184 Football weekend...Craft 2021....Industry News

Episode Summary

Episode 184 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with Mike and Mike catching up after a week apart — a youth flag football tournament in Bradenton/Sarasota at IMG Academy (and the lost voice that came with it), early-morning workouts with the kids, and a family recovery update. The tone is the usual loose, profane shop-talk banter before the show shifts into industry news.

The bulk of the episode is post-PCA 2021 fallout and new-release news. The hosts unpack the ongoing debate about cigar "influencers," media credentials and booth etiquette at the trade show, referencing commentary from Matthew and Nicole of "How About That Cigar," an Instagram Live held by influencers, and Cigar Coop's coverage — including Coop's announcement that Ben Lee's The Smoking Syndicate is joining the Cigar Coop media family as its fifth brand. They also gripe (comedically) about being shut out of the Tobacco Business Awards and float a plan to hand out their own joke awards at next year's show.

News segment highlights: Amendola's Family Cigar Company's Signature Series Cannoli Red — a 5.5 x 42 corona with a Mexican San Andrés wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler, $9 MSRP, produced at Lozano (Lo Sona) after the company's move from Honduras to Nicaraguan factories — plus its Cannoli Green (Sumatra) and Cannoli White (Ecuadorian Connecticut) siblings. They also cover Diesel Sunday Gravy San Marzano, a $4.99 6 x 54 Toro blended by A.J. Fernandez and Justin Andrews with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Estelí binder and Jalapa filler, shipping August 12 — which sparks a long, very Italian argument about whether red sauce is "sauce" or "gravy." Viaje Layer Cake, a 6 x 50 Nicaraguan puro with a Criollo wrapper rolled at Aganorsa in Estelí and the latest in Viaje's craft-beer-inspired series, gets a tongue-in-cheek rundown since the shop didn't pick it up.

The episode closes with the news the hosts actually care about: Viaje Craft 2021 has officially shipped and is on its way to Cigar Hustler. There's also a movie-and-TV tangent (Black Widow, The Green Knight, Raising Kanan, a Joker takedown, and a long struggle to remember Kevin Costner's name) before a teaser for the Patreon secret show reviewing Fiat Lux Intuition by Luciano for Crowned Heads.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Football weekend in Bradenton
   Mike recaps his son's flag football tournament near IMG Academy, rough play, lost voice, and the start of early-morning training sessions.
2. 02
   PCA 2021 fallout and influencer drama
   The hosts weigh in on the debate over cigar influencers, media legitimacy and booth etiquette sparked by comments from Matthew and Nicole of How About That Cigar.
3. 03
   Cigar Coop adds The Smoking Syndicate
   Cigar Coop announces Ben Lee's The Smoking Syndicate as the fifth brand under the Cigar Coop media umbrella, with video reviews and Cigars of the Week.
4. 04
   Tobacco Business Awards snub
   Mike and Mike joke about being left off the awards list and plan to hand out their own irreverent trophies at next year's PCA.
5. 05
   Amendola's Signature Series Cannoli Red
   Details on the Italian-American-inspired 5.5x42 corona with Mexican San Andrés wrapper and Nicaraguan binder/filler at $9, plus the Cannoli Green and White.
6. 06
   Diesel Sunday Gravy San Marzano
   A $4.99 6x54 Toro blended by A.J. Fernandez and Justin Andrews shipping August 12, and a spirited debate over 'sauce' versus 'gravy.'
7. 07
   Viaje Layer Cake and the craft-beer series
   A rundown of Viaje's 6x50 Nicaraguan puro with Criollo wrapper rolled at Aganorsa Estelí, part of the craft-inspired lineup the shop skipped.
8. 08
   Viaje Craft 2021 has shipped
   The hosts break the news that Craft 2021 is officially shipping and headed to Cigar Hustler.

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

This is a Cigar Hustler's podcast. Welcome to episode 184 of a Cigar Hustler podcast. Did you use lights? No, I didn't.

184. 184! Still the number one cigar show on Podbean. You didn't shut the door when you came in.

It's slightly open. Slightly askew. We got to wing it. You hear my voice?

Yo, I don't mean your voice. You hear me voice. Yo, I've sent me DMs! Yo, I've sent me DMs!

I'm going to the wing for a party! Yo, I've sent me DMs. You too can become part of our podcast family and invest in our show. Put your products in front of thousands of listeners and viewers every episode.

We're heard on 12 different podcast providers weekly all around the world. com. I looked into changing the email like we suggested, Mike and Mike Productions is taken. Mike and Mike Productions 1, Mike and Mike Productions 2, Mike M&M Productions, yeah, all that's taken.

So it would end up being something like Mike and Mike Productions 1784, I mean, which made no sense at all, so I'm still looking at that for something. Okay. Maybe. So, boop.

So, thank you for listening. Sorry, it's Cigar House Podcast. Mike and Mike. Cigar House Podcast.

Today on the Patreon, after this lovely show, we're going to do the Fiat Lux cigar from Intuition. Intuition? Crownheads. There's a big difference.

Well, Fiat Lux Intuition is the actual name of the cigar. Fiat Lux Intuition. Made by Luciano. Luciano Pavarotti?

I like it. Aww. Oh. I got these new glasses that are for reading computers.

Luciano. They work great at home, but here, it's a little far over there. Let me see that one. 9 grams.

I guess there's that one. Let's see here. 1. 12 to 13.

Lack of consistency. That's not bad, 12 to 13. A little lack of consistency. It's a one gram swing.

That's not bad. I said one was 11, one was 13. 1. Ah, gotcha.

Oh man, so. Hey, this week on our YouTube, we had two porn comments. Really? And a Bitcoin salesman.

That's amazing. So that's gotta mean something. Because moving on up, moving on up. Yeah, we're being attacked by porn and Bitcoin now.

Nice. Hey, like it on, you know, we can help you get more followers. Follow this and this. No, no, no, it was one, the two, two separate, two separate porn one, and then the Bitcoin one, the porn one, you know, click here, see naked girls or some crap like that.

