Cigar Hustlers Podcast Episode 320: Legal Battles, Promotions, and Kangaroo Capers

Episode Summary

Episode 320 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with Mike Szczepankiewicz, Mike "BDP" Palmer, and Phil smoking the Espinosa Sumatra and asking listeners to vote for Don Patel's Cigars on the Avenue in Winter Park in the PCA's cigar bar retailer category. The centerpiece of the first half is a call-in with Virginia retailer Brett Frye of Tobacology, who gives an on-the-ground recap of TPE 2024 in Las Vegas: attendance felt lighter than usual, the show was awkwardly split across two floors with vape upstairs, and cigar vendors seemed slower. Frye argues PCA made two bad calls — moving the trade show out of Vegas and shifting it from summer to spring — explaining that a spring show forces retailers, especially north of the Mason-Dixon line, to buy for Q2 through Q4 during their slowest cash-flow months, and that the schedule change really served manufacturers' production timelines rather than retailers. He predicts TPE 2025 will actually grow on the premium side because plenty of people still want an annual excuse to go to Vegas, while New Orleans will be tougher for small accounts who rely on Vegas for networking and dinners.

The middle of the show is classic Hustlers banter: Super Bowl LVIII talk (Mahomes' clock management edge, San Francisco's late-game mistakes, the Usher halftime show and Reba's anthem, best commercials including Reese's and the Dunkin' "DunKings"), the Taylor Swift media circus, youth football coaching, boxing heavy-bag workouts, Torchy's Tacos, and Phil's Fun Facts.

The news block covers the industry personnel and product stories of the week: Espinosa Premium Cigars hiring Chrissy Stratman as in-house Southwest territory manager (Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico) after her years with Hoffman Sales brokering Drew Estate, CLE, Xikar, and Rocky Patel; Davidoff asking a federal judge in the Southern District of Florida to dismiss Gurkha's lawsuit over the Davidoff Limited Edition 2024 Year of the Dragon, including a rundown of the many "Dragon" trademarks Kaizad Hansotia's company claims; E.P. Carrillo promoting Wayne Stoner to national sales manager; Drew Estate promoting Ike Karipides to senior VP of sales, succeeding the retiring David Lazarus; Allison Traynor's departure from Hooten Young with Omar Fernandez and Mike Mendez consulting on the cigar division; Kristoff's PCA 2024 announcements including the Kristoff 20th Anniversary and the Kristoff PCA 2024 Signature Series; Illusione's repurposed PCA exclusive and its production history at Raíces Cubanas; Patina Cigars' price increases across Connecticut, Habano, Maduro, and Sumatra lines; and Luciano Cigars shipping Underrated, a sub-$9 Mexican San Andrés-wrapped blend using Connecticut broadleaf, Ecuadorian Habano, and aged Mediotempo. The episode closes with a Florida story about Hopper, a seven-year-old kangaroo loose in a Tampa apartment complex, and a tangent about tigers, giant Alabai dogs, and using AirTags to find lost pets.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Vote for Cigars on the Avenue
   The hosts ask listeners to support Don Patel's Winter Park shop, up for a PCA cigar bar retailer award.
2. 02
   Brett Frye on TPE 2024
   The Tobacology owner reports lighter attendance, the odd two-floor vape/cigar split, and slower cigar vendor traffic in Las Vegas.
3. 03
   Why PCA's Spring Move Hurts Retailers
   Frye breaks down cash flow, quarterly buying, and why moving the trade show from summer to spring benefits manufacturers more than shops.
4. 04
   Vegas vs. New Orleans and TPE 2025
   Discussion of March Madness pricing, canceled Super Bowl reservations, and the prediction that TPE grows as PCA leaves Vegas.
5. 05
   Super Bowl LVIII Recap
   Mahomes' late-game mastery, San Francisco's mistakes, the Usher halftime show, Reba's anthem, and the best commercials.
6. 06
   Industry Personnel News
   Espinosa hires Chrissy Stratman, E.P. Carrillo promotes Wayne Stoner, Drew Estate elevates Ike Karipides, and Hooten Young shuffles its cigar division.
7. 07
   Gurkha vs. Davidoff Dragon Lawsuit
   Davidoff moves to dismiss Gurkha's trademark suit over the Year of the Dragon limited edition, plus the long list of Dragon marks at issue.
8. 08
   New Releases and Price Increases
   Kristoff's 20th Anniversary and PCA Signature Series, Illusione's recycled PCA exclusive, Patina price hikes, and Luciano's Underrated.
9. 09
   Florida Story: Hopper the Kangaroo
   A seven-year-old kangaroo loose in a Tampa apartment complex sparks talk of exotic pet permits, tigers, and AirTags.

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

Everybody stand by. Industry is in the house. Here he is, the controversial, but legendary, BDB. Yeah, I am dead, it's my destiny, make way for the king, can't be stopped, shootin' my shot, another Mike and Mike production, in 3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0.

Welcome to Cigar Hustlers Podcast, episode 320, the number one cigar podcast with a world-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. The King, Mike Steponkiewicz, and Mike BDP Palmer, who always bring the funny, are two dynamic individuals in co-captivating Cigar Hustlers Podcast. And me, I'm Phil.

I would like to apologize to Jason Taylor, and could he please send me my boxers back, if he isn't going to sign them? So grab your favorite smoke, sit back, and join us for another exciting episode of Cigars Podcasts! Oh, he took it on that one, huh? " Welcome to the Cigars Podcasts!

It's Heads Up! We're still proudly sponsor-free, but a massive shout-out to our amazing patrons of the Patreon. Thanks to 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. Yay! If you're not listening, you're missing out.

Patreon's fantastic. It really is. Yeah, everybody says it's the best version of the show. What are we doing for the Patreon anyways?

Today we're smoking the Espinosa Sumatra. We had not smoked this yet on the show. All right, well, I'm gonna give you the weight right now so I can smoke something. And there was an Espinosa press release today.

Oh, it was his birthday the other day. Oh, that too. 3 grams. I have one quick announcement that I want to make real fast.

3 grams. Oh, look at you, you printed it and everything. It looks lovely. My dear friend, Don Patel at Cigars on the Avenue.

Oh, yeah. Oh, I was, go ahead. No, you go. No, no.

No, I'll stop. No, no, because I did, I did, I decided not to because I didn't know, so maybe this is not the same thing. Oh, okay. He's, um, he's up for a vote.

It was the same thing. With the PCA. Yeah, that's why he didn't because there's a link you have to have to vote. What is the vote for?

Okay, but I didn't know how to put the link out. So here's, so hold on. So listen. Okay.

So I was like, where is it? It's over there. So listen, Don Patel is a great friend of mine for a long time, a very long time. He has a fantastic retail shop over in Winter Park.

We go there all the time. At least I go there all the time. I try to go. It's a great place.

Every few weeks. He is up for a PCA vote for a cigar bar, like yada, yada. Right? Right.

So, like, they have three different categories, cigar bar, cigar wine and beer, and then just regular cigar store, so they have three different votes, and he's in the category for the cigar bar. Is that, like, the highest one? That's the first one. That's the first one.

Oh. So, what I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna put the link in the comment section of the YouTube page. The description. I can put it in the description.

You can put it in the description? Yeah, yeah. Okay, it'll be in the description of the show. If you guys can go out and support my friend, I would greatly appreciate it.

The guy's been a tremendous mentor for me, a huge help in the retail side of things, and I know that he would greatly appreciate it. It's an amazing store. It really is. So do me a favor and just click the link and vote for him.

