Episode 390 A Cigar Hustlers Podcast Flamethrowers, Flying Cars, and Final Farewells

Episode Summary

Episode 390 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with the hosts running late and catching up on family news — Palmer's mother's fall, a fractured eye socket, and the looming decision about assisted living — before rolling into the usual mix of headlines, cigar industry news and half-wheel score guessing. The crew also plugs their new merch store at chpod.com (with a shout-out to the buyer of order number one) and an upcoming appearance on the Rocky Mountain Cigar Show.

The news block covers the incendiary-device attack on a pro-Israel walk at Boulder's Pearl Street Mall, Orlando's plan to build an eVTOL "vertiport" at MCO by 2028 for flying taxis to Tampa and Miami, Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz homering the day after his sister's death, and Marc Maron ending WTF after 16 years — which prompts a long tangent comparing Maron's run to Joe Rogan's and what it takes to keep a podcast going. Boots' trending news segment tackles Poland's presidential election, and the social media segment digs into Steve Saka's plush "Saka dolls," which he reportedly hated and set on fire at an event — sparking a debate about whether you'd ever torch merch made in your own likeness (and a detour into the hosts' own bobbleheads).

Cigar news is the meat of the episode: General Cigar's CAO Amazon Basin Dagger (4 x 38, five-pack bundles at $24.99, using the rare Brazilian Bragança tobacco harvested once every three years and canoed out of the rainforest), Connecticut's HB 7275 being amended to keep online/non-face-to-face cigar sales legal, Hooten Young's Paladin Connecticut (6 x 52 Toro, Ecuadorian Connecticut-seed wrapper, made with Cordoba & Morales at Tabacalera CM in Nicaragua, $10 each in four-packs), and Gurkha announcing a tariff-driven price increase without naming lines, amounts or details.

The "What's the score?" segment has the hosts guessing halfwheel ratings from clue-by-clue descriptions: Charlie Minato's review of the La Flor Dominicana Litto Gomez Emeraude ($25.99, all-Dominican, construction problems but great flavor — final score 87) and Brooks Whittington's review of the Davidoff Oscuro 10th Anniversary Limited Edition ($37, Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over Brazilian and Dominican tobaccos — final score 91). They close with news that CLE is shipping the banana-split-flavored Asylum 13 Split Personality in sizes up to 7 x 70, plus Listener of the Week Joe Pasquale leaving Rudy's Cigar Shop in Fort Wayne, Indiana (Shop of the Week — and now hiring a manager). The Patreon extension features the LFD 30th Anniversary and industry inside-baseball talk.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Family Health Scare and Assisted Living Talk
   The hosts explain why the episode is late: a fall, a torn elbow and a fractured eye socket lead to a conversation about moving mom into assisted living.
2. 02
   Merch Launch and Rocky Mountain Cigar Show
   The crew announces chpod.com t-shirts, teases more limited drops, and previews their upcoming guest spot on the Rocky Mountain Cigar Show.
3. 03
   Boulder Pearl Street Mall Attack
   Coverage of the flamethrower/incendiary attack on a pro-Israel walk in Boulder, Colorado and the hosts' reaction to how it was handled.
4. 04
   Orlando's Flying Cars by 2028
   Orlando's planned eVTOL vertiport at MCO sparks debate over whether the guys would ride a flying taxi and where the first route would go.
5. 05
   Marc Maron Ends WTF After 16 Years
   The hosts discuss podcast burnout, Maron's claim of being first, the Joe Rogan comparison, and what happens to a show when a partner walks away.
6. 06
   Steve Saka's Burned Plush Dolls
   A social media story about Saka torching his own plush merch leads to a debate about marketing stunts, voodoo dolls and cigar-industry collectibles.
7. 07
   Cigar News: CAO Amazon Basin Dagger, Connecticut Shipping, Hooten Young, Gurkha
   The Amazon Basin Dagger's rare Bragança tobacco and $24.99 five-pack, Connecticut keeping online cigar sales legal, Hooten Young's Paladin Connecticut, and Gurkha's vague tariff price hike.
8. 08
   What's the Score? Halfwheel Guessing Game
   Guessing halfwheel ratings on the Litto Gomez Emeraude (87) and Davidoff Oscuro 10th Anniversary (91), plus how Minato and Whittington score differently.
9. 09
   Banana Split Cigar, Listener and Shop of the Week
   CLE ships the banana-flavored Asylum 13 Split Personality up to 7 x 70, and Rudy's Cigar Shop in Fort Wayne gets the Shop of the Week nod.

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

No talking okay you're up he's got all one welcome to episode 390 of the cigar hustler podcast and we're late again this week my fault what happened mom took another She fell down and tore her elbow open, and last night, Connor and his girlfriend, who is a nurse's assistant, I believe is the official title, something like that, they got nervous and took her to the emergency room, and she has also fractured her eye socket. So, that's interesting, because you went and checked on your mom. Yeah, and well, we got a call from one of her neighbors that we had never met before. Apparently, she was out on one of her walks and somehow fell down.

She doesn't know how she fell out or where she fell out, and she waved at them, and they saw the blood on her elbow, and she had caught herself on the ground, and it cut her thumb just a little bit, but apparently went like this or something, get the dirt off her face, and striped herself with blood on the face. Oh, she did the Simba. Yeah, so she did the Simba, so she looked like some type of a horror movie thing, I guess, so one of the neighbors turned out she's a semi-retired nurse. Okay.

Yeah, I mean, there was no marks on her face. So? They did a head CT to see if she had hit her head. I mean, there was no distinguishing marks or anything, and that's where they found the fractured eye socket.

But you went and saw your mom? I went over there and spent several hours with her, and yeah. " Okay. He said exactly what this was, there was some fancy medical term for it, he said clean it up with Neosporin, keep it clean, bandage it, I don't think ablation was the word, but that's something you do with fire, I think, but yeah, because I mean, there was no marks on her face, last year when she fell, she hit her head and you could see she hit her head, so what should she not do, Boots?

Fall down. Well, she can't, if you fracture your eye socket, there's nothing they do. You know, they don't put a cast on your face or anything, but they give you antibiotics so you do not get a nasal infection. Right.

Because if you sneeze or blow your nose hard, you could pop your eyeball out. Nice. Yes. Oh, good.

So Connor spent the night there last night. She won't know how she did it. Oh, God. Yeah, she woke up this morning and doesn't know how she did it.

Oh, yeah, she'll go, why is my eyeball in my hand? Right. Right. I can't see.

She woke up not knowing why her arm hurt or why she had a bandage on. That's freaking me out. You know what's so weird about this whole situation is there was a TV show, I was watching The Resident last night, and this happened to one of the patients that was in there. New, new, new, new, new, new, new, new.

Yeah, that's so weird. I'm very good friends with two of her neighbors, one of them, like I said, is a semi-retired nurse from St. Louis, no less, where my wife is from. So she's going to go over and check him on this morning, Connor's girlfriend's going to be over there by 2:30, And Conor will go back over there after five o'clock.

Got it. Okay, well, I hope she has a speedy recovery. Well, she's going to assisted living now. I think that that's probably...

Yes, we're in the process of replacing the roof on her house and as soon as that's done, she's out. Assisted living as in assisted by you, or into a facility? Well, probably a facility. We have offered my house, my brother's offered his house.

She can live near either one of us, she gets to choose, but it's probably going to be some type of facility. Right. And those places are getting a lot better too, you know, activities, and they got a lot of things to do. There's some nice ones around here.

Yeah. I mean, you know, so. I mean, either way, she's a danger to herself at this point. Right, at this point, yeah.

I mean, you know, thank goodness she doesn't cook. She only microwaves or she could have burned the house down. Yeah. Is there a stove still in the house?

Yeah, but it's never been turned on. She didn't use it before. She uses the, her oven has a type of air fryer thing on it or whatever that's called. That's right.

Called. So she uses the oven. She uses the microwave. The dishwasher still has the original packing material in it.

And she's lived in the house 22, 23 years. Oh, wow. I mean, they never use the dishwasher. It was just her and dad.

So, right. But two dishes take them a week and a half to fill the dishwasher. Yeah. I'm walking out my house.

There's 75 cups on the counter. And that drives me crazy. And that was from yesterday. Yeah.

That was Monday night into Tuesday morning. Right. I had to clear all that off. I got to take my wife's coffee cup and put it in the dishwasher every morning.

It's such a frustrating thing, isn't it? You're a great husband. It's, you know, what, two extra seconds to open and put in, it's next to the sink. Yeah.

It drives me crazy. Bro, I do the same thing, I can't, I, why do people leave a sink full? Or even anything in it? Because they don't want to do it.

" Yeah, that's what, the cup you had milk in is soaking? What the fuck you soaking that for? Right. It's so aggravating.

That's a bunch of BS. Right. Yeah, I can't do it. My wife has trained me.

I do my best. Yeah? Clear the sink. No water.

Remnant. I can't go to bed with stuff in the sink. It just... Yeah.

Oh, wait, wait, wait. You wipe it out. No, the outside. Like, you know how...

Oh, okay. Splash. Yeah, you can't have it. Oh, yeah.

I can't use the spray gun at my house because it makes water around the... Just gotta wipe it down. I don't know. I always miss something.

