Old Virginia Tobacco Co.: “Cheers” for Cigar Lovers

As you walk farther into the shop you almost naturally start to relax as the aroma of fine cigars slowly envelopes you. A couple of conversations are going on near the cash register, but it’s quiet in the cozy cigar lounge farther back. They all seem to know each other, and a visitor is greeted like a new neighbor whose name they don’t yet know.

“We felt that the area needed a place for people to come and sit, enjoy a fine cigar,” said Old Virginia Tobacco Co. President and CEO Gary Pesh.

“You can’t really do that in a shopping mall,” he said, explaining the company’s decision to move to Kingstowne Towne Center two years ago. The store had been in Springfield Mall for 25 years.

“Getting an opportunity to be in the caliber of neighborhood that Kingstowne is, is a tremendous opportunity for us. We’re thankful we can be there,” Pesh said. The Kingstowne location is one of seven Old Virginia Tobacco Co. stores. “Our concept is to provide one of the best selections of premium handmade cigars, pipes and tobaccos, and the related accessories, for consumers who enjoy that product,” he said.

Pesh’s father started the business in 1971, and he’s been carrying on the tradition since 1980.

“I can’t say that I grew up wrapped in a bed of swaddling tobacco leaves, but what I did is when I came back from college for summers and vacation, being the eldest son I’d come and work my dad’s store, and one thing led to another.” After some time “working very, very hard for someone else” in the nightclub business, his father convinced him to work hard for himself in the family business.

Today, Pesh likes the fact that employees and customers can combine work with “an environment for people who enjoy the social aspects of cigar smoking,” he said. Describing the popular cigar lounge he said people often “end up working, and able to relax and smoke. You can’t do that in any of the office locations anymore.”

Pesh gives a lot of credit for the Cheers-like atmosphere at the Kingstowne store to manager Jeremy Seeley. The TV show that aired from 1982 to 1993 was about a bar “where everybody knows your name.” In Kingstowne’s Old Virginia Tobacco Co. store they also know your cigar, and can explain the fine points to those who are new to them.

For example, Seeley is happy to explain why cigars are kept in humidors. “That’s to insure that the oils in the cigar and the moisture in the cigar stay regular, so that the cigar is able to be smoked and thoroughly enjoyed the way it’s meant to be enjoyed rather than being dried out or too moist,” he said.

Seeley also answered the burning question of why some cigars cost much more than others. “The more expensive a cigar the more rare the blend might be, the more age the tobacco might have on it,” he said, “which lends itself to [being] more flavorful, more complexities in the cigar.” He added that it might also be rolled better.

You could find a fancier “cigar bar” somewhere, but it won’t be better. And it will take longer for them to remember your name.

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Old Virginia Tobacco Co.

Kingstowne Towne Center (near Giant), Kingstowne, VA 22315, 703-971-1933, http://ovtc.com/

Monday-Saturday: 10:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m., Sunday: 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.