(Ed. Note: Welcome to the New Year and get ready for the ride. Today is the first of a string of articles about openings that have happened recently or have just been announced. 2024 feels like a big year, already, and we’ve just begun.)
The journey was long, but the wait worth the time. Business partners Brooke and Dan Phillips and Justin Mangelsdorf announced in February 2022 they would bring a cigar bar to the Old City. A wide range of delays that might have dissuaded them from the whole project had they known of the struggles in advance, moved the project further and further into the future. In the interim, the group perfected the concept and bought the building with larger plans pending for the future.
While it may have seemed the business would never cross the finish line, it has finally done so. With soft openings last week proving to be very successful, the business is open to the public starting today. Cigar smokers have great reason to rejoice as the business offers a wide range of quality cigars, as well as lockers, and memberships. For those like me, who do not smoke cigars, the city now has an additional, beautiful, and unique space to meet friends.
I dropped into the soft opening last Friday to take photographs for this article and to see the finished product. I enjoyed Rum Old Fashioned, which was very different from the traditional whisky-based drink. They also offer a gin based Old Fashioned that has my curiosity piqued. I found myself far from alone as the crowd appeared evenly split between cigar smokers and their non-smoking friends or partners out for a night on the town.
For me, it’s all about the ambience, which I love. It’s a warm, rich environment with people dressed up and others dressed down, everybody having a good time. Friends and couples held conversations in small, numerous, cozy spots. Patrons slipped back to the large humidor to select their smokes. Ice shaken; drinks flowed from behind the bar. Smoky jazz: John Coltrane and Freddie Hubbard played over the excellent sound system.
The soft lighting provided just enough guidance to leather couches and chairs. Staid portraits of vaguely familiar faces from a bygone era adorn the walls. Antlers hung on the walls give the place a hunting lodge feel, what would have been a man’s space in the past, now welcoming everyone. Many of the artifacts on the wall belonged to Brooke’s dad.
Non-smokers might wonder about the amount of smoke you’ll find inside, and that was on my mind, as well. It really isn’t an issue. You can smell the cigars, of course, and see the smoke move upward from cigars. That said, the owners invested in multiple systems, including “smoke eaters” to ensure it moved quickly upward and out. I didn’t find it unpleasant and I’m very rarely around smoke of any sort.
It’s worth a trip inside just to see the decor and to enjoy a great drink and I’ll hope to return just to do that. It’s another space (there are a few and the number is growing) in downtown Knoxville which, upon entering, feels like traveling to another city or, perhaps, country. The doors open at 2:00 pm each day and the business is open until 10:00 pm. Follow them on Instagram for the latest news on the bar.