Ted Whelan has no problem shelling out big bucks for a fine cigar.

For what some folks spend on a tank of gas, Whelan has bought a nice, fat stogie.

And it's worth every cent, he insists.

But, he doesn't go down to Tampa's Historic Ybor City district or overseas for a quality box. Instead, his favorite cigar shop is right in his own neighborhood.

And over the years, Whelan has become a regular customer at Torres Cigars.

It's a spacious cigar shop tucked in a Wesley Chapel strip mall, where many of the cigars are rolled by hand and range in price from $2 to about $34 each.

Seven years ago, Willie Torres of Lutz launched Torres Cigars off State Road 54. But, he also runs a cigar factory in the Dominican Republic where his own brand of cigars, Torres Cigars, are made and shipped all over the world.

Read the full article on the St. Petersburg Times