One Arizona resort maintains a fine-cigars tradition.
Back during Prohibition, the owners of the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa stumbled on a way to keep guests happy — placing within their second-floor smoking room a liquor cabinet that converted into a bookcase in the event of a raid. Cigar in hand, you could sip your bootleg liquor until the spades and hearts on your playing cards blurred, or the Keystone Cops kicked in the door. Today, this Mystery Room may be off-limits to the general public — but cigars are still front-and-center (Bill Clinton didn’t inhale here, as didn’t other luminaries — ranging from Clark Gable to William Wrigley Jr.). You can still have your whiskey, perhaps paired appropriately with a 1929 Cuban cigar. “There’s an ambience here,” says David Haddad, the cigar expert behind Fumar Cigars, which provides rare sticks and spirits to high-end resorts across the United States. In addition to serving the resort’s custom-made humidors, he also trains the staff in proper cigar cutting, lighting and presentation. “It’s like stepping back in time.” It’s also not a solitary pursuit, as the Biltmore offers Cigar Dinners each season. The event begins with a reception that includes cigar-rolling demonstrations and a bit of puffing on the resort’s restaurant patio. The cost is $115, which includes both dinner and the cigars; the next one is scheduled for April 17. arizonabiltmore.com