Contact
(575) 526-3411
Address
201 E. University Ave.
Inside the Ramada Palms Hotel
Las Cruces, NM
Map and directions
Hours
Monday – Saturday: 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Sunday: 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Welcome to Lucas Pipe & Tobacco located in the beautiful city of Las Cruces, NM since 1989! Specializing in small batch cigars and limited releases. From cigars and new pipes to pipe tobacco and pipe accessories Lucas Pipe & Tobacco has it all.
Jason Gibbs, Las Cruces Sun-News Published 7:59 a.m. MT July 2, 2017
LAS CRUCES – What started out as a 10-year business plan has turned into nearly three decades of fulfilling the smoky desires of Las Cruces tobacco aficionados.
Lucas Catoggio opened Lucas Pipe and Tobacco in an out-of-the-way shop 28 years ago. Now, the small space is forever infused with the sweet smell of cigars and pipe tobacco, and Catoggio is now offering a place for smokers to put their feet up and relax while enjoying his wares.
The shop, located in the Ramada Las Cruces Hotel and Conference Center, 201 E. University Ave.,has opened up a patio area, complete with shade and misters to beat the heat. The move allows patrons to enjoy a leisurely cigar in a relaxed atmosphere. It also means customers can take advantage of the hotel’s bar and kitchen to round out the experience with a drink in hand or savor a smoke and a snack.
Andrew Worley shows off some of the premium cigars at Lucas Pipe and Tobacco at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center, Wednesday June 21, 2017. (Photo: Josh Bachman/Sun-News)
Catoggio, 60 and a 1985 graduate of New Mexico State University, credits his love for fine tobacco and a team of loyal employees for his success. Of the current slate of four employees, the “newest” employee has been there eight years, he said.
“You don’t survive anything for 28 years without incredible help,” Catoggio said. “There have been some bumps on the way, but right now they are so incredible. They only work four hours a week and they don’t quit. They want to be here. It just blows me away. They love it. All I ask them to do is sit here and take care of customers.”
The idea to add a smoking patio is not a new one. Catoggio had approached previous hotel owners with the proposal, but it never came to fruition. Then Keith Martin, the hotel’s new business manager, came on board.
“I was looking for a new location to provide the guys a place to smoke,” Catoggio said. “Keith approached me and said ‘do you want that patio out there?’ I said ‘Yeah, I want the patio.’”
“(Catoggio) and his store are landmarks in Las Cruces,” Martin said. “People come in from all over the state because he has, as I understand it, the largest selection of boutique cigars in the state of New Mexico. In addition to that, he’s a really great guy. He could have a huge shop anywhere else and be successful. But he’s been in this and when any shop any space, any place and be successful. But he chooses to be in this small space and he’s very successful.”
A selection of cigars at Lucas Pipe and Tobacco shop at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center, Wednesday, June 21, 2017. (Photo: Josh Bachman/Sun-News)
Love for the leaf
A passion for the ever changing tobacco industry and its renewed appeal among younger people, has kept him going as well, he said.
“Sometimes it gets stale, but it’s a dynamic industry,” he said. “Just when you think it’s getting stale, the next wave comes in. Right now, they are in their 20’s. It gives you that boost you need to keep going.”
Catoggio sells “old-school” cigars and traditional briar pipes as well as loose tobacco. The cigars, rolled in Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic, are going through a revolution as well, due to a wave of younger cigar rollers.
“The cigars is where it’s ever-changing,” he said. “Now they are produced in limited quantity, much like craft beers, but they call them boutique or limited editions. They are just phenomenal — full-bodied yet the flavors are present. They are complex and the flavor develops as you smoke.
“The kids that work for the guys my age are starting their own companies and they are very knowledgeable about the leaves,” he added. “They are going back to Cuban-sized cigars. It’s kind of retro in some regards. Youth is always a beautiful thing. You want to be current, not fade into the cobwebs.
“I think they get it, as I do,” he added. “I’m not going to get rich doing this. It’s a passion. They keep producing limited cigars of exceptional quality. And they get it.”
Lucas Pipe and Tobacco also ships to customers all over the United States. Customers will pop in while passing through town to stock up on their favorite brands, including Illusione, Foundation, RoMa, Crowned Heads, Warped and Black Works Studio. For pipe smokers, he stocks Lane, Cornell and Diehl, among other offerings.
“The pipe tobaccos primarily have seen little change,” Catoggio said. “It’s the evolution of the cigar that has really changed. Much like craft beers, small batches, premium blends. When they are gone, they are gone, sometimes.”