Episode 102 Jacob Quits? Shots Fired at Spence! A Real Sponsor?
Episode Summary
The final episode of 2019 opens with the hosts bringing in Jacob, an 18-year-old Cigar Hustler employee, to give a first-person perspective on the federal law that raised the minimum age to buy tobacco to 21. The conversation walks through the actual legislation (U.S. House Bill 1865, amending Section 906(d) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act), the FDA's "effective immediately" enforcement despite earlier talk of a September rollout, Florida's lag in updating its own 18-year-old statute, and the odd historical origin of "21" as an age of majority (courtesy of a Charlie Minato / Half Wheel factoid about the age one could bear a knight's armor). Jacob talks about losing the ability to enjoy cigars at the shop where he works, worrying whether he can even keep his job, the disconnect between voting/military service at 18 and tobacco at 21, and how the law is unlikely to stop anyone who already has friends and family over 21. The hosts also note the ripple effect on Cigars for Warriors care packages and on regular customers under 21 who can no longer come into the lounge.
After the break, the show lands its first real sponsor — Manscaped — and the hosts riff at length on the Lawn Mower 2.0 trimmer, the anti-chafing boxers, and the promo code CIGAR. From there it's industry news: Arturo Fuente and J.C. Newman announcing 2020 price increases (roughly 4–6% across the line, with Opus X up about $1.03 or 6% per cigar) driven by manufacturing and FDA compliance costs; My Father Cigars purchasing the U.S. rights to Fonseca from the Quesada family, with the hosts speculating the real motive is acquiring additional predicate-date cigars and questioning whether production moves to Estelí; and Drew Estate reopening Cigar Safari for five already-sold-out trips in February and March 2020 after suspending the program following Nicaragua's 2018 civil unrest — with a nod to how different the experience will be without Jesse.
The back half is classic Mike & Mike shop talk: Jason Falkenberg's new Ash Quarterly and his "A Cigar with Mike Szczepankiewicz" feature, a prank email blast aimed at Spencer Drake of Illegal Cigars (a fake 65% off sale that linked to a skateboard GIF), podcast ranking updates on Player FM and Podbean versus Cigar Authority, Listener of the Week (Andrew Peck and Robbie Doyle), Shop of the Week (Old City Cigars in St. Augustine), and a debate on whether it's ever acceptable to bring your own cigars into a retail lounge. They close by reflecting on 2019 — the Skip Martin episodes as the standout — teasing an upcoming collab with Hot Ticket and the Top 25 show, thanking the Arizona retailers who hosted them (Big Sticks, Embargo, Sam & Rosie's, Scallywags, and Lenny at Ohlala/Owler, who mailed Mike an S.T. Dupont lighter), and celebrating the arrival of Mike's new daughter, Teddy Marvel.
In This Episode
- 01Tobacco 21 Through an 18-Year-Old's EyesJacob, an under-21 shop employee, explains what the new federal purchase age means for his hobby and his job.
- 02What the Law Actually SaysThe hosts read through H.R. 1865's amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the 34 states that must update their statutes.
- 03Where the Age of 21 Came FromA Half Wheel factoid from Charlie Minato traces 21 back to the age one could bear a knight's armor, not brain development.
- 04Enforcement Chaos and Cigars for WarriorsFDA's immediate effective date, Florida still listing 18, and how the change affects military care packages and under-21 regulars.
- 05First Real Sponsor: ManscapedThe guys announce the show's first sponsor and review the Lawn Mower 2.0 trimmer, boxers, and sprays with promo code CIGAR.
- 06Industry News: Fuente Price IncreasesArturo Fuente and J.C. Newman raise 2020 prices 4–6%, with Opus X up roughly $1.03 per cigar on FDA compliance and manufacturing costs.
- 07My Father Buys Fonseca; Drew Estate Restarts Cigar SafariMy Father acquires U.S. rights to Fonseca from the Quesada family — likely for predicate dates — and Cigar Safari returns with five sold-out 2020 trips.
- 08BYO Cigars, Shoutouts and 2019 ReflectionsThe etiquette of bringing your own cigars into a lounge, the Spencer Drake prank email, Old City Cigars as Shop of the Week, and favorite episodes of the year.
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
Welcome to episode 102 of the Cigar Hustlers Podcast. This week Jacob quits, shots fired at Spence, and that's right, we finally have a real sponsor. Alright everybody, sit back and relax, have a happy new year, here comes the show! Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike squared, squared, squared, squared, squared.
Puff away, Michael. Welcome to Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Episode pie. Episode 102.
Episode pie. Episode 102 of Cigar Hustlers Podcast. The last episode of the season, Michael. Last episode of the year.
Of the year. Of the year. I didn't know it. Nice.
So he has it written over here for the episode numbers, and I put pie on there. You like to introduce our guest, Michael? He can introduce himself. Who are you?
I'm Jacob. I'm an employee. Camera's over there. Oh, sorry.
I'm Jacob. I'm an employee at a cigar hustler. You don't have to look at the camera. It's fine.
Nobody looks at the camera. I don't look at the camera. People get mad. Look at the camera.
Look at the camera. Look at the way. That's right. Look at the camera.
Look at the camera. Look at the camera. So who are you? You work here.
I work here. Well, at least for now. For the time being. For the time being.
I mean, you know, usually every employee that we've had on the show, they usually quit. There is a curse associated with the show. You know what, with this housing problem, he'll move, and then he'll have to quit. Oh, gee, he's bringing up my personal life.
I didn't explain it, he said he had housing issues. He left it up in the open. Alright, so, the reason he's on, because he is under 21. Yes!
Obviously, the big story this week is the tobacco purchase age to 21. Yeah. The legal age purchase tobacco products, including handmade cigars in the United States, will be raised to 21 years old under an omnibus spending bill that the Senate approved yesterday, oh, it was a week ago. But we had Jacob on to get the take of a 18-year-old.
Yeah, because, you know, everybody has their own perspectives, but nobody is living it the way that you're living it, right? So, as of last week, you could smoke cigars here, and as of this week, you can't. Yeah, it was overnight. They're done.
So, how does that feel? Um, it doesn't make me too happy at all. It sucks, huh? Yeah.
I work in this establishment and I can't enjoy this establishment like everyone else can. How often do you smoke? Um, I mean, at least... Not a lot?
Little? Not a bunch. I mean, I try to at least once a week. Okay.
I mean, some weeks it's three to four times. Right. It depends. Right, there's not, you don't have like a, but there's no gauge, but you did like to smoke a cigar on occasion.
Yeah, oh yeah. So, how do you feel about everybody just kind of taking away your rights? I'm not happy at all. There's a, in my opinion, a lot of problems with it.
I can, I'm allowed to, it's the big one I've been hearing and I totally agree with it. I'm allowed to go sign up and die for my country, but I'm allowed to enjoy a cigar every once in a while. No, no celebrating for signing up. No, no, not at all.
