ACHP REPLAY

Episode Summary

Episode 423 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast welcomes Erik Espinosa Sr. of Espinosa Cigars into the studio after an in-store event, joining hosts Mike Palmer and Mike Szczepankiewicz (plus fill-in video producer Fran Soletto). The first half is classic hangout radio — Amazon reportedly walking away from its 30-year USPS delivery deal, back-to-back Cloudflare outages taking down LinkedIn, Zoom, Canva and Shopify, and whether 81-year-old Al Michaels should keep the Thursday Night Football chair. Espinosa, who famously doesn't own a computer and has his team run everything digital, offers a blunt outsider's take on all of it.

The cigar news segment is where the episode earns its keep. The crew covers J.C. Newman shipping Zarzedas, the revived early-1900s "aromatic cigar" brand made at the PENSA factory in Estelí with an Ecuadorian wrapper over Dominican and Nicaraguan filler — which prompts Espinosa to push back hard on the term "Ecuadorian shade," explaining that Ecuador's natural cloud cover means the leaf isn't grown under artificial shade the way Connecticut shade is. They also cover Tabacalera Caballeros' limited J16 (San Andrés wrapper, Ecuadorian Sumatra-seed binder, $13, boxes of 20) and the Crowned Heads TAA Exclusive 2025, a $14.95 Robusto Extra rolled at Tabacalera Pichardo limited to 750 boxes.

Espinosa's best material comes in the industry talk: why he deliberately lists blends only as "Nicaragua" or "Connecticut" rather than revealing seed and priming details (his Colonel's-secret-recipe philosophy), how brutally hard it is to trademark a cigar name — which drove him to numbers like 601 and Portuguese names like Laranja and Azulejo — and his advice to anyone thinking of starting a brand: don't. He also reflects on lost brands he admired, especially Bahia, and argues that ratings can help a cigar but can't really hurt it, while Cigar of the Year honors genuinely move boxes.

The show closes with "What's the Score?", where Espinosa guesses halfwheel review scores from clues. He lands the Espinosa 601 Black Toro (Ecuador Connecticut wrapper) exactly at 85, and nails the Wilson Adams Mr. Wilson at 73 — a cigar the reviewer said induced genuine cigar sickness. Along the way he explains why he pulled the overpowering 601 Black Connecticut from the market and why the Espinosa Crema is now a top seller: flavor over strength.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Amazon vs. USPS
   Reports that Amazon may end its 30-year USPS partnership as last-mile delivery contracts go up for auction, and whether shipping delays are already showing up.
2. 02
   Cloudflare Outages
   A second Cloudflare failure in weeks knocks LinkedIn, Zoom, Canva and Shopify offline, raising questions about big-tech fragility.
3. 03
   Al Michaels and Broadcast Booth Legends
   Whether the 81-year-old Al Michaels should retire from Thursday Night Football, plus stories about Madden, Summerall, Harry Caray and Howard Cosell.
4. 04
   J.C. Newman Ships Zarzedas
   The revived early-1900s 'aromatic cigar' brand made at PENSA in Estelí — and Erik Espinosa's argument that 'Ecuadorian shade' isn't a real thing.
5. 05
   Tabacalera Caballeros J16
   A limited San Andrés-wrapped 6.5x56 box-press aged two years, priced at $13, from the young Dominican factory founded in 2022.
6. 06
   Crowned Heads TAA Exclusive 2025
   A $14.95 Robusto Extra rolled at Tabacalera Pichardo, limited to 750 boxes of 10 for TAA member retailers.
7. 07
   Blend Secrecy and Naming Cigars
   Why Espinosa refuses to disclose seed varietals and primings, and how trademark battles pushed him toward numbers and Portuguese words for brand names.
8. 08
   What's the Score?
   Espinosa guesses halfwheel review scores, hitting the 601 Black Toro at 85 and the Wilson Adams Mr. Wilson at 73.

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

m. com, Szczepan Kiewicz. Hi. How are you?

Did you switch? How do you say that again? Szczepan Kiewicz. And then all the way from Hialeah, Florida, the alpha dog himself, Erik Espinosa Sr.

from Espinosa Cigars. Thanks for having me, guys. Thanks for coming, dude. We just finished our event.

What do you think? How did we do it? It was great, bro. Did you enjoy it?

Did you have a good time? I did, I did. You know, I'm a little shy, but it takes me a while before I get going. You got warmed up well.

It was nice. The food was great. Food was good. Yeah.

Compliments to your wife. Thank you very much. The salad was spectacular. The salad?

Oh, yeah. You had the salad? He had the greens. He was healing, he had the greens.

Is his microphone calling? He was tripping. You gotta have some greens in your life with the strawberries and the cheese and all that. It was really good.

That salad dressing, raspberry salad dressing was great. It's a big hit in our house, too. Very nice. Okay.

All right. Well, hey, so this is how this podcast is going to work. Obviously, we've interviewed Mr. Espinosa before.

Eric, Eric, stop with that, Mr. Espinosa. It's Eric, Michael. Eric.

Can you cuss here or no? Yes. Say whatever the fuck you want. You asked that last time, too.

All right. So, we've interviewed Mr. Espinosa before. How many letters are on your last name?

15. 15. Yes, sir. No vowels.

No vowels. All consonants. Really? It's like eucalyptus.

Right. Yeah. All right. On today's show, Amazon hints at ditching USPS, Cloudfair face plants again, and the internet wants Al Michaels to finally hang it up.

C. Newman ships the long-awaited... What's that word? Sardinus?

Sardinus? Sardinus? Sardinus. J16 makes its debut, and Crown Heads rolls out its new TAA exclusive.

Then we wrap it all up with the industry's favorite game, What's the Score? - And you don't even know what the score is, do you? - No. - Do you know what the score is?

- He's a big fan. - Last night's game? - No, no. - No, I don't know what the score is.

- Go ahead, Palmer, tell him. - Okay, we take a half-wheel review. I read you three clues from it and tell you what the cigar is. Then you have to guess the score as we go through the clues.

- Yeah. - And half-wheel. - And half-wheel. - And half-wheel.

- Okay, without going over. - No, you can go over. Whoever's closest. - You can go over.

Whoever's closest. Now, I can tell you that I've asked them many a times to give me a 69 rating. I've heard that. Yeah, and he doesn't.

That's not the lowest rating ever. I've been closed, though. Yeah. But I've never had it.

Yeah, he doesn't. You don't really get good ratings. You don't really get good ratings on that. They beat you up a little bit.

I don't care. Yeah, we don't care either, but I'm just saying, they beat you up a little bit. No, listen, it is what it is. That's the way they structure their ratings.

Yeah. I had weird taco meat on one of my- Did you? Yeah. I've never had weird taco meat.

We had teriyaki chicken on ours. Did we? Yes. Teriyaki chicken.

Also, you're forgetting that we have one of the greatest video managers, producers of the show today. Oh, that's right. I'm very sorry. I didn't add that to the script.

Yeah. Mr. Fran Soletto's in the house. Say hello, Fran.

Bing bong. All right, so I have to guess the score, okay. Yeah, that'll be the end. That's at the end.

All right, and you can't look at the screen because you'll see. I won't look at the screen. All right, no cheating. All right, no cheating.

All right, Michael, before we get started, how would, let's say, Eric get his hands on some of that CHPod swag? com. I've never owned any of your apparel. Yes, you have.

No, you have some. You have the hat on. You got that hat that we gave you. Oh, shit, I forgot.

That's not podcast. Yeah, he wears it all the time. Yeah, you asked for the sweatshirt, we gave you the sweatshirt. And I wear it.

But now we have other... Do you know why? Why? Because it's good.

It's good quality. Yeah. They're shitty qualities. Yeah.

I told you that one day. I mean, if somebody gives me something, I don't want to be a pompous asshole, but I'm not going to wear it. When they give you that Gildan shirt and all that, I don't wear those stuff. Right.

Everyone has, they struggle out there because I always wear the fine ass shirts. They send me shirts all the time, Rosie and Sam, but they're next level. That's what I wear. Yeah.

They're nice shirts. If you're going to give away a shirt, make it a good quality. You want people to wear it. So people want to wear it.

That's right. Of course. We don't want to cut corners. You don't cut corners.

