Cigar Hustlers Podcast 265 Mikey Goes All In
Episode Summary
Episode 265 (billed on air as 266) of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast is a full hosts-only roundtable with Michael "the King" Szczepankiewicz, producer Mike "BDP" Palmer, and Phil the cameraman. The show opens with an extended riff on A Rack Above garage storage (the show's sponsor) before Phil unboxes a care package from Brett Frye of Tobacology — private-blend cigars plus a copy of "The Tobacconist Handbook: An Essential Guide to Cigars and Pipes" — which the crew smokes through the rest of the episode. Tobacology is named Shop of the Week, Mark Palmer gets Listener of the Week, and Phil's Fun Facts covers the Mark Twain 300-cigars-a-month writer's block story.
The emotional center of the episode is Michael shaving his head live on camera in support of Dana McCool, a 13-year friend of the shop whose breast cancer has returned at stage four in her bones — something he also did for her a decade earlier. The guys commentate the whole (messy) shave, joke about the upcoming wedding suit fittings, TPE, and selling ad space on Michael's scalp.
The news block covers Marco Rubio reintroducing the Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act to exempt premium cigars from FDA regulation for the third consecutive Congress, and the state of the Cigar Association of America lawsuit and Judge Mehta's ruling on the deeming regulations. They also hit the Davidoff Year of the Rabbit 2023 Zodiac release (with a lengthy rant about Davidoff's overly bougie Instagram marketing), price increases at All Saints, CLE/Asylum, Alec Bradley and Iconic Leaf, the Espinosa Wasabi getting a Lancero, and the Knuckle Sandwich 55 — a 5.5x55 double perfecto with a Mexican San Andrés wrapper made at AJ Fernandez's San Lotano factory for Guy Fieri's 55th birthday, limited to 555 boxes at $15 each.
The back half is classic Hustlers: a debate over Espinosa naming two co-Salesmen of the Year (Alfredo vs. Tyler Jones), a rundown of Florida Man arrests out of Lee County and Gainesville, and a candid conversation about the cigar media landscape, including Developing Palates, Smokin' Tobacco, Down to Herf, and Aaron and John McTavish.
In This Episode
- 01A Rack Above Sponsor SegmentThe hosts talk through the freestanding overhead garage storage rack, installation plans, GoPro time-lapse ideas, and whether it stays with the house when you sell.
- 02Tobacology Care PackagePhil unboxes cigars and The Tobacconist Handbook sent by Brett Frye of Tobacology, who gets named the show's only friend in the industry and Shop of the Week.
- 03Phil's Fun Facts: Mark Twain and CigarsPhil shares the claim that Mark Twain smoked 300 cigars a month and hit writer's block when he quit.
- 04Live Head Shave for Dana McCoolMichael shaves his head on camera to support longtime friend Dana McCool, whose breast cancer has returned as stage four in her bones.
- 05Rubio's FDA Premium Cigar Exemption BillNews on Marco Rubio reintroducing the premium cigar FDA exemption bill and where the Cigar Association of America lawsuit and Judge Mehta's deeming-regulations ruling stand.
- 06Davidoff Year of the Rabbit and Industry Price IncreasesA rant about Davidoff's Zodiac Series Year of the Rabbit release and its marketing, plus price hikes from All Saints, CLE/Asylum, Alec Bradley and Iconic Leaf.
- 07Espinosa Wasabi Lancero and Knuckle Sandwich 55Details on the Wasabi line adding a Lancero and Guy Fieri's limited Knuckle Sandwich 55 birthday cigar made at AJ Fernandez's San Lotano factory.
- 08Florida Man News and Cigar Media TalkLee County and Gainesville arrest stories followed by candid takes on Developing Palates, Smokin' Tobacco, Down to Herf and other cigar podcasts.
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
You're an asshole. Why am I an asshole? Because. I told you I'll start doing it myself.
That's what you said last week. Just give me the clip. Send me that whole video file. All right, send me down now.
Send me down. Put it on the drive and I'll put it on my computer. Welcome to the Cigar Hustlers podcast episode 266. With your host, Michael the King, Steponkiewicz, and his producer, Mike BDP Palmer.
Oh, thank you. Thank you. And me, I'm Philly Cameraman. My greatest accomplishment in life is wearing a sweaty mask and effing up camera shots.
Ha! Also, listen in from a listener. I'm sure. That's amazing.
Camera one, please, F up the things. Just read your stuff, I'll put it on there. Better overhead garage storage with a rack above. Why must we damage our home just to gain overhead storage?
Better overhead garage storage with a rack above. Why must we damage our homes just to gain overhead garage storage? A rack above has challenged the status quo by creating a superior freestanding overhead garage storage rack that will not harm your home's trusses or ceilings. A rack above features a 48 inch shelf that spans the entire width of any garage and adjust to your height, keeping items within arm's reach and allowing you to do it.
You know, it's a big one. You should ditch the ladder. A rack above will fit any size garage. The independent telescopic legs adjust to go up and down steps, behind our water heaters, around AC units, and between electrical boxes.
A rack above is the last overhead garage storage rack you will ever need to purchase. A rack above is easily disassembled and reinstalled in any garage. No matter where life takes you, a rack above will be with you. com.
I, you know, we got a schedule for me to come out, I, you know, as far as getting my, my rack above. The last details, you and I just, uh, locked down for the, uh, spokes model person. Yes. Uh, that's the last piece he needed.
Then she's up to him to pick dates. I'm very excited. When we can get out there. I am very excited to get my Christmas shit and all the other garbage that is in the garage.
Your wife says the way the Christmas thing happened isn't true, by the way. It's not true? No. She said none of the details you gave about your garage is correct.
Really? Yes. We tried to arrange her to be on the show, but this is Tuesday, not Monday, because I had a flight problem yesterday with my wife, I had to pick her up, and she can only, your wife can only come in the mornings, apparently. Ah, well, so then I guess that's, you know, my story is a legitimate story.
Well, we could call her. No, let's not get crazy. I mean, you just talked to her, so she's obviously available. No, no, she's very busy.
I just talked to her, super busy. She wanted to come in and do it in person. She's gonna come in and try and shave my head today. I mean, but we'll talk about that later.
Oh. But, you know, that. That didn't work out either, I guess. Yeah, you know, it's this kind of timing is weird, you know, as far as school and picking up the kids.
Right, right, yeah, she has a lot going on. Busy, busy, busy, busy woman. She's very busy. Very, very busy.
She's very busy messing up the garage. So it's going to be fixed soon. Yeah, all her fault, the garage looks. It's going to be fixed soon by a rack above.
And I'm very excited that it's happening. Are you going to be there for the installation? Of course. Oh.
I was thinking about... Do you want to be in the video, too? I was thinking about taking the GoPro. I don't know.
Yeah. I was thinking about taking the GoPro and sticking it in the corner and then trying to do a time-lapse thing. Oh. That'd be cool.
Sure. You can do it with your cell phone. But I have this fancy GoPro. I'm getting kind of dialed in on it.
Oh, are you? Yeah. I started to use it... Don't you have a drone, too?
Can we fly the drone? I have a drone, yeah. We could... Go from way out and fly in.
Sweep in, yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God. Swoop.
Swoop there. And do like a pano around the garage. Yeah. Are you that good at flying it?
You can fly it around. No, fuck no, but I'll try. I don't give a shit. Let's go.
It just flies in and kills the guy from back above. And then we're all sitting there looking. We don't have a fucking put this together. Exactly.
But it's easy, so we can probably figure it out. Yeah, it shouldn't take long. No. We just need one wrench.
And an hour. And an hour. That's right. Done.
Now in my garage. Does an hour include the clean-out? I think that's just putting it together. Assembling it.
But I can't wait. Can you put it together outside of the garage and then into the garage and then bring it all in? I don't know. I just know that I'm very excited to have it in my house, in my garage, and all my shit up above.
I'm trying to think how it's going to have to go in your garage. Yeah. Well, that's why, you know, upper it. Yeah, it's upper, but your side, but your garage goes in this way and then the door to go in the house is on this side.
Yeah, so it just goes slightly in. Does it have to span left to right? Yeah, it'll go left to right. Oh.
It has to go with the garage. The garage is opening. But you'll just move it up a little bit. You're not right on that door.
That's all. Well, but like at my house, the garage, if that's the front of the garage opening, my door's back here. Right. So it'd be easier.
