ACHP Episode 379 Who's Got Their Hand On The Wheel?
Episode Summary
Episode 379 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with shop business: a Baez Cigars event on Friday, March 21st (following the Alex Gonzalez interview) with a watch and humidor giveaway and the full Cigar Guys cast in attendance, plus a private lounge event with John Carney of Bentley Cigars on March 28th featuring steak dinners and a live podcast. The Patreon companion episode covers the Room 101 15th Anniversary and a run-in with Luciano Morales, who apparently now has a farm with "magic tobacco." The hosts also welcome Ryan to the board for his first time behind the buttons, joking about the "curse" that every crew member who appears on the show ends up leaving the shop.
The bulk of the episode is trending news and cigar industry announcements. The guys riff on Libya's education minister being sentenced over a textbook printing scandal, the 2025 NCAA March Madness brackets (Auburn as overall No. 1 seed, the SEC's record 14 teams, UCLA atop the women's field), and Donald Trump's claim that Joe Biden's pardons are void because they were signed with an auto pen. Then they dig into the episode's centerpiece: El Septimo CEO Zaya Younan being awarded a US design patent for a "refrigerator ashtray" — a multifunction ashtray with a freezable cooling chamber, built-in humidor, and refreshment cup meant to cool a cigar's burning tip and preserve flavor. The hosts are openly skeptical, poking holes in the claimed 880°C tip temperatures, the lack of announced pricing, and El Septimo's track record of million-dollar lighters and ashtrays.
PCA 2025 preview news follows fast: Valentino Sesto's first PCA exclusive, a $10 Connecticut-seed Robusto with tobacco aged 10 years, limited to 100 boxes; McCalleb Cigars adding Purple to its color series with a Mexican San Andrés Sumatra wrapper at $7–$8 per stick; another El Septimo release, the $125 Duble Grand Reserva limited to 1,000 boxes and the brand's top 50 accounts; Oscar Valladares' Island Jim Barber Pole and the first-ever Leaf by Oscar Broadleaf Limited Edition; an Asylum Year of the Snake 9x90; and Powstanie's SPC 24 and Warbearer (Grand Perfecto 2025) VOTEC releases, with plenty of self-aware jokes about aged-tobacco marketing claims.
The episode closes with industry staffing moves — Eddie Guerrera joining La Flor Dominicana as VP of marketing and brand development after a stint at Davidoff, and Jeremy Fondy becoming national sales director at Casa 1910 (with an unintentionally AI-enhanced press photo). Social media talk covers a bad take comparing Padrón to Aroma de Cuba (the hosts argue any real comparison has to start with a San Andrés wrapper) and Jonathan Drew posting from Macau to squash rumors about the Barn Smoker events. Listeners of the Week are Don Wiggins and a recovering Hector Alfonso of Espinosa Cigars, and Shop of the Week is Underground Cigar Shop in Texas.
In This Episode
- 01Shop Events & Patreon PreviewBaez Cigars event March 21st with watch and humidor giveaways, a John Carney/Bentley Cigars private lounge steak dinner March 28th, and a Patreon episode featuring the Room 101 15th Anniversary and Luciano Morales.
- 02Meet Ryan on the BoardThe hosts introduce new board operator Ryan and joke about the podcast 'curse' of guests leaving the shop.
- 03Trending Non-Cigar TopicsLibya's education minister jailed over a textbook shortage, the 2025 NCAA March Madness brackets, and Trump's auto-pen claim about Biden's pardons.
- 04El Septimo's Patented Cooling AshtrayA deep, skeptical dive into Zaya Younan's patented 'refrigerator ashtray' with a freezable cooling chamber, humidor, and refreshment cup that claims to cool a burning cigar and improve flavor.
- 05PCA 2025 Release AnnouncementsValentino Sesto's $10 PCA-exclusive Connecticut Robusto, McCalleb Purple, El Septimo's $125 Duble Grand Reserva, Oscar Valladares' Island Jim Barber Pole and Leaf by Oscar Broadleaf LE, and an Asylum Year of the Snake.
- 06Powstanie SPC 24 & Warbearer VOTECPowstanie's barber-pole SPC 24 Corona Gorda at $16 and the Grand Perfecto 2025 Warbearer, plus jokes about aged-tobacco marketing and trade show appointments.
- 07Industry Staffing MovesEddie Guerrera joins La Flor Dominicana as VP of marketing and brand development, and Jeremy Fondy becomes national sales director at Casa 1910.
- 08Social Media, Listener & Shop of the WeekDebating a Padrón-to-Aroma de Cuba comparison, Jonathan Drew's Macau Barn Smoker update, Listeners of the Week Don Wiggins and Hector Alfonso, and Shop of the Week Underground Cigar Shop.
Brands & Cigars Discussed
Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.
Transcript
*Music* Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike squared, Mike squared, Mike squared, Mike squared. events this week at Cigar Hustling, right? Yes, what do we got? What's going on?
Friday, March 21st, we're going to have Basis Cigars in the house. We just did an interview with Alex Gonzalez. It was a very good interview. I highly recommend you go back and listen to it.
We're going to be giving away a watch and a humidor, and we're going to be giving away a watch and a humidor. And we're going to be hanging out, having a good time, so please come out to Cigar Hustler. We would love to see you. The entire cast from the Cigar Guys will be here.
The entire Cigar Guys cast will be in attendance. Also, the following Friday, March 28th, we will have a private lounge event with the one and only John Carney of Bentley Cigars. We're going to have food, steak dinners, the whole shebang. We're going to do a little podcast.
The shebang. Shebang's my word. I don't know. I feel like I might need a t-shirt for shebang.