Yes. The other guy was, excellent content, love your show. Have you checked something on Bitcoin sales lately or something and invest today and raise money? This could be us.

This could be you. Investors? This is, I think, my big move. Probably you.

This is where I break away, Michael. You're out of here, huh? Bitcoin and porn. At the same time?

Yes, I'd like to get paid in Bitcoin. In Bitcoin. While I do the porn. For BDP porn.

BDP, oh yeah! You're welcome. BDP porn, thank you very much. Yep, I'm just here as the inventor.

You're just the man pulling the strings behind the thing, Michael. I create all the good shit, yeah. I create all the good shit, yeah. That's what it was.

So, go ahead, what is your voice all... I went, my son had a football tournament in Bradenton, fucking Florida. Oh, that's like middle of fucking nowhere, Florida. No worries about that.

It really is. Yeah. There's not a lot going on. No.

Usually when they say it's Sarasota, Bradenton, it's not even big enough for its own city. Yeah, exactly. They try and squeeze the end. They have to squeeze two together.

It's like, uh, yeah, so it's Bradenton, Sarasota. Where's that? Sarasota. Oh, yeah, Sarasota, I've heard of.

Yeah, exactly. Sarasota, Bradenton. Wait a second. It's like an exit in between the Sarasota exits.

There's Sarasota, Sarasota, Bradenton, then more Sarasota. Yeah. Boop. Right.

Probably a big football area, though. Well, there's a place called IMG there. Oh. And it's like an athletics place that, it's like a high school.

Yeah. It's like a college. Oh. It's crazy.

And I think it's like 80 grand a year to go to. I just vacuumed. Don't worry about it. That's fine.

Let's put it on the ground. It's like 80 grand to go to a year. You got to pay to go to high school? Unless you get scholarships and stuff.

Wow. Yeah. It's like a breeding ground for, you know, Division I football players and stuff like that. It teaches you how to get the kegs.

Was there a decent hotel there? Oh, they have a hotel on the premises that was book solid that we didn't get into. Because you waited too late, maybe? No, it wasn't my fault this time.

It wasn't my fault this time. Probably was. Anyway. It wasn't.

The way that we got in kind of late for registration. Right. Like a team. Like when we went to PCA.

Yeah, something like that. But I didn't handle it. Oh. I didn't handle the registration for PCA, and I did not handle the registration for our football team.

Okay. So, ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. You don't know what you're talking about.

You don't know what you're talking about. Yeah. You don't know what you're talking about. Go ahead.

Anyway, please keep going. So, anyway, a lot of yelling. Yeah, a lot of yelling. Get the ball.

Run. Yeah, man. You know, there was one team. It seems like these guys.

So, what's, you know, we're a great team. Right. Oh, yes. But, you know, there are coaches that on eight-year-old flag football teams that have obviously devoted their whole life to this.

They treat themselves like. There's nothing flying around you. There is. They think like they're Bill Belichick or whatever.

It's not there right now, but it was there before. I think you're losing your mind. I've lost my mind a long time ago, brother. A long time ago.

Anyway, anyway, go ahead, please. So, you know, so they take it seriously, and it's weird because it seems like they have learned how to, um, kind of manipulate the rules. Yes. Where they would have players kind of running slant routes and stuff like that.

Yes. and you know when it was them going for the ball these kids would rip into our kids like just fucking projecting like torpedo themselves into it right and i'm like wait and that's when i probably lost my voice oh i got you and i'm like wait a second it's supposed to be flag like oh no there was no flag like one kid no it's supposed to be flag football right right right like one kid gets hurt and then another kid gets hurt on the same play and then another kid i'm like wait hold the fucking phone here right something isn't right something's not like this isn't in here you And I'm seeing these kids get popped, like fucking spun around and shit, and I'm like, who's the fucking parent of this kid, you know, I'm starting, you know, it was not good, it's not good, and I was not very happy. And my kid didn't even get hurt. Right.

But if it wasn't my kid, I would have definitely still well-starred all over again, just in football. We don't talk about that here. Don't talk about that. Patreon only.

Nobody knows what happened. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, but they played really good. really well and it was fun.

We had a good time. It was a good, you know, it was good bonding for the team cause they're going to continue to work together and keep developing and building and stuff. And you know, they're, everybody went, yeah, they're becoming closer friends. The whole family went.

Yeah. And you know, it was cool because you know, wives got to talk to wives. And my dad's all sitting around and like, Hey, there's a cigar guy. We got cigars.

Yeah, no, it's kind of mixed. You know, it's a, some people like it and some people don't. So Oh, well, fuck 'em. That's usually my approach.

Right, yeah. So, that seems to be pretty successful. So, like, Comfort Inn, or...? No, it was a Hyatt.

It was a Hyatt. It was a Hyatt place. Thank God. You have requirements, I understand.

I have needs. Yes, in a little town, I thought maybe, you know, Motel 6 or something. Oh, no, I would've been like... Yeah, we'll be over in Sarasota.

No, man, you gotta remember, these are Winter Park people. I understand it, but that doesn't mean... They also have needs. Oh, thank you.

Come on, man. I didn't know the whole team. Now, if they were, you know, like, Altamont Springs people, like, where I'm from, then maybe we would have been in a Motel 6, but you know. Yeah, no, they understand.

They know that they need comfy pillows. Comfy pillows, very nice. Good beds. So yeah, but it went really, really well.

Oh, you know what I started doing today? This is intriguing. This is very controversial. Yes.

Yes. Started training my son. Uh-oh. Yeah.

I'm getting weird readings. I'm a little concerned with the thing, but we'll just keep going and see what happens. We have the backup, so. We do.

I hope we have the backup. So, yeah, I told him, I said, alright, now football's done, you got a little downtime. I was like, if you want me to start training, you want to start working out. Start working out.

He's like, okay, what time will we start working out? m. Monday. m.

m. How about 8, dad? And I said, look, there are those of us who want it and those of us who don't. And if you fucking want it.

So that motherfucker came strolling in my room. Did he get his box of cereal? You started with the smaller box? No, I didn't get the little box cereal.

