A Cigar Hustlers Podcast Episode 296 The Yelling Podcast

Episode Summary

Episode 296 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with the final days of the RoMa Craft PCA sampler giveaway — a prize pack that includes a Frenchie, a CroMagnon Cranium (Quincuncial/"Quinquan" sizing discussion aside), and Intemperance Volstead cigars — before the hosts get a surprise call-in from Garrett, the former vice president of Don Doroteo Cigars, who had just parted ways with the company after roughly eight months. Garrett declines to air the details but speaks candidly about gratitude toward Juan, Brandon and the Don Doroteo team, the reality that "his eyes were bigger than the meal being served," and the need to support his family. He confirms he's fielding offers — including some international ones — and promises the Hustlers the exclusive when he announces his next move. He also notes he's stepped back temporarily from the How About That Cigar podcast.

The hosts then run the week's industry news: Espinosa Premium Cigars shipping a pair of 6x60 gordos — a box-pressed Connecticut broadleaf 601 Blue Label Maduro at $11.95 and an Ecuadorian Habano-wrapped Knuckle Sandwich Habano at $14; leadership shuffles at Tabacalera USA with David Moreau to Altadis USA, Brad Winstead to JR Cigars and Sherry Szymanski as interim head of Casa de Montecristo under Javier Estades; and the close of the first Tatuaje x Smoke Inn Anarchy NFT auction at $100,000, which bundles a My Father-built 75-count humidor, 60 Anarchy cigars and 15 rare Anarchy Pale Horse editions with a claro wrapper, plus an S.T. Dupont lighter, Xikar cutter and crystal ashtray. The guys admit they bid $34,001 on a later lot and lost. They also cover the debut Aloha cigar from Ohana Nui (a joint venture of Ohana Cigars and 262/Time Out Cigars) and NATO naming David Spross as executive director.

The back half is classic Hustlers off-topic banter: fantasy football draft misery, a garage cold plunge install, Hurricane Idalia bearing down on Florida's Gulf Coast, the Longwood clogged-toilet restaurant brawl, and an epic rant about a HomeGoods cashier who refused to take a $100 bill. They close with Listener of the Week Ben Rowland and Shop of the Week Lake Country Cigar, which will get the box-pressed corona gordo War Bear release in September. The full cigar review of the Don Doroteo Salt of the Earth — and the extra "tea" on the NFT auction — is reserved for the Patreon.

In This Episode

1. 01
   RoMa Craft PCA Sampler Giveaway
   Final days to enter the Cigar Hustler contest, with entry tiers based on RoMa Craft purchases and an August 31, 2023 deadline.
2. 02
   Garrett Calls In After Leaving Don Doroteo
   The former Don Doroteo VP discusses his eight-month run, parting ways with the brand, industry support from peers, and what's next.
3. 03
   Weighing the Next Move in the Cigar Industry
   Garrett talks about international offers on the table, supporting his family, and promising the Hustlers the exclusive announcement.
4. 04
   Espinosa Ships New 6x60 Gordos
   Details and pricing on the 601 Blue Label Maduro 6x60 and Knuckle Sandwich Habano 6x60, plus the hosts' surprise at missing them at PCA.
5. 05
   Tabacalera USA Leadership Changes
   David Moreau, Brad Winstead and Sherry Szymanski take new roles at Altadis USA, JR Cigars and Casa de Montecristo.
6. 06
   Tatuaje x Smoke Inn Anarchy NFT Hits $100,000
   Breakdown of what the winning bidder receives, including the Anarchy Pale Horse claro edition, and the hosts' own losing bid.
7. 07
   Ohana Nui Aloha and NATO News
   The debut Aloha Toro from Ohana Cigars and Time Out Cigars, plus David Spross named NATO executive director.
8. 08
   Florida Stories and Off-Topic Banter
   Hurricane Idalia prep, a Longwood restaurant brawl over a clogged toilet, fantasy football drafts, a cold plunge build, and a HomeGoods cash-register meltdown.

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 the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, episode 296, where we bring you the latest news and insights from the world of premium cigars. In this episode, we dive into the big stories of the week. The King, Mike Stepankevich, and Reverend BDP, Mike Palmer are two dynamic individuals who co-host the captivating, Cigar Hustlers Podcasts, and me, I'm Phil, so grab your favorite smoke, sit back, and join us for another exciting episode of Cigar Hustlers Podcasts. Camera one, we gotta keep moving.

We're out of time crunch. Camera two? No, one. Camera one.

Cigar Hustlers have an amazing contest. Last days to enter. It's a Roma Craft PCA giveaway. Someone is going to win a PCA sampler.

Here's what the winner will receive. One Frenchie Fry Cigar. Ooh. It's just called Frenchie, by the way.

It's French, you're not putting a fry on it, no? Yeah. It's not happening? No.

No. Sorry, Brad. One Quinquan Canaro. Three Intemperance Volsteads.

You know the way things are shipping, they might all be available at the time this, uh, haven't. Maybe. Maybe. Here's how to enter.

One entry to subscribe to the email list. Or do we have a lot of people in now to get the email? We do. We do.

Click on the newsletter at the bottom of the page, all the way down at the bottom. We have a button for your sniffling, by the way. I didn't sniffle, I scratched. You just sniffled.

That was you. Watch the video. 5 entries if you purchase $50 in Roma Craft products in a single order. 15 entries if you purchase 100 Roma Craft products in a single order.

Yeah. 50 entries, which almost guarantees you could possibly win. Almost, almost. If you purchase $200 in Roma Craft products in a single order, the Miso Horny sampler does qualify.

The Miso Horny? I think you said Miso. You did. I did.

It's the new one. The Miso Horny. That was very loud. I have tinnitus.

We have a caller that's calling here in a minute. You have what? Tinnitus. Now he has tinnitus.

What's that? The ringing in the ear. The caller is ready, but we'll finish this. Deadline to enter will be August 31st, 2023.

You can enter as many times as you like. No purchase necessary to enter. com. All right.

I mean, that poor mask was destroyed. Yeah, now we have to get some... Don't go to the... Don't switch to your camera unless you put it on.

Oh, you're switching to two. I'm on camera, too. All right, let's go. What are we gonna review the Patreon?

We're doing the Don Doroteo's Salt of the Earth. The delicious Salt of the Earth. Hello, caller? Uh, hello?

Hello! We've got Garrett on the phone, former Don Doroteo vice president. Who is no longer with... No longer with Don Doroteo.

What? No association. No association. Hey, the reason we called, we're having Wi-Fi problems, it's slowing down on us.

And the last line says you're going to be doing IT now, so I thought maybe you could tell us how to fix our Wi-Fi? Absolutely. Yeah. Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?

That's called PowerCycle. What a Spectrum way to do things. Yeah, you got to know the terminology now, Gary. 7 grams.

If you want me to count with the cello, it's less. It weighs less? Magic weight take away cello. Magic weight take away cello.

But there's two different salt of the earth, correct? Yeah. Well, we're not going to talk to Garrett about any of that. I don't think Garrett about that.

We're going to talk about his feelings. Talking about his feelings. Garrett! What's up, buddy?

Gentlemen, it's always a pleasure to talk to you guys. So now you're gainfully unemployed. Welcome to the cigar industry. It's quick.

Dude, that, that, I mean, that happened. Yeah, so, um, you know, I don't know what you're gonna say, what you want to say, or, you know, was it, was it a nice breakaway? Were they peaceful about it? Did they say it was them, not you?

