Episode 25 Special Guest!!!

Episode Summary

In this special edition of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast, co-host Mike (Florida Cigar Club) turns the microphone around and interviews his usual partner, Cigar Hustler owner Mike Szczepankiewicz. The result is the origin story of the shop itself: Mike and his brother Greg sold a gas station in Deltona, Florida, leased a vacant building across the street, and planned to open "TNT Tobacco" — a tattoo parlor and head shop. The city's zoning rules killed the tattoo idea, and because the space had previously been a cigar store called Tobacco Trader, customers kept wandering in asking for cigars. A small box of sticks on the counter grew into a full humidor, a website (cigarhustler.com, bought on a whim over his brother's objections), and eventually the shop's new name.

Mike is candid about the business side: the hardest part wasn't opening, it was finally taking a first paycheck after years of funding inventory on personal credit cards. He explains why he avoids net-30 terms, why cash flow and consistent customer engagement matter more than anything, and why he thinks most retailers coast instead of creating urgency. He also vents about retailers who only stock the hyped SKUs — selling Neanderthal and CroMagnon Cranium without educating customers on Intemperance EC or the rest of the RoMa Craft portfolio.

The back half covers the brand side. Mike walks through blending at the Nica Sueño factory with Skip Martin and Esteban Disla — his brother created the Powstanie Broadleaf, Mike created the Habano, and after a customer vote came out nearly even they released both. Powstanie is now in roughly 150 accounts, with a limited SBC (Surrounded by Champions) release, the SBC 18 in San Andrés, coming at the trade show. He also details how Cigar Hustler became the distributor for Mombacho-area and other boutique brands: Fable (Mitul Shah of Mom's Cigar Warehouse), Guayamero (Esteban Disla), Chogüí (Victor, a former customer) and FQ Cigars (Matthew Hunt), including the FQ Proper in Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro.

Along the way: why he deletes any podcast that opens with a commercial, his goals for the show, his "Moby Dick" dream guest (Skip Martin), the standard questions — The Rock as his living cigar companion, Bobby Axelrod from Billions as the fictional one — and a #slapdick giveaway for a $25 gift certificate after Adam Acri won the previous week's La Palina contest unopposed.

In This Episode

1. 01
   La Palina Contest Winner
   Adam Acri wins the previous week's giveaway as the only entrant, and a new $25 gift certificate contest is announced.
2. 02
   From Gas Station to Tattoo Parlor to Cigar Shop
   How TNT Tobacco was supposed to be a tattoo parlor and head shop until Deltona zoning and a building's cigar-shop history changed everything.
3. 03
   Naming Cigar Hustler
   Buying the cigarhustler.com domain against his brother's advice and eventually renaming the brick-and-mortar store to match.
4. 04
   Cash Flow, Terms and the First Paycheck
   Why taking a paycheck was the hardest hurdle, why he avoids net-30 terms, and what most retailers get wrong about inventory and urgency.
5. 05
   Cigar Myths and Retailer Education
   Cut the top and light it — plus why shops that only push Neanderthal and CroMagnon Cranium hurt the brands they carry.
6. 06
   Cigars Everyone Should Try
   Recommendations for Intemperance EC Brotherly Kindness and the Fomorian candela from RoMa Craft, and why that candela stands apart.
7. 07
   Why the Podcast Exists
   Giving every level of the industry a voice, a hatred of ad-stuffed podcasts, and plans for spinoff shows like Advice from The Hustler.
8. 08
   Building Powstanie and the Distribution Portfolio
   Blending at Nica Sueño with Skip Martin and Esteban Disla, the Habano vs. Broadleaf customer vote, the SBC 18 limited edition, and distributing Fable, Guayamero, Chogüí and FQ.

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

Every day I'm hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling. Every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling. Welcome to a Cigar Hustlers Podcast, where we take a closer look at the people of the cigar industry, with your host, Mike and Mike. Hustle, Hustle, Hustle, Hustle, Hustle, Hustle, Hustle.

It's going out. Do you want to talk about your little weekend first? I don't want to ruin too much of it. I think we can go into that a little bit.

Oh, same for a whole other episode? Ooh, yeah, we could do that too. Do a double? A double-double.

Well, then we should get started then. Super aggressive producer. Super aggressive. There's a lot going on.

Yeah. Ready? Ready. One, two, three, go.

Hi, I'm Mike. And I'm Mike too. And this is the Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Special edition.

edition. Ooh, a special edition. Special edition, everyone. I am going to interview Michael this week for the show, mainly because we didn't have a guest lined up and we need a show for tomorrow and I think people would be interested in hearing a little something about you.

I feel like you set this up. Like, we didn't have anybody intentionally. Like, there were people that came in that we could have interviewed. Yeah, but it wasn't a good day or it wasn't a good time.

I do have some waiting to come in. There's a couple lined up. Exactly. But I held off.

And you're looking Welcome to Break the Hustler. Break the Hustler. First thing we have to do is choose a winner for the La Polina contest from last week. Ooh.

Yes. It's not hard to choose. We only had one entry. That's awesome.

Yes. So, Mr. Adam Acri. It's Acri.

Acri. Sorry, sir. Our most devoted fan, because he's the only one who entered the show. I like Adam.

I do, too. He's a good egg. So, we will be sending you some type of La Polina swag cigar combo thing of some sort. Excellent.

Yes. Yeah, I'm sure you have his address. Of course I do. He's a good dude.

He is. He's a good guy. So, again, congratulations Mr. Adam Acree.

Congratulations. There we go. Okay. So, are we going to do another giveaway on this one?

That's entirely up to you, because you would be the guest. We should totally do a giveaway. Oh, okay. We'll mention it at the end.

We'll do like a gift certificate on the Cigar Hustler. Oh. Yeah. Can I buy something for a penny?

No. Two cents. Oh, double. Doubled it up.

All right, so wait, so before you get started, I just want, I want to perfect, flat out say that I have no fucking idea what you're going to say to me. I don't know about your questions. There's no, uh, been no, uh, oh, didn't open my cigar, now it's getting all crinkly. Like there's, I have legitimately no idea.

Your questions that you've written down, I see you got a nice notebook over there that's out of my sight, at least as far as me reading. I'm not reading, but I can see that there are letters, and it looks like it's a page and a half, a little over a page long, so. Because I broke them down into different categories. Oh, which is exciting.

