Live From NOLA PCA 2026 Day 1

Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo. We are live from Nola, base of operations for Sticks & Stones is the Element. First PCA, first time in New Orleans, so far not disappointing. We had a great dinner. Now I'm going to try something that I've been wanting to try since I bought it. La Petite C A by Crown Heads, rapidly one of my favorite brands in the cigar world. So we're hitting PCA day one tomorrow, very excited, so stoked. There's a lot of workshops tomorrow. Uh trade show doesn't open until Saturday. So tomorrow is workshops, there's a lot of neat stuff that's that's learning and education going down tomorrow morning. First thing we're doing is Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee, and then we hit the show. Plasencia is giving out the free cigars tomorrow with with registration. We're going to give this a snippy snippy. This is our first live stream, by the way. We are streaming this live on all of the channels. Give that a cold draw. Okay, not getting work. Okay, let's dance around the flame. Look at that palm tree in the back. How beautiful is that? Rough. So let me say if if you couldn't make it the P C A this year, or you can't make it the PCA for what if you're not in the trade or whatever, if there's something specifically you're looking for, DM us, comment, something and we will film that from PCA. We're going to be interviewing some people. If there's any questions that you have for any specific brands or people, let me know and I will make sure to ask those questions. Honestly, I wasn't going to do this podcast cuz I thought I was too tired from the drive in, hit like couple hours of traffic for no reason. But I figured it's day one, PCA, got to do something, right? This is pretty badass. I mean, it's not surprising, Crown Heads. Excited about the hoodie, got some merch. The draw on this is pretty outstanding. La Petite C A. Only thing I get out of that is cedar so far. Okay, so let's see. Where All right, so this cigar was released at PCA 2021. It was an exclusive. It then became a regular production stick out of Nicaragua. This is out of the Tabacalera Picardo, later the NACSA. Strength is medium to medium full. La Patissier is French for pastry chef. This cigar is basically Crown Heads leaning into dessert-inspired broadleaf profile. Similar in spirit to their La Crema line, which I love. The La Crema was like one of the first I've tried of theirs. So, let's see. What's inside this bad boy? The wrapper is Connecticut broadleaf Maduro. Binder is Nicaraguan out of Jalapa. Filler is Nicaraguan out of Ometepe, Pueblo Nuevo, and Costa Rica. The broadleaf gives you darker, sweeter, richer smoke. Jalapa binder is smooth, but slightly slightly spicy. I'm getting the spice a little bit. I'm getting that little peppery. And the mixed fillers is complexity and balance. It's designed to hit that sweet and savory earthy middle ground. I would say that's pretty accurate. So, the thing that the flavor profile, you should get some chocolate or cacao, coffee, espresso. Yeah, coffee coffee espresso I get. Leather, earth, baking spices, natural tobacco sweetness. Secondary notes that other people have picked up is caramel, toasted nuts, bread, molasses, or light pepper on the retrohale. Yeah, I definitely get the pepper on the retrohale. I wouldn't call this medium body. Okay, so let's let's go over what we're doing tomorrow. Okay, so everything opens up, registration opens up 10:00 a.m. So, the show is tomorrow 10:00 a.m. to 7:00. So, the welcome cigar is provided by Plasencia. First come, first serve. Obviously, limited quantities available. Then from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., so pretty much all day is the PCA Cafe open on the patio sponsored by Tatuaje. 12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. is the education session, which 12:00 p.m. is exclusive pairing session presented by La Aurora and E. Leon Jimenez Rum. Featuring master blender Manuel Inoa and national sales director Antonio Suarez sponsored by La Aurora. 1:00 p.m. to 1:45 is hand rolled, um which is Padron and sponsored by Padron. 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 is Hospitality Meets Ritual, the art of crafting unforgettable guest experiences sponsored by Rocky Patel Cigars. And then 2:45 to 3:00 3:15 p.m. is Nick Hammond Around the World in 80 Cigars. I'm excited about that one. The American Premium Cigar Story sponsored by J.C. Newman, another great company. Then we go 3:30 to 4:00 is annual meeting sponsored by Foundation. And then we go 4:00 to 5:00, uh which is the longest session, is business, entertainment, and branding of premium cigars. That's going to be a good one. Uh so that's a fire fireside chat with Marlon Wayans and Guy Fieri moderated by David Savona, executive editor of Cigar Aficionado. So I mean we're talking about big names here, guys. Those are big guns here. This is sponsored by Cigar Aficionado, Espinosa Premium Cigars, and Liga Terdente, and Marlon Wayans, which I didn't even know Marlon Wayans was a big cigar fan. And then we have the open reception from 5:00 to 7:00, and that's at Mississippi River Heritage