ACHP Episode 420 Flight Delays and Cyber Monday
Episode Summary
Episode 420 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with the crew — Palmer, Mikey Steponkevich and Boots — running through the news of the day: more than 12,000 flights delayed and nearly 1,000 cancelled coming out of the Thanksgiving weekend winter storm, national gas prices dropping below $3 a gallon for the first time since May 2021, and Cyber Monday retail records. The guys also debate what the average American would actually do with a proposed $2,000 tariff rebate check (spoiler: credit card debt and jet ski down payments), plus a long detour into Oregon Trail nostalgia and kids who don't know what a floppy disk is. Shop news includes the CH Pod Cyber Monday apparel deal at chpod.com and an in-store Erik Espinosa event that Friday with a $25 box credit and $65 private lounge tickets that are nearly sold out.
The heart of the episode is a thoughtful pushback on a viral clip from Mayflower Cigars claiming American Cancer Society and government studies show up to four premium cigars a day carry no increased mortality risk — and that moderate cigar smokers live longer. The hosts, who have cited this research themselves, argue the real number in the data is closer to two cigars a day, and that claiming cigars make you live longer ignores confounding variables like affluence, healthcare access and diet. They also ask why the PCA, CRA or CAA haven't funded their own long-term premium cigar study, and discuss how over-embellishing statistics discredits the industry's own arguments.
Cigar news covers Powstanie's Blue Lightning Sky, a January 2026 full release with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler made at Las Villas Cigar Factory under Guillermo Peña, coming in four sizes at around $10 — following the Red Screaming Sun and White Blinding Light, plus the Catman Edition toro named for blogger Philip "Catman" Cohn. Also covered: Principle Cigars' 2025 Accomplice Holiday Bauble, a 4.5x60 Christmas-ornament perfecto with a Mexican San Andrés maduro wrapper for the first time, at $15 a stick / $60 for a box of four; and Felipe Gregorio's Octopussy set — a carbon fiber humidor, lighter and cutter with 26 Dominican-made cigars in Coral Red or Sepia Maduro blends, $728 per set, 1,000 sets total — which sparks a debate about possible trademark trouble with El Pulpo.
The show closes with What's the Score, guessing Halfwheel review ratings on the JC Newman Leroy Neiman 2025 Collectors Edition (Charlie Minato, 89 despite "fish market" notes from the box) and Halfwheel's very first review ever, the Casa Fuente Pyramid No. 2 from Brooks Whittington in 2009 (91). Boots takes both wins. Listener of the week is Gary at Bogart Cigar and shop of the week is Underground Imperium in the Bahamas.
In This Episode
- 01CH Pod Cyber Monday Swag & Erik Espinosa EventApparel deals at chpod.com plus details on the upcoming in-store Erik Espinosa dinner, $25 box credit and $65 private lounge tickets.
- 0212,000 Thanksgiving Flight DelaysA winter storm across the Midwest, Great Lakes and East Coast snarled record holiday travel with 12,008 delays and 977 cancellations.
- 03Gas Under $3 a GallonGasBuddy reports the national average fell to $2.95, the lowest in four years, and Patrick DeHaan debunks the holiday price-spike myth.
- 04Cyber Monday and the $2,000 Tariff RebateRecord online shopping numbers and a candid discussion of consumer debt and what Americans would really do with a proposed rebate check.
- 05Boots' Sports & GamblingCarson Palmer leads Santa Margarita to a CIF Southern Section title in his first year as head coach, plus this week's spread picks.
- 06Do Premium Cigars Cause Cancer? Fact-Checking a Viral ClipThe hosts break down the Mayflower Cigars claim about four cigars a day, argue the data supports closer to two, and warn against exaggerating studies.
- 07Cigar News: Powstanie, Principle and Felipe GregorioPowstanie Blue Lightning Sky for January 2026, the Principle Accomplice Holiday Bauble maduro ornament, and the $728 Octopussy Bond-themed set.
- 08What's the ScoreGuessing Halfwheel scores on the JC Newman Leroy Neiman 2025 Collectors Edition and the site's first-ever review, the Casa Fuente Pyramid No. 2.
Brands & Cigars Discussed
Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.
Transcript
Welcome to episode 420 of the Cigar Hustler Podcast, now coming to you five days a week with unfiltered, unbiased opinions, making us, some say, bad for the industry. Oh, yes. Bad for the industry. Bad for the industry.
On today's show, over 12,000 flights delayed yesterday on the busiest travel day of the year. Gas prices at an all-time low in four years. Today is Cyber Monday. Oh.
If you were given a $2,000 tariff rebate check, what would you do with the money? Then in ACHP Booty Sports & Gambling. Oh. Moneymakers.
Former Bengals QB leads his alma mater to title in his first year as head coach. And then in Cigar News, Slate Blue, Lightning Skies, getting into 2026 release. A new holiday bubble, 2025. And James Bond gets a second cigar.
Then we have the industry's favorite game, What's the Score? I did it. You didn't have any heart. No, we didn't.
I even switched the cameras. It was great. Yeah. We usually do that at the end.
Yeah. But before we get started, my partner in crime and co-host, Mikey, I want a cookie, please, Steponkevich. How do we get some of that CH Pod swag? I want a cookie, Steponkevich, huh?
It comes up with something different every week. Something different every day. com and check out our latest swag. Now, if you buy one piece of apparel, you get the second one 40% off, and if you spend over $100, you're going to get free shipping on your entire order.
Shout out to Ken Miller. Ken Miller. And Cass Cortez. And Cass Cortez.
For their purchases this week. What are we doing? And yeah, and then, you know, I got my hat people, but when I have to resend some hats. Is that deal only going on in December or is that?
As of right now, it's going on now. It's going on right now. Could end in any moment cyber monday cyber monday it's our cyber monday ch pod cyber monday check out the ch pod cyber monday deal well i guess it'd be like cyber tuesday it'll be tuesday time this goes out it's gonna be the cyber week deal check it out what are we smoking for the patreon oh this is the industry standard okay i didn't realize that was the name i thought you meant you made something That was the industry standard cigar. Where did you make it?
In Esteli. Where? Specifically? What's the factory?
Yep, Nikosuena, that's right. I'll do that again. Let me say it while you mouth it. No, that's weird.
I won't have you in my mouth. Oh, that is weird, yeah. That was really weird. Cut that, please.
What is it, Habano? Habano wrapper, yep. Yeah. Let's see, okay, we'll get into that later.
All right. Yeah, this is for the Patreon. Yes, for the Patriots. All right, then it just in four days here in this very room, Michael, what is happening?
Eric Espinosa is going to be back in the house. Oh my God, Eric Espinosa. What? I said, oh my God, Eric Espinosa.
Yeah, he's going to be back in the house this Friday, December 6th, 5th? Sixth, fifth, fifth, fifth, fifth, fifth, Friday, whatever Friday is. We're gonna have a little dinner, something casual. A little dinner.