Was it mutual? Do they have hurt feelings? Talk to, talk to us. Um, I, so, I, you know, at the end of the day, um, it, it was, I think, the right move for, for both of us.

yeah and um you know just um i'm gonna spare everybody the you know the public details of um all that went down but uh is that a patreon conversation do we need to call you back yes no at the end of the day i am truly truly grateful to juan and brandon um and jeff moss I was a member of the team at John Doloteo for the opportunity to work with them for the time that I had. I learned a lot. Not only, you know- In so many ways, you learned a lot. In so many ways.

And no, I would be remiss to not mention, Mike, how much of a, you know, just amazing guy that you've been. Oh, that's very sweet. And then others as well. I mean, Jack Taranio...

Oh, well, Jack's familiar with the firing process. Yeah, you should call. He probably helped expedite that, let's be honest. right after the news broke.

Yeah, he's that guy now. He calls everybody right after they get let go. " Let me tell you, it works out well. It's always in my best interest.

But the number of, yeah, so both Jack and Hector reached out, several other people that it's just, you know, this is a, it truly is a great industry. And I do see myself in it at some point down the road. That was gonna be the next question. Yeah.

I mean, so, excuse me, sorry, that caught me off guard there. We have a cough button now. I didn't see it coming. He didn't even hit the button.

I didn't see it coming. Alright, so, how long were you at Don Doroteo? Oh, I know. I'm asking Garrett, thank you.

Officially, eight months. You were there for eight months. Eight months. Alright.

Yeah. That's like seven pages. So, you went through it, however you parted ways, you parted ways. Yep.

" Oh, absolutely. Good for you, man. Good for you. Oh, wow.

Yeah, it hasn't, you know, I'm, I am taking this time. I have, I have received, uh, some calls and some, um, offers that I'm just not. Oh, anybody, name you want to drop that we need to start looking to pick up here at the shop? Nope.

Nope. Nope. Not yet. We're gonna have some room on the shelf.

Can you let them fucking talk? Jesus Christ, man. Very hurtful. Holy shit.

Very hurtful. Bro, I think he's got the blow down, but maybe he needs some more hookers. Right? Yeah.

So, go ahead. Keep talking. So, you've had some inquiries. I've had some inquiries.

And, you know, at the end of the day, I need to be able to support my family and myself. And, um, I think one of the issues was my eyes were a lot bigger than the meal that was being presented towards, you know, uh, at me. So, I need, I need to be able to support my family. Now.

Yeah, that's important. Oh my gosh, it's, uh, it's huge. And, and I think, um, you know, the romanticism of the cigar industry is, It's wonderful, all the way, you know, from the consumer side, to retailers, to manufacturing. Mike, I know you know this, but you love all facets of the cigar industry, and it's all joy and cookies, ice cream, and babies.

It's amazing, yeah. We hang around, we just smoke cigars all day, right Mike? Right, that's all you do. It's good.

Mike's no longer speaking. It's either one or the other. I either get the guy that doesn't stop talking or he just shuts down. Who can interrupt?

It's okay. I interrupt and it's bad. No, I interrupt at the end of the sentence. No, no.

You're commenting in the middle of his sentence. Oh, he's getting gassed up. I think we need a Dr. Phil moment here.

Oh, hello. Yeah. He's very angry. Phil.

Dr. Boot. That's Phil. That's Phil.

That's Phil. You two over there should be nice. so okay so listen i don't know how it all went down with don dorte we haven't we didn't we i mean i reached out i talked to you but we were we didn't have any portion of that conversation and you know i understand that obviously you have to in this industry you have to get paid right and that's super important because you do have a family to feed to feed right yep yep however when you made the comment of, you know, like your eyes are bigger than what you could eat. I don't know if I believe in that statement because my eyes were bigger than what, um, what was being available to be served, what they could eat or what they, yeah, what they could serve.

Yeah. Gotcha. Okay. All right.

That's fine. I can understand that. I just don't want you to ever feel like you're not qualified. You know what I mean?

Like, I don't want you, I don't want someone to say, Hey, well, you know, this isn't working out and maybe, you know, whatever the case may be, and you say, Oh, well, all right. And then you go back to IT land and you're, uh, you know, you don't want to pursue it. If you want, if this is your passion and your dream, then don't let, you know, I guess I'm just pretty much saying that don't let somebody tell you that, Hey, it's not, you know, keep going. I appreciate that, and I absolutely will.

I will be back, and, you know, I've got some irons in the fire that look pretty good, so. Hey man, STG is willing to overpay for anybody, just so you know. Okay. Now, I have a question.

You always do. Without telling us who it is, but do you see yourself more of the small guy company? Or do you see yourself more of a more established, bigger company? Like, I mean, we could say Drew Estate, but I mean, like a company that's been around, because obviously Don Doroteo, you don't think that was a good question?

No. Why? No, because some of the big guys pay well, some of them don't, but the little guys aren't going to pay shit at all. But it, okay, but longevity of a job, I mean, this was seven pay cycles and maybe somebody pays a little bit less.

How many pay cycles was it, Michael? He said seven. It'd be seven or eight, Michael. I was trying to bring you back in the conversation I was trying to bring you back because you're agitated I'm very angry but do you see what I'm saying like I say this a few of the irons are actually I would they would be considered international oh nice Elsa Timo Do you speak Mandarin?

Because I heard that's a big, uh, that's a big industry. Nine. All right, well, or he could be helping out the Canadian industry. He just slid in German.

German? He just slid in German. He did. Garrett just did.

Garrett speaks German? You said, do you speak Mandarin? He went nine, which is no in German. Oh.

So it could be a friend from the German cigar, whatever those guys are called. The German engineered guy? He's a German engineer. The guy with the really spiky hair?

What about- Could be a hint. Ooh. The guys that don't like the BDP, is that the guys? No, no, no.

Oh. I'm about to say, Garrett, don't go to those guys. That's the Chaldeans. Everybody loves BDP.

Chaldeans don't. No, there was that one. Never makes sense to me when somebody doesn't like a BDP, but they could sell every room 101 on the planet. The guy who talks about mouth holes and fucking all this shit.

Right, exactly. Hey, by the way, is he in town? I have no idea. Oh.

He was in Virginia or something. They were doing some type of... His son took a picture with Abe yesterday down in West Mouth. So does that mean he's going back to the show?

Who? You never left the show, did you, Garrett? Garrett. So I have also just taken a bit of a step back from, how about that cigar, temporarily, to get all of my focus.

I would do a walkabout if I was in Australia, but I'm in Minnesota, and we should be getting snow any minute. Right. Oh my God. So yeah, I'm just, I'm just taking some time, and yeah, I'm not, I'm not, this isn't goodbye, which is I'll see you later.

Are you and Matt fighting? No, we're not fighting. Matt is, uh... Who gets us in the divorce?

Uh, Matt? Garrett, I'm thinking Matt, no, we're thinking we're Garrett. We're Team Garrett. We had that one bad joke he tried to play on me, so I'm not over yet, so.

Wow. I'm with Matt. We're Team Garrett. Me and Phil are Team Garrett.

I like Garrett. Woo! I don't know. Are we going to see you at the PCA?

By then, you would think everything's worked out. It's in March at that point. It's coming up quick. Yeah, it's like February.