Welcome to Cigar Hustlers Podcast, Anxiety Edition. All right, okay, well, let's talk about what our topics are for today, and then… Well, wait, this Thursday, you and I will be on the Rocky Mountain Cigar Show. We will be on the Rocky Mountain Cigar Show. What time does that start?

I don't know. I have very little information. I think… Nine sounds… I think it's like eight o'clock or something. Eight o'clock their time?

Our time. Oh, eight o'clock our time. So it's seven o'clock their time. Listen, I don't know.

I don't fact check this. Rocky Mountain time. Rocky Mountain time. You want me… What day is that?

It's Thursday? Thursday is what you told me. You want me to deal with Thursday's problems on a Tuesday, okay? I gotta deal with my Tuesday problems.

Well, I'd just like to know what time I need to be home. Sometime before 11 o'clock. I mean, unlike you, I don't have a patio. I have to set up outside if I want to smoke.

Well, I will help you understand what the time is on Wednesday. Is it live or taped? I don't know. Stop asking me.

You don't have much information. Here's what happens. Hey, can you do the podcast? Yes.

Okay. Can we get a poem or two? Yes. Yep.

No problem. No problem. Thank you. Talk to you on Thursday.

You got it. Well, I got, he just sent me some nice posters we can put up. Oh. Yeah.

Nice. So we got that going for us. Sure is him because Shia sent you some posters too. Did you get confused?

No. Okay. All right. Good deal.

All right. What else you got? All right. Top news stories today.

In Boulder, Colorado, Eight People Were Burned During A Pro-Israel Walk. Okay. Orlando's Planning On Flying Cars By 2028. Yes.

Red's Shortstop Eli De La Cruz, Homeward Sunday, Just A Day After Losing His Sister. Yes. Marc Maron is Ending WTF, It's A Podcast, After 16 Years. Oh.

Okay. I get it. You get it? I figured we could.

They started for years. Well, we'll get into that in the show. And then cigar news this week. CAO Amazon Basin Dagger is coming in June of 2025.

Another one. Well, it's had super rare by canoe only tobacco. Oh, very rare. Very rare.

So rare. Okay, anyway. Connecticut's update on online cigar sales. Are they legal or not?

Uh-oh. And let's see. Hooten Young's Paladin, Connecticut just shipped. Yeah.

Are these too short? Last week, they were too long. No, that's perfect. All right.

Gurkha's raising prices on tariff-related items. Any half-wheel reviews that we get to do? " We have the Lito Gomez Emmeraud, E-M-E-R-A-U-D-E. Marauder?

Emmeraud, some French word, I'm sure, from Charlie Minato did that one. And then, we also have one from Brooks, the Davidoff Escuro 10th Anniversary. Oh. Oh, a double.

Fantastic, double. com. I've seen some people already got them. And we have some people wearing our shirts.

Yes, it's very nice. Yes, shout out, I'm going to give a quick shout out to Francis Saletto off The Rip. Order number one for chpod's first ever t-shirt. There will never be another number one like that.

So thank you so much for your support. Thank you everybody else who support us. com. com, and we'll set you up.

And there's more, we got more tricks coming, man. We got more things already in the pipeline, and we're very excited about them. So, stay tuned for more. They get more limited as we go.

They get limited and limited, yeah. Limited. Oh, like a countdown, like 49 shirts next time. Boots, you're going to love the one that I already made, but it's a very small amount.

It's a very small amount. Very limited. Perfect. And then what are we doing for the Patreon, sir?

Today we are smoking the LFD 30th Anniversary. How's that look? Back, there you go. Delicious.

Today on episode 390 of The Secret Show. I'm looking forward to this one. I smoked it at the show two years ago when it originally came. When they took orders.

When it allegedly came out. Oh, excellent. I did not. Apparently Boots has had it before, too.

Yeah, I believe it. Boots was working that show. Oh, yeah, that was the one. Yeah, that's true.

That's true. That's true. Out scavenger hunting significantly. Out trick or treating.

They don't give me samples. Oh, wow. They beat me. If you give me samples, I'll get you in order.

Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Okay. So, hey, let's get going.

Multiple people were burned in an apparent anti-Semitic attack on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall. A number of people were attacked and burned on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder on Sunday afternoon. Law enforcement say a man threw incendiary devices at people participating in a walk and vigil for Israel, hostages being held by Hamas. Boulder police took a man identified as Mohammed Sabri Solaman, 45, into custody at the scene.

" before attacking the walkers. m. Sunday afternoon with a report of an attack near the Boulder Courthouse. The group ran for their lives, finishing a peaceful walk to bring attention to the hostages.

The initial callers indicated that there was a man with a weapon and that people were being set on fire, said Police Chief Stephan Redfern at a press conference. My God. When we arrived, we encountered multiple victims that were injured with injuries consistent with burns and other injuries. Police said the attacker had a makeshift flamethrower and other incendiary devices.

An 11-block portion of downtown from Broadway to 16th Street and Pine to Walnut will remain blocked off into tomorrow as officers investigate. Officials are warning people not to fly drones or personal aircraft over the area while it is closed. And was the guy apprehended, or was he killed? Yes, that was mentioned earlier in the story.

It was? I saw a video footage, and it looked like he had something that had a flame on it in one hand, and then some type of spray bottle that sprayed the, whatever the liquid was he was doing. So it was sort of a, you know, like a... Oh, like a Lysol can or something?

Well, no, it was something bigger than that, with a big clear tank on it full of liquid. But the same idea, you know, hold up the torch, and, you know, squeeze the other thing, and make your own fire flamethrower thing. Why didn't they just shoot the guy? I don't know.

I wanted it, too. Before I saw the picture, I thought, well, maybe the thing was too big. They were afraid if they shot him, maybe he would have exploded, and the stuff would have went everywhere. Right.

But it looked like two handheld devices he had. Like a napalm type. What do you think about it, Boots? Do you think that, uh, give me your thoughts.

I think it's kind of weird that a guy named Mohamed did an attack on this type of area. On Israelis? Yeah. Well, he was probably a Hamas supporter.

There's no Israeli named Mohammed? But you don't know how that whole thing works? Well, I know the war thing. Palestine.

Yeah, I get that. But I'm saying... I don't think Mohammed is a strict Palestine name. It's not a big Israeli name.

No. Or Israeli name, whatever it is. No. I'd like to see this guy.

Do you have a picture of him? There was a picture of him online. He was shirtless. Yeah.

Yeah? Yeah, he should have definitely been taken out quickly. Oh, here we go. " Oh, apparently he surrendered.

What state do you think this happened? What is it? What did it happen? This was in Boulder, Colorado.

Colorado. In Colorado. You think if it happened in Florida, the guy would have survived? Oh, he would have died instantly.

In Lakeland? They'd have shot him. He'd have been gone, right? Yeah.

Polk County, whoopee's gone. I don't understand how you attack a group of people in any type of a peaceful protest. Well, he was for the group they were protesting. Right.

Well, it was peaceful and then became unpeaceful. Yeah, because he interjected. Right. That's what I'm saying.

Like, that's insane. Yeah. Well, that's definitely, they didn't deem a terrorist attack? They're considering a terrorist attack, yes.

Okay. Yeah, so. So does that mean the punishment? I'm surprised they didn't take him out then if it was a terrorist attack.

Well, he surrendered as soon as the police showed up. Well, that doesn't matter. He's got a gun. It's not Florida.

They don't just shoot people everywhere. Stop resisting. Stop resisting. Stop resisting.

Hey, we don't shoot people everywhere here. That's not nice. Allegedly. Yeah.

You can't say that. Why did you shoot him 86 times? We ran out of bullets. Yeah.

Right. I mean, but look. You could read the newspaper. This guy.

I mean, come on. I can't say that I think about that. I don't worry about it on a daily basis. I'm sure.

You can't even let the cops go back on people that are just peacefully protesting. Set people on fire? Well, it's very bad, yes. I don't know.

Why are we waiting around for this guy to settle in where he's no longer harming people? First of all, that's one of my biggest fears of all time. Being set on fire? Yeah.

Oh. It's like drowning. Why would you tell us that? I'm just saying.

Now we're gonna chase you with letters. You guys aren't afraid of being burnt? Like being set on fire? I can't say that I think about that.

I don't worry about it on a daily basis. You can't even let the coffee cup sit in the kitchen sink. I'm sure it's very terrible, and I hear it's extremely painful, and you suffocate before you die, so. He's not worried about the coffee cup jumping out of the sink and killing him.

Right. I mean, it's no different, you know, are you worried about drowning? Of course. You don't worry about drowning?

Why do you think you never got on a boat in the Navy? Oh, that's true. The Navy guy is scared of the water. I forgot.

I can tread water for a little bit, but I can't tread it forever, so. Yes, I am worried about drowning. So, you're scared of being burned alive? That's your biggest fear?

First of all, you guys already know, I don't like death and I don't want to die. So, everything where you die would make me nervous. Very few people are looking forward to it. So, what's the number one way that you don't want to die?

Oh, suffocating. I mean, like, being buried under the ground. Suffocation? Okay, that would be terrible.

The buried alive? Yeah. Yeah. Because I'm slightly claustrophobic, too.

I think we should do it. We should go out back and take a big hold. Absolutely not. And we should just put, like, a boot sign on it.

