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Released every Tuesday, the LOUNGE LIZARDS podcast helps listeners navigate the experience of finding and enjoying premium cigars (both Cuban and non-Cuban) and quality spirits. Episodes are normally around 90 minutes long and feature a variety of different topics including food, travel, life, sports and work.
The podcast features eight members: Rooster, Poobah, Gizmo, Senator, Pagoda, Chef Ricky, Grinder and Bam Bam.
This is not your typical cigar podcast. We’re a group of friends who love sharing cigars, whiskey and a good laugh.
Join us and become a card-carrying lounge lizard yourself! Email us at hello@loungelizardspod.com to join the conversation and be featured on an upcoming episode!
Welcome to the Lounge Lizards Podcast presented by Fabrica Five. 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.
Gizmo:I had a plan to smoke a cigar, drink some bourbon, talk about life, and, of course, have some laughs. So take this as your two hundred and thirty fourth official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. Plan to meet us here once a week. We're gonna smoke a Honduran cigar tonight, share our thoughts on it, and give you our formal lizard rating. We do a deep dive on the Christian Eiroa story.
Gizmo:We discuss legendary guitarist Derek Trucks foray into whiskey, and we share a voice memo in turning a cigar pastime into a passion, all among a variety of other things for the next two hours. So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar, and enjoy as we pair Ass Pocket Whiskey Original Straight Bourbon Whiskey with the C. L. E. Maduro 50 by five.
Gizmo:A Honduran Robusto on the pod tonight, boys, and it's another debut from C. L. E. It's the Maduro five by 50. And, of course, it's a 50 ring gauge cigar by five inches long.
Gizmo:And, boys, this cigar is made by the brother of our friend, Justo Eiroa, famously of J. R. E. Aladino.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:And we are branching into another side of the Eiroa Family this week with Christian Cigar, and he has a long history in this business.
Bam Bam:Dum da dum dum.
Gizmo:I'm looking forward to trying it. This is also our first Maduro Honduran on the podcast tonight. So this has a Mexican San Andres wrapper, and everything else in it is Honduran. So
Rooster:I gotta take the condom off of it.
Gizmo:Yeah. There's an interesting piece of paper on the bottom we're gonna take off. It's lambskin. Jesus.
Bam Bam:It's very porous.
Gizmo:Alright, boys. Let's cut this thing. See what we're getting on the cold draw and the wrapper. Looking forward to trying this. Had these for about two months now, three months.
Bam Bam:I've been curious about this line since two years ago at PCA when we walked by his booth several times.
Gizmo:Mhmm.
Bam Bam:Right across the aisle from Husto's booth. Pleasant cold draw.
Gizmo:I took off too little actually. I'm going take just a touch more.
Chef Ricky:So did I just shaved?
Rooster:I took off a very little bit, but it's wide open. The draw is really mine has a little
Gizmo:bit of resistance.
Bam Bam:Anybody getting any berry? Now it's perfect.
Chef Ricky:I get
Senator:little bit. I get raspberry Mhmm. And some cocoa.
Bam Bam:Yeah. It's nice.
Rooster:A little bit of mint as
Gizmo:well. Yeah. Maybe mint. What's nice in your mint? What's your call it?
Chef Ricky:Yeah. I'm definitely grading you on our beaches, though.
Bam Bam:Well, if it's herbaceous, then it must be.
Chef Ricky:Well, no. But it could be somewhat minty as well.
Rooster:Jeez. Right,
Chef Ricky:you think after a week without me, you'd miss me a little bit more.
Gizmo:I do, I'm just commenting on your comment. Chef, do you
Rooster:think it's maybe tarragon?
Bam Bam:Is it herbaceous?
Chef Ricky:It might be a mixture of carbohydrate with herbaceousness.
Bam Bam:Oh, boy.
Gizmo:Alright, boys. Let's light this thing. The C. E. Maduro five by 50.
Gizmo:Of course, it's a 50 ring gauge cigar by five inches long as it says in the name. Again, this is coming out of Christian Eiroa's factory in Honduras. Our first Maduro out of the country tonight on the pod. Curious what the profile is gonna be like.
Chef Ricky:I'm almost afraid to ask Can you, I borrow your lighter?
Bam Bam:Very nice on the light. Yeah. I'm almost done. Sorry. Excellent off the light.
Bam Bam:For me, berry comes through. That touch of salt that you mentioned, I think is there. I'm not getting any cocoa, but maybe a hint of cedar, just a very faint hint. Otherwise, very pleasant.
Gizmo:Yeah. I do like the flavor on that. I'm shocked. We got these cigars for $8. $8 robusto.
Gizmo:MSRP on this is $10.75, $11. So far worth every dollar. Pretty good.
Rooster:Yeah.
Gizmo:What do you think, old boy? I like it
Rooster:so far. Me too.
Gizmo:A lot of flavor here.
Chef Ricky:It's a lot.
Bam Bam:The retro is nice too. Touch of pepper maybe.
Chef Ricky:A lot of bitter chocolate for me on this.
Bam Bam:Dark chocolate.
Gizmo:Mhmm. I do like the retro.
Bam Bam:I do too.
Gizmo:There's some, like, dark sweetness there.
Bam Bam:It's different.
Rooster:It's like a raspberry covered in dark chocolate.
Senator:Mhmm. I mean, the flavor is pretty much identical to me to the cold draw. Raspberry, cocoa, it's pleasant, there's a little bit of spice. So far, I like it.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Chef Ricky:It's very full. Like, it's very intense flavor.
Rooster:It's very good. Not in strength.
Gizmo:Flavor Yeah. Is
Bam Bam:I agree with that. You know, I haven't seen these in any shop. Really? No.
Senator:Haven't Me neither.
Bam Bam:I haven't looked, but I haven't noticed this band.
Chef Ricky:I've seen C. L. E, but not this, Botolo.
Gizmo:You know what you have seen from him is Asylum. Yes? They they make those baseball bat crazy sizes. He makes that? Christian's involved in that.
Gizmo:Really? Yeah. C. L. E.
Gizmo:Is his core line. Mhmm. And I will talk about he has a couple different offerings in the, you know, in this line. This Maduro was launched at PCA last year. Correct.
Gizmo:And one of the reasons we're doing this is when we were going through the top 25 with your buzzer famously. Mhmm. This is number 21 on last year's Cigar Aficionado top 25. So when we were doing the, you know, review of the top 25, we actually earmarked it on that episode. Like, we should try that.
Gizmo:Interesting. Because that's Husto's brother.
Bam Bam:I don't remember that, but that's cool.
Gizmo:I really like the flavor on this. Yeah. It's good. For $8. Mhmm.
Gizmo:Great smoke output.
Bam Bam:Definitely grabs your attention.
Gizmo:Actually, a ton of smoke.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Yeah. It's unique.
Gizmo:Bam, can you describe the band for us?
Bam Bam:It's silver and black. It's that simple. The text is silver or pewter color maybe, a little darker with, black edging and black detailing within. Quite nice. Got a circular band.
Bam Bam:Right? And then the rest of it's a pretty flat typical band toward the back.
Gizmo:So we see the Roman numerals for 2012. That's when Christian launched this brand. We're gonna go through his history, pretty wild history here, And still involved with his brother and his father in Honduras, getting tobacco from them. What's wild, little little little preview, little tease, Bam. This company is actually in in business longer than Aladino.
Bam Bam:Interesting. Yeah. So now who's supplying material to who?
Gizmo:So Julio Eiroa is the farmer, the father.
Bam Bam:Right. Right.
Gizmo:He's the farmer, and Christian is obviously a blender manufacturer, and now Justo is a blender manufacturer as well for Aladino. So they have their own companies separate. Mhmm. And Christian does get some tobacco from the family farms.
Bam Bam:That's very cool.
Gizmo:So the C.L.E Maduro was launched in five Vitolas, and it's the same Honduran blend as the existing C. L. E. Lines, which there's three, the Connecticut, the Habano, and what Christian is famous for is Honduran Corojo, and there's a Mexican San Andres rapper on this. So the five vitolas all are listed just by names.
Gizmo:So I'll just read these to you as they are. The C. L. E. Maduro 40 ring gauge by four.
Gizmo:The one we have in our hand, the Robusto 50 ring gauge by five. There's a, I guess, a, like a figurative type shape, 48 to 54 back down to 48 by six inches long, 54 ring gauge by six Toro, and the Gordo 60 by six. So the price on those is ranging from $5 to up to $12 MSRP. So pretty reasonable line
Bam Bam:from It's a value brand.
Gizmo:From them. It's kind of priced in line a little bit with the standard issue stuff from what we've seen at Aladino. Mhmm. You know, obviously, the higher end limited stuff, the yellow box, eighty fifth, etcetera Yeah. Is a little pricier, but, you know, this is kind of more in line with the classic line, the Cameroon line
Bam Bam:Right.
Gizmo:That we see over there.
Bam Bam:So What are you getting on the aroma? Trying to identify that.
Gizmo:I'm not getting anything that's dis like I said.
Bam Bam:Nothing distinct. Yeah. You know, chef, maybe like a little do you know what anise is?
Chef Ricky:Of course. Yeah.
Rooster:Yeah.
Bam Bam:Just a hint to that, maybe.
Chef Ricky:I'm getting
Gizmo:It's little floral.
Rooster:The nose aroma. If
Bam Bam:it's anything, it's that. It's hard to distinguish though. Senator's got something spot on.
Senator:Very different. I'm getting a To me, it's like
Bam Bam:His eyebrows are furled, so thumbs Let
Gizmo:me see if you agree with I'm getting like Does it hurt?
Chef Ricky:So I'm saying I was gonna say roasted coffee bean toasted bread.
Senator:I'm getting like a baked brownie smell off of Yeah.
Bam Bam:I wish I was getting that.
Gizmo:I'm not getting that. Mine's more like a floral like potpourri type thing.
Chef Ricky:Baked brownie
Rooster:is Getting spot spot on.
Bam Bam:Yeah. I think maybe a combination of floral and like a toast, but that's not sweet in any way. That is what I'm getting, which is nice.
Chef Ricky:The more I smell it, get I could see
Bam Bam:I'd to be getting a brownie right now.
Chef Ricky:I could see the anise too, like an anise biscotti.
Gizmo:A hint of it.
Chef Ricky:Like a background
Gizmo:for me.
Chef Ricky:Can see that too. For me. But it takes some real like, deeply getting into the burn line here. It's a great cigar.
Gizmo:I like the cigar. It's fun, yeah. I have no complaints.
Chef Ricky:$8 you said,
Gizmo:$8. Easy to get, easy to find. I'm very reasonably priced.
Bam Bam:I'm very surprised how good this is. It's a pretty good stick.
Rooster:It's very easy to smoke this. Yeah.
Chef Ricky:It feels good in the hand. Smoke is almost creamy like.
Bam Bam:The retro is very nice.
Chef Ricky:The retro is very nice.
Bam Bam:It's lovely. The smoke is velvety.
Gizmo:So the story of the Eiroa Family, and we didn't go this deep when we were talking about Justo's experience, but I wanna go a little bit further back actually to Justo and Christian's grandfather. So everything for the Eiroa Family really started here in The United States with Camacho cigars. So Generoso Eiroa was growing tobacco in Cuba since the nineteen hundreds, but due to the Cuban revolution, of course, his widow and three sons were forced to leave the country and settle in Tampa, Florida. Eiroa's son, Julio, this is the grandfather, joined the Bay of Pigs invasion attempt, we talked about that before, as one of as a force of Cuban exiles within the US army. While his brother, Generoso Junior, worked in Nicaragua, Julio traveled to Honduras in 1963 on behalf of tobacco dealer Angel Oliva.
