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This cigar is going to cost you around $250 and up. To get into The Cigar Club in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton, you are either going to have to make a room reservation or join up. Clayton is not downtown St. Louis. It's an affluent community where a lot of businesses are now located. Consider this a hotel recommendation, one not hard to make given it's at the Ritz-Carlton. The bonus is access to a well-managed, well-conceived cigar room that is in the classic mold of bars at fine hotels around the world.
There's a lot of mahogany and subtle lighting. A plasma TV graces the wall to the left of the frosted glass doors, so you can watch the games in sports-crazy St. Louis. That takes nothing away from the elegance of this establishment. There are 380 humidor lockers that sell for $1,000 each, including membership. Black-and-white photos of Cuban cigars after having been smoked down to the nub hang on the walls. There's even a cigar Indian in the house.
The Cigar Club purports to carry the largest selection of premium cigars in the area, more than 250 varieties, including a few small Flor de Farach pre-Castro (circa 1958) smokes. The cigar menu lists more than 30, but Russ, who runs the place during the day, explains that many available cigars are not listed. You don't have to go off the menu, however, to be happy. From Ashton Aged Maduros to Padrón 1926s to La Gloria Cubanas, with Bahias, Fuentes, Avos, C.A.O.s and Joya de Nicaraguas in between, you're going to find something mild, medium or full that you will like. Prices range from about $10 to $35 per stick.
The club also promises that the "menu contains the city's largest selection of premium cognacs, armagnacs, grappas, ports, sherries, madeiras, single malt scotches and American whiskies." This is easy to believe by looking only at the list of Scotches. Choose from nearly 60 possibilities, including the usual and unusual array of unpronounceable names from Islay. There's a Laphroaig 30-year for $54 and a Scotts Macallan 1973 (Highland) for $62.
That's by the glass, if you weren't clear on the pricing. How about a Glenmorangie Elegance 21 for $100? The Cigar Club holds a couple of events a month for its members, like the tasting of Isle of Jura Scotch on the night I visited.
Food is not an afterthought at the club. It has its own bar menu, but you can also order from the hotel's restaurant, the Grill or dine there and then head in for an after-dinner smoke.
Whether you eat there or not, Russ will make you feel very welcome at The Cigar Club. He'll tell you about St. Louis, Italian restaurants on the Hill, baseball and great wines in the hotel's collection. All this while refilling your double espresso and making sure you have the proper ashtray for your cigar.
The Cigar Club
The Ritz-Carlton St. Louis (Clayton)
100 Carondelet Plaza
St. Louis, MO
314-863-6300
Opens Monday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Opens Sunday 11 a.m. to Midnight
www.ritzcarlton.com
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