ACHP Episode 495 82 Airborne, Couch Planes and AI Shut down...with Jared Burrows from Cigar Guys
Transcript
Let's do this.
Welcome to do 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 and Saki, Mr. Phil
Mcguffey.
Hello, Phil.
I'm not sure what happened
yesterday.
We missed you, so you got to
listen to yesterday's show.
Don't you see 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 do it sometimes.
Alex showed me one time, but I
don't remember what he what he
clicked.
So 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.
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, what's the score?
Oh, with my.
Your truck against his truck,
Yaris?
No, not Yaris.
Your Your truck against his
truck.
Oh, is that it?
Yes.
My yard.
I was going to be Mikey's turbo
against his truck, but
unfortunately Mikey's no longer
in the show today.
Supercharger.
Sorry, Supercharger.
Correct yourself.
And working the the timer waved
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.
Mikey, how do we get some of the
chapter pod swag?
No, Mikey.
So you go to chapterpod.com
where we have all our shirts and
hats, sliders 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 is on
and make Michael happy.
Also, if you're a retailer and
attending the 2026 PCA trade
show and went 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.
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 amazing bewilder
you with our knowledge and you
also get one hat per interview.
Had to 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.
That everything.
I love the clarification though.
Clarification, you got to put
all the disclaimers up.
Somebody's going to go.
Can I just have the $20 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.
Oh Phil, you want to read the
YouTube comments?
How?
Do I do?
No, he can't.
I don't know.
I don't know if he can you.
Know Palmer.
Palmer could do that.
I don't know if he can get to
our YouTube, he's not on the
thing.
Yeah, Palmer, unplug your
microphone too by the.
Way is it doing it?
Yeah, yeah, Zoom.
Will unplug it or turn it off
just.
Unplug it, plug it back in, talk
to me.
Hello, How are you Phil?
Yeah, sounds.
Good, now.
Oh.
Man, that's that's broken.
No, it's fine.
I.
Wonder why that probably go.
Ahead.
Well, that wasn't even the the
other thing.
Jared, do you do you watch the
the show on YouTube or do you
just listen to it?
Reels.
I also reels.
He watches Eclipse like
everybody else.
With so much easier you get 12 a
day.
Right.
Yeah, we do.
Yeah, there is 12 a day.
You know what?
Well, it's even staying around
for like an hour on YouTube,
right?
I mean.
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 I watch
like a couple of minutes of it.
He watches himself 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 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 want
yourself in bed.
Yeah, let's talk more about that
maybe for a minute.
It was a.
Great deal like some of.
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.
Well, are you by yourself when
you watch these?
No, I'm not.
About it before your wife comes
to bed.
No, I'm I'm definitely not by
myself.
Do you wake her up when you come
on the camera?
No, no, no, I tell.
Her honey, honey, honey.
Look, Look, look, look.
There you go.
That's good.
That's there was this funny
stuff that we talked about
today.
You got you got to watch this.
You have to watch this.
And then she goes, why do you
have that stupid mask on?
No, she goes.
Why do you guys think you're so
funny?
Really.
Like what?
We're hilarious.
She's like, no, it's not funny.
It's the same type, same type of
thing when I show her the tik
toks that I see.
Oh yeah, your Tik toks 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 either.
No, Mike, yeah.
No, Mike.
Sorry, Jerry.
All right.
Sorry, Jerry.
Bad day to come.
Yeah.
It's raining outside.
At least it was, yeah.
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 still.
All right.
All right.
We're back.
All right.
Pentagon prepares to send
another 3000 troops in the
Middle East The Pentagon's
preparing to deploy about 3000
troops from the US 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 they can
can be deployed anywhere in the
world in 18 hours.
Wow, Is it where you guys talk?
It's.
It'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
Hormuz today with help from
Japan last night.
Oh, the Japanese.
The Japanese sent over some
sneaky, sneaky boats, you know.
Oh my.
Gosh, ninja boats.
That's how they you know,
they're big on surprises.
Yeah, well, do they have ninjas?
No, they have samurais.
