Episode 82 MIkey and the Big Apple Rebar
Episode Summary
Episode 82 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast is a travel-recap and industry-news show hosted by Mike Palmer and Mike "FCC Mike" Szczepankevich. The bulk of the episode is Michael's blow-by-blow account of his trip to New York, where he hosted an event at the brand-new Mom's Cigar Warehouse lounge in the Yonkers/Scarsdale area — a space he describes as enormous, with wall-to-wall TVs, a serious ventilation system and a beautiful retail floor. Along the way he visited the Nat Sherman Townhouse in Manhattan (shout-out to Gok), Papa Juan near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, Fumé and Sanjay's in New Jersey, and Casa de Montecristo. He also details the less fun part of the trip: a parking ticket outside Nat Sherman, a yellow-light camera ticket, and a white-line camera ticket, adding up to a roughly $500 tax courtesy of New York City, plus a flight delay that killed his planned Philadelphia shop visits.
Industry figures who turned up at the Mom's event included Jeff Moutet, Michael Rosales of RoMa Craft, David Lafferty (now with Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust), and Edgar Hoyle of Osok "One Shot One Kill," along with local regulars and listeners. Michael also mentions smoking a gifted $120 Davidoff and jokes that it tasted better because he didn't pay for it. The hosts recap Michael's unsanctioned guest appearance on the Rebar podcast and bicker about whether he really claimed to "travel with his podcast setup."
The news segments cover two real stories: JetLine has notified retailers that beginning September 1 it will add a 10% surcharge across its entire catalog because of U.S.–China tariffs on imported accessories, meaning lighters and cutters will cost more at retail. In a new legislative segment, the hosts discuss Dayton, Ohio's decision to stop hiring tobacco users for city jobs as of July 15, including nicotine testing of applicants and probationary employees, with current employees grandfathered in. They also note that RaceTrac is voluntarily raising its tobacco purchase age to 21 even where state law doesn't require it.
Housekeeping includes the fan of the week (Reformed Philip), shop of the week (S&M Smoke Shop "The Fort" in Fort Pierce, Florida, run by Mark Palmer), the show's arrival on TuneIn, listener stats up 22.4% year over year with new listeners in Aruba and Oman, the ongoing hunt for a single listener in Wyoming, and the announcement of the podcast's first live broadcast on October 19 at Cigar Life in Lakeland with Patty and Mario.
In This Episode
- 01Fan and Shop of the WeekReformed Philip takes fan of the week honors and S&M Smoke Shop "The Fort" in Fort Pierce, Florida is named shop of the week.
- 02New York Trip RecapMichael details the Mom's Cigar Warehouse event and stops at the Nat Sherman Townhouse, Papa Juan, Fumé, Sanjay's and Casa de Montecristo.
- 03Mugged by the State of New YorkThree tickets in one weekend — a parking ticket outside Nat Sherman plus yellow-light and white-line camera tickets — add roughly $500 to the trip.
- 04Who Showed Up (and Who Didn't)Jeff Moutet, Michael Rosales of RoMa Craft, David Lafferty of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust and Edgar Hoyle of Osok were on hand at the Mom's event.
- 05The Rebar AppearanceThe hosts rehash Michael's unannounced guest spot on the Rebar podcast and argue over whether he really travels with a podcast setup.
- 06Industry News: JetLine Tariff SurchargeJetLine tells retailers it will add a 10% surcharge to its entire catalog on September 1 because of tariffs on Chinese-made accessories.
- 07Legislative Segment: Dayton Tobacco Hiring BanDayton, Ohio will no longer hire tobacco users for city jobs and will test applicants, citing healthcare costs of about $6,000 per smoker per year.
- 08Show Update and Live Event AnnouncementThe podcast lands on TuneIn, listenership is up 22.4%, and the first live broadcast is set for October 19 at Cigar Life in Lakeland.
Brands & Cigars Discussed
Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.
Transcript
Welcome to episode 82 of a Cigar Hustlers podcast. This week, we recap Michael's trip to the Big Apple, some industry news, a new fan of the week, a new shop of the week, and a new segment, we're going to do some legislative information. Sit back and relax. Here comes the show.
welcome to episode 82 michael welcome of a cigar hustlers podcast uh shot live in front of a non-studio audience not today non-studio just earl hey earl nice job earl welcome thank you earl Okay, wanna get started? You ready? Take a drink. Take a drink.
Oh, yes, take a drink of your lovely Bang. Oh, it's delicious. This show brought to you by Bang! Bang Energy Drink.
So I tried the birthday cake. It is way too... Delicious. It is way too sweet.
It is very sweet. Well, it's really sweet. It has no sugar, but it tastes like diabetes. What a guy.
But it tastes just like cake and icing. Scary. It is scary, isn't it? It tastes like liquid cake.
And I'm just like, wow, I cannot... Oh, it's amazing how they do that. I just can't do it. The little magicians over there at the bang.
So, I'm gonna stick with my unicorn. I like your pink unicorn. Yeah, I like my unicorn. Pink, pink.
Do you drink it with your finger up? Pinky unicorn. Alright, we got a new fan of the week. Let's jump right into everything here.
, Mr. Philip Morris. Wow. Cigarette owner?
No, I don't think there's no relation. A lovely bearded man who loves his wife, that's all I have here, but he put up a- He loves his wife. He loves his wife. That's his first thing on his Instagram thing.
