Cigar Hustlers Podcast 222 BDP Release

Episode Summary

Episode 222 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast is the "BDP edition," celebrating the official arrival of the BDP cigar — co-host Mike Palmer's first-ever blend, produced through Poshick Cigars with Azariah Mustafa Cordoba of Cordoba Morales Cigars in Central Florida and rolled at an undisclosed Nicaraguan factory. The hosts read the press release live on air, talk through the release timeline (an in-house Cigar Hustler release party on the 15th, with online availability held back until retailers who ordered get their allocations), and note that Lake Country Cigars and Celery City were the first shops to put the cigar on their shelves. Palmer teases the cryptic Easter eggs hidden in the band, and Mike Szczepankiewicz promises a deeper "nitty gritty" blend interview on the Patreon.

Before the news, the guys do their usual long-form banter: a school charity auction where Palmer ended up crowned in balloon-hat royalty, a deep-dive argument over Universal Orlando annual passes (valet parking perks, Express Pass pricing, Halloween Horror Nights, Volcano Bay, and how to get your pass without waiting in line), household cleaning wars with a Bissell floor mop and a German Shepherd named Bubbles, WrestleMania (Omos and Johnny Knoxville's match), and the Will Smith–Chris Rock Oscars slap.

The news segment from the Cigar Hustler Podcast Report covers the BDP announcement, a roughly 7% Cavalier Genève price increase effective May 1, a roughly 5% La Sirena price increase effective April 15, Michele Mital becoming acting director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products as Mitch Zeller retires, and the hosts' concerns about the FDA's blanket rejection of e-cigarette PMTA applications and what that precedent means for premium cigars. Also covered: Thomas Marco Domínguez named Habanos S.A. quality control director, and confusion over Diesel Sunday Gravy — the press release said Gabagool was shipping April 1, but retailers received the delayed Rosarito instead.

The show wraps with the announcement that the podcast is moving under the Hustler Universe Podcast Network by May 1, a shout-out to new cameraman Steve, Listener of the Week and birthday wishes to Scott Pearce of the PCA (with Adam Acree still getting love), and Shop of the Week honors for Lake Country Cigars.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Hustler Universe Network Move
   The show announces it's relocating under the Hustler Universe Podcast Network by May 1 and adds a dedicated cameraman to the studio.
2. 02
   Charity Auction and Family Life
   Mike Palmer recaps his wife Brittany's school charity event, the balloon crown, and a week of holding the household together.
3. 03
   Universal Orlando Annual Pass Debate
   An extended back-and-forth on Premier Pass perks, valet parking, Express Pass costs, Halloween Horror Nights and Volcano Bay.
4. 04
   The BDP Cigar Officially Arrives
   Palmer's first blend lands in-house, with the release party set for the 15th and retailer shipments prioritized before online sales.
5. 05
   BDP Press Release Read
   The hosts read the official Poshick Cigars announcement crediting Azariah Mustafa Cordoba of Cordoba Morales and a Nicaraguan factory.
6. 06
   Cigar Price Increases
   Cavalier raises prices roughly 7% on May 1 and La Sirena roughly 5% on April 15.
7. 07
   FDA and Regulatory Concerns
   Michele Mital takes over as acting CTP director as Mitch Zeller retires, and the hosts unpack the FDA's mass rejection of vape applications.
8. 08
   Diesel Sunday Gravy Mix-Up
   The press release said Gabagool was shipping, but retailers got the delayed Rosarito instead.
9. 09
   Listener, Birthday and Shop of the Week
   Scott Pearce of the PCA gets a birthday shout-out and Lake Country Cigars is named Shop of the Week as the first retailer to carry BDP.

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

Bring it on. Let's go, baby. Welcome to episode 222 of the Cigar Hustler Podcast. The BDP edition.

The BDP edition. I'm over these scissors, man. I'm really starting to get fresh. Do you break another pair?

Yeah. They're not working anymore. I've had mine as long as you have. Mine aren't broken.

I feel it is the upkeep in how you care for them. I feel like you don't smoke enough. Square, square. You too can be a part of our podcast family and invest in our show.

Put your products. See, this should be on me, Steve. There you go. 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. All around the world. com. And just a reminder, this show has become part of the Hustler Universe, is that what we call it?

Yeah, the Hustler Universe, and found on the Hustler Universe Podcast Network channel. So starting... Because I'm moving on up, moving on up. Let me finish.

So starting on May 1st, or by May 1st, you will look for Hustler Universe on your search bar on your various podcast provider. That's how you will find this show and all the shows in the Hustler Universe. So remember to please rate, comment, and subscribe to the Hustler Universe and hit the little bell so that you get notifications on when the show is available. We have a new addition.

We have a new addition, a cameraman working today. We have a cameraman now. I'm having OCD issues. Yeah, this is really fun for me because you're very upset about relinquishing this duty and this whole time you have bitched about this duty.

No, no, after last week, after last week, it was okay. It wasn't that hard to do. Yeah, now I want this duty removed from you. I feel like you're slowly pushing me out of it.

You work too hard. How am I pushing you out? There will be somebody editing the show, and there will be somebody hitting the buttons for the show, and then before you know it, it's just the Mike Hustler universe. Yeah, that was the whole diabolical plan.

Five years, having me set all this up, and then just pushing out the door. The old man's gone. Yep. Because, you know, that's how I am.

Yes. I don't take care of my people. So, how did the charity thing go? The charity thing.

I saw the lovely photos. How did the charity thing go? go it went very well yeah it went very well you know britney was a part of team like five girls five gals oh the photo there like a committee of of the women yes and uh they're close friends so they did uh they did a good job no no fighting no who was in charge britney was in charge no there was a head person like a chairhead they call it a chairhead chairman a chairhead Chairman. And, you know, Brittany was head of, like, decorations.

Ah, gotcha. And she did a great job, it was a, it was a, it went well, it went very well. Who hired the, the, the balloon clown guy? I have no, I think the other person did.

It's amazing how he just gave you a crown. I didn't see anybody else with a crown. No, dude, swear to God, I did not say, hey, make me, no one said. Oh, no, you, you would not do that, I understand.

