ACHP Episode 458 Cigars, Doomsday Clock and Digital Scandals
Transcript
Ready.
All right, go ahead.
About to say Wednesday.
No, no.
Well, at least I'm following
John Carney, so I'm bound to
look good.
Welcome to Wednesday.
It's welcome to Wednesday, huh?
Yeah.
OK, well, we are recording on
Wednesday, but it is Thursday's
podcast.
But go ahead.
Well, at least I'm following
John Carney, so I'm bound to
look good.
Say it again.
There we go.
This is somebody.
Let's see, I'm Pete Hernandez
and I'm all the people that have
hosted the show before.
I'm one of them.
You're one of them, yes.
Yes.
And I want to thank you guys for
you can be anywhere in the
world.
I'm glad you're here listening
to us.
You're welcome.
This is episode 5 just.
Relax bro, you're going to be
fine.
I thought you were.
You've been on radio before, I
thought.
You.
I didn't have to read.
I just fucking talk.
Yeah.
Yeah.
OK.
All right.
You're the star bro.
Yeah, this is your moment.
This is your time to shine.
It's like American Idol and
you're a top five contestant.
Right.
You're Reuben Studdard.
Right, go ahead.
Go ahead.
Let's go.
Welcome to Pod.
Welcome to the episode.
We're going to start over, OK.
Start over.
No, you're good.
Keep going.
I love this.
Oh, this?
Is great.
I'm gonna look like such a Dick.
No, we're gonna cut all this
out.
You're good.
Welcome to episode 458 and with
me today is the man that lets me
sleep in his RV No homo.
Except not this week because he
thinks he's a race car driver.
Phil Mcguffey.
Hello.
Hello.
As my Co host Mikey.
Yes.
Though Glorious Mikey fucking
stepping cabbage.
Hey, here I am.
Right.
Yeah, OK.
On today's show, yes.
This weekend, another round of
Paris Frost, Paris Hilton to
hate porn.
Doomsday Clock is closer, closer
than ever it's ever been 85
years.
Yes.
Then in cigars, women, women
make a new company.
Now Mississippi is on the tax
wagon.
Yeah, new Crux cigar.
Yes.
Then one of Groover's brands is
in the news.
Let's hope it's something he did
bad.
Let's hope it's something he did
bad.
Right.
That's it.
OK.
All that mini.
All that, all that plus a mini
game.
All that plus a mini game.
It's a lot easier if you watch
the show.
It's for record.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, all that and the
mini game.
So what's the score of what's
the score of what's the score?
Yeah.
But first, Mikey, how do we get
some CHPOD?
Yeah.
What's that chapter pod?
Chapter pod swag.
Pete, thanks so much for asking.
That was the best intro I have
ever seen.
Oh wow, that's.
Terrible 457 or 458 episodes
that amazing amazing.
However, what you want to do is
if you want some swag, go to
chapterpot.com where you can buy
one, get the second shirt 40%
off, or if you spend $100 or
more and you get free shipping.
And Phil, I got to tell you.
Yes.
Phil, my ears are a little cold.
Uh Oh, my ears are a little.
Cold Oh, we're doing a wardrobe
change.
They're a little cold, buddy.
Uh oh.
Where'd it go?
Oh, here it is.
Oh, look at that.
Wow, it looks beautiful.
Nice.
Just better on my head.
OK, so, well, this is the broken
one.
OK, but you can have it if you
want it.
You want.
Perfect.
Alright, I'm gonna give this to
you.
Yes, I'll hopefully have the
other the other ones ironed out
today.
If I do then they will be on the
site tomorrow.
And Ben can finally buy his.
Yes, we'll take care if if they
go on the site, I'm gonna send
Ben the link instantly.
But a couple of comments from
our previous show.
T Money bears have a tremendous
sweet tooth.
We used to bait them with day
old doughnuts and stuff from the
local bakery, then smother it in
chocolate syrup.
They can't resist.
So that's their your honey
thing.
Real Smoke Pod says in Tennessee
we already can't buy alcohol
online.
It is.
It has to be done at a store.
They are trying to make it in
the same way with tobacco.
OK, oh, OK.
And that's, those are the two
comments I'm gonna I'm gonna
take from the last show.
So if you would like to hear me
make a comment about something
you say, comment below.
I mean, let's, let's go, let's
talk about it, you know, and
make sure you like and subscribe
wherever you're watching or
viewing this podcast.
Click it.
Click click the button.
Right, Yeah, like and subscribe.
OK, alright, I I'm subscribed.
You're a subscriber?
Yeah.
Yeah, you're a Patreon member.
I was, yeah.
Credit card got cancelled.
Yeah, and you and you like you
went deep.
You did like the $50 membership,
like 50 bucks a month.
I was like, wow, man, Pete's a
real one.
And then after the month one it
was gone.
It was like 6 months.
It was like 6 months.
It was like a year.
You.
Think so, Yeah, you need to just
come back for 10.
I'd be happy at 10 all.
Right, I will.
You know our guy?
Yeah.
Listen, we we talked about a big
story on this Patreon.
Yes.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah, Yeah.
I can't talk about it here.
Yeah, we can't talk about it
here.
Can't talk about here, but it's
like some some deep state stuff.
Really.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Check out patreon.com.
Go to Cigar Hustlers podcast if
you want to listen.
And we reviewed what did we
review?
We reviewed the Lure.
Yeah, the fish stick.
The fish sticks.
Which was a really good what?
I'm sorry.
It was really.
Good.
It was really good.
Yeah, we can say that.
OK.
Yeah, it's fine.
It was really good.
So OK, let's get into the first
story because you're going to
talk about frostbite in Florida.
Right.
Is that crazy?
Yeah, it's wild.
You know what I think we, I
think we, I feel like we have
amnesia.
You know, every year, every year
around August, I say to myself,
fuck, this is kind of slow,
isn't it?
Yeah.
Fuck, it's hot.
Holy crap, it's hot.
Yeah, dude, it was like that
last year and the year before
and the year before that.
So it's kind of cold this year.
Last year I was here for the
races.
It was.
Cold.
Cold.
Yeah.
And this is going to be real
cold this year.
So you know how you could be
warmer if you buy one of those
sweet beanies?
They got to be on the site. 1st
on the site you.
Know let me ask you something
though, because this is how I
feel about this.
Tell me.
Do you think that the media over
hypes the crap out of this
everything?
It's wild.
Like they're talking about being
in the 20s and blah blah blah
blah blah and all this other
junk.
If it does hit that low, it's
going to hit that low for what,
3 hours?
When we're not awake.
You know what I mean?
But they're like, you know, I
walked out of the gym today and
I was in a regular T-shirt and
I'm like, this is fine.
I I can wear this?
It's invigorating.
However, I got my Weasel team 6,
so I wanted to sport it.
You know, comment on that it.
Looks very good.
Yeah, I got hooked up.
I got hooked up.
That's an awesome jacket, I wish
I had one.
Yeah, I bet you do.
Yeah, I wish you had one too.
Thank you.
Yeah.
I appreciate that, but hey, you
know, this is the where we live
in.
Yeah, it's kind of cold though.
I mean, I'm not going to lie.
It gets cold, but it doesn't get
to a point where it's
Armageddon.
It's really cold in the morning.
By noon it's 30 degrees, 20°
warmer.
Yeah, it's totally.
Tolerable, right?
I'm with it, right?
I'm just, I'm so anti media at
this point.
I think like the only, my only
media source is Palmer.
I get the news from Palmer.
Yeah, we don't even know those
stories are real.
Yeah, half the time they aren't.
And now I get my news from you,
right?
You're my news.
Good.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah.
All right.
So it's going to be cold in
Florida.
I think it's because they have
nothing else to do right now.
Yeah, and they and they.
And it actually draws eyeballs,
right?
Like the cold.
How cold is it gonna?
I gotta know, right?
It's gonna be in the 20s.
Oh God.
We live in still live in
Florida, man.
Like, I don't know what we're
doing.
You're gonna be good, man.
When you're eating your huevos
and bacon, you're gonna be good.
Your huevos and bacon.
It's just like the Hurricanes
too, man.
They get everybody crazy, right?
Yeah, 100 percent, 100%.
But I don't, I don't even watch
regular TV anymore, right?
So what do you watch?
I watch a lot of you.
Know a lot of porn?
You're almost scary.
No, no, I, you know, I get my
news from podcasts, right?
OK, I watch a lot of YouTube,
right?
Makes it easy.
I watch, pick and choose what I
want to watch.
I listen for as long as I like,
right?
But you've got to, you've got to
get the eyeballs.
So how do you get the eyeballs?
By making everything hyperbolic.
Fear, fear.
