Episode 84 Big Announcement, Industry News and another Letter from Bang
Episode Summary
Episode 84 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast opens with a milestone celebration: with Casper Cigar Company in Casper, Wyoming named Shop of the Week, the show has now reached listeners in all 50 states, complete with a balloon drop for the YouTube audience. Hosts Michael Palmer and Mike Stepankevitz also announce the launch of their Patreon page, tease bonus "secret" episodes for patrons, and name Listener of the Week (David, a former employee, of "Will Run for Cigars").
The main industry news segment covers the Premium Cigar Association's decision to shelve CigarCon — the consumer event planned to run alongside the 2020 trade show — after heavy pushback from manufacturers, brand owners and retailers. The hosts read from PCA Executive Director Scott Pearce's comments about restructuring committees to include non-board members, debate whether a consumer-facing event could ever work in Las Vegas, and float ideas like an industry roast to draw crowds. They also riff on the record attendance at Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever-style consumer events.
Cigar talk includes Halfwheel's Brooks Whittington review of Powstanie's Wojtek (the "War Bear"), which earned an 89 — prompting a comparison to the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Neanderthal's 88 and a story about the hosts harassing Nick Melillo at the trade show while chasing the Foundation Tabernacle. They also grumble that Steve Saka never plugs their show on his other podcast appearances (including Cigar Snob) while praising his new phrase, "master cigar smoker."
The back half is pure Mike-and-Mike chaos: microphone failures, a NASA astronaut accused of committing the first crime in space, fantasy football and sipping tequila, a charity raffle for an injured friend, a show update on Player FM/YouTube/PodBean stats (including new listeners in Argentina and Morocco), and a second "letter" from Bang Energy threatening to re-evaluate the sponsorship because one host said the drink tastes like diabetes. They close by previewing next week's guest, rep Pete Hernandez, covering Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, HVC and Aladino.
In This Episode
- 01Shop of the Week: Casper Cigar Company & All 50 StatesThe veteran-owned Casper Cigar Company in Casper, Wyoming completes the map, making the show a true nationwide podcast.
- 02Patreon Launch and Listener of the WeekThe hosts introduce their new Patreon tiers with promised bonus episodes and shout out Listener of the Week 'Will Run for Cigars.'
- 03PCA Shelves CigarConBreakdown of the Premium Cigar Association pulling its 2020 consumer event after manufacturer and retailer pushback, plus Scott Pearce's committee restructuring.
- 04World News: The First Crime in SpaceNASA astronaut Anne McClain accused of accessing her estranged spouse's bank account from the International Space Station.
- 05Halfwheel Reviews the Powstanie WojtekBrooks Whittington scores the Wojtek 'War Bear' an 89, sparking a debate about ratings and the Neanderthal's 88.
- 06Skip Martin, Steve Saka and the 'Master Cigar Smoker'The hosts razz Skip Martin for never plugging their show and unpack Saka's new term for guys who smoke a lot without being experts.
- 07Charity Raffle for an Injured FriendBrands and manufacturers donated sticks for a raffle supporting a friend who lost his job after a hospital stay gone wrong.
- 08Show Update and Another Letter from BangPlayer FM rankings, 100+ YouTube subscribers, new listeners in Argentina and Morocco, and Bang Energy's threat to re-evaluate the partnership.
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 84 of the Sagar Hustlers Podcast. This week we have some more industry news, some world news, a show update, and another letter from our friends at Bang Energy Drink. So sit back and relax. Show's about to begin.
Okay, audio? Yeah. Video, hey! Welcome to Cigar Hustlers Podcast episode 84.
84. 84. Yeah, you fucked that one up, buddy. No, I didn't.
I said 83 last week. The one you got was 83. Not my fault. You need to check your work.
On the poster, it said 84. All the other posters are right. Anyway, how are you, Michael? Did you send me an updated poster?
Yes. Liar. Look in your email. Look in the spam folder.
It's a lie. It's a spam folder. You're a liar. You didn't do the email blast 'til yesterday.
Dude, it was kind of a shitty week for me. I don't know if you noticed. Whatever. Two funerals in the same week.
It sucked. Whiny baby. Very upsetting. Okay, um, we have an announcement.
Should we do the announcement first, get it out of the way? Or do you want to talk about what you just found out on your phone call? No, let's do the announcement. You're excited.
I'm excited. Okay, this week's Shop of the Week is the Casper Cigar Company in Wyoming. Yay! Balloons everywhere!