Okay. All right. So go ahead. Go ahead.

Damn, don't rush me. And I'm also across from you now. I'm staring right into your beautiful eyes. Yes, right into my eyes.

Instead of us interrogating somebody, you're interrogating me. Sorry. Yes. Are you nervous?

This way, I don't have to turn sideways, because then, otherwise, I'd be sitting, nobody can see me, but I'd be... You nervous? I feel like you're nervous. No, well, I don't normally have to carry the show and do all the questions.

I like this. So, yeah, I'm sure you're enjoying it. This is fucking fantastic. You're enjoying it very much.

Okay, first question. Uh-huh. How did you get into the cigar business? That's a great question, Michael.

Well, thank you very much. I thought it'd be a good place to start. Ah, so, I guess it all started, um... The cigar industry wasn't something that I was looking to get into, and my brother and I like to say that we didn't choose the cigar industry.

The cigar industry kind of chose us. My brother and myself and another partner owned a gas station that wasn't too far from this current location, and we- Almost basically across the street. Yeah, pretty much. And we had sold that business, and we didn't know what the hell we were going to get into.

So, we saw that there was a vacant building across the street. So you had already gotten rid of the gas station? Yeah, we sold it. Okay, originally I thought you were in the process of getting rid of that and you saw the location across the street that was in it.

No, maybe. I don't know. But I think it was about to be sold or it was just sold. I was just snapping her finger trying to get her attention, but it was the letter.

Yeah. It was about to be sold or it was sold and we needed another opportunity to build another business, so we saw that this place was vacant. We spoke to the landlord and got a decent rent to get going, and when we opened up this place, we had no idea that we were going to do cigars. It was going to be a tattoo parlor.

Oh, a different life you would have if you were covered in tattoos. I would look totally different. You have tattoos everywhere. Were you and Greg going to be the tattoo artist?

No. Just tattoo people? No, we were just going to hire people. Have you seen Greg's handwriting?

I'd love to see tattoos he put on people. What would you put on people? I could draw a mean stick person. Specialize in circles and stick people.

I would like an in-depth American flag on my shoulder, like, how about a stick person? So we were going to do that, and we were going to make it a tattoo parlor and a head shop, all kind of in one, because we felt that those would be good margins for a business. so uh make a long story short the city please draw it out we have a whole hour to fill here don't you worry i can draw this motherfucker out this is gonna be two parts to make a long story short uh not to interrupt but speaking of two parts i don't know you've interrupted me every fucking time at this point scurling's uh show is number one in the last three months oh we usually do the updates at the end i just do that i just read that a minute ago i'm sorry but you were Can I finish now? Yes.

Can I finish? Sorry, you can finish. Okay. So anyways.

Dennis was the best. Okay. Unbeknownst to us, the vacant building was actually a cigar store prior to. So people came in asking for cigars.

In the meantime, the city of Deltona, in their infinite wisdom, would not permit us to be a tattoo parlor. The building was not zoned properly for tattoos, which had to be, which was at that point, was classified as in the same section of adult entertainment. So then the strip club idea wouldn't have worked either? No, that was definitely out.

It wasn't even close. It's so much fun hanging out here every day. Yeah, right. Interviews.

I'm just going to shut down. Why don't you tell the fucking interview? Go ahead, tell the story. This is another Island Gem episode.

So, I'm gonna start nodding, and fucking, this shit will be 15 minutes, and I will just, mm-hmm, yeah. Okay, sorry. Sorry. City of Deltona did not let you have it.

I feel like you need to, like, maybe smoke some weed or something before you do the show, or take a downer or something. Maybe some Benadryl or something. I think I'm immune, 'cause we've tried a couple of things and nothing works. Nothing to take.

Nothing to take about headaches. So, um, now what the fuck was your question? How did you get into the cigar business? Yeah, so people started coming in asking for cigars.

So we started off with a really small box that we put on the counter, and we started with, I think, Casa Magno's and some other shit. We had no idea what we were doing, and that's just kind of parlayed. So the first few years of us being open, nobody took a paycheck, and every dime went into building the brands Mike Barrett: And expanding in our product line in the store, eventually we got to a point where cigars were the means of this business, and we decided to rebuild a humidor that used to exist in the store, built that up, and it started with three shelves on each side, it looked really barren, but we just kept going and going and going, and now we have a humidor where you can't put another box of cigars in there without eliminating something, which is kind of your You're given average, quasi-successful retailer, they have no space. What was going to be the original name for the business, seeing it was going to be a head shop and a tattoo parlor?

TNT Tobacco, which is kind of like a double thing, but it was tobacco and tattoo. Oh, TNT. Uh-huh, TNT. Tobacco and Tattoo.

What's really funny is some of the wholesalers that we've done business with this whole time still have us under TNT. Yeah, I know you still get mail every once in a while from TNT Tobacco. But apparently this place was called Tobacco Trader, but it was vacant for, I don't know, four or five years before we came in, and still people walked in looking for cigars. Four years.

Wow. And now you've been here, what, almost seven? This is our eighth year. Eighth year?

No parole. Wow, congratulations. Thank you. And then when did the cigar hustler name get born?

I like the fact that you're nervous. I feel like you're nervous. I'm not nervous. I'm digging this right now.

I'm not nervous. You do like when I feel awkward and nervous. This is fantastic! So, within the first year of creating it, I decided to build a website.

My brother told me that I was out of my mind, that it wouldn't be successful, and yet I was still adamant about creating it. And I looked up the domain Cigar Hustler, and it was available. So, I put the domain up, started putting up products, and building the site, and eventually, it's kind of formed its own being, like, it's, - It just kind of developed, so at that point it made sense to rename the store Cigar Hustler, because... To go with the website, that makes perfectly good sense.

Yeah, that's what we were known for. And now you are known as the Cigar Hustler. I'm the Cigar Hustler. You're the Cigar Hustler.

Yeah. And your brother is the Cigar Hustler. He's plural. Plural.

But we keep him locked up. He's not allowed to go out. Yes. He's more of a, he's the numbers, systematic individual.

And his personality is, you really either love him or you hate him, right? So we don't let him out too much. But when we do let him out, you either love him or fucking hate him. Either way, it kind of works.

