ACHP Episode 411 Cigar Media Crisis

Transcript

Welcome to episode 411 of the

Cigar Hustler Podcast.

This week China makes you watch

an ad just to get toilet paper.

A Delta flight attendant

accidentally fired off a six

figure slide.

Hollywood steals the Duffer

brothers from Netflix.

Oh, we didn't cover.

We, we, we took.

That one out.

We'll hit the NFL Week 8 wrap

up, then light into a cigar.

News from how about that cigar?

Signing off to a fresh release

from Sinestro Sinestro, Crown

heads and more in sports smoke

and stories that burn hotter

than ever.

Let's get episode 411 started.

A Bing bong.

But first, Mikey, tell us about

the Pete Johnson Wine Tasting

event on November 14th.

November 14th, we have a private

wine tasting with the one and

only a Tattoo Pete of Tatwahe

cigars here in the private

lounge.

Friday, November 14th, you're

going to get a cigar sampler,

you're going to get wine.

There's going to be a

charcuterie board.

There's going to be a $35 credit

towards a purchase of Tatwahe, A

Tatwahe box night of the event,

as well as a podcast here in

front of you.

Limited tickets.

Only 24 tickets are available

and we are selling them, so

better jump on it if you decide

to wait until the night of the

event.

Price is going to be higher.

It goes up just like tariffs.

So John, it's on, It says on the

ad that you get all day access

to the lounge on that particular

day.

You do, Absolutely.

That's a nice perk.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Ever wanted to try it out?

You got to experience it, you

come in early.

For all day long, come early.

Nice.

Yep, I have other things too.

If if I can.

Certainly.

Please go right ahead.

We are.

I'm about to release the

information of the War Bear.

The casing is officially done,

and for the first time ever,

we're going to show it to the

Postonia Mafia on Facebook.

So if.

You want to be the first to see

it.

You need to jump on Postonia

Mafia on Facebook and become a

member.

We will be releasing that photo

sometime this week.

Subscribe and like.

OK, so check it out all.

Right Mens are going to be very

busy over the next couple of

days and their little fingers

just hitting approve, approve,

approve.

How about that swag Michael?

How do you get that chapter pod

swag?

What you want to do is you want

to go on the chapter pod.com and

check out our latest swag.

We still have a few chapter pod

murdered out sweatshirts left.

XL is sold out right at the time

for right now.

I'm very sorry.

Last one just went out to my guy

Tyler Jones.

Thank you very much for your

support, brother.

And my man Mark Palmer, who

listens to the podcast, got the

man a smoke shirt.

So if you are interested and

want to support us and like the

things that we do and love our

merchandise 'cause it's really

high quality stuff, go to

chapterpod.com.

And if you buy 1, you get the

2nd 140% off.

I'm surprised the XL so I

thought it would have been the

XXL verse.

Yeah, no, it was.

You know, normally I don't have

an issue with getting more

product in.

Like.

However, I went back to go order

more sweatshirts and they were

all sold out.

Oh, man.

So I gonna be that season.

Yeah, they were just 000.

So as soon as they come back in

stock, I'll get another one.

You know, if somebody really

wants it, they can buy it.

And as soon as it comes in, I'll

take care of it.

But I'm going to try and turn it

off on the site.

So yeah.

Perfect.

Nice.

All right.

All right, now with this show,

China is testing dispensers that

release toilet paper after an ad

is watched.

Oh, perfect.

China says the new dispensers in

public restrooms that release

toilet paper only after the user

watches an ad.

It's true.

The dispensers were equipped

with optical scanners that

display AQR code.

People must use their

smartphones to connect to the

dispenser, which triggers a

short ad.

Wait, wait, you see an optical

scanner?

Optical scanners, yes, the QR

code.

When it's over, the machine

releases a controlled amount of

pepper for your wiping

abilities.

How many squares?

It just says controlled amount.

People who don't want to watch

the ad can get paper by paying

$0.07 a sheet.

Local officials say the machines

are a response to numerous cases

of people taking large amounts

of complimentary toilet paper in

high traffic bathrooms.

Complimentary.

Complimentary means I take a

dog.

That's amazing.

There's some excellent footage

for you for the clips.

Is there pictures?

Oh, there's pictures of things.

I gotta I gotta watch a video.

I gotta.

Watch a video.

That's amazing.

I got a video.

Can't wait to wipe on my ass do.

You got to.

I got to wipe on my butt.

Do you have more on that or can

we keep talking?

No, no, we.

Can keep talking.

I don't know.

We're on to the next.

Door OK.

Do you think that this should

happen here in the US?

Absolutely not.

Would be broke.

We'd be broke.

On the seven cents, how so?

It's $0.07 Chinese.

So if it's eight for one, it's I

don't even know what.

That everybody would be watching

these ads.

Think.

Well, besides the ads, have you

ever been to a public restroom

and seeing how much toilet?

Because nobody fucking flushes

the toilet.

Oh, maybe it's all that problem

too.

No extra pieces laying around on

the ground.

And no.

Access.

Yeah, no.

Access What if you're the guy

though that likes a big piece so

you can wrap the seat?

You gotta watch like 8 or 9

commercials.

Imagine.

That's how much shit all over

myself.

Yeah, imagine if you gotta go

really bad.

She's gonna watch.

Another video.

Yeah, they're probably like the

ones that are on the gas pumps.

Yeah, exactly.

Something short.

Yeah, have you had a Red Bull

today?

Tired.

If not, don't forget to buy our

hotdogs.

Are you struggling?

There's a laxative for that.

By the way, for the Patreon we

are doing the Sangra de Toro.

The.

Blood of the Bull.

Good.

Now down a little, back a

little.

Right there to the left.

Yep, perfect, your left.

It's just because the light was

a little bright.

All right, perfect.

Yeah, I'm interested to smoke

the cigar so.

I thought you'd say I'm

interested to scan for the

toilet.

Paper I figured we.

Should do that here at Hustler.

Yeah, Oh my God, that'd be

great.

They got to watch a part of the

podcast, yeah.

Oh my God, you're getting me

idea.

You're giving me ideas, buddy.

You're going to have to log in

and subscribe.

To get toilet pooper.

That sounds, yeah.

And then when you get the toilet

paper, Keanu literally puts his

hand in with the toilet.

Paper slides it like like a

little like a slatch opens by

the door and then a hand comes

out.

We can afford the high tech

machine.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, no, it should be like a a

hand on a stick and it comes in

shifts all the way out to you.

Use the garbage grabber I use on

Friday.

There you go.

There you go.

Burger Burger toile paper.

I need more toilet paper.

Did you like and?

Subscribe.

Did you like and subscribe?

All right.

We're gonna need you to comment

below.

And we have to hurry up because

I have to go to the bath.

Bath words.

But here's a line out here.

If you're listening now, you

need to like and subscribe

anyway, so please like and

subscribe to our show.

Toilet paper maybe?

Yeah, maybe we'll send you some

toilet paper.

All right, a flight attendant

accidentally deployed the

plane's emergency slide, costing

D6 figures.

Accidentally.

Accidentally.

I'm intrigued to hear how that

happened.

No one wants to make a mistake

on the job, but in some

professions the ramifications

are more serious than others.

About 100 grand.

The role of a flight attendant

definitely falls into this

category, and unfortunately, a

flight attendant's recent

mistake impacted a plane full of

passengers.

Sound effects.

Delta Flight 3248 was scheduled

to depart from Pittsburgh for

Salt Lake City.

A post from SF Coyote in the

Reddit Delta community said the

take off didn't quite go as

planned.

Somehow, the flight attendant

managed to deploy the plane's

emergency slide.

Hold on, there's a Reddit Delta

community.

There's a Reddit for everything.

We get together as Delta Flyers

and we can talk about Delta on.

Yeah, whether you like it or

not, there's a Cigar Hustler

podcast Reddit.

Really.

Oh wow.

Really.

Yeah.

When I asked ChatGPT for

information, it'll tell me so

and SO commented and read it and

said they like this or they

didn't like this.

Oh, we should go on there.

Yeah, why have?

Why have we not seen this?

Well go.

I'm not on Reddit.

I'm not even sure what it.

Did you make it?

You didn't make the Reddit.

No, I didn't make the Reddit.

I have to check it out.

I'm not.

Exactly sure what it is.

It's probably from coop.

That's amazing.

Probably is.

The incident had ripple effects,

leaving many passengers

stranded.

Reversing the air took a great

deal of effort.

First, the jet bridge had to be

reconnected so that the

passengers get to plane.

After that, it took about an

hour to disconnect the slide

from the aircraft.

So wait, it's supposed to come

off in the water so you can use

it as a raft?

OK, well, it'll take an hour.

The boat's going to pull it

under with it.

Or another boat, The airplane?

There's probably like an

additional detach button that

you can hit.

They couldn't figure it out.

Pull this straight.

They couldn't figure it out.

No, they took them an hour to

disconnect the slide from the

aircraft.

Our lives are in their hands.

That's what I'm saying.

In the end, the plane was

delayed almost 4 hours.

Oh my goodness.

Sounds like a Tuesday.

So apparently when they shut the

door, they hit the slide button.

Oh, that's terrible.

According to View from the Wing,

numerous passengers missed their

connections and were forced to

spend the night in Salt Lake

City.

Since the airline was clearly at

fault, Delta was responsible for

placing those passengers in.

AI did oh in a hotel for the

evening.

View from the Wing estimates the

cost of repacking and repairing

the emergency slide up to now.

This is not the total.

This is just for repacking the

slide and repairing it 'cause

they can't leave without it

packed back. 40 GS.

Oops.

It's a plane that's probably

like 200,000. $20,000. 20,000.

20,000 that is just to pack up

the slide.

Just to fix it.

Just to fix it, put it back in,

right?

Yeah.

It also notes that by the time

for the by the time the airplane

paid for additional expenses

like hotel rooms, cruise and

repositioning, this may have

been a six figure mistake.

The flight attendant was

reportedly flustered and

apologized to the passenger,

saying this was the first thing.

First time such a thing has

happened in my 26 year career.

26 years.

Yes, let's hope it's also the

last.

Got to be a you.

Think she gets fired?

Immediately.

You think so?

I don't know.

I don't think she gets fired.

I think she gets fired was a

mistake.

Yeah, it could happen.

It's just very expensive.

It's not week one for her,

right?

She's been doing it for two

decades.

Right, first time she's had this

problem.

Hold on a SEC, you guys have

been on planes.

Right now, Yeah, go ahead.

Quit now.

Yeah, plenty of times, right?

He's suing them.

Let's.

Just think about how this button

looks.

I'm pretty sure there is a

distinct difference between the

button that says slide.

It probably has a picture of a

slide 3 little people on it, you

know yellow or maybe it's red

like don't hit this in less an

emergency and the door button

has to be pretty close to the

door.

