations.  Throughout those years, many cigars were discovered, both new releases and a whole dedicated vintage selection.  Many customers from around the world visited our shop, they excitedly told us that they made it part of their itinerary to take in our walk-in humidor and lounge.  Several of Montreal’s business community, university students, musicians, artists and cigar aficionados called this Casa their second home.  To say it was an essential stop for any cigar lover is no stretch. 

The main humidor at La Casa Del Habano Montreal

It is rare to walk into any humidor and experience what you feel in the main humidor of La Casa del Habano Montreal.  Practically every Habanos cigar available was on display, with the possibility to purchase a single stick.  The shelves were stacked generously with all your Cuban favorites, and all the ones you’ve been meaning to try.  Similar to a trip to New York City, you can visit this humidor countless times and always find something you haven’t seen or tried before.  This was the closest feeling and aroma you felt to walking into a humidor in one of the famed La Casa shops located in Havana, Cuba.  It was a treat to walk into this humidor every day as part of my morning ritual.

The vintage humidor

A few years back, we were searching for an identity for the front humidor.   The size of this second humidor is larger than most shop’s main humidor, and so we had an opportunity to try something very special with this humidified space over looking Sherbrooke Street West in Montreal’s Golden Square Mile.

After a trip to London, and pre-arranged visits to a few cigar meccas, the idea for a vintage humidor was created.  At the time, no one in Canada had a truly dedicated section for aged Cuban cigars.  The idea only grew after spending time with the vintage cigar master himself, Ajay Patel.  His humble at first glance, but incredibly impressive, La Casa del Habano is located on the outskirts of London in a small town called Teddington.  Mr. Patel showed me cigars I had never seen before and taught me very valuable lessons on the world of vintage cigars.  Another learned experience was a visit to the Davidoff shop located on St. James street where the legend Edward Sahakian showed me how they warehoused their cigars and shared his passion for aged cigars with me.  The initial courses had begun, and with much research to follow, the vintage cigar humidor at La Casa del Habano was born.  At its launch, we carried cigars from now unseen brands like Cabañas, Bolivar Gold Medals, Los Statos De Luxe, Sancho Panza legendary “Sancho”, and many more.  We knew we were 20 to 30 years behind on the inventory in the English and Chinese shops, but we knew that when a client tasted a proper aged cigar, they would be pleased.  Many clients returned to it as we continued to open and unravel some treasures from our hidden caves.

The lounge

For most, the lounge was their refuge from the outside world.  The lounge at La Casa del Habano is from a different era.  Sure, it needed a little retouch on the some of the furniture and carpeting, but that did not stop the feeling of being somewhere unlike any other.  The back end of the lounge had painted glass windows that were right below the massive LA CASA DEL HABANO logo carved into the wood framing.  There was always a time of day, when the sunlight hit those windows so beautifully, that it lit up the entire lounge with the most perfect lighting.  Usually, there was a client enjoying his morning Hoyo De Monterrey or H. Upmann.  That unmatched aroma, with the perfect lighting, are certainly one of the things I will miss.

What it meant for some clients and staff.

For so many clients, their profile photo includes a photo of them in our lounge.  If you lost your watch during a shift, you can tell what time it was by when a certain customer walked in.  Our morning crew starting off their day with a relaxing cigar, or after a morning session at the office.  For one client, it was a walk into the main humidor where he picked amongst the pre-selected cigars we had set aside for him.  Some met right before or after a lunch meeting.  In fact, many clients had a fast lunch and spent their lunch break enjoying a cigar.  You knew it was 4:30 PM when a certain attorney walked in and started his daily ritual with a Montecristo No. 2.  We hope you are doing well Sir.  On many Wednesday evenings, we had a motley crew gathering of artists, media sales people, and video game geeks, all joined by one common passion.  The weekends and weeknights also had its own different cast of characters.  The Americans in for the game, or a bachelor party, or simply the chance to enjoy a Cuban cigar.  Saturday afternoons in our lounge was the gathering spot for many friends taking a break from their busy lives.   