The whole shebang. It's going to be a fantastic event. So we're looking. Oh, we are podcasting.
Because we've interviewed him before. Yeah, but we can get an update. I mean, there's a lot going on in his life. He's a very busy man, sure.
You should do it while he's cooking. I know you don't want to, but that's the way you should do it. Yeah, I mean, I can't see how that would work with the studio, but, you know, probably going to go. Well, you do it out there because he'll be outside the private lounge.
I'm going to give that a hard no. So what are we doing? Or can we vote? What are we covering for the Patreon?
On the Patreon today, we're smoking the 15th Anniversary Room 101 Cigar, right after the 12th, the 13th, and the 14th. Right, makes sense. He's doing the 15th. And we did a private lounge event last Friday.
m. , and we ran into our favorite person, Luciano Morales. Apparently has a farm now, with magic tobacco, grown in, well, we'll tell you where, he said it was grown. So all that and more on this week's Patreon.
All right, let's get into some of our topics. I have your microphone because it spins. Oh, thank God. I love that.
It spins. This is, this one's... Yeah, that one's great. That's mine.
Look at this. Get going. All right, hold on. I forgot how to lock this.
8 grams. Okay. All right, trendy topics. Libya's education minister is doing some time for not printing the books.
March Madness printable brackets are out. Trump is claiming they use an auto pen for Biden's pardons. That sounds interesting. And then in Cigar News, El Septimo has patented how do you cool a cigar?
Interesting. Interesting. There's a bunch of PCA cigar announcements because that's coming up in a couple of weeks. Then we've got some staffing changes, which only happens this time of year.
People have entered and exited the portal. And finally, Powstanie makes a bearable announcement. Excellent. And we have somebody new on the board today.
Yes, yes, we do. We have the lovely Ryan with us today. Oh, this is going to annoy me. Ryan, say hello.
Hola. Yes, he's Spanish. This is going to be fantastic. It's going to be fantastic.
We're going to have somebody that actually has a little more tech-savvy ability, and he's going to be playing. Possibly. I promise. Higher IQ?
Well, he definitely has a higher IQ. So, you know, but it's your first time, bro. So, however you go, however you do, I'm sure you'll be fine. This is the end of Cigar Hustler Podcast.
I'm telling you. This is the last episode. No, but we've got to tell you, there is a slight curse. Everybody who's been on the show, except for one, has left the shop.
What, Boots is the only one that survives? Is he the only one that survived? Well, he'd never really worked at the shop, but yeah, oh, we haven't had, have we had Keanu on? I don't know.
I don't think we have. So there was Garrett way back when, who was the little guy that went to go work at the motorcycle place? That doesn't matter. Okay.
We're moving on. All right. Ryan's going to break the curse today. Yes.
He's not leaving. He's not going anywhere. I wasn't nervous, but now I'm a little nervous. You'll do fine.
You'll do fine. All right. Libya's education minister convicted over textbook scandal. Libya's education minister has been sentenced to three and a half years in a Libyan prison because of a textbook shortage dating back to 2021.
The attorney general's office announced on Sunday. Apparently, you can get arrested for not printing books in Libya. Okay. So, for five years, this guy hasn't put out any books.
No, no. There's a shortage in books, which we'll get into. But this was something that started in 2021, apparently. Ah, we're still covering major topics.
Yes, yes, yes. The Tripoli Court of Appeals fined Musa al-Magrif a thousand dinars, $200, and deprived him of his civil rights for the duration of the sentence and a year afterwards, so for three years he gets no Libyan civil rights. I don't think they have many. So he got fined $200?
$200, jailed for two years, and no civil rights for three years. I don't know what Libyan civil rights are, but it can't be that many, it's Libyan. " Equality. Yeah, I've read that three times already.
"Interceding in favor of a unnamed party and favoritism in contract management over the printing of textbooks. The case dates to the start of 2021 school year, when a textbook shortage forced parents to spend money on photocopied textbooks, supposed to be provided free in public schools. I didn't even know Libya had free public education. You're not on top of your...
I'm not on top of my Libyan civil rights or their education program, apparently. The Libyan democracy. But they have a lot of copy machines. Apparently.
Apparently the copy machines are very prolific in that country. An investigation began into McGrief, McGrath, over his management of contractual procedures for printing textbooks and the reasons behind the shortage. He was then placed in preventive detention as part of an investigation into negligence in the excise of his functions. I wonder what that sounds like in Libyanese, whatever they should be.
Negligence in excise of your functions? Yes. Hello, hello. Yeah, McGrief was later released from custody for lack of evidence, all the copies faded, And resumed his post as education minister.
He attributed the textbook shortage to unifying the school's curriculum among the North African country's three regions, saying his delayed payments owed, saying this delayed payments to suppliers. All the people making the books, apparently. Gotcha. Before the attorney general's announcement on Sunday, the education minister's Facebook page posted a picture showing him hard at work.
Quick to a post. Quick to a post. They're coming for me. Do I post?
Look busy. We need to look busy. We need to look busy. Get the printer out.
We need to make prints. Get the printer out. March Madness. Printable brackets for men and women's 2025 NCAA basketball tournaments are out.
The brackets for the 2025 NCAA men and women's tournament has finally been revealed in March Madness. Action on the court begins in only a few days. Do you print these? I imagine it's for the betting.
Yeah, I don't print. I mean, I don't bet really. Can you not? So this is like, there's the official one.
Because I saw a picture of it. It shows like on the left-hand side, like this team plays this team, and then the winner moves here. Right. So they just decided who all was playing who the first round.
Correct. They just filled that bracket. This is a big deal when it comes to sports betting. Yeah.
