Cigar Hustlers Podcast – Episode 387: "Tariffs, Tech, and Trademark Turmoil"
Episode Summary
Episode 387 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with shop news: the crew teases the upcoming launch of their merch store (a first run of 50 shirts), a June 22 dark beer tasting with Siggy in the lounge, and an end-of-month Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust event with Edka. They also tease a Tatuaje review for the Patreon and riff on Fred Rui of Cigar Press living his best life on a round-the-world cruise.
The news block starts outside the cigar world. The hosts break down the US–China agreement to slash reciprocal tariffs — US duties on Chinese imports dropping from 145% to 30% and Chinese duties on US goods from 125% to 10% for a 90-day window — and use a life-insurance/realtor analogy to explain why the percentages aren't symmetrical. They then walk through the Lopez v. Apple $95 million Siri class-action settlement, who qualifies (Siri-enabled devices owned between Sept 17, 2014 and Dec 31, 2024), the estimated ~$20 per device up to five devices payout, and a long tangent on whether Alexa, Ring, Sonos and smart lights are always listening. Boots delivers a La Liga segment on Real Betis vs. Osasuna and their Champions League push, plus NBA fallout from the Cavs–Pacers scuffle.
Cigar news covers several releases. Avowed Cigar Company's limited edition Avowed 6.29 Higher Calling — a 6x50 Toro using an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and binder over Corojo 99, Criollo 98, Piloto Cubano and San Vicente filler grown by Monica Kelner, aged two years, $20 per cigar, 450 boxes of 10 — ships the last week of May as a Father's Day release. The Maria Lucia Limited Edition PCA 2025 from Luciano Cigars/Constella debuts at EE Cigars in Palm Beach with a Mexican San Andrés Ligero wrapper and dual binder, prompting a debate about reissuing a beloved name with a completely different blend (and whether the original's Nica Sueño broadleaf is gone). The Perdomo Legacy trio — built on a new Cuban/Cameroon seed hybrid from Finca Natale in Estelí, with 10 years of bale-aged wrappers and 10–14 months in bourbon barrels — launches at Two Guys Smoke Shop.
The headline story: a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia ruled for Cubatabaco against General Cigar Company in the nearly 30-year fight over the Cohiba trademark in the US. The hosts also react to Davidoff closing its River Oaks (Houston) and Brookfield Place (NYC) stores, using it as a springboard for a real discussion about why manufacturer-owned retail so often fails versus franchised or partner-run shops. Rounding it out: a social-media segment mocking a widely circulated McCallum factory tour video (including the infamous "pylon room" mispronunciation), voicemail attempts to Coop and Justin Andrews, Shop of the Week Castillo Mobile Cigars in South Carolina, and Listener of the Week Houston Sway.
In This Episode
- 01Merch Store, Beer Tasting & Shop EventsThe hosts tease the launch of their merch store, a June 22 dark beer tasting with Siggy, and an end-of-month Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust event with Edka.
- 02US–China Tariff Rollback ExplainedA breakdown of the 90-day deal cutting US tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% and Chinese tariffs on US goods to 10%, and why the percentages aren't equal.
- 03Apple's $95 Million Siri SettlementWho qualifies for the Lopez v. Apple class action, the estimated $20-per-device payout, and a debate over whether your phone and smart speakers are always listening.
- 04Boots' Sports: La Liga and NBA ScufflesReal Betis vs. Osasuna and the Champions League race, plus the Cavaliers–Pacers on-court altercation and flagrant fouls.
- 05McCallum Factory Video RoastThe crew dissects a cigar factory tour video, including the 'pylon room' mispronunciation and questionable descriptions of the rolling process.
- 06Avowed 6.29 Higher CallingDetails on Avowed's limited Father's Day release: a $20 6x50 Toro with higher-priming filler, two years of aging, and a 450-box production run.
- 07Maria Lucia Limited Edition PCA 2025Luciano's reworked Maria Lucia debuts at EE Cigars with an entirely different blend, sparking a discussion about reusing a beloved cigar's name.
- 08Perdomo Legacy and the Cohiba Trademark RulingPerdomo's new Cuban/Cameroon hybrid Legacy line hits Two Guys Smoke Shop, and a federal judge rules for Cubatabaco over General Cigar in the Cohiba trademark case.
- 09Davidoff Store Closures and the Retail LessonDavidoff shutters its Houston and NYC locations, prompting a discussion on why franchise and partner-run cigar shops outperform corporate-owned stores.
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
The red light's on, we're supposed to say so red lights are on welcome to episode 387 Kevin of the Cigar Hustler Podcast. Hello, Michael. Michael, how are you, sir? Fine, how are you?
I'm very excited about today. Good. Oh. Because today, we are officially announcing that we are about to launch...
Wait, officially announcing we're about to do something? Yes. We're at the official launch. We're very close.
To officially announcing. To officially announcing that we're about to launch... That we might do something. That we're going to launch our merch store.
Oh! Oh! Yeah. I'm waiting on Mr.
Palmer here to open up a bank account once that happens. It's done? Done. Oh, he's ahead of the game here.
Oh boy, we might be ready to go come next week. Why in a whole nother week? When we announce it at the show. Oh, at the show?
On the show. I thought maybe we were going somewhere. Yeah, at the show, on the show. Oh.
Yes. So we built one shirt. Did you build a shirt? Yeah.
Oh. It's a production. It's 50 shirts total. That's it.
Very excited. We'll see how it goes. Various sizes? Various sizes.
Are you wearing the shirt next week? I will be wearing the shirt. Oh. Oh.
As long as we get it all ironed out, yeah. But we only got the small. That's the size he likes to wear. I'll make it work.
I'll make it work. Also on June 22nd, we're having a beer tasting upstairs in the lounge. Ziggy is back. Siggy?
Siggy? Siggy. Siggy. Siggy is back and he's going to do a beer tasting with dark beers.
You can buy tickets upstairs, go to the Facebook page for the shop for more information. People have a lot of fun with those beer thingies. They do. He's not doing it as a class.
He's doing it as a tasting this time. Ah, okay. Changing it up a little bit. Nice.
Something a little different? Right. Okay. And what else you got?
Anything else fun and exciting going on? End of the month, we have a Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust event with Miss Edka. Edka is back. Okay.
That is on the 30th, I believe it is, the last Friday of the month. And what are we doing for the Patreon? I don't know yet. You don't know?
No. I imagine a Tatuaje cigar. Ooh. See, he's smart.
We just got those in. He's smart. I don't know which one, because the one with the red dot we've done before. We're gonna review a Tatuaje.
Tatuaje. Tatuaje. That's how you pronounce it. Altatatus or whatever.
Altatatus? Yeah, the way that Mr. Roy likes to say it. Altatatus.
Altatatus. Did you see, he's stuck out in the middle of the ocean somewhere? Who? Fred Rui.
Is he? He's not really stuck, he's on some world-round cruise thing or something. Let's live his best life, that Fred. He was in the publishing business now.
So, you know. A lot of free time in publishing. Is that how that works? Well, you can only publish a magazine once a month.
What do you do the other 29 days? Floating a boat, I guess. Apparently. Live your best life.