No one said, make me, make him a crown. Right. So, yeah, you know, but, okay, so here's how this plays out. No one has balloon hats except one person at a table like three down from us, and it was like a flamingo, and you know, everybody's like, you got the one hat, da da da, like our table's kind of laughing, Brittany's kind of laughing, like, look, that's so funny, you know, there's only one, yeah, only one person's got, and I said, you're all getting hats, you're all getting hats, so, um, you went, balloon boy, he, no, he popped up, he, he knew.

Like he came to our table. I said, oh, we all need hats. We all need hats. Yes, yes, you need hats.

And we all got hats and started with me. Yeah. You got quite the elaborate hat. Yep, I did.

I got a, I mean, he was working on mine for a minute. He was perfect. He was working on mine for a minute. I'm trying to fit your head on a kingly person.

Oh, perfect. Yes. I can't wait. Next time, could you full front the camera?

It's hard for the profile. That was from another friend of Brittany's. She just kind of slid it in. Brittany, if you could, next time I need the full frontal picture.

He wants the full frontal naked picture. Yeah, the head and shoulders. " 100%. Oh, the kids took it.

They had a great time with it. Oh, my God. Now it's gone. Oh, yeah, it's destroyed.

But it was a good run. Oh, a picture of you with like a half deflated crown? That would have been good. What's really kind of funny, though, is nobody wanted that.

Everyone was like, "No, I'm not going to wear it. " Yeah, they're very protective of their hair. Well, they all look so pretty. And I was like, no, no, we are, we are moving.

We should all get the balloon hats. We are charging forward. And they all complied, which was nice, which is nice. I'm glad that I made it awkward enough for them.

Static, normal static in a balloon was hair all of a sudden. Yeah, I mean, no one cared, no one was paying attention to that. If that happened, no one knew, you know, except the person who was wearing the balloon. Yeah, yeah.

So, but it was fun. It was a lot of fun. We had a good time, you know, every year they do like this thing where they, you try You try and raise money for a person, like a kid, to go there for free or whatever. Oh, like a scholarship.

Yeah, and you know, now that this is my second time around, we shattered that, that went very well, you know, I bought a, um, a slime show, like a, uh... Like a universal, where they slime? No, no, no, it's like a, the art teacher will take four kids and do... Oh, like a birthday party show.

Yeah, like a, well, you get to do slime with the art teacher. Oh. So that's pretty dope. You have one extra spot.

Oh, one of the boys probably has a friend. Well, I don't know how it breaks down, because, you know, I bought the slime thing for Justice, because I figured, you know, Jackson might be a little bit older, maybe he won't like that, you know, so Justice will have it, and if he can bring his brother, and, you know, Levi is a good friend of both of them, so he kind of fits in, no problem, and then somebody in his class. Oh, I can't go. No, well, I mean, if you want to go.

Film it. Are they coming to your house? No. It's during school.

Oh, during school. Oh, yeah. No. But yeah, it went very well.

It's a lot easier when I know which camera to look at than trying to look for the lights. This is a fun game. This is a fun game. So yeah, no, we did that.

We finally have food back in the house, which is nice. It was a rough week. You know, like... Whatever that's called, just shipped.

Oh. The butcher's box. Yeah, butcher. I was gonna say meat box.

The meat box. So, you know, because Brittany has been inundated with... Right, all these things. I have been doing my best to just keep everybody alive.

You know, sometimes I don't get fed at my house when I'm in charge. No, sometimes the children don't get fed at your house. Yes, that's what I'm saying. Oh, you said you.

I said they. Sometimes they don't get fed. You said you. So...

That's okay, go ahead. I have kept the children fed. Oh, excellent. I have done, oh, just enough laundry to sustain, you know.

The bare minimum, the bare minimum of every drawer that Brittany does. Yeah, you know, it's like, man, you know. The house is just a little plain. You gotta give her kudos, dude.

I mean, holy shit. And then Sunday, we hit it hard. We brought the house back up to par. Oh.

So, grocery shopping, and then, you know, serious cleaning. Serious cleaning, top to bottom. So, like, I have this vacuum thing. It's like a, like laminate floors or whatever they are, like the waterproof floors or whatever.

Yeah. Man, they get fucking dirty. Try white tile. We have white tile.

But at least when you mop it or steam it or whatever, like it'll get cleaned up. Like you can, you can run like a mop over the shit and then it'll still feel dirty to you. Grooves? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's where our kitchen table is. It's got the, she said the other day, I love this, but there's crumbs in all the grooves and stuff. Yeah, it's a pain in the dick. So, so we, I bought this fucking Bissell thing that's got brushes and you, and you gotta like, you gotta take your time with it and kind of thoroughly go over it and go over it.

Slow, not just a quick thing. so I'm doing like the main area and I'm there for a minute right and bubbles fucking bubbles the German Shepherd waits until I'm totally done and the place is totally mopped and then decides to piss all over the floor this is clean, it doesn't smell like me oh my god let me quick Steve, you're going too fast too many buttons, slow it down I'm seeing the like a ping, ping, ping, ping calm down It's a game of patience, Steve, so, call him Steve, no matter who he is, he's upset, Tim. Yeah, Steven, Steven, Steven, Steven, Steven, my lisp is gone, so, I was not happy with this dog, I mean, you waited until I finished, and then you, and then you went ahead and finished? You were vacuuming, was it a vacuum, or?

It's a, it's a mop, oh, yeah, it's like a, yeah, oh yeah, it's a big deal, it's very nice. Yeah, we have a steamer she uses on the tile. Yeah, I feel like the steamer doesn't do enough for the... She's still wet mops.

Yeah, and I feel like what'll be great is now that I'm talking about this, someone will send me a link to something that'll be better. Oh, something much, much better. " I've had to pitch in a home with a new job. Her free time is not there anymore.

There's no free time. No, she's just got to up her contributions to the house as far as income. She needs to purchase the maid. Well, yeah, that's what she did.

Now I'm going to have to... She's going to... Oh, yeah, yeah. No, no, no.

Because, yeah, I've mentioned the deal is, I pay this, she cleaned. Right, that was how that worked out for all this time. Right, we talked before, if she don't clean, she pay for the cleaner. It's not that comes out of my part again.

Right. No, no, no, no, no, no. We've negotiated terms, you cannot renegotiate. Re-negotiate.