Oh, this is great. This is amazing. Thank you so much. So we are now a nationwide podcast.
So if you're listening and not watching on YouTube, you have to go to YouTube. If you want to see us get ballooned in the face, you definitely need to check out YouTube. We just dropped balloons. So, yay!
Can I tear this down now? Now, we can tear this down out of my way. Hey, there was a lot of work went into that. So, I know you put a lot of work into that.
I like the one balloon stayed on the table. At this point, we have now hit every state. Every state in the United States. Not just Continental, because we're already in Hawaii and Alaska.
So, if you're in Wyoming. Thank you. And you want to go to a cigar shop. That's okay.
Just keep talking. Go to Casper. Now there's a delay. You touch something.
You touched something. I didn't touch anything. I'm sitting right here. Well, we're just going to keep going because we already dropped the balloons.
Okay. Alright, so the Casper Cigar Company, veteran-owned and run, carrying some of the finest craft cigars on the market. 1831 CY Avenue, Casper, Wyoming. Wyoming.
Wyoming. Thank you, Casper. We love you. So you're very excited about that.
Well, now we're a nationwide podcast. We've hit all 50 states. Holy shit. Do you want to just set that down on the table in front of you?
You get mad when I do that. No, I don't care. It looks better than that. You think that looks bad?
Yes. Something just went... Okay. So here we are.
You gotta get closer to the mic, please. I'll angle it up for you. Thank you. Man, you've been waiting to say that all week.
You need to get closer to the mic? No. Oh, technically it happened last week, but we had a guest and I didn't have the balloons set up yet. Okay.
This is annoying me. It was just wobbling back and forth. Yeah. Yes.
So, congratulations, Michael. Thank you. Congratulations to you, Michael. No, no, no.
All of this wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for you. You're not close up to the microphone. You sound terrible. You are quite the stud now.
You have arrived in the cigar industry. Trying to bring you up. People are excited to see you. When we take the break, I'll switch out your microphone.
Okay. If it goes that way. We're going to rock this out for 15, 20 minutes. Just real quick, I might as well do Listener of the Week.
Oh, oh, you want to get these all, like, right? Well, this is the way my notes run, but I have a lot to talk about. You should probably run that at the end. I don't like to run it at the end.
Like you said, I've arrived. This is my show. Okay. I'll just shut the fuck up now.
Go ahead. Listener of the Week is Will Run for Cigars. Does he run for cigars? Well, he used to.
It's David Rebba-doob-doob-doob-doob-doob-doob. Oh. He joined Instagram just to become Listener of the Week. Oh.
That's David that used to work here. Congratulations, David. Well, fuck that guy. But I miss that guy.
I think he quit just so he could be Listener of the Week because it's not available to employees. Oh, really? Yes. Oh.
I didn't know there were rules. Oh, yes, there's rules. Plenty of rules. Excellent.
Small print. So, you've got more to talk about, I guess, huh? We have some news, we have some national news, we have a Skip Martin thing to talk about, we have some world news, we said that, and we have a show update at the end, oh, and we got another from our friends at BANG. Another?
Another letter, and a 12-pack of case of delicious Star Blast, which they know is my favorite. Which is my third favorite. So, I already stole two cans from you. Just for the record.
Bang, energy drink. Yeah. The official drink of the Cigar Hustler podcast. And soon to happen, the cigar industry as a whole.
And you know what, I gotta say, I'm seeing a lot of bang posts as a whole. So am I, isn't it nice? So, you're a positive influence on the cigar industry. They love me.
You're taking away the Red Bull. The Red what? What is that? Well, that's the one thing that only Danny Vasquez drinks.
Oh, yeah. I think I've heard of that stuff. You know, at Publix, it's buy one, get one right now, because they can't get rid of it. Yeah.
Please take the Red Bull. Please take the Red Bull. We're losing market share. So.
Yes. So do you want to talk about the funerals? That would be depressing, but if you want to. No, it was just a crazy week for me.
I feel like I got nothing done cigar-wise, which kind of sucked. So, yeah, I was kind of monopolized with some other stuff. And then I got a nice threat of a possible school shooting at my son's school, which is fantastic. At a Montessori school?
Don't even get me started. When did that? That wasn't on the news or anything? Well, yeah, it was.
Oh, was it? Day two of back to school. I heard nothing about it. It's the world we live in.
