Episode 103 Its a Phootie New Year! Happy Birthday Jack! CA Top 25....really?

Episode Summary

Episode 103 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast kicks off 2020 with the show's annual fan-favorite segment: Jacob Palmer reading aloud the entire Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars of 2019 list — Spanish pronunciation and all. The gag has become a tradition, and this year produced the instantly memorable "Funti Funti" (Fuente Fuente OpusX Reserva d'Chateau), plus mangled takes on Herrera Esteli, E.P. Carrillo, Joya de Nicaragua, Hoyo de Monterrey, La Aroma de Cuba, Tatuaje and Oliva.

Beyond the comedy, the hosts work through each of the 25 cigars with a simple test: have we smoked it, and does it actually belong on the list? They tally roughly twelve "yes" votes. Along the way they argue that Cuban cigars (Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo de Rio Seco, Juan Lopez Selección No. 2, Cohiba Robusto) shouldn't occupy slots on a list of cigars most U.S. smokers can't legally buy, that the Aladino Corojo Reserva is a better cigar than the Aladino Toro Godfather Edition that made No. 18, that My Father's Le Bijou Box Press outclasses the La Antiguedad that landed at No. 20, and that the Placencia Alma del Fuego Concepción is overpriced at roughly $20. They're openly skeptical of how Cigar Aficionado selects and ranks, joking about ad dollars and unbanded blind tastings, and they praise Matt Booth's return to the industry with Room 101 Farce, Rocky Patel's staying power, Illusione's perennial placement, and Padrón as a near-automatic No. 1. The No. 1 pick, Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro, gets a lukewarm verdict — good cigar, tastes like an AJ Fernandez blend, not the best of the year.

The back half covers Cigars for Warriors adding an age-verification step to care package requests in light of the new federal 21 tobacco age, podcast chart placement on Player FM and Podbean, a listener-of-the-week shout-out, and a running bit about a white Corvette with a CigarHustler.com decal on I-4. The episode closes with a surprise birthday phone call to Jack Toraño of Espinosa Premium Cigars, whose Espinosa Habano No. 4 landed at No. 11 — "top 10 in the free world" once you back out the Cuban. Toraño talks TPE, Erik Espinosa, Crowned Heads' Miguel, and his new daughter Teddy Marvel, and gets an open invitation back to the show.

In This Episode

1. 01
   The Annual Top 25 Read-Aloud
   Jacob Palmer returns to read Cigar Aficionado's Top 25 Cigars of 2019 out loud, butchering Spanish brand names for the hosts' amusement.
2. 02
   Numbers 25–20: Herrera Esteli to La Antiguedad
   The hosts pass on Alec Bradley Project 40, praise Matt Booth's Room 101 Farce, and argue My Father's Le Bijou deserves the slot La Antiguedad got.
3. 03
   Numbers 19–15: Aladino, Punch Diablo and Cubans
   They contend the Aladino Corojo Reserva should have made the list instead of the Godfather Edition Toro, and reject Cuban entries as inaccessible.
4. 04
   Numbers 14–10: LFD, Espinosa and Ad Dollars
   A frank discussion of whether Cigar Aficionado placement correlates with advertising spend, sparked by Jack Toraño's past pushback.
5. 05
   The 'Funti Funti' Moment
   Fuente Fuente OpusX Reserva d'Chateau at No. 8 gets permanently renamed, producing the episode's running joke.
6. 06
   Top 5 and the No. 1 Cigar
   Rocky Patel ALR, Cohiba Robusto, Warped Sereno Grand Reserva, Padrón 1926 No. 6 and the Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro get final verdicts.
7. 07
   Cigars for Warriors and the Age 21 Law
   How the new federal tobacco age forces age verification on military care package requests and affects hiring 18-year-old shop employees.
8. 08
   Birthday Call to Jack Toraño
   The hosts phone Jack Toraño of Espinosa for his 59th birthday and talk TPE, Erik Espinosa, and his new daughter.

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 103 of a Cigar Hustlers podcast. This week we have with us the ever popular Jake Palmer as he reads the Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars of 2019. Just give you a little pre-show here, folks. He does not disappoint again this year.

All right, everybody, sit back and relax, here comes the show! So impatient, Michael. Come on, Mike. It's on.

It's been recording for 15 minutes now. I gotta go. Welcome to episode 103 of A Cigar Hustler Podcast. Yay!

Yay! We have with us again this year, Mr. Jack. Jacob Palmer.

Whitest person I know. So happy to be back. I'm so happy to have you. I know.

Everybody's so looking forward to you butchering the Spanish language. I'm so great because my anxiety's been real bad all day worrying about this. That's perfect. So you're drinking?

Absolutely. He's drinking, but I made him put it in a bag because they don't sponsor us. No free plugs. I want the circle can.

I was like, I want the biggest beer you have, please. That's awesome because we have beer here. I told him that. Well, it was like $2.

It's not Bush Light or some shit like that. You carry that one here, but not in that large capacity. Ah, you could have went drafts, you could have been like Narragansett or something. I like my normal stuff.

He's a simple man. Set in your ways. Follows his fathers. Okay, we're gonna do the top 25.

He likes his beer shits. That runs in a family too. We've been going over the genetic jackpot that he is picking up here little by little. It's almost looking at like, it's like looking at Baby Mike.

Oh, that's a sign. Now that you're on video, people can compare. Oh, yeah. Oh, I should have grown my beard out for this.

Oh, that's alright. You can hear that, the weed eater outside. That's okay, it'll be alright. It's Kevin.

He won't be there long, he doesn't, you know. He doesn't do much when he's here, so it won't take long. Yeah. Runs the blower in the backyard, back the three sitting out there.

Alright, so last time I believe when we did this review, we talked about if we've ever smoked a cigar. Yes, that is the way we did it. We did, have we smoked it, have we not smoked it, and if we believe it belongs on the list. Okay.

Between you, me, and there was Mr. Danny Vasquez was with us. Aha. So we do not have the Danny Vasquez.

No. We can call him in. Call him on a phone. We have the Jake.

We have the, well Jake was here then too, but Jake would say it and say it wrong. It was amazing. It was amazing. I'm looking forward to you hammering these 25 cigars.

We're doing all 25 today? All 25. Should we go back to front? Yeah, you gotta start at 25 and work your way up.

Yeah, you started way back. Well, that is... Yeah. Great.

Somebody reorganize your papers for you. That's the last thing that's all I'm looking. I gotta get mine ready. You could have given me this list last night and it would have done no good.

Would not have helped. At all. Very excited about this. Very excited.

Alright, let's get this party started. Everything's running. We are recording. Let's go.

Okay, here we go. Let's do this. Number 25. Jacob, you can turn your list over now, please.

Oh, I can turn now? Now you're looking at your list. The number 25 cigar from Cigar Aficionado is... Shit.

I hate this damn segment so much. It's the best. It's the best. Herria Estel Miami Toro Especial.

Oh, that was so close. Oh, so close. You got the last word. You missed it by that much.

You got Miami, Toro, and Especial. The Herrera Esteli. That's close. Closed.

Miami Toro Especial. So. I've had it. You have?

