Christmas is just a few days away and people are still thinking of what presents to give. People who love cigars often get different kinds as gifts, but there are other things that they would also appreciate. Paying attention to details will make choosing easier.

First things first, get to know the recipient of the gift. Find out the brand, line, blend and size of cigar that person would want most. Since cigars often come in boxes of 25, it is a good idea to divide these into five and distribute them among friends. If you are willing to give them a box, that would be awesome.

If you are not sure of what kind of cigar they like, you can get them a sampler pack that contains various cigar blends for them to choose from. Who knows, they might just find their new favorite blend in one of them. Mild to medium cigar variants are always a safe option.

Cigar accessories also make great gifts. Pick an ashtray, lighter, cigar cutter, travel tubes or cases that fits the recipient’s personality. Better yet, have them engraved with their initials. Humidors also make great presents, but they are quite costly. A nice one costs $100 or even more. New cigar smokers would appreciate a 50-count humidor while veteran cigar smokers would probably need a bigger one.

If you are not sure of what to get, gift cards or certificates from cigar shops would be fantastic. Recipients can choose their present and you are sure that they will enjoy it. It is the easiest and surefire option, but nothing beats the thought behind picking something that suits the person you are giving gifts to.

Image from  Jungle Jim’s International Market

What do you do about this? Well, there is no need to suffer the smell. There are smoke eaters which can be purchased easily from your local cigar shop. These will do very well for the designated smoking room in the house. You could check out products that are sprayed onto surfaces to “eat” the smell of smoke away. However, this would only work if you spray all the surfaces that smell of smoke. If you have a large smoking area, then it might be a bit too costly.

There are also smoke eaters which function much like an exhaust fan. These are normally used in commercial areas where smoking is allowed in an enclosed place. Of course, they could be quite expensive as well.

My suggestion? Choose a smoking room that has good natural ventilation so that you can get fresh air in more easily. Clean up the room as soon as you can and make use of the cheaper “sprayable” smoke eaters.

Do you have any suggestions of your own?

While we can’t do much about the smoking bans, there are workarounds to the increasing prices of cigarettes. For example, have you ever thought about rolling your own cigarettes?

Manufactured cigarettes, like the branded ones I mentioned above, are the ones which are taxed highly. However, you can buy tobacco leaves and rolling papers and create your own smokes, which are just as good AND definitely much easier on the pocket. Rolling papers are basically small sheets of paper which can be used to make cigarettes. They can be rolled manually or by machines. Rolling papers can be made of various materials, but the most common base materials are hemp, wood pulp, and flax.

The market is rife with both tobacco leaves and rolling papers. You merely have to know where to get them and which ones to get, and you can make considerable savings while enjoying your smoke.

A note of caution with regard to rolling papers – there are a LOT of brands that you can find in the market today. You have to know which brands are good however, as the material used to make the rolling paper can affect the flavor of your cigarette. There are also some papers which have been reported to contain elements that are higher in carcinogens. If you want to be sure, look for reputable suppliers such as Rolling Supreme, which offers some of the best rolling papers there are. They also offer tobacco and other accessories which will help you roll along and bypass the headaches of high cigarette taxes.

Try rolling your own cigarettes. You might never have to buy a pack from the store again, and have a fatter pocket for it!

Since then, e-cig has been creating a buzz all over the world, speedily penetrating the cigarette market. Now that Katherine Heigl, Leonardo DiCarprio, Ashley Greene, Johnny Depp, Kate Moss, Kevin Federline, and many other celebrities are using electronic cigarettes, sales of this innovative device will most likely boost.

E-cigarette is a battery-powered device used to imitate smoking of real cigarette. This also produces heat and smoke. Plus, it mimics the tobacco taste so you’ll feel like using the real thing. But it’s not the real thing.

The end of e-cig lights up whenever the user inhales air through the tip. The vaporizing chamber will then vaporize the detected air flow. The vapor will pass through the ingredient cartridge and pick up that cigarette-like taste. When you puff, you puff vapor, not smoke. It’s like fog trapped in your mouth so it doesn’t have smell, only taste.

Electronic cigarette is marketed as a safer and healthier alternative to smoking. Well it’s not really that safe and healthy. Many e-cig brands still contain nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco. But the good news is, nicotine consumption can be controlled so you can literally stop smoking slowly but surely.

The norm is to use cigar cutters like a guillotine cutter, which will chop of the whole head of a cigar. Another tool that is commonly used is a puncher, which will etch a hole at the end of the cigar. The hole is usually the size of a BB pellet.

Enter the Cigar Spike. It is made of plastic, with a pointed end. In order to use it, you push the sharp end down into the head of a cigar to create a hole. It is very easy to use and quite cheap as well. They are selling it over at their web site for $2.99 for 3 pieces. You can choose from several colors – black, orange, blue, and green.

