La Pallina Cigars Patrick Vivalo and Nick Perretta Episode 26
Episode Summary
Episode 26 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast brings in two La Palina Cigars reps, Patrick Vivolo and Nick Perretta, for the show's first-ever Facebook Live recording. Patrick walks through 21 years in the cigar business: his first cigar on Christmas Day 1996, getting hired at a New Jersey shop on his 18th birthday, moving to Naples, Florida in 1998 to manage a cigar bar called Heaven, and then joining Indian Tabac (which became Rocky Patel Premium Cigars) in 2002. He details two stints with Rocky Patel bracketing a run as national sales manager at Espinosa & Ortega, and how blending exercises at the end of Rocky's factory tours led to the blend that became his own brand, Vivalo Cigars, launched March 1, 2015 and produced with Plasencia.
Patrick is candid about the realities of being a one-man wholesaler — shipper, marketer, blender and sales rep all at once — plus packaging and box-factory delays, and how FDA uncertainty spooked his partners, which opened the door to joining La Palina on March 1, 2016 alongside longtime friends Sam Phillips and Clay Roberts. Nick Perretta tells his own path: eleven years as a medical massage therapist, restaurant work, Disney, a humidor job at World Famous Cigar Bar in Naples, three years at Corona Cigar Company's Sand Lake location, and finally landing with La Palina in November 2017. He also announces a new road territory covering the Southeast outside Florida.
The back half runs the show's standard question set. Patrick would share a cigar with Michael Jordan and picks the Padrón 1964 Anniversary Maduro Exclusivo as his desert-island smoke, with Espinosa, Tatuaje and Illusione in regular rotation; he's smoking the La Palina Nicaragua Oscuro that night. Nick chooses Mark Twain, names the La Palina Red Label as his first love in the brand and the Espinosa 601 Blue Label Maduro Toro plus La Flor Dominicana Colorado Oscuro as outside favorites. Fictional smoking partners (Hellboy and Tony Stark), retail war stories about drunk customers walking into Burn's orange glass wall and a taser-resistant trespasser at Corona, shelf-placement drama at the shop, and a #SmokeLaPalina giveaway round things out.
In This Episode
- 01Facebook Live debut and a giveawayThe Mikes record their first Facebook Live episode and improvise a #SmokeLaPalina giveaway, bumping into FDA rules about brands giving away free cigars.
- 02Patrick Vivolo's 21 years in cigarsFrom a first cigar in 1996 and a New Jersey shop job at 18 to managing the Naples cigar bar Heaven in 1998.
- 03Indian Tabac to Rocky Patel, and Espinosa & OrtegaHow hanging out with Rocky Patel at the lounge led to a job in 2002, a stint as national sales manager at Espinosa & Ortega, and a return in 2009.
- 04Launching Vivalo CigarsA blend created during a factory-tour blending table became a shop exclusive and then a 100-account brand made with Plasencia and Rocky Patel.
- 05The hard truths of being a one-man brand ownerPatrick on cost of goods, packaging and box-factory delays, no reps, and the 24/7 reality of wholesaling — plus the FDA scare that ended it.
- 06Joining La PalinaReuniting with Sam Phillips and Clay Roberts, and why Bill Paley's focus on product, packaging and price points made it a no-brainer.
- 07Nick Perretta's road to the industryEleven years as a medical massage therapist, restaurant and Disney work, the World Famous humidor, three years at Corona Cigar Company, and a new Southeast territory.
- 08The standard questions and favorite cigarsMichael Jordan vs. Mark Twain, Hellboy and Tony Stark, and picks including the Padrón 1964 Maduro Exclusivo, La Palina Red Label and Espinosa 601 Blue Label.
Brands & Cigars Discussed
Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.
Transcript
Every day I'm hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling. Every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling, every day I'm hustling. Welcome to Cigar Hustlers Podcast, where we take a closer look at the people of the cigar industry, with your host, Mike and Mike. Hey, Mike.
Hey, Mike. How are you? How was graduation? That was what I was going to talk about.
Graduation went very well. Your son graduated today. My son graduated VPK. Very nice.
And, you know, I already got him a job. That's good. I asked him what his career was now that he was out of school. Did he tell you it's none of your fucking business?
Pretty much. Good. Pretty good. Monday's a holiday.
Yes, ma'am. Sorry. Well, the good news is, you know, my brother and I all got the opportunity to go. And even though John could have worked, he went to Comic-Con, so that just kind of left...
I remember there's like a million people in town for that today. Yeah, it's pretty serious. It's pretty big deal. It's kind of a big deal.
Yes. But because of the fact that you covered the shop... Yes, single-handedly. Didn't burn down.
It didn't burn down. Matter of fact, I got a $10 tip from a lady that came with that. Son of a bitch! That's right.
We're still in time. Turn some tricks up. Of course. I'm glad the change was off in the drawer because I had to give her back three fives.
" Thank you very much. I feel like there's royalties there or something involved. She bought two bundles. She spent $100.
That's very nice. Yes. And all she had was a small photo of the band. Well, either way.
So it was a little work involved. Whatever the case may be. It was not worth $10. Well, hey, I mean, you were doing it for free, so anything on top is a cherry on top, right?
Craig said there would be some sort of payment involved. Maybe I'll give you a handjob or something. That was probably the cigar he gave you from the other rep. There you go.
Here, take this. Here, take this. Take this. We're even.
Good job. Good job. Thank you again for this morning. I'm sure he'll pay you.
I'm not worried about it. In hand jobs. I've never bought fuel in three years. I haven't bought fuel.
Yeah. I haven't bought fuel for my lighter in three years. I'm good. There's definitely been help in cigar consumption, too.
Oh, yes. Yes. Oh, there was one week I figured it out. I didn't pay for a cigar all week.
That's pretty fantastic. That's not bad. It's not a bad deal. I do like...
I think we did four podcasts that week, though. I got to say, I do enjoy the fact that when you're in the back and you're like, Hey, that cigar on your desk? Do you smoke that? Yeah, I have started doing that.
That's like a passive question. Yeah, it is. That's a smooth weasel move, right? Way to fish there for the cigar.
