A Gentleman’s Urban Retreat: Village Cigar Company & Barbershop

For a brick & mortar establishment that caters to men, success can often be found through curating a unique, off-the-beaten-path kind of experience for a gentleman to enjoy.

This is exactly what Jerry Filice and Ryan Baker have expertly pulled off in creating Village Cigar Company & Barbershop, a cigar store-with-barber shop hybrid establishment with 3 locations (Burlington, Oakville & Guelph Ontario, Canada), all where a guy can conveniently:

• get a fresh ‘traditional barbering’ style haircut,
• watch sports on the big screen,
• purchase some cigars from a wonderfully curated walk-in humidor, and then
• enjoy a relaxing moment with a cigar on a sweet patio

…all within the same spot.

Sounds great eh?

Inside the Burlington location’s walk in humidor

A HAIRCUT AND A STOGIE

As I walk past the rotating barber pole and though the front door of Village Cigar Co. & Barbershop in Burlington, Ontario, I am instantly hit with the aromatics of what seems like a mixture of old hardbound books, rawhide leather, hardwood, Spanish cedar, and unsurprisingly – tobacco.

Ryan Baker is behind the counter tending to two guys and their latest cigar purchases. Golf is on the big screen in the corner. I wave to Ryan and walk directly through the shop and then outside the rear to cross a large patio and enter the barber shop situated in the back.

Carmen is cutting my hair today. In conjunction with some lighthearted small talk she provides me with a killer fade by taking it right down to the wood on the sides and then cleaning up the top before styling it all up with some matte pomade for the finish. The walls of the barbershop are lined with old cigar boxes and loads of vintage barbering iconography.

For a guy, a fresh haircut can feel like a form of rebirth; an uplifting and invigorating act of self-renewal. I’ve always said that if you’re having a mediocre,  ‘blah’ kinda day, go get yourself a haircut and watch those spirits get picked right back up again.

Throw a relaxing, reflective post-haircut cigar on a comfortable and secluded patio in the mix and you’ll feel like an entirely new man altogether (just don’t forget to put your smartphone away for awhile, ok?).

Barbering iconography abounds within the barbershop

Owner Jerry Filice joins The Gentleman’s Flavor contributor Sean Douglass and I on the patio for a cigar and to field a few questions about their unique and hugely popular establishments.

Up in smoke: TGF Contributor Sean Douglass and I enjoy sticks post-haircut on the patio in Burlington

Some Smoke and Smalltalk: Q & A With Village Cigar Company & Barbershop’s Jerry Filice

TGF: Jerry, when did you first open and who’s brilliant idea was it for a barbershop/tobacconist hybrid? 

JF: We opened the doors to our first shop in Downtown Burlington on July 20, 2012. Since then we’ve expanded to include Downtown Oakville in May of 2015 & Downtown Guelph in June of 2017. 

Combing the two businesses just made sense to us. It’s all part of the same lifestyle, a lifestyle that we live so it wasn’t as much of an angle for us as it was a way to bring ourselves to the community – properly represented – in the hopes others would enjoy the combination as much as we always have.

TGF: What are some notable cigar brands you specialize in?

JF: We pride ourselves in delivering a diverse and expansive offering of premium cigars from around the world. We began our cigar lives as enthusiasts and collectors, so it’s been natural for us to continue to seek out brands and blends for all to experience. 

We have some exclusives, with Canadian and Global that we’re very proud of.

We have the Canadian exclusive on La Barba cigars. This is an incredible boutique brand blended and produced under the watchful eye of Caldwell cigars in the Dominican Republic. This brand is just a perfect for for us and we love the opportunity to be the go-to spot for those so inclined. 

La Barba is a Canada-wide exclusive brand for VCC&B

We have a Global Exclusive on a cigar that we collaborated with Alec Bradley on. It’s an extension of the Black Market line called the ‘Bootlegger‘, which mainly differs from the main BM line in that our request for the addition of Nicaraguan filler is added to the original blend, and it’s box pressed. We’re very proud and continually humbled by this partnership, and the support that the cigar community has given to this project by flocking to this cigar. 

Finally, our pride & joy, our house brand, Pueblo Cigars. This is a line that we launched around our 1st anniversary. It is currently comprised of 4 different blends across 8 vitolas. All of our cigars and long leaf, hand rolled premium cigars, made exclusively for us in Nicaragua by AJ Fernandez. These are proprietary blends that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. We’ve been mindful to create a blend for every taste and are looking to expand the line later this year and into 2021.

TGF: Your in-house Pueblo cigars are gorgeous. What’s your best selling in-house cigar and what are some of its features?

JF: Thank you! The best seller within our Pueblo line is our Habano Robusto. The Ecuadorian grown, Habano seed wrapper delivers a silky smooth, and creamy approach with soft pepper notes delivered via the Nicaraguan fillers. This is a great all-purpose cigar, a perfect compliment for anytime of the day. This specific cigar is a 5×56 mild-to-medium bodied blend. The same blend is also available in a full sized perfecto as well as a small shaggy foot perfecto called a Favorito. These, and all of our blends can be found only in our 3 shops, as well as our online shop available from our website.

TGF: Are many of your barbering clients cigar smokers? Have many who simply came for a cut have also converted to enjoying cigars?

JF: Not all, but a great majority. And yes, over time many of our barbershop specific clients who may not have been into the cigar lifestyle previously have come to enjoy the occasional cigar. We do of course still have those who come only for the expert traditional barbering services, but for the majority, the combination of the two is what really draws them to our shops. 

TGF: Your patio is a nice little slice of heaven for a guy – or gal – looking to enjoy a cigar somewhere. How did you orchestrate that given Ontario’s tough smoking laws? 

JF: We have outdoor spaces at both our Burlington & Guelph locations. The fact is, they simply do not infringe on any current bylaws, so for as long as that lasts we encourage one and all to take advantage of these spaces! 

The patio is available to enjoy a cigar and find some relaxation

TGF: Oh, we shall! It’s perfect out here. So Jerry, what’s your ‘if-ever-stranded-on-a-desert-island-and-you-can-only-bring-1-kind-of-cigar’ cigar?

JF: Ah, the toughest question of all, and a question to which the answer truthfully has changed over the years. Ryan and I do have similar yet different tastes and I can say with confidence that our current answers would be different. When we opened the shop, my answer would be easy and without hesitation the Partagas Serie D No.4. While I still love that cigar, there’s no question that today I have to say it would be the Drew Estate Liga Privada No. 9 Belicoso. Ask me again in another 5 years as there’s always an opportunity for change. That is, if I’m not already on that island! 

-Kurt Bradley