Well, you've seen when they shut

that door, they have to crank

that handle and give it a great

big old yank.

Maybe when it she yanked it, it

hit her hand or something.

I don't know you got a.

You got a mute your phone, you

got a silent to connect.

Yeah.

Oh, sorry.

Hit the silent button on the

top.

I'm just thinking the silent

button I.

Don't have a button on.

The top Give me the phone.

Geriatrics over here.

That's what I did.

No, it's not that one.

It's this one.

Oh, it's on the other side

that's already turned off, but

it's because it's connected to

Bluetooth.

Oh, where's the button?

Don't talk to me.

Everything is the button.

It should just be like a little,

he said.

He's not working I.

Already turned the volume all

the way down.

It was down.

That's what I just did.

And you said, no, that's not it.

You have this button right?

Here it's already off.

No, it's not.

Now it is.

No, it wasn't.

I silent.

Moted it for you.

OK, you're welcome.

OK, back to the picture of the

slide.

Back to the slide.

OK, so, but like realistically,

maybe it's a new plane, maybe

she's not, you know, she's not

used to it.

Maybe she's been on an Airbus

747 this whole time.

And she used to biplane.

And now she's doing the Boeing

ones that like to crash on their

own, you know, and.

This is a delta plane.

Yeah, but it could still be a

Boeing.

Boeing, yeah, It's not an

airline.

That's.

I'm going to guess if it's a new

plane, it probably has like neon

lights all around this button,

you know?

Yeah, that'd be cost too much.

Even like a a plastic case over

it like lift this in case of

emergency.

You would think there would be

some type of cover on it.

It's 2025, baby.

We're all making cutbacks.

Yeah.

Do we need to protect the slide

like?

26 years, it's like he's never

hit it before.

At least five and they're not

going to do.

It yeah, let's put on.

There it goes.

Yeah, now we're fucked $5.

Thing comes off.

Listen, it's going to be a

little while if anybody would

like to use the slide that I've

just deployed.

Yes, it'll be $20,000.

They brought the jetway over so

they probably had problems

connecting because the slides

anyway.

Right, there's a food court.

There's a food court.

Some guy just walks over with

his pocket and he goes.

That'll be $20,000.

Problem solved.

Yes, well.

What happens if we crash now we

don't have a slide.

It'd be fine.

It was unnecessary anyways.

What are the?

Odds don't parachute on plane,

it'd be fine.

Yeah, and those and those

cushions really don't float.

Yeah, I don't know if I trust my

life, that floating cushion that

everybody's been sitting.

On.

I mean, they don't even know how

to deploy the thing.

They don't even know how to

deploy the raft.

Right.

They can't disconnect them from

the plane.

Yeah, planes start sinking.

The raft's going down, too.

This.

Is Titanic all over again?

Do you really know how that seat

belt works?

Doesn't feel that safe.

All right, ACHPNFL wrap up.

Here is the Sports 0 Week 8 was

statement Sunday across the NFL.

Denver planted its flag with a

44 to 24 beat down of Dallas.

Is that true?

Did that happen?

I'm just checking here.

Make sure I'm on.

I'm on par here.

I had kids basketball games, so

I did not.

Dallas did give beat, yes.

All right, Bo Nicks toss 4

touchdowns, rookie RJ Harvey

found the end zone 3 times, and

the Broncos ran wild for a

season.

Best day on the ground.

Dallas never matched the

physicality and Denver looked

ever bit a contender.

The lone nail biter, The judge,

finally cracked the win column.

They did. 39 oh, barely 39 to 38

over.

The Bengals eeked it out in a

while.

Back and forth decided late it

was aggressive coaching and

timely play making that snapped

the New York skid and gave them

their first West of 2025.

Yeah.

Justin Fields was quarterback in

that.

Crazy is both teams actually

played pretty well. 39 Well, it

didn't seem like they had

either.

One of them had a defense,

apparently 3938.

Well, normally neither one of

them have an offense.

OK, that's true, but.

Maybe they only get one or the

other.

OK.

Yeah, you only get one or the

other.

Right Philadelphia bounced back

in a big way, 38 to 20 over the

Giants, but paid a price.

They sure did.

What happened to your boy

Scataboo?

Man, that poor guy's ankle.

I told you, Sequan Barkley.

Sequan Barkley.

That's what they said here.

OK, what about it?

Oh please God read this.

Please, Giant, but they paid a

price.

This guy exited with a hamstring

issue and rookie Cam Scataboo

suffered a significant leg

injury.

Oh OK, thank God, I thought you

were going to say Saquon had.

It was I talking about that on

the podcast last week, that the

Scataboo and Jones aren't going

to be able to sustain playing at

the at the not Jones Dart.

Yeah, Jackson, Dart and Scataboo

aren't going to be able to

continue at that rate.

They're going to be injured.

It's just a matter of time.

Is his real name Skedebu, or is

that a nickname?

Last name?

That's his real name.

That's his real last name, Yeah.

Kind of unusual.

He is an unusual person, to be

honest.

You ever seen the replacements?

Yes.

You know, the crazy guy that

plays the linebacker, the SWAT

guy?

Yes, he's like that guy, just a

running back.

Don't hit the red, yeah.

The Eagles still controlled the

day and reasserted themselves in

the East on Sunday night.

It was a torch passing vibe in

Pittsburgh.

Jordan Love lit up the Steelers

for 360 and three scores at

Green Bay beat Aaron Rodgers and

the Black and Gold 35 to 25.

They did.

They tuned them up.

Or they wore an ugly outfit.

Ugly.

They did wear an ugly outfit.

Originals.

They were.

From like 1960 something was it?

Yeah.

Yeah, they do that once a year.

Apparently they had no fashion

in 1960.

It was.

That was bad.

Yeah, it's like wartime.

They could only find whatever

rags and put them together.

I guess that's.

What if you'd find we always get

chocolate and nylons, but we

can't get a uniform for the

team?

It was kind of a, a like the end

of an era, you know, with that

game.

That's what it felt like, you

know, Aaron Rodgers going back

to Green Bay and him getting

beat as like, he couldn't do it.

You know, just felt kind of

like, that's the end.

Like, this is the end.

This is it.

He couldn't beat all teams.

That was the He had to beat

Green Bay in order to beat all

the teams.

Yeah, it's kind.

Of like a passing of the torch.

Like Jordan, Love is now the

guy.

That was the only team he hasn't

beat.

Correct, and still has not

beaten he.

Still has not yet I.

Didn't get to watch a lot of

sports either because I had the

basketball with the kids and

then I went to Halloween heart

nights.

Oh yeah.

Oh nice, how'd you like that?

You want to know?

Like the top three haunted

houses?

Yeah, sure.

What the hell?

Yeah.

Here's Mikey's top three haunted

houses.

OK, here are the top three

haunted houses in Universal

Studios Halloween Horror Nights

Orlando #3 I would say is El

Artista.

OK.

Extremely creative.

What was that like?

What's the concept of it?

Like I guess it was like artist

three or something.

OK.

But it was cool.

They like a lot of the a lot of

paint.

Jump houses a lot of the yeah,

there was some paint.

There was some paint in both.

They had like specific guys that

had screens on them and then

their faces would light up.

I'm like damn, that's pretty bad

ass.

Oh yeah, like the LED things.

Yeah #2 would be is called like

Dollhouse Play Dead or

something?

You look intrigued about this.

No, I, well, I mean, I've, I

haven't seen anything on it.

So I mean, I can't picture any

of it as you're talking.

About it.

It's like super creepy as far as

the the dolls that they had and

stuff.

That was pretty eerie.

And the number one haunted house

at Universal Studios Halloween

Horror Nights?

There's got to be the Terrifier.

Number one.

For sure the Terrifier, it's not

Jason, it's not only the other

ones, it's not the WWE one.

The WWE 1 was pretty good too,

but.

What exactly is the terrifier?

Terrifier.

I don't know what like, you

know, Clint's going to it was

terrifying.

Clint, I, I apologize in

advance.

This is one of his favorite

guys, but he's like this white

clown guy and he's and he's

always about murdering people

and he does it with like kind of

like a.

Smile.

The guy that rides a little

tricycle.

No, no, no.

That was saw.

That's a song.

No, you're you're correct.

I know what you're talking

about.

He's got the little hat.

He's got, yeah, he's got a

little hat, right?

Yeah, wow.

They've showed him in the Yeah,

I stuck my tongue.

Out.

You stuck your tongue out.

They've showed him riding around

in the park on a little

tricycle.

Yes.

Wears like a striped clown suit

or something.

Yeah, and his little hat sits

on.

The side, Yeah, yeah, I don't

know the yeah, it's terrifier.

I feel like I should.

Watch.

I've never seen the movie.

He's Art the Clown.

Yeah.

Yeah, I should probably watch

those.

I've never seen the movie.

Yeah, they looked.

It was pretty.

It was really well done.

There's a there's a toilet area

too and it's stunk like crap.

You think it is?

Real.

Wait, one of the haunted?

Houses was the toilet.

There's a toilet section and

it's like.

In one of the houses, yeah.

Oh, it would have been great if

there was a screen right by the

toilet paper.

Yeah, you.

Scanned your thing, got to watch

this horror movie to get some

squares but.

Halloween Horror Nights is

pretty good this year man.

I think they did a good job with

the houses.

I did not attend, but my wife

and my daughter did.

No.

They they really wanted to go

and I was like, ah, you guys go,

there's two of y'all, we all go

ahead together.

Why don't you go?

I don't, I don't like that.

I don't like to be scared for

fun.

How old?

Sophia for fun. 13.

Is this the first year she's

gone?

No third year.

So she's been going since she

was 10?

Yeah.

Damn bro, I want my kids to go

so bad.

Oh.

They don't like to go no.

No, they're going to know about

that life.

Jax watched Black Phone the

other day at a friend's house

and he didn't sleep that night.

I was like, you know, just go to

sleep.

And if he murders you, he

murders.

You.

I mean, that is a scary.

Movie.

That's what I.

Was just kidding.

I would never sleep.

I'm like, dude, come on, relax.

You're not my favorite anyway,

don't worry about.

It I should order the black

phone mask?

It let Teddy go.

Teddy go.

Just beat everybody up.

Yeah, exactly.

You're not scary.

And why does it smell like poop

in here?

All right.

So anyways, I apologize, Ken.

Please continue forward.

We watched the new Hand that

rocks the Cradle yesterday.

There's a, there's a new one.

Yeah, there's a remake.

Is it different?

It ends completely different

than the original.

OK.

All right.

Before we get off of.

I have the Tampa game, OK Oh

yeah, down in Tampa.

Methodical Buccaneer defense

squeeze the Saints in a 23 to

three win as New Orleans benched

rookie QB Spencer Rattler.

Tampa stays on the front front

foot in the South with a worker

man alike results.

Worker man alike.

Worker man alike.

