ACHP Episode 495 82 Airborne, Couch Planes and AI Shut down...with Jared Burrows from Cigar Guys

Transcript

Mike Palmer: Welcome to A Cigar Hustler Podcast, episode 495! I'm Mike Palmer, your host. Over in engineering, we have back from his movie set in Japan, making his new film, Sushi & Sake, Mr. Phil.

Phil McGuffey. Wow. Hello, Phil. I'm not sure what happened yesterday.

We missed you. You gotta listen to yesterday's show, don't understand what that means. And then today's co-host from across the lake and from the number one rated podcast among cigar smokers who wear jeans, Jared from The Cigar Guys. I appreciate that.

I'm not wearing jeans today, though. I'm not exactly sure how you guys do it. Sometimes. Alex showed me one time, but I don't remember what he claimed.

Mainly pants. So we're going with guys that wear pants and smoke cigars. Exactly. All right.

On today's show, the 82nd Airborne is now involved. United Airlines installs couches on planes. AI got so good, they're closing it down. Then in cigars, we have many new cigars.

And finally, in his first attempt, we have a pink slip addition to What's the Score? See, this would have been funny if it was Mikey. A pink slip addition to What's the Score? Oh, it's not a three-way game.

It's just, Phil, you're playing for pink slips with Jared. Pink slips? Oh. On What's the Score?

Oh, with my uh... Your truck against his truck. My Yaris. No, your truck against his truck.

Oh, is that it? Yes. My Yaris truck. It was going to be Mikey's Turbo against his truck, but unfortunately Mikey's no longer in the show today.

Supercharger. Supercharger. Sorry. Supercharger.

Correct you so. And working the timer, wave to the people, Michael. You're close. You're about half in.

There you go. Super busy. He's super busy. Very busy.

All right, but first. Oh, this doesn't work either. So, this doesn't work either. Mikey, how do we get some of the CHPod swag?

- That's good. - No, go, Mikey. com, where we have all our shirts, hats, lighters, and other items for sale that are associated with the show. Still running the "Buy One, Get One Half Off" Mikey Special, and if you spend $100 or more, you get free shipping.

- We love that Mikey Special. - Mikey Special. Also... - What?

Like, well, can I get, I love when he produces from over there, like and subscribe on whichever format you watch us on and make Michael happy. Also, if you're a retailer and attending the 2026 PCA trade show and want to carry the number one available cigar in the industry according to Half Whale, there's a link below in the episode description. Appointments are going fast. You make an appointment and then you show up for the appointment.

We're giving you a hat as a show of our love and affection. Perfection. It's got this cool Polish logo winged hero ball cap. One hat per appointment, limited quantity available, no appointment, no hat.

And then media guys, we haven't forgot about you. Separate link below to make interview appointments where you can choose from Mikey, 3G, Greg or myself to amaze and bewilder you with our knowledge and you also get one hat per interview. Hats only come in one size and color. You can't ask for something different.

All gifts are non-returnable and they have no monetary value. We will not give you the money. For the hat. That's a...

Is that everything? I love the clarification, though. Clarification. You gotta put all the disclaimers up.

" One hat per appointment. With 3G, Greg, or... 3G, Greg, Mikey, or myself. Well, they might want to interview somebody else.

They've interviewed him every year. Maybe they want to mix it up a little. Right. Oh, Phil, you want to read the YouTube comments?

How do I do... No, he can't. I don't know if he can... You know Palmer could do that.

I don't know if he can get to our YouTube. He's not on the thing. Palmer, unplug your microphone too, by the way. Is it doing it?

Yeah. Yeah, it's doing a little... Unplug it or turn it off? Just unplug it.

Plug it back in. Talk to me. Hello. How are you, Phil?

Yeah, it sounds good now. Oh, man. No, no. That's broken.

No, it's fine. Go ahead. Go to Jared. Go ahead.

Well, that wasn't even the other thing. Jared, do you watch the show on YouTube, or do you just listen to it? Reels. I watch the reels.

Oh, the reels. He watches the clips like everybody else. Well, it's so much easier. You get 12 a day.

Right, yeah. We do, yeah. There is 12 a day. You're not lying.

Well, it's easier than sitting around for like an hour on YouTube, right? I mean, I don't know, I watch it in bed sometimes, it's kind of weird. You watch your own show in bed? Yeah, I only watch like a couple minutes of it.

You watch yourself in bed? He watches the beginning, yeah. What are you doing while you're watching the show in bed? I like to look for little areas.

All right, I can't get to the comments either, I don't know how you see the comments. Yeah, how do you do the comments? How do you do just the comments? All right, no comments today.

So finish this? You watch yourself in bed? Yeah, let's talk more about that maybe for a minute. Some of the episodes I like to watch.

That you're in more than others? No. Do you watch them with or without clothes on? I have clothes.

Are you by yourself when you watch these? No, I'm not by myself. Is it before your wife comes to bed? - No, I'm definitely not by myself.

