Cigar Hustlers Podcast 217 The Great Smoke and Fred is called back in to action
Episode Summary
Episode 217 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast is a post-event debrief after The Great Smoke 2022 (billed as "the last great luau") hosted by Abe Dababneh of Smoke Inn. Mike Palmer and Mike Toon break down what it's like to work the show from the other side of the table — they staffed Matt Booth's booth all day, ran the trick-or-treat style swag rounds among the 40-plus vendors (including a last-cigar-on-the-table moment at Padrón), dealt with a guest who couldn't buy gin without a liquor license, and caught up with industry folks like Robert Holt of Southern Draw and Scott Weeks. Mike also shows off the Guy Fieri "Knuckle Sandwich" shirt he scored via Jack Torano, and the guys tease an upcoming bonus interview episode recorded with Matt Booth.
A big chunk of the show is the hosts' philosophy on retailer-to-retailer support: why they'll promote and share other shops' content, why they hold back certain releases from their website so other retailers can eat, and their "everybody eats — but do shady business and you're off the island" stance. There's also housekeeping on sponsorships, a racing sponsorship deal with Jason Walpert, and a planned event at Cigar Den in New Jersey.
The news segment covers Fred Rewey joining Illusione as brand strategist (essentially heading up social media and digital communications) after founding and later selling Nomad Cigar Company; the Florida House passing HB 105, which lets cities and counties ban smoking on public beaches and parks while explicitly exempting unfiltered premium cigars; Crowned Heads' Mil Días Marañones Edición Limitada 2022, a 5 3/4 x 52 Robusto Extra with an Ecuadorian Sumatra Maduro wrapper; Black Label Trading Company's Memento Mori, a former Fabrica Oveja Negra factory exclusive with a Pennsylvania broadleaf wrapper heading to retail in March; and the Partagás Decadas 2021 with Cameroon-seed tobacco grown in Bahia, Brazil. The episode closes with a very Florida story about 77 speeding tickets issued on the new I-4 express lanes in Orlando.
In This Episode
- 01Show business and sponsorshipsAd reads, podcast contracts, and an update on the racing sponsorship deal with Jason Walpert and where the Cigar Hustler name lands on the car.
- 02The Great Smoke 2022 recapWorking Matt Booth's booth, the swag trick-or-treat rounds, Padrón's table, and catching up with retailers and media at Abe Dababneh's event.
- 03Guy Fieri Knuckle Sandwich shirtHow Mike ended up with a Knuckle Sandwich shirt via Jack Torano and his impressions of Guy Fieri at the show.
- 04Retailer solidarity and 'everybody eats'Why the hosts cross-promote competing retailers, hold back certain releases, and cut off anyone doing shady business.
- 05Matt Booth hangout and upcoming bonus episodeThree hours in the car with Matt Booth, his possible podcast, and a special interview episode dropping midweek.
- 06Fred Rewey joins IllusioneThe Nomad Cigar Company founder takes a new brand strategist role at Illusione overseeing social media and digital communications.
- 07Florida HB 105 and the premium cigar exemptionThe Florida House passes a bill letting cities ban beach and park smoking while exempting unfiltered premium cigars, effective July 1, 2022.
- 08New releases roundupCrowned Heads Mil Días Marañones Edición Limitada 2022, Black Label Trading Company Memento Mori, and Partagás Decadas 2021.
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
there we go here we go welcome to episode 217 number one cigar show on podbean who's number one the show everyone else is afraid of didn't see him smoking well he's not gonna come here somebody else's thing but kurt came Kirk Kirk Kendall 724 also a retailer oh was he yeah oh I don't think I saw him he was there see the guy I saw him what did I say it was 217 you said 217 oh I am BDP Palmer and this is the king knuckle sandwich let's say cigar hustler right here Instagram I can do Instagram last week I did our names okay you too you too you too you too you too can be part of this podcast I printed it out this time you too can be a part of our podcast family and invest in This show right here. Put your products in front of thousands of listeners and viewers every episode. We are heard on 13 different podcast providers weekly all around the world. There you go.
com. Remember to please rate, comment, and subscribe to whichever many wonderful podcast providers you do and the videos provider thing you listen to. Do it. Do it.
Okay, couple updates real quick, Michael. Do it, do it. Our contract for promoting the Shirtless Mike show is up in April. Yeah.
We will be contacted by his peoples. Okay. And we will read it. com?
Exactly, sure. We're going to do the naked booth for the Patreon. Yes, we're going to do the naked booth or the booth cuppage. I understand he's a little upset with the name, so whatever he wants.
4 grams? I don't think that's true. That's a lie. 4 grams.
14. Oh, all over the place. 4 grams. 5?
3, I'll keep this, I've received an email from the, what apparently is the more intelligent part of the Cigar Noise Boys. Oh, the, the other, I always forget his name, Dom. Yeah, he's such a nice guy. He's so sweet.
He's so sweet. He's very, apparently professional, a very professionally written email. They had one question for clarification. I have clarified, actually, two questions.
I have clarified both points he had questions on and sent it back to him. So now, gentlemen, the ball is again in your cart. Okay. Well, so we're getting there.
We're getting there. Yes, yes. And we've had contact with Jason Walpert. We've had contact with Jason Walpert.
He has two cars. Two. Two cars. Two cars.
Two cars. So, So the space that I wanted to do on the Formula One looking car? Yes. Too big.
He's a sponsor that really pays big money, doesn't have a space that big. Ah. So, we move to the other car. Yes.
The other car, we can acquire the space I sent you in that last picture. Okay. We just have to- Send him a check and the contract? Contract, yeah, if you agree, I agree, we all agree, he said it was possible too, so- I have the contract.
