An Ash-tounding Selection

Steve Norell didn’t know he’d ever own the largest cigar humidor in The Sandhills. In fact, he never intended to be in the cigar business. He was just introduced to it through the credit card processing industry. Yeah, there really is a job for everything. Steve now owns The Cigar Box, a lounge and bar with locations in Southern Pines, Hope Mills and Fort Bragg, 2468 Cigars, an e-commerce site, and Carolina Cigar Distributors, a wholesaler with customers all over the country. He previously had an office and warehouse in West End but he quickly outgrew the space. His new spot in Aberdeen took his humidor from 1,500 to 4,000 square feet to keep up with the demand for his various businesses. 

For Steve, it’s noteworthy that almost everything in the cigar business is entirely handmade, which he refers to as an art form. He also looks at cigars as a social pastime as opposed to a quick hit of nicotine. “Tradition is a large part of the cigar business. And there’s something for everybody,” says Steve, from cheap to exclusive, full bodied or light, flavored or not. “It’s a lot like wine as far as climate, weather, countries and blending goes. It’s also extremely subjective.”

Steve is hoping word of mouth will continue to ignite interest in the local cigar community, but to help fuel the fire, he plans to eventually have a YouTube show full of banter and cigar sampling filmed onsite. Until then, shop cigars in all price ranges at The Cigar Box, 1545 U.S. 1 in Southern Pines.