Mongering, Right, Right.
And people think they're gonna
die because it's gonna, it's
gonna, it's gonna like to 22.
Yeah, Oh my God, we're gonna
die.
Yeah, my poor kids leave like
Ralphie's son, you know, in
Christmas Story or Robbie's
brother.
Remember Robbie's brother?
He's in the Thing and he can't
with Yes.
Yes.
I'm just kidding.
They don't really leave like
that.
But I feel like that's how, you
know, you listen to the news,
that's how your kids got to
leave.
And they're like, but it's not
that cold.
And in a couple of hours, it's
gonna be 20° warmer, yeah.
You're gonna be fine, right?
Right.
You're gonna be running,
jumping, playing.
We need to go.
When there's actually literally
people that live in this type of
weather all the time, yeah.
Yeah, it's like, what's, hey,
what's it like in Minnesota?
It's -7 today it's going to be
30 tomorrow.
It is what it is.
We just, we've accepted it and
you know.
How's Alaska looking?
Well, it's cold as usual.
And dark.
Yeah.
Well, you know what's crazy,
Most of the people that live in
this state are from somewhere
else, experience really cold
weather, right?
And after a couple years here in
Florida, it drops under 40 and
they got to wear gloves and they
got to wear an under a jacket
and A and a hoodie and.
Yeah, or they're like the
iguanas down South.
But something but something also
happens when you get older, like
as you get older your skin kind
of thins and you get colder.
Yes.
Faster.
Right.
My mom is suffering right now.
Yeah, I I know she didn't want
to get out of bed this morning.
I haven't spoken to her, but I'm
telling you that my mom hates
the cold.
If it gets to 70, that's her
limit.
At 70, she's not leaving the
house.
Does she only speak Spanish?
She speak no.
No, my mom.
Yeah, she went to high school
here.
I don't know.
Yeah, I'm telling.
You, you know, maybe she goes,
you know, maybe she came in on a
boat or something.
I don't know.
No, she flew here on a plane.
She flew her on a plane trying
to say, man, I'm my dad got came
here on a boat.
What are you trying to say?
Huh?
That's right.
I just.
Countered your bullshit script.
You are not prepared.
You cannot.
Like I just want you to know.
All right, You can come for me,
OK.
But don't come at.
Me but and it right but if you
want to come at me there will
there's going to be a Perry and
there's going to be a jab all
right and you're like OK all
right OK so yeah So what are you
trying what are you trying to.
Say nothing.
I'm not saying Ellis Island cold
out there.
It's cold out there.
Ellis.
Island, My my father came
through Ellis fucking Island,
yeah.
Yeah, that was a thing back in
the day.
Yeah, Queen.
Elizabeth the boat.
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah, it was sold to China to
become a universe and then
caught on fire.
Not kidding.
Like like universe like at
universe was going to.
Become like a college.
They wanted to do some kind of
college experiment with it, and
then it burned down.
Oh wow.
Allegedly.
Well, allegedly.
It's not allegedly.
It's a fact.
You can look it up.
You seen it?
He's pretty passionate about
this.
He struck a nerve.
I.
Don't know.
No, he didn't really strike a
nerve.
No, he just, you know.
I'm just ready.
Yeah, he's ready to go.
I'm just ready.
My ears are warm.
I've.
Got this Red Bull?
I got my Red Bull.
I'm fired up, baby.
Yeah, I'm prepared to carry this
podcast if you, you know, I'll
drag you along if you can't make
it, buddy.
You don't worry.
You know what is Pete?
So you haven't watched the last
couple episodes.
So he finally got the beanies
done, and he's excited.
I didn't really got but I didn't
get them done.
But you got the one done to show
everybody, right?
Yeah, 'cause I want to shut
everybody up.
Right.
It looks good.
Thanks, man.
All right, let's get into the
next story.
What do you got?
So you might have to scoot it
down a little because we covered
it.
It's cold in Florida.
Perfect.
Boom all.
Right.
OK, Doomsay Clock.
Which one is it?
Oh, it's the, it's the, it's
Paris Hilton's porn.
Something or other, right?
Deep State porn.
What's it say?
Let's talk with that.
I don't know.
You got to tell me a little bit
so we can talk about.
It OK, here we go.
Paris Hilton Paris Hilton is
advocating against deep fake
porn defiance act The deep faced
deep.
He wrote this, huh?
He did.
He makes it even more
complicated.
And then you can't read, so it
makes it even worse.
Public school education.
Me too, but fuck me up.
Yeah.
So, but we'll get through this,
don't worry.
And it's going to be fun the
entire time.
Yes, for everybody else but you.
Advocating against deep fake
porn.
Yes.
Defiance Act.
In late January 2026, Paris
Hilton testifies on Capitol Hill
with lawmaker like
Representative AOC Alexandria
Ocasio Cortez.
I like to see her in a porn.
I don't even watch porn.
Yeah, but yeah.
Allegedly.
Allegedly, you don't.
Watch, haven't watched?
Yeah.
And when was the last time you
watched?
Porn years.
Years.
Yeah, good for you.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think it's a bad thing,
yeah.
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to
support Bipartisan Defiance Act
which has by which has passed
the Senate and is advancing in
the House to combat AI generated
non consensual explicit deep
fakes.
OK, so you know, I've never seen
the Paris Hilton porn, No.
No, me neither.
So this is a bill that's that
they're they're against.
So Paris Hilton's against this,
but it's about AI fake porn.
Yeah.
And they're about stopping it.
I don't think she's against it.
It sounds like.
Yeah, well, she's against it.
It sounds like the House and the
Senate is are four shutting this
down.
Yeah, yeah.
And she does not.
She's like, hey, wait, whoa,
whoa.
I'm OK with the AI fake stuff.
Yeah, maybe.
Maybe she looks different now.
Are you OK with the AI fake
stuff?
I think porn should be, I'm not
going to say illegal because,
you know, yeah, free speech and
all that shit.
But right, Yeah.
But I think it should be really
difficult for kids to, I mean,
when I was a kid.
Yeah, that's a totally different
topic.
We we watch the squiggly things.
Yeah.
Did you, did you watch TV, the
cable TV pay-per-view where the
and then you like, oh.
Yes, yes.
That was hard to watch.
It's a movie, right?
You had to go into the woods,
and one of your friend's older
brother had a bag.
Yeah, full of magazines.
Right.
And you'd have to, you know,
this is what it was.
Right.
And it all gets to it's.
Hard.
It's hard to find, you know?
And then you were actually
shameful.
You kept it under the mattress.
You kept it outside the house.
You didn't want your family or
your mom actually to catch you,
you know?
So yeah, it was pretty.
Now it gets piped in into your
phone.
Right.
What a specific traumatic moment
that was, yeah.
You took us to a specific spot
in your in your childhood, just
for the record, which is
amazing.
Right.
I felt like I was there.
So let me see here, because I
actually have these notes as
well.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna help you
here for a bit here.
Paris Hilton blah blah blah.
Drawing her personal experience
at age 19 when a private video
was leaked without consent,
which he knew frames as abuse
rather than scandal, Hilton
highlights how AI has escalated
this to hundreds of thousands of
fake explicit images of her and
millions of others,
disproportionately harming women
and girls.
OK, this bill will create a
civil right for victims to sue
creators and distributors of
such content for accountability
and compensation.
So.
So she is.
She's supporting it, Yeah, she's
advocating.
Wait, but it says Paris Hilton
advocating against deep fake
porn defiance.
So I don't fully understand
that.
She's against it, then she's
advocating against it.
Yeah, to support wait along with
lawmakers like Rebel to support
the bipartisan Defiance Act,
which has passed Senate, House
of AI generated non consensual
explicit deep fakes.
I don't know, I it just sounds
like deepfake shouldn't be a
thing and I think that people
should be sued for creating
these things.
Absolutely.
That makes sense to me.
Yeah, I don't like the AI stuff.
I I think it's, it's just
tricking you too much.
Like I think it's funny for like
the comedian comic type relief
stuff.
But I I just don't like it
because now people are starting
to use it to replicate like
history and they skew it a
little bit and stuff like that.
You know, I, I don't like that
because now it's, it's almost
like when Palmer's reading the
news, like you don't know if
it's real or not real at that
point.
Right.
And that happens, right?
So here, here's what's wild.
The one Instagram thing that I
follow is KFC Barstool.
Yeah, yeah, right.
It's the one thing that I'll
watch that is kind of a media
source, I guess, to some degree.
And he covered this, these
videos of like this Russian ice
storm and it showed pictures of
people jumping out of their
buildings and jumping into like
6 stories of snow.
And it was wild.
And he had all kinds of clips
and he's like, this is insane.
