ACHP Episode 478 We Are At WAR!

Episode Summary

Episode 478 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with Mike Palmer, Mike Stepankiewicz and Phil McGuffey in a Monday-morning mood, teasing a Patreon review of the Mira Fuerte/Mayorga-style bundle cigar "El Macheto" before diving into their usual mix of world news "edutainment." The first half of the show is the guys riffing on the escalating U.S.–Iran conflict (missile strikes on the Navy base in Bahrain, carrier groups, kamikaze drones, Kuwait's friendly-fire incident), the Disney World closure of the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith in favor of a Muppets retheme, McDonald's launching the $9 Big Arch burger, an Australian male contraceptive trial called ADAM, and Zendaya and Tom Holland's leaked secret wedding.

The cigar news block starts with Principle Cigars giving its Engagement line a full release — a 5 3/4 Corona with a Nicaraguan wrapper and binder and a mix of Nicaraguan and Dominican filler, limited to 8,000 cigars at around $13 per stick ($156 box of 12, $260 bundle of 20). The hosts then break down the big industry story: Madrid-based Tabacalera SLU, the Habanos S.A. partner, has filed for pre-insolvency proceedings amid the Chen Zhi scandal, with Interpath appointed by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court to unwind BVI entities, sanctions from OFAC and the British government complicating everything, and Tumarik Capital (tied to a UAE ruling family) floated as the buyer of Chen Zhi's stake. Phil explains how dissolving and re-selling assets at fair market value to a new company actually works. They also cover reports that tens of millions of cigars of production are shifting to AJ Fernandez and the Plasencia family, and debate whether AJ can absorb that volume without pushing smaller client brands out.

Rounding out cigar news, Blackworks Studio's Boondock returns for 2026 — its first full release since 2019 — with a Pennsylvania broadleaf wrapper, Nicaraguan habano binder and Connecticut/Nicaragua/Pennsylvania filler, made at Oveja Negra's Fabrica Oveja Negra in Nicaragua, along with a note that the latest shipment only carried a 10% tariff. That leads into an honest retail discussion of why Black Label Trading Company and Blackworks didn't move in their store, and how a shop has to "pick its horses" (Casa Fernandez/Lassana, RoMa Craft, Foundation, Espinosa) rather than develop every brand. The episode closes with What's the Score, guessing Halfwheel review ratings for the J.C. Newman Brick House / Jose Gaspar 2026 (reviewed by Brooks Whittington) and the Viaje Jalapeño (reviewed by Patrick Lagreid), plus upcoming appearances on a Chicago cigar podcast and an event at Boozeville & Humidor Fine Cigars in the Dothan area.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Patreon Cigar: El Macheto Bundle
   The guys preview their Patreon review of a family-reserve-blend bundle cigar in a Corona Gorda format weighing in at 12.3 grams.
2. 02
   Listener Comments and CHPod Swag
   Feedback on the food-review episode, AI social posts, and the newly dropped Smoke & Subscribe triple torch and single flame lighters.
3. 03
   U.S.–Iran Conflict Talk
   Unfiltered riffing on the strike on the Navy base in Bahrain, carrier deployments, kamikaze drones, gas prices, and whether boots on the ground are coming.
4. 04
   Pop Culture Detour: Disney, McDonald's and a Male Contraceptive
   Aerosmith's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster gets a Muppets retheme, McDonald's debuts the $9 Big Arch, and Australia tests the ADAM hydrogel injection.
5. 05
   Principle Cigars Releases Engagement
   A 5 3/4 Corona with Nicaraguan wrapper and binder plus Nicaraguan and Dominican filler, limited to 8,000 cigars at roughly $13 each.
6. 06
   Tabacalera SLU Pre-Insolvency and the Chen Zhi Fallout
   The Habanos partner files pre-insolvency in Spain while Interpath liquidates BVI entities and Tumarik Capital is eyed to buy out Chen Zhi's sanctioned stake.
7. 07
   Production Shifting to AJ Fernandez and Plasencia
   Tens of millions of cigars in annual production move to Nicaragua, and the hosts question whether smaller client brands get squeezed out.
8. 08
   Blackworks Studio Boondock Returns for 2026
   First full release since 2019 with a Pennsylvania broadleaf wrapper, plus a candid look at why the brand never sold in their shop.
9. 09
   What's the Score
   Guessing Halfwheel's ratings for the J.C. Newman Jose Gaspar 2026 and the Viaje Jalapeño, with plenty of strategy and sabotage.

Brands & Cigars Discussed

Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.

Transcript

Welcome to Cigar Hustler Podcast Episode 478. I'm Mike Palmer, your host, and with me today is Phil McGuffey in Engineering, and then is my co-host, Mikey ... I don't have anything to say. Mike Stepankiewicz.

Aw. Aw. Amazing. Mondays are always harder to do.

Usually you're fired up? You guys haven't done anything stupid yet. No, you usually have a good weekend. Wow.

You know, you should be feeling, like, ready to go. Oh, no, I didn't do anything over the weekend. That's what I'm saying. You probably didn't even put in pants this weekend.

Uh, no, I wore pants. You wore pants? I wore no pants. It's a new week, gentlemen, so let's have a good show.

Of course. If that's possible. So, Mikey, what are we doing on the Patreon today? If that's possible.

Wow. Wow. Yeah, you haven't liked the last couple of shows. It depends upon if you're reading for the teleprompter or not, sir, or if we're eating a sandwich.

The sandwich was probably epic. No, it wasn't. No, it wasn't. You watched it?

It was the best show ever. We should eat on every show. We're already getting bad reviews from it. Perfect.

That's what we want. We're already getting comments. There is no bad publicity. There is no bad publicity as long as you're talking about it.

Someone already told us it's very Coop-esque. Yeah. Oh. Yeah.

Maybe we should do it again. He's got an attitude, though. He's grumpy? He's got an attitude.

Oh, when he chomps, he, like, chomps hard, like. He's saying the person who commented. Yeah. Oh.

Well, for the Patreon, we are going to review the Mirapfel, I think it's called the El Macheto. Pretty Macheto. Get there, I got it if you have the wrapper. Yeah.

It's pretty good. This is pretty interesting. It's their bundle cigar. Yes.

I didn't know they had a bundle cigar. Family reserve blends. Yeah. Yes, that's why we're doing it.

3 grams. Is that a Corona Gorda? No, maybe. Yeah, maybe Corona Gordo.

Yeah, it's Corona Gordo. Not a Bellicoso. Not a Bellicoso. It's not a Bellicoso.

Wow. If you like the value and edutainment in which we're providing for you, please like and subscribe wherever you're viewing or listening to this podcast. com where we get all, where we have all our swag, where we recently dropped the Powstanie. Not that part yet.

Yeah, you're fast forwarding. You worked ahead. You just throw things in different orders to me. No, I don't.

No, we do the intro, and you say what we're smoking on the Patreon, then I say what's on the show, then you do the CH Pod stuff. Same way, every week, eight years. No. Well, we didn't have CH Pod swag back then.

Oh, that's true. Same way, every show for the last four years. The past eight years, it's been the same way. On today's show, we are at war, gentlemen, or at conflict, or at aggression, whatever it's called.

