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The lizards pair a Cuban Montecristo No. 1 with Croizet VS Cognac. The guys discuss how young cigars can preview future potential, Montecristo’s inconsistency, and they explore how mindset can affect a cigar and also how a cigar can affect mindset.
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. 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, and tonight I'm joined by Rooster Puba, Senator Pagoda, and bam bam.
And our plan is smoker Cigar, drink some cognac, talk about life, and of course, have some laughs. So take this as your 46th official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. Plan to meet us here once a week. We're gonna smoke a cubit cigar tonight. Share our thoughts on it, and give you our formal lizard rating.
We discuss how young cigars can preview future potential. We chat about Monte Christo's inconsistency, and we explore how our mindset can affect a cigar and how a cigar can affect our mindset, all among a variety of other things for the next hour. So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar, and enjoy as we pair Crozet vs.
Cognac with the Montecristo number one. Our first [00:01:00] Cuban Lonsdale on the pod tonight, boys, the Monte Cristo, number one, a beautiful 42 ring gauge by six and a half inch cigar. I really love how this cigar feels in your hand. I love it. It's, it's an awesome shape. It's the perfect shape, I think. Yes, I think Lonsdale is the perfect shape.
I really do. I know a lot of guys prefer bigger ring gauge cigars. Mm-hmm. I am not one of them.
**Bam Bam:** We're, we're gravitating away from that, I
**Gizmo:** think. Yeah. Unfortunately the market isn't mm-hmm. , they're gravitating towards bigger cigars, but these are going the way of the dodo, but this is one of the good ones that are left.
Oh
**Bam Bam:** yeah. The wrapper smells fantastic. Really? Very aromatic.
**Gizmo:** Oh, it does, doesn't it smells very good. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
**Poobah:** Hmm. It does smell good. It's a handsome, I mean, the, uh, if this, if this looks as, it smokes, as nice as it looks,
**Gizmo:** yeah. I think this is, a fantastic first [00:02:00] cigar of the day, like as, as a first cigar of the day.
This is this that's perfectly fits in my rotation in that slot. I've only
**Bam Bam:** had this once before and you gave me my first one. Really? Yeah. Never had this until you gave me one.
**Poobah:** Very, very classic. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, absolutely. Sophisticated looking
**Bam Bam:** cigar.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, let's cut this thing. See what we're getting on the cold draw.
I see senator's got the, uh, perfect. Draw
**Poobah:** out some resistance. It's, it's open,
**Gizmo:** but I'm the same. Just a little bit of resistance on it, not, definitely not wide open. Mine's pretty wide
**Bam Bam:** open.
**Rooster:** Yeah. Not, not much on the o, on the, on the draw. No,
**Gizmo:** it's
**Poobah:** very mild, you know. Maybe,
**Rooster:** maybe, maybe a little bit
**Poobah:** of chocolate.
Yeah, like some light cocoa. Yeah, that's about it. A little bit of tobacco.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, let's light this thing. The Cuban Monty Crystals number one part of the classic Monte Crystals line. [00:03:00] Again, it's 42 ring gauge by six and a half inches
**Bam Bam:** gizmo. What are these costs per stick? And that's a relative question.
I understand, but Yeah. With what's
**Gizmo:** going on? I, I think right now, these are between 13 and 16. Okay. Um, they're on the, they're on the lighter end of cost. And, and the reason why I wanted to do them tonight, uh, not only because I love them, but they're very, they're, they're fairly easy to find
**Bam Bam:** The smoke coming off of this I love 'em.
Is, is fantastic. Is smells great before taking a draw. Very good.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. So,
**Rooster:** so these sticks in Canada, they're about $35. Wow. 35 Canadian. That's unfair.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. That's obscene. That's
a
**Senator:** pornographic. Mm. A piece of pizza's. Probably $30 in Canada. I mean, their prices are ridiculous.
**Pagoda:** healthcare's free.
**Bam Bam:** That's the offset
**Poobah:** wonderful people.[00:04:00]
**Bam Bam:** I mean, this is a delicious on the light, right? It's cigar on the
**Gizmo:** light. It is. The thing I will say though is that I find that this is a, a little bit, it steps outside that what I would think is the traditional flavor profile of Monte Christo in that it doesn't have that kind of twangy thing that certainly the Monty two does and the Monty four has a little bit like this to me is a little bit more of a breakfast, lunch type of cigar.
That's where I would put this.
**Bam Bam:** Go ahead. I know we're senators
**Senator:** going. I, I was gonna say, I mean, I, I agree in that the f the flavors are not as pronounced as the traditional Monty sticks. We think of a, a Monty two, even a Monty three or four. . Um, but I do still think that the flavors themselves are present in this cigar, in that I get a little bit of cocoa.
I do get that saltiness. That's a little twangy like you'd expect in a Monte. So I think to [00:05:00] your point, they're not as, um, pronounced, pronounced as exactly the word. They're not as pronounced as those other sticks, but I still think it's true to the brand.
**Bam Bam:** The saltiness for me is the most pronounced note that I'm getting right now.
Agreed. And loving it.
**Gizmo:** I'm getting a lot of that cocoa. Hmm. There's a little bit of pepper
**Rooster:** too. I don't know if you got that, but I hint of pepper. Not a lot, but little
**Poobah:** bit so far, man. Mine, mine per mine's performing wonderfully. Yeah, mine too. Off the, off the start. So, and the construction is uh, looks really nice.
Good. Even burn.
**Gizmo:** A little rustic on the construction Toothy. Tuhi, I guess is the word. I, I
**Senator:** think the construction is, is, is really nice on this cigar. I mean, all of them. I obviously you had gotten some of these, so I had gotten some through you. I mean, the seams are invisible. [00:06:00] Um, I, I think overall it's actually
**Gizmo:** very well constructed.
That's a good looking
**Poobah:** spot. It's handsome looking. I mean, you know, like you said, invisible scenes, tight, invisible scenes and it's, it, it looks real really nice.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, I,
**Senator:** I say that cuz I, I truly would not call this rustic.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, I took that back. I, what, what I'm, I just very toothy, I think was a little bit more, it's a bit tooth there.
Mine's a little bit toothy, not mine, but it's pretty pristine. The rappers. The rapper's
**Poobah:** very smooth. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's some, it's got a little bit of shimmer and sheen to it. Yeah. It's a light colored wrapper.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. So, so Senator,
**Rooster:** yours was a little plugged, right? Mine
**Senator:** was. And for some strange reason, I mean, I have some of these and I just experienced that recently this weekend.
Now, thankfully this time. , the perfect draws opened it up exactly as it should. So I'm happy with the draw right now, but who knows? Could just be the box there. It's funny cuz when you look at the foot, it looked like it was, I would not have draw issues, but the end of it was just really tightly packed. So it just need to be Seems
**Rooster:** [00:07:00] like pagoda did as
**Pagoda:** well.
Yeah, I'm struggling. Oh yeah. Even with a perfect draw, there's been nothing
**Gizmo:** strange.
**Poobah:** You know, you run the risk everyone. It's well known. You run the risk in these smaller ring gauge cigar. . Uh, sometimes, particularly in Lonsdale, you can, you can run it into a tight draw, but we've also sometimes, like with the petite Corona, you can run into a, you can run into a tight draw.
It's just,
**Rooster:** I've had an issue with these once in a while. It does happen.
**Bam Bam:** But you also get that issue with Monte twos. Right? There's some, there was some inconsistency.
**Senator:** I, the consistency issues for me with Monty two s have never been the construction. I've never had a plug Monty two for me, it's just been, the flavors been inconsistent.
I see, I see. But I've never had construction issues with the Monty two. Okay.
**Rooster:** And what, what
**Gizmo:** is this? 2019? Yeah. These, these are 2019. Yeah. From, uh, LA Corona. Enjoyable.
**Poobah:** Yeah. Delicious style. The salt is like very, is it me or is this very salty? Yeah. Yeah. Kind of [00:08:00] taste the little ocean, like mm-hmm. . Yeah. I feel minerally.
**Senator:** Right, which is, uh, a lot of those Monty Twang, I think you still get in this stick, which I really, really like. It's very
**Poobah:** forward though. Yeah. More, more pronounced. I feel like a little bit, a little bit more pointed. Uh, in a good way. If you're in the mood for that.
I'm not getting as much of that chocolate vibe. That typical Monty too.
**Rooster:** Nah, it's, it's not overly pronounced chocolate, but it, there's a hint of like milk chocolate.
**Gizmo:** I'm getting quite a bit of chocolate on mine. Oh, wow. Uh, and, and it's less salt, less twang, more,
**Bam Bam:** I kind of get it like I get it. Mid drawl.
Little
**Gizmo:** coat. Very, I'm getting saltiness for sure. There is, there is saltiness
**Senator:** that's forward for sure. I'm with Rooster and Puba in that. For me, it's, it starts really salty. You get those. When you draw on the smoke, and I think on the finishes [00:09:00] where I get a little bit of that cocoa, some milk chocolate, uh, but the salt is very, and that minerality very, very
**Gizmo:** pronounced.
**Poobah:** Something's happening with this thing where I'm, let me just keep going where I'm not, where I feel like I'm not enjoying it for some reason. Thanks. Um,
this is weird, but I don't think it was something I ate before I came here or anything, but I mean, all I had was some crackers and like some cheese and crackers and stuff, but like I'm getting like sort of like a, I don't wanna say a chemical taste, but almost like what it would be like if I. like have like just took mouthwash like Listerine in my mouth and like put like I'm getting like an odd ammonia type thing.