You know, we're gonna have some specials. You're gonna have a credit towards... $25 credit. $25 credit towards the Espinosa purchase box, purchase that day.
You're gonna have intimate time with Erik Espinosa. He's gonna keep his pants on, but still gonna be intimate. And we're gonna do a podcast. Yes.
Yes. He's gonna do magic trick. Yeah. Maybe.
He always does. He likes his money tricks. He likes to do card tricks. Yeah.
Okay. Yes. All right, now on with the news. Make sure you come and buy your tickets, because we're almost sold out for Laspen as a thing.
If you've got the two-stick sampler. And you get a two-stick sampler. All-day access to the private lounge. All-day access to the private lounge.
For just $65. It's just $65. That's the lowest ticket you're ever going to get for this private lounge access. There were so many more benefits.
Thanks, Palmer. You're welcome. But, I mean, just Erik is... It's worth $65.
Oh, yeah. Easily. Yeah. The king of Miami.
The alpha dog. The alpha dog. Wow. All right.
Let's go. You done now? I'm done. All right.
Over 12,000 flights delayed yesterday due to the winter storm. Our long Thanksgiving travel nightmare is not yet over. FlightAware reported 12,008... Smooth.
, mostly due to major winter storm that has impacted the Midwest, the Western Great Lakes, and parts of the East Coast, which will get hit with another storm today and tomorrow. Tastes like Polstania. According to the National Weather Service, affected areas received 6 to 12 inches of snow and endured gusty winds and other hazardous travel conditions. The FAA reported that the airports of Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Rochester, BWI, and Ronald Reagan all had to de-ice planes.
Oh. 4 million expected to pass through the airports yesterday before the weather disruptions. They were still flying? Some did fly, but, what, 12,008 flights were delayed and 977 were canceled.
That's the worst. That's the worst. Travel delays just suck. Oh, my God.
Getting stuck in an airport somewhere. Especially if you have, like, 75 kids like we do. It's like we're going on a trail. It's a disaster.
You know, we got to watch out for the rattlesnakes and stuff. You got to take your ox and you got to cross that river. I couldn't figure out where the rattlesnakes were going. Yeah.
Now I get it. Making the great cross. Yeah. And then if the river's too deep, you don't even know if the river's too deep.
Right, so you don't know unless you cross, so you gotta send the scout out. And then there's the Indians. There's never a scout. Did you ever play that game?
I'm guessing Palmer didn't, by the way he was describing things. I didn't play the games, I actually did it, so I don't know what this game you guys are playing. It's not a game where you're starving out on the Great Plains. The Oregon Trail, it was a little floppy disk that you played in school.
I'm familiar with the floppy disk, thank you very much. You know what's funny is I saw a floppy disk on, oh, so I watched Tron Aries. LeBron Aries. Yeah.
And there was a floppy disk in it. I had to pause it and explain to Jax what that was. Oh. Even better.
I have a story as well. Yeah. I was watching NBA League Pass. Yeah.
And you can watch the halftime shows. Okay. Right? There was this kid who had a chance to win an autographed jersey.
Right. Right, by the main basketball player for that team. Who was? I think I was watching the Lakers game.
It was like Donichich. Somebody. It was either LeBron or Donichich. Yeah, Luka.
Luka Doncic? Donachic. That wasn't me, just for everybody to know. So the guy was like, all you have to do is just tell me what this is.
And then he held up the floppy disk. Oh, really? Yeah, and the kid was like, I don't know. Is it an air pad or something?
Frisbee? Air freshener? He's like, well, I guess you don't get the jersey until next time. Wow.
I mean, the kid had no chance at all. No, he was probably like 12 or 13. So, yeah, so he had no idea. So they didn't give him the jersey?
No. No, he didn't know what it was. You Los Angeles Lakers are just terrible people. Wow.
That was hilarious. You know, that's why I rooted for Larry Bird and the Celtics back in the day. Because I knew that he'd screw that kid over with the floppy dust. With the floppy?
Yeah. I knew it. So, yeah, the Oregon Trail. It was a video game.
Was that a text-based game? It was like an MS-DOS, if you will. But was there a video? No, it was like pictures.
Oh, sort of. Yeah, yeah. I've heard of it, but I never played it. Yeah, like the motion would be like moving, and then you would sink in the water.
Yeah, kind of like an old Frogger. The green screen thing. Yeah. Green screen.
Omnichrome screen, just one color green. It's what the original... No, it was colored. Oh, gotcha.
Yeah. It was colored. Oh. Yeah, like you saw a Blue Ox, like you were saying.
Text-based games. Like you would say, "I walked north," and then it would tell you what you saw. By the way, like and subscribe. Like and subscribe.
And comment below. And someone please tell Palmer what the hell Oregon Trail is. I'm familiar with it, I just never played it. This is too much already.
He's familiar with the original when he crossed. I actually crossed the Oregon Trail. I mean, it's a little different back then. With Sacagawea.
Right. Yeah. And Geronimo and Tonto. Yeah.
Geronimo and Tonto? Yeah. They were both together. Really?
They were brothers, you didn't know that? Before the Lone Ranger. Right, before the Lone Ranger. I hope so.
There was a lot of Rangers. Alright, News Nation reports gas prices have dropped below $3 a gallon to their lowest level in more than four years. That's pretty good. com.
A combination of lower oil costs, strong refinery output, and softer demand has pushed prices down across all 50 states over the past seven days. A trend the fuel price tracking company called exceptionally rare, Thanksgiving travel 82 million hitting the roads and skies. This is a welcome break for Americans ahead of the holiday season and comes with refinery maintenance, season concludes, and gasoline demand weakened seasonally, plus the new season of Landman just came out. Right.
That has to count for something. That was definitely part of this. Exactly. For sure.
Patrick DeHaan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a release in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas, several dozen stations are selling gas for under $2 per gallon. 50. $75 a gallon. But only non-flavored gasoline.
Non-flavored. Oh, UTL-approved. UTL-approved gasoline. But several counties saw prices slip below $4 on Friday.
S. oil production refineries, have also returned to strong utilization rates, boosting gasoline inventories at a time when consumption naturally tapers, Go Buddy said. The relief came as more than 70 million Americans hit the road for Thanksgiving, undercutting the idea that holiday travel pushes gas prices higher. We can end the myth now that gas prices go up due to the holidays, DeHaan wrote on X.
Guest buddy said the sub $3 national average could be the norm over the next four weeks, may even continue into the winter. DeHaan added, as we get close to 2026, the outlook for another friendly year for motorists is strengthening. What's the current barrel price for? 95 a gallon.
Oil. Oil. Probably cheaper than what they're selling the gas for. Oil.
