Cigar enthusiasts will find everything they could need at La Casa del Habano, Montreal's upscale smoking lounge. Located on la rue Sherbrooke Ouest, it is easily accessible from the city's downtown hotels and provides a relaxing destination for tourists who crave a Cohiba and business travelers who need to unwind following a marathon of meetings.

As the store's name implies, you'll only find Cuban cigars in its walk-in humidor. Be sure to see an attendant before trying to enter (the humidor, that is), as the door is kept locked. The employee will also help you with your selection, introducing you to the latest releases – which can be important, given their unavailability in the United States. As you peruse the shelves, prepare yourself for a bit of sticker-shock, as Canadian taxes do hike up the prices. But, for the cigar that will make the next hour magical, it's worth the sting.

Though you may want to pick up a few sticks for the road, make some time to smoke at least one in La Casa del Habano's large, comfortable cigar lounge. It seats close to 20, with large leather chairs and couches throughout the room and four seats at the full bar. The lounge offers coffee, espresso and a variety of cocktails, completing the experience you'd expect to have in the top shop in Montreal.

Smoking bans may ultimately keep cigar connoisseurs from buying that next lighter or cigar cutter, but there is a group – that may or may not smoke – that is buying cigar-related items aggressively. Collectors are being drawn to antique smoking-related items, even if their use has become less popular over the past several decades.

Pipes, ashtrays, cigar boxes and cigarette dispensers are on the list for this subculture. Others are drawn to packaging and advertising, scooping up old cigar bans, boxes of matches, in-store ads and other forms of "tobacciana." Some are even quite expensive.

So, when your kids get on your case about the stack of empty cigar boxes in the living room, just tell them that's how they'll get through college ... if they're lucky.

[Photo by Steve Zak]

If you're not following CAO on Twitter, you're missing something ... specifically, free cigars. There were more than 100 entries on Stogie Fresh, with the winning prizes far from trivial. The top spot came with an LX2 Limited Edition Humidor, with #2 getting a box of CAO LX2 cigars and #3 picking up an LX2 sample pack and a CAO ashtray.

Participants were certainly varied, with entries running from classical to truly creative. Cigars wore suits, brandished light sabers and sat alongside pints of beer. This is why judges had a tough time whittling down the final 40 to three winners and a few honorable mentions.

The winner, who posed a CAO LX2 on a craps table, probably won the judges over with his tag line: "Always a good bet."

If you're on Twitter, keep an eye on @aocigars, as this isn't the only contest I've seen.

The fact that cigars should be kept in a humidor is now news, much to the surprise, I'm sure, of even novice cigar smokers. David Cagan, general manager of BestCigarPrices.com, says, "Proper storage is crucial ... You wouldn't leave your hard earned money lying around, or leave your car unlocked in a bad neighborhood." Shortly after he uttered these words, I bet he thanked his publicist profusely for being able to place the dopiest of stories.

His advice continues, "Why would you leave cigars on your desk?" Well, for Wall Streeters, this no longer applies, so maybe they should remember not to leave them on the coffee table instead.

For those not in the know, this is good advice, particularly since cigars can develop problems if they aren't kept in a humid environment. Uneven or fast burns, harsh tastes, cracking, mold or tiny holes could ruin the experience, and in this market, having to toss a bad cigar hurts a little bit more. The rule of thumb for your humidor is 70/70: 70 percent humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you live in Scottsdale, AZ, you're about to have a new place to smoke. Pat Mitchel, owner of 21 Degrees Cigar & Accessories, is expanding his store with a Rocky Patel-sponsored lounge. Smoking bans have made lounges more important than ever to the success of the cigar trade, as customers are running out of places to smoke.

The engagement of sponsors is starting to gather momentum, particularly given tough market conditions in which every brand needs to find every advantage available. Sources say that Cigar Inn, in New York, entertained offers from several manufacturers before finally giving the sponsorship opportunity to magazine Cigar Aficionado.

Mitchell's sponsor, Rocky Patel, is excited to be participating in its first lounge, saying "Scottsdale is a good location, with good clientele."

The store pulls its name from the temperature, 21 degrees Celsius (just off 70 degrees Fahrenheit) at which humidors are kept.

A split Legislature in Nebraska is struggling over whether to exempt cigar bars from a statewide smoking ban. The clock is ticking, as it takes effect on June 1. The measure, Legislative Bill 355, would limit smoking to half a dozen bars across the state – specifically, locations that have installed the appropriate humidors and air-handling equipment.

This is not a proposed repeal of the smoking ban. Instead, it's a small exception that would allow adults to consume a legal product ... and it would prevent several businesses from forced closure. In today's economic environment, common sense would dictate that the government doesn't need to put even more pressure on companies that are struggling to survive.

To qualify under the bill, a bar would have to show the State Liquor Control Commission that at least 15 percent of its revenue comes from the sale of tobacco. Few establishments would qualify, according to State Senator Scott Lautenbaugh. Any that tried to skew the results – e.g., by "selling cigars for $15 with a free steak dinner" – would prompt a movement to change the law.

Again, common sense suffers, as it would be tough for a "cigar bar" to stay open if it was giving away expensive meals.

[Photo by Steve Zak]

The biggest problem with access to Cuba may not be production capacity, as many suspect. Trademark and copyright issues have the potential to be a greater problem, and there is no easy solution.

You've probably noticed that brands such as Partagas, Montecristo and Cohiba occupy your local tobacconist's humidor. A saunter through a duty free store at any airport outside the United States will put the same names under your nose. Of course, these cigars have nothing to do with each other. The latter are Cuban, the former are not and the companies have no relationships. Cohibas in the United States are not the "non-Cuban" or "legal" versions of a single company's product.

