Cigar event etiquette.

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Permalink Reply by ryoga81 on October 8, 2009 at 11:07am

As long as it's not a CAO event, I'm sure you'll have a good time and find some helpful reps (but again, not at any CAO event, their reps are WAY too good to talk to you, you know, the customer that keeps them in business).

But yeah, event's are usually great fun with discounts on boxes and all that mess that SJB already mentioned.

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Permalink Reply by Brian D. on October 8, 2009 at 12:33pm

Ryoga, we must be lucky to have a very personable CAO/Torano rep in our area, by the name of Miguel. (I kinda know his last name but am sure I'd misspell it, maybe Micah from PS can help.) Anyhow, what you describe has happened with reps from a couple other companies over the years.

Jimbob/Babe and yourself have accurately described how cigar tastings generally go, so I'll leave it at that.

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Permalink Reply by Charming Karl, Cookie King on October 8, 2009 at 1:34pm

Wow, Ryoga, sorry your local CAO folks are such idiots. Ours here in the NYC area is great. In fact, whenever I hear of a CAO event, I always try to go (1) because I love their cigars, and (2) because their people are so great to hang out with.

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Permalink Reply by Brian D. on October 8, 2009 at 1:30pm

I dug up our rep's name on the CAO website: Miguel Schoedel. Or at least that's how the company spells it.

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Permalink Reply by Charming Karl, Cookie King on October 8, 2009 at 1:40pm

Mr. Key, the atmosphere of events can go either way. The folks running the event and putting on the show are bound to be outgoing, and will want to engage you and hope that you buy lots and lots of their cigars. But it's also a good chance for you to ask questions about the cigars. I've spoken to Rocky Patel at great length at his events, and learned a lot about cigars from him (that dude is really bright and very approachable).

As for other people attending, they may or may not be friendly. If you leave yourself open to interacting, you'll probably find the other folks who want to be social. Food and drink always help. If you're at a loss as to how to engage people, the simplest way to start is to say something like "wow, pretty awesome event, huh?" "what do you think of these cigars?" - that sort of thing.

Hope you enjoy the event, and please post and let us know how it went afterward!

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Permalink Reply by Key of One on October 8, 2009 at 2:21pm

This is all very good advice, and I'll be paying attention to all of it on Saturday.

I do have a digital camera, where I could take pics or short videos. Is there a rule against that? (I hope not)

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Permalink Reply by Key of One on October 11, 2009 at 5:34am

And so it goes...

Well, I did do some research on the cigars themselves before going, just to see what would be there, and what the brand lines are. I didn't expect too much, considering how I see things where I live, and I like the videos that Saint Jimbob has, or the videos of events at Satin Jack's. Still, even thinking those were cool, I didn't set my expectations too high for the event.

Good thing.

I arrived about 12:30 or so (I usually hate the idea of being 'fashionally late'. Loath it, really. But, I figured I'd get there not right at the start, and see how things were going.) I walked in to see, well, like 2 or three people by the counter, one of them the owner of the store. A table was off to one side, with about 10 or so boxes of different cigars.

I was approached by Mitch, the rep for this event. At first, he just looked curiously at me and said "Are you a cigar smoker?" Yeah, I feel awkward as it is, and that was a real help to trying to come out of my shell. >:| We talked a little...well, I answered a question or two while Mitch went through his spiel. I wasn't going to interrupt him, because this was his job, and he did seem genuine about the whole thing.

Not seeing the Esteban Carreras Habano Sixty I was hoping to try (And to defy my area B&Ms apparent allergy to anything over 54), I ended up picking out a Kristoff Ligero Robusto. The cigar was pretty nice; pleasant flavor, with a bit of spice towards the end that made the inside of my mouth tingle. Burned unevenly, however.

The owner, Ralph, offered to bring out a chair from the back so I could sit, due to one of his regulars taking up the couch, and Mitch taking a stool by the counter. I did accept after a while, and the owner seemed like an okay guy. Still, while I did add some stuff into the conversation going on (when they got to the occasional bad alcohol experience, but it didn't last long), a lot of the talk when it shifted to college football (not an interest of mine, but who the heck was I to dictate what folks talked about), and to 'people they knew' really just went over my head, and I didn't really get asked any questions. I didn't feel very...accepted?

I felt bad for Mitch at some points. Some of the other customers who would walk in and walk out for their own stuff would listen to him, and he made a few sales, but a lot of customers were really frickin' rude, just walking right past without a word (I mentioned antisocial tendencies in my area; it was out in full force). Though, I only bought the one cigar...expensive hobby, this. I'm not going to do well at all.

So, I finished my cigar eventually, and bounced out around 2 PM. I don't think anyone noticed. :)

Now, the Kristoff was all right, and this was...well, pretty much what I thought it was going to be like. Secretly, like the videos mentioned above, I was hoping for more.

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