Nat Sherman Johnson Club Room
Mollie hanging out in Nat Sherman’s Johnson Club Room

Earlier this year, I reviewed the Nat Sherman Host Selection, the Nat Sherman Metropolitan Selection, the Nat Sherman V.I.P. Selection and the Nat Sherman Omerta. I enjoy the company’s cigars, but I just hadn’t been to Nat’s new 42nd Street digs.

So I was in New York recently, and in between a Mets game and some family business, my girlfriend Mollie (pictured) and I had some time to kill. We were near the store, so we stopped by for a bit.

Nat Sherman is a cigar smoker’s urban oasis. My contact there, store manager Mike Holba, was there, and he showed us around the store’s retail area, the cave-like walk-in humidor, the private lockers and, of course, the Johnson Club Room.

Think of the club as a cross between the Harvard Club — not that I’ve ever been there — and a Tommy Bahama wet dream. Decadent, no?

Simply put, The JCR is the cigar smoker’s ultimate tax write-off; $1,600 a year gets you membership, a personal locker and a whole bunch of prestige. But if you do a lot of business in New York, and you enjoy a good cigar, membership is a must-have.

There are many creature comforts: There’s the room, which features a full bar, lots of dark wood, comfortable leather chairs and couches and some cool cigar stuff on display. The club also serves up appetizers, a free daily continental breakfast from 9-11am and, presumably, some good conversation. This is the home of the city’s cigar-puffing elite, which include New York icons like Rudy Giuliani and Joe Torre, who both have lockers at Nat’s.

Mollie and I hung out in the room for a little while. She had a Host, while I enjoyed one of the store’s exclusive Blender’s Vault cigars. (I’ll be reviewing some of these later on.)

If you’re in the Big Apple on a weekend, a visit to Nat’s is a must. Period. The sticks are good, the space is nice, and the ice tea’s pretty damn tasty.

But if you tell ‘em I sent you, you probably won’t get a discount.

(Note: This originally appeared on CigarJack.)

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