ACHP Episode 558 Bailey Zimmerman Can Throw A Party
Episode Summary
Episode 558 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast has Mike Palmer and Mike Stepankevich joined by returning co-host Phil McGuffey for a fast, loose weekday run through news, sports and cigar industry headlines. The non-cigar half covers the ongoing Nancy Guthrie case — the ransom notes sent to Savannah Guthrie's family after the 84-year-old's abduction, including a second note claiming she had died — plus an arrest warrant issued for country artist Bailey Zimmerman after an allegedly drunken rampage that trashed a Sandia Resort and Casino hotel room and stage setup in New Mexico, Waymo's nationwide robotaxi software recall, a fatal Tesla crash into a home, and World Cup betting odds talk.
On the cigar side, the crew breaks down the new Rocky Patel Sapphire, the latest entry in Rocky Patel's precious metals and stones series alongside Gold and Emerald. It's a Nicaraguan cigar with a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over two binders (Estelí and Nicaraguan-grown), Condega and Jalapa fillers, rolled at TAVICUSA in Estelí, in four vitolas and brilliant blue octagonal boxes. That leads to a useful tangent on how double binders work and why they can add complexity — or not — including which Postanya blend actually uses one (the Sumatra, not the Connecticut with its Pennsylvania broadleaf binder).
They also cover El Mago's James Avenue, a regular-production line inspired by the James Hotel in Miami Beach: four distinct 6x54 box-pressed toros — Connecticut, Habano, Maduro (Mexican San Andrés) and Sumatra — each with its own internal blend rather than just a wrapper swap, priced around $11 in 20-count boxes. Then the bad news: Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy vetoed SB 24, which would have legalized cigar lounges in the state, because of the bill's new 25% e-cigarette tax and 75% wholesale tax on synthetic nicotine products — a repeat of his 2022 veto of SB 45.
The show closes with "What's the Score?", where the hosts guess the halfwheel score on Charlie Minato's review of the Gurkha 35th Anniversary Torpedo (Dominican, Tabacalera El Artista, Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder, Estelí filler). Clues describe a remarkably smooth, pepper-free smoke with roasted chestnut and bread notes that also turned bitter and generic — final score: 85. Palmer also announces a July 9 appearance at Creekside Cigars in Ohio.
In This Episode
- 01Patreon, Swag and Listener CommentsThe hosts plug chpod.com swag and the Patreon, read listener comments, and tease the upcoming July mask reveal.
- 02Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping UpdateInvestigators reveal two ransom notes sent to Savannah Guthrie's family, the second claiming the 84-year-old had died, prompting a discussion of presumed-death and life insurance timelines.
- 03Bailey Zimmerman Arrest WarrantCourt documents detail the country singer's allegedly intoxicated rampage at Sandia Resort and Casino, including $16,000 in hotel damage and a $400 minibar bill.
- 04Waymo Recall and Tesla CrashWaymo recalls roughly 3,800 robotaxis over construction-zone and flood-detection failures while a self-driving Tesla crashes into a Florida home and kills a woman.
- 05World Cup Betting and Sports TalkA quick detour into World Cup odds, a wild Messi/Mbappé/Haaland parlay stat, and Christian Pulisic.
- 06Rocky Patel Sapphire ShipsDetails on the newest gem-series Rocky Patel — San Andrés wrapper, double binder, Condega and Jalapa filler, four vitolas — plus a primer on why double binders matter.
- 07El Mago James Avenue LineNick Fusco's El Mago ships four distinct 6x54 box-pressed blends inspired by Miami Beach's James Hotel: Connecticut, Habano, Maduro and Sumatra.
- 08Alaska Governor Vetoes Cigar Lounge BillGov. Mike Dunleavy kills SB 24 — and with it legal cigar lounges — over new e-cigarette and synthetic nicotine taxes bundled into the legislation.
- 09What's the Score: Gurkha 35th Anniversary TorpedoThe crew guesses Charlie Minato's halfwheel score for a smooth but ultimately generic Gurkha, landing on 85.
Brands & Cigars Discussed
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Transcript
Here we go. Okay. And three, two, one, action. welcome to a cigar hustler podcast where cigars are just the starting point join me mike palmer with mike stepan kevich and back with us today from his movie phil mcguffey as we dive into the latest cigar industry news sports current events business and whatever crazy stories are making headlines crazy not a lot of crazy stories making headlines what was this movie well you said we got in trouble for the other one i'm sort of leaning off of that if possible oh did we we got Did you get in trouble?
You said we did from a short because something 18 and over thing or something. Oh, no, it wasn't that. Oh. Yeah, no, it was like Carney's Hootin' and Young whole pitch thing that he just threw in the middle or something.
Oh, about tobacco. Yes, it was something weird. Gotcha. That whatever he said, it got pelted for 18 plus.
Oh. Oh, well then his new movie, I'll come up with something now. Oh, you don't have one? No, I didn't have it ready.
I figured we got slapped on the hand. You got slapped on the hand. I was leaning away. You got slapped on the hand.
Let's just leave it at that. All right. Whether you're a seasoned cigar smoker or just looking for entertaining conversation, expect honest opinions, plenty of laughs, and a few unexpected detours along the way. On today's show, we have a Guthrie update.
Uh-oh. Country Western star, Bailey Zimmerman. Anybody know who he is? No.
Yeah. Oh, okay. Good. Somebody does then.
He's wanted in New Mexico. Uh-oh. More Waymo problems. Mmm.
They cannot drive themselves. Self-driving cars. Yeah. Then in cigars, we have a new Rocky Patel, El Mago is shipping, and no more lounges in Alaska.
Oh. Oh. " But first, Mikey, how do we get some of that CHPod swag, and what's this Patreon everyone is raving about? Oh, everyone's raving about the Patreon.
Everyone's raving. Yeah. Lots of raving. Lots of raving.
Lots of raving. Like and Subscribe. Uh-uh. That has to happen?
Yes. Just like edge of attainment and all that? Right. Am I too shiny?
A little. Yes, a little. You are shiny. There you go.
There you go. One hit. Like and Subscribe. We're reviewing and listening to this show.
Sorry. Just one snap. I got excited. I'm sorry, I got excited.
One snap. I apologize. Like and Subscribe. We're reviewing and listening to this show.
Check out our... Take 10! com for all our chpod swag, where you buy one and get the second one 40% off, spend $100 or more and get free shipping. com, A Cigar Hustlers Podcast.
Between the chpod and our Patreon, it is our means of revenue for this podcast. It's the only way we get our ramen. com, some comments from the show, from the previous show, shall we get into this, let's get into this, by the way, I'm slapping What happened, this thing right here? Have you ever heard of this one, Palmer?
BD, I saw that, I said that yesterday. Oh, yeah. Dude. Team BDP.
Haven't had one in a while. Just as good as it was. No, I would say that it's better. Oh, they're aging well.
At Rooks Coding says: Mike, the podcast always turns out great. Thank you, brother. He's great. He's great, yes.
