PCA 2023: Top Three Things — Patrick Lagreid

I don’t know if there’s a time of the year when I feel more worn out than the days immediately before the PCA Convention & Trade Show. We start working on trade show things about two-and-a-half months earlier, so by the time the show comes around, I’ve been writing articles and having conversations with dozens of companies for upwards of 10 weeks. I can’t tell you how many articles I write, e-mails and texts I send, and brainpower I use up during that time, but it’s a lot. And it all comes on top of my other work, which is also in its busy seasons.

Yet when I get to the trade show, I find some renewed energy from the people, products, and general shared excitement about the industry. I’ve tried to think about just what in particular sparks the reserves and seemingly works better than a double espresso, and I could mention a lot of things. Brooks already mentioned J.C. Newman’s El Reloj Lego set, and while I liked The American All-Star Humidor made from part of the 2011 NBA All-Star Game court, it just missed my cut this year. If we’re being honest, it would be conversations I had with people that top my list, but since those don’t really qualify, and I wouldn’t want to disclose everything discussed, here’s what did stand out:

1. My Father’s New Limited Editions

This is technically more than one thing, but it seemed like the company really nailed the 20th anniversary celebration of the Don Pepin Garcia brand, starting with a gorgeous limited edition and then upping the ante with an even more limited edition Elie Bleu humidor that comes with two variations on the Don Pepin Garcia Original line, the one often referred to as the Blue Label. And that’s before looking at the La Union project with Tatuaje, which celebrates the two decades of those two brands’ relationship and comes in a sizable humidor and with two sets of releases. While I have to think that there will be some grumbling about the prices and exclusivity of these releases,

My Father knocked seemed to knock it out of the park with these releases and has me hoping the cigars will live up to the packaging.

2. The BCA Pavillion

Going into the show, I was intrigued about this, both in terms of what it would look like and how it would function. I was expecting a big tent or something similar, since that is part of the definition of what a pavilion is, but even without it I was impressed. It wasn’t the flashiest space on the floor, with 16 of the same structure spread around the space and trade show-standard seating filling up the rest of the space, but that didn’t stop a steady stream of retailers from coming through, meeting these smaller brands and placing some orders. I was also impressed that some of the larger members of the BCA—Garo Cigars and Kafie 1901 Cigars—were in the pavilion as well, helping to attract more retailers, as opposed to having their own booth on the floor. And no one seemed to have any issue with the BCA being there or how the pavilion came about.

I’m incredibly impressed by this debut and very intrigued to see how things evolve for 2024.

3. The American All-Star Humidor

While baseball is my sport of choice, I have gotten back into basketball in recent years after a couple years bemoaning the death of the Seattle SuperSonics. Part of this is professional, as I work for the Phoenix Mercury and Suns, but also because I generally enjoy the game, and like many people of my age, thought that I, too, could be Michael Jordan—or in my case Karl Malone. Regardless, to see the humidor that J.C. Newman had created out part of the court from the 2011 NBA All-Star Game was pretty intriguing, and to think that Drew Newman went out of his way to make sure I stopped by and saw it, knowing that it would be of interest given my other professional endeavors was the kind of added touch that I just don’t find from many other companies.

I don’t know if one of these will ever end up in my office, but I really like the idea of adaptive reuse — now if only I could get J.C. Newman to make me a humidor from all the broken baseball bats I have lying around.