JC's
Cigar Travels
December
2006
Not
too many cigar events. I guess a lot of people
are concerned about the new Nevada Smoking Ban.
Because of my scheduled surgery on the 21st, I won't
be able to smoke cigars for a few weeks. Thank God cigars
don't spoil and will only get better while waiting for
me in my humidor. So I'll have lots of time to
decide on which cigar will be my first of 2007.
December 16th was the 3rd Anniversary
& Christmas Party at Monte's. Local roller
Caesar was on hand rolling cigars, there was live music
from a musician who used to play in Cuba for Castro.
And there was Cuban food that included Fried Bananas.
I want to thank everyone who participated in our Blind
Test Tasting. The cigar we were tasting was from
Black Patch Cigars that are
made in the Dominican Republic with tobacco grown in
Kentucky. |
November 2006
November
got off to a great start with the Big Smoke Weekend.
November 1st was the Freyboy 10th Anniversary
Cigar Dinner at Chinois in the Forum Shops at Caesars
Palace. Tickets were $100 and included an upscale
meal and Fuente cigars including an Opus X. In
attendance were some of the VIPs of the cigar industry
including Carlito Fuentes. They raffled off a rare box
of 10 Opus X Forbidden BMF's. Stinky won the box and
shared them with the people at his table. Later
we went into the Casa Fuente shop and discovered those
cigars sell for $125 each.
November 2nd we gathered at Casa Fuente
with some of the folks who came to town for the Big
Smoke.
November 3rd we hung out at Del Monico's
at the Venetian. They gave out more cigars than
last year but people were complaining about the long
lines and lack of seating.
The Pleasure Police managed to get
a smoking ban law passed. It goes into effect
on December 8th and will prohibit smoking in most public
places and where food is served. They still don't
know the specifics or how it's going to be enforced.
What has happened to our society? Cigar smoking
scenes were deleted from the new James Bond movie but
it's ok to show murder & violence.
November 30th we gathered at Cigar
Lounge and said goodbye to our Friend Sal, who is leaving
Las Vegas to take a new job in Fresno. And yes,
he's already found a cigar shop there to hang out. We
were taking bets on when Sal will move back to Las Vegas.
|
October
2006
| October
27th - Smokin' Ass Cigar Dinner at Capozzoli's
was a good value. $50 for a fine meal that included 4
cigars (2 of which were cuban) and other goodies including
a bag of the famous Smokin' Ass Kona coffee. Smokin'
Ass now feature hand rolled cigars by Nelson in their
stores. About 60 people attended. Also, the owner
of Eureka cigars was handing out samples. |
September
2006 |
September
15th Wow! September is half over already. Football
season is here and most of our better Las Vegas cigar stores will
accommodate you with Saturday, Sunday & Monday Night Football
on TV screens in their store. Monte's Cigars is featuring
Monday Night Football with Pizza. Phil's Cigars are doing it
up with Monday night football as well. You can bring your own
libations or they'll provide you with some at a nominal charge.
I noticed some of the guys prefer the NFL over College football. I
enjoy it all. Especially when you get midway into the season and the
players are getting their game together and you see some fantastic
plays.
Sunday, September 3rd some of us gathered
at 8am at Angel Park Golf Course in Summerlin. They have a little
restaurant with an outdoor patio where we enjoy some early morning
coffee with our cigars. From 10am till 2pm they feature a Sunday
brunch for on $10.50 and you can get your omlettes made to order.
August 2006
Smokin'
Ass Cigars has closed their Spring Mountain location
and have moved into the Frontier Hotel. They have also opened
a 2nd location on E. Flamingo near Paradise (formerly Havana
Cigar Company behind Bucca Di Beppo & Morton's Steakhouse).
They now feature their own line of hand rolled cigars with
a roller on hand at the Flamingo location. I took a short
tour in their humidor and the first thing I noticed was that their
prices are lower than when it used to be Havana Cigar Co.
I've been complaining for the last year and a half that there
hasn't been anything new out there that's tripped my trigger.
Well complain no more! I was at Monte's Cigars and
had one of their Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ.
It was a Belicosa. All Nicaraguan and made in the
U.S.A. I was surprised at how remarkably smooth it was for
a Nicaraguan. I had just finished a spicey full flavored
Rocky Patel Edge Madura and yet I was able to enjoy the flavor
complexity of the Don Pepin Garcia. This one definitely
has J.C.'s Seal Of Approval!
Cigar Box sent out an email
that they have in stock the new Ashton ESG, limit 2 per customer.
They must be a special cigar to sell for $30 a stick.
I took advantage of their free wireless access and was
able to get some work done while enjoying my favorite La Flor
Dominicana cigar, the "Grand Maduro #5" and at the same
time watched the Detroit Tigers win on one of their many TV's.
