Episode 128 Erik Espinosa and Jack Torano

Episode Summary

Episode 128 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with hosts Mike and Mike running through cigar industry news before a long-form sit-down with Erik Espinosa of Espinosa Premium Cigars and his sales director Jack Torano. The news segment covers Florida's COVID mask mandates and fines across Miami, Palm Beach, Volusia and the Keys, former NFL safety Ken Hamlin's new cigar line "The Arrival" (made at La Aurora in the Dominican Republic and imported by Miami Cigar & Company), the newly announced PCA 2021 Convention & Trade Show dates at the Sands Expo, a new Viaje White Label Project Connecticut single-store exclusive for Riverside Cigars, the Black Works Studio Killer Beast Swarm, first-quarter U.S. cigar import declines, and a skeptical take on Oliva's press release about funding a school near its Estelí factory.

The interview itself is a candid, personal conversation. Erik opens up about being diagnosed with high blood pressure, cycling through five different medications before landing on lisinopril, changing his diet, losing nine pounds, using CBD, and why he'd been quiet on social media for a month. He and Jack trade stories about Jack's move from General Cigar to Espinosa, his reputation for tough negotiating, and office pranks involving Hector and Danny Vasquez of RoMa Craft — including the ongoing "Lozano Palooza"/Cigar Hustler event ribbing and whether large outdoor cigar events can happen in 2020.

On the business side, Erik explains how COVID shut down travel to Estelí and delayed releases: the annual Warhead (Warhead VI) is on track, the relaunched Azúcar vanilla-flavored, sweet-tipped Dominican cigar was pushed from April into July, and Erik Jr.'s Las Provincias project is being held back for a trade show because its one-of-a-kind boxes need a floor to be displayed. He then delivers a frank assessment of the PCA trade show — the Vegas heat, the $750 bartender fees and $100 corkage, the math showing exhibitors barely break even on a million dollars in orders — and argues the association should take lessons from TPE, welcome CBD exhibitors, consider Miami or Tampa venues, food trucks, and a March date. The episode closes with a long, funny football tangent about Tua Tagovailoa, offensive line philosophy, Tom Brady, and Erik's superstitious cigar-and-jersey game-day stories.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Florida COVID mask mandates and fines
   The hosts run through county-by-county mask rules and fines in Miami, Palm Beach, the Keys and Volusia, plus tips for staying cool while masked.
2. 02
   Industry news roundup
   Ken Hamlin's new 'The Arrival' line from La Aurora, PCA 2021 trade show dates at the Sands, a Viaje White Label Project Connecticut store exclusive, and Black Works Studio's Killer Beast Swarm.
3. 03
   U.S. cigar imports and the Oliva school press release
   First-quarter imports fell 9.5% year over year, and the hosts push back on Oliva's press release about funding a Catholic primary school near its Estelí factory.
4. 04
   Erik Espinosa's health scare
   Erik details his high blood pressure diagnosis, five medication trials, diet changes, CBD use and why he disappeared from social media for a month.
5. 05
   Jack Torano from General Cigar to Espinosa
   Jack and Erik joke about Jack's negotiating style, his General Cigar habits of giving away cigars, and his first-day birthday cake.
6. 06
   Office pranks, Hector and Danny Vasquez
   Stories about the RoMa Craft feud, boxes of Espinosa cigars sent to Austin, and the legendary 'Reggie' prank from Bad Boys.
7. 07
   COVID's effect on production and new releases
   Warhead VI stays on schedule while the relaunched Azúcar sweet-tip vanilla cigar and Erik Jr.'s Las Provincias get delayed by factory and box shortages.
8. 08
   PCA vs. TPE and fixing the trade show
   Erik lays out exhibitor costs, argues the show barely breaks even, and pitches Miami or Tampa venues, food trucks, CBD exhibitors and a March date.
9. 09
   Football, Tua and game-day superstitions
   A long tangent on building teams through the offensive line, Tom Brady to Tampa, Tua Tagovailoa's outlook, and Erik's jersey and cigar superstitions.

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

Hey, I'm Mike Tu. This is Cigar Hustler Podcast Episode 128. This week, we sit down and talk to Eric Espinosa and Jack Tarragno from La Zona Cigars. It's a long one, folks.

Get comfortable. Episode 128 is going to start in just a minute. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared, squared. All right, uh, welcome to episode, uh, Board Drug 128, Cigar Hustler Podcast.

Hello, Michael. Hello, Michael. Hello, Michael. You gotta update the board, Michael.

I know, it's been a very busy week. We're coming off the, uh, Espinosa event. You've moved my mic. Eric Espinosa moved your mic.

Ah. He can do what he wants. He can. Eric Espinosa.

He's the alpha. Dog. Allegedly. Allegedly.

So, this show will lead this little whatever we're doing here. We'll do a small segment. Yes. And then we'll lead into the Espinosa interview.

Actually, I have enough information to do an entire. We could do a two-parter and then we're done. Oh, not done. Oh.

And then skip next Monday. No, no. We'll get ahead. It would be so nice to be ahead.

Wouldn't it be? It would be, where I'm not busting my ass every Tuesday morning. I like you under the pressure. Yeah, you like me in here on Tuesday mornings at 7am.

I like you sweating. I like you sweating. I like it. Whatever.

Fuck you. So angry. Okay. Wow.

Wow. All right. Are those new glasses, Mike? No, no.

Actually, I broke the pair I had here. These are one of my backup pair from home. That explains it. Might be, yes, made a little mistake.

I have the week off, so I'm in an error. When you make a mistake, you get a week off. You're suspended. Suspended.

One week. One week. So, anything exciting happen since we were here, Freddie? Anything happen at home over the weekend?

No, just working on the floors and then I had to work Sunday, so I was at the shop. Drew worked Sunday. You didn't work Sunday. No, Drew worked, he came in, but of course, you know, I got to teach him.

Well, I have a question about Mr. Drew. Tell me. He seems to, not that he should not ask questions, of course he has questions, he's only been here for a couple of days.

Yes. But the questions he's put in on Slack seem like those things that you could answer. Are his instructions to just put his questions on Slack? No, it's kind of a combination of two things.

Yes. One is a lot of people know better where certain things are than I do at the shop. Okay, yeah, okay, I can understand that. And the second thing is that, you know, I can either A, give him wrong misdirection, or B, he can get into the habit of, hey, I need to figure this out.

Oh, okay, all right, I see your point there. So, I encourage the engagement on our group chat, you know what I mean? We got you. The company group chat, not our side banter group text, which is way more fun.

It is more entertaining, to say the very least. We're rather close. You feel close? It feels close, not six feet, but you look great.

Whatever, dude. We're running two cameras today, so you might be when Michael talks. You know what? I feel like I flip-flop a lot on the whole COVID fucking thing, but you know, at this point, my current feelings, I no longer respect any media source.

No, you can't. None of them. I don't believe. One week it's, one week it's masked, next week it's no mask, then somebody posts a message or a story, then you gotta go back, wait, those messages are from March.

Numbers are spiking in Florida, numbers are down in New York, but then apparently we've had testing that isn't accurate. I mean, just like, holy fucking shit. Nobody knows what's going on. You know, do the right thing, if you're around a whole bunch of people, put on a mask, I mean, you know, those things are simple.

I'm not going to wear a mask out in public. Those things are simple, you know. I have three in the car right now, we bought an extra pack of them, the washable kind, similar, they turned out similar to the ones we're wearing here, where, you know, you wear them once or twice and you throw them in a wash, and then... I don't even trust ESPN anymore.

I just heard Cam Newton was going to New England, that's got, that's gotta be a lie. And he's got corona. That's a lie, too. Allegedly.

He doesn't have it. Who the fuck am I? Well, going without a mask in public in Miami could bring a fine up to $500, Michael. Oh, my God.

m. Thursday, and Mayor Francis Sores says Florida Governor Ron DeSantis should do the same thing for the whole state. Have you been to Miami? No, but you know what?

I'm in a wedding in October, and it was sort of put on hold. We know what's going to happen, but I got a text today that the venue is opened back up for October, so you need to go get fitted for your suits, so yeah, I'm in the wedding, I have to go get my suit fitted. I would just love to see a police officer, stop, here's your ticket, let me get your information, here's your ticket for $500 for not wearing a mask, the person that doesn't give a fuck who's not wearing the mask is just gonna, in Miami, tell you to fucking pound sand. But in Spanish.

Yeah, maybe. ¿Dónde es que el pan de los años? No tengo dinero. Policía.

Oh, man. Chaos. Let's see. The mayor says, "I would recommend it.

" So I said, "Friday, adding the state's pandemic is four times more intense than it was in March. " Oh, yeah. We got number one. We're number one.

10,000 people one day. I think it was on the podcast where I said, you know, Florida, the good news about it is Florida hasn't been the news. Well, guess what? We're back, baby!

We're back. Actually, we're number two. S. Did they send over 1,000 checks to dead people?

Yeah. Yeah, sir. Whatever they needed to. They said you couldn't take it with you.

Well, guess what? We're gonna mail it to you. Yeah. It's in your account.

