207 2022 Year of the Reconing

Episode Summary

Mike Szczepankiewicz and Mike Palmer open 2022 with episode 207 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast, celebrating the show's placement at #2 on a "Top 15 cigar podcasts of 2021" list and running through the usual mix of industry news, shop shout-outs and unfiltered banter. The first stretch is pure New Year's recap — a half bottle of Sincoro rum, a 3 a.m. panic attack brought on by a stuffed-up nose, arguments about when Christmas decorations should come down, and speculation about Omicron derailing upcoming trade show travel.

The centerpiece is a surprise birthday phone call to Jack Torano of Espinosa Cigars. The conversation covers Guy Fieri's rumored visits to cigar warehouses, the runaway success of the Espinosa x Cigar Hustler collaboration "Bangerang" (and the hosts' admission they under-ordered it), and a broader riff on believing in yourself and scaling production instead of playing it safe with conservative 5,000-stick runs. They plan to meet up at TPE to talk about future collaborations and restocks. A follow-up prank call to Justin Andrews goes unanswered, as usual.

The news segment is dominated by 2022 price increases: Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust (3.75% across the board, 6.7% on the blues), Arturo Fuente, Hiram & Solomon, Gurkha (sampler packs only) and Matilde Cigar Company. Other releases covered include the Espinosa x Cigar Dojo Diet Sarsaparilla — a 6x48 Toro with an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, Mexican and Nicaraguan binders and Nicaraguan filler, $12 MSRP, limited to 500 bundles and exclusive to The Great Smoke 2022 at the South Florida Fairgrounds; Black Works Studio's "The Hive" 27-count hexagon sampler built around James Brown's Killer Bee and Green Hornet lines; Caldwell's Blind Man's Bluff Nicaragua Robusto; La Exception Longos; and Aventura's The Royal Returns Queen's Pearls Lancero, with a comparison of the Queen's Pearl and King's Gold blends. The hosts also question the value of the year-end "consensus" best-cigar lists.

The show closes with the usual off-road segments: South Korean cats starting house fires, a Naples zoo worker mauled by a tiger, an Indian man killed by his own fighting rooster, and a Coral Springs murder case. Dave Revis is Listener of the Week, Charlie Minato is named 2021 Listener of the Year, and A Little Bit of Big Sky Cigar & Lounge in Flathead County, Montana takes the first Shop of the Week of 2022.

In This Episode

1. 01
   New Year's Recap and Podcast Rankings
   The hosts celebrate landing at #2 on a top-15 cigar podcast list and swap New Year's Eve stories, including rum, a stuffy nose and a middle-of-the-night panic attack.
2. 02
   Birthday Call to Jack Torano of Espinosa
   A surprise call to Espinosa Cigars' Jack Torano covers Guy Fieri warehouse rumors, restocking the Bangerang, and planning bigger production runs instead of conservative orders.
3. 03
   Zeefy V-Cut Cigar Cutter Sponsor Read
   A rundown of the stainless steel V-cut cutter with built-in punch, security lock, flannel bag and gift box.
4. 04
   2022 Cigar Price Increases
   Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, Arturo Fuente, Hiram & Solomon, Gurkha and Matilde all announce price hikes to start the year.
5. 05
   Espinosa x Cigar Dojo Diet Sarsaparilla
   The Great Smoke 2022 exclusive gets a full breakdown: 6x48 Toro, Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, $12 MSRP, 500 bundles of 10.
6. 06
   New Releases: The Hive, Blind Man's Bluff Nicaragua, Queen's Pearls
   Black Works Studio's hexagon Killer Bee/Green Hornet sampler, Caldwell's Nicaraguan Blind Man's Bluff made in Honduras, and Aventura's Queen's Pearl versus King's Gold blends.
7. 07
   Year-End Consensus Lists Debate
   The hosts question whether the industry's aggregated best-cigar-of-the-year lists reflect anything beyond media mailing-list reach.
8. 08
   Off-Topic News, Listener and Shop of the Week
   Cats causing house fires in South Korea, a tiger mauling in Naples, a fatal rooster attack, plus Dave Revis as Listener of the Week and A Little Bit of Big Sky as Shop of the Week.

Brands & Cigars Discussed

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

Transcript

Welcome to episode 207 of the Cigar Hustler Podcast, 2022. Hosted by Mike Palmer. Hosted by me, BDP. And then the other guy.

BDP. The other guy. Whoever he is. The other guy.

Uh, what was that thing we were just voting on? To the 2021 cigar podcast to listen to? Top 15. Top 15 cigar podcasts of 2021 to listen to.

We're number two still. Shout out to Dave Revis for sending me the link. Shout out to Dave Revis. Shout out to...

You too can be part of this podcast. You too can be a part of our podcast family and invest in our show. Put your products in front of thousands of listeners and viewers every episode. We are heard on 13 different podcast providers weekly.

All around the show. com we want to talk about you know remember to please rate comment and subscribe on uh when you listen to the show or watch the show or whatever you do yes rate view subscribe all right my part's done now you know you talk for 45 minutes What did you do for New Year's, Michael? Were you sick? You were sick.

You were sick. I had a stuffy nose. It's just a stuffy nose. You were sick.

I have a stuffy nose. I've been dealing with a stuffy nose now for about four or five days. We need a new sound. We need gas, Michael.

Yeah, we'll get some gas. I'll be good. What were you gonna say? So check this out.

Check, check, Mike, check. One, two. Is this thing on? Is this thing on?

So, I will tell you that I drank a lot in New Year's. Oh, you did? I did. I drank a lot, but it didn't get me anywhere.

I drank a half a bottle of rum. Oh, no, it got me a... I drank a half a bottle of rum. Worst superpower ever.

Worst superpower ever. Worst superpower ever. No, it's just that you do it all the time. So that's, you know, it's called immunity.