95. again i type in oil what's it say 71 oh it's so close so yeah there's so oil company you're still happy i watched land man last season they said anywhere between 60 to 80 about the new stuff they're right in the middle oh yeah i started watching the new stuff of course of course you know you're struggling right now you're just hoping for something like you need some shows oh something to watch yeah land man's a good hit mayor of kingstown's a good hit I love it I love it I feel like now he's fighting a woman what now he's fighting Sopranos wife oh so you're watching I've seen the clips ah she got awfully wrinkled she got old Michael that happens a couple years went by she would have tightened that up or something she can't afford it Sopranos is off Soprano money gone Soprano money is gone she was like a nurse Nancy or some shit oh yeah she was on that nurse show never liked that show no I didn't watch that either no I've never seen that one We were watching something on USA yesterday, and they dropped the F-bomb. Is that allowed now on USA, I guess? It's always, premium networks have always been permitted to do that.
However, they've always, like, really not. You kind of cut it back? Until it's, like, later on in the evening. This was in, this was Sunday afternoon.
Yeah, maybe they're just like, oh. It was like, one after the other, they kept doing it. I'm like, they're just now doing it on purpose. Yeah.
What was the show? It was some movie we were watching. I don't remember. Oh.
I fell asleep. My wife was watching it. So you were shocked and awed with a few F-bombs, and then you took it, oh my god, that's incredible! Right, put me right out, I don't know what happened.
Wow, okay. S. shoppers opposed to break more records today. S.
consumer. Additional data will come into the form of earnings reports this week. Mike and Eagle delivers results on Tuesday, followed by Dollar Tree, Five Below, and Macy's on Wednesday, then Kroger, Ultra, and Dollar General report earnings on Thursday. Does Dollar General have online?
Probably. Cyber Monday, Dollar General deals. Buy online, two for one, Pepsi. Today only.
Right. And Victoria's Secret reports on, are they still around? They report on Friday. Yeah, well, yes, obviously.
They don't want to tell you about it. They don't have stores anymore. It must just be online. It's like Toys R Us.
They're popping up. Preliminary consumer sentiment data will also be revealed. I honestly don't know if that's true. Released by the University of Michigan on Friday.
They had their float on the Thanksgiving Day parade. Oh, yeah? Victoria's Secret? No, no, no.
They had like fucking lingerie just fucking floating around. Yeah, but they're freezing their ass off at 32 degrees. What, they have like the floating animals, like you said? No.
Live animals. Oh, they put them in balloons. They filled them full of helium. They're floating around.
I'm surprised that didn't make a clip. You know what? I got to go back and I got to actually make some clips. Apparently.
You're going to have to. Because how did that not, my God. Did it do the president thing? What's that?
Did it grab the president one? It casually added it at the end of one. 68th president, Donald Trump. Is he the 68th president?
Maybe he's coming back for a third term. You know, you got to, but kind of, kind of getting it. 21 years from now. You got to give it to our Americans, you know, the us.
Us. We are awesome. Dead up to our eyeballs. We're unsure of the economy.
Let's double down on Black Friday, because fuck it. Well, we're getting the $2,000 checks. Yeah, and that's not... Oh, speaking of which, next story.
Oh, that was it? We're just... Well, he brought it up. It was a good segue.
All right, let's keep it going. All right, if you were given a $2,000 tariff rebate check, what would you do with the money? Ooh. S.
importers. Trump said this week that a dividend of at least $2,000 will be paid to everyone, in parentheses, while also stating that it would exclude high-income people. So that's a little vague. We don't know exactly what that is, but it remains- I'm super broke.
You're super broke? Yeah. Oh, okay. It remains, well, so am I.
I work here. Right. Wow. So hurtful.
Look, if the boss is super broke, you think the employees are running around with money? Actually, in any business, in any business, the number two guy makes the most money. I'm the number three guy at best. Who's the number two guy?
Your brother. No, he's a part owner. Oh, so I am the number two guy. You're the number two guy.
Wow, then I should be making better. Probably. Probably, but the least amount of stress is you. It's in your hands, Palmer.
Right, I get up at two o'clock every morning because I'm sleeping so calm and peacefully. That has nothing to do with us. Yeah, you wake up at 2 if you worked at Publix. Well, I'd be stressed about that.
And it's usually at 3. I'd check what you'd text. Today was 2. I don't know what it was.
And you normally go to bed well before 11, because I text you at 11 and you never respond. Oh, I'm never up at 11. I can't possibly make it to 11. , 3, 3:30.
The other day we went to ICE for my wife, so when we got home, I don't know what, we just sort of got tired and fell asleep. I woke up and it hit my clock when I had to get up to the bathroom. It was 9:30. At night?
Yeah, 9:30 at night. I could have got up and started my day like, oh, it's like 1, 2 o'clock in the morning, hit it and it's 9:30. Like, what time did we go to bed? What time did we go to 6?
I mean, oh geez. No, we didn't get back till 7, so. You just recharged is what it was. Apparently, yeah.
Again, older Palmer. I can recharge. I can do like a 20 minute. If I did like a 20 minute and then I'm up, I'm like, okay, I'm good to go.
It sucks to go back to sleep at that point. Did you struggle to go back to sleep at night? Yeah, a little bit I did, yeah. Yeah, and now we can't take melatonin because it's bad for us.
Yeah, it's bad for you, you can't take it, right? It remains to be seen whether the idea will even come to fruition. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing whether Trump's tariffs are legal. Congress would need to sign off on any dividend check, and tariffs aren't bringing in enough to cover the amount of Trump's promises for these checks anyway.
Even so, at a time when affordability concerns are hitting a fever pitch, we're interested in hearing from you about how your finances are holding up, And if you were sent a check of this size, what would, they make it sound like it's so big. Yeah. What would put the, what would you put the money toward? Comment on this video and let's hear some of the good ideas.
Listen, I can briefly surmise this for the majority of the American people. $2,000. We're in debt up to our eyeballs. A lot of us don't care because apparently we're going to continue to spend because we need the 85 inch TV.
The 75 inch is just not cutting it. No, it's not. And the $2,000 isn't even a drop in the bucket for our credit card debt. Yeah, well, we need a jet ski.
Because that jet ski that just came out is absolutely amazing. He's in debt up to his eyeballs and he went to jet ski. No, I just need a down payment of $2,000. Just the DP.
Find me. Right. So, there you go. Find me.
So, I don't know whoever needed that intel, but that's the American people in a nutshell. Yeah. So, have at it. All right, we moving on?
Oh, you didn't want to say what you were buying, Paul? $2,000 isn't going to make a difference for me. It would make a difference for me and otherwise they would not give it to me. What is $2,000?
Nothing. I can make another round of credit card payments. The sad part is that a lot of people are at that breaking point where it's like, "You know what? Just fuck it.
Whatever. " That's what they're worried about. When everybody stops paying, then you've got a big problem, right? Like, "You know what?
