ACHP 459 Guest Host Drew Tucker First Responders Cigars
Episode Summary
Host Mike Palmer is back in the chair with Phil "Boots" McGuffey engineering and guest co-host Drew Tucker, director of sales for First Responder Cigars (FRCC). Drew explains how the company started roughly three years ago as First Responder Coffee — founded by his brother, a former Green Beret and Tier 1 Delta Force operator who medically retired and began training SWAT and tactical law enforcement teams. Inspired by Black Rifle Coffee's veteran-support model, the brand sells coffee (bourbon pecan is the top seller) and cigars to subsidize training for underfunded first responder units and to support the wounded and families of the fallen. Cigars quickly outgrew coffee, and Drew describes the brand as "a cigar company that sells coffee." The crew also talks about the family's podcast ventures — the Tier One Podcast, the earlier Antihero Podcast, and Drew's own Truth in the Dark.
The news block opens with a feel-good Ohio story: an ODOT snowplow driver cut a path through a blizzard so an ambulance could get a critically ill infant to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. From there the conversation turns to China's execution of 11 people tied to the Ming family crime syndicate for telecom fraud and illegal gambling, which leads into the cigar-adjacent Chen Zhi case and the seized STG factory in the Dominican Republic. Drew shares his own China horror story — a defective K-cup machine and a supplier that refused to replace a burned-out motor — plus Mike's stories of Chinese factories cloning machinery and trademark-squatting on brand names.
Cigar news covers Crux Cigars' new value line, the Crux Marblehead (Ecuadorian Colorado Havana wrapper over Nicaraguan and Indonesian filler, made at Tabacalera Pichardo/Pages de Nicaragua, $7.99 Toro and $8.99 Gordo, named for Crux's signature 109-style cap); CLE Cigars' February 1, 2026 price increase across CLE, Asylum and Eiroa, including a $3 jump on the Asylum Megalophobia; the Isabela Cigar Company 2026 limited edition box-pressed 7x70 Mammoth with an Ecuadorian Habano Prieto and "desflorado" barber-pole wrapper at $14.95; and Tradecraft Cigars' third core line, the Vitruvian, from Gary and Robert Blumenthal of Tinderbox International, rolled at Tabacalera William Ventura with Wiber Ventura. They also dig into Boveda rebranding its cannabis humidity packs as VV, debate humidity preferences in Florida versus northern climates, beetles and power outages, and Phil recounts his Nicaragua trip (Esteli blackouts, Skip's solar-powered factory, VPNs).
The episode closes with the game "What's the Score," guessing Patrick Lagreid's Half Wheel review score for the Henry Clay Tattoo (final answer: 87), a birthday shout-out to Mark Palmer of the Brass Pipers in Fort Pierce, and a plug for frcc.shop and First Responder's high-caffeine Tier 1 coffee and swag.
In This Episode
- 01Meet Drew Tucker and First Responder CigarsHow a Green Beret and Delta Force veteran's coffee company grew into a cigar brand funding tactical training for first responders.
- 02Podcasts and Live-Stream MonetizationThe Tier One Podcast, the Antihero Podcast and Truth in the Dark, plus how super-chat donations drive live Q&A.
- 03Ohio Snowplow Saves a BabyAn ODOT driver plowed a path so an ambulance could reach Cincinnati Children's Hospital during a whiteout storm.
- 04China Executions, Chen Zhi and the Seized STG FactoryEleven executions in a telecom fraud crackdown lead into the Chen Zhi case and the shuttered Dominican STG factory.
- 05Doing Business in ChinaDrew's broken K-cup machine, cloned factory equipment and Chinese trademark squatting on brand names.
- 06Crux Marblehead Value LineCrux ships its most affordable cigar at $7.99–$8.99 with a 109-style cap, bundle packaging and retailer display trays.
- 07CLE Price Increases and Nicaraguan Band TaxesCLE raises wholesale prices Feb 1, 2026, and Drew explains the $200-per-band Nicaraguan fee and California's UTL registration costs.
- 08Isabela Mammoth, Tradecraft Vitruvian and Boveda's VV RebrandA 7x70 desflorado barber pole, Tradecraft's new Toro from William Ventura, and Boveda splitting off its cannabis packs as VV.
- 09What's the Score: Henry Clay TattooThe crew guesses Patrick Lagreid's Half Wheel score for the Altadis/Henry Clay Tattoo, which landed at 87.
Brands & Cigars Discussed
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Transcript
Welcome to Cigar Hustler Podcast, episode 460, I'm your host and back in my regular seat, Mike Palmer. With me today in engineering, fresh off his hosting run, Mr. Phil McGuffey. Phil, how'd you like sitting in the big chair?
It was exhilarating. Did you get your camera to work over there? Yeah, I got it. But remember, it only works for 30 minutes.
Right, right, right. I got you. We got a time limit here. And then today is my co-host from First Responder Cigars, a director of sales, Drew Tucker.
Hey, glad to be here. Hello, Drew. Thanks, Drew. Appreciate you coming in.
Thank you, Mike. Tell us a little bit about First Responder Cigars. Oh, First Responder Cigars. Well, we started off as a coffee company about three years ago.
He was nice enough to bring us some First Responder coffee. Some bourbon pecan-flavored coffee. Bourbon pecan? Oh nice, that's our number one seller.
It's very unique, you got to try it. Well, my brother is the one who started the company. We work together now, but he was a Green Beret for eight or nine years, and then he was a tier one Delta Force operator for about eight or nine years. He medically retired, and when he came home, he started training tactical law enforcement, SWAT.
And he recognized firsthand how underfunded they are and how much they need training. And some places can't afford the training that they need. And so he doesn't like going around begging for money, so he wanted to figure out a way to help raise money to subsidize his training. And so it's inspired by Black Rifle Coffee, of course, who helps veterans.
" Oh, there you go. And that's how it started. But my brother and I, we love smoking cigars. And we found a great supplier about six, seven months into the business.
And we jumped into cigars. And cigars really took off. And we're really now a cigar company that sells coffee. Cigar company that has coffee.
Transition from a coffee company that sells cigars. Yeah, so every time you drink our coffee, smoke our cigars, you're helping first responders get training. And those who've been shot, stabbed, family support for the fallen, all kinds of stuff like that. Wow.
Yep. It's great. You guys have a podcast, too. We have a podcast.
It's called the Tier One Podcast. Tier One Podcast. I do one, it's more of a small-time thing called Truth in the Dark. Okay.
What's that one about? I didn't know you had your own. Yeah, I do my own. I have, over the last few years doing this coffee and cigar business, you know, you sit around and you smoke cigars with people and you talk a lot.
" Yeah, no, you should. It takes a lot of time. Yeah, especially when you're trying to start a startup business, terrible. " And so I did it for a couple of months and I haven't done anything for about a couple of months because I've just been so- Just don't have the time.
Buried in business right now. Yeah, we have to force this thing out now at five days a week. Yes, it is definitely forced. Yeah.
Mikey forces us into the show every single day. Yeah. So how's the original show doing? Is it still doing good?
I've watched a couple episodes. I thought I knew military until I watched your show. I don't know anything about military. Okay.
Nothing at all. Now, you're talking about the tier one podcast? Yeah. Yeah.
Which one was Mikey on? Mikey did one of your shows. Mikey did the Antihero Podcast. Okay, that's the one I'm talking about.
That was the original one that my brother partnered with in Orange County, a deputy sheriff. Okay, so they parted ways. You weren't in that one? I helped produce it, so I was the guy behind the computer.
Gotcha, yes. They parted ways, and my brother's doing the tier one podcast, but the Antihero Podcast was a very successful podcast. Yeah, when I watched it, it was. I mean, you guys had tons of people watching, throwing money at you, it looked like.
Yep. Yep. Yep. Uh, yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Especially, you know, those lives and things like that. Yeah.
