Cigar Accessories

Humidors are more than a device meant to store and age your cigars. Although preserving your choice smokes is their primary function, quality humidors also provide a classy touch to any room that houses them. Crafted from beautiful hardwoods, these functional works of art also make for excellent conversation pieces. They make a statement about who you are and are an indication of confidence. With this in mind, here are a few ideas about where to put a humidor:

• On the corner of your desk: Placing a classy desktop humidor on your desk tells visitors that you are a confident, self-assured aficionado. Having them in reach also makes it easier to enjoy a smoke during breaks and at the end of successful workdays. It also makes it easy to offer quality cigars when brokering deals and establishing relationships with business associates.
• In a prominent place: Humidors too large for an office desk should be placed where they can be seen and admired by visitors. You would do the same with other works of art and this one will probably be the subject of a lot more conversation.
• In your smoking room: If you use a den for enjoying your smokes, put the humidor in that room to add just the right type of ambiance.

Find humidors, cigars, and all of your cigar accessories at Thompson Cigars today. 

The advent of the online cigar store has made it so much easier to be an aficionado. In the past, if you wanted to enjoy fine smokes, you had to find a local cigar store. While this wasn't really an issue way back when a large percentage of the population enjoyed tobacco, as smoking declined, so did the smoke shops of yore. They were still around but just far and few between. Many of the remaining smoke shops were also very limited in the numbers and types of cigars they offered. In some places, aficionados had to do some serious traveling to acquire quality cigars and cigar accessories.

Fortunately, all of that changed when smoke shops shifted over to selling their wares over the Internet. Even if you lived in Alaska or a remote corner of North Dakota, online cigar shops made it possible to order and obtain high quality smokes and everything an aficionado could ever want. However, even if you think you have already stocked up on cigars and don't need any accessories, it's still worth it to check the Thompson online store on a daily basis. It's so important to do this because there are discounts, deals, and bargains that are offered every day of the year. Since those great deals change on a frequent basis, it pays to check the website every day of the year.

Find a huge array of fine smokes and other accessories at Thompson Cigars today!

In the not too distant past, hand-wrapped cigars were delivered in their boxes or in bundles and that was about it for packaging. Decorative and sturdy cigar boxes kept them safe enough during travel so there wasn't much need to package them in a different manner. After buying a box of cigars, aficionados transferred them to their humidors and aged them until smoking. However, someone eventually did improve upon the cigar-packaging process. It wasn't a huge deal but many cigar companies saw it as a way of providing an extra bit of protection for their product. This innovation was the cellophane wrapper and it has become a common aspect of many cigar brands.

The cellophane wrapper protects the cigar during handling by distributors and in cigar shops. It's really a nice way of ensuring that you and you alone touch the cigar once it has left the factory. Although the wrapper itself won't hurt the cigar, it's not meant to be used during storage or any aging process. Take the wrapper off before storing it to make sure that it receives the proper amount of moisture. Otherwise, the wrapper will keep your smoke a little too safe and secure and it will probably dry out. 

Find the best in smokes and smoke-related accessories at the Thompson online cigar store today!   

Cigars demand proper storage. Ignore the rules and you will probably end up with sadly cracked cigars so dry that even your tears of frustration won't  help to bring them back to their former glory. Keep them in places that are too warm and humid and tobacco beetles will feast upon and destroy your precious treasure trove of smokes. To avoid such catastrophes, aficionados use humidors to store their cigars. These wonderful devices are designed to keep the temperature and moisture levels at ranges ideal for aging your smokes to perfection. However, even if you carefully set the humidor at the right levels, you still have to keep a careful eye on humidity levels.

It can be tough to keep the humidity levels up during the cold, dry days of winter but for aficionados who reside in hot and humid climates, the challenge frequently lies in lowering moisture levels in the humidor. If the humidity is consistently high, yes, your precious smokes can certainly receive too much moisture. The easiest way of keeping them from becoming downright wet is by putting small cedar trips into the humidor. These can often be found in cigar boxes and work great for absorbing excess moisture.

Find smokes for every occasion and other accessories at Thompson cigars today!

If you need to do any amount of traveling, cigars should be one of the main items on your checklist of things to pack. Don't expect to be able to find the cigars you like no matter where you are headed because they might not be available or smoke shops might be hard to find. If you do come across a good tobacco shop, it might also be a lot more expensive than the place where you usually buy your cigars. This will certainly be the case if you make all of your cigar-related purchases from a trusted online cigar store. It's much easier just to pack and bring all of the cigars you need for the trip.

