Recently, I went on a trip to Hamburg, Germany, where my itinerary included exploring spots such as the Miniatur Wunderland, Speicherstadt (Warehouse District), Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg Harbor, Reeperbahn, and Hamburg City Hall (Rathaus). Of course, being a cigar enthusiast, I prioritised visiting as many different cigar venues as possible between these sightseeing adventures, too – it had to be done! I turned to Google as my first port of call to identify the best cigar spots in the city.

During my exploration, I stumbled upon some fantastic locations, the details of which I will share shortly. As anticipated, I discovered that cigars in Germany are considerably much cheaper than in the UK.

For any Brit abroad, the thrill I experienced upon stepping into these places, with their appealing prices, made me envision spending the whole goddamn trip in a cigar sampling lounge, exploring the diverse array of cigars. The reality is that I had a lot on my itinerary and very little time.

So, let me break down the notable places I managed to visit:

La Casa del Habano Hamburg Chilehaus

Address: Burchardstrasse 15, Chilehaus C, 20095 Hamburg, Germany (See Google Map view)
Website: La Casa del Habano
Instagram: instagram.com/la_casa_del_habano_hamburg

This was the first La Casa Del Habano in Hamburg. According to the lacasadelhabano.com website, and for those of you that don’t know, LCDH is an international franchise (a bit like McDonald’s), specialising in the exclusive sale of Habanos cigars (as opposed to burgers), this chain is internationally recognised. Corporation HABANOS, S.A., a world leader in Habanos sales, owns the franchise. They sell some of the most famous Cuban cigar brands in the world: Cohiba, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, Partagás, H. Upmann, Hoyo de Monterrey, Trinidad, San Cristóbal de la Habana, among others, which you can find in any La Casa Del Habano chain of shops.

Randomly, the first La Casa Del Habano was opened in November 1990 in Mexico in the Hotel Zone of Cancun, Quintana Roo, by a group of Mexican businessmen passionate about cigars. From there, the experience spread to other cities and countries across the globe.

This particular LCDH in Hamburg was founded in 2006 by the Wolters family, who have been trading Havana cigars since 1978 and are today led by Jeanette and Christoph Wolters. With a rich collection of Havana cigars, rare spirits, and fine wines, this venue attracts folks from across the globe. 

Here’s a fun fact: our very own Mitchell Orchant of CGars was partly responsible for setting up this store – read all about that here!

My experience:

I liked this venue; it was pretty close to many tourist spots in Hamburg. Walking in felt like entering a wine bar with its vibrant red and gold decor.

There were lots of seats (I counted approx 20) to relax with a cigar, including several tables to the right upon entering. The place was bustling with people, and I’m assuming many lively conversations were taking place.

The humidor was interesting; individual cigars weren’t immediately visible, requiring one to know what they were looking for – as each box had to be opened. I had to ask about my favourite cigars, a departure from my usual experience of visually browsing the selection and it’s prices. This might be quite strange for newbie cigar smokers.

I went for the classic Romeo Y Julieta Wide Churchill.

What I liked about the customer service was the Cuban staff, adding a special touch to the experience. It made me look forward to visiting Cuba someday (the dream trip). They provided coffee and tap water, contributing to an excellent service.

After a relaxing cigar, I left with a big smile on my face, appreciating the enjoyable visit.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10

La Casa del Habano Hamburg HafenCity

Address: Überseeboulevard 2, 20457 Hamburg, Germany (See Google Maps)
Website: La Casa del Habano
Email: hafencity@lacasadelhabano.de
Telephone: 040 870 72 566

The second of its kind for Hamburg, La Casa del Habano Hamburg Hafen City, opened its doors on November 1st, 2023, on Überseeboulevard. This venue offers a unique space for cigar enthusiasts to enjoy a sampling experience before purchasing. In addition to a diverse cigar collection, patrons can explore S.T. Dupont Lighters, Cuervo y Sobrinos watches, and a selection of rare rums and brandies.

The business operates from Monday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and remains closed on Sundays.

