Cigar Hustlers Podcast Episode 310 Wine Please

Episode Summary

Episode 310 of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast finds Mike Stepankevich, Mike "BDP" Palmer and Phil smoking the Oliva Serie V Melanio 2023 while recapping a busy cigar week in Central Florida. The guys talk about the grand opening of Heritage Cigars ahead of the Heritage Cigar Festival in Tampa (including Ray Mabalot's on-site barbecue), running into industry folks like Michael Rosales, Mike Denny of CLE and Pete Hernandez, and the packed Drew Estate in-store event with Pedro and Katie — plus the "bananas" studio-audience podcast they recorded with Pedro that may never see the light of day.

The crew also celebrates back-to-back 91-point halfwheel scores on their house cigars (the SBC and the Connecticut), joking that "a Charlie 91 is a Brooks 97," and notes that halfwheel has raised the bar to 92 for top-cigar-of-the-year consideration. Mike's wife Brittany calls in live to the show for her weekly lunchbox-related grievance, and Phil's Fun Facts covers 17th-century physicians who believed cigar smoke could cure headaches and the plague.

The news block is the meat of the episode: Drew Estate announced a portfolio-wide price increase of roughly 4.5% effective January 2, 2024 (following a similar 2023 hike, per a retailer letter from David Lazarus); Arango Cigar Co. will distribute the Eladio Díaz 70th Anniversary in the U.S. at $19.95 per cigar — which prompts a live phone call to Alfredo to sort out how that release relates to the Freud brand and Díaz's own factory. Also covered: Principle Cigars' 2023 Accomplice Holiday "Bauble" (4 1/2 x 60, $12, four-count boxes at $48), the PCA's new $5,000–$15,000 grant program for state retailer associations (with Joshua Habusky explaining the matching-funds conditions), France's proposed smoking ban in parks, beaches and forests plus plain packaging for all tobacco and vape products, the HVC Hot Cake Maduro Half Corona (3 1/2 x 44, Mexican San Andrés maduro, $4.80), and Rocky Patel's Conviction — a 6 1/2 x 52 box-pressed toro extra wrapped in royal palm leaf, packed in a metal tubo, limited to 50,000 cigars at $100 each.

They close with halfwheel's new Readers Choice Award voting (halfwheel.com/vote), a Shop of the Week nod to Smoke on the Water where they'll record a live-ish podcast and release the Fostanya SBC 22, a Florida Man–style story about a Sanford Wawa wine-bottle assault, and Listener of the Week honors for Justin Hawkins (brother of Jason Hawkins) for campaigning for votes.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Week Recap: Heritage Cigars Grand Opening & Heritage Cigar Festival
   The guys cover the Heritage Cigars grand opening in Tampa, the remodeled humidor and lounge, Ray Mabalot's barbecue, and which industry reps showed up.
2. 02
   Drew Estate Event & the Pedro Podcast That May Never Air
   A packed in-store Drew Estate event with Pedro and Katie led to a wild studio-audience recording that Pedro later asked to hear before release.
3. 03
   Two 91s from halfwheel
   The crew celebrates 91-point scores from Charlie Minato and Brooks Whittington and notes halfwheel raised the top-cigar-of-the-year threshold to 92.
4. 04
   Phil's Fun Facts: Cigars as 17th-Century Medicine
   Physicians once believed cigar smoke could drive away headaches and even the plague.
5. 05
   Drew Estate Announces 4.5% Price Increase for 2024
   Effective January 2, 2024, Drew Estate's portfolio-wide pricing rises about 4.5%, echoing its 2023 increase.
6. 06
   Arango to Distribute the Eladio Díaz 70th Anniversary
   The European-only limited edition comes to U.S. retailers at $19.95, with a live call to Alfredo about how it relates to Freud.
7. 07
   PCA Grant Program for State Associations
   The PCA will award $5,000–$15,000 matching grants to state cigar retailer associations, with conditions on boards, treasurers and lobbyist disclosure.
8. 08
   New Releases: Accomplice Holiday, HVC Hot Cake Maduro Half Corona, Rocky Patel Conviction
   A rundown of the holiday bauble vitola, HVC's $4.80 petite corona, and Rocky Patel's $100 palm-leaf-wrapped Conviction.

Brands & Cigars Discussed

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Transcript

Welcome to the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, episode 310. The number one cigar podcast with the world's famous cast, where we bring you the latest news and insights into the world of premium cigars. In this episode, we dive into the big stories of the week. P.

Palmer, are two dynamic individuals who co-host the Captivating Cigar Hustlers Podcast, and me, I'm Phil. So grab your favorite smoke, sit back, and join us for another exciting episode of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast. I didn't have to ask for camera one. Welcome to the Cigar Hustler Podcast.

Just a heads up, we're still proudly sponsor-free, but a massive shout out to our amazing patrons on Patreon. Thanks for your unwavering support. We're able to deliver unfiltered, unbiased opinions on all things cigars and personalities in the cigar world. Your backing makes it possible for us to keep it real.

For our listeners, cheers to you. com and search A Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Take it right to you. Get a page and then just pick the level you want.

Exclusive. Don't pick $5. You don't really don't get anything for $5. No, no.

Just a sticker. How do you get the shirt off his back? It's $100. I think $100 they get to be on the show.

On the show. $50 you get a verbal. I think $100 you get to be on. One time though.

Yeah, one time at your expense. All airfare goes to you. Yeah, your expense, we don't fly you in. No.

Not for $100. Not for $100 dollars. We just call in, we just call in. Yeah, I think you need to.

$50's a call in. What do we got for the Patreon? Today we're doing the Sugga you just handed me. We're doing the Oliva V Milano 2023.

Mmm. Oh. Delicious. Mmm.

Delicious. I have a question. Oh. I have a question.

I don't have a question. Oh. Handmade. Handmade.

Handmade. How was your week, Michael? My weekend? Your week or weekend, whatever.

Saturday we went to the APS Christmas party. Did you? Yes. I saw you there.

Oh, I was there. Yes, you were there. It was a lovely affair. I had a good time.

Oh, okay. I had a good time. It was. It was fun.

Yeah. My wife had a great time. My wife had a great time, too. Good.

That's really what's important. Yeah, and then we just, you know, we got to bullshit and watched my kids. Your kids had fun running around. Yeah, I pushed the swing.

Did you put the rock climbing wall in your house yet? No, we didn't install the rock climbing wall. Rock climbing wall. I forgot about it.

Oh, well, if she did too, I would not bring it up. But that would be pretty cool. You're supposed to put a rock climbing wall on here? Well, they like it.

Teddy loved the rock climbing wall. Yeah. It's pretty, I mean, it's pretty easy. They just come in a little bag, those little things.

Yeah. You just screw them to the wall. But how do you know where they're supposed to go and stuff? Well, you can put them anywhere you want.

It doesn't, like, come with a map, like, red one goes here, green one, no. But you can color code them because most rock climbing places are color coded. So you would only climb on the red ones. Oh, are they easier?

