Cigar Hustlers Podcast Honest Abe from Smoke Inn and Mikey doesn’t feed the kids!

Episode Summary

Episode 219 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with the show's usual domestic chaos: Mike Szczepankiewicz's wife Brittany calls in live to publicly out him for forgetting to feed the kids dinner while she was out with friends — a running bit that turns into a debate over DoorDash, snack drawers, and "hunter-gatherer" parenting. The hosts also run through show business: a Scars and Stripes racing team sponsorship, contract negotiations with Cigar Noise, an upcoming media/marketing panel appearance, and a preview of Mike's trip to New Jersey.

The heart of the episode is an unannounced, on-the-spot phone call to Abe Dababneh of Smoke Inn, who picks up and talks candidly about The Great Smoke. Abe explains how far in advance the event is planned (2023 venues locked, exclusive releases already lined up for 2024), why the event's format keeps evolving, and how his team debriefs on "96 points of improvement" immediately after each show. He details operational fixes — eight POS terminals in the pit, publishing the cigar catalog and pricing months early, the disastrous 2020 switch to digital tickets that scanners couldn't read in Florida sunlight, and his improvised manual check-in table that cleared the line in 25 minutes. Abe also says that following Cigars International's restructuring announcement, The Great Smoke is now effectively the biggest consumer cigar event in the country, and he teases upcoming themes: Mardi Gras for 2023 and a Year of the Dragon/Chinese New Year concept for 2024. He praises Steve Saka and Matt Booth for their crowd engagement, notes Carlito Fuente flying in from the Dominican Republic, and tells a great story about two customers from Juneau, Alaska who discovered at the event that they shared a dentist.

In the news segment, the hosts cover Cigars International killing the traditional CigarFest mega-herf in the Poconos in favor of a month-long, ticket-free, multi-store event running September 24 through October 29 across Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas; CI/STG's plan to add six to eight new superstores by 2025 (doubling the footprint to 12–14); and Rick Rodriguez's departure from General Cigar Company as CAO blender and ambassador, with a look back at his path from Florida sales rep through General's Cigar Master training under Benji Menendez, Daniel Nuñez, and Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. That leads into a funny riff on meeting industry legends cold in a retail shop and how booth placement at trade shows (Plasencia up front, Davidoff's big white booth in back) makes or breaks a brand's convention. The show closes with Listener and Shop of the Week honors for Nicolas Suarez and Cigar Den in East Brunswick, New Jersey, where Mike will be appearing March 17.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Brittany calls in: the un-fed children
   Mike's wife phones the show live to report that he left the kids without dinner, sparking a debate about parenting, snack drawers, and DoorDash habits.
2. 02
   Show business: racing sponsorship and Cigar Noise contract
   Updates on the Scars and Stripes racing team sponsorship, revised contract terms with Cigar Noise, and an upcoming media/marketing panel invite.
3. 03
   CigarFest is restructured
   Cigars International cancels the Poconos mega-herf in favor of a ticket-free, month-long CigarFest running across its stores in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
4. 04
   Surprise call with Abe Dababneh of Smoke Inn
   Abe picks up cold and breaks down the years of planning, exclusive releases, and constant evolution behind The Great Smoke.
5. 05
   Is The Great Smoke now the biggest cigar event in the country?
   Abe argues that after CI's announcement, The Great Smoke has officially become the largest consumer cigar event, with record numbers expected next year.
6. 06
   Event logistics: digital tickets, POS terminals, and the printed catalog
   Abe details the 2020 ticket-scanner disaster, the improvised check-in fix, and how publishing prices early made checkout painless.
7. 07
   Future Great Smoke themes and manufacturer engagement
   Mardi Gras for 2023, a Year of the Dragon concept for 2024, and why brand principals can no longer just stand behind a table handing out cigars.
8. 08
   Cigars International's retail expansion
   STG plans six to eight new superstores by 2025, doubling CI's retail footprint to 12–14 locations.
9. 09
   Rick Rodriguez leaves General Cigar
   The CAO blender and ambassador departs April 29 after two decades, having trained under Benji Menendez, Daniel Nuñez, and Ernesto Perez-Carrillo.
10. 10
    Listener and Shop of the Week
    Nicolas Suarez and Cigar Den in East Brunswick, New Jersey, host Mike for a March 17 appearance.

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

This is recording and then we should do this on this button here and then we'll do this... Welcome to episode 219 of Cigar Hustler Podcast. Still the number one show on Podbean, Cigar Show on Podbean. Number one.

We're doing two cameras today. I'm not sure how this is working, but we're, but we're testing the waters. We're testing the waters. You would think that one would be green.

You too, you too. You too can become part of the podcast family and invest in our show. Put your products in front of thousands of listeners and viewers every episode. We are heard on...

That one's not even on. Well, that's what I mean, it switched to this one now. Oh. The red light is the one recording like big-time TV.

Oh. So, this is just on you? Yes. I'm reading the ad.

Nice. Okay, good, good, good. Viewers every episode. We are heard on 13 different podcast providers weekly all around the world.

All around the world. To have your... It's my camera, Mike. Excuse me.

I'm not on the side right now. To have your ad read in this spot, contact me from my camera right there. com. Please remember to rate, comment, and subscribe to any of our many podcast providers you happen to use.

Well, hey, Michael, now you're on. Hi. Oh, yes, but that's covering both of us, right? Yes, that's the two-shot, this is the one-shot, and the one with the third camera, you will have yours for when you're going to one of your diatribes.

What do we got up for the Patreon? Would you like to hold it up? Oh, look at that! We got some munchies.

Oh, the munchies. We have munches. We don't have munchies. There's only a couple in there.

It's a five pack. There's a five pack, there's three left. Yep. You've already had one.

I have had one. It's not nice. And then one got fingerfucked by three people. Three?

Yeah. Well, Pete Hernandez, and I know he's an avid listener, so yes, Pete Hernandez got to, he, you know... He touched it? I think I handed it to him first, and I was like, okay, I can still smoke this.

Yeah, Pete. Yeah, Pete's not a big deal. And then my brother touched it, and I'm like, fuck, I don't know if I can... Did they touch it or they're like going...

Greg was, yeah, Greg started to sniff it and shit. He does the end up his nose. Yeah, he started, I'm like, I don't think I can, I'm not sure I can smoke it. And then Bruso touched it last, and then he wedged it up his nose, and I'm like, I'm out.

There's no fucking way I'm smoking the cigar. Nope, none of the million years. So who smoked it him? He did smoke it.

I don't like him. You can't put that on video. He doesn't watch the show. You don't know.

What if he does? What if this is the one he listens to? He doesn't. He never watches his show.

Okay. Well, I'm going to weigh it real quick. You're going to weigh it real quick? Uh, I have a caller.

Would you like to take the caller first? Yeah. Okay, we'll do the caller first. 4 grams.

It's, I don't think that's good. 4 sounds a little low. Uh, we did this whole 5x50 thing recently. 4 qualifies.

