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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!
**Gizmo:** [00:00:00] Welcome to the Lounge Lizards podcast presented by Fabrica 5. 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. Tonight, I'm joined by Rooster, Poobah, Senator, Pagoda, Grinder, and Bam Bam, a full house of lizards.
And our plan is to smoke a cigar, drink champagne and wine, talk about life, and of course, have some laughs. So take this as your 138th official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. Plan to meet us here once a week. We're going to smoke a new world cigar tonight, share our thoughts on it and give you our formal lizard rating.
We debate the value of this high price Dominican Maduro. We answer some listener email and we celebrate Poobah's birthday, 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 pair both Paul Roger Brut Reserve Champagne and Orin Swift Papillon 2019 with the Davidoff Maduro in Robusto.
A Robusto tonight from [00:01:00] Davidoff. It's the Maduro in Robusto. It's a 50 ring gauge cigar, of course, by 5 inches long. And boys, we are holding a 50 cigar in our hands that feels Very, very small. Correct.
**Bam Bam:** That's how you know it's a Davidoff. That's true. But, you have to admit, the quality, the way, the look and feel of this is incredible.
**Gizmo:** It does, it does feel a little more petite in my hand than I would have expected for a 50 cigar. I think that has
**Poobah:** to do with the banding. It just visually doesn't look.
**Pagoda:** Yeah, I'm really looking forward to smoking this. Gorgeous wrapper.
**Poobah:** 50 bucks, huh? 50 bucks. Jeez Louise.
**Pagoda:** You're gonna be my one and only.
**Gizmo:** Let's see how we do. Let's cut this thing, boys. See, we're getting on the cold draw on the wrapper.
**Bam Bam:** Wide open.
**Gizmo:** Hmm, mine is too. Well,
**Poobah:** go ahead and say it, Poobah. Well, there is [00:02:00] some dried fruit. There's a lot
**Grinder:** of dried fruit. You know, I just find
**Bam Bam:** it hilarious. There's a lot of dried fruit. There's so much hesitation on all of your parts to say those words. You know,
**Poobah:** so I'll go there. I mean, it's
**Bam Bam:** hilarious. So
**Poobah:** no, I'll go there because we all know that.
The dams modus operandi is like the first person to comment on the, on the cold draw. No matter what you're stealing my thunder. Okay. So, so before we even go there, I will say it does have, you know, some fig Newton going on. A lot of fig. It tastes like you bit into a fig Newton It's delicious. Had a handful of
**Gizmo:** raisins on the cold draw.
Yeah,
**Poobah:** for sure. So bam, I took that off your shoulders. Thank you, sir. Um, not a note I call out on a consistent basis. Uh, however, don't you
**Bam Bam:** dare call it out on a consistent basis. However,
**Senator:** you may become afflicted with dry fruit itis every episode. You may start calling out dried fruit. I resent the commentary [00:03:00] side effects include side effects include not sharing cigars, not setting up your tower humidor.
That's also incorrect.
**Poobah:** Tower? Yes. Well, well, the adverse events associated with Bam Bam are not associated with me. Uh, however, uh, but I would, but, but I do, I, those are the, that's pretty, pretty prevalent probably
**Rooster:** accountability. Number 37. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** But, um, are you, what are you getting on the wrapper? I'm getting some cocoa.
Yeah,
**Gizmo:** absolutely. The foot smells great too.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** I have high hopes for this 50 cigar boys. It's going to be great. Better be good. Or it'll be good. We're going to trash it. All right, boys, let's light this thing, the Davidoff Maduro in Robusto. Again, it's a 50 ring gauge cigar by five inches long.
**Bam Bam:** Someone's welding steel.
**Gizmo:** Comes in.
**Poobah:** That's going to be Senator. He's got something going on there that
**Bam Bam:** right up to the mic.
**Poobah:** He's got a welding mask on.
**Bam Bam:** Good beat of steel. It says
**Poobah:** [00:04:00] Senator on the side, like in stencil.
**Gizmo:** The cigar is one of three relaunched in the new. Maduro line from Davidoff alongside a short Corona, 43 ring gauge by four, and a Toro, 54 ring gauge by six. All also having,
**Bam Bam:** if I may say something, high price points. As we're all toasting our cigars, and I mentioned this previously, if you don't toast your cigar, you miss that initial aroma that you get prior to the draw.
It is magical. And you set yourself up for an improper burn. But this, this is, the aroma on this as you're toasting is delicious.
**Gizmo:** That smells amazing. So a few folks in the room have had this specific cigar. I know that Senator has, Grinder has, and Bam Bam, I think you paid 68 for this, right? No,
**Bam Bam:** I did, but I had it in a different format.
I had a Toro. Oh, you had the big one? Yeah. Okay. That more value for its money? Uh, no. At that price, it was outrageous. And honestly, it, it was [00:05:00] good. And you saw my comments after it. It was full flavored. I think we'll get that here, but it was, it wasn't great. It didn't blow my socks off for that price. This is starting off really beautifully.
**Grinder:** I also had the Toro, but I had the Toro and had a similar experience. And then, um, Senator, Senator gave me a Robusto in this, which is what we're smoking now. And it was, it was like a very different cigar. I'm looking forward to that. Phenomenal. So I, I'm, I come with high hopes and first draw has any indication it's, it's going to, it's going to meet the mark.
And for the
**Senator:** record, I was very skeptical when this cigar was released, but I kept seeing, um, the Robusto gets some high praise and that's when I was willing to give this a shot. So, um, I have smoked one and as you see on the light, I mean, it's very flavorful. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** And if listeners have been listening, they'll know historically that we're not a fan of the Davidoff Toro.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, most of the, we've done a lot of Davidoffs on the podcast. We've stayed away from Toros because our [00:06:00] experience outside of the podcast has shown us that that is the Vitola not to go for with Davidoff. Especially the Millennium. Especially the Millennium. Yeah. And the late hour. And the late hour,
**Pagoda:** correct.
And, uh, the Dominicana as well. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. And. And
**Gizmo:** so what are you guys getting on the white here?
**Grinder:** I'm getting a lot of classic Davidoff, uh, flavors, a lot of that, you know, Davidoff DNA as it were, but I'm getting a, you know, good cocoa, strong, very strong cigar. It's a very strong cigar.
**Senator:** For me, it's dark chocolate. I love dark chocolates. I actually really like the flavor.
There is
**Bam Bam:** a lot of the dark chocolate, but it's for me, I wouldn't say strong, but it's very rich. Yeah. It's unlike almost any Davidoff that I've ever had at this point. I mean, the
**Rooster:** chocolate strength is like, like a dark, strong chocolate note. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He's just clarifying not strong like nicotine.
Correct. Correct. It's very
**Bam Bam:** rich. And honestly, a bit of espresso for me as well. [00:07:00] I agree. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** You know, Maduro is so prevalent. In the Nicaraguan world, but, uh, with cigars, you know, the Dominican cigars, people, I certainly, I think us in this room, we don't chase Maduro rapper, Dominican cigars, you know? So I think, I don't know if that's why they struggled with this line and discontinued it originally.
Obviously bringing it back now, giving it another shot. But I wonder what, what
**Senator:** that is. They tweaked the blend from the last one. So I don't know if the last one was too aggressive or what the case was, but they did modify it.
**Gizmo:** I also wonder if this flavor profile is an outlier for the, the traditional Davidoff smoker who wants something maybe closer to medium.
**Senator:** I'm sorry. I don't, I don't think it is in the sense that on the light, the Davidoff DNA to me is very obvious. I agree. That Davidoff cedar note, that was like the first thing I picked up on the light. I agree. And even some of like the cocoa and the coffee, is it enhanced here? Is it stronger? Yes. [00:08:00] But like you would get this in the millennium series.
You'd get some of these notes in the late hour. So, but not as pronounced here.
**Bam Bam:** I mean, this
**Senator:** is that's what I'm saying. This is enhanced, but the DNA is consistent.
**Gizmo:** There is a little bit of a pepper undertone. I
**Bam Bam:** agree. Just a little bit. It's pleasant though.
**Gizmo:** It's not bad, but that is certainly a distinguishing factor of this versus any of the other It keeps your
**Bam Bam:** attention.
It does. It certainly does keep your attention.
**Gizmo:** My prediction is
**Poobah:** it
**Gizmo:** settles in.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, I agree.
**Gizmo:** What's the blend for this? So the wrapper on this cigar is Ecuadorian. It's the Corte No. 7 in Maduro. The binder is Mexican. And the filler is from the Dominican Republic. And of course it was made in Ecuador. At the Davidoff factory in the Dominican Republic.
I love.
**Bam Bam:** Rooster, what are you thinking?
**Rooster:** Very good. I feel it in the back of my tongue, like the spice that you're talking about. Light, light pepper.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah,
**Rooster:** like very light, but so far it's like bold chocolate [00:09:00] notes. You
**Bam Bam:** haven't had this, right? I have. Oh,
**Rooster:** you have. I've had the
**Bam Bam:** Robusto. What a silly question. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** I will say the retrohale is not as pleasant as I would like it to be. It's a little too pepper forward for me and I think the back of my throat going up into my nose, it's, it's not very pleasant right now.
**Bam Bam:** So on the beginning of the retrohale, there's a little bit of pepper, but I think it dissipates for me.
Um, I, I get a pronunciation of that, that fig that Poobah noted earlier. So do I. On the retro. Yeah.
**Grinder:** Yeah. I don't, I get it. I mean, I get pepper for sure. There's pepper for sure. But it's not, I'm not, it's not making me sneeze. You know. Sure.
**Rooster:** It's not a pepper bomb.
**Grinder:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** I like the note. I like that note. I can't believe we're holding a 50 cigar in our hand right now.
It's just like, like every Cuban cigar, but the Robustos aren't, you know, a traditional Robusto from Cuba's in the twenties, you know, mid twenties now, high twenties, but to double that, it just [00:10:00] feels very petite in the hand for me, you know, to think that you're smoking a 50 bill right now is just, it doesn't, it's not aligning with my brain.
**Poobah:** Well, I think it looks smaller because of the labeling. It's just, it's the, it's the, It's the oval of the Davidoff plus the extra band that makes it look more dimini you know, diminutive. I agree. The secondary band. It just makes it look sh it makes it look smaller than it really is. It's not as small as it seems.
**Bam Bam:** From the point of view of design though, the secondary band's quite elegant actually. Yeah. It's beautiful. It's black with like a pewter band on above and at the bottom and the Texas pewter. It's really nice.
**Gizmo:** So we've done seven other, other Davidoffs on the podcast. This is certainly a marker that we've done quite a bit.
So this cigar, like I said, was discontinued quite some time ago and it was brought back in April of this year. We actually brought this into the rotation. Pretty quickly, you know, it was kind of a rush job once these came out to get them [00:11:00] in because a lot of people have been asking us for them. We had just done a few Davidoffs earlier this year, so we would normally had not have slotted another Davidoff now, but it's a, you know, it's a hype cigar.
It's a high dollar cigar. So I think, you know, doing a review on it's important, but we've had a lot of listeners asking us, what do we think about the Davidoff? Maduro great morning smoke with coffee pre breakfast before breakfast. Yeah. So Davidoff first introduced their Maduro line in 2008, discontinued it in 2016 alongside some others, most notably the millennium blend in Lansero and Lonsdale, which of course they brought back.
A year or two ago, which we loved. So it was first brought back as an auction item at the 2024 pro cigar festival in the Dominican Republic. Have you guys seen the Davidoff monolith
**Bam Bam:** humidor?
**Gizmo:** It's made of marble. It's unbelievable. I have it's it's sold [00:12:00] for 35, 000
**Bam Bam:** desktop.
**Gizmo:** Yes. It's a massive desktop custom thing.
Unbelievable. You can get it at some Davidoff retailers around the country. That's
**Bam Bam:** a bargain compared to the, uh, Humidors that were sold in Cuba.
**Gizmo:** Festival humidors. Yeah. So as Senator mentioned, this is a new blend using the Ecuadorian Maduro wrapper, Mexican binder, and fillers from the Dominican. Davidoff said in a press release that it doubled the fermentation period of Maduro's wrapper leaf, thus creating a natural temperature increase in the fermentation pile tailored to the leaf.
That extended the time period to 16 months in total. The wrapper is described as a higher primming corte number seven leaf, meaning it is higher up on the plant and it receives much more sunlight, which also tends to mean an increased flavor and strength profile. Continuing on with the press release, they say time makes all the difference in our new Maduro line.