We don't cut corners. It's the only thing we shouldn't do. Yeah, don't ever cut corners. Or eat eucalyptus.

Yeah. Or eucalyptus. Yeah. All right.

Everybody ready now? So yeah, if you buy one, a piece of apparel, you get the second one 40% off. And if you break $100, you get free shipping. Nice.

Check that out. Yeah. That's the only way that we can try and make money on this thing because I refuse to take ad space. Why not?

Because I like to say whatever the hell I want to say. I would advertise with you if you say what you want to say. I know you would. Why would you?

We could talk right after this show. I take cash, check, credit cards, but there you go. I can't be you. Would you take it in product?

I will. I'll say Erik Espinosa makes the best cigars. There you go. Okay.

All right, now on with the news. Amazon is reportedly ready to drop the USPS deal if negotiations fall through. After over 30 years, Amazon may be cutting ties with the United States Postal Service as it looks to expand its own delivery network as reported by the Washington Post. The outlet owned by Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, Jeff, you met him?

Do you know Jeff? Does Guy know Jeff? Have you had a dinner party with Jeff? I've never met him.

Here is his stepdad's Cuban. Yeah? Oh, Jeff, yeah. So there's that, then you have that heritage connection.

We have that bond, yeah. You could be the next in line. I've never heard of this. I don't know why they don't use it.

I've never ordered anything on Amazon. What? I don't have an Amazon account. Are you kidding me?

Does Richie order it for you? Richie, do you order his Amazon's for me? Actually, Danielle. Actually, Danielle.

Actually, Danielle orders it for me, but I've never ordered anything on Amazon. Wow. Okay, so you kinda have an account. You just don't hit the buttons.

You just tell somebody what you're looking for. And that's it. You're so rich and successful that you don't have to hit your own buttons. He doesn't have time, Michael.

He's a very busy man. He doesn't cut corners, even with ordering Amazon. Do I do what? When you take a shit, does someone come in and give you the wipe?

No, that's what the bidet's for. Oh, you have the bidet. Oh, okay. Oh, okay.

Those are nice. I had one in my other house. I paid every day. Okay.

It's called Toto. Toto. Toto's are very nice. But you gotta go in with your glasses on.

Because I made a mistake one time and I pressed the wrong button. Oh. And I still feel it. And what happened?

A few years later. You get a little swirling. Yeah, you get like a big pressure. Yeah?

If you press the wrong button, yeah. Oh. Wow. The seat is seated.

Does it sing too? Does it make the music? I'm talking about the one in Vegas. I don't have that one in my house.

Oh, okay. The one in Vegas, you sit down, it's heated. Place music, it's warm. Yeah, if you press the wrong button, you are fucked, hemorrhoids for the rest of your life.

Wow. Oh, wow. Wow. Sorry to hear that.

Okay. So anyways, Amazon's, uh, USPS. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos cites anonymous sources who said negotiation between Amazon and Trump-appointed USPS Postmaster General David Steiner. Does your guy know David Steiner?

Do you know David? I don't know David. Oh my God. Do you know anybody?

I don't. Jeez. Have reportedly stagnated, pushing Amazon to consider concluding the partnership altogether. Washington Post reporter Jacob Bogage noted in a post on Blue Sky that this was not Amazon's preferred plan.

According to Bogage, Amazon wanted to extend its contract with the USPS, which is set to expire on October 1st, 2026. But the USPS planned to auction off last-mile delivery contracts instead. Okay. I think something's going on here because we've ordered some stuff on Amazon and it keeps getting pushed back.

Oh, lately? Yeah. Is it the holiday season delays? That's what I would assume, but now that you're telling me this, maybe that makes sense.

Because I'll tell you right now, my wife is pissed. Maybe the male's holding back trying to leverage. Yeah, like, you know what? A little sabotage.

A little sabotage. A little sabotage. She's like, you know those little styrofoam cups you wanted? Not happening.

You know? Oh, your coffee cups? Yeah, no. I don't know what she ordered them for.

I had Danielle order me some eucalyptus. Yeah? Some eucalyptus? I never got them.

You never got them? They never showed up? Nope. That's crazy.

Did the koala bears? It sounds like Amazon's... I do order it. Yeah?

I'm kidding aside, yeah. You put it in your shower. Yeah? With the steam.

Oh, yeah, you put it right so the shower head hits it. Yes. Yeah, yeah. It sounds like Amazon's cutting corners.

You know what I mean? Oh, they're cutting corners. Yeah. Or USPS is cutting corners.

Or USPS is cutting corners. Somebody's not doing their job. Somebody's cutting corners. That's wild.

No, but she's... My wife is pissed because there's specific things. We're going to a Christmas party tomorrow, and she ordered it like Monday or Tuesday, and shit's not here yet. Taking your own cups?

I don't know what she was doing there, like these little snow cone cups or something? I don't know. I don't ask questions. Yeah, probably smart.

Yeah. We just got something early in my house. Did you? Yeah.

From Amazon. Now it makes no sense. And we got these wonderful little styrofoam cup things? Did you?

I don't know what we're doing with them. We don't remember ordering them. You should put some eucalyptus in them. We could put eucalyptus in them.

Yeah, yeah. It would smell a lot better. I don't want to eat a eucalyptus icy, though. That's a good point.

I don't think that tastes good. It should be good for your breathing. It might clean your sinuses, though. Yeah.

Have you tried it? No, I'm thinking about it now, though. Okay. Now that I'm a big eucalyptus fan.

All right, moving on. All right, CloudFair trips, half the internet falls. Another CloudFair outage rolled through. Again with this shit.

Yes, they fell down again. Outage rolled through the internet this morning, and it took some big names with it. LinkedIn, Zoom, Down Detector, even Canva and Shopify all blinked offline for a bit. Cloudfair says this wasn't an attack.

Instead, they pushed out a firewall adjustment to protect customers from a newly discovered software vulnerability, and things didn't go as planned. m. Greenwich Mean Time. This comes just after a few weeks after CloudFare's much larger outage in mid-November, the one that knocked out X, OpenAI, Spotify, and a pile of online games.

That one stemmed from a configuration file growing way beyond what the system expected, causing part of CloudFare's traffic handling software to crash. Today's outage was smaller, but still noticeable. The Down Detector logged over 4,500 reports once it came back online, and with CloudFair being such a major backbone of the modern internet, they claimed about 20% of all websites use their services. Do you guys use CloudFair?

I was going to ask that. I don't own a fucking computer. No, but your business does. But do you have a website?

How the fuck do I know that? My son handles all that shit. Richie, is there an Espinosa website? Yes, sir.

Yes, there is. Is it protected by CloudFair? Is it protected by CloudFair? Can you text him and find out that's usually what Boots does for us during?

Are you sleeping with your kids? Oh, oh, oh. So his phone's broken? You can't, you can't text him?

Really? Wow. 10 o'clock at night, he's asleep? You can text him.

I understand it. Oh, his dad says it's okay. We use, what is it called? Cloudfair.

Cloudfair. There you go. Is he getting too far away from the mic? Your dad wants to know if you're using Cloudfair.

All right. Well, I can tell you somebody in the industry who does use Cloudfair. You do? No.

No, we don't even know what it is either. We're poor. Half-wheel. Half-wheel uses Cloudfair.

And how would you know that? Because I have a source there. His name's Charlie. " Tell him I say congratulations.

Okay. Michael, text him and tell him Eric says congratulations. Eric says congratulations. Is he sleeping with your niece and nephew too?

Is he over there as well? No, no, he's not there. No, he's not there. Okay.

People are starting to ask whether there's a bigger reliability question looming. It sounds like it. It sounds like they have a lot of problems. Experts are already chiming in.

Steven Murdoch from University College in London said companies will absolutely be raising eyebrows after two outages so close together. But he also pointed out it's too early to tell whether Cloudfair is dealing with bad software practices or just a streak of bad luck. Others, a more direct infrastructure expert, Michael Riznik Wozniak, said that this is yet another example of how fragile the civilized big tech internet really is, noting this is the fourth major global outage since late October. When companies this large hiccup, the whole internet feels it, and that leads to the bigger conversation, have these companies gotten too big to not fail?

When you run so much of the world's online traffic, even a half hour stumble becomes a global moment. So how do you feel about CloudFair, now that you know about it? Are you concerned that they're too big? I really don't care.

