ACHP 594 Cigars, Chaos & Crazy News with Jack Torano
Episode Summary
Episode 594 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast hands the host chair to Jack Torano of Espinosa Cigars, with Mike (Cigar Hustler) in the co-host seat and Mike "BDP" Palmer running engineering. The show opens with teleprompter chaos, listener comments, and an update on the CHPod auction (Phil's Unicorn Mask, with a $80 buy-it-now), plus a running gag about Jack refusing to watch the daily episodes and the guys' customer-service philosophy — no discount codes, no BOGOs, "unrivaled" service or nothing.
The most substantive cigar conversation is a genuine industry debate over store-exclusive releases. Sparked by a listener question about Davidoff, the two dig into the difference between a legitimate retailer collaboration (Espinosa × Cigar Hustler) and a manufacturer handing an exclusive blend to a tiny handful of chosen shops or selling only through its own store — using Espinosa's Avant Garde as the hypothetical. Jack and Mike also talk about Davidoff's portfolio momentum, predicting Camacho will surge on the strength of its sales and brand-building team, and touch on Zino's spike the prior year.
The news block covers an American Airlines bird strike out of Myrtle Beach, the KFC × Oreo fried chicken cookie, the release of U.S. Marine veteran Robert Gilman after 1,666 days in Russian custody, and Palmer's viral 4.2-million-view Instagram post about a bogus NASA "Earth loses gravity for 7.3 seconds" rumor that was supposed to happen the morning they recorded. Cigar news includes the Cuban Quai d'Orsay Concordia Edición Limitada 2026 (with a Madrid launch at Las Ventas hosted by Rafael Nodal, and a nod to the Montecristo Le Spirit humidor release), Quesada's new sweet-tip Suspiro, and the return of Wildfire Cigar Company's Revivalist as a 6x50 box-pressed Toro with a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Indonesian Sumatra-seed binder and Connecticut Broadleaf, Italian, Nicaraguan Habano and Pennsylvania fillers, now produced at Tabacalera William Ventura instead of Joya de Nicaragua.
The episode closes with "What's the Score?" — guessing a 2013 halfwheel review score for the Torano Vault D-042 Robusto (Plasencia-made, $7.20 at launch; the answer was 90) — followed by Jack's fall appearance schedule: Brew City Cigar Festival with Tyler Jones, TAA, Big Smoke Las Vegas, La Zona Palooza, Finck's Bash, Diebel's, and Hector at Ash & Anvil's anniversary party.
In This Episode
- 01Cold open and CHPod housekeepingTeleprompter mishaps, the Phil Unicorn Mask auction, swag at chpod.com, and Jack getting roasted for not watching the daily shows.
- 02Customer service, discount codes and BOGOsMike explains how he vets customers, why he refuses discount codes and buy-one-get-one gimmicks, and the launch of a new Cigar Hustler site.
- 03Store-exclusive cigars: the Davidoff debateJack and Mike argue over brands releasing exclusive blends to a handful of hand-picked retailers versus honest retailer collaborations, using Espinosa Avant Garde as a test case.
- 04Camacho, Zino and brand-buildingWhy the hosts expect Camacho numbers to surge under Davidoff's sales leadership and how rep-level hustle drives brand growth.
- 05News block: bird strike, KFC x Oreo, Robert GilmanAn American Airlines engine bird strike, the KFC-Oreo fried chicken cookie collaboration, and the release of Marine veteran Robert Gilman from Russian custody.
- 06The viral 'Earth loses gravity' hoaxPalmer's 4.2-million-view Instagram post about a fake NASA report claiming Earth would lose gravity for 7.3 seconds on August 12, 2026.
- 07Cigar news: Quai d'Orsay Concordia, Quesada Suspiro, Wildfire RevivalistA new Cuban Edición Limitada launching in Madrid, Quesada's sweet-tip Suspiro, and Wildfire's Revivalist returning as a multi-country box-pressed Toro from William Ventura.
- 08What's the Score? and fall appearancesGuessing halfwheel's 2013 score for the Torano Vault D-042 Robusto, then Jack's Brew City, TAA, Big Smoke Vegas and Finck's Bash travel schedule.
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
That's it? No instructions? No nothing? You've done it before.
You know what you're doing? You think I remember that? You know what you're doing? You've been playing with the teleprompter, you're fine.
All right, ready? Oh, this is broken. He's broken. One, two, three, go!
I did one, two, three. All right, Jack, action, go! Episode 594 of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Is that what we're on, guys?
That's what we're on. Not the Patreon, the regular podcast. Let's tell him it's the Patreon, and then he'll say some shit. It's the Patreon, Jack, it's the Patreon.
Well, Mikey just got up and left. I don't know what's going on here. That's okay. Keep going.
Did I tell you I couldn't see it or what happened there? I just want you to look the best. Welcome to a Cigar Hustlers Podcast where the cigars are a premium, the opinions are unfiltered, and the conversations have no boundaries. I'm your host, Jack Taranio, currently, that's cute, from Espinosa Cigars, in the co-host seat, my good friend, Mike, and then over in engineering, the man who makes this show what it is.
It's Mike, BDP Palmer, and some guy named Phil, who is actually not over there. He canceled at the last minute. Yeah, yeah. No, you're not on.
I don't hear you at all. Phil's off doing some yard work. Your microphone is not on, as I mentioned earlier when you yelled at me. This is a professional show.
You switched the batteries recently? Jesus. Yesterday. You guys just go ahead and talk over my reading.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Is that better? Yeah, now I can hear you. Now you're good?
Alright, please continue. Whether it's cigars, sports business, content, current events, pop culture, or the craziest stories making headlines, if it's worth talking about, we're talking about it, no scripts, no safe places, just honest conversation, big laughs, that's a lot of pressure there, and the kind of show that can go from premium cigars to absolute chaos in a matter of seconds. Every episode are real conversation, different perspectives, and plenty of unexpected turns along the way. So settle in, and welcome back to a Cigar Hustlers podcast.
He said he drank coffee too. Oh, my headphones. I was wondering where I was hearing that from. So isn't this the part where I talk about where to get shit, or is that...
No, he does that, but now you give the teaser for what's going to be on the show. Hey guy who no longer watches our show. Well, I don't watch the regular shows. That's ridiculous.
Too many of them. You should listen. There's too many of them. So what?
I'm a Patreon guy. You're in the car every day. Every day you could listen. Richie can only have so many stories.
When I'm in the car, I'm talking to Tyler Jones. Why? Because Tyler's got a lot to say. And he loves you guys.
We love him too, but I love Richie a little more now. Ooh. Yeah, Richie reached out and wished me a happy birthday in a timely fashion. So did I.
Yeah, but your head and shoulders above the rest. I called you at 7 in the morning and I had to send you a happy birthday through Palmer because you wouldn't answer the phone. Yeah, I saw it. I know you're calling.
That was nice of you. I appreciate it. On today's show, birds still rule the sky. Oreo cookies are finger licking good.
Robert Gilman is coming home. And then in cigars, we have a new Cuban, a shipping notification that's late, and a new cigar sort of, and as always, show ends with, what's the score? And Jack is angry. Oh, but first, Mikey, how do you get some of that cool Cigar Hustler podcast swag?
Oh, thank you so much for asking. He ad-libbed. Jack Taranio, ad-libber of the cigars. Where did I ad-lib?
I don't know. Does it say cool? I don't remember. Did it say cool, C-H-P-S-W-A?
I mean that was great, I love that you did it. I did add cool. We're moving on. I did add cool.
That's okay. You adlib anywhere you want. Like and subscribe if you're reviewing and listening to the show. com for all your chpod swag.
com, a Cigar Hustlers podcast. And I have some comments from the shows. Are you asking me if you do? Do I?
I would hope so. Oh, on the CHPOD site, Phil's Unicorn Mask is up for auction. We are currently at $31. Somebody wanted to bid yesterday.