Superpower. You developed immunity. Superpower. So, I got to...

I try to mix it up and change the alcohol. Still nothing. Nothing. No peanut butter whiskey.

All rum. Nada. Nada. Nada.

Nada. So I even stopped a couple of checkpoints, helped the police officers arrest some other people. Did you? Yep.

Good for you. You guys need help? I'm completely sober. I've been drinking all night.

Oh. You know. Arrest some people? Yes.

Very good. Good for you. Thank you. So, you know, my nose.

I like to help the community. So my nose was stuffy. My nose started to get stuffy, I think, that night or the night before. Yeah, it's a coke.

It's a septum out of your nose. Deviated septum? No, it eats it, not deviated. Ah.

Okay. You know, cocaine around the world makes more money than Disney, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Apple, everybody. Yeah, and it's a stock I can't trade. Right.

I know. I'd like to invest in your company of cocaine. Yes. How many shares gonna get for 50 bucks?

I could you have a bag, sir. Can I buy some puts? Or some calls? Is that what they come in?

Options, options trading. Oh, options. Oh, you're options trading the cocaine. All right, low, buy, sell.

Yeah. Is that a penny stock? Can I buy it on the penny stocks? Why isn't cocaine a commodity?

Why can't I trade? Can I trade that on the CBOT? I would like some pork backs and some oranges, man, whatever. I like just the backs.

Oranges, yeah. Oranges. Eggs. Eggs are not on there.

Eggs are not on there. Maybe they shouldn't be. Grains. And cocaine.

I would like some cocaine. And the poppy. How much was the seed of the poppy? Can avoid the poppy seeds?

It'd be very nice. So yeah, I got pretty drunk. It was pretty cool. I got drunk.

But I'll tell you what happened. Did you talk to Brittany's grandparents loud too? What, am I loud right now? No, no, but when we were at your house that day, checking on your thing, and Brittany was talking to her grandparents, the nice people there, she was talking very loud.

Oh, they're deaf. Well, I assumed. Yeah. " We are very excited to see you.

Very excited to see you here today. Yeah. Yeah. So Mika wasn't at home, though.

The 30-year-old Mika. Oh, at home. For New Year's? Yeah.

I'm not at home. " So I assumed you hadn't seen her in a couple of days. Yeah, she's out. I made a party.

She's out, you know, she's finding her path. She's finding her path. Is she a pirate? I like the pirate shit.

Yeah, she's at the age where, you know, you go out and... How old is she? 21? It's good to see her go out.

Is it 20, 21? How old is she, the young lady? She's 21. Oh, well, yeah.

But I worry. I do worry. It's like your daughter. Yeah, it is like my daughter.

Stresses me out like my daughter, aggravates me like my daughter, doesn't clean her room like a kid. Well, you'll be all ready when a little t-t-t. Oh, I'll be well prepared. You're well prepared, right.

Oh yeah, totally, got one in the tank. " Wow. But let me tell you what happened. Yes, you got drunk.

I got drunk. On Sincoro or whatever? Oh yeah, I killed the whole bottle of Sincoro. It's not a big bottle.

Look, it's a big deal for me. I don't drink a lot. Maybe that's your problem. Maybe.

You should be drinking more. It's the only one problem. And then we can go out together and get tattoos and smoke Virginia slips. Okay, so.

Yes. So, that night was like a night that the clogginess really ramped up. Oh. I don't know if it was the alcohol, or just because I fell asleep, like...

So I woke up with like, in the middle of the night, with like a fucking panic attack. Like I couldn't fucking breathe. Oh, cause your nose is so stuffed up. Yeah, freaked me the fuck out.

Can you breathe through your mouth? I could, but... Is it hot in here? I'm sweating.

No. I just couldn't, I don't know man, it was weird as shit. I'm like this, I had to go sit on the patio and watch like fucking sea turtles and shit. Sea turtles?

yeah this is hbo max has calm as like meditation oh and i see the sea turtle i'm like just breathe oh wow i'm fucking up my glasses i can breathe yeah it was a it was a pretty it was pretty intense were you very thirsty mouth up uh if you consume that much alcohol and if your nose stop you bring through your mouth anyway so you're probably all cotton out of those fucking dry drinks yeah no it was crazy liquids if somebody you know now that i have like i've i've had a I've had a couple of small panic attacks in my life. This was probably like the worst one. I've only had one. On a plane, right?

Scary. No, no, I was just... No, mine was on a plane. Oh, no, no, no.

" Oh, no. I was in a parking lot, I didn't remember what was going on, but yeah. Your heart starts beating real fast. Yeah, the God.

" I need to get out of this body. Right. I need to leave this body. Where's my gun?

Where's my gun? You know? Yeah. So.

Oh, that was pretty intense. Wow. And then we took down all the Christmas decorations. Yes.

Adrian took us down as soon as she got back from her little trip. You have to wait till January 1. No, you don't. Yeah, it's a rule.

No, it's not. That is definitely the rule. No. Matter of fact, Greg said today we can leave the ones up here till the 10th.

It's a Puerto Rican rule. Oh, the 10th. Yes. He's not exactly sure why, but that's what he's been told.

Oh. And we don't argue with him. No, we took him down anyway. Oh, we took him down.

Except for the lights outside. Oh. The lights on the deck. The deck light.

You know, it is kind of funny, though, to see, like, the houses just kind of, all of them just kind of go down. Yeah. Like, off, off, off. And then there's, like, one last one kind of standing.

Right. There it is. There's a guy in my neighborhood that does, I mean, he overdoes it and has to go to music all season long. Oh, I love that guy.

Oh, Sam, I think I'd leave it up a little bit longer. I think he put him up late this year, too. Oh, really? Normally it's like the whole month of December.

