B&Ms in Las Vegas?

[jonasclark]

I love Las Vegas - and I don't gamble, or go to strip clubs! But in all my years going to Vegas, I haven't seen any shops! Last visit, mainly being familiar with the Strip and having no car (I don't drive) I decided to do the best search I could manage. I asked around, and the only suggestion I got was a Davidoff store in the Venetian, so I headed there. I was mainly after meerschaum. They had only two or three (to me, uninteresting) very plain but high-end briars, but they told me the Davidoff store at the MGM Grand had some large meerschaums. Off I went on the long, but enjoyable, walk to the MGM, along the way having a laugh at this small souvenir store's large humidor, which looks destined for a messy and expensive accident:

I find Davidoff... but they have no meerschaums, just a handful of plain, high-end briars. "There are some large meerschaums in our store at the Venetian," the employee tells me. Really? They sent me here! He seems very surprised. I ask him if there are any other places, on or off strip, where I might look. He has no suggestions. I now know there is another Davidoff store at the Mandalay Bay, about as far south of MGM as MGM is from the Venetian!
Are there any B&Ms, or smoke shops with some meers or a larger briar selection, anywhere on or off strip, that anyone knows about? Next visit, perhaps I'll telephone all three Davidoff shops, too, before I visit them. I'm surprised there aren't more, but I suppose high-rollers do cigars... just as I was surprised that the Strip has ONE truly exceptional craft cocktail bar (Vesper at the Cosmopolitan) but realized it's because the high-rollers just drink whiskey or Cognac.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Cigars are more popular in Vegas because there's so much less involved with having a cigar. Most places will let you use a house cutter or punch and give you a match or two.
As for B&Ms in Vegas there is a Mr. Bill's Pipe and Tobacco store off the strip. I can't recall which street it's off of though. Their stores typically have a number of house blends, usually some Peterson tins, and about a dozen Peterson, Savinelli, and BC pipes.
The best in town that I've been to is the Tobacco Leaf off of Lake Mead and the 95. He's always stocked up on a number of McClelland and Mac Baren blends plus the whole line up of Peterson blends. For pipes he has about a dozen or so of each Peterson, Savinelli, Dunhill, and Castello. Don't recall meers specifically though.
Then there's Tobacco Town on Rainbow and the 215. It's more of a cigar store. They do carry a number of Sutliff tins and probably the largest selection of bulk blends in the city. Not too many pipes though. I'll hangout and have a bowl with a friend there on Sundays sometimes because the guy who's on shift then is really cool. They do have a pretty nice lounge.
I've been to the Davidoff store in the Venetian. It definitely caters to bachelor parties or someone that just won a few grand at the craps table and wants to celebrate. An aficionado of tobacco is definitely not the customer they have in mind.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I am headed to Vegas on Saturday and am interested in this thread. I plan to bring a few pipes with me to smoke. I wonder if I will see any other pipe smokers there.

 

[jonasclark]

I love Vegas because I can walk almost anywhere indoors puffing my meer or Kirsten, and anywhere outdoors with cocktail in hand. If anyone sees a guy at the Vesper Bar, wearing a fedora-crease Panama and smoking a pipe, that'd be me.

 

[slownumbers39]

When I went to the pipe show in Vegas last fall, I did a bit of research on tobacco shops and it seemed like Tobacco Leaf was the place to go. There were two locations listed, but I did not make it to either. I was worn out from the pipe show, made lots of contacts and tobacco samples.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

The most important thing to remember is the open container law only applies when you're on the strip. That would be the mass of huge hotels/casinos on Las Vegas BLVD. I think you might be able to have an open container at the Fremont Street Experience but that's it. Anywhere else in the valley and a cop will site you.
Also, another point to make the open container on the strip does not mean you can drive down the boulevard with your open container. Doing that will still get you a DUI.
Vegas is a fun city that I think everyone should have on their bucket list to visit. There's a lot more than casinos and strip clubs here. There's a lot of high quality shows to see, there's hiking trails in Red Rock Canyon, The Springs Preserve nature preserve, Wet N Wild is back again, there's a lot of great places to shop for clothes, wallets, watches etc. , and the valley has some 3,000 eateries in it with some very good places that don't get recognized on tourist sites.

 

[jonasclark]

That's absolutely worth nothing, lordofthepipering: that open-container is Strip, on foot, only (and probably the same on Fremont Street). I stick to the Strip and I don't drive, so it works fine for me. I like to pick up a measure of something nice and let it last a long time, walking through the casino or outdoors. For serious cocktails, though, it's Vesper; sit, drink, smoke, chat, and watch the people go by. It seems many people head for the Chandelier Bar (which is incredible, really, must be seen - and walked 360 degrees around - to believe) especially its middle level for their imaginative modern cocktails, or stop at the very pretty LED-lit Bond up front, but don't realize that the out-in-the-open, unassuming Vesper near the back has the best cocktails on the Strip.
I'm considering trying to hit the West Coast Pipe Show in November. What's common weather in Vegas in November? I visited in October of last year, and it was chilly with a really sharp wind, which I haven't experienced in Vegas, though I've usually been there in the Spring. It kept the Strip from being a very happening place, especially after dark when it got much colder. If I come in November, is there a reasonable chance of some at least lightly warm (no coat needed) weather?

 

[brewshooter]

Last year the pipe show weather was pretty nice. No coats needed during the day. I wore a sport coat a few evenings, but I don't know that it was absolutely necessary. I imagine, that time of year, weather can vary quite a bit.