They asked me why it was not up anymore. Oh, the last one? Yeah, yeah. It was bought.
Well, that's what I explained. Somebody did a buy it now. There's a buy it now button. If you don't want to compete, just buy it now.
What's the buy it now price? The buy it now price for this bad boy is $80. The last one was $75. " Daniel Lance?
No, he's a- Lance Armstrong. I'm blocked from all Daniel Lance interactions. Intelligent conversations are not permitted with Daniel Lance. We cannot challenge, we cannot challenge the dictatorship.
I'm surprised. I mean, isn't he Skip's good buddy? Oh, they're tight. Yeah, yeah.
They're tight. Yeah, they're good friends. They're in tight. Yeah, they're in tight.
If you're in tight with Skip, you're in tight with you guys. Yeah, they do Twister together, I heard. Yeah, yeah, you know. It's a visual I'm never going to get out of my head.
I love the Facebook, the skinny dipping Facebook post that Skip always says. Oh, I saw that this morning. Yeah, where he's, it doesn't show him, but it shows like I'm in the pool, and he likes to say, and I'm naked, like I'm skinny dipping. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's great, you know, with Daniel Lance is what he said, actually. It was the bottom. Okay, so anyway, let me see the comments here. I wonder if I fixed it.
Do you think I fixed it? I didn't. I didn't look today. Yeah.
Thanks. I'm sorry. I've been busy. Thanks so much.
It says no comments. I thought I fixed this damn thing. Oh, good. Mm.
Mm. Mm. Mm. Don't worry.
I will go to the page of the YouTube. Oh, you need to accept our updated YouTube Partner Program terms, just so you know. There's a big notification on there. Just hit it.
No. You're flipping through. I'm not doing it. That's not what I do.
He has to read it before he accepts it. Yeah, I got it, yeah. I'll just get the printed version. I need to plug it into AI and summarize it.
The Claude. I love the Claude. And he loves you. You think so?
He calls me at night and says, I just, you're, he's just amazing. I was, I was working on the site for four hours yesterday. Hi Jack, how are you? You're yelling at Jack.
Welcome to the podcast. I was dozing off. Oh, like he does. He falls asleep.
I'm tired. I was working on the site last night and I had a glitch and I was just driving me nuts. It took like three hours to try and resolve. And then I upgraded out of Sonnet and into Fable 5.
Fable, I could taste the intelligence with Fable 5, it was crazy. Solved the problem in 30 seconds. I'm guessing I'm old, because I have no idea what you're talking about. Well, first of all, yes, you are old.
I don't know either, Jack. This is true. Yes, yes. Fable 5.
com. Okay. Right? Okay, let's get into some comments.
0 says, there are theories that the royal family has been dead for years and those that are still shown are deep fakes. Who? Captain Oblivious. We're talking about...
I know. We did a story yesterday, Jack. I'll give you some more context. You don't listen to the show.
We did a story yesterday about the royal family. Oh, okay. All right, this is about that. he's referencing that okay you're a big royal family follower right no not in the least he's a friend of did you like princess donna i don't know who that is princess diana's that's what i knew yeah he thought she was princess donna yesterday yeah yeah princess donna and her virginia slims yes mark and so at michael's e cigar guy says you better fucking bring it today just so you know like you you talked this up this whole time and blah blah blah blah blah blah well I got to follow a script.
How can I bring it? I was hoping for the Patreon where I didn't have to follow a script. You can crush. I have seen you crush in that chair, sir.
The pressure's on? Yeah, yeah. Our listeners are expecting... Well, if my competition's like carny, you know?
What the fuck? Honestly. I don't know. I'm just wanting to know right now, if it was like a race...
I love carny, but he's like a wet noodle in the show. If we were doing a race right now, right now, here would be carny in the lead pulling away from you. He always takes a lead, because he always takes a lead, but he always loses. What do you think so?
What happened to your hand? Which hand? The one that looks like it got bit. I'm...
Listen. Don't worry about me. Nobody worries about me, okay? I look like vampire fang marks.
@Michaelzcigarguy55 says, "I'm trying to watch a podcast and someone keeps messaging me. Yes, I ordered. " Yeah, so... First of all, he reached out to me.
He had an issue with the link because it was the link was to the old site and like that product didn't transition over so I had to put up the new new product but it's still and I wanted to ask him did it link from the original email obviously it didn't and then he's a go away God but I was like oh thanks for your order oh in the email the link in the email yeah I got you do you get a lot of orders do I get a lot of orders I get a decent amount of orders yeah that's pretty cool yeah we um we're selective with our customers they're not Yes, we are. They have to have a credit card? Yeah, they have to be like a decent human being. Oh, you won't sell to--are you vetting these people?
It's very easy. It's very easy. I'm gonna tell you how to vet a person. I can't wait.
If they want a discount code off the jump for something-- They gotta go. I'm not dealing with it. No. If they want good customer service, and they're-- You're not dealing with that either.
Oh, no, I'm absolutely 100%. Oh, I'm sorry. That's exactly it. Finally.
We like the people that help themselves. Yeah. Like a processor. Yeah.
If you need help, fuck you. Go buy something else. No, no. Unrivaled, buddy.
Unrivaled. Yeah. Unrivaled customer service. Unrivaled customer service.
Okay. Just ask. Is there a third? That's it.
So if you're asking for a discount code, goodbye. Well, I got sidetracked. You started talking and I saw red. So I don't know what I was talking about.
Let's be honest at that point. I was like, okay, I need to... And he drove all the way up here to see us, and he must relax. What if they want a BOGO deal?
Do you ever have BOGO deals? No. BOGO deals are great. I bet they are.
You should. Yeah. Just jack the price up of one and give them fucking two. That's ridiculous.
That's a lot of work. They feel they're getting a BOGO, but they're playing fucking up. That's an insult to the customers. However, I did launch a new site, and I'm working on some cool things, and I'm very excited about it.
So, I started sorting out the kinks yesterday. out the kinks yesterday. Mikey's sex toys? Phil's.
Phil's sex toys? Yeah. He's got a... The first toy will be the BDP, right?
He has a wide array of... Yeah, that's obviously. That's obvious. He has a wide array of butt plugs.
He said wide. And I said butt plugs. At iHeartBDP says, I never win anything except maybe the wife lottery. Oh, Lord.
That's not me. That is a good That's a good answer, though. She won the wife lottery. I don't know, buddy.
I don't have that kind of time. Yes, you do. No, I don't. I just saw you.
You just have plenty of time. I was working. I wasn't having plenty of time. Is there a trend that they're always littered with some kind of compliment for Mike?
Oh, yeah. For Palmer? Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's you.
The iHeart Jacks will start soon, I'm sure. " Thank you very much. Jack's gonna do his best, but you know, their words are involved, you know, so. He can read pretty good compared to some people we've had.
Pete Hernandez. Mike Palmer. I can read. Wow.
He is the very anchor of the show, sir. I'm sorry, that's what it said in my notes. That's what it said right there on the teleprompter. @CW6383 says, "It was amazing to see the show live.
Everyone was so kind and gracious. I especially appreciate Phil taking the time to talk to us. He talked to me about the importance of changing my VA rating. Thank you, brother.
Said no one ever. Listen, here's what I'm going to tell you about Phil, he'll talk to anybody, he's just very lonely, no one respects him. Firmly on the spectrum. And the fact that you gave him your time was very gracious of you, and he appreciates that, it's not the other way around, C-Dub, it's not the other way around.
Oh, I like when they talk to people. They say the words-- Talk to people's, and I can talk to people's make. And they say, we talk about cigar, I like cigar. I got another little yard to own, Moe.
I like a cigar. Good construction. He's networking. He's networking.
He's networking. Yeah, that's it. That's what he's doing. Where's your house?
I can build your house for you. Does it have grass? I can cut it. At Lance Frazier 4748, the newest competition in the CH Pod auction.