Yeah. It was like the week before Christmas. Oh, he slid it in. That sucks What a waste October 32nd November 1st is when you start on that Yeah if you don't to that extent It's everywhere I'm up everywhere Right So I'm dealing with a little stuffy nose Oh it's Jack Tarano's birthday today It is Jack Tarano's birthday I text him at midnight Do you want me to call them?

Steve, at least their phone. Am I attached? Nope. Is this thing on?

Is this thing on? Try it now. Hold on. What is it called?

Roadcaster Pro? Roadcaster. It is I. I am?

Connection unsuccessful. Forget device. I'm starting over. Don't worry.

We'll do it again. Wait, maybe grab hold of mine. Hit it again. Not mine.

Still flashing. iPhone 13 Pro Max. No, that's me. It's not mine.

It's unconnected. Do it again Alright Oh shit Mine's gonna do it real quick Oh forget to Disconnect Mine did it It's flashing Oh not anymore Done It's not flashing Because my phone did Boop boop Toot toot There you go There it is Do you think he answers? Sure he will answer It's for you Unless he thinks I'm trying to buy something Maybe This could be a sale Because he knows that You know, the other guy, what's his name? Alfredo?

Alfredo. Alfredo. Worst rep. Worst rep.

Worst rep. Yeah, Greg was going to place an order today. Who's going to call Alfredo? No, no, you call Jack.

Would you like to place an order? What's up, buddy? Happy birthday! You're on the podcast.

This is your warning. Hey, thank you. Hey, what's up, birthday boy? Uh, nothing.

Getting older. Are you working today? What are you- Hanging out with Guy Fieri? Guy Fieri, don't you look at social media?

I've worked all day. Is he hanging out with Guy Fieri too? Yeah, you got a shout out from Guy Fieri. I'm not.

No, he got a shout out. You know, I don't think we're worthy of Guy Fieri yet. There's Matt Booth and there's Eric Espinosa. Eric Espinosa.

And that's it then. As far as I guess. Supposedly, the Mr. Guy might be making an appearance at the warehouse tomorrow, but that's what I had heard over the weekend about today.

And instead, they went to some cigar, they went to smoke in up there in Margate or something, and hung out there. Oh, you got pooped on. Well, you know what then? He's going like, eh, fuck that guy.

Yeah, fuck that guy. You know what? Fuck that guy. Fuck that guy.

That's bullshit. Like Rosales would say, fuck that guy. I can't believe it. You're this close to hanging out with Guy Fieri.

Who is he again? He eats diners, drive-ins, and warehouses. Oh, he eats cheeseburgers? Yeah, cheeseburgers.

Good cheeseburgers. Diners, drive-ins, and warehouses. Yes, that's his new show. Yeah, drive-ins and cigar warehouses.

It's up at Abe's, their warehouse, yeah, he likes to check in at all the resources. How are you guys doing? Mikey, we were talking about you today, man. Oh, yeah?

What, what, what, cause, yeah, yeah, yeah, cause, cause, AB? What, oh, no, Alec Bradley? No, there's Espinosa, Espinosa. What were you, what were you saying?

What were we talking about? Well, well, Hector was putting in all these orders, and he asked me about a certain cigar, that if you guys would be needing more, and I said, I don't know, we're gonna need to call them. Yes. Yes, yeah, of course.

We're going to need lots. Lots more. We're going to mix it up. I want to do...

That bangerang is smoking hot. That bangerang is very popular. Very popular. And a certain somebody didn't order enough of them.

Well, you know, it's better not to order enough than to order too many. You know, you had to figure that it was a perfect storm when Espinosa and Hustler were And joining forces to make a cigar. You're right. Listen to him.

That it was going to be popular as shit. And you kind of undersold that thing, man. Should have known. I should have known.

I should have known. I should have known. Who's going to know? You know, they're going to know.

They're going to know. They're going to know. We'll buy more of the TP. I got to tell you, you know what, here's the thing, is I think that part of this whole process for me, and this is 100% honest, is, you know, actually kind of believing in yourself and pushing yourself And understanding what you're actually capable of.

You know what I mean? Like, you know, I would build a conservative number and put together 5,000 sticks, right? And say, okay, we're going to, I'm going to try and sell five, like, I bet I could, you know what I mean? Like, you hold yourself back a little bit, right?

But as I've kind of progressed through the years, I'm like, okay, and I'm like, well, what do I do? 20% growth next year, make 6,000? Like, no, fuck that. We're going to make 10,000.

And not only that, we're going to do it three different times with three different blends or whatever the fuck, you know, and we're going to go nuts. Yeah. And that's what we got to do, you know? We got to get on a call with Mr.

Warm and make this happen. Yeah, absolutely. We need to pencil this in. We need to do this.

Just schedule time at the TPE, Michael. Oh, yeah. Are you going? I am going.

Oh, yes. And so is Mr. Palmer. Let's hope that Omnicron, or whatever the fuck this thing is, doesn't have other ideas.

Everybody and their mother has COVID now. Omnicron is like the sniffles, apparently, which I have currently. It probably has it already. Oh my God, you imagine if it wasn't, you imagine if it was as contagious as it is, and it was as fatal as like the first run of this shit?

That's how we originally got it. Everybody would be dead. He's not going into TPA. Yeah, that's right.

I mean, TPA, I mean, people are gonna blow up, it's fine. Oh, the guy who originally brought in the TPA. Yeah, Kosta. Kosta, yeah, he's not going in.

Patient Zero. Patient Zero. Patient Zero? Yeah.

We should just ban him or stay away with him. No, no, stay away. He was probably making out with some fucking person and, you know, and he's Asian. Yeah, you almost got in trouble there.

I don't know. Almost. I get myself in trouble every fucking, every week on this goddamn show. Well, he was introducing everybody to that little girlfriend of his from Wuhan.

Oh, there it is. There it is. The one with the takeout bat in their arm. The one with the takeout bat in their arm.

