French1 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Earlier this week my wife informed me that we are going to Las Vegas November 17-21. This happens to be the weekend of Cigar Aficionado's Big Smoke, so my buddy and I bought tickets to the Saturday evening event. I'm curious if anyone else is planning on attending? Also, if anyone who has previously attended has any feedback on previous years' events? Would be awesome to meet some CCF BOTL in Vegas that weekend... Marquardt65 and Burtess 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inner10 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Now that's tempting...Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inner10 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 I've already been to Vegas 3 times this year, I suggest checking out Cigar Warehouse, some of the best customer service I've ever gotten. Also Casa Fuente makes a killer Mojito and their sun grown AF cigars are pretty tasty.Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk French1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptrulli Posted September 27, 2017 Share Posted September 27, 2017 I have a mule heading to Vegas any suggestions which shops to visit? I'd like to purchase since I have the option.Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quickme Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 Casa fuente house sticks... Lots of them... Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk Boss Hog, Mistur_Jay and Burtess 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Hog Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 59 minutes ago, quickme said: Casa fuente house sticks... Lots of them. I second that. quickme 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
French1 Posted November 16, 2017 Author Share Posted November 16, 2017 Bump. We leave in the morning to drive to Toronto, then fly to Vegas tomorrow evening. Did anyone else decide to check out CA’s Big Smoke? Would be great to meet up with some CCF members for a smoke in Vegas!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quickme Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 Have a great time!! Wish I was going also! Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk French1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inner10 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 I have a mule heading to Vegas any suggestions which shops to visit? I'd like to purchase since I have the option.Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk Cigar Warehouse, it's awesome.Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inner10 Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Casa fuente house sticks... Lots of them... Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk They are good but kinda pricy, I like the sun grown. Oh and drink a mojito while you are there.Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
French1 Posted November 23, 2017 Author Share Posted November 23, 2017 We got home today - what a trip! For anyone who has not (yet) been to Las Vegas, I highly recommend it! When we were planning our trip, I had trouble finding info from a cigar-perspective so I thought I'd add some here in case it can help out fellow BOTLs in the future. Apologies in advance for ramblings. A buddy and I participated in CA's Big Smoke 2017. Tickets were a bit pricey (+/- $435CAD each, after conversion on my Amex) but we figured it would be an experience. We arrived around 6pm Saturday evening and waited with a few dozen others ahead of us for the doors to open at 6:30. We decided against purchasing the VIP package that gave us an additional hour at the show... This proved to be a good choice for us. Once you arrive, you are given a booklet of coupons containing one coupon for each booth. If you have downloaded the CA Big Smoke app, you are also sent additional tickets through the app for product others do not receive (i.e.: Cigar cutter and Cohiba sign seen below). Once inside, there are line-ups for various booths (Rocky Patel seemed to have 50+ in line all night) but overall it flows smoothly. You are free to mingle and claim your tickets in the order you please. This worked well for us as we were able to avoid spending a ton of time in line, going to quieter booths first while others lined up for the more-popular ones. There were various beverage booths as well including Guinness, Bacardi, McLellan's and various other whiskey/bourbon/scotch distilleries. All drinks were included and available without a coupon (so, 4 bourbons and a beer it is!). It took us about 2 hours to collect all offered cigars, enjoy a few and have a few drinks / socialize with other attendees. One thing we missed out on was a delicious-looking roast beef dinner buffet, since we decided to collect all our cigars before eating. In hindsight, we should have eaten first and would have still had plenty of time (lesson for next time, not knocking the event or hotel for this). During the third hour, people started leaving gradually, we (and others) decided to hang around and socialize. This was the time we could spend with certain producers & distillers, just chatting. We found that many booths during this last hour also gave out additional cigars... I spent a few minutes chatting with Willy Herrera and ended up with a few additional cigars. I offered to take a picture of another attendee with the girls at the Ortiz Cigars booth and walked away with a few extra from them as well, along with a lipstick mark on each cheek for being "a nice guy" lol. All-said, I finished the evening with 46 cigars total (4 smoked at the event + 42 brought home). For anyone questioning the selection, please see picture below. For anyone questioning value (as I was prior to attending), $435CAD / 46 cigars = $9.46CAD per cigar, not including the four bourbons and a beer I drank at the show as well as the included buffet dinner and just the experience of it all. I am very pleased with my experience and would absolutely attend again. The rest of our time in Vegas was spent with our wives, doing the typical tourist-y stuff. We rented a car to check out the Grand Canyon one day which was incredible and also a must-see if you have never been. We spent the rest of our time exploring the Vegas Strip and donating a few bucks to the local economy through tables and slot machines. I hope this helps out anyone who has never been or who may have been considering going to either LV or the Big Smoke. If you decide to attend in 2018 let me know - I suspect we will be back. Any questions please ask away. bikermarc, Cisco, quickme and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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