ACHP 623Drew Estate & Wild headlines
Episode Summary
In episode 623 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast, hosts Mike "BDP" Palmer and Michael Szczabankiewicz (with engineer Phil McGuffey) open with listener comments, Patreon plans (a monthly four-cigar giveaway drawn from Patreon members), and updates to the shop's store-locator tool integrated with the wholesale site. The Patreon smoke of the day is the Aganorsa/Supreme Leaf 109 head.
The wild-headlines segment tackles Cuba's repeated nationwide power-grid collapses (its sixth major blackout since January), a Carnival Panorama passenger who went overboard between Puerto Vallarta and Long Beach, Fat Bear Week 2026 (reigning champ "Chunk," Bear 32), and Walmart adding GLP-1 coaches to its pharmacies to help customers with weight-loss injectables in areas with limited doctor access. The crew riffs on a reported US–Denmark security deal over Greenland and detours into sports-injury debates (Ronnie Lott's amputated fingertip, NBA rest days).
The cigar news is the core: a new Cuban El Rey del Mundo Regional Edition for Costa Rica (the "Teco," a 5.9 x 54 Geniales vitola, ~$980 per box of 15, 6,000 individually numbered plus 15 Masterpiece humidors); Drew Estate's new Liga Privada Bravado cardboard four-packs featuring the No. 9, T52 and H99 (Connecticut Corojo) in Toro (6x52) and Robusto (5x54) sizes, sold only through Drew Diplomat retailers; and Artista Cigars' collaboration with China National Tobacco (Shandong) called Teixian, an Ecuadorian Habano-wrapped, Dominican-bound cigar debuting in Hong Kong and Macau. The show closes with "What's the Score," guessing half-wheel ratings for the E.P. Carrillo Ascend Ridge (scored 88) and the West Tampa Tobacco Company Red Lancero (scored 88).
In This Episode
- 01Housekeeping & Patreon GiveawayThe hosts pitch a monthly giveaway of the four reviewed cigars for Patreon members and tease store-locator and media-page site updates.
- 02Cuba's Power Grid CollapseCuba suffers its sixth nationwide blackout since January, disrupting water, hospitals and cooking across the island.
- 03Carnival Overboard & Fat Bear WeekA Carnival Panorama passenger goes overboard, plus a rundown of Fat Bear Week 2026 and champion bear 'Chunk.'
- 04Walmart GLP-1 CoachesWalmart adds trained GLP-1 coaches to pharmacies in underserved areas, sparking debate on weight-loss meds and healthcare access.
- 05Cuban El Rey del Mundo for Costa RicaA new Cuban Regional Edition El Rey del Mundo 'Teco' for Costa Rica in a 5.9x54 Geniales vitola, priced near $980 a box.
- 06Drew Estate Liga Privada Bravado 4-PacksDrew Estate ships new Liga Privada Bravado four-packs of the No. 9, T52 and H99 in Toro and Robusto, exclusive to Drew Diplomat retailers.
- 07Artista x China National TobaccoArtista partners with China National Tobacco (Shandong) on the Teixian line, produced across two continents and launching in Hong Kong and Macau.
- 08What's the ScoreThe crew guesses half-wheel scores for the E.P. Carrillo Ascend Ridge and West Tampa Tobacco Red Lancero, both scoring 88.
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
Hello people's I'm back you can hear his cheeks when he's shut up once again I'm sweating you're not hot all right no no clapper except for me today Three. Did you say he has to clap? Two. He does.
Oh, look at it. There we go. That's his DJ skills right there. Oh, is that what that was?
Yeah. Welcome to a Cigar Hustler Podcast. Premium cigars, unfiltered opinions and conversations. I'm Mike BDP Palmer, your host.
Joined by my co-host, the King, Michael Szczabankiewicz. Hello, hello. Thank you for having me. Not you, it's not your turn.
Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me. Oh, you're welcome. Thank you.
Thank you for coming in today. We appreciate that. And then over in engineering, a man that is now mentioned by the Alaskan government, Phil McGuffey. The Alaskan government?
You'll find out later. Okay. 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. Dun, dun, dun. On today's show, it's lights out, maybe for good this time. Uh-oh.
Man overboard. Again. It's Fat Bear Week. And Walmart adds coaches.
Then in Costa Rica, gets a new cigar. Drew Estate says, it's just new packaging. Everybody calm down. And then we can now get Chinese tobacco.
Oh. Ooh. Then a double wants the score. Commie tobacco.
Modified by ChatGPT. It's got it good today. Today, I think it's locked in now. But first, Michael, what are the people saying?
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on. What? What happened to all your witty Tim the Toolman intros?
I just said you've now been mentioned by the Alaskan government. No, that's not witty enough. We'll be when you find out why. Is it the fat bear thing?
No, I don't know why I'm saying a thing. You don't even say anything witty about him anymore. Did you get in trouble? No, I didn't get in trouble.
Yeah, he's just withered. Is that what? A little bit, yeah, I think that's the problem. Trying to streamline everything, trying to use the same intro every day as much as possible.
Yeah, yeah, leave him alone. All right, sorry. Okay, and go. I got a lot going on.
Like and subscribe if you want to listen to the show. com for all your chpod swag. We have ghost stickers and ghost t-shirts. Ooh!
com, us, Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Want to get your thoughts on this. What if we just took the four cigars that we review, and we do four, and once we have four completed, we do a giveaway. Oh, like a bag, like a four bag.
Like we're giving the cigars away that we reviewed? Yeah, for the Patreon members. Oh. Oh, yeah.
That's easy. Okay, so once a month. Yeah. Basically is what it would be.
Yeah, and then we just draw strictly from the Patreon members. Oh, yeah. That's a great idea. Yeah.
Sure. Okay. I don't know. Just food for thought.
I like you. We have to make sure we keep track of what cigars, so that's not hard to do. Well, yeah. I think it's easy.
I just think you buy as you go. Like, you buy and you just... Oh, you buy an extra one. Yeah, we'll just leave the bag in the back.
Got you. And then once we hit four... We do a giveaway. Yeah, we'll announce the winner on the regular show.
All right. Oh, on the regular show? Yeah. Okay.
But it'll be a Patreon member only. Patreon member, right. Yes. Done.
Okay. Cool. Can it be so? Let it be so.
Make it so. So it has been written. It shall be done. So shall it be done.
Okay. On a Patreon today we're doing the Supreme Leaf, which one is this? The 109 head. The 109 head.
Oh, I like the 109 head. It's a nice size. Bam. There you go.
Can I get a bam? Bam. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. Oh, you got it.
Is that a Bam toe? You didn't say Bam. Bam. I feel like that's copyrighted.
Bam? Yeah. For who? Emeril Lagasse.
Oh, I don't think he's a fan. Oh. Hmm. You never know.
