Episode 90 Industry News and Stuff
Episode Summary
Episode 90 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast is a wide-ranging industry news and banter show with hosts Mike Palmer and Mike Szczepankiewicz of Powstanie Cigars. The pair open with personal stories — a visit with Palmer's father, listener-sent gifts including a custom cigar stand and stickers, and a recap of Szczepankiewicz's baby shower — before getting into the news of the week.
The biggest industry story covered is the reported firing and arrest of cigar media personality Thomas "Tommy Zman" Zanicki, formerly of Famous Smoke Shop and Cigar Advisor. The hosts walk through what was reported by Lehigh Valley Live (heavy on the "allegedly"), speculate about the sequence of events — whether the termination came first and the alleged threatening text afterward — and use it as a jumping-off point for a broader conversation about workplace conduct, keeping your composure after being wronged, and why threats of violence are never brushed off in today's climate.
On the brand side, the show digs into RoMa Craft Tobac's 10th anniversary plans for 2020: the Craft 2020, a 5 3/4 x 46 Lonsdale with a multi-leaf wrapper limited to 1,000 boxes of 10 split among ten retailers, plus El Catador de los Gran Perfecto 10 for attendees of the anniversary party at the company's Austin, Texas headquarters (tentatively March or April). Skip Martin also announced re-releases of eight limited cigars, including Aquitaine EMH Sabertooth, CroMagnon Fomorian, CroMagnon Mandible Mastodon, Intemperance BA XXI Revenge and Vanity, and Intemperance EC XVIII Goodness and Humility, in runs of 200–800 boxes to accounts in good standing.
Rounding out the episode: Szczepankiewicz recaps a Skype "meet the maker" event with a Chattanooga, Tennessee shop where he presented Guayamero; the hosts explain how they got their Patreon page wrongly flagged as adult content and finally fixed it; they name Chet Atwell Jr. listener of the week; and they run down their picks for the 2020 Tobacco Business Awards nominations, naming La Flor Dominicana, RoMa Craft Wunder|Bar, Aladino Corojo Reserva, Bob Moore of Hogshead, Justin Andrews, Fiorella Martin and Skip Martin. They close with upcoming appearances at Cigar Life in Lakeland, Florida and an Oliva event, plus a candid rant about the rules of traveling together for industry events.
In This Episode
- 01Opening banter and listener giftsThe hosts catch up after a missed week and thank listener Jason for a shirt, sticker and a handmade folding cigar stand.
- 02Powstanie Skype 'meet the maker' in ChattanoogaMike Szczepankiewicz recaps being piped into a Tennessee lounge via Skype for a surprise Guayamero unveiling and Q&A.
- 03The Tommy Zman storyA careful, 'allegedly'-laden breakdown of Thomas Zanicki's reported firing from Famous Smoke Shop and arrest on terroristic threat charges.
- 04Patreon adult-content headacheHow the show's 18+ setting hid them from Patreon search, and the back-and-forth with support that finally got it reversed.
- 05RoMa Craft 10th anniversary and Craft 2020Details on the Craft 2020 Lonsdale, El Catador de los Gran Perfecto 10, the Austin anniversary party, and eight limited re-releases.
- 06Listener of the week and international listenersChet Atwell Jr. is named listener of the week and the show welcomes its first listener from Pakistan.
- 072020 Tobacco Business Awards nominationsThe hosts run the ballot live, picking cigars, retailers and industry figures category by category.
- 08Road trip rules and upcoming eventsWhy you can't have two captains on an industry trip, plus previews of Cigar Life in Lakeland and the Oliva event on October 25.
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
*Music* Welcome to episode 90 of A Cigar Hustler Podcast. Ten away from the big 100, Michael. Yay! Hey, you know, you messed that up on the last one.
You know what? If you watch the audio, it is fixed. The video, I didn't fix it. Episode 88.
Because I couldn't take a video of myself going, episode, blah, blah, blah, but on the audio, I just cut it out and put the new one in it. You know, I really want to see you get to that level where you can just kind of snip things out of the video. Well, it's not that I can't cut it out, it's that I would have had to set everything up back here and reshoot. " Wow.
Super aggressive, Michael. It's a hostile work environment every day. Yes. Yes, it is.
Every day. All right, it is... I've missed you. I feel like it's been so long since we've done this.
Oh, it has been. You know what? I'm always ready on Thursday the week before, just so you know. I know.
I felt bad because this Thursday and Friday, or last Thursday. Oh, yeah, you weren't even here. That's right. I wasn't here because I got people in town.
I'd pick up people from the airport for this baby. I understand you have a very busy life, but if you could just give me a heads up or something. For this baby shower thing that I have to do. " I thought I told you.
Nope. Why didn't you just text me? And ask you where you're at? You're working out.
You're normally not here until 12:30, 1 o'clock. Whatever. So I went home at 1:15 on both dates. Wow.
It's nice that I have that effect on you. " Well, I never know when we're gonna be doing a show. It's anywhere between Thursday and Monday. I just think that you like me, so I appreciate that.
I appreciate you. Well, you know, I spend more time with you than my wife on those days. It's because I love you more than your wife does. Well, that's true.
But that doesn't take a whole lot, though. It's always so quiet when you do the show, and it seems so loud when you listen. Like, there should be music or something going on, I don't know. In the background?
Yes. Huh. Okay. So, what do you want to talk about?
I got lots of stuff. I got some, a little bit of personal stuff, I have a story. Ooh. Ooh.
Well then, let's start there. You wanna start there? Yeah. Alright, once upon a time, there was.
Last week, I, my mother had a dental appointment. Yes. So, my father is in his mid to late 70s, his memory's not what it used to be, so sometimes she needs help keeping him busy. So, I went and picked him up, we went for a, for a coffee.
And then it was time to almost go. And I go, let's go back over and check out mom at the dentist. He goes, I don't like that dentist. Why don't you like the dentist, Dan?
He goes, no, and this is no offense. My father's not a bigot by any means or a homophobe, really. Ooh, disclaimer. He goes, no, both those dentists are gay.
