The PCA Trade Show In New Orleans
I’ve been going to the cigar industry trade show for 31 years, starting in 1995 in Orlando, Florida, when it was called the RTDA. I went to my first show about three weeks after getting hired and I’ll never forget it. I met a ton of people, many who I still talk to today, and learned quite a bit about the industry. Now the show (which is called PCA) is something I just cannot miss.
This year, I flew out to New Orleans on Thursday evening to help kick off the show itself. I was the moderator of a fireside chat at the Friday seminars. And not just any chat: this one starred Guy Fieri and Marlon Wayans.
Besides being famous, what do Fieri (the host of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”) and Wayans (the star of Scary Movie and “The Wayans Brothers”) have in common? They both love smoking cigars, and both of them are owners of cigar brands. Fieri owns Knuckle Sandwich with Erik Espinosa, and has been in the cigar industry since 2022. Wayans is an owner of Liga Tridente, a newer brand launched in 2025.
Moderating a seminar can be tough work. You need to prepare and ask questions, keep the audience engaged and, most of all, keep your panelists talking so the crowd doesn’t get bored. Well, I had the easiest moderating assignment ever, because Guy and Marlon really wowed the crowd. All I had to really do was get out of the way. It’s never a dull moment with either of those two on stage and the audience really enjoyed what they had to say. I did as well. (If you wish you could have watched something like this in action, sign up right now for our Big Smoke Las Vegas seminars while we still have tickets available—I’ll have Guy on stage for that show.)
Our website is filled with news stories about the new smokes shown off at the PCA convention (check our news feed) and there’s lots more coming. Managing editor Greg Mottola is working on a comprehensive roundup that will compile highlights from the show. I smoked a ton of cigars, from the new to the familiar. Some standouts for me (I couldn’t smoke everything) included the San Cristobal Golden Hour from Ashton, the Fuente Fuente OpusX Baby Shark, the Gellis Family Cigars Essentials (a flavorful, tiny cigar measuring only 4 1/2 by 32), Crowned Heads Moonflower, the Padrón Family Reserve No. 50 and the Oliva Serie V Melanio Churchill. Those last two are far from new, but I smoked them on the showroom floor and they were damn good.
The trade show is a grind—a good grind, but still a grind. Each day starts pretty early, and the days end quite late, often early in the morning. You’re constantly walking, constantly talking and it’s hard to describe just how many cigars we smoke. OK, I know none of you feel bad for me and you’re right. It’s work, but it’s fantastic work, and the industry is filled with good people I just love being around.
But of course, there’s more to New Orleans than the trade show—it’s also a city with impressive food and tons of energy. A few standout dishes: Emeril’s, now run by Emeril Lagasse’s son E.J., is impeccable, with a superb tasting menu. If you go, plan for a very long visit. His take on his father’s smoked salmon cheesecake was amazing: Petrossian caviar atop smoked salmon, with dill, crème fraîche and flecks of gold leaf. Ridiculous. On a far more casual note, breakfast at Two Chicks was the perfect, hearty way to prepare myself for a long day of smoking cigars. The grits were the best I’ve ever had.
And my final dinner was with some of the Cigar Aficionado staff at GW Fins, a top-notch seafood restaurant in the French Quarter. I had one of their signature dishes, called Scalibut, where a piece of halibut is coated in thin-sliced scallops (a high-protein take on the classic French potato-crusted fish).
When we were walking back from the dinner, we headed down Bourbon Street. All of a sudden, we were pelted by beads, and we looked up to find Rocky Patel and his very large crew on the balcony at Galatoire’s. Soon we were up there as well, smoking more cigars, having another drink and enjoying the evening. By the time that day ended, we were well into the following morning.
