Quality Importers Trading Company announces the global release of the XIKAR® XI1 Perfect Cut Cigar Cutter. Designed with a classic teardrop shape, the XI1 introduces a closed back for precise cuts without damaging the cigar.
The cutter, featuring a lightweight aluminum body and stainless steel double guillotine blades, can accommodate up to 60-ring gauge cigars. Available in four colors, it’s backed by XIKAR’s lifetime warranty, retailing at $84.99.
This new cutter combines functionality and style for an optimized cigar cutting experience.
In the world of cigar accessories, it’s often a choice between low-priced, subpar tools and high-priced, high-quality ones. Finding a brand that strikes the perfect balance between quality and affordability is a rare gem. LIHTUN, a sub-brand of Xifei Cigar Accessories, offers a selection of innovative cigar tools that are built to last without costing an arm and a leg.
LIHTUN Double Jet 5-in-1 Lighter
The LIHTUN Double Jet 5-in-1 Lighter stands out as a solid product in their lineup. Priced between $30-$40, this versatile tool offers an impressive range of features without compromising on quality.
This lighter features dual torch flames with a unique inward angle, allowing for precise lighting and ensuring an even toasting of your cigar. The slight inward angle may seem insignificant, but it’s actually huge, because you can have all the torch jets in the world but if you can’t stop the lighter from scorching the wrapper leaf (like those annoying tabletop lighters), what’s the point of buying a decent accessory to begin with?
Other features that set it apart include its built-in V cutter and punch cut, providing versatility for cigar enthusiasts who prefer different cutting methods. Additionally, the lighter comes equipped with a cigar pick, a tool that can help free up the draw of your cigar if you’ve got a tightly rolled cigar. An added thoughtful touch is the top, which doubles as a cigar rest, adding convenience to an already feature-packed tool.
LIHTUN Triple Jet 5-in-1 Lighter
For those seeking an even more powerful flame and a heavier build, the LIHTUN Triple Jet 5-in-1 Lighter is a fantastic choice. This three-torch lighter is designed to provide a consistent and controlled burn for your cigar. Compared to the Double Jet lighter, it’s quite a bit heavier, in part due to its attached V Cut. It has an impressive weight in hand and just feels good to use. And, as you can see, has a totally different design. Between the two, I prefer this lighter.
With its triple torch flames, all angled inward, lighting your cigar (even with wind) is easy. Just like its sibling, the LIHTUN Triple Jet Jet 5-in-1 Lighter includes a V cutter and punch cut, offering the same versatility for a perfect cigar cut every time. Additionally, it features a cigar pick, allowing you to fine-tune your cigar’s draw to your liking. And lastly – the lighter button is shaped in a way that allows it to be used as a cigar rest. Pretty cool.
LIHTUN, a sub-brand of Xifei Cigar Accessories, has succeeded in finding that elusive balance between quality and affordability with their LIHTUN Double and Triple Jet and 5-in-1 Lighters. These tools offer precision torch flames, versatile cutting options, a cigar pick, and thoughtful design features without the premium price tag.
You can learn more about Xifei Cigar Accessories and shop their entire catalogue by visiting their website.
Quality Importers Trading Company debuted a handful of new lighters at PCA 2023, including the Palió Pistola, Palió Pro Line, and Xikar Ion.
Quality Importers provides wholesale quality cigar humidors, smoking accessories, and custom cigar box packaging. They cater to everyone from brick-and-mortar retailers to international cigar manufacturers. Since being established in 2000, Quality Importers has made its name by creating innovative accessories for the cigar world and providing their clients with top-notch customer service.
The Palió Pistola is a budget-friendly angled double torch lighter priced at $14.99 and can light up to 150 cigars. It comes in four colors (red, white, smoke, and blue), and Quality Importers offer a customization option for brands to add logos to the lighter. Quality Importers graciously gave each person a Pistola when they attended the PCA Opening Night Party.
The Palió PRO series is a trifecta of lighters: Scorpius, Antares, and Polaris, designed with the daily cigar smoker in mind. With entire metal bodies, these lighters were built to last. They provide high-quality performance without breaking the bank. The Scorpius is a single jet-angled flame lighter, but it comes with a punch and a draw tool with an MSRP of $29.99. The Antares has a side-squeezed ignition, double torch, and inline lighter that comes in five colors with an MSRP of $44.99. Rounding out the Palió PRO series is the Polaris, a triple torch inline lighter with pull-down ignition. It has an MSRP of $44.99 and comes in five colors.
The Xikar Ion is a large push-button ignition dual-flame torch lighter. It comes in five beautiful matte colors, and its oversized fuel tank can light up to 80 cigars. Besides being beautiful, the Ion isn’t huge, so it’ll fit perfectly in a leather travel humidor. XIKAR®’s Limited Lifetime Warranty backs the XIKAR® Ion.