For many, this place was their second home.  Whenever I was introduced to a wife, a son, a close friend of any of our regulars, there was always a comment that “I saw their spouses more than they did”. 

This was their haven.  Their refuge away from a hectic world.  The place “where everybody knows your name”.  It was not only about the cigar, it was a place where the world came, to stop, to enjoy a moment after their work or studies.

For the staff, it was a very special place to work at.  Where else could you discover first hand all the Cuban cigars at your fingertips?  Coming in each day, walking into that humidor, was an experience that will never be matched.  We had future executives, future lawyers, future engineers, future writers, future teachers, future photographers, Cubans turned American citizens, future retirees, future pilots, you name it.  My assistant Geoffrey Blunt made it his career and was at La Casa del Habano for some 15 years.  A few other employees called this place work for the better part of 5, even 10 years. 

When the previous manager, Marc Melanson handed over the reigns to me, it was as though he was closing a special period in his life.  He had been manager for 12 years, and he gave what he had to the cigar world.  His knowledge and passion for the leaf are impressive.  What he got from it, he holds it with him to this day.  I feel the same way now that we are reaching the end of this era of what I consider, one of the most special places in Montreal, and definitely a special place in the cigar community worldwide. 

The closing of La Casa del Habano as we know it

Finally, at the end of January 2020, after long and complicated discussions with shareholders, we received an announcement that La Casa del Habano Montreal would close its doors on May 31, 2020.  One of the first ideas that came into my mind was, “how will I tell the employees, how will I tell the clients?”.  When I told people the news, the reactions told the whole story.  One client just gazed at me in shock, with a sadden look as it started to hit him.  One client is still to this day in denial and has left his locker cigars still at the shop as he hopes for last minute surprise news.  Most clients asked me “Where am I going to go?”  “What I am going to do?”  There are some who hold hope to an eleventh-hour miracle.

Covid Crisis

When the closing announcement came, we had scheduled many farewells and closing off celebrations and events.  As the world got put on pause, that opportunity to say good bye has slowly passed, and it is sad for the many that wanted to have one last cigar, or one last gathering with their friends.  Another point to remind us that we must enjoy every day and not wait, as time will not wait for us.

A visit from the stars

As you can imagine, many celebrities walked into our humidor and in our lounge.  For me, counting music as my primary passion, the most special visit was from the rock legend Joe Perry from Aerosmith.  For close to 30 minutes, Mr. Perry, you were asking me all about cigars, all the while I was just thinking of all classics you’ve penned and doing my best to hold back on reversing the one asking questions!  Thank you for making our shop a regular visit on your Montreal tour stop.  Mike Piazza, the hall of fame baseball catcher retells in the November 2016 issue of Cigar Aficionado “On road trips, we would go to La Casa del Habano in Montreal.”    One time, the NHL hockey hall of famer Mark Messier came by to purchase a special cigar for “a friend who loves these things”.  Mr. Sather, I hope you enjoyed the cigar.

For some movie stars filming in Montreal, La Casa Del Habano became a place where they rehearsed their lines, and planned their scenes.  Such was Tobey Maguire during the filming of Pawn Sacrifice.  Nick Jonas from the Jonas Brothers made the Casa his own during his Montreal stay.  Our staff was also excited to serve Lawrence Fishburne, Aaron Rodgers, Jimmy Fallon, Marc Andre Fleury, Jose Theodore, Sylvester Stallone, Andy Deris, and many others!  I recall a day when our team member Andres came in the office screaming “The doc is here!  The doc is here!” after he had served Back to the Future’s Christopher Lloyd.   Local artist Kal Gajoum became a friend to most of the staff and even cooked for many of us in his home!

To all the clients, thank you for making this place so special in your lives.  To all the staff throughout the years, here’s hoping that there remains a special Casa spot that you will keep with you on your journeys throughout life.

Should that eleventh-hour miracle occur, we wish the future key holder a journey as remarkable as ours.

Salud.  Antonio Marsillo