Sweet smell of success

He also comes from a family of cigar smokers and, over time, has become passionate about hand-rolled tobacco.

“I truly developed a love of the leaf,” said Knoblauch, 29.

That interest has translated into a new business called Cigar Daddies, which he opened with the Wehrers – Chance, Stacy and McKenna – in Lacey.

Chance and Stacy Wehrer bought the 1,200-square-foot location on Lacey Boulevard, then gave it a major facelift, gutting the interior and transforming it into a slick-looking showroom featuring 10 Spanish cedar cigar humidors. Chance Wehrer said the business has an inventory of more than 50,000 cigars.

Cigar Daddies sells several major brands – Arturo Fuente, Rocky Patel, CAO, Alec Bradley, Padron, My Father and others – most of which are produced from Cuban tobacco seeds in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras, Knoblauch said.

“Like wine, each produces a different flavor,” he said.

Nicaraguan cigars have a fuller body, Dominican cigars can be sweet and Honduran, spicy, Knoblauch said. The humidors keep them fresh.

“Aged properly, they only get better with time,” he said.

It’s also important to smell the cigar before smoking, and a not-so-perfect odor can be a sign of good things to come, Knoblauch said.

“If it smells like barnyard or manure, you’re in for a good time,” he said.

McKenna Wehrer, too, smokes cigars, trying her first about two years ago. She’s learned that smoking a cigar is all about taste and that you don’t inhale the smoke. She started smoking milder, flavor-infused cigars and now has moved on to a fuller-body cigar, McKenna said.

Individually priced cigars range from $3 to $30, while boxes of cigars sell from $75 to $400, although the average individual price is about $7 or $8, Chance Wehrer said.

The business also sells pipe tobacco by the ounce and cigar and pipe accessories.

Cigar Daddies also is set to open a members-only smoking lounge this month, in a separate location behind the store.

Cigar Daddies

Owners: Blake Knoblauch, Chance Wehrer, Stacy Wehrer and McKenna Wehrer

Location: 4511 Lacey Boulevard SE, Lacey

Service: Cigar, pipe tobacco and smoking accessories retailer.

Years in business: Opened in June.

Online: thecigardaddies.com

Did you know? Cigar Daddies also plans to open a members-only smoking lounge behind Cigar Daddies main store. The lounge, which is expected to be finished this month, will have leather sofas, recliners and flat-screen TVs. The cost is $25 per month or $50 per month with a private cigar humidor locker, co-owner Blake Knoblauch said.