Lifestyles
Big Smoke Las Vegas, 2008
After much anticipation, the calendar finally reached November, and the Cigar Aficionado Big Smoke“ Las Vegas got set to open its doors. I had heard and read about this event for a number of years, and decided it was high time to check it out for myself. One of my fellow 'brothers of the leaf' offered to open up his time-share condo for the week, so we and our wives made the trek from Houston to Sin City for the big event.
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Roadhawg & Mrs Roadhawg arrive on the scene. |
The first part of the week was spent doing the typical touristy things one does in Las Vegas. We took in a few shows, including the Rat Pack is Back, La Cage and Cirque du Soleil's Zummanity. We ate like kings, the highlight of which was Pampas Brazilian Churrascaria. There, we went into protein overload with the incredible array of skewered meats, served tableside, until we cried, "Uncle" After a day's drive to tour Death Valley and a trip to north LV to shoot machine guns (the M16 was awesome), it was time to get down to the serious business of cigars.
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| Roadhawg strikes a pose. |
As a prelude to the Friday night Big Smoke, we visited a few of the local cigar stores. In the Fremont district, we stopped by Lovo Cigars. The shop is owned by Egda Ramaz, who hails from EstelÃ, Nicaragua, where she learned rolling at an early age. She is reportedly a Master Roller. Unfortnately for us, Ms. Ramaz was busy, rolling cigars on-site at an election-night party hosted by Arnold 'The Governator' Schwarzenegger in California, when we visited. She has provided the smokes for several of his events, as attested to by the numerous pictures of her and the 'Governator' hanging on the walls of the shop. He must really enjoy her cigars.
We chatted with Mrs. Ramaz's husband and her partner in the business, who gave us an explanation of some of their more unique blends. The small shop contains a walk-in humidor, one side of which holds Nicaraguan blends and the other Honduran blends. I was particularly attracted to the Nicaraguan blends, one of which displayed a barber pole-style wrapper, known as Rosado Supremo, with alternating chocolate brown and dark red leaves. The red, or rosado, comes from leaves which are pressed with the pulp of grapes remaining from the wine-making process. The appearance was certainly unique, and the taste was STRONG. Wow! I had one the following day and it was a head-spinner - definitely not a 'morning' smoke (at least for me). I plan to let the remaining sticks I purchased rest in my humidor for awhile. I expect they will mellow quite nicely.
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| Lovo Rosado Supremos |
We also made a pilgrimage to Casa Fuente in the Forum Shops at Caesar's. It is a very nice shop and very high-end, as is typical of much of Las Vegas. The shop had clothing, various smoking accessories, food and drink, and a sitting area where you can light up and not receive nasty stares. The highlight was, of course, the well-stocked humidor. Casa Fuente stocks most Fuente brands, including Fuente Fuente, Opus X, Arturo Fuente, Ashton and Diamond Crown.
Perhaps the most unique of the offerings there is the exclusive Case Fuente cigar. Its 'uniqueness' comes with a price, though. Be prepared to shell out a minimum of close to $20 per cigar for anything in the humidor. And some cigars go for considerably more than that. That probably explains why we were 'escorted' into the humidor. It felt as though we were being scrutinized while we looked over the selection. Did we really look like potential shoplifters? Not exactly the most relaxing experience, but the store did have a fine selection of smokes.
The next stop on the cigar tour was the Partagas Cigar Factory, across from the Monte Carlo Casino. This is a very small, nondescript, storefront shop in the same building as the Smith & Wollensky Steak House. I spent just a minute or so in the small humidor, but did not make a purchase. I know that prices in tourist areas are typically inflated, and I can live with that. However, $19 for a stick I can buy in my local shop for less than $5 is just too steep.
The final stop before the Big Smoke consisted of a visit to the Davidoff store in the shops near the Venetian Grand Canal, in Saint Marks Square. The shop was nice to walk through, but frankly a little rich for me. I would need a few more wins at the blackjack table to justify buying one of the S. J. DuPont $1450 lighters to fire up my limited edition $23 Davidoff cigar. Holy Cow, Toto! we're not in Kansas anymore!
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| Roadhawg & BOTL Terry |
Well, after all the preliminaries during the week, it was finally time for the Friday night Big Smoke! We headed over to the Venetian, and made our way up to the Palazzo Ballroom, where we stood in line with a multitude of anxious attendees. At 6:30, the doors opened, and it was showtime! Here is the basic blueprint for the evening: Each attendee receives a booklet with numbered coupons, each with the name of a manufacturer participating at the event.
