ACHP Episode 439 Stop Wasting Time

Episode Summary

Mike Palmer closes out 2025 with the New Year's Eve edition of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast, joined by co-host Steve Onkevich and engineer Michael "Boots" Hippelhauser. The crew opens with a rundown of non-cigar headlines — a new measles case confirmed in Contra Costa County, California and a debate over who actually has two documented MMR doses; former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua's car crash outside Lagos, Nigeria that killed two members of his team; and a Texas teen who went missing on Christmas Eve, which sparks a conversation about human trafficking awareness and personal safety. Along the way, Michael drops the show's biggest personal news of the year: he and his wife are expecting a baby boy in July.

On the cigar side, the guys cover the announcement that Cigars International will open its 15th superstore — a 9,900-square-foot location in Orlando's Millenia District with an 8,700-square-foot lounge and humidor, a full-service bar, over 600 brands and a large outdoor patio — with a grand opening set for January 10, 2026. They get an early, unfiltered review of the soft opening from a friend (the TV-to-seating layout is apparently a problem) and discuss what a big-box arrival means for small Orlando-area retailers. The second cigar story covers Don Emanuel Cigars expanding into South Africa through distributor Amano Cigars, its first entry into the African market, plus the brand's Anuki line blended alongside Eladio Diaz. The crew also puzzles over a mysterious new Arturo Fuente Opus X release called Templo de Oro that landed at their shop with zero press coverage — a text to Charlie Minato of halfwheel yields nothing.

The "What's the Score?" segment tackles Charlie Minato's halfwheel review of the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Overseas No. 1, an international-only, $29.50 release from Joya de Nicaragua's factory with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Mexican San Andrés Negro binder, and Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania filler. Notes include leather, dry soil, nuttiness, cocoa and caramel corn, with one badly behaving third sample that Minato ultimately writes off as a miss — final score 88.

The episode wraps with a rapid-fire recap of 2025's biggest stories: Trump's sweeping April tariff announcement and the still-undecided Supreme Court case around it, the Elon Musk–Trump falling out after DOGE, the record-setting Pacific Palisades and Eaton wildfires in California, and the televised Oval Office confrontation with Ukrainian President Zelensky. Plus CHPod swag deals at chpod.com, the in-store 85-inch 4K TV raffle, and a Patreon segment smoking the Mirafell La Estancia.

In This Episode

1. 01
   CHPod Swag & Patreon Preview
   Palmer and Michael plug chpod.com merch deals and tease the Patreon segment featuring the Mirafell La Estancia robusto and 'Alan Rubin-gate.'
2. 02
   Measles Outbreak Talk
   A confirmed measles case in Contra Costa County, California prompts a debate about MMR doses, vaccine failure and who on the show is actually immune.
3. 03
   Anthony Joshua's Nigeria Car Crash
   The former heavyweight champ is hospitalized for observation after a Lagos-area crash that killed two team members, leading to stories about driving in Nicaragua and China.
4. 04
   Missing Texas Teen & Personal Safety
   A Christmas Eve disappearance near the Mexico border sparks a sobering conversation about human trafficking and situational awareness.
5. 05
   Baby Announcement
   Michael surprises Palmer and Steve with news that he's having a baby boy with a July 12 due date.
6. 06
   Cigars International Opens in Orlando
   CI's 15th superstore — 9,900 sq ft in the Millenia District with a full bar and 600+ brands — holds its grand opening January 10, 2026, and the guys discuss what it means for local shops.
7. 07
   Don Emanuel Cigars Enters South Africa
   Don Emanuel partners with Amano Cigars for distribution in South Africa, the brand's first African market, alongside talk of the Anuki blended with Eladio Diaz.
8. 08
   Mystery Opus X 'Templo de Oro'
   A new Arturo Fuente Opus X release shows up at the shop with no press coverage anywhere, and even Charlie Minato has nothing.
9. 09
   What's the Score: Dunbarton Overseas No. 1
   The crew guesses halfwheel's score for Steve Saka's international-only $29.50 Overseas No. 1, landing on an 88.
10. 10
    2025 Year-End Recap
    Tariffs and the pending Supreme Court ruling, the Musk–Trump breakup, California's record wildfires, and the Zelensky Oval Office blowup.

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, I'm Mike Palmer, and this is episode 439 of the Cigar Hustler Podcast. Today is Wednesday, December 31st, 2025, New Year's Eve. Hello, Alan Rubin. With me today in engineering his boots, I made a cigar in 2025, Hippelhauser, and as my co-host, a man barely alive, and your shadow is formal self, Mikey, I want to go back to bed, Stevon Kevich, we appreciate you being here today, Mike.

I'm good to go, buddy, pretty good to go. On today's show, we have a new pandemic. A former heavyweight champion gets in a Nigerian auto accident. On Christmas Eve, a teen goes missing in Texas and it scares the shit out of Palmer.

A new grand opening in Orlando. And thanks to Coop, we have one more cigar story for 2025. Oh, he's great, isn't he? Then a mini game of what's the score, and we end the year with a recap of the biggest stories of 2025.

All this and some stupid bad for the industry comments and information on this final episode of 2025, a Cigar Hustler podcast. Bing bong. But before we start, Michael, wake up and tell us how to get some of that CHPod swag, I like this lovely CH Pod black out murder hoodie I'm wearing today. Well, that's pretty much sold out.

We only have one size left of that, so. Well, it will be tagged in the video. Perfect. com for all of our swag.

If you buy one, you get the second one 40% off. Spend $100 or more, you're going to get free shipping. I did try and make a beanie today, and that was a disaster, so one step. Do we have a melted beanie to go with the melted hat now?

I don't know. No, it's like, it's stretched out the hoodie out of like the, boots will wear it. Boots will love it. Perfect.