Gizmo:There, as part of a government sponsored cultivation project, he started the Camacho tobacco plantations belonging to the Eiroa Family. After his first year with the Aliva Family, Julio Eiroa decided to become an independent farmer, and he kept buying up government farms in Honduras. So I actually thought that this map that I found on the C. E. Site was pretty cool, shows all the plots of the Eiroa Family Farm.
Gizmo:So they have different markings, like you can tell which plot is which plot, and that's a lot of land.
Bam Bam:Very well organized.
Rooster:Like how much land do they own?
Gizmo:You're talking probably several hundreds of acres that are actually planted. Cool. Actually planted. So there's one lot that's 48 acres, another it's 11, another that's eight, sixteen. So there's all different kind of plots around, but it's quite sizable.
Gizmo:Quite a sizable operation that they have.
Bam Bam:I like the site plan. It's very well organized.
Gizmo:Yeah. I thought you'd like that. So Julio's decision helped kick start the history of tobacco in Honduras. As we know, we talked about that hand rolled documentary that unfortunately has not yet come out. We saw it at last year's PCA about the Eiroas, that story of Honduran tobacco.
Gizmo:Julio Eiroa is really the godfather of Honduran tobacco. So we have him to thank for our love of the tobacco that comes out of there. Through partnerships with companies such as Baring Cigars and US Tobacco, he was the world's largest Candela tobacco farmer by 1972. In 1987, Julio founded Caribe Imported Cigars. Five years after the death of Simon Camacho in 1990, the Eiroa Family purchased the Camacho brand from the family.
Gizmo:Within three years, at the age of 26, Christian was running Camacho under the Karribe family business name. By the early two thousands, and then with the launch of the Camacho Carajo, Christian and the family were becoming highly celebrated cigar makers, legendary for their corojo, which only added to the family's Honduran tobacco growing legacy. In 2008, as we know, the family sold Camacho to Davidoff. Julio kept his farms and continued growing in Honduras. Christian began plotting creating CLE, and the rest is history, boys.
Rooster:Why Davodoff bought Camacho? Like, what you know, like, have you ever tried a Camacho cigar?
Bam Bam:Yeah. Long ago.
Gizmo:Yeah. It's a popular brand. I mean, smoke them. Well, they
Bam Bam:want to gain market share. So that's one way of doing it.
Gizmo:And I mean, if you're already sending a rep out with one set of cigars, might as well have the good, better, best, right? So I think that's what they do with Camacho, Avo, Davodoff. You have good, better, best. And then when I open a Davodoff account, they're forced to
Rooster:You have to buy it.
Gizmo:You have to buy it either. Exactly.
Rooster:Tire line. Correct.
Gizmo:Exactly right. So if you want to get in, you got to do it all. And I think what they can do too is if they're if they're in a situation where they're unable to offer Davidoff retailership to a retailer either because of a financial thing and not big enough or there's, you know, a radius clause of another shop that kind of has the territory. I think they're able to open Camacho or Avo without disrupting the
Bam Bam:The Davitov business.
Gizmo:The Davitov business.
Rooster:I mean, we we have never done a Camacho. We've not done a Camacho yet.
Gizmo:So let's do a little bit more of a deep dive on Christian Luis Eiroa. He is the youngest of Julio's three children born in Donnelly, Honduras since 1972. Just days after he was born, he was taken to the Hamestron Farm. Christian grew up living with his family in a house that was converted from an old school. That same very house still exists today.
Gizmo:As young as the age of eight, it says he was helping move tobacco around. Apparently, he was being indoctrinated to be in tobacco from a very early age. In 2000, Christian made his mark with the launch of Camacho Carajo. So he is very famous for involving Honduran Carajo in Camacho cigars. He began to host all of his customers on Honduras where the entire process was explained week after week for seven years, And then Davidoff purchased Camacho cigars in 2008.
Gizmo:He remained with them for a little bit of time, left in 2011, and then started C. E. In July 2012. I feel like I'm in a class, and professor
Rooster:Gueza is, like, reading
Gizmo:the book.
Bam Bam:Well, he is a professor, by the way. I know. I was. Correct.
Gizmo:Not anymore.
Chef Ricky:Story time. I'm gonna listen to this pod before I go to sleep.
Rooster:It helps you sleep.
Gizmo:Well help me out No,
Chef Ricky:I'm We're listening. I mean in a great way.
Rooster:No, it's a very detailed
Chef Ricky:Very detailed. You're learning. Your voice is soothing.
Bam Bam:I'm learning, man.
Gizmo:ASMR with the lizards.
Bam Bam:Let Let's say live.
Gizmo:You live. Alright. Alright, I'm gonna read a little bit more to you guys. I found this very interesting today. Sure.
Gizmo:The Eiroa Family Farm is apparently one of the most technologically advanced tobacco farms in the world. Wow. They adhere to strict hygiene and environmental standards set by the Bayer company. Julio and Christian Eiroa still roam the fields together to ensure they are delivering only premium tobacco. So I guess it's medical How does that work?
Gizmo:Standards for farming. Grown in the best of earthly conditions. Of course, as we know, the family farm is located in Hamestra.
Chef Ricky:Always comes back to Jersey.
Gizmo:Each leaf is then filtered for color and consistency with the Eiroa brand to a total of 8,760 pounds and then is slow cured to perfection for sixteen months before being rested for thirty six months. So they pay special attention to the aging of the tobacco. Of course, it was the first time in almost a hundred years that the Christian's family had been confident enough in a cigar to use the Eiroa Family name on the brand. So this is the first time with C. E.
Gizmo:That Eiroa appeared on a cigar, and that was in 2012. So pretty cool, man. They have a lot of lot of stuff going on, a lot of cigars coming out of there. Of course, like I said, they have some other lines that we're familiar with including Asylum and then the classic C. E.
Gizmo:Lines that I listed earlier. So yeah, I'm enjoying the cigar tonight and I like the story. Think it's a good cigar. Yeah. Oh, you know what I wanted
Chef Ricky:good story.
Gizmo:I wanted to share with you as well. I found this really interesting. So when JRE Aladino was launching, Christian sent out an email saying, it is with great pleasure that I announce that my father, Julio, and my brother, Justo, have entered the cigar business under the company named JRE. My father is a true pioneer in the tobacco and cigar business. He is my mentor.
Gizmo:My older brother and personal hero is an agricultural engineer. Justo is an agricultural engineer. Graduated from the agriculture school in Honduras. He spent over twenty two years building a bottled water company in Honduras and also worked for the Campbell Soup Company Cool. For four years.
Bam Bam:That's my brother from another mother.
Gizmo:Bam Bam. Correct. He is extremely knowledgeable in leaf tobacco and an expert in consumer products and distribution change management. I really like this letter he sent them. As of 02/01/2016, GRE will have their own distribution and sales and marketing team, and I'll skip over a couple things.
Gizmo:It says, I sincerely hope you welcome them back into your stores with the same warmth you've shown me these past four years. Cool. So I like that. Very nice. Teeing up his brother and his father for success by emailing the retailers with that.
Gizmo:So that's the story on Christian Eiroa, c l e, and what's going on with the Eiroa Family. What's everybody think about the cigar?
Chef Ricky:Mocha bomb. Some good espresso, some good chocolate being delivered very in a very balanced manner. Ton of smoke.
Bam Bam:It's great. Who called out mint earlier? I did. On the aroma? You get mint?
Bam Bam:I'm getting mint now.
Rooster:So maybe that was the anise note that you were calling out. Think so. Like mint.
Bam Bam:Yeah, it's pronouncing itself a little bit more, like a spearmint type thing happening. Just on the aroma, not the draw.
Senator:The construction on this is excellent.
Gizmo:Yeah, mine's great.
Senator:I haven't ashed yet, it's holding on perfectly. Great draw. I'm just impressed how much flavor this delivers in such an accessible way.
Bam Bam:Very smooth.
Senator:You know, think when we think of a Honduran, or at least in this case a mostly Honduran cigar, you you think of something milder, medium, and that from a strength perspective is still here, but just so much concentrated flavor, which is great.
Bam Bam:It's surprising how easy it is to smoke this. I could sit and blast through this thing right now.
Chef Ricky:Yeah, I think I am. And not have an issue.
Rooster:And I would say this is not a mild cigar.
Chef Ricky:No, it's definitely medium to medium.
Gizmo:To smoke.
Rooster:For this price point, they can get this kind of construction, this aroma, this blend
Bam Bam:Don't say it.
Rooster:Say what?
Bam Bam:At a more expensive price?
Rooster:No, just mean like if you can do this for $8.
Gizmo:How come you can't do it for 20 or 30?
Bam Bam:That's true.
Rooster:There's so many other more expensive cigars that are flaky and the ash ends up on your
Chef Ricky:lap. Not
Gizmo:to rag on them, but how many times have we had an Opus that has not burned?
Chef Ricky:I was gonna say or for the $20 and $30 brands, how come they can't do it for $8 right?
Bam Bam:So Well, they know what they're doing.
Gizmo:Yeah. This is really nice.
Chef Ricky:I really there's a consistent sweet note that's just super pleasant, that's really tying this together that I absolutely love.
Rooster:It's in the background. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.
Senator:It's done really well. The only complaint I have is the band.
Gizmo:You don't like the band?
Senator:I think it's too simple and not refined. I wish this had a bit more elegant of a band just because I think it's a really great cigar. When I look at the band, it looks cheap, and I don't think that reflects the cigar. I think this is a premium cigar.
Bam Bam:Yeah. It's not interesting and it's not a complicated design, so it doesn't attract your eye.
Rooster:And it's hard to take off.
Senator:In contrast, you look at the Aladino bands and I think they're gorgeous. Stunning. Elegant, beautiful bands. I just feel like Christian needs to step that up a bit.
Bam Bam:You have an issue there, old boy?
Rooster:I'm trying to take the band off.
Chef Ricky:Mine's mine just slides right off.
Bam Bam:Mine too. Yeah. Could be user error, I guess.
Gizmo:ESO. Equipment is superior to operator. ESO situation. Alright, boys. Let's go to our pairing.
Gizmo:Controversial name and packaging presentation in the room tonight, but I'm actually pretty excited about it and for a multitude of reasons, which I'll explain. But tonight, we are drinking APW, the ass pocket whiskey, straight bourbon whiskey. What a name. 46%, 92 proof on this. We'll talk about the product in a second, but cheers,
Bam Bam:boys. Cheers. The aroma's fantastic.
Senator:Yeah. The nose is great.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Let's take a drink.
Chef Ricky:What'd you call that before, Ben? Pear. I
Gizmo:really like the flavor. I think the finish might be a little shorter than I like.
Chef Ricky:Finish is short and dry for me.
Bam Bam:It's sweeter than I thought it
Chef Ricky:would be. Really? I'm hoping for it to be sweeter.
Bam Bam:You want my glass?
Senator:I think after you take a few more sips in your palate, adjust, it's gonna get sweeter.
Chef Ricky:This is definitely I thought we were all on our first sip. You
Gizmo:never are.
Bam Bam:Are made to be broken.
Senator:That's right.
Chef Ricky:Yeah. You're not wrong. It's funny how that works.
Gizmo:So what's your read on it? What do you think
Senator:about it? I think it's good. I'm gonna have a similar complaint like with the band on the cigar. Like, I actually think it's it's a solid bourbon. I just wish it were not in this ridiculous packaging.
Senator:I mean, it's got a plastic screw top like a bottle of Coca Cola. It's instead of in a bottle, it's divided into, like, three fifths, these little pocket sized bottles. We blew through one, had to open a second just to fill everyone's glass.
Bam Bam:Well, I think that's by design.