We refrain from adding any external heat sources. And we allow nature and [00:13:00] time to perfect the leaves in our quote, expertly maintained fermentation pile. This is all according to Edward Simon, the CMO over at Edinger Davidoff. The, this labor he continues and time intensive process accompanied by an extensive testing and followed by a long aging phase has resulted in a wonderfully beautiful leaf.
Refined cigar.
**Poobah:** So through the nose now, you know, once you initially let's light the cigar, you know, the scars, he, the foot's heated up, it starts to settle in. Now you put it through the nose. It's absolutely wonderful. He's right. I completely, I'm loving what this is previewing like, and I think it's just going to get better.
I really liked the cigar. I mean, it's just,
**Bam Bam:** it's uncanny, but that pepper's dissipated.
**Poobah:** Right. Because, because, you know, we're, we've got these butane lighters out and it's the foot is hot. It just needs to cool down a little bit. And then once it starts to settle in, it's, it's beautiful. It's it's
**Gizmo:** [00:14:00] gorgeous.
So, as I mentioned, this cigar was launched alongside two other sizes, the short Corona. Which retails for $43. A box of 20 costs 860 a Toro at $54. A box of 20 costs a thousand dollars 80. And the re BoostA we're smoking a box of 20, of course costs a thousand dollars. Yaa.
**Bam Bam:** Yaa, that is expensive.
**Gizmo:** I mean, that is just, geez.
Obscene money for these
**Bam Bam:** cigars.
**Gizmo:** It's cheaper than the Opus Dubai.
**Poobah:** It's too much money though. It's crazy.
**Gizmo:** And of course, Davidoff has not said anything about how many cigars they're making there. They've just said that it's a quote unquote limited production. So I'm assuming they're testing, seeing how it goes, seeing how the.
Market, weathers, that price, how many, you know, repeat customers there are, there are on these boxes, but, um They seem to do that a
**Grinder:** lot though, Giz, right? They are, yeah. They roll out a cigar, limited release, and [00:15:00] then they refrain from releasing it for a few years and bring it back. Like the chefs.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, and I think, to your point, bringing back the Millennium Lancero Yeah.
As a limited production, quote unquote, I think they're just trying to do more of these, you know, run on cigars, like go get them because they're going to be gone. The Dominican, another one, Pagoda loves. It's guess what? I bought
**Poobah:** a box of millennium Lanseros the other day.
**Gizmo:** Yeah.
**Rooster:** They're still around.
**Poobah:** They're still around.
I mean, it's like, they're not, not around.
**Rooster:** You know, I, I wish this came in a boxes of 10. It'll be a little bit more palatable. I agree. Yeah. Yeah.
**Grinder:** Same. I was going to say, I, you know, it's like they're used, you know, they're testing the market similar to how like fast retail does it. They just, and you know, throw shit on the wall and see what would stick.
I don't think, you know, I think it's just part of their overall strategy to, to continually test and to get the flavors of the market.
**Senator:** I mean, with Davidoff, they, they don't have to test much. They're like the king of the 50 cigar in the new world. If you think about it, I mean, every year, the year of the Chinese new year cigar, it's always 50 bucks, sometimes even more than that.[00:16:00]
And some of them are not all that big. Like that year of the tiger. Oh, that was tiny. It's like a short torpedo and that thing was 50 something bucks. So most of those
**Bam Bam:** annual releases are not very good, right?
**Poobah:** Well, yeah, the, you mean the Chinese, uh, The zodiac signs. Zodiac signs. I
**Bam Bam:** gotta say the aroma on the foot is really delightful.
It's slight fruit and coffee. You
**Rooster:** know, would you say dried fruit?
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, uh,
**Senator:** raisin really for me.
**Rooster:** It is. Yeah.
**Senator:** I like after the first quarter of an inch on, I feel like it gets a little bit sweeter.
**Gizmo:** I just picked up on the sweetness. I was getting pepper is gone. Yeah. The pepper goes away very
**Senator:** quickly. And I think, you know, BAM calling out the coffee.
I think you get more coffee notes and it's like just a dash of sugar in the coffee for me. It's like, this is great where it's at right now. Did you say
**Gizmo:** decaf
**Senator:** coffee or no?
**Gizmo:** I do have a question. You know, I, we've talked about this in, in [00:17:00] blending decisions before, obviously when we lit the cigar, it opened with a little bit more pepper and then it went away.
So I wonder why that is so prevalent. Cause I think Poobah has a butane
**Rooster:** lighter.
**Poobah:** Soft flame.
I think it's true. He is. I think we rushed to light the cigar. And I think that it gets too hot just for a second and then it settles in. That's my belief. And you purge it and you blow out. And then next thing you know, in a minute or two, it settles into what it's supposed to be. Um, that's, that's my hypothesis,
**Rooster:** only soft flames.
But you know, in, but indoors,
**Poobah:** indoors, we should be using soft flames or a Cedar spill. That's my belief. Or D it off
**Rooster:** matches, [00:18:00]
**Poobah:** oh, I need a good
**Pagoda:** me DuPont
**Poobah:** good matches. Hundred percent. That's a great match. Hundred percent those matches the
**Rooster:** long, the long stick matches,
**Poobah:** those are the best matches that they really are.
I mean like,
**Rooster:** I'm like looking at
**Gizmo:** you like, what , but where can you find better
**Poobah:** matches? They're the best matches.
**Gizmo:** I'm not this passionate about matches, I'll be honest with you. Well, they're just
**Bam Bam:** a match regardless of the, of the lighting technique. This is, this is incredibly delicious. I am shocked at how good this is, especially with my experience on that Toro.
version of the cigar. This is really exquisite. It's like night and day. It's awesome. It's amazing. It's an awesome cigar. So
**Gizmo:** on the Torah, what kind of flavors were you guys getting or not getting? Like if it's night and day, can you, can you like, I was getting
**Grinder:** a lot more pepper. It was a lot more pepper.
Yeah, that's true. And I did light it outside with a butane lighter. And I think the thing that threw me off was that I didn't get The Davidoff flavors that I was hoping for. Even like, pretty much every cigar in the world has even a faint hint of Davidoff. It
**Bam Bam:** didn't seem like a Davidoff cigar. [00:19:00] Yeah. And I did pull it out of a retail humidor, so it was a little soft, over humidified, that I think had a lot to do with it.
**Rooster:** I think the, the Maduro wrapper adds like a layer of sweet note to the cigar, which is very complimentary to the cocoa notes and espresso and all those flavors that are coming through.
**Senator:** Yeah, I love the first third. To me, this is just like a cocoa and coffee bomb. Totally. And I love those notes. So mocha.
**Poobah:** Very good.
**Gizmo:** I think I'm the outlier right now. I don't love the cigar. I like it. Um, I, for some reason, this flavor profile is not doing it for my palate. Okay. I'm hoping for more, but as of right now, I don't love this cigar.
**Bam Bam:** Are you smoking it quickly?
**Poobah:** You're pretty. I, I, I, I, I think I totally disagree. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, There's so much here that's so good.
I mean, you're getting that Davidoff DNA, which is sophisticated and smooth. [00:20:00] And it's like, it's, it's almost like someone put like just a little bit of, um, chocolate or cocoa syrup on top of what, uh, you know, what you get out of a Davidoff. I mean, it's, it's great. This is a great cigar. I'm being honest. I think it's great.
I agree. I agree. It's kind of almost like, it feels like slightly Nicaraguan with the Dominican thing going on. Like it's like a hybrid almost. I agree with that. I think it's interesting and complex. The retro hail is great. Yeah. It's
**Rooster:** smooth. I think it kind of has like notes of Padron Family Reserve almost.
Almost. But smoother. Yes. Delivery is smoother and has like a sweeter note. Yeah. You know, complimented to the, uh, kind of like a Family Reserve, maybe the 85th. Yep.
**Poobah:** But not as strong.
**Senator:** No.
**Rooster:** Yeah. [00:21:00]
**Senator:** That's what I like. For how much flavor I'm getting, I'm not getting any aggressive amount of nicotine strength that I'm feeling, you know, I'm getting kicked around at all or that I needed to have a heavy meal before having the cigar.
Yeah. Yeah. And you get that on a Toro.
**Gizmo:** There's just something about the blend right now for me, the way this is smoking, that it's just, it hasn't
**Bam Bam:** Turned yet. Meshed. Or settled yet for you. Yeah,
**Gizmo:** it's just, there's something off at this moment, and I'm hoping that it changes. It could be something, it could be a leaf that's wonky or something in there, we'll see.
**Pagoda:** And go to what do you think I'll tell you it's absolutely coffee and cocoa. This is right up and I also get the dark chocolates, light bitterness and the sweetness. It's, it's just fantastic.
**Poobah:** It's fantastic. Very complex. And with the, and with red wine, we're tricking some red wine right now. It is just, it's like, um, if you've ever, Just taking some dark chocolate and take a bite of it and then I got chastised for this whole [00:22:00] thing.
He's talking about with red wine. That's where he's going with with a little bit of red wine. It pairs up just absolutely perfect for me. Um, is that a thing? That seems like it would be a thing.
**Pagoda:** It is. Oh yeah. Dark chocolate and red wine for sure. Yeah. It's like reminiscent of a late hour. I like, yeah, kind of.
**Poobah:** Yeah, but without those, without those kind of rough edges that the late hour gives you a little bit or that, that punch, it's got like the late hours got a little bit more oomph. And to me, this is sweeter than the late hour. Yeah, I get no cocoa in the late
**Bam Bam:** hour. I do get a deep, deep espresso in the late hour, but no cocoa.
**Rooster:** I think it's the Maduro wrapper brings the sweetness to the cigar. It's
**Bam Bam:** like, it's like a
**Grinder:** chocolate covered strawberry. You get that sweetness, but also like that chocolate covered raisin. 100%. You mean red fruit? Raisin. Dried fruit.
**Senator:** I said raisin.
**Gizmo:** So boys, I think before we move into the red wine, I [00:23:00] think maybe we should try, Another pairing. I think we should have a
**Senator:** little palate cleanser.
**Bam Bam:** Oh, good idea. I think so. We
**Senator:** have a bit of an occasion. It is our, uh, esteemed Poobah's birthday. Yes. And it's only fitting for a birthday to, uh, to savor some champagne.
Correct. And
**Gizmo:** I, you know, Are
**Bam Bam:** you serious? We've done this several times on the podcast. God damn it, I love you. Now for the listener, Poobah's about to cry. Poobah, this is Poobah's
**Gizmo:** favorite thing that we do. Savoring champagne on the podcast. Are you
**Pagoda:** kidding me? He's at nobody's marriage ceremony. Remembering my birthday.
**Gizmo:** So the saver is here in celebration of Poobah's birthday. Oh my God. Love this. He might cry.
**Bam Bam:** He is.
**Poobah:** Aww. We love you bro. You guys. This is unnecessary.
**Gizmo:** All right, Poobah, I know it's your birthday, but you do the best play by play, so take it away.
**Poobah:** Okay, here we go. Here comes Garson. He's got a huge sword. That is ridiculous.
It is ridiculous. I mean, this thing is like a, [00:24:00] this thing is at least a foot and a half long. Engraved with senator's name sharp engraved with senator's name. Alright, here we go. And here we go. Find the seam.
**Bam Bam:** Aim that at pagoda. Will you Not at the computer. No, .
**Poobah:** Here we go. Here he goes. He's going up the seam.
**Senator:** Whoa. Whoa.
**Bam Bam:** I gotta tell you, happy birthday. That is a thing of beauty to see that
**Poobah:** it is. Beautiful. Paul Roger. Oh, beautiful. Gorgeous. So as per usual, Senator aka Garcon is, is he's, he's, he's, he's pouring the champagne carefully. And as we all know, Paul Roger is a favorite of the entire group. Absolutely.
And there's no better way to celebrate in this room. No better way to celebrate. There wouldn't be anything else we'd rather drink than some Paul Roger because it's, it's our favorite. It's our [00:25:00] favorite. He's moving around the room. He's moving quickly. He's brisk. He's brisk. He's brisk. And he's brisk and athletic.
He's brisk, you know, um, he's, he's a fit man. Um, he definitely did
**Gizmo:** his Peloton this morning. Oh, totally. Yeah. Like he knew this was happening. He wanted to make sure that he got his legs primed. Oh yeah. Yeah. Look at him. He's moving. He's moving
**Bam Bam:** like, Oh, I love the efficiency here. This is, this is something to see.
He's moving around the room, like a boxer,
**Poobah:** like a boxer with fast feet. I mean, he has, look, he has a future in the service industry. If his current career goes South, look at this, but the efficiency is unbelievable. Wow. All right. Cheers boys.