How did they decide? The article did not say. It's college, so it's pretty much whatever a group of, like a board probably wants. They can't just do like alphabetical or something?
No, they just kind of wing it. They say who's ranked where. Get some dice and boom, oh look, somebody play somebody. I'm sure that there's money involved and favoritism and alleged bribery or whatever the case may be.
I bet you, if you got into it deep enough, you would see that some things didn't make sense. Oh. Yeah. Just like college football.
Right. People make specific playoffs now or whatever. Oh, so when they do, is there like a March Madness type of college football thing? Just as the season goes.
Like kind of, there's sort of a, there's now a playoff bracket. I think it's not as vast as March Madness, but yeah, to some degree. So this is in addition to all the games they've already played? Yeah, this is the final, like, the tournament.
This is the big deal. So does none of the other playing count? No. Well, I mean, it does, I guess, to some degree, but this is the big one.
This is the thing. Yeah. This is what decides who wins and loses. Yeah.
I learned, I think I learned, you know, a hundred years ago that if you had the simple strategy of just, The strategy of just taking the points and betting the dog to win, the underdog to win, you should win like 60 or 70% of the time, something like that. Alleged, don't take it, we're not giving information. Yeah, I'm not a... No betting information.
I'm not a... Why am I looking at your camera? No betting information here. I don't know why you're looking at my camera.
Because I was talking about you. The clock is already ticking and how much time you have left to fill out your brackets. Don't worry, we're here to help. Well, ESPN is here to help.
I got the story from them. Okay. On the men's side, Auburn claimed the number one overall seed over Duke while North Carolina and Texas snuck into the field. to the chagrin of a handful of snub teams.
The SEC set a March Madness record when 14 of its 16 teams made the tournament. Oh, everybody doesn't get to play. No, that's what I'm talking about. The snubbing.
UCLA took the number one overall seed in the women's tournament. The other three number ones were South Carolina, Texas, and USC. The men's tournament tips off the earliest on Tuesday with the first of four, but you don't need to wait until then to fill out a bracket. The women's first four starts at A day later on tomorrow.
A day later on Wednesday. So a day after tomorrow. Excellent. How you doing on the flipping, Ryan?
I'm flipping all over the place. There was a lot of flipping on that particular post. Trump makes unsupported claim Biden pardons are void as he used an auto pen. An auto pen?
Auto pen. Donald Trump claimed on Monday without offering evidence that pardons signed by Joe Biden were void, vacant, vacant and of no further force and effect because they were signed with an auto pen. Merriam Webster dictionary defines an auto pen as a device that mechanically reproduces a person's signature. That's very interesting.
I had to, I was adjusting. Trump made his claim and opposed to a social media platform that uses abusive nickname for Biden and referred to members of the house January 6th committee writing the pardons that sleepy Joe Biden gave to the unselected committee of Political Thugs and many others hereby declared void, vacant, and of no further force or effect because of the fact that they were done by auto-pen. Okay. Well, that's, I mean, go ahead.
No, no, I'm just rolling up. Go ahead. That's very interesting. It is, but I mean, he's going to, you know, claim that anyway.
Yeah, but, and what's he going to be, there's nothing he can do about it. How are you going to prove that? Well, does he have to? I mean, does, he's the president.
" It doesn't work that way. The guy before him did the whole, you know, pardon, yada yada. Yeah, but he's saying that, in other words, Joe Biden did not sign them, but more importantly, he didn't know anything about them. I don't think it matters what he says, unless you want to go through a judicial system and like a whole.
Oh, well, he loves doing through the judicial system. He's a big judicial, big judicial guy. Yeah, he loves that. He loves, he's a big fan.
He loves attorneys. You didn't see when the, what the governor of Maine was going to sue him because he's took all, he's no longer giving them money Because they're letting boys play girls sports? No. " He goes, "Oh, good.
Get in line. " I got news for you. I think I already told you this? Yes.
Do you know who my news source for world information is? No, I don't think you've told me this. Oh, yeah. No, it's Mike Palmer of Cigar Hoster's podcast, so I have no idea.
I just listen to you, and then I just kind of wing it. Wow, that's kind of scary. Yeah. Closed aides to Trump have said his own authorship of Truth Social Post can be detected by factors including the free use of capital letters.
Trump also made, wait, so he's saying they can tell it's fake because he used too many capital letters? Yes, that's what he just said. Wouldn't you think an auto pen would sign the way that you signed? I mean, what's the sense of having an auto pen that doesn't sign your signature?
Unless somebody's not paying attention, they just kind of wing it. These are pardons. You'd think somebody would be looking. Eh.
Government workers sometimes, they're not on par. Well, you'd think there would be an auto pen ambassador or an auto pen somebody. You'd think there'd be a guy. Yeah, somebody in charge of the auto pen.
That would be funded through Social Security. Right, he keeps it in a briefcase, much like the guy with the football, but it's smaller because it's a pen, so it's more of a pencil case, I guess. Got it. It's not just a click.
It's handcuffed to his wrist. You think it's just a, it's probably just a click. Or maybe it's inside of his, oh, you don't think it's a real pen? Yeah.
I think it's this machine they feed it into, and it... whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. That should just be stamped. It should just be a stamp.
Ah, no, because you can tell that. Yeah. Gotta keep them guessing. Trump also made the claim aboard Air Force One on Sunday telling reporters, "It's not my decision.
" Oh, see? There you go. There we go. But I would say that they're null and void because I'm sure Biden didn't have any idea that it was taking place, and somebody using the auto pen to sign off and to give pardons.
Trump's claim came after the Heritage Foundation, a pro-Trump right-wing think tank, released a report into Biden's purported auto pen use. Oh, it's a thing. Yeah, I don't think anything comes of this, to be honest. He has another one of his rants.