I brought this food, too. I brought this food from China. It's delicious. It's perfectly, perfectly.

Everybody have a bite. Everybody have a bite of the bat. Try this. You got to try this.

Try this. It's good. Only get it in Wuhan. Only there.

Yeah. So, you know, absolutely. Well, hey, we just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. Well, thank you.

I hope that I was the first person to wish you a happy birthday. You absolutely were. Fucking A-right. He does that.

He knows. Until 5:30 in the morning is when I woke up, and I'm like, Jesus Christ, somebody texted me already. Somebody has sent me a message, and it was Mike at midnight. Oh, yes.

He's famous for that. Not fucking around. It's like he went on a phone call. Yeah, I knew he'd be asleep.

Do you sleep at night? Me? I don't sleep. No, no, I nap in intervals is what happens.

You know. Team no sleep? Team no sleep. Team no sleep.

Team no sleep. Like, you know, I'm worried, I'm always worried that like the fucking British are coming or something when it comes to my house, you know, like... They're gonna get a tag. Yeah, one day, one night, Jax was sleepwalking, my eldest, he's eight years old, right?

And I hear boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, like him walking, and then all of a sudden I hear the sliding glass door tempted to be open. " And I yell, "What are you doing? " It might have been Antonio Brown. It could have...

Yeah, no, it could have been... It wasn't leaving halfway through the evening. I mean, it was probably Alfredo Cruz coming to get an order. Yeah.

Now we know you're lying. Alfredo just sent me a happy birthday, man. Oh, he did? He was even late with that.

He was late with that. Yeah, you let him know that it's, you know, tell him that he's 16 hours after the Hustler wished you a happy birthday. 3:30 in the afternoon, I got a happy birthday from Alfredo Cruz. Unbelievable.

" And smoke on the water. And smoke on the water. And he tells me to tell you happy birthday. All right, brother.

Well, we'll let you go. We'll see you in a few weeks. S. So, it's just the way it is.

No, listen. You might be in for a little surprise. Ooh. Ooh.

You might be in for a little surprise. John Wharf might be doing a road trip next week. Oh. Next week.

That's fantastic. That's amazing. We know when there's a road trip in Florida, unlike Alfredo Cruz, for us, there's only one destination. That's right, god damn it.

That's right. Absolutely. Corona Cigars. You're breaking up.

I can't hear you. I can't hear you. I can't hear you. I can't hear you.

I can't hear you. I can't hear you. All right, brother. I can't say it.

I can't say it. Too bad. Tell Jeff you love him. Well, it was Mr.

Jack Taranio from Espinosa Cigars. Yes. He answers the phone when we call. He does.

Unlike, what's his name? Reliable. Like who? I can't think of his name.

The guy we called for like 17 weeks in a row. Justin Andrews? You want to try Justin? Nah, I don't call Justin.

Come on, let me call real fast. All right. Hurry up. Then we got to get going.

If he answers, we're hanging up. Oh, okay. All right. That'd be funny.

I'm in a meeting. Justin Andrews. One quick call. if he answered I bet he can hang up gotta go told you stop calling me hello he answered we tried we tried facetiming Skip from Boots' house yeah and he wouldn't answer no he doesn't answer so I tell him well he doesn't facetime too so I went and grabbed my wife's phone tried to facetime him from Adrian's phone and all I got back was a good try Palmer it won't work it won't work no we're like who else can we go who else can we go let's go let's go let's go let's go let's go let's go let's go I'm trying to let's check to run you yep that's all I had for the pre pre pre pre pre pre pre pre pre pre oh get to the news tell me more about the price increases tell me hold on hope that's wrong prices are going up we're all going up there we go From the four quarters of the world, all the cigar industry -- Wait, wait, we have a commercial first.

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It is very nice. If you didn't want to put it in your pocket though, it comes with a flannel bag which is right there underneath the box. Oh, a little flannel. It comes with a gift box, zinc alloy material, and stainless steel materials.

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Well, you need that to cut cigars in your bathtub. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or in your shower, not the bathtub. In the shower, of course.

That's the only way to do it. Who cuts cigars in bathtubs? It's ridiculous. That's just ridiculous.

Please. All right, now we'll move on. And now we move on. From the four corners of the world, In the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need, the Cigar Hustler Podcast Report, with Mike Toon.

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust announces a price increase, Michael. 75% increase. 7 on the blues. Across the board.

He's not explaining why, he feels more people have already done that. Oh. Arturo Fuente increases price, Michael. We've increased the pricing.

Arturo Fuente increases the price. Hiram & Solomon announces a price increase. Hiram & Solomon. Gurkha limits price increases the sampler packs.

Oh, they're only doing the sampler packs. Nobody really buys it. It's true. Matilda, Matildi, Matildi.

Matildi. Matildi, is that how you say it? Matildi. Matildi Cigar Company announces the price increase.

Matildi. And then finally, Michael. Espinosa. Espinosa sending diet sarsaparilla to the Great Smoke 2022.

Yeah, we got to call that guy on and have him on. The guy from Espinosa? No, Abe. Oh, Abe.

Yeah. Abe's the only one I get press releases from. Everybody else, I steal them from everyone. Wow.

I told y'all, when we do a press release, I'm going to include you. Yes. Yeah. Oh, you're going to send it to me too?

Yeah. I have probably most of it. It's fine. I want you to get to see it.

Espinosa Premium Cigars & Cigar Dojo are releasing a new version of the company Sensei Sarsaparilla line. Yeah. The new cigar is called Diet Sarsaparilla, a 6x48 Toro that uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper over binders from Mexico and Nicaragua and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua. Nicaragua eats cigars at MSRP of $12, and is limited to 500 bundles of 10 cigars.

$12. Why would they send Abe a diet cigar? You think they're making a diet cigar? Yeah, that's kind of silly.

