ACHP 614 Even At Its Worst | CHPOD
Episode Summary
Mike "BDP" Palmer, "King" Mike Stefankiewicz and Phil are back for another mid-week edition of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast, opening with listener comments from the CHPOD Lounge and YouTube — including ideas for a Patreon challenge coin tied to the $25 tier, ongoing jokes about Mikey's orange lighting, and follow-up on Palmer's guest appearance on the Smokin' Oak podcast (where he talked Powstanie and blending). The crew also revisits Mikey's now-famous phone call from Carlito Fuente and debates how much prep it would take to properly interview him on the show.
The non-cigar half runs through the headlines: MMA fighter Cole "Wavy MMA" Johnson's stunt challenge to fight a full-grown chimpanzee, a new U.S. State Department Level 2 travel advisory for China (exit bans, detentions over private electronic messages, and pressure on relatives abroad), an even harsher warning for Iran, and Iran's claim that it "captured" a U.S. submarine in the Strait of Hormuz — which turns out to be an older, roughly 19-foot Anduril Dive-LD unmanned underwater drone that simply ran out of endurance and was written off by the Pentagon. There's also a detour into Taylor Sheridan's Lioness season three and the state of Paramount+ renewals.
Cigar news covers a veteran tobacco man joining CLE Cigar Company as plant manager at the Danlí, Honduras factory after stints at General Cigar (director of tobacco purchasing), Universal Corporation's leaf sorting and sales operation in the Dominican Republic, and Swisher Dominicana — with Christian Eiroa putting him over the company's entire tobacco and farming operation. The guys also break down Maya Selva's Flor de Selva Año de la Cabra 2027, a 6x56 Toro Gordo all-Honduran limited edition for the Year of the Goat (Jamastran and Santa Bárbara tobaccos, San Carlos wrapper, decorative foot band) debuting at InterTabac 2026 at roughly €27, and registration details for the 2027 Pro Cigar Festival in Santiago, DR — February 16–19, $2,500 complete package, factory and farm tours, beach day, a new supplier shop-hopping tour, white party, gala auction, and 60–100 cigars, minus Davidoff, which has left the organization.
The show closes with "What's the Score?", the crew's guessing game built around a halfwheel review — this time Brooks Whittington's take on the Crowned Heads Moonflower Robusto (Nicaragua, My Father Cigars, Corojo wrapper, $12.95). Notes of cedar, cocoa nibs, espresso, cherry sweetness and red pepper impressed, but inconsistency across the three samples — burn corrections and one noticeably richer stick — kept the score down to an 87. Palmer also compares Davidoff Panetela tins versus the 20-count box and finds the per-cigar price identical.
In This Episode
- 01Listener comments and a CHPOD challenge coinThe crew reads Lounge and YouTube comments, jokes about Mikey's lighting, and floats a Patreon challenge coin at the $25 tier.
- 02Palmer on the Smokin' Oak podcastRecap and critique of Palmer's guest spot, including disputed stories about getting sick while blending cigars.
- 03Man challenges a chimpanzeeMMA fighter Cole Johnson's 1-0 record and his publicity-stunt plan to wrestle a full-grown chimp.
- 04China and Iran travel warningsA new Level 2 advisory for China covering exit bans and detentions over private messages, plus a dire warning for Iran.
- 05Iran's 'captured submarine'Tehran claims an intelligence coup over what is actually an obsolete 19-foot Anduril Dive-LD underwater drone that died near the Strait of Hormuz.
- 06CLE Cigar Company adds a tobacco veteranA former General Cigar, Universal Corporation and Swisher Dominicana tobacco director becomes plant manager at CLE's Danlí, Honduras factory.
- 07Maya Selva Flor de Selva Año de la Cabra 2027An all-Honduran 6x56 Toro Gordo Year of the Goat limited edition debuting at InterTabac 2026 at about €27 per cigar.
- 08Pro Cigar Festival 2027 registrationDates, the $2,500 package, factory and farm tours, the white party and gala auction, and Davidoff's absence from the organization.
- 09What's the Score? Crowned Heads MoonflowerThe guys guess the halfwheel score for the Moonflower Robusto and dig into its flavors and consistency problems.
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
*Music* Me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Hello, peoples! Oh my god. Crap, that's loud.
We're back. Where's my volume? Ugh. Better monitor that.
Three. One, two, three, oh my brakes again, two, can't count past four here we go welcome to a cigar hustler podcast premium cigars unfiltered opinions and conversations i'm mike pdp Palmer your host joined by my co-host the king mike stephan kevin your mic is covered a little bit by your collar is it yeah i feel like it's even more there you go let's try it now oh yeah I've got to back up. No, let's just keep it going. No, it already passed the joke about him.
Wow. Oh, now it's slow. Fat. An engineering author of the new book, Make Him Finish, a self-help book about ED, Phil McGuffey.
Hello. I wonder if you can use your phone instead of that. No, it's so small. I don't know.
There's no... I bet you there's a teleprompter app remote or something for that. Oh, well, I have installed and uninstalled the app three or four times. You'd think that I might have seen that somewhere.
No. I think, no? Yeah, but then what happens when Palmer's on here? You reconnect another phone to it.
Right, everybody has to put the app on their phone. Right. Okay, fine, fine. From cigar sports and business to pop culture and the wildest headlines, if it's worth discussing, We're gonna talk about it, no safe spaces, just real perspective, big laughs, and chaos at any moment.
Settle in and welcome to a Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Ta-da-da-da. Thank you very much. On today's show, Man Fights Chimp.
Oh. Of course. I think I saw a clip on that. No, there's no video.
No, not yet. No, not yet. We have a new travel warning. Of course.
S. submarine in the Strait of Hormuz. How'd they do that? Let's find out.
They swim in there? You'll find out. Then in cigars, we have a portal entry, a new cigar, and we have information from the Pro Cigar from yesterday. Oh.
But first, Mikey, what are the people saying? What are the people saying? Yes, and did Carlito call you again last night? No.
He's not wearing the shirt. No additional phone calls. No additional phone calls. Like and subscribe wherever you're listening to this show.
com for all your chpod swag. Mine doesn't work. com, a Cigar Hustlers podcast, where we talk inside baseball and give cigar reviews. Some comments from the previous show, go to the chpod lounge first.
Here we go. See if it's working properly. It's working. See if it's working.
Worky worky today. It's not working. It's not working. Well, there's two here from T-Money.
Mikey's lighting looks like he got a really bad spray tan. I blame Palmer. See? I told you it was orange yesterday.
You didn't believe me. You don't spray tan? You look orange. T-Money also...
Do I still look orange? Yeah, I put it on the setting you had it on yesterday. Hey, you had that South Florida tan, bro. Didn't your sister-in-law do a spray tan thing?
She still do that? Oh. Oh. Oh.
No, that's orange. There, right there. There you go. Oh.
Better? That's nice. It's got a Central Florida tan. It's dark or something.
No, it's great. Okay. Well, yeah, that monitor always looks better, the one in front of Phil. And Timon, he also wrote, Palmer's new nickname is Sex Panther, 60% of the time he's wrong Oh, you're wrong every time.
Sex Panther? Yeah. How does that make me wrong? I mean, I understand the wrong part.
It was a saying from, 'cause I said, I used the term, I think I said something like... Oh, yeah, yeah. 80% of the time you're wrong, 100% of the time, or something like that. Right.
It's from a movie. Oh, talky pictures, oh, I understand. Talky pictures. Talky pictures.
Island of Indonesia. Nothing better than the silent ones. Thailand. Had to have a better imagination.
All right, so some comments on our YouTube page. Yeah! Oh, that was it. In the lounge.
Yeah, it's not integrated for some reason. I'll have to look at it. Gotcha. @RuckusUnchained.
Mikey's mom! Hello, Sharon. Warped and crowned heads, Oz are completely different. Mr.
