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Released every Tuesday, the LOUNGE LIZARDS podcast helps listeners navigate the experience of finding and enjoying premium cigars (both Cuban and non-Cuban) and quality spirits. Episodes are normally around 90 minutes long and feature a variety of different topics including food, travel, life, sports and work.
The podcast features eight members: Rooster, Poobah, Gizmo, Senator, Pagoda, Chef Ricky, Grinder and Bam Bam.
This is not your typical cigar podcast. We’re a group of friends who love sharing cigars, whiskey and a good laugh.
Join us and become a card-carrying lounge lizard yourself! Email us at hello@loungelizardspod.com to join the conversation and be featured on an upcoming episode!
Welcome to the Lounge Lizards podcast presented by Fabrica five, recorded live at the twenty twenty six Premium Cigar Association Convention and International Trade Show in New Orleans. It's so good to have you here. It's a leisure and lifestyle podcast founded on our love of premium cigars as well as whiskey travel, food, work, and whatever else we feel like getting into. My name is Gizmo. Today, I'm joined by Senator, Pagoda, and Bam Bam.
Gizmo:I had a plan to smoke a cigar, talk about life, and, of course, have some laughs. So take this as your 230 second official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. Plenty of muse here once a week. We're gonna smoke a Nicaraguan cigar tonight, share our thoughts on it, and give you our formal lizard rating. We share our impressions and favorite moments from this year's PCA show.
Gizmo:We discuss the larger presence of American tobacco in new releases, and we celebrate the latest decision from Judge Mehta all among a variety of other things for the next two hours. So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar, and enjoy as we smoke the aging room blue amber and blue turquoise. Live from New Orleans, Louisiana, gentlemen, at PCA twenty twenty six, the convention and trade show. We have a Nicaraguan Preferrito from Aging Room tonight.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:It's called the Blue Amber by Rafael Nadal, and it's a 60 ring gauge cigar by six inches long. And boys, not only are we back to Aging Room, we have a very expensive cigar in our hand tonight. This is a limited edition celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of aging room. Been long in the works over there. We were told in an interview by Rafael Nadal that it's a little different, so I am really interested to see how this cigar is gonna do today.
Pagoda:Gorgeous Vitola. It looks beautiful, but I've never heard of a perforito?
Gizmo:It's a perforito. Preferito. La Aurora's actually made those famous in the in the 02/00, okay. Of
Pagoda:Those are for the right?
Gizmo:Exactly right. Fair enough. So I'm really interested to see how this is gonna do. Apparently, it's quite a departure from the other aging room cigars, so we'll see. Let's cut this thing, boys.
Gizmo:See what we're getting on the cold draw and the wrapper. Very interesting.
Bam Bam:Cocoa for me. Yeah. I get cocoa. Cocoa?
Gizmo:Looks like a little, like, greenery or something.
Bam Bam:I get more salty thing happening.
Gizmo:Like a salty salad.
Bam Bam:Salt and chocolate.
Gizmo:My draw is really nice.
Pagoda:Oh, the draw is excellent. Yeah.
Gizmo:Alright. Let's see how this does. Let's light this thing, boys. The aging room, blue amber, blue turquoise by Rafael Nadal. Again, it's a 60 ring gauge cigar by six inches long, produced by AJ Fernandez in Nicaragua, blended by Rafael Nadal, of course.
Gizmo:It's one of those that I think early on, you're gonna have a tighter draw, and then as it kinda opens up and gets going, it's gonna loosen a little. My draw's a little bit more resistant now than
Pagoda:the call draw was. Jaw is wide open, but I did cut it a bit more, you know, considering, you know, it was tapering a bit too much.
Bam Bam:Yeah. When I started this an hour ago, it was also open.
Gizmo:Yeah. Bam, two hundred and thirty two weeks in, forgot. Bam malfunctioned. That
Bam Bam:Bam never malfunctions. It's always planned. This is Also
Gizmo:a nice stalker.
Bam Bam:This is quite nice.
Gizmo:So while we get the cigar going, we have to share that Pagoda, like Alan in The Hangover, has a satchel.
Bam Bam:Oh, yeah. Big man
Pagoda:purse guy. This is how it begins.
Gizmo:Showed That's all up right. To the airport with a man purse. Let's talk about this.
Pagoda:Oh, yeah. I I did. It is European. For the people who know, they know. No.
Pagoda:But you know what? These guys put so much pressure on me. I didn't even carry it to the whole convention. You know? It's been lying Why
Senator:do embrace your metro look?
Gizmo:Yeah. You're stylish, man. You're a leader in this space.
Pagoda:It is difficult to be walking around with, you know, a case, a rum, and a cigar all the way through the convention meeting. With a man purse. Yeah. With a man purse, it would've been easier. So was my thought.
Senator:So we were hoping you'd wear it so that you'd lose it, and we'd never have to see it again.
Pagoda:There's no air tag in it. No. The problem is I might've gotten some unrequired attention. There's always a bit of worry there.
Bam Bam:It looks good on you.
Pagoda:Well, everything does.
Gizmo:So how did you end up with this Metro European satchel?
Pagoda:Alright. That was another error. I think I was looking for a laptop bag.
Gizmo:So you thought you were getting a laptop bag coming to New Orleans for Yeah. The PCA
Pagoda:I don't know how I ended up ordering this, and this was really small with like a side, you know, strap, one of the side straps, and it is Got to what look
Gizmo:at the dimensions
Pagoda:of So then I said, oh, this would be great for bringing to the convention. And then what a mistake.
Gizmo:Well, it was hilarious because we felt like the hangover guys walking through Newark Airport, you know, the three of us and then Alan with his satchel. So
Pagoda:There starting the trip off was a moment over there. I was pretty proud of it, but then
Gizmo:Then you saw us.
Senator:You're a shame.
Pagoda:No. Then I saw them. So,
Gizmo:boys, this cigar is off to a nice start here.
Bam Bam:What are you getting?
Gizmo:It's definitely different than what I expect from aging room.
Bam Bam:It's a departure for sure.
Gizmo:It's definitely a departure. You know, I always think of that milk chocolate thing. I think of that, you know, even in the Sonata, this is quite
Pagoda:a delightful.
Bam Bam:I was gonna, if it reminds me of anything, it's a touch of the Sonata.
Gizmo:It's closer to the Sonata.
Bam Bam:Just a touch.
Pagoda:I don't know. It's leaving something very, like, I don't even wanna say fruity or minty, but it's leaves a very refreshing stuff in the front of my palate. I don't know. It's feeling like a slightly cool effect. Yeah.
Pagoda:Don't know what that is. Mintish.
Gizmo:It has a little bit of tingle on the front of your tongue.
Senator:I'm Flavor the getting baking spice like cinnamon, which is making my, like, that tingling sensation in your tongue. I like the flavor profile so far. I get a lot of cocoa. There's a little bit of salt, a little bit of cream, and cinnamon to me really stands out on the finish.
Gizmo:It's off to a nice start here. Let's talk about the makeup of the Cigar Boys.
Pagoda:Oh, the smoke outfit is great. It is.
Gizmo:Yeah. It is.
Pagoda:I'll just cut it a bit more, like, if you're not getting enough.
Gizmo:The wrapper is from AJ Fernandez. It's Nicaraguan. The binder is Dominican, and the filler is Nicaraguan and Dominican and features a very special tobacco that we actually talked to Rafael Nadal about in our interview called Las Cumbre, which is a Dominican tobacco that I guess his wife kind of created a discovery moment for him in searching for amber in the Dominican Republic, which of course is very prevalent there, finding out that this area where blue amber gemstones are found overlooks the Sabao Valley, which a lot of tobacco comes out of there, and according to some of the folks in that area, there had been tobacco grown there for a while. Long story short, he searches it out, tries to find the people. They sold it to this person, that part, he got the tobacco, incorporated it into this blend.
Gizmo:It was a hard amount of work he was telling us, but that is where the name came from. That's where this branding comes from and the effort So it's pretty cool.
Senator:Yeah. Yeah. We have his wife to thank.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Pagoda:You know, and he was talking about the area which has volcanic soil, what he mentioned.
Gizmo:So what he was saying is that-
Pagoda:There's a lot of minerality.
Gizmo:There's minerality in this, and then he countered it with a different tobacco in the blend to kind of level it out, to even it out.
Senator:Yeah, because he was saying in the past folks didn't wanna work with this type of tobacco because it was so mineral forward. They kind of didn't know what to do to counteract it, and he seemingly has found We a good
Bam Bam:don't have the MSRP on this, do we?
Gizmo:We do. 43.
Senator:Oh boy.
Pagoda:For an aging room. Oh, wow.
Gizmo:Aging room limited comes in a phenomenal looking box of 20 cigars. He was telling us that the paint, I think, goes through eight different
Bam Bam:layers Layering. Of
Gizmo:To get this, and then there's a paper inside that requires seven different layers. I mean, it's kinda crazy what's going on here. But this blue turquoise Preferrito Vitola is one of four. So let's go through the three others. The blue Celestar, 58 ring gauge by five.
Gizmo:The blue Maestro, we know that size very well. The Torpedo, 52 by six, and the blue sky is a Gordo, 60 by six. So I find it interesting that the Torpedo is the only ring gauge in this line smaller than 58. So you have 52, 58, sixty, and sixty. Now, of course, this Preferrito we have in our hand, the mouthfeel of the Preferrito is probably closer to, I would call it, a Corona with a proper cut, probably in the, you know, forty, forty two range.
Bam Bam:Feels great in the hand.
Gizmo:It does. It feels nice.
Pagoda:Yeah. You know, you do feel you're smoking elegant, like a higher quality, beautiful cigar, like a premium cigar.
Gizmo:So, Bam, can you describe the bands for the people as you always do?
Bam Bam:They are a glistening blue with a very light gold script on it.
Gizmo:And there's two of them.
Bam Bam:There's two. Correct.
Gizmo:The top one has a cool cutout as well, which you don't normally see. Yeah, there's
Bam Bam:like a crop tapers down to about just under a half inch and the facing part of the band's about an inch tall. It's interesting.
Gizmo:Definitely a unique presentation. Yeah. So these come in boxes of 20. So this one specifically, the box of 20 is MSRP $860. Again, $43 for a cigar.
Gizmo:It's not cheap.
Pagoda:No, not cheap at all. It's Out of my budget.
Senator:It's their fifteenth anniversary.
Bam Bam:But if this finishes the way it started, I think it's worth every dollar.
Gizmo:Off to a great start
Pagoda:right I'm gonna
Senator:say it's very, very elegant. Like it's getting creamier as I'm smoking it. You can taste that this is aged tobacco. I really like how this has started.
Gizmo:Yeah. Would you call it medium? Would you call
Senator:it full? I would call it right now medium.
Bam Bam:Medium, It's there.
Senator:I don't think it's full yet.
Gizmo:A of flavor though. Yep. Ton of flavor.
Bam Bam:For me, the cocoa is well pronounced here, and it's more of a cocoa, almost like a bitter chocolate.
Pagoda:A bitter chocolate. Just a touch.
Gizmo:So boys, it's good to be back in New Orleans. I know that we really have been raving about it for the last year. Obviously Senator Well before that, having been here many, many times. If you listen to our PCA twenty twenty five recap episode, we went through everything, you know, all the experiences we had, food and otherwise, and we really loved it. So to be back here again a year later, to expand on those experiences, coming in with a little bit of comfortability or knowledge of the area and where we're going and senator finding some new places that we're gonna detail in a little bit.
Gizmo:I mean, what an awesome visit to New Orleans this has been again.
Bam Bam:Great place to come.
Senator:We're not leaving. We're not leaving.
Bam Bam:But seriously, I will be back.
Gizmo:Yeah. You know, we've said this a couple weeks ago. I mean, I'm kind of depressed that the show's not gonna be here next year. Mean, going back to Vegas for two more years, it'll be back here in 2029. I mean, unless we come separately for cigar business PCA, we are not gonna be here for three more years.
Gizmo:Yeah.
Bam Bam:Sad.
Gizmo:Which is kind of a bummer.
Senator:Yeah. The Muffalada is on Goldbelly, boys.
Gizmo:That's true, and we've ordered it there. And thanks to Lizard Enrique, he hooked us up as well. You know
Bam Bam:what, we're not gonna get a chance to have one of those before we leave. That's a shame.
Senator:No, they have them at the airport. Do they? We have to figure out where, but they make them and send them right over to the airport.
Pagoda:We're not leaving half hour early to get to the airport.
Bam Bam:Yes, we are.
Senator:We're gonna drag Pagoda out
Pagoda:of bed.
Bam Bam:Pagoda needs his beauty sleep.
Gizmo:So we'll talk about food and whatnot in a moment, but I just wanna get your overall impressions coming back to New Orleans for PCA twenty twenty six. What are your general feelings of the show? What is your read on the room vibes, energy, the industry? What what are you taking away as we're heading out of the show this year and, you know, heading back home?
Senator:I mean, I'll just start by saying I think the energy is as high as it's been at any trade show, you know, we've been to before at PCA. I think, you know, the first day when Josh of, Haberski, the CEO of PCA, gave his kind of keynote-
Gizmo:I was fired up, dude.
