Episode 30 Florida Cigar Club

Episode Summary

Episode 30 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast flips the format: instead of an outside guest, co-host and producer Mike Palmer — president and founder of the Florida Cigar Club (FCC) — is the one being interviewed. Host Mikey opens with a road-trip recap, including a 27-hour drive to North Dakota with his Air Force brother-in-law, a stop in Chicago during Lollapalooza to visit Connie at Blue Havana Smoke Shop, and store check-ins at Cigar Castle (with Atul's massive humidor) and a slow off-season night in Winter Park with Greg, Josh Fabello and shop staff. The pair also share an only-half-joking "advice from the hustler" lesson about using the restroom before you walk into a retail account.

The heart of the episode is Palmer's origin story. Working from home setting up factories in China for U.S. and Canadian companies, he needed a hobby and human contact, so he joined a Midwest-based Facebook cigar club (Cigar Club Lounge), spun off a Florida chapter, grew it faster than the parent group, and got kicked out for his trouble. Four years later, the Florida Cigar Club stands at 591 members with roughly 92% participation, four admins, and two to seven events a week across the state. Palmer walks through the club's rules — PG-13 content, cigar-related posts only, no buying/selling/trading in the main group, mandatory posting or commenting every two weeks, new members admitted only one day a week — and the plan to cap membership at 1,000 and reopen the door when attrition drops it to 900.

He also covers the culture side: the club's massive matching-shirt presence and tailgate at the Tampa Cigar Bash, anonymous "Brotherhood" cigar collections sent to members who've fallen on hard times, weddings and funerals attended, and the brand owners and Florida reps who are members. A long-planned official Florida Cigar Club cigar was shelved largely because of FDA predicate-date hurdles for a one-SKU newcomer, though Palmer says brands have approached him about reviving it. The episode wraps with the show's signature questions: his first cigar (an Outback in a foil pack at 18 while working at Kmart in Michigan), early "real" cigars like Montecristo White and Romeo y Julieta, his current favorite (Chogüí Regusto), who he'd smoke with living or dead (Kim Jong-un, for the sheer curiosity), and his fictional pick, Tarzan. There's also a nod to industry figures he's met through the podcast — Steve Saka, Nick Molina, Robert Holt of Southern Draw, and Fred Rewey.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Road Trip Recap and Shop Visits
   Mikey recounts a 27-hour drive to North Dakota, a Chicago detour to Blue Havana Smoke Shop, plus stops at Cigar Castle and a dead off-season night in Winter Park.
2. 02
   Advice From the Hustler: Plan Your Pit Stops
   A gross-out but practical tangent about roadside restaurants and gas stations, and why reps should handle business before walking into an account.
3. 03
   How the Florida Cigar Club Started
   Mike Palmer explains working from home for China manufacturing, joining Cigar Club Lounge, launching a Florida chapter, and getting booted for being too successful.
4. 04
   Club Rules and the 1,000-Member Cap
   Participation requirements, PG-13 content, no buy/sell/trade, Saturday-only admissions, weekly member audits, and the plan to lock the group at 1,000.
5. 05
   Events, Tailgating and the Tampa Cigar Bash
   Two to seven events a week statewide, 50-60 members in matching shirts, and the club's permitted tailgate outside the Tampa Cigar Bash.
6. 06
   Brotherhood: Taking Care of Members
   Anonymous cigar care packages, retirees checking on quiet members, and the weddings, funerals and birthdays the club shows up for.
7. 07
   The Florida Cigar Club Cigar and FDA Hurdles
   Why a branded club cigar stalled over predicate-date regulations, and how brands are now courting cigar clubs for collaborations.
8. 08
   The Five Questions
   Palmer's first cigar (Outback in a foil pack), favorite cigar (Chogüí Regusto), dream smoking partners Kim Jong-un and Tarzan, and why he produces the show.

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. Welcome to Cigar Hustlers Podcast, Episode 30, where we take a closer look at the people of the cigar industry. Sit back, get ready, here comes the show with your host, Mike and Mike.

Hustlin', hustlin', hustlin', hustlin', hustlin', hustlin', every day, I'm, every day, I'm, every day, I'm, every day, I'm. Ah, so you can't hear, you don't have the headphones on, but the music is fading out. And then we're fading in? Or we don't fade in yet?

No, no, we're in. We come in when the music fades out. And you already have it queued this time. I already have it queued this time.

But you don't have headphones. Very nice. You're not the producer. Fuck no.

I'm the producer. You are the producer. All right, so ready, go. One, two, three, go.

Hi, I'm Mike. And I'm Mike, too. And this is Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Cigarcast.

Advice from the Hustler Edition. Oh, this isn't an Advice from the Hustler Edition. Oh, it's not? We have a third format going now?

This is a special surprise edition. Oh, a special surprise edition. Yep. Dun, dun, dun!