Gizmo:Correct.
Senator:It is, but I don't like it. I'm sorry. I just think
Bam Bam:Goes right in the back pocket. I happen to like the packaging. It's very kitschy. It's very unassuming. I don't want to use the word low brow.
Bam Bam:What else can I substitute for that?
Gizmo:It's very It's little bit more
Bam Bam:It's humble.
Gizmo:Pedestrian or accessible.
Bam Bam:Humble.
Gizmo:Yeah. Humble is a nice word way to put it. Yeah. I mean, I understand your complaint with this senator as a spirit drinker.
Senator:Yeah. And as someone who typically drinks to share with others.
Gizmo:Yes. Yes.
Senator:So like, if this if this configuration existed, I'm fine with that, but this is more for individual consumption where
Bam Bam:you A 100 put percent in
Senator:your back pocket. But I hate the idea of having friends over, and I've gotta crack open three different small little bottles just to get a round of a pour for everyone. Like, that just seems a little silly to me. I wish they had a bottle
Gizmo:option. I think that makes a ton of sense. It does. And I wish they offered A bottle. The bottle in in different sizes.
Gizmo:But given the name, given the intention here, and we'll go through it in a second Yeah. That is what's going on here. It is for individual consumption. Really, you know, this is coming from one of the greatest guitar players on the planet, a guy named Derek Trucks. Very famous for being one of the best slide blues guitar players on the planet.
Gizmo:I mean, the guy's a genius on the guitar. Very unassuming, very humble guy. I brought this in because I saw this starting to pop up on, you know, spirit sites, reviews, etcetera. People were talking about it. There's a lot of the older expressions.
Gizmo:There's like a twenty year you can order. There's there's a bunch of different options. This is the original seven year version, and you get three a three pack of 200 milliliter bottles in this configuration. So it comes up at $46.99 for those three.
Bam Bam:I was gonna ask you how much.
Gizmo:So if you do the math to get it to 7.5, you know, apple to apple, it's a $62.5 bourbon. This three pack? Yeah, for a $7.5 this a lizard? No. No.
Gizmo:Hear me again.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Say again. This
Gizmo:three pack
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:Is $50.
Bam Bam:Okay.
Gizmo:But if you do the math to get it to $7.50 It's Like a bottle Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To compare to other bourbon, $62.50. Okay.
Gizmo:Is how that works out. This a Lizard O approved I have I did not hear this from Lizard O. I'm just a huge fan of Derek Trucks. I think he's amazing, and I wanted to try this. Cool.
Senator:Are you sure about the seven year part? Because there's no seven year statement
Gizmo:in was a seven year.
Senator:What does that mean, the original? Sorry.
Gizmo:This is the original, and this is, like, the standard release, which is a seven year age.
Senator:Why don't they put that anywhere?
Gizmo:I don't know. That's a great question.
Senator:Sorry. It's just a big deal. Like, most bourbons don't have an age statement, and the ones that do, like, usually command a premium, like, Eagle Rare has a ten year age statement, and I give a lot of credit when there's a bourbon that has an aid statement because it's rare. So I'm just I wish they put that. Like, that's that's a big selling point.
Bam Bam:I have to say, the pairing is very nice.
Gizmo:I think it's working.
Bam Bam:I think
Senator:I think it's great.
Bam Bam:Yeah. You go back and forth from your draw to your SIP. It works really, really well. I have to admit that my initial sip, when I broke the
Gizmo:roast Turpentine?
Bam Bam:No. It was very syrupy and it seemed super sweet to me. I didn't like it. But after the second, it was great.
Senator:You don't say.
Bam Bam:Yeah, it was
Gizmo:great.
Senator:On your first sip, didn't like it. I can't imagine why.
Gizmo:That has never happened before.
Bam Bam:You know what, Rooster?
Gizmo:That's what I do. Alright. So let's talk about let's talk a little bit about Ass Pocket Whiskey. So I'm gonna read a little bit from when this launched. I'll fill in some of the blanks here.
Gizmo:I actually pulled a clip too if you wanna hear some of his guitar playing. The guy's a genius. So Derek Trucks released Ass Pocket Whiskey, APW, in August 2024. So it's a new company that he built, which is gonna release limited bourbons exclusively in 200 millimeter flask sizes. So it premiered in August 24 at a festival called Bourbon and Beyond.
Gizmo:That's important to note. We'll get back to that in a second. So the spirit's born out of Derek's passion for bourbon and his frustration with the current culture of collection over consumption in bourbon, which we've voiced a lot of opinions about, call it a false scarcity, you know, those all all those other things that are happening in the market. As a dedicated bourbon enthusiast, he was disillusioned by the way whiskey has become more about hoarding rare bottles than savoring them. APW challenges this trend by offering premium bourbons in smaller, more accessible flask sizes, encouraging fans to enjoy their whiskey without the fear of, quote, ruining a collectible bottle.
Gizmo:APW is here according to Derek to have their whiskey and drink it too. So this was launched so there's a guy named Danny Wimmer who's kind of become the premier promoter of really big festivals around the country. So he does a bunch of festivals. One's called Bourbon and Beyond, which is this kind of music. He does a lot of rock festivals, Welcome to Rockville, Sonic Temple.
Gizmo:He does one called Aftershock out in Sacramento. These festivals are packing 75, 100,000 people in every day for a three or four day weekend. Pretty cool. Does Welcome to Rockville at Daytona at the racetrack. That's a huge It's pretty wild.
Gizmo:Huge production. So he's also, I think, involved in this. They do have collaborations, APW, DWP, Danny Wimber Presents, where they offer some of these at those venues and whatnot. But he he's very immersed in the bourbon world, but trying to make it a little more accessible. Obviously, I think the idea from his mentality is this is a whiskey that he can stand on stage with it in his back pocket, rip on the guitar,
Bam Bam:take a sip
Gizmo:and take a little sip. And it's not a big deal, you know, which obviously is counter to what we're doing here tonight or what Senator was talking about when you're sitting amongst a bunch of friends. You want a $7.50. Yeah. You're even at least a $3.75 bottle to be able to share, you know, spread the love a little bit, you know, share the wealth.
Gizmo:But I guess the idea is everybody's getting their own, you know, $200,000,000.
Bam Bam:Or you just unpack all three and leave them on the table. Something different. Very humble. I mean, it's it is what it is, but I don't disagree with your comments, senator, on that.
Gizmo:So a little bit more on Derek Trucks. He's unbelievable. So just a a bit of his history. Obviously, his uncle was in the Allman Brothers band, and then Derek joined them in 1999 at a very young age. It was with them until twenty fourteen when they stopped touring.
Gizmo:He also toured with Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, and, of course, now he's with the Tedeschi Trucks band with his wife, Susan. If you've not checked out Tedeschi Trucks, fantastic band, man. They're like a 17 piece band.
Bam Bam:Are we gonna hear a
Gizmo:clip? I'll play a little clip for you of Derek ripping on slide guitar. I don't know how he makes some of the noises that he does on the guitar with his slide. He's really a genius. There's a clip I would recommend.
Gizmo:I'm not going to play it here because the audio quality is not great. A fan shot it. Of him, John Mayer, and BB King sitting on stage. And they're you know, BB King calls for Derek to do a solo. And Derek rips the solo and B.
Gizmo:B. King looks at him and he goes, that's the best I've ever heard it. Wow. Pretty cool to hear that from B. B.
Gizmo:King. So here's a little solo. So he has a slide, a glass slide on his ring finger and that's what he's Uh-huh. Using to make those noises. Finger picking, no real no pick.
Gizmo:Really?
Bam Bam:It's pretty cool, though. I mean, he's a badass. Yeah. How old is he?
Gizmo:He's probably in his late forties.
Bam Bam:Oh, he's a young guy.
Gizmo:So killer guitar player. I could play more, but I won't. That's cool. So, yeah, ask Pocket Whiskey. That's what have in our hands tonight, boys, from Derek Trucks.
Bam Bam:I do think it has a very long finish. I disagree with whomever said it was short. It's I think it's
Gizmo:I think it was on my second sip I said that. I've adjusted. Did you say that?
Bam Bam:Yes. Yeah. I think it lingers beautifully.
Gizmo:I think I think what I was getting, I was getting a little more heat in the back of my throat initially. And that was kinda overwhelming the finish, and I think it's kind of balanced out for me now.
Bam Bam:Yeah. It's quite nice.
Senator:I wish I knew more about their process because this is a little different than a standard fare bourbon, and I don't know why.
Bam Bam:You mean the flavor? Yeah. In a good way.
Senator:Yeah. It's about like what they've done that has achieved this.
Bam Bam:Yeah. And at that price, I'd I'd buy this. I think this would be great in this in the summer with ice. I think it's got that kind of flavor. I think this is great in the winter.
Bam Bam:Pretty versatile.
Rooster:I think also on the on the on the pod, we've been doing a lot of bourbons.
Bam Bam:Really the flavors. Coming around
Rooster:on the bourbons.
Bam Bam:This is pretty good.
Senator:Well, the thing I give this credit, I mean, this is 92 proof, and you wouldn't know it.
Gizmo:No. I I think it drinks closer to 40.
Chef Ricky:Yeah. Drinks great.
Bam Bam:Yeah. I agree.
Chef Ricky:I love the first draw right after a sip of it. It's lovely. I'm I'm getting a little orange on the
Bam Bam:bourbon itself. Like an orange peel. Yep. I'm with you on that.
Rooster:Yep. Please say citrus.
Chef Ricky:Yeah. I I I almost did. It's citrus.
Gizmo:So this is distilled in Indiana. So it's not distilled in Kentucky.
Chef Ricky:Is that
Gizmo:where he's It's bottled by Aspocket Whiskey APW in Georgetown, Kentucky. He is actually from, I believe, like, the Northern Part of Florida. He's a big Jacksonville Jaguars fan, so he lives over there somewhere in the Northern Part of Florida. So and the band's always touring. And by the way, senator, I did confirm it is a seven year old 92 proof straight bourbon.
Senator:Yeah. They really ought to put that on the packaging.
Chef Ricky:I'm thinking it was probably a decision he made to avoid the whole collecting of his bourbon, maybe.
Gizmo:Well, I think he's just trying to break the mold. Saw some interviews where he was talking about when he got into bourbon in the late '90s, early 2000s, could go into a store and buy a bottle of Pappy, buy a bottle of Weller, buy a bottle of whatever he wanted at a reasonable price. And now, those bottles are thousands of dollars sometimes. Mhmm. You know, it's so that's what he's trying to disrupt that a little bit with this.
Gizmo:So, boys, we're coming to the end of the first third now on the C. L. E. Maduro five by 50. What's everybody thinking?
Chef Ricky:It's fantastic for me. Getting a little nuttiness now. It's just it's it's hitting on a on a few different notes throughout.
Rooster:It's an easy smoke. Yeah. Nothing offensive. Yeah.
Gizmo:You know, normally when you you hear Maduro or you think about Maduro, I think this is coming in a little lighter than that, what I would normally anticipate from Dominican or Nicaraguan tobacco, obviously.
Chef Ricky:It's not as oily. Right? Like it's a little bit just the wrapper's a lot more matte in appearance and just overall mouth feel is not as oily as maybe a, you know, Maduro that I'm used to. Do
Rooster:you mean like the smoke is kind of dry?
Chef Ricky:No, I mean the wrapper, the appearance of the Yeah.
Rooster:Yeah. But that's not that's not I'm not knocking it with that, you know?
Bam Bam:I think the retro is probably my least favorite experience with this cigar for some reason. I like the traditional draw. It's delicious. I'm impressed with the price of this thing, how easy it is to smoke. Senator, you said that I think and I agree that construction is perfect.