Senator:Yeah, he brought a ton of energy, and you know, they've basically sold out this show. Record numbers, record revenues. Record numbers, I mean, in every single way. They, for the first time, paid to rent a space for kind of post trade show programming and events, and this awesome indooroutdoor warehouse that was an old sugar mill. When we were there, I mean, the place was packed.
Senator:I just think PCA has really figured out how to maximize the most out of New Orleans. You you have around the French Quarter, you know, Cuban creations, the kind of designated PCA cigar lounge in addition to the warehouse, the old sugar mill. We love La Habana, another cigar spot there that tons of PCA members have spent lots of time at. Obviously, the food and restaurant scene speaks for itself as unparalleled. Unparalleled.
Senator:I mean, just incredible start to finish, and I think it's fun when we're enjoying obviously the experience here. We would love PCA to be in New Orleans every year if we could wave a magic wand, but you talk to other people and even folks that we've interviewed while we're here, and they all say the same thing. They love New Orleans. I mean, what a spectacular place.
Bam Bam:Yeah. You know, for me, it's the familiar faces after doing this. This is our third show. Beyond that, I've seen a lot of people that I've met at other lounges near North Jersey. Just to walk into and run into them, say hello, it feels very comfortable.
Senator:I mean, Josh calls it the family reunion. Honestly,
Bam Bam:seeing Vance a stoic, Louisa at Florida Cana, these are people that we have a
Senator:good rapport with. George Padron.
Gizmo:George Padron. Oh, yeah. Justo.
Bam Bam:Lisette and her father, Ernesto Carrillo. I mean, this creates a very warm, comfortable feeling for us. We're no longer visitors. Correct. So it feels like we're part of this incredible industry.
Bam Bam:Family. Yeah. Absolutely. That's my biggest takeaway here.
Pagoda:Yeah. Exactly. I think the word I would say, is comfortable. I remember going to the first PCA show in Vegas. It was different.
Bam Bam:You were a deer in headlights.
Pagoda:Yes. And it felt like overwhelming in a way. And, you know, we were trying to figure out, you know, it's like you move into a new city and you're trying to figure out the roads and what the hotspots are and
Senator:I mean, wasn't even a media area when we were at the trade show in Vegas.
Gizmo:We had to make our own.
Senator:It wasn't until last year in New Orleans that Josh like very purposely built out like a great designated media space, so it's so much easier for us to conduct interviews.
Bam Bam:Yeah, that was fun though. That very first show was fun. Eye opening. Honestly, didn't- We
Gizmo:were doing it live.
Bam Bam:Yeah. We were, you know, that show, I didn't know anything about the industry. I really am learning more and more. That was a true eye opening experience to see retailers here, speaking with manufacturers. It's just very unique.
Pagoda:You know, just to reiterate on the same theme, it's a community and you begin to realize it's a lot of families who are running their businesses and they're working with their retailers and everybody's a part of this one large family. And while it's large enough where it's significant, it's still small enough where you tend to keep running into the same people, and everyone's friendly and warm, and it's been a great experience so far.
Senator:And I think from a podcast perspective, it's fun to see every year, and I think this year more than any, just people that you randomly run into, and the overwhelming majority. They hear, Oh, Lounge Lizards. Oh, I love your podcast. I listen to your podcast. It's fun to see the growth and the impact that it's having on people who are closest to the industry.
Senator:I mean, we obviously hear every single week from all of our listeners who are largely consumers, but to hear from folks who are shop owners and manufacturers and others that work and live and breathe cigars in every way nonstop also really appreciate what we're doing here. It's, I think, gratifying, and just further justifies the importance of what we're doing.
Gizmo:You know what I think's cool about that too, is what I like about the conversations we're having with retailers and manufacturers about the podcast and them listening to it, it's almost like they're not listening to it as business owners or as industry people. They're listening to it as smokers, just like all of our listeners do. So it's nice that, you know, obviously we present an angle for, you know, really listener focused, trying to bring them into our conversation and our circle, and now understanding, you know, how we impact the people who are actually working in this industry every day, it's been really, really cool to feel that this year. And it's, like you said, every time we come, we feel it significantly more. And I think you touched on it, the rapport that we have now running into George Padron like old friends, who's still busting your balls as soon as-
Bam Bam:As he does always.
Gizmo:As soon as we see him, seeing Vance, which he's like family. It's crazy how this has developed over the last three
Pagoda:We're no longer the new kid on the block, you know? That's true. We're part of the community.
Gizmo:So I wanna talk about some of the highlight announcements and whatnot that have happened at the show this year. We always do this. Certainly you mentioned starting it off, you know, Josh had a fantastic speech at the end of the, you know, board meeting, the PCA board meeting that they hold every Friday of the show. His presentation, his speech about the future of this show, what he sees as the next ten to fifteen years, his crazy ideas he presented, I was blown away. I just wanna highlight for
Senator:the listener who couldn't be in the room when he spoke, I mean, this is a guy who, since becoming CEO of PCA, has started traveling the world really understanding what folks are doing outside of The US in terms of really promoting premium cigars, and he's been to Dubai, spending time in The Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua, and Honduras, and Asia, and all these different places, and I think for him, it's been really cool to see just how grand some of these celebrations are to really promote what it means to be a premium cigar and a premium cigar smoker. And so I'll just preview, you know, one incredibly ambitious, borderline ridiculous idea that he has. And if there is someone who will pull this off, it will be Josh Habrusky. You know, he wants literally for the hundredth anniversary of PCA as an organization to rent the Washington Monument in DC and throw a massive celebration at it, which would be I mean, that's never happened. Mean, it would be so-
Gizmo:Especially cigar. A cigar celebration.
Senator:I mean, it would be insane,
Bam Bam:but- So we'll descend upon DC.
Gizmo:Correct. Oh, we'll be And there for we'll
Pagoda:all be dressed in white, not by droves, just a fight.
Gizmo:Which, you know, he was inspired by Pro Cigar. Explain what they did. Yeah. So there's the party at Pro Cigar. It's in Santiago during the festival.
Gizmo:It's called the White Party. It's one of everybody's favorite parties each year at this event, and Pagoda and I, as we discussed on that on that episode a couple weeks ago, we were so lucky to be there and see it. And Josh was also there and was inspired by the fact that this is held in a beautiful monument in the middle of Santiago where you can't just rent this thing. It's not for that. I think there's maybe one, two, or three events there a year, and one of them is consistently the Pro Cigar white party, the white gala dinner, massive fireworks, etcetera.
Gizmo:So I love, like you said, senator, that he's traveling around the world going to Dubai, as you've highlighted when we're talking about the future of PCA in Vegas and whatnot. He's being inspired by what other people are doing, connecting The US community to the world, which I think is a very, you know, a very symbiotic relationship between, you know, you think, okay, a US retailer, what the hell do they have to do with what's going on around the world? But they can learn a
Pagoda:lot,
Senator:you know? A ton.
Gizmo:Yeah. You know?
Bam Bam:So of all destinations, I've been to Dubai a few times. It's very decadent. It's very their celebrations are very large. They spare no expense. They know how to entertain.
Bam Bam:Their venues are incredible, both, you know, architecturally and visually and through digital formats. It's just it's very immersive. So I'm guessing he's informing himself how to throw these future events and to build a show each time in anticipation.
Senator:And that's the thing. You know, I think for us, as a Cigar and Lifestyle Podcast, we've believed this from day one. I think that many in the industry understand that, but I don't think enough do. This is bigger than just selling a product, and I think the most impactful session that was on Friday, the first day here, which was all sort of education focused, and this was also josh driven, was a session on hospitality for these retailers to learn new tools and ways to engage their customer base beyond walk into my humidor, and buy a cigar, and leave. And I thought it was just brilliant.
Senator:I mean, he had Rocky Patel who
Gizmo:Who is is a genius at marketing.
Senator:One of the most brilliant marketers, I mean, certainly in this industry, but I would even put him up there in any industry, Agreed. The dean of FIU where Josh actually teaches a course, and one of the professors at FIU. Yeah, hospitality professor. That's right. They were talking about just all these different ways that you can really build community, and create loyalty, and build something that is far bigger than just a retail operation, and for some, that's creating a lounge that members can actually come into and stay for very extended periods of time to enjoy premium cigars, but for other retailers, they don't have that space or that luxury to be able to do that, and other ways that they can do the same exact type of things with outings at golf tournaments, or fishing trips, or all these different things to bring together their customers in an organized way so that they can form the relationships that we all did, which is how this podcast first started, I felt was really brilliant.
Senator:And then Rocky explaining, when you do those things, you're a retailer, you're in business, it's going to grow your top line. That is how you're going to sell more product if people are constantly in an environment where they want a cigar to enjoy while they're doing something.
Bam Bam:Right.
Senator:And so I thought it was so instructive. We've obviously complained about retailers that-
Gizmo:I hope the North Korean delegation was at the presentation.
Bam Bam:Be careful.
Gizmo:We did see Kim Jong Un and family. We did. They were here.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:Wonderful to see them.
Bam Bam:You know, Rocky touched on the point of a retailer learning how to curate experiences. You've noted it earlier, but curating experiences outside of the shop, engaging with other organizations and staying local will have the most impact
Senator:on your
Bam Bam:sales. Not just bringing people in, but getting your membership and your customers out into the community and engaging with other organizations, I found that to be fascinating.
Gizmo:And we've talked about that retail versus hospitality mentality many times on this podcast, and I think for a shop owner to understand that the long game is more important than the immediate transaction of one or two cigars, get them in, get them out, get the cash, to understand that you're supposed to be curating wonderful memories and experiences through cigars.
Bam Bam:But even the most simplest thing that he noted. Well, some of that could be complex for certain shop owners, but he gave a great example that any shop owner can do, regardless of how large or small your shop is, get everyone's email that buys a cigar in your shop.
Gizmo:Yeah, talk to them.
Bam Bam:Send them a thank you note. That has such an impact because you're gonna ingratiate yourself with every person that walks in. You're gonna give them a beautiful little, simple, simply written email, or if you have their address, you send them a letter or a little card, they'll continue to come back. Yeah. It's incredible.
Bam Bam:It's completely vertically integrated depending on how you're set up at your particular location.
Pagoda:I'll tell you, it reminds me of a boss who told me years ago, and I think Rocky reiterated it in a way, is that, you know, for the retail shop owners, and it can apply to everybody in business, especially people on the sales side of the business or wanna market their business in whichever way, that oftentimes people are waiting for business to come to them. In this case, he kept stressing the fact that you have to go out and get business. Yep. Essentially, you know, get out of the box. Think out of the box.
Pagoda:Go out and collaborate with either golf courses or, you know, with your local chamber of commerce or wherever. You know, wherever you get the opportunity, you know, try and host parties or ask people whether you can set up a cigar stand in this case. It's just this idea that, hey, listen, you've got to get out of your comfort zone waiting for people to come into your store to sell a cigar. Go out and start building relationships within the community, and you will see that the response will be higher and you're going to do better in business. And I think it applies to all.
Pagoda:I think it was a fantastic, fantastic session, the educational session.
Senator:And I think it's so critical for the future of the industry. I mean, you think about the youngest generation of cigar smokers. These are folks who care far more about experiences than they do possessions. And so any one cigar is not going to be nearly as meaningful to them as the experience that they can have while maybe smoking a cigar or doing something else if this isn't promoted. So I just think it's so huge for growing this industry long term, and I think for a guy like Rocky Patel, it's encouraging to see.
Senator:I mean, you don't see many brands, as in a cigar manufacturer, that owns and operates lounges. Significant lounges.
Bam Bam:Yeah,
Senator:big ones. The fact that he has invested the capital in lounges that are, for the most part, like strategically positioned around like a sports venue.
Pagoda:Mhmm.
Senator:Right? In Pittsburgh, two blocks from the Pirates Stadium is a Byrne lounge.
Bam Bam:Correct. And the football stadium Yeah. Right
Gizmo:That's right. And hockey too.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Senator:In Atlanta, literally across the street from the Baseball Stadium, you can't miss it, is a Burn by Rocky Patel lounge. And it's his understanding that people have an experience like going to a sporting event, and whether you win or lose, especially in the case that you win, you wanna do something celebratory after, and there's nothing more celebratory than a cigar, and to be able to funnel those people in, I mean, it's brilliant.
Gizmo:Makes And it's like Rafael Nadal told us on the interview, and you'll hear this, you know, when we share this in the coming weeks, cigars enhancing every experience, every moment. Cigars have the ability to enhance every moment.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:And obviously, Rocky, the brilliant marketer that he is, building those lounges like that, that's the full intention there.
Pagoda:Yeah. Yep. You know, the other interesting thing he said was, you know, he never thinks of it that he's creating these cigar lounges. What he's trying to do is create a premium experience, you know, centers where people who don't smoke cigars can come in and hang out and have a drink and with a cool vibe and a modern vibe, and something which is slightly different from what they're expecting. And yes, if you wanna smoke a cigar, we have everything for you to smoke a cigar.
Senator:That's a really great point. I mean, Rocky basically explained that early on when he had created those burn lounges, the majority of people who were walking into them were first time cigar smokers, they had never even smoked a cigar, and he goes, Now fast forward years later, you look at these same lounges, and the vast majority of people are cigar smokers, but they actually started or had their first cigar because they walked into a lounge like that, that offered an experience beyond just the product.