But the fact of the matter is, I'm probably not going to smoke it. Like, I put it there with the intentions to smoke it, and then it just kind of fucking... After two days, I figure it's fair game. Alright, that's a fair statement.
Alright, so you ready to get started? Yes, you ready? One, two, three, go! Hi, I'm Mike.
And I'm Mike, too. And this is the Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Let's start to say you are the Cigar Hustlers Vodka. And I am a Cigar Hustlers Vodka.
Wow. We have two friends of ours from the industry that we've known for a little while here, Patrick Vivolo, right? That's correct. And Nick Perretta of La Polina Cigars.
Certified CRT tobacconist, don't forget that. Oh, that's right, that's right. That's very nice. Snazzy.
I don't have that, I'm just a retailer. All right, so we're doing something a little special here. Patrick wanted to awkwardly record us as we're... We're Facebook Live-y.
Facebook Live. People are always asking how they can watch live, so I hope they're friends of Patrick. Here's their opportunity. We have Adam Hood.
What's going on, Hood? What's up in the hood? Larry, what's up, Larry? Two people.
All right. It'll pick up as we go. It could go viral. That's nice.
So with our three listeners, and we practically doubled at that point. Double. We did pick up a new report. Yeah.
That's fantastic. Three plus two is five, almost doubled. That's fucking crushing it. Did some math.
Do you want to tease the contest? Oh. Yes. Yes.
So, we haven't worked this out with Patrick. Did you even talk to him about it? No, no. I've not read it up at all.
We're surprising him to. Oh, super awkward. Okay, cool. Awkward.
Awkward can be fun. So check this out. Throw it under the bus, Patrick. So here's what we're thinking.
We want to do like a giveaway with a hashtag at the end of the podcast, right? Okay. If you want to do like five sticks or something like that or whatever. The FDA prohibits me from giving away free cigars.
Okay, so then I will take care of the cigars myself. You can't do it either. I don't give a fuck. Oh, there you go.
Okay. I will give the five cigars. It's recorded. They can sue me for five cigars.
It's fine. I'll throw a nick. Oh, five cigars and a nick. Everyone's gonna bow out.
Five cigars and a nick. And he is the certified tobacanist. Keep your contests. I don't want them.
So yeah, so yeah, so wait, so what else, so if I didn't want to give away cigars, could I give away an ashtray? Hat, yeah, you got a hat, ashtray, sure. So all that shit qualifies, right? Yeah.
Okay, so then... There may not be something in with the cigar ashtray, for the ashtray and the hat. So just to play it safe, because I can tell that it made Patrick nervous and you put him on the spot, we didn't even talk to him about this. No, I completely forgot.
Myself or Patrick will give away, what do you want to, what should we give away, Patrick, what should I give away? Sealing tiles. Sealing tiles? Yeah.
We'll sign them too. Slightly stained ceiling tiles? Slightly stained, autographed ceiling tiles. We'll autograph them, you know, we'll do a… That's like a collector's item.
Yeah. That's quite the thing. That's fantastic. When I sign a receipt for a credit card, people sell this on eBay for like good money, like five bucks.
In shipping and handling. Four bucks. Alright, so we're going to leave it extremely vague then, at this point. What are the prices?
We're going to say, we're going to… Everybody should be here. We're going to drop a hashtag at the end of the podcast. We're going to give people a few days to enter. And at that point we'll randomly pick a winner.
You have to put it up on the A Cigar Hustlers Podcast Facebook page. Is that what you wanna do? I thought we wanted to bring more people to the Facebook page. That's fine, that's fine.
We can do that. Put it up there and then... Go to the Cigar Hustlers Facebook page. A Cigar Hustlers Podcast.
A Cigar Hustlers Podcast Facebook page. Put the post up with the hashtag. With the hashtag. And we will draw a name from all the people that do that.
Perfect. Alright, actually. It almost sounds like we have our shit together. And for our handful of followers on Facebook Live, that goes for you guys too, so check out the page.
Check out the page. I got your head, you mother. Ouch! Ow, my head.
Yes. Alright, so now let's get down to the nitty gritty of things, alright? So, you've been in the cigar industry for a little while, right? This is my twenty-first year.
Twenty-first year, and how old are you? What are you, twenty-five? I started when I was seven. I started when I was seven.
Thirty-eight. So you've been in the industry for twenty-one years. Okay, so what the hell did you do before you got into the industry, other than like mow your neighbor's lawn? I got it, I got it.
I ran a petting zoo. A petting zoo? No, I did not. That's excellent.
Pretty much fresh out of high school, I had my first cigar, Christmas Day '96, fell in love with cigars, and on my 18th birthday, the shop I was going into buying cigars, they kind of got a little annoyed that I was buying cigars under 18, But they figured that, you know, this kid's been coming in here for a few months asking questions, just smoking cigars. I'm 18, Kurt. No, it's been a passion of mine. They say that you find something you love to do, you never work a day in your life.
Right. So, was it just one person working behind the register that you always went to? No, it was a bigger shop, yeah. So, there was just a bunch of people in there, like, whatever, they didn't give a shit.
Right, yeah. And then, finally, on your birthday, they realized that... I still have an application, and yeah. Like, wait a second.
So did anybody get fired or anything like that? This is back in the '90s when stuff really wasn't like it is now. You know, walk in, walk around school with a beer in your hand, no one really said anything. They definitely didn't give a shit.
I could attest to that. You know what's also awesome about this podcast is you've been drinking, which I love. You've got to talk a little more. It's in the evening, so yes, I had quite a few of them.
So I saw a, you got a great selection of beer, by the way. Yeah, thanks. I was very interested, there's a $14 bourbon barrel stout that there's no information about, I've never seen it before. It's, it's good.
It's good, I'm sold, it's good. Which, I think you'd have to show me which one you're talking about, because there's a couple of them. Yeah. So, for sure.
We'll have to crack into that later. Yeah, that's, absolutely, yeah, you're a beer guy, too. We're jumping ahead, though. So you start off at a retail shop, you apply to work there, and they hire you on the spot, I guess?
