160 Super Bowl, News and an abrupt ending to the Episode....

Episode Summary

Episode 160 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast is a post-Super Bowl LV hangover show. The two Mikes spend the first half breaking down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' blowout win over the Kansas City Chiefs — Vita Vea's return alongside Ndamukong Suh opening lanes for Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul, Patrick Mahomes playing through turf toe behind a patched-together offensive line, and Tom Brady quietly doing Brady things while Todd Bowles' defense stole the show. Along the way there's shop talk about the store's Super Bowl watch event, a date night that included a first visit to Executive Cigar and a stop at Celery City, industry moves (a former Executive employee reportedly moving over to sell cigars for Eddie Tarazona), retail life in pandemic America, stolen patio furniture, and a lengthy detour about a seven-month-old puppy named El Chapo using the kids' ball pit as a litter box.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Super Bowl LV Breakdown
   Why the Buccaneers dominated Kansas City — Vita Vea's return, Suh and the pass rush, Mahomes' turf toe and a banged-up Chiefs offensive line.
2. 02
   Case Elegance Octador Sponsor Read
   A rundown of the 100-count octagonal humidor with digital hygrometer, Spanish cedar and the patent-pending Hydro System.
3. 03
   Patreon Cigar: La Flor Dominicana Football
   The hosts light up the 2021 LFD Football figurado with Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and compare it to last year's release.
4. 04
   Shop Talk and Local Lounge Visits
   Super Bowl event recap, a first trip to Executive Cigar, Celery City, and industry job moves including a rep heading to Eddie Tarazona.
5. 05
   Asylum Supreme Leaf and Rare Leaf Reserve
   Shipping details, sizes and pricing for the new Supreme Leaf Corona Gorda and the Nicaraguan Criollo-focused Rare Leaf Reserve.
6. 06
   Espinosa 601 La Bamba Saki Bomb and Alpha Dog Lanceros
   Limited 7.5 x 38 lanceros for Espinosa branded lounges, plus a candid discussion of what it really takes to become a branded lounge.
7. 07
   FDA Substantial Equivalence Court Ruling
   A D.C. District Court declines to throw out substantial equivalence requirements for premium cigars, setting up the Option 1 vs. Option 2 fight.
8. 08
   More News: Nugs THC Cigar, Punch Kung Pao, RoMa Craft CRAFT 2021, Ace Prime Foundation
   A THC-infused CBD cigar, General Cigar's Chinese New Year Punch release, the Neanderthal-adjacent CRAFT 2021, and Luciano Morales' new charitable foundation.

Brands & Cigars Discussed

Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.

Transcript

I'm very happy today. Sure you are. Welcome to episode 160 of Cigar Hustler Podcast. 1-6-0.

With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the national champions for the NFL Football League. Congratulations, because I'm sure they're all fans listening to the show, they're just over in Tampa. over in tampa forgot to fill my water oh you just like doing it on camera excuse me grandpa needs a special drink yes yes indeed it's medicine my mic squared so uh this is obviously the day after the super bowl the tempe buccaneers completely destroyed the kansas city chief they did they they sure did the only touchdown that mahomes completed was to tampa bay in the fourth quarter in the end zone was yes that was the only well the only touchdown they made is them landing in tampa yes your wife told me that joke when she was here um yeah man you know i you can hear it in my voice oh yeah you can hear it in my voice i yelled at every there was a lot of yelling going on i heard at your house at every play it was crazy it's crazy uh you know this is why mike this is why you can't talk shit mid-season like you can't and i'm not talking about everybody i'm I'm not talking about you specifically, I understand. I'm talking about the team.

I'm talking about the Kansas City Chiefs. You know, I went to that Tampa Bay-Kansas City game, two backflips from Tariq Hill, and he did the little peace sign. Oh, is that who got in trouble doing a peace sign last night? No, no.

Winfield returned the favor and said peace to Tariq Hill as he got fucking burned, you know. So, whatever, it's worth the penalty. Fuck 'em. It didn't help, anyway, so yeah, who cares, oh yeah, unnecessary roughness, okay, yeah, unsportsmanlike conduct, whatever, that's it, yeah, unsportsmanlike, I'm sorry, very excited about it, very unsportsmanlike, you know, but they've been counted out this whole, you know, no one's been taking them really seriously, they had a little rough patch and, you know, man, how do you, I just don't understand 20 years into the game, how we're, how people are still saying, nah, Brady can't do it, it's like, what, are you out of your mind?

Like, he's all, there's, you always have to consider that. The Chiefs, I mean, they did not play well at all. Well, there are two things that happened. Yeah.

Okay, first thing is, Vita Vea was the defensive lineman that was-- Oh, I like that cigar, La Vita Vea, no, that's-- No, that's not it. Vita Vea, he's a huge defensive lineman, and he was out for a significant portion of the season. He came back in the NFC Championship game. So, when you have him and Sue on the line, you're gonna open up Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul.

I know you're really concerned about that, but that's the defensive edge. Pierre-Paul and Mary? I usually like them. So, you know, when they go after, you know, they can go after Mahomes, right, so...

Oh, wait! We forgot to do... Oh, we gotta get started. Oh, we got so excited in the Super Bowl, we almost forgot.

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You know, and before we get further into it, also, you know, if you guys are listening to us on the podcast, you know, Spotify, however you listen to it, or you're watching this on YouTube, please go to our YouTube page, like, and subscribe. We're trying to focus on that, trying to build that up a little bit. Yeah, trying to build the video portion of the show. You know, you want to see Mike's handsome face.

It looks, it's great. It's great. It's really nice. You can see how Michael's muscles have grown over the years.

Yeah, you can see the development of the muscles. Yes. Yes, the muscle development. Very nice.

I know I slouch a lot in the videos. Yeah, you do. I like to sit up straight. Yeah, yeah, you better get it together.

So what are we reviewing on the Patreon? 3 Figurado that uses an Ecuadoran Habano wrapper with Connecticut-grown tobacco. Yes. I got a surprise for the Patreon people too with that, but that's for the Patreon people.

Nothing I have to do? No, nothing you have to do. Oh, thank goodness. I don't follow you.

You fucking suck at it. I'll do it. I'll take care of it. There's so many days and hours, Michael.

There's so much going on. You've got all that downtime. So, okay, so getting back to the game. So, Vita Vea comes back in the NFC Championship.

Yes, La Vita Voca, I like that. Right, La Vita Voca. The guy's ginormous, right? Yes.

And Ndamukong Suu's ginormous, too. So, you've got to double up on these guys to slow them down. Right. So, were they in or out?

They were both, they were in, come the NFC, Suu was in for the majority of the season. So, they were injured earlier in the season? Vita Vea was out and you thought he was done for the rest of the season. He just so happens to come back in the championship game, plays practically the entire game.

Oh. So, because of those two monsters, like... Are those Tampa Bay, gentlemen? Tampa Bay, okay.