It may. We'll see. Who are we calling? I don't know how this works on the camera.

If they, I guess they hear it. Oh, they've heard them before. So, yeah. Hello?

Hello, caller. State your name, please. Thanks, Brittany. Oh, no.

Yes. Oh, no. I was given some information this weekend about something Michael did or did not do. What did I do?

What did I do? I'll let the lovely Brittany explain what he didn't do. Oh, man. Please, Brittany, please.

You're on the air. Please go right ahead. Okay, yes. So, on Friday, we had a little, you know, incident, which he helped with.

He left work a little early to come home and help me. So that way I could head to a happy hour with some mom friends for her birthday, I love you. Don't interrupt, please, don't interrupt her. Turn your microphone off, Mike.

So I head out, you know, and I go and I have a great time with the girls and stuff like that. Lovely time. Yes, absolutely. You know, I figure he's got everything under control there.

I asked him if you want any food, you know, you want me to bring home dinner? Yeah. He says, "No, I'm good. I'll just heat up the chicken.

" Okay, no problem. I get home, maybe around between 8:00 and 8:30. Okay, say hi to the kids, whatever. He's out on the patio.

I go out on the patio. We're sitting there watching. I don't even remember what we were watching. And I think I had walked inside for something.

And one of the kids were like, now Teddy's already in bed. She was in bed at 7:00. And the boys are up, and I think it was one of the kids that asked if they could have a snack. " Justice was kind of, like, bending over because his stomach, I think, was bothering him.

" So I go on the patio, I sit down, and I was like, uh, Mikey, did you feed the kids dinner? And it was just like a deer in headlights. They, you know, you have to feed them. You have to feed them?

No. What about Teddy? Did Teddy eat? No.

No, Teddy went to bed hungry. First of all, Teddy is a gentle grazer throughout the entire day. She eats nothing but garbage and bullshit all day long. And she hardly ever eats her dinner.

She gets so much food that she hoards it and hides it in her cars and shit. Okay, let's take the focus, alright? Leave poor Teddy alone. Yes, don't blame Teddy for your ill-mannered parenting.

So I look at him, I'm like, yes. Whenever Teddy wants food and I'm around, she can have whatever the hell she wants. Except for Friday night? Yeah, she will eventually be on my 600-pound life because she doesn't have to stop feeding her.

However, let's get back to dinner, Friday, for the children. So I'm like, did you feed them dinner? And he says, no. And I'm like, I was like, are you kidding me?

And he says, well, I thought you had handled that. I was like, I left the house at four o'clock. Like, why would I feed them dinner before four o'clock? Maybe me could have fed them.

Come on. Even I know that's not a thing. Exactly. He left work early.

He was home by five o'clock. Yeah. So, which is dinnertime, correct? Yeah, it's dinnertime.

Yeah. Yeah. So, I often show him, if he helps me with the kids' laundry, how I put their clothes away in case I ever die. Right.

If she dies, we're done. God forbid something happens to Brittany. We're done. We're done.

Yeah. They can continue on with their organized clothes, however, obviously now I know that my children, if I die, will never eat because I can't even go out for a few hours and he doesn't even feed them dinner. You better stay alive. You better stay alive.

Terrible. See, no good deed goes unpunished, you know what I mean? I go home, I stay early so she can go out with her friends. You didn't feed the children, Michael.

I didn't feed the children. But I understand you did eat though. Of course I did. Yes, he did eat dinner.

" Just for the record, Jess has had a stomachache all day, so he wasn't really eating much anyways. From no food? No, he didn't feel well. He got pulled out of school.

No food. Don't pull that. I think you're making excuses. And Jax is practically 30, so he can handle himself.

Wow. All right, all right, all right. " I obviously didn't do that this time because he wasn't home when I left, but apparently I have to walk him through every step. Or maybe just order it yourself before you leave.

Say the kids need to eat and I'd be like, okay. Just to stay safe for the children. It's all right. It's on you.

Are you going to ask me and Adrian, ask Papa Mike and Gigi, we'll come over and help them with the kids. That would be great. Well, now I'm nervous. Do I leave them with the kids?

They survived. They were all, they were all... I don't know. Teddy went to bed hungry.

Are you kidding me? We have... Jacks is bent over in a kitchen. We have two drawers of snacks of just like fucking everything you can think of.

Are they hunter-gatherers now? They're supposed to find their own stuff? I'm trying to develop, you know, strong individuals, right? No, no, no, no.

I was like Saturday, Saturday morning, we woke up and Jacks, I showed- Don't go away for the weekend, Brittany. You'll be Lord of the Flies when you come back. Saturday, I woke up and I showed Jacks how to change a tire. I mean, he took care of it, no problem.

He didn't change a tire. Yeah, and then I told him how to change the oil. He was doing that, too. Oh, right.

And later on in the day, we were cleaning the guns. Right, exactly. Yeah, guys. After Target Pride.

Kids all set. Yeah. How to sharpen sticks and things in the backyard. Yeah, you know.

Play, hunt the dog as they run through the yard. Exactly. Right. Alrighty.

Well. Alright. Well, we appreciate you calling in so we can belittle your husband out there. So how did you guys...

What? How did you guys arrange this? Are you like her emotional friend? " Whenever you do something bad, yes.

Wow. It's incredible. I was just... I had to text him.

" I woke up to this Sunday morning, to the text message. Or Saturday morning, actually. Saturday morning. Saturday.

Saturday morning. I know you probably sleep, but this happened last night. Oh, oh, Michael, Michael, Michael. Now he's upset.

I'm not upset. He's fine. He'll be fine. He'll be fine.

They're all alive. Well, I had to get back to them, so they're all home. Make sure you feed them. Yeah, they need more food.

Mike will be home soon, make sure you feed them. Apparently, it's frowned upon if you don't feed them. No, they've been eating all day, all day. I know, by themselves.

It's amazing. No, no, no, no, no, she puts out food for them, like grazing. Yep. That's nice.

Spaghetti and meatballs tonight for dinner. Oh, you're so sweet. You're amazing. You're an amazing woman.

You're an amazing woman. Very grateful for you. Okay. All right, well, thank you for calling, Mr.

Stefankiewicz. Thank you very much. You're welcome. You enjoy the rest of your day.

You too. All right. Bye-bye. Bye.

The lovely Brittany Stefankiewicz on the air there, folks. Nothing is sacred in my life. Nothing. No, nothing happens.

It's like I'm there. No, you fuck up, no problem. Don't worry. D.

King Palmer. I don't care. Call her. What are you going to call her?

Tell her things that Brittany did? Yeah, so Brittany, no, I don't know. Oh, don't you worry. " I don't call her, Michael.

D. " Oh, well, she can do that. I don't care. She'll tell you when you fuck up.

Sure. If I fucked up, I can feed the dogs. The dog ate. I fed the dog.

I fed the dog. I knew the dog had to eat. I actually asked that question. " And the answer was no.

- What about my friend? - Chapo? - Chapo. - Oh, Chapo eats.