" Yeah. It's too high. What are you going to do? What are you going to do?
You going to take my couch? Right, you going to come in? Come get it. The couch is in the wife's name.
People have no savings. So... Yeah, come get my couch. My dog already fucking tore it up.
Right? Exactly. Come get this cat. Take my cat.
All right. And ACHP Sports here with the sports is Boots. This is going to be great. Oh, you sent it?
I sent it to you. With no notice. Okay. 68th president.
68th president of the United States. All right. Hello, peoples. Peoples.
I'm back. All right. Alright, Boots World of Sports and Gambling. Here we go.
Former Bengals quarterback leads alma mater to title in first year as head coach. Former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, Carson Palmer, has guided his alma mater to a title in his first year as head coach, as head football coach. Palmer's Santa Margarita Catholic Eagles, won their first CIF Southern Section Division I championship since 2011. The Eagles ranked number 12 nationally, dominated number 5 ranked Centennial, the top-ranked team in California, with a decisive 42-7 victory at the Rose Bowl, Tulane, Tulane, commit Trace Johnson, was instrumental in the win, throwing three touchdown passes in the first half and four overall USC commit, Trent Mosley was a standout performer, catching only two touchdown passes, only, He didn't say only, Are you reading along?
Yes. In case you weren't here, I had to put it on the teleprompter. Oh, okay, well, I'm here. Running for two more and amassing 292 receiving yards.
Palmer played home games for USC at the stadium and won a Heisman Trophy. It's totally different, but even more special, and I don't know why yet, he said to LA Times, comparing the trophies. Santa Margarita went 5-7 last season and 5-6 the year before. The Eagles now prepare for the CIF Open Division State Championship game against De La Salle on December 13th.
Palmer, 45, returned to Santa Margarita last year to assist informally. His son, Fletch, is a quarterback in the 2028 class. Palmer went 32-2-1 as a starter at the school in the late 1990s. The 1990s.
The 1990s. The 1990s. Jeez Louise. I'm trying to read ahead as I'm going here.
The 1990s. And won back-to-back state titles. Palmer was the number one overall pick of the Bengals in the 2003 NFL Draft and played 15 seasons in the league. He was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and retired in 2018.
Wow. And Boots Pick of the Week. Yeah, which Boots Pick of the Week? Moneymakers Pick of the Week.
Minus seven spread on the Patriots tonight. Can't do tonight. Can't do tonight. The show's tomorrow.
We talked about this. Oh, we did talk about this. Oh, my God. You're taking the pass.
Let's do. This comes out tomorrow? Yes. Yeah.
Let's do the magic, Orlando magic tomorrow. Yeah. We'll do the spread at six and a half, plus six and a half. Okay.
I got news for you. With the pass minus seven, who are they playing? The Giants. Yeah.
That's not going to happen. Where is it at? In New York? No.
It's in New England. Well, they both kind of play the same place. No, it's actually two totally different places. One's in New Jersey, and one's in Rutherford Stadium, Massachusetts.
Okay, they're playing the Patriots in New England. Okay, so... And I wonder if it's gonna be snowing. So the Giants are plus seven?
Yeah. The Giants are gonna cover. You think? Here's what I'm thinking, guys.
Is it on me? Yeah, it's on me. Here's my thoughts. If you guys...
We're gonna track this. So we had the one bet so far, And that was wrong. And he lost. Yeah.
And now we're going to follow the Patriots here, minus seven. If that's wrong. If there's a third consecutive wrong bet, I think the trick to this will just be betting the opposite of whatever Boots tells you to do. Maybe, yeah.
Even though he's got $7,000 in the bank account from 50 bucks. But now we're starting to have some questions. Okay, so the Magic game is when? Tomorrow.
Tomorrow? Yeah, tomorrow is the quarterfinals. And you think that they're gonna, uh, what's the spread? What'd you say?
I said plus six and a half. You took the magic plus six and a half. Yeah, I think they're gonna lose. Who are they playing?
They're playing the, um, the 76ers. Oh. Again? Yeah, because this is the quarterfinals for the cup.
Oh, but didn't they just whoop their ass? Yeah, they did, but, uh, Embiid wasn't there, uh, Paul George wasn't there, um, and Keontae George wasn't there. Deontay George wasn't there. Are they all coming back?
Oh, yeah. The quarterfinals. Where were they? They were resting for soreness.
Oh, they were resting. Yeah. Oh. Okay.
Which has been kind of aggravating in the NBA. Yeah, it's ridiculous. They've been doing this a lot with players. Extremely obnoxious.
Yeah. I caught the Washington game last night. Yeah. Did you watch the Washington game?
Are you talking about football or are you talking about basketball? Yeah. Denver, Washington. I did not.
Oh, man. It ended in stellar fashion. Yeah. They lost.
Oh. Marcus Mariota. He did his standard Marcus Mariota. Chokes in it.
Yeah. Threw the ball right out of the guy's hands. They should have won. You know, the Redskins, or whatever you want to call them nowadays, the Washington Commanders.
They're the Commanders, sir. Football team, whatever. They've come a long way, to be honest. You know, they used to be great when Clint Poors was there and, you know, all those great guys.
guys but um they went on such a downward spiral and then when they changed the team name it was like even worse you know and and now they're doing not too bad i mean with marcus mariota it's kind of crazy you know being a backup and coming in and still covering a little bit for uh what's his name jayden daniels jayden daniels i'm sorry he's been gone for so many games it's Like, you forget the guy. How do you forget Jaden Daniels? Right. How do you forget Jaden Daniels?
Do you think that it's time to move on past a defensive head coach? Is it officially the point where we can no longer do this? Is Jaden Davis the defensive head coach? Jaden Daniels is the quarterback for Washington.
I don't know. Just trying to interject. I appreciate it. I just want a little camera time.
Yeah. Here I am. Dan Quinn, he was the former defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys. Cowboys.
Ah, Cowboys. It was on a bit of a tear as of late. The Pickenson-Lamb thing is real. Yeah.
So, you're thinking that the commanders should move on from their defensive coordinator? Is that what you're asking? No, I'm just saying that if you're a defensive coordinator, should you become a head coach at this point? Has the game evolved where that's not the right move?
I don't think so, because I know how everybody always says defense wins games. But you still got to score, right? You got to put the points up. Well, you said I don't think so, but you're kind of arguing my point.
Cricket? Cricket? Oh, you're saying a defensive coordinator should not be the head coach? Correct.
Yeah, no, I agree. Oh. Yeah, because I think most of the greatest coaches of all time have been from the offensive side. You know, whether they played, you know, on the offense when they were playing football or whether they were offensive coordinator or anything with the offense, those guys are great.
I just think the game's evolved now. But you still can't have Mike McDaniels as a coach. It's terrible. Yeah, he's...
It's pretty bad. Did they lose? No, they won. They won?