I go, yeah? And he's talking loud, Rippinera. He goes, yep, they sit you in the chair until you take your pants off, and then they gas you up. You don't know what happens.
Nice. So we finally go back over, and I talk him into going in and sit down. And to leave his pants in the car. Leave his pants in the car, yes.
No, the receptionist is a lady who's, my mother's been going to the same dentist forever, so she knows my dad's name, she's talking to him. And it's a lady, probably in her 60s, late 60s, but she's a very attractive woman for her age, she's dressed real nice. Dad's kind of flirting with her. And does she know that he's kind of losing it?
No, I don't think she does, no, it's not, it's not really public information, so nobody listens to this anyway. So mom comes out and he goes, "Linda, I need an appointment here. " He goes, "Re-up my membership. " And then he walks over to the counter and he's leaning on the counter, trying to look cool, talking to the lady.
He's going, "Yeah, am I free next week? " Just like that. " You're grounded. You're grounded.
Get back in the car. So that was it. Very nice. It was a fun day.
Very nice. It was fun hanging out with him. I received this fantastic shirt in the mail. Oh, that's right.
And I have this nice little cigar holder. Who was the gentleman that sent us to us? I got a slapdick shirt. You are a slapdick.
Slapdick Cattle Company. We're going to make a slapdick shirt for us. Oh. But I haven't done it yet.
Well, it's on your long list of things not to do. So, yeah, exactly. Where could we? I know you also got a sticker.
Where could we put the sticker? Dare we put it on the backboard? Why don't we put it? No, that'll never happen.
Why don't we put it on the Cigar Hustlers podcast? Oh no. Over there, we'll put it on that one. I think it'd look cool on that metal one right there.
You don't want things on your backboard, I don't want things on my backboard. This is from my childhood. This is from my childhood. How about we put it on the no parking side?
That was from, okay. Okay, deal, deal. No parking it is. We can put it on the P or anything but my backboard.
Ever. I think it's too big for the P. Okay, so we'll put it on the no parking. There you go.
And we will encourage people to send us other unique stickers. Well, I mean, you know, when somebody does, we have to show them that we appreciate them. Well, that's what I mean. So if anybody else would like to send us things, we will make it part of the set.
So Jason Walpert? Jason Walpert? Is that one of the Walbergs? No, not a Walberg.
Well, it could be pert or dirt. The P or the D is, it could be a P or a D. Nice. And I can't read.
He can't read and I can't pronounce things, so. But he was at the Fine Ash Yadda Yadda in Arizona, like the big NFL LH release. So are we going to be close to the seleptic place when we're out there? No, I don't think that...
That's not in Arizona? No, I don't think so. I think we need to check that and see. Yeah, but okay.
Because somebody did comment that they live just down the road from them or something. Okay, cool. We could not do that, but sure. But, you know, he just said, hey, so I figured, you know, he was at this place, he gave some goodies to Skip, and he figured he'd give us some goodies as well.
Well, thank you, sir. It's very nice of you. And keep up the great podcast. Oh, well, you're more than welcome when you do what we can.
That's all Palmer. I just show up. He's just, and it's literally getting harder and harder to make him show up. Give the stand to Mike, too.
I made it. He made that. Oh, he cut it out himself. Yeah.
Oh, it's very nice. That's pretty badass. It is. It folds down flat so I can put it in my little thing that was supposed to be here last Thursday.
Dude, these things are made special. I understand. I think it actually went shipped out today. Oh, perfect.
So, but some other things may be arriving in the mail, just for the record. And if they say your name, you are not allowed to open them. You have to wait. More stuff from Bang?
Miami Cola? I can't find Miami Cola anywhere. I'm not going to go into details. I'm not gonna go into details.
Did you reach out to my friend at Bank? Please don't talk to them. I'm not gonna go into any details regarding anything. You've already ruined things.
I'm gonna have to move one of those raised people. I can tell you that you can't open the package. You gotta have a camera in front of you and fuckin' mics. Oh, we open it on the air?
Yeah. Nothing happens if it doesn't happen on the air. Exactly. At the baby shower?
We didn't even talk to each other 'cause there was no cameras. Stay away from me. Stay away from me, don't talk to me. So, um, well, yeah, so, uh, I did a Skype thing, a little meet your maker thing in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Burns.
Chattanooga, yeah? Yeah, that was really cool. So, I guess there wasn't any public type thing. Uh, what do you mean public?
Well, is there a copy of it somewhere where I could go and watch it? No, it was like, they, like, piped me into the lounge and, like, they had people asking questions and shit. Was it, like, on the big screen TV type thing? Yeah, I think so.
Oh, how cool. That was really cool, and they had cake, I asked them to just shove the cake into the camera. Just put those, go ahead, just do that. Can you, wait, can you knock the icing off?
Or I just want the icing. I just want the icing. Just want the icing. I don't want, I don't need the cake.
I don't need the carbs and the waste of the... Yeah, no carbs and icing. No, I need the, the full boat sugar. You would think you would love the happy birthday bang.
I would. Because... And yet here I am, not liking it. No, no, he likes it.
Smile for the camera. Smile for the camera. So, but it was really cool. The approach was really, it was pretty badass.
So what was it? I mean, how does it, I mean, they, so you went and go, "Hi, I'm Mike Szczepankewicz, and I made the Powstanie Cigar," and then they asked you questions? No, so first of all, they were calling the shop, so, like-- Oh, they called here a lot. And they were talking about, like, and the messages, everything kind of got lost in translation.
Oh, they were terrible messages. Hey, some guy called you, he's talking about it. " So I finally got in touch with them, and it was actually a really cool thing. So they have this badass cigar shop, and they asked me to...
So you could see them too, I'm guessing? Yeah, yeah. So I could Skype in, and they had, so they unbanned the cigars, and it's like a surprise. And it was actually, they did the Guaymaro.
Oh. So like, you know, technically, I'm not the... No, but they can't get Esteban on Skype, though. Yeah, I'm not, you know, I'm not the spokes, I guess I'm kind of the spokesman.
He's a spokesman. Yeah. I'm not, but like, the maker himself, you'll never really get. However, I did have a crazy dream that he was speaking perfectly English.