I believe so. Well, maybe not the Miami Toro. Right. That's the difference.

Have you had the Miami? Probably not. I don't think so. Probably not.

Me neither. No, no. So haven't had it. Give me the pen.

I'm going to mark these with if we've actually had it or not. At the end, we'll see how many we've actually had. Okay. Okay.

So that's a no. Okay. So we don't know if it belongs on the list or not. We have no idea.

We have not smoked it. We haven't had it. Do you need to get that? Yep.

All right. Hold, please. Want me to turn everything off? No.

Oh. Hey. Hi. What's up?

Please, talk amongst yourselves. Look up the list. com. Top 25.

You can follow along and play with that home. Yes. We will give you a moment to look it up. Jake, look at the camera.

Wave to Earl. Uncle Earl. Hi. That's Earl that runs the camera.

You've met him, right? Yeah, he's a nice guy. Brought me a paper bag for my beer. It was nice.

Oh, that's right. Yes, Jacob is drinking a beer, But he, uh, the beer is not a sponsor of the show, so... But they should be. Well, everybody should be.

So, Dad, how's your day going? Uh, you know, it's going. It's nice to have you here again. It's good to be here.

Uh, I'm smoking the, uh, oh, we'll get, wait till we get to the end. Okay. You know, seeing that flame, I just, I got a fighter, I just put it out. Yes, Jacob is a firefighter now, somewhere in the state of Florida.

So if you see a younger version of me coming to rescue you, do not get excited, it's not really me. It's not the Prez. We could probably try to switch that out though one day. Right.

Why don't we stop right here and wait until Michael's ready and then we'll come back. No, he's shaking his head no? Everything's fine? No, we'll take a quick break.

We'll be right back. 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. which Mike he's friends with. Alright, so getting back to Miami. No, I haven't smoked it.

No, I have not either. I have had several Herrera Estelis, not the Miami. So does this one belong on the list? We don't know, because we haven't had it.

No, I could tell you, well, the other one isn't on the list. The Brazilian Matafita one is the better one, is a better cigar. Oh. I think that, I mean, for me, whenever I see that cigar, I'd smoke it.

Gotcha. " Unless it's something like the original shit. The OG stuff is really good. But they're not talking about OG stuff.

No, this must be something new, I'm guessing. Yeah. So, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Okay, number 24, Jacob.

Oh, I think I can do this one, Alec Bradley Project 40. Oh, well, he got that one, that one was no fun. Whatever. Never had it, I don't smoke Alec Bradleys.

Yeah, I don't think it belongs on the list. I don't either. Nope. There's got to be a reason why I've never seen it, so that's a no.

No, no, no, no. No for Mr. Alec Bradley. No.

All right, Jacob, number 23. No. No. Oh, no.

I like the Alec Bradley one better. Yeah, let's bring it to 23. All right, the EP Carlio Core Plus. Oh, there we go.

Yes. Maduro Churchill Special, number seven. Okay, EP Carilio. You were so close.

EP Carillo? You're so close. It's Carillo. I like Carillo.

It's not. I'm slightly whiter than he is. Yeah. Or less white than he is.

Maybe. Have you had that before? No, I haven't had this one. I've never had the Plus Maduro Speciale, the number seven.

It's probably pretty good. I would say so, because last year, didn't he have Cigar of the Year? Yeah, and now he fell all the way off to number 23. Oh, we're down to 23.

Geez Louise. I would try it. It probably belongs on the list. Something Ernie belongs on the list, I would say.

I would say something, if you made it last year to the top cigar, you should, you know, be on the list. He should be on the list somewhere the following year. He should at least be in the top 10. You would think.

Right. Those guys are very stiff at Cigar Ficcinato. All right, Jacob, number 22. 22, Room 101, farce, it is Lonsdale?

Oh, you got that right. Is that the one we smoked? No, we did not have the farce when he was here. What did we have?

I don't remember. Big Payback? Big Payback, that is why we had the Big Payback. No, we reviewed the Big Payback on the Patreon.

Yes. We might have had that, no, it didn't have the flower on it when he was here. No? I forget what we had.

But I have had that one. Okay. I did enjoy it. I do like his cigars.

Yeah. So I would say it deserves on the list. It's nice to see Mr. Booth on the list.

Yeah. His return to the cigar industry from his little hiatus, and congratulations. Yeah, I believe he belongs on the list, and I've had the cigar. It's a good cigar.

So, yes. Okay. Moving on. One yes.

Number 21, Jacob. 21, Joya Silver Corona. 21, the Joya. The Joya.

No, that's not his name. The Hoya. Hoya. Hoya?

I forgot. Silver Corona. Yes, J sounds like an H. I feel like we need to slow down and take the moments where he fucks up.

Embrace him a little bit. Let it happen. That's going to be a little bit. It's going to get better, though, as we go.

The names get harder. I haven't had the Joya. Let's see. I've had the red.

I've had the black. I don't believe I have had the silver. I haven't had the silver. If KD would like to bring us a silver, I would like to try.

I mean, they do a great job of having consistent blends. Because I always pick a red or a black, he always has those with him when he comes in. Right. So I feel I would like this cigar if I was to have smoked it.

And it's possible that it's earned being on the list, I guess. Why am I being so nice? I don't know, last year you were much meaner. Maybe it doesn't belong on the list.

New babies made you soft. I don't think so. I don't think so. I think it does.

I mean, I like the red and the black. I don't know why they would not like this one. High hole silver! So, neither one of us have tried it, but it's still a go.

We're still alright. See, these reps are terrible. Terrible. Alright, Jacob.

Number 20, please. Oh, not even gonna be close. Looking forward to this one. Alright, Jacob.

Slowly, sound it out. Use your college education. I'll help you out. The first part is la.

Oh, I got that part. I get them with the La. I don't think it would have said Le. I might have.

La Antigua de Toro Gordo. That was pretty good. That was pretty good. I don't know how else I would have said that.

That was pretty good. See, you were getting so excited. I was. But sorry, number 17, I'm going to jack up to all hell.

I can't wait. Oh, that's several Spanish words in that one. All right. You know what?

I've never even heard of this brand, to tell you the truth. You're kidding me. La Antwiga, no. Serious?

I don't think I have. And I can't see the, I didn't print in color, so I can't see the band enough to recognize it. Oh, we have that cigar here. Oh, do you?

Yeah. Oh. At least we did at one point in our time. Oh.

Well, then I have at least. Have you heard of a guy by the name of Pepin Garcia? Yes. Yes, I'm familiar with it.

That's his stuff. Is that one of his cigars? Oh. So does it say Pepin Garcia somewhere on the band, too?

Uh, no. No. Hmm. Well.

It's a good cigar. I know nothing about it. Yeah. Okay, so that's a yes, then.

We've had it. Do you believe her blog's on the list? Oh, that was very annoying. Oh, did you see the sound clip too?

I would say... List worthy? You know, here's the thing. The My Father Le Bayou, Box Press Torp, former number one cigar of the year, is probably one of the best cigars he makes.

So, if we're going to go back and start throwing shit in here, I mean, like, why not put that one back in here? I think that that cigar supersedes this cigar every year. Right. That one's better than this one.