Tinder Box is changing their monthly cigar event to the
3rd Saturday of the month. Las Vegas cigar posse member
Paul, has been trying to convince them to do it every Saturday.
Cigar Lounge on W. Sahara has announced they are having
a weekly gathering every Thursday after work. I was surprised
to see the Rocky Patel Edge Maduro Missile in stock. That was
a rare find as most places have been out of stock for the past
few months. |
July 2006
July
17th - CAO PARTY At The Hard Rock Hotel It turned out
to be one of the best cigar parties. The CAO family greeted
the attendees at the entrance. A huge crowd in the pool area
outside. Then it started to rain and everything was moved inside
in the Las Vegas Lounge. Then, because of the huge crowd, everything
moved into the Body English night club and Tommy Lee was there
with other DJ's in the booth. The music was loud and the place
was jumping. It was scheduled to end at midnight, but the free
bar stayed upen until 1:30am before they closed down. The new
Vision cigar was a flavorful smoke on the spicy side. Needless
to say, a good time was had by all.
July 12th - The Lift There was a good turnout
for the event and we saw a few people that we haven't seen in
a while. Everyone received a Rocky Patel Edge Toro Maduro.
The food was good and quite reasonable. A Philly
Cheesesteak sandwich with fries was only $4.95. Darren
the bar manager was a great host.
That's Willie from Michigan proudly showing us his Vanity
Plates as he enjoys a Monte White. |
|
June
2006
 |
CAO
will be launching their latest innovation at the RTDA
next month. The CAO Vision is the first Dominican-made
CAO cigar, it is composed of aged tobaccos from the Dominican
Republic, Nicaragua and Brazil but assembled in the Dominican
Republic. The cigars come in a desktop/travel humidor
that is calibrated to deliver 68-70% humidity. The cigars
will be available in three sizes.
Haven't heard anything about pricing, but then, you know
what they say, "If you've gotta ask, then you can't
afford it. Click
Here to see their video teaser. |
From Justin's Rumor Mill:
"Ms Hilton's Stinky Encounter"
Las Vegas, NV - Goldfish Press
Sources close to Ms. Hilton quoted her as saying, "At
first I was not sure what it was, then I say this truck that
had all of these things on it. As it got closer to me I saw
this brown things, they were cigars. That was hot. The truck
stopped by me and a guy smoking a cigar rolled down his window,
looked at me and said ".... I'm Stinky." And drove
away. Oh and that music, I can not get it out of my head. "Stinky
Stinky Ashtray, he's so very stinky." That might be my
next single.
Al though Ms. Hilton suffered no ill effects, eye witnesses
reportedly saw her entering Casa Fuente at the Forum Shops in
Caesar's Palace and purchasing a box of cigars. She then sat
down, ordered an unknown drink and lit it up. As she was puffing
away, you could here her singing, "Stinky Stinky Ashtray..
he's so very Stinky... That's Hot."
(I smell something and it ain't a cigar!)
The Lovers of the Leaf picture gallery has been updated. |
May 2006
| There
have been a few local events that I was unable to put on the
list because I wasn't given enough advance time to post it on
the website. If you are planning or involved with any
local cigar event and want to be included on our list of events,
please try to send me the info at least one week in advance.
I have updated the cigar pictures gallery. Many thanks
to Raffi for the fine feast that he provided for some of the
local cigar posse. On May 2nd, we gathered at Hummus Mediteranean
Grille on Durango between Desert Inn & Sahara. The food
was excellent and then we went outside and enjoyed some wonderful
cigars way past closing time.
The folks from Cigar Utopia are coming to Las Vegas during the
first weekend in June. See the events list for details.
The RTDA convention will be back in Las Vegas in July. This
is the big industry event of the "Who's Who" in the
cigar business. It's a private show open only to cigar retailers,
but there will be a lot of special cigar events and parties
that go along with it. |
April
2006
|
Let's
Hope The Las Vegas Tradition Continues!
- 1997
Las Vegas Boondoggle (Caesars Palace & MGM Grand)
- 1998
Las Vegas Boondoggle II (Caesars Palace)
- 1999
Las Vegas Boondoggle III (MGM Grand)
- 2002
Las Vegas Cigar Summit (Sahara
Hotel ...Followed by Big Al's BBQ The Next Day)
- 2003
Las Vegas Cigar Summit (Sahara
Hotel ...Followed by Big Al's BBQ The Next Day)
- 2004
Las Vegas Cigar Summit (Sahara
Hotel ...Followed by Big Al's BBQ The Next Day)
- 2005
Las Vegas Cigar Summit (Sahara
Hotel ...Followed by Big Al's BBQ The Next Day)
- 2006
Herfers Paradise Sin City Herf (Dinner
At AJ's Steakhouse - Hard Rock Hotel ...Followed by
Big Al's BBQ The Next Day)
- 2007
???
|
Saturday, April 22nd - I attended the Sin City
Herf Dinner put on by Herfer's Paradise at AJ's Steakhouse at
the Hard Rock Hotel. Food was delicious at the cigar-friendly
restaurant. After the dinner we all went outside near the
pool for the doorprize drawing. Everyone received a goodie
bag with about a dozen cigars (including a monte ISOM)
and on the bag was a number for the drawing. Several prizes
were given away including Cuban Cigars, sampler packs and a beautiful
Carlos Torano humidor.