Pretty much, yeah. Is the shop still around, the one you were at before? No. They're long gone?
Yeah, this is back in New Jersey in the late '90s. During the cigar boom, I mean, there were shops left and right, and when the cigar boom kind of tallied off, a lot of the smaller shops kind of didn't make it, just like a lot of the cigar brands didn't make it, which is actually interesting. It's interesting. I found my original Cigar Dossier from back in the '90s, so I have the brands that… Dossier.
Very nice word. Yeah. Cigar Dossier. A little fan.
Got to class up this podcast a little bit, you know? But it's interesting to see the brands that were around back then that are no longer here now. Right. You know, just amazing how your palate develops over the years.
Mm-hmm. So, you start off there, in New Jersey, and what happens next? How long are you there for? A few months.
And I moved down to Naples, Florida back in 1998. So all of a sudden you turned into a 60-year-old man? Yeah, pretty much. And decided to retire in Naples.
He's retiring. Yeah, pretty much. Just wanted to change the scenery. And I had a job offer at a cigar bar that was a really, really nice place down in Naples, which is no longer there.
It was called Heaven. Yeah. Just a fantastic place. And that's where I kind of really got into cigars.
I mean, I was into cigars before that. I don't know before that, but moving down to Florida, I mean, Florida's one big, giant cigar community, and, you know, I worked retail up until 2002, and I started working for Indian Tobacco Cigar Company, now known as Rocky Patel. Did you know the guys at the shop in Naples, or did you just decide to move down? So back in the '90s, Cigar Aficionado in the back of the magazine had a directory of shops across the country.
" So, I went down and applied for the job, and the next day they hired me. No shit. Yeah. Well, that's cool, man.
Right to the manager, huh? Nice. You were the manager, yeah. Ooh.
Right out of the gate. Out of the gate. Manager's boxes. I did say they were no longer around, though.
Yeah, so, well, I mean, you know, he undersold, I love it when someone randomly knocks on the door. Randomly knocks on the door. So, um... The fire door.
Maybe somebody's watching live. Hey! Let me knock on the door. Hey!
Larry Gonzalez. Oh, Jerry. Oh yeah, there. I know that guy.
You gotta look more into the screen so he can see it. Can we see more of Mike? Yeah. What's up, Jerry Bear?
Oh, by the way, for those listening, we're not crazy, we're actually Facebooking live this, The people are chiming in as we're, it's like, how many people do they have in there? This is the first time we've been on Facebook Live. Yeah, yeah. My phones are going off, I gotta get them away from me.
Um, okay, so, getting back to this. Michael, hi Michael. Yes, I'm sorry, I put in a photo. I put in a photo.
He's sexting me actually. So, how long did you have to shop and how long were you having after you bankrupted them? It's a fake look. So it's a...
It wasn't... Well, that's what you were saying. He's at Two Shop, he's been in Two Shop. So, Heaven was an interesting animal.
It was owned by a gentleman that owned a hedge fund. Okay. And he did some not-so-legal things, and feds came in and showed it now. Was his name Bobby Axelrod?
No. That's cool. Bobby Axelrod. That's from a show.
You watch Billions at all? No, I haven't watched that show. Oh, that's a fucking... It's about a hedge fund guy.
Okay. yell all the time in the shop i want to save that for a better day keep it in my pocket all right come on okay so you decide to uh make the transition over to indian tobacco yep uh how does that happen well rocky whenever whenever he was in town which is not that often uh he would come into the cigar lounge and you know we just hang out shoot the shit drink smoke and uh you know this i always knew i wanted to grow in the industry and uh you know it gave me it gave me an It was an opportunity at, you know, 20, 23 years old, you know, it was very, you know, very, very boutique, very small back then, it was, you know, myself, Rocky's cousin, my friend, Sam Phillips, who actually now runs, he's the president of La Polina, so him and I go back, he was actually my first friend I met in Naples back in 1998. No shit. Yeah, so it's a, everything, everything's pretty much come full circle, so it's very interesting.
So you're like one of the first original guys that was working with Rocky Patel when he got started, and he stole you away from a retail shop. Not steel. The shop was closed because of it. Was it closed at that point?
It closed and then reopened as another shop. As hell? Hell, yeah, hell, hell. He likes to mix it up.
Okay, so then, how long were you with Rocky Patel? Rocky Patel, I was there from '02 to '07. And then I joined Espinosa & Ortega for a couple years as their national sales manager. And then I came back to Rocky in '09, and then in 2015 I had the opportunity to go out and do my own thing with Vivalo Cigars.
Yes, so you started to make your own cigars. Yeah, a long time ago. I used to do the factory tours for Rocky, and part of the tour is we bring the customers through all aspects of the factory, the field, the factory, At the end of the tour, there'd be a huge 20-foot table with wrapper, binder, filler, and each person would get their own sheet to write down what they thought was their idea of a perfect blend. And every time I go down there, I just try something different, and I really fell in love with one blend, and that was a cigar that I smoked for myself, I brought back to the States and handed it out to some friends.
Long story short, a couple of retailers got a hold of the blend, and they loved it, and it started off as an in-house exclusive for a couple of shops, and then it expanded to what it was. So you made it in the Rocky Patel factory? Yeah, with Placencia, Placencia and Rocky. And so you never switched?
That was always where it was manufactured? So, um, and you did, and you started doing Vivalo Cigars for how many years? March 1st of 2015, and then, uh, I started with La Palina March 1st of 2016. So March 1st, if anybody's into astrology, I guess that has some kind of meaning.
Yeah? You know? So you did it for about a year? Right.
Had about a hundred accounts, uh, had some, had some good traction behind it. So what were some of the, what are some of the things that you learned about being a wholesaler So what do you think was the hardest aspect of being a wholesaler on your own? Just the stress of the stress of being a wholesaler, being a wholesaler that you didn't really expect? I mean, prior to that, being in the industry on the sales side, both retail and manufacturer, it's definitely a whole new ballgame.
As you know, you and your brother have your brands and I wish you nothing but continued success. I see it out there a lot. So what do you think was the hardest aspect of being a wholesaler on your own? Just the stress of being a brand owner.
