Bachelors Lounge, Colorado Mountains

Source from:  Cigar Aficionado 09/10/2015

Deep in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by trees, trails and streams, there is a cigar bar. Not just any cigar bar. A ski-in, ski-out; hike-in, hike-out; ride-in, ride-out cigar bar. It's called Bachelors Lounge and it's an open-air, rustic-luxury smoking den in The Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch, which is just down the hill from Beaver Creek, just down the road from Vail.

The hotel, modeled after the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone, is a huge log structure that echoes its mountain setting rather than imposing itself upon it. Spago, Wolfgang Puck's legendary restaurant, anchors the lobby with a high-design bar and dining room. A ski lift rumbles outside to take visitors to Beaver Creek Mountain. In the summer, it's all about the outdoor pool, the trails, hiking, biking and horseback riding. And in the middle of all of this backcountry commotion is Bachelors Lounge, America's highest cigar bar at 8,125 feet.

If you arrive on your skis, a ski caddy will grab your equipment so you can stroll unencumbered into Bachelors. You can lay down your bike, or hitch up the horse. The entrance takes you past the walk-in humidor, a controlled cubby that holds 300 cigars.

Bachelors' cigar collection includes the classics: Ashton VSG and Cabinet; Davidoff Tubos; Dominican Cohiba, Romeo y Julieta, Montecristo and Partagas; Rocky Patel; and Fuente. Prices range from $17 for a Salomon's Private Stash Dual Wrap (the lounge's signature cigar) to $2,000 for the Gurkha: Her Majesty Reserve. That's $2,000 for one stick infused with one shot of Louis XIII. The bar has yet to sell one, but it's only a matter of the right person at the right time. Other rare cigars include Liga Privada No. 9, Cohiba Comador, and Macanudo Estate Reserve 2014 (the Jamaican blend).

Bartender Alexandra Kaplan is a human Google search of cigar knowledge, along with other attributes. She knows about her cigars and her cocktails, but she doesn't think they should always be combined.

"I hate to see someone dip a great cigar into a medium-grade Cognac," she says. "You are ruining the whole physics of it."

Patrons pass a small bar on the way to the open-air smoking area. It carries significant wines, Scotches and whiskies, along with 15 Tequilas. A bottle of Jose Cuervo 250 Aniversario fetches $7,800. Shoot that Tequila while smoking the Gurhka and you have a $9,800 tab, before tipping Alexandra.

The smoking area is a 1,000 square-foot safe house with stone walls that go halfway to the roof, opening the room to the mountain air and the mountain itself. Six seating areas and three giant flat-screen televisions invite you to light up and kick back. In the summer, the cool nights keep you comfy. In the winter, fire pits and overhead heaters keep it warm, along with blankets.

Following the Ritz-Carlton mantra of service, staffers are anxious to light up your cigar and slake your thirst. If you want a Hav-A-Tampa and a Harvey Wallbanger, they will go find you some.

This is the luxe life. Puff puff. Enditem