Like I would, like I cleaned a bathroom and I mopped the floor and you know, I was just sitting at home with the dogs anyway. So, you know. So what are, what's going on here? What is all this exciting, all these cigars that are on?

I don't know, what are these Michael? What are these lovely, delicious looking cigars here? I mean, when you're called BDP, you deserve a cigar named BDP. Oh, thank you very much.

Is this them? These are online. Yeah, so they're officially, they have officially arrived. They officially arrived the end of the last week.

A cigar named after you, yeah. Yes. That's very nice. Mm-hmm.

Uh, we dropping the press release today? To the media outlets? Uh, it depends upon what time we're done with this, but if not, it'll go out tomorrow. When did you already know it?

Because I'm smart. Hmm. This is not my first rodeo, Michael. Oh, well then I won't, I won't read the press release.

Why not? Oh, can we read it on the- Of course! Who gives a shit? Are we going with the one that we've been kicking back before?

Do the last one you just sent to me. Oh, this has to be it, because I printed it off the thing. Yeah, the last one looks good. Oh, well, should we just start the news then and make it part of the news?

Yeah, we'll do that for the news, that's good. Oh, well, hold on. Oh, no, we'll get into that afterwards, but yeah, I mean, very exciting about this. We won't have them, they won't be available on Cigar Hustler until we can kind of ship them out to all the retailers who want them.

The 15th is the official Cigar Hustler release party. Yeah, we'll do an in-house release party, it won't be online. No. You know, just for… Oh, so then the next day.

Well, it depends upon… Or Monday, probably. Because that's a… You know, I cannot confirm that they will be online any time past the… For one, it depends upon how many of them are sold. Right. And if they reach a location for all the retailers.

Ah. Like, I'm not, you know, if there's any hang-ups… You don't want to cut anybody's legs out from under. Right. And we're not built that way.

Oh, no. Everybody eats here. Everybody eats. Everybody eats.

Everybody eats. So, yeah. Very exciting. This is a great cigar.

You did a great job. Thank you. I'm quite pleased with my first attempt. Do you want to interview me?

I meant to tell you that over the weekend, as if just another cigar person? I'm going to ask you questions on the Patreon. Oh! On the Patreon.

We're going to get into some real nitty gritty things here. Oh, excellent. Good deal. Yeah, I'm excited about that.

I hate when you sneak things in on me. Oh, you hate when you sneak things in? You fucking live your life sneaking things in on me. Even Dana, when she was here last week, didn't believe me when I told her something.

Yeah, see, that's what you've done. You've done that at this point. And it was true. " I mean, poor Danielle.

I heard she was walking into the meeting and thinks she may or may not have been fired. Well, see, she brought that on herself. I had nothing to do with that. Uh-huh.

Did you not say that? No. So who said that? No, but Steve, the other Steve, brought that up to me, too.

" And yet you're involved somehow. I was in the group text message, but I did not say she was fired. She told Steve she was fired. And how I got back to the other Steve, I'm not even quite sure.

Who knows? Who knows? Because he's not here over the weekend. No, but he knew.

Right. " See? I don't think I have that kind of power, but okay, then you're all fired. Don't do that, because you'll be working.

Yeah, no. No, mom, oh, I went, I have taken the month of April off to spend more time with my mother. And she was quite thrilled with Friday. " Bonding.

Oh, yeah, she's very excited. Get her a universal pass. No. No, she wouldn't go.

Cart around in the wheelchair. She wouldn't go. Cart around in the wheelchair. No, she wouldn't go.

It'd be amazing. We did finally get ours. It's quite the ordeal to get your pass the first time. So, let's just review here, because I wanted to bring that up.

I'm glad I kind of slid that in. Oh, certainly. Yeah, bring that up. Go ahead.

So, you get these universal passes. Yes. " Right. " That weekend, I was supposed to go with Boots & Chet, and she canceled.

Okay. " All right. You text me, and then you slid in other texts, and I didn't see the text, so you fucked me again. 9:30 in the morning.

Yeah. Told you I couldn't go. Which was a lie. It was not.

So you didn't go. We didn't go. And then, and then finally you go. Yes.

Now even she said, did you invite anybody to come with us? And I told her, no, you've canceled the last three times we were going to go. So you're punishing her now. No, I did not punish her.

That's what you did. I did not punish her. Yeah, you're like, I'm going to punish you. I said, no, you've canceled the last three times we were going to go.

So no, I, you know, I didn't, until we get in the parking lot and we're walking through the gate, I'm not even sure we're going. You didn't even, but you didn't. She said, that's fair enough. She goes, I'm sorry.

She apologized. But when you parked the car, and you arrived there, you didn't text? It's last minute, I'm not going to tell you that. You didn't text?

Hey, I'm at Universal. Hey, I'm at Universal. And I think, well, I interrupted your cleaning day. We might have adjusted.

It doesn't matter. You didn't invite. I didn't get to decline. You didn't invite.

Oh, my Lord. And you know the rules. Such a big girl. No, I'm not a big girl.

Such a big girl. So now, just to get this clear, any time I go to Universal now, I must offer you an invitation to attend. I expect some form of invite. Every single time.

Every single invite. Unless it's some kind of private thing that you're doing with your wife. Maybe that's what that was. Well, then I want disclaimer.

Hey, I'm going Universal with just my wife. Just so you know. It was so busy. We didn't ride.

The only thing we rode was the train just to get from one park to the other. The train ride is cool. And that took 35 minutes. Did you get the premier passes?

The premier passes? Yes. Okay, are you valeting? No, well, you can't the first time.

You can't? Oh, because you have to get the tickets. Yeah. Okay.

Okay. First of all, valet is the way. I had the guy explain. " And I go, "No, no.

I went the whole thing here. " You could have valeted the first time. No, he tried and they wouldn't let him. You can't just show your printed thing that says you're going to get one.

Okay, but you don't have to show them shit when you park. You show the valet thing after you have the ticket, when you go and pay at the end. What? Yeah.

I'm confused, what? " And they take your keys, and then you don't pay, you don't square anything up. At that point, when you come back at the end of the day, then you give them your new premier card, which you now have. Oh, I didn't know that.

So, do you pay for the valet? " No. Oh, you show them the pass at the end. No, but yeah.

Now, there are some nights where you'll have to pay. Which I'm still for. Well, it was just $27 for normal parking. Yeah, well, that's free now, too.