Correct. I have a special house. Yes. But a rack above will handle any garage needs.
Anything. Around air conditioners, and stairs, and everything. It's adjustable. Completely adjustable.
Yes. So I'm excited. And the good news is when you leave, it goes with you. Yeah, you take it with you.
But you'll have to make sure on the contracts that do not include the rack above rackings. Well, technically, I actually have some information when it comes to that. It's not bolted to anything, so it wouldn't be assumed that it comes with the property. Well, if I was to walk in and see it, I would assume it was bolted.
Well, then you'd have a terrible real estate agent who didn't tell you, did not disclose that that does not stay because it's not bolted. Right. But unless you go up and inspect it, how would you know it's not bolted? Because it's so sturdy, it looks like it would be.
If you're gonna buy a half a million dollar home, you should probably look at things. I don't know. I don't know. I'm really mad.
You don't want them climbing up on your roof and laying there. Just let them know. This is seller's disclosure. If you're interested in A Rack Above.
There you go. It'll be an additional 25. Call 574. Yeah.
com. I can leave this here, but it's gonna cost you. Extra. Much extra.
Yep. Because the Christmas decorations too are very expensive. Yeah. But it's good to get rid of Christmas and then start new.
It's hard to do though. Yeah, you get attached to stuff. Do you really? I don't.
My wife does. We have the inflatable things, they start to fucking fade and burn out and shit. I meant the ornaments. You don't get attached to the inflatables.
Oh, ornaments? Certain ornaments and things. Yeah, okay, I can see that. There's some meaningful ornaments.
Yeah. A couple of my, you know, like my dead dad. Right. Dead dogs.
Right. It's really just a funeral for things that have passed. Do you have a funeral tree at your house? Yeah, this is my funeral.
It's a funeral tree. Yeah. Phil, I'm gonna need you to open that fucking box, because I want a cigar, goddammit. Well, I was just waiting for you guys to be finished.
Oh, that's pretty nice. Phil got a box in the mail. You got a lot of stuff to say about your garage. Might wanna switch the camera angle.
Yeah, to you. There you go. I'm just excited about my rack above. I feel like everybody needs one in their life.
It's definitely a necessity. Can I read who it's from? Yeah. And who it's too.
You got a package. My only friend in the industry, Brett Frye. Of Tobacology. Of Tobacology.
He gets, like, nice little shameless plugs. He does, all the time. I gave him one on the lining of it. Somebody was looking for BDPs.
" And it's in the link. Nice. Yeah. Oh, look, you got bubble wrap.
He loves bubble wrap, Phil. He sits around popping it all day long. See? Just like that.
Between effing up camera shots. Effing up. That's what it said in his intro. It said in his intro.
Effing up. That's, okay, you gotta take it out of the bag. If you have to take it out of the bag, that's the Boveda pack. I think there's a note in there or something?
It says, "BDP King & Industry. " So these are his private blends that he's working on. He's working on making something. Wait, did Phil just get a new name?
Industry? Industry. That is a gigantic Boveda pack. That is.
It's huge. Huge. I want to make sure they're nice and moist. What else you got in there, Phil?
Is there another lighter you're not going to carry with you? I have my, look, I have it right here. Yeah. I saw your wife with it yesterday.
She was using it. She took it out of her purse. Apologize for my stuffy nose. Oh, no.
Yeah, she did. She took it out of her purse. I watched her. Oh, yeah, I had it in her purse.
Oh, yeah, you stored in there. Oh, book. Oh, there's a lot of pictures for Phil. Hey, we're podcasting.
Is everything all right? Turn the labels. I can see it. What do you got?
The Tobacconist Handbook. An Essential Guide to Cigars and Pipes. Keep the camera on you. Peruse it.
Peruse it for a minute. What do you got? Let's see here. There's six.
Are these all six of the same? Or is there three and three? Oh, nice. Sure, I can take it too.
Tells me about Plume. That's fine. Plume. Plume or Mold?
Is that one of the chapters? The Perfect Cut or The Amateur Cut? I hate, you know what, that's a pet peeve of mine, when somebody shows a picture and they've cut an inch off the end of the cigarette. Yeah, no.
How to fill a lighter. That's a lot, thank you very much. Is there three and three, or is these six of the same? Look, it's a, I think they're all the same.
Why don't you hide the bag over there? They don't say. They're all the same, buddy. Brett, thank you very much.
You are my best friend in the industry. Oh, no, there's five. Now you have to, uh, I got one. I have one.
Oh, there's six left. Okay, he takes one and there's three. Okay, I got you. Yeah, sorry.
I was like, that's awkward. Now who doesn't get the one? Who doesn't get the second one? I mean, it's not that awkward.
We know who's not getting it. What a nice setup that is. It's a nice setup. We know who's not getting the extra one.
Okay, now by next week, we need you to have read the book and there's going to be a test. Okay. First, he's got to figure out how to read. I know, there were pictures.
I did see there were a lot of pictures. It's very hard with this mask on. This is the last day of January for the show. Yeah.
I don't want to throw on no break. Hey, you ready? Here they come, Phil. One, two, three!
Atta boy. It's the last day of January, so it's the last day of the Rubber Clown mask. The one for next month is much more comfortable. We're going to have to make some alterations, though, for you to be able to smoke.
Okay. Well, this isn't a Patreon. By the way, thank you very much for all our Patreon supporters. We appreciate every single one of you.
Except the one that left. We don't appreciate you anymore. We miss you. We want to have you back if you want to come back.
If you want to come back. Yeah, come back. Baby. Hey, what minute are we at?
Are we at 16? We're at 10. Okay, let me know. Yeah, Phil's what we got to do.
16-minute Phil's fun fact. Oh, okay. com. It's our host podcast.
What about a sponsor for the show show? For the show show? Are we taking sponsors for the show show now? We're right in the middle of the desk.
Since we had one that we were going to talk to, something happened. I'm not calling them out. We're still going to talk to them. Maybe somebody else would link to them.
No. Phil wants to NASCAR the table and just put anything on it. Yeah, baby. Left corner, right corner, which one do you want?
Yeah, Boveda, the Lost Boys Lounge we'll put on there. Aroma Craft can go right in the middle for a nice budgeting cost, I'm sure we can set you up with something. Maybe a little, uh, yeah, I like, I like the Romograph one. That's nice.
All right. Well, now we're rolling. Now I gotta see your guys' cuts. Show me your cuts.
What it, why? Professional, professional. Okay, good. Yeah, you can't even, you can't, you shouldn't even be able to tell there's been a cut in me.
Right. Now I'm nervous. Did you see that part of the book or something? Yeah.
Oh, okay. I saw a video the other day, the guy's telling you how to cut your cigar. " That's where you cut it off, right at the bottom of the cap. Oh my God.
And the whole thing comes unraveled. Maybe he was doing it just to... No, no, cause he showed the wrong way. The wrong way was like another eighth of an inch lower where you actually lop a half an inch of the cigar off.
So it sounds like he showed you two wrong ways. Yeah, right. This is the really wrong way, and this is the still wrong. So check that out.
So we had an FQ event over the weekend? What happened over the weekend? We most definitely did. Did it do well?
I missed the meeting yesterday, I'm sorry. It went very well. I think it was good. Yeah, we had a good time.
You gotta love, you gotta love Manhunt. Guy wants to come in and tell us how we should be running our events. Manhunt did? Yep.
You know, I love Manhunt. Loved him for years. Full disclaimer. Okay.
Full disclaimer. He's a great guy. Seemed a little forced, this event. What do you mean?
His demeanor, and his personality, and his outgoing-ness. Yeah? Yeah. I mean, okay, okay, okay, I walk in the first time, hi, oh, Mike Ballard, you know, said hello, and everything, he stopped talking to whoever he was talking to, but then every time I went by, he was doing that, like, I don't want to talk to this guy anymore, he said, hey, Mike, can I see you?
No, no, no, no, like, I just walked in for the first time. Oh. Like, that's probably the ephedra. Going to the bathroom.
You know. I'll be right back, if you're missing me, I have to pee, I'm very sorry. So I went to the tailor today to get, first of all, the top part of the suit fits me fine for Greg's wedding. Perfect.
The pants? I can fucking swim in these pants. I don't understand how I'm that far off. The guy's like, I have to remove pretty much half of your pants.
Okay. So he said he'll do it. Left to right or top to bottom? Top to bottom?