See, Palm Beach County has mandated that mask or face care to be worn. Most people in public places where physical distancing is impossible while obtaining a good or service and visiting a business establishment or government buildings. The first defense is 250 there. So you save a little bit of money and you go a little further north.

Up north, it's always a little less. A little less. A little less. Let's see, other areas have these, too.

Let's see, the Florida Keys has a restriction in place until June 1st. $7,000 in the Florida Keys. No, it's $500 down there, too. But now, shit, they got dengue fever down there.

The mosquitoes are passing out dengue fever down there. That's cool. And the Saharian Desert thing, I'm fucking over, too. You know what?

I'm so disappointed. I didn't see nothing with the sand. I saw somebody on Facebook go, "I wish the sand was over. " And I went outside going...

I can tell you two things that happened to me. Number one is, it felt like Las Vegas desert here the past two days. That's just the heat. Nope.

No, no, it's different. I was outside all day yesterday, and it was hot. But it wasn't humid. No, that's true.

So it felt like, I don't know if that went into play or not. The second thing is, I woke up this morning, after being outside all day yesterday, with like a stuffy allergy nose. Did you? Yeah, I'm like, that sucks.

I mean, you know, it went away eventually, but, yeah. Let's see, Orange and Osceola counties, you have to wear masks. Seminole just went into effect. Seminole, yeah, Seminole.

Daytona Beach, the only place in Volusia County is Daytona Beach. You have to wear a mask there when you're out in public. Not at the beach public, but if you're inside a building. Let me just state that Volusia County, we are definitely the epicenter of the Lawless Swamp.

Without question. It's the Old West. It's the Old West here. Hell yeah.

Let's see, various assumptions to wearing the mask are in place for areas that have and don't have fines. Woo! So, we have a list of on how to choose the correct mask. Ah.

These are tips. Oh. Tips on how to choose the correct mask. Fortunately, there are always ways to stay cool or at least cooler while masked up.

Here are five. Like a mesh? Can I get a... No, no.

You know what? I heard some lady was wearing like a doily. So, it was a lace. Nice.

Oh, that's lovely. Probably looked very sexy. It's gotta be somewhat effective. It has to catch some of it.

Five tips for Eckford experts. But if you breathe out your nose, you're kind of breathing down anyways. Well, maybe when you breathe down, then it shoots out as an extra projectile. How?

I don't see it. Well, if you talk while you breathe. Now, if you're a mouth breather, then you're already a savage, let's be honest, and you shouldn't be out. These are five tests where it's more comfortably keeping your respiratory droplets intact.

All right, choose the right fabric, Michael. You need to choose the right fabric. A light, breathable material like cotton will likely keep your face cooler than the medical and N95 baths made in synthetic materials. Uh-huh.

And in the right configuration can be very effective in preventing contagions. Uh-huh. Keep it dry. Keep it?

Don't let it get wet. Don't let it get moist. Cotton traps less air and moisture in standard medical industry masks. Moist.

And it is more absorbent. If it gets damp due to breathing and sweating, it can be less effective in filtering respiratory particles. Moist. See, time trips to beat the heat.

Uh-huh. I'll go when it's hot. Avoid going out-- Oh, good fucking luck. --for extended periods.

Well, you know, don't go from, like, 10 to 7. Have you ever been-- Are you kidding me right now? You know what? I had to take the dog out last night at 11:30.

And it was hot. It was still hot. It was fucking hot. It was still hot.

You're not--no. You don't--you want to know when it cools off? Maybe October, end of October. Yeah, I was going to say.

Maybe. You get to a point where you're like, okay, it's in the '80s. Right. We're so over in the '80s now.

That's it in Florida. In Florida, all winter, you're going, "Oh, it's freezing. I can't wait to get hot. " Fuck this.

I'll take the cold every day. I never, ever say it's too cold. No. Hardly ever.

I never, ever say it. I don't care if it's going to be a 30 degree night. I mean, it's still 30 degrees. You open the windows.

You know? 30 degrees, ooh. I can't open my windows. My house is old.

I'm working on that. You have new windows. Only three new windows. And they don't open?

They do. Oh, are they? The big ones open. Crank out?

No, no, they slide. Oh, everyone knows. Let's see, Michael. Don't wear makeup, Michael.

Heat and pressure should mix with makeup and oily skincare products makes for a gunky mess under your mask. It's true. Your eyebrow could slide. You don't have the ability to add sweat evaporate when you have a mask on.

You don't want to melt. And then the fifth, the number five tip on your mask, Michael. Bring a spare. Yeah.

Don't leave your house. If you can't keep your mask from getting sticky and sticky, there's no better remedy than swapping it out for another mask. A backup mask, just in case. Just in case.

If you get, you know, a little heavy on the mask. I'm just got the one mouth, bro. I'm good with the one mask. I have three in my car.

And they're three different materials, actually. You're part of the problem. Because I have three masks? It sounds like I'm more part of the solution.

I don't think so. I've never seen you in any of those masks. I don't wear it here. I have the one here from that you supplied all the employees.

Oh, so you just took when you had plenty. Nice. No, I got the three over the weekend. But I had to go, wait, on the same day I went to Home Depot, I went to Walmart and Target.

Home Depot, almost everybody had a mask on. Almost everybody. Oh, really? Walmart, everybody had one on at Walmart.

Really? They don't wear pants, but they will wear a mask at Walmart. Huh. Target, maybe 50-50.

You know, so in my personal experiences, Walmart was probably 50-50. Lately though, since the spike? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Home Depot.

I think the Walmart people are more socially educated by the media, I figure. Home Depot was probably 50-50, and I don't think I've been to Target. I like Home Depot because it's all construction guys, so it's all the really nice M95. I feel like at Home Depot I don't have to wear the mask.

You know what, I see Steve at Home Depot a lot, doesn't wear a mask, but he does wear the boots with the socks and the shorts. Not the Steve that works here, the other Steve. Yes, yes, Steve the guy who's not building the deck. Oh, did you hear what he's not going to build after the deck?

A second bathroom here. He's not going to? Well, he said he's going to. He wants to build a second bathroom, for what?

We had to wait in line at the bathroom Friday night. Oh. There was a second bathroom. We turned into storage.

Right. Yeah. Alright, moving on. Yes.

Ken Hamlin, do you know who Ken Hamlin is? No. Former NFL safety Ken Hamlin? Okay.

Do you know who he is now? He's entered the cigar business. Oh. Add Ken Hamlin to the list of retired athletes who have created their own cigar lines.

lines. After visits to cigar factories all over the world and regular fixture events like Pro Cigar, the former... Are you alright then? Did you get excited?

Yeah, I'm very excited about Ken. It's semi-sports related. That's very loud. Kind of annoying.

Just keep going. The former NFL Pro Bowler is planning or launching his new cigar line next month called The Arrival. It will be made by La Aurora in the Dominican Republic using a Nicaraguan wrapper over Brazilian, Dominican, and Nicaraguan fillers. 50.

S. Distributor, will be importing the cigar, but not selling them. Hamlin told Half Wheel, he plans on launching the line in late July and will eventually work to add independent sales representatives. Hamlin played eight seasons NFL, spending most of his career in Dallas and Seattle in 2007, he was selected to the Pro Bowl.

Oh, I thought he, like, bowled. Yeah, I think he's friends with Danny, he's like, I think he was a cowboy. Danny Vasquez? Yeah.

Oh. I think I've seen them chatter back and forth. Well, you know, all the celebrities like that. Everybody loves Danny.

Yeah, I love Danny. All right, Michael, the PCA 2021 Convention and Trade Show has been announced July 10th through the 13th, 2021. 2021. That's exciting.

Yes. The 2021 PCA Convention of Trade Show will take place July 10th to the 13th at the Sands Expos. Wait a second. July?

July of next year. Oh, the PCA. 2021. I'm sorry.

I thought you were talking TPE. Oh, no. I can't. I can't keep up.

Please pay attention when I speak. Okay. It's very simple. I'm sorry.

You have your own close-up. I'm sorry. Keep going. I don't know how I'm getting these together.

July 10th, 2021. PCA gave the following dates to exhibitors. Move-in day is July 6th to the 9th. The 9th trade show is July 10th or 13th and the breakdown 13th or 15th.

Previous PCA convention trade shows formerly known as the IPCPR featured as many as five days to set up. Now you only get four, or three actually. We're making cutbacks. Most of the other details remain the same.

The venue is the same. The trade show will run Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday through Tuesday, and the PCA is planning on using the same trade show floor plan as the canceled 2020 trade show. Where is it at? The Sands again?

Still at the Sands. So you don't listen when they talk. I said that earlier. Uh, nope.

In an email, the association said that all exemplars who have already paid for a 2020 booth space will now have this rolled over to 2021. Oh, so they're not just keeping your money. That's nice. This likely means that the default option for the PCA is not to refund money for the canceled 2020 trade show.

Well, but you don't have to pay it again, either, so. Yeah. Oh, and just so you know, I have been granting access to the Media House for the 2021 trade show. Oh, that's cool.