He'll be fine with it. People like our one-offs. But make sure you like and subscribe. To wherever you're watching, wherever you're listening, please like and subscribe.

Oh, and for the Patreon today, we are doing... What are we smoking on the Patreon, Michael? The La Estancia. How's that?

You can't see it. It's gold. La Estancia. I think you're holding the wrong side.

I think it's a solid gold side you're just holding out. No. He said no, for God's sakes. Kind of.

Still gold. The Mirafell La Estancia. Estancia. La Estancia.

I don't have a scale here. Oh, it's right here. It's over there on his desk. I didn't know we were doing those today.

You want me to weigh mine? Sure. I don't know how to do that, but I'm going to try it. I can throw it?

Yeah. Are you ready? One, two, three, go. Oh!

I just want to know that was really hard. It was solid black. Yeah, there was nothing. Solid black, thrown from black, into the light.

Perfect. Okay. And, you know, we have Alan Rubingate to cover on the Patreon. Perfect.

So we're going to smoke this Italian cigar. And then. 7 grams. And it's a Robusto?

Yeah. Sir. All right, now on with the news. Oh, here we go.

In our ongoing research, a disease sweeping across America, measles is again in the news. We're still talking about this? This is a new measles outbreak now. Is it in Florida yet?

It's getting close. Oh, God. Measles case confirmed in East Bay, California. Oh, super close.

That's not getting close. It's going the other way. Well, but it was in the middle in Iowa, Idaho, and then it went to New Jersey. Yeah.

Now it's in California. It's going to be the new pandemic. No, you know what? Measles?

Yes. Now that it's in California, what's his name's going to get rid of it? Gavin Newsom? No, no, no.

No, no, no. The guy who gives out the headphones? No, who's the billionaire? Zuckerberg?

No, who's the Amazon guy? Jeff Bezos? Yeah, he lives in California, doesn't he? He might have started it.

Who knows? Yeah, this is his breakthrough to get over Elon Musk. Oh, yeah? Yeah, this is it.

All right, possible exposure at a shopping mall, health officials warn. Location of possible measles exposure in Contra County, California, on the opposite coast. According to the health officials, The measles case was confirmed on December 24th in Contra Costa County, California. Officials said the person was contagious between December 17th and December 24th.

Contra County Health people say they may have been exposed to the measles at the following locations. It's a bunch of shopping plazas and then apparently they went to the doctor and they went to an Apple store and then they went to the hospital. Can we get the age and the origin of this person? No, but I do have information, though, how we, the three of us, could possibly get it.

Go to California, or New Jersey, or I. Even after we've had shots? There's a flaw with the shots. Uh-oh.

People who are at these locations during the dates listed above may be risk of developing measles, especially if unvaccinated, pregnant, or immune compromised. Oh, we're not any of those. No, but, uh, so if you're at those locations, confirm with your healthcare provider, blada, blada, blada, blada, blada, blada. Okay, measles is a respiratory virus that can stay in the air and services for over an hour, and contagious person leaves the area of symptoms of the virus.

We've been over this before. Okay, you're generally considered immune if you've had two documented MMR doses. Do you know if you've actually had two? Yes.

I have no idea. Exactly. Or you were born before 1957, so the vaccine was better earlier. Really?

Because you would die from it back then. Well, I think to go to school back then, you had to have a two-series shot of MMR. Right. Well, you.

Mumps, measles, and whatever the R is. Well, it was before 1957. Okay. No, no, no.

I mean, I know what you're saying. Oh, you can get the measles if you were incompletely vaccinated. So, none of us know, except him, apparently, that we had two. Many older adults received only one dose, especially if you were vaccinated before the late 1980s, which is me.

Okay. Uh, primary vaccine failure, because some of the vaccines were bad back then. Really? Really?

And you don't, I mean, they, they, you don't know. I feel like you're worried about this. I couldn't, I could get measles now. Small percentage of people never developed full immunity over, after vaccination.

You were born before 57, weren't you? No, but I was born before 1980. Oh. Before 57.

That would make me in my seventies, almost. Certain medical conditions and treatments can reduce immunity, very intense exposure, close prolonged contact like airports, planes, hospitals can overwhelm partial immunity. Okay. Well, I know I definitely have it.

You definitely have the measles? No, I have the vaccine, because when I was little, my dad was in the Air Force, we went and lived in England, and I had to get shots to go over there, and you had to get that one. Well, you're also a military guy, so they give you everything, they shoot you up. Oh yeah, so we probably had extra.

Yeah, when I got in, it was like a gun show. Yeah, so you're obviously concerned about this, because you continue to talk about it. Well, it's in the news every day. Have you not had your shot?

I mean, it's something that hasn't been around since the middle 1900s, and now it's everywhere. Palmer, I would think you would have yours if you were going over to China so much. No, I never had to get any shots to go to China. No?

Not a one. Not even for Kmart? You don't need nothing, you just come. You just come, it's fine, no new.

No, no yellow fever, no nothing. All right, well, I want to pivot off of this briefly. Okay. Well, I'm already on to the next story.

Okay, so anyways, this is our New Year's Eve episode. Yes. Do you want to count down and all a kiss or something? No.

Oh. No, I don't. Darn it. That's weird.

I do want to talk about 2025, though. I want to reflect a little bit briefly. Well, at the very end of the show, I'm doing the top news stories of 2025. Yeah.

Do you want to save it for that? No. I want to talk about it right now. After you talk about it, I have something to tell you, too.

Okay. He's gay. He's gay. Jesus.

And that's okay. It's okay. We don't mind. We knew.

Yeah. It doesn't bother us at all. What's wrong with you, too? It doesn't bother us at all.

Yeah, you sit way over there. I have plenty of good friends that are gay. Yeah, I do too. I love the look on his face.