I mean, we, and at this point, still don't know if, how about that cigar has sponsorship for PCA. Oh, yeah, I guess who sponsored him this year won't sponsor him this year. Again. So, we'll see about that.

Otherwise, I may be calling you guys for a badge. Okay. Oh, yeah, we can do that. That works.

Yeah, you can chill with the down the hearf boys. Do I get Justin in the divorce? I want Justin. Oh, I like Justin too.

Oh, fuck it. Justin is a rock star. Okay. All right.

Well, hey, man. Wish you the best. Sorry to hear about the whole thing. No, it's, you know, and I don't, I spent a few days upset and a little sulky because it was frustrating not to see some of my vision and where I wanted things to go.

But at the end of the day, I still have a lot of stuff that I learned and know now that I can take with me to my next thing. So, it was absolutely a wonderful opportunity, and I'm sure I've had it, and I've got some more tools for the toolbox moving forward. That's great. Don't worry.

I don't care how awesome you are. There'll be more of this to come in the cigar industry. I promise. This won't be your last goodbye interview with the Cigar Hustle Podcast.

So, you know, hey, this will be good for you. This is a good process of, you know, thickening of the skin and, you know. Yeah. Before he picks, can he come here?

Can he tell us? Yeah, I was going to say, just promise us when you make a decision, you come here to announce it. Oh, over how about that cigar? Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, come on, Garrett. We're on Team Garrett. We're going to need a commitment right now.

I'm officially jumping ship off the mat. There it is. Oh, see, now you've got all three of us. I'm going to need a Garrett.

We like exclusives. You guys want the exclusive on the announcement? Yes. All right, you got it.

Yeah! That's what I'm talking about. Verbal confirmation. Team Garrett, team Garrett, team Garrett.

We're all on Team Garrett. That's how you piss off everybody. Then we can send a press release out to everybody else. Oh, that's right.

Cigars, our podcast announces that. Garrett announces on Cigar House's podcast. And we'll do a whole press release. We'll send it to Coop.

We'll send it to Charlie. We'll send it to Matt. We'll let Matt know as well. We'll inform all of them.

Gunmark. Get down. Get down, Garrett. Get under the desk.

I love it. Hey, what are you guys smoking? You don't want to know. Might not be the best time.

We're smoking the Don Doroteo Salt in the Air. No, that's awesome. And it's amazing. We'll let you know on the Patreon, that'll be $15 a month and we'll tell you exactly how we fucking feel about this fucking cigar.

Only $15 if you want to watch it, so if you want to just hear it, it's $10. Got it, got it. For a measly $10. Measly $10.

And this one's going to be... Well, he might be a little, you know, money's tight right now. Yeah. Well, you know, I mean, get Matt's credit card.

There you go. There we go. How about that cigar money? That's it.

- That's it? - Mm-hmm. - Because the media industry and the cigar industry also extremely lucrative. Extremely lucrative.

- Dude, I know. That's how I got my season pass to White Castle. - They have season passes? - That's a thing?

- Oh my goodness. - Oh my goodness. - Let me know what to buy. - That's high roller shit, you guys wouldn't know.

- How about that cigar money? That's what that is. Yeah. All right, brother.

Well, thank you. We'll let you get back to work. Thanks, Garrett. We'll let you get back to whatever.

Whatever you're doing. Filing for unemployment. I don't know. Whatever.

Love you guys. All right. Love you too, brother. Be safe, man.

All right, my man. Bye. Bye-bye. Hello.

All right. There's Garrett from how about this? There's Garrett. Well, from Garrett.

There's Garrett from Garrett. From Garrett. Unfortunate. You still mad at me, Mike?

No, Michael. You've moved on? Yes, Michael. You were boiling there for a second.

I wasn't boiling. I saw. You're very snappy. I could see it in your eyes.

So what did you do this weekend? I could see it in your eyes. He doesn't want to talk about it. No, just move on.

I'm over it. What did I do this weekend? I don't even know. Oh, I went to the game.

I went to the Bucs game, Baltimore Bucs. That was very, very cool. I was pointing to you because you had the, Boots had the draft, his own fantasy draft at the same time. Oh, I tried his draft with this weekend.

This weekend, Boots did, not Phil. And Boots' fantasy football draft is atrociously long, and JJ, formerly of that Sports Talk that is now on a temporary or permanent hiatus, he is the fucking worst. He's the number one pick. He sucks up all this time.

So, do you guys go to a room, or is it like a big phone call? He had some people over, but I was on the phone, I was in Tampa. Oh, so there's like an app, or a game thing, or something. Yeah, so I was with my son, and we drafted together, and you know what's funny, as we were leaving...

You're sitting there waiting on your turns, is that how it works? " Oh, that fantasy football one. " Wow. He had a pretty good draft.

From a 10-year-old. Yeah, I know, I think he did pretty well. How many guys are in your league? 12.

12, but you make 19 picks or some shit like that. How many picks is in the other one? Not 19. 18.

No, it's not. I guarantee it's 18. I don't know how this works, obviously. So is everybody not ready?

We were over in an hour. I mean, you have your guys already picked, and if somebody picks you, you just go down to the list of the next guy? Well, it took long because there was one guy that was taking two minutes every fucking pick. Oh.

So he was not prepared? I think he was prepared. He was just picking horrible. Oh.

Who was it? JJ. Yeah, he was terrible. I thought maybe he was making a speech or something.

You know what's funny? As bad as it sounds, sorry John Yogerlite. But John Yogerlite and JJ, I was picking their picks before they picked them. Oh yeah?

I'm like, oh, he's gonna pick this guy, watch. There's 16 picks in the other league. Okay, three more. We're over in an hour.

How long did it take? Yeah, but you guys are probably going, bing, bing, bing. You know, you guys already know. No, and then like, how long is it for your draft to end?

Is it, every draft, is it 90 seconds or two minutes to pick? I think it's two minutes to pick. Jeez, we gotta cut that down to a minute and a half. Well, I think next year I will cut it to a minute because most of us pick within seconds.

Here's the other thing. You gotta fucking kick some people out. Like, you gotta tell JJ, hey, no, it's over. I'm sorry.

I, you know, you don't, you're not really committed. Can we not hear this? Cause he still owes me 50 bucks right now. You're never going to get that 50 bucks.

I mean, I still owe you 50 bucks. I'm going to hold out. I like to hold out all the way to the very end. You should kick Michael out, too, apparently.

You don't pay anything. No boots. I'm Phil. Well, tell boots.

So I had three drafts that I had to do. They're all done now. Oh, they all happened on the same day? Well, his was Saturday and the other two were on Sunday, so we got that.

Do you try to get the same team on each one? I try to some degree, because normally the guys who I think are going to do well, I don't change that. So if they become available, I'm gonna pick 'em up. So you have like a list of 20 guys and...

That's just kinda in my head who I like. I like St. Brown, I tried to trade your dad. He sent me shit trade offers afterwards.

I tried to trade my one and my four for his two and three. And he like sent me fucking garbage. You're gonna have seven and nine. Okay, well nobody's trying to trade me.

So I'm like, here we go again. Here we go. That doesn't mean that Boots made a shit pick. Here's the league of nobody trades.

That was one person. It's off the rip. Mark Bergman's put his whole team up. All right, don't run through the whole thing.

Don't run through the whole thing. But he trades just a trade. Okay. What else did you do?

