177 Meeting Street
Charleston, SC 29401
Type:
Cigar Bar
Website:
www.tinderboxcharleston.com
Experience:
So, I left off at the Kickin' Chicken and when the bachelor party was leaving here it was around 10:30 PM on a Saturday night and the rest of the guys had pretty much had enough. They wanted to go back to the hotel and go to bed. This being my only Saturday night in Charleston, and a decent buzz going, I was not going to turn in so early. I bid them a farewell, told them I would catch a cab back and wandered further into downtown to stir up some trouble.
I had been told of a cigar bar in the downtown area, and with a quick phone call for directions, I was on my way. A few blocks later, I was standing in a shop with all of it's walls lined with humidors. In short, I was home. A few inquiries later and I had purchased a cigar from The Tinderbox and was making my way up the stairs to Club Habana which as it turns out is A LOT like someone's house if they converted it into scotch and cigar bar.
The entire place is very dimly lit, which works if you bring some friends or more appropriately a special someone with you. However, I was by myself so I went to sit at the bar. Only trouble was that there was a bachelorette party going on and there were no seats at the bar. I decided to order a scotch and just wander around a bit. The bartender wasn't rude or anything but not overly friendly either. And the scotch was expensive. While I realize that scotch ordered at a bar is generally going to put me back a bit, the prices at Club Habana were even more than I am used to paying.
However, with scotch in hand and cigar in mouth, I started wandering around. I said it already, this place is a lot like someone's house converted into a bar. There are many rooms, each with large overstuffed chairs and couches in smallish rooms. I felt kind of strange just walking around so I finally took a seat on a couch only to realize that there were waitresses wandering around. I guess it was a good thing that I had ordered at the bar so that I realized what my drink cost instead of opening a tab with a waitress and winding up spending a shit-ton of money in a relatively short amount of time.
The atmosphere here was nice and intimate but since I was alone I just watched the other groups, huddled together in conversation or plotting bank robberies. In the low light and high ambient noise, it is hard to tell exactly what is going on. It wasn't a bad bar, but just not what I was looking for that evening, so when my scotch had been drained, I went ahead and cleaned up after myself and took the glass back to the bar and then left, taking my unfinished cigar with me out into the downtown. So yeah, I was that weird guy in a lamb skin pea-coat walking around trying to convince everyone that a cigar is just a cigar. Really, it's just a cigar. Go away Mr. Freud, I am not talking to you any more.
I did return to The Tinderbox the following morning for my cigar purchasing as I didn't want to have to walk around with a bag full of cigars the previous evening. I then found out that the shop has a small supply of pre-embargo Cubans that are pretty inexpensive. And the guy working there was really nice and helpful in finding me cigars that I would like and suggested some smokes that I probably wouldn't have otherwise tried.
Overall:
I liked the place but wished I had taken someone with me. Do not go here by yourself, it just isn't worth it and you wind up feeling kind of sleazy just wandering around watching other people interact. However, it seems like a great place to take a date. The drink prices are high but the cigar prices are fairly low so it kind of evens out. And the service staff is helpful enough. All in all, if you are in town and like cigars, this is definitely a place you are going to have to stop by.
4 Carats
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