Now you're not just thinking about one thing, you're thinking about all aspects of a business. " It's not that easy. I mean, in 21 years, I've seen people come and go, and it's just like any other industry. To have your own business, it's not a 9-to-5 job.
But it's 24/7. Right. But is there like one thing in particular that you were doing as you were making the cigars, you're like, why the fuck is this taking so long, you know, or, man, I didn't expect this to cost that much, or anything of that. I, fortunately for me, you know, working with Rocky, you know, understanding cost of doing business, whether it's the cost of the cigar, whether, and sometimes too, you can have the cigars ready, and if, you know, the box factory's not, you know, You know, it doesn't have the boxes ready.
You're waiting on packaging. So, I mean, there's a lot of things, as you know, that you have to concern yourself about. Not just having great tobacco to work with. You've got to think about it every step of the way.
Right. So, I guess that's one way to skirt around the answer. But don't. I would do things that, you know, there's things that I liked that I didn't.
There's things I would do differently. You know, I had zero reps. It was myself. I was the shipper.
I was the marketer, I was the sales guy, I was the blender, so pretty much a one-man operation. You did everything. Yeah. And that's hard in itself.
Yeah. You know? You know, the buncher and the roller and everything? I didn't get that far.
He made the cigars. I didn't get that far. Right. Well, I mean, but the tail end, or the other end of the operations, the sales, the packaging, all that stuff is definitely difficult, for sure.
Especially if it's one person that's doing it. Yeah. Spencer Drake's watching. What's up, Spence?
Mike asks a lot of questions. What's going on, buddy? Yeah, that's my job. We haven't talked bad about Spence yet.
That'll come later. Yeah. There's like, everybody knows fuckin' Spencer Drake, as far as the podcasts come out. Yeah, somebody brings him up.
Everybody mentions him one way or the other. Okay. So it's like, you know. He got his two minutes of fame.
He's like the Kevin Bacon of the cigar industry, you know? So there's like seven degrees from Spencer Drake. That's what it boils down to. So, okay, so, you decide, what happens with Vevalo?
You decide to... I had partners that were kind of scared off by the FDA. And, you know, just good timing with La Polina. Like I said, two of my closest friends run the company, Sam Phillips and Clay Roberts.
And they got wind of what was going on, and they said, you know, they'd love to have me as part of La Palina family. Right. You know, Bill makes some fantastic cigars. He's very committed to, you know, great product, great packaging, great price points.
Right. You know, it was pretty much a no-brainer for me to join the La Palina family. You know, there's a lot of history behind the brand. Awesome.
So you started with them this year? March 1st of 2016. Okay, so you've been there for two years. Yeah.
Where the fuck does the time go? Things are going by fast. We were just talking about that out in the shop. That's insane.
Time goes by quick. So I could tell you a pretty funny story about Patrick. Please, me personally? Uh oh.
Is this kind of embarrassing? No, it's more embarrassing to me than it is to you. So, you know, one day he comes in and he fucking, like, kind of hammers me. He's like, you know, I don't really like my shelf placement, da-da-da-da.
I mean, it just beats me up on everything. Oh, I was here that day. Yeah. Okay.
So then I say, so then I'm like, alright, well, come in the humidor. And so we walk in the humidor and I said, where do you want your cigars to be? And he says, well, right here would be awesome. I said, okay, well, let's do it.
So we start moving all the shit around. We put the cigars up, and we set them up in the placement where he wants it, right? Like, fast forward two or three weeks later, I go out of town, and the employees move the cigars around. They're like, let's restructure.
I don't think it was my brother because he knew about the whole thing. So they restructured the shelves. They moved everything. Yeah, like one day they got a hair across their ass and they revamped everything.
I was in an alpha people and I'm like, well, that's not where that's. That was over here before. We're like Costco's. Yeah, exactly.
So Patrick comes in and he's like, what the fuck happened? Well, they did too well, so we had to bring them back down. So it comes back to me, I'm like, dude, who the hell moved his stuff? So, I mean, I figured I'd share that story with you.
oh, good. It's empty. Okay. There you go.
So, yeah, but now you can have Spence's shelf space. All right. If you're still listening. He probably left by now.
Did he leave? He's just trolling the show. Yeah, exactly. Okay.
Just chiming in, makes his one little emoji and fucking out. So that's it, huh? That's kind of your, uh, that's 21 years in less than 20 minutes. Yeah, man.
A minute a year. More exciting than me. Well, you gotta fill at least another 40 minutes, Nick. Oh, man.
How about the NHL playoffs, man? The Golden Knights of Las Vegas. Yeah. First year team.
Sports. Nick's the same way. Mike doesn't know a hockey puck from a baseball. Hey, I at least know what a hockey puck is.
So, alright, let's get to Nick. So what did you do before you got into the cigar industry? What did I not do? It's crazy.
I mean, just prior to the cigar industry... Were you in porn? " Oh, man. Well, there was that one movie I did.
No, um... Midget Clown Porn. Amputee Midget Clown Porn. Amputee.
Oh, yeah. No, just prior I was in the health care industry, I was a therapist, a physical therapist, technically a medical massage therapist, which is a slight designation difference, it's stupid. No shit. We need him as a rep, we get massages when he gets home, no.
I've heard about you. I've heard about you. No, there was a chiropractor in Naples I worked with and I did that for 11 years. No shit.
Yeah, and a lot of therapists don't make it past three to five years, so unfortunately my hands are cashed. " I just got home from work, the last thing I want to do is work. Rub somebody again, yeah. I work food and beverage industry, I mean, everything from front of the house, back of the house.
I always tell people, you know, pretty much everything but executive chef and owner. I mean, you know, I worked everything from like, fast food places on up to, you know, like, fine dining, it was just, it was, I mean, it's Naples, you really, you work at a restaurant or you work at Walmart, and guess what, I did that too. Two industries available. I did that too when I was a teenager, but I worked out for the National Park, Big Cypress, Road and Trails Cruise, so I mean, I got out there, I got out there, but getting into the cigar industry, I, you know, world famous cigar bar was a big hangout.