I did install the cold plunge. Oh. Oh, I figured it was already running by now. No, it's...

Had to dry for several times? Yeah, the kit came in, I think, Thursday and... Oh, so when it was being painted, you couldn't go right to the next step. Yeah.

So it's filled with water. It takes a long ass time to drop in temperature. No, it hasn't been 24 hours yet, and I think it dropped like 10 degrees or less. Can't add ice to speed that up at the beginning?

I mean, I suppose I could. I didn't really think about that. So my other question is, once it drops, does it always stay around that area, or does it rise really high again, then it takes a long time to drop? No, it has a meter on it.

That's a temperature check. So once it drops to 46 degrees, the fridge turns off. Oh, then when it gets to like an air conditioner, when it gets so high, it kicks back down again. Once it raises, it'll, you know, once it raises.

Above 46. Yeah, it'll kick back on. Oh, okay. So it'll maintain it.

Man, it's going to be on the whole time. Where is it? In your garage? Yeah.

Yeah, it's going to be on the whole time. You think so? It's in the garage. It's in the garage.

Yeah, but it's insulated. It's a fridge. The unit is insulated. Maybe.

I don't know. To be continued. We'll see. I guess we'll find out.

I'll let you know my electrical. Can we get footage of you in it? Yeah, that's why I was thinking electric, though. Well he's supposed to send a muscle pic with the cigars anyways, remember?

What are you talking about? With the aroma, the winning the french fry? Oh. Oh yeah, you're supposed to do the winner from the cold plunge, a video.

Oh, am I? Yes. That was agreed upon, don't you remember? Oh, I don't remember this.

I don't remember either. Yeah. It didn't sound like me to do that. No, it sounded like something we would have talked you into.

Yeah. Yeah. There would have been some cost there. So I did that.

Muscle play free. You know what I did also do, which I kind of regret, is I watched that fucking Ahsoka on Disney Plus, I watched episode one. What is that? Is that the Star Wars?

Oh, the new thing. Yeah, it's the new Star Wars. I only watched the first episode with the kids because it was an hour long. Right.

But they have two right now. What, he sucked in now? The new Mandalorian or, not Mandalorian, it's a... No, it's a different, it's like an origin.

Well, so what they're trying to do is I think that they're just trying to break away from everything Star Wars and create this whole new galaxy of shit that's not controlled by George Lucas. Oh, right. Is really what this is aiming towards. Is now theirs.

Because now they're going to another galaxy, which they've never gone to before, yada yada, whatever. But, I blasted through three seasons of Warrior on HBO Max. Yeah, I gotta start watching that. Okay.

I just finished the show I was watching. Like the first two episodes, the sex scenes are a bit over the top. But then they bring it down, right? Oh, like really graphic.

I mean, not extremely graphic, just, you know, I'm just like, alright. I'll find out. Yeah, I'm like, okay, I get it. I get it.

You're watching these by yourself? No, I watch them with Brittany. Oh, okay. I was like, you're watching with the kids.

Yeah, that's what I was waiting for. But here's the thing. The fucking, the choreographed combat in this show is so amazing. I mean, it's a fantastic show.

And when I'm seeing these hits and stuff and I'm dodging, I'm making, I'm like, oh my god. Oh, I'm so excited. Like, yeah, you know, it's unbelievable, right? Right?

Then I watched the choreography from fucking Disney on fucking Ahsoka, and I'm like, this is terrible. These guys, these people are moving so slow. Well, they're not trained killers. I mean, yeah, I mean, there's a nunchuck scene with the guy, the head guy, his name's Assam in the show, and he's got these nunchucks, bro.

He beats the piss out of like 20 people, so much to a point where I'm like, I need to take them nunchucks. I need nunchucks. I need nunchucks. Oh, so it was a Chuck Norris fantasy.

No, what it is, I think that it's actually written by Bruce Lee. Oh. Oh, was it really? Yeah.

He's dead. Yeah. I think that it has something to do with his, 'cause there are scenes where you look and you're like... I'm lost at this point, are we still on Star Wars?

No, no, I've kind of switched off to Warrior. Warrior. " I mean, you know, there's some shit... Maybe they copied.

No, no, it's, when I read about it later on, 'cause I wanna know if there's another season, if it's gonna happen or not. It's like the guy that did like pie and all that. Yeah. And it's like, well, you know, this is off of- The Kid on the Boat?

No, there's a, or maybe it's called P, there's another Bruce Lee type movie. So I'm watching this shit and, you know, I'm like, when it ends, I'm thinking, oh my God, I hope there's another season. And this, this third season just ended. And it's like, well, if there is going to be a season, it'll be in 2025.

They haven't committed to it. I mean, they get, they, they get no acknowledgement. Like Yellowstone. And I'm going to tell you, it's one of the best fucking shows.

Skip was saying he was watching it too a couple weeks ago. Was he watching Warrior? Yeah. He was saying how good it was too.

Speaking of what you just said. I wonder if he got it from the podcast. Wonder what? Maybe.

Maybe. You talk about it a lot. I watched the, go ahead. Did you guys see the announcement of November?

That's when Yellowstone's coming back. And they will end it in November. And then it's over. Oh, that's the last season?

With Matthew McConaughey? I don't think he's in it. Oh, he didn't sign. Oh, I heard he signed.

I don't know. It didn't say that. It just had the three people. It had Casey.

You got a lighter. Mine's out of gas. Yeah, they're doing the Triple Eight thing or whatever it is. Triple Six.

Triple Six. Quad Six. Yeah, I can't do Triple Six. That's bad.

That's the devil. I watched The Flash. That was a good movie. The movie was good, but why are the special effects so bad with them?

Marvel is so good. DC, they're so terrible. Well, that's why nobody watches DC movies. I mean, like when he's saving the babies out of the building, they're like cartoons!

Yeah. They're terrible! If you want to see really bad graphics, go watch Terminator 2 right now, because I did the other day, I turned it on, I was like, oh my god, this is terrible! You guys might be too young, you remember the show V, where the aliens came and they're lizard people and they eat, they're eating the humans and stuff?

No. That was a mini-series from like in the 80s, but the special effects are so bad! It's a lizard view. So bad.

That was like such a fear back then. Yeah, that the aliens were all lizards? Yeah. I mean, I can do the special effects they did with the setup we have.

With the technology that's in the production. But the movie, you're right, though. The movie was pretty good. I did like the movie.

Yeah. The little twist at the end where who the bad guy was and stuff. Yeah, yeah. Speaking of movie magic.

Yeah. Go ahead. Apparently, it's time for Phil's Fun Facts. Oh, we've already moved on.

Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, he said. From the four quarters of the world.

That's definitely the wrong one. - Oh, sorry. - We do it. - Movie magic.

- Welcome to Cigar Hustlers Podcast Feature, Phil's Fun Facts. - Hello, peoples. - You know, I feel like the WWE should be calling for him at this point. He's just, look at it, look at that.

- You don't like it? - I mean... - I thought it looked great. - It's crazy.

I think that you're ready. - Okay, here we go. - You can take on a Roman range right now. He'll have a custom-made mask though, I think.

My head's too big. We just duct tape it. There's laces in the back, but you wouldn't be able to breathe. Cigars can make you more creative.

Really? Legendary writer Mark Twain used to smoke 3,000 cigars a month. Then he quit the habit, which led him to suffer from nicotine addiction sickness for three months. Once he resumed his cigar smoking habit, it only took him three months for him to die of cancer.