Well, right. Valet is the fucking way. Yeah, if I do normal parking, I show them the thing, and then I get to go in the special lane. You could do the special lane, too, but none of that is important to you.

No, no, no, valet. Valet is important. Yes, yes. Valet is the way.

I don't know how many times I had to say this to you. No, no, how do you get to valet? There's an area. There's not like a sign.

Oh, yeah, there is. Oh, I haven't seen the sign. Oh, I was looking for the sign. It says, like when you're going to park, you can go straight into the garage, or there's a thing that says valet, and you make a left on that road.

So you still got to go through the little line where people pay? No, no. Okay. Yeah, I know.

I got to go with somebody who valets the first time, just right along. You know, like. Figure all this out. There has been years.

That was a recon trip for us, like, okay, this is where everything is. There have been years of devotion to this for me. Oh, I know, for you. I can just, I could, I could taper, I can make this so easy for you.

Well, I'll just write you down. And yet you don't invite me. See how you are? This was the initial visit.

We wanted to just get to lay the land and figure out what was going on. Well, I was invited to the second initial visit that you blew up. Yeah, we didn't go to that one. Good job.

Yeah, but then you would have to wait 30 minutes for us to get our passes. I would have showed you how to cheat there, too. How do you cheat there? You go to guest services in specific areas.

I know, I know. These are the things that I could have showed you. We had lunch, I bought our address. And then at four o'clock you have an express pass.

It was a press pass. Yeah, that's when we left. See, that idea is all fucking backwards. Well, we should have went later, but she had things she still had to do for work.

Either A, go later, or B, go earlier. Right, yeah, well, we went in the middle of the day. But Chet said he saw you, he was walking out at like 9 o'clock and you were there? No, no, he was walking out at 11:30.

We were walking in at 11:30. And really, all I did, I texted her and made sure we were in the right line. I texted Boots, who doesn't answer as fast. Becky always answers like this.

" Okay, okay. Then we're in the right line at least. And then after a few minutes she goes, wait, are you guys here? I went, yes, Adrienne is in the gift shop, she goes, we're in the gift shop, so that's where we saw them.

They didn't have to buy her lanyard. There's a little guest services up front, right by the concierge thing, before you go to either park, and they get you tickets. Oh, under the escalator? Right next to Starbucks, yep.

Oh. Yep. Yep. Hmm.

Could've got your pass. Fucking rookies. Should've got my passes there? Yeah.

Oh, wow. yep no that's cool wait in line yeah we waited in line and i don't know how you didn't get the volcano bay passes i don't know how why you would only do two park i don't like the water parks there's no fuck i'm gonna tell you right now it's the fucking it's one of those i've lived here the majority of my life i've never been to volcano bay i plan to keep it that way and if you went though you'd be like you'd be like god damn i've been to all the other water parks i just don't No, no, no. Yes, I am. It's not the same.

Well, I'm not saying it's the same. I just don't care for water parks. It doesn't matter. I'm an old man with no children.

You like swimming. Huh? You're a swimmer. Yeah, but not so much anymore.

I could show you the quiet areas in the fucking volcano where there's nobody. No. Yep. You don't have a pool, Michael.

I know. I don't have a pool. Now you can have all the pools. Amazing.

All the pools. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Challenges. I'm just trying to help.

You know what I mean? You make it hard sometimes I'm trying real hard to be the shepherd over here I'm trying to show you the way And you're like nope I'm not gonna call you I'm not gonna tell you when I'm going We'll go horror nights with you I bet you will So wait with the past you only get one time to Halloween horror nights Yeah Oh I thought Danielle went like seven times last year So they don't check No they do We don't fuck around on that though When we go we pay for the express It's like two hunch Which? A person? Yeah, yeah.

Oh. I'm not waiting in line with these fucking heathens. We're skipping everybody. What was a normal Express for a day?

It's like $90? I think it's like $120 or something. Oh, is it really? Yeah.

Yeah, that's too much. Yeah. You won't need any of that. You will buy the Express on Halloween Horror Nights though, because fuck that.

We're not sitting in line. What's a normal ticket for Halloween Horror Nights? I think it's like a hunch. Oh.

I mean, that's a once a year thing. We even said, we go, like, if we were coming and it was like a birthday or a special day or something, we would buy the Express Pass for the day. Yeah, you could do that. Yeah, you know, once or twice a year.

Who cares? All right. You don't need to do that. You got the four o'clock.

You don't get a discount on the booze, we found that out quickly. You do not get a discount on the booze. I try to handle the guy, he's like, no, that's not on the booze. I know specifically where the hard liquor is and where the hard liquor isn't.

Oh, we know, we found the hard liquor. We found maybe one location. Well, we only needed one. I'll show you all of the locations.

The Outback Bar or whatever it is, right? You should come in. That's the first one in islands. Yeah.

Yes. Yeah, we like that one. That's a good one. Yeah, that is a good one.

I like that we've come in. Quick line, a lot of bartenders. Yep. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. I could show you how to smuggle from park to park, too. Smuggle what? Drinks?

You can't bring drinks out from one park into the city. Not even get on the train? Nope. Oh, really?

Mm-hmm. Well, it's not like I'm going to have an empty train. I could show you the ways. I could show you the ways.

The seven-year-old security guard wouldn't let us take it in the parking lot either. Yep. We got hit by that lady. I know.

I'm like, if you're not old enough to drink, you can't tell me I can't drink. Fuck you. It's my first to hear. I am a, I am a, do you know who I am?

I got this thing. I am premier pass holder. I'm Captain America. Look at the thing I'm wearing.

Fucking BDP. God damn it. She popped out from like behind a garbage can, like an Oompa Loompa. Tap the sign.

I'm like, what? This is a good cigar, man. I really like this cigar. Thank you very much.

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I don't care if anybody else likes it, Mike, as long as you like it. You know what this is? Keanu apparently doesn't care for it.

It's okay. Nobody respects Keanu's opinion anyways, you know, just like that one fucking slappy guy that comes that works out of the place that came in here. If I don't fucking, you know, he's always got opinion on something and fuck that guy too. There you go.

Fuck that guy. I didn't know. Where's my button? Oh, sorry.

I'm all excited. Come on. Is it going like, nah, fuck that guy? Thank you.