Yeah, it's a little fucked up, man. Yeah, it's fucked up. It's not nice. Yeah.

Not nice. Espinosa says it's aimed to create a smoother, yet full version of the Sensei Sarsaparilla blend, which normally uses a Mexican wrapper over a blend of Nicaraguan tobaccos. This one has aspartame and less calories. Oh, this is Ecuadorian Connecticut.

This is the Ecuadorian Connecticut version. The original cigar debuted in 2014, it was offered to stores nationwide earlier this year. We sold them, we did quite well. Yeah, we did, we really did.

Can we still get those? I don't know. They were on the list of things that Chet and I put together that we wanted to do. We have Jack throwing it on the phone, we could have just asked them.

I felt there wasn't the time, that was more of a personal phone call. Ah. When we get to the TPE, I'll drop the list. Nice.

We would like these, Jack. We would like these. We would like these. No, I am not talking to Alfredo.

No. Well, the regular sensei sarsaparilla can be found in stores across the country. Not here. We don't have it.

Diet Sespriola is an exclusive for the Great Smoke 2022. An event hosted by Smoke In. Diet Sespriola will go on sale for the Great Smoke hosted by Smoke In. Diet Sespriola will go on sale for the Great...

Wow. I don't know. The department of redundancy department. Diet Sespriola can be found in stores across the country.

Diet Sespriola is exclusive for the Great Smoke. An event hosted by Smoke In. Diet Sespriola will go on sale for the Great Smoke. Ticket holders on January 12th during a virtual event.

Oh, so you can't buy them there. Because we will be at the Great Smoke. Right Yes But I'm not buying anything Well listen my friend When you were at When you were at The prestigious level Of cigar media Yes That we are Obviously yes You don't need To wait January 12th You don't speak Do you have them now? You don't speak To an Abe Or a Smokin You go to the source Eric Exactly Do you think they'll have Oh they'll be here next week Bro I'm like what's up Jack listen to Jack if you listen to Joke He brings some Diet says bro The Great Smoke 2022 takes place February 26th at the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm, Florida.

This is one of the handful of exclusive smoke-in has commissioned for the event. Other cigars have been sold in the same manner where ticket holders can buy the cigars during a virtual event. Yes. Well, I mean, we're going to have to buy some cigars when we go there.

Why? We can't just go in and bring our own cigars. That's fucking shitty. You don't bring your own cigars.

You get the little baggy baggy. Oh, you get a little sample pack? You get the thing with the bag in there. Oh, like the trick or treat?

I don't know if we have, well, last year they mailed them to us because it was no event. Yeah. Might be trick-or-treat initially. Trick-or-treat.

Trick-or-treat. Trick-or-treat. Trick-or-treat. Not a trick-or-treat.

Okay, that's good. Blackworks Studio, Green Hornet, Lancero. Ah. Ooh.

Cigar manufacturers have used all sorts of different inspirations when choosing the name Patolis and packaging of the creations from classical literature to popular fictional seasonal characters and even astrological signs, Michael. Really? Yes. However.

However, Michael. Yeah, the Taurus. From Blackworks Studio in June, Texas Cigars, named after the bees and other stinging insects a step further. Let me tell you about birds and bees.

Dub the Hive, the 27 count sampler, is made up of six different cigars, all of which in her releases were exclusive to the product, at least for now. The sampler is built in the shape of a hexagon to go along with the bee/wasp theme. We'd like to announce we're doing one called the Pride, a sampler pack called the Pride, Lions Pride. Lions Pride.

Oh, very nice. The Carole Bashkin, and the BDP, and the other things. You don't want to, why don't we got to hook back up with Shogui, and then we make one called The Birds and the Bees. Oh, nice!

Yeah, come see about me. Come see about me, the high is an idea I've had for a few years is James Brown. Wow! Not that James Brown, different James Brown.

That's totally different. Creator of Black Label Trading Company, partner of Fabrica Oveja Negra, and her press release. Oh, who's making The Dissident now for the lady with the shaved sides. He's always made The Dissident.

Yes, but now it's owned by somebody else. Oh, the lady with the shaved. Cindy and her husband. I don't remember.

Cindy Lou? I don't think it's from... From Whoville? No, no.

She does not look like that lady. Very attractive woman, but she has side shame. More like a... she looks more like a lion, actually.

Does she have a tattoo on the side? I think she has tattoos everywhere. You gotta have a tattoo on the side. If you're gonna shave it, you know what I mean?

Yeah. I don't know. Hawkeye doesn't, he just shaves it. No, no, but like, I don't know.

I think if, you know, I mean, if you're a woman and you're making that statement, just go all the way, you know? The Killer Bee and Green Hornet lines are some of our most popular, and over the years I've played with a lot of different ideas for both. The Hive is a mix of some of my favorite Bee and Hornet samplers that have yet to be released. For anyone that is a fan of the Killer Bee and Green Hornet, this is a must-have, says James Brown.

Not the I Feel Good, the Cigar one. The Cigar one? Yeah. Blindsman Bluff Nicaragua Robusto.

I remember... That's out? That's out? This is...

I don't know. Let's read the story. Is that new? Let's move on.

What's that from? I'm gonna tell you in a minute. Okay. We're gonna move on.

This is an editorial from Charlie, I believe. Ah, okay. Charlie remembers editing Brooks' review of the Blind Man's Bluff. This is trouble earlier this year in reading the paragraph where he listed out all the various versions of Blind Man's Bluff that had been released to date.

He was surprised by how many variations there were And also, no, there was one more coming Allegedly Allegedly He doesn't normally use allegedly No, he just threw that out there He just threw that out there We use allegedly all the time We actually start the story Allegedly Allegedly And then we end our She had t-shirts, Cigar Hustler Podcast Allegedly Allegedly Yes Late spring, Robert Caldwell is mentioned to Charlie Not to me, but it says to me It's to Charlie That there was a new blind man's blood Are we bothering you? Yeah You are bothering me. You're busy over there? You are bothering me.

