Victory Cigar Bar

Cigar bars in Massachusetts are too rare. My brother Matt and I have been searching for one near us for quite some time. There are a few in downtown Boston but parking and prices in the city have been holding us back. We just wanted a place nearby where we could go to have a smoke and a drink without being sent outside in the cold. Well the other night, we stumbled across Victory Cigar Bar in Sudbury and quickly decided we would be becoming regulars.

The setting when you first walk in is welcoming. Many cigar stores have a lounging area but it's almost always in the back of the room with a bunch of chairs angled away from everything so that you wouldn't really feel comfortable grabbing a seat unless you're well known in the group. Sometimes the lounge settings are even a little intimidating like the Sopranos sitting around the table outside the coffee shop. Victory obviously makes an attempt to bring in newcomers. The owners themselves casually greet you at the door, and no one tries to push anything on you. In fact, Matt and I wandered around exploring the layout for a good 5 minutes before we even went to the humidor. The floor layout is pretty good with big leather couches and coffee tables placed throughout. A half dozen plasma screen TVs hang on the walls at a variety of angles so every seat gets you a perfect view of the game. The TVs are kept at a reasonable volume, there is no loud music, and everyone there seems to respect the fact that people come to Victory to just relax. I was even surprised by this considering the fact that the crowd was much younger than we had anticipated. I had imagined Matt and I being somewhat out of place in a room filled with men in their late 50's. On the contrary, the average age there that night was probably about 30. There were enough people there to fill all the seats, but it wasn't crowded. All in all, it was a setting a new guy would feel comfortable walking in to.

The walk in humidor, while missing any Camacho sticks (one of my all time favorites), still has a pretty impressive selection. The variety ranges from $4.00 Don Diegos all the way up to $35.00 Davidoff Milleniums. Matt and I decided to overindulge on our first visit so we each grabbed 2 cigars. I took a Cusano Corojo and an Olivia while Matt went for 2 different varieties of Rocky Patel. The employees hanging around outside the humidor don't bother you unless they are asked but also have plenty of knowledge to share about all their cigars. My one complaint was that for the evening, a representative from Pedoro was visiting and pushing his cigars on anyone who stepped foot into the humidor. His aggressiveness was nothing short of a used car salesmen and he even acted a little insulted and condescending when Matt picked out a cigar he wasn't selling. I made sure to ask him how often he comes to Victory and was pleased to find out that this was actually his annual trip for the year. We won't have to deal with him again.

We took our cigars and settled on one of the couches in front of the Celtics playoff game. There are cutters, matches, and huge ceramic ashtrays placed at every table. We lit up and I was pleased to find that the cigars here are kept pretty well. Everything we had that night smoked very well. We got our cigars going and then decided to see what the bar had to offer. Their drink menu is simply superb. They have over a dozen brands of scotch, both single malt and blended, several types of cognac, some nice bourbons, a few wine selections, and even some good Belgian Ales and Oatmeal stouts. They'll make any drink you'd like and will even pander to the idiots who insist on pairing their smoke with a bottled Bud Lite. We started to stand up when we found out that getting out of your comfortable seat and walking to the bar is practically unheard of. The staff there is attentive to the point where you actually feel guilty. We watched one employee that night tend the bar as well deal with about 15-20 other people seated throughout the room. They aren't annoying but always seem to be right there as soon as your glass is empty. I know they're just trying to drive up revenue, but there is also something to be said for the fact that they seem to appreciate what makes a good smoking experience, namely sitting down, zoning out, and not moving. Once again, Matt and I decided to go a little crazy for our first visit. He drank Johnny Walk Gold Label while I sipped on some very nice Macallan single malt aged 18 years.

We ended up spending quite a bit of money that night. 4 cigars + 4 top shelf scotches will do that, but we decided that finding this place was completely worth it. Sure, we went a little crazy this time around, but we could also have gotten 1 cigar along with a reasonably priced cognac, spent far less, and enjoyed the setting just as much. This is a great place to go whether we're celebrating something and going overboard, or just had a lousy week and need to unwind. As the owners describe it, this place is a haven for guys who are thrown out of the house because their wives or girlfriends won't allow them to smoke inside. It is exactly the type of place I needed. Overall, Victory Cigar bar was a definitive victory for us (sorry about the pun). We plan on going back often.