Who did they play? Saints. They better have won. Oh, I'm glad they beat the Saints.
That makes me happy. Okay. All right. All right, we're back in?
Back in. Back in. Thank you for your sports time, Boots. This information is for entertainment purposes only.
Participants must be 21 of age. All wages include risks. Know your limits. If gambling becomes a problem, seek help at 1-800-522-477.
org or just call boots and I'll help you guys find the number. Okay. Call boots. We have to say that.
Cause somebody bets and goes, I heard you. Right. Exactly. All right, Mike, you got a video for us?
Yeah, I have two before I put my phone back down. I have two videos. Do you want the funny one first? Whichever one you want.
Whichever one you want. All right. Hold on. I'm going to send it to you right now.
I'm going to start with, I'm gonna start with a funny one because I saw this. It was fucking awesome. This is that group chat where Boots didn't submit any story ideas. " I reckon 2017.
There wasn't really any stories. Oh, that's funny. I found an hour's worth. Palmer, go ahead with your video.
Put it on my glasses so I can see it. Give us some audio. Let me know when you start it. Start it.
All right, my volume turned off. Put it down. Oh, I thought you said give us some audio. Yeah, no, put it, we, this does not help the camera.
Oh, well, I was turning it down. Okay, all right. You want the volume up? Yes.
All right, hold on, I gotta start over there. Turn the volume up. So you can hear it. Well, I was putting it to the microphone.
Oh, no, don't do that. We'll use regular audio. Lower it. Lower it.
Out of your face. He has to be able to see it. fuck you no way oh my god did you see that that guy is amazing that is the Jenga master right there yes that was amazing can you imagine like you think you got this guy dead to rights on the game he is the Shaolin he just chops the piece out he's the karate kid I thought that was absolutely incredible I like how he yelled fuck you yeah very reasonable reaction well yeah Yeah, because the other guy was like, dude, I can't even take one freaking piece out, dude, over here karate choppin' shit. All right, next video.
Oh, the next video is more on the cigar realm of things. So, non-funny. No, non-funny. But, I think this is a problem.
Uh-oh. You can't send it? It's uploading. Oh, it's a big one.
I hope I didn't mess this up. Yeah, Palmer's got to be able to see the screen. Remember, he's older. All right, go ahead.
Turn up the volume. His bifocals only let him see it. I want you to hear it. It's not come through yet.
There it is. The truth about smoking a cigar. All right. Oh, I saw this.
Cancer. Well, cigars are great. So, I've got two studies for you. Cigars are great.
Do you think that cigars give you cancer? They make it more likely that you'll die. Would you say that the scientific consensus is that cigars lead to an increased risk of mortality from things like cancer, heart disease or whatever? Yes.
Okay. What studies are you going to cite? None of them. They're all fake.
None of them. They don't exist, is the problem. Now, there are two studies conducted by the American Cancer Society and I think a government agency, but I forget which one, so I won't state it. It might have been the American Medical Association.
Both tested the health effects of premium cigars, and Mayflower cigars are long filler, all tobacco, premium cigars, made at the very finest factory in Estonia, Nicaragua. Thank you very much. So these two studies conducted by people who have no interest in proving that cigars are basically fine in moderation, they determined that up to as many as four cigars per day has no increased risk that is statistically significant. with mortality in fact one of the studies found that premium cigar smokers who smoke in moderation meaning fewer than four per day actually lives actually live they slightly live longer um okay really yeah so we're gonna be like highlander now we have quoted this statistic that we've seen and i've actually put up the the data in the past on some of our yes right But, for one, I'm not on a podium, and if I was on a podium, I'd be able to tell you exactly what the stats were, and for two, I wouldn't over-exaggerate them.
So, saying that it's four cigars a day, if you look at the data, that's not true. I was going to say, I thought it was two. Yes, it's two. It's two cigars a day.
There's no mortality increase. Right, right. And then the other thing that I don't like about this is when you state something that it's, oh, you're actually going to be healthier and live longer, that you can't make that statement based on the fact that these people are cigar smokers or not, right? Sure.
You can consider the fact that these people were probably more affluent, maybe they have more money, maybe they have better health care, maybe they take care of themselves, maybe they, you know, they exercise, maybe they have better diets and all these other things. There's a lot of different variables. Yeah. But, you know, there's a lot of different variables.
To throw that out there, I think that's a little reckless. It's a bit much. Right? Yeah.
What do you think, Boots? Because Palmer's going to be nothing. No, you think that just makes it worse? I think that this is the problem that happens with our society, especially on a lot of these short clips.
You see all these things, it's like, you know. Because if you go to check that guy's information, he exaggerated, like you said, so that just makes it look bad. Well, for one, it discredits him. Right.
There's a rebuttal. But more often than not, everybody's doing something like that, right? They all, for the most part, will say, they'll over-embellish on a comment. " It's just, everybody knows.
Yeah, it's just a thing. So, you know, like, can we just give the information without it being over-embellished? Like, you know, even the tax credits, or, you know, how to dodge income, and all these other things that you see pop up on my feed. And I'm like, "Well, that's not true.
Like, that's not right. " Sure, right. Why isn't there an association of whoever for the cigar industry that is collecting this data or trying this data? Like has nobody experimented with this where they go, okay, let's watch this guy over, you know, 30 years?
Well, there are, I mean, there are studies that show it. It's not the Premium Cigar Association, but there's actually, you know. No, yeah, no, I know there's other ones, but I'm saying how come the cigar industry has not. We have all these organizations, the PCA, the CAA, the CRA, the HWPT, or whatever it is, but doesn't one of them have somebody do a study?
I don't know, over 30 years, how are you going to watch somebody over 30 years, then we won't have the information for 40 years. But still, I mean, they could do a study, you think, or pay for a study or something. That's true. You know, I think one of the hard parts is, when you do a study is, if it's intended, if you want positive outlooks, like positive returns, And you're the Premium Cigar Association, you're probably going to have a bias, right?
Just like if you're the Cancer Society, and you want to prove that something causes cancer, you're also could be biased, you could also skew things. Right, so who did they say did the study where it's two cigars? One of them, he said, was the American Cancer Society. Well, he did, but...
gov or something like that. So government companies. Yeah. What does that stand for?
I mean, there's got to be, there's got to be a thing out there where this is all people do are studies. Well, yes, but the problem is that more often than not, a lot of these statistics, no matter which way you look, they're purposely skewed, right? Well, if you said the Cancer Society did the study where it says you can have two cigars, they didn't skew it. Well, but they also have data on there that shows where it's bad for you.
Well, everything's bad for you to a point. Right. Yeah, everything's good in moderation. Right.
If you drink too much water, it's bad for you. Like there's this guy, Biolane, I dig his stuff, like he'll go back and look at some of the studies and show you why it's flawed, right? Like look at the source, look at where they took the data and the snippet, and then he'll tell you, well look, it's actually the opposite of what they're saying to you because they're giving you this information from this one piece of fragment here, when in all reality, this is it, right? Right, right.
