I was very fortunate to have attended my first-ever Herf tonight....and I must say what a Great time I had!

First of all our location couldn't have been sweeter. On the Seattle waterfront, perfect!!

Everyone showed up that said they would, and great passes were done by all. We all burned a couple each, and the conversation was enough to make me want to herf on a weekly basis.

Thank you: DBguru, turnberry, johnfs, redsquid, Kazama, and our other non-CBidders for such a great time! It was a real pleasure meeting you guys, and we MUST do this more often.

To keep this in Cigars and Related and not get slapped(sorry Slim)...I smoked: a Torano 1916 Toro, my FIRST short story(yum), and a Kazama gifted Brazilia Pirahna. OMG, these 3 smokes were amazing! All different, but perfect for the time and place.

Best wishes and I hope to do it again soon,

Dave
Smelly

This was also my first, and was amazed when I looked at my watch and saw that the herf that was scheduled to end at 6pm was still going at 9! What a great bunch of guys. I learned so much just listening to all the great conversations and pumping everyone for information.

Smoked my first Torano Exodus 1959 torpedo, a gift from Redsquid. Great smoke. The only problem is now I have another cigar to lust after in the lots. I can hold off for a short while cause dbguru was kind enough to gift me another. There were so many sticks flying at me that I fear I will not remember who gave me what. Dbguru just bombed me with a fist full of sticks before I could even get my coat off. Matt I will be seeing you soon. John, I can't wait to smoke that Punch Gran Puro you were so generous with. Smelly, I am going to save that MX2 for a very special occasion. What a gift! I feel like I shorted you with what I had to offer vs what you gave me. Actually I kind of feel that way about everyone there, but it seems to me that I owe you something, so the next herf I will try to bring you something really cool. Or lets shoot some pool.

I will try to give you reviews of all the great, new sticks that I got, but you guys might have to help me out with who gave me what among the rest of the 'gars I ended up with.

All in all a great time. Thanks guys!

Wish I could have made it but the three hour drive there and then back was just a bit much to add to my schedule since Im packing up to leave saturday morning to go back to college. If it had been a week ago I probably could have made it. Oh well maybe ill be up in the area again when there is a herf.

Got pictures???

Squid has some on pictures on film. I would like to thank Jon Huber and the generosity of CAO for giving me the oppertunity to hand out the Trucker caps. Fantastic trades, I came home with a Salsa, Don Douglas, Sun grown Serie 55, Fuente 858, Perdomo 2, and the New Years pack from DB. Simply put OUTSTANDING!

What a great group of guys and what a great time!!!. Thank you cbid forums for helping to bring us all together. Last night we evolved from the happy hour mini herf to a major league herf the night away event. Seattle's McCormicks on Lake Union is such a nice spot for this.

The cigar trading was fantastic. What an opportunity to try all sorts of new smokes. I can't begin to list off all the great stuff I traded for. A few come to mind are the CAOs from Kazama (he got a few Padrons in return_, the Ashton VSG from Turnberry, and the Buc full sail from Smelly4tay.

McCormicks is such a great place during happy hours. That $2.00 1/2 pound hamburger with fries and all the trimmings that Turnberry ordered looked great. They pour so many great single malt scotches which johnfs and I were slurping away. And the reunion with my high school classmate, Kazama who I haven't seen for 30 years was very special. We got some catching up to do.

With Smelly4Tay and Kazama and others joining Turnberry, Redsquid, JohnFS and myself (DBGuru), we really have a nice Brotherhood of the Leaf coalescing here in Seattle.

If you're our here on the forums, live in the Seattle area or are active on the forums and plan on coming up here to visit, page us so you can synch up with our future herfing events. If last night sets the tone, then you just don't want to miss it.

Wish I could have stayed past 6:30pm. Wow!!,you guys went until 9pm. Maybe next time I arrange to stay later.

Terribly slow with pictures. I just found my roll with the last herf, and should be up shortly if they come out. Hopefully this round will not be so long in coming. What a great bunch of guys. It seems everyone was more reticent to take a premo than to give one (or three, or five). Generosity, and conversation flowing for hours. If you haven't met up with other cigar brothers (and sisters) in your area, I highly recommend trying it.

It was indeed a fine time! Not sure how but when I looked in the traveling humi this morning it was considerably better stocked than it was at the start of the evening. I think the package John dropped on me before I had even sat down at the table contributed as did a trade or two with everybody else if memory serves.

But the happy hour cheeseburger was a bit on the dry side. But at $1.95 who cares! Can't wait until next time!

Hey I was the one who layed the 5 pack on you.....

Happy new year

Oh and by the way I want to hear about those 7 year old Padron 3000s I spread around.

Took a late lunch today. Grabbed a sandwich and ate at Volunteer Park. Sat in the center of Tsutakawa's sculpture "Black Sun" and fired up the Padron from Dbguru with three years of box aging. It really started out with a bang. Strong and powerful. I thought for a moment that it might be too strong. But like a Honduran caballero of a certain age who kicks open the barroom door and stares down everyone in the room before quietly settling in at the bar with a single malt scotch, neat with a water back, this Padron proved itself a gentleman and settled down after a few puffs. Smooth, elegant, with hints of leather and the oily, bitter sweetness of walnuts, it just got better and more complex as it burned down. Slow, even burning, I wanted to see how long the ash would hold since I was outside. Ash was white to pale gray with small striations of darker gray, I smoked over half the stick before I lost my nerve and dropped off over 2.5 inches of compact ash. The sun was shining and the sky streaked with clouds that were matched by the smaller, aromatic streams that I was creating. Perfect setting for a great smoke.
I am eyeing that AF Chateau Double Fuente Sungrown now.
Thanks Matt!

db..........see, I told you I was confused! You were handing and John was talking and I was still taking my coat off!

And if not mistaken the Fuente I smoked with coffee this morning was a Don Carlos which came from that very generous package right?

Yeah db was like the coolest UPS guy, just droppin' sweet packages for everybody. I was gonna wait on the IT prefectos, but I think one is gonna die tomorrow.

When you guys decide to have one a bit further south, like maybe Chehalis or Longview, let me know.
I wouldn't mind going to one, but I live on the coast in Oregon and a drive to Seattle is tough to get away for.

Also, any of you go to Mariner's games?
Maybe one of these times we could hook up for a mini herf.

Hey Redsquid, what's your email? I have a question for you.

Kazama. redsuid, johnfs.......I want e-mails. Please?

I have Matt's ,and fred's.

Who brought Scott? Was that Johnfs? Really nice guy, and the perfect victim for some smelly4tay bombing. Sounded like he wasn't a comp. guy, and I may need to wait till next herf.

Kazama, I found another Brazilia pirahna in my batch of goodies. I don't remember if I got 2 sittin there with you, or you slipped it my box while I was in the restroom, but I thank you. It climbed the list of my fave's quickly. Leave your addy in the e-mail, cause I got those shipments we were talking about. Our likes our similar, and I really enjoyed meeting you. I'll send a few your way to try out.

Until the next herf....the best wishes to everyone!

Dave

Smelly, where you been?
I thought you might have abandoned us.

I need your email too. Why don't you email me your snail address. Wanna give you another reason to say hi to the mailman.

PS
I counted three caps and lots and lots of tiny white squares. Looks good? Looks gooooddd. Smells good too.

Kazama

larrykazama
att
net

Jon@CAO, thank you very much for the cool CAO cap!

I just LOVE those CAO's! Afraid to mention names, don't want to drive up prices any higher. Think darkside.

Thanks!