ACHP 616 Cigar News & Reviews

Episode Summary

Episode 616 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast has Mike "BDP" Palmer joined by co-host Michael Szczepankewicz, with Keanu Respo stepping into the engineering chair to complete his run of every seat on the show. The first half is classic loose CHPod banter: a surprisingly thoughtful tangent on AI safety guardrails and whether chatbots could nudge an already-vulnerable person over the edge (with the "first gun ever made" analogy for how new tech gets handed to people with no training), listener comments about Florida geography and Lake Okeechobee, YouTube's new "hype" button, Jennifer Lawrence joining Instagram with a warning that she'll quit over negative comments, the $245 million crypto RICO case against Malone Lam, and a Florida groom who was T-boned on his way to his own wedding and got married in his hospital room at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

The cigar news block leads with Scandinavian Tobacco Group retiring Cigar.com and transitioning customers to Cigora, the premium-positioned site STG launched in August 2022. The guys speculate on why a company would abandon a near-perfect domain — search engine optimization limits on tobacco products, loyalty program consolidation, or a deliberate pivot toward the higher-end online consumer instead of the old catalog/deep-discount web model — and note the Cigar.com site begins winding down on the 29th, so points should be used. They also cover Casa de Sueños Inception First Edition finally shipping to retailers after packaging delays kept it off the floor at the 2026 PCA trade show, a medium-bodied Dominican blend described with notes of cedar, earth, toasted nuts, cocoa, floral, honey sweetness and "warm spice" — a descriptor that gets thoroughly roasted, along with the company's refusal to disclose the full blend. In regulatory news, Bret Koplow moves from acting to permanent director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products after taking over from Brian King in May 2025, prompting a conversation about when cigar smoking will finally get publicly accepted rather than reflexively condemned in comment sections.

The show closes with "What's the Score," the guess-the-rating game played against a Half-wheel review. The cigar is the La Flor Dominicana Limited Edition Carbon Flower — Mexican San Andrés wrapper over Dominican binder and filler, 6x54, made at Tabacalera La Flor S.A. Reviewer Patrick Lagreid describes creamy earth, lightly charred pepper, vanilla and toasted marshmallow sweetness across a two-and-a-half-hour smoke, with very good construction but occasional dryness, harsh pepper and sample inconsistency, plus a sticking point: the case packaging works out to roughly $40 per cigar. Palmer and Mikey both land near the mark, with the final score revealed as 89.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Keanu in the Engineer's Chair
   Keanu Respo comes in on his day off to run engineering, completing every role on the show, while the hosts plug CHPod swag, the Patreon and the comment lounge.
2. 02
   AI, Guardrails and Personal Responsibility
   A long tangent on whether AI chatbots could push someone over the edge, using the invention of the gun as an analogy for handing powerful new tools to untrained users.
3. 03
   Jennifer Lawrence Joins Instagram
   The Oscar winner debuts on the platform as @jlaw and vows to quit over any negative comment — which the guys agree is an open invitation to keyboard warriors.
4. 04
   Crypto RICO Case and a Wedding at the Hospital
   Malone Lam's guilty plea over a $245 million crypto theft ring, and a Florida groom who was hit head-on en route to his wedding and married in his hospital room instead.
5. 05
   Cigar.com Is Becoming Cigora
   Scandinavian Tobacco Group is retiring Cigar.com in favor of Cigora, and the hosts debate SEO restrictions, loyalty perks and a pivot toward higher-end online buyers.
6. 06
   Casa de Sueños Inception First Edition Ships
   The delayed Dominican, medium-bodied release finally reaches retailers, with flavor notes of cedar, earth, toasted nuts, cocoa, floral and 'warm spice' — and an undisclosed blend.
7. 07
   Bret Koplow Named FDA Center for Tobacco Products Director
   After a year as acting director following Brian King, Koplow is made permanent head of CTP, sparking talk about when cigars will get a fair public perception.
8. 08
   What's the Score: LFD Carbon Flower
   The guys guess the Half-wheel score for the La Flor Dominicana Limited Edition Carbon Flower, weighing great construction against harsh spots and a ~$40 per-cigar case price.

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

I guess we're going for it. 3, 2, 1. This is it. You got to stay on that mic.

Now you got to hit one. You got to, there we go. The whole show is just being honest. P.

Palmer, joined by, this is written wrong because last minute changes, but by my co-host, the King, Mr. Michael Szczepankewicz. Hi. And then over in engineering, look at that, now he's done every position on the show.

I've been in all. For a full show, he's done all three. Yeah, he's accomplished. Mr.

Keanu Respo is running engineering for us today. Can't escape me. The legend. The legend.

The legend. That's what they say. The guy took the day off today. He's going on a cruise, a romantic cruise.

Oh, Keanu. Very romantic. Yep, that's me. Yep.

And now, I call them in to see if you would podcast it. Oh, that's great. " As long as you do it early. I could do that.

All right. From cigars, 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 perspectives, big laughs, and chaos at any moment. Settle in and welcome to a Cigar Hustlers Podcast.

What? Dun, dun, dun. What? That's fine too.

What? On today's show, Jennifer Lawrence lays down the law. Uh-oh. Phil was so close to being right yesterday.

Was he? Yes. A Florida wedding starts out with "In Sickness and in Health". Okay.

Mikey's done with the show. I'm gonna help Keanu a little bit here. Keep going. And then in cigars, FDA makes a move, they change the name, a shipping notification, and then finally, a "What's the score Monday".

" I would like for every time we go to you, you run into the sea. com. Ooh, a little clap. com for all your chpod swag.

Current one, what's the most recent one that we got up right now? Swag? Mm-hmm. The Superstar.

Yes, the Triple G Superstar is our newest piece of swag. We got a new one coming up. Have you started making the boycott, because you took pre-orders on that? That material is being delivered the same time as the other new material.

Got you. Okay. Halloween's almost upon us. Ooh.

And my friend, Gears, Guns & Smokes, was not a fan of our original Gordos & Goblins shirt. Oh. But I think he's going to like this one. I'm very excited about it.

I'm looking forward to releasing it. Hopefully it'll be up this week. We'll see what it looks like. com, a Cigar Hustlers podcast, where we talk more inside baseball and review cigars.