Right.
They have ninjas too in Japan.
That's where they're from.
Oh, OK, 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 good.
What?
It 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.
You're saying 8000 troops are
already deployed over there?
Was it 8?
Yeah, 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.
Yeah.
Oh, wait, he has.
He has all the comments.
From Brett Mercurio, when Greg
smiles, the eyes are turning
Japanese.
The Vapors 1980 and from Craig
Vander Slice, Greg is
hysterical.
Lighten in 1993 new cigar brand
Triple G and from Data Cash.
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 the furs away from
the camera.
He had quite the little hissy
fit when we made him sit in the
chair that Jared said.
Oh, did he were?
You really a no call no show.
No, I they, 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 feel like Greg did
yesterday.
The camera goes off.
Yeah.
Nobody knows who Phil is.
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, it was
my idea.
The deployment, I know it was
your idea.
Of course, everybody knows it
was your idea.
I don't know.
He's backing down now and not
backing down, but he said they
had a great discussion yesterday
and things are better and so I
don't know, maybe 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 airplane.
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.
He said no, no go.
Right.
So no decisions were made for
troops who enter the country,
according to two defense
officials who confirmed the
planned deployment.
But the build up of troops is a
drastic escalation in the US
Israel war against the Iran
regime and heightens the
possibility that American
servicemen may go into Iran.
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 like 3 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?
Is Jake?
What?
Wait, wait, what's 3 Kings?
What the movie?
Yeah.
Ice Cube, George Clooney and
Mark Wahlberg.
They go in to steal the gold
during the original Gulf War.
So you think they going into
Iran to bring back the gold?
Well, like oil, Gold.
All that.
Yeah, I can see that.
Steal gold.
What do they fill in their
pockets?
Little bags.
Maybe.
We already have 50,000 troops in
the region, 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 it.
We're Clooney.
You never seen that movie,
Jared?
No, I really haven't.
Oh, you're going to have to
watch that movie.
That's a great movie, you.
Want to watch it together?
You want to watch it together.
While 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
Saint Pete travelling.
Singles.
Alex was in Saint Pete by
himself.
I know what is there.
You guys fighting?
I guess so.
I mean I got no invite
yesterday.
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.
No, not real fight.
Oh wow, that's tough.
What about the other two guys?
They're brothers.
They're really brothers, right?
Mark's at work.
Zach's out of the country.
Oh, is he?
Is he in Iran or getting some
oil and.
Coal.
Nah, he's in Germany actually.
He's on the backside, he's.
On the other side, yeah, he's
coming in the other way.
Wow, that's amazing.
But they're brothers, right?
We were confused earlier.
We were trying to say who was
and are you related to the other
two guys?
No, Mark and Zach, they're
brothers, OK?
Wait, there's a fourth one?
There's four of them.
Oh yeah, 4 Two of them do look
surprisingly alike.
Thanks for not thanks for not
watching our show.
I don't know if I've ever seen
the 4th one.
Yeah.
You know if you ever seen the
4th 1.
Or Mark Zack.
They look alike.
Oh, so Zack looks as Zack alike
him.
Not exactly, but just close.
I know that they're not twins,
right?
They're not twins are.
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
he's not from the same country
as the other two guys.
Yeah.
We're all American.
We're all here.
Well, yeah, I know, but your but
your cigar, base of cigar has a
Albanian background.
Yeah, right, right.
Yeah.
So the other two guys are
Albanian.
If I'm just asking, I'm not
sure.
I'm like, 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 is a Puerto Rican, so he's
not from there, right.
We knew that he's.
Venezuelan.
Venezuelan.
Oh, he's Venezuelan.
Wow, we got that wrong to
believe it all together.
Zoe's retired, but he's Puerto.
Rican I really should watch
their show more.
Phil, when you're in bed at
night, right?
Oh, we have someone coming in.
Oh my God. 3G, it's 3G.
It's 3G.
Triple GGI like 3G triple G.
See, Greg gets on the camera one
time now, and he's.
What do we have here?
Our friend Jack Turano shipped
these to us.