So, they put pressure on that offensive line, and they... Oh, yeah, poor Mahomes, he was running everywhere, just... And with that pressure, you get to the quarterback. That's why Aaron Rodgers struggled, you know, the whole thing.

So, your offensive line for Kansas City was already a mess. They already, you know, your starters were out too. I think two starters were out. Oh, is that the haircut guys?

No, it wasn't the haircut. Two guys were out because their barber had COVID that gave them the team haircut. No, I don't think so. I think that they were legitimately hurt, these people.

And, you know, Mahomes had turf toe, which is, it sounds like it's not a big deal. It's one of the worst. What is turf toe? So it's like a sprain on your big toe.

You stubbed it? No, it's like it's strained. So like when you run, when you push against it, it hurts. Oh.

So it really slows you down. I would imagine. But with that being said. However foot it is.

You couldn't cut that way. I would imagine. So there was a tremendous amount of pressure on Mahomes. Yes.

Mahomes still made some ridiculous throws. There was a throw where he was mid-air. Oh. And he chucked it right at the guy and he pelted him and the guy dropped and he didn't make the catch.

Oh, yeah. I saw a lot of incomplete passes. I mean, like the talent that that kid has is just unbelievable. Right.

Unbelievable. We'll be watching him, you know. For years. So when he retires, everybody's gonna be watching Mahomes, without question.

Gotcha. You know, so, um, but with that being said, as the game progressed, I got to a point where I was like, I don't even want to see him get a touchdown. Fuck him. Well, evidently they came through.

And that happened. Just a couple of field goals is all they were able to get. I mean, shout out to Todd Bowles and that defense. Brady did Brady.

Brady, there was, without question, you know, Brady read the offense, everybody was clicking, he knew when to throw, who to throw to, the whole gamut. Right. But that doesn't sound That surprised me. But what was amazing was that fucking defense.

I hope everybody stays for next year. You might be looking at another ring. Everybody stays. Please stay.

Everybody stays. Please stay. I've got to silence this. What's going on here?

Who's texting you? It's driving me nuts. It's a stock market. You've got to get up and breathe.

Time to eat again? No, not time to eat. Food? I don't remember which one.

Time for glitothalumaloon or whatever it is. Time to take a pill? Nope, nope, nope, nope. Beet juice?

Nope, beet juice is in the morning, brother. I miss the days when you used to drink the grass stuff, 'cause that was terrible tasting apparently. I'm sure that's still really good for you, but... There's a lot of work, gotta grow the grass, gotta cut the grass.

There's a lot of work. The beet powder's so much easier. It's so much easier. You know what?

You should tell Bootsy you have to start doing the grass. Okay, here, here. Just see what we can get him to do. Let's get him a tray.

See what we can get him to do. You start cutting this? Cutting this, and then you grind it up in your little juicer. I remember when I finally gave up on it, I dumped the seeds in my yard and it started to grow.

Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, nice. But eventually died off.

I think I killed it with like weed kill or something. Oh. So yeah, man, how about them bucks? How about them bucks, huh?

Did you go over for the parades, or when's the parade? I'm not going to a parade. You're not going for the parade? Take your son to the parade, Michael.

I don't go to the parade. So my son stayed up the whole time. Are they both big fans? I know Jax is, is Justice as big a fan?

I think Justice is moving along with the involvement of the football as well as becoming more and more of a fan. " Oh! He did. He did say that.

" Oh, you're so mean! " Go Bucs! You have to ask yourself, Justice, how much leverage do you really have? Yeah, yes.

You know, you're grounded. No more iPad. So it was Go Bucks. Oh, wow.

And then he was glad that he was a Bucks fan, because they won. Force of fandom on your children. Yeah, it's called being a parent. Grab this.

So, you know, Jack's, he poured a Mountain Dew all over his head at the end of the game. Oh, did it wash the red outside? It went the red and black spray paint that he had bled everywhere, so he had to get right in the shower. We ran up and down the street with flags.

Oh, did you remember? Oh, yeah. Your wife said she tried to get you to run down the street in boxers or something. or something.

Yeah, no, I mean, I can't do that. Why not? It's ridiculous. You're shirtless most of the time anyways.

No, I'm not. Okay. That's what you said. It's not true.

Tell me what you said. It's not true, Michael. It's not true. Quite the crowd.

I mean, I had to call you a couple times from the event here at the shop and quite the crowd at your house. No, you know, I don't want to be around anybody. I know, you know, you always say that. You know, but with that being said, I felt a little bit of pressure.

I was told maybe we should consider having family over and stuff like that, so we had family over, but that's all you need. You had nieces and nephews, and that's enough catastrophe. And the good thing is that all of those people were Bucs fans, I didn't have any hidden go Mahomes, go Chiefs. I'm obviously still a Patriot fan, right?

So when I went to New England, when the New England was in it, I went to New England. The Super Bowl. Yes. I would never go out.

And then every once in a while I'd break that rule and then I'd fucking hate it. Because you have to deal with the people that hate Brady. Right. You know?

And I don't deal with that shit well. You know what I mean? Like I don't have the- You're very angry. I don't have the right temperament for that.

You don't have patience. Temperament would be a good word, yes. You don't have the temperament. And I know I don't have that temperament, so I just stay away from everybody.

It's just better for them. For them, right. You know? Don't want to have to hurt people.

Yeah, it's just, you know, I don't want to get into some physical altercation over a football game, but, you know, it's not beneath me, is all I'm saying. Beyond the news. Right. So, yeah, yeah, what else did, uh, what did you do this, uh, this weekend, Mikey?

Uh, nothing. Oh, no, Friday, Friday was Chet's birthday. I was thinking Saturday, Saturday, we didn't do anything. My wife was actually supposed to go out Saturday night, but we had so much fun with Chet's birthday that, uh, she decided it was a good idea not to go.

A little too much fun, eh? Too much fun, yes. Well, she did. I just, you know.

What'd you do? Saturday? Yeah. No, we just sat around the house Saturday.

Well, Friday, you didn't get shit-faced, too? Just her? Well, she was supposed to drive. But, you know, so I was doing shots with the birthday boy and, you know, and drinking and carousing, and it became to a point where I realized she was not going to be driving.

I better taper off here. Better slow down a little bit. Bring on the water. I just stopped drinking.

Yeah. That's what I was saying. I don't drink water. I just stopped drinking.

I metabolize fast. I pee a lot. Even without the water. Right.

So it just washes through. We did get to the car, and she tried to get in the driver's seat. No, I got it. I'm driving.

You had a lot of drink. No, no, no, no. Which is good because she fell asleep on the way home. So, you know.

That wouldn't have been well if she was behind the steering wheel. Right. That's what I mean. Plus, you know, God forbid, you know, both of us couldn't drive, and she's the one driving, and something happens.

She loses her job. Yeah, we get caught with me driving, and I've had too much. I do a little jail time. Yeah, that's it.