For sure. Teach us your ways, Drew, please. Yeah. They would pay to ask questions, Phil.
Really? Yeah. And I guess, what, the more you paid, the further up you got on the list or something? Um, basically, well, yeah, you can, you can donate a certain amount of money.
Right. And usually, depending, when you donate a certain amount of money, your, your chat gets highlighted. Okay. And you have a very, very, almost 100% chance we're going to address it.
And the more money you donate in the question, the more time we spend on the question. Hmm, gotcha. Is it like brighter or something? Every time they pay money, it turns red, it turns blue?
No, but the chat actually shows. It starts flashing or something? Yeah, not just the text, but it also shows what the money donation was. Oh, wow.
Oh, boots, money. Look at how it felt. I can really help you guys set it all up. It's just a small consulting fee.
Oh, sure. Can we pay in cigars? I'm just kidding. I help you guys out for nothing.
No, for, yeah, cigars. Yeah, we'll pay in cigars. I'll pay me in cigars, that's all. That's what we get paid in.
I'll be overpaid if you pay me in cigars. We have to pay for cigars, Palmer. We don't get paid in cigars. Well, I don't pay for my cigars anymore.
Oh. I do have to pay for my wife's cigars. Unbelievable. But she has cut way back, thank goodness, because she started getting sick from smoking.
So, my tabs only infuse cigars. Oh. Nice. All right.
On today's show, we have a story out of Ohio, where a snowplow operator saves a baby's life. China executed 11 people the other day in a crime sweep, Crux is back in the news with a budget-friendly cigar, CLE is raising prices on some new cigars, and Boveda is branding a product for pot storage. Really? Yes, but first, Phil, tell us how we can get some of that CH Pod swag.
com and click the buy button ten times, and are we still doing the buy two get 40% off? Buy two get 40% off, spend $100, get free shipping, all these deals Mikey just randomly puts out without asking us. I don't know if me and Palmer are doing free shipping, but I guess free shipping if you do the buy two. Not today, apparently, because he's not here, today too, free shipping today.
We bought something today. We bought something today. What's the one that we just had last? Smoke and Subscribe?
Smoke and Subscribe is a new shirt. I saw a beanie on the show the other day. Was that just the destroyed beanie? Yeah, so it was a destroyed beanie, but Mikey did say that if anybody wants to order one...
He turned them on? Did he get it finished? I don't know. I don't know if he turned them on.
He doesn't advise us of much. Yeah, I think yesterday after the show, he was kind of off the clock pretty much. Oh, did he? Took it right after?
Well, he had like a little thing afterwards, but I don't think it was anything with the podcast. Gotcha. Hmm. All right, our first story.
All hands emergency effort during dangerous conditions. During a severe Ohio winter storm, hospital care teams and an Ohio Department of Transportation driver worked together to safely transport a baby who urgently needed medical treatment. So, apparently in Ohio, the roads are really bad, and this baby had to get from one hospital to the other hospital, and the transportation department had shut all the highways. So there was no way to get the baby across town.
So they went on the radio and called for snowplow assistance or something. And this guy showed up, this younger guy, showed up with his snowplow and he literally dropped his plow on the highway, you know, the front, and made a path as the ambulance followed right behind him from one hospital to the other. And then they treated the baby and then he waited and they brought the, to bring the baby back. Getting it done.
Apparently it was life threatening whatever the baby had to do. They do. The only equipment at the other hospital was the only thing that could help them. Yeah, that's a service there.
Definitely customer service. ODOT crews cleared the life-saving pass. Snowplows and drivers helped navigate icy roads, making sure emergency vehicles could reach Cincinnati Children's Hospital, despite near zero visibility and hazardous travel. Wow.
Mike, that's why I tell my friends from up north I live down here in Florida, because if my truck breaks down in the middle of the night, I'm not going to die. I'm not going to die. Right, you're not going to freeze to death down here. Yeah.
Well, maybe this weekend, but other than that. And if my kid needs to get to a hospital, I don't have that problem. Right, right. We can still use helicopters.
Right. And things will get them around. Right. Right.
Every minute mattered. The child's condition was time-sensitive, turning the trip into a race against both the storm and the clock, highlighting how fast coordination saved a life. I don't know how they got the footage, actually, because the footage was overhead. So maybe something could fly.
Maybe they should have taken a helicopter. Right. He's like, hey, we're in the helicopter, but we're not gonna help you. Right, we can't move the kid, it's not that type of helicopter.
Right. Hmm. Maybe the drones can fly in some nasty weather, I don't know. Mm-hmm.
Well, especially those secret drones we have now that went over and took the guy from Venezuela. Yeah. Supposedly, they used drones there to knock out all the radar and everything. Yeah, that's what I heard.
Yeah, someone asked us on our live episode last night about that to my brother. Right. And my brother's like, that's new stuff. Even when they raided Osama Bin Laden, that team was not familiar with the classified Blackhawk helicopters they were using that night.
Right, or the sonic boom guns or whatever they have that apparently knocks you up, makes your nose bleed. Yeah, there's stuff out there. They're saying that stuff was what was happening with the Russian embassy when our people in Russia at the embassy were getting the headaches and the nosebleeds and stuff. They say that was probably from testing or something of that equipment.
Could be. Could be. Can you imagine the stuff they have that we just have no idea? Yeah.
There's a lot of it. There's a lot of it. But that's a good thing. Because if we don't know about it, China doesn't know about it.
That's true. Yeah, that's probably true, too. Oh, that was a good segue. Because we'll take it.
Yeah. Speaking of China. Speaking of China. China carried out an execution of 11 people convicted in a sweeping crackdown on large-scale telecommunications fraud And illegal gambling.
So apparently to make fake iPhones into gambling in China is a death sentence. Really? Man, that reminds me of here in Sanford down the road where we grew up, man. Yeah?
I would have friends in their backyard. They would climb up the power poles and they'd connect the cable. To get free TV? Get free TV, you know?
Yeah, I've never done that. That could be capital punishment in China. Apparently. Yeah.
" He said something, I'm like, "Mmm, wrong," and then hung up, he picked the wrong one. Yeah, exactly. Almost got me. You had a 50-50 chance, everybody.
Yeah. " So that's, do you know about the guy, what was that guy's name, Boots, who they took the Altus factory in Dominican Republic? Or STG factory. Zee, Zee, Zee, Zee, Zee.
Yeah, he's held in China. I guess his thing would be a death sentence, too, then. I don't know. I don't even think he's in China yet, right?
No, no, that's where he is. Oh, they're holding him there? Yeah, that's where they're holding him. So, a guy that's part of STG, a higher-up guy, they were looking for him all over the world.
He had done some Ponzi scam thing, took a bunch of money and everything. So, they seized their factory in the Dominican Republic. And they still took it. And they took all the tobacco, they took everything.
So they shut them down over there. And they did eventually find him in Malaysia or something. Was it? I think it was Cambodia.
Cambodia. And then the Cambodian government turned him over to the Chinese government. Yeah. And so.
And then once he's done there, if he ever gets done. Yeah, once he gets out of there. Then he comes to America. I don't think he'll ever come to America.
Well, the whole thing is, I don't think STG can open back up. No, the factory still sees. The rep was here the other day. He said they're still not making stuff.
Yeah, until he is tried in America. Oh. Pretty sure that's what it read. Yeah.
Chen Z was his name. Chen Z, that's it. Yeah, Chen Z. You Googled, didn't you?
No, I just, I was thinking, I was like, he had like some weird name like Gen Z, you know? Oh, Generation Z. But Chen makes sense, you know? He's part of Generation Z.
Right. Right. You know, the Gen Z people. He had a Chen Z Ponzi scheme.
It was Chen Z. Right. They didn't release the details of the Ponzi scheme. I'm curious what it was.