It's easy to just recommend bringing your favorite brands of cigars when traveling but why not try something new for a change? Here are a couple of suggestions for cigars to bring with you when taking a trip:

• ACID Cigars: If you haven't tried one of these quality, flavored smokes, a trip to a new destination is one of the best excuses for seeing why so many aficionados love this brand.
• A cigar sampler: Buy an interesting sampler before the trip and try a different smoke each night of your travels.
• A five pack: Get a five pack of a brand you have yet to try and use your trip as en excuse for trying them.

Find all of the cigars and smoke-related accessories you need for traveling at Thompson Cigars today.

Smoking cigars isn't exactly a low-cost hobby. High-rated smokes are often expensive, certain items can lighten any wallet, and humidors are a necessary expense. However, the good life never comes cheap so you pay to enjoy it. At the same time, you might not need to spend huge amounts of money to be an aficionado. Cigars and everything related to the world of fine tobacco is downright affordable. You may have to look around for certain smokes and accessories but there's no need to break the bank and enjoy a high-rated cigar now and then.

A great way to comfortably enjoy quality smokes on a daily basis is by picking out some of the cigars offered by Thompson. Go to the "Buy More Cigars and Save" page on the website and you can get exactly what the title indicates. Buy Thompson Cigars made with leaf grown from excellent Corojo seeds for low prices. You can even get two bundles for the price of one! 

There are also several other options for buying numbers of quality smokes at low prices and it's an excellent way to stock up on smokes to be handed out at parties or other celebrations.

Save when you buy more cigars at Thompson Cigars today!

Everyone likes a good deal. No matter how many resources you have at your disposal, you don't want to pay more than you need to. The price is always better if you can get a discount and this is why most people shop around before deciding to spend their money. No matter what you are in search of, waiting and looking for a bargain can pay off with big savings. The same goes for cigars and cigar accessories but you won't find savings at every single smoke shop. You have to know where to look and where to shop if you want to get good deals on cigars.

Fortunately, getting discounts on cigars has never been easier since online stores started offering their wares on the Internet. Instead of fighting traffic to find a brick and mortar establishment, all you have to do is turn on the computer, go online, and head to the Thompson Cigars website. You will see the deal of the day and a chance to save on items that include everything from high-rated smokes to lighters and ashtrays. Take it one step further though and click on the cigar deals page and you won't believe how much you can save by living the good life.

Save on cigars and hundreds of other tobacco-related items at Thompson Cigars today.

Ahab from Cleveland, GA reviewed the XIKAR EXECUTIVE LIGHTER GUNMETAL

This is a good, hot lighter. Fully adjustable flame and doesn't use fuel at an unreasonable rate.

Bottomline: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Rating:

Pros: Enhances Smoking, Great Value, Highly Functional
Best Uses: Everyday
Describe Yourself: Special Occasion Smoker

XIKAR proudly presents the next step in a renowned line of innovative cigar accessories. The Executive lighter was developed for our customers seeking high quality, functionality and sophistication in every facet of their smoking. By targeting and solving problems of other lighters, XIKAR has truly broken the mold with affordability in mind by introducing the Executive.

This design places the trigger along the body of the lighter so one’s finger no longer needs to be perilously close to the flame (goodbye burned fingertips!) The oversized adjustment wheel ensures a quick flame adjustment for any occasion. A simple push on the side of the lighter simultaneously opens the lid and ignites a powerful jet flame perfect for cigars, cigarettes or that campfire that needs a little encouragement.

Nephew Ned from Pocono Mtns. PA. reviewed the XIKAR EXECUTIVE LIGHTER GUNMETAL

This lighter is reliable, provided you use good butane fuel. I used Ronson and it performed awful, but now use Vector and it lights up every time. I recommend this lighter.

Bottomline: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Rating:

Pros: Great Value, Highly Functional
Best Uses: Everyday
Describe Yourself: Cigar Aficionado

XIKAR proudly presents the next step in a renowned line of innovative cigar accessories. The Executive lighter was developed for our customers seeking high quality, functionality and sophistication in every facet of their smoking. By targeting and solving problems of other lighters, XIKAR has truly broken the mold with affordability in mind by introducing the Executive.

