164 Cigars Clubs, Mike 2 Gets a new Puppy and TPE has no DE

Episode Summary

Episode 164 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with the Mikes smoking the LCA "Trail Mix" — a Curivari-made, unbanded cousin of the Buenaventura line — before diving into the episode's main discussion: the growing industry pushback against Privada Cigar Club and founder Brian Desind. The hosts break down the criticisms they've heard (inconsistent product quality, no brick-and-mortar storefront) and push back on each, noting that plenty of top-tier retailers started as catalogs or out of a garage, and that no retailer only stocks cigars they personally love. They do flag one genuine misstep — deep-discounting a brand's product as retaliation when they couldn't get an account — and use it to make a broader point about the industry's double standards, recalling how brand owners and reps cheered when a friend's brand got blown out over a dispute. Their takeaway: "everybody eats," and you get further making friends than enemies.

The news block leads with Drew Estate announcing it will not exhibit in person at TPE 2021 in Las Vegas (May 12–14), with CEO Glenn Wilson citing COVID-19 employee travel protocols. The hosts point out the business logic too: Drew Estate is backordered on nearly everything, hasn't put reps back on the road, and is having real success with Zoom events featuring people like Willy Herrera — so why spend a half-million-plus between TPE and PCA for more back orders? They also cover Viaje shipping the Fat Purple Jalapeño and Zombie Antidote 2021 on March 15, Aganorsa Leaf's Rare Leaf Reserve Titan 6x60 (and what "limited production, not limited edition" actually means), the Cohiba Year of the Ox humidor holding 88 Cohiba Shorts, John J. Miller's promotion to president and CEO of Swisher, Scandinavian Tobacco Group completing its DKK 300 million share buyback, and Espinosa's 601 La Bamba The Wick "Titty Twister" exclusive for Underground Cigar Shop in Fort Worth (complete with a From Dusk Till Dawn tangent).

Along the way: a JM's Coffee collaboration with Cigars for Warriors where every 12-ounce bag purchased sends an 8-ounce bag to a deployed soldier, Mike 2's new boxer puppy ("Screwball Whiskey Palmer") and the saga of the Louisiana breeder whose dogs were poisoned, updates on the hosts' movie roles and upcoming guest spots on other cigar shows, a tribute to listener Kuba's dog, and the Florida news segment about a snorkeler who turned in $1.5 million of cocaine found floating off the Keys. The episode wraps with the listener of the week and a pointer to the Patreon secret show for the full Trail Mix review.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Show Sponsor & Smoke of the Week
   Case Elegance's Octodor humidor read, plus the hosts light up the LCA "Trail Mix" made by Curivari.
2. 02
   Privada Cigar Club Under Fire
   A long, deliberately name-light discussion of why brand owners and retailers are pushing back on Privada Cigar Club and Brian Desind, and why the hosts think most of the criticism misses the mark.
3. 03
   Deep Discounting as Retaliation
   The hosts call out blowing out a brand's product over a dispute as a mistake that hurts the whole industry — and point to the double standard when it happened to a friend's brand.
4. 04
   Drew Estate Pulls Out of TPE 2021
   Glenn Wilson's letter to retailers, the COVID travel protocols behind the decision, and the business math of skipping both TPE and PCA while running on back orders.
5. 05
   New Release News
   Viaje Fat Purple Jalapeño and Zombie Antidote 2021, Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve Titan, the Cohiba Year of the Ox humidor, and Espinosa's 601 La Bamba The Wick Titty Twister for Underground Cigar Shop.
6. 06
   Industry Business Moves
   John J. Miller promoted to president and CEO of Swisher, and Scandinavian Tobacco Group completes its DKK 300 million share buyback.
7. 07
   JM's Coffee x Cigars for Warriors
   A buy-one-donate-one coffee collaboration that sends an 8-ounce bag of two-bean roast to deployed troops.
8. 08
   Puppies, Movie Updates and Florida News
   Mike 2's new boxer puppy, the hosts' upcoming film roles and podcast guest spots, and a snorkeler who turned in 68 pounds of cocaine off the Florida Keys.

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

welcome to episode 164 cigar hustler podcast yeah 164 you always repeat the number when i say it always always do for four years now you've repeated the number never get tired of saying Are you tired of saying the number? I didn't notice last week's the intro music plays twice, so I will take it off the video. When you put the video up, it does the intro and... Mike Square, Mike Square.

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Boom. So, you know, you know what's kind of funny? I was talking to Michael Rosales last week from Crap Tobac. That's what's funny?

And he said to me, Yes? Oh, so you guys are doing video now. I was like, dude, we've been doing video forever. For two years.

It just comes out later. Right. But because you moved it to the right day with everyone else. Oh, he saw it?

Yeah. How did he see it though? I have no idea. But he told me.

Well, in the Instagram post, I put that the audio and video were both up at the same day. Oh, look at that. But it wasn't any more than usual. But I think it's a step in the right direction.

It's just coming out? Yeah. Just a little more work on my part, but you know, you don't mind that. No, I don't mind you doing that.

What are we smoking this week, Michael, on the Patreon? I'm not lighting mine yet. You're not? No.

We're going to smoke the trail mix. Do we know anything about it? It's got trail mix in it. From the Pravada Club.

Yes, but do we know origins or what's in it, or is there anything? It's one of insurance, Curavari. Oh, is it Curavari? Yeah.

Some people ask me and I tell them they don't say. - Yeah. - You'll no say? - I'm ready to smoke.

You don't want it right now? - No, no, I'll put it right over here. I might. I don't know.

I'm just smoking this little thing that I got. - But it kind of puts me, you know, it's good that we're doing the cigarette today, Mike. - Why is that? - Because it kind of gives me a segue to talk about some stuff.

- Oh! - Now, now, we're not gonna-- - Patreon, Patreon. - Well, no, we're gonna talk about some stuff here. - Oh.

- And then we'll talk about more of it on the Patreon. - Oh. - But here-- - I have a lot of news. - You have a lot of news?

- But, I mean, I always cut stories out. Okay, well, I think that's important. On the go editing, Michael, that's what we're. Yeah, we quickly adjust, we pivot.

Just pivot, pivot, pivot, pivot. Nope. This is, um, this is kind of important. And I think that we're not going to include anybody's name.

We're going to keep it. We're going to put, be very respectful or as respectful as we possibly can. We're not known for our respectability, Michael. I know.

It's a fine line. That we cross every week. It's like I said, I, you know, I'm trying, Ringo, trying. Trying real hard to be the shepherd Trying real hard To be the shepherd Why don't you text Chet and have him come get the phone real quick Can you because My phone's running the timer I'll text him for you no problem Thank you that'd be very nice of you since you have your notes here While you're doing that I'll give everybody a movie update Our pre-production meeting Had to be postponed because Micah was a little sick Last week had the sniffles Yeah the sniffles But it is gone now Yeah it's like 90% gone Yes, so our pre-production meeting is tomorrow, where we will do our table read for our lines, since you're Earl, and I'm Joe.