You get the official nod. And then boom. I have the contract too. I reached out to him because you refused to send me the information.
thank you and then i thank you michael for being you know let's see this is why you were so amazing because you know other people would say hey i'm just waiting on this or whatever the king not you nope you said you know what i'm fucking taking care of it i'll go around the king he's very busy boom super busy and you know and i appreciate that about you got uh got the two cars kind of we had a uh well maybe that was why you're super busy uh we worked out the font and the colors and And where we want to put our name, and it's done. But now the trick is, I want to go to a race, see your name on the car. He's in Cali. I know, it's a long trip.
We need to go visit stores or something. Like, if you go to Cali, you know, there's some dudes you gotta visit. For one, you gotta see Eric Mitchell. We could go.
I think Randy DeWeese is out there. I mean, like, there's a lot, there's some heavy hitters out in Cali. We should probably go. That way the shop pays for the trip.
Speaking of which, you owe for the other trips. I've asked you twice. Come on, let's go. Who and how much do I make the check out to?
I don't know. See, that's the answer I keep getting. I'm not going around you when I give you money. I just need you to go around me and just give you money.
I'm not asking him. It's a lot easier if you just tell me. I'm not asking him, it'd be more money than I think. Ah, yeah, he's like, whiff.
He's trying to get me to pay for the entire TPE trip. He's like, it's at least $7,000. Right, exactly. Which will cover all the cigars your brother bought.
Try to charge you for the entire TPE trip. Like, what? Well, what other fees were there? No, I'm saying, if I, well, whatever, cigars you bought.
Oh, yeah. It's true. He is sneaky like that. Sneaky, sneaky.
the best with the last great luau the great smoke 2022 with a ww yeah he's gonna do the show next week he is he's incredibly busy he knows does not know how many super busy super busy today so we're gonna get a recap from last week but it was a wonderful event it went it went extremely well we had a very good time yes you know there's a lot of there's a lot to unpack there yes yes if you're gonna if you're gonna jump right into that well what else do we have that's all we did all Oh, I mean, I have more, but let me tell you, if you want to, first of all, first of all, I am wearing. Yeah, you only got the one. I am wearing this lovely Jack and Hector Guy Fieri knuckle sandwich shirt. It looks a little snug.
That's what Guy was worried about. He said he was concerned with the XL t-shirt for me on the arms. I'm like, oh, that's good. I'm good.
So is that shirt directly from Guy or from his people? Well, I mean, it was kind, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, he said get him a shirt.
I said, get him a shirt, yes. And then who? And then who? Who handed you the shirt?
Jack Tarano. Ah, his peoples. His peoples. His peoples.
So, you know, I just wanted to, I wanted to wear this today as my triumphant, mission accomplished, check out my Guy Fieri t-shirt, where is yours? I have another Michael Sandwich cigar. Oh, you're holding out on me. No, I got this, it was on Greg's desk.
Oh, that's mine. No, no, it was in the broken cigar pile. I am super busy, super busy. He's super busy.
How do you spell knuckle sandwich? How do you spell knuckle sandwich? You can never get that right. So, he spelled Tina the other day, T-E-A-N-E.
T-E-A. Oh, Tina. Okay. Right.
Tina. Right. Phonetically, it was correct. So, guy seems like a pretty good guy.
Yeah. He seems like a pretty just normal dude. You know what I mean? I know you didn't talk to him.
No, I didn't talk to him. Talk to him briefly. You talked to him briefly. Hopefully he was nice enough to do another FaceTime, which you're becoming famous with with your family, by the way.
It's the move. Let's have the famous people FaceTime my family. Yeah, because you know what? That's way more important to me than me.
It's like their own personal cameos. " "Hey, check this out. " I'm like, you know, and when you become such close friends, like Guy and myself, like, you don't do that. Oh, yeah, right.
Yeah, very close, very close. Yeah, you know, I don't, I don't want to mess that up. We're good friends now. So, I get shirts.
Right. Shirts. Nice. Whatever.
So, I did reach out to Eric too, by the way. So, just level table that for now. Oh, oh. For the thing.
That was my wife's idea. Oh, nice. Okay. She goes, you shouldn't.
And then I was like, oh, we get it. And she goes, sure you could. Does he know who you people are? Of course.
Does he know who you people are? You know what they say. Closed mouth does not get fed. That's right.
Closed mouth don't get fed, baby. Chrome. You should do a thing here. Big thing.
Could be expensive. So anyways. Oh, yeah, probably. I got to get paid.
So Abe invited us. Abe invited you plus Zippy. That's what he called me, Zippy. My plus one.
Yeah. I called him plus one all day long. We briefly had correspondence with Abe because obviously. Well, I wanted to go over and say thank you.
Let him know we were there. Yeah. You know, he did seem a little upset. We had exhibitor badges.
I goes, can I get you guys tickets? Yeah. Well, yes, but we came in with... He tried to flex.
Yes. We did get our cigars, Dave. We'll have to make sure we tell him on the show. We did do the whole thing.
We did do the trick-or-treat endorsement. Which was amazing for me. It was so funny. Yeah, yeah.
You know what I mean? I had to do it on the fucking sheer comedy of it. Right. And I'm like, excuse me.
Yes, I would like... Here's my ticket. Thank you, Mr. La Polina.
You would like the ticket. I would like this. And it was really funny because I don't think they had like 40-something vendors or whatever. Yeah, yeah, they're about...
And I would say that I probably... You know, 35 of the 40 something vendors, you know, so, there are five or six that had no idea. I mean, Padrón, Padrón doesn't give two fucks about me right now. It was one left on the table when I got there, 'cause I sort of cut away, 'cause you got distracted.