**Senator:** Poobah.
**Poobah:** Happy birthday. We love you. Have a good day Poobah. Happy birthday, Poobah.
Poobah, we love you, bro. Thank, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being
**Gizmo:** born in the summer. So we have something to celebrate in the summer. Love you. Love you. Love you. Cheers.
**Poobah:** Cheers. [00:26:00] Um, thank you. Thank you, fellas. Um, one of the great things about this podcast is, um, Well, we're all really good friends. And, um, this podcast takes a lot of work for, from everyone.
Uh, cheers to Giz. Thank you Giz for doing all that you do, uh, for this podcast and keeping it together and keeping the momentum moving forward. And, uh, uh, I'd just like to say thank you. And thank you for the gesture, uh, uh, Senator and um, and, and, and thoughtfulness. And, uh, I'd just like to raise my glass to you guys or friendship.
They're real, they're authentic. And, uh, you know, I love you all and cheers. Salute. We love you. Cheers. And to that empty
**Gizmo:** chair in the room that the listener's sitting in with us, hopefully raising his or her glass out there cheer. Cheers. Cheers, cheers to you. Yes. And poop. Cheers to you.
**Poobah:** Absolutely cheers and cheers to all the listeners that, that tune in, um, to, um, to this show [00:27:00] and it's, uh, hopefully it's educational and a little ridiculous at the same time.
Maybe more ridiculous than anything,
**Senator:** especially when a Jesse Ventura makes an appearance.
We got some email
**Gizmo:** about that. I wonder how it is.
**Jesse Ventura:** I only drink champagne on, on, on new year's eve only because I like to savor it.
**Gizmo:** I got to tell you champagne, this Paul Roger every single time it hits. It's a surprise how good it is. It
**Bam Bam:** does. And regardless of the cigar you're smoking, it elevates that smoking experience. It's a familiar friend about it.
**Gizmo:** It's a familiar friend.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Poobah:** Oh, it's so good. Yeah. It's so, it's so good. Thank you so much, fellas.
It's really appreciate you all.
**Gizmo:** And you know, it's very appropriate that we're drinking Paul Roger. Obviously [00:28:00] Davidoff is the marker that owns the license to the Winston Churchill brand for cigars. So obviously this was Winston Churchill's. Champagne of choice for many, many, every morning, we
**Poobah:** should just jump in a bathtub, have an English breakfast, smoke a cigar, smoke, smoke, uh, an up in Sir Winston or, or a Romeo, a vintage one.
An RNJ Churchill and, um, take a bath and have some Paul Roche and
**Gizmo:** have some Paul Roche
**Senator:** in the bathtub. I have a recent revelation. So when it's summertime, that's when I easily drink the most champagne. There's like nothing better than like waking up. The weather's beautiful for me on a Saturday or Sunday morning.
Like the first thing I want is a cigar coffee and ideally a glass of champagne. The problem has been Opening an entire bottle of champagne for one person is obviously ridiculous to start a morning. [00:29:00] So I've been frustrated that I can't enjoy champagne as often as I'd like during the summer. I have been following on social media, uh, Raphael Nadal, who owns Aging Room and is their master blender.
And I've mentioned, I think whenever we talked about the Sonata, you know, he's a guy, he loves, loves good food. He loves good wine. He's a lizard in every sense. And I was noticing in so many of these photos, he similarly clearly enjoy champagne in the morning, but he's found these little splits of like real champagne.
Like you'll normally find splits of sparkling wine, like cheaper stuff. It's hard to find like a little split that's one and a half glasses basically of like good real champagne. So I've been scouring anywhere local here to try to find something. Total wine by us has these little mini splits of a Moet that have been awesome.
They're [00:30:00] 14 a split. It allows me any morning during the summer when I wake up to have my one and a half glasses to start my day without getting, you know, too buzzed or tanked or anything with opening a full bottle. And it's been life changing. Like even when I come to the lounge sometimes, I want just a little bit of champagne, but not to drink through a whole bottle or even half a bottle.
And I'll bring one of these little splits with me. I'll start with a glass of champagne and then I'll move into something more robust after that. It has been life changing. I'm gonna go get that right now.
**Grinder:** Yeah, that sounds
**Bam Bam:** awesome.
**Grinder:** I want
**Bam Bam:** that.
**Grinder:** Yeah. I want that experience. You just
**Bam Bam:** sold me on morning champagne in the summer.
Well, hold on. It didn't take that much work. But the convenience of that small bottle. Yeah. What a wonderful idea.
**Gizmo:** And you're not wasting anything. And then you don't feel like you have to finish something. That's, Oh, that's awesome.
**Poobah:** My 80 year old mother is the King of the Moet split. Like, like, no, I'm serious.
For the
**Senator:** record, it is Moet, believe it or not. So in French, most of the times the T would be silent, [00:31:00] but for their brand, it is Moet.
**Poobah:** So it's Moet where, well, she just calls it whatever she calls. She just calls it. Champ. My champagne. Um, she looks, but she does that. She, she, she, she'll show up like she comes up from Florida and she like brings splits and then I'm like, what are you doing?
And she's like, well, this is what I, you know, do. So I'm curious also too. So I guess. These wine, the spikes that you put in the cork and these caps, I guess they don't work
**Senator:** with champagne. No. So this is what's cool. So Pagoda and I were talking about this because Pagoda had bought some Shandon, um, to a little splits to, to have, and we had one at his place and it's a screw top.
So I was expecting and kind of nervous that the, uh, the Moet would be the same, but it's a real. Cork that pops when you open it, like a, a bottle would.
**Poobah:** Right. But what I'm saying is like, if you were to open a full bottle of champagne, clearly you have a saver that clearly you haven't found the tech. Like [00:32:00] you could, like, I have it, I
**Senator:** have it.
You can use it. It's just, then the problem for me is then there's the pressure to go back to it and drink the rest of it. And sometimes like, per example, if I open it on a Sunday morning, do I then want on Monday or Tuesday or even Wednesday, like to drink three more glasses? Like not necessarily. So. The problem is like, I would do that and then it's just sitting there in my fridge and I don't actually want it during the week and I feel pressure to drink it.
And sometimes I say, fuck it, I'm just not going to drink it. And I've wasted like, you know, 30 worth of champagne and there's no, there's no point in that. So for me just having like a nice one and a half glass pour that I don't even have to think about up, I need to finish that or any of that. It's so helpful
**Poobah:** because I was under the impression that there were these products No, the stoppers, yeah, the champagne
**Pagoda:** stoppers.
Yeah. Well, not
**Senator:** not the stopper. No, not stoppers. They, they pull the air out of it. I, I have it. They're cheap, cheap Amazon, correct. Yeah. Yeah. You put the top in and you pump out and it's basically [00:33:00] vacuum sealing. It's, it's removing the air from the bottle. Correct. And then it
**Gizmo:** indicates when it's, you know, clicks to indicate when all air exactly when to stop.
Exactly.
**Senator:** The thing with them, they work really well. It'll hold for a few days. You won't have a problem. Occasionally. The thing is, because the top is like silicone, if you don't put it on perfectly, if you bump the top, you can easily end up actually letting air get released. And then you go back to it in a day and you say, Oh, shoot, you know, it's flat.
So you have to be really careful. If you are careful, it does work. But it just doesn't solve for, then you still need to drink the, you know, next three, four glasses out of that bottle. So here's
**Gizmo:** my question on this Moet. So you're
**Senator:** talking about,
**Gizmo:** you're talking about splits. So how much is actually in the, in the, in the bottle?
I know you said a glass and a half. Yeah,
**Senator:** it's 187 milliliters.
**Gizmo:** So it's a quarter of a bottle.
**Senator:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Okay. And then how many of these splits come in? Is it a case?
**Senator:** No, they sell them individually. So they're singles. Yeah. They're singles. They're 14 bucks a piece. You can buy [00:34:00] as many as you want. I probably bought 12 just to start.
It's awesome. It's just,
**Bam Bam:** it's such a great idea.
**Gizmo:** I
**Rooster:** probably
**Gizmo:** bought 30 to start. So I bought like a 12
**Rooster:** pack. It's only seven days in
**Gizmo:** a
**Rooster:** week. Correct.
**Gizmo:** Well, I got to tell you, this Paul Roger is pairing very nicely with the cigar.
**Senator:** Of course. Here's the problem on Paul Roger. If I knew someone high up there, Paul Roger does not make splits and they don't even make half bottles. Even that would be progress. I'd be thrilled to buy a half bottle of Paul Roger.
Vouv, I haven't found splits. I think they do half bottles. Most of the other houses, it's half bottles. I I've seen on Raphael Nadal, I think, um, like Laurent Perrier or one of the other brands. They make splits, but they're very hard to find here. I'm not sure where he's getting these. So, um, I'm on the hunt for more actual champagne splits because they're not easy to find.
And I honestly think more of these brands should do this. If you just think about, you know, the, the entry point, even [00:35:00] in trying some of these things, like you spend 50 on a bottle of a spirit, that bottle is going to last you for some time, right? You're not. You don't drink through the entire bottle.
Certainly not yourself in a sitting or even with two people, unless you're really pounding alcohol. You're not normally killing the bottle in one sitting with champagne. You know, two people can easily finish a bottle of champagne, right? That that goes in two glasses and that's it. You're done. So it's just like a high.
barrier to entry to say like, you know, I'm going to buy a 50 bottle of champagne and it's going to be gone just like that, where you buy a 50 spirit, you know, it's going to last you for some time. So I just think even for people to get into champagne, it's just so much easier when they only have to spend 14, 15, 18 to get a split, see that they appreciate it.
And then, you know, start spending money on bottles. I think more brands should do it.
**Poobah:** Agreed. It seems to me like maybe the wine saver works a little bit better and you get a little bit more length out of it in the fridge because [00:36:00] there's no carbonation. And what I guess what is what you're saying, what happens is with champagne, because it's carbonated, it just.
If there's any break in the seal whatsoever. No, no, no, no.
**Senator:** The thing I was saying, the same can happen with wine.
**Gizmo:** Just wine's not as sensitive to a flavor change in a day or two. But as opposed to losing carbon, go
**Senator:** fast. If you bumped into that, that, uh, stopper in the top, it'll, it'll definitely the air is in there and it's going to go bad sooner.
So. The same is true of champagne or wine. Yes. Wine is more forgiving because it's not carbonated that that's definitely the case, but either way, for me, it's not perfectly foolproof in that there's like a very high degree of user error that can quickly end up. You know, you're surprised two days later when the wine either has gone bad and you wouldn't have expected that to happen so fast, or the champagne has gone flat.
**Gizmo:** So I'll put that product in the episode description for listeners out there, the wine saver that, uh, we're talking about. Cause I use it all the time. When I [00:37:00] open a bottle of red wine of some kind, I want to have one glass with dinner. Then I'm able to have it for the next week or two that it really works.
But like Senator said, you put that on a shelf, you put that somewhere, you just knock that down. Cap a little bit that silicone cap and let a little air in all bets are off really not non
**Grinder:** carbonated wine. We use Corvinus Corvine
**Senator:** Corvin
**Grinder:** Corvin and it works pretty it works pretty well.
**Senator:** Is that the needle?
Yeah, that's the needle. It's expensive It's a few hundred dollars for those. Yeah,
**Grinder:** we got it as a gift once it was it was it works pretty well
**Senator:** Works great for still wine, but it won't work for champagne.
**Grinder:** So can we just go on record? So I have family members that will Open a bottle of wine and then plug it and then like two weeks later, like, Oh, I have this bottle of wine.
You should try it. I'm just like, no, it's disgusting. No way. There are so many people. I won't even, I
**Gizmo:** won't even let my wife cook with a bottle of wine that I won't drink. Like to put it in pasta sauce or something like that. I won't do it.
**Grinder:** What's what's, [00:38:00] what's the, like the lifespan? Because I want to, I want to
**Senator:** like a
**Grinder:** definitive life.
Yeah.
**Senator:** Like, so yeah, if it's literally not, we're not talking about the wine saver, like you're just stuffing the same cork back in there, which means there's a ton of air in there, 24 hours is your only hope to retain most of the flavor. And the wine not actually spoiling two days. You'd be very lucky in anything beyond that.
It's disgusting at that point vinegar,
**Poobah:** right? That's why with the, that's why with, with, uh, if you're making a sauce, like a bolognese sauce, where you're going to use a little bit of red wine, make sure you chop it finely.
Your bolognese recipe is terrible. I know how to make bolognese sauce perfectly. I'll Congratulations. That would blow everybody's fucking mind apart. Hey, it's his birthday, let him have it. Correct. Uh, blow everybody's mind off. Um, but, but that day, like that half bottle of wine, you really need a whole bottle if you're going to make the batch wagon that I make, but that one day [00:39:00] bottle is, is, is totally great for cooking.