I can get three flying fucks about none of this bullshit. I don't use none of that. I'm gonna be honest with you. I grew up in the wrong time.

When I went to high school, computers weren't around. I'm 58. And I went to school. I went to college to learn how to fix computers.

Did you? I did. And I got bored. And I hated it so much that I said to myself that I'm going to pay people to do it for me because I couldn't stand it.

Well, he went to school to fix computers and there were no computers. I don't have. Well, it started. And then I swear on my life I don't own a computer.

I do own a lot of them, you know, in the office and stuff. I don't have a computer in my office. Now, I do everything with my phone. That's a computer.

It's a computer. Well, it's not a laptop. Technically. It's not technically, yes.

Okay. But I don't have an actual computer in my office, and I refuse to. I see what it's done to a lot of people. Now, don't get me wrong.

I have people in place that enhance the company and whatever. We need the changes. We do it. But I pay people to do that.

Danielle. I can't stand to do that. I'm old school. I don't answer texts.

If you want to call me, if you want to talk to me, pick up the phone, call me. Okay. I answer my phone 99 percent of the time. All right, answer this one question for me.

Go ahead. Do you have an iPad? I do. Do you use it every day?

Every day. Every frickin' day you use this iPad? To play poker, to play... Yeah, exactly.

Unlike him. Watch movies on a plane, yes, I do. All right, so would we consider that a computer or no? No.

No, it's an iPad. 'Cause why? Why would you not consider that a computer? Because he doesn't have a computer, Michael.

He's explaining that. It doesn't have a keyboard? It doesn't have a keyboard. You can attach a keyboard.

Well, I did not know that. I could care less. And I could care less. You can care less?

I think I got news for you, buddy. You're kind of using a computer. All right. Well, then I don't own a large computer.

That would be fair, yes. You don't own a laptop or a desktop computer. That's correct. I do have an iPad and I do have an iPhone.

It's not an iPhone. Okay. All right. You stop badgering, my friend.

You know, what's funny is like, I was texting him for a while, and it was going on his iPad, and he didn't know what the fuck was going on. Yeah. Yeah. " Why is this showing up?

Who is this? Who were all these letters in no vowels? Because your name won't come through. Right.

It didn't come through. Right. So, I have you on my phone as Mike Hustler. Right.

And I don't know why I don't see you hustling much. But anyway, so... Yeah, it's true. He used to.

It wouldn't come through. I'm retired. You know, so, um, yeah, that's why I struggle with all that bullshit, you know, whatever, that's for another, that's a topic for another day. Well, it's the topic for right fucking now.

No, we're moving on. Oh, yeah. So, you like Al Michaels? I think he's soft.

You tired of him? That's what people are saying. Well, listen, he, he, he, he was good for, you know, I think he's gotten a little older, I mean, I think. He's like 98 now.

The best was. He's 98? I think it's what it says in the article, if I can ever get to it. I think it says 98.

No way. It's not 98. There's no way. He was on the other day.

Yeah. He's still on. His contract hasn't expired, but nobody likes him anymore. Listen, the best ever was Madden and Summerall.

Yeah. In my opinion, those two guys were the best. And then when they tried the comedian, whatever his name is, I didn't care for him very much, neither. Howard Cosell was good.

Oh, I was going to ask you if you liked Howard Cosell. You know he was drunk most of the time. Was he really? Well, you know they stopped.

Makes sense. And his wife called the studio because he was slurring. Oh, really? She was freaking out that he was having a seizure or a stroke or whatever.

He was as drunk as a skunk. " I distinctly remember a game where I watched... I didn't want to say it, but... What?

Well, go ahead. Let me see if we're talking about the same thing. No, we're not. We're not talking about the same thing.

John Madden was talking, and he started rattling off every single play, like every possession. And it would be punt, it would be touchdown, and instead of it saying missed field goal, it said MFG, and John Madden said MFG. And it was the funniest fucking thing. He was legit just reading right off the prompter and said MFG.

Wow. Yeah. What was your thing? Go ahead.

It was way better. No, I can't say it. No, it was way better, and I know what he's going to say. It's way better, but I can't say it really.

It's slightly racist. Why can't you say it? It is. Well, you remember.

I know. Well, there's a running back for the coach. I'm going to say it anyway now. Jonathan Taylor?

No. No, it was back in the day. Back in the day. Washington, I think, was his last name.

Okay. And then he said live on TV. But some of the things that have happened, I remember in baseball, what's his name? The guy for Harry Carey.

I remember watching, I was a big baseball guy. I remember, you know, there was no lights in Wrigley Field, so Harry Carey would be drunk by the fifth inning, he would drink a lot of Budweiser's, and there was the second baseman, Ryan Sandberger, hits the ball, and then Steve Stone was the color guy, and he hit the ball, and he would say, "It could be! " And, you know, these guys were crazy. And what your Macaulay got, got thrown out also, what was the Greek, what was his name?

Jimmy the Greek. Jimmy the Greek, yeah, for saying what he said too. Is that true? Jimmy the Greek?

Did you just pull that out of your... No, Jimmy the Greek. No, no, there's Jimmy the Greek. You listen to us, but you know nothing about sports.

How do you know the answer? These are famous people in history. Oh, okay. Interesting.

He used to give like the, the betting portion of the game. Right, and he got fired. That's why you loved him. They were saying a racist shit too.

Okay, but you liked him because of the betting. Paul's old timers were racist. I didn't like, I like Madden and Summerall. Yeah.

They were the best. I mean, I didn't even know that they read off a teleprompter. I did not know that. Just like this.

I thought it was. I thought it was. They would say whatever the hell they wanted to say. I think some things they would read off of a teleprompter.

Really? Or stuff off of the board or whatever. Yeah. Probably writing on a cue card.

Probably wasn't all the time, you know. But now we just kind of cover the Al Michaels conversation. Oh, we haven't read it yet. Without you even saying anything.

Well, that's all, folks. Al Michaels makes final retirement decisions over Thursday Night Football after fans urge him to pack it in. veteran announcer Al Michaels has opened up on his desire to remain on Amazon's Thursday Night Football, the 80, oh, he's 81, I told you, 81, it's not 98, there was an 8 in it, I got close, 81, yes, not 98, he was close, 81 year old was on the call for Prime's Black Friday, I didn't want to say black, I could talk about all the racist stuff, Prime's Black Friday NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears, Michaels is one of TV's most iconic voices and has worked on He's in network television for over five decades. That guy's a legend, bro.

That guy did the hockey game. Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe in miracles? I think he should go in his own time.

Oh, nice. He's 81. He can run for the president at this point. He's the right age.

Yeah. That's true. He signed a three-year deal with Amazon in 2022 to be the voice of Prime Video's Thursday Night Football. Michaels is joined weekly in the broadcast booth by regular partner Kirk Herbert Street every Thursday.

But he was called out by some viewers for a lack of enthusiasm on significant plays during last week's Thanksgiving action. That's what you said, he was light. I think he should go down on his own time. He paid his dues.

I struggle with that, 'cause they got rid of Shula. Yeah. Okay, the Dolphins have never been the same since they got rid of Shula. Nope.

You know, and being a Dolphin fan, and they fired Shula, like if he was a scumbag, and they got rid of him, And they've never won a playoff game since. Wow. Well, so who replaces Al Michaels? Dave Chappelle.

That would be amazing. Dave Chappelle. I don't think there's enough money in the world to get Dave Chappelle to do it. Oh, I bet to win.

But that would be hilarious. To be on TV every week? Yeah, Dave Chappelle. People will watch it.

Oh my God, yeah. Yeah. Um, but listen, he said the one thing, one time, a hundred years ago, and you're saying that he's got to go out on his own time. I think that, you know.

It wasn't him. He never said nothing. " and he's had a fucking career because of that. Good for him.

Yeah, like, but like, that was 1980-something. What? That was 50 years ago. Listen, guys.

Tell me. Let's sound like this. It was 50 years ago? It was not 50 years ago.

I'm just over-exaggerating. You go to a sports bar to watch a game, there's no sound. Right. I don't watch a football game to hear these guys talk.

Yeah. I do my own analysis and shit like that. I don't, you know, I watch the game. I can care less what they say.

I really can. I can care less. That's why I don't go to football games anymore. I get invited all the time.

