Hey... (This looked like the most appropriate place to post this so...)
Last night (July 27, 2006) I went to the Partagas Event at JR Cigar in Paramus, which lucky for me is about 10 minutes from home. Benji Menendez was there discussing the different types of leaves and tobacco that Partagas uses, and promised freebies so, of course, I went straight there from work.
The event was from 4pm to 7pm. I got there around 6:00, and expected a huge crowd. Suffice it to say by that time it was me and one other guy talking with Benji.
First, for those of you who haven't met him at some other event, he's a really nice guy! He's friendly, extremely knowledgeable about everything regarding cigars (including the laws and legal history), and not condescending at all.
He encouraged questions, and he could see that I was not nearly as knowledgeable as the other guy there, but even talked to me about cutters vs. punches vs. his fingernails (which is what he uses). The other cool thing about him was that he was not averse to talking about other brands. He compared them to Partagas, and was honest. Obviously he's biased, but it wasn't like he pretended that Partagas is the only brand out there... (And, yes, when asked he did branch out beyond the other General Cigar Co. brands!) He also talked to us briefly about the newer trend towards flavored cigars...
[Re: flavored cigars, he basically chalked it up to easier smokes that don't require you to learn the appreciation of the the subtleties of pure tobacco. I loved that he said to him a cigar should be tobacco and filtered water, period. No additives, no chemicals, no sprays, and no bullshit flavoring.]
They gave out a small ziplock with three cigarillos? made of the three tiers (literally, the three different parts of the large tobacco leaves) that go into a Partagas. With that they gave each person who showed up a Partagas "basic," classic, whatever- which includes all three of those types of tobacco. He suggested smoking the three babies, in ascending order of strength and flavor, and then the combined Partagas to appreciate the fullness of the Partagas cigar. (Haven't tried it yet- I suspect to fully enjoy it I'll need a good hour or more!)
They also had a promotion where you pay for 2 stogies, get the third free, which came in a box of Partgas's three higher levels of cigar: BPartagas Naturales, Partagas Black Label Clasico, and Partagas Spanish Rosado San Agustin, which I think they said was their current best seller (the other guy who was there said that's his "go-to" smoke). Haven't smoked those yet, either.
Anyway, I'm wondering if the regulars here go to these events. I guess you have to live near a larger-type cigar store that has events like this with the major companies pushing their brands. It was interesting, educational, and even a little fun. As fucking hilarious as this sounds, meeting Menendez was kind of like meeting a celebrity... But a celebrity who's articulate and eager to share information.
Last night (July 27, 2006) I went to the Partagas Event at JR Cigar in Paramus, which lucky for me is about 10 minutes from home. Benji Menendez was there discussing the different types of leaves and tobacco that Partagas uses, and promised freebies so, of course, I went straight there from work.
The event was from 4pm to 7pm. I got there around 6:00, and expected a huge crowd. Suffice it to say by that time it was me and one other guy talking with Benji.
First, for those of you who haven't met him at some other event, he's a really nice guy! He's friendly, extremely knowledgeable about everything regarding cigars (including the laws and legal history), and not condescending at all.
He encouraged questions, and he could see that I was not nearly as knowledgeable as the other guy there, but even talked to me about cutters vs. punches vs. his fingernails (which is what he uses). The other cool thing about him was that he was not averse to talking about other brands. He compared them to Partagas, and was honest. Obviously he's biased, but it wasn't like he pretended that Partagas is the only brand out there... (And, yes, when asked he did branch out beyond the other General Cigar Co. brands!) He also talked to us briefly about the newer trend towards flavored cigars...
[Re: flavored cigars, he basically chalked it up to easier smokes that don't require you to learn the appreciation of the the subtleties of pure tobacco. I loved that he said to him a cigar should be tobacco and filtered water, period. No additives, no chemicals, no sprays, and no bullshit flavoring.]
They gave out a small ziplock with three cigarillos? made of the three tiers (literally, the three different parts of the large tobacco leaves) that go into a Partagas. With that they gave each person who showed up a Partagas "basic," classic, whatever- which includes all three of those types of tobacco. He suggested smoking the three babies, in ascending order of strength and flavor, and then the combined Partagas to appreciate the fullness of the Partagas cigar. (Haven't tried it yet- I suspect to fully enjoy it I'll need a good hour or more!)
They also had a promotion where you pay for 2 stogies, get the third free, which came in a box of Partgas's three higher levels of cigar: BPartagas Naturales, Partagas Black Label Clasico, and Partagas Spanish Rosado San Agustin, which I think they said was their current best seller (the other guy who was there said that's his "go-to" smoke). Haven't smoked those yet, either.
Anyway, I'm wondering if the regulars here go to these events. I guess you have to live near a larger-type cigar store that has events like this with the major companies pushing their brands. It was interesting, educational, and even a little fun. As fucking hilarious as this sounds, meeting Menendez was kind of like meeting a celebrity... But a celebrity who's articulate and eager to share information.