Putting together content. Maybe he's drawing those great little cartoons that are in the back of the Cigar Press magazine. I feel like we're in some type of publishing. Is this publishing?
Technically, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, you publish an episode every week. Yeah, we publish two episodes every week.
Oh, yeah. Right? Yeah. And yet, here we are.
No boat. No boat. No cruise. No boat.
No cruise. Yeah. Sitting in a private studio or a private lounge. Living not our best life.
Living not our best life. No. All right. Well, tell me the topics, buddy.
Let's go. All right, we're going to break down the headlines that people are talking about, the ones you didn't see coming on this episode. The trade war may finally be cooling off. S.
and China have agreed to drastically slash tariffs in a historic move that could ease inflation fears and reset global markets. We'll unpack what this means for you and your wallet and the world economy. Okay. Also, Siri is spying on you.
Yeah. Oh, I've heard this. A $95 million Apple settlement could have your name on it. Get your checks.
We'll tell you how to check and see if you're eligible. Then we have sports with boots, we have cigars, courtroom drama, boots has the latest football buzz, luxury world of new limited edition cigars from Avowed, Maria Lucia, and Perdomo, plus the fiery legal battle over the Cohiba trademark just took a dramatic turn. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
Things are heating up. That's all you have to say, uh-oh. And I got one social media thing, too. Oh, thank goodness, because I looked, couldn't find a damn thing.
Oh, I got a good one. It's a doozy. Oh, okay, then stick around. It's going to be a packed episode.
Let's get into it. All right. I like the doo-doo-doo-doo. That was nice.
Trade war has an end in sight. The US and China said Monday that they have agreed to slash reciprocal tariffs as the world's two biggest economies seek to in a trade war that has fueled fears of inflation and recession and disrupted financial markets around the globe. Well, I guess that's better than what you said before. Well, what else you got?
Is that it? No, we're supposed to stop, and then you comment, and then I keep going. That's the way you said you wanted the show over. Oh, I'm sorry.
Well, I don't have anything to say at this current time because you didn't really hint towards anything. Well, because you came in and sat down, there was no time to go over the show. See, here's the thing. I walked into the studio today, and I'm going to tell you right now, Mr.
Palmer was very aggressive, extremely violent. You were late again. I was I was late. You were late.
I'm sorry for being late. Well, we were supposed to have time to do the pre-show before the show. I apologize for my lateness. That's all right.
But I'm here now. Yes. I have no excuse. I'm trying to run the show like we have planned and you're fighting me tooth and nail.
Step away. Okay, I'm late. I don't know how many times you want me to say I'm sorry. You're fighting me every time.
Okay, I'm okay. All right, Treasury Secretary Scott Besaid told reporters that two sides had agreed that tariffs would come down by over a hundred percentage points. S. will cut...
I'm sorry, would you like to talk? If anybody would like to talk, I'll just stop and people can talk, because we want people to talk. Do you see what I mean? Do you see what I mean?
No, I was encouraging him to speak. Normally he doesn't, but if he would like to, that would be great. What do you think it is? What do you think it is, Boots?
What? I don't know. Did you know, like... I'm not commenting.
Did he wipe his ass and he got like some paper towels, some toilet paper stuck in there or something? Maybe there was no toilet paper he had to do with paper towels. Did he find himself pooping and then he was out of teepee? Yeah, maybe he had to do with his hand and then wash it, who knows?
And that set him off today? Maybe. In the wrong direction? Yeah.
And he's like, you know what, I'm going to choose violence today. I had a rough wiping this morning. Yeah. And now I'm mad.
See, I don't know to keep reading because I don't get to control the camera, so I'll just sit here and let them talk back. Maybe he woke up this morning, he gave his wife a kiss, wished her happy mother's day, and she just like smacked him across the face or something. Wow. Yesterday was Mother's Day.
What was your Mother's Day today? I don't know. It's a happy continuation. Every day should be Mother's Day, Michael.
Oh, yeah. Gotcha. What do you think it is, Boots? What do you think?
It's definitely a combination of all those. Yeah. It's probably the TP, slapping. Okay.
All right. Well, if you're ready to proceed, Michael. We're all in a happy mood over here. Oh, yeah.
You get leisurely. Just take your morning and just show up whenever you want to. I'm sure you're in a great mood. We would like you to join us in this happiness.
Oh, okay. S. S. imports will fall to 10% from 125%.
The new measures are effective for 90 days. Both countries represented their national interests very well, Bassett said. We both have an interest in balanced trade. S.
will continue moving forward to that. The deal comes days after the Trump administration announced the deal with the United Kingdom. Bessette and Trade Representatives Jameson Greer began meeting with their Chinese counterparts in Geneva on May. President Donald Trump later that day hailed great progress describing the discussion as a total reset and saying the two sides agreed on many issues.
Well, that's pretty incredible. Yeah. 30% and 10%. Right.
I'm surprised the Chinese went lower for our end. They're supposed to. Yeah. That's what this whole thing was about.
Yeah. Yeah, I know. But the Chinese with the wanting to save face and everything, I mean, they've just now said you guys are better than us. I don't think they said that we're better than them.
I don't think they... They're putting a 10% tariff on our stuff. We're still keeping a 30% tariff on their stuff. Yeah, because we import more than we export to them.
Right. So that's how it's supposed to work. You know what I mean? So like, let me give you anything.
You'd think it'd be even. If we're charging them 30, they should be charging us 30. No, because the numbers going in are not the same. I know they're the same to you because, you know, 2 billion and 6 billion are completely the same number, but that's not how it works.
Like, let's say I sell life insurance, right? And you're a realtor, right? And I bring you 10 sales a year. Right.
Like, hey, Palmer here, I got a person wants to buy a house. I got a person buys a house. I want a person to buy a house, right? And you bring me every year, you give me just one person for life insurance, right?
But I get 10% commission on bringing you a realtor and the dollar figure is the same on both sides. And then you give me to I'm like, it comes to a point where I'm like, listen, I'm bringing you all this business. This isn't fair. Right?
So you either got to bring me more business or B, I want to pay you a higher percentage. I want a higher percentage commission. So the dollars are the same. Right.
Gotcha. And that's all they did. That sounds like it makes perfect sense to me. Yeah, it's a balance.
Look, we just got to even this out. I understand now. We can still do business. We can still operate accordingly.
But here's what I want. I want it to be even, right? It sounds like it's a 90 day trial, but I think that's a step in the right direction. I think that's what everybody wants.
Right? Right? What do you think, Boots? Yeah, just move forward and make sure things are fair.
It's a fair playing field, you know? Yeah, do your best to keep the scales even. For many years, it was uneven. It was all in China's favor.
Right. And who knows, listen, I'm not, who the fuck am I, you know, like, I just think that realistically, it makes sense to me, like, this whole approach, you don't, do you think it doesn't make sense? 30-10? You think that it should be 30-30?
Well, the way you're explaining it, yes, I mean, they're doing it on dollars, not percentage. So, okay. Right. They're keeping the dollars the same.