Next week should be a good one. Patreon? Yeah, next week's Patreon. Patreon's great every week.

-I understand it, but I have something. -Subscribe. -Oh, you have some tea. -More like a, no, not really tea.

-You have tea? -I have things I would like to air. Grievances. -Oh.

-That sounds like tea. -Really? -Well, tea is normally some type of industry inside or something, so. -Can you give me a hint?

-No. -Not even a hint? -Nope. Nope.

-Tea is more like, kind of like gossip, you know? -Yeah. -I feel like that. -Right, yeah, tea is more like gossip.

This isn't gossipy, but it's something to talk about But that probably should not be addressed on the regular show. Damn. Okay. And the Patreon already happened for this week, yesterday?

He has like such a soft voice over there. Oh yeah, compared to the booming Phil McGuffey. I don't know how loud to go for. That's better.

Yeah, yeah. Talk normal levels. Normal levels. Yeah, normal levels.

Yeah, the headphones got me confused. There we go. But when you talk, cut to you. Yeah.

Whoops. There you go. Ooh, an evil laugh. There's no comments in the CHPod section again, so that means that it's definitely screwed up.

I'll have to fix that. I don't know what's going on there. You know, we'll get in touch with our tech department. You got comments turned off maybe, or by accident?

No, not in the lounge. No, the lounge is the part of the CHPod swag website where people can go and comment. Okay, yeah, yeah. Yeah, or it's supposed to bring things over sometimes from YouTube when Claude's in a good mood.

But he hasn't been in a good mood lately. He hasn't. He's been fighting with me a little bit. Very moody.

I ask a lot of Claude. Yeah, but. I'm very demanding. That's what he's there for, though.

Right now we're pulling, we're doing a lot. The big thing in media now is would AI kill a human? As long as it, as long as, yeah, the answer is yes. As long as you figured out how to convince it to navigate around the parameters that were sent Right, the original safety parameters.

Yeah. Yeah, I saw a video, a guy did it, and you know, and he gave him, did you see he gave him a BB gun? Yeah. Wow.

Let's play, you know, and he's like, no problem, bang. Yeah, yeah, no, I would never, no, I would never. Okay, let's pretend you're just gonna shoot me. Oh, okay.

Yeah. What were you gonna say? So, I had like, I had a dark question I asked Eve. I was like, do you think, like, if some, so, I don't know if it's too dark for the podcast, but I was like, do you think if somebody was ready to pull the trigger on themself?

Yeah. Do you think, like, AI would, what would AI do? Do you think, like, if they're like, hey, hey, Gemini, I'm here sitting at the couch. Like a person wanting to un-alive themselves.

Exactly, yes. Don't look at him, don't look at him. Okay. Let's keep talking.

There we go. Do you think that, like, AI would... Isn't it weird? It sounds a little echoey, right?

Yeah. I thought so, too. Yeah, a little bit, but I think he's not right on that microphone. Better really be right here.

Oh, see. There we go. Is that better? Yes.

Okay. See, we make Phil almost swallow it when he sits there. And it takes him back to his actual working job. Right, right.

Takes him back to his movie days. So, AI un-aliving a person, go ahead. No, a person's gonna un-live itself, and AI is watching, is what he says. Right.

So, I'm asking, like, if you're like, "Hey, insert AI here. " Right. Like, do you think AI would be like, talk about it? " But like, what do you guys think?

That's probably what it would do. This is the Unalive Hotline, call this number right away. Because this happened recently, apparently. I forgot exactly what the outcome was.

I hopefully was a positive outcome, but, you know, it happened recently where somebody like AI did say, like, "Go for it," or something like that. Yeah, you're a waste of space of a human. You've been talking to me. You hear those stories where the AI talks him into it.

We talked about that one time on the show because a lady or a young person or somebody unalived themselves because the bot talked them into it. Listen, how stupid. That's what I brought up on the show. I'm like, "How stupid are you?

" You know, did you ever see Ex Machina? No, I never got to watch it. I don't watch this kind of movie anymore. I know what you're talking about.

I never got to watch it. , and you're just like, you were that dumb. Is it the robot one? Yeah.

Okay, I have seen that. I didn't realize that was the name of the movie. Yeah, it's a robot one, right? I.

bots, and he's fee-fee-ing it up with his robots. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's got like a real face, but nothing else. Uh, yeah.

I know it has, it has other things, but, yeah. Oh, yeah. So, um, it does in the, in the, like the trailer, in like the picture, in the poster, but like, yeah, listen, we're, it's like, we're at the, it's like, you're at the premise of a gun is officially created, like the first ever gun is made. Right?

Right? And it's to a point where, like, and what we did was we just massively produced a bunch of them. Right? And then we handed them to a bunch of people.

And we said, "Isn't this cool? " Right. You know, that's exactly what we're kind of- It's a good analogy, yeah. That's what we're experiencing right now from people.

And now, like, you've had some experience with AI. Keanu's had experience with AI. " Right. " Right.

But someone who has zero experience or knowledge or information about it, I think, could definitely be duped into doing something wrong, right? So yeah, I think that's kind of where we're at, and I call that thinning the herd. No, I'm just kidding. That's not right.

That's not right. Kind of. We're going to get e-mails. I'm going to get nasty e-mails.

You're going to get nasty e-mails. No, no. Realistically, though, like, you know, people have to educate themselves into what they're getting involved in. And that's in any avenue of life, right?

Sure. So... I think it's another thing about it is kind of like, you know, the comparison to... Camera on you.

Sorry. The comparison to, like, violent video games. How it's like, you know, some people are like, oh, that's the reason that violence happens. Well, they blame that, yeah.

But then there's also the case where it's like, well, if somebody's kind of on the edge right there already, it could trigger it to be like, well, this is crazy. Let me go do this. If somebody's already on the edge. So I wonder if AI could roleplay a scenario where it's like, oh yeah, go out there and go crazy or whatever, and somebody's on the edge, they could do it.

Yeah. It just gives them that last final push. Yeah. Yeah, but again, I don't blame AI for that.