One day, I'm like, this is... Oh, he does. He goes, "Mike! " And we shake hands and he walks away.
Yep. So, goes back a couple hours later, go through it again. That's it. At least I know he knows my name.
Yep. So, you know. So, there you go. So, yeah.
So, it was really cool. You know, I had a good time and it was quick. It was like, about 30 minutes. Oh, well, yeah, after that, you're really just sort of sitting there watching them.
Well, they were asking questions, and, like, I feel like they cut it. Oh, yeah? You had more to say? Yeah.
No, I think that the, um... You wanted more? I think that... You went to the wham?
I think that, like, the crowd people had more questions and stuff. Oh. Was there, like, somebody, like, a microphone, like you'd see on the Merv Griffin Show? Dude, I think I was, I don't know, man, it was...
" No, the guy, I think someone would ask a question and if I didn't hear it, it was reiterated. " Okay, Earl would like to know, what does Guaymaro mean? Exactly. Did somebody ask that?
Yeah. Oh, did you tell them? Well, that was already broken down, yeah. Oh.
But yes, I did tell them. Oh, nice. Mm-hmm. Very nice.
Yeah. So there you go. So, um, are we talking about the baby shower? Sure, go ahead.
I had nothing from that, but yeah, okay. " You're a big deal. Yes, ma'am, or yes, sir, that would be me. At least your family and friends are famous.
That's it. That's it. That's all that matters. You know, that was funny.
And I guess your wife scored well on the gifts. Yeah, yeah, we did. " Did you know there's a thing that blah, blah, blah, blah now? " I mean, the shit has evolved from what we had four years ago.
Oh, I'm sure it's completely different from then, too. Yeah, so like-- Imagine us, our youngest kid is 8, 19 almost. I mean, we're pretty, we're pretty stupid. So we bought, you know, we had our second kid.
Right. " Yeah, that's what you do, right. So we purged all of it, and then, you know, then we have a, we had a girl this time, this time, this time around, so. So this must be slightly different equipment.
Yeah, so there's, you know, you can pink some shit up and, you know. There's even girl and boy diapers, I guess, when I get to be a certain age. I mean, it's just shit at the end of the day. I don't, I don't, I don't get all that.
Because I went to get the diapers and, well, first I had to call you to see what brand, because. Yeah, we're like, we don't care. We just churn and burn, it doesn't matter. Just making sure, because sometimes Britney can be a little bit particular.
Particular about specific things. " What? This says swaddler. Is that a newborn?
I'd ask another lady that was there that was pregnant. " I need newborn girl diapers. Get some guidance on newborns. It's like trying to shop for a tampon.
I mean, if you don't have it, you don't know. But you never want to go too deep on the newborn diapers. No, yeah, 'cause you don't know how fast your kid's gonna grow. 'Cause normally our kids leave the fucking hospital in ones.
Right. Doesn't last long. Yeah. Do they still bring in the cart at the hospital with like full of formula and diapers for you to use?
And then before you leave, you just clean the shit out of that thing. Just take care of it. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. We brought an extra bag at the last kid.
I was like, I remember that cart. I'm loading up. And then I'm going to tell them we're running low so they can bring another cart in. Nice.
Oh, he scored big. So yeah, the baby shower went really, really well. It's always... Got some goodies.
You guys are always over the top on little parties and things. It's always... I don't, again, I don't deserve that credit. Well, I wasn't giving it to you.
That's all my wife, parting gifts as you leave. Your wife and her sisters, and oh yeah, the parting gift and the ice cream bar and... The ice cream bar, yeah. " Pink lemonade margaritas.
" Oh, that had stuff in it? Oh. Like, explain when that one kid got sleepy I was watching. Yeah, he was a little tired.
A little tired. A little tequila. But when people come into town, you know, I have a good time, so I'm gonna leave it at that. I was gonna say other things and then I know that some listeners will put me on blast and they'll hold me accountable.
Apparently your entire family watches this song. " Oh, your wife told the story about you guys up watching Japanese wrestling or something? No, we were watching, it was a regular wrestling. Oh, laughing and giddy and carrying on like a bunch of girls?
Oh man, yeah. Drinking and being merry, you know? Well, very nice, glad you had a good time. I had a blast.
Good, that's what it's all about. I'm paying for it now, but I had a blast. Enjoy it while you're young, Michael. Yeah, something like that.
All right. All right. On to a little news. Yeah, let's get to the nitty-gritty.
Get to the show, man. We're having some fun. Well, this is kind of old news, but we had a guest last week, so we didn't talk about it. But Tommy Z-Man was allegedly – do we have to say allegedly?
Allegedly. Always say allegedly. Well, no. He technically was fired from famous smoke shop for allegedly getting arrested for making a terrorist threat.
Right. Cigar personality Thomas Zanicki, better known as Tommy Z-Man, was arrested and charged of making terrorist threats and harassment He was fired from a famous smoke shop. Allegedly. Right.
According to the Lehigh Valley Live--that's their local newspaper--he was fired on Wednesday, two weeks ago now, I believe it is. On Friday, he allegedly texted another famous employee stating that he would return to the retailer and shoot everyone into the retail with AK-47. Allegedly. Allegedly.
He was allegedly arrested and then released on a $20,000 bond. According to the report, Zarzanaki confirmed he sent the message. Allegedly. Zarzanaki worked as a He's sort of in-house content producer for Famous Pairing and Advertisement, the brand Social Media and its Cigar Advisor Publication.
His LinkedIn page indicates he worked for Famous Full Wear since March 2013. Allegedly. Allegedly. Now, suspiciously, there has been no mention on it anywhere since that original release.
Which is fantastic. So, I mean, there's a couple of things that we can talk about here. Allegedly. Allegedly.
Yes. And for one full disclaimer, we don't fact check fucking anything. So the entire show is allegedly. So this could or this may or may not be accurate.
Oh, you've heard rumors. I have heard rumors. It's a small industry, brother. It's a small industry.
