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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: Welcome to the Lounge Lizards podcast presented by FabricAfile. 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, Senator, chef Ricky, and Bam Bam.
And our plan is to smoke a cigar, drink some bourbon, talk about life, and, of course, have some laughs. So take this as your two hundred and forty second official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. We plan to meet us here once a week. We're gonna smoke a Honduran cigar tonight, share our thoughts on it, and give you our formal lizard rating. We share our interview from PCA twenty twenty six with Ariana Eiroa from JRE Tobacco in Aladino.
We debate the peaks and valleys of cigar aging, and we each share our favorite place in the world to smoke a cigar, all among a variety of other things for the next two hours. So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar, enjoy as we pair 10 years age Bulleit Frontier Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey with the Aladino two hundred and fiftieth. A toro from Honduras on the pod tonight, boys, and we are back to Aladino. This is the Aladino two hundred and fiftieth. It's a 52 ring gauge cigar by six inches long.
And, boys, we are celebrating tonight.
Bam Bam: Oh, yeah.
Gizmo: A semi quintessential.
Bam Bam: To happy birthday to Rooster.
Gizmo: The 200 birthday.
Bam Bam: Wait. Where's the champagne? It's a birthday episode.
Gizmo: Am I wrong? Well, he doesn't drink.
Bam Bam: Well, we do.
Senator: Costco find a vintage 250 year old bottle of nonalcoholic champagne.
Rooster: They actually do sell a vintage Bloom champagne.
Bam Bam: At Costco? Costco has it.
Rooster: Costco doesn't have it.
Gizmo: That's a problem.
Rooster: Otherwise, I would have it.
Gizmo: We are celebrating the 200 of The United States Of America tonight, gentlemen. And we have a patriotic cigar in our hands from our friends at JRE Tobacco, the folks who make Aladino. Beautiful I gotta tell you boys, this feels great in the hand.
Senator: Not just feels great. It looks great. Mean, the wrapper, it pretty much invisible seams. It's pristine.
Rooster: Yeah. It smells good. The wrapper smells nice.
Bam Bam: The band is handsome. Yeah. I love the blue with that faint yellow and red. This is fantastic.
Rooster: Red, white,
Gizmo: and blue.
Bam Bam: Beautifully designed.
Gizmo: What I like about the red, white, blue is it's almost like it's almost like the white if, like, you were looking at a flag that was from, like, years ago, eighteen hundreds. Like it has that creamy Yeah. Kind of
Bam Bam: Patina.
Chef Ricky: Yeah. Little muted. Look at us.
Bam Bam: That's right. Look at us do. Toilet paper work.
Gizmo: We're doing it, Bam. Alright, boys. Let's cut this thing. See what we're getting on the cold draw and the wrapper. I'm happy that we got this cigar tonight, boys, because this shipped pretty late as it relates to July 4, which, of course, for folks outside The United States is the birthday of The United States, 07/04/1776.
So this coming out on July 7, couple days after, but as close as we could get it because this just shipped
Senator: Yeah. A week or two ago.
Gizmo: So what are you guys getting on the cold draw?
Bam Bam: Well, what I'm getting on the wrapper is a toasted cinnamon raisin thing happening for me and the foot.
Gizmo: You know what my cold draw tastes like, and you're gonna think this is really bad. This is Wait. I'm going get chastised for this.
Rooster: It's a little minty for me. It tastes like Chex Mix.
Bam Bam: I can see that. I can also see the mint. There's just that really faint
Gizmo: You know that spice that's on the Chex mix?
Rooster: It's like a grassy little
Chef Ricky: hay. I got some herbaceousness there.
Rooster: Yeah, grassy nose.
Chef Ricky: The wrapper for me gives me a little potpourri.
Senator: Oh, boy. I'm just laughing at the Chex mix because I actually think you're right.
Chef Ricky: Yeah. He's laughing at me. He thinks you're
Senator: right.
Gizmo: Yeah. And what's funny is I It's such
Senator: a weird call. I mean, in how many hundreds of episodes, we've never said something has a Chex mix.
Gizmo: And I actually don't like Chex. I don't eat it. I haven't had it since I was a kid. But it takes, it's one of those flavors that it takes me right back to that.
Bam Bam: This should be a good cigar. Senator, you've had this.
Senator: I have. And? Oh, I think we're in for a fun ride.
Bam Bam: All right.
Gizmo: Alright, boys. Let's light this thing. The Aladino two hundred and fiftieth. And again, it's a Honduran Toro. 52 ring gauge by six inches long.
Do we know how much this thing costs? -Price on this, Bam, is just around $15 -Okay.
Bam Bam: For a celebratory cigar that comes out once a year, it's not bad. -I think this is a one off. -Oh, really?
Gizmo: -I don't think that this is going to be any more than 1,000 boxes of 13 cigars. So 13,000 total cigars coming out here.
Chef Ricky: Makes sense. There's only one hundred and fiftieth here, right?
Bam Bam: Yep. I love that the lighters just continuously click.
Gizmo: The fourth Aladino we've done on the pod tonight, so I'm excited doing this for the two hundred fiftieth. This is this is one we've been looking at at least since PCA, if not before. Very nice in the light. Different flavor profile from Aladino. Very unique.
Not in a bad way. Just it doesn't taste like a classic series to me. It doesn't taste like an eighty fifth.
Bam Bam: It's different.
Gizmo: And I actually like the draw on this versus the draw I've been getting off of a lot of the eighty fifth Robustos, which is a little tighter. This is just perfect for me.
Chef Ricky: Perfect. I agree. Getting some sweetness, carbohydrate, caramel even here a little bit, like brown sugar note.
Gizmo: I would say mine is like a little bit of espresso, a little bit of brown sugar.
Bam Bam: Very ambitious, chef.
Senator: Get Little spice. All of that. There's a little bit of creaminess, and there's like a faint bit of citrus that I get. Yep. Yep.
Caramel you're getting? It's almost no. No.
Bam Bam: Citrus. You're getting a little bit of what he said?
Senator: Caramel? Caramel. Yeah.
Gizmo: I'm I'm getting the citrus thing. It's like making you wanna smack
Senator: your espresso, like, it reminds me of, at a restaurant. Like, they'll put, like, Lemon twist. Rind, like Yeah. With the espresso. Like, That's kind of what I'm getting with this.
Rooster: At this point, it's actually delicious. I like this better than, I think, any other Aladino I've ever had. A lot of the Aladinos are very savory on the light, and this is not. This leans more sweeter Really? So
Senator: far. To me, the start of this isn't that sweet. No. Spoiler alert. Just say it's going to get very sweet, which I think you'll like.
Rooster: Relatively sweeter than the other Aladinos.
Senator: Yeah. Or just, like, less savory to your point. Like, I feel like the flavors to start on this are, like, lighter and brighter than most Aladinos. They're, like, not as rich and savory as Rooster's describing.
Bam Bam: I'm having an outer body experience right now with this conversation. Why? I don't agree at all with what you're saying. I don't
Chef Ricky: you're not getting anything sweet here.
Bam Bam: It's a good cigar right now, but I happen to love that eighty fifth anniversary that you're talking about. That to me is a graham cracker, cream, light espresso with cream balm for me.
Rooster: For me, this is a better cigar than that right now And so
Bam Bam: you think this is sweeter than that cigar
Rooster: at this point? Even at this point.
Bam Bam: Something's up.
Senator: I think you're wrong, Bam. Yeah. I don't think Bam's wrong, but I also don't think Rooster's wrong. I just think somehow Rooster's foreshadowing what's to come in the cigar because
Bam Bam: Oh, he's oh.
Rooster: Well, I haven't had it.
Bam Bam: Oh, he's I haven't
Senator: had No. I know he has. That's what I mean, like, unintentionally, and I just say
Bam Bam: based that on your comments. I don't know about that. It's called inception. I'm gonna be an asshole tonight. I'm trying not to be.
Gizmo: It's just a Another Tuesday.
Bam Bam: Correct.
Rooster: I'm just telling you the way it is right now. For me, all the Aladinos I've had, I like this one. This fits my flavor profile more, my palate. I like this
Bam Bam: a little bit more. You were to say Now we
Rooster: just lit it.
Bam Bam: I know. If you were to say that this is a bolder expression than the other cigars, I think it's got a bit more body and a little touch of pepper for me right now.
Gizmo: I disagree. I'm agreeing with you. I think compared to how the eighty fifth starts for me, this has a little bit more oomph in this Just initial
Bam Bam: a touch.
Gizmo: Just a touch more for me than the eighty fifth Robusto.
Senator: I feel the opposite. I'm sorry.
Bam Bam: I know. Your
Gizmo: cigar may be spotting
Bam Bam: I also think all of the other Aladinos, just at the start, we're only a quarter inch in, so it's an initial discussion, they all start in a much more elegant experience for me than this is. This isn't bad. Those are much more elegant off the light.
Senator: Alright. So I wanna just, like, take each because there's so many different comments. So I agree with Bam on this starts. How did you describe the way this starts versus the other, Bem? The other ones?
Bam Bam: Others, I think, are a touch sweeter than this. There's more graham cracker and coffee and cream than what I'm getting at this point in this cigar that I get in those, and those are I think start in a more elegant manner than this does.
Senator: So that's bad. I I guess the first time I had this, I sort of felt that way, and it was the citrus that like, it was so bright the way this started. Threw you off a bit. I was, yeah, I was thrown off, and I worried that maybe there was gonna be some harshness. Luckily, that didn't happen, but it it wasn't like a traditional Aladino.
So I'm with you there. The the one thing I'll just I I definitely disagree on, I think this actually starts body wise lighter than either the Cameroon or the eighty fifth. And I'm curious as this progresses, like, what you think in terms of the body of it, but I don't think by any means this has more body
Bam Bam: than I think because those are, to me, a bit more elegant, I'm maybe interpreting that smooth elegance as having less body than this.
Rooster: Do you think for me, like like right now, it's creamy. There's a little bit of cedar.
Bam Bam: No pepper.
Gizmo: A little bit
Rooster: of, like, a coffee espresso type note happening, and a little citrus.
Gizmo: Okay.
Rooster: Those are the four notes that I'm kind of on right now.
Senator: So cedar is a good callout because I definitely get that. And the Me first one of these I actually smoked in the first inch, I felt there was a bit too much cedar, which is why my caution is kinda don't judge it in its first inch. But I think this has had more time than the one that I first tried, and I think the cedar's actually balanced in this. So I think that was a product of probably just being too fresh off the truck.
Bam Bam: So how many days have you had this Giz?
Gizmo: So, thankfully, I ordered these the first day they were available from Small Batch Cigar, and they had just hit Small Batch, I mean, probably a day or two before that. So I've had these probably about eight or ten days now.
Bam Bam: Okay.
Gizmo: Something like that.
Bam Bam: All right.
Gizmo: I haven't had them a long time.
Bam Bam: They feel
Gizmo: good. I threw them right in the tower. They felt good when they came in.
Bam Bam: They still feel good.
Gizmo: So for me, it's like, thankfully, I don't think they had much time to do, you know, to acclimate too much coming from the factories. These come
Rooster: in boxes of 13. 13.
Gizmo: They were like the original colonies.
Bam Bam: Yeah, that's cool. I think cedar is accurate for me right now. A little white pepper is accurate and a little nuttiness. That's kind of where I'm at right now with this thing. With the citrus?
Chef Ricky: Not for me. No citrus
Gizmo: for you?
Bam Bam: And I'm sensitive to that. I haven't gotten that.
Gizmo: I'm
Rooster: not getting the spice, the pepper. No.
Chef Ricky: I'm getting a touch of white pepper. I'm getting some of the rind.
Rooster: The retro pale or On on the initial regular
Chef Ricky: the retro, I'm getting a much creamier profile. Giz?
Gizmo: I'm enjoying it so far. I think all you guys are spot on in your own way. I think it's kind of
Bam Bam: a In our opinions.
Gizmo: No, but I think it's a cigar that can be a little ambiguous in its delivery. I think there's a lot going on flavor wise. I don't think there's one particularly dominant note, which I think is obviously what we're experiencing here and how the commentary is going. I'm looking forward to seeing how it comes together, you know, as as we get down into it. So we have a lot to get to tonight, boys.
We're going to cut in an interview we did with Ariana Eiroa, Justo Eiroa's daughter and Julio Eiroa's granddaughter. She works with her sisters and her family in the JRE tobacco business making Aladino, and we're going to cut in an interview we did with her at PCA.
Senator: Let's not forget the woman responsible for the Aladino eighty fifth and Lancero.
Gizmo: Lancero coming out in December, she said.
Bam Bam: Oh, that's Yes.
Gizmo: Yeah. Very excited about that. So let's talk again about this two and fiftieth we have in our hand tonight, boys. Again, 13 cigars in a box, 1,000 total boxes of production, 13,000 total cigars. Interesting when this was originally announced by Aladino, it was called the declaration.
And then it was changed to the two hundred and fiftieth due to some trademark concerns. So the original photos of this actually were the two hundred and fiftieth is on the band. It said declaration, and then they had to change it prior to launch. We obviously saw this at PCA twenty twenty six. It came out at the end of June.
And like I said, they're about $15 each. Interestingly, we have no idea what the tobacco is in this. This is one of those boys that every single aspect of the tobacco is undisclosed. I don't like that. Which is surprising to me because JRE is known for only using their own tobacco.
They're you know, they've never blended in outside tobacco, Nicaraguan tobacco. Everything they make at from JRE Aladino comes from their farms, from their fields. So the fact that this is all undisclosed, I'm curious why.
Bam Bam: Well, they could have grown some of this in Newark. That's a possibility.
Gizmo: I don't think so.
Bam Bam: I agree. But that's aggravating.
Gizmo: I wish we had a little bit of an idea here what it is. I mean, it's just it's odd because everything else is pretty clear from them, but this
Rooster: one's Do you think there's anything other than Honduran tobaccos on this?
Senator: I think if it's undisclosed, there has to be. Yeah. I don't see any other reason, you know, to say that. Right? If it was all Honduran, at least they could say it's a Honduran bureau.
The fact that they're disclosing nothing, there's gotta be tobacco for another country.
Bam Bam: Irrationally mysterious to to do that. We have a lot of irrational guys at this club. Some of them are irrationally mysterious, and that's unnecessary.
Rooster: Yeah. But I I don't understand the secrecy about the blend.
Bam Bam: Agreed.
Rooster: You know what mean?
Senator: I mean, I do when there's, like, you know, one type of tobacco that's from a very odd region.
Gizmo: Yeah. Like the stoic stuff.
Senator: That's correct. Get that. But the entirety of it, to not disclose that, I agree, it doesn't make sense, I don't think any consumer is happy with that.
Bam Bam: But also Vance makes it clear that there is a secret ingredient.
Gizmo: Yes. And he tells you what everything else is.
Bam Bam: Yeah. Exactly.
Rooster: Secret ingredient other than tobacco?
Senator: Well, I assume mean tobacco. Tobacco.
Rooster: Type of tobacco.
Bam Bam: Keep it up, old boy.
Rooster: Hey. He said secret ingredient. I'm like
Senator: That's what he calls it.
Rooster: What is it? Birthday?
Bam Bam: How it is. It is his birthday. Married sprays.
Gizmo: Alright, boys. Let's go to some news. We're gonna start with a not so nice one. Unfortunately, this news came out a couple days ago. The CEO of Drew Estate, Glenn Wolfson, passed away at the age of 70.
Apparently, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May and was starting treatment and passed just a little while later. He's been with the company since 2016 after serving as a consultant for most of his professional career. In July 2016, he joined Drew Estate as their CEO, as they had just been acquired by Swisher at that time. So that is around the time when Nick Mello left, Steve Sokka left. It was kind of all around that same time.
Obviously, we know that both of those companies, Foundation and Dunbarton, are both celebrating that kind of ten year mark. So it obviously aligns with their exit from Drew Estate when they were purchased by Swisher. So Glenn Wolfson had been running the company for just about ten years and passed away in June. So our thoughts go out to the Drew Estate folks and, of course, his friends and family. You don't get a lot of these stories.
We don't talk a lot about these kind of stories here on the pod about folks obviously in positions like Glenn passing away while they're still in the job. So just a rare one, but a sad one to see.
Bam Bam: Very sad.
Gizmo: Let's go to another one now. Another news story, boys. I found this one really interesting. So Phoenicia, who is the Cyprus focused distributor of Cuban cigars for Africa, some of Europe, The Middle East, started adding a six and a half percent surcharge to all orders of Cuban cigars as opposed to raising prices on individual products. So apparently, because of massive declines in sea cargo to and from Cuba, of course, as we know, It has had to switch from using sea freight to air freight, which has resulted in higher prices.
So I find it interesting. I mean, obviously, Phoenicia, well in business with Habanos. Habanos has no problem raising prices. It's weird to see prices not going up, but some sort of surcharge being added. So of course, we're talking about surcharges to retailers when they're purchasing product from Phoenicia, right?
So I wonder how that
Chef Ricky: It's going to be passed on.
Gizmo: Is passed on to the end consumer.
Rooster: Is it coming to the Strait Of Hormuz?
Gizmo: Well, no, because they're they're putting it on a plane now because of the shipping problems. But also, you know, I've I've heard and I'm not going to get too specific on it, but I've heard, you know, from from some folks that the shipments coming in from Habanos from Cuba have been extraordinarily light.