Good point. He could be a huge fan. Let's see if this works. Do you think Guy Fieri watches?
No. You never know, he could. He probably talks about us on this podcast. Mmm.
Oh, yeah, probably. Okay, I think, I think it's working. You know what I love to do every morning? I love to watch those Hustler boys in the morning time.
They're great. Then I eat a cheeseburger. There's only, there's three comments from YouTube and one from the lounge. All right.
At CW6383 says, "I got a few of the ghost stickers. " Oh, nice! Tell her friends. Tell her friends.
Tell my friends, they all need ghost stickers for Halloween. I'm a ghost ghost ghost ghost. And IRBDP just randomly says, "All hail BDP" and he's added that instead of, but I wanted it at the end of whatever you were saying. Not just always?
Yeah, so if you could just do that. It's not me. I have time for that. " I don't roll over and look at Paul.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Data cache. We should hook him up to a lie detector test on one of the shows.
- It's only like 150 bucks. - Oh yeah? - Yeah. - You pay for it?
- 'Cause we just went over how broke we were. - Well, we just gotta sell like three shirts or-- - You're kidding me, a lie detector? - It's not a lot. - Stop it.
- Yeah. - Really? - He'll be doing the entire staff upstairs. - Can you imagine having to interview a person like here?
- Oh yeah. - Let's bring that guy from Perdomo back in. - Somebody in the city. - What time?
- Six. - Six minutes. Just mute it. Yeah, yeah, I just mute.
Strike one! You talked about it last week! Alright, let's stop talking about it. I don't think I talked about it on the show.
I could have sworn I was on the show. No. It's gonna be a long mute. Alright, go ahead.
Oh no, we haven't said it again. Yeah, he's just gotta crop the one part out. It's the one part out. And if you weren't on me, it's even funnier because then it looks like he said it.
" I was thinking, what can we do on Sundays that would be easier to do? But I go back and watch all the ones to get the laughs. Best way to start my day before the grind. Appreciate you, bro.
Come up with an idea of what we could do on Sundays. Look, look, man, I mean, I don't know what footage, it's a day of rest. What footage we have left. I have a great idea.
I mean, you put it up the show on Sundays, not like I have to do it. On Sundays, I'm doing a podcast anyway and do the one for... Look, just get the Patreon, and then play the Patreon, instead of playing on the Patreon Thursday, I play it on Sunday. Oh, there you go, join the Patreon.
He might be. Mr. Frazier. He might already be one.
Name doesn't ring a bell. You should just get like a video clips Palmer, like just go into Greg's office and scare him. Like just like five clips every week. No, no, now you're creating extra work.
Yeah, we don't need more stuff. I don't need to create more content. We can let Mikey lit off one of those confetti cannons in his office. No, I have to clean that up.
That's still your job? It would be, I would imagine. I thought you said you don't do that stuff. Who else is going to do it?
That's the problem. Keanu? He's been gone for a week and a half on his cruise. He's cruising.
He's back. We'll be back today. Is he nice and tan? I haven't seen him.
No, probably not. Yeah, he's not tan. Wouldn't it be funny if he is tan? If he comes back like that.
He's tan. His hair got bleached out by the sun. Hello. He's wearing like one of those button-up palm tree shirts.
A Hawaiian shirt. Yeah, all the way unbuttoned under here. Yeah. His friend bought him a gold chain.
He comes in with like a thin mustache. Like a margarita or some shit. Thin mustache. New Keanu.
Hello. His hair's been all corn rolled. Right. Oh.
Now you went a different direction. Yeah, that was, yeah. Did he go to the Bahamas? Yeah, I think he did.
Oh, that's why he said that. Can't sit down. Oh. That would be the funny part.
I was gonna text him again, but he'd come in, walk funny and say no one needs to sit down. I'm okay. I'm okay. Are you ready to know?
No, no, I'm fine. No, I'm good. Michael Z says, Palmer, were you referring to the Hill Cigar Company in St. Louis?
I've been there. Very nice lounge. My daughter works for the city of St. Charles.
If that's the one he's asking, we were in, yes. We did talk about St. Louis. Yeah.
But we were in that shop. Okay. I don't remember what we were talking about. I don't remember.
How many cigar shops were in Missouri? Oh, yeah, for some reason, how many cigar shops were in the St. Louis area. Oh.
Well, I mean, it's easy. You just, if you just punch in, go to the Powstanie Cigar. Does that work now? It's been working.
Oh, I thought you told me not to tell anybody. Oh, really? Yeah. You did last I heard, and you might have made changes since then.
You said it's not quite ready yet. I haven't even worked on it. Updates. Yeah, it's working.
Somebody asked me last week, what was the closest one to blank, and I'm like... Oh, yeah, that's up. Okay. Yeah, that part's definitely up.
Oh, okay. And, um, yeah, so you can just... Well, if you're a listener. You can just go to the search there and just type in the state, or you can type, there's two ways of looking, you can go by state, or you can go by near me, and bam, and I have it integrated into the wholesale site, so that if somebody doesn't make a purchase within a year, it drops them.
Oh. Yeah. Oh, the shop does it within a year? Yeah.
Oh, nice. Just, you're out. Oh. 'Cause I don't want to send somebody to a store.
Right, and they're not nothing there. " You know. " You're on the website. And it also has, I've got to update the catastrophic failure imagery, and it has negative reviews, and it flips, which I love.
Like Koop is, you know, the war bear is a disappointment. Charlie said, Icarus flew too close to the sun. Charlie texted me today. I texted him back, I don't know, it feels like an 81.
He was asking me about the war bear. Hey, when is the war bear coming out? I was like, I don't know. He said, you know, if your friend Palmer on Facebook, he could tell you.
He's like, it feels like an '81, Charlie, Meanie, so those are the comments that I have, also, you know what I'm also thinking, like we got some really good media guys, like Epicure and Smoke, Chi-Town, Smoke and Oak, a couple of people that listen to the show, what I'd like to do is, I think that I'm going to add a media page on both sites, on the CH Pod, site and the retail site for you know media that we support and then just and and put links to their web page or their Instagram or whatever the case may be so if you guys uh if you guys want me to do that just reach out to Palmer reach out to Palmer and I will tell him uh just no just email me email me it's Mike without the p yeah it's just regular Mike um or just Terek message me on Instagram or whatever, but I want to send them your link. We want to support you guys, I know that that'll help with some SEO optimization and stuff, so. Sure, it's a great idea. Look out for you guys.
I think that's all I have for today, buddy. I'll jump to the YouTube page just in case. In case you miss something? Yeah, in case it's not working right.
let's see yeah that's it if you want to hear a comment right aloud on the show simply comment below on our youtube pan pan pan on our youtube channel or more importantly the ch pod lounge where we can continue to grow and create fun things for you the viewer And that's all I got. You ready to get on the show? Uh, yeah, sorry. I'm going to smoke.
