Tag Archives: Barn Smoker

by | November 17, 2024 · 8:50 am

A Quick Florida Trip, Part Two: The Drew Estate Florida Barn Smoker

Last Friday, after finishing up a long and excellent day at J.C. Newman, I hopped in my rented Polstar 2 and made my way to the Orlando area.  Traffic sucked, and I never really got to see what that car could do. It was about the cheapest rental I could find, and I only spent about $22 charging it after driving it around all weekend.  I forgot to mention in my last post about the “lunch” I got from the La Segunda Bakery a short walk from El Reloj.  Not the healthiest choice, but the cinnamon rolls and apple turnovers were delicious, and filled me up for the day. The iced coffee was darned good too. I could do some damage there under different circumstances.  Also notable was the park the Newmans have built across from the factory, the Cigar Workers Park. It was a beautiful place to pre-game before our tour.  Now that I’m caught up, it’s on to the Barn Smoker.  I left the hotel early, and got to the Florida Sun Grown Farm about two hours before the event opened, so I got a good parking spot.  I managed to get in line with some folks who manage two of the CigarCigars shops in Sarasota, so we had some mutual friends. CigarCigars has a bunch of stores in my area. I’ve been to Barnsmokers in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, so I had an idea what to expect, and I’ve toured the FSG farm before.  I went into this one to enjoy myself, and see some old friends.  Amongst the friends I spent some time with were Rebecca and Jason of Ash Quarterly Magazine. I met them at the last PCA show I attended and Jason and I hit it off. I was very happy to be able to hang out with them for a while.  As I’ve done in the past, I smoked the Liga Privada Serie Unico A, as I never have any faith that a cigar that long is going to survive the trip home.  It was excellent, although t didn’t burn particularly well. 

The grounds were set up nicely, with a lot of room to spread out.  Of course, there was a big tent with tables (as per tradition, most of the ashtrays were stolen early).  DJ Eli was playing music, too loud in my opinion. It always mystifies me that companies get 6-800 people together and drown out conversation with loud music.  They had a live band playing later in the day.  I made my way around all te activation stations early before they got crowded. There only seemed to be one educational portion, in the past it was very scheduled, with the crowd broken into several groups who rotated through several stations with various people, WIllie Herrera, Pedro Gomez, Jon Drew and usually the farm owner, giving talks on various aspects of the life cycle of a cigar.  Another thing that was different from other events I’ve attended was the food. There was a buffet/food line after the educational portion in the past, this time they had several food trucks with coupons for each. This was a better way to do it, from my standpoint.  Folks were free to get food at their leisure.  There were also a lot of liquor stations, in which I was not interested. They did have plenty of water and soft drinks available at all times. The food was good, I sampled smash burger and some BBQ pork sliders with mac and cheese. 

 

Only because I know somebody, I snuck in the back of the  “Black Widow Saloon” for the tasting seminar that was going on.  This was an inflatable, air conditioned structure for the VIPs (I was just a P). It was packed with people, and had a nice spread of cookies and brownies and assorted goodies.  Rob Dietrich, the master distiller of the Blackened Whiskey, and JD were leading the tasting.  Again, booze isn’t my thing, but I’m glad I got to see inside the saloon. This would be a nice place to cool off if it wasn’t so crowded. The baked goods were excellent.  

 

I stayed until the end, my flight home wasn’t until 5am Sunday, so I didn’t have anyplace else to be. Traveling alone, I sometimes get bored, this time I knew and met enough people there to  occupy my time.  It was a good time, people were well behaved for the most part, almost surprising given the amount of booze available.  Cigars were plentiful and delicious.  Everyone should go to at least one of these events, remember to bring $10 to “buy” your pack of cigars at entrance.  The swag was very nice (picture above), not over the top.  I did have an interesting experience with the spray can lighter going through TSA, they had never seen anything like it before and it took much examination and scrutiny to get through. I would have surrendered it rather than cause any trouble, but it got through fine (the actual working lighter in my other bag went undetected). It will probably end up in the Christmas Givaway!  Thanks to the folks at Drew Estate for including me. I wish communication would have been better between some parties, that would have made the weekend a 100% success.  I spent the week smoking some of the cigars I got there, it annoys me that I like the 20 Acre Farm as much as I do, and the Blackened S83 has grown on me. There wasn’t a bad cigar in the bunch.  

