I drove an hour down to "Zarka's" lounge in Temecula. I got into the lounge and walk up to Pepin, who was having an animated conversation with his translator in spanish. I wait for him to finish, get up, grasp his hand warmly and say something along the lines of "It is a real honor to meet you sir... I love your cigars more then almost anything else, and you are the true brother of my heart" At which time I give him a big hug.

It was at that point that my friend informs me that this event is a "cover charge" event... Friend told me that the guy demanded we pay fifteen a head to stay, and made no menton of a free beer or a free stick so, I bought a stick and left.

Oh well. Live and learn.

Photos forthcoming when my friend e mails me the photo.
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At least you got to hug the Big Guy first. :-)
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Thats an iffy proposition, hugging a man you just met that doesn't speak your language. Glad it worked out though :-)
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Man thats freakin amazing, I WAS THERE TOO.

I went up to him, he looked at my cigar and asked to see it. He sniffed it and smiled saying (through his translator) "internet cigar, I can recognize it immediately from the aroma of rodent droppings. You know we make these with odd piles of third rate tobacco that are just laying around, don't you? Well, sometimes we run out of crap tobacco so we use dried horse manure, hay, and rodent droppings. To hell with people who buy cigars from the internets."

Then he looked around, raised his hands and yelled :-)
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Wow. Cool.
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Sounds like a fun guy.


Chris.......
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Awesome! :-)
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I wonder if Pepin will ever start a thread about meeting you guys :-)
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He has a strange sence of humour... What a bazzare joke.
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I met him, seemed to be a pretty nice guy.

Image
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Nice!
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:-):-):-):-)
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was the legend there?!

hee hee.
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Pepin is a very nice person. I've met Pepin several times here at CCC and down at his factory in Little Havana "El Rey de Los Habanos." Even had the oppurtunity of sitting down with him and firing up a Blue Label with him. He is a wealth of information and is very down to earth. I'm fluent in Spanish but his English is getting a lot better.
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Seriously though, was he asking $15 just to sit with him?
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you're Hal Jordan, right? not one of those other posers... ?
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:-):-):-)
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I seriously doubt it was "just to sit with him". A lot of lounges here in CA have a covercharge for events.. Its a CA thing. That being said, David, if you could afford the gas to get to Temecula, and to buy a stick, then why not just pay the $15.00 to spend some time there with the man?
Scott
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:-)
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Nah, most Latin cultures are very warm and consider us to be a little cold. many business meetings are started with a hug in South America

Personally, I would have continued my quest to dispell some of the "Americans are cold" beliefs by giving him a firm whack on the ass after kissing both cheeks.

Alex, when is the next Pepin event at Corona? I think I have already whacked most of the Padron's behinds.
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