The people from, you know,
Russian police are saying do not
jump out.
You don't know what's under the
snow, you could die and all this
other stuff.
And then within five hours he
had to post.
It was all AI.
He was convinced that it was
real.
And I'm watching these videos
and I'm like, maybe it is real.
I don't know, you know.
Does it seem super far fetched?
Yeah, yeah, like maybe it did
happen, but like, you could see
how some of the AI stuff is.
Like, you see, like I'm watching
like a zoo guy and a Gator
breaks through glass and then
like he falls to the ground.
Then all of a sudden a baby
drops out of nowhere.
There's a baby on the ground.
And I'm like, OK, this is right.
Complete BS, right?
But you know, as AI gets better.
Did that baby just spawn?
Yeah, Where'd that baby come
from?
And usually it's just, it's like
the same standard AI baby that
you see in everything.
And it didn't belong in this at
all like.
The poop.
Like, OK, like the Gators gonna
OK, who was holding the baby?
I don't understand.
But like, as it kind of
progresses and as it kind of
gets better and better, you're
gonna see that this is more of
an issue, right?
So I think this is the first
step of regulation where that if
somebody does something
inappropriately, inappropriately
with another person or or
someone that looks like a
person.
Yeah, 'cause you can ruin
somebody's reputation.
Of course, of course, I think
that, you know the person has
every right to sue them.
We can have restrictions in this
country.
A lot of the stuff is being, you
know, it's happening in other
countries.
And so how do, where do you draw
the?
How do you filter that so that
you know, so we don't see it?
I mean 'cause everything is.
I mean, I guess you got a point,
you know, that is, and that's
another that's a that's kind of
a slippery slope as well because
like, you know, I mean, you just
see that Iraq shut down the
Internet, right?
Like, you know, so you don't
want, you still want to see
what's going on outside of the
world.
You still want it coming in.
Well, yeah, but like.
Yeah, you got a great point,
Pete.
But in certain countries, like
you can't access stuff from
America.
So it's probably going to be the
same type of thing, right?
Well.
They're creating it for our
country.
In a lot of these places,
they're not allowed to.
They don't see like Chinese
TikTok doesn't see the crap that
they feed our kids.
Right, supposedly right.
Like that's the.
And a lot of that stuff is being
made in China, right?
So they don't see it.
But we see it because we have
this free society where you can
watch whatever you want, right?
Allegedly.
Allegedly.
Allegedly.
This guy have questions about
the free society, but yeah,
yeah.
But yeah, some things don't
track, bro.
I don't have to tell you.
The news is just so, so terrible
on both sides.
But yeah, it's a great point.
However, I don't think that, you
know, maybe maybe somebody in
Russia's like, you know what?
I'm going to make this video
about Paris Hilton, you know,
like, I don't even know if they
know who Paris Hilton is.
Yeah.
Yeah, she's not that relevant
anymore.
Right.
In this in that scenario, right,
Right.
Right.
But maybe somebody else is, you
know, maybe maybe they they
highlight some kind of.
Kim Kardashian.
Oh, well, even worse, like a, a,
a presidential candidate or, you
know, like and, and you know
when, when that comes out and
it's totally fake and like that
could be a problem.
Yeah, and it's already done.
It's damage.
Right, right.
And most people aren't going to
go back.
You can't, you know and and
search to see if it's real.
They'll just send it, you know,
forward it.
I mean it's.
Do you want to, do you want to
know what I think happens, What
I think AI winds up being the
demise of social media do?
You think so?
Yeah.
Yeah, I think that what happens
is if something is if AI,
because I'm telling you right
now when I look at videos and I
see it's AI get pissed and I
just move on.
If AI continues to take over in
social media, if it if it isn't
filtered out either naturally or
because it doesn't get views or
by some type of control from the
social media platforms,
eventually it will kill all of
the social media platforms.
You have to have your sources
that you watch and you have to
hope that those guys are gonna
be honest and but even they get
faked, right?
Cuz I mean, it's all over.
It's all over, right?
It's everywhere.
So it's an interesting world
that we live in, man.
Sounds like a story we've heard
before.
Do you guys think Terminator
becomes real?
Skynet.
Yeah, I mean.
You're on the cusp.
Yeah, think of how all this
stuff is going.
You're on the cusp.
AI has already got an opinion.
You know what I mean?
Like, wait a second, Like you're
trying to sway me.
You're no, you're no longer just
giving me data and facts.
You're telling me how you've how
I'm supposed to feel about this?
Right.
So like maybe Sarah, Sarah
Connor is really.
A real person with no fate.
I got to tell you man.
Terminator 2 for me.
Terminator 21 of the saddest
movies I ever I ever watched.
You want to know why?
Why?
Because of Little John Connor.
I felt bad for Little John
Connor.
Why'd you feel bad for?
Him, I'm going to tell you, I'm
going to tell you the guy didn't
have a dad, right?
And the closest thing to a
father that he had was this
machine, right?
And this machine did everything
like protected him.
The whole like hat was every bit
of a father figure, right?
And the only way we could save
the world was to kill.
This guy's close enough thing of
being a dad.
And guess what?
You want to know what happened?
Terminator Three?
It didn't matter.
It didn't change anything.
Right, they needed more money.
Complete bullshit, right?
Right.
Right dude, the thumb up thing
at the end with a lava bro.
I was in tears.
I was not happy.
About oh God, he's gone like
this is.
So sad now this guy, you know,
you never know, running into
some gangs or something.
Yeah, now we're.
On mixed up, he's not into
sports.
Do we have Terminator?
Did they make a Terminator?
Yeah, they're like T10, bro.
Yeah, it's wild.
Yeah, but T2 was the highlight
was the best one, right?
Yeah, for sure.
All right, you want to go on
that as you're lighting that,
I'll.
I'll cover you on the next next.
Thank you.
Yeah, I got you.
What are you lighting?
Lighting a hiatus, Kuana, Yeah,
new beginnings.
Yeah, it's a new beginning.
Yeah, it's a new beginning.
We just covered this story that
he started his own factory or he
owns the factory.
Now he's making his own brand.
Right, right.
Right.
Oh, see, yeah, that I was
telling him upstairs.
I was like, I think we just.
Covered.
Are you the broker for that?
I am.
Yeah, OK.
Are you excited about it?
I'm very excited.
I think, listen, I like to work
with companies that are
vertically integrated, right?
I think not everybody should
have my approach, but I think if
you're going to sell a cigar,
you want to make sure that the
company that makes it controls
the tobacco.
They control the manufacturing,
they control the the flow of the
product.
You know, So I, I don't, not
that, for example, there are
companies that can, they can
still be, I don't want to use
the word legitimate, but ethical
in the way that they
manufacture.
Even if they're not, they don't
own the factory.
You know, that's really
important in this industry.
When you say that you only made
2000 boxes, that you only made
2000 boxes, you know that
you're, that, that you stay true
to the blends that you, that
that brought you to the game.
And the only way you can do that
is if you own the factory,
because what have you run out of
something and you're making a
cigar for somebody else.
And here you're stuck.
You don't have the, the right
proportions.
Fuck it, let's just do it all
right and send it.
So here's where I'm going to
blow some holes through that
theory.
Because you could still be a
manufacturer, still lie, you
could still say, hey, hey, I
can't get this tobacco.
Like are they going to know you
can still do that?
Like let me just switch this,
right?
Like that's still possible.
Now.
Now it's and to be honest, not
only is it still possible, it's
even worse than if you're a
brand owner.
Because if you're a brand owner,
you didn't know and the
manufacturer screwed you over.
You had no idea.
Plausible dye but.
Like, I had no idea.
Like this tastes a little
different.
Like no, it's the same, right?
But if you're the manufacturer
and you can't get the Kondaga or
you can't get the Pueblo level
or even worse, like the rapper,
hey, you know, like can't get
Connecticut broadleaf, hey,
let's switch to PA.
Who's going to know, right?
You know what, man, I think that
the ethical guys, the guys that
really is he sound can't imagine
Pete Johnson doing that.
I can't imagine you doing that.
No, Pete, I don't.
Couldn't see Pete doing.
That right, There are a lot of
guys that I can't see them doing
it right.
There are a lot of guys that,
you know, if we don't have it,
we don't sell it.
OK.
But like you just mentioned, 2
two number one, Pabine Garcia is
not going to look at at Pete and
say, you know, you know, it's
the same, right?
That's not going.
To happen?
Absolutely.
Right.
And Skip isn't going to look at
me and say, right, you know,
yeah, this is the, it's exactly
the same stuff.
Like they're not going to do it.
Like, so we, you know that those
manufacturers have a level of
integrity and you trust right,
Right, right.
Yeah.
