Cigar Hustlers Podcast Episode 360: A Wild Week in Football, TV, and Cigars

Episode Summary

Episode 360 of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast finds Mike "The King" Szczepankiewicz and Mike "BDP" Palmer, with engineer Soundtech Phil, in a loose, wide-ranging Veterans Day episode recorded at the Mike & Mike Production Studio in Deltona, Florida. The first half is pure pop culture and sports: Jake Bates' game-winning field goal in the Lions' improbable comeback over Houston (and his path from soccer player and bricklayer to the UFL to the NFL), the hosts' hopes for a Chiefs perfect-season collapse, the Cardinals' franchise-record defensive streak against Aaron Rodgers and the Jets, the Yellowstone Season 5 return and the handling of Kevin Costner's John Dutton exit, plus Taylor Sheridan's expanding slate (Lioness, Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown). A Veterans Day explainer covers the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and what's open or closed, and Phil's Fun Fact digs into Stanley Tucci's memoir and his loyalty to Hellmann's mayonnaise.

The news block is where the cigar substance lives. The hosts break down reporting that Swisher paid Mercury Public Affairs $30,000 to have Susie Wiles — now Trump's White House Chief of Staff — lobby Congress on FDA issues, and discuss why a flavored-cigar company like Swisher (which also owns Drew Estate) has more at stake on regulation than premium makers protected by the Cigar Association's successful FDA lawsuit. They also cover Luciano Cigars moving Fiat Lux production to Plasencia's Tabacos de Oriente factory in Danlí, Honduras, with plenty of ribbing about Luciano's reputation for paying its partners.

Industry personnel moves round things out: Eddie Guerrera exiting Davidoff of Geneva USA after nearly five years (with a new role to be announced before year's end), Tony Gomez joining Luciano Cigars as head of business development after stops at Espinosa and Jake Wyatt, and CLE naming Mark Heppermann European area sales manager — sparking a discussion about American brands chasing European growth and how a brand-side sales manager fits alongside an existing distributor like Schuster. On new releases, RoMa Craft Tobac ships the Craft Marquette Mon Cherie, a 5 3/4 x 46 Corona Gorda version of the Aquitaine EMH Frenchie barber-pole, limited to 650 bundles of 10 at $12 per cigar, allocated on year-to-date Aquitaine sales.

The guys close with event talk: Ladrillo-style festival weekend chatter, and their own November 22nd in-store event with Erik Espinosa, including an ongoing debate about how to actually run a dominoes tournament. Listener of the week is Ryan Mackamson and shop of the week is Bogart Cigars in Fayetteville, Tennessee.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Show Intro and Patreon Talk
   The hosts praise last week's long-form Reinhardt interview and discuss adding more real interviews to the show without turning it into a second podcast.
2. 02
   NFL Week 10 Roundup
   Jake Bates' game-winning kick for the Lions, Dan Campbell's Detroit, the Chiefs' close wins, and the Cardinals' record scoreless home streak against the Jets.
3. 03
   Yellowstone Season 5 and Taylor Sheridan
   How the show handled Kevin Costner's John Dutton exit, where to stream it, and Sheridan's other series including Lioness, Tulsa King and Mayor of Kingstown.
4. 04
   Veterans Day Explainer
   The origin of Armistice Day, why it falls on November 11th, and what's open or closed on the federal holiday.
5. 05
   Phil's Fun Fact: Stanley Tucci's Mayonnaise
   Tucci's memoir, his failed homemade mayo attempt, and why he sticks with Hellmann's — plus a detour into Lil Wayne's real name.
6. 06
   Swisher, Susie Wiles and FDA Lobbying
   Swisher paid Mercury Public Affairs $30,000 to have Trump's incoming chief of staff lobby Congress on FDA cigar regulation, and what that means for flavored versus premium cigars.
7. 07
   Luciano's Fiat Lux Moves to Plasencia
   Fiat Lux production shifts to Plasencia's Tabacos de Oriente factory in Danlí, Honduras, with the hosts saving insider commentary for Patreon.
8. 08
   Industry Moves: Davidoff, Luciano and CLE
   Eddie Guerrera leaves Davidoff of Geneva USA, Tony Gomez joins Luciano as head of business development, and CLE hires Mark Heppermann for European sales.
9. 09
   RoMa Craft Mon Cherie Release
   A 5 3/4 x 46 Corona Gorda take on the Aquitaine EMH Frenchie barber pole, $12 per cigar, limited to 650 bundles and allocated by Aquitaine sales.
10. 10
    Events, Listener and Shop of the Week
    An Erik Espinosa event and dominoes tournament on November 22nd, listener Ryan Mackamson, and Bogart Cigars in Fayetteville, Tennessee.

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

I don't ever slow up, no I don't take shit, I got no love, for the fateness, if you wanna play tough, and wanna hate this, I'll always show up... Everybody stand by, industry is in the house. If you wanna play tough, and wanna hate this, I'll always show up... Here he is, the controversial, but legendary, BDK.

I wanna hate this, I'll always show up, and make a statement, everything I do, so instinctive and so powerful. Make way for the king. I gotta stand better against people who've gotten it, being negative. Another Mike and Mike production in 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 0.

Welcome to the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, episode 360. Recorded live at the Mike & Mike Production Studio 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 Steponkiewicz, master blender of Pistania Cigars, and his co-host, Mike BDP Palmer, semi-master blender of the BDP Cigar, as they talk about the latest cigars, news, reviews, and interview some of the most influential people in cigar industry. And me, I'm the engineer at Soundtech Phil.

Whether you're a seasoned aficionado or new to cigars, this podcast is for you. Sit back, relax, and light out that cigar with Cigar Hustlers Podcast. To the Cigar Hustlers Podcast. The show brought to you commercial food.

A massive shout out to our amazing patrons on Patreon. Thanks to your unwavering support, we're able to do unfiltered, unbiased opinions. All things cigars, personalities in the cigar world. Your backing makes it possible for us to keep it real, our listeners.

Cheers to you. to you. com. Search a Cigar Cigars Podcast.

My NOS is still here from last week. I moved it from one side of the chair to the other. I see that. You didn't finish it?

They barely drank any of it. I didn't need a lot of it. Yeah, there was probably a lot of sugar. It was pretty effective.

It was pretty effective. What are we doing for the Patreon, Michael? Oh. The 5-0 from Sanisa Fina, Maybe.

Yeah, this is Sam's I'm 50. His birthday cigar. I'm slightly old now. Little curmudgeon-y.

Oh, the big 5-0. Yeah. He will be recording, um, how about, no, how about the- Down to Herf? Down to Herf guys this week.

Oh. We're 10, we're 10 seconds into this and we're already two O's in. Well, 5-0. Oh, him doing the O's?

Oh. Yeah. 6 grams. 6.

Yes. So, what do you got today, Michael? First, we've got a lot of compliments on your interview last week. You did a very good job.

Thank you. I think it was fantastic. It was a completely different interview than we normally do. Yeah.

Well, hey, you know what? If you're not trying to get better every single week, then what are we doing? If we could line enough of those up, they could almost be a separate show. Yeah, I like having them on occasion and just kind of dropping them in and just kind of integrating them when the opportunity presents itself.

