Cigar News, Beer Pairings & a Wild What's the Score | CHPOD 598

Episode Summary

Episode 598 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast hands the mic to guest hosts Ziggy "the Beer Guy" and Keanu (with Phil on engineering) for a loose, news-driven show. The first half is pure off-the-rails fun: a viral claim about a woman arrested for giving an unauthorized zoo tour (and making up otter facts), a myth-busting look at what's actually in a hot dog — variety meats, sodium nitrite, the "36 minutes off your life" University of Michigan study, and FDA defect levels — plus a Belgian construction crew that uncovered roughly $10 million in gold (49 bars, 1,000 Victorian-era coins and nuggets) behind a wall at a former brewery villa in Sint-Gillis, Dendermonde, tied to the Van Assche brewing family.

The cigar news block digs into the Bandolero Firecracker 2026 from United Cigars — a 3 1/2 x 50 petit robusto with the trademark fuse-like pigtail, Ecuadorian Habano maduro wrapper, filler from the Bandolero Clandestino (Series C) line, rolled at Tabacos de Costa Rica, aged two years in cedar-lined rooms, now $10 MSRP — plus the history of the Firecracker series at Two Guys Cigars under Dave Garofalo. The crew then walks through European regulatory updates from the ECMA: Germany's proposed tobacco tax overhaul with a reported 1,300% increase, the UK consultation on plain packaging for cigars, and Spain's push to ban smoking on terraces and in private clubs — sparking a real conversation about prohibition by pricing, packaging as marketing, and whether U.S. regulators will follow. They also break down the new Micallef Orange, the latest in the color series: Connecticut wrapper over a San Andrés Habano binder with Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers, made in Estelí, robusto and toro, $8–$9, debuting August 27 at Two Guys Cigars with nationwide release September 5.

The "What's the Score" game pits the hosts against a halfwheel Redux review of the Camacho Liberty 2020 (Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Honduran Corojo binder, 6 x 60 box-pressed, $20). Guesses land in the high 80s to 90 — the actual score is an 82, prompting a genuinely interesting discussion about whether cigars can age poorly, which wrappers hold up, and Padrón's reputation for aging gracefully.

Along the way the show doubles as a beer-and-cigar pairing session: Ziggy drinks Traquair House, a 7.2% Scottish wee heavy brewed in Scotland's oldest inhabited house, while the others sip Ormond Brewing's citra-hopped "Terhopical." All three smoke Powstanie — San Andrés, Habano Corona Gordo and Connecticut — and close out with talk of an upcoming Crowned Heads event with beer sampling, a pitch for a blend-your-own-cigar class, and nostalgic stories about first cigars (Baccarat, Montecristo, Deadwood).

In This Episode

1. 01
   Fake Zoo Tour Guide Story
   The crew dissects a viral, unsourced claim about a woman arrested for leading an unauthorized zoo tour and inventing otter facts — and why stories without a case number are usually bogus.
2. 02
   What's Really in a Hot Dog
   Myth-busting processed meat claims, sodium nitrite, the '36 minutes off your life' study and FDA defect levels, plus a debate over Chicago-style dogs.
3. 03
   $10 Million in Gold Found in a Belgian Brewery Wall
   Construction workers in Sint-Gillis, Dendermonde uncover 49 gold bars and 1,000 Victorian-era coins linked to the Van Assche brewing family — and don't get to keep any of it.
4. 04
   Beer & Cigar Pairings on Set
   Ziggy pours Traquair House Scottish wee heavy and Ormond Brewing's citra IPA while the hosts smoke Powstanie San Andrés, Habano and Connecticut.
5. 05
   Bandolero Firecracker 2026 Ships
   United Cigars releases the third Firecracker edition — a 3 1/2 x 50 pigtailed petit robusto aged two years in cedar-lined rooms at $10 MSRP — plus the series' Two Guys Cigars history.
6. 06
   European Cigar Regulation Updates
   ECMA updates on Germany's proposed 1,300% tobacco tax increase, the UK's plain packaging consultation, and Spain's terrace and private club smoking ban.
7. 07
   Micallef Orange Joins the Color Series
   A medium-bodied Connecticut over San Andrés Habano blend from Estelí at $8–$9, debuting at Two Guys Cigars, and the crew's honest take on the Micallef lineup.
8. 08
   What's the Score: Camacho Liberty 2020 Redux
   The hosts guess halfwheel's Redux score for the six-year-old Camacho Liberty 2020 and debate whether cigars can actually get worse with age.
9. 09
   Palate Building & Upcoming Events
   Talk of blend-your-own-cigar classes, fumar isolated-tobacco events, first-cigar stories, and the upcoming Crowned Heads event with beer sampling.

Brands & Cigars Discussed

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Transcript

Hello all you peoples out there in TV land, two, this one's going to be a doozy. Action. Welcome to a Cigar Hustler Podcast. Premium cigars, unfiltered opinions, and conversations with no boundaries.

I'm your host, Ziggy, the beer guy, joined by co-house, Kano. In engineering, we have Phil McCuffey, star of the man on adult film, Shaving Ryan's Privates. Hey! And who's the other guy?

Oh, co-host with Keanu over here. Oh, I thought you said Kyle. Oh, hey. Turn back around, turn back around.

Damn it. Dammit. And take three. Go.

Just from the top? No, no, no. Go. Yeah, turn around.

Now do it. Oh, hey. Didn't see you there. All right.

All right. Let's get on. From cigars, sports, and business to pop culture and the wildest headlines, if it's worth discussing, we're talking about it. No script, no safe spaces, just real perspectives, big laughs, and chaos at any moment.

Settle in and welcome to the Cigar Hustler Podcast. On today's show, hey do you work here, now I can't eat that, that be gold in the sewer, the cigar's Micalef turns orange, tobacco rules updates, and shipping notifications. But first, how do we get some of that C-Pod swag? - Tell them.

- Is this me or is this you? - I don't know, 'cause I don't know. - Oh, you don't have a thing. Okay, I'll do it.

com, search for A Cigar Hustlers Podcast, and hope you enjoy the show and get some of that cool swag. Here we go! Alright. Well, let's start with our first little news story here.

A story circulating on social media claims a woman was arrested after allegedly posing as a tour guide at a zoo and looting a group of visitors on an unauthorized tour. According to the Post, the woman did not work for the zoo, but reportedly presented herself as an employee and gathered around 18 guests. She then allegedly led the group through the zoo for approximately one hour. During the tour, the woman reportedly provided information about the zoo.

It answers questions from the visitors. The story specifically claims that while discussing the zoo's otters, she provided information that was inaccurate or completely made up. The visitors reportedly believed she was an official tour guide during the tour. What kind of facts do you make up about an otter?

They, uh, I mean, they attack, uh, I don't know, man, like, what do you say? Well, let me finish this up here. According to the viral claim, zoo staff eventually discovered what had happened and determined that the woman was not an employee or authorized guide. The post claims that authorities were contacted and the woman was subsequently arrested.

