174 The Road Trip...Mikey goes on a Rollercoaster.....Uncle Skip Tells it like it is!

Episode Summary

Episode 174 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with Mike Palmer and Mike Toon recapping a whirlwind week: a South Florida road trip to an event at S&M Smoke Shop (complete with Palmer giving a Q&A talk about how Cigar Hustler got started, getting sandbagged into signing boxes nobody asked him to sign, and the shop owner still asking Chet if he owned the store), a Jeep ride home cold enough that Toon wrapped himself in the event tablecloth, a failed hunt for dinner at Bowie and The Fort Steakhouse — both undone by staffing shortages — and Mike Palmer's three consecutive rides on Universal's VelociCoaster during its soft opening. The Patreon smoke of the week is the Underground 10.

The news segment is the meat of the episode. Plasencia is embedding Legacy Secure authentication chips into the bands of the Alma Fuerte Sixto Hexagono Colorado Claro, letting smokers tap the band with a phone to verify authenticity and pull up tasting notes — with hints of blockchain traceability down the road — which prompts a skeptical riff on where added cost and gimmickry meet actual smoking pleasure. Crowned Heads' Mil Días Escuditos Edición Limitada finally ships (7 1/8 x 49, $12.50, 3,000 boxes of 10, Ecuadorian Habano over Nicaraguan binder with Costa Rican, Nicaraguan and Peruvian filler, rolled at Tabacalera Pichardo in Nicaragua and inspired by the Hoyo de Monterrey Escudos). Jeremy McDonald is leaving his national sales manager role at Caldwell Cigar Company to launch his own brand while keeping his stake in Down & Back. Steve Saka confirms the Muestra de Saka Krakatoa — strong and peppery, in coffins, boxes of seven, pushed to November — plus a new Stillwell Star line.

The hosts also cover Bruce Bush's promotion to VP of sales and marketing at Crux Cigars' rival roster of personnel news, the CRA naming Karen Smith of Arturo Fuente president and Gary Pesch of Old Virginia Tobacco to new leadership as Robert Levin of Ashton steps back, Willy Morente moving from La Aurora to Tarazona Cigars, and the International Cigar Expo scheduled for November in China. Threaded through it all is the episode's real thesis, Palmer's "Uncle Skip" rant: the industry's biggest problem is "intrinsic apathy" — nobody will admit a trade show was bad, so no one can trust anyone. Their read on TPE 2021, based on the total absence of crowd photos and a few texts to people on the floor, is that it was dead. Also covered: Florida making alcohol-to-go permanent, an Asylum 9 announcement and Palmer's candid story about reply-all-ing every retailer in Florida over a distributor dispute, plus Listener of the Week Fran Saleto and a $25 gift card winner.

In This Episode

1. 01
   S&M Smoke Shop road trip recap
   Palmer's Q&A talk, signing boxes nobody asked for, and the shop owner still not knowing who owned Cigar Hustler.
2. 02
   The cold Jeep ride and the tablecloth
   Mike Toon builds a muumuu out of the 12-year-old event tablecloth on a top-down Jeep ride back from South Florida.
3. 03
   VelociCoaster and a wedding weekend
   Palmer rides Universal's VelociCoaster three times during the soft opening, then hits Bill and Dottie's wedding after 30 years together.
4. 04
   Plasencia adds authentication chips to bands
   The Alma Fuerte Sixto Hexagono Colorado Claro gets Legacy Secure NFC-style chips for authenticity, tasting notes and possible blockchain traceability.
5. 05
   Crowned Heads Mil Días Escuditos Edición Limitada
   Specs, pricing and blend details on the 7 1/8 x 49 limited edition rolled at Tabacalera Pichardo and inspired by the Hoyo de Monterrey Escudos.
6. 06
   Jeremy McDonald leaves Caldwell
   Caldwell's longtime national sales manager departs to launch his own brand while retaining his stake in Down & Back.
7. 07
   Steve Saka's Krakatoa and Stillwell Star
   Muestra de Saka Krakatoa arrives in coffins and boxes of seven in November — strong, peppery, and named for a volcano that killed 35,000.
8. 08
   Uncle Skip on 'intrinsic apathy' and TPE 2021
   Palmer unloads on an industry where every rep claims every show killed it, and reads the missing crowd photos as proof TPE was empty.

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

Are you ready? Welcome to episode 174 of the Cigar Hustler Podcast. Well, I should have brought that down a little bit more. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Square.

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A striking shape, beautiful finish, and thoughtful engineering make this a must-have for any cigar aficionado. com for more information and purchasing. Boom. Got some funny comments on the last YouTube video.

You wanna go ahead and do the winner or do it at the end? We'll do it at the end, but we didn't really announce that we were having a winner, but we will have a winner. I thought we did. And we're gonna do it, we're gonna keep it going.

Keep it going. We're gonna do it again next week. Do it again next week. But, uh, Nick wants to work out with me, which is nice.

Nick wants to work out with me, yes. Didn't win last week, but I still want to work out with Mike one day. Well, Palmer, you know, he's, whenever you're ready. Well, whenever you want to go drinking, just give me a call.

You go ahead and you can go ahead. We drink, we work out eight ounces at a time, 16 if it's a slow day. There you go. Mark Gordon, I watch the show on my way to work.

That sounds dangerous, Mark. Don't do that. Don't watch it. Maybe he listens.

Yeah. And then, you know, there's a few other here, but another one that kind of stuck out for me is Stephen Wells with his BDP in the house. BDP! So yeah, so we got a few of those.

What do we got up for the Patreon? 'Cause I'm ready for a cigar here. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. We are doing the Underground 10.

The Underground 10. There are two of them in there now. We have two, but they're different sizes. So you can have the big one if you want.

I prefer the smaller one because you're going to smoke longer. That's very thoughtful of you, Michael. Michael, Michael. Fuck that up.

Yes, because we don't have two of them. They're the exact same size. But, you know, so the weighing thing is going to be, which size did you pick? The big one.

So do we have other Toros in the box? I think there are other Toros in there. I'm sure we'll figure it out. We'll figure it out as we go.

Let me wait before we fuck that up. Before we fuck that up? You know, so I told, ooh, battery's low. So I told Rosales about the, man, you guys really fucked that up.

Yeah. And he watched, he listened to the show. Oh, nice. Heard himself on the other hand to hear himself.

Oh, wow, nice. I mean, you guys fucked that up. I mean, you guys really fucked that up. That's right.

I just ate, again, I had to eat. Again? Again? So you eat when you get here, and then you've already eaten again.

It's a little later in the day. He had some guests here that he needed to interact with. So the show is a little, we're taping a little later than you. So I eat right after my workout now.

I don't eat before. I will walk into the gym. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You're out there drinking.

I eat. I know we're drinking. I take the food. I drink on the other show.

You should start drinking on this show, Tom. No. So I eat a box of cereal. Yes.

After the workout. Oh, you brought your cereal with you? No, no, I ate that at the place. You eat cereal at the gym?

At the gym. Hmm. Instant. Boom.

So, like in the locker room. Feed the beast. Yeah. Hmm, weird.

It's a little weird. It kind of smells and stuff in there. I don't know if I want to consume food in the locker room. It's like, I wouldn't mind going up to nature's table or whatever because they have some guys, but it's like going by with his wiener.

It's just disrespectful to bring food to a place. Old man going, yeah, I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be that guy. And I feel like I'm just talking to myself.

Don't walk around, I don't really care what you got to say about anybody or anything of that stuff, so, when you have a fascination with dicks, that's your own problems. Not me, I'm not the one eating in the gym going, mmm, that's good, look at all that, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, that's what you do when you're eating, mmm, mmm, mmm, so I walk by, yeah, mmm, more stir my cereals, sir. You're a horrible person, you're horrible, you're eating cereal with protein powder on it in front of naked men, doesn't have protein powder, I thought you made protein water and poured in the thing, yeah, it's water. Yeah, well, it was a powder originally.

No one likes you, Mike. BDP, baby! BDP. All right, we did the S&M thing this past Saturday.

Yeah, yeah. You and Chad both, because it got cold in the back. So before we get into that, though, I did a thing on Friday. You did a thing?

Yeah. You went poo-poo? I rode the Velocicoaster. Oh, yes.

That's on the photo. How do we not talk about that first? That happened first. It's just a roller coaster.

No, no, it's not just a roller coaster. It's just a rollercoaster. It is the rollercoaster. I highly recommend it.

You know, on YouTube, there's a video you can actually watch and see what it does. It's absolutely. I happened to stumble across it today. It's absolutely amazing.

And I clicked past it going like, this is ridiculous. I don't need to watch this. And it just clicked off. It's absolutely amazing.

It's just a rollercoaster. No way. It's next level. Why is it next level?

Because there's like a spot where you're- A real dinosaur that chases you? First of all, you go upside down and you don't have a latch over you, which is nice. That sounds dangerous. It sounds super scary.

