ACHP Episode 551 Hes Not 12? w/ John Carney Bentley Cigars

Episode Summary

Episode 551 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast is a seat-shuffling, off-the-rails-but-fun episode with John Carney (Hooten & Young) filling in alongside Mike Palmer and Mike Szczepankiewicz. The crew opens with their running "screw worm" headline updates out of Florida, New Mexico and Texas, then bounces through odd news: whether you can get a DUI on a bicycle, e-bike or horse under Florida's broad definition of a "vehicle," a record seizure of more than 100,000 illegally bred Madagascar hissing and Dubia cockroaches in Australia, and a 38-year-old Brazilian woman arrested for posing as an 11-year-old to live with a couple for 16 months. That last story spins into a genuinely useful industry tangent about spotting people who are full of it in the cigar business, why the low barrier to entry attracts them, and how brands sometimes get funded by silent money.

The cigar news block is the meat. Joya de Nicaragua and SAG Imports begin shipping five cigars: the new Joya Red, White & Blue Toro (Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over Estelí and Jalapa fillers, $13.50, 500 boxes of 10) plus four Rosalones releases in Connecticut and Nicaraguan blends at the $7–$8 range. That leads to a real debate on whether the industry is oversaturating the America 250 theme — Carney argues emphatically that there is "not enough," calling it the ultimate low-hanging fruit, and notes Hooten Young's own America 250 Reserve priced at $17.76 per cigar after retailer feedback at the PCA show. They also touch on Aladino's and E.P. Carrillo's patriotic releases and the wave of military-adjacent branding.

Next up: Scandinavian Tobacco Group discontinuing 21 cigars across Forged and General Cigar, with most of the cuts hitting Alec Bradley and Room 101 in smaller ring gauges, plus CAO, Bolívar, La Gloria Cubana and Hoyo de Monterrey sizes and six Payback SKUs. The hosts theorize STG is stripping names off blends to reposition them as catalog/value cigars. The Hustler crew also details their own new national brand, Smoke This Trust Me — nine cigars (Robusto 5x50, Toro 6x52, Gordo 6x60 in Connecticut, Habano and Maduro), $8 MSRP, built around a buy-three-get-one-free model that lands the consumer at $6 per long-filler cigar, sold to retailers by the master case specifically to protect brick-and-mortar margins against catalog competition.

The show closes with What's the Score, using halfwheel reviews of the Cuban La Gloria Cubana Medaille d'Or No. 3 (scored 93) and the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Firecracker (scored 92) — Carney sweeps both rounds. He also drops news that the Hooten Young Midnight Hammer returns in 2026 in boxes, likely Q3/early Q4, and that the America 250 release (250 boxes) is nearly sold out to retailers.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Screw Worm & Odd News Roundup
   Florida's emergency livestock restrictions over New World screw worm, plus a Disney giraffe calf debut.
2. 02
   Can You Get a DUI on a Bicycle?
   Florida's broad legal definition of a vehicle means e-bikes, and even horses, can land you a DUI charge.
3. 03
   100,000 Illegal Cockroaches Seized in Australia
   A record biosecurity bust of Madagascar hissing and Dubia roaches bred as reptile feed.
4. 04
   The 38-Year-Old Who Posed as a 12-Year-Old
   A Brazilian fraud case sparks a candid talk about detecting con artists in the cigar industry.
5. 05
   Joya de Nicaragua Red, White & Blue and Rosalones
   SAG Imports ships five new Joya cigars, including a $13.50 America 250 Toro and two Rosalones blends.
6. 06
   Is America 250 Overdone?
   Carney argues the industry can't do enough patriotic releases, citing Hooten Young's $17.76 America 250 Reserve.
7. 07
   STG Discontinues 21 Cigars
   Alec Bradley, Room 101, CAO, Bolívar and Payback SKUs get axed, and why the hosts think they'll be rebranded as catalog value cigars.
8. 08
   Smoke This Trust Me Launch
   Cigar Hustler's new nine-SKU, $8 MSRP brand built on buy-three-get-one-free economics to protect brick-and-mortar retailers.
9. 09
   What's the Score
   Guessing halfwheel scores for the Cuban La Gloria Cubana Medaille d'Or No. 3 and the Dunbarton Mi Querida Firecracker.

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

Yes. Feels weird to be in this chair. Action. Welcome to a Cigar Hustler podcast where cigars are just a starting point.

Join myself, Jon Carney, with Mike Palmer and Mike Mike, step on some cabbage as we dive into the latest Cigar Entry news, sports, and other headlines which are making for some crazy stories. Whether you're a seasoned cigar smoker or just looking for entertaining conversation, expect honest opinions here, plenty of laughs, and a few unexpected detours along the way. A Cigar Hustler Podcast is your number one source for screw worms. Wait, what way is screw worm up there?

Oh, there's more screw worms, okay. Just today. New Mexico has now found the NSW. Florida has now decided it's in emergency worm conditions.

What is going on here? You don't want to screw worms? No, are we already into the story here? No, he's just talking about the topics.

No, no, this was just a little blurb there at the beginning. And then we're into the stories. Right, then you say what's on the show. Yeah.

Yeah. This is a special screw worm update. Oh, gotcha. Oh, here we go.

Yeah, yeah. It's a little headline stuff. We did one story, now people send me stuff daily, and there's a big deal about it today, because now Florida is in emergency conditions for screw worms. So this is kind of like, welcome to the show, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

A Cigar House of Parks is now your number one source for screw worms. Yes. New Mexico was founded in NSW, Florida has now decided it's an emergency worm. Right.

You get like a video, and then it comes to being, they're like, New World Screw Worms. Yeah, now there's a quote from the Department of Agriculture in Florida. got you all right so here we go new world screw worm remains an ever-changing situation in florida's response will continue to evolve as the facts on the ground evolve i have not heard of this we will respond based on facts not fear no but we will also continue to be the most aggressive state in the nation when it comes to protecting our livestock pets wildlife people and agriculture economy from this threat as additional detections have been confirmed in texas and new mexico We're strengthening what Mexico... How are we already into the stories?

Yeah, I don't understand this. We're not. This is just a little blurb at the beginning. Oh, you fucked this up.

No, it's just five lines. Okay. He's just reading it really slow. No, but here's the problem I'm running into with this.

Tell me. This is reading, these five lines are reading like it's the story. Right. But we've already, because he doesn't know the background.

We've already covered this twice, and now there's an update today, because now Florida does not allow livestock animals from other states into the state of Florida. We're containing. We're containing. We're containing, yes.

So now you can skip it. So fast forward. No, no, just fast forward. No, we're starting over.

We never start over. We suck it up and we go through. We show the world our mistakes and we progress. And that is what it is.

That's why everybody loves us. Even though that's the worst saying ever. That was even stopping on today's show. You guys really screwed that up.

We sure did. Anything else? That's the way it goes. Talk about detours.

Wow. Here we go. Keep Florida prepared and protected. Just skip all that.

The Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, Wilden Simpson, said this. It was a quote. I have to give him the quote. Nah, just skip through.

I summarized it already. We're not letting cows in. On today's show, DUI on a bicycle. New Zealand does not allow roaches.

Wait. She's how old? Then in cigars, we've got a new cigar. STG getting rid of cigars, more of them.

Smoke this, trust me. And Twofer on What's the Score? But first, Mikey, how do you get some of the CHPOD swag? I'm on the board today, so Palmer, go ahead.

You are in the spot of where it's supposed to go. I do the heavy lifting when Triple G's in the house, but as of right now... Pretend I'm Triple G. No, no, I got you off the main stage here, right?

And you're on the side stage. So I just want to sit here and smoke. No, that's not how it works. You've got to tell them about CHPOD.

I'm just going to smoke today. com where you get all your show swag buy one get second one half off it's been 40 off 40 off jesus it's a special bonus today okay spend a hundred dollars you get free shipping it's not a special bonus okay don't forget to subscribe like and subscribe like and subscribe come around with the other word was wherever you're viewing or listening to the show uh do i have to do the comments too or are you doing the I can do the comments. I can do the comments. All right, you do the comments.

You're 10 seconds in. I've already butchered this completely. This is completely a dumpster fire. So yeah, no, I'll read that.

