Red Carpet Rollups

We imagined the El Crédito Cigar Factory's hall of fame as a gilded, smoke-filled room where large portraits of Winston Churchill and George Burns hang on the walls and dedicated smokers talk in hushed tones about Fidel Castro and Bill Clinton’s defamation of the tubular tobacco. Instead it’s the destination for winners of La Gloria Cubana Super Roll cigar-rolling competition. Perhaps a bit of a stretch on the concept of fame, though anyone who has recently watched MTV knows the definition has gotten to be pretty flexible.

Surely this nation’s best and brightest amateur cigar rollers deserve a basic-cable dating show, if not as many MySpace friends as Tila Tequila. They’ve beaten thousands of others in preliminary competitions across the country, with only short instruction on the craft of tobacco twisting by the El Crédito in-house experts. These roleros may not be as telegenic as the cast of The Hills, but their talents are far more enjoyable than a Heidi Montag music video. The event lights up this afternoon with pre-competition lessons at 2:30; the finals take place Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at the El Crédito Cigar Factory. Call 305-324-0445, or visit www.cigarworld.com.
March 14-16, 2008