However, important details have not been provided, including the name or location of the zoo, the woman's identity, the police agency involved, what charges were filed, or exactly what incorrect information she allegedly gave the visitors. At this time, the story is circulating wildly on social media, but no official police report or credible news reports confirm the incident has been located. I am struggling to think what charge you could apply, because it doesn't say she took any money from them. And also, this man right here is a, may I, a retired cop.

Yeah, 24 years of the day, don't know HPD. I can't, I mean, it sounds to me like a free speech thing. If I start, like, where's... Did she pay for a ticket?

Does it say? Yeah, I mean, if she trusts that, if she broke it, but that's not the story. The story is she's getting charged because she presented herself as somebody that didn't... It's different from posing as a doctor.

I mean, it sounds like they probably had a fucking blast, though. No cursing, right? I mean, you can. Okay, I didn't.

Just only three times, so that's one. Okay, we got one. But, I mean, I would imagine that if I was involved in that, as a tour group, like, member, I probably would have been like, I mean, that was a fun tour, like finding out afterwards. If she collected money and how much, that's where I could see a charge.

Well, she was working there. Well, she wasn't working there, right? She's posing as somebody who works there. I imagine that these people aren't paying extra to be involved in this tour.

If they are, then I assume it's a little sus of like, hey, come over here. I'll give you a tour if you give me a quick fiver, you know? Then that's different. But, you know, I feel like if she was just like, hey, you guys want a tour?

You want a tour? And then collected 18 people, like gather around, gather around, you know? Right, you can get one of those type of tours in like Barberville. Yeah.

Exactly. Half the attendees there are volunteers anyways, so what's the difference? Oh my goodness. Yeah, it's kind of weird, like this lady is doing tours of the zoo.

I mean, she must really have nothing to do. I mean, you know. Some schizophrenic meanderers. Yeah.

Yeah. These hotters are from Venus. She already binge watched all the series on all the platforms and stuff. It's like Aubrey Plaza, she would do fake tours when she worked at SNL.

Do you guys know about that? No. No. So she once did a tour and she was like telling these people that like, yeah, so once Chris Farley got a colonoscopy live on TV on SNL, Like, she would tell these tour groups just completely fake facts just to have fun, they're like, what?

Like, live on TV? Like, no, you fucking can't. I'd pay for that. Yeah.

But, I mean, I like what the story points out. Whenever you hear these stories, if there isn't a case number, it's bullshit. Yeah, well, I said there's no, like, essentially, I said there was nothing. I was like, well, where is this coming from?

It sounds like an England thing, I'll be honest. It sounds like an England thing, is it? Oh, I don't know. I'm not, that's just, it just sounds like something that would have happened in England.

They're not saying, you know, where it happened, what it happened, just that it did happen. Definitely happened in London. Want to move on to the next story? Oh, yeah, yeah, go ahead.

What's really in a hot dog? Oh, my. Okay. Delicious things.

You may have seen some pretty disgusting claims online about what actually goes into a hot dog. So how much of it is true? First, hot dogs are processed meat products typically made from beef, pork, chicken, turkey, or a combination of meats along with water, salt, spices, and other ingredients. Some varieties can contain what is called variety meats, or meat byproducts, but when those ingredients are used, federal labeling regulations require them to be identified appropriately, so the claim that every hot dog secretly contains things like snouts and other organs is misleading.

Another claim involves sodium nitrite. Nitrites are used in many cured meats to help prevent bacterial growth, preserving the flavor and producing that familiar pink color, the pink slime. That's nice. They regulate it.

Ugh. They're regulated in the amount of manufacturers can use. Then there's the claim that eating one hot dog takes 36 minutes off your life. That number came from a University of Michigan study that developed a model estimating the potential health impact of different foods.

It does not mean a stopwatch literally removes 36 minutes from your lifespan every time you eat a hot dog. Good. Hot dogs can, however, present a choking hazard, particularly for young children because of their They're round shape and size. And what about maggots, rat hair, and cockroach pieces?

The FDA does maintain allowable defect levels for certain foods because eliminating every microstopic contaminant from the food supply is practically impossible. But that doesn't mean the FDA specifically allows hot dogs to be filled with those things. Bottom line, hot dogs are a highly processed food, but several of the shocking claims circling online leave out some pretty important context. I mean, so anyway, what's you guys' favorite hot dog?

Ooh, I like, I have to stick with my German heritage, I like sausages. Yeah. Yeah, the, the, the, but there's a, there's a book, The Jungle, about meatpacking at the turn of the century, and if you thought today's hot dogs are gross, reading that book, it's insane. Like, hands getting chopped off on the line and ending up the meat.

You know, you know, shit happens. Allowable amount of fingers. A low amount of fingers instead of rat deezas order. I mean, you get what you pay for.

If you're buying a 60 cent hot dog, it's gonna have some cricket protein or something. And it's gonna be delicious. It's gonna be damn good. Especially if you make a Chicago-style hot dog, which is the best one.

It's the best one. Dividing words? Dare I? Yes.

Boots? I know you're a fan of hot dogs. Oh, 'cause you went to Chicago, that's why you're asking. I think, I think I'm, I swear in a past life, I'm from Chicago.

I like all of their stuff. All the food. Well, they have mafia there, too. Me too.

Yeah, you know, family. Hey. My favorite? Cheese dog.

Straight cheese or chili on there? Oh, well, I mean, we're getting the condoms. I mean, like, the cheese inside the hot dog. Oh.

Yeah. Good thought. That's a good one. My opinion is a variety of the spice of life.

I don't settle for just one style. You'll get sick of your Chicago dogs eventually. I definitely will not. And there's something to be said about the cheapest bun with the cheapest hot dog and the worst mustard.

Yeah, 7-Eleven. Yeah, exactly. Drunk after the club at the 7-Eleven, that is a glorious, beautiful moment. I ate like six Chicago dogs like last week in one sitting.

I definitely will not get six Chicago dogs. Where'd you get them? Portillo's? No, I actually made these ones myself.

Oh. Yeah, Desperate Times. Oh. Portillo's damned.

No, Hot Dog Heaven though in Orlando, oh my god, number two best Chicago dog I've ever had. You never go to Southern Nights though, right? No, not, no. I pass by it.

I pass by it. That's why, they do have that hot dog glizzy place outside of it. Yeah, the Dollar Wiener cart. Yeah.

We should ask, uh, never mind. Robbie knows, Robbie knows. Robbie knows, let's ask him. Hey, real quick, I'm gonna, I'm gonna intervene here for a sec.

Um, so I forgot to read the comments off the last show. Oh. 0, uh, the easy button only leads to That's a more button-pushing. School and school sports teach kids that the real world is hard and teach the kids to raise expectations and themselves to strive to a bigger goal.

The real world isn't going to hand out easy buttons. So I don't know if you guys... Somebody comment to that? Yeah.