He got Spencer rather got

stuffed.

Did you see that play?

Yeah, no, I I watched this game.

It was OK.

Yes, tell me.

I did not like the game because

Baker did not do his normal

Baker thing where he throws for

a lot of touchdowns, a lot of

yards rushes.

It was more of a defensive game

for Tampa, which was kind of

crazy against New Orleans.

Like I thought for sure he was

going to light them up.

I heard there was some bad

calls.

Yeah, no, there was, but that's

kind of, you know, just kind of

off topic here.

That's the thing that's going

around all the leagues right now

is the referee and stuff because

of this whole sports betting.

Issue.

Everything is being slighted.

Right.

For the sports betting.

Right.

Yeah, because there's a there,

you know, they've come out with

people's names.

Yeah.

Right.

So.

Well, it's look, those people

that got called out, you think

that they're the top dogs of

this whole thing?

No, but they're probably all

going to disappear now too.

The top dogs are the ones that

threw them under the bus.

Right Top dogs that nobody talks

about them, right?

Those guys are all going to

disappear.

Who the ones that that names got

thrown out and all that stuff.

Dude, it's out of hand.

It's out of hand.

It's out of hand.

Yeah, I mean, it's linked to the

mafia.

I mean, that's I.

Don't.

I don't even think I think that

the mafia is just an excuse in

my opinion.

You think?

Yeah, I think it's the owners.

I mean, maybe, yeah, of course.

I mean, they want to make more

money.

Yeah, they're totally behind all

of it.

It's the actual organization in

itself.

And that's my theory at least.

Well, the Indians too.

Remember I told you the baseball

games?

There's always an Indian cinema

on a home plate.

I'm telling you, watch the World

Series game tonight.

You can see Smokin Joe right

behind you.

Mean American Native American

Native American Native

Indigenous person.

They like Native American.

We can't call them.

They're not Indian.

They don't.

Like Indian?

No, they're indigenous.

People, And I think that is the

correct Yeah, they're Indigenous

people.

What a movie Pocahontas would

have been if that's what they

would have called them.

Hey you indigenous peoples over

there.

This sounds horrible.

We apologize.

We'd like to recognize you as

people that were here before us.

It's.

The 10 year old girl.

Excuse us, we will marry.

The the Spaniard.

We will take this land from you.

I'm.

Not sure if I like Pocahontas.

Sacagawea, come here.

So because so because you're

here already, it's your land.

I don't like that's.

Is that how that worked?

We have guns.

We have guns.

Oh, you have?

Oh my goodness.

Check out this flag.

I just it's.

Good for you so bad.

Put it on the ground, it's ours.

Hi Michael, you wanted to talk

about The Jets player that died?

The porn.

Yes, Nick Mangled.

Well, I sent you a clip.

I'd like you to watch the clip.

That's OK.

I will mute mine.

Am I playing it with volume?

Yeah, go ahead.

Or you can mute it, it's fine.

Oh, you didn't send it there,

You sent it here.

Well, don't I have to hear it?

Ohio.

State family is mourning today

as well Nick Mangold gone and

just the age people but

particularly for you.

What are your emotions this.

Morning started out.

That's just.

People, but particularly for

you, what are your emotions

this.

Morning.

That's just, it's brutal.

It's such a great young man.

I the pleasure of coaching them

for all six years with the

Jetson.

I remember it was obvious I was

getting fired my last game.

Mangles injured, like injured

and he comes to me, says I'm

playing this game and he wanted

to play for me.

That's what I remember about

this kid.

He was awesome and is just way

too young.

I feel so bad for his wife and

family.

Rough.

Difficult day obviously for so

many who knew and loved Nick

Mangold and you among those and

and all of the The Jets family

and the Ohio State family is

mourning today as well.

Nick Mangold gone at just the

age.

He was in his 40s I.

Heard 41 years old.

He's my age.

I guess he had a kidney disease

that he knew would take him

eventually, but he thought he

would be closer to 60 when it

happened.

Yeah, so he reached out like a

week ago asking.

Right, so he waited too long to

get put on the kidney list.

That video right there, Oh my

God.

Cause of his kidney disease, it

was harder to find a match for

him.

Is that what it is?

Yeah, 'cause it changed the

genetics that he needed to get

the kidneys. 41 years old man.

That's that's horrible.

I mean, just to see the impact

though, like Rex Ryan, you know,

like, I don't know, you know,

Rex Ryan fan.

I don't even like the.

Guy, is that the coach's name?

Yeah, he was a Jets fan or a

Jets coach and he's got he's got

foot addiction, he's got

terrible foot addiction, but.

Well, I mean.

He's got like a foot fetish.

Yeah.

Is that why he got lost?

His job?

No, he lost his job because.

Everybody in the locker room,

take off your shoes.

Because no, nobody in The Jets

organization has been able to

get The Jets together,

unfortunately.

Right.

Well, well, I mean, he's a

coach, right?

So like he builds a bond with

his players and that bond is

pretty strong.

So I mean, for something like

that to happen for somebody at

so such a young age, you know,

it kind of hits you kind of

hard.

And he's probably thinking a lot

about the kids and the wife as

well as he's speaking.

Five kids and but just like it

shows the character of the

person, right?

Like this guy.

I'm so glad I got to see that

video because this guy, he knows

that the career's done right.

He knows that he's injured like

but he still went out and

played.

Right.

Right.

He's a coach's last game, so he

wanted to play for his coach,

right?

Yeah.

That sucks.

I read he he stayed on as a

spokesperson for the team even

after he was retired.

Really.

Yeah.

Yeah, like a ambassador.

Ambassador, that's what I was

looking for.

Yeah, he's still part of the

organization.

It's a damn shame.

I guess.

Thoughts and prayers go out to

the family.

Yeah, 41, so young, so young.

All right, on a lighter note,

let's move on.

Well, you sort of brought down

the show, so.

Sorry, I saw that and I wanted

to share.

It all right.

That's the buzz around the

globe.

Now here's what's burning in the

cigar world.

You know, in this business, it's

the community.

It's the phrase burn cigars, not

bridges, mean something.

And if you have embodied that

better than the crew.

And how about that cigar?

After seven years and more than

300 episodes, the team behind

HBTC has announced they'll be

suspending operations at the end

of 2025.

Really.

Their final.

Yes.

Yeah, There's no.

I'm making this up just the way

he jumped in, really.

He's just, he's legitimately

just hearing about this.

Their final live show will air

December 8th.

Founder Matt Tai first dreamed

up HBTC back in 2015, but he

waited until the timing was

right.

Building experience sharpening

his craft by 20/19.

He launched the site and HBTC

Live Podcast, giving cigar

lovers one of the most

authentic, balanced voices in

the industry.

From Garrett Robinson's

legendary Numero de Los Muertos

segment to Justin Lawyer's

precise production work and

trade show coverage, to Raul

Ramos, who joined in 2023, he he

was one of my favorite actors

Bring in an energy that

reignited the room.

HBTC was always more than a

show.

It was a family built on

passion, humor and respect for

the Leaf.

As they wrap up this final

chapter, the team leaves us with

the reminder that carried them

from day one.

Burn cigars, not bridges.

Because in this world,

friendship burns longer than any

stick ever will.

Man, this is sad.

Yeah, he's described.

You thought.

You thought the last story was

sad.

Jesus.

Yeah, Booch, can you watch this

video that we can videotape me?

That this is Matt Tai

announcing.

I didn't.

Nobody pre told me about this.

This is This isn't it?

But there was a press release.

It's been all over the media all

weekend, but.

And there's a lot going on

because of it.

Yes, it sparked quite the

controversy in the cigar media

industry.

Yes.

And there's a lot to cover

there, but like, you want to try

and get Matt on the phone?

Try to get him.

On the phone, call Matt real

quick.

Everybody put on your

headphones.

Donning headphones, Headphones.

We have to use my phone because

Michael's phone likes to hang up

on.

People.

Yep, sure does.

It's the top of.

The line I'm glad that we

prepared ourselves today.

Though top of the top of the

line.

Folks, it's the very It's the

best of the best.

How many rings?

I don't know, Willie answers. 2.

That's two.

Only two Hello.

Yes, Mr. Thai.

Yes.

Hello, this is Mike Palmer, Mike

Stevankovic and some guy over

there behind the board.

I am boots.

We're on the cigars or podcast,

Sir.

What's going on, buddy?

Never, never heard of you.

Oh.

It's OK.

We hear there's going to be.

Some Oh, you guys, You guys know

I'm.

You guys know I'm kidding.

I love you guys.

Well, there's a vacuum going on

currently, and we're about to

absorb more viewers than ever.

Hey, the nature.

Nature abhors a vacuum.

So somebody's, you know, if

there's empty space, something's

going to fill it.

OK, so let me ask you, you know,

and I know that well, listen,

we're going on your podcast

tonight.

And that was the next thing I

was, you know.

So I appreciate you coming on

here.

I mean, this will air after the,

the, the HBTC thing, obviously.

But I just wanted to cover a

couple of things real quick with

you #1 is I just finished your

Pete Johnson interview and it

didn't sound like you, you

didn't have it didn't sound like

you had any indication that you

were done with.

How about that cigar at that

time?

Did something, did something

happen within like the past few

weeks where you're just like,

OK, this is it?

No, honestly, so you're well,

not the first to hear this, but

the first like outside of my

local cigar circle to hear this.

This is a decision that I

actually came to.

It was before the first of the

year, so that we're talking like

December of 2024 is when I

decided that 2025 was going to

be the last year for How about

that cigar?

I just kept it and I didn't even

tell Raul and Justin until like,

I don't know, April, something

like that.

OK, no.

One told me.

I just came to, yeah.

I just, I, I felt like, you

know, it was, it was the time,

yeah.

OK, so you've kind of sparked a

whole conversation now across

the social media platform.

I don't know if you've noticed.

I'd like to hear about it, but.

No, I no, I didn't see a thing.

He's.

Now, a crisis apparently isn't

cigar media crisis.

Everybody's burning bridges.

And you know, Coop's got Coop's

blaming some people here.

He's blaming retailers for

getting information ahead of

time.

He's blaming retailers for

becoming media.

He's he's blaming a, he's

blaming a lot of things.

Is is that us?

Wait, is he is he blaming?

I I Maybe.

Is he blaming things Because

that's that's why.

How about that Cigar is closing

down.

You know, well, you know, Matt,

you got, you have one of the

best shows, dude.

You know, you do a great job at

interviewing people.

And I've always said that to

you, and it is kind of shocking

to see you go well.

I, I mean, it means a lot that

you guys think we did a good

job.

I, you know, we always, we

always tried to do our best and,

and I appreciate that.

He's going to always give you

this.

Don't burn bridges.

Fucking.

