More evidence that Gov. Patrick's re-election efforts should be up in smoke.

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, because before too long you may not be able to afford ‘em.

Cigars that is — havanas, coronas, belevederes, or, as the late George Burns famously enjoyed (at least 10 times a day), good ol’ El Productos.

Under Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposed 2011 budget, the excise tax on cigars would skyrocket from 30 percent to 110 percent. (A similar increase, from 30 to 120 percent, would affect pipe tobacco; from 90 to 110 percent for chewing tobacco.)

Patrick’s $28.2 billion proposed budget is designed to close budget gap of nearly $3 billion. Cut a few million here, a few million there — nothing major, but every cut affects someone. And this one could snuff out cigar smokers.

An excise a tax is paid directly to the government by retailers, and it’s usually based on how much that retailer paid the manufacturer for the product. Under Patrick’s new budget, tobacco retailers will be paying the state more in taxes on their inventory than they paid for the inventory itself.

Retailers say they will have no choice but to at least double their prices.

UPDATE: More from the AP.

SECOND UPDATE: Please be sure to join us Wednesday night for the newest edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio. Our scheduled guests are authors Nicole Gelinas and Matt Labash. Plus, more from the Globe, Herald and WBUR.

THIRD UPDATE: From the Boston Herald.