Okay. Cuba's power grid collapses again! Do you see this? We got the hotspot guy in the background right here.
The hotspot guy? Is that what we're calling that area now? The hotspot guy? Yeah.
He's TikTok famous. Oh, oh, that's right he is. Yeah, he's got to hit the hotspots. Mm-hmm.
No, not me. He's over there. There he is. Right here.
Right there. All right. Tick-tock famous. Cuba's power grid collapses again, maybe for the last time.
This is it? Cuba's entire electrical grid collapsed Friday after a high voltage transmission failure spread across the country, leaving the entire island without power. You think it was AI? You think they have AI?
You think AI maybe jumped in on the Wi-Fi and... They have Wi-Fi for the island? I thought it was just like down by the... Bay?
Bay, or by the cruise docks, or wherever they call it. Where the watermelons grow. I don't know about that. Where the watermelons grow.
This wasn't an isolated event. It was at least Cuba's sixth major nationwide blackout since January, showing how unstable the system has become. Nice. So what happens?
What happens now? Oh, we buy them. We buy them? Yeah.
It's a lot easier now. They won't know we're coming. It's like you're buying like a dilapidated house? Yeah.
Like, look, you don't have no power. We're buying the car as is. The kitchen's messed up, the bathroom's up. It's a fixer-upper at best.
The bathroom's dated. The crisis goes beyond lights, blackouts disrupt drinking water, refrigeration, hospitals, transportation, communication, and people's ability to cook. Don't they have gas stoves? I would think they would have gas stoves.
No, how would they get gas? 'Cause of Cuba? How would they get propane? Yeah, I don't know.
So weird. How would they get it from the gas company? They don't have a gas company. They don't have a gas company?
I mean, they would have to have propane on the island to use propane, right? Maybe it's important. Yeah, I feel like there's two brothers on the island probably have a propane company. Yeah, they've got to be.
They're just two guys? Yeah. Cuba blames aging power plants, fuel shortages, and tighter US restrictions. Always our fault.
It's our fault, yeah. It's our fault. I mean, we did put up those restrictions. Do we keep people from delivering stuff to them?
We don't do that. Well, if they're American, they can't. Well, right, but I mean, the Chinese get sent propane. Yeah, I guess.
It's called Cho-pane. Cho-pane? Chinese propane. That's nice.
I mean, you know, what's really kind of funny is if you think about it, we wouldn't have Vegas if we didn't do the Cuban embargo. Hmm. What? Yeah.
How was that? Because Cuba was like the hot spot for gambling and all that stuff. Yeah. I've seen that TV show.
Godfather 2? No, there was another one where it was actually the start of Vegas. You're right, everybody was going to Cuba, and then you couldn't go to Cuba anymore. Right.
Shut it down. American officials argue that decades of government mismanagement are equally responsible, so it's not us, it's them. Okay. The graphic is now slightly outdated.
Cuba has started, oh, they started turning things back on. Oh, this is better. As of today. So they're fine.
Well, I wouldn't say fine. Right now, until the breaker blows again. Yeah, the presidential palace probably has power. Yeah.
Oh, the air is back on, finally. It's so nice. It's so nice, yeah. So, what do you think it looks like?
Cook me a meal. So, the government collapses. What do you think it looks like? Do we go in?
Yeah. We take it? Yeah. Trump's in.
I don't... Well, there's been no mention of him that he wants it, so... Oh, maybe that's why he's looking at Greenland. Like, he's up here, looking at Greenland, looking at Greenland, and then...
Fuck! Cuba. I didn't pull the story, because it's not definite, but he did release a tweet, a Twitter, a twidget. Yeah, what does that mean?
What does that mean? He released- They have struck a deal with the Denmark government for us to acquire Denmark, or Greenland. No way. Yes.
Denmark is not, everybody's like, this looks pretty good. Denmark's in charge of Greenland? Yeah, Denmark owns Greenland. Oh.
But I don't know if they're- Oh, they're nice people. They struck a deal? Yeah, they struck a deal where we can have it. Stop it.
Yeah? Yeah, I saw the- I don't believe it. S. permanent access and control over Greenland's security, effectively ending his previous threats to annex the territory.
So now we're like the police department for Greenland. I thought that they were like a... " So all of a sudden we're just gonna find all these drugs in all these buildings in Greenland and take over all the buildings? Why do I need to find drugs?
We're not really the police. We're like the police. Well, you were saying we're like the police. Yeah, we are.
They set up, you know, a couple of military bases, some airplanes, a couple of boats, partridge in a pear tree. And then we take Cuba. It's not really near Greenland, I don't think. I have to read more about this.
I don't... Logistically? I don't fully understand it. Well, I heard Red Lobster is, you know, revving up for all you can eat shrimp.
Start printing the stuff again. We're back in. We're back in. We're back.
Endless shrimp. Endless shrimp. Let's keep the Americans nice and portly. They love the garlic sauce on it.
It's fat for them. Go ahead. Give it to them. Give them the garlic sauce.
Okay. The shrimp tartare. You can eat raw shrimp. Can't you?
No, you can't. You don't remember watching Forrest Gump. Because you got to take that vein out. Yeah, you got to take the vein.
Right. What? Forrest Gump? Oh, yeah.
There's a whole different way to shrimp. You don't have to take the vein out. We have the one boat. Right?
Why not? You don't have to the vein. He likes the vein. He likes the thick vein.
Thick vein. Yeah. He likes it veiny. Good veiny.
Veiny. Vascular. He likes it veiny. Wow, you guys are so descriptive.
Phil McGuffey's next movie, The Vein. Veiny. Veiny shrimp. Veiny shrimp.
All right, Carnival Passenger goes overboard. Seems to be happening a lot lately. I don't think it ever ends. You think that was the ship that Keanu was on?
You know, I checked. A male passenger went missing from the Carnival Panorama as it traveled from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, back to Long Beach, California. Not him, he did the Florida. Oh, damn.
The man was reported traveling with relatives who notified Carnival personnel when they realized he was missing. " Where's Greg been? I think we do that all the time when we travel. So passengers were instructed to return to their cabins, they did a lockdown.
We have to check everybody? They got a head count. They got a head count. They got to do a head count.
Is that a thing? Yeah. Man overboard drill. Man overboard drill.
So, I mean, if there's four people in your cabin, they knock on the door, one, two, three, four. Or if there's five, maybe they found him. - Oh, got it. - For about an hour while crew members searched the ship and accounted for everyone.
Carnival said its team reviewed the ship's man overboard cameras and determined that the passenger had gone overboard. So apparently it's not an alarm, it's just video footage. - It's a Carnival cruise, you know what I mean? Like, what do you expect?