You play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Yeah, could be, who knows? That's it. The group included leaders of the Ming Family Criminal Organization, which authorities say operate scam centers and gambling operations tied to Manamar's border regions, causing billions in losses and being linked to multiple deaths and serious abuse of victims.
Ah, so they killed people too. Oh yeah, that's what I'm, that's what I'm hearing. I'm hearing this isn't only about phone scamming, it's only about a fake iPhone. That's just the reason they got them, they have other, that's a crime syndicate.
Crime syndicate, you no pay, we kill you now. That's it. That's like an old family though, the Ming Dynasty. Well, that's a dynasty, this is the Ming family.
I don't think they're part of the dynasty. No? No, that's like a time period. Oh, it's like Smith over here, this is a whole bunch of mings over there.
Yeah, these are yakuza, these are guys that got tattoos all over their bodies. I don't know, I respect that a little bit, Mike. The tattoos all over your bodies? No, no, the Chinese did.
I mean, you know, here in America, so many, uh, crime, crime can get off with these stupid, um, you know, uh, what do they call them? Loose ends. Oh, right. Technicalities.
Technicalities, there you go. Technicalities. When you know, when you know that they're, they're, they're rotten, you know? Yeah, there's no, he didn't read me my rights in China.
Right. China's like, yeah, we got you for this, but we know you're all, you're all about this, and this is what we're doing. Tell you what, we're just going to kill you. We need 10 of your friends.
I mean, they're like a dictatorship, right? They're communists. Okay, yeah. Yeah.
Unless you ask their people, because they tell their people they're not communists. Oh, yeah. No, we know. No, no, we know communists.
You do what you want, as long as we say it's okay. Right. Speaking of China, we recently purchased a large K-cup making machine from China. Oh, I did see you had K-cups on your website.
Yeah, our second one. Our first one was a good machine. It had its problems, but it didn't make as many K-Cups as we needed, but it got us for the first, you know, three years. Right.
Now we need a bigger machine. Oh, it can make your own K-Cups? Well, I was so nervous buying a machine from China, sight unseen, you know. Sure.
I picked a company that said they're 30 years old. You never know. It's China. No, they all lie.
I'll lie. 9 reviews. I can tell you, I went to China for over 20 years doing business. That's it.
Yeah, yeah. And, um, and this machine is absolutely terrible. I have been working till midnight on this machine probably four or five times in the last two weeks. Right.
Trying to tweak it. Oh, you still don't have it work yet? I don't have, well, I've, I've, it's made some. Made some cake ups.
It's been like pulling teeth. And then finally, the motor that spins the paddles in the hopper where all the coffee is stored, they put a motor on it that's too small. It's burned up, overheated, no good. I need a new motor.
You need a new motor. We're Americans. We need bigger. And I told them what happened.
I said, I need a new motor, and they said they can't help me. Oh, we need no help. We're very sorry. You buy it yours.
My goodness. I am so, so angry about that. But the only encouragement I have is that this is communist machinery. That's what this is.
And it's crap. And so, I don't think the West or America has anything to fear when it comes to Chinese military because their shite don't work, Mike. They just don't work. Their guns would probably jam all the time.
You can say shit on our show, by the way. Well, I mean, if you prefer not to, that's fine. I prefer because I know you were a minister in a former life. And I still do it.
I still do it. I went to, I used to do business with a lot factory and they had this new giant machine they wanted us to come look at. So we went and visited and they said we have two of them. So I'm looking at the machine and I'm going around looking at it, you know, and I'm looking and I'm looking and the serial numbers are exactly the same.
There's some other stuff that's exactly the same, you know, specific things that shouldn't be the same. and then I got my guy from the factory. I pulled him over. We go, come here, come here.
I go, you built the second machine, didn't you? And he goes, no, no. I go, yeah, you did. The number's exactly the same.
You didn't even change the monolumner. Yeah. He sort of giggles. He goes, yeah, we built second machine.
Yeah. So they bought one so they could knock it off. I mean, they're amazing copiers. They can copy anything.
Right. Yeah, he goes, yeah, we just paid this. And they're liars. Oh, my goodness.
They're all liars. I mean, you know. They're starting to copy basketball players. They all got tall ones like us.
Yeah, they're making tall ones now. Yeah. Yeah. The Mongolian people in China are taller, so they go, well, let's breed some of these together.
Right, yeah, let's take you, and you, you make a baby, and oh, he's eight foot. I don't like her. It doesn't matter. Doesn't matter if you like her or not.
We need a bigger one. Right. Right. We only have Yao Ming.
Yeah. Oh, the Ming's. Oh, again, with the Ming's. Yeah, there it is.
Oh, it all comes back around. Small circle. Oh. All right, where do we leave?
Chinese court said the executions followed full legal review. That seems kind of vague in China. We will not tell you what the legal review is. Yeah, fully.
What's the legal review? We haven't written it down yet. It'll be done in a minute. Right.
And approval by the Supreme People's Court, ooh, reinforcing the government's message that organizers of cross-border fraud will face the harshest penalties available under law. I wonder what is their harshest. Is it waterboarding? Uh, I'm sure that's, that's legal.
Legal or illegal over there? Legal. When my father used to go over there, he was, he owned part of a, well, they thought he owned part of a wood factory because they put his picture, they put George Bush up, they put my dad up, and then they put Ronald Reagan up in the factory's pictures. Nice.
Right. So there was a fire in a factory next door, and it was a packaging factory, so it was all paper and box products and stuff cut on fire. They tried to blame it on the wood factory, so they went and gathered up a bunch of employees, and they took them to jail, and then they were just beating them up, trying to get them to confess to starting the fire in the other place. so the owner had my dad fly over and he still i mean he's going my dad's going out but still doesn't know what was said but they he was just told to wear a suit look like you're pissed off and just stand there in pace so that's what he did and then they let all the people go to my dad's um they thought he was a political yeah they thought it was some big they thought yeah apparently they were telling something like he's gonna send the marines over to get You can get these people out if you don't just let them go.
Yeah. Well, Mike, I might need some advice from you if I have to get a Chinese lawyer over this machine. Oh, good luck getting a Chinese lawyer. Don't waste the time.
Yeah. Don't get the Ming's. Don't get it back. I don't know if there's any legal recourse on something like this.
From over here? No, there's not. No, unfortunately, no. You have to actually register your name in China so no one else can make products under your name.
So, like, if you guys were doing first responder K-Cups and you were selling just the cups, you'd have to register your name in China, but somebody else would already beat you to it, and then they hold it and you have to pay them money. Yeah, they have guys that do just that, right? Right, yeah. They just grab names.
It's like people are here when they grab a website. Right. Same idea. So, because you can't ship it out under first responder coffee if somebody else owns your name.
Right. It's like a ransom. So, we had a guy at the lock factory that did that to one of the customers, and, you know, we were all drinking one night, and the owner, and we're talking about the guy. I'm not the guy.
The owner looks at me and I sort of just do this, you know, like we should just... and then he looks at me and he goes, oh yeah, you know, and he gets big bright eyes and he's like, yeah. And I'm like, oh shit, I just put a hit on somebody. Yeah.
So, the name did get cleared up a little while later. I don't know what happened exactly though. Right. All right.
The move highlights China's broader campaign to dismantle scam compounds across Southeast Asia, even as international human rights groups continue to criticize the country's use of capital punishment and lack of transparency around execution. Now, there was no information about exactly how they were executed, but the standard execution in China, which seems odd, is lethal injection. You'd think there would be a hanging or a shooting type country. Yeah, shooting.
Shooting. You would think? More old-school, or maybe they, you know, make you, you know, Yeah, honor kill. Honor kill.
Yeah. Honor kill, right. Everyone gets a sword and then police. Or is that more Japan?
I think it might be more Japan. Samurai's Japan, but I guess China would be more like the Mongolian horde, right? Right. Gets a quarter of them on horses or something.