Just me. Oh, okay. I won't go there. Maybe I'll see if I can get you in.

No, I'll see. No, I'll be in bed. You'll be in bed? Is it always at night?

Oh, yeah. The media house? I don't know. It's at nighttime.

Listen, you know, I heard that Skip held court there. He did. And it was relatively epic. Oh, and Jack was there, I think, too.

And Jack was there. Oh, I'll go ahead and get it right with Skip. So yeah, you just go there. Let's go with Skip.

Just FaceTime me in. I'll be in bed. You'll be sleeping. Yeah.

Kate's first Connecticut-wrapped cigar is heading to Riverside Cigars. Oh. Shop. Oh, on the next line.

Few of any cigar brands have released as many new cigars in the last decade as Viaje. You know... Yes? Go ahead.

I'm just gonna read about it. You'd think that we were friends, Jeff and I. I mean, we're still waiting on the fucking frog juice. You know, this must be, he already has announced this, too.

I didn't pay much attention to it. I've seen some posts. Right, so he's already made it. It comes in all different shapes, sizes, colors, but until now, it's called the You Used to Be My Friend, I think?

It's called the You Used to Be. It's called the He's Lost That Love and Feeling. Yeah, it's less dedicated behind. I'm trying to give it to the Connecticut wrapper that we'll change.

All right, it's a 5x54 Robusto Extra that uses a Connecticut Shade wrapper from a non-disclosed country over Nicaraguan fillers from Arganosa. It is being made at Arganosa, a very long name, factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. 44 per cigar, limited to 50 boxes of 25 cigars. Ooh, that's not a lot.

Riverside said it expects to have the cigars before the weekend of July 4th. Match Cigar Bar is the name of the cigar bar that is affiliated with Riverside Cigars Shop in Jeffersonville, Indiana. This is part of Viaje's WLP Single Store Exclusive Series. White Label Project.

Says WLP. An extension to his regular White Label Project. Oh, there we go. So Jeff is getting another LE just for him.

Can't wait to not taste it, because they're still trying to taste the frog juice. I'm just going to take a picture of my credit card and send it to him and say, "Look, just charge it whenever you want. " Just send me something. Just send them.

He's only getting 50 of these, 50 boxes. Yeah, well, I'm more excited about the frog juice. Yeah, I kind of want to, those are all gone by now. I'm sure he has some.

Skip got his. No, of course. Goddammit. Blackworks Studio Killer Beast Swarm is announced, Michael.

Oh! Another special cigar that we're not getting. Blackworks Studio is pleased to announce the release of the Killer Beast Swarm, handcrafted in Esteli, Nicaragua. Yeah.

I'm checking the time. The Killer Beast Swarm is a limited edition- What's the name of the factory, Michael? I don't know, it doesn't say. Oveja Negra?

Oh, there it is, yeah. Oveja Negra. You just wanted me to say it before you said it. To say I'm excited about this release is understatement.

Cameroon, oh, it's another Cameroon. Oh, did I get one of these, too? Favorite. Oh, it's a Cigar House.

Yeah, you got one, too. Oh. And your brother got one, too. Oh.

Just a ba-da-da-da-da-da, let's see. Shout out to Sweepy. It's very unique, also true to the style of the Killer Bee Line, said James Brown, creator of Black Works, an owner of the Ovea Negra, County of Origin, Nicaragua, wrappers Cameroon with Maduro and Candela Linear Cap. Nice man, he's a nice man.

50 a cigar. I think this is what we should do. So is that for everybody or is that for somebody in particular? It doesn't say who's particularly good.

But it is going to a store exclusive or just an LE? It's just an LE, not a store exclusive, but I figured we don't get LEs here, so we probably won't. We get some, come on. What we're going to do, because we are redoing the studio this week.

We've hired someone. Hired someone to come in and help us redo the studio. So I think what we're going to do, maybe we'll do it here. I'm going to put up a whiteboard, and we're going to have the name of the LE, if we've tried it or not.

And then if we reviewed it on the Patreon, we'll have the review score. So it would say, like, Frog Juice, Riverside, we can't get it. Like that? But I don't want to put the score up.

Huh? I don't want to put the score up. Well, okay. Well, I figured they still might want to hear the review because they're not going to know what the score means.

No. Four star, five star, two star. No. They might not.

Okay. No score. Okay, so we'll just have what it is, who makes it, and where it was, and then if we tried it or not. If you want to do that, go ahead.

I thought it'd be fun to keep a running track for the year and see what we actually get. Okay. Maybe it won't be on the thing. Maybe we'll put it somewhere over here and we can just take pictures of it or something.

Okay. Something like that. S. cigar imports slow in the first quarter.

Go figure. No shit. Go figure, huh? I figured this was stupid news we would talk about.

This is fucking media coverage? S. were down in the first quarter of the year. Oh, look at that.

5% from the first three months of 2019, so they're comparing this year to last year. That's not bad. Let's see. 1 million cigars.

6. 6%. 8. 2.

5%. 4. Uh-huh. 6 percent.

Womp womp. 5 million cigars. 21. 6.

Gigawatts. 5 percent. All right. Yeah.

Yeah. Big surprise. All right. Factories have been closed.

Yeah, I know. It was stupid news. But, you know. People aren't traveling.

Media putting it out. All right. - Tell me. - For your favorite part of the show, Mike.

- I'm excited. - Favorite part of the show. - Is this where you humiliate me? - No, no, no.

We have a press release. I know how you love press releases, Michael. - This is where he humiliates me. - Oliva Cigars helps factory workers and children access...

- Oh, here we are. - Near the Oliva Cigar Company factories in Esteli, Nicaragua is a school that offers a great education for children, but at a price it's too high for the company's factory workers to afford, until now. As part of the long-term commitment, Oliva Cigars, which is owned by Belgium-based Jay Cortez, is donating part of his profits directly to the Catholic Primary School. Now called...

That's so sweet. Now called, they've renamed the school. Ooh. Escuela Oliva.

Escuela. Escuela Oliva. Okay. So the children of the factory workers can attend.

The fact that I have... I am not versed on Spanish whatsoever. Closer than me, Michael. And yet, I can still help you.

Thank you. That's what you're here for. You are here to help me. According to a press release, Oliva is providing financial support for the school's teachers and is handling the cost of one meal a day for the students.

Oh, you get an apple. It's giving this young generation hope and a good education, says Vilmer Geronimo Lagos. That's his name. So why don't you just pay the people more money at the factory?

Like... So instead of just forcing them into the school, well, we're just going to give them more money because we want them to have a better life. Because they wanted the name of the school after that. Because, hey, check that out.

What does that first word mean? Is that a name? School. Oh, school.

So it's the School of Oliva. School of Oliva. Oh, very nice. Oliva School.

Yes. Not only did we make significant improvements to the working conditions, we also invest in the school so that the children of our colleagues are not available to attend classes there. J. Cortez, CEO, Frédéric, Venderme, I think it's a vampire, Venderme, it's just kind of, you know, it is really kind of funny to me how, like, capitalists become socialists.

" Maybe they were afraid they would not know how to invest it properly. Okay. So what? That's not their fucking...

Maybe if they give them more, then the children still... But let... It's for the children. It's for the children.

So let's do a press release about how cool we are. That's right. I feel like we should do a press release. Like a press release is like, you know...

We should. This is a press release. We should do a weekly press release. See who picks it up.

Just send it to everybody and say, I just want to let you guys know we're fucking awesome. Huh? You know? I'd like you to know the Cigar Hustlers donated masks to all the employees.

Oh, yeah. To better serve the community. We successfully donate. We can worry it so well.

And, you know, even some of our employees already had three. Doesn't matter. They got an extra one. They got another one.

Because, you know, we're all about equality, I guess. Now I have four. I can change it with my outfits. I have a blue, a white, and two black.

Because paying your employees more isn't a press release worthy of, you know... We gave them a raise. " Let's put in a, let's put in a school. Well, you know, there's a school next door.

Let's buy that. Let's buy that. How much is it? Three pesos.

It's just-- It's very run down, run by a bunch of nuns. I can't stand either political party, I can't, I just, fucking people. Hello? We would like to buy the school?

Oh, perfect, we name it after you! Oh, my God. Hey, the one guy's giving out eggs and milk, what can we do? Let's buy the school.

Hey, here's an idea, like, how is nobody at that meeting saying, "You know what? " Oh, no, that's no good. You're fired. Somebody get rid of that person over there.

Who the fuck is, who let you in? Employees more money. You know, if we buy this school, it's a write-off. We can deduct it on our Nicaraguan taxes.

I fucking can't, man. It's just so ridiculous. Do you get paid Nicaraguan taxes? It's so ridiculous.

Is that a thing? What? They pay taxes in Nicaraguan taxes? Of course.

Do they get deductions like we do here? I'm sure that they do. So that's why. You donate to the school, it's all a write-off.

But realistically, I think that taxes for businesses there are higher than for other people. Is it more just like a paper? Like, I can tell you that the electricity in a factory is tremendously more expensive because it's a business than it is at your house. Different rate.