- Oh, Chapo eats. - How could you think about the dogs eating, but not the children? - Because I assumed that the kids were under control. I don't know.

- Oh. - I don't know. " - Oh. - Oh, closed mouth, don't get fed.

" - Okay, Taco Bell's on the way. and hit the button. DoorDash is a terrible thing. It's amazing.

It's a terrible thing. I've spent way too much money on DoorDash. It's absolutely amazing. We went to a restaurant we normally DoorDash from and I go, you know what?

This is $30 cheaper if we eat it. And we had an appetizer and two drinks. I pollo-tropic all the fuck out of the DoorDash. It's just like, it's rice, beans, chicken.

Send it. Right. Just hit the button. Boop.

And then we just look to see how fucked up the order is when we get there. Oh, you go and pick it up? No, no. It gets dropped off.

I hit the button. Door dash and then pick it up? No. That's ridiculous.

That's just crazy. Obnoxious. So what else did you do? Well, other than starving my children, Michael?

Yes, what else did you do? You're on the no sports month. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

It was kind of an easy weekend, man. It was a terrible weekend weather-wise. Oh, what are you talking about? Saturday after the rain passed, we went out to Universal.

Oh, yeah. It was wonderful. But you got your annual pass on Sunday. I got it on Sunday.

Oh, yes, I'm now part of the annual pass club. Yes. I don't know which camera to look at. The red, the one with the red light?

The one with the red light, the red light, yes. Yeah, you are now, you should probably flip back to that one when you get to the newsroom. Oh, yeah, yeah. But then, I'll have to flip back when you want to comment.

Yeah, exactly. There's a lot of button pushing over here going on. I know. Eventually, we're going to need a person.

Yeah, just sit over there. And we make boots come in and hit the button. Uh-huh. It's not like he's doing anything.

There'll be a lot of pictures of boots. Yeah. Hey, guys. We did yard work Sunday.

Sunday was a little chilly, but it was nice for yard work, cleaned up for the winter cleanup. So my neighbor's kid is now doing the yard. Right, yeah, you mentioned that several episodes ago. Yeah, so like, you know, my neighbor also has a beautiful oak tree that the leaves fucking decimate in my backyard.

I hate oak tree leaves. Drives me nuts. They're all over my front yard. So like, the backyard.

Sounds like you're walking on gravel. So the backyard, when I cut it, I want it bagged, right? " So I see him go, like, you have to remove this bag, like, several times. Yeah, yeah.

To get all the leaves out. Not this guy. Oh. He just.

Oh, and then at the end. And there's shit everywhere. At the end, he bags it. He just takes whatever, yeah, takes whatever's in there.

I'm like, but this thing is well capped out, you know, the first, like, three pulls. Right. So I'm like, so how do you say to the neighbors, like, hey. Holds the kid?

He's probably like 16, 17. He's old enough you could explain it to him. I'm like, hey, like, this is what I need done. Right, after three pulls, I need you to undo this.

Will there be additional fees for, like, I'm trying to, you know, what, like. You need to charge extra for bagging if I want more bags? Yeah, like, what? I'll provide the bags.

Right, I have the bags. You use my mower and the. Oh, he uses your mower too. For the backyard, yeah.

Oh. Oh, because he's got a rider or something that doesn't fit through the fence? Right. Yeah, yeah.

So. Mow the bag yourself. Cut his fee a little. I was going to.

I was just gonna go back out there afterwards, but then that just didn't happen. Oh, what, a rake? Just go back over with the windmower again. Yeah, suck it all up.

But yeah, that was kind of sad for me. I like seeing like nothing, I wanted to be clean, you know what I mean? Oh. But, yeah, so, Universal was fun, bro.

I had a good time. We have solidified, just a couple updates here, we have solidified our, Scars and Stripes racing team We have Sponsorship Indeed If you guys are on Facebook You saw the photos of our name on the car Yeah He's going to send me his logo And I'm going to have a couple shirts made That we can wear on the show Oh, on here? Yeah, we'll have racing shirts Oh, very nice I got a couple of racing shirts made The Cigar Noise boys Did send me another contract Another contract That I had to help a little So I did that this morning, and now that is back in their hands again. So what, you like stricken out things, like cross things out?

It was more ad things, like there was no mention of the disclaimer, ad copy, a breakdown of how many spots we get, it was just a total, you know, just a little, little, little things. He did ask for help with the disclaimer and the ad copy, so that was something I was expecting, so not that big a deal. I still got a disclaimer and changed it. We'll even record the disclaimer for them and they can play it in our voice if they have that ability.

Well, I'm proud of him for kind of like getting it going, you know, at least. It's Dominique. It's not Tyler. That's true.

It's not Tyler. You got a point. He's such a nice guy, Dom. Dom is very nice.

Yeah, yeah. And he's very busy with school and stuff, I understand. It came over the weekend, so I mean, sit here for a couple of days. What's Tyler doing?

Just moving luggage, I mean. He's traveling, he's running around all over the place. Yeah, I feel like, you know, is he committed to Austin? I don't know if he's committed to Austin.

Well, he's got a house back wherever that is, and that's where his doctor is too or something, and all of this is very fascinating. I keep telling him they have doctors in Austin. I feel like we're going to be interviewing Tyler on the Cigar Noise Boys. Yeah, I feel that way.

Now, is this tomorrow we're doing the Cigar Noise Boys? I actually forgot last week and I had things that I had to do, so is it tomorrow? I think it is. Tomorrow night?

It's been canceled so many times. Yeah, we've been bumped a couple of times in scheduling problems, so I'm not sure if it's tomorrow or not. I believe it is tomorrow. It is tomorrow?

A thousand percent, he said. Night time? Yeah. A thousand percent tomorrow.

Night time. Night time. Do you know what time at night? I feel like it's late.

Late, late? Like eight? Oh, that's late. Eight at our time, seven at our time.

Oh! Excuse me, we did get invited on for the Coop show. Well, I saw that, I thought it was really just for you. Which is fine.

No, no, it's not, it's going to be for both of us. Well, I mean, you're just forcing me on them at this point. Yeah, I will thrust you onto every individual possible. You know, yeah, there's like a media panel for, what is it for?

Marketing things. Oh, yeah, yeah, that's interesting. Yeah. Well, we had the first story, we had the scoop.

We did have the scoop. Now he did, you know. Which we haven't done his show in a long time. I've never done his show.

That's not true. Oh, I was in the background. You were the Jedi, the boxer, the cowboy? Yeah, that's true.

" Like, I see the fucking Jedi robe. Oh, that's nice. I threw all that shit away. Oh!

It's just been sitting there for-- I was in the museum! No, it's gone. It's gone forever. I have elf suits over here and all sorts of things.

Yeah, I do. They're all gonna hang up in the eventual news studio. Oh, really? If we ever get.

It's never happening. Never happens. It's never happening. Oh, Greg left us out of the lease.

Wait until the landlord comes around. That guy's ruthless. What's going on with this? Hey, maybe if he knocks on the door, we won't answer because we're never in there.