Okay. They have not given it an official name. Good. Disney is making a change, or are they just really saving money?

Okay. Adam is going to get you in the nuts. McDonald's will not be outdone by the Burger King. Oh, my God.

That's the arch. The arch is dropping. Then in cigars, Gen Z is back in the news. Uh-oh.

Okay. I'm back. And Black Works makes a new cigar and then someone is getting engaged. Oh, really?

But before all that, Michael, how do we get some of that CHPod swag and what are the new comments? This is the part. This is the part where you do that, Matt. Are we still giving lighters away for free?

No, no, we fixed that. Okay, good. Nothing's free. No.

What you want to do is jump on CHPod. Except shipping if you spend over $100. com, where you can check out all of our CH Podcast swag. We recently dropped the Smoke & Subscribe Triple Torch lighter and the Single Flame lighter.

Bam! So, check those out. Some of the comments from the previous shows are: Brett Mercurio says, "Do food reviews. " See?

We should invite Coupon. No. Let's do this. S.

mail. Yes. That's ridiculous. With mayonnaise on it.

Oh. And then we'll have him eat with us on the show. Well, I mean, those things won't go bad if it's Burger King. No, no.

A regular sandwich with mayo on it. I think it's old. " Yeah, okay. That was a TV show that wasn't real.

This is a real one. It does look oddly similar, though. Yes. Kratos 899 says, I give props to Philip.

I bet doing the flipping of the cameras is intense. Super intense. Well, Kratos did fill in for a brief period of time on one of our episodes. Thank you.

Thank you, Kratos. I'm glad I have another name now. My name is now Philip. He was giving you a proper name.

Like, I need another one. And then Rookscoding says: If I want to know what's going on in the world, I just tune in here. Thank you guys for the great show. Oh, you're welcome.

It's Charlie, Charles. Charlie, like Charlie Minata? No. Charles, like Charles from Rookscoding.

Oh, and Bryce Field says: I have to agree with Mikey. When I see an AI post on Instagram or Facebook, I hate it and scroll past. It is going to make it so we can't trust what we are seeing. Do you think that's what they want?

Yes. It's very possible. I don't think they care. You know, I just wanted to know, I had a friend of mine go to Mexico for the weekend.

I know, a friend of mine went to Mexico too. Yeah, and he saw nothing of cartel shenanigans. Well, where in Mexico did he go? It's kind of like there would be war in Florida and you go to Montana.

You know, it's a big country. I think that they would attack the, he said they went to a bunch of places, a bunch of tourist places. Well, did they go where the Puerto Vallarta area or somewhere else? Did they go to the hood?

I'm going to say yes. I don't think so. And there was nothing? Because the airport's closed.

How'd they get there? They flew. So they didn't go to Puerto Vallarta? Maybe they did.

Because the airport's closed. How do you, how do you know that? Because it's in the news. So we just believe everything the news says?

Pretty much. Do they have spiders on their necks anywhere around there? Spiders on their necks? I don't believe anything that's in the news.

Then why are we reading the news? Because it's fun. It's edutainment. It's edutainment.

It's edutainment. It's edutainment. And people get divided. It's fun and memes.

Because people get divided and they get fired up. It's fun and games. We enjoy that. Oh.

Oh, I can pick more decisive stories. Decisive or divisive? Decisive. Decisive?

People have to make a decision which side they want to be on. And then they're divided? Yes. Which makes them divisive?

I don't think so. No? I don't think that's how that works. No, they're just decisive.

Stick with your edutainment thing of stuff. Edutainment. Whatever. Okay, well, hey, let's get into the war on everybody against America.

It's not everybody against America, it's everybody against Iran. Right. Well, Iran's a problem. Right, they started it.

Sounds like- Well, at least this time. Sounds like a sibling war. Well, what happened? So what happened?

Without looking at teleprompter. What happened? Yeah. Iran shot missiles at a Navy base.

Oh, they did? Yes. And that's what we, and then we said- And we went, oh, now you've done it. You guys are all in the same room, and ba-bam.

Right, well, the CIA gave them information that they were having this little meeting, and that's when they whoop, and then they killed all the people. Yeah. All the heads of state or whatever it was. And clean slate.

Clean slate. You think they should have, well, they would have done like a Zoom meeting or something instead of all being in the same room? Well, they might not have that ability. You don't think they have Zoom?

They don't think they have Zoom? You don't think they have internet? Or maybe it's called something, well, actually, the internet's down over in that part of the world. It's down for regular people.

Well, I guess. They don't use regular Wi-Fi, bro. They use Ahala... Ahala?

Ahala. Ahala... Ahalababa? Ahala.

Right. Interesting. It's like AT&T. Yeah.

It's like AT&T. But it's different over there. Okay. Somebody asked, in a news report, somebody asked Trump who was going to be taking over for the person that they killed.

Mm-hmm. " Well... So they shoot some missiles, we shoot some missiles, back and forth, back and forth. Right.

Israel shot some missiles. Israel shot some missiles. Israel shot some missiles. Israel shot some missiles.

And... " Like you're... " Yeah. Well...

" I'm like, "He was in the room. If he was in the room, what do you want us to do? We wanted to kill the Ayatollah. Right, I know.

These are the bad people. He's on the list. But it's up to Iran now to create their own revolution, right? Correct.

I guess. I don't know how this ends. It's not even an official war. It's a conflict.

Well, I don't want an official war and I don't want us getting involved. I don't want boots on the ground. I don't want to send... I don't want to go on the ground either.

Sending our troops is not the right move. There are any troops over there. Yeah. Sending more troops is not the right move, in my opinion.

Oh. Well, we sent a whole other carrier group. Did we? now with the uh reagan there's two lincoln and reagan are there yes there's two aircraft carriers there now to the two super ships i mean okay that's that's more planes than iran has we have on boats yeah that's good you know if we if we help facilitate i'm okay but i'm not okay with us going in completely and saying oh well that's how it's gonna work well it's gonna have to yeah people will guys go hey do something please help me no way is that how they sound they sound Sound like Pepe Le Pew?

Yeah. Help me, help me. Pepe Le Pew. Hey, do something.

Please help me. They're French. They're all French there. Or no, it wasn't Pepe Le Pew, it was...

Speedy Gonzalez? Yeah, his brother. Slowpoke Rodriguez. Slowpoke Rodriguez.

Slowpoke Rodriguez. Amen. Where are we going to? Where are you going?

That's what they sound like? Yeah, just with a turban. With a turban? Yeah.

At least he didn't say towel. Oh, I wasn't going there, Paul. I didn't want you to check boxes. Well, Kuwait, he shot down three of our jets by mistake.

Kuwait? Kuwait did. They got involved? Obviously, they messed up.

They're the next country over. They saw some planes flying over, shot them down, and they're like, yay, they're ours. Oh, so sorry. Well, did you guys hear about the planes that we sent over there, the kamikaze planes?

We have kamikaze planes? So they're kamikaze drones. Oh, yeah, yeah. I've heard about those.

So there's not people in these things? No, there's nobody. They're unmanned. What were the Japanese guys now flying?