I think at Adventura you got a little delayed. Yeah, yeah, it was just a given that I get bought down. Right, yeah, so I kept moving, and on my own I would get more than one from some of the people. Oh, Mr.
Plummer, here, you just take this, here, here, here, just something. Have another one. Or, here's a Cutter, or here's a Landerson. But, yeah, but when I got to Padrón, which was the last table, there was only one left on the table, and I went, oh, I got the last one, and I turned around, I'm looking, thinking, oh, Mikey's coming, there's not any left, huh-huh, but they're like, no, no, we have more.
I gotta tell you, for me, this was the, like, the event where I was identified, like, the most. Oh, really? I never really had, I don't know, like, a lot of people knew what the brand was, they knew who I was, you know, and they asked me, what the fuck was I doing sitting behind Matt Booth's bench? slave labor is what it was.
I mean, he just fucking tricked us. Hey, come down with me. Hey, thanks again today. I know.
I talked to him. He's very, very nice. We would never ever just, you know, all right, well, we're going to go walk around, you know, see, I leave you flowning here on your table with no cloth. Yeah.
It looks pretty busy here. It looks busy. I hope you're okay. I'm sure you'll be fine.
You'll feel, you know, you're really quick with the, with, with people. You don't talk to anyone. Right, right. There's no dawdling.
There's no photographs. More fun. I enjoy that. That was the second or third one that I've done, and I like doing that.
It's fun. I mean, there's really no pressure. And that's what it is. Yeah.
The difference is that we don't really give a fuck, right? Right. So we're having fun. We're going to have a good time.
There's no sales pitch. Right. Everybody's grateful. Everybody says thank you.
A lot of thank yous. Oh, just about everybody. To such a surprising amount. Oh, yeah, see?
Because I have done... I'm like, you paid for this. No, but I have done other things where it's like, where's my ashtray? Can I get something?
What's that? Can I take that with me? I like the way they do it where you keep the swag back here, and then the guy has to go buy, and then he comes back with a pick ticket, like, okay, here, I bought your thing, here's my ticket for the swag. Right.
And you, you know, yeah, most people were very, very nice. Yes. I thought for sure I was gonna tell somebody to fuck themselves, and I didn't even get that chance. The gin lady was really the only one that got mad that I dealt with.
The lady who got the taste of the gin, but she was not allowed to buy the gin. Oh, yeah, yeah. She's just fucking around, though. Yeah, yeah, but, I mean, she's sort of beating a dead horse.
Okay, wait, yes, you're back again. You still can't get the gin. Yes, I'm very sorry. Yeah.
Find Mr. Booth. I said, go find Abe, but we don't have a liquor license. We can't sell anything.
Yeah, that's a given. Somebody did want to buy the extra swag. Booth told me he could buy the swag, and I had it in my hand. And I'm like, "I have no way to take your money, sir, and I don't know how much money to take.
You probably need to go ask Mr. " And I don't know, maybe he was, maybe he's just trying to get one, I don't know. That's why I say 50 bucks. You want cash.
No one else, you do, you look left, you look right, 50 bucks. You got Venmo? Venmo. Venmo.
You Venmo me. I want cash. I want cash. Venmo, you could hit that you want it back.
I'm going to tell you one thing that really happened. Yes. That was very kind of unique, it's really unique. I don't think I have that button anymore.
It's really very unique. You know, there were a handful of retailers that were at this event, right? And I'm not going to disclose the names of the retailers. Oh, were they, um, I just wanted to...
I don't want to disclose the names. No, no, no, I'm just counting in my head how many I saw. I had a handful. Oh, so like five?
Yeah, maybe more. I can only think of maybe three. But you identify more than that. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. " And I feel like I'm trying to drive business your way. " I'm like, "Listen, you know, I'm At this point in the game, for 13 fucking years, I've pretty much proven that all I do is be concerned about the well-being of all other retailers. Certainly.
Like that's really how the fucking brand started. Right. So, and who knows what happens with, you know, we have other creations and other things going, what am I going to create a fucking bangerang? Right, yeah.
You know, like you could do a potion, like I've already kind of built as at a cigar hustler, right? so you know like listen fucking just do a story just if you do a story post i will share the story on my like they tag any of us actually me you or chet they tag any of us we always i will instantly promote and build and do what i can to my page your page their page we did not you know and then we got on the topic of sbcs and i'm like look you know are you aware that i didn't have any sbcs in They don't even make it online, because I want to make sure that all retailers are taken care of. Like the whole purpose of this is to make the cigar industry better, right? I'm trying my best to take care of all retailers that have the same kind of liking that I do, right?
They're very similar, right? So I wanted at least, I know that I've said this a hundred times before, but I want to reiterate it again, that that's really what we're all about here, you know? Everybody eats. And do you know what somebody said that when I was talking?
Oh, did they? Oh. Yes, they did. One of the idioms from The Cigar Hustler.
Everybody fucking eats. We take care of all of the retailers that back us and support us. But if you do some shady shit, I just want you to know, you're off the fucking island, right? Yeah, well, we'll call them out for the shady shit too, so.
Yeah. And you won't get any more product. Oh, my. Oh, deep discount.
Oh, bye. Oh, no more. No more for you. I had no call.
Right. We meant to say, I am expecting a phone call from my wife, an important phone call. So if it happens, we will break, and then we will be right back. I started to turn my phone over, so I didn't see a ring, like, no, no, I need to know when that rings.
A hundred percent. Yes. I forgot to mention that in the beginning. Let's see.