It's crazy. So is he now the Kevlar backpack that you can buy? No, what a crock of shit that thing is. I don't know.
I want one. It's not going to stop an assault rifle. Well, let's hope they can't get those because you want them to be illegal. You want to give up all your guns.
Yes, I'm, I'm, uh, yeah, let's just get rid of them all. " I referenced him in our post because somebody said that he should be Michael, the Knight that we have in the store. If you follow the Facebook page for Cigar Hustler, we always put up random crazy stuff. crazy stuff and uh one of our employees said hey we have a knight what should we name him and somebody said michael knight and i was like it doesn't work we already have a michael knight so that's when i tagged him right wow i might just lose headphones all together it's really bad today it was fine until you started once you hit the record i think the balloons messed it up when you yanked the cord i think it hit something uh okay you know what i'm willing to uh to be your patsy I'm not sure for all of it.
So that's fine. Not if it's my technical. So yeah, you know, kind of a crazy week. Yeah.
But we're back, and we're in, we're full-fledged. We launched the Patreon. Oh, the Patreon page launched, over the weekend it was fixed, but it technically launched on Friday. Which is awesome.
Yes. So now if you go to, if you check our Instagram, there is the website listed there. You can become an investor in the show, so to say. An investor.
An investor in the show. If you make donations to the show, we're going to do a special episode for our Patreon. Yes. For different levels, there are different tiers, they call it.
Different tiers, there are different, let's just say, rewards. And we'll step it up on those special podcasts. We'll talk a little more shit about people. Secret stuff.
We'll be a little more aggressive when it comes to your videos and stuff like that. Because you can't hear it unless you're a Patreon. Yeah. Which I'm excited about.
So, I can't wait. First episode's all about Danny Vasquez. Ooh. Just saying.
Wow. No, it's not. It's a great subject. It would be, though, wouldn't it?
So, what else you got, Michael? Let's see. In the news. Yes?
The consumers are not coming. They're not coming to the PCA. You know, I'm glad you brought that up, because what a bunch of fucking pussies the PCA is. The Premium Cigar Association, PCA, has announced its plan for CigarCon, a consumer event held in conjunction with its annual convention and trade show, The show will not take place now in 2020, and they're considering it for 2021.
Yeah, so it's never going to happen. So between the pressure of manufacturers and brand owners that hated the idea as well as retailers, they collapsed. They just gave it. Now they are setting up a panel, which I'm not exactly sure what the panel's going to do, but it just gives them a pause so they can reevaluate and see how they can get rid of it.
Is this something that they're going to be, the panel's going to be up during breakfast again, like they do the other thing? I have no idea. So you get your scrambled eggs, your fake eggs, and, you know, they vote people in? Yes, they vote people in.
The concept of a consumer event in conjunction with the trade show was proposed and actually started in 2013. It was quickly rejected, and more, it is, it was more than just an idea. The PCA announced plans for CigarCon was coming in 2020, but it was clear from the pushback for the manufacturer's retail, as you had stated, He had stated that the support wasn't there. Wow.
We have been in active listening mode and have taken in all of the industry feedback and have really adjusted many of the logistics surrounding -- oh, that's a big word, logistics -- event. With all that in mind, because only the manufacturing partners, we ultimately came to the conclusion that -- I'm going to paraphrase here instead of reading directly of his quote -- we decided we stuck our foot in our mouth and we shouldn't have mentioned it. - We've lost our balls. - We've lost our balls.
- PCA Executive Director Scott Pierce remarked that the PCA will be changing its committee structure to encourage broader participation by PCA membership. - And the band played on. - We are embarking on a significant change to our committee structure to encourage more -- same thing twice. By expanding committee's participation to a number of non-board members, we can ensure we are consistently delivering more value for our members, said Mr.
Pierce. So does that mean that David Garofalo will be going next year? That's what I want to know. That was not mentioned in the article.
But if you want to call Coop right now, because I'm, all the information is coming from Coop right now. " Adding new voices and fresh perspective is going to be a welcome new component as we forge ahead. Well, that's a, I mean, that's a good thing. I would like to see, um, some ideas actually come to fruition.
I think that would be really cool. Oh, that would be nice. Yeah. Where you get to kind of… Pick somebody each year?
Yeah. And you can do… Like a celebrity roast? Yeah, and you can bring regular consumers and retailers to this thing and, you know… That's more of a show, though, wouldn't it? Yeah, but that's a good way to, you know, to boost revenue, to bring people in.