I don't want it to be another show because I just want it to kind of happen naturally. You know, if someone's in town and we have the opportunity, I don't want to force, hey, come on for an interview. Oh, all right. You know?

We have 75,000 things going on. Yeah, another show sounds like another job, you know? Well, I mean, it's a 30-minute little interview show. So, I mean, it's no different than somebody showing up.

We just go, okay, Tuesday afternoons, you Zoom somebody. Yeah, but Reinhardt was fantastic. Hey, if you haven't heard that interview, you need to go back and check it out. Yeah, it is really good.

You know, it's actually involved. It's actually an interview. Yeah, it's not just, oh, you know. As I was told, I like fart and dick jokes like anybody else, but that was something different.

That was, yeah, you gotta, you know, it's, you're gonna get a wide variety from this show. Oh, sure, yes, obviously. We're gonna cover a lot of things, we're gonna talk industry, we're gonna talk a little inside baseball, obviously it's gonna be a little bit more on the Patreon, and then we're gonna have some jokes. We're going to have a good time, we're going to rib people, we're going to attack people because it's funny, and then when we need to get serious, we'll get serious.

Right. Sure. That's why there's heartfelt dick and fart jokes. Yeah, that's why Phil has managed to stick around, you know what I mean?

We need that... The dick and fart jokes? Yeah, the dick and fart jokes. The occasional O, and every once in a while on the Patreon, though, he asks decent questions.

Yes, he does. He does. And we're like, "What happened? " Oh my goodness.

Did you know he could read? I didn't know he could read. They're words. Bill's not on the Patreon.

Speaking of which, well, you know. Somebody is. Look at this ensemble you got going on here with the palm trees. My wife picked this up this morning, yes.

This is lovely. She said the pants aren't white, so they're okay. Because then there's like a white after Labor Day or something. Is that still a thing?

I don't know. Plus, it's Florida. You can get away with anything at any time you want. Coop posted something that just made me think of the Caribbean Queen thing.

Yeah. " Oh, on the jukebox? Yeah, and then he wrote... I don't see him post much about the jukebox anymore.

" No. And that was it. No affiliation to Diddy. Wow.

He's a bad man, though, here. Quincy Jones? No, Diddy. Oh, yeah, he's definitely bad.

Got away with it for so long, too. There's a connection to Demi Moore now, or Demi Moore, I would say. Oh no, Demi. It's Demi.

There's going to be a connection to a lot of people, because they all went to his parties. Right, but supposedly she went, because this is all legend now, she likes younger men, and he would supply younger boys. Oh. My goodness.

Boys was the term used in the story. Oh. So boys is under 18. I would assume.

Okay, well, hold on, but that could be very vague. We don't, you know. Sure, sure. Like, you don't know exactly what the age bracket is, you know.

No, that's why I said a legend. I'm just saying I heard. They're 18 in one day. If she enjoyed 18 and above Dick, there's nothing.

No, but what if it's 18 and below, though? Then we have questions. Well, 18 still counts. That's true.

18 still okay, you have to be 17 or below. Right, yeah. Does it depend on the state? Because some states are a little different.

I don't know what it is in California. I just think kind of blanketing for me at that point, it's like, eh. Well, for me personally, yes, but I mean, you know, law is the law in some states. You're kind of a strange cougar if you're in a pursuit of 18 in that realm and you're in your like 40s or 50s.

It's a little creepy. But is it different in California? I don't know, that's what I said. Is that like a different type of place?

It is different in some states. It's a totally different place. Yeah. It's a totally different state.

Totally different. They could do whatever they want. Yeah. Right.

Their own laws. Yeah, they have their own laws. Own constitution. You can't even have a gas mower there.

You can't really have a gas mower. I don't know. All easy goes. All right.

So, trending. Trending today. Let's go. What's going on in the world?

Jake Bates nails the game winner for the Improbable Lions comeback. Welcome back. I've never been hoisted like that, Bate said via the team website. That was pretty cool just to see the sidelines come to embrace me and stuff was a cool moment, he says.

The game was fantastic. I still don't know what he did. Oh, go ahead. Was he the kicker, I think?

He is. He's a field goal. I sort of pre-read some of the story just because I have to know what's going on. So he's a field goal kicker.

Right. And not only is a field goal kicker, but he was in the UFL. So like the XFL and the UFL merged and they just created the UFL. He played soccer in college.

Yeah. Supposedly he has one leg bigger than the other. And what's funny is the fucking announcers, dude, they crack me up. They're like, you know, just a few weeks ago he was selling bricks or something like that.

Yeah, he was a bricklayer. Yeah, but that was what they said. You know, he was selling bricks, you know, just totally playing this guy down. Right.

For what he is, I mean, for what he did as a regular career, instead of just kind of bringing him up of the whole challenges that he's accomplished. And the kicks were, like, right along the post. I thought you were going to say right down the middle, but not the way off to the sides. No, no, no.

And they were big. Barely, barely made it, huh? But he's on the right team. He's got the right coach.

You know, Dan Campbell's an absolute beast, and I felt like they knew that they were going to win that game at halftime. Fifty-eight yards, it's us. Yeah, it was a, it was a, it was a, it was a booming kick. Right.

" And I'm thinking, I feel like all of this is now set up for Detroit to just absolutely dominate the second half, and Houston's gonna lose. And that's exactly what happened. Where do they get these stats from? There's a stat keeper.

From the script writers. Because there's some guy at every game that is just searching Google all day long. Well, I'm sure every team has their own nerd that knows everything there is to know about the team. I think that the TV teams have.

Sure. The one guy, one announcer guy's dog died or something. Oh, no. I didn't catch his real name.

And that moved you? You watch football? Did you play football? No, no, I saw it on TikTok.

No. Oh. But they did a memorial during the game for the dog. I guess this announcer guy traveled with his dog all the time.

Oh. And he had recently died. Pookie? What was the dog's name?

Pookie? I think it was. No way. Blue?

Maybe blue. I mean, that's totally different from Pookie. That sounds nothing like Pookie. Yeah, but it's in there.

Pookie blue. Oh, yeah. That's right, practically. Oh, Pookie blue.

I get it. What'd you say? 23-7 halftime deficit? You're actually correct.

He said, "I was a soccer player growing up, idolized football players in the NFL, just to be here is surreal. " He 100% deserves it, and he's on the right team. Third longest Lions field goal in Lions history. You know, Mark Wahlberg paved the way for a lot of these guys.

Why? How was that? In that movie. He played somebody else in the Eagles.

He wasn't a kicker. There was actually a movie about a garbage guy that became a kicker. Okay. Was it Mark Wahlberg?

No, it wasn't. No, this was a long time ago. I mean, Kurt Warner's a similar story, but the difference here is the UFL is now providing opportunities for guys that have this talent. Yeah, it's like a farm team.

Yeah, to kind of press forward, which is fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. How old is this guy? He's young.

He's a young kid, man. Oh, because they played in these other two and everything, and he was a bricklayer. I thought he was going to be a league. No, man.