Magoo strikes again. Not in my world, they're the same thing. Uh, yeah, you, um... Yeah.
That was just yesterday, I remember. How scary, uh, Michael Z Cigar Guy says, "How scary would it be if Phil was the paramedic responding to your medic alert? " They have stuff for snacks. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, they got the new steak bites at Arby's, let's full of them.
I gotta, I gotta. Oh, those are great. Have you had them, do they? They don't look good.
Yeah, no, they're great. Have you had them? Yeah. Really?
Of course he has. That's wild, man. You don't try these things? No.
It's steak. You like steak. I do like steak. Yeah, but it's Arby's steak.
How good could it be? Like, I guess, in a pinch? I guess? I don't know.
I mean, you gotta try it one time, though. I've been wanting to. I pass one on the way home every day at Arby's. And there's never a line.
I'm not that-- like, if I'm in a spot, I'm like, I'll try it. But like, I don't know. Hey, do we want to try the chicken and waffle and the fried chicken Oreos? Yes.
They have them at Target now. It's all my day. Do you think? Yeah.
Sure. All right. I'll get some next time I go. Oh, what is it?
Oh, you want to get that? Oh, I'm sorry. Are we bothering you? Look, you're going to try the Oreo, but you're not going to try the Steak Bites from Harvey.
Look, just take the watch off when you come in for one hour. It's not that hard. Uh, I can't do that. I'm the boss today.
Tia is occupied. Okay. And what about every other weekday? Yep.
Nothing? Okay. All right. Can you just silence it and then you could still answer it?
Just silence it. It thought I was talking to it. " Oh yeah, baby. That is kind of, I mean, 10 years.
10 years. That's a lot. It's a long time. We have the meth and the-- A man gets lonely.
Yeah, and the poop bag. The poop bag? Yeah, well, it was the pool noodle and the poop bag. Yeah, attached to the poop bag.
Which is, you know, it catches it, so, you know. So the load is efficient. Right, and then he just pulls the bag off, ties it off, throws it away. He's got a shooter on our hands.
Shooter. Wow. House Overall also says, "Awesome to hear about you and Carlito Fuente, Mike. " Yeah, I agree, man.
That was very cool of him. You know, I don't think it could have gone better. House of Raw also says, "King Mike, I appreciate your brother. Triple G's laugh is a crack up.
Always has me laughing out loud. And congrats to Mr. Palmer, sir. Great episode on Smoke and Oak.
" Oh, that's nice. Yeah. He forgot somebody. You weren't on Smoke and Oak?
No, I understand, but he even, you know, talked about Triple G. Oh, he did say anything nice about Phil over there. - Who are you again? I did, I watched The Smokin' Oak.
- Did you? - Yeah, I thought, I thought you did okay, I thought you did well. You're very well, it's like you've done this. - Like I've done this for eight years?
- Multiple times. - Yeah, right. - Did he pay you? - Very comfortable.
- Yes. - Yeah. - Very well, you did interrupt him a bunch of times. - Yeah.
- But it was almost okay to some degree. 'Cause I felt like sometimes he was posturing And kind of talking more about him at times. - Yeah. - And like, this isn't a dig on him.
- I don't know. - This is like me looking at a guy that's kind of been podcasting for a short period of time. - Yeah, yeah. - A year and a half, two years.
And like, you know, you're, for me, you're just, you're an easy guy to interview, right? - Right. - You're kind of like right beneath, like, Sokka or Skip or something like that. You know how to carry on through the conversation.
I don't remember getting sick making my cigars, 'cause you said that. - Getting sick making your cigars. - Yeah, like we smoked so much that we got sick on our first blend. - Oh, did I say you didn't?
I mean, I did. - No, you mentioned that, but then you said when Greg and I went down there, they smoked so much that they got sick. - Oh, well, you know, you. - I'm like, hmm, I don't think that that happened.
- You take artistic license sometimes to make the stories better. - Maybe Greg did, I mean, he gets sick every time he goes around. - Yeah, maybe Greg told me that. - We may have gotten sick, but I don't think it was like a tobacco sick.
- Oh, I think Greg told me when we were there, because I told him I started to get a headache, he said he got sick when he did Higgs. That's probably what it was. I think he said he threw up. - Greg always.
- I don't know. - Greg always. - I don't remember that, if that happened. - Right.
- That doesn't mean that it didn't happen. - Right, a long time ago, a long time ago. - Yeah. - Greg throws up at least once a week.
- Yeah. - From brushing his teeth. - He's vomiting right now. - Yeah.
- He's still in the mood, by the way. I know. He came down. I tried to make light and chat with him.
Yeah. I called him grumpy. He told me I was mean. Oh, I didn't call him grumpy.
Oh. By the way. You got a picture from Karolego. Before I go any further.
It's a picture of them together. He had a picture of you together. You don't have to. I'm going to send this to you guys right now.
Yes. You don't have to play the video, but like play the audio. Oh, right now? Oh, we have a video for the show right now?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh. You taped the phone call. Oh.
What phone call? From Carlito. No, that would be great. Jeez Louise, let it go already.
Let it go also. We don't ever let things go. We don't ever let anything go on this show. It's another day.
Oh, it's me. Cigar that's bold and strong in your face and everything. And Mikey made the opposite. Mm-hmm.
Because Mikey's a little more laid back than Greg is to a point. Yeah. Oh, it was specific. Mike is more laid-back than Greg.
It says it right here on the Smokin' Oak podcast. Is that bad? No, no. Oh.
This is just proof of you saying it. You say that I'm angry and I'm mean all the time. Whoa. More laid-back than Greg.
Well, more laid-back doesn't mean you're not mean and angry. It just means he's excessively mean and angry. Yeah. In comparison to...
I'm the lesser of two evils. Uh, yeah. Depends on the day. Yeah.
Well... Listen, I invite you to my house, buddy. I understand, I know. I think he's laid back.
Me? Yeah, but we do get laid back beatings. It's like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix when he finally figures it out and like Agent Smith is at him and he's just deflecting things at a nice even chill. Right, he's just not even looking at it.
Just unfazed. @CW6383 says, @ihearttripleG, they're slowly remapping the world one episode at a time. " Yes, baby. Don't make fun, my country.
Data Cash swears he's not iHeartBDP. " Wasn't his picture on the profile thing or something, didn't you say that? Well, he's no longer posting. He isn't commenting as much.
No, I don't know. Maybe he's mad at you. I don't know. Are you guys fighting?
No. Are you sure? Yeah. At CW6383 also says...
You might still be sorry didn't get invited to your birthday party. What birthday party? The one that you talked about on the show. That I just kind of winged and put together?
I'm not saying he should have been. I'm just telling you, when you talked about it on the show, And when we talked about it on the show, there was an exchange. Oh, there was an exchange. Yeah, what party?
When was there a party? Why didn't I get invited? " This is just now coming out? I don't know.
I thought we talked about this already off-air. Somebody else was mad, too. The party wasn't a big deal. I said, other than Greg, I didn't really know anybody that was there.
There was people from his school people. - Yeah, it was like a handful of people. - Right. - I didn't want anything big or elaborate or, you know.
- I completely understand. - And I wasn't spending the time doing it. You know what I mean? - Right.
- He was just a little miffy, he didn't get invited. - Hey, your birthday's on Saturday. What do you want to do? I'm like, I don't know, go to Cigars on the Ave.
- Go to Cigars on the Ave. - Just have a cigar. " Right. I want to go and sit and have dinner with you.
Like, I'm good. I don't, you know. But she likes to celebrate you. She does.
And I'm not discrediting her at all, but like, I don't like to celebrate me, you know? Right. " Okay. You know what I mean?
I want everybody else to have a good time. Let's see, the other stuff is from the other episode. It's all about Phil, isn't it? It's all about you.