CW6383 says: I don't know who's complaining about the quality of the show or its content. In my opinion, ACHP is by far the best show out there. Sorry, Alex, Mark, Jared, and Zach. Sorry, but not sorry.
Cigar guys? Yeah. Brilliant, epic, huge. I love that.
He starts his day with us every day. Somebody complaining about the quality of our show? Yeah. You were yesterday, you didn't say anybody else was, it was just you personally.
Oh. You like to keep it. Yeah, just keep the standard up. You know what I mean?
" You know what I mean? You know, today we were talking about, you know, I was like, "Oh, I gotta go, we're doing a show early today," and I think he was a little disappointed he's not on to this. Yeah? Yeah.
" Really? I don't know, thank you. What else are you gonna do? Dude, my left headphone just crapped out.
Can you still hear me on left and right on yours? Yeah, I can hear you. I hear you over here. Okay.
Well, you know, but like, what was great, though, is that he takes instructions pretty well. I gotta give him credit on that. 'Cause as soon as I said, "Hey, man," he was bam, right into it, you know? Right.
We got a Muppet Greg today, went up on the, from Fanart. Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah. It's a good Muppet Greg.
It's a good Muppet Greg. Oh, I wonder if we can create one of those. There's gotta be a way to do it. Like a real one?
Even if it was just a sock or something. A sock Muppet? We could do a Sockbop. Oh, that would be hilarious.
We might find one that looks like him on Amazon or something. " Yes, Mikey's mom. Sharon. Oh, that's awesome.
What is going on with my headphones, dude? Is it loose or something? Is that better? I don't know.
I just switched to mono now. It's not doing anything. Oh. It's weird.
Like, I can only hear it out of the right, not the left. The right, not the left. I only have the right end. I know.
I don't know what to tell you. Were they charged? Yep, I think so. What do you mean, if the lights are on?
So, yeah. So, anyways. See, mom does not like it when you're mean to the golden child. Right.
You know what I mean? Yeah, don't be mean to Greg. Yeah. Oh, it's coming back.
He's the favorite. Dude, this is super weird. It just came back. Oh, okay.
Like, it slowly starts... Oh, nope, there it goes again. It's fading in and out. It's like doing this, yeah.
It's kind of like my real life. That's right. You're partially deaf in your left ear sometimes? No, his life is fading in and out a little.
Yeah, that's it. So, Epicure in Smoke says: "So Law is a herpetologist. I learned something from ACHP every day. " Yeah, but it was funny because Law said that he knew something about alligators.
And he knew nothing. It was completely wrong. Ben Rollins says: Jersey Mike's is top tier, although not cheap. My go-to fast food.
I didn't say that one yet, right? Yeah, you read that yesterday. I did. Yeah.
See, this is what happens when you do an early show. You've got a handful of comments. Yeah, there's not many comments yet. Now, wait a second, you said somewhere there was, what, the Wikipedia?
Wikipedia? Yeah, somebody had suggestions for Wikipedia. I don't remember who it was, but I can tell you what they were. Let me see.
First of all, Palmer, if it's not in front of Mikey's eyes, we're not believing a word you said. It's in your favor. Oh, is it? Yes.
We'll see. Let me see the newest here. Oh, there's a couple other ones. I screwed that up.
Oh. No Team Money? In Triple G's defense, he always does a fantastic job. C-dub, C-dub.
He gets his comments in early. He does. So he can go to sleep. He works nights.
Oh yeah, that sucks. Yeah, I don't see, I don't see it. Go ahead, tell me. They said make his address, the address for Alcatraz on the island.
Oh. Oh, is that what they're referencing? Are you referencing? I'm guessing that's the way I took it.
No. That's not what they were talking about? That was not the Wikipedia. Oh, then what was it for then?
No, that was somebody that had access to the test on the site. Oh. Yeah. And you're blowing my Easter eggs out of the water here.
No, I didn't. I didn't. If you hadn't said site, then nobody would have known. Let's just leave it at that.
Alright. Let's leave it at that. If you want to hear your comment read aloud on this show, comment below and I may or may not read it out loud. Like that one?
Like that one? Because it wasn't a comment. It was. I don't know where it was, though.
I did see that. Oh, okay. Yeah. But it was a comment, but it wasn't a Wikipedia comment.
Oh, that's the way I took it. I might see if I can figure that out. Make him famous. Household name.
Household name. That was the goal. Wait until you see. Listen, I got a sneak peek of your July mask, And I'm going to tell you, you're going to love it, you're going to love it, I saw it being created, sent me a video of it being created.
You guys should do like a movie of it. It, dude, it is, it is incredible. Like a short movie. Well, we got to wait till we debut it.
A short movie? And then whoever, yeah, and then whoever makes the most comments all month long, I sign the mask and send it to them. It sounds like more work for me, I don't feel like I want to do any of that. You don't comment?
No, dude, I don't, listen, these masks are not, like, this shit's intricate, it's, these aren't some cheap run-of-the-mill thing, like, this thing's gonna go back into rotation, they're gonna get tabled and it'll come back for July or whatever, I can't see us just saying, okay. These masks? Yeah, that was a good 30 days, thank you very much. Yeah, there's just no way, man, I mean, dude, I'm gonna tell you, when you see this mask, you're not gonna wanna give it away.
I thought it would be something funny. Like, I was like, you know, you should do a firework that looked kind of phallic. That would be hilarious that you wore something like that. Maybe it's like a Rufio mask.
There's another comment if you want to. Hot off the presses. Rufio. At Brett Mercurio says just be a good person.
Yeah, right. Right. It's not hard. I don't, like, I, yeah.
It's something I say all the time. It's not, it really isn't difficult. He isn't difficult. You know?
Yeah, dude, the mask. Shout out to David Hasselhoffman for bringing the heat. Oh, Baywatch. Did you see he's coming back?
David Hasselhoffman? There's a new Baywatch coming out. Yeah, but he's not in it. Wow.
They are remaking it. I saw a picture of him in a wheelchair. I don't think he's running down the beach anymore. The guy's got to be in his 80s.
Eating a cheeseburger? No, not that. I was always drunk eating a cheeseburger. Laying down on the ground.
Laying down on the ground. That's awesome. All right, well, hey, let's get on with the show. All right, we got a Guthrie update.
Okay. Is this the lady of the mom? Yeah, first, she's still missing. Yeah, she's gone.
She's still missing. S. presenter Savannah Guthrie was abducted from her home, claimed she had died, according to investigators. So this was just released.
They asked him not to release this before. The note was one of two addressed to Nancy Guthrie's family and sent to the news media in days after her January kidnapping. The first demanded millions in bitcoin for her release, but then the second stated that she had died. S.
media, the note from the possible kidnappers reportedly stated that they did not mean for her to die and included an apology to the family. We're very sorry. The Pima County Sheriff's Department declined to comment on the contents of the notes, But said the investigation remains active and ongoing. S.
partner CBS and other outlets reported on Monday that the law enforcement had requested that media hold off publishing details of the notes while they investigate it. That's why nobody said anything to now. According to the information, the first note gave detailed information about the inside of the house, what was inside the lady's bedroom, and various things they wouldn't have known unless they had actually gone in there. You have a lot of ash on your shirt.