Is this a newer cigar? It's been out for a few years. So, I would say something Pepin belongs on the list, but not this cigar. So, see, we don't know how they determine what goes on what list.

So I would imagine, are all these supposed to be 2019 releases? That's not a 2019 release. No. Okay, 'cause it says, uh, top 25, oh, that's Toro.

No, they randomly unbanned cigars, and then they, it's, but it's just, it's complete bullshit. " It distinctively looks like one cigar. Right. So, they're not on the list.

And how about the, I mean, and then they argue the fact that they look at cigars that are accessible in retail stores, but they have, in New York, yeah, but they have Cubans, so like, they should just say, how do we find out? Like, we won't tell you. It's a secret process. It's a combination.

You will all clamor for them though, and buy our magazine. It's a combination of people who pay, and people who we want to pay more. Don't say that, they get very mad. What are they gonna do?

Fuck with my pots and pans? No, no, no, no. People on the list get mad if you say that. I made that mistake and Mr.

Jack Taranio called me out. Oh. It's his birthday. Oh, that's right.

I gotta call him. Oh, we should call him on the air. Oh, you wanna call him wish him happy birthday? We'll do that later.

We'll do that later. We'll get to his cigar. Okay. All right.

All right. Uh, Jack. Jack, uh, number 19, please. Jack?

Jack. I don't know who he is. Hey, Jack. Let's go, Jack.

What's going on? That was his alternate name. If he was a girl, it was gonna be Jack. However you identify.

Hey, it's 20, it's 20, 20, 20, man. 20, 20. It's a new decade. 19, the Enclave Broadleaf Churchill.

Damn it! Yep. Yep, that's right. I've had this, see, I don't know if I've had, I don't have the, I've never had the Churchill.

The Enclave? But I've had the Enclave Broadleaf. Enclave. I remember liking it, but I probably had the.

Maybe not the Churchill. No, I don't have, I didn't have the Churchill. I had the Toro or the Robusto. I don't go for the Churchill.

We really need to sell more of these Churchills. Nobody's buying 'em. They're too big. Too much of a commitment, I'm not sure about the Toro that I just got out front.

Yeah, so I don't think I've had this cigar. Oh, well, then we will just label it as a no. Okay. All right, 18, Jacob.

Aldean Toro. Listen, next one's going to be way worse. Wait, wait, say it one more time. One more time?

Aldean, what? Aldeano Toro. - Aldeano, Aldeano, hey, Maya Paisana, it's good to see you. - Hey, how you doing?

- Hello? - Come over here, get some spaghetti and a little cigar. - Aldeano Godfather Edition. - Aldeano.

- Al-a-deano. - Al-a-deano. - Al-a-deano. - That was pretty close.

It's not my worst one yet. - No, no, not the worst one yet. - Okay. - We've both obviously had this cigar.

- Yes. - Yes, it's a very good cigar. It deserves to be on the list. - No.

- You don't think so? - No. - I think it does. - Here's the deal.

The Corojo Reserva is an amazing cigar. This is an okay cigar. I'm not beating it up. I'm saying, if I'm putting Aladino on here, the Corojo Reserva is a fucking bar none.

Oh, so you're saying, okay, Aladino deserves to be on the list, but not this particular cigar. Some of the tobacco they have is very unique as far as flavor profile. It is. It is a very unique tasting cigar.

But, you know, I would have respected it if it was the Corojo Reserva. Oh. No disrespect to Justo, because this is a great cigar. But if we're talking the best cigar that he makes.

And to one of the reps in the state of Florida. It's the Corojo Reserva. Who is it? Oh, that's Peter.

Pete. Out of all the reps, he's one of them. I'm surprised I didn't get the fucking ridiculous text. Hey, just want to reach out and let you know we're number 18 on the list.

So, you know. Dude, I already carry the product. Might need to stock up a little bit. Stock up on the 18.

Everybody's looking for the 18. Come on, bro. Come on. Okay.

So, yes, it's a good cigar, but it should be the Corojo Reserva. All right, number 17, Jacob. Yes. I've been trying to go over this one in my head for, like, since number 20, it's just not going anywhere.

Oh, man. I'm reading a little ahead. Oh, I can't wait till 13. Do it.

All right, the, the, oh, fuck. Nope, that's not enough. That's not one of them? Not enough.

Oh, all right, the, the Hojo Deep. Ho-Jo! It's the Ho-Jo! You didn't even let him fuck it up all the way.

I can't get past Ho-Jo! Go on, the Ho-Jo, let's talk about Ho-Jo. Go ahead. They carried it at a house of pancakes.

The Ho-Jo, Howard Johnson's. The Ho-Jo, uh, oh, fuck. I can't get past Ho-Jo! Uh, the Monteree, Lee, I'm still gonna go with Ho-Jo, like, just own it.

That's right, own it, just go with it. The Hojo de Monterrey, LiHojo de Rio Seco. Okay, you did good on the end there. The Hoyo de Monterrey, Le Hoyo de Rio Seco.

So close, Jacob, so close. So you're right, you're right there, it's on the tip of your tongue. It's very impressive. It's a Cuban cigar.

It's a Cuban cigar. I've had this. I had it actually I think last week. The Epicure number two is probably what you had, not this.

So... See, they think it's... Not the same. They have to be so specific.

Exactly. You have not had this cigar. Okay. I don't like to put Cubans on the list.

Yeah, I think it's ridiculous. They're not accessible to everybody. Yeah. So that's a no.

Here we go. It's a cigar you cannot get. You cannot get the number one cigar! Check it out.

And if you got it, it's probably a knockoff. So good for you. No! I got a buddy who goes down to the, he flies into Cuba all the time and he brings me them.

It would be serious. It would be so funny if they did a fake. I went on a cruise and I got it from this guy in the Bahamas. Stop.

Stop right now. You did not smoke the real Cuban. Cost me 25 bucks. Of course it's real.

Okay. Moving on. So no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 16, Jacob.

16. See, even though when I feel like I know it and then you look at me like that, it stresses me out. I'm going to fuck it up. Good.

I like that. I like that I have that ability, that effect on you. Punch, Diablo, Scamp. Okay, he said it right.

Yeah, you got that one. Don't you have that one here? You have a Punch Diablo, I think. Maybe.

Is Scamp a size? It doesn't belong on the list. No, it doesn't belong on the list. It doesn't matter.

Punch, it just doesn't matter! It just doesn't matter. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Alright.

Oh, you never get your little punch guy either. You're looking for the little Halloween punch guy. Yeah, well, I just solidified the fact that I won't be getting that. You will not be getting that, no.

All right, Jacob, number 15. All right, La Amora... Wait, wait, wait, wait, what? Just let him go.

Just let him go. I didn't hear what he said. You gotta rewind. La Amora.

Okay, La Amora. La Amora de Cuba, Mi Amor, Churchill. La Aroma de Cuba, Mi Amor, Churchill. Is that in English, the smell of the Cuban love?

The smell of the Cuban love? Aroma would be the smell, aroma. Well, it's two different things. Aroma de Cuba is the name of the cigar.