- Right. - Like Disney, you go overboard, phoom. - There's an alarm, it goes off right away. - Yeah, the boats are in the water.
- Mickey's voice is coming out, man overboard, man overboard. Right. - That's a weird Mickey. - Well, it's on a boat and it's loud, what do you want?
- He'll, he'll, man overboard. - There you go, that's better. - Wow. - Gotta get 'em.
- Gotta get 'em. The ship reversed course and searched the area, but he was not located. So I wonder how long, by looking at the camera, I wonder how long it had been. - It took an hour to count the people.
- Wait, wait, wait. - Right, so he's at least been missing for an hour. - Yeah, man. - We don't know how long before that you guys didn't notice Greg was-- - Well, the camera footage shows you when the guy was gone.
Right, but how far back from that hour? " I don't think I'm ever going on a cruise. Well, don't fall overboard. You're not missing anything, trust me.
I'm definitely not going on a carnival cruise. That, well, actually, I think the bottom tier one now is Margaritaville. Oh, that's the lowest one? I think that's the lowest.
Yeah, I've been on that one. Yeah, carnival would be a step up. Okay. So you said that they checked for everybody in the cabins and everybody was accounted for?
No. No, yeah, but they didn't find him when they counted. Oh, everybody but him was accounted for. Correct.
Okay. Right, so for an hour, they search, which is actually pretty fast. Yeah, that's pretty amazing. Well, everybody's looking.
It's not just like there's one guy with a clipboard. Yeah, but how many crew members are, 500? Hey, probably more than that. There's, how many staff members are in charge of, like, four?
Okay, so anyways, guy jumps, what, how is that? They haven't found him, haven't found him, nope. Yeah, he's dead. Both the, well that's what I mean, I mean, how far back are they looking, you know, there's drifting and all that kind of stuff, you know, they have to calculate, and so they can't just, you know, back it up, we'll see if we hit him.
Yeah. There he is. Got him, yeah. S.
and Mexican Coast Guard, which I'm surprised, no Mexico had a Coast Guard, were notified, Carnival said it was supporting the passengers' families, while local authorities continue, or supporting them. Free drinks. All free drinks for family. Complimentary.
Complimentary family, yes. You'll remember nothing. Here's some shrimp. Here's some shrimp.
We have a lot of shrimp now. Authorities continue the search and release efforts. So, no, they haven't found him yet. Well, that sucks.
Yeah. Hmm. But I want to find out if he fell, jumped, pushed. I'm sure that you'll get more info.
Yeah, then I didn't release him the name yet. Did he like his wife? Dude. Maybe he faked his death.
They said he's with family. They didn't say he was, you know, like, they didn't mention, like, his wife is distraught, you know, his wife and the three kids are very worried and upset. Yeah, maybe, maybe he faked his death. Maybe he was just there.
Maybe he's the uncle nobody likes. Maybe he wanted to check out. Insurance claim. Yeah, that's why, I mean, they have footage, so they know how he went over.
Yeah. Insurance claim. Life insurance? I don't know, dude.
Is that like a, like a no-get-a-check thing? I guess we'll follow this. Every couple of weeks, there seems to be somebody falling off a ship. Yeah.
I don't remember that happening 10 years ago. I think this breaks the no-death policy, though. Well, it was... What do you think?
Yeah, maybe. I don't know that. I don't know. I never looked at it to see if, you know, if I jump over the ship, if it counts.
No, I'm not thinking about that. I'm talking about a podcast. Oh, getting complaints? No, I don't think so.
Yeah. We're not making jokes. We're trying to figure out... Oh, he is.
The guy with the pig mask is. Hey, he's got a pig mask. No, it wasn't a joke. It was a serious thing.
Like, there's a lot of people that fake their deaths. People that fake their deaths. Just walking back. No, there really is a lot of people that fake their deaths to get the insurance money.
Okay. Well, they can't find them. So unless he's down in... Down in Mexico, somewhere on a beach.
He's hiding down in the engine room or something. I don't know what to tell you. Well, they have footage. Right.
So, unless he climbed back in. Maybe he swam in Mexico. I don't think he can. Do, do, do.
Okay. Anyways. Alright, it's Fat Bear Week, 2026. This is a thing.
It's like March Madness, both with massive brown bears. Yeah. Fat Bear Week uses a head-to-head bracket, allowing the public to vote online for the bear that has the most impressive transformation in the Katma National Park's Brooks River area. So there's this huge national park, all the bears are in there, and it's a bracket, just like you would see like the Final Four and stuff.
And it's bulking season. It's bulking season, and the fattest bear wins. Right. I don't know what he wins.
I guess the notoriety? Notoriety? A prize. And everybody gets to take pictures with the bear.
Organizers have observed over a hundred - no, you can't take pictures with the bear. No, why not? It'll eat you and get fatter. People do it for the gram.
You know? Organizers observed over a hundred brown bears along the Brooks River before narrowing the field to this year's finalists. The bears spend the summer devouring salmon and building the fat reserves needed to survive months of winter hibernation. So, they also use this as an indicator on how well the salmon are growing.
Right. Because the more salmon they eat, the more salmon there are, obviously. That would make sense. Right.
Yeah. So, Bear 32, better known as Chunk, won in 2025, competition after reaching an estimated... How much do you think he weighed? Is it the kid from the Goonies?
No, not that Chunk. It's a bear. Sloth love Chunk. You're gonna live with us now.
I was gonna say, they named him after the kid from the Goonies. That's Lalo Zato, poor guy, he's dead. The bear does the truffle shuffle? 700 pounds.
700? That's what he's estimating. Yeah. Okay.
That's what he's guessing. I'm gonna go 1,800. Ooh, you went too far the right way. 1,200 pounds.
Oh. Despite suffering from a broken jaw. I was off by a hundred. Yeah, 1,200 pounds with a broken jaw.
He was eating so much, Sam, he broke his jaw. Or the jaw was broken, but he's still eating. Either way you wanna look at it. The competition draws attention to bear conservation, the health of the Alaskan salmon population, and the importance of protecting the ecosystem.
7 million votes were cast last year. If you're gonna be a bear, be a grizzly. There you go. That's a lot of votes.
From around 100 countries. So 100 countries vote on this. They pick. They pick the fat bear.
They've given honorable mention to Phil McGuffey, who was put on an impressive weight during the pregnancy of his mate. I knew this was a long thing. It was a long way to go to get a bad joke. Got 'em.
Got 'em, though. Nice. Alright, Walmart's adding a GLP-1 Coaches to their pharmacy. Come get your shot.
Lose all your weight. Oh, like to explain to you how to use your shot? Yeah, because the pharmacists are getting so many questions that they have decided to put a specialist in each of the rule Walmarts where doctor access is hard to get. -What's the questions?