This will be the last day that Boots ever does the podcast. I'll see you guys later. Just leave it there. Like, no, I don't know how that got there.

It's weird. And now we have a redhead sitting in. Ah, Ginger, congratulations. You've been promoted.

Ginger's been upgraded. By the way, Ginger, thanks so much for the 50,000 comment on the amount of people on a cruise. Yeah, apparently that number is way large. " He Googled it.

Yeah, thanks so much. Since we just took your word for that, we've been berated on every single platform possible. Text messages, everything. Are you crazy, 50,000 people?

You think 50,000 people will be on a boat? " How big do you think these boats are? You know what, the problem is that I just trust everybody when somebody makes a statement. He sounded like he knew.

Yeah, and he's a cruise guy. Super convincing. We should ask him something today, too, and he'll just give us the wrong answer. See how convincing it is?

Yeah. So, uh, uh, Ginger, when you burn, how fast do you die? How fast does it take you to die when you're being burned, Ginger? Depends on how high.

There you go. You should've came out with a number, man. That sounds reasonable. Yeah.

Depends on how hot the fire is. See, no guns on campus in Colorado, that's why you can't. They were downtown. Oh.

Yeah, you can't smoke cigars, you can't do anything. No. You can smoke cigars. Apparently you can light people on fire.

You can't smoke them in public. Do you think you can bury somebody alive in Colorado? Yeah, it's definitely an outdoorsy type state. Outdoorsy murders.

So you're saying you won't be visiting Colorado anytime soon? I went and I hated it. It was a horrible place. You had too many ditches?

No, it was just too many rules about cigars. Holter said the incident did not seem to have sparked a large panic. People were not afraid. A crowd of people on the mall watched the arrest from a distance.

Hey, look over there. That dude sent people on fire. That's insane, man. Well, of course it was from a distance.

They didn't want to get burned. So nobody died, though? Just people were really badly hurt? Two people were airlifted by plane, I guess, or helicopter, but that's, yeah, they didn't, nothing.

I haven't seen any. I don't even want to see it. Nobody died. That's insane.

One way is why he had no shirt on, because in practice they splattered and caught a shirt on. He wanted to, he'd rather singe his flesh a little bit? Well, it's less, you know, less flammable your flesh than a, you know, cotton or polyester t-shirt. How many people do you think you're going to comment on the fact that he said Mohammed people are in it, you know?

Probably a lot. Oh, yeah. Now he's anti-Semitic too. Yeah, well, there are plenty of Mohammeds, I'm sure, in Israel.

I'm sure. They're not all in Israel. What was the guy's names on the planes and stuff? Oh, my God.

Hey, you got to move your microphone down just a little bit, Palmer. It's kind of bugging me. Is it too high? Yeah, it's like right in front of your whole face.

Yeah, you got to move it down. Perfect. Yep. Okay.

All right, next story. All right, Orlando sets its sights on flying cars by 2028 with airport vertiport plans. The city known for theme parks and tourism is now aiming to become a pioneer in futuristic transportation. Orlando is planning to accommodate flying cars officially known as electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft or EVTOLS, EVTOLS, EVTOLS, EVTOLS, there's not two E's, there's just one.

E-V-T-O-L-S. It's a little E and a little S, but V-T-O-L is in capital A. Avtoll? I don't know.

By building a dedicated VertiPort at Orlando International Airport by 2028, according to multiple news sources, the VertiPort would function much like a terminal for these next-generation aircraft, providing space for takeoffs, landings, and passenger boarding. Unlike traditional planes, EVADLs don't need long runways, instead, they lift off vertically like helicopters, making them ideal for urban and regional travel, where space is limited. Orlando's plans are part of a growing global interest in advanced air mobility, a field that promises to revolutionize how people move between cities and eventually within them. The idea is to make fast, clean, and efficient air travel more accessible to the public.

By 2028, city officials hope to have infrastructure in place to support flying taxis connecting Orlando to other major Florida cities such as Tampa and Miami. These short-range flights could slash travel times from hours to just minutes, all while reducing the burden on Florida's already congested highways. Would you fly in an Avitol? In a heartbeat.

You would? I'd fly, come pick me up right now. Yeah. Yep, I'm not afraid of air flight.

Okay, what about you Boots? Absolutely not. Do you see the ones in the fraction now? Something else he's afraid of.

Do you see the ones that are, they can't even, the FAA and everybody can't even control the ones now. Yeah. So just imagine, you know, sorry, nothing about the elderly Palmer, but... Oh, the elderly.

Could you imagine an 80 year old flying one of these things? I don't think they're gonna make him in charge of it. You don't get to fly it yourself. It's like a taxi.

Yeah, it'd probably be automated at some point. At some point. Okay, could you imagine Mohammed driving one of these things? No, no.

Couldn't imagine. I don't think Mohammed would get clearance. Just imagine if he, you know, went by a peaceful thing, you know, and all of a sudden crashes the flight, they ran into it. What's that?

Automated probably makes more sense. Yeah, I think so too. Then they're all going to catch on fire like the ones are now. Less weight.

That way they hold more people. He's very doomy over here. Yeah, today's a hard day. He is.

Very doomy today. They don't have to build the highway, it's in the air. They've been talking about flying cars for 20, 30 years now. Now there's somebody who has, not sponsored, but invested.

Where do you think the first route is? Where do you think, like, hey, we build the pad at MCO, where do you think the first location is that they can have travel to? Downtown. No, if we're talking about Florida, they're going to put it somewhere where nobody goes.

That's how they do their stuff here. You think it's gonna go where nobody goes? No, downtown. They're gonna put it like on the backside of Claremont?

Yeah. Disney. That's where I think it goes. Yeah.

I think it goes right to the mouse. But then they can get Disney money. Right. Hey, you know, now you no longer have to take a bus.

Once you land, you just get on the... I guess it depends how big it is. Because if it only holds, let's say, two to four people, is that really gonna be efficient for Disney? Because now they run those giant buses.

I think that they have a niche. Would it be cost effective to fly four people at a time? Well, do you think if you don't want to deal with people, and you have your family, and this is your vacation for, you know, you've saved up for years or whatever, and you're coming, especially if you're coming in from out of the country, you land at MCO and then you jump on one of these things, and you're there in five minutes. What's the average size of a, uh, Ginger, what's the average size of a family nowadays?

How many people? 20. Our new source of information. Four?

Four. So, for like, your family's five, you guys couldn't take it? Yeah. I would say that these things have got to hold at least six to eight people.

Oh, then they have to be bigger? Yeah. Oh. Pictures I saw, it looks like four.

Yeah. So, you'd have to take multiple? Yeah. Put the kids in the other one.

Oh, so they have, they have tons of these just flying around. I could, I would never do that. I would never put my kids in a separate one. No, your wife goes with Teddy, and you and the boys go in the other one.

Something like that, yeah. Right. Well, you gotta put a boy in each. Oh, yeah, why is that?

Surrival. Doomeday, so, just, yeah, exactly. That's what I was gonna say. Just in case.

All the men in the family don't go down at one time. You're named, 'cause Greg's not having kids, so I mean. Names gotta carry on? Yeah.

How many boys do you have? One. So, him and his son can't fly. My wife wants to have another one, so we're going to try all the little tricks of the trade.

But you don't know if it's going to be a blur or not? Oh, of course we don't. Well, that's what he said, they can try all the tricks. We need to do a whole episode on ways to ensure you have a mailbag.

Oh, yeah. Nice. Orlando's position itself is a testbed for innovative transportation technologies. The city already has a strong aviation presence and a booming tourism industry, making it an ideal location to experiment with futuristic travel options.

There it is. In 2020, the Lake Nona community in southwest Orlando announced plans for what was then billed as the nation's first vertiport, although the timeline and developers have shifted since then. The enthusiasm for flying cars in central Florida has only grown. City leaders believe the investment could pay off big by attracting tech companies, creating jobs, and strengthening Orlando's identity as a city of the future.

I would love just to fly from my house to work. That would be awesome. They make those small gyrocopters or an ultralight, well I guess ultralight you need like a runway, so they wouldn't do that, but you can do the copter. I would love that.

The one you pedal. Tell Greg, swipe the card, swipe the card, get you one. Yeah, swipe the card. You get a street, well takeoff wouldn't be a problem, you can use a street out in front of your house.

I'd land on top of my house. Yeah, it's a flat roof. Oh, I was thinking the ultralight. Land on top of this roof.

I don't know if that, I don't know, that's gonna be advisable. That's gonna be advisable. That's gonna be advisable. Make sure I'm down here when you land on the roof.

Palmer, I'm landing. I'll be downstairs. Yeah, there's, you gotta use a ladder. Yeah, you have to use a ladder.

Well, I meant holding the weight, that's what I was more concerned with, the actual age of the building and the construction. Right. Hmm. Okay.

These aircraft are fully electric, quieter than helicopters, and designed to carry a handful of passengers on short-distance flights. Regulatory approvals and safety standards are still being finalized, but progress is accelerating. The Federal Aviation Administration has already begun working on guidelines for vertiports and evil tool operations. Yeah, that was my biggest question, too, is how are you going to fly in the air?

Well, there's going to be tons of regulation and ways you have to do it and certain licensings that you have to have. Right. Okay. All right, next story.