- Oh, do you wake her up when you come on the camera? - No, no, no, no. - Honey, honey, honey, look, look, look, look, look, look! - There was this funny stuff that we talked about today, you gotta watch this, you gotta watch this.

" - Really? - Like, "What? " It's the same type of thing when I showed her the TikToks that I see. Oh, yeah, your TikToks aren't funny, the one you show.

All right, now let's get into the news. Oh, I broke this when I dropped it. Well, yeah, yeah. So, probably not the news either.

So, no comments, no news. No mic. Yeah. No mics.

Sorry, Jerry. Sorry, Jerry. Bad day to come. Yeah.

It's raining outside, or at least it was. Yeah. Oh, all right, here we go. Alex doesn't know where he's going.

Alex doesn't know where he's at. All right, connect you, Steve. All right, all right, we're back. All right.

Pentagon prepares to send another 3,000 troops to the Middle East. S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, adding to the thousands of Marines already headed to the region to assist with operations in Iran. These are the guys that can be deployed anywhere in the world in 18 hours.

Wow. This is where you guys talk. That's quite a feat, 18 hours? Anywhere in the world they can be deployed in 18 hours.

They're ready to go. But they did open the Strait of Hormuth today with help from Japan last night. Oh, the Japanese? The Japanese sent over some sneaky, sneaky boats.

Oh my gosh. The ninja boats. That's how they, you know, they're big on surprises. Well, do they have ninjas?

No, they have samurais, right? They have ninjas too in Japan, that's where they're from. Oh, okay. There's no Chinese ninjas, they're called something else.

Oh, China's the one that's different. Yes. Geishas? They don't fight.

Oh. But that's still Japan. Oh, okay. What?

There was some question about your intelligence in the comments, I see why now. You said you couldn't even read the comments. I can't, but I read them before. Oh.

So you're saying 8,000 troops are already deployed over there? Was it eight? Yeah, the Marines, that's what he's talking about. The Marines, that's what he's talking about.

Yeah, the Marines are, the Marines are already on the way there. Now they're also sending the 82nd Airborne. Yeah. But they just jump out of airplanes.

Oh wait, he has, he has all the comments. " And from DataCash, Greg is much better than Phil, better jewelry, and no mask. I don't know who that was or where that came from. Yeah.

That's the voice I hear in my head all the time. So you guys had Greg on the show? Greg sat in yesterday, yes. Wow, how'd you get that?

You were a no-call, no-show. We didn't know what happened. Usually Greg defers away from the camera. He had quite the little hissy fit when we made him sit in the chair that Jared's in.

Oh, did he? Were you really a no call, no show? No, they called me. Texted.

And I said I couldn't make it. No, you didn't answer the text message. I did not answer the text message, but Mikey did call me. Oh, he never tells us those things.

Oh. We talk a lot. What would happen right now if you took off your mask? Palmer would probably have a hissy fit like Greg did yesterday.

The camera goes off. Yeah. Nobody knows who Phil is. That's right.

It's a secret. Yeah. Movie magic. Movie magic.

All right, back to the Pentagon. Palmer, how do you feel about that? About you wearing a mask? The deployment.

It was my idea. No, no, no, the deployment. I know it was your idea. Everybody knows it was your idea.

I don't know. He's backing down now. Not backing down, but he said they had a great discussion yesterday and things are better. And so, I don't know, maybe he calls these guys back.

I don't know. I would prefer we didn't put guys on the ground inside Iran. Yeah, I agree. Everybody does, because that means we're staying.

Right. And these are the guys that jump out of the airplanes, so it's not like, you know, these guys can just get back in the Jeep and drive back home. Right. How do we get back in the airplane?

Yeah, how do we get back up there? He said no, no go. Right. -Israel war against the Iran regime.

It heightens the possibility that an American serviceman may go into Iran. It could just be a show of force, like, hey, we got these, these are the guys, you know, these are right here now. Or maybe it's like Three Kings. Remember that movie?

Yes. Maybe he's sending guys in to go find the money. Oh, it could be. Go find the gold.

Yeah. What? Wait, wait. What's Three Kings?

What? The movie? Yeah. Ice Cube, George Clooney, and Mark Wahlberg?

Robert? They go in to steal the gold during the original Gulf War. So you think they're going to Iran to bring back the gold? Well, like oil, gold, all that.

Yeah, I could see that. Steal gold? What, are they filling in their pockets? Little bags?

Maybe. We already have 50,000 troops in the region. Do you think that would be enough? Yeah, but there's no Ice Cube over there.

Ice Cube's not there now, too. They're not sending in. Or Clooney. You've never seen that movie, Jared?

No, I really haven't. Oh, you're going to have to watch that movie. It was a great movie. Did you want to watch it together?

You want to watch it together? While you're in bed instead of watching YouTube? You know, Jared, I feel like, you know, I would watch it with you. You like to do things in groups, right?