Earl. Do you know your lines? Like memorized? Yes.

No. You have to know them tomorrow. You can't memorize them, though. I know mine.

Yeah, but you don't want to have them completely memorized. Yes, because the director said we do it one time exactly as it's written, and then we can play with it after that, because I've already got some changes, some things. The vernacular that Joe speaks in is not my normal vernacular that I would speak in. Oh, look at you, you know, you're a- Make the part my own, Michael.

I could, and that's good for you, you know, kind of become your own person. You know, the only thing I'm, because, I mean, there's several scenes I'm in where I don't talk, but it doesn't say what Joe is doing, so I mean, I just stand there, am I polishing a glass? You're cleaning a lot of glass. Am I waiting on the other people?

Yeah, that too. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure they'll tell me. I was going to go pick up a shirt, too. We're recording tomorrow, right?

Would you like to use the sport card? I don't think that that would be a good idea. For one, it doesn't fit me. And for two...

It would fit you better than fit Jack. Yeah, it's true. You think Chet sees my text or no? Probably.

Probably. He comes in. We'll see. I got a new puppy over the weekend.

I know. You did get a new puppy. Yes. Completely unplanned.

I thought that you planned on getting a dog. We planned on getting another dog. And that dog died. The mother died in labor and died with all her puppies.

Yeah. And then our breeder was going to try again, but she's having problems with her alleged neighbors, because I don't know exactly why, and another one of her dogs got killed, got poisoned. That's some crazy shit. Yeah, well, she's got problems with her neighbors and one of the- How do you kill a dog?

They poisoned it somehow. Yeah, but what I'm saying is like, the neighbor dog, the dog is such a pain in the ass that you kill it? The neighbors had pit bulls. The pit bulls kept coming into her yard to kill all her chickens.

Oh, that's right, right, right, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then came in and killed, yeah, she had, because, well, it was killing her animals. It was in the pen with her dead dog.

I mean, it had got into the pen and killed my dog's father, basically is what it was. Right. So she, you know, you know, so that sounds like, uh, I, I understand that. So there's some alleged retribution.

So she does not have any mating pairs. Where the fuck are these people living? In the Bayou, Louisiana. Holy shit, man.

That's some crazy shit. So, we found a breeder in Sanford, but this lady had a huge-ass waiting list and was ungodly amounts of money because she had the waiting list. So, Adrian gave this big speech in the middle of last week. Well, maybe it's not the right time.

Both dogs are healthy. It's less expensive. Hasn't really been that long since her other dog died. We'll just put it off.

You know, if she has one, we'll table it for now. But for now, if the breeder has one at the end of next year, which is what she, end of this year is what she had planned, so the babies will be born into 2022, maybe then. Right. So, she was out this weekend with her friends from school, she's talking to them, they're all talking about their dogs, because I think all their children are grown, so they're all showing pictures of their dogs.

Right. One of the ladies finds out that we didn't get the dog, like we had planned. Right. But she has a cousin in Sanford who breeds boxers and just had a litter and has some extras.

Wow. " So, I mean, it's just a matter of which one. I mean, I might even take the three-legged one. Yeah, she probably still would have taken a three-legged dog too, right.

I mean, there had to have been something overly, horrifically wrong with the animal for us not to come home with one. I mean, I would take a three-legged dog. Right. I bet you that would probably be the fucking happiest dog I've ever wanted.

Probably, right. " Yeah, so I mean, we were there 10 minutes, and then we had to go out and get the money because we didn't bring the money. Right. So, you know, we got to find a bank, and you got to get the money.

And so, yeah, so we came home with the dog. Got to bring the ski masks, got to get the guns, got to the bank. Right. Because it's, you know, allegedly ATL.

So we came with the dog. The dog's doing well. The other dogs love it. Dempsey's like, we got him a present.

He's just so happy. He's running around. Yeah, he's a friend. Dempsey's young enough where he's still a puppy.

Right. You know, he's still, so everything's still like very exciting. Right, he's very excited. And now there's another one that can keep up with him.

Adrian took a picture of the two of them laying on the couch, He's on the couch, and he actually put his arm around the little dog. This is my friend. This is my new friend. This is mine.

Thank you so much. This is mine. It's like me and you on the couch. I put my arm over you.

Right, exactly, right. You're my friend. So, they get in bed the first night, Saturday night, and it's like they're having a slumber party. They're jumping up and down on the bed, and we're like, oh my god.

Isn't this awesome? This is great. Look at where we get to sleep. This is wonderful.

Who okayed this? These people let us sleep at their bed. This is amazing. I'm just not happy with the dog name.

You don't like whiskey? No. The dog's name is Screwball. I agree.

Well, you don't call Rowdy Rowdy either, so, you know, you can call it whatever you want. Yeah. But, no, she didn't, she didn't like, but I did, I mean, it was going to be Screwball Whiskey Palmer, so. Screwball Whiskey Palmer is the name for the dog.

Yeah, maybe on the paper I'll get her to put it on the paper, because there's really no short for whiskey, whisk. Yeah. Because Dempsey is Demp. Come here, screw.

Yeah. Come here, screwball. I mean, screwball just flows. Yeah, exactly.

So. It's either that or sit. Come here, sit. And the dog's going, what?

What the fuck? -What is going on here? -My owner's a complete asshole. -We took him all for a walk this weekend.

Well, Rowdy rides in a stroller. He doesn't walk. He's 12 years old. He rides in a stroller.

He sits in a stroller. But he had to share a stroller part of the way. He was not happy. -Sir, fetch me my chariot.

-That's probably what he thinks it is. Chariot. Stands up on the front of him. The wind's blowing through his little hair.

-He's part terrier. He's a terrier. I get it. So that's what happened, so, you know, we spent, yeah, so, I mean, you know, you're already up way too much money because you can, you know, you buy the, buy the dog food, the special food, the special toys.

Was this dog more or less than the dog that you were originally going to get? Uh, same price as the first one. Same price. Exact same price.

Now, did you get money back from the last people? Yes, yes, we got the deposit back from the lady who lost it and things, so yeah. And she's got some struggles over there. Yeah.

Fucking Hatfields and McCoys over in Louisiana, I mean, Jesus. I told everyone to go, you know what, she could just keep the deposit for the future dog if you want. And the lady goes, no, she insists that we take it back. Yeah, she's, I mean, that's the right business approach, you know, because you don't want to leave that lingering or whatever the case may be.