He put up a message watching the episode, last week's episode, so he's a fan of the week. Yeah. I think it's weird that you're starting with this. I feel like we should end with this.
No, we're going to end with a show update, and then we're going to plug the big event coming up in October. Aha. But now the show's over because we just said the end. Thank you for watching episode 82.
Got to go. It's late in the day. Bye. All right.
We have a new shop of the week. Oh, that was a casual throw. I don't know. S&M Smoke Shop, The Fort.
I like that you're kind of finding your way. Like, you know, because before you did the chuck and now you're not. I'm still doing the chuck, but for some reason it felt weird throwing it. I don't know.
That blue thing hanging down. If Yolanda would let us know in the lighting, we're trying something new. We have a filter over the top light in the room, and it looks blue here. Give us lighting feedback, all of you.
Hey, reach down there real quick, make sure my phone's plugged in, before it goes off and we have no control over the camera. Where's your phone? It is definitely not plugged in. Oh, plug that in!
The controls go out for the camera, we're in a lot of trouble. Plug it into what? Is there nothing left? There's nothing here.
Oh. I need a plug. You're so unprofessional. I thought it was plugged in!
There he goes. Are we gonna keep this video? Oh yeah, oh sure, what the hell. This is pretty funny.
It is funny. Oh my god. Dang it. Dang it.
Back in the seat. It's nice to see that we're regressing. One gentleman did say... What did he say?
The draw of the show is the fact that we're very unprofessional and have huge technical issues. I mean, even Howard Stern has technical issues. It's true. Even Cooper, and Rebar, and Cigar Coop.
Anyway, S&M Smoke Shop called The Fort at 1001 South US Highway 1 in Fort Pierce, Florida, 34950. They are also, I believe, one of the newest members of the Poshik family. Yes, they are. Mr.
Mark Palmer. Yes, Cousin Mark. He's your brother. He's my cousin.
He's your cousin. Cousin Mark. It's funny because when, like, if I see the text, it throws me off. Like, he'll text me.
" That's not me. That's not me. That's not me. It's a totally different M.
Palmer. Different M. Palmer. Probably the better of the M.
Palmer. Yeah. Very tall. Very tall M.
Palmer. More handsome. I don't know about that. Okay, we got a message from last week's listener, Paul L.
I'm not going to butcher his last name again. He said, "Just got around listening to yesterday's podcast on my walk this morning. " By the one and only Mike Palmer, not to be confused with a Mark Palmer, thanks to Mike Szczepankevich for not caring how it was picked, you guys really do run a good show, not exactly glitch-free, but that's some of the charm, you guys aren't professional podcasters, and that's fine, I unfortunately don't listen every week as I just don't keep up on any podcasts, so it's nice to have them to binge. I will be downloading some of the ones I've missed from the ride home.
Oh, by the way, they weren't all my kids. Three of them, three, and the other one is a friend who became a boyfriend on the trip. I hope not his boyfriend. That would be kind of weird.
Imagine boyfriend of one of his children. Yeah, I'm just going to say they're all your kids. Yeah, it's either. You can't convince me otherwise.
Suffice to say, I've been drinking heavily. Thank you for all you guys do. Please continue to drink. You're very welcome.
But don't drive. Continue to listen, but don't drink while you're driving. Yeah. Thanks, Paul.
You're all right. Yes, it was a very nice message. Yeah. Okay, so you just got back from a trip?
Yes, I did. To the Big Apple? Yes, I did. Did you take a bite of the Big Apple?
Oh, I got a big bite. Did you, uh, the City That Never Sleeps? Yes. The, uh, the City That Never Sleeps had a bite out of me.
Did you do it your way? I didn't do it my way. I had no control over this entire week, and that really frustrated me. It sucked.
I will say this. Yes. The event at Mom's Cigars... Yes.
was pretty epic. Uh, you know, I saw some really nice pictures of the new lounge just today. just today from the event. It's huge.
It's ginormous. TVs every two feet it looks like. Ventilation system is amazing. Oh, wow.
Very nice. The retail shop is amazing. I mean, Matul did a really, really good job. What's the address for Mom's To Go Shop?
I don't know. It's in the Yonkers, Scarsdale area. Look, at this point in the game, I'm not giving you an address for shit. You have a phone that will tell you exactly where everything is.
Why are you yelling at me? Because you're like, hey, what's the address? I just gave the address for the fort. It's the shop of the week.
Well, you're on top of things. I'm not. You know that. I feel our lack of professionalism is falling on you today.
You know. I feel. You know. Even with my not having the phone plugged in.
I mean, just look up the address. Well, you were there. You don't remember? No.
All right. Anyway, sorry. Get on with your... So, yeah.
Sorry. If you want the address to Mom Cigar Warehouse, I'm sure that you have a device that... What's that you like to say? If I only had a small...
If there was only a device. That we all carried with us everywhere we went. That could give me this information. It would have the answers to every question.
Yeah. So, here's the big thing with New York. Well, it's called the Big Apple. And this really, really kind of put me in a bad way.
You were mugged. Yeah, I was mugged by the state of New York. Tolls? Parking?
No, that's kind of standard, but yes, parking is one of the things. So, I go to visit the Nat Sherman townhouse. Townhouse. Yes.
Fancy. Bougie. Having a bougie day. And I go to park out front.
And it was, I was confused. Where I live, we can park in parking spots. They exist. They're available.
