|
Home > What's New > Las Vegas: Cigar Heaven in the Desert
Las Vegas: Cigar Heaven in the Desert
Posted: Monday, November 07, 2005
By David Savona
Attendees of the Las Vegas Big Smoke gather with cigars and spirits.
|
I spent the last few days in Las Vegas with my co-workers, many of the prominent players in the premium cigar industry, and a few thousand of our cigar-smoking friends.
What a weekend.
It was the 10th annual Big Smoke Las Vegas, a celebration of cigars and the good life that spanned Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel. We had Big Smokes on Friday and Saturday nights, and seminars Saturday and Sunday. You're going to read all about what happened here later this week, but I thought I'd remind you of what a great cigar town we have in Las Vegas.
I smoked more than a dozen cigars since Thursday, when I arrived in Sin City. I lit my first when I stopped at Casa Fuente, the cigar store, bar and lounge in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. The first theme store for a cigar brand, Casa Fuente stocks only Fuente-made cigars, including several shapes that were not previously sold. (And they're not cheap -- the BBMF will cost you $125.) I started with one of the house-brand Casa Fuente smokes, the Belicoso size, and paired it with a strong cup of coffee, then moved to a Mojito. It was only noon, but I was still on East Coast time, so it's not as bad as it seems.
Sitting in the patio area at Casa Fuente in the Forum Shops is an interesting experience. "Smoking in a mall," marveled one of my tablemates, Sathya Levin of Ashton. He was right -- how often can you light up a cigar in the middle of a shopping mall, only four steps from a Victoria's Secret? I'm not sure how the negligee merchants felt about the aroma of my Cameroon-wrapped cigar, but it sure brought a smile to my face.
There are places in Las Vegas where you can't smoke cigars, but there are many more where you can. The ultra-lounge Tao asked us to step outside to a slim balcony with our cigars rather than smoke inside; I decided to leave. I puffed away in every hotel I visited, Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House, several bars in the Paris Hotel (the one atop the faux Eiffel Tower said no to cigars, so I passed on a visit) and even on a picturesque curved escalator in Caesars Palace.
A matronly woman didn't seem to appreciate the smoke from my cigar, but I didn't pay attention. She was outnumbered that weekend.
For those of you who couldn't join us in Vegas, light up a virtual cigar with us later this week as we bring you the Las Vegas Big Smoke in words and pictures. You'll see what a great time you missed.
Photo by Camilla Sjodin Hadowanetz Also in Cigar News:
| 
Cigar Aficionado RSS Feed