Cigar Hustlers Podcast- Room 101 and BDP Back Together Again Episode 323
Episode Summary
Episode 323 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast finds Mike "The King" Stepankiewicz and Mike "BDP" Palmer back in the Deltona studio with engineer Phil for a loose, profane, industry-insider hangout. The first half is classic Hustlers banter — youth flag football playoffs and coaches who teach kids to cheat (and apparently fight each other), a recap of the shop's DTT cigar and steak dinner, private-lounge etiquette, and the now-infamous case of the stolen salad.
The news block covers Habanos S.A. reporting a record $721 million in 2023 revenue — up 31% — driven almost entirely by the massive 2022 price hikes pegged to Hong Kong pricing rather than by increased production, which leads to a candid discussion about why Powstanie isn't chasing overseas distribution and Mike's blunt take that roughly 10% of retailers are genuinely great while the rest expect brands to do the work for them. Also covered: the Espinosa 601 La Bomba Warhead X shipping ahead of PCA in a bomb-shaped 10-count box at around $16 per cigar, a Kristoff-in-the-humidor story from a Sarasota shop owner, La Aurora price increases, Fratello, El Septimo, Plasencia's Year of the Dragon, PCA's revised launch grant program, and the Fuerte Libre name change following a Fuente dispute.
The centerpiece is a surprise live phone call to Matt Booth, who answers at nine in the morning mid-conversation with his wife about a cocaine-themed display he's building into the dashboard of a '64 Riviera. Booth confirms the return of Hit & Run as the Hit & Run Redux — a Caldwell Cigar Co. collaboration he says is "vastly different" from the original — reflects on The Great Smoke, praises Robert Caldwell's brand acquisition as a friend's hard-won win, and reveals that Forged/distributed brands won't have an official PCA booth, freeing him to roam the show floor. He enthusiastically agrees to team up with Palmer for casual (read: harassing) on-floor interviews at PCA 2024.
The episode closes with shop of the week Boll Weevil Cigars in Enterprise, Alabama (listener of the week: owner Tyler Jones), where the Powstanie Connecticut Justice Corona Gorda 5.5x46 — a blend first made nearly a decade ago to celebrate the birth of Mike's middle child — will debut on April 6 ahead of its PCA 2024 showing, plus a Florida Man Games report.
In This Episode
- 01Studio banter and the steak dinner recapFlag football playoffs, coaches behaving badly, and a full recap of the shop's DTT cigar and steak dinner including the stolen-salad incident.
- 02Habanos posts record $721 million yearThe guys break down how Habanos hit record revenue through price increases rather than volume, and what a Hong Kong-based global pricing standard really means.
- 03The 10% of retailers who actually do the workMike's unfiltered take on why most shops waste a brand's time, why Powstanie isn't exporting yet, and how he hunts for the hidden good retailers.
- 04Espinosa 601 La Bomba Warhead XDetails on the 6x55 Toro, the Nicaraguan puro's bomb-shaped 10-count box, the small initial allocation, and a conversation with Erik Espinosa.
- 05Matt Booth calls in: cocaine-themed '64 RivieraBooth opens with the Scarface-inspired dashboard display he wants to build into a 1964 Buick Riviera and the legal problems that might come with authenticity.
- 06Room 101 Hit & Run Redux and the Caldwell collabBooth confirms the return of Hit & Run with Robert Caldwell, calls it vastly different from the original, and celebrates Caldwell's recent brand acquisition.
- 07PCA 2024 plansForged brands skip an official booth, Booth agrees to roam the show floor doing interviews with Palmer, and the crew previews Powstanie's Justice and Pennsylvania Cro-Mag releases.
- 08Shop of the week and headlinesBoll Weevil Cigars in Enterprise, Alabama hosts the Powstanie Connecticut Justice Corona Gorda debut, plus PCA grant changes, the Fuerte Libre name change, and the Florida Man Games.
Brands & Cigars Discussed
Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.
Transcript
Everybody stand by. Industry is in the house. Here he is, the controversial, but legendary, BDB. Yeah, I'm dead.
It's my destiny. Make way for the king. It's a long time, can't be stopped, shootin' my shot. Another Mike and Mike production.
In three, three, two, one, zero. Yeah. Welcome to the Cigar Hustlers Podcast of episode 323, recorded live at Mike and Mike Production Studios in Deltona, Florida. This is the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, the show where two guys share their passion for cigars, business, and life.
Join Mike the King Stepankevich and Mike BDP Palmer as they talk about the latest cigar news, reviews, tips, and interviews some of the most influential people in the cigar industry. And me, I'm your engineer and sound tech, Phil. Whether you're a seasoned aficionado or a curious beginner, this podcast is for you. So sit back, relax, and light up a cigar with Cigar Hustlers Podcast.
Magically delicious. Yeah, I'm going to do a lucky charm. There'll be a lucky charm button next week. Can't do the music, we'll be in trouble.
Welcome to Cigar Hustlers Podcast, the show brought to you completely commercial free. But a massive shout out to our amazing patrons on Patreon. Thank you to the unwavering support. We're able to deliver unfiltered, unbiased opinions on all things cigars and personalities in the cigar world.
Your backing makes it possible for us to keep it real for our listeners. Cheers to you! com and search A Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Make sure you put that A in there, folks.
It's important. The Patreon from last week. Holy shit. Oh, yeah, I've got a lot of comments on that.
It's your best work. The best thing I've ever heard. I've listened to it four times. Oh, my goodness.
Fucking hilarious. I've listened to it twice. You listen to it twice? Yes.
I don't have access to it. Really? I'm on a Patreon. You want access to it?
No, it's okay. Hey, is your wife still hearing them? Does she listen to them? I'm sure she does.
To the patriarch? Because I believe once Skip hears it, he deletes it out of the Dropbox. So I don't know if everybody else has heard it by then. Oh.
Because he's Thursday morning. I don't know. Because I come back every week and the Dropbox is empty. She hasn't said anything.
He deletes it. Yeah, he keeps the Dropbox empty. Maybe that way he doesn't get confused. He wants it nice and clean.
He keeps it clean. He doesn't want to listen to the wrong episode. He doesn't want things to get fucking jarbled up. Right.
Makes sense. Well, except that there's seven people in that Dropbox. Oh, yeah? Yeah.
The Elite Seven. Yeah, well maybe not seven, maybe five. You know what the next one you should do is you should just send, instead of putting the Patreon up, you should just send a credit card authorization form. Oh, to those seven people?
Yeah. There you go, guys. Here you go. I think there's Steve upstairs, there's Skip, Mike, Brittany, I think maybe Lightweight Heavy, that might be it.
That's five. There were other employees. " Right, right. Well, Steve's the only employee that wants to hear it.
Yeah. Yeah. And then Brittany would just give you my credit cards. Right.
Her money's my money. That whole thing. We'll work out a deal, Brittany, you need to send me cash. That's silly.
From the grocery fund. That's just silly. Not coupons. I mean, a good coupon is nice.
I don't like coupons. Something to keep up with. Ugh. You don't use them?
No. Like even like, say you go to Burger King. Well, first, I don't go to Burger King. Nobody goes to Burger King.
Okay, what do you, okay, even if you went to Torchy's Tacos? Oh, uh, no, 'cause we've only been there once, but we, uh, all that stuff now is on, um... It's all digital. Yeah, it's all on my phone, so, I mean, where do I insert the two-for-one Big Macs?