My experience:

This venue had a much more laid-back atmosphere compared to the Chilehaus, featuring great chilled music and a calmer decor.

I enjoyed chatting with the cigar sommelier Christopher Kuhn who served me, and it was a plus that he spoke English. He also mentioned that the shop had only been open for about six weeks.

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Despite its sleek appearance, the prices were ridiculously affordable (compared to the UK). The cigars were a bit hidden, like I mentioned above, I’m not sure if this associated with any German law? So it helps to know what you want to try before going in.

I relaxed with one of my favourite cigars, the Quai D Orsay No 54.

The place has good ventilation, and it was pleasantly quiet on a weekday afternoon. With their great customer service I highly rate this venue!

My rating 7.5 out of 10

Davidoff Cigar Lounge @ Atlantic Hotel

Address: An d. Alster 72-79, 20099 Hamburg, Germany (See Google Maps)
Website: https://brhhh.com/atlantic-hamburg/
Email: atlantic-hamburg@brhhh.com
Telephone: + 49 40 28880

This five-star grand hotel is one of Hamburg’s finest. With a stellar location overlooking the Alster Lake and a luxurious aesthetic throughout its 221 rooms and extensive public spaces, it also offers a spa with an indoor pool, a high-end restaurant and the Atlantic Bar & Smoker’s Lounge.

The Atlantic Bar & Smoker’s Lounge are open Sunday to Thursday from 10.00 till 00.00 and Friday to Saturday from 10.00 till 01.00.

My experience:

I had heard about this place on social media and was worried about how pretentious it might be. However, upon entering the hotel, I asked one of the porters if they spoke English and could guide me to the cigar lounge. They were friendly, spoke English, and took me straight to the cigar lounge. I couldn’t have been more pleased with their assistance – they were very friendly.

The lounge is situated in a side room adjacent to the Atlantic Bar. I was taken aback to discover that it is, in fact, a Davidoff cigar lounge, despite the absence of such labelling on Google or on the hotel’s website.

The lounge really looked fantastic, with green decor, good lighting, and a relaxed atmosphere enhanced by comfy leather seats.

How you ordered your cigar and where you paid wasn’t immediately apparent, so I had to enter the bar/restaurant and ask for help. They said someone would be with me to hand me the cigar menu – but this bit seemed a little disorganised – I am not sure if that was because I was English-speaking – or whether the cigar lounge is more of an add-on to the bar/restaurant where their main focus appeared to be. It was a busy season; so maybe they were just super occupied! Some other things felt a little odd – for example, the person serving didn’t know what a punch cutter was or how to work it – for such a classy venue, I expected expert cigar knowledge. Someone also smoked a cigarette in there – which slightly horrified me – yikes, what kind of snob have I turned into? Haha.

After a short wait, I was handed a cigar and drinks menu.

I was also keen to look directly at the cigars. I found a modestly sized humidor with six shelves containing predominantly Davidoff cigars and a few non-Cuban/new world options.

I always forget that Davidoff made Avo cigars, so seeing this in the humidor was a pleasant surprise.

The prices of the cigars were a little higher than La Casa Del Habanos – but nothing compared to the high costs of UK cigars.

I went for the Davidoff Serie Winston Churchill Churchill cigar paired with a Espresso Martini.

I felt like James Bond at this point 🙂 It was a delightful smoke.

On the way out, the porter (the one that showed me into the lounge) gave me a friendly nod – I smiled and was thankful!

My rating 7 out 10 – If they had a cigar sommelier in the room and a few more cigars, this would get a much higher rating for me – the lounge looks proper classy!

M. Niemeyer Cigarren

Address: Lange Reihe 102, 20099 Hamburg, Germany (See Google Maps)
Website: https://www.niemeyer-cigarren.de/
Email: info@niemeyer-cigarren.de
Telephone: +49 40 34994297

M. Niemeyer is a key player in the German tobacco retail sector, boasting over 100 specialised stores across Northern Germany. This tobacco shop and smoking lounge in St. Georg, at Lange Reihe 102, recently moved from “Alsterhaus”. They offer cigars, e-cigarettes, liquids, and heat-not-burn products.