Is that how he died? Really? He died again? No, I think so.

300 cigars, not 3,000. Yeah. He had a mental block, and then when he started smoking, he could ride again. Ah.

He didn't actually die, but that was dull. I mean, that was so much funnier. That was way more, yes. Way more funny.

See, and that is why DC can't compete with us. DC? Yeah, DC movies, like The Flash. Oh, okay.

Because they're not smoking enough cigars? I've spoken of cigarettes. No, I mean, we have the mask and everything, it looks good. Well, all the green screen stuff from the event last week.

He has typos. That was good. We did have our event. That went well.

Oh yeah, that went well. Did it go well? I got really tired and left right before nine. Yeah, you did the Irish exit.

I told Chet and Boots I was leaving. Yeah. You were busy. Ah, super busy.

Super busy with the guy with the beard. Brandon. I don't know his name. I remember he was your friend, but.

Yeah. Yeah, no, I think it went great, man. We had a great time. great time good it's always nice to see everybody come out the regulars kind of support and you know the raffle tickets didn't have there was no phone numbers on the raffle tickets the names were all everybody we know oh that's good which i think is always awesome well when it's uh it's our brand all the regulars more than just you know if it was just something random yeah and it's a crowd filled with people that i all know on a first name basis right right that's pretty awesome So, have you gotten an uptick on the ashtrays at all, since they've been out there now?

I mean, well, we have people asking about them, but I haven't released them yet. No, that's what I mean. " Of course. Yeah.

Thanks. Yeah. All right, on with the news? On with the news.

Palmer, how was your weekend? Nothing? Uh, we went to, um, Swamp House on Saturday. Had a good time.

Well, he wanted to tell you, but you instantly jumped to Phil's Fund. Well, if we don't do it at a certain point, then people will start writing. No, nobody complains. Nobody complains.

Nobody complains. Nobody complains. Sorry, nobody complains that we didn't do it on time. Yeah.

I don't know, Phil's on five. Mark Twain. From the four corners of the world. So you went to Gators?

All the cigar industry news, you could possibly... Swamp House. We went to Swamp House on Saturday. For lunch.

Yeah? That was it? That was the weekend? Sunday she had some work to do, and I had some work to do for Danny's show.

We went grocery shopping. Oh, nice. That was amazing. That was it.

It wasn't an exciting weekend. Nothing happened over us. On to the news. We already played the thing.

Yeah, twice. Twice now. Twice now. I'll skip Garrett's story.

This is where I talk to Garrett. Espinosa ships new 601 Blue Label and Knuckles Sandwich Habano 6 and... Oh, 6 by 60. Sorry.

You know, I never heard about either one of those. Really. Oh, really? Yeah.

No, you know what, I haven't either. Yeah. This is the first time. And Alfredo popped his head in here last week.

Oh, that was just a formal thing, probably. Was he? It was another court date? He had a follow-up court date?

Yeah. Espinosa Premium Cigars has begun shipping a pair of 6x60 Gordos. It's adding to its 601 Blue Label Maduro line and the Knuckles Sandwich Habano line. Like the other sizes, the 601 Blue is a 6x60.

He uses a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, while both the binder and filler come from Nicaragua. 39 per box, oh, I thought he was leaving, a box of 20 cigars, the Knuckle Sandwich Habano 6x60, meanwhile, uses Ecuadorian grown Habano seed wrapper, while the binder and filler comes to Nicaragua, it's priced at $14 per cigar, and $280 for a box of 20. The company is also adding a 6x60, wait, I read that twice, did I read that again? Movie magic.

A company representative said more of the new cigars that showed off the 2023 PCA Convention Trade Show are set to begin shipping next week. We're going to get you a red light. We're going to put you on red light therapy. You know, I am starting to forget things.

We're going to get you a red light. We're going to nip this in the bud right now. So... What?

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were done with... I was. Go ahead.

So you didn't hear anything about these cigars? No. They've already been released. They're being shipped, yeah.

Yeah, so apparently they've already been sold. So you didn't see them at the PCA? Nobody made a formal presentation to you? Well, the thing about PCA is I'm working.

Oh, you're working. You don't go over there. That's right. I mean, I just go over there.

It's not like TPE, though. Are you kidding me? The Down to Herf guys arm wrestled Johnny Pappas or whatever. Yeah.

You know? Wait a second. That's a different place. That's a different place.

But we were over, but that's right next to them. It's close. We went and saw Espinosa, too. We did go see it.

I'm sure that's like a regular hangout. Well, they didn't have it. No, they didn't have this in their booth. Oh really?

Wasn't it one of the little glass things they set up? Nope. Oh, weird. Alfredo's terrible.

Now, my question is, is maybe this is a store exclusive. You have a lot of questions. Well, it's not really a question. " I have one question.

Yeah. But people don't see Phil. " I have a question. Well, people don't see Phil.

My question is. Here's my question. People don't see Phil. Well, Phil should go to the next PCA.

Yeah. He was already at one. He should go. And his luchador.

And his luchador. No. A bigger Luchador. I have to type extra large Luchador, man.

No. Very busy. I think you can find time. Yeah.

Altadish USA, JR Cigars, and Casa de Monte Cristo are getting new bosses. As a result of internal promotions, there will be a new leader at Altadish USA, JR Cigars, and Casa de Monte Cristo, three companies that are all part of Tapical Era USA. Effective September 4th, the following changes will be made. Not September 4th yet.

It's still current. Okay. Just letting you know. Last week, we had a lot of old stories.

Ah. David Moreau will become the CEO of Altenus USA. Brad Winstead will become the CEO of JR Cigars. Sherry Szymanski will become the interim head of Casa de Monte Cristo.

Javier Estedes will remain the head of Tablet Clare USA, the overreaching parent company of all three entities. So then Javier is the boss of the other three people, is that if I'm reading that correctly? Probably. Currently, Moreau is the CEO of JR Cigars.

JR Cigars is Tablical Area USA's largest retail arm, known for its online storefront and catalog business. He will move from the retail side to the wholesale side. He will now lead Altadis USA, which, okay, we don't know where all these guys are moving from. They have three new heads and one big head.

Altadis climbing the corporate ladder. Okay, check. What is a JR Cigar? That's their retail range of Altadis.

It's bringing North Carolina and stuff. Oh, okay, it's not like a actual. I don't think they have one in Florida, do they? I said North Carolina.

I know, I'm asking if they have one in Florida. It's North Carolina. Just North Carolina. They didn't, Thompson Cigar didn't turn into a jar?

They have Casa de Monte Cristo's here. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Tatuaje and Smokin's first energy NFT auction fetches $100,000.

Yes. More? No, it went for $100. No, it went for $100.

The first one went for $100. I thought it was $101. No, it was $100. The first auction in the Anarchy NFT project launched by Tatuaje and the retailer's smoke-in has come to a close with number one smoke gathering, a winning bid of $100,000.

Yeah. And unreportedly, can we say who we think that is? Nah. Okay.

We know who it is. Right, but we're not gonna say? Fuck that guy. We say, oh, okay.

And then everybody knows who it is then. The project has been on the radar for approximately a year as Tatuaje announced, Tatuaje announced, Tatuaje announced, Tatuaje announced in August- Say it right, it's Tatuaji. It's not Tatuaji. Yeah, it is Tatuaji.