Oh, you can't park anywhere. So, apparently, between the hours of four and seven, you're not allowed to even park in this spot. Traffic. Right.
So, whatever. So, I didn't know. " You no park outside, sir. You no park outside.
So I turned around. He was Asian. I turned around. He wasn't Asian.
I turned around. I was literally in the place for less than five minutes. Yes. Turn around.
Boom. Meter police. They boot your car? Bam!
" And I'm like, "Dude, I didn't know. I'm moving my car right now. " He's like, you're lucky I don't tow this car. I'm like, jeez.
Hey, you're lucky I don't tow your car, huh? Do you understand what this is here? I'm not going to say what. Stereotypical New Yorker.
Yeah, he definitely wasn't that. Was there a lot of the F word going? No, no, but he did not. You could tell that he has been a miserable parking meter maid.
He heard every story. Every car he goes out to take a thing, he goes, oh, I'm just moving my car. He doesn't care. He doesn't care.
He's like, do you know the person behind you? I was like, no. Yes. I do not know the person behind me.
It's my friend's car. And he didn't care, and he rode them a ticket, and if they weren't back in time, they were getting towed. Oh, an expensive ticket? What's a parking ticket cost?
25. Charge it to the game. So I'd like to reach out to my friend, John Yergeleit, and tell him to redo the signs in all of Manhattan, so that they're more transparent. We know the sign guy, I forgot.
" So I'm gonna put you on blast, but now, okay, so... He almost gets mentioned on our show more than Skip Martin. So, yeah. Which, boom, just got that out of the way.
There you go, now we're done. So, that's how it started. That was like... Well, that was Saturday.
You flew in Thursday. That was in New York, yeah. You forgot the whole flight delayed. Yeah, well, yeah, my flight got delayed, which blew Philadelphia, so I couldn't go to Philly.
So, sorry, all the cool shops in Philadelphia. There is a lot of you. Probably still people in line waiting for you to show up. I didn't get to see you, I'm sorry, so I will come out, next time I will come out, you know, we'll do something, we'll have to do some events, and I probably could, but we'll have to do some events, and I'll be out in Philadelphia eventually, so sorry, I still love you.
You can thank United Airways and the weather for the delay. Great state of New York, parking people. Okay, so it gets worse. Oh, it gets worse.
It gets worse. You did get mugged. So I'm driving to Mom's, Mom's Cigar Warehouse. Yes.
In some undisclosed location, because we don't know the address. Yeah. It's in Yonkers, Scarsdale. Right there.
It's at the same place? Right there. Yonkers and Scarsdale? It's like right on that cusp.
Right on the border. Well, when I ship it, I know it says Scarsdale, but it's apparently it's Yonkers or something. Oh. So, I'm driving, light turns, I'm right next to this Nissan Skyline Fast and the Furious.
Wait. I would like that out while you describe what you're going. Okay. So I'm just driving normally.
" Oh, no, not Vin Diesel. And he's, you know, he's going nuts, going nuts, but he's not, like, speeding, he's just driving. Just revving. Just kind of driving like a douche.
He's putting the car in neutral. What kind of car were you driving? What were you driving? A Nissan Altima, some recent, you know, just a rental.
So, I pull up, I'm driving, and this light turns jello, and I keep going, and Fast and the Furious fucking slams on the brakes. In front of you? No, he's right next to me. Oh.
I'm like, oh, that was weird. So, as I drive, and it's yellow, I see a flash. Oh. So, apparently.
Oh, the camera. Oh, you're gonna get another one in the mail. Yeah. So, apparently, even if it's a yellow light.
In New York City, yellow does not mean hurry up and go. In New York, proceed with caution, doesn't matter, you're getting a ticket. Yellow means stop. So, I got a feeling another one's coming.
Where do you have when you got that last ticket when you were traveling? Memphis. Oh, Memphis. Yeah.
I was thinking it was the same. So anything with M's, I'm never visiting again. Manhattan, Memphis. I thought you meant Moms?
Moms. But the event itself was good? Well, the event was great. Yes.
The event was amazing. And the people there are amazing. I hear Jeff Moutet was there. Jeff Moutet was there.
Always a crowd pleaser. Yeah. Mr. Riverside Cigars was in the house.
Michael Rosales was in the house. How do we not mention him? Well, because Moutet was there. Rho in Romacraft?
But Mute was there. It's not the same. It's not even close. So after the event, I go to leave, and I'm at a light, I'm at a light, and I touch the white line with my car, and I see another flash.
So I got three tickets. There's a white line camera? Yeah. Like, New York is fucking out of their minds.
I hate New York. I don't like going there at all. Driving there is terrible. It's terrible.
The state of New York is horrible as far as when it comes to moving violations and everything. Can't be on your phone. They're just trying. I don't think you can even be Bluetooth headset into your phone in New York.
Yeah. So. Oof. So it was an expensive trip.
Wow. As far as the state of New York is concerned. A lot of moving violations. You know, I can, I'm just waiting for my contributions to.
The blue lights give me a tumor. Really? Eh. Stop hitting the microphone.
It's not the tumor. It's not the tumor. Hey, let's, um, so... Was that for your trip?
So who else did I get to see? I got to see Papa Juan, Francis of Papa Juan, really cool place in the Bronx. Oh, I thought it was a person. It's a place.
Right next to, uh, Yankee Stadium. Oh, did you see any of the Yankees? That place is, uh, that place is pretty cool. Um, let's see, who else did I get to see?