And I was one of those regulars, always chiming in, asking the tobacconist, like, "What's this? " And I actually applied once as a bartender. " A few months down the road, I applied again. The application was lost.
And it was just around the trade show. This is about, I want to say, maybe a little over seven years ago. " And, you know, kid in the candy shop, I'm like, "Oh, man, this is awesome. " Yeah, it was supposed to be temporary.
" I'm like, stupidest question all year. So yeah, that was the beginning of it. Worked there for a little over a year. Wife got a job up with Disney, so actually her and I both worked for the Mouse.
But I worked way, way back in the day, I was much younger, and I was one of the attractions on Small World, you know. I was off ground, so she got a job in the park, and so I'm like, Richie, you know, Richie Castellano, I'm like, I'm like, buddy, I'm like, I gotta move, man. Yeah, Jerry, yeah, Jerry, I spoke in Nicaragascar. Nice.
Nice. Nice. But yeah, so I moved up to Orlando, and you know, I worked at Corona, you know, Corona Cigar Company, that was three years, family wasn't doing so well, so I'm like, Jeff, I gotta move back. I've got to take care of family, so I moved back, went back to World Famous, and November 2017, I guess I had to move out of Mama Bird's Nest, and the guys at La Polina picked me up.
No shit. Yep. So, alright, there's a couple things. So, the first thing is, I can totally attest to losing a fucking resume or an application, so that actually is a thing, because there have been people that I would have hired afterwards, but, you know, you lose their number, they never come back in, You'd lose that piece of paper.
It's like, what happens, at least here is, you know, it's not delegated in a specific spot. Hey, I was a hiring manager, too, you know. Bottom of the birdcage, you know. Yeah, that's why I said, you know, in quotes, in quotes, losing.
Yeah, I would lose them. I lost them in the trash often. Right. I mean, okay, so that, too, is common, because, you know, you look at someone and you're like, Jesus.
But, you know, there's a couple ones where you're like, all right, this is a good dude. Oh, yeah. You can circle back to it later. And that you accidentally lose.
I would hire him in a heartbeat. I can't afford him. That's the problem. That's right.
He's expensive. Well, La Polina can't afford him either. Oh, the way he eats. My goodness.
Between Jerry and Nick, they're going to blow out the Amex. So, at what location were you at in Corona? Sand Lake. So you're at the main headquarters.
Yeah. Yeah, Sand Lake. So, you know, good times. Did you work solely in the front or did you do online?
Both, both. I was a night manager, so, you know, after all the phone crew left, you know, it was front of the house, you know, phone, you know, it was just all over the place, it was crazy. How late did you stay there at night? Oh, man.
Close, I mean, close, what is it, like two, like, their hours change, like, you know, earlier in the week, they close earlier, but weekends, yeah, I mean, it was some late nights, I mean, you know, a lot of people, you know, my weakness is Taco Bell, and that's one of the reasons why, Because that was the only thing opening, even in Orlando, I'm like, what's to eat? I'm like, oh, Taco Bell. I'm like, alright, I'm good with that. Right.
What do you think was one of the craziest things that happened at Corona? Because I can only imagine you got all different things going on, especially late at night, you know? We only have beer and wine here, so we don't have the liquor as part of it being an issue too, like getting involved in somebody or something. " Oh, when I worked at Burn, they would walk into the glass wall, almost, almost, sorry to cut Nick off, but I would help out on the weekend nights, and if you've been down to Burn, you'd notice that there's a big orange glass wall in front of the humidor, it's orange, okay, it's not clear, so come 11 o'clock when they're getting a little saucy, you know, they just face plant right into the glass wall, and every, you know, the night I would work, it would always be We would take two of us in the humidor on the weekends, and we would take bets, you know, the over, under, how many people walk into the glass wall.
No shit. So that was like an ongoing thing. Oh yeah, it was fantastic. I mean, really with the alcohol, I mean, it was a pretty chill crowd, but like the most craziest thing that we had, there was this one guy that would always walk by and he was hopped up on something, it was crazy.
" Cops come in, and this guy actually squares off with the cop, puts his fist up, and just starts boxing, jumping around. Cop tases him three times, he knocks the wires out, and they actually chased him all the way down to Barnes & Noble. I saw that happen at the downtown location one night. We were doing an event.
At the end of the night, we were sitting on the rocking chairs outside, and there was a club across the street by the pizza place. And, you know, we're just sitting around bullshitting, and then all of a sudden we see all these cops rush, and there's a bunch of guys just fighting, and then tasers come out. - The lasers come out. It's pretty entertaining.
The people watching down there is hilarious. - That's pretty fantastic. - I mean, that's like the best thing I can do on a Saturday night is like go downtown and people watch. - I had a homeless guy take my half lit cigar or half smoked cigar.
- So did they ever catch up to the guy? - Yeah, they ended up tackling him and when they brought him back, he was all road rash. I mean, they must have took him down and he just kept sliding. - Right.
- But yeah, I asked the officer, I guess they like tased him like four or four. I think it was five times, and he just, yeah. Can Jared walk all the way down to that shop? There's a regular here that used to have a little bit of drinking rum.
Oh man. But yeah. But no, I mean, the Sand Lake, it was a pretty mellow crowd there. Right.
Yeah, well, for the most part, you know. It's a big tourist crowd down there, I think, yeah. I mean, most of you have some young kids. It's like, I just hopped up on sugar from Disney.
Right. All right, cool. All right, cool, you want to jump to the questions? You want to jump to the questions, huh?
All right, we have a series of questions we ask everybody on the show, everybody gets the same questions. Oh boy. So, since there's two of you, we will jump back and forth, but you're all going to... Mike has this strange way of doing things, I don't know.
I don't know how, it's like, it's, I don't know. It doesn't matter. Look, this is my one part of the show, are you going to critique my one part? No, no, you're good, you're good.
Like a hot take type of thing? Forget it, he's rolling. Well, you're both going to get the same questions, but we'll start one on the other. Right.
So, we'll go with Patrick first, okay? What one person, living or dead, would you like to share a cigar with? Ooh. One person, living or dead, to share a cigar with.