No, but listen, the greatest thing about this is they replicated the Iranians' planes. The type of planes that they fly. They look the same? They look exactly the same.

So, like, they thought they were their planes. That is some sneaky shit right there. Did we just have, like, sitting around for different countries? Who are we fighting this week, guys?

What planes do we need to get up? How do they not know, though? Because they got, like, the three planes. Like, wait a second, our planes are right here.

Yeah. We can see all of them. Yeah, we have the whole fleet right here. What's going on here?

Wait, Terry, you're still on the ground? Yeah. Terry? Yeah.

Terry. Terry Alakbaba. Terry Alakbaba. Terry Alakbaba.

Okay. Alright. Some of the Royal Guard, their elite fighting forces, have been cut off by radio. They can't get contact with the higher-ups, so they're just doing whatever they want.

They're like, screw it. Screw it. Let's just attack something. Yeah.

Fire! Dogs! Fire at will! " I would respond to him with like, "Bro, we're pelting them out monthly.

I'd keep your mouth shut. China said, we talked about that. China said, listen. Come on.

Can't everyone get along? It's very great. Was that necessary? Was that exactly necessary?

Yes, it was. Well, they get all their oil from Iran. Right. It's almost like there's a strategy here.

Gas prices are going to go up, they say. You think so? The report says over $3. They've already been going up.

99, so it's not like it's had a big deal. I love the chaos of the news. Gas is gonna break $3. Yeah.

Like, okay. Do you remember when it was $6? Right. And I'm like, what the hell are we doing?

Yeah, that's when it's chaos. It's not even the number one story in the news right now, whatever conflict in Iran. What's the number one story? Zanea and Tom Holland got married.

Way more important. Way more important. Spider-Man? Spider-Man, in a secret ceremony, her hairdresser has told everyone they got married.

Oh, she leaked it? Yep. She is no longer the hairdresser I miss her. Yeah.

Are you okay with that? Yeah. The hairdresser's dead to me at that point. Right.

Or do they go, look, if the day after, you tell everybody. You go ahead and you leak the news. We don't want to tell anybody. We don't want anybody to know.

Maybe, maybe that's the move. You know? Maybe. Keep it low key.

They don't have to announce at that point. Like, you are the mole. Right. You just let it go.

Quietly. Leak the intel. Hmm. Call those guys who are looking for the lady's mother.

Well, that's cool. Wow. The lady's mother. I couldn't remember the name of the show or the lady.

Oh, I thought you were talking about Samantha Guthrie. Yeah, Samantha Guthrie's mother. Who's the show that gets all the information? Good Morning America.

No. I don't know. TMZ. TMZ, yeah, TMZ.

Call TMZ, tell them we got married. Yeah. There was a lot in that whole segment just right there. And then tell her where Samantha Guthrie's mother is?

No, we don't know that. Maybe the hairdresser knows that too. I don't know. Did your friend find him in Mexico by a chance?

No. I had a friend looking. You had a friend in Mexico? I thought maybe they would have run into her at the bodega or something.

Oh, I gotcha. No, no. Didn't find out. They're out sightseeing all over Mexico.

No, I think that they're starting to look back at the family again. That's what it sounds like. Yeah, I heard they took in someone for questioning. It doesn't make sense.

It doesn't make sense if there was no ransom, there was no nothing, you know. Well, there's been like 17 ransom letters. But yeah, but they were all, were there any of them found legit? It would be terrible if one of them was the right one and you just got lost in the shuffle.

Yeah, that would be terrible. Sometimes that happens. I sent the note. Yeah.

Well, I guess you got to die. I'm sorry, lady. They don't want to pay. Send it again.

Send it again. You think she's still around? No. I don't think so either.

I hope so. I think the stress of the situation would have done her in by now. I would love the, like, nothing would be awesomer than. Big reunion shot of her being hugged.

Her face is dirty. Her hair is all messed up. Hey, we got her. She's got a teardrop tattoo.

She's okay. She's wearing Costco pajamas because that's all they gave her to wear. Kirkland Signature? Right.

I mean, they spoiled her, if they gave her that. Maybe. You know what I'm saying? Bags half on her head still, just hanging off the back.

Yeah. I got free, I killed them all. She went straight mercenary on her. She went mercenary on her.

Yeah, that's where the teardrop tattoo comes from. She went merc. Yeah. Like a hairpin, she found a hairpin on her hair.

Like Martin Lawrence's son-in-law in Bad Boys Forever. Oh, that's right. You snags, me snags. Just cleaned out the house.

They're coming for you. Got it. I got it. All right.

Well, hey, I'm glad that we covered three topics there very briefly. All the big news stories. Wait, 15 minutes? Perfect.

Yeah, but I honestly hope that we don't go to official war. I don't want to see boots on the ground. I don't think that the American people want that. How else can it end?

They surrender? They got to. No, they have to overtake the regime. The majority of the, from what I understand, the majority of the Iranian population want a revolution, and they want more Western culture, Western society, because that's how it was a long time ago, 40, 50 years ago, so then this guy came in, whatever the hell his name is, and he was a complete douche, the Serrera Law or whatever they call it.

Blah, blah, blah, blah. If you're getting world news from us, just for the record, I mean. Go somewhere else. Yeah.

Just enjoy the entertainment. Yeah. Oh, not the education. Edumetainment.

This is not edumetainment. Part of the edumetainment. The edu... Go ahead.

The edu is very small in that. The edutainment's bigger. Some of these facts are true. Yes.

I mean, they're true, just skewed. It's just... Actually, you know what? I guess we're just like every other news source then.

Right, yeah. I'm sorry. This is our side. We like it.

Take that back. Anybody knows anybody at the New York Post, can you tell them to give me a free subscription? Because I'm not paying. I'm not paying.

When you try to read the article, it's like, click here to buy. They have the best headlines, you click on it, and then it, you know, after you read three lines, it comes up. You know what, they're good though, they're good writers, because those three lines really get you. You think about clicking the button.

They end up going to, you know, South Dakota News or something. That pays for their New York subscription, and then just copy and pastes. Right, exactly. Makes sense.

South Dakota news. South Dakota news. They have news. They're free, they're free.

They're on top of things. They have a free website. All right, I couldn't agree more. Disney World's closing a ride, Michael.

They're closing a ride? Oh. Yesterday was the last day to ride. On which one?

The dinosaur ride? Nope. After three decades of being a fan favorite, they are closing the rock and roller coaster star at Aerosmith. They've been closed out.

Oh, yeah. They're going to redo it. The official last day was yesterday. They're going to redo it.

Do you want to read the story? They're getting rid of Aerosmith. Right, and they're bringing in the Muppets. Yeah.

Same ride, just now there's a Muppet where you saw the Aerosmith. Oh, yeah. So you think they were just getting tired of paying Aerosmith for the... " Right.

We own the Muppets, let's just put them in there. That's probably gonna be a great roller coaster though. It's the exact same roller coaster, they're just changing the graphics inside. What happens is like every seven years or something.

Yeah, you have to. You have to redo the track and all that stuff like for safety measures. Oh, do they really? Yeah, so then you have to, at that point you have to decide, is this ride worth keeping or should we just redo it completely or wipe it out?