 

I’ve opened up the annual CigarCraig.com Secret Santa, if you want to join in, here’s the link: CigarCraig’s Secret Santa 2024. We’ve had a small, but high quality, group in the past.  Jump in, it’s a lot of fun sharing your favorite cigars with people! That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

 

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by | August 5, 2021 · 9:29 pm

News: Drew Estate Announces Suspension of In-Person Events

I usually avoid posting negative news stories, but this one kind of hits home, since I was planning to attend the Connecticut Barn Smoker next week.  More importantly, I continue to be impressed by the way Jonathan Drew cares about his staff and consumers, and takes these measures to protect them. Say what you want, but I’ve known JD for over a decade, and have first hand experience with him dealing with medical situations, he takes things seriously, and doesn’t fool around when it comes to the health and well being of those in his charge. When my son had a medical emergency in Esteli back in 2011 he was with us in the Esteli ER and wasn’t leaving until he knew everything was OK. I don’t know how I would have handled that situation without him.  So as much as I am saddened to miss the Barn Smoker, I trust that it’s for the best.  There will be another time. 

 

Today Drew Estate announces the cancellation of its 2021 Barn Smoker season, as well as the postponement of DE25 (Drew Estate’s 25th Anniversary Celebration at Southfork Ranch in Dallas, TX) due to increasing health and safety concerns resulting from the rise of the COVID-19 Delta Variant, which continues to spread rapidly throughout the country. For the same reasons, effective August 14th, Drew Estate personnel will not attend any multi-vendor events, trade shows, and, until further notice, will not attend any Drew Estate In-Store Events in person (all of which we will seek to work with our retail partners to hold virtually for the time being).

 

This decision to suspend all in-person events is designed to ensure the safety of our team members, our valued trade partners, our vendors, and, of course, the tens of thousands of consumers who attend our events nationwide as best we can and applies to all events, inside or outside of any size, including In-Store Sales Events, Multi-Vendor Events, Trade Shows, and Experiential Events.

 

The following events have been cancelled for the remainder of 2021, postponed (in the case of DE 25th Anniversary Event), or suspended until further notice (in the case of in-person Drew Estate In-Store Events):

 

Connecticut Barn Smoker – August 13 and 14

DE25 – September 25 (postponed until 2022)

Kentucky Barn Smoker – October 6

Florida Barn Smoker – November 18 and 19

All In-Person Participation at Multi-Vendor Events and Trade Shows (effective August 14th)

All In-Person Drew Estate In-Store Events (effective August 14th, will be replaced as virtual)

 

For all Barn Smoker attendees, they will receive a full refund of their ticket price within 3-5 business days of this announcement, and will have the first opportunity to purchase Barn Smoker tickets next season. While we have only announced a postponement of DE25, because we do not yet know exactly when circumstances will allow us to reschedule in 2022, we will at this time provide a full refund to all who purchased tickets directly from Drew Estate, and all such ticket purchasers will have the first opportunity to purchase tickets when DE25 is rescheduled. DE25 attendees who purchased a ticket or table directly from Drew Estate/Eventbrite will also receive their refund within 3-5 business days, however if they have purchased a ticket through a retail partner, they should contact that retailer directly.