There's a lot of people that I would like to do so, but I would probably have to go with my favorite basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan. We haven't got that one before. Very nice.
So, why'd you pick Michael? You know, a big fan growing up, and he's got a love for his cigars, and we would just love to pick his brain Steve McLaughlin: Yeah. Steve McLaughlin: That's excellent. Steve McLaughlin: Excellent.
Steve McLaughlin: Nick, same question? Steve McLaughlin: I mean, someone famous. Steve McLaughlin: He might have to be famous. Steve McLaughlin: We've had grandfathers, fathers.
Steve McLaughlin: I mean, he wasn't a cigar smoker, but I mean, you know, I wish, you know, my dad, I mean, definitely. Steve McLaughlin: But he wasn't a cigar smoker, and I always tried, you know, tried getting him out. Steve McLaughlin: He's like, no, no, no. Steve McLaughlin: He's like, I don't like to, you know, I don't go to these places.
Steve McLaughlin: Right. I would say someone who is a cigar smoker, I would definitely say Mark Twain, one of my favorite authors. You can't read, bro. What?
You can't read. I can read. I just finished Dr. Seuss.
Which one? Oh, Cat in the Hat, man. All the way. No, man.
No. It was Hop on Pop. You picked the picture books. Shh.
Man, those pictures are complicated. I can't translate them. But, no, Mark Twain, just, I mean, solid witticism. I mean, just, he had a great way of looking at life, just had, like, no tolerance for, So he was very snarky and smart-ass.
Right. Kind of like Jerry? Yeah. Forget that Jerry guy.
Jerry's still watching. Oh, he's watchful, right? Why is Nick talking is what he just wrote. All right, Nick.
Best piece of advice anybody ever gave you? Best piece of advice? If you guys listen to the podcast, you know these are the questions. I mean, best piece of advice, probably?
They've been riding together for two days and they'd have something to do with it. Yeah, right? Just catch up. I mean, this is going to sound kind of lame in new age, but it's like, just breathe.
I mean, this is probably the slowest I've talked, like, the past year. Right. You know, both my parents are from Long Island, so they're, you know, Long Island Italian. You know, my mom's Sicilian, my dad was Italian, and a mile a minute.
Right. Brain works faster than their mouth, and I tried doing that, like, you know, just stuttering all over the place. Right. But, no, that's one of the best things, and that's actually helped me.
I mean, starting with La Polina, I mean, you know, Sammy, Clay, Patrick, they've definitely been big, big components to that. Beating them down. Like I read the mule. Oof.
Man. Enjoy it. They're just helping you, you know, refining the rough edges. Yeah.
Oh, there's a lot of rough edges. They're still working on that. We all have, you know, different things that we work on. Freaking five-grit sandpaper they gotta refine me.
I found many years ago, knowledge without sharing is worthless. Yeah. And that's the best piece of advice. Where'd you hear that?
No, I just, yeah. Fortune cookies. He made it up. Fortune cookie, yeah.
Fortune cookie. No, my favorite, uh, Don't Stop Believing, yeah. Oh, yeah? Um, Don't Stop Believing.
Favorite, best piece of advice was, you know, I try and, I try every day to do the, to do the same thing, you know, be humble, be honest, and, uh, you know, just, if, just be passionate about what you do. Yeah. If you ain't first, you last. That's right, Ricky Bobby.
Shake and bake. Magic bag. All right, Patrick, favorite cigar. Depends on That's my mood.
All right. Well, your mood is your mood. What's your favorite cigar right now? The one I'm smoking right now is the La Polina Nicaragua Oscura, which we're featuring tonight at the Cigar Hustler event.
Sammy whips Nick at the office, Jerry says. And what's your favorite cigar that's not a brand that you... Did I fuck you up? No, no, go ahead.
Oh, man, I fucked you up. He's taking over the show. I've got a few cigars that I have in rotation. Right.
What's your go-to that's not your brand? Not to be a homer for you, but I do enjoy your blends, and I do enjoy everything out of Skip's Factory, big fan of Espinosa, he's a dear friend of mine, Pete Johnson, Tatuaia, Elusione. So if you had to pick one of all those guys, what's coming like? It's tough, man, they're all really good.
We're going to put you on the spot, you've got to pick one. Door one or door two, Patrick. Like a Desert Island cigar? Desert Island cigar.
There you go, you're on an island, you can only take one cigar. I have to say my first true love was and is the Padrón 1964 Maduro Exclusivo. See, now that's the answer we were looking for. Right there.
He fucking brought it down to the Vitola. Right down to everything. Exactly. That's a great cigar.
When I moved from New Jersey, I had never seen or heard of Padrón, but I had never seen a Padrón. I guess even back then in the late '90s, it was still, I guess, maybe a regional cigar. I don't know. I never saw Padrón in the shops that I was going in or worked at.
So the first day I moved down to Florida, I walked into a shop called Smoke and Snuff for any of those living in Florida. You know, Smoke and Snuff back in the '90s and early 2000s was like Florida's equivalent to Tinderbox. Okay. So I walk in the shop looking to buy a box.
I got 200 bucks in my pocket. And I was really, I had my mind set on, I forget what I had my mind set on. A Cohiba. No, it wasn't a Cohiba.
" And I blew through that box in like a week, came back, bought some more, and you know, I had a stack of empty boxes in my room about five feet tall. They were really good. They still are really good. Yeah, absolutely.
Nick? All right, Nick, favorite cigar? So, let's see, favorite cigar, I mean, outside of La Polina, actually, I'm smoking the Red Label right now. Red Label was actually my first love when I found out about La Polina, so it's still, you know, one of my tried and trues.
But outside of La Polina, I would have to say, I would probably say the Espinosa 6-1 Blue Label. The Maduro, that's definitely, Toro size, probably going to be, you know, just right up my alley, but I mean, my top brands, I mean, Espinosa, La Flor Dominicana, I mean, Tatua is up there, but with the La Flor Dominicana, the Volcada, that one wowed me. Yeah, that was really good. That was really good.
You got to smoke it once and then you couldn't find it again? " Yeah. Just in case. Do you still have them?
No. They're all smoked. Right. Can you get more right now?