Ooh. Oh. Wow, horse fights, that'd be cool. Boots, how much time we had?
I forgot to start the timer. 21. Oh, we're doing okay. Yeah.
All right, into Cigar News. Here we go. So, let me ask you, Phil, because I didn't watch all of yesterday's, is this how you guys did the first part of the show? Basically?
Kind of, yeah. It was, you know, trial and error, because he's like, only read part of it, and then we'll talk about it. I'm like, okay, so I just read the title? Is that what you, like, how do you want me to read it?
Right. It's a learning curve. See how it goes. Yeah.
All right. Cigar news. Crux Cigars has started shipping its most affordable line to retailers. The Crux Marblehead is made up of an Ecuadorian, Colorado, Havana wrapper covering an internal blend of Nicaraguan and, and how do you say Nicaraguan, Drew?
Nicaraguan. Yeah, they keep telling me that's wrong. I don't care. Yeah.
Mikey wants me to say Nicaraguan. Nicaraguan. Nicaragua, Nicaragua. Nicaragua.
I'm from Florida, so I say it. There you go, brother, I'm with you. Nicaragua and Indonesian Tobacco, the regular production line is being made at Tablicalera Pages Day Nicaragua SA factory. I'm not familiar with this factory.
I've heard of Pages. As a factory? Yeah, there was another news story we did not too long ago that somebody was out of that factory. Have you been over there, Drew?
No, I have not. Yeah, I haven't either. Why do the sales directors not get to go to Nicaragua? Because we do all the work.
That's about right. We don't have the time. Don't have the time. You know, that's been his excuse.
If you go, who's going to sell the cigars? Exactly. The first time the company has worked with this factory. Oh.
There are two Vitolas, each of which will ship to retailers 20-count clear PVC bundles containing four separate five-pack bundles. Retailers will also send a refillable 60-count display tray, which is designed to hold multiple 20-count and five-count bundles at the same time. That's a lot of information about bundles. There's no information about bundling.
Yeah. I'm confused. I have no idea what they're shipping other than it has a bundle. Why are they telling everybody about the tray?
I mean, that's just for retailers, right? Well, it's a nice looking tray. The picture is a tray. And it holds a lot.
And it holds a lot of cigars. Which adds to its affordability. Right. Yeah, but that takes up a lot of shelf space, right?
It looks like it takes a space of maybe three boxes. Have you seen the Phosphoro trays? Oh, yeah, yeah. It looks about like that, but maybe a little deeper.
Oh, okay. What's the Suggested Retail on each cigar, you think? We're getting right to that, Drew. Thank you for asking.
Oh, yes. 99. 99. The Marblehead was, oh, so it's just two sizes.
Just a Toro and a Gordo. What sizes do you guys' cigars come in? Toro. All Toro.
Yeah, we have a double, we have one double Toro, and then we have one Toro that's box-pressed, but we just keep it simple with Toro. Double Toro twice as long or twice as fat? Fat. I was in a conversation with a shop owner yesterday.
He was like, "Why does everybody keep changing Gordo, Super Gordo, Fat Robusto? " Yeah, everybody just wants to be special. And what's interesting is a lot of them, you know, because we've had a lot of people asking, you know, could you get a Robusto, something a little shorter than, you know, a Toro? Because sometimes I don't have 20, 30 minutes to smoke a cigar.
And we just tell them, smoke half of it, throw it away, because a shorter cigar costs about the same amount of money to us. Yeah, you don't save a lot of money with a Robusto. The cost in the retail is almost the same, so just smoke a bigger cigar, throw half of it away. See, it doesn't matter what you have.
We have smaller ones up to Toro, and everybody wants us to make a bigger one. Oh, yeah. Yeah, do you guys make it at 60? Well, we make one.
Yes, you have to buy it. It's expensive. It's expensive to buy. That's our double tour, it was a 60 ring.
Yeah. That's the Warbear, right? Yeah, and ours, yeah, five and seven eights by 60. Yep.
Marblehead was created to be a true value-driven premium cigar, said Jeff Hogan, a founder of Crux Cigars, a press release. We wanted something that felt classic, smoked beautifully, and was accessible to a wide range of enthusiasts. This is a good idea, because cigar prices have been going up. Whoa.
Yeah. How many people are going down? Is Crux expensive? I mean, they said eight or nine bucks.
They're about like us. They're like, you know, 17 to 20 bucks, there's something around that range, I think, anymore. I don't remember that. They're just using that product to tap into the low-end cigar.
Right. The Yardgar group, you know, they just don't want to spend money on a cigar. This is a big golf cigar, they're a big golf-themed company, so. Yeah.
And Nicaragua's been hitting us with these band taxes, right? Like, for every different banded cigar you have, this year they've been charging us $200 on a tax for a band, yeah. So if you, so if we had, we have five bands, so that was $1,000 we had to fork out to Nicaragua, had nothing to do with the price of the cigar, it was just, Nicaragua decided they wouldn't make some money. I hadn't heard about a banding tax before.
Yeah. And I know who makes your cigars, he's not gonna be doing anything crooked. No. He made my cigar.
I have my own cigar, BDP. Oh, yeah? Yeah, Z and I made that together. Yeah, Z's a great guy.
Yeah. Everybody loves Z. Everybody loves Z. Well, there's a couple, but that's because they're not good people.
Right, right. All the good people love Z. Right. The Marblehead name refers to Crux's signature cap, which debuted in 2014, and is a cross between a Bellicoso cap and a normal cap.
I didn't know they have a special cap. The cap style is similar to a 109 style cap, which originated in Cuba Cuba has been utilized by several different non-Cuban companies over the years. You know any of the Crux guys, Drew? Do I what?
Do you know any of the Crux guys? I do not. Oh. Casey Hogan, the owner's brother who's in charge of their sales, he used to play baseball with my nephew.
Oh, okay. Small world. Yeah. Triple-A ball, not regular ball.
I really don't know the difference, I just sounded like a dude. Triple-A is good. But that's like a lower level, like their sporty film. It's not MLB, but it's close.
Right. You're on the farm team. Is that the farm team guys? Yeah, and AAA is like the next call up, like you're waiting to get called up.
What's the one down from that? Double A and then you have single A. Maybe it was one of those, I don't know. I just know they were on the same team.
Okay. But neither one of them... I mean, any of them is great to be on. Neither one of them went pro though, apparently so.
Yeah, like the Tortugas is a single A for the Cincinnati Reds here in Daytona. Oh, is that really? Yeah, but they... Over in Sanford?
Yeah, no, Daytona. They play at... Oh, that's right. There's a turtle team in Sanford.
Yeah, Jackie, is that Jackie Robinson Stadium, I don't know. I don't know. When I get lost in Sanford, I find the baseball field. Oh, yeah, there's one over there.
Well, they have, they don't, I don't think they have a single A, I think they are something else. Like the Savannah Bananas, they're like in a league like that. Oh, gotcha. Yeah.
Hmm. All right. CLE Cigars, maker of the CLE Asylum and Erola brands, have announced that it will increase prices on February 1st, February 1st, 2026. Per a letter sent to retailers, the company says that the increase will be 25 cents to the wholesale price of most of its cigars, though some brands are getting their own unique price increases.
Ooh, that sounds a little high. Sounds like the first one of the year. This is the third that we've talked about on the show. Oh, is it?
You weren't here, I don't think any other ones. Oh. The Schizzo Maduro is going up 10 cents. The Asylum is going up 50 cents.
Oh, I like that cigar. The Asylum 13, 50 cents. It's April Fool's, ooh, going up a dollar, unless it's an April Fool's, they joke. That's a lot, a dollar?
A dollar a cigar, it's a nine by 90 cigar, it's a huge cigar. The Asylum Megalophobia is going up three dollars. Oh my Lord, it's a 13 by 134. Wow.