Older. No, he's young. They don't say how old he was. A kicker, I think he could be any age.

I mean, as long as you just kick the ball. Well, yeah, you can, but from the way you guys were describing it, I thought he was, you know, then he said the Eagles thing, and that guy was older. Yeah. But that guy was, I mean, he was good.

He was never like, wow. He was fast. Yeah. Yeah.

Kurt Warner was older when he came in. Yeah, that's a quarterback, though. Quarterbacks can. Yeah, he only played, he only played like 10 years, I think.

Yeah. Just a long time, 10 years. I would take 10 years in the NFL, 40 million average a year at QB. Well, he might not have made 40 million.

Not back then, no. No, maybe like 25, 20. Maybe. Yeah.

I feel like he's doing okay. He's a commentator now. Yeah, he's doing okay now. He's a commentator.

He's been doing well. Now he's making all the money. Unless his dog just died, unless he's that guy. They made a movie about him.

Well, he might be a little mad because Tom's there now. Because now Kurt's not like the, you know, top of the guy. Not the guy anymore, I might say. Tom's over there with a Crest White smile.

Well, he was never the guy because Tom Brady's always there. Yeah. And he's always the guy. In the realm.

He is the guy. He is the guy. He is the guy. Patrick Mahomes is not the guy.

No. Well, they won yesterday. Yeah, because they blocked the kick. They keep squeaking out, man.

Was Patrick Mahomes out there blocking the kick? No. No, you know what? At this point...

It's a team, Michael. It's a team effort. Let me tell you how I feel about Kansas City. Are you watching football?

No, my wife likes Kansas City. She was following it on Facebook. She gets the highlights. Yeah, yeah, she gets the highlights.

Well, she did not, to be fair, she did try to watch it. We don't get that channel. It was on CBS. She came up to the shop.

NFL ticket, baby. Uh, we were out and about. So, okay. So then you weren't watching the game.

No, she was gonna watch it on her phone. Ah. So, here's what I'm hoping for for Kansas City. I don't want them to lose...

Oh, then I got the suit. That's when I got the suit. I don't want them to lose a single game. I want the pressure of the perfect season to go into the postseason so that we can watch them blow that up later.

I don't want to have a perfect season at all. I do. He doesn't because the Dolphins are the only ones who have done that. I'm saying that I don't want them to win the Super Bowl.

If they run into Detroit, they're cooked. If it's Super, I'm praying for Super Bowl, Detroit, Kansas City. They're going to lose eventually. They're only winning by like three points.

But if it, if it, if they lose, it's a win. But if they lose, I understand. Trust me, I'm a Dolphins fan. I get it.

I'm a Bucs fan, believe me. If they lose, they lose. But if they lose with a perfect season schedule, And at the Super Bowl against Detroit, oh my god, that would be so amazing. That would be so amazing.

Detroit's doing well. Detroit's doing fantastic. The only team that has beaten them is the Bucs. Oh.

They're 8-1. Okay. That was a rough game for them yesterday. They have the right coach, man.

Dan Campbell's amazing. Go ahead. What else you got? Oh, are you guys ready now?

I want to talk more sports. Well, don't we usually? Keep going, bud. Let's go.

Yellowstone's powerful opening. What happened to Kevin Costner as John Dutton? Anybody watch? I don't want to hear anything about this.

I haven't watched it. I skipped the spoilers. I did not include any details about the thing. I haven't watched it.

Yeah, but I mean, I've seen enough clips for it. You're hooked under the bottom. You're officially hooked to yourself. There you go.

It didn't take long to find out Kevin Costner's Yellowstone Fates. Sunday's Paramount Network premiere of the long-awaited second half of Yellowstone Season 5. Fox on season five starts with emergency crews at the Montana governor's mansion. Oh, they just killed him off.

Well, he left the show. Yeah, so I was like, all right. He had to. And a heart attack, and probably something like that.

No. Well, he couldn't make any more money. Why couldn't he? The divorce.

That was the whole point of this. No, dude. No, that's not why. I don't think that's the case.

There's some, there's Taylor Sheridan, Kevin Costner, beef. Sure. But they're making other stuff together. The producer and Kevin?

I don't think so. Did he do that bad movie? Yeah, the new movie that he just came out with. They canceled the second movie, the second one, the sequel, they canceled it.

Maybe that's something they do, I don't know, maybe this is like a thing now. " "Phil the Dreams" was a really hard movie for him to make. Taylor Sheridan's the same way. You can't have two alphas on the same set.

Okay, but one of them's producing eight or nine different TV series and just absolutely crushed it. Taylor Sheridan. And then the other one is Kevin Costner. Sure.

So I don't know what to tell you. All right. Keep going. In the long way that I did it, it starts with a merge.

We did that. Even director and longtime collaborator Christina Veros was blown away discovering how Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan handled John Dutton's end after Costner officially left the show. When I read the first episode, I was... Oh, what happened?

I went to an ad. Oh, God. You have ads on our stuff? No.

Oh, we're getting paid, finally. We're getting paid. What's going on? Let's just hit this button and go back here.

Okay. When I read the first episode, I was shocked. Like many fans, I was like, so we're doing this now. I'm paraphrasing here, but Sheridan was more interested in the season's story being about those who remain, rather than overly complicating, sentimentalizing, or preparing for the inevitable.

Seeing how the rest of the season goes, it's such a ballsy, brave, and beautiful choice. So he said, just fuck it. So I haven't seen it. You haven't seen it.

I'm confused as to Do you know what platform I can watch it on? Yeah, it is. You have to have Paramount. So you can watch it on Paramount, like Paramount Plus?

Well, hold on. Well, what's the difference between Paramount and Paramount Plus? I don't know. There is a difference, Paramount Plus.

And then after it airs, the original, you can watch it on CBS. Okay, somebody told me something about Hulu, too. That will eventually, but it's not like the day after. It's, you know, you have to wait.

This is all very confusing. It is confusing. It is very confusing. Yeah.

Ridiculous. So do you have Paramount? I think so. Oh.

I don't have it anymore, so I'm missing all the new shows. Oh, jeez. Well, you can watch on CBS. You have to have a CBS app?

Uh. Or just CBS TV? Just TV. Gold fashion.

It comes on two hours after it airs. Put it on, get the antenna. Oh, the regular CBS shit. Yeah.

What the hell am I, man? Fucking rabbit ears. Right. Celestial TV?

Who is that? Ugh. Well, you know what? There's nothing going on tonight.

There's no serious football game. So you can just watch it. No, it was on last night. Oh, but I'm saying you can catch up tonight if you haven't seen it.

Only if I have Paramount. Yeah. I don't have Paramount anymore. Sorry.

I'm going to FaceTime you in. Yeah, FaceTime with the TV, bro. Just watch the football game. It'll be better.

I went to football team. Well, season five in Yellowstone. How does it end? Veros claims she doesn't know whether Yellowstone will end after the second half of season five.

as originally reported, or continue with a Beth and Rip-centered spinoff, or a season six. Cast members have alluded to both scenarios. But the new season five episode, six episodes, will give a real conclusion while offering the chance for more. Yeah, I mean, it'll be like suits.