Hello? Hello? We just hang out upstairs. Yeah, no, they're not there.

Right. So weird. So weird. We don't know what's going on down there.

Yeah. What else? What else do I have going on? We've got the Fuerte Libre thing?

Fuerte Libre thing? I'll tell you what's going on. What's going on? I'm leaving for New Jersey.

That's right, this week. This Thursday, yours truly will be at Cigar Den in East Brunswick, New Jersey. So, I believe I'll be there around five o'clock and hang out. The event is on Thursday?

Yeah. Oh, don't you leave Thursday? We fly in Thursday. They're going to fly in Thursday.

Oh. Oh, yeah. Taking the whole family there? Well, the family, yeah, they're all going to be there.

No, they're not going to be at the store. Oh. I'm going to bring the family to grandma and grandpa's house. Oh.

Hang out for a little bit. Yes. And then go on over to next place. Grandpa, grandpa, I got to go.

Yeah. I'm out. I got to go. It's nice seeing you.

And then I'm going to go check out- Please take care of my family and make sure they eat. Yeah, well, I mean, I'm sure they'll feed them. They're better at feeding them than I am, obviously. They're still alive, Michael.

Barely. Not barely. Barely. Not barely.

Poor Jackson's tummy. We've had two weeks of the Morrises. I heard that you guys were very mean to Amanda on the shit show. We weren't mean.

Something about her being moody or something. Boots apparently did not say hello to her on the way in. Yeah, that's messed up. You've got to say hi.

You've got to say hi. Yeah. I don't think that she's wrong there. I'm scared of her.

I wouldn't be mean to her at all. Yeah, you should be scared of her. I am. Not David.

David's such a nice man. Yeah, very easygoing. Very quiet, very easygoing. Yeah, just super chill.

See, this is the stuff that got us in trouble on the other show. Mm-hmm. Well, I'm-- She's very sweet. She won't cut her hair for me, though.

She'd put up a picture with shorter hair. Thought I'd look very attractive, but no luck. Well, you're not married to her, so-- No, that's why I-- There's no obligation for you. No, no, no obligation at all.

I was just voicing my opinion. Oh. Maybe you should keep them to yourself. She put up a picture.

I can comment on pictures. Hmm. Hmm. Maybe you should mind your business.

Eh, nope. Hmm. Not the way I operate. Apparently not.

I think Boots is back, by the way. Oh, good. I got to talk to him. He's coming to my mommy's house tomorrow.

Oh, yeah. I see him. All right. You want to start the news?

Yeah. All right. We're 21 minutes. Switch the camera.

Hold on. Hit that. From the four quarters of the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need. The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report with Mike Two.

Not a lot of news. Cigar International revamps Cigar Fest, cancels the mega-herf, Michael. Oh, boo. Cigar Fest, as you know it is, no more.

No more. No more. No more. He said no more.

Cigars International confirmed the Cigar Fest, an annual multi-vendor event that was typically scheduled for early May in the Poconos Mountain. The Poconos. The Poconos Mountain. See, now when you talk, they can't see you.

I like that. Hmm. You could sit there with your pants off now. Yeah.

What? What do you mean now? Yes. Well, that happened in 2022, and it seems unlikely to ever happen again.

Earlier this week, Cigars International website began promoting a different Cigar Fest concept, one that will take place between September 24th, my birthday, and October 29th at the company stores in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas. So that's 30 days-ish. Unlike the old Cigar Fest, these events, so now you can do emails and text messages and stuff. I see how you're operating, though.

He's working over there, doing show stuff. Unlike the old Cigar Fest, the events will be open to the public and will not require a ticket. Yeah? That's it, the other story.

There's no ticket? No. Let's read on and see what happens. Okay.

It seems quite clear that most of what you knew about Cigar Fest will be changing for 2022 as Cigars International says the event being restructured. Mm-hmm. In parentheses. Details about the new event remains rather scarce, though a press release says the event will include: Multiple cigar brands, exclusive new cigar releases, featured deals, food trucks, live bands, every weekend, special pairs by cigar makers, industry, luminaries, as well as special, create your own cigar fest experience, bundled deals that will be announced soon.

Nice. So like it's just for 30 days. Now switch back. There you go.

Hi. While we're proud to have hosted the event for 17 times, our business has evolved and so must our way of engaging with our customers. We have therefore restructured Cigar Fest to accommodate the people that support us across the country instead of activating in just one region. The old Cigar Fest is likely the largest.

Mega, her, activate, activate, activate. Consumer Cigar event in the world, which is now. Abe's Smoke Inn is now the largest event in the world. Is it?

I'm going out on a limb. Let's call him. I don't have his number. Just call him on Facebook.

Let's see if he answers. And go back to the other view. There you go. Let's see if he answers.

He ain't gotta answer. He ain't gotta fucking answer. Sure, oh, now you want to talk to me. Yeah, oh, you fucks.

Honest Abe, dabba-dabba-dabba-dabba. And we'll ask him if he thinks this is the biggest. Is yours the biggest? Oh, let's see.

Let's see if it works. Hey. Hey, Abe, we're sorry we forgot to call you. We called you on a podcast.

You're on a podcast. Right now. Right now. What's going on, guys?

How you doing, man? How you doing, fellas? So, we had a great time at the Great Smoke. It was a fan.

I mean, holy shit, dude. He's such a nice host. Yeah, you really are. And it was amazing, man.

How about that? That took some time. That took some time to build. It's kind of more time than anyone really knows or even can think, possibly even conceive.

But, you know, our problem with that event is it keeps evolving. That event is it keeps evolving, so we can't really get into a cadence with it where, hey, we got it down pat, this is how it is, you know, it keeps changing, it keeps changing and evolving, which keeps it exciting also for us because it keeps pushing us to do new things, and, uh, but yeah, that event, we, I mean, we've already, we've already kind of, there's certain elements about this style of that now and the format it's in that required us to work, like, literally right away and start getting things in the process for it, not only 2023, but believe it or not, 2024. - Wow. - You know, if you're, if, well, if you're doing, if you're doing, well, first off, getting the venue, so, you know, we already secured it for 2023, I'm waiting the year back from the TAA, so we don't overlap, they're supposed to be getting 2024 dates soon, but like our, our EGS exclusive releases, you know, we start doing it in a new format, virtual events, like in December, so, that's giving companies like nine or 10 months, for some people that's not enough time, you know, with production schedules and whatnot.

Yeah, it's true. So I've already got, I've already lined up two for 2024. Wow. So, you know, there's certain things you got to get out of the way really early and then certain things you could work on throughout the year.

But no, man, it's a lot of time and effort. We were happy with it. I was glad to see you guys both made it down and I'm glad you had fun. Yeah.

We got, we got stuck into the free labor section, but that was okay with Matt Booth. Yeah, I saw that. What happened? Yeah.

I mean, you know. He showed up on his own thinking he can handle it all by himself. Yeah. And I'm like, you've done these before though, right?