Can you say what's been put back on? Can we announce that, or is that still a secret? What's been put back on? Is it going like, nah, fuck that guy?

That happens with him. Oh, we could talk about that. Go ahead, announce it. The Weasel Fest?

Yes. I mean, I haven't heard it from anywhere but you, so I didn't know. I'm pretty sure it's happening. I'm pretty sure it's happening in July.

It's a possibility. Oh. Weasel Fest. 2022.

It should be interesting. Yeah, there's a lot going on in July. The timing is going to be tight for me. Yeah, I think Adrian's back in school by then.

Oh, really? Yeah. Hmm. PCA, my birthday.

Right. It's going to be tight. It's going to be tight. I don't know.

I'm going to hear Car of the Month Club next week. Next year is going to get a little expensive, but up it. Up the ante. Car of the Month Club?

You're going to get a different car. Oh, car. Ooh. That sounds fantastic.

Well, the helicopter seems just a little extravagant. I really set the bar with the iPhone, huh? I'm like, damn it, damn him. He fucking pushed the limit.

Yeah, he upped the meat of the month, so, the meat box. Indeed, I did. All right, you got anything else? A solo purchase without Greg.

Yeah, so he gave me the $50. And you get him $51. Which is amazing. I went up to him.

I think that's pretty much it. Football was supposed to start for the kiddos. Thank God it got rained out because, man, this team needs to practice. Oh, that's right.

Your two-week hiatus is over. Three weeks. Yeah, it's done. I will tell you this.

Justice, that kid has definitely found another gear, man. The kid is fucking fast. I'm like, where did this come from? Just, you know, he is burning people.

I'm like, my goodness. Oh, he's fast. Like, he was fast before, like, keeping up with the herd type fast. Right.

Now he's setting the pace. I'm like, uh-oh. Someone's in trouble. So, I can't wait to see him turn it on on the field.

Oh, did you watch WrestleMania? No. I actually watched some matches. I didn't watch the Grammys either.

I watched some matches of WrestleMania. I'm going to tell you right now, I haven't watched WrestleMania for over 20 years. Oh. Did you even know who was wrestling?

Yeah, I know because my guy from the gym, he was wrestling, I'm like, oh, I gotta see his match, right? Wow, that makes sense. So, yeah, so I watched Omos fight, you know, or whatever it was. It was pretty good.

It's so funny because he's not that... Not like that in person. Yeah, he's the super... Oh, it's a good character.

Yeah, he's this really nice, down-to-earth dude, you know, and he's this fucking mean, like, powerhouse. I'm like, no, this is a fucking... Jordan, you're not like that. Yeah, he did.

He put on an eye, dude. So I watched that. I watched that match. That was cool.

And then I watched the fucking Johnny Knox film from Jackass. Oh, he went in? He did a match. Oh, wow.

And it was the funniest fucking thing I have seen. He's old now. I know. Dude, I was dying laughing.

He's not breaking bones and stuff. He's gotta be brittle. It was amazing. It was amazing.

Who did he fight? Oh, some dude. I don't know. Sammy something or other.

Who the fuck knows? Sammy Sosa? Sammy Sosa. He had like a gigantic mousetrap, oh, I mean it was awesome, he had a ball kicker come out, like it was like a leg on a fucking machine to kick you in the nuts, it was like a no holds barred thing, it was, dude, I'm going to tell you right now, it was so entertaining, I laughed my ass off the whole time, I haven't laughed that hard in such a long time fucking watching the show, I'm like, damn, this was amazing, this was fucking amazing.

Now, I didn't stick around for anything else after that, like Fatal 4-Way women's match, or like the actual championship match, whatever, I just, well, I moved on, because nothing would top that fight for me, that was just so fucking funny. That was probably the highlight of the night. It was amazing, it was so fucking funny, dude. It was just so funny.

Did we talk about the Will Smith thing last week on the show? With the slappy slap? Yeah. No, not really.

I mean, who gives a fuck? Everybody else has. I don't, I'm kind of thinking it was... Hats on the tail would bad luck, by the way.

It's a, it's a prop, it's not a hat. I know, but you gotta get out of here. It's driving me nuts. How about that?

That's better. Is that okay? I feel like that's close. I don't know if you can see it or not because I can't see the camera.

I have no idea. Oh, cameraman, give a thumbs up. Thumbs up. Now, if it was fake, the backlash is...

It's not fake. No, I guess it wasn't. But I mean, it looked like it was. But I mean, now they've canceled a movie he's doing.

Yeah. I mean, he's out of the academy, might take his Oscar. Yeah. You want me to give my opinion on this?

Is that what you want? Well, just so we talk about it for a minute, because I thought last week we talked about it. If we didn't, then we can just go right over it. I mean, look, he lost his shit.

He shouldn't have done it, you know. He slapped him, first of all. It's like, ugh, you know, like, don't talk about my wife, which is ridiculous. Super weak.

You know what I mean? Chris Rock is obviously, he knows how to fucking, he's acted before, so he knows to fucking brace himself and kind of adapt when he gets smacked. so it was not like there was hardcore damage all the only thing that was damaged was Will Smith's reputation right right and you don't go after a comedian I won't watch any of his movies anymore oh oh and silent protest yeah are you serious yeah oh I don't give a fuck I'm telling you you know I will tell you this right during the during the auction they were getting jiggy with it they turned it on and then everybody started making like a slap motion on the dance floor and shit and you know and it did feel weird it was like I don't know if I'd play this, you know, like, eh. But I'm not going to not watch his show.

I just, you know, like, that's fucking. Well, he's probably not going to make any more movies. I'm sure that he will. Maybe eventually.

Let it blow. I'm sure that he will. I mean, dude, fucking Mel Gibson has lost his shit. He said stupid shit.

He didn't hit anybody. But he's said fucking stupid racial comments against fucking Jewish people and all types. He's lost his fucking mind. Well, I'm not Jewish, though.

Okay. So you've been slapped at the Academy Awards? so it affected you personally on a personal level Michael I just don't give a shit you know um Juicy Saturday Night Live their thing that they did on it was hilarious no no it was funny really on the uh the news show oh yeah I have to watch that the first five minutes the guys are going back and forth and it's yeah it's pretty funny fucking SNL especially um Mike and what's the other guy that fucking uh it was a black I don't watch the show, but I caught it online. Well, the white guy married Scarlett Johansson.