Yeah. Because you remember both people that you love and that you hate. But if you hate the guy, you probably don't want to do business with him. That is true.

Yeah. Unless he's got something you have to have. Yeah, that's true. All right.

What was your biggest hurdle getting into the spare business? The biggest hurdle was probably Well, you kind of fell into it. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't You're not like the average cigar store guy that started the shop, planning it to be a cigar shop. So one thing that I've seen in my travels is that retailers vary, and the majority of them suck, to be honest, which is fine.

That's what they choose. It's their business model. It's all good. It's your normal retired guy that doesn't really aspire to create or build or develop a business, they just want to make enough where they get to take home a decent paycheck and pay their bills, right?

That definitely wasn't us. That wasn't what we intended to be. We were doing this to develop and create and make money, right? Well, you guys are obviously younger than your average shop owner or guy that starts to shop.

Yeah, maybe, but I've seen some young guys in the industry, too. I would tell you that our biggest hurdle was taking our paycheck, was taking our first paycheck. Because in any small business, your cash flow is the most important thing to have, right? The ability to purchase product is by far the most directive thing that you can do for your store.

So, if you're not taking care of that, if you don't have the ability to order boxes of cigars and pay for them, you're kind of fucked. So, you know, it's… Well, yeah, you can't sell what you don't have. Yeah, the intriguing part to me is the guys that, the retailers that are kind of getting started or slightly established, and they look for a thing called terms, like net 30, so they look to pay out their cigars, their debt in a month, which is fine, you can do those things, those sort of things, if you have a pulse on your cash flow. Unfortunately, the majority of retailers don't.

They don't. They just buy, and now, because they wanted to get a fucking garage. And now they're sitting on boxes of cigars because they don't have the flow of that consumer to sell that many products. So I think our biggest hurdle was finally taking a paycheck.

Oh, that's interesting. I have everything that could be. The biggest problem for you guys was taking money. Oh, yeah, man.

I would tell you the first two years of us being here, I mean, I put everything on my credit card. I'm talking about electric bills, my cell phone bills, fucking everything, and just let them go up until they defaulted, and then I finally straightened them out when I could afford it, but you know, that's kind of the sacrifice that it took when you're not financially backed by anybody, and you only have X amount of money to make things work, you do what you can to survive, right? Right. Well, that's what you guys have gotten where you're at.

Yeah, so I think to this day, Wells Fargo hates me. Hey, you guys don't take terms from anybody. No. No, we do not.

There might be one or two accounts, but in general, we try not to. We like to try and own the product that we have. The importance is to always have that level of urgency to create and sell. I think a lot of retailers don't have that urgency.

" Alright, and people come in, you know, maybe once in a while they'll send out an email, maybe once in a while they'll tell you about an event that they may or may not do. Like, there's no consistency. And I think the reason why that is because of the fact that there's no urgency. So, it's important as a retailer to create, like, almost a synthetic urgency and address things that are important, but not urgent, right?

Before they become urgent and you're going fucking belly. You want to move stuff before you have to move it, so your email blasts and all those things that you do, creates a buzz, let's say. Well, the action is simple. The action is consistency, right?

I got one, and it's quiet. The action is consistency. You have to consistently engage your customers, consistently give a shit about them, and always present to them product that's going on, right? How is that?

How is that? That's not quiet. That's not quiet? That's all right.

It's a cigar. How's it now? Oh, now it sounds like a rush of air. Now you can tell with the air conditioner's broken again.

So, yeah. All right. What was your biggest joy in starting the business? It might be the same answer.

So, I don't know. When I was young, when I was younger... Because you guys have done a lot of different businesses. Yeah.

In your short, young life. And this one seems to have lasted the longest. I guess, yeah, well, you know, I mean, what's fifth time's a charm, I guess. My greatest joy, so I would say that I love to create and engage customers and listen to people, so for me, that was always, the cigar industry has really opened up that opportunity for me to meet people on a vast level from all walks of life, and you get different experiences from all of them.

For me, that's the most fascinating thing. Take you, for example. We met you, and now you have a key and your own alarm code, the whole shebang, but you do something that not a lot of people do as far as your line of business, and you got attorneys hanging out here, you got doctors, but you also have garbage truck drivers, you got handymen. You've got electricians.

I mean, like, and all walks of life. And that, to me, is the most fascinating thing. And that's probably what makes me the happiest in this industry is the opportunities to meet so many different people. Was that your question?

Not directly, no. But that question was actually going to come later. So go ahead and revert back. What was the question again?

In starting the business, what was your, the one moment where you thought, okay, this is it. I've made it. I'm happy. Is this something I want to do?

I don't just want to turn and burn and move into something else? Well, I mean, I've got to be honest. I'm not happy. I don't think that...

You're not happy with your business? No, I mean, I'm not. No, not at all. It's not big enough.

Well, it's never big enough, but still, I mean, I guess "satisfied" wouldn't be a good word either. No, because, you know, I think that the minute that you're content, you're dead. you stop kind of growing, right? So you haven't had that moment yet.

No, I love this industry, and I definitely love what the brand and the shop has become. But I wouldn't say that I am satisfied or happy with what it is because I want it to always be better. Very nice. Very nice.

All right, next question. What is a common myth about the cigar industry? Holy fuck, dude, I mean... Just pick one, I know there's several, but pick the biggest one.

Biggest one to you. Ugh! Other than the one that everybody thinks we're just sitting around smoking cigars all day, you know, shaking hands and saying hi as people walk in. So, you know, I'm gonna do my best to minimize this, because I really feel like this is gonna, we're gonna kind of develop a different podcast that we were discussing, you know, advice from The Hustler, and I really don't want to, I mean, we could talk about this for fucking days.

Well, we could skip it, but this question came up before we had that conversation. Yeah, that's what you were saying, yeah, so, huh, I think the most common misconception is how to smoke a cigar, right? And I'm just going to keep this as vague as possible because I don't want it to go out into the next level of a podcast. But my good friend, one of my best friends in the industry, Jeff Moutet of Riverside Cigars, I mean, he said it fucking cut and dry, very simply, he goes, "There are two requirements for you to do as a cigar smoker.