What else happened at the thing? There was some funny things that happened at the thing. Funny things happened. Oh, I saw all the other guys from all the other podcasts, and I was on the way to the bathroom, so I skipped them, because it was-- Oh, you ignored the media.
No, no, no. You're right. I had to go to the bathroom. But on the way back-- I am busy.
" They're all very tall. I must be like the shortest media person there is. Yeah. " And then, poop, out.
I gotta go. Nice to see you. Nice to see you, fellas. " Yeah, later I saw him.
He wanted me to remember again. He will be on in May. Please, he'll be on in May. Like, don't come after me, I'll be on MMA.
And I love the video you did about the TV, I was like, oh, I'm glad you liked it. We can fuck with their pots and pans, I just want you to know. Yes, yes. Oh, wait, did you see the poster for today?
Oh, I just asked. I saw that all over the table. At this point, I've just given up. I've given up.
Somebody's been vacuuming in here, though. The floor is very clean. I don't know. Must be the staff.
Let's see, what else? Well, somebody's gotta do it. I'm trying to think. I can tell you a couple things.
A lovely talk with Robert Holt. Yeah, so, you know, we'll say Southern Roll, Southern Roll, thank you, nice chat with him, my friend Leo, Scott Weeks, who used to be my mortal enemy, who now I enjoy, and he's a good guy, yeah, once I got to know him and stuff, and he was funny, I took, I took Boots to him, Boots wanted me to take him around, because he doesn't know anybody, Boots came with us too, and he actually worked at the booth too, but, you know, so we were going to spot to spot, we got to Scott's, and Scott pulled that scar, so he's gonna go, no, no, wait, I want him to get the full Scott, please, oh, I'd like to get the full Scott, please, oh, I'm I like the complete treatment for my friend. So you dropped the bomb and walked away? Yes.
Yes. " This is Antubaro. This is how this works. Antubaro.
He's a good guy, man. Yeah, he's funny. It was cool to kind of see everybody and just kind of bullshit a little bit. Yeah, see, it's a different level of scene because, I mean, you can't buy anything.
Right. You're not selling anything to anybody. Right. So, yeah, it was a different experience for you.
Yeah. My feet were fucking killing me. Oh, yeah. Holy shit.
They hurt. Oh, my legs, my knees, everything for like the waist down. My goodness. Yeah.
That's a lot of work. It's a lot of work. And, you know, well, we had football on Friday. So, you know, Booth comes into town Thursday and we hang out and, you know, we're shooting the shit and we got to have good conversations and stuff, which was really, really awesome.
Right. Right. " So, no, no, no, I will give you full attention now. " All right, so, we got to hang out.
We had, you know, we had some really, really good conversations and stuff like that. And we'll release a podcast with a little interview that we did with him as well. A little interview with him Friday, a Boothy special. And that went very well.
It started a little slow, but the second half was good. Yeah, you know, we had already had, we had already discussed so much shit. Right, and that would technically have been his third appearance because he did a double show the first time he was on. Right.
So it's not like you're gonna do any of the background stuff again. No, yeah, it's all bullshit. Right, and there's really, you know, nothing extremely new that he's got going on. He does, he always has new stuff going on.
Well, right, but nothing, nothing he's promoting, you know, nothing he's going around promoting. We already talked about the jewelry, you know, so with you guys doing all your changes, like, you guys sort of look at each other, We're like, well, what are we talking about? It's just that we cover so many things, you know, and that does become an issue, right? It's like, okay, well, fuck.
And he's like, is this the Patreon? We're like, no, no, so you can't say. And that's when you're like, all right, let me tone that down. Right.
So there's more things we can't talk about. Right. What else we got? It's crazy.
It's fucking crazy. So we had a good time though, you know? We did. It was fun.
I mean, we had him in the car for three hours. Yeah. That was fun. Yeah, it was a good egg.
Yeah, oh, he's a very nice man. You know, I can't really say too many bad things about people in this industry. There's a handful that I can, and I do on the Patreon, but, you know, generally speaking, like, a lot of people are just, they're pretty good, they're right down to earth, you know what I mean, they're all going through their own shit. Everybody's got things going on.
Right, and there's all types of different approaches with business and industry stuff and all those kinds of things, but at the end of the day, a lot of them are very transparent. Yeah. So, we lost our championship game, by the way. Yes, your wife informed me Friday night.
That was a tough one. That was tough. But, I will bring this up. As you said, you were the calmest one after the loss.
Insane! Yes, that was hard. I was like, your husband? The large fellow over here?
This is this fellow? I'm going to tell you, man, going into the fucking game, dude, my heart was through the roof. I was getting dizzy and nauseous, and like, like, I couldn't breathe, I don't know what was going on, I'm like, you need to just calm down, you need to just calm the fuck down right now, so, you know, had I erupted, I probably would have had a heart attack on the feet, you know what I mean, like, we had a couple things that didn't, that there were some fucking questionable calls, you know, but you can't hang your hat on that, you know what I mean, like, I just, we lost because we got bad calls. No, that's definitely not us.
You know, it's definitely not me. I'm like, okay, well, what can I do to do things better? And what's really kind of important is really continuing to establish relationship with the parents and the kids and kind of continuing to move forward, right? So we're getting there.
And I'll continue to learn and get better at this if I'm going to stick through it. And I think I will for the time being. Sure, for the kids. Yeah, you know, it's a lot.
Are you sportless now for a short time or do you immediately go? For like one month. Oh, okay, so you don't immediately go into something else. No, it's like a three-week or one-month break.
Oh, what are you guys going to do all weekend? Now you got no football to watch or go play. I know, it's crazy. You sit around the house.
Thursdays and Fridays. Like normal people. Like, what do you want to do? I don't know.