It played three Aerosmith songs, so I imagine they paid for that too. Yeah, of course. Of course. Or cutting ties.

Right. Make it cheaper. Yeah. It's like in Universal they have that Rip Ride Rocket, which I love that ride because it was always problematic and breaking down and stuff.

And I kind of gravitate towards those things. So when it came time to redo it, they've wiped it, and they're going to put up the new Fast and Furious roller coaster there. Yeah. Which will be really, so everything's like, if you've ever gone on the, the Guardians of the Galaxy ride at Epcot?

The roller coaster? Probably not. You're really old. Yes, I've been.

There's like four different carts on this roller coaster, and they all turn. Yeah. So in the same fashion, it'll be like that, where the cars turn. Cars spin and slide.

Yeah, yeah. Didn't we go on a Fast and Furious ride when we went there for the Christmas thing? I don't know if we went at that time, but they have, it's like a... They used to have a Fast and Furious show, didn't they?

It's a cinema thing. Oh, okay. Which will be closing, I think, as well, because they get so many mixed reviews, but I always liked that ride. I like seeing the cars.

Yeah. So, whatever. You still have passes? You don't talk about it?

Of course. Do you still go often? Yeah. You just don't talk about it anymore.

Well, it's been the winter time. Yeah, well, I like going. You know, we've gone a few times. I don't go as often as I like to, just because I sport at a level.

Well, you don't have time. When would you go? Yeah, I sport at a level of, oh my god. Right.

Yeah, we heard you just acquired your new league. No, I didn't acquire a new league. I would never do that. Oh, we thought that was your agent.

No, we heard you started one. No, I didn't start a new league. Oh, you just took over? No, I wouldn't take over one either.

You became second banana? I don't have time for that. Are you the scorekeeper for it? Yeah, that's how they get them in.

Right. Just take, just take, just do the score for us. Okay, that's a great idea. Palmer and Boots are going, you're going to be running a team here soon.

soon. No, I won't. No, never, no. Now I have 17 teams.

Right. I apologize for showing up for kids. I apologize to us. Just accept when we tell you something that it's going to happen.

Is that how that works? That's how it works. If you could tell me that I'm going to be a billionaire, I'd like to poo-poo that. Well, why would we tell you that?

That's ridiculous. We don't do anything that makes money here. We would discuss that last show. God, I wish I could do that.

If I could tell you something that had come true, I would definitely tell you that. What are you talking What are you talking about? We told you we were getting curtains, and look, we have curtains. There you go.

Those are nice, by the way. Yeah. Nobody can see our curtains. Hope they look good open.

Costco, baby. Why wouldn't they look good open? I don't know. Oh, is it Costco?

The orange. It looked like Home Depot. No, it was Costco. Oh, good idea.

All right. In Australia, scientists are testing a new male contraceptive. Okay. It's called the ADAM.

The ADAM. The ADAM. ATOM or ADAM? ADAM.

Okay. It's a groundbreaking male contraceptive. It's an injection that you have to get in your nuts. I'm out.

Why would I do that? That sounds ridiculous. I don't know. Reticulous.

Reticulously ridiculous. It's in phase two human trials. They're ready for you, Michael. People are letting them just shoot them in their nuts?

Shoot them in the nuts. I'd like to know how much money that they're getting for the nut shooting. The complimentary nut shooting? Yeah.

They use a hydrogel injected into the Vast Difference. Oh my God, I'm cringing over here. And it kills the sperm. No, it blocks it.

What does it block them? In the Vast Difference. That's the connector where the sperm goes through to get out. Oh, so you can't have babies.

So they clog the tube. They clog the tube. Sounds like there's going to be some shooting going on. That can't be good.

Yeah. Why can't that be good? You clog the tube? You clog the tube.

The tube where the sperm is, not the tube where everything else is. So there's still discharge, it just has no sperm in it. I understand that, but from what I understand, you want everything to kind of flow? Right.

Well, how is it any different than if you get a vasectomy and they cut it? You still, same idea. It's probably not a good idea in there. Why is that not a good idea?

Because of the flow. Oh. We're shutting down the flow. It prevents sperm from mixing with the semen.

The minimal invasive procedure only takes 10 minutes. Just a boop, boop. Just shoving. Oh, God.

I don't know why, but all my muscles just go limp when you talk about it. It can last for up to two years. That's because you're still producing babies. Yeah.

Are you done at this point, or what? I'm done. I'm not getting the gel. You're not getting the shot in the nuts?

No. Are you gonna get the snip? Nope. Problem is, it says up to two years, so how do you know when it's no good?

It's time to revamp. You have to set an alarm on your iPhone. Yeah, but up to two years, so it means it could be anywhere from, you know, one day to two years. They call you after 18 months.

After 18 months, they come in and check and see. Do you have to redo your oil? There's going to be a lot of lawsuits with this. You think so?

Yeah. You told me up to two years. Well, we said up to. We didn't know it was only going to take six months.

Yeah. Australia's an overly regulated country. You can't sue them. Oh.

They won't let you do that. It's completely reversible. They could dissolve the gel with another shot. They could just clear it out.

Another shot? Another shot. Jesus. What are we doing?

What are we doing? Who are the guys sitting there going, He's sitting there going, you know what would be a great idea? Let's shoot each other in the nuts with this gel and see what happens. I bet if we shot each other in the nuts with this.

Yeah, no. We couldn't have babies. I mean, how do you convince the first guy? Nut tap.

With a decent check? How much money do you need? Right. How much money for us to shoot you?

Hey mate, how much money for us to shoot you in the nuts? I do it for a foster's. Just a nice cold beer, it'd be fine. You ever see Surviving the Game with Ice Cube?

No. Really? Oh, it's a great movie. I have to check that out.

They hunt homeless people? Oh, okay. He gets hunted. Yeah.

Oh, he's homeless. There's been several versions. Yeah, you guys, you see? Yeah, and they like to see if he would pass a test they charge for 20 bucks.

They ask him to run on a treadmill for X amount of times. Like, yeah, sure, no problem. I'm sure that there's somebody that for, you know, for a sandwich, they want to shoot you in the nuts. So this is like a downgraded Hunger Games.

yes pretty much okay you know it's this lab experiment right are you talking about the game or the real life so the movie or the movie is there a real life hunger this is before hunger games this is before hunger games there's been several movies where homeless people get hunted yes sean claude van damme did one did he yeah it's probably very 80s it's probably very common in the very yeah very 80s very i kick you in the face he has parachute pants and does splits right you know maybe like hollywood tries to implement these things right and then you're You're like, oh man, that was from this movie, you know, like you can see, and then it's kind of, it becomes part of, I'm really kind of upset about that we still don't have flying cars from Back to the Future. Well, we kind of do. And power laces. Oh, the unmanned taxis are all over Orlando now.

They have power laces. They popped up. I thought, you know what, I think I saw one today. The Wago or whatever?

Yeah, yeah. You know, they said people were mad about it. They're parking in prime parking places. Yeah.

And that upsets them? I guess. I want to ride in one. I heard the Robo Taxis are better.

Yeah? And more affordable. Oh. They don't have these around Universal?

You'd think they're probably out by the airport, I would imagine. I saw one. You said that. Yeah, I saw one.