No, but we're doing... Okay, first thing, you gotta eat all this. No, so, you know, I had him have like a little Nutri-Grain bar, you know, get some in his belly. And then we just did, you know, body weight stuff.

Right. So, you know, he's got to start understanding the fundamentals of different body types and how to work them out. and stuff like that. Oh, very nice.

Yeah, so he did a little workout for about 30 minutes, and come 10 o'clock, out like a light, passed out in the car on the way. So I know it's working. And then he asked me, so when are we working out again? I said, we're working out Wednesday.

Oh. He's very excited. Good. Good stuff.

Good deal. Good stuff. He's going to look like Lou Ferrigno at 10. Oh, I've seen those little kids on TikTok and stuff with the little muscle keys.

And eject. I haven't seen them. Oh. It's weird that you have children on your TikTok.

No, it's grown-ups with children. I have dogs, too. I don't know why I get workout videos. I have grown men in bodybuilding underwear, too, so it's no big deal.

Here's what it is. Here's what it is, I guess. Yeah, so. It's fine.

What are you gonna do? I guess so. So, yeah. I've missed you, Michael.

It's been... It's been very, very... It's only been a week, but it's seen much longer. That's seen much longer.

She's doing much better. We had a doctor's appointment today, and now we no longer. She had everything wrapped in an ace bandage, and I no longer ace bandages. Now we're at the compression sleeves.

Nice. Which is a lot more comfortable. I started working those in over the weekend anyway. I was like, we're going to these on Monday.

None of this is not working anymore. For me, this is a pain in the ass. I understand. It's two bandages for each arm, and, you know, oh, they itch, or it's too tight, or it's on crooked.

Right, so. So you're going to work. The compression sleeve. You're good to go.

Yep. I don't control it. It's either on or off. That's the two options at this point.

Text me if you need me. Text me if you need me. You need ice? You can do this.

The ice is over in the freezer. I have trained MC within this past week, the puppy, to get to ice. To fetch ice. Well, you have to rotate.

Because I bought ice packs on Amazon. The first four days, Amazon's coming three or four times a day. I'm figuring out what I need. Like, okay, you know what?

You know what? 99, it'll be our first thing tomorrow morning. Yeah, it's not even fuck around. Nope, not even fucking around anymore.

So, I had ice packs where I could rotate a set in, rotate a set out, I had snacks, I had food, I had bandages. You can get anything. It's fantastic. Oh yeah, the greatest, greatest place.

Yep. Well, you know, I'm glad that you got to have that experience with your wife and that you-- It's the third time. This isn't my first time around. But it's been a while.

I feel like, you know, we have kind of progressed further and further in this relationship that we have. You know, more business-wise as well as friendship-wise. And then when you're gone for a whole week, I feel it. I fucking feel it.

Oh, that's nice. So you've been missed. Oh, I got messages from the staff. I mean, it was very nice.

Yeah, you're kind of a big deal. You're kind of a big deal. I miss being around here. Yeah.

Well, we missed you. It's not the same without you. I tried giving it my key today. I got a new one already.

It didn't work well at all. Maybe your new one doesn't work. That's what you need. Just claim it doesn't work.

This one's broken. This one doesn't work. You could easily snap it off. There's a new lock on the bathroom door and...

Yep, that was fixed. I don't understand how that video footage never leaked out of me fucking babooming it out. Greg took it. Yeah.

Mr. No social media. I just need the clip of me, the last kick. It's the fucking...

Da-dum. Da-dum. Right. I mean, that'd be great for us.

Did we talk about, we talked about how about that cigar, right? We talked about, how about that cigar? There is a little drama. There is some blowback.

There is some blowback from, not you, surprisingly. I don't, yeah, you know. Which, I don't know how that worked. Dude, I don't know how we totally are to tell you.

I mean, you're like, the PCA sucks. Nobody did anything. Everybody's gonna say bad. Everybody's saying good stuff.

You're going, it sucked. There was nobody there. Everybody's lying. Not a peep.

Well, let me tell you a couple things. First of all, Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothing to fuck with, right? So, you know, there's that in itself. And you know, I don't think that like, you know, none of my stuff is emotionally attached.

It's actually kind of, it's more binary as far as like the breakdown and the process of my thoughts and opinions of PCA. Right. And they come from a good place. I don't want to see.

Right. You don't want to see them fail. I don't want to see the convention go down. I don't want to see the PCA go down.

I want to see things get better. Did you ever watch Loomis' show? Who's? Loomis, Aaron Loomis, he had the same… I've never heard of him.

Oh, so you ever watch that show? He talks? I've never seen him talk. No, no, he had a show.

Developing sphincters? Yes, I watched the beginning of it, and it wasn't that exciting. I couldn't get into it after… Is that the one with Abe and… Yeah. Oh, that was the one that was on the same time I was on.

Right, right. I tried to listen to it the next day when I cut the grass, and I just, I don't know, I just couldn't get into it. It's going to be the same stuff over again. But I was just curious what their take was.

Yeah, me too. I actually do want to listen to that show. Yeah. And, you know, what's kind of funny is that now Abe and Skip, what's his name?

Yeah, Skip, they're going to be on, how about that cigar? Well, it'll be last night, which will be... Oh, is it on last night? It'll be tonight.

Monday night, but, you know, this release is on Tuesday, so... Gotcha. Oh, that's right, yeah. Oh, so they're on...

" Oh, I don't think he's doing a follow-up. You know what I mean? Like, they're covering, and then there was... Now, did Sokka not show up?

Because I heard the introductions for Aaron's show. You know, he did, he had Coop, and he had Dojo, and he had Abe, and then... Was Sokka supposed to be there? Sokka was supposed to be there, but he never introduced Sokka.

Oh, I don't know, you didn't listen to the whole show. Yeah, so I don't know, maybe he was running late, yeah, or something. You never know. I don't, I don't know.

And it was, I think it was somebody else, too. I remember the other person was. Interesting. Very interesting.

Very interesting. But yeah, so getting kind of back to this drama and stuff and, you know, people get upset. And, you know, I understand points of view. Like, I get it.