Yeah, you know, it's highlighted. The think tank said this was a thing. Are you claiming that the guy had, you know. So they're sitting in a room.
They have all these documents that he signed. Correct. And they're putting them against each other, going, this is too many C's here, the capital B over here. Right.
These must be auto-pen. I didn't even know it wasn't auto-pen. I think that the entire nation at this point knows that Biden hasn't... He had checked, yeah, he was not really there that last term, something.
Yeah, he didn't know what he was doing. Well, they're not going to admit it, though. I still don't know how much validity there's going to be in going after his signatures, and it just sounds ridiculous. All right.
Yeah. All right, you heard it here, Mike. You said this is ridiculous. It's ridiculous.
Yeah. All right, turning to the world of cigars, El Septimo's Zaya Yunan. Is that how you say his name? I have no idea.
I call him Prince Abuban. El Septimo's Prince Abuban was awarded a patent for cooling ashtray. Who knew it was a problem? Abuban, the CEO of El Septimo Cigars, has been awarded a patent on a new ashtray design that is described as a multifunction cigar ashtray, It's an assembly that combines four different features in one elegant design device.
It's elegant because it tells up Timo, the ashtray not only collects ash, but also incorporates a built-in cooling chamber, a cigar humidor, and a big ass ashtray, and a dedicated refreshment cup, it's got a cup, it's got a cup holder, okay, let's back up a little bit here, it collects the ash, so standard, yeah, got it. It cools the cigars. Does it cool them while you're, have you looked at this at all? I have not.
So all your cigar information comes from Mike Palmer also? Again, media sources. You're my media sources. All right.
So it looks like it's round. I saw that. You saw the drawing. I did.
Okay. So I think it cools stored cigars. Right. Not the one you're smoking.
It keeps the stored cigars in the ashtray cool. Yes. Okay. I'm guessing so that when you ash on them or the Cigar you're currently smoking does not heat them.
Okay. All right, so there's that. So then the cigar humidor, which is what's being cooled. Okay.
A dedicated refreshment cup, so it's got a cup holder. Got it. Okay, all without the need for electricity or batteries. Okay, now what, no, no, how does it work?
It makes no sense. How does it cool without ice, you put ice in it? Is it solar powered? The aim of the new design is provide a cooling effect on cigars and thus improve their taste.
Got it. Hot cigars taste bad, apparently. Hot cigar is bad. So room temperature is not correct anymore?
I thought we were supposed to keep it at room temperature, you know, 68, 72 degrees. 70 degrees, yeah. I mean, look. Maybe, wait, he's from France.
Air conditioning is not prolific in France. No? I don't think it is. Really?
Are you sure? Air conditioning is not prolific in here. That's not a big thing? No, right, Ryan?
Sure. Love that. Love that. Oh, wait, here we go.
The combustion in cigars creates a significant amount of heat. Okay. El Boubois said. Makes sense.
Prince El Boubois. The temperature of the cigar can reach up to 880 degrees Celsius, around what? 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit? It's cooling the one you're smoking.
It's not cooling the stored ones. 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit. That cigar in your hand apparently is 1,600 degrees. 1,600 degrees.
1,600 degrees. 1,600 degrees or 880 degrees Celsius. That sounds like complete horseshit to me. At the burning tip.
Oh, just on the end. The end. Okay. If it cools it, is it going to put it out?
Look, I just want to know why we built an entire ashtray and didn't even incorporate a Bluetooth speaker. What were we thinking there? It's a good point. You know?
Maybe that's the second generation. Yeah, the Gen 2. Yeah, the cup holder comes off, speaker goes on. You remove the cup holder and turn on the speaker.
Or they make a speaker that fits in the refreshment holder. Yes. Refreshment holder, they're calling it on the cup holder. I like where your head's at.
A burning tip, well, between puffs, the temperature can range between 400 degrees Celsius and 500 degrees Celsius depending on the cigar size and the draw style. Okay. At these high temperatures, essential oils and sugars in the tobacco rapidly evaporate, which diminishes the flavor and leave cigars tasting bitter and harsh. Really?
That's why I decided to invent the refrigerator ashtray. That's actually what he's calling it. That's what he's calling it. So that when you rest your cigar in it, a tremendous conductive cooling ability transfers the excessive heat away, just away.
When you take another draw, the cigar's temperature is dramatically lowered and the flavor is not only preserved, but amplified. Is that because his cigars taste bad? He's trying to find a way to make them taste better? I think it's possible.
Allegedly tastes bad. Allegedly. The cigar cooling ashtray looks like a normal ashtray. It's just a completely normal ashtray.
Right. But it cools. It's cooler. It cools the hot thing.
Right, like a normal ashtray, but it made of three separate compartments or units. Okay. The top portion is an ashtray surface, while the middle compartment is a cooling chamber, which is removable with its circumference, able to be filled with water that freezes. Oh, you do, you freeze it, you turn it to ice.
So, it's got a water chamber you fill with water and then you freeze it. You freeze it and then you shove it in the ashtray. So, he's made a cooler. Pretty much.
And keeps the ashtray cool for over two hours of smoking time. Okay. Every two hours you gotta get more ice. You gotta change it out.
Additionally, the inside slot can hold refreshments such as nuts to cleanse the palate. Oh, if you don't want to put water in it, it's a nut holder. Just put some nuts in here. You put your nuts in there.
That's nice. What if you put your nuts in the water? It's nutty water. You could wash your nuts.
You could wash your nuts. They would sell more if they just marketed that portion. There you go. As a nut washer.