Corny? Are you watching Corny? Corny's not watching, but I heard that they're coming back soon. Hopefully soon.
Yeah, I can't wait to get that cigar back in stock. Those were tasty burgers. All right, Nick, what fictional character would you like to share a cigar with? Ooh, fictional.
Yep. I would have to say Hellboy. Hellboy, absolutely. Is it because he's a cigar guy, or is it just because?
Absolutely. I mean, the character, I mean, Ron Perlman nailed the character spot on. He did do that. I mean, they got some new guy in the remake, I forgot who it is, and they say that he's supposed to be as good, but I don't buy it.
Right. I don't buy it. But yeah, I would definitely have to say, yeah, Hellboy all the way. That's a good answer.
All right, Patrick, fictional character? Tony Stork. Tony Stork. Iron Man.
Because he probably had like the best of the best of the best, something like he'd never even seen before. Right, yeah. Drink some good whiskey. I've been buying the 99 cent, you know, gas station specials.
Right, exactly. Alright, final question, how do people get a hold of you guys? What's your social media, email address, phone number if you want to go ahead? My address, my home address?
Share your home address, people can buy your house. I-75, it's the underpass at exit 58. Don't lie, it's a street corner. Facebook is just my name, Patrick Jameson Vivolo.
Instagram is pvvolo. Same thing with Twitter, pvvolo. Okay, Nick? Facebook, Nick Perretta, you know, can't miss it, all the cigar posts.
Instagram, Twitter is SmokinAceNP, that's a gamertag and, you know, so I kind of brought that over to Instagram. You're welcome, La Polina. Yeah, no problem. So La Bolina Jerry's, the only one that has his name in his Instagram?
Yeah. I have an Instagram way before that. " I don't know which one he's referencing to, Nick or Patrick. Not my little pony, Care Bears, man, get it right.
Which Care Bear? Lucky Bear, man. Yeah, I figured you were going to go Lucky Bear. What's the one that shoots a rainbow out of his stomach?
Yeah, I don't know their names. That's pretty cool. I don't know who any of the Bears are. Yeah, we're dating ourselves, you know, we're kids of the '80s.
Exactly. So what, um, what hashtag do you want to do, Michael? Or you guys, you got a name for a hashtag we can do for the giveaway? I don't know, I guess we need to put La Polina in it somewhere.
Hashtag Smoke La Polina. There you go, hashtag Smoke La Polina. Perfect. So you go to A Cigar Hustlers Podcast Facebook page, you have to post Smoke La Polina.
Hashtag? Hashtag Smoke La Polina. You've been drinking. And we will draw a name from everyone who posted that.
I noticed you have the Bud Light Orange, what's that about? Dude, have you had it? No. Don't even go there.
Oh, come on. It tastes like an orange. It's awesome. It's really good.
I told Patrick, you're better just to buy orange juice and ferment it. Okay. You go try that when you get out of here. Have you had the Bud Light Lime, any of that?
No. My wife loves that orange stuff. Dude, the orange is tasty. I mean, you know.
If you're out mowing the grass, it's okay, that type of thing. It's refreshing. It's refreshing to be, you know, sitting out drinking all the time. So is whiskey.
Don't knock it to you. When it's high outside, whiskey on the rocks. When you're inside, whiskey. But then it's harder to mow the grass after three or four whiskeys.
Right, exactly. Your lines start going all crooked and everything. I mean, I'm done with the grass. The fuck you are.
Exactly. Get back out there. Hey, this is the best sounding podcast we're going to have up. Yeah.
There's such baritones over there that it just sounds great coming across. Me, me, me, me. And they're right on top of the microphone. You got a face for radio.
So, you want to give an update on, do we have updates? Oh, well, I have one from the other day, because you didn't ask, but we did the one earlier. Put it on the poll. Put it on the poll.
In the last 30 days, the top five shows on Podbean, this isn't even accurate anymore. Okay, Dennis Scioli, Felix, Ashulein, Island Jim, the terrible Island Jim show, Joanne from The Redemption Podcast. Yes, Flor and Mike Wasp. What do they say over there?
Oh, Mike Wasp was on the uptick, eh? Wasp? Yeah, he is. He actually, the show is up, yeah.
Very nice. And then on Spotify, it's Rosales, John Kearney, Pedro Gomez, Dennis again, and Zeri Mustafa. Oh man, the worst one. The worst one.
It's like the 60-rated cigar. It's like, you just gotta smoke it. It is. Everybody goes back because we mentioned it.
I appreciate how bad that one was. Wait, wait, on Apple, it's Casey. Casey. Casey's the number one show on Apple.
Really? Yes. Casey Hogan. I want to have him back on.
Casey? Because I feel like, you know, we kind of broke, we need to break him. You know? Like, we got your da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
Yeah, he was very, very corporate. Too fucking professional. And that's definitely not Casey. Then we get him liquored up.
Liquored up, yeah. Hey, let's do an event. Get him fucking booze him, then drop it on him. Have a nice little one-hour binger before the show.
Fucking hammered. I mean, I did one podcast with And our boy Bear, I had about three or four bourbons in that night, if anybody, did you guys watch that one? Uh-uh. Oh yeah, definitely go back and watch it.
Must watch TV. Were you slurring and everything? Not really, just, you could tell I had a few... No, you were a little slurring.
You were ready to go? Yeah, probably. Did you go back and hear it? Oh yeah, they started recording at 10 o'clock Sunday night, I'm like, I can't promise I'm going to be sober.
" All right. You want to do what we're smoking? Hold my scotch and watch this. What are we smoking?
I mean, they've already said what they were smoking. I'm smoking the La Polina Oscuro. I'm doing the Connecticut. There you go.
Well, what's Nick having? You guys enjoy it? Red label. Yeah.
He did a red label. Yeah, pretty much. Do you get tasty notes of spice? Yeah, French toast, cereal, and leather.
Glazed donuts. Freshwater magic and happiness. And they'll have a third way through that if it's just saltwater bags. What else we got?
That's it. No, we can't go. Oh, we can keep talking. He wants to keep talking.