Where's the group at today? I don't see everybody. Yeah, where's everybody else? You guys don't travel in singles?

Yeah. And I saw Alex yesterday in St. Pete. You don't travel in singles?

Alex was in St. Pete by himself. I know. Are you guys fighting?

I guess so, I mean, I got no invite yesterday. Oh, there it is. He can't come in even if he is outside the room now. Exactly, he's upstairs.

Wow, so there is a fight? Nah, not a real fight. Oh, wow, that's tough. What about the other two guys, the brothers?

They're really brothers, right? Mark's at work, Zach's out of the country. Oh, is he in Iran getting some oil and gold? Nah, he's in Germany, actually.

He's on the back side. He's on the other side. He's coming in the other way. Wow, that's amazing.

But they're brothers, right? We were confused earlier. We were trying to see who was... Are you related to the other two guys?

No, Mark and Zach. They're brothers. Okay. Wait, there's a fourth one?

There's four of them. Yeah. Two of them do look surprisingly alike. Thanks for not watching our show.

I don't know if I've ever seen the fourth one yet. You don't know if you've ever seen the fourth one? Or Mark? I've seen Zach.

They look alike. Oh, so Zack looks exactly like him. Not exactly, but just close. They're not twins, right?

They're not twins either? No, no, no. But you're not related to either one of them either? No, just like Alex isn't.

Right, right. I knew Alex wasn't, but he's not from the same country as the other two guys. We're all American. We're all here.

Well, yeah, I know, but your cigar, base of cigar, has a… Albanian background, yeah. Right. So the other two guys are Albanian. I'm just asking.

I'm not sure. got your arm are the other guys Albanian are you Albanian you're not Albanian either you just look alike yeah no no I just we thought Alex was the only non-Albanian Alex definitely doesn't Alex is Puerto Rican so he's nothing right we knew that he's Venezuelan Venezuelan oh he's Venezuela wow we got that wrong to believe it all together we've always been tired of what he's Puerto Rican I really should watch their show more Phil when you're in bed at night right oh oh we have someone We got one coming in. Oh my god. 3G.

It's 3G. Oh, it's 3G. Triple G. Triple G.

I like 3G. Triple G. See, Greg gets on the camera one time now, and he's starstruck. He's addicted.

What do we have here? Our friend Jack Taranio shipped these to us. This is one for Mr. Mike Palmer.

Oh, my hoodie. Oh, the green one. You no longer have the only hoodie, Michael. Oh.

No, no, no. Don't throw it in his face. He got them for us. And then there's one for Mr.

Boosie. Oh, Phil, Phil. Phil, Phil. That's Phil McGuffie.

This is very nice. Oh, these are nice. Thank you, Jack. Yeah, that Spinoza family.

Yes. Are you going to put it on now? No, no, it looks way too heavy. That's super hot in here, dear.

It's heavy. It is. That's nice. Thank you very much.

Yeah, Greg, turn on the ACR. I had it on yesterday and you yelled at me. I didn't either. Why was it still on?

See? That's yelling at me. Oh. So, back to the redheaded stepchild.

So Alex is from Venezuela? Oh, from Florida, but he's Venezuelan. Oh, okay. Venezuelan.

I don't know exactly from there. Do you know who B2K is? I don't think. Please tell me you know who B2K is.

No. The R&B group? No. Sounds familiar.

My joke wasn't gonna go good. You know who NSYNC is? Yeah. You think Alex kinda does the Justin Timberlake thing?

Where like he's with the group and then now he's kinda fading? Doing a single on his solo album? No, just everyone was working in different areas this week. I think he's referring to his brokerage, his cigar brokerage.

Exactly. We all can't work 24/7 together all the time. Right? Ever since I've known him, I've only seen you guys together.

" Except the last two days. Yeah. Where things have fallen apart. Right.

One's in Germany, one we don't know. He's here with us, and Alex was in St. You know, we're just gonna blame it on the war. Yeah.

That makes sense. It's the war's fault. All right. All right, United Airlines is introducing a new economy seat that turns into a couch.

Really? Yes. That's great. This will be great for Mikey.

Right, yeah, he can sleep now. He can sleep now. Beginning of next year, United Airlines will offer an economy seat that converts into a lie-flat couch. United just dropped a surprise announcement at today's media day that caused me to cause an audible gasp.

" And a stuffed animal, Michael. So every seat is now a couch or a couch? No, no, there's only certain seats that are in the, there's first class, then there's economy plus, and then there's couch. Like four or five seats, you pay an upcharge based on how many people are in the seats.

Like if he traveled with his children, for example, he would actually buy all three seats, but he would pay a smaller upcharge. But if it was just him, he would have to buy all three seats with a higher up charge. So it's not like they have like a flat fee involved for the couch seat and they're going to get it whether it's one, two or three. They could buy all three seats and then take a nap.

