Cigar smoking is the most social of pleasures. And with bans on public smoking enacted in almost thirty states, covering half the United States population, cigar smokers must be feeling more and more like an embattled minority. So what could make more sense than a gathering aimed at, and intended for, cigar smokers?



How about several?

The calendar year is actually dotted with cigar-related events, some of them years or even a decade or more old. The modern wave of cigar conventions and festivals has its nearest origins in the so-called "cigar boom" of the 1990s - the sudden spiking of interest in cigars that began in 1992 after decades of declining sales, a (sometimes little) dying customer base and little new interest.

Fittingly enough, the most famous of these events is hosted by Cigar Aficionado - the magazine many credit with crucially supporting, if not downright inaugurating, the cigar boom itself. The magazine started publishing the same year (1992) that cigar sales suddenly, sharply increased, and it likely added to that new energy with its advocacy of cigar smoking as a perfect pastime for the stressed-out, go-go,-no-time-to-pause-and-reflect 1990s (remember the abrupt surge of interest in coffeeshops around the same time?).

Cigar Aficionado's "Big Smoke Weekend" was inaugurated in 1993, only a year after the magazine itself began publication. At first it was a New York-in-November thing - for its first New York bow, in long-ago 1993, it attracted over a thousand guests, who flocked to the a hotel in Times Square, to dance, talk, and sample new cigars, drinks, food, and accessories, among other things. By 1996 Cigar Aficionado had added a second event in Las Vegas, which included panelists and educational seminars for the first time. "Big Smokes" have multiplied since then - over a hundred have been held, in various places, with a total head count of approximately two hundred fifty thousand, including visitors from as far away as Iceland and Russia.

Attendees sometimes pick up an empty tote bag near the door, which is gradually filled with promos from some of the most prestigious makers of cigars, accessories, and gadgets. The magazine has tended to promote premium cigar makers, since its inception, and it tends to be the cream of these that show up: Arturo Fuente, Tarno, CAO, Montecristo, etc. Luxury automakers tend to be out in force as well, perhaps reflecting the magazine's well-heeled subscriber base.

The tradition of having twin "Big Smokes" in Las Vegas and New York city continues, despite those cities' recent flirtation with anti-smoking laws. (New York has passed tougher smoking restrictions in the past few years, and so has Las Vegas, though the all-important smoking venue in that city-the game rooms of casinos-continues to be exempt from any public-smoking bans.) The "Big Smoke" in Las Vegas will dominate the weekend of November 9-11, 2008, with two evenings and daytime seminars. Saturday seminars include taste-tests, cigar-rolling demonstrations, and what's sure to be a very enlightening look at premium tequilas, among other things. The "Big Smoke" evenings will include, as usual, sample tables, fine liquor (included in the price of the ticket), and premium food (ditto). The New York "Big Smoke" follows on November 20.

But maybe you'd rather visit warmer climes-especially in November. If so, you're in luck, because Ybor City's Cigar Heritage Festival goes down November 15, 2008 in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, the neighborhood that was built around Tampa's great late-nineteenth-century cigar factories. This is more of a populist celebration, with free admission, but you still have a chance to buy premium cigars (from Rocky Patel, Arturo Fuente, and Camacho, among others), enjoy tours of the historic neighborhood (officially a US Historic Site), sample ethnic food, and learn how a cigar is rolled. Among many other things.

One way or another, then, US cigar fans who love to travel have every reason to be thankful for November.