Right. I mean, we got these kids going over here to Afghanistan, Iraq, and stuff, and I mean... Kids. They're kids.
But you're one of the kids. I know. My fellow children. Exactly.
So, do you know where the age 21 actually originally came from? I do not. Ooh, I got that information. Oh, do you have that?
I do. I do. I have the... S.
House Bill 1865 that contains a provision, Provision raising the legal age to purchase any kind of tobacco product 21 years of age. The new law, which amends Section 906D of the Federal Food and Drug Cosmetic Act, reads as follows: Minimum age of sale. It shall be unlawful for any retailer to sell a tobacco product to any person younger than 21 years of age. But that's confusing, though.
Keep talking. I gotta find this. There are currently 34 states that have to be changed. 17, it's already 21 or over anyway.
So do you think at the age of 18, do you think that you have the ability, like the capacity to make sound decisions? That's a big question. Really? The government obviously thinks so.
We're allowed to vote at 18. We're allowed to shoot at people and get shot at at 18. Well, in the military. Well, yeah, in the military.
You can't just walk around and do that. Well, you can, but there can be any of it. I mean, the government says that that's okay to do at 18, but I can't make my own decisions when it comes to what I put into my body when it comes to tobacco or alcohol. So, the reason why, I don't, it's in here, it's in this piece of paper, but I can't find it, but I know what it is.
It's in this piece of paper? Yeah. So, I got this information from my friend Charlie Minato at Half Wheel. Ah, yes.
The reason why the age of 21 actually originated, where it originated from, was that was the age for you to be old enough, considered old enough to carry and wear knight's armor. Oh, okay. Wow, it goes back that far. So that has parlayed, yeah, that was then adopted into the United States culture, right, and made the drinking age of 21.
There weren't even any knights back when we started the United States. And originally, you could go and fight for your country at fifteen, fifteen, but once knights, gears, and shit like that got involved, I would love to see a fifteen-year-old fucking carrying a sword, mounting a horse. Well, back during the Crusades and things, as long as you're old enough to carry it, you could fight. So that's kind of the funny thing to me is like, I hear a lot of people that are like, yeah, no, 21's acceptable, but like, but you don't even know where that age has come from?
Why does that even exist? You hear that it's some type of mental capacity where your brain's developed to a certain point or something, but it's no, it's just that you can wear armor now. Right, so you're not at the age capacity, you're at the age capacity to vote, you're at the age capacity to join the military. Well, have you ever actually looked at our voting process?
The popular vote doesn't necessarily determine who becomes president. And who doesn't become president? Right. So the whole voting thing is just a first to start with.
Okay, but nobody wants to lose voters, right? No. Neither side. So that kind of brings me to the next thing.
So now you have a Republican president in office. Yes. Right? Republicans run the Senate.
The Democrats run the House. And they all fucked you. Yeah. So who do you vote for?
Which party? That's a great question. I've been thinking about that for a very long time. So you weren't old enough last time to vote.
Right. But since then I've been wondering who the hell am I gonna vote for? Have you registered to vote? Yeah.
And you registered for the draft? Yeah. Yeah, well, yeah. Well, that's mandatory.
That's mandatory. I think you have to do that within the first month of turning 18. Have I cleared that? How old do you have to be?
I think it's 35. Woo! So you're just now over? Yeah.
And we're drafting? Not going in. There you go. During Desert and Storm, I was sweating.
I was in the age group. " So they could make you go to war? Yeah, I know. They could force me to go to war or go to jail.
Are you a big vaper at 18? You vape a lot? Yeah, I can't vape either. Which they say is the main reason this is happening is the vaping.
I mean, a few times every once in a while, it's not like I've been a huge serious thing. Right. But it's not like your go-to. You prefer to smoke cigars?
Oh yeah, I mean, it tastes better in my opinion. In a bubblegum vape? So let me ask you one other question. Do you know anybody over the age of 21 that would get you a cigar if you wanted one?
Every single person I know is over 21. Not me. I mean, any family member I would ask would do it. Right?
Well, people buy under 21 people beer. I mean, it's going to become just like that. So what the fuck is the purpose of the law? The kids will be hanging out in front of a cigar shop waiting on the homeless guy to go, "Hey, hey, go buy me a Fuente".
So just to quickly recap, you've lost your rights, but it really might not even stop you from getting what you wanted. I have a whole humidor at home full of cigars. Right. Who are they going to come take those?
Well, now they are since I mentioned it. We need your cigars! We're going to take your tobacco. We're going to get your tobacco.
And the bubblegum vape. But you can still vote, so you're obviously of sound mind. Yeah, I would say so. I would say so.
And you can still go fight for your country. I mean, he's probably not up south. He does work here. Yeah.
So, I mean, okay, Cigars for Warriors, let's just look at that for a minute. Do they send to specific people? Yeah. They sure do.
So they have to check now when they send out their packages. Oh, hey, how old are you? Yeah, how old are you? So you sign up, so I guess you sign up for that somehow through their organization, I guess, when you're in the military.
Yeah, I guess they have to ask them. You can't get a care package from Cigars for Warriors, that's interesting too, that changes. I mean, all of this hasn't come into play, the most important thing for you is, will they allow you to work here still? Yeah, that's what I've been stressing about the most, do I still have a job?
Yeah. I would hope so, but I feel like if they did that, they would have to change a lot of things and a lot of people would be losing jobs. I mean, they would have to change the mandatory serving age for alcohol, they're 21. Well, no, they don't have to.
Well, they don't have to, but that would be... It's not connected. Yeah, but technically, you can't serve alcohol in just a bar. That's true.
You can serve in a restaurant. Yeah. Right? Okay, yeah.
I don't see any fucking cheeseburgers in this place, bro. No. You know what I'm saying? We have chips.
We do have chips. We do have chips. Lots of chips. So.
Maybe. Soon-to-be cheeseburgers. Yeah. If it came down to it.
Yeah. That's interesting. It sucks to be you. It does, doesn't it?
Yeah, it really does. I don't even know who you vote for, because at this point, they're all... They all fucked you. They all fucked you.
The guy who says he's pro-deregulation just totally, you know, underswept a regulation overnight. The bill was so huge, I mean, nobody even knows that. Did you look at his tweet? Well, yeah, yeah, no, no.
" Oh, wait, do you think he missed it? I know he knows what he did. Right. But, I mean, why don't they make something like this its own issue?
I was reading an article, actually, the other day, and there was a guy in Indiana, I believe, he's owned like a chain of 10 convenience stores or something, and he found out over Twitter, he didn't get any email, nothing like that, he found out over Twitter that the legal age changed, and he had no idea, yeah. Oh, the whole FDA making the change was just put on their website, they didn't send letters to anybody. It was a very sketchy thing they did there. " Right.