Bam Bam:That's the key. That's the key right there, the experience. That'll bring people in that have never tried a cigar.
Gizmo:The other thing I loved about those Friday sessions, you know, of course, for the listener out there, this is all before the actual trade show starts. On Friday, you know, manufacturers are still setting up their booths and whatnot, and these information sessions are exactly that for, folks coming in for the trade show to learn something. And what I liked this year specifically, credit to Josh again on this, is I liked that none of those presentations felt like self promotion. Every single one of those panels felt like, you know, it was meant to be informative in some way. And even Rocky up there, obviously, he doesn't need it.
Gizmo:Right? Rocky is No, but you're one of the
Senator:biggest To your point, I mean, not selling. Inviting anyone and everyone to create a cigar lounge, even if it means they're a competitor to him. You know? Like, that's good for the the entire industry.
Gizmo:Earlier in the day was the debut of the hand rolled documentary about the Padron family. So we didn't get to see the whole thing. It's not finished yet, but we got to see, I guess, about twenty minutes of it. And, of course, if you're not familiar with Hand rolled, they've put out a couple different episodes of it. I'm not sure if they've all been released, but I know there's an Aiaroa family, Honduran one coming out.
Gizmo:Of course, My Father is coming up next, I guess, the Padron one that they're working on now. And the first one was an actual feature length film, which is fantastic. So those guys are really focused on producing content about the premium cigar industry. The one we saw about the Padron family was really fantastic. You know, to see that stuff, you know, I love Anytime you can put those things to film that can be shared with folks, cigar smokers or not, it's awesome to tell these stories because they're family stories, they're legacy stories, and of course, it's all wrapped around these dried up tobacco leaves that we like to smoke.
Pagoda:Yeah. You get an insight into what's really behind that little stick that you're smoking. There's so many, there's so many generations of knowledge that is passed on, you know,
Bam Bam:over Generations of struggle.
Pagoda:And struggle.
Bam Bam:Building success. Creating something And from
Pagoda:moving locations. Yeah. And you know, they're living in small apartments. You know, they're stories, and it's something hopefully you all get to see and you must see to really, you know, begin to understand what kind of an impact, you know, the community is having with each other. Right?
Pagoda:It's a very symbiotic relationship, and it's fantastic.
Gizmo:So I'm looking forward to seeing that coming out. I think there was one moment in that documentary that I thought was really cool. So these guys actually went to Nicaragua with George Badron, and by the way, he closed the office and brought, like, 35 people to be involved The whole in family. This Everybody at the office, they shut the office down and went to Nicaragua. He said that they haven't done that in quite some time, but it's cool.
Gizmo:So he was walking in Nicaragua where his father's, you know, where, I guess, where they were living,
Senator:Yeah, his like childhood home basically-
Bam Bam:Above the Yeah,
Gizmo:and so they're walking down the street, and George looks up and points his finger and says, I used to live there, And there's two guys standing on the balcony completely impromptu saying, Oh my gosh. I knew your father. He was a Nicaraguan pioneer.
Pagoda:Mhmm.
Gizmo:And they're catching this as it's happening on film. I mean, what a lucky moment. And then what's even cooler is George had his family there who all got to see this happening in real time. So, you know, we talked to him about it. He said he got chills.
Gizmo:Mean, was definitely emotional up on that stage after that presentation I got talking chills. About was fantastic.
Senator:Yeah. It's just like to see the resilience and sacrifice that was required to build such an incredibly successful company that now we all get to enjoy the fruits of their labor and the product that they make. Mean, he's talking about in the documentary, I mean, this apartment that they lived in above that factory was so small, you you had a few people in there, there was nowhere even really to sit. You were basically sitting or laying on beds just to like be able to converse with your own family members there, and it's just so cool to see kinda how far they've come, and so many other companies in this industry like it, and I give a lot of credit to the hand rolled folks who make documentaries like this, because I think in the, I'll use spirits as an analogy, I think in the spirit space, it's really easy to tell kind of like the history and legacy story. I mean, almost anywhere you are in The United States, you can find a brewery or a distillery of some sort near you, and for even the big ones, they're pretty easily accessible in major cities.
Senator:You can go to Milwaukee and see Miller Coors, there's so many opportunities to do that. I think in the cigar space, you've gotta fly down to Nicaragua, you gotta fly down to Honduras. It's not so simple and easy to go and actually learn the history and understand what's happening, and a lot of these factories are not in tourist destinations. In Like the spirit space in Puerto Rico, the Bacardi factory is right near San Juan, you're not having to go far, you're not worried about your safety going out to a place like that, and so I think the best vehicle that this industry has to really tell that story for a broader audience is a documentary like this where you get to see firsthand without maybe being able to go to Nicaragua yourself to go and experience it.
Bam Bam:That's correct. I just can't believe he started this business with $5,600.
Gizmo:Yeah, And burned it all on rent before he even started rolling tobacco. Yeah. It's an amazing story that Jose Cordova was able to get that going and now going on sixty plus years. Actually, this year would've been his one hundredth birthday.
Pagoda:Yeah.
Gizmo:So they're gonna be announcing a cigar later this year. It's not ready yet. They did have the beautiful Elie blue humidor here, which actually on the top of it had like a motif or like a wooden kind of picture. Those were doors that George's father had produced, and they decided to put that on the humidor with LA So it's gonna be a beautiful release. Certainly gonna be an expensive release.
Gizmo:No question about that, celebrating Jose Orlando Padron's what would have been his one hundredth birthday. So looking forward to that coming out later this year. So aside from that, Padron didn't have any other product announcements this year. We're looking forward to to seeing that later.
Pagoda:I I do wanna mention, I also really enjoyed the relationship between the father and the son because they spent seven years in Nicaragua.
Gizmo:Yeah. Working in a small apartment.
Pagoda:In a small apartment.
Gizmo:Which was also the factory.
Bam Bam:That's right.
Pagoda:Which was also the factory. And then he mentioned the moment, which, you know, it reminded me, me and my dad sometimes, They would get together and they didn't even have like a place to sit. They were sitting on their beds and having a drink, you know, sharing a drink at the end of the night of hard work, and it was just great. Like when you think about those moments between the dad and the son, know, for for everyone, you know, who has kids, it's it's just great to see that.
Gizmo:So, boys, we have a lot to get to, but we're coming to the end of the first third here on the aging room. Blue amber, blue turquoise, the Preferrito from Rafael Nadal. What is everybody thinking? Yeah.
Pagoda:I'm I'm really enjoying it. I I think, you know, I was trying to say that it was mintish. It's I think, you know, I was looking the word for it in in English. It's, like, don't know whether you guys have had clove as a spice. It gives it cooling effect.
Pagoda:I think that's the effect I'm getting. Sometimes when I'm just, I don't know, it's just cooled my mouth as opposed to being hot on the palate.
Gizmo:I love the mouthfeel this year.
Pagoda:Yeah. It's really beautiful. Pleasant. It's very, very nice.
Bam Bam:I have to agree with that cooling effect. I'm not getting mint, however.
Pagoda:No, no, the clove ish.
Bam Bam:More clove.
Pagoda:It's not like, I'm not saying it's a spice, it's a cooling thing you get after.
Bam Bam:It has a cleansing effect for me, but for me, I'm getting dark chocolate with sea salt.
Pagoda:Yeah, that's exactly what
Bam Bam:And a you're touch of minerality, which is giving this thing gray balance.
Senator:I Very agree with all the above. Describing kind of the mouthfeel as like a very cool delivery of smoke.
Bam Bam:Correct. You know,
Senator:it's weird. It's like, you know, there's Like with humidifiers, right? There's like cool mist and like hot ones.
Gizmo:The VapoRub
Senator:or the Yeah, and like, but it's literally just like basically, like, the humidity that's coming out is either cool or warm, and with most cigars, you would describe the smoke as warm. I don't know many cigars I've smoked that would describe it as like a cool smoke that I'm drawing from the cigar, but for some reason with this cigar, it it's like this cool, easy delivery of smoke, and it allows you to just focus so much on the flavor. So I don't know what to attribute that to, but I really like it. And in terms of flavor profile, I mean, think just like Bam was saying-
Gizmo:You nailed it, Bam.
Senator:That's I get a lot of cocoa and salt, and I like the kind of play between sweet and salty that you get in the blend, so I think it's really good.
Gizmo:And I think that, if you wanna call it minerality, he kind of teed that up when we talked about the cigar with him, but there's something there that is kind of enhancing the elegance of the smoke beyond salt and cocoa that's really, it's really refined.
Bam Bam:Yeah, there's an earthiness to it, but It's not just a slight touch
Pagoda:of it.
Gizmo:And it seems like a more mature cigar from the Aging Room series. We love those cigars, but this seems a little bit more elegant or mature. I don't know what word I wanna use. Rich, maybe? I'm not sure Yeah, I what think the word mature
Senator:is the right word, because I think, you know, in the standard aging room line, and it's in no way a complaint, like I think it's kinda by design, and I think we enjoy it, like there's a little bit of, I don't wanna say a punch, but like something that really wits you up or snaps you to attention.
Bam Bam:It does snap you to attention.
Senator:It's aged tobacco, but it's a bold delivery. I think with this, this is such a soft, easygoing delivery of flavor that comes from like heavily matured tobacco. So I do think you get that a lot throughout this cigar.
Pagoda:I'll tell you, more than the aging room variation, I don't know whether I should say it, but if I were to close my eyes and if I were to think about it as a variation, it kind of is very Padron esque to me. You know? Like, at the variation of a Padron with less pepper. You know? It's like, if I were to close my eyes and somebody handed the cigar in with a blind tasting, it's very I think a slight departure from at least the Sonata and the Concerto, but closer maybe to the orange label.
Pagoda:Like, I don't know.
Gizmo:But I think significantly more refined Very refined. Yeah. Than the orange label for sure.
Pagoda:Oh, no. Way, way, way more. So let's go
Gizmo:through some other show highlights, some new releases and whatnot that we have seen at the show this year, starting actually right across the way from us here at the Davodoff booth, they're highlighting the Porto, Nicaragua that we've been talking about. We got some cigars actually to try, so we're gonna try those out. I haven't smoked one of those yet. Have any of you guys smoked that cigar, the new No. No.
Gizmo:So I'm looking forward to trying it. The big highlight over there, and then they have a new I'm sure Rooster has. Well, I'm getting the one for him, but they also have at the same booth, a new AVO coming out, the Espresso line, which they're really excited about. And then finally the Xeno, the Honduran line, the orange one.
Pagoda:I really wouldn't try that.
Gizmo:That's for Rooster.
Bam Bam:That's correct.
Gizmo:So they're pretty excited about those releases. We got to talk to those guys a little bit. You know, was a good conversation. So I'm feeling, you know, we've been harsh on Davidoff over the last couple months. I have.
Gizmo:Not I. Yeah. I've been harsh on Davidoff. So I'm curious to see what the next couple years are gonna look like. Seems like they've got a strong team over there.
Gizmo:Some new folks have come in, so it was good to meet them and chat with them. So we'll see what happens. We're not gonna let up the gas, but we'll see what see what comes out. So, boys, another booth I wanna talk about was the beautiful La Aurora booth. Of course, our friends over there, love those guys, and they are putting out the next cigar in the Family Creed series, which you're gonna have to help me with the Spanish here, Senator, perseverance,
Bam Bam:perseverance. Perseverance.
Gizmo:Perseverance. Persevere. It's that syllable, the Varencia. Yeah. Anyway, that cigar is awesome.
Gizmo:I actually have five of them right here that we're gonna smoke tonight after dinner. Pagoda and I were lucky enough to try that in The Dominican Republic at Pro Cigar with-
Pagoda:Pre testing, right?
Gizmo:Yeah. Yeah. Was kind of like coming up to the final blend. It's a great cigar. I'm looking forward to trying it.
Gizmo:They have some awesome new releases and they have a beautiful booth. They're very friendly over there.
Bam Bam:They've had a beautiful booth for years.
Gizmo:And they did a great pairing, by the way. I wanna shout them out at the-
Senator:Yeah, Friday.
Gizmo:Opening night, the opening afternoon, excuse me, they had a great pairing. They had the Fuerte Sol, the Family Creed we did last year on this podcast, at this episode, we reviewed that cigar alongside the Ilion Jimenez rum that we loved so very much, the 110.
Senator:Delicious Which was a hit. I mean, everyone was going, not just for one glass, but multiple glasses of the rum. I mean, perfect pairing.
Bam Bam:Not five.
Pagoda:What a way to start off the whole, you know, convention.
Gizmo:Yeah. Yeah, great kickoffs. You walk
Pagoda:in and they're pouring rum at the door. It reminded me of years ago when I used to go to these islands, they'd welcome me to the airport with a drink. Yeah. It just, know, oh, music. And you'd feel happy and lively and ready to start your vacation.
Pagoda:This is exactly what I felt. And I walked in, you know, was poured a nice glass of rum, of course, and it was fantastic as always. And then, you know, got the cigar and So ready to start the
Gizmo:they were doing these little pours, right, in these glasses? And all of a sudden we're kinda thinking like, that's not enough. And we weren't the only ones. Then the people serving it were like, Yeah, just take two, three, and we all got a nice pour rum. So shout out to the La Aurora folks and the Fantastic Julio Jimenez cigar.
