Dutch Big Smoke 2018

Dutch Big Smoke 2018. September is always a busy month in the European cigar industry. Most of the manufacturers travel to Europe for the largest tobacco trade show in the world, Intertabac in Dortmund. They take the opportunity to visit their distributors in several countries for events. Those events are getting bigger each year.

A little history

In 2011, the Dutch blog Sigarenliefhebber, got in touch with some distributors and shops to start the Dutch Big Smoke. Of course with some different rules as the American Big Smoke due to regulations. In the years after it grew to become the largest European consumer-based event with 500 tickets sold. Then the government found a way to shut it down.

Luckily, after a hiatus of just one year, in 2016, Sasja van Horssen, owner of the first and so far only all Nicaraguan cigar shop, Cigaragua, rebooted the event with a different setup, smaller but within regulations.

This year the event was spread over two days, Saturday the 15th of September in Amsterdam, at three locations, Van Lookeren Cigars, the world famous Hajenius and Cigaragua. Sunday the 16th the event was at Van Dalen Cigars in Den Bosch, Van Dalen Cigars in Rotterdam and a final party af Jacks’ Cigar Bar in Rotterdam.

This years guests were Bradley Rubin (Alec Bradley), Rodrigo Medina (Plasencia), Tom Mulder (La Sagrada Familia), Omar de Frias (Fratello), Abe Flores (PDR), Fransisco Batista (Balmoral), David Gonzalez Haya (Condega) and Sasja van Horssen himself, who’s releasing his own line of cigars soon. On Sunday at Jacks’ Jonathan Drew and his father, Baitfish Gary, made a short cameo stop too.