Absolutely. Absolutely. You'll never know the difference. So
**Gizmo:** boys, we're coming to the end of the first third here. On the Davidoff Maduro and Robusto.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, and we want to know what you're experiencing.
**Gizmo:** It's absolutely improved. Like night and day.
**Bam Bam:** That's good.
**Gizmo:** I think I had something wonky going on there in that first third.
Settled in nicely. It's absolutely settled in nicely. It has nothing to do with the champagne. There was something weird going on with my cigar that has completely changed now. It's probably that blender
**Grinder:** with
**Gizmo:** that first
**Grinder:** half centimeter. The blender. Just on Gizmo's cigar.
**Bam Bam:** It's punishment. What are you guys thinking?
I'm having a hard time. pacing myself. Yeah. Because this is really, really delicious. It's phenomenal. It's just, it's very hard to put down.
**Jesse Ventura:** Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Um,
**Grinder:** I'm pacing
**Poobah:** myself. I think there's
**Grinder:** those moments where it's just like good vibes too, where you just like get carried away, you know? Oh, fuck that. Fuck that.
**Poobah:** You think, you think, you think bad vibes.
You think, do you think Bam doesn't [00:40:00] get carried away?
**Bam Bam:** Of course I do. But I mean, I meant that in a positive way. No, no, I'm kidding. I'm joking. But honestly, regardless of what's going on, this is, this is honestly a unique Davidoff experience. I've never smoked a Davidoff quite like this.
**Senator:** I feel the same way.
I smoked this by myself in our lounge for the first time, and I loved it. And I did not expect to. I mean, I'm the biggest skeptic of high price Davidoff cigars because the overwhelming majority. And my experience had been disappointing. I loved this cigar when I had it. And I was so excited for us to do this.
And I mean, this just reminds me why I was so excited. I will
**Gizmo:** say I'm finally getting that classic Davidoff DNA that you guys have been talking about since the light, like it's very apparent now and it's surrounded by that, that dark chocolate, that espresso. There's a lot there. The pepper is completely gone.
I'm still getting some of that through the retrohale to be expected just a little, little bit, but it's very, very pleasant. Very [00:41:00] pleasant. For me, the pepper has completely
**Bam Bam:** dissipated. Same. And for me, the retrohale is very, very smooth.
**Poobah:** I want to do an experiment. I want us to either smoke a similar cigar to this or something else.
And we all use a soft flame.
**Bam Bam:** That's a good.
**Poobah:** Um, I'm serious for your birthday. We'll do it. No, I'm serious. And we all use a soft flame and we take our time to toast the foot of the cigar instead of using butane lighters and see what the result is. Giz, will you relight one with a soft flame
**Gizmo:** next time? I'm not kidding.
No, no, I I'm with you. Listen, I love a soft flame indoors. I just think for the listener, the torture of seven of us sitting here lighting with a soft flame. That's what editing is for.
**Poobah:** That's what editing is for, producer. I
**Bam Bam:** want to hear
**Pagoda:** what
**Bam Bam:** Pagoda
**Pagoda:** has to say
**Bam Bam:** about
**Pagoda:** this. It's the same flavor. It's continuing.
It hasn't changed much for me. It's, uh, [00:42:00] coffee for sure. And, uh, cocoa. Like the dark chocolate with a slight bitterness. It's, it's just I've just been really
**Bam Bam:** enjoying this. What's cool is that dark chocolate hits my, the front of my mouth. The moment I take the smoke in.
**Poobah:** Yeah, but there's no bitterness. Not at all.
There's, there's, there's no rough edges here. There's no overwhelming spice, tar, anything that's unpleasant about this. The cigar. I
**Grinder:** think it's hard to make a full flavors, full flavor cigar without having some Some rough edge somewhere, you know, somewhere it went overboard just slightly. And this is very, very well rounded.
It's an absolute. I agree. Yeah. A hundred percent. It's hard to do that.
**Senator:** Cause I think of like the fullest body cigars. Like this is meant to be the fullest body cigar that Davidoff offers. You think of the fullest body stuff that like a Padron 90th or some of these others, or some of the Ligas. You know, to me, I agree with what Grinder is saying, like, [00:43:00] there are moments in many of these other really full cigars that I do think it went a little overboard, and I do get a little too much strength, or a little too much nicotine, and I feel like I should have, you know, had a bigger meal before I had that cigar.
With this, I don't get that at all. I lit this in an afternoon. I didn't even eat very much food and I felt great the whole way through, but I was just getting a blast of flavor and notes that I think we pursue. So the blender, I give a lot of credit to because it's like Ryan was saying, it's not easy to do that.
Yeah. Correct. It's super,
**Poobah:** it's super. It's actually, it's one of the better cigars I've smoked in a long time. I really love it. That's quite a statement.
**Grinder:** Yeah, that is a big
**Poobah:** new world cigar. I mean, it may be the bet. It may be the best new world cigar I've smoked in a long, long, I don't think, I
**Bam Bam:** don't think that's an overstatement here.
I think he's pretty accurate there. You know, um, have you [00:44:00] guys had the Yamasa? Do you remember that cigar? Yeah. I've never
**Gizmo:** had
**Bam Bam:** that. Yeah, I like, I liked the Yamaha. I liked it. I liked it. Then I haven't had it in at least eight years, five years. I also
**Rooster:** liked the 7 0 2 series. 7 0 2. 7 0 2 is awesome. 7 0 2.
That was my gem. So the
**Bam Bam:** only other doff that kind of comes close to this in body and strength, I think is the yasa, but this blows that thing out of the water. Well,
**Poobah:** it's the Nicaragua, but it's a different animal. Yeah. If they can
**Bam Bam:** make, yeah. Uh, I just want
**Grinder:** them to bring back the seven. So you can
**Rooster:** still find those, by the way.
**Grinder:** Where? I have my source. Cut us to a quarter, step up to the table. It's in humidor
**Pagoda:** number 14 in catalogue. Number eight cubby hole.
**Bam Bam:** Number nine. I'm not that organized. So, so
**Poobah:** you know how we, we, we, we would smoke the late hour and I, and I think the late hour in Robusto. It's actually really, really good. We should revisit that.
**Gizmo:** It's coming up later [00:45:00] this summer. I already have them.
**Poobah:** But yeah, we should really revisit that because we smoked a lot of late hour Churchill's because that was the, you know, that was kind of the, the, the classic presentation of that.
**Bam Bam:** And we love that cigar.
**Poobah:** And we, and we love that cigar. However, I remember distinctly on multiple occasions where we, where we would smoke, I'd get a five pack of them.
I never really bought a box, but I'd get the five packs back in the day. And I really, really liked the late hour Robusto. This reminds me of that, but like way better. Like there's no rough edges here. It's really refined. It's, it's, it's, it's really smooth and balanced and it's just delivering this kind of full flavor experienced in this, in a, in a balanced way.
It's phenomenal. Yeah. But the price was like 20
**Pagoda:** bucks or something. 22. [00:46:00] Correct.
**Poobah:** Well, that's the problem. That's the issue. Yeah. That's the issue. But go to, I mean, that's the thing. I mean, how many of these. You know,
**Gizmo:** so, you know, it's funny,
**Poobah:** we're not flying around on Gulf streams. You know what I'm saying?
Like if that was the case, like, well, I heard you were take it easy. You
**Bam Bam:** got yachts and bikinis and everything else going on. Take it easy. Take
**Gizmo:** it easy. As a boat, you know, what's funny, you know, this actually a keen listener will, will have no noticed that a couple months ago, I actually said on that Hey, hey, Lizards Gizmo here intro thing where we list the cigars the Davidoff Late hour and Robusta was there and I bumped that to later in the year because of the hype around this and our ability to Get it.
So that cigar is coming up and I'm really interested to see how it performs in direct comparison to this. Yeah You know, at double the price and certainly quite a bit different of a flavor profile, because
**Poobah:** I think it gives you enough in the, in a shorter story [00:47:00] where it's enough. Um, maybe I haven't had one in a while.
That'll be a great
**Gizmo:** comparison. Actually. The more I think I'm looking forward to it. Yeah. Yeah. So we'll do that as we come out of the summer into the fall.
**Grinder:** I can't, I can't stop retro hailing this now that can I
**Rooster:** fantastic. I mean, imagine if the pepper kind of continued, it, it would kind of it would be tough.
**Poobah:** Totally.
**Rooster:** It'd be too much.
**Poobah:** It would
**Gizmo:** be too much, but it's, it's gone. So boys were pretty hyped up on this 50 cigar right now. I wanted to share another one. We might like Alta. This started shipping the 150 Monte Cristo 1935 anniversary edition, Doble Diamante, a limited edition 54 ring gauge by six and a half inch Nicaraguan Puro.
Made by A. J. Fernandez. A box of 20 is 3, 000 bucks.
**Poobah:** I can't see that living up to that.
**Pagoda:** Yeah, where are they shipping to? Yeah, what are you talking about? [00:48:00] Where's the market?
**Bam Bam:** I was about to say that. Where's the market for that cigar?
**Rooster:** Are the Chinese investing in that too? I don't know.
**Gizmo:** Shout out to half wheel.
Cause they did some math here. They were saying that due to the, uh, some States with high cigar taxes, the 150 price tag might end up over 200 in some States in California, it would be 235. And in New York, 210, 262 and 50 cents.
**Senator:** Christ, come on now. That's more than a bahica. Come on.
**Gizmo:** So they're saying that it's been aged for a minimum of 10 years before the cigar was rolled.
So that's the Monte Cristo 1935 Anniversary Edition.
**Poobah:** Okay, take on Davidoff. I haven't had a New World Monte Cristo. Ever. That's, that, that, that's been as good as a Davidoff. I agree with that. Yeah. You know, and I mean, I'm talking about like the prominent blends [00:49:00] within the Davidoff line. Just never, never even, never even sniffed it.
So. If there's a listener out there that you think you've got a new world Monte Cristo that can come close to anything in the Davidoff catalog, let us know. Uh, because I doubt that that's, that that's going to manifest
**Gizmo:** to your point on episode 21. We did the new world Monte Cristo 1935 anniversary in a similar line to this, certainly not as pricey or as 10 years aged, as they're saying the Nicaragua number two got a 7.
0. So to your point, Poobah, comparing that to Davidoff, just that cigar doesn't even come close by about 20 points on all of the Davidoffs. If we're lucky, maybe we can pay
**Senator:** 200 for an 8.
**Poobah:** 0. I mean, it's just absurd. This is a cigar. If you're out for business, if you're out at a lounge, you're in the city, you're with customers, you're [00:50:00] with clients, you're with whoever it is, investors, this is something you go, I want a great cigar.
Like, you know, you, we've all been in the situation where it's like, Hey, you know, cigars, like, let's go in the humidor. Like, what should I get? And like we're, when price is not kind of an, you know, not an issue, it's a business affair. You would go right to this and say, and say this, you got, you got to smoke this.
Um, like you would, you know, I would argue that this is better than the Royal. I've never
**Gizmo:** had the world. I
**Senator:** actually agree with Cuba.
**Gizmo:** How much is the, what's the price point on the devil? 90 bucks. Yeah. I've had many. I think it's a hundred. A hundred bucks, something like that.
**Poobah:** And by the way, this is better than the Royal.
I agree.
**Bam Bam:** Wow. So not double the price. Not to change the subject, but I've, I polished off my Paul Roger very quickly. Cause I don't [00:51:00] leave that stuff because it's so good, but. I gotta tell you something, man.
**Poobah:** The red wine with this is fantastic. It is incredible. I've been waiting.
**Grinder:** I've been waiting. I wanted to interrupt.
Me too. Same here. This is delicious. For selfish reasons. This is like, it pairs so perfectly. It's so smooth. I gotta tell you. It's like grape juice,
**Bam Bam:** but like, refined. But wait a minute. On the front, for me, there's a touch of saltiness, which is intriguing, and then as you drink it, It is black currant. It's, it's just incredible.
The black currant, black cherry. There's like a black, there's like a black cherry. You know,
**Grinder:** we had a recent episode with, uh, Chef Ricky where Ricky was, we were describing how letting the, letting the tequila, it was a mezcal, uh, go over the side of your tongue as opposed to the back. I did that.
**Bam Bam:** Same here.
What a, what a revelation. It is a true revelation. You get to experience the whole drink. It's off the charts with this cigar. Yeah.
