History

While cigar bars have been around for years, interest in them developed in the 1990s when cities and government entities began instituting smoking bans but provided exceptions for establishments that catered to smokers.

Features

While some cigar bars permit the smoking of cigarette

Cigarette

A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...

s, the classic cigar bar focuses strictly on cigar

Cigar

A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...

s. Many of the upscale cigar bars such as the Grand Havana in Beverly Hills, California

Beverly Hills, California

Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...

 and New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 as well as those in Paris, Spain and Germany, create a gentlemen's club

Gentlemen's club

A gentlemen's club is a members-only private club of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Today, some are more open about the gender and social status of...

 ambience with plushly-appointed interiors, sometimes including a piano or pool table. Featured prominently in upscale bars are humidor

Humidor

A humidor is any kind of box or room with constant humidity, and ideal temperature, used to store cigars, cigarettes, or pipe tobacco. For private use, small wooden or acrylic glass humidor boxes for a few dozen cigars are used, while cigar shops may have walk-in humidors, sometimes consisting of a...

s, even walk-in humidors where people can buy and store cigars for safekeeping in special cigar lockers for individuals. The bars frequently also serve food and alcohol.

United States

The only two cigar bars in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 are the Cuesta-Rey Cigar Bar at Tropicana Field

Tropicana Field

Tropicana Field is a domed stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, which has been the home of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays since the team's inaugural season in 1998, when they were the Devil Rays. It has also served as the host stadium for the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, an NCAA-sanctioned college...

, home of the Tampa Bay Rays

Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in , the club has played at Tropicana Field...

, and the Camacho Cigar Bar at Comerica Park

Comerica Park

Comerica Park is an open-air ballpark located in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It serves as the home of the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball's American League, replacing historic Tiger Stadium in 2000....

, home of the Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

. Cuesta-Rey

Cuesta-Rey

Cuesta-Rey is a brand of hand-made cigar, founded in 1884 by Angel LaMadrid Cuesta and Peregrino Rey....

 cigars originally were made in Tampa, while Camacho

Camacho

Camacho is the last name of:* Alicia Sánchez-Camacho, a Spanish politician* Antonio Camacho Vizcaino, Spanish ministry of the interior* Carlos Camacho, a Guamanian politician* Carlos Camacho , a Colombian actor* Carlos S...

 cigars are distributed in Miami.

In the United States the Private Smoking Club in Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 claims to be first cigar bar opening in 1995.

Worldwide establishments

Asia Pacific

Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

: Kipling's Cigar bar at the Mandarin Oriental Manila

Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

: Olde Cuban, La Casa Cubana

Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

: Club Perdomo

External links

The Age

The Age

The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...

, "The cigar bar makes a comeback", article, December 28, 2010http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/luxury/the-cigar-bar-makes-a-comeback-20101228-1990a.html

The Age, "Cigar bar rebel gets let off on defiant smoke signals", article by Steve Butcher, December 28, 2010http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/cigar-bar-rebel-gets-let-off-on-defiant-smoke-signals-20101228-1999d.html