When many of us think about cigars, our minds inevitably drift to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua or Honduras. Obviously, there are a lot of great smokes and traditions from those areas. But you should also realize there is an area in the good old U.S. of A., which is also very rich in cigar history. I am referring to Tampa, Florida's historic Ybor City district, where I recently attended the 10th Annual Cigar Heritage Festival, sponsored by the Ybor City Museum Society.
The Cigar Heritage Festival celebrates Ybor City's history and the founding of the area in 1886, when cigar makers Vincente Martinez-Ybor and Ignacio Haya moved their cigar manufacturing facilities from Key West to what was then 40 acres of swampy, undeveloped land just east of the City of Tampa. At one time there were 140 cigar factories in the surrounding area, producing upwards of 250 million cigars per year.
The past two years, I went to the festival solo. But this year, I managed to hook up with several other BOTLs, making the week-end all the more fun and enjoyable.
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| Roadhawg & Lazy Smoking Bastards |
After flying into Tampa from Houston, picking up my rental car and checking into the hotel, I made my way to Fishtail Willie's in Clearwater to meet up with Stan 'The Tax Man', founder of the Lazy Smoking Bastards (LSBs) Cigar Club, and some of his crew. I did make one stop en route to enjoy a pint of Guinness at the Tilted Kilt, reportedly one of the favorite watering holes of the LSBs. If you have never been there, just try thinking of it as 'Hooters meets Dublin', substitute micro-kilts for orange shorts, and you'll get the picture. You may also want to have eye drops handy, as there is definitely the possibility of eye strain.
Stan posts on our board as well as on Cigar Review, and was a great host for the week-end.(Stan goes by mrdiver on CW.) Their club meets monthly, and we were joined by several other members (Gordon, Michael, Robert, Didier) as we all enjoyed dinner, cocktails, stories and cigars on a warm Florida evening. The company was excellent, and the stage was set for the next few days. The LSB meet the third Wednesday of every month, check the CW Calendar for details
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| Tampa Sweethearts Cigar Company |
The next day, I made an early morning visit to the Tampa Sweethearts Cigar Company in Ybor City. This firm is headquartered in a fine old four story red brick building. built in 1895. In the mid 1960s, the Fuentes took it over. Once known as the 'Charles the Great' cigar factory, the edifice is still owned by the Fuente family. It is now home to Tampa Sweethearts Cigars, housing their retail and online businesses.
Tampa Sweethearts, which began as a hand-rolled cigar in 1912, is now an un-banded cigar rolled by apprentices. I enjoy the Maduro # 280's as a very mild, inexpensive smoke. As they were available that day, I picked up a bundle (depending upon the apprentice training requirements, not all sizes and styles are available every day).
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| Cigars at King Corona in Ybor |
The next stop Friday morning was for Cuban coffee and cigars at the King Corona Cigar Bar & Café on Ybor City's Seventh Avenue. This is a unique store with a nice selection of cigars, a bar, a café and a barbershop - all under one roof. Because the shop's predominant business is cigar sales, you are allowed to smoke anywhere in the store. I fired up my first one of the day, a Light of Ybor (one of their hand-rolled house brands).
As the morning wore on, more BOTLs and SOTLs from other cigar boards and locations across the U.S., and members of the LSB Club, arrived. We soon had cigar lovers congregating from both coasts of Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland. We were also joined by Dave and Lauren Patrick, owners of John Hay Cigars in PA, who passed out the Anniversary Series for all of us to try out.
Before long, it was time for lunch. In my opinion, the choice for lunch at the King Corona is always simple - a pressed Cuban sandwich and plantain chips. The King Corona features the classic Cuban, with thinly sliced pork, ham, Genoa salami and Swiss cheese, topped with mustard and pickles on fresh, crusty Cuban bread. The sandwich is then pressed (panini-style) and served with a side of crisp, fried plantain chips. It was absolutely delicious, and proved a nice prelude to the next cigar of the day.