Right, here's the amount that's coming in. Here's the amount that's going out. like the math doesn't math math ain't math right okay so even it up baby right i think that's good you know yeah i'm excited about it yes market's happy today everybody's you know back up the stock market's almost almost uh almost back to where it was yeah yeah it's almost back to where it was and it's all-time high well don't talk about it too loud because siri is listening Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
Tell us more. Apple Siri eavesdrop on your call. Find out if you're eligible to be part of a $95 million settlement. Anyone who's owned an Apple device since 2014 may be eligible to receive part of a $95 million class action lawsuit, which accused the tech company's famous voice assistant of spying on users.
The lawsuit Lopez v. Apple was filed in a California federal court in 2021 by users who alleged their private conversations were being recorded by their Apple device after unintentionally activating Siri. Although a settlement has been reached, Apple has denied the allegations made in the complaint, according to the legal notice obtained by USA Today. If you owned or purchased a Siri-enabled device and experienced an unintended Siri activation during a confidential or private communication between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024, you should read this notice as it may impact your legal rights, the legal notice states.
Okay. According to the legal notice, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, MacBooks, iMacs, HomePods, iPod Touches, and Apple TVs are Siri-enabled devices. The lawsuit's FAQ page says a court hearing to approve the settlement is tentatively scheduled for August 1st. If the settlement amount is approved, those who claimed devices will be sent their part.
The eligibility requirements are broad, but are open to anyone who has owned or purchased a Siri-enabled device since September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024. To opt in, you will swear under oath that you experienced an unintended Siri activation while having a private conversation. I swear. Right, it's all you have to do.
So, it doesn't tell you the amounts? It depends on the number of people. So, I was reading a clip off of NBC, and they were saying that it's going to probably amount to $20 per device, and you can only get up to five devices per person. Yeah, it's not going to be a lot of money, it's going to be so many people.
Wait a second, so were you reading a clip, or were you watching a clip? Oh, I'm sorry, like a clipping, like a news clipping. So you're reading a small article clip? Yeah.
Okay, I'm just wanting a clarification there. Yeah, it wasn't a video. Okay. So you can get up to 100 bucks?
100 bucks per person, basically. Do you think... That's what they're assuming the average is gonna be, because there's gonna be so many people. Yeah.
Right. 95 million, you know, divided by 95 million people, everybody gets a dollar. I mean, do you think your phone's listening to you right now? Yes.
Oh, I, you know, like, when you go, like, you and I talk about something upstairs. Right. Sneakers or something. Yeah.
And all of a sudden, all the ads on my Facebook are sneakers. Sneakers. Facebook's watching. Yeah.
Well, Siri told Facebook, or they're all connected or something. Do you think your phone's listening to you? Of course. So what the hell is this lawsuit about?
I don't know fully. Somebody is suing because they shouldn't be. Yeah, it's an infringement on personal property. I assume the Alex's at home are listening too.
Yeah. My refrigerator is listening to us right now. Yeah. I mean, it could be.
Right. I'd like 10 craft ice balls, please. 10 craft ice balls? And they start shooting out.
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. Yes, boots. I mean, you've got an Apple Watch on. We all have iPhones sitting on these tables.
Right. He's got an Apple Watch. Yeah. I've got an Amazon Watch.
I'm going to be getting Amazon stuff. These are smart lights. Yeah. Well, plus they're cameras that are connected to the computer, which are connected to this.
Right. Turn to purple. They see everything. They know everything.
Yes. Who are they? That's the problem. We don't know.
We don't know who they are. We don't know who they are. They're the guys in the black suits with the black little Cuban hats. The men in black?
Yeah, kind of like that. So they deal with the aliens as well? Maybe. So they deal with the aliens and Alexa.
Yes, they walk among us. Have you ever asked your Alexa if they're recording you? No. I'm guessing you've done this.
This is why you're asking the question. Sure. Sometimes it says no. Sometimes it says we only record when it's diagnostically important or something like that.
Right. Like, how do you know when it's diagnostically important? It's off. " And Alexa, she's so political.
It feels like it's diagnostically important right now. Right, exactly. Ring doorbell? Ring doorbell sees everybody come to your door.
Right. I threw out my Alexas. We abandoned them. Why is that?
I just think they suck. Oh, we use ours for playing music all the time. They're not connected to any lights anymore. We're going to be moved to a new house, and you never remember how to program those stupid little plugs.
You do it once, you know, and then you've had it for eight years. You go, I don't remember how to do this. I don't do this again. We moved to Sonos.
Oh, yes. The Sonos speakers. Sonos is good. Oh, so you still have some system you've just changed.
No, it's just speakers. It's just music. But can you ask it to play the music? I don't think I can.
So, like this thing in here is a Sonos, right, that's in the thing? Yeah. Yeah, that's a Bluetooth, I think, type thing. You can't say, Sonos, play me country music.
But you can ask your phone to have Sonos play something on the speaker. Oh, can you? Yes. Yes.
Oh. Yes. Have either one of you tried those Apple speakers, the little sphere-looking ones? No.
I gotta tell you, man, Sonos is pretty badass. Yeah, I like Sonos. I got an alarm set, kids wake up, right now they're waking up to Eminem. Oh, till I collapse?
Oh, you can do that with Alexa. Oh. You know, if you had one shot. You could wake to music.
You can set an alarm on that? Yeah. Yeah, we use the one, we have the big round one that looks like an eyeball next to the bed, that's what we use as an alarm clock. So you're telling me that Alexa knows when you're, you know.
I guess if it was pointed at the bed. It's a speaker. It's got a mic. Oh, it can hear.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's unearthed diagnostics. Yeah, that could be part of the diagnostic problem. Right.
After reviewing, Michael, you have sex once every three weeks. That cramp you get in the back of your leg. You should buy this. You would stretch beforehand.
Michael, we are indicating that it is time for you to make whoopee. I don't think they get to decide. Well, they're knowing, they're recognizing the pattern, Michael. Oh.
Yeah. And they're seeing that it's a... Oh, it's such a random pattern. It's so random.
I bet you that there's an algorithm. Could be. And Alexa knows it. There's always an algorithm.
There's always an algorithm. There's always an algorithm. There's always an algorithm. There's an algorithm for everything.
Factoring in the menstruation. All right. All right. Next topic.
All right. Now we have Boots Trending Sports with some football info. Football info, which is interesting because it's basketball right now. I'm not in Europe.
Oh, Lord. All right, here we go. Hello, people. Who are you on?
Are you on me or him? On you? Yeah, go to him because you guys are going to talk sports. I like when you stare at him.
All right, I'm on him. All right. Conference League finalists, Real Betis, will continue their push for a Champions League spot in La Liga when they resumed their domestic campaign at home on Asuna on Sunday night. Real Betis are currently sixth in the La Liga table, one point behind fifth place Villarreal.
Did you pick this because everything was hard to pronounce? That's correct. Well, Asuna, ninth, with the team very much in the mix for a European finish heading towards the final stages of the season. El Pellegrini's side are therefore just one European victory, away from securing some major silverware, but their focus for now will firmly be on La Liga as a team are in the mix for a Champions League position in Spain's top flight.