Freeze your nuts. Right. That's an ashtray that freezes nuts. Then the bottom portion is a humidor to hold cigars, a Boveda pack, and cigar accessories.
I hope to God you get to the price. God, I want to know how much they're selling. The company has not announced when the ashtray may reach the market or what is pricing. Oh, of course not.
Of course not. We're not announcing when we're making this magic freezing ashtray. Dude. It's a half a million dollar ashtray, clearly.
Well, he's got a million dollar lighter and a million dollar ashtray already. He's got a million-dollar ashtray already. Oh, he has a million-dollar ashtray already? Yeah, didn't he do that the year after the million-dollar liner?
Does it even cool? Not the million-dollar. It doesn't even cool? So it has to be two million dollars.
Yeah, this is at least two million dollars. Bejeweled. Yeah. It's gotta come with diamonds.
They're never gonna make this. Oh, it's definitely happening. They're never making this. Oh, they have her drawings.
I have seen a ton of BS in 15 years that I've been in the cigar industry. I think this one might take the cake, buddy. This is next level. This is next level.
The United States design patent was filed in September 2023 and granted in February 2025. " No, seriously though, it cools. You know how it's hot at the end of the cigar? Yeah.
They're explaining this in his French accent. " It will make it taste better. Somebody explain to me what the hell he's talking about, please. Okay, I guess we'll...
Okay, Stan, move on, let him out of here. The full patent can be read below. We didn't pull the patent. It was 17 pages long.
Valentino Siesto announces a PCA exclusive Robusto, Connecticut. Okay. It's only in the one size. Okay.
At next month's 2025 PCA convention trade show, Valentino Siesto Cigars has announced... I have heard of these people before... has announced its first PCA exclusive release, the Valentino Siesto... Siesto?
Siesto. Siesto. Gusto, Connecticut, 54 by 5, PCA, is a 5 by 54, what? Connecticut 54 by 5.
I didn't make this article, you did. No, I know, but the name is 54 by 5, but it is a 5 by 54. Okay. Okay.
Extra. Made with an Ecuadorian, Connecticut seed wrapper covering a Dominican orlo binder and a filler blend of Dominican, including Corojo, Piloto, and one undisclosed varietal. That's the one the guy takes, just jams in there with his stomach. According to the company, the cigars have been aged for 10 years.
Yeah. 10 years aged. 10 years. We've just been hanging around with the tobacco for 10 years.
It's just sitting there for 10 years. We have been patiently waiting. At Artisto, Siesto, or whatever the hell his name was. Okay.
Each cigar is an MSRP of $10. Oh, it's been sitting there for 10 years in it. $1 for every year of aging. It's been a fantastic process.
We look forward to selling these. I'm selling these. And then they're gone. I've been holding out for 10 years.
Oh, they don't have a lot. 100 boxes of 10 cigars, which will only be offered to retailers at place orders during the PCA 2025. Extremely limited, and that's why they're $10. Yes.
The cigars are expected to ship in June. S. audience and a prestigious location, said Gianna Lucia Berte, CEO of Valentino Siesto Cigars in a press release. Our team looks forward to welcoming you to the PCA.
Oh, nice. Age 10 years. 10 years. I can't, you know.
We just had a riveting story about that from someone else. We did have a riveting story about that from somebody else. Yes. McAuliffe is adding a purple!
What did you do? Did you pull the best media? The best PCA story, yes. That's all it is this time of year.
This is the fun part of the year. If you've seen the photos, everybody's wearing purple. You wait till you see McAuliffe this year, everybody's wearing purple. Everybody's going to be purple.
They're wearing purple. All three people that are still alive. McAuliffe is adding purple to the color series at the PCA 2025. McAuliffe Cigars has announced that it will be adding a fourth line to its color series at the 2025 PCA convention trade show.
The McAuliffe Purple, which will use a Mexican San Andreas Sumatra wrapper covering a broadleaf binder and fillers, a combination of tobaccos from the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Nicaragua, As the case with the black, blue, and red lines, oh, they mix the blue and the red, and they get a purple. They're working on a primary gift set sampler, that's what they're doing. Primary colors? Yeah.
So they have orange and yellow left for the next few years? Yeah. The purple is a regular production line, is produced at the company's factory in Nicaragua. There'll be two different Vitolas at launch, the same sizes and prices as the past releases for the other series.
So everything that's currently red, black, and blue will also now be the same size of purple. They have their own factory? I don't think so. It says it's their factory.
Well, yeah. Somebody else's factory? Somebody else's factory and a farm. It might be somebody else's.
We have the farms. We have the factories. We own all of it. Let me ask you a question.
Do you have a farm? Yes? Of course. Of course I have a farm.
We had to get up and leave. Stop, stop. You're getting ahead of yourself. It's Patreon content.
Mikellip Purple Robusto, 5x52 is $7, box of $25 is $175. Mikellip Purple Toro is a 6x52 for $8, box of $25 for $200. Mikellip Purple continues our mission of making premium cigars accessible without compromise or salespeople, said Dan Thompson, president of Mikellip Cigars at a press release. Like the rest of the color series, it proves that premium quality and affordability can go hand in hand when we have no employees, according to a press release, allegedly.
That's all jokes. Yeah, Macala Purple will be featured at two launch events, ooh, one in March and the other in April, before boxes shipped to retailers on April 24th. Oh, they're not saying where? No.
Another announcement from El Septimo. Oh, my goodness. They have a $125 Duble Grand Reserva. Oh, my goodness.
Well, what are you going to put in a $2 million ashtray? Well, you gotta, yeah. $125 a guy? Well, that obviously burns too hot.
