Cigar Hustlers Podcast Episode 322 Dress Code
Episode Summary
Episode 322 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast finds Mike "The King" Szczepankiewicz and Mike "BDP" Palmer riffing on podcast gear, budget mic arms, Facebook trolling and cigar-industry social media before getting to the meat of the show: a call-in with Mike Rosales of RoMa Craft Tobac about the reblended CroMagnon. Rosales explains that sourcing high-grade Connecticut Broadleaf became difficult, so RoMa Craft took the opportunity to retool CroMagnon entirely around Pennsylvania Broadleaf — a completely new blend, new packaging and new bands so consumers can tell it apart from the original. He notes the line will formally launch at the 2024 PCA trade show at roughly $8.50–$13 retail, with most familiar CroMagnon vitola names carrying over (the Black Irish becomes Clovis in the limited Timeline release). Both hosts, who smoked a pre-release sample on their Patreon show, argue the new version is smoother, cleaner and less one-dimensional than the original — and predict it will win over smokers who always found CroMagnon too strong.
In This Episode
- 01Studio Talk & Podcast GearThe Mikes compare their cheap Temu mic arm to the expensive one and take shots at slick-looking cigar podcasts with nothing to say.
- 02Industry Social Media TrollingComments on PCA posts, Tony Gomez's engagement, AJ Fernandez photos and the $25,000 charity humidors being auctioned off.
- 03Phil's Fun FactsPhil explains USDA beef grades — select, choice and prime — courtesy of sponsors the Powstanie Mafia Facebook Group and Bray's Ranch in Waldo, Florida.
- 04Podcast Feed Mix-Up FalloutThe hosts own up to posting the Patreon-only show to the Down to Herf feed and the Chet & Palmer YouTube page.
- 05Mike Rosales Interview: Pennsylvania Broadleaf CroMagnonRoMa Craft's Mike Rosales details why the CroMagnon blend was rebuilt around Pennsylvania Broadleaf, the packaging and band changes, pricing, and the limited Timeline/Clovis release.
- 06Cigar News RoundupTatuaje finally ships its PCA 2023 exclusive, Caldwell/La Barba/Lost & Found price increases April 1, Club Macanudo opens in Taipei, and E.P. Carrillo renames its Dominican factory.
- 07Foundation Rebrands Metapa as AksumNick Melillo's Metapa line gets a new name, band and box — same cigar — inspired by the ancient Ethiopian kingdom, and the hosts question the reasoning.
- 08Pro Cigar White Party Dress CodeWilliam Cooper and Eric Guttormson missed the all-white dress code for the second year running, so the hosts offer to buy them white pants.
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'm dead.
It's my destiny. Make way for the king. In a long time, can't be stopped, shooting my shot. Another Mike and Mike production in three, three, two, two, one, one, zero.
Woo. Welcome to the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, episode 322. We're recording live here at Mike and Mike Production Studios in Deltona, Florida. This is the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, the show where two guys share their passion for cigars, business, and life.
Join Mike "The King" Stepankiewicz and Mike "BDP" Palmer as we talk about the latest cigar news, reviews, tips, and interviews, some of the most influential people in the cigar industry. Mike and me, I'm your engineer and sound tech, Phil. Whether you're a seasoned aficionado or a curious beginner, this podcast is for you. Sit back, relax, and light up a cigar with Cigar Houser's Podcast.
Almost timed perfectly. Nice job. Welcome to the Cigar Houser Podcast, the show brought to you commercial-free, but a massive shout-out to our amazing patrons on Patreon. Thanks.
Hold on, I'm trying to get this thing fixed right now. Oh my gosh, no, Patreon. But a massive shout out to the amazing patrons on Patreon. Thanks for their 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.
Make sure to put that A in there. It's very important. Go there now. Write that down.
We'll keep watching the show, then you can go to that next. All right. Here we are. Here we are.
We have the second arm. We have the second arm. I just have to get it set up. You have the Timu arm.
I have the Timu arm, yes. You have the Timu arm. We're going to go to camera one and look at the Timu arm. Timu arms are way more inexpensive than the luxurious one you have.
And it looks way more inexpensive. Was there a box? Zero bucks? Yeah, barely.
Barely a buck. Yeah, but it works. I gotta fix the cord. Sent in a bag.
It works. And it was a third of the cost of that. I like mine. A third?
A third. Easily a third. Wow. Maybe even less.
Well, so I had mine, what, a week ago? Yours came last week. Okay. Well, we'll see which one lasts longer.
Oh, that's gonna be right. You know. Yeah, these springs seem a little precarious here. Ping, flop!
They're gone. And it's gone. And it hit you in the head. On camera, it does look a lot cheaper.
Oh, yup, there it goes. No longer have to be. And we're back. And we're back.
And we're back. Well, the iPad is nice and clean, that's not a problem this week. How much is our Wi-Fi? Twelve dollars as well.
The Wi-Fi. It's a team of Wi-Fi. A team of Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi is very expensive down here.
When we start setting this up in my garage, we'll have perfect wifi. Nice. That's where we're heading, huh? You never know.
No, we just, you know, when we go broke, we just don't pay rent. We just mutiny. I'm not allowed back to Palmer's garage. Yeah, yeah?
Yeah. Why not? Oh, he had a drinking problem there one time. You fucked that up, huh?
Well, it wasn't I had a drinking problem. I'm still allowed in the garage. There was a wee. I'm still allowed in the garage.
That had to be early on in this friendship. Yeah, yeah, yeah, way in the beginning. Way in the beginning. You guys are way more jaded towards each other at this point.
By the end of the show, I'm going to keep moving. It's going down. Dude, you keep adjusting it. Well, because it keeps going down.
I mean, it was up by my face. That's what you get for 12 bucks, dum-dum. Well, it lasted all about... Well, you know, we didn't have another $80 at the moment, Michael.
Three minutes. The struggle is real out here. I was watching a podcast on Instagram, like a quick clip. Yeah.
And I was listening to these guys. Somebody with a bigger budget? Hold on. I was listening to these guys, and I'm thinking to myself, man, you guys are just fucking oblivious.
What you're talking about is just fucking stupid. The cigar show? Yeah, cigar industry shit. Yeah, there's a lot.
I mean, these guys, you know, they're in the industry. Oh, they should know. They should know. Oh, but they don't.
It's just like they're just so huffing on the mainstream shit. I'm going to put it way higher, then by the end of the show it'll be okay. There you go. I mean, you're kind of stressing me out, I'm not gonna lie.
There we go. All right, there you go. See if it goes. Okay, perfect.
But now it's covering my face again. That's fine, it's the same thing, yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna give you the 80 bucks, bro. We're gonna get you one of these.
All right? I may be broke, but fuck it. I want you to have a good time. I'm having a good time.
I like playing with it. It's a little novelty thing. And we rethink the advertiser, not an advertiser. that no no we're rolling we're rolling this way this is how we roll so i watched them and i was listening to them you know yeah there's just no no nope nope no nothing what they were saying was stupid yeah was a sports but man did they look good they had good video they had good good mics great equipment we sound really well yeah yeah they have it was it was a good video on Yeah, that's nice.
Nice video. Our video's okay. Our video looks good. Yeah.
It's nice and green and sharp. You can't see who it is. He bad-mouthed them now. Do we know?
I'm not really bad-mouthed them. I mean, if I saw them, I would say, "Hey, man, your videos are great. " You know? You're just so...
I'm in a couple of podcast groups, and this guy was wanting help with his editing, and he went through this long list of his stages of what he does when he edits a show. I had no idea what the fuck he was talking about. Oh yeah, we just hit the no. Yeah, like, sometimes I have to dub the sound in for the volume, but other than that, it's pretty much done when I get finished.
I think I were not having those problems, right? Yeah, he's going to adjust this, and I move this, and then have a fade. But you know what's the difference to those? You have this board really well dialed.
Well, that's what I told him, too. I go, we have a Rodecaster board that adds all the special effects as we go, 'cause he goes back in and adds those after the fact. Oh yeah, no, that's crazy. That's gonna be a pain in the ass.