Gizmo:Great rum pairing. And like I said, we reviewed that last year, and I think reviewing it last year, we might have reviewed it too early because the one we had at the show was even better than the cigar we had last year. So definitely check out the Family Creed series, including the new one that's coming out after PCA twenty twenty six
Pagoda:this year. You know, I do wanna say something about La Aurora. The way they welcome you, obviously, have had experience in the Doctor with them. Yeah. They're awesome.
Pagoda:They're a great host. And I'll tell you, you and think about it. You walk into a convention, and they're doing it for what, 500, 600 people. You know, rum is flowing, thousand people. What a great way to welcome, you know, fantastic, you know, kudos and shout out to La Aurora for that.
Pagoda:So the other
Gizmo:thing I wanna mention too, I I really love their booth. Have you got did you guys see the Placencia booth? Yeah. Yeah? Phenomenal looking It's
Senator:a big booth.
Gizmo:Huge.
Bam Bam:It is. It's the same design and configuration at each show, but it's substantial and very well received always.
Gizmo:Yeah. There's there's a ton of people. Ton of people. Always. And they've completely rebranded.
Gizmo:They have a new logo and everything else. And they have this like grassy wall, I guess you'd call it with the logo that people have been using to take social media photos and whatnot.
Senator:It's been very funny. I was walking over with Rafael Nadal to bring him in for
Gizmo:our
Senator:interview, we stopped at that wall, and Ed Reed was there, so I got a chance to meet him, and Nadal told me, I should have mentioned this actually when we interviewed him, Nadal told me that during COVID, he spent almost every day with Ed Reed in Miami. What? They know each other so well, and I No said kidding. I said, How did this happen? And he said, Basically, we go to the same cigar lounge in Miami, and it was one of the only things consistently open that they could go to.
Senator:So they they spent so much time together. Were very good friends.
Bam Bam:Cool.
Gizmo:Yeah. So Ed Reed has a cigar with them. It was good to see him again because, you know, unlike, and we're gonna talk about it in a minute, you know, some of these other cigar celebrity cigars, you know, where, you know, they attach a name, like the Mike Tyson thing with Gurka. I don't even think they're making that cigar anymore, you know? And that was a huge launch, but I don't even know if that partnership continues, but some of these other celebrity, you know, cigar manufacturing situations, it's good to see a celebrity continuing to be involved in the promotion and the celebration of the cigar.
Gizmo:So, you know, a lot of them don't do that, but to see Ed Reed come, now this is the second or third show we've seen him at, some of these other guys, it's good to see them engaged.
Bam Bam:Guy Fieri's here. Yeah? I have to say. Well, was here. Was here.
Gizmo:Yeah, he went
Bam Bam:home. Prior to coming to this show, you know, I was very skeptical. Think a lot of us were. But after his presentation, he's very you can tell his passion, his involvement. You know, I have more respect for his line.
Bam Bam:I'm I would like to try his cigar and give it a shot, but you make a great point. If they're involved in every step of the way, you should give them a chance.
Pagoda:No. You seem fully committed. Yeah. Yeah. Fully.
Gizmo:And you know, I forgot to mention.
Senator:I was gonna go there.
Gizmo:I've totally forgot to mention that there was a panel that closed the day with Guy Fieri and Marlon Wayans who now has a new line called Liga Tradente that he is a full on partner, and he's been at the show every day.
Bam Bam:And you can hear the passion in his voice about the products that he
Gizmo:And I love his passion for learning about it. Like he's come in completely hands up saying, I don't know much about this, but I love it. And he seems like a sponge for learning about the manufacturing and blending and-
Bam Bam:We need to try his cigar.
Gizmo:Branding of cigars.
Senator:And a serious cigar consumer in the sense that he explained for years, I mean, he was smoking a lot. I mean, many sticks a day, couldn't be without a cigar. There was a period of time basically he took off from smoking cigars, and he kind of refound his love of cigars. And ironically, you know, it's actually funny because we did a recent podcast within at least the last month or two talking about oral hygiene with cigars and all these things, and part of the reason he kind of just took a break from cigars is he didn't necessarily know how do get this taste out of my mouth when you kind of don't want it to be there? And certain things health wise that he was just a little worried about.
Senator:And once he kind of figured that out and some opportunities presented themselves to him to really get back into cigars, not just as a consumer, but as an owner and creator of a cigar line, that's what brought him back, and it was so cool to hear both him and Guy Fieri talk about how they were even critical of celebrities that have partnered with cigar brands that have literally just basically signed a sponsorship agreement, showed up at one event, and been completely absent since that, and both of them are trying to take the opposite approach. I mean, we saw Marlon Waynes in his booth all day yesterday recording content, talking about his product, all of that, and Guy Fieri seems to have the exact same type of passion for the product. So it gives us some hope because I think we have been incredibly skeptical, and I still think we'll always remain rightfully skeptical when there is a celebrity partnership, but it's good to see that there are some of these that I think are really authentic.
Bam Bam:And they're also consumers of cigars on a daily basis. I think that for us, for me personally, that hits home.
Gizmo:They're not guys who smoke cigars, they're cigar smokers.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Senator:Right. Guy Fieri talked about going to Cuba for the first time, and how he just couldn't get enough of what was there, and he went out to the farms in Pinar Del Rio, like we all have. That's what you wanna hear from someone who's serious about cigars, and Marlon Wayne's talking about all the time he spent in Nicaragua and The Dominican and these places with his team that is working on his cigars. Like, that shows you actually are serious about
Gizmo:cigars.
Bam Bam:And Marlon commenting about spending more time at home alone or with two or three people smoking a cigar, and in his business, there are many, many other things that he could be doing out in the public. Right?
Gizmo:Especially as a very successful comedian, I movie mean, he's doing it all.
Senator:The funny thing is how Marlon Wayne said he first got into cigars. He said it was from his brother who was good friends with Michael Jordan who got him into cigars.
Bam Bam:And apparently his brother doesn't smoke good cigars. That's what he said. I appreciate that commentary. He'd rather stay home, have a cigar with one or two guys, have a nice, quiet evening. That hits home.
Senator:He literally said, I mean, when he kinda struck fame in Hollywood, you know, for him, cigars was a way to avoid the mistakes that so many others were making of going out to the club and, you know, spending silly amounts of money, ending up in a situation where you're front page of a newspaper article basically about whatever was happening that night. And for him, he'd rather be at home exactly like you're saying and enjoy a cigar with people that are close to him, that actually care about him, not a bunch of groupies out, you know, in a nightclub. Yep. I I think there's something to be said for that as like a good representation of what this hobby means for us, and like why it's so important to us.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Pagoda:And to mention that Guy Fieri, I think, started smoking cigars when he was in twenties. I think he just turned twenties or 21, and he was he said he would when he would get his first paycheck, he would go and buy a cigar and smoke it.
Bam Bam:That's
Pagoda:right. And that's, you know, the fact that somebody has been a cigar lover for so long, and it's always been his dream to start a cigar brand, and he's doing it
Gizmo:with Apparently, his team had been telling him no, no, no, no. For many years, like, do not do this. It's not gonna work. Celebrity cigars don't work. It's tobacco, everything else.
Gizmo:And he finally got to the point where he said, guess what? He's met Eric Espinosa. We're doing it. And it's been highly successful. As we talked about, you know, last week we put out that knuckle sandwich episode.
Gizmo:I mean, you know, it's been a long journey for those guys to put it together. So hopefully, when we have another one of those, it'll perform better for us. But it's, you know, it's good to see him in it, doing it, and, you know, it was nice to see that presentation with the two of them. Of course, both kind of, you know, celebrity kind of comedians, you know, well, not kind of in Marlon's case, but, you know, Guy Fieri, it was it was a cool dynamic on stage with those two. You know, it was a nice presentation.
Bam Bam:I'd like to give Guy a few tasting notes on that sucker punch cigar.
Gizmo:Knuckle sandwich. We'll do it again. Go ahead.
Bam Bam:I'd like to give Guy Fieri some tasting notes on the uppercut.
Gizmo:The knuckle sandwich. Fuck.
Bam Bam:Forget what I was saying. No. That would be size. Knuckle sandwich? Knuckle I would.
Bam Bam:I'm not sure if it'll be well received, but you know, be nice.
Gizmo:No, think those guys are cool with feedback. I don't know if they'd love it, but I think like anybody who's making something for, you know, consumption like that, think they wanna hear the feedback.
Bam Bam:So Sure,
Gizmo:hopefully they hear that episode and take it, you know, as we mean it, and with just honesty. Constructive criticism. Exactly right.
Pagoda:And I would imagine him being a chef, he's been so reiterative in the way he cooks, meaning, you know, to reach a level where he's reached, I'm sure he'd be open to
Gizmo:it.
Senator:It's funny just talking about feedback. Gizmo and I were just over at the Drew Estate booth, and I heard something that was surprising to me in a really great way. I'm listening to one of the reps for Drew Estates talk to a few retailers about a cigar, they have them laying out in a box, and the retailer says something like, What's the flavor profile of the cigar like? What do you know about it? And the guy says, I have no idea, I've never smoked it.
Senator:And I sat there, sitting there, very confused, like, Why would he be talking about this? And he goes on to tell them, he says, This cigar is not released. This is still effectively a prototype, and we are handing these out to retailers asking for your feedback. Well, that's cool. On the blend, on the packaging, on the bands, everything, and it's like an entirely new branded line for Juris State that they're, I guess, considering coming out with, and I just thought, you know, we talk about market research, and Vance at Stoic with the codes to solicit feedback from his customers, and I was very impressed to see a brand humble enough to basically say, We don't always have all the answers, and we actually would love some feedback to perfect something before we put it out.
Senator:So just something that really surprised I've never really seen at any PCA we've been at, any manufacturer hand out essentially an unfinished product and say, give us feedback before we actually finalize and produce it for the masses. It's pretty cool.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Kind of opposite as to what Ernesto said about how he blends, right? He blends for what he loves and for what he likes. It's a definitely- And
Gizmo:it starts there.
Bam Bam:Yeah, and it's a departure I think
Gizmo:most blenders do do that.
Bam Bam:Yeah, sure.
Gizmo:You know, but it is interesting, you know, you can't get much bigger than Drew Estate, far as a company goes. As far
Bam Bam:as sales volume, yeah.
Gizmo:Yeah, to see them doing that and allowing their retailers to participate in the blending process, that's pretty damn cool.
Pagoda:Yeah. It also tells you about the sophistication of where the market's headed, right? It's becoming very sophisticated. And it's been interesting, and, you know, I think we spoke to Ernesto about this EP career, just this conversation in terms of how not only are the consumers getting a lot more educated, but so is the manufacturing side of the business getting more educated, even from all the way to the growing of the plants. And so the feedback, it's like one of these loops where you need everything to be in sync, you know.
Pagoda:And so it's really interesting that the industry has evolved with where they had no information, with farmers, people rolling cigars and selling it, and then, you know, taken by the whim, and now it's reaching a level where, hey, listen, this is a product that we are really marketing and selling to the consumers. Let's get to understand what is it they're seeking as well. So while it may start with the blender, but the eventual thing does go to the sales side of the business.
Gizmo:So of course, and we talked with Rafael Nadal about this. A ton of releases coming from him and Altadis, AJ Fernandez that he has his hands in that we're pretty excited about. You know, of course, the aging room we're smoking tonight, the blue amber. There's a Romeo y Julieta that I thought was interesting. I know, Senator, you had smoked that.
Gizmo:We talked about the fact that it's being presented at that booth for retailers to try alongside dark chocolate and red wine, which is, I don't think I've seen red wine as appearing here at the show before. Don't think so either.
Pagoda:You've seen dark chocolate for sure.
Gizmo:Dark
Bam Bam:chocolate. He feels vindicated. Correct. Correct.
Gizmo:So that was good to see. And then there's another release coming, a new Monte Cristo that Placencia is making. So a lot of stuff coming from Rafael Nadal. So anything he has his hands in seems like it's working for a palate. So I think our hesitation to smoke brands that share a name with the Cuban brands and our frustration with that fact over the years.
Gizmo:I think the fact that Rafael Nadal is involved in these things, and we have such a great rapport with him, they clearly and he clearly has a deep respect for the history of those brands. So I'm looking forward to trying them.
Senator:I agree. I mean, that Trinidad Espiritu was probably one of the most eye opening cigars we've done on the pod. Yeah, delicious. Because in many years past, our experience wasn't necessarily that great with a lot of these brands that kinda hold the name of Cuban marca. I think they've got clearly the right team, and I think they have people that understand, at the very least, our palate, if not a large majority of cigar smokers' palates to really bring them into the fold.
Senator:So I'm definitely excited to see what they put out.
Gizmo:And I think, and we talked about this, but it does seem like overall, the quality of the cigars that this industry are, you know, is making are increasing, and we've talked about this over the last ten, fifteen years. There's definitely gonna be a positive trend toward quality. Certainly during the cigar boom, it wasn't about quality, and that's why so many brands failed. You know, they'd put out a release. They'd have success with it.