Alright, well... I heard the lady that paid Beth, I heard an interview with her, she's tired of playing Beth. She thinks Beth has run her course, and she loves the character, but enough is enough. Well, look, you know, at this point, I've loved the show up until Until this point, I haven't seen the next episode.

I'm committed to seeing how it ends. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, if it sucks, though, I'm going to be very upset. I can tell you, I know.

No. It's probably going to suck, only because look how he ended Dutton, John Dutton. Actually, from what I read, it's a good ending. I mean, they had to end the character, it's a good way to do it.

No, but he's talking about ending the show completely. Yeah, when it's over. Well, I think at this point, they should just end the show. All right.

Well, let's see how this goes, I guess. We're going to review. I mean, unless they do the spinoff and then the spinoff, aren't they doing the triple six or quad triple six? Quad sixes.

They're doing that spinoff too. Are they? Is that still happening? From what I heard, from what I read.

And the guy's rolling with Tulsa King. He's rolling with Lioness, which I haven't seen. Right. Those are both good.

Are they? Yeah. He's got one other one too that I saw that I thought was good. I can't even think of what it is.

Oh, Mayor of Kingstown. Love this show. Oh, is that his? Yeah, that's a great show.

Mayor of Kingstown. Oh, I can't watch any more either on Perma. Yeah. It's on FX.

Oh, is it? Yeah, Mary King's on. Like, after, two hours after? Oh, I don't know.

I watch everything on stream, so. I feel like shows, okay, so like shows are ramping up, is that what's going on? It's starting again, yeah, fall is when the new seasons come out. But then they all disappear around Christmas time.

By Christmas, yeah, and then we're going to freaking reruns again. Well, we might see more now. I'm going to loop it. If Yellowstone only has six episodes, that's just six weeks, so they're done by Christmas.

Alright, perfect. And Lioness started three weeks ago, so it's going to wrap up. And that's good? Yeah, I like season one was really good, and I've seen episode one of the new season.

Oh, so there's two seasons already. Yeah, the second season just came out. I'll give that a stab. That's a pretty good show.

Perfect. After six episodes, Christmas comes, and Jingle All the Way 2 comes out. That'd be perfect. How about Red 1?

I'm excited to see that shit. Oh, yeah. I'll take the kids to see that movie. Is that a Star Wars movie?

No, The Rock. It's The Rock. Oh, Red 1. You've got to save Santa or something.

Right, yeah. Is that in theaters? I thought that was Netflix. I don't know.

No, it's in theaters. Oh. He just started touring in Germany or something. Oh.

He was Strydney, but I didn't pull that story. Oh. He's the most famous actor in the world now and he doesn't like it. I feel like he's been the most famous actor in the world for a while.

I feel like there's been this kind of, there's this kind of change in him. Like if you look at some of his social media stuff, you know, I don't know, I feel for the guy. I feel like there's something going on. Fame getting to be too much?

Are you getting to be too much? I don't know. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is, but...

I mean, they are in every part of his life. There used to be so many, as far as... The way he looks, you can't go anywhere. All right, shut the fuck up for one second.

Let me finish my sentences between the two of you now. You know, before The Rock was, there was always these humorous things, like he would be gassed up, he'd talk about things, and then he'd be in his house, and he'd show the pictures that his kids did. And those are my paintings that I just did, and he'd say it like super angrily, and it was funny, you know? And now we have this, like, really kind of quiet, reserved guy, and I don't know what happened.

Like, what's going on? There's something that's happened. Whatever it is. He's probably just tired of them being in his everyday life.

Yeah, I don't know, man. Oh, yeah, I'm sure paparazzi's parked outside his house. He can't go anywhere. I don't know.

Either that or he's gonna run for governor. Whatever. Let him do it. I don't think he needs it in his life.

The guy's gotta be worth a few billion at this point. I don't think Arnold needed it. Yeah, Arnold didn't need it. I guess you got a point.

He would run for president if he could. I just heard an interview he did with- Well, Dwayne can. Dewey can. Right, 'cause he's a citizen.

I'd vote for him. I don't even care what his policies are. I don't think you have to be a citizen in the United States to run for president. Yes, you do.

You have to be a born citizen. You 100% have to be born in the United States to be a citizen. I know there's like certain things that I would think would be a requirement, but they're not. That's one of them.

Like what? What else do you think should be required? It's not. Yeah, this would be entertaining.

Yeah, I thought so too. I thought we had this conversation before. No, we haven't. Do we need this?

No, go ahead. Hey, we're podcasting. So what else? What else do you think?

I felt like you had to have a high school diploma. Don't look it up. Uh, nope. That's not one of them.

That's crazy. Why? To have like a normal like career job. You could be self-taught, self-educated.

The main things are you have to be born in the United States. You have to be over 35. You have to be over 35? You have to be over 35.

35. I don't know why that date was picked, but you have to be over 35. I don't know, maybe until you're 35 you're not responsible enough to run a country. I don't know.

I can agree with that statement. But that's like the two biggest things. But you don't have to have a high school diploma. No.

No, but you have to be over 35. Because a high school diploma is a joke. And back when they made these rules, there was no high school. I'm okay with the 35.

So 35 was a thing back then? Yeah, maybe they thought, well, you know, if you lived to 35, you got a good shot of living a little longer back now. I'm okay with the 35 thing. That's fine.

Yeah, I'm okay with 35. I still feel, I'm 40, I gotta be honest, I'm 40, I still feel like I'm a fucking kid. I don't, I mean I understand why they did it, but I don't know if you really have to be a born citizen at this point. I mean, it's such a mishmash.

Yeah I'd be okay with it. As long as you are a citizen. Like Elon, I mean I'm okay with you, Elon wants to run. Sure.

Yeah. I didn't know he wasn't. Yeah, he's not an American citizen. It's like South African or something.

Oh yeah, South African, that explains the accent. It's kind of a weird accent. Yeah, I'd be okay if he ran. It would be okay if he ran.

Yeah. I got no problem with that. As long as he's a citizen now. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. All right. What else?

He didn't come up with any other than the high school diploma. That was the only thing he thought. I think the rules are stupid. What are the rules?

I don't know. Okay. Perfect. Right.

Get up high school diploma. I feel like you should have some type of military experience. Oh, no, no. I think that that's a badge of honor.

You can use that. And I think that people will rally behind that. By the way, happy Veterans Day to you. Oh, yes.

Happy Veterans Day. Yeah. Navy guy never went on a boat. I think it's good to have.

It shouldn't be a requirement. You know? What if you're like Air Force? Yeah, I guess you have to have no requirement.

Technically, yes, he's in charge of the military, but there's other people that make all the decisions for the military. If you're like, what's the, if you're like Coast Guard, so you slide in, like, I don't get it. You know what I mean? Well, I'm qualified.

I was a reservist. I was in the reserves. Yeah, well, at this point, the only requirements that you have to have is, like, absolutely nothing, and the guy that supposedly fixes the milkshake machine at McDonald's could be president. As long as he's over 35.

I gotta be honest, if that guy's... I'm sure he's over 35. I don't know, he doesn't go around much. Look, if that guy's officially taking care of the McFlurries and he's handling it well, you know...

