The Utter Annihilation of THE Irish on Xmas **Pics Added**
90+ Irishman
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EPIC... That is all I will say for now... Not only did my SS RAPE me, but a local ex-shop owner kicked my azz back to the stone age... Oh yeah and an ORIGINAL Pre-release OpusX from the VERY FIRST batch of OpusX's EVER produced AND a Jonathan Drew ORIGiNAL FIRST release box AND stick from when they were La Viaje and selling cigars from the bottom of the World Trade Center... THAT EPIC... Pics to follow soon 
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I recently found a new b&m that is not only closer than the one I was going to, but also cheaper prices and a more exclusive humi selection. It's a place called Barlow's and last year the owner, a man named Trey Barlow, sold it to the current owner Sam. I personally met both of them the past two times I was in there and was simply dumbfounded by their willingness to speak to me and school me on some of the newer things going on in the tobacco industry, but also to sit down with me and share stories about extraordinary events from the past. Note, there is a picture framed in one of the lounges (FYI it is one of the FEW Diamond Crown licensed lounges in the USA) with Carlito giving Sam a headlock and them both laughing.... and another with Sam and Joes Seijas and his wife. Sam and Trey are close personal friends with some of the top dogs in the old families which is one of the reason that I know that the knowledge is not only legit but a true honor to even hear and have someone share with me. A few nights ago Brett and I met up for a stick where he flat fu(k broke me in half after I learned that he was my SS. About an hour later Brett and I were talking to Trey about crops, tobacco, and specifically Nicaragua and Dominican tobacco and sticks. Here is where we shift gears...
Trey walked over to his locker and motioned for the two Brett's to follow. After he opened it up he started to pull out a few things.... I quite literally nearly had a heart attack after some of the things that he so generously showed us and shared the stories behind them with. 100+ year old Partagas'... Partagas 155th Anniversary smoke (I think it was the 155th but it might have been older... yeah that rare as in down to only a handful left in the world) a ISOM Partagas Culebra wrapped in foil etc etc. After all of this he pulls out an OLD OpusX box.... as in from the 1995 ORIGINAL harvest and pre-release since it is the slide-top OpusX box with the 1995 release date on it. After he digs through it to see what goodies are stashed in he stops and says "Hmmmph I thought I smoked all of these..." and pulls out one of the Original OpusX's from the VERY first harvest... and HANDS IT TO ME! Sure it's a liiiiiitle beat up, hell it's nearly as old as I am bwahahaha! After he puts everything back, I try to hand the stick back... he says NO, it's yours.... you'll enjoy it more than I will now
About thirty minutes later he disappears for a few and comes back with an old wooden box with a few leather patches on it that say La Vieja Habana.... He hands the box to me and says this is the ORIGINAL Drew Estate brand before they WERE Drew Estate. He starts in on another truly amazing story of how he first met Jonathan Drew and Marvin at the trade show their first year. Trey was walking the aisles and was just about to pass there booth, which btw was two fold-up plastic tables with just the two of them at it and their cigars and nothing else. Jonathan stood up and pointed at Trey and said VERY loudly.."YOU! YOU need to try my cigar!!". Trey laughed and said well I just lit up this one in my hand so how bout another time? Jonathan came over, grabbed the stick and threw it away in an ashtray, grabbed one of his and stuck it in Trey's mouth and started to light it without asking or questions LOL.... turns out it was THE best stick at the show Trey said, and that is how he ended up with this box since he started one of the first relationships with them and stocked there stuff years back and still do! After hearing all of this I notice that there is something rolling around inside the box... I open it to find one cigar still inside.... yeah Trey blew my azz up as well AGAIN! The cigars were the first cigar to be produced from Nick Perdomo from his factory back before he had contracted it out to other companies like he does today. I am floored and amazed by the kindness of this community no matter where I go, and am humbled like no other.... Brett, Trey, Sam and everyone else here as well. THANK YOU! And now without further ado... the Pictures!