No, not scary, dangerous. And you do like this whole corkscrew thing where you go upside down, you go over, loop-de-loop-dee-loop-dee-sang. Your wife in the photo didn't look like she liked it very much. No, she was my poor wife.

I'm getting off this thing and I'm like, that was amazing, I rode the fucking thing three times in a row. Oh, look at you. No line? Well, the first time we went, there was no line, we got right on.

And then after that, I was going solo. She was so gracious to let me, so I did single rider. Oh, and you just boop, right to the front and something was strange for you. And I saw people, it started to pile up then, people started to catch on, but it was open.

Oh, it was like a pre? It's a soft opening. It opens officially June 10th, and then it'll be a complete nightmare. Complete nightmare.

Oh, but you've already written it four times now. Yeah. Do you need to get that? How come you get text messages as soon as the show starts every week, no matter what time?

I always get text messages. We're an hour late, and it's still text message. I'm a big deal. I got a lot of shit going on, Michael.

Not really. We can tell that little story. That was funny. At SMM.

Oh, the part that you're the owner of the shop? No, no, no. Well, that was funny, dude. No, no.

When you were standing there and you thought the guy was coming over to shake your hand and say hello. I did not think that. And he just went past you to get to the water machine. I did not think that.

Yes, you did. These guys were fucking sandbagging me so bad that they were handing me boxes to sign when people weren't asking for stuff to be signed. Like here, and they'd give me a marker and then I'd sign it and then the guy's like... What's the name?

We go, Bob. And the guy's like, uh, okay, thanks, man. I'm like, and then I look back at these fucking idiots and I'm like, dude, these guys didn't want any signatures. You're an asshole.

Oh, yeah. You're an asshole. He's going, you know, can I get a different box without the scribble out of place? This is ridiculous.

I don't know who this guy is. So there's two things that always happen to me in life whenever I'm with Mike Palmer and we meet with somebody in the cigar industry. I don't own Cigar Hustler. He owns Cigar Hustler.

It doesn't matter. You even told in your little speech. I mean, they had a little speech. It's a nice little story how he got started and blah, blah, blah, and how long he's been in business.

It's a nice little talk. I mean, I thought you did a very good job. And the group, thank you very much. And the group interacted really well.

It's a question and answer period, and it was very professional. Did some Q&A. Oh, look at you, Q&A. Mr.

Fancy. And yeah, that went really well. They got a good little crowd there. They got good regulars there.

Right. So about 15 minutes later, Chet and I are standing in the front part of the shop. " Just own it. Just own it.

I'm okay with it. It doesn't bother me. I know, but you just gave the talk that said you were the owner. You were the owner.

I don't think she was... My brother and I... I don't know if she was in... Was she in the room?

She was standing next to you! 'Cause her husband introduced you. Oh, I don't know if she was in the room or not. I don't remember.

She was in the room. She was in the room. And then later she came up to us and asked if Chet and I lived together. " We've tried.

We've tried. We've tried. The wives won't move in together. Yeah, we've even tried, you know, like a side house that we can stay together twice a week, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. Nope. Stack one bit on top of the other.

do that here maybe over in the corner karate in the garage type shit oh yeah oh yeah did we just become best friends again yeah right yeah but the i gotta tell you you know the best part of the trip is obviously when we're in the car together with three fucking idiots right right and uh at the the way back all of a sudden it kind of got like cold it got really cold and we're riding the jeep and the jeep's got the top down and everything and and uh you may be sitting you know the palmer so gracious he always sits in the back i offered i offered several times to sit in the back but you You know. What? You can shake your head and know all you want. I didn't do nothing.

It was a bug. I don't really care. I know how it went down. You know, always trying to make me look like a bad guy.

That's fine. I don't have to. Okay. So anyways.

So he starts to freeze his ass off in the back. It was cold. I had shorts on and this t-shirt actually. The new Powstanie Mafia t-shirt.

So he takes like the event tablecloth. So I brought a hoodie. Yeah. Anticipating the cold ride home.

So I put the hoodie on, did not think I was gonna have to put the hood up, but I had to put the hood up, which means I turned the hat around, and then my legs were cool, I had shorts on. So yeah, I dug the tablecloth out of the box, and that's the tablecloth we use for every event, so it smelled, I mean, it was stale. It smelled like tobacco. Old cigars.

Old cigars smoke, like a shop that's been locked up and this has been hung inside of it for 20 years, right. Well, it kind of was, it kind of has been at this point. Right, right. It's like 12 years.

I mean, I folded it, so it was tripled. And it's been washed, like, several times. Ugh. It doesn't matter.

There's no escaping it. Triple folded, wrapped around my legs. First, I just headed over my legs, and then the wind's just going under, like, this isn't working. It's like a tent now, at this point, this isn't working.

So I had to tuck. Yeah. I had to tuck around my legs, and then it was fine. It wasn't cold then.

Yeah, you looked really pleasant. Chet's got an excellent picture of it. Yeah, so if you go on Facebook, there's an excellent picture. It looks like I'm wearing a boo-boo.

Did he put it up? Oh, yeah, yeah. What's your podcast page? Oh, I'll get it from him and I'll put it up.

Okay. It looks amazing. It looks like I'm wearing an old lady gown and pajamas. And he's very sad and depressed.

Well, I was doing something on my phone. I mean, I put together this show on the way down and my second show I put together on the way back up. So, I mean, I was back there working, but you guys were up there with the heat on, the heated seats. Yeah.

And you go like, "Oh, it's so warm in here. " You know, there's nothing better than that mix of like hot air and cold air. It's been cold there. It's like, ooh, this is good.

Yeah. I've had Jeeps before. I used to have to drive with a beach towel around my legs in the wintertime when I had a Jeep. I mean, even with pants on, it can be cold when it's 30 degrees.

Wow. In a Jeep. But with a top off, it was worse. I like it.

And you're getting a little older now, so your skin's a little thinner, you're a little cold. Probably, probably a little colder, yeah. Yeah. I'm going to say though, you know, it was fun to roll with like a squad.

I really enjoyed that. Yeah. I really appreciate that. It was great to not drive, which is fantastic.

Right, yeah. I even caught a little nappy poo on the way down. I've been on the way down too, but not on the way back. I tried on the way back, but couldn't get comfortable.

Yeah, well, you were freezing your fucking dick off. Well, but I mean, when I had gotten, you know, with my muumuu and everything, and I had a box here, I had a box here, armrest. Like, I can sleep, man. But no, couldn't go.

I think it was too windy. And then you guys officially arrived. Where did we arrive? You made it to the patio.

Oh, I've been on the patio. The Chet and Palmer Show. Oh, made it to the patio. Made it to the patio.

Should we bring him in to discuss the patio? And he was very grumpy. He didn't want to, Palmer did not want to be there. I didn't mind being, I actually had a, I enjoyed the fights.

I'd never seen the fights before. Every time I invited him over, he was always like me, me, me, me. Well, you know what? I really enjoyed the fights.

That was actually, I enjoyed it more than I thought. The fights are fantastic. Yeah. It's just amazing.

Your wife gives a little stats rundown before each fight. Oh yeah, every time. Every time we break it down, we know the weight, we know before we... Yeah, the weight, the reach, the height.

I mean, everything she could do. The country, the country of origin. Right, who's in what color, and I mean, everything, she's just all broken down, ready to go. Oh, she loves it.

And the kids are there, too. The Jacks is all about it. You ain't getting him to bed when the fight's gone. Oh, he was playing that game on his phone.

Yeah, we started to lose him at the end, yeah. That's true. The little guy, he just took a little nappy. He was out.

Yeah, he stole my chair, that son of a bitch. Unbelievable. Son of a bitch, you called your wife a bitch. Oh, no, that's not what I meant.

You know what I mean. Brittany, I never say bad things about you. Yeah, it's true. Now you hear the way he really talks about you.

I don't know, you said something bad about her the other day, I think. Nothing ever. Yeah, I think you did. You were asking Keanu tips out there on, uh, you know, how to, uh, never mind, I won't worry.

That was not what I was doing. Don't you take my, my words out of context. Now I think there's too much this way. Right now there might be.

Might be. It's okay. We always put like a blow-up doll next to you. That'd be nice, you know.

He fills that hole, I guess, right? Yeah, that's nice. Yeah. I like that.

We should rearrange it back again, do something, mix it up. Like when we hit a number. What's your number? What are we at, 174?

Yeah? Yeah. Uh, well, um, nevermind. Okay.

I had an idea, but it went away. Mm-hmm. But, man, Chet, I mean, that guy's a, he's a selling machine. He loves, oh, yeah, yeah.

I thought you were talking about driving. He loves to drive. No, he, well. He loves to drive.

