Drew Estate's BOTL Cigar Safari 2012, March 11-14

[Mirrorlure7m]

So, after a 4 1/2 hour bus ride, a 2 hour flight, another 2 hour flight and a 30 minute drive I am back home. Gonna miss that breakfast in the morning!!

Just want to thank the entire Drew Estate crew for a great experience! Thanks to JD for being an excellent host and offering this trip to me. The trip started and ended for me in Nica with some great words from JD. I never doubted JD was anything less than a solid botl, and he selflessly proved it constantly. The speech he gave when he presented Eric a box of cigars that were special to him was awesome.

Secondly, I want to give a huge thanks to Pedro, this guy never stopped smiling and was a great tour guide and translator! He loves what he does and it showed.

John Brooks and Nicholas were great guys and appreciate the things they did for us and enjoyed getting to know them as well. They say you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with and these people help make Drew Estate great. It was awesome to see all of these guys interact with the staff and every single staff member was extremely accommodating to us.

Jesse is an amazing artist and it almost like being in a Drew Estate art museum walking around the factory, his studio is even more impressive! Seeing all the things he is working on is amazing and his talent and passion show in every piece. He is another part of this company that makes it what it is, his style pours from every product DE puts out.

The entire staff at Drew Estate was incredible to all of us and this is a top notch facility for sure.

This was a great group of people to spend this 4 days with. The financial guys joining us and Scott(new botl member "chef") and his lovely GF were a pleasure to meet and hang around with.

There were 10 of us from botl on the trip. Some I had met and some I had chatted with before and every one of them were great guys to be around. We had a lot of laughs, some great times and got to do a lot of things you can only hope to do. Truly a once in a lifetime experience! I know this is a long winded post, but it was just that much damn fun!

Also want to thank Jose Blanco, Dr. Alejandro Cuenca and his son from Joya de Nicaragua and Don Pepin Garcia for taking time to be a part of this as well.


Can't wait to smoke a Dirty Sanchez!!

Awesome I have been looking forward to the pics and posts from the trip. I can't wait I am on the next trip on the 18th-21st.

 

[JDog]

Truly a once in a lifetime experience! I know this is a long winded post, but it was just that much damn fun!

Daddy Mac is absolutely thorough in his response, and I certainly couldn't have stated it better. There was a great camaraderie with the brothers. I also don't see how this trip could get old and see myself going several more times. Cheers!

 

[LigaPrivadaFanboy]

Great thread guys - thank you. BTW, did anyone on the trip get a prerelease Ratzilla??????

 

[Jonathan Drew]

HEY ... ya bunch of Dirty Sanchez's - WHERE's SOME PHOTOS ...?

JD

 

[Angry Bill]

Hey JD.. Are you sure you want to see some of the pics.. I heard some of these guys were out of control with farm animals. lol

 

[Tnt Cigarguy]

Here are some more. The river shot is where we drove back yesterday.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[podman28]

Nice shots Trevor. You got a birds-eye look at that river!

 

[Cigar Cowboy]

I am in on the next trip.

 

[Craig Mac]

HEY ... ya bunch of Dirty Sanchez's - WHERE's SOME PHOTOS ...?

JD

CHeck these out bro
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php?t=59692

 

[drewestatecigar]

Had an incredible trip, fellas. Great getting to know all of you, can't wait to get back down to the factory with you guys again. I think it's official that this is now an annual thing...

 

[Browndog]

Thanks to Drew Estate and Jonathan Drew for the great hospitality. The trip exceeded our expectations and we are already talking about going again.

We had a little excitement in Miami when one of the guys was unpacking his bag and discovered a stowaway. He thought we were playing a joke on him until it moved. Scared the bejesus out of him. He whacked it as it tried to scurry away. The scorpion must have crawled into his bag before we left. Of course the rest of us laughed our butts off. Then we proceeded to check our own bags. Thankfully no more little critters.

Just added to the adventure. I think he is naming his special cigar the Scorpion Killer.

Great to hang out with all you guys.