While I'm trying to get there, there's only supposed to be a three-minute read. Oh boy, Orlando, it seems, is ready for takeoff. Oh, there you go. Now it's done.

Lovely. There you go. Red's Eli Delacruz homers after learning of his sister's death. Yes.

Turning to the world of sports, Cincinnati Red star Eli Delacruz played with a heavy heart Sunday after learning of the death of his older sister, but manager Terry Francona said the 23-year-old shortstop was insisted on being in the lineup. Dela Cruz hit a two-run homer and scored two runs in Cincinnati, seven to three loss to the Chicago Cubs. Oh, so they lost anyway. But he hit a homer.

He hit a homer for the dead sister, yes. Dela Cruz insisted he wanted to play in the finale of the weekend series, and the team was going to support him. After his towering home run, the 50th of his career, Dela Cruz patted his chest as he took his final steps towards the plate, pointed to the sky, and clapped. After stepping on the plate, he made a heart shape with his hands.

We care so much about playing a game and winning, Francona said, but in a hurry you're reminded of what's really important so I think everybody's everybody kind of kept their head on a swivel with him today just trying to take care of him. Family members confirmed to Z101 Digital in the Dominican Republic that De La Cruz's sister died Saturday after dealing with health problems for some time. De La Cruz declined to speak with reporters Sunday. The Reds also declined to offer any more details citing De La Cruz's wishes.

He takes so much pride in being available. " Oh boy, words. Yeah, words are difficult. Words are difficult.

Okay, so he knew his sister was ill. Yeah. Yes, it wasn't sudden. It's not like it's...

After a long bout of something, because they're not saying what it was. Do you know what it was, Boots? No, it wasn't disclosed. No?

Yeah, they're not saying. Ginger, what was it? Ginger, what did she die of? He's checking into it right now.

Just pick something, Ginger. Oh, my goodness. COVID-related. I mean, yeah, I guess that's a catch-all now.

It is, that's what everybody dies of now. COVID-related. Insurance money. Okay, so are you surprised that he played?

No, you hear this kind of stuff all the time with these higher-level athletes. Yeah. What about you, Boots? Nah, it's for the love of the game, man.

I mean, so, still gotta play. Yeah, I mean, I'm not surprised that the guy played. It's not like it was a sudden accident or something, you know, like some major, listen, losing someone you love is always terrible. Sure, terrible thing.

However, it's a little different when you know that they've been ill for a long time. Yeah, that it's coming. And it was, and you're expecting it. Sure.

You know? So, I guess I think in that type of scenario, I would kind of continue on, you know? Do you think the other team's pitchers soft-pitched him so he could hit the own run? No, it was like a 94, 95 mile per hour.

Yeah, I'm not giving them. If I'm on the field. You know what's funny? I mean, they lost anyway.

They were down 7-3. Yeah, they still crushed them. They were down 7-3, so maybe went, you know, I'm just going to lob one over. There'll be no mercy.

I did see a clip recently where Brett Favre ran into the guy that Strahan took his sack record from. Oh, yeah. Did you see that? And he was like, you ruined my life.

Because the last play for Michael Strahan to get the sacks for the entire, and Ginger can fact-check me on this, for the season, he just kind of rolled and just kind of fell flat and let Strahan sack him in order to take that new record. So the other guy was so pissed. Oh, he was pissed at the quarterback. Yeah, the other guy really earned it, whereas they just kind of gave it to Strahan at the end.

Yeah, the other guy, that's all he had. Yeah, so if Brett Favre was pitching, maybe. Maybe. But I don't think that's.

Just softball pitch, underhanded. You know what I was going to give this one? Yeah, like a little softball thing. There you go, boop.

Yeah. I'm going to get real close and use two hands. Right? Go take a knee, lift it.

Nobody chased the ball. It's fine. It's fine. Just let it go.

In the park home run. It's amazing. Yay. Dead sister.

Sorry. Now let's kill him. 7-3. Right.

Now, let's rack up those runs. Okay. All right, Mark Marone's WTF podcast ending in fall were burnt out. This was a show that started when there were no podcast.

Oh. And now there's nothing but podcast. " We started the show on our terms, we grew it on our terms, and we'll end it on our terms. Thought about the terms.

How else will it end? Why would you end it? He was burnt out, I said that in the beginning. Yeah, but you know, do you think that he would have continued forward with it if it was more lucrative?

Well, they're making money. They were? Yeah, they had Sponsor making money, they've been doing it for 60 years. In the beginning, they were like us, they didn't make any money in the beginning.

Oh, what year did they start making money? It was, well, apparently 15. We're halfway there. We're halfway there.

I got news for you. We're not in the beginning. He started selling shirts, apparently. Oh, yeah?

Yeah, that was how he started selling shirts. That was a big hit? It was a big hit. He started offering his own WTF shirts.

WTF merchandise? Yes. I love it. Nice.

So you're saying there's a chance. Right. We're going the right way. Yes.

Marone and his producer partner, Brendan McDonald, made the decision together, he said, explaining that the pair behind the two-team groundbreaking podcasts are simply burnt out. The TF will turn 16 years old on September 1st. 16 years is a long time. It's a long time to do anything, he said, to open his show, which welcomed on guest John Mulaney.

All of a sudden, you're old, and you realize you've been doing something for a long time. This started in an old garage. Very, very similar. How many times has he been married?

Married? Yeah. I don't know. Jinji, you want to look that up?

I have no idea. I don't know why that's important. Sounds like 15 years is a long time, so. Oh, no one knew.

Can't move on. No one knew what a podcast was. I was coming out of a horrendous divorce. Oh, apparently he hasn't been married at least once.

There it is. I was wanting to figure out how to continue living my life. Things were not looking good for me. He continued, when Brendan and I started this thing, all we knew was that we were going to do it every Monday and Thursday.

We don't do it often enough. That's the problem. And then there was no way to make money. There was no way that we knew how to build an audience or anything.

We were doing it in the garage in the beginning. That was just a garage filled with junk, and it slowly evolved into the show that became what you listen to twice a week. 16 years we've been doing this, and we've decided that we had a great run, and now basically it's time, folks. It's time.

WTF is coming to an end, and it is our decision. But he's moving on, but he's doing other shows now. Oh. So that's the weird part.

So he started doing this show, but now he's going to start doing a new show with somebody else. And he did it with somebody else. That show. This show, yeah, it was him and the producer.

Right. So, maybe you just got tired of the guy. The producer? Yeah.

Maybe 16 years, a long time. I mean, you tried to do that. You got tired of me. I didn't get tired of you.

Yeah, Chet Palmer show. Well, I was doing other shows. Yeah, and then there was a sports talk for Boots. Yeah.

And look at you both. You're still here. Couldn't escape. Right, because we're dedicated.

Motivated. You couldn't escape me. Couldn't what you? You couldn't escape me.

Oh, well, to be fair, Chet quit too. So I was left by myself. Chet couldn't hang. No.

I think we both realized together that we were done. Marone 62 continued in the announcement. There was no convincing or pushback or arguing. We're done.

It's done. And it's okay. It's okay for things to end. That was a show that started when there were no podcasts.

And now he's big on the fact that he was the only podcast. Did you just read all that? No, he's just big on the fact that he started a podcast and when there were no podcasts. So what do you think?

If a guy's going to continue to do podcasts, What makes you think, why would he stop that podcast? Do you think that he was just tired of it? No, I think the producer probably had to stop, and that guy doesn't know how to produce, so... So he just got fed up, or so you think that the show's gotta end?

" Yeah, because we, I mean, let's be real, when Palmer passes away, the show's probably gonna go away. From either drowning, burning, or buried alive. Yeah. You think if Palmer goes, the show's done?

I mean, I can't do all the stuff he does. Oh, that's 100% accurate. Hey, most weeks I can't do all the stuff I do. Yeah.

Exactly. I mean, I guess we could do it on Facebook Live with our phones. I'm sure we would figure it out. Hopefully he doesn't go away anytime soon because I have to redo a lot of other things, not only just this podcast.

Right, yeah. Palmer, I won't sit in that chair, I'll chose another one, because that would be the death chair for me, I won't sit in that one, the death chair, well you know the problem is I rearrange it, it's one of these four every week, it's different, I'll just have to bring my own then, yeah it could be any death chair, so apparently the WTF show, which I'm not familiar with, it was an interview show, yeah I've never heard of it, so they interviewed celebrities, politicians, I mean it's not like it was a good show, 55 million listeners, 2000 episodes, how long has What has Joe Rogan been on? I don't know exactly, but I would probably guess, probably somewhere around that. Our IT guy is looking it up right now, behind you.

Is he? I'm looking it up too. I don't know, he's doing his taxes. 2009.

Oh, this guy started in 2009. Yeah, so same amount of time there. I mean, if I started the same time as Joe Rogan, and I was based solely on interviews. Right.

And Joe Rogan... Yeah. I mean, I know who Joe Rogan is. Joe Rogan holds clout.

this guy is. Joe Rogan was famous to be fair before he did it. Not really. Fear Factor.

He did that show where they made him eat the bugs and stuff. Fear Factor. Fear Factor. No, no.

He made other people eat the bugs. He did UFC. He did UFC stuff. He was a name before he started doing it.