No, I don't know. It's like a odd taste. I hope it goes away. [00:10:00] Hmm. Yeah. But something strange.
**Gizmo:** Well, mine is delicious. mine too. .
**Senator:** No, I love the flavor on mine. I have no concerns with the flavor. For me it was just a draw. That was it. Right.
**Gizmo:** So Pagodas trying again. We'll see how he does. That's the thing about Cuba, man. Cuba being Cuba.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. Well I will say the cognac is delicious. Yeah, let's talk about that. I mean, spectacular. Honestly, I gotta say, is that better?
**Pagoda:** Oh, way, way. So
**Gizmo:** Senator, what do we have here? What is this? Cognac? So
**Senator:** this is, uh, CRO uh, vs.
So we started, I guess our cognac journey with A V S O P. Uh, we then, uh, quickly went straight to the top as we do , as we do, we had the, uh, the Remy, uh, xo and so I thought it was appropriate. We should really see the full range, um, and have a a vs. And we were at our, uh, I was at our clubhouse recently and uh, one of the members [00:11:00] there, someone had gifted him a bottle of this and he also doesn't drink cognac very often.
He took a sip and he said, wow, this is very, very whiskey. Like he really liked the flavors. So I had asked him to try a little bit. I thought it was actually pretty good, especially for the price points, a very affordable bottle. And um, so I thought it'd be fun for us to try our first, uh, vs on the pod. And the brand actually has got a really fascinating story, which I was, uh, just intrigued by as I was reading a little bit more about it.
**Gizmo:** This is delicious. . This is delicious. I love it. I, I, I don't know enough. I, I think so yet about cognac to really compare judge to the others that we've had. But it's right in line with Yeah. Where, with where they're at. I mean, this is very, very good. Very tasty. How much is this a bottle?
**Senator:** This is what you're not gonna believe.
Um, this, I think retails at maybe 40. Wow. Get the hell outta here. But, but it gets even wilder, I think where I, I, they did not have this, uh, total wine or [00:12:00] some of the larger, um, liquor stores that we shop at. So I had to go to a smaller place, uh, not that close, but I think I got this for like 35, a bottle of wine, which is
**Bam Bam:** insane.
It's very good for that price. Did you get it at, uh, Bob's Deli around the corner? , I mean, that's insane.
**Gizmo:** Not that kind of liquor story. . So tell us the, uh, backstory of
**Senator:** this thing. Yeah. So really fascinating. Um, coryza is one of the oldest cognac companies. . Uh, they were founded in 1805. So just as you know, lengthy brand history as some of the better known names that we're familiar with.
Like Remy Martin. Corvassier. Hennessy. Hennessy. Yeah, exactly. Mm-hmm. . Um, and the story of the guy who founded Crozet is fascinating in that. So in the late 18 hundreds, uh, this is when sort of the cognac, uh, boom w was starting, um, in that early to late 18 hundreds period, come the late 18 hundreds. As of 1883, 80% of cognac [00:13:00] vineyards have been ravaged by lice that were destroying the vines.
Like lice. Some form of lice, yeah. Really, that were literally just destroying all the vines. They couldn't make any cognac out of it. Wasn't salvageable. Pretty hairy
**Pagoda:** situation.
**Poobah:** god, goddamn laborers, picking the CS at the,
**Bam Bam:** they don't enough
**Poobah:** unacceptable.
**Senator:** So, funnily enough, a bunch of these French cognac vines became problematic cuz they were infested with lice. They couldn't do anything with it, and America at this time was starting to make cognac as well, and their vines were thriving and they were fine. So this guy had a really clever idea to try to figure out to get American vines, even though this was, they tried everything possible to avoid having to import American vines and, and sort of start over again.
And finally he did that and tried to find vines that would match the sort of climate in the environment of, um, whichever of the champagne [00:14:00] regions in the, in within cognac, uh, fit the flavor profile of the brand. So after doing that, uh, the guy had figured out that by building stone walls around smaller plots, he could keep out the lice and the crop would have a better chance of thriving and surviving.
So he did that. and, uh, his efforts were so successful, uh, that in 1883, he was awarded the highest honor in France, the world famous Legion of honor by the, um, French president to thank him for saving the entire industry. So a really cool brand story where Wow, wow. Without this guy, I mean, cognac may not have existed in the way that it
**Gizmo:** did.
Amazing. Sounds like a brilliant farmer. Like, uh, Don Alejandro Rubia we talked about on the Unicos episode. Mm-hmm. , who totally revolutionized Cuban farming for tobacco. Sounds like a very similar type of guy. And
**Senator:** the other thing that was just funny to me, I mean, I had never heard of, of this brand before trying it at our clubhouse, um, but they make some really, really high, high-end stuff.
[00:15:00] As of 2011, they held the record for, um, the most expensive bottle of cognac ever sold. It was over 150,000 for a bottle. Wow. Um, I suspect that someone has beat it since 2011, but at the time they, they held that. So they, they make some really high-end stuff. That's
**Gizmo:** crazy. Is there, is there any American cog.
**Senator:** Uh, I mean, I think America's version of cognac is like cheap Brandy. Brandy, yeah. Brandy. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Because to call it cognac, it has to come Yeah. That from, from that region, from the region's France.
**Poobah:** But there must be like American brandies that are okay or something. There has to be, I don't know. Yeah. I don't, I don't know.
Are there,
**Gizmo:** is that even
**Senator:** an industry mean, the funny thing you say that, you know, every time I feel like it's hard to find cognac to do on the podcast, there's, there's not this vast selection there is for whiskey or even tequila now. And the stuff I see, there's really not much in the brandy options that are all American or so limited.
And I mean, it's like blackberry, brandy, I mean shit that we would never want to drink. Is that right?
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. Yeah. Well I, I'd have that with my Philly blunt tonight. . . [00:16:00]
**Poobah:** Well, I was just thinking if you have a vineyard and you have, and you wanted. Make some small batch brandy or something that somebody would be doing it.
Yeah.
**Senator:** I think part of the problem is, you know, we've talked about how cognac has kind of gone out of fashion and I think needs a comeback. If you're any American distiller, you're probably sitting there saying, is it really worth investing all that time and money in a product that is such a tiny part of the US market right now.
But you know, who knows where it's heading? I mean, I certainly hope after people listen to our our pod. Yeah. Clearly there's merit in cognac. I think all three cognacs we've done so far, this one included. The reactions have been
**Rooster:** positive. Yeah, it was delicious. I was gonna say that like every single one of the cognacs you guys have had, they were great.
They have been very good. You guys have like great them. Pretty, very,
**Gizmo:** very
**Rooster:** good. Yeah. and the price point is not so bad. It's
**Senator:** really not. Yeah. It's really not. It's almost
**Gizmo:** like it needs, like they need someone to come in who's like a marketing genius. That's someone that's figured out how to revolutionize vodka [00:17:00] perception of Cuba, tewa, you know?
Yeah. There you go. I know a guy .
**Senator:** I know a couple guys that can do that. , one of us has the market research cover and the other will handle all their branding and marketing.
**Poobah:** That's right. That's right. We'll, well, yeah. Maybe, maybe there's somebody who could, a celebrity or a movie or some sort of quote unquote catalyst that would, that would put, put cognac back into the forefront.
Some sort of a hero. You know, probably James Bond type. I don't know. Somebody .
**Rooster:** I think maybe it's a misconception that a cognac is like an after dinner drink.
**Senator:** Well, which is, I'm okay with that perception, just cuz I think people also, many people view scotch as that and some of the other stuff we drink. I just think that the perception is that, you know, cognac is an old man's drink that Yeah.
The modern man doesn't drink cognac. And I think that that's what people need to, I think that's what they need to really break and get people to see that. I mean, we, we all love this and you know Yeah,
**Rooster:** yeah. I mean, like, [00:18:00] whatever happened with the tequila boom needs to happen with cogni.
**Poobah:** Yes, yes. And, and scotch is, yeah, exactly.
And scotch is like, it, it the. As a, as a drink, it's become a very masculine kind of, yeah. It has that masculine feeling to it. I'll have a scotch, you know, feel, you know, you order a cognac, it's like, oh, you're ordering a cognac, grandpa. You know what I mean? You're like, it's like, well, where's your beret?
Yeah, right. , you know. So where's
**Gizmo:** your beret? Where's your beret? Like ru
**Poobah:** like, yeah. Rusty . Rusty, but rusty. Love from the, from a European vacation with this beret, .
**Gizmo:** I, rust
**Rooster:** rusty, Stob.
**Poobah:** Rusty. Rusty.
**Bam Bam:** I do find this co connect to be lighter of the other cognacs that we, that we've had. That's not a negative. This is really quite smooth and delicious.
**Senator:** A as it should be. Yeah. So sort of just like with single malts that you expect with and, and even [00:19:00] tequilas with years more of, uh, to age. , they, uh, get more structure, more body, more viscosity. Yep. Um, this is on the, the lighter end being a, a younger a vs. But what I do like about this is, you know, for its youth, which, you know, this could be compared to, you know, maybe a 10 or a 12 year scotch.
