When you think about fine cigars and the USA, the mind often jumps to the warm, sunny locales of cities such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, Tampa and of course Miami – with its rich Cuban heritage. Though they all have varying laws surrounding cigars and one’s ability to publicly enjoy them, the aforementioned cities have certainly been vibrant with fresh plumes of cigar smoke exhaled by many a happy lover of the leaf for some time now.

Now how about enjoying a fine cigar in Buffalo New York?

Buffalo is the second largest city in the state of New York and is the largest city situated within Western New York. Its fine neoclassical, beaux arts and art deco architecture speaks to its history as an industrial capital in the early 20th century. Though it doesn’t typically spring first to mind in regards to cigars, the city of Buffalo and its surrounding area have been on the rise as of late, and are fast becoming a hotbed for cigar culture.

And its showing no signs of slowing down any time soon either…

A Close Respite For Canadians

Across the border, Canada’s smoking laws are very strict, and Ontario (a Canadian province that shares a border with New York) is one of the nation’s toughest when it comes to one’s ability to smoke in public. In most places in the country, smoking is strictly banned in all indoor and outdoor public spaces, period.

In Ontario, certain municipalities (cities, counties and regions) have passed smoke-free bylaws that are even stricter than the already strict provincial Smoke Free Ontario act. Toronto, the most populated city within the entire country, is one of such municipalities. For this reason, many cigar Canadian smokers choose to take a relatively short drive from Ontario to places within Western New York to enjoy some cigars.

Cigar enthusiast Rick M. lives in Burlington, Ontario, Canada and is an example of a Canadian who chooses to regularly (up to 4 times per month) make the drive to WNY to enjoy his cigars. A devoted Buffalo Bills season ticket holder for the past 4 seasons, Rick chose to purchase a cigar locker (roughly $150 USD/year) at Buffalo Cigars when he discovered them 3 years ago during the NFL preseason – and it’s been his ‘home away from home’ ever since. Rick typically enjoys spending a weekend in the region by watching NCAA football in the lounge on Saturday, and then again on Sunday after the Bills game to take in the evening games within the NFL. Currently, Buffalo Cigars has 3 busy locations (Orchard Park, Amherst & Downtown Buffalo), and are about to expand their Orchard Park location with a 2 storey addition as well as adding increased parking to better handle the growing influx of patrons.

Buffalo Cigars’ Orchard Park location

A few short years ago, Buffalo Cigars also even chose to add a full-time, in-house cigar roller, Dominican-born veteran roller Nicolas ‘Cola’ Martinez’. “It’s a shame that we have to leave our home city and province to enjoy these experiences” says Rick, who chooses to make trips to Western New York a common occurrence alongside his wife.

A New Player On The Annual Cigar Festival Scene

WNY now plays host to 2 annual festivals associated with cigars – both being put on by Buffalo Cigars – that are drawing cigar enthusiasts from around North America. Of the 2 festivals, the inaugural ‘Stogies & Spirits Fest’ recently took place in June 2019 and drew an impressive crowd for its first occasion. Attendees were provided with a goodie bag that included 2 premium cigars, along with free burgers and hotdogs for all entrants. Vendors inside the venue featured local distilleries such as Tommyrotter, Black Button Distilling & One Foot Cock (seriously), national craft brands like Cask & Crew & Three Chord, as well as big labels such as Jack Daniel’s, Jameson and Glenfiddich. A sizeable selection of cigars were made readily available for purchase through Buffalo Cigars. Though the festival seemed to emphasize spirits slightly more than cigars, there was cigar smoke wafting at every turn on what was a sunny Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park.

In house roller Nicolas ‘Cola’ Martinez

The original regional cigar event titled ‘Buffalo Cigar Fest’ is held each year in September, and is quickly growing in size. As Cigar and Leisure Magazine chose to include the event within its calendar of annual cigar festivals across the US, you can see that it’s now on many a cigar smoker’s radar on a national level as it enters its third year. Unlike the Spirits & Stogies fest, the event places cigars at the forefront, and includes a more loaded goodie bag (with 15-20 cigars depending on ticket purchased) amongst a wide array of cigar and accessory manufacturers, all set to a backdrop of lots of live music and a ton of food.

Spirits vendors offering samples at the Spirits & Stogies Fest

A Smorgasbord of Regional Options

Rick says his WNY cigar experience doesn’t stop in Buffalo, as recently he ventured to Rochester and discovered Nick’s Cigars where he was impressed with their setup and traffic flow. Though Nick’s is not as large as Buffalo Cigars, he says its selection is “solid and affordable with a great selection of brands” with a number of comfortable club chairs to enjoy his purchases. Along with his stops at Buffalo Cigars, these locations fit nicely into a weekend getaway, which always includes sampling some of his favorite Buffalo fare, such as Beef on Weck at Charlie The Butcher or Buffalo wings and pizza at Rocco’s. “I went to Nick’s while my wife was at the nearby spa, so timing worked well and everybody was happy” says Matthew.

After all, happy wife, happy life, right Rick?

Rick with son Taylor at Buffalo Cigar Fest in 2019

For out of town cigar enthusiasts like Rick, Buffalo is a very welcoming city. “Buffalo is very much like my hometown, Hamilton, Ontario”. “Hard working, hard playing, down to earth people” he asserts. “Buffalo is known as the ‘City of Good Neighbors, and I can vouch for that claim” says Rick with a smile. The future of Buffalo is very bright with the largest university in New York State and their many professional faculties, especially medicine, as the downtown core is now a hub of world-class medical research. Buffalo’s resurgence comes at a time when it is still a very affordable place to live with a myriad of great housing options as residents benefit from a very reinvigorated restaurant, bar and theater scene. Of course, one mustn’t miss the opportunity to take in not only a Buffalo Bills game but its world-class, one of a kind tailgate parties too.

Just don’t forget the cigars.

In the 1980’s the city of Buffalo had its own catchy song titled, ‘Talking Proud’. I think it’s about time to revive that little number.

-Kurt Bradley

Buffalo Cigars are located in Orchard Park (2911 Southwestern Blvd Orchard Park, NY), Downtown Buffalo (500 Main St, Buffalo, NY) and in Amherst (7032 Transit Rd. Amherst, NY). Buffalo Cigar Fest is on September 14th 2019 (www.buffalocigarfest.com). Buffalo Spirits & Stogies Fest info: (www.buffalospiritsfest.com). Charlie The Butcher (4169 N Buffalo St, Orchard Park, NY). Rocco’s Wood Fired Pizza (5433 Transit Rd, Buffalo, NY). Cigar Fest info: (www.cigarfest.org).