I understand, you know, that. But, like, I don't understand how it got to the level that it did. No. You know.

Right. Now, what we're discussing is the. Explain it. Explain it to the audience.

Matthew and Nicole made some comments about influencers and about levels of shows and not being professional or not having professional equipment or something. But none of that, I think, was really the basis of their argument. The basis of the argument was like, you know, people just need to be respectful. Right.

That was what they were talking about. If someone is talking business, then you shouldn't kind of intervene. And it's funny, it's like, I agree with that statement, and then I'm thinking, holy shit, I mean, shit, how many fucking times did I jump in on somebody and be like, hey, what's up, motherfucker, you know, oh, I'm like, oh, what time are you doing your skit? I'm going to drop in, you know, like.

Right, but I think, I think with us, though, it was more something, it was sort of semi-arranged. It was just genuine harassment. Right. It's not like they were sitting there talking to, you know, Bob's Cigar Factory people.

And if I had, like, okay, I'm gonna, would you like to buy this cigar, sir? Right. And then assholes come in. Right, and if I had interjected at that time, I would have been like, hey, I'm really sorry to interrupt.

I just want to say hi real quick and, you know, pinch a nipple of Alfredo and then walk away. I don't think we did it to anybody, though. I think we were going to, but we never did. No, we threatened.

How about that cigar? We threatened them. But then we saw them getting setting up. Yeah, we're like, no, I don't want to be crashing.

Charlie, but Charlie was always setting up every time we bothered him. That guy was always busy, yeah. Yeah. Yep.

Coop did a, he had a press release this week. Last week, he announced, let's see, what is this past week, Cigar Coop formally announced that he has a fifth brand in the Cigar Coop media family. Syndicate. The Smoking Syndicate with Ben Lee is an official member and under the Cigar Coop umbrella now.

Benjamin Lee. He's going to do a show with video reviews, group reviews, Cigars of the Week, month and more. The video content will be available on various platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, I don't know what Odyssey is. The video's a motherfucker, man.

Podbean. Video's a lot. Video is a lot. It is a lot.

Coop did comment on somebody's show, but our favorite part was our evening at the media thing. He was quite taken with that. Oh, he did? Yes.

But it's true. Yes, it is. Yes, yes, we put that our favorite part of the PCA was the night at the media thing. Yes.

Yes, he did. He did mention that. Are you getting peanut butter off of that yet? I am not getting peanut butter.

You're not getting peanut butter? Oh. Nicole, no peanut butter. No peanut butter.

Hey, you know, everybody's got a different palate. I don't think they watch our show anyways. Everybody's got a different palate. Somebody will show them.

Coop will show them. That's what he did to the other guy, to our friend, our friend Mitch. And that parlayed into more bullshit. More bullshit.

Poor Coop, you know. It's already, you know, it's okay if you have an opinion and you're angry at somebody. I understand that. You just own it.

It's so much easier. Say something and someone don't like it. Who cares. It's so much easier, Mitch.

Just say what you gotta say. And then you back it with the Skip Martin of, I said what I said. And you know what I mean? Like, that's some gangster shit.

Just be done with it. Just say you did it. I said what I said. But they seem like good people, man.

You know, I had a good, the whole, how about the cigar thing, I think went really well. And I understand their point of view. And I understand Mitch's point of view. Like, I get all that.

It's all of it. And it's fine. And you know, I don't think anybody should really get emotionally attached about this thing. People say I'm an asshole all the time.

I don't fucking care. All right. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. Sitting up here on asshole mountain. Sitting here on asshole mountain. It's just fucking chilling.

It is what it is. You're entitled to your opinion. Tell me I'm fucking, I suck. It's fine.

Good for me watching the time, but it's true. You know, I, the, the reality is though, like I had a conversation with Matt and Nicole and how about that's a And I know Mitch. Yes. Oh, you've had a conversation after all this happened?

No, no, I've had, I've talked with both, they're both good people. Oh, gotcha, gotcha. You know what I mean? What is Matt and Nicole's background?

Do they own a shop? Did you ever figure that out? No, I thought that they had a retail shop, but maybe they don't. I don't know.

I don't know anything about either one of them. They just sort of popped up one day. But they're obviously, you know, he knows Carney. He's obviously friends of Carney.

So, cause he works with them. Oh, does he? Yeah. I don't know.

So, well. I have no idea. Just curious. They seem like nice people.

I had a good conversation with them. They seem like nice people. Yeah. Good.

Yeah. And they're entitled to their opinion. Right. It's just an opinion.

Yeah. Everybody relax. It's just the cigar industry. It's gonna be okay.

It'll be fine. Please don't beat on Coop. I mean, he's, you know, he's fragile. No, and now the influencers are all in an uproar.

Ooh, an influencer uproar? What's that look like? A bunch of TikTok fucking snap or some shit? I'm like, what's that?

What is that? They all did an Instagram live. I didn't even watch this either, but I saw they did an Instagram live. Yeah, IG live.

Like together? All the girls. Yeah, all the girls. There's no guys.

Oh, it's IG. So it's girl influencers. Girl influencers. So that was the problem?

They were interjecting? Well, that was part of their thing, yeah, they're not legitimate media, they were saying, and they're just hanging out in people's booths, which I did notice, it was a small squad of them sort of going booth to booth, it seemed. I didn't even pick up on that. I didn't see that.

You're very busy, Michael. I'm super busy. It was a very busy busy day. I see everything.

It was very busy. Oh yeah, super busy. You are very observant. We were going from couch to couch just like they were.

Oh, I mean, but we only went from like one or two couches. Right, we kept going back, we kept going back to the same couch. Hey, this one. Hey, I found two more of those, good cigars.

Hey Hector, I don't feel like... Oh, it was just Hector's birthday, and it was Skip's birthday, it was a lot of birthdays. Oh, and... Sarah's birthday.

Justin... John D. Oliver's wife. John D.

Oliver, yeah, she's 25 again, happy birthday. I don't stop arguing with her, if she wants to be 25, she can be 25. John, you gotta pick and choose your battles, brother, that's fine. Let her be 25.