I could have maybe had allegedly a comment from him because someone had connected me, but I let it drop. Yeah, it's probably for the best. Because we decided that was probably not the best thing. So first of all, he was supposed to be on Kiss My Ass Radio, right?
Yes. They didn't defend themselves. Yes, and that didn't happen. Yeah.
No, it really didn't. I watched the entire show last week. So that didn't happen. That didn't happen.
He didn't come on. And it wasn't even, they didn't even speak about it. No, it wasn't mentioning Coop's piece or nothing. Okay, so.
I'm trying to think of Coop, because that's all half-wheel information. I don't even think Coop released any information on it. Right. So here's what I've heard.
Okay, here's what you've heard. Here's what I've heard. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. This just in.
Allegedly. Yes. In at his particular place of work. Yes.
It is very easy to lose your job. Like, for no reason. Right. Well, that's anywhere anymore.
You almost hired two people this morning. If they were late. Right. You know the saying, if you're not 15 minutes early, you're late.
You're late. Right? That's right. You learn that.
So, you know, I mean, I believe in being punctual, or at least having the people blow me up punctual. People that blow you punctually? Yeah, the people that blow me punctual. Yeah.
You know what I mean. Yes. You know what I'm saying, right? Like, you gotta be on time.
Right. So, you know, if you're not on time, then I'm thinking about, well, if this isn't-- It doesn't mean anything to you. Right. Then why are we here?
You don't mean anything to me. Right. So, okay, on with the story. Okay.
Mike, I mean, I'm not gonna just go out and fire somebody just because I'm having an off day, or… Is this… did somebody have an off day? I mean, I've heard rumors… You've heard allegedly… Allegedly… An assumed rumor… That these things may or may not occur at that place. Oh, okay. So, but the question still arises, did he actually do it?
Well, the part… I'm thinking he had to because it was a police report. So, the parlay is, you know, I mean, I haven't even gotten to that part of the topic. Oh, sorry. Jumping ahead.
I'm always ahead. Let's say he didn't do anything. Okay. Right.
And, you know, he got fired. Like, hey, we're done with this whole section of people for this marketing, yadda yadda, whatever the hell they do. Right, this isn't working anymore. People don't like you talking about meat and whatever else he does.
Right. I mean, you know, I mean, he, I mean, his Facebook page is, it says F you. U. U.
to political correctness. , that's a form of political correctness. Correct. Right.
So he supposedly got fired, and then, you know, I don't know if he got fired for the right reasons or the wrong reasons. It's kind of my point. Okay. However, you cannot, at this day and age, you can't make any fucking allegation or threat, Or any, you know, you can't say anything that you're going to shoot up anybody, or attack, or kill, like, it's not...
No, it's not funny anymore. Even if you're angry, you really gotta, you gotta fucking take a breather, and, you know, because too many kids are getting shot, too much shit is going on. Too many people are getting shot. " So, you know, even if you've been wronged, and that could be the case here, you still can't do that.
So then we are, I'm trying to think how to word it, we're not getting sued. So the allegations, we're both assuming, actually did happen? Yeah, I would assume that... Because there's a police report and other information that corroborate that that actually happened.
We haven't heard anybody's side of the story, you know, and will we ever know the truth? No, but we can kind of connect some dots here and say, well, you know, he probably shouldn't fucking dip, don't I? " We're not saying that happened. That didn't happen at all.
'Cause it says it was a text message. So, you know, maybe they fired him and then he went home and I need to blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever. There's a good chance that he was wronged, right? Right.
But you got to keep your shit together. You know what I mean? So, okay, so the way the story reads is he was fired because this happened. You're saying— He was not—no, he was fired.
He was fired, then this happened. Then this happened. Okay, see, that's not the way the story reads. Right.
Oh, I see what you're saying. That's what I think. You think that might be— That's my thoughts. That makes more sense.
On it. So. Because why else would he be all of a sudden all wound up in— Right. so you know so that's uh that's our two cents on the uh alleged yeah we wish we wish everybody the best everybody the best involved we hope the best we're ever time if you want to come in and be the third seat on the show i mean come sit on in you know we'll have a conversation we'll talk to you anytime you want yeah but don't call because you have to come in we don't do those things yeah and don't text don't text god's sakes don't text don't put any keep your anything in Nothing in writing.
Nothing in writing. And we delete these shows. The minute they're put-ups on, we'll just get rid of it. We just get rid of the show.
We have to tell our subscribers not to subscribe, people who watch on YouTube. Tell them not to subscribe. We need to tell them to subscribe. Oh.
So they don't miss out on all this fun stuff. All this information in this wonderful video. So it's very important that if you're watching on YouTube, please subscribe. And if you're listening on iTunes, please rate.
Because I understand that's how you get moved up on the iTunes chart. Oh, that's cool. Where on Podbean it's number of listeners, on iTunes it's ratings, so. And are we doing a good job as far as commenting and responding to people?
Because if I see a comment on iTunes. Yes, if I see a comment on anything I immediately answer back. All right, so that's cool. So yeah, we're doing okay.
All right, we're at 23 minutes and the next story is kind of long, so we're gonna break right here. Break right here. And then we will be right back. Boom.
Okay, everybody hold on. Okay, and we're back. Hey! Woo!
That was a nice long break. So can we talk about the Patreon debauchery now, or no? Uh, no, we can go and talk about it now. I don't actually have that in my notes because we have solved that problem, so I took it out, but we can't.
But let's, uh, we need to talk about this. We need to talk about that. Okay, so... Okay, so, uh, we, or I, uh, when we set up the Patreon, we click that we are an 18 and over show, because that's what we are.
Right. Right. Adult content. Adult content, right.
So unknowingly, on Patreon, that means that you do not show up in their search engine. Right. So people couldn't find us. So we got our getting emails and texts.
We're getting emails and texts, yeah. " So we eventually found that out, that that is why that did not happen. Okay, so, but wait, so you just totally skipped the whole story. No, no, I'm about to tell the story.
All right, good, go ahead. Okay, so then I went to take the 18+ rating off, because actually our Patreon page does not have adult content. By their standards. By their standards.