You know, I looked at it. It was a discussion with Mikey about his kids and, you know, I 100% agree. School shouldn't just teach you the basics. You need to learn to socialize.

You need sports. You need to learn how to lose with grades. Or conquer your failings. No.

Exactly. It's why we need school sports programs, music programs. We need to more than just push out kids like a factory. Right.

Right. Yeah. No China here. This one says, "Ruckus Unchained," which is Mikey's mom.

Palmer is acting like Magoo again. Oh. Magoo, wow. Yeah, he forgets a lot.

Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it kind of runs once you start, you know, being a part of Cigar Hustler. I thought we were talking about that '60s cartoon character, Mr.

Magoo. Yeah, that's it. That can't see, oh. Yeah, he can't see, he forgets everything, doesn't know what's going on.

Oh, my God, if you put him in that little cartoon's costume, he could pull that off for Halloween. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Didn't he have, like, a mask or something?

I don't know. Well, maybe. Yeah, I mean, you know, once you start, you know, being a part of Cigar Hustler, you know, your brain kind of gets taken up a little bit, so you can only remember so much. I heart BDP, so much hostility against the great BDP.

I heart BDP. Oh, guilty of, I mean, we might be completely untrained co-hosts and hosts of the show, but we're also throwing out the BDP hate, so. Yeah, of course. Good sign.

Right. Smokin' bangers. We don't raise no pussies around here. Does that count to our three curse words on the show?

I think that's the third. Well, hang on. Pussycat? Right?

A cat? Yeah, maybe. You gotta talk about the... that's what we're talking about.

Yeah, I like the Smokin' bangers guy. He's hilarious. All right, well, that's all I got for the comments. All right, so we can continue on, though.

Oh, okay. Let's hop on to the next story here. Yeah, go ahead. Imagine showing up for a routine sewer project and accidentally uncovering a $10 million fortune in gold.

Oh. I've got a story to tell, but let me finish here. That's exactly what happened in Belgium, where construction workers were working near a former brewery when they discovered a massive stash of gold hidden behind a wall. According to the project leader, workers suddenly started shouting, "We found gold," and the more they searched, the more they found.

Gold coins and bards had apparently been hidden in the building for years. One of the workers, just 18 years old, said that when he saw the coins, he didn't even realize what there were. He initially thought they were looking like ordinary one-euro coins. Then everyone eventually realized what they had stumbled across.

The estimated value of the discovery, 10 mil. But before you start thinking these construction workers just had the greatest payday in history, there's a catch: they didn't get to keep it. It's not their problem. Yeah, they didn't get to keep all of it.

I'm sure some left in some pockets. Oh, well, there was around 10 million. I don't know where the million went. Allegedly.

Allegedly. Police were called to the scene and secured the gold before it was transferred to a high-security government vault. Now, authorities have to determine who legally owns the fortune. Under Belgian law, the rightful owner reportedly has five years to come forward and claim the gold.

So, somewhere out there, somebody may have $10 million secretly hiding inside of a government vault, and a group of construction workers just had the most disappointing day of finding buried treasure imaginable. How would they, how would the, who would know that it's their $10 million? Well, we're talking Belgium, hidden behind a wall, during World War II, Germany's invading everything, you're hiding everything, German officers might be hiding it. I mean, I'd be very curious to know what kind of gold it was.

Since it's bars, we know it's at least modern gold, not, you know. I would imagine, I mean, if somebody, if they planted it there during World War II, that person probably is no longer here. Yeah, no longer here, or doesn't want to face a court in The Hague for admitting it's a Nazi that it is. $10 million in gold, do you think it's Nazi gold?

Maybe. Yeah, that's either... Which is worth way more than $10 million. Yeah, the historical context, and that's probably why they're not saying what kind of, you know, it's these coins from this era, oh, those were my coins from that era, from this, that, and the other.

We had a call of the police department just to talk about people's honesty. So, one of the THC dispensary drivers, you know, all they do, they have to do in cash, got involved in this big old wreck, you know, ejected at an interstate right near our police department. Oh, man. And then the next morning, this guy comes to our police department with just a suitcase full of money.

" That honest gentleman, it was the monetary cash deposit from that crash that had ejected from the car. Oh, there was probably... there was hundreds of thousands in there. Easy to that, but...

Yeah, that was... But, you know, there are honest people in this world, as much as we might joke, but... You know, I mean, just to be honest, to be an honest person, I probably would take maybe a role and then turn it in. That's it?

I mean, yeah, I can't, you gotta be conservative with it. First of all. Oh, God. You know, you can't let it on too much.

" No, first of all, I would have quit my job, and I would have definitely took the stuff. I wouldn't have lived in Belgium no more, and when they would have asked where the treasure was at. I mean, where's Phil? Yeah.

He's in Guatemala. " Yeah. He has those offshore accounts now. Yeah.

Nobody knew it was there. I'm really curious what church it was. Was it one of the beer-producing churches? The trapeze place.

I don't know. You guys talk amongst yourselves and maybe I'll find out. Oh, okay. All right.

Oh, you want to mention the... Okay, yeah. So, my handle here is ZiggyTheBeerGuy, and I felt it would be inappropriate for me not to mention it. So we're going to crash this show live on YouTube, we might as well do it with an open container.

Already going swimmingly. So I'm drinking Traquare House from Scotland. 2%. It's brewed in the oldest continuously inhabited house in Scotland.

So it's this massive mansion. D. So this is brewed in a place that's like 10 to 20 times older than the US. Wow.

It gets its color because they brew the, they boil that mash for forever and a day. This is actually pale malt, the same malt they put in Budweiser, but they boil it for so long it caramelizes. And what Keanu is drinking over there is tropical, terhopical, because American brewers have the worst puns, by Ormond Brewing featuring citra hops. And I really like Ormond Brewing.

We got their beers up here. They're local. Their brewery is the best American breweries. It's by the railroad tracks in an industrial park.

As you're driving in there, you're thinking, I'm either about to make some illicit exchange of contraband or get shot or murdered. And then you come around the corner, it's a phenomenal brewery. That's where the best tacos are, too. Oh, in industrial parks?

Yeah. The ones where you're walking up, you're like, gosh, I've not got a good feeling right now. All on the wall. And what are you smoking?

Got to rep the product, Powstanie San Andreas. Part of me said, you know, for our initial show, I should show up with a Swiss or Sweet, claiming it's the best thing in the world, but I'm not going to push that boundary. Yeah. What are you smoking?

We're never going to host this shit again. This is stuff again. Oh, that's the fourth one. Oh, my God.

Four or live, four or live, guys. We're good. He didn't say the whole word. Yeah.

And I'm smoking the Powstanie Habano Corona Gordo. - Oh, the Hibana. - Oh, yeah, represent. - We'll just go around the world.

I'm smoking the Connecticut. - Look at that! - The Connecticut burns perfectly just like the Sumatra. Yeah, and delicious.

- Completely unplanned. This was all us just loving the brand. - Okay, so what it says is, it says that there was 49 gold bars plus 1,000 gold coins. Some of the coins appear to be Victorian-era gold coins.