Who cares? Justin. Justin Andrews. Is it his birthday too?

No, it's not his birthday. Oh, I thought Skip was saying all three of them. Yeah, he was in the photo. And then I said, hey, that's fucked up.

It's not even Justin Andrews' birthday. Oh, I thought Skip was saying it was. Hector was. Hector.

Hector's birthday. I sent a nice message to Hector and to Skip both. He said, this guy in Jaro was trying to steal my birthday. Oh.

And I said, hey, that's fucked up. Justin Andrews, not even his birthday. I guess that's the only picture Skip has of Hector. Them together.

It was the only picture that Hector will let you have. Oh, could be, I don't know. Mr. Warmth.

Let's see, something else happened I was going to bring up. I don't know what it was. You should probably write those things down, Mike. I did, and then I threw them on the floor.

I've been doing this a lot lately. I've been kind of covering my mouth as I talk and think and stuff. I don't know what that's all about. Maybe he's trying to look.

I don't know. You're hiding something. You know what, somebody would say you were hiding something, a psychologist. But what am I hiding?

I don't know, you're hiding a microphone. I feel like I'm just trying to interpret data sometimes. You can interpret data sometimes. Hmm.

Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Very interesting.

I don't know. I don't know what's going on in my life. I'm tired. I'm a hot mess.

I've been tired all the time. I'm tired. What am I ashwagandha? Oh, I'm still, I haven't had a sleeping pill still.

I'm sleeping, but I'm just tired. I don't think I've caught up with everything. Yesterday, I passed out in the middle of the day on the couch. Just poof.

Uh. Brady and I passed out on the patio last night. it was a hard weekend man and then she got sick yeah she sounded all stuffy alright let's take a break and then oh we have we can do this real quick we have the Tobacco Business Awards are we in there? no we're not we're not talking about that who gives a fuck we're not talking about that we're not even we didn't know the damn god damn thing oh you just threw Ernie on the ground not even honorable mention not at all no I mean last year we came close yeah you know what happened was this year We said, turn it the fuck off.

We're not going to promote it. We're not going to fucking help. Forget it. We get one shot.

One shot. You didn't mention us. Nope. That's it.

We're done. Sorry. So you don't need us. We don't need you.

Sit there on the floor. We're moving on. All right. Now we can take a break.

Now we can take a break. Now we take a break. Congratulations to all the tobacco business award winners. To all the other tobacco business award winners.

Whoever the fuck you up. I just wanted to know next year we're walking around PCA and we're giving out fucking awards. Oh, that's right. We're making up awards.

And this shit's going to be epic. We're going to think of some funny fucking shit to give out to people. It's going to be good. Because, you know, that seems like a thing.

I'm going to fucking, we're going to buy some serious blocks. They're going to be nice. Some people just gave away pieces of paper. Yeah, I know, but I want to do something.

Maybe like, I don't know, like the crystal things or something. Oh, I, yeah. Yeah, like something that looks like it's a big fucking deal. It looks like it's a big deal.

Yeah, and then it says something like, smallest penis in the industry. Oh. Hell yeah. You know what, Terrence?

Biggest penis. Biggest penis in the industry. Biggest dick in the industry. Biggest dick in the industry.

Just ask my boy. Just ask my boy, Lenny. I'll tell you. All right.

We'll be right back. All right. Hey, it's Mike Tu. Want to be part of the show?

com/theCigarHustlersPodcast. We have tiers starting 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 184, Cigar Hustler Podcast.

184. From the four corners of the world, all the cigar industry now as you could possibly need, The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report, with Mike Szczecin. Thank you! Amandola's Signature Series, Cannoli Red, in June of 2020, Amandola's Family Cigar Company announced it would be moving production of its entire portfolio from the Tablicalera Caffey Factory in Donnelly, Honduras, to a combination of different Nicaraguan factories that eventually included Agronorsa's Tabos Valle de la Hapa, factory in Donnelly, Honduras, to a combination of different Nicaraguan factories that eventually included Agronorsa's Tabos Valle de la Hapa, factory in Donnelly, Honduras to a combination of different Nicaraguan factories that eventually included Agronorsa's Tabos Valle de la Hapa, factory in Donnelly, Honduras.

God damn it, Mike. It's turned off, too. Apparently it's not. Apparently it wasn't.

It was spam, anyway. We're trying to contact you in regards to your car warranty. Car warranty. Maybe it was Amendola's signature calling to talk about us on the show.

What's going on with the Amendola's signature? It's no longer just a wide receiver. No, now they're having their stuff made at Agronosa's Jalapa Factory and Lozona Cigar Factory Nestle, and AJ Fernandez, two factories in the same country. Part of the move, Aminola announced a new line of cigars on their signature series.

Oh. Being produced at Lozona. Bro. Bro.

Oh, I was told by the fact that someone had their eyes shut and they thought we had Eric Espinosa on the show last week. That's amazing. My impersonation was right on the line. Your impersonation?

I impersonate. I don't know who did it. I don't remember. It was me.

Good job. I did a quote. Oh. Being produced at Lozona, they're designed to be paired with coffee or after dinner drinks like a dessert.

Did you put your two fingers in the air like this with the thumb up? Did he get right in somebody's chest? That hurts my legs. Bro.

Bro. I still like that joke he told. That was a good joke. He did.

The name is... Hey, bro, just remember. Just remember. Hey, remember.

He said a cowboy joke. Do you remember? You just... What did he say?

He just cut my legs or something like that or something? No. No, he was just fucking him in the ass. He was just fucking him in the ass.

Remember, just fucking him in the ass. Just remember, bro. He was fucking him in the ass. Oh, my God.

Company's founder of Italian-American heritage. Five and a half at 42, Box Fresh, Corona Vitola, made up of Mexican San Andres, Rat Bear Recovery, Nicaraguan Tobacco, used in both the binder and the filler. Cigars carry a retail price of $9 each, and debuted in December of 2020, packaged at $20. Were they at the show?

I didn't see them at the show. Lizana? No, Amendola. Oh, I don't know.