Right? Yeah. Any more awesome press releases about how great people are? No, that's the only press release this week.

How exciting. How exciting that is. Ugh, I'm going to get a fucking letter from that one, or at least a pretend one from you. We had a listener in the week, but I forgot to look up his name.

Oh! Yeah? Yeah. I don't know.

We could take a break and I could come back, but we're at 25 minutes. No, no, no. Let's hammer this out. I mean, for me, I was gonna do the Listener of the Week was Lenny Smeagol.

Oh, that's what we should do. Of Owl Ear Cigars. Oh, we only have four minutes to Lenny Smeagol. He didn't, I text him, but he did not answer.

Oh, maybe he's- It's his birthday. Maybe he's busy- Happy birthday, Lenny Smeagol. Lovely baby. Should we try this?

Happy birthday, Lenny Smeagol. Hit the gong and, uh, where's my plug? Lenny Schmigo, I said, hey, I gave him a heads up that I was going to put him on the podcast. All right, well, let's stop real quick then and see if we can get him on the phone because we're going to run out of time.

We'll stop and turn it back on and then we're going to call. All right, stop. Okay, we're back. And we're back and we're calling.

We're trying to call Lenny Schmigo. We're going to call Lenny right now. Owler's Cigars. Owler's Smoke Shop.

Congratulate him on his craft 2020s. It's his birthday. I'm going to congratulate him on the craft 2020s. It's his calling.

It's not ringing. Okay, well, it must be the new COVID tracker on all the phones. Interrupting our phone calls. Is that connected or anything?

Look, this is calling. Call failed. Call failed. Try it again.

This whole time people are trying to get in touch with me. It's not working. It's not my fault. I'm not in charge of your phone.

Maybe I'll turn off my Wi-Fi and try that. Yeah, make it a Wi-Fi phone call. Who knows? Maybe he has Corona and we're not allowed-- Don't spread rumors.

Phones won't talk. I'm not spreading a rumor. It's a joke. People don't think we're funny.

I said maybe. People don't think we're funny. What's going on here? Do you have airplane mode or something on?

No, I'm going to turn it off and turn it back on. It's called the power cycle. It's a great method for anything that's electronic. Great.

You know what I want? I let you do one piece of the content for the show. One segment is all you have to do. And this is it.

This is what we're getting. I'm a horrible person. You saw my post this week for Michael's been kidnapped. Fred Rui won with his post.

What did he say? " And that would be accurate. That would be how we know you're kidnapped. Yeah.

Is it back on yet? It's not even turning on now. Oh, your phone. Is the battery dead?

No. Where's the backup phone? There it is. Apple.

Where's the backup phone? Backup phone is out there. But they're doing the knocking and the hammering? Yes.

Break glass. We so need to just move down that empty bay. And not pay. It's no different than now.

That empty bay is about to be... Oh, is that going to be the thing? No. Apparently, it's leased.

Oh. For the last one that wanted to go in? We can ask, yeah. We can all get our nails done now?

Supposedly. Oh, how nice. My phone just doesn't want to work. It's two years old, so it's ready for anyone.

You have an 11, Michael. No, I don't. Yes, you do. No, I don't.

You have an X. I have an X. I have a 10. Do they make a 10?

That's the same thing. Oh, my God, this phone isn't working. Oh. Did Greg pay the bill?

the bill he's super busy all right this is lovely content everybody's so enjoying well hey talk about the phone all right well lenny happy birthday happy birthday lenny i'm right we're very sorry i'm sorry it says call failed call failed there you go call failed on his close-up it's time for my close-up cv you know what you know i didn't have a bang today i'm trying to like i'm thinking i just want to i'm trying to give myself a break from all really i don't have that many anymore Oh, you know what, though? I have some of the red, white, and blues coming. You do? I'm like this close.

Yeah? Yep. Cool. Just two.

Trying to stay away from all fake sugar. Why? I don't know. It's delicious.

I think that it's bad for you. Nah. Only if you're a lab rat. Probably.

Alright, we're at 30 minutes. We're gonna wrap this up. Stay tuned for the Erik Espinosa interview. Oh, that's right.

Erik Espinosa. All sports. So, yeah. So are we going to do one long episode, or are we going to break it up?

Once one long episode. There you go, Pedro. One long episode. For Pedro.

For Pedro. Alright guys, enjoy the show. Later. Bye.

I come away. Hey, it's Mike Toon with the 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. And where are you recording? But I can't hear me on my headphones.

I don't want to tell you because those headphones we hardly ever use. Oh, so you're just pretty much fucking me. You can just wear them, it just looks good. Alright, this is episode 128, Cigar Hustler Podcast.

We have the lovely Erik Espinosa and Jack Taranio with us today. How you guys doing? Erik, you made it to the shop for the first time. Actually, no.

No, we were discussing this earlier. I've been here plenty of times. Really? This is the first time I'm here on the Cigar Hustler.

See, it's your fault, bro. This is show 128, bro. You guys waited 128 shows. So if you can invite me, dude.

Well, we had a lot of fine-tuning. You know what I mean? I really wanted to feel prepared for this, and, you know, it took 127 episodes to get there. All right, dude, so that's good.

So you're good now, right? Yeah, we've had Jack on several times, because he's a practice dummy. So, yeah, is this officially, this should be show number one, because since you guys did the fine-tuning, now you guys are ready. Good point, exactly.

Welcome to show number one. Yeah, we'll discuss that. We'll review that. Erik's had an illustrious week.

He was on Coop's 148th show for the first time. Nice. Now you're 120, so he's getting better. He's getting better at it, yeah.

So, Coop was very upset. Did you see that with the whole media being removed? Oh, he got kicked out of Trump's thing. Well, but I guess technically he wasn't supposed to leave.

Oh! Yeah. So there will be no apology. Just for the record.

That post you read, not the one with his wife. Not the one with his wife. I feel like-- No. I feel like-- I thought for sure Trump would mention Coop in his press conference.

Right. Yeah. Nothing. Nothing at all.

I'd like to thank Coop for leaving the Zoom episode or whatever. Dude, so what's going on with you, man? You got a lot of shit going on. You were pretty ill or whatever.

Yeah. I discovered that I have high blood pressure like a month ago. Welcome to the cigar industry. Yeah, really.

I mean, I'm not that good at it. All it took was hiring me. I almost fired him today just because you wore that shirt. Because that t-shirt?

It's a shirt. Poor Jack. If you guys ever see me wear something like this, just shoot me, take me out. No problem.

Yeah, I'll pull you aside and be like, bro. I'm in the shorts, I coordinate. Like, is everything okay? You feeling all right?

Like, yeah, no, you know, my wife gave me the shirt. By the way, we pulled your studio audience out there and 100% love my shirt. Yeah? Yes.

A poll was taken, huh? A poll was taken. And you all know how painful that could be. Behind that, he told everybody, I'd give you a free cigar.

You get a free cigar. Yeah, there's some leverage. Well, and everybody's afraid of him. Jack isn't stupid.

I didn't hire him because he was dumb. I've seen some interaction with Jack where, you know, it's let's make a deal on the table and he's in negotiation and you know it's a lock and like he'll still stand there after the guy makes a, you know, like a cover back like, oh, maybe two extra cigars and Jack will be like, I don't know. And you know it's done. You know it's a done deal.

But remember where he comes from? He came from General. It came from General. So, you know, General gives away a lot of free cigars.

Yeah, I mean, that's true. I don't have General's money. That's true. Mike, I don't know if you do, but I should.

No, I definitely don't. Yeah, dude. He's like the guys in the military. Here.

Oh, you're in the military? We're in a shop. We're in a shop. What the fuck?

Here's the real story. Okay, tell me. Without the embellishment. Here's the real story.

I support the military, dude. The real story is we're sitting in a shop. We're sitting in a shop and there's a group of guys behind us. Okay.

I'm trying to find that they're there to say goodbye to their buddy who's being deployed the next day. Okay. So I reached in my bag and grabbed a five pack of cigars and he's just looking at me. This is like the first month I'm working with him.

Nice. " I said, "He's being deployed to the military, you know, thank you for your service" type of thing. " That was the moment that Erik realized he fucked up. Because you think I'm general?

Actually, I realized that the first day, because the first day he came to work, it was his fucking birthday, so now he cost me a cake, right? Oh, yeah, one day, I gotta go get him a damn cake and shit out, and it was, yeah, dude, I'm like, what the fuck, I should have hired you the day after. Yeah, that's right, save money on a cake that way. So you got high blood pressure?

Yeah, I realized I had high blood pressure, and, you know, I've become a pro at this, so anybody out there, any of your listeners, if they cure high blood pressure, come to call me. Right, because you know I call my dad. Don't waste your money on doctors. Don't waste your money on doctors.

I've been, yeah, don't waste your money on doctors. I'm on my fifth pill, none of the first four worked, you know, and I related to a hot dog. And they went, why hot dog? Because if you read what a hot dog is made from, you'll never eat one.

And these high blood pressure pills, dude, they got so many effects on you, you know, it's crazy. The first one, I thought I was going crazy, really, dude. That thing was, the second one, my hands and my feet were on fire. The third one, my blood pressure was still high.