-Injected into you. -Does this work? How do I take this? -What's the dosage?
-What's the dosage? -How often? -Specially trained pharmacists will receive dedicated time to coach customers instead of only filling prescriptions behind the counter. The pharmacists will discuss health goals, explain GOP-1 treatment, and connect patients with clinical care, nutrition programs, and other support.
Walmart says the program is designed for communities where doctors, specialists, and other health care services Healthcare Services May Be Difficult to Access. Okay. Think this is a good idea? I don't know.
Yeah. Do you ever ask your pharmacist questions? Sometimes. Do you?
Yeah. How about you, Mr. McGuffey? Do you ask about special creams and lotions?
I don't ask the pharmacists. They're not a doctor. Yeah, but they know about the drugs you're taking. I'm not saying you're going there going, "You know, my kidney hurts.
" I think sometimes the pharmacist knows more about the drugs than the doctor. dude think about the system like the system is they these pharmaceuticals go into some of these or at least they used to go into some of these doctor's offices they bring them a fucking cake right have a little party salespeople and then they say hey just so you know but at a doctor's office yeah like this will be you know our drug will be better than this drug because of why and they're like okay cool well sally brought us a cake so let's start pushing that from what i I understand, a lot of the pharmacies, like Publix, Walgreens, CVS, stuff like that, a lot of the people in the pharmacy are interns, and there's only like one real... Yeah, there's like one real pharmacist. Maybe two if it's busy.
There's only one doctor. Are they there all the time? Well, I... There probably has to be a main...
No, there's a nurse practitioner. There's got to be a main pharmacist on hand at all times, I would assume. Well, I think on call type thing. I think he's right.
I think he's right. I think there may be like an associate pharmacist or something. Yeah, not the real guy. Don't worry, somebody's going to correct us in the comments section and tell us how stupid we are.
You always go when you pick up your pills, do you have any questions for the pharmacist? It's not like the lady goes, do you have any questions for me? I'm the hourly employee. Yeah, so I have a question.
Okay, hold on, I'll be right back. Let me go call him. Well, it could be. He's not available right now?
Let me go get him. It's usually the guy in the lab coat, or the woman. Yeah, I mean, I don't see the issue with this. Do you have an issue with this?
No, I think it's a good idea, especially if it's in an area where doctors are hard to come by. Yeah, I mean, you know, informing somebody? You don't have to make a doctor's appointment to ask the questions. I mean, I just AI it, but whatever.
Right, yeah, that's what I do anyway. Is the GLP-1 coach different than the pharmacist, or it's the pharmacy people? The pharmacist is getting special training so he has more GLP-1 information. Oh, okay.
And they're allowing him more hours where this is his GLP-1 section, I guess, or his hour or something. Okay. You know, like when they were giving the COVID shots. You could go there and get your COVID shots.
You can go to the doctor and get the COVID shots. Oh, you're messing with McDonald's cheddar right now. You know what I'm saying? Lay's potato chips got to be up in arms.
They might be investing in GLP-1. Oh, I'm sure. You know? Yeah.
The focus includes obesity, type 2 diabetes, and maternal health, along with sleep exercise and stress management. I mean, they can answer a plethora of questions here. I don't think a lot of people take it as they probably don't get the last two. Yeah, stay away from the cookies on the way out, OK?
Let me see what you got in your cart there. Yeah, no, I'd put that back, I'd put that back, I'd put that, oh, don't even eat that. You know, I'm starting to see the problem here. I'm taking a look.
I don't have enough GLP-1 back here for the cover all this. I just love the chocolate cream sandwiches. It makes me feel so good. GLP-1 use reportedly increased from 3% of American adults in 2024 to 11% by June of 2026.
I think those numbers are low. Yeah, that sounds low. Yeah, I know a lot of people that do it. Yeah, that's one in ten, I would say that it's probably 20%.
Walmart wants to become the place where customers receive the prescription, fill it, and get ongoing support, but also raises questions about a retailer becoming deeply involved in personal health care decisions. What? " Oh, they don't want to suggest. Right, they don't want them to give recommendations.
But I mean, they give recommendations for over-the-counter drugs all the time. Yeah. Hey, you don't have to take this, all right? You just go grab that towel.
Right. Aisle 7. Yeah, I've gone in to pick up stuff from my mother before, and they'll go, "This is over-the-counter. I don't know why they wrote this up for you.
" Right. Okay. Can they not go out and show it to me? Because they always point.
Who? They don't want to. Yeah, is that what they don't want to? Yeah, they ain't going around the counter.
" Aisle 3. This is Walmart, not Publix. Yeah, dude. " And then he starts to walk me there, I'm like, "No, no, just give me the number.
" You don't even need, like... I was being lazy, you can look it up on your phone. Yeah, and it tells you the bay, the aisle on the bay. Yeah, he told me the bay, too.
It was padlock, so I was looking for a padlock. Yeah, it's probably by doors. No. Hinges?
No. No, it's in the tool section. Yeah, but it's between the motor oil and the tabletop saws. Yeah.
That's exactly where you would look for. I feel like that tracks. I don't know. You feel like that's okay?
Sure. Well, their locks are more for, like, trailers. So is that why they're by the tables off? Yeah, we got to move on, guys.
Come on. We got to move on. Well, the next story is probably not just as good. You know, your attitude with all these things.
I have a lot of trouble to do this. You have a GLP-1 to padlocks. I mean, what are we doing? Well, I was talking about, I was adding that I had asked someone for help and he offered to help me.
Right. And we said the pharmacists don't want to. When you could have solved the problem yourself. I did sell the promise of asking where it was.
I looked for it first, not like I went right to him. Let me ask a question. You went to the website. No, I wasn't going to pull out my phone.
I'm in a store. There's people walking around. Yeah, exactly. So you didn't sell the phone.
That's what they're there for. Oh my god. I know you're not a pharmacist. It's called customer service.
" I don't know. Is it on the website? That's different. Why is it different?
Because one is like a luxurious experience where you're kind of relaxing and one is locking a fucking door, okay? Okay? So it's the use of the product that draws the line for you? Yes.
Oh. Maybe I wanted to luxuriously lock up something important. One is for utility. One is for relaxing.
Which is also utility. No. Could be. Oh, yeah.
Do you have something to say, Boots? We're moving on to Cigar News. Yeah, I know neither one of you are pharmacists, but on this GLP-1 stuff. Yeah.
Do you guys agree with this stuff? I highly recommend you get on it. Wow. My wife took it.
It worked. Do I agree with it? Yeah. What does that mean?
Like, do you think it's a good thing? I mean, I don't know. I've heard mixed things. Do I think that people should lose weight?