Yes. Well, there's an extra footrest that folds up from underneath. So it connects it to the seat in front of you, makes it a solid piece. And then they give you a mattress pad, a blankie, a pillow, and a stuffed animal.

Yeah, but what are the seatbelt signs on? Yeah, you know, I zoomed in to look for seatbelts. I didn't see any. So maybe this is once it gets up to cruising speed, you're allowed to turn it into the couch?

Until that stewardess comes by and tells you the seatbelts on. Well, she would have to come by and set it up for you anyway. Nobody's gonna... Can Phil, like, show me TikToks and reels while I'm laying down?

Yes. Probably, yes. He gets four of them to you. Yes.

I got some of the best, Jared. Trust me. Al Nippon Airlines and Air New Zealand has had sky couches for years. Really?

I've never seen it. So it's not a new thing then. It's not a new thing, just new for United. Hmm.

It's not allowed for people in Congress though, right? No, but did you hear they have taken away all the Congress extras that they get during air travel until TSA is back here? No more cookie for you. Yeah, no more getting on the fest.

But United is calling it the Relax Row. It's gonna be on Boeing 787s and Boeing 777 aircraft. By 2030, the airline plans to have it relax row in over 200 aircraft across the fleet. United is the first North American airline to offer this product and says it will have exclusivity on the design with North America.

Oh, so nobody else will have their design. Have their design, you have to do their own. So when it eventually gets to like, what? Spirit.

Spirit, yeah, it'll be just a cot. Right. You know, and... No, it's going to be an inflatable duck.

There you go. A inflatable duck. I'm not super excited about this story. Yeah, I'll say, like, so if you would buy one seat on the couch, you're just sitting here on the couch, like we're sitting here on the couch now?

Right. Yeah, you wouldn't get to fold it out. Well, you wouldn't choose that seat, because that seat's extra. Okay.

You're flying by yourself. But you're flying by yourself, like Mikey, and you want to lay down, with your eye mask, and your head wrap, And your breathing apparatus and things, he would just tell Greg it's part of the game and you'd just have to do it. Well, he kind of likes, you know, tying himself up to the seat so he sits up straight. The seatbelt thing was interesting though because I didn't, they didn't show that because once the mattress pad goes on, you can't get to the seatbelt.

You know, it would be a lot better in airplanes, like, so you could sleep and not have to do all this couch thing and all that. Your own YouTube thing that you could watch while you lay there? No, it would be like in a military plane you have a full seatbelt system, so it goes, they strap over the shoulders, I don't know what you would call it. The shoulder harness?

Yeah, like a harness, yeah, basically. You're welcome, Mr. Navy. So a harness, like, dude, you sleep in that perfectly fine.

Was that Alex? Where the hell are you? I miss you. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I apologize. Let's not fight anymore. Or was it in German?

It's one of the brothers. I thought you were meeting me at Hustler. Where are you? I'm doing a show.

You're doing the show? Without me? Oh my God. We had that phone call last night.

Oh, you told him. How do you take it? How do I take it? No, I felt like it.

How did he take it when you told him you were doing it without him? He wasn't surprised, but I could tell if he was hurt by it. Yeah, I knew you would be. Surprised, but not surprised.

Actually, we'll console him when we go upstairs afterwards. No, we're just going to go on and go on what a great job you did. Yeah. I feel like we don't know he's there.

So much better than when Alex does his show. This was great. Yes, please lay it on him. Let him know the truth.

Oh, yeah, we will. This is exactly what happened to Justin Timberlake. High-fiving you as we walked upstairs? Yeah.

Brittany came along. Brittany came along? Yeah. Oh, Brittany Spears.

Oh, okay. All right, OpenAI is pulling the plug on Sora. Do you guys use that when you do your videos? We have a few times.

They're closing it, it's too real. So what are they gonna replace it with? They're not, they're just shutting it down. Do we have to use Grok's Imagine now?

I guess, yeah. The viral AI video app that sparked deepfake concerns, OpenAI is shutting down its social media app Sora, which went viral last fall as a place to share short-form videos Generated by artificial intelligence. So it was like an Instagram thing? You would make the video and then they would show it to everybody?

Yeah. It's essentially a Grok Imagine. So what do you use for your AI videos now? We don't-- well, Mikey started using one thing, but I-- Gen Spark.

Beg your pardon? Gen Spark. Gen Spark. He doesn't seem impressed.

Well, there's so many. Like, you know, Google's Gemini has, like, their version. The version, La Veo, now Sora's going down. If you use Grok's Imagine.

So, it's raised alarms in Hollywood and elsewhere, is one of the reasons to look down. The company behind ChatGPT released Sora in September as an attempt to capture the attention of potentially advertising dollars that follow short-form videos on TikTok, YouTube, or Meta-owned Instagram, Facebook. So, this is also the one that Disney signed the contract with, but they apparently agree that it needs to go away. That's crazy.