Bam Bam: In inventory?
Gizmo: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Like hundreds of cigars per month. That's it.
Bam Bam: It's no surprise.
Gizmo: So it's it's pretty crazy. I actually saw on Instagram yesterday someone was saying that they're in Cuba currently and they put up some pictures of, you know, kind of the the square over by Partagas, Charles Partagas shop right over there. Put up some photos on the Malecon, etcetera, said they had been there during the special period. They had been there during COVID. And right now is the most empty they've ever seen Havana.
There was not a tourist in sight. So from an economic standpoint, you you can only imagine how bad things have gotten there for folks. Of course, we keep in touch as much as we can. The power outages have been more pervasive. You know, the cellular access is very limited right now.
And unfortunately, it's, you know, we're in July now. So the heat that these folks are dealing with, it's just. It's all bad.
Bam Bam: Yeah. And it's not surprising.
Gizmo: So, of course, what does that mean? It means that the Cuban cigar production has to be down and probably will be for the foreseeable future. So, you know, let's let's say that we were able in the here in The US to get Cuban cigars shipped to us again. I don't even think there's gonna be any supply. You know?
So I think it's gonna be a long while until any sort of normalcy is even close to being
Senator: found or resumed. And how many more Cubans, I'm sure, have left and have no intention of coming back, I mean, the conditions.
Gizmo: Yeah. Yeah. The brain drain's terrible.
Bam Bam: If they can afford to leave.
Gizmo: I think they're finding any way they can
Bam Bam: to get out.
Gizmo: A folks are lot going to Spain. A lot of folks are, you know, claiming, you know, all those things. So as long as they can get that plane ticket.
Bam Bam: Yep. Yep.
Gizmo: A lot of folks are able to do that. And who is who are the folks that are able to do that? The ones that have, you know, entrepreneurial mind, they're young, they have families willing to donate. That's who's leaving the island. So as far as the demographic that remains in Cuba, it's certainly dwindling down as far as the youth.
I'm sure the birth rate is significantly down. So it's just a really, really sad situation there. So all in all, it's a weird time for Cuban cigars. And I just thought it was interesting, Phoenicia announcing that surcharge on shipments as opposed to raising prices. And I would think for folks in Africa and The Middle East and some of Europe where Phoenicia serves, I think they're gonna see probably a little bit more than a six and a half percent increase on those cigars.
So that's the story, boys. How's the cigar treat you now? Settling in there, Ben? You look a little happier?
Bam Bam: It's pretty good right now. It's graham cracker y right now for me. Almost like a honey crisp type thing happening.
Chef Ricky: Honey graham cracker?
Bam Bam: Yeah, something like that. That's really good.
Senator: See the first inch it's confusing. It's just not like a typical Aladino and then all of a sudden it like kicks right into
Bam Bam: It's about an inch. I mean, it's I hope this thing finishes off beautifully. I think it will.
Chef Ricky: Listen, I called out caramel and brown sugar first draw.
Bam Bam: Yeah, think brown sugar's kind of accurate. A faint hint of that, but definitely graham cracker y type thing happening. Very good. Almost Cuban like right now for me.
Chef Ricky: I'm very creamy on
Bam Bam: the metro Rooster, any Cuban like aspects for you?
Rooster: I think you're right. You're spot on. It is very Cuban esque.
Bam Bam: Very impressive.
Rooster: We know that the Honduran tobacco is closest to Cuban tobacco there is. But the notes that you're getting from this Dare I say.
Senator: I have one in mind. I'm curious.
Bam Bam: Kind of like an E2 for me a little bit.
Senator: I can see that. But this is probably closer
Bam Bam: than any other Honduran cigar that I've personally had that is closest to what a Cuban cigar would give you.
Senator: I was actually going to compare this to a Ciglo six.
Gizmo: Ciglo six. That's an interesting callout.
Bam Bam: Oh, yeah. That's a great callout.
Gizmo: I like that.
Bam Bam: I do too. I was actually gonna bring one of those tonight.
Gizmo: So boys, I wanna get to our interview with Ariana Eiroa in a minute. But first, let's go to our pairing. It's a little early, but let's go to our pairing tonight. We have an interesting bourbon in the house tonight. We are back to Bulleit Bourbon.
This one is a patriotic edition, the Frontier Whiskey.
Senator: Say it, Pam.
Gizmo: America. America. Ten years in. Fuck. Yeah.
McCloud. Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey coming in at 45.6% ABV, just over 91 proof. Cheers. Boys, cheers. Happy birthday.
Brewster, happy birthday. Happy birthday, baby.
Senator: Sounds like two fifty.
Rooster: Get better with age. Correct. Oh, this is good.
Bam Bam: Nice. I have to say it's good. It's delicious, actually.
Gizmo: It's a little thinner than I expected, honestly. It's good flavor, but it's a little thin.
Chef Ricky: Little thin, little hot, but it's good.
Gizmo: Don't think the
Senator: heat's I there, think but it's very thin. Compared to the regular Bulleit, regular Bulleit is very thin. This has, I think, more viscosity and it's much richer. It's fun to see an elevated version of the standard fair bullet bourbon that you're used to mixing in like This old fashioned cinnamon
Bam Bam: is really quite good. How much is that bottle?
Gizmo: $45, Bam.
Bam Bam: That's a bargain.
Chef Ricky: Oh, now it's even better.
Bam Bam: This is very, very good. Very happy with this. Getting the usual notes, vanilla, butterscotch.
Gizmo: How's it working for you with the cigar?
Senator: For me, nicely. I feel like there's dessert flavors in both, which I think complement well.
Gizmo: I actually think that the bourbon is kind of making the carbohydrate thing
Bam Bam: Mhmm.
Gizmo: In the cigar pop a little bit, which is really nice. But I think they're very complementary and I like even though that this is a Honduran cigar and we're drinking a bourbon here, it's not overpowering. It's higher proof than what we would normally have in a rum or a scotch or something, probably in the low 40s.
Bam Bam: What is it? Do you know?
Gizmo: 45.6. But it's still very smooth and easy to drink and it's going down easy.
Bam Bam: I think the pairing's outstanding.
Chef Ricky: I agree with that.
Bam Bam: Delicious, satisfying.
Gizmo: We actually intended tonight, senator and I were working on this, to try to get Buffalo Trace.
Bam Bam: And
Gizmo: I walk in to the local liquor store like a clown, I guess.
Bam Bam: Assuming it's
Gizmo: I'm walking up and down the aisle. I can't find it. I asked the guy, hey, where's Buffalo Trees? And he literally laughed in my face. I didn't know it was scarce.
Senator: Which was wild just because, like, I've recently been drinking on United flights, and I've actually enjoyed it. And this was last minute I suggested this to Giz, so I'm like, something simple, Buffalo Trace, it's served on United, I mean, you know, regular fare. They're mostly giving it right away. Yeah. I mean, literally.
And you'd think they'd have it right over here. And even Total Wine and More is completely sold out at Buffalo Trace in every single size.
Gizmo: Wow. You should have gone to Costco. No. Did you probably have
Chef Ricky: a two liter bottle of Maker's Mark, but not Buffalo Trace.
Gizmo: So this is Costco gets some
Senator: good bourbon because I've seen I will admit, I even follow, like, a Costco Reddit thread. Are
Gizmo: you serious?
Rooster: Look at this.
Gizmo: Dude, you're on wait. Wait. Wait. You're on Costco Reddit now,
Senator: and they get Blantens?
Bam Bam: I see people rooster's presence in Costco now. Wow.
Chef Ricky: I follow a Costco Reddit thread as well as a Facebook Costco account. So I'm right there with you.
Gizmo: I just follow rooster, and he gives me everything I need.
Senator: That's how I found those olives I was looking for. Wow. People on Reddit, and they were like, they're amazing, but they stopped carrying them at some locations.
Rooster: Only been talking about this for two fifty years. So
Gizmo: I wanna say, by the way, this is gonna make some sense to us, but it's not gonna make a lot of sense to the listeners. We recorded an episode that is actually now gonna come out the week after this episode that we talked about you joining Costco. This episode is gonna come out now for July 4 because we got this cigar, the Frontier Whiskey, Brewster's birthday. So this is actually slotting in. So it's gonna make a little less sense, but give us a week.
It'll make a lot more sense. We talk about senator finally making his way
Senator: My Costco baptism. Costco.
Gizmo: Correct. So like I said, boys, this is the second Bulleit Bourbon we did on the pod. We did the standard fare Bulleit Bourbon quite some time ago. Let's talk a little bit about Bulleit. So the modern Bulleit brand was revived by a guy named Tom Bulleit in 1987, inspired by a family recipe attributed to his great great grandfather, Augustus Bulleit, who supposedly produced whiskey in Kentucky during the eighteen hundreds before he mysteriously disappeared.
Some of that family history is difficult to verify, but apparently, it's become very central to the brand's identity. Cigarum's purchased the brand in 1997, and then later, it became a part of Diageo. For years, Bulleit sourced whiskey from other Kentucky distilleries before opening its own distillery in Shelbyville, Kentucky. So Bulleit has one of the highest rye contents of any mainstream bourbon. Apparently, of the notes we should be looking for, vanilla, caramel, toasted oak, orange peel, dried fruit, baking spice.
On the palate, some brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, leather, pepper, charred oak. Yeah. You guys getting any or all of those?
Senator: I actually think the overwhelming majority of those notes are present.
Bam Bam: I agree. I agree.
Senator: And a lot of them are also in this cigar.
Bam Bam: Yeah. That's true.
Gizmo: It it is interesting how many of those we actually did note Mhmm. Earlier when talking about the cigar.
Bam Bam: Correct.
Gizmo: Which is cool.
Bam Bam: I'm really loving how this is drinking. It is so easy to drink. The flavor's delicious. You could get pretty fucked up on this in one night and be happy about it. It's true.
It is outstanding. Outstanding.
Gizmo: So I just came back from Pennsylvania today, and I've actually been drinking Bulleit Bourbon with an old fashioned mixer that I found at Total Wine. It's called Buttermilk. It's a phenomenal mixer for old fashioned. So when you pour your bourbon into the glass, it's one teaspoon, and that's it. And it is perfect.
There's no
Senator: Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Gizmo: Yeah. It's crazy. One teaspoon of this syrup, and it's perfect old fashioned flavor. It's unbelievable. And I'm concentrating
Senator: the rest is all bourbon?
Gizmo: Bourbon, and
Chef Ricky: that, yes. You got to There's dilute it, stirring or shaking happening.
Gizmo: Well you stir it and shake it in ice, etc.
Chef Ricky: But you're
Gizmo: not putting any It's not like a bunch of simple syrup in It
Bam Bam: sounds like it's some powerful stuff.
Gizmo: It's definitely powerful, but it's very good.
Chef Ricky: But usually old fashioned is a cube.
Senator: Not sure if it's a
Rooster: cube, there's
Chef Ricky: not much
Senator: else There's in no vermouth in there. No. That's why I was thrown off
Gizmo: by Just simple syrup my by and well syrup.
Chef Ricky: Well simple syrup is a hack. It's usually some kind of sugar cube that you muddle and you muddle it with bitters.
Bam Bam: I rarely see that at a bar. I'd love to actually get a proper old fashioned with the cube muddled. Have yet
Chef Ricky: to Yeah, see 100%. I mean that's Wow. You get that couple splashes of bitters. I'm going to bring this
Senator: on our milk. We can review it.
Gizmo: Dilution I is was going to bring it tonight, but I didn't want to do that without Pagoda because he's mister old fashioned. He would have been really upset. So I will bring it in. We'll set that up.
Bam Bam: Well, he's mister Manhattan.
Senator: To be No. He loves old fashioned Believe
Bam Bam: me. So does mister Bam Bam. Correct. Don't hurt my feelings.
Chef Ricky: Fashioned show.
Senator: Not as illustrious as mister Pagoda. The illustrious.
Gizmo: We've been talking about doing mixed drinks here for a while. We've just never done it.
Chef Ricky: Let's do an old fashioned showdown. I'm motivated
Gizmo: by I'll put this one up by this product load. I'm putting one up with my
Chef Ricky: butter. Up. There you go. I like it.
Bam Bam: I do too.
Senator: I also, by the way, I did think about tonight making paper planes. But Pagoda loves them. Yeah. We can't do that with I decided wait till he's here. Because with this cigar, actually would have worked well.
Bam Bam: I do love a paper plane.
Gizmo: So this is a fantastic pairing, boys. And now what I wanna do is go to our interview with Ariana Eiroa. We had a great conversation with her. It's about fifteen minutes long from PCA twenty twenty six. We talked about her contributions to JRE and Aladino, the dynamic of working in the office with family and her dad who is Bam Bam's best friend, who's still a
Bam Bam: great dude. That's my brother from another mother.
Gizmo: And we all left this conversation with Ariana very, very impressed with her. I mean, very well spoken, knows her stuff.
Bam Bam: Correct.
Gizmo: Clearly is a driving force in that business now and is certainly going to be with her sisters long into the future. So I think JRE and Aladino, it's in good hands. They're moving forward.
Senator: Inspires a ton of confidence about the future of their business, and even just the younger generation across the cigar industry that's really coming up now. Super impressive.
Bam Bam: But the idea of three sisters eventually taking the helm, a woman controlled business in the cigar industry, that's really impressive.
Gizmo: Yeah. It's awesome. And they're all cigar smokers. Like, every time you walk by the booth
Bam Bam: Yeah, yeah.
Gizmo: They're smoking cigars. She smoked a cigar with us, you know? They're into
Bam Bam: it. Correct.
Gizmo: And of course, like Senator said, she's the reason that the Lancero is gonna be coming out the Elegante in the eighty fifth. So looking forward to that. So we're gonna go now to our interview with Ariana Eiroa from PCA twenty twenty six, and we'll be back to you at the end of the first third. Live from PCA twenty twenty six, we are sitting here with our first guest of the show, boys. Correct.
Ariana Eiroa, the daughter of Justo Eiroa. And everybody that listens to this podcast knows how much we love Aladino cigars. Of course, we had your father on last year, which was awesome. He's hilarious. Him and Bam Bam have a real
Bam Bam: We've got something going.
Gizmo: A real connection. And we really wanted to interview you because we find your dynamic your family dynamic here at the show in the business fascinating because you and your sisters are really, really involved with the business. So can you tell us a little bit about that dynamic working with your parents, your sisters in the business with cigars? Can you kind of lay that picture out for us?
Ariana Eiroa: Yes. Honestly, to start off with, I think we're all happy with it because it's we think that it brings us even closer than we already were before. And we all say we wear multiple hats. Like, our roles are just, like, a technical term because we'll do everything. We like help each other out where it's needed.
And we're not like shy to try anything new. Like my dad will say like to my sisters and I, this for me and we'll go ahead and do it. My mom gets involved. The rest of the team that works with Aladino also gets involved. So it's very collaborative.
Yeah. Wouldn't say that there's one job that's honestly done alone, which is why I feel like we're in so much sync as a company and everything that we've been executing has been honestly teamwork.
Bam Bam: So Fantastic.
Gizmo: So aside from your family, your immediate family, how many other folks are on the Aladino team in the office?
Ariana Eiroa: Oh, in the office? Two more people.
Gizmo: So it's really Yes. Wow. It's really a family operation. Yes. And, obviously, your oldest your older sister's in Europe.
Ariana Eiroa: Correct? She's in Europe.
Gizmo: Yes. I was laughing a little bit because every time we ask Cousteau a question at the booth, he looks to you for the answer. Yeah. You know, when's this coming out? What's going on with this?
What's happening here?
Ariana Eiroa: Because he's all over the place, so he doesn't He's
Bam Bam: a lot of pressure.
Gizmo: He's the, yeah, he's the the master blender talent.
Ariana Eiroa: Yes. You know?
Gizmo: So as far as working every day with with your family, you said it's brought you closer and whatnot.
Ariana Eiroa: Mhmm.
Rooster: What do
Gizmo: you find to be the the greatest joy with like, what have you fallen in love with as far as tobacco goes that you you know, obviously, you've come into this through your family.
Ariana Eiroa: Mhmm.
Gizmo: What made you fall in love with tobacco?
Ariana Eiroa: Honestly, seeing my grandfather work through it. Like, he even today, when we're down there, he's up at 6AM. He's already working. And every time we're there, he just likes to teach us again everything. And it's inspiring just to see everything he's been able to accomplish.
So that's the best part of it because it's like you wanna be able to carry on what he's built.
Senator: So I have to ask, how old were you when you had your first cigar?
Ariana Eiroa: Maybe like 16.
Senator: Okay.
Bam Bam: Okay. Alright.
Ariana Eiroa: Not too young, I would think.
Gizmo: Yeah. Not too young at all. What so what of the cigars that you make do you prefer? I know you prefer, like, shorter, smaller cigars. I I we were talking about that yesterday.
Bam Bam: But
Ariana Eiroa: Yes. The Lanceros are my favorite.
Gizmo: Okay. The Aladantes.
Senator: Yes. That's that's how we fell
Rooster: in love with Aladino.
Bam Bam: That's right.
Senator: We got the classic Aladino.
Ariana Eiroa: Oh, no way.