Sure. No, that's not what I'm asking. Do I think that if they can't lose weight by themselves and they want to medicate for it? Fucking A, go get it.
I don't have a problem with it. But, you know, like, my philosophy in life is way different than a lot of people, to be fair. Like, I mean, if you want me to go extreme, like, if you want to be a crackhead, go right ahead. Like, it's your life.
Well, that's South Florida stuff. No, it's just your life. Right. You have every life.
If you want to be a loser, go be a loser. Like, that doesn't bother me. If you want to lose weight, and you can't lose weight, and you're using the medicine, I don't care. Like, I'm totally indifferent to any of that.
S. Well, yeah. So, you know. Especially when apple pies are back for a dollar.
So if we lean up. I can get an apple pie for a dollar? Oh my God. So, I mean, if this country leaned up a little bit, I don't see the issue.
I don't see the issue. Do you think the pills better, or the injection? I would say the injection. Injectables are always going to be better.
More streamlined? Well, it surpasses the liver. You know? Doesn't have to be broke down.
Right to the bloodstream. Right. My wife did the injections, but back then they didn't have the pills when she started. She's not on it anymore.
I mean, eventually you taper yourself off. There you go. So yeah, whatever. But she didn't have any hormones because of all the cancer stuff, so I mean, she tried losing weight by herself for years.
I'm pro steroids in sports as well. You know what I mean? Get me back to the Barry Bonds days. Everything's a home run.
Whoa. Hey, let's just crush. They're going to get a home run. Yeah, baseball.
Football, too. Leveling, dudes. I mean, let's go. What are you talking about?
They have so many issues right now with all these guys just getting knocked out or breaking bones. They know what they're doing. Like, dude, you should really just start betting on how many people are going to get injured per week. It's part of the game.
It's part of the game. Do you remember all these injuries back in the day, though? Like, 10 years ago. Bro, there was a dude that had his finger removed to get back on the field.
Is it because of a firework incident? No. Oh, you're talking about a different guy? Yeah.
Wait, he had it removed, like taken off his hand? Yeah. What happened to it? It's gone.
No, no. I mean, if it's broken, tape it up. You don't have to take it off. I think it was a Steeler.
I'll look this up. Oh, you're talking about a long time ago. Cut it. I mean, like if it got jammed and it was cut and hanging off, okay, just tear it off and let's go.
Pittsburgh. But, I mean, if it's just broken. Steeler. Now he can't count to five.
Cutts finger. I think. oh, he's got like a stinky pinky hand gesture the whole time, huh? It wasn't a Pittsburgh Steeler.
Ronnie Lott. Oh, Ronnie Lott. San Francisco 49er. Yeah, Hall of Famer.
This is the ultimate cut-it-off NFL legend. In April 1986, the Hall of Fame safety opted to have the tip of his pinky finger amputated, Amputated rather than undergoing a complex bone graft surgery. Oh, tip of. Yeah, he made it seem like it was the whole thing.
Yeah, like they took off his index finger in the middle of the game. It would have had him forced to miss the 1986 season. That's a G, bro. That's a tip of his finger, though.
That guy is a dog. That's the way you described it. Now you got this bullshit. You got this bullshit, Zay Flowers, oh, my hamstring.
I mean, what are we doing? Thanks for the $150 million deal. You got NBA players, now you're getting me gassed up. You got NBA players that need rest days.
Rest days. Well, there's one in particular. 150 million dollars or whatever, like, oh. Rest days?
Yeah, they don't have to play particular games. Yeah, especially if they're over 40. Yeah, they need rest. What?
Yeah, exactly. Can you imagine? We're paying you to play a game. Keep playing.
Can you imagine, like, there are people that save up their money to go and bring their kids to these games to go and see this all-star who's taking the day off? Personal experience. what's that was this a personal experience no i had one does he still show up at the game like in his street clothes yeah he sits on the bench that's wild still though i mean that's a little bit better than he's at home with his feet up yeah i didn't go there to go see in his street clothes yeah there you go listen well put the uniform on then you son of a bitch act like you're gonna play michael jordan didn't take a rest day no larry bird didn't go larry bird didn't take a rest day the other goat magic johnson didn't take a rest day well but he got eights oh he beat it kobe Maybe Bryant didn't take a rest day. I'm staying away from that comment.
See, I just blew it over. Yeah. This is wild. Whatever, dude.
Whatever. I forget what country it is, but AIDS is making a comeback. Oh, God. There's one particular country...
We got a cure for it. Yeah, I know, but not this country. They can't afford it. They can't afford it?
No. There was one guy that afforded it. Not from this country. Alright, Cigar News.
Let's just wrap up and piss everybody off. Costa Rica gets new El Rey del Mundo Regional Edition. Oh! Costa Rica?
Costa Rica. Are they going to sell like five of them? I don't know. Let's read on.
Costa Rica is getting a new Cuban Regional Edition this month to celebrate the 15th anniversary of distribution, Cruz Canela & Trust. The cigar is called the El Rey del Mundo Dico. Okay. Comes in a Robusto extra size, measuring five and nine tenths.
Could have just called it six. Nope. By a thick 54 ring gauge. Okay.
In Cuban terms, that size is known as a Toro. Yeah, that's a Toro. Toro Gordo. Geniales.
G-E-N-I-A-L-E-S. Is that by a Geniales? One centimeter. Geniales.
A Geniales Vitola. Geniales Vitola. Each box contains 15 cigars and carries a hefty price of freedom dollars. For the box?
Yes. Of 15, of one five cigars. 15 cigars? 15 cigars.
15 cigars. 33 per cigar is this the one with the tissue paper on it it's tissue it's very nice It's the Teco. The traditional cigar box is packaged inside a decorative desktop humidor made by Humidigruf. Humidigruf?
That's what it says. Humidif group. Humidif? It's all one word.
H-U-M-I-D-I-F-G-R-O-U-P. L-M-N-O-P. Humidif Grup. Humidif Grup?
Humidif Grup. Humidif Grup. G-R-O-U-P is group. But not when it's combined with another word.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, silent. All right, how many did they make? Not a lot.
They can't make a lot of these. 6,000 individually. Oh, my God. 6,000.
At almost a G apiece. Oh, my God. First of all, the people that smoke in El Rey de Mundo are not looking at $65 a cigar. We got this all wrong.
We're doing it all wrong, guys. We need to release a special cigar in a country that can't afford it. And then massively produce it. Right.
You know what I mean? Cigars will be sold exclusively in Costa Rica beginning September 28th, followed by an official launch party in November in San Jose. There will also be 15 special Masterpiece Humidors, each holding two boxes. No limit?
