Well, that escalated quickly…

It’s a phrase we toss around fairly often on the Smoke and Steel Podcast. It usually happens right after a harmless joke snowballs into something real. This time, it all started with a casual comment: “Hey Mark, can you make us a Room 101 Cigars 2nds Ashtray?”

He did. And what started as a laugh turned into something worth telling a story about.

Padron 2nds Ashtray

Back in the very early stages of the Smoke and Steel Podcast, the garage was pretty bare. We gathered around a folding table and shared a single Stinky Cigar Ashtray. This was all fine and good when it was just the four of us but when our friends started joining us, there were suddenly more cigars that the ashtray could hold.

First up on the list of things to aquire for the garage was a spare ashtray (or three). Eric brought over a Rocky Patel Ashtray and told us about this awesome Arturo Fuente Ashtray that he had at home. This, of course, lead to a discussion about cool ashtrays.

We talked about the classic brown Oliva Family of Cigars Ashtray, the cool Nub Leaf Ashtray, and the impressive Drew Estate Artistic Ashtrays we’ve seen over the years. Someone made a joke about us not being worthy of a Padon Ashtray and the discussion ended in laughter.

The following week, Mark showed up with a pie plate under his arm. I was a little confused until he sat it on the table and proclaimed that we might not be worthy of a legitimate Padron Ashtray but we certainly were worthy of a Padron 2nds Ashtray.

Mark had us in tears as he explained Padron was done in high temperature paint. The lettering would never wear off! He then proceeded to show off its five cigar rests and elevated feet.

Our new ashtray was an amazing gag that would become a piece of Smoke and Steel history.

Room 101 Cigars Limited Edition Ashtray

Fast-forward a couple of episodes and we were back on the topic of ashtrays. Eric told us about this amazing Room 101 Cigars Limited Edition Ashtray that Rob had won at an event several years ago. He went on and on about how beautiful it was and that photos didn’t do it justice.

This lead to a throwaway comment that Mark should make us a Room 101 2nds Ashtray. We all laughed and suggested that it could be a plastic halloween skull glued to a pie plate. The discussion moved on and Mark got to work on his next creation.

Prior to recording Episode 18 of the Smoke and Steel Podcast, I got a phone call from Mark. His creation was done and he wanted to stop over and prep it for the big unveil a couple days later. I was blown away when I saw it – it was far more elaborate than his first 2nds Ashtray.

Room 101 Cigars Inspired 2nds Ashtray

After gawking at Mark’s creation for a few minutes, he started telling me about the process. He knew he had to step us his game and wanted this one to have a personal touch – mainly Eric’s face as the artistic element.

First he went to ChatGPT to create a mockup of what the ashtray might look like. From there he modeled the face in clay so that he could create a silicon mold. The mold was then used to cast a plaster face that he could then paint and place inside of a wooden frame. Finally, he placed the ashtray on a bed of gold linen inside of a custom box to mimic the original

The process took roughly two-weeks and turned out better than any of us could have hoped. The Room 101 Cigars 2nds Ashtray resides on a shelf in the Smoke and Steel Lounge where it is proudly on display.