Um, I think it's got a lot of flavors still. Yes, it does. Uh, which is really nice. And I think a lot of whiskey notes you get from this, which I also appreciate. Absolutely.
**Bam Bam:** It's pairing nicely with the cigar. I was gonna say, I
**Gizmo:** honestly, I'm actually glad that what you just said about it feeling a little lighter, being maybe a little less viscous.
It's, I think it was the right one for this
**Bam Bam:** cigar. It makes me think of other lighter bodied. I hate that combination of, uh, words, but that's the only thing I can think of here. What other cigars would go with this? I think of some of the BVA cigars. I think we would be fantastic with
**Gizmo:** this. I agree. Yeah. I think a Bella Coast females would go
**Bam Bam:** really well with that.
I agree. Yeah. Or at the Royal Corona, which I had last week at vacation. Yeah. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** I think the, the, you [00:20:00] know, thinking of Lawnsdale, I think the Parus 8 98 would, would go really well with this. Yeah. I don't know. . ,
**Bam Bam:** yeah. That's too strong of a cigar for a pagoda .
**Poobah:** Yeah. This is kind of, uh, so that weirdness that I was talking about has completely gone away.
The, um, good. It's a little like flat for me. Okay. Like a little bit one, there's like not enough there. The cigar.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. I don't disagree with, with the fact that it's one dimensional, but I like that it's consistent and the, for me, it's a, there's an, there's some enjoyment there.
**Gizmo:** There's a
**Poobah:** lot of com There's a lack of complexity for me so far that's not just doing much,
**Gizmo:** much for me.
I, you're
**Rooster:** tasting the freshness of this tobacco. Maybe. I think, I think if this sits for a while, it'll change. Cause I have an older box and I have that once in a while. Much different. Much more, uh, pronounced milk chocolate notes, very smooth. You get that [00:21:00] saltiness, but you kind of taste the fresh tobacco at
**Gizmo:** this.
**Poobah:** Yeah. Sort
**Bam Bam:** of fresh. Can we, um, pass the bottle ? Of course. Is that okay? ?
**Pagoda:** I'm spending all my energy sucking on this.
**Bam Bam:** What year is
**Poobah:** this? , but what, what year is this? That's for the next session later. 2019. It's in 19. It should smoke a little bit better than this though. I hear what you're saying, rooster. Yeah, I think, I think for 20 years I hear what you're saying.
It it should it, in other words. Not that, I mean, I've, we smoke enough age cigars. I have enough, but it's, it's, it's not showing me the potential that you're talking about. Like it's not showing me that, that it's gonna be like this really magnificent cigar in seven, eight
**Rooster:** years. Yeah. I mean, it tastes a bit of harsh harshness, you know, for lack of a better word for me.
Um, I don't know. I mean, there's a big difference in a, in an older box than the 2019.
**Poobah:** Sure. But it, but they usually preview. I mean, in other words, yes, but it's [00:22:00] not previewing for me. Like it's gonna be Yeah. They'll definitely get better with age. So here's a question, but it's not previewing like it's gonna develop into something
**Bam Bam:** amazing.
What Senator said earlier that he didn't have, he hasn't had, uh, performance issues with Mons, but he's had flavor inconsistencies. Yeah. With the Monty two. Well, Mons, I'm gonna say that could be happening right now. There could be some inconsistency in flavor.
**Poobah:** Sure. Had a lot of bad Monty twos. I've had
**Bam Bam:** a bad, I know you've said that
**Poobah:** before.
Yeah. We know . I, I mean, I've had pretty bad and I've bought a lot of them. We remember. So, you know, I've had some pretty lackluster Monty twos.
**Gizmo:** I, I guess, I guess what I'm gonna say about this is that what this cigar is and what my expectation of what it should be is I know where you're going. Built on the fact that I'm not expecting it to be.
something crazy like, to me, Damani two is a step up from this for sure. No question, but nothing, think anything to step up from this. Oh, this is
**Bam Bam:** not . [00:23:00] I'm just kidding. I'm dissension in the room. Hey, I
**Poobah:** mean, listen, that's, there's why we do this. Finish for me. I've got no finish. Mm-hmm. on this. It's like nothing's
**Senator:** happening.
So I'm gonna say my mouth. This something is very odd to me because I recently had one of these with my dad outdoors on my deck. Every cigar, I would normally say smokes better indoors than it does outdoors. I have no explanation for how or why, but when we had this on the deck, each of us had a much different experience than what I'm even having right now.
No, the
**Pagoda:** humidity might have been very high.
**Senator:** I'm saying it was. Yeah,
**Pagoda:** because it's probably more human. It's better outside. Better outside. Yeah. It probably works better because part of me thinks a lot of resistance in the cigar. Lot of resistance, which is fine. Very densely packed. Feels a bit heavy. Um, you know, um, and I think, uh, a little bit of humidity would really help [00:24:00] a cigar like this.
Just to loosen it up a bit, I think. And maybe that's an explanation why it's better than think
**Gizmo:** the opposite would be true. Usually the opposite. What I would
**Senator:** think. That's right. That's what I'm saying. It's hard for me to explain.
**Rooster:** The humidity would make
**Gizmo:** it even
**Senator:** tighter. Tighter. That's right. Luckily it was.
Wouldn't make it a bit
**Bam Bam:** softer too. No, the tobacco expands as it gets wetter.
**Senator:** Yeah. You don't want, and that's where I was going this past weekend, if folks remember it was not human. It's like unusually cool. Even at night. Yeah, it was great. Yeah, it was beautiful out and I just had a more sensory experience.
I just remember even on the light, just the smell, it smelled amazing. And, um, , we were able to smoke this all the way down without any harshness. So I'm not understanding how this has happening. No. So let's go out on
**Rooster:** the deck.
**Gizmo:** Let's go.
**Poobah:** Yeah. It's just, um, let's see how it develops. But it, uh, uh, for me, um, I don't know. I'm not getting much, I'm not getting, like, on my palate. I'm not getting, it feels very flat, very muted, very [00:25:00] muddled. Nothing stands out. The aroma from the smoke is, it's
**Bam Bam:** awesome. It very, it's awesome.
**Poobah:** Yeah, just bring it, it's not offensive.
It's just not anything. It's like balsa wood. Bringing it to your
**Bam Bam:** nose though and letting that smoke come up. It's really quite delicious. It's almost fruity and sweet. It
**Poobah:** is right on the note. Yeah. The aroma. Yeah. Weird, right? I mean it smells very, it's nice. It's, there's nothing offensive here. It's just, it's like, remember those planes you'd buy when you were a kid?
They're balls of planes. So I used to taste,
**Bam Bam:** I love those fucking things. . I love those. The
**Poobah:** rubber band. And you, you twist that and you send that thing flying. Terrorize my neighbors and Joseph. Sure. Oh yeah. You put wings on this thing in a rubber band. You got a balsa
**Rooster:** plane. No idea what you're talking about
**Poobah:** What?
**Bam Bam:** You weren't a hobbyist,
**Poobah:** I dunno. You don't remember balsa wood plains? What ear are you talking about? With the rubber band. It's a pre 1994. And you'd create tension and there was a little, that's why pre 84. Yeah. You let the rubber band [00:26:00] go and the plane would go, it would soar.
**Gizmo:** I mean, we used to make our own paper planes.
It's, you know, I've never, I've never successfully made a paper plane. I it since the day I was born. I cannot, I cannot make a successful fly. Do one on paper plane.
**Poobah:** Do you want a tutorial
**Gizmo:** three? I think I need one three folds. When
**Senator:** you say you've never successfully made one, you mean you don't know how to make one or you've never, you've made one, but you don't know how to get it to fly.
I've
**Gizmo:** made one and it's never flown more than like 15 feet. Like I see those guys that go feet, 15 feet pretty good. That's pretty good. I see the guys that go to like the sporting events. That's good. And they're at like the top row of a stadium and they throw it and it like lands in the goal post on the other side.
That, that's, that's a paper point. How, how deep
**Poobah:** you They're professionals. Yeah. How deep are you in your YouTube Fort algorithm? Like that, that, that I don't even know that
**Gizmo:** existed.
**Senator:** Yeah. I I've never seen a human throw a paper plane further than 15 feet. I don't even know where you find
**Gizmo:** this content.
You're saying it's 15 professional, [00:27:00] there's a professional, can I, can I say some other
**Poobah:** content? There's a paper. There's a paper plane league.
**Rooster:** Maybe it was hum. Humid.
**Senator:** There's a hum though. . There is a league for
**Gizmo:** everything. This. All right. So Senator and I. I don't know how we just segued into this. I'm actually impressed.
But Senator and I forgot about this till right now. Senator and I were sitting at the clubhouse, I guess two weeks ago, three weeks ago, making
**Rooster:** paper plans.
**Pagoda:** No, the secret origami or whatever they call it.
**Gizmo:** Origami. Origami specialist. Yes. . I'm, we're sitting there, we're watch, what were we, watch what we watching?
Tennis or
**Senator:** golf or something. Yeah. And then it had finished and there was some like absolutely nothing on television.
**Gizmo:** Nothing. Nothing. And I swear to you guys on ESPN News for like an hour and a half was the worldwide tag championship. Oh yeah.
