by David Diaz

[For more photos of the event, see SB Cigar & Tobacco SLIDESHOW]

Santa Barbara, California is a destination city and home to some great beaches, restaurants, shopping and educational institutions. The city has a population of 90,000 and, including the adjacent metropolitan area, the population density hovers at around 200,000. And yet, when it comes to cigar shops, the city has a hometown feel reminiscent of America’s once favorite bar, Cheers, “Where everybody knows your name.”

PHOTO: Streetside view of entrance

This past week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with proprietor Matt Lanford to enjoy a smoke and to talk about his shop, his business, and his customers. This was my first visit to the shop and I was duly impressed.

For 13 years, the Santa Barbara Cigar & Tobacco shop has kept vigil over Santa Barbara’s city streets, beckoning cigar enthusiasts to its generous humidor and comfortable and well-appointed lounge. With its central location--only a block off State Street and the center of the city’s downtown shopping area--the SB Cigar & Tobacco shop is the perfect place to sit, relax, and enjoy a fine smoke and the company of the shop’s regulars, while waiting for your wife (or husband) finish their pilgrimage to the downtown shopping circuit.

PHOTO: Matt inspecting his inventory

The spacious humidor is stocked with some super-heavyweights including some hard to find gems like the Tatuaje La Riqueza and Cojonu 2006, Padrón Serie 1926 and 80th Anniversary Series, Camacho Limited Harvest, and the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Miami.

PHOTO ABOVE: Cowskin Humidor

PHOTO BELOW: SB Cigar & Tobacco have a great selection of pipes

Matt also keeps an eye out for well-priced standouts that are sure to delight his customers, without pinching their pocketbooks. Cigars like the Troya, made by Don Pepin Garcia and the Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur Legend are solid medium-full bodied smokes for the seasoned cigar smoker.

For even better deals, Matt can offer a wide range of bundled cigars and even his own house brand cigar: the Santa Barbara Premium Selection, made in Honduras by Camacho. In order of their strength, the SB Premium Selection comes in the Habano, the Sungrown, and the Shade. These are quality cigars that retail for between $4.00 - $5.00 per stick.

There is something for everyone at the Santa Barbara Cigar & Tobacco shop. Besides a diverse lineup of cigars, Matt offers a wide range of pipes and pipe tobacco, humidors, lighters and cutters.

PHOTO: Matt relaxing in his cigar lounge

But the main reason for the success of the shop has been the close relationships Matt and his staff has built with customers over the years. “We believe in two things,” said Matt when asked to explain his success. “Customer service, and having fun.” Matt knows his customers by name and he gives them the personal service that he believes is the calling of professional tobacconists in this day and age. “With the high tobacco tax and anti-tobacco legislation popping up all over California, we have thrived because we care for our customers.”

Contact Information:

Santa Barbara Cigar & Tobacco

Matt Lanford: owner

10 West Figueroa St

Santa Barbara CA 93101

Phone: (805) 963-1979

Email: sbcigar@cox.net