However, some of them don't.
Actually, a lot of them don't,
right?
I would you say a lot of them.
I wouldn't say a lot of them.
I would say a lot.
Of them, I can't, I can't think
of that many that I don't trust
to do something like that.
I can't think of.
Oh yeah.
Can you?
Sure, that guy.
Really.
I could think of a whole bunch
of.
Who you want to name a?
Couple, dude, I could go down
the list.
How about we talk about
Heritage?
Acid Heritage was released and
it was a Cameroon and then it's
flipped to Habato and nobody
said anything.
Good point.
That's a big brand.
That's a huge brand, but I think
they've lost a little bit of
their integrity when they sold.
It's not, you know, I don't
think that JD would have done
that.
I don't think JD would have.
I don't think.
Yeah, John, that's what we're
talking about acid, right?
Ashton.
Oh, I thought you said acid.
Yeah.
Ashton.
See, I I can't imagine.
Ashton shouldn't be able to.
I can't imagine they would do
that.
Fuente makes herself.
And I think he, I think he's
very ethical.
So, so yeah, I mean, I think he
is too.
But somebody knew.
Somebody had to know who knew.
It was a game time decision
problem.
Who knew?
It was a game time decision.
There's a big difference there.
Albano to Cameroon is a big
difference, right?
Hey, maybe I'm wrong.
I think I'm right, but maybe I'm
wrong.
Hey boss.
That's my disclaimer, so I don't
get in.
Trouble.
We're out of the rapper.
Oh well, use the other one.
OK, all right.
So very quickly here, the
Doomsday Clock, it's been
updated.
What is a doomsday?
Club, it's like this is when the
end of the world is going to
happen.
Wasn't that supposed to be in
the 2000 it?
Happens all the time and then it
blows over and then we move on.
We.
Pass and then they.
They go, they move.
Oh no, it wasn't then.
It was this time, right?
Just to keep everybody sharp.
Yeah, so apparently it jumped to
85 seconds to midnight in
January 2020, sixth the closest
ever in 78 plus years.
January what?
What day?
It just says January 2026 to
midnight January 2026, so you
know.
We got one day left, two days
left.
Well, we're in January, buddy.
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
So be in the world soon.
Yeah, so look, man, what, what
am I supposed to do?
What, what, what am I going to
do if it's the end of the world
tomorrow?
What changes in my life today?
Maybe this is it.
Maybe the cold this is this is a
recreation of the one of the
dinosaurs.
Keep going, keep going.
God, man, I can't make all the
dinosaurs.
Go ahead.
Keep.
Oh.
My God, God.
What was it?
The art?
Whatever I.
Love it.
Yeah, well, the what?
When the dinosaurs died, you
know it froze over.
Goodbye.
Yeah.
What happened?
How did it happen?
What do you think?
I'm done?
Was it the meteors?
Yeah, whatever.
What was it?
Yeah.
Wasn't it rain?
What?
No, they didn't.
No, they didn't die.
What was the?
What was it the?
Dinosaurs didn't die, No.
What was it?
Still alive?
Yeah, because the woolly mammoth
came around and all that.
The woolly mammoth is there now.
In the cold, in the cold, in the
cold.
Yeah.
Are you just trying to get time
out of me?
Is that what you?
Want how many?
Gold.
No, I just know that when you
start going down a rabbit hole,
man, I'm going to encourage it.
I'm, I'm lost right now.
I, I was, I knew where I was
going.
I pointed the car and then it
went into the ditch.
I didn't.
Know it went into the ditch OK
when the apparently the
dinosaurs are still here.
No, they, well, they, I mean,
technically we're roaches.
Alligators.
Alligators.
Crocodiles.
Yeah.
The sharks, the those birds that
we don't like that cross the
road all the time here in
Florida, we want to run over and
we can't.
Cranes, yeah, because they're
protected.
They.
Called the birds that we don't
know what they are, but they're
always walking and they don't
give a shit.
Either yeah, they don't care.
Well, I think they know you're
going to stop.
Yeah, 'cause I gun it.
Yeah, I see them.
I gun it.
They get the hell out of the
way.
They're like, hey, Oh yeah, I'm
protected.
I remember leaving this, I
remember leaving the shop one
day and there was a car pulled
off the side of the road and I
and I saw this white thing and
this guy was just kind of
heaving it into the and I'm
like, what was that?
And he had grabbed the wing and
just got it off the road.
And I was like.
That's a That's a bad one.
That's a bad I.
Don't want to be a witness?
No, it was Cooks bro.
It was already dead.
Yeah, yeah, he ran it over.
Yeah, yeah.
Peeled it off of his grill.
Yeah.
He probably thought the same
thing.
He's like, man, I just have a
gun and he'll get out of the
way.
Bam smacked.
And he's like, oh shit.
That was not good dude.
Down South.
Going to prison?
What?
Do you call those not the
Pelican?
Pelican.
No, it's the Flamingo.
No, not Flamingo.
It's the, it's the with the
pretty feathers in the back
Peacock.
We got a lot.
Of Peacock.
Peacock.
We got a lot of Peacock, really.
I think that's what like a lot
of people brought them in.
Yeah.
I think, 'cause they were pets
and they're like, no, yeah, they
let them walk around and.
Actually, I think it was during
Andrew Parrot Jungle, Yeah, was
destroyed, OK.
And so we have a lot of, we got
a lot of parrots in South
Florida and they're just wild
parrots, which we didn't have
that before.
And I think the Peacocks are
also part of that.
Like a Peacock.
They're annoying, man.
Are they?
Yeah, they are.
Yeah, they're security.
Animals.
They shit like dogs.
I mean, yeah, and they're loud
and they're annoying.
Have you ever?
Eaten.
I would though.
I would.
Yeah, I would.
You can eat.
I've had I've I've eaten a piece
of 1.
You've eaten a piece of one.
Yeah, you've had a piece of.
Remember the?
Remember the was.
It the PEA or was it the COCK?
Yeah, that one, that one.
No, Yeah.
So, so the lady, remember I told
you, the lady that got killed on
the farm, she used to, she had
Peacocks that she would kill and
and people would eat and you.
Talked about.
You told us this in the story,
that's why I was asking.
What did it taste like?
It was just greasy chicken.
No.
Was it gamey?
It was, yeah, kind of gamey,
like greasy.
Like I've had raccoon before, so
kind of like raccoon.
Yeah, you've had raccoon before.
Wait a second.
What?
Yeah, you've eaten raccoon.
Yeah, my buddy Caliph.
You know my buddy Caliph.
Yes.
They used to come in his
backyard all the time and he
shot shot a couple of them and
he ended up cooking them.
He was like, OK, I want to.
I can't want to go to waste.
Wow, and you ate some.
Yeah, he's like, hey, try this.
I tried.
I was like, damn.
I was like, what is that?
He's like, that's Raccoon.
I'm like, oh dude, don't ever
give me that again.
Like that was horrible.
Dude, what about a possum?
You fascinate me more every day.
And that's pretty fascinating.
It's incredible.
Yeah, I've never had a week.
I've never.
I think I'd try it, Raccoon.
Raccoon, Yeah.
I try it I.
Try to.
Clean animals really know that.
Yeah.
Like, they, they.
Yeah.
They always, well, in garbage
and stuff, yeah.
They always make their hands
clean, though.
Yeah, they do.
Yeah.
Yeah bro, you never see one.
Just like walk away, go wash his
hands.
No, not wash his.
Hands.
Yeah, it happens bro.
Totally happens.
OK, now we're gonna get into
before we get into this, I want
you to speed up and get and
start on get to cigar news
'cause it's gonna say Pangaea
cigars launch and I want you to
read that one.
But before we do, I want to
announce the Co host for
tomorrow, which will be released
on Monday.
Wait, no, it'll be released
Friday.
Friday.
Yeah, Friday's show my Co host
is gonna be Phil Mcguffin.
Oh my God.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
Oh my God, that's to wear the
mask.
Are you ready?
Yeah.
Are you ready for this?
Bill I.
Think Cole Mcguffin's doing a
good.
Job you're going to take the
chair you're.
Going to make me wear the mask.
Of course, Oh Jesus, of course.
Are you ready for?
That I'm in, yeah.
OK, I'm excited.
I'm going to.
I'll watch that one.
For sure it's going to be good.
That's.
Going to be great.
That's So that's when you start
watching it again, huh?
Well, you know.
You know what's really kind of
funny like, and I kind of let it
kind of blow over 'cause you
talked about people that are
integrated and blah, blah, blah,
blah.
But you know you did have the
opportunity to take the number 2
cigar on half wheel and be a
representative for that at one
point in the career of Post Onia
and you did shoot that down it.