Ah, okay. And then it's the Miamor. My love. My love.

Churchill. So it's not the smell of my love? It's not the smell of my love. It's a good cigar.

Aroma de Cuba is the Miamor. See, I used to smoke a lot of Aroma de Cubas, but I don't know if I had the Miamor or not. Yeah, it's a good cigar. We have that one here?

Yeah, it's a good cigar. Alright. I like the Reserva better, but that's okay. Alright, that's a yes.

Sure, we'll give him this one. Alright, here you go. Yeah. Number 14.

14 Juan Lopez, Seleccion, number 2. Oh, that just rolled off his tongue. The Juan Lopez. It's like he's getting better at it all of a sudden.

El O de Seleccion. He should have more of that non-sponsored beer. Seleccion, number 2. Juan Lopez, Seleccion, number 2.

You should be drinking Corona, you'd be fucking banging these out. Are they sponsored by you guys? De La Aroma de Cuba. Alright, so I've never had it before.

Me neither. I think it's a Cuban. Is it? You think so?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Alright, number 13, Jacob. No, no, no, no, no. I could probably get like the last word.

I love this one, this is gonna be great. Go ahead. Go ahead, please. Slowly, slowly.

- Please murder it. - The... - Oh, shit. - Just do it, just rip the bandit off, let's go.

- Just do it, just rip the bandit off, let's go. - I want to see you, Amalo Del Fugo Concepcion. - Del Fugo, what the what? - Say it again, say it again, stop.

- Look, you guys don't even pay me for this, I can say this for free. - Look, I bought you breakfast. - The... - He's been paying for you since you were fucking born.

I am reaping some of my investment. Yeah, that's it. This is a return on investment. Keeping you and your white mother.

I can assure you he's still net negative. All right, Jacob. Do it one more time. The Placicina Alma Del Fuego Concepcion.

The Placicina Alma Del Fuego Concepcion. He got Concepcion right. The Placicina Alma Del Fuego Concepcion. Oh, that's so nice.

I've had the cigar. I don't think I have. I don't smoke Placencia for some reason. It's okay.

Is that that one that everybody was going crazy about? Yeah, this is the one that we pissed off Dojo about. Alright, so then I have one at home, because we were going to review it, but we cannot find a friend for him. We need to find a second one.

You can't find a second one. Because I've smoked with, but... Who reps those? I don't know.

So, on the list, not on the list? Actually, I know. I think I know. Oh.

But, I don't know. I haven't seen him lately. So, maybe he doesn't rep him. Yes, no.

Keep it on the list? No, no, no, no, no, no. It doesn't belong on the list. It doesn't belong.

It's a $20 cigar. It's overpriced. Yeah, it is very expensive. It's not.

No, no, no, no, no, no. Okay. The next part. The lynch mob will be coming for us after this one.

12, 11, 10. And I can see picket forks in my future torches. All right, Jacob, the number 12. Oh, you had a better copy than I do.

That's good. All right, number 12. All right, the La Flor, Dominicana, Double Ligo Lancero? Lancero?

Double Ligo Lancero. Lancero. Lancero. Well, you got the first part right.

Yeah, I thought it was gonna just whiz right through that one. I thought it was gonna be good. The Lajero Lancero. Lancero is a size.

It's a long skinny cigar. I haven't had this particular one. I've not had it in another. But the fact of the matter is LFD makes great products.

Yeah, I would say they make a good cigar. And it probably belongs on here. So I'm gonna say yeah. Yeah!

Just two minutes, we're good. Okay, number 11, Jacob. All right, the Espinosa Habano number four. He got that one.

That was right? Yeah. Thank God, that's Jack Taranio's cigar. Good job on the Hespanosa.

There were people talking about the list, and I had furthered the rumor where the ad dollars represent some of the spacing on the list. Yeah, allegedly. Allegedly. I ticked Jack off, apparently.

He goes, "We're on the list. " Yours was the one that was not paid for. The Espinosa Habano #4. I would assume I've had that.

Do we have that one here? I believe so. And with all the cigars that I've gotten from either him, Hector, Cigar Pimp, I mean, Mr. Otero.

I like the cigar. The La Crema is pretty good. I mean, how is the La Ranja not on here? They were on the list last year, I believe.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. So it's good that they're represented, at least. Yeah.

So, I'd say it's a yes. He makes some other better stuff, though. Sure, we'll go with that. Well, see, that's just it.

You don't know what all they try from any individual manufacturer. Right. So, I mean, a lot of these have better cigars than what showed up on the list, in our opinion, but we don't know if they even tried those. Yeah.

It's true. So. Okay. All right.

It's a yes. It's a yes. We'll just give it a yes. All right.

Because of Hector, not because of Jack. We still got five minutes. Okay. I can't handle this sort of pressure.

Number 10, Jacob. The H. Oppmann 175th Anniversary Churchill. Well, that was easy.

That was all English. I liked that one. That was my favorite. I don't think I've had that one.

Me neither. No, no, no, no. So it doesn't go on the list because we have not had it? No, no, no, no.

You excited to try it? Look at number 9. Are you excited to try it? I can't wait for number 9.

Are we on number 9? No, I'm not a big A Jumpman fan, so no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. All right, the number 9, Cigar Aficionado.

What's doing so much fun? Oh my God. Cigar of the Year is... Oh, fuck.

Nope, that's like the other one down there, it's not it. No, it does not start with an F sound. This is as bad as #17. This is the one that you are famous for fucking up the name.

I should have listened to last year's podcast. We don't want you to review. We need you to live your best life. Anytime anybody talks about this, this is the one they mention.

So, hold on, hold on, let me get ready. Go ahead, go ahead. Let me turn up my headphones. The tattoo, or the tattoo-y...

Tattoo-y! I think that's the planet in Star Wars. Is that where Luke Skywalker lives? That's where Luke Skywalker lives from.

Once I saw it, I was like, oh, that sounds remote. The Tatooine. Wait, wait, wait, there's more. Nivetez, Ebro number one.

Ebro, whoa. Ebro. Ebro. J's an H.

We told him J was an H earlier. You did pretty good. That's not too bad. I mean, it's Tatuaje, but the rest of it is okay, as far as I'm concerned.

Yeah, me too. I'm a little disappointed. But it did get Tatooine. Novitas.

Last year, it was Tattoo J or something. Yeah. He said Tatuji or some shit. Yeah.

Put a G in it. This year, it's where Star Wars lives. This is where Luke Skywalker's from. Um, I don't think I've had that.

I have no idea. Uh, I've had it. It's okay. Um, sure.

Whatever. Oh, he's very, very free with his. I mean, all right. Let's see.

How long did that look? 22 minutes. Uh, where are we at? Number...

Six. Number eight. Or eight, yeah. Wow.

Number eight. Okay. Uh, we got time. We're waiting for maybe two more.

We'll stop at five, and then we'll take a break and come back. If we have time for two more, we're at eight. Yeah, we're going to do three, sorry. Okay.

All right, Jacob. Number eight. Number, yeah, eight. The Funti Funti Opus 6.

