May's Cigar-of-the-Month selection is already in the mail -- the 2005 God of Fire Carlito Blend -- but we may have discovered June's cigar in this morning's New York Times. 

The inside page of the Business section features a small story about a Minnesota company called Ruyan America that has invented a cigar that produces water vapor instead of smoke. Whaa?

According to the company, the "E-Cigar" is "a revolutionary product and new to the world of electronic smoking substitutes/cigarettes alternatives".  To really grasp the complexity of this product, you should visit the company's site and check out the internal view of the cigar that illustrates the "nicotine-infused cartridge", "atomizer", "airflow sensor", "lithium battery", "red LED", and other components you have never, ever heard of in a cigar. Then again, I was not aware of a "world of electronic smoking" existed.

The cigar is 5 1/2" long with a 50 ring gauge, and "looks and feels like a premium traditional cigar". Each cigar is good for 1,800 "mouthfuls of vapor" (a flavor I have been dying to find in a cigar), and costs about $40.

Feeling like it was my duty to buy one of these "cigars" and try it, I immediately clicked the "Where to Buy" button. To my dismay, there is only one online retailer, and they seem to only have the E-Cigarette products, and lord knows I ain't ever smoked no cigarette.

In their defense, the company's President acknowledges that a real cigar aficionado will not be "blown away" by the cigar, but with specs like these, the casual smoker may be a centrifuge away from a dirty bomb. God help us.