Is this a retaliation for the 57 joke? What 57 joke? 1957. He thought I was born in 1957?

No, if I knew that was coming, I would have had more. So, are you happy with 2025? Let me ask you that. Oh.

Like, as a person or as a show? All of it. All of it. Yeah, I'm not disappointed with 2025.

2025 went well for you? Nothing really bad happened. Except for the measles outbreak. Yeah, except for the measles outbreak is gonna kill me.

And the show-wise? I'd like us to be making money, obviously, with the show. I mean, we work hard on this. You know, it's the same thing every year with me and Paul and Mikey.

We're selling shirts and stuff, but we got the swag going. Yeah, I understand. I understand. Things are moving more in a positive direction than they have in the past.

But, you know, I didn't expect us to be apparel moguls. I thought we'd make money off the show. Apparel moguls. Now we're, you know, clothing, you know, a small percentage of the cigar community.

Okay. All right. What about you? Are you happy with 2025?

Uh, ditto, what Palmer said. Ditto, ditto, nothing bad happened. And you, Michael, are you happy with 2025? Um, I, I guess.

Oh. It was, uh... Dilemma. I think this year was a lot of, it was a lot of hard work.

This was more hard work than any other year before. Not only that, but it was a lot of hard work just to kind of keep the numbers where you wanted them to be, not even to accelerate past or anything like that. It took, it took a lot in every avenue: retail, online, wholesale, podcast. Like, it was a lot.

It was a lot of work. So, am I happy with the outcome? Well, I would say I'm satisfied with the outcome. Okay.

I still think that there's a lot of room to grow. Oh, certainly. Yeah. If you don't grow, you die.

Right. Yeah. Yeah, you gotta evolve constantly. I think that this upcoming PCA show, 2026, is gonna be the biggest one for Polsanya ever.

Like, by a landslide. Oh, good. I'm looking forward to that, for sure. I always look forward to the show.

Do you? Now, I've got one under my belt as sales, it'll be more fun. Yeah, so stressful. All the jitters are out.

Right, yeah, you know, and then you know what to expect, and it's, you've got one behind you, so. Okay. All right, go ahead. Carry on with your next news article, sir.

That was it? Oh, I have some, I have some for you too. He has an announcement about his homosexuality. Yeah.

Which is funny. No, this is the only time I get you two together. Okay. Right?

Hey, you know, we've been friends for a while, and... Well, you and I have been friends. You don't like Palmer. Yeah, you don't like me.

Well, me and Palmer were friends first. Remember that? Yeah, we were. And then he broke up with them.

Well, after we got super drunk at his house, that was kind of the downside. That was the end, huh? Yeah, that was the downside. We'll always have pineapple, or we'll have apple pie moonshine boots.

I wonder what you said that night. I have no idea. I don't know. Neither of us remember.

I got to stay away from this guy. Neither of us remember what we talked about. We had a great time. I got to stay away from him.

Right. For help, so I don't know. So anyways, I'm having a baby boy in July. What?

I wanted to tell you. No way, dude. Congratulations. Fucking awesome.

It's good for you. Congratulations. I wanted to tell you two guys together. Wow, dude.

I don't know. July? July's a good month. Yep.

That's my month. It's a hot summer. July 12th is the due date. Hot summer for a pregnant lady.

Extra cranky. Yeah, it is hot. Well, it starts to get hot. Yeah, well it's true, it is Florida, it starts to get hot in July.

Yeah, that's awesome dude. That's great, congratulations. Thanks fellas. So you can't do the show on July 12th?

Is that what your friend tells us? On July 12th, yeah, I'll be. You're gonna have to live stream it in. Yeah.

Alright, perfect. I'm in the hospital! Here we go! Push honey, push!

That's, dude, that is, that's great news man. That's great, congratulations. Very excited for you. Appreciate it fellas.

Kids are amazing. My kids today, son of a bitch. So I was sick. I obviously had the flu or whatever.

So I went home after we did the podcast yesterday, and I slept. Right. Like, I died on the couch. I slept there for three or four hours.

And then eventually my old Brittany says, you need to go on the bed. So I went into the bedroom, and I slept. I saw Justice this morning, and he says to me, you didn't wish me goodnight. You didn't tell me goodnight last night.

You didn't tell me goodnight last night. I was like, dude, I died. I'm sorry. I was sleeping the entire time.

I was like, and like, and that's your number one concern of all, like, I have been sick. You didn't say, hey, how are you, dad? How are things going? How are you feeling?

Anything better? Anything like that. And his cousins are over at the house right now. He goes, okay, well, the Sobermans are here.

I'm like, you just blew over what I was just trying to tell you. Like, what's going on here? Well, he was looking for an apology, but you didn't give it to him, so he just moved on. Yeah.

That's pretty much what happened. Right. That's pretty much what happened. Like, okay.

Oh, I'm very sorry. I'll do better next time, son. Kids, man. Wild.

I'm very excited for you, man. That's awesome. Thanks, bro. Okay.

All right. ACHP Sports, former World Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua is stable after two die in a car accident in Nigeria. I saw the clip of this. Oh.

Lagos, Nigeria, Anthony Joshua, the two-time former World Heavyweight Champion from Britain, was in a stable condition in the hospital Monday. "After being involved in a car crash in Nigeria, it killed two people who were close friends and team members," his promoter said. " "Eddie Hearns, Matchroom Boxing said on X that Joshua sustained injuries in the accident and was taken to the hospital for checks and treatments. " He briefly passed away.