Too long and too big. Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah.
I was like a kid. Don't inhale. I was like a kid jumping in an adult sized pair of pants. Chapter three.
Don't inhale. So those, when you order them. Yeah. They're like a wide range.
Yeah. But I think what happens is like, they really gear it towards the bigger number. Maybe they say it's a wide range. Like small, medium, or large.
All we have are double X. What was funny is, you know, we got our specs, so I sent my specs. You figured that it would be close. Maybe you lost weight.
Yeah. Like maybe you have to alter it a little bit. Yeah. Right.
Not to this level. So anyways, I go and I see this guy. I'm just going to tell you this story. Hello.
Hello. First, the guy's very nice. Yeah. " You and your buddy.
Nice. Referencing him. Oh. Did you guys go to the same tailor?
Yeah, I asked him who we went to. He's my friend now. Oh, so he's a bodybuilder. Oh, he's a bodybuilder.
Yeah. So are you and, you know, I said, no, he's not a bodybuilder. He's just got a good, he's got a good genetic build. He does have a good genetic build.
He just eats a lot. Right. And then he goes ahead and he says, because, you know, well, I'm going to tell you your shoulders and you're some, you're so perfectly symmetric. I said, Oh, thanks, man.
That's right. That's very nice. I am. Thank you.
That's very nice of you. So, so, you know, you guys got that going for you. You're blessed with a perfectly symmetric friend. You're welcome.
You're welcome. Oh, thank you. I didn't know who was blessed. I mean, he's kind of blessed.
Imagine if he worked out and took care of himself. I mean, I wasn't there, so he wasn't able to say that to me. That you were perfectly symmetrical? Yeah, he said, you know, a lot of people have...
Here's one thing that I learned that's really kind of crazy. Here's a tidbit of health that I'm going to smack on somebody. " Oh. " What normally happens is if one side of the shoulder is smaller, that person probably sleeps on that side.
-Right. -Smack. -And it atrophies. I just recently learned this.
-Yeah, so, yeah, if you sleep on your muscles, like on your back, if you sleep on left side or right side, it atrophies. -Yeah, if you sleep on your back, that's what helps you get the most symmetric. However, the only problem with that is the apnea. Right.
Well, you got to sleep a little elevated. That, too. I mean, you got to sleep with all types of shit. As far as I'm concerned, I'm a fucking mess when it comes to sleeping.
So, yeah. Can I do the listen of the week now? Sure. Is it 16 minutes?
Yes. Hold on. No, you can't do it. Phil's fun facts.
Sorry. Welcome to Phil. Put your mask on. All right.
Let's go, Phil. Put the camera on you, Phil. All right. All right.
Phil's fun facts. Here we go. It's like he gets dumber as soon as he puts the mask on. It's the fucking teeth.
Okay, Phil's Fun Facts, here we go. Hold on, we have music for Phil's Fun Facts. Oh, do we? Oh, Phil's Fun Facts.
Welcome to Phil's Fun Facts! Whoa! 16 minutes into the Cigar Hustler Podcast, we bring you Phil's Fun Facts. Alright, I'm here.
Alright, did you guys know, cigars can make you more creative? - Really? - Really. - So, legendary writer Mark Twain used to smoke 300 cigars a month.
- Really? - Then he quit the habit, which led him to suffer from writer's block for three months. Once he resumed his cigar-smoking habit, it took him only three months to write another book. - I believe that.
- That makes complete sense. - Yeah, because it kind of puts you in a relaxed state, right? If you're fucking constantly thinking, it's like when you're looking for the remote control and you can't find it, it could be right in front of you. All right.
It always is. But if you're stressing about it, you can't see it. It's like when I open the fridge and I can't find the ketchup, you know? Oh, I hate my fridge.
I don't fucking know what's in there. But if I had smoked the cigar, I know where the ketchup was. Last night I like went into a frantic... Looking for the ketchup?
No, I was looking for a snack. The remote control? The ketchup had stolen the remote control? No, I was looking for the seaweed snacks.
Remember the seaweed snacks? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I was looking for the seaweed snacks and I couldn't find one.
You're on a cut right now. You're on a cut phase. Right. I was frantically looking.
Couldn't find him. No, I was like, Tia, you have to come find these snacks. You keep them in the fridge, though. So she was sleeping.
You woke her up? I had to wake her up. You're a terrible person. Oh, you're a terrible husband.
Terrible. I feel like I've done that too, though. But you're, you know, you're terrible. I don't wake my wife up and find the snacks.
I wouldn't say I woke her up to find the snacks, but if I couldn't find something, I would say that I probably won't. Bro, if I didn't wake her up, I was going to eat the cheeseburger. They need the cheeseburger. No, I can't eat that right now.
Wow. Wow. I had to stay strong. I had to ask her.
That's not staying strong. Wow. So she found them. They were like lower, lower, lower shelf all the way in the back by like the flower.
So she came right there and got them. Yeah. I'm like, why would anybody put these next to the flower? The fridge is a limited space.
You just didn't want to look anymore. Can we just talk about the level of abuse that Tia has signed up for? Yes, it's terrible. It's remarkable.
She's seen there yesterday when she's up reading lunch with him over in the private lunch. Yeah. Poor thing. She couldn't even eat.
Now he doesn't call her on the phone. Now he just hands her his phone. Wow. No, she ate.
No, no. Hers was cold. Exaggerated. I couldn't fit it in.
And then she left very quickly. Exaggerated. But you know, usually it used to be, "Well, hold on. I don't handle that.
" Because she was next to me. He doesn't even tell the person on the phone anything. " I forget who it was. Poor Tia.
This is a customer on the phone. I don't do customers. You better make sure that she always has a brand new fucking car, whatever purse she wants. She doesn't like purses.
Okay. Whatever fucking handgun. You guys are hillbillies. Yeah.
Whatever handgun she needs. Yeah. So, you know, Valentine's Day is coming up. Yeah.
I was like, oh, I was like, oh, new gun. She's like, no, because we got the new NRA magazine came to the house. Yeah. And I was like, there was like a American flag machine gun on the front.
I was like, this is perfect. That's not for you. It's for her. So she's like, no, don't buy me nothing.
You know, I don't like the Valentine's Day thing. I'm like... She's not a Valentine's person? I said, yeah, but every year I bought her a gun.
I just saw that Sig Sauer released this gun. It's called the Rose Gun, or whatever. And it's black, but it has like rose gold for the trigger, and... Oh, nice.
Yeah, it looks sharp. Did she shot the one you got her last year yet? Not yet. Exactly.
How about the one before that, then the year before that? Did you hear it before that? Yes, you saw that one. I think it's time for you to go back to the well and figure something out.
I think the gun's a great thing. Yeah, but now they're stockpiling without being used. Yeah. At this point, you're just planning for zombie apocalypse.
Why don't you build a bomb shelter for her out back, you know? I mean, fuck it. Nothing says I love you like a bomb shelter. Right.
Right. Apocalypse shelter, no bomb. It'd be like Brandon Frazier from Blast from the Past. Yeah.
Right. Exactly. We could stick you down there and just hand her your phone. You'd be fine.
Here, I'm going to go down to the bomb shelter. I'm going to actually be able to play video games again. Yeah, crazy. That would be great.
One end of the shelter could be the screen. Yeah. Oh, a big screen. I can't keep mine lit.
Anybody else having that problem? No. No, mine's burning fine. Yeah, everybody else is doing okay, good.
You will speak nicely of bread-fry cigars. I'm not complaining of the cigar, it tastes good. Here's the problem with you smoking a cigar on the show: you fucking talk too much. Yeah.
Well, I'm doing things. I'm just going to say that you talk too much. I led to. Phil's keeping the cameras rolling, so you should be good over there.
Yeah, you should be, you know, this ship practically flies itself at this point. It's so automated. Just about. So I want to get my microphone.
I do want to do a Listener of the Week now, though. Okay, I set up the gong. Go ahead. Listener of the Week.
See, we had to take these down last week, and now mine's not. I like that it bothers you. It is. It's driving me crazy.
I can't get it set up. Listener of the Week. Mark Palmer. Oh, it's also his birthday.
Happy birthday, Mark Palmer. Happy birthday, Mr. Palmer, my cousin. Dear friend.
Hello, cousin. Oh, wait, he's putting me on with the panic of the... Major supporter of the show. Yes.