You know, I buy tobacco from a company who has a suite for the Dolphins games. They invite me all the time. I went one time last year with Guy because he's a Raider fan, you know. But I just want to watch the game because you see.

The only thing when you see the game live, you see the play being developed. You don't see that at home. But there's nothing like watching the game at home. I don't care about the sound, I really don't.

I'm not watching it for those guys, I'm watching the game itself. I really don't care what the hell they say. You're watching the over, under, what's the money line. I just remember one time, if something important happens in life, like the day they killed John Lennon, it was on Monday Night Football.

Really? But you didn't know that. No. They stopped the game, John Lennon just got shot in the Dakota building.

But they kept playing, right? Well, the players didn't know. Right. You know, the country knew.

Yeah, they stopped the broadcast. And then he announced it like a couple minutes later that he was dead. Wow. Okay.

You're too young to know these things. I am, but that's why I have you. Yeah. Yeah.

Speculation has been rife. Wait, I thought Al Michaels. What was the singer? Michaels, the other guy?

George Michaels? That's what I thought. Totally different Michaels. Yeah.

That's why I said he was soft, but now I got confused. Oh, you thought it was George Michaels and Al Michaels? Yeah. Oh, I got you.

You can be my father figure. I got it. Only if you have faith. Yeah.

You've got to have faith. Will you put your tiny hand in mine? You have to. Speculation has been rife about Michael's future at the end of his current contract, but the veteran is keen to stay on the mic and appears ready to pen an extension.

I really feel good right now, Michael's told SI Media with Jimmy Triana. It's been a good year, a lot of fun, and as I said, I love the people I'm working with, so if I had to make a decision today, I would want to come back. Comeback. It's a two-way street here.

They could tell me, "Hey, we got to move on. " By the way, I don't agree with that. I'll tell you why. You're not supposed to show emotion because you're not supposed to go one way or the other, okay?

Okay. So when you start announcing it, I know there's homers that, you know, every team, you know, has their own announcers, you know? And I don't have a problem with him. I don't have a problem with, you know, he's from Philadelphia, he roots from Philly.

I could give three shits. They're told they can show emotion, but not favoritism to one side or the other. You mean like Chris Collinsworth practically blowing Patrick Mahomes every time Kansas City's on? Exactly.

And shit like that. That I hate. Because if you're a Chiefs fan, then you're okay with it. Right.

But if you're not a Chiefs fan, then you're not okay. It's just ridiculous. It is ridiculous, but you know... He's not Tom Brady.

Brett Musburger hated the Kings, hated the University of Miami, and I hated having Brett, so I would lower the TV, and I didn't want to hear that book. Right. You watch a lot of games at sports bars, or you watch them at home? At home, but when I travel, I'll go to a sports bar to have it, because a lot of the hotel rooms don't have, you know, now with Netflix and Amazon and this and that.

Yeah, they don't have good TV in hotels anymore. You don't have it. You can't watch the games. So do you mute the TV at home?

I don't. Okay. But I really don't care what they're saying. Right.

He doesn't pay attention. I don't. You might say he cuts a corner watching the game. You're just the alpha dog.

Very rarely do I watch the halftime show. Right. Or, I mean, for a Super Bowl, whatever. What?

Of course you would. What? I saw the best one live. Was there a prop bet?

You took a prop bet on it? That's why you watched it? I didn't, but I saw Prince in Miami. It was the worst Super Bowl because it was raining the whole time.

Was that Pittsburgh? Indianapolis and and the Bears the Bears Hester Darren Hester yeah so I was a big Prince fan and I still am when I go to Minnesota I try to go to Paisley Park I've yet to be able I don't have the time but one day I'm going to make it out there but I think that was the best halftime show it was raining when he was singing singing the purple rain and I could care less oh while it was raining like people say the Bat Bunny's going to be I could care I could give three flying fuck if it was Mark Anthony Bat Bunny whoever the fuck I ain't watching I give him three shits. Right. I don't care.

I like the commercials, though. You like Prince the best? I like the commercials. Was it Prince your favorite artist?

I think Prince is the best artist of all time. Okay. I mean, he played 99 instruments. Yeah, that's pretty good.

I mean, I don't know why he didn't- One shy of 100. I don't know. I think he could have picked up something. Right there.

I did not know there was 99 instruments. Yeah, me neither. Until this conversation. That guy was talented, man.

Real talented. I wonder what was the one he just couldn't get. Yeah. Just couldn't figure it out.

Harmonica. He was going to say that. It's very hard to play. That's probably in the '99.

No, no. That would have been the one. Bagpipes, bro. That's what he says.

Yeah. No, I've seen him. He plays those. It's a little purple set.

Is it? Nice. It's nice. Has it got a little symbol on it?

No, because he's formerly known as a symbol. As a symbol? Okay. Need a lighter?

I do. I have one for you. Do you have a video for us, Michael? I have no video today.

Why don't you have any video? You never have videos anymore. What are you talking about? I'm not going to have a video every day.

Well, I need to take that out a little. Well, let's talk about videos. Do you know what was the first song on MTV? I want my MTV.

No, it wasn't. Video Killed the Radio Star. Yes. Yeah, sorry.

Took a second. Took you two tries. I didn't think you were old enough to know that. He read about it somewhere.

Why do you keep taking Eric Slider? Because it went out of the shot. It's yours now. You can have it.

We would like to gift it to you. With a bottle of eucalyptus. It's blue, just like your cigar. I appreciate it.

Okay. I have plenty of lighters. You have plenty of lighters? It's not on me, but I do.

Oh. Daniel has the lighters, too. He's got the little bombs. Daniel has all the lighters.

She ordered them from Amazon. Yeah. She ordered them from Amazon. Okay.

All right. On to cigar news, then. Yes. C.

Newman ships the Zardas. Zardas. Zardas. Zardas.

Zardas. C. Newman that was inspired by a cigar from the early 1900s is on its way to stores described as the aromatic cigar. The Zardes Blend uses an, I almost thought they said eucalyptus.

It says Ecuadorian. Ecuadorian Shade Wrapper, while the internal tobaccos are from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. It was developed in collaboration with Rich Dolak, the company's VP of operations. Do you know, Rich?

By the way, that's wrong. That's wrong. You cannot grow, you don't grow Ecuadorian Shade in Ecuador. No?

No, there's no such thing. There's no such thing as Ecuadorian Shade? So there's no such thing an Ecuadorian shade wrapper? Not in Ecuador.

Well, where is it? The clouds is a shade. In Connecticut, it's called a Connecticut shade. Ecuadorian is not shade.

It's a standard Ecuadorian? Because of the cloud cover. It's an Ecuadorian, yeah. So it's already shade.

It's already shade. You don't need to shade it. You don't need to shade it. That is a true story.

There you go. The more you know. See that? We're exposing Half Wheel for their faults right now.

Alright, the blend uses an Ecuadorian wrapper. That's fine, yeah. No, say what it says. Ecuadorian, no, he gets mad.

I like that. I don't get mad. Ecuadorian rapper. While the internal tobaccos are from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, it was developed in collaboration with Rich Dolac, the company's VP of operations.

Do you know Rich Dolac? Are you friends with Rich? It rings a bell. It rings a bell, I don't.

Yeah. It does, but maybe if I see him, I know who he is. Fran is just locked in over there, man. He's just crushing.

I can see the buttons flipping. He's doing a hell of a job. We go back to that. There's no such thing as Connecticut Shade.

Yes. In Ecuador. Right. I don't know.

Is it a Connecticut? It says Ecuadorian Shade. I don't know. This is a half-wheel article.

Call Charlie. Yeah, we don't fact-check anything. I don't know. I've never seen shade in Ecuador.

That's not true. Well, the only reason I know that is because I did an article on Cigar Aficionado and they corrected me on that. Well, last week we had an article where it did mention that the Ecuadorian Shade is from the cloud cover. It's considered...

It's considered shade because of the cloud cover. it's not artificial. Not artificial shade. Okay.

Maybe. Possibly. I think that maybe we get Half Wheel and Aficionado together and they knife fight. They work it out.

Yeah. My money's on Charlie. We figure out who wins. Yeah, my money's on Charlie too.

I don't know who is it. Aficionado. Yeah. George.

Your boy. You're your boy. Right, man? Yeah.