Any time we go anywhere, he drives. He loves to drive. He likes to drive, and then, like, he's just, you know, he's talking to everybody, he's green, and I'm like, shh. Yeah, you're like, where'd Chet go?

He's selling cigars over there. He's in front of the fucking post-on. He's over there selling stuff. I just take Chad everywhere.

Oh. Over you. I assumed. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm like, alright, Chad, come on. You just don't like the actual, the competition with BDP. Yeah, it's just too much for me. It's too much for you.

I just can't handle it. Can't handle it. People walk up to you and they go, no, no, I want to talk to Palmer. No, I want to talk to the owner of Cigar Hustler.

I want to talk to the owner of Cigar Hustler. The old guy. Yeah, who the fuck are you? I don't know who I am.

Who the fuck are you? Are you a guy that carries his bags? I've been trying to answer that question for 36 years. Who are you?

Who am I? Who are you? Yep, exactly. My wife is texting.

Uh-oh. " I have to answer you now, so. It's 'cause I love my wife, I don't know what to tell you. If you don't love your wife, you don't love your wife.

No, my wife doesn't call every time we're doing a show. She's over in Tampa. Everybody's asked me where, you're not in Tampa? Even Brittany said to me, she's like, are you doing the podcast today?

Because I think Palmer's in Tampa. I'm like, I'm pretty sure we're doing the podcast today. She came in here and Greg yelled, yeah, Palmer's in here. He's not in Tampa.

He's here right now. He's here now. Yeah, then she came in. She didn't believe him.

So she came in and looked too. Like, oh, yeah, why aren't you in Tampa? You never know about that, Greg. You could be full of shit.

Going in Tampa. Evidently, she went to Tampa to help our son Alex with something. And she took the day off of work, and she tried to call to tell me she was there, and I had fallen back asleep. I had a little drinky, a little drinky, drinky day yesterday.

And I didn't hear the phone ring, so she was concerned there was something wrong, so that was like, put it on Facebook, like, if anybody sees him, tell him I made it. Right. And you're here. And I'm here, not in Tampa.

Not in Tampa. Not in Tampa. Amazing. Tampa.

That's potatoes and chickens. I'm ready for a nap. That's why I have this delicious energy drink to keep me going. Put it in your cup.

They don't sponsor us. That was a ruse. That's why I don't keep the name. That's why I have it over here.

I have the water in this. Oh, I have water in mine as well. Excellent. So, yeah, I mean, that was all lots of fun, brother.

I had a good time. Yeah, it's always fun. I like making little trips. So, what else?

I mean, the Velocicoaster was a big deal for me, you know? Yeah, I'm a big picture of you, and we did the, what did we do Sunday? Screaming and yelling. Oh, I went to a wedding on Sunday.

Oh, oh, that way you were dressed up, I wonder why you were dressed up. Yeah, so yeah, I went to a wedding. I almost, then saw you were, there was a picture of you and your lovely wife all dressed up, you look nice. And there was a picture with another lady?

Yeah, Lori. A blonde lady? Lori, yeah. Yeah, she spelled your name wrong.

Aunt Lori, yeah, she always, this is joking. Oh, okay, 'cause I almost, almost corrected her, but I was like, no, no, no, no. Is she a Stepon Kepvich? No, so my best friend, that's his aunt.

Oh. Yeah, so she was there. I wish we could have stayed longer. No, not me.

No. I didn't know you when I was... You said best friend. I didn't know you when I was...

You said best friend. I guess that's not me. It's Chet now anyway, so... I didn't know you when I was nine.

Well, because when you were nine, I would have been driving around and... Yeah. Yelled at you to get out of the street with your ball. Right.

" Fuck you, man. Dude, I will kick your ass. Get out of the street, kid. Beep beep.

I would say some horrible things. I'm going to hold them back now. Oh, look at you. Yeah.

I'm going to do the right thing here. And it's not easy doing the right thing. No. No, no.

Not easy. Not easy. I'm trying hard to be the shepherd here, Mike. It's not easy being the Polish Hulk.

Yeah, the Polish Hulk. So, anyways, so we drove down to South Florida. We were there. Oh, all the way down for a day.

Not even for a day, for like three hours, and then literally drove back, yeah. Wow, eight hours in a car for a three hour trip Six, yeah But listen, this is a big deal Why didn't you stay? Because I got kids and they got school And they got all this other shit I would have taken them I gotta drop them off at school Nah You gotta watch them There's a whole thing Well, there's other people at your house that watch them Evidently somebody was watching them because you weren't there Yeah, Lexi, the Manny's Wife And she's amazing Yeah, we should teach her. Yeah, well, then she had to go teach on Monday.

Well, I could have zipped over and taken him to school. Chet in his Jeep. Chet's Jeep. Yeah, we could have had Chet do it.

Yeah, in the Jeep. They'd have loved riding in the Jeep. There's no doors on it now. It's even colder.

So, but, you know, hold on. You're taking me off track. Yes, sorry. This couple has been together for like 30 years.

And they just got married? Almost, yeah. He's 80. So, not a radio.

Bill is 87 years old. So, an actual wedding. They've been like dating for 30 years. They've been together.

Yeah, they've lived together for forever. Forever. Why bother at that point? I don't know.

You have to ask them. It was just good to see that she won. When I saw her, I was like, you broke him. You finally won.

Oh, you got it. Congratulations. It's Bill and Dottie, you know, good people. Yes, Bill and Dottie.

But yeah, you know, but as you're driving down, you know, and I go past, I'm past, I'm driving past Glades where my friend lives on Boca, John, and I'm like, man, I wish we had just enough time to just fucking check in. You know, just say hi or whatever, but you don't, you don't have that, you know, it's like, I gotta get there, we made sure the kids are good to go, we hauled ass down there, we did the wedding, and we hauled ass back. Right. You know.

You didn't feed her either? There was more food at the wedding. Oh. Yeah.

Oh, I was wondering. I'm gonna spoil it. Oh, that's the one thing you didn't. I bought the lady a meal.

That's the one thing we didn't really cover at the meal. Well, you went to jump, you jumped to the roller coaster wedding. At the S&M. At the S&M Smoke Shop.

Yes. So we tried to eat at a place called Bowie. Yes, everybody said, go to Bowie, get the scallops, you like scallops? Get the scallops, a really good seafood with the Bowie.

I like scallops, yeah. Yeah, and you go, ooh, I like scallops, scallops, scallops, scallops, good source of protein. So, it's, we show up, and they have empty tables, but apparently they didn't have enough staff because it was an hour and a half to two hour wait. Yes, I told you it was people way down side, so we walked up.

And I was like, yeah, but it could be 20 minutes. If it's 20 minutes, I'll stay. That's a lot of people for 20 minutes. It was like two tables.

Okay. I don't think you know what you're talking about. You don't go out much more than that. I go out all the time.

No, you don't know what you're talking about. So, and then from there, the second choice, yeah, so we went, we're not staying. So then there's this other place that I'm like, alright, this is a cool default, because I really wanted to go in this place anyways. You wanted to go to the place called The Fort.

The Fort Steakhouse. With a big cow mounted on the front of the building. Yep, so we pull up, there's a brand new Tesla there, there's another fancy car, I'm like, alright, this is going to be the spot. This is going to be nice.

We're wearing shorts and hats on backwards. Three slapdicks walking in, this is going to be amazing. Right, they're going to love us. Yes.

So we go to pull on the door. Sir, do we have a sports culture you could put on, please, as you walk in? Does it match my hat? Yes, I can't take my hat off.

Will it match my merce? Right, will it match his merce, my hat, and my friend's big red pee on his head? So we go to pull on the door and the fucking door's locked. It's locked.

So Michael pulled again, thought maybe it was stuck. Yeah, there's something wrong. I'll pull this. I bet you I can smash the window.

Do you look inside? It looked very nice inside. It looked super fancy. Oh, water glass and white glasses on the table.

We totally fit in there, without question. Right. Shorts and these shirts, and right. Smelling of, reeking of cigar smoke.

So it says on the door, it's like... It might have been like one of those cowboy movies where the guys come in from the long cattle. No, no, no, no. " The guy's eating with the knife, 'cause he's just scooping up the beans with the knife.

" Leave the bottle of whiskey. So we go to the door. Yes. And the door says...

Big note. Due to... COVID. We don't have a cook, is pretty much what it says.

Yeah, they didn't have a chef. But please, come back in two weeks when the new chef will be running up a new menu. Great culinary expert, yada yada. Right.

Nobody wanna work, Mike. Nobody wanna work. Nobody wanna work. Nobody wanna work.

No wanna work here. We close early and nobody wanna work. We close 'cause we haven't no man to cook. No man cook at the food.

There's nobody here. Nobody here. They can't find anybody to cook. Look, I mean, get the owner's mother to come in and make biscuits or something, I mean, that'd be something.

I guess a restaurant of that level needs a chef. Requires a man of expertise. Yes. Expert with an accent.