Like the different colors or different difficulties? Yeah. Smaller pieces or less of a ledge? Yep.

Interesting. I could do that. I could do that. I could build that.

Just make sure you put them on studs. Pulls the drywall out. Oh, no, a bigger hole. You can put them outside.

I can just run them through the cinder block. Yeah, yeah. Oh, on the house. Yeah, out back.

And then I have access to go and, you know, the roof. You can use it to climb up on the roof. Yeah. But the problem is she can also climb up on the roof.

No ladder needed. She could also climb up on the roof. I did it. I did it.

Looked at him on the roof. Yeah. Oh, your roof's flat, so it would be safe. Yeah, that's fine.

Yeah, that's fine. Well, unless she finds a spot Uncle Greg fixed, then she might fall through. True. I hit Heritage Cigars for on Friday.

Oh, that's right, Friday night. Very busy man. Yeah, it was quite the day. You didn't go over to the Heritage Festival in Tampa, did you?

No, that was on Sunday. Yeah. No, I couldn't do that. What was I doing Sunday?

Oh, football. Oh. We went to the Bucs game. Oh.

Oh, gotcha. Yeah, our last game of the season. We did chores. Oh, very nice.

Yeah. Last home game. For us. Yeah.

I mean, they have two other home games, but we're not going. There's on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. Oh, that's stupid. It's the fucking way I'm taking the ball.

Right. Yeah. Like, so I'm going to go to the game. Yeah.

I'll be back. Yeah. Let me know how Santa goes. You know?

Could you put on two? We're talking back and forth. Hey, so enjoy New Year's. Thanks.

And I'm going to go to the game. All right, I'm going to go to the game. Happy New Year to you. Go Bucks.

Bye. Love you. Go Bucks. I'll call you right at midnight.

Well, those should be pretty easy to sell anyways. Yeah, they're gone. I got rid of them. Yeah.

Who are they playing? Nothing's easy to sell right now with the Bucks. They're still in, aren't they? Yeah, kind of.

They are. Wildcard? They're called in. I mean, they could take the division.

In the hunt. It's possible. Yeah. Look, I think they're gonna fuck it up next week anyways.

It doesn't matter. Who do they play on New Year's Eve? On New Year's Eve, they're playing the Saints. Oh.

On Christmas Eve- I don't know what that means. On Christmas Eve, they're playing the Jags. Jags? Yeah.

Oh, they could win that one. Jags with Jaguars. I mean, it's a possibility. Well, the next game- Not at home, though.

Okay, all right. But the next game is the Atlanta Falcons, and if they win, then they could be in the top of the division. They're not going to win. They're going to fuck it up.

Yeah, I just see how Atlanta played. How'd they play? Like shit? Yeah, they played horrible.

It could be a possibility. The division is just so sad. It's just one fucking gigantic sad face. That's what I said.

They're still in it. Sad face. It's just one gigantic. NFC South, and it's got a frowny face.

That's what it looks like. So I did the Heritage Yada Yada. Right. I went there, and that was pretty cool.

They shortened their humidor, they added more lounge space, which is nice. So what was this? Like, what did you go there for? It was their official grand opening, I believe.

Correct. It was their official grand opening, and this was leading into the weekend of Heritage Cigar Festival. Nice. Oh, is the name some type of connection to the festival?

Oh, yeah, yeah, big connection. It looked like they did the Cigar Festival different this year, it was indoors. Was it? From the photos I saw.

Oh, interesting. So they must have used, there's a little museum there at the back of the park, they must have put everybody in there instead of out in the park. Oh, smart. Did they sell tickets this year?

I heard they were selling tickets. I gotta be honest, I have no idea. No idea? Because I heard last year they sold tickets and then they oversold the tickets, so they just let everybody in, nobody had to buy a ticket.

Fine, just come. Which pissed off the people who bought tickets, right. Son of a bitch, why did I spend my money? Right.

Ray, Ray Mabalotz. Yeah, yeah, the barbecue. Mouthhole barbecue. So he opened his kitchen, like the area for him.

Is it connected to the cigar box? Yeah, yeah, but it's enclosed, so there's no smoking in that area, the whole shebang. Oh, but it's connected. That's nice.

Yeah, and I got to tell you. So I did the event, and then I had to go. Right, you had to hurry back. I had a basketball game that I was coaching.

And then we had the Drew Estate event. and then we did a podcast and we'll talk about that in a minute right so I'm going to leave and Ray's like you know you want any food to go? I'm like I gotta go it's okay man don't worry about it no food take food and he's like are you sure? I'll just give me two seconds and I said well fuck yeah alright I'll take some food my car got blocked by an 18 wheeler oh I saw the photo so you had a minute for the food so I was like okay fuck it I gotta tell you dude This guy's fucking barbecue is ridiculous.

I heard it was good. He gave me brisket, pork, sausage, ribs. Wow. Yeah, he gave me all, I devoured it in less than 10 minutes.

All very easy to eat in the car. With my hands. I just sat out front of the car and just fucking... Oh, I think that you're driving, chewing on a rib.

That was my plan, but I was waiting for the truck to move. What type of rib? Was it like the big beef rib? I don't know, it was delicious.

What, was it big or little? It was about medium pork. Maybe. I don't know.

It was awesome. I can tell you that it was fucking awesome. His food was ridiculous. And what's crazy is, you know, when you have that many people there, you would think that the quality would be less, right, to some degree.

Okay. You got to move, you know, you're going. Mass producing. So if this is, if what I experienced was not his best, you know.

Lower end of good. Yeah, it was not his, you know, "Hey, I got time to make this perfect," and it was fucking amazing. I can only imagine what it tastes like. Were there a lot of people eating?

There were. Oh, well, that's good for him. Yeah, he was going, man. It was fantastic.

Got to see Michael Rosales. That's right, yeah. Mike Denny stopped by from CLE. Oh.

Pete Hernandez stopped by. Oh. I saw a picture of Pete and Edka at the Heritage. He's lost more weight.

Yeah, he looks good. His head looks more. Remember when the birthday, Happy Birthday to Mikey, he was running up the stairs? He looked smaller than then.

He looks good. He looks good. We're just getting fit in the industry. You know what I mean?

Right, everybody, right. I mean, the two of you, but everybody. The two of us. The two of you.

The two of you. Oh, Mike Denny's looked alright, too. I can't picture him off the top of my head. That's because he never comes here.

Maybe that's why. And when he did come here, he would just never leave. Don't leave. Like Alfredo leaves too fast, Mike Denny's, he doesn't go.

Oh. We hang out. Who else was there from the industry? Just the three of you?

I think so. A lot more people might have showed because Heritage was coming up, which apparently is why Rose Alice was there, because there was pictures of him and Heritage. Yeah, it was a parlay. Right.

Well, this guy now runs Grand Cathedral. He runs Heritage. Oh. Oh, the guy in charge of Heritage.