Uh, oh wait, you know, we gotta mention Ray and Ant. Beg your pardon? My boy Ray12 and Anthony were also at the event. Sorry, they were not on the flyer I was provided, but the details of your...
My boy Riggs stopped in. He's really cool. Gotta give him a little shout-out. Samir came out.
He's really cool. Samir what? Samir. People who didn't show.
Tatlat Moe. Tatlat, where were you? Yeah, totally said he was coming and then he botched us. Oh.
So. Just that on top of the tickets, it was just a ruined trip. That and Nick Ruggiero. Ah!
Nick Ruggiero. Didn't show. I heard Adam Acree didn't show either. Adam Acree lives in.
Is that far away? Yeah. Oh, Illinois. Oh, then why did Mr.
Yogurlite mention Adam Acree? I don't know. He thought he would have showed up. I thought he lived somewhere close.
You're right, he does live in Illinois. I went to Fumay in New Jersey. I stopped by. Yeah.
That was interesting. I went to Sanjay's. That's always interesting, if you ever go into Sanjay's, Fumé's, and... Sanjay's shop.
What was the name of the one by Yankee Stadium? Papa Juan. Papa Juan? Yeah.
Oh, I just wanna go just say the names of the shops. Papa Juan, Fumé, and Sujay. I gotta give props to Gok in Nat Sherman. His name is Gok.
He's a good guy. Did he take care of your ticket? No. Apparently, there's no way you can get your ticket taken care of.
There's no guy. There's not a guy? No. Come on, we gotta know a guy.
Like, apparently, New York State needs the money so bad that there's no... They're fighting terrorism there in New York City. Did you see the Statue of Liberty? No.
From a distance? Didn't. No? You were on Manhattan.
You didn't have to cross the bridge? No, I didn't. Take the tunnel? I did, but no.
Have you ever seen it before? Yeah. Very disappointed about the size. Small.
I thought it was bigger. It used to be. It's like three stories tall. It used to be a big deal.
It didn't shrink, but I thought it was like Empire State Building or something, but no, it's like three stories. I stopped by Casa de Monte Cristo. Oh, I saw those pictures, so bougie with the townhouses and the Cafe Monte Cristos. I went and see my boy Adam Desenia and Doc James.
Oh, Doc James. Yeah, so it was busy. It's nice. It's busy.
I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting. I'm sorry if I've forgotten you. I love you still. I love all of you very much.
I had a great time in New York with the people of New York. Just not with the New York system, New York City Transportation Department. Ruthless. I mean, ruthless.
It's all the signs are all small. It's probably going to cost me like 500 bucks at least. Oh, do not tell Greg. Yeah.
The best thing is, Greg doesn't listen to the show either. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Oh.
Oh. So, that's kind of my New York trip in a, in a... You know, your, your trip stories are getting shorter and shorter. Shorter.
I mean, nothing really crazy happened in this trip, other than the fact that I got a bunch of tickets. And you know, it's, I gotta be honest. Alright, well that wraps up this episode of Cigar Housers Podcast for 18 minutes. It would have been funnier if you went, and you should have gone.
You invited me the day before you left. Wait a minute, let's clear this up. You invited me the day before you left. Let's clear this up.
I found out you were going two days before you left, and that is so you can, you don't have the guilt of not inviting me, I'm not inviting me, but it was too close for me to arrange flights. It's not that hard to book a flight. No, but it went very expensive. How long ago, wait, how far out did you make your ticket?
A week before the event. So then, how far before that did you know you were going? I don't go until the order, the charge gets... Until it places the order?
Yeah. Well, that's running through today. I don't book the flight, so... I feel there was more time than you gave me.
But that's okay. That's all right. You need an open invitation. Here is your open invitation to any time that I'm traveling.
I didn't find out you were leaving until two days before you left! Okay, well look, now you know and here's something else that you need to know. I'm going to Arizona in October. Oh!
Oh, that's right after the other. So that's a thing now. Where are you going in October? I'm going to see my boy, Lenny Smeagol.
Oh, I know who that is. He's a great guy. He's a maniac. I love him.
Shmeagol. Shmeagol. Shmeagol. Here's your invitation for that.
Yes. Okay. Have you already done your ticket? No.
Oh, so you fly United. You're so bougie. I'd have to fly... Fly whatever.
Fly close to it. Whatever. Fly whatever. I may even go back up to Memphis.
We'll see. In October as well. Oh, so you need me to go to Memphis to drive because... Oh, I'm not driving to Memphis.
You may be a wanted man in Memphis. So, we'll see. I might do Tennessee. I don't know.
Well, that will be after, well, as long as we already brought that up, we'll just segue into that real quick, we're going to save it for the end. October 19th, we're doing our first live broadcast. We are. We are, Michael, yes.
Would you like to know where? Tell me. We are going to be at Cigar Life in Lakeland on October 19th, and we're doing our first either, we haven't decided how yet, because it's still in the playing stage. We've had them on the show before.
Yes, yes, Patty and Mario, we have, we will probably have them on the show again before the event. Ooh! Ooh! But we're doing a live, either Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram show.
While we're there, we don't even know what time yet. I can't wait to see that train wreck. That's gonna be amazing. We're going on the road.
It depends on which one of those three give us the best way to do it, the easiest way to do it, because we're taking minimal equipment. We are not taking this, we're not taking all the boys, but we are taking the camera, Earl, we're taking Earl, the camera, and two microphones. We're going to see how we can do. And a laptop.
