Special Report: Ned’s Cigars Launches the BSB No. 1 by Bernie Parent Cigar

When I was 10 and 11 years old I had a Flyers T-shirt commemorating their back to back Stanley Cup wins. It was a big deal in the Philadelphia area and nobody was a bigger deal than the man between the pipes, Bernie Parent. I was very excited to be able to attend the launch of a new cigar, the BSB No.1 by Bernie Parent.

This particular cigar adventure began with a visit to Ned’s Cigars in Newtown, PA. I was welcomed by Luca, the owner of the store, which has been there for somewhere around 80 years. This is located in a historic building on the main street through the borough and exudes warmth and hospitality. The cigars are housed in cabinets on two walls along with an antique counter/humidor. The facings are limited by the space, but the selection is quite varied and covers all the bases. The Panacea cigars from the Flatbed Cigar Co. are prominently displayed as that company is based nearby. The lounge is a cozy space filled with leather chairs, TVs and a section of humidors for the members. Luca is one of those guys who makes you feel at home and like you’ve known him for years.

After a brief visit at the store I tagged along with Luca and his staff the the Green Parrot, which was the venue for the evening’s festivities. The Green Parrot appears to be a very nice bar and restaurant with an enclosed patio area which was where the event was held. The staff at this place was excellent, very efficient and attentive, and the food was delicious. They pride themselves on only using fresh and organic ingredients and claim to not even have a freezer on the premises! It was an excellent venue for a cigar dinner, although if the outside temps had been colder I can see where having most of the vinyl curtains open could get a bit chilly. On the other hand, smoke wasn’t a problem.

The reason Luca was able to round up 40 or 50 of his customers and friends (the Mayor of Newtown was there as well) was to celebrate the launch of a special cigar made by Rocky Patel Cigars for the legendary NHL goaltender and local hero Bernie Parent, the BSB No. 1 Rocky Patel, came up with the concept for the packaging, and Nish Patel handled the blending. What they came up with was a box pressed petite robusto with an outer band covering the majority of the cigar which was designed to look like a goalie pad, with an orange band underneath with the “BSB No.1 by Bernie Parent”  in black. The box that these cigars are packaged in is Flyers Orange and Black with gold lettering. The presentation is pretty awesome, at least from the perspective of a hockey fan such as myself. The cigar has an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper which gives it a nice spicy flavor and I was impressed with how long this 4” cigar lasted considering the draw was very loose. It’s a tasty smoke that should age well. Bernie was truly a gentleman and stayed for the whole event. The event was terrific, great food, great cigars and wonderful people. Thank you to Luca for his hospitality, I appreciate the opportunity to attend such a special event.

Here is some video from the event with some interviews and pictures:

Contests!

Tomorrow is the day you’ve all been waiting for, the beginning of the 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways. I think you’ll be impressed with the gifts this year, leave a comment to enter each day’s contest and try not to drool all over your keyboards!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig