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 The road trip was to Las Vegas to attend — I mean report on — the 10th annual Big Smoke, a gathering of cigar smokers sponsored by Cigar Aficionado magazine. If you’re not familiar with the publication, Cigar Aficionado is a bi-monthly that’s classy, hip, glossy and a definite testosterone-infused read. You’ll also find one or two golf-related articles in every issue. The last fact was the rationale for the getaway. I knew there was a golf column somewhere in this boondoggle. I just had to sniff it out. The fact that I own a cedar humidor that holds 150 cigars is merely a coincidence. SMOKE ’EM IF YOU GOT ’EM: Until about 18 months ago the only cigars I smoked were on the golf course, and they were always OP’s (other people’s). Then Bruce McKinnon, former president of clubmaker KZ Golf, gave me a $10 AVO Classic No.5 and the rest is history. It’s like the first time you taste a really good bottle of wine. You don’t have to be a wine connoisseur to know there’s a huge difference between a $50 dusty cabernet and Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck. The same is true with cigars. The more I got into cigars the more I noticed I wasn’t the only one on the golf course swinging with a stogie between my teeth. Look around the next time you play. You’ll see white puffs of smoke coming from a lot of foursomes. HOT TOPIC: Before attending the Big Smoke, I called Gordon Mott, executive editor of Cigar Aficionado, for a little background. When he told me that 3,000 people attended the Friday night bash and at least that many were expected for the Saturday night party, I began to realize that cigars were more than a trendy fad. I also asked if there was a link developing between cigars and golfers and he said that a recent Monroe-Mendelson survey done for his magazine verified that thought. “According to their study and our own reader research, the biggest percentage of Cigar Aficionado readers — 65 to 75 percent — are also golfers,” Mott said. Bingo! My boondoggle was validated. RAISING THE BAR: Before the party I checked out Casa Fuente, an upscale cigar bar on the second floor of The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace. The place was jammed with a mystical brotherhood of cigar smokers. Any place where two or more can gather, and smoke, they will. While sitting at the bar sipping a rum concoction created to complement a cigar, I struck up a conversation with two brothers from Compton, Chris and Tom Aaron, who were attending their fifth Big Smoke. “It’s our annual getaway,” Chris said. “I love driving to Vegas. We yak all weekend — no wife, no kids, lots of good smokes.” Added Tom: “And we always leave here with enough new cigars given away at the party to last us until the next Big Smoke.” WHERE THERE’S SMOKE: I knew I was going to like the Big Smoke the moment I entered the room. A lovely Cigar Aficionado hostess handed me a burlap shopping bag and a coupon book. The rest of the evening consisted of visiting cigar vendors and exchanging coupons for cigars from cigar houses such as Ashton, Arturo Fuente and Bolivar. In all, there were 28 manufacturers handing out freebies that went well with the vintage liquor samples and tasty food offered throughout the night. It took three hours to complete the Big Smoke circuit, and as I handed over the last coupon and dropped another sample cigar into my bulging burlap bag, I noticed a golf hitting cage near the door. Jeffery Jones, the assistant director of golf at Wynn Golf Club, was wrapping up his night of dispensing golf tips to cigar-chomping hackers. Jones, who told me that this was his fifth Big Smoke and his 25th year in Las Vegas, thinks cigars and golf go well together because a “good smoke is a calming influence and calm is an integral part of a good golfer’s game.” I now see why folks return to the Big Smoke every year. For the $175 entry fee, you walk out with about $500 in cigars. But you also meet new people, try new brands and get to hang out with folks who won’t be offended when you light up a cigar. My boondoggle buddy, Rocky Rhodes, had a more straightforward take on why cigars are catching on with golfers. “Let’s face it, a golf course is the last bastion of hedonism for middle-class married guys,” he said. “You can scratch and spit, curse and smoke to your heart’s content. You’re with your buddies, you’re outdoors, you can be politically incorrect and if someone in your foursome doesn’t like it, they can walk down the other side of the fairway.” Rocky and I are already planning our next boondoggle. Eric Tracy can be reached at eric@themulliganman.com. |
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