Cigars on the Avenue. Perfect. My boy, Don Patel. It'll be in the audio and the video description, so just in case they do one or the other.

Thank you so much, guys, in advance. Well, that's cool. Yeah, man. 'Cause what was he classified as before?

Just cigar, just... I don't know how you get submitted for this, but I saw it too somewhere today. Are you in this, Mike? Yesterday.

No. No. Other than him, I don't know who else was in it. There's a couple other shops that I recognized.

Oh, is there? I'm just really close with him, you know. Right, right, right, right. So, I want to support him.

So, the last time we spoke, we talked briefly about TPE, but it was still kind of going on. Right. I have a guy who was there, and he is going to share with us if he answers. I hope it's not Justin Andrews.

It's not Justin. He doesn't answer the phone. Yeah, but he's on a plane to Donnelly or something, so he's not going to answer the phone. Maybe it's Matt Booth.

No, this guy's-- He was probably there. This guy's a go-to. He's an in-source retailer. He'll let you know what's going on.

Oh, retailer. Oh, are we talking Cecreto? No. Oh, my goodness.

Oh, man. No offense, Ronnie. Hey, man. What's up?

Hey, Brett. Brett Frye! Oh, Brett Frye! Brett Frye!

Fine locations around the area where the aliens are. Yes. The Virginian Kingpin. There you go.

One of the tallest retailers there is. The tallest. Nowhere near it, but I appreciate that being what you think about. Thinks about how big you are.

Wow. So how you doing, buddy? You doing all right? Yeah, man, I'm doing well.

Okay, well, I know that we didn't partake in the TPE event, but I was hoping that you can give us back some info as to how it was. Was it busy? Let me ask you that. Was TPE busy this year?

I mean, I guess no in the grand scheme of it did not appear or seem that there was as many people as normal, but that includes the folks that go for the head shop stuff, the non-premium. Oh, there weren't many of those people there either? There's a difference? Well, I'm not saying there were many.

I'm just saying I don't think there were as many as there have been in the past. Gotcha. It was weird because there were two floors, right? So the second floor was vape only, And then there was some vape, and the head shop stuff downstairs with the cigars, but the cigar, the cigar vendors in particular seemed not as busy this year.

Not busy. Did it seem like less people because they split it? Because normally it's all in one big room. I, well that, that's what I'm getting at.

I think it may be because of that, because they split it. Did you get laid this morning or something, bro? I like Angry Brett. This is not the Angry Brett that I expected.

Hey, how are you? Oh, no, I would say that it wasn't busy, but it was kind of bizarre. I've given it a lot of thought. Here's my thought.

If you really want my thoughts, which is why you're calling me, here's my thoughts, all right? Yes. I think that even, you know, I'm upset that PCA moved it to the weekend where it's the third largest weekend in Vegas, March Madness, everybody's booked, every dinner's booked, and Wu-Tang Residency is releasing on the 21st. - Whoa, Wu-Tay!

- So, it's a lot of things going on, we shouldn't be at that weekend, but I think what that did is that forced people to decide if I'm only going to Vegas for one thing this year. - Right, right. - And I think a lot of people decided, I'm hoping that they decided to go to PCA. As horrible as it's gonna be, that's what I believe.

However, I'll tell you this. - Tell me. - Yes. - Because PCA made a quick draw move to move away from Vegas, The same time they decided to move it to the spring, both bad decisions, in my opinion, I think that next year, TPE will be larger for the cigar post, because I think there's a definitive amount of people that still want to go to Vegas once a year, excuse to go to Vegas once a year.

I have a question, just really quickly, because I know there's something that happened this past weekend. So for the Super Bowl in Vegas, they canceled everybody's tickets to the Sphere, all the shows. Everybody already had tickets bought, all the dinners, everything, all the reservations, everything. And then they let you re-reserve stuff, re-buy tickets, and it was like four times the amount of what you originally purchased it for.

Wow. Hey, there's a lot of people here. Do you think they do that for March Madness? No.

Of course. Of course. Of course they will. Well, here's why.

Because they've already begun selling sections of sportsbooks for groups of men to go there and sit and drink all day and watch games. And then they'll all want to go to dinner. If you have not made dinner reservations, you should make them immediately. I generally just go and pick up chicken at Costco.

That's a true statement. I get it. But the majority of the industry winds and dives. The majority of the industry winds and dives.

Yeah. I'm not built that way. I'm built different. I'm built fucking different, buddy.

Built different. So how high were you when you came to the inclination that TPE 2025 would probably be busier because of the fact that PCA would be in New Orleans at the following year? Well, here's the thing. I think New Orleans is, I'm not too high on New Orleans, even though I'm excited to go, because I enjoy the history of that city.

Because of the smoking and the fact that, here's a breakdown, too. You're different because you literally work and then go sleep. Most people, if you go to BCA by yourself, and you're not a big account, Vegas at least gives you a shot at meeting up or hanging or congregating with people. It's not going to be that way in New Orleans.

True. So if you're small and you don't have people wine and dining, right? Like, I'm relatively small, I have one or two companies that may take me out for dinner. You're kind of a big deal.

Right. You've got like 17 locations inside Virginia. You're a big deal. You're a big deal.

If I had 70 locations I was this poor, I would give up, right, to just so we're clear. You're like the true estate megalodon in the Middle East. No, I'm not, I just do things the way they want to, that's all. You're the Cinco Cinco King of Virginia.

Oh, yeah. You're the Fratello fucking... Oh yeah, the Fratello distributor. Are you launching the thing too with Omar?

The what? Are you launching the capsule with Omar? The capsule? The rocket.

Sorry, the rocket. The little cardboard rocket that he's making easy. He can't even get his jokes. Do I look...

Are we on Patreon or a podcast? No, this is Patreon. This is Patreon. This is Patreon?

No, it's not Patreon. It's not, it's not, it's not. Oh, alright. Do I look like a freaking rocket scientist?

No. Alright? Okay. Barely got out of high school.

Anyway, but all I'm saying is I think PCA, even though PCA seemed dead or less busy for our premium industry this year, I do not think that writing it off is going to happen because I do believe you will see a resurgence once you move for the next few years, or PP, because once you move PCA out of Vegas, I think there's still a lot of people who want to go to Vegas. Well, I think, I mean, you might be right to some degree because, you know, at the end of the day, if I'm looking at TPE next year and I'm thinking, well, I could probably make January Vegas, not because I'm like, whoa, Vegas, but, you know, hey, New Orleans isn't that far for me. It's not as big of a time sucking as far as a commitment is concerned, you know, whatever the case may be as far as costs and all those other things. So I might be able to swing both.

Maybe, maybe, maybe, but we'll listen, I don't live my life that far ahead. Let's be honest. The whole point of TPE, though, is for people to spend money with the brands, right? I mean, the whole point of any convention.

Well, the whole point of any show, yeah. So, are you willing, as a retailer, Brett, to spend money at TPE and then spend a whole bunch of money at PCA, or? Well, but what you're not considering the industry, because you don't, because think about this, I have to project, I have to project. So, I buy cigars for at least a quarter at a time, right?

I have to. So, in theory, yes. I mean, it's okay for me to plan Q2 or even the end of Q1 in January and going there and buying and taking advantage of the deal. I might not buy the most expensive tier they put out there, but it does help me get some form of deal, especially with companies that don't offer any deal when I order.

So, there is some benefit for me to go. Now, do I have a ton of money in the winter? No. But then why the freak are we moving PCA to spring when northern shops don't have any money anyway, right?

