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THE GIFT GUIDE FOR THOSE WHO HATE CIGARS

THE GIFT GUIDE FOR THOSE WHO HATE CIGARS

Father’s Day is coming, so what can a tobacco hater get for a cigar lover?

Los Angeles, June 15 – With Father’s Day fast approaching, we’re getting some interesting pleas for help from those who personally despise tobacco, but want to get a gift for Dad, who enjoys cigars.

We’re here to help. The answer is accessories, so here are eight suggestions your Dad will enjoy, but which don’t soil your hands, smell up your clothes or are subject to burning for hours:

• Books:
Naturally, we’re partial to our own Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars and Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Havana Cigars, available right here on this site. They’re complete references to cigars marketed nationally in the United States and Cuban cigars, as well as lots of history and facts you didn’t know about cigar smoking in both countries.

Best of all, they’re only $12.95 each and many local tobacconists across the country stock them for your immediate purchase.

But we have much respect for another book which is consistently underrated in its depth and importance. Paul Garmirian’s The Gourmet Guide to Cigars debuted in 1990 and had a significant role in the expansion of interest in cigars that led to the Cigar Boom of the 1990s.

More than anything else, it’s a motivational reader on cigar basics. How to enjoy a cigar, tales of buying, smoking and storing cigars and Garmirian’s view of dozens of brands of U.S.-marketed and Havana-made cigars, plus the story of how he finally created his own brand – P.G. – to fully exploit his nearly lifelong interest in cigars and share his enthusiasm with a new generation of smokers.

If there’s a book which will turn you into an evangelist for cigars, this is it. It’s easy to read and is a book I return to often because Garmirian captures the joy of cigars better than anyone else. Many smokeshops carry the book, now in its 10th printing, which has a list price of about $36.

• A Humidor:
There are so many kinds of humidors available today, you can find just the right combination of look and price to make any smoker happy. Here are two recommendations, offering a choice of the sublime and the ridiculous:

> For the sublime, we leave the world of wood and entertain an elegant modern design which offers a minimalist beauty with one of the best humidifiers on the market: the Zino Acrylic.

It’s marketed by Davidoff of Geneva and made in France. The acrylic box is well made and closes and locks with quiet precision. It’s offered in either clear or smoked acrylic and with either chrome or golden fittings and feet and in two sizes. Choose the smoked model if you want to protect your cigars from too much sunlight.

The small model is 9 1/2 inches wide, 6 3/4 inches deep and a compact 4 7/8 inches high. It can hold about 50 Lonsdale-sized cigars and comes with movable interior partitions and the famed Zino regulator. It needs a little distilled water once a month and will keep your cigars in perfect condition. I confess that I have used one for more than 15 years and find it as elegant and useful today as I did when it was purchased.

The larger model is 14 1/2 inches wide, 10 3/8 inches deep and also 4 7/8 inches high. It can hold from 75-90 cigars depending on size and how they are arranged in the box. It has two of the Zino humidifiers and requires the same monthly maintenance to keep cigars happy.

They aren’t cheap, but they are worth it, especially if you prefer a more modernist design. The small model retails for $165-195 depending on which fixtures you choose and the larger box goes for $270-300 depending on the fixtures. With careful use, they’ll last long after the price was forgotten and is a perfect complement to modernist decor.

> Now the ridiculous: a 30-caliber ammo box converted to use as a humidor.

Naturally, it was the brainchild of the wild and crazy Lew Rothman at J-R Cigars. He first introduced his “Ammo Box” with the Belinda brand back in the ‘90s, but currently offers the impressive La Finca Ammo Box.

The authentic ammunition case has been converted to humidor use by placing cedar boards on the floor and sides of the box, then stuffing the interior with 91 zesty, Nicaraguan-made La Fincas, each 6 1/8 inches by 50 ring. The biggest surprise of all is the price, just $55.95! It’s unbelievable and will be a gift which is remembered for decades. You as the gift giver will also become famous, as your Dad or husband will tell everyone he knows about the box . . . and who gave it to him!

Once the La Fincas are gone, Dad can fill it with any cigars he likes and because the box is essentially airtight, a tiny humidifier like a Humid-Eze or a small Humidipak will keep them fresh nearly forever.

• Ashtrays to be envied:
Two more suggestions for gifts, one more obvious and the other more amazing.

The more obvious is a new series of ashtrays on the market from Padron Cigars. It’s a solid, black ceramic ashtray with a large circular bowl in the middle and cutouts for four cigars. It’s 8 1/2 inches square and 2 3/4 inches high and carries the Padron logo. This item is available in many shops which carry Padron and you can expect to pay around $25.

The other item ranked no. 1 on our list of the top cigar gadgets: the Mollino from One Off.

It’s an Italian-made leather sleeve which holds what appears to be a mirror-finish steel plate. But remove the plate and the attached cigar holder, twist out the cigar holder’s frame and when attached to a gently-squeezed plate, forms a stunning ashtray that sits on the leather case base and as much as work of art as a smoking accessory.

Some shops carry them and if you can find one, expect to pay about $100. The Mollino comes in three colors: cream, black and red, but the red is by far the most attractive. It will be the talk of the town when you Dad unveils it with his smoking buddies.

• Shot in the Dark:
Looking for an ultimate gift for the cigar lover? Give him the finest cutter on the market, bar none . . . if you can find one.

At the risk of sounding like a paid commercial spokesman for Paul Garmirian (which we are not), it’s the hard-to-find and completely out-of-production P.G. Super Cutter.

This is a guillotine cutter with a phenomenally sharp, double-beveled blade made of Sheffield Steel in England and the big brother to the much more available P.G. Sheffield Cutter. Although no longer produced, you can find some in smokeshops around the country and it’s worth asking for.

For ring gauges of 50 and below, it makes the most perfect cut ever seen, as flat as bottom of a steel ruler. No excess bits of tobacco, no unraveling wrapper, just a flattop to be proud of.

The P.G. Super Cutter retailed for $125 when available and is worth every penny . . . just like Dad!
~ Rich Perelman

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