And we had looked into getting one from, uh, someone she had given one of her dogs to was breeding dogs now. And she told us, she goes, this is the first time the lady's breeding. There's nothing wrong with the dogs, blah, blah, blah, but she may not be in the position where if something happens, God forbid, you could get your money back easily. Oh, they're just being, oh, it's being honest.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm just being honest with you. So cool.

So we, we, all we did all weekend was puppy stuff. So, you know, that's, you know, that's a good thing. And you know, it's also kind of funny too. Like I know that you said, well, the last dog just passed kind of recently.

You didn't know when, you know, the timing was good or not. Right. And this is kind of the, the back and forth debate that I'm also having with the handyman. Cause the handyman's done.

His dog passed. He doesn't want to get another, he doesn't want to have another dog. He's over it. Yeah.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. But for me, like, I mean, when Fluffy died, we didn't see the We didn't see that coming, right? I mean, we kind of anticipated it. You had it, it was sort of in the back of your head because you got the dog before.

Right. Well, we, yeah, but, but it wasn't, well, this one's going to die in the next month. Oh, it wasn't, it wasn't the replacement. Yeah.

Well, it was supposed to be a replacement when one had passed, but because of COVID and boredom, we took the dog on. Right. Yeah. And I'm going to tell you, man, because the way that it worked out, it's, you know, that, that dog was like a, it's like a therapy dog.

dogs like an emotional like he's just this big fucking meatball mush cuddler guy you know what i mean so like man you know he kind of he's kind of segued in at the right time right you know like you make things a little bit easier el chapo you know right yeah so it's hard to say when the right time is to get another another dog or not right and it's different for different for everybody right but drew's not the handyman the handyman is not he says he's not getting one which you know I think that's kind of sad. It is, but with their lifestyle, I mean, they're both so busy now with their different jobs and stuff. So what you do is you get a highly trained dog that you take with you everywhere. Oh.

I mean, he's the type of guy. Could he take it to work? I'm sure he could. I don't know what kind of office it is.

I don't know what kind of office it is. It's a hell of a service animal. We've got a nice shepherd for Dobie. Dobie for him.

Yeah, something big. Yeah. He's not a little terrier type guy. He's got easier maintenance, but, you know, active, but highly intelligent.

That's what you should do, handyman. There you go, handyman. He's not gonna do it. No, no.

I mean, he's looking at, like, weeks, so... Yeah, this is still fresh. Yeah. Well, you know, shout out to Kuba.

Rest in peace. Rest in peace, Kuba. Rest in peace, Kuba. Rest in peace.

So, yeah, getting onto this Provada Club, I mean, there's been a lot of traction. Kuba got it going. on. That's very nice.

Very nice for Cuba. We need like a tap. Listener of the week, Cuba. I need tap.

Yeah. With the way things are going around here, I mean, somebody's got something that's died every week. All dogs are dying. So, well, you know, Drew and I were talking about how long we'd actually known each other, and we're all you know, that seven, almost eight years of knowing each other, so, you know, dogs are starting to get old.

Everybody had one when we all met. Yeah, well, he didn't have it originally. When he moved into the house, he didn't? - No.

- Oh! - No, they picked it, they, you know, I remember having a conversation with him prior to, and I'm like, he says that they're looking at the, that type of dog, it was like a husky or whatever. - Husky thing or something, yeah. - I'm like, dude, those dogs are runners.

I'm like, don't fucking do it. - Yeah, and it's real hot in Florida. - Yeah, I mean, but, you know, I guess a panda, I love the fucking dog, you know. The dog's obviously a good dog.

- Right. - Okay, anyway, Provada Club. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let's get into this because, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of heat going on there.

There's a big buzz. People are kind of talking about this, and, you know, somebody-- Well, he's up for Entrepreneur of the Year on the Hoosia What's It thing. The Hoosia What's It, which is a big deal. That should be coming out here soon.

The voting stopped last week. Tobacco Business Awards is what it was. Oh, that's nice, you know? And I think they were on there twice.

Entrepreneur of the Year, and I forget, they might be tobacconists, too. Which I think might be our-- Our competition? Yeah, because all their people-- That's going to be tough. That's going to be tough.

All their pupils. Well, look, I mean, we've met Brian a couple times. Yes. You know, and we don't know a ton about the guy, but he seems like a good guy.

Seems nice enough. There's nothing that you're like, oh, man, you're just a complete asshole. Like, I've never gotten that, you know. Right.

Gotten that vibe. I've gotten that vibe from other retailers. I mean, we've walked into some stores and we're like, fuck, we're going to get the hell out of here. How fast can we leave?

Do you do terms? No, we don't do terms. We prefer our money up front when we ship you the product. Oh, well, fuck you then.

I'm like, okay, well, fuck you as well. Cigars Online? Yes. Oh.

Okay, we are out. Like the web? Like the internet? Yeah.

Have you heard of it? Yeah. I don't want anything to do with that internet. Al Gore creation.

Right. So, yeah. So, Brian seems like a good guy. I mean, I don't know 100% about the guy, but I haven't had any interactions with him that have rubbed me the wrong way.

Right. You know? But it seems like- We currently answer their emails because we keep in the stuff. Yeah.

They respond. So, and- I was more concerned with you responding. But yeah. I respond, yeah.

I responded to Viaje twice this week, and they haven't responded back to me. I'm like, please confirm. There has to be a scam. He never answers.

Hey, I just want to confirm that I said yes to this. I want to make sure that I'm getting it. He never answers. It has to be someone else.

This account must be hacked. Should we reply to this guy? We're going to get into my phone. Yeah.

So did you get the text message over the weekend that you won ear pods from Amazon? I did not. I got it. Adrian got it.

And I think my mother got it. Oh, so you all clicked. No, no, nobody clicked the link. Your mother definitely didn't know.

She doesn't know what AirPods are. She probably didn't know. What is this? You want my social security number?

Okay. Right, hang on. For safety purposes, I'll give it to you. Right.

Just need you to identify with your bank account and your social security. Oh, good, I won. Okay, anyway. Rivada.

Yeah, so, but there's been some brand owners and manufacturers and retailers that are really kind of pushing hard against this guy. You know? And I don't, I can't, maybe I'm missing something. something i don't i don't fully understand why they're why there's so much pushback on them you know they're successful at the moment yeah that i mean that's very true that's very true but like that has a lot to do with it so the couple things that that have kind of come come across that i've picked up through you know various posts and videos and stuff social media information where everybody gets their news now where everybody gets their news and you know it's like one thing But the thing is that, you know, people feel that his product is inadequate, and I mean, we're smoking this right now, and so far so good, and I think that some of his cigars have been great, some of them maybe not so much, but I feel like that happens a lot in this industry, right?