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Big Smoke Credentials
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| CAO Booth |
You go to the respective booth, turn in your coupon, and receive a cigar (or two or three, depending upon the brand), or whatever giveaway that vendor is offering. There is also food, drink, automobiles and the most cigar-friendly atmosphere on the planet. If there's any question about this, all one has to do is cast one's eyes toward the ceiling and observe the layers of blue smoke hovering above the smiling crowd!
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| Big Smoke Cigar Selections |
First, let's cover the cigars. I received a very nice selection of 28 cigars. One vendor, Bravo, had their stock caught up in the Customs process, so that one will be mailed at a later date. Among the quality cigars I received were the Torano Casa Torano Robusto, Te-Amo World Series Dominican, La Aurora 1495 Series Robusto, LFD Double Ligero 600, Rocky Patel ITC 10th Anniversary Toro, Defiance J. Fuego Renegade by Xikar, Fuente Double Chateau, Cuvee Blanc Robusto, Macanudo 1968 Robusto, A. Turrent 6th Generation, La Caya Cameroon, Zino Classic Torpedo, El Rico Habano suprema, CAO Flavors Cherrybomb and MX-2, Padron Classic 2000, Don Tomas Classic Robusto maduro, Ashton San Cristobal & Classic, Oliva Serie G Cameroon Toro, Fonseca Viso Fuerto Toro and Casa Magna Colorado, HdM Excaliber Legend, LGC Classic Wavell, Alec Bradley Tempest, Diamond Crown CFW Robusto #4 Natural, Winston Churchill Marrakesh and the Nub Connecticut 464T. WOW ! what a collection. It had to be the ultimate sampler pack!
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Roadhawg & Carlos "Carlito" Fuente, Jr.
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| Roadhawg with Cano & Tim Ozgener |
In addition to the cigars, many notables of the cigar world were also present. It was great to shake hands and visit with Carlito Fuente, Jose O. and Jorge Padron, Cano and Tim Ozgener, Rocky Patel, Carlos Torano, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo and a host of other 'cigar dignitaries'. They were all more than willing to sign autographs, pose for pictures and generally make themselves available to their supporters, leading to a real feeling of community in the ballroom that night.
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| Roadhawg, Jose O., Jorge & Flory Padron |
In addition to the tobacco luminaries and cigars, there were serious libations to be had. Flor de Cana rum, Ron Zacapa rum, Clontarf Irish Whiskey, Knappogue Castle Whiskey, Patron tequila, El Mayor handcrafted tequila, the products of several wineries, Dalmore single-malt scotch, Budweiser American Ale and Jack Daniels were among the drinks vendors supplied to the thirsty throng. There were also displays by Cigar Aficionado, General Motors (including the new Camaro), Zippo Blu lighters, the Dominican Republic Tourism Office, Harley-Davidson and others.
And then there was the food. At one end of the ballroom, great eats from a variety of Las Vegas restaurants lured us. We dined on lobster ravioli, spicy Moroccan sliders, a variety of pasta dishes and breads, prosciutto parmesan en bruschetta and a wonderful chocolate-filled puff pastry with pepper sauce - just to name a few. These awesome dishes were provided by high-end restaurants such as Valentino, Tao, Charlie Palmer's Restaurant Charlie and Aureole, Lavo, Woo and Emeril Lagasse's Delmonico Steakhouse. Personally, I have always thought that dieting was for sissies, so I fit right in with all the BOTLs who were enjoying the goodies. The backlit dancers gyrating to the up-tempo music also added to the festive atmosphere of this very pleasant evening.
The Friday night session was scheduled from 6:30 until 9:30, and at first I thought that might be overkill. However, by the time the cigars were garnered, food savored, libations enjoyed, pictures taken and cigars smoked, those three hours absolutely flew by, and there was really no down time. Everyone in attendance had a wonderful time, and it was certainly a well-orchestrated, fun event.
The Big Smoke 2008 certainly lived up to my expectations. And if you ever have the opportunity to attend one of these events, I would highly recommend it. After posing for the picture posted above, my wonderful selection of smokes is now safely back home resting in the humidor. The Big Smoke Las Vegas 2008 is over, but as I retrieve these fine smokes from my humidor and fire them up over the next several months, they will provide an opportunity for me to reflect back on that very special evening, when great food, drink, cigars, camaraderie and a heavy layer of blue cigar smoke was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
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Neil Noffsinger (Roadhawg) is a retired sales executive from the semiconductor industry who enjoys life with his wife Gail in Spring, Texas. The seven years since retirement have been filled with motorcycles and extensive travel to all corners of the U.S. and Canada. He has been on 2 wheels in 49 states (missed Hawaii), and typically enjoys a quality cigar at the end of the day.