We'll wait until you're ready, Mike. Okay. He'll let us know when you're done. All right.

I'm done. You ready? I'm done. All right.

A couple months later, Caldwell announced the cigar on the Instagram page, and we got a few more details. I'm not listening. The new Man Man's Bluff, blah, blah, blah, man, man, blind. Ah.

Oof. Ah. Damn. Ah.

The new Blind Man's Bluff Nicaraguan would use entirely Nicaraguan tobacco, but it was going to be made in Honduras. STG Denali. Three regular production sites begin shipping last November. Nice.

Aventura the Royal returns Queens Pearls Lancero. Queens Pearls. Oh yeah? Lancero.

Queens Pearls? We should come up with a Lancero. No. Why?

Because I don't want to. Okay. You want to know what I would do? Do you want my honest opinion?

Sure. I think that the Lonsdale is the better format. What's the difference between a Lonsdale and a Lancero? It's thicker.

It's just got a bigger gauge. A little shorter and bigger. So you can do... Is it a 54?

154? No. Shh, shh. Is Mejor.

Is Mejor. Shh. I laughed when I watched it. I watched it and laughed.

No, no, Terrence. I was working in the yard just laughing. Is Mejor. Is Mejor.

And I got the email blast for that today. Did you? Yeah. And I started laughing.

I was like, no, no, it's Mejor. Supreme Leaf Mejor. And I guess you got the finger joke with Lenny? Uh...

It's not pointing fingers? No. Because his dog bit the dad's fingers off? Uh...

I didn't bite them all off. No, just some of them. Some of them. Oh.

Yeah. You were making a comment about the young lady with the black eye. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the boy pointing finger.

That's his wife, Jackie. Well, I understand. Yeah, the young lady. I didn't know her name.

Yeah. Tell her once or whatever. And I was like, that's a felony. Queen's Pearl and King's Gold line up that feature very different blends.

Queen's Pearl and King's Gold. While the stronger King's Gold utilizes the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. This one's stronger. Thrown in the USA along with a Mexican binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic.

Too much. United States. Why do I do both? That doesn't make sense.

The Queens Pearl is designated as a milder blend, made up of Ecuador and Connecticut wrapper and binder along with filler tobaccos grown in Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Nicaragua. The background and origins of the names of the brands, as well as both of the lines, a bit convoluted, but explained nicely by Charlie Minato and their view of the adventure of The Royal Returns, Queens Pearls, Corona, which everyone can find on their webpage, if you have to read it. La Cepción! Well, yeah, I'm sorry.

Are you moving on? Is there another story here? Uh, yeah. Did you cover the consensus at all on this?

He hasn't released a consensus yet. Oh, I thought that he did. I didn't see it. He listed a 10-year anniversary story and questions for 2022.

Look, I feel like the general consensus yada yada. Yada yada. He can't do the consensus yet. Everybody has not released their list.

It's just like a breakdown of... Everybody's list. Yeah, but it's like, it's like a breakdown of who has the most emails for media. Oh.

You know what I mean? Nope. Like, you know, if you hit all these people enough, you're gonna, you know? Is that how you're saying that one?

I'm willing to, look, if Sokka wins again, if Sokka's number one again, it's just, okay, then what are you doing? It's, you haven't, there hasn't been a rotation, you know what I mean? So like your general consensus is, it just doesn't make sense to me. It just doesn't make sense.

It does not make sense. There should be a different kind of, I don't know. You need to fix your algorithm. I don't know, something.

The biggest problem in our industry, I think, is just this intrinsic apathy. I agree. They don't want to work on the list. You know what?

Do the same thing as last week. This is fucking intrinsic. Change four and five, nine and seven, and then nobody's going to know. I think it's a new list.

You know what? What I really enjoy about that clip is our mics that we had. Oh, we're so big. Where you have the background of the fucking crickets chirping and shit.

Right. Like all... Oh, he's talking in a tin can. Compared to say to...

Bam! You gotta go to work. Bam! You gotta go to work.

Right, which is nice and clear. Very clear. But we don't use it, man, because we don't... We don't go to work.

No. We don't go to work. Because we're the number one podcast. Number two for...

Yeah, but no, that's not what Dave Garofalo said. Oh, you know what Dave Garofalo says? Who's number one? Cigar Hustler?

The podcast. The podcast. That's right. Evidently he has our old microphones at his studio.

Does he? That sounds like it. Yeah, it does. I could hear the crickets.

I could hear the crickets there too. La Excepción Longos. Is Longos different than the other two sizes? Who's that?

La Excepción Longos. Longos? Yes. What are the shortos?

They don't have those now. No, they got rid of those? They have Cabanos. They have the Cabanos?

Yes. Since the first Cuban cigar brand was registered in 1797, the brand was named Cabanos. I thought you were going to buy me headphones for Christmas. Most of these headphones are terrible still.

These are very expensive headphones. I'm disappointed with them. I love these headphones. I used to use those.

You used to use, so it's not that they sound bad, they're uncomfortable? Correct. Why are they uncomfortable? Because look at the way you're wearing them sideways.

Well, this hurt my ear. There's a button here. I know, it's been flying around here like a fruit fly. What, do you have giant ears?

Yes. I don't think so. I do think so. I think when you get older, they just continue to get big.

I'm older than you. My ears fit fine. Well, you're just a small body. I have little ears.

Petite. Petitos. They're not longos. They're not longos.

Getting back to the story. I'm not reading the story now. Longo ears. I'm not reading the story anymore.

Tell me, tell me, tell me. We're moving on to a dog. We have a story about dog lovers. I was really excited about the longos.