**Senator:** So, Senator, what are we drinking? All right, so we're drinking [00:52:00] the Orin Swift Papillon. It's the 2019 bottle from my cellar. So, first of all, when I had this, uh, this Maduro, this Davidoff Maduro, all I could think about was how full bodied this is and, like, the dessert notes that this would pair fantastically with red wine.
So, we were kind of scrambling last minute for a pairing. Um, and I remembered having this, to me, this was always going to work really well. I'm so, so glad to hear the commentary and this bottle of wine, this is, uh, this is one of my favorites. Most, I shouldn't say most, a lot of good steakhouses, you'll see this on their wine list.
It's full bodied, but smooth and still approachable. And it's a Bordeaux style blend. So it's very cab forward, but there are other, um, the other four noble grapes to kind of round it out, which makes it more approachable than like, if this were, you know, a bottle of Caymus or just a straight cab, that's going to be a little more aggressive.
So, uh, I've [00:53:00] liked it for a long time. I, I like Orrin Swift generally. I can't say like I'm a huge Orrin Swift fan, but reading a little bit more about their history has actually been very fascinating. They've got a pretty cool story.
**Poobah:** So this is a Maritage. It is. This is a great, great glass of wine. Can you
**Bam Bam:** explain what that maritage means?
What is that? It just means a blend. Oh, I see. Ah, okay, okay.
**Gizmo:** So, boys, I want to go into the Orrin Swift history in one moment. I'm curious. We're hitting the halfway point now on the Davidoff Maduro in Robusto. This cigar is getting better, and better, and better. And I think this wine pairing with it, it would pair perfectly with a great steak, and it's pairing perfectly with this Maduro cigar.
This is a
**Bam Bam:** luxurious experience tonight. Yeah, this is awesome. Every facet, honestly. And that, so what we're drinking, for me, it's not fruit forward. It's not overtly sweet, but that current and black cherry, I think is pretty accurate on the finish.
**Grinder:** It's not sweet,
**Bam Bam:** but it's juicy. It's very juicy. It's [00:54:00] like, it just overwhelms you.
You're going to send this to, I want to buy this bottle.
**Senator:** I'm so glad to hear this. The funny thing is I, I forget what occasion this was, but I was hosting some people for dinner and I had a bottle of this and another bottle of red that was like double the price of this. I mean, this is 85 a bottle. The other bottle was like 160 and I asked everybody what they preferred and everybody said at best, it's either a tie or maybe they preferred this, which is crazy.
I mean, a double the price point. How much is that? 85. Ah,
**Bam Bam:** I'll be, I'll be blunt. It's worth every dollar. That's why I have several bottles. It's worth
**Gizmo:** the money. It's a good bottle.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. You serve this at a party that we're at. It's going to go down. I'm not joking, dude. I'm going to be very excited. Babs taking his shirt off.
**Senator:** So
**Poobah:** what gives this merit? What gives us, I think this gives, what gives us bottle merit is that [00:55:00] it has a level of structure to it compared to something like a, like a bottle of Jordan. That's like so consistent and like easy drinking, but gives you like a really good experience. This has just slightly more.
I don't know how to explain it, but it's structure. Yes, it has, it has structure to it. Um, not
**Bam Bam:** to interrupt you, but Pagoda's having an epiphany right now. He's
**Poobah:** just, he's in a trance. Eyes are closed. No, there's, there's parameters around what it's doing. It's not just, it's giving you like a couple of different.
Things that are going on, but it's also interesting because it's easy drinking. So it gives you this like easy drinking thing, but in a more structured way, then, then, then like a Jordan is, which is so pleasurable and so consistent and reliable, and you're like, wow, that tastes really good, but this is just, has it's [00:56:00] tighter, does that make sense?
And there's
**Senator:** more body to this. Like, like Jordan is a very simple, straightforward, easy drinking, like you're saying. This is bolder, but more complex. Yeah. It's still so refined in the delivery. And to me with a steak, I mean, this is like always a great staple and to find
**Rooster:** like the cigar.
**Senator:** Yeah. Totally. A bottle of wine totally stands
**Gizmo:** up to this cigar.
Yeah. That stands next to it. Level is this it's unbelievable. It is.
**Poobah:** By the way, it's complicated. Like it's tough. These meritage is these blends. Like they're tough to figure out.
**Senator:** Like, but there's some of the best stuff. Some of my favorite stuff that's out there are Bordeaux style blends. 40 or even 35, you can find it a bottle.
That's a Bordeaux style blend. Like to me, the best value in some great wine are Bordeaux style blends.
**Poobah:** Yeah. And that's what, this is a good representation. And I,
**Senator:** and I proved it at my own dinner table by [00:57:00] putting alongside 160 bottle of straight cab, and I'm forgetting exactly what it was. And literally everybody couldn't pick between the two.
And it's like, well, if this is half the price and you feel just as strongly, you may as well save the money and get
**Bam Bam:** this. The longer you leave it in your mouth before you take it down, uh, it's, the more experience you get, you're pulling out interesting things. It's a very
**Gizmo:** good pairing with this cigar.
It's
**Bam Bam:** really savory.
**Gizmo:** So Senator, tell us a little bit about the history, about, of this amazing wine that we have, or the amazing wine maker that made this great bottle of wine.
**Bam Bam:** Before you go there, do we have another bottle?
**Gizmo:** and his cellar, and by cellar. We can continue the podcast there. .
**Bam Bam:** You know I'm out almost ,
**Grinder:** so take it Ease.
Take it ease. . Let's, uh, let's roll it back and go back to the, uh, to the garage lounge. , what's the,
**Senator:** once the backyard's redone, we'll, we'll be splitting plenty, uh, plenty of time there. So a little bit about Orrin Swift. Orrin Swift Cellars was founded by the winemaker David Finney in 1998 when he was only 24 years [00:58:00] old.
He had, Dave had a long history of winemaking at some top tier wineries in Napa including Mondavi and Whitehall Lane. Um, he paid tribute to his parents with the name of the winery. Oren is his father's middle name and Swift is his mother's maiden name. He started the winery when he was working for other wineries and as a result started small and basically was working part time doing this on the side while he was employed.
That's the way to do it. Yeah. Um, the flagship wine, uh, initially for Orrin Swift was the Prisoner. I'm sure many of you have heard it, seen it, drank it. No
**Poobah:** way!
**Senator:** Is that true? So, in 2010, uh, Dave Finney sold the Prisoner label to Junius Vinters, the same company that also owns Quintessa in Rutherford. In 2016, the Prisoner label was again sold, this time to Constellation Brands, which Who's huge, who opened a new dedicated hospitality center just to the prisoner wine in [00:59:00] 2013.
It's like they made such a deal out of this wine. It's, it's, you know, it's
**Poobah:** pedestrian
**Senator:** at best. It is. It's a very simple, straightforward. And the funny thing is like, you know, I think when, Dave Finney himself created prisoner. I think it was especially it's a Zinfandel forward wine. It's a blend, but it's like the majority of it's Zinfandel.
I hate Zinfandel. I've said this on the pod before. It's too sweet. It's too jammy. It's not my thing. So Zinfandel Chardonnay, no go for Senator. Out. American Chardonnay. And so, you know, I think as it's been sold multiple times, I think, you know, I'm sure they're compromising quality a bit. And I think that that's why, like The prisoner of today is not what it once was when Dave Finney first, uh, actually blended and created it.
And so then in mid 2016, Orange Swift, the brand itself, uh, Dave Finney actually cashed out and sold it to Gallo. Um, He continues to still operate a consulting role. So he is still working on the wines that Orrin Swift makes, which is cool. Um, [01:00:00] but I'm sure he got a big payday obviously for, uh, the, the winery itself and the brand in 2008, after the sale of the prisoner brand, uh, the first time Finney signed a non compete agreement lasting eight years where he could not make any Zinfandel and the reason that wine took off, there are lots of people like me who feel really strongly against And I think he got a lot of acclaim because he did something with Zinfandel that didn't make it as like overly jammy and sweet and just boring and not interesting as most were.
And so they were very scared once, you know, they bought the prisoner label that he would just make another Zinfandel blend that would become a big hit. So the funny thing, I've always seen this bottle. I never knew this was the story behind it. Uh, Oren Swift sells a bottle called Eight Years in the Desert, and it's the eight years that Oren Swift, uh, that Dave Finney was not allowed to blend any Zinfandel with his non compete.
Oh, that's cool. And that was the first [01:01:00] one after his non compete expired that then he put out that had a blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, and Petite Syrah. A little bit about the wine we're drinking. So Papillon is one of their most sought after wines. Uh, it has a memorable label, and I remember when I saw this, uh, it's, it's really cool.
You'll see it's, uh, it's a guy's hands that have, uh, the word papillon across his fingers. Is it like papi on the movie? It's like papi. And there's a whole story behind this. I thought this was just kind of a random photo or piece of art, but there's, uh, there's a total meaning behind it. So, uh, Uh, it's a photograph taken by famed celebrity photographer, Greg Gorman.
Uh, the label is an image of human hands with the word papillon, as I mentioned, and these are farming hands, uh, the paws, it says. I love that. The paws of one of the old school vintners in Napa, who's actually like a specific person. This famed vintner in Napa, Vince Toffinelli. And incidentally, Greg Gorman, the photographer [01:02:00] learned a bit about winemaking from Dave Finney and for a number of years operated his own wine label, G, uh, GKG Cellars.
And, um, so they partnered together to basically make the label for this specific bottle. Papillon, as I mentioned, is a Bordeaux style blend. It's dominated by cab. So definitely that's the majority grape in here. And, um, interestingly, they say, um, the winemaking team follows an axiom where they will not stop blending until they unanimously agree that the wine is better than the previous vintage.
So every year they're kind of trying to beat the last one. That's cool. Yeah. Which is really nice. Um, some notes about the, the wine itself, uh, uh, deep ruby, nearly opaque in the glass. It's got a really rich, intense color, which is true of, Pretty much all orange swift wines. Uh, it says the bouquet is sweetly fruited with aromas of blackberry and blackberry jam, dark cherry, that grinder called out, cooked tomato, graham cracker, chocolate, and mocha.
The nose is also somewhat floral, including of rose [01:03:00] petals and violets. It offers flavors of licorice, plum, and cherry. This is a juicy and richly flavored bottling. So to me, it's just, There's complexity, it's rich, it pairs so well with a meal, uh, with any steak, but even a just a substantial meal. Or just having it, just, I'm corking a bottle and enjoying it without a meal.
And the other thing is, it has great aging potential. And the reason I say that is because, Now how do you know that? Well, because I've lived it. I bought it many years ago. So that's the thing. Like this is a 2019 bottle. I probably bought this in 2020. When I first opened a bottle, when I bought a case of this, it was great.
I mean, you'd be happy with it at any steakhouse, but, um, it packed a bit more of a punch. And just holding that micellar four years later, this is like peak right now. There's no way this gets any better. This is ready to drink right now. It is so like the fact that bam, the first thing, or to just drink it, [01:04:00] right?
You don't even need a meal with it. It has smoothed out and just developed in such a beautiful way. If you can find it, you'll probably find 2021 bottles, mostly, which even that I'm sure we'll drink pretty close to this, just the few extra years, just sitting. I'm sure have helped it, but, um, it ages really nicely because this is, I haven't opened one of these in at least a year and this is the best expression I've had of it yet.
**Pagoda:** Period. And by the way, I do stand corrected because I know when we walked in and, uh, I was really looking forward to trying, uh, the David of Maduro. And when he mentioned you'd got wine, I was like, you know. Yeah, Pacono gave me some shit about
**Senator:** this. He's like, really?
**Pagoda:** But I, well, I'll tell you, this has been such an enjoyable, um, experience and the pairing is fantastic.
I don't know. It's just, it's fucking delicious. It was delicious. Is
**Poobah:** it, so is it, is it like 60 percent cab with Zinfandel? [01:05:00] What is it? They don't, they don't specify it. They keep it secret. They keep it secret. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** What an excellent wine. It's awesome. And, you know, with the cigar, I'm, I, I just got a little bit of like a twang type of thing on the front of my tongue, like a little saltiness.
**Senator:** Nice.
**Gizmo:** And man, it is, so, it's like having like a, a, a perfectly seared steak with a little bit of a, a salt on it. Oh, yeah. You know, with the red wine. Oh yeah. It's magical. Rare. Rare plus. Rare Plus. This is a luxurious
**Bam Bam:** little salt, luxurious pairing tonight. Yeah. It's actually excellent. You know, it,
**Poobah:** it's, it holds up, it, it, you know, it holds up better than Yeah.
So like, you're in a restaurant, you're like, all right, whoa. I look at the wine list. What am I going to get? And you're like, okay, they have this, this, and then this, and what's going to be somewhat reasonable. You know, you, you look at Stag's leap Artemis, or you look at Jordan or something like that. And, you know, these are straightforward, approachable wines.