" Right. But, who are you going to argue? So, are we serving to 18 or not? Who are you going to argue with?
No, we're not. Why take the chance? You don't roll the dice and get shut down. That's right.
So, how are they going to, just like they would enforce it for 21 or under the bar, they just send somebody in who tries to buy it? Yeah, I guess. I guess, I mean, I don't think of those. There's no records or anything.
But now he's, you know, he can be 20 when he's under age. Right, right. Well, we've already had to turn one guy, well, three. We've had a couple of, you know, and I'd love to get Christian and a couple of these other guys on here, some of these other regulars that are under the age of 21.
Right. They can't come in anymore. They can come in the back. They can come in here.
Let's open up the fire exit. They can walk right in. They're not going to buy anything. We'll sit down and talk to them.
Oh, the door says 21? Big green letters. Yeah, I'll change the rules for them to come on the podcast, so you got anything else to add? Please don't fire me or something?
Yeah, I mean, don't fire me. FDA, don't change the age to 21 to sell. It's already done. Well, I mean, to sell.
Oh, gotcha. I don't think they could control that. Why couldn't they? Can they say you can't sell it either?
Sure. Food and Drug Administration, they have that kind of power? Yeah. They just put in the law effective immediately, and nobody said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Well, that was something you're putting in your body. They're saying this poor young man's not able to make his own decisions on that, but... Cigars have affected me drastically over the year. Have you been here a year already?
No, I haven't been here a year. I've been here for around five months. I've been smoking cigars a little bit. Five?
Almost a year. Only five months. I think it's been like five. It feels like years.
It's felt like a decade. So up against me, you're now got the second longest longevity here at the shop, so, I don't know, it took me forever to get that number one spot. Yeah, and he waited it out. Just gotta wait, just wait on me to die, then you'll be number one.
There you go, well, if I get, if I'm unable to work here, I can't beat you, then. Well, just wait out front. Okay. It's just so you know, if you want to go buy a shotgun, you still can.
Yeah. Oh, that's right, you still buy a gun. Yeah. Yeah.
Still buy a shotgun. Maybe you should take up shooting and fill your smoking time. Yeah, that's true. Take up clay shooting.
Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, I mean, that's pretty much all I have for Jacob.
Well, Jacob, we appreciate you being on, sir. Yeah, thank you for having me. Oh, please. Now, just don't quit.
Yeah. Really easy. I'll do it again. See if we can break the curse.
I look forward to you putting in your two weeks after the podcast. Wait, now the other people came. We had David on. Yeah.
And when David was on, he didn't know he was quitting. Right. Because it was quite a ways after. Right.
Garrett, I think he dropped his two weeks' notice immediately following his on the show. I think I knew he was already, like, officially moving to Wisconsin when he went on. Yeah, a lot of people knew, but not us. Oh, I didn't know.
I mean, his stepfather, like, because I'm friends with his mom and his stepfather. Yeah. " But yeah, and then the other one he was he was not he had done the opening and closing several times yes he was not actually on the show we were gonna get him on he was yeah he was slated he was slated to be on well I'll break the curse so we can do something well so you hope yeah well the FDA is not gonna change it please stay tuned for updates on Jacob's availability save Jacob it's like save Ferris save Jacob's job hashtag save Jacob's job hashtag save Thank you, Jacob. Hashtag, he likes cigars.
All right. We're at 15 minutes. We'll go ahead and break, and then we'll reset up for the rest of the show. All right.
All right, guys. Be right back. Thanks for coming on, Jacob. Hey, it's Mike, too.
Want to be part of the show? com/theCigarHustlersPodcast. We have tiers starting at just $5 a month. For $10 a month, you get a special show swag, and then you're eligible for the weekly secret show.
Secret shows cover in-depth cigar reviews, behind-the-scenes information, and sometimes, we just talk shit about people. Choose which tier works best with your budget and become an official show hustler. Thanks for the support. All right, Michael, we're back, we're back, and we're back, and we're down a man.
Yes, Jacob is already not with us anymore. He's gone, he's already gone. He just told me to quit, and he said that was it, I've had enough. He's like, screw you guys.
I'm gonna be a communist now, and I'm moving to China where you can smoke at five. It's kind of crazy, like, can you imagine, who does he vote for? Yeah, I know. Everybody's fucked him at this point, so what's he even look at?
Who's not gonna send him to war? What a country. What a guttree is. All right, Michael.
I did what you said we couldn't do. What did I say that we couldn't do? We could not have sponsors. I didn't say that.
Yes, you did. I said... You'd like me to play the tape back? What did I say?
You said no sponsors. What kind of sponsors? I understand that. That's what I've done.
I have found one that is not cigar-related. Right. I said that we would never do a cigar-related sponsor. And it is perfect for our demographic, Michael.
It is? It is. It's got to be a constant problem among all of us. Okay, I know that you're really excited about this.
I am excited about this, we actually have a sponsor. It's really funny. com. Whoa, get out of town!
They're the best in men's below-the-belt grooming. Manscaped offers precision-engineered tools for your family's jewels, Michael. Wow, that's nice. Have you tried the product?
Of course I've tried the product. Did you notice that the trimmers have the new no-grab-skin technology? 0? 0.
0 no it's yeah i tried to cut my skin with that you can't do it i think that it's possible now i took it and jabbed it into my hand with it on yeah didn't do it try jabbing it into your testicles let me know how that okay i gotta tell you i have tried to trim because i have a beard obviously i have a beard trimmer i've tried to trim down there and it grabs the shit and cuts up your nuts right but not not the manscaper no no not the manscaper no no my regular beard trimmer Right. " Bad idea. Bad idea. But not anymore.
Not anymore. Now your balls are nice and trimmed. Manscaped has redesigned electronic trimmer. 0 has proprietary skin-safe technology so that the trimmer won't snag your nuts.
Congratulations. Manscaping accidents are finally a thing of the past, Michael. You've arrived. We are here.
Good for you. They sent us two sets because I insisted on two. I appreciate that. Because we're not sharing?
We're not sharing, no. Well, maybe you could have done the left side, I could have done the right side. Right. But have you tried the underwear?
I haven't tried the underwear yet. I love the underwear, the manscaped underwear. You're a big fan of the underwear, too. I had to work an eight-hour shift yesterday because I covered for you to go to the football game.
Yes. Which was fantastic. " They work so well, I washed them last night, I wore them again today. So you're nice and trim, and you love your boxers.
I love the boxers, nice and trim, I've got the ball deodorant on today, everything, I don't know about the revitalizing, I have not revitalized. You haven't done the revitalizing? I feel when I get home today after a long day of sitting in this chair, I might need to revitalize. That's the spray?
That's the spray. A little freshen up at the end of the day. Ooh, I've been nice. Very nice, yeah.
Maybe it's mental aid or something. I don't know. You know, and then you, hey, baby, smell my balls. I was at work all day.