I mean, if we went, you know, just hit the button, right? I'll hit the button. And we have a good laugh. I laugh.
You laugh. The toaster laugh. I shot the toaster. Shot the toaster.
Whoa. I have something to play, but I don't know where to put it in. I don't know. Here's a nice piece of shit.
No, no, no, no, no. I have a new one. So, you know, on the last Patreon, we, we, uh, we talked about the new Pennsylvania cream bag. Yes.
I just, I just messaged Skip. He's probably still asleep. Oh. But, like, I really feel like we need to talk about this cigar a little more.
Yeah, well, it's because we talked about it all on the Patreon last time. Yeah, but I want to get... On the regular show? I want to get Michael or Skip on the phone.
Oh, I think Lightweight Heavy did a great job. Yeah, no, I understand that, but that was for the Patreon. I'd like to get one of the... Oh, I got you.
Okay, who's he calling? He's calling Michael. Yeah, he's probably doing push-ups or something. Jumping rope.
Yeah. Jumping rope? Red lighting. He jumps rope?
Sure he does. He's got a weighted jump rope. He does all the tricks with a back and forward lasso around his head and everything. Is this why he's making the coffee?
No, no. That's why he's red lighting in his red light studio. Oh, well, you make me wish to have a Michael Rosales. He's just not taking your calls anymore.
You know, I'm trying real hard. Did he call you back after last week? Probably. He did.
He did. What, on like Thursday? There's no show on. Let me see this guy.
Let me see. Oh. Call Jamie. So, Rosales has a whole studio now.
I'm gonna call Skip. He has a big red light thing, yeah. Let's see if I can wait. Like on Billions.
Probably. He's got a cryo chamber. Right, all that stuff. Oh, be careful with you.
If that kid's locked up, you freeze it up and die. Well, better not piss off Jamie. He's not answering you. Wow.
Call back, lightweight and heavy. Call lightweight and heavy again. The guy answers. The guy answers the phone on two rings.
Hey, is Rosales sitting next to you? Can you see Rosales or Skip? What about that damn phone? Well, Skip did have that lasagna last night.
He might be sleeping kind of heavy. I did see that. Yes. Yeah.
How does he have access to anything he wants to make down there? There's got to be some kind of problem getting certain things, you would think. What are you talking about? Food-wise.
Who? Skip. I mean, he made a lasagna. Can you get lasagna noodles in Nicaragua?
Yeah. Can you? He could make lasagna noodles. I don't think he makes lasagna noodles.
In San Juan del Sur, I'm sure it's fairly accessible. Oh, that's right. He's not in Esteli. And now in Esteli.
Right, right. I forgot. He's in a major city now. You could find yourself on an adventure looking for Fritos.
Yes, yes, that sounds great. That was rough. I mean, I couldn't find lasagna noodles in China anywhere, I don't think. No.
You're in China. Well, he's in Nicaragua. Not like, you know, big Italian. No, but I would say that, you know, he's in spots where it's, you know.
Well, San Juan del Sur, I can understand. It's more of a metropolitan area. No, it's more of rich people. You can't get lasagna in China?
You can't get the lasagna noodles. Not if you went to the grocery store. You can get a live frog. You can't get lasagna noodles.
They make everything for us. They don't make that. Well, they might, but, you know, not in their grocery store. I'm really excited about the cigar, man.
It was really fucking good. It was good. It was really good. You know, I went back and smoked a regular Cro-Mag, the exact same cigar in the regular Cro-Mag.
Totally different. It was totally different, but I enjoyed it, though, which normally I don't like the Cro-Mags. It's edgier. The original one's edgier.
Yeah, it is edgier. It is edgier. This one's going to cater to a lot of people. That's what you had said, yes.
Yeah, a little bit of Patreon info there, I guess. I'm just really excited about the cigar. Yeah, I saw your long post on his Facebook with all the pictures, he's obviously using AI now too, by the way, you didn't notice all those photos. I'm just going to Photoshop that painting, I was going to grab that one where he's drawing, and I was going to do like a stick figure with Skip's head on it.
Yeah, that's a good idea. That's kind of where my head goes, I don't, you know, you know what's funny is, there have been a lot of PCA posts. Yes. And there was one where Tony Gomez got proposed to his girlfriend.
Yeah? I didn't see that one. Yeah. " And like, everybody went nuts and whatever.
And there's 75,000 congratulations. Right. " Oh. So, I'm glad...
Tony Gomez? Yeah. He does look like John Wick. Yeah.
And I got some likes and some laughs. I'm sure you did. I'm just, I don't know. I'm retarded.
I think about all that stupid shit. Well, Shirtless Mike put a picture of him and AJ Fernandez. " And I've got like nine likes in... No camisa?
Why he not wear shirt? Why he not wear Chinese? He's Chinese, yeah. I said in Spanish.
In Spanish. why you know where shit why you know where oh big nipples the pepperoni boy no where shit grande nipples so and i like to now half wheels covering the fact that they're fucking just doling out these 25 000 fucking humidors that they're auctioning away oh i saw that yeah and i didn't read that story i saw that i start commenting on i'm like is it going wi-fi about wi-fi oh wait the big No, you're trolling. Yeah, yeah. Welcome, welcome, Mike.
Welcome to the party. Out of just sheer board, and I'm like, fucking. All right. 25 G's for a fucking humidor.
They raised a lot of money. Was it Pro Sabor or Pro Cigar? There's two different names, or Sabor, Cigar, and Dominican. Pro Sabor.
Right. And Pro Cigar. Isn't that the same thing? No, one's DR, one's Nicaragua.
Oh, so which one, Pro Cigar, is the one that just happened? Mm-hmm. Ah, okay, good. " He's not there.
You know, they're foreign people. He's probably not there. He doesn't like them. He doesn't like foreign people.
He doesn't like those type of people. Oh my goodness. So is your ad running tonight on How About That Cigar? Are you keeping the same ad?
Yeah, the ad's the same right now. The ad's the same. Gotcha. I'll change it.
No, no, we talked about it last week. I was just curious. I'll change it. I'll change it.
I did have a conversation with Garrett over the weekend. Did you? Oh. This is Garrett Robinson, formerly of How 'Bout That Cigar, and my list this year would have included a Pustani, without a doubt.
He said Matt wouldn't let him. Oh, really? Yeah, now he is free, so his list would include a Pustani. Oh, so his hands were tied.
Wow, I can't believe Matt would do that. Garrett told me when we were talking. Is that the workout guy? Garrett?
No, Matt. Matt. Matt Tai. The guy that runs the show.
How about that cigar? Yeah. The ball had one? No, no.
Oh, that's the other one. No, that's Billy Blanks. That's Tybo. Get it right.
What are you doing? He's a black guy. Boxing. He's a boxing guy.
Oh, Matt Tai's the one that had the birthday. Well, yeah. Everybody has the birthday. Everybody has birthday once a year if they're alive.
No, Michael had a birthday. No, that was PCA last year. Yeah, Garrett sang to. Garrett's the one that went to work for Don D'Ortea.
Yeah, Garrett sang to Matt Tai. oh that's right it was his birthday last year in an awkward fashion it was awkward was there a cake I don't remember there being cake it's kind of all got together strange wow what a birthday at Don Doroteo Garrett and Matt I gotta tell you Garrett's no longer there birthdays have ceased you know I don't know if I would have been capable of mentally handling it If the cigar got Cigar of the Year across the board the way that I thought it would. Why? Oh, it would have been too much?
Yeah, I think that I couldn't. Yeah, he doesn't take praise well. I couldn't have handled that. Maybe now, maybe this year I'll be better at it.
Oh, 2024. Yeah. Will it be counted in 2024? Well, I have a new release.
Oh, the new one you meant, not the old one. A new one. Yes, yes. I was thinking the old cigars.
Aha. That's right. Well, you released it so early, though. By the time it gets to the end, they were like, hey, I'll forget what it is.
That's what it is! I'll send refresher emails. Let us not forget to the video. That's right.
Let me remind all of you. Of the cigar that came out in the first quarter of the year that never gets any praise or affection. They had to contact that one guy. What was the one guy?
He's so good at this. That one guy. Is he the guy that... Is he the one with the birthday?