And then he just bought King Corona, I think. Oh, wow. Really? Yeah.

I've been there. So, yeah, I've been to two of the three, never been to Heritage. I've never been to Heritage. There's a younger guy involved in Heritage too, I know him, I can't think of his name off the top of my head.

Jamie? Might be. Did he work there? Yeah, he works there, I thought he was one of the partners.

No, he's not a partner, if that was him, he's not a partner. Oh, then maybe that's not him. I apologize if you're a fan of the show. He's not there anymore.

Oh, it could be too. Yeah. Because I haven't heard from him lately. I talked to him the other day.

Hmm. So, did my basketball game? Right, did they win? They won.

Oh, of course. They won. Because you're the coach. Well, I mean, I'm not really the head coach in this.

I'm the number two. Well, it's only a matter of time. No. Now wait.

To be fair, when you were doing the scoreboard, you said you'd never coach. Yep. You remember that? You remember that?

That was like episode two, uh, 208 or something. Yeah, maybe 208 or something. I'll never coach basketball. I don't know anything about basketball.

Just helping out this one time on the scoreboard. I'm a sucker for my kids, man. It doesn't matter. That's why we're saying eventually you will be the head coach.

Hey, can you coach? I know nothing about basketball. Fuck yeah, bring it on, dude. You're going to see Palmer walk out of the gym the next time you go and you're going to be like, what are you doing here?

No reason. Then you're going to go and they're like, hey, you want to be the head coach? Well, the head coach that I coach with is great. He knows the basketball.

He's, you know, my kid and his kid are friends. Right. He's awesome. He's not...

They'll have to move. His job will transfer. I don't think he's moving. I don't think he's moving.

I don't think he's moving. Something will happen. No. Because we've already...

I've got more stuff at work, Mike. Can you move up and I'll be assistant? Ah, sure, why not? I gotta be honest.

We already have kind of a... We already have a plan. We already work really well together. Right?

Sure, that's why he wouldn't be the assistant. I rotate the roster. He's grooming you. I try my best to keep everybody in, you know, and...

He's seen you in other sports. And he's managing. So it's... We work really well.

Does he play basketball? Yeah. You'll see. You'll see.

I really like what you're doing with the team, Michael. Why don't you be the head coach of basketball? I'm just going to sit back in the shadow. No, he's not like that.

He's not the type of dad. He's an involved parent. No, I mean, he'll still be involved, but something will get busy after the first of the year. The guy's already busy.

He's busy like me. He's going to be busier. You know what? We'll see.

We'll see. I don't know. How do you get any busier? 30 more episodes.

30 more episodes. 30 by 340. I'll write that on there and we get done. 340, Mikey, coach of basketball.

Fuck you guys. So, let's talk about your half-wheel reviews, because I don't have it in the news. I think we used to be able to talk about it. What?

You don't have it in the news? I don't like pulling the reviews for the news. I used to do that, and then they're so long and winded, and so I figured we'd talk about it now before we get into the other stuff. But we could, you know what we should do when the reviews happen?

You could say, whatever it is, if there's three or four that we know or we like or whatever, so-and-so gets an 89. Oh, of other people. Oh, we can do that. Yeah.

They review somebody every week. Yeah. Sure. You can say this one, and I'm like, oh, that's a garçon.

But you got two 91s last week. I did. Yes. We did.

We did. We did. We did it. We did it.

It's a matter of time. I bled it both of them, though. But we did it. Well, the Connecticut skim.

Oh, no, no, no. The SBC. Sorry. Sorry.

The SBC. Those are both mine. Sorry. Yes.

Those are both yours. Yes. Yeah. I'll take that.

Take the W. That's a good... Yeah, it was, dude, it was... Delicious.

It was quite the experience for me, man. I felt like... Mmm, delicious. Oh, that's how it felt.

I didn't feel delicious. Oh, you didn't? You didn't feel delicious? It was a great feeling, man.

It really was. It is. Charlie's not usually that nice to us. I got nods from, like, Sock attacks me and shit, and, you know, a couple other people and shit.

Oh, Pedro really... Pedro was extremely excited about that. Don't hit Pedro just yet. It would have fit right there!

It would have been a good one. Don't hit Pedro just yet. So, yeah, man, it was cool. And now, we'll see where it goes from there, you know?

Should be the SBC. Because it can, well, that can, I think that puts us in the running. I've never had one that puts us in the running for top cigar of the year. Oh, what is the qualifications for that?

It has to be 90 or above. They're doing something different this year that we'll talk about in the news. Oh. Just came out today.

92 and above. No, no, no. Don't make me say no. Jesus.

Yeah. It's gotta be 92. It's gotta be 92. They've bumped it up.

Oh, yeah. We've gotta move the needle on. Move the needle a little bit. Things got too easy, apparently.

Yeah. We'll be making a trip to half-wheel. You got two 91s. Gotta bump that up a level.

So. So, yes. Shout out to Half Wheel for getting it right. Right.

You know? Thank you to Charlie and Brooks. Great feeling. We always love this.

One of them was a Charlie 91. Yeah. I mean, that's crazy. That's like a Brooks 97.

Do you know how crazy? That's a perfect score. Pretty close. Pretty damn close.

That's a 100. Well, congratulations. Charlie 91 is a 100 in my eyes. What are we doing?

We're clapping? Yes. Oh, congratulations. Congratulations.

Congratulations. Congratulations. There you go. So, after the basketball game, I came and joined my fellow Cigar Housers podcast brethren at...

Not right as you got back. 'Cause you had to do the raffle upstairs. You did that first. No, we went up, we were upstairs doing the Drew State event I was gonna...

Oh, I thought you meant you were coming to... Was the end of my sentence. I would have finished my sentence if you had not interjected. You said the brethren, so I assumed you meant us.

Were you upstairs? Yes, I was. Were you upstairs? Clicking photos and social media posting, boots-wise, Phil was not here.

So you guys were upstairs? Phil was down here setting up the room. Okay. For our largest studio audience we've ever had.

Yeah, apparently... They couldn't get in fast. " All right, so this is where she gets into it. " So we did a podcast with Pedro from Drew Estate.

Yes. And he was a little, you know. He was very thirsty. He was very, very thirsty.

Yeah, yeah. So after we did the podcast. Yes. Pedro politely reached out to me the following day.

Or I actually reached out to him. Oh, I thought you were going to, because I left right after the podcast. I thought something happened upstairs. No, I actually text him.

Yeah. And I had a question for him. And then he said, hey. Hey, by the way.

I'd really like to listen to the podcast before you air it. It sounded just like that, complete, perfect English. Yeah, all of a sudden he was fine. No way.

All of a sudden he's from Chicago. Well, actually, he sent it via text. Right, right. " Could I listen just a little bit, please?

So, as of right now... Which we normally don't do. We normally don't do. We normally don't do.

We normally don't do. No. Pedro has been a good friend for a long time. Yes, yes.