I don't know why. On the other side. Maybe it's a piece of string. It's like on your stomach, too.
Oh, it's on your pants. Right in the middle of your pants. Great. We're getting slapped again.
That's a big check I got to put on that one. So they knew. You think they knew? They knew that she was gone.
Well, yeah, but I think in the beginning, They weren't sure, you know, if the notes were legit, but then, I guess by now, I mean, you would think. Somebody gives an in-detail email or letter or whatever it is. Right, right, whatever the thing was, it addressed to the lady, it was like, you know, her bedroom's blue, she's got a yellow pillow, whatever the information was. About the interior of the house.
Right. Let me ask you guys a question. Okay, one question. I'm not, I'm not privy to a lot of this area, but if somebody is kidnapped and you have a life insurance policy on them, Does that still hit?
Yeah. Yeah. So you think maybe this is like an insurance fraud? Well, wait, but there has to be a body, I would imagine.
No, I think after X amount of time, listen, I'm not an insurance agent, let me just say this. Oh, they can, yeah. You know, because I will tell you that I have seen some of our short clips, I get yelled at from the left and the right, all in the same clip. Right.
It's incredible. I'm like, wow, that was awesome. I pissed off everybody in one sentence. Right.
They're like, you don't know what you're talking about. I'm like, yes, you're right. You're out of line. You're exactly right.
Yes, you're right, too. Yeah, perfect. Okay, everybody, let's go get me. Oh, wait.
No, let's not get me. It's just wild, dude. So, I think that after X amount of time, if a body doesn't appear, they declare a person. You can have them declared dead.
Yeah, you can have them declared dead. I wonder what the time is. I mean, I've heard of that before, too, but, I mean, this lady's been missing since February. I'm sure she's probably.
What's the term amount of time for a person to be declared dead if they haven't found a body for life insurance? No, I've lost track. It's February of this year she went missing, right? Not last year?
Do you want me to use ChatGPG for that? " It was February this year, right? I think so. Is it February?
I feel like we've been following this for a long time. The second note was sent on February 6th. Yeah, I feel like it's been a long time, but I don't think it's been a year, has it? The person can be declared legally dead after being missing for seven years without contact allowing beneficiaries to claim the insurance.
However, insurance typically requires a certified death certificate or a court order declaring death, which can be challenging without a body. Some policies may include clauses for presumed death after a certain period, but these vary by insurer. It's advisable to consult with an insurance company and legal counsel to understand specific policies. I don't think the TV lady would've needed her.
No, no, she's good. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Who knows?
There's been crazy things done. Seven years? It has not been seven years. Yeah, but maybe that's why they're leaving the notes, like, oh, she's dead, and then what if the sheriff or whoever it is, you know, declares her dead, and then they go, oh, here's the death certificate.
This note came a couple days after the first one. It used language similar to that of the first one, but did not include any demands. Instead, apologizing for her death and stating it was inadvertently happened. It's just weird that kidnappers send two notes like that.
Well, the- We want the money. Oh, sorry, she's dead. Right. He sounds a little loud, too, today, doesn't he?
Mm-hmm. No, not any more than usual. Yeah. We never mess with his settings.
Really? Yeah. Maybe you turned your volume up several times trying to get your stuff to work. I can hear you, like- Fine.
Yeah, but he's like a little... No? No, I'm the normal. Maybe you're just going.
Maybe you're just going. We'll have Jack Tronok chime in later. After the two notes, Amanda Guthrie and her siblings released a video addressing the kidnappers. We received your message and we understand.
The MSE host said, we beg you now to return our mother to us. She said the family would pay. So they would pay for the body. So they get the interns money.
Their father got to wait seven years. Right. Right, yeah, it's a long time. Here, we'll give you a million, we're going to get seven million.
Hey, we didn't realize it was going to take this much time. We didn't forget to check the small print. I don't think that that's accurate. I mean, maybe depending on what type of policy they have.
I don't know, dude. You would think we would have heard by now if they had some giant multi-million dollar insurance policy. I don't know. Did you see Savannah Guthrie on some of her posts and stuff?
I tried not to watch it. She looks strung out, man. There's no... Maybe it's the dad.
The flaky sister and the son-in-law. How do you know they're flaky? Well, they took the guy in and questioned him, and they took the daughter in and questioned him, so... Of course, that's maybe, I mean, look, that's just, you can either call it thorough police work or lazy police work.
They didn't take Savannah Guthrie in and question her. Yeah, because she's rich. Oh, okay. That's how that worked, they don't send, you don't interview that rich.
Should we take her in and ask her? Nah, she's rich, leave her. No, that'll be embarrassing. Yeah, she's on TV, for God's sake.
- We'll be all over NBC. We don't want that. - We don't want that. They'll badmouth us.
- Yeah. - They already think I'm an idiot. - They're already on to me. - They're on to me, oh no.
- I mean, we accidentally, oop, sorry. - Okay, alright, so, moving on. - Yeah, so I mean, how hard are they really, are they just, are we doing a recovery now? Is that where we're at at this point, I guess?
- I mean, I think that that was safe to assume two months ago. - So we're in March, April, May, June, July. Is it February? No way.
It says February. February 6th, so she was busy since earlier than that. So you think the kidnappers are keeping the body? No, no.
They've gotten rid of the body. That body's a long time. Yeah, they've gotten rid of that. But I was counting to think decomposition.
What do you want to know? I mean, you can disclose where it's at. Yeah, we threw it in Lake Jessup. Good luck.
Good luck. That's why the algae bloom is there. Right. It happens.
I don't know how to take. All right, let's get out of this one. All right, an arrest warrant has been issued for country music artist Bailey Zimmerman in New Mexico following the cancellation of his Albuquerque concert in May. Right row.
That's not why they're after him. Okay, sit down. This is a long story. According to court documents filed in Bernanillo County Metropolitan Court, Zimmerman was scheduled to perform a concert at Sandia Resort and Casino on May 27th.
Okay. Documents say, "Following a golf game, Zimmerman and his personal security were escorted to a hotel on the fifth floor. After an hour, Zimmerman and his group then left the room and went to Sandia Amphitheater. Sandia Security noted that Zimmerman was angry with his band and his manager.
" Okay, of course. See, Zimmerman arrived to the amphitheater, he went on stage, he took a guitar from one of his personnel and swung it before tripping and falling backwards. Cordocuments, again noted, it appeared Zimmerman was intoxicated. Sounds like drunker behavior, yeah, okay, got it.
So during soundcheck, Cordocuments say Zimmerman took cymbals from the drummer, threw them onto the stage, and pushed a set of drums. He then tried to sit down and fell backwards again. Okay, so it can't stand up, got it. Can't stand up.