You should probably reach out to J-Dub and see what he did with the rebar because he just kind of plugged in. He just had his camera. Yeah. A light.
Well, don't they do most of that from the other end, from the main studio? There's no way that JP had anything special at his house. Well, it's already all set up. Yeah, but like that's...
We might as well segue into that now, too. I've got to get rid of my notes here and get everything out of order when you jump around. I had the show all set up nice. No.
Yes, you did do the Rebar Show last week. I did. And it aired Saturday, I believe it was, or whatever day they put up. Yeah, Friday or Saturday.
Friday or Saturday? Yes. First, that was an unsanctioned appearance. I knew nothing about it.
Yeah, me too. So that makes two of us. Well, so he stayed at your house apparently? No, no.
He just came over and then he said, hey, you want to do a podcast? And I was like, okay. So he showed up that morning and was like, hey? No, he came over here, he came up to the shop, J-Lo came up to the shop.
But why didn't we have him on the show? He got here five. I'm a mile and a half away. I leave at five.
So, what, he came up here, we want to be on the show, and then you left? " You know, not like we haven't done a show from your house. There weren't even any skits in the background. But if I knew you were going to be on the show, what are you giving me the talking points of normally doing a little card to help you out for your parents?
Oh, yeah, that would have been great. So I heard you were a car salesman. What? I heard you were a car salesman.
I was never a Karso. Oh. Thanks. Saboteur.
Best thing was, you already talked about a story that we had talked about here on the show. Yeah? Yeah. What story was that?
I don't remember. I didn't write that down. Oh, good. Okay.
Some of the things that you talked about on the show, you said that you travel with your podcast setup. Did I? Yes. I'm your podcast setup.
Other than that face. I travel with my podcast setup? Yes. If you guys were giving him a hard time because he travels with his podcast set up evidently, you go, "Oh, I travel with my podcast set up all the time.
" I did not say that. Yes, you did. There's no way I said that. Yes, you did.
Yes, you did, because I was looking at it going, "I'm his podcast set up. " I'm going back to listen to that. I don't think I said that. Go back to listen to the tape, yes.
No. He's got that wrong. You must have been really high or something when you watched it. No, no.
I listened to that very early Sunday morning. Yeah. Headphones walking around the house. Right after you just took a quaalude.
I don't take quaaludes. Yeah, 'cause you can't, 'cause they don't exist anymore, they're from the 1980s. That's true. You asked Mr.
Fingers about his goals for the show? Yeah. For his show. What are your goals for our little show here now that we're at episode 82?
Well, we have a pretty good, uh, established goal and game plan, I think. Well, I wanted you to share, you're killing me here. The show's gonna be so short, you're not answering. This show's gonna be epic.
Everyone here, our shows is so great. No, I mean, obviously, you know, world dominance when it comes to the podcast realm of the cigar industry is a necessity. We picked up more followers on podcast too. Oh, as long as we said that, we are also now on, see if you missed my notes, we are on TuneIn now.
Really? You can catch the show on TuneIn. It is a commercial free radio type app. That's exciting.
Mostly music and things, but they've added podcasts to their repertoire of things you can listen to. list too we're not on there and then here we are tune in to tune in tune in to tune in to hear the scour hustlers podcast um okay also uh you were talking about they were giving you a hard time about your workouts and the size of your muscles and all that do you remember that yeah i do remember that okay okay i didn't say the other shit about the podcast stuff so i'm curious to see about our podcast about that i just travel wherever with my podcast oh no no you didn't you see you travel if i had said that i was definitely being sarcastic because we don't travel at all with our stuff no No, you don't. Neither do you. All I need is my phone.
Okay. Oh, crap. Okay, we're going to get to the last thing, then we're going to have to pause for a commercial. Okay.
You said when you're at the gym, and if the shop catches on fire, you're just like, I'll deal with that later? Right. Well, what's the hours you normally go to the gym? Like 9:00 to noon?
Yeah, I'm usually there at 9:00. Okay. If the shop catches on fire between 9:00 and noon, and you're at the gym, I'm here! I'm dying!
There's nothing I could do to save you, I wouldn't get here in time. You couldn't rush over just to make sure I'm alive, or that I'm not dragging cigars out the front door, and you go, no, no, put them back in, put them back in. We have insurance, that's what insurance is for. That's what I mean.
I mean, if it was on fire, I would be trying to either put the fire out, or save something here at the shop. I like that you're so controversial today. I am. That's nice.
There's a lot of stuff going on on the show. I'm very angry. Okay, we're gonna go. I'll let it burn out.
Take your break. I got, well no, I got one more thing, one more thing. Okay. Okay.
I'm sorry, I'm reading my notes. Uh-oh. Reading my notes. So unprofessional.
Oh, where'd I go? I don't know. So now you gotta take a break. Oh, no, that's okay.
Oh, okay. You didn't mention my name till 50 minutes in. Which isn't that big a deal. I have no problem being the man behind the man, scheduling all your events and everything, but I would like to be mentioned more towards the beginning, Mike Palmer: I'm not the lead, you're the talent on this.
Mike Palmer: And without him, I would be nothing. Mike Palmer: So I will say that every single time. Mike Palmer: I would make that on a card. Mike Palmer: I would make that on a card.