All right, you read the comments. com, a Cigar Hustlers podcast. It's a swag. I was just following directions.

Jeez Louise. Some comments from the previous show. We all have our lane, Michael. And yet, I can universally do any of them.

You want to pull all the... You won't be here, man. Do you think I can't? No, I don't think you can't.

I just don't think you want to. I think that I could. And I think I could deliver. Well, if I had planned on doing this part, I would have that too.

N. Surrounded by nincompoops. It does feel weird on the show today. Nincompoops.

Yeah. It's real uncomfortable. Well, here's what I'm going to tell you. It's a little uncomfortable for me too.

I feel like I have nothing to do. Well, here's what I'm going to tell you. This is where you have to become captivated and carry the show like I do. We could have had him just read that opening since I had no clue what it was and you were very well versed in it.

It would have made it a lot easier. Yeah, that would have been smart. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you know, we're learning on the cuff.

You said have him read everything. Yeah, because here's the reality. Well, I was trying to get into that, but I keep getting cut off by both of you yahoos. So listen, here's the deal.

We have learned that people perform better in specific spots on this show. Here, here, and definitely not here, but here or here, right? So, you do a great job of conducting the show. So, putting you in this chair, in Palmer's chair, is actually a mistake.

It's actually disadvantageous for us, and it's not as good of a product. We know that the product is better with you here, right? Same thing with Law. Law is great, but he's not as good in this chair as he is in this chair.

Now, there have been other people that we've put in that chair, like Pete Hernandez, It's such a train wreck that it's actually funny to watch, but he would never put him in that chair again, right? So that's kind of why that's where it's at. Now, let me get on to some of the comments from the previous show here, since you put Palmer on the spot and he freaks out! Gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah.

Okay. All right, let's see. " Is that true? I don't know.

Is that true? What was the, what? Indian cigars. We covered it on the last show.

Yeah, from, he says that is or isn't true. It is. He said that that's what happened. He said that's a fact.

I believe, I don't know enough to give it a fact, but I believe that. I don't have to give it a fact, but I believe that is part of his origin story from my understanding. Yeah, it's still around. Still around.

Do you know anybody that buys them? No, but I think, I think that, uh, can Christian or Roa buy it or someone like that? Someone bought the Indian tobacco brand. If I had my phone, I'd blow it up.

Really? Yeah, they, they bought it from somebody. I'll fact check that after I get through the comments. Yeah.

But yeah, that is part of his origin story. Oh. Hmm. Okay.

They just put out an anniversary. Philip Zange's origin story too. That's true, they were apparently together at the same time. He's still on that.

He's still there. No, but he's at Indian Motorcycle. Correct. He owns that.

Indian Tobacco is different. Indian Motorcycle Cigars is totally different than Indian Tobacco. Different than Indian Tobacco, yeah, they're not remotely the same. So, Stephen Wells, incorrect.

Incorrect. Wait, so there's Indian Tobacco, Indian Motorcycle Cigars, and Indian Motorcycles. Yes. There's three companies.

So Indian Motorcycles is a licensing, it was a licensing, a trademark ownership agreement, so Phillips owns that trademark for the use in tobacco products. Right. I don't know all the legalities, but that's what it looks like. It's similar to what the Bentley thing is.

And then his dad, Phillips' father, was involved in Indian Motorcycles and his family was, like, generationally. So that sold off, but he kept the rights on the tobacco side. So Indian Tobacco is a completely different product than Indian Motorcycles. Indian Motorcycle Cigars.

Oh, we're talking about Indian Motorcycle Cigars. Rocky Patel started with Indian Tabac, Indian Motorcycle Cigars, Philip Zangy. Right. Philip was also involved in Indian Tabac.

Ah, so there's the confusion, Mr. Wells. Yep. There you go.

Part right. Okay. David Hasselhoffman says, "Phil is on fire today with his guesses. " Indeed.

A banana in his tailpipe. A banana in his tailpipe. You okay over there? Are you looking at it?

No? No? Okay. He's just relaxing.

Yeah. All right. Yeah, we have a whole thing here where Phil is - he has his own show, his own videos that he performs. He's in the adult film industry.

Yeah. So when he's not here, he's out shooting a movie. Which is where he's at right now. Right.

He's out filming. Yeah. Yes, he's on location. Does he wear that mask?

On location? Yeah. According to the posters that the fans make and send in for his movies, yes. Oh my God, that's amazing.

You need to figure out how you're going to sit. I'm trying to get comfortable. The problem is I got a bad ankle here and it hurts, so it's like when I turn my head to the left, it's challenging. Well, thank God you're not sitting here.

It hurts my ankle, yeah. Okay. All right, all right. So his ankle hurts, he can't turn his head.

Yeah, I guess not. They could not be further away and still be on his body. This show's going to be so... How old are you?

You're such a dumb... You're like a mess. What's going on? I'm getting old, man.

You can't carry your pajamas. You're frayed. I remember those pants weren't frayed at the end. These have always been frayed.

Oh, have they? Yeah, they're brand new. They're stylish. They're born primitive.

When you left them at his house that one day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's underwear is the problem. That's why.

Yeah, you're mixing it up. Yeah, this show, this show is going to be terrible for the viewers, but it's going to be very entertaining for us. It's going to be, I don't think it's what we go for. I think it's already doing, it's already going well, to be honest.

Sometimes the things that are most out of control are sometimes, you know, cut together the best, you know? Yeah, exactly. So, anyways, I got more comments. Shut the fuck up.

Yeah, yeah. I got plenty of comments, too. At Jay's 1911, must be all that potassium got Phil fired up in the game, finally. There you go, so we're rolling here with it.

With the bananas. I don't read these comments prior to, I just read them now. Oh yeah, it's better, it's way better that way. It's totally authentic.

But there was one that I started reading, and I was like, oh no, I'm gonna stop that right there. No, I'm not doing that one. " Happy National Loving Day, Mike & Mike. Oh, thank you.

Happy National Loving Day. National Loving Day. That's you and your boyfriend. Dad of Cash.

Oh, gotcha. Mm-hmm. So jealous. I'm not.

At Ruckus Unchained says... Hello, Sharon. That's Michael. He's Mikey Greg's mom.

That's my mom. That's my mom. " So, yes, I do. I actually do know who you really are.

But Sharon, don't ruin this for me. " Well, on the show. Yeah, I'm not telling you. Okay.

And, uh, let's see, the last one. Oh, @4kawickman, Kawickman, "Mike, enjoy your well-deserved break with you being away. " Well, here you go. Here's one right there.

You know, we're testing him out again. We're dusted him off. Mr. Carney's in the building.

You might want to come back next week if you're available. I am going to be available next week. Maybe we'll do a couple days. I'm new and improved.

I've been getting back into shape. I got my hair done. Wow. Look at him.

Yeah, the beard's cleaned up. I've got a face for this now. What a specimen, right? What a specimen.

Amazing, man. How do you feel, Stan? How do we have Triple G, a handsome, successful man, and John Carney? Well, not wealthy.

Triple G is Greg, correct? Yes. Not wealthy, but... He and I, he and I have a good show.

I love my brother. Appearance? Yeah, but it makes me feel good when we say he's handsome. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, all I'm saying is that you put this guy, this alpha in the room with him, it's all downhill for Greg. It's all downhill for Triple G. That might be worth it then. Yeah.

If you want to hear your comment read aloud on the show, just comment below on this episode and we will potentially read it out loud. I can't guarantee it, but it may happen. So, now, with that being said, Mr. Carney, we expect you to bring it, and you are going to go on with the show.

Let's go. Let's hear the news. Gentlemen. Yes.

We would like to congratulate today, Masai. He is a giraffe calf, and it's not a he, and it's actually a she. Masai is the bridal of giraffe. It's a calf, and the calf's name's Ivy.

She made her Savannah debut on a Kilimanjaro Safari, born April, and is just 120 pounds, she now weighs nearly 300 pounds, and stands seven and a half feet tall, she shares the Savannah with her mom, her mother's name is Willow, and her half-brother, Tucker, and her uncle, Terrence Riley. Oh, that's so nice. See, this is what people don't understand, when you got the teleprompter, I'm trying to hold it in, because I know Terrence Riley's coming at the end. It's coming.