Hello, I am the chef. Hello, I am the chef. I mean, yeah, it's fucking steak. I'm going to make for you.

You like it very much. You know what, you just, everybody's medium rare. So, we went to a side-of-the-road barbecue joint. We did, which was really good.

It was delicious. There were people there, and they were three people working inside, and the guy was making his own hot sauce. I would say at least one or two of the three people did not give two fucks that we were there. Yeah, I don't think any of them were there.

I mean, they closed. We got there at seven, and they closed at eight. No, we got there at eight, and they closed at nine. Oh, really?

Was that right? No, because we got home at 1030. Yeah, it's two hours away. Well, if we got there, if we left at 9, we wouldn't get back to 11.

Right. So if we got there at 8, and we ate, and we were all alone at 8:20. Okay, Michael, I give in. You win the Jeep thing, too.

Hey, why didn't you play the Jeep game with Chet? Why didn't you do that? I don't know. I did.

I tried to. No one wants to play with me. Oh, no one wants to play with me. I didn't hear you.

You know, I didn't even see you guys record the rap thing. What rap thing? Chet put up a video of you rap singing. Oh, yeah.

I didn't even know you guys did that. Victory. It looked like we weren't even moving when he did it. We weren't.

Oh, where was that? We were stuck behind like this detour thing. Oh, I mean, I'm in the background just do-do-do-do-do-do-do. I'm just working on the show because I'm busy.

He sees me rapping and then all of a sudden. Hey, whipped out the phone, start recording. Don't drop B-I-G on me. Right.

I'm like, mm-hmm, that's my shirt. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, but it was really good.

I had a really good time. At least we still got to eat, you know? Yes, we did. They had chicken wings at S&M, but we needed more food.

You got to grow. It's growing season right now. Right. You know?

It's bulking season. I think you got two more weeks left of the cereal cigar, cereal gains nation. Oh, is that what it is? Cereal gains nation.

Cereal gains nation? Mm-hmm. Two more weeks, and then we're trying to maybe drop a little bit of the body fat percentage. What do you say?

Oh, we're going to drop body fat? Yeah. Wow, that'd be nice. Yeah, we give that a crack.

I had another story that doesn't appear to be here. And it's gone. See, it was the Florida story. Oh, no.

Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I watched the TikTok.

Oh, no. So... Go ahead, talk for me real quick. Well, I can summarize it, but I...

That's all I got, Michael. You'd be able to go to a commercial and check that out anyways. Yeah, yeah. Actually, we need to go ahead and do that now.

We need to go ahead and-- We're gonna take a break, and then we'll be back and we'll uh-- BDP will be right back. We'll get started with the news. The news. News.

News, news. We'll be right back, thank you. Hey, it's Mike Too. Wanna 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. And we're back, episode 174 of the Cigar Hustler Podcast. You know, last week I noticed you make faces and mock me when I'm doing the sponsor thing.

I do? Yes. Really? Yes, I noticed that.

Because I don't see it when I'm reading, but I noticed when I watched the tape that you mock me and make faces. I don't know if I mock you. Yes, mock you. I do make faces.

That is the mocking. You mouth the words on the familiar parts I say and make a face. Yes, that is the mocking, just so you know. That is mocking.

That's entertaining for me. Not for me. You're my entertainment. What are you, kid?

You're not even looking. Well, I see the tape. Well, I see the show after the fact. I didn't mock you this time.

You know what? Chet doesn't mock me on the other show, just so you know. There is no mocking. Well, there might be now, because now I just brought it up, so now he'll mock me.

Well, there's no video. If there was video, maybe there'd be mocking. Good point. Yep.

I feel like he mocks you. From the four corners of the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need. My favorite part of the show. The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report with Mike Toon.

Thank you! Plasencia adding verification chips to the bands, Michael. Plasencia. Next month, Plasencia, Alma Fuente, Sixto, Hextagon, Colorado, Claro.

What a name that cigar has. We'll begin shipping with security chips embedded into the bands of the cigars. But why? , a technology company that aims to sell its cigar security technology.

The technology will have a variety of uses. Okay, I like to hear that. You like to hear what they are? I like to hear what the fucking uses are.

Including different ones for consumers and manufacturers. What is it like fucking Sensormatics? It works by placing the... They walk out the door, beep, beep, beep, beep.

Right, exactly. It works by placing the band of the cigar near a smartphone. Ooh. Similar to a QR code.

I have a dumb phone. Because you don't know how it works? No, it's just not smart. Once the band has been placed near the smart phone, an option to open a web page shows up on a consumer's smart phone.

Notably, no specific app is needed. Sounds like the Bill Gates chip in your head. You don't need the Q code? Nope, you don't need a Q code.

That page allows consumers to see their cigar is authentic. Is there a high-level Plasencia copies out there? Is that a problem for them? I don't think so.

The Amoforte, I think, is very expensive. They have some expensive cigars. All right, as well. It brings up a web page that can get all sorts of information about the cigar.

In Plasencia's case, the web page will show the tasting notes. Oh, no. Hmm. For a cigar company, six-time technology can provide detailed analytics about consumption patterns and an ability to interact directly with end consumers who are smoking their products.

Legacy Secure also hints at aspects that could use blockchain technology. Technology. Oh. Ooh, NFTs.

Oh, is that what that is? Yeah. To document the tobacco and how it was grown and other study supply chain elements. Plasencia says it has a six-month exclusivity agreement to use the technology.

So far, the company has only announced the tech for the Alma Fuentes Sixto Hextagon Colorado Claro. I hope the censor's not as big enough to put the whole name on. Jeez. I mean, I don't know, guys.

Hey guys, it sounds... Sounds what? They really fucked that up? I don't know, I have some new ones, just getting ready.

Oh, okay, you're just prepping? I had to switch it. You know, look, what are we doing here, guys? What the fuck are we doing?

I just want to smoke my fucking cigar. " You know? Can you make it levitate beforehand? Like, I need something to float.

Maybe self-lighting, that'd be good to put a little thing in the end. Oh, yeah. Hit a button and it cuts itself. Well, it'll come pre-cut.

It comes with a cutter. It comes with a cutter. Maybe just... It's on the top.

Yeah, yeah. That way we can spend $75 on a cigar. Right. Yeah, I wonder what the added cost is for this.

Oh, upwards of, why the fuck am I paying that much for this cigar? Well, because it's got a long name. It's the Placentia Alpo Fuente 6-0-I Hexagon Colorado Claro. Kamehameha.

Kamehameha Megalodon Cigar. I mean, kudos to them for trying something new. Let me say that. Okay.

Kudos. Kudos. Kudos. Kudos.

I don't know, man. It's the biggest problem in our industry, I think, is just this intrinsic apathy. Yeah, exactly. That's exactly what you're going to say.

Intrinsic apathy. That's right. The biggest problem. Yeah.

I totally agree. Oh, man, you busted out the old files. I had to look and see what I was showing up. I could dug up the old skipper-oonies.

That's episode 66. Oh, he's way more agitated now. Right. Which has a long-ass, ridiculous name.

A long-ass, ridiculous name, what you just said. Yeah, exactly. Maybe he means the Plasencia, Alma Fuerte, Sixto Hexagon, Colorado, Claro. Which has a long-ass, ridiculous name.

A long-ass, ridiculous name. Yeah, maybe. That could be what he was talking about. It's probably what he was referring to.

Two and a half years ago. All right. Crown Head Chips, Mil Dias Escudidos, Edition Limited. Is the long name the new thing now?

It's not the new thing. Oh, they're always out there? It's been around for a long time. Well, why are we just Postana?

We need, like, Postana, Votec, Jadik. Because I can't just call it cigar. I don't know many false words. Here's the dark one.

Here's the light one. Well, this one's the medium. Maybe it's the Postana, Habano, Claro, Hexagon, Colorado, Fuerte, Mildiaz, Escadido, Edición. Oh, then we get sued if we use.

If we use Mildiaz, we'll get sued. Mildias will get sued. Yeah, that's not a right story. We'll get sued.

Yeah. You need more- Which is a long ass, ridiculous name. Long ass, ridiculous name. You gotta do something that's more than a thousand days, you need like- I mean, you guys fucked that up.

Yeah, because it's a long ass, ridiculous name. You need like 10,000 days or something. Exactly one month after it was announced, the Mildias Escondido's edition limit dot- Can't they just- Just call it- Yeah, yeah. The M-D-E-E.

The M-D-E-E. What does it say? While Crownheads originally said it was planned on releasing the cigar in late April, it took a little bit longer. Surprise, surprise, welcome to the cigar industry.

The Escondido's measure a seven and an eighth by 49 as an MSRP of? Ooh, ooh, ooh, wait, wait, hold on, uh, $12. I mean, you guys fucked that up. 50, Michael, per cigar.

