The Screwpop Ashtray is a new cigar accessory introduced by Screwpop LLC. Screwpop is best known for making small, pocket-sized tools. Over the past three years, the company has moved into the area of cigar accessories where it has introduced cigar cutter products such as the Screwpop Cigar Punch, Screwpop Cigar Punch 2.0, and the Screwpop Cigar Cutter. The Screwpop Ashtray marks the first ashtray the company has released. While it doesn’t incorporate a “pocket sized” tool, it is a product that does have some interesting features.
Product Overview/Specifications
The ashtray itself is black in color and made of melamine. It measures 1.25″ x 4” x 5″. This is a small ashtray and geared for a single smoker.
There are five key features of the Screwpop Ashtray:
- Long Cigar Rest: Designed to rest your cigar as you smoke it. It allows your cigar to lie length-wise.
- Cigarillo Slot: Designed to rest cigarillos.
- Ramp: Designed for ashes to slide down
- Ash Knocker: Designed to remove ash before relighting
- Collection Area: Designed for where the ashes will collect
Product Evaluation
The Pluses
Call me selfish, but there is something about having a personal ashtray that I like. I tend to ash all over the place, so by having my own ashtray its a nice thing to have. This is a nice portable ashtray that can be taken on the go as it is lightweight.
The melamine material is durable. It is something that can be used outside as well.
Having both a place for a premium cigars and cigarillos was useful. The slot for cigarillos worked very well. The long cigar rest worked nicely for cigars ranging from lanceros to super gordos.
The Minuses
So I found the long cigar rest to be a double-edged sword. I liked the fact I could rest my cigar in a horizontal fashion. The problem because as the cigar burns and becomes shorter than the rest, it forces you to either put the burning ash and/or the tip of the cigar that goes in your mouth on the cigar rest. Both options did not excite me. While I realize this is a “personal” ashtray, I don’t like having the tip of the cigar directly on the ashtray. At the same time, while Screwpop says the melamine surface won’t burn (it is heat resistant), I still don’t like the burning tip of my cigar touching the surface of the ashtray.
While I wouldn’t call this a “difficult to clean” ashtray, I did find cleaning the ashtray needed a little more attention. I personally like my ashtray to be completely clean. I tend to like rounded ashtray because it is easier to clean. Ashtray with corners always require a little more effort. With the Screwpop Ashtray, it requires some additional effort as the area between the ash knocker and edge made cleaning a little more challenging.
Neutral Points
- For a premium cigar, the collection area will hold ash up to one cigar, and then it will need to be emptied. Since this is a personal ashtray, I’m fine with this and typically will do this with a larger ashtray.
- The ramp was more decorative than anything. Yes, ashes will roll down, but I tended to ash directly into the collection area.
- The ash knocker can be used by rotating the cigar in a barrel-like fashion to clean the ash before re-lighting. It wasn’t a bad feature to have, but it wasn’t one I made a lot of use of.
Final Thoughts
I liked the compactness of having a personal ashtray. As I mentioned, the long cigar rest was a double edged sword and I wish there was a traditional wedge to put the cigar once it burned down to a certain point. I also wish it was a little easier to clean on the inside edges and near the ash knocker. The price point also seemed to be a little high. It has an SRP of $19.99, but it does sell for $14.99 on Screwpop’s web-site. Overall I think Screwpop is on to something with this particular concept, but it probably could use a few tweaks.
Assessment: Fair
References
News: n/a
Price: $14.99 (19.99)
Source: Accessory Provided by Manufacturer
Stogie Geeks Podcast: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a
Brand Reference: Screwpop
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