Yeah. It's all about Phil. Yeah, you weren't even on that one. So he's not reading it?
He's not going to read it. Rename the Bunny Rants to Triple G Spot from Epicure and Smokes. I said that first. Ruckus Unchained says we need a coin.
Mikey's mom, I told her that. She's always asking for money. That's true. He got caught off guard with that one.
No, because I just started thinking, I mean, we could talk to Charles about that. He's shown me coins in the past. Yeah. So that's definitely something we can do.
Mom, you're going to have to give me a little bit more of an elaborate, like, what do you mean from the coin? What's happening from the coin? Like, is it something that we just give out? Is it something you can purchase?
Like, tell me your thoughts? We make it the $25 level on Patreon, you get the coin. Ooh. Oh, yeah, that'd be dope.
They get it for one month, they cancel. So we got them $25. Give it back. You lost that coin.
If you cancel, we send you cow shit or something. There you go. Oh great, now me and Palmer have to go out and find cow shit. Well, I'm going to tell you right now though, you better take care of some real ones like Ken Miller, that guy, you know, if you go that route, these guys were, you know, he did top notch for the year.
Well, he would obviously get the coin, he's already above 25. So you like, but my point is like, those are the little gaps that you miss that you don't even think about, right? Like, oh, wait, wait, no, that guy, you know, that guy qualifies. Sure, he would get one.
So I don't know if we built something now. Yeah, if you get the coin in the club. Yeah. From Mikey's mom.
But yeah, from Mikey's mom. And the club was Sharon. She has great ideas. Very smart woman even though she didn't go to college.
It says it on her Facebook. Sharon Stefankiewicz, I didn't go to college. I don't know why that's her title. You know, old people on social media, dude, sometimes it's-- Yeah, she doesn't even know it's there.
We've talked about that. No, yeah. You're her friend on Facebook, by the way. Are we?
You are. And Greg-- well, Greg is not on, but you are. There was a couple of common people. I don't remember who the other ones were.
I remember back in the day, she shared this photo of this beautiful purple flower. this purple flower that represents love and appreciation for everyone it was a gigantic marijuana bud oh nice and I said to her I'm like do you know what that is? it's a flower like yeah right did you get it from your dealer? yeah it was one of us getting all those friend requests what's going on?
all these people with braids wouldn't be my friends wow Jamaican because they like marijuana you just made it worse? It's made it worse. I didn't say that. Just so everybody knows.
Oh, my God. See, this is the problem with old people. You know what I mean? They're just kind of set in their ways.
You just say things you don't even think about. Terrible things. That wasn't terrible. What am I going to do with you?
Don't tell me to Jamaica. Please don't hurt him. He's always going to hurt me. He's old and fragile.
Well, it's a felony against elderly. It is? Yeah. It's a hate crime.
What if it's canceling out another hate crime? That wasn't a hate crime. That was a stereotype. I tell you guys, it's not the same thing.
Yeah. Okay. All right. com lounge, which is where I prefer you comment, where I will praise you.
But, I mean, if you do either one, I'm pretty happy. I'm just happy that you commented. It looks like House of Raw and CW got some cool badges on their YouTube. YouTube gives you badges?
Yeah, I don't know what it means, but it's gotta mean something cool. Either they're like a subscribe member or something like that, and they contribute or something. So if you guys are contributing, thank you so much. That's awesome.
Okay, let's get on with the show. Alright, Cole Johnson, better known as Wavy MMA, has announced his next challenge. Okay. The 1-0 fighter believes his wrestling experience will overcome a full-grown chimpanzee speed.
This is terrible. Brian, you don't want to wrestle with chimpanzees? I don't, no. No.
Why do you think it's terrible? Have you seen any of the stuff in the history of the documentaries with the chimpanzee and the people that own chimpanzees and stuff? Yes, I know, they would bite your face off. One lady got her face ripped off.
Right. Her face ripped off. Loose fingers and things, I understand. Yeah.
I mean, how are you going to fight this? Are you going to wrap its hands? No, no, his plan is to grab its arm and throw it over his shoulder onto the ground. And then that'll pretty much be it.
The chimpanzee is going to kick his ass. Oh, yeah. Well, first, nobody's going to let this happen. You're probably right.
There's no way he's going to let him beat up a chimpanzee, if he even could. Dude, the chimpanzee would-- The chimpanzee will tear him apart. Yeah, yeah. I'm going to be honest with you guys.
Tell me. I'm paying to watch this thing. You're going to swing by and get your Arby's steak tidbits? Yeah.
Arby's steak bites and then go? And then you're going to go? Yeah, I got to see this. Johnson says biting doesn't frighten him because he bites too.
Oh, okay. Oh, both biters. I don't think I'm going to stick a chimpanzee's hand in my mouth and bite his finger off. Dude, it'll rip your jaw off.
Yeah, so there's a finger in? Out comes your cheek. I'll just take this with me. It'll make for a wild, solid bite, but a human bite is nothing like the damage an adult chimpanzee can inflict, as we all know, they can just rip your face off.
So in another 60 days, we're going to hear about the fact that this is cancelled and it's not happening? Well, it has not been planned yet. No one has agreed to let them fight there, and nobody has a chimpanzee readily available that is trained in MMA. But it's a way for this guy to get everybody to talk about it.
So it's a publicity stunt. He's got a 1-0 record. So he's crushing. Right.
He's absolutely dominating in the space. Right. He's well-known, but now everybody knows his name and he's fighting a chimpanzee. And he's not even like 1-0 UFC.
No, but he is undefeated. Yes, he is undefeated. I'm also undefeated. Well, he's had one fight.
He's had one more than me. Right. You know what I mean? So, I mean.
So that's pretty close. Right. You know what I'm saying? I don't know.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's much slower. Right? Maybe they knew Kung Fu, but you know, they're very slow with the Kung Fu.
Lit 'em up. Yeah. That's pretty wild, dude. It is.
This isn't gonna happen. No, it's not. There's no way. It's not gonna happen.
But it is making the news cycle, so I saw it in three different places. That's because the stock market's not really moving. Oil goes up, oil goes kind of down. We don't know what's going on.
Tech is flat. There's, like, nothing to report at this given moment. There is something to report. Tell me.
There's another travel warning from the State Department. Okay, don't go to the Strait of Hormuz? No, don't go to China. Uh-oh.
Yeah, uh-oh. Mm, glad you got out of that market. Yes, it's at a level two, so they upped it from a level one. But they did this years ago, too.
It was the same thing. China is actively not letting people leave. Oh, yeah? And you don't know until you go to the airport.
- No, no. - No, no, no, go over here, please. - In the small room. - Go over here, go over here now.
- Ani-ning. - Keeping Americans from leaving the country even when those people haven't been formally charged. They're also keeping track of if you say bad things on the internet and then you go to China, they're gonna snatch you. - Oh, I'm not leaving this, I'm not leaving.
- Yeah, why would you wanna go anywhere right now? - I know, you say that all the time. - I know. - Why would you wanna go anywhere?
- Why would you wanna go anywhere? - But yeah, I mean. - We even have those overwater bungalows now off the coast of Florida. You don't have to go to Bali or anything like that.
- We have them here. - We have them here, yeah. - It's okay, we love Chinese food, so. - Chinese food over there, it's not like Chinese food over here.
- Whatever. - You can't get Kung Pao or General Sao. - General Sao's? - Yeah, however you say it.
- So they have a lot of cats? - No, you ate 'em. - I did not say that, please let me leave the country. You know, unusually, there are not a lot of cats.
- There's a lot of dogs, but not a lot of cats. - Oh, thank God. - Hmm, so yeah, so when you-- - Why do you say, "Oh, thank God"? - 'Cause maybe it's real chicken.