We don't even have a tablecloth, you know, but it was fun, like, I'm not gonna lie, I had a lot of fun just hanging out and, and just kind of passing out the cigars and, and, you know, and bullshitting with everybody, you know? Well, at an event like that, honestly, no matter what you're doing, it's gonna be kind of fun. Right. You know, I mean, it's, it's fun no matter where you're at, but you didn't get to really experience it, you got to experience the aspect of it, you know?

That's true. And, you know, that's one of the battles we're having, you know, because we're looking to really change the selection process of how guys are coming to the Great Smok, because look, we've had, and you guys were there, so you know, we had multiple people that were in from Alaska, Colorado, Seattle, one guy from Israel, you know, we're looking for manufacturers, you know, he comes every year, flies in all the way from Israel every year. Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie? But I mean, it's important these manufacturers kind of take that into consideration because, you know, the days of just showing up like Matt and just passing out cigars from behind the table is, it's this event kind of moved beyond that.

So, you know, principals are going to come, they got to come prepared. There's things they have to do. They really want to be involved. And we're going to look at that more critically for 2023.

Well, I got to say, I mean, I think that the people who really capitalized on even just that position would be Sokka and Booth. Like those guys, as far as interacting with people, you know, they become like this time suck, you know, where people are just a magnet going towards them. Right. And, you know, they both want to talk to everybody.

Right. And everybody's behind them going, move along, move along. Come on, come on. You know, Steve Sokka, kudos to him.

And he's really kind of figured out the formula of engagement and interaction with his base. And I think that's why he's been so successful. But, you know, I, you know, I, you know, you guys saw me, I was running around. I barely got to see who was there, but the people I did see, you know, it was nice to see Carlito fly in from the Dominican Republic just to make it to the event.

You know, he was down there pro cigar. We saw many of the principals there and they all seem pretty active, but, you know, like, you know, the people don't realize this, you know, Because after an event like that, it's easy to take all the pats on the backs and the great jobs and whatever. But you know, I try to even tell the people who worked for me and they were focused on the 95% of the things you did right. - Right, right.

What went wrong. - What went wrong. So we already got like 96 points of improvement for next year. - Nice.

- Improvement, additions, whatever. But you know, it's one of the first things we try to do after a great smoke, so it's also fresh in our head. So that's our commitment. - Do you think that-- - Sorry, go ahead.

- Sorry. No, I mean, it's just our commitment to continually improve on it. So, do you think that yours is the biggest so far? I mean, like, as far as numbers, we just did a quick blip about MegaHerf CI, but, you know, I think that you have to have the biggest event, no?

Well, I think now, after the press release of this last week, I think that ours has now become the biggest event in the country. See, I told you. I feel like it's been the best event for a while now. Yeah.

But I think now, officially, it's become the biggest, and I think with the response we had this year with the virtually and non-virtual, you know, live, all I've seen is so many people have said that there's no way they're gonna miss it next year, so I got a feeling we're gonna be running into record numbers next year and the year after. That's fantastic, man. Dude, you work your ass off, man, and you deserve everything that you get. I gotta give you props, man, 100%.

so yeah we used to have it we used to have it we used to have a joke you know uh when we do events like this you know it's back probably after the second or third one um you know people think like magic elves come out at night it's not it's it's it's a lot of work and honestly um you know what in my old age i've kind of been able to be more calm about it that's good you know i mean i you You know, and just kind of realize that, you know, you know, after 16 of them, you just kind of realize at the end, you always figure it out by the way, you know, the ride's just a little more bumpier sometimes than others, this was a really rough year with supply, supply chain, timing, but you know, it worked out and whatever kind of didn't go the way we wanted, nobody else knows but us, you know, pretty much those kind of things. And we just work it out. And honestly, it's not just a lot of me, man, my team, it's, it's, it's rough on my team, but they're into it, they're committed to it, they're committed to it. They rise to the occasion, it's part of what the culture is here, working here, and they look forward to it every year.

I mean, you know, they've already been throwing ideas at me for next year, you know? Right. Yeah, the staff all seemed to be having a good time. There wasn't anybody going, you know, complaining, or at least that I saw, complaining or whining, "Oh, my feet hurt.

" Yeah, I mean, Casey. No, because we're actually, we're, we're, listen, that was his, that was his first time. We popped the cherry. That's nice.

He was hustling, he was standing behind the table, just running back and forth. You know, because we look at what doesn't work, so you know, that service in the pit area has always been a problem, you know, and every year we try to make it better, and I think this year we're almost there, you know, we had eight terminals, which is more than we ever had. In the past, we used to have a price list, because the interaction was taking so long. What do you have?

How much is it? So this year was the first year we ever did the catalog, so people had it months early, it was on the website much earlier. " - Right, right. - Like, they just, customer walk up, "I want one of these, one of these, one of these, one of these," and they're done.

Now, it wasn't like a 30-minute interaction and going back and forth and not knowing what the price was, because the price was in the catalog book. It was already in the system, and I think next year we're going to take it because, you know, we get a lot of equipment one time a year to run that event. I think we're going to have to finally invest in some kind of universal external equipment just to run that event moving forward. Oh shit, wow.

So, yeah, yeah, it's just a lot of data and stuff will impart, and you know, it's just the constant work in making it better and easier for everybody, because the easier it is for our people, the more they'll enjoy it, the more the consumers enjoy it, because the logistics of, you know, how do you get 2,000 people in a building quickly? Right. You know, I mean, it's a lot of years of that didn't work, you know what I mean? That was the best, right?

Yeah. I mean, 2020 was the worst year ever. It was the first year we went to, because, you know, you're always trying to solve a problem. And sometimes by selling a problem, you created another problem.

Right. So we used to always send these physical tickets. Right. And every year I get inundated.

I flew in, I left my ticket at home. I think it's like, you know, for some people, it's really funny. And you guys are definitely gonna relate to me. Right.

Whatever works in the rest of the world, for some reason, our consumers doesn't think it's the same in our industry. Right. I mean, can you imagine buying Super Bowl tickets and going to the gate? Oh, I left my ticket at home with any kind of expectation of getting in.

Right? But like, our consumer base feels like our reality is different from every other one, which may be on some level it is, but it's funny. So, every year this would be going on and on. It's always the worst two days before the event of all these sad stories of I've forgotten.

And then you try to determine who's telling you to, because I've caught people who out and out lied in the past. No shit. No shit. Oh yeah.

Look, you know better than I, there's always guys who are trying to… Work the angles and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. It's not my job to be Sherlock Holmes, so we just gave up a great idea.

Right? We're just going to do digital tickets. Right. Right?

Real simple. Can't lose them. They're on your phone, log in your account. Well, let me tell you something.

In 2020, we didn't count for the sunlight outside. Those scanners weren't reading. This wasn't going smooth. " I didn't even scan it, man, I said, "You got a paper?

Here you go, get in. Here you go, get in. " And in like 25 minutes, I cleared out the whole mess. Wow.

