你對雪茄和雪茄歷史了解的多嗎？好的，哪個標志性的棒球運動員喜歡雪茄、熱狗，還能擊出714個本壘打。沒錯，是貝比·魯斯。這算是體育問題。再看這個問題：拉奧羅拉雪茄的多米尼加ADN里有一種很特殊的煙草，是用原木發(fā)酵的，這是什么煙草？答案是andullo（拉丁語，安杜洛）。如果你也知道這個，你就有機會參加拉奧羅拉雪茄公司贊助的大煙熏午餐研討會期間舉辦的問答比賽。

這個早上，有美妙的雪茄，優(yōu)質的朗姆酒，還有行業(yè)的重量級人物講述他們生產(chǎn)的雪茄背后的故事。到了中午，會場將近600人也準備吃午飯了。拉奧羅拉家族的第三代、老板吉列爾莫·萊昂（Guillermo León）通過視頻向大家致辭，他無法親自參加大煙熏活動，委托克雷格·施瓦茨（Craig Schwartz）代表他來會場和大家介紹一下拉奧羅拉公司，以及這家多米尼加歷史最為悠久的手工雪茄制造商，以及該公司生產(chǎn)的典型的多米尼加雪茄。

進入餐廳后，每個人都收到一個雪茄保濕袋，里面裝著拉奧羅拉康涅狄格、拉奧羅拉115周年、拉奧羅拉107和拉奧羅拉完美闊葉。

午餐從拉奧羅拉的多米尼加背景中汲取靈感，配合加勒比風情來準備餐食。有腌制的牛肋眼肉搭配土豆泥，蔬菜串、烤甜玉米、櫻桃番茄、鱷梨沙拉、培根。服務生在房間里穿走，給客人倒一款2017年的羅德尼赤霞珠騎士谷葡萄酒，這款就不但可以搭配牛排，即使抽了一上午口味濃郁的雪茄后也能體會到獨特的風味。工作人員還為客人準備了一種傳統(tǒng)的多米尼加的節(jié)日慶祝才吃的蛋糕，叫做Bizcocho Dominicano。

午飯后，輪到《雪茄愛好者》的執(zhí)行主編大衛(wèi)·薩沃納 (David Savona) 主持了，這是一個提問回答比賽，有的題目容易一些，有的很難。游戲規(guī)則和2019年的首屆比賽有一些區(qū)別。這次比賽分為三輪，有三組選手參加比賽。2019年只有一組選手參加。有的提問很容易回答，比如“誰曾經(jīng)說過這句話，雪茄有時候僅僅是雪茄？”（弗洛伊德說的）。但問題變得越來越難。當提問“哪一年美國進口雪茄首次突破了4億支？”，這個問題就沒有人知道。（是1997年）。還有的問題是關于拉奧羅拉的。比如“這家公司是誰創(chuàng)立的？”答案是愛德華多·萊昂·希門尼斯（Eduardo León Jimenes）。題目范圍從地理到煙草術語。雖然一些難題讓臺上的參賽者有點目瞪口呆，但是大家都覺得很有趣。如果關注雜志的“雪茄101”專欄，可能會在比賽中勝出。

比賽一共有三輪，每輪三名參賽者，全部通過抽簽選出。每一輪的獲勝者都可以得到更多的拉奧羅拉雪茄帶回家。有些人走下臺的時候感覺自己像個雪茄專家，而另外一些人則覺得自己不是想象中那樣了解雪茄。得分最高的一個人是北加州人，里克·揚尼洛（Rick Ianniello），他帶著獎品離開餐廳時，臉上掛著燦爛的微笑。

午餐結束，參會者陸續(xù)走出餐廳。幾小時后，大煙熏的晚會將在宴會廳舉行。雪茄行業(yè)的一些大品牌的制造商們會在那里等待著參會者，和他們聊天，遞給他們一支好茄。無論你說什么，你都會得到一支雪茄，沒有錯誤的答案。大煙熏期間，不可能每個人都是雪茄專家，但是每個雪茄迷肯定是贏家。

附參考原文：

Think you know a lot about cigars and stogie history? OK. Which iconic baseball player loved cigars, hot dogs and hit 714 home runs? Right. Babe Ruth. That was a softball question. How about this: The La Aurora ADN Dominicano has a very specific tobacco inside that’s fermented in logs—what is it? The answer is andullo, and if you knew that one too, you may have had a chance at the quiz show contest held during the Big Smoke lunch seminar, which was sponsored by La Aurora Cigars.

It was a morning of fantastic cigars, fine rum and industry heavyweights telling the stories behind their cigars, but by noon, the crowd of nearly 600 was ready to eat. And third-generation La Aurora owner Guillermo León addressed the crowd via video. He couldn’t attend the Big Smoke, but had a greeting to all who made it out to Las Vegas, and sent Craig Schwartz as his emissary to talk a little bit about La Aurora and how, as the oldest producer of handmade cigars in the Dominican Republic, the company makes the quintessential Dominican cigar.?

Upon entry to the dining room, each person received a humidified sampler packet containing a La Aurora Connecticut, La Aurora 115th Anniversary, La Aurora 107 and a La Aurora Preferidos Broadleaf from the company’s Parejo Edition, so it was rolled in a thick toro size rather than a perfecto.

Lunch took its inspiration from La Aurora’s Dominican background and was prepared with Caribbean flair. An avocado salad with mesclun greens, bacon, charred sweet corn, cherry tomatoes and a cilantro apple cider vinaigrette was the perfect appetizer before the Adobo-marinated ribeye with chimichurri mashed potatoes, vegetable skewers and a mamajuana spiced rum glaze. Waiters and waitresses circled the room pouring Rodney Strong Cabernet Knights Valley 2017, a sturdy wine that could not only stand up to the steak, but show itself even after an entire morning of smoking fairly bold cigars. Dessert also evoked the Caribbean as the Mirage staff served the hotel’s rendition of Bizcocho Dominicano, a traditional celebratory Dominican cake.

After lunch, it was time for the trivia gameshow to begin. Hosted by Cigar Aficionado executive editor David Savona, the game was a series of questions, some easy, some more difficult. And unlike the inaugural gameshow of 2019, there were three rounds with three sets of contestants rather than only one. Some did better than others. Questions like “Who said, ‘Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar?’” were answered easily. But the questions grew increasingly difficult. When contestants were asked to name the year when more than 400 million premium cigars were shipped to the United States—the end of the last cigar boom—nobody could do it. (It was 1997.) There were questions specific to La Aurora. Do you know who founded the company? The answer is Eduardo León Jimenes. Subjects ranged from geography to tobacco terminology, and while some of the harder questions left all the contestants onstage a bit dumbfounded, they all knew enough “Cigar 101” to make the game competitive, and most importantly, fun.

There were three rounds, with three contestants each, all chosen by lottery, and the winner of each round went home with more La Aurora cigars. Some walked off the stage feeling like a cigar expert, while others, perhaps, didn’t know as much about the smoky pastime as they thought. The contestant who scored the most points—northern California native Rick Ianniello—left the lunchroom loaded down with La Aurora goodies, a big smile on his face.

Lunch wrapped up and attendees filed out of the room. In a few hours, the evening session of the Big Smoke would start in the grand ballroom. The people behind the biggest brands in the cigar world would be there waiting for them to chat and hand them a fine smoke. There, you get a cigar no matter what you say because there are no wrong answers. During the evening celebration, everyone might not be an expert, but every cigar fan is certainly a winner.?