Maybe they're by the Germans. Danny Amendola. The Cannoli Series is a special project for Jeffrey and me, said Christopher Monaco, principal of Amendola Cigar Factory Company, in a press release. We made a promise to incorporate our Italian-American heritage into every blend we create.

5x42 size with a $9 MSRP. And that would be the Cannoli Reds. So there's that. So there's that.

Which is nice. That's very good stuff, eh? Hey, yo. Alright, Diesel Sunday Gravy, San Marzano, kicks off new series of Cinezone releases.

We bought it, yeah. Did we buy it? I don't know, man. In August, the Diesel brand is launching Sunday Gravy.

Yeah. If you like gravy, I like gravy. It looks weird. It's in a box.

Sunday Gravy, I don't fucking know. What's going on here? Are they calling like a red sauce a gravy? There's like a nice white, like a sausage gravy.

I have no idea. Like biscuits and gravy. That would be great right now. I don't know what's wrong.

Do you have any of those? Can we have that? Sunday gravy. J.

Fernandez and Justin Andrews, who apparently it's not his birthday. No, it's not his birthday. He's seen your brand manager of diesel. I figure with him...

Yeah, we should ask him what the fuck was going on with that. I think it's more the white sausage gravy if it's Justin. " Equally as notable as the cigars were intended to have. He's got like that, he's also French from North Carolina.

Oh, I know. He's got that Southern draw, he's like, you know, a little bit sometimes, I think. You know, in the Lomba. He's like a good old boy.

You bought that Lomba. These cigars are only $5. Yeah, they're cheap. They're affordable.

The first release in the series is the San Marzano, which is sort of like the Mezzan, The Meso-Muslim? Yeah, a 6x54 Toro that features three varieties of Cuban seed tobacco. The wrapper is an Ecuadorian Habano leaf. The binder is from Nicaragua's Esteli region, while the filler is from Nicaragua's Jalapa region.

99 per cigar. It's five bucks a stick, yeah. For a Toro. I was like, what the fuck do I get to lose?

Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, but I just don't know. Sunday gravy?

This is fucking... Sunday gravy. Cause it's so good to eat Sunday gravy. You don't want to get yourself some Sunday Gravy.

I may give me some more of that Sunday Gravy Cigars, they're all at $5. I'm going to have some Sunday Gravy, it's going to be great. Hey, $5 cigar, that'd be nice. I'm going to smoke five of them today, because you know what, I can afford it at $5.

J. Fernandez, he meant his date, I'm impressed by his method of making cigars, Andrew. I'm trying. I know, but I got to keep it, I got to block it out and got to keep on talking.

I missed you, Mike. He fermentes and ages his tobacco meticulously to achieve the tasty ones. His process actually reminds me of my mom and how she cooked her sundae sauce. Now it's sauce, I think now they're talking spaghetti.

See, now you're fucked up, there's a big difference between sauce and gravy, now it was called gravy, you can't call it sauce. No, see, yeah, but Italian people call red sauce gravy. " I mean, it's gravy. What the fuck did you just say about my gravy?

Exactly. Right. And he just said, eh, it reminds me of my sauce. Yeah, see, it cooks all day on a Sunday.

This isn't no, no, if you cook, if you cook sausage gravy all day long, it's gonna get thick. I got questions. I got questions. Now, now I don't want it.

Cancel. Cancel the order. Too much. Too much.

You're shooting the moon here because it's sauce, it's gravy. We don't know what's going on on a Sunday. Cats and dogs living together. It's pure chaos.

Grandmothers cooking all day long. Is it Justin Andrews who's talking about his grandmother? Yes. Attach my phone.

He went on to say that the- Bluetooth me up. We're gonna get him on the podcast right now. I'm gonna, you know, I'm not having this. Sorry, I can't do it.

Let me give him a heads up. Okay, Roadcaster Pro. Hit Roadcaster Pro. I'm about to call you.

And you're going to be on my podcast. Will you connect before my phone grabs it? Stop yelling at me. - Yes, he'll be on your podcast.

- My podcast. - It's mine. - Just like it's my island. - You know, a little crazy game?

- My island, Father. - Yes. - I'll ask him, Father. - It's my island.

- He's in me DMs. - Your wife is in-- - Go ahead, tell it, do it. - Your wife is in me DMs, hey baby, hit me my-- - He says he's on a plane in Nicaragua. Let's see if he answers anyways.

- He's on a plane in Nicaragua? - He says I'm on a plane to Nicaragua. - Let's see. Can't handle the pressure.

It's loud. Can you turn it down a little bit? Sure. Hey, that's better.

They're not telling you to shut off the thing guy? Answer it. For God's sakes, man! Your call has been forwarded to-- Alright, give me your phone.

I'm gonna text him. Gravy and sauce-- It's not the same thing. Are not the same thing. Alright, I'm leaving at that.

Diesel Sunday Gravy San Marzano is scheduled to ship to resellers on August 12th and will be available to order through September or until the cigars have sold out or all the sauce is gone. Or the gravy. Or the gravy. Though production numbers have not yet been announced because they don't know how many gallons or gravy sauce they've made.

We're gonna get the sauce. The second cigar in a series of Slayer for an October release, which is the Saucy Gravy. Saucy Gravy. Maybe Sausage Gravy.

Gravy Sausage. Gravy Sausage. We're gonna call this one Spaghetti. It's been distributed by Ford Cigar Company and what's a big sauce company?

Oh, Fratello! Matt Hunt! Maybe Matt Hunt is making it. Is it Fratello?

Fratelli? Fratelli. Fratelli. Fratelli.

Fratelli. Fratelli is the cigar guy. Yeah. Very tall.

Very tall. Very tall man. Space man. You know, he was there.

Rocket scientist. We didn't ask him about it. I didn't see him there. He was there?

He was there. Son of a bitch. You didn't ask him about his shoes. That's a good point.