Bam Bam:It's hitting on all cylinders for me.
Rooster:But to me still, would I buy a box of these?
Gizmo:I would because
Bam Bam:they are. This is a little unique. There's some uniqueness to this. It's worth
Senator:That's where I'm going. So when Rooster asked the box question, think why I'm having a little bit of a hard time with the cigar, I'm enjoying it, but I'm not fully grabbed by it. I think what I'm realizing so chef calling out the nuttiness as your smokingness toward the midpoint, I'm definitely getting that, but it's a little dry for me. And I think when I think of a Maduro, usually either I'm getting some pronounced sweetness, like sweet cocoa or something like that, and I'm not getting a lot of that right now. It's kind of a
Bam Bam:It's more earthy.
Senator:Dark chocolate and earthy. Yeah. And if I'm not getting sweetness, sometimes I'll get enough saltiness that almost makes you salivate in a way, but I'm not getting a ton of saltiness right now. It's like a dry nut. It's not like So salted that's there's just something missing to fully grab me in a way that I'm saying to myself, like, I wanna buy a box of these.
Senator:Now at its price point, you know, what it's doing is very good. Yeah. But I think there's, like, an extra layer missing to, like, really make this, like, something special.
Bam Bam:So I was thinking about this. Before I came in here, I had a meal, of course. I didn't wanna come in on an empty stomach, and it was delicious. But it did lack a little bit of salt, so I had to season it. And I had and I put a little dressing, like a little bit of, like, a zest type thing.
Bam Bam:I think in parallel to what you're saying, I can kind of agree. I don't find it dry, though. I don't That's not an experience that I'm having. But the retrohaler is where it's most disappointing for me because it's not I'm not catching anything on the retro, so it's very bland. I think that's the word I would use.
Bam Bam:It's kind of bland, but it's good, and there's a lot of merit to it.
Rooster:I'm more curious about your meal.
Senator:Was that your indictment on your cooking or Mrs. Bam Bam's cooking?
Bam Bam:No, I make a concoction of everything I usually eat these days. Do you wanna know what I
Gizmo:ate? Yeah.
Bam Bam:I had one and a half chicken breasts roasted in the oven that she made yesterday with mixed vegetables, which I love. I put that over a small bed of rice, and then I chop it up finely, and I kinda mix it together with a little salt. Usually, I don't need to add anything. Today, I had to add I added a little bit of Thai peanut dressing and some salt and olive oil, and it just took it up 10 notches.
Chef Ricky:Now when when you when you do this chicken breast
Bam Bam:Here we go.
Chef Ricky:I'm I'm sorry.
Bam Bam:I didn't make it.
Chef Ricky:I know, I know. And listen, I get it. Look, you're a very stately man, right? You're fit, you know, you're and all of that. I'm definitely somebody that has flavor health or whatnot.
Gizmo:Stately. Thank you. Sorry. I
Bam Bam:have that effect on some people.
Senator:Go ahead. Stately, the Tulsa King.
Gizmo:We're gonna talk about that. I kinda was offended by that. I don't know if I should
Bam Bam:be or not. Let you
Gizmo:guys be the judge. I'll just quickly tell the story.
Senator:It's wrong. I'm sorry
Bam Bam:to interrupt.
Gizmo:It was like a
Senator:it was every corner. Everywhere, this one day
Bam Bam:Literally around every corner on Bourbon Street.
Senator:Everywhere we walked around New Orleans, just random people are going up to Bam just
Gizmo:saying king. Oh, you're the guy in Tulsa king.
Bam Bam:I mean
Gizmo:Wait. I'm thinking it can't be sliced alone. It has to be sort house.
Bam Bam:It's gotta be.
Chef Ricky:No. It's it's sliced alone.
Senator:Yeah. Has to.
Bam Bam:It has to. I don't look like sliced.
Gizmo:Word got out that you were on Bourbon Street? Like, you think people were telling other people they were coming up to you then?
Chef Ricky:I don't know.
Gizmo:Like, how do multiple people feel that?
Bam Bam:That's very strange.
Gizmo:Yeah. I've never looked at you and thought
Chef Ricky:that. It's your stature. I don't think you look like the guy, but you have a
Gizmo:a You do walk about the speed he does.
Chef Ricky:Exactly. Yeah. That's just it. As as you I was tired, man. You you got the dad I
Bam Bam:was tired that show.
Chef Ricky:Where it's like you can't you got like the Batman neck where you don't just turn your
Gizmo:You gotta turn your Oh, whole yeah. Because I'm
Bam Bam:wearing a bat suit.
Chef Ricky:But anyway, back to the chicken breast here. I don't understand why people So when you say roasted chicken breast, do you put the entire chicken breast raw into the oven or is it getting seared first?
Bam Bam:She sears it in a pan.
Chef Ricky:Okay. That's it? We have no comments.
Bam Bam:That's great. In She's a a sheet pan with tomatoes No, tomatoes, potato, carrots, onions, if you want.
Chef Ricky:That's great. I can't stand to see people just throw a raw chicken breast into the oven, Yeah. And it just gets hammered in there, it turns into sawdust and looks like looks like rubber and it looks Correct. Like, you know, bam in February with no color on the skin. Wow.
Chef Ricky:Jesus.
Bam Bam:I have an olive complexion. I'll have
Rooster:you In July.
Chef Ricky:In July.
Bam Bam:But going back to the bland conversation, I wouldn't say that this is a bland cigar, but it's kind of touching that maybe.
Chef Ricky:It's weird because for me, on the retro is where I'm getting the nuttiness.
Bam Bam:I'm not getting
Chef Ricky:the nuttiness the traditional.
Senator:Oh, I get it on the palate.
Rooster:Me too. Do you feel like the flavor has changed at the halfway point?
Chef Ricky:A little bit. Gotten more
Senator:It's gotten fruit is gone from early on.
Chef Ricky:There's still a light sweet note there, but it's kind of getting overtaken by coffee and darker
Senator:It's like
Rooster:a bready note too. But isn't it?
Bam Bam:It's very velvety though. It's still very, very pleasant
Chef Ricky:to smoke.
Rooster:Me? I think it's a bit dry.
Bam Bam:Yeah. You said that too. I wouldn't call it velvety. I'm not getting dryness. You guess?
Gizmo:I wouldn't say velvety. I think the smoke is pleasant right now.
Bam Bam:It's very pleasant to smoke.
Gizmo:I am enjoying the pairing. Me too. Maybe that is helping the dryness thing for me.
Bam Bam:Great pairing.
Gizmo:Know, I think as it sits compared to the other quote unquote Maduros in the market at $8, I think this is performing it's a strong performance for us.
Senator:I agree. Just to be clear, I'm not saying it's bad by any stretch. I'm just saying for it to hit the highest of scores possible, it needs an extra layer, ideally some more sweetness, and if not, at least some more saltiness.
Chef Ricky:So are we experiencing now the Honduran Maduro flavor profile? Maybe it's new to us? Is that what's happening I
Gizmo:We've don't smoked a lot of Honduran cigars and we've smoked a lot of cigars with Mexican San Andres. And this is the first time I think those things have come together, at least in the combination that we're seeing now. Obviously, we haven't smoked any Eiroa tobacco, I don't think, in a Maduro. But, know, I mean, there are not a lot of cigars that I reach for on a regular basis with a Mexican San Andres wrapper. Just you know, we've smoked a lot of them, we talked a lot about them, but as I think about the cigars that I smoke, that's not something I'm really reaching
Bam Bam:for very often. Yeah, every Honduran I've smoked, and you guys have smoked the same Hondurans, I get more of a sweeter experience with, like, an undertone of maybe a touch of earthiness, but I usually get, like, a bread pudding type thing. I'll get a little banana usually in a Honduran. I get some type of a very mild cookie. I get all those and all the Hondurans that
Chef Ricky:we've smoked. I get that to start, and then I think in the midpoint approaching the final third, it gets somewhat earthy. Not me.
Bam Bam:Not on the My Father, not on the El Adino lines, for sure. For me, that's pretty consistent for me.
Rooster:I feel like the intensity of the flavor that we were getting in the beginning, that has dropped couple off of notches. Dissipated.
Gizmo:Hopefully in the last third it'll pick back up. Yep. All right, boys. Let's talk about some news. And I want to say to the listener out there, we're not going to cover every release that came out at PCA.
Gizmo:You can check that out on Half Wheel. Know, there's a lot of media that's talking about every single thing at every single booth. That's not what we do. That's not who we are. We're gonna talk about the stuff that's kind of interesting to us, and I'm gonna highlight a few things.
Gizmo:And, you know, we'll continue on with our coverage of PCA in the coming weeks, namely with the interviews. So next week, we're gonna feature an interview in next week's episode from PCA. I think you're gonna love that. And then we'll continue on that through the next few weeks. Let's start with this one, boys.
Gizmo:Cigar Aficionado put up that the premium cigar imports for 2025 were flat year over year versus 2024. So I wanna get your thoughts on this. Effectively, 429,800,000 premium cigars were imported into The United States. So it's effectively the same as it was in 2024. So pre COVID, the number was about 300,000,000 cigars.
Gizmo:So obviously, I think, and I'm curious what your take on this being flat as we've talked pretty much every year since this podcast started of climbing, climbing, climbing. I feel like it's a little bit of a correction now. People are back to work. People are not at home as much. I think that's what's happening.
Senator:I don't know. I don't necessarily look at it the same way. I think it's a big win that it's flat, and I just say that because, I mean, over the past year, like, inflation's on the rise. Like Oh, yeah. You look at the impact that tariffs had on the cost of, you know, most consumer goods.
Senator:You look at the cost of gasoline, the fact that people are still buying and smoking as much cigars when this is obviously a luxury, not by any means a necessity, I take that as a big win. That's as big of a statement as the market can make from consumers saying, like, no matter how, you know, much harder it is to get by, like, I'm still buying my cigars. So to me, it's a net positive.
Rooster:Yeah. But I feel like inflation is higher in 2026 than it was in '25. So maybe when the numbers for '26 come out, they will drop.
Gizmo:Maybe. Very well could Oh, sorry.
Senator:You're saying this was over the course of 2025?
Gizmo:Yes. This is 2025.
Senator:Oh, I thought this was like Q1 twenty sixteen.
Gizmo:This is all of last year versus all of '24.
Bam Bam:Right. I see.
Gizmo:It was flat. You know, they do quarter by quarter as well, but year over year it was flat versus '24. So that's why I was saying, overall it's a correction because
Senator:I mean, tariffs still hit in '25.
Gizmo:That was about say. Hit, remember, PCA twenty five, about just about a year ago now.
Bam Bam:What senator just said does ring true. Things are only getting more expensive as each year passes. I think the reason why there's a flatness, and I agree that it's a merit, I kind of feel the cigar industry is just becoming a greater presence overall. I think it's becoming more interesting. I think there's more options out there.
Bam Bam:I feel I feel when I walked the floor of PCA, it was humming. It was buzzing. There's a lot of excitement. And the presenters were all incredible, and they're thriving. So I feel like there's interest in cigars nationwide overall.
Bam Bam:And I think it's positive, even with all the regulation that's being Don't
Gizmo:forget what we talked about in our interview with Ernesto that hasn't aired yet, course. I mean, really I think the overall quality of the average cigar has improved quite a bit over the last few years, and I think that the consumer now today is more educated and is more discerning and is reaching for better cigars or is looking for better cigars.
Bam Bam:Good point.
Gizmo:Obviously, we're trying to help them in that journey. And
Rooster:also the fact that the way the Cuban cigar prices have really skyrocketed. So the person who was smoking a lot of Cuban cigars is not doing that. And he's smoking a lot more New World. So maybe it's hard
Bam Bam:to know how much of an impact that has had because I don't know But look amongst us. Amongst us, sure.