It'd be entertaining. You'd have to have a little more than a show. That'd be a long way to go to Vegas just to see a three-hour roast. I guess, just to see a three-hour roast?
These guys fly all over the place for this type of stuff, those type of, like smoke in, like smoke, big smokes and shit like that. Like the one that just happened in Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. How many motherfuckers flew to that thing? 1,200 was the number I heard.
That's a pretty big number. Maybe it's 2,100. I don't know. So even if you didn't get everybody flying from the East Coast, and you focused on something.
I just can't handle that echo. Oh, it's nuts. So even if you got people that are just local to go in and have something there, I think that's a great idea. I don't, you know, look, I'm not that versed, I'm not that intelligent when it comes to anything, so I think that a panel of the right people could help.
To figure out what to do next. Yeah. Well, that's, they're probably very happy you agree with them. I only agree with part of it.
You agree with the panel. Yeah, I would have been for Cigar Con. Yes, you were all for it. You were.
I don't think they had thought it out completely how they were going to run it. I'm okay with that. I'm totally okay with that. Yes, I know.
You're big on building the plane as we fall down. Jump off the cliff and build the plane on the way down. That was quoted in last week's quote from last week's show. Yeah.
And I live by that. Yes. And I'm still here. You're still here.
Goddammit. How many times has the plane crashed? Or not been built by the time you hit the ground? Never.
Never. I don't know. I exude awesomeness. I don't know.
This show sort of crashes every week. And yet here we are. And here we are. Hitting all states.
This week, no headphones for anybody because- It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. This lovely 1972 Apple computer is doing so well. Hey, you know what?
You get, you know, you get- It's getting very hot today, by the way. It might be half the problem. You got another, you got one Patreon so far. One Patreon, thank you very much.
You got another 500 Patreons and you'll get a computer. Well, if we save it all 'til the end of the year, I only need five more. Oh, that's true. So maybe by this time next year… You'll get a new computer.
We'll get a deal on a 2016. I'll spoil you. I don't want to spoil you. I wouldn't know what to do.
Alright, so what else you got? I have some interesting world news. Oh. It caught my attention this morning.
I thought it was funny. Okay. Okay. Ann McClain, a NASA astronaut who was set to participate in the first all-female spacewalk, which was cancelled.
Cancelled. That's not the story, though. Tied with the PCA? No, she's being accused of committing one-by-the-first outer space crime.
Ooh, how does that work? Well, apparently, while she was in space, while they were doing spacewalks and whatever it is they do over there, she decided to access her ex-wife's banking information. So, technically, they're calling it, what is it called? Identity theft.
Outer Space Identity, though? Outer Space Identity, anyway, McLean accessed her estranged wife's bank account during her six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Who knew you could even check your bank balance? Is that like different area codes, so it's not cheating type shit?
I mean, because... Well, I imagine the reason she did it, I was trying to think, why would she do that? She's trying to see what she's doing while she's gone. You know, ATM withdraws, cash withdraws.
But it's ex-wife. It's estranged, but still, I mean, who knows how long they've been exes. I feel like that's totally fine. When you're in outer space, you can do whatever you want.
You would think. There are like no laws up there. Yeah, there's no regulations in outer space. Apparently, the way they work it is, if you're an American, you have to abide by American laws.
If you're Russian, you abide by Russian laws. Who worked out these rules? I guess the Space Force is the new group that Trump started. I'm really excited about that, too.
She might go to jail for identity theft. Wow. Isn't that crazy? She couldn't just Facebook stalk it.
I can't believe that they were talking about that on the podcast. I thought it was hilarious when I read this word. The first space crime has been committed. That's awesome.
Going down in history. The first space crime criminal. Yeah. So I wonder if like up in the space station, there's a wanted poster on the side of her.
I thought you would have said that she sexually assaulted a chimpanzee or something. No, chimps don't. We don't have to go to space anymore. Have you not seen Planet of the Apes?
No, we brought that up. It's dangerous to send them up to space. Don't do that. Don't do that.
Did you see the movie? They come back and they're very angry. They come back and they're so angry, they're upset, and then they can talk. Okay.
So what else you got there, Mr. Michael Palmer? What do you got? Let's have something from you right now.
Come on. Come on. Thrill me. Give me some information.
I'm gonna thrill you. You ready? Yes. I don't like running through all my stuff.