So I have an issue with it being moved from summer to spring, and people go, well, they can project, and at least the people who run the Myrtle Beach shops and the shops, or now they can have the cigars ready if they order them in the spring, it's not a retailer issue. The reason it got moved from summer to spring, and it sucks, is because it was done for manufacturers. And that's who really is running and paying for PCA. - Right.

- Right? Because then they can plan better and have cigars ready for the prime time for these retailers in summer, rather than just ordering them in summer and then having them in October. But if they would have just, in my opinion, if they would have just switched that on their own, they could have done the same. - Right.

- And they could have ordered and shipped in the summer. But rather than that, they want to put it on a different time for retailers. And it just so happens to be a very poor time for many retailers, and really we're only talking about new stuff. So now you've got retailers buying for Q2, 3, and 4 in Q1, and then when they don't have a lot of money, because everything's slow, at least north of the Mason-Dixon line, and it just doesn't work out because they're still going to have regular core line that ships.

So now I got to decide who I can support big when PCA is in the spring, rather than in the summer when I got a little bit more money, and a little bit more freedom to support larger for these companies. But again, I'm a small potato, comparative to the guys making these decisions. The guys making these decisions are a lot bigger than, than me. Well, you might be a small potato, but you're my favorite potato.

Thank you, buddy. I appreciate that. Yeah, like a small potatoes have better flavor. Mr.

Potato Head. Small Mr. Potato Head. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. Well, hey, thank you so much, Brett, for giving us the intel on the TPE. Did I get as angry as you wanted me to get?

I mean, yeah, I mean, I said yes a couple times. I was like, yes. So, I was happy. Cool.

You made me very happy. I hope that that reflects on someone that walks into your store and you project that energy moving forward. Oh, buddy. I know.

I'm more ornery than angry in the shops. You know that. Yeah. I get it.

All right, brother. Well, thank you so much, dude. I appreciate you. I appreciate you guys.

All right, see you in a couple of weeks. Goodbye. All right, we'll see you in a few weeks. Bye.

Brett Fry of Tobacology. A regular on a Cigar Hustlers podcast. There's got to be people, too, that don't go to TPE manufacturers. Oh, yeah.

" I mean, there are even some manufacturers that show up to CPE and they don't write orders. They're like, "We're here. " Oh, that's right. I remember that.

Yeah. Fuente was like that. Fuente did that. Yeah, Fuente did that.

We have a booth. Imagine having so much money just to fucking put up a booth and not give a fuck. " We are awesome. It's nice to see you.

Would you like cigar? No, no samples today. I'm sorry. We're just here.

We're fresh out of samples. Act like we're not here. You're technically not here, but you appreciate the fact that we supported TPE because of some reason you did too. Mike Tyson was at TPE.

Yes, we mentioned that last week, taking photos with everybody. Yeah. I'm surprised they split it into two floors. It obviously got big.

Was it like that? I guess. I guess the other people, the non-cigar people got big. The whole pot thing is just blowing up.

You think that it can't sustain and hold more money? Yeah, no, we got more money! There's more people with vapes! Was Tyson there for the cigars or was he there because of the weed?

He's got his own weed thing. Right. I'm sure everybody has their own weed thing now. But I would go see Tyson.

I would love to meet Mike Tyson. Are you kidding me? Hello, Michael. I'm here to see you.

Well, maybe that's why everybody's going to go to the TV next year. That guy is next level. He won't be there next year. Dude is a fucking conqueror, man.

I mean, shit. Yeah. You know? I'll hit you.

Want me to hit you? I don't want him to hit me. Just to say, hey man, it's an honor to meet you. He'll be honored to be hit by me too.

Watch this. He sounds like John Drew. A little bit. Just a little bit, but no accent.

Jonathan Drew Tyson. The accent's still there, buddy. Just barely. Just barely.

So, how was your weekend? You hung out of the house? I got a heavy bag to go into my boxing workout thing. Oh, look at you.

Oh, you got it. We're ramping up. I hung that up on... I got it for Valentine's Day.

Oh, a little early Valentine's Day. Yes. Because, you know, there's work, you gotta hang it up and stuff. And she wanted me to pick it out, so I got the one I wanted.

Nice. That is a lot more work, let me tell you. That's a little punch in the lights on the wall. It's a heavy bag.

It's a lot more work. It's a heavy bag. What did you hang it on? A beam?

I put it up on a beam? In the garage? In the garage? Yeah.

You're putting gloves on? Yeah, the light one came with gloves. Okay, you put gloves on. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay. Don't do anything stupid. And wrap my wrist, too. Yeah.

Don't come in here. I'm hurting today, though. I mean, the first time I did it was this morning. Oh, really?

It's a lot more work. Oh, God. Yeah. That's good.

Look at you. You're getting so fit. I'm so proud of you. We're so proud of you.

Thank you. I forgot to red light this morning, but I did red light on Saturday, so I got an extra key. You're still doing it. You're kind of doing it now.

Yeah, kind of. You're still doing it. Kind of, but it's the wrong type of light bulb. Proud of you.

I'm very proud of you. Thank you. Keep it up. Thank you.

I'm enjoying hitting the things. Yeah, you take it out, you know. You can put my face on there if you'd like. No, no, no.

Not on me? You're on the thing on the wall with the lights. Oh, okay. Perfect.

There's five of them, so I may have all of you on one. Oh, good. Different lights. Oh, we all have a list.

You all have a spot. How many lights is Industry on? Three. He's on three lights?

He's on three of the five. Good. Greg's on the other one? He's on the top three, Greg's on the bottom three.

Oh, okay. Well, Keanu's on one, two, so he must be six. It must be six. It's gotta be six.

But I can take him down now, because now he knows upstairs. We told him, maybe he got the... You're out of here, pal. You're done.

You never come back in here. The guy still couldn't show up on time for a meeting. Right, yeah. So...

Well, he's kind of already done. Well, yeah. Well, I had football. Oh.

Apparently Greg went to a football game. He did. Yes, I heard him upstairs discussing it. Did he show up to both?

He was able to talk about both. So I guess he was at both. He probably did both. I had to, they were close together, so I had to leave halfway through the Bucs game to go and take care of my Justices team, the Pats.

Oh, gotcha, okay. Great games. Well, I mean... I thought you said you had that fixed, where they didn't have the games at the same time.

They weren't at the same time, but they were still a little bit of running together. That's where I had to warm up the kids. So, but there was a, Jackson's game was okay. They did okay.

They made a couple mistakes and it cost them the game. Yeah. Justice's team, they played really well, man. They played really, really well.

I was very proud of those kids. You know, it's awesome because all those kids work hard. Right. And the excuses are so minimal at this point.

Oh, if they make a mistake or something? Yeah, it's, you know, did you mess that up? Yep. Okay, good.

So, you know, how do we fix that? Like, I had a kid, he snapped the ball too high, cost us a down, turnover on down. " Can I work on that? Absolutely, dude.

You know, 'cause he's like, I'm sorry. And I'm like, I'm not, you know, rule number one is don't be sorry, be better. I'm not mad. I'm not where I've moved on.

You know, you need it over with now. Yeah, you got to fix it. I'm not going to sit here and... I'm just not, I'm not, I'm not that coach.

Throw my helmet. Dude, fix it. Just fix it, man. You know, enough.

Cut the shit. I can't say that, but you know. Right. And what's cool is I don't have to say that.

They're all, they know when. I should cut my shit. I'm sorry. They know when the pressure's coming.

You know, if you start messing up. Fuck me, coach. I'm so sorry. I'm like, all right, who's the next center?