Gizmo:Yeah. I think most Cuban smokers in The US are in the same boat, man.
Bam Bam:Oh, for sure.
Gizmo:Unless they're smoking the collection they have, which I think largely we are not, I think those folks are having to look elsewhere for
Rooster:And new just the accessibility of the Cuban cigars and the prices. I mean, you know, so you're kind of filling that that gap, that void with
Gizmo:new world cigars. So I also found this interesting. Nicaraguan cigars accounted for 60% of all of those imports. 60 of the cigars coming in The US are coming out of Nicaragua, totaling almost 260,000,000. Second on that list is Dominican Republic, 94,000,000, which is down 12% year over year versus 2024.
Gizmo:So Dominican cigars were down. That was pretty much made up by Honduras. Ranked number three, almost 75,000,000 cigars came into The US, an increase 11% year over year.
Senator:Which I I you know, kinda makes sense going back to Rooster's point about the Cuban cigar market. Like, if you think about it, people who are Cuban cigar smokers, they're not then replacing that with Nicaraguan cigars. That's a much fuller experience than they're used to. And so I think before, like, Dominican cigars were where they would spend their time trying to find something to replace it. And I think now, like, with the proliferation of just more Honduran cigars and options out there, flavor profile is much closer to a Cuban cigar.
Senator:And so I imagine a lot of those smokers, like Rooster's mentioning, are gravitating toward the stuff that can replace Cubans, and that is very much Honduran tobacco.
Bam Bam:That's correct.
Gizmo:So another story that I want to talk about here as it relates to this, and I'm curious if you guys find this as interesting as I did, is a couple of folks that I talked to at PCA were talking about concerns about potential either sanctions or I don't want use the word blockade per se against Nicaraguan imports, which has been kind of toyed with over the last few years. So a lot of folks were saying that manufacturers are trying to hedge the cigars that they're making in Nicaragua, moving them elsewhere. And I think that's why we've seen more factories opening in Honduras. We've seen a lot of factories opening in The Dominican. Right?
Gizmo:So this one I found interesting. Drew Estate announced, and this wasn't a big surprise to everyone, but at the show, Drew Estate announced that they're opening a farm and factory in The Dominican Republic. So they're going to start moving some of their operation to The Doctor. So it's building its own 73,000 square foot factory in The Doctor under the banner of Drew Dominicana, and it will serve as a center for tobacco cultivation, manufacturing, and consumer experiences in the Doctor. They've been using Dominican tobacco in the Deadwoods, the Dominicana Buenos, as well as the undercrown El Tigre Dominicana.
Gizmo:I guess the those last two are coming out later this year according to half wheel. All three of those lines are gonna be produced at Drew Dominicana. So I find that interesting that they're moving because, obviously, Drew Drew Estate's been very much tied to Nicaragua. So they're kind of and they're one of the biggest manufacturers in the in the world. They're moving now into the Dominican, and I wonder if the next step from there is Honduras.
Gizmo:Like, my father opened in Honduras. So, you know, we've seen a lot of activity in Honduras. I mean, it's pretty interesting
Bam Bam:Very.
Gizmo:What's happening here. Yeah.
Senator:Yeah. And I think it helps in two ways. I mean, one, you know, like we're talking about kind of diversifying their portfolio because obviously right now, like, there's a lot of geopolitical volatility in the world. So, you know, there's no telling tomorrow all of a sudden there could be a conflict with any of these countries. And so that makes a lot of sense.
Senator:But the other thing is, like, if you're trying if you have the scale to do this and you're trying to appeal to a wide range of cigar smokers, like, putting all your eggs in, you know, the Nicaraguan basket and, like, having to find a way to tame Nicaraguan tobacco like we have found in some cases, like the Cabe Guan we use as an example. There was some other Nicaraguan we were very shocked and almost wouldn't have expected to be Nicaraguan tobacco, but
Gizmo:Was it Perdomo?
Rooster:Could
Gizmo:be. The Perdomo legacy.
Bam Bam:Possibly, yes.
Gizmo:Yeah. Perdomo legacy.
Senator:And so it's like, those examples are few and far between. So if you're really trying to capture more of those Cuban cigar smokers, and folks who are kind of in between, If you can, it would make sense to really have tobacco in all these different growing regions and be able to produce lines that can really appeal to everyone from a Cuban smoker to a full bodied Nicaraguan smoker.
Bam Bam:The My Father Honduran, that's
Gizmo:not a Honduran puro. I don't think it's a puro, it's manufactured in Honduras and has Honduran tobacco in it.
Bam Bam:And Nicaraguan tobacco, correct? I believe so, yeah.
Gizmo:And let's not forget, Fabrica Five, that we love so much, also has some
Bam Bam:Of course.
Gizmo:Nicaraguan tobacco in it, bit of
Bam Bam:This crossing of material from country to country, I think, leans into what you just said. Makes sense.
Gizmo:The other notable thing here about this change is the farm is going to be led by Manny Peralta, famous name in the industry who worked for decades with Davidoff in the Dominican Republic. So he's been hired by Drew Estate to quarterback this operation. So from their perspective, I think from all things considered, seems like it's gonna be pretty serious over there. Yeah. At Drew Domenico.
Bam Bam:We'll be submitting an invoice to build that facility soon.
Gizmo:You're putting the plans together, Ben?
Bam Bam:Get ready for an airplane ride, boys.
Senator:That's after you reconstruct Havana.
Chef Ricky:Correct.
Gizmo:Alright, let's go to another one now. This one is actually relevant to us boys because we were at the launch party of this. Manna Cristo has announced the Follow the Stars tribute Humidor, which was the trade show centerpiece for Altadis this year at the show, if you remember. Of course, one of the main attractions of their booth, it was developed in collaboration with Hernandez Humidors. The new collector's piece is powered by motion activated LEDs that illuminate the inner lid as soon as it's open.
Gizmo:So we actually were at the launch party of this, which was fantastic. We were very, very happy to be there. It was an amazing night. The humidor comes with 50 box pressed Manna Cristo Follow the Stars Figurados made in Nicaragua by Adrian Fernandez. 55 ring gauge cigars by six inches long and have been aged for five years.
Gizmo:There's also a hidden two cigar electroplated ashtray nestled inside. What does electroplated ashtray mean?
Bam Bam:It's a method of plating a surface electromagnetically with paint. Usually they do it for anodized aluminum, which is if you take aluminum and spray paint it, it kind of rubs off, it doesn't stick. There's an electro process where as you're spraying it, it creates a What's that little static action that you get when you have your
Chef Ricky:I think you said it.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Creates that static electric energy that then plates the coating on that surface. I'm curious why they would even mention that. It's just a unique way of painting.
Gizmo:They're excited about it. I don't know.
Chef Ricky:So That's cool.
Gizmo:Of course, the cigar that we were given that night was the Manna Cristo Doble Diamante red, which is crazy to say that that is a $150 cigar. Have you guys smoked that yet? I have not.
Senator:No. Not yet.
Gizmo:So we did smoke some great I I was actually shocked, by the way. We've we've had some experiences on the podcast, good and bad, with Monte Cristo. We smoked a couple cigars that evening, and I'm not saying this because we were there, but they were genuinely very good cigars to the point that senator and I came home and ordered them. Yeah. But he paid half the price.
Gizmo:Correct. We're gonna we're gonna process that issue later. For for once my procurement skills were more prolific than Gizmo. So it's a 54 ring gauge by six and a half Toro extra all Nicaraguan. So it uses tobacco from AJ Fernandez Finca Lilia and San Lotano Farms in Esteli with most of the tobacco's coming from the farm's first and second harvest.
Gizmo:So that what that means is it's been resting for quite some time because those those farms have been operating for some time now. Production is limited to just 5,000 cigars. 250 glossy red and white boxes containing 20 cigars each, of course, launched at, this year's PCA alongside the humidor we we're just talking about. And boys, what a great event it was. Incredible.
Gizmo:Shout out senator who hooked us up. I don't know how he did it, but all of a sudden he said, hey. We're going to the Altadis party tonight from Monte Cristo. Kudos to you. I don't know how you did it.
Gizmo:Silver tongue. But the three of us and Pagoda had a great night.
Bam Bam:Very great night.
Senator:It was awesome.
Gizmo:Yeah. It was I'll just
Senator:say, I mean, I'm I'm genuinely fascinated by what Altadis is doing in the sense that, I mean, you look at the role that Nadal and AJ Fernandez have played with, like, blending for them, obviously, AJ, you know, with his tobacco. Then you look at even, like, these recent collaborations with, like, Placentia for tobacco and introducing some of that into their blends. Like, I think they're getting a lot more creative, and I think it's showing in terms of the product. I mean, we're definitely now finding things that we like in their product portfolio that I think in the past we were looking for and couldn't really find.
Bam Bam:That's correct.
Gizmo:By the way, I wanna say, not to interrupt you, but I think we all went in with a little bit of hesitation about what we were gonna experience smoking Montecristo.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Because
Gizmo:And it did change our perspective a little bit because the cigars were really good.
Bam Bam:Yeah, but we hesitate because we've had, I'm not gonna say mediocre, but very flat experiences with the cigar lines.
Senator:Yeah, and now I think we're finding stuff that's really inspired and flavorful, and I think it's also fascinating when you look at the leadership there, there's a new CEO now at Tabaklera, and that guy, Charles Gibbs, his background is from high end spirits.
Gizmo:Spirits. Right?
Senator:He was the CEO of Belvedere. He was previously the CEO of Whistle Pig. Like, I think Monte Cristo is moving toward trying to become more of, like, a high end brand, and the fact that they're releasing a $150 cigar, I mean
Gizmo:Another one, by the way. We had one a couple years ago that was a 150. This is the second $150 Monte Cristo Yep. From Altadis.
Senator:And I just think twenty years ago that would have been laughable coming from them, and I think increasingly, you know, some higher priced stuff that they put out, like, it is credible. Like, their their commitment to quality, I think, is higher than it has probably ever been. So I'm definitely, you know, excited to try more in their line, and I thought they did a great job at that event of Sure. You know, elevating the brand and giving us a taste of some of the cool stuff that they're putting out.
Bam Bam:I think Rafael Nadal's involvement has a lot to do with the quality, the curiosity of the cigars because of his aging room line, which is so respected, which we love as well. I think he's bringing a lot to the table there.
Gizmo:And I think he has a really great relationship with AJ Fernandez. It seems like they're kind of brothers from another mother, and I think that collab is really working. And I, you know, I I shout AJ out because if you remember talking about that Chen G stuff with Altadis, I mean, Tabaclera de Garcia in in Dominican shut down. That was their biggest factory. It completely Unbelievable.
Gizmo:Stopped all of those cigars from being able to come in. So AJ Placencia stepping up, helping Altadis get these cigars made, new blends, new exciting things happening.
Bam Bam:It's
Gizmo:huge. Maybe it's kinda like, you know, the the it's been the seed of a greater benefit, the fact that that that problem happened. And of course, that was a major problem for them. Plus the fire last year. I mean, you know, a lot of things have been you know, there's been a lot of adversity, but it seems like it seems like things are on the up and up, the cigars are tasting great.
Gizmo:So I also wanna talk about one more Altadis release. We're not Altadis fanboys, but I think this one's important to mention given the cigar we're smoking tonight. The Saint Louis Rey Eiroa thirtieth anniversary is coming out. So what's cool about this is Christian Eiroa, the blender and manufacturer of the cigar we smoke tonight, created the original Honduran poro blend of the Saint Louis Rey in 1996. Ended up at Altadis in 1999, so this is separate from the Camacho thing.