Gizmo:Then they'd try to scale, and they couldn't meet the demand with a quality product, and they fell apart. That's the big story of the '90s cigar boom. Of course, a lot of folks like Ernesto Perez Carrillo made it through and really succeeded and came out of that doing quite well, but a lot didn't, and it was because of that. So it's good to see now, despite the challenges and the headwinds of this industry, that quality is at the forefront of people's efforts at this point, which is great.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:So we had a great time at the Aladino booth, as we said. Yes. Juste loves Bam Bam. Correct. And we got to see their new releases.
Bam Bam:Bam Bam.
Gizmo:Bam Bam. And we also got to interview his daughter, Ariana Aieroa. So we got to talk to her for the first time, sat down with her for about twenty minutes and talked about new product. And we've said this before, as we've talked about Aladino, we talked about this the last PCA, our appreciation for that family and their intensity at that booth, it's really impressive to see them work.
Bam Bam:Yeah, she's a wonderful, intelligent young woman with her head on straight. Agree. Look, I mean,
Senator:are many wildly successful families in this industry, and we always see a lot of their kids at the show, and they play various roles within the company. I have yet to see the next generation, especially at that age, I mean, she's Gen Z?
Gizmo:Yeah, 24, 25, I think.
Senator:To have someone- Consider that. Gen Z who is not just sitting there learning, of course she's doing that, but is sitting there talking to retailers, taking orders, explaining the product, talking about new releases. I mean, her grasp of their business is really remarkable for someone at her age, and you see stuff like that, and it gives you so much confidence for the future because it's almost like anything. Like, we're all sports fans, and you know, we've lived through some of like the golden years of sports where, you know, when I was young, and certainly Gizmo, like, getting to see Michael Jordan play. Not these two.
Senator:Yeah, not these two. They were older getting to see Michael Jordan play.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Senator:And then you think about what the world is gonna look like when the LeBron James of the world retire, and in baseball, when Derek Jeter and all these guys, you worry about what the future of any sport, football doesn't matter, any sport is gonna look like. And in cigars, there's kind of this, Oh boy, what is the world gonna look like when George Padron isn't running the operation, when Ernesto isn't around? There's just a lot of questions, and what just inspires so much confidence is when you see not just people who are the second generation, but older with some more experience. I mean, Lisette Carrillo obviously has been involved in that business for a while now, and who better to learn from than her father Ernesto, but you see someone as young as Ariana being able to learn from her father, it comforts me that we won't have to worry about quality and cutting corners, and a lack of understanding of our palettes, and what consumers are actually looking for. So I thought her interview was incredibly eye opening, and just confidence inspiring as far as the future goes.
Gizmo:And I'm also proud that we, I believe, are the first
Bam Bam:To interview.
Gizmo:Interview that Ariana has done. Yeah. Just by herself. So I'm proud of that. Know, twenty years from now, that's gonna be the case.
Gizmo:So I'm looking forward to seeing that trajectory.
Bam Bam:Also impressive at her age that she's handling strategy and planning for the company and involved in some blending decisions.
Pagoda:What about this?
Bam Bam:Off the charts.
Pagoda:She came over here with such elegance and poise.
Bam Bam:Yeah, exactly.
Pagoda:To be sitting for the first time with people, you know,
Gizmo:that she's Not really spent a lot of time with.
Pagoda:Right. And being very confident in her answers, the way she handled herself. I think it's an interview which you're gonna enjoy. Short, sweet, and very, very powerful and engaging. Well, you know, here comes the next generation, and the next generation of women are my dad.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:So Aladino has some great releases coming out. Of course, the February, I think we've talked about that before. Aladino February. They have a new line of cigars which are interesting, featuring like a gorilla type character, three different gorilla type characters called the Gorbusto, which is the three of them are different blends and different wrapper, I believe, and it's a 60 ring gauge cigar by four and a half inches long. So they're releasing that this year.
Gizmo:And then we were very excited when we pulled up and we told Ariana this when we talked to her. We saw in the display case they had at the front, you know, the eighty fifth display, and all of sudden a there's a Lancero sitting there. You were giddy. You know I love Lanceros, man. Correct.
Senator:And I'm sorry. We have to credit Ariana probably with this. I mean, her favorite Vitola basically is the Lanceros that they make.
Bam Bam:That's right.
Senator:And she said that they have been getting a lot of questions and feedback of, is there gonna be an eighty fifth Lancero and things like that? And ta da, we see in the case here,
Gizmo:there is one. And Juste was hilarious about the revealing of the details on that. He's trying to keep it hush and build up a little hype and, you know, keep things mum. And Ariana was like, Dad, it's coming out in December. It's coming out.
Gizmo:It's happening. Don't worry about it. That's right. Got it. So it was cool to see their dynamic happening in real time.
Pagoda:Mhmm.
Gizmo:It seems like they really enjoy working together. And like I said, you know, she's gonna be running that company someday with her two sisters, and it's awesome to see that so early now as they, you know, learn and develop. Obviously they're very, like you said, very hands on in that business. Yeah.
Senator:I mean, one of us asked how many other people are in the office day to day?
Gizmo:Aside from the family.
Senator:Aside from the family. She said two.
Bam Bam:That's right.
Gizmo:That's unbelievable. People, and five of them are family. That's like the Padron office. I mean, I would imagine for how big the Padron office is, there might be only one or two people that are not Padron
Bam Bam:That's right.
Gizmo:Family members working in that office. It's pretty incredible. So it was cool to chat with her, and we look forward, like Pagoda said, sharing that interview with you in the coming weeks with Ariana. So, of course, we have to talk about Perez Carrillo. Casa Carrillo putting out a bunch of new releases.
Gizmo:Of course, the Pledge of Allegiance, which they're doing two releases this year under the Pledge of Allegiance name. The first is a very limited edition, two hundred and fiftieth beautiful humidor with two separate blends in it. I mean-
Senator:Stunning. Stunning. Yep.
Gizmo:And they're only making, I believe, two fifty of those humidors individually numbered, but the presentation there, they don't have the pricing details yet. You'll hear some more detail on the blend and the thinking behind it when we share our interview with Ernesto, which we'll talk about in a minute, but there's a lot of cool stuff coming from them. Of course, the Ascend, which is a new cigar that they're putting out, the Deep Blue that we've talked about before, and the Pledge Purple, which, you know, we've talked about in the past. BAM has-
Bam Bam:Which I love.
Gizmo:Really enjoyed.
Bam Bam:Yeah, really love it.
Pagoda:So they have a
Gizmo:lot of good stuff coming out. It was cool cool to see how busy their booth was. All the booths that we've talked about have been
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:Were really, really busy.
Bam Bam:Very happy for them.
Senator:I mean, I just wanna say for the listener, the interview we did with Ernesto, I mean- Unbelievable. What an outrageous wealth of knowledge that man is.
Bam Bam:Off the charts.
Senator:I mean, the fact that we're sitting even just talking about, since we're on these new releases, the Pledge of Allegiance, the one that's gonna come in the special humidor, that's an American puro.
Gizmo:Yeah. Both of them are.
Bam Bam:That's right. That is insane. The Maduro and Unnatural.
Senator:Those are,
Gizmo:but not the That's what I'm saying, both of them in that box. Yeah,
Senator:both of them in the box are, and it's just wild. I mean, you think of how limited the experience is with any manufacturer that's at PCA, period, with American Tobacco. I mean, there's small bits that they, of course, introduce in certain blends, but to do that and to be confident enough to put that out as like a really marquee limited special release was so cool, and just to hear about all the wild things that he's experimenting with and where he sees the future going, I mean, this is not a guy who has spent fifty plus years in the industry that is thinking about, Oh, you know, my best days are behind. I mean, this man is thinking well into the future about all this new and crazy and cool stuff that he has planned and hopes that his children are gonna carry along, so just an incredible interview.
Bam Bam:Yeah, I'm intrigued about the potential of smoking his future cigars that combine Nicaraguan tobacco with American tobacco, Dominican tobacco with American tobacco. It's it's intriguing, and all of the other destinations where he's sourcing product from Colombia and Peru and other countries. It's gonna be eye opening.
Gizmo:It was a really incredible conversation. And I say that because and we had a great conversation with Lisette last year. Ernesto was such a soft spoken guy. He's not that kinda big personality that you, you know, out front in front of the camera. This man has dedicated his life to tobacco.
Bam Bam:Blending.
Gizmo:As I was listening and we were speaking with him, it really reminded me his passion for the very specific creating great blends of premium tobacco really reminded me of a documentary I fell in love with a long time ago about a Japanese sushi chef named Jiro, j I
Senator:r Jiro dreams of sushi.
Gizmo:Jiro dreams of sushi. It was a very similar type of mentality that Ernesto has about his product and the passion that Ernesto at his age today and knowing what his passion's gonna be in ten or fifteen years,
Senator:it seems like it's just getting more intense. The Giro analogy's actually a really good one because, you know, Lisette had kind of previewed for us last year what a perfectionist her father is. I mean, this man is obsessed.
Bam Bam:And he mentioned it himself.
Senator:Did, he fully, he said, I am incredibly He said, difficult to Sometimes I can over obsess about a blend, if not most of the time. And it's just really cool when you get a chance to sit down with someone who is such a master of their craft, such a perfectionist, who cares so much about getting it right every time. Yep. And then to hear his process and how he goes about it, I mean, not just even blending the cigar, We got in a conversation about humidity, that gizmo,
Gizmo:I mean. Oh, I was on cloud nine.
Senator:The man in every aspect cares about every detail, and it's just really cool to understand. By
Gizmo:the way, he agrees with me that most retailers keep their humidity too That's true.
Senator:Oh, with all of
Bam Bam:us. We don't know. With 100%.
Gizmo:I mean, and also, you know, dry boxing. You know, he seems like he and I are like minded in that Of
Pagoda:course you are.
Gizmo:In that world, but it's awesome to hear a manufacturer talking about the importance of proper humidification, resting, acclamation, all those things. Those words are not being talked about. No. When you hear people talking about blending or making cigars, it was refreshing to hear that. But again, I couldn't believe for how low key he is as a human being, running into him, hearing him, you know, do other, you know, interviews or conversations.
Gizmo:To sit here with him and do that deep dive that we did for an hour, I think it's one of the best hours that we've ever done as a group and on this podcast.
Bam Bam:I agree.
Pagoda:I think you're gonna really enjoy it because he epitomizes passion, and you will see that in the interview, you know, to follow.
Gizmo:So, boys, we're coming into the last third now on the aging room. Blue Amber, Blue Turquoise by Rafael Nadal. What's everybody thinking?
Bam Bam:You know, I'd love a glass of Cabernet with this. For me, it's it's giving me a very sophisticated finish similar to sophisticated Cabernet that's got a nice dry miner minerality in the finish. I'm getting that here with a touch of dark chocolate.
Pagoda:Pretty much the same, you know, and I find that it's leaving a lot in the first half of my palate, not all the way in the back. But it's very, very pleasant and you and you can, know, these are flavors I think, which were typically in our zone. I think this is what we used to smoke, and so I'm really, really loving this cigar.
Senator:Yeah, I think for me, as you get to the final third, it picks up a bit in body and strength.
Gizmo:It does.
Senator:I think now it is medium full.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Senator:So I like the build, I like the progression.
Gizmo:Nice journey.
Senator:It is. I think the flavors get kind of richer and deeper, kind of that cool smoke that just dances on your palate. I think probably the first half of the cigar. I think in the second half, it sits and it lingers, the finish gets longer. Yep.
Senator:So I think there's a ton to like about this cigar. I'm really happy with it.
Bam Bam:Yeah, agreed.
Gizmo:I'm loving it. I think you guys are spot on. I love how it's picked up a little bit in intensity in this last third without losing the refinement or the maturity we were talking about. I think it's really taken us on a nice journey so far. I'm curious how it's gonna finish here, but I'm really, really enjoying this cigar.
Gizmo:You know, I would love to have, I wish I had another one on me so I could smoke it after dinner tonight, but yeah, this is really good.
Pagoda:Oh yeah. It's very satisfying in its own right. You know, it's like, you know, you get a complete cigar experience like a good, and I'm sure, like, after a good meal, this would really work well as well. You know, the one thing we didn't talk about is the ash. You know, I know that I've ashed it a few times, and I remember Rafael speaking about it, and he says, oh, the ash is, you know, very If
Gizmo:you want to, you can really get into the second, And third with the
Pagoda:even though I've been really ashing, you know, there have been moments where it just, it's beautiful white, excellent ash. It's a really good cigar.
Bam Bam:My only criticism would be the ash itself. It's a touch flaky. It's flaky.
Senator:Yeah. Yeah. That's my experience.
Bam Bam:Yeah. I'd like to have another one, let it sit in humidor for a little while, and then dry box and see if I can get that structure that he was talking about and smoke it down to see how much of an ash I can build. But today, it's a little too flaky. Otherwise, excellent.
Pagoda:I don't see any on my clothes.
Gizmo:Yeah. Nice job.
Bam Bam:Oh, I do.
Senator:No. Yours is yours is pretty The gutters is pretty good, but for me, the first inch, the structure is really firm, like the ash stays on, but after that, it's been super flaky, so that's my only complaint.