Oh, good for him. Yeah. He's my new hero, then. And the black dude is funny as fuck.

You have to see when they have wrote, like, to end the season, they will write each other's jokes. Oh. Oh, my God. I don't watch it regularly.

I'm not up that late. Dude, the shit that they make each other say is just so inappropriate and so fucking hilarious. You have to watch it. You'll have to Google it.

Yeah. You'll fucking die laughing. Yeah. Yeah.

All right. Ready to move on now? Yeah. Let's move on.

All right. Let's move on. I almost hit the secret intro. I almost hit the wrong one.

From the four corners of the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need. The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report with Mike Tu. Pochic Cigars announces the BDP Cigar. A Hyperborean sun-grown Toro wrapper.

Hyperborean. The filler and binders are from the island of Nauru. Ooh. I'm very proud of Mike Palmer and all his tedious hard work on his first blend.

It's like a father watching his son catch his first football. Spread your wings, baby bird. Spread your wings, said Mike Steponcatch from Poshik Cigars. Uh-huh.

He has been working with Azaria Mustafa Cordoba from Cordoba Morales Cigars here in Central Florida. Palmer has worked in the past twice with Cordoba Morales to make cigars for the Florida Cigar Club. The cigar is being produced at an undisclosed factory in Nicaragua. The BDP will be released April 4th.

Contact Poshik Distribution if interested. No other information is available at this time. Well, today's April 4th. I mean, I guess technically we shipped out our first one today.

Right. Yeah, that worked out well. But I haven't taken really orders with it yet, but we'll take care of that this week. That was a pre-order.

So it's actually, you know, that would be the second one. I gotta say, there are kind of perks of paying attention. So you did the post. Right, a couple of little teasers.

Romatron saw the post. Yes. Called me and I said, yeah, sure, no problem, punch in. Punched him right in.

Good deal. There it is. That worked. Yeah.

So, you know. The process works. Yeah. So, I'll have to do a post today.

We shot a video and we sent it to you, apparently. I didn't, dude, when I was in the middle of things. I haven't looked at it. We were working out in the middle of things.

No, no, at that point, I think I was eating my chicken. Oh, can't we play it while you eat your chicken? Or I was hot boxing. I don't know, there's so many things going on.

It's not like a spa day, to tell you the truth, Michael. Have you been in a sauna for 15 minutes? No, why would I do that? It's fucking brutal.

Especially after you eat? Sure it is. Somebody make you poop? The sacrifice I make.

No, I didn't have to poop. The sacrifice you make for who? For you. For inner peace in my head, so I don't kill anybody when I walk into this place.

You're welcome. I don't work here anymore. You're still on the list of people I'd kill. I'm on everybody's list.

How high on kill list for you? Because I'm trying to get down a little. Oh, you're kind of low. Oh, good, good, good, good, all right.

There's at least four in this building. Oh, plenty of notice then, thank you. I mean, even if I just included Greg three times, Greg, Greg, Greg, I would kill him three times. He'd be dead, kill you again, you're dead.

All right, Cavalier Cigars increases price on May 1st. Oh. They missed the first price increase. A little late to the action.

Cavalier has announced it. You gotta move the camera back after he reviews the news to the double, okay? To the double. But now he's talking about news, so you got to go back to that one.

So back to the single. Cavalier has announced it was increased prices, most of its cigars on May 1st. The company says the increase will be approximately 7% on average. We got to mic him up.

Oh, you want to have a microphone too? A hundred percent. Oh. Get him headphones with a mic.

Oh. So we can fucking, he can be our whipping post that's not, never on camera. Oh, there you go. All right, La Serena announces a price increase coming April 15th.

Mmm. La Serena Cigars begin to perform as retailers that will be implementing a price increase on the majority of its portfolio as of April 15th. The increase, which works about, uh, five percent. Woo!

Five percent. Five percent. Well, uh, Cavalier's going seven. I wasn't listening to you when you talked about that one.

You don't listen to me talking about anything. The price are always going, price ain't, but yeah, yeah. Michelle Mittal to become Acting Director of FDA Center for Tobacco Products. Oh, Michelle.

I think it might be a guy, Michelle, I'm not sure. Michelle Mittal. They don't, no pronouns. Michelle Mittal.

We don't know how they identify. Right, we don't. We have no idea. We're sorry.

S. Food and Drug Administration FDA Center for Tobacco Products will become Acting Director next month, coinciding with the retirement of Mitch Zeller. It was a lot more story, but it was kind of dull, so I just let it go at that. Well, did you see, good job, did you see what they are, what the FDA has done as far as, as far as the e-cigarette?

I saw you posting that, so how does that lean into the cigar industry? Well, it's just kind of fascinating that this is, this is an unregulated fucking, you know, department, so like all of these people have set in, have spent millions of dollars, not all of them, But some of them have spent millions of dollars on fucking research and stuff. Yes. And they have submitted these applications to be approved through the FDA.

And the FDA just flat out fucking rejected all of them. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, wow. It's like, holy shit.

That's scary. That's scary. If they're the regulatory person of your organization. Right.

You know, and no one is saying, hey, what the fuck? I mean, now they're going to, I'm sure these guys are going to fucking sue them. You know, they'll, you know. Oh, for just a flat out nose.

Yeah, you know, like, hey, we've invested our time and money on this, and you can't just say no. But they can. But they can. Right.

Right. But they just did. So that's what's really kind of scary is that, you know, one day they turn around and say, you know what, cigars are bad. And we'll say, but we have the reason.

Nope. You know, like, zip. Yeah, now you've got to go through this whole legal course. It's bad.

All of these bad, you're right. I said it's evil. And that was kind of what John McTavish and the rest of the crew were saying about - You slid his name in there, didn't you? I did.

I like him. - About the whole - A little man crush? - About the release, a slight, small, small, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, my Canadian lover boy is what he said. - Oh, ooh, nice.

" in the same way that cigarettes are. But then they concluded that saying, even though we said all of these things, we still think it's bad for you. It is bad. Don't do that.

And no, you can't have that. You know, it's like, wait a second. You have the, the science is, you wrote it down, it's right fucking there. You know, so that's what they're kind of saying about the whole yada yada thing that they released.