That's not how they say it. I swear. It is not Tatuaji. With a venture into the world of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, in June 2023, the project's details were revealed in full.

Seven packages would be produced, though only six would go to auction via U-R-E-E-Q-A, is one of the creative- Eureka. Oh, is that Eureka? That's not how you spell Eureka, is it? No.

Not like Eureka's Castle, but it is. That's not how you spell it. But that's how they're saying it. Ah, this one was created for Abe Dab-a-dab-dab, owner of Smokin' and the creator of the Anarchy brand.

Yes. Each of the packages contains an NFT, a piece of digital artwork created by an unidentified artist that Abe has worked with for various projects over the years. In terms of real-world items, each set contains a 75-count Tatuaji Anarchy NFT edition humidor that was made by hand at My Father's Cigar Box Factory in Nicaragua. Which includes 60 original Tatuaje, Tatuaje, Anarchy Cigars, and 15 rare Anarchy Pale Horse Editions, exclusively made for NFT holders.

Very rare. The Anarchy Pale Horse Edition blend replaces the original Anarchy's Nicaraguan Habano Maduro wrapper with a Claro color grade wrapper, a lighter color of the leaf, of undisclosed origin, and varietal. This is the only second time that there has been a Pale Horse Edition release. that was the Anarchy K-A-O-S Chaos Chaos Vatola Chaos Chaos It's Kows Kows Kows Had Twadgy and Kows Yeah Just K I was going K Cigars of the Unor were used slightly different band than used on the original Anarchy releases as they add holographic foil on the top and bottom of each band Oh my god Shiny Shiny Not gold though Oh, not gold.

Not gold. The winner of the auction will also receive 24 by 36 frame print version of the NFT artwork, as well as one of one lighters by SD DuPont, a new perfect XI1 cutter by Zykar, and a crystal ashtray. How does it say? Who's it by?

A crystal ball. A crystal ashtray by quality importers, all with matching art to corresponding NFT. Everybody's got a little piece of this, don't they, apparently? I was just thinking that.

Why don't they just go one person? Everybody wants a piece. And they post on in Connecticut, apparently, too. You know what?

Listen. I mean, we can poke fun all day. Abe is going to crush it with us. Oh, he is.

Sure. He's already set the record now. Yeah. We'll talk about all of that on the Patreon.

We got some... We got some tea? We definitely have some tea. All right.

The NFT owner will also have the opportunity to purchase a quarterly allotment And of 15 boxes of 15 Tatawagi. Tatawagi. I'm just saying anyway, I want not. Tatawagi Anarchy Cigars remain to be one of the largest single store releases in our industry and is still being sought after by consumers worldwide.

The cows. Said Pete Johnson of Tatawagi VA press release in June. The second auction is already in the two, isn't it? It's gone.

It's gone. I think they're in the four or five. What did it go for? I know that the third one went for 86.

I went to Jay Davis, the Blue Smoke. 03 was the highest bid on the second one. No, I think that finished higher than that. No, no, it did, but that, I mean, that's the one that outbid us, though.

Yeah. So, if he would have done just 10 minutes earlier, damn, we would have been mentioned in the story. Would have caught 'em all. NATO names David -- Cigar Hustle plays bid at $34,000.

01. 01. Damn. Yeah, it was like $1,000.

We were at 33 or something. NATO names David Spross, new executive director. Now, to avoid it confused, this is not the... Not the NATO.

Not the NATO. The other NATO. The other NATO. The National...

The National Association of Tobacco Outlets. You'd think they'd have a problem calling the organization the same name. Yeah, I mean, you know, there was a whole panda thing that got upset with WWF. Right.

Yeah, the WWAE, yeah, they had to change it to... Change it to a panda. I wonder if they wear NATO shirts. I would.

I'm with NATO. I'm with NATO. We should join them, we can say we're with NATO. We're with NATO.

Oh, how confused people would be. Who are you guys with, NATO? We're with NATO. David Spross, who joins your organization, has 23 years in the tobacco industry, including most recently serving as the Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Strategic Engagement for Reynolds American.

NATO is the leading voice for retailers of tobacco and nicotine products, and I am thrilled with the opportunity to lead this organization to the next generation of education and blah, blah, blah. Have you heard of them before? NATO? Yeah.

Yeah, there was a... Not the NATO, but these NATOs. The other NATO? Yeah, I've heard of them.

You've mentioned them on the podcast. Have we mentioned them before? Yeah. Oh, I don't remember ever hearing about them before.

Two red lights. I'm getting you two fucking red lights. Because, I mean, all these new little groups are popping up this year. NATO's been a thing, I guess.

Well, according to him, it's the leading voice of retailers. You mentioned it like a year ago. I thought PCA was the leading voice of retailers. Who knows?

Did NATO beat the FDA? They got the big... Yeah, they actually announced that as well. We've successfully...

We've successfully... We did it. Beat the FDA. We did it, everybody did it.

Why don't we just create the LVOR? What's it stand for? The leading voice of retailers. Oh, there you go.

We are the leading voice, no, no, no, no, no, you don't understand, we are the leading voice of retailers. We are the leading voice of retailers. It says so on the card. Yeah, right here.

We're gonna make t-shirts. How many retail members do you think, how many retailers do you think are? I think you've asked this question. And, and, 'cause they have 66,000 retail members.

Yeah, 66,000. Because I think I guess like 25 or 30 or something, thousand. But you got to figure like if we joined, you, Greg, me, whoever. What do we all count as?

We all count as a member? Individual, yeah. To get the numbers up higher? Yeah.

Probably. So the leading voice for retailers is going to have a lot of members. They've never asked us. Super many.

No, we're going to start. NATO's never approached us. Oh, weird. Strange.

Ohana Nua. Ohana. Ohana. Ohana.

It's Ohana, it's Hawaiian. No, this is the new one. This is Ohana. No, Ohana.

Tawaji, Kaos, Ohana Nui, Ships Aloha and the Time Out Lines. Oh, okay. Ohana Nui has begun shipping its Aloha Cigar, the debut release for the new venture from Ohana Cigars and 626 Cigars. Ohana.

So he said 626? Yeah. No. 666?

It's uh... 262? I don't know if I can fuck up 626. As well as the time-out cigar, T-WO-6, T-WO-6, which is distributing the Aloha is a 6x50 Toro that uses an Ecuadorian grown abando seed wrapper atop a binder from Nicaragua's Condega region.

Well, is it Condega still Condega? Condega? Still Condega? Still Condega.

Okay, just checking. No, it's Condega. Oh, Condega, sorry. Yeah, sorry, my bad.

Well, the filler includes tobacco from Nicaragua, Jalapa region, and a bundle of 10 cigars. Good job. The microphone's all wet now. Cigars are produced by Tabacalera, Pages de Nicaragua, Time Out Cigars, which is launched by Neil Yahanna and developed with Ryan Rodriguez of Ohana Cigars.

Moving on. We want to know about all the different cigars. Ohanas, yeah. They have cigars, they're shipping.

Yeah, they're shipping. They may or not be shipping. All right, the big news in Florida, Tropical Storm Adelia, Adelia, Adelia, Adelia, how do you say that one? Paco.

Oh, get your adjuster out. The storm expected to intensify to a Category 3 hurricane as it moves toward Florida. The storm could bring life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds, and flooding in parentheses. Along parts of the west coast of Florida and the Florida Panhandle's earliest Tuesday, forecasters warn.