- Oh, China is trying to use-- - I mean, what the hell? - Yeah, I don't, I don't know, I'm just gonna talk over it. - Like, what? Look, maybe it's real chicken.
- Talk over it? - Because there's dogs and not a lot of cats? - Well, they like cats better. - No, technically they like dogs better.
- Well, yeah, that's why the dogs are little, but I mean, like, they like to eat the cats more. No, no. They eat the dogs. Northern China, it's back on the menu.
At least it was. I don't know. It's been years since I've been. It's back on the menu in northern China.
You better not go now. They eat the dogs? Yes, they eat the dogs. They're eating the dogs.
There's more meat on them than the cats. Wow, that's disturbing. I saw them hanging in windows of butcher shops in towns. The dogs?
Well, they were dead, but yes. I don't even know if I can make a short clip out of this. I mean, you make one comment about Fuente. Yeah, but it would be cool if the Prime Minister of China gives you a phone call.
That'd be great. Oh, it would be great. I don't know who you think you are. I know who you think you are.
I know you're not saying something bad about me. Like, I'm just a guy that's got an opinion. That's all I am. Carlito said I call you because you're very nice man.
I spoke to Carlito. But let's light up cigars together. They like to grab the children it says, too. Oh, we're not going to China, yup, don't go, they're gonna take us.
Because they use them as leverage. Oh God. We're taking your kids. We're taking your kids.
That's a great tactic. That is a great tactic. Man, I'm three feet taller than all you people in this country, you ain't taking nothing from me. So, say you were Chinese.
Okay. And you moved to America. You can't be Chinese, look at them. And you marry an American woman, you have a couple of kids, kids wanna go visit their grandparents in China.
" Is that like, that really happened? That's the thing, yeah. Wow. Targeting depression relatives or associates living outside of China to return.
Ouch. You coming back, we know you know not a lot of stuff now. We know you know a lot of stuff. You got a good American education.
Tell me about the Wi-Fi. Tell me about the Wi-Fi. Not the Fifi, we don't want to know about that. We don't want to talk to that man.
We have our own Fifi here. " That was very loud. Like it was the Great Barbaros. Well, I had to let the Chinaman know what's up, you know?
Got to tell. Oh, God. This podcast gives me agita. So this happened years ago, and I actually canceled a flight one time a trip because they started doing this.
They tried to take you? I ain't taking it. No, no, I didn't go. I ain't taking the chance.
Well, now you're a big name, you know what I mean? You know what I mean? Right, yeah, now I'm, you know, a very popular racist. Yeah, before.
That would grab me right up. Yeah, before you just look like a child. Do the accent now, funny man. Oh, you think you're funny.
You think you're funny. And no, we don't eat dog. No, we don't eat the dog no more. Special delight.
Cancel the dog, yeah. Oh. Oh. China's also detaining or deporting people over private electronic messages Do you have electronic messages including communications criticizing China, Hong Kong, Macau or the Chinese Communist Party?
I'm in Macau. Macau. I'm in Macau. I'm in Macau.
I'm in Macau. I'm in Macau. I'm gonna have a sandwich. Who just went to Macau not too long ago?
My name was Jonathan Drew. No, it was Jonathan San. Well, back then it was Jonathan Drew. His middle name's Drew.
Yeah, he just clarified that. He did a post. Oh, did he? Yeah.
I think he did like a rap video. Drew is my middle name. He did a rap video? Yeah.
Drew is my middle name? Yeah. is my middle name. Don't talk about me like that, Poma.
Even messages reportedly sent while the person was outside of China. So none of us can go now. Oh, yeah. We saw episode 613.
You make a lot of fun. You make a fun of us. We need your coming back room. We don't even know what number the episode is.
That's a lie. Give me your child. No, no, it's 613. It's at the beginning of each episode.
You guys just don't see it. Yeah, I know. Actually, 614. Three was yesterday.
Oh, yeah, here we go. So we don't know. All right, so now it's on the list of places you can't go. There's also one for Iran, but that seemed kind of pointless to talk about.
I mean, why would you go there right now? Hey, just say no. It's not safe in Iran. Yeah.
We don't recommend you go to Ukraine either. Right. But for Iran, they're saying make sure you have a will and a power of attorney left to your family. Really?
Yes. So that must be a five. You walk in the airport and I ran an American flag t-shirt. Hello, my people!
I love my people! Hello! You wouldn't last 10 seconds. Big Trump face on your shirt.
You come off the plane in your America boots with your shorts. Make America great again hats. Yeah, give them a little dance. Yeah, you're, dude.
You don't even make it all. Dude. You are met with AK-47s in your plane seat. You know what I mean?
I'm smoking this American cigar. Look at this thing, fellas. This is red, white, and blue cigar. Yeah, this is called the Hammer from Hoon Young.
I used to be in the Navy. I call this, this is my, what was it called, Operation, what was it? Operation Night Shield or something, I don't know. Dark Hammer.
It was the Hammer. Big Hammer. The Hammer. War Hammer.
War Hammer. No, that's, that's... Night Hammer. Thor.
Night Hammer. That might have been a Night Hammer. Operation Night Hammer. Yeah, Chaka Khan.
Chaka Khan. I know, Chaka Khan. Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan. Okay.
Yeah, so, yeah, level two China. You may or may not be able to come back. Right, yeah, they might stop you. In Iran.
- Yeah, so I was watching "The Lioness," season three is out. - Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. - And I'm like, I'm so far behind, but there's an, it's like episode one or two where they're in Ukraine. - Yeah, that's one.
- And they show you like the drones and shit, and I'm like, this is stressful. - Right, I know. - I'm watching this show, that show is stressful. When you see some of the things that go down, I'm like, oh God, oh.
Which is okay for me, 'cause I need to feel something when I'm watching the show, otherwise I look at my wife and I'm like, this is the show you picked? This is what we're watching? Yeah. She's been watching this "Hunting Wives" thing or something on Netflix.
Oh, is there a new-- It's pretty much a soft porn. Yeah. Is there a new season? No, this is new.
She started watching season one. We just got Netflix! She started watching season one, and a whole scene breaks out, and I look at her and I'm like, "What are you watching when I'm not home? " Come on home, what's going on here?
What is going on? It's just nude scene after nude scene after nude scene. The last episode we watched as we closed out, you know, she walks into a door, the guy opens it completely naked, his dick's all flying around, and I'm like, what? Oh, they show Wiener?
And I'm like, oh yeah, oh yeah. And I'm like, equal opportunity show. I'm like, Brittany, what is going on here? Shut up, Michael, the kids are in bed.
Leave me alone. No. There was nothing else for me to watch. I just saw Wiener.
There's lots of things. There's only two episodes of Linus left. Oh, yeah. Well, I've got time, because I'm on, like, episode two.
Well, I heard they canceled it, right? No. No, they haven't yet. And, apparently, they didn't cancel Marshall, because it's coming back out.
I thought there was one of the Taylor Sheridan's that just got canceled, like, that's not coming back for another season. They keep running those type of stories. Like, they said Marshall got canceled, it didn't. They said the new Yellowstone got canceled, it didn't.
So, if they're saying this one is, they're getting ready. I think they're already shooting up season four. Lioness is not cancelled. No.
It's a good show. It is a good show. I like it. You know that drone thing?
That's a real thing. Yeah, I've figured as much. While an official fourth season renewal announcement from Paramount Plus is still pending, cast and crew members, including actress Jill Wagner and incoming writer Michael Idov, have strongly indicated that work and planning for a fourth season are already underway. I like, you know, Lioness, like, reminds me of, like, Fast and Furious.
They, like, pick all these, like, strays up along the way. Oh, because of the, you know, the part of the team. Yeah, the little, the little team that's thrown together. Yeah.
They mix them, mix a new guy in. Yeah. Well, they brought a guy over from Yellowstone. Yeah.
For this season. Yeah. The girl, I can't remember the name. The girl who was the original Lioness from the first one.