The one with the birthday. No, he's the one that we call Rosales about asking if he talked to him. The guy that charges $400 for the review. $20 for the review.
Yeah, that guy. Oh, the guy I chose for. What was his name? Wasn't it like Wong Chong?
We never said his name. Yeah, wasn't that on Patreon? I don't remember. Yes.
Yeah, it was Patreon. Yeah. Shh. Shh.
Shh. Shh. You guys should all get on this Patreon so we can start talking about it all the time. He needs a red light, too, I think.
He needs a red light. He needs a red light. Somebody needs a nap. Nap?
Yeah. Ugh. So, football was kind of messy this week. Yeah.
Got rained down on one. We lost the other game. Did it rain over the weekend? It did.
It's been out here. Yeah, it didn't rain over here. No, it didn't rain over here. Oh, it was like a swell.
We shut everything down at seven o'clock. No. Oh, at night? It might have rained at night.
I don't know. Yeah. But it gets dark. And then, yeah, you know, I'm in dark in your sleep.
Yeah. Well, I'm in the house. That's your bedtime. Well, certainly.
Yeah. And then you keep going on these Facebook rants about how you're getting up at two in the morning. The one day I did get up at two o'clock in the morning, but I didn't go to bed. Because you go to sleep early.
No, we go to bed, but I don't usually go to sleep till midnight at least. Two? Yes, two hours at night, yeah, right? That's good.
My ass was dragging all afternoon. I can tell when he goes to sleep, all the comments stop on Facebook. Right. He's just done.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Well, Saturday, for me, was... I don't even know what the fuck I did. You said basketball? We had basketball, yeah.
We did basketball, and then we went and saw a couple of the... Like, we saw Levi play baseball, and we watched Ryu play. uh my my my kids friends play basketball and stuff right you know that's nice of you support them a little bit right you there for the friends sure it's nice of you you're still cold punching yeah it's got a freezer in his garage what else you gonna do with it put meat in it i don't know i mean sometimes these things fade away well yeah i mean yeah but he's bought something huge for that we'd hear that it was for sale first well choose how it works like the rowing machine the murder bike i have the murder bikes oh do you yeah oh the uh uh squat rack i never got a squat rack i thought you had one during covid no i had a i mean technically he's got a squat rack in the garage i do uh yeah you could you could put a weight system on it on the rack above it's supposed to hold it that guy's dead to me yeah i haven't seen him where Where has he been? I don't know.
He's power washing, apparently, now. Has a power wash business. Completely rebranded. No, no, because every once in a while, I see a rack above thing.
A power wash above? I haven't deleted him on Facebook yet. I haven't got to that level. Miscellaneous above.
So randomly, I figured, nah, just do it. I saw him at Home Depot, I think, like a month ago. Oh. Did he say hi?
If you walk around and touch all the racks, go, look, all these are racks above, too. Look at this. But they're orange. I think it was during Christmas.
Oh, that's when you were trying to get the, uh, the Daddy Long Legs, uh, little blow up there. Uh, the Jack Scully or whatever he's got. Yeah. I had to return that thing.
Right. You had broken ankles. I thought they got the parts. Yeah.
I just returned it. Oh, just gave it. Yeah. I thought you returned it and then decide you didn't return it.
Yep. And then you guys ordered the parts. Yep. Parts never came.
Yeah, no, they didn't get back to us. You know, so I said, fuck this. I just returned it. And then I think another three weeks later.
And then a few weeks later, so it took like eight weeks for them to respond to our email. Right. Like, oh yeah, just send us more details as to what parts you need. I'm like, fuck you, two months later?
Right, well, very busy. Two number eight screws, some popsicle sticks. Like, hey, fuck that. You know, I'll just buy another one next year.
There you go. Just buy Greg's. He'll sell it cheap. 100 bucks.
Anything Greg sells is not cheap. Greg's was leaning too when I saw it. That's probably the way he installed it, to be honest. Yeah.
huh and then sunday sunday you know just football or anything very sad we went to church again saturday night oh you went to church you went yeah we've been going uh journey in uh well i don't want to say the name don't stop believing no yes it's my damn girl yeah okay no no no i have some uh concerns but i don't want to now that i've said the name i can't talk about it my wife likes Ah, you have some concerns about the church. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Well, I do, you know, what's going on? I can talk about it on the Patreon, I'll do it on the Patreon.
Okay, all right. I feel like this is a touchy subject. Hey, what's going on? It could be because she really likes it.
Hey, what's going on in your life where all of a sudden you need like, you need a solid... She wants, she's been wanting to go and I just go with her. Yeah? Yeah, it's not me.
Do you eat the cracker? No, it's not that type of church. Oh, should you? It's not a cracker church.
You gotta have the Jesus. Yeah, I know, no, no, no snacks during the ceremony. No ceremony. No snacks midway through.
Come on. It's close to the end. Right. You get the G's at close to the end.
The cran-cherries, the juice. Yeah. Nope. Oh, you know, I did play basketball on Sunday.
Oh, you did? Yeah. Oh, we cleaned out the garage. Nice.
Yeah. Throw away a bunch of shit. I keep blowing out my calves. Blew out my left calf now.
Playing basketball? Yeah. Oh, the jumping. Right before PCA.
Yeah. I'll do a lot of sitting. I don't know what it is. Can Nick Malillo carry you around?
I don't see that's going to happen. Oh, yeah, because you did carry out. You know, I won't cry like a baby like Nick. I'll just deal with it.
Oh, just limp. Yeah. I mean, in fairness, his wasn't a blown out cow. Yeah, gout.
Oh, rich man disease. Is that what that is? That's what they call it, yeah. I think you tell me that.
They're eating really rich food and drinking expensive liquors and wines and stuff. Oh, really? I'll never have that problem. Right, you'll never have that problem at all.
That's what they used to call it. They used to call it rich man disease. So what's the poor man's, a blister? Yeah, you just get blister.
I got a blister on your foot from your ill-fitting juice. I got athletes' foot. The cobbler's got the worst shoes. The cobbler's kids got the worst shoes.
The rich man's disease. That's what it's called. You Google rich man disease, you'll get gout. I gotta Google this.
Go ahead. You better hurry, because it's almost time for Phil's Fun Facts. I mean, he doesn't do events or anything, he just kind of hangs out at one spot, I guess. Alright, change the name of his cigar, just for the hell of it.
There had to be. We have that to cover and start. There had to be something there. " No, according to the story, it's not really getting into it.
People don't understand what it is. They don't understand the new one either. When you come from Drew Estate, you learn to add bullshit to your stories. Oh, sure.
You just change the narrative. Right, right. You know what I mean? It's a part of the tour.
If you leave Drew Estate and your wife cheats on you, you probably say something like, "No, I just let her fuck other dudes. Oh. Like that's, you know what I mean? Like, no, it's, you know.
No, she's not cheating. It's a thing. I enjoy. Are they on divorce?
I like to watch. No, I'm just saying. That's, you know. Jonathan, there's always some type of bullshit.
What's that, Prima Nocta with the employees? Yeah. I'm going to need you to sign this document before you start working here. If you get married, I get to bang your wife on.
They bang your wife on the wedding day. I saw it on TV. Grant them prima nocte. It is my noble right.
It is my noble right. Oh, you're going to adjust your arm there? Listen, I decided to sit back a little bit. I have a tendency to always adjust mine.
Right. You know, last week you kept sitting back and everything, your posture is worse with that microphone. Well, I'm back to where I normally am. Slumping.
Last week. I was super chill. I was curious... How much slumping did you get away with?
No, it wasn't a question of how much slumping I can get away with. It was more of a question of brain flow. Oh. So, if I was relaxed and I sat back a little bit more and I had that kind of approach, how would I respond in conversation?
Would it be more relaxed? Would I have... So, would the response be more relaxed if you were more relaxed? Yeah.
So, what were the results? I felt about the same. Yeah, it seemed the same. Yeah.
Well, we've been doing this for six years. It's almost... What is the same? It's almost...