Your cat could burn your house down, Michael. You know what? I would never fucking trust a cat. Cats are evil.

Korean officials warned after 107 fires sparked by felines. South Korean officials have a message for pet owners in Seoul. Beware, your cat might burn down your house. Eat the cats.

The warning comes that the Capitalist Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters said it more than a hundred fires over the past three years were started by cat... We didn't start the fire. Three years were started by cats, many of which managed to turn... Oh, cats caused more than a hundred house fires in the past three years.

Siri just went all the way crazy. I speak for the cats. I speak for the cats. Turn on electric stoves with their furry paws.

Cat's in there going, merr, merr, merr, merr. That's nice. Cat started fires that continue to be reported these days. Chung Go Chul, an official working at the department told him, Chung Go Chul.

Yeah. He's in charge of the fire department. He says, El Gato's Mejor. We advise, wait, it'd be Chinese.

Yeah. We? We advise or pay or not to pay attention a fire could spread widely when no one is at home. Very nice.

According to the agency, Hunter said fires sparked by feelings. Right to hell. In January 20th and 2019, sorry, in November 2021, nearly half of those were started when the owners were out of the house, officials said. In the recorded incidents, four people were injured, but often the pets themselves do not survive.

Oh, maybe they're like, you know, suicidal cats. High-level suicidal cats in South Korea, I feel. Yeah, I'm starting to see, you know... Oh, put on the fire, kill me something now.

You're going to eat me later. Kill me something now. Fires actually started by pets are not just a problem in South Korea, Michael. In the United States, almost a thousand home fires each year started by pets.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, although it remains unclear what percentage of these blazes are started by cats, I feel it's all of them. Because we don't have the data for that? Just mark pet. Right, they don't know.

What do they have, a cat or a dog? That's a fucking tiger. They have a cat or a dog? No, it's a miracle.

The dog saving the people. Not very many cats save people. It's true. Well, the cat will eat you if you die.

Yes, yes, yes. The dog will lay next to you and die. And starve to death. I'll take the dog.

I'll take the dog. Give me the dog. The dog. Wow, I'm almost done already.

We're only 35 minutes. Bubbles, bubbles, oh god, this fly, for the next 25 minutes, we're just gonna chase the fly around, people are watching, we have 22 more minutes of this, swatting, swatting flies, swatting, swatting flies, swatting, no swatting, a man dies, he'd be attacked by his cock, Michael, I'm sorry, a man dies, is this a Florida story, nope, there wasn't no good Florida story, there was a good California story, man, and I, when I heard it, Oh, I was following a good floor, we'll get back to the band and his killer cock here in a minute. There was the zoo down in Naples where a man got his arm tore off by a lion or a tiger, and the cops had to shoot the tiger. The tiger went tiger?

Well, why did they have to shoot him to get the arm back? Yeah, he wouldn't let go of the arm, the guy's arm was in the cage. And the cops said, "Anybody got a dart gun? " So, boom, boom.

So they made a rug. There are only 200 of those cats left in the world. It's the most left in the world. $199.

Yes. But it turns out the man was from the gift shop. He was not supposed to be in there. He went in there to fuck with the tiger.

Oh, he's just an idiot. Now he's an idiot and he's gonna face charges. Did he lose the arm? I believe it's quite mangled.

Oh. Will he be clapping anytime soon? They call him Lefty. Oh.

Lefty, the guy that worked at the gift shop. Lefty, the guy who couldn't get the gift. So last I heard they were pressing charges on him for trespassing and something else. Oh.

Wrongful endangerment? Yeah, that's not fun. That's not fun. No.

But the cop, he got to shoot a tiger. Huh. All right, back to the man with the killer cock. Man died to be attacked by his cock, Michael.

An Indian man taking his rooster to compete in cockfighting was killed after being attacked by the animal. Yes. Did you see what I said? Uh-huh.

What did I say? He was attacked by his cock. He was a rooster. Yes.

Yes. Uh-huh. Shantikawana Rayo, 50, died when he was cut in the neck by a blade attached to the rooster's claw, CNN reports. The father of three later died at the hospital of a stroke.

Rayo was traveling with the rooster to a cockfighting competition when the rooster escaped. Rayo attempted to grab it when he was attacked by the bird. The cock is being held for questioning and seasoning. Nice.

They're gonna eat it. That's good. As they should. Alright, that's my episode.

I got nothing else. I got a good Florida story. You get a listener of the week? Yeah, Dave Revis.

Just a moment, please. Do you have a Listener of the Week, Michael? Dave Revis. Congratulations, Dave Revis, Listener of the Week.

Oh, you know we should make a Listener of the Week for last week? Who? Who gave us a story about the drugs on their cock? A lot of cock stories going on, Lenny.

Charlie Minato? Charlie Minato! Charlie Minato! The 2021 Listener of the Year!

Yeah. Much bigger award. He also gets the, uh... Oh, damn!

Okay, all right, you're very button-happy today. Man charged with killing Florida realtor, he mistook for landlord. What? Yeah, man, he killed the realtor.

He thought it was his landlord. So it would have been okay if he killed the landlord? South Florida real estate agent was fatally shot by a recently evicted man who mistakenly thought she was his former landlord, authority said. Sarah Trost had been waiting outside a home in Coral Springs, Florida, which is my hometown, Waiting to meet with a potential buyer, when she was fatally shot two days before Christmas, according to Coral Springs Police, it was just a mistaken identity, she never even got out of the car, Robbie Shuey, Biston of Shabbadoi, Parkland, where Trost was an active member, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the suspect, Raymond Reese, 51, called 911 after the shooting and told the dispatcher that he had shot his former landlord and believed she was dead, according to the Coral Springs Police.

"Can you send an officer to pick me up? " So he didn't even try to leave? " He was like, "You know what? I've been kicked out.