Tropical storm Adalia is expected to intensify earliest week as the system barrels toward Florida's Gulf Coast forecasters. They always barrel toward Florida. Barrels. Barrels.

They have to make it seem like a big deal. You know what's so funny is I was at Costco yesterday and I, you know, I was even thinking to myself, I was like, man, oh, look at all these generators in here. I was like, well, you know, I haven't heard anything. I haven't heard anything about a storm.

There's been no storms. Oh, where have you been? And then somebody bought one. I go, huh, that guy must be really getting ahead because, you know, there's no need.

You get home and Brittany's boarding up the window. There's no need for, there's no need for any of this. And then, and then, um, then my buddy Tater comes over and he goes, yeah, I'm probably going to run into that storm when we're driving home, driving south. " No, he's not.

He's on the other side. I know. " Let's see. Life-threatening storm surge.

Blah, blah, blah. West coast of Florida. End of the world. Panhandle.

Aliens are coming through the hurricane. God hates the Panhandle. By all the water. Mm-hmm.

m. Eastern today, Adalia was about 125 miles south of western tip of Cuba, with maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour. Power. That's kite-flying weather for us.

Yes. We're from Florida. Category 3, I think it's 100. Yeah.

Listen, what's his name's coming? Santa Claus? He's here. Jim's here.

Who's Jim? Jim Santori from the Weather Channel. The guy that comes? Oh, is he?

Yeah, he's here. He landed yesterday. Oh, yeah. He's had nothing going on as a plane.

Yeah. Right, so he's all excited. Oh my God, it's been a whole year. Here I go, baby.

Yeah, there's three of them out there. He's gonna hang out here for a little while. I love that. - I love the anchors hanging out by the co- - Raincoats.

- Waiting on something to blow by. - Wait another stop sign! - There's one, there's one. - Oh, that candy wrapper did not stand a chance.

- Look at this, if you could see this puddle, sir, look, get closer, get closer, there's, water is gathering. - Cameraman, splash it, splash. - If I step on it, you'll see how deep it is. - All right, and then in Longwood, Florida.

- Yeah. - Oh, there's another one. The Florida story. The storm is national.

Longwood. Longwood. That's close. That's very close.

It's Greg's. Maybe we're going to hear somebody. A clogged toilet at Papa B's restaurant in Longwood, Florida ended with a large fight on Saturday evening, according to the police department. It was Greg.

Papa B's? Papa B's. Right across from Greg. That's right across from Greg.

Is it right by Greg? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just say his address. Is it in there with the beer people?

I think so. Is it in there? They have really good wings. They do have wings.

Oh, I had their wings It fits that place. Yeah. Upon arrival, police learned that a worker at a restaurant had been attacked by a group of customers shortly beforehand, the report shows. According to the worker, one of the toilets had been stuffed with toilet paper, and the only customers in the restaurant at the time were a group of five women, police said.

One of the women had gone to the restroom earlier in the evening, and it was after that point that the wait staff found the toilet stuffed with toilet paper in excess, in parentheses. " I hope to God I know. It was you. Police said they learned from the worker the customers then began yelling at her with one of the eventually standing up and punching the worker in the face.

The remaining four Four women then began to join the punching, kicking, pulling hair, and throwing items at the worker. The report reads: Investigators said that the worker suffered a laceration and bruises. Other staff at the restaurant told police that the women threw cups, salt shakers at them while they were trying to break up the fight, according to police. That's some hood chicks right there.

The five women ultimately fled through the front door, ran toward the back of the building where they were captured by law enforcement, detectives said. Man, they were really in there for a long time to let the cops come and everything. The cops show up and everything. Just to escalate.

Fire crews arrived to treat those who were injured, and police took the following women into custody. Who took care of the toilet is what I want to know. The toilet really doesn't have much to do with the toilet. Yeah, that was the diversion.

Alright, here are the five women: Kayinda Charles, 24, Kenisha Charles, 18, Tyshia Charles, 19, Jasmine Klein, 26, and Jaliga Smith, 20. Yeah, no, we know all of them, I don't know, they all hang out with Greg, I think I've heard of them. Yeah, they're all Greg's friends, all Greg's friends, the five suspects told police that the worker had come up to them while they were chatting at the table and was very rude and disrespectful, telling them to leave the store, police said. According to the woman, they were getting up to leave, which is when the worker pushed Klein in the chest and other employees began joining in the alleged attack, the report says.

I feel like this story's a little different. Yeah, I don't know, you know. Hey, were you two the ones that shit in the fucking toilet over there and clogged it all up? Hold on, the detectives said that the women claimed to be victims, accusing other employees of locking the front door to the restaurant to prevent them from leaving until law enforcement arrived.

Wow. " Now you just can't leave. However, surveillance video shows that one of the women had indeed punched the worker in the face, prompting the other four women to attack before other employees were able to break it up. Crazy.

All five women face charges of disorderly conduct, battery, and criminal mischief. I'm going to tell you something. That employee was super disgruntled before this even happened. Yeah, oh yeah.

" That's it. I'm losing it. Well, the surveillance camera shows the opposite. The woman punched her without any provocation.

Right. Well, it was like telekinesis, you know? Well, I mean... She thought pushed her.

Yeah. Well, maybe they didn't clog the toilet, though. That doesn't seem to have anything to do with the story, other than there was a clogged toilet. And that's what started the argument.

Well, they were already closed anyway, they wanted the women to leave. The part that's not in the story is what the employee said to the women about the toilet. Yeah, that's what I mean, there's no mention of the toilet. You fuckers clogged the toilet, get the hell out of here.

Yeah, when can you clog the toilet? Well, he locked the door first, so that way they'd answer the question. I have questions. I have questions.

We're gonna start wandering. Now you just can't leave. Now you just can't leave. Wow, what an establishment, huh?

Get beat up for clogged toilets. Apparently. I almost lost my mind at HomeGoods. HomeGoods?

Ooh, let's hear it. Another Florida story. Another Florida story. Local man gets invited at HomeGoods.

A large Polish gentleman. So we're at HomeGoods. And I'm back. I'm with the kids and stuff.

Right. And we're at the cash register. Now their cash register up there is always a line. It's a fucking system.

Always a long line. But I'm not even agitated. You're not in the line, though. No, I'm cool.

I'm in the line. I got this, I got the squad, and they go, we go to cash out or whatever, and it was like 70-something bucks, so I gave Brittany cash, gave her a $100 bill, and the lady behind the register gets irate. Cause you paid cash? She goes, I don't have change for that.

She thought she was being robbed. I don't have change, I don't have change for that. I'm like, okay, and so Brittany's like, okay, so we'll just go to another register. " Now I'm pissed.

Oh. Now I'm, now I start to get pissed off because someone is telling me what the fuck I, I'm like, I could fucking throw all these on the ground if I want to. You're not going to stop me for doing shit. So, you know, I give Brittany the credit card and, um, I don't even remember what I said.

I said something like... Oh, this is blackout stuff. Uh... We got outside, there was blood on my fist.

I don't know what happened. " Like, what kind of shit? Oh, Drake! Well, seventy, and a hundred, so it would have been twenty and some change, right?