No, honestly, I so there's

nobody, I mean, if, if there's

conversation is out there that

like, you know, there's somebody

to quote, UN quote blame for,

how about that cigar shutting

down or there's somebody to

blame for some other cigar

podcast shutting down or

something like that.

There's, and I don't know, I

don't know why any other cigar

media or cigar podcast would

choose to shut down.

I know why I chose to shut down.

And there's no, the only person

to blame for how about that

cigar shutting down is me.

And it's the only reason I made

the decision is, I mean, there

were a few reasons, but you

know, the biggest 1 is when I

first started it, I said I want

to accomplish certain things and

I feel like I've accomplished

those things and now I kind of

want to do other things.

So that's honestly that's,

that's it.

There's no blame, there's no

animosity, There's no, you know,

you did this to me to any other

media groups or, or PCA or

anything like that.

It's just I reached the point

where I said, Yep, I feel

comfortable with what we did and

how we got there and I'm

grateful for all of it.

And now it's time to do

something else.

If you had made more money on,

how about that cigar?

Wait, they make?

Money.

There's money involved in this,

yeah.

How does people make money?

At this, Yeah.

Would you have kept it going?

I honestly can't say for sure I

that that was part of part of it

is, you know, it was, you know,

more more money going out than

money came in and, you know,

doing that for too many years in

a row.

Obviously that's not a, you

know, that's not a good business

model.

And could I have?

Heard that's frowned upon, yeah.

Yeah, we know.

Yeah.

Could I have, you know, put in

more work and more time to, you

know, get more revenue and

things like that from

advertisers.

I could have, and I didn't put

in that work and that's just

because in the last couple years

I've been focusing a lot of my

time on my family and, and I

about that.

I have 0 regrets.

So would, you know, if we had,

you know, more advertising

revenue coming in, maybe I would

have kept things going, but

honestly, it would have it, it

would need to have been

significant for me to still, you

know, put the time in every week

that's required to, because you

guys know what it takes to, you

know, put together contents and,

and relationships and

maintaining all that stuff.

It's not just, you know, plug in

at, you know, 30 minutes before

the show starts.

And it's a lot of stuff that

goes in before beforehand.

So if it would have kept going

and if money was going to be a

factor, it it would have had to

be way significant for me to

say, yeah, yeah, I'll keep it

going.

OK.

All right.

Well, I don't want to keep you

too long because I'm sure that

this is going to become a major

topic of discussion on HBTC and

I don't want to reopen and have

the same conversation twice with

you.

That seems silly.

But I did at least want to call

and tell you the man, you're one

of the best in the industry.

It sucks to see you go.

I wish that people paid you more

money because I I honestly

believe that that would have

been different.

I would think that would have

changed things for you a little

bit.

It would have made more

opportunities for you, more

opportunities for your family.

And it's a big challenge.

I think it's a huge, you know,

I, I've, I saw an e-mail

recently that a manufacturer did

not want to pay the amount for

media.

And I'm like, man, you know,

it's like, I think it's what's

really kind of funny is you see,

like a lot of people, it's like

the fat guy watching The

Olympian fall and be like,

idiot, you know what I mean?

Like, you have no idea how much

work and effort that person has

put in to get to that moment.

And believe me, they're

extremely pissed that they just

stumbled way more pissed than

you'll ever be.

You've never, you're not even a

man in the arena.

You never had that experience.

And for you to say, Hey, it's

not worth it, you know, but

does, you know, a play?

But like the that media source

has always endorsed you and and

has always done positive things

for you, man, that's I don't

think that that that's at all

fair, You know, So I mean,

that's just one fragment of this

conversation.

And you know, like I said,

we'll, we could definitely go

into this more if you want to.

Do you want to go into this more

on your show?

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, you know, as always,

I've got some stuff, you know,

kind of prepared to talk to you

because you know, you're, we're,

we have you guys on so you can

talk about the stuff you have

going on and we want our viewers

and listeners to know about

that.

But as always, it's, it's,

there's also an openness to the

forum.

So, you know, we can, we can

talk about anything, But I'm

just curious.

Go back to that analogy you made

a second ago.

Am I the fat guy or The

Olympian?

You're The Olympian, OK?

You're the guy.

You're like, you're the guy in

the arena, right?

You're putting in all this hard

work.

You know what I mean?

No.

I'm just busting your balls.

And it like it's, you know,

obviously our format is totally

different.

We don't believe in the ad

space, right?

I'm not saying that it's right

or it's wrong.

I'm just saying that that's not

what we choose to do, right?

Not because we never, we always

want to have transparency.

We always want to have the

ability to burn the bridge

because we like to burn the

bridge.

We'll build it back later.

It's OK.

But we burn it now.

We have no problem.

We ignite, we ignite the bridge

and then we go back and we can

rebuild a better bridge like

Build Back Better.

That's our model here, you know,

like that's we have no and when

you don't have that ad space,

it's it's clear that we can kind

of speak how we want to speak,

right?

At least it's it can be

interpreted out that way, right.

So that was that's just kind of

the way that we went about it

now.

But if you go the other

direction and you go with the ad

space, you see that it that all

the ad space monopolizes a ton

of space on these shows.

And that's fine.

But there's a significant amount

of value there.

And I don't think that it's

possible to actually quantify

well, this is how many views we

get and whatever.

And like, you know, you're never

going to know how many people

that turns into a person, you

know, someone liking that brand,

right?

And you're never going to know

how long that person is going to

be on that brand.

If that person becomes a lifer,

right?

And they, they buy everything

new that you have, they support

your core line, they buy all

those things.

And it's just one person.

Was it worth that one year worth

of bad space?

The answer is 100% yes, without

question, You know, but I don't

think brands see that that way.

I don't think manufacturers see

it that way.

I think that they're, you know,

they don't.

I mean, dude, you know, we gave

I bought an ad space with you

just because it want to support

you, right?

Like, hey, you know, I mean, we

didn't even update it this year.

I'm like, just just fucking run

it again.

Who cares, right?

I mean, we were we were even

we're on the top.

We were in the list.

We were like number two or

three.

We were we were up there.

And you know, you're still

saying the same thing.

Well, not acknowledged by.

Unrated.

The only unrated.

Yeah.

Well, and that's one of the

reasons that we wanted to have,

we have you guys and our, you

know, for these last five or six

shows, however many we have

left, you know, we, we in, in

all those slots, we have the

people that have consistently

advertised with us just kind of

a kind of as a thank you, you

know, for the people that have

helped.

You know, we got coming on, we

got you guys coming on.

We got Pedro from Drew Estate

coming on and, you know, it's

kind of a homage like a thank

you to, you know, the people

that were consistently, you

know, in our corner.

I get it, man.

Absolutely, dude.

That's that's very, very

admirable of you, dude, and not

surprising at all.

Is anybody I'm, I'm super sad

about this.

I Matt, just so you know.

About the show ending.

When they Yeah, no, I'm, I'm sad

about the show ending.

He heard Nick.

He he heard Nick Mangled died

and he's not nearly as affected.

No, yeah, they, they're like,

oh, we're gonna call Matt's

high.

And and then they started

reading the thing how your show

was.

And then I'm like, what?

I just heard about this.

I I haven't.

Seen anything on social media?

This is this is sad, man, you,

you guys do a good job.

And you know, the first time I

ever saw some real camaraderie

in the cigar industry with the

media was one year when we went

to PCA in Vegas and Garrett

Robinson had just started

working for Don Dorteo.

And then he got everybody

together from the media over at

Don Dorteo to do your birthday.

And I thought that was really

cool, man.

Like just seeing everybody in

the circle and all the different

media guys and just how

everybody just like connected

and and just rallied together

for your birthday and stuff.

I thought it was really cool.

So yeah, it's a.

It's a great group of people.

I, I, I appreciate that it's

the, there's so many, you know,

there's so many great people

you, you know, that do podcasts

and cigar media coverage and

stuff like that and.

Well, it's about to get dog eat

dog now buddy, let's go.

Hey, hey, I'll, I'll just I'll

just I'll, I'll just say turn

off the lights when you leave,

OK?

Cool brother.

Well, well, we'll, we'll can

continue this conversation with

you in six hours, so.

Yeah, right on.

Looking forward to it as always.

And if you're listening to this,

that means that we already did.

How about that cigar?

And you need to go back and

listen to how about that cigar?

That's right, exactly.

All right, brother.

Well, thank you so much, man.

We appreciate.

You thanks man.

We'll talk to you soon.

All right.

Thanks, guys.

Appreciate you.

Take care.

Bye bye.

Bye.

Bye bye.

OK, so Matt Tai, how about that

cigar?

So sounds like he just figured

he's taking it as we done

everything he wanted to do.

Yeah, you know.

What he said, he accomplished

some things.

Yeah, look, dude.

This is a lot of work.

People don't understand that.

It is an incredible.

They think you just sit down in

front of the camera and just

start talking.

It's an incredible amount of

work.

Well, I think some people that

have come in here to Co host

have figured that out, you know,

as a reading.

I think that you know what,

dude, that's kind of part of why

I like encouraging people.

You know, here's one one thing

that that I saw that was really

kind of funny is I'm a

psychopath and I coach 75,000

teams.

I don't, you know, like it is

what it is.

I you know, I don't know how to

tell kids no, even if you're not

my kid and you want and, and

we're maxed out and like, you

know, no one's going to coach

this kid because he's not as

athletic as the kids that have

been doing it.

I'm going to tell that kid yes,

right, right, all right, come on

come with us.

We'll build another team

whatever and we'll figure it out

and you know, through that

number you have you it's

quantified, right.

Let's say you have an average of

15 kids on a team, whether it's

basketball, football, whatever

you know, you multiply that by 6

He's.

Killing me with that.

Lighter.

I know I did.

That's, you know, that's close

to that's, that's 90 kids.

Multiply that by two, it's 200

parents.

Ish.

Right.

Sometimes of those 200 parents,

somebody's got something to say.

They like to give unsolicited

advice, right?

And more often than not, it's

incorrect, it's invalid.

I'll still hear them, but it's

usually not right.

And what's even funnier is some

of those parents will then go

out and coach their kid.

They're like, I don't like how

this is being ran, I'm going to

go and do it.

Start up a whole another team.

I'm like, great, that's awesome.

You know, I encourage parents to

coach their kids because more

often than not, after them doing

it two or three seasons, they

come back and they're like, hey

man, all that shit I said to

you.

I was totally wrong.

This.

Is.

Hard, this is extremely

difficult.

There is a lot to it.

There's so many moving parts and

that's the same thing in this

realm when it comes to podcast.

That's why we I always encourage

a person that's doing it.

So I'm like, hey, man, you know,

I appreciate what you do.

You're working your ass off.

It's not easy.

The pace sucks, You know, keep

doing what you're doing right.

And if you haven't done this,

you don't have the right to tear

somebody apart.

Fair enough, I agree.

You don't, no.