It also appears they have a lot of history associated with their company, which appeared to have started in another Germany city called Bremen – check out the timeline on their website – https://www.niemeyer-cigarren.de/geschichte/ – for more details.

My experience:

I initially found myself at an incorrect location, a venue with the same name near Hamburg Central Station, which turned out to be just a shop rather than the expected sampling lounge at Lange Reihe.

Despite its simple setup, this spot, with a walk in humidor full of cigars and a spacious sampling room at the back of the shop, became my favourite cigar stop.

I arrived right when the doors opened, and although the owner didn’t speak English, and seemed a bit preoccupied with setting up the shop, she warmly welcomed me in, and we managed to communicate – going out of her way to make sure I was with a cigar and relaxed in the sampling lounge.

The cigars were excellent, an extensive selection of non-Cuban/New World cigars. They had a couple of Cuban cigars. There was coffee on offer too. The lounge was full of cigar memorabilia, including many books, but of course, rightly so, most were written in German.

The lighting feature was delightful, made up of a series gentleman’s hats, this made me chuckle – it felt very British.

I smoked three cigars there and spent a significant part of the day there. First I tried the E.P. Carrillo The Inch Maduro No. 64 cigar – this has a huge ring gauge – which I think I was first recommended to try during my visit to Farrants whilst chatting with the folk from Bright Leaf.

• Size : Toro
• Origin : Dominican Republic
• Strength : Medium to Full
• Wrapper : Maduro
• Ring Gauge : 64
• Length : 6 1/8″

I really enjoyed this cigar! One I’d smoke again.

Next up I smoked the Arturo Feunte Gran Reserva cigar – I always smile when I see one of Carlito’s cigars – they were one of the first cigar brands I smoked as part of my A-Z cigar challenge and he was the most kindest of souls when I met him at the Arturo Fuente book launch in 2023.

And finally the AVO Seasons Limited Edition Series 2023 Spring cigar – my least favourite cigar out of the three.

The room can hold quite a large group of people.

But on this day, it felt like my personal living room space – which I loved. I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere – and I felt really comfortable not dressing up here, just wearing an Adidas t shirt with tracksuit bottoms and trainers. The only thing that could have made it even better – would be with a little bit of low-level jazz music – but what a splendid little find – of course, it wasn’t as luxurious as the Atlantic Hotel, but I would 💯 recommend visiting.

My rating 8 out 10

Duske & Duske

Address: Grosse Bleichen 36, 20354, Hamburg (See Google Maps)
Website: https://shop.duskeundduske.de/
Email: info@duskeundduske.de
Telephone: +49 40 343385

Duske & Duske is a specialist for real quality cigars & everything that belongs to. Located in Hamburg’s Hanseviertel, our shop offers an extensive selection of Cuban cigars, a variety of port wines, exquisite coffee, and rare Madeira wines dating back to 1870.

My experience:

Sadly, this place wasn’t opened when I rocked up there. I was tempted to sit on one of those seats and smoke my cigar, but it started to rain. You win some, and you lose some I guess. But it looks like a great place to people-watch when it is open. The door displayed mentions of Christian Duske, presumably the store owner, along with a reference to 2008, suggesting this particular establishment’s founding date?

Places I didn’t have a chance to visit

In some of the venues I visited above, I got a couple of recommendations to smoke a cigar at Bar Bleu in Hamburg city centre and The Rabbit Hole in St Pauli.

I also reached out to Hacico, as I heard they had a cigar sampling lounge, only to discover they’ve relocated to Dusseldorf from their previous base in Hamburg.

Anyway, that was a long post. There were many cigar venues to get through, but hopefully, that was of some help! If you’re interested in other cigar venues in Europe to visit, check out this page https://londoncigarsmoker.com/cigar-bars-terraces-smoking-lounges-across-europe/ and check out Cigar World in Dusseldorf. 

Germany – thank you for having me; I’ll be back!