I don't know, what do you want to do? Let's stay here. Oh, that'd be silly, let's stay in here. Let's go to the movies.
A lot of date nights, Mike. You should do a lot of date nights. Oh, yeah, date nights. Take care of the wifey.
You're always in trouble. I got a little travel going. I'm going to do a little event at Cigar Den in New Jersey. Oh, nice.
I'm going up there for family time. Oh. And, you know, Nick's a good dude. " Oh, Nick Rogério?
No. Oh. No, Nick is a Cigar Den. Oh.
" And I'm like, "I'm going to be in the area, and I'm not going to really stop anybody else. " Nice. Yeah. He made me yawn because you yawn.
Oh, today is Nick Ruggiero's birthday? It is. Yes, happy birthday, Nick. I already texted him this morning.
Yes. Something obscene that he usually seems to enjoy. I don't know. Something obscene?
Oh. Well, no, it was a picture. Barry? Is it Barry?
No, I thought about doing Barry. I was like, no, he always is Barry. So I did one of Stevie Wonder, and it said, I'm not going to see you on your birthday, but happy birthday anyway. Oh.
It's not really obscene, but maybe a little off-color bad taste. Yes. It is very bad taste. Yes.
He left. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, I'm showing, hmm, yeah, that's it, man, you know, um, had a great event with Matt, yes, yeah, well, there, the, uh, so, uh, any idea when the grand opening is for the, uh, great question, I'll get back to you on that. I did notice Greg didn't go down there to do anything today, now that the event's over. See that, see how that worked?
Yeah, yeah, certainly. It was a good run. Right, now, maybe the time we're, In 2023, the lounge will open. Who knows?
Right. We'll see. We'll see what happens. And then your guards and letters.
So you want to start the news? We have some, we have a little bit of news here. We're already at 30 minutes almost. Yeah, let's get into some news.
I mean, there's some interesting stuff going on with Mr. Fred Rui that I'd like to discuss. There's some Florida stuff going on. Some Florida.
There's a lot going on. Yes. And Abe, thanks again for, uh, this moment for having us. Yes, well, we'll thank him next week.
He doesn't listen to the show. Oh, yeah, yeah. He was upset he'd never been on the show before. I didn't know he even wanted to do the show.
I love the aggression. Yeah, we knew. He said it last time we saw him. Oh, did he?
Yeah. And I'm like, "Hey, we should get him on the show. " We tried to get him on, and then we... " But I have yet to do your show.
Yeah. Mmm. He hit us with a pity. Everybody wants to do the Cigar Hustler Podcast.
The guilt, guilt-shaming. The guilt-shaming show. All right, but you guys don't like me. From the four corners of the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need.
The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report with Mike Toon. Big story this week, Mike. Fred Rui joins Ellusion. Oh, there it is.
Just when you think you're out, they pull me back in. Fred Rui is now the brand strategist for Ellusion. Aha. Brand strategist.
Brand strategist. For all you people that can translate for you, he's in charge of social media. He's in charge of social media. It's a new role for the company that will see Rui manage the company's social media.
Yes. And communications with digital media. Expect pictures of bacon via social media. To Bacon and Cats, he likes Cats.
The Illusion, the occasional cat. Maybe Limes, he'll plug his own books. A possible Green Bay Packers. Oh, so it's me in communication with me.
As well as working closely, in parentheses, with the company's sales representatives. I'm excited to be part of a team, brand, and company that I have a lot of respect for, said Fred Rui in a statement sent to Cigar Hustler Partners. Dion's portfolio stands out among a seemingly crowded field, but in reality, Illusion is not industry standard. For a reason, for a reason, for a reason, and it's a good one, I look forward to helping to show why that is so important to the cigar community.
Very cryptic. Oh. Let's try that one more time. Yeah, back that up.
Dion's portfolio stands out among a seemingly crowded field, but in reality, Luzione is not industry standard for a reason, and it's good, for a reason, and it's a good one, but it doesn't involve what the reason is. Hmm, I look forward to helping to show why that is so important to the cigar community. Well, I think that he needs to start by working on his press releases. Yeah, that's a little confusing for him.
I don't mean to nitpick here. You know, if you want help, Fred, we have a Mike and Mike Communications Media Company. He'd like us to, you know, help you. If you want us to, you know, if you want us to be the press release person for the Fred Rue.
Oh, we didn't forget to talk, well, we didn't talk about it, we'll talk about it later. Take it by now. Throw it in. Let's go.
Matt Booth is thinking about doing his own podcast. He's considering it, yeah. Yes, yes. Is there some way we can do it for him from here?
I mean, there's gotta be some telemedia thing. I told them that we could talk to them about it. Sure. Yeah, something we can do.
Brought to you by Mike and Mike Productions. Right, Fred, yeah, the Boothy Hour. Rui is best known for the Scarwell as the founder of Nomad Cigar Company, which he owned and operated from 2012 to 2018 before selling out. Oh, sorry, I mean, before selling to the Ezra Zion Company.
Ah, selling out, I mean. Paraphrased. Rui is also the co-founder of Exposure One. But God bless him.
You know, listen, at the end of the day, everything's for sale. I would sell your chair When someone says Look, if the check's big enough You're fucking out I don't care what you send me I must go I have the money I must go and I will never wear pants again Now we go go We did talk like Matt Booth all the way home last night And not intentional I even said a couple times God, now I'm talking like him We all did in the car And we'd stop and go to the bathroom and go, everyone ready to, now we go, go? Yeah, never talk like Skip. It's true, we never do talk like Skip, but that's right.
Interesting. It's strange. Florida House approves a bill allowing for beach and park smoking bans. Oh, they approved it.