A long time. And he reminded me of some shit that I did back in the day, I totally forgot about it, I didn't think twice about it, there was a time when he was in Miami, he had just moved into Miami, and he didn't have, I don't know, I guess he didn't really know anybody, and I drove down there, just to see him? I think it was kind of a parlay. Obviously visiting your mother.

I took him around for some groceries and some stuff like that and I helped him out. This is how we buy groceries in America. And then he mentioned that. Oh, that is super nice.

I was like, oh shit, that's right, I did do that, but I didn't think anything of it. Right, well it's something you'd do for anybody. Yeah. And then...

Just to a small guy from Nicaragua, it meant a big deal. He has always been nice to me. Right, yeah. So of course, you know, and...

He remembered my name when I walked, when he saw me upstairs when I first came back, which I thought was very nice. And when, yeah, cause he's a nice guy. And when he had come up a long time ago, before he was no longer allowed to speak to me, cause there was a period of time. Yeah, where there was a cease and desist against anything cigar house.

Allegedly, you know, you said, hey, come over to the house, we'll have dinner, whatever, I only had one kid. Oh, you had him to your house? Yeah, I just had the one child. Oh, you just had Jack's?

Yeah. Wow, that is low. In the apartment. Yeah.

In the apartment. Yeah. Oh, I didn't even know you. I forgot about that.

Because every, since I've known you, you've been in the house. Really? I think so. Unless you were in an apartment, I didn't know it.

Because we weren't that level yet. Nine years I've been at the house. I go back about nine years. Okay.

So, yeah. And I was like, yeah, man, you know, those are things that I don't think twice about. Right. You know, but you could tell that it made a big impression on him.

And like, he's always been a good guy. So, you know, because, He is... The personal relationship. Yeah.

We're gonna hold this back. It probably won't see the light of day. It might not, it might not. It probably won't see the light of day.

However, you know, whatever, whatever, it is what it is. Right, right. We do have some sound clips, so... We do have at least one sound clip that we should play.

So that people understand the level of the podcast that it was. It was bananas. It was bananas. It was bananas.

I kept saying we were going to go bananas. It was going to go bananas. So, without further ado, hit the button. Segar Hassler is the goddamn fucking best.

And that's true. It's so accurate. It's so accurate. That guy was wild.

It was bananas. It was bananas. It was bananas. It was bananas.

So shout out to Pedro and Katie for coming out for the Drew Estate event. It was a fantastic event. It was. It was a great time.

It was good seeing some people. Lots of swag, a lot of giveaways. They're very generous. I think they gave some stuff away that wasn't even there.

We had a blast, man. We had a blast. I got there late. Well, we had a blast.

We were there. You guys had a blast. I had a blast the last 20 minutes. Oh, then I enjoyed the podcast.

Yes. The podcast was fantastic. Whether it makes it out or not. Right.

The podcast was a lot of fun. There's a lot of us over-talking him because of the things that were going on. Yeah. I mean, we were trying to have a discussion and he just wouldn't stop.

He was going on, he was, he wouldn't stop, yeah, he was a beast, he was a beast. I'll feel bad for Shaggy though, if he doesn't go out, cause Shaggy got a little plug on the, on the thing. Well, well, so, yeah. We're going, if Shaggy comes back into town, he can come back out.

Okay. We're going to put him on his hat. On his hat. Wait, just send the hat, Shaggy, we'll just put the hat.

Put Shaggy's on. We'll all wear the hat. All of us. All of us.

I like when the people that come for the events, I like when they're characters like that. Like he's a very, very big type of character, you know, from the industry. Who, Shaggy or Pedro? No, no, Pedro.

Pedro. Yeah. He's a good salesman, man. Yeah.

You know. Before we do the raffle. And he just goes off. I stopped recording.

It was getting way long. I want to thank everybody for coming out today, and for their children, and for their pets. You guys are what make Drew Estate so amazing. Don't mock him, Michael.

I'm not mocking him. That's perfect, actually. I think that sounded pretty damn close. I'm going to tell you, when I try to impersonate people, I go fucking, you know.

We could get Edgar on. No way, it's totally different. - She just has a lower voice. - No, it's a totally different accent.

- It's feminine. - First of all, she speaks extremely fast, even Spanish or English. And then her words, sometimes her words don't make sense. - Well, because she talks extremely fast.

- But Pedro's words all make sense. - He over-enunciates. - Yeah. - You guys.

- Yeah, when it's an English word you might have problems with. - It's a great, I love it. It's amazing. - He's a showman.

He is, he's a showman. - Yeah. - Yeah. I wish I could overpay him to call me when I want you.

I want everybody to know that the cigar hassler is the goddamn fucking best. That's what you want everybody to know. See the S at the end? My wife is calling me.

Oh, she wants to be on the show. It's three o'clock. It's three o'clock, sure. She's three o'clock, she knows.

Let me see. Uh oh. Hello? Hello?

We're podcasting. You're on the air. Oh. It's Monday.

Oh, good. Hello. I watched last week's podcast earlier today while I was at the gym. Did you?

Yeah, I did. How'd that go? Well, I mean, you called me out for not packing your lunch. Is that what it was, Palmer?

Yes, yes ma'am, that was it, that was it, yes ma'am. Well, it's probably because I didn't unpack his work bag when he got home, because he doesn't do that either. What? Yeah, you're right, I don't.

No, so I have to go find your lunch box. Because you're, you're an amazing woman. Uh-huh. You hold the down.

Well, I don't appreciate it, okay? I mean, there's literally nothing, nothing else I can do to you. You don't appreciate my appreciation? She doesn't appreciate you bad-mouthing her on the air, Michael.

No, I don't, exactly. You better be careful. Exactly. You better be careful.

I'm more afraid of her than you, just so you know. No, but she's on the phone, I'm here. Eh, she'd drive up here in a heartbeat. Do you want me to come?

I don't have to get the kids till 4:30. Oh, plenty of time. We're gonna pause this. We're gonna pause this.

I'm a fast driver. She is a fast driver. We call her baby driver in the car. Oh.

I happen to be a really good driver. You're on the soundboard. We have you any time we need you to yell at him. Yes.

Stab you with a smoke. Michael Joseph, burn you with my smoke. Michael Joseph, fucking dare. Burn you with my smoke.

It's hurtful. I'm so hurtful. I would never do any type of physical harm to you. All I do is love you.

That's not true. You've kicked me before in the middle of the night. You had blocked my face while I was sleeping. Oh, keep going, keep going.

What we do under the sheets, Brittany, is no... Oh, yeah, okay. There's nobody else to do it. Okay, okay.

Well, she's telling you what happens at night. It's not my fault. Try cover it up, mm-hmm. Cover it up, mm-hmm.

Okay, well, I was just calling to address the fact that I listened to the podcast, and that I didn't appreciate you talking about how, you know, you see where you stand on whether I pack your fucking lunchbox or not. It's just a games thing. You want to know how, listen, I was, I know that right now, I'm in extremely good graces with you, because I had chopped up grapes in my lunch. Because if you didn't fucking eat like an animal, then I wouldn't have to chop up your grape, but you shove everything in your mouth so fast, that you're gonna fucking soak on it.

