It may sound hard to believe, but your off-the-rack ashtray lifted from a local restaurant may be hurting your cigar smoking experience.

Maybe that sounds a bit harsh, but ashtrays made exclusively for the cigar smoking experience can be a great addition to your cigar accessories.

So what makes a “cigar” ashtray different from other ashtrays?

Cigar ashtrays make it possible to rest the cigar horizontal, with adequate support, all the while not disrupting the ash. Just the way you rest the cigar can have a major effect on the overall burn of the cigar.

You don’t really want to rest your cigar in a traditional ashtray that smashes the foot of the cigar – leaving to a strange burn when you start back up.

You will find a cigar ashtray to meet your individual needs.

Just one person smoking? Get an ashtray for one “spot” if you will. Or invite some friends over and have an ashtray on hand that can simultaneously hold several sticks.

There are a few other advantages to cigar ashtrays. They typically have a larger area for ash (cigars do produce more ash than other tobacco products for that matter).

Lastly, if you are in a windy environment, you might check out some of the cigar ashtrays with deeper “bowls” built in them. That keeps the wind from blowing ash around (and they need to be emptied less often).

The fact of the matter is that, most of the time; the cigar is going to be in your hand or mouth. But at some point you will need and ashtray. One made specifically to hold cigars will simply enhance your smoking experience.