He says, "That was pretty cool. He came to smoke and hang out, pick up the mask, and win the spin prize. That's a good day. " See, I don't even know what the spin prize is.
Yeah, so, you know, here's what's happening. A lot of cool stuff happens on the show, and you're missing out. On the regular show? On the regular show.
I can't watch it. Yes, you can. There's too much of it. You know, you sound like the dads that tell me they don't have the time to coach your kids.
No, it's not that I don't care. It's not that I don't have the time. Don't you feel that by doing so many shows, it waters down the shows? No.
I don't. Okay. You want to know what I hear from the people? From the peoples?
More shows? They say, you know what, it's great because now I have a schedule. Every weekday I get to listen to your show. And the problem with you, sir, is that you haven't figured that out yet.
You haven't figured out where to put us in between you sitting on the- I hope that's the same guy that asked for the coupon code. Hold on. I'm not finished. I'm not finished.
You have to figure out either A- Prioritize. I'm going to listen to 20 minutes. I'll sit in the car before I pull into the office and then eat my ice cream and then sit in Hector's office, okay, and then maybe finish it. Who said there'd be ice cream?
What? You said there'd be ice cream? Yeah. There's ice cream.
When I visit, there's ice cream. I've sent you ice cream. I've sent you ice cream. I sent you ice cream.
You didn't send me ice cream. I sent you ice cream. You're incorrect. I didn't send you ice cream?
You did send me ice cream. Oh, okay. Yeah, for my birthday like three years ago. And popcorn?
Now I get a phone call at seven o'clock. Well, you invited me to a party then. Yeah. Oh, really?
Oh, really? I'm at a party next month for my birthday. Oh, excuse me. You don't send me birthday presents.
I didn't invite you to a party? You did? No. The last party you invited me to was, I think, might have been Jack's birthday party and I sent popcorn.
This is gonna be fun. I'm gonna love this. Really? I believe.
You believe so? Hmm. But again, I'm old. So I didn't invite you to cigars on the app for my birthday on a Saturday?
No. I didn't? And you didn't say, "Hey, I'd love to go, but I'm going to be in Arizona with Sam & Rosie"? That might have happened.
That might have happened. That might have happened. To be fair, he was here last night and he got the day wrong. Huh.
We're losing him. I was here. Me and my wife came to the party that was here in this room. He doesn't need a red light.
The surprise party. I was going to say, do I need to get the red light out? Should we get the red light for him? Get his brain going a little bit?
What's the red light? It's red light therapy for your brain. It makes me do red light therapy. It helps you avoid your Alzheimer's.
All right. Okay. I do remember the Sam & Rosie thing. I do.
I remember you called me like on Thursday to invite me to a party on Saturday. Yes, I do remember that. There you go. Well, that was when I decided to have a party.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do remember that. Thursday. I don't live in Deltona, but thank you.
You live about three hours away. It's not that big. I live four and a half hours from here. That's if Richie's driving?
Richie is four. Four hours. Richie's four? He's a good driver?
Four hours. Four and a half if we decide to go west. Is there something, there's something beautiful west of here? Is it east?
East of here. Northeast of here, there's a beautiful destination and I hope they sue and bury every goddamn store using a beaver. Long live Bucky's beaver. Fuck 'em all.
Fuck all the Bob and Pops. Fuck the Bob and Pops. Wow. Wow.
I gotta check that box. Yeah, you do. There's a couple other ones from the previous episode. " I actually like Davidoff.
I just have no problem telling you when somebody screws up, you know, because it happens. So that was a comment about something derogatory you said about Davidoff? Well, the problem is that they released an exclusive cigar at particular stores, and I have a problem with that, I think that that's not okay. But that happens quite often.
Their particular store. I mean, I believe Aroma Craft used to do that. An exclusive cigar in their own store? No, they used to do their limiteds into, like, one store.
In one store, but not their store. Davidoff released three cigars to three of their stores. Oh, okay. Maybe you should have had lunch.
You know what I mean? I get what you're saying. Right? Makes sense, right?
Don't do that. Is it a big difference though? Is it a big, of course. Retailers help build this brand.
Okay, retailers help build the brand. Right. Help build the brand. Uh-huh.
And Espinosa releases Avant-Garde. Okay. Avant-Grade. Avant-Grade.
Avant-Garde. Yeah. And we decide that we're gonna pick 10 out of the 2,000 retailers across the country and only give it to them. That's okay?
I don't have a problem with that. You don't have a problem with that? No. Okay.
No, I don't have a problem with that. Now, are you gonna hear me bitching about it to you? Sure. Of course, because I'm gonna try and get it.
But at the end of the day... Well, you would be one of the 10 stores. So there you go. Yeah.
But at the end of the day, you know... Would I be... It would be like if we put a limited out and only released it here. Yeah.
Now, if you said, hey, the Erik Espinosa limited edition, yada yada, whatever, exclusively at Espinosa Cigars, you can only get it here, I have a problem with that. Because all of these retailers have worked their ass off promoting and believing in you, and now you're just taking directly that customer and promoting and selling direct. What about a collaboration with that store? A collab with the store?
Yeah, Espinosa is doing a collab with Cigar Hustler. I don't have a problem with that. That is only being sold at Cigar Hustler. I don't have a problem with that.
I think that's fine. Okay. The problem that I have is when a brand owner/manufacturer obtains the data. Is it for a limited time?
Like, is it only available in those three stores for three months and then it'll open up? No. No, it's strictly only. Exclusively for them.
That's fucked up. Yeah. There we go. There you go.
All right, now we can move on. Now, do I hate Davinoff? No. No.
I just think it's a bad business move. It's a bad business decision. Right? So, hmm.
Well, I think they're missing sales. I think there's a disconnect in sales. Yeah, yeah. I think they're missing a lot of sales.
You want to know where they're going to surge this year? Where? Camacho. Okay.
Camacho numbers will be up, and mark my words, through Davinoff. Okay. They have a guy, his name is Law Ream. I love Law.
He is next level when it comes to promoting and building brands. And they took him off his little yellow bus. Yeah. Yeah.
And Zeno had a huge spike last year. Yeah. In sales. And whoever that CEO was had no problems.
Yeah, we did great. Like, yeah, he should have said, well, there's a guy that was in a van working his ass off. We all did a great job. Yeah.
So, hmm. Anyways. Hey, so if you want to hear your comment read aloud on the show, comment below on this YouTube page, or comment in our CHPod lounge. Now, uh...
How about a live show? Have you ever considered a live show? We've considered it. We can't guarantee the time.
You know, here's what I love. Here's what I love. The guy who doesn't watch our show every day is requesting that we do more things for the show. Oh.
Does that make sense? No, no. I would watch a live show. No, you don't have the time.
No, I would make the time. I'd make the time for that. m. Okay, so back in the good old days, when you guys had a show released like Tuesday morning, and then the Patreon Thursday, watch them all.
It was easy. It was easy. I had it. But now, life interrupts being able to watch something every damn day, and now I'm five shows behind.
I can't catch up. So then just watch on Tuesdays and watch on Thursdays. I do. I do.
You don't watch on Tuesdays. I don't. But I do on Thursday, except for the last three Thursdays. And now I'm mad that I didn't get popcorn for my birthday.
Well, again, you gave me no time to send a gift. You invited me on a Thursday to a party on Saturday. I don't need a gift. I just want you there.
No, but I want to send you a gift. I don't need a gift, I could care less. A box of Avant Grades. All Avant Grades, next level, I just want everybody to win, at least my friends.
All right, and now for the news, Mikey. I'm waiting on you this whole time. And now for the news, apparently it's been a slow news day, an American Airlines flight bound for Charlotte, North Carolina was forced to return to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, shortly after takeoff Monday morning after the crew reported an engine issue due to a bird strike during the plane, Departure. Uh-oh.
Poor bird. net, the pilot of the American Airlines plane can be heard saying, "Mayday! Mayday! " Mm-hmm.