I came out the other morning and he was like basically throwing them into his mouth, and they're huge, so then I was like you have to bite that before you put the whole thing in your mouth. I'm a savage, baby, I'm a savage. What do you want from me? All right, well, all right, well, okay, all right, thank you, whatever you say.

I love that she calls right after she listens. I mean, you can, you can try and trade me, but you'll never replace me, you know, that's all I'm saying. Well, I mean, you are breaking now all the time, so... I am breaking, so...

I am breaking, the mileage warranties right now. I'm going through several injuries here, yeah. All right, then I'll let you guys go, that was it. All right, thank you so much.

All right, thank you for calling, Mr. Stepankevich. I love you. All right, love you.

I love you too. See you later. Love you too, Palomar. Thank you.

All right. Bye. Bye. So there you go.

Anybody else only have the sound in one ear? Yes. Okay. It wasn't stereo for some reason.

To make sure my headphones are going bad. Oh, you guys need headphones for the trip too. Oh, yes. Three headphones, three mics, and a camera, and a soundboard.

The camera you're going to have to get yourself because Dana's show, Phil, is in this room this week. So you want to take three. Three is set up for sound, so you'll have to have that cord. Oh, shit, you'll have to have that cord, too.

You'll never get this. Well, hey, listen. Yeah. You'll never get it right.

There's no way. You think you'll get it right? Yeah, it does. You said I won't get what?

Uh-oh. Everything will not be hooked. There's no way you would remember everything. Because sometimes I forget.

There's a lot of times that wire doesn't get hooked by that camera and I have to dub the sound. So I can always do that, too, if the sound is useful from over there. Yeah, but I'll call you. I won't answer.

Wait, because you put gumdrops on? He does not go. No, I have to go. I cannot go.

Why don't you fly in the next day? I can't. Because the next day is when it happens. We leave Sunday from up there.

Oh, so then fly out. I can't. Come on. I can't.

You gotta do the Cigar Hustler fly in and out. Nope. You gotta hustle like me. Nope, nope.

Then I gotta live at your house for the rest of my life. Is that a bad thing? I love that. That sounds amazing.

I'm not gonna wait on you at your house, Michael. That's Brittany's job. No, I just need help with the kids, that's all. Oh, no, I'm not gonna be the...

Come on. I'm not gonna be your Manny. You're the Manny. I know the other Manny has moved, but still.

You're gonna be the new Manny. No. Come on. How is he doing, by the way?

Will he be there at Christmas? He will not be there at Christmas. Smaller crowd, I guess, huh? Uh, I don't know how much smaller it's gonna be, dude.

Oh. I don't know how much smaller it's gonna be. Well, at least minus two. I may have gained two.

Oh. Yeah. Well, there you go. Yeah.

So. Actually, I may have gained six. Oh, wow. We'll see.

Oh. We'll see, you know. Alright. Ready for your fun facts over there?

Phil's Fun Facts. do do do do he's not even ready welcome to cigar hustlers podcast feature phil's fun facts hello people all right fellas back in the 1700 17th century whatever it says Physicians believed that smoking cigars could help cure a variety of ailments, including headaches and even the plague. They thought the smoke would drive away the disease. Turns out, that wasn't exactly accurate.

There's no joke, it's just what it was. That was terrible. I was looking for the punch somewhere. That was terrible.

Is that true? They really did that? Yeah, apparently. Yeah?

Yeah. Where do you find that, sir? Google. A lot of Google.

Google? A lot of Google. A lot of searching. A lot of Google-y, Google-y?

A lot of searching. A lot of Google. A lot of Google. We Google.

All right, on to the news. From the four corners of the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need. The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report with Mike Toon. Drew State announces a 2024 price increase.

We start with that. Drew State, one of the largest, if not the largest, cigar company in the USA, has announced that it will increase prices next year. Effective January 2nd, 2024, the company's new pricing will go into effect. In a letter sent to retailers, Drew State says...

What do you want? The cigar hustler is the goddamn fucking best! That's what they said. No price increase here.

No price increase here. 5%. 5% portfolio-wide. 5% also.

So apparently it's a yearly thing. As was the case for 2023, the price actions we are taking for 2024 are a direct result of a wide-range cost increase. Well, I was looking to see who did and see if I needed to go back. It's not Jonathan Drew, it's David Lazarus, who I'm not familiar with.

We have made every effort to navigate and mitigate all cost increases that have incurred over the past 18 months. After careful assessment and analysis, these cost pressures, along with continued labor challenges, have made these price changes unavoidable. By a select group of companies, notably Altadish USA and Davidoff of Geneva, USA announced price increases in the third quarter and earlier in Q4. Most cigar companies announced their price increase around the new year.

Below is, oh, we don't have that list. Arango to distribute Eladio Diaz's Anniversario in the USA. Eladio. S.

retailers thanks to the distribution agreement with the Arango Cigar Company. Arango. Cigar was shown off at the Interdebac 2023 International Tobacco Trade Show that took place in mid-September in Dortmund, Germany. All the details about the cigar remain the same, though nothing's changed.

95 per cigar. There were 1,400 boxes. How does that play out for Alfredo? Because he was running the Eladio shit.

Oh, was he? Yeah. Well, apparently he lost it. Wow.

I would imagine. S. in light of its importance as a cigar market. The Copp Family operated Copp Tobacco, formerly known as, some word I can't pronounce, the distributor of the cigars in Europe.

As for the number 70 in the cigar's name, it references more than just Diaz's 70th birthday, a milestone he celebrated on May 28th. There's also play on the number seven his mother bought, who are we calling? Alfredo. Aladio.

You're calling Aladio? I'm calling Aladio. " Watch. Well, hello, sir.

How are you this lovely afternoon? I'm doing well, so you're on the podcast, just so you know. I am on the podcast, wonderful. Right now.

Right now, amazing. Amazing. So listen, I had a quick question for you. Two, two, Phil.

Do you still handle representation for… Eladio. Eladio. Eladio Diaz, super eager. Well, for Freud, yes, for Freud, because he does have his new one that just came out on, I feel, I was doing on his own, but I do represent Freud, yeah.

So how does that work? So he doesn't, so he, that's a different company? Well, he owns the factory. He makes the cigars that, many of the cigars that Freud sells, we have some Ventura made stuff as well, but he's got his own, yeah, he's got his own factory, and yeah, he's doing that on his own.

It's kind of odd that he wouldn't use the distribution that the factory uses for the Superego, but. It is, but that's above my pay grade. I don't have those questions. Okay.

Can you by chance get us his birthday cigar? The one that's in the trunk of his car? In the trunk of his car. Eladio, he passes them out.

Yeah. I'll grab them for you next time I see them. Really? Can he call us?