Photos on social media show Joshua being extradited from the wrecked vehicle while he was wincing in pain. Following through clinical evaluations, medical professionals have confirmed that both patients hospitalized after the accident are stable and do not require any emergency medical intervention at this time. A joint statement by Lagos and Ogun State government said the Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Gabedinga Omatuso, confirmed the accident and posted an accident, adding that the government The crash had sent ambulances to the crash site. m.

local time. Nigeria is a homeland of Joshua's parents. Ogun State Police earlier said the statement that the vehicle conveying Mr. Joshua, a Lexus SUV, was involved in the accident under circumstances that are currently being investigated.

Joshua, seated in the rear of the vehicle, sustained minor injuries, and received medical attention. And another injured person, according to Ogsun Ogabamide, spokesperson for the Federal Road Safety Corporation, preliminary investigations indicate the vehicle was traveling beyond the legal prescribed speed limit on the corridor, lost control during an overtaking maneuver and crashed into a stationary truck, which was parked on the side of the road. The Ogun State Government said the preliminary report indicate that the two male foreign nationals died instantly on the spot. No seatbelt.

They were in the front. Yeah. So how good is that car? The two guys in the front died.

The guys in the back? Nothing. Well, how fast were they going? Faster than posted speed.

Right. 31. Faster than 31. I don't know exactly what the speed limit is on the Ogund International Expressway in Nigeria.

Like, I honestly don't know much about Nigeria, but I will tell you this. You know, speeding outside of the United States always sounds like a problem. I don't, you know, well, yeah, the roads are horrible. Yeah, everything's horrible, dude.

I could tell you, you know, I mean, driving to Esteli, at times, when Skip's driving, you know, you're prepared to die. You're just, it's like, you know, in other countries, the posted speed limit and anything else is more of a suggestion than something everybody follows. I've had guys in China all of a sudden just go to the other side of the road with oncoming traffic. Without a problem.

Without a problem and then just cut back over. It's ridiculous. You know, go up to a red light, everybody stop, they just go around. Dude, and if you get into an accident in China, I would assume, just like the same in Nicaragua, like… There ain't nobody coming.

Yeah. So, I could imagine that… Yeah, you die. In Nigeria, it's, you know… Right, well, in China, there's a law, if you're the first one on the scene, you're responsible for that person. Right.

Right. I've seen dead children. Oh, God. I mean, it's terrible.

Yeah. You go by an auto accident, people are just laying there in the road. Nobody wants to stop. Everybody just goes around.

That's terrible. I wonder if it's the same law in Nicaragua because I definitely saw two people die when I was there. Did you? Yeah.

Yeah. It's terrible. Yeah. Did you see the big scandal that's happening in Minnesota?

What's going on in Minnesota? Beasles. No, no, no. I'm gonna totally bash, screw this up, because I just saw it on like social media, but like, apparently there's this whole thing going on where, hold on, let me get this right, let me not screw this up, like these early learning centers are getting like government subsidies, and, hold on, it's a, like, they were doing something.

Dude, I'm totally going to bash this. It's totally wrong, but it was like there are these group of people that have pretty much taken over in specific spots of Minnesota, like a whole culture is there, and they've been granted these grants for opening these learning centers, but there's no kids there. So they're getting millions and millions of dollars or whatever? For doing nothing.

Yeah, and apparently, you know, they're not even helping any kids. So, Hard Rock has moved into Minnesota. No, so the money's going back to these other countries or whatever to support their families and stuff. Oh, okay.

Oh, yeah, it's so bad. And when, like, the Minnesota governor or whatever, Tim Waltz or whatever his name was, was asked about it, he starts talking about, like, white men are criminals or something. I couldn't stop laughing. It was hilarious.

I've often thought about looking and seeing, there's gotta be some type of grant or something for podcasting. You think so? I'm sure there is. I'm sure there is.

Maybe we can get some upgraded equipment or something. Who knows? We can get paid for our time. A few million bucks.

Maybe not millions, but you know, maybe like a $5,000 or $10,000 grant or something. Or Espinosa grant. Espinosa. Espinosa $6,000 grant.

Espinosa can support down to her. Then we get a percentage. If they sponsor us, we get all of it. We're not doing that.

No, Mikey doesn't like that, yeah. We're not doing that. So do you think Anthony Joshua was targeted after he got $93 million? 'Cause this is shortly after his...

Targeted in a car crash? Well, maybe there was somebody going after him. Oh, he was being chased, you think? He is a celebrity.

So wait, so this is the guy that fought... Jake Paul. Jake Paul. Oh, is it?

I didn't know that. Wow. That was not mentioned in the article at all. Yeah, this is Anthony Joshua.

Oh, yeah, that is him. Oof. The Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, called Josh in the hospital. I spoke with AJ on the phone to personally convey my condolences over the death of his two associates, the president has said on X.

Apparently, Nigeria uses X a lot. I think a lot of countries use X. Yeah. I wished him a full and speedy recovery and prayed with him.

AJ assured me he is receiving the best possible care. I also spoke with his mother and prayed for her. She was deeply appreciated for the call. call.

I don't know how Nigerian healthcare stacks up, but... Me neither. Probably not as good from... I don't picture it being top-notch for some reason.

Yeah. I'm sure... It's not in the conversation. I'm sure once he's stable enough, he'll probably go back to London.

Top five. Well, I mean, he's hardly hurt at all, apparently. He was in the backseat. He was in the backseat with his friend.

Yeah. Well, he's in the hospital, though. Well, just for observation. No emergency procedures were needed.

I feel like it was targeted. That's just me. I mean, you could, you know, you could go down that rabbit hole. Yeah.

For top tier medical treatment, countries consistently praised for excellent, well-developed systems include: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands. Not Nigeria. Not Nigeria. Not listed in the top five, huh?

Nope, not even in the top eight. I'll tell you what, it is listed in the top 100. Top 100. Canada, apparently, is up there too.