 

From Drew Estate Headquarters in Miami, FL, Glenn Wolfson CEO of Drew Estate notes, “This decision was incredibly difficult and painful for our Executive Team, especially knowing how excited all of us were to be back together again for our lifestyle event season, as well as with all of you for our Brick & Mortar events. We want to take this moment to thank our retailers, farmers, suppliers, vendors, and countless others who’ve made significant contributions in partnering with Drew Estate to plan and deliver these world-class events. Many thanks as well to our Territory Managers, Ambassadors, and Marketing team members for their never-ending great work, both at our large experiential events and at our In-Store Events with retail partners.”

 

Fans of Drew Estate in-store events will be able to digitally connect with JD, Pedro and Willy and their local territory manager through our virtual event platform! You will be able to obtain your favorite Drew Estate cigars and the latest swag from our retail partners, including the fun and education of receiving 25 years of DE knowledge. Find your next event at www.drewestate.com/events or tune in live to a Territory Manager’s Facebook page.

 

From Sag Harbor, NY, Drew Estate President and Founder Jonathan Drew adds, “My heart deeply aches as we make this announcement. We were truly looking forward to celebrating our 25th anniversary together in Dallas and getting back both to the farms and your stores, together in fellowship, after being away for so long. I imagine that there will be feelings of disappointment and confusion from our consumers around the globe, but just know that your good ole Drew Estate is right by your side, as always, loyal and unwavering. We look forward to being reunited real soon, safely sharing our love of the leaf, together and in person. In the coming weeks, we will begin to provide our loyal DE Family the details of our pivots to upcoming Freestyle Live’s, Freestyle Live: Special Edition, Marquee Events, plus new concepts in virtual store events. Love you guys, be safe. Long Live the Rebirth of Cigars!”

 

ABOUT DREW ESTATE

Founded in New York City in 1996, Drew Estate has become one of the fastest growing tobacco companies in the world. Under their mantra “The Rebirth of Cigars”, Drew Estate has led the “Boutique Cigar” movement by innovating new elements to the tobacco industry with their unique tobaccos and blending styles that attract new and traditional cigar enthusiasts. In their Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, the Nicaraguan headquarters, Drew Estate produces a variety of brands such as ACID, Herrera Estelí, Herrera Estelí Norteño, Isla del Sol, Kentucky Fired Cured, Liga Privada, MUWAT, Larutan by Drew Estate, Nica Rustica, Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Cigars, Tabak Especial, Undercrown, Florida Sun Grown, and Java by Drew Estate.

 

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by | December 20, 2020 · 10:46 am

CigarCraig’s 2020 Holiday Giveaway!

OK, I know it’s not the CigarCraig’s 12 Days of Giveaways, it’s been 5 years since that whole thing ended. We had a good run, but when the FDA scared all the cigar companies off of giving cigars away, it complicated things. I knew that trying to do twelve days of swag giveaways wouldn’t fly, and adding cigars out of my own humidor would break me (shipping already puts a hurting on me!). So it went the way of the Dodo. Fortunately, I find myself with some goodies accumulated over the year, so I put together one great present to close out the year! First, let me get something off my chest. Yesterday I smoked a Deadwood Leather Rose, which I really enjoy. It irks me when people call this cigar, and the other cigars in the Deadwood series, “infused”, or dare I say it, “flavored”. They are not. Sure they have a sweet cap, there are several traditional cigars that have a sweet cap. I don’t count the sweet cap as flavored. I really wish the folks at Drew Estate would be more vocal about this. I’d love to be able to reference a link on their site that states boldly “this (and the Larutan, for that matter) is NOT an infused cigar”. It uses non-traditional tobaccos, Syrian, Perique, Latakia, tobaccos more traditionally used in pipe tobaccos. I hate seeing social media posts that start something like “I don’t usually smoke flavored cigars, but I smoked a Sweet Jane…”and I feel compelled to say “you still didn’t! I feel like Drew Estate should help me out a little here! Heck, I’ve seen people argue with Vaughn Boyd (who owned Deadwood) for crying out loud! OK, enough of my ranting, I really enjoy the Leather Rose, and her sisters, and the Natural/Larutans too, although I don’t smoke many for some reason. They have a lot of flavor, and I like that.

