Cigar Weekly

Friday December 18, 2009

Neil Noffsinger (Roadhawg)

Cigar Weekly Contributing Editor

We typically associate several things with the month of November: College football, Thanksgiving turkey, a change in the fall colors and the annual Cigar Heritage Festival in Ybor City, Florida. What? You have never heard of that last one? Please allow me to explain, and encourage you to put it on your calendar for next November.

The Cigar Heritage Festival

In the Tampa area, there is a section called Ybor City, which is truly the center of cigar-related activity in the region. Ybor City was founded in 1886 by Vicente Martinez Ybor when he moved his cigar manufacturing facilities from Key West to the outskirts of Tampa. Vicente was offered very cheap land from local Tampa officials, and the area he chose boasted a coastal port to receive tobacco from Cuba as well as railroad distribution for shipping the completed cigars to retailers along the East Coast. He brought skilled laborers with him from Key West, set up a 'company town' and built the first factory. The rest, as they say, is history.

In the early 1900’s, there were approximately 15,000 residents located in the area, and a multitude of cigar factories produced over two hundred million cigars annually. This locality truly represented the 'Cigar Capital of the World'.

The Man - Vicente Martinez Ybor

Obviously, the current landscape has changed dramatically, both literally and figuratively. Today, Ybor City is an eclectic community, with craft and art shops, vibrant nightclubs, unique Cuban and Latin restaurants and a good number of cigar shops, several of the latter offering local hand-rolled products.

In November, the area proudly celebrates its cigar heritage with a festival presented by the Ybor City Museum Society. This year's marked the 11th annual festival, and the 4th one I have personally attended. It is a great opportunity to smoke cigars, meet with fellow BOTLs from around the country and generally have a fun weekend in a historic city.

Angelo and Stan at The Smoker's Den

I arrived in the Tampa area on Thursday afternoon, and made my way to the Smoker's Den in Clearwater. This is a favorite local venue for the Lazy Smoking Bastards Cigar Club (LSBs), where I was scheduled to meet Stan Shultz (CW’s Mrdiver). I was introduced to Stan last year at the event, as he served as unofficial host for a lot us of out-of-towners who came in for the festival. We have kept in contact, and I looked forward to meeting with him again to catch up, discuss cigars and fire up some sticks.

The Smoker's Den is a very nice, friendly place, and I settled in with a Padron 4000 to await Stan. The shop has a good selection of smokes, and the staff is super-friendly and knowledgeable. The lounge area has leather chairs and couches, a huge TV and comfy stuffed chairs. Coffee is always on to accompany your cigar.

We had the opportunity to share a cigar (Oliva Serie O maduro) and spend time with Angelo Vera, the co-owner (together with his brother, Elio), so as to get his views on the current state of cigars. We discussed the challenges of being a tobacco retailer in the current environment, with government regulations and the 'Pleasure Police' infringement.

Angelo was super-positive, with a bullish attitude. He feels very strongly that if he keeps his customers’ best interests as his main priority and focuses on customer service, he will do just fine, and his business will prosper. His business has grown well the past several years, and we certainly wish him well.

After a few sticks, we capped off the evening with dinner at the Tilted Kilt, another local favorite. Even though the temperature felt pretty chilly, the restaurant’s heated patio remained open. So we enjoyed after-dinner cigars and a pint of Tilted Kilt Red Ale in total comfort.

Neil at the King Corona

Friday morning began with a wonderful breakfast at Tony’s Ybor Restaurant. This is one of my favorites, and it has been in the area for 70 years. The current owner’s father opened the business in 1929, and raised his family (8 children, I believe) in the small frame house, which still stands right around the corner.

I spoke with Tony and Larry Scaglione (father & son), the current co-owners, and they are justifiably proud of the restaurant’s tradition and history. I ate an omelet with Spanish bacon, Cuban toast and café con leche – absolutely delicious. I then headed over to the King Corona Café on 7th Avenue, 'La Setima', in Ybor City to await the rest of the group for our scheduled tour.

