I got the road before 7:00 AM, but it didn’t matter.

It was HOT.

Between Barstow and Baker it was already 111 degrees by 9:00. There were several overheated vehicles on the side of the highway, and countless scattered rubber carcasses from what used to be tires. I had a case of water in the car for emergency purposes. I did not want to get stuck in the desert on a day like this.

I arrived at the PCA 2021 Cigar show around 11:30, and since I was a guest of La Palina for the event, I headed straight to their exhibit. Sitting there, ready to greet me, looking incredibly dapper, was the man himself: Bill Paley, Jr.

I dropped my bag, said my hellos to the team (including my best friend Matt Freerks) and got ready to hit my appointments. With so many exclusive cigars being sold only at the show, and rumors that many of them were on the verge of selling out already, I didn’t want to waste any time.

It was time to load up on inventory.

My first appointment was with Padron, who was offering the Family Reserve No. 95 as a PCA exclusive release. Padron’s founder Josê Orlando Padrón would have turned 95 years old on June 10; hence the tribute. I grabbed multiple boxes of both the natural and the maduro, both at 4 3/4 x 60.

Since I placed a healthy order, my Padron rep walked me over to the vault and grabbed me something special as a thank you: the 1964 Padron Anniversary. I had never had one, so I lit it up right there.

When I walked back over to put some ordering receipts in my bag, my buddy Matt asked me what I was smoking.

“They seriously just gave you that?” he asked in shock. “That’s a serious cigar. That’s a freaking masterpiece of a cigar.”

Indeed it was.

More soon.

-David Driscoll