NORTH BEND – Jay Ohm is smokin’.

Or at least his family’s business is. Ohm’s parents opened up their second tobacco shop in North Bend in December of last year, offering Valley residents two locations at which to find tobacco products in the area.

Cigar & Gift, located next to the Safeway in North Bend, offers many of the same products as their first store, Cigar Land. The stores also carry a variety of gift items, such as candles, knives and posters.

While tobacco has been smoked for hundreds of years, there have been some new products introduced to keep smokers interested. The Ohms carry specialty cigarettes such as those made with cloves, and a new line of flavored cigarettes by Camel called Exotic Blends that taste like whiskey or raspberry. Nat Sherman and American Spirit Cigarettes have also become popular in recent years because they are made with 100-percent natural tobacco and have no added chemicals.

The pride of Cigar & Gifts, however, is the humidor case that takes up nearly an entire wall and is full of cigars. Here, aficionados may buy all kinds of stogies, from a $4 box of Swisher Sweets to a $30 Diamond Crown robusto.

Ohm said cigars and cigar culture got a shot in the arm in the 1990s that’s helped sales ever since. Cigars are a status symbol and Cigar Aficionado magazine covers that feature Alec Baldwin and Tommie Franks demonstrate that a good smoke is as indicative of success as a nice car.

“Once you get big, you smoke cigars,” Ohm said.

Adding to that sense of refinement has been the addition of cigars made by distilleries to accompany a certain drink. Courvoisier has its own cigar and Maker’s Mark offers a cigar packaged in its own individual case topped with the company’s distinctive red wax cap.

How to keep one’s tobacco fresh and lit is another specialty of Cigar & Gifts. There are travel cases that carry three cigars, as well as boxes lined with Spanish Cedar that can hold more than 200. The shop also carries the new $100 lighters by Colibri, which have no flint but ignite when the user passes their finger through a small laser.

“These are big in Vegas,” Ohm said.

While there are more products for smokers to choose from, there are less places for them to smoke. Ohm said recent laws prohibiting smoking in public places has taken away some smokers’ rights, but he can understand non-smokers’ desires to avoid smoke.

Laws or no laws, Ohm said he is not worried about business.

Smokers are always going to smoke.

Ben Cape can be reached at (425) 888-2311 or by e-mail at ben.cape@valleyrecord.com.