There are a lot of cigar accessories on the market, and if you look at other cigar accessory lists on the internet, you’ll likely see list after list full of cheap, easily-breakable cutters and lighters or humidors that don’t work. These lists are generally written by non-smokers or retailers with an incentive to push the cheapest products at the highest markups. You certainly won’t find accessories which are genuinely surprising or beautiful. Why? Past decades have been really boring as far as cigar accessories go. The market has had a steady diet of lots of cheap, branded cutters, lighters, and ash trays from major brands looking to get free advertising from cigar lounges and cigar smokers.
Thankfully, in recent years the cigar lifestyle has seen a massive resurgence, and along with that rising tide has come a string of new and innovative cigar accessories.
On this list you’ll find a selection of cutters, lighters, ash trays, and even unique accessories which really don’t fit nicely in one single category. Because these accessories aren’t junk, they aren’t cheap—you won’t find $10 lighters or cheap Alibaba Cohiba knockoffs here like you will on other lists on Google. This list—based on the many cigar accessories I use on a daily basis—is maintained and updated over the years in order to help cigar aficionados discover what are truly the best cigar accessories on the market.
Top Cigar Accessories
So without further ado, here’s my list of top cigar accessories you should consider adding to your smoking room to give it some real spirit.
Les Fines Lames LE PETIT Knife Cutter
Les Fines Lames is a French company that while relatively young is already world-renowned for its incredibly successful lines of cigar cutter knives. The company has dozens of models, each painstakingly designed for maximum aesthetic impact and of course, a superior cut on a cigar. I own four knives, two of which are photographed below.
To me, Les Fines Lames knives have two main benefits:
Enhance the Ritual: cutting and lighting cigars is where every smoke session starts. Sure a standard guillotine cutter will get the job done. But carefully, lovingly cutting the cap off of a cigar with a precision tool simply adds to the experience. It gives the cigar the love and attention it deserves—after all, cigars are hand made and premium cigars require tremendous attention to construct.
Conversation Starters: I’m not one for pretense, but I can’t deny that cutting a cigar with a Les Fines Lames LE PETIT knife makes a statement to those nearby, and I’ve had multiple occasions where the knife started a friendly conversation. In an isolated world of eyes buried in phones, conversation pieces are an act of resistance.
Les Fines Lames LE PETIT Gold Series ArabesqueLes Fines Lames LE PETIT Barrel CognacLes Fines Lames LE PETIT
Now to address one important note: when Les Fines Lames launched, there was some talk among aficionados that because the knives utilize just one blade vs a traditional guillotine cutter, that the knives wouldn’t work as well. In the years since and as the knives have grown in popularity and reputation, those questions have largely ceased.
Click here to explore or purchase Les Fines Lames cigar knives on the Les Fines Lames website.
Protetta Morning Birds Ash Tray
Another relatively new company is Protetta, based in New York City. Originally the company designed and manufactured catch all dishes, but soon found a high degree of enthusiasm from cigar enthusiasts like myself. The company specializes in stunning, hand painted porcelain trays with removable cigar holders. You can see in the image above that there are actually multiple holders of different colors to customize the look and feel. As with Les Fines Lames knives, these dishes act as conversation pieces. But like any good work of art, they elevate the home or cigar lounge generally.
Click here to explore or purchase Protetta accessories on the Protetta website.
Solid Black Concrete Single Cigar Ashtray from Storck Designs
Switching gears to a completely different design aesthetic. I’m a big fan of these solid black concrete cigar ashtrays from Storck Designs. While certainly quite a bit simpler than hand-painted porcelain ash trays, they make a different kind of statement, placing the cigar in center stage and offering a bit more moody of a vibe. At ~$50, they’re also quite a bit more economical and worth checking out.
Click here to explore or purchase Storck Design accessories on the Storck Design website.
Elie Bleu Alba Series Ash Tray + Accessories
Some aficionados say that Elie Bleu sits at the epitome of sophistication in the world of cigar accessories. While I can’t state that definitively, the French based company is known for its unbelievably high quality of work, with hand made accessories ranging from cigar cutters and lighters all the way up to some of the most expensive hand-made humidors on the planet. Shown above is the Elie Bleu Alba Series, which celebrates the classic artwork of Cuban cigar boxes. The series includes a beautifully detailed double guillotine cutter, torch lighter, leather two-cigar holder, ash tray, and full sized desktop humidor.
You’ll pay top price with Elie Bleu. But you will receive legendary quality and craftsmanship. Sold in the US via Davidoff of Geneva.
One of my newest and most-used accessories is the Xifei 3-in-1 cutter and lighter. When I first received this lighter as a gift I was very skeptical given many of the products produced in China have been off the mark as far as quality goes. But boy was I surprised. This really has become my all in one accessory and I often reach for it when I’m heading out to a lounge and don’t want to pack a bunch of different accessories. For me the key feature is the inward aimed triple torches, which gives a lot of precision to a light. I find that triple or quad torches are often way to indiscrimate with their jets, leading to the wrapper leaf around the foot being scorched (the worst of these being those circular table top lights, AVOID). This lighter has three jets but it is still very precise.