So, you know, some things you try to make better, you make worse. But, you know, we're still figuring it out. It's always a work in progress. " I literally feel that way every year before this event.

" Yeah, because you start addressing all those gaps, all those little issues, everything that kind of bogs you down. Right, from the year before, you fix those problems, but then, like I said, but then there's something. Yeah, but there's, I mean, that's the right business practice, right? You know, the fact of the matter is, people are successful by taking care of those issues, those things between transactions, right?

All those little things, you know? That makes a big difference. It's the details. Yep, the devil's the details.

The devil is in the details. And our philosophy of this always being an experience driven event, you know, anybody who's been to our event, I don't know, Yeah, you could beat all of them. There's no one that attacks it about making a production like we do. Right.

It's a production, man. You're going to like a show. Right. Like a Vegas show.

Yeah, you go on a show. You got Michael Herklok on a side stage. You got him on a top stage. Now we got hula dancers and we're already lining stuff up for next.

So we, and the production, I think, is the value of it. Right. We're just getting together to smoke a scar. It's cool.

Right. It's all right. But, you know, and we're proud of it. We're proud of it.

And we're already excited, and we're working on 2023, and actually got even, we actually have the theme set for 2024 and 2025. Oh, wow. Wow. Would you like to give us a little exclusive?

He's not going to say. They may, no, I don't care. They may, listen, I did this once, because we talked about doing the Luau at the end of '20. Next thing I know, next thing I know, one of the cigar manufacturers, but they got caught, it was a virtual year, did a whole Hawaiian theme.

Listen, I don't own themes. If you want to run with a theme, knock yourself out. But next year, it's a Mardi Gras. We already announced it.

I think we're looking at Chinese New Year, Year of the Dragon. Okay. 2020, 2024. That's where Mike shines.

And I just went to the Renaissance Fair this weekend with my son. What do you think came to my mind? Right. Yeah.

Please tell me you're going to put Paul in a suit of armor and make him run around. I think Medieval Times is pretty cool. I think so, too. I'll work on a dragon.

Farmaid, Wenches, the whole kit and caboodle. You do it right. You can make a dragon for 2023 and 2024, like a parlay. Oh yeah, you just carry it over.

There you go. Un-Chinese him a little. Yeah, just un-Chinese him. There you go.

That's fantastic, man. Well, hey, you know, we just legitimately called you on the spot, and I appreciate you taking the call on a whim. You know, it's very nice of you. I'm glad you got through.

I didn't even get like a warning text. Hey, we might call you. That's the way we run here. We're on the seat of our pants and trying to put this together as we go.

We're a fine-tuned operation, Abe. We're a fine-tuned operation, you know. So, but again, we appreciate you having us come down and it was a fantastic experience and we look forward to, you know, coming to the next couple and how it progresses and seeing how it continues to grow for you, man. For sure.

Hopefully you'll get to enjoy it and not be put to work. Yeah, you know, we're kind of built to work. It's so different there because it's not like doing a trade show because people aren't just asking for something. They're grateful.

They say thank you. Yeah, they did. They're happy to see you. They want to shake your hand.

That's the one thing I really am proud. Everybody's just always in such good mood. Yeah. I mean, everybody.

They're just so happy to be there. So happy to be there. That's what makes that event awesome. I literally had a guy at the end of the night.

And there's a guy who came down from Juneau, and here's a great story, and I won't take up too much of your time, but we have a couple of big fans who live in Juneau, they come down, they've already been down here two or three times, they came for the Great Smoke. " And it ended up being the dentist to their kids. No shit. They're from the same town, Juneau, Alaska, both cigar smokers, both buy from us, both coming down to the event and they didn't even know each other smoked cigars.

They had to go across the entire country. If you hide it from your dentist, that you smoke cigars. You don't want to tell me? Isn't that crazy?

And that guy came to me at the end of the night on the stage, I kid you not, like, I mean, we're done, filming's done, we're waiting on. I just had to let you know. This guy's gotta be 70. This was the best night of my life.

Best day of my life. That's awesome. That's the best. That's when you know you did things right.

Yeah, man, when people tell you, right? Yeah. A hundred percent. Well, thank you very much for taking the call, brother.

I appreciate you. Anytime, boy. You guys keep up the good work. Thanks, Abe.

We'll talk to you again soon. All right, be good, bud. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

There you go. So we didn't even have to... We didn't have to... He answered the phone on a whim.

On the first, like, rang twice. Hey, hi. Who knows what the fuck he was doing. " And there you go.

Abe from Smoke Inn, guys. Well, he's such a nice man. You know, it's one of the only big retailers that's nice to us. - Right, yeah.

- I don't think all they're going to have a girlfriend. - Oh, Abe's certainly not afraid of us. - That's a good point. - He crushes with his big thumb.

- His wife got in a car accident the day before. - Right. - Yeah, the whole thing. - Very nice lady.

- Maybe that's why he's nice to us, because we talked so nice about her from the PCA. - She's cool. I like her more than I like Abe. - Well, let's not get crazy.

- No, I'm being serious. - Don't get crazy. - No, yeah, no. - It's a little inappropriate, Michael, I don't know.

- Why? She's cool. All right, we're moving on back. I'm going back to the one shot here.

Oh, one shot. More news. Here we go. Rick Rodriguez announces departure from General Cigar Company.

Rick Rodriguez, blender and ambassador for the CAO brand, has announced that he will be leaving General Cigar as of April 29th. Rodriguez joined the company in January 2000 when Jack Tarana was let go. No, that doesn't say that. Jack Tarana was fueling the growth.

No, Rick Rodriguez has been around for pretty Ricky. He's been around for 110 years. Since 2000. CAO?

20 years. Okay. Rodriguez joined the company in January 2000. Alright.

As a sales representative in Florida. After five years in that role, he was given the opportunity to participate in a Cigar Master Training Program by Edgar Coleman Sr. Though, which he would learn the art of blending from Benji Menendez, Daniel Nunez, and Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. Oh, all the heavy hitters.

Through this process, Rodriguez would become immersed in the arts and science of cigar making. It would be the launch pad from which he would join the La Gloria Cubana Blending Team in 2008 after Perez Guerrilla left General to start his own company. That's a two shot. There it is.

Following Scandinavian Tobacco Group's merger with Swedish Match General Cigar Company in 2009, Rodriguez moved into the roles of Blender and Ambassador for CAO, which was integrated into the General Cigar Company portfolio during this time with CAO Rodriguez and General Cigar Company's team. I remember when he came up here. He came up here one time. And this was when we had the fucking leather couch in the old school.

That's why he never came back. Cousin couch. Yeah, you know, it's really kind of funny at that time. His hand slipped between the cushions.

He went like, oh, jeez. You don't ever want to do that at a cigar store. No, no, no. Like the look on people's face.

I think I lost my wallet. Sometimes it's like. Don't go in there. I wonder what goes through their minds.

It's like, what the fuck am I doing? Oh, when they show up? Now, though, it looks very nice. But even still, you know what, I mean, yes, we have a really nice shop.