Oh, the one that. The skinny brunette. Yeah. She's like, if you watch the interview, she's, like, really girly-girly.
You, you, I mean, it's kind of weird to watch. Well, she's in the show still. Yeah. Right, right, right, but in the show she's tough.
Like the lesbian? He's talking about the Marine, yeah. Yeah, the Marine. Yeah.
Yeah. But she's like really girly girly when you've seen the interviews. Like her voice is a higher pitch and... It's called acting.
I understand. You know what I mean? It's just neat to see. Yeah.
That's cool. Yeah. What is that? Next story.
So there's a submarine that's missing. Okay. Iran is claiming that they stole one of our submarines. Right.
But it's not really a submarine. What is it? It's a drone. Okay.
And it died. It turned off? Yeah, it stopped working. Oh, it's like a bathtub toy.
Well, it's 20 feet long. It's a 20 footer? It's a 20 foot submarine, but nobody can get in it. It's unmanned.
Was it one of those ones that went down the Titanic? Did the Xbox remote stop working? Apparently that's what happened. Apparently that's what happens.
Somebody forgot to put batteries in the remote. Look at this. Look at this. We got it.
Watch us take a ride in it. Right. Well, they can't. They can ride on it.
They can't ride in it. There's no room inside of it. American uncrewed underwater drone near the entrance to the Straits of Hormuz. So we use this to map and to look for mines.
Okay. And it's an older one, so we don't even care that they have it at this point. Really? Yeah.
The technology inside of it is Antiquated, it's not even anything you want to use. Oh, antiquated. " We have these parts too! They're Chinese.
They're Chinese. They're all Chinese. We're really not allowed to go to China now. The Iranians are Chinese.
Well, they have Chinese, well, you know, you saw in Lioness, they have Chinese scientists. I haven't gotten that far. No, that was last season. Oh, last season?
I forgot. The ones that they were trying to get when the helicopter crashed? I've deleted that out of my brain. Yeah.
Oh. Yeah, they were Chinese. Wait, what happened? You didn't watch the end of season two?
I did, of course I did. You didn't see the helicopter crash? I don't remember. Were they all almost died?
Hell, no. But they lived. Yeah, Taylor Sheridan saved them. Yeah.
That guy, he's dope. He's something else. Well, I mean, if you're going to write the show, you get to be the hero. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
My show, I save everyone. And that's when we send the dogs in. And they're like, huh, dogs. I'm like, they're going to send real dogs.
Yeah, they're going to send dogs. And then the Belgian Malinois is going and fucking kick some ass. I'm like, god damn, that is amazing. It's amazing.
Yeah, they come, they show the shot, and the dogs are chewing on some guy. Yeah, just ripping the people. Yeah. Great.
It's a great opening. Great episode one. Yeah. It slows down a little bit.
Got it? Yeah. A lot of dialogue in that one. Yeah.
Anyway, the Pentagon has acknowledged losing the vehicle. So the Pentagon's going, eh, we lost it. Yeah, whatever. Whatever, they can have it.
The drone appears to be an Endruel Drive LD. It's approximately 19 feet long, weighs nearly 3 tons, and can reportedly operate for around 10 days. So apparently it's been gone for 11. So we pushed the limit.
Yeah. That's how they know 10. It was like the Seinfeld episode where they're driving on E. Like, we're gonna ride this.
And then the car dies and Kramer just gets out and leaves the dealer with it or whatever. Here, Iran is describing it as a major intelligence capture, claiming it sees one of America's most advanced underwater vehicles. We have captured the submarine with the beeper. We have it now.
It is ours. Just wait till the beeper goes off. It's a box full of beepers. It's full of beepers!
Everyone take one quickly, everyone. Dude, we could make a total movie about us. Take it to the movie. We can make a movie where we're actually the podcaster.
And we have legitimately pissed off the entire world, and these specific people are plotting against us to end our lives. - That sounds like the real show. " - Like they're in the, "Oh, you know what? " The head guy of whatever I ran.
We must destroy the Trump and eliminate a Cigar Hustlers podcast immediately. Find out who that man is with the mask. I want to know Phil's actual alias. Who is this Phil?
It's Phil, so... He's obviously the head with a job. Clearly, he's the man. S.
says it was an older model that malfunctioned And it was left dead in the water. And we just left it. No classified sonar, radar, sensitive data on board. What do you want to do about this?
Oh, crap. Oh, fuck it, we don't want it. Yeah, just leave it. Leave it.
Says engineers could still study its construction, propulsion, and autonomous navigation technology. However, getting it out of the ocean seems like a bit of a problem. It's very heavy, we can't pick it up. Yeah, how are you going to get it?
Oh, we'll just move in here. There goes a mine. Go to Allah. Go to Allah.
Allah. All right, on the cigar news. All right. Leo.
Leo. Widget about. Oh, that was a good one. One more time.
Widget about. I like that you also tried to make the guy pronounce the names and stuff. Like, no, you try. But he didn't know what store you were at.
He's like, what's the name of the shop? And he's like, Cigar Hustler. Oh. I don't remember.
It was so long ago? So long ago. We do five of these a week. They all get mixed together.
Well, I'm talking about your interview on Smokin' Oak. I understand that. But that was two weeks ago. I'm your number one fan, dude.
I'm like, Palmer, Palmer, Palmer, you're watching, listening. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Yeah.
Thank you. I don't even think Skip has watched Smokin' Oak. I don't know. Yeah.
Well, probably because he hasn't said anything. Exactly. I've not been critiqued. But now that he hears this, he'll be right on it.
All right, but Leo joined CLE Cigar Company. Oh, congratulations. Leo, a veteran of the tobacco manufacturing industry, has joined CLE Cigar Company. CLE announced that he will work at the company's factory in Donnelly, Honduras.
Oh. Is that a promotion? I don't know. Havana Cigar, previously known as the CLE Factory.
Okay. Leo's career has involved stops at three of the largest companies in the larger cigar industry. Okay. I wonder why he's left the other ones.
Let's read on. Yeah. He spent more than seven years at General Cigar Company, rising to become the director of tobacco purchasing. Well, that makes sense.
He couldn't put up with Justin Andrews' shit anymore. Right. He kept showing off, and he's like, ugh. Here comes the master blender.
Right. Is CLE hiring? Yeah. Is there any job available anywhere?
Is there any job anywhere? I'm tired of it. I'll go to Honduras, for God's sake. Leo then spent a dozen years at Int...
What? Tell me. Intetab, Quebec SLR? Intetab.
Intetab. Intetab. Intetab. Universal Corporation's Leaf Sorting and Sales Facility in Mocha, Dominican Republic.
So this would be a promotion. Now he runs the entire factory. Well, that's pre-industry stuff. Right, but he's gone from purchasing tobacco to sorting tobacco.
Now he's into the man. Well, he was selling tobacco, I guess, when it was sorting. Oh, sorting and sales. Yeah.
In 2016, he joined Swisher Dominicana, the operation that produced billions of Swisher sweet cigars. These are some big names. Per year as a director, oh again, director of tobacco. This guy's got to be making some dough.
Making money. I look forward to the new challenge in my career. Tobacco is all I have done in my career. So when Christian, Iroa, asked, it was an easy decision.
Plus, Justin Andrews would not leave me alone. Yeah, I knew it. Said Leo in a press release. " Hmm.
I like "Director of Tobacco" better. I don't know. It sounds like he went to the other side of it. You know what I mean?
Right. I mean, he's working his way through the way of making cigars. Yeah. I bet you there was somebody along the way, every step, that he's like, "You know, I'm just tired of your shit.
I'm just... I'm going here. Christian seems like a good dude. " We're gonna go to this spot.