Everything's not a winner. And to say as a retailer, and I'm only going to use myself as an example here, as a retailer, I'll only sell cigars that I love. Well, that's not true, because Romeo and Julietas, I don't love. I don't know.

This just in, you know, I'm not a big fan of that cigar. You're like Monte Christos? I'm not a big, you know, the Monte Christos. I'm not a big fan of those either, you know, but I sell them.

I sell the shit out of them. Because people buy them. Do I feel that, you know, as far as quality and pricing is concerned, maybe you can get something better? In my opinion, yes, I do.

You know, I smoke a ton of Roma stuff. Right. Ton. Ton.

Yeah, everybody saw the picture of your humidor. I thought that was a nice. How long did it stay looking like that? I'm going to keep it that way as best as I can.

You can't keep coming over once a week, Mike, and straight in here. Yeah, it's ridiculous. So, you know, the other issue, too, is like people are saying, well, he's not a brick and mortar. Like, he doesn't have a brick and mortar store.

Well, neither does Espinosa. Well, Espinosa, well, Espinosa is not a retailer. Oh, we're saying, oh, because he has the club. Okay, I was thinking more of him as a wholesaler because we buy from him and other places buy from him.

So, no, I'm not even really at that level, but, you know, I got no complaints if you jump to that. If you can sell cigars and not have the overhead of the building, good for you. I mean, here's the, but the really, the bottom line is, dude, that a lot of these retailers, a lot of the top tier retailers, they didn't start as brick and mortars. No.

Right. You know, I know one that was a mechanic. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm not going to mention names, but I know one that would, that built a whole catalog system while he was an auto mechanic. Well, there you go. Son of a bitch. And he's up there.

He's up there. He's in top tier. Well, aren't there a lot of even the smaller shops that started doing that? I mean, CI, I don't even think CI had a brick and mortar shop originally when they started.

Oh, I'm sure they did, and they were just a catalog. Right. Yeah. Nobody's fucking pissing in their Cheerios, I don't understand, you know what I mean?

Like, what, what, it just doesn't make sense to me. Doesn't make sense. Um, let me see what else I got here. Oh, so, you know, I, I understand that one thing that happened here that, that, that is kind of, i think that it might have been a misstep right and you can't in this day and age it doesn't if you want to build relationships you really can't flat out go to war with somebody and deep discount their product if they're not selling to you right i'm not gonna say who it is or whatever the case may be but if you you know nah i'm i'm trying like i said dude i'm trying i'm trying real hard to be the shepherd you know i need to pull that line and have it in the machine i'm trying ringo so you know and that was probably a misstep like he took a product that he couldn't get access to and he sold it at a low price and you know that's a mistake and i think that you know that mistake happens with a guy that's kind of new in the industry you know the guy's coming up pretty fast and you know he'll hopefully he'll understand the errors of his ways and he'll correct it you know right i'm not here to tell him if it's right you know that he needs to do it or he doesn't i mean And this is his path and he's going to walk his path, right?

But I think that, you know, you go better, you're going to go a further distance making friends than you are making enemies. Oh, certainly. It's coming from a guy who has some enemies, believe me. The list grows daily.

The funny part to me about that is that I distinctly remember, it wasn't too long ago, when my friend, my personal friend, all of his products, they got deep discounted over, you know, over a little quarrel, right? Over a Disagreeance, and the funny part to me is the retailers or brand owners and, you know, or the brand owners and manufacturers that kind of rallied behind it and made the comments on those Facebook posts of, yeah, ooh, there's shelf space available, I'll take it, whether they're half-joking or not, like, they make that comment, well, it's not, it's not funny now, it's not funny somebody else is doing it, because, I mean, I'm lost, I don't know who you're talking about. I thought I knew what you were talking about, but no. All right, so let's, I'm just, again, Shepard.

Are you talking about you personally? No, I'm saying that, let's see, a friend of mine who represents their own brand. I got it, okay, now I know. And they're getting, they're getting, they're having, they have a disagreement with somebody.

I know you're talking about that. And they get, and they get fucking deep discounted. I thought you were doing you personally, then you said some things that didn't fit what I knew. Yeah, so they get deep discounted across the board and blown out of the shop, right?

Right. Now that affects the brand. I don't give a shit what brand it is. The fact of the matter is that it hurts.

Not only does it impact that brand, it impacts the entire industry as a whole, so, you know, that whole approach is a mistake, and I've made that mistake before too, I've had my moments, you know, I'm not, you know, I'm not sitting here, you know, perched up somewhere high, I'm gonna tell you right now, I've made plenty of mistakes, you know, but the fact of the matter is that, you know, I, I mean, I, I have those feeds, I have them all saved, I have the whole, before they were deleted, they're all, I have all of it, right? And I distinctly know for a fact that there were sales reps, brand owners, manufacturers, all like, yeah, get them, blah, blah, blah, oh, shelf space available. Right. And like, so if you're okay with it on that end, how can you not be okay with it on this end, you know?

Right. So where's the line? Is the line for the people that are on your team, or is the line for the people that, you know, for everybody? Everybody's always self-serving, Michael.

-Is that really the case? -I believe so. That's what my father always said. Now he can't remember saying it, but he- -I can't, you know, I refuse to live like that, dude.

I refuse to live like that. I understand that everybody's got to make their own, but, you know, I'm a big believer in, you know, everybody kind of eats. -Everybody on your team, what if they're not on your team, though? -Well, that's, but that's a choice for them, if they want to be on my team or not.

-I'm not here to- -I want to be on your team. -I'm not here to- -Pick me, pick me! I'm not here to smite anybody else and crush them around me. Like if you want to be my enemy, I got no problem with that.

I have no problem with the conflict. I'm perfectly comfortable with all that, but that's your choice. That's not my choice. If you want to hate me, hate away, you know, like that.

I'm good. That's fine. But, you know, if you don't and you want to be friends, I'm cool being friends, too. And if we want to be friends, then we can make money together.

Oh, everybody makes money. So, that's really all I got to say about it. It's just really kind of ironic to me that we've gotten to this point and, you know, I wish Brian the best. I wish any retailer the best.

I, you know, I hope that, you know, he learns as he continues to go. He gets better at what he does, but there's no, there's not, there's, you can't say the fact, the fact of the matter is that the guy has really done something remarkable in a short period of time, something that no one else has ever done. not only has he created a massive audience over a short period of time, but he also creates demand for product that he then sells to other retailers for them to sell to the customers that he built. Wow.

I mean, that's pretty fucking impressive. Yeah. Well, he makes money if we make money. That's right.

Everybody eats. Everybody eats, brother. Everybody eats. So, I don't know, man.