The King Corona is a combination coffee shop, restaurant, cigar bar, barber shop and cigar retailer. The weather was perfect, and I enjoyed a Drew Estates Java and a local Light of Ybor in a natural wrapper and two more cups of café con leche as I sat outside on the patio and watched the foot traffic along 7th Avenue.

Cuban sandwich at the King Corona

Soon, our group (LSB members and me) convened, and we were joined by our tour guide, Robert. Robert is one of the Ybor City Ambassadors who knows the city heritage intimately, and conducts tours of the sites and historic areas of the city.

Before departure, we needed to ensure we had enough energy for the tour. So we fortified ourselves with lunch at the King Corona, one of my favorite places for a genuine Cuban sandwich. I had the Classic Cuban with plantain chips, then finished off with a CAO MX2 for dessert.

For the next two hours, Ambassador Robert took us on a walking tour of Ybor City. We viewed the historic old restaurants with underground tunnels leading to the docks, the original fire house, the Cuban Social Club and the Italian Social Club. We also saw the El Pasaje Club, which has housed a hotel restaurant and brothel in years past, and the original hospital, which is now a high-end B&B Inn. We toured the area with the original train station and Centro Ybor, which is now a modern collection of shops, restaurants, theaters, clubs and retailers.

Cuban soil inside the gates in Ybor

We went 'inside the gates' at the Jose Marti Monument Park, where we literally were able to stand on Cuban soil. The land inside the gate is still deeded to the Cuban government. The Park commemorates Jose Marti, the father of Cuban independence. We concluded the afternoon tour with a stop in the Ybor City Visitor’s Center, and saw a movie depicting the history of Ybor City and its cigar heritage. It was all extremely interesting, and Robert is a true character who made the tour very enjoyable.

Tour guide Ambassador Bobby

One of many cigar shops on 7th Avenue

By the time we finished the tour, it was already late in the afternoon. We were scheduled for a Rocky Patel tasting event at Edward’s Pipe and Tobacco, a Tampa smoker’s landmark for 50 years. There was a moderate crowd there, and of course they offered deals on RP smokes and had several drawings throughout the evening. I'm not one to typically come home a 'winner', so it seemed slightly odd that every single person in our group won a door prize that night – pretty cool. I enjoyed a Rocky Patel Autumn 2009 selection, and Stan powered up a Patel Brothers.

Dinner that night was at T. C. Choy’s Asian Bistro, and we had a delicious meal to cap off a truly fun, interesting and cigar-filled day.

Cigar booths everywhere!

Saturday morning was 'Festival Day'. I began with a bite to eat (surprise) at La Tropicana Café. This is another Ybor landmark, in business since 1963. If it were lunchtime, I would opt for a Cuban sandwich and a bowl of their awesome black bean soup. But it was still early. So I enjoyed a simple breakfast of café con leche and Cuban cheese toast - a great way to get 'in the mood' for the rest of the day.

After a quick walk around town, it was time for the festival grounds to open at 10:00am. Once inside the grounds, it was good to meet and greet BOTLs who had gathered in Ybor City for the festival. Tom (CW’s tchapchap) from Michigan, Tim from Pennsylvania, Robert from the East Coast of Florida, Stan, Jim, Steve, Dave and Matt from the local area, and a host of other folks who were there to have a fun day and celebrate a bit of cigar history.

BOTLs enjoying the Festival

Many of the local retailers had booths set-up to sell cigars and accessories, and there were also a number of manufacturers’ booths as well, with good selections to get us through the day. Just to mention a few, there were displays by Camacho, Rocky Patel, Fuente, Oliva, Cusano, Los Blancos and others, and even a brand new cigar from Aruba, the Arubanos, which made its U.S. debut at the Festival.