This kind of like, for me hits in, it almost, [01:06:00] it almost. Levels up in structure and complexity, but doesn't, but, but wouldn't put like the casual wine drinker, like it wouldn't turn them off. Do you know what I'm saying? It, it, it, it wouldn't take somebody to a place where like they don't want to go where it's still approachable, but it's tight and it's got some distinct flavor notes in it.
And I think that's a merit in this. It's more complex than those as smooth and as elegant and approachable as those are. And they're fantastic wines. This is cool because it's got tighter structure. It has. Distinct notes that you can pull out of it because it's this because it's a blend.
**Senator:** Yeah, and I think it's so well balanced like, you know, a lot of California reds can be very sweet and just super fruit forward and you don't get a whole [01:07:00] lot else.
And I think that this You know, has some of those dark berries and the sweetness that comes from it, but the cocoa and, and those other notes you get, and even the floral nature of the nose, like it's just perfectly balanced. You're never feeling like this is an overly sweet or an overly dry wine.
**Bam Bam:** From the point of view of our, of our cigar thing here, you know, I would only have this with a richer cigar, like a Padron Exclusivo.
The 80th would do incredibly well with the cigar. I agree. I agree. You know, I, I don't think I'd do a Cuban cigar with this guy. This could very well
**Gizmo:** overpower a lot of those medium miles. And Gizno
**Senator:** knows I've been wanting to do this for at least a year, if not more than that. Yeah. And it's been so hard to find the right cigar.
And that's why, thankfully, this Davidoff Maduro, as soon as, Correct. Having at least tried it and knowing how full that presentation was going to be. It's got to be to your point of fuller cigar, correct?
**Poobah:** And this has that chocolate. It has that, that, that this cigar has that kind of cocoa. It's very [01:08:00] cocoa forward, but in a different way than an exclusive.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. In terms of strength, it's got a milder, more approachable. More round. It's got this round thing that's going on that matches up just great with this. I don't think I'm being hyperbolic. I'm curious
**Bam Bam:** though how this would do with the Maduro one, the Partagas Maduro one. Oh, that would be amazing.
I think so too.
**Gizmo:** We have the Partagas Maduro three coming up.
**Bam Bam:** I can't wait for that.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. From, uh, from Cuba. That's the, so Bam is mentioning, uh, referencing the first cigar we ever did on the podcast was the Partagas Maduro. That was
**Bam Bam:** the Serengeti episode. A long time ago. In the day, eight years in the desert.
**Gizmo:** A long time ago, eight years in the desert.
**Bam Bam:** Go back and listen, Poobah.
**Gizmo:** So boys, let's talk about some listener email. We got a couple I want to talk about tonight. First comes in from Lizard Seagull, who writes in a lot. This is a, uh, one that we get a lot from listeners about, uh, questions about shipping and getting product [01:09:00] from suppliers overseas.
He says, Hey Giz, I tried to order the H Upman Half Corona from Cuba and I got this message. I'm in Florida. So what he sent me was a screenshot of a Note from I Havanas. Now, the reason why I bring this up is I Havanas sells a lot of Cuban cigars, but also Mm-Hmm. sells a lot of great deals on non Cuban cigars.
True. And we have gotten a lot of Davi off.
**Bam Bam:** Yes.
**Gizmo:** From I Havanas, they have a bulk discount section that we have gotten a lot of Millennium Pyramids, late hour, uh, OSE Churchills.
**Bam Bam:** No, I think, by the way, I think Senator an giz. For that huge Millennium Pyramid bulk order that was a good one we got was a good one.
We got a good deal on. Oh, yeah,
**Gizmo:** so unfortunately for listeners of ours in the southeast us What we've learned is that most retailers around the world are refusing to ship to addresses in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South [01:10:00] Carolina, very Alabama, various areas through there because the Southeast customs people, I guess they all come through Miami are picking off boxes of cigars left and right.
So most online retailers are refusing to ship. To ship to any addresses in the Southeast U S
**Poobah:** that that's a fact. I've seen it in reports. I've seen it on top on actually on television, that that port, that customs and border patrol, uh, or customs rather the customs, it is, they're checking so much more stuff because there's so much more drugs coming in into those ports and there's so many more cigars actually.
Coming in that people are ordering through there. It's just, it's a madhouse. It's not like the Northeast. And there's so many more cigar smokers
**Senator:** in Florida and markets like that. These customs agents are absolutely taking these by themselves. 100%. The Miami
**Gizmo:** customs agents have a hard on for [01:11:00] finding cigars.
Ask Pagoda.
**Bam Bam:** They're, they're just great people down there.
**Gizmo:** So if you're in the Southeast U S I would avoid ordering cigars from overseas. Unfortunately, either find a friend somewhere else in the U S that can get them for you and ship them to you. But most of the retailers are. Hedging their risk now and just refuse to ship to the Southeast U S.
I think that includes F O H I Havana's, uh, cigars of Obama's COH. I think there's a lot of those retailers that are refusing to ship there. And the problem is now there's a lot of retailers that even for new worlds. They've removed their guaranteed shipping. So a lot of retailers out there have stopped guaranteeing that if your box is seized, that they will either reimburse you for it or replace it.
So just be very, very careful when you're ordering, not just Cuban cigars. But even Davidoff's from overseas at a great price, it is better to find a good deal in the U. S. with a coupon somewhere than taking the risk from ordering overseas.
**Poobah:** It's good advice. [01:12:00] Great advice.
**Gizmo:** So we have another listener, Jason Laguerre.
He's been a long time listener and OG. Listener of our podcast. I mean, he's been emailing us for three years now, uh, really, really supportive of the pod. He announced that he has released a new product that he wanted to share with us. Hey, Giz wanted to write you guys real quick to mention something I've invented quote unquote, or created perhaps a specialized humidor engineered to dry your cigars out.
Half wheel just did a piece on quote, The modern dry box, which is a cool product. And he sent the link to the half wheel article. You can, you can look that up, but I'll give you the skinny. I've talked with so many cigar smokers who have climate controlled cabinets and thousands of dollars in cigars who end up just leaving them out overnight on a table to dry box.
The modern dry box is a product which seeks to provide an even dehumidification to the cigars. For a cleaner burning, better tasting smoke. Since you guys are the Kings of the cigar world [01:13:00] podcast, and we've briefly chatted before I wanted to email you guys specifically, let you in on what I hope is a revolutionary product, many thanks.
And keep smoking Jason like gear and his website is J M L modern. Com, that's jml modern.com. And I gotta tell you, I looked at some of these boxes, boys. Yeah. And they are
**Bam Bam:** superb. I did too. They're beautifully made.
**Gizmo:** Really, really nice. Gorgeous boxes. Yeah. So the whole idea of this is that they ship with a 60 gram boa to pack that are set to 49% relative humidity.
So obviously. Coming out of your humidor at 62, 65, 69, whatever they may be, you're dry boxing at a lower humidity for a few days before you choose to smoke them. This is a more elegant way than just throwing them on the desk or in a Ziploc or whatever it may be to a dry box your cigar.
**Poobah:** So the 49 percent Boveda pack is a pack that sell that, that I buy that's sold for instruments.
**Gizmo:** Yes.
**Poobah:** So for acoustic guitars and whatnot. [01:14:00] Exactly. So I have a lot of, I have a lot of acoustic guitars, um, too many. Uh, and that's what you use, um, within, you know, to keep, to keep wooden instruments, um, even in the case, unless you're controlling. Keeping, keeping them out of the case and controlling the humidity within the room.
Um, but that's smart. I mean, that's a smart thing because the Boveda technology is, it's actually, it's actually pulling, it pulls out. Yeah. You know, it's, it's actually pulling humidity
**Gizmo:** out. And what I like about what Jason did here, he's not trying to reinvent the wheel as far as the humidification device.
He's providing just a really, really nice cedar. cabinet, you know, for your desk to dry box your cigars. And what he says here with this setup and the 49 percent Boveda, is that it's ideal to dry box your cigars for just 48 hours. So walk in on a Sunday, pick out what your [01:15:00] cigars are going to be for the week, kind of line them up and keep them in this box for two days at a time.
And they're little, they're not huge. They're nine inches by seven by three. So you're fitting, you know, Seven to 10 cigars in there at a time. Handsome boxes. Yeah. They're really, really nice. So check
**Poobah:** that out. And it's totally, and it's all personal preference too. I mean, I keep all my cigars. I don't know what you guys keep them at, but I keep all my cigars exactly at 62 or 63.
Me too. I keep my new
**Gizmo:** worlds a little higher, closer to 65, but my, my Cubans are all around 62, but you know, we're also in a lucky position. There's a lot of folks out there who live in Tupperware. And Tupperwares, who have a lot of stuff, you know, stacked in, in their, in their closets, you know, this is a great solution for someone with a 49 percent bovina and this really nice presentation to uh, Also, if you're living in a very
**Bam Bam:** humid climate, like in the South, you do need to dry box them before you smoke them.
Absolutely. Yeah.
**Rooster:** I mean, Tupperwares, I mean, they're, they're, they're [01:16:00] good, but you need some air movement too.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Rooster:** Yeah. Especially
**Gizmo:** before you smoke them. So again, Jason's website is jmlmodern. com. That's jmlmodern. com. Check that out. There's also a really, really nice write up on Half Wheel. So boys, we're coming to the last third now of the Davidoff Maduro in Robusto.
What's everybody thinking? Great cigar.
**Rooster:** Full bodied, yet smooth delivery.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, it worked. in that inch and a half zone now to the end and it hasn't gotten bitter for me at all. No,
**Rooster:** hasn't,
**Bam Bam:** hasn't really picked up in strength. It's been consistent, but it's, it's, um, no rough edges at all. It's a standard
**Grinder:** Davidoff though.
Usually they're, you know, pretty consistent throughout. They don't change much.
**Senator:** It's just amazing at how full body this is that down the stretch, when the cigar is definitely hotter than it's been at any point. It's still not showing any rough edges or giving you a bite. It's
**Bam Bam:** also very impressive to [01:17:00] see Poobah take it down to an inch.
That is, that's a merit.
**Pagoda:** It's also holding up really well with the wine, meaning it has its completely independent flavor and the wine's not overtaking it, but the wine itself is so flavorful. It's, it's just been a great pairing.
**Gizmo:** I can't say enough about it. I'm honestly impressed for how full of a cigar this is, for your preference and, and Poobah, your palate and how, you know, Cuban forward it is and, and how you really prefer, I would say medium, medium full Cuban cigars.
If we even get to full with Cuban cigars, how much you're enjoying this really full experience tonight in the Davidoff Maduro. Down to the end.
**Poobah:** Yeah. I mean, I found it fantastic in every single way. I, I think, I think, you know.
**Grinder:** It's, it's full but smooth, you know, it's, it's, it's got a lot of flavor and I think that's, that's reminiscent of Cubans.
Very [01:18:00]
**Poobah:** memorable for me. Very. Here you go, Pua. One for your birthday.
**Rooster:** Wow. Wow, look at this. Oh, I don't know. Another birthday cigar. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look at
**Poobah:** that.
**Rooster:** Enjoy it. No. Enjoy it and go to hell.
**Gizmo:** No. I thought he said enjoy it and go to hell. I know.
I may be on my way there.
**Poobah:** Anyway. Thank you so much. You're welcome. It's very generous. I mean, this is one of the best New World cigars I've ever had. Well, that's a statement it's it's, it's, it's really, for me, this delivered, it delivered a full bodied, but smooth experience. It paired up with this wine.
Fantastic. Uh, yeah, it's 50 bucks. That's a lot of money, but like. I actually think it lives up to the price tag. Um, it's not an everyday cigar. I wish it could [01:19:00] be, but there's nothing about the cigar that I have literally zero criticism, I mean, at all. It, it, it was full. It was, it was chocolate. It was cherry.
It was, there's so many things that were going on with this and it was just such a pleasant delivery. It blew me away.
**Gizmo:** I'm very happy to hear that. So boys, I have another news story for you. I wanted to talk about, because we've been talking about cigar bands and we've been kind of nervous that it was going to start creeping in our backyard.
And we've learned now that. The city of Peekskill, New York has considered expanding its outdoor smoking ban to its outdoor dining downtown where violators would face up to 50 for the first offense, 100 for the second, and then 250 for each violation after [01:20:00] that. So, you know, it's starting to creep. That's not far from us.