Yes. Hands down, it's very comfortable, it's a clean atmosphere, and you know, it looks really, really good. But still, you don't know how that conversation's gonna go, right? Right.

Hey, I'm so-and-so of CAO, I'm like, okay, cool, man, hey, how are you? Like, this guy, obviously, you know, he's making some loot, or whatever the case may be. Right, right. You know, he's climbed the ladder.

He was taught by Perez Carillo. Right, yeah, and Benji. And Benji. And Benji.

So, and then he's just sitting there, and you're just talking about, there's, when things don't connect, like things don't gel, it's just fucking weird. It's awkward for everybody. Yeah, it's like, okay. He doesn't know what to talk about, you don't know what to talk about.

Yeah, you know. " I mean, first time I met, I didn't know shit about Ernie, the first time I met Ernie, um, EPC. Yeah. It was Ernie Perez-Curley.

Yeah, Ernie Perez-Curley. Ernie Perez, Peter Hernandez, introduced me, he's like, this is Ernesto Perez, I'm like, oh, Ernie, hey, how you doing man? I'm like, hi. High five.

Uh, how are you? Good. Hola, amigo. I'm like, so anyways, Pete, um, we'd like to place our order.

Like, I don't, I don't know what you want me to say, you know, I was like, cool. High five. Right? I just said that.

So it's like, that's, you know, like, how do you as a, as a- I've obviously never met Mr. Rodriguez, but he looks like a very nice man on the photos. - He looks nice? - Kind of an Indiana Jonesy, you know, the denim shirt.

- Very Rico Suave? - Yeah, hello. - You know, he's probably got khaki pants and a blue, blue fishing shirt on most of the time. - Ricky Ricky.

- Hello, nice to see you. - Yeah, I mean... - My name is Ricky Ricky. - Yeah, I don't, you know, it's like...

- I am from... - But then, you know, you meet other dudes and you just kind of mesh right away, right? - Right. - Like, Justin Andrews comes in, like, what's up, like, he just kind of fits right in.

- Well, he's more your age, too, though. - He's like one of the guys. No, well, Jack Toronto wasn't my age, but he's such a large man. That guy, but he knows his shit.

I don't know, I think that there's, I don't know, it's just kind of crazy that there's some of these guys. It's the personalities. Maybe. Jack's very outgoing, he's very, you know, grabby.

I mean, I met Herklotz at TPE. Very grabby. Did you just say Jack? Hug him in.

Oh, he's very grabby. Very grabby. Wow, he just grabbed my ass. He just grabbed my ass.

I don't know, but like Herklotz. He yells over to Hector, he goes, Hector, look, I grabbed his ass. When I met Herklots in the Davidoff booth, he seemed very approachable, seemed like a good guy, you know what I mean? Just kind of bullshitting with you, very brief, but whatever, you know?

He looks so bored. Some of the, some of the dynamic... Leaning there on his big white display thing. It's very easy to fall into a spot at any of these conventions where you don't get as much, I mean, like, Plasencia.

Plasencia was smack dab right in the center as soon as you walked in, boom, in your face. Right. They were busy the whole time. The whole time.

If you're in the back. They had nice chairs, though, too. They did have nice chairs. We went back for the chairs.

And we were always back for them. And I never got one. I think I'm still waiting for Javier to call me, but he hasn't. Yeah, he was supposed to come in.

Yeah, I'll stop in. Okay. That's why he never gets his cigars at home, because he never comes in. Yeah, he never comes back.

Brings it up every time he sees me, but then he doesn't come in and get him. So crazy. I'm going to tell him I mailed him until the next time. Yeah, so placements are kind of everything when it comes to those conventions.

Well, Davidoff, like you said, was further back, smacking the middle. It's big, it's white. It's not as inviting as... A little intimidating, you'd say.

Well, and all the salesmen had all the chairs. Right. And their coats and ties. Do we need to...

No, I got this. We'd like to break while you take some messages. We'll just go back to this one, and I'll just do the next story. Yeah, no, no, no.

Cigars International plans six to eight new stores by 2025, doubling the retail footprint. Boom. I looked at the wrong camera. Cigars International, the world's largest retail of cigars, is going to double its footprint of retail stores in the next two to three years.

Currently, the company operates six superstores, two each in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Though there's a third smaller store in Pennsylvania, that is a markedly different concept than the superstores. Now, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, STG, parents of Cigars International and others, says it will build six to eight more stores in the next two to three years. One in Deltona.

Oh my God. There's not one in Deltona. One of those stores is already announced. I don't think we really have to worry about them moving into any, you know.

Into Delta? Can't see that happen. Closest thing will be over there on iDrive. Yeah.

That's not, that's not close at all. I would love to see that. I would love to see that happen. Oh, I would do.

That'd be nice over there. Move into iDrive, please. That'd be entertaining. That'd be nice.

Yeah. S. For context, Cigars International operates just two superstores prior to 2018 in less than a decade. That number will grow between 12 to 14 according to the company's plans.

Now, I thought the stores in Tampa were going to be bigger. Yeah? Because they call them super stores. They're pretty super.

Pretty big. It's three quarters bar, one quarter cigar. You make money at the bar. You don't make fucking money.

I know you make the money. When they say super store, I think, like, screen flash. I think this might be on his last legs. Uncle Skip.

It's not on his last legs. It probably needs to be, like, maintained. Maybe another. Anyway.

I expected, like, a Walmart-sized cigar store. Now I don't know what all they would sell is that big. Oh, do you want some lawn chairs with your cigars? No.

I mean, they have tons of cigars like it is in there. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what else they could carry. It'd just be, I guess, more of.

Yeah. But no. Velcro wall is what they need. That should be the next Great Smoke.

Velcro wall? Velcro wall, we can throw you up against the wall. Yeah, you're getting like a Velcro outfit. Have you seen cigar people?

They're older. I would look to see that. I had the 350 pound plus man into a Velcro suit. The 70-year-old man from Juno would snap if he threw him against the wall.

Nah, he's a dentist. We wouldn't do that. That'd be reasonable. Well, you'd have a lot of Velcro if you could put it through.

Talking about very large men. If you're gonna throw a large man on the wall, you're gonna have a lot of Velcro. Yeah, okay. Or, check this out.

Human bowling. They get into like the cage thing. You want midgets? No, no, they have...

Little people... I don't know what they're called. Yeah, you can't say. That's not right.

Little people bowling? If we ever ran for some type of political... I can't remember. Dude, we would be so fucked.

My wife can't even run for political thing at this point. Yeah, it's like, oh, well, your husband has that podcast. Right, how do you have to stop the podcast? No, no, I make you famous.

Tell you to come on the podcast. Hey, I just want you to know I'm running for this electoral position. I'm going to need you to scrub every single podcast. They all have to go out.

They all have to come down. Can't have any of them. I'm liked by all the racists. They all love me.

I'm so silly. So anyways, a large human bowling that you could get into, and then someone would roll you and throw you down. Oh! They'd have to do it outside.