So anyway, continue. You know what we can have? If he's going to, we're going to mic him up and everything. We could even somehow rig up a video screen, and he can pop the information from the news story, the photo for the news story on it at the same time.

One step at a time here. We gotta get these buttons down. Thomas Marco Dominguez appointed Habano's SA Quality Control Director. Interesting.

So he's gonna be charged with those boxes with the little clear tops on. Oh, perfect. That you buy on the beaches. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, all those. He's quality control. Those are terrible, by the way, Mr. Dominguez.

for Dominguez. Those are not his. Oh, they're not his? No, no.

Oh, oh. Yeah, but what's he going to do? He's got the label on it and everything. 5%.

I don't know, we'll see what happens here. Is that a one and three? They've announced that Thomas Marco Dominguez is the company's new quality director. Dominguez has worked for Habanos, the company responsible for the distribution and marketing of Cuban cigars on the beach since 2016.

See, it says right here. I feel like he slid that in. I don't know. Oh, maybe.

And finance roles. Oh, he's in charge of the money. Oh. Most recently, well, those are very prices.

I thought the government just came and took it all. There are various prices, left and right, so it's not like he's paying attention to those. No, he doesn't know. Director of Budgeting and Control.

However, he is also an agriculture engineer and precisely worked for more than 10 years as the Director of Agricultural Development Projects for, a very long Spanish name is he? Argentina Española de Cooperation International para, who goes to the next page? El Desaralo, the Spanish age. Oh, man, that's just...

Oh, in English, he's in charge of the Spanish Agency for International Development and Cooperation. Man, that just rolled right off your tongue. It's just so smooth. It's just so smooth.

Too many of you getting too quick again with these buttons. Click, click, click, slow down. Coinciding with this move, Oscar, who spent 10 years as Quality Director for Urbano's, is now heading to Spain to work for the Premium Cigar Division. Aha!

Espana! Tampagalera SLU, the Spanish Director of Cuban Cigars. I am the... Spanish Director of the Cuban Cigars.

I'm the Spanish Director of the Cuban Cigars. I am Hiroshi Robano. I am from Pinotarrio. I'm not even on camera, so I didn't know what's going on.

This is nice. There's no Michael. There's no Michael right now. Just me.

Oh, now it's him. Oh, now it's me. Okay. Now, this next story is a little confusing based on our shipment we got today.

Oh, okay. All right. So, they did a press release saying that Diesel Sunday Gravy Gabagool is shipping on April 1st. Okay.

So, the fourth cigar in Diesel Sunday Gravy series will be the Gabagool. The Gabagool. Have we gotten three before or just two? Two.

Two. Two. Okay. Yeah.

So the third one showed up today, the Rosarito. And they skipped the Gabagool. The Gabagool's not supposed to be released yet, but the press release says they're being released on April 1st. God damn it.

But they released the Rosarito. You guys fucked this up. Greg called. And said, hey.

Should be the two shot there. Oh, my God. Go to the two shot. Go to the two.

Fuck's sake. Button, button, button. You can't. Look, people are going to get mad because you're hitting so many buttons.

I told you. No, this is fun for me. It'll be offered in a single size, five and a quarter by 45, Parejo, Vitola, Yuzi, and Ecuador. See, this doesn't matter because this isn't what's here.

There's no Gabagool. So I had Greg Call. We had Greg Call. So Greg Call.

We had... And they said, "Oh, no, no. You're not the only one. We didn't send the Rosaritos last month like we were supposed to.

" Oh. Oh, you wanted the Gabagools. Oh, yeah. The press release says the Gabagools, but no, we don't have those right now.

No, you know, the Gabagools, they've unionized. And they want additional funds for those Sunday Gravies. Yeah, yeah, they're coming directly out of Staten Island. It's got a little of a meat or something?

I don't even know what it is. I have no idea. People were complaining it wasn't a gravy or a soup or something. Ooh, I like that someone comes down on the name.

Yeah. Oh, hey, you know, I don't mean to fucking nitpick here. Meanwhile, you know, we have the king is dead, the dead king, king comes back, escape plan. I mean, what the, like, we have a fucking BDP.

I mean, what? All the kings. You know what I mean? Like, come on, just relax.

Just let us all be creative. be creative. We just want to be creative. See, that would have been for me.

I like saying that. You're right here. Better than the Rosarito or whatever. We just want to be creative.

Just let us be creative. Okay, now back to second. All right, we have a Florida story. Oh.

And a birthday. A birthday? A birthday. Oh.

We have a birthday. Yes, a birthday. We can't even play the birthday song. All right, there's a new scam involving fake red light camera tickets fooling Floridians.

Oh, no. Oh, that'd be a good idea. Yeah. Hold on, we'll do it again.

I gotta go here, and then here. Okay. Okay. Alright, here we go.

Put my finger on the button. Okay. Okay. There's a new scam involving fake red light camera tickets fooling Floridians.

Like, oh, no. Oh, no. That's right. A new scam targeting Florida drivers involves fake red light tickets and threats of a suspended license.

" He says that on there, too. " My parents' fraud-in tickets look like standard $178 red light camera tickets. How much? $178.

Oh, that's just standard, yeah. Mrs. Torres received a fake ticket in the mail, but realized the ticket contained several errors. They made several errors.

For one, the date listed for the supposed traffic violation was February 30th, but there were only 28 dates. Aha! Ah, jeez, they could fuck that up, didn't they? The ticket also contained a Fort Lauderdale logo for a traffic violation that happened in Lauderdale.

Stories contacted several police departments trying to locate the origin of the ticket, but there was no record of the violation. There is no violation. Like, oh, no. I might take the like off.

Okay, I'll stop beating it home. Lauderdale police say it appears that scammers are taking photos of people's cars and license plates outside, license plates outside of their homes and editing them. Oh. Oh, no.

The website listed on the citation appears to be inactive, but a screenshot for March 14th shows a payment center and payment options. Police are investigating the fraudulent tickets were mailed or dropped individually in mailboxes. S. Postal Service authorities, they can launch a larger investigation.

Somebody in my neighborhood stole gas this week, last night. Oh. Oh. Oh, no.