We don't think he likes us. He has me blocked on Facebook. Hasn't been there for many years. We know.

We know. I'll tell you what, they got a great kid now. It's the grandson of Marvin Shankin. Phenomenal kid.

Came by my office, and him and I hit it off. He's a really good kid. You think you're gonna... He got an article out of me.

You think you're top 10 this year? I would like to be, but if it's not, it's not. I mean, what am I gonna do? What am I going to do?

Do you have one in mind that you think is top 10 worthy? Every year. I mean, with all the ratings and stuff like that. We got like five of them that should have been there last year.

We got, I think, number 23. The Michael Jordan. 23? Oh, the Michael Jordan.

I get it. He's number 23. Number 23, yeah. What do you think we should be top 10 this year of your cigar?

My cigar? Yeah. Of yours? Yeah.

That Puro, that Knuckle Sandwich Puro. Yeah. Oh, that's good. Selling like crazy.

They gave it a high rating, but I don't know. I don't know. I don't know how they do their ratings. Nobody really does.

Was that the one that we liked the most? I think it was. Was it? Yeah.

The Puro. Okay. It's the one that's got the weird taco meat in it. Oh, it's got the taco meat?

Oh, is that the taco meat? That wasn't the one that Charlie put, but I tasted it. I think it's got weird taco meat. I think Charlie eats when he's reviewing cigars.

You actually tasted the taco meat? He mentions a lot of food. I've had plenty of taco meat, but I've never had weird taco meat. Oh, weird taco meat.

Yeah, it's weird taco meat. Yeah, some of his stuff is strange. Like slightly old taco meat or something? I don't know if it was old or not.

I've never had weird taco meat. I don't think you've lived. No. Hmm.

I think he's lived, Michael. I think he has lived. I mean, let's be honest. If you taste weird taco meat, do you continue eating the taco?

It depends upon how hungry I am, I guess. No, he's got a point there. You know? Because then you're going to get sick.

Have I not eaten in days? I mean, you know. You know, some kind of sketchy food truck or something, you know. I don't know how I guess that.

I mean, I don't get the 23 Flavors in Dr. Pepper. Yeah. That's a good point.

And I love Dr. Pepper, but I don't get the 23 Flavors. I've seen a lot of Dr. Pepper stuff lately, too, which is odd.

It's very popular. Hats and shirts. I don't drink sodas, but if I would drink a soda, it would be a died Dr. Pepper.

While you're listening to your favorite Prince album? On a plane. Playing poker on his iPad. On a plane, yeah.

Poker on his iPad. Yeah. Okay. C.

Newman Penza factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, and offered him four sizes. What are the sizes? A Corona, a Robusto, a Toro, and a Churchill. A Churchill?

Sarsedas. Sarsedas. Sarsedas. Sarsedas.

Sarsedas. Sarsedas. Sarsedas. He lets you drown.

I like to see you struggle a little. Me too. Oh, I know he does. I have loved the Sarsedas name and the brand's history as the aromatic cigar for years, said fourth-generation owner Drew Newman in a press release.

I love a nice guy. Yeah, I've met him. He is nice. " And I did, and that shit wouldn't flinch.

" I gave him the guy's number and shit like that. So that's where they got their cardboard, Jay-Z Newman. Wow. But he came like a gentleman, you know, and he came and he asked me.

If it wasn't for Eric, they wouldn't have it. Oh, I mean, you know. Take the credit. Take the credit.

Yeah, take the W. Take it. Yeah, you're a winner. Show me a loser.

A real nice guy, man. He really is. Yeah. Did Jack try to stand on the cardboard test?

Yeah, that's where the true test happened. That's the test right there. Give me a guy. You know what I mean?

He wasn't around. I would have put him up there. Yeah. I don't know how we were going to bring him down, but.

Well, if you jumped enough, you wouldn't have to bring it. We'd have to run the crane or something like that. All right, well, Drew has been waiting to bring this historic brand back, but had to wait until he could create a blend that lives up to the brand's legacy. Zarzedas is the most flavorful cigar we've ever made.

The original Zarzedas line was said to have first been rolled in the 1900 while the trademark was filed in 1916. Good for them. Wow, they got a trademark that old. They got trademarked that name.

Who else is one to use in that name? What's that mean in Spanish? Oh, aromatic, I guess, aromatic cigar. It could be, I don't know what the word means.

And I speak Spanish. Just like Saka's cigar, he came out, and they would talk about the new cigar. I go, bro, I speak Spanish, and I read Spanish, and I understand Spanish, but I don't know what the hell this means. What was it called?

I have no idea. You know the cigar he made for Duque with the Chinese on it? Who's Duque? Duque is his friend in Hawaii.

Yeah, Chris Duque. Yeah, yeah, I know who he is. Yeah, I helped him do that and he doesn't tell anybody. I guess you're- We're telling stories.

No, I'm just contributing to the story. He's really jaded about that. He's been- he's held on to that for years. It's a city in Portugal.

It's a city in Portugal. Must be- it smells there. Really nice. Thank you for fact-checking, Richie.

What was that? Wouldn't that be Portuguese then, not Spanish? Yeah, it would be. That's why you didn't know it's Portuguese.

Right, makes sense. There you go. Thank you, Fran. Yeah, and Richie, yeah.

All right, Tabacalera Caballeros launches J-16. 5x56, Double Toro. Why do people do the Double Toro? Do you think it's called the Double Toro?

Should it be called the Double Toro? Is that a Double Toro sign? How do you feel about that? They call it whatever the fuck they want.

Yeah. What are we doing? What are they calling it? I'm trying to get this.

Do you want to hear? Everybody has different names, man. I don't know. There you go.

Is that good? I'm not going to eat it, bro. That's good. I mean...

There you go. All right. That looks good. That looks good for you.

I have no issue with it. Okay. Okay. You have no issue with the Double Toro?

The reason why I don't, because I lived all that. I used to laugh at Rocky when Rocky used to come up with these weird names. Right. Back in the day when I was a rep, TP, Chimp, Gorilla, Baboon, all this shit.

Yeah, he had all these shitty ass names, but until I got into the business, and I realized how hard it is to trademark a name, and come up with a name that hasn't been taken, so, you know, and I told them one day, I told them, dude, I'll never laugh at you again at any of the names, because it's hard, it's hard to come up with names, and then I came up with a name, I had an issue with somebody, so I started using numbers, like the 601 and stuff like that. Oh, that's a great idea. Then I had to go to, in Portuguese, I came up with names in Portuguese, Lalaja, Azulejo. Yeah?

Yeah, because a lot of names are taken. You don't believe me, next time you drive either a 95 or the Turnpike, look at some of the billboards. Yeah? I guarantee you that out of every 10 billboards, three or four has a cigar name in it.

Really? Like Tropical, or this, or, you know, yes, trust me when I tell you. Let me tell you. Sandwich.

Read something. Yeah. Like, yeah. Sandwich.

Sandwich. Sandwich. You'll see, you know, food or whatever, you know. Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kentucky Cured.

Yeah. Right. There you go. It's hard.

Stock cut. It's hard to come up with names. Don't see it on all the billboards. You know, I never see Pustania on a billboard.

Yeah. That one I've yet to see. We went Polish. What does that mean?

Yeah, we went Polish, yeah. But what does that mean? It's uprising. I know, you'll be quiet over there.

Okay, I'm sorry. " I'll be quiet. That's why he's got the arrow, right? Yeah, right.

But why is it going down? Well, that is a modernization of the symbol during World War II that the Polish people painted as part of the revolution. It was more rounded, it looked like an anchor, and they modernized it because the copyright issues, they couldn't use the curve. But that's not uprise, that's downrise.

Yeah, but the P goes up, technically. Yeah. Oh, so I got to wear it like this? Yes, exactly.

That's the right way. That's the right way to wear it. All right, cool. Somebody fucked up there.

Somebody did fuck up. Somebody, Greg. You know. We'll talk to management about that for sure.

It uses a Mexican San Andreas wrapper over an Ecuadorian Sumatra seed binder. Is there such a thing as an Ecuadorian Sumatra seed binder? Is that possible? It could be.

Okay, just checking. I guarantee you there's no shade. No shade. It's not Ecuadorian Sumatra shade.

And Dominican Criolo and Cuban Lajero Fillers, Cubano, sorry, not Cuban. Criolo. Ooh, say it again. Criolo.