Might still be available, you
never.
Know I had a moment of weakness
at the time and I was like, man,
why don't you?
This is before, this is pre
Palmer and you're like man, fuck
those guys.
I wouldn't say I said I was.
I was in.
I was in my feelings at the
time.
Yeah, something had happened at
that moment, OK.
And so, yeah, I was, you know, I
almost wanted to do something
else, get out of the industry,
right?
I mean, that was like, I thought
about that for like 2 seconds,
right?
What the fuck else am I going to
do?
You can't.
I love this shit.
But I was just just at a turning
point, man.
And I wasn't sure what I was
going to do.
I wasn't sure what I was going
to pick up.
And I didn't want to rush into
something else, but I understand
you guys are killing it.
Well, yeah.
Well, thank you very much.
Yeah, I mean, cigars are great.
It's a reputable manufacturer.
You know, you guys know what the
fuck you're doing.
You know we're trying.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then it's just about, you
know, keep moving the ball
forward and you guys are doing a
great job.
And I'm.
That wasn't the half field,
wasn't the only one that.
No, first of all, Cigar Press,
because we never give them
enough attention.
They took number six Dojo.
There was, I mean there was like
20 people that ranked us in one
aspect to the other, whether it
was the Connecticut, the San
Andreas, the war bear, you know,
Kaplowitz media did.
I mean ghost bear.
Why did I say ghost bear?
Lol.
So Fumar gave us #2 for justice
the Connecticut, you know.
So yeah, dude, we we tracked a
lot.
There was a whole clip on it,
Pete.
Yeah, did you see the clip?
I did an awesome clip.
Did you?
I did and it was pretty cool.
Yeah.
Even George Brighton said
something nice about it.
George.
Brighton.
Is he still around?
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
What do you say?
He said it was an amazing cigar.
You're smoking the justice.
Yep, congratulations man.
I'm really happy for you that's.
Awesome.
Thank you.
Yeah, we're on our way, you
know, right, We're on our way.
We're tracking so.
But yeah, you passed on it, so.
All right.
Pangia Cigar Lounge.
Cigar launch Launch.
Two women with deep cigar, wine,
bourbon experience.
Oh, Ibis, Ibis Louise and cigar
lover, Twelve former Placentia
Reb and Anna Iapuva.
That looks good.
That sounds good.
Iapuva, Ex owner of the High End
Cigar Wine Club, launched Pangia
Cigars, Partnering with Indiana
Indiana Ortez Casa Ortez for
production the brand.
The brand draws from the names
of the ancient super continent.
Dude, this sucks.
I I I you know, I really, I I
need to read more often, right?
Yeah, do.
You wear glasses.
You might the ancient
supercontinent to symbolize
unity and connection, focusing
on thoughtful, high quality
blends 1 Connecticut one Habano
wrapped rather than rapid
releases built on integrity,
tradition and craftsmanship.
So it's called Pangea 'cause it
was talking about the
supercontinent.
So it's like the biggest one
when they were all together
before and then they started to
separate tectonic plates and
stuff, that whole thing, right?
OK, so do you know these women?
In.
I know.
I just.
Yeah, yeah.
OK.
And she knows a lot about
cigars.
She does.
She's got a good palate.
You know her.
No, no, she's awesome.
She's Yeah.
She's been doing this a long
time.
She worked at she used to work
at Neptune.
She ended up working.
Now she went to Placencia.
OK.
And she's one of those ladies
that I actually, you know,
listen, I'm not going to take.
I think it's a little a bit
difficult to take for me.
I think a lot of guys feel this
way to get like a recommendation
from a woman, right?
Cigar recommendation, OK, you
have to qualify.
It's like me taking a restaurant
recommendation from a skinny
guy, right?
You're going to have to qualify
or marry.
Else do you eat or like or like
marital advice from somebody
who's been divorced for a time?
Right, right.
Like.
But I find, that being said, I
do find that women have a great
palate.
I'm close, you know.
Hey, I'm not calling you for
anything.
I got news.
I got news for you, buddy.
I would I would never call you
and say, hey, this is what's
going on.
I.
Would give you good advice.
I don't know, yeah.
Would you know the good advice
to give?
Yeah, that's the problem, right?
Yeah, I'm, I'm the most
experienced, right?
It does have a lot of.
Experience.
Here's where with.
With success, there is a lot of
failure.
Right.
Yeah, yeah, right.
And I got to tell you, he's got
a very successful marriage.
He does.
Yeah, I've been there.
And Tia's awesome, I think she's
a big part of.
That well, she tolerates him
well, she does, yeah.
He's a good guy.
He understood what she was
getting.
Into knew exactly what she was
getting into, right?
Yeah, there's disclaimers.
Yeah, there's disclaimers, but I
know EVs has a good palette.
I don't know who the other lady
is, but yeah, I'm curious to
find out what the.
OK.
So this new brand is being
launched, right?
How long do you think it takes
for that brand to become
successful?
Years.
OK.
Yeah.
About how many?
When you being successful like.
Like tracking, you know, in the
black consistently year over
year, people know the brand,
people talk about it, OK, to
that extent, right?
Five years. 5.
OK.
What do you think?
Minimum. 12. 12 are you just
basing off the Postana?
Yeah.
No, you know what?
Yeah, you're probably right.
Probably closer to 10 years.
Yeah, I'm just, I mean, I've
been I'm, I haven't been with
you guys the whole time, but
I've been with you the this last
part of time, right.
And I've been watching you guys
and yeah, I think it, I think
you guys are right there now.
Right.
People are starting to recognize
you and people are starting to
give you the kudos that you
guys, you know deserve and, and
as well as Nicosueno, right?
I mean, that goes hand in hand.
Well, they've been dominating
for a while.
I think they've they've had
their niche, but Roma, Roma, but
like just, but kind of pivoting
like not focusing on our brand,
just the kind of brands in
general.
I mean, we do get to use ours as
a rule of thumb, but I mean
like.
If they can make it past 3-4
years then they can make it to.
You think they can get to the
10?
Yeah, right.
I guess that's where I want to
say when I said five years, you
know, in five years either
they'll still be around or
they'll be done, right?
Because at some point you lose.
It takes a lot of energy for you
to do this day in and day out,
not get any traction day in and
day out for five years creating
new blends.
And where do you find the desire
to continue pushing forward when
it's not, When you don't feel
where every month you got to
sell every cigar?
It's tough.
Yeah, it is incredibly
challenging.
It is.
You can get into a lot of dark
places mentally.
I mean, and yeah, it's not easy,
you know, like, I mean, even
with some of the brands that we
saw that popped up that we were
excited about or we tasted
cigars, we thought they were
good.
I could tell you that we didn't
necessarily take them on in the
store because it's like, OK,
like, but what does it look
like?
You know, I, I went to a a a
booth and I won't mention their
name, but at the show smoked a
cigar, thought it was good,
right?
And they're like, OK, and if I
would have placed the order
right then and there, right?
Give me 333, whatever, right?
And we would have tested it out.
But OK, give us your e-mail and
we'll follow up with you.
I'm like, OK, here's my e-mail.
I'm trying to give you money.
Six months later, they e-mail me
and I'm like, I don't even
remember the cigar at this
point, right?
Like, OK, well, we'll send you a
couple more, OK.
And then I get another e-mail.
Hey, what are you thinking?
Like I don't know man, I moved
on.
You know, like your back end
totally collapsed.
Like you can have a great cigar,
right?
Your banning your your brand
could be eh, or your brand could
be great.
But like if you don't have the
operations in the back of it,
you're still you still got a
disaster.
Like if, if you're going to give
me the money, I got to take the
money right then and there,
right?
Always take the money.
And I got to have the product on
hand, right?
Right.
And I got to deliver it to you
and, you know, you got to start
believing in it, building it,
and then I got to support you.
So it's not just making a cigar.
There's so many more aspects to
this.
And there, you know, and, and
all of those things, a lot of
those things take time and
energy.
And when you're not in the mood
to do it, you fucking do it
anyway.
Right.
So, you know, I always encourage
and wish anybody the best when
it comes to them trying to do
this, but you know.
Oh, this is not dude.
So what brands in the last five
years or the last 10 years do
you think have for lack of a
better term blown up or have you
seen have tracked consistently
over the five years, six years,
seven years where you see it's
grown where?
The only one in that landscape
over the past 10 years that
really did a good job And, and
well, there's two.
I think we're thinking about the
same 2.
Foundation and Dumbarton, right?
Yeah.
Those are the only two.
HVC, you know.
HVC was around before and I
think that they they had a
higher point than where they're
at right now.
But they do make great cigars,
you know.
But he has restructured.
And in that restructuring,
there's always a dip.