Somebody kept making the princess videos. That's what happened. Probably with Disney, but some of the figures that they have a problem with, they were making Michael Jackson videos, Martin Luther King videos, Mr. Rogers.

Oh, Mr. Rogers. All doing outlandish things. I can only imagine what they made Mr.

Rogers do. Yeah, I can only imagine. But only after an outcry from family estates and an actor's union. So the families of those people went, "Hey, Mr.

" Is his family still alive? I'm sure he has relatives. So when are they pulling the plug on a, like, about a date? Immediately, from what I understand.

Oh, it's over. Open AI, that's Disney's comment, yeah. Well, it's not when it lasted. I mean, yeah, it was just in September, so.

Somebody will just make something the same. Exactly. Yeah, there'll just be another one that comes out. Was that the best one, Sora?

Well, I mean, if you have the money for it, Google's Gemini Veo 3. Veo 3, it's like, it's real, it looks 100% real. Right. It's extremely expensive.

Sora didn't look really, it didn't look out. Well, Sora was good, but like, it was always grainy, so you could always tell it was Sora, and it had the watermark, you know. Wow. Gemini doesn't have a watermark?

For the images, yeah, not the videos. But if you use AI to create an AI video, you use AI to remove the watermark. Right. Oh, well, what sense is that then?

For the people that don't get it, I guess. I don't know. That's from the black web side of Jared and his. What?

Well, you're saying you know how to do the remove the watermarks and stuff. I don't know how to do that. You just tell AI to remove the watermark. I can show you after.

No, no. I don't want anything on my phone. He's got enough problems. It's not going to be easy on your phone.

Yeah, we do it on your phone. Okay. He brought his laptop upstairs. I don't want to be on a list.

His laptop comes in three different bags, he puts it all together like Iron Man, and then he just starts doing stuff. That actually is true. Like Iron Man? Right, he snaps it all together, calls it Jarvis.

Oh, yeah, that makes sense. All right, Michael, you have a video for us today? All right, into Cigar News. That was a no for all you listeners out there.

Yeah, he shook his head no for those of you at home that are just doing the audio version. We get complaints about the audio version. Nasser the Goat, Connecticut, goes on sale. Oh.

In 20, like, do you, you're familiar with that? Yeah, I guess, no. Oh, is that one of your favorites? Absolutely not.

Oh, good. J. Fernandez released a private label cigar for Nasser's Lounge, a shop located in Haiti. Oh.

You say, oh, like you're, oh yeah, I've been there, it's fine. It's, yeah, I've never heard of this place. I didn't know there was a, a big exclusive shop in Haiti either. I didn't know there was a shop.

Oh, okay, you got a point there. What's the cost on that? The cigar? Let's get into it and find out, Jared.

What do you say? Let's do it. Because you guys get to guess. Oh, yes.

Nasser the goat went on to transcend the ranks of the shop exclusive and has gone on to become a line of cigars that AJ Fernandez sells himself. So it was a shop exclusive that AJ decided, this is really good, now it's only AJ. So every cigar is going to come out until the show is going to be an AJ cigar. Maybe.

Now the brand has a second blend. Nasser the Goat Connecticut uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut Seed Habano wrapper over Honduran and Nicaraguan binders and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. It's made at Tabla Calera, AJ Fernandez, and Esteli being offered in three Vitolas. So there's a Robusto, a Toro, and a Gordo.

Let's just go with the Toro. Guys, guess the price. $12. It's a 6x54, but okay, you got a little excited.

Yeah, you're so quick on that, Jared. Was that wrong? Hold on, he gets a guess too. I mean, since he said 12, I'm definitely gonna probably be closer.

I'm gonna go 16. Oh, 14, split the middle. Oh, my God. Right in the middle.

AJ's always about value. $16 in Haiti? $16 in, well, no, this is the one that AJ's selling here. Oh.

I don't have the Haitian dollar equivalent, I'm very sorry. As a Haitian Cigar Aficionado with over 35-year experience, I joined forces with my friend AJ Fernandez and Greg Dana. We talked about Greg yesterday, but I forget what cigar it was. 2G Greg.

No, no, yeah, it's just 2G Greg. We made that distinguish yesterday. Okay, he's talking about his cigar, we don't care. He's been, he's been so, okay, oh, AJ's already started selling the new line out from underneath the master.

Oh, out from underneath? Well, I don't know. We're assuming, allegedly, that's what he's doing. Don't piss off AJ.

We'll all disappear. Become part of his coral reef outside his house. Right. Viaje is shipping the Chef's Cut Private Keep Ghost next week.

Oh, the Chef's Cut. Chef's Cut and then the Private Keep Ghost. Two different cigars. Wow, Chef's Cut, that sounds pretty close to Chef's Fashion.

No, 20%. Well, I mean, I know, but I'm just saying. I mean, there's no other cigars that I know. That has a chef in it?

Yeah. Oh, I'm sure there is. So Viaghi's next shipment will head to stores, including in it appears to be the first release of what could be a new series for Viaghi. The company has announced at least two cigars.