How big is that? I mean, is that like... Retarded. That's stupid.
Yeah. No one's going up three dollars. Yeah, no one's buying it. Shareable size.
Right, right, yeah, it's for two or three people. It has multiple ends on it when it gets back to the back side. Here, put this in your fire pit. It's a family stick.
There you go. Typically, if a cigar company increases prices, it's most likely to announce the changes in the first quarter of the year. However, 2026 has started with fewer announced price increases than in previous years. Oh, I think everybody's still waiting on the tariffs.
Yeah, tariffs. I mean, also, inflation. They want to stay on top of inflation. The cigar can't stay the same price forever.
So, they want to stay on top of that. How are you guys dealing with the tariffs that affected your prices yet? Minimal. I want to say last year, wholesale went up maybe around 15 cents is probably the average.
It's not bad. Yeah. Yeah. Not too bad.
I know Z said that he consumed a little, absorbed a little bit of the price increase, so we kind of shared it. Gotcha. So it went up higher. I don't know what it was.
I don't know how much is he absorbed. Does he roll your stuff in his factory over there? Does he have it rolled somewhere else in his factory? Yeah, in his factory.
They banned it. Roll it there. Yeah. Banned tax is really weird.
I would think I would have heard something, but not necessarily. They don't tell me anything here. I only find stuff out when I listen in or accidentally end up in a meeting. Accidentally.
Accidentally where they don't know I'm in the meeting. Right. Most of the times I'm like a lamp around here, they just, they don't notice I'm standing there. All right.
Well, did you hear about California? There is a law in California that basically for every different band being sold in California, you had to pay, basically pay to play. Is that the UTL stuff? Yeah, that's what he's talking about.
Is that what it is? Yeah, you have to register it. Yeah, you have to pay $300 per cigar to have your cigar certified non-infused. Right.
Yeah, but there's been infused. Yeah, but there's been infused that have cleared. Yeah, right. Well, for that, for $300 per band, we had like two lounges that carry our cigars in California.
Yeah. And they were wondering if we were going to, you know, pay the UTL thing. Like, you got, you know, between the two lounges at wholesale prices, they just didn't sell enough to be worth it, so we're just like, well, we're not selling cigars to California anymore. Yeah, you'll get them in the mail.
Well, yeah, well, that's just it. Right. Well, you can't ship them to them, but you could ship them to their people still. Yeah.
I mean, because they can't check your mail. Right. Or maybe they become a consumer and you ship it to their house. There you go.
Right. Yeah. Bob over at the cigar shop just got some stuff in his house that looks great. Right.
All right, last year, Isabella Cigar Company box pressed its 7x70 Mammoth Cigar for the first time. The annual limited edition was offered in a pressed version. Now it's back for a sophomore release like the 2025 version, Isabella 2026. Limited edition Mammoth uses a barber pole wrapper designed with Ecuadorian Habano Prieto and Ecuadorian Desfl...
I hate when they bring up new cigar, new tobacco. I haven't heard of it before. Ecuadorian Desflorando, tobaccos to create the contrasting look underneath the tobaccos from Nicaragua, which the company says are aged for various amounts of time. Oh, now they're not even lying anymore.
Right. Now it's just various times. Yeah. Yeah.
I heard tobacco is aged. Sounds like a good cigar, though. You know, I've never had an Isabella. I've seen it around forever, but I've never had one.
But, I mean, this thing's huge. Yeah. But would you smoke a lot of herb? No.
Phil, you smoke a lot of different stuff? Not that, though. Usually, anything that's over a 56, I'm not touching. Well, they box press it, so it's easier to put in your mouth.
Right, a better mouth feel for you there, Phil. Yeah, but that's a 70. I mean, what's with these huge sizes? I just don't understand.
Everybody wants a big cigar right now. I don't know what it is. Yeah, but how many people do you see smoking these things? Anything over a 60?
Not over a 60. I see people smoking 60s a lot. Yeah, and that's because, you know, who made that big? JFR, right?
JFR made that giant one that we smoked on the show? The one that we smoked on the show? Yeah, well, the 60, though. Oh, the regular JFR.
Yeah, the regular JFR. Yeah, it's too big for me, too. I've got a small mouth. Right.
You know, believe it or not, I do. I don't know. I just don't like sitting there with a pipe in my mouth, you know? Right.
It just doesn't feel comfortable. Have you ever smoked a pipe? We're a man. We're a man.
They're a lot of work. They are a lot of work. I still have the time for them. Yeah.
I appreciate them, and I love the smell of pipe tobacco. Sure, right. But the work, the time, you know, I'm not there yet. I hope to be there one day.
You know, you can smoke the rest of your cigar on a pipe. I've seen people do that. I know it's a thing, but I think it looks stupid. Keanu does that all the time upstairs.
Never heard of that. Yeah. Oh, yeah, they take the butt end of the cigar and they shove it into the top of the pipe. Really?
So, I mean, you're smoking and you're looking like this because there's half a cigar sticking out of your pool. Right, right. okay i mean just keep just doing the little girly stick things and use that poker yeah the poker which i think is another thing that doesn't look good yeah that's weird you just gotta really like that cigar and every once in a while i get a cigar i'm like man this is tasting really good and as soon as my fingers get hot i'm done with it yeah yeah right sometimes just get another one sometimes well sometimes the other one just doesn't taste quite as good that is true you If you like a second one, the same one you like. You know, sometimes I'll get a toothpick, man, I'll find something just to.
Not a decorated ornamental little skull with flashy eyes on it? Don't have to have that. Whatever I can. Whatever gets the job done.
Right. We had a guy last year make us some for the show, and he made microphones. So he took like these type of microphones, and he made his pokers, but it looks like you're holding a microphone with the thing sticking out of the top. Nice.
A little more manly looking, I guess. That's cool. All right, these giant cigars from who are these people again? CLA?
No, no. Isabella Cigars. The 770 Mammoth is a guess. You guys can guess.
How much do you want to guess of Mammoth? All right, you go first, Drew. The Mammoth Retail? Yeah, yeah.
MSRP Freedom Dollars. 99. Bill? Isabella, let's go $21.
95. It's a deal. Hey, that is a deal. It's a dollar increase from last year, but only a dollar.
Really? A 70 ring gauge at 14? Wow. Yeah, that seems cheap, doesn't it?
Yeah, it does seem cheap. Maybe there's something wrong with it. I thought Isabella would be worth more. Yeah, so did I.
I thought they were more expensive cigars. I was surprised. Cheaper tobacco. Once again, the company, what?
Cheaper tobacco. Well, whatever that weird tobacco was, I said. Yeah, what was that? Sort of the D?
Desflorado. Desflorado. Ecuadorian Desflorado tobacco. Apparently, it's a deal.
It's a deal. It's a deal. It's a deal. Buy two, get one.
Buy two, get one. Pre-shipping over $100. Once again, the company will offer retailers boxes of 25. You get 25 of these giant cigars.
But Isabella will also sell bundles via its website. Production is limited to 25 boxes. They're only making 25 boxes. Big box.
There's only so many leaves at discount. Oh, there's one of that Des Florado. Yeah. Des Florado.
It's from the city of Des Florado. It's super rare. Making 25 boxes, 50 bundles of 25, less than half of the 2025 production. Oh, so it wasn't that popular before.
I guess. I've never heard of it. Oh, somebody hit the door. Ding dong.
Do we have somebody special coming in? Yeah, Sean just bought on our website. Oh. You know what?
Okay. I was in a shop in Tampa years ago. I forget the name of it. But they had like a front room, which was like their display room.
Like their display room, and then in the back is where they kept all the stuff. Every time an online order came in, that noise would ring through the entire building. I thought it was so cool, I tried to figure out how to do it here, and Mikey wouldn't let me. There's already enough noises here.