While authorities have not yet publicly released the purity or carat of the refinery markings of the bars. 99% bullion. But they have found out who owns it. They're just not saying who.

Oh, well. I mean, that makes sense. Yeah. But Victorian era, so those might have been in there for forever and a day.

Yeah. I mean, I guess if it was the brewery, they probably found whoever owned the brewery originally. Well, I'm assuming it's probably a church. I'm beer projecting onto it.

It's just a church. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do they have the name of the church? No, it just says it's in...

Hold on. I'm asking chat, GBT. But it says it's in Dendermond. In Belgium?

Oh, it's in Denmark. No, no, it's in Dendermond. Oh, Dendermond. Yeah.

Hmm. Oh, they're also saying there were some gold nuggets. Oh. Nuggies.

This is a find. Yeah. Oh, it says they found it in St. Gillis, Dendermond, a community in East Flanders about 18 to 30 miles northwest of Brussels.

Oh, okay. Oh, Brussels sprouts. They were renovating a late 1800s villas associated with a former brewery. Oh, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Nice. O'Shaan. W. Oos of Landeren, a social welfare organization.

Oh, it's an organization, then. Oh, okay. Oh, here it is. It belonged to the Van Ash Brewing Family.

Van Ash. Van Ash. Not heard about it. I'm gonna look that up, see if we can get their beers.

That's cool. Van and Ash is spelled A-S-S-C-H-E. A-S-S-C-H-E. Wow.

Ash. Ashay. Ashay. Want to move on to some cigar news?

Yeah, let's move on. What's going on in the industry today, Siggy? Oh, well, Keanu, let me have a look here what's going on in the industry. Absolutely.

The Bandolero Firecracker 2026 is shipping. It's by United Cigars, I think. Yeah. The third version of the Bandolero Firecracker is off to the stores.

Like past versions, the Bandolero Firecracker 2026 is a three-and-a-half-by-five, short, robusto, with a long pigtail that is tucked inside the band, made to mimic the fuse of a firecracker. The cigar is the same as the 2022 and 2023 versions. Each cigar is covered with the Bandolero Aventureros wrapper and binder, an Ecuadorian Habano Maduro leaf, and filled with an Ecuadorian leaf filler and an Ecuadorian binder. The filler comes from the Bandolero Clandestino or Series C line.

Ooh, Clandestino. Like, you know what that is? I don't know. It's a fun word.

It's a fun word, I believe. According to the company, after being rolled at the Tobacos de Costa Rica factory, the cigars were aged for two years in rooms lined with different types of cedar. Each cigar has an MSRP of $10, up from $9 price point, and from the two previous releases, United Firecrackers are about our nation's tradition reimagined in tobacco, said Oliver Nevod, director of operations for United Cigars in a press release. The Bandolero Firecracker 2026 is the culmination of two years of patient post-rolled aging, and it delivers everything you could expect from a legend like Nelson Alfonso.

The original release finished number 20 on Half Heels Top 25 in 2022. The Firecracker series dates back to 2007, and Two Guys Cigars, a New Hampshire-based chain of retailers owned by Dave Garofalo, who also owns United Cigars. The Firecrackers cigars are typically three and a half by 50 Petit Robustos that features a long fuse like Pigtail. Over the years numerous manufacturers have made Firecracker series releases including: Anganosa Leaf, All Saints, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, El Artista, Fratello, Christophe, La Flor Dominicana, My Father, Padromo, Roma Craft Tobac, Rojas Cigars, and Selected Tobacco & Tatuaje.

While early releases were exclusive to Two Guys, the series is now distributed nationwide by United Cigars. Right. Have you had a Firecracker? Yeah.

Yeah, I've had them all. I really liked it when they would do the collaboration, like Firecrackers, you know, and the El Wenzei Maduro Firecracker. They had a Knuckles. I think they had a like a Cro-Magnon Knuckle Tracker, too, if I'm not mistaken.

Those were good. Yeah, from the story, not to be the wood guy, but why age in a room with different types What does that mean exactly? Why? " Well, that's like, it might be just like Budweiser's Beechwood aging.

It just happens to be built with Beechwood. It just happens to be built. Yeah, it might have been, you know, cost at the time. That's just what they had.

They're like, "Oh, yeah, we're gonna advertise it now. " I really like the Petit Robusto size. It's the size you go to after you had your long cigar, but you're not ready to leave the lounge yet, so I will grab a little Petit Robusto. I know it's going to add 20, 30 minutes to my sitting around.

I'm going to grab another half-pour of beer after the six I just had and just call my Uber. Yeah, and smoke it through that tail, too. I mean, it's a difficult task, but if you can successfully do it, it's a pleasurable time. You leave the tail on when you smoke those?

Yeah. A lot of times, though, they break off. Yeah, absolutely. You got to kind of really, really try.

You really got to hold it on yourself and just hope that that tail stays on. That's the whole thing of it. It's the thing. Yeah, you know, you're not wrong.

They're good cigars. I think they're a little potent, you know, because it is a Petit Rebuso. Yeah. It's got a punch.

You're going to get a lot more flavor out of it, but what was, Ziggy, have you ever smoked a firecracker yet? Oh, yeah, yeah, I've had a couple of them. Which, was there one notable to you, or? Like I told y'all already, it's usually the cigar size I go to after I've spent a little bit of time in the lounge.

Oh, okay. Which might make my memory of the cigar hazy on specific notes, but no, I do enjoy that size. size. I remember it's a very pleasant cigar.

Am I going to tell you it tastes like a side of avocado with woody notes or whatnot? I'd be bullshitting you. I remember it's good. How many different types of cedar did you taste?

I tasted it. Yeah, right. Eastern red. Moving right along.

Worldwide cigar updates continues. Paul Varakis, Director General of the European Cigar Manufacturers Association, ECMA, highlights that That's the latest developments affecting cigar consumers and retails across Europe. Across several EU countries and the UK, new regulatory proposals and legislative steps continue to impact the cigar community. Staying informed and engaging with policymakers is more important than ever.

Here are the latest updates and ways you can take action. Oh, Germany, my fatherland. The motherland. The German government, in search of fresh additional revenue, is proposing to tear down its successful tobacco tax model.

The new taxation, based on retail prices, is set to increase by 1,300%. Whoa! Damn. This will primarily impact premium processed cigars.

Contact your MP and raise your concerns. That's a bunch of malarkey right there, man. I don't know the price of cigars over there in Europe. I imagine it's going to be Astronaut.

It's going to be 1,300% more now. The price is over on international, they're not too bad. They're about the same here. Really?

Okay. Yeah, they're not too horrible. Is that general, or is that going to be depending on the European country, too? Probably depending on the European country, but I looked one time in Germany, because I was looking for some Romacraft stuff, and it was actually a little cheaper than here, but then you've got to pay for shipping.