They'll be part of the shipment, the Private Keep Ghost and the Chef's Cut. Both cigars will look to be new. Chef's Cut does not fit into any of Viaghi's previous lines When asked about details about the cigars, the spokesman for Viaje told Half Wheel, saying that they would just ship, they're not saying what it is. It's a mystery?

Yeah, it's a mystery cigar. Yeah, Viaje is a mystery. Jared's terrible. You gotta buy to try it, I guess?

Yes. Well, that's the way they like it, 'cause you know, if it's got so many you don't like, they don't want you to know. Right. The Private Keep Ghost is the latest cigar in the Private Keep series, which started in 2018.

I didn't know they had a Private Keep series. It's the sixth release, all of which have been offered in a single Vitola that is a 6x48, the Private Keep Tangerine is a 6x52, and these are just all the ones they've released over the years, which we don't really care. Though pricing has been released, no other information is available about the cigar, we'll keep you posted as things move on, I guess. Mike, are you guys getting a cigar?

We getting the new Viajes? Again, he says no. Shook his head again, no, we're not getting those either. I don't know how we sell cigars upstairs, we never get anything.

Well, we just sell Pastañas. Oh, that's all you have to sell. Yeah. Number one undisputed cigar of 2025.

Right. One in three you can't buy. Right. But didn't you bring Byron's last week?

Aww, Jared. What? Can we get Alex to bring Alex to? Boots, text Alex, see if he's okay upstairs.

Alright. Or Phil, sorry. Probably not okay. This is gonna be a short show.

Fertello is shipping Smooth and Strong in June. Are they? Yes. So, you don't know if you remember, two years ago, Fertello made that cigar where you could light it from either end?

Yeah, bang me to, or go to the moon or something. What did you say? Vice-Visa-Versa is what it was called. Yeah.

Yeah, a cigar that is said could be smoked from either end. He thought it was a great idea, he's doing it again. Oh, is he? Later this year, the company released a new cigar that uses the same concept and idea.

According to Cigar Aficionado, ooh, that's where he released information, the Smooth & Strong is a 7x52 Vitola made with an Ecuador & Urbano wrapper Covering an Indonesian binder and filler tobacco is grown in Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. I try it at least once. Well, you can try it twice because you can smoke both ends. Right, yeah, you want to try it from a different end.

So do you switch it halfway through if you don't like it? How does that work? I didn't smoke one of the other ones. Or do I have to buy two to try them both?

Yeah, buy two because you would burn your mouth. Well, you can wait until it goes off. Cut it off? Yeah, or you just cut it in half.

Okay. Oh, that's not a bad idea. Yeah. Like some cigar smokers do already.

It might come unraveled. They don't care. That or the flavor might change halfway through. Just buy two, make it easy.

We're not all rich like you, Jerry. Some of us have smaller cigar budgets. Yeah. It's a nice jacket.

I wore it just for you. I like how it goes with the shorts. I wouldn't have thought to do that. No one knew I was wearing shorts.

Oh, sorry. Wow. Wow. Great job, Arnold.

I know. I ruined that tonight. Cigars kept at both ends. A piece of darker tobacco indicates the stronger end, while a piece of lighter tobacco indicates the milder smooth end.

Does it? Somebody will still get confused. I don't know which one's which. Well, yeah.

You guys going to make a base that you can smoke from either end? No, that's a good idea, though. I want to check. So you're forced to buy two.

You just see how many cigars have been sold in those. Is there, is there somebody else done it too? I don't know. It doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

Well, apparently the first one had to do well enough to where he did it again. Allegedly. You know, I have to say allegedly on that. That was not insulting.

Okay, maybe. Or. Or. They just do it to get the media.

You'd be able to talk about the cigar line. It's true. We've been talking about it for a good 10 minutes now. Yeah.

Well, he hasn't done anything since that tour to the moon or whatever. Well, that was his last release, yeah, the rocket ship thing. Yeah, Rocket Man. You know, and he was an accountant with the space program, not even a rocket.

Oh, he didn't go to the moon. No, no, but I always thought he was a rocket engineer type guy, but he was an accountant. One of the accountants. What?

They're going to have way more than one. Well, they're going to have more than one, I would assume, yes. Right. By the time this show airs, that we will have launched a rocket, it's supposed to be able to hear it take off from here, within 30 to 40 miles away from the launch, you can hear it take off.

From the original guys or Origin? This is Origin. It's going to the moon. Jeff's made enough money over the past couple of months and he's launching.

He's launching another rocket. See the cigars are made at La Aurora Cigar Factory in the Dominican Republic. Mike and Republic, each cigar have an MSRP of, this is where you guess again, for the cigar you can smoke from either end? It's taking a little longer on this one.

This is a unique cigar, Jared. Now he knows how to play. I had a guess, it's probably $16, this one. You said $16?