Maybe she gives you a digital one. Eh. We don't eat that crap at all. He's definitely McDonald's.
I don't know if, uh, Aldi's, I don't think Aldi's does coupons. Aldi's? No, that's just so cheap as is. Right, I mean, I'd have to scan my own coupon.
Right. Hey, would you like to buy these dollar cheats with 50% off? I have this, yeah. I love all these, we go, they're all, how much lower can you?
I like to go by myself. Do you? Then I get everything I want. Bring your little quarter.
You got to bring quarters. You bring 20 bucks and you buy the whole store. A hundred. A hundred.
If Adrian goes with more, I don't know why. I think there's a limit. I don't think you're allowed to bring a hundred dollars. I've got my own register because I like the way I can set the boxes up.
I know how to get the good boxes to put the food in, you know. There's a whole process. Oh, it's Mr. Palmer.
He's here today. Oh, he's going to straighten the fruit and take the boxes. He spent a hundred, guys. The fruit's a good box, it's just so I know.
Yeah. Heavy, sturdy boxes. Yeah, it makes sense. Terrible.
Do you do anything with the boxes once you get them home? If you go through my garage, some of the shelving does have the boxes on them and then like all the spray paints in one, all the car stuff's in one. Oh, multipurpose. Oh, yeah.
What was that on Fifth Element? Multipurpose. Multipurpose. Oh, okay.
Great. I didn't do anything this weekend if you're waiting for me to say something. I don't think we physically did anything, to be honest. Surprise, surprise.
Oh, we went to Swamp House Saturday afternoon. Nice. Oh, I did see the picture. Yeah, yeah.
We like going there. Oh. Well, we had playoffs for Justice's team. Playoffs already?
Yeah. Did you win? No. Oh, it was bad.
We won't talk about it. Is it single-game elimination? Yeah, so they're out. But they played really well.
You know, we were getting our ass kicked, so I'm like, all right, Justice, you want to be quarterback? He's like, uh. I'm like, look, man. Yeah, man.
I said, listen, I've got my own cigar now, I got to save my, my, I said, look, man, I said, I got all those autographs I have to sign, just have fun, man, just have fun, throw the ball, and he goes, okay, motherfucker, dude, I swear to God, this fucking kid, he is fucking, he tortures me, should have been the quarterback the entire time, well, I mean, the quarterback I have is really good, he's a good kid, you know, but, you know, so Justice gets the ball hiked, you know, and he looks at the two primary guys on the, for the, for the option, he's just up, covered, up, covered, I'm going to Sit tight, sit tight. Checks it down. Hits the fucking fourth kid on the list. Wide open.
Oh, my God. Nice. Nice. Dude.
Why? Why? Why you do this to me? Why you do this to me?
You know? So, he had a great time. You know, what's really kind of funny is, like, I got to work on some things as a coach to get to be better. Right.
As far as red zone stuff and maybe some defense things. But all these other kids, all these other teams, they all do despicable things. Oh, dirty players. Yeah, so if you go back and you watch the film of this shit, you're just like, holy shit, man.
Oh, that kid elbowed. Oh, that kid tripped. No, so, you know, like, if a kid trips, or if a kid pulls another kid down or something like that, look, they're eight. Yeah, it's gonna happen.
You know what I mean? You're not teaching a kid that. You know, now you could tell a kid, hey, you can't do that, you gotta work on pulling the flags, and you know, you got like a 50-50 chance of them pulling the kid down again, or actually trying. Well, if you go for the flag, you might miss and grab his pants.
Right, whatever. Yeah, it's gonna happen, grab a shirt, tail, or something. Yeah, it's part of the game. Right, right.
Now, if you, if your kid runs out, and he does this, like he stands up, and he puts himself in a position to, like, legitimately pick, block a person, that isn't something that a kid just does naturally. That someone taught him. Yeah, a coach fucking taught him that. Gets a kid to get out of the way.
Right. Hey, what I want you to do is I want you to block this person from pulling the flag. Like, that is fucking cheating. Oh, you can't do that?
No. Oh. So, you know. No, Palmer, you're not allowed to cheat.
When you see that shit. No, not cheat, but to block. When you see that shit. Right.
From, like, the top teams on the foot, you're just like, oh, that's why they're- I'm like, come on, man. Like, what the fuck are you doing? So you're telling these kids, hey, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna cheat some.
And it's okay, because they're probably not gonna catch it. So we're just gonna try our best. We'll do it until they tell us we can do it. We're gonna alter.
We're gonna alter the rules here. It's well, this is what I need you to do. And it's so funny. No, no, I feel so bad for these refs.
Apparently, there was a big fight. Are they adults? Are they? They're adults.
They're actual, they're actual refs. Okay. And a lot of the big fight you were in a fight. No, I I was not in a fight.
How was there a fight there and you weren't in it? Apparently, there were other two coaches that were fighting in my division. We're going to need you to insert yourself next time. There are other two coaches.
Yeah, we count on you for the fighting. I didn't see it. I wish I was there. Oh, then you would have ran over.
I got to be honest. I got to be honest. I wish I was there. Listen, I got to do this for the podcast.
Because I would have pulled them both apart. Did you guys just say I was in the fight? I would have happily been involved. So, two coaches from opposing teams.
Yeah. It would have been funny if they were on the same team. No, they were apparently... Well, apparently they were shoving each other and stuff like that.
Oh, shoving. When I run into these guys, I'm going to get the deets. And I'm going to fucking be like, dude, what the fuck is wrong with you two? You should make them hug it out.
No, I'm not going to make them hug it out. You guys got into a fight at a children's flag football game. What kind of example are you setting? And here's what's remarkable is, I know these dads.
I know both of these coaches. Are they the smoking dads? No. I know both of these coaches.
And they both have good teams. They have good teams. Right. One of them has more integrity than the other.
I'm going to tell you that flat out. The one who started the fight. I mean, not the one. The one who started it does not have the integrity.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I think so. I got to get the details as to how this all played out, but...
She'd ask them both separately and see what kind of story again. I, you know... It's going to be different. Right, exactly.
And then we'll go over both stories next week. Okay, I'll try and get in touch with them. Yeah. Let us pick a part.
We need content, right. Okay, Coach A said... Well, I know that one coach is completely full of shit, so whatever the hell he's gonna tell me, he's just not gonna be out of here. Can you videotape it?
That'd be nice. Hey, I'm gonna need documentation of how this went down. I need to videotape that? Hey, hold on one second.
Hold on one second. Boop. Oh, now yours is falling and mine is standing. No, I'm sitting up now.
Oh, oh. Mine is not moving. It's not drooping. I see you just messing with it a lot.
Mine's not drooping. I constantly adjust mine. Well, yeah, he can't move it like he used to, like this. Right.
Yeah, I can't move mine at all. I can do this. Right. I constantly adjust mine.
Yeah, I can do that too, but I have to do it slower. Does yours still go down? No, it's fixed. You just have to tighten the shit out of it.
I hope the springs don't pop. Saturday Jacks had basketball, that was... Wait, what day was football? Friday was football.
Friday football. Saturday Jacks had basketball. Oh yeah, you missed the event up here. Yeah.
It went really well. I heard it was fantastic. Your brother actually, I mean, he was going to explode at any minute, but the food was actually good. I heard it delivered.
Yep. The food was good. This is going to be a thing. We're going to do something like that probably every quarter.