Christian said he will oversee the company's entire tobacco operation. Well, he's been director of tobacco, so it just makes sense. Leo arrives to us as we continue our expansion of the factory and our farming operations, said Christian. Oh, so that's nice.
Yeah. Congratulations, Leo. Good for you. All right.
Flora del Selva Año de la Cabra, 2027. One more time. Flora de Selva Año de la Cabra, 2027. De la Cabra?
2027. Cabra. C-A-B-R-A? Cabaret?
Cabaret? Okay. It's not French. Debuting at Enter to Back 2026.
Could be it's at Enter to Back. Maybe. Or maybe it's Iranian. I don't think so.
The Lunar New Year is still about five months away. Thanks for going on me with the yawn. I appreciate that. Sorry.
It looked like you were worried about the talk. Oh, now you both just said yawn. Now I'm gonna yawn. You do it.
Do it. Nope. Enter to Back 2026. Trade fair just a matter of days away.
Which means Cigar… Oh, here we go. There it is. See? Oh, and you tried to muffle it with the cough.
Yes. No, I had the cough. No, I… Oh, no, no. That's an elderly cough.
Cigar companies will be announcing new releases debuting at the event for Maya Selva Cigars. It's featured new smokers, the Flora del Selva Año, a limited edition cigar designed to celebrate the arrival of the year of the goat. Oh. The cigar is a 6x56 Toro Gordo with an all-Honduran blend, the wrapper comes from Finca de Finca San Carlos, the binder is from Hamistran, and the filler contains tobacco from Hamistran and Santa Barbara.
- Hamistran. - Santa Barbara. - It's an island. - Everything's an island with me and Phil now.
- Well, there is water around it. - Additionally, the cigar gets a small wrap of dark Hamistran-grown tobacco around its foot. - Hamistrand. - For both decoration and-- - It's Hamistrand.
- It is Hamistrand, whether J's or H's. - It's part pig. - It's Hamistrand. - Hamistrand, that's right.
- Yeah. - It smells like pork. - Mm-hmm. - And to add a little more bacon flavor complexity right out of the gate.
- Oink, oink. - The company calls it a medium to full-bodied experience. - Mmm. - Mmm.
- Characterized by earthy, nutty, and cedary notes complemented by a smooth, creamy smoke. What was the, was this CLE? This wasn't CLE. Yeah, it was CLE.
Yeah, it was CLE. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is Leo. Or Maya Del Salva.
Maya, Maya, totally different one. I've never heard of it, yeah, I've never heard of it. This is the one that used to have the little ladies picture in it, right? There's a lot of them with little ladies.
No, no, with the white one, I can't remember what it's called, there's a word for it. That's not, that cigar? No. What cigar is that?
Oh, that's Ossinger, you know? Oh, so it's warped. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so it's, it's Gellis Family. family.
Oh and worked. And Tatuaje. Let's just throw them in too. All the funny names.
Little Viaje. All the funny names together. Oh and Viaje. It's a mystery box is what this is.
Oh I like the mystery boxes. It's nice. It's good. And Man of the Sea.
Yeah. I saw we just got those. Yeah Man of the Sea. We did just get those.
I know. Why do they keep talking about all the tobacco? There must be 75 tobaccos in this thing. Lots of tobacco.
Lots of taste. More tobacco. More tobacco. More flavor.
Rum of craft cigars. Cigars made of the company's factory in And Donnelly, Honduras, oh, maybe Leo knows these people, with two-- - I got a feeling Leo knows a lot of people. - I think he knows, too, makes a lot of things. - He's been in every avenue of the industry.
- 22,027 boxes of 10 cigars produced. A spokesman for the company said he expects to ship them to stores in November. So we look forward to the shipping notification in November. - Okay, great.
- All right, anybody wanna guess the price? - Yeah, All That Tobacco? - We have, hold on, we have just Euro price. The Euros.
I'm going to say 24 Euros. For one cigar? Yeah, yeah, I guess it's a per cigar. Let's go 18 Euros.
Oh, he was closer, 27. Ha ha. That's like a $50 cigar. That's 75 different tobacco cigar.
Isn't Euros more than the dollar? Come on, let's do it. It's close, but it's not, it's not that exaggerated. Isn't that doubled?
No. Two for one? Here we go. To Mikey's Corner.
Tell us what it is, Mikey. 93 American. When you're like me, do you use JGBT to find the answer? Oh, so the euro's not worth a lot more?
No. That's what he said. Yeah. You didn't pay attention?
Was paying attention. Is he doing his own show over there again? Pretty much always. In his own mind, in his own world.
You have a lot of ash on his shirt. Which one? Yeah. I'm smoking.
I don't really see a lot. I'm going to finish my cigar waiting on him to show up. Thank you. All right, registration is now open for the 2027 Pro Cigar Festival.
Ah. Which one is this? This is the one that Davidoff doesn't go to anymore. Okay.
Yeah. It's the Dominican one. Yeah. So they're not registering.
Right, they're not registering, so there should be space. They're not going, I'm not going. Again. I tried to find what it costs to be a member or whatever they call it.
They don't disclose that publicly. Oh, the Pro Cigar? Like what's it cost the manufacturer's side? Yeah.
Like if, you know, like if we had a factory and we wanted to be part of it and give tours and hand out free cigars, it doesn't, it doesn't, it's not an ounce. It's probably so expensive. I was given a phone number and an email address. Did you call?
No. I'd have to fake, I couldn't come up with a factory name pass enough. Oh, AI that shit, bro. That's how I got the phone number and the email address.
Yeah, and then say, okay, now make me up a fake. Make me up a fake factory. But it needs to be in a place where they wouldn't look. Right.
Yeah. - Yeah. - I need the name of a small, legitimate factory. - Yeah, give me a small town.
- Oh, I still have the email address, so I'll do my other. - Yeah. - Just say you're like in Russia or something. - We should just call him on the show.
That'd be hilarious. - Can't you just ask Carlito how much it costs? - No, we're not that tight. - No.
- You need to start chatting with the man and establish a back and forth. " None of that, just, "Hey, we have a question. Maybe you could answer it for us. On the show.
Like, why? You know, it's like you've been on the first date, you wait a day or two, and then you send him another message. Is that how that works? Man, it'd be great.
Back in the old days. I don't know now. It'd be great if you had him on the show. The only one we need now is the drone after him.
Yeah, it's the only guy we haven't had him on the show. He would do the show, too. Yeah. He likes going on podcasts.
Yeah? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's done worse shows.
Worse shows. Wow. A little reigning endorsement. And now we're not the hatiest men in the industry anymore, so, you know.
Let me ask you a question. When you were on Smoke and Oak Palmer, was there anything, like you saw lights or cameras or anything that... Oh, I purposely did not take a picture of their light. Really?
I was like, wow, that's nice. They only had one. It was huge. Oh, you didn't want to show Mikey.
" I mean, it was this big around. Wow. Yeah. And had this graded filter thing on it.
Yeah. Just so everybody knows, the camera's really close to Palmer or his arms are tiny? Do you know, do you know, like... What?
The amount of research that has to go into having a person on for an interview. Like, I go through months and, you know, of podcast stuff. Right. Well, let's do it.
I don't know, I don't know. Oh, you mean, because if we were to have a Carlito one? Yeah, like, you know how, like, entrenched I'd have to get to really kind of learn and understand all of it? Yeah, but don't you have, like, ten Claude A's?
Yeah, can't Claude cut it down for you now? No, that doesn't, that doesn't, that's not the same. Watch all the interviews you could possibly find on Carlito Fuente and give me the unusual information that he- Yeah, I don't think that, I don't think that that would work. One second, boss.
Which one of us are you talking to? - Okay. - But you never know. - Yeah.
- We've never done, I mean, Fuente doesn't do events normally, so I mean, we've never done a Fuente event here at the shop. - Yeah. - Some shop was just doing a, they were doing an event, and the guy goes, "Let's see what they sent," and it was a pallet full of stuff wrapped in black plastic. - For what?