I don't know. It's just kind of unique to me. So, we'll see where it develops. Man, like I said, maybe I'm missing something.

I don't know if he's done something really atrociously shady or something like that, but I haven't seen it yet. So let's see where, let's see where it goes, what happens. Yeah, we will follow this story as more details become available, as it kind of unfolds, so take a break, get into the news. Let's take a break and get into some news.

All right, we will be right back. 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! Alright, welcome back to episode 164, Cigar Hustler Podcast, where everybody eats. Everybody eats. Everybody eats.

Everybody eats. That's it, man. Take care of everyone. So real quick, the end of the month, we're gonna be on a shirtless mic show.

So that's a thing. That's exciting. I think Bear also reached out to me. Oh, Bear Duplicy.

Duplicy. Right? He wants you on or us on? He invited me.

I don't know if it's an us thing. Ah, you go. You were on it before, but you go ahead. You want it to be us?

No. I'll tell him. Hey, you know what I really want. No, no.

It does not have to be us, Michael. I'm perfectly fine with that. Heckle and Jekyll midgens meet every week in their opening. It's true.

So I'm fine. Is this thing on? And then, you know, I also have. Mike Palmer, are we on?

That's what Jekyll is. I think one of the Distinguished Ruffian guys reached out in Texas or something, I don't know, they wanted to do some kind of Zoom thing. " Making a circuit! It's 'cause we're in a movie.

That's probably what it is, it's gotta be the movie. It's the movie. Without question. It was probably in the trades.

Mm-hmm. That's what this movie people call the newspaper. Oh, really? The trades.

The trades, eh? Variety. Check the trades. Check the trades every day, see if we're mentioned.

You heard about me? You heard? Can't wait until we make an IMDb page. IMDb.

Fred Rui has one. He was in one movie. So there you go. There he is.

You know, we need to do. It's on my list of things I've always wanted to do. You know what we need to do is we actually need to build a Wikipedia for Cigar Hustling. Oh, we can do that?

Yeah. For the podcast or for the shop? For me. Oh, then you need to do that.

No, I need you to go ahead and write that down. Go ahead and take care of that. We're over there. Yeah, you can just build that.

You know, so then we can all eat. It's not the same if I do it. It's not the same when you do the work yourself. Cigar Hustle Podcast news!

Mm-hmm. This just in, Michael, Drew Estate is not exhibiting in the TPE 2021. Ooh, a hefty pull-out. Drew Estate is one of the largest exhibitors and a key sponsor of the event will not be in Vegas for the Tobacco Plus Expo this May.

Ooh. The company says that because of health and safety concerns, it will not be exhibiting in person at the TPE 2021. Yeah. As you know from prior communications, personally from me, as well as through discussions with your accountant, Drew Estate has been steadfast in its commitment to protect the health of our employees and their families, our customers and their employees and families, a lot of people, as well as consumers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, said Glenn Wilson, CEO of Drew Estate.

Aha. In a letter to retailers, this has been and remains priority number one. While the number of new infections that seems to be slowing of vaccinations to prevent the spread of the virus are now being distributed, Drew Estate has not yet changed our internal protocols regarding employee travel and event attendance. Thus, we simply could not commit to our trusted partners at TPE that we would be in position to so by the time this year TPE trade show took place.

Last week, Tobacco Media Group and the Crytek International Division that operates it said the event would take place in person from May 12th to the 14th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Yes. It'll be the first in-person tobacco trade show for American Rehealer since TPE 2020 took place last January. Yes, it did.

We went to that. I believe the PCA is scheduled for June, I believe we saw. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, last week, we said October.

Yeah, it's June. We don't fact-check. It's June. So, wait, what are you doing with the story?

Keep going. Keep going. We got to talk about this a little bit. Over the last few years, Jurisdia has been one of the largest, blah, blah, blah.

They are definitely one of the largest. Now, they are out of both shows this year. Mm-hmm. Well, are they out of the PCA?

I know they were last year. Yeah, they pulled out. I mean, they said they were done. Are they pulled out for good?

I mean, yeah. I think as of right now, you know, the top guys that walked out, they want some kind of agreement when it comes to board control and something else. Well, that was last year's reason for leaving. Yeah, and then you had the pandemic, so it's not like anything's really been fixed.

You know, the PCA's been bleeding out for the past year. Right, but they've made no announcement. I mean, last year they didn't say we're out of this indefinitely. Yeah.

They just said we're pulling out of this year's. Right. So I don't, I mean, I don't, I don't see the pandemic, they're probably going, we started the pandemic, so we crushed them and they're done. You know what?

No, I think the Houston Astros, the Astros definitely started the pandemic. Nobody is talking about that. You know, the whole cheating scandal, like release the pandemic and then all of a sudden all that goes away. Okay.

I believe it worked well for anybody to blame. It's probably the Astros. That's just a joke, by the way. So here's the deal with the TPE and the PCA with Drew Estate pulling out.

The fact of the matter is, you know, they're backordered on all their stuff anyways. They're selling everything. Everything's being sold, right? Oh, it's true.

So why go? So you're going to go spend a quarter, half a million plus? Right. To get more sales of things we don't have?

To get more fucking back orders? You know, oh, okay, I'll write that down. Yeah. It's like that doesn't make any...

The guy then writes an order, the guy just goes... Yeah, you know, it's not like... We'll put you on the list. I bet you if their sales were down, this would be a different scenario, you know?

Well, they're, as far as they know, unless something is, but they're one of the few companies that has still not put anybody back out. Yeah, they're, yeah, they're holding tight on that, huh? Yeah, I mean, they're... Well, they're selling everything.

Like you say, they're zooming their ass off everywhere they go. Yeah, there's a lot of zooming. A lot of zooming. A lot of zooming.

He's everywhere. Pedro is Zoomed. Pedro, my boy, Big Willie's everywhere. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, so, and then they're putting Willie Herrera out there. He's making this, like, so they're doing specific events for specific guys. And it seems to be working out.

Like, you know, that Zoom worked. Get Willie in front of a camera. Yeah, you know. You know what?

We're going to cut back on the trap. And then it's, bam, you gotta go to work. Bam, Willie, you gotta go to work. Yeah, exactly.

So, you know, if you think about it, it's like, hey, so we're ramping up in sales. Something's made a permanent home. I see that. Yes.

So, you're ramping up in sales. You're cutting up in sales. You're cutting down on expenses on road, you know, on travel. Sure.

Plus you're going to cut- Sales are up, expenses are down. Right, you're going to cut down on the expenses of the TPE and the PCA. I mean, it all makes sense. Between the two, it's got to be like a million dollars.

If not more. At least, yeah. Crazy. Crazy.

Crazy. Crazy. All right, we moving on now? Yeah, let's move on.