Until you sit in the chair,

until you bust your ass and put

it together.

You don't have the right as far

as your words mean nothing.

It's called unsolicited advice.

I don't want to hear it.

I don't care about it.

It means nothing to me, you

know.

Period, period.

You know, there are people that

I respect that will give me

points of view, but those people

I will respect in all walks of

life and all the things that I

do.

Maybe they're not part of the

podcast, maybe they don't do

podcasts, but you know, they

have earned that from me.

Sure, right.

But if you're chiming in from

the cheap seats, I don't really

care, you know, So, you know,

Coop just did a a lovely

article, you know, and he was

stating things that he's up.

He gets upset and I'm sure I'm

going to get yelled at for Fact

Check.

And sorry, Coop, if I screw this

up, you know, like one of the

things that he hates the fact

that retailers get information

before press release, before

media gets releases.

That's not entirely true.

And you know, I could see how

that would happen if I'm having

a conversation and I'm going to

shout out my guy James at BL

Luxuries because he's one of the

greatest.

He's a great guy.

And I say, hey, look, Warburger

is going to be coming out, blah,

blah, blah.

And then he jumps on it, does a

pre-order thing and whatever.

Then yeah, maybe he got that

that information beforehand like

that.

That's going to happen.

That's the nature of the beast.

But you want to know something?

James called me.

I had conversation with James,

right?

There's only one guy in media,

one guy in media that calls all

the time to see what's going on.

Hey, I haven't heard anything.

What's going on with this

release?

Do you have any information?

Whatever.

And that's Charlie Manal of Half

Wheel.

Yeah, and that's why his empire

is so big.

And it's not even close.

It's not even close.

I'm not shitting on anybody

else, but the fact of the matter

is the reason why Charlie gets

the information first.

He's outgoing and getting.

It because he's asking.

He's not waiting for the e-mail

to come to him.

He's going to make sure that he

gets the Intel.

And I got news for you.

We do this fucking game of

what's the score like?

You go back into the archives of

Half Wheel from 15 years ago

about a cigar and look it up.

In a blink of an eye, it's an

unrivaled encyclopedia of data

for this industry.

Sure, it's not even close.

Cyclopedia Britannica of the

cigar.

Right.

Hey, what was the price point of

the first Lost Cal, Right, Boom.

You could go look it up, right?

You could see the production.

It's easy.

It's easy to look.

It's.

Simple.

And that's because those guys

bust their ass and look, I'm not

fluffing them because they shit

all over my SBC, right?

Right.

They shit all over it.

I think they were wrong, but

whatever.

Yes, they were wrong.

I'm still going to acknowledge

it.

The fact that look, they're the

only ones that do that.

It's not even close.

It's not even close.

And not only is it not even

close for the hustle, the data

is unrivaled.

It's super easy to to go through

their website to check out

information to, I mean, I, we

learn about, I learn about stuff

from you about what's going on

in the cigar industry and you're

getting it from half will.

Right, the only place I look

anymore.

Right, well, we well you're

talking half Will is, is a

company is a real business.

The other the other ones that

are just waiting for the emails,

those are just hobbyists.

Well I think coop does it for

real.

Well he still has another job

though I think is what boots.

I think that that's kind of

winding down and this is

something that he takes

extremely seriously.

But like the other thing too is

with the ad space, we don't, I

just, I know we just kind of

talked about that with Matt.

We don't believe in the ad

space, you know?

Would the ad space money be

nice?

Fuck yes.

It would be great.

It would be great because I'm

going to tell you, this has been

seven years.

This hasn't been two or three or

four.

This has been seven years of us

doing this every friggin week,

twice a week.

Once for this show, once for the

Patreon, right?

And then I go in and I clip all

of it, and that sucks up two

days of my life.

Right.

Probably more than that, but

yeah, yeah.

The ad money would be nice but

guess what?

For me, for what I believe in,

and I hope you guys believe in

the same thing, it takes away

from our authenticity.

Like we get to be completely

legit and transparent on this

show and no one can stop us.

I get angry text messages from

Brand.

Owners, people try.

I get, I get phone calls, I get

it all.

Yeah, just call him, it's fine.

I get it.

Believe me, I get it.

And you know what?

I'm not looking to hurt anybody.

No, we're never malicious.

No, Yeah.

We are malicious at times.

Yeah, but we don't purposely go

through and go, oh, we get shit

on this guy, this.

No, no, yeah.

Like, oh, like, no.

We want, we just want the

industry to be better, right?

I just want this industry to be

better than what it is.

That's why we're doing this.

Well, yeah, yeah, you always

want it to evolve.

Yeah, 'cause look, I want more

than 3,000,000 cigar consumers

in the United States.

That's a ridiculously no low

number, right, Right.

It's obnoxious to me.

Right.

And and podcast is the number

one way to get in front of

people nowadays anyway.

It's an amazing thing to do to

sit down and smoke a cigar and

just kind of relax, right?

And just reflect on the day and

be with your boys or whatever,

or hang out with your spouse,

right?

Or go and be social.

Like there are a ton of people

that are missing out on this

opportunity.

A ton of them.

And I don't know how to touch

them.

But I'm going to continue to do

this with you until we figure it

out because it's important to

me, right?

What else did he say?

Because now you got me going.

He said he was blaming people

and.

Well, he he blamed retailers.

Is he blaming retailers because

some of them get information

first?

Yes.

So how does that affect his

show?

People are watching his four.

Hours.

The other thing too is he also

blame retailers for doing their

own podcast now I don't know.

I don't think that was a shot

towards me or us.

I'm sorry, me is the is.

There another. 1A shot towards

us, There's a couple, but I got

news for you.

These retailers that are doing

the work, they're trying their

best to build relationships with

consumers and nothing for

nothing, but he's on Abe's show

all the time.

Right, yeah, Abe's a retailer

has a podcast.

And you can't discredit Abe.

The guy busts his ass, Sure.

He's one of the hardest workers

in this industry.

It's not close.

There's a handful of guys that

work as hard as Abe.

So he's saying that he doesn't

think retailers should have a

podcast.

Yeah, he thinks that it takes

away from Media I.

Think the majority of them are

retailers that have podcasts.

Yeah, he says that it takes away

from media, so I.

Mean who else is going to get

the information in a retailer?

Yeah, he also says trade

associates aren't an issue.

He doesn't like the fact that.

PCA didn't let him in on time.

You know what's what's crazy in?

This shape look you.

Know so so look, I Posani's

bought some ad space.

Well, I bought some ad space

with bear.

I bought some ad space with how

about that cigar?

I bought some ad space with

development pallets, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You try to sprinkle it.

Yeah, you try to sprinkle it.

Around against their friends.

These are all my guys, I want to

support them.

I had another one reach out to

me.

I had another, I won't, I'm not

going to say their name because

I'm not going to be shitty, all

right?

And another one reached out to

me and I said, hey, listen, I

got news for you.

I'm really sorry, but I see this

guy, I see these guys at every

PCA I and they walk right past

our booth and go to the next

one.

I'm we're always super polite to

them.

I always say hi to them.

We're never invited on their

show.

Like, I'm going to give you

money for that.

I'm going to give you money.

Like, how does that make sense?

I can't do that.

Sure, why bother?

The only reason why I would give

you money is because I want to

support you.

You don't want to support us at

all.

Why would I go out of my way to

support you?

That's stupid.

You know, correct?

It's not.

Like we wouldn't be interesting

to talk to him.

We're going to do something

stupid.

No, you know what?

It's not that we're doing

something stupid so that we're

really open and honest about.

That well, that's what I mean.

I mean, we're going to do

something fun and you're going

to tell the truth and you're not

going to pull a punch.

And and between the two of us,

we have enough information and

work in this industry where we

have a lot of information.

Then we got dumb, dumb and dumb.

Dumb is worth fucking his weight

in gold over.

There.

Are you kidding me?

With the stuff that he says,

it's incredible.

It's how do you not want?

Yeah, if you don't want us on

then like do you really like

your viewers or you just really

like you want to feed them

propaganda?

If you want to feed them

propaganda, I get it.

I get it.

You're right.

We're we are not the right

people on to be on your show.

No, not that's what they do.

If you want open, if you want

authenticity, if you want

transparency, yeah, we are

definitely that 100%.

I mean, we piss off everybody,

including our friends, right?

So yeah, look, I mean, you know,

I, I, it sucks to see them go,

you know, it's.

He kept it a secret for like 6

months after he decided.

I mean, you could see that

things have been wearing on him

when you've had when I've had

interactions with him, but I

couldn't put it together.

I think it was the loss of

Garrett.

What's that like, 'cause Garrett

didn't stop doing the podcast?

I think it's just a combination

of things as far as life is

concerned.

Like this is a daunting task in

itself.

Plus, like life.

Yeah, you, you lose, you lose

half a week.

It's like, hey, you know, doing

this, I got a podcast, you know

what I mean?

Like even us like, oh, can you

go da da, da, da.

I'm like, well, I got a podcast.

Well then oh, but you want to

go, I got to go run over here.

I'm like, OK, well then shit,

maybe we'll like what?

I mean, what happened a few

weeks ago?

OK, so like, let's move it to

the next day.

Well, then the next day is going

to be a problem because XYZ.

I'm like, OK, what we can do the

next day?

I'm like, now we're getting far

out.

Well, we could do it on

Thursday.

I'm like, that's a completely

different week at that point.

Right, you want to be

consistent.

So hey, let's haul ass, let's

get here super early in the

morning, Let's do this and let's

get it so that it comes up at

the same time that it always

comes.

And we figured it out, right?

Like that is that in itself is

super challenging on top of, you

know, being a good spouse, being

a good parent, running a good

business, running three of them

into the ground.

The parent is what I'm really

good at.

You know, like.

And making sweatshirts.

And I'm not using, yeah, I'm not

using that as I'm not saying me

as an example.

Like that's just kind of a

blanketing statement.

Like you have stuff as a, you

know, you got to take care of

your your spouse, you got to

take care of your kids, you got

to take care of your job, right?

He doesn't really do much, but

he cares about the sports

betting.

So, you know, hey, listen, Coop,

this is not shots fired at you.

I don't need you to get butt

hurt or whatever the hell.

Oh again.

You know, look, stop.

I'm not mad at you.

I don't hate you.

If you want to hate me, then

then hate me.

But I don't.

I don't hate you.

I'm just saying that your points

that you're making to me seem

invalid and you know.

If you want the information, if

you're mad about people getting

information before you, then

yeah, you're right.

Go out and search for it.

Go get it.

Yeah, Go, go get it.

Your media.

That's what.

That's what Reporter.

Your reporter.

Yeah, Go report.

That's yeah, shit after after a

sports game is done, the first

people in front of those faces,

yeah.

How do you feel about beating

the hell out of Aaron Rodgers

today has a Green Bay Packer.

I felt great about it.