It's not far from us. And, and once these things start to be successful. Other cities and boroughs and municipalities are going to see this and it's, I don't know, it's just not a good trend. To see cigar smoking become a problem. And you're sitting outdoors.
**Pagoda:** You know, what I'm surprised at is how many people in peaks will smoke cigars that they're going after them.
It's probably one dude. I know they're just going off to really bad one
**Gizmo:** guy or a group of dudes or a group of dudes. I guess
**Pagoda:** it's probably this cigarette, the
**Poobah:** peaks go lizards, probably cigarettes. I mean, you know, look, no one wants to, I don't want to be, Covered in cigarette smoke or cigar smoke necessarily when I'm out to dinner with my wife or my family or my kids I mean who wants that that's already banned anyway, so I don't know what these additional bands [01:21:00] mean but outdoors
**Bam Bam:** Are we in Canada?
**Pagoda:** No, I think we might have a Kiwi New Zealand.
**Bam Bam:** We're lucky. We have a private club here Yeah, and we can smoke anytime, you know, if there's a group of guys out there in Peekskill You love your cigars, start a club, find a place and call it your own if you can.
**Poobah:** Or set up a tent. Yeah, you could do that too. Set up a tent city.
You know what I mean?
**Grinder:** In Denver. They're there. They have plenty of them. Oh, but it's outdoors.
**Gizmo:** I'm sorry. It's outdoors. You're fine. I mean. So boys, I have one more listener email before we get into our ratings. This is a fun one. Comes from Lizard Martin. In Slovakia,
**Poobah:** Slovakia,
**Gizmo:** he says, dear lounge lizards. I wish you all the best for the next 200 episodes, sending you greetings from Slovakia, a small country in the middle of Europe as a regular listener of your podcast.
I enjoy it during my rides to work. And home and sometimes on my balcony [01:22:00] while having a cigar and some whiskey and very often I am thinking about how oxygen oxidizes
**Senator:** There is
**Gizmo:** a
**Grinder:** true chemical reaction that actually does take place
**Gizmo:** Oxygen oxidizes has invaded Slovakia BAM Oh, I mean, that's amazing. It's
**Poobah:** ridiculously funny. And the fact that we'd hold on, I just want to just acknowledge, you
**Bam Bam:** got to go back and edit that podcast. No, no, no, no, no, no.
**Poobah:** The fact that, that, that.
That, that BAM's outlook on certain things have, have actually gone global. Has
**Bam Bam:** not gone global.
**Poobah:** You're, you are fully global. It's
**Bam Bam:** a rare incident right there. No, it's not. I
**Poobah:** promise. No, you've got listeners. Writing in from Slovakia about your commentary on how oxygen There's one out in Slovakia.
**Grinder:** Actually, I think I was the one that said oxygen [01:23:00] oxidizes.
He was! Yes, it was him! You made the comment about it. I was like, well, it does do that.
**Gizmo:** Global, man. Bam owns it. And he says, surprisingly, not very often, but from time to time, I taste in some Dominican sticks The dried fruit as well. It's a real thing. So the dried fruit has also made it to Slovakia.
**Poobah:** Well, you have an ally in Slovakia.
Correct.
**Gizmo:** He says here, I'm looking forward to further episodes of your podcast. And I'm proposing to add to your list of cigars, the Rocky Patel, number six in Robusto. Best regards, lizard Martin. All right. What an awesome email. That's a
**Bam Bam:** great email. What an awesome email. Great,
**Gizmo:** great email. Thank you, Martin.
And thanks to all the lizards out there who write in. Respectfully
**Bam Bam:** written.
**Gizmo:** And, uh, I can't wait for
**Pagoda:** an email from Dubai. I just, I just, I just,
**Senator:** I'm just thinking
**Poobah:** of lizard Martin giggling on his, on his porch, uh, or in his balcony smoking a cigar [01:24:00] about how Oxygen, it's amazing. It's incredible. You're global, Bam.
You're global. What are we talking about next? What's our next topic.
**Gizmo:** So boys, it's time to move into the rating portion of our episode tonight. And I think you guys may find this surprising. We have three ratings to do tonight. We do. Because we have never rated the Paul Roger Brute reserve. Yeah. We've only rated the Vintage 2013 quite some time ago. But for all the times we have drank, we have had the Paul Roger Brut Reserve, the standard issue Paul Roger Champagne, we have never rated it.
**Pagoda:** I think it's gotta be an independent episode. Meaning we need to have Paul Roger again. And then just rate it. I hope we have it again and again. We'll keep
**Gizmo:** having it, but I think it's time to rate it.
**Pagoda:** Yeah, I
**Bam Bam:** agree.
**Gizmo:** Alright boys, let's move into the formal liquor rating now on the Paul Roger Brut Reserve.
Bam Bam, you're up.
**Bam Bam:** You know, we talk about how expensive things are and the cost of things. [01:25:00] As men, we do very little for ourselves. You know, we do for our kids, for our wives, and we have to take care of ourselves once in a while. I think tonight, how rich the experience was from the champagne and this incredible wine, I'm giving the Paul Roger a 10.
A 10 and a 10. It's, it's worth every dollar. I want to go out and just buy bottles of this and enjoy it as often as I can. 10.
**Senator:** All right. Bam. Just give it a 30, 10 to 10 and a 10. I'm all
**Grinder:** in on that.
**Bam Bam:** I'm all
**Grinder:** in on the 10 sweep as well. Yeah, absolutely. It's called
**Poobah:** Bamalytics. Correct.
**Bam Bam:** Formerly defunct, but we're going after funding.
**Gizmo:** You're looking for investors, man. I am. Hey, lizard Martin in Slovakia. He's
**Poobah:** ready. He'll invest. It's AI, artificial intelligence, analytics,
**Pagoda:** Pagoda, you know, uh, [01:26:00] Oftentimes I talk about the experiences and, uh, uh, today being, uh, Poobah's birthday and just what a wonderful experience it's been for the last, you know, hour, hour and a half, maybe two, I don't know when time just goes by so quick.
Um, the experience has been fantastic. Paul Roger the 10, meaning it's, uh, it's a no brainer. I think we all love it over here. Uh, it's something that we really enjoy. Uh, it's so much so that now I've been gifting Paul Roger to everybody around. Thank you, Senator, for introducing us to what a fantastic, what a fantastic champagne.
Thank you, Senator. This is a tough one
**Senator:** for
**Pagoda:** me. What?
**Senator:** It's a 20. Well, I've got to beat Ben. He gave it a 30. So I guess I'm at a 50. Ooh, uh, no, uh, it's easily a 10. I, the thing that's remarkable, obviously I've always loved Paul Roger and I'm so, so glad that this group has liked it. Embraced it in ways I never imagined possible.
I mean, showing up [01:27:00] at, you know, Pagoda's house on an afternoon and he breaks out a bottle of Paul Roger as we're having cigars and it's become part of the lizard fabric. Um, obviously I still try to bring it for birthdays and it's become the, uh, the, the, the champagne of choice for savoring. But I think the thing that just shocks me the most is.
As we've gone deeper into this champagne journey from vintage bottles to other higher price stuff, every single time I could have a glass of Paul Roger after I've drank a 300 bottle of champagne. And it brings me the same joy. And it's not, there are not many things that's true with, you know, you think about, you have like a really spectacular cigar and then you have a cigar that's a quarter of the price point afterward.
And you're sitting there usually pretty disappointed. It like kind of ruined what normally would be a very good cigar for you, but it was so spectacular that it just kind of kills it in that moment. I've never once had that happen with Paul Roger [01:28:00] and I don't know any other product that I really feel that way about.
So, uh, it's a 10 and, um, thank you to Winston Churchill for his great work to, I think really help, uh, builds the, uh, the Paul Roger branded name and, and kind of take it to new heights based on his love and appreciation for it. And, uh, any lizard that drinks champagne that hasn't yet had it needs to buy themselves, uh, buy themselves a bottle of Paul Roger.
**Pagoda:** It's so versatile. I mean, you can have it with Cubans, New Worlds. It just works every time. And you can have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, eggs. You can have it with steak. You can have it literally alone.
**Gizmo:** So for me, it's a 10. I think, you know, tonight it was a 10. The last time we had it for a birthday, it was a 10.
On New Year's Eve, we had it. It was a 10. When I had it with my family at a holiday, it was a 10. This has redefined my life. Feeling about celebrating and Paul Roger is just the best of the best. I think at its price point, what is the price [01:29:00] of a Paul Roger today? Now, 50 bucks a bottle, 50 bucks a bottle.
That's
**Bam Bam:** insane.
**Gizmo:** To have this at a celebration with your family, at a celebration with your friends, like we've done tonight, it just cannot be beat. And then you add on how well it pairs with all of the different types of cigars, virtually
**Bam Bam:** any cigar,
**Gizmo:** anything.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Like as full as this is, or as light as some of the Cubans we've smoked, some of the age Cubans that really, really get subtle and mild.
It's just a brilliant, brilliant spirit. And, uh, yeah, I share the same thing. I'm very grateful to Senator for introducing it to us and to continue bringing it in and for these wonderful moments like Poobah's birthday tonight. It's a 10 all day. I think it's just the best of the best.
**Poobah:** Uh, yeah, I'll, I'll echo that.
And I, I, one thing Senator mentioned was I can't think of another product. One product that I would think of that is as consistent, um, and delivers like the type of consistent [01:30:00] satisfaction and is as versatile is the Exclusivo. I agree with that. Um, so if you were like desert Island, it was like, all right, you need to pick one box of smokes that you're going to have, we're going to give you a pallet.
Of those for you to live the rest of your life with like a volleyball, like Wilson, you got Wilson, you know what I mean? You're on a desert island and you've got one champagne. It would be Paul Roger and it would be exquisitos. You know, it's kind of like the exquisito I think is analogous in a way that it, you know, it's so versatile.
You can smoke it virtually almost any time. Same with Paul Roger. It's great for any occasion. It's elevated enough. That it's, they're both sophisticated. They're both reasonably priced. Um, so for me, Paul Roger's, you know, like a 10, like an exclusivo for me is a 10 for what it is at the price point that it is just to put a [01:31:00] period on the end of the sentences that I, you know, thank you so much.
For, for bringing the bottle and, you know, um, acknowledging my birthday, which is whatever, not a big deal, but it is in here because we get
**Gizmo:** to drink champagne, but
**Poobah:** okay, but thank you. You know, I appreciate it. Each and every one of you. And, you know, Paul Roger's a 10 for me, just like an exclusive is a 10 for me.
**Gizmo:** So that's easy math on that one, boys. The Paul Roger brute reserve formal liquor rating is a 10 point.
**Bam Bam:** Zero very well deserved
**Rooster:** and the saber saber skills.
Oh
**Poobah:** yeah. Yes.
**Gizmo:** Presentation
**Poobah:** counts.
**Senator:** Garcon gets a 10 as well. All right, boys, let's move into our next rate. I'll just say I'm very relieved because if one, if you would have given it a nine, I don't know that we could be friends anymore. He would have walked out of here. Not even kidding. I don't
**Rooster:** use the saber on your head.
We should have set that up and waited it like a six. Just to piss him off. That would [01:32:00] have been awesome. We should have done that.
**Poobah:** Opportunity missed. He would have got it. This is how it would have gone. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but I'm,
**Jesse Ventura:** I'm out.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys. Let's move into the formal liqueur rating now on the orange Swift Papillon, red wine, fantastic pairing tonight.
Bam Bam, you're up.
**Bam Bam:** I don't think I'm being overly enthusiastic by giving this a 10. Uh, it's just so satisfying, delicious, delicious drink. You know, you keep that in your mouth just a few seconds before you take it down. It is unlike any other wine I've had in a very long time.
**Grinder:** Grinder. It's so drinkable.
Uh, the, the flavors were just phenomenal. I, it was. It was juicy, but not sweet. It was like all these, all these sensations, uh, on my palate and it paired so well with the cigar. Um, it's definitely a 10. I can't wait to drink more of it. Uh, and I look forward to buying a case, frankly. Similar to how I [01:33:00] bought a case of Paul Roger.
And then
**Senator:** a second, and then a third, and then a fourth. Just for the record, you guys are my breeding ground to become a Sobs
**Pagoda:** of Day. Pagoda. There's a 10 for me. You know, I was very apprehensive when it came to the White Man. Senator had selected, uh, I almost didn't pour you any for it. I know, I was like, Yeah, I'm not a big wine drinker, you know, typically I wine with dinner, but, uh, Um, you know, I think over the years, uh, I've had a few wines with Senator, of course, and, Uh, everything he brings is just so fantastic, but, This, uh, wine really was delicious.
