La Casa del Habano, Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok
Bangkok is a cigar-friendly city with a number of impressive lounges, and in recent years has supplanted Paris and London to become the second-most visited city in the world, a destination in and of itself as well as a major gateway to the rest of Thailand and all of the Pacific Rim. This growth has led to lots of new hotels, and among these is the Sindhorn Kempinski, home to the most impressive of Bangkok’s many cigar bars. Both the Kempinski and its La Casa del Habano are less than three years old, and well located in the heart of downtown’s Ratchaprasong shopping and entertainment district.
The cigar lounge is on the ground floor, just off the hotel lobby and hidden behind the hotel’s main bar, Firefly (which doesn’t welcome cigars). Walk through this to enter the smaller Casa del Habano, a hidden gem tucked away in the back. It’s quite modern, complete with a small but extremely well-equipped bar with half a dozen stools, flanked by low triangular geometric tables and green leather chairs, accented by plenty of shiny brass. There are also two outside garden patios divided by a privacy wall, each with a large table surrounded by chairs for those who prefer to sit outside. The walls are floor-to-ceiling glass cabinets disapplying the bar’s prodigious whiskey and spirits collection, plus a large glass cabinet of high-end cigar accessories, lighters, cutters and tabletop humidors. The actual humidor is a long, narrow, walk-in alley behind the bar back, accessed by an automatic sliding door. Inside are shelves packed with Cubans, and a smaller enclosed humidor containing the best of the best.
The lounge is owned by Hong Kong-based Pacific Cigar Co., longtime Cuban distributors for this part of the world, and they carry nothing but Cubans. (You’re allowed to bring in your own cigars and smoke here, if you like, but only if they are Cuban.) The selection is extensive to say the least, with about 200 individual selections covering just about all of Cuba’s cigar brands, including Bolivar, Cohiba, Cuaba, Diplomaticos, Fonseca, Hoyo de Monterrey, H. Upmann, Juan Lopez, La Flor de Cano, Montecristo, Partagás, Por Larrañaga, Punch, Quai d’Orsay, Quintero, El Rey del Mundo, Rafael Gonzalez, Ramon Allones, Romeo y Julieta, San Cristobal de la Habana, Sancho Panza, Saint Luis Rey, Trinidad, Vegas Robaina, and Vegueros.
In addition to the vast regular selection, there are special models made only for certain regions, such as the San Cristobal de la Habana Harimau, a Cuban Regional Edition made just for the Malaysian market. There is also a lengthy list of vintage Cubans, such as a 15-year-old Cohiba Robusto that sells for a bit more than $400. On the non-vintage side, prices are more approachable with a Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchill at $50 and the Cohiba Siglo III at $76. Entry level options include choices such as La Flor de Cano Petit Coronas, for less than $13.
This is a cozy, elegant jewel box of a bar where you can escape the traffic and heat of the city and dive deep into tobacco and spirits. As impressive as the cigar list is, it pales compared to the whiskey selection. There are about 400 Scotches, including many independent bottlings you would be hard pressed to find anyplace else, one of a kind labels from Samaroli, Compass Box, Old Particular, the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society (SMWS), Premier Barrel and Douglas Laing & Co.’s Provenance. There are bottles from defunct distilleries, limited editions and extra old labels such as Glenfarclas 30-year ($115 a glass), while the crème de la crème of the list is a SMWS private cask bottling of Glen Grant 30-year at $130.
On top of this, there are a smattering of Swiss and Japanese whiskies, and pages and pages of other fine spirits, including aquavit, calvados, Armagnac, Cognac and rum—with yet more Cuban choices.
La Casa del Habano
Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok
68/3, 68/4 Sarasin Rd
Bangkok, Thailand 10330
+66 2 252 8228
https://lacasadelhabano.com/en/new-la-casa-del-habano-sindhorn-kempinski/
Open Sunday - Saturday: 12 p.m. to 12 a.m.