But premium cigars are exempt. Hey! That's right. There you go.
Ha ha. Today, the Florida House representatives passed HB 105. The bill that will allow counties and municipalities to enact legislation to limit smoking in public beaches and parks, though there is one notable exception included in the bill: Premium cigars. Atta boy.
Yeah. The central aspect of the bill is moving control over smoking regulations in city and counties owned parks and beaches to those cities and counties. So here's the problem. Go ahead.
As under current law, the regulation of smoking is limited to the state. Similar bills have been proposed to several people's legislation, but have fallen into a game message. This year as part of the negotiation process, an amendment was filed that prevents cities and counties from further restricting the smoking of unfiltered cigars. Aha!
See, it's the filters that they don't want on the beach, not the leaves. Right. Makes sense. Makes sense.
That means that while the smoking of cigarettes in most little cigars will be regulated, It's good the use of vaping products or e-cigarettes. Beach and purgores still be able to light up a cigar in those areas. Woo-hoo. Which is the only reason I go to the beach with my wife.
Right. Yeah, if I can't sit and smoke, I'm just sitting there roasting. Yeah, so here's what's crazy. I have more.
Oh, continue. Thank you. One of the driving factors in negotiation was finding a way to limit the number of cigarette butts in beaches and parts since they are cited as one of the most plentiful sources of filters. And since they don't break down, create environmental hazards that can't be harmful to animals because they eat them, the House passed the bill to vote of 105 to 10.
Who are these 10 people? I would like the names of the 10. The 10, please. Bring forward the 10.
No. The bill still needs to be passed by the Senate, though some other bill has been making its way allowing for smoking pipe tobacco and a putt. You're out. In his language is M.
Cigars that do not contain a filter or plastic tip, if signed into law, going to effect July 1st, 2022. Aha! All right, now you may comment. Please.
The only issue. All right, you're hitting the cord, you're moving. I know, I felt that. You keep moving the cord.
The only issue. Well, it should be done better. Oh, it's awesome. Look, we're on a shoestring budget here with some things.
No, it shouldn't be better. I hope you're off camera. The people that are enforcing the rule. And I'm hoping that they are well aware of this premium cigar okayedness.
Yes. Oh, very nice, okayedness. Okayedness. How do you spell that?
This exemption. Oh, thank you. The official word, exempt. Exemption.
You are exempt. Because like, you know, I mean, we get into fights with the refs about rules. Right. Like, no, no, that's illegal.
No, it's perfectly legal. And then we have to go and look. Oh, I hate going to look. Oh, you got me yawning.
Dude, we had a long abusive weekend. Long weekend. It's crazy. Crazy.
So, you know, that's the only problem with that. Right. I hope that they know what's going on. Oh, yeah.
See, I can see some cop going, hey, you can't smoke me. Yes, I can. Yes, I can. There's no filter.
Yes, asshole. I can smoke this. Talk to the guy over here with the Philly sweet thing, though. He can't.
And Mr. Marlboro Light over here can't either. As you're smoking your cigar and you point to the people with the cigar. Point with the cigar.
This guy over here, he's in. This guy over here has a filter. He's in direct violation of the bylaws of HB-105. That's right.
I, however, am superior and exempt. Not to be confused with SB 2024. Oh, not SBC, SB 2024. Aha.
Mil-Dias Marantanos Edicione Limitada 2022 should be next month. There will be a new version of Crownheads Mil-Dias heading to stores next month, and it's both a new size and new blend. What's Mil-Dias stand for, Michael? What's it mean?
A thousand days. Excellent job, Michael. Yes. The Mel Diaz Maratinos Edición Limitada.
I hope that's one big-ass round cigar. It's a long-ass name to put on there. Five and three-quarter of 52 Robusto. Oh, maybe they wrote a long race.
Uh-huh. Extra. Oh, extra. It's a Robusto extra.
Plenty for him, then. Plenty for him. Though the more notable Sumatra Maduro wrapper, instead of the Ecuadorian... Oh, the more notable difference between the Maratinos and the rest of Mel Diaz line line is that the ecuadorian sumatra wrapper instead of the ecuadorian havano wrapper found on the other melody is vital it's the eternal blend remains the same same michael exactly no change but different because the outside different are you okay you want to answer some emails and i'm just i'm just handling everything i felt that after releasing the maravas escadidos and the margikinos the limited margikinos magicos magicos i like margikinos margikinos margikino is it like Is it only in Mar-a-Lago or something?
It's made out of margarine. Oh, it's made out of margarine. It's made out of margarine. Spanish margarine.
Margarine only. They got in trouble for saying the butter thing on Instagram. The margarine. The margarine notes.
I can't believe it's not butter. Can't say that. Melodies. Can't say that.
John Huber, co-founder of Crown Heads in a press release. I don't know Mr. Huber's voice or I would try to impersonate him. Do you know Mr.
Huber? No, not really. I've seen him. Oh.
We had experimented with several rapper options, however, when we applied to Sumatra Maduro rappers. According to the existing blend, the flavor profile took on a whole new other dimension. A whole new world. No dimension, not world.
The Mildius Maritano's Edition limitada, 2032, MSRP of 12, 25 per cigar. And it's limited to 2,500 boxes of 12 cigars. The boxes are also a bit different other than the Mildius Cigars, thanks to these black color. Crownhead says we can shipping Maritano's in March.
Makes sense. Maritano's March. And then our favorite company, Black Label Trading Company, Memento Mori, shipping in early March. The Mori.
You are not the father. We are doing the Memento Gori for Halloween release here at Cigar. The Remember. Memento Mori, the newest cigar from Black Label Trading Company, is scheduled to begin arriving at stores in early March.