 

[heavyd]

Thanks for pics, fellas. I'm going next year no matter what!!!!! If it's sold-out, I'll sleep on the porch...

Jeffrey, you're going too, dude. I need a drinking partner on the flight from San Diego to Miami

 

[Kypt]

I'm working on getting all my pics in order, so those I'll save for another post.

I just wanted to stay it was a pleasure meeting all the BOTL guys on this trip. It was a great bunch of dudes. JD, Nic, Jesse, and the rest of the Drew Estates crew were all awesome. Special thanks to Pedro for being a great guide/interpreter and a heck of a guy. I didn't catch the drivers name, but he did a great job getting us to the airport when the roads were all blocked up.

I had a great time. I got some great cigars bombed to me on my birthday, which was very much appreciated. Thanks, guys.

This trip was first class all the way and I hope to do it again.

Kurt

 

[Soundwave13]

Awesome - love seeing the pics of this guys!

 

[NCost]

This is high on my to do list...thanks for the info and the pictures.

 

[Kypt]

Here's the pics.

Lunch at Bucaneros:

View from Bucaneros:

A rest stop on the way to Esteli:

Home for a few days:

Esteli:

Padron tobacco field & Pedro:

Padron curing barn:

Oliva processing building:

Deveining machine from the 40s:

Joya de Nicaragua factory:

Joya de Nicaragua bunchero:

Joya de Nicaragua rollero:

My personal humidor (ok, jk, Joya de Nicaraqua storage room):

Jose Blanco teaching us fools a little something:

My Father factory:

Pepin and myself:

Oliva factory and some hotdog on a bicycle:

Myself and JDog, the biggest LP9 ever rolled:

Drew Estates factory:

Sorting table:

Liga rolling room and Mr. JD:

Rollin dem piggies:

Awesome artwork on a mirror:

Personal blends delivered:

 

[Chef]

Thank you for the mention Sir... It was my pleasure and her's to be fortunate enough to be on the safari with all of you.

So, after a 4 1/2 hour bus ride, a 2 hour flight, another 2 hour flight and a 30 minute drive I am back home. Gonna miss that breakfast in the morning!!

Just want to thank the entire Drew Estate crew for a great experience! Thanks to JD for being an excellent host and offering this trip to me. The trip started and ended for me in Nica with some great words from JD. I never doubted JD was anything less than a solid botl, and he selflessly proved it constantly. The speech he gave when he presented Eric a box of cigars that were special to him was awesome.

Secondly, I want to give a huge thanks to Pedro, this guy never stopped smiling and was a great tour guide and translator! He loves what he does and it showed.

John Brooks and Nicholas were great guys and appreciate the things they did for us and enjoyed getting to know them as well. They say you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with and these people help make Drew Estate great. It was awesome to see all of these guys interact with the staff and every single staff member was extremely accommodating to us.

Jesse is an amazing artist and it almost like being in a Drew Estate art museum walking around the factory, his studio is even more impressive! Seeing all the things he is working on is amazing and his talent and passion show in every piece. He is another part of this company that makes it what it is, his style pours from every product DE puts out.

The entire staff at Drew Estate was incredible to all of us and this is a top notch facility for sure.

This was a great group of people to spend this 4 days with. The financial guys joining us and Scott(new botl member "chef") and his lovely GF were a pleasure to meet and hang around with.

There were 10 of us from botl on the trip. Some I had met and some I had chatted with before and every one of them were great guys to be around. We had a lot of laughs, some great times and got to do a lot of things you can only hope to do. Truly a once in a lifetime experience! I know this is a long winded post, but it was just that much damn fun!

Also want to thank Jose Blanco, Dr. Alejandro Cuenca and his son from Joya de Nicaragua and Don Pepin Garcia for taking time to be a part of this as well.


Can't wait to smoke a Dirty Sanchez!!

 

[Browndog]

Just smoked the first of the ten custom blended cigars. Everything I wanted and more than I hoped for. Down to the very nub. Delicious!

 

[smelvis]

Great pic looks like a lot of fun someday hopefully. Thanks

 

[pnoguy]

Shooting jealousy your way!