Well, in three weeks we have another one. Can we maybe not do broccoli next time? I'm not a big broccoli fan. Well, it went with the food in it.
Did you get your ticket because you're a member or did you pay for your ticket? I am a member, yes. But green beans are good too. Green beans are very hard to cook on a grill.
They sort of fall in between the little slots. He had a flat iron though. I can't remember where he did the broccoli. Oh, he did.
I think he did it on both. Yeah. Yeah, he did it on both. He definitely did the broccoli on the blackstone because it was crispy.
Yeah, well, he cooked it on the grill and then moved it over to Crispin. Everybody else was happy though? Yeah. I didn't hear any complaints at all, all good stuff.
Everybody, everybody bought, everybody was happy. Yeah. One guy. There was, yeah.
Sorry. What did one guy say? There was one guy. I heard about the one guy.
Yeah. What was the one guy complain? Can I talk about it? Just don't say his name.
Okay. specifically this guy he sat down in the beginning when we first started eating right and we all got a salad so he sat down started eating a salad and he's like oh i gotta go to the bathroom so he got up went to the bathroom right it was for a little while somebody else had just come in uh that had gotten tickets and they're like oh we're eating salad okay and they came over to his spot right and none of us really realized it at the time oh he literally as soon as he sat down he just He started shoveling it all into his mouth. And that was the other guy's salad. Yeah.
Oh, so he, somebody else ate, so he ate. That's legit. I mean, that's... But the crazy thing was, remember what I said in the beginning, is he already started eating the salad in the beginning.
Right, right. So it was partially eaten. It's already partially eaten. You can see this on the plate.
Oh, the guy was in a hurry, he just probably didn't register. He shoveled it in, and then Mama Bear comes back, and Goldilocks is still on the bed. Wow. And he was angry.
He went out. But I said it happens. Greg was like, "Oh, there's another seat, you know? Let's just sit you down there.
" But he wasn't happy. He wasn't happy. He can't please everybody. Well, I'm sorry that it didn't work out for him, but we'll make sure that it's good for next time or whatever.
Put a sign down for him. I think you need to reserve things next time. The bathroom was locked during food service. I'm sorry, no one can get up.
You've got to drop the kids off at the pool, you know, you can do it before. There's got to be some type of sign there. It's supposed to be regular in the morning. Come on, bro.
Well, I mean, the two bites of salad was enough fiber to poop. I don't know, man. Like, if I walk into Best Buy, I instantly got to poop. Oh, that's like a place for you.
Oh, really? A Best Buy? Yeah, I get excited. Like, when I'm about to buy the heavy electronic, I'm like, I got to poop.
All right, on road trips now, we now stop at Best Buy. So, you know, maybe he's like, oh, this is going to be badass, steak, this whole thing. Oh, I gotta get some room. Yeah, he got a little excited and needed a purge, you know, government purge.
Yeah, maybe that's a thing. I get it. All I'm saying is, I get it. I didn't know what was going on until Greg, it was, like, I seen Greg outside and he's like, telling Greg was running frantic.
He was. Yeah, well, you know, you gotta cater to 26 people. Well, it was funny because at first, Greg was like, Alex had just come, came in and she, I was like, oh, you're helping Greg? He's like, oh, you're helping Greg?
And Greg goes, nope, I don't need no help. I'm like, hmm, okay. That's gonna be good. Yeah, sure.
And then she got in there and she didn't help. Yeah, he could not have done it without her. Well, there's a difference between, there's a difference between, you know, having the ability to handle it yourself and actually having the ability to properly delegate to other people what to do, right? So he's never done this before.
So it's not like he can say, go do this. He doesn't know what he's going to need until it happens. Right. Go do this.
I need you to do this. Like, that doesn't happen. So, I could see him saying, no, no, no, I got it. It's like, okay, well, we're sinking.
Right. Yeah. Yeah. It was more frantic.
Yeah. Request for help. Yeah. Right.
Like this. Oh, this is going bad. Now. I need someone.
Right. Oh, my God. Right. She was doing a lot of standing and all of a sudden she was frantic.
Right. Right. Yeah. So, you know, we just adapt from it.
Like, it was a good, apparently it was a great experience. So yeah, everybody was a great time. You know, Pete's a great guy. So he's fantastic.
A lot of liquor deliveries by Uber and whatever else delivery. Oh, yeah. I kept seeing guys going outside like, why is he getting food? And I see him take the bottle out of the bag.
I'm like, oh, everybody's ordering liquor. Yeah, I don't think everybody knew. Right, that you could bring it. That's the difference in the private lounge.
Can we put that on the thing? Or is that something we can't advertise in a public forum? I think that realistically, I like it the way it is. Because if I want to change it and say, hey, I can't do that anymore, show me where it says that.
Right. Just asking, because the next one went up today. Oh, you mean, what's the next one? You mean for special events.
Arganosa at the end of the month. But that's not a dinner. It's a brat. There's food.
Oh, because Fabian's bringing. Fabian's cooking brats. Yeah. Just leave it as is.
Well, I will, because we just said... There's always Uber. I believe you'll buy booze with it. Yeah, there's always Uber.
I just want to get from the car to the office without being confronted in the modern decay of Western society. Plus, I'm cheap. A lot of weird mixers in the fridge. I checked to see if there was leftover food that needed to be cleaned out, because last time there was an event, I think it was your birthday last year, the food sort of lingered and sort of rotted in the bottom of the fridge, but there's nothing in there other than like orange juice, cranberry juice, just all mixers, but no food.
Well, that's good. Well, good. I'm glad everybody had a good time. And, uh, Phil just checked the time.
I was about to say, better get, uh, suited up there. Yeah, he's getting ready, huh? I thought you were, you guys should fill. We should fill while Phil gets ready.
Yeah, let's take our time. Okay, fellas. Welcome to Cigar Hustlers' podcast feature, Phil's Fun Facts. Hello, peoples.
All right. Cigar Hustler held its DTT cigar and steak dinner over the weekend. Did you know one of the most recently discovered cuts of steak was co-invented by Professor Dwayne Johnson At the University of Florida? Which is real.
I don't think it's the Dwayne Johnson. I'm sorry. P now. Over...
Is that like an action or is that a word? I don't know. What's it say? P now?
I don't know. Over $630 million worth of flat iron steaks are sold every year. Go Gators! What?
I don't like saying that. I think he skips them. No, that was it. Something happened.
Oh. Skirt steak is the steak. Oh, you know what? The P now is probably cut.
Maybe something got deleted. Oh, and the cut and paste. P now. Yeah, control P turned into just P.
You gotta hit control first. I didn't mean to hit control P. I had to move it from Facebook Messenger to Notes to the computer. Oh, because that was...
Yes, Phil's Funds Facts brought to you by the Powstanie Mafia Facebook Group and Bray's Ranch in Waldo, Florida. Hey, cigar lovers, are you a fan of Powstanie Cigars? Do you want to connect with other enthusiasts, share your experiences, and get exclusive deals and giveaways? Then you need to join the new Powstanie Mafia Facebook Group.
This is a community for the loyal followers of Powstanie. I heard that creak in the microphone. The brand that delivers bold flavors, impeccable construction, and amazing value. By joining the group, you will get access to special events, live shows, discounts, and more!