Master P? This marks Costa Rica's third edition regional and interesting. All three releases have featured the same thick 54 ring gauge cigars. this size works in this country yeah apparently does well toro works in any country it's not a toro it's toro gordo it's a robusto extra petite toro no robusto eggs yeah six inches no it's five and nine tenths five and nine tenths it's not six inches i think the guy probably looked at the ruler wrong do you think somebody's gonna message us on about this one i'm like what are you what are From Costa Rica?
Like, dude, stop it. I would like the $900 mark. He used to do stuff for Costa Rican mobsters. Oh yeah, that's right.
So is this not the same, because you guys carry El Rey Del Mundo, right? Not the Tico. No, no, obviously I know you don't carry the Tico. Can't get the Tico.
It's hard to put the $8 cigar and the $70 cigar next to me. Not the Cubans, dummy. Oh, this is Cuban, okay. It's Cuban.
Well, my question was going to be, is it the same people that make it? No. Okay. All right, Drew Estate ships new Liga Bravada four packs.
Ooh. Drew Estate is giving Liga Bravada smokers a new grab-and-go option with four pack heading to retailers. The new cardboard packages features three popular Liga Bravada blends, the number nine, the T52, and the H99. Super rare.
Super rare. The Connecticut Corojo, each blend will be offered in two sizes, a six by 52 Toro. And a five by fifty-four Robusto. Okay.
So a five and nine tenths is still a Robusto. Yeah, no, no. You gotta cross that six. Yeah.
Horrible. So what's a four cigar? It's a special one. For a total of six different four packs, the Toro P-E-T-A-C-E-S, Patakas?
Patakas? What size is this? It's a five and nine tenths one. 40.
85 per cigar. These packs won't be available everywhere. Drew Estate is limiting distribution to Drew Diplomat retailers as a way to support brick-and-mortar stores and preserve the culture and experience of premium cigar retailers. Drew Estate says the portable format offers the same construction, depth, and character smokers expect from Malika Privada, just in a more convenient package.
So it's not a new blend, it's not a new cigar, but it's a new way to take four of your favorites on the road. Okay, this is not a word. This is not new. Like packs have existed forever.
Yeah, but not from them. And not four pack. I think they had like a five or six pack. Wasn't it?
Drew Estate? It's probably your average is five packs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the average is a five pack, but this is a four. Okay.
Yeah, because I think at like ABC Liquor, I've seen Drew Estate packs, yeah. Zip-Locs. Yeah. Yeah.
This is in a cardboard box. Okay. So the fourth cigar is a petticus? Is that what you said?
No, no. They're all... What are you? Don't come around my kids.
Wow, bro. You are ridiculous. But you said three cigars. Yeah, you did.
You didn't say a fourth cigar. Maybe the fourth cigar is that weird size. That's what I was saying. Okay.
you got a pedicus you get a pedicus one pedicus can you buy a box of these well you can buy a four-pack box I've just never seen this girl you said there's no new blends there is no new blend there's another bones it's one of these blends in a weird size it's a hey you like the nine well you know please try this age He's 99. Super rare, never be released again. Limited production, only 750,000 of these men. All right, Artista Cigars is partnering with China.
On a new line, the Artista Cigars and China National Tobacco Corporation, the world's largest tobacco company, have announced a new collaboration called Teixian Artista. Okay. What makes this project unusual is that the cigars will be produced on two different continents. One's being made by Artista, one's being made by the Chinese people, and they're not putting them together.
It just sounds like two people who make a cigars. They're just agreeing on the blend. But the China tobacco, Shandong, will produce a pyramid version of these. Who?
Shandong, that's what it's called. Wait a second. Shandong, one word. Stop it.
Shandong, something dong, dong is a reward. You know, his algorithm is crazy. This is from Half Wheel. Pay attention.
This is a story he wants you to pick out. Right here. That's what his phone says every time. Right here.
This is the one. Right here. The Shandong one. Say the dong word over and over.
Is his first name Hugh? No, it's not a person. It's a company. Hugh, middle name G.
Hugh Shandong. It's Hugh Shandong in the building. How come we never get nasty comments about the Chinese stuff we do? Try flying in China.
This is what it says. Try flying in China. Find out. Find out.
It features an Ecuador-nabano wrapper and Dominican binder and fillers from three Latin American countries. We must shut down a cigar hustlers podcast. If they come in, don't let them leave. Use a samurai.
We'll have them do a show here. Use a samurai? That's a totally different country. Oh, my God.
Well, I'm sure they got them. No, they don't. They're not the same thing. I don't have them.
The line is scheduled to debut in Hong Kong and Macau this December. I'm in Macau. I'm in Macau. I'm in Macau.
Would you like a sandwich? I'm in Macau. Jonathan Sanz. The Toro should reach additional international markets in late spring, followed by mainland China and Asia duty-free stores during the summer.
Check out my Fort Mac. That has three cigars and no one does a Fort. Details including size, pricing, and box counts, they're not saying. But it's a flex right there, bro.
Right. We're working with China. Right. That's, you know, that's legit.
There are also reports that China National has approached other cigar companies with similar deals involving tobacco purchases, dual-continent production, and expanded access to China's highly-restricted cigar market. Could become a problem, though. It's restricted? If you start opening up, and I'm not saying, "Hey, don't do this," but if you start opening up a whole other market with a gigantic population, All of a sudden, you'll start to see new world stuff everywhere, and that means lower inventory, you're not going to really get as much product.
Would it affect, it'll affect the Cuban prices, so you think maybe they might start going down? Yeah, and not to mention, it'll affect ours, it'll probably go up. So, China call us? No.
No, China don't call us? Yeah. So confused. Me too.
Well, they're a big consumer of cigars. I want the Shandong guy to call me. You want to sell a cigar for $1,000? What's that?
There's a lot of them from China, I thought. The Samurai? There's a lot of Samurai in China. They're one of the biggest consumers of cigars, right?
Yeah. It's a statistic. It's just a coping thing for me. I've had a Chinese cigar that's not very good.
Which one do you have? A Year of the Dragon? No. You hear the go.
They don't name it after the Dragons. I don't know. I couldn't pronounce the name. Time for the cigar industry's favorite game.
What's the score? I think you can predict a cigar's half-wheel rating before the final score is revealed. Yes. We'll give you clues.
You lock in your guests. Then, as the review unfolds, we move closer and closer to the answer. Or do we? The player with the closest guess takes the win.
Light it up, lock it in, let's play, what's the score? If I win, John may die. Well, I'm gonna tell you, John looked up when you hit the button really quickly. Oh, that's right, that's right in front of me.
Brace yourself, John. Could get real here in a second. The review is from September 20th, 2026. The reviewer is Brooks Whittington.
The cigar is the Perez Carrillo Ascend Ridge. Oh. Ascend Ridge. Ascend Ridge.
Ridge. Ascend? R-I-D-G-E, not Ridge. Ridge.