For a bird strike? Seems exaggerated. Well, the engine's down. We've got an engine problem.
As he requested a priority return to the airport, the bird strike apparently occurred as the aircraft was taking off. A significant amount of bird remains and feathers were discovered during the runway inspection after the flight's departure. Oh, look at the mess on the runway. According to the ATC recordings, they were cleared from the runway prior to the flight's return.
So, somebody went out there and picked up the remains of the bird before the flight landed so the bird wouldn't hit it again. I am not cleaning that up. Send someone else. Okay.
What happened? I am not going to clean that up. Correct. Send someone else.
Another nearby pilot told the ATC that he saw smoke coming out of the American Airlines plane's left engine after it hit a flock of birds, according to the ATC recording. No fire or leaks were found during inspections. Once the plane landed, according to American Airlines, the carrier said it was working to get the 172 passengers on board the aircraft to Charlotte as soon as possible. It's impossible.
Bird strikes are common occurrences in commercial aviation. I don't think I've ever been on a plane that hit a bird. That's why I pulled this because you fly a lot. Why would you say that?
You travel all the time. Well, if it did, it just, you know, it kind of mulched it and it was over. It didn't kind of, yeah, it was a prrp, and it was over. Holy shit.
S. in 2024, according to a government of the This is an economic report released this month. The FAA said it will investigate the incident. There was a lovely video from inside the plane where there was fire coming out of the motor.
I did see that. Oh, you did see it. So you heard about this? Not on this show, but I did hear about it.
You heard about that? Yeah, not on this show, because we just talked about it. It'll be on this show tomorrow. See, instead of you watching those things, you can just watch our show.
I was watching the news. Then you'd be up to date. We are the news. I was watching the news.
Yeah, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, it's possible, 20,000, as many flights as I'm on, you would think somebody, something, yeah, some, you think somewhere it would have happened. How many flights do you think happen in the US every day? Like, I saw that, and I'm like 3,800. Oh, really?
Yeah. Ask your friend. Have you ever gone to one of those planes live apps? The amount of, you know, you're hard pressed to look out the window of a plane and see another plane.
Right. But when you look at that app, it looks like every inch of the United States has covered, by an airplane. Right. So.
$44,000, $45,000 a day. $45,000 a day for a military average. So that's a lot more than my $3,800. Yeah, only $23,000.
Oh, the number I'm looking at is at any given moment, there's 3,800 flights airborne. All right. At any given moment. There you go.
Yeah. Thank you, Rich. So what state haven't you been to? So Wyoming became my 43rd state.
So I have not been to Montana, North Dakota, Utah, New Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, and Minnesota. You haven't been to Minnesota? I haven't. So we have a lounge.
It's a great state. There's so much going on there. We have a lounge there. Do you?
But every year, they request Eric, and Eric goes to do that event. What's the name? What's the lounge? Byrne.
Byrne? Yeah. Not Rocky Patel, just Byrne. Just standard Byrne?
Espinosa Byrne. James, the man that runs the place, keeps asking me, Yeah, why haven't you been here? And I said, because you asked for Erik. You don't invite me.
And then Erik was double booked and couldn't do it this year, and he asked for Hector. So he got Hector. James, ask for our friend Jack. Yeah, Hector went up there to do a little tour of three different, he did Burn, he did Iowa Cigar, and Ashen Anvil, and in each one of these places they had like a gift for him.
A Mets decanter, you know, a twister game, I don't know, they gave them a... I'm going to Minnesota, write that down, I've got to go to those places. You've got to go to Minnesota. Presence.
Presence. Nobody gives me shit. Well, they give you shit. They give me shit.
Well, you give me plenty of shit. They give me shit, they complain. You think that Erik would let you fly with him, that way you could put him in first class and you could sit and coach. I don't think anybody's getting upgraded anymore.
No? No, not since they became flying credit card companies. Times are tough now? It's not times are tough.
I'm flying the same amount. In 2016, 2017, 2018, I was Executive Platinum. My flying pattern has not changed. And I keep going down and down and down because they move the goalpost.
They move it farther and farther away. And, you know, now you got to use the credit card and I use the credit card, but I'll never make it 200,000, you know, loyalty points to get Executive Platinum. And even then you're not guaranteed an upgrade, but there's a shitload of them now. Because if you ran all your expenses at Cigar Hustler through CityCard, American Airlines card, you'd be Executive Platinum, and you fly twice a year, that type of shit, or five times a year.
So I'm flying 100 legs a year, but you have priority over me because you spend money on the credit card, which is a little messed up, and they haven't changed it in a few years, so I think they're going to change it again. And I'll go from, they, they, when they changed it, they added Platinum Pro, so Platinum Pro is basically what Executive Platinum was before, and I've been Platinum Pro, but, you know. So what do you get, like a free check bag or something? Yeah, two.
Two free check bags? And one of them can be 75 pounds. Ooh. That, that's, that's a big one when we're, we're, we're heading to the trade show or TAA.
Yeah, or you have a dead hooker that you want to bring over state lines. A dead hooker. You gotta, you know, get rid of the body. I'd buy her a seat.
She's very tired. Weekend at Bernie's with that one. She's sleepy, look, arms tied her, she waves hi. Coffee.
Yeah. No coffee. No coffee. Okay.
All right, we're done with the bird strikes? Yeah. Bird strike over. KFC collaborates with Oreo for a fried chicken cookie.
Anything to help heart disease with this company. It's great for Phil. - Oreo is collaborating with anyone and everyone these days. Some of these collaborations have created insanely popular hits like the BTS, could have been a BVP, and Post Malone packs.
Others have been total misses where the KFC and Oreo China Fried Chicken Cookie stands is up to you. As part of Oreo's playful time travel collection, the Fried Chicken Cookie came out. See, I have a problem with your teleprompter, because when I forwarded to the next thing, it cut the line I was supposed to read in half. So I had to guess at playful time traveler.
You can hit play and pause. Yeah, you can hit start and stop. Oh, really? Yeah.
The fried chicken... You can just skip it. Is it running the entire time he's at the end? Yeah.
All right, time to play what? Thanks for joining us on episode three. The fried chicken cookie came out alongside another weird combination, retro popcorn. I am personally interested and slightly mortified to see how the collection continues with more flavor drops.
The odd combo kept the classic chocolate cookie but replaced the filling with an 11-seasoning spice blend flavored ice cream. The seasoning includes herbs, spices, and salt, emulating the classic batter KFC uses. Dude, I can't tell you how disgusting this sounds. I don't know why you're still talking about it.
Let's just move on. Mike, it tastes like chicken and waffles. One side of the cookie has Oreo's regular logo, but the other side includes KFC's brandy. We don't care about the cookie.
The choice not to use a savory cracker to hold the salty cream is baffling to me. To me, obviously, baffling, but I'll wait to judge. Oh, we don't want to read this? Look how long this was.
You can hit it with your finger. S. Marine veteran. We got to talk about the cookie.
Nah. He does this now. He likes to edit the show as we go. If I'm doing a story he doesn't like.
Dude, there were about, I was missing about eight paragraphs. Right, dude, a lot of cookie. You're welcome. A lot of cookie stuff.
Hit that bottom. When I said to skip, just go ahead and skip. I don't know how to skip. The bottom button.
No, no, you can't skip. There's no bottom button. You have to roll through it. Let me know when you need me.
I'll skip it for you. Okay. You just give me the sign like you're bringing in a reliever. I mean, I said it like eight times.
Then I said, you know what? I thought you were kidding. I didn't know you could do that. I thought I had to follow this.
He does whatever he wants. It's true. By the way, I'm having this today. This is very rare.
The- Collector's edition. The avant-garde. Avant-grande. Avant-grady.
Grady. He's a sandwich by my good friend Guy Fieri. We hang out all the time. We're very close.
He does. He likes you. We need to have him on the show. Yeah.