It's coming. It's coming. It's coming. That's the professional, where the professionalism comes in.

I just don't have, I don't have it to hold it together. I couldn't complete the sentences. Now here we go to the news. Can you get a DUI on a bicycle?

Here's what Florida law says 100% you can. I never have. But it's common knowledge now by consuming. Alcohol and driving is not only against the law, it's also incredibly dangerous.

What many may not know is that this doesn't just extend to cars. Under the state law here in Florida, someone is considered guilty of driving under the influence DUI if he/she/they/them is in a physical control of a vehicle while under the effects of alcohol or other controlled substances. But that same chapter of state law also defines a vehicle as the following: every device in, upon, or by, which any person or property or may be transported or drawn upon, upon a street or highway except personal delivery devices mobile carriers and devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks so that means you can't get a dui driving a train correct i guess not i mean how do you you can't swerve you can't swerve you just hit the go button i mean you could not hit the brakes i guess yeah but apparently it's not part of the law here we go i like the I like that I could stroll in, you know, oh, SunRail, ripped, just completely tanked. Well, yeah, you're not driving that anyway.

No, no, but like if I wanted to drive it, you know what I'm saying? What do you think of mobile carriers, like the little leg thing you and I use when we had the bad legs? Yeah, I guess. Is that a mobile carrier?

Yeah, that would make sense. Or personal delivery device, is that it? Like a wagon? Yeah.

Well, here you go. I'll tell you what it means. This means that even if you're riding on something as innocuous as a bicycle, you can still face a DUR charge And get caught under the influence. For example, Winter Springs police took 34-year-old Kyle Blanton into custody back in February on a DUI charge after he fell backward off his e-bike and showed signs of intoxication and arrest report shows.

E-bike is a little bit pushing it, in my opinion. No way. That's electric. No way.

So that's a car. Yeah. That's a vehicle. Oh, I see what you're saying.

Yeah, that's a vehicle. Like, trying to say that, that's not a bike, in my opinion, at all. But you don't drive them on the street. So you're legally supposed to, I think.

I don't think those e-bikes are supposed to be on the sidewalks. Oh yeah, we see people on the sidewalks. Well, here you go. The paramedic faces DUI charge after being found unconscious behind the wheel.

" This exact scenario happened to a woman in Polk County back in 2017. It also uniquely happened in my town of Lincoln one time. There was a very prominent gentleman who got several DUIs, this was in the mid-1950s, I think, 50s or 60s, he got caught a few times, and they wouldn't let him drive the vehicle anymore, so he used horse-drawn carriage around town. Well, okay, he's still staring at that, but if you're riding horseback, as long as the horse isn't drunk.

Has the horse been drinking? I don't know, how do they make him walk the line? That's a good point. Say the alphabet backwards?

Yeah, if he can't, you're in trouble. So is this paramedic, is this a different story, the paramedic facing a DUI, or was Kyle Blanton a paramedic? Paramedic was on a horse, not a horse, he was on a bicycle, he was also on a bicycle, and got a DUI. Behind the wheel of the bike, so Kyle Blanton is a paramedic.

Kyle Blanton is an older story where he got, or it could be the same one, I don't know, it's kind of a confusing story. Yeah, it's two stories. So would you consider a horse a mobile carrier? They said you can get it on a horse, they gave it a lady on a horse in Polk County.

Every device in a pawn or by which any person or property, so any device, so they're referring to a horse, could be a device. Anything that, except something on a rail. Here's what we're gonna do, real quick. I think rail's worse than a horse.

Here's what we're gonna do, real quick. Yeah. We're gonna pause real fast. Okay.

'Cause he's so healthy and feels good. Do we just get in trouble? Yes. He sure did.

Daddy just spanked us. I thought we just ran with things. I don't know. I thought we were just going.

I was having a good time. Running with things is great, as long as you don't run over each other. Are we recording? Yes.

Oh. We got in trouble. Okay, continue. Now I have to raise my hand again.

Just making sure there's enough space in between here. Wellington, New Zealand, according to the Associated Press, More than 100,000 live cockroaches illegally to keep in Australia were confiscated from a single breeder in the country's largest ever seizure of exotic invertebrates, officials said on Friday. The haul of Madagascar hissing cockroaches and Dubia cockroaches worth $200,000 Australian dollars translates to $142,000 US dollars was seized in May from a commercial breeder in the city of Bathurst in New South Wales state, according to Australia's Department of Climate Change. Any cockroaches?

This is wild, guys. What's happening with this, Palmer? What happened with cockroaches? Some giant cockroaches, 100,000 of them was confiscated in Australia that were there illegally.

Got it, I got it. They were confiscated illegally or they were bred illegally? They were bred illegally. Interesting.

They don't allow that type of cockroach in Australia. They have enough problems with what cockroaches they have, apparently. So the Madagascar hissing species is one of the world's biggest cockroaches, measuring two to three inches in length. Photos released by the department showed a shiny brown invertebrate larger than a person's finger.

The cockroaches flourish in Australia due to its subtropic climates, and the country is home to hundreds of species. Bathurst snake catcher Stephanie Lesser told the Australian Broadcasting Corps that the larger exotic species were likely being sold as a cost-effective reptile food because their large size meant fewer insects were needed. Officials urged pet owners to seek out crickets or wood roaches to feed their lizards instead. These things like fit on the palm of your hand, they're huge.

Yeah, those gigantic hissing thing things, right? Right. And they don't belong in Australia? They don't like them.

Or New Zealand, which is like the same place. And some dudes raised $100,000 of these things? Yes, he was caught with $100,000, who knows? $200,000.

$200,000. $200,000, heavy horsemen. Okay. Worth $200,000, what was it, $2,000 Australian dollars?

Oh, it was $200,000 Australian dollars. $100,000 worth to $200,000, $142,000, $42,000, so this is unique, so Australia has strict biosecurity controls at its border to protect its agriculture and horticulture sectors, and native wildlife from pest infections, a spokesperson said charges weren't laid against the Bathurst breeder, the cockroaches seized would be euthanized, the department said. Means they stepped on them. They were gonna be euthanized anyway.

They were feeding them. They were gonna feed them to big lizards. Oh my God. Because, you know, that way you only do one instead of maybe five crickets.

So they're worried about them getting out or whatever and them being like a problem? Yeah, you gotta figure one or two get loose. I mean, you know, they're big giant bugs. And they start breeding.

Right. Like the pythons down in the Ellerglades. Yeah, they've got to control the pythons. Then they're gonna have national hunting season for these bugs.

Do you have a roach problem where you live or anything like that? Is there anything like that? No? Yeah?

We have roaches, small ones. They're all dead when they show up. I do all of my own. Just terminate?

I do all my own insect work. All your own insect work. Yeah, my biggest problem I have at the house is, so I live in Winter Park. Winter Park notoriously has a- Rich bugs.

Rich bugs. And rats. Rats? Huge rat issue.

Yeah, they're good-looking little rats, but there's a ton of them around. They're good-looking rats. They are, but there's a ton of them around. They're handsome rats.

They're well-groomed. room yeah but there is it's notorious not the cigar uh the the actual word adjective it's notorious for for being heavy in rats and they are all over the place wow so i'll put all poison i have six poison traps around the house i put it out on a monday on tuesday all of it's gone didn't you and i just talk about this the other day why do you think i let it into on the show yeah yeah didn't we just talk about this all the rats are gone in two days the poison i have to put I put it out every other day. I have like a five-gallon bucket of rat poison. Oh, I thought you meant you put the poison out and the rats are dead in two days.

Yeah. No, the rats, apparently the rats die, but there's so many of them, they just don't go away. And it's a legit issue. I live on the train tracks too, so they have EV access to transportation.

Oh, if you get drunk, you can just go out. They'll be fine, yeah. They can drive that train. Put your little push cart thing with the handle on it.

That's how they get around. That's how they get around. That'd be perfect. That's how the rats get around.

Yeah, that makes sense. They're out there with the little sticks and the little bags on the back of their shoulders. Train's coming, we're going to get out. All right.

Rich bugs and very mobile rats. This guy's putting out poison. They all start dying at the end of the train line. Like, oh, there's a pile of dead rats over here.