I did my first fantasy football draft of the season. Oh. Let me just check out here. Which is very exciting.
Yes. Let me just check out here. I did it and I was hammered on tequila for the first time, like... Okay, do we need to do an intervention on one of these episodes?
You're having like a drinking problem all of a sudden. So this is a new thing for me. I'm getting hammered? Uh, no, well, I don't drink a lot.
Well, no, you don't. In the six years I've, seven whatever years I've known you, I don't think I've ever seen you drunk. Here's the thing. I've heard stories of you drunk, but I've never seen you drunk.
Here's the thing, you know, when I drink, I just go... By the way, this feels very unprofessional without the headphones. I go, I go hard in the paint, Michael. I'm not fucking around.
No, it's not just one drink with you if you drink it. No. Welcome to my world, Michael. It's nice to have you come over to my world.
But, you know, so-- I got drunk Saturday, my wife took me shopping, and I texted Greg from Target the different things that I was getting into. I heard about that. I heard about that. That's pretty funny.
It was funny, but anyway, go ahead. So, yeah, no-- So, who did you get? Some slapdick third string punter or something? You know, I haven't really looked at my team yet, but I'm, you know, I felt good about it at that time, so I'm sure that I'm okay.
I got Bob Greasy, look at this, I got quarterback Bob Greasy. Wow. That's the first one that came to mind. Dan Marino.
Wow, that's more relevant than Bob Greasy. So, yeah, so I think I'm... Your wife has told us, me, that you only really drink when she's pregnant. I'm gonna step it up when she's no longer pregnant, I'm going to be, I feel like...
Oh, see, now we need to go out drinking. So, you know, that's gonna, that'll be dangerous. Oh, no, no, we need to. I like, I like the sipping tequila.
I think this is really cool. It's a good thing. Tequila's made for doing shots. What's a sipping tequila?
You know what? That was usually, that was my standpoint until I had the tequila last night that I had, and I'm like, I can do this. Is it just straight? No ice?
No nothing? Yeah, neat. Not fucking around, buddy. Did you start with something else and work up that?
No, no, no, no. Because, I mean, if I'm like three or four drinks in, shit, you can put gasoline in front of me and I'll drink that. Nope. I was very intrigued by the drinking Michael.
It was amazing. It was amazing. I'm going to go drink tonight. We had a Half Wheel review that was just brought to my attention.
Oh, that's right, yes. Yes. What cigar did they, was it the bear? So my dear friend Brooks at Half Wheel, he reviewed the Wojtek, the War Bear.
So, we got a pretty good review. Let me look it up here. Okay, now wait, real quick. Say one word and I'll point at you when you can hear it in the headphones.
I can hear it still down here. Yeah, I can still hear it. Like a 30 second delay. So, we got an 89.
I don't know, I know that some people actually read these things. I don't. I always just go down to the score and read the quick summary. Is 89 out of 100 good?
As far as half-wheel is concerned, yes, yes. Yes, it is. What's the lowest you think they've ever given? I don't know.
It's a good question. But if they rate something like a 60, I want to try it. Gotcha. I want to know how terrible- We should figure out what's the cigar they've rated the least, and then we'll do one of our secret episodes on that cigar.
And say, yeah, this tastes like a paper towel. Right. Or, this is amazing. Charlie doesn't know what he's talking about.
Yeah. So, you know, Brooks writes in his summary, you know, "Powstanie is one of those brands that whenever I enjoy one, I wonder why I don't smoke them more often. " I'm not going to go on the whole thing. Oh, I thought you were going to agree with that.
I'm just going to leave, I'm just going to throw that out there. So, um, I'm glad that he wrote that. I'm glad I got an 89. I don't want to talk about the hints, but I could tell you this, so, you know, when I was at the show, I felt like I was in Brooks' way a lot.
Whenever I deviated, you know, there was a few times that I broke out, and you can only go out for like 15 minutes, like 15 to 20 minutes. It's a long time. Right. Before somebody notices you're gone.
Yeah, so when I ran away, I harassed Nick Melillo, and poor Brooks was trying to get photos, and I was all up in his shit, you know, trying to get this tabernacle that I still haven't tasted, that other retailers have, that we still don't have, but it's okay. But Brooks was still trying to get photos and stuff, and I was harassing the shit out of Nick. And then, we went to the Prometheus place at the end, and he was trying to take photos, and there and again, I was crazy and super aggressive, and he was, I could tell that I was stressing him out, so I'm sorry Brooks, I hope I didn't lose a point for, for harassment, but, you know. I would have reviewed your cigar without even smoking it.