Number one, cut the top, right? " So, when you hear all these other bullshit stories about this is how you light it, and yadda yadda yadda, like that is the biggest misconception, I think, and nobody's really Cuban anymore, with the exception of Zee. Well, you remember that guy that came up to me at the IPCPR the year I went and taught me how to taste a cigar, and he would... Oh, yeah.

That in itself is kind of insanity to me and it's kind of unfortunate, you know, that like FDA is looking to regulate the cigar consumers as a whole and protect everybody. I don't really think there's a need to worry because new consumers have no fucking idea how to smoke a cigar. And it shows, it definitely shows. And, you know, your Uncle Bill doesn't know how to smoke a cigar either.

So, you know. Right. But as long as you enjoy doing it, I mean. Yes.

That is very true. You know, if you like to just power puff your way through, or if you like to slow burn it. There's so much to say regarding this topic. Yes.

So, it's like. We'll move on. But, I mean, all I can say is, it is your cigar, and you smoke it how you want to smoke it. There is no right or wrong way.

The fact of the matter is, there's two simple requirements. Cut the top and light it. right right that's all there is to it other than that microphone just fell okay uh if there was one place in the world you could smoke a cigar where would that be if there was one place one place i mean i think i get to do that every day to be honest and that's just at my house Sitting on my patio. So there's no dream location on top of the Eiffel Tower or the Great Wall of China?

All that's just kind of materialistic to me. Sitting on a yacht? Well, they're different locations. Yeah, I mean, those locations are cool, but it's not, I don't know, I mean, I would love to see some of those things in the world, but I don't really, I'm not really concerned about smoking a cigar in those spots.

I would one day really look forward to owning a house on a lake and having the ability to smoke my cigar there every evening. Well, there you go, then. So, I mean, that would probably be, but, you know, I already kind of live a part of that by hanging out at my house and smoking the cigar there. As boring as that may sound, you know, I don't need to smoke a cigar in a fucking spaceship or anything, you know what I mean?

I'm a simple man. I'm a simple man. Okay, what is your biggest success in the industry so far? Biggest success?

It has to be our brand, the Postanya lines, the Broadleaf and the Habano, for sure. How many locations are you in now? I think that we're in about 150 locations. It's been out how many years now?

I think a little over two. That's not bad. Yeah, I think that it has ability to be more, but you know, You're kind of selective on who you work with, and it's very important for me to cultivate the relationship with the retailer and have them believe in the product, so if I'm not doing that, and it doesn't make sense for me to open up a product to a consumer or a retailer that's just going to take one order and put it on the shelf, right, because at the end of the day, our quantities are so small and so limited that that would just be a waste of time and it would actually hurt me. We're going to hurt another retailer who believes in our product and who may need it and is now on backorder because it's sitting on some slapdick shelf.

Right, right. So that's definitely something that I've learned from my mentors, Skip and Michael, over at Realm of Craft Tobac. So, you know, be choosy about who you open, and it's important to cultivate and establish those relationships. Skip just made, I mean, who knows, I guess there's a play tomorrow, but Skip just made a big post.

They're cutting back a little bit on places. I think that it's a constant battle, and he may be announcing that, but that's something that's always existed to some degree. The fact of the matter is that if you just sell Neanderthals, what good are you to the brand? If you just sell Cro-Mag craniums, I agree with that.

That doesn't fucking help you. You know, if you're not educated, especially when it comes to RoMa Craft products, because they have such a wide variety of cigars, they really do cover almost all the bases for a cigar consumer, a premium cigar consumer. Right. So, if you're not educating your consumer on the Intemperance ECs, the Ecuadorian Connecticuts, you know, your intro level, or a guy that likes to smoke something lighter, and you're only focusing on the chromat craniums, the chromat cranium is going to sell itself, the Neandol is going to sell itself, you know.

But when you educate your consumers on all the other products that they carry, all of that will sell itself. Right? Right. So that's what's important is to constantly educate your consumers.

And as a retailer, if you check the fuck out and you only sell what's in demand, then you're a waste of fucking time. Right? Exactly. It doesn't make any sense.

It doesn't make any sense as the wholesaler and it definitely doesn't make any sense as a retailer. So, yeah. All right. Okay, what do you think is one cigar that everybody should try?

okay, we'll just... Well, it's kind of like, is that what's your favorite cigar? No, no, no. We're gonna hit you with the questions later.

I couldn't let you off the hook. Everybody wants to hear your answer to the questions. Okay. what's the question one more time?

What is one cigar you think everybody should try? Maybe not necessarily your favorite, but maybe there's one that is a good representation of the industry or... Well, okay, without it being, I would love to say it's a Post-Signal Habano, but that's definitely not the case. I would say that the one cigar that everybody needs to try would either be the Intemperance EC Brotherly Kindness, or the Chromag from Morian, which is their Candela wrapper, which is a green wrapper.

The reason why I say that is because those products are such high quality and there's such a great flavor profile to them. It's a cigar that you can introduce to anybody, whether they're an old-school smoker that smokes every day, or a person that's looking to smoke a cigar for the first time, those cigars fit both formats, and it's a true testament to the product that Nika Sueño is producing. So, those are the two cigars that I would recommend for anybody to try. Must-haves.

Very good. I'm going to wait, I'll elaborate a little more. So what's really cool for me about the Candela wrapper is, you know, there are a lot of... You're not a Candela fan, generally speaking.

No, I'm not. I don't smoke, the only Candela that I smoke is a Fomorian. And the reason why that is is because the filler in the Fomorian is the same as the Chromag and the Aquatane lines in the EMH. And, you know, a lot of people put some bullshit together and throw a Candela wrapper on it and it tastes like shit.

But the Aroma Craft one is a true testament to the filler and the binder that's inside of that cigar, because you do get a lot of an extreme complexity and extreme flavor profile from those cigars, and it'll hold, it'll destroy any candela, other candela in the market, and I challenge anybody to fucking, to think otherwise. Okay, well. There you go. You want an answers, pal.

You want a true interview? I'll suck up time without an issue. Oh no, this is going very well. This is going very well.

Heyo Dre, I got something to say. What's the NNWA or some shit like that? Okay, we're going to get on another topic. Yes.

Okay, the podcast itself. Yes. Alright. Let's talk about the podcast.