But before we get into that, let's talk about the week. I didn't have a very busy week at all. Really? Well, nothing really over the weekend.

I mean, all the events that I talked about last Tuesday happened. Let's talk about that. I did Cigar Castle. That was a lot of fun.

How was that? It was good. Atul has a nice chomp there. Huge, huge humidor.

If it's a cigar and he doesn't have it, they don't make it. That's not true. That is slightly true. Because there's a couple that he doesn't have that I know off the top of my head.

Well, you know, I invited you to come along. You could have peddled your wares. I was fucking busy. What do you want from me?

No, Tuesday. There's two of you. Either one of you could go. Well, why didn't you have the cooler brother go?

I did. He went Thursday night, but that's a different thing. How'd that go? Evidently, Winter Park is seasonal.

I did not know that. And this is the down season for Winter Park. Okay. It's a snowbird type thing, which most Florida has, but I didn't realize Winter Park was seasonal.

So Thursday night, it was me, Greg, Josh Fabello, Kat, who works there, some younger guy, and Dakota. That was really about all that was there. Oh. Okay.

We didn't walk-ins, come in, buy cigars, and leave, but we just sort of hung out. We had a good time. Greg and I talked to Josh for three hours-ish. I mean, it's more of a weekend place, too, you know?

Well, they normally do, like, a ladies' night on Thursday night, or they do a wine or a whiskey tasting or something, and it's standing room only. I mean, I've been there before where you're sitting on the planters. Right. But this time, he said, no, he goes, we're dead till, like, September.

Oh, well, that's right around the corner. Yeah, yeah. Everybody goes back to school, people stop going out. Nice, very nice.

So that was your fun and adventure for the week? Yeah, nothing Friday. Wife came home Saturday. That's about it.

Very exciting. Well, you know, can't all be, you know, rock stars like you. Ah, yes. Jetting around the globe.

And I'm going to tell you a little bit about that rock star adventure that I had this week. Yes, a tale of... Anyway, go ahead. So, my brother-in-law is in the Air Force, We had to drive him back to North Dakota in his vehicle.

So him and I did the 27-hour drive to North Dakota. Ooh, that long. You almost swung in and did you hit Missouri at all? A corner of it or something?

I don't know. Maybe. I think you and Adrian were actually in Missouri briefly for the same day. I can tell you two things.

One is he never saw Chicago, so we stopped in Chicago. I'd never seen Chicago. Kind of out of the way. A little bit, but it's all right.

A little deviation. That's where I think you hook through the corner of Missouri. Maybe. I honestly don't know.

Can you read a map? Do you know how to read a map? What's a map? Well, before they put these things on your phone, you used to have to unfold them.

And they would go everywhere in the car where you're trying to figure out where to go. See, I don't fuck with shit that's obsolete. You children and your electronics. What if there was a device, as my friend would say?

What if there was a device? What if there was a device? So, shout out to my boy Connie at Blue Havana Smoke Shop, Chicago. Is that the one you brought me back a present?

That was the one that you asked me if I brought you back a present, but I did not bring you a present. He was like right up the street from Wrigley Field, which is pretty cool, so we got to drive by there. No presents from Wrigley Field? No presents for you.

No Cubs hats, no White Sox hats, whatever team plays there. You're lucky I knew it was baseball. 0. No gifts for you.

Never. I give you enough gifts. Never a gift from me. I give you gifts all the time from here.

And if I don't give them, you just take them. I take them. I'm about to get that coffee out there on the counter. What coffee?

The coffee from Nick Molina. Oh, yeah, keep meaning to take that home. One more day, it's mine. That's the deadline.

Just so you know, tomorrow's the day. So, you know, what's really kind of funny is a lot of people think that being on the road is just all out. It's so fucking awesome when you're in the cigar industry, because, you know, we checked into an account, right? Right, right off the trip.

But here's the deal. Thank you, Uncle Sam. I don't know what you're talking about. So, here's the deal, though.

Yes. So, we go, we pull into Illinois. Is that a town or a place? No, it's Illinois.

Oh. I don't know how the fuck you, you know? Illinois. Illinois.

Illinois. Illinois. Illinois. Illinois.

Anyway, you pulled into the state. Yeah, so, you know, and then we did the Connie show, there was like Lollapalooza going on, so shit was kind of crazy in Chicago. Lollapalooza. And then, you know, as you start to leave, you've got to stop off somewhere and eat, right?

Right, that's what Big Daddy and I always do after our little adventures. It's imperative that you stop somewhat early, if not, you're hitting a fast food joint, right? Right, yeah, I hate doing that. So, we pull off at an exit, and I don't know if I'm in Illinois or fucking Wisconsin or whatever, but I see like...

Missouri borders, Illinois. I don't know. Fuck. I don't know where we...