Mike Palmer: I would make that on a card. Mike Palmer: I'm not the lead. Mike Palmer: I'm not the lead. Mike Palmer: You're the talent on this.
Mike Palmer: I would be nothing. Mike Palmer: I would make that on a card. Mike Palmer: I'm not the lead. Mike Palmer: I'm not the lead.
Mike Palmer: I'm not the lead. Mike Palmer: You're the talent on this. Mike Palmer: I'm not the lead. Mike Palmer: I'm not the lead.
Mike Palmer: I'm not the lead. You know, on your reading the notes, I'll put it more at the top, your talking notes there. Stop. All right, we're gonna take a break now.
We'll be right back. Good. All right, and we're back. And we're back.
Whoo, that was a good break. Whoo. You know, we both take another drink of our bang energy drink. Oh my god.
Oh, it's delicious. Take a drink, Michael. Have they sent us four more cans? Yes.
They have not sent us four more cans. Mmm. Oh, it's so good. You know you're tough on that one.
It's so good. You know you're struggling on the birthday cake. It's so good. No.
Take some of your... I took a couple... No, I'm not going... I don't do anything that you tell me to do.
Can you at least turn the can so they can see the label? No. No, I'm not. Nope, I'm not doing it.
Oh, see, I lined up my tab with the front of the camera so I know when to point it to you. Since you came so super aggressive to me at this podcast, I'm not doing anything for you right now. All right, we're going to go back down with – You mentioned my name for 50 minutes, you fucker. All right, some industry news.
Oh, good. All right. Let's see who we can piss off and maybe we can get on their show again. This is industry news.
Yeah. All right, the United States – the United – the United States in there. The United States' ongoing trade dispute with China has finally reached the cigar industry, Michael. Oh, really?
Yes. As of, let's see, JetLine has begun notifying retailers that out of September 1st, the cigar accessory company will be adding 10% surcharge onto the wholesale price for their entire catalog due to the tariffs that are going to be imposed on goods imported from across the Pacific Ocean. Okay. Well, according to Trump, the Chinese are paying the things, not the Americans, so that seems foolish.
Well, we all know that that's not accurate. No, they don't. The date coincides with when the Trump administration will begin imposing a 10% tariff on a large number of Chinese – well, that's not true. They've already done that.
Okay. So it's a lie. No, no. Well, it's a lie that the date that they're starting, but they are adding a surcharge because of the tariffs.
But the tariffs started in February. Actually, the 10% started in December 1st. Then the extra 15% came on at the end of January. So you think they're actually being charged a tariff or – Well, they are, because their goods are made in China, but they're saying, I don't know why the September 1st date, because that's- I mean, you're a Chinese expert.
Well, I'm not an expert, but the closest thing we have on this show. Right. So, would you say that they've been paying the 10% increase already? Yes, they have been paying the 10% increase, and they have realized that they can't absorb the cost, so now they're going to start to turn it over.
I'm sure they had a certain amount of inventory already built up, which is what most companies did right before the tariff hit. Like, ooh, buy now! Because as long as it was delivered by January 1st, you only paid 10%. But anything after the Chinese New Year, which early started in February, another 15 was added on.
So a total of 25. 25 percent. 25 percent. 25 percent mark.
25 percent. So you're going to pay more for your lighters? More for your jetline lighters. Or just use matches?
Use matches. Well, those are made in China, too, but I imagine it's so cheap. That's 25 percent of a penny. Right.
Or just steal your lighter. There you go. We're down to three, I think, here with the logo on it at the shop. Really?
So don't steal them from here. We're running out quick. Please don't steal our lighters. Please don't steal our lighters.
When I used to bartend, I used to steal lighters all the time for just shits and giggles. I was that guy. People's lighters? " I'd pick up their lighter, light their cigarette, and then put it in my pocket.
And then I'd collect them. That was just like my little side hobby. Is that why we have so many mismatched lighters for sale at the front of the shop? No.
They were long gone after I realized that it was really wrong and I was a young, stupid kid. But it was fun. That must have been your foray, foray, foray, what is it called, your intro into the criminal lifestyle has now become your parking problem. Right, now I'm paying for it, now the state of New York is getting me for my lighter theft.
Oh, it's so terrible. Okay, now the legislative portion of the show. Ooh, the legislative, tell me. We're talking about legislative news here on the Cigars with Broadcast.
We drink this monster. Oh, it's delicious, isn't it? Oh, I hear him gulp, it's so good. Oh, somebody said one of us whistled.
You said one of us whistle. I said monster. It's a monster of a product. One of us whistles?
Whistle in our nose. Nose whistles. It's you. You have breathing problems.
I do. Dayton, Ohio will no longer hire tobacco users, Michael. Now I'll stop breathing. Dayton, Ohio will no longer...
Yes, the city of Dayton, Ohio has announced that as of July 15th it will no longer hire tobacco users for government jobs and they will test any applicant during the hiring process and probationary period. Don't they have their own problems in Dayton, Ohio? The city is looking to reduce health care costs as well as improve the overall wellness of the city. And taking this step is part of the plan.
City officials have said the smokers can cost upwards of $6,000 a year in additional health care costs and lost productivity. For what? Smoking problems, apparently. Like cigarettes?
Cigarettes, e-cig, they didn't specifically say cigarettes? So they just kind of blanketed everything. Blanketed everything. And the testing, yes.