I was at work all day, honey. Come check. No, you've been at work all day. No, I have special anti-chafing underwear.
Smell the freshness. And I revitalized when I got home today. That's nice. I'm glad you're excited about this.
I was. It worked really well. I'm very excited. It actually does work really, really well.
Thank you. All right, everybody. I'm very excited because, you know, I'm glad that you thought of me and I got my own kit. Yes.
It's very nice. That's right. Yeah. Well, it wouldn't be silly sitting here talking about it myself.
You'd be going, never tried. I don't know. Oh, you know, I would totally would have sandbagged you. You would.
You would have. They would have sent me shit. It would have sent me a goddamn thing. But, you know, I mean, at this point, I'm kind of used to that.
Everybody sends you shit. But for our listeners, you can get 20% off free shipping if you use the code CIGAR, C-I-G-A-R. 20% off plus free shipping? Yes.
Okay, with promo code. com, always use the right tools for the job, your balls will thank you. Nice. Yes.
He's very happy about this. I'm very happy about this. Okay. It sounds so professional now.
Yeah. Now if we can get an ED pill. com listener of the week. Well, we're going to do that later when we do the listener of the week.
Okay. com listener of the week, and then you'll So do that. That's what you're thinking. Well, we already just plugged the product, but I will give the promo code and the website again, obviously, when we do the listener of the week.
Very nice. Very exciting. Yes. Get your balls nice and trimmed.
Ball accidents are a thing of the past, don't we? All right, moving on. Yes. The new Ash Quarterly has come out.
Ooh. Jason. We gave the promo for this with Mr. Jason Falkenberg after his visit here to the shop.
Yes. He did a very nice article. He did. On you and the shop.
He did. It's a very thoughtful article. "A Cigar with Mike Szczepankevich" by Jason Falkenberg. It's very nice, he's got a nice photo of you.
Yeah, and that's a really cool little thing he's got going on, you know, I mean... It's a quarterly, so it comes out four times a year, you get cigars with it. I always give my hat off to tip my hat, or whatever the hell it's called, to a person who's always trying to reinvent and bring something new to the table in this industry. Yes.
And what Jason's doing is remarkable. You know, and it's not just some slapdick staple in the corner, like newsletter, it's a very nice glossy cover, it's nice paper, all the photos are very nice. It's got, you know, it's interesting articles and facts and stuff that's in the, you know, the product that he's selling or whatever, you know. Good for you, Jason.
Good for you, Jason. I'd like to read some of my favorite parts from the article. Oh, go right ahead. Yes.
Please do. Mike Palmer is an amazing person. Mike came out and greeted me and brought me back to the office. What was really cool about this is that his brother Greg and Mike Palmer were there as well, so it became more of a cigar with Mike Stefankiewicz and friends.
Nice. He goes on to say, "Became quickly apparent that Greg and Mike Palmer were more than just friends/business partners. " Cuddle buddies, they're cuddle buddies. " Which I do like, it's in big letters in the middle of the page.
There you go. That's very nice. So here we are. And then, let's see, later, he goes on to say… Just riding the coattails of your success, Mike.
Apparently, I'm riding your coattails, Michael. And you don't even know it. Mike Palmer's the driving force behind the podcast? More about me, yes.
More about me, yes, yes. I just like the parts about me. You are the driving force. I'm the driving force behind the podcast.
It's a Cigar Hustlers podcast with Mike Palmer. Yes, it is. Except your picture that you put up this week. It's my podcast.
Prove me wrong. I didn't post that. It's you in the photo, Michael. What's up in the photo, Michael?
You post all that shit. It was you sitting at the table. First of all, okay, you got to add a little bit more detail to that. So you have this, we have this Facebook group, right?
Well, I do it through Instagram, through our Instagram page. Okay, so you do it on our Instagram page. And then it feeds to the Facebook page. Right.
Yes. So, you just admitted that you did it. No, I didn't. I said, we have.
You don't. You said, no. I said, we have an Instagram page. And you.
And it feeds to the Facebook group. That's what I said. You go ahead and you go back and you check the film, exactly what you just said. That's exactly what you just said, dum-dum-dum.
That's what I said? Nope. So, there you go. You send me things to post for you because, you know, you're the boss.
It's fine, dude. You know what? Hey, I'm not worried about it. You can just go ahead and tee off on me all day, every day.
It's fine. I'm just a punching bag. Hey, people like it, Michael. They think you're a very funny man.
Yeah. I talked to Skip briefly yesterday. Oh, yes? Via Facebook, yeah.
Or FaceTime. Oh, was he sitting in front of his new stainless steel fire pit? He's like, oh yeah, living his best life. Yes.
Yeah, so he made me put Brittany on the phone. He's got Brittany on the phone. He's like, I don't talk to dudes on FaceTime. So then he goes and asks her, you know, extremely over the top questions in regards to how she's feeling.
I'm just gonna leave it at that. How are the stitches? In standard Skip fashion. I would expect nothing less, sir.
If you could only have recorded that. I would expect nothing less. But you know what? Brittany handled it very well.
Did she? She's accustomed to it at this point. She knows what she's dealing with. Right.
Another move, Skip Martin. Fuck with me. All right, in the news, Arturo Fuente has announced it is increasing the prices for 2020. Standard.
S. C. Newman, the companies said the price increases are due to both increased manufacturing and FDA compliance costs. Oh.
For Arturo Fuente, the price increase is more or less than 5%, well, okay, 5% per cigar. with the percentages varying from cigar to cigar of roughly four to six percent. Okay. Opus X prices are increasing by an average of a dollar three per cigar, or six percent.
Manufacturers suggest a retail price for one day Opus X is now as follows, and then I didn't get that because it didn't really make any sense. Well, that's kind of par for the course, man. It's just that time of year, is it not? Well, it happens.
It really happens. It depends upon the company. Either A happens at the beginning of the year. Yes.
Or B happens right before the show. Yes. So those are usually your two times where there's a price increase. It doesn't, it's very seldom will it be both for one company.
Right, they don't hit you twice a year. Yeah, Point Day's not going to hit you, but come back in June, oh, another, you know, like that. I would be shocked at that. C.
Newman obviously also put out a press release that reads basically the same thing, but different cigars are mentioned. Yeah. They're partners, so one goes, the other goes. Yeah, hey, prices go up every year.
It's called life. Just the way it works. All right, my father bought Fonseca cigars from Quesada. Which is interesting.
My father's Cigars Inc. S. rights to the Fonseca brand from the Quesada family. According to Cigar Aficionado, conversations about selling the brand began in September between Jani Garcia of my father and Patricia Quesada, who was then working on international sales for the company.
The pair, along with Patricia's sister Raquel, collaborated in 2012 on a cigar called the Tres Redas. That was actually a really good cigar. Was it? I don't think I had it.