This guy doesn't have his gloves on. All right, you're out of here. You know, what, what, what? I'm like, be ready.

Oh, you know, you said it was the exact same thing last week. I know, because those are my experiences. I just listened to it yesterday, so it's just fresh. Yeah, sorry.

No, no, you're fine. I'll shut up now. No, no. Saturday, we did a little universal action?

Oh, we went to Torchy's Tacos on Saturday. Did you? Yes. How was it?

I'm glad it's not a sponsor. Wow. Wow. I like it.

Why did you say that? I don't know. I expected more, something different, bigger, better, or something. Because the hype was good.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, the food was okay. It's built into your head that it was going to be something. That's what I mean, yeah.

Yeah. And I'm sure I misordered the first time I've been. Yeah. You have to remember that it is tacos.

Yeah, it's good tacos. Yeah, yeah. But like I got the, what the, the trailer park, but I added the queso and subtracted the- Trashy. Trashy, but their queso's very spicy, which they don't mention, so at least it was to me.

It is, it is a little spicy. Yeah, the queso's very spicy. Man. So Adrian got it with the salad, with the lettuce, and I got it with the queso, and mine I didn't like.

Because it's too spicy. It's too spicy. I just think that's where you messed up. Well, yeah, and then the fajita taco thing, the meat was okay, but it was just meat.

It was unspecial. I could have made that at home. Gotcha. So, just misordered.

She got some green chili things. She liked that one. Did you get any of the drinks? No, no, we just got soda.

Oh, I like it. I like torches. I like the place, and we sat outside. It was a nice day, and it was very clean and stuff, so, I mean, there wasn't anything wrong.

I just think maybe I misordered. You were right by my house. I know I was. You don't like the pop-in.

It's true. Yeah, you don't like the pop-in. We did Universal, we did a little bit of the Mardi Gras action. Oh, did you?

Yeah. Oh, nice. Velasco's was too long. On which day, Saturday?

Yeah. Yeah. Kids had a good time. And Sunday was Super Bowl.

Yes, at the end of the day. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we cleaned up the house and stuff, and then Sunday we did this.

We cleaned up the house Sunday. And you were harassing me with your fucking texts. Go Chiefs. Go Chiefs.

That was Taylor Swift. I would not engage. I would not engage. No, no, you didn't.

I don't care. I know you do. I know you weren't gonna engage, but I know you still saw it every time I sent it. I don't care, though.

I don't... First of all, I don't... Yeah, I know, but I was just being annoying. I got nothing against Taylor Swift being at the stadium.

Like, I don't give a shit about any of that. " This is so ridiculous. If he would have put the little notifications or silence. Right, right, right.

Oh, it's not delivered. None of it was a surprise. Notify anyway. I thought you didn't expect them to win.

No, the Chiefs are going to win. You didn't even expect them to go to the Super Bowl. I didn't expect them to go to the Super Bowl. He didn't think it was a Lions.

And you know what? It was a good game, but I watched the entire thing. First time, I think, in years. It was a fantastic game.

It was a fantastic game. It was a fantastic halftime show. Oh, I didn't like the halftime show. Oh, my God.

The halftime show was amazing. You didn't have fucking John Denver playing or something. No, no. I knew everybody was singing.

Alicia Keys, she did a really good job. I think they all did. Usher had a mic problem. You couldn't hear him well.

Oh, I thought he did fantastic. It's like our high school era. I thought it was a great presentation. I thought it was fantastic.

Ludacris came out. Listen, you don't have Usher come out there without Luda. Ridiculous. Some lady fell off a pole.

I didn't even notice that. I didn't see that either. No, I saw it somewhere else. Damn.

And what's your name who sang the national anthem? Reba. She didn't do a good job either. She started too low.

I'm not big on Reba. She's too old. She can't hit those notes anymore. I mean, you're pretty hard on all those two.

I do sound, Michael, four to five days a week. It's a thing. Oh my goodness. Sound and video quality is like my little thing now.

I mean, I could tell you couldn't hear him. He's singing and I'm like, okay, well, you can't really hear him until he turns his head. Oh my God. That was a $10 million halftime show.

So realistically, Detroit should have beat Kansas City. They should have beat Kansas City. Detroit just imploded. All of a sudden they decided to not catch balls, you know, but realistically, as far as the matchup was concerned, Kansas City won that game.

I mean, they played fantastic. They wanted it more. Yeah, they, you know, it came down to two plays. The missed point after attempt that was blocked.

Yep. Right. Yeah. It wouldn't win in overtime if they hit that.

Right. And then the last play for San Francisco on the drive, they're at the eight yard line or wherever the fuck they were. And he did a botched throw. Yeah, when they had the kick in.

Because he got rushed. That's the one thing I didn't understand from San Francisco. You didn't expect them to bring the heat? I mean, you know, like, okay, everybody's coming.

Listen, San Francisco was doing great, bro. Yeah. They just didn't understand that they gave Mahomes too much time. They were doing great until they fucked up when it really mattered.

Right. This guy's won two Super Bowls. This isn't his first time. And it's not like he's a quarterback that's Mr.

Irrelevant. relevant, right? He's been here before. He's a two-minute drill guy.

He's going to do his thing. You can't give him that much time. When they did the field goal, I knew the defense was done. San Francisco wasn't coming out there and saying, all right, we're going to crush him.

They just said, fuck. They just stopped us at the eight. This is what Mahomes lives for. I mean, it's like when Brady used to get on the field.

If you saw two minutes on the clock at the end, oh, Lord. Oh, look at all this time I've got. Yeah. Shit, you We can give him 30 seconds.

I've got a whole half a minute! Yeah. That's nine plays! But I don't think that...

He almost started one before the guy got back, before the receiver was back. The way that Romo was talking, if the clock had wound down, it was still their drive, it didn't matter, they would have just went into second overtime. Well that was, yeah, but I'm talking on the fourth quarter. Oh.

In the fourth quarter, if San Francisco would have managed that a little bit better, and got it down to at least a minute or under a minute... Yeah, they gave him back the ball with too much time left. Yeah, he had two minutes. I mean, for my homes, that's an eternity.

Maybe. Good game. It was fun to watch. I enjoyed it.

They better stop letting Kelsey talk after a game. Why? He's just a nutball. He's a high dude.

How are you? He's just a nutball. You know who he reminds me of? He's one of the favorite parts that I look forward to.

He reminds me of... Well, I mean, because you like seeing him just... Yeah. Viva Las Vegas!

He reminds me of Mr. Brett Frye. Oh, yeah, yeah, he is kind of like Bradford. Yeah, I mean, he's not the better of the two brothers.

Jason Kelsey's way better. Yeah, he had a costume change through the game. Did he? Are you talking about like for talking?

Neither one of them should talk. No, he changes clubs. I'm just saying in general, when I've looked at the, I'm not talking about as an athlete. I'm talking about as some of the clips that I've seen on Instagram and shit, I'm like, Jason's awesome.

Jason's more clean cut. Hey, he's not clean cut. He is more than the other one. And the other one, no way.

I enjoy Jason. Travis is like a rambling man type of dude. They're great players, but I mean, you know. I like them as people.

They're fun to watch. You know, the big game, the owner talks, Mahome talks, and some lady thought she was going to get to talk, and she didn't get to talk. Nope, you don't. No, you did not play the trophy to him.

I'm surprised he didn't go, I'm going to shit right in this trophy now. I'm going to take a big. Man, as much money as Taylor Swift made them, right in this past little bit. Oh, yeah.