Gizmo: Yeah. The red box Aladino. It was
Bam Bam: the first Aladino. Oh, wow. Yeah.
Gizmo: It blew our minds. Yeah. We loved it. And we've chased you know, we've since fallen in love with the Cameroon in Robusto. Yeah.
Your dad turned us on to that one actually last PCA. Said, you have to try that next. And then the eighty fifth that you released last year in celebration of your grandfather, we have absolutely fallen in love with that Robusto as well.
Ariana Eiroa: Yeah, it's my favorite blend.
Gizmo: Yeah, it's amazing. And we got very excited at the booth yesterday because inside the little display case was the eighty fifth in Lancero, the Aladante there. So can you tell us a little bit about that development?
Ariana Eiroa: So it was actually funny because I think it was maybe around August, September it was last year. I was down at the farm with my grandfather and before I left, he's like, what do you wanna take? And I was like, an eighty fifth, but like Lancero. So they gave me like 10 cigars and then I smoked it. I smoked one with him and then I smoked it in Miami with my dad and my sister and we're all like, wow, this is really good.
Then we just started posting it for fun and people are like, when is this coming out? We didn't have plans of coming out with it. So we like, my dad's like, I guess we're gonna come out with then do something fun for the eighty fifth. It's gonna be a limited drop because we don't want we wanna make it special just so it's like a one time release and kind of like a collector's item. So I think just like this being spontaneous is how it came out.
Gizmo: And you said it's gonna come out later this year?
Ariana Eiroa: December.
Gizmo: December 26, just in time for the holidays.
Ariana Eiroa: Yes.
Senator: Excellent. Sounds like we're gonna be collecting a lot of
Ariana Eiroa: those. Yes.
Gizmo: Yeah. We're gonna try to get as many as we can.
Bam Bam: We're gonna corner the market on those.
Gizmo: So the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the United States is coming up.
Ariana Eiroa: Yes.
Gizmo: The birthday of America.
Ariana Eiroa: Mhmm.
Gizmo: And like many other cigar makers, Aladino is joining the celebration there, and you're releasing the Aladino two hundred and fiftieth. Yes. So can you tell us a little bit about that cigar?
Ariana Eiroa: Yes. It's an undisclosed blend, but the box was honestly it came out beautiful. It was a lot of teamwork. I I I barely had part of that, so I can't take credit for that. But honestly, the Aladino team did a great job, and they decided to do 13 cigars to do it to represent the original 13 colonies.
And the inside of the box has part of the declaration of independence written on it. So it's honestly a tribute to The United States, and we just wanted to pay back to our country.
Senator: Whoever's responsible for your box art, and I'm sure it's many since you said everyone wears many hats, I mean, just beautiful. The the fact that the interior even on many, like, has these were innate, you know, pictures and paintings. We love the boxes.
Ariana Eiroa: Box The quality is off the team in Honduras, the box factory kills it every time.
Bam Bam: Yeah. That satin lacquer finish is just fantastic. It's very unique.
Gizmo: Yes. So obviously, your family story is a Honduran story. And to hear, you know, including the boxes, everything coming out of Honduras is pretty unique, I would think, that everything is coming from Honduras. And all of your tobacco, obviously, is coming from Honduras as well. They're all puros.
Right?
Ariana Eiroa: Yes. Except the Maduro wrapper. We buy that currently, but my grandfather's already taking the challenge. He's starting to grow some to see if he can if we can just make it ourselves. So hopefully in the future.
Gizmo: Day to day, what is your biggest challenge? Like, when you wake up in the morning, what are you sometimes, let's say, or most often, what are you stressed about? Like, what what what
Ariana Eiroa: gets To you up at the office on time. If not, my dad kills me. Oh, really?
Bam Bam: Yeah. So I'm I'm my boss.
Gizmo: What time what time is on time?
Ariana Eiroa: Before 9AM.
Gizmo: Oh, that doesn't work for this group either. You should've heard him this morning trying to get here for this 9AM interview. So let's talk about the new wine. Your dad was really excited about the new release, the Gorbusto.
Bam Bam: Yes.
Gizmo: And there are three separate cigars. We're all holding one. So can you tell us a little bit about the genesis of this idea and the cigars, and then, of course, the story behind the three different characters, I guess we're calling them Yes. That represent the Gorbusto?
Ariana Eiroa: So Aladino in itself, we would say it's a very classic cigar. And with Gerbusto, we wanted to go into the bolder side of the market. And honestly, we're doing a shape that isn't in the Aladino portfolio, 60 by four and a half. And we wanted to make it its own brand just how Tadeuscan is its own brand. We think Gorbusto has a lot to speak for itself.
And the whole synopsis of Gorbusto is that when you walk into a lounge, you're gonna find, like, three types of personalities, at least within, like people will be able to resonate with one of the three characters. So we decided to make them, they're like each character is its blend. So we have Gory, he's the jock. We have Chimp, he's the intellectual. And we have Ariana, he's like the artsy guy.
We're not saying that that's those are the three specific personalities, but within those, people can identify something of themselves with that cigar. And we don't wanna disclose the blends because we wanted them to try it based on character.
Gizmo: The three characters work pretty well in this group.
Senator: Yeah. I I already assigned a cigar for everyone sitting at this table.
Gizmo: It was pretty easy to do, honestly. So this is a unique size. Yes. 60 by four and a half. Yeah.
Obviously calling it the Gorbusto.
Ariana Eiroa: Yes.
Gizmo: Gordo Robusto. What made you guys do the 60?
Ariana Eiroa: My dad.
Gizmo: Just wanted to do a 60 ring gauge. So the characters, how did you guys come up with this idea to effectively put gorillas, apes on on like, why why those characters?
Ariana Eiroa: I think when my dad and Trey were speaking at first, I think Trey brought up the idea of gorillas, something around those lines, and then we took that with a, you know, we had someone help us creatively and he, he really made each monkey from scratch and gave it the personality. We decided to show my dad towards the end once the creative process was ready for his approval. Because if we got him in the nitty gritty, he would have freaked out. Because he's he doesn't see anything until the final picture is there. So honestly, it was very that was a lot of teamwork.
Gizmo: So obviously, you have a long history. You know, your family has a long history in the business.
Bam Bam: Mhmm.
Gizmo: You and your sisters are the next generation Mhmm. Of that. The Obviously, that's gonna be your company someday. Right? So what the future of Aladino look like from your perspective?
Ariana Eiroa: A lot of innovation while remaining true to our roots. Like, we're already planning we already know what our next releases for the next three PCAs are. Like that's how far
Gizmo: in advance Wow, we'd like pretty to cool.
Ariana Eiroa: Yes. You know, we have my dad's tenure coming out next year. Then the year after that, my sisters and I are coming out with a blend. And then I don't wanna release what's coming out the year after. I give you enough sneak peeks, but
Gizmo: Okay.
Ariana Eiroa: You know, we're really working hard on getting time to work on the project. Like, for example, the Gerbusto took a whole year to even define, like, what we were ready for. And we learned that when we take more time, it's a better outcome because the eighty fifth, we really took our time with it, just the design of the box. We got great feedback. So we realized, like, it's okay to take a little bit more time than to rush something into the market.
Gizmo: I think, you know, we've been hearing a lot about women in cigars, and it seems to be a growing market. Think I think stats say it's between 1020% of the market and kind of continually growing. I think Padron said it the other day, it's all about passion more than gender. What what are your thoughts on that?
Ariana Eiroa: I think I feel like there's a growing side to women in the industry. But in my case, honestly, I've always seen women in the industry because, you know, my mom works there. The manager in the factory in Honduras is a woman, so, like, she runs she helps run the entire operation, so it's nothing out of the norm for me, but I do get happy seeing more women get involved.
Bam Bam: How many cigars do you smoke in a day?
Ariana Eiroa: I don't smoke every day, but when I smoke, I can smoke four, five.
Bam Bam: Love it.
Senator: There we go. Now we're She's a lizard. Go
Bam Bam: ahead. I've 've got a question about blending. Now we know your dad's the master blender. How often are you interacting with him? And does he have a blending team that supports him?
Ariana Eiroa: Yes. So
Bam Bam: Do you have interaction in that part of the business?
Ariana Eiroa: Yes. He My dad's very inclusive with my sisters and I. When we're in the farm, it's always him, my grandfather, and there's two other guys that are really Two to three that are really instrumental in helping as well. And they decide things first. Then my dad doesn't like to really, like, go forward something until he, gets my grandfather's approval because he really does look up to him.
And once my grandfather approves, then we start to try. And honestly, like that's how we get to the tweaking, but it's a lot of teamwork and my dad definitely wouldn't do something just on his opinion. He likes to get feedback.
Bam Bam: So there's collaboration and multiple individuals testing and providing notes?
Ariana Eiroa: A lot of quality control there.
Bam Bam: That's great.
Gizmo: Good to hear. But seems like it's a generational product, right, between three generations all working together to try and get a product to market. That's fantastic. Yeah. You know, it's a commitment to the family, right, and the way the families work together, I think it's amazing.
I think that's so interesting. Like, if you think about, you know, tobacco, like, see families at the PCA show working together. Obviously, I think your family, as I opened this whole thing with, you know, is fascinating to us in that it really is your mom, your dad, and, know, you and your And you are running the show. If you walk by your booth we've talked about this, you know, on episode from the prior PCA shows. You are sitting there selling.
Senator: Yeah.
Gizmo: You're talking to the retailers. You are selling the product. Like, you are very, very involved, and I think, in a way, a little unique versus, you know, some of the other, you know, tobacco manufacturers. But I think the one thing that's common that I love in tobacco is that family story and the heritage. It really ties everything together.
It seems like a very, very common thing in most of the tobacco businesses, most I of cigar think
Bam Bam: it's what draws us to most makers. When there's a family influence and a family managing comprehensively the entire business, it makes it much more interesting.
Ariana Eiroa: Yes.
Gizmo: Ariana, thank you so much for sitting down with us. We love your product. We love your dad. We love Aladino, and we really look forward to, you know, the next few years, see what's coming from from you guys. And we wish you the best of luck, and thank you so much for sitting down with us.
Ariana Eiroa: Of course. Thank you for having me.
Gizmo: We'd like to thank Ariana Eiroa for her time at PCA, that awesome conversation that we had with her. Again, really, really impressed
Bam Bam: Yep.
Gizmo: With what's going on over at GRE. Aladino, of course, boys. We've come to the end of the first third here on the Aladino two hundred and fiftieth, which we talked with her about. How's everybody feeling right now on the cigar, the pairing, rooster's birthday, the whole thing?
Chef Ricky: I'm feeling great with this. Right? It's going phenomenally well together. I'm getting some savory notes again that have kind of made a return. I don't want to say tomato, but it's along those lines.
Bam Bam: Here we go.
Senator: Tomatoes, Tomato in the cigar?
Chef Ricky: It's along those lines.
Bam Bam: I think I got to
Chef Ricky: Oh, boy.
Bam Bam: You got to put him on a pip, dude.
Senator: Yeah. This is getting out of control.
Bam Bam: It's out of hand. I'm getting a little brown sugar that's consistent. I'm getting that bread y graham cracker y thing that's very consistent for me. Bread.
Senator: It's like kind of a Tomato bread.
Chef Ricky: Panzanella salad all day long.
Bam Bam: No ketchup.
Rooster: You mean like a sun dried tomato or?
Bam Bam: I'm completely But
Rooster: I do agree with chef that it did I am getting a little savory.
Chef Ricky: There was a savory saltiness but thing it's like vegetal in a sense. So that's where think that's what it is for me. It's like savory and vegetal. There's little moments of it, but I am getting also that graham cracker bready note.
Bam Bam: It's kind of in that lane for me. Nothing savory for me at all, which I'm happy and welcoming. It's really quite good.
Rooster: Yeah. I'm not getting the citrus anymore.
Senator: Same. Citrus is pretty much
Chef Ricky: dissipated. I
Senator: am getting more sweet for sure than I am savory, but I'm getting some of the saltiness that chef is talking about. Every so often, there's like a slight vegetal note that, like, makes an appearance, but I would still say that overall, it's more sweet than savory. Yeah.
Bam Bam: Because
Gizmo: I agree with everything you guys are saying.
Bam Bam: Yeah. Vaginal.
Gizmo: I think I think there is a little bit of an earthy vegetable thing for me. The sweetness is definitely there. I would say right now there's not like a defined kind of note that I can put a dart in. You know what I mean? As far as, like, this is the primary note.
Not that it's muddled, but it's very there's a lot going on still
Bam Bam: getting, like, a croissant with little honey drizzled on it and some salty butter.
Gizmo: That's kind getting a little salty thing. I'm not getting a croissant. I love the aroma at the burn line.
Chef Ricky: You know what? That's something I haven't been doing for a while.
Bam Bam: It's very subtle, the aroma. Yeah. It's not overpowering. Do
Rooster: you think the cigar is burning rather fast?
Chef Ricky: Yes.
Bam Bam: I like it so much it's hard to kind of put it down.
Gizmo: Yeah, I agree. I will say the retrohale is amazing. I think I'm actually preferring the retrohale over the normal draw.
Chef Ricky: At this point, yes, because a normal draw isn't as sweet as it started.
Bam Bam: I'll be honest with you, the traditional draw is where I'm getting that salted buttery thing happening for me.
Chef Ricky: I'm wondering if we're having these moments of savoriness because we're going a little fast here.
Gizmo: I don't think we are. I honestly have been trying to be slow, and I feel like it's burning right through. It didn't feel like a heavy cigar, so maybe it's just not super packed, but I'm not pulling on it a lot.
Bam Bam: It pairs great with the drink tonight.
Gizmo: Yeah, the drink is excellent.
Bam Bam: Well, they're both excellent together.
Gizmo: Do you
Senator: agree now that in body, this is a little bit lighter than the 80 Yes.
Gizmo: At this point, yes.
Bam Bam: Correct, But still very satisfying.
Rooster: Oh, yeah.
Gizmo: I feel like the eighty fifth kinda creeps up from the light.
Senator: Agree.
Gizmo: I feel like this has kind of, not in a bad way, just stepped down and kinda plateaued now that we're in the second third. In body. In body.
Bam Bam: Just body. Correct.
Gizmo: Because the flavor Flavor's all over. Yeah. That's all there.
Bam Bam: But And I would love this would be a great starter to an evening.
Senator: But that's why I say that because if I had to order the Aladino cigars that we would typically smoke, like, I would start with this, then have the eighty fifth, then have the Cameroon Exactly. By body Yeah. Or strength too. So
Gizmo: I gotta tell you, boys. So I came back from Pennsylvania today, and I was thinking about this because I don't really know the answer to this question, I think, for any of you guys. But I was out there with Mrs. Gizmo. I was out where I grew up.
My dad's kind of compound out there where I grew up. And he was out of town, so it was just her and I. And I'm in the middle of the woods. I mean, the nearest person might be a half a mile.
Bam Bam: Were you frolicking in the woods with the wife?
Gizmo: Frolicking, but not in the woods.
Bam Bam: Naked?
Rooster: Yeah. Okay.
Bam Bam: Right, I'm impressed by that. There we go. There was
Gizmo: a little skinny dipping, bam, if you're wondering.
Bam Bam: You have a pond?
Gizmo: Well, there's a massive pool there.
Bam Bam: Oh, that's cool.
Gizmo: He's got a whole setup. But anyway That's great. Seriously though, I had this kind of realization, I mean, I guess when you're a kid, just, you know, I was just trying to get away, and I came New York area, went to college, etcetera. But now going back, it's like this little slice of heaven for me that when I sit down with a cigar there, it's like I don't think there's any place in the world I would rather be. Like any vacation spot, any I know it's crazy, Senator.
Bam Bam: Oh, you grew up there.
Gizmo: But it's weird going back and sitting there with a cigar and having this realization, I can't wait to go. That's like my piece of heaven. So what I'm wondering from you guys is where in the world, if you could go anywhere at any time to sit and have a cigar, where is your slice of heaven? Anywhere on the planet that you've been, where is that place?
Rooster: Senator's Patio. Backyard.
Gizmo: You and EDF.
Bam Bam: That's not
Senator: a bad choice.
Rooster: Camping.
Senator: Oh, that's great. That's a good one.
Rooster: Lighting up a cigar with you guys here recording every week is special.
Bam Bam: It is special.
Gizmo: Sorry.
Chef Ricky: Rooster, you really had to take it there.
Bam Bam: Well, there's many years of, you know,
Gizmo: two hundred and thousand
Bam Bam: wisdom right there, man.
Gizmo: No. But I appreciate that. You know, I actually coming back today, I mean, I drove back from from PA today for the pod. Like, the wife was like, you know, you're really going back to record? I was like, yeah.
Number one, we have to. Mhmm. But number two, I'm actually really looking forward to.
Bam Bam: I'm happy to be here.
Gizmo: You know, so am I. Like, it's it's like it's kind of extended my, you know, my vacation a
Chef Ricky: little Yeah.
Gizmo: I mean, it's not only
Rooster: the cigars, just seeing everybody together, seeing you guys.
Chef Ricky: Know, will say there's something about Senator's Patio that reminds me of Grease. I don't know what it is. I don't know if that was intentional on The your
Bam Bam: white ceiling. But
Senator: I take that as a company, love that.