**Bam Bam:** That's great. I was there for that. You were there for that. I was there for that.
Yeah. Tag. It was
**Gizmo:** great. Awesome. Teams of men.
**Senator:** Football. Oh, tag, tag, teams. Tag. Act like tag. You're it. You
**Poobah:** mean [00:28:00] like teams of male virgins, , .
**Gizmo:** You mean Teams tag like eight guys on a team. Virgins, virgins, . Running through a small arena. with obstacles trying to tag each other. Right, right. I'm shocked that ESPN had a meeting and said, you know what guys?
You know what we're gonna do to fill some content. We're gonna buy the rights to the World Tag Championship. Yeah. And people watch it. I mean, we sat there and watched
**Senator:** it. The funniest part of the whole thing is they have like an official like commentator, announcer, whatever you wanna call 'em, who's like hyping everyone up and they have nickname we're we're watching some guy's name was the Iceman.
I mean, it was so comical. . And then you look in the background, you expect that they're just in this arena by themselves. It's like a two story. stadium that is filled with people who presumably pay or choose to waste their time and go and watch this live.
**Poobah:** Well, it's a, I mean, you [00:29:00] could make an argument based on it.
I mean, I think it would warrant an investigation that the people in the stands are either family or paid to be there. One. Uh, two, I think the only reason why you're even watching this is from a voyeuristic perspective. I mean, it's almost like why you're not, I mean, you're looking at this with your mouth open, probably going what the actual fuck is going on.
That's right. It, it was
**Gizmo:** quite honestly like, because there
**Poobah:** can't be people who actually are fans of this. Not
**Gizmo:** only fans of this dude, these people travel around the
**Senator:** world. Yeah. That's the craziest part. It's a global sport. I mean, the fact that we're watching the US and the UK and other countries compete, it's absurd.
**Poobah:** It's shocking people. Frisbee.
**Gizmo:** That's true. I'm just,
**Poobah:** well, it's true. Frisbee. I mean, the ultimate. At least it's kind of cool. They throw one of those special disks to a target and they curve it around stuff. I mean, I guess I can kind of see how that's, so you're talking about somewhat interesting, [00:30:00] although disturbing, you're talking about to do as a hobby.
Golf, you're talking about disc golf? Yeah. Mean like disc golf. Okay. Itm not disc. Totally shocked. Cause you're .
**Bam Bam:** Um, but I'm telling
**Pagoda:** you, guest wakes up on every Saturday morning at five to play
**Gizmo:** it. I do love disc golfing. I love
**Senator:** it . And you're officially the only friend I have that has ever said that. Yeah. I love
**Gizmo:** it.
I think if we did a lizard outing, I think you guys would love it because it's a nice four mile hike through the woods. I'm in professional, professionally designed 18 hole course. It costs absolutely nothing. It's well, It's fantastic.
**Poobah:** I, I am not going to, I'll do it. Sacrifice my dignity. to even be open-minded to such an absurd notion,
**Pagoda:** Right. It's brunch time, but Bloody
**Poobah:** Mary . Thanks, man. Exactly. I love you Giz. But
**Senator:** I'm joining these guys.
**Gizmo:** Bam. BA's coming with me. I'm in with you. You know, it's fun,
**Poobah:** man. It's, it's, [00:31:00] I'd, I'd rather keep my dignity and and move on.
**Rooster:** Um, I'm, I'm in for the hike. That's about
**Gizmo:** it. Yeah. It's a good time. Yeah. But anyway, back to the tag thing.
Uh, it, it is stunning to me. I literally thought, you know, like in dodge ball, the movie like ESPN n eight Dicho, I thought I was watching e s espn n a, like ESPN n eight. That sounds
**Poobah:** humiliating.
**Gizmo:** It was pretty bad. And we, we couldn't stop watching it. We've watched it for
**Senator:** like two hours. Yeah, no, there's it, it's so absurd that you have to see it
You actually, if you have not seen it, it, it, it apparently is on Saturdays or Sundays. It was an afternoon whenever we were there on a weekend. . It's just hysterical.
**Poobah:** Yeah, yeah. Well, people, you know, um, I mean, they do strange things.
**Senator:** It's more, look, it's more entertaining than watching the Knicks.
**Gizmo:** That's
**Poobah:** true.
Whoa. Yeah. The ba the baseline for improvement is low.
**Pagoda:** Well, you know, today I was reading that Nash may be out. That's the, there's rumors
**Senator:** of that. Yeah.
**Poobah:** Is that [00:32:00] true? And Katie to Nicks, well, he needs, doesn't he mean to need to use his timeouts better? Like do basic shit like
**Senator:** that? Nash, I mean, I don't, I don't like Nash as a coach.
I didn't even like to hire from the start, so I would be perfectly fine. But I think the problem is that ownership likes him and that the players don't, but Nicks are doing really
**Pagoda:** well in the summer league, but we mean the do
**Senator:** Oh, the summer league. Yeah. Yeah. I wonder if they'll be able to hold, uh, a towel if they win the Summer League.
**Gizmo:** Hey,
**Pagoda:** listen, you
**Gizmo:** gotta take what you got. Right. So for the, for the listener, by the way, let's clarify. We do, we do have a, uh, we have two camps in the room. We have nets. Fans and we have Knicks fans, you know, and it's, it gets a little contentious, especially with Pagoda, who's a major fan of the James Dolan New York Knicks.
And,
**Pagoda:** um, I'm a Longhorn and Katie with a Longhorn. I always hoped he'd come to the Knicks.
**Senator:** Yeah. It's too bad that he said he'd never even entertained the thought of going to play for the New York Knicks. That's right.
**Bam Bam:** Miami. That was on the list I heard. Huh? So how's the cigar doing?[00:33:00]
**Gizmo:** Yeah. We're a little bit about Mother
**Pagoda:** Russa. Thank you for the cigar. I think, um, this is doing, uh, much better now. Good. I'm
**Gizmo:** enjoying it. Yeah. About halfway through here, boys on the Money one. What's everybody thinking right now? I'm enjoying it. Yeah. I think,
**Senator:** I think it picks up in flavor halfway through and I like
**Bam Bam:** that.
It does, it's very smooth and the smoke is velvety. It's, it's not offensive. I mean, I'm
**Poobah:** liking it. You're not wrong. Yeah. It's picking up. It's all woody and,
**Rooster:** uh, you know, earthy. Mm-hmm. , I'd say,
**Gizmo:** yeah, definitely more cedar now. And if you're looking
**Bam Bam:** for ooph, this is not the cigar, but this is, this is not the one, a great early day
**Gizmo:** cigar to me.
That, that's why I like it. No doubt. No doubt. This is my first, if I smoke this anywhere, just like tonight, it's the first cigar of the day. That's
**Bam Bam:** right after breakfast. Fantastic. Cigar. You're
**Pagoda:** gonna get this on your next bed. .
**Gizmo:** I, I, I just, I really like this as the first stick.
**Senator:** I agree. I think the afternoon is, or late [00:34:00] morning is the perfect place for a cigar like this.
I mean, when I mentioned I had this with my dad, it was in the af middle of the afternoon on the deck, first cigar of the day. It was perfect for that.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Yeah. I can, I guess I can see that. And I, I think this goes really well with coffee as well, I'm sure. Yeah.
**Pagoda:** Well, do you need some flavoring?
**Bam Bam:** So the cognac without ice?
Um,
**Senator:** a little. Oh, it's gonna have a little bite.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. There's bites. Ice. Yeah. Yeah. There's a little bit of bite. And you're not getting the sweetness as you would with a chip of
**Senator:** ice. Yeah. Of any vs. Cognac you should serve over ice it even on the bottle actually recommends and that's just standard practice with a vs.
And then makes sense then a vs o p is where you can have, you know, enjoy it. Neat. And an XO I would never put ice in.
**Gizmo:** So does this brand make vs. O p and xo, do they all make the various grades of, of cognac? They
**Senator:** do and uh, it's just hard to find all of 'em. That's kind of the problem. So I mean for the big brands like Remi and Hennessy and Corvassier, you can find the whole line.[00:35:00]
But for I, this is a big brand as well, but it's just not as Mark not marketed as well. And so, um, they have their more accessible stuff available readily for their higher end stuff. You'd probably have to be in Europe to easily find it or you know, find a special retailer that would be able to stock it for you.
**Pagoda:** It seems like we have to be in Europe for all the good things in life. . Cuban CIGAs, you know, wine. Yeah. Kanye.
**Gizmo:** True champagne.
**Poobah:** Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** You know what, you know, one thing I tried once years ago, Kline of mine gave me some Italian brandy. I had no idea what it was. It was really delicious. Could be worth slight dive into Italian brandies.
I don't know much, know much about '
**Poobah:** em. Yeah. No, I don't know much about 'em. Yeah. I
**Gizmo:** mean, given our experience with tequila, with cognac, yeah. With some of the cigars that we thought that we wouldn't love, I, I am down at wine. I, I certainly, you know, there's a lot of great wine out there. I, there's just, oh yeah.
To me it's so vast that [00:36:00] I just don't know enough about it. But I'm would love to try some brandy. Yeah. With a cigar. Yeah,
**Poobah:** sure. You guys, something just crossed my mind. You guys know that feeling that you get when like, I I'm asking if, you know, of course, you know this feeling, but the feeling that you get when you smoke a cigar and it, and even if it's just a good cigar, like a, a, a, a good to very good cigar, you know, and it gives you that like punch where you're like, yes.
Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Where it gives you that therapeutic punch. Yep. Do you know what I'm saying? And you're like, okay. And you like, settle into it and you're having this kind of, um, like therapeutic response almost to it where it really hits you. And like with, with cigars that we really like, I feel like almost a room gets quiet for a second.
Yeah. You know what I mean? And this just, this particular cigar isn't, it's maybe just starting to do [00:37:00] that now with a little bit more strength or something. Maybe, but it's just not doing that for me. Like, I feel like, it's not like I'm fighting with it, it's just not delivering like that present that I want that.
A cigar. To me that's like an, like, I'm not gonna score it now, but that's like an eight or above. Yeah. Gives me, do you know what I mean? It's not giving me that and I don't know why, but it's just not delivering that kind of pleasure zone. It's not triggering that pleasure zone in my, in my brain.
**Gizmo:** Let me ask you a question about this.
I do. And I, I'm, I'm, I wanna dive into that because I think about that a lot because sometimes I'll have let, let's say a cigar that I have a lot like, like a Pedro or, um, A B F or a Monte two or whatever it may be. I find that I, and I want, I'm curious what your answer to this is, but I find that it's not only a combo of the cigar and the environment.
If I'm by myself or I'm with others, we're smoking the same thing, or not the vibe, but also just kind of [00:38:00] where my energy is coming from my day going into the day. It's a great conversation. I have
**Bam Bam:** some comments on that, like, yeah.
**Gizmo:** What is the formula for you? personally, yes. That you have found that helps you achieve that.
**Poobah:** So for me, and this isn't for everybody, cuz I've actually spoke to Senator about this multiple times I've spoke to, I think I've spoke to you the most about it. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, um, for me, like when I'm really stressed out. Yeah. Like if, you know, we all get there, you know, whether it's about work life or whatever.
When you know, you, you have one of those days, sometimes like to me, a cigar, I have to be in the MI to enjoy a and I'm in that mindset now ready to enjoy. Um, but for me, when I'm stressed out, it's kind of hard to get in the mindset for me to unwind enough to [00:39:00] actually let. Let the cigar present itself for me, for me to take my time with it and for me to be in that kind of a meditative mindset where I can sit and just enjoy a cigar, listen to music, have a drink by myself.
Yeah. You know, and smoke it. Um, almost like that feeling where you'd have like, you know what, I don't really want to go out tonight because I'm just, I had such a rough day. It's that kind of a day. Um, but I need to me cigar now other people feel differently in this room and everybody's absolutely different.
Absolutely. Where they're like, if I had a stressful day, I really need to have a cigar unwind. Correct. I fall somewhere in the middle there. Like, if I have a medium stressful day, a cigar unwind is great, but I a super stressful day or something. That's not what I'm looking for. Cuz I can't just get in that medi I, for me to get to the meditative state where I can actually accept the delivery of it and like be into it.
Yeah. I'm too preoccupied to even enjoy it. It doesn't take me out now. So. [00:40:00] I don't know where I'm going, but I guess what I'm saying is, is that everybody's different and that, and that, um, when you're in the mindset, when I'm like in the best of circumstances for me, where I'm like, I wanna really have a cigar and optimal circumstances mentally, this still, this isn't giving me that.
Yeah. That delivery where it's like, oh my God, like this is really so nice. Do you know what I mean? It's not doing that.
**Pagoda:** Sure, sure. I, I feel exactly opposite. In fact, uh, me and my friends, when we started smoking cigars and we'd get together, we'd call it a therapy sessions, and the reason was we'd go to bars and we'd in loud, you know, uh, environment, barely having a conversation.
And your conversations are very, You have a stressful day, you hang with a couple of buddies, you're hanging out smoking cigar, and maybe the first cigar doesn't deliver. But by the way, you would get to the second cigar, you'd be in such a relaxed day. And that's what really drove us to cigars. [00:41:00] And for us, it was called a therapy session.
In fact, we still call it our therapy sessions. And we would open up a cigar lounge, we'd call it, therapy session. Um, it's, it's, you, you're right, everyone feels differently about cigars. And for, for me, um, uh, every time I have a stressful day, I wanna go sit down, you know, be in my solitude, have my cigar, have a cup of coffee or a drink, and just chill.
And, you know, within a couple of cigars, I'm really good to go. And then I'm back to, you know, being, you know, the husband, uh, or the citizen of, uh, you know, um, in the community. But, uh, The cigars really helped me unwind because it gives me that hour, hour and a half. Yeah. Two hours of just being in the Coit zone in the solitude.
That's
**Gizmo:** great.
**Senator:** Yeah. Yeah. I think I, I think I'm, uh, somewhere, uh, in the middle, I mean closer to pagoda in that I think for me, cigars are [00:42:00] like my version of therapy, but, um, I can relate also to what pub is saying in the sense that I think the best smokes are always celebratory smokes. Yes, absolutely. When you're on vacation.
Vacation, that's right. When you have a great day, you know, at work, you know, whatever the case may be, nothing beats the feeling of being in a good mood in a cigar just putting you on cloud nights.
**Poobah:** Yeah, yeah, exactly that. Nothing beats that. Nothing beats that. But you're right. I mean, like, yeah, I fall a little bit more into the middle of the, like a cigars not.
it. It's a spectrum thing. I mean, you know, it's degrees so it's not gonna bring me out of it. I'm not reaching for it when I'm really like, ah, you know, if because of something. But if I'm in the middle and I'm with people, yeah it's gonna help
**Senator:** me. And that's if I'm alone, I can relate on both sides cuz I, where I am more like pagoda though, when it is on the far other end of the spectrum.
If I'm having my worst of days, I mean my wife will just have to look at me to know I've not had a good day. And she'll say, , do you want to go? Are you [00:43:00] gonna go to the lounge? Go to the club, maybe just have a cigar, and I'll just sit down even if no one is around me. If I'm just by myself and I light up a cigar that I enjoy, it just brings me back.
It can bring you, well, it can bring you up. Like everything's fine. I can think with more clarity. I mean there are times I. Wrestling was a really tough work-related decision, and I can just have a cigar and all of a sudden I feel like I have perfect clarity. It, it's like I can't even explain it. So I'm, I both, uh, I can relate to both sides there.
Uh, but all that's to say I clearly, uh, I and many of us could not live without cigars. No, absolutely,
**Bam Bam:** absolutely not. Absolutely. So, honestly, for me, the meditative state that Puba mentioned is important. Here. I reach for a certain cigar cuz not every cigar is gonna get me to that meditative state that I'm pursuing.
That's interesting. No doubt about it. Like, I'm not gonna reach for, you know, a, a lighter bodied cigar. I need something that's gonna, that's interesting. That captures me. The moment I light it, anex placebo, I'm in a [00:44:00] cloud heaven with that cigar and that, so I reach for when I need it, I go for the specific cigar and I've got a short list on my mind that I really love.
Gotta have that on, on a tough day and it gets me right there. Interesting. Yeah. And it allows me to kind of put my day aside and I've only recently learned how to do that. . That's not easy.
**Gizmo:** I think for me, the only difference maker, a as far as my ability to de-stress, let's say with a cigar or get to that state, is if I've had a very stressful day.
Um, sometimes I just like to smoke by myself. Those
**Bam Bam:** are my favorite moments, you know, some of my favorite moments. And,
**Gizmo:** and it, it's always balanced with, you know, we do this a couple nights a week. We smoke by ourselves a couple nights a week. But when I'm really super stressed, unless we have an appointment like this, like we're gonna do a pod.
Like I know that when I'm a driving here, it's like, I'm, I'm, no matter this for me, this for me is an event. Me. Yeah. I love it. I look forward to this. Absolutely. And what I'm saying, what I mean by that is on my way here, I'm trying to prepare my mind to get to the place that, that we need to do the, you know, we're gonna do the pod.
**Bam Bam:** You know, [00:45:00] rooster inside is laughing cuz
**Gizmo:** he's always in his, I know United State's. Yeah. I can't wait to hear what he has to say. But the really, the difference for me only is smoking with folks. Yeah. Or smoking by
**Pagoda:** myself. Yeah. I just wanna say one thing. Uh, you know, the other day, uh, rooster and I were hanging out with, uh, now a, a friend of ours we'd call it, and we were exhausted.
We were, we had spent the whole day golfing and we went for a very long dinner and we were just exhausted. It was past, uh, our buddy is, uh, bedtime as well. But when Rooster pulled out the 8 98 or 2002, 8 98 RGUs, thank you, by the way. Really appreciate it. It just woke us all up. We were fully energized.
Yeah. So what a cigar, a really good cigar can do for you is just liven your mood up and it's like a second wind. And it was great because it just changed the whole conversation. Everybody was energized and, uh, it's interesting how cigars can really just, um, you [00:46:00] know, really influence your move. That's
**Gizmo:** one that's, that's
**Bam Bam:** wonderful.
It was great day. That goes back to what Puba said earlier. This for him, this isn't getting him there. Right. . It's a good cigar, very tasty for him, but it's not giving him that body that elevates it and that, you know, that's fair.