This design places the trigger along the body of the lighter so one’s finger no longer needs to be perilously close to the flame (goodbye burned fingertips!) The oversized adjustment wheel ensures a quick flame adjustment for any occasion. A simple push on the side of the lighter simultaneously opens the lid and ignites a powerful jet flame perfect for cigars, cigarettes or that campfire that needs a little encouragement.

Cigars should never be placed in the same category as cigarettes. This would be like lumping a bottle of vintage, single malt scotch with boxed wine. The two are clearly very different and this extends to factors that go beyond their taste. While any ashtray will do for cigarettes, cigars deserve something a bit more refined. They require ashtrays designed to hold them because they last much, much longer than any cigarette. The ashtray should be capable of catching and storing the ashes generated by a quality smoke, and its appearance should match the prestige of cigar smoking. Here are three ideas for quality ashtrays engineered for the cigar smoking experience:

• Xicar Portable Stainless Steel Ash Can: This small ashtray is perfect for the car, boat, or carrying around the house. Sturdy and svelte in appearance, it also has an internal cigar holder.
• Davidoff White Ashtray: This is an ashtray with a large dose of elegance. The simple, square design and fine, gleaming white porcelain make it one of the classiest ashtrays around. The two cigar holding grooves also make it perfect for sharing a smoke with a friend.
• Rosewood Guillotine Cutter Ashtray: This beautiful ashtray includes a guillotine cutter for providing the perfect, full draw slice.

Find these and other fine ashtrays and cigar accessories in online cigar stores.

The best cigars are made of refined, aged tobacco that is expertly wrapped by experienced hands. The technology is actually just about as low key as you can get because making fine cigars is an art form that no machine can duplicate. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean that cigar smoking hasn't experienced improvements as a result of advancements in technology.

The biggest way in which aficionados of fine smoke have benefited from technology is related to the Internet. The Internet has made it possible to more easily learn about different types of cigars, their ratings, how to keep them, and where to buy them. Best of all, though, the Internet has made it much, much easier to acquire the finest of smokes. Now, with the Internet, all you need to do to buy cigars, your favorite cigar holder, and other accessories is to go to online cigar stores and place your order. They get quickly shipped to your house and you can enjoy a fine smoke without ever walking out the front door.

No more need to deal with traffic and fight for a parking space to visit the nearest quality humidor. No more worries about getting to the humidor before it closes or wasting time to buy your cigars. Just go online, pick out your smokes and order them. It really is as easy as that.

There is a certain amount of protocol to follow when smoking a cigar. It's not the type of product that requires the simple opening of a package for ready and routine use. No, cigars are far too refined for such generic treatment. Everyone has their own way of enjoying them, but try this protocol for a truly satisfying smoke:

1. Decide on a cigar and pick a place to smoke it: First and foremost, you need to pick out your choice of smoke. If looking for a soulful, relaxing experience, try one of those limited edition cigars crafted by Padron or ACID that have been carefully hand-wrapped with choice tobacco leaves. Then, head to a place where you can enjoy a quality smoke without interruptions.
2. Prepare the cigar with a cutter: Get your cigar ready for smoking by properly cutting it. This shouldn't be done with scissors or a knife. While those instruments will work in a pinch, they aren't going to give the clean, straight cut provided by a device specifically designed for cutting cigars. A cigar cutter neatly cuts your smoke with a straight line to enable a proper and thorough draw.
3. Light the cigar: Once again, you could light your cigar with any sort of flame but why risk lessening the experience when there are devices engineered for this important purpose? Use the steady flame of a cigar lighter to properly light your smoke.
4. Enjoy the smoke: Most of all, sit back and enjoy your cigar to the fullest.

To enhance your cigar smoking experience, get cigars and accessories from online cigar stores.

wild willy from Sharon, PA reviewed the QUANTUM CIGARRO LIGHTER MAHOGANY FINISH

Nice lighter. Thought it was a great deal with the 3 punches. Nice to only have to bring along a lighter. Not a fan of the torch lit cigar, but great for relights. Bought one for me and my Brother-in-Law

Bottomline: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Rating:

Best Uses: Gifts
Describe Yourself: Cigar Aficionado

Enjoy a killer closeout price on one of Colibri’s most elegant lighters only at Thompson. Reminiscent of famed Art Deco architecture, the Colibri Cigarro combines early twentieth century sophistication with modern technology to create the perfect smoking accessory. Sporting a single butane torch and three cigar punch cutters (4mm, 7mm, and 9mm), the Colibri Cigarro is lavishly accented with mahogany and finished in polished chrome. Why pay more than $70 for this stunning lighter when you can buy it here and SAVE more than 60% off of MSRP!