Listen, you got four minutes, I'm just trying to hurry up here. Yes! Oh, that was so unexpected. Tell us more about the Funti Funti.

It's Opus 6. Only Funti, only Funti is a Funti. The Funti Funti Opus 6. Reserve a deep.

Chata? Chata! Chata. The Foodie Foodie Chata.

Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan. You know what? That's a good name for a cigar. The Foodie Foodie Chata.

Please try my Foodie Foodie Chata. You're welcome. You can make that the house brand. Are you feeling okay?

I don't know. I think I have the Foodie Foodie Chata. I had some bad chili yesterday. I got the Foodie Foodie Chata.

I highly recommend you try me Foodie Foodie Chata. It is top eight, the Fuente Fuente, Opus X, Reserva de Chateau, the Fuente Fuente, do you have any? You know what I love, I really love about this is that John listens, so he's gonna fucking die when he hears that. Yeah, you gotta let me know what the reviews on this are.

Dude, people are excited to hear. The Fuente Fuente, Opus X. Please, have more Fuente Fuente. I hope when John comes in, he says Fuente Fuente.

Yeah, try out this Funti. You guys want to try this new Funti I got? All-you-can-eat Funti. You may have just renamed the entire line of cigars.

Oh, amazing. Oh, I'm crying. Good stuff. Good stuff.

See, this is the type of stuff we live for. Fuente Fuente Opus X Reserva de Chateau. Yeah. It's a good cigar.

It's a great cigar. It's a great cigar. Anything Opus X is fine. We're not an Opus X account, unfortunately, anymore.

Maybe you can be a Funti Funti account. We're looking to open up the Funti Funti account though, so, we'll see. Ah, oh, my head hurts! That's amazing.

All right, come on, come on, come on, we're in it. Okay, we're still good. Okay, come on, number seven. Number seven!

Oh, I can't wait. I don't think I could say this all the way through. Ugh, crying. I'm gonna mess up that whole first part.

All right, go ahead. I'm just gonna... I don't know how to do this one either at the end. Oh, so I don't want to hear shit then?

No, I can do the last word. I just know that second one. Oh, I'm just thinking the first and second one. Well, the first one's easy, but...

The Illusion, Epernary 10th Anniversary, Diasota? The Illusion, Epernay, 10th Anniversary, Deosta. This guy always ranks, man. Always fucking ranks.

Yes, he does. There's always the Illusion on the list. I mean, hats off to him. Yeah, I'd say yes.

Yeah, I'd say yes. Okay. Alright, one more. That's going to be an easy one.

Go ahead. I still feel like I'm going to jack it up. I hope you do. Olivia, Siri, V.

Lancero. Olivia. Okay, we went through this word earlier. Oliva.

Oliva. Where's the I in the VIA? Olivia. Listen, I'm white, alright?

That's all I know. Yeah, we know. We know. That's why you're here.

People come in here all the time. Do you have those Olivas? Olivia's? Well, now they're going to come in wanting the footy-footy.

The footy-footy. I heard good things about that footy-footy. Yeah, the Oliva Siri V Lancero. I would say yeah.

Yes, I would say yes. Yeah, a great cigar. Yes, yes. So yeah, I'll give it to that.

I'll give you that. All right. We're gonna break. We're at 25 minutes.

All right. So we're gonna break, and then we'll be right back. All right. I gotta pee again.

Hey, it's Mike Toon with the Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Looking for high-quality swag from the show? com/TheCigarHustlersPodcast, get your show swag and become a true hustler. Nadio, what else did we have?

Aladino? You had the Joya. No, no, but how did he say it? The Joya Silver.

The Joyas, the Plantias, the Antigua Dads, no, I got that one right, right? The Antigua Dads. The Hoy Joys. P.

Carlos, and the Herrera Esteges, whatever those were. All right, back to the list now, we're on number five. Number five. Number five.

Number five. 5, 5, 5, 5. The Rocky Patel ALR 2nd Edition Toro. That one's no fun.

These last ones kind of get a little bit easier. He might mess up number two. I haven't had it in this format or band. It might have been an old band that they made it into a new cigar.

If it's possible, I don't know. I don't think I've had it. I don't smoke a lot of Rocky Patels. I'm not excited to try it.

What do you think? On the list, not on the list. He is Rocky Patel. Here's the problem, is this guy always, always spends money with these guys.

Right. Every year. And if anybody deserves to be number one for the amount of money that he spends, it's probably him. It's probably him, I know.

And he's always the bridesmaid. So, I'd say, well, we already got enough money from you, so it's not like, what are you gonna do? You gotta put you somewhere. Yeah, we're gonna put you at five, but we're not gonna give you one.

I don't know. Maybe next year you increase your ad dollars a little bit. I don't think it's possible. I think he pays the most.

Does he? At least he used to. He could sponsor the list. Rocky Patel, top 25 stars.

He's been around long enough. I think he deserves to be on the list. Sure. He's put in the time.

Yeah. Okay, so we say yes for Mr. Patel. All right, Jacob, the number four.

The Cohiba Robosto. Oh, I thought that was going to be an easy one. Robosto. The Robosto.

Oh, the Robosto. That's a you, Jacob. That's a you. We're going to get together.

Are you going to try it one more time knowing that third or the fourth letters of you? No, we're just going to roll with it. Oh. We're going to have the Robusto.

Robusto. Get together, get a couple slices of pie and the Robusto. With the Aladonos we got over here. We're going to have some Aladonos.

Oh, not too much though. I'll get the Funti Funtis if I get too much. You don't want to get the Funti Funtis. Keep it low.

You don't have some Pepto beforehand, so you don't get the Funtis. That's another Cuban cigar. The Cohiba Robusto. I know, I've had it.

It's a decent cigar. I mean... Did you get it on a cruise? No.

He knows a guy. Well, I used to. The poor man died. He died.

Yeah? Yeah. He was giving you fakes, too. No, he wasn't.

Yeah, he was. No, he wasn't. No. Yeah.

No. Yes. I had them checked by Cuban. Who, your neighbors at the old house?

No, no. They don't talk to me anymore. I had Z. Z said it was real.

Okay. And the male was going to check it, but she was very late. He didn't want to hurt your feelings. No, no, because when I was repping cigars, he gave me honest opinions on cigars.

But he apologized for it, because I don't want to intervene, but, I didn't make it, go ahead and tell me the truth. Mm-hmm. Okay, I don't think it should be on a list, because it's a Cuban cigar. I agree.

But it probably is the most readily available Cuban brand. It's probably the most knocked off. That's what I mean. Yeah.

So, no. The Cohiba Robusto. Alright, here you go. The Cohiba Robusto.

Number five. The Rapserie Grand. What? What?

Say it again. Say it again. Wrapped? Not wrapped.

Okay, the wrapped? No, I said warped. No, you said wrapped. I said warped.

You said wrapped. I have it right here. Did you have him check for dyslexia when I was younger? Wrapped.

I can't spell for shit either. That's odd. You can't read. I went to public school.

Oh, Jesus. And as a college education. At a private university. No, it's public.

He's a firefighter and he's going to be saving lives. You don't have to spell. You don't have to spell. It's like, ooh, that's hot.