Lover of the postanya. Yes. Mm-hmm. All-around great guy.
Is he working at a new shop or just hanging out at a new shop? I think he's just hanging out. I think he's just hanging out at a new one. The problem is, though, if you hang out in a shop long enough...
Oh, I know how that works. You're gonna clock in. This is a matter of time, like, hey, you know, hey, if you're going to be there, can you open the door, I'm going to, here's his key, break that, here's your key, I'm going to break that, you're going to break that, you know, Friday, he was on the back side of the counter, Boots was not Phil, Boots was on the back side of the counter, I was on the front side, a customer walked up the register, I go, hey, can you ring him up, he took a half a step towards the customer before he realized, like, no, shit, right, I do that, I almost have him trained to go ring people up, yeah, two more weeks, two more weeks, Boots will ring people up, so should I talk about that, Do a head thing before or after the news? Let's do it after the news.
Whatever you want to do. I think after the news. What if we run out of time? I can always cut news stories.
Yeah, you should do it before. You want me to get into this? 3, 2, 1, camera on you. No pressure.
So, we have a dear friend, right? A dear friend, and her name is Dana McCool. I'm a cool. About 10 years ago, Dana had breast cancer.
She's been a friend of myself, personally, and cigar hustler for 13 years. I mean, like, since the beginning. When she first had breast cancer, I shaved my head to support her. And, unfortunately, 10 years later, the cancer has returned, stage four, and it's in her bones.
So, I'm a big believer in supporting your friends, and I'm going to shave my head today on the show. On the show? Yeah, right, like right now. Yeah, right, right now.
We're going to do it right now. Who's shaving it? I am. He's got to shave his own head.
I'll wing it. Okay. And it don't have to be proven. Unless you want me to do it, I'll do it.
No. No. I need you guys to fill air. I'm going to have to take off the headset and shit, so.
Oh, we'll talk about it. I know, I'm going to keep the camera on you, though. Yeah, we're going to keep the camera on you. Oh, we can commentate it.
Yeah, we'll commentate the thing. That's how you threw the thing. Thank you for bringing the vacuum. Figuring out how you brought the vacuum.
Yeah, I didn't want you to be all shitty with me. You're like, oh, you can do it on the show. All right, so I'm gonna get this party started. All right.
Is that why you brought the hat to wear it after? Put my hat down. No, to wear it before. Oh.
I'm gonna put my hat down. I'm gonna grab this. He's putting down the hat. He's digging around on the floor, ladies and gentlemen.
He has the clipper. Oh. I have the clippers. Oh.
That was an amazing move. Are you setting it? And are you FaceTiming? Well, I need to see what I'm screwing up here.
Oh. Let's see what I'm screwing up. All right, ready? Uh-oh.
Three, two, one. And he's done! Oh, right in the floor. Leave it like that.
The reverse Mohawk. It looks beautiful. Oh, I might want to have tanned your head this weekend while you're, oh, oh, oh, oh, what are you doing over there? Listen to all the sound effects he's making, he's really enjoying it over there.
I'm looking, his head's not lumpy. No, his head's not lumpy, you didn't see the pictures before? Oh, he's a perfect symmetrical. Perfect symmetrical head also.
Yeah, I am, I am, I am the alpha. Everything is symmetrical. Should see his wiener, it matches everything. No, I'm good.
Okay, that's one side. Just in time for TPE. Yeah, just in time for a wedding. Oh, yes.
That's why he's doing it. So not wearing the shirt. He's gonna shave his head ball. We gotta rip the arms out the sleeves now.
I'm gonna tell you. So the white t-shirt that I have that's not the ruffled t-shirt like the rest of you guys. It's tight on my arms. Sure it is.
So tight. Oh, yeah. I may just cut it. I had to...
Is it a pullover? Cut it? Yeah, it's a dress shirt. No, it's a dress shirt.
I had to order a 3X. Just cut the sleeves off? Yeah, why not? I think it looked good then.
I take off the jacket and I'm boom. Boom. Why don't you just not wear a shirt? You're doing a great job.
I like the little Superman curl that you keep missing on the top of your head. Oh, yeah. That looks great. Just leave it like that.
What do you want from me? No, leave it like that. No, no, no. I like the little curly on top.
Now we know what he's going to look like when he gets older. This isn't the first time, are you shaving the beard too, everything? No. Well then don't, as I was going to say, be careful with the sideburns then.
Look, I'm doing my best here. I'll come finish it for you. Oh, yes. Papa Palmer.
I'll get the back. So, uh, he's almost finished, ladies and gentlemen. He's still got the back to do. He's three quarters.
Oh, he's gonna itch the rest of the day. Ugh. Oh yeah. What the fuck ever, man.
I'd do it for either one of you fucks. I'm not saying anything about you cutting your hair, I'm just commenting on the hair, is he falling down your shirt? It's worth the itch. Get that there.
Oh yeah. I've had a nickel for every time I heard that. What did he say? He said if I had a nickel for every time I heard that, it's worth the itch.
He's giving crabs to people apparently over there, Phil. He was in the military. That's true. Visiting random ports.
That's right. You guys know what I'm talking about. I make you a good deal, sir. You come over here.
Almost. Oh, say la, boy. Say la, say la. Hey, it's funny.
You joke about it, but every guy that comes through the gate, he's usually got a... You gotta check him for crabs? No, he's usually got an Asian wife. You've had to stare at a lot of dicks to make sure that they're past inspection.
A lot of Japanese. Oh, I don't know. They go over to Okinawa or something. See, that's what I'm telling you.
Come back married. We pay you a lot of money. Oh yeah, they get more money if they get married. Yeah.
There's a bonus for that. Well, not only that, but they offer you money. Oh, the girls do? Yes.
Oh. We pay you $60,000 for citizenship. I'm not gonna lie, I think I look pretty good bald. This isn't a bad look for me.
No? You know, this is how The Rock did it. No, The Rock did it because his hair started to the receipt. That's what I'm saying.
He turned into like LeBron James. There's somebody... Oh wait, who's the big black guy who's famous for making his boobs dance? Oh, Terry Crews.
Terry Crews. He's not really bald. He shaves his head. Oh, really?
Yeah. I saw an interview the other day. He doesn't like to be any hair on his body. Yeah.
Somebody asked him. He goes, "I'll be honest with you. I have hair. " Muscles.
Muscles. Muscles. Yeah. It makes his muscles look bigger, less hair.
Oh, is that what it does? Right. Oh, careful. It looked like you were going to cut your head off there.
I know. I'm trying. A little spot there. You got that out of there.
You got a couple of... With the mismatched stuff in the back, now it looks like Jason from Friday the 13th. Because of the patchy stuff in the bag that he's missing. I'm working on it, man.
I know you can't hit it, and I'm not complaining. I'm making content for the show. Otherwise, we're just sitting here watching you shave your head. Left eyebrow.
Alright, so again, if you guys would like to put any stickers on the tables, let us know. Or on Michael's head. Or on his head, yeah. Yes, we're now selling ad space on Michael's head.
Yeah. So, I heard that Shirtless Mike was on a radio. 1 was down there, somewhere near him. Ooh, I missed the whole move, man.
That's what I mean. You look like Jason in the mic. Uh, and he took off his shirt, and because of the tattoos, they brought him up and talked to him on the air, and they specifically asked about our tattoo. Really?
Yes. So, he gave Mike & Mike Productions a big shout-out on a national syndicated radio show. Cigar Husters podcast. Oh, he said Mike & Mike, too.
Did he? Yes. Hey! I didn't hear it because I was told about it after the fact.
You know, I always like Cigar Husters, Mike, man. They do rebroadcast their show as a podcast, so I'm sure we could find it. Tag it? Yeah.
Oh, there you go, you got that one piece. Yeah, I turned my head and I saw it. Ah, I gotcha. Does Greg know you're doing this?
Yes. There's a big patch in the back. He knows you're doing it right now. Yeah.
Is he doing the Viking ponytail tail? Oh, God, that'd be so great if he shaved his head before the wedding. He's not shaving his head. He didn't shave his head last time either, did he?
No. You know, if he shaved his head, he'd come back looking like Gandalf. It's looking like Gandalf. I can guarantee it.
It's getting pretty grayish. It's Lord Farqua or Gandalf. That's his two choices. That's the two looks.