Gizmo:But now they are releasing the non Cuban Saint Louis Rey thirtieth anniversary Eiroa in four different Vitolas. The Rothschild 50 by five, which is interesting they're calling that a Rothschild because it's the same as the cigar we have in our hand, a Robusto. Torpedo 52 by six, Toro 54 by six, and the Titan Agordo, 60 by six. So those prices are between 12 and $13.50 MSRP. Of course, launching at the PCA show this year.
Gizmo:Christian Eiroa is very excited about it. He did some collab videos with Rafael Nadal. So they're very happy about this. Thirty years later, Christian Eiroa is back blending the thirtieth anniversary of those cigars. And apparently, they're going to use a Colombian pinareno wrapper, a Honduran Corojo binder, and a filler that contains both.
Gizmo:So pretty cool.
Bam Bam:Very cool.
Gizmo:So Christian Eiroa is stepping out of his normal blending manufacturing operation to go back, work with Altadis a little bit, and put his name and blend back in Saint Louis Rey with Altadis.
Bam Bam:He's making a cameo appearance. Exactly right? That's correct.
Gizmo:And you know, it's interesting. I I wanted to ask you guys about this. Obviously we've talked a lot about it tonight with Saint Louis Rey, Monte Cristo. We talked about Romeo y Julieta last week when we recorded our episode of PCA. What is your perception today on these brands that were Cuban now are non Cuban that were smoking.
Gizmo:What is your perception today versus what it was a year ago or three years ago?
Bam Bam:I personally have more respect now for what they're doing, for all of these Cuban names that they have and how they're involving guys like Rafael, AJ Fernandez. I wanna try all these cigars. I really have hope and respect for what they're doing, and I'm very positive.
Rooster:Well, is a certain amount of expectation for the New World brand, or a Cuban brand, but which is now New World, to live up to that name.
Bam Bam:Well, I'm not even looking at it from the point of view of it living up to the Cuban name. I'm looking at it from the point of view of living up to the blender now that they have with them. I want to try their cigars because they're departing away from Cuba. It's not a Cuban cigar. So now that we have guys like Rafael Nadal involved, that's what I'd like to I wanna try.
Bam Bam:I wanna tell you. That's where I'm looking.
Rooster:But it's promising if the new Monte Cristo line is living up to that name. Right? So you want to try it. You want to try the Monte Cristo.
Senator:Yeah. I mean, I'm with BAM in that. I don't know that I view this as they have to live up to the Cuban Definitely
Bam Bam:they're not. Not
Senator:going to smoke like them. They're not going to taste like them. It's not even tobacco. But I do think there needs to be like a similar commitment to quality. And my perception of kind of the Altadis portfolio of the past was like these are mass produced cigars that are Of lower quality.
Senator:Of lower yeah. That are relatively faceless in terms of like blenders, and like, you know, who's behind them and things like that, and it's just pumping out volume. And I think, you know, for the Cuban brands, like, you know, what we like, and for a lot of the more boutique like, New World brands, what we like is, you know, there's they operate like boutique brands. Like, there's no brand in Cuba that operates like some big global behemoth. Like, in the scheme of things, like, they're they're actually not that sizable.
Senator:So I think now with, like, you know, the role that they have a Rafael Nadal play, like, AJ, you know, being brilliant with his tobacco.
Bam Bam:That's
Senator:right. These collaborations and, like, authentic collaborations, not like bullshit ones, like the Eiroa story that you just told, like, there's a reason they're collaborating with him. Like, he had history with Altadis in that cigar. And so I think now they're operating more like an innovative, like, boutique brand. You know?
Senator:It's like kind of this house of boutique brands where before my perception was just like Altadis is just kind of pumping out product, and they're there to help scale and and expand volume. And I think now they're doing a lot more experimenting and operating the way that I think is in line with brands that we personally love. That's correct. It's more artisanal in nature.
Gizmo:And I think I think That's how it
Bam Bam:it's feels to me. It feels very artisanal
Rooster:in I their
Gizmo:think perception change there is what we've been begging Davodoff to do, is stop putting the logo Very good. And start putting the people out.
Bam Bam:I agree.
Gizmo:And right now we're In this talking story. Great parallel by talking about Rafael Nadal, who of course we have a great appreciation for. A. J. Fernandez, who's making great cigars for them.
Gizmo:No question about it. We're talking about Christian Eiroa. They're bringing someone in who has nothing to do with their business, just has to do something with their history, bringing him back in for the celebration of a thirtieth anniversary.
Bam Bam:It's a smart move.
Gizmo:I think that is the proper way to celebrate cigars, because cigars are not made by logos. Cigars are made by people.
Bam Bam:Thank
Gizmo:you. And I think that this is exactly what we've been asking Davidoff to do. I understand they feel not great about what happened with their former blenders and presidents and everything else, but don't shy away from putting people in this story as opposed to just the logo. And I think Altadis is moving in the right direction. We saw that at the show.
Gizmo:If we didn't see it, we would say it. Believe me.
Gizmo:yeah. We have no problem doing that. But I feel like when I smoked that Monte Cristo, which was a $20 Monte Cristo, the Adecion di Amante, not the crazy one. Smoked one with a red band. I honestly came home.
Gizmo:That was one of the most exciting cigars I smoked at that show.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:And senator and I both ordered independently of each other Mhmm. At very different prices. We're not gonna get into that.
Bam Bam:Different Vitolas. No.
Gizmo:It's the same Vitolas. Just one out of box and one didn't.
Bam Bam:Not a Gordo?
Gizmo:No. But honestly, I would we have come home and done that had we not enjoyed the cigar? Like, you and I were both talking about that for two days.
Bam Bam:Yeah. It's very good.
Senator:No. And the other thing is, like, we probably wouldn't have tried it
Gizmo:Mhmm.
Senator:You know, without being at that event, and that's where I think seeing their commitment to putting those guys front and center and telling the story behind these blends and what they're trying to do, it matters a lot. And I think the Davidoff example's a really good one
Bam Bam:where A good example.
Senator:I think we're all starved for some more authenticity from Davidoff and less corporate marketing.
Gizmo:Correct. And I want to say too, one more angle to this that I think is important is, you know, you think about a big company like Altadis, right? There's a lot of things at stake. They probably sell 40 or 50,000,000 cigars a year. A lot of cigars are being manufactured and sold by Altadis.
Gizmo:At that event, there's no script, there's no stage, there's no teleprompters, there's no PowerPoint, there's no video. They literally hand a mic to Rafael Nadal. They hand a mic to A. J. Fernandez, who doesn't speak English, has his daughter there translating for him.
Gizmo:Really awesome to see the authentic bond between them all, to see A. J. So proud of his daughter translating for him, sharing what he feels about it. It was like a family reunion at this event. That's correct.
Gizmo:And it felt so different than my expectation walking in there. Correct. I totally walked in there expecting it to be corporate, you know, big teleprompters and presentations and everything else, like a big event, and it wasn't like that. It was high end, no question about it. But it was just
Senator:friends. It was authentic. It was authentic. And that's what we look at. Again, the brands that we love, like, you know, the Padrons of the world, the the Aladinos of the world, like, there's a family story, there's an authenticity, there's a passion for making those cigars that comes through so clearly.
Senator:And when you have these big corporate brands, it's even more necessary for there to be that story because it's not one family that is behind it where you know, you can do your own homework and understand what they're about philosophy. Like, you need those people out there talking about why they're doing what they're doing, and how they're doing it, and what their kind of aspirations are for the brand, and I just hope for others that don't take that approach that they really learn something from it and start to.
Bam Bam:Yeah, and if they don't, I think they're taking a big risk in the market overall. Absolutely. And I love that word, artisanal, the artisanal approach. I don't know anyone that doesn't want to buy something that's made by hand, you know who makes it, you know who's blending it. It's more attractive.
Gizmo:Yeah. I think to your point, I think a high end cigar smoker, not a person who smokes cigars, separating that again as we've done several times, but a cigar smoker. That person wants exactly what we're talking about. They want artisanal, they want authenticity, and they want a story that they can celebrate and buy into. And maybe if they're sitting among their friends or their fellow lizards, telling that story to someone who's not familiar with it.
Bam Bam:Yeah. And I also think people that don't smoke artisanal cigars, I think they want to, they just haven't gotten there yet. Yeah. They'll get there.
Chef Ricky:They'll get there.
Bam Bam:Yeah, exactly.
Gizmo:So boys, we are into the last third for sure on the C. L. E. Maduro five by 50. What's everybody thinking?
Bam Bam:I like to hear from the guys that haven't had any sweetness what they're getting right now.
Senator:So for me, the last third is much better.
Gizmo:It is. Totally better.
Senator:It picked up in sweetness.
Bam Bam:That's correct.
Senator:It's not dull anymore. There's some complexity there. This is very good right now.
Bam Bam:I'm actually getting that brownie that you mentioned earlier Yeah. Which I haven't gotten at all until now.
Gizmo:As I as we were talking and I was going into the last third here, I was wishing this cigar was two or three inches longer.
Rooster:Yes. Yeah.
Gizmo:Right now.
Bam Bam:Yep. Correct.
Gizmo:Like I wish what I'm getting right now at this kind of half three quarter inch Mhmm. Inch left of the cigar
Bam Bam:Looks like three quarters I
Gizmo:wish I had thank you, Ben. I wish I had two or three more inches
Bam Bam:of it.
Chef Ricky:Yeah. Yeah. I'm realizing that I was a little bit further ahead from you guys. So I actually put my cigar on for about ten, fifteen minutes while you were saying, you know, reading, giving your recap on PCA. And now it's awesome to hear how you guys are all finding that sweetness because that's where I was when you guys were at that point of where it kind of fell off a little bit.
Chef Ricky:Where are you now? I'm just a little bit more than Giz, so maybe an inch.
Bam Bam:I mean where you're getting what flavor
Chef Ricky:you Oh, I'm there. I'm there.
Bam Bam:You are?
Chef Ricky:Yeah. I'm right there with you guys with the sweetness. I'm getting those sweet undertones, still some cocoa. Earthiness has dissipated a bit.
Rooster:The sweetness and the chocolate notes have come back.
Bam Bam:Big time.
Rooster:It's just about the halfway point, the cigar got a little boring and less interesting. There was like
Gizmo:twenty minutes there where it was kind of Yeah. But at
Rooster:that point, you're not sure if it's going to come back or not. So you have to smoke the whole cigar.
Gizmo:Exactly. Otherwise, somebody might have just put
Rooster:it out while the cigar is done.
Bam Bam:Because of But it kind of picked up.
Rooster:Yeah. I mean, it got more interesting. I I love the sweeter note that you're getting now. I wish that would have continued. Exactly.
Bam Bam:It's tough to rate this for me because that journey, that middle part was just very blah.
Rooster:It Yeah. Was just like you're smoking tobacco. Yeah. You know? Was boring.
Gizmo:I will say right now though, again wishing that I had a little more, but the last third, it's not smoking like an $8 cigar in the last third. I agree. In the middle third or excuse me. Yeah. In the middle third, it's acceptable, I guess, for its price to be where it was.
Gizmo:It wasn't great. Not a great rating, of course. But now, this is not an $8 cigar. No. I mean, the dollar 50 I have of it left, but, you know, it's it's pretty damn good.
Gizmo:It is. Alright, boys. Let's go now into some listener email. We're gonna go now into an email from our friend Lizard Tyler in Pittsburgh who writes us a lot, and he's commenting on our conversation our conversation about blind reviews. He says, hello, Lizards.