This is 1 for.
Mr. Mike Palmer.
Oh, my hoodie.
You no longer have the only
hoodie, Michael.
Oh.
No, no, no, don't throw in his
face.
He got them for us and.
Then.
There was one for.
Mr. Goosey.
Oh, Phil.
Phil, Phil, Phil.
That's Phil Mcguffey.
This.
Is very.
Nice.
Oh, these are nice.
Thank you, Jack.
Yeah, That's when those are
family.
Yes.
I got to put it on now.
No, no, it looks way too heavy.
That's.
Super hot here.
Dude, it's, it's heavy.
That is.
That's nice.
Thank you very much.
Yeah, Greg, I had.
It on yesterday and you yelled
at me.
See that's yelling at me.
Oh.
So back to the red headed
stepchild.
So Alex is from Venezuela.
Oh, from.
Florida like he's Venezuelan
national.
Oh.
OK, Venezuelan, I don't exactly
from there do.
You know who B2K is?
I.
Don't think.
Please tell me you know who B2K
is.
No.
The rap.
The R&B group.
No.
Sounds familiar?
My joke wasn't going to go good.
You know who *NSYNC is?
Yeah.
You think Alex kind of does the
Justin Timberlake thing where
like, he's with the group and
then now he's kind of fading.
Doing a single in his solo solo
album.
No, just everyone was working
different areas this week.
I think he's referring to his
brokerage, his cigar.
Exactly.
We all can't work 24/7 together
all the time, right?
Ever since I've known you, I've
always seen you guys together.
Because they always have a group
chat.
We're like, let's go to Scar
Hustler, see the guys.
Except the last two days where
things have fallen apart.
One's in Germany, one we don't
know.
He's here with us.
And Alex was in Saint Peter
upstairs.
You know, we're just going to
blame it on the war.
Yeah, that makes sense.
It's the worst 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 live
flat couch.
United just dropped a surprise
announcement at today's media
day that caused me to cause an
audible gasp.
New live flat seat rows in
economy seating with enhanced
bedding and a stuffed animal 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 and there's
economy plus and then there's
couch.
Like four or five seats.
You pay an up charge based on
how many people are in the
seats.
It's like if he travelled with
his children, for example, he
would actually buy all three
seats, but he would pay a
smaller up charge.
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 1-2 or.
So I can buy all three seats and
then take a nap.
Yes, there's an extra foot.
There's an extra foot rest 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 seat belt
sides 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 seat belt.
Sign Well, she would have to
come by and set it up for you
anyway.
Nobody's going to.
Can Phil like show me tik toks
and reels mom laying down?
But probably yes, he got he gets
forward them to you.
Yes, yeah, I got some of the
best, Jared, trust me.
Al Nippon Airlines has and Air
New Zealand has had Sky couches
for years.
Really.
I think it's not a new thing
then.
It's not a new thing, just new
for United.
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?
No more cookie for you.
Yeah, no more getting out in the
fest, but United is calling it
the Relax row.
It's going to be on Boeing 780
Sevens and Boeing 777 aircraft
by 20-30.
The airline plans to have it
Relax Row and 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 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.
Duck.
I'm not super excited about this
story.
Now I'm saying like, so if you
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 seats extra.
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 just
have to do it.
Well, he kind of likes, you
know, tying himself up to the
seat, so he said substrate.
The seat belt 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
seatbelts.
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?
Yeah, you're later.
No, it would, it would be like
in a in a military plane you
have a full seat belt system, so
goes they strap over the
shoulders and I don't know what
you would call it, but.
Shoulder harness.
Yeah, like a harness.
Yeah, basically.
You're welcome, Mr. Navy.
Yeah, so a harness like dude,
you, you sleep in that perfectly
fine.
Was that Alex?
Where the hell are you?
No.
No.
I miss you.
I'm.
Sorry, I miss you.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I apologize.
Let's not fight anymore.
Or was it in Germany?
It's one of the brothers.
I thought you were meeting me, a
hustler.
Where are you?
I'm doing the show.