In your neighborhood? Do you guys watch, speaking of shows that do the same idea, do you guys watch The Rookie? I used to a long time ago. That was an old show.

It's an old show. Yeah, it's still on, but they did Con Air. He's still a rookie after all this time? No, no.

He's not a rookie anymore. They still call it that, which is kind of odd. But they did Con Air. I mean, they exactly did Con Air.

Yeah. Did they? Yeah. Even the airplane with the slow motion, the people getting on the plane, this is blah, blah, blah.

He's killed 17,000 people. Right. They took the insulin from the guy? No, but there was a bad guy on the plane that had a gun.

And he didn't need his meds. Cyrus the Virus. Cyrus the Virus. Do you guys watch the new Marshall?

Is that the official? No, don't talk about it. The Yellowstone spinoff? No, did that start?

Last night. Don't talk about it. It's on CBS. It's on Paramount.

Is it? Yeah. How was it? That's what I thought.

I would watch it again. I'm out. Why'd you do the face and then say that comment? Because he's a little Rambo-y.

I mean, like, there's a whole team of people, but of course, he kills everybody. Well, yeah. He was a... Wasn't he a ranger or something?

He was a Navy SEAL. A SEAL. But so was his boss who got him to be a ranger. S.

Marshal. Just like that? That's all they did. Yeah, that's true.

And they killed off his wife. She died? Stop talking about the show, Palmer! Spoiler!

Spoiler! The show starts, she's already gone. Did she leave or did she? She died of cancer.

There's a lot of people on the res dying of cancer because they're poisoning the water. So she obviously sided with Kevin Costner. Yeah, decided not to be in the spinoff. Allegedly believed in Kevin Costner and lost that battle.

Apparently. Yeah. Okay. But it wasn't bad.

It's not a reigning endorsement. Right. I mean, there's only so many things to watch. Is it better than Peaky Blinders?

I don't have Netflix, I don't watch Peaky Blinders. Not much is better than Peaky Blinders, bro. Yeah, no, I'm getting towards the end, it's getting good. All right, McDonald's is putting out the big arch.

Told you. 30 years ago, they released this same hamburger, and it was a terrible flop. Really? 30 years ago?

30 years ago. Wasn't there another one that they released? It was the big and tasty. There was a big and tasty.

Are you going to have us taste like a double cheeseburger in comparison or something now? No, not until this comes out. Oh. But this is the most expensive hamburger they've ever made.

It cost nine dollars. Nine dollars? Just for the burger. Really?

Yes. Son of a bitch, I'm in. You're in? Take my money.

Take my money. Well, oh, well over nine dollars for the burger alone in many markets. It features a new sauce, tangy mustard, a new bun, like the Whopper, toasted, and topped with poppy and sesame seeds. Double.

This is the big and tasty. A new topping, crispy onions. Oh. That sounds good.

I like crispy onions. Three slices of new cheese, a white cheddar. Ooh. I like where this is heading.

It sounds good, doesn't it? Yeah. Following the Quarter Pounder will also be the second burger on the McDonald's menu be made to order with fresh beef. Nice.

Did you see that the CEO took a bite of this on Instagram or social media? Yes, that is actually the news story. I had to take this information from that. And he hardly took a bite of it?

He did a taste test and didn't take a bite. Take a bite. Yeah. He's like, mmm.

I was like, wait a second. They should have got somebody else. Or had him take a bigger bite. He's probably going, I don't eat this food.

Right. I don't know. I eat all naturally organic. Right.

I only eat Wagyu beef. Well, we're savages. Well, the big arch is naturally organic. We'll take that chemically enhanced food all day.

Right. Do you eat ice cream sandwiches? Michael, do you get a video for us? I do.

Oh, God. I sent it to you. Don't play the audio. Because it's music.

We'll get in trouble. Oh God. It's broken. My phone's broke.

I can't watch it. Screenshot. So, kind of in regards to our... I just said, don't play it with audio.

I'm turning it down. Imagine if you turned it down before you turned it on. Well, that's a dream. I like when you call it other people.

So, here's what's really funny. In Dubai, there was a lot of, like, shratnel and... Oh, yeah, you can't fly to Dubai either, the airport's closed too. Yeah, so people that were in hotels left the hotel rooms bad reviews, I do not recommend a rocket hit our room, no air defense.

So, I thought this was absolutely hilarious. Mine's blurry. Yours is blurry? Is yours blurry, Palmer?

I don't know, it's really small. It could just be me at this point, I don't know. I have my contacts in. I do not recommend a rocket hit my room, no air defense.

Ragged debris in front of us, they say. But Sheik Abdullah, somebody, whatever, who owns a hotel is giving everybody free rooms who is stuck there. That's great. Yes.

Well, yeah, who the hell is going to pay? The government, he said the government's going to pay him back. They have a ton of money. Yeah, Dubai's just got money on the streets over there.

Yeah. So yeah, I thought that was great. Can you imagine, can you imagine staying at a hotel and then like a missile striking it and like, Or just Shratnell being around you or whatever. You know what?

One star. One star. No air defense. Zero air defense at this hotel.

What's kind of scary is... These prices, they should be defending us. I was going to bring this up earlier, but the naval base that they shot was Bahrain. You weren't there.

You didn't get on a boat. No, but that's where all the new guys usually go from school. Oh, really? Yeah.

Yeah, so it's probably a lot of, you know, unexperienced sailors there. Did we hear if there was any casualties? Yes. There was casualties.

11. 11 people died and then we just, they hit us, so then we just liberated the shit out of them. Right. Like, no problem, dude.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. There you go. Oh, you guys are all gonna be in the same room?

No problem. Hold my beer. How does that work over there? They're going, "You know what we should do?

" Great idea. Oh, diggy diggy, you're great. They never shoot back. They never shoot back.

We got a crazy ass president now that shoots everybody. Right. How did they think this was going to work well for them? I like the fact that, you know, he's just pelting people off.

Maduro got him. Right. Well, there's a long list and it hasn't been served in a while, so... I didn't know about that.

Where they going, "He won't come get to us. " Did you see what he just did? That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying.

" Yeah. Like, "Don't come get me. " Well, I say a lot of dumb stuff, Donald. I'm really sorry, President Trump.

I'm so sorry, I like you. You're my friend now. I sent you a Facebook request for a friend. We calmed him down a long time ago with the worm.

The worm? Dennis Rodman. Dennis Rodman. Dennis Rodman went over and made nice.

Smooth things over. We don't hear from him anymore. Right. They're getting their hair color together and stuff, you know?

They play basketball. Yeah. Talk about Carmen together. Maybe you'll get me one of those big arches.

We have no McDonald's here. McDonald's here. Yeah. We don't even, we don't even have food here.

Right. Enough said, let me call Michael. Call Michael. Okay.

He's pinching some kid's ass. Oh, come on. Dude. All right, cigar news, here we go.

What the segue. Principal Cigars releases engagement. Principal, oh, it's cigar. Yeah, it's a release of the cigar called The Engagement.

Okay. After a soft launch in 2025, Principal's newest line engagement is now getting a full release. Are you okay over there? Was he having an attack?

