1996 ASC/ICG
Post Xmas Honolulu Cigar Crawl
|
1996 ASC/ICG |
Left to Right: Jon Yamada, Garrett Ing, Lloyd Tsukayama, and Jim Mulligan at 1997 Waikiki Mini-Crawl
Happy New Year and Aloha!
The first ASC/ICG Post Xmas Honolulu Cigar Crawl was held on Dec.
28, 1996. Since it was held on the last Saturday between Xmas and
New Year's Eve (which is a BIG deal in Hawaii), the turnout was
small (like real small with just three of us)! But we didn't mind
all that much since it was our first crawl. We were hoping to
visit the following shops in three to four hours:
Don Pablo's at Aloha Tower Marketplace,
The Liquor Collection at Ward Warehouse,
R. Field Wine Company at Ward Centre,
Don Pablo's (Across Ala Moana Shopping Center),
Tobaccos of Hawaii,
Alfred Dunhill of London in the Moana Surfrider,
Hyatt Tobacco & Gift Shop in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, and
The Cigar Room in Kaimuki.
First of all, let me tell you that it was another absolutely
beeeaaaaautiful Hawaiian day with clear blue skies, temps in the
high 70's/low 80's, and variable winds 10 to 15 mph! Perfect
weather for our first asc crawl! Like they say..."lucky you
live Hawaii"!
Attending the crawl was Wayne Lau, Jim Mulligan and myself. Wayne
was in Honolulu visiting from Singapore during the holidays. Jim
and I both live in Honolulu. The three of us met at Don Pablo's
at Aloha Tower Marketplace.
We found the selection at DP's to be pretty good. Wayne and Jim
loaded up on quite a few stogies. In a matter of seconds, Wayne
had his Thomas Hinds torp lighted with his cool Blazer Micro
Torch and we were on our way to the Ward Warehouse.
We met Noah Douglass at The Little Big Man Tobacco Company/The
Liquor Collection. They had a few LGC's as well as the infamous
"La Gloria's" and other brands. Although the selection
was a little sparse that day, he mentioned that they were
expecting to receive a shipment of Fuente OpusX and Don Carlos
"any day now"! As Arnold S. said...I'll be back!
Next stop was the R. Field Wine Company at the Ward Centre. Wide
selection, but all of the boxes of LGC's from their shipment
fifteen days earlier were gone...nada...zip...zero! A friend
later told me that they were sold out in three days. We left
fairly quickly because Wayne's torp was beginning to stink : )
and one of the clerks was giving us a funny look! Eh...wat you
looking at?!!!
We decided to just drive by Don Pablo's near Ala Moana since
their Aloha Tower shop already took all of our money! : ) Just
kidding! Actually, it was getting kind of late and we wanted to
see a few other shops. The next stop was Tobaccos of Hawaii on
Atkinson Drive. The walkin humidor was full. Many different
brands, types, & shapes. Of note were a few Flor de Gonzalez
(torp, corona and a big 60 ring Red Lion sized monster!), Bahia
Trinidad, ERDM, LGC, and the legendary Fuente Opus X!
Once we got a hold of ourselves, eagle-eyed Jim saw a
"Welcome asc-ers!" sign in the dor! Proprietor James
Holeman had read about the crawl in asc and the Hawaii Regional
City Listings. He treated us to a video of his recent trip to
Havana, Cuba, Cokes, and a Preferred Customer card! Wow!!! We
thanked him for his gracious hospitality (aka aloha) and headed
back to Aloha Tower Marketplace.
We finally settled in at an ocean view table at Gordon Biersch
and exchanged Bolivar Torps, La Gloria Cubana Torps, and El Rico
Habanos while sipping (guzzling for me) their fine micro brews.
We lit up our Bolivars and LGC's to a beautiful blazing orange
sunset! BTW, many thanks to ascer Jim Mulligan for picking up the
entire tab!
A beautiful day with new friends, free beers, Bolivars, LGC's,
ERH, and a Preferred Customer card from Tobaccos of Hawaii! All
in all, a great end to a great year! Much mahalo to ascers Wayne
Lau and Jim Mulligan! Your friendship, generosity and aloha are
what make asc such a special place. Also, much mahalo to all of
the shops, especially Noah Douglass and James Holeman!
Aloha,
DanO (thinking that he should have saved that
Bolivar!)
1996 ASC/ICG Post Xmas Honolulu Cigar Crawl Alumni
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