Stand-up comedian. Wasn't he an actor too? I don't think he's a good comedian. I don't think he's a good comedian.

He's not a great comedian. I haven't really liked his stuff. No, I think that's just something he threw in. I talk to people.

Why not just say funny stuff? He's amazing with his interviews, obviously. You know, but But, yeah, I don't think the comedic part is his biggest. No, I don't think he's that funny, either.

We went, we went. Oh, did you? You saw his whole act? I've seen clips, and they're sort of hit or miss.

The Kill Tony guy crushed it. He opened for him. I was like, man, that guy is hilarious. But, yeah, the JRE.

So, I mean, if I had come out at around the same time, regardless of what my background was, I mean, one guy is retarded rich now. Right. You know, and he's a household name. Sure.

I have no idea who this guy is. Oh. Yeah, no, I've never heard of this show before. He's obviously the creator of podcasts is what he said.

Right, he invented podcasts. Right. They were the first. Maybe not.

I wonder who distributed it, I guess a website? It's not like, you know, Podbean or Apple Podcast had to be around back then. Apple was probably around at that time. Well, Apple, but maybe not the Apple Podcast branch.

You don't think so? Well, he said he was the first one. So I mean, what, they just had this one show? When did Apple-- Well, uh, real player, back then was real player.

I don't know if you remember that. Oh, I remember real player. Yeah. Apple launched their podcasts in 2005.

So then he wasn't the first one. It's erroneous information. He's lying. He just wanted out.

He just fucking wanted out. Yeah, he's lying. Yeah, he was done doing, he was done with this format. I just think he was just done with his partner.

He's been on with his partner. Yeah. Yeah. He couldn't stand him anymore.

He's trying to come up with a heartthrob story. After 16 years, yeah. Well, he's got a bad track record. He's divorced probably after 14 years.

Right. Right. Makes sense. Two extras.

Okay. All right, Boot Stranding News. Oh, yes. Oh.

Who are you on? Ballroom? Why is he always on me? Yeah, I was last week.

Oh, good. Oh, great. Still no ink, huh? Still no ink.

What printer are you using? Same one everybody uses upstairs. How come there's no issue with anything else but yours? Everything's light.

Oh my God, that looks transparent. He held it up with the light behind it. We have plenty of toner. I don't know.

Somebody change the toner. All right. Hello, peoples. Conservative Karol Narocki wins Poland's presidential election.

Well, what a story. That was close. Poland's Electoral Commission has declared victory for a conservative candidate. Karol Norwalki, in the second round of the country's tightly contested presidential election, question: How many rounds does it take to elect a Polish president?

-How many? -Two. 89 percent of the vote, Norwalki defeated the liberal pro-European Union candidate, Raphael Trzowski by just over a percentage point. naraki campaign campaigned on a promise to defend traditional polish values and reduce the number of polish people it takes to screw in a light bulb by half that's efficient his opponent trisowski who is the mayor of warsaw had vowed to push ahead with prime minister donald tusk's plans to reinstate judicial independence and liberalize abortion laws but with major veto powers naraki is expected to block test government in pursuit of more nationalist agenda much like the predecessor and outgoing president andreas duda duda who in associate's story was confused by polish man number one knock knock polish man number go ahead knock knock who's there what do you call a polish fisherman i don't know what do you call a polish fisherman a fishing pole but i'm You know, Poland's got one of the lowest crime rates in Europe.

Well, that's because they're sitting at the bar trying to figure out each other's name all the time. And that's because they don't let anybody in. Oh, is that what it is? Yeah.

Oh. But they let them out. Yeah. If you want to leave, you can leave.

Okay. All right, now you want to talk about, are your social media the topic for the day, Michael? Oh, sure, I do. Oh.

All right, go ahead. do do do do do do do do do do this just in so i don't know the details of the full story here oh perfect it would appear that's exactly how we like it yeah that's how that's how we make stuff up speculative news yeah and then we get everybody angry at us right it would appear that steve sohka went ahead and made this merch yes for events or whatever right and they were steve Sokka Dolls. Were they wood dolls? No.

Like stuffed doll dolls? They were plush dolls. Okay. I don't know.

What do you mean plush? You mean with cotton? Yeah. Yeah.

Stuffed. And apparently they had arrived. Yes. And he thought they were absolutely atrocious.

I thought they looked good. So he did an event with Abe where they did a smoke in live of the burning of these Sokka dolls. Oh, he burned them. So he did some social media clips as he was doing it.

Who in their right mind would make a stuffed animal of themselves in order to sell for merchandise? This is my first question, Steve. I'd love to have a BDP stuffed animal. Would you make a stuffed animal of yourself?

Oh, sure I would. You'd make a plushie? Yeah. I'd prefer an action figure.

Okay. No. Yeah, like a Superman. No, no, no.

We didn't go action. No, I said I would prefer, but I would still make. You would make a plushie of you. Sure.

See, the thing is, though, he had to have approved it at some point, so he knew what it was going to look like. It was totally greenlit. You're right. So what?

When 75,000 of them showed up, he's like, oh, this was a mistake. I've got to see a picture of this. I haven't seen a picture. This is terrible.

I love them. I need one. I need to get one. Well, if you want to understand, there are three left in existence.

I think that there's more. I would believe that there's more. You don't think? Because it didn't look like there was a large number of them.

I mean, he didn't get 75,000 of them. It looked like 50. I don't think Steve just said, all right, I'm going to send you three and then I'm going to torch the rest. We need to start getting plush dolls of all the people in the industry.

Oh, yeah? To start making them? Yeah, they can sit around Palmer, because he's got a little bit of gappage on the left and the right there. Yeah.

Sit right around him. That way we can have Cigar Hustlers podcast and friends. Oh, a Saturday morning TV show. Right.

There you go. You and your stuffies. They could be puppets. If you sit behind me and work the puppets.

Now, don't you think... That would be way better, by the way. That would be way better. Okay, so let's say, hypothetically, you produced, I don't know, 500 stuffies.

Okay. Of you. Now we're calling them stuffies. Seems a little excessive, but okay.

Alright. They arrived, and you absolutely despised them. Right. They would have to be pretty bad for me to despise them.

Would you be okay with torching the... He had to have money invested in them. I mean, I'm not even talking about the money. Well, but I'm cheap.

We've established that earlier. I mean, if I've got 500 of them at a buck a piece, let's just say, you know, that's $500. Right. I'm still doing something with them.

I don't care how bad they are. Okay. I don't care if they bleed. Okay.

But let's say that you decided that you didn't want them to see the light of day. Okay. For whatever reason. Right.

Like, man, these are hideous. But they are still a resemblance of you. Right. Would you set them on fire?

No, if I didn't want anybody to know about them. It's a great marketing ploy to set them on fire. It's brilliant. I mean, I'm talking about it.

I think it's hilarious. Right. But it's still you. It's still in the likeness of you.

Are you okay with setting the likeness of you on fire? Oh, yeah. You'd be okay with that? Sure.

Have you ever heard of a voodoo doll? Yes. Yeah, so that's exactly where I was thinking. But it then has to be blessed or whatever it is by voodoo priestess and have to have The gree-gree or whatever put all over it.

The gree-gree? Is that what happens? That's what they call it, the gree-gree. That's the evil magic, the gree-gree.

Well, how do you know one of them didn't get blessed? Because I have all 500 of them here on my purpose. They came in, they were built somewhere. But did it go through New Orleans where all the voodoo people are?

It definitely went through a third world country. So maybe somebody... Well, because they were made... Why did they go through a third world country?

I had them made in China. They're not a dollar being made in USA. I had them made in China or Japan. Well, they gotta be made in a third world country.

They ship to China, put Made in China on it, and then China ships it to us. Made in China on the bottom of my foot. I think that they were definitely made in China. I think that they were held up.

That's, that's what... Could be. It just reminds me of the Temple of Doom. Do you remember Temple of Doom?

Karima. Oh, because he had the voodoo doll of Indy. Of Indy, yeah, yeah, yeah. That wasn't New Orleans.

No, that was in India though. Yeah. Did these go through India? Maybe.

Did I have them made in India? Okay, so now when we make the dolls of me, they don't go through any voodoo country. I just don't know if I would be able to burn them. If I didn't like them.

If we had dolls of you. Yeah. Little muscle dolls. Yeah.

And you made a bunch of them and I'm like, those are like the Stretch Armstrong or He-Man looking doll. Those are hideous. Those can't see the light of day. Right.

I don't know if I'd let you burn them. How would you be okay disposing of them so that nobody ever saw them? I'd probably just have to put them in storage and keep them forever. Stick them somewhere and pay forever until I died and then somebody would have to find them.

Yeah. These are a bunch of, I go, this is weird. Look at all these dad dolls we have. What would you do, Boots?

If you absolutely. Well, he's not gonna burn them. He's not gonna drown them. He's not gonna bury them.

All right. Well, let me ask him. I just said, well, he's not gonna. All right.

Thanks. So, so you have the stuffies and you, you don't want them to see the light of day. What would you do? I'd probably just sell them to be done with it.

You should have said I'm not going to burn them. Yeah, I'm definitely not going to do that stuff. You would bite the bullet and just sell them? Yeah, that's what they were meant for.