You'll also have the chance to interact with the makers of Powstanie, Mike Stepankiewicz, and learn more about his story and vision. Don't miss the opportunity to be part of the Powstanie Mafia. Type in the link below and request to join now. Join now.
I see that Jack Taranio joined. Yes, apparently he needed to be invited, I guess. I'm pretty sure I invited him a long time ago. He must have just saw it.
Yeah, probably. It's a very busy man. " "No, we forgot. " "Oh, yeah, apparently they stick together.
" I thought you'd do it first. I thought he sent it at first, too. Which is hilarious. I mean, it worked out great, because Andrew would have gotten one eventually, one way or the other.
Probably sooner than later, just because, you know, he's Andrew. Right, Andrew McCreary. Who is the anonymous guy? That's my boy.
You don't know who that is? I don't recognize his face. That's my fucking guy. It's Adam Acre.
Yeah. Oh, that's Adam Acre? Yeah, that dude, he's a day one guy, man. I don't think I've ever seen him.
He is fucking legit. Legit. Yeah, last time he was here, Boots had not started hanging out yet. Yeah.
That's how long ago it was. Wow. No, because Adam came down with his wife and we did like a dinner. Oh, that's right.
Yeah. That's right. " Yeah, I remember that. Come on, let's go, we gotta hit a shop.
Oh, I thought you meant... Are we going right now? We're out, let's go, we're out of here. Didn't he have to be back the next day for a plane or something?
Yeah, oh yeah, we made it work. Yeah. Like, I'll get you back in time. Don't worry.
Just Miami. You'll be good to go. I like he was going to an island somewhere or something. An island.
Of Naruto. Yeah, island of Nauru. Nauru. Where all the tobacco's grown.
Yeah, for the BDP. From the four corners of the world, all the cigar industry news you could possibly need. The Cigar Hustler Podcast Report, with Mike Toon. Habanos reports record $721 million in revenue for 2023, up 31% after massive price increases in 2022.
Habanos says it generated $721 million in revenue, shattering his previous best year, $568 million in 2021, and up more than 31% compared to 2022. Habanos was able to create more than $175 million in added revenue due to higher prices, not by rolling more cigars. In 2022, Habanos introduced massive price hikes to the entire portfolio, with some Cohiba and Trinidad cigars doubling or tripling in price overnight. Under the guise of a global pricing standard, the company said its goal was to have uniform prices for its products no matter where they were purchased, Akin to other luxury products like watches and purses.
It chose to base the new prices on Hong Kong, a place with high tobacco taxes. Wow. There you go. So that was an increase of $200.
So the Powstanie Broadleaf Toro will now be $75. Right, exactly. We're raising prices on all our cigars. Just an increase in, yeah, what's the price?
We want, how did they say? We wanted to base it off of Hong Kong's pricing. Right, global pricing standards. Yeah, we're working on a global pricing standard.
For all Powstanie cigars. For all Postanias. Do you, does Powstanie, are they in shops overseas? No.
No. We've looked into it, it's a little difficult to do. I mean, it's very, it could happen. Well, we looked into it in China.
I don't know about other countries. Do you have to get like a different license for over there? No, here's what happens. For one, it has to leave from the factory.
It has to leave from the factory and go to that country. If not, you're paying additional tax into the US. Right, you don't want to ship it here and then ship it there. Yeah.
And then a lot of these fucking guys, they want to deal on top of that, and I ain't fucking doing that. Like, give me a discount, like, fuck, fuck out of here, man. Okay. You know, so, when I find the guy, and they exist, when I find the guy that says, "Hey, you know what?
Your product is awesome. I believe in you. " I'll say, okay, here's the price from the factory. Let me go dry bag skip to fucking produce that and say, hey, I need this to go out of the country and we'll make it work.
Until that happens, I'm just not entertaining somebody that says, well, you know, I really need it to be fucking cheap. I'm like, great. Go find something else. I'm not fucking him.
I'm just not him. I'm not that guy. I invest the time, and the energy, and the cost, and all of these things, not so that I can get beaten up when it's finally done. But they'll pay 50 bucks for a Cohiba.
Of course. Well, that's a Cohiba. Look, I'm gonna, I'm gonna break this down, I'm sure I've said this, and I'm gonna break this down in very simple, simple terms. There, there are about 10% of retailers that are fucking awesome.
Right? There's about 90% that are a complete fucking waste of space. Yeah. They don't fucking care.
Someone has to maintain all of their shit for them, and they expect something when you do business with them. Like a kiss the ring type of a fucking scenario. The reality is, no one fucking needs them. You don't need that 90%.
Now, what's ideal is to find an extra 5% of good retailers lurking in that 90%. They exist. Like fillers. Well, no, there are guys that are open to understanding and learning.
Well, they're not there yet, but they're willing to get there. They haven't quite discovered it. They want to get there. Right.
So, finding those guys and working with them is amazing. You still gotta sift through a lot of bullshit, though. If the conversation starts with, "Well, I don't have the shelf space," I'm like, "Well, I don't have the fucking time either, then, dude. " You don't have the shelf space, and I don't have the fucking time.
Yeah, why don't you go over there and make shelf space for me. Go talk to Rocky and keep it fucking moving. Oh. Rocky.
You know? I can send you more cigars, it's very nice. That was a great one. Go move your mainstream stuff that sells by itself, that you don't want to learn more about the industry, you don't want to educate your consumer, you don't want to become a successful retailer, you just want to fucking come in, You can sit on your fat fucking ass and have somebody else ring up something else and that's all you care about.
That's and that's perfectly fine. I'm not that guy. Right. I will not be part of that guy.
All right, dude, fucking deuces. Well, that's why it's a, you can see the different experience at Hustler versus another, you know, the, the ones that don't care shops. You know, we've been to so many shops, the ones that you do your events at are great, but the ones that we just... Yeah, the ones that we just travel to, like, out of the blue.
I'm not really a fan of doing that. Yeah, sometimes it was just like, wow. That's Chet's job, I'm going to make Chet do that. Chet's going to be checking it on.
Chet's going to find that 5%. Right. That's what Chet's going to do. So, yeah, so there's that.
You know what I mean? Sorry, Palmer. What? I didn't mean to cut off the news.
No, no, it's fine. This is interesting. This is why we do the news. Yeah.
What's kind of fascinating to me is the fact that, you know, The fact that, you know, these guys fucking exist. They're out there somewhere. Well, the good 5%, yeah. No, the other guys.
It's just, I'm like, what are you doing? What the fuck are you doing? Stop it. Yeah.
Stop the madness. There's a lady in the Florida Cigar Club that bought Maduros, apparently, recently, in Sarasota. Yeah. She put up a picture of these five cigars, she hadn't heard of the brand, she had no idea What they were, how to get a hold of anybody?
You want to guess what it was? Let me guess. Nah, it's too, it'd take it very, it was, it was Kristoff. Ah, they were all Kristoff?
They were all Kristoff. And he, she had no idea what they were? No idea where they came from. I mean, she just bought the shop, but she had never heard of them before.
Right. So I tagged Groover in the thing, I go, wow. Is Groover Kristoff? Yeah, he still is.
" Right, at least she asked. Yeah, like that, that's awesome. Yeah. " Instead of just, you know, putting them in a, just dump those in the bin over there.
Yeah. Hey, what the fuck are these? Right. And who handles this, right?