Let's not get crazy. Sorry, I like Eladio. Don't forget Phil's here. You can really get the birthday cigar?

Just need the two. Don't listen to them all. Three. You can really get the birthday cigar, Pritam?

Yes, I'll get you a birthday cigar. Oh, you're back at the number one! Fuck that Pete, Guy, and Gruber, whoever he is! That's not that crazy.

That's not that crazy. Oh, jeez, I don't know. You okay, there's an accident? There must be a tunnel in Miami, I mean, I don't know, what the hell happened there?

All right, well, you're breaking up, so I just want to, hey, thanks. Thank you for the birthday, Saga. Mike, thanks for enlightening us on the situation, and making it totally clear that Freud is not the same company that Eladio's new cigar is. All right, brother, I'll talk to you later.

Love you, bye. All right, bye, be safe. We may or may not get those, you might have just died. He may have just crashed his car into a lake.

Underwater. Principal Cigars releases the 2023 Accomplice Holiday- Detention? Principal Cigars releases the Holiday Bubbles. Detention.

Bubbles? Wait, it's called Bubbles. No, Bubbles. Bubbles.

Bubbles. Wait, wait, how does it go? Bubbles. Bubbles.

Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles.

It's called cuppage in the industry. Principal Cigars has released the 2023 version of its annual Holiday-themed Cigar, the Accomplice Bubbles. Bubbles. The cigar measures four and a half by 60 with a rounded head, of course, which the company designed to be reflective of a holiday ornament.

Does it look extremely phallic or just slightly bobbly? I haven't seen the photo. You haven't seen it? There was no photo available.

Actually, I don't pay attention to the photos, I have to cut those out. Just send the picture of the bobble. The blend is once again new, it's designed to be, the company changes it every year with this year's features, an Ecuadorian HVA wrapper, Dominican H-192 Cuban Seed Hybrid Binder. S.

and Peru. Pricing is set at $12 per cigar and $48 for a box of four. Let's see, PCA launches a great program for state associations. Wait, there's a box of four?

Yeah, it's just four. It's bubbles. Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubbles. How much are they?

$48, $12 a piece. A box of four is $48. I stopped listening. I know you're on your phone.

Yeah. Any He still had a camera too on, so everybody saw. I'm fine with that. None of that bothers me.

PCA has launched a grant program for state associations. I figure maybe we see how we get some PCA money. The Premium Cigar Association has announced a new grant program aimed at funding various state associations. Oh.

The Cigar Hustler Association. Oh. C-H-A. Not C-H-A.

The C-H-A. PHA. Cha, cha, cha, cha, cha, cha. Yeah, the cha.

Cha, as people call us in the industry. What's that guy's name? Scott? What?

What's his name? I don't know. Let's read on and see. Scott.

The new program will see the PCA Awards grants to state cigar retailer associations, like, for example, the Texas Cigar Merchant Association or the New York Tobacconist Association. Oh. Oh, it would be the Florida Hustlers Association. Yeah, Florida.

FHA. The FHA. Yes. Oh, perfect.

That hasn't been used before. No. In order to receive the grant, the organization will need to apply to the PCA. We can do that.

Sure. Yeah. Specify what the money will be used for, might have to lie there, as a condition to receive the grant, oh, further video educational films. We can do that.

Wait a second, we can do that. We had to make films? Yeah, we just released these. Oh, okay, perfect.

Very educational. We're talking about them right now. Yeah, we can do that. You know, it's funny.

Two years ago, they had no money. Now, they're giving it away. We got so much money. So much money.

Now, we're just giving it to people. What are we doing with all this money? All this money. They were down to two employees at one time.

Yeah. Yeah. I thought they were going away. Conditioned to receive the grant, the state organization will need to agree to match whatever the PCA is awarding.

Man, we can fake that. Yeah. That's a fucking PDF Photoshop file away. That's right.

Joshua Habersky, the PCA's head of government affairs, told Cigaros on Podcast that the grants We all pull up in Lambos. vary in dollar amounts, but provide a range of $5,000 to $15,000 per grant. We're going to need the big one. Well, it's not quite Lambo money, but hey, you know, 15 Gs.

We can all get verses. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, we could.

That's about 5,000 each, about what they call. Yeah, we can get three verses. There are no restrictions as to how much a stabilization could ask for. Back to the Lambo money.

Sky's the limit. That's right. The PCA is hoping to use this money to not only strengthen the more established state organizations, but also to help the newer and less funded groups. We're the newer, less funded.

We're all those categories. We're so less funded. This is not only a way for us to support existing state associations and their advocacy capacity, but also establish a baseline for starting a brand new state association with perspectives of seed money. Oh, seed money.

I'm sorry, wow. Wow, that's nice. In order to receive the grant, there are a variety of conditions beyond that the grant must have matched by the state group. These include: having incorporated an active state association.

No problem. We could do that. Having elected board of directors. Not a problem.

Not a problem. I vote for you. Here? Here?

Here? Here? Here? What do you do like what PCA does, during breakfast or whatever in the middle of the day?

Right, right, right. The board members are, please say I in favor or nay if you do know. Okay, I heard the I's. No, that's it, we're just moving on.

Directing, we have to have a designated treasurer with authority over accounts. That's fine, that's you. I have no idea what's in there. I don't want to handle anyone.

No, he can't. He's not allowed to touch anything. He's not allowed to touch anything. No, nothing.

Agree to comply with PCA reporter requirements? We agree. Yeah, we totally agree. Totally agree.

Agree to PCA involved in consulting lobbyist selection process. We agree. Oh, we're doing a video application. Agree to disclose.

Yes, we'll send this to Mr. Haberski. Agree to disclose any and all issues for which funds are used for which lobbyist is engaged. Yeah.

Okay, that's fine. We only got to report the lobbyists. That's a Lamborghini. It's $250,000.

Might want to hold on to that one. This is for research and development. I owe you a Lambo? Provide PCA with operating budget and amount and source of funds raised by the state.

We're going to need a helicopter. We need a Matt Booth helicopter. We need a Matt Booth helicopter. I mean, we can just put a landing pad on the roof here.

Will it hold a helicopter? Yeah, who knows? Who gives a fuck? We'll put it over on the other side.

Oh, the empty side. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is barren over there on the other side. It's gonna be fucking vacant.

In addition to the money, recipients of the grants... He got quiet over there. Hey, just shut up. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

In addition to the money, recipients of the grants will also have access to PCA's resources such as staff and other legislatures. Now they're giving their staff away. They have so many. Oh, additional staff.

Did we get a secretary? Can we get a secretary? Apparently we use theirs. Let's take one.

Let's take one. When asked that the PCA would exclude grants related to flavored cigars, a decisive topic that at times fractured the cigar industry. Legislative effort, Habersky, said that flavor bans are an important issue that affects the bottom line of retailers. That it was amongst a group of primary...

As for the grants go out, the dependence on when the applicants are submitted but could happen as easily as next month. We need to get on top of this. We need to get a Lambos by Valentine's Day. I would love that.

