In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and reader-friendly as possible, each Friday we’ll post a sampler of quick cigar news and stogie-related snippets to tide you over for the weekend. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy:

1) If there’s one universal feeling among cigar smokers, it’s anger at butane torch lighters that are too often expensive, unreliable, or quickly broken. Well, here’s the solution: the Ronson JetLite for under $3 at Wal-Mat. George E has had his for several months and it’s working just fine. Most Wal-Mart stores stock them at the register that displays goodies like cigars, cigarettes, and - you guessed it - lighters.

2) Yesterday’s item on the possibility of a smoking ban in Baltimore sparked some nasty words about the city once called “a nest of pirates.” But it also prompted Jerry from the Stogie Review to alert us to this fantastic commentary from the Baltimore Sun: “Smoking bans are dangerous to a free society’s health.” We couldn’t agree more!

3) We thought long and hard about keeping this to ourselves, but we just couldn’t leave our readers in the dark. Thompson Cigar has teamed up with International Wine Cellars to bring you a contest where you can win $2,500 worth of cigars and $2,500 worth of wine! Click here to enter, and, if you win, just remember who told you. Our finders fee is a modest 10 percent.

4) Finally, if our tips on giving the gift of cigars didn’t help you complete your holiday shopping, here’s a few more ideas (and shameless plugs): We’ve got some great items in our Stogie Guys Store, and Stogie Guys Gear never goes out of style. Also, please consider selecting an item from one of our affiliates. They’ve got wine, coffee, and - naturally - cigars. Best of all, a portion of each sale allows us to improve StogieGuys.com.

[Editors Note: Apologies for the tardiness of this Friday Sampler. We've been having problems with our web publishing software, but they have now been resolved.]

-The Stogie Guys