I think he was implying that they're always broke. He could be a candidate. Well, not anymore, Trump fixed that. Oh, God, something else went out of this list.

There you go, I fixed the McFlurry machine. No war in the Balklands, I made a lady my chief of staff, and I fixed the milkshake machines at McDonald's. Atta boy. All right, let's go.

What else you got? He's also for intravenial fertilization. He's paying for that, too. Oh, perfect.

That's right next to the milkshake guy. That's not a bad thing. No, it's not at all. That shit's expensive as hell.

If you want to have kids. If you want to have kids, I mean, what's wrong with helping that out? I don't see the problem. No problem.

There you go. Cardinals make a franchise history. Or football. Versus the Jets.

Yep. The Arizona Cardinals accomplished history in their Week 10 win over the New York Jets. Arizona defense, or Arizona's defense, has caught fire in recent weeks, helping the Cardinals to a four-game winning streak as the bye week arrives. Despite being depleted in the front seven, Nick Rallis, unit as now, has gone three straight home games without allowing a touchdown.

The first time since 1926 the franchise has accomplished such a feat, and without a high school diploma. Oh, it says that. And he's under 35. Yes, and he's under 35.

According to NFL research, the Cardinals allowed fewer than 10 points for the second consecutive game in week 10. Oh, that's kind of... Yeah. Arizona had allowed double-digit points in 52 straight games prior to week 9, the longest active streak.

The Cardinals contain future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers and names such as Brees Hall, Garrett Wilson, and Devontae Adams to just 207 yards and a 31-6 victory over State Farm Stadium. Safety Buda Baker has a high school diploma. Says there's no secret sauce to what the defense is doing. He's making secret sauce.

We just control what we can control. We live through the process and tell them separation is in the preparation. And the preparation. That's true.

And how do we prepare throughout the week? Monday, Tuesday, off, Monday, Tuesday, off day, even that day, recovery, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, that's when we work and that's when we know what we need to do, said Buda Baker. There you go, sounds like good coaching. You know, the Jets are a fucking dumpster fire heading off a cliff, it's, I can't stop watching.

They always have been, aren't they? Yeah, but now you have this talented quarterback, one of the most talented quarterbacks of all time, you have one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, you have a great running back, and you still, You still cannot get your shit together. It is hilarious to watch. This happened before, though.

Yeah, but it's still funny. When Brett Favre was there. They at least went to the postseason. Look, I'm telling you, all he has to do is complete the trifecta.

He has to get traded to Minnesota. That's the biggest fuck you to Green Bay. And then win, and then get injured. He needs to break his leg or something, and he's going to go out just like Favre.

Well, Sam Darnold looked human in the last game as well. It would be his legacy. Legacy. Because right now.

Break his leg, it's his legacy. Because right now, his legacy is horrible. Went to the Jets. Oh, his legacy is horrible.

Maybe we'll break it then. Don't know. Are you trying to say things that you can throw in good graphics with the descriptions, with your videos? No.

Oh, because dumpster fire was nice. You could just. Oh, I just, that's one of my sayings. Oh, okay.

It's a dumpster fire heading off a cliff. I got you. Because, I mean, there's easy to find that clip of. Yeah.

I'm sure I could. I'm sure I could. All right, finally, today, what is Veterans Day? What is Veterans Day?

Holiday is meant to honor those who have died in the country service and thank those who have served, originally known as Armistice Day. It was proclaimed in 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson and became a legal federal holiday in 1938. There's a reason we don't deviate from the November 11th date. Do you know over there, Mr.

Veteran? Why don't we deviate? Why don't we deviate? I don't know, is it the birthday or something?

11-11. On the 11th hour, the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, a ceasefire or armistice went into effect between the allied nations and who? Axis. Not asking you.

I'm asking the veteran. Shield. Oh my God. Germany, which signaled the unofficial end of?

The war. Which one? Two. Two.

Two what? 1918 was one. Wow. Apparently, being in the military, you don't need a high school diploma either.

Yeah. Actually, you don't. But hey. At least he served.

Banks are not open on veterans. That's true. At least he served. Neither one of us did.

That was fine. But if I knew I could go in the Navy and never get on a boat? I don't know. Yeah.

So, wait a second. I'm in the Navy. No boat. I don't have to go out in the water?

That's the perfect life. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying, yeah. The Navy fights off the boats.

I don't have to go in the boat? I'm good. So listen. No boat for you.

Okay. That's great. I love that. Yeah, I was in.

You don't have to go to war. Yeah. Oh, perfect. Perfect.

Yeah. Do I have to clean the boat? Nope. You don't even have to be around the boat.

Oh, wow. Yeah. That'd be great. You can see them from a mile away.

That's it. Oh. Yeah. Cool.

All right. Banks are not open day. Veterans Day is a federal holiday, meaning most banks will be closed. Post office.

Tanks are always open 24 hours a day with online and ATMs. There is no mail delivery on Veterans Day. No mail. Stock market is open.

Really? Yes. It's down a little bit. The next scheduled holiday is Thanksgiving.

The bond markets, though, will be closed. Can't do bonds. Just stocks. Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving, everything's closed. No, you're talking about on this holiday. On this holiday, the bond market is closed. Ah, I got it.

But stocks are open. Okay. Is that separated? Apparently.

Yeah, it's two different markets. If you had gone to high school. Hmm. He went right into the Navy.

Went right into the Navy. In the Navy. Government offices, are government offices open a veteran's day? No.

No. Federal offices will be closed. Similarly, most, but probably not all, city, county, and state divisions will have the day off as well. Got it.

Those guys try to get every day off they possibly can. Retail and grocery stores are open. Everything retail is open. There may be some weird staffing issues.

Major retailers will be open as usual. Some schools closed, some schools open. Yes. Volusia County is closed.

No, I think all schools are closed. My kids are at school? They're private. Private schools.

They don't follow the schedule. Yeah, they pick and choose what they want. Right. So some schools closed, some schools open.

Okay. Private education open, public schools closed. Let's go with that. Everybody's happy.

What about charter schools? I don't even know the difference between a charter school and a private school. That's private, isn't it? It's not.

Is it public? Who's it funded by? It's kind of both. It's funded by the government.

Then it's probably closed. I think so. Well, they're not sending them any money today. They're closed.

All right. Well, thank you everybody for your service if you're active or retired. I got a few friends that are military guys. Or gave you life for our country.

Let's celebrate those two today. Oh, yeah? I thought that was Memorial Day. That's Memorial Day.

" it was mentioned to Fallen Soldiers. Got it. We don't really listen to you. I know.

Appreciate you. Okay. Thank you. What else you got?

That's it. That's all the Trending Topics for today. That is your Trending Topics. Yes, we can do Phil's Trending Fact.

Phil's Fun Fact. Hit the music. Welcome to Cigar Hustlers Podcast feature, Phil's Fun Fact. Hello, people!

I forgot this. All right. Stanley Tucci is a triple threat. To say the least, he's an actor, author, and lover of good food.