Well, yeah, because Roma Craft, they do a lot of shipping. The Wanderlust is only over there, yeah. Yeah, and they do a lot of shipping to Germany, specifically, right? Yeah, yeah, there's a retailer over there that they have a good relationship with.

Yeah, well, that's really, that's annoying, though. And I would much prefer, if you're going to raise taxes with this, the percentage increase does impact the higher-end cigars. So, 13 times a $20 cigar is ridiculous, but this is one of the times where I'd say, like, a flat, if you want to raise money, make it a flat increase, five bucks to the cigar. That favors the premium brands and penalizes the less premium brands, but that's how I would do it if we need to raise money.

Yeah, what's kind of crazy actually over in a lot of international countries is they're going to a smoking ban. So maybe this is part of it, right? Maybe this is like the first step of, hey, we could probably get a lot of people off by just overpricing, you know, with taxation. Yeah, not making a ban, but just making a ban by the pricing.

There's culture in cigars, too, just like, you know, we tried prohibition in this country with beer. Didn't work out. Didn't work. Yes, there are people that abuse alcohol.

I can picture there might be people that abuse nicotine, but prohibition just creates an underground market. Yeah, I mean, like, I mean, not to be also the doctor guy, but there's so many studies that have been done with cigars, you know, You know, that have spanned years that found that had little to no effect on health, you know, not to be the doctor guy, I'm not a doctor by any means, I don't know anything medical, you know, everyone knows, you know, medical, medical, what I've done recently. He just role plays that. Yeah, just role play.

So I just feel like they're probably attacking the wrong markets. You know, I feel like there's so many other priorities going on in the world that it's like, you know what, let's, let's just stop everything right now. You know, there's, you know, we got how many wars going on? You know what, let's, let's, let's fuel that.

Let's fuel that. Let's tax the cigars. Let's tax this. Let's do this.

It's just like, come on, you know, there's a lot of things going on in the world that I feel like maybe we shouldn't be concerned about that right now. And it would absolutely suck if, you know, you're just an average person not to be able to afford a cigar, but you know, you know, the politicians and the billionaires are still going to be able to get their cigars. Yeah, no, this doesn't affect me. Right.

Right, well, we're going to get illegal cigars. Yeah, right. Exactly. We're going to find a way.

Right. Prohibition doesn't work. It's just as simple as facts. Old Pookie on the corner is going to be selling cigars.

I got those Romas. Right. What do you want? I got the Chromag, I got the Aquitaine, I got the Neanderthal.

Two for one. Right. Let's see what the United Kingdom is doing here. And each one is like $40 each.

Go ahead, Ziggy. The United Kingdom. The British government is consulting on extending plain packaging to cigars. Okay, so just basically no flashy packs.

Everything looks like a butcher paper bundle. Yeah. I don't care about that. That's a thing.

Whatever. Packaging does sell cigars, but... I don't care. I tear the bands off.

Well, there's some cigars that base their whole scheme off of just marketing. Yeah, that's true. You know, they don't have the greatest cigar, but, you know, they have great marketing. Name some names.

Yeah, the fancier, the box, the crap, the cigar. Yeah, I'm not... Yeah, I mean, it's... I mean, that's kind of a little bit of a fun part about it.

I mean, you know, a lot of these guys that smoke cigars, Yeah, I mean, a lot of them are blue-collar dudes that, you know, have hard jobs, that, you know, work hard for their family, like, have two, three kids, stay-at-home wife, and so, like, if they want a cigar, they might have a little fun having a little packaging that's got a little fun-ness to it, man. Yeah, but again, like, okay, so now this hurts their cigar over in the United Kingdom, you know, right? So it's like, you know, they can't do their scheme now, so, and it's not like they can just change a blend. Do they have the bands on them still, I assume?

No, it's just the packaging, the outside box. Just the box. Okay, yeah. I mean, I agree, you know, they can't have, you know, like cartoon stuff marketing to kids, but this is an overreach.

Yeah, but I mean, you know, the kind of the joy about buying a box for a lot of people is still getting the box, you know? And then keeping the box, yeah. Yeah, yeah, because it's just like, it's almost like some people like it as a trophy, some people just throw it away, you know? Well, too, like, what we don't want to happen is for it to be a normality in international, and for America to adopt that because now it's a normality.

Yeah. So, I mean, we like all of our stuff. We like how it is. Yeah, it's unfair.

It's hard for a cigar to be able to stand out amongst the rest without packaging that's going to stand out, you know? Yeah, well, some of them. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there are brands that are really good, let's just say, right, that just don't have good advertising for themselves, you know?

They don't have good packaging, they don't have really much going on in that way, and so, you know, that's one way that a lot of these boutique brands can kind of capitalize, where they are like, we have to try some things and be a little bit more artistic with our approach and our packaging. Right, right, yeah, like, let's say for instance, let's say you picked up Aromacraft and then you picked up a foundation, right, with no label, no packaging, no nothing, right? It was just in there. You didn't know which one was which.

It just said $11 for this one and $9 for this one. Or I'm sorry, foundation, $16 or $18 for this one. Right. You know, how would you tell by the price?

Exactly. Right. It's only by the price at that point. Because now you're going to make a delineation with the price.

That's it. Yeah, because then at that point, I'm just going to look at the price. I'm like, well, this one looks similar. This one's less money, you might as well get that one.

I don't know anything about this one. I mean, I probably used the two wrong ones. I probably shouldn't put Roma, because you can tell a Roma Craft cigar, you know, versus anybody else. And then you can definitely taste the difference.

So like, you know, I mean, you could put anybody, you could put a, okay, Fuente, you know, you could put a Fuente cigar out there and then you could put a foundation cigar. Yeah, I think the only Fuente that's really going to stand out, like if it, let's just say bandless as well, let's just say, I feel like the Hemingways would stand out because they have like a pretty. Yeah, the size of it. The stance with how they look, yeah.

So that's pretty much all it's... An overreach, you know. Yeah, it's an overreach. They're trying to make cigars, you know, where people won't like them.

That's what they want. Which is stupid. Right. Let's move on to the next European country.

Spain. The Spanish government aims to ban smoking on terraces and private clubs. The bill is expected to reach parliament in September, We hope to see many passionate, passionados, fancy word, passionados, raise their opposition to these draconian measures. , we've banned smoking in restaurants, and I get it, that's probably better for health, but there should always be an exception to these rules.

Like, one of the events we have here, the private lounge events where Greg makes those steaks, to actually have a full-on steak with a cigar, it's like, yes, most restaurants, If you wanna do that for health reasons, fine, there should be a way to have a 21 and up place to say, this place, this is a smoking restaurant, this is a smoking establishment, maybe if they're saying terraces, if it's a place where the smoke travels out into the, but there's enough cross breeze, I mean, an overall ban to all private clubs, like if it's a private club, private club, private, right, that should be the person's call, that should be the only person's call, that should be the only person's call. I mean, the owner's call, like, Smokey's allowed in here, Smokey's not allowed in here, you're kicked out. Yeah, I mean, maybe have a rule about sensible labeling, and, you know, this is a smoking club, this is a non-smoking club, so that everybody has their option. Yeah, and if you're on the terrace, they can put a sign, no smoking.

