Gifts for a Cigar Lover in Morocco: What to Give, at What Price

Giving to a cigar lover is a discipline of its own: the recipient knows exactly what they like, the product does not forgive approximation, and in Morocco two rules apply that the rest of the world does not have. The first is the regulated price, which protects you from being cheated. The second is the climate, dry almost all year round, which makes preservation the real subject. Those two rules draw the right gift: an accessory that lasts, a vitola to be savoured.

What lasts: gear before the cigar

A cigar is smoked in an hour; an accessory accompanies its owner for years. That is why gear is, in Morocco more than elsewhere, the safest gift: it is bound to no reserved channel, it does not date, and it answers the problem every Moroccan aficionado knows, dry air. Here are the five objects that land, from the smallest gesture to the largest.

Boveda packs: the perfect small gift

This is the gift nobody expects and everybody keeps. A 69% humidity pack turns any airtight box into a reliable humidor, with no upkeep or adjustment, and slips into an existing humidor to steady it. Our guide to humidity regulation explains what they do and how to size them. No aficionado ever has enough: they are the ideal companion to any other gift.

The cutter: small price, great effect

The most-given accessory, with reason: a quality double-blade guillotine accompanies every cigar for years, fits in a pocket and defines the ritual. Scissors for elegance, a punch for the travel pocket: the gestures and formats are detailed in our guide to cutting a cigar. Only avoid soft-bladed gadgets: a cut that tears the wrapper ruins the cigar it accompanies.

The torch lighter: the terrace companion

In Morocco you smoke outdoors a good part of the year, and the wind decides: a torch flame is the only reliable light on a terrace. Single flame for precision, double for comfort, with a supply of clean gas: our torch lighter guide explains what separates the lasting tool from the disposable one. A fine refillable lighter is the kind of gift still found in the recipient’s pocket ten years on.

The case and the travel kit

For the mobile aficionado, a rigid two- or three-finger case protects the everyday vitolas, and a travel humidor with an airtight seal secures the 25 cigars each trip abroad allows duty free. Add a Boveda pack inside and the travel kit becomes an itinerant humidor: the gift for travellers, most exposed to climate swings.

The humidor: the grand gift

This is the gift that changes an aficionado’s life, especially in our climate: Moroccan air is dry, and without a humidor cigars die within weeks. From the cedar desktop humidor to the electric cabinet, our guide to choosing a humidor details the criteria that matter, the seal first, capacity second, the wood last; and our guide to seasoning a humidor avoids the disappointment of the first days, because a new humidor is prepared before it takes in anything at all. In the meantime, our guide to storing cigars without a humidor tides you over for a few weeks.

The ashtray: the art of hosting

A cigar ashtray is not an enlarged cigarette ashtray: it needs a wide, stable cigar rest and a deep bowl for ash that falls in one piece. It is the salon object par excellence, the one that says the house receives smokers with consideration; in ceramic or crystal, it always ends up the smoking room’s favourite object.

The cigar itself: the classic gesture

It is the obvious gift, and the official list makes it a safe one: every vitola has a single public price, detailed in our official price list, and buying from an official shop guarantees origin; our guide to where to buy maps them. Safe choices by budget:

Budget	The gift
Under 100 DH	Three José L. Piedra (32 DH each), the unpretentious Havana
100–200 DH	Montecristo No. 4 (150 DH) or a packet of Cohiba Club (180 DH)
200–500 DH	Cohiba Siglo I (400 DH), Romeo y Julieta Churchills (340 DH)
500–1,000 DH	Cohiba Robustos (800 DH), Montecristo Leyenda (810 DH)
The grand gesture	Behike BHK 52 to 56 (2,000–2,800 DH per stick)
The boxed gift	Camacho (2,600–5,200 DH for twenty), Davidoff editions (9,390–17,800 DH for ten)

Two precautions: ring the shop before travelling, stocks fluctuate; and for a recipient who is starting out, choose short and mild over prestigious — our guide to the first cigar gives the forgiving vitolas.

Every occasion has its gift

The right gift depends less on the budget than on the moment it is handed over. Three occasions cover most of the Moroccan year.

Eid. The gift is given in person, during the visit, and aims to be personal rather than spectacular: a fine vitola from the official list together with a rigid case, or Boveda packs if the person already owns a humidor. The gesture counts for more than the sum, and a gift that is kept beats a gift that impresses.

The wedding. This is the occasion where several people club together and the budget rises: a humidor, a salon ashtray or a boxed selection from the groom’s favourite house fill exactly that role. The cigars themselves are often already arranged by the family for the evening: better to give what will remain afterwards.

The year’s end. This is the season of boxed selections and large vitolas, and the moment when official shops are best stocked. It is also the period of gifts to clients and associates: a neutral, well-made accessory, cutter or lighter, goes down better than a Havana when you do not know whether the recipient smokes.

The original: the Moroccan puro and the experience

Two gifts nobody else will give. First, the 100% Moroccan puro from the Casablanca manufacture: grown and hand-rolled in Morocco, sold only in its club-shop, approved at 40 to 400 DH per stick on the official list, it is the tasting even the well-served aficionado has never had. Then the experience: an evening in a palace smoking lounge (the Bar Churchill at La Mamounia, the Cigar Bar at the Royal Mansour) or a member’s locker at La Casa del Habano; our guide to the lounges and smoking rooms gives the addresses and their codes.

The three traps of the cigar gift

1. Outside the channel. A Havana bought on social media or at the souk is very probably a counterfeit: the only gift worse than no gift. Official counter, list price, full stop.
2. The dry cigar. A vitola given unprotected in a dry climate often arrives brittle: a rigid case and a Boveda pack are part of the gift.
3. The trophy for a beginner. Giving a full-bodied double corona to someone just discovering cigars is giving a bad memory: for a first cigar, mild and short always win.

One last word from the house: the best aficionado’s gift combines both registers, a lasting accessory for the years, a fine vitola from the official list for the moment. At every budget, that pairing never disappoints.