I have no idea where we were. Because you can't read a map. We established this earlier. But I can tell you that it was starting to get late.

Yes. And we needed to eat something. It was dark. It was scary.

So... People are speaking funny languages. Yes. Yeah, they do.

They do. Yes, they do. I know. Which kind of threw me off as well.

I'm like, where am I? Mike. Yeah, you were in Chicago on Saturday, right? Uh-huh.

And then you had to fly out Sunday? In North Dakota. How far is Chicago from North Dakota? I noticed that, and I'm like...

I think it's like 10 hours, 9, 10 hours. Couldn't have a little close. Yeah. Yeah.

m. To the base? Oh, did you stay on the base? No, we didn't go that far.

We stopped at Fargo. Oh, Fargo. Don't you know? Don't you know the Fargo?

So, anyways, so we pull off, and there's this place, and I can't really read it. The The writing is, I'm like, "What the hell is Ground and Pound? " This is what it says. Oh, I've heard of Ground Round.

" Oh, it's a sports bar? Slash restaurant thing. That's what I thought it was. But from this point forward, I will call it Ground Pound.

Ground Pound. Yeah. Gotcha. " Take a piss before you gotta go, right?

And do your business. Use the facilities. Take advantage so you don't have to make a second stop. Exactly.

Get some gas and stuff like that. So go to use the facilities and like the urinal had vomit that wasn't from the same day. This is like caked on... " So then I'm like...

Until Phil comes in on Sunday, he'll clean it. So then I just question the meal that I just had. The cleanliness of the entire joint because of the question, yeah, the whole place is a question. Right, and I'm like, you know what, I'll just go.

That will never be sponsored by Ground Pound. Nope, never gonna happen. Oh, well, we're never gonna be sponsored by anybody, ever, because that's not. I'm looking for someone with a name.

Today's sponsor: Mountain Dew! Ladies and join a nice, ice-cold, fresh, diet Mountain Dew. So I was like, alright, well, we'll just go to the gas station and I'll use the bathroom there. So go to the gas station.

Isn't that terrible when the gas station is the cleaner alternative than the restaurant? Oh, it wasn't, my friend. It shouldn't have been. There you go, pushing your luck and jumping to conclusions.

No, that was unusual that you have to go to a gas station for... Cleanliness? Yes. Well, I did not because...

A place where they make food. When I walked into the gas station to use the bathroom, Someone had taken a massive shit and exploded it everywhere. Food poisoning, maybe, from the restaurant. From the ground and pound.

" So it was, needless to say, it was quite the endeavor. Episode 30, the poop and vomit episode of Cigar Hustlers Podcast. But like, when you go and check in on retail shops, if you gotta use the restroom, Sometimes you want to make sure that you're ready before you walk in the door. It's not like, "Hey, how are you doing, Phil?

" Sometimes, though, it's unavoidable, but, you know, if you can avoid it, you want to avoid it. So, take the advice of the hustler. Pee before you go. So, yeah, I mean, it was 27 hours, it was a daunting task, and I'm glad it's over.

Yeah, that's what I got, right? Yeah. So, here's this special... Special.

Podcast. Special podcast. Um... We need sound effects.

I feel like there's gonna be like a dun-dun-dun! You need like a soundboard. Yeah. As soon as we get sponsors, man.

Don't worry. You said we can never have a sponsor. Exactly. Soundboard brought to you by Behringer Sound Equipment.

I'm just reading names now off of the equipment. So stop that. So, um... I don't know, this lovely MacBook Pro is working great for GarageBand.

Yeah, I'd love to see Apple fund that. Anyway. So yeah, so anyways, I think this, so this podcast, I'd like to interview a special person. Oh, see, I figured this would become eventually.

And, you know, this guy is, he's in the cigar industry, right? Outer, outer edges, but yes, go ahead. The outer realm, but you know, he has, he has some, some experience. Okay.

And, uh, I think today I'd like to talk to, uh, Mr. One Mike Palmer. Oh, if he was only here. The president of the Florida Cigar Club, who also runs a Florida Cigar Club group, right?

Yes. Well, it's one of the same, but yes. So, why don't you say hi to everybody, Mr. Palmer?

Hold on, he'll be right here. There he is, hey! I mean, you're really excited about a soundboard. I do, I really want a soundboard.

Anyway, hello. My name is Mike Palmer. I'm 50-something years old and been waiting on you all day long to do this. Okay, go ahead.

Fire away with the questions. So, my first question is, what made you want to get into the cigar industry, my friend? Well, the original plan for the club was not to be in the industry, as per se. Yes.

My wife works for a school system here in Florida, and I worked from home. So, she would come home in the afternoon, two, three o'clock in the afternoon, I've been sitting there doing emails, spreadsheets, an occasional phone call, and I would want to speak to someone, a human, because the dogs looked at me funny all day long, and I would just speak to them. So, I would, she'd walk in and go, "So, how you doing? Where you been?