Oh, yeah. Right, right. It might even come in a set, like a $3 million buy, you get five cigars, and you get the ashtray. Here we go, the new LSATIMO Double Duble Grand Reserve is a 650 tutorial that uses an Ecuadorian wrapper over a Dominican binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
The company says that all the tobaccos used is aged between 7 and 10 years. Also 7 to 10 years. Apparently there's 10-year tobacco just sitting around over there. It's everywhere.
Each cigar will have an MSRP of $125 and production is limited to 1,000 boxes of 14 cigars. Alexandra Yunin, is that a guy or a girl? I have no idea. It's French, probably a guy.
Probably a dude. Director of marketing, oh, maybe it's a girl. Director of Marketing and Branding told Cigars Podcasts that it will ship to stores in May. Oh, yep.
She added that it would be limited to the company's top 50 accounts. We're not one of them, are we? I don't think so, no. With the Duble Grand Reserva, we have harnessed the collective wisdom of global experts and fused it with groundbreaking scientific techniques and fermentation process to create an experience that transcends tradition.
They get a little ahead of themselves with the magic ashtray. That's a great marketing officer. It is. Zaya Yunnan, CEO of...
Oh, this is the Prince Abu Babu. Prince Abu Bois. Abu Bois. CEO of Satimo in a press release, this cigar is a living testament to our passion for innovation and our unwavering commitment to excellence in producing the best cigars and magic ashtrays in the world.
The company says that more than 60 people were consulted to finalize this blend. 60. 60. Did they call you?
I didn't get the call. I didn't get a call either. Brian, did they call you? I did not get a call.
I wonder who these 60 people were. Gals, what do these people have these names? " That's Ryan. It's like one-word answers.
That is absolutely me. Okay, there's some guy with a weird name, started Septimo in 2005. S. until we came out with the magic ashtray and the million dollar lighter.
They've been around for 20 years? Yes, but not in America. But he didn't own it at that time? No, no, this other dude did.
Okay, some other guy. His name is Giles Botquin. Gotcha. I bet you, how excited do you think he was when he sold the company?
He was probably thrilled to death, but now he's kicking himself now. They got a magic ashtray. Magic cooling ashtray. I really regret that.
Island Gems Barber Pole Leaf by Oscar Broadleaf Limited Edition is launching at the PCA 2025. Okay. During next month's convention and trade show, Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Company will release a new Barber Pole Cigar in the first Limited Edition for one of the company's most popular lines. Hmm.
I still like him, but I'm a little scared of him. You like him, but you're scared? Oscar, yes. Oh.
Well, only in Honduras. Only scared of Honduras. Yeah, you don't have to be scared in the States. No, I scared of in America.
Just in Honduras. The Island Gym Barber Pole is a 6x52 Vitola made with two different wrappers, a Connecticut wrapper, Greg is texting, Connecticut wrapper, and a Corojo wrapper, both grown in Honduras, covering an undisclosed binder and filler blend, the barber pole name refers to two visible wrappers, everybody knows what a barber pole is, MSRP of $13 per cigar will be offered in boxes of 21. They're copying us. We do boxes of 21.
They're doing 21 too? Yeah. Do we have that registered somewhere? We should have got that patent.
Oh. Damn! We could call us a team out there and know just how to do it. It'll only take three years.
The Island Gym brand is named after Island Gym. Oh, well, makes sense. That makes sense. Owner of Leaf & Bean Strip in Pittsburgh, Robison and Validari's work to launch the Island Gym line of cigars, which...
Why did it jump? It's jumping. It's a very cool cigar store in Pittsburgh. Have you ever been?
Not to that one, no, but I have been to the one in St. Augustine. Yes, you have. Yes.
But yeah, his Pittsburgh shop is very unique. I've seen pictures. Yeah, I'd like to go there one day. The company will also be releasing the Leaf by Oscar Broadleaf.
Isn't that hard to get now? Depends upon where you get it, but yeah. Limited edition 2025 is 6x52 Vitola made with a Connecticut Broadleaf? Yep.
That's a hard one? Yeah. It's still hard. A rapper that has been aged for three years.
A realistic... Seems a little more reasonable. A realistically reasonable three years. Right.
Covering a binder and filler composed of Honduran tobacco, according to Alvaro Villatoro, the company's sales manager, the new cigar marks both, isn't that Groover? Oh, no, that'd be a national sales manager, Groover's Floor. According to that guy, the company's sales manager, the new cigar marks both the first time the company has released a limited edition Leaf by Oscar cigar and the first cigar from the company utilizing the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. What's their other, they got another Connecticut, what's that wrapper?
Any idea? Leaf by Oscar? Oh, were you doing Leaf by Austin? Oh, that's right, he doesn't have a Connecticut.
Yeah. I was thinking, Island Jim Connecticut came out last year. I don't think, uh, I don't think so. Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
Pretty sure I had one. How was it? I don't remember, so... You don't remember?
Okay. Must not be, you know... What was that word you like to use? What's the word you like to use?
Shenanigans, shabops, shaboop, shaboop, shaboop, shaboop. I don't know, it wasn't shaboop, shaboop. An MSRP of $18 and the production is limited to... So, for a three-year-old cigar, you get $18.
$18. For 10-year-old tobacco, it's just $10. Only $10. Because it's old.
Yeah. You want something that old. Limited to 1,500 individually numbered 20-count moxes. 5 are made by the company's factory in Donnelly, Honduras.
Both cigars are scheduled to begin shipping on April 11th. Adventura's got a Blue-Eyed Jack, Revenge Maduro, debuted in 2025. Variation of the existing Blue-Eyed Jack. We're just gonna run through some of these.
You don't have to. What else you got to cover? Is that different media? Because I got a couple, I got one topic I want to talk about.