Yeah, but how cool, I mean, you know, because if you're working out on the floor by yourself, you might miss an online order because you don't know when they come in, there's no noise in the back. Right. " Yeah, it'd be neat if I went, ching, ching! Right.
Maybe I should bring it up again. They'll forget I brought it up before. Just do it. Just set it up myself?
Yeah, just set it up. Not a bad idea. You're gonna do it anyways if they say set it up. That's true.
Right. Like he wants his show to go online. When do I have time to figure that part out? Yeah, exactly.
Tradecraft Cigars, the company launched by Gary and Robert Blumenthal, fourth and fifth generation cigar men and the owners of Tinderbox International, has begun shipping the company's It's a third core line, the Vitruvian. Oh, the Vitruvian. Is that a line from a movie or something, the Vitruvian? No, you're thinking of Peruvian.
Oh, no, I'm not thinking of Peruvian. It's a completely different product. Right. It's a 6x50 Toro with a blend that uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut seed wrapper from ASP.
What is that? Do you have any idea where ASP is? No. Did you put your glasses on?
I did. I wanted to find out where that Desflorado is. Oh, did you? Do we have information?
So it's tobacco that has been topped or removed of its flower, seeds, and sometimes the entire upper portion of a tobacco plant. This causes the tobacco plant to redirect its energies from creation of the flower to the tobacco leaves. Topped tobacco is stronger than tobacco that has not been topped. So it's been deflowered or desflorado.
Yeah, desflorado, that's right. This seems like it's made up. Like somebody thought, you know, we cut the top off, the tobacco gets stronger, it didn't make no flour. Yeah, this guy wants 25 boxes, let's do this.
What a great idea. Call it deflowered. You're right. That doesn't sound good.
How about this florado? Oh, it's very pretty. We may get this florado. It's one dollar more.
One dollar more. They go for it, no problem. Right. That just sounds ridiculous.
We took the flour off the top, so now the rest of the plane is stronger. Right. How can they even check that? Marketing man.
We're going to cut every cigar in half. And you know what? The back half is stronger than the front half because you don't have to burn through the front half to get to the back. Yeah, I'm going to tell you, in Nicaragua, they do- It's called back-end cigars.
Right, right. In Nicaragua, they definitely don't have technology to check the strength. See, our friend Phil there went to Nicaragua about a month ago, and so now he's an expert. I'm not an expert, but I just remember seeing no technology.
No technology. Yeah. No power, no Wi-Fi, nothing. Yeah, the power went out across the whole SLE one night.
Did it really? Yep. China used to have brownouts where you couldn't go places. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Like, we want to go visit the factory today. Oh, you can't.
We have no power day. Like, oh, no power. Well, the cool thing is, like, Skip, I guess he's learned this before. Yeah.
So, he has solar power for his factory. So, nobody else has this. this and what's funny is nobody else no no there's oh well there's like a j j does not have a solar power aj aj has everything no they were everybody was out the whole place the when we drove out there was no light anywhere except for our hotel and skips factory i heard aj's got his own son it just sits yeah maybe only aj only it says right there on the sun only well now he really has it with us with uh all to this half and all their stuff go to him we're not supposed to be talking I've been talking about that. Oh.
Great. Now I gotta cut that out. 40 minutes. No, no, no.
I don't care. Because I've been in other shops, and apparently the person who told us is telling other people too. Oh, okay. Well, yeah.
But we're not going to go into detail. Yeah, let's not go into detail. So what else does Skippy run on solar power? His whole place.
Okay. Now I'm assuming the main source of power at a tobacco rolling factory is lights. Lights, fans. Lights and fans?
Yeah, you know. Does he have fans? Do you have extractors for like the smells, like the ammonia and stuff like that? Well, yeah, otherwise it blows up and they have fires like they did at AJ.
Yeah, but I mean, it's some power, but he has some power banks on his wall next to his breaker box. Right. I think there was probably... But there's not like huge rolling machines or tobacco flippers or something.
No, the rolling machines are the people. Right, that's what I mean. So you could run a cigar factory on solar because you're running, you know, lights and fans. Yeah, pretty much.
Yeah. Right. Cell phone chargers. Yeah.
Do they have cell phones? Did you take your cell phone? Yeah. Yeah.
But you can't use a lot of American, um, apps though. Did you? Can't use American apps? No.
So like, uh, like, uh, I have my own business and I was trying to use my CRM and I couldn't log into it. It wouldn't allow me to. Well that makes sense. Yeah.
So I had to get a VPN. Right. To tell your phone you're not in, Esteli. Right.
To run it. I couldn't get on Hard Rock, I couldn't get on anything. Okay. He couldn't gamble, huh?
He's a big gambler. Yeah, and I was nervous. He's not good at it at all, but he's a big gambler. Yeah, of course.
" Yeah, as China. Yeah, right, yeah. Right, yeah. Right, yeah.
You might have been executed. Right. American killed in Esteli Nicaragua for gambling with the Hard Rock app. Yeah, I wasn't chancing it.
We're not sure of his name. Boots, Phil, Stephen. We're not sure what it is. Yeah, which one is it?
All right. Whoever this rapper is from ASP, it's an Ecuadorian Sumatra seed binder and a filler blend of Dominican Criollo 98, Seco, and Criojo Seco Ecuadorian. Puntiao? P-U-N-T-A-O?
Just say it with confidence, Mike. Just say it with confidence. Puntiao. Yeah, nobody's going to know you're wrong.
That's right. Yeah. It's a viso in tobacco from Nicaragua's Jalapa region. Oh, okay.
The Vitruvian is crafted for modern connoisseurs who demand depth without overpowering strength. Huh. Because they use the Des Florado. No, that's the other one.
Yeah. That's the other one. Pricing on this cigar. Oh, how about pricing on this cigar, guys?
This is sold on their website, so this is their own retail pricing. It's a 12-count box. Is it a box price or a cigar price? Well, let's do the cigar price because then you can figure out the box price.
Okay. What size is it? 70. It was like a 70, wasn't it?
Let's say 1299. It's a 6x50 Toro. 6x50. Still sticking to 1299?
Why not? Okay. It's a direct, so I'm going to go 9. 1450.
Wow. You guys went the wrong way on that one. They like that 14. They do.
They do. That's why they do it. It's the same. The Vitruvius joins the company's other two lines, the Gladius and the Azorian, which debuted on November 7th, 2025, at an event hosted by Tinderbox Haverford in Haverford, PA.
All three lines are produced by Tabla Calera, William Ventura, and the Dominican Republic. At least we've heard of that factory. And Weiber? W-I-B-E-R?
I think I know this guy. I've never called him Weiber. Maybe Weiber? Weeber Ventura, working with the Blumenthal's on the blends, a fourth line is already planned with the Blumenthal's working with Hostos Fernandez of Tablacalera La Isla, Robert Blumenthal told Half Wheel that the cigar will be a full-bodied Sumatra blend.
Oh, another Sumatra. I think Sumatra is the leaf for the season here. Yeah. All right, moving on to Boveda, or Boveda, or Bo-vita, depends on how you say it.
Oh, it's called Boveda. Boveda? Yeah. Nobody really knows how you say it.
They're rebranding its marijuana-targeted products to V-I-V-I, V-V. Boveda, Boveda, Boveda, Boveda, has announced that its two-way humidity packs that are marketed to be used to cure and store marijuana will be sold under the new brand, V-V. V-V. Sounds like a stupid name.
V-V. I wonder what the reasoning is behind that name. I don't know. V-V.
But it is a completely different-looking packaging. There were pictures along with the article. It's gonna go for $420. Oh, that would be funny, wouldn't it?
That would be funny. The packs themselves are functionally the same as they were before, but the company will be selling them using a different look that will separate the cannabis-focused products from the rest of the company's targeted markets. You think they don't want their stuff associated with it, the regular cigar Boveda packs? Yeah, that's why you make a different name.