Right. Hey, you know, and yeah, like I'm saying, kudos are, I, I had a customer, I walked into the store and there's two young kids and they're in the red, in the humidor, you know, and they had like tattoos on their necks and shit like that or whatever. Oh, black label. No, no, they weren't, they weren't black.
Oh, I'm sorry, they're reps. So I walk in, they're in my humidor, and I was like, hey, man, what's going on, man? You guys need help? And one of the kids is like, we didn't take nothing, man.
Wow. Just straight to it. We ain't got nothing. Take nothing.
Hand me down. Dude, there are cameras everywhere, man. There's two cameras right there. I'm like, okay.
Fucking. Yeah, that's not what I mean. Yo. You need help.
Like, just calm the fuck down, man. And, you know, eventually I broke down. He's like, I'm sorry, man. I thought you were like, you know, judging us or whatever.
I'm like, bro, you're in a sweatshirt, I'm in a fucking sweatshirt, like, what the fuck, what am I judging? I don't have underwear on guys, just so you know. Like guys, I'm fucking, yeah, no, there are no pants. You guys should be mad at me.
Hey, you're mad at me for coming in here, I'm gonna fuck the both of you. Like, let's, like, you want to have a conversation about stuff, like, you know, or you just, you gotta try and disengage. They were 21 though, they weren't teenagers. Yeah, did I say teenagers?
You did. Yeah, no, 21 or over. They were 21 or over, obviously, 21 or over. Yeah, they definitely weren't teenagers.
No, no, no. But you know, I guess I'm at a point in my life where anybody that's sub 35 years old is a fucking kid to me. Oh, how do you think I feel? You guys are kids.
Oh, yeah? Well, you're not a kid to me. Oh, thank you. Well, there's that.
Well, there's some quite older. Older. Right. Right.
Very tired. Are we moving on? Yep. Espinosa ships 601 La Bamba, Warhead 10 on Monday.
That's today. Yeah. Espinosa, they released the story yesterday. Really?
Yeah. Just yesterday? Just yesterday. Hmm.
Started hitting the, uh, the, the medias yesterday. 601 La Bamba Warhead line is about to get its 10th installment of cigar that begins shipping at two stores tomorrow, March 4th. The Espinosa 601 La Bamba Warhead 10 is a Nicaraguan Purell that will come. Sorry, I thought of something funny.
And a 6x55 Toro Vitola that comes in an oval-shaped presence. It's not San Andreas, apparently, no. Oh. Cigar is produced at the San Lotano factory in Octal, Nicaragua.
This year's bomb is very special, said Erik Espinosa. It is. Via a press release, "We began teasing it at a L'Ozona Palooza, my son worked tirelessly," and, oh, that's why, I guess it's his son's cigar, that's why I wasn't making fun of it. Oh.
Son worked tirelessly on the design and presentation for this release, and the entire sales team has been chomping at the bit to get these to retailers. Personally, I'm very happy with the PCA, it's in March, and we didn't have to wait to launch the Warhead in July, as usual, I have no doubt it will be the talk of the show. Uh, I mean, yeah, it's definitely gonna be a topic of discussion. That's for sure.
I had a 30-minute conversation with Eric, Saturday or Sunday. Oh, yeah? Yeah. This weekend.
About the cigar? We were talking about that. We were talking about all kinds of shit. Oh.
Was it a pocket dial? No, no, no. No. You call him, he call you.
Wait, hold on. Did he answer out the first ring? He called me. Oh.
Oh. That's a change. Bro, what are you doing? Well, first of all, I'm going to tell you, like, I'm in a position now in this industry who is fucking cool as shit.
Right. As far as I'm concerned. Because, you know, enough good people know me. Right.
I understand my reputation, and the doors open, you know, so conversation, friendship, all of that exists, which is fucking remarkable, so Jerry, except Matt Booth, he no longer fucking speaks to me. Anyway, you want me to call him now and see if he doesn't answer? We should just make it a thing every episode. We should just start calling him.
We have a story later, so if you want to. Oh, it's the next story, by the way. Alright, perfect. So, here's what's cool.
So, Jerry says, "Hey, you know, can I I would love to get Eric on the show. Oh, we're talking about Down to Herf. Jerry from Down to Herf. Okay.
So, I don't respond to his texts. I'm like, okay, no problem. So, I'm just fucking text Eric. Hey, my buddy's Jerry, Down to Herf, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
They would love to have you on the podcast. Hector's already done the show. Oh, or whatever. Yeah, but it's not Eric, though.
No, but they should have reached out to Hector. Okay, but... But anyway, go ahead. Okay, so hold on.
We can back that up because there are times when people ask you from stuff about me and then you don't even fucking tell me. And until they come to me... Well, are you talking about the Jerry thing? Yeah.
Well, that happened too fast. But that's my point of reference. " He may be like, "Nah, I don't want to fucking do it. " That's true.
Right? " And he goes, "Yeah, sure, man. " And it's old school, because I've known Eric for a hundred years when he was repping his own shit. It says like 601 La Bamba Eric Espinosa on my phone.
It's like Alfredo, uh, Alfredo, uh, Cruz. Right. It says Ortega on it. Oh.
Yeah. Is that a brand? Yeah, it was. It was.
Oh. So, so yeah. So he calls me the next day. He's like, yeah, man, that's cool.
Whatever. And we just started fucking going back and forth. And he showed me an image. Was there an image of that fucking box?
Uh, no, just the yellow bomb. I'm going to tell you the yellow bomb is the box. Oh, that's the box? Yeah.
Oh, I thought it was another metal bomb. No. It's like a bomb. You know the coins they put out shaped like the bombs?
It's shaped like that. Oh, wow. I thought they just made a yellow coin. So here's what's crazy.
I mean, those things are gonna fucking sell. Yeah. And what's even crazier is they're not all here yet. So there's only a small allocation coming out right now.
Oh, they're not all in- Yeah, the rest of them are gonna come in right before the show or at the show. Oh, okay. So they're gonna do like a small release? Yeah.
That's not mentioned in the story at all. That's because he got an exclusive. That's because I know what's going on. I don't understand.
They show it until you open? Yeah. Because they're Toros. That's got to be a big-ass box.
It looks amazing. It's got to be the coolest fucking box I've seen in a long time. Yeah. Is it 10 or is it...
It's 10. Count of 10? It's dope is what it is. Still, 10 Toros are, you know...
It's a sick-ass box. Yeah. I mean, if it's shaped like that, yeah, that'd be pretty cool. Wow, and the price isn't bad at all either.
all either. $16 or $160 for the box. It's perfect. Yeah, that's a sweet spot.
I mean, they could have charged more for the box. It's a cool-ass box. Nice. They maybe will be the talk of the PCA.
They might just be the talk. Well, they would be, but Justice is coming out, and then the Pennsylvania Cro-Mag is coming out, and I don't mean to fuck with Eric, but man, we fucking go hard in the paint on PCA, baby. Let's go. And then that Axum will be there.
The what? The Axum. From Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Oh, the...
He does not have a fedora on during that show he's missing out. The poet turned adventurer. Yes, yes, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Rick. All right, next, let me see, room 101, hit and run, Redux begin shipping, I'm reading the headlights, I don't think you can call it.
Room 101 is doing what now? Room 101, hit and run, Redux. Redux. Redux.
Oh, I saw that. January 2017, Matt Booth announced he and Room 101 Brand were retiring from the cigar industry, following the conclusion of the company's agreement with Davidoff. The retirement ended up being incredibly short-lived in mid-2017. He was back.