Why did you want to start the podcast? What was the reason behind? I think you've touched on this lately at the preview of a couple of our other shows, but let's get into it a little bit here. So, for me, I feel like there's a lot of misinformation in the industry.

I feel like there's a lot of people that have stories to tell that don't get the opportunities to tell their stories and how they got in the industry. Not only that, but there are people in this industry that have worked on podcasts, radio shows, YouTube channels, all that bullshit, to solely promote themselves, and I don't think that that's what this should be about. So, for me, I wanted to create something where everybody kind of had a voice in this industry, and you kind of got to know anybody, whether they were a sales rep, a cigar consumer, a brand owner, a manufacturer, the whole gamut. And I think it's important to me that they have an avenue where they can convey their thoughts and where they've been in the industry without getting a, "Oh, okay, hold on one second, right now, our free shipping on all this, but we don't need that shit".

So, I'm just not a fan of it. And you know, it's the biggest turn-off for me when I jump on a podcast, whether it's cigar-related or not, and the first five minutes I'm instantly thrown into a commercial. So I delete the fucking podcast, and I don't care about what they have to say. I don't want to hear it.

Really? You don't go back to them? No, I don't. Because I don't...

I mean, like 80, 90% of them start out with a commercial. I ain't got that kind of time, man. I don't want to fucking... I don't care.

I don't give a shit about your product. It's not important to me. And you marketing it to me is insignificant. I'm never going to buy it from you that way.

The only way that I'm going to become a consumer of yours is either through word of mouth or me just kind of discovering you on my own, not through a commercial. So, I think that it's unfortunate that that's kind of the way that the podcasts have already moved towards, is, you know, act now and we can put in this fucking commercial. Oh, they hit us up all the time to put them in. Yeah, I'd rather, I'd prefer...

There's even a pre-programmed button you just hit and boop, and it goes in. Right, and now a word from our sponsor. Right. Fuck your sponsor.

We'll do this just because. Just because, just to have fun. What are your future plans for the podcast? Where would you like it to go?

What do you want it to end up doing? I mean, other than, I guess, we're changing the format here around a little bit. Well, it's cool, because, you know, that's what I, the couple things that I love about the cigar industry is, like, we are the creators. We can do whatever we want.

Right. I mean, FDA is working on fucking that up as far as creating a cigar, and they're doing a good job of it, but, you know, as far as this podcast, we can take it any direction that we want, which I love. So, I think moving forward, you know... We're about almost exactly six months in now.

Yeah. Which is cool. Yeah. And we're still doing it.

We're still here. So I think that, um, I like that we're kind of, we're looking to expand as far as different things, right? So the interviews and the storytelling, I think is always going to be an integral part of it. Um, I think having other people come back on the show so they can talk about what's going on in their lives or what's going on in the industry, um, will, will be another interesting aspect.

I'd love to have, you know, for one, I think I want to put Jack Taranio on blast. So if we could totally get him back here sooner than later, I think that would be fantastic. Kind of see what he's doing, stuff like that. Eventually, you know, maybe one day we'll have Skip come out here and do an interview with him.

That'd be cool, too. But that in itself could probably could be a fucking eight part interview. I like the advice thing that we're working on as far as giving our opinion on how things should be handled within the cigar industry, whether it be from a retailer level, a manufacturer level, or a wholesaler level, not really a manufacturer, but a wholesaler level, stuff like that. So, you know, I can see it going in three or four different directions as far as also meeting the retailers, I really dig that when we have good retailers come out and interview with us, and you kind of listen to their struggles, how they got to where they're at, and what they're looking to become moving forward.

So, I think we've got a lot of cool things in store. Great. You know? Good.

Okay, what would be your dream interview? If you could get anybody, it doesn't have to be a cigar person, but if you could get anybody in here, other than, you know, one of your sports heroes. But it's kind of weird as far as, if they're not in the cigar industry. Well, it would be for this particular show, but maybe they still like cigars, but, or smoke cigars, and, I mean, with the spinoffs that we're doing, or the other versions, we could really have anybody in here at all.

Yeah, that's true. You know, it wasn't a sports show because I'm going to just sit here and push buttons and not talk at all. For my dream interview, I honestly don't know because, I mean, man, I have no fucking idea. How about somebody in the industry?

What's a person in the industry you would just love to have if we could get him? A person in the industry? It would have to be Skip. Skip?

It would have to be Skip. Because, you know... He's kind of our... Our unicorn?

Well, I was gonna... At this point? What was the story with the white whale? Oh, our Moby Dick?

Our Moby Dick, yeah. He's kind of our Moby Dick because we have tried to get him several times. Well, you gotta get him, well, you know, but it's also to our fault as well as to why he is. Well, because of the way we work the interview.

Right, we refuse to do... Yeah, we could phone interview him anytime. Or Skype, but fuck that. I feel like that's, you know, I just don't agree with that.

It just sounds like shit, it just doesn't, to me, it translates as no commitment, you know, so, and what's kind of remarkable to me is, like, the cigar industry in itself is big, yet small, like, everybody kind of knows everybody, and there are definitely a lot of people outside of the Nica Suenio family that are renowned and yada yada, fucking been in the industry for 30, 40 years or whatever, and they would be, There are many great interviews, but at the end of the day, I don't think that, to me, they're not as significant as what's going on in the Nika Suenio factory and the Romacraft guys, so yeah, I would love to have the angry, opinionated Skip Martin on the show. What's amazing, too, is like, I hear some of the other interviews, I'm like, you guys just don't know what buttons to push. And like, I fuckin' know, so like... Well, that's because you have such a personal relationship with him.

It would come off really well. Yeah, I think it would be pretty awesome. That might be an interview I have to drink beforehand. He intimidates me just a little bit.

That's awesome. That's actually how I would open up the interview. I just want you to know, right now, Michael is intimidated. Michael is a little intimidated, just so you know.

Okay, now we're going to do the questions. The standard questions that everybody gets. Can't let you off the hook. You know what's really funny about the standard questions is I haven't really put a lot of thought into answering my own standard questions.

These are my own standard questions. Oh, okay. This should be interesting. First question.

What one person, living or dead, would you like to share a cigar with? Fuck. I mean, I would say, I think that the answer to that question would have to be The Rock, Dwayne Johnson. Oh, really?

