If it applies to you.

Hope your Fathers Day is all that you expect.

Thanks, Doc. I think I had the best Fathers' Day ever. Nick, my only kid, is almost 18 and has very little time for the old man anymore but, on Sunday, he spent all day with me converting a large wooden trunk into a humidor. We bought the Spanish cedar, worked it like a couple of amateurs and it turned out pretty good. We'll bulid some trays and shelves for it this week. I'm happy to have it but I know I'll feel a little sad whenever I use it after he goes off to college this fall and leaves me with his mother and the cat. Part of being a dad, I guess.

I had a great day!! My beautiful daughter who is growing up much to fast for dad's taste got her Dad a nice Dupont Cigar Lighter. My son bought me seasons 1-3 of Seinfeld and I bought my own father a bottle of Corzo Tequila.

My wife got me a membership and a humidified locker at a local cigar bar. It was fantastic. Though, honestly, their humidification system stinks. I'll have to supplement the box with a couple of water pillows to keep the thing anywhere close to 70%. That said, it was a thoughtful and unique gift - totally unexpected.

Just curious, Scott. What do you get for the membership and why would you store your cigars anywhere but your home where they would be properly cared for and available at all times?

I know the logic is a bit screwy with these things. It's sort of club membership thing - you get invited to monthly dinners where you can network, etc. You get "free" cigars in your humidor. Oh, and you also get your name on a little brass plaque next to John Elway's.
All good things.

I spend the majority of my time in Denver these days, making it back to our place in New York only about four to seven days out of the month. When the smoking ban takes effect July 1, it will be the only place in the city that allows smoking. I spend a lot of time there already - maybe once a week - so I can rationalize it that way. (I'll supplement the humidification for whatever I decide to keep in their locker.)

The other thing is that in order for this bar to keep its smoking dispensation, it has to make 5% of its revenue from tobacco sales. Humidors count towards that percentage, and this way, I don't have to pay their lofty prices for a cigar and can smoke what I want.

Scott--
This is the first I had heard about the ban in Denver. Does this mean that the Churchill Bar in the Brown Palace Hotel will not sell and encourage cigars? What a pity. One of the truly great places for cigars and single malts (IMHO) in the country.

In fact the Churchill bar is the one where my wife got me the locker. It will be the only smoking bar left, I'm sad to say. There's one other that's going to try and hang on, but I doubt they'll be able to. Just not enough tobacco sales, I'm afraid.

Fortunately, the Colorado government hasn't gone to the idiot extremes of places like Washington or New York. Smoking will still be permitted in tobacco shops and in all outdoor areas of a business.

When we aficionados visit the Mile High City, will we be able to enter the venerable halls of the Churchill Bar in the Brown Palace, or will it only be open to members?

No, it's a public bar and always has been. It's just there's sort of a little club within it. They don't have their own area or anything, just some humidors and a little brass plaque. Ultimately, aside from the private dinners, it's relatively meaningless. So you'll still be free to buy their $115 Opus X. ;-)

One thing I found out: they make their 5% quota because all the food they serve - which is excellent - is technically not theirs. That gets added to the tally of the other hotel restaurants where the food is prepared, not the Churchill bar. So all they serve is liquor and cigars, making the 5% mark a relatively easy hurdle.