I am sure that I got your attention at the price. It is VERY cheap! But how does it fare? I haven’t had the chance to use it myself, although I would have to say that the idea is cool. Then again, from what I have been hearing from those who’ve actually used it, you have to make sure you do it properly. Otherwise, you can end up with a cracked cigar. That’s the downside.

Still, it could make for a nice gift this Christmas.

But did you know that Spanish Cedar is technically not cedar? As a matter of fact, it comes from the mahogany family. If you look at it, you will see a salmon red tight-grained wood. The aroma is very nice and spicy, making you want to smell it more. 
Another piece of trivia – Spanish Cedar is used not only for humidors but also for other building materials as lining.

Another advantage of using Spanish Cedar for humidors is its natural ability to resist molds. This is very important as no one would want any mold formation inside his humidor! In addition to this, Spanish Cedar is also resistant to tobacco beetles! Anyone who has had an experience with these nasty little critters will know just how important this is.

In modern times, however, developments in technology have made the use of other materials possible. Electronics and plastic have been used to treat cigars without the need for Spanish Cedar. As such, you will find many humidors today that do not make use of this wood at all.

That is not to say that you cannot find humidors made of Spanish Cedar. While this wood may not be a require material, many still find humidors made of it desirable over those using modern materials.

Then I did some reading and I found out that cigar box guitars were actually used by “real” musicians! According to Dr. Tony Hyman, the curator of the National Cigar Museum, cigar boxes prior to 1840 were actually crates. These crates could hold up to 100 cigars at a time. As time went by, manufacturers realized that the crates were not an efficient means of transporting cigars. Hence, smaller cigar boxes were created.

Along with the proliferation of cigar boxes, the popularity of cigar smoking increased as well. Naturally, a lot of smoked cigars meant a lot of empty cigar boxes. At this point, enterprising people started picking up those empty cigar boxes and started making good use of them. From guitars to banjos and fiddles – empty cigar boxes were turned into useful things.

Whoever got started on this probably didn’t have any idea of what was in store for these nifty little things. Well known musicians like Carl Perkins, Jimi Hendrix, George Benson, Ted Nugent, BB King, and Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd have all, at one point, played with cigar box guitars!

So it may be easier to buy guitars these days, but if you have some spare time and you want to let your creativity flow, why don’t you try your hand at making a cigar box guitar? Check out this video at Walyou.

As I was looking for a good humidor to get my friend, I realized that it would be nice to have some rules or tips on how to choose one. After all, not everyone picks out a humidor every day! So here are some tips on what to look for when you buy a humidor – whether for yourself or for a friend.

Make sure that the humidor has three essential features. These are:

-high quality cedar
-a humidification unit
-a hydrometer.

The highest quality cedar, many experts would tell you, is Spanish cedar. If you can afford it, make sure that the humidor is made from this wood. Also make sure that the other two elements are present – these spell the difference between a humidor and a plain old cigar box, after all.

You should also take into consideration the size of the humidor. How many cigars do you (or your friend) need to keep in the humidor? If you do not plan on keeping too many cigars, then there is no need to spend too much money on large humidors. You would be better off paying more for a smaller but higher quality humidor than a bigger one.

First, why do you need to season your humidor? This is because the cedar that is the material used for the humidor also absorbs moisture. Brand new humidors and old humidors that have not been used in a while need to be seasoned because the cedar does not have sufficient moisture itself. What will happen is that the wood will actually GET moisture from your cigars if you use the humidor without seasoning it.

In order to season your humidor, you have to get distilled water. Remember, it should be distilled and not tap water. Get a sponge and wet it with the distilled water. Then you should wipe down the whole inside of the humidor. After this, put the sponge – which should not be too saturated – on top of a piece of plastic inside the humidor. Then follow the manufacturer’s instructions as to how to fill your humidifying device. Wait for 24 hours, repeat the sponging process, and then wait another 24 hours.

It should then be fine to use your humidor. Just make sure that the insides are not damp.

What do you do about this? Well, there is no need to suffer the smell. There are smoke eaters which can be purchased easily from your local cigar shop. These will do very well for the designated smoking room in the house. You could check out products that are sprayed onto surfaces to “eat” the smell of smoke away. However, this would only work if you spray all the surfaces that smell of smoke. If you have a large smoking area, then it might be a bit too costly.

There are also smoke eaters which function much like an exhaust fan. These are normally used in commercial areas where smoking is allowed in an enclosed place. Of course, they could be quite expensive as well.

My suggestion? Choose a smoking room that has good natural ventilation so that you can get fresh air in more easily. Clean up the room as soon as you can and make use of the cheaper “sprayable” smoke eaters.

Do you have any suggestions of your own?