You're doing the show.
Without me.
Oh my God.
We had that phone call yet last
night so.
Oh, you told?
Him How do you take it?
I'm doing.
How do I take it?
No, I I felt no how.
Did he take it when you told him
you were doing it without him?
He wasn't surprised, but I could
tell he was hurt by it.
You.
Know I knew you were surprised,
but not.
Let's see, we'll 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, 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.
Yeah, we will.
This this is exactly what
happened to Justin Timberlake.
I've high 5 in you as we walk
upstairs.
Britney came along and.
Britney came along.
Britney Spears.
Oh, Britney Spears.
All right, Open AI is pulling
the plug on Sora.
Do you guys use that when you do
your videos?
We have a few times or.
They're closing it.
It's too real, so.
What are you going to replace it
with?
They're not.
They're just shutting it down.
So you have to use grocs.
Imagine now.
I guess, yeah.
The viral AI video app that
sparked deep fake concerns, Open
AI, is shutting down its social
media app Sora, which went viral
as fall as a place to share
short form videos generated by
artificial intelligence.
So it was like a Instagram
thing.
You would make the video and
then they would show it to
everybody.
Yeah, essentially groc.
Imagine.
So what do you use for your AI
videos now?
We don't.
Well, Mikey started using one
thing, but I beg your pardon?
Genspark.
Genspark.
He doesn't seem impressed.
Well, there's so many like, you
know, Google's Gemini has like
their version of AO and now
Soar's going down with these
grocs.
Imagine.
So it's raised alarms in
Hollywood and elsewhere is one
of the reasons looking 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.
It'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 actors
union.
So the families of those people
went, hey, Mr. Rogers didn't do
those things.
His family still alive.
I'm sure he has relatives.
So when are they pulling the
plug on a like date?
Immediately from what I
understand.
Oh, it's over.
Opening eyes.
That's Disney's comment, yeah.
Well, somebody lasted.
I mean, yeah, it was just since
September, so.
Somebody will just make
something the same.
And exactly.
Calls.
Yeah, there'll just be another
one that comes out.
Was that the best one, Sora?
Well, I mean, if you're the
money for it, Google's Gemini
VO3, it's like it's real.
It looks 100% real, right?
It's extremely expensive.
Sorry, it didn't look.
Really, it didn't look out.
Well Sora was good but like it
was always grainy so you can
always tell it was Sora and it
had the watermark you know?
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.
Wow, there we go.
What sense is that then why you
put it on?
Get it I guess.
I don't know.
That's from the black website of
Jared and his what what 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 you just tell AI
to remove the watermark.
I can show you out there.
No, no, I don't want anything on
my phone.
He's got enough problems is.
That going to be easy on your
phone.
Oh do yeah, we do it on your
phone.
OK.
He brought his laptop upstairs.
I don't want to be on the list.
His laptop comes in three
different bags.
He puts it all together like
Iron Man, and then he just
starts doing stuff.
That 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, in the
cigar news.
That was a no for all your
listeners out.
There, yeah.
He shook his head.
No, for those of you at home
that are just doing the audio
version, we can complain about
the audio version.
Nasser the GOAT, Connecticut
goes on sale.
Oh, and 20 like, do you you're
familiar with that?
Yeah, I guess no.
Is that one of your favorites?
Absolutely not.
Oh good.
In 2023, AJ Fernandez released a
private label cigar for Nasser's
Lounge, a shop located in 80.
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 big
exclusive shop in Haiti either.
I didn't know there was a shop.
Oh, what are you doing?
OK, you got a point there.
What's the what's the cost on
that?
The cigar.
Let's get into it and find out.
Jerry, what do you say?
Let's do it because you guys get
to guess.
Oh yes.
Nasser the goat went went on to
transcend the ranks of the shop
exclusive, 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 and so the show is going to
be an AJ cigar.
Maybe now the brand has a second
blend that Nasser the Goat
Connecticut uses, an Ecuadorian
Connecticut seed Habana wrapper
over Honduran and Nicaraguan
binders and fillers from the
Dominican Republic and
Nicaragua.