Right, that's why you change the package and give it a different name. Just in case something goes south. Right. Is it this you?
No, no, no. That's Vivi. We don't even know what that is. Well, some people might not buy it that are, you know, Boveda people, they might not buy it just because they deal with, you know, the other people, if you will.
I've had people come in and ask for it, for their, you know, and they have to say the right word because it's a retail shop. They can't say marijuana, they can't say pot, they have to say flour. Right. Or our stuff.
As long as you stop, I'm like, wait, stop right there. You have to say flour. I think I know where you're going. Do you like flours?
And we're going to pretend like you're baking cookies, and you need to keep your flour dry. Right. It includes, oh, it can also go on musical instruments, food storage, and other applications. Can you put a regular Boveda in with food?
I would imagine, why couldn't you? It's not toxic, is it? No. I mean, they're saying it's the same thing, just a different label on it.
Well, it's basically what those little packets are, like in beef jerky and stuff, right? You put a cigar in a fresh pack, I mean, this cigar is going to absorb whatever's inside that. That atmosphere. Oh, good point.
Still putting that in your mouth. You're ingesting it. Yeah. Good point.
Never thought about that before. No, that stuff they put in beef jerky boots absorbs and does not give humidity. They don't want the beef jerky to get wet because then it's not beef jerky anymore. Right.
I like it when it's a little, I'm not going to say that word, but. You like it a little moist? Yeah. Do you put a couple of drops of water in it or something?
No, I actually, when I buy beef jerky, I put it on the dash of my truck. That's going to dry it out more. No, no, no. It cooks it, and it actually brings out- Which dries it out more.
No, it creates a little humidity in there. Have you ever tried it? No, it doesn't. Try it.
I promise you. It makes the beef jerky more tender. I think you're wrong. Okay.
I eat a lot of beef jerky. I'm sure you do. You see, somebody said the other day, they imagined your house, there's just empty fast food and jerky containers all over the floor. No, not fast food.
Cannabis has its own culture, its own standards, and its own community, said Sean Knutson, president and CEO of Boveda in a press release. VV allows us to show up for the industry in a more intentional and authentic way while standing behind the same quality consistency and performance they have set the standard for. Basically, he's saying what Drew said, in case something goes south, we want to have an out. Right.
This is hardly the first major rebrand of Boveda. In 2012, the company announced that it was moving away from Humipac, name that it used in conjunction with Boveda and replaced what were what then white packs to brown packs and blue Boveda branding. That is similar to the company's current offering. While the company got its start selling the two-way humidity packs for cigars, the growing marijuana market has greatly expanded the company's sales staff and global reach of the marijuana space.
Wow. Wow. It's a big deal. It's a big deal.
Boveda markets its humidity packs for the cigars With a starting point of 69% relative humidity, right around the 70% number, that was often touted as the ideal humidity for a humidor, also offers the packs in lower and higher relative humidity levels. What do you guys like your cigars at? You like dry or you like it a little soft? I personally don't really tell much of a difference between 50% and 69-70%.
Did you say 50? Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah.
I mean, I, I mean, there's, there's a lot of cigars that I store, um, just in an air conditioned room in my house. Yeah. And I don't have any problems with them. Yeah.
We do live in Florida. As long as they don't sit a long time. Yeah. I mean, there's humidity in the air.
Yeah. Every time you open up my front door, humidity rushes into our, right. And it, and you know, inside my house is going to be, you know, 45 to 50% humidity. Right.
Yeah. I usually keep mine like around 71. I like I think mine a little, a little moist, like your beef jerky. Yeah.
So what are you, 76? No, I don't go that high. Oh. No, I think mine's at 72.
Yeah. My little humidor I have at home. I don't keep any cigars at home. I mean, I'm here every day, so why?
Yeah, most, well, I mean, I keep them at home just for storage, but most of the time I keep them in the middle of my truck, 'cause that's where I'm at. When you were in Nicaragua, how many huminors did you see? None. Exactly.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, they don't, well, I didn't even see one person smoking cigars unless it was, like, the main guys of the factory. Well, that's burning money.
That's why you don't see that. They weren't like people walking down the street, just everybody smoking a cigar. Children, women, men, old ladies. Yeah, I mean, it was described to me as it's just not the culture there.
But... Oh, makes sense. I would also think that they can't buy them, right? Because they're super poor.
That's true. Why waste money on cigars? We need food. Yeah.
For them to buy a $14 cigar, they got to work a whole day. Well, it don't cost $14 over there. Well, I mean, if you have a retailer, probably, maybe. No, not in Esteli.
I don't know. If they're buying cigars there, they're paying a couple of bucks, I would imagine. It's probably a Segundo of some sort, or, you know, Segundos that even they won't sell as a Segundo. I don't know.
In my personal opinion, a humidor is needed mostly in a northern climate. That would make sense. Makes sense. Because when they're running their heaters.
Right. It dries everything out. It dries everything out really bad. Yeah.
You know, because the heat inside houses or stores. Right. We, down here, we just don't have that much of a problem. Unless the power goes out.
I had the power go out one year and didn't even think about the humidor. Well, it's about $400 worth of cigars. What happened to them? They got dry and got beetles.
Yeah, but that, now that's the thing you gotta watch out for. That's the problem, yeah. Because the power was out for three or four days at the house. Didn't even consider it, more worried about the food in the fridge and didn't even think about it.
Yeah. And that's more of a temperature issue. Right, yeah, it was a temperature issue than a humidity issue. Right.
We watch that. Yeah, you start going through and you got little holes in them and then it's like playing a flute when you're smoking because you try to keep the air. I got to cover these seven holes up as I smoke. You can still smoke them, man.
You still can, yeah. I mean, you'll burn the bug before you find it anyway. Cigars for you and your wife. There you go.
Oh, there's a lot more marijuana story. Oh, the Viva name, though, the boat, oh, hold on, hold on, let's see. Do you think they explain this? Nope.
It's kind of interesting that they changed their packaging from white to brown. I didn't know that they were white before. Because then Boost came out, right? Right, and Boost is white.
And Boost went white. That's a different company. Right. The brown looks more natural.
Yeah, maybe the white would get dirty or something in the humidor. Sure. Yeah, I don't even buy Boost because I feel like the white just looks cheap. I don't know if that makes sense.
It does look cheaper than the regular Boveda. You're right. It's definitely not cheaper, but it looks cheaper. It gives off a more synthetic, even though it's all synthetic.
It just gives off a more synthetic vibe. Yeah. More than a natural vibe. More clinical-looking thing.
It's all. It's marketing. You're right. I think they last longer, though.
Really? Because, you know, every once in a while you get one in the mail or something, or it's inside of a magazine or something. God, I wish. Were you the one that taught me to put, like, some water, Or was that Chet?
Probably it was Chet. " It's a very long process, and they swell up like a pillow. I mean, they look like a pillow when they swell up. Right.
And then after you do it once or twice, supposedly they don't last as long anymore. Oh, hmm. Yeah, but that was Chet that used to do that. Yeah.
Yeah. All right, now it's time for the industry's favorite new game. Uh-oh. Blaine, what's the score?
The score. This will be Drew's first time at what's the score, so we'll be gentle, we'll be nice to you. Thank you. Welcome, Drew, welcome.
All right. First cigar we're doing, this cigar was reviewed in November 13th, 2015, by Patrick LaGreide, it's an Altidus cigar, it's from the Dominican Republic, this is the Henry Clay Tattoo. Oh. You familiar with this cigar at all?
No, Henry Clay. Henry Clay is an Altidus cigar, obviously. Yeah. So, have you ever seen any of the Half Wheel reviews?
I have not. Do you go to the Half Wheel website ever at all anyway? Are you familiar with what Half Wheel is? I'm just not.
I do my business, and that's my business. Half Wheel is the, let's just say, that is the, without offending anyone else, that is the premier cigar industry media source. Yeah. Okay.