And as much publicity as she's been getting, the NFL still did not change the rules about allowing nobody but wives and children, family, inside the box at the end. She walked his mother down there. No, yeah, but she's not allowed on the podium thing. Whatever.

So what? I think that's fine. She should have had her own podium brought in. Yeah, she probably could have.

You know what? But hey. Bring my podium. You know what?

Fucking kudos for her for not being a shitbag about it. Right. Well, hey, I'm going to do it. You know who I am or any of that.

Whatever. She's like, okay, I'm here to support. She's very low-key, really. I'm here to support my guy.

Right. Right. Whatever. They did have, right after the game, news clipping on Facebook, not news clipping, but a blog about how Taylor Swift was drinking too much beer.

Did you guys see that? No. No, I never saw her drinking beer. Now, Swifties are mad.

That she drank too much? That she drank beer? She didn't look drunk. She's giving off the wrong perception of her.

Oh, my God. I never saw her drinking a beer. I didn't either. God forbid she should be fucking, she's 20 something years old.

Every time they showed her, she's just cheering her on her phone. She's having a good time. Right. Fuck, man.

People are so crazy. Yeah. " Oh, who cares? I don't understand.

I know, who cares? Why do people care? Right. I don't have the fucking energy.

Because she likes Biden. I'm like, well, you can't. Who gives a shit? You can't come to football games because you like Biden.

Fucking politics? I'm sure there's players that like Biden too, should they not play? Ugh. You think Andy Reid's done, so we'll end this?

No. He's not done. That's the coach, right? Yeah.

He's not done. No, he's not done. He's only got three rings. Did you see the way Travis yelled at him?

He took that so well. He's not going anywhere. Man, he was angry. He was pissed.

Yeah. Give me the... No, he wanted... No, he wanted...

Travis wanted to be in on the play. Oh, yeah, yeah. I get it. And Andy got it too.

He's like, okay, motherfucker, I'm busy here. It's like, I don't, same thing, it's like, I don't have time to deal with you. I beat cancer, you think I'm gonna worry about you? I go with my arm, that's the cancer arm.

Come yell at me if I lose. What's your favorite commercial? Uh, the Reese's one. That was a good one.

Yay, and they fucking smashed it. Oh, and they destroyed themselves, they jumped out the window. I don't remember the Reese's one. And it was like, we're getting, we're changing Reese's pieces, or Reese's peanut butter cups.

And everybody's like, no. And they started, everybody started destroying themselves and smashing tables. They're like, we're adding caramel. And it was like, yay.

And then everybody got excited. But you're still making the original. Well, that was, well, that was at the end. I like the Dunkin' Donuts with, uh, what's his name?

The Dunkings with Brady? Yeah, the Dunkings. Yeah, with Brady. And Ben Affleck.

Yeah, that was pretty good. I like at the end. Yeah, I was gonna say, I like at the end. Brady, you can stay.

Oh, I thought you meant the thing. He goes, you know when I said it'd help you with anything? That was anything, nothing else. He goes, shut up.

They're making a drink after. It was good. Yeah, I thought it was a good Super Bowl. I mean, other than the Chiefs won, but that's not because of political influences.

Right, right. Has nobody won three in a row? Is that the thing now? Well, they didn't win three in a row.

No, they've won two now. Right. But is that as many as anybody's ever won in a row? I don't know if anybody's ever won three.

I think it's what they said last night. In a row? Yeah. Oh, no, nobody's ever won three in a row.

Yeah. Because Brady only won back-to-back. I think they were, it was, was that with the perfect season they would've won three, at 2007? Yeah, but they lost it.

I remember. That was the only game, that was the only game that I, well, that was actually the first game I ever got mad at, for sports. The one after that, when they played the Giants, I got mad again. lost because I fucking can't stand people that just come out of the woodwork that aren't really fans that just cheer on Super Bowl and they're like yeah in your face yeah I'm like you don't even know the fucking players you're not even nowhere near fucking invested I can't be around you because I may hurt you I have to go I have to leave for your own protection how was the party you went to?

Great kids had a great time we hung out on the patio it was quiet there on your patio? No we hung out on their patio somebody else's patio Brittany and I hung out on our patio. Same thing you do at home. Yeah, it's pretty much the same thing.

Yeah, smoked. Do we have a baby update for this week? Baby's great. Yeah.

Yep. Baby's super chill. All is well. Good.

Has a baby visited you guys at the house? No, not yet. Not yet. Oh, I thought they were coming over last week.

I don't know. I don't think they have. When Brittany was here. Oh, maybe they did and they just picked something up.

Yeah, they came to pick something up. They weren't hanging out though. Maybe next time. They have a lovely pool wherever it is.

All the pictures now are by the pool. Nice. Apartment living, baby. Yeah.

Somebody else's problem. Right? If you put your mask on, we can do Phil's Fun Facts. You put your mask on.

If you're ready, sure. Yeah, if you're ready over there. Welcome to Cigar Hustlers podcast feature, Phil's Fun Facts. There it is.

Hello, people! Alright. Did you know that in ancient Rome it was believed that smoking a cigar while riding a chariot could improve your chances of victory in battle? Legend has it that Emperor Nero himself would puff away on a cigar before charging into combat, claiming it sharpened his focus and made his opponents cough from the smoke, giving him the upper hand.

However, historians suspect this fact might just be smoke and mirrors, concocted by Nero's PR team to make him seem more formidable. You know, you sound really good in that mask. Well, because it's not muffled. Yeah, there's no muffling.

No muffling. I wasn't listening. Nero had PR people, and smoking in Roman times helped you athletically. Oh.

Nice. Thank you. That's a good fact to know. It helps me athletically as well.

Yeah. You don't smoke during the game. To the kids games. No.

God, I wish I could. Holy moly. Why can't you? Is there a no smoking rule?

Somebody would whip over there. You're a bad influence. I'm like. Yeah, put your vape back in your pocket, lady.

Listen. Do you smoke before you go in the gym? No, I smoke after. Listen, as these parents.

It's a post-workout. Shit are fucking. The nicotine. Drunk and shit on the fucking sidelines.

I know you got vodka in your glass, lady. Nobody's full. And you're Stanley. I'm sure you pre-gamed, buddy.

Calm the fuck down. Pre-game. That's why Stanley is so popular. There's so much vodka you put in it.

Where does nobody ever tailgated before children's football games? This is crazy. Are you kidding me? I'm sure they do.

The fights? It would be insane. I'm sure the people are drunk on the sidelines, without question. We're all going to the wine mixer.

I've looked at some of these parents that are friends of mine, and sometimes I'm like, bro, you're slurring a little there, Bob. You good there? Yeah, right? You need a ride?

You want to tone that down a smidge? Let me push that on my bush latte. That was a great game. I'm like, we haven't even played yet.

Do y'all have a, what's the cup with the button on the top? That we all used to use all the time? Yeah, the shot thing. Oh man.

They make new ones now. The button on the top? What are you talking about? Don't tell him he'll know our secret.

He knows. It was like a, not a Stanley, but a smaller version of the, you could put a shot in the top of the glass, you hit the button and it releases a shot into your glass. Flash cap, yeah, yeah, yeah. They send us a bunch of those for the other show I do.

You fucking degenerates. And then we called it the fun button on the show. The fun button. So now they call it the fun button.

Oh, really? Yeah. They call it the fun button? They call it the fun button now, yeah.

Wow. Man, we used to have koozies that were beer bongs. Yeah, we had those two. That's right.

I forgot about that. You guys are out of control. Back when we were younger. We did have the Espinosa Cornhole Tournament.

