A Four-Season Cigar Room In Ontario, Canada

[JohnS]

A Four-Season Cigar Room In Ontario, Canada

A diehard aficionado in Ontario battled back against the country’s strict smoking laws by creating a sleek, indoor-outdoor cigar room that works in any season

Oct 28, 2025 - By Garrett Rutledge

Cigar lovers reach “aficionado” status at their own pace. For some, it’s a slow burn, a drawn-out process of maturing palates and sensibilities. But others have an immediate, natural magnetism to fine smokes, as if they were always meant to be a cigar smoker. Eric Kukucka, of Windsor, Ontario, is one of those destined cigar connoisseurs. For the Canadian native, having his own cigar room was non-negotiable, a necessary requirement to serve his passion. But it took building his new home to bring his ultimate smoking escape to fruition—and it doesn’t disappoint. 

Kukucka, 37, has long had a fascination with cigars, but it hasn’t always been easy for him to indulge. Canada has strict smoking laws, and each province has its own smoking regulations. But for the most part, the country is left with grandfathered lounges or nothing at all, depending on where you are. For those in the Great White North, a personal cigar room is more of a necessity than just about anywhere else in the world. Kukucka built his first in 2015, converting an outdoor woodworking shed at his parents’ house into a cigar room he calls “very mediocre.” Even so, it was outfitted with hardwood floors, a ventilation system and leather couches. 

Eventually, the time came for building his home. “When I was building my house I said the one thing I want to have is a cigar room,” says Kukucka. Coincidentally, his best friend Paul, who he met over cigars a decade ago, is a landscaper and contractor. Kukocka enlisted his buddy to design and build his home, who handled everything except the exterior framing. As a cigar lover himself, Paul suggested a four-season cigar room, one that’s fully insulated against the cold Canadian winters but easily transformed into an open-air layout during warm summer months. The house and its cigar room were finished three years ago, after taking a year to complete.

The cigar room is a 300-square-foot, indoor-outdoor space that can be fully sealed or opened up to the elements via retractable, sliding doors. It’s situated in the back of the house, with doors that reveal a backyard that includes a swimming pool, a built-in grill area and a bar room/poolhouse that’s equipped with a dining room table, bar and kitchen. The entire back area is surrounded by trees and a high fence, giving the feel of a mini, private compound. On nice summer days, it’s easy to imagine spending many hours out there with ease, as one space bleeds into the next. This portion of the home is built for entertaining, but it’s still intimate enough to offer a cozy reprieve without guests. 

The cigar room, like the house itself, can best be described as sleek. There’s almost a beachy, resort-like appeal, but with modern class and without the kind of kitschy aesthetic you might seem at some waterfront spots. Inside the room, the uncluttered layout is tailor-made for comfortable cigar smoking. It’s outfitted with cozy lounge chairs, a large ottoman, standing ashtrays, a fireplace and a large TV. Kukucka says there’s also an HVAC ventilation system, heated floors and an AC and heat unit, to deliver just the right temperature amid varying climates. The space can comfortably accommodate about ten people, according to Kukucka. 

“I smoke a lot of cigars and I needed to have something that’s year-round,” he says. “If I’m home, I have a cigar lit and I’m in there.” The issue for Kukucka, however, is that “home” changes. He works full-time in Chicago, where he stays during the week, and he’s back in Canada only on the weekends. He leans on a few favorite spots in the Windy City, like Iwan Ries, Biggs Mansion or a private club called The Penthouse, to name a few. But he admits late work hours often bleed into cigar time. “I don’t smoke that much during the week, but I make up for it during the weekend,” he says. 

When Kukucka is home, the cigar room takes center stage. “My fiance and I watch movies there every night. I’m in there at all times over the weekend,” he says. The couple also hosts social gatherings in the space quite often, especially in the winter when there are few places to escape with a cigar in frigid Canada. “My friends smoke cigars, everybody knows that when we go to Eric’s we’re sitting in there and the wives join too.”