I mean, I'm pretty genuine with what I say all the time. Right. I just feel like, you know, if I had tried to, I don't know, take a step back, would my thoughts be more processed? Would, you know, would I have a little bit more time in my response?
Ah, I see. What I articulate differently. Right. I don't know.
Is this with the alphabet? No. I'm just the type of psychopath that always analyzes and looks at everything that I do. I'm just that type of a person.
No. Did you watch the show? You should watch the show. I can watch the show.
No, you should watch last week's. To see how I looked. Yeah. To see how he looked.
I mean, now. You're fine now. Now I'm back sitting at where I was. Literally laying down.
Yeah, last week you were here. I was back there. Right. Yeah, I was curious to see.
Your shoulders were down. So you didn't look as professional or as intimidating as normal. Well, hey, I mean, you know what? I'm trying to wind that back a little bit, too.
Well, you stopped wearing a white shirt. Because it's like, hey, how are you? It didn't work for him. He was still angry.
Like, hey, how are you? I'm like, I'm good. Like, whoa, calm down, buddy. Those white shirts are so hard to keep bright white, too.
Yeah, they turn gray kind of quick. I have one in my clothes that I've never worn because I like the color. I don't want it to change. I don't want it to turn gray like the other one.
Alright, well. You're here for Phil's Fun Facts? Sure, I think I know what you're saying. Welcome to Cigar Hustlers podcast feature, Phil's Fun Facts.
Hello, peoples. All right. The USDA grades beef with the options... The grades?
Grades, great. The USDA grades beef. with the options of select, choice, and prime. The grading is solely based on the fat content of the meat.
So as an example, Greg would be select, the king would be choice, and I would be prime. So the next time you're in the grocery store, grab a nice big hunk of fill to put in your mouth. Wow. One, please.
So you have a sponsor. Remember, you have a sponsor. Phil's Fun Facts brought to you by the Powstanie Mafia Facebook Group and Bray's Ranch in Waldo, Florida. Oh.
They're now supplying the Phil Fun Facts for them. Really? Yes. Whose ranch?
Is that the real ones? Yes. Yes. Sarah is now sending in the Phil's Fun Facts.
I just messaged him about sirloin. You got sirloin. Oh, did you? Yeah.
I mean, what the hell? Hey, cigar lovers, are you a fan of Powstanie cigars? Do you want to connect with other enthusiasts, share your experiences, and get exclusive deals and giveaways? Then you need to join the new Powstanie Mafia Facebook Group.
This is a community of loyal followers of Powstanie, the brand that delivers bold flavors, impeccable construction, and amazing value. So don't miss the opportunity to be part of the Powstanie Mafia. Type the link below or request to join now, and the link is on the page. So last time I checked, we were a little bit over 400 followers.
That was last week, too. Yeah. And we got to do another 10 that we're giving away. You said that last week, too.
And I just didn't get to do it that last week. I'm just telling you. Why are you chastising? I'm not.
As a veteran Facebook group person, seems the problem with our group is people responding and posting. What do you mean? On which group? Well, the Powstanie group.
It's like the same five or six guys all the time. That's where it starts. But there's 400 people. It should be more than five though.
Post. And now it'll be Mitch and a couple of the other guys, all the same ones that comment on it. That's okay. That's where you start.
Come on, you got to start somewhere. 400 people in, Michael. There should be more. You think so?
People are not interacting with the group. They're just there. Okay, so then you know what? You want me to go Jay and Silent Bobbin on all of them in private message?
Hey, man. I noticed that you're part of this group. We're saying it on here. Maybe there will be more interactions.
Why haven't you responded? That was a different group. There's nothing. You're not encouraging our post on your picks.
And I, I would like you to get on that. There you go. Yeah. Look at the camera.
Hey, over here. Hey. Gonna need you to respond to them. I'm gonna need you to post some Powstanie pics.
I need you to like and comment on the Powstanie Mafia crew. You are one of the 427 people so far. Let's go. I'll cut this out and put it up.
Someone please give me an email at the top. I'll, I'll pin it to the top. Perfect. Thank you.
Okay. All right, moving on. Anything else? What else do you got?
I'm just waiting for the Matapa to become the fucking As A Hercer email news. Are you giving away the 10? Right now? I'm not here.
Oh, I do. Do you know what's going on? I'm lost. So we lost, so he lost his mind last week.
Yeah. I mean, let's be perfect. I made sure I did a really big red light this morning. You turned around and you did, you put the Patreon up for the Down to Her podcast, guys.
Correct. They lost their shit. They were very, they were very upset about that. Oh yeah, he put up the secret show as their show.
Yeah, you know what? Nobody even noticed, but I put our show up on the Chet and Palmer YouTube page, too. Did you? And I took that down and put it backwards.
Dude. It was a rough week last week, apparently. It was a rough couple of days. You know what's so funny is like, I don't know, maybe it's because I'm older and I just, I know shit happens and I know you at this point.
So I'm just like, hey, you fucked this up. And then like, I no longer get irate about it. I just move the fuck on. But Jerry and the Down to Herf guys, they haven't had these experiences.
You could tell that Jerry was upset. " And then hung up. So I guess he immediately called you. So he was upset, right?
" Like, I don't know. Right. It gets fixed. He fucked up.
What do you want us to do? Let him hang him up and start beating him on the back? I had a nice phone call on Tuesday, he's fine, or at least he's over it. Hey, calm down.
Yeah. He's at Delray Beach. Yeah, he was for the weekend. I set him up at a cigar lounge too, I don't know if he went or not.
Oh yeah? Yeah. I wonder how the Great Smoke went. It looked amazing from everything I saw.
Yeah. Yeah, there were confetti everywhere. Everybody seemed to have a good time who posted about it. I want to know the Septimo guy was there.
I don't know, because it wasn't the trick or treat thing, it was just tables, and I did not see any, no pictures of his table. Like, Sweepy put up almost 100 photos I didn't see her with him. Was he not supposed to be there? I'm just gauging his level of involvement in the industry, but if he shows up to The Great Smoker.
Oh. The, what's Volkenberg's magazine? Ash Quarterly. Ash Quarterly.
He had a table, a booth there, and they were giving away a Luciano... He had a table? Oh, humidor. Yeah, he had a table.
I thought you could only have a table if you're in Abe's store. Maybe he does add space. Maybe, well, if you've got to remember, there's all those other people there that have tables, the liquor people, the haircut people, the magazine people, so maybe they paid for a table. Okay.
But they were all sales tables this year. I mean, there wasn't, you know, like Terrence Riley was not standing by his table going, give me your ticket to your cigar. Right. Right.
So every time you want a certain cigar, you have to go to that person? You had, if you want to buy one? Buy the box or whatever. Yeah, it looked like some of them had special packs they made for the thing, buy packs or stuff.
You know, we're going to give Booth a call on Patreon, because I'm sure he was there. He was there. Yes, he was there. Yeah, I'm curious to get a picture with him.
Uh, we could call Jerry, too, and get his take on it. Who's Jerry? Jerry down to Herf, was there? But do you think he's still angry with you?
No, he's not. Hey, so I just want to know, I'm going to fuck up this week, and... No, they put up their own shows now. So, I know.
We fixed that. Yeah, well, I explained to him, I have a login for our show, I have a login for Smoking Truth, and then I have a different login for a different service for Chet and Palmer, and then all three of those shows also have three separate YouTube pages. Yeah, I'll go off your fingerprint. No, you just fucked up, man.
I did. Yes, I did. I did. I did.
I fucked up. Yeah. All right. So there's more logins.
Okay. So how do you solve the problems? Give it to somebody else. " Right.
There you go. I figure we're at the point now where we don't think he's going to do anything, so here you go. Yeah, he's not going to fuck it. There's nothing you can do.
Hey, I trust you enough to have this. Right. Right. All right, let's get some news going, baby.
Let's roll. From the four corners of the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need. The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report with Mike Tu. What are you looking for?
I'm just looking. Oh. Tatuaje ships PCA 2023 exclusive. Tatuaje began shipping the cigar, shipping the cigar.
It released an exclusive for retailers who attended the 2023 premium cigar and trade show last summer. Wait, start over? What? Tatuaje.