General Cigar Co. Inc., for example, sells Cohiba cigars in the United States. Cohiba is also a prominent Cuban brand. Unfortunately, Habanos S.A. never registered the name up here. Habanos sued General Cigar, and a nine-year battle followed. In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Habanos (shocking, right?), reasoning that the embargo barred a challenge to General Cigar's claim.

When the embargo is lifted, there will be more legal challenges, and several companies will have to change their names and labels – ultimately requiring the reconstruction of brand identities from scratch. Winning the brand battles will have profound consequences. For this reason, General Cigar has "invested" close to $3.5 million on lobbyists over the past 10 years.

As with all other Cuba-related speculation, there is no way to forecast where this issue will go in a post-embargo market. Even if we assume that the Cuban brands will lose their claims, the impact on the market would be nearly impossible to predict. What we do know, however, is that the transition will be far from easy.

You know the market's tough when cigar smokers talk about cutting back. The crisis is real when they actually do so. With the sale of boxes, humidors and high-end cigar accessories dropping (I have anecdotally) – not to mention a cigar tax increase that has moved quickly from specter to materialization – retailers are scrambling for ways to keep customers in their stores.

When I met with Don Pepin Garcia back in November to discuss his new release, My Father's Cigar, he mentioned the need to keep prices reasonable, citing long-term relationships with his customers as taking priority over short-term measures. But, it looks like this may not be enough – as evidenced by the "nub club."

Discount cigar retailer Famous Smoke Shop has put together a selection of six-cigar samplers, consisting of "nubs," and is pricing them favorably to keep cigar smokers engaged. This new program is intended to allow customers to try nubs without requiring them to shell out for full boxes. Each sampler has three pairs of cigars, each with different wrappers: Habano, Connecticut and Cameroon. Prices range from $27 to $34.50 per pack.

Promotions like this one drive home the fact that we're all in it together. The manufacturers and retailers don't want to see us curtail our smoking experiences or trade down to "lesser" cigars. They want us to smoke what we know we enjoy. At the same time, smokers realize that we have to do our part and continue to buy the sticks we like.

Cooperation is better than any bailout program.

[Photo by Steve Zak]

I've known a few people committed to aging cigars. For them, it was like a religion. They not only had large, state-of-the-art humidors, they had schedules for rotating them from one shelf to the next. I, on the other hand, prefer to smoke cigars right off the bench. That plus laziness makes the whole aging process alien to me. Nonetheless, most experts swear by aging cigars, and I'm told the sweet spot is 10 years (after which, the cigars begin to grow milder).

So, if you're going to play the patient game of cigar aging (rather than "buy 'em as you need 'em), BestCigarPrices.com has four tips for you:

1. Buy a humidor
The company recommends buying one that meets your needs, with sizes ranging from five cigars to more than 3,000. If you are planning to age five cigars, though, you're better off renting a locker at your local club or shop.

2. Pay attention all the time
Operating a humidor is not "set and forget." You need to start at the right spot and continually watch the gauges to make sure the temperature and humidity don't stray. So, what is the best starting point? The 70/70 rule (70 percent humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit) is a safe place.

3. Pay big up front
You need something to age. So, start buying cigars ... buy the bundle or box. This helps you prevent the mingling of different flavors among cigars, and you can pull one from time to time to see how the aging process is going. If this is too great a commitment, consider aging only half of each box, that way you have something to smoke while you wait.

4. Never stop learning
Results will vary, regardless of your cigar-aging skill. Some cigars won't take to aging. On occasion, you'll let a few sit too long, and they'll mellow. But, when you get it right, you'll taste the difference.

[Via MSNBC]

Looking for the perfect gift for the man who already seems to have everything? Well here's an idea that's sure to score you some points in the "classy" department (as well as put a significant dent in your wallet). It's the Macassar Ebony Humidor by Ghisò and it's both beautiful and, due to it's limited edition of just 100 pieces, rare. It features a humidifier and multi-tiered trays that can hold 80-100 cigars. Get your Christmas shopping done now, or start hinting so others can! $3,424

Via acquire

CAO cigars is opening up their vault. They have announced that they are releasing 200 CAO Humidors each containing 105 CAO Gold Maduro cigars obtained from the CAO Escaparate, a giant walk-in humidor at their Nashville headquarters. The CAO Escaparate holds over 400,000 prototype cigars and the CAO Gold Maduro was one of 11 original 'Concept Series' cigar blends housed within the Escaparate. Each of the 200 CAO Humidors will contain 105 of the original Gold Maduro cigars that have been aging within the CAO Escaparate since 2004. The cigars will be available in the following shapes: Corona, Robusto, Corona Gorda, Churchill, Torpedo, and Double Corona and will be shipped to retail tobacconists in November.

The Vegas Humidor designed by Elie Bleu is one of the more unusual pieces that we've featured here, as it actually does manage to capture the sprit of Sin City's high rollers. Shaped like a giant die, the humidor is made of natural sycamore and has Tahitian black mother-of-pearl circles inlaid on each face to make up the die pattern. One of the dots is not mother of pearl circle, but a small lock that opens the box. Inside, the humidor holds up to 100 cigars in its deep main compartment with two removable open-slat cedar trays. Price: $3,760.

For collectors of fine watches, jewelry, pens or cigars, having elegant  cases is key. BZ Boxes are made by artisans in Brazil and use exotic woods. The internal structure of boxes are made of wood compound materials and the exteriors are done in real wood veneers or solid wood. The boxes with gold leaf use 18 karat gold and all the glass components, on the lid and inside mirrors are beveled. The boxes can be customized with a wide variety of details from wood choices to linings, engraved metal plaques or your initials in gold leaf. Each box has a serial number and a one year warranty. They are wholesale only with a minimum of ten boxes per order. The box shown here is a humidor with a removable cedar wood tray and hygrometer.