What we talked about on the phone was, I was talking about getting some barn cats. Yeah. But you actually have to have a barn to legally have barn cats. So I was talking with my wife about maybe we could build a little, like go to Home Depot or whatever, We're getting one of those little tough sheds, but in the smaller sizes, so they could have a barn to live in.

I had some friends growing up that had like 50 barn cats, and they would eat everything. Get a cat and leave it outside. Yeah, exactly. All you have to do is just go to the Humane Society and just pick one of them and just dump it out in front of your house, you're good to go.

I think they frown upon that is the problem. I'm sure they do. You don't tell them. It's public.

I'm sure they do. Oh, we love cats. They're going to live inside the house. Get outside.

You know what's funny is we've actually talked about cats in the past because I think your neighbor had, It was fumigating a house, and they killed the feral cats, and the owners of the cats got pissed off, but you left the cats outside, what were you thinking? They weren't just thinking, the cats lived underneath the neighbor's home, and that's what the person was mad about on the Nextdoor app. They were mad that they didn't let them know. When you're doing fumigation for termites and stuff, they let you know, and then you would know really quickly because they wrap the house fully.

it's like it's hazmat so you would know so the problem is they're not your cats if they live under your neighbor's house so that's my issue if you if i go get a cat it's not really my cat and i want to try to keep it am i holding it hostage in the backyard i guess i don't know i could probably yank its way out but i have talked about it put on like a leash a little twist thing into the ground yeah yeah that'd be great we have some community cats in our area and they don't they they're always they always look great and i know they're eating well well it's winter park Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're having prime rib every night.

Yeah. My next-door neighbors got five or six outside our house. Come on over. You can get three or four of them.

Yeah. Leave the door open. Well, my dogs are useless. Like, they do nothing.

Oh, really? Oh, they do nothing. I got two dogs and they don't do anything. They kill the good snakes.

They go after the black snakes. Oh. Yeah. So the snakes that you actually want to be there, they go and kill those ones, but it's things I want gone, they won't touch.

What kind of dogs are they? Chihuahua. Well, the rats are probably bigger than the dogs. One of them, one of them is about 18 pounds.

That's it. You got the wrong guy. Yeah. These dogs don't do shit.

What is it? It's a three pound chihuahua. One of my dogs. He's got to scuff his nails.

It ruins his nail polish. Yeah. One of them, Latte. She's, she's about 18 pounds.

She looks like. He's got a dog named fucking Latte. Yeah. She looks like a Jack Russell Terrier and she has a terrier in her.

So we locked her in the kitchen one night because we had a rat we were trying to catch. So we walked her in and she'll go after that kind of stuff. She, she catches squirrels in the backyard regularly. Right.

They've gotten smart. They know that she's fast now, so they get away, but squirrels are very smart. But the rat woke up, I have a camera, so the rat comes out of the hole. I have this on camera, my camera activates, Latte gets up, walks around the room, the rat waits for her to turn around, scurries across, goes through where the stove is, and then Latte goes back and lays down.

She was locked in this little space with her and did nothing, so I set a ratchet wrap up the next night and caught her in about a minute. And then I scolded the dog. Just so you know, I just did your job. Look at this, look what I had to do.

Maybe you spoke in Spanish, maybe she don't understand. Yeah, latte. It's a Chihuahua. She's got a little German Shep in her too, maybe I should have spoken German for her.

How big is this? She's an 18 pound Chihuahua Pomeranian mix, so that's a big Chihuahua Pomeranian, yeah. I mean, she looks like, you ever watch the show Frasier? Did you ever watch that show?

She looks like Eddie the dog. I mean, she looks just like it. Only a little bigger, actually. Maybe get a Jack Russell.

Yeah. There's no Jack Russell in her. We had all the DNA done. No, no.

Maybe she'd get one. Oh, potentially. Probably eat the rats, maybe. Yeah, yeah.

At least she'd drink sherry. Okay. All right, moving on. Do you have a photo for this?

No. Okay, we've got a 38-year-old woman. Okay, I have a photo for this. Oh, you do?

Yeah, yeah. Okay. While you pull that up, she's been arrested in Brazil. She's been accused of pretending to be a 12-year-old girl to deceive a couple who took her into their home for more than a year.

Brilliant. Amanda Maria Sousa de Oliveira was charged in the southern state of Santa Catarina with fraud and false identity offenses. She lived there for nearly 16 months in Joinville in Brazil. She reportedly had all of her expenses paid, a bedroom decorated with toys and children's furnishings, At a party to celebrate her purported 12th birthday, Oliveira's lawyers has requested a psychiatric evaluation for the patient, and the photograph that we have is courtesy of the civil police of Santa Catarina.

Alright, let's take a look at this. You gotta see this picture, because there's no way this lady passes for 12 years. It was sent to your phone. It was sent to your phone.

Oh, he doesn't have his phone. Grab my watch. Oh. There's...

Oh my god! There's no way! How did she pass for 12? Oh my god!

Well, it was actually 11, because they just did her 12th birthday. There's no way. What was wrong with the people that took her in? Well, she claimed that her father gave her hormones when she was younger so he could sexually abuse her.

Oh my God. Could be realistic. And they bought that? They bought that?

Yeah, she probably did when she was 12. Maybe when she was actually 12. Yeah, that's some serious stuff. I doubt this.

Oh, wow. So the public prosecutor in this, Vivian Suarez, said the investigation has uncovered an elaborate fraud. By the way, how would you pronounce that word, S-O-A-R-E-S? Would you pronounce that Suarez?

Or would you pronounce it something different? Say it again? S-O-A-R-E-S. Suarez.

Suarez? That's what I would've said, but I say everything wrong. I think it's Suarez. So-re-ez.

So, an elaborate fraud scheme involving the creation of a fictitious identity and the emotional manipulation of victims in order to obtain undue advantages. " She said she was experiencing financial and health difficulties, prompting the couple to take her in. She later allegedly changed her story, claiming she was in fact 11, but appeared older because her father had forced her to take hormones. Sad, right?

" Did you ever, have you ever come across anybody like this in your life that you just knew when they were talking, you're just, they're completely full of shit? Me? Yeah. Oh, regularly, I have a huge bullshit meter.

Yeah. Outside of the, outside of the cigar industry. Oh yeah, I was gonna say, apparently it's half the cigar people, you know, it's like 80% of the cigar industry. I, no, I, I don't, I don't get into it because I also give people benefit of the doubt first, but I, I, uh, I have a good read in my opinion on, on something's up.

Right. And I generally, I don't necessarily know what it is, but I know something's up, and I think I am a good read on that. So yeah, I've encountered, nothing like this, but I've encountered people where it's like, stuff just isn't adding up. The math ain't mathin'.

And sometimes it's because you don't have all the information that you need, or you don't know if somebody's struggling. People, you know, people try to keep things close to the vest sometimes. So, you know, I've had moments where I've approached somebody sometime, and I'm like, man, something's not quite right here with this. " Right.

All that tracks. Yeah, I mean, you know what's funny is, I had a couple conversations, even at the PCA, which is the cigar convention that we go to every year. I remember talking to one of the retailers, the guy's a retail customer of ours, and as he's talking, I'm like, "There's just no way. He's just so full of shit.

" There's, you know, it's just, there's way too many details, he knows too much that he's got, you know, he's either the greatest liar I've ever come across in my entire life, or like, this is actual facts, and I actually said that to him, I said, dude, you know, when you started talking to me, I thought that you were completely full of shit, but as this conversation has progressed, I'm like, no way, this guy is 100% telling the truth. Now, then I also came across another guy, and he's like, within 10 seconds of this conversation, he's like, look at my Instagram. Look at this Instagram. I know that guy.

And I have Ferraris and Lamborghini. I'm like, you don't even know my name. I don't know. Like, why are we at, how did we get here?

How did we get to the Ferrari? Right. Like, I'm sorry, do you just want a free cigar? Is that where, like, I can just give it to you so you can leave me.

You just jumped in the end so you can leave? Yeah. Here, take this and get the hell out of here. Like, I don't care, you know?

You know, and then sometimes those people, sometimes in different things, you see it in the cigar business quite a bit, because the barrier to entry in this business is very low, and it's a small industry, and it really doesn't take a lot of money to do something. Right. You know, we could all become a cigar brand owner today. We all are cigar brand owners.