Gizmo:I was listening to the podcast on my way into work this morning, and it was Lizard Sammy who was on my mind. I've been thinking about asking about more blind reviews before this pod hit, and I couldn't agree with him more. While I agree with everything the room said about the merits of the way you review with regard to price and reputation, I remember back to the April fools episode a year ago with fond memories of the episode and discussion. Of course, as a reminder, that was the stoic courage. The first time we did that, Wizard Henrito came in at the end and revealed it.
Gizmo:I think two to three times a year would be incredibly interesting to do a blind review. I love the way that this room above all others measures the cigar against what it is and provides an unbiased, unfiltered service to the listener. So I don't consider the blind review as a way to mitigate against any conscious or unconscious bias, just a way to give a bit of change of pace. I hope you consider doing a few of these a year. And if necessary, I would be happy to provide my services in procuring and sending out a cigar to be reviewed.
Gizmo:That's very nice of him.
Bam Bam:Very nice.
Gizmo:I would be remiss if I didn't also add a huge thank you to the Lizards and Bon Roberts for the box of petite one o nines. I was blown away by how good it was, and I will add it to my regular Hamlet rotation of sovereign sons. That's the half half corona n three, n four, n nine, and trinity Robusto. I've been waiting with bated breath for the Dahlia to drop so I can get myself a 50 cab of those. I did buy the sampler from them, and I'm not sure how I'm going to financially recover from that decision as I want almost everything in their portfolio.
Gizmo:Sorry for the long email, but I truly appreciate what you guys are doing on the podcast and how much it has helped me on my journey in exploring cigars in this wonderful community. Thanks very much, Lizard Tyler from Pittsburgh. Great email.
Bam Bam:Very good email.
Gizmo:So what do you guys think about doing, not blind reviews for the sake of it, but more or once or twice or three times a year like he's suggesting, doing a blind review like we did with Lizard Henrito and that Stoic episode a year ago?
Chef Ricky:I like doing it for April Fools, but I just hope it's always a quality cigar.
Gizmo:Wow. Right? Yeah. Well, sometimes it's probably not going to be, and that's, I think, why
Bam Bam:we Well, haven't done it's also the point. Maybe you find a gem unexpectedly.
Rooster:We have actually done it twice.
Chef Ricky:That's right, Diavolo. Yes,
Gizmo:we did Diavolo, I think that was episode nine or so.
Rooster:Blinder bought
Gizmo:it. It's a long time ago.
Senator:I mean, I'll say, I think so much of what we have decided to do has been a result of listener feedback. Now this is multiple times that we've had listeners request a blind review. I like this Lizard's idea of like, you know, we're not gonna do this every week. We don't necessarily see the utility in that, but I think at least once a year, it's definitely worth us exploring. I mean, I think even for us, you know, the fun parts of that is like guessing, you know, where the tobacco's from and, you know, the different components of the cigar.
Senator:You know, it's like a blind, you know, wine or spirit tasting. So, like, I think for us even, it's fun to do it. So I would love to do it at least once a year.
Gizmo:We missed April Fools this year because I I was like, it didn't fall in April Fools or near it really, but maybe we'll do one in the summer. We'll try to figure out something to do. Alright, boys. Let's go to another one now. This one's from our friend Lizard Enrique.
Gizmo:He says, hello, Lizards. It's no secret that lizards across the globe are interested in the behind the scenes machinations of the show, so I'm hoping our heroes will entertain a question about a recent cigar. Like standing at the plate with Sandy Kofax winding up, there can be no doubt that the Guy Fieri knuckle sandwich cigar must have felt like a real curveball to the lizards. I and perhaps other listeners can't help but wonder, what did the prepod reaction to doing the Knucklebuster cigar? What was that like?
Bam Bam:Well, listen to the episode if it's out.
Gizmo:When did Gizmo inform you, and what did you think? To be clear, Guy and the Lizards have many things in common. You are all both fans of bold, bad boy flavors. And like senator, the mayor of Flavortown is also an elected official. But I can't help but feel like the reception may have been frosty at the beginning.
Gizmo:Perhaps I am wrong, and the reaction was in fact, holy moly stromboli, as the flavored one may say. I'm listening to the podcast, and it reminded me of being at a group dinner where a young kid acts up. The parents of the child seethe quietly being behind tight smiles, but never show their anger until they are no longer in mixed company. Such was the undercurrent of tension listening to the first two thirds of the podcast. Any insight on this would be appreciated.
Gizmo:Cheers. Lizard Enrique.
Chef Ricky:I think we all took turns throwing a tantrum prior to that so hitting record.
Senator:I mean, I'll start with when we found out what we were smoking.
Gizmo:Yes.
Senator:We we normally discuss this in our group chat in advance of recording the episode. And for that particular episode, Gizmo was uncharacteristically quiet about what we were smoking, and it wasn't literally until I arrived here hoping we were gonna smoke something that was really gonna excite me that I see these cigars I'm completely unfamiliar with, and Giz says we're smoking the knuckles sandwich. And of course, my reaction was, what the hell is that? And then he tells me it's a Guy Fieri cigar, and then I could not have been more unenthusiastic to smoke it. And that's not an indictment on Guy Fieri.
Senator:This was discussed at PCA. You know, most celebrity collaborations in the cigar space have been a complete flop. And most of the time, it's celebrities that have no meaningful interest or passion for the cigar. It's a check, it's an opportunity, a PR opportunity, and then that's it. And I'll give Guy Fieri credit, and also Marlon Waynes who was at PCA.
Senator:The two of them did a panel discussion together.
Bam Bam:Great panel.
Senator:And, you know, they both talked about and readily admitted even their frustration that like so many celebrities have come before them that have done a disservice by just, you know, showing up at an event, promoting a cigar, and disappearing entirely after that. And these are two guys who have taken trips to factories in Doctor, to Cuba, who are very
Gizmo:Honduras, Nicaragua. Nicaragua.
Senator:Yep. Are very passionate about cigars, and made a commitment at PCA that they're not going anywhere. Like, they wanna get as steeped in this business and in learning as much as being part of, you know, producing and putting out a cigar as anyone. And so, you know, I have to give credit there. But, you know, it's funny we had our ratings question, you know, before that in kind of the blind piece.
Senator:I mean, that was a good example of I could not have been more unenthusiastic to smoke that cigar.
Chef Ricky:That could have been a great April Fools episode. Actually, that very well
Senator:would have.
Gizmo:But I don't think it would have changed how we wrote No, no. I'm not saying
Senator:it would have changed,
Chef Ricky:just it would have been
Senator:funny when we found out at the end that it was the Guy Fierce cigar. I mean, no one would have guessed that while we were smoking it.
Rooster:It also seems like these
Bam Bam:what I learned about Marlon and Guy, their smoking habits, they smoke cigars every day.
Gizmo:They're lizards, man.
Bam Bam:They smoke multiple cigars a day, and they smoke among their friends in peace and quiet and conversation. And I my respect really grew for both of them. And I realized that they're in the business. They're just not on the periphery like celebrities as you mentioned, Senator. I think just for the just for that reason, I have a greater respect for both of them.
Bam Bam:Now, if you listen to that episode, I completely dumped on that cigar that guy made for, I think, very fair reasons, but You also said
Chef Ricky:you were gonna interview him. Did that happen?
Bam Bam:I did not catch up with him.
Gizmo:No, you know what? After the panel, which was before the show opened, he actually went to The Bahamas. He had a family thing.
Bam Bam:That's right. A wedding.
Gizmo:He wasn't actually at the show technically where we actually could have run into him. He was gone by the time that happened.
Bam Bam:But I think we're always hopeful for a cigar that comes in the room that's going be great and we're going to have a great time with it. I think that's always the case.
Chef Ricky:Now is this Marlon Waynes the Comedian? Oh yeah?
Gizmo:Yeah. Scary movie.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Wow.
Gizmo:There's a scary movie six coming out
Chef Ricky:this In living color for me.
Gizmo:In living color too.
Chef Ricky:Me too. Aging myself over here, but yeah.
Gizmo:Yeah, so to answer Lizard Enrique's question here, I mean, I definitely That was one where I was a little hesitant to I was praying that nobody asked me what cigar it was leading up to the episode, which didn't happen, thankfully.
Bam Bam:It never happens.
Gizmo:But, well, no, I'd be normally like, Hey, what are we smoking tonight? You did it today. What are we smoking tonight? What are we drinking? That didn't happen that day, thankfully.
Gizmo:You know, because I knew
Chef Ricky:After that episode, it's going to happen every week.
Gizmo:I mean, the cigar really wasn't that bad. I think we gave it a seven. But listen, at the end of the day, we're trying to do our best to smoke great cigars. That's our intention. Forget price, everything else.
Gizmo:We just want to smoke good stuff. So I think that's a complete answer to his question. Let's go to another one now. This one is going to be from our friend Lizard Rob, who actually wrote in a while ago. We asked him some questions, and he sent us a voice memo, boy.
Gizmo:So I'm gonna play that for you right now.
Lizard Rob:Hey. What's going on, Lizards? This is Rob again. Just wanted to give you an update on the tower and the Sonatas. I got the tower all set up, got the weather stripping around all four sides, and got it pretty well sealed up.
Lizard Rob:It is a beautiful tower, so thanks to Ricky for knowing about it through him. And happy to report that the Sonatas did come
Chef Ricky:back alive. It
Lizard Rob:took a little while, like senator said, about a month, but they're smoking great again. They got the citrus note back. Definitely happy about that. I was a little bit depressed because I had, like, four boxes of them that were doing pretty bad. So so for me, it's been been great to see that they do do better in the different environment.
Lizard Rob:Not sure what it is, if it's the airflow like I mentioned before, the different type of humidity with the distilled water, but there's definitely something different about that environment. And some other cigars I have are doing better. Also, I had a box of Eye of the Sharks that I bought some time ago based on you guys' high praise of that cigar. Because you can't buy singles, I went ahead and bought a whole box. And I was I thought they were good.
Lizard Rob:I just didn't think they were worth the price. But now that they've been in the tower a while, they're smoking excellently as well. So that's been pretty cool to see. I also wanted to chime in on Gizmo and and getting him in a little bit of trouble over the Concertos. I can't corroborate with him as Bam would say that he did buy six when there were eight left because I went back in there a little bit later after I sent the link and there were two left when I when I looked.
Lizard Rob:So there was some opportunity there for Rooster to jump on him. Not sure if it was old age or whatever, but there was some opportunity there for them.
Gizmo:Oh boy.
Lizard Rob:Happy also to tell you guys, I I finally got some Cuban cigars. I went with top Cubans because they have a they still guarantee because they have a $20 option to remove the bands, which I figured would be my best bet. It kinda sucks, but, you know, at least they send the the bands in a separate envelope so you can see them. I'm not like I'm gonna sit there and glue them all back on, but just happy to finally get some Cuban cigars and and get it through customs. Got a second shipment coming that just made it through customs as well.
Lizard Rob:That's not sure if it it always works out, but it has on my on these two cases. I bought a few Esplanadeos in that shipment, and I went back and listened to the podcast you guys did a couple years ago that I completely forgot about the fact that you needed to age them for, five years. So definitely gonna test my patience on that one. But let me know if you think they got these newer ones. I don't need as much time.
Lizard Rob:That'd be good to know. Otherwise, I'm just gonna have to put them away and try to forget about them. Also wanted to tell you guys that I got some rain guards installed on my truck after hearing about Gizmo's using his with the windows cracked overnight. I
Gizmo:Game changer.
Lizard Rob:Say it does work. It takes a couple days for the smoke smell to be completely gone, but it does work. I basically leave the the windows cracked twenty four seven when I'm smoking. I had it Mhmm. One occasion where there was, like, heavy rain and only a few drops got through.