Fonseca was founded in 1882 and still produced in Cuba today. The Quesada family has been making the brand since the 1970s and is one of the only active Cuban brands who American trademarks are not held by either Altidus or General Cigar. So where's Fonseca made out of? What country?
Then they say Fonseca was made out of Cuba. Fonseca was founded in 1882 and is still produced in Cuba today. Okay, but no, Fonseca Cigars are made out of Nicaragua? This says produced in Cuba today.
No. Fonseca was founded in 1882 and is still produced in Cuba today. Okay, I believe that, but there's also Fonseca Cigars for the United States market. Right, I was wondering about that because they can't make them in Cubans.
They exist. I haven't seen them in a while though, so I just don't know what... Quesada Family has been making the brand since the 1970s and it is one of the only active Cuban brands, so wherever Quesada is made, I guess? Well, that's Dominican.
But then maybe it's Dominican. So was that the move? Yeah. Are they, were they, is Pep and Garcia looking to get access to the Dominican?
Make changes, Cigar, Sato, Cigar, Fishing out of the fight, Father would make changes to Emerson, January 6, seeking confirmation that the deal was not immediately returned, as reported on Half Wheel. Yeah, they're also made in the Dominican Republic. So, yeah, so he's, I don't know, maybe Pep and Garcia is trying to get, where's the cigars going to be made? Are they going to be made now in Nicaragua?
Now I have questions. Now you have questions. Call somebody on the phone. Let's call them on the phone.
Who should we call? Let's call Ryan. We can't call Ryan. I don't know anybody yet.
I don't know anybody who would give me the right answers. Well, we don't fact check. We just need answers. Yeah.
It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's right or not. So, you know what? I'm going to guess that maybe they bought them to have more predicate date.
Oh, that would be a good move, yeah. Right. More predicate date cigars that way. And that way- Since they started back in 1870 or whatever.
And I guarantee that they're going to be made in Nicaragua. Wherever the majority of their stuff is produced now, I would imagine. No. Well, wherever Pep and Garcia makes the stuff, which is in Esteli.
Not in the Dominican. Not in the Dominican. But now we'll have more predicate dates. So more cigars can come out.
Yeah, I guess. Which is what everybody's trying to fight against, so they can still keep putting out cigars. It really is difficult to determine the value of predicate date banded cigars. It's abandoned cigars.
Oh, I'm sure it is. So, because you don't know how that plays out. Right. You're sort of gambling at this point.
I mean, right. You could be buying nothing. Right. I guess they're gambling that they're not buying nothing.
I guess. But nobody from either organization is verifying that the sale has gone through. Oh, I can confirm or deny. Can confirm or deny that I am making predicated cigars.
Okay. So, hey, yay. What else you got? Drew Estate Cigar Safari resumes for 2020.
2020. Okay. Cigar Safari is back open. Drew Estates has announced that its popular cigar tourism program will host five trips in 2020, a large decrease from its previous annual numbers before resuming a full schedule in 2021.
The 2020 dates are already sold out. Yeah. They have two trips in February and three in March, and they're almost back-to-back. There's a month between the February, not a month, but two weeks.
February 5th through 8th, 9th through 12th, 1th through, and then March 1st through the 8th, they have three trips planned. Drew State indefinitely postponed cigar safari following civil unrest in Nicaragua in 2018. Yeah, so, I mean, I don't, you know, that's a, that's definitely more of a question that you need to get from somebody who's there, as far as how, how have things been, as far as availability in groceries, products, stuff like that. Right, but they have to figure by now that they're really stockpiled to get ready.
I think I was there at the beginning of this year, and it was just eerie. It was different. It was very, very different. I mean, we should probably ask Skip what's going on with that and what he thinks is whatever.
But, you know. Right. I mean, the true state safari is going to be different, though, bro, because Jesse's gone. He's not there.
And he was a big factor. He was a big part of that. Yeah, everybody would bring things down for him to paint. Yeah, and I'm sure that they still have subculture studios or whatever, but you can't replace Jesse.
No. That's not possible. He did some lovely pictures at Christmas with him and his family. Yeah.
He's a good guy. Also, what's the other guy's name? Pedro? No, no, no, no.
Henry? No, go higher. Spokesman. Fabian?
Fabian. He posted some pictures yesterday on Facebook, finally. Is he in Switzerland? Switzerland.
He's a chocolatier now, apparently. Yeah. Those are funny pictures. He's another good dude.
Hilarious. You had a baby since we were on last? Oh, we're on to this now. We're on to the baby.
Things are just rolling along here. This show's just cranking out for 30 minutes. Yeah, man. I had a baby.
Yeah? I had a baby. Little Teddy Marvel. Teddy Marvel.
Aw, she's so cute. Our first girl. Is she running the place already? Of course.
How are the boys doing with her? They're pretty, they're, yeah, yeah. Jax, Jax is awesome. Jax likes holding the baby, and you know, just as, he just doesn't give a shit.
Yeah, he's just really, he's still a gun. It's all good for him. He doesn't care. Just leave me alone.
Give me my Legos or whatever. Are they yelling from the room when she cries at night? "Shut up! " No, but I will tell you this.
So, this is some crazy shit. So, last night, I have bunk beds for my kids. Right. So, normally what I do is like I'll put a pillow up for a guard.
Just where the ladder is, there's like a little divot so you can kind of get in and get out. So I always place Jack's, like, I'll go in and I'll move him after he's slept for a couple hours because he's, you know, he's like an octopus trying to find his keys at night. So I straighten him out and I put up like this pillow guard so that he knows that he can't go past it. Well, in his sleep, he went to the pillow, leaned on the pillow, and then pushed off.
So he dove headfirst off the bed. Did he hit the other bed? No, he banged headfirst into the ground. Oh, my Lord.
But, you know. Did it wake him? Oh yeah, he came into the room, but you know, their whole room's padded. Right.
So, you know, he was okay, but he was shooken up, like, you know, like, what the fuck? Right. Ah, I'm on the floor! So when we checked the cameras, the video footage was like, oh man, this is so bad.
But he's okay. So that was not fun last night. On top of having a baby, the baby alarm that goes off every four hours, feed me, feed me, feed me. And my wife does a great job taking care of all that, you know.
It's been, it's been, it's been a rough couple days at the, uh, at the Chebonkevich household. Oh, I bet. Um, how, how old's, uh, Justice again? Justice is four.
Three, four? So it's been four years since you've had this. You almost forget. The tasks?
No, I mean. No, no, not the tasks. We forget how it was when he was a baby sleeping in the house. How do you think I sold her on getting another one?
That's what I mean, yeah. Yeah, of course. So you forget, like, oh, it was so easy. It was so much fun.
Oh, let's try, baby. No, she's going, "I kill you in your sleep. I'm up every two to four hours. " So we went to the Bucs game yesterday.
That's right, you did! Which was a great picture you took of... Yeah, it actually made the Jumbotron over there. Did it really?