Yeah. Does he smoke cigars? No, I have no idea. Probably not.

He's probably a really healthy guy. Probably doesn't smoke at all. Probably, too easy lifting weights and working out. Yeah, but you know, he was always kind of a guy that I idled growing up, right?

And he's, I've kind of watched his- Did you run around doing the eyebrow and- Totally, fucking people's elbow? Asking your mom what- It doesn't matter. Yeah, I'd be like, do you like pancakes? No.

It doesn't matter! But like, I mean, I did the whole, I had a mural that I painted when I was younger on my wall and shit, of the Brahma Bull busting through the wall and shit. Oh. Like, the whole shebang.

So, it's kind of been interesting to me to see how he's developed in his career and the direction that he's gone in life. So, you know, yeah, Winston Churchill would be fascinating, and yeah, there's a lot of more fucking, you know, there's a bunch of people out there that I think would be fascinating. So, you know, that guy that I can connect with and see kind of the build up as his career was, would definitely be The Rock. The Rock.

You weren't expecting that shit, were you? No, no, we've never discussed The Rock at all, no, I was, like, Peaky Blinders or something, I was, that might come up later, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right. Best piece of advice anyone ever gave you? It's the best piece of advice someone ever gave me, so, I mean, I'm a big, I like the personal development shit that people have kind of put out in books and, you know, podcasts and stuff like that, so... As long as there's no commercials.

As long as there's no commercials, yeah, I mean, I dig a lot of that stuff, so... What podcasts can you find without a commercial? you know you want me to do a shameless plug sure do a shameless plug i listen to a brian buffini he doesn't do commercials he does no pod he does no commercials not even his own books and tapes and no i mean i'm sure that he integrates that in conversation you know but it's not but there's no actual that's not the priority you know the word from our sponsor right you know call 1-800 brian buffini yeah get my tapes and books yeah none of that shit i mean like when his book drops He'll talk about it, or something of that sort, but nothing elaborate. Right.

What was the question? Oh, best piece of advice. Best piece of advice. Yeah.

Sorry, best piece of advice. I'm a cigar in my mouth. There are two things that I think always kind of stick with me, and I always make my boys recite it as a positive affirmation in the morning and in the evening, and that's good, better, best, never let it rest until my good is better and my better is better. And my better is best.

And I think that that is a great model to live by. And, you know, it's great that if you're doing something good, can you make it better? And, you know, as you're making it better, how can you make it your best? So I'm a big believer in constantly refining and sharpening your tools and becoming better in every avenue of life.

So that would be one. The other one would be always leave it better than you found it, you know? Oh, that's also part of the mission statement for the shop now. That we just initiated as of today.

As of today. At my first employee meeting. Yes, you did. You most certainly did.

But that's a simple thing to live by, right? Yeah. And not a lot of people do it. I mean, I see it everywhere I go.

You're working out in the gym, people leave weights and bullshit everywhere. They go and clean up in the locker rooms, and shit's everywhere. It takes two seconds to leave it better than the way you found it, right? If you're gonna go and get into the cigar industry, then it'd be one thing to just become a retailer and clock in, sell a couple products and clock out, or you could actually put in the effort to do everything that you possibly could to make this industry better than the way you found it.

Very nice. So deep. And you have a thing about The Rock. All these things I'm learning.

Alright, what fictional character would you like to share a cigar with? I mean, there are others in that favorite cigar realm, right? I mean, Tom Hardy is a great actor. He's a big-time cigar guy, right?

So, like, I could have definitely said that guy without question, you know? I mean, I've seen his work and stuff, but I don't know anything about him personally. He doesn't seem like he would be as nice a guy personally as The Rock. Maybe it's just the characters he plays, though.

Because I've never seen any interviews or anything that he's done. I don't think that anybody really likes the media. Well, you could use it. But of course, The Rock could be the biggest asshole in the world and he just knows how to work the media.

Right. Very true. I mean, when Mr. Holt came in here from Southern Draw, he is the same guy that you see on his little live shows as he was sitting in here, even without the microphones on him.

I mean, you don't, you don't see that very often in any industry. Right. Okay. Okay.

Fictional character. What would one fictional character like share a cigar with? Fictional character. Now this one I have thought about, that would have to be Bobby Axelrod from Billions.

From Billions. Yes. I mean, that guy is, that character is pretty fucking amazing. And if you haven't watched Billions on Showtime, I highly recommend it.

the dialogue is fucking bar none um i haven't seen any of the new season yet it's pretty amazing it's pretty it's really good stuff so uh and you know he's um he's ruthless but honest and um i don't know i think he would be a fantastic character fictional character to smoke a cigar with would he give you the time though i mean on the show he's a very busy man i'd have to be important enough you have to be important that's right all right now people get a hold of you that's the last question your social media is i mean we always put this up anyway so how do people get a hold of me your personal phone number well i could be you could find me via smoke signal um my instagram name is at cigar hustler um my my facebook name is mike stepon kevich is my last It's S-Z-C-Z-E-P-A-N-K-I-E-W-I-C-Z. That's S-Z-C-Z-E-P-A-N-K-I-E-W-I-C-Z. I'm guessing the Elysian flight was okay with the missing P? Did I get all taken care of?

Yeah, no, I fixed that. It took me 45 minutes, but I fixed that. It was actually a pleasant flight, too. And the wing didn't fall off, which is nice.

Well, they just have the one plane, so it always works. That always works. Yeah, yeah. com.

You could call the shop at 386-574-3556. And I may or may not be here. But, you know, hopefully I will be. And if you get really lucky, I'll give you my cell phone number, but I'm not going to put it on this podcast, because I know that there's actually eight of you that listen.

Maybe the people from Jordan will. I'd say eight of you listen, and of the eight, seven of you probably have my number. It was 64 last week. 64?

64. On the release date. Very nice. Yeah.

So, are we going to do that too? Are you going to do the overall? The update? Yeah.

No, I didn't bring any. I didn't write all that down. I just looked it up today. Goddammit, Mike.

We're at just under 4,000 total downloads on Podbean. That's really the only one that keeps track anymore. Oh, we're going to get on Deezer too if it's a new one. Right.

I just saw that the other day. We're not there yet. But we're on like Stitcher and Podbean and all sorts of different stuff now. I mean, you talked about the introductory as to how I got in the cigar industry and what my opinion was of retail stuff, but you didn't talk about what else we've developed into.

