A group of friends at the Las Vegas Big Smoke, evening session.

More than 4,600 cigar lovers descended on Las Vegas to pay tribute to the good life. They met their favorite cigarmakers, lit up wonderful cigars and smoked, drank and gambled the desert nights away. It was the sixth annual Las Vegas Big Smoke, and, despite concerns about travel and the economy, it became the largest Big Smoke ever held by Cigar Aficionado magazine.

"I come every year," said Stephen J. Gulsvig, who brought his wife to the Big Smoke evenings. "I enjoy the camaraderie." Walt Cukier, a cigar smoker from Baltimore, came with a friend, Terry Edgar. "I like the pretty girls, I like the hot cars," said Cukier. He also enjoyed having lunch with cigarmaker Phillip Wynne, maker of Felipe Gregorio. "I would [otherwise] never have known about him," he said.

Learning how to play craps at the Friday evening Big Smoke.

The Big Smoke is an international event. A husband and wife who don't smoke cigars came from Canada just to enjoy the evenings. Rodrigo Spinelli flew from São Paulo, Brazil for the Big Smoke. "I was really excited," he said. His favorite moment was receiving a Padrón Aniversario and a Fuente Fuente OpusX upon entering the Saturday seminar.

Our in-depth coverage takes you into the cigar smoke-filled rooms of the Big Smoke. We start with a cigar tasting.

Global Cigar Tasting

Jorge L. Padrón tells the audience about his Exclusivo cigar.

Cigar Aficionado executive editor Gordon Mott led the tasting alongside special contributor George Brightman. They asked the audience to light the Padrón first.

"This cigar is made entirely from Nicaraguan tobacco; it's a puro, if you will," said Mott. He took a puff on the Padrón, the blue and brown smoke from his cigar drifting towards the high ceiling to join the smoke of some 350 other aficionados. He contemplated the flavor of the corona gorda, which measures 5 1/2 inches by 50 ring gauge and retails for $9.20.

"This cigar has a very distinctive Padrón taste, but one that is also reminiscent of other Nicaraguan cigars," he said. Noting that brand maker Jorge L. Padrón was in attendance, he asked Padrón to say a few words about his cigar brand. Brightman asked Padrón several questions, including an inquiry about his company's recovery from the loss of a tobacco farm to Hurricane Mitch. When told that the Padróns had bought a new farm, Brightman asked if he could expect a dramatic increase in the production of Padróns. "That's what people have been asking for for years," said Padrón with a smile. The audience laughed.

A man lights up early Saturday morning at the Global Cigar tasting.

The crowd puffed on their Padróns throughout the seminar on Winners of the Cigar Boom. When that seminar concluded, Mott and Brightman asked the audience to light their second cigar of the day, the Ramon Allones.

Made by General Cigar Co. in Santiago, Dominican Republic, this was the first time most of the audience had tried the Ramon Allones. It's a new cigar brand, special due to its Dominican cigar wrapper. General is only the second major company to sell a cigar with such a wrapper.

"Cigar No. 2 is dramatically different from the Padrón," said Brightman, holding the cigar in his hand and watching it burn, taking in the aroma from the 5 1/2 inch, 54 ring cigar. It sells for $3.80.

"The Dominican wrapper on this cigar is sun grown with a technique that is called encayado," said Mott, describing the manner in which General Cigar covers the sides of the tobacco field, but not the top, with shade. "The cigar is salty, a little spritzy on the palate."

Both cigars were appreciated by the crowd for their rarity and quality. The seminar was off to a good start, and the remaining cigars of the day had hard acts to follow.

--David Savona