I'm glad that, I'm glad that you liked it, brother. 89? Is that a like? It's 11 points down.
Oh, fuck yeah. The Neanderthal got an 88, and in my opinion- Oh, yeah, you rate it higher than the antithole. That's one of the greatest cigars of all time, in my opinion. It is a good cigar.
Yes, it is. Can we talk about the fact that Skip does all these podcasts and shit, never mentions us? That's next on my list, yes. Okay.
He did the Cigar Snob Podcast. Yes. Okay, first, it was only 52 minutes long. How do you do a Skip Podcast at 52 minutes?
Yeah, that's fucking weak. He's only getting- It's gotta at least be a three-part episode. 25 minutes for him to explain the name of the company. Right.
I don't understand how that worked, but he did coin a new phrase during that interview. Yeah. A master cigar smoker. A master cigar smoker.
Not someone that necessarily knows a lot about cigars, but they smoke a lot of cigars. Oh, that's nice. I liked it too. I thought it was nice.
I'm a master cigar smoker. Yes. He even had a shameless plug section on that interview. Really?
Still nothing. And still only 52 minutes? " It's my number one favorite show. Yeah, and they mention me every single episode and, you know, I appreciate them.
I think that that would be fair. That would be nice. I think that would be nice, too. Yeah.
We should get him a shirt. Think he'd wear a shirt? Because we appreciate you, Skip. Yes.
I don't know if he'd wear, maybe if it was like a regular tee, it's gotta be like, you know, very soft and like he's, you know, he's very particular, so. Oh, gotcha. Alright, have a real review. Ah, yes.
So, we have a Carlos Raffle going on in the story. Yes. Okay. We have a dear friend of ours that, to kind of make a long story short, got hurt.
Don't go to the Fish Memorial Hospital. Got really hurt, and he was laid up in the hospital for about three months for a procedure that should have taken two days. He lost his job and you know he was going through a hard time now he didn't ask us to do this but we assembled with a bunch of other brand owners and manufacturers put together this badass raffle where we're giving away a bunch of sticks and I sent out an email on Saturday yes for just the raffle we you know there really wasn't any much anything else going right the response that I had from our consumers and you know our friends and customers was unbelievable. It's unbelievable.
Oh, it was a good response. Oh, my God. It was so amazing. I mean, my phone rang.
What's going on? Because we don't really do that. Yeah, no. I can't think I remember one other time.
Yeah. There was a gentleman in California. Yeah. So, I just want to say thank you to everybody that's listening that's contributed.
I mean, you guys are awesome. And it's still growing. There's still people ringing. Yeah.
If you want to contribute and you haven't yet, you can always just jump on the site. there's a slide on the first page you can just jump on and they're like $10 tickets it's you know it isn't anything big but again I appreciate all the guys that went above and beyond this weekend and you know supported the cause and and and they're helping out a friend in need so thanks that's all I got what else you got all right let's take a break and then we'll come back Thank God we can fix these fucking mics. A little bit of a show update and then that's it. All right, we'll be right back.
Let's do it. com and check out a Cigar Hustlers podcast storefront with all your swag needs from the show. Ooh, and now everything sounds good again. Ah, thank God.
Two seconds, it'll be bad again. Probably, so let's talk fast. By the way, I have a line on a new cameraman. Yeah?
His name is Stan. We're going to see if that works out. Stan? Stan.
Are we going to read Earl? What? Earl's going to go bye-bye? Yeah, we might replace Earl.
Earl's kind of old. Did you see the picture of Earl I put up on that episode? Earl's an old man. We have a younger guy.
Okay. Maybe he can come on next week. I'm excited for Stan. Okay.
We have a letter. Another letter from our friends at Bang. Oh, my God. Let's see.
Dear Michael. Yeah. Me, not you. Yeah, not me.
We're sorry to inform you that we are re-evaluating our partnership with the Cigar Hustle Podcast. Unfortunately, we are not seeing the results that we had hoped for when we originally corresponded with you via email. Now, this is last week. We've been sitting on this for over a week.
So maybe because this past week there were a lot of cigar bang photos. So it's over. No, no. However, we at Bang Energy are thankful for your continued support, and I'm sure you will do great things in the future.