Chef Ricky: There's something about it. Some of the places I was staying were a lot more modern, so it kind of fits the vibe of your patio.
Senator: Yeah, but to
Gizmo: your
Senator: point on my patio though, and even this conversation, like for me, there are always places around the world when I travel that you just feel so at peace having a cigar,
Gizmo: and I Yes, that is wanted exactly what I'm describing, Senator.
Senator: And I wanted that at home. It's like I travel for work. I just wanted a place that feels like I'm on vacation when I'm out there, and credit to my contractor, he definitely helped me achieve
Bam Bam: that. Yeah.
Rooster: It's really nice to have a spot at home outdoors that's kind of enclosed but open on one or two sides so it can vent out. It's special because even if you're without any company by yourself, really enjoy that.
Bam Bam: Of
Rooster: course. And I hope, Bam, since you're doing a lot of construction in your house
Bam Bam: Not yet. You're going
Rooster: to have a well, when you do, are you going to For
Senator: your five hundredth birthday.
Bam Bam: I know at this point.
Rooster: Before I die.
Bam Bam: Another 500 a year. We hope. Correct. I'm hoping to have three distinct areas to sit and
Chef Ricky: smoke when I'm done.
Gizmo: What are they gonna look like? What are they?
Bam Bam: Well, front porch, the back deck, and then some of you have been to the side area. That's going to get revamped with a roof over it, ceiling fan, a big TV on the building, so that'll be cool.
Chef Ricky: On the building?
Bam Bam: Yeah, on the house.
Rooster: So not one, but three smoking areas.
Bam Bam: Well, because I'll have two decks now, front, rear, and then that sitting area.
Chef Ricky: I don't have a front porch. I wish I did. I miss having a front porch.
Senator: And I'm not a huge front porch.
Gizmo: I'm not a big we have one. My wife loves to sit out there, and I think she's crazy.
Senator: For me, it's just that the privacy factor is what I don't like about it.
Gizmo: Yeah. A lot of looking.
Senator: It's like you're like a spectacle for the neighborhood. Like, everybody's like, oh, they're smoking a cigar. They're doing this.
Bam Bam: Maybe. I like that. I kinda like that.
Rooster: Like, put a couch in the refrigerator kind of thing.
Bam Bam: I went I went through hell to get that porch approved. So I'm smoking hot.
Senator: They look nice. I will say that.
Gizmo: Oh, yeah. You went for a variance in all that, right?
Senator: Don't know. I'd use
Bam Bam: it often. Four of them.
Gizmo: Mhmm. So senator, aside from your your patio, where in the world?
Senator: Yeah. So for me, Saint John in The US Virgin Islands, I was trying to find an old photo from I found it 2014 when I spent my birthday there. There's just this incredible view from this villa I would normally stay at, and it's this kinda patio terrace, whatever you wanna call it. Like, it's covered if it were to rain kinda like under my deck, that area. And then on a clear day when you look out, I mean, you can see like little Saint Croix, the island out there.
Just you have the this slice of the world to yourself. Like, you can't see anything else but lush greenery
Bam Bam: An ocean.
Senator: There's very few other villas there, it's just endless ocean. So for me, those are my favorite when I'm there, I get up so early in the morning, I wanna see the sunrise. I'm out there with a cigar. Like, there's nowhere I'm more at peace, and The Maldives is a similar thing. Like, you have an overwater bungalow.
I mean, you're just looking at endless Indian ocean. There is nothing else in sight. It's so serene, and like that's, for me, like my happy place.
Gizmo: Yeah. Cool. That's incredible. How long does it take to get to The Maldives?
Senator: Twenty four hours.
Gizmo: Wow. That's yeah. That's
Senator: a hike. I had to fly through Qatar.
Rooster: Same same job as much closer. Yeah.
Senator: Three and a half hours.
Gizmo: I would say so.
Chef Ricky: Don't fly No wonder the cigars are relaxing.
Gizmo: Yeah. But you know what's funny? Like, where I was describing where I was this past week, that's what I have. It's like where the pool is where I smoke, it's surrounded by trees. There's I can't hear a human being, see a human being.
Like, I have to get in the car
Bam Bam: I like that.
Gizmo: And drive to the next human being if I want to. Nice. I mean, it's it's just heaven. And I smoke so many cigars.
Bam Bam: That's awesome.
Gizmo: It was just it was just awesome.
Senator: You don't send photos, but
Bam Bam: That's also true.
Gizmo: There was no cell service out there. I didn't send one.
Chef Ricky: You sent one.
Gizmo: You sent one cigar photo.
Rooster: No. I mean, the one with the wife.
Gizmo: Oh, I sent that to you directly.
Bam Bam: Oh, thank you. Thank you, by the way. Yeah, Rooster, you're special.
Gizmo: I didn't send him anything, Bam.
Bam Bam: All right. Don't believe you. He's like jealous.
Rooster: Yeah. I promise not to share that.
Gizmo: Thank you. Thank you. Please, though. All right, boys, let's go now to some listener email. We have a lot of stuff to get to.
We've been we've been talking a lot over the last couple of weeks, hearing a lot of voice memos. We have a lot of emails to get to. So we're gonna do a lot of emails tonight. We're gonna start here with our friend Lizard Luigi, who says, hey, Lizards. Listening to the short smoke special you guys just put out, and I can't help but partly disagree with your point on the decline of Davidoff.
Their search for a blender isn't the problem. The blends are the blends. These blends have been tinkered with and perfected for years. At what point do we question the raw material? I'm not saying that tobacco is lesser quality, but are we really to believe that all these brands that we know and love, La Galera, Aladino, list goes on and on, confined blenders, no problem.
But Davidoff can't? I don't believe that. I truly think the situation is a maturation of the consumer. Consumers want different things, and this seems like a clear cut case of an old dog not being able to learn new tricks. I think Davidoff needs to grow with the times.
Thanks,
Rooster: wizard Luigi.
Gizmo: So it's funny, I agree with someone what and he I disagree with some
Bam Bam: of I what think that very last comment where Davidoff needs to grow with the times is pretty accurate.
Rooster: Yeah, but the proof is in the product.
Bam Bam: Yeah, and he's questioning the raw material. There has to be someone overseeing the blends and who's actually performing the blending.
Gizmo: Recipe of
Rooster: the blend is the recipe.
Bam Bam: Understood.
Rooster: But it changes every year, and you have to tweak the blend to the original blend. And who buys the raw material, typically?
Bam Bam: I would think the blender.
Gizmo: The blender? Tobacco buyers,
Bam Bam: And he's testing or her, she's testing and making sure that product is where it needs to be.
Rooster: I mean, we all smoke a lot of Davidoff's. You smoke a lot of Millenniums. Yeah. The Millenniums that I have smoked lately
Bam Bam: I haven't
Rooster: had had any multiple different sizes. They have all been a bit off.
Bam Bam: Really?
Rooster: The new cigar that we did, the Purro Dominicano Yeah. Dominique. That was way off. That's average.
Gizmo: Yeah, average.
Rooster: That was off. The chef's edition was
Chef Ricky: off. I
Senator: think that's the operative point. It's not as simple as the recipe is the recipe. If that were the case, a blender wouldn't be all that important. The first blender would come up with a bunch of great blends,
Gizmo: and then
Senator: they would just replicate it forever. But because it's a natural product that is subject to the growing conditions every single season, that blender every year has got to tinker and figure
Bam Bam: out That's right.
Senator: More of this, less of that. And Davidoff used to be the epitome of consistency like Padron. Every time you picked up a millennium, you knew the flavor profile you were gonna get, you knew it was gonna be well constructed, and you were paying for that experience. And now the fact that so many people, we've had listeners write in, we ourselves have experienced it, aren't getting consistency out of the blends we've been smoking for god knows how long.
Chef Ricky: Yep.
Senator: Clearly, the blender is not doing a good job of adjusting the blend season to season to match what it is intended to be.
Chef Ricky: Listen, it's the same thing in the kitchen. You could give the same recipe to four different people, you're gonna get four separate results.
Gizmo: That's an interesting comment,
Bam Bam: and if the raw material differs from what you're sourcing, it's gonna affect you too.
Chef Ricky: There's a few things that are gonna influence that, their skill level, but also the ingredients they're working with.
Bam Bam: As Senator said, you've gotta learn to tweak. You could have five
Chef Ricky: jalapenos each, but this guy's jalapenos might be a little bit spicier and there's nothing you could do about that other than taste it and make the necessary adjustments needed to get the desired result.
Senator: Yeah. I just like
Chef Ricky: Which goes back to the blender.
Senator: I just on the raw material piece, I mean, there's no question that that plays some role, but we're talking about Davidoff. We're not talking about some little small operation. Like Yeah. They've got access to unquestionably some of the best tobacco in The Dominican Republic. Sure.
I mean, look at some of the cigars that they've put out historically, some of which we have absolutely loved. That's special tobacco that they've been able to grow and cultivate to put into those blends. So I don't think suddenly, Davidoff has lost access to great tobacco.
Bam Bam: It's selecting the right tobacco. That's And the the buying of the correct tobacco.
Gizmo: But I but I also think that I don't think that there is a problem with raw material. Because tobacco is it's very, for a company like Davidoff, it's very easy to get great tobacco. I mean, they spend a lot of money, they make a lot of cigars. There's no shortage of tobacco available
Bam Bam: But that's not the question.
Gizmo: But it is, but he's commenting on the raw material.
Bam Bam: Yeah, but it's art in selecting the right raw products and materials. That's where they're falling short.
Gizmo: And blending it, that's what I think the problem is.
Bam Bam: Making adjustments.
Gizmo: You have to iterate each and every year. When new crop comes in, you have to re blend the recipe. You have to you have to try to match what it was the year before that or the year before that even and try to come up with a consistent experience on a cigar.
Rooster: Yeah. It's
Gizmo: all about the it's all about the palette of that person doing it. And that
Rooster: is the job of the blender. Exactly right.
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Gizmo: And again, I I just can't believe, and we said this, you know, a couple weeks ago, I can't believe that they can't find that person.
Bam Bam: It's crazy. And in stark contrast, Eiroa has got the golden touch because this is getting better and better and better. I'm right now getting a little kind of like a salted pretzel yellow cake kind of a thing happening. It's crazy. Cake batter, yeah.
Right? And it looks salted pretzel. It's unbelievable.
Chef Ricky: Damn, man. I thought you just had high protein ramen
Bam Bam: and sweet. What are we doing here, miss? Eat yellow I love yellow cake.
Gizmo: This cigar is very good. It's excellent. I'm really enjoying it. I will say it's burning faster than
Senator: I'd like. Yeah, the weird thing is the one that I had prior to this did not burn this fast.
Gizmo: Yeah. It's good. Gizmos Tower.
Chef Ricky: I can't stop tasting yellow cake. This is crazy. It's a suggestion.
Gizmo: So shout out to Lizard Luigi for that email. I'd love to hear what more listeners think about our commentary on Davidoff. Know we read a lot of comments from FOH on the thread there, but what are you thinking about Davidoff right now? What are your experiences? Are you even reaching for Davidoff?
I know my reaching for Davidoff is certainly down from what it was.
Rooster: I mean, mean, I'm smoking Davidoff's, but older stuff.
Bam Bam: Honestly, I only like the Bellicoso and the Grand Cru right now and the old Millennium Pyramid. And only have a few of those left now. That's it.
Rooster: I mean, I love the old seven zero two series.
Bam Bam: I don't have those. Those are delicious too. Yes. That's correct.
Rooster: The old Millenniums are good.
Gizmo: Yeah. Alright, boys. Let's move on now to another email. This one is from Lizard Patrick. He says, hey, fellas.
I'm a brand new listener. I just found out about you guys at PCA this year.
Chef Ricky: Welcome.
Gizmo: Oh, cool. I'm in Slidell, Louisiana, which is right outside New Orleans, and I wanted to see if it was possible if I could send you guys some things. If so, please send me a mailing list. I think you're gonna like it, Bam. Dry fruit platter?
That's from chef Patrick. Oh. Oh. So I'm looking forward to seeing Holy cow. What chef Patrick sends along.
Sorry. Shout out to him. Please send that stuff. I would love to
Rooster: Oh, yeah. Love to see what's coming. No Gator nuggets.
Gizmo: Alright. Here's one from our friend Lizard Tyler in Pittsburgh. He says, great job, guys, and he puts sarcastic. I recently visited Small Bad Cigar immediately after listening to your review of the Mirepfel only to find out that it was already sold out. Since I prefer to stick to a few trusted online vendors, I am hesitant to purchase from unfamiliar sites.
Seems many of the cigars you review sell out before I can secure them on small batch cigar, a testament to the influence of your reviews. Given that this is a limited edition release, I assume I missed my chance to experience it, but I truly appreciated the joy you shared during the review. So I'll just stop right there. I don't think it's a limited edition cigar. I think that's a regular production cigar from Merrittfeld.
I just think that they're limited in their availability. So kinda like the Padron sixtieth, which is not easy to find anywhere right now. I think it's like one of those. Just keep your eyes out. I think those cigars will be back, the Estancia 52 that we did.
On another note, I wanted to address the topic of cigar lounge attire and etiquette,
Bam Bam: Oh, thank you.
Gizmo: I believe the decline in dress standards has become a significant issue. Correct. I frequently see younger men dressed inappropriately while their female companions are dressed quite elegantly. It is disappointing to see such a lack of effort regarding public presentation in these spaces. Let me understand something.
Bam Bam: So a fella is bringing his gal to a cigar lounge, and the ladies are dressing like ladies. Right? And the boys are dressing like little boys.
Senator: Is that
Bam Bam: what you're saying?
Gizmo: That is what Lizard Tyler and Pittsburgh are saying.
Bam Bam: Yeah. I will not frequent that club ever.
Gizmo: So you don't like this dynamic?
Bam Bam: I do not like the dynamic. Okay. Is he wearing flip flops?
Gizmo: Well, Lizard Tyler is saying he he doesn't like what's happening.
Bam Bam: Oh, he doesn't. Okay.
Gizmo: He's he's he's with you.
Bam Bam: So he's observing? Yes. Okay. All the faux pas.
Gizmo: Have you considered doing any episodes where your pairing is not spirit related? I know I often pair my cigars with coffee or simply water even, and I only consume alcohol on occasion. It would be interesting to hear how a cigar pairs with a Doctor Pepper or an espresso, especially for those cigars that can be designated as a morning smoke. As always, I love this podcast, and I look forward to it every week. I'm still letting my Bon Roberts dollies rest, but I will probably crack one at the forty five day mark.
Thanks. Lizard Tyler in Pittsburgh.
Chef Ricky: Early on in my journey, I peered a lot of cigars with soda. Doctor Pepper was one of my favorite ones to
Gizmo: do it with. It's amazing to me how many guys I see online
Chef Ricky: Cream this soda was
Gizmo: Loving the other Doctor Pepper with cigars. I'm not a Doctor Pepper guy, I never have been.
Chef Ricky: Cream soda was the
Rooster: other one for me.
Gizmo: Cream soda's pretty popular. Doctor Pepper, I've seen people do root beer.
Senator: I've done Diet Coke in the past.
Gizmo: Really? Really? I'm not a soda guy with I haven't ever done that. Is it about soda that works?
Bam Bam: Yeah, I don't know.
Gizmo: I guess the sugar component from a regular Doctor Pepper or Coca Cola or the cream soda kind of balances out the nicotine thing.
Chef Ricky: It's not just sugar. Mean, it's chemically derived or whatever, but there's still spice elements and things like that that play a part in those flavors. And if you don't want to go the commercial route, you could go with a more natural soda and get a similar result. But yeah, we try to stick with things that are easy to get.
Senator: Yeah, I just think we're often pairing something with some sweetness with a cigar, whether it's bourbon, cognac, rum, tequila, you name it. So I feel like the times that you don't want to drink alcohol, coffee obviously is an amazing pairing, and, you know, you can put sugar in coffee.
Gizmo: Oh, yeah.
Senator: But sometimes if you, you know, want something like more refreshing than coffee, like, you might want something carbonated, and like sparkling water, you know, doesn't have sweetness, doesn't have much flavor really at all. So I think those are the moments in the past that I've had a Diet Coke or something with a cigar. So I see why I think there is sometimes utility in it, but is it something that I would do often? Definitely not. But I get why some do.
Chef Ricky: I also think soda pops, soft drinks, whatnot, they're just easier gateway beverages for people that might just be getting into the hobby and aren't big drinkers drink at all. Or don't have the budget to drop $506,100 plus bucks on a spirit to sip with their cigar. It's accessible.
Bam Bam: I can't criticize someone for having a soft drink.
Gizmo: I can't either. No. Long as they're enjoying a cigar and they're happy, I'm good with it.
Bam Bam: One thing that bothers me, and it's for their sake, is when someone brings in three, four, or five cans of whatever they're drinking, I'm just worried about the guy's health. I mean, that's just not healthy.
Gizmo: I mean, there's a guy in the lounge here when he comes in, watches a bunch of sports. He drinks an entire two liter of
Bam Bam: full sugar
Gizmo: Pepsi. Oh, Full sugar Pepsi. Yep. And smoke cigars with it.
Bam Bam: Mean a
Gizmo: whole afternoon of course.
Bam Bam: Just like a friendly concern for health I'm with with all all this.