- Fuente? - For a Fuente event they were doing, 'cause Carlito was coming to the shop. Oh, it was probably like, uh, it was probably like, uh, um, Tobacco Greenwich or whatever. I don't know, I, uh, I, uh, just something that showed up on my Instagram.
Was it really nice production? No, not terribly. No? No, I mean, as good as we could do, it's good as the- We can do pretty good.
It's as good as the guys upstairs do. Okay. Palmer, you keep, uh, you keep battling us down over there. I'm not battling us down.
Yeah, he really does. Yeah. We're a big deal, I mean, I got, I got nasty text messages yesterday. Ooh, from what?
I can't say. No, not from who, but on what? What'd we do now? I don't know.
What'd we do now? Come on, boss, what'd we do? No, no, no. Phil and I are looking for a new fight.
No, no, but, you know. Phil and I are looking for a new fight. We talked about it before the show. Don't act like you didn't bring it up.
Well, we did say we needed to start a fight with somebody. There you go. See? Looking for a new fight.
I'm good at this. Who is it? You know what? Warped.
We're going with warped. Palmer loves that word. What? Warped.
Yeah, about warped. You know, the people that make Ossinger and Warp and all that other stuff, and the Gellis people, let's take 'em all out. Who makes Warp, by the way? Who's the guy?
Gellis? Yeah, Kyle. Oh, it's that guy? Kyle Gellis.
I like that you didn't even draw those parallels, that's amazing. Well, I didn't want to be wrong, because I know how mad you got yesterday when you beat Palmer. I don't get mad, I actually find it hilarious. I find it hilarious how wrong we get some stuff sometimes, well, at least you guys.
I think how entertaining it is, though. I mean, if we got everything right. First of all, it's extremely entertaining. Yeah, it would not be fun.
And I love how outrage people get about all the stuff that we say. Oh, I like it, too. I'm like, calm down, man. Like, what are you doing?
Like, yeah, we got questions. I have, you know, I'm sorry that I don't just agree with everything that you do. Somebody should be making a map of all the things we get wrong. Yeah?
Like, make the countries where we say they are instead of the real... That's what C-Dub said or something. Well, now make the map. Make the map.
They'll make the map. It's an island. Right. And then if you have the coin, then you can get the map.
Right. And then we give out the, yeah, we make a big version of the map, the world according to BDP and Phil. To a Cigar Hustlers podcast. Right.
Treasure Hunt. Yeah, it'd be like the map from one of the movies. Places not to go. Right.
Like the Game of Thrones map. Yeah. But it'll be the Cigar Hustlers podcast map. There's like a whole bunch of dogs on China.
I really want to hammer that one home. It does, really. Some marine in our rim. Yeah, some marine in our rim.
Sitting in the desert. Under the water. A bunch of guys just sitting up, riding it around. We did it.
Paddling. Because it doesn't work to get started. I got it. I got you.
Alright, the festival takes place February 16th to the 19th in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The four-day event begins Tuesday evening with a rooftop welcome party at the Residence Inn by Marriott. Oh, isn't that nice at Marriott? Over the next three days, attendees can choose from factory tours, tobacco farm visits, a beach day, and a new hopping tour featuring businesses that supply Dominican cigar factories.
What kind of factories? This is the one where they get to sell, this is the paper factory, this is the box guy. - Everybody does stuff a little differently. And you know, you will start to kind of compare as far as efficiency, as far as cleanliness, as far as all of those things.
- Sure, sure. - Like I've never been to the Dominican Republic factories, but you know, the ones in Esteli. You look in, you see like, oh boy, like this one's kind of, I mean, you just did it. - Yeah, yeah.
- Did you go to, how many factories did you go to? - Four. - All right, so you went to four. You went to AJ's.
- Right, big clean. - Right, which is-- - Airplanes laying there. - Right. - Yeah, helicopter.
- Helicopter pad. - Helicopter pad. - Disney World. - Yeah, you notice that, you know, a lot of the big ones have their own, like, medical services.
- They didn't show me those. - But they have that as well. - Right, right, sure. - You know, and daycare.
- Right. - Stuff like that. It's pretty, pretty fascinating. It's almost like its own ecosystem.
And then you can go to another one where you're like, holy moly, the dirt on the ground. - Right, yeah. - Come on in, no, no, I'm good, I'll just wait on you. - Yeah, it's fine.
- I'm fine. - Like, I've seen this movie and I know how it ends. - I can see, oh yeah, look, making cigars, look at that, how 'bout that? Yeah.
All four of them. This is where they put the bag over your head. Right. And they take you.
They take you away. I don't want to ruin the show for you. Ah, okay. I saw that part.
Oh, yeah. Davidoff has left the Pro Cigar Organization, so its factories and farms will not be included in this year's participation. But will be included on the map. Right, but it'll be on the map.
Manufacturers include Oturo Fuente, La Florida Mendicata, La Aurora, EP, Cozada, PDR, La Galleria, and others. I went to go buy the little Davidoff Panatella's, 'cause I like those. I think they're little quick smokes, they're not bad. And the little tin things?
Yeah, but they also sell them in a box. I'm like, oh, you know what? Maybe it's in a 50 count box and it'll be less or something like that. Right.
It's a 20 count box? What do you think the price difference is between the box, the 20 count box Panatella, and the tins? Can you tell me how much the tins are first? I think, I can tell you, hold on.
They're like, they're like 32 bucks or 33 bucks. Yeah, the tins are like 32 dollars, so the cigars are like, I think there's six in there, so it's like just under six, it's like six bucks a stick-ish, a little less, like six dollars. So, thirty dollars for the tin, I think. What do you think the cost of the cigar is, in the box?
If, oh, and what do you think the cost of the cigar is, if it's six dollars for the cigar in the tin, what do you think it is for the cigar in the box? I'm trying to make it as easy as possible. Eight. You think it's more in the box?
I think it's more in the box. Okay. Yeah, I think it's... 50.
So you think that the tin costs less than the wooden box? Per cigar. Why? Because you're paying for the wooden box.
And you get more cigars. But you get six and a tin. Well, the way you said it made it sound like it was wrong. This is a metal tin.
So you think the metal tin would be less? Well, I went higher because of the way you asked the question, right? You're going based off a question. So you're trying to reverse it on me is what you're doing?
Yeah. Yeah, I figured that's why we were talking about it. And if they were less, it wouldn't really be something to talk about. I mean, I would just prefer you to give me your honest opinions and try to beat.
That's my honest opinion because of the way you did it. Skip, reverse. Skip, reverse, exactly. So what's the answer?
They're the same price. Oh. Oh, that's kind of weird that they're the same price. That's what I said.
Yeah. You would think they'd be a little cheaper, because metal is more expensive than the one. You would assume. Well, it's just stamped out painted metal, it's not that expensive.
I mean, yeah, but their tin is pretty nice. It's a nice tin. Yeah, but it's just stamped. It's not like some guy's hand making it and welding the corners together.
Yeah. Maybe. A stamping machine involves no labor. You just let it run and it just goes.
I would love like the Postana Connecticut and a little Panatella. That would be dope. Oh, it would be nice. Yeah, why?
Skip. Hi, Skip. Oh, God. I'm gonna get a nasty text now from Skip.
Tell me to get a line. Sell more core. All right. All right.
Each evening features a special dinner including Thursday night's white party where you're supposed to wear white clothes. Not khaki. Yeah, not khaki. Because, you know, there's people that might want to do that.
Can't let that one go either, huh? Don't go either, huh? Santiago's famous monument and Friday's gala, dinner, and auction. Oh!
They're gonna auction off people? Yes. I'm sorry. Complete package cost $2,000.
Oh my God, dude. What are we talking about here? I don't know what he was talking about. He's on a whim.