S. A lot of stuff going on in Europe. S. Yeah.

We'll find a way. Um, back onto more cigar news. Uh, Mikalef Orange warms up the color series. Um, an August 16, 2026 press release by the, uh, uh, by Mia Clef.

Mia Clef proudly announces the release of the Mia Clef Orange, the newest addition to the acclaimed color series, following the success of the black, blue, red, purple, green, and white series. Mikelf Orange continues the tradition of delivering premium quality at a remarkable value for brick-and-mortar retails and their loyal customers. Crafted at the Mikelf Cigars factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, Mikelf Orange is a medium-bodied cigar featuring Connecticut wrapper over San Andreas, a Bono binder with a Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. am I saying it wrong?

Yeah, it's okay. Mikelf. Mikelf. It's okay.

It's all right. McAuliffe Orange will... McAuliffe sounds better, you know. I was like, oh, no.

Listen, the company's owned by a billionaire. I don't think they'll care. Old Farmer McAuliffe. Old Farmer.

Yeah. The McAuliffe Orange will premiere on August 27th at Two Guys Cigars, available both online and in stores. Nationwide availability begins September 5th. With the addition of Orange, the M Cigars.

continues to grow, giving retailers and consumers a deeper, well-rounded portfolio at an accessible price. Orange puts world-class tobacco in a working man's hands, said Dan Thompson, presidents of... McAuliffe. Cigars.

That's what... McAuliffe. is about. Premium quality price for the customers built to protect our retail's margin.

Al... McAuliffe. Founder of... McAuliffe.

Cigars. Added, when you build something with your name on it, You don't get to have any off days. Orange had to earn its place in the color series, and it did. I'm as proud of this one as anything we've made, and I think our ambassadors are going to feel the same the moment they open the box.

Likes its predecessors. M cigars. And McAuliffe. Orange is available exclusively through family-owned brick-and-mortar retailers and their online storefronts.

McAuliffe. Maintains strict pricing integrity to protect retailers' margins And support local cigar communities, so the strength is medium, size is going to be a Robusto and Toro, wrapper Connecticut, binder San Andreas Habano, Nicaragua and Dominican filler, the price estimates are $8 and $9, and the packaging is 25 box counts. Well, they really laid in the name very thickly on that. They said it like 20 times.

We will never host this show again. Yeah, no, they do that, you know, it's a press release, so they're trying to get the name out there and everything. I'm not a big lover of Macau Cigars, so this one's not a big one for me. I've had them.

They weren't anything crazy special. They weren't bad, by any means, but that's pretty much it. What I think is funny, so this is a cigar that is doing the Connecticut wrapper over a darker binder. You know, there's another cigar company that put a Connecticut wrapper over a darker binder, a broadleaf binder.

What was that? What was that? Oh, Siggy, do tell. It might have been the Powstani, Connecticut.

Powstania, Connecticut? What? Yeah, I'm curious, too, because I actually, you know, it blew my mind when I, like, oh, shoot, I love Broadleaf, to know that our Connecticut's are hiding that darker, richer on there. So, it got me curious.

I'll get one and try it. I mean. What's in the filler? What did you say it was?

In this cigar, Nicaraguan and Dominican, not giving any more details. Yeah. I wonder if the Dominican's just kind of trying to even out the burn or if it's really offering anything to the blend. Oh, wait, they're using that, it's a San Andres Habano.

That's a, that's a, you know, that's interesting. That, that's what the, um, SBC. Twenty, twenty, twenty, twenty, four. No, twenty-four.

Twenty-four. Twenty-six hasn't come out yet. Oh, yeah, oh, yeah. Twenty-four, yeah.

But the twenty-four uses, right? And, and that's usually not really used a lot because it's not a really, a good-looking wrapper, you know? First of all, I just have to say something right now. Yeah, go ahead.

You guys are great, because you guys know what's in the cigar. " We just kind of work here, so... Yeah, that's the problem. We get paid to remember this.

Right, right, that's great. So, I'm sorry, continue on. Yeah, I mean, I've had the blue, I've had the red... For the McAuliffe?

Yeah, the McCliff. They weren't great, man. I actually have a funny story about the Blue. I was smoking it in front of, I think it's the daughter of the gentleman that owns the company.

Mr. McCliff. Mr. McCliff.

And I was smoking it with one of the reps. And I was like, oh, man, what is this? I didn't know who she was. He gave it to me.

He's like, and first of all, whenever somebody gives me a cigar, I never light it up in front of them, because, yeah, because of what may, you know, I may have a reaction on my face or something. I'll be honest, I do it and I'm just a little too brutally honest where I'm just like, this is not good, I'm sorry. Well, I did that on accident and I was like, I was like, oh, God, this is a horrible cigar. Who would make this?

And she's like, she's wearing a blue dress. Yeah. And she's like, oh, I made it. I'm like, oh.

Oh, it's so good. Oh, it's so good. I love it. I love it.

Yeah, this is a great cigar. It's good stuff. Yeah. Well, anyway, sorry, go ahead.

But I also do like the fact that you're seeing so many different seeds growing in so many different places nowadays, coming up with new flavors of cigars. Just like, you know, Cameroon sprang from Sumatra, and now Ecuadorian Sumatra is very much getting different than the original Indonesian Sumatra. And to see these other seeds getting planted in the San Andres region, coming up with new different strains, just, I mean, I love that evolution in the cigar world. You know what they should do here at Hustler for an event one time?

It'd be a great event. I know that they always have the Fumar events. Yeah, the isolated tobacco events. Right, but it's only one leaf that you're smoking.

At a time, it'll be like three at a time. It'll be like A, B, and C, or whatever, you know? Right, but you know what they should do? They should do one where they bring in some leaves, and you can make your own.

Oh, that would be fun. Yeah, like a rolling class almost? Yeah. Or like a blend-your-own cigar class.

Blend-your-own-class. Yeah, blend-your-own-cigar class. There's these, you know, three different wrappers to choose from, these three different binders, and then the filler, four or five different filler, you know. That would be fun.

I would pay a premium for that, that would be... Yeah. Well, we know what to call about that one. So we can...

right right moving on yeah i'm sure oh now it's time to play the industry's favorite game what's the goal now you gotta watch the show sticky i know it's at the same time right what is it wait what's the what's here we go you're ready you gotta go what's the score okay we're gonna three two one what's the score all right uh can you predict a cigar we are super professional Can you predict a cigar score from a half-wheel review before it is revealed? We'll give you clues, you make your guess as the review unfolds, the answer gets closer, or does it? The closest guess wins. Okay.

Alright, now Siggy, now when you're reading this, don't say the number. Got it. Oh, it's between you and me? Yeah, me and Chino over there.