Where did you have for lunch? I had a sandwich, and no, I didn't get dressed today. I was still in my pajamas. " So, anyway, she goes, "You've got to get a fucking hobby.

" So then I started the club. Actually, I joined a different club. I don't remember the name of it. It was a club out of the Midwest.

What was that? Cigar Club Lounge, actually. CCL. But since they were out of the Midwest, they had like 5,000 members.

It was all over the world or whatever. You never met up with anybody. I wasn't any better off than I was sitting home by myself to start with. So do you want to talk about what you do for a living and why you get to work from home or no?

I think we've mentioned that before, but I don't mind. No, I set up factories in China for US and Canadian companies. So if they've got something they want made, I run the order, I've got people that work for me overseas, I have an office, and they do most of the work over there. I go over once or twice a year.

I used to have to go like 11 times a year. So the hours with that? I'm mainly busy in the morning from anywhere from like 6 to maybe 11. That's the emails that came in overnight from China.

So I go through all those and shuffle them off to different customers. And then in the afternoon from like 3 till 7 or 8, it picks up again where all the information that came in during the day has to be shuffled through and sent back over again. OK. There are some 3 o'clock in the morning stuff, 4 o'clock, depends on what's going on.

You don't have to stay up for a phone call or, you know, I'm 50, so there is at least one trip to pee during the night. You check your emails during the night. And if I answer them overnight, it could save 24 hours. It could mean the difference between a, you know, an order going out on time and an order not going out on time.

I like you in the hot seat. This is nice. Oh, I don't mind at all. I don't mind.

I mean, this has been coming anyway, so. So, you had that. So, anyway, I joined the other club. Right.

And I still wasn't meeting anybody. Still didn't have anybody to hang out with. Still nobody to talk to during the day. Right.

You know, I might as well have been sending emails because it was just Facebook stuff. So, then I asked the guy, "Can I start, like, a chapter of the CCL? " I think that's what it was. " So I spun off, started my own little Facebook group and everything, and then it grew, and it grew, and then he got kind of mad and kicked me out.

He kicked you out? Yeah, because mine was very successful, and it was doing more than his did, because his was just a Facebook group. So he gave you the boot. He gave me the boot.

What's the guy's name? You want to put him on blast? Nah, I don't remember his name at all. Come on, what's his name?

I don't know if I can say it. It was four years ago. The club's been going for four years now. I've been four years now.

You are the keeper of things. You are the rememberer of everything. No, I can remember where things are, but names, no. If your name wasn't Michael, we'd be calling each other Phil and Bob all day long.

I think that you remember and you just don't tell us. No, I really don't remember his name. I did meet him one time. He did come to Florida for a vacation or something.

Is that before or after he kicked you out? Before. It was before. It was before.

Did something happen there? No. In the interview? No, no.

In the hangout or whatever? "Hi, I'm Bob. Hi, I'm Mike. Here's a couple of cigars back and forth.

I gotta go now. My wife's waiting in line at Space Mountain type thing. It wasn't like a long interaction. So you met at Magic Kingdom?

Over that way somewhere. Disney Springs. I think they call it now. Downtown Disney.

Sosa's? I don't know. Actually, two days ago was the four year anniversary of the first Florida Cigar Club Herfer meeting, or whatever you want to call it. Really?

Yeah, it shows up on Facebook. Facebook memory thing. It was me, my son Alex, a guy named Sean, a guy named Rodney, and a guy named Tony. And there was one other guy.

I don't know, but the only people that are still in it now are just me and Alex. Everybody else has moved on for one reason or another. No kidding. So you built this thing.

So I built this thing. After you got booted. After I got booted. And we originally thought, well, we'll get to 50.

50 would be a good number. 50 guys across the state. We can meet up every once in a while. 50, we'll be good at 50.

And then we passed 50. I mean, realistically, after 50, how many nudes can you possibly send to individuals? Well, there's no nudes. We have rules.

We have standards. So anyway, then we thought 100. We'll stop at 100. Right.

Not a problem. 100. 200. Okay, 300 is just ridiculous, but we'll stop at 300.

Well, as of this weekend, we're 591. Wow. 92% participation, because you have to participate, because you do get kicked out. That was going to be my next question.

So what are the requirements for being a Florida Cigar Club group member? The basic rules, there's like five basic rules. There's PG-13 rated content and pictures, cigar-related posts, photos, I don't care if you cook ribs for dinner, that's fine as long as you threw a cigar in the photo with it, that's okay. No buy, selling, or trading.