Tatuaje. Tatuaje is shipping last year's. Ta. Ta.
Twa. Twa. G. G.
Tatuaje. Yes. They're slipping. They're slipping.
They're shipping last year's. They're slipping. They're slipping. They are slipping.
You're coming. Because you're getting last year's cigar this year. Okay. Yeah.
8x54 Toro. They use an Ecuador and Sumatra wrapper atop a Nicaraguan double binder and fillers from Nicaragua. Basically, it's the same cigar as last year. You know, I've been smoking some Tatuaje lately.
Yeah. It's okay. Let's see. They still have another exclusive release from 2023 to ship.
The cigar made the Tobacco Association of America. The cigar comes in the same size. There's another cigar from last year. They still have it shipped.
Oh, okay. A lot of them. They're getting on it. They're getting caught up.
They're getting caught up. So, okay. If you buy the 2024 one, who knows when you'll get there. All right.
26. Bellotto, Caldwell, Lost & Found, increases price on April 1st. Most of the various cigars distributed by Down & Back LLC. You heard of them?
Yeah. That's Caldwell. Yeah. Well, increases prices on April 1st.
Those increases are as follows. Blind Man, 4. Caldwell, Cigar, 6. La Barba, 4.
Lost & Found, 6. Uh, the La Barba increase, uh, do not affect Tony Bellato's other brands. 6%? Uh, 4 and 6, yes.
Between 4 and 6. Oh, this thing gets in the way down here. La Roya is releasing the Pro Vintage 2014 at the PCA 2024. Oh.
That's 10 years. Wow. That's how long they've been around? No, no, they were, they're releasing the 2014 cigar at the 2024 cigar.
About a shit trade show. Is this the thing now? Oh. Mike Rosales.
This might be the only time we get. Yeah, it might be the only time it's available. Michael! Yes, sir?
You're on the podcast. The regular podcast. What's up? The regular podcast, not the Patreon.
Don't talk shit. Never, never. We're talking about your new cigar, we need $400. Oh, man.
I have your people get a hold of my people that they need to work out with. Perfect, I'll have Greg call Jamie. Call Jamie. Negotiable.
I'm the only person you can get consistently answered, Lightweight Heavy. That's true. We'll have Greg call Lightweight Heavy. Yeah.
You already filled up the CC form. There you go. Okay. So, yeah, I just wanted to kind of lightly plug here about what you're doing with the Pennsylvania Broadleaf Cro-Mag.
And, you know, I didn't know if you wanted to talk about it really quickly. That way we can kind of get things rolling into PCA. We smoked it on the Patreon, so. - I think that the, obviously, whenever it became apparent that the Connecticut Broadleaf was gonna be challenging to get it at least at a high quality, I mean, you know, again, there's always, there's always some types of tobaccos that are out there, but the high quality, grade A, so the things that you need, you know, it's always a, sorry, my DPS is streaming on me in my ear, is, it makes it challenging, right?
- Recalculating, turn left. Yeah, certainly less. So essentially at the end of the day, you know, we decided to go in and kind of take this opportunity. I mean, a couple of things have changed.
You know, obviously when we, you know, Cro-Magnon as a whole has been out since, you know, early 20, we started on that project in 2010. You know, our palates have changed, you know, people's palates that follow us, brand have changed, right? So even though it's a great cigar and it's located too well, it's an opportunity to kind of go in and kind of look and see what was available. We chose the Pennsylvania Broadleaf and, you know, kind of to retool and kind of update the Cro-Magnet as a whole, and so here we are, we're going to take it to the trade show and formally launch it, and I'm really excited, so there's going to be some packaging changes, some band changes as well, so that way people can kind of identify and look and see the difference between the Cro-Magnet original and the Pennsylvania.
Okay, so packaging and band changes. Yeah, well, and the blend is completely different too, correct? All the way down. All the way down, yeah.
It's retooled it. So we, yeah, we retooled it and it's gonna be fantastic. So, you know, and the great thing about it is the pricing structure for even four branches of cigar. 50 to, you know, $13 retail pricing.
Yeah, which is insane, especially in today's market. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, a lot of the sizes, you know, from people, people are kind of used to and common, you know, as far as, like, the Cro-Magnon, you know, names, I mean, there's some that are modified, like, obviously, like the Black Irish is not going to be known as Clovis, and, but for a lot of the other sizes and stuff, like, it's kind of carried. So, like, so there's some, you know, the lineage is there for Cro-Magnon, but then there's some modifications just to kind of keep it, you know.
It's funny to me because people are already talking about the Clovis, and they're looking for the Clovis, and I feel like some of them are just, they're sleeping on the fact that there's this new Cro-Mag coming out, and once they fucking smoke this cigar, dude, it is going to be their go-to regular rotation cigar. Yeah, for sure. Listen, if you're a listener, and you're already trying to track, if you're a listener, and you're already trying to track this Clovis, look, there's not going to be a lot of it coming out. And I'm going to tell you right now that Pennsylvania Broadleaf Core Line is so fucking money.
Do not skip it. You need to jump on that immediately. So the first one that you're going to be releasing is the Timeline, correct? Yeah, Timeline will be shortly coming out.
We're trying to get that out the first week of March. It's selected to about 12 retailers that will get it. that will get it. And, you know, and each one of them, the way that they're going to basically, you know, I'm sure it will change depending on the store and how they, you know, obviously, it's a quick, easy flip, right?
If, you know, if they were, you know, obviously, if you, you know, were to put a bundle of 10 and, you know, you get 15 or 20 or 10 or however many you actually get, you know, it's a quick flip. My recommendation is to kind of throw, You know, break it up and throw, you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that and, you know, get a couple in there. I mean, I think most people just want to try it, right? " So that way you kind of compare it and see, like, where, you know, how it's kind of been modified and, you know, how it changes and kind of, you smoke through them and realize, like, how much more it finishes, you know, it's just sharper, it's a little bit cleaner.
It's not as muted, I mean, you know, Pro Magan Broadleaf, you know, the Connecticut Broadleaf on that blend, on the Pro Magan blend, is very one-dimensional and very front-forward, and it doesn't really taper or move off that flavor profile, it's very, you know, front-forward and it stays that way for a while, and it just, there's no, there's no really nuances in that, and the wrapper leaf, you know, and it's a great taste and flavor, but I think, I think this one will, will definitely shine in its own way. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.
All right. Well, do you have anything else to add, Michael Palmer, or...? No, no. Like I said earlier, I smoked the Knuckle Dragger regular Cro-Mag after having the pre-release sample, and there is quite a difference.
Yeah, it's a totally different score. Just like Michael said, I don't know all those buzzwords he just said. I can't make it sound as good, but... The nuances.
Yeah, the nuances and the edge, the finish. Leather, leather. It was a lot smoother to me, the new one. Do you think that it's just because after years of experience in blending that Skip has gotten better at creating blends?
Or do you think – what do you think? Like how did – you know, I understand that Cro-Mag is – look, we went – this is the first thing that Romacraft did. We went – we sought out the best tobacco possible and we made a blend and it was good. It was fantastic because – I mean, you can't really make a bad cigar if you have – They're really good ingredients, right?
Now that we've kind of progressed forward here, we took a Sumatra that I think is unrivaled when it comes to 75,000 other Sumatras that came out in the show, right? There's the Sumatras, and then there's the fucking Volstead, right? Now, you know, I think that's kind of a testament to the blending process and the time and all that invested in this factory. Do you think that this new one is really a testament to, hey, we've spent a ton of time blending and learning how to make tobacco, how to cure tobacco, and do all these different processes, and this is definitely going to be different because of that?
Or just think, hey, we're really good at finding good tobacco and that's it? No, I think, so, I mean, here's the thing, right? If I said, hey, if Connecticut Broadleaf is your jam, and I, you know, okay, well, name two or three cigars that have Connecticut Broadleaf, people can kind of rattle off three, four, you know, brands that are pretty heavy, big, heavy hitters with the Connecticut shade Broadleaf in the marketplace right now. Right.