But we could start our own brand for, you know, you can do it for $2,500 bucks. Sure. And have something. You could spend $20,000, and be at a PCA show, fly out there, go out to dinner, so the barrier to getting into it's not low, I know that sounds like big money to some people, $20,000 is nothing, I mean it's a lot to me personally, like $20,000 is important, yeah, so you can get in this business and start a story and be fine, so you do see it a little bit more in this business, but then also sometimes you have people that come into certain businesses, cigars is the easy example, since this is a Cigar Hustler podcast, they have real money from something else right it's just that's over and what they're now in is bullshit right you know like yeah i got ferraris and stuff like cool dude i'm glad you have ferraris from when you sold your insurance business and you're you know in your book of business you know i'm impressed i'm super impressed that you have all that stuff from when you were in software now you're in this something that you have no idea about and you're kind of bullshit so that's sometimes part of the story too that you have with it and you run into that but more More often than not, there's usually somebody, you know, something's not, something's being hidden, you know?

Absolutely. Okay, carrying on, next, what do you got? It's interesting, on the last point, it does happen in the cigar business so often, I found one out recently, and I won't get into what it is, because the person who told me is a close confidant on some things, but there was this person that had this brand, and I always thought it was connected with the brand, With the brand name that was being used, and it wasn't, and I always wondered how the person was funding it, and you know, they would set themselves up and talked as if they worked for that person, turns out the person didn't exist, that person didn't work for them, they owned the company, but it was funded by this other person who I knew, and I went to the person, I said, I go, I always just thought this was connected to this brand name, and this person from like Cuba or whatever, and, And they weren't. And that person that I know was funding it.

And they don't talk about it too much. But I was like, I go, how the F did you give that person money and not me, dude? I was like, I go, what are you thinking? So, you know, I had to do it the hard way.

You got sucked in, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah, it happens a lot, man. So that story of Brazilian things, she's just not the 12th.

She's not the 12th at all. Those people knew what they were doing. Here's some cigar news. Oh, great.

Joya de Nicaragua, Shipping Red, White, and Blue, New Rosolones Lines, Tomorrow. S. distributor for Joya de Nicaragua, will begin shipping five new cigars to American retailers. One is entirely new, the Joya Red, White, and Blue, 6x52 Toro, that uses Ecuador Habano wrapper over binders and fillers from Esteli and Jalapa, Nicaragua.

The cigar is part of the company's Hoya series, which includes regular production Hoya Black, Hoya Red, and this will mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of America. No way. Really? Everybody is.

Well, that's what we're smoking right now, not this cigar. There it is. The red, white, and blue Hoya? 50.

And production is limited to 500 boxes of 10. 76 per cigar. - Oh, that makes sense. That tracks, that tracks.

- Right, right, right. - And we published this. - It's so strange on the math. - Yes.

We published this story, and Half Wheel ran a good piece on us for the PCA show, and I was actively involved. " Right. " Right, exactly. And I was like, boom, nailed it.

So here we go, production of that. The other four cigars are part of the company's Rosolones line. They are two different Rosolones blends. , this is the first time it's being offered in two blends to America.

Okay, I have a couple questions. Now, listen, do you think that too many companies are really kind of riding this wave of the 250 year anniversary, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah? Like there's a, you know, I'm going to stop right there. What do you think?

Do you think that there's just too much of it? I think there's not enough. You think there's not enough? Okay.

Yeah, it's the biggest, it's the easiest, biggest thing to do. The whole branding itself makes itself 250 boxes, make it 1776, make it red, white, and blue, and run with it. I think everybody should have made a 250 blend. They should have acquired if they're going to sell cigars in the United States.

Well, I think it tracks as far as you doing it, because, you know, I mean, you had Operation Nighthammer, you're Hooten & Young, helicopter guy, yada yada, like… Yeah, the military… Yeah, all of those things track for you. Right. So how does it track for Hoya de Nicaragua or any of these other brands like hey you know I just don't it feels it this feels like the next wave of like the year of right like you we had sure you have this right good they're not doing the year of the the Chinese zodiac things because everybody was doing that right and now we're at this you know it just seems like it's it seems like KERKA said they patented it and they're going after KERKA we patented the 250 year anniversary we're the only You're the only one allowed to make this cigar. So now you get nothing.

And they give it away with a flag. I text Juan Lopez from Gurkha several months back, and I said I wanted to make a cigar called the Year of the Hoss. It was like a real American-themed thing. " He's like, "Go ahead," or whatever.

So they're like giving the blessings if you ask. Did he get the joke? So here's my thing on it, my take. You only get one chance to do America 250, that quintessential, whatever it's called, the long word with a Q.

So why wouldn't you do it? The cigar industry does low-hanging fruit better than anybody in any business. The liquor business does it a little bit. They do more of it in the liquor business if there weren't so much regulation.

Trust me, I know, I try. But the cigar business is low-hanging fruit. This is the easiest low-hanging fruit. Joe Hanging Fruit and Fun thing to do and celebrate.

Everybody's looking for something. Do it. Do it. So, there is a good amount of them.

I will say everyone that's done it has done a great job so far. Everything's been super American. Did you see the Aladino one? No.

I mean, it's like the Betsy Ross flag. It's beautiful. EPC's really nice. The thing that I get more of, that I ask a little bit more, is like, there seems to be some companies doing military-themed brands Right now.

New brands. You guys have one that's very close with, like, the War Bear. Right. And EPC has one with that.

They did one that was all camouflaged where they came with a dog tag. Oh. So there's some unique stuff that's coming on with that. So those are the ones that I'm interested in.

Are we going to see more military stuff? Because people start to see companies like Warfighter and Hooten Young's, you know, kind of take off a little bit with some of this. But no, I don't think there's enough America 250. Like, why not?

Everybody's doing it. I went to the grocery store yesterday. Everything was red, white, blue. Right.

Wow, they're getting ready for the season. Mm-hmm. Yeah, but, like, War Bear isn't really, hey, military. It's a story about a bear that will join the military, and it's cool because it's tied in the Polish heritage of, like, Powstanie.

You know, it's not, it's not like, like, you guys are military, right? And Hooten and Young is military. I don't-- Ran by guys from the military. Yeah.

Like, there's a, you know, I think there's a big, huge deviation from that. So if somebody said, hey, military, you know, tell me a military cigar or an army cigar, War Bear wouldn't even pop into my brain, I wouldn't even consider that as like, oh yeah, no, right? Um, who was the other ones? Who were the other ones?

EBC's released, uh, released that one. It was, um, it was all camo. I can't remember the name of it. It's less of a claiming to be military, but leaning into that, uh, for example, is what I see people leaning into that a little bit.

It's really a connection to like Americana. S. " And one of them was, one of them was a guy in the Middle East, and I was like, "I just don't think the Hoot & Young brands can really connect well over in the Middle East or in Europe," you know? So, there's some stuff that we could do.

So, but, you know, you want to connect with it. I think this American 250 is a really unique way for some people to connect with it. We'll see what people do with it afterwards. You know, is it just here and gone?

If it is a here and gone thing, do it. Slow-hanging fruit. That's probably what's gonna happen. C.

Newman the American, they're doing a 250 version. Hood and Young releases Iranian release, Watermane. You know, I mean, I can't... We technically have an Iranian release with the Midnight Hammer, so...

That's true. I'm pretty sure. And that will be back this year, if anybody's curious. Excellent.

Yeah. So, Mare 250, not enough. You cannot get too much of it. You're just too much America.

Yeah, I'm wearing, if you can see my pants right now, it's American flag pants from Born Primits. He's not wearing pants. Yeah, I was going to say, he doesn't have pants. Yeah, he's wearing, he's got nothing on.

We don't allow pants when we do the show. Yeah, exactly. We like the freedom. It's a waste up.

Seriously. To honor 250 years. But speaking of too much, STG discontinues 21 cigars. Scandinavian Tobacco Group, the parent company of General Cigar Company and Forge Company, has informed retailers that it has discontinued 21 cigars.

- You don't have to read all 21. I know they're there. - This is the 21 Cigar Salute. - You don't have to read the, oh, there you go, another 250 things.