Lastly, we'd appreciate it if your partner, Michael Stepankevitz, I spelled your name wrong, refrain from saying our beverage tastes like diabetes, in parentheses. You're kidding me. Our drinks are made from nothing but the almost quality ingredients. This has got to be a joke.
This is you fucking with me. What? This is you fucking with me. No one's done, this is not a letter, you want to see the letter?
Wow. com. So you lost your sponsor? Well, they're reevaluating.
They still sent us another case, so we'll see what happens. Because you said it tastes like diabetes. Wow. Sorry.
That's all right. It was a good run. It was a good run. We'll still drink Bang.
Still drink Bang. Still the official drink of the cigar industry. And a cigar has a pint, yeah. Wow.
All right, on to the show update. Hey, thank you for listening, Bang. Oh, that's awesome. It's probably just that one guy, Richie, did probably.
" We send this guy bang. He says it tastes like diabetes. You're fucking kidding me. That is awesome.
I wonder if there's anybody else that could piss off today. Okay. Classic. Good stuff.
Show update on player... I can see why you wanted to read that letter now. That's awesome. I can't even take a drink of this.
Everything happens on the air. We don't even talk when we're not there. Yeah. Because there was something about shoes that you didn't want to talk about.
Shoes. And the funeral. And your brother. Oh yeah, he gets mad when I talk about him.
Oh. He gets upset. " He doesn't listen? He knows, though.
He knows. Somebody else? Oh, I bet other people tell him. Yeah.
Like his, you know, his new friend. So I'm not going to say anything bad about the shoes. Delicious bang energy. Okay.
You decided to discontinue. They're re-evaluating. Don't say anything bad. Talk about how good that was.
What are you drinking today, Michael? How's that taste? The Cherry Blades, Cherry Blade Lemonade. Oh, isn't that your favorite?
Yeah, I love it. It tastes like cherry and blades. It's actually not my top three. My top three is the Unicorn, the Cotton Candy, and then the Star Blast.
Oh. All right. Okay, I'm going to try to say this again. Show update.
Okay. On Player FM, we are number 13 currently. Yeah? That's one of the...
I don't want to insult them. Yeah, apparently people are very, apparently people listen. Yeah, oh jeez. Yes, YouTube, we have 104, moving on, on YouTube we have 104 subscribers now.
Hey, that's kind of a big deal. We got an email from YouTube thanking us, or not thanking, congratulating us from 100, to getting over 100 subscribers, and it kept having like confetti exploding on the screen. That's nice. It was nice, yeah.
Kind of like birthday cake fashion. Yeah, kind of like if you had a, kind of like if you were drinking a birthday cake from bank. Right here next to Carlito. Oh man.
Okay, on PodBeam, PodBean, we would like to welcome Argentina. Ooh. And Morocco. Ooh, Morocco.
Since now we have conquered the continental, or actually the United States, we're going for the world. Okay. We're going for the world. World domination.
We have no listeners, our next person we're going after, we have no listeners in Greenland. Oh. But I did a little research on Greenland today. And there's five people that live there?
No, the primary people of Greenland are called the Inuits, I-N-U-I-T. They're like Eskimos. I don't know if they have computers or Wi-Fi. It's gotta be tough to smoke in those conditions.
So I'm not sure how we get them to listen. Alright, so Greenland, okay. And shoot for the stars, Mike. That's what I like.
We also need some small internal countries on Africa, on the continent of Africa. Like the People's Republic of the Congo? " Moving on, Michael! Oh, man.
Tanzania? How do you not start with that at the show? Central African Republic? Do they have internet in Africa?
I don't know if they have internet in Africa or not. Yes, they do. You think so? Yes.
Well, they had nobody in small countries of Africa. They bless the rains down there. In the jungles. This podcast has really gone off the rails.
Dodo? Ooh, another drink of my delicious energy drink. Yeah, you better enjoy that 12-pack bud, because that's the last you're getting. Oh, this thing just gone.
Alright. Well, what else? We got to talk about something else. We're only back from commercial for five minutes.
Where's the commercial? I mean, it's definitely worth the commercial, just because of the letter that you released. Oh, should I read it again? Um, no, don't read it again.
We got an event this Friday. We can talk about that. Oh, that's right. You know what?
I got scheduling problems. We do? I do. Oh, tell me.
I sell t-shirts for the high school on Friday nights. Ooh, conflict. Yes. So, who do you have to speak to when you tell them that you're not going to be selling t-shirts on Friday?