Let's see. Viaje shipping fat purple jalapeno antidote 2021 later this month. I responded to the email, Mike. Woo, that was my next question.

Are we getting those? Hopefully, I responded. Yeah, we gotta go to work. I gotta go to work every day, brother.

Every work, Michael. Bam! On March 15th, one of the new Viajes will head to stores. The old Viaje release will head to stores.

What? Oh, one new Viaje will head to stores. And one old. And one old.

The zombie antidote. Ah, there you go. Earlier today, the company's social media showed off two cigars, Fat Purple Jalapeno and Zombie Antidote 2021. The Fat Purple Jalapeno is a new cigar part of Viaje's Pepper Series that began in 2015.

It's a variation of the 2020 release of the Fat Jalapeno itself is a cigar based on the original Viaje Jalapeno from 2015. The Purple variety shares a similar bite to a regular Jalapeno, but has a little more sweetness to these chilies, said the company on social media. Those cigars are so fast. When asked to elaborate on the change, a representative said that the company chooses tobacco that dialed back to strength and sweetness.

I have to look, see where my buttons are. Uh, when asked to elaborate on the change, a representative-- They're right next to you. Yeah, but who's on what though? It is the same size and price as other fat cigars from-- No, what's on first?

Who's on? 5x316th and a 55 Perfecto with a men's specs of a real price of 944. Uh-huh. The representative from the company told Half Wheel that it is a Nicaraguan Bureau made in Honduras, though a factory was not specified.

Uh, where's the button? Oh. What was the name of the show again? - What was the name of the show?

Is that me? - Oh, no, no, that was the wrong one. - What was that? - Uh, no, no, I don't tell you, you have to figure it out.

- That's the wrong one. " - You're going into the archives, and you're looking shit up. - Oh, yeah. - Oh, man.

- Agronosa Leaf ships Rare Leaf Reserve Titan. - Yes, they did. - While two sides of the Rare Leaf Reserve shipped in February, the third size is just now shipping. - The Titan.

- So we'll have that, what, another month? - We already got them in. - Oh, with the Titan, was the one we got last week? - Yeah, we sold them.

Oh, that was the Titan. I thought there was another one. And they're gone. I thought there was another one.

This week, well, that's because. Bam, you gotta go to work. That's it. You gotta go to work.

Oh, you know what that one is. This week, Argonosa Leaf begins shipping the Rare Leaf Reserve Titan, the 6x60 version of the line. Like the other sizes, it uses a cafe wrapper from Jalapa over dual Criojo 98 binders and a Criojo 98 and Criojo 99 fillers. Argonosa Leaf says it wanted to focus on Nicaraguan Criojo tobaccos for the Rare Leaf.

Rare Leaf line. Rare Leaf. See, Terrence Riley, VP of Eric and Rosalie, told Half Wheel that the company intends to ship another batch of these three sizes in a few weeks. Ooh.

That's what I thought, uh, there is another one. Maybe we get that. The line is considered limited production, though not limited edition. Oh.

What does that mean? What the fuck is the difference? Oh, these are limited production, not limited edition. He told Half Wheel that the company intends to ship another batch of all three sizes in a few weeks.

Does this mean that there's not going to be a lot of them available, and I won't be struggling with that? Limited production, though not limited edition. Yeah. Small amounts, but you can get them regularly.

Ah, interesting. I don't know what that means. Did you dress like this when you were running Marriott's? No.

No, Greg didn't dress like this. Didn't you dress like this when you were running Marriott's? You'll never guess which show it's from. Oh, my God.

When was Greg on? Island Gym? Yep. Oh, my God.

I'm just trying to figure out where they're all at. Who was running Marriott's? That's what he did before he ran Island Jim. Oh, did you dress like this?

Cohiba Year of the Ox Humidor arrives in stores. While the Year of the Ox began on February 12th, a new humidor from Promo Cigar has begun arriving on stores and shelves around the world. Cohiba Year of the Ox Humidor contains 88 of the Cohiba Short, a machine-made cigar that measures three and a quarter by 26. The number of cigars in the humidor is a nod to the number H, which is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture.

A lot of people doing Chinese cigars, you would think with the opinions of the Chinese people at the moment with the pandemic, you might not want to talk about Chinese. Humidor has a glossy, high lacquer black finish. You can't blame anybody, Mike. No, I don't blame them.

You can't blame them. I don't blame them at all, but there are people that do. The humidor has a glossy, high lacquer black finish with a picture of a golden ox in the lower right-hand corner, limited 5,000 individual numbered humidors. Didn't China try to blame us?

43 nice oh there it is i didn't realize you had a story one adventure trail makes its lca retailers Ooh. Nuestre release for Limited Cigar Association of America. It already hit last Friday. Yes, hit stores the last Friday, March 5th.

As a company, as a now, well, you know, I pull these during the week between the two shows. I don't read these stories. It's okay, it's okay. I read the headlines.

I get it. I get it. Trail Mix, while the cigar wears a Bruna Virtua band, it is not the same blend as the regular production Buenaventura line, as the Trail Mix blends was made exclusively for LCA. Both are Nicaraguan Puros, though Brian Descend of the Limited Cigar Association said it is "sort of close to it".

Uh-huh. Sort of close to it. Sort of close to it. Noting that, coming up with a trail mix, there was a higher priming than some different tobacco juice.

The trail mix uses a Habano wrapper, a detail not disclosed with the original blend. The company said that the exclusion of the Buenaventure band on a trail mix is meant to spotlight the amazing blending that Kulvari does and bring more attention to them. What happened to that cigar? It was very popular for a short time.

Well, they do a good job as far as making a cigar, but I don't think they do a tremendous job marketing. Then they, I think they fired Jeff, they cut Jeff Gruber. Well, that was their mistake. That was a huge mistake.

You let that guy go. Oh yeah, he's really kind of, he's unique. He is very unique. Very unique, very unique.

But I don't know why that... You know, why buy stuff from a dick? Yeah, exactly. That's a good point.

That's a great point. And he's not a dick. Yeah, he's a good guy. He's very unique, so that makes no sense at all.

See, the cigar is a 6x54 Toro that has an MSRP of $10 while it's packaged in... Are you burning the equipment again? I asked on my mic. Packaged in bundles of 10, most LCA retailers chose to sell the cigars as a single given the limited availability.

Production numbers are not being disclosed. No se. No se. The Buenaventura line debuted in 2012.

We sold all our. They all got them. They have mine. Except for these two.

We saved these for us. They saved these for the show. We will take these and we will review them. We've tried to review their other stuff.

It just becomes such a fucking clusterfuck. Yeah, things disappear, and you don't know what happens. So what I did was I spaced it out even more, I tabled, I put ten aside instead of like five. Ah!