According to Cordocuments, he then threw a microphone to the ground and it rolled off the stage. He then went to the sound tent, back to the stage, where he took another microphone. Get to the part where he does something bad, like really illegal. I get it.
He's drunk and belligerent, and he's been doing it for hours. Okay? Check. He trashed his hotel room.
You want me to just jump to it? That's why he's getting... That's why... $16,000 in damage to the hotel room.
That's called being a rock star. like, what's... Yeah. But he didn't pay for it.
That's the manager's job. Well, nobody paid for it. Yeah. So he's got an arrest warrant for wrecking a hotel?
Well, and the stage, and then he hit and broke a light box, kicking another black box in an aggressive manner. They went back to the SUV, threw a water bottle down a set of stairs, drank from another, spit at security, then went back where... Okay, what state was this in? New Mexico.
New Mexico. Is there extradition in New Mexico? Extradition? I don't know.
Extradition? Serious? The police were called again to the room that was occupied by Zimmerman's security and housekeeping staff found damage to the room after it was vacated. Officials found damage to the TV, broken phone, damage to the coffee table.
Who is this guy? He's a country, he's a 26 year old country western star, I've never heard of him. Yeah, I'm not asking you, I'm asking the guy who knows. Yeah, he's like an up and coming.
What'd you say? Nothing. What'd you say, Angry Palmer? I said, excuse me.
Oh, you're excused, you're excused. Who is he? He's like an up and coming country star. Yeah?
Yeah. Any hit songs? Not, no, he just opens for a lot of big names. So that's kind of how he's gotten his stardom, if you will.
So he's not even a big deal? He's got two hits that I've never heard of either one. Yeah, they're not. What were they called?
Mr. Palmer? I don't know. Oh, you don't have that info?
No. Yes, you do. No, I don't. We need to go back to Rosie, the ChatGPT star.
Rosie, the ChatGPT, who's that? Is it on your phone? I don't even, dude, I couldn't even tell you the guy's name, that's how insignificant this is. Right.
So the guy trashed a hotel for 16 G's, another- Plus a $400 alcohol bill. Plus the $400 alcohol bill. He drank $400 worth of alcohol in the room. And he's not...
$400? $400? Yeah, he just massacred... Was that three bottles?
He massacred the... From the minibar. He trashed the room in the minibar. Drink everything in the minibar, trashed the room.
Well, if you take one from the minibar, they charge you for the whole minibar. Oh, dude. For the peanuts and everything. It's capped out at that point.
Yeah. It's a $400 fridge. He probably broke that too, man. broke that too man probably took the fridge might have broke that too all right so okay told you it wasn't much news today yeah very slow news it's always like summertime's the worst yeah you know it's like no one's watching tv it's all uh everything on google trends is world cup yeah right now it's all world cup stuff hey i did see a cool tweet from the world cup somebody said yeah yeah what was it you want me to tell you sure i like this okay i think this is a good idea Okay.
Every time the USA team beats a country, that country then has to go back to their country and call it "soccer" for the rest of the year. Oh, I saw that. Yeah. You don't like that?
No. You didn't think that was funny? No. You're just grumpy.
What about you? If we win the World Cup, can we change it to soccer? Oh, instead of football. Yeah.
Wow. Is your butterfly mask a little tight? I mean, it's been football. I told you.
I told you if I was in a bad mood because there's no precedent today. How am I in a bad mood? You're striking out at both of us. Not striking out, but you're lashing out at both of us.
Did you know... Tell me. in the past two games... Yes.
that Argentina has played in... Uh-huh. Okay, I'm gonna go slowly on this. If you were to pick Lionel Messi for two goals in Argentina's last two games...
Yeah. if you were to pick Mbappe from France in his last two games for two goals... 4 million. No way.
Yeah. Stop it. I swear. How much did you win?
No, I didn't put, now I know a lot of people that put it on his last game, they put, but they didn't put $100, everybody was putting like six bucks, six bucks won them $800. Really? Mm-hmm. Wow.
Like a true gambler. So I guess it's statistically unlikely for a top-tier guy to get two goals in a game. Yeah, that's what they say. But these guys are like, these are the superstars.
Right. These are the Wembees. Yeah, tonight is England, Henry Kane. We'll see.
And you have Cristiano Ronaldo. Yeah. Anyway, sorry. Okay.
Just thought it was a crazy little stat. That's an interesting stat. So, who's the guy in the USA? Polsic.
Who? Polsic. Christian Polsic. Polsic?
Yeah. Did you hear about, like, the Nigerian guy or something that came over? I did, yeah. He could play for, like, three different countries or whatever.
Well, he was born in the USA. He's playing in the USA or something? Yeah. I think he was Nigerian.
I don't know. That's how involved I am with soccer. It's actually pretty exciting, man, to be honest, if you watch it. It sounds exciting.
You know, it's also exciting. This podcast right now. Yeah. Let's all watch you, uh, fill your letter.
Oh, let's get on to the next, uh, story. Oh, he's squirting for all of you. I'm sorry. You better come up with a name for his last movie.
That's all I'm saying. He has come for me twice. He has come for me twice. He has come for me twice.
You put the That's the thing near the microphone. He said, move it to, oh, there's something in the center of your pants. And now he's like... Film McGuffey's new movie, there's something in the center of your pants, it's squirting.
My pants is squirting. It's a long title. It is a long title. It wouldn't make it on IMBD or that.
It's a working title, they'll shorten it down. It's not your best work. They'll shorten it down. I don't, nothing is really top dead inside me as far as I'm concerned.
All right, Wymo's company's fleet is currently undergoing a nationwide software recall and operational modifications that impact local service. What'd they hit now? Everything, apparently. They ran over a dog, allegedly.
The autonomous ride-hailing service is still technically active. Wymo has faced regulatory mandates, service suspensions affecting its operation. NHTSA software recalls, Wymo recalled approximately 3,800 robo-taxis, following an incident where vehicles failed to recognize construction zones, ramp closures, and flooded roadways. These cars just go anywhere they want now.
Did you see that, I saw a video, I don't know how true it is or not, but I saw a video that Tesla had one of their taxis out in Orlando. I saw that, the gold one. Yeah. Yeah.
The gold taxi. Oh, they're gold. Yeah, they're gold. You can tell that's the taxi.
It's the taxi. But it's just one, I saw. Yeah, testing it out. Where Wymo sent out the entire fleet.
Dude, when Tesla takes the field for this, it's gonna blow all the other ones out of the water. Speaking of Tesla, what's with this whole IPO thing? I heard that it made like 4,000 people rich or something like that. The SpaceX thing?
No, you said Tesla. Yeah, no, no, SpaceX. Oh, SpaceX. Speaking of Tesla.
I don't know. Well, if you're an employee, and you had shares, they can't sell until Q2 earnings, and then they can only sell I think 20%. Again, here's my disclaimer, I'm not a financial advisor, but I think that after Q2 earnings, they can sell up to 20% of their shares, and they'll instantly become millionaires. Yeah, that's what that's what it said in the article.
