This used to bug me a lot.

Then I remembered when I first started working, that when people had a baby, they would hand out cigars when they came back into the office. People never smoked them right then and there - well, a few people would, but most would pocket them until we could hit the local tavern after work or whatever (there was a lot more drinking back then too).

Anyhow, I finally figured out that it is all in the question. If you say "Who wants a cigar?" then people will interpret it as a gift that they can take it away and pocket them - some people will take anything just because it is free.

However, there are certain times when you just have to offer.

First strategy, are small cigars (well, at least until SCHIP kicks in!) The catalogs sell these things called "Shrapnel" - they look like the cheroots that Clint Eastwood smoked in the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, etc. I don't have those exact ones, but that gives you the idea. Posers love them 'cause they can squint and look tough smoking them . I always throw some of these in the travel humi, say if I'm going to a friend's for a backyard BBQ.

Another good choice are Villiger Export Maduro's. You can actually smoke these and enjoy them for what they are, and at under a buck a piece, you won't mind too much if people toss them or whatever. They're also "dry" cigars and individually sealed, so there's no need for a portable humi.

Now let's look at the situation where you have a bunch of decent smokes in the travel humi. Here I'll say something like, "Would anyone like to join me in smoking a cigar right now?" If somebody says something to the effect that they'd want to pocket one, then my response is something like "Sorry, these aren't like the cigars at the 7-11. These must be kept in a humidor, or they'll go bad right away. If you take one home, you might as well throw it out now, because it'll be garbage by tomorrow morning."

Herfing with BOTL is totally different - at least to me. Here I pack cigars that I want to smoke, but really, I don't care if people smoke what I hand out right away or not. I know the person that I'm handing the stick to will end up enjoying the cigar, and may not want to smoke for entirely good reasons, like K7's JdN Antano 1970 example. I'll do the same - a 1970 will knock me out - and I'm such a slow smoker that most people smoke 1.5 to 2 cigars to each one I'll smoke.

My long-winded 0.02 Canadian.