Evidently, they do a lot with porn people, and you could pay money to see some girls hoo-ha, or you can pay money to see animated videos of people doing things. I mean, there's a lot of people raising money for some shit out there. So now you're thoroughly immersed in Patreon. What they consider adult content is ...
Do I have to hide your credit card information now whenever you log into the Patreon? Hey, I'm a patron of several other shows now, just leave me alone. If I get stuff in the mail here, do not open it either. If it's blank packaging, just plain brown wrappers, leave it alone, it's for me.
I get product samples now, too. Good for you. So it's not an easy task to take it off, apparently. It's not just unclick the box.
You have to apply to a ... " So, I did that, and the guy comes back, or it could have been a girl, I don't know by the name. It's one of those gender nonspecific names. " Reyes?
Reyes? I don't know. " Right. So then we did a little more research and noticed that there are several other cigar shows that are not adult content.
Right. " There's none of that going on. Right. So all I got back was a standard answer.
" And then I answered that you didn't still explain why we're 18 or over, nothing back. " So I explained to that person what was going on. Then, eventually, that person contacted Reyes' boss, and then, boom, we're no longer 18. They're over.
Right. com, put in a Cigar Hustlers podcast, and pick which tier works for you. But you're missing, like, a major portion of the story. What's a major portion of the story?
Where you had the meltdown? The portions where you're like, oh, nope, didn't work, and I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, go back and tell them that if we don't qualify, Yes. If we're considered adult contact. I was taking all the credit.
Yeah, you just did. I did. All me. Yeah, so Palmer did it all.
Good job, Palmer. All me. Yes, you did have a little bit of a meltdown because you didn't understand why, and I was like... No, I wasn't having a meltdown because I didn't understand why.
" We'll figure out another way! com for that, you know, type of thing. Exactly. I don't know.
There's always another route. I'm not gonna fucking sit here. Sure fits very well, by the way. You look very big over there.
I think it's the higher college. I'm trying to change my subject. Okay. No, I just noticed.
Here's the deal with this podcast. Yes. We don't take sponsors, right, that are inside the cigar industry because we want to be able to say whatever we want to say. That's what the secret shows are for.
Right. We don't want... By the way, people do love the secret shows. They keep telling me.
I was like, "Are we doing too many of those? " And they go, "Oh, no, no. " We turn around and we say whatever we want. We push, you know, whatever envelope we want to push.
And I'm not about to fucking sit here and let somebody dictate how we're going to do things. " Right. Just tell me why. I'm okay with being adult content, as long as every other cigar company, every other cigar thing that you're doing falls in that same category.
Right. But if we don't, if we're totally different, then I have a problem with that. So you just can't-- Maybe we're special. So I'm glad that you've fixed it all on your own, and I'm proud of you.
Hey, you're my good son. That's right. So now it worked out well, so now we exist. Now we exist on Patreon.
So choose which tier works best for you, and you get certain things. All right, all right. It's just a matter of time before we get some better mics, some better cameras. Better mics.
There's not two better mics than us. I guess you got a point. We've already peaked at mics. We've already peaked at mics.
Maybe sound equipment. So there you go. No more mics! So Patreon solved.
Patreon problem has been solved. Good job, Mike. Oh, no. Good job, Michael.
Congratulations. Alright, so go ahead, next, what else you got? The internet is all buzzed with Roma Craft news, Michael. I like how you're smoking the EC.
Yeah, it's nice, it's light, it's a good cigar. I always just start with that bundled cigar because I just burn through that and I don't even, you know, I'm doing emails and reading stuff, I don't even know what I'm smoking. Right. I just like having something in my hand.
So I thought I would grab something a little different. I think I smoke an Intemperance EC five out of seven days a week. Do ya? Yeah.
I do what? Oh, you do. I love the brotherly kindness. I almost grabbed a Neanderthal, but still a little early for one of those.
Wait until you get that LH. Have you had the LH? Nope. You haven't had one?
I haven't had one. Not a single one, huh? Not a single one. I wonder what that tastes like.
I got one in my drawer at home. I found one yesterday. Oh. I'll bring it in for you.
You can have it. Oh, you are a nice guy. Yeah. Best partner ever.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. All right, "Roma Craft Tobac" has plans, Craft 2020, the Grand Perfecto 10th Anniversaries. Yeah?
Yes. The internet's all abuzz with "Roma Craft" information. Interesting. Yes.
" Ooh. " So where are they doing it at? One of the cigars is more or less expected. Craft 2020 will be a 5 3⁄4 by 46 Longsdale.
That will feature multiple leaves on the wrapper. That was the one that Skip posted last week. Did you see that? Yes.
Skip Martin, co-founder of Romacraft Tobacco, showed off a picture on the cigar on Instagram. I saw it in the video of them rolling it. Yes. I'm not going to lie.
That was a sexy video. Yeah. That was a nice video. I was like, damn, that looked really cool.
Should have put in some of that porn music. Anyway, limited to 1,000 boxes of 10 cigars, which will be split between 10 retailers who will each receive 100 boxes. Oh, that's nice. You think you're going to get something here?
Maybe. Oh, maybe, who knows? I don't know. The El Catedor de los Gran Perfecto 10...
Oh, there's a lot of Spanish in the word. will available to attendees of a planned 10th anniversary party will take place at the company's Austin Tech-based headquarters. Details of the event have not been finalized, but Skip said it will either be March or April of next year. That'll be cool.
" That's nice. There's nice hair on my mic. That's a beautiful office. I've only seen photos, I've never been.
I mean, I've been invited, but I've never been. Well, you know, I feel like we're gonna definitely have to go to that, whether we're invited or not. Just crash the party? Don't you worry, yeah.
" It doesn't matter. I'm going. It just doesn't matter. We'll be there.
Skip Martin, co-founder of Roma Craft Tobacco, announced that the company will be re-releasing batches of the following eight cigars: the Aquatane EMH Sabertooth, Cro-Mag Fomorian, Cro-Mag Mandible Mastidon, The Intemperance BA, there's a lot of letters, we'll just go with X-X-I-A-W-S-I-V, so what is that, 21, I don't know what A-W-S stands, what's A-W-S? The Skeeter, Archibald… Oh, four. The Intemperance BA Revenge, the Intemperance BA Vanity, the Intemperance EC Goodness, and the Intemperance EC Humility. Yes.