Thank you for asking.

I'm going to sit up here in the

stands.

They're going to come by and

talk to me.

Don't worry, it'll be fine.

Yeah, yeah, right.

And you can't.

He's coming.

He's coming.

As soon as he gets done with

those 75 people, they have him

in a.

Circle Why is he walking out the

back door?

And you know, I'm sitting up

here.

Oh God.

I've been waiting for hours.

Maybe, well, he'll send me an

e-mail, don't worry.

Send me.

Anyway, I get a pressure

release, it'll be fine.

I'll watch one of these other

shows that get the information

that way.

Yeah, yeah.

OK, I've done that before too,

so.

Rant over, rant over, moving on.

All right, moving on.

Trump administration threatens

100% tariffs on all Nicaraguan

products, citing a variety of

alleged human rights abuses.

The Office of the US Trade

Representative is threatening

Nicaragua with a variety of

trade related sanctions,

including 100% tariff rate on

all products from Nicaragua,

which is the largest exporter of

handmade cigars to the US.

On Monday, October 20th, the

USTR announced that it is

seeking public comment on a

variety of allegations and

proposed remedies, the most

consequential of which would be

an immediate tariff at 100% in

all Nicaraguan goods and

suspending Nicaragua's rights of

Dominican Republic.

Central America United States

Free Trade Agreement, a key free

trade agreement between the US

and Latin American countries,

including Nikiragua.

The CAFTA threat is not new.

The Biden administration

investigated potential

violations by Nicaragua's key

textile industry, simply whether

the use or forced child labor

created prices that US

businesses could not compete

with.

Today, a 46 page report included

some of those accusations, but

goes further, accusing

Nicaragua's Ortega.

How do you say his last name?

You got, he's got it, Ortega.

You have a last name, Ortega

Murillo, is he?

Italian Mario.

Mario.

He's Italian.

Government of gross violations

of human rights, including

attempted assassinations,

extrajudicial killings.

Andrew, he's doing so well for

those show revoking your

citizenship, torture, force,

exile, human trafficking and

more.

The USTR says because of the

sensitive nature of some

allegation, it has sent some

evidence to the US State

Department for further

investigation.

Well, they sent evidence of

third world country stuff.

Of the this man specifically

killing people, allegedly

killing people, assassinating

people, kidnapping people, using

children to do things, all sorts

of bad stuff.

Look.

He's a dictator, right?

I mean, I OK.

First of all, it's a socialist

country.

I don't know.

I don't know if any of that

exists.

I've never seen any of that with

my own two eyes, right?

Could it exist?

Possibly.

Sure.

I don't.

I don't know.

I can tell you that I've been to

numerous cigar factories and

I've never seen a hint of any of

that.

Death.

Human trafficking?

Nothing.

None of that.

Right.

Well, I don't think that would

be in the cigar effect, but the

child labor part, though, I

mean, you've never seen any

children there rolling cigars.

Never seen it.

I've never seen that.

So, you know, it's kind of

ridiculous to make that

statement.

You know, you better be able to

prove it.

You know, like the whole reason

why all of these things are made

outside of this country is

because to make things inside of

this country, it costs more

higher wages.

So are we going to go after Nike

then?

Like, you know, are we going to

go through all of these things

and make it so that it's

absolutely absurd because we

heard this?

I heard it's happening.

Yeah, you know a.

Guy I know who works for a guy

told the guy.

Yeah, I spoke to a gentleman

Who?

Yeah, yeah, that guy.

What kind of suits does Trump

wear?

Here's the Here's the big issue

that I.

Have not from Nicaragua.

Here's the big issue that I have

is I have a problem with anybody

that follows and reads a news

media statement and uses that to

back whatever their political

beliefs are or whatever the case

may be.

And it 'cause it doesn't matter

what they say, you're just going

to agree with it.

And I think that that is the

biggest mistake that we do as

our society.

You should always ask questions,

period.

Ask questions, right, 'cause I

saw statements of like, well,

it's for human, it's for the

humanitarianism, like, OK, well,

I didn't see any of that.

The company that I work with

doesn't do any of that, right?

So, but I'm going to get

punished as well.

For one, that's a problem.

For two, you know, if you

support Trump and you believe in

Trump, then the whole purpose of

why he wanted tariffs to happen

in the 1st place was to level

the playing field because for

the countries that were taking

advantage of us, right?

What was the original reason?

Well, it's safe to say that the

cigar industry does not qualify

in those parameters.

No.

Oh, with this statement.

Yeah, well, in the original

statement, right.

And it's safe to say that the

cigar industry doesn't qualify

in these parameters.

So why anybody would blindly

just say media says this, this

is for humanitarianism.

This is what I support.

Like, no, no, that's not.

You should ask questions, man.

Why is this happening?

Why are they doing this?

There's more to it than what

they just tell you, right?

And following anybody blind

makes you a fucking idiot.

I mean let's be honest, I don't

care who you support.

Like that's the reality.

Don't be stupid man, ask

questions.

You've been awful quiet over

there.

I'm letting you talk.

I don't want to get yelled at

for interrupting.

You're on a roll.

OK.

Thank you.

All right, continue.

All right, the comment period is

open and currently runs through

November 19th, 2025.

Great.

Then.

The end.

Yeah, let me put my full name,

my address.

Yeah, yeah, my e-mail.

Yes.

Let me put all of that Intel

into why I'm against you doing

that right like that makes.

Why you're against the guys send

all that information.

Yeah, click this box.

I'm not a robot.

OK.

All right, Sinistro, is that how

we're gonna Sinistro?

Is that how we agreed to saying

releases The last Cowboy Ghoul

and 13 year anniversary?

Sinestro has a pair of new

limited edition cigars heading

to stores this week.

The last Cowboy Ghoul.

Oh, maybe it's the last Cowboy

Ghoul and it's 13 year

anniversary.

The Last Cowboy Ghoul is the

latest extension to the

company's last Cowboy line, this

time with a bit of a Halloween

theme to it.

The blend features a Connecticut

broad leaf Maduro rapper with a

pair of Dominican candela

stripes on the front of the

cigar.

Underneath that is a Mexican San

Andreas binder and a filler of

Dominican Piloto, Cuban Lajero,

Oh Cubano Lajero and at

Nicaragua grown tobacco.

The company calls the blend rich

and earthy, driven by rapper

Leaf.

It is offered in two sizes, the

Robusto at 1350 and the Toro a 6

by 56.

Toro at 1450.

Box of $22190.00.

The other cigars.

The 13 year anniversary is also

a limited edition, this time

celebrating the company's latest

milestone.

It's blend features a Mexican

San Andreas Maduro wrapper, a

Dominican Piloto Cubano binder

and filler that contains

Dominican Kriojo 98 and Orlo

Nicaraguan Kriojo tobacco from

Paraguay and Marifel African

Cameroon.

They found a place to put a

gentleman.

Is offered in one size A6 by 50

Toro price.

Tag moved our production to

Sinistro.

They are buying everything now.

We have changed my hat to a

cowboy hat. 6.50 Toro priced at

$11.00 per cigar box or 220 for

a box of 20.

Production is limited 200 boxes,

but that might change if they

sell more I'm guessing.

Maybe.

Maybe.

More The 13 year anniversary is

something special for us, the

company wrote on press release.

Once we started sampling the

final blend, we knew we had

something truly exceptional on

our hands.

There's already been internal

discussion about making it a

regular production cigar because

it's just that good.

Most cigars were produced at the

Artista Cigar Factory.

Oh, is that connected to the

Halloween?

Horror.

It's connected to that Halloween

horror.

That's nice.

Yeah.

Dominican Republic section in

there, Yeah.

With the blend developed by

James that's a lie.

Agapins and Esteros co-owner and

Blue Agapins.

I don't know his name.

Agapins, Agapins.

Crown Heads is releasing the oh,

did you want to talk about the

oh, that's good.

All right.

Crown Heads is releasing the

Belgian Blues.

It's returning again for 2025.

Next month, Belgian Blue Limited

Edition from Crown Heads will

get its sophomore release.

Unlike a lot of the company's

limited edition cigars, which

return in the same vital each

year, the company is keeping the

same blend but changing the size

this year's release will be.

Anybody want to guess?

Robusto boots.

The Big 60 gauge.

It completely went the other

way.

A 5 1/2 by 56 double robusto.

Oh, a change.

One word, right?

It changed compared to last

year's 6 by 54 Toro extra.

Everything's extra with him.

The blend uses the Mexican

sanitary wrapper over Ecuadoran

binder and fillers from the

Dominican Republic, and Nikki

Ragua, Crown Head says that the

blending style for Belgian Blue

is unique because of 75% of the

fillers are from the Lajero

priming.

The hero refers to the leaves at

the very top of the tobacco

plant, which tends to be smaller

and stronger than those in the

middle and bottom.

Many companies avoid having the

hero dominating blends due to

its reduced combustion.

Each Crown Heads Belgian Blue

LE2025AS MSRP of gentlemen $13.

A double robusto, yes.

And this is a regular

production.

No, this is an LE.

It's.

It's probably like 1617. 1350

and production is limited to

2500 bucks is he's completely

off today not looking forward to

what's the score?

Crown Head says the cigars will

ship in early November.

Miguel has yet to contact me.

I heard what you say 75% of the

of the the fillers and stuff,

but you didn't say like the

rapper or anything.

Yes, I did.

It was earlier the.

Belgian Blue.

Back then I said was an LE when

you asked us regular.

Production.

We'll move on.

While we knew we had something

special with the Belgian Blue

blend, the reaction to the

cigars, the past, even our

expectations, said John Huber,

Co founder and president of

Crown Heads and the press

release.

We have received many requests

asking for us to produce more,

bring it back or even make it a

regular production line.

So far be it from us not to

listen to our customers.

Crown heads Belgian blue alleys

produced at dahui dahuite

tobacco is essay same Nicaraguan

factor that produces Juarez and

mildias for crown heads.

I like Juarez.

That's a good one.

That's a bull one, right?

That's Pichardo, buddy.

I'm just reading the the.

Hatui, remember you said his

last name.

Hatui.

Oh, is that Pichardo?

Said Hatui.

Yeah, that's his last name.

Remember, you said Hatui, the

last show.

Yes, but I mean there was not

Pichardo on this.

That was what they said his name

was.

They said Hatui.

Oh, gotcha.

So his name is Pichardo Hatui.

Yes.

I mean, that's not how you say

it.

Yes, that's how you say it,

Hatui.

In my world, I like what you

said that didn't.

I hope I I hope I never see this

guy.

Mr. Hatui, Yeah.

Bless you what?

Black Work Studio is the Five

Temples 7 Star Fist of shallow

shipping next week and has the

longest name of any single what.

This is this has.

To be got up, say it one more

time.

Black Work Studio is releasing

the Five Temples slash 7 star

Fist of Shaolin.