- Through the Forge in general, two different American sales divisions, STG sells brands, which I will now list all 21. Now, ranging from Alec Bradley, their whole lineup, for those that aren't familiar, STG owns brands like Cohiba, Hoya de Monterey, La Gloria Cubana, and Partagas, which are classic Cuban brands that are owned and sold here in the United States, and more of the half of the discontinuation I think the recommendations affect the Alec Bradley and Room 101 branding, which I think we've had a discussion on the show on that. I know you guys have. Not shocking, you acquire, whenever brands get acquired, you tend to scale it down.

So this is still scaling down of the Room 101 and Alec Bradley approaches? Can't be many Alec Bradleys left. Well, I think, you know, and I'm just speaking, I guess, I don't know, I'm guessing to some degree, but I think that their strategy is normally they acquire the brand, then they strip it apart. And then it becomes the same cigar under a different name, right?

So that aims it more towards their catalogs than that other yada yada. I guess, does that make sense? No? So wait, you're saying they're keeping the same cigars, they're just changing the name?

Yeah, yeah. So like you take the Room 101 or you take the Alec Bradley and, you know, you see which ones kind of track and then you just kind of morph them out of it and you rebrand it so that it's It's no longer considered that cigar, and then you can say tastes like XYZ and sell it for less. Is that only if they have excess inventory or are they still producing it? I don't think it's an excess inventory thing.

I think it's something that they're regularly producing, but they're looking to make it even more of a value cigar and then just have it so that you can solely buy it from them, right? Like you can buy Room 101 from us. If they make their own catalog cigar, you can't buy it from us. And if you sell it for $2 less, right, that's always the design.

This is a big conversation of direct-to-consumer and all this other stuff. Discontinuing the name. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, like, we're axing these cigars, right?

Right. There's no diesel cigars on that list, I would assume. No. Right.

Because guess what? They own that, right? Right. Do you see what I'm saying?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I see what you're saying. So that's what I think is happening here. Interesting look at this.

So I've been going through the list here. Almost all of them are smaller sizes. The Alec Bradley stuff are all 50 ring gauge and below. That's interesting.

The Bolivar that's on here is a Petite Corona. There's a few CAOs. One of them is a 60 ring gauge. The others are all 54 and below.

The Gloria Cabana is a weird size, the 8x52. Okay, so they're probably axing some of them. 25x54, you have a 6x54 Toro in that line, so it's just, what, an inch longer. I think the most interesting one in here is the elimination of six sizes of the paybacks, because those were price-friendly, big ring gauge, so 6x60 Connecticut, 6x54 Connecticut, 6x60 Connecticut, 6x60 Connecticut, 6x50 Nicaraguan Toro, and 6x50 Connecticut.

6x60, Nicaragua, Gordo. So that's like six facings out of that. Yeah. So, you know, that's an interesting one.

What do you think with that? Those are price points. I think probably they're trying to bring the Room 101 brand up to a little higher recognition. And then, honestly, what that shows me is that, more realistically, that Asylum kicked their butt.

Yeah, I mean, here's what I think. Honestly, for some of the listeners that aren't avid cigar guys, right? When he's talking about the 6x60, he's saying the cigar is 6 inches long and the gauge of the cigar is a 60. So a 6x60 cigar is relatively big and like round.

I don't think that, I think that that's, when you talk about the Room 101 stuff, I think that's exactly what's happening is they're stripping the name off of it and putting it in their catalog. 5xwhatever, like those things probably don't track well for their consumers. And that's probably why those are going away, 'cause they just don't make sense. But I think that what's happening with the Room 101 stuff is they're recreating the brand on their value side for catalog.

- Is something maybe different. - Yeah. - Here's the thing, this is another comment here. All back orders for these items will be canceled.

So that means anything that was back ordered, they already stopped making. Your sales representatives will work you to recommend replacements, as we will no longer accept orders for them once any remaining inventory is depleted. So the ones that are backordered, they already made that decision, and the other ones will just sell through it. " Right, we have the same blend and a different size.

No, it's the same size. It's a difference. It's the Room 107, you know what I mean, or whatever. Not AIDS-free.

Yeah, with the AIDS, yeah. That's a joke from Matt Booth. Yeah. He says his cigars are AIDS-free.

Yes. AIDS-free? Yes. Are your cigars AIDS-free?

Did Anthony Fauci help with that? Yeah, he did. They actually come with a mask. Mm-hmm.

My cigars are certainly all AIDS-free. Injectable. Yours are too? Yeah.

So are ours, if anybody wonders. I mean, all ours are also. Yeah. Can't wait to see the show.

We should put a flag on the rest of the War Bears we have and just sell it as a 250 War Bear. The commemorative? 250 War Bear. Dude, here's what you gotta do.

All you gotta do is you just gotta go back. Charles, if you're listening, can you color the silver boxes that are left with, what's that stuff? We use a special gun spray. What's it called?

Cerakoting. Yeah. Can we Cerakote in different colors, red, white, and blue? Can you do a gold?

What if we did red, white, and blue and said, these are the commemorative? Repaint them? He would love to repaint all the ones we have. Only, we don't have a lot of them left.

No, no, there's not a lot. But I mean, he- He would be happy if he never touched another one of those again. It would be very limited edition, you know what I mean? He had to bring in an extra four people to work on that thing.

Or you could just take a picture and AI the box to look that way and put it on out for sale and say this image was AI generated, final results may differ. Colors may vary. It shows up. Yeah, it shows up.

Sorry, in the heat, it turned black. Oh, you're not going to believe this. You're not going to believe this. We're so sorry.

But we shipped yours already. Polsania announces, I like where your head's at on that. Polsania announces 250 year, commemorative edition, Warbear. And it's the same thing, we just paint the box.

What if we just don't do anything, you just say it's a 250 commemorative. I'm all for it, I'm making it a little different. , best known as the stripper. Pospetch, I always do a Pospetch.

Poshick. Poshick. Yeah, there you go. I mean, I phonetically spelled his name for it, I actually changed it so you could have Stepan Cabbage.

Yeah. Other than your last name and words that you guys put out that are Polish, do you speak Polish? Just around here. We do all the time.

Oh, yeah. Off camera? Behind closed doors, yeah. Yeah, it's like it's the mozzarella.

No, it's mozzarella. Right. Yeah, exactly. I know a couple curse words and stuff.

That's about it. That's how you know that I've always said that. It's Pospetsch is how I've always pronounced it. Pospetsch.

You know who pronounces your name incredibly well? Who? Reinhard. Yeah, I believe that.

Nails it. He's European. He nails it. He said it to me one day over the phone, and I called Mike after, and I said, "This is how your name's pronounced?

" I go, Reinhardt nails it every time. He said it to me, and I still can't say it. Right. But, uh, Michael Szczepinkevich, it's closer than what else I hear, the Szczepinkevich brothers have had running Cigar Hustler, a retail store in Deltona, Florida, for more than a decade, as a way to compete with online stores.

Cigar Hustler has offered a brand of house cigars that have been sold under the premise of buy three, get one free, and at the show they announced a brand new brand, and it's called Smoke This, Trust Me. Yep. Last week, Smoke This Trust Me, which is built around the same concept, shipped to other stores. Mm-hmm.

There's a total of nine cigars, three Vitolas, each offered in three wrapper choices. The three wrapper choices are Connecticut, Habano, and Maduro. Correct. And the three Vitolas are: Smoke This Trust Me Robuso, 5x50, the Smoke This Trust Me Toro, 6x52, And the Smoke This Trust Me Gordo, 6x60.

That's correct. It has not been any other information disclosed about the blends or where the cigars are made, regardless of the wrapper or Vitola, each cigar has been priced at an $8 MSRP. This concept means that if the consumer buys three cigars for a total of $24 without factoring in taxes or additional markup, they should get four cigars, meaning the price per cigar drops to $6. That is correct.

Long filler cigar for $6. And this is something that we ran in our store without it being abandoned and it's one of our best sellers. So we wanted to do something that catered to the retailer, that protected the retailer so that they could have a consumer that didn't go to catalog brands and could still provide value and still have the ability to make money. So this is kind of a passion project for us.

We're very excited about it. It isn't something that we make a lot of money on. But we do believe that we need to fight and help all the retailers that are still in existence and trying to grow their business, unlike you. You're a very bad person.