The different businesses? Oh, well, if you'd like to talk about that, we can do that. What other businesses are you into? Post-Anya.

Well, I figured that would be your biggest joy in the industry would be starting your own brand, so I thought you would mention that and then you glazed over it, so I let it go. But we can't let that go. It's a major portion of our lives. Well, that is what I'm smoking today, by the way.

You are. I don't remember which one I had. It was the Habano. I mean, if you're going to do the interview, Mike, you got to go full fucking throttle here.

You're such a pain in the ass. Okay, Mike, what is the name? Well, see, that would be plugging. You don't want to plug it?

No, it doesn't not so much. Because it's part of the interview? Yeah. Okay, well, what is the brand cigar, Michael, that you and your brother have created?

Well, let me back up there, Mike. Thank you for asking that great question. Oh, certainly. So, as we were kind of progressing in the cigar industry, we were doing a great job of promoting products.

Instagram was fairly new and, you know, we started to source consumers from there and establish relationships. And we started to do very well with a lot of mainstream products. as we started to progress with that um certain people other retailers took notice of that and to make a long story short had a problem with it so we started promoting doing so well promoting doing well with products so we started to see a suppression of sorts as far as availability of particular products so wait wait back up just a little bit here yeah other retailers were We're getting mad at your success in promoting rocks. Yeah, yeah, that happens.

But wouldn't that do some type of crossover for them where, I mean, if a guy in, let's say, California sees that you're promoting, you know, Las Calaveras and he can't get here, wouldn't he go into his shop and go, "Hey, hold up his phone. I just saw this Cigar Hustle guy smoking this. " All I could tell you is that perspectives of people in this industry varies significantly. Right.

And some retailers feel that you should only be buying cigars from them. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. And if they have an opportunity to slow down their competition, they will.

And we experienced that. We experienced retailers. So were they putting the squeeze on the manufacturers? Yes.

Yeah. And they succeeded. So it would have to be somebody who would have either a bigger shop or more shops than you, I'm guessing. I'm guessing.

Maybe. Maybe not. We don't have to go into specifics of naming names. I don't think that that's appropriate, to be honest.

I don't want to put anybody on blast, because I'm a big believer in trying to understand the other person's perspective. And whether I agree with it or not, it is what it is, right? " And then the manufacturer would cut you back? Well, it's obvious that whoever, the people who do have those issues obviously have some form of clout, whether it be buying volume or just established- Well, that's what I was asking before, it'd have to be larger- It could be just established relationships, right?

It doesn't necessarily have to be... It would have to be, I mean, I don't, we're not gonna name names, you just... But you're trying really hard. I'm so trying, I'm so trying.

They would have to have the same rep, at least. Not necessarily. A rep wouldn't have, a rep doesn't have the say in suppression. No, but he could not come by as often, or he could not offer you...

I could call in my order. Yes. Which is actually what I prefer to do. But that's another advice from the hustler as far as the time suck is concerned.

It just doesn't make sense as a manufacturer. I mean, hey, it's their perspectives. Right, okay. It is what it is.

Sorry, on with your story. We had, at that point, Romacraft was fairly new in the industry. We loved the product. " And he said, okay, so, just like that, we were, you know, he put all the leaves out, and we started putting shit together and fucking up cigars, and he told us where we were going wrong, and he helped correct us, and we said, these are great.

Now, my brother had blended the broadleaf, and I had blended the habano. That wasn't your first trip to Nicaragua? No, no, no. At that point, we were, we've gone a few times, and we were comfortable with kind of just going out on our own.

So, um, when we had gotten to Skip's, to Nica Sueño's Skip and Esteban's factory, uh, we decided, um, we, they weren't at capacity, like, now they're at capacity as far as making cigars, and they need to expand if, if they do decide to expand. So, we were at right place, right time, we had an opportunity, want to create cigars, I created the Habano, my brother created the Broadleaf, I told them the Habano was better, he told me the Broadleaf was better, So we brought home some, and we did like 100 sampler packs, and we let people vote as to which one was better, and the Habano had won, but the margin was very, very small, so we decided to produce both. So first we released the Habano, then we released the Broadleaf. As we were kind of going down this path, some of our friends that were retailers wanted to carry the product, so we gave them the product as well, and that turned into more people wanting the product.

So we decided to open up a wholesale distribution for Powstanie. Shortly thereafter, Matul Shah over in Scarsdale, New York of Mom's Cigar Warehouse was producing a cigar in Nicosueno as well called Fable, which is also a product that we now handle the distribution for. As he was taking orders at the show, he's like, "You know what? " So we already had everything in place.

I remember when his cigar showed up here the first time, the little Ziploc bag with one of each of his Vitolas in it. Yeah? I don't remember anything. I don't.

No, no, I do. I don't know why that sticks out. I don't know why. Because they showed up, they sat around for a while, and I know where everything is, so I was like, well, these have been sitting there for a while.

Maybe we should ask somebody what they were. Hey, what's this? What is this? Where should I move this?

So, yeah. So, you know, we started handling distribution for that. And a year later, Esteban Dizla, the partner in the factory with Skip at Nikasueño, wanted to release his own product called the Guaymaro, and it's a San Andreas Box Press, super good cigar, and it's smaller production, so Skip and Michael felt that it was appropriate that we handle the distribution because the numbers are so small, instead of handing it to Romacrafts, we handled it. So instead of handing it to Romacraft and just pissing a bunch of retailers off who wouldn't be able to get the product.

And then, also along the lines, my buddy Victor, who was a customer of Cigar Hustler at the time, sent me some products called Chogui. Oh, was he saying he met him? He used to buy cigars from you? Yeah.

I didn't know that. I like Victor. Victor's very nice. " And I told him, "Dude, I'll handle it for you.

" So we parlayed that into handling distro for him. And then that brings us to our dear friend, Mr. Matthew Hunt. I texted him the other day.

He still has yet to answer. Of FQ Cigars. And Matt's an awesome guy, really outgoing, very outspoken, you can stick him in any room, and he can handle himself pretty well, and he makes some really good stuff out of the Noxa factory, especially the FQ Proper, which was his newest release last year, at the beginning of this year. So it's an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro, and super good stick.