Oh, that's so romantic. It's Portuguese. Criolo. The company says the cigars were rolled two years ago and have been aging ever since.

A press release says the blend is medium full with flavors of pepper, plum, chocolate, and nutmeg. Who's this? C. Newman.

No, no, we're in the Caballeros now. Oh, damn, that's right. The 51-something. J16.

That one. So follow-up to the J15. Right. Caballeros.

Each cigar has an MSRP of $13, and cigars are packaged in boxes of 20. It is limited edition, though. The company has not stated how many boxes were made, depends how many they sell. Right.

That's usually how that works. Right. It began shipping on Monday, December 1st. As we grow, our focus remains the same.

To support our retail partners and deliver cigars that customers return for again and again, Said Marco Acadia, co-founder of Tablicalera Caballeros, and a press release: "This is the exciting moment for our brand, and we're just getting started. Tablicalera Caballeros is named after Santiago de los Caballeros, the Dominican city that is home to many of the country's most prominent factories. " there you go excited about that you tried one what do you think i've are we getting those i've never heard of them we're not getting we're not getting no but there's a limited number yeah we didn't make the cut sorry you heard of them before no nope no i haven't i wish them luck yeah well that one listen i tell everybody everybody gets mad at me when i say don't do it I tell them, don't get involved. I mean, I hate to take away anybody's passion, anybody's dream, but it's a tough business.

We still realize it. You know, it's a lot of work. A lot of work. A lot of travel.

A lot of travel. So how long have you been in the industry? 25 years. Okay.

" Yeah. Who? Bahia. Bahia is the one?

Bahia Cigars were some of the most amazing cigars ever made. Really? What do you think they did wrong? Cocaine?

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I could see... Did they disappear in the 80s?

I could see how that could, you know, allegedly, allegedly, allegedly, allegedly cocaine. I could see how that would, you know, I mean, I mean, it could shift things. Look, it's not a, it's not a secret. I mean, you know, I will tell you and I'll say it, you know, because I don't give a fuck, but...

But we do. He had a lot of great cigars. Really? He was his own worst nightmare.

He really was. No kidding. I got along with the guy. Great.

You know, they were made in Costa Rica by Don Douglas back in the day, and I will tell you right now, I'll put those cigars up against anybody's cigars. Really? Oh, yeah. Those Bahia Golds were amazing.

Cocaine, not so much. Well, listen. You can end your production. to say it because you know he might hear this one time i don't know it was cocaine i don't have the proof or anything that's why i said allegedly but he was he was his own worst nightmare right i remember him in the booth he had a cardboard uh of himself and then you have to go to to a suite to go see him you know and no different than large t and they did that you know and then different times right you know but they kept doing it and then um you're in the trade show, you're on the floor.

Are you going to leave to get, you know? Right. Then that all went away and, you know, and then you can get them and your competitors, you know, right side and all of the state. Right.

Wow. Crazy. Crazy. There was a lot of brands that were good.

And then Pudos Indios were great. You know, they had their moments, you know. Right. Those cigars were great at one time.

Oh, and they went away. Crazy. Okay. You knew who hasn't gone away?

Who? Crown Heads released their 2025 TAA starting to ship. For the second time this week, Crown Heads is shipping a new cigar. Today's new release is the Crown Heads TAA exclusive 2025, a five and five eights by 54 Robusto Extra that has made it a Radio Pichardo's, how do you, is that Dajatui?

Dajatui, yeah. Dajatui. Tabaco SA Factoring, Esteli… I like the way you say it. Blendwise uses an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper.

Is that okay? I get nervous how anything is Ecuadorian. Over an Ecuadorian Connecticut Seed Binder. That's okay too?

Perfect. Great. And fillers from Nicaragua. 95 and production is limited to 750 boxes of 10 cigars.

The cigars are only offered to stores that are members of the TAA Secret Organization, an industry trade group where We're very excited for this year's TA Exclusive as it really hits the sweet spot of being easily approachable for novice smokers yet complex and nuanced enough to be appreciated by seasoned cigar enthusiasts alike, said John Huber, co-founder of Crown Heads in a press release. You know John? You're friends with John? I know who he is.

I've never had a real relationship with him. Yeah. He was great when he was a CAO. He was a great marketer.

He's been around for a long time. Yeah, for a while. He was mad at us at one time. briefly just briefly he got over quickly uh well because we have a patreon show and you know we talk about we reviewed his cigar all kinds of things and it wasn't favorable but he's made a lot of good stuff lately yes all his cigars are good it was our mistake isn't that a an opinion yeah and then somebody leaked it well somebody which really upset me He's not a member.

It's not nice. Because, I mean, at least you should pay, you know? To leak it. You should, if you, you know, like, it's 10 bucks.

By the way, we appreciate most of your organization is... I was gonna get to that. Oh. I was gonna get to that.

Except Richie, who's not... Yeah. Well, I wanted him to explain, I wanted... Oh, Richie's on there now.

No, he's not. He's not, did you? You kicked him off? No, we don't kick...

Tyler's on there. Oh, Tyler. Tyler was the first one on there. You pay monthly?

You know what, I think he did. I think he's a $10 member. Is he? Oh, we were told to give you shit.

Now, I think we have... You guys told me I signed on. Aha! Well, we don't fact check.

And we appreciate your support. I'm gonna walk that back instantly, Richie. You tell Jack that he's a liar. You could subsidize them and they could all be $50 members.

You could subsidize them. Like a little paycheck bump or something, you know. You know, Espinosa definitely supports us on Patreon. Oh, yes, they do.

That's great, I love being on there. Danielle pays for it. I'm going to text Danielle. Thank you, Danielle.

It's an honor to continue this 11-year partnership supporting the TEA's mission while delivering a cigar that's as exclusive as it is exceptional. Did you try that at TEA? I don't think they had it. They probably did.

It's so busy. Do you try everybody else, like cigars, other people's TEA stuff? I tried the La Flor Dominicana. Yeah.

I tried the EPC, and I don't remember which one else. I mean, when I got up there, you know, a lot of people, and I hate to be the way I am sometimes because everybody got up there and, you know, they spoke about their cigars. Right. " I mean, you know.

Right. And no matter what you say, does it really matter? No, unless the rapper, because if you don't like Connecticut, you ain't gonna smoke Connecticut. It doesn't really matter.

I think it does matter, but I do agree with you that the stand... To sell it? Yeah, I think that it will help. What tobacco can I put in it that's gonna help?

Well, no, but that's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying that... because a lot of people say the same thing. That's my point.

Right, and that's where I agree with you that no, that's not really effective. But what you say still matters. And if it's something that's different, it will make a difference, right? If I tell you that...

I mean, by you going up and saying, hey, it's fucking tobacco, just smoke it. If I tell you his age 14 years, would you buy it? No, that's not my point. I've been in business 13.

How the fuck can I have a tobacco age for 14 years? You know somebody. You bought it from somebody else. But he went under, you bought his tobacco.

I struggle with a lot of that shit, I really do. Of course. You know, but you know, and listen, I'm nobody tell anybody what they can or can't say about their cigars, right? You know, but if the Colonel never revealed there's 11 herbs and spices.

So if you got something that's good, why the fuck should you tell anybody else? Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, you can't lie about the wrapper, right? So I don't.

But every time I was, if you look at everything else of mine is, say, Connecticut Shade, Nicolau, Nicolau, you know? Right. Whatever, Mexican, Nicaragua, Nicaragua, you understand? Because I'm not going to tell anybody what we're saying there.

I think that's fine. And people say, well, half of you, Charlie told me what they were saying, so why are you lying to consumers? I'm not lying. It's the truth.

It is from Nicaragua. Right. But why should I tell everybody what it is? Yeah, I know.

I hear you. I totally agree with that. But what I'm saying, too, is saying the same thing that they all say also doesn't make sense. But it's important to say something, even if it's funny.

Yes, no doubt, but I guarantee you, anybody comes in here with a new brand, 99%, you're not gonna buy it. Well, not only are we not gonna buy it, we're probably gonna eat them for lunch. You need a new cigar like you need a hole in your head. Yeah.

Let's be honest. Now, by me telling you that it's got Lee Harrell from Nicaragua And it's got Piloto Cubano, and this and that, it ain't gonna change your fucking mind. Right. And that's why I don't dangle with that bullshit.