Park sponsored by Espinosa Premium Cigars, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, Xikar, and E.P. Taylor and CAO. So that's going to be a big one. Then the open the the open reception continued or part two is at the warehouse, formerly the Sugar Mill, sponsored by the Leaf Master and World Cigar Show. And then we've got 9:00 p.m. to 9:45, Best of Leaf Award and Step Up Awards for the warehouse. So, that's an award ceremony. Evening manufacturer hosted events is 9:45 to 2:00 a.m. at two different clubs or two different bars. So, the whole all of PCA goes to 2:00 in the morning. So, everybody's going to be wrecked going home. Then Saturday, April 18th, we have the welcome cigar being provided by Alliance Cigar. Um the cafe is open all day pretty much, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Uh 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. is pack and media early entry. That's us. Uh 11:30 to 12:30 is lunch. 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. is the happy hour lounge sponsored by My Father Cigar. And then the evening manufacturer hosted events starts at 8:00, goes to 2:00 in the morning. And the two the two spots that this is all going down at is is the warehouse and Cuban Creation Cigar Bar. And then Sunday Sunday's going from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. So, this is new starting at 9:30 a.m. The welcome cigar is provided by EGM cigars. Super excited about that. I've been seeing it all over social media. Want to check that out. Uh first come, first serve. Patio again open all day. Pack and media early entry into the event. Trade show open to all attendees at 10:00 a.m. Booth awards and voting opens at 11:00 a.m. 11:30 to 2:30 p.m. is lunch. So, from 2:00 to 4:00 is education and ad- advocacy in the PCA lounge at 2:00 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 is the future premium cigar retail. Fireside chat with industry leaders, Lito Gomez from La Flor Dominicana, founder and owner, ProCigar president, Scott Regina Emerson Cigar president PCA uh executive board member, moderated by Ricardo Carioni of PCA. And then from 3:00 to 3:45, we have advocacy in action tools for today's retailers led by Josh Habursky and Glenn Lupe of PCA. Then from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. is the PCA happy hour lounge sponsored by Oliva Cigar Company. And then the evening manufacturer hosted events is from 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. again at the warehouse and Cuban Creations Cigar Bar. Monday, April 20th, the cigar the welcome cigars is sponsored by Flor de Mi Pueblo. Cafe's open all day. Uh 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Trade show opens at 10:00 to all attendees at 10:00 to 4:00. Lunch is 11:30 to 2:30. 1:00 p.m. booth awards voting closes. And then from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. is the PCA happy hour lounge. And I'm assuming there's going to be several PCA lounges around the venue. And next year PCA 2027's going down March 5th through 8th in Las Vegas at the convention center. Very interesting. Very very interesting. Very exciting. I don't know what to expect cuz this is my first PCA. Won't be the last. And I got to say, New Orleans is this part of New Orleans, downtown, pleasantly surprising. A lot of really cool stuff. A lot more artsy than I thought it was going to be. There's a lot of galleries and a lot of artful stuff. I got nothing bad to say about this thing. I can't wait to see these guys booth. I don't know what they're going to be displaying. I know that um I know that they're unveiling Moon Flower. That's the new stick that they've done. Very interesting. Excited to do the first live episode of Sticks and Stones. Our regularly scheduled program is Tuesdays and Thursdays, guys. We drop new episodes every Tuesday, every Thursday. Espresso chocolate, cedar, definitely. Spice on the retro hail, 100%. As always, I have not come across a shitty Crowned Head stick yet. I mean, look at that ash. The burn is pretty damn good. It's been sitting in my mobile humidor for weeks now. Smoke output is great. Oh, yeah. So, I'm going to enjoy the rest of this stick. I'm going to enjoy the first night in Nola, and we are going to come up with some really good programming for you guys all of 2020 PCA 2026. We're going to be broadcasting from this. We're going to be interviewing live at the show and bringing you guys all the great cigar content. So, remember, if there's something you want to see, something you want to learn about cigars, brands that are unveiling some stuff. I mean, there's all kinds of people coming to the show. So, Promethius is going to be there. Zikar is going to be there. Everybody's going to be there. If there's something in particular you want to see, let me know, and I will film it, and I will put it on YouTube. We may do it live. Just let me know. Comment, DM. You can also get me at host@ssshow Let me get it out. Give you the address. host@s-show.com. So, shoot us an email there, and we will film what you want. Until tomorrow's live episode, I am going to bid everyone good night. Stay blessed, and above all else, keep it rolling, guys.