Should a smoker apply for a job, they will be given the opportunity to take a sensation treatment through, will be tested during this probationary period, and would lose their job if the test finds that they have been smoking and using tobacco. So, what about weed? Is weed legal in Ohio? Is that tobacco?
I don't think it is legal in Ohio. The city will not conduct random checks of employees, and the ban will not apply to employees hired before July 15th. Oh, so if you already have a job, you can just puff away. So you're grandfathered in.
Grandfathered in. 4% against some time—oh, that's something else. See, you made me screw up my notes. That's what you get for throwing shit around like a maniac.
All right, that was a legislative portion thing. Oh, this is kind of interesting, but I can't verify this. When I was at— We don't fact check. We don't fact check.
The racetrack the other day? Yeah. I got in a conversation with the lady behind the counter, and racetrack is raising their tobacco age to 21. Good for them.
" And then we had a little debate, and I showed her it's not, but the company is still, they sent out notifications. She said that it was? Yeah, she said it was. I'm sure she did.
Well, you know, those highly educated people that work at Racetrack. Anyway, the company has sent out a memo. Wow, she shit all over gas station, people. But they have birthday cake bang at Racetrack, two for four.
Oh, I gotta take another drink. You're ridiculous. Okay, a little show update. And then we'll start wrapping this up unless you have something else.
No. Okay. I'm not breathing though. 4% against the same time last year.
Show is on the uptick, the audio version of the show. That's nice. We have added in the last 30 days Aruba. Ooh.
And Oman. I don't know where Oman is. Not Wyoming though, right? God bless it, there's still no listeners in fucking Wyoming.
They're holding out. Casper, come on. Let's go. Play the show.
Yo, you buy from the shop and you also follow us on Instagram. Yeah. Still nothing. On YouTube, we have 89 subscribers.
It went down to 88, but luckily that gentleman changed his mind and came back to 89. Oh, I hit the wrong button. Oh, I hit the wrong button. I don't want to lose this one.
I meant to get off of the other show. Yeah. Salton of Smokes was the one I meant to get off of. Oh, man.
Oh, got that in there, didn't I? Too soon. Too soon, maybe? Too soon.
Not mine. Mine's over here. Mine's right here. We already talked about the great live event we're doing.
Yeah. I guess that's all I got. So that covered a lot of things. Very busy show.
I think I talk too fast. Maybe. I think you talk great. Oh, that was a good one.
This is a great show because you really got to tee off on me. I look for that every week. And that makes you happy. It makes the listeners happy.
I don't even know why I'm doing this anymore at this point. Well, there has been a little bit of a turn in the power structure of the show, I feel. Yeah? You're in charge?
I used to sit over here and just hit the buttons. Now I actually do research, and I have a whole week of building the shows and things to talk about. You're a big deal. Well, you know, waiting on the Cigar Authority.
I'm waiting on that phone call. Oh, you're going to go- Cigar, that's the number one show on Podbean, Michael. So you're going to go to Cigar Authority. You know what, one way or another, I'm going to be on the number one show.
Either this one, or the other one. One way or the other. You got to go up to New Hampshire, wherever they're at. I feel like a telecommute.
A telecommute? I just need my own little window to pop up on our screen. Boop, up in the corner. Oh.
I'm going to start being, oh, I could be with my industry news and my new legislative news thing. I could be like Cigar Coop. It's like a whole thing. It could be a thing now.
Well, you got to ruffle papers in the beginning. I'm going to do that. We need fifteen minutes of fucking disarray. Fifteen minutes of disarray, and live from the Blah Blah Studios in Burbank, California.
And then you gotta have that whole diatribe, like, ready. This is brought to you by the Lola. That's what I'm talking about. I mean, he does, oof, he's talented.
It's quite the long thing, he's got a lot of stuff. We only have to talk about, bang, energy drink, the drink of the cigar industry, official drink. Oh, I got a little, see, I got a blowback on saying that too. From Danny?
Uh, no, Fred Rui. Now, what does he know? Well, he knows all about San Andreas rappers, apparently. He doesn't know shit about San Andreas rappers.
He's the leading authority on San Andreas rappers. He's out the game, pal. Fred Rui, shots fired. He was a cigar geek when he started.
He'll still be one now. Mm-hmm. I told him I don't think of you in any other way, but as a geek, Fred, it's fine. I don't think of you any other way, but as Fred, Fred.
Fred Rui, my friend Fred Rui. I like Fred. He's a good dude. He's a good dude.
He always has bacon when you go to his house. Oh! Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do! That's just in!
You know what? I forgot to mention, I finally got to meet David Lafferty. Again. Oh, did he ask about me?
He was at... No. He was at Mom's Cigar Warehouse. That's Cigar Authority guy, isn't he?
No. Oh. No. Who runs a Cigar Authority?
You totally just fucked me up. Sorry. You met David Lafferty again, Michael! Yeah, thank you so much.
He's Dunbarton Tobacco now. Oh, is he? Yeah, it's a guy I've met for the first time, you know. Everybody is Dunbarton Tobacco now.
So it was really cool to, I mean, shoot the shit with him, kind of hang out in MBS. Yeah. See, that's when you whip out your podcast setup you travel with everywhere and you record the conversation. He's a really funny guy.
I can easily cut that kind of stuff in. Okay. Even if you just pulled out your memo. I'm hosting a fucking event.
You want me to run a podcast? Okay, you weren't hosting. Let me stop. You weren't hosting.