It's made it table Killera, AJ
Fernandez and Estelli 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. $12.00.
It's a 6 by 54, but OK, you got
a little exciting so.
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 going to probably be
closer.
I'm going to go 16.
Oh 14 split the.
Middle.
Oh my God.
Right in the middle.
AJ is always, well, 16.
Dollars in Haiti. $16.00 in.
Well, no, this is the one that
AJ selling here.
Oh, I don't have the Haitian
dollar equivalent.
I'm very sorry.
As a Haitian cigar fishing out
of 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, this yeah, this is just
two G Greg that way.
We made that distinguishing
yesterday.
OK, He's talking about this
cigar.
We don't care.
He's been he's been so OK.
A oh A JS already started
selling the new line out from
underneath the Nasser.
Out from underneath.
Well, I don't know.
We're assuming allegedly that's
that's what he's doing.
Don't piss off AJ.
Will all disappear, become part
of his coral reef outside his
house, right?
Vihay 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.
That's pretty.
That sounds pretty close to
Chef's special.
No 20%, so they get to do.
Well, I mean, I, 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 VI A's next shipment will
head to stores, including and it
appears to be the first release
of what could be a new series
for VI.
The company has announced at
least two cigars that'll be part
of the shipment, the Private
Keep Ghosts and the Chef's Cut.
Both cigars will look to be new.
Chef's Cut does not fit into any
VI's previous lines.
When asked about details about
the cigar, as a spokesman for
Viaje told Half Wheel, saying
that they would just ship.
They're not saying what it is.
Private mystery.
Yeah, it's a mystery cigar.
Yeah, Viaje's mystery.
Jared's terrible.
To try it I guess.
Yes, well, that's the way they
like it because you know if it's
got somebody 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 6th release.
All of which have been offered
in a single vitola.
That is a 6 by 48.
The private Keep tangerine is 6
by 52.
And then these are just all the
ones they released over the
years.
But 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 the
cigar?
We're getting the new VI's
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 did anything.
Well, we just sell pastagias.
Oh, that's all you have to sell.
Yeah #1 Undisputed cigar of
2025, right?
One in three you can't buy,
right?
But.
Didn't you bring in Byron's last
week?
Jared.
What can we get Alex to bring?
Alex Boots?
Text Alex, see if he's OK
upstairs.
I felt great.
So it's.
Probably not OK, it's.
Going to be a short show.
Fortello is shipping smooth and
strong in June.
Are they?
Yes.
So you you don't know if you
remember two years ago Fortello
made that cigar where you could
light it from either end.
Yeah, bang me to or go to the
moon or something.
What do you?
Think vice versa.
Is what it was called.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Cigar that 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.
That's where you release
information.
The Smooth and Strong is a 7 by
52 batola made with an Ecuador
and Abando wrapper covering an
Indonesian viner and filler.
Tobacco was grown in Nicaragua
and Pennsylvania.
I tried at least once.
Well you could try twice because
you can smoke both ends.
Right, Yeah, you want to try it
from the 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.
Yeah.
Or do I have to buy 2 to try
them both?
To buy 2 because you've been
burning your mouth and then you.
Could wait.
You can wait till it goes off.
Cut it off.
Yeah, you.
Just cut it in half.
OK.
Oh, it'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 2.
Make it easy.
We're not all rich like you,
Jared.
Some 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, yeah.
No one knew I was wearing
shorts.
Oh.
Sorry.
Wow.
Wow.
Great job, mom.
I know I ruined that tonight.
Cigars capped at both ends.
A piece of darker tobacco
indicates the stronger and well,
a piece of leather tobacco
indicates the milder, smoother.
Does it?
Somebody will still get
confused.
I don't know which one's which.
Well, yeah, you.
Guys going to make a base so you
can smoke from either end.
No, that's a good idea though.
I want to check so you're.
Forced to buy 2.
You just see how many cigars
have been sold in this.
Is there is there somebody else
done it too?
I.
Don't know, 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 there was not
insulting.