We have another page where you can do that stuff over there, because I don't want to, a lot of groups you log in and it's, you know, I've got this Fiverr for sale, or I'll trade you something for this, and then you have to post or comment once every two weeks. There's a small group that we vote on all the rules, and we had decided on that. It seems reasonable enough. I think it does.

Yeah. Because the deal with the club is we want to get to know you. It started originally as like a small family type group, and it's grown from there, but if you're just coming in and trolling and looking at pictures, we're never going to know who you are. Right.

Don't touch the buttons. Don't touch my board. I'm just right here. My hand's here.

He's touching the board. If this goes off, it's not my fault. He turned my mic off for a minute, but it's back on now. So like I said, as of this weekend, we hit 591, so we'll hit 600 next week without any problem at all.

And we have decided now when we get to 1,000, which will probably be the end of the year, we're going to lock the door. And cap it at 1,000. Cap it at 1,000. But, since people do get kicked out, and it's anywhere between 5 and 12, depends on what's been going on, because I have to check.

I check every Friday. Right. Which is a task with 1,000 people. But anyway, when it drops down to 900, we open the door again.

Until it gets back to 1,000, and then lock the door, 9,000. That's pretty cool. We've got four admins now, we're going to have to add another one, we're going to have to add a fifth guy. We have anywhere between two and seven events every week around the state of Florida.

Wow, that's pretty impressive. So, when did you start it? Four years ago, June 17th, four years ago. And when did you find Cigar Hustler?

I don't know exactly. I don't remember. It had to be about three years ago, maybe, I think, because we used to live in Lake Mary, and I would go to Corona and hang out and started trying to work from there. You know, it's hot to smoke outside at home.

And I can't smoke in the house, no matter how much pleading and begging and air filtration systems I offer to put up and stuff. So, anyway, I started going there once, twice a week. They've got those wooden chairs and the wooden tables. It just wasn't comfortable.

Wasn't a good experience for you? No, no. So I come here once, twice maybe, and met you. Actually, Rodney and I came over here the first time.

And then we moved to Deltona. I was five minutes away. So I started hanging out one day, two days, three days, every day. And then I got a key and an alarm code.

And you guys went to Nicaragua. And I changed the name of the building outside when you were gone. Yeah, so at this point, you pretty much have full-on access to everything that's cigar awesome. I come and go as I please, which I really like, 'cause I mean, I'd rather you didn't pay me and I could just come and go as I please.

And I mean, a lot of times you have to work earlier than when we open, right? Yeah, there's some days I'm here at 8 o'clock if I got a lot going on. I mean, I could sit at home and start working, but then I just gotta pack up at 10 and come up here, so. I feel like you talk faster every time we get on this podcast.

I had a donut a little bit ago and I'm a little wound up on the sugar. Holy moly. But I'm real comfortable doing these things now. I don't know.

That's good. I'm glad that you've gotten comfortable. So, yeah, I'm here anywhere between 8:00 and 10:00 most nights in the morning, you guys open up at 10:00, so I unlock the door at 10:00 and somebody shows up, maybe they don't show up, you know, scheduling snafus and I'm the only one here for a while. You have the ability to run the register here, and you know where a lot of products are and stuff like that.

Yes, yes, I could probably do everything except the online orders, and if that's any, because I used to help with the wholesale orders, and I figured it can't be much different. It's very similar. Yeah, so, just be a matter of knowing what websites to go to and stuff, I guess. So, what was your first cigar that you ever had?

When I was 18 years old. I guess. That cigar, it was those Outbacks that come in the foil packs. Yeah?

It was Outback. And that was when you knew? I was hanging out with some guys at the time I worked at Kmart and we were... Ooh!

I've spent many... What's Kmart? I ran Kmart for a while. I ate Kmart.

But anyway, I was 18 years old working with a bunch of guys It was in Michigan, so the garden shop closes, it's seasonal up there, patio area, and it becomes Christmas storage, so we were transferring it over from patio, I guess, to Christmas storage, I guess that's what it would be called, and they're kind of redneck, you guys, you know, driving forklifts and driving around in trucks and stuff, and we'd go out for lunch, and they started smoking, as though I started smoking, and before you know it, I was hooked. You're a cigar guy. Yes. And then you go from those, you're like, these aren't really that good.

So, I don't remember what my first cigar was. I have no idea. Cigar cigar. Actual real cigar.

Right. I have no idea. Probably Monte Cristo White or something. That's what most people usually start with.

Right. Your regular Coraline stuff. Yeah. You know, brand name stuff.

Romeo Giulietta's, Monte Cristo's. I can't wait till we get you one of these lighters. The flat ones. All right.

I make no noise. Yeah. I think it's like the Verona or something. I don't know, I was talking so much that my cigar went out.

That's awesome. So, shoot, what's the next question? This is fun. Yeah, this is fun.

So, you find your way from Lake Mary to here, right? I like to think that, you know, you came in the shop a couple of times. I found you on Instagram first, I think is where I found you. That's where I found a lot of people.