That's right. Oh. Yeah. It was his birthday.

Yeah, it was Eric's birthday. Happy birthday. I wished him happy birthday. Happy birthday.

I didn't text him. I didn't text him this year. Everybody put up pictures of him, so I went way back through my photos and put up a picture of me and him. Yes.

Alright. Well, seemed to be the thing. From the CP. Was that TP?

TP. From the four corners of the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need. The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report with Mike Chim. Like me.

Uh oh. Pause, please. Uh oh. Hey, you're on the- Hello?

Hey, you're on the podcast. Oh, okay. I found my ring. Where was it?

I was on the patio! I told you it was on the patio. The patio that you enjoyed the party? Under the Lazy Boy?

Under the chair. I fucking knew it. Oh, how are the Lazy Boys? Yeah, how are those?

How are those Lazy Boys, Brittany? They're amazing. We fall asleep out there every night. Nice.

Nice. Nice little nap. Nice. You should fall asleep in the cheap chair.

Yeah, I mean, what's different for you? It's just more comfortable. Wow. His head doesn't.

His head doesn't. Right, right, right. Well, congratulations. I'm glad you found it.

Yay! Yay! We were all on our way over. We were all just getting ready to leave.

Yep. Oh, wow. That's amazing, because it's been locked for a few days now. He just mentioned it today.

Yeah, we were planning. Oh, oh, oh, okay, okay. Yeah, right after the show, we were on our way. Yeah.

Oh, perfect. I love you. Cancel the trip, guys. Cancel the trip.

I have emptied, I have unscrewed fucking sinks. Oh, look at the trap thing? Oh, because she didn't know where she lost at all. Do you have, I don't think I have, except the kitchen, I guess, the bathrooms, it wouldn't fit.

Yeah, I didn't think it would either, but, you know. You gotta look anyway. If you always knew it was under the chair, why is it days later now and you're just looking under the chair? I don't know why she did.

You know, it was... I knew it was under the chair. It's been lost for a week and a half. And it's probably under the, I said it's probably under the chair.

Right. And, I don't know why we didn't look there, I, because when she said this is how, this is my process. Right. I take it off at the bed, or at the bathroom, so it would be here.

Right. Oh, in one of the two locations. Like, maybe it's on the, why, why did she take it off? I don't know.

My wife never takes it off. Sometimes, some women's fingers swell. Yeah. Could be.

My wife never does. Uh, I only take mine off in the shower. Yeah. Because I saw pictures and videos of people's old guys and their hands have grown like over the ring.

Really? Yeah. So I want to at least take it off, you know, 15, 20 minutes a day. Well, this is rubber, but...

It was a silicone. It won't happen to that. Mine's starting to rip. That would move.

Starting to lose the old super S. Oh, well, where's your, when's your birthday again? Because that's when you got it last year. Uh, was it last year?

Yeah, I got it for your birthday last year. Oh, I thought it was a year before that. Might have been. I don't remember.

Mmm... You're right. It was last year. Yeah, I don't remember what I got you last year, but wasn't that?

Was it last year? Oh yeah, 'cause the year before that was a helicopter. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, back when we were, you know, one-upping. One-upping, unlimited meat.

You gave me meat for a year. Yep, you had meat for a year. Delivered every month. He knew you'd use it.

That was the year you got me the phone. Yes. Yeah, right. That's right.

And now it's still a cone ring, and I think I got a t-shirt. That's right. No, the red light. We've walked it back.

I got the red light. Oh yeah, the red light was nice. Yeah. That was nice, that was nice.

All right, news, news? Yes. From the four corners of the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need. The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report, with Mike Toon.

Lead story, Brittany Stepankiewicz finds her missing ring. Whoa! It was under the chair, as Mike always said. I didn't always say that.

Oh, sorry. Allegedly. Allegedly, he said that allegedly. Espinosa Premium Cigars would like to announce the hiring of Chrissy Stratman As their new in-house Southwest Territory Manager for the states of Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Tyler is now only the number one salesman in Florida and the rest of the country. That was not already mentioned. Gracie entered the cigar industry in 2015 working for Hoffman Sales where she brokered for Drew Estate, CLE, Zykar, and Rocky Patel. Later becoming the in-house rep for Rocky Patel in the Southwest region in 2018.

Eric Espinosa was quoted in saying, Bro, this is just another positive sign of growth for Espinosa Cigars. Chrissy has worked. It's hard to do a long quote with him. Hurts.

Chrissy was working with some of the most recognized brands in our industry. We are happy to have her, and we are just going to. We would like Eric to have shorter quotes, please, going forward, please. Just a bro.

Chrissy comes to us with a wealth of experience and knowledge, bringing Chrissy on board. Oh, this is Jack. Sorry. Do the Jack voice.

I can't do the Jack. Can you do the Jack voice? No. I can't do the Jack voice.

Try. No, it's just a regular voice. There's not like, you know. It's a little deeper.

Well, it's just, it's a little quieter because he's so tough. He kind of laughs at the end of the thing. You know? Right.

Let's see. After a brief hiatus, returning to- Oh, this is Chrissy. I have no idea what she sounds like. After a brief hiatus, returning to- So if you could do like a, kind of like a, I don't know, maybe like a Jabba the Hutt.

What do you think she would do? I don't know if she does Jabba the Hutt. So who knows? No, that might be insulting.

We're gonna see her. We're not insulting her. We're gonna see her in a couple of weeks, I would imagine. Do a voice you think she'd have.

I have no idea. Yeah. Let's all welcome Chrissy to the Lozona family. Oh, that's her voice.

Oh, it's moving on, huh? Yeah, he's moving on. Moving on. That was just released today, I didn't have time to prepare.

Super happy. I told Hector we would cover it, because we cover all press releases on personnel in the cigar industry, not like some people. Are we the only show that does that? We're the only one that does all the personnel changes.

Nice. Yes. Okay. Davidoff asked court to dismiss Gurkha's Dragon Lawsuit.

Davidoff, what, who? Davidoff. Yes. Asked the court.

Yeah. To dismiss. Please dismiss. Please dismiss Gurkha's Dragon Lawsuit.

Aha. Aha. In December, Gurkha filed a lawsuit against Davidoff over the Davidoff Limited Edition 2024 Year of the Dragon. Gurkha claims that Davidoff's Year of the Dragon cigar violates various trademarks at Gurkha, and the license is the licensee of.

We own Dragon. Now, Davidoff has reported to the, responded, sorry, not reported, responded to the lawsuit, asking a judge to throw it out. Yeah. What are you guys pointing at?

The lawsuit itself is the second act of dispute, November 2022. What's that guy's name that owns Gherkin? Han? Kaizad.

Kaizad. Oh, we'll just go with Kaizad. Kaizad Company, Inc. filed for a trademark on Year of the Dragon for cigars.

Davidoff and Davidoff Company opposed the trademark as much as a particular trademark is listed, The dispute has gone into detail about other questions such as whether Davidoff has previously sold a cigar called Year of the Dragon, and whether the term should be something that can be trademarked. Gurkha is owned by Kaizad. The company said it is the exclusive license holder for various Kaizad owned trademarks such as Dragon, Dragonfire, Dragonlord, Dragon Slayer, Imperial Dragon, Red Dragon, and Royal Dragon. Also listed are Enter the Dragon, Dragon Ass, Year of the Sex Dragon, Double Dragon, The Grand Wizard Dragon, We Are Dragons, and the Pirate Money, oh, We Are Dragons, oh, and the Pirate Money referred to as Dragoons.