He returned and was done in part with Robert Caldwell, whom he collaborated with multiple new lines, including the T and the Hit and Run. Now Hit and Run is back because in the cigar industry, nothing really dies or goes away. Is that what that says? Oh, I added that part.
Oh, okay. It's a Mexican San Andreas rapper. Is it? Well, let's find out.
Or an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder. Please God answer. He's not going to answer. No, please don't answer.
One ring, two rings. It's funnier if he doesn't. Two rings. It's nine o'clock where he is.
He's not going to answer. Don't you whisper at me. Oh! Listen.
I am so glad you called me. Oh, yes. I was going on. I was going on and on to my wife about cocaine.
We just dropped my son off at school, and I was talking to her about this whole display that I wanted to create for this new car we're building, and I wanted to be very blow-centric, and then I was like, oh shit, it's like, it's as if I summoned you to call me. Not because I think you're on the powder, but because you're in Florida, and let's face it, it's a state that was built by and for criminals, and I celebrate that. It's a lawless one. And we know where to get the powder.
Yeah. Are you going to have like, is the ashtray going to turn into like a mirror? Is that what it is? Oh.
Oh my God. See, this is who he just said. He just said, what is the ashtray going to convert into a mirror? And I'm like, oh my God, another idea.
You put the mirror on the bottom of the ashtray. So then you can turn the ashtray over. Yeah. Well, so the idea, right, was, so it's a 64 Riviera.
And it's like, I want it to smell, like strippers smell. You understand what I'm saying? I want it to have like some some dust, like glitter, you know, it's just like everything that is stank and vile. Like it's like I want to I want to go.
I want to get like Hunter from Sir Louis and I want to get him to donate like a super like sweaty Versace shirt. And I'll just like throw some powder on it and just throw it in the backseat. You understand what I'm saying? Like this is the vibe.
These are the vibrations. And then so I was talking to one of the guys in the club and I was like, look, man, this is my And that's what I want to do. I want to put this display, like I want to work it into the dashboard, right, where you come up on the car and like epoxied into the dash is like a rolled up on it and a couple lines and a razor blade. And this is like part of the car's DNA, but I want it to use real cocaine.
Can I say that? Are you recording? Yeah. I don't know.
They dropped the kid off and it's... fuck it. She's got to look at him like, it's nine o'clock in the fucking morning, dude. I'm not ready for this.
Look, man, I told her, I said, look, bro, I'll talk about cocaine like it's Christmas. You know? I won't do it. Because, I mean, you know, the fentanyl and stuff.
You know, it's still good. Running rampant right now. God damn. Yeah.
I mean, you want to talk about something. That was the question. Oh, oh, so, okay, so, yeah, right, like, so, rig up this scene, so it's like Like, full-blown Scarface shit going on the dashboard, and I was like, but you know, but if somebody really wanted to dick her around, could they like cut into that and test my display and jam me up over that? Like, if they really wanted to be a cocksucker, and you know who I'm talking about, it's possible, you know, and I'm like, well, I mean, if they decided to like, I don't like this guy having stuff, you know, I got to put up with hobos throwing shit at me, and this dude's got this.
I don't like that, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, I'm gonna cut into this, right? I'm not saying this, this is not an overarching sentiment, but you know, you know, so the idea is like, okay, but can, can Matt Booth get jammed up over his super authentic, and, and, and, and, and, and, you know, thoughtfully composed display, right? Right. And so I'm like, okay, but how do we do this?
And then I'm like, okay, but what if I make it removable? maybe it's just for shows i set the tray on top and it's like the full thing and people like but then you know i don't want people climbing over the car trying to get in like just give me some you know and so and then i'm like okay but we can make a matching you know like a lot of these cars you make a sign for it it's like you know you get like a touch you know pinnacle striker do some nice lettering but a giant like mirrored tray right that sits up next to the car with the And there's a whole fucking shit on it that's like, you know, you know, two by three feet kind of thing. You somehow do the paperwork so Justin Andrews is the one that gets in trouble. Yeah, just do the meeting, have a meeting where Justin Andrews is the fall guy.
Oh, yeah! Oh, dude, how could I include people from the, oh, yeah, you're right! It's in your contract. You're right, I'd be like, his idea.
Just put diesel on the car. Put diesel on the car! I mean, diesel? Come on!
Over. It takes diesel gas, something like that, you know? It's done. Right on the beard tray.
This was made by Justin Andrews. I mean, you could put his phone number, you buy his phone number. 70% of everyone that smokes diesels is on block. 100%, I mean, we know that.
Clearly, they've gotta be. They've gotta be. You know, you're like, you know, actually, that's funny. That should be like, I'm gonna, you know, 'cause I'm always helping with all their other stuff, right?
'Cause it's as if I don't have enough shit to do, like, but I get obsessed with like, you know, I see certain things where I'm like, man, I could really, I'm not gonna say make better. Well, you can make a buppity, but I could really help. You were duped. You got into the marriage, and then all of a sudden, now you're doing all the dishes, buddy.
It's just that simple. Bro, I was not duped, bro. I got the bag, dog. That's true.
He's got the gold helicopter. So let me review. So you married up. I married up.
But now you realize that there's a little bit more commitment than what was stated in the marriage. Like a Taylor Swift, Travis Kelsey. No, not at all. Take a look at this artwork.
Not at all. " Oh, if somebody could just help me. If I only knew a guy that had a great ability to make some type of artwork, that's where it goes. Oh, I know.
That's where it goes. Don't I know. But dude, honestly, I just, I actually enjoy it, but there's some things that infect me. They get in the way.
Like, like I, you know, there's a brand that finally I was like, fuck it. Okay. Okay. I'll do it.
I can't take this. I have to fucking fix this shit, like, what are we doing here, you know, and so I do it, and it's really just, it's really my own personal psychosis that drives me to do some of these things, but nothing more, you know, that's probably why it doesn't answer my calls anymore, it's so busy, he's very busy. No, no, I answer your call, I didn't the last time because I was doing something more important, but as I saw you now, I wanted to, there was nothing, there was nothing more than I wanted to, than to answer, and I miss you, and I'm I'm glad that we could share this, because it's right in the fucking moment, bro. Here it is.
It's this whole thing. I mean, there's a lot of things to cover, and we only have a few minutes worth of time. So, I mean, if you go, as you pour your coffee. Yeah, no, I'm making a little, you know, the little pot ski, you know, the little thing.
I love that. Are we doing stuff? We're talking about cocaine. We're podcasting right now.
I have questions about, for one, you got this Caldwell collab, number one. Are you excited about that? Oh shit! It's almost, it's crazy, right?
It's almost like we know what the fuck we're doing! Yeah, it's insane. So you're dropping the hit and run. Don't blame me for knowing what the fuck we're doing.
Yeah, dropping it, dropping it, dropping it. We are dropping it. At the show? Is that at the show?
No, man, I mean, it's, it's flowing freely out into the world. It's out and out? I mean, at some point it will. At some point it will.
I mean, it'll be, you know, you'll get it. Are you releasing something at the show? Huh? Are you releasing something at the show?
It's shipping. Well, I'm not, I'm in my own personal, you know, sex dust I'll be releasing, but that's nothing new. I'll be strafing people with it, you know? Okay, I'm almost out, so it's good.