Yeah. And then I think if earnings are up past a certain amount, like as far as the original IPO opening, they can sell another 10%. So. Hmm.
Hmm. Yeah. Hey, he's just a badass. Yeah.
He's just sharing the wealth. Uh, well, no, he's usually, it's got to come from somewhere, buddy. I can do this for you. Yeah, it does.
Yeah, you're right. : Yeah. : Well, you need to go from one place to the other. : While Orlando remains listed on the Waymo service area directory, the company previously paused its autonomous service in several other cities like Atlanta and Texas due to weather and flood hazards.
com. : Mm-hmm. : All of you can find out on our list. : All right.
: All right. : All right. : All right. : All right.
: All right. : All right. : All right. : All right.
: All right. In the service area directory, the company previously paused its autonomous service in several other cities like Atlanta and Texas due to weather and flood hazards. com. Mm-hmm.
Also, a Tesla crashed through a woman's home yesterday and killed an elderly woman who was sitting-- Ooh, it killed somebody. Yes, the guy had it in drive mode or whatever it's called and it crashed through the car. There's video. In auto mode?
Is that auto or like them driving? The car was driving itself, whatever they call that. Yeah. Yeah, and it went very quickly, I saw the video, went very quickly through the front window of the lady's house, pinned her against the wall, and killed her.
It showed her pinned against the wall? No, it was the neighbor's ring doorbell. It showed it. It comes into frame going really fast and then disappears into the house.
Oh. I'd like you to keep an eye on that story. I'm wondering exactly what went down there. I want to know if it's real.
It was real. Why would they make that up? What would it be fake? Well, AI.
There's a lot of AI stuff. Well, I mean, they gave the lady's name and her family. There was a statement from her daughter who found her pinned up against the refrigerator. I need a death certificate.
Against the refrigerator. Yeah. So, it went through the front, went into the kitchen, and pinned the lady against. So, hit, drag, drag, drag, smash.
Death bite. Dime stop on the fridge. Death bite. It was going pretty quick.
Sorry. I mean, I've never been in one or driven one, but couldn't the guy have seen the house coming? Maybe he fell asleep. They said he was awake and he passed a DUI test, so he wasn't drunk or anything.
Well, he's definitely awake after he smashed through the window. Yeah, I woke up then, whoa, hey, here we go. Uh-oh. Oh, there's a fridge.
Oh, sorry, ma'am, I apologize. Can you believe, I mean, what's the church group meeting look like after that? Well, he's definitely in one of those groups. Hey, you're not gonna fucking believe this.
You know the plaid that I got? Yeah, yeah, well, it decided to meet a person in its house, you know, and pinned it against its Samsung fridge, it was a beautiful fridge, the kind you can see through the door on the video screen tells you what you need to buy, it's beautiful, it's a nice fridge, yeah, I think, I think these automated, this is why I don't get on them, it's just issues, you're a Luddite, a what, a Luddite, a Luddite? Yeah, that's the guys that live underground and eat gophers. No, no, I mean, I'm not living underground, but I'm just like, would you get one?
Yeah. Have you gotten one? No, I haven't seen one. No, it hasn't worked out yet.
But I'm, I gotta, dude, I'm leaning towards getting something. A Tesla? Yeah. He just doesn't want to drive himself.
Did you see these? Exactly, you're 100% correct. Did you see in Japan that they have these semis that are battery powered? Amazon's gonna be launching them soon.
Yeah, you see, so you've seen this? Mm-hmm. Okay. They have those delivery trucks that are...
Yeah, that's what... Oh, you're talking about Amazon. But this is like an automated Amazon semi-truck. Oh, sure.
Yeah, and then when it gets to its destination, and it's on low charge, it has like a machine that changes out the battery and puts the other one on charge. Oh, it just swaps it out? Yeah, it swaps it out, so that way it can go like another 500 miles. Can you imagine that thing running into you?
Oh, okay. Maximus Prime. Maximus Prime? It's Optimus.
Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Hey, copyright. Yeah.
20%. 20%. S. or country of the United States versus Optimus Prime for murder.
He dime stops on fridges, too. All right, cigar news. Maybe he didn't want to hurt the fridge. That's my fridge.
That's where he stops. Oh, no. Oh, that's my cousin. Yeah.
I just can't believe he didn't just like blow through the fridge, but it sounds like he's going pretty fast. Well, I mean, he'd already hit the outside wall, the lady, the inside wall, you know, maybe at that point the car went, oh, hit the brake. Oh, there's a barrier. There's a barrier.
I don't know what construction is, I can't do construction zone. The driver was okay though, huh? Yeah, he was fine, minor injuries. That's a good safety.
Makes you feel pretty good about Tesla. Yeah, that's a good safety. Well, you're inside the car, not outside. Hey, so I killed a person, and you're not...
But I'm fine. But I'm okay. I'm okay. The car's got some damage.
And technically, I didn't unalive them. The car did, because I wasn't driving at the time. Right, so I'm not responsible. The car's got a couple scratches.
We can buff that out. It actually backed out of the house and took me to my destination. They're taking me home. I still can't get out.
I'm in the garage. You should call the police, kid. No, that's not what it did. It said, nothing happened today.
You saw nothing. Yeah. Okay. If you want to make it to your next destination, you're gonna hide me.
GTA style. GTA. Oh. Okay.
All right. Let's get some cigar news. All right. Rocky Patel Sapphire heads the stars.
Rocky. Rocky. I still wish he had an accent. Didn't he have a Sapphire before?
Yeah. I don't know. 's unofficial precious metals and stones This week the company is shipping the new Rocky Patel Sapphire, a new line from Nicaragua. Blend wise, it uses a Mexican San Andreas wrapper over two binders, one from Esteli and the other from Hammerstrand.
Okay, two binders, double binder. Double binder is good. So, you know, depending upon the wrapper, so there's three components of a cigar. You have the wrapper, which is the outside leaf.
You have the binder, which keeps the filler together. And so, like, kind of going the other way around, you have your filler, then you have your binder, and then you have your wrapper. If you had two binders, you could have different flavor profiles and added complexity. Nice.
Or it could just be garbage. I mean, it could really go either way. Yeah. Thanks.
You're welcome. It could either be good or bad. I mean, it could. Right.
It really could. Sure. Are we talking about the Sapphire or just Cigar? He's just talking cigars in general, as it applies to the staff.
Like, doing a double binder is awesome if you do it right. Sure. Didn't you have a cigar with a double binder? Yeah, I do.
Yeah. I do. Did you know that? Yeah.
Which one is it? The Connecticut. No. It's not the Connecticut?
No. Which one is it? Puppet Greg says, wrong. Puppet Greg, oh, it's the finger.
The finger. Just draw a little face on your finger. We gotta put like some silver on it. The Connecticut had a double binder.
It is not. The Connecticut has a Pennsylvania Broadleaf binder, which makes it so full-bodied. The one's the one you always peel, to show people. The Connecticut.