Oh my God, I was pretty goddamn close. Wow. I need to get the fucking, I need to get to the 10th? Oh, okay.

Yes, yes, yes. Production is limited to 3,000 boxes of 10 cigars. That's some cold-blooded shit right there. The Meldias line uses an Ecuador and Habano wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Peru.

It's gonna be good. It's rolled at Tablicalera Pichardo in Nicaragua. Like many other limited edition Pichardo from Crownheads, it is inspired by a Cuban cigar, this time the Hojo de Monterrey Escuditos. Pichardo's in Nicaragua?

Their factory is. I thought they were in the Dominican. Well, this is rolled at Tablicalera Pichardo in Nicaragua. Maybe since it says in Nicaragua, Maybe they have more than one.

Maybe. Maybe. Who knows? He's going like, eh, fuck that guy.

Fuck that guy. Jeremy McDonald. That's going to be a good cigar, by the way. Oh, yeah, well, it's Mildias.

We like those. You know what that means? Yeah. A thousand days.

It means for sale. It means nobody want to work. No one want to work. It means cook your own steak, bitch.

That's what it means. Oh, what a great idea. Okay, we don't have any chef, so you need to come back here and cook your steak the way you want. So here we do, we put a grill out for you, and you go ahead, we're gonna turn it on, and we'll set the thing to do.

It's on the back, we got the little fire thing, you turn it on, we go poof, and then it'll get hot, and then you're cooking your steak, and then I'll make it a potato. It's like melting pot, it's like they tricked you, melting pot, $50 to cook your own goddamn food. What the fuck are we doing? I hate going there.

I'm fucking cooking this shit. What the fuck? Right. If I undercook it, it's on me.

Excuse me, miss, this steak is really undercooked. Fuck you, man, you cooked it. Make sure you leave the chicken in there extra long, you don't want to get thick. Right.

Is there a waiver you signed there, too, I think? I've been a while since I've been there. I don't think so. Then you pay $75 and you get the combo meal with the dessert, but you've eaten so many little tiny pieces of food and bread that you're full and you never get the dessert, so they make out.

With the cheese and shit. Yeah. Or a lot of people just go there for the dessert. I don't want to cook my own dessert, either.

Yeah, it's ridiculous. I'm tired of this. I want to be pampered. Right.

Damn it. I want to go to Ichiban where the guy cooks in front of me and I can watch him make a little show. Exactly. I'll pay $75 for the onion volcano and the egg roll and the squirty bottle with the string in it.

Right, man, I really fucked that up. The biggest problem in our industry, I think, is just this intrinsic apathy. I totally agree with you. I totally agree with you, but the intrinsic apathy is just fucking out of control.

Let's see, Jeremy McDonald will be going out on his own. " Oh, Michael, that's very rude. McDonald, the long-time national sales manager for Caldwell Cigar Company, has announced that he will be leaving the position in launching his own cigar company. He has been working in his role with Caldwell since before the company debuted in early 2014.

Is he going like, eh, fuck that guy? Michael, please. He's very rough. This man has aspirations.

He's everywhere. I've been part of Caldwell since it was Robert Caldwell's dream. I think he could have just said Robert. We would have known.

It's called Caldwell. It would have been awesome to drop Bobby. I've been part of Caldwell since it was Bobby's dream. Me and Bob go back.

McDonnell in a press release. Working side by side with Bobby has been more than just a learning experience. It's been a life-changing experience. Bob.

We started the company as a couple of friends. Me and Bob. Me and Bob. Me and Bob.

Me and Bob. Me and Bob. He's hanging out, being buds. Love Bob.

He's a good guy. Working together, allowed our friendship to grow and flourish. Oh, it's romantic. Very nice.

The time has come for me to leave the nest and fly on my own. I must spread my wings. They had a fight. I think they had a fight.

McDonald. You know what, Bob? Fuck you. Fuck you, Bob.

You know what, Bob? I'm going to leave a nice press release and say, well, I'm spreading my wings. Which has a long-ass, ridiculous name. Maybe his new company will skip.

Who knows? Yeah, who knows? He's got to call his next cigar the Kamehameha, Ichiban, Banan. McDonald is also a partner in Down and Back, LLC, the distribution company for Caldwell, La Barba, and Lost and Found, who will be retaining his ownership stake in that company.

So I'm not really leaving. When I say I'm leaving, I'm saying, send my check to me. Right. " Go ahead and make that.

" I think they call him Hollywood or something. I always push the people that work with me to follow their hearts and dreams. Has he been on this podcast? I think he might have.

Robert Caldwell? No, Jeremy, both of them. Caldwell's definitely. Caldwell's husband, I don't know this Jeremy fellow.

I saw his photo, I don't know him. He's very nice. Jeremy approached me last year with the idea of taking the next step in life and creating his own brand. Before he finished the sentence, I told him they needed to do it!

You know, I'd like to start my own- stop! You should do it. I think you should do it. You have Blob's blessing.

Blob? Blob says go ahead. Blob says go ahead. Blob.

Well, little is known about McDonald's new cigar. Hmm. He didn't tell Cigar Hustlers Podcast that it won't be distributed by- that it won't- oh, he did tell us. Oh, I'm sorry, he did tell us.

He didn't tell us. He did tell us, we'll be distributed by down and back. Well, it makes sense. He owns a company.

You know what, I'm going to make a cigar, it's not going to be Aroma Craft. You know what, I'm going to create competition for myself, and we're going to shut down, down, and back. Right, don't forward my checks. "I'm very excited to announce that I will be launching my own line of cigars in the coming months," said McDonald.

CLT is better sweet to leave, but knowing that Bob and Tony have always had my back and will continue, This is evidence in the ethos of Cold War Cigar Company, friends working with friends. Aw, nice. We should call it here, Cigar Hustler, where friends have to work because I'm mean. Something like that you could say.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like that. I just had a message. We're friends with me.

I'm mean, yeah. All right, Steve Saka talks to Stilwell star Moostradisaka Krakatoa? Oh, yeah, that's Krakatoa. Krakatoa.

Krakatoa. He stubbed his foot. Ah, a crack at my door. A crack at my door.

He, he, he. Oh, man. Be here all week. Thank you very much.

On the Pallone. Don't forget to tip yourself. He did it on the Pallone. That's why I said it.

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust plans for introducing a new, potentially controversial line later. Why is it controversial? Ooh, potentially. Let's read on.

Potentially controversial. As well as a new Muster de Saka release. Ooh. Steve Saka.

Steve. Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust shared a few details about the cigars. Most of the details remain unknown. At TPE 2021, which just ended.

We don't have any follow-up on that because we didn't go. Yeah, I mean, I saw some pretty depressing pictures. Everybody says, oh, you know, the only person I know there was Tyler. He was in every picture.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah. Oh, that's the depressing ones? You know what's really kind of, he's in all of them?

It's like, oh, there's nothing going on. Well, let's finish this and then we can talk about it. Yeah, because TB, yeah. Go ahead, go ahead.

Confirmed the Moustra de Saka Krakatoa is coming later this year and announced Stillwell star a new line. Okay, we want to know why it is controversial. Yeah. Oh, I guess I got it right here.

Saka also confirmed that Mooster de Saka Krakatoa, part of the ongoing Mooster de Saka releases, while he didn't disclose the blend, he did confirm it will come in coffins and packaged in boxes of seven. Ooh. You get the coffin thing? Yeah.

Okay. I'm not coughing, I'm fine. No, no, they're coming in coffins. Oh, okay.

I'll tell you why this is controversial here in a minute. Oh, okay. As for the name, it's a reference to the volcano located between Indonesian islands. In 1883, the volcano erupted, killing over 35,000 people and submerged itself into the sea.

Though there have been sequential more eruptions underwater, Hector New Island, Saka says a new cigar is strong and peppery. Ooh, that's nice. See, he's naming the cigar after a volcano that killed people, and he's putting the cigars in coffins. Oh, and that's a- That must be the controversy.

Oh. Well, the cigar was originally scheduled for a spring release due to packaging delays, and they can't get those coffins made fast enough, apparently. Saka now anticipates the cigar to release in November. Okay.

All right, now you want to talk about the TPE? See, I don't have any TPEs, sorry, because there's nothing really going on. The problem, here's the problem with this industry, I'll tell you right now. Oh, you know what the problem is?

The biggest problem in our industry, I think, is just this intrinsic apathy. Intrinsic apathy. Exactly. You're going to expand on that.

Oh, please. So, the problem with the intrinsic apathy. The intrinsic apathy? Yes.

The problem with the reps and a lot of these cigar owners is, you know, everybody kills it. Everybody kills it all the fucking time. It's great. Every fucking show.

Oh, I did great. Lots of money. It was amazing. TPE was amazing.

So now I don't fucking trust anybody. You know, I just need somebody to say, you know what? It was fucking terrible. Terrible.