You know, everybody gets up there and says that. I mean, it's got tobacco in it, it's good, buy the shit. We disclosed one day that our rapper was Latvarian. Do you know what Latvarian is?

What Latvarian is? I don't know. It's the kingdom that Dr. Doom reigned on, like that was his country.

So you see how that's like, that's like a little Easter egg that was funny, right? Right, so you can make jokes about these things as well. And who makes that, Eco Amano? Dr.

Doom. Yeah. It's made in the Eco Amano factory. Yeah, that's it.

Yeah, yeah. You know what that is? No idea. What we're saying is...

Eco Amano is made by hand. Handmade? Well, handmade. Yeah.

But in Spanish it's... Hammade? Hacho. Hacho.

Hacho. So a lot of people say, "I love those cigars. " Yeah. At the TAA, was your room as big as Jack's?

Jack sends a video of his room. Yeah, it's ridiculous. It's still playing on my phone. He hasn't shown me everything.

We had the exact same room. His cousin is, or his niece runs, she has a real estate company, and so she always bumps him. But he'll never get bumped unless I get bumped along with him. Ah, excellent.

That's how that works. That's good. Interesting. I don't have a problem that he's got a nice room.

Right. As long as I got one. Yeah, as long as you got one too. Absolutely.

Seems only fair. Yeah. So not everybody gets that room. No.

Richie, what was your room like at the TA? I had a very pleasant beautiful room, just not as beautiful. Richie had a good room, he says, but it just wasn't as good. Wasn't as big.

Yeah. Okay. Richie does not have a cousin or a niece that runs the, uh, right, right. I understand, that's fine.

I always had to room with Michael. Yes. Yes, yes, you do. All right, everybody ready?

It's time to play What's the Score? Now you can't look at that screen. Now you can't look at the screen. Okay, all right.

All right, first cigar from September 5th, 2021. It was reviewed by Brooks Whittington. It's an Espinosa Nicaraguan 601 Black Toro from 2021. Brooks, did you want to go first?

You want me to go first? I'll get, I don't care, go ahead. I'll go first, this one. You go first, the next one.

I'm gonna say 88. No way. Too high? Absolutely.

Okay. I will try, I will say 81. Okay. All right, here's more information.

All right. The 601 Black Toro is from Nicaragua, is from Luzona, Rappers, Ecuador, Connecticut. Binder is Nicaraguan, Fillers, Nicaraguan, because that's all he does. Right, that's how he doesn't say anything.

It's a 6x50 Toro. The 601 Black Toro, it sold for $10 back in 2021, and they smoked three cigars. Okay, so you're so low, I'm gonna come down here to 84. This is the new cigar.

No, no, this is the exact same cigar. You're gonna get three clues now. Same cigar, you get three clues and you can change your number as you hear things. Every time I read the clue.

I'll go, I'll go a little down. Give me some wiggle. I'll go 80. 80.

Okay. Oof. All right, here's the first comment. The 601 Black Toro delivers a creamy cedar and leather core that stays consistent from start to finish.

This is supported by evolving secondary notes like cocoa nibs, cinnamon, almonds, and toasted bread. The profile becomes richer and more cohesive as the cigar progresses. We gotta go up now. Yeah, that sounds good.

We gotta go up. Okay, so, you know, I think I'm good at 88. I'm going back up to 88. I'll say 86.

Okay, alright. Alright, next clue. Next clue. This is where things get fucked.

Construction is a standout. After an early touch-up, the burn evens out beautifully. The draw remains excellent throughout, and smoke production stays consistently high. No way that's fucking half wheel.

Yeah? Yes. Yeah. And it's in the overall experience.

This is Brooks, not Charlie. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

Man, that's still good. I'm going to go 89. 85. I'm going to go down.

Okay. Okay, 85. All right. Third clue.

One sample showed very obvious veins and even a small green spot on the wrapper, and the burn required correcting almost immediately after lighting, detracting slightly from the cigar's otherwise strong presentation. Are you giving that, like, that's the actual number? I'm going 76. Okay.

All right, Richie keeps saying 76. I'm going to say, I'm going to bring it down a smidge, I'm going to go 87. - We'll say 83. - 83, okay.

- All right, this is the final thought, this is the last clue. - Okay. - Through the years, there have been numerous attempts to create a Connecticut blend that is full-flavored, but with more body and strength than the Connecticut-wrapped cigars of old. Sometimes they work, as in the case with the exceptional Sober Mesa Brulee Blue, but other times, the resulting blends end up with profiles that sacrifice balance on the altar of more strength.

The 601 Black is somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. While there's plenty of flavor, the profile is quite linear, and the strength ends up overwhelming some of the nuances in the blend by the middle of the final third. Here's a curveball. Those looking for more of a punch in the morning should try it out, but I'm hoping that a little bit of time will bring more balance to the forefront.

Okay, I'm gonna go 84. I'm gonna go 81. 85. Oh!

Yes! He had a bad day. 85. Mm-hmm.

All right, we have one more. Okay. All right, this is from October 17th, 2015. This is good.

Reviewed by Patrick Lagride Cigars. I like him. Patrick's nice. Patrick's nice.

Limited edition Nicaragua reviews the Wilson Adams, Wilson Adams, Mr. Wilson Cigar. Okay, what year was this? 2015.

Okay. Wilson-Adams. Wilson-Adams, Wilson-Adams, Mr. Wilson.

Mr. Wilson. All right. Go ahead.

Do the honors. Have you heard of this again? I have. Oh.

Not the Mr. Wilson, but I've heard of Wilson-Adams. Okay. 10 years ago?

10 years ago. And it's Patrick. Patrick's a nice guy. I would say 87.

Okay. Okay, that's a good number. I'm gonna go 85. All right, this is a Nicaraguan cigar from Plasencia, Mexican Wrappers, Mexico.

, filler is Nicaraguan and undisclosed tobaccos. It's a six and an eighth by 52 torpedo. They smoked three cigars in the review. I'm staying strong.

You're staying strong at 87? It was 85. Oh, 85. Oh, he's trying to cheat.

Where are you at, 90? I'm going to come down to 82. Okay. Alright, the first clue.

While the cigar starts with intriguing notes, the flavor development quickly becomes disjointed and unfocused, pulling the smoke in several competing directions. Pepper, brownie lake sweetness, sourness, and smoky retrohale notes all show up, but instead of blending together into a unified profile, They seem to clash for tension. This lack of harmony prevents a cigar from settling into a balanced or cohesive identity, leaving the first half feeling more scattered than nuanced. Mmm.

82. You came down to 82. Uh... 81.

Alright, second clue. As the cigar transitions into the final third, the experience takes a dramatic downturn. Uh-oh. Due to the aggressive surge in strength in nicotine.

Help me, Mr. Wilson! What begins as a robust profile escalates into an overwhelming physical reaction, tightness in the chest, lightheadedness, and an unmistakable feeling of cigar sickness creeping in. Oh, boy.

The strength becomes so dominant that it overshadows whatever complexity the cigar still has to offer, forcing the smoker to consider putting it down simply to avoid pushing their limits. He got the 69 that asked. Is that where you're going? 72.

Oh man, that's low. I'm gonna go 77. All right, final clue. The cigar makes a strong and polished first impression, presenting itself with refined aesthetics, clean bands, a dark toothy wrapper, and a sharply finished torpedo tip that feels premium in hand.

The pre-lit experience reinforces that quality with rich, enjoyable aromas of brownie batter, cookie dough, earthiness, and a subtle pepper. Once lit, the opening flavors deliver a compelling combination of pepper and chocolatey sweetness, supported by an effortless draw and solid smoke output, setting a promising tone and showcasing the cigar's potential early on. Oh, boy. I'm confused as fuck, man.

Welcome to Half Wheel, buddy. We gotta go up. Do we? Or is it so bad the good doesn't help?

80. Final answer. 80. Do I think it's better or worse than an 80?

I think it's worse than 80. I'm gonna go 79. Alright, final thought. It's unfortunate that what will likely stick with me most about the Wilson Adams Mr.