Okay. To show that it's got a darker binder. But you know what's even funnier with that is there's some Pennsylvania binder that isn't dark, but still has that flavor profile. The double binder, national sales manager for Postanya, sir, is the Sumatra.
-Oh, the new one? -Correct. Makes sense. -You do the press releases.
-Um, I don't think I did that when you did. Oh, no, I didn't. I didn't. -No?
No? Yeah. -I could have sworn it. I thought that's why you peeled the Connecticut.
I was so sure. -No, I peeled the Connecticut to show the Pennsylvania Broadleaf Binder. -Well, their fillers are from Condega and Jalapa regions of Nicaragua. -Okay.
The company says that the outside of the wrapper, all of the tobacco comes from its own farm and said to be six to seven years old. Okay. It's rolled at Tabla Calera, Vila Cuba, SA, and Esteli. Sapphire is spewing in four Vitolas, a Robusto, a Gordo, a...
Toro? They don't give a name for this one. There is also a Toro. It's also a Toro.
Does it say the Vitola size? Well, that must be the Gordo, it must be the way they wrote it. 5x50, the Gordo is a 6x46. Gordo is a 6x46?
No, it's not. That's what it says. That doesn't make any sense. It says the Rocky Patel Sapphire, oh, Corona Gordo area is 6x46.
Okay, alright. And then the Rocky Patel Sapphire 60, it's just called a 60, a 6x60. That must be the Gordo. It must be the way, it must be a typo.
Who pulls these articles for you? Half Wheel writes him. I don't read all the details. Greg.
Greg is the new puller. Greg. Greg pulls all these articles. Greg.
Puppet Greg? Oh, there he is. 5x52. Sapphire comes in brilliant blue boxes that have an octagonal shape.
It follows recent releases like Rocky Patel Gold and Rocky Patel Emerald. So that's where your confusion is with the Sapphire. Got it. It's an impression metal series.
But it had an Emerald. Does it come with a piece of sapphire? No, just the box is the color of. It's the color of?
The color of sapphire. It would have been, it would have been dope if you would have put like a little gem in there. Well, then I think the, would have been more than $17 for a cigar. An emerald and a sapphire, if you put like just like a little chip of it, it's not much.
I mean, you can buy them at the mall. You can buy them at the mall? Yeah, you can, you know, all the necklaces, the Burstow necklaces. Sanford Mall's closed.
Is it? Yeah. The only thing that's open is, what, Burdine's over at the far end. Shortest open?
The mall's not, you can't get in the mall, just Burdine's. Yeah, yeah, 'cause they're doing the construction. What's the construction about? Costco, remember?
Supposedly they're making a Costco and a apartment complex. The nation's biggest Costco. You could live with that. Yeah, you go downstairs, get your hot dog.
Right. Maybe you can have a delivery brought upstairs. Go back upstairs. Well, and they'll still have Elevate, too, so you got a place for your kids.
Costco Carrier Service. Oh yeah, Elevator is still open. I think. I haven't been on that side of the mall.
Yeah, it's still open. We have one in our mall called Activate and it's pretty cool. Like there's little rooms that you go into and stuff and you do like these games. Yeah.
The Ultima Mall? Yeah. And it's pretty badass. But here's what I'm going to tell you.
It hasn't been open long and it already smells like ass in there. It's so bad. Oh, really? Yeah.
I'm like, what's going on here? Like some things are already kind of busted. And if you go there, like I went there with, I think, four kids, I think there was like five of us total, me, Brittany, and three other, maybe three kids, and you know, I dropped like 200 on this thing for an hour. The smell booty.
Yeah, and I was just kind of like, and now these, and now these damn kids want to go back. I'm like, I don't want to go back. It's broken, it's closed, I don't know what to tell you. Yeah, for cleaning.
They went out of business. It happens. That's just what it is. Hmm.
Drive them by Sanford Mall and go, "This is the Mall Nighter. This is what it is. " Take them skating, man. Skating where?
Roller skating? Uh, Thursdays and Fridays, Deltona skating rinks open. You guys have one, though, I think I'll buy you. We do, and we've gone.
Kids love that. We went for a birthday party. They, they were, uh, yeah, I guess they did have a good time there. " Like no, because you guys are, again, I'm just hemorrhaging cash while I'm here.
Skating is usually pretty cheap as long as you stay away from the candy counter. Yeah, all that's chaos. $75 for Snickers. Oh, like I gave, so Justice was hungry.
It was a birthday party for, I think like somebody that was Teddy's age. But you know, so I don't ever encroach on the other kids. Like, so they were there, but I didn't want them to be part of the party. And Justice is like, "I'm hungry.
" I said, "All right, man. Here you go. " I meet up with him a few minutes later. The fucker bought a whole pie for him and his buddy.
He's got a whole pie of pizza. I'm like, now, where was the logic in this? Like, how did we get there? 75, and the lady said I was fine.
Yeah, no problem. I figured I'd treat my buddies. Yeah. Everybody, pizza on me!
Let's go. Baller. Yeah, that's right. He just walked here in a big old giant pie.
Kids have no concept of money. My dad's a sucker. Yeah, no doubt. My dad's rich, he sells cigars.
Yeah. Those two sentences don't go together, son. I don't know where he's heard. Yeah, exactly.
I got plenty of leaves. That's right. Just not the green ones. Yeah.
Not this kind. Yeah. El Mago, Mago, El Mago? El Mago.
El Mago ships the James Avenue. Ooh. El Mago has started shipping a new regular production line that was inspired by the James Hotel in Miami Beach. The James Avenue is actually four different cigars, each a 6x54 box press Toro, Nick Fusco, Fusco?
Fusco. Fusco, what? Fusco. Fusco.
No. Fusco. Fiasco. Fiasco.
Fiasco. Fiasco? No, it's not fiasco, I know what that word looks like. Founder of El Maggio cigars told Half Wheel that the four releases are not just a case of putting a different wrapper on the same internal blend and then each has a different internal blend.
Why would you say that? Why do you have to specify that? Pack that up. What did he say?
He made four cigars. Okay. They're all the same size. Okay.
He said it's not just a wrapper that changes. I changed the insides too. But they all have the same name. No, no.
It's the Jamestowns whatever. The first release is the James Avenue Connecticut. Okay. So four totally different blends.
Yes. Then there's James Avenue High. Habano. Okay.
So it has the name of the wrapper. But the insides are different too. I didn't just change the wrapper. I didn't shortcut these things he's saying.
But that's not really shortcutting. Like if the filler is really good on one cigar, you can change the wrapper on all three or four different times and it'll taste completely different. Right, but he wants you to know he also changed the insides. Maybe he should have had different names for all these things.
Why didn't he just say I just made some new cigars? You know what I'm saying? Right. That seems a little silly.
This is the pink and blue cigars, right? Yeah. Yeah, but these are different colors. Yeah, and different insides.
Yeah, different insides, right. And the Habano has a Habano wrapper. Oh, okay. Just in case it was a confusion.
Makes sense. That tracks. The Connecticut has a Connecticut wrapper. I get it.