Yeah. And I mean, I'm literally a mile and a half behind the shop. Right. And I feel, I wanna-- I can check in on social media that I'm at the shop and still be at home.

I feel like you joined, you moved just so you could be close to the store. I feel like that was the whole thing. Well, my wife thinks it's because she was working in Seminole County. She went to work in Volusia County.

Which is just crossing the bridge. But it saved her some driving because the school she was originally at is close to the house. If that's the story you want to portray. Sure, we'll go with that.

I'm okay with that. That works. So you're aiming for FCC to have 1,000, and you're kind of capping it. Yeah, we're going to capping it.

Is there anything else that you want to try and implement in the future for the FCC Cigar Club? We've done a couple of cigars over the years, kind of under the radar, you know, club cigars. I don't know, I've talked to a couple of different people about doing a legit Florida Cigar Club cigar. Yeah?

Yeah, that's something that could possibly still happen. I put it on hold there for a while. I had one all picked out and everything. We were negotiating the price, and all the FDA stuff just made it harder to do for a guy starting out with one cigar.

Right. So, but there's some people that have approached me and that I've spoken to, and they would -- I don't know exactly how it would work yet. We haven't quite got that far down the road. I guess it would be half something before the predicate date that they might already have that I could use or call my own or a blend or something.

Who knows? Well, that's cool. Yeah. Yeah.

So that's kind of like your big goal for? For the club, 'cause yeah, I mean, we've done shirts, we've done hats, we've done, you know, swag of different kinds, and we have all these events all the time, and everybody gets together and hangs out. And when you guys get together, like, especially for, like, Tampa Cigar Bash or something like that? Yeah, that's our biggest event every year.

There'll be 50 to 60 people. And you're all wearing the same shirt? All wearing the same shirt, so it's like a sea of Florida Cigar Club walking around that thing. That's a pretty big presence.

Yeah. You're kind of a big deal. Kind of a big deal. Well, we have permission to tailgate before the event, so we set up outside, and everybody has to drive through us, basically, to get in, so.

That's nice. Yeah. Yeah, that's always fun. " Right, exactly.

Right. And some people bring food, and we bring drinks, and Bloody Marys, and mimosas, and we just have a good time. I really hope that, like, another Florida Cigar Club comes out with, like, a different abbreviation. Florida Cigar Association, and then there's some kind of like West Side Story gang wars or some shit, you know, like we tape you guys off and there's knife fights and shit.

There was a small coup attempt a couple of years ago for president of the club. Yes? Yes. That was quickly crushed.

Oh. Yes. Very nice. Yeah, they wanted somebody else to have a chance to run the club.

Right? So is it kind of like Nicaragua, where everybody had to vote in one specific spot for you? I rallied support for my regime. It was legitimately ran?

Yes. It's really more work than people think it is, too. They think, you know, I'm sitting here and people are throwing cigars at me all day long. That doesn't happen rarely.

Right. Well, I think that that's the general conception of everything in the cigar industry. Yeah, they think you're just sitting around smoking and hanging out and stuff. Right.

Or, you know, an obligatory podcast that you have to do every week or something. Right, right. You know, content, content, content. Wow, so that's really cool.

That's a pretty cool story you got. Yeah, that's pretty much it, start to finish. There's several brand owners that are in the club. Right.

Almost every rep in Florida who reps anything is in the club. Right. And we support them and follow them around and, you know, fill the seats when they have events and stuff. That's cool.

And they're good to us, so, you know. So you'd think that, you know, if you're a rep or a broker or something, or even a brand owner or manufacturer, you would do your best to promote something specific through the FCC if you're in Florida. Yeah, it's starting to become more of a thing, the cigar clubs as a whole. A lot of brands are asking to do stuff with cigar clubs that they didn't used to do.

Right. So, yeah, we get several people that want to do something with us that reach out and make contact and somehow want to do something. So, other than your regulations that you have implemented in the group, what, and obviously Facebook groups are so vast at this point. Oh, they're everywhere.

What do you think really kind of makes your club head and shoulders above the rest? Well, I don't want to say we're better than the others. Okay, so... But we do require you to participate, which, from what I understand, nobody else does.

Right. We only let new members in one day a week, because otherwise, there'd be people coming in every single day. Right. So we do that, and we've got a lot of members that are retirees, let's say.

So they are very active, and they'll notice, let's say, like, say you post it all the time. Right. And then you disappear. Something happens.

They'll check on you and see what happens. We've done that several times. I'll get a message from them and go, hey, Mike, stop posting. You know what happened?

So they'll reach out and find out, you know, his mother's been sick or, you know, he had a death in the family or he lost his job. We've had a bunch of guys that have fallen out of work, and they'll go, well, I just, you know, they think they're going to get kicked out, yeah, because they can't afford the cigars. First, you don't have to smoke a cigar to be in the club. You don't even have to post a picture of you smoking a cigar.