Like the edge of a mountain or a cliff. And it's going up. We're going over the ridge. We're ascending from the ridge.
Yeah, we're going up over the ridge. Wait, did you? You said it was spelled R-I-D-G-E? E.
Oh, okay. I was just making sure. Yeah, I mean, because the Chinese samurai are going to come and comment on your grammar. Right.
You guys going to vote? You want to give a score? Anything? Something?
Yeah, I'll go first. I'm going to go 87. So, you think the samurais at the flea market are from Japan? No.
Right, they're from China. You mean the swords or the actual samurais? Because I've never been to a flea market that had samurais walking around. Yeah, they don't have legit samurais just walking around.
You know what I'm saying? Maybe. No. I want to go 86.
John, want to play? John, do you want to play? Yeah, sure. Yell at a score.
Give us a number. What's a cigar? It's 86. Ascend Ridge.
It's not even paying attention. Geez, John, you know, you're a foot and a half away from us. P. Carrillo, Ascend Ridge, Brooks Whittington.
Just watch the clip. 88. 88. It's a 6x52, Toro, the wrapper is Ecuador and Habano, binder is Nicaraguan, filler is Nicaraguan, and Dominican.
Made a Casa Carrillo Dominican Republic, and they smoked three. Ooh. 87. 86.
John? Eighty-five. Eighty-five from John. Flex to eighty-five.
It's Dominican. Clue number one. The cigar delivers plenty of flavor, opening with strong spice and black pepper, before developing a cinnamon-like sweetness that makes the profile more interesting. Oh.
Don't look it up, John. No cheating. Okay. Eighty-eight.
Eighty-six. John? Eighty-five. Eighty-five, the man says.
The flavors remain bold and complex throughout the smoke, and the cinnamon sweetness does a good job of balancing the heavier spices. This is the third clue, right? No. That was the second clue.
Eighty-eight. I can't count to three. Stop trying to hurry the game along. Chinese Samurai in the flea market.
Eighty-four. John? Eighty-seven. John says eighty-seven.
Um, let's see. Third clue. Hold on. Construction was not completely consistent.
The first two cigars required two separate burn corrections, although the other samples performed better. 89. We know where this score is going. 81.
John? 85. John says 85. Final thought.
The Perez As Carrillo Ascend Ridge starts aggressively with enough spice and black pepper to immediately grab your attention. Bam! What keeps it from becoming a one-dimensional pepper bomb is the cinnamon-like sweetness that gradually works its way into the profile. That sweetness changes the entire experience, bringing balance to the spice and gives the cigar more depth as it develops.
While the burn issues on one sample prevented it from reaching the next level, the overall flavor profile remains enjoyable and interesting. It's a bold, flavorful cigar with enough evolution to hold the smoker's attention, but the construction inconsistencies and a few rougher moments ultimately keep it from earning, I can't say that next thing. These are from earning a higher score, but they actually give a number. Oh, 89.
87. John, you went the wrong way, 88, you guys split it, I was hoping John would split the needle and take the one in the middle, I was there the whole time and I moved up, alright, second cigar, August 25th, 2024, the reviewer is Patrick LaGreed, the cigar is the West Tampa Tobacco Company Red Lancero, oh, it's the red, um, 84. 90. John?
89. He says 89. It's a 7x40 Lancero. The wrapper is Mexican San Andreas.
The binder is Nicaraguan Filler, Nicaraguan Factory, Garmin Dia Cigar Company, Nicaragua. They smoked three. Sounds pretty good. 88.
90. 88. 90. 98.
John also says 90. The red lens arrows delivered a consistent solid flavor profile across all three samples. 89. 90.
91. Oh, John moves to a 91. Clue number two, construction was nearly impeccable. I object, Your Honor, and I move to strike.
Strike! With excellent draws, dependable combustion, and very few burn problems. Mmmmm. 89.
Mmmmm. 90. John? 91.
John says 91. Third and final clue: Although consistently enjoyable, the flavor profile did not evolve very much and lack the - excuse me, don't interrupt - very much and lack the transitions and complexity needed to make it truly memorable. 87. Did you say a number already?
89. John? 88. John says 88.
Final thought. There's plenty to appreciate about a cigar that performs this consistently. All three samples delivered a dependable flavor profile and construction that was about as close to flawless as you can reasonably expect from a long, thin Lancero. The cigar remained enjoyable from beginning to end without introducing any major harshness or distracting construction problems.
However, consistency can carry a cigar so far. The profile stayed largely in the same lane and did not offer enough transition surprises or added complexity to separate it from the pack. It is a well-made, dependable cigar that delivers a satisfied experience, especially for smokers who value consistency and construction, but it needed that. More development to push its score into the-- oh, there's another number there-- into a higher score.
81. Hello, Michael? Michael. Did you show him Sleavy?
Yes. 88. 87. Why is he trying to look on the screen?
Why is he leaning way up? I don't know. Who knows? You can't see that.
Final score is 88. Stop, drop, and roll, John! Stop, drop, and roll! Ah, makes my body tingle.
You obviously haven't been watching the show. You don't watch the show, John? No! He only watches Eclipse.
You never put those in Eclipse. Wow. Wow, John. Need to include the fireworks in Eclipse, Michael.
Why do we even do the show? Why don't we just do clubs? Because we have a ton of people that watch the show. Oh.
Over 500 a day. " Yeah, those people aren't real ones. John is now, you know, on the outside. Yeah, John.
Yeah. " You should ask him a question. I'm gonna AI five questions from the show. And he has to answer them correctly in order for me to, he has to at least get four out of five.
I need a B. He needs an 80%. Gotcha. So, all right, here's, and there's going to be, like, who wants to be a millionaire questions in the background?
Dun, dun, dun. You have Ash on your shirt. Would you like to phone a friend? That's all right, we're about over.
You still have Ash on your shirt. Now it's on your pants. Stop looking at my pants. That's where the Ash is.
Stop checking out my package. That's where the Ash is. Weirdo. All right, you have anything else to add?
There's Ash on your package. Come get it. We got to go. Yeah, we're about to go do the Patreon.
He's feeling playful today. com, a Cigar Hustlers podcast where we talk inside baseball as well as give cigar reviews, and thank you very much today for listening, we hope we provide a great edutainment for you on this Tuesday. All right, guys, thanks a lot, we gotta go. Bye.
Bloop. One, two, three.
Show Notes
On this episode of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, the crew reviews and discusses the latest from Drew Estate, Perdomo, Liga Privada, and E.P. Carrillo.
A full cigar-industry news discussion — reviews, interviews, and commentary, plus the week's wildest headlines.
In episode 623 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 featuring Drew Estate, Perdomo, Liga Privada, and E.P. Carrillo. Honest conversation and industry commentary, new episodes every weekday.