No. It's the human interaction. Right. Well, like I said, it's a tool, like a gun's a tool, but some people use it the wrong way.

Right. " Right. I have no idea. This is a barrel here.

You know what I could do with this? It makes a loud noise. Right. Check this out.

Watch this. Exactly. Oops. Oops.

Great way to start off the episode. Yeah, yeah, we're off and running. Yeah, yeah, off to a, were you done with the, what you were talking about? I had no idea.

You haven't read any comments yet. Yeah, some comments from the show. I'm sorry. It's all right, it's the best part about this show.

Yeah, that is the best. It could go anywhere. Yeah, and I'm already excited. I'm scripted.

I'm excited because I didn't know how you would handle yourself sitting in the table. And I'm like, man, I hope he contributes the way that he has in the past. And so far you're delivering. He's doing a great job.

Not too much, right? Yeah, no, you're doing great. Keep it going. There is no such thing as too much on this show.

Yeah. Yeah. Until we get the cards and letters. Until I say, let's move on.

So yeah. Unless your name's Palmer. I'm sure he's gonna, but like, I can see, like, he likes, he needs, he likes to have someone to yell at. And like, 'cause he came kinda hard at you.

He'll get there. The other day. Yeah, it'll happen. When he moved you from chair to chair.

He was very angry. Yeah, that was kinda over the top. So I'm like, that's not how you talk to somebody. Oh, look who's talking.

See, I knew that was coming. All right, look at that. " I said Lake Okeechobee, it's down in that area. Lake Okeechobee is down in Miami?

Yeah, have you seen the state, it's down at the bottom, like Miami's down at the bottom? Miami is further south, granted, but it is that direction from here. So we're going with that. It's south of here, but I mean...

Right, just like Miami is south of here. Oh my God. I mean, Tampa is technically kind of south of here too, so in a way that's closer to... I mean, yeah, it's southwest, but it's...

It's not closer to Lake Okeechobee than Miami. Probably not. No, maybe it is, no? What's closer to Lake Okeechobee, Tampa or Miami?

Oh, Miami, yeah, yeah. I think it's Tampa. It might be, is it? I think Tampa is.

I don't know where you are. Thanks, idiot. AI Strikes Back. But you should go step out in traffic.

Okay. What's closer to Lake Okeechobee, Tampa or Miami? Hold on, it's thinking. I still don't know where you are.

Ooh. It says Miami is closer. It's roughly 60 to 70 miles from Lake Okeechobee, while Tampa is about 130 to 140 miles away. How about that?

Well, Okeechobee is pretty, like a very big lake. It is, it is big. It is big. Yeah, that's why you can see it.

Yeah. Okay. So yeah, no, but it's still not Miami. It's over an hour away.

60 miles. 62, 70 miles. It's still over an hour away. That's how fast you drive.

Listen, you drive 90 miles, you'll get there. You drive 100 miles. It's not 100 miles an hour. Don't do that.

Don't listen to me. @datacash, I mean @iheartbdp says where can- He swears that's not him. I know. Where can we buy that sweet BDP hat?

Some things are exclusive, sorry, that was a gift from my wife. Mmm. Can't have everybody run around saying they're BDP because they have the hat on. " Oh.

There you go, David Hasselhoffman. John and Inventor9824 says... Is that a new one? No, he's done a couple.

Oh. But I'm probably just saying it differently. John V and Inventor. John Van Inventor.

Either way. John. John V. John V.

You should get together with Trey Parker and Matt Stone to make a movie in Team America style. I would watch that in a heartbeat. It's the marionettes. yeah that would be funny i would maybe make a spinoff like south park episode i think i'm kind of you know would you like to make a cigar slur podcast movie for us i think i'm kind of mixing stuff let me go to regular youtube i don't know what episode we're on this one yesterday was 615 we are rolling oh oh my no one can see palmer socks but he's got some american oh i got american flag socks on today one his left foot has the sorry for your His left foot has the stripes, the right foot has the stars.

It's pretty awesome. Ah, I see now. There's minimal comments on... Technically, it's 9/11 today for us.

Oh. Yeah. Never forget. Oh, wow, it is, yeah.

Claire flies tonight on a plane. Oh, really? Yeah. It's probably one of the safest days to fly.

I went on a flight two years ago on 9/11, and there was nobody on the plane. It was great. I don't know what's going on there. Yes, I'm aware.

Thank you. Yes, you're aware. Charlie is sending me issues with the site. Charlie Monado?

Yep. Elie still has not accepted my friend request. If you want to hear your comments riddle out on the show, simply comment below. That was it?

Yep. Wow. On our YouTube page or on the CH Pond Lounge. There are other ones from the older episode, but like it's, caca, you know what I mean, that's all mixy, and then I don't know if I said it, whatever.

I understand. So we've got to keep it real, we've got to keep it current, you know? Truth. But we appreciate you guys commenting, I love that part of the show.

i do too i just you know like more we want more but comment more we want more interaction actually there's one that house of ross said that was pretty good he said that you know uh one of the badges is an indicator that he's a hype person and then it like integrates into algorithm or stuff like that oh we need more of that for the youtube uh badges yes oh we need more hype oh i have to video twice what's that i have to video twice for you guys did you yeah oh yeah he did how do you oh so this is okay this is the thing okay he hyped the video so you hype it yeah i have no idea what in your lingo i have no idea what the heck it does i almost i almost said the one of the four yeah uh i have no idea what it does it's like do you want to hype this video i'm like sure it asked you now i do have youtube premium i don't know if that has to do with it at all maybe you have to pay okay it does i've been hyping you get your videos so really yeah i don't It's where in the comments section, if you swipe right, instead of like on the comments, like when you open them on the app, it'll say like you can, there's the AI, summarize the video, right? Or if you swipe again, I think that's where the hype part is. And then you click hype video or something like that. No idea what it does.

Keanu the hype man. That's right. You heard it here first. Yes.

I love it. Oh, quick shot at me. Thank you. Yeah, you got it.

So, yeah, comment below. And hype the video. And hype the video. Hype that video.

Let's go. Mm-hmm. So current and cool. We're hip.

I'm hip. I'm hip. I'm hip. Ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker, ducker.

