Anyone willing to buy at least one fine cigar from Daniel Hooberry's mobile trolley is welcome to sit a spell, smoke a Gurkha or other luxury brand and even have their shoes shined. While inside, feel free to talk about the weather or just enjoy the heady aroma which encompasses the mobile business, amply called, Gentlemen's Cigars.

Hooberry anxiously awaited getting his mobile cigar emporium on the road for the first time on Thursday. He already had some venues on his calendar.

A book author, retired bistro owner and eclectic cookbook collector, Hooberry is a wealth of information about a lot of things. This is really helpful, he says, when it comes to chatting with fellow cigar enthusiasts. Hooberry and his wife Sarah, formerly of Nashville, have become part of the local fabric over the last 11 years. She was an equine massage therapist and he ran a bistro, when they first moved here.

But conversation these days at Gentlemen's Cigars is certain to come back around to his favorite pastime, which is buying, selling and smoking premium cigars. His choice of brands, like Gurkhas, which date back in origin to the 1800s, are uniquely fermented, meticulously hand-rolled and contain a pleasant aroma loved by avid smokers, like himself.

"I've got top U.S. executives who will be coming into my trolley. I've got guys who dig ditches, who will be coming into my trolley."

In essence, it's just a place for refined cigar smokers to enjoy without any hassles. Anyone so inclined for such an environment may step inside.

The Shelbyville businessman says he's planning to serve men and women of all socioeconomic statuses, but again, does require at least the purchase of one of his cigars to enjoy the ambiance of it all.

His make of bus, he explains, was used years ago for transportation purposes, starting out as trolleys on rail and sort of becoming tourist trolleys for big towns. He has studied how Nashville had the trolleys for a while then some of the tour companies purchased them.

"I'm the first in the country, that I've found out about, that has a cigar trolley for events."

The Shelbyville businessman admits he's a little pretentious when it comes to his cigars; he prefers to work with what he calls boutique cigar companies. To be able to highlight those small cigar distributors, which ideally represents his new business, makes for a great match, he says.

The aroma of a really good cigar, the flavor, and how strong (mild, medium, full-bodied) create the actual smoke texture. Hooberry further explains how a fine cigar's different nuances mix well with a good wine, bourbon or Scotch whiskey, if that's your thing.

While he does not sell liquor, he is allowing his cigar customers to bring aboard their own bottle (BYOB); his decanter and glasses on display are for personal and demonstration only. Hooberry says his opinion is that beer is generally associated with blind drunkenness, so it is not allowed in Gentlemen's Cigars.

His trolley on wheels is mainly fashioned to suit the cigar connoisseur-one who doesn't mind the smell of the smoke and enjoys the enlightenment of good conversation. "This is me, 365 days-a-year . . . the way I live."

He explained while cigars are perhaps not as popular today, he believes his business, unique in comparison to other cigar dealers, has its place in society. When Gentlemen's Cigars rolls up to a location, novice cigar smokers will quickly learn the difference between just a stogie and his premium cigars.

"When it comes the ones I carry, these are all hand-rolled. They're long-filler cigars. They're designed to be enjoyed, not just smoked as far as you can to get through it."

Long-filler cigars, by contrast to short-fillers, consists of whole tobacco leaves that run the length of a cigar. Most premium, handmade cigars like stocked in Hooberry's business use nothing but long-filler.

"I've been smoking cigars for a little over 30 years. It's one of my passions, in a way, to find really good cigars."

Hooberry, known for his curvy, handlebar mustache, said it took him 9 months to birth his new mobile establishment. He likened to the idea of opening on April Fool's Day, stating it just seemed apropos to everything else going on right now to open on April 1.

He designed his own pristine interior and has filled the store with fashionable display cases filled with his favorite premium cigars and necessary humidifiers. To give it that early days feel, the host dresses in gentlemen's attire-one complete with slacks, vest, silk ascot and a top hat accented with playing cards and fake dollars.

"Everything in here has a purpose, in a way" he says, revealing the history behind a lot of it.

Peering through his 1800s-style spectacles, Hooberry talks of switching over from retired restaurant owner to cigar vendor. Having suffered not long ago from a stroke, he says people likely wonder why he's selling cigars, better yet, still smoking them.

He explains, "Cigar smoking is different than cigarette smoking. The thing you've got to remember is that you're not inhaling cigar smoke. Yes, I smoke more cigars than the average person, but I'm not addicted to them. If I have to go a day or week without them, I can."

He vows his stroke was stress-related. "Mine was brought about with a lot of stress, not by smoking cigars. I have reduced my stress down to almost zero."

He said people do not understand the stress associated with the restaurant life. "They're working on a very small margin to start with . . . keeping the place open. Most of the time, a restaurant is staying open with 10 to 15 percent margin. You can make a lot of money in a restaurant, but you can lose a lot of money."

In jest, he recites an old familiar saying in the restaurant business: "Want to know how to make a small fortune? Start with a large one."

Hooberry reveals how Gentlemen's Cigars is starting off in good financial shape. "I will be going into business as a totally debt-free company."

His pricing, he says, is simply dependent on the type of event requested. For example, a party might want all the cigar boxes open to try, which means he gets compensated for providing that luxury. For a fee, a wedding party can use the bus for a place for groomsmen to dress.

The experienced businessman says he's learned a lot, both good and bad. He believes he's in the winner's circle this time around.

"I had a cigar shop years ago. I wanted to get back into it, because I knew that it was something I could do. I may not be able to do all the heavy lifting that I use to do, but sitting around talking people . . . engaged with people is something I enjoyed."

While he considered opening a store in the city, he reveals that didn't happen. Then, COVID-19 hit last spring, which hindered new prospective business owners like himself from opening to the public.

He said the idea of using box trailers didn't speak to his personality. Then, he had the idea of opening a mobile shop, which ignited the idea of Gentlemen's Cigars-a business he parks right in his back yard and moves around from place to place, with no overhead.

Though reminiscent in style of 1940s transportation buses, he said his vehicle was actually constructed in 1994. Hooberry shares how his Tennessee family history from the 1800s inspired the trolley's interior.

"My great-grandfather was part of the Nashville Trolley and Light System back in the early 1800s. This style trolley and buses started to coming into favor in the '40s and '50s."

Hooberry says, reveals how the buses came back into prominence when World War II soldiers rode them home. One of those veterans was his late father.

"I come from a family who respected history . . . believed there's a lot of history we can learn from."

Searching for a mobile vehicle that could house all his passions-history, story-telling, cigars, entertainment-the determined businessman searched for the perfect trolley. This process, he says, turned out to me more drawn out than anticipated.

"Then I found this one-in terrible condition. Mechanically, it was OK. But the outside and inside was really bad. I totally redid everything to the best of my ability."

With the exception of the air conditioning and the outside lettering, Hooberry can say all the work was finished by his own two hands. Well, he says he must give a lot of credit to his wife for buying a sewing machine and teaching herself how to make the vintage curtains of crushed red velvet.

She's not a cigar smoker. So don't really look for her at the trolley, he notes.

As for Hooberry, he reveals, "It just became a part of my life, to come out here and work on it some everyday, until I got it finished. It's not perfect, but it's like me. I'm not perfect."

Contact Gentlemen's Cigars at 615-512-6814 or email gentlemenscigars1@gmail.com. Hooberry can be found on Instagram at gentlemens_cigars.