" So then he kind of disappeared for a while. " I wanted to break his balls a little bit. I think originally it was almost two years he came out with that. I did a pre-release event somewhere I went to.

He did it here. We did the proper release party. No, that was recent. The very, very first one.

Maybe he just gave me one one night somewhere, but that's what it was. So yeah, well, I mean, we did an FQ proper release party here. We were calling, what was the other name we were calling it before? The Dapper.

The Dapper, that's right, the FQ Dapper. So yeah, so then we started handling his, representing him as far as distribution of products and stuff. Is he still making his original one, two, threes also? Yep.

Is he? Well, not the two, just the one and the threes. You know what, because the two was my favorite. Really?

Yeah. And he's releasing the Churchills, I think, at this show. Oh, is he really? Mm-hmm.

Are you releasing anything at this show? show you want to give a little uh little preview sure yeah i mean spc18 is something that we're going to be releasing at the show so um we've created a limited edition back in 2016 called surrounded by champions and we're big believers in acknowledging the people around us that made made us possible in the cigar industry so um surrounded by champions is is an acknowledgement to to those individuals you know the the rollers in the factory um skip mike esteban You know, Sancho the band guy, Freddy the box guy, like, all of that's possible. We're possible because of all them. So, it's important to us to acknowledge every single person that makes our brand possible.

So, yeah. So, you know, we make 250 boxes of the SBC 16, it came out in 2017, but whatever. And now we're releasing the SBC 18, hopefully will come out this year, and it's gonna be a San Andreas. - Do you have some for the show?

- Well, they're made. I don't know if Skip brought some up or not. We'll see. If he didn't, it's not the end of the world, obviously.

- The people who bought the last ones will certainly buy the next ones. - Yeah, well, yeah. - And I think you did sell all of them, if I'm not mistaken. - Well, what's kind of crazy, too, is as I see them start to disappear more and more off the shelves, they become in more and more demand, which is remarkable.

- Just in time for the 18s. - Yeah, but it's a different cigar, so. Correct, yep. It's a true limited edition.

True limited. True limited. 250 boxes. 5,000 sticks.

That's it. And... So that's... There's five now that you all sell.

Yeah. Shogui. Shogui. FQ.

FQ. And then your three sueños. Postanya, Fable, and Glamorell. We've had other people ask us in the past to handle representation for them, But I just didn't feel like I would be doing the other brands justice.

Like the other brands all offer something unique and different. Right. Even the ones that are all made out of the Nica Sueno factory, they are entirely different. Correct, yeah.

And the other two guys, obviously, Chogui is Dominican and FQ is made out of Noxa. So the cigars are all totally different. And I don't want anything to be similar to those cigars. And I don't want to promote and build anything else unless I've established a really good relationship I have good relationships with everybody that we represent.

Is there somebody that you're looking to represent? Maybe you go to them at the show? Nobody. I'm good where I'm at, man.

I've got enough people. So then you have the shop, you have the website, you have your wholesale business. Is that it? And then soft porn.

You know, just the occasional fluff boy. No, come on, man. That's it. I think that's kind of enough, you know, that keeps me busy.

You have your t-shirts. Yeah, but we do like, that's all small stuff. Yeah. Well, everything small grows big.

Yeah, if you put time and effort into it. It's more a convenience business. Yeah. Yeah.

Anything else that I didn't ask questions about that you want to tell people about? I feel like that's it. You think so? I think so.

Well, we are just under an hour. Perfect. Well, I needed to fall into that category of hour people. If I, even if I go to listen to a new show and it's more than an hour, I don't, I don't, I can't commit to the, you know, even with my loose schedule, I can't commit to more than an hour at a time.

Well, thank you, Michael. Appreciate you coming. Well, thank you, Michael. Appreciate you coming in and sitting down with me and giving out your story.

Thank you so much for having me. And what you do here is amazing. But you should compliment your wife. She didn't get a compliment at the meeting.

Oh, that's true. Except that she has nice hair. She does, look, it's nice hair. Yeah, she always smells good, though.

You're too close to my wife. Don't you ever smell my wife again. It's very tight quarters in some areas of the store. All right, well, that's it then, everybody.

Thank you very much. This was the missing episode 25. Yes. I guess we did 26.

Oh, the contest. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We should, the Facebook page connection just didn't work. Let me tell you something.

It's happening. You want to stick with it? We're going to stick with it? All right, we're sticking with the Facebook page.

All right, so what hashtags you will use? And if Adam Acree wins again, fucking God love him. God love me wins again, then. So let's do like a $25 gift certificate, and I think that it should, we're gonna, what, like a particular hashtag or something?

Wait, that's what they had to do last time. They had to go on to our Facebook page, the Cigar Hustlers podcast, and they had to hashtag Lopalina, I smoke Lopalina. Right, so this one's gonna be #Slapdick, S-L-A-P-D-I-C-K. You wanna make it D-Y-C-K, just so it's harder?

No. Okay, D-I-C-K. So, #Slapdick. Okay, so Adam, if you could write this down.

Adam, Adam Acri. #... If you have no competition moving forward, then it is what it is, you're gonna get a bunch of cool swag and all types of other shit. He will be the Hustler Swag King.

Exactly. org. Then pull a number. And we'll see you once.

Two. All right. Thank you very much. That's it.

Bye. That's it, folks. Show's over. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can leave them on our Facebook page.

You can follow the show on Instagram @CigarHustlersPodcast, you can follow Mikey @CigarHustler, and you can follow myself @FloridaCigarClub_Mike on Instagram. Make sure to rate, comment, and subscribe on whatever provider you listen to the show at. Thanks for listening! Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada

Show Notes

We held Episode 25 as it was going to be a special guest!  This is about half way through our first year of Podcasting.  We figured it was time we got the straight poop from the man himself!

Find out where he came from, where he is now and where he is going!

Listen to the end we have another Contest!! and announce the winner of the La Palina contest from episode 26!

We always welcome your comments, thoughts and guest suggestions on our FB page "A Cigar Hustlers Podcast".  You can follow the show on IG @cigarhustlerspodcast, Mikey @cigarhustler and Mike @floridacigarclub_mike.

Please rate, review and subcribe on whatever provider you listen to us on!