If you said, hey, what's Pennsylvania Broadleaf cigar that are heavy hitters out there that people buy, you know, that promote on social media? I think there aren't very many of those, if you think about it, I mean, just kind of in your head, I mean, is it more than two or three that you can think of that are, you know, and we had a, I mean, obviously, you know, when we did, we have worked with the Pennsylvania Barley before with another brand that we make and have made the commercial and, you know, so, I mean, you have some experience in that and then you kind of look at it and go, you know, You know, that, that, you know, believe it or not, I mean, that people really enjoyed that cigar, and I think, you know, you can kind of build off of that, and you kind of take it and say, okay, well, how do you kind of, how do you kind of blend that and marry that with, you know, either the Cro-Magnum blend is, someone's obviously really upset. Very angry. Have you seen my car?
And, yeah, so, long story short, I think, you know, you take, you take the blending efforts, And education that Skip has kind of gone through and kind of understanding like what makes our buying patterns and how we look for tobacco and then you take on top of the things that we've learned kind of on that first run with Pennsylvania and you kind of build on that and then you go, okay, how do you make a cigar that could be that kind of that heavy hitter in the marketplace for what you're trying to plug, right? How do you – because, I mean, again, you know, when we pulled Promagnon production off of, you know, back in, when was that, 2017, 2016, 2017, you knew right away that if you put it back into production, even if it was from product from existing inventory, people were going to say, oh, this isn't the same, right? So you have to come out with a cigar that's better, you know, the same or if not better when you release it, because you know there are going to be some naysayers that are out there, no matter what. You know, just, that's your type of dose, right?
Oh, it's different. Oh, yeah. So, this, you know, it's like, okay, well, so, you know, this kind of checks a lot of those boxes. I think, you know, it's understanding how to buy and curate tobacco and kind of blending, as well as, you know, how do you take it to the next level and say, how do you make this kind of become one of those standouts.
You know, you put a lot of time and effort into that to make sure that it checks all the boxes, you know, before you go to the market. Okay. So, yeah. You know, and hopefully, you know, even for the people who say, you know, Cro-Magnum was too strong for me, maybe, maybe you can make a little bit more nuanced and kind of bring them over into the fold.
I think it's going to have more consumers, dude. I honestly think this cigar is going to have more consumers. It's going to cater to the guys that like that Cro-Mag and it's going to cater to the guys that felt that the Cro-Mag was too much. I felt the Cro-Mag before was too much, but now, when I smelled that, it was better.
There you go. So that's my point, you know. So, I mean, dude, I was super impressed. I wasn't, at first I was thinking, okay, it's a Pennsylvania broadleaf, whatever, it's gonna be alright, you know?
And when we smoked it on the show, I was like, fuck, dude, this is fucking money, so. All right, well, I'll let you get back to, uh, GPS and harmonica lessons. Jump roping, whatever you're doing. All the things.
Thank you very much for the call and for the plug on the show, always enjoy it. You guys have a wonderful day. I'll see you soon. Yeah, we'll see you in a couple of weeks.
I'll see you soon. Looking forward to it. For a whole week straight. And we're going to be there nice and early, so you can't give us any shit about building anything by yourselves.
I don't, no shit. I get, you know, I'm not, I don't give shit. No, no. Yeah, no, I can, I can read between, you know, I get it.
Passive aggressive. I sensed it. I was like, oh, we fucked up. Oh, no.
I'm supposed to walk in for the first time. Normally when I fuck up though, it's not intentional. It's not like, all right, well, I'm awesome. So I'm just going to show up and everything should be done.
I was like, oh, no, we got here kind of late. Oh, fuck. So, so now we're going to be here nice and early, apparently. Oh, yeah, Greg has had quite a few days to the front end.
Yeah, so it's going to be great. I'm coming. I'm looking forward to it. All right.
Thank you guys. Take care. All right, Mike. Talk to you later.
Bye-bye. Michael Rosales of Aromacraft. He knows all the buzzwords. Yes.
I mean, it sounded very impressive. He could have been talking about nothing, but it sounded so impressive. That's his job, isn't it? I gotta tell you.
Exactly. That's what I mean. I mean, it's not like it's his first day. Man, listen.
But a lot of people aren't that smooth, though. Man, listen. We talk to a lot of industry people on this show, and it's not... Look, I have only...
I have learned this game from a handful of people. Right. And he is one of... he's probably the top one of that list when it comes to sales and memory and, you know, just the shit that he knows.
He never tells anybody that they're a fuck stick. No. No. No.
It's a callback to last week. Where I called somebody a fuck stick? No, you said you're not good at sales because you've been told that I call people fuck sticks and you shouldn't call people fuck sticks. Yeah.
I just listened to the show yesterday. They're a thing, I mean, I am who I am to some degree. Right, right. Right?
So, you know, I have learned that you're never going to emulate somebody precisely. No, no. You know. Or do you want to?
Like, Kobe will never be Jordan. Right. But, but Kobe learned the game from Jordan. Right.
Right? So, same scenario. You know, you learn things from individuals, and you put your own spin on them, and then you are who you are. Unfortunately for me, I'm the hat of all of those things.
I'm not just the sales, I'm not just the blend, I'm not just the brand, I'm just, you know, and Greg does help along the way for some things. Some things, which is very little, you know. A couple days before Vegas, you know, yeah. The difference is, though, that when we ask Greg what's going on, what's up with this, he's always waiting on something.
No, he wants to cut that whole part of the meeting out, where you ask the employees if they need anything? Yeah. Yeah, he just wants to cut that whole thing out. Really?
He said that? Yeah, he said that Friday. He took such a throttling, you said last week, during the meeting. I was waiting on that.
Yeah. I gotta make that call. Everything somebody wants, he goes, "I'm on that. I'm working on that.
I gotta make a call. " What are we waiting on? It's actually a good part of the meeting, though. Let's hit the fucking button.
Well, he just wants to take it out because he doesn't want to have to do it. It's his part. He doesn't want to own his shit. Well, I haven't done that yet.
And we're at the five-minute part of Greg owning his shit. All right. All right, we've got quite a few stories out as we did the interview, I think. Oh, that's okay.
I know we have to get upstairs, though. We got, okay. Club Macanudo opened in Taipei, Taiwan this month. And you say that that one was the fucking, like, what did you cut out?
The Club Macanudo doing Taipei, Taiwan. I cut out La Aurora, I cut out... We talked about La Aurora. No, all he said was the title of the story.
Oh, okay. I cut out Warped Cigars, making a 10th anniversary cigar. Okay. West Tampa is re-releasing the cigar again, but they've changed the name.
What is it? Is it yellow now? No, it's still red, but it's the Attic series again. Oh.
It's Bring Him Back. Not re-release, Bring Him Back. Okay, and we're on Taiwan. Now we're in Taiwan, so I just jumped four doors ahead.
The new store lounge located in the central business district of the city, nestled among art installations, stunning architecture, fashion houses, World-class shopping, culture, and culinary destinations, and the iconic Taipei 101. China's debating if they should just take it all. Yeah, they're just gonna shoot it down or something. Justin Andrews, senior brand manager and brand personnel for SCG, was contacted for a quote and his voicemail allegedly said: "I'm in a meeting again.
If these meetings don't stop, I'll call you back. Oh, shit. Here comes my boss. " That sounds about right.
Right. That's about right. Oh, man. The bottom stories are so hard to get to with this microphone.
Foundation Cigar Company rebrands Metapa as Axum. I have questions about this. Okay, well, let's do the story and then see if we answer your questions. Yeah, let's see.
Foundation Cigar Company has announced that its Metapa line has a new name. It is now being called Axum in an attempt to connect consumers to the cigar, but still no one knows what Nick is talking about. It's called Axum now, and the label is different. The new name, yeah, it's got a new picture of a different guy.
Oh, dude. D. Axum, the city and kingdom is located in East Africa and South Arabia and modern-day northern Ethiopia. This guy is just so smart.
He looks like the other guy without the hat. It was located by Nick by putting a rare amulet on the top of a long stick and waiting until the sun was just right and sent a beam of light onto a miniature of the city. S. government has the Ark hidden in a warehouse somewhere.