I'm talking to you. I work for him. He's talking to me. I'm talking to you.

I know all the information. So you better be nice to me, because I could, I could, I could, I could. John knows where the bodies are laid. I can disclose all this undisclosure really quickly.

All right. And that wraps up this episode. Hey, you're my friend. I tell you, you're my friend.

I tell you these things. Stop, stop, stop, stop. There we go. That's a cutscene.

Edit that out. No, so yeah, honestly though, I am very excited about this, man, and I really hope that it helps a lot of retailers. So, I'm looking forward to it and seeing how it tracks. I think this is nice at the end here too, Mike.

In order to make the concept work, it's being offered to retailers at a hefty discount. If they purchase a master case of 30 bundles of 20 cigars, what this allows people to do, just to kind of pull the curtain back a little bit, It allows you to make a reasonable amount of money in that amount, where you don't have to worry about making it per cigar, so it allows the retailer to be like, you know, I'll make a couple hundred bucks off this so that I'm comfortable with it, and then you can turn this into something better, so that's why this is set up, it's not just to sell it to make it, it's to make it make sense for you and then turn it around, so I like that side of it, so when people see that, don't think, hey, well, we'll give you the deal if you buy a bunch, no, I'm just trying to make ends meet on it. John, what we did with this project, if you buy it this way, I'm good, and then you go make the money. Right.

So, that's what that means when you offer something like that with this style of price point. 100%. And that's why I love you, John. That's why I love you.

" I have smoked those cigars several times in your production of it, and they are very good, and I enjoy them. So, if you have a chance, I do say, I know I'm on the show, but, you know, we're promoting that, but it is a good cigar, and I will put that, you know, for six bucks, you're gonna have a hard time finding something that's that quality. Quite the deal. Alright, I pulled what the score from him, so you guys play.

Oh, look at you. Okay, perfect. Alright, what's the score? Players hear clues from a half-wheel cigar review and try to predict the score before it is revealed.

As more details are shared, the challenge gets easier, or does it? The closest guess to the actual score wins the round. Can you read between the lines and predict the score? - All right.

- Are you ready to play? Are you ready to play? - Let's play ball! - Okay, go ahead.

- I have two, well, I don't know, I have 37 minutes. - We have two of these today? - No, you gotta have a 17-minute shave, so you're at 45. You're in good shape.

- Well, I have two cigars we can play today. - Okay. - All right, May 23rd, 2012, Brian Burt is the reviewer. - Ooh, old one.

- Old one. It's a Cuban Cigar Habanos SA, it is the La Gloria Cubana Medallion Dior number 3. Holy shit. My goodness.

I'm gonna go first. I'll go first on both of these for you. I'll just give you a leg up on it. I'm gonna say 86 off the jump.

Johnny. Johnny. Cuban Cigar, Brian Burke. It's the guy that lives here locally and never comes to the shop.

Yeah. 89. 89. Okay.

Brian lives here in Southern Florida? He lives in Deltona. He lives in Deltona. Really?

Yeah. I never knew that. Yeah, he probably doesn't come to the shop you go to either. I don't go to any shops, according to the shops that I go to.

Alright, the Cigar Z, La Gloria Cubana, Medallia Dior, number three, is from Cuba. Here is Fernando Perez, German, Rappers Cuban, Binder Cuban, Filler Cuban, 6 and 8, 9 inches by 28, it is a slim Pantella, and they smoke just two cigars. What's the dimensions? It is 6, 8/9, so 6.

Okay, almost 7. Almost 7 by 28. Ooh, God, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go 80. I'm going down.

I'm going to go to your 86. Okay. All right. Clue number one.

The profile evolves beautifully throughout the smoking experience, moving from creamy leather, honey, and subtle floral notes into a memorable combination of toasted marshmallow, dried dates, caramel, and fleeting hazelnut nuance. The sweetness never becomes overpowering, instead complementing the cigar's refined woodsy character They're creating a balanced, elegant smoke from start to finish. Okay, so flavor profiles there, you know, I'm still kind of, I want to stick at 80. I'm going to stick at 80 here.

He said refined. When they put words like that in there, all of them, they say like refined and then, you know, words that are affirming. Right, right. It always gives me, I get weird.

It's a weird feeling. I'm going to stick with the 86. Okay. All right, clue number two.

The construction feels solid in the hand. And although the pre-light draw hinted at potential issues, the cigar opened up nicely once lit. It delivered an impressive amount of smoke for its slender ring gauge while maintaining a cool burn and smooth texture all the way to the nub. The fact that it remained sweet and flavorful without developing bitterness in the final third speaks volumes about both the blend and the craftsmanship behind it.

Shit. I'm gonna move up. I'm gonna go 85. Johnny?

Small sizes on Cubans are good. 87. Clue number three. Initial tight pre-draw.

There it is. Yep. Could be concerning, and the reviewer notes that the Vitola can quickly become hot and bitter if puff you aggressively, overwhelming the subtle flavors that make it special, its delicate nature requires a more attentive approach, making it less forgiving than larger ring-gauge cigars and potentially frustrating for smokers who prefer a more relaxed, maintenance-free experience. I'm back at 80.

I'm gonna go 81. 81, okay. Final thought. I love small ring gauge cigars.

However. I also love milder cigars. This is not one of them. So, if you put a cigar in front of me that's a small ring gauge, medium body, and an ever-changing smorgasbord of flavors, it's a really good chance I'm going to like it.

This is absolutely the case here. Because of the milder nature of the cigar with so many subtle nuances and flavors, you should be careful what you pair it with and don't smoke it too fast. So what is the absolute bottom line? A.

should not ever discontinue these. They are fantastic in terms of price, aging potential, flavor profile, and construction. If you can find any, especially with over a decade of age on them, grab them up. These are absolutely box worthy as long as you can find a box.

This was in 2012? Yeah. Yes. They were throwing around lower scores then.

Just keep that in mind, not trying to- I'm aware. - I'm still, I'm gonna roll 88 on this. - Box worthy? - That's what he says.

- 90. - 93. - Wow! - Mr.

Carney went the right way. - That's how to sandbag me too. - I played the what's the score game right there, hard. - Okay.

- He's been playing the home game. - He's been playing the home game? - All right, second cigar, August 4th, 2018. This one's from Charlie Monado.

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, Limited Edition, The Micarita, Firecracker. Mmm. Okay. Okay.

Oh, I gotta guess. Well, he won. Have him go first. I'll go first.

No, I'm going to gift wrap this for you. I'm going to go, I'll go first on both. I'm gonna go 88. 89.

The Micarita, Firecracker, Country of Origin, Nicaragua, Factory, Nicaragua, American Cigars, SA, Wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf, Binder, Nicaraguan Filler, Nicaraguan Length, it's a three and a half by 50 Petit Robusto, they smoked three cigars for the review. 87. I'm gonna stay where I'm at for right now until we get some more details here. We haven't heard anything yet.

So where you're at? 89. What did you hear there that made you drop it? I'm just thinking in my brain as to, I'm just trying to think about the cigar, so when I start hearing the dimensions and the size and like, it just kind of tracks more things in my head.

He's building it in his mind. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like the AI of Half Wheels, what's the score?

You know, I just develop as I go. Okay. Alright. Okay.

Clue number one. The cigar opens with an engaging combination of cedar, creaminess, chocolate stout, and pepper, Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds.

Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds.

Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds.

Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds.

Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. Mike Sincere, The Final Thirds. They never called it their favorite, Mika Rita, to date.

I like when they talk about themselves in third person. Well, I don't think they do. I think when you pull it from AI, that's what it does. Yeah, it doesn't count you as a person.

Back in 2018, when this came out? I thought that you took this and you put it into a chat thing. Oh, I do, but it gives me what they said. It doesn't change it.

Oh yeah, I see what you're saying. You think it's talking about that? It absolutely does change. Oh, okay.

Yeah, maybe you're right. '89. '91. Woo!

So the best one they've ever smoked. Okay, but whatever. The best me, Corita. Yeah.

Not the best cigar. Yeah. All right, clue number three. From the exceptionally easy draw to the consistently solid burn, the Firecracker proves that small format cigars The cigars can offer a premium experience.

