Amsterdam has a new cigar shop. Not too long ago, an exclusive Fuente cigar shop was announced. The shop, located in the Museum Quarter of beautiful Amsterdam, would be the second physical Fuente exclusive shop in the world. But then the world got hit with a little thing called the coronavirus. A worldwide pandemic that stopped travel in its tracks. 

The cigar market for premium handmade cigars in The Netherlands is growing. It has been growing over the last decade. But the Dutch aficionados alone are too small of a market to maintain a Fuente exclusive store on such a high-end location. An Arturo Fuente exclusive store is only a viable option because of the enormous amount of tourists flooding Amsterdam. Tourists that are now staying away, or aren’t even allowed to travel to Europe with the current EU ban of travelers from the United States. So plans had to be adjusted. With the lease already signed, canceling the project was not an option. So instead of a Fuente exclusive store, the location is now Van Dalen Cigar Amsterdam. The new shop carries a huge selection of Arturo Fuente cigars, yet it’s not the only brand being sold.

Van Dalen Cigars

The Van Dalen name is an old name in Dutch tobacco retail. The Van Dalen family name is tied to tobacco retail for at least 80 years. The original shop is located in Rotterdam. The second generation Van Dalen, brothers Tom & Ed, were one of the first retailers with a walk-in humidor in The Netherlands in the early 1980s. But with no successors in the family and the retirement age passed, they were looking to sell the store. Davidoff distributor Pronk Import and Longfiller Company owner Sasja van Horssen both showed interest with Van Horssen making a fair offer. He bought the store, relocated, and all the while Tom & Ed ran the shop for Van Horssen for a few more years.

Van Horssen already had a cigar shop in Den Bosch, which is renamed to Van Dalen Cigars Den Bosch. Last year, he acquired the renowned Ted Bogers Cigars in Dordrecht. The shop was renovated and re-opened as Van Dalen Dordrecht, with Ted as a store manager. Now Van Horssen opens Amsterdam’s new cigar shop: Van Dalen Cigars Amsterdam. With his daughter Buffie, 4th generation, as the shop manager. The shop is located at Van Baerlestraat, right across the famous Rijksmuseum and Stedelijk Museum. It’s about 100 meters away from Van Horssen’s flagship Cigaragua tobacco store. The new Van Dalen Cigars Amsterdam store is too small for a lounge. Yet, when you buy cigars at the new shop, you are welcome to enjoy them at the large but cozy lounge of Cigaragua. 

Van Baerlestraat

The same stretch of shops used to be home to the Davidoff Cigars flagship store as well. Yet Davidoff closed all three retail outlets they had last year. If Tom & Ed van Dalen sold the shop to Pronk Import, the Van Dalen name would have disappeared from Dutch tobacco retail. Instead, their family name is now on the gable of four locations instead of one. The La Casa del Habano Amsterdam is also located on that street. A stone throws away from Cigaragua. That small area is the epicenter of Dutch tobacco retail with three specialized tobacconists. One dedicated to exclusively Cubans. Another dedicated to the best Nicaragua has to offer. And Amsterdam’s new cigar shop with cigars from Cuba, Nicaragua, and a large selection from Honduras and the Dominican Republic.