Wilson is the final third. Because the rest of the cigar is quite enjoyable. While it occasionally felt disjointed in the first third, The complexity was apparent, and it felt like the cigar should be a sleeper hit of complexity and flavor, yet once it turns a corner of strength past the midpoint, things begin a quick and rapid slide into a profile is completely unacceptable for me and leaves me feeling worse, much worse than when I started the cigar. Hopefully, the rebirth of the Wilson Adams brand fares better than the cigar blended to commemorate it.

Yikes. I loved it, but I hated it. It made me sick. It's 77.

Ooh, that's a good number. Do I think it's lower than a 77? Damn. 2015, is it lower than a 77?

I'm going to say, no. I'm going to say 78. 73. 73!

You got it. It was close to four digits off. Yeah. Yeah.

Four digits off at 69. Nice. Well, nicely done. There you go.

You got one. So, Charlie, if you're listening, please give me that 69, buddy. I'm going to promote the hell out of it. Any cigar.

I care less which one it is. Okay. All right. Anything else to add, Mr.

Espinosa? Thank you for having me. And like always, you guys are a blast. You guys are great.

I enjoy watching your podcast every day. I watch podcasts every day. That's a lie. I sit down when I'm in a plane.

That's a fucking lie. Danielle plays it loud. He hears it from outside. I watch your podcasts.

The only time he hears it is if it's playing in the other room. That's what he said. I saw it one day. You saw it one day?

I saw it one day. Yeah. In fairness, I don't watch any podcasts, in fairness. Except ours.

I get the information. Listen, Hector being an ex-cop, Jack being who Jack is, Richie, they give me the information. They get mad when we get shitty ratings. I don't.

Right. I care less. None of these guys, even though, listen, I love everything that you guys do, Dojo, Coop, a lot of these guys, because they help the industry. Mm-hmm.

You know, I don't think that they can help you or hurt you. Right. I really don't. That's just an opinion.

Okay. Now, how they help you is by talking about your cigars. Right. That can help.

I don't want anybody missing the sound I'm saying. I'm talking about ratings. Right. I don't think any of the ratings.

If you love the cigar, you're going to continue smoking it. And if the cigar is selling, does it really matter the rating they got? That's just my opinion. Now, Cigar Snob, when I got the Cigar of the Year and Cigar Snob, they did call to order the cigars.

Right. You know what I mean? I got Cigar of the Year and Cigar Aficionado, but you know, I hear through people who have gotten it that it's equivalent to winning the lottery. Right.

Is it still that way today? I don't know. Right. You know, but you know, the ratings, they can't hurt you.

Right. It can help, but it can't hurt you. I don't think a bad rating can hurt the cigar. Right.

That's just an opinion. Okay. You know? Okay.

Perfect, man. Anything else to add before we let you go? I think everybody should try buying some eucalyptus trees, leaves, and seriously, try it, put it in your shower, and the steam will enhance the aroma around the room. Don't cut corners.

Do you know the cucumber, the smell of cucumber makes your room look bigger? Really? Yeah. Look bigger?

Yes, it does. It makes it look bigger? Oh, don't take my word for it. Maybe Jack's room wasn't that big, maybe cucumber.

Don't take my word for it, ask half of you, I could tell you that. Would you consider this podcast Cigar Media? Just out of curiosity. Yeah.

Well, not this one. We didn't talk about cigars, but you do talk about cigars. We kind of did talk about cigars. I have the show.

Yeah, we talked about cigars. No, it is. Listen, it's all great. There's no Ecuadorian shade.

Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. There's no Ecuadorian shade now. It all helps. Yeah.

You understand? I just want to know if we're considering cigar media. You have viewers that watch it. Do you understand?

I just think, talking about the cigars and cigars, it gets boring after a while. Yeah. You know, I did like it. I mean, no disrespect to anybody.

I, you know, with anything that I, that I said, I'm just speaking facts, I'm not speaking, you know, when I say something. No, no, I, I, well, other than when I said the cocaine, I don't know if it was cocaine or not, but I know he was his own worst enemy. If he calls me, I'll tell him the same thing. Right.

You understand? I'm not saying it's cocaine, it was just his own worst enemy. It might have been. He was, but whatever.

I'm just saying what other people say, but I think everything that everybody, you know, that everybody says, what I don't appreciate is, It's not just anybody putting anybody else down, because there's people that do that, you know, I've never in my life spoke bad about a cigar, but I don't like a cigar, I don't tell a person, now, a lot of owners give me cigars for me to taste, and if I enjoy it, I'd never smoke it in front of them, I always tell them, look, I'm sick, and I can't smoke it, because if it's bad, you gotta smoke the whole fucking cigar in front of them, I don't do that, but I do give it a shot in the morning with a fresh palate, and if I like it, I'll call them. I'm like, bro, this is really good. And if I don't, they don't hear from me. You know what I'm saying?

But I can't lie. So for everybody who gave me a cigar and he didn't call you? I can't lie. Right.

I know you don't believe me, but it's hard for me to lie. I believe you. How would I believe you? And I'm too old to remember the lies.

It's not lying, Michael. If somebody tells me, look, people give me a cigar at the time, I say, bro, this is not strong. Right. I mean, I remember I went with Nemesh and Eddie, who used to be my partner back in the day, to Dominican and Daniel Nunez.

They were coming out, I think, with Mac and Noodle Bold. They gave me the cigar. Oh, this is a strong cigar we made. Try this.

You know, be careful because it's strong. And I smoke it. I could have eaten that cigar. I said, brother, it's not strong.

Right. You want a strong cigar? I gave him a 601 Blue back in the day. That's a strong cigar.

Right. And then, oh, you know, this is unsmokable. I said, to you. Right.

To you. This is not strong. You know, today's market is not, you know. No.

What was the name again of that strong cigar you made that nobody liked, that you talked about during one of your little stories? La Bomba. La. La Bomba.

It started smoking, not the Warhead. No, not the Warhead. La Bomba. La Bomba.

It was too overpowering. Just like the 601 Connecticut, the one that he rated. Right, the black. Some of the things he said, he was right on.

Right. It was overpowering. When I first came out with that cigar for Connecticut, it was the strongest Connecticut in the market. It started selling great, but then it was too powerful, so I took it out of the market because it died.

You know, people who smoke Connecticut, that's why the crema does so well for me, one of my top seven cigars. Well, yeah, but forget about the balance and this and all that. For me, that's all bullshit, okay? The flavor is the only thing that counts, okay?

Because people, they don't know how to distinguish flavor from strength. A lot of people don't. So when you have a cigar, it's not overpowering. I don't smoke a lot of Connecticut.

I don't. I just don't like. And I can't smoke two Maduros back to back. I got to have a Habano in there.

My favorite rapper is Habano. Right. But if you're making a Connecticut, you have to cater to Connecticut smokers. Okay?

But what I try to do is change the industry. Because most Connecticut's, no disrespect to anybody, don't taste like nothing. Right. There's nothing there.

It's like drinking a light beer. There's nothing there. Right. So, I tried to put some oomph in it, but not overpowering like the 601, what was it, 601 gold, black, or black at the time.

Yeah. You know, so, and that's why the crema sells so well, because it's got flavor. Right. Okay.

That's what I tried to do. People say it's one of the strongest Connecticut in the market. I don't know. It's not strong, but I think it's one of the most flavorful in the market.

Right. Okay. Well, thank you so much for coming up for the event. We appreciate you.

Thank you for having me. It's been a lot of fun. You're a great friend, dude. You're a hell of a guy.

You guys are great. Fran, thank you so much for standing in. I think he's better than Boots. He probably did amazing.

He's probably going to look great. Seamless flips back and forth. I think he was great. I mean, like when Boots does it and I'm talking, he shows your face.

When you're talking, he shows my face. The only problem is though there was like nothing with like really dumb send. Yeah, that's the problem. Like say something stupid before we finish?

Bing bong. There you go. He's a good dude. And that's it, man.

So yeah, thank you very much, brother. Appreciate it. Yeah, we love boots, but you know, we like to pick on them too. But he's not here.

He's probably smoking something with my smoker. Yeah, he is. Yeah, with your smoker. That's true.

All right. Thanks again. Episode 423. Thank you.

com, the churelli comes in black, bold, clean, and built for battle, available in multiple sizes for warriors of every shape and strength, and remember, the actual image does not dance or move, but it definitely makes a statement. com before they're gone! *outro*

Show Notes

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