How are we going to do the podcast for you from jail? Prison? I'll get a... Zoom in or something?

Zoom. They have laptops there, don't they? Don't we know people in the penal system? I'll be there in a minute, okay?

I've got to finish the show. Hold on. Hi, I'm Mike, and I'm inmate number 75201. D-Y.

Welcome to. I have to cross county, so, you know, I can outrun or something, I guess. Oh, nice. Right off of the St.

John's. Over the bridge? Yeah. Get me, I'm jumping in the water!

Whee! I'm no longer going to accept driver's license! Well, I'll take my chances with the alligators. So, you know what's fun?

Well, we had an event here for the Super Bowl, it went well, everybody had a good time. Yeah. A lot of food, and people seemed to enjoy it. There were prizes and giveaways.

So that's good. I'm glad that, you know, I wish you could have joined you guys for Chad's birthday, but Jack's had a football game. He's a very busy man, Michael. We understand.

Yeah. Priorities. Things come before, you know, other things and just the way work. My kid always comes first, man.

You know, always comes first. I'm trying to get this thing lit, man. I got to cook it. Shit.

It's not a long cigar. I mean, are you going to have any left? But it's heavy. Oh, it's thick.

I had, I smoked last year's yesterday at the, during the game. You did? Yeah. Last year's football?

Yeah. It's a little better to tell you, sure. Oh, okay. But like we mentioned earlier, though, Chet said he had it before, it tasted different, so I don't know if something changed mid-stream, because that was our second allocation of the last year's.

Yeah. This is the 2021. That's the 2021, yes. Well, for me, so I didn't get to go out Friday night, but I had a babysitter Saturday night, Mike.

Your wife was mentioning something about that when we were chatting when she was here. Yeah. Little Date Night? Little Date Night.

Oh, did you go see Jimmy? Of course, I wanted to go see Jimmy. We went out, we had dinner, and then we went to- Did you see his new sidekick? Yeah.

We called him Little Jimmy. Little Jimmy. Little Jimmy. Oh, they match and everything.

Oh, that's me in front of them, matching clothes on. So I named him Little Jimmy. It's like uniforms. It seemed to stick.

So, but before we went to Celery City, I went to Executive. Oh, you did? I did. Wow, that was your first time?

First time. Oh. What a beautiful place. Yeah, it is very nice.

Really, really nice. Who was working? Travis. Travis was there?

Okay, good. He's the only one there anymore than I know. Oh yeah? Is Ray not there anymore?

No, I don't believe it. Oh, I heard, well, Ray came for Chet's thing Friday night, but I didn't. I spoke to him, obviously, but from what I understand, he's no longer with the executive or he's on his way transitioning out of or something, but I think now he's selling cigars for Eddie Tarzona. Oh, interesting.

I heard something about that. Oh, he went to the whole... selling uh well he did part of a live video saturday because i guess to him and uh his young lady and uh joe joseph uh they went down to eboard or something i got part of a live video he does all his live videos i got part of a live video where he was saying that he was uh continuing his journey in uh in the cigar industry yes and now he is working yeah but if he's out of there that was kind of quick no uh i don't know i don't know what happened yeah i mean there was He's being very cryptic. I don't know what's going on.

There was at one time plans for other locations. I don't know if he was involved in that. And it didn't pan out. Maybe they work out.

It's tough, man. It's hard out there. Oh, yeah. Retail.

Still pandemic America. Retail's no joke. No. No, no.

It's not just all stand around and smoking. Yeah. People think that, though. They do.

Some people do, yes. So, we went to executive. We went to Celery City. Oh, wait.

Did you have the coffee executive? No. Oh, the coffee. Why didn't anybody fucking tell me this before?

We would have loved the coffee. We have talked about this. You don't drink a lot of coffee. You know, I have actually tuned back off my caffeine.

Oh. I don't really take as much. It is as much the presentation there as it is the actual coffee. Sounds lovely.

It comes out in a silver tray. It's this nice cup and saucer that matches with your little creamer and your little sugar packet. Nice. Yeah, it's very...

At least the way it used to be. I haven't been there in a while. Huh. I'm sure Travis...

If I asked Travis, I probably would have got the same thing. But, you know, I've been doing like my pre-workout caffeine and then normally I would roll into like a bang mid, you know, as soon as I got here, right, because I'm tired or whatever, but I'm doing, I'm feeling pretty good. I've got back on the bangs, but at least two coffees a day and then an espresso, at least. Wow.

Yeah. You're addicted to caffeine. Well, probably. I don't know.

Better than drinking booze all day long. First time submitting it. Oh. Two coffees and an espresso is addicted?

It's only three. And the espresso is in the afternoon after I leave here. Here. Try not doing caffeine for two days.

No, I'll get a headache and I'll die. Exactly. Yeah, no. That's called addicted.

I'm stupid. What am I, stupid? I'm stupid. Put myself into a headache.

That's just ridiculous. I had a headache for part of the night last night, but it went away ugly. I went looking for the secret stash of aspirin that I used to keep here. Yeah.

Gone. Really? Somebody else has found them. Used to be some behind the bar.

It's gone. Just band-aids. Been taken. Oh, I'm sure.

I'm sure Yanni took them. Probably. Actually, yeah. Take the tablecloth.

Taking the tablecloth? I'm taking these tables and chairs. When was the Espinosa event? Because Chet said he saw it last, that was before Christmas, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, at Christmas we had it out there on the table because we had the TV. So some things have been missing as of late of the shop. Somebody sold tables and chairs out front.

We haven't talked about that. Oh, it's true. Yeah, that kind of sucked. We had that on video.

Yeah, gentlemen cut the cable. Cut the cable. Took four chairs and a table and an umbrella stand. He probably just took them for scrap.

Well, that's what I said to Greg too, but he didn't take, he didn't take the heavier, oh, I guess he did take all the heavy stuff, yeah. Well, the umbrella stands concrete. Yeah, I mean, he didn't know what he was doing. It was heavy.

You know, it was six o'clock in the morning. m. Cars driving by. And he just saw people coming out of the gas because you can see the headlights hitting them as they turn.

What's anybody going to think? I don't know. Some guy taking table and chair. Look at that.

Listen, I can tell you a funny story. I'll tell you a funny story. When I owned the gas station across the street, my Desert Eagle jammed, and it fucking went off in the trunk of my car. Right.

Boom. Did you ever fire a Desert Eagle? No. I heard it loud.

My friend was with me. His name's Steve. Yes. And Steve, both our heads were in the trunk, so it was nice and contained.

He rolled back on all fours, and he's yelling, I can't fucking hear anything, like just dying. Oh, wow. And I'm like, dude, get up. Get up.

Hold some composure, I mean, come on, man, I don't want to get in trouble here. Not in public here. Yeah. Lights are acceptable, bright today.

Gas pumps were full, I know, you're tearing a little bit. Eyes are burning. Gas pumps were full, no one batted an eye at it. Oh, people are pumping gas, and they ain't nobody even...

