New shop owners bring Cuban flavor

Jesus Castanon first learned to roll cigars in his native Cuba.
Recently, the York resident, 35, and his wife and business partner, Xenia Hernandez, purchased Hain's Pipe and Cigar Shop on South George Street in York, where he continues his age-old art of cigar rolling.
"We're trying to settle here . . . I really like the place," Castanon said of York. The husband and wife, who have three children, moved to the United States from Cuba more than a month ago.
"When I meet a new customer, I give them a sample, and they keep coming back," he said.
Although it changed locations in York a couple times, Hain's is more than 115 years old and one of the oldest shops of its kind in the country.
The name of the historic shop will remain the same, but new services -- such as fresh hand-rolled cigars, special events, furniture and a big-screen TV -- will be offered, he said.
Castanon said the quality of a cigar is determined by the craftsmanship in its rolling, how it feels and the way it burns.
"How it looks . . . the flavor of the tobacco, the taste, the construction of the cigar burning evenly" is how he described a good cigar.
Castanon said he purchased Hain's from Steve Cottrill, who bought the business in 2005.
"I was a cigar smoker," Cottrill said at that time. "I started coming here about two years ago as a customer. I had become friends with the previous owner and there was an opportunity to purchase the place . . .
It's a great place to come and have a smoke . . . to relax and enjoy a few hours."
Castanon shared a similar sentiment. However, he hopes to bring more of a Cuban flavor to the cigar shop.
"I have unique cigars," he said. "It's a new era here at Hain's."