THE HEAT, THE HEAT! By the noon opening bell on Saturday it was already in the mid to high 90's with nary a breeze nor a cloud in the sky as lines began to form for
, food, and beer - and not necessarily in that order. This year the lines moved much more quickly, too, which helped minimize exposure to the sun. Thank goodness for tents.
Speaking of tents, I spent a good portion of my day videotaping to the manufacturers when they could spare a moment. I talked a bit with Jose Oliva about what's up with Oliva Cigars. Looks like the Oliva Serie V cigars have found terra firma in the marketplace, about which he was very pleased. Also, whenever I speak to him about cigars, I always learn something new about tobacco. He told me something about wrapper leaves that I never knew. Look for that information in an upcoming tip on CigarAdvisor.com or in the Famous Smoke Shop catalog.
Most of the manufacturers didn't have much to say at this point about what their new releases will be at the IPCPR show next month in Las Vegas. Although Jonathan Drew was all to eager to promote a new cigar tour Drew Estate is sponsoring called Cigars Safari. More than just a tour of tobacco fields and cigar factories, Cigar Safari guests will also learn about the history and culture of Nicaragua. More information can be found at www.cigarsafari.com.
Now no self-respecting, male-dominated cigar event would be complete without some beautiful women. The CAO Flavourettes provided a colorful addition to Cigar Expo handing our flavours by CAO cigars, while May 2007 Playmate, Shannon James, autographed photos to promote Playboy Cigars. Further down the tent at the Arganese Cigars booth, two young ladies were handing out Arganese Ambassador Connecticut cigars and Arganese Chairman Maduro cigars.
One big improvement this year was the handling of the food. Hog Heaven of Phillipsburg, NJ provided pulled pork sandwiches, ribs, chicken, beans and a variety other sides. Guests were served at two lines, which really helped speed-up service. I was so busy running around shooting video, I didn't realize it was close to 3:30 and I hadn't had anything to eat but a Land Shark beer and a few cups of water. Thankfully, one of our customers was kind enough to get me a plate of pulled pork and beans. I owe that man a cigar.
One of my assignments was to work the crowd under the food tent and talk to some of the guests about how they were enjoying the day. Despite the heat, which everyone dealt with pretty well, the overall "vibe" was extremely positive. Several guests I spoke to were first-timers, and told me they'd be back next year.
At the end of each day, the raffle prizes were awarded. In addition to special edition boxes of cigars, rare humidors, and other cigar accessories, there were also some big prizes. Todd Regan of Nazareth, PA and Robert Workman of Easton won all-expenses-paid trips to the Dominican Republic to visit the Arganese Cigars production facility and more.
John Arrabito of Brooklyn, NY, Joseph Pale of Horsham, PA, Paul Stafford of Milford, CT, Carl Auguste of Irvington, NJ, Brendan Solano of Riverhead, NY and several other unamed guests won trips to Honduras to visit Rocky Patel's cigar operation and stay at his private hacienda.
Finally, the two biggest prizes, a Jeep Compass and a Jeep Patriot were awarded to Tim Tograno of Baltimore, MD and Kaj Karul on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Famous Smoke Shop founder and president, Arthur Zaretsky, did the honor of pulling the winning tickets.
Even Famous Smoke Shop received an award. Ed Townsend, president of the Toms River, NJ Lions Club, presented Arthur with a special plaque for contributing cigars and humidors to the Club's annual fundraiser.
Sunday was pretty much a repeat of Saturday including the heat, but it was breezy and the humidity was more tolerable. I noticed that several of the manufacturer reps came armed with water pistols. I think the idea was to use them to help cool themselves off, but eventually it turned into a free-for-all shooting war, which also helped shake off some of the stress from being under a hot tent the past two day. Moreover, someone had brought a baby pool and filled it with ice water. By mid-afternoon, the "cooling-off pool" had become the "dunking pool" as several vendors including Rocky Patel, Nimesh Desai, and Tom Smith from Davidoff cigars, began playfully pushed each other into the pool along with the CAO Flavourettes. Humberto Gonzalez, who was representing Troya Clasico Cigars on Saturday and Reyes Family Cigars on Sunday, literally picked Rocky up and dumped him in the pool. Unfortunately it cost Humberto a swollen ankle.
At the end of the event each day, Arthur borrowed the mic from DJ Frank Pulli, and graciously thanked everyone for attending. He also gave special props to Retail Store manager Jeff Brown and his staff, Lisa, David, and Jim, as all well as the rest of the Famous Smoke Shop staff, and of course, all of the participating vendors, without whom the event couldn't have come off as smoothly as it did.
Gene Arganese summed up the Famous Cigar Expo & BBQ 2008 saying, "It was a great event, these things are a win, win for everyone. Can't wait for next year." £
(To read Part 1 of my report, click here.)
See more pictures from The Famus Cigar Expo & BBQ Bash 2008
