Cigar Bar Kuala Lumpur’s Curated Pairing Experience
Kuala Lumpur is in the middle of a cigar lounge boom with a plethora of new cigar venues opening recently. Asia Pacific Editor Samuel Spurr sat down with Cigar Bar’s co-founder Jay Walia who hosted the venue’s official launch last week and introduced their Curated Pairing Experience.
Why open Cigar Bar?
Sometime in 2018 over a few cigars, a bunch of us including Juraj Kralj, a Croatian architect on one of his work visits to KL, were just shooting the breeze which led to a crazy idea. We figured, let’s put our heads together and start something that shines the spotlight on cigars by enhancing the overall experience, by curating and pairing flavours, by coming up with a menu that stars the cigar and presenting it with various things from spirits to anything and everything complementary and almost half a year later here we are, newly opened!
What makes Cigar Bar different to other local and international lounges?
In terms of design, ours is a sleek, modern and fresh continental European style that marries into a warm and simple, almost Japanese-like in certain aspects of its aesthetic. We strive to create a comfortable and versatile environment for work meetings or relaxation especially after a long day, a smoky escape if you like. In terms of ethos we aren’t trying to re-invent the wheel with regard to how you enjoy your cigar cause as they say ‘if it isn’t broken…’, rather our goal is to heighten the experience, to experiment, and evoke the senses thus creating a deeper appreciation and understanding in a space that’s welcoming to all folks across all levels be it the novice to the aficionado alike.
Cigar Bar was designed with the intention to evoke a slightly outdoor feel – a peaceful oasis where the focus lies on your cigar and conversation. The design is unobtrusive and simple, as the cigar itself, composed of only a few fine-tuned elements; wood, marble and cork, each in its almost natural form, whereas the wooden strips are designed to interpret a light vibrance of natural shade. Although it’s a unified space, the bar counter separates it into three major seating areas of different ambience for you to choose depending on your mood.
What cigars do you stock?
Our humidor houses a carefully selected range of many Cuban and non-Cuban offerings including aged Cubans and Regional as well as Edicion Limitada releases, not forgetting new world special editions thrown into the mix too which are all available to be purchased by the stick.
What in particular will draw people to the venue?
Apart from the obvious goodies such as our well maintained and stocked humidor as well as the various forms of libation, just the ambience of the space itself, by day its really comfortable and private making it great for meetings or to work remotely over a cup of coffee in a smoke friendly environment while by night its inviting and exudes a warmth conducive for an evening out with friends filled with great cigars and drinks. Cigar Bar aims to blur the line between work and play, it’s a space built for cigar smokers by passionate cigar smokers in the beautiful and vibrant heart of the city.
Tell me more about Cigar Bar Selects: Curated Pairing Experience.
The Curated Pairing Experience is unique to us and is something that I have been working on for a few years, it is a sensory experience that applies a self-developed methodology to pairing and tasting which not only matches flavours but heightens and elevates the overall experience of each one of its separate components. It may sound complicated, but it isn’t and the good news is our customers don’t have to crack their heads to figure it out as we’ve done all the research and work. Via ‘Cigar Bar Selects’ we have just launched 6 Curated Pairing Experiences with prices ranging from Rm55 (Euro 11) to Rm130 (Euro 28) which includes a cigar, 30ml dram of whisky or rum, dark chocolate and French sea salt that not only tastes fantastic but also creates savings for our customers when offered in a set than when purchased separately. Cigar Bar Selects is ever changing and will be updated each month with new offerings which aren’t just limited to cigar pairings as non-smokers can also enjoy our whisky and rum flights or sample other curated and unique offerings which include cocktails, wine and much more.
Cigar Bar’s recent launch event saw the first instalment of the Cigar Bar Selects series presented, with members of the media treated to pairing experience No. 2. Below is a complete list that encompasses the first instalment.
CIGAR BAR SELECTS: CURATED PAIRING EXPERIENCE
- La Flor De Cano Selectos & Glenfiddich 12 Years Old
- Por Larranaga Petit Corona & Glenfarclas 12 Years Old
- Oliva Serie V Melanio #4 & The Macallan 12 Years Old
- Montecristo #4 & Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva
- Montecristo Edmundo & Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban
- Cohiba Siglo II & The Balvenie 14 Years Old
Cigar Bar
Unit 101, Ground Floor, NAZA Tower, Platinum Park,
No. 10 Persiaran KLCC,
50088 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuaan, Malaysia.
www.cigarbar.my
Capacity: 27 seated (21 lounge chairs and 6 bar stools) with enough space for events
to comfortably accommodate up to 40 people.