He could be this. He could be bigger. So what's the odds of next year, Here we can get Terrence to come over to where Omar is and go look back to back we need I need shoe comparison I need height we need to out go what good no no come on we just need to know it's just a matter of time before we get us you know what a letter from from Scott and the PCA in regards to us and like you know what you guys don't need to come I think I think you know what we're good you know I think he might be on the show next week I feel I feel like we're We're gonna be okay without you guys here, and uh, we'll be fine without the two of you, and uh, we wish you the best in the cigar industry, Viaghe Layer Cake, but they still tolerate Charlie, and I'm pretty sure they don't like Charlie, I'm pretty sure he hates fucking Charlie, so hey, we still got a chance, he's looking at his tax returns and stuff, we're just making shit up, yeah, Viaghe Layer Cake arrives at stores, the latest in Viaghe's line of cigars inspired by craft beers arrived at stores, I passed, oh, I skipped it. The Viaje Layer Cake is a 6x50 food Toro made entirely of Nicaraguan tobaccos, including a Correo Hull wrapper.

It was produced at some other factory, which is not being shipped to us, and it's got an MSRP of some dollars, but it doesn't matter because we don't have it. We're not going to have it. It's being sold in boxes of something, but... Yeah, who cares?

Nobody cares. Viaje explained the release in social media as follows. Taking inspiration from the craft beer industry, which we carry a lot of here, but not the cigar, though. I skipped it.

We are thrilled to offer the latest release in which a multi-factory ongoing journey into tobacco, cigars, compacted and convenient something something boxes adorned with some type of artwork. Something something. The best bales have been painstakingly sampled and blended to ensure each release showcases the very best from each factory. Lair Cake, capital letters, tastes like cake, is a Nicaraguan Puro featuring a Creole Hall wrapper rolled in Aganorsa, Esteli, Nicaragua.

It's amazing. This appears to be the fourth release that they're not carrying at Cigar Hustler in the craft series. We'll be having it. Bails on Bails, which we also didn't have back in 2018.

We didn't have that one either. And for the love of the leaf in September, we didn't have that one. I think we should give that one too. Wilshire and Lajola in November, the Biaje spokesperson declined to comment because Cigar Hustlers not carried it.

How many cigars were made for the release? Yeah, nope, no, sorry. I got the TNT though, if you want the TNT. Nobody wants the TNT people, they want the layer kit.

I don't know, the TNT I think was pretty good. I'm out of paper. You're out of paper? I'm out of paper.

Paper. Oh my god, you've never seen it before paper. I'm out of paper. I'm out of paper.

Ever see Waterworld? Pepper, Pepper. Oh, it's paper. How much pepper?

He's got the paper. The woman. The paper for the woman. How about for the little one?

And then Kurt Russell's got, wait, no, not Kurt Russell. Which Russell was that? Bodyguard? Yeah, yeah, Bodyguard.

Bodyguard? Who was that? It's not a Russell. It's not a Russell.

What is he? No, it's not a Ford. It's not a Ford. It's not a Harrison.

Shit, I got his face. Me too. He was also a postman. He was a postman.

And he was an Indian. No. He was an Indian. Was he a Douglas?

No, no. He wasn't a Douglas. He was an Indian. Hans.

Hans. I don't know. Shit. No, he was not a Bale.

Not a Bale. Fuck. Naming everybody but him. What was he?

No, not a Conrad. Waterworld. Waterworld. You know, people are yelling at the screen right now.

God damn it. You idiots. It's a la la la la. He's also in Yellowstone.

Was it the postman that I really liked? I thought Postman didn't get enough attention for what it was. The Postman? Did you get a look at his name?

I did. What is it? It's Kevin Costner. Costner!

Obviously Kevin Costner! Oh, Lord, I'm about to explode! For the love of God. What are we doing here?

What's going on in our lives? I don't know. It's insane. Kevin Costner.

Kevin Costner. It was a slow news week. Everybody's still catching up from the PCA. You know what was really cool?

And I definitely need to mention this. Yes, mention it. My wife made a surprise, did like a little surprise thing for me. Oh.

Yeah. For what? She took me to the movies. Oh.

It was awesome. Because, you know, like, it's so intricate on so many levels, because for one, she hates fucking movies. Right. So, she's like, we're gonna go to a movie.

Oh. And she's like, are you sure you wanna go? And I'm like, yes, I wanna fucking go to the movies. So we saw Black Widow in the movie.

Oh. What a great fucking movie. Was it? Yeah.

I haven't had a chance to go to the movies in so long. It was really good. If it doesn't show up on TV. I love going to the movies.

I'm a huge movie fan. Oh, I am too. I'm a huge movie fan. I know.

You go to movies way more than I do. I don't remember. No. I mean, you've seen Fast and Furious.

I've been to the movies twice in a month. Well, I haven't seen either one of those still. Because nothing is stronger than family, Michael. Nothing.

Right. Nothing is stronger than family. But what's coming out? Adrian wants to go see the one where the guy goes to the Middle East to save his daughter.

Oh yeah. Still water. Still water. I was going to say still well.

Matt Damon. Yeah. Matt Damon. Adrian wants to see that.

And she hates going to the movies. Really? But she wants to see that. She's also been bottled up for over.

Right. And she wants to go see the one where the guy does the walk for the sun that was bullied. Marky Mark. Oh, Mark.

Well, it's Mark Wahlberg. Yeah. He's always Marky Mark. No longer.

Oh, he's not a new kid on the block. She wants to see that one too. No, you want to. I want to see Black Widow.

I want to see Fast and Furious. Black Widow was amazing. I heard it was good. Like, but it was really good.

I watched all, I like to watch all the, uh, the Easter egg stuff that you look for. Yeah, I'm sure that they're there, I didn't really, I mean, I'm just not at that level, but, you know, the next movie that I think looks really good is that Green Knight one. I just saw a preview for that yesterday. With the tree guy, he chops his head, I don't know what happened there, and then he's got to go on this quest?

Yeah, I don't understand, and then all of a sudden at the end he's a king, and like, mm. Yes. And is there a new Conan coming out or something? First of all, I don't understand how you fuck with Conan.

Well, there's already been two. Yeah, and they both failed miserably. Oh, the second one was terrible. Like, Schwarzenegger is Conan, period.