The Green and Whites are currently six in the table, one point behind fifth place, Viril, and fourth behind fourth place, Athletic Bilbo. While they have already secured at least a top seven finish in the division, real bettas have been victorious in each of the last three La Liga matches. Beating season are against Rayo Valiciano, Atletico Madrid, and Valencia. The Seville outfit have not played Champions League football since the 05-06 campaign, so there is plenty on the line for the club in the final stages of the season with a top five spot enough to qualify for the league stage of competition For the 25-26 seasons.
Got a lot. Almost done. Los Rajos have not played European football since reaching the semifinals of the UEFA Cup back in 2007. But they have very much been in the European argument with just four rounds of matches left to play.
Asuna will enter this game off the back of a 4-2 defeat to Viril, but they have won three of their last four in Spain's top flight, Overcoming Girona, Real Vallada, and Sevilla. What is European football? Is that soccer or is that rugby? It's soccer, yeah.
Yeah, La Liga is soccer. What a terrible topic. The Palpona outfit have lost each of their last three La Liga matches against Real Betis, including a 2-1 defeat in a reverse match earlier this season, while they were being 2-1 in their last visit on the Green and Whites in October 2023. So how do you feel about Euro football?
The other soccer stories weren't even in English. There's nothing in NBA? There was nothing trending in NBA. There was a Pacers played somebody.
They did. But there was no story. It was just they played and it was a close game. It wasn't a close game.
Hold on. Was that the one that had the lead at halftime? The Cavs? I don't remember who it was.
They blew them out. Yeah, they were up at like 60 or something like that at one point. The story was all about the coach, not about the game. Well, what was crazy is that there's a huge feud between Hunter on the Cavs, and I forget the other guy's name on the page, I think it's Michaels or something like that, but what happened in the middle of the game is Michaels punched Hunter in the sternum, and backed up, and then Hunter went over and pushed him across the court, like almost a half court basically, and Michaels got ejected, Hunter just got a-- He got a flagrant foul.
That was it. For the punch? For the punch? No.
Hunter was the one that pushed him. Oh. He got a flagrant foul for the push because of his reaction. And then another guy got a flagrant for coming over and bumping him with his shoulder.
Oh. So yeah. So how do you feel about European soccer, football, whatever it is? The green and whites are going to win.
You think the green and whites are going to win? Who do you think is going to win? Boots? Real Madrid.
Real Madrid. You just read the article. You just read the whole article. I didn't hear Real Madrid in that conversation.
Yeah, they were in that. I heard it mention Madrid. Yeah. Fake Madrid.
I thought it was fake Madrid, yes. Yeah. No, I mean, so these guys are not top performing teams. Ah.
They're like middle class. Oh. Okay. But soccer's really hard to follow for somebody that doesn't really know it.
Right. Because you have so many different divisions. Yeah. You know, it's worse than basketball.
There's so many divisions. Oh. Yeah, basketball, you've got, like, four divisions in the East. Right.
You know? And soccer, you've got, like, 15. So, you think if I took the New York tour for Alcatraz and the Statue of Liberty, I'd be able to then fly over and make a football game? Maybe.
Yeah? Sure, there'd be time. I think it'd be time? Between the two.
I'd be able to handle the whole... You should probably do Alcatraz first. Yeah. Then Statue of Liberty, because then you're already going that direction.
Right. Otherwise, it's, you know, Statue of Liberty, over to Alcatraz. Right. You have to cross.
Even though they're both in New York. Right, but they're not close to New York. No, they're not close. One is to the west.
The west in New York? Yes. Western New York. Western New York?
Western New York. Way western New York. That was the best clip. I just want you to know.
Perfect. I absolutely died laughing building that clip. Did you see the clip? Yes, I saw the clip.
I'm here to entertain. Did you like it? I'm here to entertain. Hey, listen, I throw myself under the bus, too.
You know, I did the whole Toby Keith being dead thing and didn't know that. Right. Yeah. You're not alone.
You just say a lot more dumber stuff than I do. How did you not know he was dead? The ratio is like one to ten. Perfect.
Maybe one to five. Okay. One to eight. Sure.
I'll give you seven. Perfect. All right. Okay, are you about to move into Cigar News?
Cigar News it is. Okay. Your social media? I do.
Okay. So listen, a little while ago, we covered McAuliffe Purple, I think. Yes. Purple?
Yes. Yeah. And we had the question of, does McAuliffe have a factory? No.
Oh, yes. And we thought no, I think. I think we thought no. I think we thought no, yes.
Yes. And shout out to Dan Thompson, because McAuliffe does have a factory. Apparently so, yes. Yes.
Yes, he has reached out to us. Yes. And then he blessed me with this gem of a video. Oh, that's right.
Showing McAuliffe in the factory. Like the guy. Right. It's their factory video.
Yes. Yeah. Yes. And we're going to go a little deeper into the video.
Yeah. Oh, boy. Onto the Patreon. But we're going to touch, we're going to scratch the surface here.
I didn't get past the man's introductory speech. I guess I should have watched more. Oh, my God. It is fantastic.
Oh. He got so many things wrong in this video. Oh, did he really? And it bodes the question: is he surrounded by people that just tell him yes?
Or do people just want to see him mess up? Right, because they could have edited his mistakes. There was no editing these mistakes. No, no, I know they didn't, but they should have.
Oh, my God. So the guy goes into, he's into the room where the tobacco was held. held that he called the Pilon Room. Pilon.
But it's not, he didn't call it the Pilon Room. Oh. He called it the Pilon Room. Oh, perfect.
Oh, mispronunciation. Yeah, oh, the Pilon Room? Yes. Like, that's not even close.
That's close, yeah, it's close to Pilon. Those are the R and squares for football. Yeah, but the spelling of the word, though, is very similar. Okay, so you don't think that he should be surrounded by people?
At least one person would say. No, no, no, somebody should have said, cut. Hey. Sir, it's Pilon.
It's Pilon. It's Pilon. Yes, Pilon. Even if they just say the, you know, stupid American way, you go, it said Pilon, sir.
What was the factory in America or? In the Pilon room. It was really bad. And then he was shaking the leaves.
Maybe it is Pilon. What was he shaking the leaves? What was he shaking the leaves for? What was he shaking the leaves for?
And then he goes to smell them. Well, he was trying to shake all the water out. And he was talking about... That's not how they dry them, sir.
He was showing the pears. He's like, okay, so this person will wrap, will load the filler. And then the next person just fills the wrapper. Oh, nice.
He just hands it all over, like, that's not how that works. Even I know that's not how that works. There's a press. You gotta, like, what are we doing?
Perfect. It was amazing. It was amazing. I highly recommend everybody go and watch the McAuliffe Factory video.
On our Patreon. It's on one of our links. It'll be somewhere. It was an older video though, right?
Yeah. Okay. It was epic. It was incredible.
I think it's like eight months old or something. Oh, I thought it was older than that. No, it's relatively new, I guess. Is that man still alive?
Yeah, that's the guy. Yeah, but I didn't know if he was still alive. Is that the guy with the toilet brushes? That's the toilet brush gate.
Yeah, that's the guy. Oh, we have gone round robin here. Dude, pylons. So you'll obviously cut it into the clip.
Oh, it's gonna rain pylons. This is the pylon room. Pylons. I feel so bad.
Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Is that it? Yeah.
That's a big one for me. No, no, no. I was making sure you were done before I kept going. Yeah, I feel good about that.
