你对雪茄和雪茄历史了解的多吗？好的，哪个标志性的棒球运动员喜欢雪茄、热狗，还能击出714个本垒打。没错，是贝比·鲁斯。这算是体育问题。再看这个问题：拉奥罗拉雪茄的多米尼加ADN里有一种很特殊的烟草，是用原木发酵的，这是什么烟草？答案是andullo（拉丁语，安杜洛）。如果你也知道这个，你就有机会参加拉奥罗拉雪茄公司赞助的大烟熏午餐研讨会期间举办的问答比赛。

这个早上，有美妙的雪茄，优质的朗姆酒，还有行业的重量级人物讲述他们生产的雪茄背后的故事。到了中午，会场将近600人也准备吃午饭了。拉奥罗拉家族的第三代、老板吉列尔莫·莱昂（Guillermo León）通过视频向大家致辞，他无法亲自参加大烟熏活动，委托克雷格·施瓦茨（Craig Schwartz）代表他来会场和大家介绍一下拉奥罗拉公司，以及这家多米尼加历史最为悠久的手工雪茄制造商，以及该公司生产的典型的多米尼加雪茄。

进入餐厅后，每个人都收到一个雪茄保湿袋，里面装着拉奥罗拉康涅狄格、拉奥罗拉115周年、拉奥罗拉107和拉奥罗拉完美阔叶。

午餐从拉奥罗拉的多米尼加背景中汲取灵感，配合加勒比风情来准备餐食。有腌制的牛肋眼肉搭配土豆泥，蔬菜串、烤甜玉米、樱桃番茄、鳄梨沙拉、培根。服务生在房间里穿走，给客人倒一款2017年的罗德尼赤霞珠骑士谷葡萄酒，这款就不但可以搭配牛排，即使抽了一上午口味浓郁的雪茄后也能体会到独特的风味。工作人员还为客人准备了一种传统的多米尼加的节日庆祝才吃的蛋糕，叫做Bizcocho Dominicano。

午饭后，轮到《雪茄爱好者》的执行主编大卫·萨沃纳 (David Savona) 主持了，这是一个提问回答比赛，有的题目容易一些，有的很难。游戏规则和2019年的首届比赛有一些区别。这次比赛分为三轮，有三组选手参加比赛。2019年只有一组选手参加。有的提问很容易回答，比如“谁曾经说过这句话，雪茄有时候仅仅是雪茄？”（弗洛伊德说的）。但问题变得越来越难。当提问“哪一年美国进口雪茄首次突破了4亿支？”，这个问题就没有人知道。（是1997年）。还有的问题是关于拉奥罗拉的。比如“这家公司是谁创立的？”答案是爱德华多·莱昂·希门尼斯（Eduardo León Jimenes）。题目范围从地理到烟草术语。虽然一些难题让台上的参赛者有点目瞪口呆，但是大家都觉得很有趣。如果关注杂志的“雪茄101”专栏，可能会在比赛中胜出。

比赛一共有三轮，每轮三名参赛者，全部通过抽签选出。每一轮的获胜者都可以得到更多的拉奥罗拉雪茄带回家。有些人走下台的时候感觉自己像个雪茄专家，而另外一些人则觉得自己不是想象中那样了解雪茄。得分最高的一个人是北加州人，里克·扬尼洛（Rick Ianniello），他带着奖品离开餐厅时，脸上挂着灿烂的微笑。

午餐结束，参会者陆续走出餐厅。几小时后，大烟熏的晚会将在宴会厅举行。雪茄行业的一些大品牌的制造商们会在那里等待着参会者，和他们聊天，递给他们一支好茄。无论你说什么，你都会得到一支雪茄，没有错误的答案。大烟熏期间，不可能每个人都是雪茄专家，但是每个雪茄迷肯定是赢家。

附参考原文：

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.