Wow. Davidoff is asked... Is that last part real? It's all real, it's the news.

Davidoff is asked Judge William P. S. Dixier Court of Southern District of Florida to dismiss Gurkha Cigar Group. Davidoff had dismissed the lawsuit.

These are the two points to put: was that Davidoff was actually a decent cigar, and Gurkha cigars were terrible anyway, and it comes with steak knives, backpack, coffee mugs, and a dartboard. Are they really selling cigars at this point? Wow. The filing also reiterates some of the arguments that have been made as part of the TTAB opposition, such as Davidoff arguing that Year of the Dragon is a reference to the year that the cigars were released.

So it'd be like trademarking 2024. Hmm. Wow. I think we should trademark Dragon Backpacks.

Hmm. And then go after Gurka. Gurka announced. For the violation of the trademark.

Additional names on their list of enemies, General Cigar, Habanos SA, Oliva, La Galleria, Plasencia, Rocky Patel, United Cigars, the NAACP, and ELA. Wow. Maybe they're just bored. I think they just have a lot of free time with it.

Well, Kaizad's not really working anymore, so he's got all this time. He's not allowed to. All this time. P.

Corilio promotes Wayne Stoner to National Sales Manager. Wayne. Wayne. P.

Corilio has announced that has promoted Wayne Stoner to the role of National Sales Manager. Stoner joined the company in 2020 as territory manager covering Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Now he will lead the company's sales team, which, according to a press release, has had no turnovers in the last four years. Wow.

Wow. Interesting. Ike... Taylor?

no no ike it must k-a-r-i-p-i-d-e-s say it again k-a-r-k-r-i-p-i-p-i-d-e-s why can't anybody have a name smith car car car car ip ip e it is days crazy days wait car car ipadays caripadays ike caripadays replaces david lazarus as drew estate senior vp of sales What? Oh. Drew Estate has formally announced that Caripides, Caripides, Caripides, has been promoted to the position of Senior Vice President of Sales, succeeding David Lazarus, who the company says, retired at the end of the year, not fueled the growth. Possibly fueled the growth.

No, they said he didn't. That wasn't the reason that he was retired. Maybe it's time for you to retire. Maybe.

Was there a sex scandal or something? A good old sex scandal. It'll probably come out later. Or maybe next week.

I don't think they'll come out. What camera? Oh, I looked, all the cameras were off, I didn't know what was going on. None of you guys were going back and forth?

It was switching probably from one of the... I don't think that they're, I don't think it'll ever come out. There was. It might on this show.

Oh. Cause we cover... We cover all the personnel stuff that happened. Maybe on Patreon.

Ike has amassed deep expertise in the various facets of the premium cigar industry during his 28 year career. Said Glenn Wolfson, CEO of Drew Estate in a press release. You think Ike's doing it for less money? Yeah, probably.

I would have called Dave and said, how much are you making, bud? Yeah, I didn't know for you. Where are you at? What's your number?

Where are you at here? I know what, uh, what's his name was making when he left, so what are you making? Prior to his time at Drew Estates, Kar Ripa Dyes worked at Nat Sherman International as the Executive Director of Premium Cigar Sales. His career also includes stops at Barclay Rex, Cousin Cigars, House of Oxford, and Miami Cigar & Company.

Oxford? Oxford. I feel like I could get a job at any of these places. I've never heard of any of these places.

That's why, all these weeks, there's another one here too, you can fit in with this company right away. Are these places trademarked? Give me a big number. No dragons in anything.

I want a huge number. Allison Traynor departs Hooten Young, Omar Fernandez, to consult on Cigar Division. Really? Hooten Young has announced a change in personnel for Cigar Division as Allison Traynor has departed the company, And Omar Fernandez will be providing the consultant services to the company in her place.

So they have not hired him, they're just paying him a lot of money. He's still there. That's what you want to be, Mikey. You want to be a consultant.

You want to be a consultant. You want to be a consultant. I'll do it for a consulting fee. No real commitment, but they pay you.

Right. Perfect. Right. And I'll sit here at home.

Right. I'll sit here at home and call in ideas. Let's take a cake consulting job. You can Zoom once a week with them.

We can consult about that. Let's see. Mike Mendez is currently the national sales manager for premium tobacco at Integra Boost, and he will fill trainer's role via a consulting agreement with the Hooten Young while still maintaining his position at Integra Boost, so he's double dipping. I like it.

I like the hustle. He will be focusing largely on helping Hooten Young continue to grow the sales. Okay, nice man. You know, Palmer, you could give Mikey a job.

You just put in the news. Yeah, who do you want to work for? It'll be next week's lead story. I don't know.

Big one, big one. We could make up a circurban. Nobody checks this stuff. The Davidoff, Hooten Young, Drew Estate Division.

That's right. I love it. You could be in charge of the dragons at Gurkha. Oh, I can run the dragons.

The director of all dragons. Give me a consulting fee for the dragon. I am the dragon guy. I'm the dragon guy.

Oh, make sure you trademark that. It's the dragon guy. It's going to get a little weird. Two dragons.

Oh, Christophe has announced two products and a redesigned existing line that will be showing off at the 2024 PCA convention and trade show in late March. The hug. Now that the TPE is over, the PCA announcements are coming out. Headlining the new release is the Christophe 20th Anniversary, which is a blend that uses Brazilian Adaparaca wrapper, an Indonesian binder, and fillers from Nicaragua and Pennsylvania.

Ah. Being offered in four sizes, blah, blah, blah, let's see, let's see, the Christophe 20th Anniversary is being added as a regular production line. And it's slated to begin shipping in April. Ooh.

The company will also be offering an exclusive cigar for retailers who attend the trade show, the Christophe PCA 2024 Signature Series, formerly called the TPE 2024 Signature Series. Oh. Mexican San Andreas Wrapper, top of an Indian binder, Nicaraguan fillers, 6 1/2 by 54, blah, blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah.

Oh, we're running out of time. Lugion PCA Exclusive, the 2020 Lugion Release, the Lugion PCA 2020 Exclusive, only there was no trade show in PCA 2020. So the cigar is now the 2024 PCA Exclusive. Oh, it's aged well.

Yes, it's aged well. It's a Habano, right? While there was a PCA 2021 convention trade show, there was no exclusive cigar then. I bet it's a Habano.

Let's see, retailers, when the cigar was announced. Oh, when the cigar was announced, there was one aspect that stood out. This cigar is made at Raises Cubanas, a cigar factory in Honduras that was once home to the Lusione product. However, over the last decade, Lusione has moved nearly all its production line from Raises to Agronosa's factory in Esteli, where they pay more.

Where you pay a premium. All right, this week's price increases. Okay. This week's.

This week's. Patina Cigars. I thought I got a news break. It just came out of my phone.

Patina Cigars have been a price increase from the core lines. Patina Cigars have been a price increase of four of its core lines, but I thought that was on the core lines. And the change is going to effect on February 1st. Patina, Connecticut and the Patina Habano lines are both going up five percent.

Oh, right on the note. Ding, ding, ding. Well, the Patina Maduro and Patina Sumatra lines are seeing a smaller increase of... Three percent.

Two. Damn. 50/50. All right.

I was reading fast to get to the main story of the day. Okay. Luciano Cigars, now underrated line shipping today. Oh.

What was it? Underrated? That's what it's called. I didn't make that up.

That's what it's called. Wow. Luciano Cigars begin shipping underrated its newest cigar line that the company says is a result of creating the unexpected from other people's stuff. Underrated uses a Mexican San Andreas wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and someone else's, I mean, unique filler that contains Connecticut broadleaf and Ecuador and HVA leaves, both of which are more commonly used as wrappers.