Let's put some water on it. Look at she's defending your golden boy. That's right. You don't have the spell.

Tree, green, fire hot. That's all you need. What about a car accident, you know? I mean, he's like, where are you going?

Yeah, fire hot. I need to read this shot to get you. Oh, I think that's it. He's not a paramedic.

I'm not a paramedic. I'm an EMT. I'll put Band-Aids on boo-boos. Band-Aids on boo-boos.

That's what EMT is. His arm's falling off. Well, we're going to need, that's going to be two Band-Aids. Call somebody.

Two Band-Aids on the boo-boo. Okay, so the wrapped, Go ahead, the wrapped, the wrapped, Siri Grand Reserva 1988 Robusto. Alright. That one's not a Roboto or whatever it was.

I pay attention. Alright, I don't know if I've had that. I don't think so. I haven't had that warped.

Warped stuff is pretty good. I don't know if it's number three. Great. I mean, I gotta try that cigar.

But now I won't be able to, 'cause it's number three. We won't be able to find it anyway. Oh, that's Groover. Is Groover to Warped?

I think so. I don't even know. It's not one you normally... Yeah, the night watch and stuff.

Night watch is Argonosa. I thought it was Warped. No, it's Argonosa. Is it?

Yeah. Feels like the same thing to me. Alright, Jacob, so you said yes on the list for Warped? It's okay.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I haven't had that one.

All right. He makes good stuff. All right, Jacob. Number two, please, Jacob.

The Padrón Siri, 1926, number six. You got that one. That was because I forgot who it was last year. It made so much fucking fun of me when I jacked it up.

Ah, so it stuck with you for a year. Yes, I was scarred by that. Ah, nightmares. You woke up hearing Danny Vasquez's voice.

I was so excited when I found out he wasn't going to be here, I couldn't take that kind of beat down. I should have called him, we should have called him, but if I had have known that, I would have called him. Gong, Cigar of the Week. All right.

Padrón belongs on the list. Yeah, Padrón belongs on the list, period. Definitely belongs on the list. There's no if, ands, or buts about it.

I don't know if number two, though. Yeah, it's probably number one. I would put Padrón, I mean, if Padrón was on there number one every year, I'd be like, makes sense. Yeah, that's reasonable.

And this year it's the 80th. Like, I'd be like, okay, I get it. Right. I'm totally fine with that.

All right. So that's a yes. So, yeah, absolutely. All right.

The number one cigar of the year, Jacob. Here we go. The Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro. Pretty close.

Aging Room Quattro is right, right? Yeah. Maestro. Yeah, Maestro.

Oh. Maestro was a maestro. I mean, nothing will compare to the Funti Funti. No.

That should be the number one cigar of the year. The Fenty Fenty. You know, and that's another one that I'd put, yeah, it could be number one. Yeah, it could.

Opus Ex Reserva De Cheto. Which is, we are smoking the Toro. Yes. We're smoking the Toro.

Today. The number one cigar of the year. It doesn't say what size is the cigar of the year. It probably does, you know, somewhere else.

I think it's the Belly, Belly Coso. Hmm. Okay. Well, that was fun, Jacob.

Thank you. So what do you think about the cigar? You're smoking it now. What do you think, Mike?

Tell me. It's good. I don't see it in number one. Yeah.

But it's a good cigar. It's not bad. No. It tastes like an AJ.

Yeah, you know what? It does. Did you make it with AJ? Because it's an AJ.

Is it an AJ cigar? Yeah. Where do they normally make it? Because that Nicaraguan band is very predominant.

Is it normally made somewhere else? Like this is some special Nicaraguan cigar? Is it? They make Dominican cigars.

Oh. So yeah. It's okay. It's okay.

I don't see it being number one, though. Right. I mean, I could possibly not finish that cigar. Well, I mean, I'll smoke it.

Well, it's not bad, but it doesn't make any clamor for it. " Alright. No, sorry, sorry. Nope, nope, nope, nope.

Oh, that was fun. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. Okay, back in episode 102, we talked briefly with the other Jacob, who may or may not still be here. Yeah.

We talked briefly about the age rule. How it would affect Cigars for Warriors. Did you want to review what we had no's and yes's? Oh, do you want to do that?

I thought you did that. I wrote it down, but I didn't really see you reason for going back. Of the top 25, how many yes's do we have? How many yes's do we have?

We have... Because that'll be easier than the no's. All right, we have one, two, three, four, five, how counted that one, one, two, three, four, five, six, maybe I didn't, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, so half. OK.

Half. Half. Half. Half of them.

It's less than half. We only have one mark that we both would like to try. Okay. P.

Corilio Core plus Maduro Churchill. P. Corilio. P.

Corilio. For fuck's sake, man. Maduro Churchill. He's a legend in the industry.

Get his name right. He's a professional. I've met him, too. Hasn't he been here?

He might have been here. He's one of the first guys we met in the industry at IPCPR. Oh. Hey, how are you?

Good show. And then he walked away from me. You never saw him again. He's like, I don't know who this guy is.

I mean, going back 10 years. I've never met him. Now I know. The Warped, neither one of us had ever tried.

All right. Let's see. So 12. You got 12.

12, yes. Which is more than I thought. I thought it'd be like 6. Whatever.

Yeah, that EP's the only one we both said that we would be interested in trying from the list if we hadn't already tried it. Alright, moving on. Alright, moving on. hold that for me, Jacob.

I'd just like to thank Jake for coming on again before we move on. Before we move on. Wish I could say it was fun. You're an amazing person, and I appreciate the fact that, you know, you put up with the abuse.

And let us make fun of you every year. At about this time of year. Take him out for ice cream or something. Does that still work for you?

How old are you? 23. Ice cream might not work. Maybe we'll go to a strip bar or something.

We go play swipey swipey. We play swipey swipey with his phone. It's a lot of fun. The Tinder thing, he lets me swipey swipey.

That's weird. Pick a handful. It's fun. It worked last time I was here.

Ah, paid out well, huh? Yeah. Good for you. You made a mess and everything?

Did you give her a towel when you were done, or what? I mean, no, I just kind of left. It was like 95 degrees in her house. She had no air conditioning.

" Nice. I made him share his location with me, just in case she killed him, because I wasn't sure how this whole thing works. So I know where to get the body. So there you go, you can play a little swipey-swipey with yourself.

Yeah. Well, I'm obviously not going to put that app on my phone. No. No.

I have no need for it. Right. But it's fun to see. " That's right.

Whatever it is. Poor Tanner. That's all right. Okay, anyway, Cigars for Warriors are having to include a… Yes?

They're in the process of implementing an age verification step on the request for a care package. So how it works is, if you're in active duty, you go on the website and there's a place where you can request a care package. Before, you only had to be 18 to be in the military, so there was no reason to check ages. So now, just like on your website now, you have to put in, I guess you just put in your age.

I'm sorry, are you currently under fire? No? No. Well then, too bad.

But I was going to ask you, how do, there's no really verification of that, you just take the person's word that they're old enough, right? Yeah, we don't, I mean, if they lie, that's wrong. That's on the end of that point, it's their problem. Okay, I didn't know how that worked, so it's their problem if they lie.

