One week ago I posted about a very special whisky tasting event called The Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza, during which one can taste over 100 different whiskies and enjoy a cigar (or a couple) afterwards. We had 2 tickets to the event to be given away to one lucky commenter, and the winner is John H. Congrats! An e-mail has been sent to you regarding your prize. Big thanks to The Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America and Gabby Shayne for making it possible. Remember, CigarInspector.com readers get a $15 discount on their ticket. More details here.

Last year, we did two giveaways for spring and fall sessions of "Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza", events that combine our passions - a fine drink and a fine cigar - in a very pleasant manner. Since these giveaways seemed to raise a lot of interest, we are continuing doing it this year.

It's now time to get ready for the 2011 spring session, which will be held in New York, Phoenix, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas and Denver. Tickets cost $135 and the price is reduced to $120 if you use code "TCI2011" when placing the order (here is the form). Again, we've got 2 tickets to one of the Spring 2011 events, ready to be given away to one lucky reader. Check out the schedule and if it sounds like something you're interested in and you can make it, just leave a comment below to be entered in the draw. The winner will be announced in one week.

Ladies and Gentlemen are cordially invited to enjoy a connoisseur's evening featuring over 110 rare & exceptional single malt and Scotch whiskies. The evening includes a delicious dinner buffet as well as a selection of premium imported cigars for our guests' later enjoyment. The Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza brings the discerning enthusiast the opportunity to sample the participating whiskies in a sophisticated and elegant environment with genuine camaraderie and knowledgeable representatives from each participating distillery. Attendees will be given VegaFina and Warlock cigars.

Many thanks to those of you who participated in our New Year contest. We hope you all have a great Christmas holiday! Time to announce the winners of our contest, generously sponsored by CheapHumidors.com. Here's what the Randomizer says:

• The 10 Count Cigar Caddy is won by AlexTucker. Here is his Christmas story:
  

  My best Christmas was in 2009. Before that, the last I celebrated Christmas was in 1986 when I was 16. It was the first Christmas after my dad and his 3rd (yea, I said 3rd) wife were divorced. My dad tried to make it a good Christmas, but he hadn’t worked in almost 9 months and with no income, he still tried to make it a nice Christmas. It sucked (hey, I always had lots of gifts before that year), and from that point I always associated Christmas with that memory and never really celebrated (made disappointment easier). When I joined the Navy in 1990, I always made sure I had the duty/watch on Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day because I had no reason to celebrate. My son was born in January 2006, but it wasn’t until 2009 that he insisted (yeah, he thinks he’s the boss) we have a Christmas tree for Santa to leave presents under. We caved and bought a tree about a week before Christmas. To see his face on Christmas Day with all the gifts from “Santa” showed me that Christmas had new meaning, it was about him and my new family. This year will be the second year that I have put up a tree and actually had fun during the season. I look forward to many more in the future.

  Make sure you check the contest comments for more great stories.

• The 5 Count Cigar Caddy is won by lloyd***@gmail.com. Congrats and thanks for subscribing!
• The 2 Count Cigar Caddy is won by Newb. Thanks for your comments!

We hope you enjoyed the contest and we can assure you there will be many more to come!

It's been quite a long time since the last "real" contest, although we tried to keep you entertained with some nice giveaways. The moment has come to let you compete for more interesting and fun prizes! Read on.

What are the prizes?

A picture is worth a thousand words...

...but if it's not enough, here are some more details. We teamed up with CheapHumidors.com, our favorite cigar accessories retailer, to offer you three prizes:

• Prize #1: 10 Count Cigar Caddy, including a lighter, a cutter and 5 cigars (5 Vegas Serie A, EO 601 Green, CAO MX2...)
• Prize #2: 5 Count Cigar Caddy with 5 cigars (Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic, Alec Bradley SCR...)
• Prize #3: 2 Count Cigar Caddy with 2 cigars (CAO/Gurkha) as well as a lighter and a cutter

How to win?

For each prize, you've got to do a specific task. They are independent, which means that you can participate in all three draws or just in one or two of them.

Prize #1

To win the prize #1, just comment on this post with a fun Christmas or New Year story that happened either to you or to your friends. It doesn't necessarily need to involve cigars, just share it with us. The best story will be awarded the prize.

Prize #2

Subscribe to our updates and to CheapHumidors.com newsletter (here is a page with both subscription forms). A few days before the end of the contest, you will see a secret link in one of the posts that you receive by e-mail or in your RSS feed reader; those who participated in our previous contests are familiar with this system. Clicking on this link will enter you in the draw.
If you are already subscribed, you don't need to do anything right now. Just wait for the secret link.

Prize #3

Every comment made on cigar reviews and other articles (including shops directory listings) represents a ticket in the draw for the prize #3. Unleash your comments! Feel free to browse our index of non-Cuban cigar reviews and of Cuban cigar reviews.

Good luck!

We wish you best of luck in this contest and a lot of happiness in the year 2011. Many thanks to CheapHumidors.com for their help in setting up the contest - if you are looking for quality cigar accessories at good rates, make sure you give them a visit, they have free shipping until November 27 - this may come in handy for holiday gifts :)

Feel free to promote this page by e-mail, on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

Conditions: contest ends in two weeks, on the 28th of December. It is open internationally but unfortunately if the winner(s) is(are) not from the US, we will not be able to ship cigars (damn shipping restrictions), so they will receive cigar caddies with accessories. Better than nothing :)

The winner of the $18 Amazon gift certificate is wyattjones. Congrats!

Long ashes everyone - and stay tuned for more contests in future!

As I stated in my best cigar books post, proceeds from sale of books would be given back to one lucky reader in the form of a gift certificate. Here is another one, which might come in handy during holiday shopping season. It is a gift card for $18 that can be redeemed on Amazon.com (doesn't work on .co.uk or .fr).

Just leave a comment on this post to be entered in the draw. The winner will be announced in one week, next Thursday.

Many thanks to everyone who participated in our last giveaway. The six winners of Lawrence Dofman's book "The Cigar Lover's Compendium" are:

• chekk12
• albert c
• jdawg
• k_mpez (hm, not the first time I think!.. The Randomizer definitely likes him)
• wrenclan
• Erick

Congratulations to the winners. If you didn't win this time, feel free to get the book from Amazon. And, of course, stay tuned for future giveaways!

The winner of the $16 Amazon gift certificate is Keith1911. Congrats!

Enjoy your Sunday, everyone - and stay tuned for more contests in future!