Big Smoke MGM Foxwoods

As a few of you guys know, I attended the Big Smoke at MGM Grand Foxwoods. This was my first big event that I have gone to, so I was expecting top notch everything since the tickets were $250 for 3 hours. The lines for all of the vendors weren't too long so we got to meet with all the makers and get the cigars that they had to offer. Some swag would have been nice but you had to pay a little extra for that stuff (Opus X hat for 20$?!). One thing that I could not believe was the line to get Rocky Patels autograph. It was probably a 15-20 minute wait and when you got to him, it's hello, whats your name, hand shake, and off you go. I was thinking that people like Don Pepin, Pete Johnson, Alec Bradley, and Litto Gomez would be swamped with fans but you could just walk up to these guys and have a full out conversation. I talked with Pepin for about 15 minutes with the help of his translator, and the highlight of my night was getting to know Pete Johnson and learning how he made it big in the cigar industry. From what he says, he just met the right person (Pepin) at the right time. He was even nice enough to take a picture with his iphone and send it to me since my memory stick was never put back into my camera.

Another guy that I had the pleasure of talking to was Alec Bradley and his associates. He asked me what I did for a living and I told him that I was in the Navy. As soon as he heard that he grabs one of his guys and introduces me to him. The guy that I met was a retired E-9 in the Navy and we shared some stories of life in the Navy. He told me that if I was ever in Miami, it would be a pleasure to treat my family to an authentic Cuban dinner and take me out on the town for smokes and drinks. I told him that he didn't have to BS me so he writes down his cell phone number on his card and told me to just say "hooyah from CT" (it's a Navy Diver thing), and to remind him of our introduction, and he would make a night of it.
The best products handed out were CAO (MX2), Pete Johnson (red label tats, cabiguan guapo), Don Pepin (Blue label DPG, JJ serie, later on he had firecrackers which I never got), Alec Bradley (Tempus), and Carlos Torano (I forget what it was but it was a good one). Most of the others like Arturo Fuente, Rockey Patel, La Gloria Cubana, and Oliva were handing out their lower end sticks which I thought was some BS since you pay so much to play.
My overall thought on the night are they should of had lower prices since it was such a short event and they need to hand out some swag. After seing all the stuff about the Big Smoke in Las Vegas and NY, I was expecting exactly that. If they have one next year I am going to have to pass. In the end, I got to talk to the one guy I went there for, Pete Johnson, so I guess overall I am pleased. Hopefully I can get more pictures from a local cigar maker that was there. He hung out with our group pretty much all night and I get to see him on a weekly basis, so maybe there will be more pictures to follow.