VAIL VALLEY — The rich smells of cedar and tobacco hang in the slightly thick air inside the walk-in humidor at Avon Liquor. The walls of the small room display shelves full of fragrant cigars, ranging from a single $20 Cohiba to an inexpensive pack of Dutch Masters.
Spring is cigar season, and very soon, customers will be rolling through local shops picking up various sticks to complement golf games and evenings spent sipping cognac and other libations, enjoying springtime in the mountains.
Despite higher taxes on tobacco products and fewer places that allow smoking, cigars are as popular as ever in the Vail Valley.
Matt Austin, of Beaver Liquors, said he’s been at that shop for six years and cigar sales have increased every year, with last year being the biggest year for sales. Bryant Bowlby, cigar manager at Avon Liquor, said his sales have also been strong.
There hasn’t been “too much of a drop in anything” as far as cigar sales since the new taxes kicked in, Bowlby said, from what he has seen so far.
Jim Lay, coordinator of the annual cigar seminar at the Taste of Vail, said price wouldn’t keep him from enjoying a good cigar anyway.
“I buy a good cigar like I would buy a bottle of wine, because I like them and not necessarily because of the cost,” said Lay, an Eagle resident.
The taxes have gotten pretty steep, though. After tax, two $3 cigars come to $12.