The packaging gets this update as well, the image on the box in the band of Aksum is that of Haile Selassie's father. Not a lot of long names, you don't know. The decision to rebrand reflects a deeper connection to the brand's inspiration. The Ark of the Covenant and its symbolic journey in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the company that brought in a pressure release.
So, is Kai'sai trying to do a cease and desist to see if he possessed Raiders of the Lost Ark as well? No, no, he's not on that. So, I talked to Alfredo. Oh, please.
About Matappa and blah, blah, blah, and Axum or whatever, because I needed a refill of some stuff or whatever. And they don't have fucking all that stuff. So, you might want to wait, see what you got to buy together. And they don't have all, yeah, right?
Right. You know what, dude? I got to be honest, whatever. If they say, hey, you know, you're not, I'll be like, okay.
Sorry says the line will begin shipping to retailers later this week, will also be featured in the 2024 PCA Convention and Trade Show late March, if you want them, allegedly, it comes in a value pack with 75 other boxes of Assorted Foundation cigars that you may or may not want. Allegedly. Oh, you wanted the Exum. Oh, gee.
Wow. You're not qualified here. Yeah, you're not buying enough yet. I'm looking at the stuff here.
Hey, you gave me the guy without the hat. How about Metapas? You want those? So Alfredo.
We got some of those left. So Alfredo says to me, he's like, yeah, man, you know, I don't know. I don't know, I feel like there are going to be some people really kind of looking for the Metapa, because now it's, you know, it's concerned that it's some sort of like, I said, what the fuck are you talking about? It's the same cigar.
Like, the fuck are you talking about? They're trying to push the Metapas out of it. You know, I don't, I don't, I don't know if there's Metapas left or not, but it's just funny to me always to hear some of the shit that comes out of Alfredo Spahn, I'm like, stop it right now. I don't know what you're talking about.
Did he not see the list? The, what, what list? What's in stock? No.
Is that our regular show? I don't know what he's talking about. I don't know what he's talking about. Oh, no, that was Patreon.
Oh, my God. Stop talking about Patreon on the regular show. You guys need to get on the Patreon. That's what it needs to happen.
You're a hot mess. Well, what, all 750 to listen to this show? Yeah. Well, then we only do one show.
Okay, look, deal. We'll make a deal. Only half of you have to get on the Patreon. You know what?
I would love nothing better than just to get away from this and just do Patreon. Just do Patreon. Just do Patreon. Oh, we could.
Oh, we could just do, like, a 10-second blip thing. We don't have a podcast today. We don't have a podcast anymore. If you want it, you gotta pay for it.
We're on the fucking Patreon. Yeah, come get us on the Patreon. Come get us on the Patreon. Well, we talk a lot of shit about everybody.
Like, we don't... More than you'd already do! Wait a second, we don't have sponsors. No.
We don't have sponsors. On Patreon? No, we don't have sponsors on Patreon. I feel like we have a sponsor now.
Don't we have a cow sponsor? No, they sponsor by doing work. Oh. Sweat Equity.
Oh, yeah. He's talking about Bray's Range. She sends in the Phil's Fun Fact every week. Oh does she?
Yeah. Sweat equity. Sweat equity. Sweat equity.
Or you can start doing your own again. What you need to do is you need to have her start uploading shit, so you know what I'm saying? I don't think she has that kind of time. Okay, show.
So is that the, are you getting axums, are you getting metatas? I mean like, if I need to fill a particular size, I'll get the new ones, I guess. Is it a different point? No, it's the exact same cigar.
They've changed the band in the box. This is ridiculous. Because he must have seen Raiders of the Lost Ark over the weekend or something. I don't know.
Somebody said something. The guy, the guy on the old band, he's alive. The guy's dead. " Yeah, something, something.
You figured, who's going to know? That's my grandpappy. We own the rights of Matapa, you know. " Because Matapa was made for his grandfathers.
With the local government. Wasn't that the one made for his grandfathers? Oh no, that was a Charter Oak. That was a Charter Oak one that he made for his grandpa.
Matapa's a poet. P. Carrillo renamed Tablicalera La Alanzia. P.
P. Carrillo, what, La Lanza to Casa Lucio Morales, I mean Casa Carrillo. Wow. According to an article in Cigar Aficionado, Ernesto Perez Carrillo made the change to better encapsulate the company's heritage, vision, and commitment to tradition, And to allegedly ward off any possible takeovers from another cigar maker.
Cigar factory opened in April of 2009, is located in the free trade zone of Santiago, Dominican Republic. Santiago. Yeah, there's a very big story about Best Cigar Prices doing a giant party, why don't you do that? We're gonna have a big cigar party.
And well, the Pennsylvania party that used to happen for, who was the name of the company? I don't know. Well, they don't do it anymore, so now these guys do it and stuff. Oh.
Right. Hmm. Florida Story. The Florida Man has died after a bite from a large venomous lizard called the Gila Monster that he legally kept as a pet according to Lake City officials.
The Florida Man? That was actually a guy. No, he's just saying a Florida Man. A Florida Man.
A Florida Man. Died after being bit by his legally kept pet lizard. Ah. Christopher Ward, 34, owned two of the reptiles and became ill after being bit on the hand by one of the animals.
An incident reported from the Lake City Police Department shows Ward's girlfriend called 911 just after midnight February 12th after she entered the room where the reptiles were kept and found that one of them had latched onto Ward's hand. LCPD Animal Control Officers Leisha Crookston wrote in the report, Ward immediately started showing symptoms, vomiting several times before he passed out and his breathing stopped and then he died. This is a horrible story, but it's, I mean, funny. I mean, why would you, why would you have.
We have to get them from the desert, we don't have a desert, so we have to get these somewhere illegally. " Dead. What'd he do? He said he threw up.
The lady watched. I mean, I was contemplating a tiger. Vominated several times before he passed out and then breathing stuff. I mean, Teddy said she wanted a tiger, I was like, I'm just gonna make that work.
We looked up a tiger, don't get the tiger. Yeah, you can't get the tiger. You used to be like that one guy in TikTok that has a tiger. I want a tiger.
He acts like he's blind and he's got the fake dog. He walks around with a dog and he gets a fake tiger. They get a fake tiger. They get mad at Bubbles as is.
I mean, can you imagine? There's a place that'll take your dog, Chapo, with all the hair. And turn him into a tiger. They'll turn him into a tiger.
Oh. They will paint him so he looks like a tiger. They will cut him down. They paint him?
Yeah, they paint him. Wow. I bet you my groomer would do that. I'm like, can you make him look like a tiger?
I think it's in Miami, to be honest. I bet you my groomer would do it. Well, only if they're familiar with painting. There has to be special paint.
I can't imagine. Not like they use, you know, Krylon. What's the time you try to do the haircut yourself? Look, you throw enough money at anything.
" Right. " I hear that place in Vegas is stocking up because they know you're coming. " So, I know that it'll happen. And the price.
I know that it'll happen. There's a price. What is the number? Server walks away, she handles all the orders, whatever, she comes back, she goes, "I just want you to know, they said they'll do it.
" Yes, we would like, "Oh, 15, I don't know. " That's where I broke, so you broke me. How many pieces were in the sashimi donut? Uh, a lot.
Oh. So, it normally has like a smidgen of salmon. Yeah, it's probably like four pieces of salmon, you know. Right, and you just wanted them all.
Yeah, I want all salmon. Right. We can't do that. My sister-in-law wanted, uh, chicken fried rice, all white meat chicken.
Yeah. I never knew, I never thought of even asking. 50 more. That's it.
Yeah. Somebody goes through it and fucking... Yeah, you gotta pick all the other... That's what I'm thinking.
They make this before you get there, so... Yeah. Are they picking it out? Yeah.
I like the lo mein with crooked noodles. Right, all the crooked ones, no straight ones, please. And that's just spaghetti. Yes.
Alright, Pro Cigar, Dominican Republic, a memorable closure marked by a fashion faux pas. Wait, there's another story after the Florida? Yeah, this is a big one. Yeah, this is a special story.
Oh, this is a big one. So if you could go to my camera please there, cameraman and sound technician. This is the biggest news of the show. Oh.