Even with one sample requiring a minor touch-up, the overall smoking experience remained remarkably dependable, producing an impressive amount of flavor and smoking time. Lasting well over an hour, it offers far more enjoyment than its compact size might suggest. That was clue number two. I'm sorry.

Yeah, I thought so too. 90. 91. 3.

The cigar's strength and pepper profile may not appeal to every smoker. The intense pepper found on the cold draw carries into the early stages of the experience and the strength level fluctuates throughout the smoke rather than maintaining a steady progression. Smokers who prefer a more predictable or milder profile might find the shifting intensity somewhat distracting, especially if the cigar is smoked too aggressively, which can amplify the heavy pepper notes even further. Did everybody catch his ding there from his Estee DuPont?

I did. I actually got it on film, too. It's nice. 89.

Mine clicks over here. 89. Well, let's go 90. Final thought.

The Firecracker is the best Micorita I've smoked to date. It's one of my favorites, if not my favorite, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust released to date. It's also one of the best new cigars I've smoked this year. At times, the pepper and creaminess can be overpowering, They were powering, but each found a way to pull themselves back in, and by the end the cigar was as balanced as can be.

Found a way? It did something? It did something for him. It did something for him.

It's Charlie. It's like magic for him. Life finds a way. You're going to have to go higher, man.

Because if you don't, I'm going to win it. Don't help him. This is over 90. Don't help him.

I'm just trying to get him, you know, get him to get a win here. Get a dove? Yeah, 'cause I hardly ever went in this game. No, but we'd go, we'd just, it'd cancel out.

I'm gonna say '91. I'm gonna go '92. Ding, ding, ding, on the money, '92, he went the right way. Hey, you win.

If you'd gone '92, I would've stayed at '90. 'Cause I was like, I don't think he's going higher than '92 on this. You didn't even bother to charge the sparklers today. - Oh, interesting.

- Like you knew you wouldn't win. - Huh. Huh. - Hmm.

- Don't get into my mind games. Don't try and explore what's up here. Don't you do? Congratulations, Mr.

Carney. - Yes, congratulations, sir. - You nailed one, and you won the other round, so it's a sweep. It's a sweep.

- Big sweep for you. - Yeah. - Wasn't he out of the industry from the last time he played, so now he's back in? - Yeah, congratulations.

Welcome back to the industry. - Welcome back to the industry. - Yeah. - Now give us all the names of the people you said were bad.

Don't tell us everything. Tell us all of them. You should hit the record button sooner, you know what I'm saying? No, all the people that are bad know they're bad, so that's fine, they already know.

I don't think they know they're bad. I don't think they know. They'll find out. They'll find out soon enough.

" You know? I just take money from people. It's fine. Hey, for every one bad person, there's someone that isn't, and then there's someone that thinks they're not.

So, hey, that's the cigar business, right? That's life in general, buddy, you know? Yeah. Okay, anything else to add, gentlemen, before we part ways?

Anything else you want to plug, Mr. Carney? Yeah. No, today we smoked the America 250, a test blend from Hooten Young that's coming out at the end of June.

So, we got like three weeks on that. That'll be going up for pre-sale to our retailers. Actually, this week, it just started pre-selling to retailers. We're almost sold out of it.

We only made 250 boxes. For 250 dollars, right. So that's coming out, man, we've got, we've got a bunch of stuff, you want some, some breaking news? Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, this is, this is almost official, I mean, I'm the one that's doing it, so with my team, the Midnight Hammer will be back this year in 2026, and it will be in boxes, so that will be out before the end of the year, we're gonna let the 250 do its thing, but expect Q3, early Q4, a Midnight Hammer drop. There's some fun stuff coming with that. The reason I bring it up, that was one of the most popular things we've done in the last two years, the right to bear arms for us has become one of our top one, this month it's our best-selling SKU, so that's obviously a huge connection with the America stuff as well, even though it's disconnected, but not connected directly with 250, but the Midnight Hammer was a huge success for us, so that will be back and that's the one that people keep asking for. So, if you're watching, you love what we're doing, Midnight Hammer will be back, but keep your eyes out for the $250 in the next few weeks.

But other than that, that's all I got, you know. This was, I hope we behave better in the second half, you know. Hey, you know what? The spice that you and I had was a little hard for some people, but we ended up pulling it together at the end and the creaminess.

I think so, yes. It was probably the best, you know, Mike and John show that's ever been done. Yeah, listen, I'm going to tell you right now, look, here's my jobs, my job is to make sure that we produce the absolute best product at all times, right? Palmer, you know what the actual problem was?

Why? Him in that chair. Is that what it is? Because he wants to talk, and as do all of us.

Could you imagine how many over-talks there would be if I was sitting in the production chair? I mean, I wouldn't be able to shut up. You do a good job of being quiet when you're in the production chair, and I know that wasn't the style we have, When we got in trouble earlier, I'm going to tell you, I refused to put the headphones on. Right.

He did. He was the problem. Not you and me. He was the problem.

Look, I don't care who you blame, just show me the baby. All I want is the dub. You can say it, it's my fault all day. You didn't even charge the sparklers.

Oh, so weird. But no, that's what we got. Great show today. Well, I'll be back next week, but maybe we'll do one or two shows next week.

Perfect. Monday or Tuesday, whatever day you want. Yeah, Monday might be tough, but Tuesday, let's do Tuesday. I'm in on Tuesday.

All right, cool. We'll see you on Tuesday. Yeah, so you guys can talk all kinds of stuff. Yeah, we can test that system.

We can over talk everybody. Yeah, that'll be great. I gotta tell you, the hardest shows are the ones that I'm not hearing. I'm just saying, just saying.

Oh my God, that was rough. The poor Law, when you guys did Law Ream. He wouldn't talk. Yeah, you put him in that chair.

But over here, he doesn't speak. You put him in that chair, you put him in a spotlight so that he looked like he couldn't see anything. He had the sunglasses on. Yeah, on top of the sunglasses.

I'm like, oh my God. You see, now he's wearing a red suit. He might be Red Zeno now. Camacho, Camacho Law is a completely different law than Xeno Law.

Yeah. Right. Xeno Law in that seat would have just basked in the sunlight. Right.

Camacho Law, you know, I feel it's a little different. Camacho Law belongs in the one spot. Yeah, it was Camacho Law. He had no sleeves, the black outfit on.

Yeah. Well, he'll be here this Friday because we're doing a Camacho event upstairs. So, and I believe I'll be here for that one. Oh, really?

Yeah, there's no football going on, so. Wow. Father's Day weekend. Oh, yeah, that's right.

Father's Day weekend. So, get your Camachos. So, he won't be here. No, I'll be here.

I'll be here. It's two days before Father's Day. Yeah. What do you want for Father's Day?

Me? It's peace, quiet, calm. Right. Yeah.

I'm not sure what we got going on. We got three or four different ideas of things happening. We'll probably end up Disney World around a bunch of kids. That's it.

Oh, wow. I don't know what happens at my house, but no, we've got some things going on, no, generally what I always ask for, I like peace, quiet, sleep in, is a big thing, and when I mean sleep in, sleep in without someone coming to wake me up, which is impossible at this point in time. My daughter doesn't know the threshold that I require. At nine o'clock for her is very much sleeping, and it is for most people in general, but I like to just sleep until I wake up on Father's Day is my one request.

Other than that, my wife can torment me all she wants after that with activity. We did this thing called the Dad Olympics one year. It was certainly not relaxing whatsoever, and we retired that pretty quickly, yeah. Right.

This doesn't work for daddy. We're not doing this. No. All right, let's cut this off because you're starting to bubble.

Yeah, it's starting to click. Yep. All right, guys. All right, guys.

Thank you so much. com for all your chpod swag. com, Oz Cigar Hustlers podcast. Like and subscribe.

We're reviewing or watching this show. Thank you, everybody. Bye. Thanks.

Bye. I don't have a remote over here today. Just do it anyway. I just did.

Are we off? Do it. No, do it. Say boop.

Boop. Thank you. Are we off? Now we are.

Show Notes

On today’s show Dui on a Bicycle?  New Zealand Does Not Allow Roaches! Wait?  She’s How Old? Then in cigars, we’ve got a new cigar!  STG is getting rid of cigars, Smoke This Trust me!  And a two fer on What’s The Score