August 17th, 2026, Patrick LaGride, LaGride, thank you, Cigars, Davidoff Honduras, Limited Edition Redux Reviews, the Camacho Liberty 2020, so the cigar review was the Camacho Liberty 2020, was it posted? Well, so is there a line there, or a pause, or anything? No, just a blank. Yeah, so in between the blanks, that's when you look at us, and we give you a score, and then after we give you a score, then you go on to the next one.

Got it, got it. All right, so, go ahead. Keanu, you're first. Oh, you want me to go first?

Yep. I'll say 90. Really? No, but I'm going with it.

Okay. Davidoff, they're probably going to give it a good score. They'll probably do a lot of advertising. Camacho Liberty.

This is half will, so. Yeah, let's go, you know what? 90 was a good number. I'm going to go 92.

I'm going to play until I see this score, because I haven't seen it yet. I'm going to go 85. Cigar Review, the Camacho Liberty 2020, Country of Origin, Honduras. Factory, Diadema Cigars de Honduras, SA.

Wrapper, Ecuadorian Habano. Binder, Honduran Corojo. Filler, Dominican Republic and Honduran. Six inches long, ring gauge 60, pressed, box pressed.

MSRP-ing at $20, box of $20 for $400. Release date, June of 2020, numbers of cigars released, 4,185 boxes of 20 cigars, 883,700 cigars total. Number of cigars smoked for Redux, so they only reviewed one cigar. They only did one?

Yeah. It's a Redux, so. Yeah. So this is when we change the score or keep it?

Yep, you can change it or keep it. I'm gonna keep 90. Phil? I'm gonna go 89.

89? Oh. That it's a reduxed review and the limited release, it might make people think it's better than it actually is. I'm gonna stick, I'm gonna come up to y'all and then say 90 and we'll see.

Okay. All right. Number one. The cigar is visually appealing with a smooth, matte wrapper, minimal veins, and attractive box-pressed shape.

Oh, he loves the veins. Limited. Its construction is mostly solid, offering an easy draw, good smoke production, and impressively long ash. Impressively long ash.

Smooth construction, expressively long ash. So how's your score adjusting? Staying at 90. 90?

Do you know how they do the fake long ashes? Yeah, like do I, like the magicians and stuff? Yeah, you know the trick, right? Yeah, yeah.

Put a needle in it. Well, it's a paperclip. Whatever it is. It's a thing.

Thank you. I didn't know that. Didn't I tell you that? Yeah.

Or no? Yeah, yeah. Well, we were doing, yeah, because we were going to do a long-ass competition. Oh, and you were going to?

No, no, no, no. I forget who, who did, oh, what's his name from Argonosa? Uh. Not the giraffe.

What the hell is his name? The other guy. Disney. Mr.

Disney. I forget his name. Terrence Riley? No, that's giraffe.

Yeah. Anyways, I'm going to go with 89. Eighty-nine, ninety, eighty-nine, I'm gonna stay nine, nine, ninety. Okay.

The flavor profile is often too dry and underwhelming, while the uneven burn and processing throat irritation detract from the experience. Yeah, dab it up. Is this the break, right here? Eighty-eight.

Oh, God, oh, God. Dropping the cigars, man. They're dropping the cigars, man. Even with that, they're probably still going to score it high, because it's a Davidoff, and that's what they do.

That's what they do here. You came down? I came down to 88. I'm going to 90.

Yeah, and there are a lot of cigars that are stronger that have throat irritation no matter what you do. They're designed to be had with something else. And the way I've seen some of these half-wheel reviews, you know, they'll destroy a cigar and be like, 96. Well, yeah, well, it was a nice way for him to say it was yucky.

Yeah. I'm gonna stay at, what are you at now? 88. And?

90. 89. Oh, man. Final thought.

I hate to say that the best days of the Camacho Liberty 2020 may be behind it. Judging it on this one sample that has been sitting in a humidor for six years, the flavor is an echo of its former self. Still enjoyable, but lacking the level of intensity the cigar had when new. This is definitely one I should have smoked earlier, as what it was in 2020 was a much better experience than what it is in 2026.

Live and learn, as the saying goes, and don't always think that time will improve a cigar. I now know the score, so -- Dang, man. That's a hard one. I don't want to go too low.

I feel like it's 86. I'm going to go -- they usually do round numbers, like even numbers? Yeah. Yeah, they don't do 87 and a half.

They don't do that. No, I mean, like, do they do even numbers mainly? No, I don't know if it's even or odds. Okay.

I'll do -- I'll do -- I'll do 86. 86, huh? Was that your guess? That's a good, that's a good little, uh, could be, she could be good.

Um, 85. Oh, my God. Okay. Um, are y'all ready?

Yeah. Yep. 82. Wow!

Oh, I went the right way! I was gonna do 85, man. I have never had a cigar get worse with age. I have had it get milder.

I would love to smoke that cigar and then see. There are some cigars that, I don't know if I could say, can I say? What cigars that do not age well? They can't be up in the humidor up there.

Damn. I mean, there are definitely some beers that don't age well because that's the type of beer it is, but I have never had a cigar that aged poorly. The only thing that I could say is like, okay, it needs another year, because it changes a cigar, it makes it milder, rounds out the edges. I like an aged cigar.

What I'll say is I've noticed with the, like, more oilier, like kind of wrappers, those ones, typically do not age well. Really? Yeah, from what I've gathered. What I've had and experienced just doesn't age well.

I mean, Padrón's pretty oily. Not Padrón. Padrón ages like a fine wine, gracefully, beautifully, amazingly. Yeah, it really just depends on the tobacco, man.

I mean, again, like, they're talking about a Davidoff. Like, I'm not picking up a Davidoff anyways, even when it first comes out, like. And also, you said, so this was posted this year, 2026? This year, so they smoked a 2020 and 2026.

Yeah, it's a Redux, yeah. Yeah, I mean, a Davidoff to begin with is exactly how he described it. Very dry, you know, taste irritation, like, because you're getting that yuck mouth with it. I mean, it's a Dominican cigar.

Yeah. They taste, that's what they taste like. So, it sounds like it sounds like it's normal. And Camachos are known for being a little bit more punchy, too.

Well, Camachos, yes. That's how they do that line. But not Davidoff. Davidoff is for the more of the businessman, more premium type smoker that's going to spend, And then, you know, 30 or more, 20 or 25 or more, if you will.

I think, I could be wrong, but I think China has a huge, like, Davidoff, or Davidoff has a huge following in China. Yeah, yeah, well, because it's a lighter cigar. Yeah. Right?

So, overseas, they're not, they don't smoke a lot of heavier... Yeah, unless you're in Germany, in which case Rome is in Germany. Yeah, right. I don't know about it.

Yep. But, so, yeah. So, do you like lighter cigars? Do you like heavier cigars?

