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Last post 5 years ago by Pudding Mittens. 12 replies replies.
CigarFest on Friday
jespear Offline
#1 Posted:
Joined: 03-19-2004
Posts: 9,462
jespear wrote:
I'll be there for on Friday, thanks to a MOST GENEROUS BOTL who GAVE me a ticket.
Will get the cigar "cattle call" out of the way as early as possible, then head to the parking lots to see who I can find.
Look for me . . .
I'll have my old JESPEAR Pennsylvania license plate around my neck and my MOOSE MANOR hat on my head.


So I arrived, safe and sound, at CFest Friday morning around 9:45, and gave Jamie, aka heynow5151,
(the generous BOTL mentioned above) a call.
He meets me in the parking lot and hands me my ticket.
Jamie and I had a bet on the SuperBowl, with the stakes being, "Whatever the loser feels like sending as a payoff", and he decided that a ticket to CFest was appropriate . I told him that he was crazy, and that it was WAY TOO MUCH for our wager, but he would not take no for an answer.
When he hands me my "CigarNut" ticket, he says, "Here . . . Put this on", and hands me a shirt.
"I got you the "Shirt Upgrade".
THEN, he hands me a hat and says, "Here . . . Put this on.
I got you the "Hat Upgrade too".
ARE YOU FUGGIN KIDDING ME ?
Jamie and I have whacked each other around over the years, but NOTHING like this.
Thanks again, Jamie ! You are unbelievable.

I had a GREAT time with a GREAT friend.

John

PS
I also got to meet Steve R, although I didn't realize it at the time.
He and jamie are good friends, but when he introduced himself, he just said, "Hi. I'm Steve."
He and jamie talked for about ten minutes, and then we left.
I told jamie that Steve was a really nice guy, and asked how he knew him.
(Steve was working a table, and I was curious.)
Jamie says, "OH . . . That's Steve R, from the forums."
RMAN4443 Offline
#2 Posted:
Joined: 09-29-2016
Posts: 7,683
Wow John and way to go heynow5151, very generous gift ........so John fill us in on the CF. I've never been......does it live up to the hype?
Ewok126 Offline
#3 Posted:
Joined: 06-25-2017
Posts: 4,356
That is awesome John. Not just the ticket but a hat and shirt upgrade. Dang, Jamie don't play around. I mean the man not only got you the ticket but he dressed you as well. Kinda sounds like prom night. He didn't get lucky did he? whip

I am glad to hear y'all had a a good time brother. Beer
Mrs. dpnewell Offline
#4 Posted:
Joined: 08-23-2014
Posts: 1,373
Sounds like a good time, John. Enjoy brother. Such an extremely generous gift from heynow.

So, you got there at 9:45 and could find a place to park? Sheesh, I remember arriving at 6:30 AM and the place was already full.

David (dpnewell)
frankj1 Offline
#5 Posted:
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,211
lovin' this story...
Pudding Mittens Offline
#6 Posted:
Joined: 08-15-2016
Posts: 1,291
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I went on Saturday with three friends. I go every year, and this time it was the same great fun as always!

They keep jacking the ticket prices up, though, at rates far beyond inflation. If this keeps up, there will come a point where it won't be worth going anymore.

Also they cheaped out big-time on the included ashtray this year. Prior years were nice ashtrays often of interesting and fairly unique designs/shapes and printed with the CigarFest logo with the year, and usually also that year's unique artwork. This year? The generic, lame "CI Puck", the boring conventionally-shaped tiny $9.99 ashtray with just the CI smiley logo and "Smile, you're in cigar country!" LAME!

I noticed the "Puck" is no longer listed on the main CI site. They probably had a ton of them getting dusty in the warehouse and figured they'd blow them out as the included ashtray at CigarFest at $0 additional cost to them, with the benefit of freeing up warehouse space for better things, too.

But, the rest of the event was pretty nice, so I can't complain. Plus I have at least 20 ashtrays already, so who cares?
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Hank_The_Tank Offline
#7 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
Good stuff right there!
jespear Offline
#8 Posted:
Joined: 03-19-2004
Posts: 9,462
Kudos to ASHTON . . . offering up their "top shelf" stuff.
You could exchange your ticket for either a Diamond Crown MAXIMUS, or a Julius Caesar .
Both cigars were were Toro sized.
submariner Offline
#9 Posted:
Joined: 10-04-2004
Posts: 21
4 of us went Friday. We all concurred that the ticket prices are getting out of hand now. This may be our last year depending on whether CI jack up the prices yet again. They are obviously revelling in the demand.. just ends up pissing off herfers.
My ashtray broke in the box. El cheapo stuff.
Spirit of the event seems to have died a little in the last year or two.
Pudding Mittens Offline
#10 Posted:
Joined: 08-15-2016
Posts: 1,291
jespear wrote:
Kudos to ASHTON . . . offering up their "top shelf" stuff.
You could exchange your ticket for either a Diamond Crown MAXIMUS, or a Julius Caesar .
Both cigars were were Toro sized.

Not when I went on Saturday. You got the base-model Diamond Crown, the boring, cheapest one. No Maximus, no Julius Caesar. I guess they ran out of the good stuff between Friday and Saturday.

Doesn't matter to me though, as I find basically all Ashton and Fuente stuff to have no significant level of flavor anyway. I find them all boring, even the top-end ones. High prices, low flavor. Contrast with A.J. Fernandez stuff that's the opposite: low(ish) prices, high flavor. Several of my hard-core cigar buddies echo this sentiment, so "it ain't just me". Many guys worship Ashton/Fuente though. Palates certainly seem to differ widely among the population.

While the ashtray was a joke, the cheapest one CI offers (or used to offer) and generic non-CigarFest-related graphics and tiny, I noticed the cigars were better this year. Less filler. Less utter garbage this time (no more Palma Real, for example).

I think they might be trying to improve what matters (the cigars) at the expense of stuff that's less important (yet another ashtray nobody really needs).

But yeah, once the cheapest (2:30 PM entry) ticket hits $200, I'm out. I suspect that'll be next year.
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JGKAMIN Offline
#11 Posted:
Joined: 05-08-2011
Posts: 1,388
You both keep saying Ashton, don’t you mean JC Newman? Ashton gives out the La Aroma de Cuba at a different stand while JC Newman gave you a choice of mild, medium and full flavor. And while th3 price does continue to go up, as I’m sure their expenses do, you still get your monies worth IMO. Other festivals cost more and you get a fraction of the sticks. Between the bag, filled humidor, sticks from vendors, signs, swag from vendors, beer, liquor and food, I got my monies worth.
Pudding Mittens Offline
#12 Posted:
Joined: 08-15-2016
Posts: 1,291
JGKAMIN wrote:
You both keep saying Ashton, don’t you mean JC Newman? Ashton gives out the La Aroma de Cuba at a different stand


Oh right, brain fart. Too much rum when I wrote that. I don't know what the other guy's excuse is, but I just followed his lead because I was tipsy.

My point about Ashton/Fuente being flavorless to me and several buddies still stands though. Herfing
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