You know, the fourth one didn't fucking work, and then now I'm one, I've been on there for five days, and I feel great, you know, of course I had to change my diet, eat right, and all this shit, so I'm doing everything that I'm supposed to do, I've lost nine pounds, you know, and that's why people don't hear me on social media and all that shit, it's been a month, it's been, I was in a dark place, man, I really, really was, it was crazy, I wake up in the morning, and I just wasn't right, I was not, I was foggy, You know, when you get to Vegas, because you're from the East Coast, and that first day, your equilibrium is fucked up. Right, like your head's in a cloud. Dude, yeah, that's the way I felt every day. But thank God I'm in a much better place now.

And, you know, it seems like it's working. He is a lot mellower. You know, yeah, because I can't sweat the smart stuff. Because you were such an easygoing guy before.

You know what I mean? Listen, if you live in Miami, you drive to Miami, you understand what I'm saying. What were you saying, what were you saying to somebody today? '" It's okay, it's all right.

Maybe the guy's gotta take a shit or something. It's okay. Yeah, go ahead. " But yeah, but I tell you what I learned, which I did not know.

When you're ill, or what have you, you know, and you need to get some meds or whatever, you know, Ask the pharmacist, man. The pharmacist knows a lot more about the pills than the doctors. I didn't know that. And actually, the pharmacist is the one who put me on this, I don't know, what's that?

I don't know. - Ah, it's Eric. - Sorry, bro. - Don't take this time.

- Aren't you the one who told me, you told me to put, silence my phone? m. M. - I don't wake up.

He's not getting up tomorrow at all. - So I apologize for that. So you're lucky he's here? I found the most elderly person, the pharmacist, 'cause they have more experience, and I asked her, listen, this didn't work, this didn't work, that didn't work, this.

What do you recommend me? She says, look, stop taking all that garbage. Take this, Lisinopril. It's one of the oldest ones.

There's not that many side effects. The most common side effects is cough, but that'll last a couple days, and you need some water. And with the corona, it's just kind of natural. Yeah, really.

Mixes right in. I'll be right at home. So, you know, I've been on that. But, you know, now I know that, you know, I'm eating a lot better, you know, I'm exercising, you know, and all that, so I'm in a good place now.

Are you doing any supplements or anything like that? I am. I'm taking that CBD, bro, too. Yeah?

Yeah, 'cause it relaxes you. It tells you out. And I was against, not that I was against it, 'cause I'm not against anything. Right.

It's just, you know, it bothered me that how you, you know, you can smoke a joint in California, but you can't smoke a cigarette. You know, and that's the things that bothered me, but, you know, I'm taking it out on CBD, you know, it's, I want to get off the pill, you know, but I'm not a fan of pills, you know, I like to do things naturally, you know, so I might hire a nutritionist or something like that, just to get myself, you know, in the top shape, to eat right and stuff. com, it's very basic, you can type in practically anything, and it'll break down the research for any, anything. Really?

It's pretty fascinating. It's not one of those that no matter what you type in, it tells you you have cancer? Yeah. Because that's like the medical journals before you'd research whatever ailment you had.

Right. And it's a cancer. Cancer. No, it isn't to that extent.

It's more like it'll break down side effects and stuff like that and, you know, the positives of taking something, you know, like. So, you know, I'm looking into some supplements and, you know, they're all just fucking kind of, there's just junk jarbled in there, right? So if you start dissecting everything that's in there and you start breaking it down, you start understanding, alright, well this is bullshit, I don't need this, I don't need this bullshit, I'm not gonna take that, right? So, you know, when you're taking a med or something like that, you can just look it up and it'll tell you all the information.

What's this again? com. com, check it out. Yeah, I buy really expensive books and, like, there's information in there, like, motherfucker, like, I wish I had, you know, all you had to do is just tell me this shit, you know?

So through all this shit, I've never had anxiety in my life, because every time I took my blood pressure, and it was high, and this and that, and then one day I get to the office, and I didn't feel good, and my sister's diabetic, and I told her, you know what, can you, and my dad's diabetic, you know, it might be a raritar or not, so I tell my sister, can you take my blood sugar, and it was high, it was 146, and she looks at me, she goes, did you eat something, and I said no, so she made me a sandwich, and then I took it again, and normally it's the opposite, when you eat it, It goes up, and then I'm thinking, oh shit, now I'm diabetic, now, you know, all this shit goes through your mind, when you're not in the right state of mind, you know, and then some days I wake up, and I've never had anxiety in my life, but I mean, it's not bad at all, I mean, nothing that CBD wouldn't take care of, so, you know, sometimes I just, you know, I do the thing under the tongue, and I'm fine, you know, my blood pressure's good, and you chill, and I don't argue too much anymore, you know, it's not worth it, so far, it's only been five days. So, hey, it's a new record. Give me, yeah, give me... Can I get better writing?

You know, give me... You know, the reason why he's taking CBD. Let's be fuckin' honest. You know what it is, Mike, you know, you only live once, bro.

And, you know, sometimes... Look, I promise each and every one of your listeners and each and every one of us here, we're all gonna die with the same amount of money. We're zero. It's true.

We're not taking it with you. You know, so all that hard work, you gotta enjoy life and relax. Of course. And enjoy your family, you know.

And it's hard right now, man. It is. There's so much shit going on. It looks like the world's gonna end.

Fuck it, dude. Facebook is just so fucking depressing. There's a lot of experts on there, though. How about the news?

I mean, oh yeah, I mean, that's just a whole, like, it's a whole animal in itself, man, you know. And I feel for every single small business right now. I mean, just the decisions that you have to make on a daily fucking basis. Everything changes.

It's just atrocious. It's a daily thing. Look at today. I think they closed the bars in Florida.

right right just boop and like that could have affected us here yeah oh shit we got an event i was just so impressed by how quickly people went from medical experts to experts of race relations right oh in an instant on facebook in an instant everybody was an expert it's crazy like last time i checked everybody's american we should probably support all americans is fucking be done with this like i don't like i don't understand and you know it's like for me like i used i would post two or I don't see anyone. I don't see anyone. I'm not posting. Mentally, I'm just exhausted.

The thing is, you're not going to win, regardless of what you post. You're not changing anybody's mind. Yeah, but I would normally just post a cigar or something. Like, I don't even want to fucking...

Whatever you post is just the term political. It's like, oh. Oh, it's a light-colored cigar. Look at him.

Why always at Connecticut, Michael? The people that are more versed know what political stance the different companies have or some shit like that. But hey, you know, I mean, let me kind of digress. And I digress, you know, kudos to you for giving to the military guys, because, you know, Gurga was doing that for a while, and now, you know, you can kind of infiltrate that area.

Oh, we do that. We do that anyway. Listen, I'm a big supporter of the military, and I don't mind. " That's right.

You can't do this anymore, Jay. Yeah, dude. I bought you a fucking cake. You just got the cake.

You cost me a cake and a five-prat. You got the cake. Now we got to rethink this hierarchy. And, you know, I'm willing to back it up and say that that cake was probably the issue with your insulin levels, and that's what, you know, is where we're on this line, you know?

Correct. Everything goes back to Jack. Everybody gets a cake at the office. You know, and all zero's back to Jack.

You caused all this shit, Jack. Yeah, I blame Jack for that. Jack was over in Austin, Texas, and he was fucking egging me on last week. Really?

Yeah, so, you know. Because he got into it a little bit with Danny Vasquez. Right. He wasn't one of the recipients of the 2020 craft and him and Danny went at it in a big way and as that argument slowed down a little bit, you know, I was there.

It was playing around. Stoke it a little, keep it going. No, I wasn't really mad, you know, like, but it's fun to fucking, you know, so, but, but Danny hasn't said, like, mom's been the entire word, so I sent a box, like some, some Posanias to the Roma Craft guys, because Sean wanted some, so did Rosales. You don't have any.

I went to buy some, and you don't have any. I know. They all went there. So you gave them your last ones.

" So like, but I didn't get a response like, "You're a dick," or like nothing. Which, that's what you wanted. Yeah, I was wanting something. I was just looking for like, "You're an asshole," you know, or just something, and they gave me nothing.

" I was like, "Oh! Oh! Look at this! " He says that because he's in Austin.

He exactly is. Oh, he's hiding behind Jack. I don't think Danny would say this. Have you seen Mike lately?

I don't think he would tell you that if he's in Deltona. No. But, I mean, you know, as long as everything goes well, we'll be out there. The one thing we've all learned with Danny.

Dude, that's crazy, talking about that, bro. I mean, Skip had called me and told me he was going to do that. He goes, look, bro, I'm going to do something like Lozano Palooza. I go, bro, I don't give a fuck.

Do what you got to do. But I'm surprised because I'm making the decision August 1st for Lozano Palooza. And, you know, listen, he's a friend of mine and you guys are friends and I hope it happens for them, but I can't see that happening. When is it?