Or they'd need a whole 'nother building. I think that'd be great. Yeah? Let's do that.

I like how Abe said he's contacted TAA so he doesn't overlap. Of course, he doesn't want that. But TAA's a private thing, right? Not anybody.

That's four retailers. Right. So just he wouldn't be there. No, not that, but the other manufacturers and the brand owners that...

Oh. Yeah, yeah, it's conflict. We don't get invited to TAA. No, we're not special.

We should be invited. We would like to be invited to TAA. Listen, we've earned the media tag. I mean, that's pretty good.

It's on my bucket list. I want more. More, Michael! I want more!

We're going for cigar global dominance. We're going to TAA. Do they let media TAA? Probably not.

I'm going to apply. All right, I have a Florida story. I have an international story. Now, the international story somehow got lost in the shuffle, because I found it very early in the week, but I remember the story, so I can do it.

Okay. All right, there's this woman. Oh, you're going international right now? Yeah, I'm going international now.

Okay. Yeah, we're out of cigar stories. " He's a pretty woman on your phone. So anyway.

You said, don't worry about her. This woman trolls Instagram. And then you text her. She's a model.

Okay. What she does is she would send, okay, it wouldn't work with you because you block everybody. But she sends a message to you and then if you agree to meet her, she's doing this for your wife. Your wife goes, hey, I think my husband might be on the side.

Cheating on me? Right. So she contacts you and message passes you back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And then you agree to meet her, then your wife pays her $11,000.

Holy shit. Yes. Exactly. If you don't agree to meet, you don't pay.

Wow. Now, she takes this model, she takes this money for her plastic surgeries for her modeling career. Very pretty woman, but looks like a lot of makeup. I had her photo about $11,000.

$11,000 a hit. She's already caught six guys. So, she's up $66,000. Yes.

Now, she is a very attractive woman. Okay. If that caliber of woman was sending me messages, said she wanted to meet me and stuff, I'm like, this is a trap. This is a trap.

Yeah, they're like, get the fuck out of here. You're a dude. Either you're a dude or my wife's going to pay you $11,000. What idiots are going, oh, yeah, you're in Bernie's though.

You might want to knock me nuts. She'll love me. She'll love me. Well, it's even funnier if they want to pay in the $11,000.

The wife swipes their credit card. Well, yeah, I mean, it's his money to start with. And then you're divorced, because, you know. So now you lose half plus the 11k.

Right. Half your shit. It's like a penalty fee. Yeah.

Additional charges. Additional charges. Alright, now we have a Florida story. I really hope it was just all in this one piece of paper.

Oh. Okay, Florida story. There you go. Thank you.

Thank you. A Florida man struck by a car leaving his store. Asked the Japanese if his beer was okay. A Florida man was exiting a convenience store on Tuesday evening When an SUV struck him, according to the Martin County Sheriff's Office, the SUV driver, 21-year-old woman, meant to hit the brake, but accidentally pressed the accelerator, sending the vehicle crashing into the plantation pantry on Hutchinson's Island.

Oh. Back to you. Oh. While attempting to leave, the man was struck by a vehicle around the waistline and was thrown back into the store.

He was transported to a nearby hospital with injuries to his face from the broken glass. In a Facebook post, the sheriff's office said the victim was talking and remained in unusually good spirits, asking deputies if his beer he just purchased was survived. According to deputies, the drivers likely to face careless driving charges. There was no report on, I'm still looking at the dead camera, there was no report on whether or not the beer survived the incident or not.

I'd like to know if that beer made it. Or if maybe the pantry gave him another case of beer. Oh, he has another case. Are you okay?

Here, take this. Right. 'Cause, I mean, he could... Sorry about that.

Right. Do we have a Listener of the Week, Michael? We do. Oh, we.

I expect it to be no. So, I hope the OK button's ready. Who's calling? Unknown caller.

What's going on here? It's still connected from the ape. Oh. Go ahead.

Nicolas Suarez. Nicolas Suarez! You're a Listener of the Week. the week thank you very much sir of cigar den east brunswick new jersey oh sorry he's going to come with that's right so then we have a shop of the week we sure do oh it's a shop of the week cigar den oh that's not it that's not it michael joseph there burn you with no smoke when you don't feed the children wow wow cigar den in somewhere east brunswick new jersey i will be there this It's Thursday, March 17th, five o'clock, somewhere over in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

Somewhere. Well, Michael, I hope you have a very lovely trip. It's going to be amazing. It's going to be quiet without you.

Going to the East Brunswick, New Jersey Cigar Den plays with Nicholas Suarez. Boom. Is Nick Ruggiero going to be there? Nick Ruggiero will be there.

Hello, Nick. Say hello to Nick. Can Nick a hug for me? How about Mr.

Yogurt Light? Yogurt Light may be there. Give him a hug for me, too. I will.

Who else is going to be there? I think his name was B. McGilroy or something. The guy who was up here.

B. McGilroy. He's a cool dude, too. Walbert.

No, he's from California. He's on our racing team. He's kind of far away, yeah. He's on our racing team.

He's on our racing team. Yeah, your brother's like, what'd you guys sponsor? Oh, we sponsor a racing team. We like to, you know, we like to diversify a little bit.

We're cool like that. Yeah. We cool like that. We cool like that.

Cool like that. Cool like that. All right, guys, this is Bill. Oh, sorry.

Back here. Hey! Oh, back to that one. So, 219 of a Cigar Hustlers podcast.

Still the number one cigar show on Podbean and the show that David likes to say. Who's number one? Cigar Hustler, the podcast. That would be us.

Boom. All right, Michael, back to the two shot. Thank you, David. All right, guys, we got to go.

We'll talk to you later. Thank you very much. A Cigar Hustlers podcast, its owners and its sponsors take no responsibility for the opinions or statements made by the talk show host or their guest. Statements or show topics are not necessarily the beliefs of Mike and Mike Productions or the podcast providers and opinions between talk show hosts may differ.

It is not our intention to libel, incite, or hurt anyone's feelings. We invite you to write the show's host, Mike Szczepankewicz, with any feedback or suggestions that you have for their shows. These broadcasts are presented and made public as entertainment in the hope that they will be entertaining to the audience. This has been a Cigar Hustlers podcast, a Mike and Mike production.

m. for all new episodes. Hi, I'm doing, I'm Hoostoe-y-Raw. Yeah, we just don't have to do a single, uh, single podcast ever again.

Perfect. I'm good, Mike and Mike. How are you guys doing? The Hojo Deeb.

Hojo! It's the Hojo! He didn't even let him fuck it up all the way. I gotta get past Hojo!

I don't even have to try it. He's not even gonna try it. We're gonna, we're gonna cover a lot of ground here, Mike. All right.

Try to keep up. That's a sign of a good podcast. It'd be like four cigars when I walked in the door. All right, end this.

Show Notes

Finally talk to Abe from Smoke Inn and find out that Mikey doesn't feed the children???