This has to be a plan, Wu Tang.

Shaolin Shadow boxing Shaolin

and the Wu Tang the.

Second of two special sampling

from Black Label Trading cover

will begin shipping to stores

next week.

It's part of the Black Work

Studios portfolio, a sub brand

within Black Label, and includes

24 cigars, all of which are

Bellicoso rolled in various

blends.

The collection is something I've

wanted to do for a long time,

said James Brown, founder of

Black Label Trading Company, in

a press release.

I've been rolling various blends

in this pyramid size for the

last 12 years for myself.

It's finally time to do a

production release.

The vibe I wanted was an old

school Kung Fu movie and the

Five Temples. 7 Star Fist of

Shaolin definitely has that

feel.

That explains the name.

It feels old school, Kung fui.

The concept was to create a

collection that not only

introduces a new vitola for the

bees and Hornets.

Getting undertones of Bruce Lee

on this one.

But also showcases different

wrappers.

Each cigar is a unique

representation of the blend, and

the pyramid shape symbolizes the

form of a Shaolin temple.

The boxes and the.

No, the cigars.

The cigars are pyramids.

It has a Chuck Norris finish.

The I seen on top of that is the

2 new versions of the Shaolin.

Overall, I think this is the

most exciting collection we've

ever done for Black Works.

For anyone who's a fan of the

Killer Bee and Green Hornet,

this is a must have. 7 plays an

important role in the release.

The hexagon shaped box has seven

different compartments and there

are 7 different cigars including

Included inside are 24 cigars.

There are two of each version,

the Hornet Pyramid for each of

the others.

Black work studio Killer Bee

which is a Connecticut

Connecticut pyramid.

Black work Studio Killer bee,

Maduro Pyramid, Black work

studio Killer Bee Sumatra

pyramid, Black work Studio

Shaolin Candela Ecuador and

Maduro Bellicoso Pyramid.

Black Work Studio, Shaolin

Habano, Ecuador Maduro,

Bellacoso Pyramid.

Because you keep going the

words.

Black works the Hornet pyramid

PA broadly Black work studio The

Hornet pyramid Senator.

He's not.

It says there's only 7.

How many have I read so far?

All right, you're good.

Actually, it's really 10 all.

Right.

In a related story, Pochek would

like to announce a No, no,

don't.

Do it, don't you do it.

Don't you do it?

Oh God, don't do.

It but it would be called the

Six Temples 8 Star Fist of.

Palm of of on the 5th the palm.

All right, Casa, what'd you say?

That word was Boots.

A TUI.

Oh no, no, Casa Caballero.

Caballero releases.

Caballero.

Caballero releases Spymaster

Casa Caballero has released a

new regular production line that

it calls an Experience, crafted

for those who understand that

mastery doesn't seek attention,

it earns it.

It's called Spymaster 6.54 Toro

with a blend developed by Mario

Caballero, founder of Casa

Caballero Cigars.

So it's not Caballero.

Caraballo.

Caballero.

It's not, it's not Caballero,

Oh.

OK, that's like cowboy or

something.

It's gentleman.

I'm gentleman now.

Uses Ecuadorian.

It could be his last name.

Maybe he's friends from Mr.

Hatui.

Maybe uses an Ecuadorian Medora

wrapper and a Nikki Raguan

binder and filler.

Described as a medium.

Bold profile that balances

creaminess and complexity with

nuance.

Flavored a slow, deliberate

journey that rewards reflection

as much as it does celebration.

Pricing is set at $14.00 per

cigar, $140.00 for a box of 10.

The cigars are made at the

Pepito Gomez Tobacco Company,

Nicaragua.

Part of the cigars inspiration

came from the 9/11 attacks.

With the children don't pay

bill.

On the United States, with the

company paying tribute to those

who served and observed and

operated in silence.

And I'm proud to be and.

Inspired by the clandestine

world of intelligence, Spymaster

honors the men and women who

shaped history through instinct

and precision far from the

spotlight, the company wrote in

a press release.

Spymaster isn't for the Loud

said.

Whatever that guy's name is, we

can't decide on.

And a press release.

It's for the few of us who move

through the world unseen, of

those who presence is felt, not

announced.

If one of these cigars is not

named Jason Bourne, these are.

Not they didn't name the

individual cigars.

You think that Jason Bourne

would be tied into 911?

Maybe.

Never forget.

Maybe.

OK, maybe I see how you got

there, but OK.

And finally, the knuckle

sandwich goes off menu for a new

tea.

Off menu.

Off menu, That's the name of the

Cigar Knuckle Sandwich.

Cigars are announced off menu.

It's new, exclusive, limited

edition for the Tobacco

Association of America.

I would like the grilled cheese

off menu.

It's a 6 by 54 box press Toro

with a blend that uses the

Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper

atop a Nikki Ragwan binder and

filler.

The company calls it a bold,

balanced and complex profile

where the of the knuckle

sandwich name.

The cigars are made in the San

Latano factory in Octal,

Nicaragua, with production

limited to.

Oh, this is a tough number,

Boots, what do you got?

This is TAA numbers. 500.

I would say 5000. 1250 boxes of

20.

He won.

Total run of 25,000 cigars.

Oh, never mind, I won.

You just got the box counting

wrong.

Yes.

No, I thought it was 5000 cigars

made.

Oh, pricing is Sedet boots in

love.

Wait, wait for a knuckle

sandwich.

For a TAA knuckle sandwich boots

loves Espinosa cigars.

I think the last TAA 1 I had

from them was.

Would have been the Chaka Khan.

Yeah, with the black box, with

the gold eyes.

No, I didn't know.

No, that was talking about.

The white owl.

The white owl.

The white.

Bird.

There was a bird on it.

Like the whole thing with

Espinoza, whatever.

It is Bryce, need to set that.

Let's go 17.

Good number.

I'm going to say 16.

Oh $16.00 Ding Ding, Ding Ding,

$320 a box.

It's almost like he probably

knew this.

I actually didn't.

I was like going to go 15 until

you threw 17 out there and then

I brought it up to 16.

We built the knuckle sandwich

line around creativity and

respect for craftsmanship, said

Erica.

Oh, wait, hold on.

Sorry.

Yeah, come on back.

Yes and bro.

We built the knuckle sandwich

line around creativity and

respect for craftsmanship, said

Erica Espinoza, owner, Espinoza

Premium Cigars or press release.

The off menu is something

special, a new experience for

our Bros, loyal smokers and

exclusive reward for the TA

family and that one lady that

works here.

If you could shove the cigar all

the way into the back of your

mouth when you do that, that'd.

Be great.

I would choke.

I don't know how he does that.

Who continue to support our

brand.

As for the name, it's a fitting

tie into the Guy Fieri.

Yes, who?

Guy Fieri, the celebrity chef

who created Knuckles Sandwich

cigars in collaboration with

Espinosa.

We, I don't know how to do his

voice.

We called it off menu because

it's something made just for

those in the know.

If you ever said in a press

release, this one hits big with

flavor and attitude just like

everything that we do.

The cigars are scheduled to

begin shipping early November.

All right, typically, oh,

they're sorry.

One more thing.

Typically, around a dozen

manufacturers release new

exclusive cigars for the retail

members of the organization

under the TA Exclusive Series

program, ESP Manor.

Those manufacturers agree to

give a portion of the proceeds

to the organization.

A minimum of $0.50 per cigar is

required.

Minimum.

Minimum, minimum.

It's some minimum.

Sometimes you pay a dollar,

sometimes you pay 50.

Cents, You know, it depends on

what you're going to.

Do you?

We don't like.

What exactly do I well let all?

Decide how much you're going to

pay there's.

Literally a guy, maybe his

name's a Tui or I don't know,

his name is, and they're shaking

a Magic 8 ball.

You roll the dice, you see what

you get.

A dollar.

Yeah, we got one of those 10

sided die.

There he goes.

All right, ladies and gentlemen,

it's time for the biggest game

going across the cigar industry.

When there's not a crisis, watch

the score.

Whoa.

We didn't do it together.

That's OK.

The whoa part was good.

I like that.

We'll go with that.

Whoa.

All right, First Cigar, October

18th, 2025.

This is the most recent one.

OK.

Reviewed by Mr. Charlie Minato,

The man who goes after the

stories, not the man who waits

on the stories to come to him.

From General Cigar Company in

limited edition Nicaragua

Reviews The Room 101 Johnny

Tabacanat 10th anniversary.

Oh.

That's a good cigar.

Hey, we have an extra bit of

information on this one,

gentlemen.

Hey, I'm podcasting.

Still OK, nevermind.

There we go, right?

All right.

Love you.

Bye. 79 carry ONS all right.

I also saw a large gold painted

statue of Johnny Tobaccon.

It's a cool looking prop, but I

didn't think much beyond how

detailed it was.

I figured it was just another

prop for the booth.

One of many props in the booth.

Two days later, I was regularly

distracted by the statue.

Mike Stephen Kevich, who is part

of the family that owns Postonia

and Cigar Hustler Florida based

store and podcast, was walking

around with the statue.

Eventually I saw it in the

Postonia booth, then another

booth, and then I'd see an SCG

employee retrieving the statue.

Quite frankly, Stephen Kevich's

habitual theft of the statue was

probably better marketing than

any of the banners that the

cigar company purchased.

You're welcome.

And there's a picture of Mikey

going like this, carrying it on

his shoulder.

That was a fun day.

You know, of course, you know,

look and get more attention from

this.

Year they're going to come.

Next year they're going to come

to you.

Go can you steal?

Something listen, we would

really, we built this thing.

It's not heavy atallow so it's

easy to care.

It's easy for you to take.

Let's go ahead and drag it

around.

I had, I took pictures with.

I brought it looks like Palmer.

Nobody's ever going to know.

I brought it to her clothes.

I brought it to Pete.

Everyone.

I had everybody take pictures

with it.

Was this really in the story?

Yes.

That's that's hilarious.

Yeah, that's why I told him I

would make.

I would make sure I can find

that and I'd work that in.

It was and the picture.

There's a picture of him on this

review.

And he's right.

He's probably the best marketing

ever.

Best marketing I've ever seen.

Take this.

Thank you for the

acknowledgement, Charlie.

Yeah.

All right there.

You guys got to vote.

Based on that, off of that.

Oh well, you got the name of the

cigar.

Do you want me to go first?

Yeah, you go first.

We did this on the Patreon I

think, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, we smoked.

The JT 10.

I thought it was good, yeah.

It wasn't bad cigar.

I'm going to go 90 even with

Charlie Minato.

You think he'll go 90?

I'm just going I.

Honestly don't remember what it.

Was I'm, I got to be honest, I'm

just basing it off of the fact

that I've actually smoked the

cigar at this point.

No, yeah, I think it's a great

cigar.

And I haven't had any.

He hasn't given us any data just

yet.