I need a place to go. " Oh, emails. Rough emails. "Which he had read that morning," the arrest warrant said.

" Uh-oh. Reese is facing a charge of one count of first degree murder following his arrest on Thursday. Online court records show no attorney listed for him. He remained in Broward County Jail on Monday according to General Slaughter.

He didn't plan on shooting that person. Courtesy of? That third degree murder? Let's see.

What is shooting the wrong person? Is that seventh degree, I think, maybe? It says General Six News. I don't know.

What? Is it seventh degree when you shoot the wrong person? The murder of seventh degree? Can you imagine being an agent, like, oh, I'm going to show the property?

Right. And if they're showing rentals, they ain't making a lot of money anyways. Maybe they were selling it out for money, maybe the guy was renting, but now they're selling it. It's like, I'm going to show this property, fuck.

It's two days before Christmas, I'm tired, I gotta make this sale, buy my kids toys. Yeah. Bam, bam! Didn't even do anything.

Nope. Poor girl. Florida News. Was there a picture on the sign?

Nope. That's why he didn't know who she was. Yeah. It's crazy.

Crazy. And then he called the police on himself. Okay, Shop of the Week, Michael. I didn't even try to get away with it.

Shop of the Week? Shop of the Week. Let me see. Ooh, I think I have a new one.

It's a new Shop of the Week? Yes. I gotta look up the address, though. I think they're in Montana.

Cigar Hustler Podcast, the number two suggested podcast you listen to if you're interested in cigars. Yes. We'd like to award the first, first Shop of the Week 2022 to: A Little Bit of Big Sky Cigar & Lounge. A Little Bit of Big Sky Cigar & Lounge, what?

What? A Little Bit of Big Sky, in Big Sky, Montana? In Flathead County, Montana. Oh, excellent!

Yeah. Is that under Yellowstone? I have no idea. How the hell should I know?

Don't you watch Yellowstone? No. Oh, wow. It's in Montana.

Yeah, you said that. They're close to a lot of green stuff. Looks like trees? Looks like a mountain.

Oh, I'm so tired. By Forest Hill Village. So, what else you got? I mean, that's all I have you to do.

As we have mentioned, we are going to the TPE. We are going to the TPE. We have officially purchased all travel items. I have purchased.

Okay, you did all that. I assembled. I did all the hard work. I have to carry the luggage.

What luggage? We're staying for one night. Our luggage. Barely there 24 hours.

That's brilliant. It's fucking brilliant. We in, we out. We in, we out.

How you doing? Nice to see you. Guy going to the airport. Bye.

Do you guys eat? We're on time. We're on time. Taxi's waiting outside.

We're still on the meter. Well, we're gonna start, I mean, like, all of a sudden, little things are starting to kind of piece together, or we're gonna start traveling again. It's on a Wednesday? Wednesday, Thursday, yeah.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. When's the show? Wednesday, Thursday, Friday? Yeah.

Oh, not Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday? Nope. I thought it was going to be over weekend. I'm like, what?

It makes actually more sense for retailers to go there in the middle of the week. Right? I guess. I don't know.

Yeah. I don't know. It does. I don't get a lot of pot samples.

We can't take them home. We have time. We do have the whole 24 hours. We have the whole 24 hours.

I ate all of these edibles. Can't tell you what's on planes there. Just a minute. Sir, are you okay?

I am fine. I'm fine. I'm Mayhor. I don't need the plane.

I can fly. I dropped my marker. So yeah. Yeah, we're going to go.

We're going to go. And then we're going to do Great Smoke next month. Yeah, then after that, we're going to do Great Smoke. Yeah.

And buy Diet Sarsaparillas. Diet Sarsaparillas. We'll get them beforehand. We'll get them beforehand.

Please excuse my sneakiness. Do we have something next week? I feel like we have something going on next week. Something Polish.

No. Check on the calendar real quick, stall for more. You go check. Stall, stall, yeah, stalling.

Brady's birthday. Oh, that's this weekend, that's what I'm thinking of this weekend. Eleveny Brittany Stepankiewicz's birthday party this weekend. Yep, my name is Brittany Stepankiewicz, this is my life.

We're going to the place with the brussel sprouts, where she likes the brussel sprouts. She loves brussel sprouts, big brussel sprouts. We're going to get her a big basket of brussel sprouts. Oh, that's very nice.

Already cooked? Half an hour. No. Bring them as a snack.

No, we're not cooking them. She'll cook them. cook them. I will cook them when she wants them.

Okay, good. I will come over for you and cook them when she wants them. Alright. Well, hey, this is it.

It's only 45 minutes. That's a good way to end. You're starting out the year, Michael, with a short show. It's not a good way to...

Yes, I am. Well, the new lounge, apparently we're going to, what's it called? Shanghai the inspector on Wednesday when she's coming for something else. Hey, hey, as long as you're here, come over here too.

Check this one out. Check this one out. Alright guys, this has been episode 207. Thank you for listening.

Cigar Hustler Podcast. The number two suggested show you listen to in 2022. Aha. Number one behind, but we don't know why, because David says.

Who's number one? Cigar Hustler, the podcast. Exactly. All right, everybody.

Thank you very much. We'll see you next week. Bye. Say bye, Michael.

Bye. 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 Szczepankewicz, with any feedback or suggestions that you have for their shows. These broadcasts are presented and made public as entertainment in the hope that they will be entertaining to the audience. This has been a Cigar Hustlers podcast, a Mike and Mike production. m.

for all new episodes. Hi, I'm doing, I'm Who Stoy 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 Deeb. Hojo!

It's the Hojo! Demandre. You didn't even let him fuck it up all the way. I'm going to get past Hojo!

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

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

Show Notes

we are staring the year off a little light with a story about a man who was killed by his Cock!

Price Increases and TPE here we come!!

A Special Happy Birthday Call to Jack Torano!

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