Martin said that each cigar will be released in various quantities between 200 to 800 boxes and would be offered to all Roma Craft Tobacco accounts in good standing. Excellent. So they're not going to release it as a pack? I mean, he puts that nice picture out where they're all sort of fanned out on the table.
So it's not going to be one of each in like a, what is it, an eight pack or six pack, whatever it was. What are you talking about? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. No.
So there's eight cigars. No, those limiteds, those limiteds will come out throughout the year in boxes. Well, this is all stuff for the 10th anniversary. Gotcha.
So you can't get like an eight pack sampler released with one of each. No. They're not doing that. Not to my knowledge.
But he was messing with these Grand Perfectos. That's what I mean, of the Perfectos. I thought that's what they were doing, but this reads differently now. I don't think so.
You just never know what kind of magic will be coming out of the Nikasuenio factory. That is true. You never know. Oh, plenty of time.
I don't know, 200, 800 boxes and would be on, okay, we read all that. And then the party. And the party that we'll, maybe we do a podcast from there. Oh, we should do a podcast from there.
Oh, speak to what, on the 19th of October, we have a, uh, we've been advertising it as a live podcast, but that's not actually what's going to happen, unless we get somebody to Facebook live it with their camera while we're doing it, but we're going to film, um, on location, I guess would be the correct term, from the Cigar Life, uh, in Lakeland, Florida. I'm intrigued to see how you're going to pull this off. I need to start figuring that out, probably, if we're running out of time. I think I've got it figured out, but it's going to be a little tricky.
Yeah. The sound part's going to be tricky. The video... You need better mics.
No, no. We're not taking all of this. We're just taking that. Well, you know, as the Patreon builds, maybe we get a mobile set up.
Well, if we could do the studio and like a little RV... I mean, I wasn't going that route, but... Where... You know, but like, here's the thing.
Where the side of it is all glass, so everybody can see us while we're sitting in there. Yeah, it sounds romantic. Greg can drive us around all the way. Take the show on the road.
Yeah, it's like the Pope. Yeah, that would be perfect. Oh, a little glass bubble at the top. Yeah, I can't wait.
I know. So, but you know, I mean, we're going out to Owler Smoke Shop here at the end of the month, October 25th for the Owler event. Yes. And it would be cool to have gear that's easily mobile.
Well, if this works at Cigar Life, 'cause that's a driving thing, so I mean, but if this works, We could take the setup I have in mind anywhere. Okay. Well, we'll give it a shot. So, we'll see what happens.
It's only gonna get better. It's only gonna get better here on Cigar Hustlers Podcast. You learn by doing. Yep.
Well, the Z-Man comes after us. Allegedly. Allegedly comes after us. Okay, we have a listener of the week.
Do you wanna know who the listener of the week is? Is it, it's not, how's it not Jason Walpert? Because we already had one chosen, Jason, could be next week. Okay.
Oh, I got to meet our last week's Listener of the Week, not meet her, but I got to see her again over the weekend, I got a hug and everything and I acknowledged her as Listener of the Week, Jessica Baranski. Yeah. Okay, so who's this week? This week's Listener of the Week is Mr.
Chet Atwell, Jr. A. Slimer, King of the Bangs. King of the Bangs, he made some great posts on the Facebook page.
I think he might want to cut back on his little bang consumption. No, I don't think he has a problem. He's totally fine. Don't listen to him.
You're fine. Keep going. He gave you a birthday cake for your birthday. He did, and I am looking for the Miami Cola.
If anybody finds that... Shameless plug. Shameless... There's a word for what that was.
I can't remember what it's called. But it wasn't a plug. I'm not plugging it. I'm asking for it.
Yes. Because I can't find it. Well, you have the bang connect. I don't see what the problem is.
You should get a case by now. Unfortunately, somebody once said it tastes like... I don't know what you're talking about. Oh, you know.
So then... It's just one. I like a lot of the other ones. I like all the other ones you like.
Cotton candy is my jam. Cotton candy. Okay. We also now...
So, congratulations, Chet. Congratulations, Chet. You win the fact that we said your name. You win...
You win the... Our love and admiration for the week. Yeah. Oh, I didn't do the...
That doesn't work anymore. Still looking for a gong. That'd be, I think that a gong would be dope. Yeah.
They're a lot more expensive than you think they are. Yeah, I'm sure they are. Especially like a BOMP, like from the gong show? Yeah.
Do you remember the gong show? Are you 12 for that? No, I don't. No, you don't.
I'm not, I'm too young for that. Oh. All right. We'd like to welcome.
Yes. Need a drum roll. Pakistan to the Cigar Hustler Podcast family. Hey!
And I'd like to thank, hold on. I'd like to thank Lashes by Fatima, Life is Good When Your Lashes Are On Point, that is our listener from Pakistan. Nice, how do you know that? Because I am a good producer, and I reach out to people in certain areas, I cut them deals.
I love you. I appreciate you. So Fatima, thank you very much. I'm sure, you know, life is good when your lashes are on point.
There you go. So make sure... So, you know, if any of you guys out there need lashes. Instagram, reach out to Lashes by Fatima.
If any of you guys, or any of your wives need lashes. Same from Pakistan. Maybe you want just one lash on one side, just to be winky-winky, and then you're good. There you go.
We have 124 subscribers on YouTube now. Heyo! But please, if you're listening on YouTube, subscribe. Yeah.
And rate. All right. I know how you love making lists, Michael. Okay.
I have a list. Oh, shit. Tobacco Business Awards are coming up, Michael. It's like you've been hiding this this whole time.
The 2020 tobacco, this just, I just found this today. Okay. Tobacco Business Awards for 2020, nomination form came out today. Okay.
We're going to nominate people as a show. Really? Yes. Okay.
So we're going to send a nomination. So, let's see if we read the little thing. Are they doing like show nominations? Well, you know what?