Pretty much. Someone else is concerned. I'm always curious how that worked. Okay, moving on.

Moving on. We have a listener of the week, Michael? Yes. Would you like to say who it is?

I thought you were going to say who it was. I gave it to you. I didn't write it down. I gave it to you.

I couldn't spell the name. You know the guy. Well, he's in the Florida Cigar Club. We call him Cheese Curd, Curd for short.

Ronald, what's his last name? I can't pronounce his last name. Gadzalinski. Gadzalinski is the Manscaped Listener of the Week.

Hey! com, put in the promo code CIGAR, C-I-G-A-R, and you can save 20% and get free shipping. And your balls will be nice and true. Because Manscaped supports the show, and they are the best in below-the-ball grooming, Michael.

You still using the products? I still am. Big fan of the Lawn Mower, you said. 0.

0. That's nice. Hey, listen, Foonty Foonty. Hey.

This is what it takes. This is what it takes to pay the bills. I'm still a fan of the underwear and the deodorant. You just don't like it.

I don't think you're doing it right. No. I don't like that kind of underwear. There's nothing against them.

Yeah. Well, the trimmer is redesigned electric trimmer. 0 has proprietary... Which is what matters.

So this trimmer won't nick or snag your nuts. Which is nice. Manscaping accidents are finally a thing of the past. Good job.

com. Always use the right tools for the job. Your balls will thank you. Yes.

So, there you go. There's your man, listener. Manscaped Listener of the Week. Ronald.

Gaczynski. Gaczynski. Alright, show update. Gadzalinski.

Gadzalinski. On PlayRFM, Michael, last week we discussed how we had slid to number three. Yes. We were behind Cigar Dave and Cigar Authority.

Now we're back at number two. We're back to number two, Michael, that's right. Fucking A. Back to number two.

Not today, Isis. So Cigar Authority, once again, has slipped below us. Aha! As Manscaped likes you to take care of your nuts below, they are our nuts now that are below us.

Oh my god, another plug. So, to finish out the list, after Cigar Authority is Cigar Talk, Cigar Snob Podcast, The Retro Hail, Cigar Ralphie, which I'm not even familiar with Cigar Ralphie, Cigar Hacks, Tuesday Night Cigar Club, and The Stogie Geeks, I've got a funny story to tell you when you're ready, okay, on Podbean, we are still the number one cigar show on Podbean, followed by Cigar Authority, Cigar Federation, Cigar Coop, and the Cigar Box Guitar. Boom. We're at the top five there.

Number one. We're still number one on Podbean. We'd like to thank the people at Podbean. Okay.

For giving us no one. So what's your story? What's your funny story? com decals.

Oh, okay. Yes. So we give them out to all our customers if they want them to put on the car, and we appreciate them supporting us and stuff. And my brother has one on the back of his car.

He's got a special one. It's a little bit bigger. It goes up. Well, you do have two sizes here.

Yeah. You can get the one that's the size of a back window or it has the regular one that are by the register. Right. So either one is available.

com. Right. So, throughout the years, I have always gotten emails or messages or phone calls in regards to some people's driving. Normally, when they say, "Hey, you need to tell that guy to slow the fuck down," or "This is you and you need to slow the fuck down," I'm like, "Well, it's not me.

I don't drive a Nissan Altima. " You know, but I'll let them know. If I see the car, I'll let them know. There are literally hundreds of those around the state of Florida and the nation.

However, I did get an email from Joe, I won't put his email on blast, but Joe wrote in regards to everyone on I-4 and he said that the person in the white Corvette is a complete dick. " And I said to Joe, I sent him back a nice email, I said, "Joe, you're 100% correct, he is a dick. " So, thank you, Joe. We need to tell everyone that Greg, your brother, drives the white Corvette.

Yes, yes, Greg, my brother, drives the white Corvette. He drives the white Corvette. " "Look, you know, it's I-4, man. " Oh, it is.

I-4 is terrible. And if you have a fast car, you're gonna drive, he's, "Look, he's a dick. He's an asshole. There's nothing we can do about it.

" We had a red piece of shit car zipping in front of us today. I mean, what are you going to do? com? No.

Do you want to send an email? I'm going to say, sir, sorry, I don't know. I might start sending a weekly email to you from various different things. It was a white Corvette going down the highway.

It cut me off. It's a Nissan Versa. Cut off my Nissan Versa. Greg, you know, you think he's a race car driver?

He does. It's a carrier riding in a car. Yeah. I call him Cold Trickle, but that's what I call Britney.

So he doesn't get that. The trick when you get in with Greg is to sit back in the chair and put your head back against the headrest, do not lean forward, because normally, you know, you sit a little up, because when he takes off, your head's going to snap. Oh, so this is the, here's how, here's my approach when getting in the car with my brother. Yes.

" Oh, well, you might have a little more pull than I do, because that just makes him drive more like an asshole. And he says, "Okay," and he does it. " I will take the non-asshole trip. The non-asshole trip today, please.

I had a big lunch and I don't want a Funti Funti all over your seats. No more than 10 over for me, pal, and no aggressively switching lanes, so that's what I got for you. All right. Does this conclude our podcast, our Top 25 podcast?

This concludes our Top 25 podcast. Thank God. Jake, I love you. Please, everyone, take your vitamins, don't get the Funti Funtis.

Thank you so much for coming on, you're my hero. So great to be here. We would like to schedule you for next year, please. Oh, you see, I got the shift work and we might have to do it over the phone.

He starts a real job soon, in like two weeks. You better put him for vacation around January, please. Yeah, if you could just lock that up now. I need two days off in January because I'm a podcast sensation and I have to go.

Yes, and he's also your doppelganger. Maybe I can just come down and fill in for him and you can do the show with him. Perfect. Or I'll shave and I'll just butcher the words.

Hey, I'm Jake. This is working. Hey, I'm Jake. Oh, this is that fruity fruity that was here last year.

It's really heavy. I don't think I can pick that up. Go get that hose. What hose?

Fuck you, get that hose yourself. I'm old. All right. All right, that's it.

Thank you everybody for listening. This is the first official show of 2020. Let's call Jack. - Call Jack.

- Oh, call Jack real quick for Jack's birthday. - You need the cord? - Before we go. Didn't I jack up his cigar too?

- No, no, he was the Espinosa. - Yeah, he did. - Oh, okay. - Is it working?

How about the dial? - Wait, it's on, so you should be good. - Yep, it's working. When we start singing.

Mikey, Mikey. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Jack.

Happy birthday to you. You're on the podcast. Dog, dog, dog. Happy birthday from the Cigar Hustler podcast.

It was a little pitchy, but it was good. That was good. You know, we do our best. Congratulations on being, what, top 10?

Well, top 10 in the free world. Nice. Well, where are you on Aficionado? 11.

11. Congratulations on being top 11. If you back out that Cuban, we're top 10 in the free world, baby. Oh, there you go.

That's right. Yes, sir. Are we on the podcast? Yes, right now.