Every Saturday, we welcome people in. All you have to do is welcome them on the post, and that covers you for two weeks right there. Right. Just have to take the time to do it.

So just some level of engagement. Right, right. I mean, we've gone, we've taken up cigar collections and sent them to people before they're done on their luck. We've done that.

They'll get an anonymous box of all sorts of different types of cigars and stuff. Just a little note that just says "Brotherhood" with the Florida Cigar Club logo on it, and that's all they never heard of. Very cool. Yeah.

So, I mean, you know, you put a lot of work into it. It's a family. We take care of each other. We try to, at least.

Very nice. We've got a lot of clergy and stuff. I mean, I've been to funerals, I've been to weddings, their kids' birthday parties. My wife sang at one wedding.

Really? Yeah, I mean, it's a big thing. What'd you sing? It's a thing.

I don't know, whatever song they requested her to sing, I don't know, it was up at the panhandle, we drove up for the wedding, and she sang as the bride walked down the aisle. Really? Yeah. Here comes the bride.

I don't think that was the song. It was some song they had chosen. Nice. Yeah.

So you are a big deal. A legit Florida Cigar Club big deal. Small state. Small state?

It's a lawless swamp, but it's not a small state. All right, well, I have five questions for you that I'm going to need. Five questions? I'm going to need from you.

I need to bring my book in here. I don't know what the five questions are. You definitely know the five questions. You're the producer.

Who would I like to smoke a cigar with? So, the first question. Yes. What one person, living or dead, would you like to smoke a cigar with?

Yes, what one person? You know, I thought of this the other day, and I forget who it was going to be. It's so different when you're put on the spot. It is.

I've said that question to 20 people, probably. Right. At least. I had something the other day, and I forget who it was going to be.

I don't know, let's just say Arnold Schwarzenegger. He comes to mind. No, let's not just say. No, he comes to mind.

Kim Jong-un. That'd be fun to sit and talk to him. You can only pick one, Mike. Okay, I'm doing one with Kim Jong.

Kim Jong, Kim Jong, how do you say his name? Why would you pick Kim Jong-un? Because I think he's crazy. And I think he would be sitting there very elite this, you know, and I go to China, so it's not like I couldn't come up with stuff to talk to him about.

Right. But he's just crazy, I think. I think it'd be funny, I'd be in charge of everything I can go. Who knows?

Just be interesting. Okay. Wow, that was a big gulp, came right through the headphones. Did it?

Yeah. So, Kim Jong-un. Kim Jong-un. All right.

Yes. What fictional character would you want to smoke cigars? Now, he doesn't smoke cigars. That doesn't matter.

Tarzan, I think. Tarzan. I'm a big Tarzan fan from when I was a kid. Really?

He used to watch the black and white TV shows on Saturday mornings and stuff and, you know, he's yelling and the monkey comes running up. I feel like Tarzan's a cigar smoker. He's just not televised. He's not televised?

He just doesn't know? No, no, bad for kids. " Yes, the answer is yes. More than likely.

So what made you want to become a producer for Cigar Hustlers podcast? You asked me to help you. Oh. That was it?

You're my friend. We've done podcast-ish things with the club. I used to do a video show, where it was like a little news show, about five to ten minutes long, and industry people did the introduction, you know, they get to plug their cigar and say, "Welcome to episode two" of whatever. So I've done bits and pieces of this stuff before, and it's just kind of fun.

Cool. Very cool. It's fun. We got to meet a lot of good people, a lot of nice people, a lot of people I wouldn't normally have gotten to meet.

I mean, when am I going to run into Steve Saka at the grocery store or something? That's true. Now, Fred Rui, I could run into him at the grocery store. That might happen.

Right. Or Robert Holt, maybe him, but, you know. Robert Holt? Nick Molina, Robert Holt?

Southern Drawl? Southern Drawl. Southern Drawl. Well, I've met Nick here at the shop twice, so.

Yeah. Yeah. All right, what's your third question? Hold on.

Because I don't have them. I don't know the question. We're running into the music. It's about to start playing music.

Okay, you can't hear it, but there's music playing in the background now, but I can fix this later. Oh, okay. But you can hear it, so it'll be- I can hear it. But I'll turn the music down.

Okay, anyway, I don't remember the other questions. It's been so long since we've done one. What one cigar- What's your favorite cigar? Favorite cigar?

It's the Chogui Regusto. The Chogui? Chogui Regusto. Why the music is kind of cool?

I hear myself talk over the music. So, wait a second, we got to know the other questions. Oh, no, no, I know. I'll fix the music after.

It's just a technical problem. I'm having this. Right, but what are the other questions? Well, we did the favorite cigar.