So I reduced it by ten, and then those other eight got cobbled up in the store by, you know, employees and people. Right. And, you know, they didn't realize that we took the other two. So I have to take them early when things show up.

Yeah, you got to pull them, because... I got to pull and hide them, and then, but which ones we had? Sigabund. We had Sigabunds pulled and we had to give them back.

Gone. We had to give them back. We had some pulled for the show and we're like, those sold. What else did we have pulled?

Ty T's. Ty T's gone. Had to give those back. Had to give those back too.

Struggle's real out here for a podcast and a Patreon. John J. Miller promoted to president and CEO of Swisher. John J.

Miller has been promoted to the roles of president and CEO of Swisher. Previously, Mr. Miller has been serving in the role of president of Swisher since 2017. I don't know how to do that.

I don't know how to do that. I don't know how to do that. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it.

I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it.

I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it.

I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it.

I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. He's SVP of Sales and Marketing until 2018, when he was promoted following the retirement, in addition to his role as Swisher Miller, is also the current chairman of the CAA.

Ooh. It's a large cartoon character of his face. Large cartoon character. On the CAA logo.

Evidently, Greg thinks there's a large cartoon character of John's face. That's Greg? Which is completely untrue. Wow.

He must have said three whole sentences in that whole podcast. It was very hard to find anything. Very hard to find anything that Island Jim said too. It's basically me talking for about 20 minutes and then I just wrap it up the show.

Yep. Yep. Let's see, a press release from the company says... You can do an Island Jim interview, you gotta give them a few beers prior to...

Yes, we've gone over my flaws in that show. Set them up proper. Set them up proper. Let's see, at the SG, STG completes share...

STG. buyback we follow the show this story last year Scandinavian Tobacco Group one of the largest cigar companies in the world has announced the completion of the DKK 300 million share buyback program may begin last August so they bought the company they tried their process of buying back all the chefs so they went public they went well it was it wasn't already public Scandinavian Tobacco Yeah, now they're buying them back. They're buying them all back. The company says it bought back, oh, let's see, where's it coming?

It's 2,957,742 shares valued at $299,999,681. Carry the one. 23% of the company. Wow.

Wow. 23 million is only 3% of the company. You know what, if you do the math, that's a lot of bones, man. Oh my goodness.

I figure that's about the same value as Cigar Hustler. At least. 23%, you know, plus the 97%. We're probably just about the same as Canadian tobacco as a whole.

See, the parent company of General Cigar Company, Cigars International, Thompson Cigars, Agio, and other companies, including one-selling machine-made cigars, pipe tobacco, and smoking tobacco, and all tobacco things made by tobacco. Tobacco, Tobacco, Tobacco. Shares at FTG, which is traded on the NASDAQ Copenhagen. Oh, it's a tech?

It's a tech stock? NASDAQ? Closed at 1850 shares, slightly down for the day. Interesting.

Tobacco tech. Tobacco tech. Let's see. Cigars for Warrior.

Aha. We have a story about Cigars for Warrior. Yes, we do. This is a very nice story.

Janice Coffee Rosers are so very honored to be able to collaborate with Cigars for Warrior. Janice Coffee is a longtime supporter of the cause, whether through the Cigar donations, monetary donations, at events, being able to provide some coffee to the troops deployed is a great honor and one that we don't take lightly. So here's the deal, Mike. Give the coffee.

Give the coffee. Mustache keeps grabbing the microphone. That's good. So here's the deal.

For every purchase. Or maybe the microphone keeps grabbing the mustache. Could be. Give me that.

Here's the deal, Michael. For every purchase of a 12 ounce bag. Yes. Also is purchased of an 8 ounce bag.

Uh-huh. That will be sent to a deployed soldier. Hey, that's nice. That's right.

You buy then donate and some defeat. " How can a coffee drinker not love this collaboration? Yeah, it helps people out, you know. Yes, the coffee is a two-bean roast.

You pick medium or dark roast. The blend was chosen because it's absolutely amazing, roasted, and dark. So whether you like medium or dark roast, we're sure you're going to love this coffee. The expected flavors you pick up are cocoa powder, earthiness, fruity sweetness, and some caramel and white chocolate on the finish.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. com, you buy the coffee, And then you could also send a little bag to a soldier. He was a retailer for a minute there too. Janice Coffey?

Janice Tabai. Oh. Chadby. Good guy.

And then he started doing coffee with Drew. Drew Estate. Osama TPE. Ah.

And now he's doing an Op CFW. So. Oh, apparently a printer. I was like, why do I have so many other pages?

I've printed two coffees. It's nice. It's nice that they take care of the warriors. With cigars and coffee.

Next show. Oh. Oh, so many pages, so many pages, so many pages, so many papers, so many papers, so many papers, Espinosa, the Wick Cabano, Titty Twister, heads to Underground Cigar Shop. Wow!

Did you see Mr. Espinosa's video today? Yeah, we got a bunch of cigars. Bro, I'm sitting here working by myself.

There's nobody here but Mike, the man man. Mike, show yourself. Oh wait, you can't show yourself. Yeah, it's fine.

So if you're in the area and you'd like to come by and help me unload boxes. Well, Hector has a regular job during the day. Yes. So, you know.

Catch a bad guy. Jack, I got nothing for. Jack, I think he's out of time. Oh, well, then I have another.

No, no, he was, he was like, he did some birthday trip to a racetrack this weekend. He did, yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw that, yeah. Maybe he's just very busy. He's a very busy man.

Very busy, super busy. I gotta call him anyways, because I placed an order with him last week. I haven't seen the invoice. Oh.

Oh, you didn't give it to your rep, did you? No, I gave it right to Jack, but it was like 10 o'clock at night. Oh. Probably was working on the show.

I know better than to contact El Perido. Underground Cigar Shop in Fort Worth, Texas, have received a limited edition size of Espinosa, 601 La Bamba, the Wick Mano, a 6x50 Toro, is called the Diddy Twister. That's the name of the bar on From Dusk Till Dawn. Oh, is it?

Yeah. Okay. Oh, you're right. I think the boob lights up with the little finger on the nipple.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then everybody dies, 'cause it's vampires. Vampires. Nobody misses truck drivers.

I feel like, though, at this day and age, you couldn't do that movie. Like, people would know. We miss truck drivers, now we love truck drivers, because that's what keeps all our stuff apparently in the stores. Yeah, exactly.

I understand they had a lot of toilet paper, though, for sure. You know, I bet you a lot of the titty twisters, there's probably a bunch of toilet paper because they just take the truck and just dump them off. Oh, yeah, yeah. , the company's director of operations, He told Half-Wheel that he's heard of that, but the blend is closer to that of the La Bamba.

