[Editor's Note: To see more photos of Doc's 3rd Central Coast Herf, see the OFFICIAL HERF SLIDESHOW. ALSO, be sure to watch the CHURROS Y PUROS OFFICIAL HERF-RECAP VIDEO]

On the weekend of June 27 and 28, I held my 3rd Central Coast Herf, right here in Doc's backyard and on my infamous "patio." For those of you who may be wondering, a "herf" is a gathering of people for the purpose of smoking cigars and sharing a common bond of fellowship. There are only two things required for a herf: cigars and people (preferably more than one). From that common starting point, a herf may become quite large and entail food, libations, music, games, prizes, raffles, and much more. Whether large or small, a good herf is really about the people who attend it. The commonality of the love of fine cigars and the good conversation between friends.

PHOTO: Doc welcoming guests to 2009 Herf

For Doc's Central Coast Herf, it all started in 2007, when a half-dozen brothers of the leaf gathered together for a small weekend get together. After sharing some great cigars, food and libations, and even a round of golf on the day after the herf, the group decided to do it again in 2008. This time with double the number of attendees, Doc's 2nd Central Coast Herf officially became an annual event. The second year assembled a dozen great folks, again at Doc's Rancho on the Central Coast of California. The second year saw the Herf's first sponsors, as Camacho, Cusano and La Aurora stepped forward to provide cigars for the attendees.

PHOTO: Doc's Daughter helps with preparations

Fast-forward to this year and the attendance doubled yet again and the herf was graced with more sponsors than ever before. Twenty-five guests were on hand this year at Doc's 3rd Annual Central Coast Herf (visit official herf website). There were 14 sponsors who provided prizes from cigars to cigar accessories and even wines.

This year's herf was truly exciting. I was preparing for this herf for 2-3 weeks prior to the event. This preparation included planning the meal with our own John the "Iron Chef." John is a talent and he is dead serious about the preparations of food for Doc's herfs. So serious, in fact, that him and I had to schedule numerous mini-herfs so we could smoke and quaff a few libations, just to be sure we had everything covered for this important event. You can never be too sure about preparations, I can tell you, so we had many pre-planning and planning meetings, and post planning meetings...

PHOTO: Jesse and Sergio, alias, the "Kids," alias "Churros and Puros"

Also, we needed to contact potential sponsors for the event. This year I turned over the sponsor contacts to my good buddy Bill the MaytagMan. Bill sent out about a 100 well-written threats, er, I mean requests, to potential sponsors. Between Bill's persistence and the generosity of our sponsors, each attendee received a bag with 15 cigars as soon as they walked through my front door.

And, speaking of arrivals, this year, my buddy Price, also known as Bungalow Bill, owned the distinction of being the first guest to arrive, which was just before noon. After that, arrivals came at such a rapid pace that we quickly had a scene that resembled a slew of lawyers breaching a car accident.

So, as people finally settled in to my back yard, the herf began in earnest. I allowed time for more attendees to arrive and then, around 2:00 PM, I brought everyone in for my official welcome. It was at this time that I thanked all of the people who had traveled so far to attend. We also thanked our generous sponsors and at the conclusion was the directive: "Ladies and Gentlemen, you may smoke!"

PHOTO: Pig Roast

After the welcome my guests took to some serious herfing and also some serious pig watching. It was fun watching the progression of the cooking of the pig and watching as it continued to turn on the rotisserie for what amounted to be around 6 hours. During the time between the welcome and eating dinner, I conducted a couple of impromptu interviews, but most of the time was spent just kicking back and enjoying our time together.

PHOTO: Chef John presiding over the "Pig Pit"

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. And what an elegant repast it was... Roasted Pig, Dominican Spicy Beans, Poblano Rice, and Rubio-spiced Grilled Zucchini and Squash. Our own, John the "Iron Chef" presided over the meal, as he has done for each of the other herfs. In fact, John is one of only 3 people who have attended each of the three herfs (the other two were Jesse and Sergio, alias Churros and Puros).

After dinner, came the coup de grâce: THE RAFFLE. Thanks to our awesome sponsors, this was major league giveaway with prizes that ran the gamut from cigars, hats, coffee mugs, cigars, lighters, punches, cigars, cutters, ashtrays, and I think I mentioned cigars. The spirit of giving was ever-present thanks to our sponsors, who invested mightily in the people that attended the herf. I won't say our sponsors "MADE" the herf, because it's the PEOPLE who make the herf. However, I will say that our sponsors made our herf that much more exciting and memorable.

PHOTO: Guys that stayed overnight gathered for Sunday breakfast

I was really impressed with the generosity of the guys that came to this herf and especially with their gift of a care package to my son in Iraq (listen to podcast episode 176 for details). That was truly touching to me and it showed the great heart that these guys have. I was sitting there as they were describing their thoughts and then presenting me with the gift for my son and I was just thinking: That's perfect. Just an awesome display of thoughtfulness, of patriotism and of love and caring. That emotion and experience will stay with me for a long time to come.

Below is a list of our herf sponsors. We truly appreciate their generosity and our herf  was better because of their participation. We encourage you to take some time to visit their websites and to consider their products for your next purchase.

HERF SPONSORS

1. •CAO International: http://www.caointernational.com
   

2. •Tower Pipes & Cigars: http://towercigars.com
   

3. •Elogio Cigars: http://www.elogiocigars.com
   

4. •Cigamate: http://cigamate.com
   

5. •Flatbed Cigar Company/Panacea: http://flatbedcigarcompany.com
   

6. •Mr. Bundles: http://www.mrbundles.com
   

7. •Taboo Cigars: http://www.taboocigars.com
   

8. •Atlantic Cigar: http://www.atlanticcigar.com
   

9. •The Cigar Agency: http://victorvitale.com
   

10. •Drew Estate: http://www.drewestate.com
    

11. •Illusione Cigars: http://illusionecigars.com
    

12. •Cigars of Habanos: http://www.cigarsofhabanos.com
    

13. •Cuban Lou's: http://www.cubanlous.com
    

14. •Sylvester Winery: http://www.sylvesterwinery.com
    

15. •Rubio Spice Company: http://www.rubiospice.com