Well, the black's gone, so the Lord Farqua's gone. Oh yeah, he took off his head Friday, so I could take the picture, and yeah, it's all, it's like gray lightning stripes going through it now. He's getting old, man. It looks good.
We're all getting old. Ben Rowland says that Greg isn't doing chicken math correctly, and in six weeks he'll have eight to nine chickens. Oh. I don't know how that works, but Ben's got that farm, so he would know.
Yeah, Ben is a professional, and I'm going to tell you right now, him and his wife are cringing at the fact that, for one, this is constantly going during the show, and the fact that I've sniffled. Oh, are they, oh, you know, who do you, it used to be, um, Amanda Morris used to complain about the sniffling and stuff. Now it's Sarah and Ben. Uh oh.
Yeah. And thank you, Sarah, for the lovely legal advice you sent us. We have an attorney on standby, yes. Yes, yes, now we have a lawyer that tells us when we fuck up on the show.
Man, I can't wait to go to TPE now because nobody's gonna know who he is. Oh, they'll know. They'll still know. Are you Greg?
Right. Yeah, they're gonna have mistaken him for Greg. You know what, I do need to get a shirt made, though, that I could just write, "He's Fine" on it. Just, well, cut the vinyl.
Hey, how's your brother? Hey, how's your brother? He's not fucking here. He never comes.
No, don't even say anything now. With the shirt? You just walk away? He's fine.
He said something last week about the industry he didn't know, and it was just, it was like, what, they're making cigars now? I mean, it was something obscenely stupid like that. I don't know. I don't remember.
Right. " Oh, yeah, we were talking, yeah, I forget what cigar we were talking about. I forget what it was. It was over in the private lounge.
Yeah, Greg's into the car industry. Right, the used car industry, the used broken cars. Yeah, hey, listen, the more it doesn't work, the more money I'll give you. That's right, wow.
How broke is it exactly? I'm looking for really broke. It's not perfect. Well, I can't see the back, so I think the back is where you might have missed, but...
Oh, no, you did a pretty good job! Good, good, good. Maybe just your neck, but I can't tell if that's just hanging on, or... It could just be living on a prayer room here.
Yeah, well, it was primarily this side that I could see. Man, we should have got a barber in here. I wish I would have known you're doing, I was gonna have one coming for free. All right, I'll be right back.
Should we pause for a moment? No, keep it going, keep it going. All right, now, if you'd like to buy some of Michael's hair... Yeah, it's gonna be...
You can have a handful of Michael's hair for $5. Oh, $20. We're starting the bids at $5. $5?
Bidding. So we'll start the bid at $5. I'll take it at $10. Apparently, now, the bidding is at $10.
$10. Don't wait! $15. $15.
Don't hit the cameras. Sorry. We're raffling off your hair. It'll be in this bin.
Oh, in a nice, lovely bin. Make sure you get all the way up to the ashtray. Just go ahead and get your ashes for the day. Maybe you can make this a time lapse.
I can speed it up or slow it down. I'll speed it up. And then do some little music. But then you won't get our audio.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Vacuuming. Oh, they love that. That sounds so nice in the microphone.
Oh. That sounds nice. Oh, yeah. Nice, nice.
It's actually not as loud as you have been. Mike, can you put his camera back on? There you go. Oh, there you go.
This is what it looks like when I'm washing my back. Oh, does it? Oh. If any of you wanted to know.
Well, just so you know, that brush was not touching your back at all just now. This is brand new. This is brand new. No, I'm not saying it's not.
But the way you did it in the curve of your back, the brush does not touch your back. That's kind of my point. Yeah, no, not that. Would you like to do the rest of the show shirtless, Mike?
Are you gonna go to your barber after this? For what? Let me definitely miss something. Are you gonna run a razor over it when you get home, like in the shower?
No. Just curious. This is where I'm at. Ooh, there's a little more here.
Your chair is full of it, by the way. And your lower part of your shirt. What's that? Your chair and the lower part of your shirt is still got a lot of hair in it.
You guys can help me with that later. You know, we can pull the... Smile. Why?
Take a picture of me. Did I send it to her? No. It's not for you.
It's not for you. You don't get to do it. Oh, I sent it to you, then you sent to her. No.
No. Just let it happen. Whatever. Let her find out.
You know with her treatment, she's not losing her hair. Yes, she is. No, she's not. Yes, she is.
No she's not. No she's not. She's getting radiation and... No radiation.
No radiation. Okay. What were you supposed to baby do? She said she was getting radiation and...
It's changed. She's getting infused and then something else. Hey, whatever. But we love to support.
Yeah, still a very supportive man. Yes. You know, I'm here for you. Yeah.
You guys are terrible people. Why? Should we have told you that before? No.
I didn't think I made a difference. I thought about it, but I figured that wasn't going to make a difference anyway. I think that wasn't going to make a difference anyways. It's not.
It's not. I think it was great for the listeners too to see how dedicated. How dedicated. The dedication.
Right. And this is why they should be dedicated to go on the Patreon. All right, get off camera three, will ya? Oh wait, I just got a text message from Ben Rowland.
He's having testicular surgery. He's got one of his testicles removed. He wants to know if you're in. Yep.
Yeah. Good job. Okay, Ben, he's in. He's in, Ben.
Look, Ben, the reality is... I don't need them anymore, you know, I got enough kids, I don't need any extra ones. Hey, no joke, you know you can sell them things, bro, if you don't want kids no more, why you need them? Can you really sell them?
Yeah, they're like 50 grand a piece. I'm out of fuel, hook me up. Oh. I don't have fuel, but I have a lighter.
I'm not gonna lie, I like, um, the shaved head feel is always nice. Would you like some of my fuel for my friend in the industry, Brett Frye? I don't know which time you'll save for not getting ready in the morning. There you go, Brett.
Yeah, but it doesn't last long, I mean, it'll probably be like this for a month. I know, we're good. You know? Yeah.
But hey, support your friends, man. All right, we jumping to the news now? Are we done with the barber portion? Is there anything else you want to talk about?
No, I mean, it was kind of a slow weekend for me. Yeah. Oh, you guys bailed on me, you know, nobody wanted to go to Universal. I tried, man.
" Thank you for inviting, but I really idea to sit around watching football with a bunch of guys. Yeah, I saw the pictures. We were drinking healthy mojitos. Well, I was.
Oh. Healthy mojitos. Yeah, no alcohol, sugar-free ginger beer. No alcohol?
Right. Bro, what do you want from me right now? I can't do it. So what's in it then?
It was lemon, lime, ice. It was just lemonade at that point. Yeah, pretty much. Oh.
Sugar-free ginger beer, fresh ginger. No, then I had sugar-free fruit punch margaritas. Oh, there you go. Just fruit punch.
Oh, nice. Fruit punch crystal light. Oh, there you go. From the four corners of the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need.
The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report with Mike Toon. Senators, reintroduce Bill to exempt premium cigars from the FDA regulation, Michael. Oh, yeah? Alright, take your picture.
Oh, Brittany's asking me if I shaved my head yet. Oh. Tell her wait and she can see the show tomorrow like everybody else. Wow.
I think she'd seen me before. Actually, it's going to be up later today. Premium cigars. S.
Food and Drug Administration, as he has done in 2019 and in 2021. Keep plugging away there, Rubio. Thank you very much. He's co-sponsoring the Traditional Cigar Manufacturing Small Business Job Prevention Act.
Mike, the bill would FDA's ability to regulate cigars that meet the following definition. I cut it out. The definition was kind of long and dull and it was like three pages by itself, so we just, they're cigars. Okay.
This is a broader definition than the one proposed by the FDA as part of the original ongoing lawsuit. Cigar Associates of America is still not intended to allow for flavored cigars to be exempt. Nobody likes flavored cigars anymore, apparently. Yeah.
Thank you for that stunning commentary. Two yes. You're supposed to. There you go.
Apparently, your intelligence was with your hair. It's gone, though. It's like Samson with his strength. Yeah.
C. Newman and El Reylo factory in Tampa. Furthermore, it would alleviate concerns with the industry about the use of food-safe glues. Fortunately for the cigar industry, the trajectory of the aforementioned Cigar Association lawsuit is in a much different direction than it was two years ago.
S. S. District Court of the District of Columbia ruled the FDA acted improperly when imposing the deeming regulations. A major victory for the cigar industry.