You're running low on that? I'm running low on that. I mean, I'm effectively a pheromone crop duster, you know, basically is what I do. I mean, you know, I mean, how do you think I got this far?
Just on, on looks? And you can't, and you were very excited about the Caldwell acquisition as of late. Oh, well, I was, so I was genuinely happy for a real friend, as I would be for you. You and I, you know, I don't know that how many people are actually capable of that, you know, and I think it goes back to, I think it goes back to, I don't like the fact that, you know, my, my seven year old counterparts soccer team just won.
I can't celebrate, you know, someone else's victory. And it's like, I know, I know the weight that is carried in that space. I know all the trials and tribulations and because he's a friend, you know, I've been, you know, sidecar to him and him to I in many cases, but you and I have shared a lot of information and thoughts and, you know, I think that, you know, obviously, like, if there's anything you ever needed from me, I would be right there, right? And I think that, and I would for him.
And, you know, so just the fact that he carried a branded effort, you know, through the goalposts, you know, I know what that looks like. And I know that a lot of people don't, and you know, I just wanted to, I was just excited for a friend, man. I mean, it's a phenomenal accomplishment and I was super stoked. Nice.
Yeah. Helicopter, I need a helicopter. Oh, bro, I would, I mean, you mean like when you throw your dick around, or you mean like the Momar Kaddafi 24 karat gold joint? Yes.
Boots always means the first. Yeah. No, no, no. Helicopter.
Somewhere that helicopter exists, and I will be in it, inside it, and that might not mean like sitting in it, I mean, I might be inside it somehow, I don't know, I'll find a hole, I'll find the hole. All right, so we've covered a lot here, so we've covered cocaine and cars, we've covered. I don't think we've even gotten warmed up here, bro, like what is this all about? We want to, you guys are feeling chatty, you want to call your boy on a fine Monday morning?
Well, you made the, oh shit, it's Monday, we missed it, yeah, you made the news, you made the news, this is when you do this, wait, I made the news, what happened, you hit the hit run, it came out again, yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, we're doing that, it's gonna be, yeah, it's very nice, you're gonna like it, I'm gonna love it, delicious, I, I mean, I don't want to get, I don't want to be so forward, I think you're, I think you're gonna, I think you're gonna respect its composition, I think you're, You're going to smoke it and be like this fucking guy, you know, like something, you know, I think you're going to like it. Okay. Is it different than the original? Yeah.
Oh, it's vastly different. Vastly different. Very vast. It's vastly different.
And it is even more sexual. Oh, excellent. Oh, yes. And, uh, how was The Great Smoke?
Oh. The Great Smoke was cool. Um, The Great Smoke, Room 101, probably did better, you know, on an event. So, you know, you had a credit card terminal at the table so you could charge immediately, capture the cheddar in the moment, which I think was, you know, long overdue for that event format.
He was just swiping that STG card off and it just goes, shoot. I was like, hey, how can we make this machine go into my account? Can you make all of these machines tagged to my account? Is that possible?
Yeah, I got this cocaine car. Yeah, bro, we got props to buy for cars. It's expensive. Imagine how much I'm going to spend on that.
Jesus Christ. I want to find an old... I mean, I'll figure it out. I want to find a 69 Dodge Charger.
Oh, that's what I'm looking for. Okay. See, this is the guy to ask. You could put blow in that one, too.
I mean, I think any 67 cars... I feel like it should come with blow. There's probably an old bag under the seat. I mean, let's be real.
Door panel? Yeah. You know, I mean, allegedly, DeLoreans used to come with that, too. Allegedly.
Lots of cocaine. I mean, allegedly. How do you think they travel through time? I mean, I heard.
Yeah. yeah and i mean i hate when people hate on that they're like you know i'm like man what a what an inventive way to do that you know right it was ingenuity for you know ingenuity or you know stainless steel very very but you know one one or two were made in gold bro gold plate really the lorians yeah yeah there's one in the peterson auto museum that if if i remember correctly i I believe it belonged to the owner of a small bank in a small town in Texas, and it was donated to the museum when he died, and I think there was one or two that were manufactured gold-plated. Mr. Pontius, John DeLorean.
Yeah, that's pimp, bro. I mean, you have a gold car and not have cocaine? I mean, what the fuck? Where are your cars?
Of course, right. They sort of go together. Yeah, there's a mound on the back. Like peanut butter and jelly.
Hand in hand. Absolutely. Yeah, peanut butter and jelly. DeLorean and Cocaine.
Speaking of jelly, you know, a sweet, viscous substance, Palmer, when am I going to see you? Oh, wow. I'll be at the PCA. Yeah, I'll be at the PCA.
You know, so they're not, so check this out, they're not having an official display for forged, distributed brands, right? So I'm going to go, and I'm just going to frolic. So, like, I'm gonna actually experience, like, I dreamt, I dreamt, like when I heard that they weren't doing, you know, each side of the company or whatever, and I was like, oh shit, I don't have to go to a fucking trade show? I was like, it was ticker tape, I was out in the street fucking aggressively just masturbating at passing traffic, I couldn't even fucking control myself, I was so excited, you know, I was just like, fucking face this, you know, and so, but then they're like, oh, you're going, and I was like, Like, I will never, you know, I told, I will fucking never forgive this.
I told Regis, I saw him as Charles, I was like, I'll never forgive your ass for this right now. I had my moment, I had my moment. I'm so happy. So listen, listen.
Well, can you imagine, right, you and me, see, now we don't have to do it. So it's you and me and we're walking around, we're smoking, we're talking shit, we're enjoying ourselves. We go, we go like standing in front of Nick Melillo's booth, right? And we're like, "Yo, Nick, this is a sensational display for your products.
How much did this cost? How long have you guys been here for a couple of days already setting this up? Wow, man, what a tremendous amount of work. Can we get some cigars?
Thank you, thank you. Okay, have a nice day. I'm gonna go get a coffee. " Matthew, Matthew.
So listen, I'm getting this wonderful camera and I'm going to have these mics and we're going to do some casual small interviews. I would be extremely honored if you went with Palmer and you interviewed or harassed a couple people. Could you do that for me? Oh my God.
I mean, you know, I'm shocked. I will do my best. That's my son's best. I will do my best.
Do your best. Oh my God. Just a couple people. Oh my God, I would love to.
That's great. This would be fantastic. Matt Booth for Cigars, our podcast, I have a question. You guys, you guys making some commerce here?
You think you're gonna, you think you might be able to even out on the cost of this fucking setup? Yeah. No, no, I know. It's just like, you know, really cut deep.
I think some people would appreciate it because they're like Booth knows he fought the fight and he, you know, he pulled the ripcord. the rib cord and now he can come, you know, basically shit in my lap, but it's, you know, it's like a healthy, you know, shit of, uh, like a camaraderie shit in my lap. It's not just like I'm being spiteful. You know, that's different.
Okay. So we're going to do it. I'm going to hold you to this. Oh my God.
I'd love to. Okay. This is going to be fun. We could bring them like It's like treats.
Like, hey, I got this, I got this little, you know, $17 coffee from the kiosk over here. We've only brought one, though. Did you spot me? Yeah.
Delivery in my Uber Eats delivery fee. We bring a couple of blades where they can like fight it out for the coffee, some shit like that. Aggressive expansion. I love this.