Herfer's
Paradise has one of the better Cigar Message
Boards Around. Check it out at www.herfersparadise.net
Sunday, April 23rd - Big Al's Annual BBQ was
fun event with great food and another opportunity to hang out
and enjoy cigars with fellow Lovers of the Leaf. Allen &
Susan made it a superb event with their gracious hospitality.
Noticed that Cigar Afficionado's Annual Big Smoke Weekend in Las
Vegas scheduled for November has moved from Bally's Paris to the
Venetian.
We can now add Monte's Cigars to the list of shops featuring a
Wireless Connection for their customers.
The 4th episode is now ready for download at
Up
in Smoke Video Podcast on iTunes. Talk
about product placement ...they were using a Stinky Ashtray! |
March
2006
Rock Patel & JC
March started out slow but ended with a big bang as many cigar
events took place during the last week of the month. N.A.T.O,
The National Association of Tobacco Outlets, had their Trade Show
March 27-29 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. (Closed to
the general public) Over 200 exhibitors were there
to showcase their prodcuts at the Expo.
March 30th - Tobacco Leaf in Henderson had a
great event featuring Rocky Patel Cigars and Rocky Patel himself
was there. (Click
Here For The Pictures)They showed us
a new Rocky Patel cigar that will be coming out in May. Lots
of Door Prizes were given out.withput on an Ashton & Diamond
Crown event and everyone received a free Ashton Maduro & Diamond
Crown Cigar. Also Free Drinks & Cuban Sandwiches. The drinks
were served up by Gina from Casa Fuente and it was a great event.
Some cool Door Prizes were given out. Wonderful way to start
the week. Wish I would've brought my camera.
March 25th - Monte's Cigars had a Cigar event
featuring the Magus Cigars. The Magus has a strip of sweet swamp
tobacco that gives it a unique taste.
The new & improved version of the Stinky Ashtray has been
released. Instead of 3, it now has 4 places to rest your cigar.
More cigar shops are getting high tech. CigarBox, The Cigar
Lounge & Tobacco Leaf are now featuring a Wireless Connection
for their customers.
A 3rd episode has been added at Up
in Smoke Video Podcast on iTunes.
Episode #2 is my favorite. |
February 2006
It was standing room only on Saturday, February 25th, at the monthly
cigar event at MONTE'S Cigars. The M&R Pre-Embargo cigars
were the featured cigar. Also enjoyed the free refreshments
including food from Cook's Barbecue.
Superbowl Sunday was fun, spent it with good friends and forgot
to take pictures.
For some good cigar info, the SMOKE THIS radio
show with Cigar Dave is broadcast every Saturday morning from
9am until 11am (Las Vegas Time) on Hot Talk 1140am.
If you're into watching podcasts, check out Up
in Smoke Video Podcast on iTunes.
So far, there are only 2 episodes about 3 minutes in length. I
think they'll be getting better with each episode. |
January
2006
January
1, 2006 - My first smoke of the new year was a Fonseca
robusto. Lit it up at 11:30pm New Year's Eve. Was just
getting over the Flu and it was my first cigar since Christmas.
That little cigar was packed with tobacco and took about
90 minutes to finish.
January 4, 2006 - Watched the Rose Bowl game
at Cigar Box on their 5 Big TV's. It was a great game
and I enjoyed some good cigars including an Aged Astral Maduro.
I don't really care for Astral, but I guess when aged
long enough, anything can turn into a tasty treasure.
January 21, 2006 - Everyone that attended
the Rocky Patel Missile Party at Monte's Cigars received a
free Edge Missile Cigar. I must say that Monte's Edge
Missiles are the darkest maduros that I've seen around town.
They charge $6.50 while I've found them in other shops
for $5.99, it's worth the extra 50¢ for the darker shade
of maduro.
January 31, 2006 - Oliva Cigar Tasting at
Cigarbox was well attended. Saw a lot of faces that I haven't
seen in a while. Everyone received a complimentary Oliva
Cigar. Not bad, the rep from Oliva was there and very
friendly and answered questions. Door prizes were given
away. Afterwards I purchased the Oliva (blue label)
Maduro and enjoyed it much better than the one they were giving
away. |
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