Yeah. There's only one more, really, isn't there? We did the favorite cigar. You said that one twice.

I don't remember. I don't know. Come on, man. I don't want to have them with me.

Oh wait, hold on, I think I have them on my phone. Fill the time. Talk amongst yourselves. I mean, I've already talked about-- So South Dakota, you said?

You went to South Dakota? No, I went to North Dakota. North Dakota? And I already talked about shit and caked on vomit on a urinal.

I mean, what the hell do you want me to talk about? I mean, Connie Shop is very nice. Blue Havana. S-O-C-K-S?

S-O-C-K-S. Oh, no, I don't have them anymore. They're just written in the book outside. So make up questions, just throw two more questions at me, random things.

Man, I'm not prepared for that. See, that was the one problem with me doing this, and I was worried about that. I was like, I don't have the questions on him, but I didn't want to tell you that I'd need the questions. Make sure you grab your book so we can take notes.

I wish I loved her dad. Fictitious. Favorite cigar. I don't know, we're gonna go out there and read them after this is over.

" That was it. So that's it. That's it. That's all you got, huh?

That's all I got, I don't know. Well, hey. My nose is pressed up against a microphone. I appreciate you.

But thank you for interviewing me, that was different. I appreciate you coming out for the interview today, my friend. Oh, well, you know, not a problem. I'm here anyway.

You're a great friend. I've been here since 8 o'clock this morning. You're an excellent friend. I got a question.

Yeah? Why did you choose me to do this podcast with? Because you're one of the most reliable people I know. Oh.

That makes sense. You know? When it comes... I just want to hear you say something nice.

There are three types of people in this world, Michael. You have your model individuals that excel without ever anybody having to ask them to do anything. With the wig and the whirlwind. I'm sorry I missed all that this morning.

You have... There's new terms going around the shop. You have individuals that have potential, that would need that guidance, and then you have your slapdicks that do absolutely nothing and would really don't have any concern for anybody else's well-being. You, my friend, fall under the category of a model.

Eh, it's just because I changed the lightbulb in the bathroom today. Well, not only that, but if I asked you where anything is in the shop, you could tell me. Isn't that weird? No.

I think it's kind of weird. It's actually fantastic. Well, I'm sure it is for you, but it's kind of weird that I know where everything is. And then you know where they are, which is fucking bar none.

It was funny today, Dave, is there a tape dispenser somewhere in the office? You go, no, no, no, no, no, five minutes later, I walked out with the tape dispenser. Exactly. Need I say more?

Wait, there's one, it's shaped like a dog, it's gold. So yeah, when it comes to looking at it for a task or developing something, I think that you have a talent that not a lot of people have. How much longer do you want to do these? What?

The Podcast. Forever? Forever. Until I sell the store, and I fly off into...

Forever. and into the sunset. I have no idea. Oh, then you're gonna ditch me, and I'm gonna be sitting here talking to the new owner.

No, I'm still gonna... David, I'll be talking to David! We're not going anywhere anytime soon. But I think what's important with the podcast is consistency, right?

You gotta hit it every single week. You gotta hit it every single week. You can't just quietly let it go away. All right, let's wrap this up then, we're at almost 40 minutes.

Perfect. This is longer than a Nick Molino interview. Certainly longer than the Island Jim interview. Yep.

Nope. Yep. Yep. All right, thanks everybody.

All right, thank you. See you next week. Bye. This is the operator with a collect ball from...

To accept the charges, press one, now. That's it, folks. The show's over. If you have any questions or suggestions for guests, leave them on our Facebook page at CigarHustlersPodcast.

You can follow the show on Instagram at CigarHustlersPodcast. You can follow Mikey at CigarHustler. And you can follow me, Mike, at FloridaCigarClub_Mike. Remember always, please rate, review, and subscribe on whichever of our providers you use.

Thanks for listening! We was keeping our dreams of being here. I said we, cause I'm here, you here. Some places we can go.

Some places we can go. Do you want to ride? Ride with me. With me.

Your spot is reserved, family. Do you want to ride? Cigarette boats, yachts. Ain't no way we can't go.

We in South Beach in the Heavens too, baby, you know why they call a project a project? Because it's a project, an experiment, we're in it, only it's objects, an object for us to explore our process.

Show Notes

Episode 30...... Florida Cigar Club

This week Mikey turns the tables on me and hits me with an interview....  Listen in and see how the Florida Cigar Club got started.  What it means to be a member and how not to get kicked out!

Weekend events....Poop and Vomit make amy trip North exciting!

Make Sure to rate, review and subscribe on which ever provider you use to listen to the show!

You can follow the show on IG @cigarhustlerspodcast, Mikey on IG @cigarhustler and Mike on IG @floridacigarclub_mike.

Thanks for Listening!