It's in September 5th. I'm making my decision August 1st to see what I'm going to do But because we still have two months because I know that takes a lot of planning and a lot of money and all that and and but the reality is that 85% of the deaths are 65 plus right and no no it would they allow to do it that's that's that problem that's the problem I'm just saying no listen listen I promise you one thing that this whole COVID is going to end during as soon as the election is right you know um so yeah you know the Rona the Rona it's Are they going to allow him to do it? You know, that's, you know, look, I hope they do. You know, I'm sure it'll be fun, it'll be great, but, you know, like even me, I mean, how do you have 200 people smoking cigars with a mask on?

You know, I don't, I don't... And they're hoping for 350. Well, I feel like, you know, the smoke pushes the virus down. It is.

I agree. It is an outdoor. You might be bullshitting, dude, but, you know, there's a lot of studies, huh? It is a complete outdoor event, so...

Well, let's hope they, let's hope, you know, let's hope they have it, dude. Hopefully he gets there. Will you be attending? I will be attending.

Will there be a, like a cage match between you and Danny? You know, he wouldn't agree to the terms. I asked for a contract and he said no, so. One hand, dude.

Put your left hand behind your back. Something like that. Make it even. One of those slap fights, man.

Have you seen those things online where they just lay out and slap the shit out of each other? You should just walk up to him and just hit him one time. I'm not angry with Danny. It's all good, you know what I mean?

Yeah, that's not fun. You got brass knuckles on the table that I'm looking at. Yeah, those are Greg's. That's Greg's.

I don't need that shit. Would you like ashtray Michael instead of us? No, I like ashtray Michael. But what I was saying is, what we've all learned about Danny is, Danny loves to give, but he's not a good receiver.

That's it. That's true. You know, we have that with, and he acknowledges it all the time. Our boy Hector.

Our boy Hector at the office, he likes to give. I've toned him down tremendously. We have no idea, dude. He would come in the office, I mean...

Guns blazing. my son's a prankster, dude. The shit that we do at the office, dude, it's nonsense. So, I get in the office one day, and my son's laughing.

" So, I go in his office, and I start. " And his daughter, he has twins, he adopted these twin girls from Russia, and I think they were like 15 at the time, 14, I don't remember. No, no, no, they were babies. No, no, when he adopted them, there were babies, but on the date.

He didn't adopt 15-year-olds. It's my turn. I mean, that's a task. Must have been 15, or I don't know when-- Yeah, yeah, she had her first date.

So, and he was all pissed off about that and all that, and I said, all right. So that day, I mean, that was a Friday. Saturday morning, we got to drive to Tampa. They had the Tampa Cigar Bash or whatever, what is it called?

Tampa Bash, yeah. Tampa Cigar Bash, yeah. So, I had the bright idea. The Monte Cristo.

Yeah, yeah. Who the fuck is Reggie? Yeah. So I had the right idea of Reggie.

I don't know if you remember Bad Boys when Reggie comes in. Of course. So we watched the video, I mean, like 20 times. Right.

And so we got it done. Now I'm driving. This is all in the SUV. Right.

I'm driving. My son's riding shotgun. So we portrayed, you know, the whole scene. And what's your name, boy?

Right. And he says, my name's Reggie, sir. You look dirty. You look dirty.

You ever fucked a man before? No, sir. So we did the whole video. Videotaped it.

And we sent it to Hector. Dude, you know, so he, of course, he laughed, but he says, "Fuck you guys," whatever. So the next day, the kid was supposed to be there at one o'clock. Now that's the time football starts, and it was a Sunday, and the Dolphins are on.

So I tell everybody, do me a favor, text Hector, and tell everybody, send him a picture of Reggie, send us a picture of Reggie. So, you know, he sends a picture of Reggie. He's hugging the kid, the kid comes in a tie, he's got this kid out nervous. He read the kid, the riot act basically in the backyard.

And then that kid, that kid just recently got arrested. True story, bro. In Tallahassee. He sends me a picture of the kid and I'm like, who's this?

He goes, it's fucking Reggie. And I'm like, who? He got a solid B&E. A solid breaking and entering.

That was like five, six years ago. That could have been his son-in-law. So, but wait now, like what kind of B&E? Because, you know, he could be having an incident with somebody and then he pushes open the door a little bit.

That's called peeking inside the door, you know, you know, you know, he could be yelling at somebody somebody trying to close the door and he's like, you know, I'm just saying, you know, I don't know, he had a serious mugshot there. Now, how would he know that? And how would he get that pictures? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hector's the one to share that with us. He probably flagged his name the minute that he got it. But the daughter, the daughter maybe had one or two dates. Yeah, one or two dates.

And it was over years ago. Yeah. Yeah, that's all of a sudden the picture. Is he still checking on that guy?

He's still checking on that guy. He's still checking on the guy. That guy can't fly out of the country, are you kidding me? He's on the no-fly guy.

Victor put him on the no-fly. Instant cavity search. We get information before anybody does. I don't know how he does it.

Hey, keep doing what you're doing, but we get information. So-and-so sold to so-and-so. How the fuck do you know that? I got my peeped.

Three days later. That guy's got resources. We're like, you're like, you're full of shit. Nothing came out.

Like three days later, there it is. What the fuck did you know? Right. He knows how to work, you know?

He knows how to fucking- Police contact you. Computers and people and you know. He's got a drone following Reggie around. I don't want to fuck with Hector.

Yeah, right now. At this moment. He's got a drone. He's got a drone on Reggie, yeah.

Poor Reggie. Poor Reggie. So you got anything new coming out? Has Corona really fucked you in Esteli or what?

Oh, it's fucked everywhere. We can't even go. There's no flights out there. We had some projects before that.

Of course, we do the Warhead every year. We come out with the Warhead, so that was done. I had a brand back in the day. It was a predicate brand called Asuka, which means sugar.

We're doing a flavor cigar, a vanilla-flavored cigar out of the Dominican. Like the brulee? Well, I don't know. This one does have a sweet tip.

I guarantee you there's no if, ands, or but. There's no if, ands, or but, but, yeah. We don't need to put out a sampler and test your palate. Dude, that shit was brilliant, bro.

I sold all my shit in fucking two seconds, man. It was crazy. So, you know, it was something that, you know, it's predicated that we have it. And listen, flavors sell, so it's not something that we make.

You know, I don't smoke flavors, but there's a lot of it. It's a good entry level cigar. Correct. It's a gateway.

And so we had that, we did it one time back in the day, and this was all, you know, before all this FDA and all this bullshit. So I said, you know, you know, let's bring it back. But again, we sold it at TPE. We were expecting it the first week of April, and this stuff pushed everything back.

So now we get it next week. We should get it next week, because DR opened up, you know, some factories opened up. So we're getting that, we're doing that one. We're doing the Warhead, but other than that, I mean, we're just doing some sizes and some of the brands, but there's not much you can do because the box guy was closed for a while, this guy, and even getting tobacco, it's hard now.

And with Junior's project, the Se Provencia that comes out every year, a different providence of Cuba, that really needs a show to showcase that, because it's really unique boxes, one-of-a-kind boxes, so you really want to display it somewhere, so that one in particular, we're going to push back to the TPE. Right. In hopes that that happens. If we have a TPE.

If we have a TPE. Right. Yeah. But we definitely, we might come out with another release before then, other than Warhead 6.

But that's, that's, that's, that's, that needs a show. Okay. That needs that. Let's pause right there so he can reset.

And then we just, I want to ask a couple other questions about TPE and PCA and shit. And then we'll, we'll get the hell out of here. All right. All right.

All right. Hey, it's Mike too. Want to be part of the show? com backslash the Cigar Hustlers podcast.

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Thanks for the support! Alright, go. Alright, so, we're back. And the question that we were kind of talking about was TPE.

Obviously, we have expectations of it being open. Do you think PCA is totally fucked now, after how this all played out? I don't know. I think that they needed this.

I think they needed time, you know, to regroup. I mean, you know. " But I just think it's done in the wrong time. It's real hot in Vegas, and it's very expensive to be there as an exhibitor.

Something needs to change. I think they need to get their hairs together and maybe invite anybody who opens up a new shop for free, do something, do some type of incentives. I've thought of different ways of helping. Look, I can make a cigar just for people to go to the trade show.

It don't freaking matter, dude. I mean, I can make it, and no disrespect to anybody, Fuente can make it, Pajon can make it, whoever can make it, and it's still not enough incentive for you to, you know, to warrant the amount of money that you spend there. Right. So, they need to come up with an idea of what it is, I don't know, I mean, make it fun, let's have a roast, I mean, you know, and then, you know, I roast Rocky Patel, Rocky Patel roast me or whatever, or whoever, and, you know, make it fun, make it, you know, make it exciting, you know.

Now, you're not going to fly to Vegas just to see a roast, but they got to come up and be creative. Right. " Because I can get three fucks who goes, but I'm going to tell you straight out, what I do care is what retailers are going to go. The less exhibitors, the more people are going to visit me.

Yeah, the better off you are. Yeah, if the people show up. But if they don't show up. But you've got to have a plan to have more retailers.

Right. You've got to do certain things like he was talking about. Absolutely. And, you know, and I think, you know, something's got to be done.