There's another snake, Year of the Snake, shipping. From who? This is Asylum. April Fools, so it might not come out.
Oh, no, but this is like, they're making a big one. Yeah, yeah, it's a big cigar. It's like a 100 gauge or something. Nine by 90.
Yeah, nine by nine. Which is ridiculous. Well, no, we have, here we go, Eddie Guerrera joined La Flor Dominicana. Yeah, he was part of Davidoff, I believe.
Company's new VP of marketing and brand development, five years stint at Davidoff. Yeah. Where he served as head of brand marketing. At least they hired a cigar guy.
You know, it's not a liquor or a booze guy and a coffee guy. Yeah, that's true. And, you know, I've heard good things about Eddie, I don't know him personally, but, you know, we know people that have worked with him. Right.
He's also worked at Altidus and Gurga. Well, okay, but it can't all be out of the park. We're thrilled to welcome Eddie to the La Florida Minicana team, said Lito and Inez Gomez in a joint statement. She probably is not thrilled.
You don't think so? I hear she's kind of mean. That's the rumor. That's the rumor.
All right, Casa 1910 has announced that Jeremy Fondy is the company's new national sales director. Jeremy's my friend. He's my friend, too. Did you see the picture with the press release?
No. It's an AI version of Fondy. He does not look that good. He's not that attractive.
I mean, he's an attractive man. Don't get me wrong. Yeah. But it's an AI cartoony.
Oh, really? Yeah, yes. It's very chiseled. Oh, yes.
Ripped. Yeah. Nice suit. Hair done perfectly.
He doesn't have hair. He doesn't even have hair. Exactly, that's what I mean. But he has really nice hair in this image.
Yeah. He had previously held positions at Scandinavian Tobacco Group and Casa de Monte Cristo. He's also co-founder of Cigar Cartel, a popular cigar-based Facebook group. S.
I'm thrilled to work. Okay, he's thrilled. With my own values as a cigar aficionado and industry professional. I mean, that's what we do.
Well, that's what we do. Yeah, but I try to make it a good sound. Try and dress it up a little bit. Yeah.
And then finally, Powstanie is debuting the SPC 24 VOTEC, the SPC 24 and the VOTEC 2025 at the PCA 2025 trade show. Yes. Next month's 2025 PCA convention trade show, Powstanie will show off the next cigars in the two of the company's ongoing living edition series, the SPC and the VOTEC. 5x46.
Corona Gorda, the company is not disclosing the blend. Undisclosed. It's always undisclosed. Sometimes it's disclosed, but to be honest, I didn't have the information offhand, so I didn't want to disclose it.
Other than to say, each SPC release is a different blend, but it will keep the barber pole wrapper design that the other releases have had. Like all Powstanie Cigars, it's made at Nicosueño, Nicaragua, each cigar will have an MSRP of $16, and production is limited to 500 boxes of 20 cigars. The company says it expects to ship the cigars in the fourth quarter of 2025. SPC stands for surrounded by champions.
Powstanie says the release is inspired by those who have helped the company over the years. In addition, it will show off the latest Powstanie Votek, officially called the Powstanie Grand Perfecto 2025 War Bear, bear a 5 and 7 8 by 60 perfecto vote tech uses a modified version of the Powstanie bando blend but with a barber pole wrapper design ecuador and habano mexican san adres leaves underneath the indonesian binder and fillers from the dominican republic nicaragua the msrp has not been finalized because greg hasn't carried the one and figured it out yet that's true yes production is limited to We're going to do 1,250 boxes of eight. The Warbearer has always been special for us, said Mike Schepinger. I'm paraphrasing.
Yeah, of course. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Yes. The tobacco?
Yeah. Aged 20 years. 20 years aged. That's why there's only so many.
No, it's crazy. We, you know, we've held it that long. We've protected it. You've been sitting there the entire 10 years before you were, what, five years before you got in the industry?
Yeah, five years before I even got into the industry. You went over there and bought it. Yeah, 10 years before I even decided to get into wholesale, what we did is that we found this tobacco, and we've been holding it this whole time. It's crazy.
A lot of details about the barrier. So we're going to give it away. Yeah, so at this, so age, let's see, age 20, it's a $75 cigar. It's not really, it's not really.
But we're taking orders at the convention, so you have to have an appointment to buy the cigar. Yeah, so make sure you book your appointments. Yes, the first day's gone, second day's half gone, third day, we have a busy morning. Oh, busy morning.
They're filling fast. That sounds better than not having anything on the third day, because we've had that as well. Yeah, that's true. All right, I got listener of the week and a shop of the week.
Okay, but before you get into that, let's talk about some of the things that we've seen on social media this week. Oh, social media this week. He always hate when we talk, because it's just back and forth. You heard him flipping?
No, no, no, but I can see his fingers over there. I gave up. He just showed Ricky now. He just showed Ricky now.
So I saw something that I found extremely interesting. Yes? " Okay. And that's...
What was the answer? " Yeah. Seriously? That was his response.
Cigars are so personal with how you, you know, how you feel about them. Well, the reality is that it needs to be a San Andreas to even start to be in the conversation. Oh, it's a different wrapper altogether. Yeah.
I think that Aroma De Cuba may make one San Andreas. If they do, then I would have stated that, but he didn't even state that. He just said... Well, he doesn't know.
I think he knows. So what's, but here's what's really funny about it. Yes. Here's a good analogy for you.
That's like saying, "Hey, you know a lot about cars. I love Mercedes. " Oh, I like Mustangs. No, and then, you know, because of the fact that he was referencing Nicaragua, well, it's a Nicaraguan cigar, so Aroma De Cuba is Nicaraguan, boom.