Yeah, we're tight, yeah. We need him to film some of these Mofongo joints over here in Deltona. Yeah, what are we doing? And we'll get him over.
He was over here, I think, once. Tampa. He was in Tampa. No, he was in Deltona.
Was he in Deltona? Was he really? Mm-hmm. I'm gonna check that out.
I will, Richie. Richie, will you check Guy's schedule, please? Yeah, he was over, he was close to us, I think, at one time. All right.
So now that nobody gives a fuck about the cookie, the Oreo, I was interested in it, just so you know, it's like chicken and waffles. It might be good. Is that the deal there? That's what I'm thinking.
It's Oreo cookie. It's a secret, what the herbs and spices are. So how do they get them for the cookie? I refuse to engage with you about this.
I'm moving on. Talk about the cookie, though. You should have some right here for us all the time. We have like eight KFC bags here waiting for us.
You've all filled with Yeah, I'm good. If we had cookies, you would eat cookies. All right, you guys talk about it. Go ahead.
2022? Let me know. Let me know when we're done. He was aware at Daytona.
Yeah, that's nowhere near here. Daytona, not downtown. That's nowhere near here? Daytona?
20 minutes away. Yeah, that's nowhere near here. It's halfway to Buckingham. Jack, you're doing a terrible job, just so you know.
I'm doing a great job. I'm trying to deliver. After more than four bars and a half years behind bars, after more than four and a half years. Somebody get me Pete Hernandez!
He is at the ale house in Orlando. S. Marine veteran is finally free. Yay!
Robert Gilman has been released after spending an incredible 1666 days in Russian custody. Oof, bad numbers. Gilman, whose name has been spelled three different ways on this teleprompter. We like to mix it up.
Had been detained since 2022. Exactly, three different soldiers. S. Government considered him wrongly detained.
His release came Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin. No, your friend, Putin. My buddy Vladimir granted him what's being called a humanitarian pardon, which usually means he's about to die. Yeah, it means he's dying.
So how did all of this start? In part, Russian authorities claimed Gilman was drunk when he kicked a police officer. Gilman's family has maintained that those accusations were false. He wasn't drunk.
He was originally sentenced to several years in prison, but things got even worse from there. While Gilman was locked up, Russian authorities brought additional charges against him over alleged incidents involving prison officials. This guy likes to kick people over the party. Those additional convictions eventually pushed his total sentence to 10 years.
Meanwhile, his health was reportedly getting worse, there it is, I told you, and concerns about his condition continued to grow. Now, after 1666 days in Russian custody, that ordeal is finally over. Whatever you think about politics between the United States and Russia, imagine being his family and waiting more than four years for this phone call. Robert Gilman is finally free and coming home.
Mikey has a video. I do. Now, on to Cigar News. No, I'll wait on that.
Wow. Mikey has a video. I have a video for you. I'm gonna send it to you.
It's Robert Gilman kicking a cop. There's a picture of Robert. Well, we're glad that he's home. I'm gonna send it to you.
I didn't edit it. Let's just, just take it. Just take it. Take it, take it.
I texted to you, Jack. No, you just take your time, it's cool. What the hell am I going to do with it? You want to watch it?
Oh, I thought you would put it up on the thing. On what thing? Well, we will eventually. Yeah.
You didn't text me anything. Or me. I did. I got it now.
I'm just going to lose gravity. 3 seconds. Really? And they're trying to decide how they're going to save everyone.
How is that possible? What it is, is there's two black holes out there, and whatever they emit, their black hole rays or whatever. Their black holiness? Yes, it's going to intersect on Earth on that day.
7% chance that that's gonna happen. So the rays are gonna hit Earth and we're gonna float for seven minutes? People, animals, anything not locked down starts floating in the first two seconds. So one, two, you're up in the air.
And then you will continue to rise for the next three to four seconds. Okay, so I don't know, like this show will release August 13th. However, today is officially August 12. Today is the day that this was supposed to happen.
Wouldn't it be fucking great if we just floated up? We were supposed to, it was supposed to be like, it was super bad, like this was the rumor. 2 million views. And the comment section is next level, all over the place.
2 million views? 2 million views on this. Incredible. You get money for that, right?
No, I don't get anything. Instagram doesn't give us anything. That was supposed to happen at 10:30 this morning. This is a way better story than the Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Well, we've already done this story. Oh, you already did it? Yeah. We're doing it because it was supposed to happen.
Because today was the day it was going to happen. So is it possible it happens later today? Well, they said 10:30 or something. Yeah, they said 10:33.
M. M.? AM. So you didn't float today?
Did you feel any type of floating? I didn't. No? I felt a little something in my tummy.
Did you? Like on a roller coaster? Yeah? Okay.
Richie said he didn't feel anything. Was that maybe when you were going to Starbucks? No, we went to Starbucks at 11:40. They were looking for Starbucks.
At 10:30, we were at old times. I see my guy. I see Jonathan. Jonathan was shooting a lot of content, by the way.
He's good at it. Yeah, they do a lot. He was shooting a lot of content, got Richie involved in everything. 3 million views?
3 million views? So yeah, so apparently it's not true Palmer, do you have anything to say to your viewers? I apologize. You apologize?
My false reporting of a story from NASA. You said it was a rumor. So that's true. Where did you hear this rumor?
I found it online somewhere, who knows? Yeah. Really? Yeah, it was all over the internet.
How did I miss that? It was all over today, that's how I knew today was today, I forgot. Yeah, today was the day. Today was the day.
What would you do if it happened? Well, if it legitimately happened, we'd all be dead. Right. Yeah.
Why? Well, you would float up for seven minutes, then slam it. Yeah, but it was seven seconds. Maybe you'd only float up five feet.
No, I think it was worth, like, the oxygen would be gone, like, there's a whole thing. Yeah, we had a breakdown. You'd go without oxygen for seven seconds. Seven minutes.
It doesn't come back. Oh, seven minutes. No, it was seven seconds. Oh, seven seconds.
And then you'd change it to seven minutes, and then people berated us. Or maybe I changed to seven minutes about how dumb we are and all of these other things. Certainly. So they were on point.
It was amazing. It's incredible. Yes, but you know. You know, like, it's just, yes, it was.
This sounds like a story Boots told Palmer and Palmer ran with it. Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. Could be, could be. Yeah.
So it's legit. It was a legit story that we, with a legit post, but it was not a legit, it didn't actually happen. Yeah, a little disappointed. We all lived to see another day.
I'd like to be able to go, "Nanny, nanny, we were right. " That would have been crazy. I would have died without knowing why. Because I didn't know about this story.
Yeah, people were asking me-- Why am I floating? " We're 40 feet in the air, Richie, what the hell's going on? " So it says it in the story. Yeah.
I don't know. Like, I would just, but it was fun, I had some entertaining comments to people, so. Yeah, I love the videos where somebody posts, you know, I'll be doing an event, it's happened to me a million times, I'll be doing an event at so-and-so Cigar Lounge in this city from 6 to 10 o'clock. And the first comment is, Emily, where's this at?
Where's it at? In the fucking story. If you can just Google that. It's in the story, kids.
Are you going to follow the stars to get there? Or do you just want to waze that, or possibly Google Maps? So, you can look it up. All right, moving on, let's get into the Cigar News.
We're at 41 Minutes. Wow. Yeah, thank you, Jack. That was a great story.
Thank you. Great story. I wish I would've watched the show and learned about it. Yeah, it would've been great.
Now, you know who wasn't one of the 42 million viewers? 2. 2 million viewers? Who?