Yeah. Alright, Phil? This is a Fratello cigar, I'm going to probably guess $18. Oh, again, you guys split it, $17, right?

Really? Oh my God, what the hell? God. Are you being serious?

Yeah. Oh wow, okay. It's a six-pack carton with five packs to a box for 2026, total of 12,000 of these cigars. So is it really 24,000 because you can smoke it for me there?

Yeah, I guess I would, yeah. Yeah. He's making 12,000, but he actually gets 24,000 cigars? Right.

Being shipped through Fratello says that it should be an annual release going forward. The Vice Versa Fratello, released in 2023, was a 7x52 Vitola, but it was made with an Ecuadorian HVA wrapper. You think maybe when he was making a cigar, he was like, "You know what? This is a great idea.

You know why? " Wait, what? The cost would be less making one cigar than making two cigars, but he can actually sell it as two cigars. Right.

But that would be a good idea if he was selling it for not the 17, but instead for like 34. He is an accountant. Right, maybe that's why he's not doing it anymore. Right.

All right, we have the MSRP of the Vice-A-Versa, the original. You guys want to guess on that, since we need to stretch the time out? Go ahead, Jared. Oh, my God.

We're not splitting this one, I guarantee that. Now, this was two years ago. It was 15. Phil?

14. It was 15. Hey! Boom!

You didn't put one in between, so... I wasn't, yeah, I wasn't letting that happen this time. It was sold in cartons of five with a total production up to 24,000 cigars. So, there you go.

Same thing. He re-upped. Boxes of Smooth and Strong are scheduled to ship to retailers in June. So, I imagine you can buy them at the 2026 BCA Convention and Trade Show.

Are you, are you guys going? I'm going. You're going? Yeah.

Are you, oh, Alex can't go because of the baby. Yeah, yeah. Are the brothers going? Mm-hmm.

So, there'll be three. Three. Oh, you guys have made an appointment with us, too. We did?

Yeah. Oh. Unless Alex did. No, I'm kidding.

Yeah, of course. Oh. You get to pick who you want to interview, so it's up to you guys. Triple G.

He's super... Yeah, I would do Triple G. I would do Triple G. That's going to be the best interview.

Of course, I'm going to be on camera again. Right. Of course, I'm going to be on camera again. Alright, now it's time for the...

Okay, when I say the name of the game, then we all say it in unison. Okay? He watches the clips. Yeah, but it might not see the beginning of the game.

Oh. All right, it's time to play the industry's favorite game, What's the Score? I think he just, nah, nah, man. What's the score?

All right, what's the score? Today's Cigar, October 20th, 2011, reviewed by Brooks Whittington, it's a Gurkha main event, the Cigar reviews the Gurkha Triad Platinum Maduro. Are you familiar with how the game is played? Yeah.

Okay, so now as the guest, you go first. I'm sorry, Boots says he is a guess, he goes last. You don't want the clips? What?

I don't want the clips. I don't want the clips. I don't want the clips. Let's go 75.

I think you always go a little higher. Oh, do I? Then go lower, Jared. Would you like to try again?

Jared is not happy with your first answer. No, 75, I'm good with it. Yeah, you can't read, yeah, just let me go. Your turn, Jared.

Yeah, now you pick a score. I'm going to say 65. Alright. You have several choices, several chances here to change the score.

Alright, here's the information about the cigar. It's called the Gurkha Triad Platinum Maduro. It's from Nicaragua. The factory is Tabaco San Rafael.

He's got Raphael, he's got a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Binder's Cameroon, filler back when there was a lot of Cameroon. Is it the original Cameroon or a new Cameroon? Well, it was 2011, so I imagine it was the original Cameroon. Fillers from the Dominican is a 7x52 Churchill, is an MSRP of $100.

Wow. Okay. They smoked one cigar for the review. Would you pay $100 for a get-go?

No, I won't pay $100 for any of them. I'm going to pay $100 for any of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not even 80.

Yeah, not even 80. Not even 80. 80. All right, Phil, score.

75. I'll go 70 because... I'll go 70. Perfect.

All right. Clue number one. The construction and smoke production were solid overall, delivering a consistent and enjoyable burn for nearly a full two-hour smoking time. Phil?

Who? I'm gonna stand at 75. We had one this week, they smoked for seven hours. What was that?

It was somebody else's version of the Big Johnny. So it was like... He's younger Palmer. No, he smoked one.

He hasn't even seen... He smoked the Big Woody or whatever that was you smoked. You smoked the Big Woody? No, you did.

I thought I saw a video a month or so ago where you tried to smoke one. You tried to smoke one, or one of the- I didn't try, I didn't do it. Oh, well there you go. It did in three hours.

Three hours? Hmm. I had to go to the bathroom, and I was smoking another cigar on the side. Oh my word.

I'll do it again, but I'm trying to order it again, so. Maybe you should find this one. I should. It's about the same size.

But seven hours is ridiculous. What, did he put it down? It was, uh, it was binding up and plugged and he had a lot of trouble with it. What did you say, Phil?