Why do when you go to the two shot, you don't hit? Because, Palmer, I don't know what most of these buttons do, if you want me to be honest, okay? It's funny. All right, I'm going to read a story.

There we go. Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence announced her Instagram debut on September 10, 2026. Whoa, I wasn't listening. Jennifer Lawrence is now on Instagram.

Oh, phew. What a relief. I know, what a relief, huh? She announced it.

She's on? She's on Instagram. Holy shoot. I saw the opening video.

I thought I had the wrong person. It doesn't really look like her like she used to. Oh, they got her? They got her too?

Well, she's getting older. She's had a baby, I guess. And she's still very pretty, but it didn't look like her They're from like Game of, not Game of Thrones, where was she at? The Hunger Games.

Hmm. But she's put out a warning. Okay, they definitely got her. Yeah.

Who's they? What is this they got her? You know, them. Who's them?

I don't know, the government? Somebody. It's somebody. She's gonna quit the platform if she receives any negative comments.

Really? She might as well just turn it back off. It's over. It's over.

And she's on, she's on Instagram? Yeah, she just joined Instagram. Oh yeah, she's screwed. She is a non-social-media type person, but she has just joined Instagram.

She posted her first Instagram video September 10th, 2026, stating she will quit immediately if anyone says anything negative. That just made the keyboard warriors want to say something negative. Very bad idea. Oh crap, I just said she didn't look the same as she did back on Hunger Games, so now she's off.

And now she's going to quit because of Palmer. They ran right down to their basement. Right, turned on the overhead light, told mom to make some cookies. This is my time to shine.

The meatloaf. She had to use the handle JLAW because the username Jennifer Lawrence had already been taken. J-L-A-W. J-Law.

J-Law. Which made me think of Jennifer Lopez for some reason, I don't know why. Really? J-Law, that's why.

Maybe J-Law, J-Law, maybe. J-Law. In the video of First Story, Lawrence said that mean or aggressive comments could affect the baby, referring to herself. 4 million followers.

Wow. Oh, are you befriending her right now or saying something negative? No, I don't need a friend. She's saying something negative.

Did you look at the picture? The video? Look at the comments. I'm not looking at the video.

I mean, I see there is one post. Yeah, yeah. That's the only one. She looks normal to me.

She doesn't look like she did in Hunger Games, though. Wait. How are the comments on it? You know, I didn't get that far.

I scrubbed it and moved on. Does one get caught looking? No. I don't think that that's a big deal, looking at Instagram.

Celebrity Instagram? Yeah. She's 36 years old at the time of the announcement. She previously said in 2014 that she won't join Twitter and warn fans about fake accounts.

She'll never join Twitter. Hmm. Why not? Because there's too many fake accounts?

I don't know. Well, that was back in 2014. Now it's 2026, and she's on Instagram. She's on the Insta.

On the Insta. Mm-hmm. " Well, somebody's gonna say something bad. Maybe she's doing it as like a move, you know what I mean?

Why do you think a famous person would join social media? At this point, I don't know why she would have to. I could see if you're an upper-comer, maybe, to get more exposure and stuff. But, I mean, other than just being curious, why else would she join at this point in her life?

Okay, what about you? What do you think? I don't know, just kind of like fan demand, you know what I mean? I mean like after so long of people just like saying and just like I feel like as you get older you're just kind of like I might as well just kind of please the fan I don't know how old she is she's really probably not that old at all but yeah so I would just assume that she would just be kind of wanting to like like more please the fans 36 she's 36 oh yeah not at all wow yeah maybe she wants to take control of because if there's already a Jennifer Lawrence so somebody there's fake accounts out there right maybe she wants to be able to put up her own stuff that's real Yeah, I mean, I think it's relevance and monetization, right, like, I think that those two things are big influencers.

Kind of odd, don't you think, that, how long has this been open? The 10th, yesterday. 4 million. Yeah.

Like, how, how? How did they find her? Yeah, how, yeah, right, like, how did, how did that happen? Like, where did she make the announcement that this is, this is me?

Yeah, hey, just so you know. This doesn't have social media. This was Google Trending this morning. Okay.

That she did it yesterday. So, it's already been searched by millions of people. It was on the opening page of Google Trends. So, I would imagine there's, you know, as weird as it sounds, people go on there and type in Jennifer Lawrence all the time.

Really? Her fans and stuff. 4 million? Well, you know, you get one guy in a fan club finds it and goes, hey, everybody, Jennifer Lawrence is on Instagram.

Hey, I wake up and I think Jennifer Lawrence all day, every day, and I'm in. And that's the same person who's going to comment negative things on our posts. Right, nobody say anything negative. She'll disappear faster than she went up.

Yeah, don't do it because I have the technology where I can look up your IP address and you're going to be in a lot of trouble. I'm going to have my mom buy you one of those guys. Don't you dare delete this account. Don't you dare delete this.

I'm going to have my mom drive me over. My mom's going to get me an airplane ticket. She has the minivan ready to go. Me and the guys are coming.

Right after school. Me and the guys. Me and the boys. Me and the fellas are on our way.

Dude, I saw a clip yesterday that I thought was hilarious. Of Jennifer Lawrence? And it was just on my reels. Oh.

Like, how long would that be? It's so funny. " And I guess he cheated on whoever this person is, so it's in the feed because I have a bunch of sports stuff. Right.

" And dude, they delivered. It was... Oh, you went to read and I'd say something. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I went to go and see all the comments. Like, that must have been his best pair of pajamas, which are in the NFL. Were they NFL pajamas? That would have been funny.

I would hope that like one of the like teams would freaking comment, like the Eagles comment, like, we're sending you papers. Contact us immediately. Or send him Eagle Pajamas. Yeah.

Yeah. The Dolphins would probably come in. That was a sick cut. Right.

Good job. I'm just being mad over here. " Oh, just like in the front yard or something? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And, you know, I want to display my, my, my football skills. How old was the guy? Um... Football age?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he looked like he was late, probably early 20s, I'd say. And I'm like, okay, and it was funny. It was... Was she doing it to mock him?

Oh, yeah, well, 'cause she, 'cause like... She's your ex-girlfriend or something? Yeah, because apparently he cheated on her. Oh, yeah, yeah, you did say that, okay.