There's always, you know, right,
there's always a challenge where
you have to redo things.
But I don't think I would put
him in the same category as.
Not even close, right?
Yeah, not even close.
I mean, you know.
Dunbarton just exploded.
And we're not.
And I'm not saying anything
negative about about.
We're just making an
observation.
He's an amazing guy.
He's got great cigars, right?
You know, I mean, we praise this
stuff all the time, right?
Right.
But they're how about the
another guy?
This guy doesn't make a cigar,
but he has a platform and he
sells cigars.
I guess he does make a lot of
his own cigars.
Brian Descent.
That's a very interesting.
Yeah, you know, he's done a lot
of things that are very, very
unique and he's definitely
created a niche.
Yes, you know, and, and it's,
and it works for him because
look, I've come across some of
these Pravada guys like out in
the wild, they're die hard and
they're in Oh yeah, they're
committed.
Yes.
And you could tell like.
They have drank the Kool-aid.
Well, yeah, I mean, you know, I
I look and every brand needs
that.
Yeah, of course you need the.
Fanboys.
You need the fanboys.
Yeah, you need that.
You need those guys.
And when, when I heard this guy
rattling everything off to me, I
was like, like, Oh my God, like,
can I tell you bubble stuff?
Like I'm like, like, like come
with me.
Like you're, you know, 'cause
like that.
That's how a brand grows.
You know, you're the guy that
walks into the the cigar store
and says this is the best cigar
and here's why.
And, you know, you either
believe it or you don't, but
somebody is and somebody's
going.
To try, he's done an amazing job
and even the the fights that he
picks, you know, I I wouldn't do
it that way.
No, yeah.
But it works.
Yeah, I mean, right.
Like, look, here's the reality
is, look, I could pick apart
anybody and you know what we do
on the show all the time and
say, hey, here's where you
messed up.
Or here's where I think that,
you know, you could have done
this better or whatever the case
may be.
And it isn't because I'm looking
to RIP somebody apart.
But, you know, I someone could
could look at our other stuff
and say, OK, well, here's where
you messed up, right?
Like, yeah, you're probably
right, right.
Yeah.
And I think that, you know,
saying some of the things that
he said at at specific times,
probably not the best move,
right?
Definitely created some enemies
along the way that in my opinion
are great guys.
And and I wouldn't I, you know,
you jump to conclusions and you
got got to this level and you
know, like you don't, man, it's
a lot.
It's a lot better when everybody
gets along.
You know what I mean?
Like, I don't there's only one
guy in this industry that I
truly despise, Right?
Really.
Yeah, only the one.
I think I know who you're.
Talking about yeah, I think
everybody does.
And then other than that, you
know, I may not like a person
like, or I may think that a
person maybe I don't like how
they present themselves in
business or how they do things,
but I can still go up to them
and say, hey man, how are you?
Shake their hand, whatever you.
Can still be cordial.
You know I right?
I can still be a decent human
being to that person, right?
So that's always kind of my
approach, right?
So, all right, we're rolling
along here, buddy.
We're at 46 minutes.
So you want to try and screw up
the Mississippi cigar tax
increase.
What do you say?
Mississippi cigar tax increase
proposal.
Mississippi Bill HB 758.
Can't see.
Put your glasses on.
Yeah, it is what it is.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know it gets any better.
You ain't 20 anymore.
Buddy.
Yeah, come on, Lost your hair
first, now you're losing your
vision.
With my phone, I got to I'm, I'm
starting to do this.
I'm starting to pull it back.
Oh my God, God, it's coming.
Representative.
Bob Evans.
Yep.
Great, great eggs.
Oh yeah, no more.
It's gone.
No, that's not.
They're they still aren't.
They still, Yeah, they're still.
Well, they're just not around
here.
Yeah, right.
Proposing proposes raising the
state cigar tax, another tobacco
product tax, from 15 to 22.5%
wholesale of wholesale prices
with no cap, potentially
increasing retails prices.
For example, 9, a $9.50 MSRP
cigar.
Could rise noticeably.
Could rise noticeably, right?
That means it would be probably
if it's 15 bucks. 1222% another
two and change.
So it's going to be, you know,
it's up there.
Let me know what I change.
And you know, a dollar.
I mean, a lot of these companies
are really raising their prices
every year.
I mean, there's some.
But you haven't seen it that
much so far this year?
No.
Drew Estate did it so far, yeah,
but nobody else has, I think.
Patron did.
Oh yeah, but Padrone doesn't
give a shit.
I don't even think Padrone
announced.
It yeah, that's standard.
Like the invoice came in and we
saw the price.
What are?
You going to do not buy.
It back it's the it's the it's
other than our brand.
It's the number one cigar that
grows in the store organically
without.
Anything.
It's amazing.
Yeah, it's so I've asked in my
travels, I've spoken to, you
know, all the retailers and I
always ask and it's always in
the top two or three.
Best selling wild, not unit
wise, but dollar wise, you know,
it's at the top, you know?
What would you rather own, the
Yankees or the Marlins?
Yankees because one has the
greatest percentage in sales as
far as percent and one has the
greatest gross in value.
Yeah.
Guess which one's which.
You know what I mean?
Like even though neither one of
them have seen a Pennant.
And what's it called?
The pendant?
Pendant I don't follow.
Yeah, Pendant.
Yeah, in 100 years or whatever,
right?
You know, you still see the
Yankees.
I think you still see the
Yankees hats.
Everywhere.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, that's because we live in
Florida.
No, I think you see them
anywhere.
Everywhere.
Yeah.
Yeah, the Yankees are.
It's an iconic team.
When you think of baseball, you
think Yankees.
You know, you think Yankees.
Dodgers.
What's 1 of the longest history
teams?
They were up there as one of the
most valuable teams in the
world, right?
Not as much as the Dallas
Cowboys.
Yeah, I think we, I think we did
this.
You never.
Heard of them?
Of course.
Never heard of the Cowboys.
Yeah.
I think this was an episode one
time.
Yeah, I believe it.
Yep.
OK.
So kind of getting back to this
bill, you're starting to see
these bills popping up
everywhere.
Yeah, and fast.
Yeah, Mississippi.
Where did we just see another
Tennessee?
Tennessee's working on this
whole thing.
What?
Raising taxes.
Yeah, they're, they're looking
to.
Yeah, they're looking to.
Make a tax on like basically
mail in.
Lump tobacco in with alcohol,
you know and have their own
thing, right?
That sucks.
And and we saw, we've, we've
seen two more I think recently
too.
Yeah, well, California was
definitely one.
California is a disaster with
the UTL.
But no, there's another one
that.
Is like Washington.
We're trying to.
Redo stuff with no cap.
Washington, I think you're right
is the other one.
So why do you think that is?
Why do you think you're
starting?
We're starting to see like a
taxation or it it entering all
of these places all of a sudden.
Well, I mean, I think a lot of
these states were already
taxing, weren't they?
They are, yeah.
You know.
So why are they increasing?
Well, actually Tennessee was not
taxing really cigars at all.
So MoneyGram.
So MoneyGram, right?
They know they can, they know
that we're a, our consumer can
afford it or they think he can
afford it, right?
This is more of a hobby than it
is a habit or a vice, you know,
But it still qualifies under the
vice, right?
And they know guys will pay for
it.
You know, at the end of the day,
cigars, cigars aren't that
expensive.
People that think that it's an
expensive hobby, yeah, a box of
cigars will cost you a couple
100 bucks, right?
20 cigars.
So average 10, let's say to
what, 10 to $15?
You're going to smoke one cigar
a day.
Let's say you smoke 3 cigars a
week or whatever the $15 is.
Not that much.
You spend 15 bucks on lunch, you
know you.
Spend 15 bucks on a drink.
Right, 15 bucks.
So it's not that much.
What's really expensive is the
time that it takes to enjoy,
Right.
Who's got.
I mean, you're a pretty busy
guy.
Yeah.
You know, you're coaching 10
teams.
You got your family, whatever
for.
Fortunately, you're in the
industry and you you smoke
whenever, but.
Yeah, he's like Mike Ditka out
there.
Smoke all the way to the gym.
No, I don't smoke.
I don't smoke.
You don't.
Smoke on the field?
No.
No.
But when you, when you have to
carve out an hour, hour and a
half to enjoy this thing, go to
a cigar shop and hang or even in
your patio in the back to sit in
the patio and enjoy a cigar.
Who's got an hour, hour and a
half to just sit there and think
and you know, it's your moment,
it's your time, and they're
taxing that now that's just
sucks, right?
Well, I think it's AI think it's
also a win win situation for
them, right?
So like think of it as OK, we're
going to tax cigars and if they
pay it, great.