One of the most unique features this year was the attempt by Master Roller Senor Wallace Reyes of Gonzalez Habana Cigar Co. to break the Guinness World record for the longest hand-rolled cigar. At 180 feet, this 64-ring gauge behemoth would break the existing record held by a roller in Havana by more than 35 feet! There were official representatives from Guinness on site to verify the process, and although pictures were not allowed, we could peek inside the tent to see the team of rollers at work on this huge masterpiece, which reportedly took over 100 hours of labor. The cigar was gently assembled from 10-foot pre-rolled sections and then completed at the festival. The estimated weight of the finished product was over 112 pounds – now THAT’s a solid after dinner smoke! Final confirmation had not been awarded when I left the festival that afternoon, but the Tampa Tribune had an article Sunday morning that confirmed the new Guinness World Record had been established.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of this event is that everyone in attendance appreciates cigars, everyone is smiling and in a great mood, no one casts negative glances because you are enjoying a nice stick and there is just a true congenial feel to the entire day.

During the day’s events, I managed to consume a RP Batallion, TTT Trinidad, CAO Gold Maduro and a RyJ Reserva Real. I also tried the new Oliva Cain, both in the Maduro and the Habano wrappers. I preferred the Habano version, which had a very full-bodied taste.

Also on the agenda for the festival was the live broadcast of the weekly Cigar Dave radio show. 'The General' had his entire cast of characters on hand, including Mick the Brit, the cooking crew from Buffalo and the Don Juceum Orchestra. So it was a complete show, with interviews of the local notables in the cigar industry. Whether you are a fan of his or not, he certainly puts on an entertaining 2-hour performance. and he does a great job of 'playing to the crowd'.

Delicious Gran Arepas

The food this year, as usual, was great. There are Cuban delicacies, the standard hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, etc. But my favorite again this year was the Gran Arepa, a cornmeal-like pancake, packed with mozzarella cheese between the layers and then grilled on a buttered flat-top. You owe it to yourself to seek this out and give it a try. Just don’t burn your mouth on the cheese!

Neil (Roadhawg) & Tom (tchapchap)

As the festival events drew to a close, we adjourned to Mema’s Alaskan Tacos, located adjacent to the Centennial Park, for fish tacos and a cold beverage. By this time, we were pretty well sated with cigars, good food and everything else that comes with the Cigar Heritage Festival, and said our good-byes to the remaining BOTLs until next year.

I decided to celebrate the conclusion of the event with a mojito at Carmine’s on 7th Avenue and dinner at the Columbia Restaurant. The Columbia is a true institution, and has been an active restaurant in Ybor City since 1905. I ate at the bar and enjoyed one of my favorite dishes, the ropa vieja. The translation is 'old clothes', as the roast beef is shredded before it is sautéed and mixed with onions, peppers, tomatoes and spices. It is served with fantastic fried plantains and rice, and I had a side order of their Cuban black bean soup to boot.

After dinner, it was back to the King Corona for a final Cuban coffee and a Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Churchill to cap off the evening before heading back to my hotel.

The 11th Annual Cigar Heritage Festival just completed, I was already looking forward to the 12th!

If you truly enjoy cigars (and if you are reading this, I assume you do) and can schedule a visit to the Tampa area next November, by all means DO IT. Spend a day in Ybor City, tour the Cigar City Museum, participate in a historic tour, sample a locally rolled cigar, soak up some history, sip a café con leche and feast on some great food. You owe it to yourself to try a taste of Ybor City, and the Cigar Heritage Festival is the perfect reason!

Neil Noffsinger (Roadhawg) is a retired sales executive from the semiconductor industry, and enjoys life with his wife Gail in Spring, Texas. The eight years since retirement have been filled with motorcycles and extensive travel to all corners of the U.S. and Canada. He has been on 2 wheels in 49 states (missed Hawaii), and typically enjoys a quality cigar at the end of the day – especially after an 800+ mile day on the seat of his motorcycle!