We smokers have become the modern day lepers, outcasts, untouchables and pariahs. We are forced to leave warm, comfortable public places to enjoy our pleasures. In fact I believe that the non-smokers should go outside. They are the ones who want clean, fresh air. However there are still places where we can appreciate tobacco products indoors. Here are some of them.

The United Kingdom is probably the most politically correct country on earth. Still there is La Casa del Habano in London. A specialised smoking exemption allows a customer to smoke one of the 20 varieties of cigars, with a view to buying large number, indoors. Unfortunately clients are unable to eat or drink in the establishment.

America runs the UK a close second in political correctness. Some towns do not even allow smoking on the streets. There are some bastions of liberty in the Land of the Free. Club Macanudo in New York has 130 different types of cigars, while the nearby Nat Sherman makes do with a mere dozen.

Los Angeles has the Grand Havana Room with 50 varieties of cigar. It is frequented by the cream of Hollywood society and the business community.

The Partagas Factory in Havana, home of the best quality cigars, keeps 33 types of cigars in the lounge at the rear of the shop.

Law-abiding Switzerland has the Avo Lounge in Aarau, with 40 cigars including eight of the locally-made Avo brand. Swiss ingenuity has enabled the canny burghers of Zurich to beat strict anti-smoking laws by mooring the Davidoff, a ship which stocks 30 types of cigars, on Lake Zurich.

The Bar and Cigar in Oslo has 10 varieties of cigars and a heated outdoor smoking area.

Singapore has the Connoisseur Divan with about 30 types of cigars, which can be enjoyed in an air-conditioned indoor room.

The Davidoff Lounge of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Beijing keeps 30 varieties of cigars, which visitors can enjoy in one of the four private rooms, which have each been styled by a different designer.

There probably over places throughout the world, but these havens provide some hope for beleaguered smokers