If they don't pay it then we
kill out cigars, right?
I kill out cigars because they
want the money, right?
Yeah, but but they are, there's
also a lot of states that want
to outlaw tobacco and and that
kind of stuff, right.
If that were the case, then why
didn't California just say no
tobacco, no cigars?
Well, again, it's a win win
situation, right?
It's not AI.
Don't.
Think they win by by, you know,
outlawing.
It they don't want to eliminate
it, they want to take as much
money from it as possible.
No, I understand what you're.
Saying yeah, but OK.
But the other side of the coin
is, is, is, is if people don't
want to pay it like in
California, if no, if no brands
registered right and paid these
crazy amount of bills, right,
they would go, oh great, we did
great.
Right now we're we're stopping
tobacco coming into our into our
state right then.
They would still look great to
the PITA people.
I don't think that they would do
that.
No, no, because that's why it's
not win win because then they
have this big red line as as far
as revenue that they used to
have going into that state and
now it's gone, right.
So that's I mean.
You did that with big tobacco
and cigarettes.
No they didn't.
They made it a partner.
They taxed the shit out of it.
But so few people smoke
cigarettes compared to 30 years
ago.
Well there is less but but
Cigarette Bunny went up like
triple.
Well, the not only that, but
health issues with cigarettes
are, well are, are, are apparent
at the point.
I mean, the allegedly the
cigarette industry went ahead
and added chemicals and all this
other crap that people are
ingesting and they're having all
these other problems.
That's not what you have with
cigars.
You just have leaves, They're
put together, It's a combination
of leaves, they're aged and then
they taste like different
things, right?
Yeah, like cocoa nibs.
Like cocoa nibs As far as as far
as Brooke says he loves his
cocoa nibs, right?
Which I bought cocoa nibs on
Amazon by the way.
We will have them soon.
Did you fantastic.
So no, I don't think that they
want to eliminate it now.
That's what they ride on.
That's their their, that's vote.
For each Yeah, vote for.
Me they say, hey, we're gonna,
we're gonna protect the people
by taxing them to limit cigars
or tobacco consumption or
whatever.
But that's not what they want.
They want more money.
And you're I think you're right.
It's a money grab.
Do you ever think you see like
previous, I mean all type of
cigars at a gas station like you
do cigarettes?
Like I know there's some there,
but those are like the big, big
boys, right?
The old school cigars.
No, I don't think so because
there aren't that many
consumers.
But but a thing you know?
But maybe there becomes that
many.
Well, of course, I mean, look at
liquor stores, look at, you
know, these big liquor chains.
Those guys are a big part of our
industry.
Those guys sell a lot of
product.
Yeah, they say ABC is the number
one seller of cigars in Florida,
right?
Really.
That's what they say.
I don't.
Know if that's true, but I, I
still think it's an
afterthought.
I, I think that I don't think
very, I think very few people go
to a liquor store to buy cigars
even though they have a walk in
humidor.
I think it's an afterthought.
They went, they bought a box, a
bottle of Scotch or whatever.
Oh yeah, let's grab a cigar.
Yeah, what I did see was
brilliant at ABC's that I saw
like these rows of five packs as
you're kind of entering the
lane, boom, boom, boom, boom,
you got 5, you know, you have 5
different brands there and they
have 5 cigars in that pack.
Grab it and go right?
Yeah, Espinoza's in there and
crazy enough.
Fratello's in there.
Howie G's in there.
Is he?
Yeah.
Wow.
It's pretty impressive.
That is, I saw Howie G
yesterday.
We're going.
No.
OK.
All right, well, we're already
at 55 minutes, so I do want to,
you know, we can cover.
Let's skip these other stories.
We'll bring these.
We'll we'll talk about some of
these other things tomorrow.
Film.
Phil Mcgruff.
Yep.
OK.
You'll you'll Co host that for
me.
For the show.
Yeah.
For Palmer.
OK.
Where where is.
He's he's he's doing what you
would have done.
He's out.
He's out running these streets,
buddy.
He's out.
He's opening up new accounts,
OK?
He's checking in on old
accounts.
Right, OK.
Yeah, yeah, crushing is.
He.
Yeah, he's doing great, man.
I'm glad.
He really is.
I think there's a learning curve
in all of that.
And well, it's, it's not only a
learning curve.
You got to, you got to knock on
these doors 345 times before
they, you know, you got to kind
of make them feel bad if they
don't.
And then you show up again, and
then eventually it'll just say,
well, this guy's going to keep
coming back, right, You know?
But that only gets you one sale.
Right.
That only gets you one sale,
right, right.
So you what you like, what's
really more beneficial is the
brand to kind of catch on,
right?
So when the brand tracks and the
brand and our post on it
definitely tracked this year
solid.
So it's a lot easier now when
you walk into a store and say,
hey, I'm this guy.
Perfect, right?
Well, it's gonna track even more
because with the half goal
thing, like I've actually
noticed a couple of people that
I know go, hey, did you see that
post on it was the number two?
I'm like, Oh yeah, right.
Which I've never, you know, I've
never seen anybody come up to me
before and go, hey, did you see
the padrone was the number one
like.
Right, because not only that,
but padrone #1, padrone #3 we're
right in the center of that,
right?
It's like, so, you know, that's,
that was crazy, man.
That was so humbling.
Yeah.
Dude, are you finding that
retail shops are calling you
because of the rating or?
Not as much as you'd think, but
you know, that did happen a
little bit.
But more often than not, the
conversation's a lot easier when
you sure when you introduce
yourself, hey.
I, I find that Cigar Aficionado
at one point was the Bible.
That was the one that was a
benchmark.
Once you got on their top 25
list, you finally made it and
nobody else was really that
important.
As time has gone on, the other
ones have become a little more
important and Aficionados become
a little less important, you
know?
Well, because it's been the same
top 25 ever since they came out.
Yeah, but that was the most
respected 1, you know, 25 and CI
was that's the one.
Well, from.
CACA.
Yeah, if CI releases top 25,
it's going to be skewed.
Of course.
Yeah.
But they say that Aficionados is
skewed.
And that's why it's not as
credible as it used to.
Be I just, I don't think they're
skewed, obviously.
That's very sweet of you.
Well, no, I obviously, I believe
that obviously that some they
only, they're only going to put
people on there that they
advertise, right.
So it's skewed.
Well, no, that's just the
playing field that we're going
with.
I don't advertise with half
wheel.
Well, yeah, good point.
I don't advertise with Dojo.
I don't even know if Dojo likes
me.
They still put me on there.
Kudos to Dojo, you know what I
mean?
Like much.
A lot of respect from me at that
point, right?
Right.
Hey.
I don't I don't think that cigar
Fashionado only advertises.
I mean only select cigars that
are that have been because I
remember E Lucian wasn't
advertising.
They got a top 25 rating and I
think there are I think you if
we I think it's peppered in
there the cube.
Well, Cubans don't advertise,
obviously, but I don't think
everyone that they pick
advertises with them.
OK.
But I do think that that's kind
of the focus.
All right, Yeah.
So at the beginning of the show,
we talked about two, two
companies that shot up in the
past 10 years, really
noticeable.
You know Dunbarton and
Foundation did either one of
those track on top 25 of CAI
Don't know.
I don't think so.
I know, I know.
Saka didn't.
OK, right.
So that's what I'm kind of
leaning towards.
Right.
And they better not mention him,
right?
Otherwise he'll go on a tirade
on them, you know?
Well, that means that it's
biased.
That means that it's skewed
because.
It's just a top 25 skewed list.
Because I could hate you, I
could hate you, I could despise
you.
But man, have you made a great
cigar.
And I'm in that that realm.
I better acknowledge you because
the minute that I don't, I'm now
losing my listeners and I'm now
losing my viewers, right?
Exactly because they no longer
respect me because I'm not being
honest, right?
And that's what you're seeing.
That's what you're seeing.
Do you think Cigar Aficionado or
what was the other one?
Snob No.
No.
What was the big one that you
just talked about?
The two magazines, whatever.
Cigar Press.
Yeah.
Do you think, do you think the
ones that are skewed, do you
think that those ever go, those
magazines ever go away?
No.
No, you think they just always
stay around?
No, because you gotta, you know,
I mean, maybe they go away,
everything ends.
But like there are, there are
too many.
Look, you can, I mean, you look
at media now you look at media
today, you can see that there
are people that are just going
to look at it, believe it and
then regurgitate it, right,
right.
No matter what, no matter what
the platform is.
Well, I mean, nowadays, right,
everything's a little bit more
digital, right.
OK.
So half will really hits that
because.
So does CA.
But is there somebody in CA
that's always online going, hey,
check this out or hey do this or
there's OK, I don't know.