But there's really not a lot of studies to begin with with cigars, correct? Yeah. So, I mean, that maybe in itself could just prove that, hey, they don't do a lot of studies on it because there was nothing really found. That's true.
That's true. But it still has a bad stigma. That's the unfortunate thing. Yeah.
You know. Okay, well, I just want to show you. I wish that he'd have done that a little bit differently. Yeah.
Have you ever had a Mayflower Cigar? No. I haven't either. Boots?
I've never heard of those. Is that a big company? I don't know, he was at PCA. Yeah, he came out last year, I believe.
There's a letter behind you on the table. Used to be. No, it's right there by the printer. Now the cigar news, it's burning the industry.
Paul Stulak, Slate's Blue Lighting Sky for January release. Paul Stulak Cigars will be ringing in the new year with a full release of a new line called Blue Lightning Clickety Clickety Click Click. What? The line features a blend of Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over another clickety click click.
Will you stop the clicking, please? It's on par. Wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and filler, the cigars are made at the Las Villas Cigar Factory with the production overseen by Guillermo Pena. Peña.
Peña. It will be offered in the same four sizes as the Red Screaming Sun, obviously, and the White Blinding Light. Of course it will be exactly the same as those two cigars that we've never heard of. Paul Stulek, Blue Lightning Sky Robusto.
He's got a Torpedo, he's got a Toro, he's got a Lancero. Four sizes will be available in 25-count boxes, featured a corresponding blue color scheme. As for pricing, Stulek told Half Wheel that the estimates that they'll be around the $10 mark. But he has not finalized pricing yet, he is still working through the recent cost increases associated with cigar making, so it might be maybe ten dollars, maybe more.
While the full release is slated for January, the line received a soft launch over the, okay, now he's clicking over there. It's on par with the cigar. It's not really called the clickety-clickety, dude, he was being a smartass. I was being a smartass, because he was clickety-clickin.
Oh, well don't be a smartass, I wouldn't believe you. I believe you. With a 6x52 Toro called the Catman Edition, named for Philip Catman Cohn, a cigar blogger. Anybody heard of Mr.
Catman? Yes, I have. Oh, have you? Yes, he's actually purchased from us in the past, he likes Powstanie as well.
Oh, very nice man, I like him a lot. That's right, you better say nice things about Catman. It debuted in late July, he should have a cigar in there, we should make the Powstanie Catman. The Powstanie Catman?
Yes. With 120 bundles of 10 cigars, followed by a second release in the late September of 150 additional bundles. Oh. Are we going to carry the Catman?
No, I'm sorry, I didn't know that Paul Stulak was still around, like I thought that he faded out years ago. Oh, is that when he made the white and the red? Now he's making the blue? Maybe.
Oh, very patriotic. Red, white, and blue. Murca. Murca.
He's got a skull, or he had a skull on his logo back in the day. Oh. Like the Viaje skull, or? No, it was a different skull.
Completely different skull. It kind of reminded me of like Temple of Doom, Indiana Jonesy skull. Oh. Oh, Kalimas from Rural of the World.
Kalimas. Shatide. All right. Principal releases a 2025 Accomplice Holiday Bauble.
Who? What? No. You said Principal?
Principal? Principal? Principal? Principal?
Principal? Principal? Principal? It could go either way.
There's no umlauts and nothing? No umlauts. Releases a 2025 Accomplice Holiday Bauble. Like a bobblehead?
I don't know. It's called Bauble. Bauble? It means little.
Bubble, Bauble. The 2025 edition of Principal Cigars Accomplice Holiday Bubble, its annual Christmas limited edition, is now available, are we going to carry those? No. 5x60 Perfecto Vitola, which is designed to mimic a Christmas tree ornament, and also gets a new blend, another annual tradition for the line, and this year's release marks the first time it has used a Maduro wrapper.
Oh. Ever. Maduro what? That wrapper comes from Mexican San Andreas region.
Thank you. S. grown tobacco, the company calls the wrapper Super Aromatic, and says that the profile delivers rich, warming flavors, perfect for the season. Rich, warming, super aromatic flavors.
For the season. For the season. Kellner Boutique Factory, once again, have you heard of them? Melner, Boutique Factory.
Sounds like a furniture store. Maybe. Sounds familiar. Once again, produces a cigar.
Its principle is not disclosed in production numbers, but in previous years you referred to it as tiny. Not a lot. Not a lot. Pricing is set at $15 per cigar and $60 for a box of four cigars.
A box of four? It's just a little Christmas box. Okay. They look like ornaments.
You can hang them on your tree. And then smoke them. And then smoke them. Well, you can't hang the cigars on your tree.
Why not? The box. What? You hang the box?
No, you hang the cigars. Does it come with a hook? You could put a hook on it. It's just a cigar.
Yeah? Sure. So you're just going to put cigars all around your Christmas tree? Well, there's only four, so not all over.
They have to be strategically regionally placed. Yeah. So everybody sees it. Right in the front so you can grab them so you can smoke them.
Right. There you go. Where are you going? Taking this ornament outside.
Just smoke it out and he'll be right back. Smoke this ornament. Trying to help clean up. Yeah, just trying to help you at the end of the season.
Wow. San Andreas Maduro ornament. Non-disclosed varietals. The bubble.
The bubble. All right, the Octopussy Cigar set by Felipe Gregorio, a new limited edition line of cigars and accessories inspired by James Bond. Oh. Remember Philip Wynn?
Who? Philip Wynn. No. Is this a villain?
No, no. He's a cigar maker behind the Felipe Giorgio and Polo de Oro brands The owner of Felipe Giorgio Cigars. Oh, that guy. Oh, Phillip.
Yeah. Felipe. It's Felipe, not Phillip. Oh, I know him as Phillip.
Oh, yeah. I call him Flip. Oh, you call him Flip? Yeah, that's my guy.
James Bond fans might recall the 2012 Octopussy Cigar called Pussy Galore. Oh, boy. Named after a character from Goldfinger, now Wynn resumes the spy theme with a limited edition box also set inspired by the 1993 Bond film Octopussy. This is not an exaggerated name, right?
This is a real story. Wow. The eponymous set includes a humidor, lighter cutter, all done in carbon fiber, and a new line of octopussy cigars made in the Dominican Republic. He coughed, right?
As I said, octopussy. Imprinted with a cellulipod, which means octopus. Right. For which it was, well, I was helping boots.
Thank you. Yeah, no problem. Thanks. It was named each, it was named.
It's called the clickety-clickety. Yeah, clickety-clickety. Each carbon fiber humidor holds 26 octopussy cigars, 6 inches by 52 ring gauge, and what comes with two blends: Coral Red or Sepia Maduro. Okay.