We spent all this money and nobody was there. It was the fucking worst experience I've ever had in my life. I can't believe that we did this. What the fuck were we thinking?

There were no crowd photos. No crowd photos. From anybody. No crowd photos.

No crowd photos. Yeah. I mean, you got to figure that the majority of these states have been closed for so long. Right.

These guys are like, you know what? Fuck that. I'm gonna go to Vegas? No.

I'm gonna go to Vegas. No. I haven't made no money. I have no money all year, so I'm gonna buy some cigars.

Yeah. And I'm gonna go buy more cigars because I have some. Yeah. And the ones that have been open have been killing it.

So they're like, I'm not leaving. Hey, well, I'm leaving. Yeah. I gotta go there.

I can make the deals here. I'm good. So, you know, the biggest problem in our industry, I think, is just this intrinsic apathy. Apathy.

Everybody's just toting the line. They don't care anymore. All that intrinsic apathy is just crazy. It's terrible.

Oh, it's terrible. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Apathy.

Yeah. In bulk. I hear the Ibita, though, is very good. Ibita.

Some, some, some people have the Ibita's very good. Some people have the Ibita's good. Some people have the Ibita's good. Oh.

Yeah. Some good, some not good. Bam, you gotta go to work. That's what you gotta do.

And that's it. That's it. You gotta go to work. But you know, sometimes you just...

You know, why buy stuff from a dick? Why buy stuff from a dick, though? Yeah, it's just so true. You don't wanna really buy stuff from a dick.

And you guys, fuck that up. Right, because you get buy stuff from a dick, and bam, and they have a thing. He's dropping all the heavy hitters at the same time. This is crazy.

It's incredible. It's incredible. Ah! So yeah, so I'll never, we'll never, honest.

So you know, Hirochi got kicked off the board. It just happened. Hello, Hirochi. Hello, Hirochi.

Welcome to Fantasy Island. So, no, but you gotta understand, honest, seriously. You're correct, sir! You gotta understand.

Yes. That's, unless you're there at the TPE. Right. Like you won't fucking know, unless you talk to like other retailers.

Nope, nobody's gonna tell you. It's like they have a meeting afterwards, like okay, everybody says this was good. Right, everybody in? It was all good.

We all killed it, right? We all agree, we all killed it. We all killed it? Right.

All right, good. You know, maybe you can get Pete Hernandez's shit face or something and be like, you fucking suck. There was nobody there at all. It was the worst experience of my life.

I sat around smoking cigars with a mask gun for three days. I can tell you that I texted Alfredo and he responded and he was there. He was there. Oh, wow.

So, you know, I mean, if that doesn't tell you that it wasn't busy, I don't know what would tell you that it wasn't busy. He's just sitting there. You know. Oh, shit.

Oh, I got a text. I got a text. I got something to do. He's like, hey, are you in Vegas?

I'm like, no, I'm in Florida. He said, yes. Are you in Vegas? He said, yeah.

He said, I'm behind you. He's like, yeah, TPE. I was like, oh. Okay.

Is anybody there? Yeah. So, all right. Good for you.

Hey, Sockin wants to talk to you. He's got nothing going on either. When he gets off the phone, oh, your friend Tommy wants to talk to you. Tommy's here, too.

Tommy Farrell is here. He wants to talk. Was Tommy there? No, I don't think so.

I don't think so either. I don't think so. He can't. He's got that blonde at home.

So Tyler was there. Why would you leave if you had that blonde at home? I would never go anywhere. You're a horrible person.

Why, she's a very attractive lady. So Tyler was there. What a more post about how much I love her all the time. Wow.

Sorry, Tommy. I love you very much. Get this clip, and I'm going to send it to you. 80 King Palmer.

I have my own blonde at home. I put up all the time. I got my own. I put up all the time on what you love her.

I love my wife. I love my wife. New makeup, new hair, new clothes. Woo-hoo.

I know you were very excited about that the other day. Yes. New gear. Yeah, I got home.

I was right. Did not have the makeup on still. No. No.

There were two Tylers there. Right? Well, Tyler from Cigar Noise Boys. That's a Tyler I was referring to.

A lot of those photos. Yeah. Yeah. That's the Tyler I'm talking about.

He's on some type of cross-continental trip or something. Yeah, he's on like, you know, all six, six weeks flying everywhere. I mean, the guy's been, you know, moving everybody's luggage for like six months, no days off, no days off, all right, I'm out of here. All right, I bagged up all these points here and I don't pay to fly.

I'm sure by the time, by this podcast drop, he's probably, my shit's probably moving into the guest bedroom of Skip's house. Uh, he was flying to Texas last I saw, but he was in and out in a day, like flew in one day out the next. Oh, and I don't think it was Austin. I think it was Houston, Houston, Massachusetts, Houston, we have a problem, Houston.

I think we have a problem. All right, Bruce Bush promoted to top VP of sales and marketing for Karen Berger. Is he going like, eh, fuck that guy? Yeah, fuck that guy.

Bruce Bush has been promoted to VP of sales and marketing for Karen Berger. Earlier this week, Bush was promoted to the new position from the national sales representative. His new role, we'll see, wait, he, what? He moved up the ladder.

Promoted new position from the national sales representative to the VP of sales and marketing. Oh, okay. His new role will see him oversee. His new role will see him oversee the company's sales force.

Oh, but he's not the sales guy anymore. We're just sitting here shit on everybody. This is going to be incredible. Combination of one broker, six sales representatives, and two ambassadors.

Ooh, ambassadors. I just want to know. I never know what I'm saying. So if you remember it and it bothers you, I'm just going to apologize because I don't even know what I said on this podcast.

Are you done interrupting? Or any podcast. He added that the company was looking to hire more people. Oh, yeah.

Well, if you want to call. Oh, well. I like Karen. She's very nice.

Yeah, Palmer's available. Bush joined the company in August 2020. He's promoted to national sales representative in October. Oh, very quickly.

We would like to announce and follow with a press release that Mike... Oh. Oh, yeah. Sorry.

This is a separate story. We'd like to announce that the following will be a press release that Mike Palmer or BDP, as he's been declared by the king, to be director of social media for what is the Cigar Hustler/Posanya/Posik/Jotic Empire. I forgot I put this in. So then we'll follow it up with a press release also as the next story.

Yeah, an additional press release. Yes. I'm going to make you VP of that. Oh!

Yeah, yeah. You've been doing it for long. I'm like director of social media. VP of social media?

Yeah, VP of... Oh, how about that? I just got a promotion. Yeah.

I'm here, promotion. And then I'm going to hand you the phone and you're going to be VP of sales too. Oh! It's going to be great.

I'm going to spin in this chair. I'm just going to do nothing. It's going to be amazing. Whee!

Whee! All right, Michael. We're going to this show, Michael. I've decided we are going.

We're going. The International Cigar Expo. Oh, yeah? In Europe?

Qingdu, taking place November 8th through 10th. The International Cigar Expo 2020 will take place November 8th through 10th in Qingdu, China. Qingdu, motherfucker. China.

It is second version of the International Cigar Expo. The first was held in Shenzhen in late 2019. It would be better if we would have went to that one because I have an office there, but it's okay. The event is co-hosted by China Cigarette Sales Corporation and China Tobacco International Group Limited.

A variety of other companies are listed as co-organizers. We're on the list. I put us on the list. Did you do?

Yes. Good job. It'll be hosted inside of the Tanfu International Convention Center and a press release says it will cover over 10,000 square meters of show floor space. 10,000.

Their shows are huge. Any trade show. Can we get segways? No.

I don't want to walk. No, no. We'll be carried. We'll be carried.

Okay, cool. You're a very big man. It's a big ask. It's a big ask.

There'll be a lot of them. They're very strong. They're tiny people, but they're very strong. On someone's shoulders, or something?

Well, it'd be like, you know, like a Roman thing, you know. Oh, that's what I'm talking about. Oh, maybe we'll do like the, we sit in the basket and the guy pulls. Can I have like drapes?

I don't want anybody looking at me. I want it covered. Sure. Closed.

And then I will come out when we reach a specific booth. And if we have to go from one booth that's right next to the other booth, I'm still getting in my carrying thing. Bring me in there. It'll be amazing.

Four steps, please. Four steps. Lower it. Lower.

Lower, please. Yes, thank you. We have more than 150 companies and 10,000 people will be invited to the event, but they're little people, so it doesn't seem as crowded. Yeah, well, 10,000 people will be invited.

The only ones that are going to be there will be the ones that are mandatory and have to be there or they will be killed. Well, we beat them, they don't kill them. Oh, they only beat them. It lists companies such as Habanos, Davidoff, Scandinavian Tobacco, which is a big fourth quarter earnings.

Yeah, big, big Q4. The Expo says that 2019 event had more than 80 exhibitors and 5,000 visitors. Oh, so this is twice as big and twice as many people. That's a lot of bones, man.

