Big Smoke Meets WhiskyFest At Hard Rock Seminars: What’s In The Bag?
We’re less than a month away from the Big Smoke Meets WhiskyFest (Saturday March 4), and that means it’s time for our editorial and events teams here at the magazine to finalize all the details to make this show happen. For us in the editorial department, our biggest job is getting ready for the seminars, when some of the biggest names in the cigar business take the stage with many of our editors. The audience gets informed in a very casual, fun version of cigar school, and the best part, of course, is that they get to smoke along.
It's not a Big Smoke seminar without cigars, and we like to give the crowd plenty. For this Big Smoke, the cigars are extra special. Here’s a look at what’s in the bag for seminar guests.
The No. 2 Cigar of the Year: 96 Points
We gave the Rocky Patel Sixty Sixty 96 points in our Top 25 countdown, naming it the No. 2 Cigar of 2022. It’s a rich, bold, opulent smoke and it will be the final cigar presented at the seminar. Rocky Patel himself will be there to talk all about it, and to smoke along with the audience. As a bonus, it will be paired with Jack Daniels’ Bonded, the No. 1 whisky of 2022, which rated 97 points by our sister publication Whisky Advocate. (Hey, it wouldn’t be Big Smoke Meets WhiskyFest without whisky, right?) The cigar is the top-ranked legal smoke in the United States, as our No. 1 is a Cuban. The Rocky Patel Sixty Sixty retails for $18, but it’s become quite hard to find after our accolade.
Two Cigars So Rare Even We Haven’t Smoked Them: Padrón And Fuente Prototypes
When Carlos Fuente Jr. and Jorge Padrón announced they were doing a special cigar project to honor their fathers, it set the cigar world afire. The Fuente y Padrón cigars will be extremely limited and extremely expensive, and not out for several months. At the seminars, the audience will be among the only people in the world to smoke prototypes of these cigars. There will be a prototype made by Fuente in honor of José Orlando Padrón, and a prototype made by Padrón in honor of Carlos Fuente Sr. (None of us at the magazine have smoked one yet, and there is no price, as these prototypes will not be sold.) The two men will be on stage discussing the project and their family histories, a project that was the basis for our cover story in September.
A 94-Pointer From Oliva and E.P. Carrillo
Ernesto Perez-Carrillo has won Cigar of the Year twice, Oliva Cigar Co. has won it once. Recently the two ed together on an intriguing project where Oliva has made a cigar for Ernesto called E.P. Carrillo Allegiance. The Nicaraguan line was just reviewed in the most recent Cigar Insider, and the audience will smoke the top-rated size in the line, the Confidant. It scored 94 points, and retails for more than $13, before taxes.
La Nox From La Flor Dominicana
Litto Gomez, the maker of La Flor Dominicana, will be speaking at our Big Smoke, and he’ll be providing La Nox Toro Extra cigars for the audience. Made in the Dominican Republic from a blend of Mexican, Dominican and Brazilian tobaccos, La Nox has a dark wrapper and a strong flavor profile.
A Word About The Bag
The bags for our Big Smoke seminars aren’t just ordinary bags—they’re Boveda bags, special sealable pouches and humidification systems meant for keeping cigars in optimal smoking condition. We’ve used them for years, particularly in the arid desert of Las Vegas, and they keep the seminar cigars in great shape.
The Whiskies
The seminars are cigar heavy, but there is also whisky. In addition to the Jack Daniels, there will also be a seminar on Japanese whiskies, and you will hear from an expert as you sip Hibiki Harmony, Hakushu 12 and Yamazaki 12, three exquisite—and considerably different—whiskies from Japan.
You can still buy seminar tickets, but the audience will be capped. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.bigsmokewhiskyfest.com/
