The Blog: Casa 1910 Experience 2022, Day Two

Greetings again from Mexico City, Mexico. The weekend of November 18 to 20th saw Casa 1910 Cigars hold its second annual Casa 1910 Experience event. The event was hosted by Casa 1910 owners Manolo Santiago, Jamie Baer, and Serge Bollin, in Mexico City. Day Two would mark the main attraction of the event

The Casa 1910 Experience was a celebratory event that took place from November 18 to 20, 2022 in Mexico City. In attendance were retailers, partners, media, and influencers. Casa 1910 is a company that launched a year ago. The company is based in Mexico City. The branding of the company captures the history and pride surrounding the Mexican Revolution which occurred in 1910. Given the close ties the company’s messaging has with Mexican history, and in particular the Mexican Revolution, it was only natural for the Casa 1910 Experience to take place in Mexico City.

There were two parts to Day Two. The first was a visit to Chapultepec Castle located in the Bosque (Park) de Chapultepec. This park is located pretty close to the center of Mexico City. In the pre-game report, I talked about how massive Mexico City is – and this also applies to Bosque de Chapultepec. This park measures 1,695 acres – over two times the size of New York City’s Central Park which measures 843 acres.

The castle was originally built during the Viceroyalty of New Spain as a summer house for the highest colonial administrator, the viceroy. It was remodeled and added to and became the official residence of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico and his consort Empress Carlota during the Second Mexican Empire (1864–67). In 1882, President Manuel González declared it the official residence of the President. With few exceptions, all succeeding presidents lived there until 1939, when President Lázaro Cárdenas turned it into a museum. It was the museum that we saw.

The castle sits atop a hill inside the park 7,628 feet above sea level. Mexico City is situated on a plateau approximately 7,329 feet above sea level and there was a long uphill walk to the castle. It was a gentle slope, but those of us unused to the altitude could feel we were above sea level. Once at the castle, there was a tour of the museum where many of the historical artifacts from the monarchs that had inhabited it could be viewed. Interestingly enough Mexico City has the only two royal palaces in North America that were inhabited by monarchs. Chapultepec Castle is one and Inturbide Palace is the other.

In addition to getting a taste of Mexico City’s history through the exhibits at Chapultepec Castle, the park itself provided some amazing views of the city.

For the second part of the day, we went to Mexico City’s historic district for some socializing. I was enamored with Mexico City. Going through the different neighborhoods fascinated me. The photo below is of one of the shops where you could get appliances and televisions fixed.

The social event was held at a “boutique hotel” known as Antiguo Molino San Jeronimo. It has facilities for events and the Casa 1910 team basically reserved the whole place for the Casa 1910 event. There was late lunch and smoking downstairs – complete with Mexican music.

For the event, there was a cigar lounge setup downstairs. In addition, there was a cigar roller in a room with hanging tobacco reminiscent of a curing barn.

The afternoon was also used to introduce the two other sizes of the Soldadera Edition. These were the Sampetrina (Robusto) and Teniente Angela (Toro). The Sampetrina is going to be Casa 1910’s first shade offering. A pairing with the Sampetrina was done with aged rum.

As daytime turned to evening, the Casa 1910 Experience moved to the rooftop where things became more party-like. The rooftop provided another nice view of Mexico City and more opportunities to smoke.

While some folks kept the party going well into the wee hours, for me at 10pm it was time for a taxi to get back to my room and recharge from the day.