Maybe it was muffled inside the trunk where you were. There's no way. Boom! You didn't hit the gas tank.

It barely missed the gas tank. Well, it wouldn't have blown up. Oh. It wouldn't have exploded.

Just in the movie. It shot through the muffler. Everything in the movies is real. It shot through the muffler, though.

Is that the car that's sitting in the garage? Yeah. Is the bullet hole still there? Of course.

Of course. It's my car. But getting back to the quick Saturday night. We went out.

We had our babysitter and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We did executive. We did Celery City. We were having a good time at Celery City.

I'm like, man, it's getting kind of late. We've got to go home. But late, it's like 11:00, 11:30, something like that. Ooh, wow.

know that's how i know i'm getting old it's like oh we better we better get out of here so we head home and uh we get in and we know we sit down and um chapo the puppy el chapo chapo seven months old apparently he had to go out oh but no one knew that he had to go out we like he hasn't learned oh the hit the door during christmas time we had like this bell on the door and he'd hit the bell But now the bell's gone. Oh, put the bell back. Yeah, we gotta put the bell back. So he obviously didn't know, but he had to go to the- He doesn't hit where the bell used to be?

No, he just stands there. So if nobody picks up on it- Oh, gotcha, yeah. So- Yeah, a lot going on in your house. In my house, we see the dog standing and everybody sees it too.

" And dogs gotta go out. Right. Well, you know, El Chapo's a little quiet. it.

He's like, do, do, do, do. Very fluffy. So, uh, he obviously had to go out. No one saw that he had to go out.

So he, what he did was he snuck into the baby's play area and he took a shit in the ball pit. Oh, wow. Because you could hide it. Right.

You can sort of bury it. Yeah. So, you know, we didn't see it until later. Oh yeah.

Somebody find it. Yeah. Uh, actually justice found it. Jumping in the ball pit.

" Oh. So we had to clean the, like, we had the- You sure it's dog poop? Oh, it was definitely dog poop. Oh.

I thought at first maybe it was baby poop. Right. Nope. Nope.

As we continued to unravel the balls and clean the whole thing, the whole process, yeah, it was definitely dog poop. Oh, and it's not just the balls that are here because the balls had moved? Did every ball have to be- Oh, we, my house, we don't mess around, man. We are, there is a thorough sterilization.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We burned everything. We brought in the torch, and we washed, we put everything through the washing machine, anything that was questionable, we just threw out, we're like, no more ball pit, the ball pit's fine, we have cleaned the ball pit, but anything that was like stuck to a ball, washing machine, oh yeah, that would have worked too, yeah, so but anything that had remnant or anything, we didn't bother clean, we just threw it the fuck away, oh, like what had remnant, like some balls got stuck to the poop. well you didn't put those into the washers no those were gone we just got rid of them so there's less balls there's definitely less balls oh as you as the like as the days continue gg make note we need to send them less there's always less balls like the dogs get to the balls because the kids throw the balls outside the pipe and then they just destroy them and show i've been there for the like snowballs yeah just right yeah and then nobody ever wants to clean up the balls like you guys have to pick this shit up and they're like no i don't why like because you took the balls out of the ball pit and they're fucking everywhere i don't understand why you can't I just put them back.

I don't. And now I got a dog that shit's in there. Yeah, now he'll do it again. Probably.

Yeah. So, now we got to break that. They won't see if I poop in here. Poop in here.

Did he get in trouble? Of course he did. Well, not, yeah. Actually, not that time.

The second time we did. Oh, he pooped in there again? He peed in there. Oh, that's worse than the poop.

At least I pooped you. This fucking dog. Oh. I lose one dog and then I get this shit back.

The other dog was super chill, didn't, you know, leave me alone. Well, but she was old. Yeah. So what else?

Anything else happen? I feel like that's a pretty big thing. We're at 25 minutes. We could take a break here and then get on with the show.

Yeah, man. I mean, no, you know, I feel really good, you know. Feel good about the poop, sorry. Well, yeah, I mean, you know.

It's a little embarrassing. It's a little embarrassing, but you know what? How's it embarrassing? The dog poop, not you.

I know, but it's still terrible. It's just one of those things. I don't know, you know what it is? You have a busy house, you have three children, two dogs, a new puppy, people poop.

You know what? I learned a long time ago that I'm just totally open. Like, I'm not... It's just poop.

I'm not really reserved about anything. Like, I'm pretty open about everything on the podcast. You came in and found your child eating poop or something. Yeah, that's true.

I'd probably say that too, though, if it happened. That would have been funnier, actually. You know, it's really funny that I was actually at the gym a few days ago. And you pooped in a ball pit at the gym?

I was running late. That would be funny. No, no, no. Sometimes I like to poop at the gym because there's no kids.

Right? There's nobody screaming and crying. There's no attention. So you come inside.

You go down to the locker room. You have your designated stall. Right. You have your process, right?

Right. " Super loud. Did you do your poop or did I take a shit? Poop.

Ah. Yeah, it's a poop. You can't say shit. It's got to be reasonable.

" It's not that type of gym. I had a big protein shake on the way here. " Here he comes. Here he comes.

Nobody can ever use the leg machine. Nobody can ever use the leg machine. I just don't understand why anybody can't put the fucking weights back the way that they belong. Like, that drives me nuts.

Oh, so it's not only put the weights back, it's put them back in ascending order? 5s, right? Then you go down the middle of the tier, and then you have your 35s, and then below the 35s are the 25s. And just to take it all off and put it on.

And to the left of that is the 45s. Like, that's how all that works. You put them back in that order. When you see that...

You've got, like, issues. OCD or something? Yeah, it drives me nuts. I'm always making fun of me now.

Just be happy they put the weights back and wipe the machine down. No, because if you need a five and it's buried under 35 pound fucking squares, then you're like... Put the 35s on first. You're a big man.

I'm sure you use 35s too. You know what, Mike? I feel like you don't know what the fuck you're talking about, and this isn't going anywhere. So, I'm done talking to you about it.

I'm gonna send you a post later, though. I'm gonna send you a post, and you'll see what I'm talking about. Don't worry, Cree. I'll try and use that instrument.

Maybe you want to cut back on your glutathione. Glutathione is an antioxidant, Mike. Well, eat some blueberries. You don't want to have blueberries or antioxidants close to your workout.

I mean, if you want to tee off, I got all day. I'm not teeing off. Oh, you know what is really funny? Well, quick, we got three minutes.

Okay, three minutes. So, during the game, scores three to seven? Yes. Skip never FaceTime calls me?

Oh, yeah, I did try, but you didn't answer. No, I did not answer. Why would I answer? Why would I answer?

Because he never FaceTimes dudes. He's just gonna break my balls about the game. I don't need that jinx. So you just let it answer.

No man, no man. " And Mike doesn't FaceTime and then hang up. And then hang up. And then hang up.

