January’s Epic Smoke || Paris Smokeasy
I never know how the first smoke of the year is going to be for attendance. It’s usually cold, half the time wet, most people are still in that lull from the holiday’s recovery and just don’t want to go out. Our members didn’t disappoint as we started the year with a big turnout for a first-time “Epic Smoke.”
We started by officially recognizing our ten new 2024 members into the club, they are Brandon Bottleman, the Honorable Dr Robert Bridges, John Brockman, Jim Cox, Candy Eich & Tom Eich, Jessica Nation Holtman, Howard K. Jones, Nathan Kemper, and Dustin Schiff. We highlighted some club anniversaries and recognized Kyle Creacy (aka Miata) as our newest addition to the Board of the Humidor (our executive committee). Karl Kemper got his official nickname as “Piglet” which was voted on in late December.
I call this an Epic smoke for two reasons, I’ll get to the obvious right away and the 2nd you will read about shortly. Dean Parsons is the founder of Epic Cigars. This is the first time Dean has presented his line of cigars to the Paris Smokeasy Club and for Rigby’s Cigars & Lounge to start carrying in their humidor.
Dean has an interesting path leading him to the world of the leaf. Originally from Canada, he spent 10 years in Law Enforcement with time spent in Uniform Traffic Patrol, Motorcycle Patrol, Community Crime, Drug Investigations, and SWAT, as well as being a Firearms Instructor. He then got into Real Estate in the Turks & Caicos Islands. He began traveling to the Dominican Republic (DR) in 2005, after several years and uncounted trips he founded and trademarked Epic Cigars in 2010.
From his website, it states “Working closely with master blender, Rolando Antonio Villamil for more than 10 years, Parsons dedicated all of his time learning and expanding his knowledge of tobacco cultivation, aging, fermentation and the art of blending Premium Cigars.” It says they only use the finest tocerdor’s (which is Spanish for Cigar Roller) with decades of cigar-making experience. They incorporate the highest quality tobaccos available from the DR and other countries from within the tobacco world in their premium cigar blends.
Epic Cigars are currently available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Lebanon, Dubai and many other countries. Dean is also the National Brand Manager for Nat Cicco Cigars, which is from Zander-Greg, Inc., a Pasadena, California-based importer/distributor.
For this cigar night, we had the Epic Maduro Fuerte Compinche (Toro) in a 6 ½” x 54-gauge. It is a medium-bodied stick with a Brazilian Arapiraca Wrapper over an African Cameroon Binder with both Dominican and Nicaraguan Fillers. The mix of the Cameroon Binder and Brazilian Wrapper is what sets it apart for me. We had 61 people present trying it for the first time. In the last six years, we have only had 4 cigars hit a 93 or better club rating. Well, this stick just made it in the Top 5 of all time with a Redneck Ratin of 94 out of 100. I cannot recommend strongly enough for you to try this stick, it earned that rating for a reason!
Our sponsor for the night was WeDraw3D-Paris Drafting represented by the club president…. me. We do custom home, commercial, and light industrial full-set floor plans designed in 3D so our clients can see what it will look like before it is built. Providing permit-ready plans in Paris and the surrounding areas. It is a veteran-owned business.
February’s Sponsor will be The Gritchy, Abby Kemper, with her new Jewelry line she is designing. It is on display at the Art Gallery in the Chamber of Commerce building downtown and online at https://fouroaksalchemy.com/.
Written by JD Marrs
Hosted by Rigby’s
Photo Credit: Rigby’s Humidor
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