And for those familiar with philosophy and stoicism, comes with a pretty heavy message. Ah. Oh, better pre-read that real quick. Let me get ready.
You know, she takes Mrs. Black Label, what is her name? Yes. What is Mrs.
Black Label's name? Yes. What is her name? I follow her on Facebook, lovely photos on her little patio thing, a very beautiful view.
Is it Jamie? No. No, no, that's Mrs. Rosales' wife.
I don't remember offhand. That's okay. It's been a while since we've spoken. Obviously, yes.
And I'm tired. But lovely photos, I always comment on them, and she says thank you, so I don't think she knows who I am. Maybe she just got over it like a mature adult. Eh, I don't know, everybody else seems to bring it up.
" Oh, wow. Oof. " Oh, you with the yawning, you got me yawning. What is a new cigar to retail shelves?
Fans of the brand might recognize it as a factory exclusive release. Oh, factory exclusive, Michael. We gotta get a picture of it to see. It has been available at Fabrica Oveja Negra in Esteli Nicaragua.
The blend features a dark Pennsylvania broadleaf wrapper, an Ecuadorian Habano binder, and Nicaraguan fillers is offered in three sizes. The Corona, the Robusto, and the Lawnsdale. Memento Mori is exactly what you envision when you think of a Black Liberatory Company cigar, said James Brown. Creator of the BLTC and partner of Fabrica Oveja Negra.
Via press release. From its appearance to its flavor profile, the cigar is... I'm not going to say his name because he's a little scary. I'm not going to mock his voice.
Oh, okay. The flavor profile is bold, rich, and earthy. Earthy. With notes of dried dark fruit and bitter cocoa.
Yes. Dried dark fruit. Not wet dark fruit, just the dried ones. The Retro Hell brings a spice with white pepper and cinnamon on the finish.
You know, even when I make food, I can't tell the difference between white pepper and black pepper. Yeah. Do you need, aw, what are you doing? I'm tired.
We apologize while we take a nap. I'm tired. All right, so Blackville's going on a new scar. Moving on.
Partigus Dekadas. Dekadas. I like Dekadas. Dekadas.
Dekadas. The 2019 Journal of Cigar Company brought back the Partigus Dekadas line for a limited release. Well, the company's released the Dekadas from 2005, 2009, and went on hiatus for more than a decade. Hiatus.
Hiatus. They want a hiatus. Oddly, that is not what the, how do you say it? Dicatus.
Dicatus. Part of the name refers to instead the reverence to the age of the rapper. It's 10 years old. Wait, that's Dias.
No, that's 100. Never mind. That's days. Yeah.
Mil. Mil. Mil. Is 1,000.
You think it would be a million. But it wouldn't. Mil Dias. But it's not.
A million days. Mil Dias. At least that's what's referred to. The 2021 version of the Partagas is very much about a unique rapper.
Though it's not able due to how the wrapper is instead where it comes from. Over the years, the Partagas has used Cameroon wrappers for most. It's not all of its releases of the 2020 edition of the Canadian Strand, it still uses tobacco from the country of Cameroon. It uses Cameroon seed tobaccos grown in Bahia, Brazil.
Bahia. Bahia. Bahia. The grass, same as the grass in Florida.
Bahia. Underneath is a Connecticut Habano binder and a variety of fillers. Oh, holy shit. Oh, we apologize.
A lot of yawning. Oh my goodness. They're all yawning while they're washing. Man, really need some cocaine or something.
Really even as that. Oh, I hear if you go to 7-Eleven bathrooms, you can run into some of that. You can go ahead and get some, yeah. Just stick it out.
Piloto & Tobacco is from three of the Nicaraguan-grown regions: Esali, Jalapa, and Ometepe. Ometepe. That's my favorite place. Oh, you like there?
Yes. BDP has a lot of Ometepe. Oh. I don't know.
Interesting. No, it's from the island of Notaro. Notaro. I can't think of another cigar that uses Cameroon Seed Tobacco from Brazil, and it's quite likely this is the first time I'm smoking a product cigar and use a wrapper of Note, Ford Cigar Company, assisted company, General Cigar.
Okay, party is new. Next. I only have one more story. The short, short ending.
I only have one more story. Do you? Yes. Do you?
Yes. Good. You're married. Kiss her.
I only have one more story. All right, let's go. Florida man, fucking... Oh, the blank piece of pepper.
Oh, no, that's not pepper. Florida story, Mike. Thank you. Now we're getting somewhere.
It's not a Florida man, it's a Florida story. That's a Florida story. Florida story. This weekend, they opened up the new express lane.
Ah, yes. New peasants. We took it on the way home. And threw things at the regular people on I-4.
We threw things, yes, as we just zipped by these people. As we were chanting, we had AKs out the windows, shooting up to the sky. Four, two, three, four, I don't know, several lanes of unfettered traffic through the city of Orlando. Just coasting through.
Just coasting. We didn't even steer. You can't. Large rubber things on the side like a bowling alley.
Excuse you. We were just bouncing back and forth. Yeah, it was amazing. It was amazing.
But we just stopped driving. We should have paid better attention because 77 speeding tickets on I-4 were given up Friday night. Whoa. Or Saturday.
I mean, Saturday's when it opened. Saturday. On the express one? On the new part of the express one.
You bastards. You've ruined it for everyone. You fucking tricked us. Troopers said the highest speed was 101 miles per hour and a 60 mile per hour limit.
That's not fast. I gotta tell you, we were doing between 70 and 80 through there. That's standard. Right.