If he's not in this one, I'm not interested. He's too old. He could have passed it down, it could be his son, for God's sake, and he can just kind of be, he can be like, you know, Michael Corleone at the end of Godfather 3, just kind of hanging out in a chair or something. You know what I mean?

Like, I'm fine with that. But if he's not part of it... Somebody takes off his head at the end? Yeah, whatever.

Or, you know, somebody kills him, and then his son's got to avenge his death, or something, something of that magnitude. Gotcha. You're going to number two. You know, whatever.

Oh, the remake with the Aquaman 2 was terrible. Yeah. Yeah, that was terrible. But he started off in Game of Thrones.

They're supposedly coming out with like a prequel to that now or something. Oh, yeah, I saw that too. I thought that was coming out. The Sopranos thing looks good.

That does, I know, I would like to see that. How it all started. I don't know. I mean, it's like there's no more original ideas.

There never, there hasn't been original ideas for decades. Um, you know what we did start watching? So I liked Power. Right.

We've always talked about Power. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We watched all of Power. And, spoiler alert, it ended, and it ended, I wasn't happy about how it ended.

No. And then his son is in a new series. Right. And I'm like, fuck that little twerp, I don't want to watch this fucking show.

So I didn't watch it. I'm not interested in his fucking bougie classes in college and shit. It's college and shit. Fuck him.

But then they released Raising Canaan, which was 50 Cent as a kid. Right. Growing up South Side Jamaican Queens. I'm like, yes, I will watch this.

And this is very good. Is it good? Yes, it is. Oh, cause it takes place in like the eighties and shit.

Right. Oh, so everybody's all fucking glam and shit. There's no cell phones. You know, like, I feel like if you're going to do a TV show with kids or whatever, and they're at the dinner table, I just want to see the top of their heads because there's a Just be looking at their goddamn phones.

Right, yeah. So. But yeah. Raising Canaan.

Very good. What is that on Stars? Yeah. Ah.

Stars. Gotcha. Stars. UFC?

I didn't see it this weekend. I didn't see it. I don't know. A lot of football today.

Oh, you know what? I watched The Joker the other day. You did? Yes.

Why? I hadn't seen it. Look, I'm locked in a house for a week. I'm looking for things to watch.

That's fucking ridiculous. Why would you watch the show? It was bad. It was terrible.

It was terrible. Not only was it terrible, they emasculated the Joker, and I can't stand that. I fucking hate that. How did they emasculate him?

Because the Joker isn't some soft fucking... I mean, he's a maniacal sociopath. He killed the... No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

He bathed his mother. That wasn't his mother. It's bullshit. That's the police.

Oh, it's fire. Yeah, they're coming for us. No, he bathed his mother. Sorry.

Right, yeah. It wasn't really his mother. He was adopted. Yeah.

And abused. I'm not okay with any of it. Oh. And Batman's dad was a bad man, apparently.

Well, I mean, he was a very rich capitalist. He was a mayor or something. They're usually all evil. They've always done some kind of shady thing.

There's a level, I guess. I'm trying to think, there's something else I watched, too. I don't know. A ton of money.

You've done something very bad, and then they start, you know, doing these, what are they called? When you start doing for charity? Help me out. Starts with a P.

Podcast. Philanthropy. Thank you. Podcast.

Yeah, just like us. Doing for charity, no give me. So much wealth. So much wealth that we just, you know, we just go ahead and we just roll with this.

Just roll. Because you know what? We just have so much money. Oh yeah.

What are we gonna do with all this? It's amazing. I do think, though, that is our arch nemesis' plan is to sponsor every other show. Let's go for it.

Except this one. I will crush them by sponsoring all the other shows. I mean, you know. Yeah, feel free.

I don't care. We'll take the sponsor. It'll be $800,000 a year. No, he's not.

We're the only show he doesn't sponsor. I'm just saying the line for me is about $800,000. Oh. Yep.

Go you. He's not going to pay that. I know. But now you know.

Because that's 400 apiece, Mike. Oh. Right? Yeah.

I mean, if you wanted 5, I'd give you 5. I'll take 3. You take 3? Shit, I'd take fucking 100, and you could take 7.

That's fine. Don't be in the higher tax bracket. That's it. Your taxes are due.

By the way, you owe 800 for the 700. All right. What about Craft? You didn't even fucking talk about Craft.

It's not out yet. It's arrived. It has arrived. There are a box in it.

There's no news breaks about it yet. going to give the news break right now. Oh, here we have boop, boop, boop, boop. You've heard it first here.

Yes. Alright, ladies and gentlemen, coming to the main stand. Craft 2021! It is officially shipped.

It has been shipped. It is shipping as we speak. And we are getting it. I haven't received my invoice, but you know what?

I'm going to call John right now and say, hey, my package better be boxed up first. God damn it. I don't know why. I'm just going to say it.

There was a Danny sighting on social media, apparently he's got a, I'd say court ordered, but it was a doctor ordered a rest period going on or something? That's nice, wish him well. I hope he's feeling, I hope he's feeling okay. I like the photo she used with the postagna t-shirt on, that was nice, yeah, nice that you got associated with that.

Is anybody even watching? No, I don't even know what we're doing at this point. Of course, Pedro's definitely watching. And thank you Pedro for watching, I appreciate that.

Pedro. You're not going to have any of that lifetime we get to the... No, it's good, I'll be able to, this is going to be a quick Patreon. Oh, quicker than last week?

No. Wow. This will be a good one. Alright guys, we're going to sign off, this is, we're just dragging around.

This is it. This is episode 184 of a Cigar Housers podcast. Oh. Where we covered some serious ground here.

We talked about some serious stuff. And, um, yeah. And I'm really, I feel good about it. Oh, it's a nice shot of you just staring into the camera.

Thank you. Thank you, Michael. All right, guys, we'll see you next week. Bye.

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 podcast ever again. Perfect. I'm good, Mike and Mike.

How are you guys doing? The Hojo Deeb. Hojo! It's the Hojo!

It's the Hojo. He 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. 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

The boys can't create drama if they wanted to...Mikey fights out of town....some industry news.....