The industry is still waiting on Maheita to make a final ruling about what that will mean in practical terms. It was likely to be a substantial win for the industry. Here's why I just say yeah when it comes to this. I've seen it go on for fucking a decade.
Yes. Well, since 2019? 2019? No, no, I'm just talking about FDA and regulations and all this other bullshit, like, you know, it happens every single year, every single year, and nothing has changed.
No, it's just an issue. So they never make a ruling. Yeah, or they try and press, and then it goes backwards, I don't know, you know, it's just fucking ridiculous. Not enough support, never enough support.
It's obnoxious is what it is. There you go. Dab it off, limited edition, 2023, year of the rabbit. Hey, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.
Well, most cigar smokers, even Davidoff retailers, likely to think of Davidoff Zodiac Series' annual release of different cigars each year, the last couple of years, there's actually been two different cigars each year. Two different ones. You know what's weird? First of all, I smoked that cigar, it's terrible.
What's really kind of funny is there are these two guys, I don't know who the fuck they are, they obviously make way more money than me. Yes. But they're on Instagram, and they're from Davidoff, pretty much, and they're, they're on, they're from Davidoff, or something. They're sitting in their fucking bougie chairs with their fucking three-piece suits and their English accents or whatever the fuck it is.
Welcome. Hello for another day at Davidoff. Hello another day at Davidoff. Today we are going to interview the Davidoff of the rabbit cigar.
We are very excited. And there's like 75 umbrellas behind them. They're interviewing the cigar? You know what I mean.
Yeah, they're going to interview it. They want to know what it has to say. Well, hello. What's up, doc?
We are very excited to smoke it has finally arrived whatever the fuck however they sound and then I'm like this is just tacky and terrible but then I see how many people that are in my friend group that have liked it you can't acknowledge that you gotta roll past it what the fuck don't talk to them at all hello we are successful people this is my cigar these are my 85 umbrellas different colors for different days it's ridiculous it's ridiculous What about the umbrellas, not the cigar? For me the umbrellas are the focal point of the conversation. I just look at that and I'm just... Oh, it draws your attention because they're all over the place behind them.
I'm looking at the umbrellas. There's a lot of umbrellas. A lot of umbrellas. Who had to open all those umbrellas?
Yeah. And does that same person have to close them? They're all closed. They're like...
You could just see the canes. Oh, you can't see like the colorful wheelie part? No, no. Oh.
Not the colorful wheelie part. Oh. I was picturing somebody much different. Yeah.
All right, as part of the other rabbit release, Davidoff announced that it would create They create a rabbit-themed masterpiece humidor, in the shape of a large carrot. Oh. No, they don't put that part. A 6x56 Toro extra version of the blend.
However, it also announced that the Vitola would also be sold in boxes at its Davidoff of Geneva, which there isn't one in Tampa anymore. Or is there now one in Tampa, but it's not the other place? Which way did that end up? What do you mean?
There was a store in Tampa that was a Davidoff. They're breaking up. Right, but is it staying Davidoff of Geneva or staying the other way? No.
Ah, okay, I wasn't sure which way that ended up. The Davidoff Zodiac series has been known for its high-end packaging of the year. The Rabbit Flagship Edition might be the best in terms of craftsmanship. It's a 24-count box that has been upgraded in just about every way imaginable.
The top of the box is covered in a high-gloss lacquer, allowing both the red to shine through. Okay, nobody cares. Hello, welcome to Davidoff, and today we are smoking this glorious, aged 75 years, Year of the Rabbit. Come on.
They make 100,000 of these cigars. We only make, it's very limited. We're making 100,000 of these cigars. Wait, it's a five by 15/16.
Yeah, it's like a Figurato. By 54, double perfecto. It's the same shit. It means the same fucking thing.
I'll get angry. No, no, it's not a Figurato, it's a double perfecto. Alright, All Saints Cigars. You make me angry.
Shipping six Nuvatolas and increasing prices on everything. Oh. CLE Asylum's increasing prices. Alec Bradley's increasing prices, Iconic Leaf Cigar is also increasing prices.
They gotta get ahead of that TPE money, you know? Espinosa Wasabi Line is adding a Lancero. Espinosa Wasabi Line will be getting a Lancero in the coming weeks. Hector J.
Alfonso, Director of Operations for Espinosa, in control of everything done by Espinosa, made the announcement during a recent interview with the Rocky Mountain Cigar Show. Have you heard of that show before? Yeah. Have you?
I'm sorry, you're talking? Rocky Mountain Cigar? No, it's just a podcast. I'm just sitting over here, mumbling away.
Oh, okay. Not talking at all. The latter confirmed the news to Half Wheel and to Cigars Podcast. Details of the cigar have not yet been released.
As Alfonso said, he's still waiting for the cigar to arrive at the company's highly guarded Florida warehouse, saying it could be a month or so, or it could be longer before the cigars are ready to ship. The Espinosa Wasabi debuted in November 2016 when it was one of eight cigars quickly known as the Backroom Series that was released to Espinosa brand lounges. 95 when it was released. Knuckles Sandwich 55 celebrates Guy Fieri's birthday.
Guy Fieri celebrated his 55th birthday this weekend. He will do so with a limited edition cigar made for the occasion. You mentioned earlier we were getting that? Yeah, we're getting three whole boxes.
Oh. Yeah. When? I don't know.
" Or the Connecticut's. We like some of the Connecticut's too, maybe. Knuckle Sandwich Cigars, a joint project between Fieri and the Food Network, Celebrity Chef and Espinosa Supreme Cigars are releasing the Knuckle Sandwich 55 to celebrate the occasion. 5x55 Robusto Extra made in a shape that's round, more akin to an oval than a circle.
An Oval Cigar? It's a Double Perfecto. Oh. Yeah.
Yeah. Gotcha. It's not quite a Frigurato. Not quite.
No. Blendwise, Knuckles Sandwich Cigar uses a Mexican San Andreas wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua. J. Fernandez's San Latino factory in Ocatal, Nicaragua.
Yeah. The MSRP is $15 per cigar and production is limited to 555 boxes of 10 cigars. Oh, we have three of those. Three.
So there's only 552 more out there somewhere else. More out there somewhere else. Could be anywhere. Could be.
Guy wanted to do something, oh wait, sorry. Bro, Guy wanted to do something special for his birthday. What better gift than a special cigar made for a special occasion, said Eric Espinosa of Espinosa Premium Cigars. As luck would have it, this limited release coincides with the one year anniversary of the launch of Knuckles Sandwich Cigars.
We are both very proud of the success and reviews that have garnered his first year. Espinosa Premium Cigars, which distributes Knuckles Sandwich, The sandwich says that the 55 should ship to stores in early February. It's like tomorrow. Day after tomorrow.
Early February. Day after tomorrow. All right, now we have a lot of Florida news. Wasn't a lot of industry news.
There's more Espinosa stuff, but it's all the same stuff. But, oh, I want to talk about something with the Espinosa. Yes. Thank you.
So, there was an award for salesman here. Oh, at their sales meeting. When it came to- Their annual sales meeting down in South Florida. When it came to, I think, directly of Guy Fieri's stuff.
Yes. Oh. Yeah. Yes.
So here's the thing, Tyler Jones got this award for being sales rep or whatever. We met Tyler at the Espinosa thing last year. Yeah, being sales rep of the year. And Alfredo, my dear friend Alfredo, he also got our dear friend, our dear friend, thank you very much, your dear friend, he's not mine, your dear friend Alfredo, he also got the same award, and I'm gonna call bullshit on that, how the fuck, how are there two, do you give the award to two people, right, let me say something real quick here, well, is maybe, is it regional, no, no, first of all, yes, salesmen, if you If you're in Florida, and it's based solely on numbers, you have a fantastic shot of just monkey-fucking your way into being the number one salesperson for the brand, period.
A lot of the heavy hitters are here in Florida. There's no tax in the state. So it's easy, and you know, it's easy. To move more cigars.
Yeah, without question. Plus Guy Fieri's here. Espinosa's here. Eric Espinosa runs South Florida.
Yes. So he's already entrenched and established in that brand, without question. Right. So Alfredo can fucking make huge numbers by sitting on his couch.
Or it's smoke on the water. Or it's smoke on the water, yeah. As the case may be. Yeah, right.
Now you got this kid, Tyler. I don't even know where his region is, but I'm going to assume it's mid... He's like Northwest, I think. Yeah, probably in the Midwest, I was going to guess.