Yeah, I feel better. Oh, my God. I don't know if Coop's talking to me or not. Yeah, like, we're still...
We still don't know. If he's back in Abu Dhabi or if he's back in the same... He hasn't called, so... Did you leave him a voicemail?
I don't know. I called. Yeah, but, I mean, if he didn't... I don't know.
How does he get notifications in Abu Dhabi? He knows I called. That's what I'm asking. How does he know you called?
Put your headphones on. Oh, I'm doing it right now. Yes. Yes.
This is it. This is it. This is it. So excited over there.
Don headphones. Wait, can you turn my speaker down? It's very loud. Oh, is it?
I think I'm number three. Your call has been forwarded to voicemail, the person you're trying to reach is not available, at the tone, please record your message, when you have finished recording, you may hang up. Coop, it's Mike, Hey Coop, it's also Mike, on the Scarser's podcast, this is not Mike, but this is Boots, and then Boots is here, Boots is here, and we heard you're angry at us, so we wanted to call you, on the show, we're on the show, we're on the show right now, tell you that we love you, and don't be angry, see what present you brought us back from Abu Dhabi. I'm looking forward to your gifts.
All right, so, hey, have a wonderful, safe trip. I hope you're back. I think you're back. I don't think he's back, he went right to voicemail.
I don't know. I don't think he's the roaming phone type of guy. No? You think he's gonna get Wi-Fi on the plane?
No, I don't think he's a Wi-Fi on the plane guy. Okay. All right, well, there you go. I'll put first glasses, give it to you.
Mm-hmm, bye. All right, see? I'll let you record a long-ass message. Look, I've called.
I've called. It is not documented. I've tried to make amends. He's going to be like our Justin Andrews.
We're going to call him every week. He's not going to answer the phone. Now he's, you know, he's angry. I guess he's angry.
You can start releasing some of his phone number like you did with Justin Andrews. That is how we got him to call one time. Shout out to Mitch Smith who still has part of those numbers saved. All right, a vow.
Okay, Cigar News. We're into Cigar News now. Yes, sir. Avowed adding the vow.
Higher calling later this month. When a Viled Cigar Company announced its launch in February, the company announced three debut blends, two regular production lines, and one limited edition, and teased a second limited edition for later in the year. This month, that limited edition will arrive at stores. No way.
29 higher calling. 29 higher calling. I thought it was some weird size. Yeah.
29 on paper. The blends are very similar. Both use an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and binder over fillers that include Cotu Corojo 99, Crelolo 98, Piloto Cubano, and San Vincent Tobacco. So what is San Vincent Tobacco?
It's very rare. It's made by San Vincent. It's extremely rare. All the fillers are grown by Monica Kellner in the Dominican Republic and are described as higher priming tobacco.
Higher primings. 29, the higher calling, is a 6x50 Toro, each, what was different? They never said what was different. It's a higher priming, higher priming.
It's a higher calling. I like higher priming. So that's the only difference? Yes.
It is good. I don't keep reading. 29, the higher calling, is a 6x50 Toro, each cigar is an MSRP of $20, a dollar premium compared to the regular production line. It's a dollar more.
There you go. It's higher priming. High priming. And production is limited to 450 boxes of 10 cigars.
The cigars were rolled at Kellner Cigars SAS and have been aged for two years, which the company says creates a creamier experience. Ooh. Oh. A little more cream.
A little more cream in there, that way. A couple after years. 29 higher calling during the last week of May. They still didn't say what the difference is, other than the dollar.
It's the higher priming. It's the higher priming. Yeah, but is that it? Yeah.
And creamier. Does it? Is it worth a dollar? It's about the experience, Palmer.
Oh, I'm paying for the experience? Yeah. Oh. It's the higher priming.
During the last week of May, with the aim to have it at stores prior to June 1st. Don't you make fun of my avowed people? They're my friends. I'm not.
I vow not to make fun of them. You vowed not to avow? Yes. Okay.
One of my favorite things about avowed cigars is that each of us are fathers, said Dave West in a press release. Most of the year, I spent laboring to provide a better childhood for our kids, But on Father's Day, we slow down to take stock of where we are, and how we got here, and where we're going. Expect Avowed to release something truly special each year, worthy of a Father's Day celebration. So this is a Father's Day cigar.
It's a Father's Day series. Apparently. The high pairing. The higher priming.
The higher priming. Not pairing, priming. The higher priming pairing. Higher priming cigar, for a dollar more, is being released right before Father's Day.
It makes sense. It's a Father's Day special cigar. You think they sorted through it all in the pylon room? Maybe.
Yeah. That's why it's a dollar more. Right. The sorting.
Makes sense. Yeah. And they have to change the name to pylon. Yeah.
The pylon. They pay for it. Maria Lucia Limited Edition PCA 2025 debuts at EE Cigars. Oh, my goodness.
The Maria Lucia Limited Edition PCA 2025 from Constella, which includes Luciano Cigars, is debuted at EE Cigars in Palm Beach. You alright over there? Keeping you awake? I thought it wasn't called Luciano Cigars anymore.
No, it's called Luciano. It's Constella, which includes Luciano Cigars. Oh. They now own the trademarks.
They now own him. Yes. Until further notice. And all his money.
In factories. What money? What money? Allegedly.
Alleged money. Farms. With the retailer getting the cigars exclusively for 30 days before it shipped to other stores. Well, maybe not 30 days.
Allegedly 30 days. Allegedly. The cigar debuted at the 2025 PCA Convention and Trade Show last month and is a modified blend from the original version that debuted in August 2022. Everybody's making the same cigars.
Well... Okay. With higher primes. Yes.
Okay. So why do you think that is? Let me ask you. Why do you think somebody would take a brand and make it and replicate the name?
Ooh, I can't wait till he calls out me. Replicate the name or replicate the cigar? Because they've done both. Replicate the name of the cigar.
Same reason they redo a movie. It's gonna be everybody's out of fresh ideas. Everybody's out of fresh boots. Or, or...
Wait, wait. Oh, he's gonna take my answer now. You didn't sell them all the first time. There you go.
Oh. You think that's what happened? No, I don't think that's the case here. No?
No. It's modified. Because the Maria Lucia was the greatest cigar that he made. Yes.
Right. And the reason why that was, because he had Nika Sueno Broadleaf. Right. Allegedly.
Allegedly. He don't have it anymore. Ah, so that's a modification. So there's no way that it's gonna taste the same.
He's got somebody else's broadleaf. That one pinged well, that one did good, people love that cigar, so you're going to ride that wave, but you're going to make something totally different, and it's going to, boop! You're going to use the same name. Yeah.
Because they're the same rapper, the same band. Yeah, it's the same band, but that's my theory at least, right? Well, that's my theory. He's also making it limited.
Yeah, but... That means people buy it faster. He probably doesn't have that broadleaf. Well, I'm sure he doesn't.
Right. So he's making it with the same name, allegedly. Because this limited gets it a Mexican San Andreas Lajero wrapper. Oh, so it's not the same wrapper.
And a dual binder, Connecticut broadleaf, an Ecuadorian grown Sumatra seed, and a fellow Brazilian Montefina, South African tobacco, and leaves from Nicaragua and Peru. Wow. So basically it's not even close. So it has nothing to do.