So they're like four dollars, they probably made like 40 bucks. From somebody's house? Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Do you guys have like a, you don't have an HOA, do you? No, man, every fucking, every neighborhood now has a Facebook community fucking. Oh, well, yours is kind of open-ended. It's not like...

It is open-ended. I didn't even know it was like an organized thing. I feel like there's always somebody... Oh, wait, there's a, down that long straight row, if you come off the main road, there is a sign there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is all those houses in the back that we go through to get out? Nope. But we add them.

They're like a slash for being part of us, of the Facebook group. And what's really funny is there was like a mutiny a few months ago. Yeah. " Oh.

And I joined that one too. I guess I want. You might get information there too. I'm like, I'm just, you know, I'm down with, I'm just here for the, I'm here for the popcorn and the entertainment.

The entertainment, you guys go ahead and fire at will, I'm not gonna say a goddamn thing to either one of you. Let's go. So, my neighborhood Facebook is usually somebody's dog pooped in somebody else's yard. Oh, see, and someone was angry.

Yeah, the gates broke again. Emotional damage, yeah. Look at this poop. Judging by the diameter of the poop, that is a medium-sized dog.

Oh, nobody said that, we just, you know. Can you fucking believe this? Or the red Mercedes was speeding through the neighborhood once again. Slow down, red Mercedes.

Right? I just use that car. I don't think we have any Mercedes. I hate when they do the, um, with the ring app.

I hope the bear's in that. Bear's in the neighborhood. Bear. Oh, yeah.

Bear. Oh, I got a video of the bear. When you look on the map, bear's not even close to your house. I got a video of the bear.

I mean, even if the bear's next to my house, I don't fucking care. I don't need to know. I wasn't out at the time. It doesn't affect me.

It doesn't affect... Chet's got a bear. m. It's not happening.

Last time Boots and I went to Chet's house, we saw the turkeys. Oh. Gobble, Gobble. Big turkey.

Did you kill the turkey? No. Why not? You eat the turkey.

I didn't have a gun. I loved it. What kind of Floridian are you if you weren't carrying it? I have a gun, but I wasn't carrying it.

That's what I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. Where's your gun right now? I'm not really a Floridian.

A Bostonian? I have a ton of guns. I don't have too many. I'm like, oh, no.

All right. Then we have a birthday. This is technically going to go up in April, so Adam Acree is no longer a listener of the week. I thought that he got four.

You didn't give him his four. I didn't give him his four. Wow, you started late. I'm sorry.

What did we do? It's April now. Adam Acri, you're still my Listener of the Week. Oh, there's a new birthday.

New birthday. Hold on. I gotta go back to the gong. All right.

The Listener of the Week and happy birthday to Scott Pierce from the PCA. Hey! It was Mr. Pierce's birthday yesterday.

Congratulations, Mr. Pierce. You are the Listener of the Week. Happy birthday, Scott.

The P-E-A-R-C-E, the real one. The real one. The P-E-A-R-C. The real one.

Whatever. I don't know what the fuck is spelled with his name. That's all I got. You got anything?

Adam Aker, you're still my listener of the week. No. I will always love you, Adam. I love Adam, too.

Not as much as I do. I'm now friends with his lovely wife, Nicole, on Facebook. I'm just saying. Oh.

And on TikTok. She follows me on TikTok. Oh. Very nice.

Nice. TikTok friends. TikTok friends. Nice.

Cool. You got anything else? Oh, it's the Shop of the Week, Michael. Oh, wait, we do have a Shop of the Week.

Yeah. I don't remember the name of the shop. Lake Country Cigars. Yeah, that's it, there you go, I remember the name of the shop.

The Shop of the Week, Lake Country Cigars. Yeah, the official first store to carry BDP. Technically the second. No, technically the first.

Celery, Celery City. Oh, yeah. I forgot Mr. Dees.

Celery City. Celery City. Technically the second. Yes.

It's, you know, it's gotta be good to be Jimmy, just always kind of be like, He's like hovering around here at all the time. He came in the day they showed up. It always happens. Oh, look what happens to me here.

Oh, we're all those boxes out there. I'll take 10. I'll take 10. Give me these.

Okay. Yeah, fucking Jimmy. Guy's on top of it. He probably already sold through most of them.

I hope so. He goes, these won't last load. I'm sure they won't. No.

All right. Not with this flavor profile. Deliciousness. Delicious.

Hard work and effort on here. Fantastic band that has cryptic eggs on the band that you'll never know about. I don't know what they are, but they're not real eggs, Easter eggs, Easter eggs, cryptic Easter eggs, all right, this is episode 200 and 222 of a Cigar Hustler Podcast sponsored by the BDP Cigar. Oh, sponsored by BDP Cigar.

It is today, BDP Cigar, which you can get if you contact Mike at Poshik Cigar starting tomorrow. Sure, you can call me right now. Well, right now this isn't live. Call me right now.

Thank you. Alright, shout out to Steve, our cameraman. We're going to continue to work on him. You know, it's a work in progress, but we threw him to the wolves and good job, good job.

We need you to sit at home, Steve, and when your family talks, just point to them like you're out on a camera. Like, camera one, camera two, camera one, camera three. Get the hang of it? Maybe we're on the dinner table with the children?

And your lovely wife, Tia? Yeah. Good for you. Good for you.

All right. All right. Stop recording now, Steve. Okay.

Goodbye. All right. Bye, guys. We'll talk to you next week.

Thank you. Bye. A Cigar Hustlers podcast, its owners and its sponsors take no responsibility for the opinions or statements made by the talk show host or their guest. Statements or show topics are not necessarily the beliefs of Mike and Mike Productions or the podcast providers, and opinions between talk show hosts may differ.

It is not our intention to libel, incite, or hurt anyone's feelings. We invite you to write the show's host, Mike Szczepankiewicz, with any feedback or suggestions that you have for their shows. These broadcasts are presented and made public as entertainment in the hope that they will be entertaining to the audience. This has been a Cigar Hustlers Podcast, a Mike and Mike production.

m. for all new episodes. Hi, I'm doing, I'm Husto-I-Raw. 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! You didn't even let him fuck it up all the way. I'm gonna get past Hojo!

I don't even have to try it. He's not even gonna try it. 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 would be like four cigars when I walked in a door. All right, end this.

Show Notes

This week we talk about the BDP Cigar Release