I try to call him after the game, but he didn't answer. Well, he couldn't give you shit then. Yeah. " Or hand to any female.

Anybody that wasn't your wife would have even been funnier. Teddy. Put it in front of Teddy and hit the button. " She was already asleep.

Even better, you could have leaned the sign up against her. What's he gonna do then? Yell at her? " So yeah.

So apparently I'm on the shit list, so. He'll be fine. He's only making what he wants anyway. What's he gonna do?

Fuck with your pots and pans? What are you gonna do? Fuck with my pots and pans? That guy probably could fuck with my pots and pans.

He really could fuck with your pots and pans. I'm probably one of the only guys who can legitimately fucking make my life miserable. Take all your pots and pans. God damn it.

We'll be putting your bans on new Cubas and Quarums out there because we're out of everything. Try these new Quarums. These new Powstanie Quarums. Uprising Quarums.

Uprising Quarums. They're amazing. All right, we got a break now or it's going to go off. All right, let's break.

We are going to go take a break. We'll be right back after these messages. Hey, it's Mike too. Want to be part of the show?

com/thecigarhustlerspodcast. We have tiers starting at just $5 a month. For $10 a month, you get a special show swag, and then you're eligible for the weekly secret show. Secret shows cover in-depth cigar reviews, behind-the-scenes information, and sometimes we just talk shit about people.

Choose which tier works best with your budget and become an official show hustler. Thanks for the support. All right, and we're back. Episode 160 of a Cigar Hustler podcast.

Mike just filled us in on his pooping problem. A lot of poop. A lot of poop going on. I feel like I got a lot of stuff in front of me.

It's kind of... Oh, you can't really see it anymore. Clean the table. What the hell you got there?

I know. You pledged nicely. That's fine. I do every week.

It's so shiny. I should have vacuumed because there's a lot of ugly hair on the floor, but your wife had boxes and stuff everywhere. I didn't want her to feel like she was in my way. So I have like this Dyson vacuum, but it's got like a manufacturer's defect.

I'm now dealing with this again. That one out there? It's similar. Oh, you have another one at home?

The newer one, yeah. Oh, so- So like the battery separates from it, and then it starts to- Are we getting a new one here at the shop then, so you can get a new one at home? No, I'm not gonna get a new one. I think that if they don't fix it via some kind of warranty, I think I'm done with Dyson.

Oh. That'll be it for you, Dyson. No more Dyson. Get the- Hey, you ready to start- Let's get a regular vacuum.

Ready to start a second half of the show? Something that plugs into the wall. Teach you. Ooh.

On with the news. The news. Agonosa shipping Rare Leaf Reserve Supreme Leaf Corona Gorda today! They start shipping today!

Oh, that's good. We may have that tomorrow. The next batch of Agonosa Leaf Supreme Leaf, as well as the all-new Rare Leaf Reserve, will begin heading to select stores today. Supreme Leaf is a limited production line that releases seasonally for the company.

The February 2021 shipment will include three sizes of Supreme Leaf. The two Vitolas previously released in 2020, as well as the new Supreme Leaf, Corona Gorda, 6x46. Let's see. 50.

Yeah. 105. What? Go ahead.

Go ahead. 50. That's your favorite size. Yes.

There will be 2,000 boxes of Supreme Leaf Corona Gorda as part of the shipment. As for the blend, it's a Nicaraguan Puro that focuses on the Corojo 99. Also shipping is the Rare Leaf Reserve, a new line that focuses on Nicaraguan Criojo Tobaccos. It uses a cafe wrapper from Jalapa over dual Criolo 98 binders and Criolo 98 and Corojo 99 fillers.

It is being offered in three sizes, all of which are limited production similar to the Supreme Leaf. So those should be coming in tomorrow. Maybe, yeah. Because they come from Miami.

Yeah, as long as they ship to us first. It's probably tobacco leaf. Probably. It just ripped the piece off.

Oh. Is it gone now? Yes. Thank you.

It blended in with your beard. I'm sure they couldn't see it. But we have such high quality camera. I am your friend, I had to tell you.

You're a very nice boy. I appreciate you. Espinosa releases a limited- Wait a second, we can't even talk about the other one? I thought you didn't say anything.

Can't they make like a Kamehameha leaf? I feel like we had Supreme, now we're going to Rare. I want like Ultra Mega, Megalodon. Megalodon.

Megalodon's a computer. We can't use that one. Okay. Ultra rare.

Ultra rare. Ultra rare? Instead of. Kamehameha.

See, where we have. Leaf. Hold on. We have rare leaf.

And I want it to be like Corojo 98 or something. Not Criolo. They're doing a lot of Criolo. Criolo.

98 miners and Corojo 98 and Corojo 9. Maybe they can do a Criolo 99 and a Criolo 98. Sort of mix it up a little bit there. We'll have to get Terrence on the phone and find out if we can work that out for you.

I'm sure I'd be more than happy to make the change. Right, the super rare, rare, rare, rare, rare, super limited, limited, limited, limited edition, rare, limited rare, ultra, leaf, reserve, reserve, reserve twice, reserve, no reserve and then reserva, I don't know, it'd be perfect, perfect, yeah, I'm really excited about that, supposed to be good, can't wait that comes out, supposed to be good, too bad we didn't have the event last week, next week, yeah, oh, we got to talk about that, if we have time at the end, then do the next event here at the shop, yeah. Uh, because I'm still confused on how it works. Okay.

Espinosa releases limited run of the Saki Bomb and Alpha Dog Lanceros. What? Yes, I know! Jack was just here, he didn't say his thing.

Jack says nothing, and then, you know, I'm not gonna hear from-- Then we find out a week later. I'm not gonna hear from Alfredo, right? No, you're not gonna hear from Alfredo. Fucking crazy.

Well, limited edition run of Lanceros has begun arriving at Espinosa branded lounges. Oh, we're not in Espinosa. How do we get to be in Espinosa lounge? I don't know.

I wouldn't do that anyways. Oh, then it doesn't matter, we don't care. We're at Powstanie Lounge. Oh, that's true.

The 6 and 1 La Bamba Sacaba. The Roma Craft Rounge. Only the hallway on the window to the bathroom. Yeah, because we promote...

That's the Roma Craft hallway. Yeah, we promote the Nikasueno stuff that we represent. Yes. Yeah, keep it clean.

Let's see, the Alpha Dog, both cigars are being released in a 7 1/2 by 38 Bittola, with 500 of each cigars released. They should make a cigar called the Bro. I just don't know why they haven't done it. Oh yeah, why haven't they done that yet?

The Bro. Well, yeah, I guess you're right. They had the alpha dog, so why don't they have the bro? How many Espinosa lounges do you think there are?

Probably like three. I've never come across one. Probably like three. Why, you know, listen, as a retail, as a, I'm sorry, not a retail, as a manufacturer brand owner.