Nothing to do with it other than the name. But it does have the same name. Yes. It's not even close.
Right. Oh. So we made a cigar. The cigar does not have anything that is similar to the original cigar, as far as components.
Right. And we sell. All these tobaccos are from countries that will still sell tobacco to the Luciano. Right.
So he's hoping that the name sells it. Yeah, that's exactly what he's trying to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right. Like you make the world's greatest car, and the next car, you just call it the same thing.
It's offered in a 6x52 Sublime Batola priced at $20 while boxes of 10 cigars are priced at $200. Production is limited to 1,000 boxes of 10 cigars, a total run of 10,000 cigars. Can you think of any cigar that came out and then it came out again with a totally different blend that did better than its original run? Oh, go ahead.
Cro-Mag. Cro-Mag's a good example. Cro-Mag's a good example. I know things.
Any other ones? Boots? Don't you have one? Me?
Yeah, then, uh, the Broadleaf? No? No? I don't know.
Palmer? SBC. Well, SBC comes out, it's new, it's a different blend every year. Yeah.
Right, but it's the same name, technically. 16, 18, 22. Well, you just tweak the name, you modify the name. It's a new year.
You modify the name. I'm purposely making a new blend every year. I understand that. But it's got the same name.
Nothing off the top of my head. Let's see. No, I guess the newer ones sell more than the originals did. Anything else?
Any other anomalies? So you just mentioned two anomalies out of the same factory. Anybody else? Nothing?
No Las Calaveras you thought did better? I'm thinking, I'm thinking. I know I'm obviously familiar with the stuff out of our factory. I don't want to bring up old stuff.
The original Last Cow was probably the best one. The OG. Oh, the Anarchy came back out a second time. Okay.
Was it better than the first one? I think it was the same thing, wasn't it? Didn't they say it was the same thing? Yeah.
I think they said it was the same thing. Maybe, I don't know. So nothing? Chillin' Moose?
No, they make different. Chillin' Moose Shade, Chillin' Moose, and Chillin' Moose with the red one. No. I don't know.
Why? What do you got in your head? No, I was just curious. Oh, okay.
I was just curious. That's hard because, you know, lately, people aren't really releasing what's in the cigar. Right. You know, so...
Undisclosed. Yeah, a lot of it's undisclosed, so you couldn't really tell unless you know the different wrappers and all that. Yeah, but even if you didn't know the blend, but you knew the blend was different, and you came out with the cigar under the same name? I guess, well, maybe Room 101's.
Which one? Right, I mean, all his anniversaries, right, are all different. Well, they have different dates, 15th anniversary, 16th anniversary, those are different. Yeah, that's just the anniversary cigar.
Yeah, 75th anniversary. He doesn't really give it like, you know, the poo-poo anniversary. He's in France right now. Is he?
Wasn't the hit-and-run redone? Oh, the hit-and-run was a redux. The hit-and-run was a redux? Yeah.
How was that? I don't know. I didn't like the second one. Okay, so that didn't work?
Yeah. Okay. I like the first one. Interesting.
Very interesting. Okay. Moving on to it. Can Caldwell do one?
I don't think so. I don't know. Maybe. I don't know anything.
Okay. All right. Pernomo Legacy goes on sale. Okay.
The Pernomo Legacy line, a trio of cigars that Nicholas Pernomo III created in honor The owner of his father, Nicholas Perdomo II, has gone on sale at Two Guys Smoke Shop, which had an official launch earlier this week. Dos hombres. The line is centered around a new Cuban seed, Cameroon seed hybrid, Cuban seed slash Cameroon seed hybrid, that was developed by Perdomo and grown in the company's Finca Natale Farm in Esteli, Nicaragua. Have you ever been to that farm?
No. The company says that the mineral-rich volcanic soil created the perfect environment for cultivating a rich, flavorful tobacco that delivers a unique balance of strength, sweetness, and spice. All the lines use it in one form or another, starting with the Perdomo Legacy Nicaraguan Shade Grown, which uses it as a wrapper. Underneath that is a Nicaraguan binder and filler.
The wrapper undergo 10 years of bale aging. 10 years. 10 years. Wow.
Followed by a minimum of 10 months of aging in bourbon barrels. Okay. It's amazing. 10 years.
Almost 11 years before the cigar. 11 years. Before the cigar can get rolled. Well, I was gonna ask a question.
Yes. When was the last time that you guys know that Perdomo released that new cigar? Uh, 11 years ago. Yeah, it was 11 years ago.
They've been holding out this whole time. The company calls this blend medium to full bodied. And we have to wait 11 years. 11 years.
11 years of age, and it's medium to full, it's not mild. Interesting. For the Perdomo Legacy, Ecuadorian, Connecticut, and Maduro versions, the hybrid leaf is used for the binder, as indicated by its name. The Perdomo Legacy, Ecuadorian, Connecticut, used in Ecuadorian grown Connecticut seed wrapper, atop the hybrid binder and Nicaraguan filler.
The wrapper also gets 10 years of age. They must have a room, they shut and only open it once every 10 years. Don't touch it. Don't go in there for 10 years.
This is a medium-bodied blend, also, because their aging special, described as smooth and creamy, with subtle hints of spice on the finish. A Nicaraguan-grown Maduro leaf covers the Perdomo Legacy Nicaraguan Maduro. See, they named it that way, so you would know what the wrapper was. That way you can clearly see which ones.
Clearly understand which one you're getting. Makes sense. The hybrid binder underneath that and the Nicaraguan filler making the core of the cigar. The wrappers are aged for...
Ten years. Ten years. There you go. But they get a minimum of 14 months in bourbon barrels.
Oh. Oh. Switch up. For aging like the Legacy, Connecticut, Legacy, Connecticut.
Its binder is the new shade-grown hybrid. It's medium to full-bodied with notes of semi-sweet chocolate and espresso on the finish, according to the company. All three blends are available in the same three sizes and price points. So we can zip past this a little.
That cigar had nothing but Connecticut and… Ecuador and Connecticut Maduro, Ecuador and Connecticut. Cuban seed hybrid, so how's that a medium to full? I have no idea. Because of the 14 months in the barrels.
It's the aging. Oh, okay. It's all about the aging. They're all around $14, it looks like.
The Belcoso is $15. So how long do you think it takes for tobacco to ferment in the… 10 years. 6 months, right? What do you think an ideal scenario is?
Oh, from just generally speaking? 6 to 8 months, I'm going to guess. 6 to 8 months? I'm guessing.
Yeah, I was guessing 6. Okay. What is it? I think it's like 12 to 18 months.
Oh. Is ideal. We have faster tobacco boots tonight. Yeah, faster ones?
Yeah, we get it from the... Magic tobacco from the top of the mountain. That's without like kind of pressing the options of, you know, cooking you. Well, that's the pylon room.
You're putting yours, obviously, in a pologne room. Completely different. So you really think that it would take 10 years? Like, what would it do?
I don't think it would take 10 years. I think they've forgotten left these in there. You can't just leave it in there. I don't think they were in there for 10 years at all.
