In the infamous words of Uncle Buck, "I'm on to cigars now!" And yes, that is real smoke; no Photoshop tricks here.
P.S.: so far I have shot all of these still lifes with my Arca RM3Di & Rodenstock 90mm, and I have been pleased with the system overall. However, with the cigars, I really wish I had a M Line 2. I really wanted to get one top label and one foot label in focus, but the R did not give me nearly enough swing.
Joe, your lighting is looking pretty good. But I find my eye wondering too much in your recent batch of still lifes. My two cents: 1) use selective focus and lighting to separate ground from figure. Look at ads in upscale magazines for inspiration. 2) Simplify. The smoke in the cigar shot is extraneous; the bourbon bottle looks great, especially the way it reflects off the table, and the subtle warm swath of light in the background does a nice job of creating depth. However, the cigar cutter, martini glasses, and wine bottles are distracting. Also, I think the bourbon in the glass looks a bit watered down. Try using a fake ice cube--or forget the ice cube and shoot the bourbon straight up.
The lighting in your kitchen scenes is looking good. Your pictures will look more pleasing if you create some distance between your subjects and backgrounds.Experiment with selective focus. It's okay to let parts of the scene (foreground, midground, and background) blur out. And as far as flower arrangements go, I suggest spending a week just shooting nothing but flowers in glass vases. That will most certainly be a painful exercise, but I think you'll acquire a lot of skill from it.
A view camera is your best option for tabletop photography. You've alredy got a great lens and a decent back, so why not buy a used studio 4 X 5 camera (not a Sinar F or a lightweight Arca) something modest like a Horseman to get your feet wet.
Please don't take my advice as criticism. Tabletop photography is extremely difficult, however it can be quite fun and challenging. You may want to use modeling clay, armature wire, tiny blocks, wires, clamps and tape to finesse the positions of your props. Amazing how tilting a reflective object a few degrees in any direction can make a good picture even better.
Good luck and keep shooting.