Me. Yeah. Well, now you're one of them. 2 million flat earthers tuned into that uh post oh no it was a mixed bag it was yeah it was a mixed bag and that's some people were supportive and that's yeah that's the funny part of it like it was all over the place it was all over the place more people telling us that we were delirious and well i mean any i would think there was any truth to that it would have been it would have been bad like the aliens would have people would have been sitting around with oxygen tanks and oh i'm sure they're in a house i'm sure there i'm sure there was there was a bunch of people put on nikes and thought they were going to jump on to a oh yeah to a ship to to haley's comment no people were gonna people were in I mean, I remember when COVID, like when the first kind of outreach of COVID hit, and they were worried about, but like people, it didn't happen, happen yet, I went into Costco, and there was a guy in full biohazard gear, and he was picking up milk.
It was next level. So it's, there are people all over the place. There are people that believe specific things. I mean, that guy was Phil, and that, and then we hired him as our cameraman.
" Yeah. Yeah. Now, on to Cigar News, Mikey. All right, let's go.
Let's go. I don't even know what brand this is. That's it. Should I do a Palmer and say...
Put your name. Go ahead. Put your name. Quiddorce.
Quiddorce. Quiddorce. Quiddorce. Concordia announced as first edition Limitada 2026.
A. unveils most of the new Cuban cigars that will be sold globally during the annual Festival of Habano in February, however, this year's festival was cancelled, and as such, the announcements regarding new items have been delayed and sporadic, or we just don't care, but one of the latest announcements is for the Cadorce, Cadorce, is that what you call it? Cadorce, Concordia. Edición Limitada.
Edición. Edición Limitada, 2026. You got the last two words, right? A.
T. DuPont Humidors. A launch event for the Concordia will take place on Saturday, October 24th at Las Ventas, a famous bull riding ring in Madrid. The event is being held in conjunction with Tabacalera, the Spanish distributor for Cuban cigars.
Oh, God, this is terrible, too. It will be hosted by Rafael Nodal. Oh, shit. Okay.
All right, I'll back up. And his three amigos? Yeah. It is unclear when the cigars will be available for sale, which, for a release party, seems weird.
Sometimes Cuban cigars will arrive on shelves within days of these events, other times it has taken months. Yeah. They are limited. No one here gives a shit.
You think Cuba will be able to try it? I'm sure. I'm sure he'll. Is that a hotel stay?
At the Biltmore. At the Biltmore? Maybe that's why Fred's out of town today. " Oh man, did I give Fred a lot of shit?
Did you? Oh my God. You gotta talk to Fred. I call him Biltmore now.
I'm gonna call him that too then. Yeah, call him Biltmore. Biltmore! Hey Biltmore, what's up Biltmore?
Biltmore, how you doing Biltmore? I gotta wager that. Did you get a towel? I like a towel.
I like a towel. One of those two cigars is in his top five at the end of the year. Cigar of the year. Well, do we care about this?
No, we're fine. Something about the name associated with a bridge in France. Do you want me to help you skip it? Yeah, I got it.
Okay. There you go. See? Okay, you got it?
We don't even need to talk about it, right? Quesada Suspido. You know what a Suspido is? Is that like the banana hammock that you wear?
Yeah, that's the bathing suit that the swimmers wear? Yeah, it's a Suspido. Yeah. Suspido.
Check out my Suspido. Suspido. I tell the guy with the stutter. Suspido is a sigh.
Oh, it's the cutting for the... It's a sigh. Arriving at retailers. Not the Japanese fighting toy.
I think like a gigantic, like the Grim the Reaper sigh. You know, that's when you say sigh, I instantly go weapon. I don't go relief. Casada's new sweet...
Suspido. Sweet tip. Information. Sweet tip.
Sweet tip. It's a sweet tip. Yeah, it skips the next line. Yeah, that sounds about right.
About the event. Just read through it. But did not provide any additional details. What a fantastic story.
Yeah, that's great coverage. It's halfway, not me. You know, if Terrence was there, it would be a thorough story. Yes.
Yeah. Yeah. But he's not. He's over there.
There's Ash on your shirt, Mike. Thank you. Handling miniature giraffes. You know.
We don't want to talk about this one either, right? Which one? The Quesada? Yeah, we're good.
We're good. Quesada. Quesada. New sweet tips again.
New bathing suit. Okay, got it. Suspido. The Suspido.
The sigh. The Suspido. Wildfires, the Revivalist, Returns. Ooh.
Oh, good. In 2021, Jeremy McDonald's Wildfire Cigar Company. I like Jeremy a lot. Me too.
I like Jeremy a lot. He's nice. I think, uh, who's, what's her name, Richie? Jacqueline Sears.
Jacqueline Sears is working with him. Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love the trailer that they pull into the trade shows.
That's cool. I think that's pretty cool. Look, man, this is a tough business. This is a tough industry.
Yeah. You know what I mean? Debut with two blends: the single, a limited edition release, and the revivalist, a regular production line. While that line was discontinued, a new limited edition version is now shipping to stores.
So, it means they found some in a warehouse. That was a quote from Mike Palmer. You read that out loud. That was news, that was just news.
That was allegedly on the half-wheel post. Allegedly. I don't know what happened. That's where we get all the news.
The new version of The Revivalist is a 6x50 box press Toro. Like the original release, it uses a Mexican clato wrapper over an Indonesian Sumatra seed binder. However, the fillers are different. There's Connecticut Broadleaf aged Italian tobacco, Habano from Nicaragua.
He said Italiano. Wait a minute. And tobacco from Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania.
Mmm. Vianish. That's like a four or five country blend there, huh? He's four country.
Wildfire describes it as a medium bodied with notes of earth, leather, and cream with... Mmm. Suspiro? Ah.
Ah. Uh-oh. Roasted coffee and charred oak. Mmm.
Roasted. He got stuck unroasted. Yeah. Roasted is a tough word.
That's because he always... That's because he's used to rolling his arms. - The guy that set everything up here was Ramon. - Ramon.
- Ramon. - There are many differences between the original least and the new version. For example, the 2021 version was listed as only having Nicaraguan fillers and was made at Hoya, the Nicaragua. By contrast, the new version comes by way of Tabacalera William Ventura.
- Ooh, Willie. - It is a little Willie Ventura. - He's the mini game. - Is box pressed and uses different packaging, so you know, completely different.
It's totally different. Those extra little add on comments, Mike Palmer. It's an entirely different. Those are end of story.
Those are end of story. It's an entirely different kind of fly all together. Allegedly. Completely different cigar.
We used a different box. So I haven't been here in a while. I haven't been here in a while. What's a big story that's hit the cigar industry recently?
What's a big story? What's a big story that hit the cigar? It's been kind of quiet. Coop and Juan got a free hotel weekend.
Biltmore. Yeah, they got the Biltmore. Yeah, there's a Suspido involved. The Biltmore, the Biltmore was a big, big, big story that was talked about widely.
On the Patreon. And in the industry. In the industry? And in the industry.
Really. All eyes are on those year-end lists. Really? All eyes are on those year-end lists.
Fred Rui, are you listening? Mr. Biltmore. Mr.
Biltmore. One of the coolest things happened to us yesterday. One of our listeners came in and visited and hung out. His name is Chris Weiss.
He's a great guy. Okay. And he actually told us a story as to how he became a listener to us because somebody said that we were bad for the industry. Isn't that ironic?
I know who said that. Me too. Yeah, I know who said that. Me too.
You guys have a made up? I mean, I have nothing to make up for. I'm not mad at him. Yeah, we're not.
You know what's bad for the industry? That you two guys can't make up. That's bad for the industry. I don't have a fight with him.
" He didn't have to say I'm sorry. This is a big industry, but a small industry. Can't we all just get along? He could just say, I want to move back to it.
And I'd be like, okay. Can't we all just get along, man? We can't get along with everybody, buddy. That's the unfortunate thing.
Because there are people in this industry that purposely take advantage of other people. Yes. And you're never going to get along with that guy. No.
It's never going to happen. No. And there's more than one of them. So, to be fair.
I don't know who you're talking about. Yeah. You have no idea. You heard about that guy, though.
I did hear about that guy. You heard about that guy. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
I got a guy. I got a guy from that guy. Yeah. Apparently, it works out well when you pay them.