**Gizmo:** And the complexity. I, I would argue that he chases complexity in a cigar.
Yeah. So I think whether it's it's full or not. Yeah. I'm speaking for you. But he chases a, a really sure interesting complex cigar.
**Bam Bam:** And from the point of view, the listener, as they smoke more and more cigars, they're gonna find the ones that they really love. Like I have my shortlist, as I mentioned, that I have to have when I have a terrible day.
What are they You're gonna find those. Um, the B B F Okay. D four Millennium. Uh, the millennium for sure. Thei, um, qd. Won't, won't, that's not sufficient for a tough day for me. Um, the, uh, up and two, a hundred percent. Yeah. No doubt about
**Poobah:** it. But boy oh boy. When you think about a Davidoff millennium, bro, dude, like, bro, like, in [00:47:00] just, not that I'm about to compare that to this, but like what that delivers Yeah.
In terms of like this, oh. . Yeah. Boy, oh boy.
**Gizmo:** It's a nice cigar. Yeah, because you know, you know what you're going to
**Poobah:** that
**Bam Bam:** and it
**Poobah:** consistent. It's just like, it's so consistent. You know what you're gonna get.
**Bam Bam:** Yes. But just like the, you know what you're gonna get.
**Poobah:** But besides knowing what you're gonna get, I could smoke this again and kind of, kind of know what I'm gonna get.
Right. But what I'm getting, what you're getting with the Davidoff mo is really, really good. Yeah, no, like that's the
**Senator:** thing. Yeah. The only thing though, I think band brings up a very important point, cuz this has got me thinking now. There really is something to be said about when you're in those moments that you, you need a pick me up.
You've had a long day, you're, you know, tired and need a pick me up in the way that pagoda mentioned you reach for a cigar, that you know exactly what you're gonna get. And even though we're smoking this cigar, sure we think we know we're gonna get in the next one. But I would even say, as much as I love the d.
I can't [00:48:00] say that every single D four I pick up from every single box is gonna be the same. They're not, absolutely, but they're a little different. Some are gonna be a little sweeter, some are gonna be a little spicier. Yeah. Some are gonna have a little more baking spice. Like, there's all these, it's kind of a, I know I like all the variations of it, which is why I love the D four, but it got me thinking.
I mean, I really, when I'm in a tough moment and I just need a cigar to just relax and unwind, I do find myself reaching a lot exclusive for Aron. Either an exclusive, an 80th 80th. 80th, yeah. Or you know, a millennium, because those are cigars that I, I every single, you're familiar friend. It's not even every single box, every single time.
It's the same. It's the same. I mean, truly there's not much variation where even with a D four, as much as that's one of my favorite cigars of all time, there is variation where I'm not exactly certain from that particular box unless I've smoked it before, what I'm gonna
**Bam Bam:** get. So that's, so what he just said is interesting.
Unless I smoked it before. If you find a box. Of DEF four s, like one you and I ordered [00:49:00] a while ago, I still have that. Yeah. They all smoke incredibly good, really rich and robust. I'm holding onto those. Yeah, because those, for those moments that hits the
**Gizmo:** fucking spot. I, I do the same thing man. It hits the spot.
Yep. And that's, you know, listen, that's part of the journey, right? I mean, even a cigar, you guys have mentioned, a couple of you guys have mentioned Theo, I've had, they're all great, but I've had thoses that for whatever reason, is it the cigar? Is it my mindset at the time? Is it the group I'm with? Are we laughing a lot?
Are we having a great discussion like this? That there's like that extra 1% or extra 5% that thato out of the same box that I've been smoking is like a holy shit moment. Yeah, man. Yeah. You know, even when ago,
**Rooster:** yeah, sometimes you kind of wanna go back into your tower and like revisit some of the smokes.
Like you might not have had it for a while. Like I had a. , I think it was the upk, uh, 54 or even the 50. Or the Kanye. Yeah. I mean, I, I used the Kanye's were like, they didn't do it for me in the [00:50:00] beginning. And Puba used to love the Kanye.
**Gizmo:** I still do. I love that story. He
**Rooster:** still does. I still did it. And so I, I, I went back like after like months of not smoking that cigar went back, had a Kanye, and it was an afternoon.
It blew me away. It was so good. I don't know, because it sat for a while. It kind of changed, it made it more complex and balanced and, uh, really good. Yeah. And then the up and 50 and the 54.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, 50 Delicious,
**Poobah:** delicious, delicious cigars. Yeah. Yeah. As the, the, you know, as these cigars sit in our tower for, for years, they, they do change.
Like I had a vigia the other day. I've got some 2018 vigia. I was okay with that cigar when I like first. Got it. But like, I haven't touched, touched that box in a couple of years. Did you have one recently? And I had one recently, and it was really good. Wow. Like, I mean, it still wasn't, I wasn't like, it was way better than I remember it, but it w it's still to me only just pretty, just very good.
[00:51:00] Not great. Um, but again, it, it changed. One last
**Bam Bam:** thing, if you don't mind. Also, the dimension of the cigar matters. I totally agree. Yeah. Like that. Last week I had the htc, the Hoyo Double Corona. Corona. Yeah. That's a, that was a two hour cigar. I was alone at night looking at the lake. I, my mind just completely drifted and, and it allowed my mind to drift because of the time needed to smoke that cigar so that, that matters.
Depending on the
**Senator:** situation. I think to your point, the ring gauge does, uh, there are certain ring gauges that are more appropriate for certain occasions. For me personally, probably everyone doesn't subscribe to this, but you all have heard me several times. If I've had a really rough day, say, I just want to drown myself in clouds of school.
I just wanna be a chimney. Yes. I just want to be a chimney. I've said a thousand times. And I will reach for, that's when you'll see me pull like a RGUs E two, a 54 ring gauge stick that's just plumes of smoke everywhere. And it just puts me in [00:52:00] that kind of meditative state where mm-hmm. , I'm not thinking about anything else.
Right. That's pissing me off that day, except that cigar. Yeah. Um, and the same way that sometimes for a, a really celebratory occasion, and I, I remember once, uh, our former lounge, um, I had a really great day at work. Uh, landed a big client and I wanted a really big cigar that just put out a ton of smoke.
And I had gotten a daven off piquant for the first time and. It was, that's a good cigar. It's a great cigar. I've never had that. It was, uh, they didn't have their boosto, they just had this 60 ring gauge and I lit that thing up. Oh, 60. I was so happy. Wow. I would never, I don't have a single 60 ring gauge smoke in my humidor, but for that one occasion when I just wanted a big cigar in my hand and clouds of smoke to just celebrate a really, you know, a nice moment for, for myself, it was perfect.
So I, I like your point. Ba I, I do agree that, you know, depending on the situation, the ring gauge really
**Gizmo:** matters.
**Poobah:** Yeah. And when and when you're [00:53:00] smoking lonsdale like this, back to this cigar, to me, like my expectation with a good lonsdale is this, like, I just, maybe, I mean, this bar is setting it too high, but like a classic coast or an 8 98.
Yep. This elegant, it's like this it, the rapper's delivering this in the binder, delivering this kind of, Pointed flavor. It's, you know, I, my expectation it, it, the size is like, there's a disconnect, but the elegance of the size and how it feels in the hand and when you light it, and then what this delivers for me falls short for me, you know, in terms of the length of the commitment.
Cuz it's not a, it takes a second. You can't just blast through. This thing takes a second to get through. Um, and there's time in between draws the dr the finish. So the finish on this is abrupt enough where it's not hanging around on my pallet long enough for me to really be like in between draws for me to really being enjoying [00:54:00] it.
You feel me? Totally.
**Senator:** Yeah. I think also to your point, I mean, smaller ring age cigars for me, uh, maybe folks agree or. I, I think the draw is usually just a little bit more resistant and so it forces me to smoke it slower. Yeah. Right. Than it does a larger ringed cigar that's got obviously a lot more surface area to just, you know, blow smoke, you know, through that.
Of course. True. So I think in those moments where I just want to take my time and savor a cigar, I'm not, you know, I've had a long Dan, I just want to puff away and just be a chimney, but I just really wanna a joy and appreciate a cigar. Slowly, that's when I reach for Lonsdale or a smaller ring gauge cigar that I'm just ready to be taken on
**Poobah:** that journey.
Right. But that journey for me to get there, the finish needs to be just much longer for y you know what I mean? Where it's like hanging around and hanging around in between drawers because to your point, you gotta take your time a little bit to slow down. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I
**Gizmo:** mean,
**Rooster:** there's a time and a place.
All different
**Gizmo:** sizes of sticks. It's so true.
**Rooster:** And that's why every single sagora manufacturer makes [00:55:00] different sizes, you know, for different moods, different times of the day. If it's the wintertime, you might want just like a quick 20 minute smoke. Yep. And I'm really, I mean, I love the small ring gauges and the small sizes.
I, that's typically a morning smoke for me. Yeah. You know, I love the Trinidad, like the Reyes half Coronas, the Ramone, the uh, the small one. Uh, small. What's a Corona? Corona,
**Gizmo:** yeah.
**Poobah:** Club. Delicious. But those cigars you mentioned have so much, so much flavor. More flavor. So much flavor. They're packing. So they're punching so far above their weight class corn as
**Rooster:** well.
Even even the, uh, the Montecristo media, Coronas Delicious cigars, I mean, in that size. Awesome.
