A quartet of friends pose with their soon-to-be-brimming Cigar Aficionado bags at the Saturday night Big Smoke.

It seemed as if every casino in Las Vegas must have emptied at the same time. The 85,000-square-foot ballroom at the Paris Las Vegas hotel was brimming with cigar smokers, some from as far away as New Zealand. Ultimately, they took part in history -- close to 6,000 people attended Cigar Aficionado's Big Smoke Las Vegas weekend, making it by far the largest ever held by the magazine.

It was a great way to spend a weekend. Or even a wedding anniversary.

Two of the nearly 6,000 cigar smokers puff away on the spacious ballroom floor of the Las Vegas Paris hotel.

"I surprised my husband with Big Smoke tickets," said Ellen Pollan, who flew from Wisconsin to Las Vegas to celebrate her wedding anniversary with hubby Stan, a cigar smoker. He had no idea he was going to the Big Smoke. "I kept it a secret," Ellen said.

The weekend consisted of two nights of Big Smokes on Friday and Saturday, the largest events of the weekend, as well as two days of cigar and lifestyle seminars. At the Big Smokes, smokers gathered in the ballroom to sample a variety of handmade, premium cigars. People were handed Padróns, La Gloria Cubanas, La Flor Dominicanas, Toraños, Avos and Griffin's, and Arturo Fuentes, and shook the hands of the men who made them: Jorge Padrón, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Litto Gomez, Carlos and Charlie Toraño, Hendrik Kelner and Carlos Fuente Sr. and Jr., who were mobbed for autographs. Attendees also received a unique metal tin from Altadis U.S.A. containing four cigars: an Onyx Reserve, an H. Upmann, a Don Diego Reserve, and a rare Trinidad. They were given Ashtons and Indian Tabacs, Perdomos and Plasencias, OneOffs, Puros Indios, Cuesta-Reys, Astrals and Helixes. General Cigar gave away five cigars: a Partagas Black Label, a Sancho Panza, a Ramon Allones, a Macanudo and an Excalibur 1066, and also set up a booth for patrons to be a part of their own personal Punch cigar ad, popularized in the pages of Cigar Aficionado magazine.

Spirits are a major part of the Big Smoke. Tim Haughinberry, Theo Folz, Jim Colucci and Robert Frey with the ladies from the Montecristo Rum booth.

Car enthusiasts found themselves in a paradise of luxury vehicles, which were arrayed around the show floor. They included a Lincoln Navigator, a Range Rover, the new Hummer H2, an Infiniti M45, a Corvette, a Cadillac Escalade and CTS, a Maserati Spyder and Coupe, a Porsche 911 and a Boxter, and a Chrysler Crossfire, a new car from the combination of DaimlerChrysler and Mercedes-Benz. There were also a selection of cars from Die Another Day, the new Bond film; an Aston Martin; a Thunderbird; and two Jaguars; including one outfitted with an antiaircraft gun in the back. (One could imagine the minds of the audience in motion, adding the items to their holiday wish lists.)

Eager attendees lining up to enter the largest ever Big Smoke.

There was a live band, a host of fine spirits and beers, and a golf seminar in which players had their swings analyzed by a PGA pro and hit balls into a net. And there was a large selection of food from cigar-friendly restaurants, including Del Frisco's Steakhouse, Morton's, Fiore, Emeril's New Orleans Fishhouse and many more.

As big as they were, the Big Smoke evenings were only a part of the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, it was time for the cigar and lifestyle seminars. To read all about the complete weekend, sample from the buttons to the left.

Stories and photos by David Savona