What that million dollar question is, I don't know. Right. Either the timing of the show. Sadly, I thought they can learn a lot from TPE.

You know. I think TPE is doing things, you know. Dude, that was a good, that was a good experience, man. Listen, if you've got to bring the CBD people in, I don't have a problem with that.

I don't understand why we wouldn't have brought them in in the first place. Right. I mean, like, the Vape people, they had, they kind of shoved them in the corner and like, you know, they redheaded stepchild, you know. I mean, that's a huge industry.

Listen, the CBD and whatever the fuck that industry's called, that's not going away. Right. The vape, maybe, but this is not going away. Right.

You know, I don't have an issue with inviting. There'll be more people. Right. You know, and some of these guys have maybe convenience stores, which carry cigars or have a small humidor or what have you.

Maybe you got an opportunity. Right. Give me the opportunity to try to sell to these people. Right.

But if nobody shows up, you're going to sell to those people anyway. Right. Yeah, it's the truth. You know, I'm not knocking them, it's the truth.

And it's so damn expensive, now I'm not blaming that on the show, but you know, 'cause I know the unions out there, you know, it's crazy, but, you know, listen to, what did they charge me, you know, I don't need to tell you, you know, but maybe your listeners, I mean, I had to pay a bartender for four hours, $750, and then $100 corking fee for my own alcohol that I brought. No shit. Wow. And they don't let you make coffee.

Look, I gotta have my Cuban coffee, we gotta hide to make Cuban coffee. And then they busted my balls, they told me, oh you can't do that, I said, bring me somebody who knows how to make the Cuban coffee, and I'll hire them. But you imagine, $750 for four hours, plus $100 corking fee. I said, you know what, let's get rid of the alcohol.

We're in the wrong industry. And I want to be a bartender. And you've got to be creative, even the waters, you know, Drew Estates and Zykar back in the day used to give out waters, but they had to have their local on it, because that means that they're testing out as a sample of their water or something like that. And it's gone crazy.

It's way too expensive. And some people don't make what, you know, make back what. I did the math. I did the math.

And I'll say, you know, you can sell a million dollars in the trade show, and you're lucky if you break even. By the time you spend everything, by the time you pay your employees, that you pay your commission, the discounts that you give, you know, it's crazy. It's crazy. You lose money.

You know, it's tough to break even. And listen, I'm okay with losing money if you open up a lot of new accounts. Right. And then, you know, you'll see the residuals later on.

- Long-term investment. - Long-term investment, but, you know, get me the guys there for whatever, and I'll continue going. Look, it's our industry. Would I support it?

Absolutely. I'll continue to support it. Whether I downsize or what have you, but I will continue to support it. And I really don't give a fuck what company exhibits or not.

You understand? I don't want to be the only one there because then maybe nobody will go, you know, but, you know, if we get a nice core people, you know, Why not Miami? Listen, I keep telling them, listen. I love it.

Okay, let's get a building. Listen, we've been through hell and back. Every single one of us has been this. Every single owner has been through hell and back.

Let's rent a big building, okay? We put some chairs. , you know? We rent the building for a week or what have you.

Throw some rug on it. Everybody have two or three tables, you know? Miami can hold it, you know? Find a venue.

I know it's hard to find a venue, but let's get somebody to rent us a big damn warehouse, and we can do it there. Who gives a shit how the fuck it looks? I don't go to see people how they're dressed or what have you. If everybody's in shorts, who gives a fuck?

But now, your attendee, you know, be a lot more people, you know? Or even Tampa, man. Listen, let's get good food. You know, let's have these carts outside or whatever, you know?

Everybody gets a free, the food trucks, everybody gets a meal, because the food in the Trachos is fucking garbage, right? I mean it's unedible, it's unedible, I don't know if you eat that slop, but I'll maybe eat a banana and a juice, that's as far as I do, you know, maybe have some food trucks out there, it would make it exciting, everybody gets a free meal or whatever, you can go to the food truck, pick whichever one you want, you know, and maybe we can do it in March, that it's not that hot, you know, something to that effect, but they have to do something different. For sure, completely. For sure.

But maybe not like a regroup. I don't know. It's hard to tell. It's hard to tell.

We'll see what the future, you know, holds. Alright, so you want to leave it on a note of advice, right? It's not so much advice. Words of wisdom?

I just said it in a shop today. An observation. It's an observation. You know how everybody, you know, back in the day, if you had to fart, you would cough?

Well now people fart not to hear your cough, you know, because you fart to cover a cough. Did you cough? No, I farted. I may have shit myself.

But I didn't cough, I swear I didn't cough. That's okay. I'm releasing the coronavirus via flatulence. Analy.

It's crazy. We're living different times, man. What a bad year, 2020. I mean, it's been...

How about all those people at the end of 2019 were like, "This year's You suck. Bring on 2020. Let's do it. Oh, good.

Nice idea. Be careful what you wish for. Bring them to me. Bring them here now.

New year, new you. Fuck out of here. When I was in Austin, I was talking to a bunch of guys at a cigar shop, and I asked them the question, when do you think we will look back on 2020 and be in a position that we were before COVID? That there's sporting events and concerts and no masks and no this, is it a year?

Is it five years? Is it ever going to happen again that we look back on and go, "Wow, 2020 was a crazy year, you remember that," and that it's still not people wearing masks everywhere and social distancing? I mean, I think we're a few years away from that. You think so?

I read four. Yeah, right? A few years away from that. It could be four years before the mask will go away.

The only plus from this whole situation is people are going to wash their hands a lot more. Yeah, sometimes. I think so, I mean, now, you know, before you go to the bathroom, I used to play poker, and one of some of the dirtiest people in the world of fucking poker players, they go to the bathroom, they hurry up because they don't want to miss a hand, and they take a piss or a dump, and they fucking, I'm like, you pig, wash your fucking hand. Because I'm touching those fucking cards, you know what I mean?

So, and now, you know, you go to the bathroom or what have you, and then you see everybody washing their fucking hands. Everybody will be carrying a personal hand sanitizer. Yeah, it's true. That would be great to own stock in this shit, you know.

I think that football season happens. I think that people will wear masks and shit like that. They announced today that the football season is going to happen. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me.

Well, I think what the Dolphins are doing is it's season ticket holders only. It doesn't matter. They're normally showing up. Like they won't be here.

So two people are going to go then? Just the two? I mean, you and Hector? We're going to have a better team this year.

You know what? You have like four teams you're a fan of. One of them usually does well. He tried to get on on our draft.

He tried to get on every single one. I tried to get you in. I appreciate that. First of all, let me clarify.

This guy was doing wardrobe changes during our fucking hour. And the first thing you said, I don't give a fuck about Tampa Bay, I just want to be honest. I did not say that! Yeah, you did.

First of all, there are two factors here, okay? Number one is I've been a New England fan my whole life, okay? I'm sure I hear that. That's rough.

Yeah. Well, you know what? It actually is kind of rough. When you're expected to win every single year, and the years that you don't win, the fucking, you know, look.

Nine Super Bowls, six wins, you've had it hard. Jack, no one's beating on the autistic kid in the room, bro. It is what it is. Miami's fucking terrible, you know?

Ouch. Okay, first of all. Second of all, I can't fly my kids to every game in Foxboro, so I had to pick a team locally that I wanted to support. So when Jax turned two, I got season tickets for the Bucs.

For the Bucs. I was like, fuck it, you know, I'll cultivate local fandom, right? And we'll start, and one's NFC, one's AFC, the only time that I'll ever, a game that would ever really fucking matter. Super Bowl.

Right. And at that point, okay, I'll go back, you know. My allegiances lie where I, you know, where I've grown. Jesus.

Why New England? I'm from Boston. You're from Boston? Yeah.

And now Brady comes to a ball team. How about that? How about that? He couldn't get it any better, huh?

How do you lose the greatest ball time and gain him in the same... It's amazing. Now, I will say this. I fucking agree with Tua in Miami.

I really feel that that kid has the ability to carry that team. If he doesn't get hurt, if he doesn't get hurt. In a suit. In a suit.

Yeah. And nobody was talking about that shit. You were. Right?

Yeah. I mean, pay attention, man. There was one other guy in a suit later on. Yeah, okay.

The guy that took the cell phone from his girlfriend when she stayed. Dude, that was great. That was great. I want that guy on my team.

Fuck that. My wife, every touch of my cell phone, I'll burn her fucking ass. Get the fuck outta here. That was great, dude.

Give me that! And thank God my wife ain't listening to the show. I love you. You can look at my phone all the time.

Yeah, so I think that Tua has, you know, an ability. We have to wait to see. We have to wait to see. Whether he's been hurt or not, that's fucking relevant.

He's a likable dude. But Eric makes a good point. You know, this guy played behind the best offensive line in college football and was getting hurt. Now he's going to the 30th best offensive line in the NFL.

Like, maybe 29th. It's good. You build your team in the trenches. Right.

That's how you win the game. The game is won and lost on the line. On the line. Yeah, I agree.