I don't, I don't follow those
guys.
That exists.
OK, OK, I'm going to speed this
up for you.
You haven't read this.
I've read this.
I was going to sandbag you
because I know the score.
I'm going to play.
What's the score?
And you guys are going to do it.
Oh perfect.
Are you going to play against
Pete?
Yeah.
All right.
So it's time for and it's.
What's the score all?
Right, so here's what's going to
go.
I'm going to give you, I'm going
to rattle off a bunch of things
about the cigar.
Every time I'm going to tell you
what to say.
You need to guess whatever the
score is.
I'm assuming that you didn't see
it.
Right.
Do I have to guess the cigar?
No, I'm.
Going to tell you what the cigar
is, OK?
And this is not skewed by the
way.
Yeah, so January 26th, 2026
reviewed by Charlie Minato.
Oh great, it is the Sans peril.
Sampuri.
Sampuri San Perriello, Sweet
Green Grand Robusto by our boy
Sweeney.
Yeah, and it's a redux.
Oh.
So would you like to go first
with the score or do you want
Phil McGrath to go first?
Well, are you going to give me
some notes?
I'm going to.
You can.
Change as we go about.
OK, the fact that you don't
watch our podcast is atrocious.
And you watch podcasts.
Yeah, like, oh, I like to get
all my news on podcast except
you.
Know what I don't watch?
I don't watch a lot of cigar
podcasts.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, I, you know, just
watch the one.
I'm gonna watch this one.
I'm gonna watch this one.
And that'll mean just this
episode.
Yeah.
In fact, I'm not gonna watch
this episode.
You should watch.
No, you should watch this one.
You should watch it because you
see when I saved your ass when I
was a fucking dumpster fire and
I came in and and pulled you
out, That's right.
Right.
Yeah, Oh my God.
And that's the guy you passed
on, just for the record, The guy
who would pull you out of the
wreckage.
I'm glad.
You don't hold.
Grudges.
Yeah.
No, I don't.
I just.
I just like to do asterisk
things for you.
Highlight here.
All right, all right, OK all.
Right, you go first, Pete.
So go ahead, that's cheap 82,
OK.
The green one.
The green one.
I'm going to go 89.
You could tell that he's had
intimate relationships with
Sweeney because he knows the
green one.
Well, yeah, I've tried.
This guy, you're going to go 89?
Yeah.
Who?
Sweeney's the owner of the
brand, right?
Yeah, I.
Don't know.
Well there's he's one of them.
There's 2 I think.
OK Cigar Reviewed San Perella
Green Gran Robusto Country of
origin Dominican Republic
Factory Tabacularia Palmer
Palmer Palmer Wrapper
Undisclosed Binder Undisclosed
Filler Undisclosed Length 6
inches Gauge $50 Shape Round
MSRP. $50 what?
50 ring gauge. 50 ring gauge,
right?
You said $50.
Sorry, Ring gauge $50, Shape
Round MSRP $33.
Yeah, I was going to say it is
close to 50.
Release date March 2024.
And it's a regular production.
Cigars cigar.
And the numbers, the amount that
they smoked for the Redux was
one.
OK, Phil, you're gonna go first.
You want me to go first?
Yes.
OK, 89. 85 OK, call an 85, yeah.
Comment #1 From the moment it
comes out of the cellophane, the
Sans Parai Green Gran Robusto
delivers a rich and inviting pre
light experience.
The red tone wrapper gives off a
medium plus aroma loaded with
granola, mahogany, Graham
cracker, leather and even a
grilled meat note.
The cold draw adds another layer
with applesauce, earth and a
pungent mushroom character that
feels complex and intriguing
before the cigar is even lit.
Phil.
Yeah, we must be eating that
beef and broccoli with
mushrooms.
Sounds horrible. 80.
I'm going to go down to 87.
Way you described it, I want to
go 91 really mahogany.
I mean the way, you know, they
always tasted any of those
things.
They always describe stuff like
this just by the way, right?
No, I'm going to stay at 85.
I'm going to stay at 85.
But it makes me want to.
I mean, just the way he said
sounds delicious. 8785 comment
#2 As the cigar progresses, the
profile grows fuller and
clearer, building around a core
of earthiness, leather woods,
toastiness, and a steady mix of
black and white pepper.
The retro Hell really shines,
offering sharper, more defined
flavors like pretzels, grilled
mushrooms, oak creaminess and
pepper that activate a wide
range of the palate.
By the final third, Strength
ramps up nicely and finishes
with an unexpected nuttiness and
layered complexity that keeps
things engaging to the end.
I'm gonna go 91.
Yeah, I'm thinking that he
really loved that signal.
All right, well, he went first,
91 now.
OK all.
Right, we'll go to 88.
While the flavors are bold, the
transitions between thirds
aren't especially refined,
particularly early on, where the
profile feels muddled with earth
starchiness and generic heat
rather than distinct
development.
Construction is mostly solid,
but uneven burn required
multiple touch ups, with
portions of the cigar burning
slower than the center and
interrupting and otherwise
smooth smoking experience.
After this, we're going to do
the final thoughts, and then you
get to do one last score.
So you get to do this one and
then one more.
Who's going to go first?
You want me?
I'll I'll go.
You should go first.
Yep, I'm going to stick at 88.
OK, I'm.
Going to stick at 91.
OK, final thought, at least
based on this one cigar, I would
not recommend smoking one of the
early production Sam Pride Green
Gran Robustos right now, At
least not if you have more.
One cigar is not enough to make
broad statements, but it's also
all I have to go off of this
cigar.
This was a decent cigar, but I
don't think it transformed into
something that would be all that
different from what I'd expect
from a fresh cigar.
So if I wanted to taste this
profile, I might as well just go
buy a new cigar and not smoke an
aged version.
As for the specific cigar, my
main issue was that the first
third was just boring.
There weren't a lot of different
types of flavors and there were
hardly any changes for the first
two inches of the cigar.
If I could do it all over again,
I would have kept this
particular cigar on the humidor
until 2028.
At the moment, it just needs
more changes to justify the
aging bill. 85.
Yeah, I'm going back down to I'm
going to 84. 8 Are you sure?
Yeah, you don't want to go a
little higher?
Yeah, you don't.
No, you don't want to take like
86.
He wants to age it till 2028.
Yeah, that's a giveaway right
there.
Hey, let Pete, let Pete pick his
number.
I'm sure you don't want.
To just.
You don't want to just take it
to 86.
All right, 86.
All right.
Six.
Wow.
Unbelievable.
Final score 89.
Unbelievable.
Congratulations.
Wow, so like over.
Here just trying to save your.
On the touch up issues and him
not I.
Don't think the touch up is a is
a big deal.
I mean, you know, so you have to
touch up a cigar.
That's no big deal.
In fact, even if a cigar doesn't
burn perfect, it's not a big
deal.
No, but they taste is there, but
they but they'll pelt it heavily
for construction relights draw
issues like that's where the the
score really kind of dampens
when it comes to having Oh
really?
Yeah, I should have just gone
with my I.
Thought you knew it the way you
well.
I landed 89.
I feel like I'm like son of a
bitch.
I feel like I, I talked with
this about about this with
Sweeney before and I should have
been like, you know what?
I I remember this.
But yeah, I was going off of
what he was saying.
OK, Pete, do you, are you going
to be anywhere in the upcoming
weeks or you want to plug a
retail store for any events or
anything like that?
Please feel free to do so now.
When you come to Miami, check
out Cigars in the Grove.
Hey.
Yeah, I heard they, I heard
they're, they're an Agonosa
shop.
That's oh.
Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard
about that.
Yeah, yeah.
Terrence Riley, Good old
Terrence Riley.
Yeah, Yeah, OK.
Whoever hasn't been by there yet
though.
No, Yeah, he knows better.
He does.
I.
Don't think he's allowed in Dade
County.
Yeah, yeah.
All right.
Make sure you like and
subscribe.
Thank you so much for for
viewing and listening.
Thank you so much for Co
hosting.
I think you did an outstanding
job.
I do, yeah.
Well, thank you very.
Much I appreciate it.
Of the of the top ten that did
it, you're in one.
Of them, yeah, right.
You're one of them, Phil.
Again, thank you so much and
thank you very much for watching
and listening to our podcast.
Thank you all.
Right.
Bye bye.
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Show Notes
On today’s show this weekend another round of Frost, Paris Hilton Hates Porn!, The Dooms Day Clock is closer then its ever been on 85 years! Then in cigars some women make a new company , now Mississippi is on the tax wagon, a new crux cigar then one of Groovers brands is in the news lets hope its that he did something bad….. all that and a mini game of what’s the score!