No, he lied to us about the news headline in the beginning. Why? Because you said somebody was getting engaged. There's a hook.

They are, they're buying an engagement. Yeah. Buy the cigar. It's a five and three quarter Corona that uses a Nicaraguan wrapper and binder while the filler contains a pair of Nicaraguan leaves.

And leaves. Oh. That's weird. Just a couple of leaves?

A couple of leaves and a pair of Dominican leaves. So they have two pair. Oh, it's a hybrid. The company isn't disclosing what it is.

We no say. Have you heard of Principal Cigars before? Nope. You all right over there?

What was their first blend? No idea. The ring. I don't know.

The ring. Wow. Right, and then they go to the engagement. The girlfriend?

Right. The girlfriend. The first one is the relationship. The relationship.

We call it the baby. Are they going to make one afterwards called like the wedding and then the divorce and it's going to be half the size? I'm not privy to all these people's information. The divorce and they lost half their stuff.

Right, it's a little short, perfecto. Yeah, it's a five by 50. Right. They started off with a...

Production is limited to 8,000 cigars with 2,000 used for a soft launch. Soft. Soft. Through a handful of retailers.

Oh, are we getting them? No. Of course not. I have no idea who these people are.

We're not in the hand. How much is this cigar? For the engagement? Yes.

Engagements are always expensive. Uh, it's $18. That's a good, that's a good number. I'm gonna roll 16.

$13. Wow. I went the right way. Box of 12 cigars for 260, oh, 260 for a bundle of 20.

Oh, they're in bundles? Well, no, they have a box too. Okay. Box of 12 is 156.

Or you can get a bundle of 20 for 260. 60. The principals. Do you think we're going to run into some of these people at BCA and be like, "You were not nice to me"?

You heard of me now? I think the words are going to be different. No, we've been doing this for eight years. Nobody ever comes up to us at a thing.

That's a good point. I still don't know who you are. I got a picture with Luciano the year we were making fun of him every day. Yeah.

Yes, I take picture with you. Yes. But he's caught on now. Someone want picture, please.

Well, that's why he stopped coming out with new factories and stuff, because we caught on to him. We caught on. You think we're the deciding factor there? Yeah, he's like, I don't tell nobody no more, these guys always tell on me.

They always say how I know dude thing good. Do you notice he's been out of the news lately, he put up a big long post the other day on the same day Espinosa's senior passed. Oh yeah? His grandmother passed.

Wow. I don't mean to laugh, but it's an awful coincidental the same day Espinosa's father passed. Wow, he slid that in. Well, I mean, sorry for your loss.

That's never good. Yeah, that's not very good. He didn't call her grandmother. He called her something else.

Abuela? Like my nana or something. My nana? Nanu or something.

Nanu? Nanu, nanu? Nanu, yeah. All right, Tabula Calera SLU turns to pre-insolvency amid the Chen Z drama.

Uh-oh. They're trying to dissolve the company but keep all the stuff. Oh, bankruptcy. We know not what he was doing, we have no idea.

We're done. We're done. Spain, if you would please just let us, you know, dissolve company. Don't take our money.

Keep assets. Don't take our stuff. Our stuff is fine. Okay, I have to read this because it's very technical.

Okay. Yeah. All right. The Madrid-based company that is business partners with the Cuban government and Habanos SA has filed for pre-solvency proceedings, but the company says it's not running out of money.

We have plenty of money. Everything's fine. Everything's fine. The first chapter in the Chen Z drama.

He was arrested, supposedly still in, oh here it is, he was arrested in Cambodia and deported to China where he is believed to still be in custody. We believe this, we don't know for sure. We don't know for sure. Chinese are very mad that we're bombing Iran.

Yeah, well Chen Z is loose now. How do you like them apples? We turned him loose. Hide your crypto wallets.

The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court is overseeing the liquidation of various businesses in the British Virgin Islands, owned by Chen Zee. You know, years ago, I had a bank account in the British Virgin Islands. Is it still there? No, my father and I had one.

It's still there. No, it's not. That court has appointed Interpath, a restructuring firm with presence in the British Virgin Islands, to oversee the process. He's got hidden investments.

S. and British governments. It's probably a multi-millionaire. So they want to dissolve the companies that they have the sanctions against.

Right. Yeah, because they need to free up their stuff. They need them, we need to get their stuff. Right.

We want our stuff back. Well, they have it, they just can't use it. Hey, listen, you know, you're in trouble. There's nothing you can do.

No, no, we have plenty of money. There's nothing about the money. This is like the little dog holding the coffee cup and everything's burning around them. I'm fine.

Everything's fine. Liquidity, constraints, reduced demand, product issues, or business performances. It's not the money. It's not the money.

It's not about the money. They keep saying that over and over. Normally when they say that, it's about the money. Well, the hard part about this whole situation is, yeah, they can get everything back.

They have to buy it. - No, no, we already own it. - Attorney Phil. - No, how it works is, they create a new company, and then they have to sell everything at fair market value to the other company.

- Ah. - You know how Spanish law works? - You understand Spanish law? - No, I just know how dissolving the company works, moving to another company.

- Interesting. - But it sounds like they have a lot of assets, and that's a lot of money, so they gotta find somebody who has a lot of money, Because Chen Xi's money is not usable. They don't want his money. Well, of course not.

Your money's no good here. Your money's no good here. Your cryptocurrencies. That's on hold.

The report also alludes to Tumric Capital, a private equity fund that is believed to be tied to one of the ruling families in the UAE. Is that the king? Is that the king? I mean, what are the ruling families in the UAE?

I mean, I don't know. Sounds like that's the one. There's a lot of royalty over there. You can identify them, too.

Oh. Yeah, they're easy to spot. Really? Really?

Yeah. Cousin Ron Epstein's list? Nope. Jesus.

You know, I don't think they're on a list. Maybe, maybe? I don't think so. Maybe?

I don't think they're on a list, buddy. Okay, so. Oh, it says the least corporate structure would be for Tumarik to buy Chenzi's steak. So they have to buy what he owns.

To take it out of the equation. Right. There it is. But then where does that money go?

Yeah, they'd be giving him money. Yeah, where does that money go? We take that too. It goes in Holden.

He gets nothing still. You get nothing! S. Office of Foreign Assets Control the corresponding license to facilitate the restoration of the company's banking operations to full normality, but we don't need the money.

We don't need, it's not about the money. Not about the money, but we would like to get the money. But if you could give us some money, we could put it with the name of this company. El Confidential.

El, not about the money. Specifically mentions the importance of having Asia Unicorporation, one of the shell companies, drop below 50% of ownership in the short term and less than 20% in the medium term to get around the sanctions imposed by the American and British governments. So we've got to drop 50% in the long term, 20% in the short term, and then come up 15% in the after term. Once we survive all those.

Yeah, and I hope to God that everybody gives us back our share. It sounds like they have a plan. There was a flow chart, but I didn't get that. There was a flow chart?

Yeah, it was a big chart. Oh my goodness. So they know what they're doing. They're whiteboard, and there was a lot going on.

Somebody's getting paid. Somebody's getting, but it's not about the money. But it's not about the money. Not about the money.