" That's ridiculous. That's the most absurd thing I've heard. " I mean, just give me a, how fucking obnoxious-- I would've got the manager. The lines there are chaos, you know, it's like you get in the long S line that goes by every single crappy item they have in the store, right, and I'm not, and then you have to wait, ding, so I feel number four, so I already feel bad for all the people that are waiting behind me, right, and I'm not gonna say, no, I want a manager, you know, like fucking carrying the shit out of this thing, man, I'm gonna close this motherfucker down, you know, and here's where you lost me, you lost me at you telling me, no, you can't go anywhere else.

As you have the money. Like, yeah, no, I am the fucking customer. Right. I have the money to pay for these things.

I want to pay, you do not want to pay. If you tell me, no, I can't do something, I'm like, fuck, get the fuck out of here, you're out of your mind. Right, you should be mad if I don't have the money. Right, right, right.

I'm like, hey, let me borrow 70 bucks. Right. There's my IOU. Like, where, on what fucking planet, like, where have we lost, we've lost our fucking minds.

Well, she panicked with the big bills. She didn't even, she didn't even work out the change in her head, she just panicked with the big bill. panicked with the big bill. Or she couldn't count the 30.

But how absurd is that? Right. That's so fucking asinine. There has to be a way to get changed.

That happens sometimes during the day. Dude, this is the world we live in. It was 20-something bucks. I understand it, but let's say she had all 50s in there or something.

There's a way to get changed. She could have said, hold on one second. I've got to get somebody. Yeah, exactly.

Hold on a minute. I've got to get somebody to break that form. Or she said, hey, I'm really sorry. I just came on.

My register is... I'm not going to have that. I'm not going to have this. Do you have another form of payment?

" I can't take that! Yeah. No, no, that's not happening. Like, how are you employed?

I don't get it. I would have yelled counterfeit. I just printed it! No, but I was so...

I mean, dude... Hit it with the marker? Oh, sorry, can't take this. Yeah, look, it turns brown.

It turns brown. And you know what's funny is I was tolerating it until she said, "No, you can't go anywhere. " Now you just can't leave. I'm like, the fuck I can.

Oh. Then they locked the door. Locked the fucking door. And said, why did you bag up the toilet?

I'm going to say, who's going to go through the door? Which one of you am I going to fucking use as Operation Shield to go through this door? You, Karen. Was that her name, Karen?

I don't know. She was an older lady, too. It is now. Oh, poor fucking Karen.

Scared the old lady. It was ridiculous. Yeah, she's probably your highlight story of her week. That's right.

She's playing Baco right now. Baco. Baco. Baco.

She's playing Baco. You're not going to believe the audacity of this asshole. He tried to pay cash. He tried to pay cash.

He gave me a $100 bill for a $70 change. Yeah, this big weirdo looking with all these muscles and everything. And all these children with the funny hair. And his family was there.

Tried to choke me. " I don't know what she was talking about. Bubbles! Bubbles!

Ridiculous. - That's just so ridiculous. - Sorry, sorry, German Shepherd scene, leaving home, headed for home goods, right there. - So what happened?

What'd you do? - I gave him his change, what do you think I did? - I told him at the end, I was sorry. No, that's not how, you know, that's not ever how a story plays out, when someone goes and tells a story later.

- Yeah, right, right. - Like, I told him to go fuck himself. - Yeah. - Yeah, I'm like, no you didn't actually.

- Then they gave me a promotion. - Then my arm wrestled and I beat him. - Yeah. - Yeah.

- But my arm hurts. - She's all over Facebook right now. - For weeks. Is your arm better, by the way?

Is it still hurting? Um, it's been, it's getting there. Oh. Hmm.

Trump. All right, you got a Listener of the Week, Michael? Do I have a Listener of the Week? Oh my God.

I have one if you don't know. Then you go ahead and you take it. All right, Listener of the Week. Ben Rowland!

Ooh. Having a lot of flight problems today. He is having a lot of flight problems today. He missed his flight yesterday and today he's missing his connection.

We have dinner plans with the, with the Rollands. Oh, do you? Yeah. Where were they flying to?

Are they flying back home? No, not today. In a few weeks. Didn't, um, yeah, like he flew out and then had to return.

Yeah, I don't know. That guy's, you know, to that. Yeah, I don't know. He's a captain of a ship or something.

Yeah, he's a captain of the ship. Yeah. He's got a funny hat. Then why is he on a plane?

But the ship goes out of Jacksonville, so it wasn't a plane thing, because now he lives here in Florida. Do you know there are planes in the ocean, but there are zero submarines in the sky? Why did he have that plane? I don't know.

Him and Sarah must have been somewhere. You know, I get time sucked into this Facebook video about the Megalodon's thing. Have you guys seen this? Oh, where NASA found the Megalodon or something?

Or the Coast Guard or somebody did? Yeah. A gigantic shark? Yeah, they're like, oh, there is...

Off the coast of Maine or something? sonar pictures of this thing. I'm like, dude, that's the bottom of the reef. Like, what are you talking about?

That's amazing. You got a Shop of the Week? Um... Yes.

lake country cigar where we will be releasing the warbear oh the box press warbear will be released at lake country in september you heard it here first the box press what size is it corona gordo which is different from the earlier yeah which you thought how did you get that to yeah Yeah, yeah, no, they didn't get that, they were smoking the other one, so, alright, alright, this has been episode 296 of Cigar Hustlers Podcast, thank you. Thank you. Come see us on the Patreon. 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 & 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.

Music by: The American Heart of the Year.

Show Notes

In this episode of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, they bring you the latest updates from the cigar industry, including some surprising departures, exciting new releases, and changes in leadership across various companies. Here are some of the key topics covered:

Garret Robinson's Departure: The hosts discuss the departure of Garret Robinson and its implications for the industry. As Robinson leaves, the roles of Vice President of Sales and Marketing will be split among Doroteo, Ortega, and Moore.

Espinosa's New Releases: The podcast delves into the details of Espinosa's latest releases, the highly anticipated 601 Blue Label and the Knuckle Sandwich Habano in a 6 x 60 size. The hosts share their impressions and expectations for these cigars.

Changes in Leadership: Altadis U.S.A., JR Cigar, and Casa de Montecristo are experiencing changes at the top. The hosts discuss the new leadership taking over these companies and speculate on the potential impact on the market.

Tatuaje and Smoke Inn's NFT Auction: An update on the first-ever Anarchy NFT Auction organized by Tatuaje and Smoke Inn. The auction fetched an astonishing $100,000, indicating the growing interest in digital collectibles within the cigar community.

New Executive Director at NATO: The hosts cover the appointment of David Spross as the new Executive Director of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) and discuss the potential direction Spross might take the organization.

Ohana Nui's Latest Releases: Ohana Nui has shipped the Aloha and Time Out lines. The hosts provide insights into these releases and share their thoughts on the cigars' profiles.

Weather Update - Tropical Storm Idalia: Shifting gears, the podcast briefly discusses the weather forecast, noting the expected intensification of Tropical Storm Idalia into a Category 3 hurricane as it approaches Florida.

Unforeseen Incident at Papa Bees Restaurant: Wrapping up the episode with a dose of the unexpected, the hosts recount a bizarre incident involving a clogged toilet at Papa Bees restaurant in Longwood that escalated into a large fight, according to local police.

Tune in to the Cigar Hustlers Podcast for a blend of industry insights, product releases, and even some unexpected stories that keep you engaged from start to finish. Don't miss out on the latest happenings in the world of cigars!