OK, maybe.
Or.
Or.
They just do it to get the media
you'll be able to talking about
this little cigar.
It's.
True, we've been talking about
it for a good 10 minutes now.
Yeah, well, he hasn't done
anything since that toured to
the moon or whatever.
Well, that was his last release.
Yeah, the rocket ship thing.
Rocket Man.
You know, and he was an
accountant with the space
program, not even a.
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 accounts they got to
have way more than.
One, well, I had more than one.
I would assume, yes, 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, really
within 30, within 30 to 40 miles
away from the launch, you can
hear it take off.
From the original guys or
origin?
This is Origin.
Oh, it's going to the moon.
Jeff's Jeff's made enough money
over the past couple of months
and he's launching.
He's launching another rocket.
Nice.
See.
The cigars are made at La Aurora
cigar factory in Dominican
Republic.
Each cigar have an MSRP of.
This is where you guess again
for the cigar you can smoke from
either end.
Taking a little a little longer
on this one.
This is now he has a cigar,
Jared.
Now he knows how to play, yeah.
I've had a guess it's by $16.00
this one.
You said 16.
Yeah.
All right, Phil.
That's a Fratello cigar.
I want to probably guess 18.
Oh again, you guys split it 17
right in the middle.
Oh my God, what the hell?
God, are you being serious?
Yeah.
Oh wow.
OK.
Packaging the six pack carton
with five packs to a box for
2026 total of 12,000 of these
cigarettes.
So is it really 24,000?
Cuz 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 it should be an
annual release going forward.
The Vice Versa Fratello,
released in 2023, was a 7 by 52
vitola, but it was made with an
Ecuadorian HBA wrapper.
You think maybe when he was
making a cigar, he was like, you
know what, this is a great idea.
You know why?
Because I could pay less for the
cigars.
Because I'm getting actually
more.
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 the price.
But that would be a good idea if
he was selling it for not the 17
but instead of like 30. 4 He is
an accountant.
Right.
Maybe they that's why he's not
doing it anymore, right.
All right, we have the MSRP of
the vice versa the original.
You guys want to guess on that
since we need to stretch the
time out?
Adjourned.
Oh my God, we're not splitting
this.
One 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 when that
happened this time.
It was sold in cartoons of five
with a total production up to
24,000 cigars.
So wow, there you go.
Same thing.
You react.
Boxes of Smooth and Stronger
scheduled to ship to retailers
in June, So I imagine you can
buy them at the 2026 PCA
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?
So they'll be 330.
You guys have made an
appointment with us too.
We did, yeah.
Unless Alex did.
I'm kidding.
Yeah, of course.
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 GI,
would do triple G That's going
to be the best interview force.
Him to be on camera again.
You're right.
Force him to get on camera
again.
All right, now it's time for the
OK.
When I say the name of the game,
then we all say it in unison.
OK, he watches the clips.
Yeah, but it might not see the
beginning of the game.
All right, it's time to play the
industry's favorite game.
What's the?
Score.
I think he didn't.
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.
OK.
So now as the guest, you go
first.
I'm sorry, Boots.
As he is a guest, he goes last.
You don't want you launch.
Eclipse.
What?
I don't watch Eclipse?
I don't watch Eclipse.
Let's go 75.
I think you always go a little
higher.
Oh, do I?
They go lower.
Would you like to try again?
Jared is not happy with your
first aunt.
Nah 75 I'm good with it.
Yeah, you can't read.
Yeah, just don't go.
You turn, Jared.
Yeah, now you pick a score, I'm.
Gonna say 65 all right.
You have several choice, several
chances here to change the
score.
All right, here's the
information about the cigar.
It's called the Gurkha Triad.
Platinum Maduro is from
Nicaragua.
The factory is Tebacco, San
Rafael.
It's got a Connecticut broad
leaf wrapper binders Cameroon OH
filler back when there was a lot
of camera.
Is it the original Cameroon or a
new camera?
Well it was 22011 so I imagine
it was the original camera.
Filler's from the Dominican is a
7 by 52.