I'm more of a Ferrari guy. Red. Yeah. Yeah.

Cherry red Ferrari. Yeah, I like a Ferrari. Receives a grand 20, I would need to reapply. Oh, you'd have to reapply every year.

Well, I'm counting on you to do that, yeah. Sure, I'm right on top of it. I would need a new Ferrari every year. Can Chad GPT do that?

This is the 2025. Yeah, Chad GPT could probably do all this. Yeah. France demands smoking in public parks and beaches, ice, plane packaging for all tobacco products.

France. What? France's demands smoking at all public parks and beaches. Nobody likes France already, they're just solidifying their, we don't fucking like you.

France's Ministry of Health has announced that it will implement a nationwide smoking ban at public parks, beaches, and forests. Oh, even at the forest. Wait, where's, uh, isn't that where Elsa Timo's from, France? Am I wrong?

Well, they're here now, but they were from there. Were they from France? I think that's where they sent, uh, Pete. That doesn't mean that they were from there.

Well, he went to the world headquarters. Is that where he was at? Where one of his 75 castles are? Yes.

In addition to the smoking ban, the country also plans to ban single-use vaping products, which we support, single-use, increasing the minimum price of a pack of cigarettes from 12 euros in 2025 to 13 euros in 2027. Just one more euro. That's one more year. That's like 75 cents.

That's the other way around. Oh, it's like 750 dollars. Yeah. Oh, okay.

Are expanding blame packaging requirements to include all tobacco and vaping products. Uh huh. HVC, Hot Cake, Maduro, Half Corona shipping next week. Are we getting that?

I think I ordered that. Like, you don't even know. I'm pretty sure I ordered that. Oh, he did a nice video when he landed in the...

He called here. Oh, from... He called the store. Yeah.

Oh, that was him that called the other day. Yeah. Yeah. But, literally, the game of telephone is what was going on.

Oh. Because, I think Steve, somebody said, "Hey, someone's on the phone, they said that they're from HVC, And then we got hotcakes coming. Do we need anything else? And I said, no, I don't think we need anything else.

Just because I couldn't deal with it. Right. Right. Right.

And yeah, so they're coming. Oh, I got a bunch of them. HVC's Rainier Lorenzo wants a quick break from his routine to relax and recharge. He grabs a small Petite Corona starting next week.

You can too. Next week, Lorenzo's company, grab a Petite. Not Lorenzo. You can't grab Lorenzo?

No. 5x44 Petit Corona that uses a Mexican San Andreas Maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua. 80. Oh, that's good.

That's cheap. That's very affordable. Similar blends as a regular Hot Cake Maduro line with some adjustments to alleviate the ingredients we find essential in our cigars. The flavor balance and clean finish, said the company in an announcement.

The HVC Hotcake Maduro is the original Hotcake line introduced in 2020 as a follow-up to an old limited edition called Pan Caliente. The Hotcake Maduro was originally known just as Hotcake, but earlier this year, HVC added Hotcake Golden, which uses a Connecticut Seed wrapper, while the line was originally produced at Agronosa and Esteli is now made in the company's own factory. Yeah. Rocky Patel Conviction.

Yeah. What? $100 cigar sends to stores. Oh.

Over the years, Rocky Patel has released many different cigars using tobaccos from all over the Americas. They've come into different shapes and sizes, packaged in boxes ranging from crates of 100 to bedazzled boxes with crystals. But there's never been a Rocky Patel cigar packaged like Conviction, and there's never been a Rocky Patel cigar as expensive as Conviction. Mmm.

5x52 Box Press Toro Extra that uses a Mexican San Andreas wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers from the farms in Condega and Esteli, Nicaragua. Four of the five different fillers, I'll skip to why it's $100, because they charge that much. Patel says the wrappers are aged for four years, $25 a year, a bundle of tobacco wrapped inside the royal palm leaves. The end result looks like a curly, wrapped present with the plain leaves tightly bound against the tobacco's leaves.

Each Conviction cigar is packaged in a rectangular metal tubo, boxes contain cigars and are designated to serve as humidors, the upgraded hardware, and a nearly airtight seal. Wow. Conviction is produced at the company's Tablical Era Vila Cuba factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. Just two pairs were selected to roll the cigars, capped at making 250 cigars per pair per day.

The total production was limited to 50,000 cigars and the price is $100 a cigar. Great. So they have a humidor that they come in. They got a tube.

They come in a tube. I know somebody can see that. They come in an airtight tube and in a box. Great.

A box could be airtight. Wrapped in palm leaves. Wrapped in palm leaves. That sounds amazing.

That's nice. Yeah. They should release them on Palm Sunday. Oh!

You got the palm. You don't even have to go to church. Right. Boom.

Boom, you're done. You got the conviction. Yeah, Ash Wednesday, that's different. Oh, it's not the same day?

No. I'm not Catholic. No, Sunday and Wednesday. Oh.

Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday. Ash Wednesday. It's in the name.

It's in the name. It's in the name. All right, here's Half Wheel's new big deal. Here's what they have going on.

Uh-oh. They're announcing the Reader's Choice Award 2023. Reader's Choice? We've already been, someone has already suggested that they vote for your singer.

Really? Yes, Justin. Justin who? Andrews?

The guy we talk about all the time. You mean Jason? Jason. Jason Hawkins?

Jason Hawkins, that's it, yeah. The last time we came up with an H. Yeah. Yeah, Justin Hawkins, his brother.

Oh, he's got a brother. Yeah. Yeah. He put it in the Weasel Group.

Oh. With a link to the voting. Oh. Jason's all right.

From December 4th to the 25th, you can fill out a form below, well not below, but there will be a link in our description. Info. Submit your nominations during the last week of the year. We will count the results, take the top five nominations, and then let you, the readers, vote on them again.

This will be a two-step process, and it's also being done for two different reasons: one, we are curious about what our readers think of the best cigars of 2023, and two, the second round, the voting part will involve asking you about 10 questions. This won't be able, uh, this won't just be to vote on what cigar you think is the best, but also which company most impressed you, and also a brief survey about your cigar smoking. For example, are you someone who works in the cigar industry, or a consumer? How many cigars do you smoke?

Blah, blah, blah, stuff like that. Okay. Being completely transparent, this is from Charlie. There's a lot of reasons why we're doing this.

I had the idea after we got repeated requests from our advertisers about what percentage of our readers are in the cigar industry. I don't know how accurate this will answer that question, but it is a start. Also a way for us to try to engage with our readers more. Something we need to be doing more.

All that said, I'm more curious to see what you, the readers, have to say than I am in the results of the consensus. I'm generally interested. com backslash vote. Boom.

And vote for the War Bear. We're all voting for the War Bear. We're voting for the War Bear? War Bear.

What about the Connecticut? Connecticut is delicious. Jason already put the War Bear up, so I think we just follow that. Vote for it.