In his recent memoir, Memoir. Memoir. In one year, and related thoughts, Tucci talks about his most memorable meals within a year's timeframe, Which includes this surprising dish that uses his go-to mayonnaise. Mayonnaise.

In the memoir. Memoir. Yep. Tucci admits that he often gets hankerings for tuna sandwiches, a craving that developed from when he'd searched the streets of Manhattan for a very hearty and affordable meal.

According to Tucci, tuna salad and chicken salad are both classic comfort foods, which is why he wanted to recreate them at home. And what is chicken salad without mayonnaise? Mayonnaise. When it came to making mayo from scratch from the recipe, Tucci tried using a method he had learned from Chef Orlean, however, he was less than enthused about the results, the sunflower oil he used was so potent that it tasted dreadful, Tucci said, he simply had to toss it, which was frustrating because he had practically torn a rotary cuff trying to emulsify the mixture, what did the award-winning actor use instead?

Hellman's mayonnaise. Why? Tucci says he went with this mayo brand because it's the one I actually love. Reminds me of a joke.

Why did the mayo break up with the sandwich? Why? Because it couldn't handle the spread. Oh, boy.

That was a long one. Whenever I hear that last name Tucci, I instantly think Lil Wayne. Yeah. I don't get the connection.

Yeah. That's sad that you don't get the connection. I don't know Lil Wayne music. I don't know Quincy Jones, but I know Tucci.

Well, you know Tucci now because you looked him upstairs, you looked him up. I know Tucci Lil Wayne. Who is Tucci Lil Wayne? Is that his dog?

No. Lil Wayne and his dog Tucci? No. Who is Tucci Lil Wayne?

His nickname is Lil Wayne's nickname. Oh, is it? Tucci, yeah. Lil Wayne's not his real name?

I mean, Lil Wayne's his real name? I don't think his first name Lil. That's what I'm saying. So he has two nicknames?

Yeah. Tucci. Is Wayne part of his name at all? Or is his name like, you know, Bob or Phil or something.

I think his first name is Wayne. My name is Steven Parker. Can you Google that? Can you Google that?

My name is Steven Parker. They call me Little Wayne or Tucci. His name is Dwayne. There you go.

Dwayne. Michael Carter Jr. There you go. Oh, Mr.

Carter, that's right. Yeah, Mr. Carter. Mr.

Carter. Dwayne. Michael Carter. Or Little Wayne.

Little Wayne. Is his dad maybe Dwayne? Maybe he's Big Wayne. Oh, wait, they said Junior, right?

You said Carter Jr.? That's right. That's right, Little Wayne. Well, now it all makes sense.

I'm glad that we could update you. I don't know about the Tucci, though. I don't know why that inference. Maybe he likes Tucci the actor.

Maybe he's a Tucci fan. Could be. All right. Hit the news button, please, sir.

From the four corners of the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need. The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report with Mike Toon. Swisher paid Trump's White House Chief of Staff to lobby Congress on FDA issues. Oh!

Swisher? Swisher did. S. Food and Drug Administration.

Publicly, Rudy Giuliani was looked up as the most likely person to get the ear of Donald Trump. Given that there were no clear signs of reversing cigar regulations during Trump's first term, it's unclear what impact Giuliani and others had. Now at least one cigar company seems likely to have a lot better access. Really?

Susie Wiles, who spearheaded Trump's successful 2024 campaign, has been tabbed as the new chief of staff. Have you seen the stuff on her? No. She's a tough lady.

Yeah? Yeah, she looks like the most Karen-est Karen person you could ever see. Wait, what's her name? She looks like the most- Suzy Karen is Karen.

Yeah, Suzy Wiles. Yeah, so she's like- She's the daughter of a sports announcer. No, she's supposedly like- No, she is. She is the daughter of a sports announcer.

No, I understand. No, she's not. She's supposedly like one of the baddest ladies, one of the baddest people in the- Oh, she looks like it. -political world.

" So supposedly, I've just heard from other- Other politicians. Other politicians that you talk to? Yeah. They said that this lady is responsible for Uncle Ron not running.

Not running? Yeah. I could see that if she told me not to run. She's got something on him.

Oh, if she told me not to, I wouldn't run. Yeah. She looks tough. Is she responsible for Oreos having less filling in the middle?

If she told them to, they wouldn't do that. No, but I wish. Yeah, remember, he likes the things. Yeah, I like the things.

That's ridiculous. That's absurd. They're delicious. Have you not had them?

Yeah, I have. They're great. Lobbling? Lobbling.

Lobbling. It's a new thing, lobbling. Lobbying disclosure forms show that earlier this year, Swisher paid Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, a lobbying firm to have Wiles lobby Congress on FDA regulations. Per report by Sludge, there have been no additional disclosures related to Wiles since the first quarter of 2024.

A form that shows Mercury was paid $30,000 by Swisher, the Jacksonville-based company, best known for its Swisher Suites, machine-made cigars. Swisher also owns Drew State. Her career spans decades, including work on the presidential campaign for Ronald Reagan and George Bush, as well as Trump's 2016 and 2020 bids. And her new role of Chief of Staff Wiles will literally be one of the closest people to the President on a day-to-day basis.

It's a day-to-day basis. Typically, the chief of staff is one of the few people with a direct access to the Oval Office as part of the job includes managing, who physically enters the Oval Office to meet with the president. Nice. She gets paid a salary of $400,000, which is a lot of money, but it doesn't seem a lot for what she's supposed to be doing.

So how is she linked to Swisher? They just know each other? No, they paid her lobbying firm. Okay, between elections, she had a lobbying firm because she's connected in politics.

Gotcha. They paid that firm to lobby on their behalf to have FDA or whatever. Oh, got it, got it. But after they did it one time, and then there was no other connection, so she cut ties.

Oh. Why can't we have a lobbying firm? Well, it doesn't seem like they have a solid relationship. I would assume that...

No, they just paid her. " Right. I would assume that RFK would be a better... I don't know if he has a lobbying firm.

Yeah, but he seems like the guy that's not okay with over-regulation of stuff, right? Well, he could be, but if he's not taking money to talk to people on people's behalf, then okay. I don't know what's involved, because we have no connection to politics, is why we don't have a lobbying firm. Right.

Can't pick up the phone and get Trump on the phone. People don't know that. Well, now they do, but you shouldn't have said it. I think it's pretty much assumed that the three of us don't have, you know, you can't call Trump on the phone.

You don't think we can get him on? I don't think so. Donnie, come on man, let's talk about cigars. You guys are the best.

You guys are going to be huge. Yo, just call, uh, what's his name? All Saints. Oh, there you go.

Mickey Pegg. Due to the success of the Cigar Association's lawsuit against the FDA premium cigar regulation, In these regulations, we are unlikely to be directly affected by the outcome of the election. However, that was not the case for Swisher, a company centered around the sale of flavored cigars. Right.

They want to protect infused cigars. Right. Right. What?

I don't know. I was just trying to let more smoke up. Okay. Alright, so move on to the next story.

Luciano Cigars is Plasencia-made. Fiat Lux begins shipping. Oh. Luciano's making cigars at Plasencia.

Is this new? Or did this happen weeks ago when I wasn't here? This is new. This is new.