It's never about the money. It's about getting their ownership of the company back from Chen Z, who apparently owned all the money. Right. And that's why it's not about the money, because he had the money.

Right. And now he's just on a beach somewhere. In China. In China.

Do they have beaches? Yeah, they have beaches. They're up north, though. They're cold.

Not all your own. There's a Sunshine City that's very pretty. Yeah. Okay.

All right, moving on. Half-Wheel apparently did a lot of talking. They said total half-wheel. They're moving tens of millions of cigars to AJ Fernandez and the Plasencia family.

Yeah, that's obvious. We kind of tapped on that briefly. The majority of it's going to AJ and then 20 or 30 percent of it's going to Plasencia. Right.

None of the employees have been accused of wrongdoing. Are they moving the employees or are they just getting rid of those guys? No, the employees are in a different country. They're in the Dominican Republic.

They're moving production of the cigars somewhere else. Yeah, to AJ and to Plasencia. To only AJ. So AJ acquires those people?

Again, no, those people are staying in the Dominican Republic. Oh, okay. There's a factory there that they can't open. You think they're just putting them on a plane and flying them out to Nicaragua?

I don't know. I will take them all, AJ says. Bring them here. Bring them here.

Sounds like there's a lot of cigars that need to be made. Can the people at that factory still… Someone needs to clean my coral reef. Can he sustain that type of production? Yeah, I'm sure he can.

Now, here's the catch. If he's very busy, what happens? Oh, their cigars are last. What's that?

Their cigars are last. No, Altidus' cigars will not be last. He charges more? Well, for one, yeah, they pay a premium from what I understand.

" Oh, so it disperses. Well, then what happens? They need to find someplace else. If he can't sustain the production, then they need to find someplace else to make their cigars.

They gotta go to their factory. So they go back to the Dominican Republic and all those people make their cigars. Then they open up a cigar company. I know where factory in Dominican Republic is, no one choosing.

Do you remember basketball? It's a basketball. The Lakers moved to so-and-so where there is no lake. All right, Blackworks Studio Boondock returns for 2026.

Oh. Boondocks. Boondocks. You could call it that?

That's what it's called, yeah. Oh, because of Boondock Saints? Why don't you put Saints at the end? No, no, but there is a cartoon, a famous cartoon.

Called Boondocks? Called Boondocks. Has an S. I don't know if that's 20% different.

Well, you have to have the rights in everything. In every avenue. Right, that would just be, you couldn't make a cartoon called Boondocks. They could make a sneaker called Boondocks.

Well, you know, more, but there's definitely a fine line there between, like, tobacco products and other things, you know. So, for the first time since 2019, boxes of the Blackworks Studio Boondock will be heading to stores. I'm not getting those either. No.

Blackworks? I don't think you've ever had a Blackworks. We have. We had Black Label Trading Company here for a while.

Yeah. Oh. It didn't sell well. It's too strong a cigar for a market.

Is that what you think? That's what I thought, it was too strong for the people. I don't think that's the case. No?

No. And why didn't you, why do you think it didn't work? I think that realistically, you pick your horses. This is not one of our horses.

It's, it's not like it's a brand that, if people came in asking, saying, "Hey, I really want you to carry Blackworks," then perfect, we would carry it. But we're not gonna invest time and energy in developing that brand in the store when we're developing other brands in the store. Gotcha. Lasagna, Roma Craft, Foundation, Espinosa, you know, after you kind of have two or three horses, everything else is less.

Can't have too many horses. No, and it just sits. It's part of the company's Blackworks Studio sub-brand, Boondock uses a Pennsylvania broadleaf wrapper over a Nicaraguan habano binder and fillers from Connecticut, Nicaragua, and Pennsylvania. It's a lot of Pennsylvania.

A lot of Pennsylvania. The same blend as the previous three full releases for the line, the cigars are made of the company's Fabrica Ovea Negra factory in Nicaragua. She actually... What did you call it?

Fabrica Ovea Negra. Okay, that's better. He just said it quickly. I said it quickly.

Ovea Negra. Because I had a thought and I didn't want it to go away. Do you still have it? They just paid 10% tariffs on their last shipment that went out.

Only 10%? Only 10%. Okay. That's good.

The Boondock is one of our most asked about limited releases from Blackwork Studios at the company in a press release. This will be the first full release since 2019. Because they got railed last PCA. What do you mean railed?

They got caught up with a shipment and they had to pay a premium. Oh, that's right. Yeah, I remember. Oh, God, that sucks.

In a similar story, Posanius knew Sumatra Cigar would be called the Doonbock. Oh, really? The Doonbock. The Doonbock.

Sounds like something that Hanson will be coming out very soon. Oh, perfect. Now it's time for the industry's favorite game. You slow down.

Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself. I'm making comments over here and you're just blowing through everything. Yeah, I started singing the song. Yeah.

What'd you start singing? Okay, what song you wanna sing? No, it's too late now. Yeah, you just messed up the vibe.

Messed up the vibe. What's the score? Wow. Now there's the energy, huh?

Is that what's happened? It just left the room. Well, he's just ignored us this whole time we were talking. " You just go ahead and rattle off, because we didn't laugh at his Dunebach comment.

"You know what? You didn't find that funny? " "Yeah, what's the score? " "Oh, time's perfect.

" First Cigar! No, no, you have to start from the intro because I have to do the cameras, so that way Cha-Ching or whoever's on the comic can see me do the buttons. Cha-Ching? Who's Cha-Ching?

I don't know his name. Is that your Chinese friend? Whatever his name was, I said I do the buttons well. Kratos 889?

Yeah, Kratos. Cha-Ching. Now it's time for the industry's favorite game. Yeah.

What's the score? It is. C. Newman, Limited Edition, Nicaragua Review, the Jose Gaspar, 2026.

Oh my lord, didn't we smoke this? Yes, we did, it's why I chose it. 87. 70.

C. Newman, Pensa, Wrapper, Ecuadorian, Binder, Nicaraguan, Filler, Nicaraguan, length 6x54, it's round, And they smoked three cigars. 86. 70.

The flavor profile shows impressive depth and evolution transitioning from creamy oak and charred meat in the first third to a rich sourdough bread and coffee bean core in the second and final thirds. The growing fudge to chocolate sweetness and balanced red pepper retrohale add complexity without overpowering the experience. I didn't get any of that when we smoked it. No!

Yeah. Fudgy, I'd like to take fudgy, that'd be nice. 88. 70.

Clue number two: construction is largely dependable. Despite minor burn corrections, a cigar remains firm with no soft spots. Draws stay within normal limits and overall performance supports the medium to full flavor, delivering without strength overwhelming the smoker. The terminology, how's the construction?

Dependable. I'm gonna stick 88. Brooks might be a little delusional on this one, but yeah, did we smoke the same cigar? Yeah.

70. Third glue, the persistent bitter espresso note, especially noticeable early on and strongest in the final cigar, along with the occasional tart vegetable lemongrass finish, detracts slightly from an otherwise rich and cohesive flavor profile. 86. There was only two words out of this whole thing so far that I agree with, bitter and tart.

Like, but he made it sound lovely. Yeah. It's a lovely bitterness. It was.