But I'm just saying you're not okay with them getting out in the wild. No, I mean we've seen the bronze statues of Dwayne Wade and all the issues that have happened with these things. And they still embrace it. So you would just embrace it no matter what?

Look at this horrible looking doll of myself. 99. Got a point. The fact that he hates it might make us sell more.

Get this limited edition boots doll that I can't stand. I mean, it's definitely a rare commodity at this point. I would like one of these. For whatever reason.

Just to have. I don't know how you set them on fire. That's insanity. They didn't look like they had little clothes on, it looked like they're all one color.

Maybe he did it to make them more rare. No, I don't, I think that, I think that he had this come to Jesus moment where he's like, what am I doing? I can't, yeah, what am I going to do with these now? I don't know how you green light stuffies, I know that you said that you'd be okay with it.

Would you be okay with making your own stuffies, boots? Yeah, sure, why not? I think it's a little, I think it's a little crazy, but, you know. The next step from a t-shirt with my likeness on it.

That's just hilarious. Well, yeah, but the doll would look like the guy in the t-shirt I'm picturing. You have a doll made of you. The bobblehead?

Yeah. Yeah, it's in my house. Yeah. Thanks so much.

You're welcome. You want to know why it's at my house? Because it's hideous and I don't know what to do with it. Oh, but he won't throw it away.

And I won't throw it away. He won't burn it. To be fair. And I'm naked and I'm wearing a towel.

He's wearing a towel. Yeah, we weren't aware of that one. Ian Power did not know about that part. Yeah, that is not shown in the order form.

So that's a little, to make it even creepier. If anybody would like to buy it for $400. The little tiny king wiener was not featured as one of the options. It's not for sale and it's not anatomically correct.

Maybe. No. Not true. And he's too skinny.

Well, that was when you were starting. It's a bobble head, not a bobble body. Right, yeah, no bobble body. We only got to design the head.

Did you guys collaborate on that? You don't remember me taking all the pictures? We did, yeah. Yeah, so nobody ever questions me around here.

I took pictures of all of you guys. I need a left, right profile. You got a problem with the fact that nobody ever questions you? Sometimes it just, it so amazes me that, I mean, I need a left, right, and full face photo.

" day came back. Here I got all the photos. I'm like, how'd you get all that? He's like, oh, I just took the pictures.

They didn't ask me. I'm like, I figured you were creating something. Right, exactly. That's what I mean.

I mean, how much stuff do you create every week? Right. No, no. I understand why you didn't, but sometimes some of the things I do, I'm like, I don't know why people don't ask questions.

Here, stand over here, get naked, and hold this doll. Right, okay. It's not like you asked me to take my pants off or something. You know what?

That might not be a no. There would at least be The hesitation. Are you sure right now? Yeah, right now.

Okay. Does it have to be now? Right now, I gotta do it now. In front of all these people?

Even Greg! He was like... He didn't not... " He just went back to work.

Yeah, well, we got stuff to do. We don't have time for your fucking nonsense. For your shenanigans? Who knows what he's doing?

Yeah. So I'm looking forward to hopefully obtaining a Sokka doll. Oh, so if you get your hands on the Sokka doll, doll we would like to have steve send me a doll or please because apparently everybody listens to the show so you can ask i think if abe sends one i'll have to send him something in return boxes of something just go get it it's gotta be at the shop huh make a plushy doll of you do a trade a plushy doll greg i don't want a plushy doll of me how about greg who's gonna buy that well it's not a it's not a buying thing it's a trading thing nobody even Who knows who Greg is? Who knows who Greg is?

That's the best part of it. " No, this is Greg. This is Greg. Just put a hat on it.

Put a hat slightly askew. There you go, he's fine. There you go. All right, turning to Cigar News.

The very rare, super exclusive, Amazon Basin Tobacco is being made into a second type of cigar. Again? They haven't, oh, there's so much now. Another rare one?

They have more canoes. More canoes. General Cigar has announced the release of a CAO Amazon Basin Dagger. The Amazon Basin Dagger is a limited edition that brings the brand's popular Amazon Basin blend into a compact 4x38 format.

The Amazon Basin Daggers are set to hit stores in June of 2025. The filler for the Dagger blend, similar to the original Amazon Basin, features the rare and low-yield Brazilian, I can't pronounce that word, Braganca. Braganca? Braganca.

B-R-A-G-A-N-C-A. Braganca. This unique tobacco is grown organically in pristine remote areas of the Amazon Rainforest. It's harvested only once every three years.

Oh. After the harvest, the tobacco leaves are carefully rolled into tubes referred to as carrots. These carrots are then subject to high-pressure fermentation before being... Carrots or carrots?

What is it? I'm going with either or. Okay. High-pressure...

So you're just mixing it up to cover both bases? Yes, I am exactly. Okay. Transported by canoe from the depths of the rainforest.

So this super rare, limited tobacco that they- One every three years. Once every three years. We can only make these cigars. Yep.

Except now, we can also make these cigars. Now we have some more. The canoe people were doing such a good job, but we have extra. You know what it is?

I think that they've been using those evotals, those- Oh, the flying cars things. To get it out of the Amazon. Hmm. How did they take off all the trees on the way?

Oh, they're like Incas. They created an Amazon- Oh, you know the rainforest. It's being deforested. Yeah, they deforested a helipad, and they gave it a charging station.

Oh, and a charging station. The filler of the CAO Amazon Basin contains Colombian and Dominican tobacco. Additionally, the cigar incorporates an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper and Nicaraguan binder. Well, there's not a whole lot of that super rare tobacco in this, it seems.

Yeah, well, they got to keep it limited, you know what I mean? It's just a little sprinkle dinkle. Boop, boop, boop, boop. A little sprinkle.

Get the shaker out. We got to come over here. There we go. Too much, too much.

Production comes from FCG, Esteli, and Nicaragua. Dagger comes packed in five-pack paper bundles. Each five-pack is priced at? Anybody want to guess?

Super rare. Super rare, but it's a CAO. It's a four-by-38, you said? It is four-by-something.

I don't remember. It's a little cigar. It's a little cigar. I'm going to say $8.

Well, it's a five. It's a five-pack. It's a five-pack. Sold in a five-pack.

So, $40? Boots? $20. 99 for this super...

$25? $25 is super rare tobacco. So, it's $5 a cigar. Yes.

I knew it. It's a CAO. Super rare. Super rare.

The big one's only like $10. Yeah. Wow. This could be a bad name for this cigar.

It's apparently very cheap to bring it up by canoe. Right. Very cost-effective. Well, they don't charge any money to do the canoeing.

It's like one goat. Is a goat only ten dollars? Yeah, it's a goat for all the tobacco. Oh.

Yeah. What a deal. Mm-hmm. A counter display is also available to retailers.

Oh. A goat you can milk. What if the counter display looks like a goat? Two goats.

You know what? It should look like a canoe, if they were smart. It's gonna look like a dagger. The retail display?

The name is Dagger. Yeah. Knives and backpacks, baby. Let's go.

No, that's Gurkha. Different company. Oh. Outline Cigar Sales in Connecticut to Remain Legal.

A bill that could have outlined online sales of cigars to consumers in Connecticut has once again been modified, this time removing the language that would have banned those cigar shipments. Assuming the bill does not get modified again, non-face-to-face sales of cigars will remain legal in Connecticut. The HB 7275 is a bill that aims to introduce new restrictions for the shipments of e-cigarettes and vaping products to consumers in Connecticut. They've taken the cigar part out.

However, various alliterations of the bill have also contained language that would have made it illegal for retailers to ship cigars to consumers in Connecticut. This included versions that outright banned the shipments, as well as other versions that would have allowed for the shipments of premium cigars. So, as long as cigars were handmade, didn't contain added flavoring, and had a wholesale price of at least $30, which would have banned the shipment of most cigars. No cigars.

Now, all the language is gone. How would they regulate that? Shipments going into Connecticut? Yeah, I don't know.

Maybe that's why they took it out. You mean like by the mail? Yeah. I don't know.

I mean, it would have been like shipping cigars to a foreign country. There's ways to do it. Well, importation into another country, you have to disclaim what's in the packaging. Right.

Maybe that was part of the plan, too. They went, "How do you do that? You know, how many packages come in there? " We can't even stop all the cocaine.

Right. There's a lot of cocaine in Connecticut? There's a lot of cocaine that goes by mail. Into Connecticut?

I'm sure. Both start with C's. Interesting. Yeah, it was a C state.

It's an interesting take. Yeah. All right, stop shipping some cocaine to Connecticut. It's a very big, it's a big thing.

It's a big industry. It's a big industry there. Yeah, I think this is like one of those laws that somebody was like pissed off about cigars or something, and they were like, you know what, we're going to make this law, and everybody didn't raise their hand, you know, just the one guy did. Just the one guy who wrote it?

Yeah. Fall in favor? Come on, guys. Well, I mean, you would hope that you would see more deregulation of just tobacco use in general.

Unfortunately, with the e-cig stuff, it's continuing to ramp up. I think it just got lumped in when they were writing. I'm just not okay with the regulation of the e-cigs either. I mean, I'm seeing cigars are being more accepted than any other tobacco.