Oh, how cool. Yeah, it was pretty cool. So we're going through, and Jack's decked out in Bucs. Oh yeah, everything.
So he has this flag that we got at a game or something with the Tampa Bay, it was given to us. Right. But it's big. So, I actually gave one to Chris Baldwin, too.
So, we're going through-- Did he go with you, too? No. " Flag can't go? " Like, it's a five-year-old, and Jack's a six, but you know, I'm trying to sell it.
Right. Like, he's five, you're gonna take a flag from a five-year-old? " And he takes the flag out of my hand, and he takes a stick and he rips it out and hands him back the flag. Oh.
Jax was like in tears, you know. Did he start crying? He was right there. He was right on the cusp.
It's okay, dude. Don't worry. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it.
You know. So we go through. We scan our tickets. And where the guy threw out the stick, he threw it out in the garbage can that was empty.
Ah. So I went to that place, scanned the ticket, went into the garbage can, grabbed the stick, put the stick back on the flag, and went to the game. He went to the game. Oh, there you go.
I said, yeah, not today, ISIS. Sorry, pal. Sorry, pal. My kid gets his stick.
Yeah, he gets his flag, goddammit. So he waved that flag the entire game, and then he got sunglasses because he was waving the flag. He got beads because he was waving the flag. I mean, he had a great time.
Well, good for him. But screw you and your over-fucking-security rules. Look, I'm not gonna get shit-faced and stab somebody with a goddamn stick, okay? Just get a telescopic one to take next time, and then walk past the guy and just...
Amazing. " What else you got? I got some other stuff. We have a show update, we have a Listener of the Week, a Shop of the Week.
Oh, okay. We'd like to welcome Botswana. Oh, I saw that on your post. Yes, Botswana.
Oh. And the lovely island of Taiwan to the Cigar Hustlers family. Look at you! Three there for the last show of the year.
That's amazing. And Player FM, now this is a week old, so it could be a little, it could have changed, we are number three, we have dropped a space. Oh no! Player FM somehow.
Who took us? Cigar Authority. God damn it! They're very pissed off that we're number one on Podbean still.
Oh man, they're coming back. We are 20, we're only 25 subscribers away from being number two again. Okay, we'll get that. And 61 from being number one.
Okay, well that's no problem. Right, so we gotta focus on Player FM. We're still crushing them on Podbean though, right? though, right?
Still the number one show on Podbean, yes. Dominated. Still the number one show. So Coop releases his, he does his countdown cigars every, like, one day, every day.
Yes, I watched, or I have been watching, I can't get through the whole thing, the Cigar Dojo episode with him and... Alma Fuego? Eric Gutterson? Yeah, Eric Gutterson and his sidekick, and then Coop and his sidekick, yeah, they're talking about the top stories of 2019.
So, hey, I mean, they haven't mentioned any Roma yet, and they haven't mentioned Postana Yeah, or anything yet, so we're in the top eight, maybe, maybe we're in there. Oh, you think you may make a good list, huh? Hey, wouldn't that be cool? You were on somebody's list, I forget which one it was.
I don't know. Somebody's list, I forget, you were number eight or something, the War Bear was. Oh. I remember where I saw it.
Thank you, whoever you are. com, so if you still like the vote there, we're still going for number one show of the year. Can we talk about Spence? 'Cause I totally fucked up Spence Day.
Oh yeah, what'd you do to Mr. Spence? So, I don't know if you guys know who Spencer Drake is, but-- We've mentioned him on the show several times. It is illegal cigars.
Yeah, and he did it illegal. Which the Maduro's has turned very well here. Yeah, so he's a friend. Yes.
I use that term loosely, but he's a friend. We had a slight issue with the tattoo in Mr. Rick. And he's, well, he's made, you know, he's been like stalking us.
Yes. He'll do like these shitty, he'll respond to my emails. He'll be like, "Oh, he'll say something stupid," and like to a point where I just got tired of it, so I made an e-mail blast, as soon as I got the illegals in, I made an e-mail blast that said 65% off all illegal cigars, and I sent it, I sent it just as spent, so when you-- But it looked legit, it looked like a regular e-mail blast. Yeah, it looked like it was a real thing, so I sent it the first time and he didn't open it, so I re-sent it, and then he opened it.
" You don't want to mess with a guy who's got the nuclear codes and the football because I will blow this motherfucker up for you. " So yeah, so your move, Spence. Thanks for being nice to us again. Appreciate that.
Yeah. All right. I'm really excited about that. com Listener of the Week is Mr.
Andrew Peck and Robbie Doyle. Oh, a double. Yes. They put up a post.
It was yesterday, the day before. They were watching several episodes of the show at one time to get caught up. Very nice. So that was very nice for them.
That's Shorty and the Farmer. Shorty and the Farmer. Yeah, they're locals here. The FCC guys?
Yeah, they're FCC guys. They're locals here for this shop. Oh, very nice. com, put in the discount code CIGAR.
You get 20% off. 20% off and free shipping. And free shipping. Very exciting.
And your balls will thank you. And so those are Listener of the Week. The Shop of the Week is Old City Cigars. Ooh.
Yvonne's place. 123 St. George Street in Augustine, Florida. Tell Yvonne, you heard us mention her shop on the show.
She's got a cool little shop. She has a very nice little shop. A lot of hard-to-find cigars. Very good selection there.
Cool. Yes. So, what else you got? Where are we at here?
What else you got? We're at 25 minutes. That's it. I do have a topic for discussion, but we can either use it or not use it.
We definitely need to use it. Well, then we should take a break and come back because we're at 25 minutes. Okay, let's take a break. All right, we'll take another break.
We'll be right back. Bye. Hey, it's Mike Toon with my Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Looking for high quality swag from the show?
com/theCigarHustlerPodcast. We have everything from t-shirts and hats to phone cases and beach styles. com/theCigarHustlersPodcast. Get your show swag and become a true hustler.
Okay, this was going around social media this week. There was an article on whether or not it was okay to bring your own cigars to cigar shops. Okay. Some places have a policy against bringing your own smokes, but all means bring them, but short of partaking other amenities the lounge has to offer.
Okay. Such as the fine spirits. We don't have any rich cuisine. Don't expect to be welcomed though if you simply wander in with your own cigar and ask for a glass of water.
You're paying for the experience of indoor smoking, something a rarity these days. Right. So what is the current policy here at Cigar Hustler? I'll let you bring a cigar in, but you're going to be miserable.
You're going to fucking be miserable. I mean, dude, that's common sense, you know? It is, I mean, it's like taking your own food to a restaurant. Right, and we talk about, like, it's crazy that this is still a topic of discussion.
But look, if you buy your fucking cigars for 80% off and there's some slapdick fucking bullshit cigars that we don't carry, no, I'm not okay with you smoking them in here. Oh, well, you're going to buy some beers? Okay, I don't give a shit. Right.