Coral Red is medium embodied and made with the Rosado Ecuador Habano wrapper, while the more full-bodied Sepia Maduro is wrapped in a leaf of Mexican Negrito. Negrito. From San Andreas. Ooh.
Do you think, are you done? No. Both cigars consist of a Costa Rican Palo de Oro binder and filler blend of Brazilian Nicaraguan and Dominican Tobacco. Also, to win, all the fillers have been aged for seven years.
Oh. I'm still not done. All the fillers have been aged. You have more?
I have more. Oh my god, hurry up. The set has a suggested retail price of? Ooh, $20 a stick.
The set? Yes, it's the set. So that's the cigar, the lighter, the cutter. Oh, you get the strings, the guitar.
You get everything. You said there was how many cigars? I didn't say. Oh.
Not that I recall. $170. Butch? I'm going to guess $300 for an Octopussy.
$728 for that Octopussy. Holy. Only 500 boxes of each blend have been produced for a total of a thousand sets. This was supposed to have come out last year, but, you know, the Octopussy wasn't ready.
The manufacturing delays with the box. You've got to wait for that Octopussy. Oh, God. Later release date.
The cigars are produced in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic at the ABAM factory where Ren rents space with rollers dedicated to his cigars. Are the... You can rent space in a cigar factory, apparently? Sure.
Put in your own rollers? Yeah. Money's money. Okay, now I'm done.
And we're done here. Oh, now you're done. Now I'm done with the octopus. Okay, here's my question.
Yes. Do the El Pupo guys... Oh, that's right. The trademark infringement issue with Octopussy.
I don't know. Because that means octopus. Right. El Pupo.
Well, it's spelled differently. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. The octopus is an octopus.
You know, they look rather similar now that you mention it. Maybe El Pupo didn't want to come out with a cigar. They sold their cigar to Octopussy. All I'm saying is that's really similar.
That's really similar. Well, you would think he would have to get some kind of rights from the movie company that made the movie, or you think it's expired by now? I mean, it's an old movie. Because that's the name of something in the movie?
He said it was in the 90s. Octopussy? Yeah. Was that the 90s?
He said 92. Oh, did he? Yeah. Or is that when they came out with the other cigar?
I don't know. They came out with it 30 years ago? Could be. The first one?
The Pussy Galore. When the boutique cigars first started? Let me look this up. because Octopussy is what's his name?
Sean Connery? Yes. I think it was the last movie he ever did. In the James Bond?
Yes. 1993 is when it came out? Yeah. Wow.
Seemed longer. 1983. I was negative one. I graduated high school in two years.
That's when the movie came out? Yep. That was definitely not even thought of. I don't know.
Sounds like trademark infringement to me, buddy. It could be a problem. Could be a cease and desist coming. Uh oh, can't wait till the news next week.
Artisan Tobacco, Tell Tobaccos. El Pupo is suing Octopussy. The Octopus is suing the Octopus. The Octopus is suing the Octopus.
Octopus Wars. Is one feminine? Is one feminine? Octopus A?
That would be feminine. Not to be confused with Pussy Galore, which is also feminine. Oh. But no Octopus involved in that one.
The name of the Cigars, by the way. Zero. Yeah. Movie titles and cigars.
All right, it's now time for the industry's favorite game. Yeah. What's the score? We've been told they play this at the Davidoff offices.
What? Yes. After we started it? No, they play along with us every week.
Oh, they play along with us. Yes, they don't do their own version. Oh, okay. Who wants to do all this work besides me?
Yeah. It could be a trademark infringement. They can play as long as they listen. It's the idea of doing the game.
Okay. All right, this week's first cigar came out November 29, 2025 was a review from Charlie Minato. Great. C.
Newman Limited Edition Reviews USA, the Leroy Neiman 2025 Collectors Edition. Leroy's got a cigar, huh? Leroy Neiman, not a regular Leroy. Oh.
Do you want to go first? Yeah, sure. I'll go first. I'm going to go 86.
It's the holiday season. Do-do-do-do-do-do. And whoop-de-do. Michael.
88. 88, and what did he say? 86. The Cigar Reviewed's Leroy Neiman 2025 Collector's Edition.
It's from the USA. Oh, America. C. Newman factory in Tampa.
Ecuador Habano Rosado Binder USA Florida Sun Grown. I'm going down. Yummy. Filler Undisclosed.
5 by 52 round cigar. Sells for $22. Came out in October 2025. They smoked three cigars.
And Bootsie, what did you got? 82. 82. Big drop there.
We heard Florida sun growing and went poof. Yeah. Oh. Oh.
Now you understand. It was grown in the sand. 84. Well, you don't know how much of it's in there.
It could be like a fragment. Yeah, they just, uh, silver, silver Lonnie and a boop and a boop. And we just wave it past it back and forth, back and forth. All right.
He didn't get the guesses number. I said 84. He said 84. Number one.
Yes. Retro Hills are more vibrant and much more enjoyable than the flavors in the mouth. Joined by saltiness, a butter creaminess, harshness, and some caramel. The first bit of desperate, desperately needed sweetness.
Wow. Butter. I mean, Charlie always makes everything sound like ice cream. Everything sounds delicious when Charlie talks about it.
I'm going to stick at 82, though. You know what I want to do with the PCA? I want Charlie to come over and tell us what food they have over in the little cafeteria thing over there. Yeah.
And describe it to us. No, no, he doesn't eat food. Sounds delicious. He's not eating that.
I just wanted to describe it. You don't have to eat it. I'm going to stick 84. It is.
You still said 84. Yep. 82, 84. Oh, he went down to 82.
No, I've been out there. He's been there. Oh. All right.
Next clue. The first cigar in the best of the bunch in the second third, delivering tons of leather over butterscotch and melon sweetness, creating a retrohale that is complex, layered, and far more compelling than the main palate. 82. I wasn't paying attention.
84. Continue. Why the hell am I doing this if you're not going to listen? I'm just listening.
Well, listen, I just got a, we got an angry text from Ronnie, he wants to know where his warbearer are. We can send him the tracking. Yeah, I know, but you know how this works. Yeah, I understand.
Ronnie gets angry. Clue number three. I suspect the paint is to blame, but the inside of the box has some foul notes that remind me of a fish market. Lame it on the paint.
Despite being wrapped in cellophane, some of that smell makes it over to the cigars themselves. I don't think it's the paint, fella. Mmm. I'm definitely gonna go to 80.
I'm gonna come down to 82. Do fish and lacquer smell the same? I don't think so. I don't think so.
I totally do. Just curious. Alright, final thought. Maybe they're kept in an igloo or something.
Oh, maybe. Most of the cigars I smoked are cigars I'm smoking for review. Among the cigars that are smoked not for review, most of those are cigars I smoked once, as I'm interested in trying it, usually because one of the other reviewers has high praise or interesting things to say about it. Got it.
