Turk10mm
Just smokin
First off, I want to say thanks a million to Ron over at seriouscigars.com. He's a local B&M for me, and a great online retailer for many here. If you haven't checked him out before, please do. Ron gave away 10 full expense paid trips to the big smoke to customers, 5 online and 5 walk-in. Needless to say, I didn't win the contest. However, I contacted Ron and asked him if I could tag along with his group while I was there, as I was going to be alone. Not only did he invite me to tag along, he took me along for the full ride that his contest winners got, all I did was pay for my flight hotel and big smoke event. He sent me a shirt, took me to lunch on Friday, ran around the Big Smoke with me, met CAO for cocktails and cigars after the Big Smoke, lunch on Saturday (which I missed because I was attending the seminars), dinner at the Wynn, cocktails at Casa Fuente, etc. etc. etc.
Basically he covered almost all my incidentals and treated me as if I had won his contest. Thanks a lot Ron, it was awesome. I can't offer enough credit to a great guy who runs a great shop with great prices.
The Big Smoke itself was a bit chaotic. Unfortunately it seems like many adult men turn into children at this event. There was a lot of rushing around trying to exchange tickets for cigars that left a bad taste in my mouth. I would have much preferred a bag with the cigars in them already, and several hours to mingle with the manufacturers and other attendees. But alas, people would get too bombed and the booze booths would run out of stash way early. The cigars given out ranged from Rocky's Olde World Reserve down to sticks in the neighborhood of a few dollars. I walked away with about 35 cigars from the Big Smoke itself. The booze was pretty good, although there wasn't a single malt or even good blended scotch vendor there. There were a couple of bourbons and rums which was nice.
The Big Smoke Seminars were a lot of fun. I received a Rocky Patel 10th anniversary on Sunday along with a vintage 1990 for the scotch pairing event. I recieved two Don Carlos smokes for the breakfast and cigar rolling events. Saturday I received a Padron 1964 Anniversary, Torano 1959 Exodus, and a Coronado by LFD. The two blind tasting smokes were an HdM non cuban and I forgot off hand what its competitor was. I sat with Cusano for lunch and received a pair of 18th smokes. All in all the seminars were the most fun. James Suckling talked over his guest during the Cuban portion and sounded at least drunk, but definitely was an arrogant bastard. All the other presenters were great. Carlitos Fuente gave a nice speech during the wrappers section where he cried when talking about his Father. The padrons, olivas, and many others were there.
All in all it was a great time! I'm not sure if I'll attend again, but if I do, I'll definitely attend the seminars again.
Enjoy
Basically he covered almost all my incidentals and treated me as if I had won his contest. Thanks a lot Ron, it was awesome. I can't offer enough credit to a great guy who runs a great shop with great prices.
The Big Smoke itself was a bit chaotic. Unfortunately it seems like many adult men turn into children at this event. There was a lot of rushing around trying to exchange tickets for cigars that left a bad taste in my mouth. I would have much preferred a bag with the cigars in them already, and several hours to mingle with the manufacturers and other attendees. But alas, people would get too bombed and the booze booths would run out of stash way early. The cigars given out ranged from Rocky's Olde World Reserve down to sticks in the neighborhood of a few dollars. I walked away with about 35 cigars from the Big Smoke itself. The booze was pretty good, although there wasn't a single malt or even good blended scotch vendor there. There were a couple of bourbons and rums which was nice.
The Big Smoke Seminars were a lot of fun. I received a Rocky Patel 10th anniversary on Sunday along with a vintage 1990 for the scotch pairing event. I recieved two Don Carlos smokes for the breakfast and cigar rolling events. Saturday I received a Padron 1964 Anniversary, Torano 1959 Exodus, and a Coronado by LFD. The two blind tasting smokes were an HdM non cuban and I forgot off hand what its competitor was. I sat with Cusano for lunch and received a pair of 18th smokes. All in all the seminars were the most fun. James Suckling talked over his guest during the Cuban portion and sounded at least drunk, but definitely was an arrogant bastard. All the other presenters were great. Carlitos Fuente gave a nice speech during the wrappers section where he cried when talking about his Father. The padrons, olivas, and many others were there.
All in all it was a great time! I'm not sure if I'll attend again, but if I do, I'll definitely attend the seminars again.
Enjoy