Either support us or don't. There was some guys in here last night, they were talking about all the different shops that are in the area and where they go and stuff, and one of the gentlemen, I won't say anybody's name, but he said he even makes a point to tag the bags that he has as a house difference. He puts cigars in them. Right.
So he knows when he comes to Cigar Hustler, he only brings Cigar Hustler cigars, ones that he bought here. I know who that guy is. Okay. If he goes somewhere else, he takes a bag from that particular shop.
That's smart. Yeah, that's a smart move, it is. That's smart. So he buys, you know, he'll buy like a sampler pack or whatever, and then he brings it back.
Right. Okay. That makes sense. Right.
But like, that guy's putting in effort. Like, a lot of people don't want to put in effort. He is, because the list of the shops that he goes to, I don't know how he has any free time to do anything else. He does a lot of stuff.
He reads a lot of books. Yeah. He watches a lot of videos. Yeah.
So, like, I know who you're talking about. Right. Very nice man. We had quite the chat last night.
There's a change of atmosphere. He's a good dude. Right. Yeah, he is.
He's very nice. Yeah, he does the right thing. Huh. Yep.
Go figure. I mean, we're fortunate enough that we have some really, really good regular. Yeah, a lot of the regulars here are very nice. I mean, one guy would bring food every Sunday.
Every Sunday. You know what? It's funny. I guess that gentleman's name is Tim.
Yeah. Yeah, and everybody told me, because it's the first Sunday I've ever had to work. So I was like, "No, no, no, don't worry. Tim will bring food.
" Right. Well, Tim was called later in the evening because he hadn't shown up yet, and he was out of town. Yeah. Yeah.
So did you bring food? Yeah, I brought food. Woo! Oh, yeah, I would have been starving.
That's funny. I would have been eating them chips 12 bags at a time out there. So yeah, we got good dudes here. We do.
A lot of guys, not a lot of people try and do that bullshit. No, we don't have a big problem with that here. That wouldn't fly right, 'cause I'm gonna call you out on it. I'm not gonna throw you out.
Right. I'm not gonna throw you out. I'm gonna make you feel like a complete piece of shit before you leave. And you're either A, not gonna wanna come back, which I'm totally fine with.
Yeah, 'cause you didn't buy anything anyway. Or B, you're gonna come correct. I've been doing A, B a lot this episode. A or B?
Or three. Is that how you're negotiating with the children now? Here's your two choices. There's A, you shut up and listen to what I say.
No. Or B, I whoop your ass. No, usually, when it comes to the negotiations with the kids, I usually just say, be reasonable. Be reasonable.
When it comes to them fighting over themselves and taking something, I'm like, dude, come on. How do they know what reasonable means? Just because you've said it so many times? I feel like you've been reiterated enough to, you know, it's got to stick, you know.
I took my toy. I was like, well... I guess reasonable, I get to keep the toy with me? Or like, hey, he punched me in the face.
I'm like, dude, be reasonable. Punch him in the chest. Don't punch him in the face. I'm not okay with that.
Alright, being as this is the last show of 2019. Ooh, the last show, yes. The last show, we should reflect back a little on the previous year. Here's the surprise.
No, no surprise, I have no notes, I have no nothing. Alright, let's reflect. Let's reflect. What was your favorite show of 2019?
Was Skip on 2019 or no? I don't know, I thought you said I didn't look and then no notes. We were still downstairs then, so maybe? I don't remember, I don't think it was cold, so...
It was hot. It was hot. Yeah, so Skip's was my favorite show. Skip is your favorite show?
Yeah. Because, you know, I know a lot about the guy, and like, to get some of the information that we got from him, to give him that platform, that opportunity to kind of just speak openly. Right. That was amazing.
It was definitely the highest rated show for the year. Yeah, he's an interesting guy. All three episodes of Skip's, and then the one where he yelled in the background of Jeff Muteis. of Jeff Moutet's episode.
Of course. Yeah. My favorite show was my birthday show where I squirted you guys with the squirt gun. Oh, you squirted in the fucking eye?
And you threatened to kill me, and I was getting very scared. Dude. Dude. I mean, it wasn't like you just, again, same scenario.
Right. Don't aim for the face. Well, I didn't aim, period. Be reasonable.
But I had to make it fast, and I had to shoot you first. If I shot somebody else first, I couldn't have hit you. Aim for the chest. Center Mass, brother.
Center Mass. Not like that one guy in the church. I'm like the guy in the church. I took you out right in the head.
Actually, I think I hit Greg in the face, too. You almost got taken out. That's what happened. Yeah.
Of course, that was your favorite show. That makes sense. That was my favorite show. Yeah, you remember when I squirted you in the face?
You squirted your face with a squirt guy? That was my favorite show. And everybody laughed, and you threatened to kill me. You know, I mean, for me, also, in general, this whole, I mean, this podcasting has really kind of taken its own life, right?
And, uh, it's definitely gained more notoriety, which is really awesome, and, um, I don't know, man, I'm just having fun. Like, I enjoy these things. I look forward to those every week. Yeah, it's amazing.
So, it's, it's kind of cathartic. How, how far it's come? It is kind of weird, isn't it? Mm-hmm.
And, you know, a lot of people in the industry listen to it and stuff. So, that's cool. Uh, who would you like to have on for 2020? For 2020?
2020? Is that how you saying it? 2020? 2020?
I don't know. Who do we have? I mean, we'd like to have Skip back. Clong, clong.
Yeah, I wasn't going to say that, because that's a given. Whenever he is this way, I would like to make a phone call. Who would I like to have on? I don't know.
Honestly, for me, the people that come on, like, that's cool. It's just not as cool as this. You know? Like, it's fun.
Well, it's a completely different show when we have a guest. Yeah, it's fun to have that and, like, have that experience and stuff. It's like a different version of the show. And I enjoy that, but this is cooler.
I'd rather have you on, you're my hero. I'm here all the time, well it's my show, I have to be here. Yeah, Cigar Hustle Podcast with Mike Palmer. With Mike Palmer, can't wait till we win the show of the year from Cigar Score, and it says that on the banner right here behind me.
Do, do, do, do. So yeah, I mean. Let's see, things we've got coming up, we're gonna do a collab show with the guys at Hot Ticket. I can't wait for the top 25 show.
Oh, that's right, that's next week. That is always amazing. Jake does a great job of hammering the shit. Did you see the promotion I put up?
Dude. He wasn't really fond of that. It is so funny. Butchering the Spanish language like nobody else.
That is so amazing. The tatuaji. Oh, my God. I hope he's not, like, studying up.
No, he's not. No, he's not at all. If he does that, he's not coming back. We're going to get somebody else.
We won't have some other complete Caucasian slapdick That's never fucking looked at a single Spanish word ever in their life, but we're going to replace you with somebody else. Somebody who's more white than you. Yeah, exactly. I don't know where we're going to find that, but yeah, I think it's possible.