OK, so that's where I'm at.

All right, I'll go 89.

OK, all right, The Johnny

Tobacco on 10th anniversary from

Nicaragua.

Taba Calera, AJ Fernandez.

It's a Nicaraguan rapper.

Nicaraguan binder Nicaraguan

filler 6 by 52 round 1199 and

they smoked 3 cigars.

So with all that, would this be

considered a a pureo monkey?

It sounds like technically.

Did they say it was all Yeah,

Nicaraguan.

Yeah, I guess it would be if the

information given here is

accurate and we like to think

that it is, especially with the

marketing, right, especially

with the marketing comments.

But however, there's still no

information for me to change my

number yet.

So I'm going to stick with 90.

Yeah, 89.

Yeah, that just tells you what's

in the cigar.

All right, first clue.

All three are medium full.

The only difference is the

second cigar, which was slightly

more muted.

Scents smelling the feet

continues to trend of

consistency.

They each smell medium full with

a very dense chocolate flavour

that overwhelms some earthiness.

Based on what happens before I

cut the cigars, weighing,

measuring, smelling the

wrappers, smelling the feet,

it's difficult to find much of

any difference between the trio.

Bravo for consistency.

That's a good thing.

Yeah, that's all good.

I'm sticking 90.

Yeah, I'll stay 89.

I do.

I always think it's weird that

he always says chocolate.

Does he like just always eating

like chocolate bars or

something?

He's always on his fingers or

something.

Yeah.

The first and 2nd cigars remain

similar, earthiness and pine

alternate turns being the

leading flavor.

There's also buttermilk

creaminess, mild white pepper,

and an underlying sweetness.

The third cigar is different

with nuttiness and leather,

though there are rarely anything

else beyond a generic tobacco

note and some burning sensations

when the smoke increases.

Shit.

So he was eating a biscuit in a

leather jacket while he was

smoking a cigar.

I must stay 90.

You gonna stay at 90?

Yeah.

Yeah, I must stay at 89.

I think he's going to be in this

room. 8990 Our.

Next clue the finish he.

Didn't say anything great about

it right there though.

The finish of the first cigar

has great syrup flavor, not a

real Maple syrup, but with the

most basic store bought variety.

I'd like to know what that is.

The second cigar's finish is the

least exciting earthiness, black

pepper and lemon.

The third cigar is led by

Rosemary, though there are some

bitter earthiness in there too.

Rosemary or Rosemary's Baby?

Just the the is Halloween, not

the baby.

Not the baby, not the baby.

He didn't say it was bitter,

though.

I'm going to slide down to 89.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I think, I think it's 89.

I'm.

Going to stay there, OK.

Whether or while there were

moments of separation, the Room

101 Johnny Tobacco not 10th

Anniversary was a story of

consistency.

From the pre light experience to

the smoking itself, the three

cigars rarely stayed too far

from one another and more often

than not were identical.

Given how widely inconsistent

many of the cigars I review end

up smoking, this was an eye

opening experience and the

factory should be proud of

achieving the consistency.

While we don't store score

consistency, I think we probably

should instead of scores are

mostly based on taste.

I was must be the final thought.

Yeah, sounds like it.

And smoking this first cigar, I

thought to myself, does this

taste like room one O 1?

It's a question that led to

another one.

What does Room One O 1 taste

like?

And while I'm unsure what the

answer to the second question

is, the answer to the first one

is no.

Quite simply, for a brand that

is anything but, this is

anything but.

This was far too boring.

It was never bad, but it was

really dynamic.

It's as if they put the bands on

the wrong cigars.

Really.

Wow.

Yeah, that's a little harsh, I

think in there. 87.

It was a good cigar, but this

isn't your normal room 101

cigar.

Well, he said it was consistent,

but he then he said it was

consistently boring.

What is consistently boring to

Charlie?

That's the.

That is the question.

That is that that is how we

determine the number.

Ping Bong.

And we're trying to get trying

to guess.

I'll go 88.

I said 87.

Oh, I'm sorry, 89.

Oh man, we were on the money.

We.

Were there the whole time.

Then his final thoughts bashed.

Us.

Yeah, he did.

Damn it.

But I won next.

All right, this is from June

19th, 2021.

Charlie Minoda Barracoa.

Charlie Minato.

Is that?

No, he was.

His brother.

Is he?

That's disgusting, Yeah.

Some affiliation Minato.

Barracoa Cigars.

Oh Minota with Barracoa.

Yes, Dominican Republic Review.

Barracoa, The Voyage or a Busto

Extra, 2021.

This is the original.

No, this is the second one.

This is, oh, it's been that

long.

Yeah.

Son of a bitch.

Wait, wait, wait.

Who made this?

Barracoa cigars.

Our boy, he doesn't know.

OK, so no.

No, but I've heard about the

original voyage.

Yes, this is the.

This is the re voyage, the

second one.

And how do we know this person?

Pick your number.

No, you know the number.

I don't.

No, he doesn't.

He doesn't.

Know.

No.

OK, First of all, if I do, I

will tell you.

OK, I will.

I will.

You know, like I did in the last

review.

I told you that I knew.

I have not smoked the cigar, I

know nothing about it, so I'm

just going to start at 85.

I have had the honor and the

privilege of smoking the cigar.

Both of them, the original and

the second.

I use that term loosely.

All right, 85, I'm going to

start there.

Is the term cigar loosely 79?

Oh, it is a bad cigar.

All right, the voyage Robuso

Extra 2021 from the Dominican

Republic factory Tablicalera.

William Ventura, who allegedly

still waiting to be paid.

Oh, I remember the story now.

I didn't know it's a 5 year old

story so I mean who?

Does it?

Yeah, right.

Rapper Ecuadorian krioho binder

Ecuadorian Sumatra filler

Dominican Republic in Nicaragua

5 and a quarter by 52 to robusto

extra $9.70 and they smoked

unfortunately, 3 of.

Them.

Oh geez.

OK.

So you went pretty low, so I'm

going to go to 80. 81.

First clue, the foot is a bit

milder in profile, around medium

plus and smells very different.

My best description is a mixture

of 1000 island dressing and some

paint.

Oh wow.

I remember somebody told me that

like a little bit.

It's not the smell I get when

I'm concerned that painter

chemicals from the box making

have got into the scars, but it

does remind me a bit of a

freshly painted room.

Sounds horrible just by the way.

1000 Island Dressing paint Go.

Yeah, 75. 79 Sometimes lighting

cigar can help to tighten a

draw, but that's not the case

with these.

The Voyage.

The first puff is still open,

though there's enough resistance

that I'm able to get enough

smoke to pick up nuttiness,

pretzels, and a touch of

creaminess all together around

medium plus.

I have again, I have not.

You looking it up over there?

Are you looking?

No.

No, no, I had my daughter's got

to get picked up soon.

I have not had the joy it sounds

like to smoke this cigar.

I'm just going to let's go to.

I was at 75, right?

Yep.

Yes.

I'll stick there.

I'll stick 79.

On two cigars, the construction

is more or less the same as the

first third, but once but one

cigar just keeps going out and

doesn't seem to want to stay

lit.

More specifically, one side of a

cigar doesn't as doesn't as no

matter.

Wait, hold on.

One side of a cigar doesn't, as

no matter what I can do, I can't

seem to get it to stay lit for

longer than 5 minutes at a time.

Maybe it's $1000 dressing.

Or possibly the paint.

Oh, you think the paint would

burn?

Maybe the paint.

You're right.

It's the dressing.

Too much dressing.

It's the dressing.

Salad's almost Yeah 75. 78.

Oh man, you're just, you're just

like just inching, huh?

Well, I smoked.

Playing with my food is what I'm

doing.

I'm playing with my food.

Well, I smoked 3 cigars for this

for you.

I experienced two different

cigars.

The two good ones were an

interesting profile that tasted

more intense than the body and

strength would suggest.

When that retrohaling, the

profile was fine and easy enough

to handle though this is one of

the times in which retrohaling

didn't produce the most

enjoyable smoking experience.

The second sample inevitably

hurt the final score quite a bit

and was difficult to smoke

during the second-half.

Unfortunately, difficult to

smoke is the last thought I have

regarding this new version of

the Voyage.

Well, the first and third

samples did better.

I felt like the inability for

the cigars to stay consistently

lit meant that even when the

best of examples, I was forced

to smoke far quicker than I

would have liked and is required

to pay too much attention to the

cigars from start to finish.

Is that the final thought?

That was the final thought.

Yeah, 75.

I really want to nail this one.

I'm going to go shit.

I'm going to go shit.

Do I need to pause?

No, it's like I feel like I want

to go 77 and then if I go 77 I'm

covered, but I feel like it's

going to hit 79 and then I don't

nail it.

What's going to go 79?

But then at that point, if it's

77, it's a tie.

What to do?

What to do?

I'm going to go 77.

What did boot say?

75. 80.

It was a 80. 80.

It sounded like a horrible score

the way he was describing.

It did.

It was.

That's. 80's a bad score.

That's a bad score.

Yeah, I got 25 like the the bat.

Yeah, I mean, that was a that's

a bad score.

That's a terrible score, yeah.

Yeah, 80's still.

If there is a 25 out there, 80's

still not.

Not that.

Bad.

It probably should have been a

79.

Oh shit I hit camera 3 MX, I'm

sorry.

All right, listen of the week

Bong what you got?

We have a three-way tie.

Justin, Laura, Raul, Ramos and

Matt tie from How about that

cigar?

Bong.

Very nice.

You have a shot of the week,

Michael.

No luxury cigars in California.

Bong in California.

That's where they are, right?

Yeah.

No, they're in Arizona, but OK.

Are they in?

Arizona, Yeah, OK.

That's it.

So we got this has been episode

411 of a Cigar Hustler podcast.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for listening.

Support us going to chapter

pod.com, like and subscribe.

We would appreciate it.

Check us out on the Patreon

next.

Patreon next.

Goodbye, bye.

Welcome to the Cigar Hustler

podcast.

The show brought to you

Commercial Freeze, but a massive

shout out to our amazing patrons

on the Patreon.

Thanks to your unwavering

support, we're able to the

unfiltered, unbiased opinions

all things cigars personalities

in the cigar world.

Your backing makes it possible

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To you, if you would like to

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one up.

Show Notes

Another top-tier cigar show has announced it’s calling it quits at the end of the year. After years of dedication, countless interviews, and hundreds of episodes — it’s over.

Is this the beginning of the end for cigar media as we know it? Or just another example of how much work goes into these shows for so little return — in money, recognition, or respect from within the industry?

This week we break down what’s really happening behind the microphones. From burnout to bandwidth, sponsorship struggles to platform restrictions, we’re asking the hard question:

👉 Is cigar media in crisis… or just evolving?

Join us as we take an honest look at what it takes to survive in the cigar media space today, and whether the grind is still worth it.