Senator: Diabetes is real. What's it?
Bam Bam: Diabetes. Diabetes. You gotta watch out for that diabetes.
Gizmo: Wilford Brimley. Right?
Rooster: You could die from it.
Bam Bam: That's that's correct, old boy.
Gizmo: You could die from the diabetes. So let me ask you guys this. So, Lizard Tyler, we have other listeners who are kinda in this camp, you know, folks who don't drink or folks that aren't interested in the liquor pairings that we do. Of course, there's a whole segment of our audience who doesn't even smoke cigars and just is interested in the reviews of of the liquor and just likes the camaraderie and and what we talk about. What do you guys think about doing coffee, for example, or bringing something in like that?
My question is the logistics of it. How do we make it happen?
Chef Ricky: Coffee for me is tough because I'm caffeine sensitive, And a lot of
Gizmo: my I think Senators are
Senator: too, right? I don't drink caffeine.
Chef Ricky: Most of my cigars are smoked after 07:00 at night. So I don't want to drink a coffee and the cigar it is, it's going to keep you up a little bit longer because it's going to wire you a bit. And then to add caffeine on top of that, I'm not trying to
Bam Bam: do Tough timing.
Senator: Yeah. I just think the person mentioned soda and things that are carbonated. We've done several nonalcoholic beers, and even as someone who does consume alcohol, I many times will crack a non alcoholic Athleta. So I
Bam Bam: why, son of
Senator: Exactly. So would point the listener to those Product
Bam Bam: plug is that Athleta that you guys drink.
Senator: Athletic is great.
Bam Bam: I haven't had enough of that. It's excellent. I know. Very little that I've had has been excellent.
Senator: Permanently stocked in outdoor mean, have it of course like Rooster or some of the guys that don't drink, but I drink plenty of them myself when I just don't want alcohol.
Gizmo: I can't get enough of it.
Bam Bam: True. I love their IPA.
Chef Ricky: You could tell it's I do
Senator: too. A great Fantastic.
Bam Bam: The orange orange juice juice is
Rooster: orange orange awesome.
Chef Ricky: Want to dive into a full sugar soda, just making your own syrups, having fun with that and trying to put together a syrup that pairs well, introducing some spices or different sugars into that syrup.
Bam Bam: So making your own carbonated beverage? Yeah, making
Chef Ricky: your own sort of soda bases. So you have your flavored syrup.
Rooster: So you get like the soda siphon and then just
Chef Ricky: add seltzer water to it, right?
Gizmo: I would love to watch Bam do this.
Bam Bam: I'm not doing that.
Gizmo: I would love to watch you
Chef Ricky: make I'd to a watch little BAM shop for the ingredients to do it.
Gizmo: I'm not
Bam Bam: doing that either, but that does sound pretty cool, I will say.
Gizmo: Is that a thing? Do people do that? Like, wasn't
Senator: there a product like the Soda Stream? That's SodaStream, yeah. Yeah, like make
Gizmo: your own soda? Well, I mean, that's a glorified You put the liquid in it and then you fill it with water and then it carbonates It's it for a CO tank, like CO2 tank. Not CO. CO2 tank that carbonates the water for you.
Chef Ricky: Yeah, so if you just add a syrup to that and don't overfill it because obviously that syrup's going to create a little extra foam when you I have a SodaStream. But, you know, think it could be a fun little exercise. And if you don't drink and usually people that don't drink, they have a little bit of they take a little bit of extra care in doing those things.
Gizmo: So Alright, boys. We've come to the end of the second third now in the Aladino two hundred and fiftieth. And this bourbon, the Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey, ten years aged Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. What's everybody thinking?
Bam Bam: A delicious pairing overall.
Gizmo: I'm loving
Bam Bam: it. I think they're both excellent in and of themselves, but together, they're just delicious, man. And I think the cigar just gets better and better and better.
Chef Ricky: I agree with you, Bam. I love taking the nose in, all the bourbon just before I drove the cigar.
Bam Bam: It is unique in the rest of the Aladino catalog. It definitely
Gizmo: It's definitely different, man.
Bam Bam: Yeah. Smokes, yeah, there is
Gizmo: Which then calls back to the undisclosed thing.
Bam Bam: Yeah, something's happening here.
Gizmo: What's going on here that is different?
Bam Bam: They're doing something right. I just wish they would tell us what
Senator: it is. There's gotta be something not from Honduras.
Gizmo: It has to be, right?
Bam Bam: It's kinda hard to put your finger on it because there's that DNA that's in it that's Aladino, but right now, it's almost chocolaty a little bit for me right now, just a touch of it. I'm really loving this cigar.
Rooster: The sweet note has come back towards the end.
Bam Bam: I think it's box worthy right now. And it's been for a while.
Gizmo: Yeah. And at $15 too for the Toro, I mean, it's a great value for the experience we're having tonight. Especially, how many times have we talked about limited edition cigars that are like $30 $40 $50 We have a $15 limited edition cigar in our hands. I love that kind of pricing because it's accessible to every single cigar smoker. This smokes like a special cigar, but it's not priced like one, which I think is a real home run.
You know? Agree. Alright, boys. Let's go to another listener email now. This one is from our friend, Lizard Yorkshire.
He says, hello, Lounge Lizards. Lizard Yorkshire here. Great episode as always. Thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Gizmo, I have to salute you for managing to recover the passport situation and still make the European trip happen.
That's seriously impressive. I actually wanted to ask a bit more about how you enjoyed Poland as it's a country very close to my heart. Did you get the chance to try any traditional Polish food or drinks? And most importantly, would you would you visit again? I really hope so.
There are some fantastic LCDHs in Poland that are definitely worth visiting, especially in Krakow and Warsaw. So to answer that, I love Poland. I would love to go back. We were there for a very short time. We piggybacked it on a trip to visit my stepdaughter in Florence, Italy.
I really enjoyed Poland. We drove from Krakow to Warsaw, so I saw quite a bit of it in the car. But we didn't have a lot of Polish experience, so I'm definitely wanting to go back in the wife too. Did you eat there? We did, but you know what?
I ate in like a great restaurant attached to a hotel, and it was very American. Wasn't like a traditional type of Polish restaurant. Like, I had a steak, she had fish. It was not that different than what you'd get here. No kielbasa?
No kielbasa. Pierogis? No. I do love a pierogi, man. What about?
I grew up, by the way, every Christmas Eve growing up as a child. My grandmother used to make dozens and dozens and dozens of pierogis. Potato pierogis, cheese pierogis, fig, all these different pierogis.
Chef Ricky: So senator, he could have gone with a pierogi, but instead he chose pig in a
Bam Bam: blanket Pig in a for blanket.
Senator: I mean, Jesus.
Chef Ricky: You didn't have pig in
Senator: a bathroom. Jesus.
Bam Bam: No, you
Senator: I he chose that for his Thanksgiving appetizer when we
Gizmo: could crack Christmas Eve. Great.
Bam Bam: That's true, but not in Krakow. Not no. That's what we're talking about Krakow.
Gizmo: I did not have pigs in a blanket in Krakow. Thanksgiving.
Senator: Only because you couldn't find
Bam Bam: it. Probably.
Gizmo: Love pigs in a blanket. Christmas Eve. I do love Perot. I do love Polish food. But yes, so to answer your question here, Yorkshire, I can't wait to go back to Poland.
I really, really enjoyed it. I also did not have an opportunity. I didn't find a single Cuban cigar in my entire experience in Europe. Now I was I was in Rome. I was in Florence.
I didn't do a ton of looking where I was. Yeah, there wasn't there wasn't a ton in Florence. I don't think there's really any opportunity to smoke.
Rooster: There's actually a very good Polish deli right by you.
Gizmo: I know. In your town. I know there is. Don't name it, but I know it. I know exactly what it is.
I've Actually, been
Chef Ricky: there's one in my town too.
Gizmo: There you go.
Bam Bam: I have a question for all of you. Yeah. When you're traveling around the world, I know what I do. To find the closest cigar establishment, how do you find that? What are your ways of looking for that?
Gizmo: Google.com. Google.
Senator: Oh, I Google every before I leave everywhere.
Gizmo: Mhmm.
Bam Bam: So where I
Rooster: am So
Gizmo: do I.
Bam Bam: I'll bring up Apple Maps, and I'll put in cigars or cigar lounge. For me, it's the easiest way to map myself to the nearest cigar spot. I think it's the fastest way to get to anywhere you want to go, honestly. Wherever you are, if I want a bagel, I'm putting in bagel, and it tells me where my nearest bagel shop is.
Rooster: I only go on vacations if there's an LCD eight. Otherwise, I don't
Bam Bam: go. I'm not surprised.
Gizmo: No. I agree with you, though. I I think we all do the same thing. I mean, before my trip, I had it all mapped out to the best of my ability. Okay.
Course, know, you have game time decisions and you kind of go off that.
Bam Bam: And have family with each
Gizmo: Exactly right. But you know, you do your best. Yeah. All right, let's continue on. Back to Bam's fashion discussion.
He says, The fashion discussion had me laughing, although I can't say I fully agree with all of Bam Bam's fashion no no rules.
Bam Bam: Really?
Gizmo: I'll absolutely give him the flip flop points, though.
Bam Bam: There you go.
Gizmo: Those belong in the garden, at the beach, or by the swimming pool. Definitely not out in public as proper footwear. Although having said that, I do wonder where that rule changes depending on where you live. If you're in a tropical country where it's 35 degrees Celsius every day, half of life happens outdoors. Maybe flip flops become more socially acceptable everyday footwear rather than just quote, poolside equipment.
Yeah. Context and geography probably matter more than we'd like to admit. That's true. Now let's discuss shorts.
Bam Bam: But in the tri state area of The United States, that's a no no.
Gizmo: Let's discuss shorts. I do agree on the length, he said. Knee height or just above is the sweet spot. I'm not really a fan of ultra short shorts, Bam. No chubbies.
No chubbies.
Bam Bam: I hope not.
Chef Ricky: No Larry Bird shorts. Especially
Gizmo: especially when men wear them. Although, I'll admit, I'm a bit more tolerant when ladies wear them.
Bam Bam: Of course.
Gizmo: Cut from the same cloth here, Ben. That said, I suppose geography and climate probably play a role here as well. You If live somewhere tropical where it's constantly hot and humid, perhaps shorter shorts become less of a fashion statement and more of a survival strategy. The jeans discussion felt quite strict though, Bam. As someone with fairly muscular thighs, finding the perfect pair of jeans is incredibly difficult.
Bam Bam: Oh, are you doing a lot of squats, my friend?
Gizmo: The last pair I tried to have tailored turned into a complete disaster, so I've almost given up on chasing the perfect fit. I completely agree with you on polo shirts though. I love a good polo. That's mostly what I wear these days after wearing proper smart shirts daily for work. You eventually get a little tired of them.
But on weekends, a t shirt works perfectly.
Bam Bam: It does.
Gizmo: I honestly can't imagine not
Chef Ricky: wearing t
Gizmo: shirt on a warm, sunny day when I do the shop run. I also appreciate when people wear brave or funny T shirts. You disagree on that.
Bam Bam: I totally disagree.
Gizmo: A bit of self distance and humor never hurt anybody. There's also something quite underrated about a well worn, comfortable T shirt, Bam, that just fits the moment rather than trying too hard. That's my move.
Bam Bam: Hold on. So three of us have very nice, elegant adult t shirts on, and they're nicely fitted.
Senator: Well, two of us.
Bam Bam: No, I'm just kidding. I knew
Gizmo: it was coming.
Bam Bam: He looks good. It's a solid t shirt.
Gizmo: I wear the same thing every day, man.
Bam Bam: No logo, no graphic tee. We look great. And we all have pants on and proper sneakers and shoes. Well. And and chef's got a short sleeve shirt on, but it's got a collar.
Fancy. Got a polo on. Yeah. And shorts.
Chef Ricky: Shorts above my knees.
Bam Bam: I can't tell because they're like you're pulled up to your crotch right now.
Gizmo: Lizard Yorkshire says it. It's probably the one piece of clothing where effortlessness actually wins. He's talking about t shirts. Also, in the country I'm originally from, there's an unwritten rule regarding jackets at parties. Before midnight, the jacket stays on.
Bam Bam: Correct.
Gizmo: After midnight, the jacket comes off.
Bam Bam: I don't agree with that.
Gizmo: And the real party begins.
Bam Bam: I categorically disagree with that. Someone when I was young told me, A gentleman never ever removes his jacket at a formal event. That's just me. I don't know. Maybe it's crazy.
Here's an example. So I was at a wedding a couple of weeks ago. My son was there with us, and his cousin was there. Two strapping boys. They take off their jackets at 09:30 at night.
So I walk up to my to my son, ask him, how you doing? He says, good. What do you got there? What's, what's going on with the jacket? And he says, well, I feel hot.
And I leaned into him and I said and I made sure his cousin heard, A gentleman never removes his jacket at a formal event. So they put it right back on, and they looked fantastic.
Gizmo: And they sweat right through
Bam Bam: it. That's fine. I was sweating too, but I kept my jacket on.
Chef Ricky: That's why you never take jacket.
Senator: I mean, BAM's not wrong, but if there is a time post midnight, you
Gizmo: can keep Post your midnight, jacket
Bam Bam: have yet to I don't know. I do sweat like a wildebeest, I will admit that. But I keep the jacket on.
Chef Ricky: I think anybody who's there past midnight won't remember the next day
Bam Bam: anyway. That's true. That's true. You know what? I think that postman senator, I kind of I like that.
Postman. And if you have a nice
Senator: shirt, like, you know, I If you if you have
Bam Bam: a nice shirt.
Senator: But, like, if you're at a very formal thing, even if you're in a tux, like, you know, I have a nice tux shirt monogrammed all that. And it's fitted. Can still see it's very fitted. There you go.
Bam Bam: If it's I see guys with when they take their jackets off, it's like a carnival tent. That is no good. You gotta put that jacket back on. I heard of both tents.
Gizmo: You know I have cigar I have cigar cufflinks
Bam Bam: down there.
Rooster: Or the shirt comes
Bam Bam: out of the pants. Oh, that that's the worst. It's like I look at my I look at missus Bam and I'm like, what the fuck is this guy doing? Like, why?
Rooster: It's it's an untucked tuxedo shirt.
Gizmo: Tough rules for tough men. But now we need to talk about Crocs because I absolutely love them, he says. They are honestly some of the most comfortable footwear I own, and I wear them in the garden regularly.
Bam Bam: Alright. Garden's great. I've reached the age where
Gizmo: I simply do not care anymore what people think or whether they judge me for wearing them.
Bam Bam: How old is this guy?
Gizmo: I don't know. I didn't ask.
Bam Bam: I bet I'm older than I bet. Hold on. I bet I'm older than he is.
Gizmo: I would think so. Correct. I resisted them for years before finally correct. Before giving in. That's not nice.
And my goodness, it generally changed my life for the better. Any house renovation work, gardening, or a DIY project, and the Crocs come out. I think that's okay.
Chef Ricky: Cool. That's okay.
Gizmo: Yeah. You're wearing them at home.
Senator: Can ask the cigar lounge?
Gizmo: No. Correct. I also have a very successful friend who has achieved ultimate financial freedom, and he wears exactly what he likes. T shirts, sweatpants, flip flops. And he genuinely does not care what anyone thinks anymore.
Mhmm. As he always says, the quote, the most powerful man in the room wears exactly what he wants because his influence transcends dress codes, Bam.
Bam Bam: Okay.
Gizmo: He doesn't need a suit to validate his status,
Senator: end I'm sorry. That that whole premise is wrong. I agree. Like, are some people that wear things because they are concerned about what others will think or say.
Rooster: Correct.
Senator: But for most self respecting people, they're doing that because they feel good wearing that, and because it's important to them to show up a certain way and respect the venue that they're
Gizmo: in.
Bam Bam: But it's also respectful to others to see you properly dressed.
Senator: Right. That's like saying Jeff Bezos has even Elon Musk has more money than anyone in this world. And Elon Musk, when he's at a White House freaking gala dinner, he's in a tuxedo. Yeah. He could wear whatever the hell he wants, but he's respecting the space he's in.
I like it. And he shows up as he should. So to me, it's not a factor of how much money you have or what you think you can or can't get away with. It's what you think is appropriate and how you feel and how you wanna respect the space.
Bam Bam: So who's the billionaire that sold Yahoo and owned Dallas at one time?
Senator: Mark Cuban. He wears a
Gizmo: suit on Shark Tank.
Bam Bam: He does, but most of the time, that guy's in a graphic tee and jeans, and I think he looks like a clown.
Chef Ricky: But he's usually at a basketball game also.
Bam Bam: I've heard a lot of commentary about what his philosophy is and how he looks and addresses. He doesn't care what anyone thinks of him, and I don't agree with that, regardless of how much money you have.
Chef Ricky: Sorry. I think just having respect for yourself, respect for the event, and respect for the people around you is what it comes down to.
Gizmo: Well said. He continues on, to be fair, the older I get, the more I understand that mindset, confidence, comfort, and authenticity probably matter more than following every fashion rule perfectly. There's definitely a difference between looking completely sloppy and simply dressing in a way that makes you comfortable and happy. Also, I really enjoyed the discussion around the Davidoff Porro Dominicano. I'm very curious to try it myself, especially after hearing the mixed thoughts on whether this is Davidoff finally getting some of its magic back.