I didn't read all of them, so they could be possible. We could recommend their shows. So you just might be submitting something just for shits and giggles. The 2017 Tobacco Awards have recognized some of the leading business brands and entrepreneurs of the tobacco industry.
This year, readers of Tobacco Business Magazine, which I do subscribe to, can submit their nominations for various categories of the 2020 Tobacco Business Awards from October 7th. The finals will be revealed on November 1st, 2019, and the final voting will take place November 1st through December 20th. So we have a couple of weeks here to get our submissions in. Okay.
Dominican Cigar of the Year, Michael? Cigar that is manufactured primarily in the Dominican Republic. Um, LFD? Not Chogui or Florinano?
No, Chogui's not there. You want to do Florinano? They're both in the Dominican Republic. Yeah, but I, you know, what's going on with Chogui?
That's the question. We're going to do Florinano. Okay. Well, we did find out something was going on, but we haven't heard anything else.
Yeah. Nicaraguan Cigar of the Year? Neanderthal LH. Is the Cigar, I mean, you could do War Bear too, but...
Oh, let's do War Bear, that's even better. Okay. War Bear, Honduran Cigar of the Year. Not the one that I know of.
E. Oh, Aladino. Boutique Cigar of the Year. Ah, the War Bear, yeah.
Well then, if you're gonna do War Bear there... Yes. Which I think would probably be better than you do the Neanderthal LH for Nicaragua. Okay.
This is fun. I'm having fun now. Okay. Drink my bang.
Mass Market Product of the Year. All other tobacco products available in stores, gas stations, discount tobacco oil, it's not premium handmade. We'll just skip that. We don't do that.
Yeah, I don't think that there is such a thing. Non-applicable. Accessory Manufacturer of the Year. Manufacturer of accessory or product that enhances the smoking experience.
Ooh, that's a tough one. What's the brand that made our lighters? Well, them, or the one that, I'm drawing a blank on his name, oh, I'm terrible with names. Zykar?
No, no, he's, all the reps in Florida, he's one of them. Oh, Pete Hernandez? Yeah, who is Pete? Pete represents a line.
I couldn't think of Pete's name, sorry Pete. He does like Lotus. Oh, a little too highbrow for us. Yeah.
I don't know. Okay. I don't know. I mean, you know, I have different feelings and opinions about where that's at.
Tobacatist of the year. John. Is that like a shop or an actual person? A retailer of tobacco products, including premium cigars, pipes, lighters, matches, other tobacco products.
I guess it would be a shop. Oh, no, no, no. Yeah, okay. I guess it would be a shop.
There's gotta be a shot. You wanna know who deserves that? Who? Bob Moore of Hogshead.
So Hogshead? Yeah. That guy is working his ass off. Alright, Tobacco Chain or Franchise of the Year?
Your brother's yelling out there. Tobacco Chain or Franchise? You better be firing somebody's yelling so loud. Smoking?
B&B Tobacco? That's not a franchise. Oh. Tobacco Chain?
Is there not more than one of those? Mothers, he's got a couple of stores. Yeah, I mean, yeah. What's the name of the?
Just do a Mom Cigar Warehouse. Mom Cigars. It's a Matul. Alright, Entrepreneur of the Year, an individual who has a significant impact on the tobacco industry.
You know, I'd actually give that to, is that somebody who works for a company, or? An individual who has a significant impact on the tobacco industry. On the tobacco industry. That's all it says.
You know, I wouldn't mind giving that to Justin Andrews. I mean, you know, he's working hard. I've got to give him credit. He's trying to think out of the box, you know, and he's got to work in specific parameters.
Woman of the Year, a woman that has had a significant impact on the tobacco industry. I'd have to give that to my wife. Done! You know, no.
I agree. She's in the industry. What about doing Fiorella? Oh.
Perfect. The heir to the Romacraft Empire. Yeah. That's right.
I mean, the Fiorella just came out. That's right. In Germany. Okay.
Now, the Legacy Award, an individual who has greatly contributed to the good of the tobacco industry for an exterior period of time, exhibiting a passion and drive for business and having reached icon status. Icon Status. Wow. Jeffrey Grover.
Oh, me. Craig. Craig. Legacy Award.
An individual who has greatly contributed to the good of the tobacco industry for an extended period of time. So, not somebody new. Exhibiting a passion and drive for business and having reached Icon Status. I mean, I would give that to Skip, hands down, personally.
Just because of, you know, all the knowledge and information that he gives and shares with people and, you know, sometimes it's brutally honest. It would be really fun to find out, like, in 10, 15 years from now that he really knew nothing. He just made everything up. Dude, I mean, but there are times when we have conversations like, "What?
Where the fuck? " Like, he was upset. He was upset, like, you know-- Mike posted a thing today about where the taxes on tobacco are going to go up 50% that came from some Senate Advisory Committee hearing paperwork thing or something. I couldn't even understand the form he posted, let alone that they were actually doing it.
Right. So, you know, people would just stop trying to fight him on fucking Facebook and actually listen to some of the shit that he has to say. " Oh, he... I don't know what you're talking about.
Somebody did that thing where they tagged Danny and wanted to know What cigar shop in a certain area? They should go, they should go to find something. And Danny put up that, well, you know, we have this website, you just put in the zip code, it'll give you all the shops in the area. Right.
And the guy went off on him and said, said something like, I expected a VP or whatever your title is to have more specific information. I don't want to drive around, shop, shop, blah, blah, blah. But Skip defended him. So I thought, I thought it was nice.
Skip stepped up. He was the first one that said something back to the guy. Yeah, because that's what a good leader does, right? Here's the thing, if I got a customer that's giving somebody shit, one of our employees shit, whether I agree with that customer or not, I still got to back my employee.
Well, yes, that's what you're supposed to do, but not a lot of people will do that. Now, let's say it was off course and it was wrong to some degree, or I felt that maybe the practices that the employee handled weren't appropriate. Behind closed doors, I have that conversation, right? I'm like, hey, I just had to kill that guy, you know, now, let's review on what you did wrong so that we can avoid this moving forward.