You did say Mike Rosales was there. Yeah. Well, he's the man. He is the man.
You were the guy that carried his luggage in front of the car. So if you're the guy that's carrying the luggage, aren't you the same guy that's gonna be doing the sales? No, that was Jeff Mutey's job. Oh.
Well, so then what was I supposed to do then? Record the conversation with David Lafferty! Oh, okay, okay. And Edgar Hoyle was there as well.
I don't know who that was. Osak, One Shot, One Kill. Oh! I know One Shot, One Kill.
One shot, one kill. Yeah. Oh. So did you bring me back presents?
No. The Mark Tobacco one shot, one kill? No. And I did smoke $120 Davidoff.
I saw that. That was a gift. Yeah. It tasted really good because I didn't pay for it.
If I had paid for it, I would have been upset. Would have been upset. But because it was free, I'm like, wow, this is really good. When you peel the orange or yellow price tags off, does it tear the wrapper?
You know, I don't know. They were on the cello. I was making a joke. You were supposed to.
Well, I'm not going to give you an inch now because you shit all over me in this podcast. Well, that's every podcast. Right now you're being picky. You're such a little girl.
You're very aggressive this time. You're such a little girl. Such a girl. So what else?
I mean, that's it? Just you met them? I've known them before, but we got to hang out and shoot the shit and that was really cool. I mean, he went out of his way to come up because he wrote on Facebook, he's like, "Oh, I had no idea you're so close.
It would have been great to meet you because you know like we that's our kind of ongoing thing his friend on Facebook yeah so I died laughing I mean he must not be my friend that's right that's right that's right this whole podcast is getting a little too much to your head pal I feel you're being a little aggressive Michael I'm just counterbalancing your aggressiveness all right so um that's all I really got and I feel like I'm done is this a That's the part where you take the headphones off and throw it down and walk out and have a fit. So, make sure you follow us at a Cigar Hustlers Podcast on Instagram. Yes, you can follow the show at a Cigar Hustlers Podcast on Instagram. You can follow Michael at Cigar Hustlers.
You can follow me at FCC_Mike. Tell your friends about the podcast. Especially if you live in fucking Wyoming. God bless you.
What the hell? Podbean's very good. They give you great statistics and information. Pulls up a map of the United States, different colors for the amount of listeners, and then Wyoming's smack in the middle, white.
Nothing. Nothing. White. Blank.
Every single thing. Blank. I'll tell you what, anybody who lives in the surrounding states, drive across, just listen to it on some kind of Wi-Fi in Wyoming so we get credit. Let us know you did, we'll send you something.
That's right. Ooh, that's a new contest. Hashtag, I'm in Wyoming. Hashtag, I'm in Wyoming.
Go to Wyoming, first guy to go to Wyoming, listen to the show, will get a price. I'll send you a gift certificate to Cigar Hustler. Oh, wow, that's a big deal. There you go.
But you have to come in to spend it, so. No, I can do it online. I'm trying to get you somebody here, too, because then I want a cross-country tour. All right, well, we did have a new listener in Canada, but we already have listeners in Canada.
We did send the runner-up for the... Yes, you sent the runner-up out. He thanked you and tagged the podcast. That was very nice.
Got that prize out. That was really cool. We still – Oh, no. Oh, Mark Gordon got me the bang.
I was supposed to say his name again. He made a special trip up here to bring me the birthday cake bang that I've been looking for. And he was very acceptance of his prize in me saying his name, Mark Gordon, because I said it seven times, Mr. Mark Gordon.
Never heard of him. I don't know who that is. Well, if he didn't have a name tag on it, I wouldn't have known who he was. Right.
Fuck that guy. He didn't send me a bang. He said he texted you. Fuck that guy.
He knew you were out of town. I don't care. You could have left it. Maybe this is yours and I drank it.
I don't think so. No, I would have done it. Yeah. I know you wouldn't have.
But you did drink all the unicorns. Mark is awesome. So there you go. Okay, we're at 40 minutes now.
This is where I leave you. All right, this concludes the – can you at least stay on while I say goodbye? Yes. Yes, here I am.
He's so mad. Go ahead. All right. Thank you, everybody, for listening.
Thank you so much. This is episode 82 of the Cigar Hustlers podcast. Oh, I thought you were my wife's name. I said 80.
80. 82. 82. 82 Palmer.
King Palmer. She never listens to the show. You can say whatever you want. She's not a valid.
She's not a follower of the show. All right. That's it, everybody. Thank you.
Thank you very much. This is it. Bye. This has been a Cigar Hustlers Podcast, a Mike and Mike production.
m. for all new episodes. Hi, I'm doing, I'm Husto-E-Raw. Yeah, we just don't have to do a single, uh, single podcast ever again.
Perfect. I'm good, Mike and Mike. How are you guys doing? I don't even have to try to hit the record.
We're going to cover a lot of ground here, Mike. All right. Try to keep up. That's a sign of a good podcast.
It could be like four cigars when I walked in the door. All right, end this.
Show Notes
In this episode we go over Mikey's recent trip to New York, his appearance on Rebar, some industry news, Legislative Information and a new shop and listener of the week!
As always we welcome your thoughts and ideas on our FB page, "A Cigar Hustlers Podcast". You can follow the show on IG @cigarhustlerspodcast, Mikey @cigarhustler and Mike Too @fcc_mike.
Remember to always rate, review and subscribe on whichever of our providers you use!