I mean, like, okay, let's say, for instance, in Volusia County, right, on the beaches, the only thing you're allowed to smoke on the beach is a cigar. Yeah. You can't smoke cigarettes, you can't smoke weed, you can't smoke vapes, none of that stuff. Well, the problem with all that stuff is the residue, like the cigarettes, the little filters and stuff.

But do you like the vapes? Well, vapes, people are leaving those on the beach. The battery's dead, nah, chuck it. I always bury, I mean...

Well, the cigar... You know this is bad, but I always bury the end of my cigar into the sand. You always bury your vape? No, no.

No, the cigar. I bury my cigars at the beach. Why don't you just break them apart? They're leaves.

Well, it's gonna break apart anyways if I just bury it in the pub. All you gotta do is just rip it open what's left. Oh, okay. Well, I usually make a little ashtray in the sand anyway.

Oh, yeah? Look at you. Cover it up when I'm done. Yeah, dig my heel.

That way the ash doesn't blow around either. You know what would be even better is if you just broke them apart. Well, when it's hot, how do I do that? It smolders.

It doesn't take a long time for it to smolder out. Can I take all my cigar butts and make another cigar? There are people that take cigar butts and put them in pipes. That sounds disgusting, but you can do whatever you want.

I mean, you can... You can take Michael's cigar butts and smoke them if you wanted to. You can put them all together and shove them up your butt if you wanted to. I don't want to do any of that.

I don't want none of that. I don't want none of that. Did he just say he has a couple over there he's getting started? Yeah.

Yeah. It's like a tobacco butt chugging is what you're about to do. Oh, it's that new age. It's that new age stuff.

New age. It's perfectly legal at this point. All right, Hooten Young ships to Paladin, Connecticut. Are they sending cocaine to Colorado or Connecticut?

Possibly. It's a Palladon, Connecticut, it's a Connecticut cigar, not two Connecticut. So it's coming from Connecticut. Well, no, it's probably rolled down in South America somewhere.

S. and armed forces. The Palladon, Connecticut is a 6x52 Toro made with an Ecuadorian, see, it's Ecuadorian Connecticut, seed wrapper covering a Nicaraguan binder and filler. The blend was developed with the assistance of Cordoba & Morales and is being made at the Tablacalera CM Factory in Nicaragua.

Each cigar is MSRP of? Anybody? $16. It's Hoot & Young?

Hoot & Young. Probably $20. Cordoba & Morales cigar? $16.

$10. $10? It's packaged in four packs priced at $40 each. Cigar prices are trending in the other world direction.

It sounds like you're starting to hear some pullback. Pullback, I think. The cigar honors those who led the calm, determination, and strength, said Norm Hooten, founder and president of Hooten Young, in a press release. Though our ongoing collaboration with Cordoba & Morales, we've developed a cigar worthy of the Paladin name, subtle, smooth, with body and debuts in our lineup, thanks to the overwhelming response and ongoing requests from both retail partners and loyal consumers.

This is the second regular production release in Hooten Young's Paladin series following the original Paladin that debuted in 2022. Cigar is a 6x52 Toro packaged in a 20-count box supporting a camouflage design that is made with Ecuador and Habano Claro wrapper covering Nicaraguan tobacco in the binder and filler. The box has a camouflage design or the cigar? The box.

Okay. So once you put it down, you can't find it. Oh, God. In an email, John Carney told Cigars of the Podcast that the four-count bundles of Paladin, Connecticut began shipping to retailers on May 27th, and the 20-count boxes are scheduled to launch in late June.

Carney leads Bentley's Tobacco USA, which has a service agreement to manage Hooton Young's premium cigar operation. I'm interested to try this one for 10 bucks. Yeah. I think Cordoba & Morales makes some good stuff.

They do make good stuff. They make the BDP. Excellent cigar. They do.

Probably one of their better ones. That's probably the best one. Well, it's nice of you to say, but I'm not that pretentious. Oh.

Are you sure? But the new stuffed animal, the new stuffed animal style BDP dolls will come with BDP cigar. You're not that pretentious, however, you will have blood cheese. I will make my own stuffed animal.

Okay. Gurkha announces a price increase due to tariffs. Trending in the other direction. Ooh, well, let's see what the percentage is.

Now, there's a reason this is a standout story. They came back with the knives. Gurkha has announced that it is raising the cost of some of its cigars due to the recently implemented tariffs on foreign-made goods. However, the company isn't saying how much, they're not disclosing which lines, and they're not saying how much the increase is going to be.

So we're raising prices. Yes. And we don't? Ask me how much.

How much? We're not saying. It depends on the retailer. Ask me which cigars.

Which cigars? We're not saying. Wouldn't you want to know? Ask me when it starts.

When does it start? We're not saying. Sometime soon. The only thing that the company has confirmed is that the increase will go into effect, oh, they are saying, on Monday, June 2nd.

So the increase went into effect yesterday. Did you get any information from that? No. This is what I love about the cigar industry, the complete disorganization of all of it.

Well, the company made the announcement via a press release that was sent to media when asked for specifics about the increase. A representative said the company is not discussing anything further. We don't know. We're doing an increase, we're not telling you.

We know that it's more. Right, it started yesterday. What do you want from us? Why are you being so hostile?

Why are you being so pushy? Well, we got to factor in the knife cost, you know what I mean? Right. 10% increase on the knives.

All that comes from China, those, you know, probably more than 10, those don't come from Nicaragua. I don't know what the Chinese one is, 13, I think? I don't know. Backpacks are probably from India.

We worked out a deal with India. Oh, did we? Yeah. Oh, excellent.

But it might have voodoo stuff on it. Could be. Kalima. Shati Day.

Yeah. I like that you knew that. Kalima. You said it earlier.

Did I? Yeah. Plus, I do know that from the moment. I like them.

Okay. All right, now it's time for everybody's favorite. We just burned right through that one. You wanted to get to this.

Well, I mean, what else are we going to say? There's no information. It's just what they're doing. Prices are going up maybe.

Prices are going up. No, they're going up for sure yesterday. They went up yesterday. Right, for what?

We don't know. We don't know. On what? We have no idea.

Okay. Oh, this is Jim. Prices went up $5 each cigar. No, no, we're not saying.

Oh. Okay. So, when you place your order, who knows what the invoice will say. Okay.

So, again, you have half-wheel reviews. Yes. I have two half-wheel reviews this week. And we have no idea what the reviews are on.

Correct, as long as you didn't look. So as long as you didn't look. I have not looked. Okay.

He doesn't know how to find half wheels. You're my news source. That's it. Okay.

And we are going to guess what the rating is as soon as you say the- I'm going to give you information about the cigar. A description. A description. I'm going to give you a couple of clues.

Right. And then there will be places we stop where you guys guess the score. But I'm going to start with once after you give the title, the name of it, and who the author is from half wheels. Yes, you'll give a flat answer then.

So once you get these clues, you can change your score. Okay. And then I will give you the final thoughts on the cigar and the actual score. All right.

So we've done two of these before. Yes. One I was dead on. Yes.

And the second one I was off by one. Off by one. Okay. He was wrong on both.

All right. Yeah, he's like three. All right. This is the Charlie Monado's review.

All right. Monado's tough. All right. Cigar reviewed is the Lito Gomez Emirad.

Okay. Lito Gomez. So it's LFD. It's Dominican.

It's Dominican. Yes. I'm going to say that this thing hits a 90 flat. All right.

Boots? 88. 88 and a 90. Okay.

All right. Country of Origin, Dominican Republic, Factory, Tabla Calera, LFD. Right. Rappers, Dominican Republic, Binder, Dominican Republic, Filler, Dominican Republic.

Okay. It's a six inch by 54. Okay. It's a little big.

You want the MSRP? Does that affect the score at all? Yeah, I will. 99.

Ooh, it's up there. A cigar. Okay. Release date was December of 2024.

Okay. And he always smokes three cigars. Apparently that's Charlie's thing. At the same time.

All right, anybody want to change anything now you know what's in it? Nah, I like 88. $25 cigar. Is it a box press?

Doesn't say. No, it's 6x54. It's just a standard 6x54. Right.

That would have been in the size, the Vitola. And it's, what's the wrapper? It's a wrapper? It's all Dominican.

It just says Dominican. Dominican. It doesn't say anything else. Nothing specific.

All right, I'm going to stick with 90 and keep moving. All right, you sticking with 88 over there, Boots? Yep, I'm sticking with 88. All right, here's the first hint.

Upon cutting, the first and third cigar's caps unravel, while the second cigar's cap waits to come off until I stick it in my mouth. 87. Needless to say, it's a problem with these three cigars. Wait till the end of the clue, please.

Okay. That's the first clue. Okay. Changing?

Yeah. Okay. Okay. I moved down to 88.

88? Boots, you were at 88. I'm going to 87. 87.

He's playing the prices right. He doesn't want to be. All right. Clue number two.

Better yet, the flavors are great. There are many different types of woodiness, sweet, savory, and even a bit juicy. With some meatiness, waffle cone sweetness, and sharpness. Okay.

That's clue number two. And we know who wrote this? Charlie. All right, so where are you at?

He's at 87. I'm going to 88. No, he's going back up to 88. Yeah, he said it's juicy.

All right, I'm going to go 89. So you went up one. Yeah. All right, third and final clue.