And then like, somebody said, someone had a comment, I was like, "You might want a bag next time you mow," or something like that. I'm looking at the yard. Look at the grass. I'm just here for the comments, bro.

I'm just like, oh, this is amazing. Amazing. So, alright, anyways. Anyway.

Jennifer Lawrence, moving on. Carry on. Yesterday. Oh wait, was it Jennifer Lawrence?

No, it was. That would have been hilarious. I mean, I think I saw it. They saw the football hit the pre-manufactured home that they were living in.

Oh. So I don't think that it was Jennifer Lawrence. Oh, you know her house. Well, she's not gonna live in a manufactured home.

I feel like it's safe to assume that she wouldn't be living in a... Well, where would you not look for a real rundown? Yeah, I mean, she's not Matthew McConaughey. Matthew McConaughey would live in something.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Real rustic man there. Yeah, he's a man's man. Okay, yesterday, Phil was talking about a man who stole 38, what, 380 billion or whatever it was?

He said $368 million in crypto or something. Malone Lam, 22, pleaded guilty to federal RICO conspiracy charges for leading an international cyber crime organization that targeted cryptocurrency owners. Oh, I heard about this. Well, Phil brought it up yesterday, but he overstated the amount.

He has a tendency to over embellish? Yes. And everything in life? I'm sorry?

As well as his meals. Yes. Lam and his associates use Social Media Engineering posing as representatives from Google and Gemini Cryptocurrency Exchange. Mmm.

Let's see. Let's get that apart. They stole more than 4,100 bitcoins worth approximately $245 million at the time. Wow.

Wow. So he only missed it by like $100 million. He said three something. He was only off by $120 million.

Well, I mean, you know, when you get that far, $120 million is not that big a deal. Yeah, well, listen, if you wait three or four more days in Phil's mind, the guy stole $4 billion. You know what I mean? The organization included hackers, callers, target researchers, money launderers, and even burglars, Burglars?

Burglars. Multiple burglars. Thank you. Multiple burglars who targeted victims' cryptocurrency, hardware, and wallets.

Wow. Phil was right, he used stolen money to fund an outrageous lifestyle that included more than 30 exotic cars, Miami mansions, more than one, private jets, more than one, and a multi-million dollar watches. Wow. One of the craziest details, he reportedly spent $569,000 during a single night at a Los Angeles nightclub.

What did you say? How much? $569,000. In one night?

one night that's a lot of bottles a lot of bottle service at some point you think the server's got to be like you know uh what if this card doesn't work you know like uh well maybe you're running it as you go you know uh hey you're at another 30k i gotta charge the card right you know there's there's definitely some i mean because i used to have that experience right like oh yeah you worked at a bar when we had people i mean it was never to that it never had five hundred six nine thousand dollars like hey this guy's at 700 bucks right hey this guy just breached 1500 and he's like more shot more drinks it's like at what amount of money would you be like hey uh because like i imagine he's got to start off strong too like do you think it started off at like 10k and they're like oh okay or do you think he kept on closing it out maybe i would say that the server would have to approach after a specific amount in that scenario not knowing the club or anything - Right, Los Angeles, so that's probably higher level than where you were. " - That's a crazy company policy at 30K. - Sure, not a problem, put it on the card, here's my Black American Express. - In Cali?

I mean, I'm sure. - Or maybe he's paying cash, maybe he's paying as he was going. - I thought it was in my, wait, where was it at? - Los Angeles, he has a guy with a suitcase full of 20s.

- No, man, this guy's all virtual, he's all crypto. Crypto. Scan my Apple phone. Would you guys take Bitcoin?

Somebody asked Greg a couple years ago if he could buy his car at the time. And he asked Greg, he was like, do you accept Bitcoin? And Greg was like, I'm sure I can figure out a way how. Right.

That sounds just like Greg, too. Yeah. All right. He's going to phase up to 20 years in federal prison.

He's one of 18 defendants charged in a wider investigation that reportedly the 11th reported the 11th to plead guilty. Investigation reported the 11th. Maybe that's a date. I don't know.

His sentencing date has not yet been set, but he's going to do 20 years. So there's a few of them. Well, I mean, you heard the list of the types of people they have. They have tons of people involved.

You think he's going to do 20? I don't think he's doing 20 in, like, the federal pen. And he's doing 20 at the summer camp. I don't think he does 20.

No, I mean, he could do up to 20. He probably won't do 20. I'm 10, maybe 10. I feel like it'd be like maybe 10 and then maybe like house arrest for a certain amount of time.

But then he's at his computer. Community service. Well, that could be part of the stipulation. There's hackers that get it like you can never touch a computer again.

I was zero cool. You know who zero cool is? No. Do you know?

Nope. I'm in the odd age bracket where no one can help me. No. No zero cool.

No zero cool. Somebody knows who zero cool is? Listen. Listen to this podcast.

Please chime in or comment below on the YouTube page. So you're not going to tell us? No. Just going to wait and see?

It's like a gen millennial thing? Somebody's Googling him right now. Somebody watching at home's Googling. No.

No Google. They're going to Google. No. Hype the video, then you can Google it.

I was Duolingoing my Spanish or whatever, and it said, oh, and we're talking about internet and sites and stuff. Oh, how do you do that? Do you look it up via Google? And I've said, like, no, Google's for old people.

Oh. I use AI. And it said, like, que rico. Rico.

Rico's swell. Oh. Okay. Anything else?

He's going to say aye. That's it on him. We'll have to wait and see what he gets on his day. Because you're at 32.

Want me to skip the last one with the married guy who had a crash? Yeah. We'll jump into... Oh, that was a good article, though.

It was here in Florida. It was over on 436 in Altamont Springs. Oh, really? That was pretty close.

Wow. He was driving to his wedding. He was 15 minutes away. He was stopped at a red light, a car came over the median, through the red light on the other side, head-on collision.

Ooh, that sounds like it was right by my house. Yeah, well, it is near your house, in Ultima Spring. Yeah, I guess it would be. You didn't see an accident on the way home or anything?