Thanks again for another brilliant episode and for all the laughs. Long live Lizard Nation, Lizard Yorkshire.
Bam Bam: Good email.
Gizmo: Great email from him. So we're gonna continue on this theme with Bam's thoughts on life. We have a voice memo now from our friend Lizard Enrique
Bam Bam: Must we do this?
Gizmo: With the subject line, Bam explains it all.
Lizard Enrique: Hello, Lizards. Lizard Nation has been captivated by Bam's hot takes on things like lounge etiquette and fashion. I'm hoping he can give us just a little more wisdom to help adult males live their life at their best. Bam. What is your hot take on Cybertrucks?
What do you think about athleisure at the lounge? What about suspenders? What do you think about dress sneakers? Should men go sockless when wearing loafers? And what do you think about personalized license plates?
Bam, I come to you because you are the Andy Rooney of our time and about the same age. Thank you so much, guys. Cheers.
Bam Bam: I don't think Andy Rooney is aging this well. My my boy.
Chef Ricky: That's true. I like the idea of the wise man's corner and this kind of BAM segment. Yeah, absolutely.
Bam Bam: I don't know about that.
Gizmo: Alright, what do you let's go through the list. What do you think of Cybertrucks?
Bam Bam: I don't have a comment.
Gizmo: Okay.
Senator: Yeah. I do.
Gizmo: Go ahead.
Senator: I mean, they're they're a great toy. Yeah. That's really what they come down to.
Bam Bam: That's true.
Gizmo: I mean, yeah. There's not a lot of utility there.
Bam Bam: Honestly, I think Well, there
Senator: can be. I mean, it's got a bed in the back if you had to transport stuff.
Bam Bam: I think that was a dream that Elon came up with and was just wondering how many of these are gonna sell.
Rooster: It's been it's been discontinued, I think. Right?
Gizmo: No. It's no. They're still
Rooster: making. Aren't they discontinued? Yeah.
Gizmo: No. Yeah. They're
Bam Bam: still yeah.
Rooster: I just model plates.
Bam Bam: That and personalized license plates, I don't really have a comment.
Gizmo: What do you think about dress
Senator: I do on personalized license
Gizmo: Oh, you do?
Senator: I think they're ridiculous.
Gizmo: Vanity license plates. I agree. I agree.
Senator: Think it's I'm not gonna lie. Like, if someone rolled up in this lounge with a personalized license plate, I immediately am judging them as, like, probably not someone I'm gonna hang out
Gizmo: with.
Bam Bam: I'm gonna send back my Bam Bam plates. Shit. Spent a lot of money on those. What
Gizmo: do you think about dress sneakers?
Bam Bam: You know I love those. Yep. Without socks.
Gizmo: And you do no socks with those?
Bam Bam: Yes.
Gizmo: I think the no socks thing is weird. I can't
Bam Bam: I I agree with no sock loafers. I mean, and no sock I've got deck shoes on today. No sock. I mean, that's the only way to
Senator: with no socks with anything that, like, slips on, basically. Yeah. Yeah. But like a loafer. But for anything that's a sneaker, even if we're gonna say a dress sneaker, I think you need, like, a low cut sock.
Bam Bam: I saw of course. Which is why I try to wear a sock with every low cut sneaker, but when it's this hot out, I don't have any socks with this.
Senator: But that's a slip on.
Rooster: Don't think
Senator: you need socks with anything. I would wear driving loafers without socks, anything like you have on or I have on right now, but I'm just saying anything with laces, like a sneaker, even a dress sneaker, I think you need a low cut sock.
Bam Bam: That's right. Which is why I haven't worn my dress sneakers in a long time because it's been so hot, I can't wear socks.
Chef Ricky: Think with no show and low cut socks, there's no reason not to wear socks.
Rooster: I agree
Chef Ricky: with you. Regardless of what you have.
Senator: You're not gonna wear socks with boat shoes or even driving loafers. Don't
Bam Bam: need Definitely not.
Chef Ricky: Boat shoes maybe not because of the fact that your feet might get wet with water. That makes sense. But if you're wearing boat shoes to the lounge or driving loafers to the lounge or whatnot, There was no show socks that looked like you had no socks, but there's some absorption if your feet sweat. My feet sweat.
Bam Bam: Okay.
Chef Ricky: You know, I just Okay.
Bam Bam: Personal choice.
Chef Ricky: I got sweaty feet.
Bam Bam: Well, I regret all of this.
Senator: The more we know.
Gizmo: Alright, Bam. One more. What about suspenders?
Rooster: Hell no.
Senator: Yeah. He's a handkerchief guy. One good case.
Bam Bam: He's a handkerchief I don't have a comment. I haven't ever worn suspenders. I know some people that do. They do it depends on the guy. Some guys really wear them really well, and some can't wear them well.
Senator: So I I have strong thoughts on suspenders.
Chef Ricky: I think if you have big bellies, you shouldn't.
Senator: Oh, I agree. Yes. If you have a big bell, you should not wear suspenders. Chef is a 100% right on that. That's correct.
Number two, I don't think suspenders daily with a suit in this day and age make any sense. I get, you know, older guys that used to be a thing. I think that that has Yeah. Aged out. But the one and only time that I do wear a suspenders so when I wear a tux and I've got a, you know, custom fit tux, I'll wear it's like white mother of pearl cufflinks and studs, and I actually have these white suspenders that complete the whole thing.
Like, every time I've worn it, I always get compliments on it. So That's the only time
Bam Bam: They are making a comeback, but you have to be slim and trim, and your clothes have to be fitted. So you're not relying on the suspenders to hold up your pants. It's really more of a a detail.
Chef Ricky: Yeah. I like suspenders on bartenders at fancy bars.
Bam Bam: If they meet all those criteria that I just noted.
Gizmo: Think when it's like part of the costume or the dress code of, like, a cool bar idea
Bam Bam: That's cool. That's cool.
Gizmo: But, like, a random dude wearing it, like a like, when a plumber shows up with suspenders on him, like, immediately turned off.
Bam Bam: That's correct.
Rooster: He's holding his pants up. Get a belt.
Bam Bam: Correct.
Gizmo: I think we hit them all. Did we miss any? Feel the lizard in
Bam Bam: the email. Yeah.
Rooster: You got them.
Gizmo: Think you got them. Yeah. Alright, boys. Let's keep moving on here. This one is from our friend Lizard Jared.
He says, hey, Lizards. Lizard Jared here. I'm currently on my patio finishing up a Trinidad Espiritu, and I'm enjoying it immensely. So thanks for the great shout out on that stick. As a guy who smokes cigars rather than a true cigar smoker, my collection, if you can even call it that, tends to stay pretty small.
I recently finished up a five pack of the yellow banded aging rooms, the Sonata, and a five pack of Davidoff late hours. And until today, I was completely out of cigars. Sounds like someone else on this podcast who's not here tonight, which made me wonder about y'all. So I have two questions. But to ask these questions, I need you to walk with me for a second and imagine a world where you can no longer acquire any new cigars.
Sounds pretty awful. Right? But in that world where you can't add anything new to your collection, how long do you think your current stockpiles would last you? Interesting. And additionally, what stick in your current collection would you save to smoke as your very last?
I like that question. As always, thanks for the show, and I'll be here listening every Tuesday morning. Lizard Jared out. Well, one
Bam Bam: thing I don't agree with is buying and then immediately consuming your cigars and then having to go buy again and again and again. I think it's smart to stockpile. Cigars, most of what we smoke get better over time, so I think it's just good practice to get a tupper door if you don't have a humidor or a tower and start stacking up on your daily basics.
Senator: The only thing I'll say on that is Yeah. It pays for itself in that. No. Dollar you pay now, it's gonna be so much more in
Bam Bam: That huge is point.
Gizmo: Mean, every week we talk about prices going up. I have a news story every week of something changing.
Bam Bam: That's massive to what we're doing here. Right?
Gizmo: But I wanna qualify the point here. There are some folks out there for financial reasons who can't do that.
Bam Bam: That's
Gizmo: true. And also from space reasons. Maybe they live in a small studio apartment. They can't have a bunch of tupperdores sitting around. They have one humidor, tupper door.
So we have to consider that fact that logistics or financial reasons, what you guys are saying that I agree with Yeah.
Senator: But here's where even for that person, is possible just on a smaller scale. So for that person, let's say, that has a 50 count desktop humidor, and they're sitting there saying like, well, I don't wanna spend money on another 50 count desktop humidor, so I'm just gonna store 50, smoke, and keep replenishing. They can get a small, like countertop Tupperware Yeah. That holds 50 or a 100 cigars
Bam Bam: Put on your desk.
Senator: Fraction of what a humidor costs. We're talking like $10, and they can put them in there with a Boveda. So I think anyone can be doing this. It's just a question of scale really based on how much space and resources you have.
Bam Bam: The only question is financial. So if you can't afford it, that's understandable, but I agree with what Senator just said.
Gizmo: Listen, there's lot of deals out there. Between the codes that we offer, Fabrica V, great price cigars,
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Gizmo: Small batch, the code is amazing. Sure. You could find five pack, 10 pack deals of great cigars out there at ridiculously low prices. I mean, there is a lot of possibility if you do your homework. And I think that's the qualifier is doing your homework.
Correct. For sure. So let me ask you guys this. What do you think right now today based on what you have? How long will your collection last you if you could not purchase another cigar?
Bam Bam: I think Rooster can celebrate 500 cigars. Been Rooster's
Senator: one a day.
Chef Ricky: If I couldn't purchase any more cigars, my consumption would probably drop dramatically.
Gizmo: Let's say there's no change in consumption. You can't purchase more cigars. How long is it going last?
Rooster: Let's say one a day.
Chef Ricky: I would say for me right now, I'm severely low, so I'd say a month.
Gizmo: Oh, wow. Okay.
Chef Ricky: And the last cigar, my birthday is coming up, so I'm sure my wife's hitting you up, Giz. I hope anyway. Sting you for recommendations. But my last cigar that I'm just holding on to dear life for is my Projournal sixtieth. I have one more left.
Gizmo: Okay.
Chef Ricky: And that would be the last one.
Gizmo: That'd be your last cigar.
Chef Ricky: That'd be my last.
Bam Bam: It's good choice.
Senator: Senator. I think a few years.
Bam Bam: I mean,
Senator: I'm serious. I would think probably two or three years would be my guess.
Rooster: That's it?
Senator: Yeah. I mean, I I smoke much more than you. That's not one
Rooster: a day.
Bam Bam: If it
Senator: was one a day, it's like, you know, triple that.
Rooster: For me, I think it's easily about ten years. Because even if I smoked one a day, that's about 3,600 cigars.
Chef Ricky: Let's say five because I'll be going to your house to smoke. Five a day? No, no, no, five years.
Rooster: Oh, five years.
Chef Ricky: Yeah.
Senator: You're well See, that's maybe a little low, because I'm assuming like four cigars every day. Yeah. There's not gonna be every day.
Bam Bam: So You're assuming one a day.
Senator: Probably like three to five years.
Gizmo: No.
Bam Bam: Seven, eight. No doubt for you.
Gizmo: I think I'm probably if I'm smoking two cigars a day consistently, I'm probably between ten and twelve years.
Rooster: So jealous.
Senator: Well, if it's two, but I'm I'm estimating more than that.
Gizmo: But I'm I'm on average. I think on average, given a week, I think if you average it out, yeah, a couple of days you might smoke four, a couple of days you might smoke one. I think averaging out two a day across a week, 14 to 15 ish a week, I'd probably last 10 ish. So you have about 7,000 cigars. Probably somewhere in there, yeah.
Seven, eight thousand cigars? Maybe a little more? And what would
Rooster: be the last cigar that you would hold on to?
Gizmo: I actually hate this question because it's crazy to think about Hold
Bam Bam: on. If you're only doing two cigars a day for a year, that's only seven twenty cigars.
Rooster: Yeah, he said ten years.
Gizmo: So I said ten years. Seven thousand.
Bam Bam: At least ten years, dude.
Gizmo: Yeah, I said ten to twelve years.
Bam Bam: And I think Senator's underestimating. I think you're closer I don't
Senator: have 7,000 cigars. There's no way.
Bam Bam: Neither do you. Oh.
Chef Ricky: You can't even see cigars. He has, like, 500 cigars.
Senator: I mean, tower power holds, how many do you think?
Gizmo: 50,000.
Bam Bam: If you wanna stuff it in, about can stuff it
Rooster: can stuff stuff it it in. In. Would say more like 15 to 2,000.
Senator: 2,000.
Bam Bam: Alright. So let's let's
Senator: And then in Tupperware, how much does one big Tupperware hold? Maybe 500?
Gizmo: More than that because I have probably yeah. Maybe 500 is the right answer.
Senator: So I have two big ones. That's 3,000. And then I have a third one with other stuff. So probably 3,500 would be my guess.
Bam Bam: So that Tupper d'Or will hold seven hold 500 cigars?
Senator: Yeah. That's my guess, I think so.
Gizmo: Yeah, if it's fully packed to the gills.
Bam Bam: Yeah, so that's about 3,500 cigars for me.
Gizmo: See, that's what I'm saying.
Bam Bam: In the tupper door, and the tower right now is full.
Gizmo: So you're probably about 5,000.
Bam Bam: Yeah, I think I'm closer to about that number of cigars. Let's say we divide that by
Senator: How many are you accounting for in the tower? That math doesn't make sense.
Bam Bam: About 3,000.
Gizmo: No, I think No, you're fifteen fifteen
Senator: fifteen hundred to 200.
Gizmo: Think your number, I think you're about 5,000 cigars.
Bam Bam: So that would be what?
Chef Ricky: Got some serious impostor syndrome right now.
Bam Bam: Divided by
Gizmo: two. You got some homework to do tonight.
Bam Bam: Yeah. I'd say about six, seven years.
Gizmo: Yeah. So I have like six or seven Tupper doors full. I have seven And my tower
Bam Bam: And you have a double wide one. Yeah. Double wide. And how many years are you thinking?
Gizmo: I think a ten to twelve
Senator: is This is a guy. No more Tupperware.
Gizmo: That's why
Senator: you got the bigger tower.
Bam Bam: Yeah. So I'm less than you for sure. So I would say conservatively about seven years, I think.
Gizmo: Alright. So let's go around the room. We know what Chef's is, Padron's sixtieth. Last cigar that you have one remaining you held to the very, very end. The apocalypse has been scheduled.
It's coming. You know it's coming.
Bam Bam: Oh, we know it's senators.
Gizmo: One more. What is the answer to that one final cigar? What is it?
Rooster: For me, it's the LGC number two.
Gizmo: MDO number two. MDO
Rooster: number two.
Bam Bam: Great choice.
Gizmo: Gloria Cuban.
Bam Bam: That's a great choice.
Rooster: Hold on to that. Senator.
Senator: I'm not going for anything fancy in that situation. It's gonna be a Pedrona Exclusivo.
Bam Bam: Yeah. There you go.
Gizmo: Very nice choice.
Bam Bam: That's a great choice.
Senator: I was tempted to say a Vegas Rubina Classico, but like Nah. I've had so many It might be plugged. More memories. Be plugged.
Gizmo: You imagine your last cigar is plugged?
Bam Bam: God forbid.
Gizmo: You're pulling out your perfect draws. The apocalypse is coming.
Senator: I've just had so many more
Bam Bam: Honey, I need ten minutes.
Rooster: Water protocol.
Gizmo: Sorry, senator. Go ahead.
Senator: I was just gonna say, I've had so many more memories with the Pedronix Lusivo than any of these rarer cigars that we've all smoked, ten, twenty of them in our lives. For me, in a moment like that, I want something that, like, brings me back to so many great moments in time that has been like a special thing for me. So it would be that or a d four. And the reason I actually didn't say the d four is for where we just were is the risk that it's plugged. I at least know that that petrol is gonna drop perfectly.
Gizmo: Like, dude, I pulled a you guys were in the lounge with me the other day. I pulled a d four probably my first in months, and I had to borrow a perfect draw from Bam. Damn thing wouldn't smoke.
Senator: And the 50 three-thirty.
Gizmo: And put it down with like
Bam Bam: You did.
Gizmo: Two and a half inches left. Wow. Unbelievable. So my final would probably be a Padron 80, I would say.
Bam Bam: That's a good great choice. Great choice.
Gizmo: I've had a lot of great Padron eighty's recently. It's become that celebratory cigar for me that I'm reaching for. Obviously, it's
Senator: Let's unpack that for a quick second. Correct. He did not say the Padron fifty year.
Bam Bam: Also correct.
Gizmo: That's true.
Bam Bam: Or the Magnum 46.
Senator: The guy who said, no. No. They're they're both so good, and I think I even maybe say that the 50 could be better. Nope. Look at that.
Apocalypse, he picks the eightieth.
Gizmo: You go to Costco. Now you've changed. You've changed.
Rooster: I pick up the eightieth.
Senator: I'm just making sure it's documented. I own my Costco moment.
Bam Bam: On ledger. It'll be printed.
Gizmo: It's on the ledger.
Bam Bam: Correct.
Gizmo: Alright. A great question here.
Rooster: What about Bam?
Gizmo: Oh. Oh, yeah. Bam, what's yours?
