Stinky Car Ashtray

G. Clay Whittaker
Posted: September 19, 2012

The long ride home from the office or the golf course could be a little more pleasant with a cigar, but ashing a premium smoke out the window can be messy, or worst, makes your burn crooked and can damage your wrapper. Stinky Cigar has an inexpensive solution to the problem: the Stinky Car Ashtray ($19.95), a cup-holder friendly holster for your road smoke.

Stinky Cigar, which was founded in 2004, continues to produce some of the most simple metal ashtrays on the market, and this one is no different. An airtight seal on the lid means your ashes won’t go blowing all over the car the second you crack a window. And the two generously springy bumpers keep your cigar from rolling off the lid and into your lap or between the seats, either of which could cause some unpleasant burning.

The major drawback to the can is balance. Because the lid is heavy, opening it all the way without support will cause it to topple over if it’s not in a cup-holder. That means no carrying this ashtray inside to the desk, or the coffee table, and no setting it up on the bumper for a tailgate.

To solve this problem, the manufacturer suggests a handful of pennies dropped into the bottom of the can to balance the difference in weight, but the easiest option might be a heavy nut or bolt: something that is exponentially easier to clean afterwards than a few dozen pennies. This will also remove the temptation to go scrounging for change at a drive-thru and reduces the amount of jingling on bumpy roads.

The bumpers, meanwhile, keep your cigar firmly but gently in place, so going off-road with a cigar is possible, albeit within reason. Still, the bumpers seem to achieve the optimal balance between strength and flexibility; we didn’t experience any wrapper tears during our trials, even with a couple of aggressive grabs.

Overall, though, the polished stainless-steel construction and simple, working-parts-lite design make it easy to use, easy to store and, most importantly, easy to clean. That makes it a solid pick for a road-trip smoking companion.

For more, check out www.stinkycigar.com

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Comments 3 comment(s)

Leopold — September 20, 2012 9:55am ET

Interesting product indeed. An alternative to buying an ashtray however could be to buy a car: Snap up one of these seriously undervalued and under priced Jaguar XJS-V12's. If only for those lovely decent sized (double!) ashtrays to support your cigar, and your co-driver's one too!. Easily supports your Cohiba Lanceros... Hmmm...

Robert Catanese — September 23, 2012 12:00pm ET

GREAT MAGAZINE HAVE PEOPLE WAITING IN LINE FOR ME TO FINISH

Philip Crocker — Mount pearl, Newfoundland, Canada, — April 18, 2013 7:14am ET

I recently purchased one of these and I must say the only problem I had was the balance issue when I was using it just out on the deck. Never thought about a counter weight and I'll be taking your suggestions and using them for sure. Other than that the stinky car ashtray is perfect if you have a young child and do not want to subject them to the smoke coming from a normal ashtray as once the lid is closed, no smoke will come from it and there is no smell whatsoever. I've had 3 cigars with this ashtray and have not had to clean it out yet as there is ample room to hold a few butts and ashes and I bring it back inside and you would never know I had been smoking.

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