75. 75. To you, sir. I'm gonna 72.

Alright, clue number two. The presentation stands out. The ornate embossed band and cedar sleeve give the cigar a premium, eye-catching look that fits in its high-end positioning. Phil?

It looks pretty. Seventy-six. Seventy-five. Clue number three, the flavor profile is heavily dominated by a persistent sourness that overwhelms most of the subtle notes, coffee, floral, chocolate, leading to an underwhelming overall experience.

A sour cigar, sour cigar. Yeah, some people love those. It's tough, I know. 77.

I'm seeing with 75. Sourness that overpowers the flavors. All right, so this is an older review, so it's not called Final Thought, it's called The Bottom Line. It's the final clue.

This cigar surprised me, not because of how great a smoke it was, which it was not, but how smokable it was. While not a great cigar by any means, it was an okay smoke that had some okay flavors and a decent construction. While I was expecting a horrible experience, what I got instead was just an underwhelming mediocrity. The problem is that the Triad is billed as an ultra, ultra, ultra, three ultras, premium smoke and it falls far short of fulfilling that promise.

Flavor-wise and construction-wise, this is a $4 smoke masquerading as a $100 smoke and anyone buying one of these thinking they are going to get $100 of enjoyment out of it Are fooling themselves and wasting their money. - I would agree. - And there's no more after this, right? This is our final clue.

- That was the final clue. - The fourth clue, I think. Come on, Phil. - I might have messed this up.

- You've been guessing over this entire time. - Well, Eighty-four. You went maybe higher? You went higher?

Higher? It sounded like you liked it. Okay. I'm going down to 70.

And Jared wins, 69. Oh! Yeah. Almost got it right on the nose.

Wait, you said Gurkha. Yeah, why did you go higher? I feel like these guys like stuff like that. I don't like stuff like that, I don't know.

No, his last clue was determinate. And this is the guy that isn't there anymore, right? No, he's still there. Yeah.

He says it's a $4 cigar, masquerading as a $100 cigar. I was shocked at the price. Yeah, but they said one time before, like, they didn't like the price of the cigar, but it didn't affect the score. They gave it like $100 or something, or $99.

Alright, makes no sense at all. I know. No, you made no sense at all. " Well, 'cause that's usually where these guys are at, man.

You're going low a lot, Palmer. What was the one yesterday? Were you in the '80s or '70s? I know, but Greg, did Greg win yesterday, Michael?

Yeah, Greg won yesterday. Really? The lower ones are harder for you guys. Yeah, I don't feel so bad now.

I'm like, he lost yesterday, I lost today. All right, this Friday night, Mikey and I will be at Humor Refined Cigars in Enterprise, Alabama from 5 to 8. And then Saturday, we'll be at Bo Weevil Cigars from 1 to 4 in Enterprise. Are you driving or flying?

We're driving. It's just five hours. Are you guys doing a show from there? No, we're doing two shows tomorrow.

One for Thursday, one for Friday. Smart, you got to do that. Okay. Because otherwise, it'll be too hard to do.

You got any events you want to plug for Basing Cigars? You guys going to be anywhere anytime soon? No, we're all, we're going to TPE and then going PCA. Oh, TPE hasn't happened yet?

No. Oh, when is that one? Like the week before or something? March 31st.

Oh, so next week. Yeah. Are you going, are you going with this? And then for PCA, me, Zach, and Mark are going.

Is, is TPE good for you guys? - No, but they asked us to come and do media. - Oh. - That's a little vacation, I guess.

- Is there a base cigar event coming up soon, maybe, like, upstairs, I think, possibly, at the Cigar Hustlers? - Hustlers? I think in the future, yes. - I think it's in a couple of weeks.

I think it's in April. - I think post-baby, though. - That I don't know. - Yeah, I'm not sure.

If I had a guess, it would be. Alright, then on April 1st, I'm doing an online Zoom with the Beer Guys 911. There'll be a link when it gets closer. Alright guys, thank you everybody.

Appreciate you being on the show. Thank you so much. Thank you, dude. Sorry nobody else could make it, but they weren't invited anyway.

Yeah, that's right. Alright guys, we gotta go. Bye. Bye.

Show Notes

82nd Airborne, Couch Planes & AI Shutdown?! + Jared Burrows from Cigar Guys

On today’s show The 82nd Airborne is now involved! United Airlines installs couches on planes, AI has gotten so good they are closing it down!  Then in cigars we have many new cigars and finally in his first attempt we have a PinkSlip addition of what’s the score where Phil tries to beat Jared Burrows of Cigar Guys.

To Make a PCA Retail Appointment Click the link below

https://calendly.com/mike-v-0/powstanie-meeting-pca-2026-booth

If You’d Like To Make A Media Appointment Click The Link Below

https://calendly.com/mike-v-0/powstanie-media-meeting-pca-2026-booth-4841