All right. I think that, how many of you got on your Facebook live? One, Patron. Two, we're up to two.
We're up to two. That was the drunk dial cigar people. That's a great idea. Drunk dial cigar people.
Call Casey on the phone. Cole Spencer. On the car ride over, I was listening to my favorite radio show, the Dan LeBittard Show. A Cigar Hustlers podcast?
Your podcast, not a radio show. Oh, sorry. And I love the Dan LeBittard Show. Not the big leagues yet.
They're funny, it's a sports show, but it's not about sports. I'm not a sports ball guy, and I listen to it. And it had me thinking, I'm like, what would be a great question for us to ask, like, who do you think the top, best smelling people in the cigar industry are? Smelling?
Smelling. Best smelling people? They smell the same, they smell the cigars. - If they were to wear a cologne, would it be like, you know, - Oh, you don't actually have an answer for that, it's fucking Rosales, hands down.
- Oh. - That guy's got like a collection of - He has a very clean-looking gentleman. - Yeah, of like, what the fuck is the name of 'em? It's ridiculous.
Oh, too bad Jerry's not on 'cause he'd probably chime in. - He probably knows what Mike smells like anyway. - Creed? Is it like Creed?
- Yeah, that's the good stuff. - That's the shit that he carries. - Call Michael and ask him. - So like, yeah, no, it's Creed.
- Oh. - But like, and then he can get into details of each individual, one or whatever. But, like, that's the stuff that we'll use if we, uh, when we rent a car. Oh, that was down in the car, went?
Just right in the inside of the vents, it's like gentle undertone, it's not overbearing. Very nice. And, you know, it doesn't smell like a cigar when you're numb with it. No, you gotta get the, uh, those little car bombs.
Yeah. Takes about 10 minutes, and it clears out the whole AC system. That's like, we don't have that kind of time. 10 minutes?
We gotta, like, fucking, we gotta drop the car off and get on the fucking plane. Like, there it goes, go, go, go, go! You ready to turn your car, sir? I need 10 minutes.
Oseum, man, just dump a whole can in that thing. I did that once, but the first time I used Oseum, I sprayed it while I was in the car, my eyes got super red, I could barely breathe, and then I read the cam, do not spray while you're in the car. You know, it makes sense, do first, then read instructions. Yeah, read instructions.
It's just, you know, they're suggestions, just like red lights, it's a suggestion to stop. Yeah, lines on the road, same thing. Alright, well, I think that could, that'll, well, who do you think would smell the fucking best in the cigar industry? Say it, Patrick.
Oh, I was saying in the car. I've only had this conversation before. Probably George Padron. Yeah?
All that tobacco, he's always around? Yeah. Oh, he's going with cigar smells. What were you going for?
Smells good. I was going for actual scents. Scents. People that put in the effort and not surrounded by...
Even when the female friends come in... What does Skip smell like? He smells like... Fried food.
And beer. He's gonna hate me now. No, Cardi, bro. Cardi, oh, Cardi, yeah.
- Yeah, John Carney. - He smelled like steak. - He smelled like steak, yeah. - I feel like this was your conversation that you had.
- They worked this out in the car. - Yeah, that was a very awkward conversation. - Let's figure out what dudes smell like. - How come the women don't smell like cigars when they, the female reps?
Like Emile, when she comes in, she always smells great. - Well, that's, I don't know. - Okay, thanks, I thought we were gonna go somewhere. - I thought that I had like a, no, I don't, I have nothing.
- Okay. - Sorry. - All right. So that's it.
That's why only two people are watching it on Facebook. Let's just let it fizzle out. Up to three fizzle out. Oh, who came in?
Jeremy Fondy. What's up? Oh, Jeremy Fondy. He's your guy.
Mr. Cigar Cartel. He's your guy? He is.
Alright, well, hey, this concludes the podcast. That's it, I guess we're done then. Thank you very much, guys. Yes, thank you.
We're doing a good show tonight. We're here till midnight. And we appreciate you coming out. Absolutely.
And always doing what you can for the brand and the shop, for sure. Absolutely. You guys must have the greatest espresso machines at your house. Because La Bellina gives away espresso machines like they make them.
In the office. In the office. Nespresso. Nespresso.
It changed our lives. Yeah, it's like at home I got five ways to make coffee, I haven't used them since, well, since the office has been open. Nick just got a promotion, he's going out on the road. Oh, really?
Well, I mean, kind of promotion. So, one-way ticket. One-way ticket, so they might have to delve in that part. So, were you repping Florida?
No, that's Patrick. I don't know if you guys are dividing or something. Divide and conquer, Patrick. We can do it.
Rip it there. Where are you going? So, Southeast, excluding Florida, so that's South Carolina to Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Very nice.
Don't listen to that area. Watch out for Nick to come by. So, it's going to be like, hey, it's Nick's first time on the road. We're going to give him one of the biggest territories.
Perfect. There you go. That sounds fantastic. Going deep.
Tennessee's pretty cool. You'll have fun there. Sweet. Right, there you go.
Good barbecue. We're done now? Ooh, that's right. Alright, I think that concludes it.
Alright, thanks guys. Alright, bye. That's it folks, show's over. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can leave them on our Facebook page at Cigar Hustlers Podcast.
You can follow the show on Instagram @cigarhustlerspodcast. You can follow Mikey @cigarhustler, and you can follow myself at floridacigarclub_mike on Instagram. Make sure to rate, comment, and subscribe on whatever provider you listen to the show at. Thanks for listening!
The End.
Show Notes
Episode 26 (yes we skipped 25...reasons later) This week Patrick Vivalo and Nick Perretta from La Palina Cigars sit in with us as we do our frst FB live while taping the show!!!
Make sure to listen till the very end as we share our first contest!! Details all throughout the episode!!
We welcome your comments, questions and guest suggestions on our FB page, A Cigar Hustlers Podcast. You can follow the show on IG @cigarhustlerspodcast, Mikey @cigarhustler and Mike @floidacigarclub_mike.
Please rate, comment and subscribe on whatever provider you listen to us on!
We would also like to welcome Stitcher Radio to the CHPC Family!! More places you can find the show!!!