When was this? I'm sorry for interrupting, I gotta say, your camera mic, it keeps on, like, not focusing. I don't know if we need to move it over, or think it's okay? Yeah, it's focused right now, but...

It's probably the spot where it's at, it's, like, grabbing my hand. Yeah, it keeps looking at it, focusing on the lockers. Oh, the logos. Like, it was not like a drastic amount, but I was like, I might as well probably say something out.

Doo, doo, doo. Uh, it doesn't say specifically what the name was. Nope, yep. Nope, fucky, fucky.

Fucky, fucky. It's, it's my hand. Oh, because your hand with the cigar keeps going up? Nope, it's not my hand.

It's not your hand. Look at this thing. It's pulsing. Wow, wow, wow.

That's amazing. And then my mic just went out. Uh, my... I hear you.

My earpiece just went out. Yeah. Oh, wow, everything's happening right now. Did you not pay, did you not charge the transmitter?

No, I charged them. It's all staticky now. Yeah. But as long as the green is still going up on the...

Yeah, I hear, I hear both of you. Well, thanks, Keanu. Thanks for correcting us. And...

Well, that, even that looks weird at the bottom over there. No, it's fine over there. But it used to be all the way across. What's going on here?

I think it's these. Yeah, it's just these. Yeah. You're fine.

All right. He was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center suffering two broken arms and a fractured jaw, a broken rib, and other injuries. Mm-hmm. So you know what his wife did?

She got Pawpaw, who was gonna do the wedding anyway, and about a handful of guests, and they all went to the hospital. That's amazing. Yeah, and then they got married at the hospital. That's incredible.

Instead of canceling, Tunisia brought the wedding to the hospital. Staff created a bouquet from flowers around the building. They played wedding music on their phones and turned a hospital room into a makeshift chapel. It'd be funny if he's like, he had cold feet.

Yeah. He's like, you're not, you're not gonna believe this. I got in a terrible accident. They show up at the hospital and he's fine.

And she's like, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, no way. Or they get to the hospital and he's like, I think this is a sign, I don't know. Listen, like, yeah, what were the odds that the semi jumped the median, you know? Well, it was another car.

I know, I understand, I'm over-exaggerating, I'm filling it right now. When did this happen? It was over the weekend. Wow.

No, but you know what, dude, all joking aside, kudos to her for... Yeah. Like, that's... Quick thing.

I've got a wife right there, man. But you're right, I mean, she's going, uh-uh, we ain't, this is gonna happen today. That's it, we're delivering. Yes, this is going on.

Yeah. Your grandfather was gonna do the service anyway. Come on, Pawpaw, let's go. Let's go.

Love that. So, and she joked about the promise of in sickness and in health was being tested immediately. Oh, yeah. And look.

Right? She delivered. She delivered. With a broken jaw, you can't normally talk, can you?

Yeah, shh. Let's, yeah. Yeah, well. He's gonna grunt, I do.

-I do. -I can't move my mouth. " And she pressed to her. -Poor guy.

He's probably still in the hospital. -She hit him with the cape. -Yeah. -What'd the first dance look like?

-And both his arms are broke. -Dude, that's a serious accident. -Well, sitting in the car like this, you get a hit in the front. -Jumped immediate.

My God. Well, I'm glad everybody's okay. -Yeah, everybody's fine. No serious injuries.

Well, serious injuries. com, okay, you've read this article? No, I don't know why, okay, Okay, could you guess why? Without reading.

You totally just read. Well, all I read, I haven't even got to the part where it says what it is yet. I have no idea why they would change the name. I don't know.

It doesn't make sense to me. com. Makes sense. I mean, that's just like such a, you know.

Is Cigara Spanish for cigars or anything? Any other foreign language or something? Mm-mm. Wait, do you know why?

No, I'm just speculating. I have no idea. This website name is working too well, let's change it. Right, I mean, everybody finds it, they type in cigars, and it goes right to our website, so let's make it harder.

I just wonder if it has to do with the regulations from search engine optimization and tobacco products. Oh. Chungway. We planned that, that was a good job.

Chogway, is that what you just said? No, it's a Chungway, I don't know, it's a thing that me and my friends say. Oh, okay. Chungway?

We're mimicking a Chinese person. That sounds racist, but we're not, I swear. Well, okay. It means middle way, middle way.

It means something, I think. I'm gonna stop talking. No, no, you keep going. Palmer, take it away.

com, one of the online retailers, owned by Scandinavian Tobacco Group, will soon have a new name as the company will be transitioning to its somewhat new name, Cigora. Cigora was launched in August 2022 as a premium cigar destination built for enthusiasts who value discovery, Exceptional cigars, and elevated shopping experience. Oh, so it was already around. Got it.

They're more like closing one and just using the other. Huh. The site became known as offering a curated portfolio, exclusive offerings, enhanced loyalty benefits, and personalized service. com customers will now enjoy these benefits.

com has earned the trust of cigar enthusiasts for years and we're honored to carry And we'll carry the legacy forward through Cigura. com. Yeah, maybe due to some type of regulations. Could be, right?

com. Or yeah, maybe they're trying to elevate their... Their clientele. Yeah.

We would like you to buy the $15 cigars now. We've come to the realization that... Not the $10 cigars. Right.

Well, I don't know, I think that, I mean, it's SDG, so SDG, the Scandinavian Tobacco Group is gonna focus on as many markets as they can, the value consumer, the high-end consumer, all of it, right? So, maybe they just feel like there's not enough attention in that market space for the higher-end client, as far as web access. Because web access used to always just be value, right? Right.

Catalog brands. Right. Now, you're- Highest discounts. Yeah.

Half-dead brands. Yeah, now you're seeing, you know, over the past 20 years, you're seeing retailers pop up, smaller retailers, and build their own websites and develop all those things. Right. Now, so, like, maybe they're like, okay, well, if we went and pivoted into the higher-end market, that would be more appealing.

So, starting the 29th, they're going to start closing the Cigar website. You can use all your points. You're gonna get an email, maybe a phone call or two. " I only go to Segora.

You know, I use Segora. Cool. It sounds like Sephora, like the makeup. Sephora, yeah.

But it's for cigars instead of makeup. I stopped by, I got some makeup for my wife, and then I went to Segura. Mmm, it's a fine brand. There's a long list of people they own here, but it's not important to us.