It's very lucrative. It's a great business. Richie Riott, everybody. Now it's time for the industry's favorite game.
Who said this was the industry's favorite game? You guys? The industry. What?
Yeah. Obviously. It might be the industry's only game. I just want to throw that out there.
That's not true. There used to be Delos, Delos Muertos. Yeah, but that's no longer around. It's not a game?
Yeah, you had to guess the amount of the deaths? How about that cigar? How they died. Yeah.
Oh, how they died. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a good game. Yeah, you're right.
You're right. " Can you predict a score from a half-wheel review before it's revealed? Richie, get on the phone so you can help me. We'll give you clues, you make your guess, as the review unfolds, the answer gets closer.
Or does it? The closest guess wins. " Alright, I have it over here so you guys can play. I figured you did that.
I can't tell you because you don't watch the show. What was that? I can't tell you because you don't watch the show. You don't watch the show.
You really don't know what that is. Don't you tell him. Don't tell him, Gregory. Don't you tell him.
Triple G. Can you do it again? No. I can't do it again.
I'll have a guess if you do it again. You're going to have to wait. You're going to have to wait till the end. You're going to have to wait.
And you're either are or not going to figure out what it is. It's either going to happen or it's not. It sounds like maybe a deck of cards. Yeah, exactly.
Could be a deck of cards. Yeah, that's what it is. He's like Gambit. He throws cards at everybody.
All right, today's cigar, August 3rd, 2013. Brooks Whittington is the reviewer. It is the Taranio Vault D042 Robusto pre-release. I went back as far as I could.
What's the year on this? 2013. All right. Well, he's going to know this.
92. I'm not going to know this. It's 23 years? Or 13 years ago.
23 years ago. 13 years ago. 23 years ago. Jesus Christ.
I have Phil's calculator over here. What do you want? Did you say 13? Yeah.
Yeah. 23 years ago. 23 years ago. 92.
For 2003. 92. You're going 92? Yeah.
I'm going to go 91. All right. The cigar reviewed is the Turanio Vault D042 Robusto is from Nicaragua. The factory is Plasencia.
That would be the Vault Red, right? We can't tell you. Do you have a picture of it? I have no idea.
No, I don't have a picture of it here. No, we don't have pictures. Well, the original was the black, and then we released the red. That's the red.
Instagram. Who's his we shit? Huh? Who's his we shit?
Before one of my many firings. That was a company I used to work for. I was looking for a list. I was going to introduce you with the list of who you worked for, but it was too long.
All right, Bob, it's a 5x52 Robusto. 20. They smoked four of these cigars. What was it?
The Naya. The Naya. The Big Yak. Thank you, Miguel Chadell.
The Big Yak. 92. You're still at 92? I'm still at 91.
All right. Clue number one. The D042 performed extremely well from the beginning to end. The burn stayed consistent.
The draw remained ideal, and all four samples smoked without any construction problems. The massive smoke production also gave the cigar a rich, satisfying feel throughout the experience. 87. I'm sticking with 91.
Say it one more time, sorry. It's hard to switch and read at the same time. Say 91 again. 91.
Thank you. Alright, clue number two. There's plenty of progression here, starting with leather, cedar, earth, vanilla, sweetness, and black pepper. As the cigar develops, coffee, dark chocolate, nuttiness, and cocoa appear before, finishing with an enjoyable maple-like sweetness that pairs especially well with the nuttiness.
Like a breakfast buffet going out over here. 92. I'm still at 91. Next clue.
You know, if this ends up being 91, you guys are going to think I remember this. I couldn't remember last week, but clearly. I couldn't remember having a conversation with me about my birthday. Or that he was at Sam & Rosie's.
Alright, next clue, the black pepper is pretty punishing early on, and although it settles down, it never completely disappears. The strength also sneaks up considerably, moving from below medium to nearly full by the final third, which could be a little much for smokers looking for a more balanced medium strength experience. That was the third clue. 89.
Wait, you go 90. Well, he's gone first every fuckin' time. Because you're the guest, you get to go last. Oh.
Yes. Triple G, be quiet, please. No help from the audience. 89.
88. All right, final thought. Much like the first Vault release, albeit the limited edition Vitola, I really enjoyed the Taranio Vault D042 Robusto, Robusto, finding it to be very well balanced, fairly complex, and excellently constructed. We were able to pick up a few more of these than most other cigars from IPCPR, and I found myself looking forward to smoking it again when I was doing my review.
Having said all that, I have not been able to try any of the other Vitolas, so I can only recommend the Robusto Vitola until the changes. Thankfully, these are regular productions, should be very easy to find, and are well worth trying, especially when an average price of about eight dollars. Ninety-one. I just stole my 91.
What kind of shit is that? You weren't on it. You moved. Ninety.
It was 90. You cheated. Now you're never going to know what this sound was behind me. I've earned the right to know what that sound was.
Go ahead, Shawn. Go ahead, Shawn. He's never seen it. Oh, look at that.
When I win. It's hitting the chair. Turn it on. I know.
It's hitting the face is what it is. This is going to be like Michael Jackson. His head's going to go, I've got to catch fire. The chair got moved out right over the top.
That was very sharp. This is a Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial waiting to happen, brother. Ooh, tingles. Yeah.
Stop, drop, and roll, brother. You're on fire. I sacrificed my life for you. Is there hair smoking over there?
It's going to have a big bald spot right here. I already do. You'll be waiting on this forever. Okay.
But the first time you set it off, it didn't do that. That's a charge. No, you have to turn it on. You got to charge them.
You did, you made the noise. That charges them. It turns them on. Oh, is that what it was?
Uh-huh. Okay, but it should have been on my chair because I won. No, it doesn't have been on my chair. Okay, here's the rules.
Only his chair. And when he's not here, we're not allowed to use them. Are you serious? Yes.
So you bought it? Well, we bought it. The business bought it. So Palmer should be allowed to use it?
No. I always give the game. I have played once. You've played a couple times.
Yeah. You can't be a whipping boy your whole life, Palmer. Stand up for yourself. A whipping boy?
Are you a whipping boy? He's not going to answer that truthfully to you. No. No, Mikey.
No, Mikey, sir. Wow. Yeah. Okay.
Okay, are you going to be anywhere in particular that you want to plug? That's it? That's it, it's an hour. That was, what's the score?
That's it. So I kicked your ass, it's over. That's it, yes. Oh, you would have had a chance to redeem yourself.
Yeah, you did something right within the whole hour. Congratulations. That was about two minutes. I want to thank our live studio audience.
Yeah. Ramon, Greg, and Richie. Triple G. He's Triple G on the show.
Yeah. Triple G? Triple G. You're not going to be anywhere?
Don't give away his real name. I will not be, I will be with Tyler Jones on August 26th, we're heading up to Chicago, where we will end up at Brew City Cigar Festival, and this year neither Tyler or myself will be staying for The Little Smoke on Monday. Okay. You should stop by Byrne.
In Minnesota? Yeah. Just swing over. You're in that area?
Can I get you a map so you can see where? It's in that, Minnesota Festival? Yeah, it's right there. It's in that area.
It's right there. It's close enough. I'll skip at a jump. Um, and then, uh, and then, uh.
Let me see here. I don't know. What comes after August? September.
September. My birthday. If you want to get that ice cream going. I gotcha.
Invite me to a party. Alright. He might not remember. With, with, with more than two days notice.
Certainly, certainly. You know. I'm not overnight and shit. That's too much money.
No, no. Let's see. Burn is in, is at 409 West Burnsville. We do have an interesting month coming up in October.
I have TAA, followed by The Big Smoke in Vegas, followed by La Zona Palooza and Cigar Room Pre-Thanksgiving Party. I'll be traveling with Hector on that one. That's November. That takes you into November, that takes us five straight weeks, and then we have Thanksgiving, and now Ceci wants to go on vacation to Chicago, so we're looking at about six weeks of travel, I think she's trying to get rid of me.