Okay. Tell me the Sumatra has a San Andreas wrapper, and I am going to leave this podcast and never return. The Maduro has a Mexican San Andreas wrapper. Okay.
Why didn't you just call it San Andreas? The James Avenue Sumatra has a... Sumatra wrapper. Ah, very good.
See, you guys are killing me. Ding, ding, ding, ding. This is the way it works. So the only odd one is the Maduro?
Why didn't we call it the, like... Yeah. I don't know. Maduro has a Mexican San Andreas.
Maduro has a Mexican San Andreas. Yeah, I don't know why it didn't just call it Mexican San Andreas. That seems silly. Each cigar is the same price.
How much are they? Are they tubed? 20-count boxes, it doesn't say. Cigars are, nope, doesn't say if they have, do they, are they Bluetooth?
No, they're not Bluetooth. No? Do they have their own Wi-Fi? Yes, yes, they have their own Wi-Fi.
Do they come with some sort of AI technology? Uh, yes. Where it speaks to me? They tell you that the inside is also different than the wrapper.
Mimey. When you open the box. Mimey. Mimey.
Mimey. Mimey. Mimey. Mimey.
Mimey. Mimey. Mimey. Oh, we have another comment if you want to read it.
I don't. Okay. $16. It must be a good comment for Palmer to come out with that.
No, I don't know, just my phone went off. $18. Ooh, you went the wrong way, it's $11. $11?
$11. $11. What was the other ones? They were like $15, $16, weren't they?
Yeah, the pink ones and the pink and blue were more. Yeah, the tube ones were like $14 or something. Oh, it eliminates the tube, we can save some money. That's true.
Alright, the Alaska governor vetoes a bill that would have allowed four cigar lounges. Four? You're a terrible person. You're a terrible person.
Why are you going out of your way to stop what the people want? All right, hold on. Let's read on. I'll tell you.
It's not like there's not a lot of land there. Yeah, I mean, how close could these things be together? The towns are, you know, very well spaced. We have four towns.
Right. We have one per town. There's so much stuff. There's so many things to do in Alaska.
On Friday, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy vetoed SB 24, a bill that would have allowed for the creation of cigar lounges in the state. However, it wasn't the cigar lounge portion of the bill that led to the veto. Oh. It was a new tax on e-cigarettes.
In his veto letter, the governor said that while he supports efforts to keep tobacco and nicotine products away from minors, he could not support the creation of a new tax on expansion of the regulatory burden on retailers and increasing costs for both adult consumers and small businesses. Okay. Do you feel better? Why are they lumped in together?
Yeah, I'm not understanding. Well, that's the way they do those big bills. They hide stuff inside. I don't think that that should be allowed.
He did say that his administration stands ready to support the bill that raises the minimum age without imposing new taxes. SB 24 contains several changes to the state's laws regarding tobacco. First, it would have raised the state's minimum age to purchase and possess tobacco and nicotine from 19 to 21. Which is standard.
Okay. Alright. Bringing in line with the National Minimum, also changed state laws so that smoking would be allowed in retail cigar stores. Standard.
Providing it met several requirements, including generating at least 60% of the gross revenue from on-site cigar sales and rentals of humidors. Rentals? Locker, I guess? Oh, yeah.
Does not allow the smoking of cigarettes and contains a walk-in or stand-up humidor, among other requirements. But what ultimately did the bill do was the imposition of a new tax on electronic cigarettes at the rate of 25% of the retail sale price, as well as new state tax on synthetic nicotine products and nicotine substitutes at the rate of 75% of the wholesale price. 75% tax. That's because he likes to suck on the pouch is what you're saying.
Apparently, yes. Yes. He's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa, that's mine.
You can't mess with the sucking on the punch. This is not the first time Dunleavy has voted to kill a bill like this in 2022. He vetoed SB 45, which would have raised the tobacco purchasing age and imposed a tax on e-cigarettes. So a big cigarette guy.
Who's the snake that built the bill? You know what I mean? Oh, who wrote the bill? Yeah, here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna open up cigar lounges, and then we're gonna tax all this other stuff. Right. That's not okay. No.
And I want term limits, I think we can all agree on term limits, why hasn't that happened? Are there term limits? No. On a mayor?
No, I'm just saying in general, senators, whatever. Or governor. So there's only term limits on presidents? Yeah.
Well, that doesn't seem right. Yeah, Mayor Giuliani was the mayor for... I mean, I understand why it's on the president, but why it should be on everybody. Yeah, politicians aren't supposed to be lifetime politicians.
Right. Well, we could all move to Alaska and vote this guy out. Yeah, you're out of here. So there's just not allowed to be shops in Alaska, but they can still smoke cigars?
Yeah, he just didn't like the taxes. Yeah. I mean, he's not wrong to not like the taxes. Right.
But the messed up part is, you can grow weed in Alaska. Oh, can you? Yeah, you can grow your own marijuana. Oh.
Is it because they can't find you, or because it's legal? Do you know the amount of effort it would take us? Yeah. Yeah, we can't find this guy.
It's a lot of helicopter fuel. Yeah. Yeah, a lot of open land there. You've got the polar bear problems, you know what I mean?
Right, polar bears. I know how you feel about those. I don't like polar bears. Even in Antarctica.
Right. Where they don't exist. They don't exist in Alaska either, I don't think. Oh, yeah?
In Alaska? I don't know. I don't care where the bears are now. Oh my god, you just did though.
I think they're definitely in Alaska. I think they're definitely in Alaska. Hold on. I'm waiting, I'm waiting for you to hold on.
Yeah. No hold music though, no music while you're looking. Yeah, please don't do that. Polar bears exist in Alaska.
Oh good. Yeah. Just the one? S.
state where they live in the wild. Well, I would assume there's not any in Idaho. You don't think so? No.
Maybe they migrate. Maybe they were driven there. Well, there's only three. There's an estimated 4,000 to 7,000.
That's a big, broad stroke there, polar bears roam. Well, maybe it's hard to, you know, lock them down where they live. Yeah. One, two.
We're not sure how much they multiply. Wait, I counted that one already, I think, because look at him. He's got blood on his face. I knew you were going to say that.
I knew you. That's how they can't tell. Yeah. It's not like they're all in one place.
Well, guess what the eggs is in Alaska? Oh, good. I confirmed it for you. A lot of them.
4 to 7,000. Yeah. Yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot of.
Do you know how many states are equal or above the lowest portion of Canada? How many United States? What? Yeah.
Like if you look at a map. Right. And Canada dips into the US. Right.
Right? Eight. How many states actually clock in that same region? No idea.
Eight. It's more. - 12. - It's more.
- Really? - Yeah. - So it's gotta be all the top ones. - I mean, that would make sense.
- Yeah. - That would make sense. - It's not Florida. - What is that, 15?
- No, it's more. - Still more, huh? - Yeah. - 20.
- It's more. - 25. - You're getting closer. - More?
- Yeah. - Wow, we got some big states down here, man. A 30. - I think it's 27.