 

Let’s get to the Giveaway!  We have a lot of stuff s buckle up. Back in August I went to a Golf tournament Sponsored by Goose’s Montecristo Lounge, and Goose was very generous and supplied me with some Montecristo swag which included a Montecristo cap, a really nice Montecristo table lighter and a cutter in a humidor bag. I am adding a Montecristo Espada from my humidor, and I might find something else when I get to rooting around. Speaking of Drew Estate, since they canceled the Barn Smokers this year, they very kindly sent out they Barnsmoker swag. I’ll be honest, I was on the fence about giving up the backpack, it’s really nice, but I have a ton of backpacks, and I talked myself into giving this one up (my wife talked me into it as well). There’s another lighter and cutter (here’s a secret, this lighter you can get away with stashing in your luggage when you fly!), a bottle opener and a cigar stand. I put together a samper of Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua cigars from my humidor to go with it. Next there’s a nice Villiger ceramic ashtray, to which I’ve added some Villiger cigars (again, from my humidor, unsmoked!), and finally, a Foundation cutter (I forgot to add a Foundation cigar to try it on, one will be added!).  So that’s an OK present, right? A little something for everyone, goodies for you, a hefty USPS bill for me! (I might do UPS since USPS has been sketchy as of late). Many thanks to my friends who generously provided these goodies! You know the rules! Leave a comment on this post to enter. No comments on Facebook, twitter or anywhere but this blog post will count. You must be of legal age in your jurisdiction to win (and prove it), and if you are selected as the winner, you need to e-mail me your information, please don’t make me track you down! I like to think the folks who win my contest are regular readers and, therefore, will see that they won! I’ll pick a winner next Sunday, December 27, 2020. Let’s see a ton of entries! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, whatever you like to celebrate.

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | November 15, 2018 · 8:12 am

News: Ventura Cigar Co. to Bring the Fun (and the Axis Mundi) to the Barn Smoker

This weekend is the Louisiana Barnsmoker, which is ambitious scheduling having it the weekend before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I’ll have to miss this one as I’ll be working and Louisiana is a bit a drive from Pennsylvania anyway. I’ve been to the PA and Connecticut versions of this event and highly recommend them, and with the addition of Michael Giannini to the staff of cigar celebrities, it’s a big winner. If you go, let me know how it was! 

 

Ventura Cigar Company to attend 2018 Louisiana Barn Smoker by Drew Estate.

Ventura Cigar Company (VCC) is heading across the country for Drew Estate’s 2nd annual Louisiana Barn Smoker on Saturday, November 17, 2018. Joining industry friends and fans of the leaf, the event will be held at L.A. Poche farm, where guests will be treated to music, fine cigars, Cajun food, Kentucky-grown fermenting tobacco, and interesting info about the rich history of Louisiana tobacco. The all-day event is a festival celebrating American Tobacco Agriculture, and is certain to be a good time.

 

VCC will be bringing their California cool vibe and team to the event, along with their Axis Mundi cigar, a Drew Estate creation from Ventura Cigars’ popular Archetype line. Michael Giannini, General Manager at Ventura Cigar Company, will be sharing smokes and stories with event-goers, as he showcases this remarkable cigar.

 

“Every cigar is made better with a good story,” says Giannini. “Whether you’re making the story or telling the story, the best smokes are shared with others. I look forward to events like the Louisiana Barn Smoker for the opportunity to talk to people. To hear what they’re smoking, what they’re liking, where they’ve been, and where they’re going. It’s about sharing the moments, and Ventura Cigars is pleased to be part of them.”   

 

The Axis Mundi cigar was voted the #13 Cigar of the Year from Cigar Aficionado. Its high-quality tobacco, complimented by complex layers of rich essences like coffee beans, charred oak, dried figs, and spices, have earned Axis Mundi recognition by both industry experts and fans alike.