Cigars don't get smoked alone. Sure, plenty of aficionados enjoy their time alone with a good La Paloma smoke or ACID Gold but those still can't really be smoked without a bit of help. You need something to light them, a place to put the ashes, and other accessories. This is because enjoying cigars is an experience as opposed to being an everyday, generic activity that requires little thought.

Three of the must-have accessories for smoking cigars include:

1. Cigar Lighters: You can't smoke a cigar if you can't light it and a quality smoking experience deserves a high quality lighter. Table lighters such as the Vector Megatron provide reliability in the form of a triple flame and wind resistance. The flame is also adjustable for both indoor and outdoor use.
2. Cigar cutters: Cigars should be neatly cut before smoking to improve your cigar smoking experience. Using a cutter to prepare your cigar makes for more accurate and productive draws. You don't want to miss out on any of the flavors generated by a good smoke so always use a good cutter.
3. Travel cigar cases: When you travel, there are many occasions that merit the smoking of a good cigar. Use travel cases designed to keep your cigars safe and sound until you can properly enjoy them.

Get the cigar accessories mentioned above at online cigar stores to enhance your cigar smoking experience.

I'm about to do something I rarely do and recommend a product I can't own myself. Don't worry ... I can explain.

Though as I get older I'm taking better care of my possessions, in some areas I'm still someone who can't have nice things. Cigar lighters are among these categories. I lose them far too often to be trusted with anything too valuable, as they are as likely to wind up in my friends' or acquaintances' pockets as they are my own at the end of the night.

But if I could have nice things, I would get myself the Xikar EXII Havana lighter. Like the rest of the Xikar Havana collection, it has a retro look to it, with the old-school cigar band design that looks like it should be sold in a gallery or museum shop along with online at Thompson Cigar.

It's guaranteed to cause everyone around you to take a closer look at it. Well, that's not technically true. That's just extremely likely. But it does carry with it a lifetime warranty, as well as a large thumb trigger that makes lighting a breeze and a flame stable enough to light your premium cigars in winds that would make an ordinary lighter ineffective.

But the fact that it looks so striking makes me reluctant to buy it for myself. I know that I'll lose track of it as it's being passed around, and when I pat my pocket at the end of the night it won't be around. If you are better able to monitor your prized possessions than I am, however, this is one cigar accessory that will make you stand out from the crowd.

Travel is a part of life for many of us, and our jobs take us around the world via planes, trains and automobiles. My brother, for example, lives in Philadelphia but spends most of his week taking the train to either New York City or Washington, often making the round trip each day for three or four days at a stretch.

Think about that the next time you're stuck in traffic on your own commute.

So one thing I'm probably getting for him this winter is the Andre Garcia 4 finger cigar case. It should be billed as the ultimate commuter accessory for cigar smokers.

The beauty of cigar cases like this one are that they both hold a day or two worth of cigars without taking up extra space. This fits easily into a jacket pocket, laptop bag or briefcase, so the cigars are always close at hand. And as you would expect from an Andre Garcia accessory, it is designed for comfort, so it won't jab against your ribcage as you jostle for position on the subway.

For whatever reason, my brother doesn't own a case like this already, meaning he either has to buy cigars on the spot or carry them lose in his laptop bag, neither of which is a great choice. This is a great a way to make sure he has cigars handy after a big meeting, and the relaxation he needs to survive another few hours on the over-stuffed Amtrak and local trains that get him home each day.

Question of the Day: Where do you keep your favorite cigar accessories, at work or at home?

My favorite cigar humidor, the two-tone dark wood humidor, is at my office. It serves as a conversation-starter and icebreaker there in a way it doesn't do at home, and it's protection for cigars that I don't have to worry about.

Also, the office is where I'm more concerned about making an impression. If you're at my house and I'm offering cigars, I have the hope that you will be more impressed with the quality cigars and the company than whether you like the looks of my cigar humidor. My goal at home is to get things that will protect my premium cigars, while at work there's more of a focus on making an impression and starting conversations.