My largest frustration in the first third is that the flaky ash of the first and second cigars makes a huge mess. The third cigar has a much better ash and enjoyable flavor, though I have to use my lips to push the unraveling wrapper up to get good puffs. This is such a weird description, just by the way. I know, I like picking the glutes, I like picking the glutes, I like picking the glutes.

He's struggling on the burn, struggling on the jaw. Struggling on the burn. So it's short filler? Not necessarily.

No, no. It's possible when it's flaky like that. Okay, just to summarize, he's got construction problems, he likes the flavor, and the ash has fallen off all over the place, and one of them he has to hold together in his mouth as he smokes it. But it's juicy.

But it tastes really good. Yes, that was the flavor, he enjoys the flavors. And it's expensive. I think I'm a stick.

Stick with 87? Yeah. Michael? I'm gonna hang tight at 89.

All right, final thoughts. Sometimes it's tough to figure out there's anything to say at the end of a review, but this time it's tough to figure out what to focus on. My overall enjoyment of the cigar was most hampered by the across-the-board unraveling of the caps, a major annoyance. However, the score was most impacted by the massive amount of sharpness in the second halves of the first two cigars.

Admittedly, both Patrick and I were somewhat surprised by how high the score was. Most of the first half of these cigars were like past Lito Gomez cigars. I smoked very good. It became a mixed bag after that, but I suppose even a problematic version of a good blend is slightly better than average.

Final score? Boots? 87. I'm sticking 89.

87. 87! I won one. Yep, one for Booty.

He learned, he reviewed, he watched the shorts over and over again. Oh, did he, right? He did, he's like, yeah. All right, the next cigar was reviewed by Brooks.

Okay. Okay, the cigar reviewed is a Davidoff... 90. Davidoff Iscuro, 10th Anniversary, Limited Edition.

Okay. That's what you get first. Oh, you want us to... Now you do your initial score.

I'm going 90. Yeah, he's sticking with 90. Booty? I'm going to go, I'm going to, to Davidoff, I'm going to go, I'm going to start at 87.

Okay. All right, it's a Dominican Republic cigar. Okay. Obviously.

Cigars were made in the Davidoff factory. Right. It's an Ecuador and Habano. A scooter.

Rapper. Binder is Brazil. Filler, Brazil, and Dominican Republic. Okay.

It's a 6x56. Big. It's round. And it sells for $37.

A box of 12 is $444. Release date came out in 2025. You don't need to know in October. I guess three cigars is the rule.

This is a tough one. It's a Habano Oscuro, I would assume. Did I say Oscuro? I think you just said Habano.

Well, the brand says it's an... What's it called? I don't know. I got to back up.

I think it's called the Oscuro. Yeah, I think it was too. All right. So it's gotta be...

That wasn't in the description. Well, it was also a Dominican cigar. So it's Habano. It's Dominican.

Dominic, it's got Brazilian binder, Brazilian fillers, but it's big, it's a 64 gauge, you said? Yes. Damn, that's big. Big cigar.

No taste. Big Davidoff cigar. Hmm. Okay.

I'm gonna go 88. So you were at 90, now you're down to 88? Yeah. Booty, you were at 87?

I mean, all hints from Mikey mean Brooks, like, really scores these things pretty high. Well, you got to know the audience, right? Or the reviewers. So Brooks has a tendency to be a little more favorable when it comes to flavor profiles.

Charlie is very in-depth and more scrutinous as far as his feelings on the ratings. The funny part is that both of them are normally right when they give a rating review. You just got to know the guy, right? So if Charlie gives something an 88, it's probably a good cigar.

If Brooks gives something an 88, it may or may not be good. Any idea how low they've ever scored anything? I don't know the absolute lowest, but I just want to know if something pelts in a 70, I instantly want to smoke it. It's bad.

Yeah, I need to know exactly what that tastes like. All right, first scent. Yet, when squeezed, all three cigars are extremely spongy, but only my second cigar has a soft spot located just under the secondary band. So, it's underfilled.

Yeah, I'm gonna go 85. I'm just reading the hints. Okay. I'm gonna go 87.

Alright, clue number two, there are zero issues with construction as all three cigars feature great draws along with copious amounts of smoke and I did not even have to glance at my lighter. Of course, because they're underfilled, and it's a huge gauge. That makes sense. I'm going to stick.

You're sticking? 85, yeah. 85? I'm going to go 88.

88. Third and final clue. Flavor remains at full. The strength increases to a solid medium, and the body hits a point just under the medium mark.

Okay. I'll go to 86. I think 88's where it's gonna where it's gonna pelt. 86, 88.

Yep. All right, the original Oscuro blend has never been one of my favorite Davidoff creations. Thankfully, the Davidoff Oscuro 10th Anniversary Limited Edition is a different cigar altogether. In fact, this is the cigar that I wish the original Oscuro was.

It is more complex, more balanced, and more engaging with an interesting combination of lime on the finish and fruity sweetness on the retrohale. Then there's the construction, which was flawless on two of the three cigars. He's been extremely good on the last one. If the blend had just a bit more inherent body and a tad more sweetness, it would really bump into the stratosphere where even those minor quibbles, I can tell you these are ready to smoke now and would highly recommend that you try them if you can find them.

Boots? Oh, I'm going to 90. Sounds like this guy's all in on these things. You're going 90.

Yeah. I can see how you would raise that there. That makes sense. Yeah.

His whole description was not great, but then all of a sudden, it's like, you gotta buy these. Yeah, I wish another cigar was just like this cigar he said. I'm gonna stick with 88. 91.

Two day for booting. Well, you know, it was closer. That was such a crazy description, though, like. It was.

These are so bad. These are bad, but they taste great. Oh, I wish all of them were like this. Yeah, that's a Brooks rating.

Alright, so now I know the two guys. I should have known better. Well, there's more. There's Patrick.

Yeah, there could be another one, too. I'll try to find a Patrick one next week. Okay. Alright, and the final story, a banana-flavored Asylum 13 Split Personality is shipping to stores.

Oh, banana. A banana-flavored cigar. Oh, really? Today, CLE Cigar Company will begin shipping the Asylum 13 Split Personality, the company's newest flavored cigar for the Asylum brand.

Split Personality is made to make you think of a banana split. The cigars are infused with banana flavors, and the company says it also has flavors of almond and caramel. Oh. It's made by the company Honduras, though the blend is not disclosed.

The Asylum 13 comes in five sizes: a 40 by 4. Small split. A 5 by 50. Kind of small split.

A 6 by 54. Normal split. A 6 by 60. Oh, we're getting big, baby.

And then finally, a 7x70. Biggie size me. Wow. Well, the cigar is just shipping to stores today based on pre-orders.

The company is bullish on the cigar's popularity. Wow. How are they sitting around going, you know what? Nobody makes a banana cigar.

Right. You know, they're trying to tap into that flavor profile and somebody would do it. Not only are they trying to do that, they made a 770 out of it. A giant banana cigar.

I'm not going to lie. I do want to smoke one banana split. I want to smoke one, too. I would like to try one as well.

I'm intrigued. Who do we get TAO from? Not the 770, though. Is that long?

No. I don't want the 770 in my life. No, no, I don't want the big one. No, no.

Just any of us want to try one. Probably the small one. I don't even know who our CLE rep is anymore, to be honest. I don't need a name.

Is his name Mike? No. No. No.

Maybe Greg will not. He works Placencia now. Greg, we need three banana cigars. Yes.

Not the big one. So, all right, well, does that conclude everything? I have a Listener of the Week in the Shop of the Week, Michael. Uh-oh.

Can't depend on you, apparently, because you don't bring them. Okay. Well, Listener of the Week, Joe Pesquale from Rudy's, we wish him luck. Oh, Pesquale.

Yes. Apparently, I saw the announcement on Facebook after you sent me the text message. He is. It sounds like he's still involved, but he's not the guy anymore.

He's leaving Rudy's. I believe he's becoming a rep. Ah. Oh, General?

General's hiring everybody right now. I don't know, apparently. Nice. All right, Shop of the Week!

Boom! Rudy's. Rudy's Cigar Shop in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where apparently they need a manager. Apparently they need a manager.

So if anybody would like to apply for the job, Joe is leaving next week. Yep. All right, and we're going to cover this on the Patreon. We're going to do the LFD 30th Anniversary Cigar.

And we're going to talk some industry inside baseball stuff. Ooh. Ooh. It's interesting.

We appreciate everybody who supports. com. Check out a Cigar Hustlers podcast. All right, guys.

Thank you very much. We gotta go. Welcome to the Cigar Hustler podcast, the show brought to you commercial-free. But a massive shout out to our amazing patrons on the Patreon.

Thanks to your unwavering support, we're able to do unfiltered, unbiased opinions, all things cigars, personalities in the cigar world. Your backing makes it possible for us to keep it real for our listeners. Cheers to you. com and search the Cigar Hustler Podcast, f*** that one up.

Show Notes

Mike and Mike dive into wild headlines—from a shocking attack in Boulder to Orlando's bold leap into the sky with flying cars. Plus, Elly De La Cruz’s emotional homer, Marc Maron’s WTF farewell, and the latest in cigar news including Amazon Basin Daggers, rising Gurkha prices, and standout smokes from Litto Gomez and Davidoff.