We're not gonna fall on that sword again next time. Right. You know what I mean? It's like, hey, if you're part of the team, you're part of the team.
And, you know, actually, I think Danny did handle that situation right. That's not what I'm saying, but I am saying that a good leader does that anyways. Right. So.
Gosh, that was interesting. All right, that's all I got. This felt good. 46 minutes.
This felt good. I feel like we covered a lot. Stretch out another 15 minutes. Tell me another story.
I don't have any more stories for you. Stand up and show the back of the shirt. The back is the vest. You gotta take the headphones off.
You know how hard it is to stand up back here? I know, there's very little room. I was worried about that. Yeah, well, okay, you can't see it, whatever.
Close enough. We'll take pictures after. Yeah, I mean, I really don't have too much else to report other than the fact that, you know... Okay, show's over.
Michael's got nothing else. We're done. I had a lot of people at my house and drank some tequila. You had a busy weekend.
Busy, busy weekend. And I was up too late. Anybody coming in this week? Do we have anything special that we could do for next week's show?
I'd have to think about it. Saturday, I have the Bacon and Beer Festival in downtown The Land. Which sounds exciting. Bacon and beer.
I mean, it's two best things. We're looking forward, we're doing the Smashing Pumpkins thing at the end of the month, October 25th, which we won't be here for, but I'm excited about getting out there to Arizona and hanging out with Lenny. Lenny is a special kind of crazy. Lenny Schmiegel?
Yeah. He is a special kind of crazy, and he fits right in that category for me. And Mr. Hunt is going with us still?
Yeah, Mr. Hunt, I believe, is going to. Well, he's kind of coming. What does that mean?
Is that like, he kind of came to the baby shower? Well, we can talk about that. Okay. " Right.
" Yes, you would like to be in control. Well, here's the thing. Otherwise, it'll be a hostile trip. Here's the thing, man.
Here's what I've learned. I'm gonna tell you what I've learned on the road. It's very... No, I completely agree with you.
I've traveled with other people besides you. We happen to get along well, so it's not an issue if it's the two of us, but... Right. " Right.
It becomes a time suck. And that, for me, is the most frustrating thing. " Yeah, I got to go here first. Dude, no, that's not what happened.
" This isn't your show, this is our show. Right. And we have business to attend. Correct.
So… Only there for… You're there for 48 hours. Yeah, I was going to say two full days. So you've got to make it count. You can't deviate.
Your hotel room and my hotel room needs to be in the same fucking hotel, right? Right. All that shit. Or, I mean, if you're getting in my car, or if… We're going to be A, B, C, and D.
If you'd like to show up when we're at A, B, C, and D… Right. Just come right along. Might not be the time we're going to be there, but it'll be somewhere in this day. I'll shoot you a text.
I'll tell you when I'm heading that way or whatever the case may be. But if you're going to get in the car with me. Right. And, like, I've always had that mentality when I'd roll with Rosalice in Romacraft, right?
And he's like, what do you want to do? I'm like, whatever you want to do, I say we do. Right. I'm just in the car.
I'm just looking for the ride. You just let me know when we pull up at the hotel. I'll get a room. We're good.
You know what I mean? It's just that simple. I'm not going to deviate from that. And that's kind of important.
You've got to have that mentality when you go on the road with somebody else. Yeah, you can't have more than one captain. Right. So, hey, I'll rent the car.
It's like, okay, well, you can rent your own car. Yeah, well, when you think about it, though, he's thinking in his head, he's not even thinking about any of that stuff that you said. He's thinking, well, okay, this way, I rent the car, so I've got the expense of the car, so it'll lighten your load a little bit. Right.
But then it makes it his trip. You're right, whoever's got the car. I'll take the burden. I'll take the burden of the costs.
You know what I mean? And that's fine. But, you know. But along with that also means then he's in charge.
Now, if Hunt was doing two or three events. Right. And, you know, I said, hey, you know what? I'll come out there with you.
Okay. Right. Well, it's his trip that you came on. Right.
I'll jump in his car. But he's coming on your trip or our trip. Right. So, right.
So. I completely agreed with you. Yeah. That's all I'm saying.
It's just become such a big thing. I don't, it's not that he had bad intentions. No, no, that's what I was saying, not at all. He had great intentions.
Yeah, he thought, well, you know, I'm going to go fly in and see my family and then I'll come over because I'll have a car, but then you're like, oh, bye. And Matt on the road, and Matt on the road is usually, is really good. Like, he's go with the flow, you know, but like, you got to nip that shit in the bud right away. You can't, you know, you can't have that option.
If he wants to go and do, if you want to go out and do different things, then go and do them. Right. If you want to roll with us, roll with us. Okay, and at that, we're going to stop, because we're running out of time.
But you filled all the way to the hour. Feel the pressure. Feel the pressure. All right, this is episode 90, 10 episodes away from the big 100, Michael.
Are we going to have balloons? Confetti, I think. Confetti. Oh, that sounds messy.
I'm not cleaning that up. I always clean that up. That's right. I'll do the clean.
And you do a great job. Yes. The studio looks immaculate. All right, just don't look but wear Earl's dance.
All right, everybody, thank you very much. We appreciate it. com, backslash, A Cigar Houser Podcast, and get all your show swag if you want t-shirts and keychains and cup koozies and things. Well, we're going to start working on the website, too, and start coming.
And we'll start working on the website, so we can take some of that stuff off of other people and we don't have to pay a percentage to people. Start pulling directly. All right, everybody, thank you very much for work on. Bye.
All right. 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, ever. I'm good, Mike and Mike, how are you guys doing? I don't even have to try to answer, I'm going to try.
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 you're on.
It'd be like four cigars when I walked in a door. All right, end this.
Show Notes
This week its just Mike and Mike....but honestly its when we have the most fun!
Come join us for an hour of just talking about Industry News, Roma Craft Special releases next year and a huge party!
As always we welcome your comments, show suggestions and reviews on our FB page "A cigar Hustlers Podcast". You can follow the show on IG @cigarhustlerspodcast, Mikey @cigarhustler and Mike Too @fcc_Mike.
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