Oh, okay. That's why we're talking about it now. So, is this terms? Did he get net 30?

In March, Luciano Cigars announced that it was moving production of its Fiat Lux line from its factory in Nicaragua to someone else's factory that he didn't owe money to yet. Well, Plasencia's Tabacos de Aurenta factory in Donnelly, Honduras was the lucky winner. Now, those Plasencia-made cigars are beginning to ship to retailers. Fiat Lux debuted at the 2021 PCA Convention Trade Show as part of the Ace Prime Portfolio, a predecessor to Luciano Cigars, which debuted in September 2022.

Its blend uses Ecuador and Samantha Rapper, Nicaraguan Binder, Nicaraguan Fillers… Alright, that's good. Let's talk more about that on Patreon. I think that that's a good topic. I have a little bit of insider information.

Okay, that's a good Patreon topic, for sure. okay um there's a quote moving right along well i have to go see where the next story starts eddie guerrera leaves davidoff of geneva eddie did i say the name right i don't know oh i thought maybe you knew who it was like the eddie guerrero no he's dead yeah you're talking about eddie guerrero wwe right yeah there's another eddie guerrero there's another one yeah nearly five years of the day that his rival davidoff of geneva usa was announced eddie has announced that he is His most recent title was Head of Brand Marketing USA / Senior Brand Manager for Davidoff. Big ass good business card there. My title is: I'm Head of Brand Marketing USA / Senior Brand Manager for Davidoff.

Ooh, I want a slash in my title. Can I have a slash in my title? Yeah. Ooh, Director of Marketing / National Sales Manager.

I need new cards. Slash third show creator. Slash show creator. Similar role in the marketing department of all of Maltinous, USA, and he worked for Gurga.

Oh. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to work with one of the most prestigious brands in the world, said Guerrera in a press release. These past five years of Davidoff have been an amazing experience. I look forward to the next chapter in my career.

Guerrera told Cigars for Podcast he will remain in the cigar business and announce more details before the end of the year. Yes, before the end of the year. Latino Heat. Yeah, but I go, yeah.

So he's with Gurkha now. No, no. He was with Gurkha before. He's with no one right now.

Yeah, no one. He will announce by the end of the year where he is going. Bentley. Could be.

They are hiring if you want to go to Bentley. They're building their team right now. Or Luciano, who doesn't pay people. You can go there.

Yeah, you can go check him out. Right. We're going to pay you. Speaking of which, Tony Gomez joins Luciano Cigars as head of business development.

We are thrilled to announce that Tony Gomez has stepped into the role of head of business development with Luciano Cigars, bringing with him a wealth of industry expertise known for his deep understanding of the cigar market and passion for the craft. Tony excited to apply his knowledge to fuel Luciano's growth, especially in the USA. This is the guy. This is the guy who used to work for Espinosa, the strong arm.

Yeah, the good guy. That wouldn't let us in. Right. To see Guy Fieri.

To see Guy Fieri. Right. And we had to go get Matt Booth. When we weren't trying to see Guy Fieri.

Right, we were trying to talk to Jack. Yeah. He's like, no, no, you can't come in. No, no, you can't come in.

Then he went to Jake Wyatt. Last year's PCA, he was at Jake Wyatt. Now he's at Luciano as director. You know, I'm starting to see a pattern here.

Head of Business Development. It's just getting worse. Where he's going? Yeah.

You've really reached the bottom. Is there an announcement when you leave the industry? Because I don't think, like, that's not good. You know, there should be.

Tony Gomez finally leaves the cigarette industry. Tony Gomez, tired of not being paid, has exited the cigar industry. ", "He had a brand", I don't remember what it was called, "Yeah, it was doing well", and then he just disappeared. He was a regional salesperson for Espinosa.

Right. And then I think of Jake Wyatt, he was their national salesman, I think. Okay, so how do you go from regional, as in an area, to covering all of it and not knowing any of it? Like, what are your expertise?

Right, how do you make the jump from one to the other? Yeah. Right. It's not like you're cultivating that guy.

You know what I mean? Sure. You're acquiring that guy. He was in the southwest, I believe, for Espinosa.

You're acquiring that guy with the expectation that he has national ability to help grow the brand on a national level. Right. But he doesn't. Well, he wasn't there long.

Just sounds like the math ain't mathin', you know what I mean? Right. With years of experience under his belt, Tony is well-equipped to lead Luciano Cigars into the next and exciting territories. Sounds good.

His strategic vision and commitment to elevating the brand promises a dynamic future for Luciano as he seeks to unlock untapped potential and expand the company's reach. Tony, all I can say is that within the first two weeks, if your paycheck doesn't come in on time, pack your shit, get the fuck out. Right. Run.

I have information about Tonto. CLE names Mark Heppeman as European sales manager. Oh, we're tapping into Europe. Everybody's tapping into Europe.

Everybody's tapping into Europe. It's the new, it's the new west. It's like the new horizons, yeah. It's where everybody wants to go.

All the opportunities are out there because they're clamoring for American cigars. Let's go back east. Right. CLE Cigars has announced that Mark Heppeman is the company's new European area sales manager.

Well, he is a new employee. Oh, great. Oh, please tell us who it is. Well, he is a new employee.

Heberman has been working with the company for years. Previously, he worked for Bentley Tobacco. Oh, no. I did not add that.

He worked for Bentley Tobacco and August Schuster, and there's a bunch of letters on it. Well, he's tied to the Schuster family. Yeah, Schuster, that's CLE's distributor in Germany, and Bentley Tobacco is run by one of the Schuster family members. Right.

I am very excited and honored to accept this new position, which will be a great professional opportunity for me, said Heberman. Per an announcement, his new role effective November 1st, Europe is becoming more and more important to CLE every year, and it's fitting that we invite a young and dynamic cigar enthusiast into the family, said Christian Iroa, founder of CLE. That's really interesting. You have distribution there.

I would assume that you're still working with the Schuster's, and now you've tapped a guy to kind of facilitate and run Europe for your sales. Correct. Yeah. I'm kind of curious to see what that looks like.

So the distributor would also be, they would be handling the sales suit. They're in charge of putting like we are for other brands. Right. Yeah, so what does this guy got to do?

Yeah, you would think that the distributorship would have, I don't know, maybe somebody handling the sales? Somebody. So CLE feels like they're not adequate? Or maybe he is the person between CLE now and the distributor.

Maybe the game plan is to remove the distributor and handle it yourself? Oh, baby. There's a lot of shipping all over Europe. It gets shipped to one location and then distributed from there?

No, that's what I mean. Somebody's got to send this to the shops. Right. So, Europe is kind of big.

It's not like he's just in charge of Milwaukee. Right. How is the Milwaukee market doing these days? It's very slow, Michael.

Yeah. Very, very slow. Okay. Very slow.

Romacraft Tobac releasing Mon Cherie next week. Mon Cherie. If you've ever wondered what the Aquitaine EMH Frenchie would smoke like, it's a Corona Gorda. You'll be able to find out next week.

Is it next week? Mm-hmm. I don't know who the story is. On Monday, November 11th, RoMa Craft Tobac will begin shipping the Craft Marquette Mocherie.