I think they forgot. You think it was sitting in a pologne for 10 years? Hefe, we found cigar tobacco back here. It's been there for 10 years.
Oh, look at the dates on there. We can barely read. If you're not turning it, it would just decompose. Yeah.
Oh, it's almost all gone. Yeah, the ones on the bottom here are horrible, we don't use those. We don't use the one on the bottom, Cibuano. Cibuano.
Now you're Mexican. I'm Nicaraguan. It's really hard not to be Chinese, give me a break. Perdomo previously told Half Wheel that the Legacy's rollout will continue through May, anyone who wants to carry it will need to take on all three blends in all sizes and two additional sizes of something else, and then commit to 17 more blends from sizes and cigars to be named at a later date.
Blah, blah, blah. Sounds about right. That's about El Pergel. Oh my goodness.
Federal court rules for Cuba in General Cohiba trademark lawsuit. This is the big news of the week, Joe, this is it. Oh, wait a second. Oh, this is it.
The lawsuit is over. So wait a second, this is the Cuba thing? This is where Cuba is saying that General is using their name. Right.
The lawsuit's over? Lawsuit's over. Cuba has won. Oh.
Oh. Wait a second. In what clerk of courts did Cuba win? Cuba.
In the Cuban one? No, no, in the American one. Federal Court of Appeals. Oh, in a federal court.
Federal judge ruled against General Cigar Company in the company's lawsuit against Cuba Tobacco. S. Okay. S.
District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia, Ruled in favor of the state-run tobacco company and General Cigar Company, Inc. vs. You all right over there? Yeah, let's crack my neck.
Oh, I thought you were having a seizure. I was having a seizure. And the General Cigar Company vs. the Cuban Tobacco Company, a lawsuit filed in 2023 by General Cigar Company.
The two companies are both engaged in the sale of Cohiba Cigars. , while Cuba's state-run tobacco business sells Cohiba All of them. All of them. S.
Patent and Trademark Office, multiple federal courts, and their corresponding appeals courts. There are a number of contested issues, but the general central question of the particular lawsuit centered around, did General know about Cohiba making it a registered trademark before 1978? Did Cuban tobacco have trademark protection in Cuba? And they did.
Would ruling against General violate the Cuban embargo's rule against transferring property? Okay. Brinkman's decision starts by quickly dismissing General's objection to Cuban tobacco's evidence, describing them as nothing more than boilerplate objections, simply citing the federal rule of evidence under which the objection is made, but not including any blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay.
So what happens? So what's next? There are two things that let... Hold on, you made me miss something here.
The judge found... Oh, wrong way. Brinkman finds that the evidence suggested that General knew about Cohiba prior to registering the brand in 1978. There are two things that led him to this decision.
First, the hiring of Justin Andrews was an obvious violation of any laws in Cuba. And two, the judge found that firing of Jack Taranio at the annual Christmas party was an extreme bad taste and should have been pushed back till after New Year's. Brinkman found that Cuban Tobacco not only did change the mark, but also that no third party complained to the Cuban Secretary of Commerce, which would have started the process of cancelling the mark. Because there were no complaints, the mark couldn't be cancelled, and the Cuban Tobacco enjoyed protection.
I'm calling Justin. Oh, he's not going to answer. Don the headphones! He's not going to answer.
The answer is, I'll pick up the headphones. Hey, Justin. Hey, Justin. What's going on, buddy?
I can hear a ring. Your call has been forwarded to voicemail. If he had answered the phone, he would tell you he's working on a new cigar project, the Cohibo, spelled C-O-H-I-B-O, 100% change from Cohiba. It's masculine.
Just not available for comment, even though he was just in Florida. I can hear, it's ringing again, I'm trying to call him again. You gotta keep calling the answers? Call one more time.
Yes. Third time's a charm. Your call has been forwarded to... You think there's anybody that sits next to them?
Does Matt Booth have the meetings? Matt Booth is in France. Matt Booth doesn't take the meetings. He doesn't go to meetings.
He's having a meeting with his wife and son right now. We're at dinner by the Eiffel Tower. It's a riveting podcasting, folks. It's a phone ringing.
Your call has been forwarded. Can I keep calling until he answers? Is there nobody that... I like how we just pick up the headphones like that's the phone now.
Who's Justin Andrews Handler? Who's his boss? The guy's name is General. That's his name?
General. Oh, it's Shaq. Jack? Jack's not his boss.
They didn't even work for the same company. No, Shaq. Shaq owns the General. Oh, Shaq.
Yeah, Shaq. Yeah, the General. He's on a plane to Miami. So he says.
So you get texts? So he can text? From Tampa? He was in Tampa.
He's flying from Tampa to Miami? Yeah, oh, I was super busy. I'm on a plane. It takes longer for him to drive to the airport, fly to Miami.
I mean, get a car and get out of the airport, then if you just drove. Yeah, I agree. It's ridiculous. Davidoff's closing two stores in September: Brookfield Place in Houston.
Oh, really? S. stores, the River Oaks location in Houston and the Brookfield Place in New York City. The company says it is opting not to renew either lease, but both stores will keep regular business hours until September.
The Houston store is located, what difference does it make, where they're located? Both the River Oaks and Brookfield Place stores have been a treasured location for our valued clients, but they don't buy anything, so we're closing stores. So, we're going to close them. This is Lana Frazier, head of marketing and retail for Davidoff Genuvin.
While we have made a difficult decision to close these two locations that don't make any money, we remain dedicated to serving our customers at our 6th Avenue, New York location, so if they would like to travel there from Houston to buy stuff, we would greatly appreciate it. Well, they're talking about the New York location, dude. They're talking about both of them. com.
Oh, there it goes. Well, they've had that forever. We sincerely appreciate the dedication and contributions of the River Oaks and Brookfield teams and extend our heartfelt gratitude to our patrons for their loyal support in not buying stuff. S.
stores from four to two. Well, it's kind of, we're in kind of interesting times, man, you know, how many people actually sit in a lounge and smoke cigars? And what's the number of people that sit and smoke at home? I don't know.
Because I know, well, you feel that it's just a social thing. What? Yeah, we talked about this before. You made a comment in the past saying, well, it's just, it's social, even though you don't smoke necessarily around people.
Oh, the cigars. Yeah. Because they made something for people to smoke alone. Yeah.
So, you know, if these locations, the lounges don't have a lot of activity, what do you do? Well, the two that are staying open are franchises, not owned by Davidoff. So, it makes you wonder if someone else knows how to run their stores better than they do. Hmm.
I mean, maybe. There's something, there is definitely some value as far as partnering up with somebody who is ambitious and a visionary in any type of business. So, you know, you partner with these guys, you create a franchise, and if they're good at retail, they know how to succeed, they know how to pick the right spots, they know how to keep the right employees and all those things. What are you looking at?
The story is... I'm trying to have a conversation with you. I'm reading the thing on the thing. I feel like you just left me alone.
1911 flagship stores in Brooklyn, Las Vegas, and Hollywood, Florida, but each of these stores is a franchise store, which I obviously know how to run retail better than they do at corporate. It says that? Yeah. Well, it does now.
It was added. Oh, good. What do you think? Do you think that it's important to hire people that have that ability, or do you think that, you know, major corporations just run on their own?