 

“The Axis Mundi is a solid cigar,” says Giannini. “If you’re at the Louisiana Barn Smoker, come by, hang out, share a story, and have a smoke with us.”

 

To get tickets for the 2018 Louisiana Barn Smoker by Drew Estate. Visit www.barnsmoker.com for more information about the event or www.venturacigar.com for additional details about Axis Mundi and other Archetype cigars.

The Archetype Axis Mundi Cigar

Formats: Churchill, Toro, Robusto, Corona

Wrapper: Maduro Habano Ecuador

Binder:  Indonesia Sumatra

Filler: Habano Nicaragua

Taste: Full-Bodied

 

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About Ventura Cigar Company

Ventura Cigar Company (VCC) is a unique cigar brand born in sunny Southern California that is on a mission to create memorable, complex cigar blends that excite the senses and reward discriminating palates. Their flagship Archetype, Case Study, Project805, and PSyKo SEVEN brands offer multiple award-winning blends that earned 90+ ratings in Cigar Aficionado, Cigar & Spirits, and Cigar Snob. And Archetype’s Axis Mundi won #13 Cigar of the Year for 2017 from Cigar Aficionado. Ventura Cigar Company also distributes the 4th Generation and Comoy’s of London line of pipe tobacco products, extending its reach and tradition of offering top-quality tobacconist products. Pipes and blends under these brands are cultivated through generations of craftsmanship, making them longtime favorites of pipe tobacco enthusiasts.

 

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by | August 13, 2017 · 7:36 pm

Drew Estate Connecticut River Valley Barn Smoker 2017

Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining about 650 folks at Drew Estate‘s annual Connecticut River Valley Barn Smoker. This takes place at the Foster Family Farm in South Windsor, Connecticut. This is one of the farms where the Liga Privada T-52 wrapper leaf is grown. The event was from 10am to 5pm, and included a four station educational tour which included the curing barn, where Jonathan Drew talked about the differences between processing the stalk cut tobacco in Connecticut and the way they do it in Nicaragua. Another station had Pedro Gomez talking about the seeds and seedlings, the third had Willy Herrera and Henry talking about blending, and the fourth had the owners of the farm discussing the crop in the field there, and the sad fact that once in a while a hail storm comes through and ruins the whole crop. Videos and photos are included below. After the tour, it was time to eat, and a very nice lunch was catered by Bears’s Smokehouse which consisted of Barbecue pork and beef brisket, slaw, beans, mac and cheese and rolls which was delicious. There was also craft beer on hand, I don’t drink, so I didn’t take notice of the details, and samplings of John Drew Brands spirits. After the food was served, they had raffle drawings and an auction with proceeds going to Operation: Cigars For Warriors, for which they raised over $16,000! This was a great event, with your admission you were able to purchase a pack of ten cigars, which cost $10 at the door, since FDA regulations say they can’t “give away” cigars, clever work around. The cigars included a Liga Privada “A”, a Liga Privada Velvet Rat, a Liga Privada No. 9, a Liga Privada T52, a Nica Rustica El Brujito, an Undercrown toro, a FSG toro, a Kentucky Fire Cured Flying Pig, a Herrera Estali, and a Pappy Van Winkle. I took a few of my own and enjoyed an Undercrown toro and a Nica Rustica El Brujito at the event. Afterwards some folks met up at Puros Cigar Shop in East Hartford where some more fraternization occurred. I had the pleasure of hanging out with my friends Brian and Vince from BnB Cigars in Chestnut Hill, PA, and I also so several people I knew from the Philadelphia area. A good time was had by all, the weather was great, and the event was well done!  Thanks to Joe at Drew Estate for inviting me, it was great seeing all my Drew Estate friends!

 

Check out the videos below, and the photos, and don’t forget to go back to Wednesday’s post and enter to win some cool stuff from the folks at El Artista Cigars!

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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