Yes. Like, you're going to shell out a lot of cash on that lounge, right? What do you... Normally what happens is...

I thought they just sent you like some swag to hang on a wall and all of a sudden you're a branded lounge. No, sometimes they cover the, like they cover build out or they'll cover... Yeah, we'll get nuts. And then, you know, they put their, they embroidered their shit on there and stuff like that.

Oh, under the chairs. Yeah. Yeah. And they can.

Oh, cause like there used to be, uh, uh, cutters used to be a Taranio lounge. Right. They had all the bar stools. Yeah.

And then, and then, you know, they fueled the growth. Right. And they got rejected. Yeah.

And Alex is upset about that. I don't think he got rid of the bar stools. It's a lot of bar stools. How do you get rid of them at that point?

Yeah, there's a lot of them. Right. Yeah. So now you're smoke, smoke, smoke, dry.

Hey, well, I see this Taranio stuff everywhere. What's up with that? I don't get those anymore. I'm very sorry.

No Jack, no Taranio. So, you know, like it's expensive. Yeah. It's, you know, so being a lounge is tough to do, and like, it's a hard ask.

You know, like, I don't, I don't know. " Is that what it is? You ask for it? They don't like coming to a lounge and go, "Hey, you know, this place is kinda nice.

" I don't think that they-- A bro chair right over there, but a bro. Oh, bro. I don't think that manufacturers and brand owners really want to do it, you know? Oh, really?

I think that it's, you know, if the sales look good, and they're promoting the brand, and like, you have a good relationship with these guys, and the guy's like, "Hey, you know what? " Like, that's where that develops. So we are just from asking? We have a good relationship with Espinosa here.

Yeah, but I don't want to. " I just, you know what, I guess the only person who I would really ask would probably be Roma, right? But I don't, but there and again, I just don't, for one, I don't know if they do it, and for two, I don't. I don't think they do it.

I'm just not. I think Skip would tell you to pounce in. You know what it is? I'm not okay with asking.

Right. You know what I mean? Like, this is kind of like, this is my fucking business, and I got it. Right.

I got it under control, and I'll take care of it, you know? If I don't have the funds to do something, then I'll figure out a way to build the funds to do it. Right. Well, that's the way things work here.

You tell Greg what you want to do, and Greg goes, hmm, I'll find the money. Yeah, you know, I'm, and like, that's always worked for us. Hidden in Puerto Rico somewhere. I just, you know what, for me, I've never had, I've never had that bailout.

Right. You know what I mean? And I don't know, and I'm not. Luckily, you haven't had to.

Right, and I'm not shortchanging anybody that has needed that. Right. Because, you know, shit happens. Sure.

And God, God willing, I'll never be in that position. I hope that I never am. But, you know, if I, if you hear me asking, man, I'm in bad fucking shit. That's great, dude.

I mean, something happened. Oh, great. I gotta start finding somebody else to hang out. Well, yeah.

I mean, like, I'm in a position where... You gotta make up with Jeff off the street? You know what? I gotta be honest.

I think that if I asked some people, they would help without question. Oh, I'm sure. But they also know that I'm not the type of guy that's gonna ask. Well, that's so when they know if you did ask...

Right. I'm gonna do my best to figure the fuck out. Right. You know?

And I'll eat spaghetti for a year if I have to. Whatever. Who gives a shit? 5x42 Petite Corona that debuted in May 2014, is known for being a fairly potent version of the line.

Yeah. So, oh, so there's a La Bamba Warhead, too. Oh. Is that the white one in the white box?

I don't know. We have them here. Maybe. What white one?

What white box? No, it's a white and red box. Oh, this is a Warhead. Warhead.

That's what I said. Yeah. Warhead 6 or whatever. So this is the La Bamba Socket Bomb.

Yeah, okay. So this is just another version of that one again, a four and a half by 42. No, it's different. It's different.

I know it's different. I said another version. It's not. It's a Saki Bomb.

It's not a Warhead. But isn't it the same size, four and a half by 42? And that's a La Bamba Warhead. Okay.

It's a La Bamba Saki Bomb. It's a different cigar. I know I'm saying it's a different cigar. It's a different version of the same name.

I like that you're getting agitated. Oh my Lord. The 601 La Bamba line is offered in six regular production sizes ranging from Saki Bomb to 770, It's a company known as the F-Bomb. I get it, you had a rough day yesterday.

A lot of bombs. In January 2020, the company created a 601 La Bamba Lancero, store exclusive for embargo cigars in Phoenix, Arizona. You're not a football fan. That guy's the Lancero king there.

You took a leap here, you went Kansas City, all of a sudden you're a fan. Well, my shirt did say Kansas City, beer drinking town, win or lose, we have the booze. I just went with a Kansas City shirt. And you took the L.

It doesn't bother me. It doesn't. No, it doesn't bother me at all. It's got you bothered.

No, it doesn't. I've got several people, several people have texted me trying to like rub my nose in it, and I go, I don't even know who anybody on the team is. My wife's from Kansas, my wife's from Missouri, so we're Kansas City fans. I don't know anything about football.

So I did a nice picture of my son and me. Should have put it on your shoulder, like the take your boy to work thing. That was funny. Well, you know, and like every postseason game I've done like a, hey, you know, raise the flags before the game, raise the flags and go bucks.

Right, you said raising a flag one last time. One last time, raise the flags, prove them wrong. Right. And then Dak, I don't know if Dak listens.

" Some people gave you a lot of shit on that post. I saw some picture of Mahomes with a trophy or something. Yeah. Yeah.

So, well, I teed off on both of them. My boy, Dan Stanley. Yeah, that was his Dan Stanley. Yeah, yeah.

Who's the guy who helped me discover, find Roma Crafts. Oh. Yeah. Wow.

" Like, before you chime in. Better pay attention to what you're gonna need. You better think it all the way through. I see.

The Alpha Dog originally intended to be an event-only cigar, but in 2016, the company decided to make it a regular production offering, releasing it in September of that year. It's also Nicaraguan Puro with the blend using a Habano Rosado Oscuro wrapper. It's available in three regular production sizes, Corona Gorda, Robusto, and Churchill. That cigar I have had, the Alpha Dog.

Really? I have had the Robusto. I remember it being good. Both cigars are produced at the Lozona Cigar Factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, while operation, let's see.

While they are limited release for now, Hector Alfonso Sr. Did I get to say that line he says? I've heard about that. Oh, I heard about that.

There you go. Thank you. The company's director of operations noted the release such as this. They're often measuring sticks to determine whether something should become a regular production line extension.

The price is set at $50 per pack of five before taxes. S. Food and Drug Administration Company completes a review of whether it should create a new streamlined process for premium cigars. As the court pointed out, in actuality, that clarification was a request to have their substantial equivalency requirements thrown out.

Judge Emmett P. Mahatta, that's the same judge I had before. So they wanted substantial equivalency thrown out and the judge said no. Yeah.