The only interaction I have with Lagos is the movie that... Lagos? Yeah, I can't think of the name of the movie. The Rock?

No. Jumanji? Who's the guy that says, "All right, all right, all right"? Matthew McConaughey was in the movie.

Sahara. Sahara. That's the only information I have from Lagos. That was in Nigeria?

Yeah. It was in Lagos. That's where they took the boat to. A movie called Sahara?

Yes, and they ended up in the desert. That's correct. That's correct. Oh, I've never seen the movie.

I would think it'd be in the desert. No. It is part of it, but part of it is on the water. Oh.

It's not in the desert. No. They poison the water supply. Yeah.

In the desert. From their solar panels. Yes. Okay.

Oh, wow. You know, that sucks. It sucks to hear that people died. Yes, it's terrible.

And our thoughts and prayers go out. There were a lot of funny names in it, though. Yeah. That's crazy, dude.

96 million, now you just lost two of your best friends. Right. Well, they said they were on the team, they didn't say best friends. Dude, if you're rolling with somebody and boxing and training with them, and you're seeing them every day, you know, I'm sure that they're pretty close.

Alright. Moving on, a Texas teen went missing on Christmas Eve. Authorities believe she could be in imminent danger. Uh-oh.

Authorities in Texas are searching for a teenage girl who went missing on Christmas Eve, warning that she may be in imminent danger and asking the public for immediate help. Law enforcement officials say the teen was last seen on December 24 and has not been heard from since due to circumstances surrounding her disappearance. Investigators believe her safety could be at risk. Specific details about where she was last seen and what she was wearing have been shared, but the regional agencies have search teams but have not been released publicly.

An alert has been issued as authorities expand their search efforts across multiple jurisdictions. Officers are reviewing surveillance footage and interviewing potential witnesses and working closely with the teen's family to peace and peace. The last known movements. Now, this doesn't really pertain to us, but the reason this worries me is, I mean, we all have wives, obviously.

My wife does not pay attention when she's out. She could easily get snatched up. But that's not a wife, that's a kid. No, no, it was a teenager, but she went out to her car out in front of the house.

They had the ring footage of that. She stuck her head in the car, the ring camera went off because there was no movement, and then they never saw her again. Well, they said that she goes for walks every morning. Well, she was dressed in her pajamas, according to the video footage they saw.

So, I don't know if she goes for walking in her pajamas. I don't know. This is a bizarre story. I have seen this story.

Really? Yeah. They have something they're not releasing that's why they think there's imminent danger. There's some information they're not releasing to the public.

Now, they are talking possible suicide. Oh, no. Oh, no. Yeah, but they just-- But they would have definitely have found a body by now.

Yeah, you would think. You don't usually hide yourself when you commit suicide. That's not true. They're really gritting the whole area.

I mean, when I saw it, they had the dogs out, they had all the neighbors were out, all the police were out. I mean, they had a lot of people searching the area. Now they said that this search is going to continue into Mexico. So they're close to Mexico.

Oh, see, that's even worse. Right, so this could be human trafficking or something like that. And she's a very pretty girl. She was a very pretty girl.

Yeah. Or is, I guess. Or is, yeah. Do you ever see the YouTube clips or the Instagram clips from Tim Tebow talking about human trafficking and stuff?

No. Dude, it'll scare the shit out of you. Yeah. I was watching some of these, and I'm like, oh, my God.

Like, you know, the average age of a person that gets abducted is, like, between 12 and 14. I would have never guessed that. I would have thought they were younger. He's a huge advocate in that world.

Disturbing. Disturbing stuff. My wife and her friend, I mean, this was a couple of years ago, they went out to the beach and ended up at a bar and had a couple of drinks, and then luckily they left, but both of them got deathly ill when they got home and started throwing up and stuff and passed out. So, I mean, somebody must have put something in their drink or something.

To try and get ahold of them? Who knows? I mean, you don't know anymore. Yeah, it's crazy.

Yeah. She's talking about going to Australia this summer to go visit Sunny, our exchange student who lives there? I don't know. It's a foreign country.

I know it's Australia. Australia? It's not Lagos, but still. I don't know.

I think Australia is extremely messed up, but I can't imagine them not being safe. I'd be more scared of the human, uh, the tall human bats that are there or whatever. The tall human bats? Well, they're like as tall as humans.

There's bats there as big as people? Yeah, bro, you haven't seen the bats there? Are they vampires? The ones that hang upside down?

You haven't seen these things? Look it up. Well, all bats hang upside down. Yeah, look it up, bro.

Look up these huge bats in Australia. All bats hang upside down, don't they? Tall bats. Tall, human-sized bats.

Australia. I mean, everything in Australia tries to kill you. They're huge. They're huge.

The tallest or largest bats in Australia are the gray-headed flying foxes, which are big fruit bats with impressive wingspans up to one meter over three feet. Three feet. No, it's just like this. It's not that big.

They can't pick up a person. Does it show a picture of it? Yeah, it doesn't look big. They can't pick up a person.

They look kind of cute. I don't know. I'm used to the little baby bats. Have one as a pet.

Like they come out of Batman's cave. Yeah, I learned this weekend that there's a difference between gray kangaroos and red kangaroos. Well, yeah, one's gray, one's red. Well, the red ones are the ones that are aggressive.

Oh, is that what it is? Yeah. Oh, those are the boxers? So, he's racially profiling the kangaroos now.

Yeah, the gray kangaroos are really nice. Oh. They're racially profiling the kangaroos. Racially profiling kangaroos.

Yeah. Watch out for the red ones. Yeah. We call them Cyan's.

They just came up with these names, by the way. Cyan's the color of red. Ah, sorry. Sorry, I understand I have to talk down for you guys.