Yeah, do it all. Let's do it. All right, if you don't. Thank you very much if you do.

Yes, vote. On their website. Don't they have a website? They have a website.

com backslash vote. Well, before the vote. com. Forward slash?

Yeah, forward slash. I don't know, whatever it is. Why wouldn't they just put like an entry pop-up like? Well, there is.

So they're still doing their tops. You can read the article and click at the bottom. Okay, but they're still doing their top cigars of the year. Yes, they're still doing the regular stuff.

It sounds like they're still doing the consensus. This is an extra award. Now they're doing a third thing. Yes, this is the Reader's Choice Award.

Nice. Like Viewer's Choice Award that has that whole thing. Nice. I'd like to thank the Academy.

Tired? Are we boring you? I'm always tired. Okay, we have a Florida story.

Uh oh. Sanford woman was arrested last week. Sanford woman. Very close.

Super close. That's right up the street. Right across the river there. Oh my goodness.

Was arrested last week after an attack at a local Wawa convenience store. At a local Wawa. I know exactly which one it is. There's only one in Sanford.

There's only one in Sanford. Only one. m. on Thursday.

Upon arrival, they found a woman who claimed she and her boyfriend had been threatened by a 30-year-old a 30-year-old, Angelique Glenn, the report shows. According to the woman, Glenn had accidentally placed her wine bottle with the couple's orders, and once the couple realized that, they got a refund for the wine, the investigator said. However, Glenn became angry and said something to the effect of, why can't you just pay for my bottle of wine? Glenn reportedly began threatening the couple before striking them both with the wine bottle, knocking the boyfriend unconscious.

Whoa. She then continued to make threats, saying she was going to, To, in parentheses, kill them as she walked out to the parking lot, according to the affidavit. Glenn was later taken into custody where she faces two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. For those charges, she is now held on bond for $30,000.

Wait a second. So she, they accidentally paid for her wine bottle. They put all their stuff up on the counter. Yeah.

The guys, bleep, bleep, bleep. Accident. Right. Right.

And then the lady goes, oh, we didn't, by the way, the wine's not out, just for the other lady. Right. Okay, bleep, back off. " Wow.

I don't know. Well, first of all... There's gotta be more into that. I should probably put it up there with the intention of somebody to pay for it.

I'm assuming so, also. Yeah. Allegedly. I gotta be honest, if something like that went down, if hostility came aboard, then no.

But if that had happened, and it was like a $10 bottle of wine... No, they said it was a $30 bottle of wine. Oh. It was a top shelf at Wawa.

Oh, yeah, no, you can't expect that. Oh, no, no, no, they don't say how much it costs. Yeah. Yeah, if it was just a couple of bucks.

It's probably like a $10 Apothic Red, some bullshit. It's Wawa. Yeah, it's Wawa, right. It's not like, you know, a $30 bottle of Dom or something.

Yeah, right. Right. I'd be like, whatever. Yeah, it's okay.

Yeah, I'll cover that for you. Right. Like, you know, you don't know what somebody's going through. You know what I mean?

Right. Well, apparently she was very distraught to start with. She's having a bad day and needed the wine. Maybe she couldn't pay for it.

Right. So, you know. Maybe she was going to jack them in the parking lot and take the wine at that point. Oh, yeah.

I'm like, no, that's whatever. Eladio Cigar is coming to America now, she's a little testy. Money's tight, because Eladio, you've got to pay for those. You've got to cover the Eladios.

And that Rocky Patel's $100. You've got to cover that conviction, because she's got convicted, she's going to need a conviction. So that bottle of wine now costs her $30,000. No jewels on the bottle of wine.

Yeah, maybe it's a really good wine. Yeah. That's crazy. All right, you got a Shop of the Week, Michael?

Do I have a Shop of the Week? I feel like Cigar Hustler is the goddamn fucking best. Is that one? Is that the top of the week?

No, it's going to be... Dun, dun, dun. It can be a... Smoke on the Water.

Smoke on the Water, where there will be a live... Not live. Not live. There'll be a taping of this...

You guys only got to do like 30 minutes. Yeah, we're gonna do... We'll put it at the end of... Yeah, we'll do a little podcast.

We'll do a little podcast. We're gonna do a podcast. We're going to do a podcast, Smoke on the Water, and release what, Michael? The Postanya, SPC 22.

Oh. Mmm. Delicious. Perfect time to hit you on the button.

Roll the nationality neck around. Go ahead, hit it. Ah, it went too far. Where is it made?

Where is it made? Is it handmade? It's handmade. That's what it's made.

Handmaid in Esteli Nicaragua. Yeah. Nice. Yeah, you got a listener of the week?

Yeah. No question. Like, oh, no. It's going to be Jason Hawkins.

He's out there beating the drum going nuts. It's to Jason Hawkins and his brother, Justin. And it's actually Justin. We're not going to give it to Jason.

We're going to give it to Justin Hawkins. Justin Hawkins, his brother, Justin. His brother, Justin. Oh, what a nice guy, Justin.

Justin's out there. He's, you know. Nice man. Very, very nice man.

All right, so that's all we got. That's it. We got to go smoke these Oliva v. Milano 2023s.

Yes. And then we'll get in a little more. We'll dissect a little bit of that. Delicious.

Show Notes

Episode 310: Wine Please!

Step into the world of cigars with us on the latest episode of A Cigar Hustlers Podcast, where we dissect the latest industry announcements and intriguing developments.

Drew Estate's recent revelation about the 2024 price increase sets the stage for industry conversations, sparking discussions about its potential impacts and implications for enthusiasts. Meanwhile, Arango's decision to bring Eladio Diaz 70 Aniversario to the U.S. market marks a significant milestone, promising aficionados a taste of something truly special.

As the holiday season approaches, Principle Cigars dazzles the community with the release of the 2023 Accomplice Holiday Baubles, adding festive flair to cigar enjoyment. In a move to bolster support and growth within the industry, the PCA's launch of a grant program for state associations signifies a united effort towards progress and development.

On the global front, France's plans to ban smoking at public parks and beaches, coupled with considerations for plain packaging on all tobacco products, fuels debates worldwide, reflecting shifting attitudes and regulations.

Get ready for the HVC Hot Cake Maduro Half Corona, set to ship next week, promising a flavorful experience for enthusiasts. Plus, the anticipation builds as Rocky Patel's Conviction, a $100 cigar, makes its way to stores, captivating cigar enthusiasts with its exclusivity and allure.

In a community-centered highlight, we delve into Halfwheel's Readers' Choice Awards 2023, exploring the standout picks and Halfwheel's official statement, celebrating the community's favorites.

But it's not all industry buzz—delve into a curious Florida story that made headlines involving a Sanford woman's wine bottle attack at a local Wawa convenience store, a tale that adds a unique twist to the usual news cycle.

Tune in as we unpack these diverse and impactful stories, providing insights, opinions, and a flavorful discussion on the ever-evolving world of cigars.