So, I go through phases. Right now, in my lighter cigar phase, my palate has improved enough that I can pick out a lot of the flavors in a lighter, complex cigar, like an Elegancia Befirtego by the Paustani Connecticut, the Mirafels, where they are light, but they have a depth of flavor. But there are other cigars that are light, and you're smoking air in not a good way, it's the kind of cigar you can add a big old cigar like that to somebody who hasn't smoked a cigar, and they can physically smoke it because they don't have, they've never built up a pallet for cigars, but this is so light that they can throw down 50 bucks, pretend they're a cigar smoker, and go through this extra light cigar without, you know, turning them all green like we all did on our first cigar. Right.

Well, you're going to be able to pick out nuances and stuff like that a little bit better anyways because you do have a passion for beer. No. So, it's kind of the same process, right? Like, you're picking out, you know, all the different nuances in the beers and stuff like that.

So, it's the same thing with cigars. But for new smokers, like, they can't grasp that concept right yet. Like, you know, cigars, there's only so much in a cigar. There's not peanut butter.

There's not chocolate. There's none of that kind of stuff, right? But there is, you know, salt. It does make you salivate.

Yeah, I mean, when I was getting into cigars, one of the videos that I remember watching was one that Skip Martin and-- and my god. Mike Rosales? Yeah, Mike Rosales. Why?

What was I forgetting? But they were on the YouTube channel. I think it was Rogue, whatever it's called. I can't remember.

They were breaking down the flavor profiles of cigars, which is, you know, So a lot of what I learned was, you know, from that video and various others, but, you know, he's breaking it down to just the basic kind of groups where it's like, is it salty? Is it spicy? Is it, you know, bitter, sweet, umami, I think was one of the other ones. So, you know, breaking it down to just the basics, you know, for the newer cigar smoker can help them kind of especially, you know, really hone in on what they like, you know.

Yeah, and that would, and like I said, like having a class where you can, or having an event where you can make your own cigar, like you can teach smokers that. It would even be good for new smokers to come to something like that. They can learn all the different... You do the fumar first, and then you can say, okay, now make your own.

And then tell me about it. Why did you pick those tobaccos? That's kind of what Skip did with us when we went to Nicaragua. When you do tobacco school, him and Alex, that's exactly how they did it.

This tobacco right here is a little spicier, but it has better burn. Right? So like they would, you know, better combustion. So they would tell us, they would tell us that of each leaf, and then we made our own cigars.

Yeah. But just something to throw on there as well, because we're a little bit on our high and mighty cigar expert. I mean, we all remember our first cigars that we enjoyed were probably sweetened. I started off with the Deadwoods.

Oh, yeah. And then I moved on to the Hemingways. And then, like, what you smoke and you like, you smoke and you like. And you like, we might talk shit about it, but we talk shit about each other.

That's the cigar smoking culture, so don't hear us say that, oh, it's too mild. If you like that cigar, smoke that cigar. Yeah, my first cigar was a Baccarat, which is a sugar tip. I think I've had one of those.

Yeah, Baccarat with the cards as a little roll flush. Yeah, my first was a Monte Cristo classic series. " Well actually, technically my first cigar was at a paintball game, and this fireman, the rivalry between firemen and cops handing me this super, now I know it probably was a super dark with school broadleaf something or other, and I smoked it like an idiot and threw up for like 30 minutes straight after I was done. Way too strong.

Yeah. Right. All right. Well, we got anything else?

You guys got anything coming up? Any event you're going to be at? What have we got coming up? Well, I'm going to be at, if anybody that's listening to this podcast, I'm going to be at Dragon Com, a comic book convention in Atlanta at, well, in September, they have a big old cigar meetup, so say hey if you see me on here, that'd be kind of, kind of neat, and.

Oh nice. Yeah. You got anything going on, Keanu? Um, God.

No. No? No, I'm kidding. What's the next event here?

- Oh, it's the... - What's it called? Crown Heads. - Yeah, Crown Heads.

- Yes. - Oh, and Crown Heads. I was actually, one of our new distributors, Merchant Duven, that actually imports this Traquere and a lot of other Trapeze beers, they're gonna do a little sampling there too. Not a full-on sampling, but come up, have a couple beers, go through the Crown Heads, and Crown Heads has a lot of, not sweetened, but sweeter-tasting, warmer cigars that's gonna go really well with that.

So yeah, that Crown Heads event, like, yeah, it's gonna be a good thing. Oh, nice, nice, that's pretty, that's actually pretty cool pairing the different beers with the cigars. Yeah, I like doing those too, because I can see what the customers like, because if I choose what I like, it's gonna be nothing but German beers up there. Right.

Well, you do the beer pairing, or tastings, every two weeks? Two weeks. Oh my god. Every two months.

Every two months. Those take a little bit of putting on. Two weeks is close, two months. But yeah, that's a fun time too.

Yeah, if you guys are around the area and you guys ever want to check it out, Siggy does it every two months. Every two months, which is the next month, possibly. I think the next one is going to be middle to end of September, just because I've got to get back from Dragon Con and put it together. Something maybe sort of Halloween-themed, some darker beers, but get on our Facebook page, look it up there, or follow our email, we'll advertise it.

Nice. Keanu. Yes. Do you think we're going to ever host this again?

Probably not. Hey, you guys did great, man. I'll be honest, like a lot of people get on here and they freeze up. Oh, you know, especially for the first time.

So you guys did great, man. I applaud you both. Oh, can I give the shit? Can I can I shout out somebody?

Yeah, go ahead. I don't know if I can say his full name. I'm just gonna do it. I don't care.

Shout out to Craig Davis, who's a longtime listener listens to you guys. Oh, Craig. Yeah, he listens to you guys every day on the way to work. Yes, we love Craig.

Yeah, that man knows his beer, too. He does. Yes, the Trappist 8, Rockford 8. The Rochefort 8.

-Rosfort, Orval, he's-- -Yeah, he's, yeah, he knows what he's doing. -Nice. -Yeah, yeah. I make things out of wood, by the way, too.

So, that's a thing. -Yeah, he makes beautiful, beautiful tables and, and whatever you need, custom-made pieces. -All right, guys. -Get yourself some of Keanu's wood.

-Right. -I made that tray. That's over there. -Oh, man, maybe that'll be the next t-shirt.

-All right. -All right, guys. " You go, boop, right at the camera, and then I shut it off. All right, okay, guys, we gotta go.

What about booping? Right towards the camera, just go, boop. Oh, booby!

Show Notes

Two first-time guest hosts take over the desk on episode 598 of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast — "Siggy the beer guy" and Cheanno join the show for cigar news, a beer-and-cigar pairing, and one of the closest "What's the Score?" rounds yet.On the news desk: the Bandolero Firecracker 2026 from United Cigars ships, Miklef adds Orange to its color series, and the European Cigar Manufacturers Association flags a proposed 1300% tobacco tax change in Germany, plain-packaging consultation in the UK, and a terrace/private-club smoking ban headed to the Spanish parliament. Then it's "What's the Score?" on halfwheel's Camacho Liberty 2020 redux review, plus a real conversation about which cigars actually age well.