Drew Estate Cancels Barn Smoker Series Due to Coronavirus; Cancels Virtual Event (Update)

The latest event to be affected by the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic is the Drew Estate Barn Smoker series, as today the company announced that it was cancelling all of the Barn Smoker  events for 2020. However, it’s not all bad news, as the company is launching the “Barn Smoker Goodwill Act of 2020,” a program that will bring the event to ticket holders via a virtual event.

Update (Nov. 3, 2020) — Drew Estate has announced that it is canceling its Florida Virtual Barn Smoker event due to an increased number of coronavirus COVID-19 cases in Florida.

As part of the program, all attendees who purchased a ticket at any tier level will immediately receive a complete refund. In addition, each ticket holder will be asked to submit their address, as  Drew Estate will be shipping free of charge the complete 2020 Barn Smoker Swag Set that they would have received by attending their ticketed event, though the package does not include cigars. It is scheduled to ship on Aug. 1.

Then, on the date of each scheduled Barn Smoker, Drew Estate will launch a two-hour “Virtual Barn Smoker Herf,” hosted on Facebook Live and open to everyone. The company said that while the herfs aren’t designed to replicate the Barn Smoker experience, it still wants to celebrate the events by including the company’s Ambassadors and Farmer Partners, who will tell a new part of the story not previously showcased during other Barn Smoker Festivals.

Drew Estate is also making a donation of $50,000 to Cigars for Warriors, which the company said doubles down on its commitment to deployed troops.

“It is with great sadness that we’ve come to this decision,” said Jonathan Drew, co-founder and president of Drew Estate, via a press release. “Barn Smoker, alongside Cigar Safari, are the experiential programs that we are most deeply connected to here at Drew Estate. I’m also incredibly appreciative to our Consumer Engagement Team, who architected the concept of the Barn Smoker Goodwill Act of 2020, in my opinion, going above and beyond for our supporters, our extended family, who had made plans to join us on the sacred farms. We thank you for your love and support.”

The dates for the Virtual Barn Smoker Herfs are as follows:

• Pennsylvania Barn Smoker Virtual Event — July 25
• Connecticut Barn Smoker Virtual Event — August 8
• Kentucky Barn Smoker Virtual Event — September 26
• Louisiana Barn Smoker Virtual Event — October 4
• Florida Barn Smoker Virtual Event — November 14

The times for the events will be announced closer to each event.

The Drew Estate Barn Smoker events bring consumers to five sites around the United States from which Drew Estate sources some of its tobacco. They features tours of the tobacco facilities and education about the process of getting tobacco from seed to cigar. Attendees receive exclusive cigars and lunch, as well as participate in a raffle that benefits Cigars for Warriors.

The company had already been forced to postpone the Florida event, as in March they announced that it would be moving from May 14 to November 14.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.