That's standard I-4 speed, 70 to 80. They said there were also drivers stopped for speeding in the high 90s. So apparently we were in the 70, 80s. We were in the safe bracket.
We were in the sweet spot. Ah, let them go. Drivers that were stopped for speeding told troopers they thought they could go faster in the express lane. That's not what it means.
It's like at the grocery store. It means less things in the lane. Oh, is that what it means? Yes.
Well, like express lane and universal means it goes through the line faster. So why can't I speed? That's not what it means. No, you're not going this fast.
The speed limits on the express lanes are the same as the main line of I-4. The lanes are meant to... You fucking bastards. to avoid heavy congestion along the main line.
They've been waiting this whole day, the years for this weekend. Oh, we're going to fill the ticket quota this weekend. Guess what we're going to do? That's what we're going to do.
We're going to let it, we're going to make the tolls free for the weekend, the first weekend, and we're just going to fucking crush when it comes to speeding. That's right. Uh, see, the I-4 and they did. So they're only free till Wednesday.
I'm going to try it on the way home today. Oh, and I'm going to do a reasonable speed because I do not want the additions. Hey, I'm thinking for you, you have to get off at Maitland. Yes.
No, I get off at 436. There's no, you get on it at 434. I don't think there's a 436 exit. I can't, I'm not, I'm doing it.
I don't care. I don't care where I get off. No, because I drove to Winter Park this morning, and I didn't get on it because I didn't know exactly where I was getting off because I was following the map thing, but yeah, it starts at like right before 4:34, like right past the rest area. Yeah.
But I don't think it, the first dump out, I believe, is Maitland. Well, look, if we're going to try, it's going to be free, and we're doing it today, god damn it. Well, if you go to Maitland, you just go to Backway. Yeah, it's whee!
They were talking on the radio how when you get off at Maitland, you have like 30 seconds, which is where we got off, To cross four lanes of traffic for that first exit. Yeah, what's the problem? Well, have you ever been into Manhattan? I mean, you got a cross bucket, ask Yogi.
Yeah, I've been in Manhattan, I've driven to Manhattan. Okay, like I've, I remember, distinctly remember going to a hotel. Well, you go from the 101 miles per hour on the expressway to your half a mile to your first exit. I feel like there should be some type of ramp where you, where you...
It's uphill, so you can't go as fast? No, no, no, no, it's like you, you hit this ramp that shoots you across. Airborne, yes. Maybe they get to the thing for the, I don't know, but there were several reports of people getting on and going, oh, wrong way, and it's stopping and backing up and trying to get back off.
Oh, you just ride it out. Completely turning around. I'm going to turn around. If it doesn't get off at 4:36.
You get 4:36 and just go, okay, hold on, stop that. This doesn't work. Driving backwards. Dude, you guys deserve tickets.
Lt. " Lt. Kim Montes sat out in her cash-filled fucking throne to do a press release after busting all of the tickets. In her brand-new 2022 Lincoln Continental.
She took a press release holding a brick of money to her hand, acting like a... Waving in the Florida heat, treating it like a cell phone, we will continue to be going back through these people. Yeah, you fucking idiots are going a hundred miles an hour, the $20 bills, they're going so fast, I had to get all the cars, $17,000, I just can't, we've issued warrants as well, for those who, we took a few people to jail, and pounded the cars, we have several new cars for the auction, so on Wednesday they're probably just going to shut it down completely. We are going to single-handedly fix the used car market in the entire nation off of repoing vehicles on the Express Pass on that four.
You're speeding? Nope, car's got to go. Car's got to go. It's the way it is, sorry.
New rule. All done. So, later on this week, you're going to release the boofy one? Yeah, it's a special.
I think we'll do it as a special. We'll do it on Wednesday. Special edition on Wednesday or something. I have so much free time.
Yeah, you do. You're an amazing guy. You can't just schedule it? Huh?
You can't just... Yeah, but I still got... I got to hit the button. I got to put the lead in.
I got to put the clothes on it. I got to do... No, no, no, no. The header and the footer is just called in the business.
Oh. Well, then put it on the end of this, if you want. Nah, I really said what I can. Okay.
All right. Good for you. I take this home now. I take home.
I take home. I take home. I take home. Because the internet here still sucks.
It does. It does. All right. That's it.
We're 45 minutes. We're going to be shorter. You get two little snackies Plus the Patreon If you're two little snackies plus the Patreon At that point we're just monopolizing your entire week Right we don't know And I did my whole other show that I do too And the shit show Do you have a shop of the week? No it's your job I have a listener of the week Tim Dempsey Congratulations Mr.
Dempsey You're a listener of the week Back to back listener of the week Well he sent a little gift to the other show Oh, see, look at that. I can be bought. Mission accomplished, Tim. Mission accomplished, Tim.
Thank you very much. We'll talk about you on the other show. All right, that's it. That's what the gift is.
All right, guys, we're going to go. Thank you. Bye. This has been a Cigar Hustlers podcast, a Mike and Mike production.
m. for all new episodes. Hi, I'm doing, I'm Husto Eroa. Yeah, we just don't have to do a single, uh, single podcast ever again.
Perfect. I'm good, Mike and Mike, how are you guys doing? The Hojo, the... Hojo!
It's the Hojo! Demandre... You didn't even let him fuck it up all the way. I couldn't get past Hojo!
I don't even have to try it. He's not even gonna try it. We're gonna, we're gonna cover a lot of ground here, Mike. All right.
Try to keep up. That's a sign of a good podcast. It could be like four cigars when I walked in a door. All right, end this.
Show Notes
We discuss The Great Smoke and what fun we had...Fred Rewey is back and Florida has an express lane and Cigars on the Beach!!