She's trying to get rid of you? I mean, I like a break here now, you know. What do you mean she's trying to get rid of you? Well, after four straight weeks of travel, she wants to schedule more travel.
With you? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's overrated. What's wrong with that?
It's overrated. Since he doesn't watch the show, I can say whatever the fuck I want. Send her clips? Yeah, send her the link.
Oh, you're not going to believe this. He'll put it on the teaser. It's a great show. Jack Badmouse's wife.
Yeah, that was a 594. Wow. She'll be like, "No, it's fine. " Yeah, fine.
I believe we were voted the best couple at Mikey's birthday party, so. More than likely. There you go. On this show.
It's true. Yeah. Alright, well, I guess that's where Jack's going to be. And then eventually he's going to spend time with his wife.
I don't know what the hell I'm doing in September. What am I doing in September, Rich? There's got to be something going on. Oh, yes.
Yes. Hold on, hold on. Hector will be at Ash and Anvil's anniversary party Labor Day weekend. I was supposed to do that.
But then I got to be back in Kansas City the following week for Diebels, multi-vendor. So I got Hector to fill in on the anniversary party. And after he said he would, I told him, cool, man, that's Labor Day weekend, but I hope it doesn't affect you. Oh, you dropped a bomb on him.
I dropped a little bomb on him, but Hector was eager to travel. And then Finks, Finks Bash, September 19th, and then hopefully September 20th, back in Miami, at the Bruno Mars concert. Well, that's weird. What is that weird?
Bruno Mars concert. Bruno Mars. Ceci wants to go? Not currently, she doesn't.
You're a big Bruno Mars guy? I love Bruno Mars. He would catch a grenade for you. Yeah.
He would catch a grenade for Bruno Mars? For you. For me? Isn't that...
For me. Yeah, that is... Is that a saying? That's one of his songs.
Catch a grenade. See, like... You know what I mean? You gotta really...
What's your favorite band? Or, what is an act that you would go see? In a stadium? Pearl Jam.
Pearl Jam? Pearl Jam? I like them apples. I know Eddie Vedder.
Do you? You guys are tight? Big Cubs fan. Is he a big Cubs fan?
Big Cubs fan. I mean, listen, this was 2003. We spent a lot of time at Cubs games together. Did you?
And in the family section. Yeah. And, you know, we used to shoot the shit, which was pretty cool. Right.
And then, I guarantee you, he has no idea who I am. No. In 2026. Maybe he'll see this show.
But it was a cool year. Yeah. Him and Billy Corgan. Nice.
Smashing Pumpkins. Yeah, I know. It was a lot of fun that year until we lost. Until the Cubbies lost.
World Jam. How about you, Palmer? I don't like large crowds. Shocking.
I don't like concerts. He'd go to a Toby Keefe concert. No, I don't like large crowds. Are you a country guy?
No. Like Richie? Morgan Wallen? My wife listens to country music.
You like what? He listens to country music, so, you know, when it's in the car, I have to listen. Okay. What about, like, an intimate concert?
You know, like a hundred people, invite only. He strikes me as a Celine Dion guy. Isn't she turned into Stone or something? He's more of a Milli Vanilli guy.
There's only one left. Either Milli or Vanilli, one of them died. But yet, they're on tour, so... Oh, maybe they got an extra guy.
I mean, the performance is practically the same. I mean, you're singing somebody else's music anyway. He doesn't hit the play button. Somebody else can mount the words.
How about our studio audience? You already said that. Now he's polling the audience. We all know how painful that can be.
Nobody? Nah, I'm not a big concert guy. He doesn't like crowds. It kind of ended the whole fucking question.
Well, thank you very much for coming on the show. That's it? That's all we got? That's all we got.
All right. If you want to talk shit, we'll shoot next week's Patreon. Yeah. You want to talk shit?
We can do next week if you want to. I got some good Patreon shit. All right. Well, then we're going to turn this off.
No, no, no, no, we're not. I don't have any. All right. We're going to turn this off, and then we're going to do some Patreon stuff.
Turn it off and turn it back on. All right, everybody. Thanks, everybody. Bye.
Bye. Boop.
Show Notes
ACHP Episode 594 – Timeline
00:00 – Opening Chaos / Jack Takes the Chair
Jack steps into the host role, microphone problems immediately appear, and the crew tries to get through the new Cigar Hustlers Podcast intro.
04:00 – Today’s Show Preview
The guys tease the lineup: Angry Birds, the bizarre Oreo/KFC collaboration, Robert Gilman coming home from Russia, cigar news, What’s the Score?, and an angry Jack.
05:15 – CHPod Swag & Phil’s Unicorn Mask Auction
CHPod.com and Patreon plugs lead into the ongoing auction for Phil’s infamous unicorn mask and some Daniel Lance/Skip comedy.
09:15 – Listener Comments
The crew dives into YouTube comments, including royal-family deep-fake theories, birthday arguments, Jack being challenged to “bring it,” customer-service jokes, discount codes, and plenty of shots at each other.
16:00 – Is There Too Much Cigar Hustlers Content?
Jack argues that five shows a week might be too much. Mike defends the daily format, leading to a debate over listening habits, priorities, birthdays, popcorn, ice cream and who actually watches the show.
21:50 – The Davidoff Debate
A listener asks Mike about Davidoff. Mike explains that he doesn’t hate the company but strongly disagrees with manufacturers selling exclusive cigars through their own stores after retailers helped build the brand.
24:00 – Retail Exclusives & Camacho Prediction
The conversation expands into retailer exclusives versus manufacturer-direct exclusives, followed by Mike’s prediction that Camacho could see a significant sales surge.
26:20 – Should ACHP Do a Live Show?
Jack says he’d watch a live show, which gives Mike another opportunity to point out that Jack doesn’t even keep up with the regular episodes.
28:20 – NEWS: American Airlines Bird Strike
An American Airlines flight headed for Charlotte returns to Myrtle Beach after a bird strike causes an engine problem. The guys discuss the Mayday call, smoke from the engine and the surprising number of bird strikes every year.
32:30 – Mike’s Travel & 43 States
The bird-strike story turns into Mike’s extensive flying history, the seven states he still hasn’t visited, Minnesota cigar lounges and why he keeps missing Burn.
34:30 – Airline Status Isn’t What It Used to Be
Mike talks about American Airlines loyalty status, credit-card spending overtaking actual flying, upgrades becoming harder to get and the benefits of Platinum Pro.
36:30 – KFC + Oreo Fried Chicken Cookie
KFC and Oreo team up on a fried-chicken-flavored Oreo featuring an 11-herb-and-spice-inspired filling. Jack quickly decides the story has gone on far too long and tries to kill it.
38:30 – Jack vs. the Teleprompter
The cookie story turns into an argument over skipping stories, controlling the teleprompter and Jack discovering that he apparently doesn’t have to read everything Mike gives him.
40:00 – Guy Fieri, Knuckle Sandwich & Daytona
The guys briefly talk Guy Fieri, Knuckle Sandwich cigars and whether Guy has ever been close enough to Deltona to get him onto the show.
41:50 – Robert Gilman Released From Russia
Marine veteran Robert Gilman is released after 1,666 days in Russian custody following a humanitarian pardon from Vladimir Putin. The crew discusses the allegations against him, additional prison charges and concerns over his deteriorating health.
45:00 – The Robert Gilman Video / Transition
Mike finds video related to Gilman’s arrest, the crew tries to figure out how to get it onto the show, and they begin transitioning toward cigar news.
Episode 594 goes off the rails fast as Jack Torano takes the host chair and the crew tackles bird strikes, a bizarre KFC/Oreo mashup, Robert Gilman’s release from Russia, and the viral “gravity disappears” hoax that pulled in millions of views. Plus, cigar industry debates, new releases, retailer exclusives, travel talk, and another chaotic round of What’s the Score?