I would say, you know, like, the Volkswagen Beetle is a great German vehicle. Oh. So, I would compare that immediately to a Mercedes. Oh.
Right? But that's an awfully specific German car. Could you just say Volkswagen? Yeah, well, Volkswagens, right?
You can say Volkswagen. I feel better now. Do you feel better about that? Yes.
The Volkswagen is a great vehicle. Also a German car. Yeah. Also, which is also German.
Right. Which is all that counts. And that's what we're comparing to. Oh.
Country in country. Nice. Yeah. Don't give out his name.
I won't. Okay. But, we are going to mention somebody else. Okay.
Jonathan Drew, was that a live, or was that taped? I don't know. I think it was live. Originally, I think it was.
Yeah. He did a post. He is in Macau. Okay.
He figured that out. He said that several times. He said that several times. Yesterday, he was in Hong Kong, but today, he's in Macau.
Right. Apparently, there are rumors going around about the Great Smokes. The Barn Smoker? The Barn Smokers.
Yeah, the Barn Smoker. Sorry. Great Smoke just finished. Yeah.
The barn smokers. People are saying to bring a bag lunch. Okay. But there's going to be food.
We're going to have food there. There's going to be great food. Food. No swag.
We have the best swag. All the good swags. The best swag that anybody's ever seen is going to be at the barn smoker. We're going to have a great time.
But he didn't have his weird glasses on. I didn't even recognize him. He looked like a guy from Iowa or something. Until he talked and then he had the voice.
There's some guy from Iowa here talking about the barn smoker. Right. What is this guy doing? I'm in Macau.
I'm in Macau. I was in Hong Kong. I thought when he started talking, he mentioned Macau and Hong Kong so much. I thought there was a barn smoker in Hong Kong or Macau that he was here.
I didn't understand what was going on. And the bad rumors were because nobody wanted to fly over there to do it or something. Right. No.
But then he goes, and then the one in Florida is going to be coming up soon. Oh, well, the bad rumors are that you have to bring your own sandwiches? Yeah, and that there's no swag. There's no swag.
What swag did they give away at the barn smoker? I don't know. I'm not allowed to go to these things. Well, we went to one several, several years ago.
Years ago. I don't remember, what, a lighter, well, to do a state. So, a lighter, a cutter, a cigar box, some little tchotchke that looks like something you cut tobacco with. Or a holder or something.
Or a hat. Yeah. Or what, the one time you get suntan lotion. You're going to get it, though.
It's going to be. We're going to have it. It's going to be great. We're going to have some of that stuff.
It's perfect. Any other social media posts that you saw? No, that was the only one that. Those are the two highlights?
Those are the two highlights. That's what I giggled at. We did see a lot of Great Smoke posts. A lot of Great Smoke that just ended yesterday, so apparently everybody had a wonderful time.
Yeah. Okay. We don't get invited anymore. You notice that the last couple of years?
I think that if you ask, you do that over here. Oh. I don't like to ask. Yeah.
It's hard to go, to be honest. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the last time we went, I mean, one year we went, we worked Matt Booth's booth. We get sucked into employment is what happens.
It only happened once. You know what? He had, I think, Alex Trevella, I believe is how you say his name? I believe that's how you say his name.
It looked like he ended up working Matt Booth's booth this year. He got sucked in? I think he did, yeah. Welcome to my world.
I don't know what you're talking about. I have no idea what you're talking about. You got a free cigar over there. That's crazy.
That's the strangest thing I've ever heard in my life. All right, so finish up here. What else you got? Oh, Shop of the Week.
Shop of the Week. We have a Listener of the Week. We have a double Listener of the Week. Listener of the Week, we have Don Wiggins and Hector Alfonso from Espinosa Cigars.
Who is fully recovered. No, no, no, he's doing better. He's doing better. He's not fully recovered, but he, he, I only made him, I mean, he listens every week, obviously, but he made his own post about what had happened, so.
Yes, he did. I thought we could talk about it at this point. Not details, but that he was ill, illish, injured, or something, whatever you want to say. And he's gotten better.
And he's doing better, and he's starting to feel like himself again, and the Espinosa people, which is not surprising, have been wonderful and concerning and. Absolutely. Yes. We're glad that he's doing better.
Right. And then Shop of the Week is the Underground Cigar Shop in Texas. Oh, really? We're trying to get in there.
We've been in there before. I know, but not anymore. Yeah. I got an inside track.
You got an inside track? Yeah. You have Donald Wiggins' exact phone number? Oh, well, yeah, I have that.
Yeah. But somebody's, like, people do me favors. Yeah? Another connect?
I got a connect. Okay. So, this has been episode 379 of Cigarser Podcast. We got to go talk about Luciano.
It feels like 380. Is it 380? No, it's 379. Last week was 378.
Okay. So yeah, we got to jump to a Patreon here. We got a lot of stuff to cover. Yes.
All right. Thanks everybody listening. We'll see you next week. All right.
Thanks. Bye. Now you hit all the buttons again. Subscribe to my channel.
Bye!
Show Notes
Episode 379 – A Cigar Hustlers Podcast
Introducing Our New Board Tech : Ryan
This week, we dive into the hottest trending topics: Libya’s Education Minister is in hot water over book printing, March Madness brackets are ready, and Trump is calling out “auto pen” Biden pardons.
In cigar news, El Septimo is patenting “calling cigars,” the PCA is packed with big announcements, and there are some major staffing shake-ups in the industry.
And finally, Powstanie makes a Bear-able announcement you won’t want to miss!
Light up, tune in, and let’s get into it! #CigarHustlersPodcast #Powstanie