We weren't born in '57, so we don't know, Sire, man. If you could dumb it down like you're talking to a five-year-old for me, I'd greatly appreciate it. They call them the red ones. There you go.

Perfect. All right, on the cigar news. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

Cigars International Orlando is having a grand opening. S. brick-and-mortar footprint, is located in Orlando, Florida. Cigars International will hold its Orlando grand opening on January 10th, 2026.

We should go. We should go. We should go. Yes.

Cigars, it's a weekend, because the 7th is like a Wednesday. Okay. Cigars International looks forward to welcoming the cigar community of Orlando to its new 9,900-square-foot store, positioned in the heart of Orlando's Millennia District The new location features an interior lounge in humidors spanning 8,700 square feet with a large outdoor patio. The Cigars International Orlando Superstore will be equipped with a full-service bar, state-of-the-art ventilation system, over 600 brands, and plenty of seating to sit back, relax, and enjoy some premium handmade cigars.

I mean, handmade cigars. Heath Zidane, Vice President of Marketing, Online, and Retail, says: "The new location is our exciting addition to our growing brick-and-mortar presence. " Cigars International Orlando is located at 4158 Conroy Road, Orlando, Florida, 32839. That's exciting.

There's only two cigar stories today. So, I know, I know somebody who went to the soft opening of this. Yeah? Yes?

Yes. And how'd it go? And what was their review? He said that he did not like how the TVs were positioned with the chairs, because I guess the chairs are positioned where they're facing each other, but you have to turn your head to the left every time you want to watch the TV.

Well, you have two friends, so I'm assuming that this is Carlos. No, this is Dave Rivas. Oh. Dave Rivas.

Two friends? Yeah. Well, who's your third friend? Ginger?

Now he's got three, yeah, he's got three. I was thinking Carlos would get there. Carlos? Yeah, Dave, I would have never threw in Dave.

There's two of you here. Yeah, but we already determined that you're not friends with Palmer. Right. You don't like him.

You don't like me. That's okay. That's all right. And Mikey, you only see one day a week, apparently, so how close can he be?

One day a week. He didn't get invited to the parties this year either. Yeah, I didn't get a Christmas event. Did Greg get invited?

I think Greg gets invited. Greg always gets invited. Yeah. Yeah, but he didn't come because he's dying now.

Yeah. Well, he's got a brain thing, you have to excuse him, you forget stuff. You forget stuff. Okay, so the, so the, I mean, Dave is very critical when it comes to stuff like that, so the TVs are an issue the way that it's, the way the lounge is.

So he's sitting like this, you have to do that to watch TV. That's stupid. Can he move the chair? I don't know, I don't know, he didn't say that, but probably not in a place like that.

I'd move the chair. They probably don't want you to move the chairs. Move the chair. Well, we should go.

We should try and go January 10th. Yeah. It's a Saturday. It's a Saturday.

January 10th. I'm in. Now, the problem is that that's also, like, the weekend of my wife's birthday. You can't go.

Honey, guess where we're going for your birthday? Cigars International. Cigars International. It's a party.

They're having a party just for you, actually. Just for you. Oh, tell her the grand opening. It's a party for her.

You know, the shitty part about... She still watches the show? Yeah, sometimes. The shitty part about Christmas and New Year's is like this is the one time that I have like downtime where I can focus on other things for the businesses and stuff, and then of course I get sick.

Oh yeah. It's like, duh. You know, when I can put a hundred percent into it, it's like, eh, no, you're not gonna do anything, you're just gonna lay around and die. Right, you're gonna take two days and just die.

Yeah. Like, thanks so much. Yeah, this is the recoup stage. Yeah.

Um, so yeah, I mean, I'm excited for the CI thing. I'm glad that they're there. I like where it's gonna be. You know, I think that, look, if you go around and you oppress other small retailers, you're just going to create a vacuum where a big dog is going to come in.

Right. And that's pretty much what happened. That's what's happened. Yeah.

So, um, there's always a bigger fish. Right. So, there you go. And they have come to town.

And now they're here. Ah, they're here. Dum, dum, dum. Dum, dum.

However, you can't buy Polstania from them. So. Still got to come here. Or, well, there are other good retailers in the area.

Cigars on the Ave, old times. Old times. You know. Okay.

Growing numbers. Growing numbers. All right, now a story from information. Now a story from information found on Cigar Coop, but I rewrote it and expanded it because his story was very short and it's a slow news day.

Of course it was. Don Emanuel Cigars has announced a major new milestone in its global growth, officially expanding into South Africa. Way better so far. Keep going.

I know, it's amazing. This move marks the brand's first entry into the African market and represents another significant step in its international expansion strategy. Well, isn't Lagos in Africa too? So this is something like a themed show.

I guess so. Distribution in South Africa will be handled by Amano Cigars, a well-established importer and distributor of premium cigars, Amano is also known for operating the Pedro Portia Cigar and Champagne Lounge, one of South Africa's premier destinations for cigar and luxury lifestyle enthusiasts. The partnership ensures Don Emanuel Cigars will be represented by a team deeply rooted in the country's growing premium cigar culture. S.

and neighboring markets. Each new region reflects Don Emanuel's focus on reaching smokers who value craftsmanship, balance, and authenticity. Expanding into these markets is a very meaningful moment for us, said Don Emanuel, founder and creator of the brand. Each of these regions has a rich cigar culture and deep appreciation for craftsmanship, bringing our vision, our blends, and our philosophy to more smokers, reinforces what we believe in, cigars that celebrate energy, balance, and connection.

One of the brand's standout offerings is the Anuki, with co-blendable engineering cigar maker Eladio Diaz. Eladio! Alongside Don Emanuel himself, with established distribution now spanning the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, and South Africa. Don Emanuel Cigars continues to position itself in a truly global premium cigar brand.