Bam Bam: Sorry. I kind of like what Senator said. You know, a lot of cigars that we smoke, we have them at special moments in our lives. For me, the Millennium Pyramid by David O.
Gizmo: So you're gonna start and end with the Millennium Pyramid. That was your first,
Bam Bam: Correct, and it'll
Gizmo: be your
Bam Bam: and I had that when both my kids were born. I had it when my kid went to college. I always go back to that because there's a lot of sentimental value for that cigar, but I'll hold on to my current batch because I know that blending is evolving, so I wanna keep that. So for that apocalypse, I'll hold on to the small batch that I have. Not the schwa?
I love the schwa.
Senator: That's the first thing I thought.
Bam Bam: I know. That came to mind as well,
Senator: but I do like Madame went on his, I have no cigars. I don't even have the Schwa Supreme out of
Bam Bam: the Schwa.
Senator: I've just got 2,000 other cigars,
Gizmo: but not the Schwa.
Rooster: I'm sorry. 8,500.
Bam Bam: I'm not updating my list. But the Melanin Pyramid by Tabadino.
Gizmo: Okay. For sure. Excellent.
Chef Ricky: Yeah. I love that there's three projournals on that list. Yeah. That speaks volumes.
Gizmo: Yeah. Mhmm. Alright, boys. And now it's time to go to our lizard of the week presented by our friends at Bond Roberts. And our lizard of the week this week is Lizard Wilkins.
Oh. And Lizard Wilkins is gonna win a 10 count box of cigars from our friends at Bond Roberts. And he says here, dear lizards, new blood here. I've been listening long enough to know you guys don't hand out praise lightly. Your reviews hit hard, and more importantly, they've held up.
I've chased a few of your high scores, and every one of them delivered exactly as promised. Quick background. I used to sell cigars in Oxford when I was in college in the early 2000s. I cut my teeth behind the counter and never really stopped collecting. These days, I've drifted away from Cubans and I've leaned into New World blends, not only because of cost, but quality also, which has opened up a different kind of rabbit hole.
Here's what I've been chewing on. I'm also a wine collector, senator, and I've started to notice what feels like a similar life cycle between cigars and vintage wine, an ebb and a flow. I've pulled sticks that were once vibrant and found them muted, tight, closed off like they're hiding something. Then months or even years later, I revisit that same box and it's back, wide open, expressive, firing on all cylinders. It feels like a living curve rather than a straight line, peaks, valleys, and those strange in between phases where everything goes quiet.
Have you seen the same thing in your humidors, or am I romanticizing the leaf? Kind regards, the Englishman in New Jersey, Lizard Wilkins.
Bam Bam: Cool.
Gizmo: Great question. Yeah. So do you think he's romanticizing the leaf here in the region?
Rooster: He's I he's spot on. Especially with Cubans, there is peaks and valleys. You know, cigars will peak, then they'll go down, and they might peak again. It just depends on how old the stuff is. But you will probably get to a point where maybe they do start losing flavor, and it's not going to come back.
I'm talking like super old stuff, maybe pre embargo stuff.
Senator: I may even forget pre embargo well after that. Feel you like know, a great example is Giz had brought in that Lusidomia from the '90s, and they were practically flavorless.
Gizmo: Was so bad.
Senator: Of us could even smoke the cigar.
Gizmo: It was, like, from 1992. Was, like, one of the worst cigars we've had.
Bam Bam: And that cigar is usually inconsistent anyway.
Rooster: You're right.
Bam Bam: You know?
Senator: Yeah. But never unsmokable like that. It was bad. That was just too much time, and that's the thing. It's the same with wine.
Like, everything like that will hit its peak, and that's why you have to be careful. And I think people that just hold onto these things for decades and an eternity, assuming that they're all just gonna get better and better, are sorely disappointed. And I think that's why a lot of these people then move a lot of that stuff. You gotta try those cigars, you know, one a year Mhmm. After a point to make sure that it hasn't hit that peak.
And we've talked about the Vegas Urbania Classico. That's a 2011 box. That's got some serious age. That cigar, I think, has hit its peak.
Gizmo: Yeah. I think it's on the way down.
Senator: Yeah. It's not bad, but it's not as absolutely perfect and spectacular as it was when we were smoking more of it. It's now really good, but just a notch below, and it's going to continue like we're saying to decline.
Rooster: But do you think it goes back up again?
Senator: No way. That's not how aging works.
Gizmo: I mean, Minrani has these stages of maturation that happen in in his view. Not that I don't know if a cigar would ever reach at its twenty year mark or whatever. You know, he kind of lays it out. What you're saying the Vegas Romania was five years ago when we really fell in love with it, or six years ago, right? But for some collectors out there, for some smokers out there, they like that kind of age on those cigars.
Good for them. I think for most of us in this room, from what we've experienced, it's definitely past the point where those cigars are super interesting to us. And I will say, answer his question, I don't think you're romanticizing the leaf. I think what makes this thing that we have interesting is the fact that it is as dynamic as it is. I don't think people would collect wine to the level they do, smoke cigars to the level that we all do and Lizard Nation does.
If it was a linear thing that you could pinpoint so precisely as, you know, things are gonna be perfect when you think they're gonna be perfect. If that was the case, I think it would be a much less interesting experience versus the moments we have when we're blown away by something and then the moments where our expectations are sorely let down by something that doesn't deliver what we hope it's going to. And I think that's kinda like the chase, like we're chasing the dragon a little bit. When we have that cigar that blows our minds, you reach back into the same box and it sucks. That is what we do here.
I think that's why people love the game of golf. I think that's why people love wine. I think that's why we love what we love, is it's a dynamic thing and it's kinda like you're playing roulette a little bit.
Bam Bam: Very well said. Right?
Senator: Yeah. Yeah, and I think it's like anything in life, if you wait too long to enjoy something, it's not going to be as enjoyable Correct. As it could have been if you enjoyed it when it was meant to be enjoyed.
Gizmo: Yeah. And as we've always said and we've heard, cigars are meant to be smoked.
Bam Bam: Yeah. Goes back to our commentary with Danilo. Exactly. With Cuba. Yeah.
Rooster: I think I agree with your point about trying them out every year, every six months. Pull one out and see how it is. And if you think the flavor is diminishing, you don't know if it's ever going to come back.
Gizmo: And I think if you're holding a box for the potential of smoking it at some point in the future, maybe it's worth a lot of money today. You think it's going to be worth more than it might be better than I think the idea of holding cigars, especially Cuban cigars for that purpose, is counterintuitive to what we're talking about tonight. If you want to sell those cigars, fine. Whatever. If you're in cigars like an investment property, fine.
But if you're in cigars to smoke them, like you're saying, crack the box, try it. If it's great, smoke them. If it's not, do what you want to do with them. Sell them, give them out, throw them out, whatever. But I think like we're saying, try your cigars, smoke your cigars.
You know? And I'm kind of talking to myself in a way because there's a lot of cigars in my tower that are just sitting there right now and not being smoked because I kinda look at them like
Bam Bam: Same here.
Gizmo: Shit, I can't replace that. I can't find that
Bam Bam: in here.
Gizmo: And I think we're all doing that, right? Mean, many times have you looked at your tower? Like, looked at a box apart, I guess, eight nine eights the other day from 2012. It's like, I was like, well, maybe I should reach for that. And I'm doing the calculus in my head of, like, what that's worth.
And is tonight the night? Is now the moment? I mean, that's a reality. Look, you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow.
Rooster: You might as well, you know, pull one out
Gizmo: and smoke it. It's true. It's true. So thanks again to our friend Lizard Wilkins, the Englishman here in New Jersey, our lizard of the week for those great questions and a great commentary. I don't think he's romanticizing the leaf.
I think that's what we do here every week. I think that's what makes this whole thing exciting and great question from him. And now, boys, we've come to the end of our evening with the Aladino two hundred and fiftieth and the Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey ten years aged. What's everybody thinking about the pairing before we get into our ratings? And don't forget to send your ratings to me, please, for both.
Bam Bam: Delicious evening. Yeah. Extremely satisfying.
Gizmo: I will say one thing. When I picked up this bourbon tonight, I was nervous that it was going to overpower this Honduran cigar. And I know Senator had smoked it, so I trusted his gut when we were talking about what to pick up. But man, I think this is a bourbon that really would pair well with a lot of the cigars that we smoke, especially Hondurans. And tonight it did great.
Yeah. It really did not overpower. Not at all. Even at 45.6%.
Senator: No. And I I'd go as far as saying that, like, this would pair great with the overwhelming majority of what we smoke. I think this can hold up to even a
Bam Bam: A Cuban.
Senator: Well, forget a Cuban. Was gonna say even a Nicaraguan. I could have a sort of a drone.
Bam Bam: On the on the opposite side of the spectrum.
Senator: Yeah. Oh,
Bam Bam: yeah. Also great with a Cuban, though.
Senator: Totally. Yeah.
Gizmo: Alright, boys. It's time now to move into the formal liquor rating tonight on the Bulleit Frontier Whiskey. Ten years aged Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. Bam bam.
Bam Bam: You're up. So I just took a sip. I can't believe how easy drinking this is, yet rich in flavor, fully satisfying. And, actually, as I drank more and more of it, I disagree with the question of viscosity. I think it's got perfect viscosity, not too rich as far as thickness is concerned, not too light.
And for the price, this is probably one of the tastiest, easy drinking bourbons I've had in a very long time, so I'm at a firm 10. I would like to pursue this bottle. I'm sure I can find it anywhere, so it's available almost at any establishment. I think it's just we we just talked about it two seconds ago. It would go great with an Exquiso.
It'll go great with a Schwa Supreme. It'll go great with a Millennium Pyramid. Almost any cigar would pair beautifully with this. So the versatility of it is just off the charts. I'm in a really, really firm, enthusiastic 10.
Chef Ricky: Alright, Chef. So for me, the Bulleit Bourbon look, I came into this not a huge fan of Bulleit. I've always found Bulleit to be somewhat pedestrian. This ten year is elevated for sure. The pairing was perfect.
But I my cigars, you know, we've mentioned earlier, kind of the smokes a bit fast. Right. So I haven't had a cigar in, you know, that I've been puffing on for at least fifteen, twenty minutes. So I've been drinking the bourbon on its own. For me, the pairing was perfect, but the bourbon on its own, some of those like roasted cherry notes to me, they come across less roasted and more sort of medicinal cough syrupy, which, you know, we've something we've heard in the past.
Really? Yeah. When you when you have the cigar with it, the cigar for me kind of dampens that flavor, and instead it helps create a more sophisticated flavor on my palate anyway. So for all of those reasons, I'm at an eight with this bourbon.
Gizmo: Wow. Interesting. Woah. I'm surprised by your eight. Mean, I I really loved it.
For me, it's a nine. I I think it's an excellent bourbon. I think it pairs very, very well with most of the cigars that we smoke like we just talked about. It wasn't perfect for me tonight. I honestly, Bam, for everything I'm saying and how I feel about it, I don't know if I'm gonna run out and buy
Bam Bam: it. Really?
Gizmo: Yeah. I I I love like the Weller, I think, stands above this. There's some other bourbons that I really, really appreciate. Eagler,
Chef Ricky: also ten years. Granted, it is a lot more expensive. Hold on. I'll give it that.
Bam Bam: Is this easier to drink than the Weller without ice?
Gizmo: No. Okay. I think the Weller special reserve is very easy to drink.
Bam Bam: You think it's easier to drink than ice?
Gizmo: I I do. I
Chef Ricky: think it's hotter,
Senator: but It is?
Chef Ricky: No, the Weller, but the flavor that you get makes up for that, and and it makes that experience worth it for me. The richness and and how it develop it delivers that flavor as as well.
Gizmo: There's a lot of bourbons that we've done on this podcast that I think I would prefer over this. However, even at 45.6% tonight, 10 years age, there wasn't a lot of barrel barrel character on this. It it didn't take on those kind of wild characteristics of sitting in those barrels for ten years.
Bam Bam: You're doing lot of reading, I can say.
Gizmo: Zero reading. Just two hundred and some odd weeks of practice. No. But seriously, I I I think it's really, really good. I love the price on this at $45.
I think that is a steal for a ten years aged bourbon like this. I think if you love bourbon, this has to be one you try, and maybe you're gonna fall in love with it. Maybe it'll be a 10 for you, but for me tonight, it's a nine. Senator.
Bam Bam: Good score.
Senator: So I'm also at a nine. I thought it was an excellent pairing with the cigar. It's awesome to see Bulleit capable of producing something more refined, more elegant, richer, more flavorful than their standard fare bourbon. The only reason I think the price point also I will say is great. I think 45 is more than fair for the experience.
The only reason that I didn't give it the 10 I look for this in really every spirit and even a cigar. There wasn't a defining note that made it super memorable for me. Like, to me, this drank like a a a refined, standard bourbon. It had all the kind of traditional notes, but there wasn't one note that I will forever remember this for. Even Buffalo Trace, there's a distinct taste about Buffalo Trace.
There There's standard fare Yeah. That grabs me, and I will remember. Weller has a very distinct taste that grabs me that I will remember. Very true. I mean, hell, even Maker's Mark has a distinct taste that I will always remember, and it just doesn't have the it factor that makes this truly memorable or special for me to give it the 10, but that doesn't change the fact that I would happily drink this again.
I think anyone that enjoys bourbon, you know, would enjoy this spirit, and I think it pairs great with cigars. It doesn't overpower them. It's incredibly versatile. I would drink this in the summer, the fall, and everything in between. Mhmm.
So for those reasons, I'm at a very strong nine. Well said. Yeah.
Gizmo: Alright, boys. The former liquor rating tonight on the Bulleit Frontier Whiskey ten years age Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey is a nine point zero.
Bam Bam: Wow. Great. Very good score.
Gizmo: Let's compare that to the only other Bulleit we've done, which is the original Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. We did that on episode 106, if you believe it. Scored an eight. Okay. So this is And that's actually good.
10 points higher. Perfect. Yeah. The regular Bulleit Bourbon. And now, boys I have to
Bam Bam: say, I really respect the way the composite score figures figures out and pencils out at the end.
Gizmo: Yeah. It works. It does work. The composite the formal liquor rating formal lizard rating
Senator: Yeah.
Gizmo: And liquor rating. Yeah. They don't lie, man.
Bam Bam: This is a nine is a perfect score for this. And I just love so I don't have a distinct note. I agree with you on that, senator. I just for me, I gravitate toward things that are easy drinking
Gizmo: Yeah.
Bam Bam: And give you really a rich experience, and this checks that box for sure. For sure.
Gizmo: Yeah. Alright, boys. It's time now to move into the formal lizard ready tonight on the Aladino two hundred and fiftieth. Rooster, you're up.
Rooster: So I felt like this Aladino cigar is a bit of a departure from their line. Most of the Aladino cigars and I I could be wrong, but I haven't smoked that many Aladino cigars like you guys do they tend to be a little bit more savory forward. This cigar had a good balance of savory and sweet. It started off creamy with a sweet note with even a little hint of white pepper, a couple of you guys mentioned. It had a little bit of a grassy hay note as well.
And that citrus note was very interesting on this Honduran tobacco that's in the cigar.
Senator: We think.
Rooster: Think. Yeah. We don't know. But But at least the note
Bam Bam: In your opinion.
Senator: Mr. Jadi.
Bam Bam: Correct. That
Rooster: citrus note was really pleasant. It's a nice add on when you get that from a cigar. And the cigar, as it built on, it really got better and better as it built on. I mean, the first half of the cigar was absolutely phenomenal. There was a point in maybe before it hit the last third, it kind of lost that sweetness and it got a little bit more maybe savory, salty maybe.
And then again in the last inch, it picked up again and it got a little sweeter. That espresso note, coffee note kind of came through. Overall, it's a delicious cigar. Too bad it's a limited production whatever the boxes there are, but it's definitely worthy of a box purchase. So I'm at a solid nine on this cigar.
All right, Senator? Great blend.
Senator: So I agree with Rooster. I'm also at a nine. I think it is a fun departure from the traditional Aladino experience, and it definitely takes you on a journey. The way this starts, it's light and bright, and that citrus node, and you're kind of figuring out what this is going to become. And in the second third, then the sweetness really ramps up, and to me, you get some more of like the Aladino eighty fifth type notes.
I think that's sweeter on the spectrum, and the sweetest really being that classic allegante and Lancero that we like. The final third, and really the end of the second third, that saltiness Rooster was talking about, you start really dancing between savory and sweet, which is I think really enjoyable. For me, the the only complaints I had, it definitely burned too fast, and I was surprised because that was not my experience with the first one. This one, I felt like I really flew through. And kind of similar to my commentary on the bourbon and what I said I always chased, I don't know that at any one point, there was a defining note that persisted that made this as memorable as it could have been.
You know, I talk about the Aladino Cameroon. Like, that baking spice is present all the way through. It's super memorable. That's the only reason I even lightly compared it to a d four is just like that cinnamon note was memorable. In this, I got so many different things, all of which were enjoyable, but I'm not sure that there was something defining enough that I am in my head saying, when I wanna chase x, I'm gonna pull for that cigar.