Something like that. I think he's a little further out. Guy probably worked his dick off. Yeah.
He sold all of these cigars. Right. And he didn't even get the whole fucking nod. No.
They gave the nod to two people. Probably for the same amount of stores. He had to cover like seven states. Yeah, exactly.
That's like... That's like making a participation trophy for people. Oh, Tyler got the participation. You know what I mean?
Oh, we're sorry Tyler. It's like, good job. Like, that's fucked up man. Oh boy.
Pat him on the back. I would like to see Alfredo's trophy rescinded and broken. So, I don't know who we gotta talk to. Maybe we should call Jack.
Guy Fieri gave it to him. You want me to call Jack about that? Yeah, call Jack. I thought we weren't calling Jack right now.
Okay, we'll call Jack then. Call Jack. Call Hector. Call Hector.
Hector doesn't like to talk. Call Jack. Oh, okay. Then we're not calling anybody.
But it's bullshit. Call Jack. And we're not calling Jack. I don't think it's right.
I don't think it's right that Alfredo, you don't deserve it, buddy. You know, I'm sorry. You just don't deserve it. I haven't seen him in a while.
I'd like to see you just ship yours to Tyler. Right. Yeah. And whatever prize you got with that.
You got a free sandwich, coupon for a sandwich. Trip to Italy. Like Reggie Bush. A trip to France, maybe.
Reggie Bush said, fuck you, and he just sent the fucking Heisman back. I want to see you send yours back. Like, no, it's not okay. This is not okay.
That's what I said. Okay, go ahead, move on. We should make a Salesman of the Year, Cigar Hustler Podcast Salesman of the Year, and give it to Tyler. No, I'm giving it to Pete Hernandez.
Yeah. Oh, wow, yes. Because Pete Hernandez is the greatest sales rep of all time. Okay, we'll do an Espinosa Salesman of the Year.
Cigarster Podcast, Espinosa Salesman of the Year. We acknowledge Tyler. We acknowledge Tyler. Yeah.
Durden. Durden. It's Tyler Jones. Oh, Tyler Jones.
Yeah. Very nice young man. Do you remember? Because Indiana, the girl is now, what does she run?
She has her own cigars now. Yeah, whatever. So they need to marry, so she becomes Indiana Jones. Oh, that's right.
Yeah, yeah. Come on, keep up. Sorry. I forgot that part of the story.
That was the one in Vegas you asked, so why does a kid your age really want to be in the cigars? He's young and full of hope. Full of hope and everything. Now they made him Salesman of the Year.
Now he's all pumped up. Well, no, they didn't. They made him kind of. Oh, co-co.
Co-salesman of the Year. What's up? Now he's like, oh, fuck, this is what they meant. This is what they meant.
I'll never get the nod. I'll never get it all by myself. That's like saying... Hope you see him at the TV.
You know what, Kansas City, Cincinnati, you guys both get to go to the Super Bowl. How's that sound? Congratulations. You guys just merge.
You guys can take turns. Come up and shake your hand and go, hey, we heard about yours. Congratulations for sharing it. Yeah, for just being okay.
Fucked up. Oh, it's so terrible. Can make sure to say it's okay to be second best? No, he's co-best.
Co-best. It's okay to be co-best? I can't wait to see him at TPE. If I see Guy, if it's strictly from Guy, I'm gonna be like, I gotta talk to you about something.
What the fuck is this about? This is bullshit. Are they having a booth at TPE? Of course they are.
I thought I saw something where they weren't. No, I think they are. And what's that guy's name, Tony? Don't you try to stop us coming this time.
I saw Tony traveling. Tony doesn't live here. Tony's not a Florida guy. Oh, yeah?
He was traveling for the meeting. Traveling for the meeting? Yeah, his airport pick. Apparently, we're friends on Facebook.
You guys are tight. I'm going to look at him. You're fucking... I'm getting in.
Hey, let him know. Let him know, Paul. I'm talking to guys. We'll just distract him this time.
I'm having a conversation. We'll stand on the four sides. Everybody yells his name. Hey, Tony, I'm coming in.
Tony. I'm not even fucking... Listen, it's... I'm having...
I'm talking to him, and it's either... You're either stepping out of the way, or I'm going through you, Tony, that's it, that's fucking it, things are going to get my life. " According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, Fly was intoxicated and threatening customers at a bar staff members called the police, who stated the man had gone outside where he found himself urinating on the wall. Well, at least he went outside.
After refusing advice to get a sober ride home, Fly continued to verbally assault the officers. At this point, police took Fly into protective custody. Fly was taken to a hospital to be medically cleared before being transported to the Lee County Corps Unit. Okay, in Gainesville, Florida, a little further north.
Yeah. A woman is accused of threatening to cut off a man's genitals. Oh. It's been a rough week in Florida.
Is this that same lady? What lady? From a while back, you did a story? No, no, a different lady.
How does it, wait, but just a threat? Let's read on. Alachua? Alachua?
Alachua? Oh my god. Alachua, I could, you know what, before I read it, I could say the word. County Sheriff's Office.
Alachula? Yeah, arrested the woman after she barricaded herself at her home for hours on Northwest 39th Drive. The Sheriff's Office says 31-year-old Gabriela McClensky held a knife and threatened a man at a bus stop in Southwest 20th Street earlier in the morning. Deputies say McClesky got into her car and fled, oh, so she pulled up to the bus stop.
Man. I thought she was waiting on the bus. She probably thought it was a guy. No, he was waiting on the bus.
Right, but I thought she was too. How was she in an interaction with the man on the bus? Well, that guy obviously peaked somewhere along the way, maybe high school, middle school. was located by deputies, they say.
They say she led them on a chase. She ended up running into her home where she barricaded herself for hours. Woman barricaded. Unfortunately, you know, we are offered for every single opportunity to come out.
Her residence had talked to law enforcement said spokesman, Rebecca Butcher. Okay. So obviously they have some type of relationship, her and this man. It's not mentioned.
Let's get this straight. She's facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon along with looting law enforcement. So he's probably swinging his dick around. I would assume.
Oh, at the bus stop? Oh, you would think they had some type of relationship. Yeah, and he's just out there, you know, running these streets. And she's upset.
Right, she saw him. What if she had the wrong guy? I feel like it was the right guy. She knew exactly what bus stop was showing up.
Yeah, she knew where to find him. Maybe he got really nervous. Oh, I don't even know who you are, lady. Stay away.
Get away! Back! Back up! How about, you know what?
No means no. How about this guy just keeps his dick in his pants and, you know? Well, I don't think he had it out at the bus stop. It's metaphorically speaking.
He's obviously running around on his girl. Oh, you think they were dating? Yeah. Oh, you don't think she's just crazy?
No. I think she's just crazy. Wait, what city was this in? Your wife has never threatened to chop off your shit?
No. Wow. What kind of relationship are you in? The kind where nobody cuts off my dick.
No, I will chop it off. And she has to touch it. Come on. And she has to touch it.
Yeah, exactly. I'm not realistic here. No, my wife has never threatened it either, but I'm just saying. Oh, oh.
Threatened to touch it? Because I don't run around on my wife. Don't run around on my wife. Oh, I don't either.
Exactly. Do you see my point? There's knives in the house. But do you see my point?
Yes. So this guy, realistically... Could have been. Maybe let's just get him castrated.
Let's fucking, you know... Hey, he could have sold them. Yeah, he could have sold them. A hundred grand.
No, not testicles. He could join Ben in the testicle removal. He could join Ben in the testicle removal. Oh!
In solidarity and support. In support, right. Yeah. Like me, shaving my head for somebody who's not getting their head shaved.
We send them a shirt. All right, back down to Lee County, which is near Cape Coral and where the pooping was. Oh, okay. A drunk 80-year-old woman was sent to jail after she got aggressive at Fathom's Restaurant and Bar in Cape Coral.
A lot going on down in the Lee County area, apparently. On January 24th, Clarella Potter must have thought that nothing went right. According to the Cape Coral Police Department, Ms. Potter felt pugnacious, so she tried to punch restaurant staff.
The restaurant didn't know how to respond to the old woman on short tolerance. Employees readily called the police. After officers asked Mrs. Potter if she had family members nearby, the stubborn woman intoxicated turned to rage, she grabbed one of the officers by the back of the neck and slapped the officer's hands.
