This past Sunday, I spent another great evening at Smokers Den. Officially, it was a Super Bowl / Chili Cook off party. Unofficially, it was also the first anniversary of Morgan and Leslie’s ownership of the business.
When I arrived in the afternoon, there were half a dozen guys playing touch football in the back parking lot. I wasn’t crazy enough to join them so I just snapped a few photos and then went into the shop to pick out some smokes.
Shortly after my arrival, the Chili Cook off competition began. There were eight entries ranging from mild to burn a hole in your gut. Everyone who was not entered in the competition were welcome to be judges.
After some tough judging and lots of tabulations by Leslie, a winner was declared and was presented with a cool gift basket filled with cigars, cigar accessories and snacks. We also participated in the first round of raffle prizes before the game began.
Throughout the early part of the event, Smokers Den had a roller in house putting together some great fresh rolled cigars. I have a fw resting in my humidor and I’m looking forward to trying them soon.
As a pleasant surprise, Wes Gensel of Monte Pascoal Cigars and his Wife, Fernanda arrived to watch the game with the growing crowd. Wes also generously donated a sample pack of Monte Pascoal as a raffle prize.
Brian “The Lion” Willingham, an independent rep and good friend of mine also arrived with two bundles of cigars. One bundle had a Ravens logo band and the other had a Forty Niners band.
At last, it was game time and there were four indoor screens plus one large screen outdoors for people to watch the game on. Someone even brought a firepit that came in handy since it did get very cool out later that evening.
Half time brought out the the second round of raffles where many people won some great smokes including an excellent Oliva sampler.
While waiting for the power outage at the stadium to be resolved, I was offered some V6 Rye Vodka by a local distiller from Port Richey called Empire Winery & Distillery. I’m not a big fan of vodka but this particular spirit had an unusual flavor with a slightly sweet finish that paired well with the habano house blend I was smoking at the time.
The game ended and unfortunately none of my numbers hit in the box pool. Nevertheless, Smokers Den put on another great party and I’m looking forward to the next event.
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