Judge said, no, no, no, no. That's not the way it works. Let's see, he concluded the court has no authority, at least under this particular argument, to vacate those substantial requirements. In short, because Congress gave FDA the authority to regulate cigars under the tobacco control.

So the FDA has to say, hey, listen, we don't want anything to do with this. Right. That's never going to happen. No, no, no.

They're going to say, we're going to figure this out. We're going to figure out the right way to tax the shit out of you and, you know, really suppress business. It also gave FDA the authority to require pre-market review the broader form of substantial equivalency for cigars. Great.

Mahata's ruling foreshadowed a large, albeit ongoing question whether FDA acted properly when deciding to regulate premium cigars, same way as other tobacco products. The process is often known as Option 1 or Option 2 is expected that the next major phase of the lawsuit will likely focus on that question. Option 1 is you get the steak knives. Right.

Option 2 is you're fired. Option 2 is you're fired. Ossie, Jassum Kral, Nugs, Kine Puro, Jassum Kral, Selection, Jack Herrera, Hmm, they cut into the two pages. Oh, and yeah, you struggled there.

Amongst the list of interesting cigars from the last couple of years, few would rival any of the entries from, say your friend's name again, Jassum Kral? Yeah, Ristey. They just keep calling him that, yeah, it's Ristey. They call him Jassum Kral.

The Nugs line. They don't even call him Ristey? Nope, not mentioning all that name in here at all. That's so shitty.

I know. Jossum Kral's the name of the brand. Oh, that's right. Yeah.

Let's see. More commonly known as the CBD Cigar, in between the original Nugs, which uses a 20-milligram CBD, and the Nugs Maduro, which uses 100-milligram CBD, the company announced the third version of Nugs. Cigar is Jossum Kral Nugs Kind Puro Selection, which is infused with 25-milligrams of THC. CBD and THC are both cannabinoids.

Cannabinoids? Cannabinoids? One of the hundreds of different molecules that can be found in marijuana, THC is believed to be the reason why people have a psychoactive reaction to marijuana, this is the one that gets you high, in case you didn't know what that means. Nice.

Where CBD is believed to be useful in treating a variety of ailments, in 2018, Congress made hemp-derived CBD legal on the federal level as plant contains less than 3% of THC. That opened up the market to Flutter Products to deliver CBD and forms that range from edibles to drops to dog treats. Nice. Let's see.

Let's see. The new Nugs is the THC-infused cigar. 5x48 Rothschild that uses an Ecuadorian Hibano wrapper over an Indonesian binder with Nicaraguan fillers from Esseli and Jalapa. Jalapa.

Jalapa. Jalapa. Are we boring you? You're in your phone.

No, no, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. You sure? Yeah. We're doing the show.

What do you want, man? Sometimes, you know. Very busy in here. Super busy.

General Cigar Michael is serving up the Punch Kung Pao. First, there was the Punch Egg Roll, and then there was the Punch Chop Suey. This Punch General Cigar is delivering another entry inspired by the Chinese food menu, the Kung Pao. An obvious take on Kung Pao Chicken.

The new Punch Kung Pao Cigar Measures, I still want to keep saying the name. I'm not buying it until they go to the number one extra spicy. That's spicy. You want the number one extra spicy?

You want number one extra spicy with rice? Yeah. When that comes out, I'll buy that one. 99 each.

The medium to full body blend is vaguely sweet with an undercurrent of spice, just like the popular Chinese food. Oh, I'm interested in trying this. Just like the popular Chinese food. You know, can you go back and say you mind if we got samples?

Who do we get these from now? I think Missy's gone. So is it David Mealy, or is there somebody else? No one knows.

No one knows. It's the mystery of the growth plan. Tom Loesch, Mr. Loesch, I don't know if he listens to the show or not, used to be with that name you say.

General? No, no, no, no, Tom Loesch used to be with Esteban Carrera. Ah. He is now with McAuliffe.

Ooh. Side note. McAuliffe. Because David Mealy used to be with McAuliffe, now he is with...

It's quite the transition. Yes, Anvil or whatever the new company is. Anvil. I don't know what's the new company, Tension, Torsion.

I don't know, it sounds like the foundry shit that they did back in the day. They did like this whole foundry thing. You know, I started- And they built this fucking- Yeah, the bands were metal, and if you got all of them, yeah, I had like four out of the seven or something. Yeah, but they weren't the four that went together, so I don't know.

I don't think that it actually did anything. Oh, really? I think it was just somebody started that rumor. It worked, 'cause I started seeking it.

I need the bands. The new cigar is scheduled to reach retailers on February 15th and joins at least four other cigar companies And celebrating the Chinese New Year. Oh, it's the Chinese New Year thing. The Chinese New Year is going on now.

Which according to the Chinese Zodiac is the year of the year. You're like one of the only American people that know that. Probably right. If you fact, you know, if you do factories over there, you know, but other than that.

Right. Yeah. Like to honor the Chinese, you know, the cigar industry is so full of fucking shit. Hey, they got the right month.

Yeah. And we're going to wing it. Let's see. That's if it comes out this month.

It comes in a 20 count novelty box. It looks more like a Chinese food takeout container than it does a typical cigar bag. cigar packaging. I want to try the dog.

Only 4,500 boxes are being produced. Not the Alpha. The dogs aren't available in China. They eat the dog.

They eat the dog, that's what I'm saying. So they're making the Chinese. That's actually made a comeback in North China. The young people are starting to eat the dog.

Oh, they're getting back into it. Getting back into it. Yeah, this golden retriever is delicious. 850 boxes more than last year's release.

Okay, we have... I don't think I could ever eat my dog. After experiencing putting one down, I don't think I could ever eat one. I don't realize how long Okay, we have one more story.

Oh no, it's two? What? Hold on. You got a listener of the week too, right?

Oh, it's two stories. Yes, I have a listener of the week. Yes, I do. Good.

Let's see. Roamacraft Tobac's Craft 2021 is slated for June. Are we getting those? Oh, I haven't.

You know what? I spoke to Michael this weekend and he didn't say shit to me. We didn't get those last year. Oh yeah, I know.

Are we getting them this year? That's a great question. Maybe that's why Skip was calling you. You should have answered the goddamn phone, Michael.

Oh, that was the FaceTime announcing. He was probably going, hey, story's going to break tomorrow on Half Wheel, I'm going to let you know that if you want in, I need your answer. We talked about this, Michael, answering the emails, and when Uncle Skip calls, he answered a phone. Man, with the FaceTime though, like last time I FaceTimed, I was staring at a TV screen.

But you called him. Yeah, I think so. He called you. I know.

Skip, we need to exchange phone numbers so that you can call me so I can... And then, oh, Skip, what we'll do is, then I'll three-way FaceTime him, he'll answer when I call, 'cause he thinks I don't know anything about football, and I'll just go, um, Uncle Skip would like to say a word. First of all, I wasn't taking anybody's call. The only guy who I would have considered taking the call was Skip.