- Wow. - Yeah. - Most of the states touch that line. Wow.
Not the border. No, no, no, but you're saying the did down. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. The southernmost tip of Canada. Just the tip? Yeah.
Just the tip. Yeah. How'd you find out that fact? I don't know.
Was that one of those rooms you went in? Yeah, maybe. And you know the sad part is that John McTavish won't hear about this for another two years. Right.
He's probably screaming. He's over a hundred times. He's 27. If he's wearing cigars and listening to our show, he can catch up.
Mm-hmm. It's 27, we're infiltrating the 29. Just speed watch him. Just listen to him, just have him run all the time.
Yeah, it's crazy. Okay, all right, what else you got? All right, it's time for the industry's favorite game. What's the score?
Players hear clues from a half-wheel cigar review and try to predict the score before it's 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 to predict the score? Let's play, what's the score? What's the score? Did he win against Greg yesterday?
Yes, he did. Of course he did. Greg phoned it in. Phoned it in?
Yeah, if he said 84, Greg said 84. If he said 75, Greg said 75. Didn't even try. No, he did try.
He just doesn't know. That's there's a difference okay well he didn't go to the bathroom Palmer so he messed him up All right cigars May 14th 2025 Charlie Minato is the reviewer uh-oh the Gurkha 35th Anniversary Torpedo. What they're still making cigars? 2013.
2025 you said oh 2025 sorry yesterday was 2013. Oh my goodness you need the new red light - You know, you could actually go to Planet Fitness. They have red lights there. - Well, then you have to join, though.
- Is that a dollar a month? - It's not a dollar. - But how can you just sit there? - I don't know.
- I don't know. - I don't know. - Am I going first, or yeah? - Can I take it out with me and carry it around with a lung cord?
- Yeah. - Yeah. - Smoke a cigar in there and get a bagel. - Ooh.
- They don't do the food anymore. - No? - I heard they don't. - They stopped?
- They stopped bagel and pizza day. - Oh. - Wow, they're gonna lose a lot of customers. - Wow.
Right, to the bagel and pizza store next door. Yeah. No Judgment. You can go first.
Okay. Yeah. Lunker Alarm. Wait, oh wait, but you want me to go first.
I'll go first. I got confused there for a second. No, you going last put you in the advantage. So I'll go 82.
I'm not sure what just happened, but... I'll go first. Yeah, 81. I'm trying first.
I'm trying to be nice to you. Oh, thank you. 82. Cigar Review, the Gurga 35th Anniversary Toro, it is from the Dominican Republic, Factory Tablicalera El Artista, it's a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, binders in the Indonesian, filler is from Esteli, length is six and an eighth by 52.
It's round, and brown, and they smoked free of them, I'm on this one now, oh, with the double binder, nope, just the one binder, peel it back, show everybody, 82, do the foldy paper thing, I like that, you like the foldy paper thing, I like the foldy paper thing, um, 81, did you give a score, yeah, what'd you say, 82, yeah, then, yeah, Clue number one, the 35th anniversary really shines with its silky smooth profile and virtually no pepper. The roasted chestnuts, bread and creamy notes make for a refined and approachable smoke that never becomes harsh. Have you ever eaten a roasted chestnut? I'm just, I'm trying to figure it out.
Over open fire, yes. At Christmas time. Yeah, okay, whatever. Jack Frost nipping at my nose.
Nobody has eaten a roasted chestnut. Heel Todd Carroll. Don't sing. You can sing.
Yes, you can. Don't take a chance. They're afters right now. Stop.
They're afters now. Strike two. All right. We already got a strike one.
That's going to be strike three. Then we're out. Folks dressed up like Eskimos. Multiple strikes.
Eighty-four. Empire Strikes Back. Eighty-four. Did he say a score?
Did you score? Um, man, Charlie likes a cigar. Oh, Turkey. 89.
Clue number two. Construction was generally solid, and the oily wrapper gives the cigar an elegant presentation. Oh, shit. The Retro Hills offered some unique flavors with bread, berry sweetness, and even a fleeting tomato sauce note.
Wow. He's eating Italian. He was eating spaghetti that night. Wow.
Is Gurkha like the Nickelback of the cigar industry? Apparently. Where everybody makes fun of it, but we quietly listen to it? Is that what's happening right now?
Probably. Everybody smokes it, nobody likes it. Prison Gates, 86. 89.
Clue number three. These cigars are terrible. I don't know why I smoke. Despite moments of complexity, the profile often became bitter and earthy with generic flavors.
What? Generic flavor. He said spaghetti and meatballs. Right, spaghetti and meatballs on the other one.
That was generic. Generic spaghetti and meatballs. It's like the knockoff Fruit Loops, you know what I mean? It's not quite enough.
You know, all those rings have the same flavor, they're just different colors. Really. And then even burn requiring touch-ups along with the wrapper damage when removing the band detracted from the overall experience. They take off for some weird stuff.
That means he's taking off for taste. He took off because the band tore, I mean, then he took the band off too soon. Eighty-five. I mean, that's like user error.
Mmm. Mmm. Unless it was really glued on there. Eighty-four.
Final thought. By some measure, this might be the smoothest new cigar I've smoked in years. Oh. Up until the final third, there was simply no pepper, and even when I finally got some sharpness, it was very mild.
So if you are looking for a cigar that avoids a burning flavor at just about all costs, Excuse me. This is a great option. Unfortunately, the bargain isn't one I'm particularly fond of. While the flavors weren't bad, they were mostly acceptable and rarely ever crept into the good category, let alone great.
The Gurga 35th Anniversary Torpedo is not a bad cigar, but it is probably not a good sign when the most notable aspect is what I didn't find. 82. I feel like Charlie's nice. Let's go, butterfly.
84. What did you say? 82. He went the right way, 85.
Yeah, baby. I like that better than the fireworks. little hands little pudgy hands there i was i was flirting with 85 yep i thought somebody hit it all right that's it only got the one and that was just crazy he went back and forth like at first it was good i can there's no good review yeah then he's like oh uh it was the smoothest Best Cigar I've ever smoked. I want an SBC Redux.
Right. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then put in the note, just remember when you reviewed the Gurkha smoothie, not good spaghetti one.
That rank higher. Yeah. They got an 85. Just so everybody knows, July 9th, I'm going to be at Creekside Cigars.
Ooh. In Ohio. Ohio. So we're going to be doing an event there.
There. Oh, you gonna see Tyler? I don't know. Maybe.
Ohio is his state. Is it one of them? I think so. Okay.
Yeah. So, come see your boy. If you can't travel to Florida and you're gonna be in that area, I'll be there. Creekside.
Come get one of those double binders. Double binders. Double binders. Double binders cigar.
Mm-hmm. Anything else, Ed? I got nothing. All right, nothing.
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Show Notes
On todays show we have a Guthrie Update, Country western start Bailey Zimmerman is wanted in New Mexico, more Waymo problems, then in cigars we have a new rocky Patel, el mago is shipping and no new lounges in Alaska. Then a what’s the score .