They don't do many videos, but they do do articles every day. They have like an online magazine. Okay. And then if you do a press release, you send it to them, and they update their website every single day, by the minute sometimes.
Wow. So if something big has happened in the cigar industry, that's where you find it. Okay. Yeah, exactly.
So as part of their offering, they review new cigars. Okay. So they have every cigar they've ever reviewed online, back to even in the early 2000s when they were called Stogie... Not Press.
It's not Stogie Press, that's Fred Rui, which we don't give Fred enough airtime, I was told. So Fred, Stogie Press. Stogie Press. Stogie, Stogie, Stogie, I don't remember what it's called.
Stogies and Stooges, I don't know, who knows. So anyway, they do 1 to 100, most of them are, I think the lowest we've ever found is in the 50s, and the highest we've ever found is like a 94, so, alright, so you pick a number between 1 and 100 for your first score, the only information you have now is the name and who reviewed it, and after you do some of these, which I don't imagine you're gonna be, I have to deal with that again, but you start learning like Patrick does his reviews in a certain way, And he normally scores something within a certain window. Okay. So, alright, Boot, you go first.
But, you know, after this, when you're at home listening to us, you can play along. Yeah. Right, there are several people that play along and they say they love this part of the show. Right.
Okay, I'm gonna go 85. I'm generous with an 87. Okay. Alright, this is a Henry Clay tattoo, it's from the Dominican Republic.
This is the information we have on the cigar that they provide in the magazine. The factory is a Tabacalera De Garcia, it's a USA Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper from 2010, the binder is Dominican Piloto from 2010, filler Dominican Orlo & Piloto 2012, and a Nicaraguan Omentempe 2013. It is a 6x52 cigar, the prices here is $9, it really doesn't affect the score in any way, but they smoked 3 cigars. Sometimes they don't smoke three cigars.
When they smoke more than one, they compare them against each other. So it could affect the score. If, like, two of them are good and one is bad, they'll knock them down for that. Okay.
Because there's not a consistency issue that way. I'm going to go to – because the Connecticut Broadleaf is probably going to make this thing pretty good. So let's go to 89. I like 89.
Is it okay for me not to be different? No, no, you can do the same score. That's fine. I like that.
All right, here's clue number one. The Henry Clay Tattoo stands out visually with its ribbon-bound packaging, glossy wrapper, minimal veining, and sharp-looking bands that, whoops, skipped, that blend classic and modern design. The cigar feels uniformly firm with great draw, strong smoke output, and a consistently sharp burn for most of the smoke. Things getting better and better.
So, yeah. Yeah, let's go, Patrick. I'll go first this time, '91. 91?
Okay. I'm going to stick at 89. All right, number two. Flavor comes out full and engaging right away with the tangy earthiness involving pepper, dry wood, and touches of sweetness like simple syrup.
Retro hails add vibrancy and the cigar delivers a steady build and strength that experienced smokers will enjoy. Pepper Ford profiles will appreciate. I'm going to stick at 89. Yeah, 91.
All right, now the third clue. So there's three clues and then they give what's called a final thought. Okay, yeah. All right, third clue, lacks complexity and can lean harsh.
While the pepper heavy profile is consistent and powerful, it doesn't develop much new complexity as the cigar progresses. At times, the pepper becomes borderline harsh, and a final third offers more of the same, rather than a deeper or more nuanced finish, with a few relights and needed near the end. So normally, hold on Boots, normally these guys will take off if they have to keep relighting, that's a negative for them, which lowers the score. Okay, did they mention about relighting?
Yes, this one took a few relights needed near the end. Relights really piss these guys off for some reason. Okay. Yeah, let's go, uh, I'm gonna go to 87.
89. Alright, here's the final thought. Somewhere between your average off-the-shelf Tatuaje and an off-the-shelf Altidus product is the Henry Clay Tattoo. It's nowhere near Tatuaje's best offering, and it's certainly one of the better releases I've had from the tobacco giant.
I would have loved a bit more complexity and transitions, but the flavors that are offered are fairly solid It's certainly worth trying a few, and in some, I'm sure this will creep into box split or even box purchase territory. If anything, this is a great example of what you can go very right with two entities come together, and when Altidus USA has another palette and set of eyes, let loose the company's vast stores. So this is a Tatuaje? No, Henry Clay is an Altida Cigar Tatuaje, and maybe it's made a different factory, I don't know.
I don't know why he keeps throwing it in there. Yeah, because I know he loves Tatuaje, so. Right. I mean, he liked it.
Seems like he did, doesn't it? Yeah. Just how much did he like it? Let's go, I mean, he says a box worthy.
88. All right, Drew, this is your last score. Even 90, just even 90. Even 90.
All right, it's an 87. Oh. Don't brag too much, Boots, Drew's never played before. Yeah, I know.
Okay. But that's pretty good for his first time. Yeah, yeah, he got pretty close. Yeah.
A lot of mixed messages in some of that, you know. See, that's the fun part of the thing. I mean, just like in one statement, he can compliment the cigar and diss the cigar at the same time. At the same time.
Right. Exactly. Well, it also depends on how Palmer reads it. That's the other thing.
Oh, yeah. Sometimes Palmer will read it and he'll make you think like it was a great thing. I try to get them not to win. Yeah.
That's my fun part of the game. I'm used to playing Rick games. I'm used to it. It's no big deal.
All right. Let's see. Today is Friday, but this show won't go out until Monday. But today is Mark Palmer's birthday.
We'd like to wish Mark Palmer down at, he's one of the Brass Pipers down in Fort Pierce. Pierce. Happy birthday. Happy birthday.
He's a big supporter of the show. Yes, sir. All right, Drew, tell them where they can find your cigars, boss. This is how we wrap things up.
Well, thank you. shop. shop. FRCC is First Responder Cigar Company.
And that's where you can get your coffee and all your swag. They've got some good swag. I saw it at the event we were at a couple weeks ago. Yeah, there's a cool, if you like night vision nods, We got a really cool Tier 1 shirt with a skull with night vision on the back.
It's pretty cool. Very cool. Our Tier 1 coffee has added caffeine. It's like 50% more caffeine than regular coffee.
Oh, so it's like a little more jumpstart. Super Cuban. Yeah. Well, we appreciate you coming on the show, Drew.
Thank you very much. Oh man, it's an honor to be here. I had a lot of fun. Boots, this was better than the ones you guys did without me, wasn't it?
Probably. I mean, look, Palmer, you do a good job in the chair. I'll give you kudos. Even though Mikey won't.
No. It was a little contest, whether there's shows without me are better, because, I mean, you sat in for Mikey, and Mikey had people sit in for me. Yeah. His shows were train wrecks he did while I was gone.
They were terrible. You're a great host. You're a great host. We've been doing it for a long time.
Yeah, that's what he's going to say. He's going to go, "Well, you sat in the chair. " But with the new format, he couldn't have. Yeah, the new format is a little more confusing.
It is not guest host friendly. Yeah, it's definitely not. Because normally, if you had a guest host, they would just read it. And then at the end of the story, then we talked about it.
Yeah. But Mike, he wasn't getting enough air time we have established. So, if I just read the story, he doesn't get enough camera time. Well, you need to have the guy with the eye candy guy, you know, doing most of it, right?
Right, exactly. Everybody with the Santa Claus fetish wants me to do it. Yeah, that's right. There's something for everyone.
There you go. That's right. All right, guys, episode 460. Thank you very much, Drew.
Thank you again. Also, guys, go check out First Responder Cigars. Thank you. All right, guys.
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Show Notes
On today’s show, we have a story out of ohio where a snow plow operator saves a baby’s life. China excited 11 people the other day in a crime sweep. Crux is back in the news with a budget friendly cigar, CLE is raising prices, some new cigars and Boveda is branding its products for pot storage.