The Leroy Neiman 2023 Collector's Edition was one of the few cigars that I kept smoking, probably the only cigar in 2024 that made it into my very limited rotation of cigars. And 2024 version was good but nowhere near the original and unfortunately I think the 2025 is an even further step back. While there were puffs that remind me of the original release, the majority of the puffs were in clear need of some contrasting flavors to help with complexity. From a technical perspective, the cigar did almost everything well, but there's something missing, flavor-wise.
God, that's hard to guess with Charlie. And lacquer-flavored, da-da-da-da, and fish guts. We still have one more, right? The final thought.
Nope, that was the final thought. That was it right there. That's why it was so long. I don't think he listens either.
I'm gonna go to 84, only because I don't think Charlie is going to go super low on this. He says it's in his limited rotation, but this one he didn't like, but it's still 20-24 was in his limited rotation. No, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, this is 25.
He didn't really like that, but this one's not in the rotation, but it's only he's I don't think he's gonna go down. This one smells like fish and butter. So so pointing down for those of you at home doesn't get a camera, you already said 84. Yeah, he's looking for a clue again.
Yeah, come on Palmer. I'm not paying attention. Sorry. I'm going to go 83.
What did Boots say? 84. Boots wins 89. Yes!
Wow. I thought you'd go up. I really thought you'd go up. He was so low.
I was going to go up. It sounded like Palmer was giving us the clue to go down. It did sound like that. Yeah.
He sabotaged us. I like that he says it smelled like fish. It smells like fish. It smells like fish and he still gave it an 89.
Right, exactly. You know, it burned really well. It tasted like shit, but it burned really well. - Well, 92.
- Burned in. - It's 700. - Yeah. - All right, cigar number two.
- Correct. - This is the first cigar they ever reviewed. - Ever. - Ever.
This is the oldest cigar in their database. - Is it a Fuente? - Yes. - Oh, God.
- Casa Fuente Pyramid number two. - Never smoked it. - This is from Brooks. Published April 13th, 2009.
- 75. - This is the first cigar he ever did? First cigar that Half Wheel has in their database. I feel like it has to be high because they want to start off with a bang.
Oh, oh, look at you. So I'm going to go with an 86. That's not high. That's not high.
Well, high enough. If you're going to be a cigar reviewer, I would go low for cigar. Yes. I don't remember what this says, but that's what I would do.
I would trash one. Exactly. If you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly. There you go.
It's Fuente. He's not going to trash it. Okay. Okay.
Again, I don't know what this is scored. I don't remember, but the lowest scores on their site are mostly Fuentes. What? Don't tell him that.
He doesn't remember. There was one that was like a 30-something. I'm not saying they're all that way. That was the "My Father Baseball".
Yeah. It apparently was not even a real cigar. You're not supposed to smoke that. It's just for looks.
You actually play baseball with it. Oh. Country of Origin, Dominican Republic, Factory Tablacalera, A Fuente, Rapper, Cameroon. Back when they could get Cameroon.
Yeah, well. Binder, Dominican Republic, Filler, Dominican Republic, Size, six and three-eighths by $252. It's a $26 cigar back in 2009. Number of cigars smoked the review?
Three. Seems to be something they started with, and they thought this was a good number. 80. I'm going to stick at 86.
Alright, clue number one. It's a great looking stick and has an even better looking band. I'm a sucker for a high quality band, and this does not disappoint, in parentheses. The wrapper was superb and had a really nice, sweet, spicy smell to it when I put it to my nose.
Its cap was perfect. All of these that I've ever smoked have been. 87. Oh, man, he's jumping.
87. I'm going to stick at 86. And... Clue number two.
After lighting it and smoking for the first third of the cigar, the dominant flavor was what I would call... He would call Spicy Earth. He loves that, cinnamon, here comes cinnamon. Brooks is a cinnamon guy.
Not overpowering in any way, but a nice medium strength. The burn was nice and even up to this point. The burn was nice and even up to this point. No cinnamon, sorry.
Spicy Earth. Spicy Earth. So he's eating Earth that's spicy. 88.
Was it like Mexican Earth or? Spicy Earth. It's just Earth. It's just spicy, okay.
Um, he's got to stop eating tacos while he's doing this. Yeah, stop eating tacos while you're doing it. I'm gonna, what'd you say? 88.
I said it's spicier. Damn. Um, yeah. 89.
Woo! While the, third clue, while the sticks look great and the pre-light draw was one of the best dry draws I've had, the cigar at no point surprised me with complexity from the first, third, Through the last third, the profile stayed fairly similar. 89. Everything is screaming that this cigar is great to him.
89. Yeah, you know, I know people ain't gonna like this, but 89, I gotta stay there. Whoa. I gotta stay there.
In a bold move, Boots decides to say the exact story like he said. Wait, wait, wait, is this the final thought? No. Now the final thought's coming next.
Okay, yeah, okay. So now you're at 89. I'm at 89. Ooh, we're in neck and neck.
Final thought. It was a true pleasure to smoke this, not because of its complexity, it was not the most complex cigar I have ever tasted for sure, in quotation or parentheses, but for its quality, which you could smell and taste every second. That's it. Back in the old days, apparently final thoughts were not very long.
Very small final thoughts. Ninety-one. Ooh, I'm sticking at eighty-nine. Ninety-one.
Oh, and I won again. He won the first one. No, but he hit it on the head. He didn't nail it.
5, he got one. Oh, I don't know how you guys score him. I just play the game. I win again.
Unbelievable. He wins again. A 91? A 91.
Didn't you learn from the recent one? The cigar didn't have to taste great. It just had to burn well in order for a time. All he cares is how it burns.
Yes. I don't care what the hell it is. That's a half wheel, where we care how it burns and not how it tastes. Yeah.
All right, listener of the week is Gary at Bogart Cigar. He's having some health issues, and we wish him the best. Okay, we wish you the best, Gary. And then the shop of the week, Underground Imperium in the Bahamas.
Okay, that's nice. We just placed another order and have bears on the way to the Bahamas. We're going international, I guess. I love that.
All right, anything else from you? That's it. Anything else from you, Boots? Make sure you like and subscribe.
Um, just come and watch us on the Patreon. Ooh, yeah, Patreon's up next. All right, guys, we gotta go. This has been episode 420 of Cigar Hoster Podcast.
Bye-bye. Goodbye. It makes a statement. com before they're gone!
Show Notes
On todays show
Over 12K flights delayed yesterday on the busiest travel day of the year.
Gas prices at a all time low in four years
Today is cyber Monday
If you were given a $2,000 tariff ‘rebate check,’ what would you do with the money?
Former Bengals QB leads his alma mater to title in 1st year as head coach
In Cigars news
Slate Blue Lighting Sky getting a 2026 release
A new Holiday Bauble 2025
And James Bond Gets a second cigar
Then we have a the industry’s favorite game What’s The Score