Most of my other stuff is at home, because that's where I smoke the most. My cigar lighters, for example, tend to migrate to my home, because even the ones I intend to store at work wind up being carried back there in my pockets after a cigar break at lunch. Cigar cutters work the same way -- because they are so portable, they wind up where I smoke the most, which is at my house.

Of course, I keep quality cigars at both work and home. You never know when the urge and the opportunity to smoke will strike, and I like to be prepared.

Where do you keep your favorite cigars and cigar accessories?

Everyone loves making lists. You don't have to put much effort into finding rankings of the top 10, 20 or 100 people in every category under the sun. There are even rankings of the top cigar smokers in history.

One thing that comes to mind when I read those lists are the cultural changes we've undergone as a society regarding cigars and how we think of them.

Looking at the older names on there, it's hard to picture any of them without a cigar in their hands or in their mouth. Winston Churchill, Groucho Marx, George Burns, Milton Berle, Babe Ruth, Red Auerbach ... these are historical figures we associate with cigars. They're as much a part of Churchill as his hat, and of Marx, Burns and Berle as their trademarked glasses ... all of which have also gone out of style as time passes and tastes change.
 
There aren't many modern celebrities that I see in the same way. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for sure. Rush Limbaugh, if you consider him that kind of celebrity. That's all that really comes to mind.

Whereas cigars were once associated with individuals, I think now they're more associated with characters and occasions. For example, I can't think of Gordon Gekko without a cigar, but it's not like every Michael Douglas role has him smoking those Wall Street stogies.  And the only time you see cigars and sports figures these days is during championship celebrations, or at the poker tables in Las Vegas. I see plenty of famous people smoking cigars, but they tend to be at a party where everyone is doing it. Cigars don' seem to be anyone's trademarked accessory any more (besides Arnold) as they were in the past.

I wonder sometimes that when a similar list is made in 50 years, how many of our contemporaries will be there? Maybe I'll make a list of the possibilities to help me figure it out.

As a gadget guy and an amateur camper, I have a bunch of Swiss Army knives and Leathermans in my arsenal. You never can have too many of those, I always say.

But if you know someone with similar tastes who uses those tools to cut their cigars, do them a favor and point them towards the cigar multitools available at Thompson Cigar.

These cigar multitools, from the geniuses at Xikar, start with the principle that everyone deserves the right to have every cigar accessory they need in the same compact and convenient package. They not only are a cigar scissors, but also have a cigar box opener and cigar poker, as well as a screwdriver and bottle opener. And it weighs just an ounce and fits on a key chain.

I'm not saying that the Xikar cigar multitools should replace your deluxe Swiss Army Knife in your camping gear. It's not going to be quite as useful as that if you're roughing it in the nature and could find yourself attacked by a bear. But if you're planning on attacking premium cigars instead of wildlife, you need something that will do those Perdomo Cigars justice, and this does the trick. It's a lot better than trying to saw through your cigar by the campfire, and believe me, I speak from sad experience on that count.

When buying cigar accessories, do you focus more on looks or functionality?

Personally, I like a particular style of cigar humidor: Wood, natural-looking, with creative designs if possible but nothing too crazy.  To me, they are as much art or furniture (depending on the size) as functional objects. Obviously I expect them to be able to do their job of keeping my premium cigars fresh, but I'm willing to pay more to do so for a humidor that gives me pleasure to look at even when I'm not reaching into it for cigars.

The Art Deco 60-Count Humidor, for example, is my kind of storage device. It's obvious even at a glance that this is a humidor, thanks to the exterior hygrometer, but I love the tone of the wood and the way the colors merge. There are cheaper humidors available, but I have no regrets that I spent the money for this one.

For cigar cutters, on the other hand, I'm more concerned with functionality. They stay in my pocket or on the table until I cut some quality cigars, and then go back in my pocket. I usually pay more attention to price when I buy these, in part because I tend to lose them -- cigar cutters and sunglasses are the two things I lose often enough that I don't allow myself to buy nice ones because I can't be trusted to take care of them.

Now, if I had something like the Xikar Xi3 Havana Collection Cutter, that would be a dream come true. I love the idea of owning something that functional and beautiful. But unless any of you fine people are buying that for me for the holidays, none of the cutters I own will be treated with as much reverence as my humidors are.

How about you? Do you value appearance over functionality in your cigar accessories?