Studio Tobac Event, June 25, 2011

Burns Tobacconist, East - Chattanooga, TN

It was a long time in coming to get one of these events back in this location. Soon after the NUb first debuted, that tour brought the NUb Mini Cooper to Burns for an event...and soon after that there was a falling out...a misunderstanding, perhaps...NUb was banished from the store for a long time. If you're in Chattanooga and want all the details, talk to Burns manager, Matt Allen...and maybe he'll tell you...or maybe not. The bottom line, though, is that the frosty relations between Burns and Oliva's innovative arm, Studio Tobac, have thawed, bringing the 2011 World Tour to our doorstep.

We packed into Burns on Saturday, June 25, to buy Cains and NUbs, get our hands on the Limited Edition event sampler, and see Bryan Scholle roll some one-of-a-kind cigars. Bryan has been driving the custom Studio Tobac Corvette around the eastern part of the country for the past several weeks and will be taking it all the way to the west coast and back again before the trip is over in November. They estimate that before they are through, the Corvette will have around 35,000 miles on it, although there's no telling what speeds the car might achieve in getting there. I asked Bryan about the issue of driving fast with a trailer (yes, a Corvette with a trailer hitch...very redneck...and a custom trailer) and he pointed out that the trailer tires are Z-rated.

A sudden downpour caused Bryan to run outside to put the top up on the convertible and made it feel like an outdoor sauna to those who were not enjoying the air conditioning inside. Bryan handed me a special event-only blend that he does (I'll decline to state the name of said blend here since it got another cigar blog listed as "erotica"...let's just say "Hee-Haw") and told me that it might be problematic to smoke it because the tobacco had swollen so much as the humidity went through the roof. This blend is 100% Ligero...not the wimpy 83% contained in the Cain, mind you, but ALL Ligero. Throwing caution to the wind, I went ahead and lit up this fat-bottomed stogie (I had just finished a Cain F, by the way). I had trouble getting it lit...I had trouble keeping it lit. The leaf was so wet that it was difficult to get the full effect, but I will say it was a very good cigar that not many people should ever attempt to smoke. Take everything you know about strong cigars and throw it out the window. While not the most complex cigar in the world, this stick was quite tasty and undeniably had a kick like a mule. Thank you to Bryan for making a few of these for some of us in attendance.

If the Studio Tobac event comes to your neighborhood this summer or fall, make a point to get out and enjoy it. Box purchases get a goodie bag including a hat or t-shirt, cool travel ashtray and a few other things...but the main event is the Limited Edition Sampler, featuring 6 cigars that you can't get anywhere else at this point. A few of these might see the light of day as regular or limited production sticks at some point...or they might not. The stick I'm looking forward to most is the Cain F Lancero, which is scheduled as a limited edition release later this year.

I posted more pictures from the event on my Facebook page.