Gizmo:So boys, coming into the show, we talked about predictions, trends, you know, things that we expected to see at this show this year. So first, what kind of trends did you have you seen? What kind of new ideas or or consistent themes have you seen this year at the show that maybe were a surprise or unexpected or different? Like, what like, from that perspective, industry wise, you know, moving as one, what what are you guys what are you guys picking up on?
Bam Bam:I'm seeing more pipe distributors here this time than I noticed in other shows. I'm also noticing a lot of the accessory reps, cutters, lighters, that kind of thing. More of those type of companies here than in previous shows.
Gizmo:And I think premium kind of like custom boxes and and
Bam Bam:custom humidors Great point. That is becoming apparently a big trend.
Gizmo:And not gonna say who, but you saw some manufacturers actually at these booths.
Senator:So was Look at them over. I was over with Rafael Nadal, and I'm looking over at the next booth where they have these like beautiful, like lacquered kind of desktop humidors, and a very prominent manufacturer is
Gizmo:over Friend of the show.
Senator:Friend of the show is over there, I mean, putting glasses on, checking, inspecting every single bit of the configuration of these He
Gizmo:has readers like BAM,
Senator:that's He does. I forgot mine. And you sat there, you could see there's so many different brands that have already partnered with them to have their logos beautifully, you know, done on kind of the top of the humidor, and so I think there is a lot more of that that's happening now.
Bam Bam:Yeah, And makers like Aladino and this aging room, Deep Blue or Blue Amber, they're great representatives of the art of making cigar boxes.
Pagoda:Yeah. What I found is in terms of the themes of all the people we've interviewed and spoken to, it seems that this time they're very, very conscious of the consumer and how to get them involved. I think this time it feels that they're more responsive to the retailers. It's somewhat really interesting that it's like they're really working all the way through, like the whole life cycle of the tobacco all the way to the end. I think they're conscious of everything and it's well represented in, you know, this show in terms, you know, all the way from manufacturers to the cigar accessory guys and so on.
Senator:I think two trends I'll just highlight. One, I feel like there are more women at PCA this year than
Gizmo:we Totally have agree.
Bam Bam:I agree.
Senator:In the years that we have been at this trade show, and it's really encouraging. I mean, I think in the education sessions, there was a lot of talk about kind of the growth of the industry and how there's been a growth among women, not just being involved in the industry, but as consumers of the product, and I'm definitely seeing that. And I think even in years past when I've seen women at the trade show, I would describe about a majority, maybe 50 something percent of them actually regularly smoking, and others here are kinda conducting business, and I think this time, I mean, it's like every time I look around and
Bam Bam:there's- They're awesome.
Senator:A woman at the trade show, yeah, they all have a cigar in their hand lit. It's impressive. It's really cool to see that. And then the second thing, and we were talking about this earlier, but I really think this experimentation with tobacco, I mean, I forget some of which release or two that was this year, but we're still seeing things like tobacco from an undisclosed region or
Gizmo:We have an email coming up about that.
Senator:I think it's, you know-
Gizmo:Good preview, Senator.
Senator:It can be frustrating, but especially with the conversation with Ernesto, it's cool to see them experimenting and trying new and different things, and I don't wanna say there's like an American tobacco boom coming in anyway, but- It
Gizmo:does seem like
Senator:it. Well,
Bam Bam:you know? The use of American tobacco is
Gizmo:growing.
Senator:It's growing.
Gizmo:Yeah, It's it like it dipped for a long time, and now it's coming back.
Bam Bam:And Ernesto's comments really hit home with that.
Senator:Yeah? Yeah. I mean, the fact that he said, and Giz asked this question, and it was a great one, I was thinking the exact same thing, I think our perception is that American tobacco must be inordinately difficult to work with. Or inferior. And frustrated.
Gizmo:Correct.
Senator:Exactly, we're inferior.
Gizmo:Or expensive. Totally. That's what I would say
Senator:about it. And he's sitting there saying, It's wonderful to work with, that he thought American tobacco was Very shocking, High I quality as tobacco that he could get from many countries in South America, and so the experimentation piece, I think, is really cool, and I don't recall in years past hearing as much from blenders about that. Rafael Nadal echoed the exact same thing about him experimenting with more and more, I mean, this blue amber is a perfect example, a tobacco that most kind of shunned for its overt minerality and not knowing how to tame that. So think that's a really cool trend that we're starting to see.
Pagoda:And they're focused on quality, right? So they all believe that it's healthy competition, And what's happening is not only are they experimenting, but they're also trying to get the best product out there for every type of consumer.
Bam Bam:I'm also Sorry. Glad I'm also glad that Rafael Nadal commented on the fact that he does try cigars from other manufacturers. He doesn't shy away from that. I think that's bold and honestly brave.
Gizmo:And so does Ernesto.
Bam Bam:Same with Ernesto. Yeah. Correct. I think it goes to show that they're all looking at what each other's doing and competing with each other.
Gizmo:And I, you know, I wanna tie something together here that I've been thinking since our conversation with Ernesto about American Tobacco. I wonder if the return to using American Tobacco is a product of one or or the other of these two things or a combo of both, because one, I may be off a little bit. But number one, of course, is I think that, like you're saying, this competition that's happening between these manufacturers and blenders where they're constantly trying to, you know, come up with something new, try new things, introduce new flavors, you know, like chefs do at restaurants, trying to put new menu items together that the competing restaurant down the street doesn't have, trying to do the same thing. So I'm wondering if, you know, venturing back into American Tobacco in a heavy way, because if you think about it, the only person really talking, the two people really talking intently about American Tobacco were Nick Mallelo at Foundation and JC Newman.
Bam Bam:That's right.
Gizmo:Right? Like, far as big manufacturers having a constant conversation about the beauty of American tobacco, and now we're seeing more American Pureos. I know the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary is coming up, so it makes sense that we're seeing more American puros today, but it does seem like there's more folks dipping as Pennsylvania broadleaf. Yeah. You know, Connecticut shade.
Gizmo:There's a lot more stuff and crazy tobaccos that I'd never even heard of that Ernesto brought up.
Bam Bam:The Indonesian tobaccos?
Gizmo:It seems like and and that's what I'm warning. So one piece of this is, is it a a matter of competition forcing innovation, or is it or could it be an and? Are manufacturers seeing feedback or response from retailers saying, hey. We like having American tobacco in our shops. We like being able to tell our the consumers in our shops that these are American made cigars.
Gizmo:I think a lot of manufacturers outside of this industry really love saying made in The USA. I don't know.
Senator:I disagree with the last part.
Gizmo:So that's the one I thought might have been a I little crazy
Senator:disagree on the last part, and I say that because for Ernesto to sit here and say that he feels that the American tobacco that he's gotten his hands on is as good as the tobacco as from any other country he's working with as well, I think is agnostic to the fact that it's American tobacco. Now for the American two fifty, of course, that was the impetus, but where Ernesto is incredibly authentic, I mean, he's been coming out now for years with Pledge of Allegiance cigar that has incorporated American tobacco. The majority of manufacturers do not have a fourth of July release.
Bam Bam:Period.
Senator:He's one of the few that does that.
Gizmo:And this would be the third year of it, I think.
Senator:I think so.
Gizmo:Yeah, '24,
Senator:This 2520 was not just a response to America February, he's been doing this even before then clearly because he thought American tobacco was really worth incorporating into some of his blends and really holds a lot of merit. So I don't necessarily think that this is about a made in America product, obviously that's a nice thing, we're obviously based in The United States, but I do think it's a realization that American tobacco yields something unique and high quality that is worth putting in their blends beyond just a release around an important date in American history.
Gizmo:I'm also thinking too that maybe, you know, we know that American tobacco to produce is more expensive, is more difficult than producing in The Caribbean. We know that for a fact, right? You know, I'm wondering if maybe the consumer's acceptance of a higher priced cigar is playing into the ability to incorporate more expensive tobacco into the blends. Because if you think about the trends we've talked about over the last four and a half years on this podcast, prices are constantly going up, arguably more than they ever have in the past. So maybe that is reducing the resistance to spend high dollar on American tobacco because the consumer's willing to pay a little more.
Bam Bam:Maybe.
Gizmo:You know, most the releases we see coming out are mid teens, if not close to 20. I mean, that's the numbers we're talking about. We're smoking a $43 cigar right now.
Bam Bam:True.
Senator:For sure, and it's a blend. So any of these, for the large part, the uses of American tobacco, it's gonna be a small portion of a blend. So I think that helps with smoothing out the costs, and that's where it doesn't have to be cost prohibitive or exorbitant for someone to buy a cigar that has American tobacco in it, it's one part of a larger recipe, and I hope we're gonna see more of it because clearly, you know, it's working well.
Gizmo:Yeah. So another trend that I think I talked about is the color blue. Remember that I was mentioning that? It seems like a ton of new releases are all about the color blue. It's like the theme this year.
Gizmo:I don't know why I pick up on silly things Well, like
Pagoda:that's a great theme you picked up.
Gizmo:But it, like so much blue. Didn't, you know, I didn't even think about the aging room and some of the others that I've seen talking about that, but there's a lot
Bam Bam:of blue happening. You're very aware.
Gizmo:Thanks, Pam. And I wanna say one other one, and I think, Pagoda, you had mentioned this before we came on air here. There are a lot more booths this year to the point where the media compound that we're sitting in right now was pushed all the way down to the end of the hall here because there's like, I don't know, ten, fifteen, 20 more booths, immediately next to us that weren't there last year-
Bam Bam:That's true.
Gizmo:Here in New Orleans. This is the
Senator:first trade show we've been at, at least, where I feel like almost every square foot of the convention center space is occupied. Josh is doing a great job. Truly, Vegas was funny because that venue is naturally larger, but you had a huge open area. That's basically where we set up since there wasn't a designated media area that year. We sort of created our own in that big open space at one end of the convention hall, and even last year here, I mean, it was full, but there was definitely on the edges of the convention floor plenty of space.
Senator:I mean, right now, literally, we're right next to the wall at one end of the convention center. It's awesome to see the growth and proliferation. Mean, Pagoda was talking about all these small brands that continue to pop up here, so clearly the industry is going
Bam Bam:strong. Perfect.
Pagoda:And I think it's like everybody's participating, like the Florida Carne booth. You know, so there are a couple of liquor booths. There are very few of them. Florida Carne happened to be one of them, and
Gizmo:Thank God they're back, by the way. They took last year off. I'm so glad
Pagoda:they're And Lounge from Flor De Cana, who's excellent. Great dude. Yeah, he's been so busy. I've seen that guy just been pouring liquor after liquor, and they've been running. All for pagoda.
Pagoda:Correct.
Gizmo:That's why he's seen it so much.
Pagoda:He has been just so busy last time.
Gizmo:Did you at least tip him?
Pagoda:And you know firsthand.
Bam Bam:You know, also La Galera's here.
Gizmo:Yeah, that's correct. Yeah.
Bam Bam:I haven't remembered seeing them at any previous show, and I'm personally happy about that. Great cigar maker.
Gizmo:Yeah. They had a nice booth.
Bam Bam:Very nice booth. Impressive.
Gizmo:Let me ask you guys this. What out of everything you've seen, what is your favorite booth or the most impressive booth here? Besides Florida Carne, I'm just Well, that's the only one you've seen. No. But seriously, what what booths do you think are available?
Bam Bam:True. True. True. True. True.
Gizmo:To go meet, yeah.
Bam Bam:Below there's offices as well. Tons
Gizmo:of music. Huge True. DJ,
Senator:I mean, you can hear the music from the booth anywhere you are in
Bam Bam:the conventional. It's crazy. Placencia is beautiful as
Gizmo:I think Placencia is one of the best looking.
Bam Bam:It's always been very, very cool. Yeah. And I think Davidoff is quite nicely done.
Gizmo:Davidoff looks good this year. Yeah. Yeah. They did a nice job.
Bam Bam:And you know, Padron,
Gizmo:they- Classic.
Pagoda:Very good.
Bam Bam:It's classic. It continues to be consistent just like their product. I think they always do a beautiful job.
Senator:I'll also just add to the list. I think the Altadis booth this year is very
Gizmo:Very nice.
Senator:Yeah. I mean, they have
Gizmo:It's like little cubbies. Like pockets.
Senator:It's like a well designed home where each room just flows perfectly into the next.
Bam Bam:Each has its own little characteristics.
Senator:Exactly, they have one area with a bar where they're serving wine and chocolate to pair with that new Romeo and Julietta cigar. They have another area with this nice little cart that's making espresso and lattes to your order. Most of booths that have coffee, they're either hitting a button on an espresso or they're just pouring drip coffee. You can literally have them make a latte. I mean, I've watched this person making this stuff there.
Senator:I think it's a really And then like a nice seating area there.
Pagoda:Yep.
Senator:They've created kind of like this showroom to showcase the Under the Stars, the new Monte Cristo release. Like, I just love this setup there.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:Of course we have to shout out the stoic booth. I love what Vance does. Correct. Incorporating stoicism. He's got little statues of Marcus Aurelius this year all And over the his
Bam Bam:books are there.