Churchill is an MSRP of $100.
Wow.
They smoked one cigar for the
review.
Would you pay $100 for a gecko?
No, it's I won't pay $100 for
any.
I don't pay $100 for any.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Not.
Even. 80 Yeah, not even 80.
Not even 80.
All right, Phil, Score. 75.
I'll go to 70 because I'll go to
70.
Perfect clue #1 The construction
and smoke production were solid
overall, delivering A consistent
and enjoyable burn for nearly a
full 2 hour smoking time.
Phil. 2.
Hours.
I'm going to 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 he's younger Palmer.
No, he smoked 1.
He hasn't even seen the big
woody or whatever that was you
smoked.
You want you smoked big woody.
No, you did.
I thought I saw a video a month
or so ago where you tried to
smoke one or one of the.
I didn't.
Try.
I didn't do it.
Oh well, they did 3 hours.
Three hours 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 they I'm
trying to order it again so.
Well, you should find this one.
I should.
It's about the same size.
But seven hours is ridiculous.
What do you put it down?
Like it was, 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 going to 72.
All right, clue #2 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. 76. 75.
Clue #3 The flavour 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 my 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 smokeable it was.
Well, not a great cigar by any
means.
It was an OK smoke that had some
OK 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 3
Ultras Premium smoke and it
falls far short of fulfilling
that promise flavour wise and
construction wise.
This is a $4.00 smoke
masquerading as $100 smoke, and
anyone buying one of these
thinking they are going to get
$100.00 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.
That was the final clue.
It's like 4th, 4th clue I think.
Come on, Phil I.
Might have messed this up.
You've been guessing over this
entire time.
Well, 84.
You went 80 higher.
You went higher, higher.
It sounded like you liked.
It OK, I'm.
Going to like down to 70.
And Jared win 69.
Yeah.
Almost got it right on the nose.
Well, you said Gherkin.
Yeah.
Why did you go higher?
I I feel like these guys like
stuff like that.
I don't.
Know well his last.
Clue was determinate.
It was like.
And this is the guy that isn't
there anymore, right?
No, he's still there.
Yeah.
Smoked yourself a tart.
Yeah, he says it's a $4.00
cigar.
Masquerading is $100 cigar.
I was shocked at the price.
Yeah, but they said one time
before, like they didn't like
the price of the Scar, the
cigar, but it didn't affect the
score.
They gave like 100 or something
or 99 all.
Right.
Makes no sense at all.
I know.
No, you made no sense at all.
You were right in there the
whole time, and then you went
anyway.
Well, because I these, 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.
Monkey lost yesterday, I lost
today.
All right.
This Friday night Mikey and I
will be at Humor Refined Cigars
in Enterprise, AL from 5:00 to
8:00.
And then Saturday will be a Boll
Weevil Cigars from 1:00 to 4:00
in Enterprise.
Are you driving fine?
We're driving, it's just five
hours are.
You guys doing a show from
there?
No, we're doing 2 shows
tomorrow, one for Thursday, one
for Friday.
Smart.
Yeah, do that.
OK.
Because otherwise it'll be too
hard to do.
You got any event you want to
plug for basic cigars?
You guys going to be anywhere
anytime soon?
No, we're all, we're going to
TPE and then going PCA.
TP hasn't happened yet, no.
When is that one?
Like the week before or
something?
March 31st.
So next week, yeah.
Are you going?
Are you going with Zacker?
Going and then for PCA, me, Zack
and Mark are going.
Is TP good for you guys?
No, but they asked us to come
and do media.
Nice.
That's a little vacation, I
guess.
Do you?
Is there a base cigar van coming
up soon maybe like upstairs?
I think possibly at the Cigar
Hustler.
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.
I had a guess it would be.
All right then, on April 1st I'm
doing an online Zoom with the
Beer Guys 911.
There'll be a link when it gets
closer.
All right, guys.
Thank you, everybody.
Appreciate you being on the
show.
Thank you so much.
Sorry nobody else could make it,
but they weren't invited anyway.
All right, guys, we got to 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