Then, there's a Mediotempo, it's got so much in it, Mediotempo from Nicaraguan's Pueblo Nuevo region, the leaves that come from the very top of the tobacco plant are known for its distinctive flavor profile, but the Mediotempo is unique in its own right as it came from the 2020-2021 crop. So it's aged. Last year, which is hampered by heavy rains and forced the tobacco to come out in the earlier plan. This is Harvest said, blah, blah, blah, blah.

The company calls the profile medium, full in strength with a robust body that captivates without overwhelming while the flavor has a bold richness as well as a sweetness referred to as candied. So it's a strong, medium, light fill that's got a very full flavor that's very sweet and fruity. It's kind of good, it's nice. From other people.

From other people, the story of Underrated is about surprise, that, hey, this is mine now, the unexpected pleasure of discovering something remarkable where one least expects it, said Luciano Morales, president and founder of Luciano Cigars, in a press release, Underrated is offering of four sizes, all of which are priced under $9. The company said its price was sealing challenges, the essence of value, and it's designed to be an affordable luxury cigar, which is easy to do when you're using someone else's tobacco. After months of seeing, I don't care about the months, Ingenious Lifestyle, blah, blah, blah, blah. Cigars are produced at Luciano Cigar Factory in Nicaragua, the Luciano Cigar Factory in Dominican Republic, and the Luciano Cigar Factory in Donnelly, Honduras.

That was a full page of a news. Not a Florida story! All right, good. We're going to wrap this up.

m. Thursday from a Tampa apartment complex. There's a kangaroo in my apartment complex. Again?

We've had a kangaroo before? Yeah, all the time. I don't marry a kangaroo before, but we have everything here. I love Florida.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the kangaroo was first spotted near Fowler Avenue and the 56th Street in Temple Terrace. By the time deputies arrived, the seven-year-old kangaroo named Hopper had made his way to Arbor Point Circle about a mile away. , the patrol deputies, canine, and aviation units attempted to get the kangaroo into an enclosed pool area so they could usher him into a trailer about 45 minutes later, put up a good fight. Usher.

Hopper was secure. From there, the Sheriff's Office said Hopper was inspected while the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission tried to track down the kangaroos' owners. He had no collar on. A spokesman for the Sheriff's Office was unable to provide the name of the kangaroos' owners but said they had the proper paperwork for him and that they even have a second kangaroo.

Sometimes kangaroos break out. Sometimes. Well, they can jump. They jump over the fence.

Hoppers. The Wildlife Commission requires Floridians to obtain a permit to keep wildlife as a personal pet. The personal permit allows the pet owner to keep the pet at a specific address, travel, and take it with him to the vet. The kangaroo has been fed and cared for by her deputies.

The owners are driving to our range right now to retrieve their kangaroo. I watched Aladdin with Teddy. Which one? The original.

There's no other Aladdin. Oh, the cartoony one? Yeah. " Wow.

" Oh, you can buy a tiger. Yeah. Greg was getting one several years ago. Greg wanted a tiger.

He was looking at the tigers. We found a place that sells tigers. Yeah. You just have to have a certain enclosed area in your backyard.

Oh, yeah? He's qualified because he has a bigger backyard. I don't think yours is too small. Plus, you have the vinyl fence, and the tiger just...

Let's knock that down. What you need to get is this dog. I saw it the other day. It's called an alibi dog.

A-L-B-I. That's the breed name. Yeah. Thing's huge.

Weighs over 200 pounds. Really? It looks like a Great Pyrenees, the white ones. Yeah.

But you can ride it. It's huge. But it loves children and it's good with families. I like that.

Does it look like a tiger? No, but they showed it with a tiger. It was bred to fight tigers and bears. Oh.

Really? Yes. Oh, an alibi. A tiger walked up to it and it smacked it and the tiger turned away and went the other way.

You know what, I'm good. I'm good. I think I'm fine. You're very big.

My mother told me about dogs like you. You're quite large. Tanner lost his dog. It was gone for two and a half days.

Yeah. He found it last night, like right before the Super Bowl went off. Really? It was with the kangaroo?

No, no. It had gotten loose and ran away. He doesn't know where it was, but he just, he spent all day yesterday at this elementary school where the dog had disappeared from when he was walking it, and eventually it came back. What he needs to do is put an AirTag on the dog's collar.

Oh, I don't think about an AirTag. How far can an AirTag go? Are you kidding me? It goes forever.

Does it? Yeah. Oh, can it really? So like if I had an AirTag on my luggage and it was lost, went to another country, it would show me...

Yeah, it's over here. I put an AirTag on my kid's sweatshirt. Who are their children? I was like, you fucking left it at school again.

Oh. So you're leaving it all. They make dog collars with AirTag places on them, I'm sure. I'm sure.

I'll have to mention that. There you go, you're welcome. Thank you. Alright.

This concludes episode number 320. We're going into Patreon 320. That's right, right now. Works so well.

Alright, we gotta go, bye. Bye. Thank you. You want to do another date?

A Cigar Hustlers podcast, its owners, and its sponsors take no responsibility for the opinions or statements made by the talk show host or their guest. Statements or show topics are not necessarily the beliefs of Mike and Mike Productions or the podcast providers, and opinions between talk show hosts may differ. It is not our intention to libel, incite, or hurt anyone's feelings. We invite you to write the show's host, Mike Szczepankewicz, with any feedback or suggestions that you have for their shows.

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Show Notes

On this week's episode of A Cigar Hustlers Podcast (Episode 320), we dive into the world of cigars, exploring legal disputes, industry promotions, and an unexpected kangaroo encounter in Florida.

Davidoff vs. Gurkha Legal Battle: We discuss Davidoff's move to dismiss Gurkha's Dragon lawsuit, unraveling the legal intricacies of this high-stakes dispute.

E.P. Carrillo's Promotion: Wayne Stoner's elevation to National Sales Manager at E.P. Carrillo is under the spotlight as we analyze its potential impact on the cigar industry.

Drew Estate's Sales Shake-up: Explore the recent shift at Drew Estate as Ike Karipides steps in to replace David Lazarus as the Senior Vice President of Sales.

Changes at Hooten Young: Allison Trainer's departure from Hooten Young and Omar Fernandez's role as a consultant in the cigar division are dissected, shedding light on the evolving landscape of the industry.

Kristoff's Triple Release: Kristoff's plans to launch the Twentieth Anniversary blend, a new PCA exclusive, and revamped Vengeance packaging at PCA 2024 are explored, offering a glimpse into the brand's future.

Illusione PCA Exclusive 2023: Get the insider's scoop on Illusione's exclusive offering for PCA 2023, uncovering the unique elements that make it a must-try for cigar enthusiasts.

Price Increases at Patina Cigars: We break down the recent price adjustments at Patina Cigars, delving into the percentage changes on core lines and discussing the potential implications for consumers.

Luciano Cigars' Underrated Line: Discover the latest release from Luciano Cigars, as their new Underrated Line hits the market, promising a unique and captivating smoking experience.

Florida's Kangaroo Caper: In a bizarre twist, we share a captivating story from Florida, where a kangaroo named Hopper creates a stir in a Tampa apartment complex. Join us as we unravel the events leading to Hopper's secure capture and the hunt for his mysterious owners.

Tune in for an episode packed with industry insights, legal drama, and a dash of unexpected wildlife adventure. A must-listen for cigar aficionados and enthusiasts alike

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