At $128 on Amazon, it’s pricier than other lighters. But the build quality, usability and even look is excellent so it’s a no brainer to me.
Click here to explore or purchase the Xifei All in One Cutter and Triple Flame Lighter
Newair 250 Count Thermo-electric Humidor
I’ll begin by saying that even with my love of luxury cigar accessories, I am still a huge fan of the “tupperdore,” or using airtight tupperware to store cigars. Extremely cost effective and efficient. That said, the Newair 250 Count Thermo-electric Humidor is a great addition to the home for a cigar enthusiast. Here are the benefits:
Aesthetic: the humidor looks great, is relatively compact, and will enhance most rooms it sits in (unless of course your house has a cottagecore vibe in which case no electric humidor will fit!)
Function: unlike traditional humidors, the Newair thermoelectric humidor actually regulates the interior temperature, which means if you have a highly fluctuating environment, particularly with high temperatures, your cigars will remain safe and sound.
Newair produces these electric cigar humidors at varying sizes, so the most important piece of advice I can give you is, try to aim one size above the number of cigars you think you’ll need to store. For instance, while this claims to carry 250 cigars, that’s only under 100% perfect tetris storage conditions which frankly may not be good for airflow and actually keeping cigars humidified. If you truly have 200 or more cigars to store, I strongly suggest moving one step up to a larger size.
One other update since writing this post: Newair now produces the same thermoelectric humidor with a heating feature which is key for people like me who live in colder climates. It’s more expensive, but worth checking out.
Davidoff Discovery Flask & Storage
This goes down in my book as probably the most creative and innovative cigar accessory I own: a solid steel travel flask that swivels to reveal two cigar slots, one at each shoulder. Not only is the build quality superb, but interior storage for two cigars actually is something that comes in massively handy when going out on a daytrip. Sometimes I just don’t want to carry a travel humidor with me. If I’m goin on a hike with a friend, a well built flask and two identical cigars to share is perfect simplicity.
Only note: the cigar storage is good for up to about a Toro size, so if you’ve got 6×60’s you’re planning on bringing on a hike, know they won’t fit.
S.T. Dupont Brown Double Cigar Case
Similar to the Davidoff flask, the S.T. Dupont Brown Double Cigar Case is all about simplicity and form. Perfect for two cigars up to toro format, it has small touches that give it a classic feel, and the leather ensures long lasting life for the case. Often times with cheaper leather accessories you’re paying less but what you sacrifice is ultimately the life of the product. Fake leather cracks, frays and then looks unseemly. Not so with quality leather products. You can learn more about S.T. Dupont accessories on their website here.
Conclusion
And that’s it, my current list of cigar accessory products and manufacturers that I recommend checking out and purchasing from. Cigars are such a sophisticated and artful product: don’t pair your cigars with inferior, mass produced garbage that won’t stand the test of time or add anything to your cigar experience.
What do you think? Are there accessories not on this list that you think should be? Got suggestions? Leave them in the comments below.
As a lover of all things cigars, including accessories and adjacent interests like whisky and cocktails, I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to obtain the Davidoff Cigar Storage and Bar Tool Set. It’s one of the more unique Davidoff accessories I’ve come across and is both beautiful and functional.
The box itself is made of a beautiful light wood exterior with light gray fabric interior. It has slots for six cigars, two vertical slots for a cigar cutter and cigar lighter, and of course the bar tool slots which include a jigger, wine key, champagne stopper and 4oz. cup. The last slot holds a “Pairing Suggestions” booklet which suggests drink pairings for Davidoff’s core line of cigars.
The bar tools themselves are high quality as evidenced by their substantial weight, which is great. And once you’ve populated the box with your choice of cigars, a cutter and a lighter, you can consider yourself prepared to show up in style to any social cigar gathering.
The only suggestion I’d make for future iterations of this product is for the surface inside the box to be a bit more deeply inset. When the 4oz cup is stowed in its slot, it takes up quite a bit of vertical space and can come into contact with the lighter strapped in above it under the lid, making it difficult to close the box back up.
All things considered, still a beautiful and functional accessory to have on hand. Here’s the description from the Davidoff website:
For those who plan their libations with their cigars.
The perfect kit for every occasion. A wooden carrying case with a secure closure latch, equipped with storage for cigars, a lighter and cutter, along with necessary bar tools, a beautiful gold-satin wine key, champagne stopper, jigger for cocktails and a small steel restaurant grade drinking glass.
The kit itself is priced at $99, but can be obtained from some official Davidoff retail shops as a complementary gift for cigar purchases over $250. For more info about purchasing, visit the official Davidoff website.
