The Cigar Lounge at QG featured in Cigar Aficionado

The following was an article written and updated by Cigar Aficionado.  Posting it for your enjoyment.

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Sometimes it's not about the cigar. Sometimes it's about the cigar way of life. At The QG, short for the Quintessential Gentleman, in Baltimore, the cigar lifestyle is in expansion mode. Already equipped as a full-service grooming parlor—haircuts, massage, bespoke tailoring, etc.—QG offers the opportunity to put yourself through the rigorous paces of pampering. Then go have a cigar.

The QG spa offers an assortment of facial and therapy treatments. There are are all sorts of "waxing" services too. A one-hour table massage will run you $110; very reasonable by most urban standards.

The shop is the brainchild of Craig Martin, who cashed in his retirement and opened the gentlemen's department store nine years ago just two blocks from Baltimore's Inner Harbor complex. Martin says he got the idea when he was "five or six years old" from "seeing a barber in a men's room at a men's club in New York" when his father took him along. Martin's goal at QG was to merge the best of the old with the ease of today's technology.

Nine barber chairs provide customers with what Martin calls "upscale grooming." Another floor has an "Alden (shoes) concept shop" along with select clothing from brands like Barbour, Duck Head, Magnanni, Olukai as well as smaller curated brands like 7 Downie, Arnau and Hagen Shirts, Ballin trousers, Bryon sports coats and more. The tailoring shop will do your measuring, final fit and alterations. The suit is sent out for final construction.

The cigar lounge is on the third floor and a membership, $100 a month, is required to enjoy it. 

The décor of the cigar lounge is sort of rustic man-cave. A deer head has bowties hanging off the antlers. More importantly, the smoke management is excellent with several ventilating machines at work.

The QG since has opened it's "speakeasy" inspired bar and kitchen called Clock Restoration on the top floor of the six-story building.

The cigar selection is very good. (I was happy to see a Punch Grand Cru in the humidor, not having had one in a long time.) 

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QG offers a great way station when in Charm City. Sit and watch a ballgame. Maybe the Orioles coming back and beating the Yankees. Maybe the Ravens. Enjoy the smoking jacket you've rented for the day. Shop for some great shoes. Get a haircut and measured for that new suit. It's one-stop lifestyle at The QG.

The QG
31 S Calvert Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 685-7428
www.theqg.com

Tuesday through Friday: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

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