Okay, so you're excited about this? No, but I needed another story. No, but you needed another story. I needed at least two cigar stars.

There was only one name, well, I guess two names, Coop was one, that I knew in this whole story. Eladio Diaz. Yeah. Our friend Eladio.

Eladio. All right, now, what's the score of minigames? Well, before you get into that. Oh, sorry, you have more.

You know, what's really kind of interesting is we received these Opus, and there's no news on them whatsoever. No, not at all. I did see a couple other shops got them yesterday, too, because they showed up in their social media today. Right.

What Opus are they? They're called Templo de Oros. Yeah, the Golden something. Golden Temple?

Yeah. Yeah, there's no news about them online anyway. The Age of Gold. Wasn't there like an Opus story a little while back where they said there was going to be like some secret cigar?

Well, that wasn't Opus. That was a different cigar. How did Half Wheel not cover that? That's what's kind of interesting to me.

How did Coop not cover it? Well, I mean, if they didn't put out a story about it, Not they, they being Toro Fuente. " Oh, maybe he'll tell us on the Patreon. You have no info on them.

Okay, well, we asked Charlie, so maybe he gets back to us by the time we do it. Oh, that'd be nice, and we'll have the information. Yeah. Okay.

" He didn't do it. I did do it. Oh, Charlie, instantly response. Oh.

Fuck you, I don't care. It's a story of my life. I said, what the hell are these? You have no info on them.

It's a story of my life. All right. Perfect. All right.

Well, there it is. That's it? No, no story of his life. No, there it is.

Well, there it is. You have it right from Half Wheel Itself. And you heard it here first on Cigar Hustles Podcast. That's right.

All right, the cigar is from December 28, 2025. So, 2020-25, Charlie Monado is the, uh, tell them we're doing one of his cigarettes. Oh, okay. The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Limited Edition Review of the Overseas No.

1. You want me to go first? Yeah. '88.

'87. This is the Overseas No. 1. It's from Nicaragua, Fabrica de Tobacco, Hoya de Nicaragua, Rappers, Ecuadorian, Habano, Binders, Mexicans, San Andres Negro, Filler, Nicaraguan and USA, Pennsylvania.

Six by 50. 50 a cigar from Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust. 50. 50.

I really love that one. No fancy sticker. Number of cigars released. Regular production doesn't say.

Smoke three. This is the international release not available in America. Got it. You spent $100?

00. Dunbarton sends out samples. Wait, doesn't pay $10? No, normally Half Wheel.

Oh, Half Wheel pays for this? They buy all their stuff. Oh, how do they buy them overseas? They probably bought it from the retailer overseas.

Yeah. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah. 88.

Charlie's easy for me. 89. You're just going to hover around me. Yep.

Clue number one. The cigars deliver a consistently smooth, savory profile, though much of the smoke with medium, full flavor and strength kept in check. The first two samples show solid complexity, especially in the retrohale, offering layered notes of leather, dry soil, nuttiness, and subtle sweetness that evolve without becoming harsh. I'm going to stick here at 88.

Watch you dance around me. We'll go back to 87. There it is. Construction is generally strong on the first two cigars with manageable draws and well-developed combustion for most of the experience.

The cold draw aromas and early flavor develop including cocoa, caramel corn, and roasted elements suggest a thoughtfully blended, approachable Nicaraguan profile. Ooh. Thoughtfully blended. Thoughtfully blended.

I mean, he sounds like he likes it. 89. 88. Uh-oh.

Oh, up and down, up and down, up and down. The third cigar struggles significantly, becoming overly bitter and excessively dry in the final third with frequent burn issues requiring repeated touch-ups. The bitterness overwhelms any remaining nuance, making the overall experience uneven and dragging down consistency across the samples. 87.

Ooh. Now what do you do? I mean, this was the first issue for Charlie. Yeah.

Well, it's the first one listed. In the last third, he said, right? There's an entire review here. I just pick out three comments.

Yeah, we talk about like smoothness, but he didn't. He said that he liked the flavor profile at first, and then he said that it got bitter and construction. In the last third, right? In the last cigar.

Oh, last cigar. When you get a fever, do you ever have like a song that just sticks in your head and it just plays over and over and over and over and over again? Because of the fever? Is it because of the fever?

I would assume that it's because of the fever. No? That doesn't happen to you? No.

Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm just worried. What is the song?

Tracy Chapman. Give me one reason to stay here. Give me one reason to stay here. That just plays through your head the whole day?

It's played in my head for like eight hours. Next time you're sick, I'm going to try to influence the song. um it's getting hot in here nope not that one no nelly um no nelly 86 all right final thought after smoking two of the overseas number ones i was thoroughly impressed while not the greatest dunbarton tobacco and trust cigars i've smoked they were very good and much more interestingly very different from the rest of the company's portfolio the cigars tasted like they were They were purposely designed to be a milder cigar, though more medium in practice, perhaps intentionally done under the very elementary idea that because non-American markets have been long dominated by Cuban cigars, generally milder than their non-Cuban counterparts. That would be what the intended customer base would want to smoke.

Fortunately, the third cigar was not as good. For the first half, it was noticeably worse, but still enjoyable. But the second half provided mediocre flavor and construction, giving Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust's 10-year track record, I'm inclined to believe that the third cigar was simply a miss. Oh, so he gave it a pass.

Yes. He eliminated the third cigar. It sounds like. Son of a bitch.

Are you allowed to do that? He can do what he wants. He's Charlie Minato. It's the story of his life.

King of Half-Wheel. King of Half-Wheel. of Half Wheel. 88.

87. 88. Oh! Had it from the ghost.

Boom, boom, boom, boom. Give me one reason to stay here. It's getting hot in here. No more.