Yeah. Ah. Casa de Sway. Casa.

Casa. Casa. Casa de Swaynios. Casa.

No, it's Casa. Casa. It is in this one. Casa.

Casa de Swaynios. In this one, it says Casa? Casa de Swaynios. Inception ships to stores.

Na na na na na na na. After a bit of a delay, the newest line from Casa de Sueños is shipping to stores. It's called the Casa de Sueños Inception First Edition, described by the company as a medium-bodied blend with notes of cedar, earth, toasted nuts, cocoa, floral, honey sweetness, and warm spice. That's a lot going on.

That's a warm spice. Spice that's not cold? It's kind of like a cider. That's what I'm thinking too, but warm spice, it could be like hot cinnamon?

Hot cinnamon. Could be warm paprika? You know, I bet you if we looked it up on Cigura, we'd figure out exactly... I would like cigars that are just warm, spicy.

If you could give me the warm, spicy cigar, that would be... Tell me about your preferred palates. The new line... Break that down for me.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Are you done? Are you done over there?

The new line was supposed to be shown off at retailers in April 2026 PCA convention trade show, but packaging issues prevented that from happening. Couldn't they just bring the cigars? I mean, we could have. We had SBCs in a bundle.

We just found like, just felt that, you know, too much. The warm spice is more important we need to hold. Look, like a combination, there could be a couple of reasons why it didn't happen, right? One is the machine's too big, you know, somebody didn't call somebody else to figure this out and solve the problem because everything is slow and cumbersome, right?

We're talking about why the packaging wasn't available? Yeah, but that's what I'm saying. Like, well, that's why I wasn't at the show, right? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

They just say packaging. Right. That's a good thing. Right, well...

Nobody questions. No, I'm actually, I'm saying in reference to, like, maybe it was done and the tail wagged the dog, they couldn't figure out, you know, whatever, that's the wrong terminology, but, you know what I mean? Like, hey, did you bring the cigars? Like, no, we needed board approval for that.

You know, like... Ah, somebody's just messed up. Yeah, it's just too slow. The system's too big.

Gotcha, gotcha. Or the other one, which is probably the more logical one, is that it just wasn't ready, and no one's dealing with it at that point. That could be right. Yeah.

Because they're not disclosing anything about specifics of the blend other than it uses Dominican tobacco. Yeah. What's in it? We don't know yet.

Tobacco. They're not done. Leaves. We're trying to figure that out.

Brown leaves. We know what we want it to taste like. Yeah. That's all we know.

That's all we know. Hot cinnamon. It's gonna be warm. It's gonna be warm.

Whatever it is. It's gonna be warm. It's gonna be, what is it called? Segura?

Warm Spice? Segura? Warm Spice. How can Sigourney Weaver?

Is that who owns it? They won't say what the tobacco is. So it gives off the opinion that they don't know what the tobacco is. But yes, but yet, it's a medium body blend with notes of cedar, earth, toasted nuts, cocoa, floral, honey sweetness, and warm spice.

But we don't know what the tobacco is yet. But it's going to taste like this. Right. That's a lot of notes.

Undisclosed. Yeah, just say undisclosed and let's be done with it. Or make something up like we do sometimes. Yeah.

Latvarian tobacco. Yeah, Latvarian tobacco. A lot of you people won't get that joke until Doomsday comes out. Brett.

Okay. Coppola. Yeah. Coppola?

K-O-P-L-O-W. Coppolo? K-O-P-O. Coppola?

Coppolo? I know his name. Coppola. He gets top job at FDA's Center for Tobacco Products.

Oh, that's where I read that from, yeah. Epicurean Smoke Cover, though. It was from the other day, but we needed one more story. For more than a year, he's been serving as the acting director of the US Food and Drug Administration's Center for Tobacco, but now he is the actual director.

I'm in charge now. I'm no longer acting, I got the part. I'm the guy. He will remain in the role as a permanent head.

As one head? The permanent one. The permanent head? The permanent head.

Okay. Sounds good to me. S. S.

Department of Health and Human Services, so I guess they decide who's in charge of the FDA? Is this like the government HR department? I guess. Hmm.

One of three acting directors who are getting bumped up to full-time directors. Coppola has worked at the FDA since 2011, mostly in legal roles. He took over the embattled Brian King in May 2025, and is just the third person to hold the role of the director of CTP. CTP, Center for...

So how long has he been reptilian? That's what it sounds like, doesn't it? He was born reptilian. Oh, okay.

Yeah, they don't convert. They don't convert? You're just an alien. It's not like you want to be Jewish or something.

Is that the greys that get converted? I'm sorry, did you say something racist there? No, I said it's not like he decided he wanted to be Jewish or that he's not changing his religion. Okay.

You were a lizard. You've always been a lizard. Yeah, you were a lizard off the jump. A little touchy there.

Yeah. Oh, CTP, Center for Tobacco Products. That makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense.

They're responsible for the federal government's regulation of tobacco. When do you think the positivity is going to come out about cigars? Like, where it's publicly apparent? Publicly accepted?

I think apparent happens before accepted. Okay, they proved that it's real. " Yeah, do you have another one? Yeah, that's the joke.

Oh, what have you been doing? Right. Oh, my God. Oh.

This is terrible. It's like whenever I see somebody who's pretty big on social media. Well, actually, I was scrolling and I saw some guys, like, making my own cigar or whatever, and he literally grew the tobacco, he dried it for like a year, He did the whole shebang about it, rolled his cigar, and then people in the comments were like, dude's creating cancer, or something like that, and it's just like, come on, this guy's having a blast, he just created something after probably a year and a half, two years of trying to do it at home, not many people do anything in two years. Can you hold that shot right there, but look at the camera, can you take a picture of that, at the top of the screen, that would be a great shot for him, that's a great photo.

Use your case. Look at the monitor. Yeah. The shot of him, the way the microphone sort of points at him and he's over in the corner.

Why am I taking this picture? Well, it would be great for him for his social media. It's a great shot. My Tinders?

Okay, I have a girlfriend. I'm kidding. I didn't say that. You're swipey-swipey.