Perhaps more importantly, it says that there is a total of 18 famous Chinese and overseas companies that signed 12 agreements on site. On site. They had tobacco or something. Huh.

My mouth's very dry. Take that with you. Because the state-owned China national tobacco is a virtual monopoly over the domestic tobacco industry in China, it remains a challenging market for non-Chinese companies to enter. I think we're up for the challenge, Michael.

That's quite the problem. That being said, it is a large and growing market. Hey, if Nike can do it, anybody can do it. Right, the first time in the country has achieved that status, events include, ooh, there's events, here we go.

We'll go to all these, Michael. The Cigar Industry Development Forum, they would like you to speak. No problem. All right, Cigars International Academic Forum, they would like you to add.

I don't know if you learned this about me, but I can pretty much handle myself when I have to speak. Oh, speech time, all right, cool, no problem. What do you want to talk about? Well, yeah, but...

And I can bullshit through any of this, this will be amazing. It doesn't matter because apparently nobody listens because afterwards they asked me if I was still the owner. Yeah, exactly. See, I ain't even concerned about it.

O. O. " "Welcome to Fantasy Island. " I have, yes, I have been in the industry for-- Aha!

I found the tobacco. Ooh, get rid of that. Driving me crazy. Yeah.

A. Names New Leadership. Who? A.

A. Oh. " Wait, haven't you said the man's name yet? He's already saying fuck that guy.

Cigar Rage of America has announced a variety of new leadership roles. Gary Pesch. He's going like, eh, fuck that guy. Please, Michael, it's Gary Pesch.

I know that name. He's the owner of Old Virginia Tobacco. Yes. Old Virginia.

Old Gary. They call him Old Gary in Old Virginia. Gary hasn't seen me in my best moments. I'm not gonna lie.

He probably doesn't remember it, but... What, were you drunk? No. No.

No. I have no problem with conflict, Michael. That's all I can say. Obviously, yes.

That's all I can say. There was a man here the other day forever and then we left you with his partner doesn't like me and it was a waste of time. Yeah, I know these things. Karen Smith, do you know that?

Karen Smith? She's the VP of Ritora Fuente. Has been elected as the CRA's president. Both are succeeding Robert Levin of Ashton Holt who has served as a dual role CRA since 2014.

In addition, Smith will be leading the organization and its staff. Is he going like, eh, fuck that guy. Michael, please already. It's been a privilege to represent premium cigar manufacturers, retailers, and consumers in Washington, set 11 in a press release.

It is now time for the next generation to continue this work. You know, why buy stuff from a dick? Ooh, that's very rude there. I don't know about that.

All right. Nine minutes. What should we go to? I need to know the floor.

Oh, it's right here. Oh, let it go, man. Come on. Who cares about the time?

Let it flow. We're having a good time here. No, no, no, fine, but we'll have to break, I mean, we always lose a minute of stuff, because we break too late, apparently, and then we'll get the audio, it's fine. No, I don't cut it out, he's pfft.

No, you don't. Yeah, it's too much work. For a minute of audio? It's good content.

No, no, it was just us laughing, I checked it last week, and we were just laughing. You're cold-blooded. It is laughing. Damn.

I'm gonna have to demote you. Let's see, Tarzona names Willie Morenta as VP of Sales and Marketing, congratulations, Willie. We'll just skip that, we'll start. Yeah, so no, that's kind of a big deal.

Oh, okay, sorry. Flor de la Cigar is on a hiring spree, Tarizona, I like Tarzan. I don't know, did somebody just walk up to Eddie and just give him like a couple of briefcases full of money? I mean, what the fuck is going on over here?

Apparently. He's doing very well. Can they stop by here? Yeah, I mean, you live in Lakeland, Eddie, can you just give us the number of this gentleman, whoever he is?

I mean, maybe you give us one of those briefcases, I don't know, I mean, something. Oh, do we get a boat? Yeah. A baby?

He had a baby? He had a boat? I don't need any of that. Sponsoring a party?

I just want the briefcase full of money. Wore a lovely red sport coat with matching shoes. Who did he talk to? I don't know.

I don't know. Maybe we should start carrying your cigars and get him to come over here. Give me a briefcase of Mike. You know what?

You know what? I don't know if this one briefcase is going to be enough. Take this one too. Right.

I'm like, okay. You know, that's only two. Maybe you need a third one? Yeah.

Would you like to sponsor a party? Oh, that'd be nice. They'll sponsor a party too. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I'd like a red sport coat with matching red shoes. That'd be nice. Yeah. The lovely wife had red shoes too, and they matched.

It was an adorable outfit. I mean, they dropped 10K to PCA. Oh yeah, they made a PCA. I forgot about that too.

I mean, I want to harass Willie, Mike. Yo, how much? What's the salary? What's the salary?

Oh, yeah. They pulled him from La Aurora. I mean, I pull like a Ben Affleck fucking retainer. Fucking pay me.

Pay me. All I'm saying is your odds are better if I leave here with like $200, $300 in my pocket right now. Let's see. Maranta is best known for nearly five and a half years.

He spent as a South Florida salesman for Miami Cigar Company in March. He took a new role becoming the brand ambassador for La Aurora Cigars. We are pleased to welcome Willie to the Tarazona Cigars, said Tarazona in a press release. With Willie's knowledge and extensive background, we will be great addition to our management team.

Hmm, sounds like intrinsic apathy. I don't know. All right. Is that it?

No, no, I got a Florida story. And we have a listener of the week. And we'd also like to welcome Singapore to the Cigar Hustler Podcast family. So what's this happening?

Is that like a fucking aneurysm or something? No, I didn't put a headline on the Florida story. I'm just looking at you like... I know, I just stopped.

We got five minutes, so we can finish this off. We have time, yeah. Alright, in Florida... In Florida.

Alcohol to go is now permanent in Florida! Fuck yeah, buddy! What? Woohoo!

I'm gonna drive through and get me a beer! That's it. It's gotta be sealed. Governor Ron DeSantis married official with a bill signing at an Ormond Beach restaurant on Thursday morning.

It's on Thursday morning. So Ron's at the beach. You know what? I really could use another margarita.

You know what? I could really use a drink as I leave. You know what? Executive order.

Now you can get alcohol to go. Somebody post this. Put that up. Put that up.

Here, I wrote this down. You put that up. Santa said the bill is meant to continue to help restaurants and bars thrive through the pandemic and beyond. And beyond.

He likes bars and restaurants. Well, it actually worked out really well when he did it. Yes. Because everybody was just picking up booze.

Right. And they can own 'cause that's something that doesn't stop no matter what the industry is. Everybody wants booze. Everybody likes booze.

I like booze. Yeah, I know. You've drank so much, you are a screwball. I mean, this is official.

Oh, I just had a French bottle of Old Smokey, but like I said, it's not as strong as... Yeah, no, you drank the whole thing and your liver felt like it had a day off. I know. Yeah, like it was orange juice or something.

What was that? What was that? Like, I feel fine. Yeah, the liver's going, "There's no alcohol up there!

" The idea of alcohol to go isn't new. DeSantis signed the executive order in 2020 allowing alcoholic beverages to go in order to help restaurants and bars thrive while he was out driving around. You know what? I don't want him running for president.

I want him permanently as my governor for the rest of his life. Well, then everybody can get booze to go. Yeah. No.

No. Uh-uh. It's Florida. I don't want to make America Florida.

You guys fucking chose who you chose. You deal with it. Let's see. The bill is signed Thursday.

Make service option, uh, option permanent. Yeah. Legislature looked to do it, and they got it done in a way that benefited restaurants and bars, but in a way that is safe for the public, he said, oh wait, the legislature looked to do it in ways he did in public, but it benefited our restaurants and bars, but in a way, that's the way he sounded when he called us. Oh, that's right, that's right, that's right.

So, here are the rules. Yes. Here are the rules. Alcoholic drinks are available for delivery and curbside pickup.

Alcoholic drinks can be more than 30, oh, can't be more, I thought, alcohol drinks have to be more than 32 ounces. No, they can't be more than 32 ounces. But you can do delivery and curbside pickup, or you can't? No, you can.

You can. You can. Alcoholic drinks are available for delivery and curbside pickup. Oh, that's so amazing.

Yes. Yeah. So, if you want more than 32... How many lives are you gonna save?

Well, if you want more than 32 ounces, can't you just order more than one? Do you remember, like... Yeah, of course. I'd like seven margaritas, Blaze.

No, how about, you know... Right now, 32 margaritas. I mean, that's pretty amazing because, you know, I mean, I've heard, you know, people call 911 for... Can I get a ride at a liquor store?

I've heard about that too. Yeah. We're going to have to break in them. Let's take a break.

We'll take a break. Let's take a break. Pedro bonus hours. Oh, bonus.