**Poobah:** Yeah. And mon, when I think of Monty Christo, I think of that like chocolate bomb, those, some of those dessert flavors that you get through from a typical Monty. And this, this particular cigar just isn't delivering.
Yeah. In that met fashion for me. You know, I
**Gizmo:** wanna, I want to tie two things together here really [00:56:00] fast because I think it's interesting you mentioned about, uh, seeing the potential in a cigar or tasting the potential, right? Yeah, sure. And also going to what a couple of you guys have said about, you know, when, when you have a cigar that's not great, you live it in your humidor for a little while, you come back to it.
It is interesting how a, in a lot of cigars that are young, you can taste the potential saying, oh, in two years, five years, six months even, this is gonna be way better. And in moments like this, it is interesting that some cigars just don't age even. Like their peers, same size, same Vito No, they, etc. It, it's, it's a, it's a really interesting journey.
Um, as far as aging cigars
**Senator:** goes, I agree. The only thing though, I would say to the listener is I think that more times than not, this is not absolutely proof, but more times than not, when you encounter a cigar that you don't enjoy. Yep. I've been in this boat so many times where I've been so frustrated with a cigar.
I just, I've considered just throwing it out. I don't even wanted my [00:57:00] humidor. I'm sitting there saying, this is not at all enjoyable. Maybe at best it gets somewhat enjoyable, but it's still not gonna be a great cigar. And the reason I say this, I remember some random kind of yard every day cigar I had bought years ago I hated.
And I thought about throwing them out and then I said, screw it. I'm just gonna leave them in this extra humidor I had. I left it there for years. All of a sudden, years later, just as a joke, I thought it'd be funny. I said, let me just try and see what this possibly tastes like. Out of. All of a sudden, it was probably three years later that cigar was creamy and sweet.
and delicious. And I could not believe how different it was from my first experience. So I just say it's not, it's not perfect, it's not foolproof. But more times than not, and in fact, I'd say most times if you just tuck something away for years and revisit it, you could be very pleasantly surprised.
**Poobah:** You could be.
There's no, no doubt about it. I mean that's, there's no doubt
**Gizmo:** [00:58:00] about that. I think nine times outta 10 time is absolutely gonna benefit a Cuban cigar. Yeah. Time is on your side.
**Poobah:** It's just relative. I mean, exactly. It's not like time is gonna help. Something that starts in a certain place isn't, isn't, that isn't all that great and make it into something spectacular.
It may become something significantly better than what it started at. Yeah. But that doesn't mean it's gonna become world class just cuz you throw, just cuz it ages up. I mean, I just don't believe that. Yeah. I mean, or just every single box of aged anything is, becomes just the greatest thing of all time.
And that's just totally, it's relative. I mean, um, for me, this isn't previewing like, um, something that. Would set up later that grape, but you know, who knows What the hell do I know? Yeah. I mean,
**Gizmo:** so before we rate the, uh, cognac boys, we're into the last third here of the Money one. What are you guys thinking right
**Bam Bam:** now?
I'm ahead of all of you. I think I, at this point, it's really flavorful. Uh, that's quite nice. [00:59:00] Very good smoke at this point. ,
**Rooster:** I don't know. I'm, I'm kind of torn.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Um, no, I,
**Bam Bam:** I think I can understand
**Pagoda:** that. Are you torn or you worn Worn . .
**Gizmo:** I'm
**Rooster:** not worn. I'm torn . I'm, it's, it's just, I don't know. It's not, it's not doing a, doing it for me because I've had a better Monty number one.
and I don't know what it is. This is not, not cutting it. Here's a question. I'm not cutting it tonight.
**Bam Bam:** We've had some cigars that had muddled flavor profiles. I don't think this is one of
**Gizmo:** those. Yeah, it's not muddled.
**Rooster:** I just, I just think I, I, I just get a lot of like, is it fresh, fresh
**Poobah:** tobacco? Like it's not, maybe it is just too fresh, but it's 2019.
I know. I mean, it's, that's doesn't seem it should by preview better.
**Rooster:** Yeah. I mean, I've had a Monty one that was like just a chocolate bomb like Puba said earlier. I mean, it was just delicious, right? So, I don't know. This one's, it's getting a little bitter now at the end, I'm getting a little bitter taste in the, in the front of my tongue.
Um, not getting any chocolate that I [01:00:00] usually get out of the Monte number ones, and even the Monty number threes. So, it's okay. It's not great. I mean, uh, I don't hate it, but it's not a, it's not a great stake so far.
**Senator:** I, I mean, hearing this discussion, uh, it just reinforces unfortunately for me how I have felt about Monty.
In that I have, I've not had cons consist, I've not had consistency issues with construction, but I have with flavor, and I say that because out of the same box, some of these that I've had have been really enjoyable. And some of them that I've had have been like, you're describing a bit flat and not all that interesting.
And some, I I, I just think there's a consistency issue here where I have actually have had some of these that I say, yeah, this is good. I mean, GIZ gave me the first one I had ever tried and I liked it enough to source some through him. Mm-hmm. and then of what I sourced, some of them I enjoyed and some of them I've said this is just Okay.
So there [01:01:00] is just some odd consistency.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. I think we may be going that through that in this room. Right. A few of us are tasting something
**Poobah:** different
**Rooster:** and I, and out of six of these sticks two are pretty badly. one was extremely plugged. I mean, pagoda couldn't even smoked
**Gizmo:** the first one. Yeah. And I say, tried to say yours was pretty plugged.
**Senator:** And I will say, as I've gotten further along with this, it, it's very, the, the draw is very tough. Mm-hmm. , I mean, I'm not gonna be able to smoke this all the way to the end. It's just, oh wow. It's,
**Pagoda:** there's no smoke in this bloody,
**Poobah:** it's kind of, I mean, this narrative that we're, that's manifesting in this conversation is kind of the Monte Cristo narrative that we've had anecdotally over time.
no, I mean, here and there, you know, I'm talking just anecdotally comments. It's kind of manifesting, right? Like we're, we're like, eh, you know, some are good, some aren't that good. Some have blown me away, some haven't. I've [01:02:00] had cons. You know, you're just, eh, well, if you remember,
**Gizmo:** it's the thing, I think it was, I don't know if it was episode three or episode four, we did the 1935, uh, Linea, the duos, and we had a majorly long discussion about exactly this.
Yes, that's true. Yeah, we
**Poobah:** did, didn't we? And, but those of course were great.
**Gizmo:** There were, they were, but the point was that why does it cost this much money to gr get a cre, uh, great money Christo? That was the whole gist of, of the convo, right? And I think the, maybe what I'm.
**Poobah:** Was it the Malis or the Duma
**Bam Bam:** was the I
**Gizmo:** believe?
No, no, no, no. We did the
**Poobah:** Dumas. Did the
**Rooster:** Dumas. The, the middle size was the Malti. Mal.
**Poobah:** Mal. Maybe it's the mal mal It was my box it
**Gizmo:** the middle. Yeah, that's right. It was Fus box. Yeah. And I just remember we had that discussion and then, uh, you know, that's going on almost a year now. Yeah. Or you know, eight months, nine months.
And certainly I have been an evangelist with the young Monty twos that I've had. Me too. And we had a nice experience with that. We've been [01:03:00] smoking some of those and they've been great. But that is seeming to me to be an outlier. Yeah. As opposed to the current story. Right. It's an outlier. But
**Poobah:** like there's, I've smoked Monty Twos where I've No joke, been like, this is absolutely so good.
Like, so good. Fits the bill.
**Rooster:** And I've smoked 1970s Monty twos are fucking awesome.
**Poobah:** 1970s . Jesus. Look at this guy over here. Jesus. I know. Uh, Where, but, and then I've smoked some that have just been absolute train wrecks. Yeah. So, you know, I think it's just, that's that narrative that, that sometimes it's the, it's the, it's the biggest, most highly distributed, I think.
Yeah. You know, marker in the catalog to a certain degree. So
**Bam Bam:** a as we refill our glasses again.
**Gizmo:** Um, the other thing too that I, I want to tell the listener, if you go back to that episode, we did a pretty, you did a pretty deep dive on Monte Christo, uh, of the brand history and whatnot. [01:04:00] Right. Um, so that's something to, uh, to review as well, if you're interested in Mon Christo and that cigar was, was very, very good.
Rated very high.
**Poobah:** Oh, look at Garon. Thank you.
**Gizmo:** Persona's giving us all
**Poobah:** mice. Son, you say, look. Well, he does have his belly on. You know, Senator, he, he's a handsome guy too. , you know, it's, you know, it's not all just substance.
**Gizmo:** No. . I think he looks better when he serves this stuff.
**Bam Bam:** I, I like him in shorts actually too.
**Poobah:** He has good ankles. good calves. He's got good, he's got very pronounced, he's got decent calves, very pronounced. No one has calves like ba That's why I
**Bam Bam:** wear jeans.
**Poobah:** They're tree trunks. Oh, I gotta keep 'em outta
**Gizmo:** sight. You know this bottle is very cool of this, uh, how do you pronounce that? Uh, Senator Croisette.
COIs. I'm not French. The French, they don't pronounce the That's right. The T silent. I didn't do well in French. How that around? I didn't [01:05:00] do well in French.
