Review: Cigarzona Spartacus Ashtray
At first thought, a wooden cigar ashtray sounds like it would be a recipe for disaster. Cigarzona’s line of Spartacus ashtrays, however, are hewn from Brazilian Oak and covered in a heat-proof coating so they won’t set off any fire alarms any time soon. Instead what you get with the Spartacus is a simple, light and reliable ashtray that can be customized and is perfect for solo smoking or a cigar-filled night with friends.
Cigarzona started in February 2018 when owner Guille Gonzalez had some spare oak lying around and a friend asked him to fashion a simple, yet functional ashtray. He whipped up a design and called upon a woodworker friend to craft it, and the results were good enough to earn praise from his friends and encourage him to continue evolving the product.
Soon after, Gonzalez’s brother-in-law got his hands on a laser engraving machine, and the idea to offer ashtrays with customized logos was born. By the following year, Gonzalez had created an Instagram along with a website, and the company was chosen by the Dominican Republic’s ProCigar celebration to create ashtrays for the festival giveaway bag.
As the name implies, the Spartacus ashtray ($40) is simple: a round circle about 8 1/2 inches wide, with a bowl of about 5 1/2 inches for ash. On the standard version, four cigar grooves surround the bowl, but depending on the client’s desires, the number of grooves can be changed. The Brazilian Oak is a dark brown color, with the natural grain allowed to show. (There’s also an attractive Torch-colored option.)
What sets apart the Spartacus is that a client can have Cigarzona engrave nearly any logo not only in the center of the bowl, but on the borders, as well. In theory, one could choose to place a logo in the center that’s entirely different from what’s on the borders. The custom system Cigarzona has created on their website can accept up to four different files.
After ing your custom Spartacus ashtray, Cigarzona will email you a proof of your design to ensure it looks the way you want. And then in about 10 days you will receive your order.
Cigarzona is based in the Dominican Republic and ships orders weekly through their Miami warehouse. They also ship worldwide.
If you are into saving cigar bands, Cigarzona offers another attractive option Cigarzona called the Spartacus Personalized Cigar Banded ashtray ($80). You ship about 100 of your favorite cigar bands to the company’s Miami office, and Cigarzona will cover a Spartacus ashtray with them and then cover the whole thing with their heat-proof coating.
We’ve enjoyed using our Spartacus ashtray for about five months now. The coating hasn’t begun to peel or show any signs of wear, and the ashtray is heavy enough that it won’t slide around on a tabletop. The lightweight also means it’s easy to move around should the need arise.
Visit cigarzona.com for more information.