We'll get a violation. We'll get a violation. We'll get a violation. Stop singing, stop singing.

You lose again. We already got two strikes. One more, we're out. No, we're not.

We're not at two strikes. No, we have one. That was like from five years ago. They still count it.

I don't know what to do. They don't reset it? No, it never resets. Oh.

We do better on Rumble anyway. Now a 2025 recap. All right, light 'em up, pour something brown, and let's talk about the absolute circus that was 2025. Okay.

All right. Because if you thought this year felt unhinged, congratulations, you were paying attention. In the economy, let's start with the economy. Back in April, President Trump walked into the Rose Garden, holds up a chart like he's doing a PowerPoint at Cigar Hustler, and announces tariffs on damn near everybody.

Allies, rivals, countries we trade with, countries we don't. At one point, I'm pretty sure the penguins got hit. Trump says this brings manufacturing back, fixes trade. Everyone else says, cool, so prices are going up, market loses their mind, stocks are bouncing like a bad crypto chart, and then nothing, no boom, no crash.

The Supreme Court is still deciding if the president was even allowed to do that in the first place. Yeah, they don't know. They don't know. They haven't even decided yet.

The year's over and they still don't know. All right, now in Washington. Now let's talk about the most awkward breakup of the year. Elon Musk spends $250 million helping Trump get elected.

He's basically living at the White House. Tesla's on the lawn. Oval Office selfies running the Department of Government Efficiency, which already sounds pretty fake. Then mid-year, boom!

Musk comes out against Trump's tax and spending plan, starts beefing publicity, hints at launching his own political party, and then just disappears. No apology tour, no reunion, just two dudes pretending they never liked each other in the first place. Okay. S.

history, Pacific Palisades, and Eaton Fires ripped through neighborhoods, 180,000 people displaced, homes gone, lives flipped upside down. Almost a year later, one house finally gets cleared to be occupied, and it's basically a developer flex. Not a family moving, not a family moving home. Rebuilding, slow, painful, and expensive.

Yep. I don't know why anybody lives in Cali. I don't know why you want to either. I have no idea.

No comment. All right. An Oval Office moment. Zelensky.

C. D. Vance on camera. I haven't really heard much about that war lately.

You don't hear much about it anymore. No, it's sort of cycled out of the news. Nobody really cares anymore. Yeah, it's taken too long.

That's pretty sad. Right. You guys finish it out over there. We don't care.

Hughes is not being grateful enough. Visit gets cut short. World goes. Did that really just happen?

They patched it up later, but tensions flared again over a peace plan that would give Russia territory back to Russia, which, yeah, that went over about how you'd expect. So, I don't know, maybe they didn't want our peace plan, so they went, eh, we're done. Didn't we start giving them stuff or whatever? I thought there was at one point, like, veterans were going over to help fight or something, too.

'" Hey, I'm here, give me a gun. I'm an American veteran, I know what I'm doing. Well, Palmer, that's pretty cool. Well, thanks, Mike.

You know what else is cool about all this? What could be cooler than sitting here doing a podcast with you? People ask why I'm cool. It's not because I'm loud.

It's not because I'm trying to be anything. It's because I'm comfortable being exactly who I am. I show up when it matters, I keep my word, I build things at last, while most people are chasing attention, I'm focused on progress. Cool isn't a look, it's a mindset, it's knowing when to speak and when to listen, it's confidence without arrogance, discipline without drama.

I don't rush, I don't follow waves, I move at my own pace, on my own path, I respect the grind that people and the process. So no, I don't chase cool. I live with intention. And when you do that long enough, Mikey, cool just follows.

So be yourself, man. Find your own place. Find your own thing. Don't try to be like me.

Just be like you. Thanks, man. Just want to say thank you for the support, the time, and the trust. I love you.

Doesn't go unnoticed, and it means more than you know. Don't interrupt. Not because I'm fragile, but because I'm focused. When you interrupt, you don't just break a sentence, you break momentum.

Listening is respect. Let people finish their thoughts. I'm sorry. I get excited when you talk.

I know you do. I mean, like, really excited. You're gonna have to calm down. I can't handle this.

You are my hero. Not because you're perfect, but because you show up. You stand tall when it's hard, and you keep going when quitting would be easier. You lead by example even when no one's watching.

Come on, man. You're embarrassing me. That strength, that consistency... Stop it already.

That's why you're my hero. I'm not saying it's not true. I'm just saying it's hard to hear. You deserve all the praise I can give you.

Before we wrap things up, we want to say thank you from all three of us. This podcast wouldn't be what it is without you. Every listen, every share, every message, every bit of support truly mattered. We showed up as ourselves, real conversations, real opinions, real moments, sometimes smooth, sometimes chaotic, but always honest.

And you stuck with us through it all. This has never been about hype or numbers, it's been about connection, it's been about building something authentic that you want to come back to. So from the OGs, thank you for trusting us with your time, we're grateful for an incredible year, and we can't wait to see you next year. This Christmas Cigar Hustler is giving away a massive 85-inch 4K LED Insignia Fire TV.

Make $100 in-store purchase and get one raffle ticket. Spend $150 in one visit, get three raffle tickets. In-store purchases only. The drawing happens after January 1st, and the winner must pick up at the shop.

Don't miss your chance at this ultimate holiday upgrade.

Show Notes

On Todays show we have a new Pandemic!  A former Heavy Weight Champions gets in a Nigerian Auto Accident, On Christmas Eve A teen goes missing in Texas and it scares the shit out of Palmer!  A new Grand Opening in Orlando and thanks to COOP we have one more cigar story for 2025……then a Mini Game of what’s the score and we end the year with a recap of the biggest stories of 2025!  All this and some stupid bad for the industry comments and information on this final 2025 episode of A Cigar Hustlers Podcast!