After our leisurely lunch, Michael 'Cycleman' arranged for a private walking tour of historic Ybor City hosted by one of the Ybor 'Ambassadors'. Our guide was Mr. Robert Alorda, a resident of Ybor since the 1940s. We visited many of the locations unique to Ybor, including some of the cigar shops in the area, the old firehouse, cigar factories, hospital (now a B&B), the train station and the Cuban social club.
Mr. Alorda was very knowledgeable, giving us good insight into the history of the area and answering all of our questions. He even managed to get us behind the locked gates (he had a key) into a park-like area which contained Cuban soil! Wow - no passports were even required, yet we were able to walk on Cuban soil - very cool!
We completed the 90 minute tour, and gathered at Stogie Castillo's Cigar Lounge for cigars and refreshing adult beverages. The owner, Margie, was very accommodating and seemed genuinely pleased to have us all there at her shop, which is located in Centro Ybor, the heart of the historic arts district. While the other folks headed to the Tilted Kilt for dinner (and more eye strain caused by the waitstaff), I returned to the hotel to freshen up, as my plan for the evening was to attend the Cigars and Stars charity event at the Ybor City Museum.
Actually, the venue was the garden next to the museum, and it was a very nice evening. There was a Cuban band, Orquesta Infinidad, an awesome food buffet featuring Cuban and Caribbean food, unlimited beer and wine, and several charity auctions and raffles.
The event also featured a casino-type arrangement, with all proceeds going to the Ybor City Museum and the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation. The local Caliente Girls served as dealers at the casino tables, so it was somewhat difficult to keep your mind on the cards. But it was all for a worthwhile cause, so no one really minded losing as the girls just smiled. These ladies truly define the phrase: "Muy caliente!"
The night was jointly sponsored by Cigar City Magazine, Arturo Fuente Cigars, Ashton Cigars, J.C. Newman Cigars and Tampa Sweethearts. There was also a special tribute and recognition of Emanuel 'Manny' Leto, noted editor and Tampa historian. Several notables from the cigar world and elsewhere were in attendance. Arturo Fuente, Jr. was there, as gracious as ever, making sure everyone was having a good time and posing for pictures. Actor Joe Gannascoli (Vito Spatafore), of The Sopranos HBO series, was also there, enjoying the evening and smoking fine cigars. Perfect weather, wonderful food and drink, and a lively band made for a fantastic night under the stars.
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| Roadhawg & Arturo Fuente, Jr. |
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| Roadhawg & Joe Gannascoli |
The following day, Saturday, November 15th, was the actual day of the Cigar Heritage Festival. I had made multiple requests of Cigar Dave to conduct an interview with him for this CW article, but was unsuccessful. So my only other objective that day was simply to enjoy the festival.
The gates opened at 10:00, and everything got underway. The group I was with split up as we explored all the festival had to offer. Proving that it is still very much a 'small world', I ran into JCole311 (Jacob), from the CW site, as I was walking through the various booths and displays. There were many booths set up with local retailers selling a wide variety of cigars. I was able to chat with Joe Chiusano, partner and a member of the management team of Cusano Cigars. He was very excited about his new Cusano '18 Paired' Maduro, which combines Brazilian mata fina and Connecticut broadleaf paired together in the wrapper. I bought and then fired up a Churchill, and came to the conclusion that this really is one exceptionally tasty smoke.
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| Roadhawg & Joe Chiusano |
There were many other booths featuring local arts and crafts, which, frankly, did not interest me. My focus was on the cigars. What did interest me were the local rollers from some of the Ybor City shops, including La Herencia de Cuba with the great cigars rolled by Roberto Ramirez, Casa del Tobacco, Casa Havana and others. There were also booths with representatives from other local businesses. These included the Cigar Castle, Thompson Cigars, Tampa Sweethearts, Olde Colonial Havana Cigar Shop, Edwards Pipe and Tobacco, Low Ball Louie's and many others.