Oh, I might be just selling t-shirts. Well, oh, apparently I'm going to have to look for your balls as well. Why don't you just go have some more tequila, Michael? You know what?
Next week, we're going to drink during the show next week. No, we're not. Shots of tequila. No way.
Yes? Dude, I'm sober and I'm pissing everybody off. Friday night. We're going to do it Friday, late Friday.
No. By the way, we need to start taking. We cannot do it late. We have to do it early.
Well, I meant before 5. Later in the – well, I can't get much later. We need to do these on Friday, not Monday. Well, the next one is going to be on Friday.
Oh, because of Pete. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We're going to have Pete Hernandez next week.
Pete Hernandez next week. Out of all the reps in Florida. He's one of them. And we're excited about that.
Yes. So we're going to do Dunbarton Tobacco, HVC, and Aladino. Oh, you know, Lorenzo did an episode of the Cigar Snob Podcast. Yeah.
I haven't listened to it yet because I was waiting until I had a lot of time because it should be really good. Yeah. Good for you. I'm very excited.
Yeah, so what else were we going to say? I'm sorry. HVC, Dunbarton Tobacco. Aladino.
Is Saka going to be on? Saka is not going to be on. It's not going to be on. Call in?
It's not going to call in. Do we know someone who can do his voice who could call in? No. Oh, you know what?
Pete will introduce himself as Steve Sako if he was asked. Yeah, that's true. " Yes, because last time you were, I can't remember the name. Justo?
Justo. I was going to say Hiroji. I knew it wasn't Hiroji. No, it wasn't Hiroji.
Justo. Hello, I'm Justo Hirola. So yeah, we've got an event this Friday. Really excited about that.
Ooh, lots of specials. Mm-hmm. Apparently so many specials he couldn't even list them all on Facebook. And Michael will be here for the event, apparently, not me.
Yeah, I'll be here. I'll be here. Well, that doesn't help, because everybody wants to see you now. He promoted the event in my club and didn't say I was there.
Wow. You would think that would be a thing. Upset? A little hurt.
A little hurt. I'm gonna shut down there as an interview and turn on the microphone. Oh, it's not working. Oh, sorry, Pete's not here.
Looking forward to the next update, letter from Bang. He apologizes, and doesn't really taste like diabetes, it tastes like berries and rainbows, and exactly like cake and icing. I got nothing. All right.
Well this has been episode 84. 84. The Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Hopefully the photo will say that.
We are 16 episodes away from the 100th episode. Ooh. What's 16 weeks from now? Christmas?
Probably. Probably. We should do, when we do a Halloween episode, we have to dress up. Ooh.
I got a T-Rex outfit. Oh, I took the hat down. It looked like a used condom hanging out. It just looked terrible.
Let it go, huh? Fair enough. That's okay. I was going to say, it's in the archives.
All right. Of the show. Excellent. All right.
com, a Cigar Hustlers podcast. com/cigarhustlerspodcast. Oh, sliding all that in, eh? Sliding all that in.
You can follow the show @CigarHustlersPodcast. You can follow Michael @CigarHustlers. You can follow me, Mike2 @FCC_Mike. Anything else?
Hey everybody, thanks for listening. Have a good day. We appreciate it. We thank you to our first patron that we have.
Yes. We're not going to say your name because I don't think they released that information on the site. I don't know. Oh, we'll have to work on that.
Or they do to us. I don't know if they want their public thing, whatever. We'll work on that. We might have more by now.
Who knows? We may. All right, everybody. Thanks.
Bye. Bye. This has been a Cigar Hustlers Podcast, a Mike and Mike production. m.
for all new episodes. Hi, I'm doing... I'm Hustoy Raw. Yeah, we just don't have to do a single podcast ever again.
Perfect. I'm good, Mike and Mike. How are you guys doing? I don't even have to try it.
He's not even going to try. I tried. 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's going to be like four cigars when I walked in the door. All right, end this.
Show Notes
This week we do some Industry news, some world news, a BIG show announcement, Show update and another letter from our friends at Bang Energy!!
You can follow the show on IG @cigarhustlerspodcast, Mikey @cigarhustler and Mike too @fcc_Mike.
We always welcome your show ideas and notes on our FB page "A Cigar Hustlers Podcast". We always appreciate it when you rate, review and subscribe on our whatever of our providers your listen on!!