Gizmo:He's got, you know, stoicism books. It's like, and he's- And great swag. Great swag, the two ashtrays. Yeah. Hats.
Gizmo:The hats.
Pagoda:The smoking diaries. Their ashtray is really good.
Gizmo:Their ashtray is nice. Have a deep ashtray with the four Vitola names on it, wisdom, justice, courage.
Bam Bam:Also, gotta say, Lounge said Flor de Cana, his hospitality is off the chain.
Senator:Forget hospitality, just the setup even.
Bam Bam:The setup's beautiful, the barrel where he can draw the 18 year old rum, it's incredible.
Senator:That's the thing, I mean, was saying in Vegas, they had a smaller footprint for their booth, and he wasn't able to really do all of that, like you're talking about, to have an actual barrel with eighteen year rum in it, and you're able to yourself pull the rum out and pour it-
Bam Bam:Very popular.
Gizmo:Pour it all over yourself,
Pagoda:And by the way, Gizmo Gizmo.
Gizmo:I'm very good at it.
Pagoda:Yeah, fantastic. Bogota, how did
Senator:that go for you?
Pagoda:Oh, it was too long. Wish I was a bit taller. I wish I was born.
Senator:The best part was I think Gizmo went first, and Gizmo, to his credit, did an excellent job. And then I go, and then Pagoda says to me like, oh, give that to me. He's ready to do it. And then he takes it, he goes, he goes, no, take this back. It's about meter long.
Pagoda:Think about a meter long, which is three and a half yard thing, which goes into
Gizmo:Not three and a half yards. Three and half feet.
Pagoda:Three and half feet. Sorry. And it goes into the barrel. It's like with a little small cup. I I didn't even know where to where to hold that.
Pagoda:You know? It was just it was tougher than I thought. Although, I'm gonna try it later again.
Gizmo:And we have to thank Vance and Nicole at the Stoic booth for their hospitality. Been great to us. They've been giving us coffee. We've been hanging out over there. Of course, Excellent we love to meet with
Pagoda:coffee.
Gizmo:Excellent coffee. It was actually hilarious one of the nights. So I wanna tell this story. So one of the evenings of the show, the show closes at 06:00, okay? So we're sitting with Vance and Nicole.
Gizmo:Like, they're just happy to be off of their feet, you know, having a relaxed conversation. Of course, they're excited to be meeting. Like their booth has been super busy as it was last year, which is nice to see opening accounts, selling stuff. So they've been really hustling, and it's just the two of them in the booth, you know, handling all this, making coffee, clearing ashtrays, giving out cigars, selling, you know, doing their thing with retailers. So we're sitting there at, you know, we sat down at 06:00 when the show closed.
Gizmo:You know, I figured they'd at least let the manufacturer to stay till seven, 07:30.
Bam Bam:Sure.
Gizmo:So we're sitting there, coffee, hanging out, eating some stuff, and all of a sudden the security guard comes over and, like, not kindly but very sternly says, the show floor closed fifty six minutes ago. What what was the line?
Senator:You must leave immediately. And then this is
Gizmo:the best part. He stood there and watched the six of us Yep.
Pagoda:Wrap up.
Gizmo:Pack up their booth, clean things up, pack It must've been ten minutes. He stood there.
Senator:Yeah, stood there like if we didn't pack up fast enough, he was going to physically remove us from the building. Like we were
Gizmo:about Yeah, get I'd
Bam Bam:see him try that.
Gizmo:It was pretty wild though. I've never seen I that mean, I guess, you know, for the exhibitor side of it, it's good that they're pretty serious about security so people can't go around and loot booths, but it was a pretty wild thing to be stood over while we were sitting there, you know, get the hell out of here pretty much.
Pagoda:Yeah. Some of us have been known to close bars down. This was a new experience.
Bam Bam:Speak for yourself.
Gizmo:What time did you guys get here on Saturday?
Pagoda:Yes. Yeah. Oh, yeah. What time did we leave?
Bam Bam:That was a great night. It was also great to see Klaus and his wife. Yes. Whenever they make an appearance, he was doing interviews here. He's got a great presence.
Bam Bam:I think he has a lot of respect in the industry. It's cool to see
Gizmo:him here. Yeah. And he's clearly here, you know, working on the next, what those next stages of calendar cigars, who they're working with, who they're making cigars for. So it's cool to see that happening in real time.
Bam Bam:It'd be great to see him have his booth in the future.
Gizmo:Yeah, and it was also nice to see the Small Batch guys. Dave and Andrew were here. Of course. Sponsors of ours. It was great to connect with them.
Gizmo:Yeah. Have a great conversation with both of them. I gotta shout out Andrew. He's doing a hell of a job working on the UTL stuff in California, you know, making sure that that doesn't end up being law. He's working very, very hard at that.
Gizmo:We had a conversation. So kudos to him for leading that effort out in California to prevent that from becoming law because without that, I mean, that's gonna be a very difficult thing if that ends up being permanent. That's gonna be very difficult for manufacturers to the point that I talked to a few manufacturers saying, you know, some of their stuff they're not selling in California, they're hesitant to move the product into the market. You know, a lot of retailers out there are struggling to get stuff because of that emergency order that the governor did or the attorney general did. So, you know, kudos to Andrew for pushing back on that, and hopefully that wraps up soon.
Pagoda:Yes. Kudos to Dave because
Gizmo:Dave West is the best, man. Dave at Small Batch is the best.
Pagoda:We do love
Gizmo:And his beautiful wife, Kate. She's wonderful. Fantastic. Yep. Fantastic.
Gizmo:So, boys, let's do a little bit of news. I wanna talk about one news piece, and then we'll do a listener email. We'll get to our ratings tonight. I think this one's really important to talk about because of where we are, the conversations that have been happening around it. But shout out to judge Mehta who, our boy, kept the definition of premium cigars in place, did not exempt flavored cigars, and effectively, hopefully, ended the FDA's regulation of premium cigars.
Gizmo:So this came to an end on April 15, and the lawsuit, of course, was between the Cigar Association of America, CAA, and the FDA. They've been battling on this since July 2016. Yeah. That's almost ten years in this one lawsuit. That's crazy.
Gizmo:Yeah. And it just wrapped up a few days before PCA. So people have been pretty elated around here with this wrapping up, thanks to It's Judge
Pagoda:a great win for everybody, including the consumers. So, you know, we all should be cheering this verdict.
Gizmo:So it was decided originally in August 2023. It was then appealed and affirmed in January 2025 and then back to the appeal stuff, and now it's wrapped up as of last week. So, of course, we know that the following regulations that the FDA deemed the case as far as cigars wrapped in whole tobacco leaf contains a 100% leaf tobacco, 50% long filler, at least handmade or hand rolled, has no filter, nontobacco tip, or nontobacco mouthpiece. So that's the stuff you find, of course, in seven Eleven. Does not have a characterizing flavor other than tobacco, so that's the flavoring component of it.
Gizmo:Contains only tobacco, water, vegetable gum, and weighs more than six pounds per 1,000 units. So it's really good. Judge Mehta, I hope they give this guy an award in the coming issues of PCA here.
Bam Bam:Maybe he'll be Sounds
Senator:our next lizard of the week.
Gizmo:He might be the lizard of the week this week. We'll send Judge Mehta boxer.
Pagoda:Get him in
Bam Bam:for an interview.
Gizmo:I wish we could.
Bam Bam:I know.
Gizmo:But I'm very happy that this is the case. I mean, do you think that they're gonna go back on this again? Is this gonna be final, or is there gonna be new I think
Senator:it's final for now, but subject to any future administration that wants to try to find a way to challenge it again, I mean, we very well could be back to the same exact argument.
Gizmo:I just can't believe it takes ten years to go through this process. I can't imagine the millions of dollars that CAA, CRA, PCA have spent and the man hours. I mean, kudos to Rocky Patel on this one. I think he's gotten shouted out quite a few times for his efforts on the federal level to try to prevent this from, you know, happening and lobbying and trying to get lawmakers, you know, involved. I mean, it's a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of money.
Senator:I'll just say, as an industry voice, I've always heard this, this has always been said, but I think to hear Rocky when he spoke the first day at the convention, and he talked a little bit about the advocacy portion of it, he's gotta be one of the single most effective industry voices that has ever lived. I mean, the man cares so deeply about protecting and preserving this industry, and he's so effectively able to articulate what makes this product so distinct from others in the tobacco category such that it should not be treated the same way, I think he deserves a world of credit.
Bam Bam:Yeah. I just love his generosity in helping smaller retailers market their companies. All the ideas that he has, it's unusual. Most companies that are very successful are usually closed doored with giving advice and having access to their, let's call it intellectual property or approach to marketing their companies. It's refreshing.
Pagoda:All I wanna say is go Rocky. Rooster, go Rocky. Roosted.
Gizmo:Alright, boys. Now it's time to go to our lizard of the week presented by our friends at Bon Roberts Cigars. And our lizard of the week this week is Lizard Devon, and Lizard Devon is gonna win a 10 count box of cigars from Bon Roberts, petite109, one hundred nine, or maybe two of the others that are coming out very soon. We'll see.
Bam Bam:Very nice.
Gizmo:But awesome. Thanks to those guys, of course, for sponsoring our Lizard of the Week segment each week. We really appreciate it. So let's get into this email from Lizard Devon, which I actually think is quite apropos to the conversation we had tonight being at the show and actually a comment that Senator made earlier. So let me read this to you guys now.
Gizmo:Good evening, Lizards. Greetings from San Francisco. This is Lizard Devon, and I'm writing in regards to secrecy in the premium tobacco industry. It is becoming more and more of a common trend where cigars, fillers, or wrappers are from a, quote, undisclosed region. Mierupfel cigars, Decrossier cigars, Selected Tobacco Company are among the many that will not disclose where all their tobacco comes from.
Gizmo:Recently, Christian Airoa from CLE and Asylum proclaimed that his cigars have filler from an undisclosed South American country. On the Lounge Lizards podcast, Vance Taylor from Stoic Cigars stated that the fillers of his cigars are from an undisclosed South American country. So just only one of the fillers in his cigars, not the entire filler. For us and all the listeners, I would love to begin the discussion to unveil what country are they referring to, and who is the mastermind behind all of this South American secrecy? And in my opinion, there has been a name that often arises with hushed tones and secrecy because he has been rumored to be importing tobacco into Cuba for Habanos SA to utilize in their cigar production.
Gizmo:He might have tobacco companies sign strict agreements of confidentiality as to not expose his company's name or tobacco origins. His name is Gennaro Terri from Naples, Italy who runs a massive tobacco company in Terrapoto, Peru. I know there are many, quote, global insiders, BAM, in Hawthorne, New Jersey who could use their connections as to who this South American mystery country is or the tobacco country that no one is willing to, quote, unquote, disclose. Regardless, we all miss Pooba dearly, and so in his honor, keep smoking, Lizard Devon.
Bam Bam:Very nice.
Gizmo:Great email, and congratulations again to him for winning lizard of the week this week. So I think this is a very apropos email to a lot of the conversations we've had this week about undisclosed tobacco and the secrecy around some of these things and also the conversation we had tonight. So I open the floor. What do you guys think about this?
Senator:So I'm happy to start. I have strong feelings about this in one regard. We have reviewed at least one, if not multiple cigars at some point on this podcast where the entire filler is undisclosed. I can't remember what cigar this was within the last few months. It was literally like, the wrapper is this, and the filler undisclosed.
Senator:I think not disclosing the entirety of the makeup of the binder and the filler is a huge problem. We want to know what we are consuming. We want to know what we're Yeah, sure. Now, I think there definitely has been, as this Lizard points out, a trend in folks omitting maybe one portion of the filler. I'm okay with that in the sense that, you know, this is a very competitive space.
Gizmo:Given that conversation we had earlier about the rush to find and innovate in blending in new tobaccos, I mean, it's appropriate.
Senator:Yeah. And the reality is, I mean, tobacco is not, you know, an infinite resource. You know, this is something that needs to be grown and cultivated and aged over years' time. And so, you know, if you kind of fully if you're really experimenting and trying something new and different, and maybe you strike gold and find something absolutely brilliant, you know, there's a huge risk where if if that is disclosed, you have manufacturers that are 10 times your size and scale that could literally buy up basically every single ounce of that plant that exists in that region. It becomes incredibly hard to compete.
Bam Bam:This happened to Ernesto. He had a how many bundles of tobacco that were purchased by some other retailer and they just bought right out from underneath them? Happens.
Senator:For those reasons, I'm okay with not disclosing one component of a blend to kind of preserve your competitive advantage. And access to materials. And access to materials, but I am categorically opposed to any manufacturer that will not disclose what is inside of that cigar in its totality. I can't even believe it exists, that there are folks who have done this, but that is a huge problem for me.
Pagoda:Yeah. Agreed. I think slightly differently. I think in its own right, like tobacco is still reasonably commoditized, and all these manufacturers like Senator mentioned, they're looking for a point of differentiation, right? How can you charge a premium if you're not able to differentiate yourself?