He's like, he doesn't even think. He's like blah. It's just like blah. He said it like all in a row.
They're gonna auction off people. It was something they were doing. They're gonna auction off people. At Friday's gala, dinner, and auction.
It's an auction. Like... Yeah, we don't... Nobody auctions people off anymore.
How did we... Well, what if it's a charity thing? Like, you could... They're gonna auction off...
Like a date night or something? A night with Carlito. A night with other people. I love how you bring it back to Carlito every time.
Well, that's the only name I know from these factories that I've mentioned. I mean, you can't let it go. These are the only names... It's the only name I know from the factories that I've opened.
Lito. A night with Lito? I didn't mention LFD. It wasn't on the list today.
It was yesterday, but it wasn't today. La Galera was in there. Isn't that Hiroshi? I don't know.
I don't think so. I don't think so, either. Well, he makes their cigars, though. A Dominican.
I don't, like, I'm... Yeah, he makes... I'm not, I'm not well versed in the Dominican. Oh.
See, it's what I'm saying. I don't know these people at these factories. Yeah, but hey, maybe they're giving away people. Does it...
No, but maybe you can get, like, a charity dinner. Like, okay, because I assume the money from the auction goes to charity. Yeah. I like that you're defending Phil.
Thank you. I'm not defending Phil. I'm defending myself. He's on his own.
You didn't say Drew Estate. Don't they have Dominican cigars now? - Well, it hasn't really, like - Yeah, they're not - They're making cigars, but I don't know if they have their own factory yet. - That's the story.
I don't know if it's their factory or not either. It could be somebody else's. That's like saying Espinosa's not on the list, but I mean - Well, their factory isn't open yet. - Yeah, he just started building, right?
- Yeah, and it's not easy to build anything. - Yeah, the third one. - You think it's tough to build something here. Like, yeah, good luck over there.
- Right. - It's got its challenges. - Right. All right, the complete package cost $2,500, includes ground transportation, meals, drinks, cigars, and event merchandise.
Airfare, hotel accommodations are not included. Guests can expect to receive between 60 and 100 cigars. Oh, wow, that's nice. Sometimes including exclusive or pre-release blends.
Individual tour and dinner tickets are also available for those who don't want the full package. So that's a thing now where you can just, this is a new feature, where you can just, I would like to go to the white. A la carte. Yeah, it's a la carte.
I'd like to go to the white dinner because I have a white outfit. Right. Or I don't. I have a partially white outfit.
But I'd still like to go. So is it half price if I don't wear all white? I'd like them to be turned away. No, no.
No, no. White only. White. Gotta be tough on the rules.
You know what I mean? Registration is available through the official Pro Cigar event website. Hmm. Now it's time for the industry's favorite game.
What's the score? Can you predict a cigar score from a half-wheel review before it's revealed? We give you clues. You make your guess.
As the review unfolds, the answers get closer. Or does it? Or does it? Dun, dun, dun.
The closest guess wins. I waited patiently. Thank you very much. Me neither.
Let's play What's the Score? - Today's Cigar! - Did it, did it, did it, did it. - September 8th, 2026, Brooks Whittington is the reviewer.
- Ooh! - Crownhead's Nicaragua reviews the Moonflower Robusto. - Mmm. - That was a good cigar.
- Okay. You want me to go first? - Yeah, first. - When you done texting?
- 90. - Are you looking it up? - Yeah, I'm looking it up. - He does pick up his phone every time we start the game.
- He does, yeah. - He does, it's very weird. - Conveniently. - Conveniently.
- So convenient. - Was Greg texting you this story? - Yeah. - Greg, quickly, look up Moonflower Robusto.
- No, I just got a, you know, approved of a business loan. - Oh, great. - Take the money, quick, get it, get cash. - Does that mean we're getting lights?
- One big light. - Yeah, please, call Smokin' Oak. - Smokin' Oak, I'm gonna ask him what it was. - What was the number you said?
- I don't know. - He said 99. - I think. - Really?
89. Oh. Oh. Um, I think this one deserves it in the 90s, this is a good cigar, I do like it, 91.
Cigar Reviewed, The Moonflower, Country of Origin, Nicaragua, Factory, My Father Cigars, Wrapper, Corojo, Binder, Esteli & Jalapa, Filler, Condega, Esteli & Jalapa, It's a 5x52. It's round. 95. I'm sorry, I couldn't hear it.
95. Number of cigars released, just regular production. Seven bajillion. And they smoked three.
Came with a hat. 89. 91. Clue number one.
The cigar delivers full flavor with rich notes of cedar cocoa nibs. Oh. Espresso, Cherry, Sweetness, Let me round it off with red pepper. He's handing them all, baby.
Cocoa Nibs announced. Cocoa Nibs, Espresso, Cherry, and Red Pepper. Ninety. One.
Clue number two. I can't believe you gave it a one. Out of a hundred? No.
A 91. Wow, I thought you said you liked it. Yeah, that's a low score. Wow.
Very low. Clue number two. Construction is generally solid, offering an easy draw, excellent smoke production, and an impressive an impressive average smoky time of just over two hours they've entered they've started putting the smoky times back in 90 91 clue number three consistency is the biggest concern two cigars required repeated burn corrections and the third smoke noticeably different in flavor strength and Oh, third one's a completely different cigar. Yeah, 88.
Maybe he picked up the wrong cigar. Maybe. Maybe it's the star flower. I'm going to stick at 91.
Oh, one again. Final thought. It's always interesting to me when one of the three cigars we smoke for review has a different profile from the other two. If only because I'm left wondering which profile was meant to be the final cut, no pun intended.
Instended. Instended. Instended. The first two cigars were enjoyable, albeit not exactly mind-blowing, but the last cigar was ramped up in multiple ways.
The profile was not only richer and more nuanced, but it also had layers of flavor another two cigars lacked. Having said that, all three cigars needed at least one burn correction to stay on track. While none of the issues were major, I did have to keep my lighter handy. In the end, the third moonflower showed me just how good this blend can be in one way to stay on track.
While none of the issues were major, I did have to keep my lighter handy. In the end, the third moonflower showed me just how good this blend can be in one way to stay on track. And while I wish the other two cigars were similar to that, even at its worst, this is a very solid release from Crown Heads. 88.
90. You went the wrong way. 87. I was gonna say 87, but I didn't need to.
Darn it. 'Cause I'm the winner. That's really close to my face. Hey, whatever.
It's for you guys. You know what I mean? No, it's not. We're hoping one day he catches you on fire.
Every day, I move it just a little bit closer to the tree. Really? Oh, that's mean. That's not nice.
I have to wipe the gunpowder off of it anyway. I just said that I listened to your podcast, wherever you go, and I'm your number one fan. I watch yours live. And now you're trying to sabotage me.
You watch mine live for 20 minutes, then you go to bed. No, no. Yes, yes. No, no.
Yes, yes. When they stop asking you questions, then I go to them, because you do a lot of panels. Mmm. Okay.
Anything else? Nope. Phil? No, there's nobody we could bring into this.
Don't go to China, there are dogs that they eat. I'm not saying the other stuff, but it popped in my head. I figured that was the least of the offensive stuff for the day. Right.
com, us, Cigar Hustlers Podcasts, thank you very much for listening today, we hope we provided great edutainment for you on this Thursday, alright guys, thank you very much, we gotta go, bloop.
Show Notes
On this episode of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, the crew reviews and discusses the latest from Warped, Davidoff, Drew Estate, and My Father.A full cigar-industry news discussion — reviews, interviews, and commentary, plus the week's wildest headlines.In episode 614 of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, The guys run from the news desk to the humidor — reacting to the week's headlines before digging into cigar news and reviews featuring Warped, Davidoff, Drew Estate, and My Father. Honest conversation and industry commentary, new episodes every weekday.