Pedro bonus time. A Cigar Hustlers podcast, its owners and its sponsors take no responsibility for the opinions or statements made by the talk show host or their guest. Statements or show topics are not necessarily the beliefs of Mike and 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 Szczefankewicz, 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. Okay, and now we found out maybe Michael didn't record part two. We don't know yet because it would have went off three minutes early.

I can't be trusted. Oh, you have one job. You push the red button on the camera, Michael. All you have to do, no show prep, no setup of the machinery, no cords, no nothing.

I moved the camera over that time. Did you unplug it? Hold on. No, this is recording.

Well, no, but the microphone cord was unplugged three times this week, and that was when I walked past it. I've been checking it, but then when you move the camera, I've got to check. All you have to do is hit the red button. I might have done that.

You may not have. It's true. I thought I saw it. So this is going to be a very short show this week.

No, come on, you got to give me the audio. It's too much work. We went over this. Oh, no, actually, we didn't go over it because you didn't see any of part two, people.

I'm very sorry. But apparently I don't add the audio when it goes off. Oh, my God. Because last time it was just us laughing, making fun of Danny and when he was a cardboard cutout.

Because the giant eagle would fly down and weasel fest. So, oh, next week, or no, this weekend, I will be at Grand Cathedral for their grand opening this weekend. Yes, and I'll be with Bobby and his lovely wife on Saturday morning walking through their building. So you're done with the DeSantis story?

No. Alcoholic drinks must be placed in a secured container by the business. Now we're done with the story. Oh, okay.

I think it's amazing. You are correct, sir! Yeah, it's a very good move by DeSantis. I have one more story.

That's why I didn't notice it because it got out of order. Asylum Nine is scheduled for later this year. Oh. The first there was a seven.

Then there was an eight. Now obviously there is a nine. First it was a free. The Asylum Nine is a cigar to mark Asylum's ninth anniversary.

So they put out a cigar every year? I don't know. I don't care. It's the seventh anniversary to the Asylum Seven.

Eighth anniversary. Is that CLE? They don't sell them anymore. So I don't care.

We don't carry them here? No, because all I did was I sold the-- You carry Asylums, don't we? Well, yeah. I still have to get them from somewhere else now.

Oh, they won't sell to you? Nope. Oh. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm very sorry. Is that back to you're not afraid of conflict? No.

So like, I mean, Mike Denny stopped checking in here. I love Mike Denny. He's a good guy. But he stopped coming.

Right, man. We did great with the... Mike Denny. I know the name.

I can't place the face. Oh, he's funny as shit. He's really good friends. I can't place the face.

I know that. Oh, if you saw him, you'd be like, oh, okay. You say Mike Denny. I think of Mike McKinney.

By the way, he's not going to be at the thing next week. I messaged him. Yeah. I was hoping I'd get to see him.

So, um, you know, the only cigar that we consistently move from them is their damn 770 fucking yada yada. Right, the big ones. Yeah. Yeah, the yada yada.

" Oh, wow. We're done. We're done. " And apparently I replied all, and I replied to every retailer in the state of Florida.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yep. Not my best moment.

But hey, it's out there. Like, why buy stuff from a dick? You should've just put that on there. That should've been the topic for the email.

Why buy stuff from a dick? Right. I can get it somewhere else. But you'll never stop me from getting it.

I just want you to know Matt. Which has a long-ass, ridiculous name. Long-ass, ridiculous name. Step on cabbage is what I meant.

It is a long-ass, ridiculous name. Yeah, I'm sure it is. That's what it was. Long-ass, ridiculous name.

Yeah. It is. It's a long-ass, ridiculous name. Is he going like, eh, fuck that guy?

You know, what's even funny is my, I'm pretty sure that my grandfather went to Ellis Island. Usually that shit gets chopped. A new guy. Slip through the line.

Came through early in the morning. Like, oh shit, you didn't correct that? Nope. All right.

Maybe that wasn't even the name. Maybe it had vowels in it back then. No, because when I've spoken to Polish people, they're like, oh yeah, I know this last name. It's like Smith back over there.

Oh, wow. I love that guy. I love that guy. Yeah.

What else do you have, Mike? Talk to me. Talk to me. Listener of the week.

Oh, we got to pick our number. Here we go. Here we go. Get the gong.

Listener of the week, Fran Saleto. We made him at S&M. Oh, yeah. Yes, the gentleman with the beard and the dog.

Yes. Yes, I told him I'd make him Listener of the Week. So, congratulations, sir. Yeah.

You are Listener of the Week. Ah, damn, poo. Ah, poo. That was from Mr.

Yogurt Light. What's his dog's name? Bennett? Bennett.

Boom. Bennett the dog. Pretty little brindle. Yes.

It's a very nice dog. You get excited to pee a little bit. You see that? Just like me.

Exactly like you. I'm excited at pizza. I'm going to call him new Bennett. Oh, wow.

Yeah, this is Bennett. All right, Polish Hulk. Touch your head and you pee. No.

Huh? No. Yep. Yep.

Yep. Yep. All right, now we're going to pick a winner. I hope it's the guy...

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. There was only seven this week, Michael. I hope it's the guy that wants to work out with you. He wants to work out with you.

I don't work out. He'd be drinking with me. What's the guy that wants... So one through seven?

One through seven. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, we have an alias, I'm not sure who it is, and we have a young lady this week. I'm gonna go three. Who's three?

Sure you don't wanna pick a different one? I'm doing three. Pick a different one. If it's Stephen Wells, he already won.

It's not Stephen Wells. Why don't I pick a different one? Because it's number three. All right, fine, Michael Barrett, you won.

Nuh-uh. Yes. All right, I'll pick a different one. Mr.

Barrett, you're the winner of a $25 gift card to Cigar. Hustler. I'm going to give it to you because you're sitting right out there. Now fuck that.

I'm going to email it to him. Now you have to ask for these apparently because we haven't really given many of them away. A lot of people don't follow up. Hey, email me.

We're not going back and saying who the winner was before either. I mean, you know, if you want it, you can have it. I got $75 worth of cigars in the last couple of weeks. It's been a good run for Mike.

It's been a good run for me. Bennett has really enjoyed the cigars. Michael Bennett? He didn't.

Oh, you Bennett. Oh. That's Michael Barrett. Oh, oh, Barrett.

I guess. I'm the dog of the peace. Keep up, Mike. Goddamn, my God.

All right. Anything else? I'm exhausted. Well, we're going to review this on the Shiny Patreon.

Yeah, you haven't been smoking it very much. Is that an inclination of things to come? I'm already about halfway through. I've been entertaining.

Entertaining? You know. Yeah. All right.

This has been episode 174. Oh, you know what? When I was a teenager, worked at Kmart, my clock card number back then, you had a clock card, you had a punch a clock. It was 174.

That was my number. I feel like the universe is finally lining up for you. I think so. This must be the final episode.

This is your moment. This is the final show. Don't say that. I've started a new one with Brittany.

That means that you're gonna be dead tomorrow, and then I have to click this shit, and be like, I don't... I can't wait. His name is Mike, and he is Chet. And this is God House's Podcast.

I told you, I take the cards with me every night when I leave. Yeah, but then you're gonna die. I take all the cards, bury them. It's gonna be so sad.

My wife has instructions to when I die to put all the cards in the casket. That she's going to buy from Steve Sokka because he's making the dead people. The crack of toe. The crack of toe.

I crack on my toe. Ow! What happened? I crack on my toe on the side of the bed.

I crack on my toe. So I'm going to be like 80. 80 King Palmer, really sorry for your loss. Do you have those cables?

Do you have those cables? I was going to segue right into it. She won't know. She knows what she won't know.

What a hit. What a blow to all of us. Do you know what those cables are? Do you know what he did with the cables?

Because I need them. The son of a bitch takes them every day and leaves. Because he died on a Sunday, and I need to record tomorrow. I need to record tomorrow, so I don't know what to do.

If you could give me those cables, that'd be great. She'll go, "I'm in a loss, Michael. " It was a wonderful man. I'm going to knock on the door and be like, "Oh, who is this?

This is my boyfriend. This is Bill. " He's consoling me in my moment of loss. Why is Bill covered in whipped cream?

I'm very upset. He's got airy upset. Whipped cream comforts me. Yes.

When licking it off his body really helps. I hope she doesn't watch this one. It's in the extra part. I'll turn it off at the end.

This is where it goes off. Just a credit, Tony. You don't need to see the end there. Turn it off.

And we've got to buy more whipped cream. And we're out of whipped cream. We're out of whipped cream, just so you know. All right.

All right, guys and gals. Thank you very much. We've got to go do another show. Another show.

All right, bye. 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 could get past Hojo! I don't even have to try. He's not even gonna try.

We're gonna 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

Uncle Skip Sound drops...Mike Rosales Sound drops...Industry News, industry news..