I heard about that. 5x42, that is designed to be a bit stronger than the regular La Bamba. Heard about that. Cigar, along with the Maduro Virgin, they use a Mexican San Andres wrapper, were offered in a 652 Toro Ventola.

Welcome to the TD Twister. With an extended twist of tobacco coming from the cap that designed to resemble, wait, oh, what's her name? Selma Hayek was in there. Oh, yeah.

The right name she wanted to. And that one, Machete, the guy who played Machete. Oh, yeah, the Machete guy, yep. Yeah, he was the bartender.

He was the bartender. 99 perfect Which time are we at? We got plenty of time. We got 20 minutes.

I got eight minutes. I got eight minutes. It's a world of time. I have one story, and then we have a listener of the week.

Listener of the week? Yeah. Let's skip listener of the week. I know you're going to pick.

I know you're going to pick. Yeah, because he keeps running his mouth. Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow. 5 million floating off the Florida Keys.

Whoa! Who turns that in? Finally, a Florida man has come up ahead this week. 5 million worth of cocaine while swimming in waters off the coast of the Florida Keys, law enforcement officers have revealed these things.

Oh, check this out. This is nice. Look at this. This is floating things out here.

Almost 70 pounds worth of the drug was found wrapped in tape and floating near the island chain on Wednesday afternoon. Okay, everybody's seen the movies. You know what it is. You find the things floating in the water wrapped in plastic and tape.

Yeah. How do you not know what that is? How do you not know? What is this strange looking ball?

What is this brick of things floating here? This is incredible. They're always in bricks. What is that?

It's so weird. How do you turn it in? The unidentified snorkeler, because it's the drug cartel. This is Florida news.

Contact, yes. Oh, the cartel's after him already. They're pissed. That shit was dropped in a specific spot.

That's right. And you fucked it up. You went and touched it and moved it. Yeah, snorkeler.

S. Border Patrol, Monroe County Sheriff's Office said in the statement of a snorkeler near Craig Key. Oh, now we all know where it is. Oh, God.

-Now we know the location. " -Oh, this is the guy. -Wow, Marker 72. Oh, they get the exact location.

-Oh, my God. Guy's name? Earl. m.

-There's a bale out here. -I don't know what it is. Wrapped in plastic but tight. S.

Border Patrol, who responded and found the bale contained 25 bricks of cocaine, weighing 68 pounds. That's what I said earlier, 70 pounds is too much missing. Oh, a little light. Oh, a little light.

A little light. 70 pounds doesn't give you. Is border who you call when you have drugs? How many pounds when you give them?

You don't call DEA or the Coast Guard or something? You call Border Patrol? You don't fucking call anybody is what you do is you take it home. 5 million?

You cut a deal with somebody. 5 million. Fuck that. S.

Border Patrol, Miami Sector's Chief Patrol Agent, Thomas G. " No, I added the other part, he's just a good Samaritan. Oh, really stupid. Martin said, "The individual noticed a large black bundle wrapped in tape and contacted local authorities.

" Yeah. Originally 27. Yeah. " Nineteen bags.

" off florida keys what's he doing he has a giant house now in key west two fucking idiots that bundle was located 50 miles south of sugarloaf key in maryland county sheriff's office at the time if i'm a guy i start i start laying the groundwork prior to you know based out of honduras correct no not honduras columbia columbia obviously obviously so you know i had to get that last one yeah slide that in what are you what are you gonna do now oh we're switching i gotta go back to the They're gone. Oh, okay. We gotta get back to this. So, listen.

This is obviously Florida. I love that you put some Florida news. I like to put Florida news. It's a lot.

The swamp down here. We're living our fucking best life. You know, I'm surprised we have not gone 100% occupancy, no mask mandate like Texas, Mississippi, and Arizona. Let me explain something to you.

We never had a mask mandate. I understand. I mean, still. How do you take something away that we never fucking had?

We made the announcement, anyway, just to... Rhonda Sanders comes on and says, "Oh, by the way, the mask mandate that we never had, had we're going to take that off it goes by county if you feel that your county needs it then put it on if not like that that makes sense i get that you know fuck it so ridiculous but getting back to the the the ongoing 70 pound cocaine bags that are continuing to float around florida like if it's going to be the standard in uh uh in in that export and what's the opposite of export Import? Import? That didn't sound right.

The import size must be a standard order of 70. It's got to be 70 pounds. 70 pounds. We're looking at around 70 pounds.

That doesn't weigh the boat down. They found 68 and 25 bricks. And if we can, you know, that's the rate. It's like, that's the number that they're comfortable with losing or something.

Well, if you lose 70 pounds, fuck it. Maybe that's the one they throw as a loss leader. 5 million. It's really baby powder.

I don't think it's a loss leader. I think it's somebody fucked up. It's all cut with... We can't find the bags.

What do you mean you can't find the fucking bags? " If I'm the fucking local- You know what, shoot that goddamn snorkeler and the fisherman. " You give the guy a quarter of a million dollars- There's a finder's fee for you, just so you know. 5 million, I mean, jeez, how do you let that go?

I got it. It's crazy, it's crazy out here in Florida, people doing the right thing. I can't stand it. It's insane.

Alright, hurry up. We got a video. Okay, listener of the week. Oh, time.

Ooh, time. Three minutes. Three minutes. Mr.

Keanu. Mr. Keanu. Mr.

Keanu. Mr. Keanu. It's Steve.

It's the Boots. It's Danielle. It's Danielle. Danielle's listener of the week.

Yay. I don't know Danielle's listener. He's been asking for months. Still didn't make it.

Sorry. Keanu, you give it to him. Don't say his name. Go ahead.

Keanu's listener of the week. I can't move! I can't move! I can't move!

I can't move! I can't move! I can't move! I can't move!

He definitely peed. He definitely peed. I mean, he was like a little fucking chihuahua when I was walking in here. He's like, "Hey!

" Now the fax machine's going off. Yeah, well, it happens, but you can't really hear that. You can hear it now. You can hear it now because we listen for it.

Alright, this has been episode 164. On to the Patreon where we review the, uh, trail mix, trail mix, trail mix, trail mix, make sure you like and subscribe on YouTube and everything, do it please, the love of God, try to get these on on the same day, alright, alright, bye, bye. 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 Szczepankewicz, 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-I-Raw. Yeah, we just don't have to do a single, uh, single podcast ever again. Perfect.

I'm good, Mike and Mike, how are you guys doing? The Hojo, the... Hojo! It's the Hojo!

Demandre. You didn't even let him fuck it up all the way. I couldn't 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.

Show Notes

Why cigar clubs are good or bad? Mike 2 has a dog heard!  And Industry Info says TPE has no DE!