And, you know, you were talking about the body and the structure, There was something about this wine which is, Enveloped your whole, you know, palate, your mouth. It was just flavorful and delicious and smooth and there were no rough edges. And, you know, it didn't give you any of those jammy kind of flavors.
Sometimes you get with, you know, the red wines, uh, uh, [01:34:00] particularly, but, uh, really, really enjoyed it. It
**Grinder:** was like one of those, you know, sometimes, or maybe I'll look at, at, uh, Bam Bam for this, when you see. When you see a building that just fits the setting and it just looks perfect, all the edges are great.
That's the way it felt in my mouth. It's like, you don't need to say anything else. It was just there. And it was just like, damn, this is like, this fits. It felt like home. It was perfect.
**Senator:** Senator. I'm in lockstep with the guys before me. It's a 10. And I've said, I've drank this for years now. This is the best expression of it I've had yet.
It's hit its peak. It's the perfect amount of age. If you can find a 2019 bottle, I would highly recommend that you buy it. It's so balanced. So full in flavor and structure and body, but yet so smooth and silky. And, you know, ironically Poobah brought up the Exclusivo and I [01:35:00] think of, you know, Padron, why we love Padron so much is you get that full bodied experience, but delivered in such a smooth way.
Like few others can. And I think this cigar has been a great example of that. And this wine that it's the embodiment of that, how much flavor can you deliver in such a smooth and accessible way? And I think Poobah mentioned this and I agree with this is one of those wines that for an experienced wine drinker, they're going to enjoy, but also for someone who is newer to red wine, I think that this is approachable enough for them to realize, wow, there is something better there.
There is more complexity I can chase. And so I think it's got a lot of versatility for those reasons. Uh, definite 10.
**Gizmo:** So it's a 10 for me. I think this is the most incredible bottle of red wine I've had in a long time. I am shocked at how well it paired with this Absolute full cigar. I think it would pair well with most full meals.
If not all, I just think it's [01:36:00] the best of the best as far as red wine goes. I mean, I am going to go and find a case of this 2019 vintage of this. This papillon. I thought it was brilliant. I'm very grateful you brought it in. I can't believe it's an 85 price point. I know we talk about just like cigars.
There is sometimes a disconnect in price versus flavor. We do have 8 cigars. We rate tens and we have 100 cigars. We rate, you know, at fives. Whereas, you know, something coming in at an 85 price point rating as well as it has tonight. And it has for me. I'm, I'm very surprised with it and I thought it was brilliant and it's a 10 all day.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. Sometimes price doesn't matter when you find something that's incredible. Exactly. Honestly.
**Gizmo:** And I still think 85 is very reasonable for that.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Poobah:** I think for the casual wine drinker, like I am, I don't research red wine. You know, I'm not on the internet, like, you know, scouring things. It's not something that I'm doing a lot.
I go [01:37:00] on, sometimes I go on a little bit of a, particularly during the holidays, I'm buying cases or something. You know what I mean? Things like that. Um, blends are hard to figure out for me, so I, I, I tend to like default to the staples, you know, they're a little risky. Well, you just don't know, you know, you kind of don't know how it's going to play out with some of these, these maritages and what, you know, how it's going to work unless you've had it before, you know, so I, I tend to fall back onto the, The, the, the typical stuff, you know, that's like reliable that you know, is always going to be good, whether it's, who knows Jordan, Silver Oaks, Dagsleep, you know, some of the suit, you know, some of those super Tuscans that, you know, are really reliable.
This to me for it, this is the best blend blended wine or, or, or, you know, Maritage that I've [01:38:00] ever had. Uh, I mean, I, but again, I haven't, it's a complicated world. Do you know what I mean? So it's 10 for me. Um, and I, you know, I'm not gonna, you know, I echo all the, all the commentary that everyone gave all the same reasons.
So, um, I loved it and it paired well with the cigar. So it's a 10 for me.
**Gizmo:** So boys, that puts the formal liquor rating on the orange Swift Papillon. Also at a 10. 0. Incredible. Can you believe we had two spirits tonight? What a night. At a 10? What a night. That's unbelievable.
**Bam Bam:** Now wait for the scar ratings. I can't.
I'm not. We talk about sweep. There's still a chance. It's
**Gizmo:** gonna be a little bit of sweep. But I can guarantee it. Alright boys. It's time to move into the formal lizard rating now. On the Davidoff Maduro. In Robusto, Rooster, you're up.
**Rooster:** Uh, this is one of the, one of the better full body Davidoffs I've had. And, uh, [01:39:00] I mean, keeping in line with the scores, I'm going to give this a 10.
I mean, this is a wonderful cigar. The price point is what it is. Um, I mean, this is what the cigars are going for, but I think it's a must try for every Davidoff lover.
**Poobah:** 100%. It was a 10 for me. I'm not going to, you know, repeat the commentary. It was, we, we talked about it enough. I mean, what a cigar, elegant, fantastic, smooth, rich.
It's a 10 fantastic. 50 bucks is a lot of, is a lot of money for a cigar. It's clearly not for every day, but boy, oh boy, is it good.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, I'm the outlier here. This is a nine. It's not a 10.
**Bam Bam:** You did have a rough experience in the beginning of that. I did.
**Gizmo:** I actually thought I was going to be at an eight.
**Bam Bam:** Wow.
**Gizmo:** When I was at the end of the first third, I was really not enjoying it. There was something weird going on. It did turn around. But [01:40:00] also when I consider the price point, am I going to go out and buy a box of these cigars? I don't think so. Do I think anybody in this room is going to go out and buy a box of these cigars?
I don't think so. So, I have to factor that in, maybe Bam Bam will, I have to factor that in, I have to factor in the fact that I don't think I'm going to chase this cigar, if someone gave it to me or if I was in a situation where it came up and I wanted to pick up a couple, I would do that, but it's not a 10 for me, it's a 9 all day and I'm very, very happy with that score, so it's a 9.
Senator.
**Senator:** This is tough because I came into this thinking I was going to give this a nine having already smoked it before this was as good if not better even than the one that I first tried and the one I first had it was landed maybe a few days so I think even it was still a little high in humidity and not really optimal I can't find one thing wrong with this cigar [01:41:00] I'm going to give it a 10 I mean when I think of the the limited edition releases that Davidoff has put out outside of the chefs.
This has got to be the best. I agree.
**Poobah:** And
**Senator:** I had as surprising and enjoyable experience with this cigar as, as I do when I light up a chef's edition or when I used to be able to, I don't have any more at this point. It's a damn good cigar. And I think the hardest thing, you know, I never really pursue the fullest bodied, you know, cigar that anyone puts out because I'm always expecting there to be some aggression in there that just takes it too far.
I smoked it all the way down. I never once hit a point in the cigar that I thought this is more than I'm looking for. This is a cigar I need to prepare for by coming in with a full meal before I smoke it. It's really [01:42:00] awesome what they've done with it. So for me, it's a 10. I think anybody who loves a full body cigar is going to absolutely enjoy this.
And I think even anybody who loves a medium body cigar and just occasionally wants to dial up the strength. I think this is going to be perfect for them too. Because it's so smooth. Yeah. Yeah. Pagoda.
**Pagoda:** Um, it's a 10 for me guys. If you like dark chocolate and coffee, this is the cigar for you. It fits in my flavor profile.
So I enjoyed it. I was looking forward to it. I came at very high expectation. And typically when you walk in with high expectations, Oftentimes, you know, you could be disappointed or you find things which may or may not suit you, but this delivered in every, every, um, you know, detail. I really enjoyed it.
Um, um, the price point's a bit high, but hey, there's certain cigars which you want for celebrations. You know, you pick up a cigar like this when you want to celebrate. Spend the, you know, couple of extra dollars and [01:43:00] this will deliver and, you know, that's extremely important. Sometimes you do have to rate cigars, um, um, based on your flavor, based on the flavor and based on your enjoyment, uh, of that, uh, particular sake.
And for me, it's a 10. Grinder. For
**Grinder:** me, it's also a 10. Um, I made the comment, you know, I think Rooster brought up the 702. The 702 for me is, is, is, you know, one of the best cigars I've ever had. This had some of that in it. I've never really met a Davidoff that I didn't like. And, um, This had that Davidoff flavor, but in a different, you know, expression, uh, that really just floored me.
And it was a shock to see the difference when, uh, Senator gave me the, uh, the Robusto to, to have the experience in the Toro and then the Robusto, the shock of like, wow, this is, it's, it's, it's, it's almost like a [01:44:00] very different cigar. And I know Bam Bam had a similar experience. Oh, yeah. Everything was well rounded.
Perfect. Everything fit my flavor, flavor profile. Um, it's, it's an obvious 10 as soon, you know, halfway through I was, I was committed to a 10 on this one for sure.
**Bam Bam:** Bam Bam. Yeah. You know, I'll go back to what I said earlier, regardless of the price, um, you have to take care of yourself. You have to splurge on yourself more often than not because life's short.
And when you find products like this, like the, the wine and the champagne that we drank, these are. Very high quality products. When you want to take care of yourself, you buy the very best. I'm giving this cigar a 10. And I'm, it's, it's kind of rekindled my excitement for Davidoff. And I hope that their new line of cigars that they come out in the future kind of move in this slipstream and stay here because this is A compelling cigar from top to bottom.
**Poobah:** Very compelling cigar.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys. That puts the formal lizard rating on the Davidoff Maduro in Robusto [01:45:00] at a 9. 9. Wow. What a night. So Grinder said something I think is really interesting. He said he hasn't found a Davidoff he hasn't liked. And I think as a podcast, we haven't found a Davidoff that we haven't liked.
So let's go through the. Seven other ratings we've done on this podcast. First, the chef's edition 2021 that Senator just mentioned on episode two, we rated a 9. 2 the Dominican on episode eight from 2014 rated a 9. 2 as well. On episode 27, the late hour in Churchill. Also got a 9. 2. Then we went into the millennium series on episode 33.
The pyramids got a 9. 0 on episode 45. The Robusto got a 9. 0 and on episode 79, the millennium Lancero limited edition. Got a 9. 1. And then finally, just a few episodes ago, on a short spoke special, the Winston Churchill and Belly Coso on episode 132 [01:46:00] got a perfect, incredibly elite scores. So Davidoff has never fallen below a 9.
0 on this podcast. Or the Padrons.
**Bam Bam:** That's
**Gizmo:** true too.
**Bam Bam:** Oh
**Gizmo:** yeah. Unbelievable. Well, boys, what a fantastic night. Incredible. It's a
**Poobah:** fantastic night. I think it's also, it's obvious and kind of like captain obvious here, but it's like, it's Poobah's birthday. It's my, it's my birthday, but like Padron and Davidoff make the best new world cigars, just like hard stop.
Correct. Like you want Nicaraguan tobacco by a Padron. You want Dominican, great Dominican tobacco. By Davidoff, and you're going to have a great experience, generally speaking, it's a
**Gizmo:** testament to what they're doing. That's the [01:47:00] strongest statement, as Lizard Martin reminded us, that oxygen oxidizes. Yeah.
Padrone and Davidoff perform. Correct.
**Poobah:** No, but I mean, it's obvious, right? But, but, but.
**Gizmo:** The ratings prove it out. Exactly. Right. All right, boys, let's recap one more time on the Paul Roger brute reserve. We had a flat 10. 0 also on the orange Swift Papillon, a 10. 0. And then on, on the Davidoff Maduro in Robusto, a 9.
9, what a night. What a night. Yeah. What a night.
**Poobah:** Incredible. Terrific. Terrific cigars. Happy
**Gizmo:** birthday, Poobah. Happy
**Poobah:** birthday, Poobah. I
**Gizmo:** couldn't, I wasn't
**Poobah:** really expecting, wasn't really expecting, uh, this type of a luxurious experience. Absolutely. It was awesome. But my goodness, thank you.
**Gizmo:** So thank you to all the listeners for writing in.
We really, really appreciate it. Continue to do so. Send us some voice memos. We'd love those. And of course, thank you to Fabrica 5 for supporting the podcast. And, uh, we'll see everybody next week. Keep smoking. Hope you enjoyed this episode. [01:48:00] Thanks for joining us. You can find our merch store and ratings archive at our brand new website, lounge lizards pod.
com. That's lounge lizards p o d. com. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. If you have any comments, questions, if you want to reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking. Email us. Hello at lounge lizards pod. com. You can also find us on Instagram at lounge lizards pod.
We really appreciate your time and we'll, uh, we'll see you next week.