Windsor, Ontario—where the home is located and where Kukucka is originally from—sits on the border of the United States and Canada, separated by the Detroit River. The proximity helped fuel Kukucka’s cigar passion, filling a void that Canada’s strict regulations created. “We’ve been going to cigar bars in all of Detroit forever,” he says. “That was our only escape before we built the cigar room, crossing the border.” 

Kukucka in his beloved cigar room smoking one of his favorite cigars, a Vegas Robaina Unicos.

When Kukucka was a younger man, he started dabbling in cigars to be different from the “cool” cigarette smokers. Eventually, word got to his father, who, according to Kukucka, used to keep a small humidor and occasionally smoke. Thinking he would teach his son a lesson, his father presented him with a double corona. “He made me smoke the whole thing and nothing happened, and he was like ‘well, that just backfired on me,’” recalls Kukucka with a laugh. His coming-of-age cigar story should come as no surprise, as the natural affinity for the leaf was there since the beginning.

Some of Kukucka's most precious non-Cuban cigars seen pictured here, including his reliable Oliva Melanios.

“So, I have a problem,” he says with a chuckle. Kukucka’s not speaking in general terms, but specifically about his vast cigar collection. The volume is impressive—he says he owns well over 1,000 cigars—but the quality jumps out. Kukucka has loads of hard-to-get boxes of cigars, most of them vintage, some a few decades old. He keeps them inside his house, near the cigar room, and spreads them out between a big Remington cabinet humidor and four small fridge humidors. 

His collection includes an unopened box of Cohiba Behike BHK 52s from 2010, Montecristo Sublimes Edición Limitada, every cigar in the Partagás Alphabet Series, a box of Vegas Robaina Don Alejandro from 2002 that were autographed by Alejandro Robaina, every vitola of OpusX The Lost City from 2020-21 (and nearly every OpusX that’s been on the market), Padrón 50th Anniversary and the Oliva 135th Anniversary Edición Limitada, to name a few. 

Kukucka says his favorite brands are Vegas Robaina and Trinidad, but his “go-to” smokes, since he lights up so often, are Oliva Serie V Melanios. “Consistent every single time, amazing,” he says, plus, they’re more affordable than his favorites. Kukucka has the Serie V Melanio’s in every vitola, natural and maduro. For any box of cigars he buys, he takes two sticks out and sets them aside to age. Kukucka even has a tier system set up in his humidors, which are organized by everyday smokes all the way down to the “untouchable” cigars. The Cohiba Behikes fall into that category. As for when he might break those out? “Probably my wedding, which is next year,” he says. “I say it’s probably the rarest, or most special, in my collection.” 

A few Kukucka's most prized Cuban boxes. The Cohiba Behike BHK 52s (a former Cigar of the Year) and the autographed Vegas Robaina Don Alejandro cigars stand out.

Generally, anything in his collection is fair game beyond the few, highly rare items he has set aside, unopened. “What’s the flavor that I want today?” he says. “That’s kind of how I pick.” The rest is mood- and context-dependent. But Kukucka says he tries to have at least one “special cigar” a week. And if his selection process ever drags on too long, he’ll go for his reliable Melanios. He gets most of his inventory at a local La Casa del Habano shop in Windsor. But he classifies himself as a “50/50 guy” when it comes to non-Cuban vs. Cuban cigars. “I respect, value and appreciate the flavor, the construction, the consistency of both worlds.” 

When it comes to finding a pairing partner for his cigar, he keeps it simple: “Water,” he says. “I truly enjoy the flavor of the smoke, uninterrupted or unpaired.” For Kukucka, it truly is just all about the cigar.

Source: https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/a-four-season-cigar-room-in-canada

[smashed]

This room looks amazing, as well as the house...but my main takeaway from this was the tidbit of anything over 1,000 cigars being considered a VAST collection.

Ummm...I've bought that in the last month alone. Houston, do I have a problem? 😂

[Puros Y Vino]

Great cigar room.  He's living the dream. 😁

[chasy]

He's a dentist to boot!