It's a five and three-quarter 46 version of the Aquitaine EMH Frenchie, which is made in a 556 Robusto Gorda. Frenchie is a barber pole version of the Aquitaine line, meaning it has two wrapper leaves that are rolled together at an angle to produce a spiral pattern similar to a barber pole. Would make sense. It actually makes sense.

The main wrapper is Ecuador and Connecticut, and the accents are Ecuador and Habano. The Aquitaine blend uses Nicaraguan tobacco from Condega, Esteli, and Pueblo Nuevo for the filler. This is the original Cro-Mag filler blend, not the updated 2024 blend. It's completely different.

Totally different. Totally different. It's an MSRP of $12 per cigar. It's just crazy.

Perfect. So low. So low. And limited to 650 bundles of 10 cigars.

Michael Rosales, who I talked to on the phone today. Oh, did you? Okay, so we're starting a chat. Oh, buddying up.

Yes. Mike Rosales, co-founder of the Roma Craft Tobacco, told Cigars Podcast that the bundles will be allocated to retailers based year-to-date sales of Aquitaine. Mon Cherie is French for my darling and also the name of a popular candy. That's where Skip got the name from, the candy.

A popular candy. I like candy. I like candy. Last year, Roma Craft released the Frenchie named after John D.

Oliver, who likes French fries at the time, worked for the company. I like French fries. The release is part of the Kraft Marquette series, which includes limited editions of various blends. The joke is his last name is the Oliver.

He's French. I understand, but saying he likes French fries was funnier. Got it. Because they're from France?

But thanks for ruining the joke. My pleasure. Certainly. Oh.

So, to briefly tell you about the Montcherie, I can tell you, as far as acquiring for purchase... Yes. You can't purchase them here. They're already sold.

Already got it. But if you need help finding the retailers that are selling them, reach out to us, and I'll do my best to facilitate that for you. Oh, look at you. Yeah.

I'm a man of the people, Michael. Certainly. It's very nice of you to be flooded with phone calls to produce sales for other shops of a brand we don't make any money on. Correct.

It's a great idea. That's what I do. That is why we don't have money here at this show. That's why I don't have money.

That's why we don't have money. We sold all ours, and now we're gonna make sure everybody else does too. That's it. All right.

Maybe start a small fee for this for some 2% or something. Nah, man. I ain't about that. Maybe they can mention you in a press release later on down the road.

If you can't find them, reach out to Cigar Holsters podcast. That's it. That's all I got. That's all you got.

That's it. You got a listener? There was a bunch of... No, no Florida.

There was a bunch of... People died and stuff. We don't do the dead people stories. Oh.

Everybody's releasing something. There's a lot of releases going on. There's a store exclusive of a brand and a shop that we don't talk about, so do one of those. Okay, alright, so passing on that.

Alright, Lozona Palooza's this weekend, that's a big thing going on in the industry this weekend. That is, yeah. Plus they just released La Provincia number, I don't know what, six again? Yeah, something like that.

Quattro six or something. Right, we have an event here on the 22nd, Erik Espinosa is going to be in the house, a big Domino's tournament. Erik Espinosa. I don't know if we're going to do like a whole tournament, or maybe we just do, for the last raffle ticket, you have to play against them, You have to play against him.

And if you win... Okay, you and Greg need to get on the same page. Yeah, we're working on that. And when you tell the social media person who finds out things because he listens in none other minutes.

I just don't know if we can do a full tournament. Like, I don't know if there's going to be enough time for that. Well, it depends on how many people because... So, what if you just pulled the name?

Right. Because not everybody plays Domino's. I don't even know how to play Domino's. No, I would just do...

No, it should be a single elimination. Single game, like 15 minutes. Like, you and him play. If you beat him, then you stay, and the next guy comes in.

Do you have to play in that kind of league? You gotta have pairs. Yeah, there's pairs. Oh, you have to play in fours?

Yeah. Oh, I didn't know if you had to. So here's my thoughts. My thoughts are, maybe we do something where the last, we pull for the big grand prize.

Okay. And the grand prize winner could win X, the ashtray, the big ashtray, and some other stuff, or this, if they lose in the tournament, or in the game against Eric and whoever. So then there's really only one game? Yeah.

So how do you pick, you draw names for all three players? Or is Eric bringing somebody with him? Eric will have a buddy and then this person can pick a person as well. Ah, yeah.

So there is someone coming with him. Yeah, he never travels alone. I know he doesn't travel alone, but what if it's not a Domino's person? Richie?

I don't know who's coming, I've asked, nobody knows. I don't know, look, we'll figure it out. Greg's telling me there's a sampler purchase buy-in and then a single elimination tournament. It sounds like it takes days.

Oh, that sounds entertaining. Right. We'll figure that out, we'll figure it out. We'll be like, ah, oh, and all the slapping.

Yeah, that's a lot of that. Let's keep it simple. Maybe we dumb that down. We'll see what it looks like.

All right. Well, I'm advertising this event on a... It's a Domino's thing. Just go ahead and keep doing that.

That's fine. All right. We had Domino's. And Eric Espinosa's here.

That's a big deal. Right. Yeah. He likes coming here, though.

Well, we like Eric. Eric's a good guy. He is a good guy. I like him.

One of my favorite industry people. Yeah, like just legit. Actually, everybody there are my favorite industry people. Yeah.

Except for Alfredo. Yeah, except for Alfa. Fucking God. Yeah.

Right? That guy's a waste of space. Right. Terrible salesman.

Ugh. Okay, you got a listener of the week? No, you're listening. I got a shop of the week.

No, you told me that you do handle both now. No, that was last week. Oh, so- I have shop of the week this week. So it changes.

Houston, we have a problem. Yes, changes on a weekly basis. It changes. Based on how I handle it, yes.

Oh, perfect. So, is a listener of the week, Mike? Sure. What?

Ryan Mack... Ryan Mackamson. I was going to say, it's not like you cut the name in half. No, because I got the...

Oh, the gong. Yeah. What's the shop of the week? Bogart Cigars in Fayetteville, Tennessee.

I knew you were going to say that. Well, they're very nice gentlemen, and they love me now. Yeah. There you go.

All right. Anything else? Nope. That's all I got.

It's been episode 360 of the Cigar Hustler Podcast. It's on the paper. Bang, bang. Thank you.

All right, bye-bye, guys. Thank you. Mike, Szczepankiewicz, with any feedback or suggestions that you have for their shows. These broadcasts are presented and made public as entertainment in the hope that they will be entertaining to the audience.

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Show Notes

This week on the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, we’re diving into all the trending topics! We talk about Jake Bates from the Detroit Lions for an insider look at the season. Plus, with Yellowstone back on TV, we’ll get into all the Dutton drama you’ve been missing. We’ll break down how the Cardinals stopped the Jets in a nail-biter, and we’ll take a moment to discuss the meaning of Veterans Day and honor those who served.

Then it’s back to business as we cover the latest cigar industry news with the grit and humor only we can bring! Don’t miss our event update for BDP and The King—mark your calendars, because this one’s going to be big! Grab a cigar, kick back, and tune in!