When I stopped at the Tampa Sweethearts booth, Arturo Fuetne, Jr remembered that we had spoken the night before about his Flor de Ybor City line of cigars. He was smoking one of the Ecuadorian sungrowns, and suggested I give one a try. After he clipped it for me (Arturo Fuente, Jr. clipped MY cigar), I lit it and found it to be mild, but still with quite a bit of flavor - a very enjoyable smoke that will not break the bank. I also shook hands with Eric Newman of J.C. Newman Cigars, and bought a sampler pack of Cuesta-Rey.
In addition to all of the cigar-related merchandising, there was some amazing food. I sampled the typical offerings of fried plantains, a Cuban shredded pork sandwich and empanadas. The new food treat (at least it was new to me) was the Columbian arepa. This was a combination of two ground yellow cornmeal cakes, with melted mozzarella cheese sandwiched between the layers, then grilled on a flat top until slightly toasty. Holy Cow - it was great! Even though forewarned, I burned the tip of my tongue. But the arepa was still fantastic.
At noon, Cigar Dave 'The General' broadcasted his weekly XM satellite radio show live from the festival. It was fun to watch his antics, and listen to his two hour commentary on the state of the world in general and cigars in particular. His normal cast was there, with several guests in person, including Christian Eiora of Camacho Cigars, the Ramirez family of La Herencia de Cuba, and Sammy Phillips of Rocky Patel. The Don Juceam Orchestra was also there playing favorite hits from the 50's and 60's. Don has been referred to as 'Tampa Bay's Frank Sinatra', and his group plays big band classics, 'Rat Pack' style music and Latin tunes. They were an excellent accompaniment to the overall flavor of the festival.
By 3:00, our group was ready for a change in venue. So we headed out to visit a few of the local cigar shops. The first stop was Edwards Pipe and Tobacco in Tampa, a very nice shop with good seating (both inside and out), a wonderful selection of smokes and a very helpful staff. The manager, Brett, made excellent smoke recommendations, offered to clip our sticks and even had a small carafe of brandy on hand to dip the cigars before lighting - very nice. We spent over an hour there swapping stories and enjoying our cigars. I tried one of Brett's suggestions, a My Father #2, one of the latest offerings from master blender, Jose Pepin Garcia. What a great smoke! It was rich, with a lot of flavor and a definite 'kick' from that Nicaraguan tobacco.
The next stop ended up being a bit of a 'field trip', as we drove across the bay to St. Petersburg and a visit to the downtown district. We enjoyed a fine Italian meal at Jo Jo's Italian Café, where we sat outside and feasted while indulging in adult beverages and cigars. The lasagna was homemade, and the pasta primavera was excellent.
After dinner, we made our way across the street to Central Cigars. This is also a very nice shop with a good selection of smokes (although some of the locals indicated that the humidor cases had been recently 'downsized'), a full service bar for libations and an area known as the Havana Room, which featured leather couches, comfy chairs and plasma TVs. I tried one of Central Cigar's own brands, which are all hand rolled in-house by Felix Marerro, a Cuban master roller. It was very mild, but considering that this was my 8th cigar of the day, I was not exactly searching for a full flavor bomb! It was just enough to properly cap off the evening and a fun day of events with a nice balanced cigar and a cup of delicious Cuban coffee.
For me, it was the perfect wrap-up to a great week-end, with Stan, Michael and the rest of the Lazy Smoking Bastards all making fine hosts. It was good to meet fellow BOTLs and SOTLs from around the country and share in this wonderful avocation we all enjoy. I would encourage any of you, who may find yourself in the Tampa area in mid-November, to come check out the Cigar Heritage Festival. It is a good event, and one you will certainly enjoy and remember.
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Neil Noffsinger (Roadhawg) is a retired sales executive from the semiconductor industry who enjoys life with his wife Gail in Spring, Texas. The seven 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.