"As the sun sets, Michael, on another successful edition of the Pro Cigar in the Dominican Republic, attendings are buzzing about the exceptional moments that define the year's event. Among the highlights, however, was one particular story is Stealing the Limelight: The Fashion Misadventures Of industrial stalwarts William Cigar Cooper and Eric Grosom from Cigar Dojo. Pro Cigar, known for its vibrant celebrations of sobriety and camaraderie, wrapped up with a brand white party, a tradition where attendees don their finest all-white ensembles. However, for the second consecutive year, William Cooper found himself at the center of attention for missing the memo on the dress code as he failed to support the required.
The requisite white pants. My goodness. Cooper, a respected figure in the cigar industry and a regular participant in a pro cigar event. The media icon of the cigar industry.
Humorously embraced his fashion blunder, becoming the talk of the evening. Attendees shared a collective chuckle as they witnessed Cooper confidently navigating the sea of pristine white outfits in his non-conforming attire. Please tell us. To add a twist to the tale of sartorial mishaps, Eric from Cigar Dojo, another influential personality in Cigar World, Also missed the mark on the dress code, the camaraderie and spirit of Pro Cigar prevailed as gutterism joined Cooper in deviating from the exceptional all-white attire, sparkling laughter, and creating a memorable moment for all the attendees.
Social media sphere has since been flooded with photos, there's one here, antidotes about the unconventional fashion choices turning what might have been a faux pas into a lighthearted and unforgettable aspect of the year's Pro Cigar. Attendees appreciated the candid and humorous approach, both Cooper and Dolores. Cooper and Erik adopted, I can't say his last name, showcasing that even in a formal setting, a touch of spontaneity and good humor can elevate the overall experience. Wow.
Wow. That's crazy. Just going in there. Cooper on khakis.
Well, no, they were grayish blue. Oh, like a grayish blue. Not even khakis. Not even khakis.
And Erik had on yellow. Yellow. Yellow. Faded yellow.
This is an all white party. Which matches yellow shoes too. It's an all white party, gentlemen. Is this something that's known that it's an all-white party?
Oh yeah, it's a big deal. Yeah, it's called the all-white party. So why not just don't get the whole... Why not do it?
I don't know. Just commit. Yeah, just get a pair of white pants. How hard can that be?
I'm not gonna lie. It probably is hard to find all-white pants. I'm not gonna lie. We should buy something.
You can buy them online. Oh yeah, online. Oh, we should. Erik and Harry, these are for you guys.
These are for you guys for next year. Do you want a big red P on the side of it? We want you guys... No.
We want you guys, we want you guys respected in the industry. What side do you think Eric wears? He's very little. I don't know.
He's surprisingly small when you stand next to him. Who cares? I'm gonna put him at like a 29. 29?
Yeah. 29 length? Oh, 29 waist. 29 waist.
29, like a 28. Just get him linen. And then like a 28 length. Okay, we'll see if we can find those.
Cooper? Coop's probably rocking... 34? I'd say a 36.
Oh, you think that big? You think that... Maybe. Let's go 36.
Better safe than sorry. You can always fix that with the belt. 36 and shorter. He's shorter, maybe a 30.
I think he's about a 40, 42. Okay, I'll see if I can find those. No? All right.
No, he's not that big. Yeah, we'll just wing that. What size do you wear? I wear a 34, 30.
We're going to buy... And 34 is a little baggy. I mean, you're not going to be able to get the new microphone stand, but we'll get them some pants. Yeah, pants are going to be 80.
Get the pants off of Timo. They won't get here in time. Yeah. Yeah.
It's like a three week delivery thing for that. We'll have to have delivered to Vegas. Yeah. We don't have that kind of time.
Right. But yeah, I want them in white pants. Certainly. Yes.
Yes. We need proper representation of cigar media in the Dominican Republic. Exactly. They were the only two media guys there.
Yeah. And they need to be in all white. They need to. Yeah.
Charlie, I'm sure, is in all white. Uh, I'm sure he would have been too. A white sweatshirt. White hoodie.
Yeah. A white hoodie in sweatpants. I'm sure, you know, he has like a, he's got these nice jackets. What are they called?
Um, Mikey. No, no, no, it's something weird. Yeah, well, I didn't... You know what I'd be talking about.
You very rarely see pictures of Charlie unless he's in somebody else's photo. Yeah. He doesn't take it, does he? Yeah, I feel like.
The pants or the gown? No, the fucking jacket. Cashmere. Oh.
Oh. Yeah. That's what he wears? All white.
That sounds very warm. Cashmere down in the Spinnigan Republic. I feel like Charlie's a little more simple like Nike Air. No, man, I've seen him in some shit.
" Yeah? He takes a lot of money on that half-wheel thing. He's crushing it. Yeah, he wouldn't show up in not always.
No. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, neither would Hustle's podcast. Yeah, we just wouldn't go.
We just wouldn't go. Right. Because I'm not looking for pants. Right.
It's so crazy. It's so hard to find, apparently. Yeah. We're going to solve your problem, Coop.
And Eric. And Eric. And if you guys have to go. Shout out to Dojo.
Shout out to all the 75,000 Coop things that Coop does. All the different ones. Trombone, Coop. I mean, the most important one is the jukebox.
Jukebox Coop. Right. Jukebox Coop. He's my guy.
They're doing a big Taylor Swift show this week, apparently. I know. It's fantastic. What?
I love it, dude. Taylor Swift show. I love watching it. I love watching his clips on Instagram and shit and start laughing my ass off.
So, yeah. All right. Well, that's a podcast. You got a listener of the week?
I don't have one. All right. Leave me alone. Shop of the week?
No. Are you releasing the shop yet? Where are you doing the justice? No.
I know where I'm doing it, though. And you know what? That guy scheduled an appointment already for the show. Oh, isn't that nice.
Yeah. Is it out of state? Yes. We'll be driving.
Red Circle? Oh. Red Circle? Red Circle.
Who's Red Circle? Oh, well, I got to take that call. So, see ya. All right, he's got to go.
Bye. Goodbye. The 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. These broadcasts are presented and made public as entertainment in the hope that they will be entertaining to the audience. Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
Show Notes
Welcome to the latest episode of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, where we bring you the latest buzz from the world of cigars. In this episode, we dive deep into the premium cigar industry, exploring exciting developments, exclusive releases, and even a touch of drama.
First on the list, we discuss Tatuaje's highly anticipated shipment of PCA 2023 exclusives. Find out what makes these cigars special and why they're generating so much buzz in the cigar community.
Then, we unravel the price hikes coming from Bellatto, Caldwell, and Lost&Found, set to take effect on April 1. What factors are driving these increases, and how will they impact cigar enthusiasts?
Get ready for the scoop on La Aurora's upcoming release of Puro Vintage 2014 at PCA 2024. Learn about the flavors, craftsmanship, and the excitement surrounding this much-anticipated launch.
In a special phone interview, we connect with Mike Rosales of Roma Craft Cigars. Gain insights into the world of cigar crafting, industry trends, and what makes Roma Craft stand out.
Breaking news from Taipei – Club Macanudo is set to open its doors this month. Explore the expanding global footprint of this iconic cigar club and what it means for the cigar scene in Taiwan.
Foundation Cigar Co. takes center stage as they rebrand Metapa as Aksum. Uncover the inspiration behind the rebranding and what enthusiasts can expect from this transformation.
E.P. Carrillo makes a bold move by renaming Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. to Casa Lucio Marieles, or as they say, Casa Carrillo. Discover the story behind this name change and the significance it holds for the renowned Dominican factory.
Shifting gears to Florida, a tragic incident involving a venomous lizard takes a somber turn. Hear the details surrounding the unfortunate demise of a Floridaman who kept a Gila monster as an illegal pet.
And finally, we close with a bit of humor from Pro Cigar Dominican Republic – a memorable closure marked by fashion faux pas. Delve into the amusing stories of William "Cigar-Coop" Cooper and Eric Gutterson from Cigar Dojo, making waves with their fashion choices at this year's event.
Tune in for an episode packed with exclusive releases, industry insights, and a touch of the unexpected. This is the Cigar Hustlers Podcast – where the world of cigars comes to life!