She should have said Harry's right by on the fucking road. CCPD escorted Mrs. Potter to a quieter place in the restaurant to sort things out. Officers asked Mrs.
Potter what her name was, but her mind was set. She refused to tell the officer who she was. My name is none of your damn business. But it was a white lady, by the way.
So what? Your accent sounded a little racial. Wait a second. Your accent sounded a little racial.
Really? Really? Yes. I don't think it was.
Stereotypically, it sounded a little racial, Michael. Alright, let's replay this back. Do the voice again. I'm just correcting that.
This is how I know. What? This is how I know. I just want you to know.
This is how I know. That statement in itself, Michael. It sounded a little racist, Michael, on your part. Nope.
Not at all. I'm not saying you're racist. It's interesting to me that you think a sound of a voice sounds- Stereotypically, it sounded like you were implying that she was a woman of color. That's how you took it.
A white person can sound like that? A hundred percent. Heard plenty. She was charged with battery- So when's the Klan meeting, Mike?
Is that Wednesday? Can we wrap this up? You got some crosses to burn, huh? Jeez Louise.
And bridges behind me. Burn the bridges and the crosses. The woman is charged with battery of law enforcement, officer intimidation with threat of death, Serious bodily harm and disorderly contact. She performed a show that no one at Phantom's restaurant and bar will forget.
And then finally, Michael, in Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers Beach man has been arrested for burglarizing a restaurant after he was spotted in the Kalahoochee River naked. On January 24th, the Fort Myers Police Marine Unit was dispatched to a report of a naked man that had jumped into the river. As officers arrived, they found 43-year-old Nathan Long waiting on a nearby derelict vessel. So, detectives were able to connect him to the video surveillance from a recent burglary at Joe's Crab Shack.
They got him! Oh! Oh my god! It was on January 21st, when security cameras captured Long climbing through a window at the restaurant, he would wander the closed building, steal several items before leaving Long, which captured defecating on the floor.
He obviously didn't keep the Crab Shack shirt. I have to figure this out. Well, he was naked. Yeah, but he left wearing it, is what I'm saying.
Do you think if you have no clothes on, no one can see you? Maybe. Why don't you take your clothes off and jump on the roof? Because he had the Joe's Crab Shack clothes off.
It's the emperor's new clothes. He goes, "Shit, here they come. " It wasn't me. It wasn't me.
I'm totally naked. You definitely can't connect me to this. Right. Sir, could you shit here on the floor?
I need a, we're gonna need a sample. We need a C&A sample, please. During an interview long admitted to being the person on the video. It was me.
Confess to it. He was arrested and booked in the Lee County Jail as being charged with burglary, larceny, and damage to property. That guy obviously needs help. Open and shut case.
He has some mental issues. And that's it. Do we have a shop of the week? Well, we're exactly at an hour.
It's worked out perfectly. Do we have a shop of the week? Palmer, are we going to the Great Smok? Probably not at this one.
You didn't win the sweepstakes? No, because apparently if you are a member of Cigar Media or in the industry, you are not allowed to win. Did you watch the show? Does that mean you get tickets?
No, I watched Developing Pallets. They were on at the same time. So Matt Tye told me I was not qualified to win, but I had my wife and children send in entries because it was not mentioned that spouses or children of were not allowed to. Interesting.
So, but they didn't, I was thinking they didn't. So who won? I don't know. I didn't watch that show.
Oh. I watched Avelian Palach. We were not mentioned in their top 25. I'm not surprised.
They're just bitter and angry. They are. Well, Palmer would like to go. I think we just need to steal John McTavish away.
Think so? Yeah, I think we should work on that. You think Aaron is the problem? Yeah, I feel like, you know, he's nice, but he's, he's got like some, he's got some anger issues.
Some anger? You know what I mean? Like, we've extended ourselves, we've given him the shirts, we've never received the shirts. No, and he's in the United States, I mean, McTavish has an excuse.
He's like, no problem. He's Canadian, I can't ship through the border, blah, blah, blah, so. Yeah, he's so nice in person, is what it is. Right.
Oh, Aaron. Yeah. He's very quiet. But once he's sitting on his beanbag chair and fucking...
With his giant logo. Yeah. With the rat. Is it still the rat?
Yeah, I think so. Who knows? I don't watch any of them, let's be honest. Oh, only when you're on?
Yeah, that's what I don't even watch them. I'm now the top fan on Smokin' Tobacco, after commenting three times. Oh, good for you. That's all it takes, apparently.
That is probably all it takes. Beat the two guy. You know what's really... Phil is top fan on somebody's show.
Here's what's crazy. Here's what's crazy about some of those media shows. Wait, wait, wait, what show is it? I forget.
Which one is it? Which one is it, Phil? Phil, which one is it? it fell which one is it it wasn't a show what was it it was the cisco lady oh oh my god he's he's top fan of melody cisco's top fan so here's what's crazy about those i didn't even like anything well if you put up 12 times show me your tits it's gonna make you yeah it's gonna happen it's gonna happen it's gonna happen yeah wow surprised you took 12 times that did not happen do not listen to palmer it doesn't normally take 12 times over here so so i'm surrounded by a racist Less than a Hornball.
Great. Fuck. I'm gonna get that a lot. And we need, John, I need you.
John McTavish, I need you. He's gonna get a phone in. I'm outnumbered. I'm tremendously outnumbered.
Here's the thing about those shows. Yes. You know, the comments and stuff may, they don't happen a lot. But I will tell you that there are a lot of viewers that watch those things.
There are. You can see their numbers. But you don't see specific platforms. You don't see all of the platforms.
No, but you see where I know they do live shows, which is on Facebook and on YouTube. But I think a lot of people watch that stuff afterwards as well. Right. Could be.
That would be the download numbers. You can see those too. Right. Wow.
You're creeping me out. Just saying. I looked. Because I was concerned about our ratings.
Okay. They're higher. Of course. I mean, it made sense to me.
Hey, when I go on, I move the needle. I was surprised. Well, yeah, just your appearance, but that just sort of peaked when I was looking at all of them. Right.
Yes. I would consider how about that cigar, before I looked at the ratings, on the same level as us as far as how long it's been out and the type of show it is and all that kind of stuff. Like, developing palettes, I don't think that's a regular thing. They sort of monthly or something with them.
Yeah. And then Coop. I didn't look at Coop. It's just, I mean, he's- Who's your favorite show?
It's the king. I really don't watch any of them. Cigar Houser's Wildcats? Yeah, Cigar Houser's Wildcats.
Bear's my favorite. Yes, I have not said anything bad about Bear. Yeah, Bear's amazing. He had those two people on from, they bought that brand from Black Label.
Oh, yeah. Send and her husband. Oh. He had them on this week.
Dissident? Yeah, there you go. Down to Herf is good. Down to Herf is pretty good.
They got good camera angles. They do. They have new cameras. I like their setup.
All right. Well, Shop of the Week has got to be Tobacology. I mean, he continues to give us goods. Yeah, of course.
Shop of the Week, Tobacology, Mr. Brett Fry. I hope that man orders some BDPs. Thanks, Brett, for being my greatest friend in the industry.
Well, your only friend in the industry. You know what? You be quiet. That's what he said!
You know something, Phil? You keep breaking my balls, I'ma come over there. Well, hey, you guys said it! You guys both said...
You keep breaking my balls. Shit's gonna get awful lean around here for UN Boots. Oh! Oh!
Oh! So... Be careful. Anyways.
I mean, I'm almost, because JJ fucking me, I'm like, I'm this close to taking the San Francisco flag and just sticking it on his fucking yard. I'm going to make him cry. I can get it on clearance right now, because they didn't advance. I'm going to make him cry.
You know what? He won't be the first, and he ain't going to be the last. To cry? Yeah.
Did you steal that for Ricky Bobby? No. If you're first, if you ain't first, you're last. He didn't invent that.
Yeah. Oh. No, it's been around for a while. All right.
Well, hey, thank you very much for listening. All right, it's been episode 266 of A Cigar Hustler Podcast. Goodbye. Bye.
A Cigar Hustler's 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 Szczepankewicz, 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-y-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 can get past Hojo! I don't even have to try to hit that. He's not even gonna try.
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'd be like four cigars when I walked in a door. All right, end this.
Show Notes
This eek Bret Frey sends another gift for Phil...Mikey Looses His Hair in a Show of Support and Palmer is again a racist??