Pagoda:And if they're able to find something, you know, akin to like a trade secret or something, right, or corporate trade secret, you know, manufacturers should have this ability to be able to not disclose one, two, or whatever they want. Obviously, it's our choice whether we want to smoke something where we don't know what the inputs are. But having said that, I'm not opposed to it. It doesn't really bother me. For me, what really matters is cigars smoke well, and I
Bam Bam:That's really enjoy exactly right. So it's like secret sauce. If it's delicious, you're still gonna go and buy it. Yeah. I understand your point.
Bam Bam:But I do kind of, I do agree with what he's saying. I'd like to know what I'm smoking, what I'm consuming completely overall, right? In general.
Gizmo:Absolutely. And I think what happens with the South American country is I do think there's just a large amount, there's very little tobacco. There's a scarcity problem.
Bam Bam:Yeah, so
Gizmo:that's So if they were to disclose what the country is, what kind of tobacco it is, etcetera, and all of a sudden Drew Estate or one of these big, you know, Placencia, one of these big manufacturers runs out and buys that tobacco, now all of sudden, you can't blend that cigar anymore.
Bam Bam:So if it's a business decision, I can respect it. Think that's But if what they're is marketing for it some I'm not telling you what this incredible part of my cigar is, that's a problem.
Gizmo:And that's what I think the point that we're making is if it's the whole thing, that's not a business decision. If it's a tobacco or two for a specific business reason, I respect that. But I do agree with you. I wanna know what I'm smoking. Especially when you're paying the prices that we're paying for some of these things, I wanna know what they are.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Pagoda:It doesn't bother me at all.
Senator:What does bother you? But I also say that because, you know, I'm sorry, what becomes frustrating, you you try to make an informed, educated decision when you're choosing a cigar to purchase and spend your money on, and I think we've smoked enough cigars to know that there are certain types of binder or filler or wrapper that we prefer to others, and when nothing is disclosed, you know, it's really damn hard then to make an informed decision as to whether this is something that you think is gonna work for your palate, and I just don't like being kept completely in the dark where now I'm expected to spend money on something I have no idea.
Bam Bam:So let me ask you this. If it was well priced, very affordable and smoked deliciously, was an excellent cigar, would you smoke it if you didn't know what the blend
Gizmo:was?
Senator:I'd smoke it, but it wouldn't change it. I still wanna know what
Bam Bam:I'm smoking for.
Gizmo:Especially on the podcast, like it's not really helpful for us to not be able to share in the room what we're smoking and also with our listeners what the makeup of these cigars is. It doesn't allow us to create, you know, comparing points to, Oh, another cigar that has this or tastes like this or has this kind of tobacco. Like it kinda limits our ability to put a frame of reference in your brain, you know, especially when everything's not disclosed. It's so silly.
Pagoda:Yep. Yeah. No, fair enough. Listen, I think there are two sides to this, of course, but I was just trying to give a different perspective.
Gizmo:Yeah, for sure. I respect what you're saying. And, you know, listen, I think for, you know, someone like Vance, I mean, that is, for him, a little bit of a secret sauce in that stoic cigar. I mean, we don't even know what that tobacco is. So it's like, you know, good for him that he's found something that's special and works for him, but he does disclose every other leaf that's in that cigar.
Gizmo:So, you know, that works for us. But I'm curious if there's other perspectives out there. So if you're a lizard listening to this and you have a take on this, please email us because, you know, I'm curious what, when we say everything's undisclosed, what does that sound like to you as a listener? Like, does that impact
Bam Bam:your one that's of right.
Gizmo:That's it. Sounds like you're hiding something. It's interesting. For us, in not being able to share that, it's a little odd sometimes. So boys, we've had a great show.
Gizmo:Send me your ratings right now on text, and while you do that, I'm gonna share that we're almost two hours into this episode now. We're going to hold off on talking about the restaurants, food, culture, music experience, Bourbon Street, all that stuff. Save that for a week or two from now because we're running out of time. And, of course, we have to note that we didn't have a pairing tonight here at the show. There weren't a lot of pairing options, and, of course, we've reviewed all of the FortiCany stuff.
Gizmo:We have been sipping FortiCany rum while we're while we've been smoking tonight, but so we're gonna skip the formal liquorating tonight, and we're gonna go right into the formal lizard ready tonight, boys, on the aging room, blue amber, blue turquoise by Rafael Nadal, the Preferrito.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:Senator, you're up.
Senator:So I really love this blend. I thought it was a perfect balance between kind of sweet and salty. I think it had a progression, I'd say at a minimum it had two acts, if not even three. I think it started firmly medium, I think it ended medium full. I think all the way through, the delivery of flavor was so smooth and elegant and refined.
Senator:You know that there's aged tobacco, that this was not a cigar that was rushed in any way, shape, or form. I really like the size. I mean, I'm partial to this size, obviously the Padron eightieth, one of my favorite cigars, period, and I think for a celebratory cigar like this, and when you have a size like that, it kind of forces you to be patient, especially early on, because the draw is usually a little bit tighter. In this case, the draw actually was pretty open for me, so I didn't have to be as patient, but I was still in the frame of mind that I need to be careful, take my time, really enjoy and appreciate what I'm having. The cocoa notes were delicious.
Senator:It never, despite it being more dark chocolate, it was never bitter at any point. Felt great on the palate, so I think Rafael Nadal, as usual, has hit a home run-in terms of the blend. My only complaint was the construction of my cigar in particular, and I have to rate it for the one that I had. The ash was incredibly flaky all the way through, and so it led to a mess on the table right here, and that would have been frustrating for me sitting in a lounge, but as I said, the flavor profile and the blend itself, it's a strong recommend. I'm giving it a nine, solely taking off the point for the construction problem that I had tonight.
Senator:I hope and trust, because I see the table looks far cleaner for some others here, that if I were to buy a box of these, if I were to smoke more of these, that I wouldn't necessarily have those same construction issues, and this then maybe would be a 10, because I really can't find fault with the blend, the flavor, and the experience outside of the construction piece. So I'm at a strong nine, a strong recommend, and I think a perfect way to celebrate fifteen years of aging room. And I'll also say that while this is a departure from the other aging room cigars we've had, I do think that the aging room DNA is here.
Gizmo:I agree with that.
Senator:And that I was happy to see, because I think early on, it's like a little bit of a shock to the system. You're not really sure, you're like, Oh, wow, this is different, But I think especially the way it finishes in the last third, you can tell and you would know this is aging room through and through, so I think he did a spectacular job.
Gizmo:So I completely agree with you. I will say I didn't have any of the ashing issues. As you can see, my plate here is pretty clean. I really, really loved this cigar. I love aging room.
Gizmo:You know, I really love the Concerto, and I really love this cigar. It is quite a bit different. You know, I think you know, when I think about the Concerto and what I love about it, it's more of a milk chocolate experience. You know, I think this is, as you described perfectly, Bam, that salty, dark chocolate with the minerality underneath it kinda tying it all together, creating that really mature experience that we had tonight. It felt great in the hand.
Gizmo:It looked great. Smoked great. I didn't have to touch it up at all. I mean, it was just a really wonderful experience. I can't wait to smoke more of these.
Gizmo:I think even at the price point at $43 this is not gonna be a cigar I'm reaching for terribly often, but I will reach for this cigar as a celebratory cigar once or twice a month perhaps. I really I smoke a lot of aging room. I think we all do, so this will be a nice kind of change of pace every once in a while aside from the cigars that we're normally smoking. I loved it. The last third was awesome the way it picked up.
Gizmo:Didn't lose an ounce of that maturity or that refined experience. Picked up an oomph, backed off a little bit on on the sweetness, a little bit more dark chocolate. And I like what you said, senator, and I'll wrap with this. There was no bitterness throughout. And I think that that was a really defining thing because a lot of the cigars that are kind of in this, I call it profile, often get bitter, and especially a cigar that, you know, wasn't acclimated, etcetera.
Gizmo:We got it today, you know, and thanks to those guys over there. But I really love this cigar. Fantastic. So for me, it's a 10. Pagoda.
Pagoda:Oh, I see all this mess around here, but it wasn't me. Shaggy. It wasn't
Gizmo:me. It wasn't me.
Bam Bam:Did you vacuum yourself off before you get back in here?
Pagoda:Yeah. So I'll begin with a rating. It's a 10. And ten, ten, 10, it's a 10. I really enjoyed the cigar.
Pagoda:As you can see, I'm a bit giddy out here. The cigar, for me, the construction was excellent. I didn't have the flaky ash issue. In fact, even though I was ashing, you know, and I would, you know, smoke a few puffs, suddenly you would have about an inch of ash holding very strong. So from a construction perspective, the smoke output was fantastic.
Pagoda:You know, when you kind of get a little bit of the cigar in, the smoke was flowing in so well with really good flavor of, you know, the cocoa, the dark chocolate. It was just very, very nice. And then it was giving this cooling effect, and I was trying to pinpoint what was giving this cooling effect, and I thought it might have been mint, but it wasn't mint. It was the cooling effect I think I've experienced when I've had some cloves or it's just a cooling effect. It's slightly different.
Pagoda:You know? It's it's a very, very pleasant experience. It leaves a very pleasant flavor profile, especially once you get about an inch and a half, two inches into it. Leaves a very pleasant coating on your palate. More so on the front of the palate, felt.
Pagoda:There was a bit of sweetness. It was just a fantastic cigar. Either way, as you guys know, I'm very biased towards aging room anyway. In fact, if you open up my, you know, cigar case, you will find like a concerto and a Sonata. It's a part of my daily rotation.
Pagoda:While a slight departure from, you know, the regular aging rooms, I was very, very happy about this particular cigar. And, you know, the price does make me cringe a bit because I can't celebrate as often as Giz once or twice a month. You know, it may be more of a quarterly thing, but I still give it a 10.
Gizmo:He's a value guy. Alright, Bam.
Bam Bam:I love the cigar. I'd like to do an aging room night where I'm doing the Sonata, the Concerto, and the Blue Amber in one sit. I love how unique it is compared to the other two cigars. As you've noted, I do find hints of the Concerto, that chocolate, the Sonata, the coffee for me, and the the minerality of this and the dark chocolate and the salt, I think it'd be a home run evening. I'm at a nine.
Bam Bam:The flakiness of the ash, I noted that earlier, that's a problem for me. It is expensive. I would like to buy a box of these and have them in the at the in the in the house and access them occasionally. What can you say? I mean, it's an extremely well made cigar.
Bam Bam:He has the golden touch, and it's fantastic. So I'm at a strong nine.
Gizmo:Alright, boys. The formal lizard rating tonight on the aging room, blue amber in blue turquoise by Rafael Nadal is a 9.5.
Bam Bam:Fantastic. So let's
Gizmo:compare that to the other three aging room cigars we've done on this podcast on episode 35. The first one, the Cuatro Nicaragua in Espressivo, the orange band was an 8.8. On episode 130, the Cuatro Nicaragua Sonata in Maestro, that's the yellow band, was a 9.5. And on episode 193, the Cuatro Nicaragua Concerto in Maestro was a perfect 10. So I will say aging room's doing pretty damn well on this podcast, boys.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:Pretty damn well. So shout out to Rafael Nadal. It was a great cigar tonight, and I can't wait to smoke more of them. And, boys, we have to congratulate again Lizard Devon, our lizard of the week, who won a 10 count box of cigars from Bond Roberts. Thanks to his email on secrecy in the industry.
Gizmo:And, again, listeners, we'd love to hear from you guys and what you think about secrecy in the industry as far as blends and disclosing filler and binder and whatnot. So please let us know what you think. Of course, we have to thank our sponsors, boys, both Small Batch Cigar and FabricAvive. They allow us to come to this show. They've helped us come to this show by sponsoring this podcast.
Gizmo:We're very grateful to them.
Bam Bam:Oh,
Gizmo:yeah. And we can't wait to do it again next time. And finally, boys, what a great show. Yeah. What another great PCA for us.
Gizmo:We did a lot of relationship management, of course, seeing friends and meeting new people. It was a really great show for us and for the podcast and for our listeners. Can't wait to share those awesome interviews we did. It was a really great weekend, man.
Senator:And shout out to Josh and the entire PCA team. 100%. Did a fantastic job executing this through and through, and any minor hiccup hiccup that may have been part of last year's PCA, I mean, they were all over, from the registration when we got here being so seamless and quick and easy to just having such a great show, so really appreciate all the work that they put in.
Gizmo:And shout out to New Orleans for the hospitality. Yes. We love coming here. I wish we could come here again next year for this. True.
Gizmo:Can't wait to be back in in three years for it. I mean, New Orleans is the best.
Senator:Which that also is a big announcement for the listener. It was announced that we're coming back to New Orleans in 2029.
Gizmo:We're coming back. We'll see what happens in 2030. There's a lot of things in play there as we've been talking about, boys. A lot of cities at play.
Pagoda:But Mhmm.
Gizmo:So, again, boys, the aging room, blue amber and blue turquoise by Rafael Nadal tonight on the pod scored a 9.5. We're gonna head back to New Jersey, and, we'll see everybody next week. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Thanks for joining us. You could find our merch store and ratings archive at our brand new website, loungelizardspod.com.
Gizmo:That's loungelizardspod.com. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. If you have any comments, questions, if you wanna reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking, email us. Hello at loungelizardspod.com. You can also find us on Instagram at loungelizardspod.
Gizmo:We really appreciate your time, and we'll, we'll see you next week.