So that's the only thing that precluded it from that, like, special perfect coveted 10, but I think they did an excellent job with the blend. I thought the construction was outstanding. The draw was perfect. The smoke output was great, and the price point for a cigar of that size in a limited, you know, production release, I think, you know, is is definitely commendable. So I would absolutely smoke it again.
I agree with Rooster. It's worth a box purchase, And, you know, we have a very mixed bag with these, like, limited edition cigars, especially around a holiday or something like
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Senator: Fourth of July America two fifty. I think Aladino did an outstanding job.
Gizmo: So I agree with everything that's been said so far and everything we've talked about tonight. I think the price first and foremost, I think it's a brilliant price on limited edition. I think more cigar manufacturers should be releasing cigars at this price. I think this is a good testament to you can put out excellence and make it accessible to every single cigar smoker who wants something special. I think trying to reach into the twenty, thirty, forty, fifty dollar plus, I think, of course, that's where it's trending.
I don't think it's coming back from that, but it's nice to see a manufacturer that we respect so much putting out a cigar at $15. And this for them is a highlight of their year, and they're still so respectful of their consumer, of the audience who's smoking their cigars, to put it at $15. So I love that. No question about that. However, this cigar at a 9 is a step below the other Aladino's that I love.
It's just one step below that. It's below the 80 fifth, it's below the classic line. For me, it's below the Cameroon, but not far. And why? Because I think like the bourbon bam, like Senator was just saying, there's not one standout thing that created like this flavor
Bam Bam: memory That is for very true. Very
Gizmo: true. It was like, it's crazy how excellent it was all the way through and how much of an enjoyable smoke it was. But there wasn't like a flavor memory that really stuck with me that I can really pinpoint, just like the bourbon. And just like the bourbon, I'm giving this a nine. Like, I really enjoyed it.
I'm going to buy a box probably if I could find it. But it wasn't a perfect cigar for me, I think that's probably why. I'm curious how the cigar is going to do with time. Of course, we're smoking a cigar that's effectively two, three weeks out of the factory. You know, we're talking a week or two out of the retailer.
Like, we're smoking this very early on because of what it says on the band, what it stands for, and the timing of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of this country. So that's why we're smoking it tonight. With six months, would this be a 10? Who knows? I think this thing could have legs.
I think this thing could get interesting. So I'm curious where it's gonna be in a little while.
Senator: The only thing I would say I'm not sure I don't wanna definitively say it's not, for me, that it's not better than the eighty fifth or the Cameroon, because what I will give this a ton of credit for, it's more complex than both of those cigars. I totally agree. Like, I am completely understanding of someone who feels that this is better than both of those. I think there is a legitimate argument to be made there. The flip side of that is just for my palate, you know, what draws me back to a cigar The specificity.
Yes. Is a defining note, and it didn't have one defining note that kinda carried all the way through.
Bam Bam: That's fair.
Senator: For example, we talk about the citrus. That was very interesting to me early on, and the cigars that we have gotten that in have been few and far between.
Gizmo: Well, not bam, but the rest of
Senator: the Correct. The rest of the cigars.
Bam Bam: I'm still chasing that citrus, I can't
Senator: get it. And I think of the Aging Room Sonata, we call out citrus in that. That holds all the way through that cigar. Oh, what
Gizmo: made that defining feature of that cigar.
Bam Bam: Exactly, yeah,
Senator: yeah. Think of the Sonata, and I think of oh wow, a citrus note in a Nicaraguan cigar like that, that's something that I chase.
Bam Bam: Yep.
Senator: I got that for a moment in time here, but there was not that one note all the way through, so that's why for me, but I do understand for others who may feel that this is better than both of those because there definitely is more complexity. I have probably never called out as many distinct notes on Aladino cigar, And I do think that that deserves a lot of credit.
Gizmo: We spent, I think, the first ten minutes of the episode talking just flavor notes. Yeah. Like, that's what we were talking about. Yeah. Right?
So again, for me, it's a nine. I'll I'll finish up with one more note. It smoked too fast. I think it smoked way too fast tonight. I think that was the really the only detriment to the cigar.
I'm not gonna punish it too much for that. Again, I'm I'm curious how it's gonna be with time. So I'm gonna buy a box. We'll see how it goes. And if we have different experiences, we'll report back.
I do wanna say one more thing. To your point about somebody falling in love with the cigar, I can definitely see a lot of our audience picking up the cigar smoking with us and saying it's the best cigar they've ever smoked. Yeah. It could absolutely be that cigar for some folks out there.
Senator: Or the best Aladino,
Gizmo: they guess. Or the best Aladino too. Yeah. I mean, it's I I can see this really working for someone's palate out there, and I can feel chef coming with that right now. But for me, it's a nine, chef.
Bam Bam: Yeah. That energy is exuding
Gizmo: from I can feel it. He's polo is popping.
Chef Ricky: I'm actually kidding, but
Senator: those shorts are riding up even further.
Bam Bam: They're fucking crotch high right now. That's demerits. Even where did I put on shorts? I put on shorts
Chef Ricky: and I say, are these short enough for Bam Bam?
Bam Bam: I don't know. I got to see what he stands out.
Chef Ricky: Are these high above enough, high enough above the knee? You know, like Correct. Anyways, yeah, I'm at a 10. And, you know, I'm gonna say if
Senator: Shooting. You Oh, yeah.
Chef Ricky: You wonder why, just listen to senator's final comments and Gizz's add on to that. That's kind of where I'm at. I understand what you're saying Senator, there isn't a definitive character that carries throughout the entire cigar, but for me within the Aladino catalog and what I've had, this cigar stands apart and I appreciate it for that. I appreciate that it delivers some flavors that I crave and look for in other cigars within the Aladino. And yeah, you know what?
It did smoke fast, but the price point is enough within reach that you could smoke these back to back and you're still well under an overhyped limited edition stick And, you know, you'll have a great experience. You wouldn't regret it smoking too. You know, it paired well with the suburban. I love the, you know, the citrus and that first third, you know, well into the first third there was fun. You know, some of the brown sugar, the fucking yellow cake notes that you were calling on.
Salt and pepper.
Rooster: Don't forget tomato.
Chef Ricky: The savory salt tomato. We're going to add it. Vegetable
Gizmo: words. Right?
Bam Bam: Like, we're going edit that.
Chef Ricky: This is all like this cigar delivered on so many levels and all over the spectrum and it did it well. It wasn't muddled, it wasn't lost. Things that we love to fall out and then came right back in right when it needed to. Because a lot of cigars at that final third, they just kind of, you know, turn into muddled messes. Instead, this cigar brought us right back to the points that we enjoyed the most, which were those creamy sort of sweet, you know, almost as if you were to make a latte and sweeten it with brown sugar.
That's kind of where this cigar landed for me.
Bam Bam: Yeah, very accurate.
Chef Ricky: So I enjoyed it. I think the price point is phenomenal. If I was to knock it for one thing, it would be awesome if there was an American tobacco in here to just highlight it considering that it is celebrating America's birthday.
Rooster: There might be,
Bam Bam: could be, yeah, who knows?
Gizmo: There might be, but
Chef Ricky: why not this little Seacock.
Gizmo: Correct. Seacock is the
Rooster: Pine Barrens.
Chef Ricky: For me, that's the one knock I have, but for me, it's a 10. Bam.
Bam Bam: I'm just so happy that we discovered this catalog of scars. Eiroa can't do wrong. I think he's a master. I don't know what he's doing or how he's doing it, but his cigars are incredible. I'm smoking in Cameroon right now.
It is delicious from beginning to end, and every Aladino has presented itself that way to me. But tonight, I have to admit, that first inch, I did not enjoy. It was a little acidic for me. It was very pepper forward
Chef Ricky: for me. Citrusy.
Bam Bam: No, I didn't get any citrus at all in this cigar.
Senator: We finally get citrus and Bam doesn't.
Gizmo: Didn't And get he's punishing the cigar for that.
Chef Ricky: Buttting that acid in.
Bam Bam: No, no, no, not punishing it for that. That first inch was just very tough, but as you said Senator, once you get past that point, it got incredibly sophisticated. It was beautifully constructed from the point of view of how it performed, but also the flavor profile was very creamy, a touch of that salted butter. It was very graham cracker y, and I noted earlier, and I'll say it again, it was probably the closest experience that I've had to Cuban cigar in a new world category. Very, very unique.
If Giz, if you're saying what you're saying is correct, if this is their statement cigar, I think because of how unique it is, I think they hit a home run. But because of that first inch of it, I'd like to talk to Eiroa about this. I'd love to have him smoke that cigar and give us commentary. I hope he can do that. I'm at a nine because of that.
But every other inch of that cigar, as said as as you said, Rooster, it got better and better and better. And I took it down to under a half inch. My fingers were burning. It was just so delicious from from that point forward. I just wish that that first inch for me, the experience kinda just pulled that up forward and continued all the way down the way this Cameroon is performing right now that I'm smoking.
So I'm at a really enthusiastic nine. I wish I can give it a 10.
Gizmo: So boys, the former lizard rating tonight on the Aladino two hundred and fiftieth, the Toro from Honduras is a 9.2.
Bam Bam: Yeah. Nice score.
Gizmo: Let's compare that to the other three Aladinos we've done on the podcast.
Bam Bam: Can I be blunt? It should be higher. It just should be higher if if for me I would have given it a 10 if that first
Senator: instance was great. Said the guy who a minute ago, the formal elusive rating never fails.
Bam Bam: I know.
Gizmo: The positive your score is always perfect.
Bam Bam: How do you feel about that 9.2?
Gizmo: I feel good about it.
Bam Bam: Yeah? I
Gizmo: do. And I wonder, I think for all the commentary tonight, I guess my question for you guys is, do you think that where the price is at on this limited cigar, do you think that that helped that score at all stay in the low nines? Do you think if this cigar was a $30 cigar, it would have been a 9.2? No. I don't think so.
No. And I think that that is a merit to the price and the value in this cigar. Yeah. Where it smoked today, me personally looking ahead to where it could get to potentially with a box purchase, waiting a few months, six months, whatever it is. I do think that the price factored in heavily into that, and I think if it was higher, it probably would have been a little bit lower on the ramp.
And
Senator: I also think that if it didn't burn as quickly, that would have helped the score. This could've been a nine point four, nine point five even. It is
Bam Bam: a bit of a merit though, for me, when I love a cigar and I can't stop drawing from it, there's something to that for me because it's so delicious, and I wanna have it more
Gizmo: and more For and
Senator: me, I think almost all of us, it wasn't just that we were you know, puffing away on the cigar. Like, we were smoking it as we normally would, and and the fact that I've had one before this, and the one I smoked before did not burn as quickly. And I was enjoying it just as much, so I was drawing it regularly.
Bam Bam: Here's a critical question. Do you think it was under packed? Was it under filled?
Senator: It could have been.
Gizmo: I don't think it was under filled. Think that was just Yeah. I think it was it was packed loosely. I don't think there was a ton of tobacco in there. I was actually happy about that.
Mhmm. Because I thought the draw was really great. But it certainly burned, you know, quickly tonight. So I guess we'll see what happens in the future here, boys. So let's compare that to the other three Aladinos we've done.
We did the eighty fifth anniversary in Robusto on episode 219. The Aladino Cameroon Robusto on episode 187 and the classic Elegante, the Lancera, the first one we did on episode 160, all three
Bam Bam: scored one That's for correct.
Gizmo: So tonight at a 9.2, it's a little bit lower than that, but I can't say anything other than Aladino has been an absolute home run on this podcast.
Bam Bam: They know what they're doing.
Gizmo: I mean, the scores speak for themselves and I stand by every one of those. I know we all do. I mean, I'm still reaching for all of those cigars all the time. So A great night tonight, boys. We have to thank again Ariana Eiroa for coming on with us at PCA, having that great conversation with us.
We look forward to more in the future. And I think like we said earlier, boys, JRE and Aladino are in great hands with with the Eiroa sisters and Justo and his wife. It's an awesome family operation. So if you love what they're doing, check out their their website, check out their story with Julio. The whole Eiroa story is fantastic and interesting.
Senator: The other thing I just wanna say I give Ariana and the whole family credit for, they do a really great job of listening to retailers and the consumer. Because the whole story around that 80 Lancero, she heard clamor for a Lancero in that part of their line. That's why they did it. You know, there's so many times that we have commentary around certain brands. We say, I wish they just made x, and it never happens.
And there's a zillion other people that feel the same way we do, and Yeah. They don't care to actually listen to what the consumer wants and expects from them. And I think that Aladino has done a really, really smart job of exactly that. So I'm just always excited about a brand that really listens to their consumer, and I think, you know, we have other brands that do a great job of that, Bon Roberts, Fabric of Five, there's so many others. And when we get to our thanking our sponsors, I wanna give a quick shout out to something that Bon Roberts is doing that I think is so cool.
Saw on social media. That's cool. Yeah.
Gizmo: Alright, boys. So we have to congratulate again Lizard Wilkins, our lizard of the week, who's gonna win a 10 count box of cigars from Bon Roberts. And, of course, we have to thank all of the other lizards who contributed so heavily to the show tonight and always contribute so positively to the show. Please keep those emails, those voice memos, commentary, questions, everything else that you might have. It really is the lifeblood of what we do.
It's why we do it. We love to hear from you. So please share your thoughts with us. Send us something. We would really love to hear from you.
And with that, we have to thank Bon Roberts boys, our friends They over are so supportive of us, giving all our lizards of the week a 10 count box of cigars. Senator, what's the story on Bon Roberts that you wanna share?
Senator: So I saw a really cool video that Hamlet put out the other day about how Bon Roberts is doing private label cigars.
Bam Bam: Now hold on. Did he have a glass of Cabernet
Ariana Eiroa: in his hand?
Senator: Not this video.
Gizmo: Alright. Good question, ma'am.
Senator: Correct. That's because he wasn't with us during the video.
Bam Bam: That's also correct.
Senator: But I just thought so cool where basically you can reach out to them, and if there are certain notes and certain flavors and a certain style of cigar that you really like and you enjoy, Hamlet will personally blend a cigar for you I based on your thought that was the coolest thing, and what made me think of it was just, you know, commenting on how great it is to see a brand like Aladino listening to the consumer. This is that on steroids.
Gizmo: I
Senator: mean, to literally say, we're willing to work one on one with not someone with, you know, crazy amount of resources to go produce their own line of cigars. Right? This isn't going to Klaus Kellner and saying, blend me, you know, 20,000 of this type of cigar. But if you want something special for yourself, the fact that they will curate that and Hamlet will personally blend something for your palate, I think is so cool.
Gizmo: That's awesome.
Bam Bam: I'm getting goosebumps because as a business owner, to be able to be that flexible for all of your clients and customers to give you something that's curated for yourself, that's incredible. It's amazing. It's amazing.
Senator: For all listeners, just check out Hamlet Paradis, his social media. You'll see this, and if you're interested, get in touch with them.
Bam Bam: It's an awesome opportunity. That's insane.
Gizmo: Bon Roberts rules, boys. They do. Thanks to them again for supporting our lizards of the week and this podcast. Of course, boys, we have to thank Small Batch Cigar, the official retail partner of the Lounge Lizards podcast. We got our cigars tonight from them.
Use our code. Use our code LISSARD15 for 15% off your entire order, plus 5% rewards, plus free shipping. They are the best.
Bam Bam: They are.
Gizmo: They have so many great cigars, so many great deals. There's always a sale of some kind. There's great samplers.
Bam Bam: How's the lizard sampler doing?
Gizmo: Sold out. Of course. We're working on another one.
Bam Bam: Correct.
Gizmo: So we're gonna get that together. But we really appreciate those guys and their support. And finally, boys, Fabrica Five. Of course, they have been a stalwart of support on on this podcast. They are a presenting sponsor.
We love those guys. Use our code lizard pod for 10% off everything at the store, fabrica005.com, including Bon Robert Cigars. So you can use our code for everything there. You're crazy not to do it. I get emails every single day from folks who are blown away
Bam Bam: Oh, yeah.
Gizmo: By Bon Robert cigars like, Giz, I finally tried it. You were totally right. I can't believe it. It's finally slotting in where I'm reaching for that Cuban. So check out fabrica005.com.
They have some great cigars. One more time tonight, boys, the Bulleit Frontier Whiskey ten years age Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey was a nine point zero, and the Aladino two hundred and fiftieth was a 9.2. What a great night, boys.
Bam Bam: Great night.
Gizmo: Rooster, happy birthday to you, my friend.
Bam Bam: Happy birthday, Rooster.
Gizmo: It was nice celebrating with you tonight with this great cigar.
Bam Bam: May you have another two hundred and fifty years of good health.
Senator: One of the founding fathers himself.
Bam Bam: That's correct. Right from the Rock Of Gibraltar.
Senator: All we need is a wig with the white hair. Correct.
Bam Bam: On The Azores with a harpoon.
Gizmo: Alright, boys. A great night tonight. We'll see everybody next week.
Chef Ricky: Jeez. Anybody would think mister is mean.
Gizmo: Hope you enjoyed this episode. Thanks for joining us. You could find our merch store and ratings archive at our brand new website, loungelizardspod.com. That's lounge lizards p o d dot com. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.
If you have any comments, questions, if you wanna reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking, email us. Hello at lounge lizards pod dot com. You can also find us on Instagram at lounge lizards pod. We really appreciate your time, and we'll, we'll see you next week.