I'm sticking at 70. C. Newman is one of those companies that I will try any of its new releases, so I was looking forward to seeing what the Jose Gaspar 2026 brought to the table. However.

While not giving me the most complex of profiles, the blend is well-balanced and quite Enjoyable. Wow. Exhibiting flavors of charred meat, creamy cedar, and toasted bread combined with some rich fudge sweetness and a zesty red pepper note on the retrohale. A finish that is obvious without being overwhelming at any point.

Even with some minor burn issues, I enjoyed the Jose Gaspar 2026, and those looking for a balanced, flavorful cigar under $10 should too. 00. I mean, I'm gonna have to go up, because this is ridiculous. So what, 72?

Like a rock. Sounds like this was a tatawaje for him. He said nothing but good things. Unbelievable.

As much as it hurts me to say this, I'm going to go 88. Right on the nose, 88. I was there the whole time! Nail it, nail it, nail it.

He went the right way. Should have stayed there. Should have stayed. I thought I was going a little bit lower, and my strategy was to get him to commit.

Yeah. Should have stayed 88. Alright, second cigar. April 26, 20.

Oh, do you guys want to chit chat a little or anything before I go to the next one? Oh, yeah. I won. No, we're good.

You're sharing, okay? It's nice when you're engaging with us. Yeah. I just want to have conversation with you.

Okay. So you're good? I can move on? Still wanting to just mull us down when we're trying to talk.

Oh, are you ready? I think I'm ready. Ready, boots? No, no, I'm not ready.

Phil's not ready. No, me and Mikey have more talking to do. Okay, go ahead. I won.

Yeah. He's ready to go. I just want you to realize that. You backed right into it because- It happens so infrequently, he wants to remind you.

It's a new week, baby. All right, let's review how you won. You panicked BOT at 88. I did.

Because I was at 87. I did. There wasn't logic behind your number. It was just strategy of, oh, man, I guess it's higher than what I think.

So I'm going to pucker up my butt cheeks here and take 88. Well, he was comparing it to a Tata Wye is what it sounded like. Unbelievable. He didn't.

Well, that's the way you guys play. You're not really trying to get the score. You're just trying to beat the other one. Well, it depends upon where you ask.

If you're first. You're trying to get as close as you can, and make that person screw up. Right, yeah, well, we know that most of these cigars are in the 80s, so, unless they start, like, really pelting it, then we know it's way lower, or Charlie gives them a 99, you know. All right, it was only one of those, and we already did that one.

Yeah, to have it off. All right, next cigar, April 26, 2015, Patrick LaGreed, Honduras Limited Edition Reviews, The Viaje, The Viaje, Jalapeno, Jalapeno, I'll go 84, 89, primarily because I like to say Jalapeno, Jalapeno, Cigar Reviewed, The Viaje, Jalapeno, Jalapeno, Country of Origin, Honduras, Factory, Fabrica de Tobacos, Races, Races, Wow, yeah, it's not Races, Rapper, not saying, Bitter, Binder, Say it, say it, no, they're not saying, Oh, Binder, they're not saying. Filler, they're not saying. It is four and seven-eighths by 51.

It's a petit perfecto. They smoked three jalapenos. Jalapeno. Jalapeno.

84. On a stick. 89. Oh, boy.

Are we keeping you up? What did he say? 84. Clue number one.

Construction and burn performance are strong overall, despite the tight resistance early due to the nipple foot. Wow. The draw opens up nicely, smoke production improves quickly, and the cigar burns above average with no relights or major touch-ups required. Is it called a nipple foot or a closed foot?

Nipple foot. Nipple. Is that the correct terminology? They bring it to the point, it looks like a nipple.

I gotta tell you, if half who calls it that, it's probably the correct terminology. You have ash all over your shirt. Um... How long has it been there?

85. I don't know, I just noticed... Since he won? Yeah.

Yeah, I want you to look clean for the loss here. Now you're going to tell me. 89. For all the footage of your faces, he won.

89. Clue number two. Cigar delivers on its theme with a unique and intriguing jalapeno-like tingle that weaves in and out of the profile. Combined with pepper, earth, faint chocolate, and even a minty retrohale in the final third, it creates a distinctive and memorable smoking experience.

Can you not interrupt me while I'm talking, please? It's kind of rude. I'm just adding to your conversation. No, no, you're interrupting.

No. I didn't stop you from talking. Because I talked over you. Not opinion.

People can't understand me. They've been complaining. Have they? Yes.

Who complained? Why do you want to know who? So you can intimidate them and make them stop? Yes.

I'm not telling. Because there's nobody. Yes, there are several. Several.

No, there isn't. Several. Many. Many, many, many.

There's no one. Yes. It was Catch Me Outside 493. Ching Ching was one of them.

Yeah. Kratos 889. I don't know Ching-Jang. I don't know who Ching-Jang is.

Okay. Go ahead. He didn't read anything yet. Yes, I did.

You read something? Yes. I interrupted the whole time. Oh, man.

Yeah. I don't know. See, he couldn't understand because you kept the tree over talking. That's my strategy.

I'm going to stay at 85. 89. Third clue. I'm reading another clue.

This is a clue. Bam. Attention, attention. Clue, reading a clue.

Here we go. Second, third, introduces some less pleasant notes, particularly a dirtier earthiness along with chalky and slightly metallic flavors. That momentary throw the profile. Do you want to read this?

No. Then please be quiet. Still gives you the tingle, though. All right, I'll be quiet.

That momentarily throw the profile off balance and dulls the overall enjoyment. 85. 87. Final thought.

With no notes as to what to expect about the Viaje Jalapeno, other than that it is offered the ultimate balance of heat and flavor, I'm generally pretty pleased with what the cigar had to deliver. I'm still not sure how much actual jalapeno flavor I got from the cigar, but there is definitely plenty of pepper and a good bit of palate-tingling flavors, so I'm comfortable saying the cigar lives up to its billing, While the packaging and creative may not win for everyone, the cigar itself should end up being a decent palate-pleaser for those looking for something with a good bit of a distinct kick in a small format. Phil? Thank you for not speaking.

I close my eyes the whole time for you. You're probably sleeping. 86. That's a good number.

87. You went the wrong way. Yes! 83.

And I'm back on top, baby. Okay. Anything else to add to the show? On the 16th of March, I will be on Chi-town, I don't know, Chi-town Cigar or something, podcast.

Nice. Nice! And at the end of the month, we will be at Bowieville and Humidor Fine Cigars. Excellent.

Bowieville! Yes. Make sure we start locking in those dates so that people know. I just said them.

You said the end of the month. Oh. You know, make sure we start mentioning the dates. So, if you're in the Dothan area, come see us.

Yep. All right. Like and subscribe if you appreciate the edutainment that we are providing for you. Edutane.

And thank you for watching or listening on any platform. com. Thanks, guys. You gotta go.

All right. Bye. Bye. Bye-bye.

Show Notes

On today’s show. WE are at war!  Disney is making a change or are they really just saving money? Adam is gonna get ya in the nuts. And McDonald will not be out done by Burger King.  Then in cigars  Chen zhi is back in news and Black Works makes a new cigar and someone is getting engaged!