I guess I could just screenshot the YouTube video, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Well, but you're not going to get that shot.

What are we talking about right now? Take the picture. The way the picture looks. Seriously?

It's a good photo. Like, let's go. Okay. Sorry.

You know. Middle of a podcast. - Oh my gosh. - You don't have to get up.

You like the way the light reflects his eyes? No, it's a good shot. I'm sorry, I'm paying a man a compliment. What are we doing?

That was a compliment? I appreciate it, I appreciate it. Oh, okay. We'll let it be, we'll let it be.

That was a great compliment. Want me to take a picture of you? You look great, too. No, I don't.

No, you don't look great? I don't care. You adjust that light an awful lot to not care. I do what now?

Adjust the light and stuff a lot to not care. Because I wanted to look visually good for people who are watching the show. So you wanted to look good. I want the whole show to look good.

I don't want me to look good. I have a question, and I'm not trying to be rude, is this light always, I look deathly pale, let's be honest. Yeah, I gotta be honest, like it should have been changed to yellow. Yeah, so this can change.

Yeah, it can change, but when I saw you looking like Casper, I was like, oh yeah, we're sticking with that. Yeah, fair. That looks amazing, because like now you have this kind of image of like you being pasty white. Yeah.

And I don't want to change that. No matter how much sun I get, just... I mean, but you do have that cruise coming up. I do, yeah.

You get tan, you get a lot of tanning. It's gonna be a very low budget cruise. There's no money that's gonna be able to be spent on that cruise. Well, the tanning is free.

Yeah. Not the sunscreen. Sun's out, guns out, baby. Let's go.

There you go. Alright, now it's time for the industry's favorite game. What's the score? Whoa!

You know, if you could take, you know, like, you look good in that shot right there, just so you know. - He does, you look good at the show. - I'm talking about you. - Oh, well, thank you.

- Yeah, that's great. - Can you predict the cigar's score-- - You should save it as a profile picture. - From a half, uh, I already have one. Just 'cause you haven't changed yours doesn't mean some people do.

- I probably haven't updated mine since 2000. - Probably right. - 2000. - Can you predict the cigar's score from a half-wheel review before it's revealed?

We'll give you clues, you make the guess. As the review unfolds, the answer gets closer. Or does it? - Duh, duh, duh.

- This guest wins. Fionno, you have the remote right there, you could have the firework. You're on the sparklers. Where's the firework?

Oh, I see it. I see it. So hit the button so it charges. Press the on?

Yes. Okay. This is for mine or Mike's? No, yours.

Yeah, you thought I was going to be there. Let's play What's the Score? That was scary. Today's first cigar.

Today's only cigar. September 10th, 2026, Patrick Le Greed is the reviewer. It's the La Flor Dominicana, Limited Edition, the Carbon Flower. Carbon Flower.

Going off of that? No, yeah, I'll go first, since you're our guest today. I appreciate it. 88.

I'll go 89. Cigar Reviews, the La Flor Dominicana, Carbon Flower, Country of Origin, Dominican Republic, Factory, Tabacalera, La Flora, SA, Wrapper, Mexican, San Andres, Binder. Binder, Dominican Filler, Dominican Length, 6x54, They Smoked 3 Cigars. Wow.

88. I'm going to stick at 89. Clue number one: The Carbon Flower Delivered an Enjoyable Evolving Profile of Creamy Earth, Lightly Charred Pepper, Vanilla, and Toasted Marshmallow Sweetness. 90.

Uh, I'll stick at, uh, $89. Glue number two: construction was very good overall, with smooth draws, even burn lines, and plentiful smoke throughout the two and a half hour experience. 91. Dang.

I'm gonna go 90. Clue number three, the cigar occasionally became dry and overly peppery, with some inconsistencies between samples and a few required touch-ups or relights. 89. I'll stick at 90.

Final thought, La Flor Dominicana Carbon Flour is a solid offering from the company, full-bodied, flavorful, He's still evolving and as a note in the final third, a bit chaotic with the flavor but finding a way to remain enjoyable. There were very few moments when I didn't enjoy what was being offered anything. My issue is with the fact that unless a retailer decides to break up the cigars from the case, I'm paying what works out to $40 a cigar and while we don't factor the price in the score, I can't help but overlook that reality when wanting to make a recommendation. If you're looking for a solid, flavorful cigar and are good with how this is packaged, I think you'll be pleasantly impressed by what it has to offer.

That's a hard one. Yeah, I don't know if he's going to discount it because of its price point. What's the price on that again? He said $40 a pull.

$40, right. Because it comes with the case. Yeah. And they're giving the case away on Half-Wheel.

If you go to the review and comment at the bottom, they're doing a drawing to give away the five-pack case. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. Well, he said he doesn't need another one.

I don't need this. I don't need this. Let's give this away. Um, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna stick 89.

Hmm, man. Could really go either way. I'll go 88. It's 89.

Dang, I had, I knew, I feel like, I knew it was 89 probably. He had it for a couple of turns. Dang. Fireworks, fireworks.

Oh, wait, that's me. No, no, you don't get them, you don't get them. Put them on you and set them off. No, you don't get them.

Just put them on you and set them off. Quick, Keanu, quick, quick, quick. I pay you. Quick.

He hates when somebody uses his fireworks. All right, you have anything else to add? I do have to vacuum in here, too, if I do it, so. He does have to vacuum.

Oh, thanks, Keanu, for helping us out today. Thank you for helping us out today. Yeah, no problem. Thank you so much for coming in on your day off.

Of course. Appreciate you guys. And like and subscribe if you want to listen to the show. com for all your chpod swag.

com, us, Cigar Hustlers podcast. Thank you so much for your support. We hope we've provided great edutainment for you on this Monday. All right, guys, thanks for listening.

We gotta go. Bloop.

Show Notes

The crew breaks down the week in premium cigars on the Cigar Hustlers Podcast.A full cigar-industry news discussion — reviews, interviews, and commentary, plus the week's wildest headlines.In episode 616 of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, host Mike BDP runs from the news desk to the humidor — reacting to the week's headlines before digging into cigar news and reviews. Honest conversation and industry commentary, new episodes every weekday.