Yeah, no, you definitely have to hire people to do the visionary as well. Do you know what was open first, the original Davidoffs or the franchises? No idea. I would assume that the original Davidoff was open first.
Not like the franchises are doing well, then they go, "You know what? We're giving too much money away. " Right. I don't think that was the case.
Well, you get more money if you open franchises because you're not doing anything and they're just giving you money. Well, it depends on your franchise deal. They're not making all the profits. They're just getting paid a fee.
Yeah, but I think that a lot of these companies, these organizations, this is kind of where they're failing, right? Right. Because they can make good cigars, or at least they have consumers for those cigars, they think that, hey, you know, we can cut out that retailer and replace them with ourselves. When in all reality, if you don't know anything about retail and you're not successful being a retail person, you're kind of setting yourself up for failure.
Well, you would think if they were going to open a retail place, they would have hired someone who knows how to run one. I think that the only way that you can actually succeed in that particular realm is by acquiring like an intrapreneur, right? A person that you're, they don't have to put up the money, but they're going to become a partner with you to some degree, figure out what the sweat equity looks like as far as percentage and value of growth and ownership of the company, and give them the reins. As long as your vision is the same as theirs, then you should succeed, you know?
Right. When you don't do that, I think that's when you start to have these issues, I think that these guys are going in and saying, okay, we can just do this, hire a person, all right, you're the manager, okay, like, you know, that just doesn't work. No, no, it doesn't. You see it time and time again where they fail, you know, you're Costa de Monte Cristo's, they've been revamping them, you know, 75 times at this point, and they're in great locations where they should be, where a lot of them can sustain on their own, without, you know, You know, someone, you know, coming in, but if somebody were to come in and actually run the store, and they made them a partner, I think that those things, like a franchise, the store would do probably 10 times better than what they're doing.
Yeah, and I think there needs to be, I don't know if a lot of cigar places do this, but it needs to be training programs. I mean, any franchise, like, they used to work for Papa John's, you know, when I was younger, and they, a lot of them are franchises. Very rarely is there a corporate store, and most of the time for the franchises, they have to go to training programs like at least once a month, and there's a training store that is one of the franchises as well, so I don't know if cigar stores do that, or maybe, probably not, that would probably help in furthering the business. Yeah, that's why the franchises work, and that's why the other ones don't.
Long term, at least, in my opinion. Okay. Next. Some more Davidoff.
Davidoff opened the two stores around a decade ago when the company was in period of major investment, including expanding its American store. At one point, there were nine Davidoff of Geneva since 1911 stores in America, but the last five years have been. Seen that number continue to shrink. In 2021, the company-owned flagship store in Atlanta was closed.
In 2022, the Borchewitz family rebranded the Davenoff flagship store in operation in Tampa to a Corona Cigar Company, blah, blah, blah, and one yellow trailer that is crossing, oh, that joke didn't work, all right, I got a shop of the week, well, could I cut something out, so. So, there's still stores overseas, though, because they originated overseas? Is that what we're talking about? These are all just the American stores, there's been no mention, but I believe there, I think there's one in Hong Kong that I've been to, I'm pretty sure.
I think, look, Davidoff is one of the most successful brands in the industry. You know, the challenge is, though, like how do you continue to grow? So you look into going direct to consumer. You have these retail locations, and that's where things kind of get sloppy, right?
Things aren't working out the way that they predicted it. And, you know, the online access makes sense because you can have your regular consumer that doesn't care about that customer service. Just log in, buy their whatever, and then move on. I just don't think that that's a great channel as far as growth is concerned.
It's just more of a sustainability. Yeah, just to maintain it. You need your retailers to continue to grow your brand. Right.
And you need their level of customer service to take care of their consumers. So, until you partner with someone that has that ability, and, you know, it's got to make sense, obviously, because in Tampa, they had it, and they severed ways. Obviously that, that meant, in my opinion, that means that the, the deal didn't make sense, right? Hey, this, I don't.
There's been rumors about, on both sides, on whose decision it was, who pulled away from it. Yeah, whatever the case, it's, and, but, and that's irrelevant. The, the reality is that if it would have worked, if it was successful for both parties, they would still be doing it, if they're not, you know? So, dude, the other ones only carry, like the one in Hong Kong only carried Davidoff stuff.
It wasn't a very big place. But you could only buy Davidoff cigars, there's not, I mean, they didn't even have... Maybe that's the problem. Maybe the sustainability is just not there with just Davidoff cigars.
I know, well... But, like, the Corona one doesn't. Right, they had everything. They had everything.
I think that a lot of Davidoff stores, I mean, if it's a... I don't know. Maybe the corporate stores only still carry Davidoff, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know.
I mean, that would be the problem, because that's a higher level cigar that, so you're... You know, there's certain clientele you have to have. You know, J-Dub's not walking into a Davidoff store every day. New York makes sense.
Sitting there with Pete and Ricky. I think that they would still have other products on the shelf. I think that they would. Yeah, I don't think you could just do just Davidoff.
I think they'd have other products. I've never seen them. I don't know how big they are or anything like that one in Hong Kong. I mean, it wasn't, it wasn't the size of this room.
Right. Okay, so what's the Shop of the Week? Shop of the Week, Castillo Mobile Cigars in South Carolina. Hours in South Carolina.
Oh. We've reestablished connections with Mr. Brown. And we're looking to support and help.
Yes. Whichever way possible. Thank you. And do you have a listener?
No. You were so kind to come up with one last week. Maybe you could do it again. I have a listener of the week.
You did last week. Okay. I will tell you my listener. My listener of the week is...
Houston Sway. Oh. Yes. Out of Colorado.
Yes. My dear friend, Mr. Sway, who I'll be on his podcast. Oh, are you?
Yeah. I've already done his podcast. Oh, how'd you do? He is an excellent show.
He does a good job. That's an excellent show? Yeah. I will be on there on the 20th.
Good for you. Ba-bao. Ba-bao. All right.
Anything else to add? That's it. So we got this week. All right.
We got a lot of work to do with this upcoming week. We got this merch that we're about to launch, this new website that we're about to launch. We're very excited. We're going to do everything that we can in our power to get it done and live and running We'll see you next week.
So we look forward to the announcement next week. We look forward to the announcement of the announcement and keep in touch of the announcement of the announcement. All right, everybody. All right, guys.
Thanks. Bye on the Patreon. Bye. Your backing makes it possible for us to keep it real for our listeners.
Cheers to you. com and search the Cigar Hustler Podcast. F*** that one up.
Show Notes
In Episode 387, the boys are back with another packed show! We break down the massive U.S.-China trade tariff rollback and what it means for your wallet. Could Siri have been eavesdropping on you? Find out if you're owed a slice of Apple’s $95 million settlement. Boots brings the heat with some football chatter, while Mike dives deep into cigar news—from Avowed’s limited edition “Higher Calling” and the moving tribute in Maria Lucia PCA 2025, to Perdomo’s Legacy line hitting shelves. Plus, courtroom fireworks explode in the ongoing Cohiba trademark saga, and Davidoff closes two U.S. stores. It's headlines, hot takes, and premium cigars—don’t miss it!