Oh, that is way too exciting since you guys don't invite me up there anymore. This is the only chance I get to be on the show, you know? Here's your cordial invite, we'd love to have you on Monday. You have an open invitation any time you'd like to be back.

On Monday? Yeah, come on up. Like three days from now? Yeah.

What are you, busy? He's in Miami. Nice, nice. Let's go.

Are you guys going up to TPE? Yes, we are. We will be at TPE. Well, at least I will.

Mike will. I'm staying here watching the shop. Yeah, Mike has to, somebody has to manage. Somebody has to work here.

We're running out of employees. Mike is in charge. You guys hire 18-year-olds. We do have one, so I don't know what's going to happen to him.

He might be out of a job. We'll see. Does that mean you can't sell either? We don't know yet.

The final lay of the law has not been... Yeah, it hasn't happened yet. But if the law comes out and says that he can't do it, I will record him being fired. I will record him being let go, and I'll put it on Instagram.

So, like, here you go, Jake. And you'll see me boot him out the door. Escort him off the premises. You know, back in the day, we'd just get him a fake ID, but I guess your way is okay, too.

So, where are you at today, World Traveler? Celebrating your birthday in fucking Bora Bora? I just left the office right now. So, I'm heading over to Caribbean to have a birthday cigar with the one and only Alan Schumacher.

Yes. And I think FTG Hector will make an appearance there. That is nice. What about Eric?

Eh, Erik bought me lunch. Ah, yeah, who wants to hang out with your boss? I mean, it's kind of fun. That makes the afternoon awkward.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No doubt. No doubt. You gotta watch what you say.

When the boss is there, you gotta watch what you say. It's true. Right, yeah. Even if it's Erik Espinosa.

Know how that works even around? And I don't, I'm, you know, I turned 59 today, my filter is, like, really bad. I don't, I don't really have a filter. Oh, because you got older, you don't have a filter now?

Well, yeah, you know, it's sharp when you're young. And now in the world we're living in now, you've really got to be careful what you say. You know, I say Mike Palmer's late every day and all of a sudden I get me two Muslims or so. It's true, it's true, yeah, you know.

I think he got all testy with me on it. He was late today, he was late today. He was not late today. " You're supposed to tell me you were coming in.

So I didn't even respond to that. Ha. Was he late for the Matt Booth interview? Were you late?

No, no. I feel like he was. I was here when Matt arrived. It felt late to me.

He was late. He's always late. So who's the big guest? You know, I'll turn the tables on you guys.

Who's the guest that you want for 2020? Who do you want? We want Eric Espinosa. Eric Espinosa, yeah.

Hey. There you go, table turned. Your move, motherfucker. What else you got?

I know a guy, I know a guy that can make that out. Let's go, get him up here, goddammit. We'll even give him another hoodie. Especially, yeah, every time it's fucking cold, he wears his hoodie, and I feel, you know, like, what, fuck, I didn't get a hoodie, but I've done the goddamn show like three times.

He reached out. " I was like, alright, done. Send it to him. That's all it takes?

That's all it takes. Coop had his on last week on Dojo. He had the t-shirt. He had the t-shirt.

Hey, I mean dude, he's got five left, it's possible, we could make the list, we could make the Coop list, if we make the list, once in a minute, yeah, the tyrannical buck, no, so we could take over the next, the top five, I believe in it, it could happen. Did Morbear get a good rating, or...? I have no idea. See, you're not even on the front line knowing what's possible.

Who knows? You're just there wishing. I'm just living my best life. I'm trying not to sweat the details.

Have you gotten on anybody's list? He showed up on somebody's. It was like number eight, but it was some obscure list. Yeah, I don't know.

Like Joe's Cigar Shop or something. I've seen some lists this year that have been fucking phenomenal. Everybody's doing a list this year. Well, the top 25 is definitely phenomenal.

The fucking Nea was on somebody's list the other day. Oh. I was blown away by that. The guy made Nea the number 22 cigar of the year.

Wow. Custler's got some. Yeah. If you need any, just hit me up.

Some guy rolled me. They rolled me. That Miguel. Yeah, I was just about to say, credit to Miguel of Crownheads.

Yeah, well now I give them all the credit and blame. Exactly. Well, what do you guys got planned? You're a new daddy again.

I am. I'm a new daddy. Life is good, man. I'm just working my ass off, you know?

And the kid's got a great name. Yeah, thank you. Teddy. Little Teddy Marvel.

-Teddy Marvel. -Yup. -Is Marvel his real middle name? -It's her.

It's a her. -Her, her, her. Is that her real middle name? -Yeah.

-It's Teddy with an I. -Yeah. -Yeah, yeah. -That's a real...

-Teddy Marvel. -Teddy Marvel. Yep, all's well, dude. But we just wanted to call, I just wanted to call and wish you a happy birthday, we put it on the podcast, so now you can, you know, every year you can just go back and listen to this.

No, thank you, sir. I won't get a call for next year's a big year. I can't guarantee it. I'm just saying, I don't want to commit.

But, I mean... You're gonna not hit me up for the big 6-0, brother. That's true. Maybe I will.

Yeah. I'm gonna smoke a 60 ring gauge and everything. Yeah, maybe we can have you up here. Oh, like a theme.

Hey, next year, I want to invite you up here for your birthday. You know, why don't you... You know, you guys have a great habit of inviting me to the customer appreciation. Yeah, well, now you know where, when it's at.

It's like, it's the day before, it's like Christmas Eve, isn't it? That's it, yeah. All right, next year I will be up there for customer appreciation. All right, cool.

And watch little Sweet Pete win them all, win everything. There you go, there you go. All right, handsome, we gotta go, I'm running out of time here. Oh, come on, you extend shows all the time, what the fuck?

Oh, what the fuck? We can take a break and then come back. You want me to take a break? And then bring him into the guy who's calling there.

You got commercial breaks now? Oh, yeah. com. You don't listen.

No, no, it's nice. Use Cigar at their website. You get 20% off and free shipping. We're totally out of time.

There's no way. 20% off your Manscaped? That's right. I'm going to make 30 seconds.

20% off the top. Alright, 30 seconds. All right, 30 seconds. All right, guys.

Thank you for calling. All right, Jack. Have a nice birthday, bud. Love you, buddy.

Happy birthday. All right. Bye. Bye.

Bye. And that's it. The Cigar Hustlers podcast, its owners and its sponsors take no responsibility for the opinions or statements made by the talk show host or their guest. Statements or show topics are not necessarily the beliefs of Mike and Mike Productions or the podcast providers, and opinions between talk show hosts may differ.

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

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

I'm good, Mike and Mike. How are you guys doing? I don't even have to try to answer that. We're going to cover a lot of ground here, Mike.

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

All right, end this.

Show Notes

This week the ever popular Jake Palmer joins us once again for his reading of the CA Top 25 from 2019!  He as usual does not dissapoint!

We make a very special birthday phone call and give our take on CA's choices!

All this and more on this weeks episode!

As always we welcome your show ideas on our FB page "A Cigar Hustlers Podcast".  You can follow the show on IG @cigarhustlerspodcast, Mikey @cigarhustler and Mike 2 @fcc_mike.

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