**Poobah:** Oh yeah. Very nice.
**Gizmo:** I think it's pretty tasty. It is tasty. It
**Rooster:** is a
**Poobah:** good looking bottle. Yeah, it's a very handsome bottle. Like Senator. Very unique,
**Gizmo:** handsome.
**Bam Bam:** Pass.
**Poobah:** Pass it. Pass it back the other way. We're playing past that bottle, ladies and gentlemen. It's going back down. There he goes. And. Senator's observing something.
He's looking at the label, he's looking closely. . I love
**Bam Bam:** this
**Poobah:** commentary, . And now he's
**Gizmo:** just putting it back down. Play by
**Senator:** play. You, you have a, a future career in play by play. .
**Gizmo:** I think the tag, the tag championship people may be hiring. I think
**Senator:** John Sterling is about to retire from the radio broadcast. Sure.
You may be the next Yankees, radio
**Poobah:** B. That's right. Yeah. Nice man. Runs up the sideline. straight from his mother's basement. . He's 36. hasn't had a girlfriend since the third grade. Valentine's [01:06:00] Day, 1984.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys. You guys ready to do the, uh, formal liquor rating on this, uh, cognac tonight? Yeah, definitely. All right.
**Bam Bam:** Bam. Bam. You're up. I'm giving it an eight. Okay. I think it's enjoyable. Pagoda.
**Senator:** Uh, seven
**Gizmo:** Senator Eight. I would definitely drink it again. . Same here. I think it's an eight.
**Poobah:** Yeah. Uh, price for value for what it is.
What it stands for? Eight. It's an eight. It's an eight. I. Goda Composite
**Gizmo:** lizard score. Boys is a 7.8. Definitely a recommend. And at that price, I think, yeah, price. If you haven't had a cognac or haven't tried one When we've tried one. This is a great one to. Because I think you can't
**Poobah:** take price out of the equation.
Right? A hundred hundred percent. It's spirits. You
**Gizmo:** just can't
**Senator:** tell what's what they're able to produce at that price point under 40. I mean, at most you're gonna pay 40 bucks for that bottle. Yeah. I think speaks
**Gizmo:** [01:07:00] volume. It's amazing. Yeah. It's
**Poobah:** not amazing. It's not a ra as, as, as a grinder would say. It's not a rack and stack rating, , whatever.
You know what I'm saying? , how would you rack and stock though? What's up? Grinder, . Peace. Uh, but, but you know what I mean. You wouldn't, I I think you gotta take price into consideration. There's value there. It tastes good.
**Gizmo:** Absolutely. Yeah. And the
**Senator:** other thing I'll say, I think, you know, sometimes is we're trying different spirits.
It's hard to find something at an accessible price point that you would recommend to get someone in the fold. Right. Someone who doesn't want to. , $80 for a bottle just to try something for the first time. And I think it's really nice that someone can get this affordably, give it a shot. And if they're into cognac, I think this will just take you right up that ladder.
Yeah. I'm
**Poobah:** down. I'm down
**Pagoda:** actually, you know, uh, considering the price point, it should be an eight. I'm, um,
**Bam Bam:** reconsidering. Too late. Too late. Too late. Too late. Too late.
**Pagoda:** Yeah. You know, it's one of those things, right? Like, will I go to a liquor store and pick this up for [01:08:00] 40 bucks? I'll just pay a little more and get something I really like.
I always debate that and, um, yeah. But this is not that bad actually for the price point. Yeah. At the Kanye.
**Gizmo:** All right, guys, we're coming to the end here of the Monte Cristal, number one for some of us. You guys ready to give this the, uh, formal lizard rating? Thank God .
**Senator:** You, you didn't, you didn't let me set that up.
I was gonna use the, uh, you know the people's court? Oh yeah. The people are real . The cases are real. The lizard, the lizard ratings are
**Gizmo:** final . That's what I was gonna, sorry to jump in there. Turn in
dun
I've watched so much people's court in my life. . Okay. Me and you too, bro. I've watched so much. I, I, dude, I've watched it when [01:09:00] it was the original judge. Yeah. Oh, Waner. Yeah. Waner. Oh yeah, sure. Yeah. And then, and then Jerry Chelan, whose judge, Judy's husband was on it. Sure. And then there was somebody else, I think, and then, oh, it was, there was a woman s that's, that's current.
She's the one on there
**Senator:** now? No, there was a woman on, I think
**Gizmo:** before her, No, the woman that's on there now has been there for time, judge Marilyn Min Minan or whatever. She's been there forever. Oh, she's still there. I think she's still there. Wow. Yeah. That's
**Poobah:** a love. She, you know, she's still there. I mean, I'm an ex, I'm an expert in landlord tenant law
across, by the way. Across states and jurisdictions. Really? I mean, sure. Well versed. Yeah. Guy California. Very different than like Minnesota landlord tenant law. I mean, California. I mean, you just walk into somebody's house or drop a suitcase. , you're a tenant. , you don't wanna find interesting about that church.
They could, they could not leave for six months. You have no idea what to do. Someone just walks into your house and walks in the bedroom. It's like, oh, I live here
**Gizmo:** now. You're like, [01:10:00] they've established, oh fuck, they've established
**Senator:** Tomic. Yeah, . They, they can change the locks all of a sudden. It's not your house anymore,
**Bam Bam:** right?
It's called, it's called squatter's
**Poobah:** rights. Yeah. You can't even let like a friend sleepover, like, like, you know. Next thing you know, they just, that's it. They're on the deed. Put up a couple pairs of underwear in the drawer. Drop some shampoo in the, in the shower. That's it. ,
**Gizmo:** you know what I love about that show too?
Harvey Levin is like the T mz God, like, he's like a Gajillionaire T. He owns T M Z and he still stands. Out on the street asking people what they think of the case on the People's Court. It's incredible to me. Oh, it pays for that guy saying, pays for the Gar. Harvey. Harvey. Harvey Levin. Harvey gon, it pays for the gas.
He owns
**Senator:** pz. Does he still do it? Yes.
**Gizmo:** No. Yeah, I swear to, I swear to God. Wow. Is that show still on? I think so. I'm not sure, but I think it's huh. All right boys, let's rate the Monte Cristo number one rooster. You're up. It's a six Puba. It's a six. [01:11:00] I'm gonna give it a seven for sure.
**Senator:** I'm gonna give it a seven because I've actually had very enjoyable experiences with this.
**Pagoda:** It's a five for me. And you know, possibly if, um, the cigar was a great smoke for me, it might have been different. Uh, but based on the cigars I've smoked, it is definitely a five.
**Bam Bam:** Bam. Bam. I'm giving it a seven cuz I happen to, like my cigar tonight.
**Gizmo:** Composite Lizard score Boys is a 6.3. Okay. Not great. No.
not
**Senator:** great. No, but I, I like, as a summary, I think what Puba said earlier, I mean, this is the story of, of Monty for us. Mm-hmm. , yeah. You get a kind of a mixed bag. Some are great and some just are not.
**Pagoda:** Yep. And you know, if, if you're spending 13, 14 bucks a sec, there's so many other secs that you could just opt for.
Uh, you know, uh, I was looking online and there was showing like six, seven bucks for the pricing. I think at that price it's probably, definitely worth it. Uh, maybe a couple of bucks [01:12:00] more. But if you're spending 13, 14 bucks on the stack, uh, there are better alternatives.
**Gizmo:** So I just wanted to say quickly that the Monte Cristo 1935 line mals, which we did, episode four was an 8.9, and the Monte Cristo number two, which we did, episode number 28 was an 8.4.
So
**Senator:** can I also throw out a theory? Go ahead. So we, we've all discussed how we've had issues with the Monty two, right. Some great, some not. and then all of a sudden, this recent crop, recent year as in like 21, is that what it was?
**Gizmo:** Your box 29? These were nineteens? No, no, no. The money two. Oh, excuse me.
**Senator:** 20 ones.
Yeah, 21. All of a sudden, and you sung its phrases. I have a skeptical, I tried it. Everyone in this room did. We loved it. We were shocked how good the malus we did that was definitely 2020. That wasn't older than that.
**Gizmo:** I
**Poobah:** think it was a 20 think, so it had to have been probably 20. [01:13:00] Yeah.
**Senator:** Yeah. I, I, I almost have this strange theory.
I'm just curious to test this a little bit more as we smoke more Mons that. Maybe since 2020 the, the consistency's gotten a little bit better because it's a little odd To me. This is a 2019, if I'm thinking back to when I had problems with Monty two s, it was really pre 2020 that I had some unfortunate experiences.
So I wonder if the younger stuff is actually more consistent and, you know, we may wanna hold an age as opposed to some of this stuff. Before that,
**Bam Bam:** you know, honestly, gizmo and I have had great experiences with every young Monty 2020.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Absolutely. And the petite add munos that I have that are young too.
Okay. Uh, we're smoking really good. Yeah, so, so could be All right boys. A 7.8 for the cognac tonight, and a 6.3 for the Monte Crystals, number one. Appreciate it and, uh, we'll see you next week. Keep smoking. Thanks so much for joining us tonight. Hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.
If you have any comments, [01:14:00] questions, if you wanna reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking, email us Lounge lizards pod, p o d, that's lounge lizards pod gmail.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.