I FaceTimed you twice yesterday. Not during the game. Right as the game was starting. Okay.

I'm sure if I would have FaceTimed further into the game, you still would have answered. Yeah, you wanna, you know something? You're right, I would have answered. You wanna know why?

'Cause I'm here. Exactly. 'Cause you're at the store. See, Skip?

If there's a way around everything, if you needed something at the shop. Skip, I can reach it for us. If you think... I'm not giving it out on the air, huh?

Why not? I've given mine out on the air. You have a shop phone. No, I'll give my cell phone number.

It's fine. You have two cell phones. Anyway, back to the Roma Craft story that you interrupted. Because now we're not getting them.

The annual limited edition from Roma Craft Tobac known as the Craft... Skip doesn't have control of that. He has control of everything. Nah, that's Michael's job.

I'm sure it is Michael's job. I'm sure in the division of labor with the company, that is not something Skip normally handles. But I'm sure if he was to say, you know what, that hustler son of a bitch didn't answer my phone call when I called him, so you know what, I don't want him to get him again this year. Okay.

Mike didn't get him to you last year. I think that, you know, that one thing. Because the other guy said you couldn't get him. That was, yeah, but you know, we're over that, we're moving on.

He's further down the ladder than Skip is. It's true. So. All I'm saying is, Skip knows.

Skip knows whose his friends are. He knows he got his back. What happened last year then? I don't know.

You didn't have his back last year? Danny was in charge. I'd try not to say the name, Michael. Why?

I still love Denny. It's over. Let's see. The Box of Craft 2021.

Oh, I don't have the photos, obviously. It's for the show, but it's a beautiful looking cigar. Yeah. It sort of looks like the Norwalk.

Yeah. The Box of Craft 2021 will include ten cigars, five of each of the wrapper designs. The main wrapper is a Connecticut Broadleaf Varietal that is accented by either Ecuadorian Connecticut or Candela Tobacco. Varietal?

V-A-R-I-E-T-A-L. E-T-A-L. Huh. Veritale?

Couldn't you say a variety of? Veritale? It's a variety. Okay.

The Connecticut Broadleaf Variety, that extended. Yeah, see, that would have worked. Variety. Underneath it, maybe this is a half-wheel story, so maybe they just used the big word.

Underneath that is a dark Indonesian basuki binder over a mixture of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos in the filler. Skip Martin, co-founder of Romagraft, told Half-wheel that the blend is similar to the company's Neanderthal line, Notably missing from Craft 2021, compared to Neanderthals, the Pennsylvania Double Lajero Tobacco is noted for its high nicotine content. What's that other one? The Sucker Valley Puckerfish tobacco?

The Pennsylvania Green Sucker... Is that this Pennsylvania Double Lajero Tobacco? Sucker One or something. Right.

Is that this one? You know, that was the only trivia question Danny got wrong when he was here at the shop for the normal Craft thing. Was it? Yep, I feel like he got more than one wrong.

He might have, but I remember he got that one wrong because I got it right because I had just read it the day before. Green Sucker Fish Wanderers. Yeah. Let's see, Uncle Skip also specified that it's not the same blend as various Cro-Magnon Narwhal cigars.

Oh, there you go. Oh, not the same. Not the same. An unofficial release that was made at various times and given out as a very limited basis.

Narwhal wasn't a consistent blend, though Halfway reviewed a version that was slightly larger, 6 and 3/10 by 58. Perfecto. perfect though there will be 2,000 2,500 boxes made prices set at $18 per cigar craft 2021 will not be allotted uh to at least half of romacraft tobacco is estimated 300 350 retailers based on what martin described as account development i don't know i don't know about that 2,000 are we developing as an account account i i could tell you that we buy a lot of room we buy a lot of I don't know. It comes in like weekly almost.

It does. All right. And then finally, Michael, the Jalapa Valley of Nicaragua is known in the cigar industry for its rich soil and highly sought after tobacco. But what sometimes it's forgotten is the poverty of some of the inhabitants, Michael.

Yeah, it's true. Ace Prime co-founder Luciano Morales is seeking to help by creating the Ace Prime Foundation. I know how big you are in these press releases for the new foundations and things they make. Are they going to give eggs?

A program to provide relief to impoverished families in the area. We're so cool. The cigar industry is so well known for being unique in preserving tradition, quality, and acting like a family, but the poverty in many communities involved in the process of cigar making breaks my heart, Morales said in the press release. When Ace Prime, owner of such brands as Pichardo, Luciano, MXS, began expanding their operation in farming, Morales' farming partner, Yalila, Yalila Fuente, introduce him to families in the Jalapa area that were in need.

Hey, I don't mean to cut you off, because I know there's a good, but your phone's been going nuts, your son just called you, and now your mother's calling you. Oh, alright, let's stop real quick. Okay. Well, geez, the show ended.

That was very close to the end. The Listener of the Week. Oh, wait. Go one more time.

There we go. Listener of the week is Michael Torres, Mike the Mailman, as we call him here at the shop. He was on one of the earlier episodes. He went and go back and listened.

I had seen him a while, and he came in this weekend for the Super Bowl event and not realizing it was a ticketed event. But he mentioned that he still watches the show every day, and he's a big fan, apparently. So, Mr. Torres, Mike the Mailman, you are our listener of the week, sir.

That was the last of the show. So, this was episode 160 of Cigar Hustler Podcast. We'll be taping the Patreon today. I'm not sure of the cigar now, because I saw the end of Michael's football out there in his ashtray.

So, we'll see what happens, but again, my apologies, and we'll see you next week. Thanks, bye. The Cigar Hustlers Podcast, its owners and its sponsors take no responsibility for the opinions or statements made by the talk show host or their guests. Statements or show topics are not necessarily the beliefs of Mike & Mike Productions or the podcast providers, and opinions between talk show hosts may differ.

It is not our intention to libel, incite, or hurt anyone's feelings. We invite you to write the show's host, Mike Szczevankewicz, with any feedback or suggestions that you have for their shows. These broadcasts are presented and made public as entertainment in the hope that they will be entertaining to the audience. This has been a Cigar Hustlers Podcast, a Mike and Mike production.

m. for all new episodes. Hi, I'm doing, I'm Husto-E-Raw. Yeah, we just don't have to do a single podcast ever again.

Perfect. I'm good, Mike and Mike. How are you guys doing? The Hojo Deeb.

Hojo! -It's the Hojo! He didn't even let him fuck it up all the way. I could get past Hojo!

-I don't even have to try it. -He's not even going to try it. -We're going to cover a lot of ground here, Mike. -All right.

-Try to keep up. -That's a sign of a good podcast. -It'd be like four cigars when I walked in a door. -All right, end this.

-Squared. -Squared. -Squared.

Show Notes

Mikey doesn't gloat but he does love the Goat.... Industry News and a Special Note from Mike 2 at the end of the show....