Bro, I would love, like if we, like, okay, yo, like the beat it video with the dude with the white leather suit, and they tie the fuck in. they tie one arm and they got the knife you know like we could do like manufacturer like death match you know yes this would be phenomenal that would make half wheel that would make half wheel for sure caldwell stabs can you think though i don't know if they take it seriously uh i don't know we we uh i mean death is serious at this point we we have the ability to to to like pepper There are several press releases across the entire fucking cigar media. Oh, that's true. So someone will pick it up.
Someone will pick it up. Somebody. Somebody. I mean, we could lean on Charlie.
You know, the events section of like Men's Vogue or some shit. Yeah, right. We could really shoot for the stars on this one. Of course.
Because it's art. Exactly. You know what I'm saying? It's art.
All right. We're going to let you go. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
I can't say I favor that. I now feel lonely. Well, you know. Well, you go back to the cocaine conversation with your wife.
Yeah. Are you kidding me? Nikki ran away. Oh, yeah.
Oh, the phone's called. Oh, good. Take that. Take that.
She's fucking out of here. I'll be right back. Fucking gone. Look, I love you guys.
You do a good thing. And I appreciate it. And I respect it. And I miss you.
And I can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks at this, you know, sterling evolution We love you, too, buddy. And we look forward to seeing you as well. It's going to be fantastic. Okay.
All right. Should be off the hook. I'm going to help out with Palmer's Viscous Jelly. Exactly.
You can have my jelly anytime, Matt. Fuck yeah. All right, brother. I'll talk to you.
All right. We'll talk to you later. Thank you. All right.
Take care, guys. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
Look, just like that. Just like that. The show's over. You're 55.
You got a shop of the week, Michael? You got a four-story? Oh, I do have a shop of the week. It's very long, though.
You're at the shop of the week. Bull Weevil Cigars, Enterprise Alabama. Bull Weevil Cigars, Enterprise Alabama. Is there a date for that event yet?
April 6th. 5x46, the original blend of the Connecticut. At Bull Weevil. Delicious.
Very exciting. It's exciting. Get a listener of the week? No.
Yes. Who's the listener of the week? Whoever runs Bow Weevil Cigars. Tyler Jones.
Whoa! Tyler Jones. Boom. My guy, Tyler.
We're going to just run through the headlines real quick. Yeah, go ahead. La Aurora's got a price increase. All right.
Club Macanuno, Jakarta opened this past weekend. All right. Post-Signing Connecticut, Corona Gorda debuted at the PCA 2024. I'll say 2024.
Read that one. Yeah, read that one. Well, it's shortened. Powstanie will show off the fourth size of its relatively new Powstanie-Connecticut line.
The Powstanie-Connecticut Corona Gorda Justice measures a five and a half by 46 and was first made nearly a decade ago. The only hundred cigars were made and packaged with a blue and pink band that said "Apollo Nanny". These cigars were created to celebrate the birth of the middle child of Mike Stepankiewicz, co-founder of Powstanie. Indeed.
Caffey's got a new cigar coming out at the PCA. El Septimo's releasing a cigar at the PCA. Fratello's doing the Pocahontas. Colors of the wind.
They can call it Pocahontas? Apparently. I don't think it's a Disney character. I think it's a real person, so I think they're okay.
Even though Disney made it. I feel like Disney was a real, they made it after a real person. Well, they did. That's what I'm saying.
It'd be like you can't say General Custard. It's a historical person. But you can't say Metapo. I like this, Jenna.
We don't know that. It was a good death. PCA has their launch program we talked about several months ago. Who?
PCA. Yeah. Their launch program, or their launch grant program. Uh-huh.
They've made some conditions to it now, so we are closing our Florida retail organization. Oh, really? Yes. Need to apply to, blah, blah, blah, specifying what the money will be used for as a condition to receive the grant.
If you receive the grant, now the state organization will need to agree to match whatever amount PCA is awarding. So if they give you five grand, you got to come up with five grand. Oh, my energy's got to match your energy. Right.
So in a connected story, we'd like to announce that we're closing our Florida Retail Association grant group, and all monies collected will be used to handle the legal fees associated with closing the group. Fuerte Libre is changing their name to Fortelza Libre, because Fuente got mad at them. Oh, you can't do that. that?
The name Fuente Libra Morialis cigars was suggested by an unnamed source, but it was rejected. Placencia began shipping the year of the dragon. Kaisad's laying in front of the semis. Kaisad was allegedly quoted by saying, no, that's my dragon.
And then a Florida story. The Florida Man Games, big crowds cheer, competitors evade police and wrestle over beer. So they actually did the Florida Man Olympics. Really?
$45 a ticket took place in St. Augustine. Let's see, other events, contenders wrestled sumo style while holding pitchers of beer, running from an actual sheriff's deputy while jumping fences and avoiding obstacles, faced a scramble to grab cash flying to simulated hurricanes, it was an eating contest, I was quite involved. How do you sumo wrestle with beer?
You couldn't spill the beer, couldn't spill it. So you only get one hand, the sumo? Right, the one who's pinned and has the, or who's not pinned and has the most beer, I guess. Is it pinning or do you push him out of the ring?
Oh, you got to push him out of the ring, yeah. Oh, my dear. Right, exactly. Florida Man, blah, blah, blah.
There was a quote back here that I can't find it now. Florida's claim to being the strangest state goes back to much further, said journalist Craig Pittman, who wrote the book, Oh, Florida, How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country. Noted the first flag to fly over the Capitol in 1845 bore the motto, Let Us Alone. Apparently nobody listened.
S. state, and they share the roads, beaches, and timeshares with more than 130 million tourists each year. Wow. That's a lot of peoples.
How many peoples in the United States? 130 million. In the United, I thought you said in Florida. No, they all come here.
They all come here? They all come here as tourists. 130 million tourists. All right, that's it, that's all I got!
Perfect. Look at that. Let's go rob a bank! Uh, what's that from?
I don't know, you said it one time. Yeah, you said that one time. You said it one time. I don't know why.
Oh, when we were talking about, uh, I forget what we were talking about. Who knows. Alright, this has been episode 323 of the Cigar Hustler Podcast. Come check us on the Patreon.
Alright, thank you. Yes, which is also episode 323. Alright. Alright, bye.
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Show Notes
On this episode of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast, we have a special call-in interview with Matt Booth from Room 101 Cigars. We discuss the latest news from the cigar industry, including Habanos S.A. reporting a record $721 million in revenue for 2023, up 31 percent. Espinosa is shipping the 601 La Bomba Warhead X on Monday, and the Room101 Hit & Run Redux has begun shipping. Black Star Line Cigars is celebrating its fifth anniversary with Espinosa-made Marun. Club Macanudo Jakarta opened this past week, and La Aurora is increasing prices on April 1, 2024.
In PCA news, Powstanie is debuting the Powstanie Connecticut Corona Gorda "Justice" at PCA 2024. Kafie is adding the Sweet Tipped Liga De La Casa at PCA 2024, and El Septimo is releasing the Culinary Art Collection at PCA 2024. Fratello Pocahontas is also debuting at PCA 2024. Additionally, PCA has launched a grant program for state associations.
In other news, we announce the closing of the Floridan Retailers Association Grant Group, and any collected monies will be used to handle the legal fees in closing the group. Fuerte y Libre has rebranded to Fortaleza y Libre, and Plasencia has begun shipping the Year of the Dragon, with Gurkha allegedly quoted as saying, "NOOOOOOOOO!!! That's My Dragon!!!"