Let's see, we got both of those coming up. What else? Is there something else going on? I can't remember.
There's something else. I don't remember. Oh, well. Okay.
Where are we at? We're going to talk about our cigars of the year, or we already kind of did that? We did that. You picked yours and Roma Craft, and that was all of them, so.
Yeah. We did we did that right before Christmas. Well, you yelled at me though. You made me change my rules.
I changed the rules. So stupid. That's just the way it goes. It's my show.
I can do what I want. It's his show. It's Cigar Hustle Podcast with Mike Palmer. And I'm just here.
Featuring Michael Stepankiewicz. Yeah. Oh, it's funny. I put it out to the audience.
I thought I'd get more answers. I only got like two or three. What were their favorite guests for the show? Yeah.
And one guy said, that Mike guy, I liked when you had him on. That's when you had him on, but he sticks around. He's there every week now. He's there all the time.
I believe it. I think there was V cut everything. Oh, you know what? I did want to give a shout out to my boy.
Oh, yes. Lenny. Mr. Schmeagle.
Yeah. I've been holding out. I haven't posted it, really, that he gave this to me. That's very nice.
I was trying to save it for the podcast. So when we went out into Arizona, I mean, you know, I know that we've kind of mentioned this before, but I mean, dude, the fucking retailers in Arizona, they were amazing. They were. They were amazing.
They really were. You know, you had Tobacco Jesus, right? At Big Sticks. Big Sticks.
You had Enfuego. Enfuego. Embargo. Embargo, sorry.
Embargo. You had Sam and Finash. Sam and Rosie. Sam and Rosie.
Amazing people. Which are, Rosie's like my best friend now on Facebook. She's awesome. She's great.
I love Rosie. She's funny. And then Lenny at Owler. I mean, like those four shops.
You know, just the hospitality. They were just so nice. Nice. Robert Holt was going through Arizona the other day.
Southern Draw. Southern Draw. And he hit every shop we hit. I mean, I was like, oh, been there.
Been there. Those are the guys you got to go see. Those are the ones you see when you go. Right.
So. Scallywags. Don't forget Scallywags. Oh, yeah.
That's right. Chris and Scallywags, too. Chris and Scallywags. Yeah, we hung out with him and had lunch.
Thank you. I appreciate it. Sometimes I, you know. I'm terrible at people's names, but I can remember the shop's names.
Right. Thank you. So, when we did an event, I was eyeballing this orange and black ass tee DuPont. Yeah, in the case.
Yeah. I think you even had Lenny get it out in show tape. " But I would never, ever buy something like this for myself. I'm just not that type of guy.
Right, that's, yeah. You know what I mean? Well, you understand how that works. Right.
So, this came in the mail. " That was very nice of him. So, Lenny, next time we're there, I'm gonna ogle a lighter. I'm going to make sure you get nothing.
So, you know, he's an amazing guy, dude. I mean, I really appreciate all the guys that were out there, but, I mean, Lenny, this is above and beyond, bro. So, thank you very much. It is very nice to you, Mr.
Schmingle, we still have your sticker up on the board here. Yeah. If you have a shop you like to get on the sign, send us a sticker. We'll put it up.
Yeah? What sign? That one up there? Oh, Slapdicks and Lenny.
Slapdicks and Lenny in there. No parking. We need to take this one down, but we'll leave it up for another week. Because, you know, we'll have the big cigar score sign, too.
Oh, okay. All right, that's all I got. Yeah, we're gonna wrap it up. We're just under an hour.
I've got Christmas chaos to still deal with, and you know, I've been out of pocket for a little over a week because... Yeah, it's really the first time we've talked since the baby. Since the baby. Right.
The baby. The baby. Yep, she's... Which, your wife was very nice to send my wife some photos of the baby.
I thought that was nice. She's under 18, but she likes the exquisitos, you know, the naturals, something small, quick, yeah, something easy and light, she's not eating regular food yet, but no, it's been a week, not yet, no, but she knows how to cut and light, I'll tell you what, like a professional, she has a little pink Xycar and a little pink X1 cutter, she's got the whole gear, she's, yeah, yeah, we even let her smoke in the room, fuck it, what the hell, well, after a big meal, you know, yeah, you know what, you want her to go outside on the patio, she can't walk, right, be, Be reasonable, calm her down and let her go back to sleep. Be reasonable. Has a nice little cigarillo.
There you go. Life is good. That's it. That's it.
She gets her three ounces. Three ounces. Three ounces. Three ounces of smoke and there you go.
You know, I'm pushing for her to have the ability to vote after seven days of being on this earth. Oh, well, they'll let her vote. She can probably go to the military too if she wants to. Join.
Just can't have that cigar and a cold beer. So, there you go. All right, guys, thank you very much. Hey, thanks.
We appreciate all the support over the last year. Yeah. It's been a good year. It's been a good year.
It's been a great year. We're the number one cigar show on Podbean. That doesn't talk about cigars. Doesn't talk about cigars.
So, there you go. I put that on somebody's, 'cause we apply to be on other shows every week. We get an email with a list of shows, they're looking for guests, and we've talked about some of those that have turned us down for various reasons, which is actually funnier. I like it better when they turn us down.
Oh, sorry, your cigar is near the devil. Right. But I told somebody we're the number one cigar-related show, which is funny, because we don't talk about cigars. It's like they fucking take a hit from their bong, and they're like, "Oh, cigars!
No, no, no, no, that's terrible. " Okay. All right, thank you. All right, guys.
Bye. We're out. A Cigar Hustlers podcast, its owners, and its sponsors take no responsibility for the opinions or statements made by the talk show host or their guest. Statements or show topics are not necessarily the beliefs of Mike & Mike Productions or the podcast providers, and opinions between talk show hosts may differ.
It is not our intention to libel, incite, or hurt anyone's feelings. We invite you to write the show's host, Mike Szczepankewicz, with any feedback or suggestions that you have for their shows. These broadcasts are presented and made public as entertainment in the hope that they will be entertaining to the audience. This has been a Cigar Hustlers podcast, a Mike and Mike production.
Be sure to listen every Tuesday at 10am for all new episodes. Hi, I'm doing, I'm Husto-E-Raw. Yeah, we just don't have to do a single podcast ever again. Perfect.
I'm good, Mike and Mike. How are you guys doing? I don't even have to try to hit the record. We're gonna cover a lot of ground here, Mike.
All right, try to keep up. That's a sign of a good podcast. It'd be like four cigars when I walked in a door. All right, end this.
Show Notes
We appreciate all the listeners and guest from the last 12 months, we couldn't do this without your support and cooperation.
This week Jacob Quits? Shots fired at Spencer Drake and we finally have a real sponsor! Sit back and relax its a show to end the year!
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