As previously alluded to by Ted, the Grand Strand's heavily tourist-centric economy can be both a blessing and a bane. The upside is that, whatever you're looking for, some enterprising individual has probably taken to supplying that particular niche, often for the sake of either the locals or the more demanding class of vacationers. The downside is that finding them requires sifting through layer upon layer of tourist-traps, whose offerings range from the blandly generic to the outright tacky. It is akin, I would say, to seeking out a natural beauty whom you know is attending a celebrity impersonators' convention; somewhere, out there, underneath that sea of obscuring foundation and distracting neon blues and greens. You know it, even if you're also a little skeptical as to why she would be there.

Some time ago I was conversing with an old female acquaintance when she brought up how much she had loved clove cigarettes - now banned, you know, for the children - and how, ironically enough, she had smoked so much less when she had them to savor, as opposed to the steady pack-a-day she fell into once "flavored cigarettes" were forced off the market. Naturally enough, when I later found out Djarum had cleverly switched to tobacco wrappers, thus redefining their wares as "filtered cigars", I went to see if I could track any down - and thus lept head-first into much the same imbroglio as Ted faced in his search for rare Portuguese meat products.

From the popular tobacco outlet located in the massive tourist sprawl of Barefoot Landing to various iterations of "(so-and-so's) Cigar Emporium", I searched up and down Myrtle Beach, until I at last found them in a local joint wherein the entire shop served as a single giant humidor, resulting in the entire storefront appearing, from the outside, as one big, foggy, dripping window. The next day I was discussing this matter with Adam, enjoying the novelty of the fragrant, sweet smoke of a "cigar" from an extra pack I had bought for myself out of curiosity... and, sure enough, he turned to me and inquired: "You know we have those downstairs, don't you?" So it goes.

And so it leads, naturally enough, to what hard-to-find offerings we might bring you today, such as, say - killer deals on dozens of Tsuges, joined as well by Caminettos, Lucianos, Brighams, Vauens, Savinellis, Petersons, and Johs hand-mades; a broad selection of estates from origins far and wide; new cigars from Trinidad and Rocky Patel; fresh additions to our accessories section; and last, but certainly not least, four exquisite briars by none other than Benni Jorgensen.

Eric Squires: Copywriter