CWNews
15th Annual Post Turkey Day Crawl
December 10, 2009
Dallas, Texas
Sorry for the delay but I actually had to work. Here is our recap.
It may have been Black Friday, but for 50+ brave souls it also marked the 15th year of the DFW Post Turkey Day Crawl, making it the oldest on-going cigar crawl in the United States. This was not for the faint of heart because we began smoking at 11am while having lunch at Wizard’s in Richardson. The first cigar of the day was the new Casa Magna Oscuro.
From lunch we went to the first stop—Tobacco Gallery, but first I had to run to the airport to pick up our special guest for the day. Pete Johnson re-arranged his schedule so he could crawl with us even thought it meant he would be flying out the next day at 5:45 am! On the drive back, Pete gave me my second cigar of the day—a Boris. At Tobacco Gallery, Bob treated us with all kinds of specials including special promotions on Camacho and Drew Estate ( thanks to Tom and Ryan Poehler.) I scored a box of the Liga Privada T-52s and bought a box of the new Benji Menendez master series Partagas.
After lots of sales and our traditional Turkey Trot ( you have to run across the street as a turkey would run which always makes for a fun time and some great prizes) we headed up to Plano for our second stop—Two Brothers. Here, PJ and Tom Poehler had specials on Miami Cigar and Alec Bradley products. The Tempus sold well, as did Rick’s private stash of some of the now gone La Aurora Cien Años coronas (yup got a box) along with another box of the old Don Fernandos with the Cameroon wrapper.
We also had a scotch tasting thanks to Trent Roberts at Whyte & Mackay. He brought two different Dalmore single malts and a newer and lesser known brand called Isle of Jura. The Dalmores were smooth and silky, the Isle of Jura had more of a smoky taste. Very nice.
Properly lubricated, we headed to our final stop Cigar Shop and More in Addison. This was our first time going to Kent’s store for the PTDC and he had specials for everyone as well. This was where Pete showcased his products ( the rest of the day he just hung around, smoking and b-sing with the guys and of course trying the scotch.) Pete had special 3 packs of La Riqueza, Ambos Mundos and the new 2008 La Verite which will be released next year. Dave Brophy also has specials on the MATASA lines including the new Quesada 35th.
Our dinner this year was at Arthur’s in Addison. A brave restaurant indeed, allowing 50 all of us to smoke throughout dinner and it was a good thing it had high ceilings otherwise the cloud could have been really dense. Our first cigar for dinner was the soon to be released Don Fernando. This was the cigar Don Fernando Leon smoked every day. He originally smoked one with a Cameroon wrapper, but then after the company’s 100th anniversary, he decided he needed a Dominican puro and changed the wrapper to the La Aurora Dominican corojo and it was what he smoked up until his death earlier this year. The second cigar was the new EPC edicion inaugural from Ernesto Perez-Carrillo.
Our dinner was a very tasty crab cake, choice of chicken, salmon or filet and finished with either cheesecake or crème brulee. After dinner we began the raffle for the Salvation Army. Wow, we had tremendous support from so many manufacturers—Altadis USA, General, MATASA, Alec Bradley, Drew Estate, STC, Miami Cigar and Company, Oliva, Camacho, EPC Cigar Company, Cgars LTD, Xikar, La Aurora, and Cuban Lous. Pete Johnson contributed what was left in his travel sack –a few of the three packs and some Boris…but then decided we needed to raise more money. He offered from his personal stash a bundle of Boris, Dracs and one of the Tatuaje Black jars. We sold more tickets and ended up raising a record $3,100 for The Salvation Army. It was a great day and now I have to work on planning our 16th!