So, I would have picked, I didn't have a problem. I would have said the scoreboard. I would have picked three offensive linemen, you know, and then the next year I go with defensive linemen, and the third year I go with your skilled player. Listen, you can put, I wouldn't use Tom Brady, but you can use the second best quarterback out there with that offensive line.

It don't matter. If you don't have time to throw the ball, you're not going to be successful. Look at DeMarco Murray. He ran behind that great offensive line that Dallas has, and he was a stud.

When he went to Philadelphia, he didn't do shit. A good offensive line makes your defense better, makes your quarterback better, makes your running game better. It gives the quarterback time to throw, it gives a hose to the running back, and your defense is on the sideline. A good defense does not make your offense better.

Right. Because they're on the field all the time. That is correct. Okay, so I'm a big fan of offensive linemen.

And if you get five studs in the offensive line, it puts you in the game. You have an opportunity to win. Now, defense wins championships, but-- Best defense is good offense. Yeah, you know, I agree.

So, yeah, well, I didn't think you were knowledgeable in football, bro, when you went on that. Yeah. You surprised me here today. " But that's not true, he's a big Tampa Bay fan.

When John Carney was on. Well, yeah, so Carney and I are-- He tried to get on, by the way, but it didn't let him in or whatever. So I took Carney to the Bucs game where they played each other, right? " I'm like, "Dude, we're fuckin' real one, brother.

" Like, he lit up. So, you know, I purposely have tickets on visitor's side, so if I don't want to go to the game, it's easier to sell, you know? And, you know, he loved it. So, but now, like, a lot of people know I have those tickets.

Holy fuck, the requests that I've gotten. "Oh, what's up, man? We're gonna go to a game? " Like, I don't know how many games I'm going to go to this year, you know?

For one, with the whole Corona thing, and my kids, and for two, the value of 'em, right? Yeah, I got scammed with that Roll 1 one time. So I'm dating this, this is before I got married. So the Orange Bowl, so I get two tickets.

Roll 1. Ooh, Orange Bowl. Yeah, dude, Roll 1, I take this hot chick to the game. 50-yard line, Roll 1, I'm big bothered.

You get there, you can't see a fucking thing 'cause you got all the players right there. You couldn't see one play. I didn't get to see one play. You got a lot of players standing there.

That's why the newer stadiums, I mean, row one of the Dolphin Stadium was field level. Now they're up higher. Now they're up higher to prevent that. So, you know, funny story, Mikey, his football knowledge, Mikey was doing a...

Which Mikey? This guy. They're both Mikeys. He was doing an Instagram.

You had to predict the final score of like the Monday night game. And Thursday nights and stuff like that. Thursday nights. You had to predict the exact final score and then you got a five pack.

If nobody won, you went for the next week. I would parlay. And what I would do is, every time, it would be a different brand. That is so hard, though.

Exactly. So I come here, I come here, and it's like week five or six. Dude, the pot gets huge. Yeah, yeah.

But that can go on through seasons and seasons. That's what I said. Okay. That's what I said.

I come here, and I'm like, "Your fucking contest sucks. No one's ever gonna guess the final score of a game. Exact final score? " That's true.

Wow. Dude, like getting a perfect bracket in the NCAA. I think you have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting the NCAA. This guy puts up a million dollars every year.

Yeah. You're not getting that. I mean, that's, that's so hard. The final score will be easier than doing the NCAA, but, I mean, because you always round it.

I remember, well, I'm in Philly for the Super Bowl, the Eagles and the Patriots. Right. I'm sorry to bring that up. I don't want to talk about it.

Yeah. But anyway, we had, in the shop. And that's the end of the show. Oh, there we go.

Twin smoke shop. They have a, it's a fun shop. They're great down there. So, we're doing the boxes.

We had a $20 box and a $100 box, and the $100 box is big because you got $10,000, so you know, they were getting about $2,500 for each quarter, and the owner's son has 2-2, that's what he picked out, dude, you know the odds of you, 2-2. He won two quarters. He won two quarters, bro. The game started with the safety.

Yeah, dude, no, they missed the extra point, and that was one of the funnest times ever watching a football game, because I'm in Philadelphia, I'm rooting for the Eagles. It's tough. It's tough. " So, I think the Patriots come down, scored three points, and then the Eagles come down and they score a touchdown.

And I get up to go to the bathroom, and the guy misses the extra point. " I'm like, "What does that got to do with anything? You jinxed him. " One guy, dude, they're so superstitious.

One guy changed when they were on offense, the chair, and defense. They kept switching over. And if they drank, they had to drink with the left hand. It was crazy, dude.

It was crazy. What a great game. And they truly believe they have an effect on the game. Yeah, of course.

Sometimes I get the same way, you know what I mean? But I did a video, and I asked five of his customers. I said, okay, how long have you been an Eagle fan? All my life.

Okay, so, if you get to win a quarter, which is $2,500, but the Eagles lose, what would you pick? I can use $2,500. So you gonna sell the Eagles for $2,500? Yeah, dude, I'd take the $2,500.

So that's where the line is, the line is $2,500. Everybody's got their price. I'll take the $2,500, dude, that's all right. So I was in Esteli for New England Rams, I don't know, they were LA Rams, who the fuck knows where the hell they're going.

When they had the, yeah, this quarterback that played with Arizona, what was it? Jared Goff? Oh no, the last one, okay, but they faced off one time before. So, yeah, yeah, not the greatest show on earth.

Not the greatest show, okay. So, it was, the first half was a rough game, and I'm stressing out, now my wife packed my Brady jersey, and you know, it skips there, and the motherfuckers just breaking my balls, right? So I was like, "You know, my wife gave me my Brady jersey. " So I go, I put it on, and all of a sudden, boom, they start winning.

" You know, it's all because I put on this jersey. Dude, I'm in Alabama for the national championship game, and it's Alabama and Georgia, and Georgia was kicking their ass. I mean, it was a little close. And then this one guy, old guy, gets up and says, "I'm going home.

" You know, and I guarantee this fuckin' game will turn around. Yeah. I threw that out there, dude. Right.

Dude, I swear to God, he gets a 6-0 in blue, he starts smoking it. And they bring Tua in. And he starts bringing them back, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And the game winning, he throws that pass in overtime, I think they were in overtime, or whatever the fuck it was.

And they win the game. Right. And I tell them, "Listen, you old fuckin' man, let me take smoke, I never see you smoke anything else but my fuckin' cigar. I'm taking the fuckin' trophy away, I'm taking all this shit.

I got you this game. " And that was pre-blood pressure medicine, so you know, it was a little more aggressive, Erik Espinosa, you know, than the, you know, the go with God, Jesus loves you, Erik Espinosa, that we now have today. Are we at half an hour yet? Oh, dude, we've crushed it.

We're at 43 minutes. Yeah, we'll wrap it up here. It's a good point. So, we got an event to get to, but, dude, I appreciate you coming out here.

Oh, my pleasure, bro. It's about time, you know, I make it up here, dude. You know, with the travels, dude, this stuff, you know, the biggest problem I have is that I used to be a rep in Florida. Right.

" Bro, I'm not a rep anymore, you know, it's tough. I do the whole country, you know, but you're only three hours away, bro, and then as long as the scheduling is done right and all that, you know, I love you guys. With his health issues, he doesn't know when he's going to travel again. Basically, he's relaxing for a while.

Yeah, but I'm pretty good now, man. I got it under control now. To credit to you guys, he was like, "I'm going Friday. " I left the office Monday, dude.

I'm going to the office and I left. I get to the office at 10 in the morning and Richie says to me, "He left. " Well, we would never hold it against you, bro. No, but there's people that think it's bullshit, and this and that.

One thing about me, all I got is my word and my balls. I don't break those for nobody. I think I've missed two events in my life, and one was the COVID shit in Texas, and then the other one was the one that I got the flu in the Colorado one. I was making a good rock and mountain.

Shit, dude, MJ can play with the flu. I mean, what the hell? He was a bad shit. Let me tell you.

He had food poisoning. Dude, that flu, this COVID. He showed up to the airport, and he was like, I can't do it. I can't get on that plane.

He called me that morning. He's like, I can't get on that plane. Well, I'm sure that everybody on the plane thanks you for not getting on that plane. Yeah, especially now.

Right? Yeah, no doubt. All right, well, we got some cornhole to do, so let's go. All right, let's go.

All right, thanks for having me. Thanks again. Thank you, guys. All right, bye-bye.

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Hi, I'm doing, I'm Who's Thoey Raw? Yeah, we just don't have to do a single, uh, single podcast ever again. Perfect. I'm good, Mike and Mike.

How are you guys doing? The Hojo Deeb. Hojo! It's the Hojo!

You didn't even let him fuck it up all the way. I can get past Hojo! I don't even have to try it. We're gonna, we're gonna cover a lot of ground here, Mike.

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

All right, end this.

Show Notes

This week we finally have Erik Espinosa of Espinosa Cigars on the show!

Get come Come and listen in with Jack Torano, Erik Espinosa and the Mikes!

As always we hope you enjoy the show and please rate, review and subscribe on which ever platform you use!