Lizard Rob:So I'm pretty excited about that. I can also use like a small ozone generator and just run it for like twenty minutes at night with the windows cracked. And by the next morning, the smell is completely gone. So if I'm if I know I'm gonna be taking my family somewhere, I can do that and and just make sure my truck doesn't stink. So thanks again, guys.
Lizard Rob:I'll talk to you all later. Bye.
Gizmo:Alright. So on this the concerto thing, he said that he could corroborate that I bought six packs. I don't remember buying six packs.
Rooster:You probably bought 16 packs.
Gizmo:I got plenty, but I you know, thanks to him for shooting that deal over to us. We all took advantage of it. What do you guys think of ordering Cubans and them taking the bands off for the sake of them not getting seized? I mean, a legitimate retailer.
Bam Bam:If you're getting the bands sent to you as well in envelope, sure. What's wrong with that?
Senator:What's wrong with that? You don't know that those bands came off of those actual cigars.
Gizmo:You have to trust what you're buying.
Bam Bam:You just said that it's a legitimate site. It is. And if it is, I don't mind it.
Rooster:How are you taking the bands off? They don't just slide off.
Gizmo:Yeah. I mean, you're probably peeling them to the best of your ability or maybe they They've got a
Senator:half time to crack the wrapper.
Gizmo:They're gonna rip. Or maybe they take a little razor and cut them.
Bam Bam:God knows.
Lizard Rob:Who knows?
Chef Ricky:They could maybe heat heat the glue slightly. Just a little bit.
Bam Bam:Oh yeah, could see them doing that every single scratch.
Gizmo:Well, you're paying for the service. You're paying $20 per
Bam Bam:That's true.
Chef Ricky:You line them up, run a heat gun over it,
Rooster:you know,
Chef Ricky:blow dryer or whatever.
Gizmo:So Lizard Rob also added, he forgot to mention that if any of the listeners out there decide to use an generator in their vehicle to be careful not to run it too long.
Chef Ricky:Yeah. You have to let it air out.
Gizmo:I made the mistake of running it for about two hours the first time, and I didn't air it out until the next morning. That's definitely not good. It was a disaster. It took about two weeks to get rid of the very unpleasant ozone smell. It was so bad that I I was worried I ruined my truck.
Gizmo:But now using it for a short time with the windows cracked, it doesn't have any odor, and the smoke smell is completely gone. You have to let it air out before entering also as the active ozone is toxic to breathe.
Bam Bam:Oh, yes. It is.
Rooster:It's such a bad habit to smoke in
Chef Ricky:the Because of that, it's good to keep pests away. If you ever have a warehouse environment or anything like that where you need to keep pests away, ozone generators are good for that.
Gizmo:Is that true?
Chef Ricky:But you have to let it air out prior to occupying the space.
Bam Bam:Otherwise, you'll die.
Rooster:Yeah. Does it kill the pests?
Chef Ricky:It just keeps them out.
Rooster:So wouldn't they just come back?
Chef Ricky:Well, if you run it often enough, eventually, I guess they get the point and
Gizmo:they don't want to come back. Yeah.
Bam Bam:Rodent biology now we're talking
Chef Ricky:about. Alright.
Gizmo:Alright, boys. Let's go to another one now. This one's from lizard christoff. I'm kidding. He says, hello, lizards.
Gizmo:I'm writing in response to your question in episode 231 about the impact the podcast has had and also to echo what other lizards have said about bonding with their kids over cigars. You've turned cigars from a simple pastime for me into a real passion. I don't just smoke cigars anymore. I collect them. I read about tobacco, and I happily talk anyone's ear off about them.
Gizmo:That's rubbed off on the people around me too. My six year old daughter is fascinated by anything I'm reading or doing, and she started collecting big leaves insisting I roll some cigars with them. I've even ordered some tobacco seeds so that we can try growing plants together. I'm sure whether we roll I'm sure whatever we roll will be completely unsmokable, but that's not really the point. It's about the experience.
Gizmo:Unfortunately, Belgium has become a difficult place for cigar smokers. After friends moved abroad, I'm I'm left with no nearby smoking friends, and the few lounges we have left will be forced to close very soon. Terrible. Sitting down with a cigar while browsing FOH or listening to your podcast is often the closest I get to smoking with friends. On that note, thank you and Bon Roberts for the petite one o nines, which arrived today and even made it through customs without issue.
Gizmo:That's good to hear. I don't think I've ever won anything before, and it honestly felt like a box sent from distant smoking friends. I've also recently attended a cigar rolling seminar in Germany and visited a tobacco farm in Zimbabwe during business travel. The farm was for cigarette tobacco, but there were still plenty of similarities in how the plant goes from seed to bales of leaf. Both experiences really drove home how much manual labor goes into this product.
Gizmo:Seeing that made me appreciate every cigar I smoke even more. I'd recommend visiting a farm or a rolling seminar to any lizard if they ever get the chance. It's already long enough, so I'll save my thoughts on how you've influenced my rum journey for another email. Thank you once again for the box of petite one zero nines and the many hours of knowledge and entertainment. Lizard Kristoff.
Chef Ricky:You know, I have one for you on the freaking rum journey, But let's finish off Lizards Cigar's email because that was awesome. Tell us. Well, first of all, Lizards Cigar's off, I wanna thank you. But
Gizmo:listen, over this past week I'm sorry. Bev's face is priceless.
Bam Bam:I'm having a hard time seeing because the combustion on this
Gizmo:cigar is outrageous.
Bam Bam:It's it is outrageous.
Chef Ricky:It is.
Bam Bam:I'm squinting. And then he started to
Gizmo:tell the story like, what are we talking about now?
Chef Ricky:I think for the first time during a pod, you actually activated the exhaust.
Gizmo:I did. It's true.
Chef Ricky:So but no, I took a bottle of Dom Pancho rum to a buddy's house a couple days ago.
Gizmo:I love that stuff, man.
Bam Bam:It's his favorite rum.
Gizmo:That's my favorite. Yeah.
Chef Ricky:You know, at least once a week, end up at his house. We do the whole MLB beginning thing where you could see four games at one time because we're in the Fantasy League together. And, you know, we just watch all the games and usually have a good result. And he usually has a bottle of bourbon. It's like this massive magnum bottle of Basil Hayden or Woodford Reserve or whatnot.
Chef Ricky:And I just wasn't feeling bourbon like bourbon that day. So I had my bottle of Tom Poncho and I decided to bring it. Last time I asked him if he had a bottle of rum, he had some diplomatic or and, you know, we all know that's loaded with the additives and it's going to make us feel like shit the next day. So I brought my don't punch you first time ever in a single night. The two of us killed an entire bottle in four hours.
Rooster:Yeah. I was How far does he live?
Chef Ricky:Not four minutes from my house. So I was able to walk.
Bam Bam:There's some history here.
Gizmo:Easy, big fella.
Chef Ricky:But I see that rum is spectacular. And it drank great here, appreciated it. And I think somewhere throughout the night we realized, wow, there's only about a third of this bottle left. And he looks at me like, do we kill it? I'm like, absolutely, let's kill it.
Chef Ricky:So I mean, this is a fifteen year friendship, first time that's ever happened. Awesome.
Rooster:What's cigar juice?
Chef Ricky:Was just one Projones placebo. No bullshit. I brought up two Pajonas exclusivos, and then he had a tin of the white label bellicosos. So
Gizmo:So let
Bam Bam:me understand
Chef Ricky:this. So finish the bottle
Rooster:in an hour.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Because you only had the Exclusivo.
Chef Ricky:And the white label by the Coso. Only two cigars
Bam Bam:and a two bottle of rum?
Rooster:Full bottle.
Gizmo:Well, half each. Half
Chef Ricky:each. Yeah. Damn. Homeboy. That's good or bad.
Gizmo:I'm confused.
Bam Bam:That's quite fast.
Chef Ricky:That was four hours.
Bam Bam:Four hours and two I got there no.
Rooster:How was that four hours? Exclusivo was like one hour. Velaicosa is twenty minutes.
Chef Ricky:I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Bam Bam:Hold on. I smoke an Exclusivo in about forty minutes.
Gizmo:Right. On
Bam Bam:average. Forty five, maybe.
Rooster:An hour. Maybe an hour. An hour.
Chef Ricky:An hour. Probably got an hour.
Rooster:An minutes for the bellicose.
Bam Bam:So an hour and twenty minutes?
Chef Ricky:Hour and You guys have spoken way
Senator:too No. It's an hour for the Exclusivo and five minutes.
Chef Ricky:I was able to get about an hour and fifteen out of the exclusive or maybe an hour and a half. And the bellicose, I got at least an hour. It was probably a five hour night.
Senator:At least an hour, that's
Chef Ricky:Yeah, I got to his house at 09:15.
Gizmo:Don't know how the hour count is going up, Not down.
Bam Bam:Know that's That's called value smoking right there. Okay?
Gizmo:That's pagoda law. EDS. Correct. EDS. Are
Rooster:adding your hours and his hours together?
Chef Ricky:No, no, look. To five hours? I got there. It's it was actually longer. Now I think about it.
Gizmo:I got it's like eight hours.
Chef Ricky:I got there at 09:35
Rooster:and am.
Gizmo:And where's Ben's buzzer?
Chef Ricky:I got to. I wish
Gizmo:I had it
Chef Ricky:at 09:35 p. M. And I got back home at three a. M.
Rooster:And you live four minutes away.
Chef Ricky:And I live four minutes away.
Rooster:And you only have a half. Cigar and a
Gizmo:half. Cigar and
Bam Bam:a half. And were you doing? I thought
Rooster:I I smoke slow.
Gizmo:Did guys take a nap?
Chef Ricky:No. I wasn't expecting to be there that long, first of all. I'd say maybe the last hour we were just talking about business and whatnot, but I don't Yeah, it just It was a great night.
Gizmo:You guys
Chef Ricky:are really taken away from the story. It was about the fucking room, all right?
Senator:Great story.
Gizmo:No. I'm glad you enjoyed the listen. I love Don Poncho. The problem with that is you can't find it. Yeah.
Gizmo:I mean, it's like we we vacuumed it up around here. We can't find anymore. Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah.
Gizmo:Wish we could. Alright, boys. It's time now to go into our lizard of the week presented by our friends at Bon Robert Cigars. And our lizard of the week this week is our friend, Lizard John from Boise, and he's gonna win a 10 count box of cigars
Chef Ricky:This isn't his first
Gizmo:by Robert. Time. It is. Wow. At least recent in recent history.
Chef Ricky:So he writes in quite a bit.
Gizmo:He does. So here's a voice memo from our friend Lizard John from Boise.
Lizard John from Boise:Hey, boys. Lizard John from Boise here. I had a question for you that was spurred by a thread I saw on Reddit recently that asked the various members about their smoking frequency and volume, and just the variety of answers was really enlightening. Just the guy that smokes maybe once a month or maybe even just during the summer months to taking the whole winter off to the guy that smokes, you know, maybe eight, ten cigars a day. Just got me wondering in terms of your own smoking journeys, how your frequency or pattern may have changed over time.
Lizard John from Boise:Personally, I started off maybe just once a week. That was my big treat, Saturday night, turned into Saturday and Sunday. And then we picked up a Tuesday, and then we've picked up a Thursday. So I'm at about four times a week, sometimes a bonus here or there depending on my schedule, but just curious as to how you guys have changed over time. If you've noticed any patterns, I'm assuming like me, the frequency has increased over time.
Lizard John from Boise:But like I said, some of the responses were pretty surprising to me on Reddit, where guys would often say they smoked once a month, and then basically took off the cold weather months entirely, which kind of blew my mind a little bit. But anyway, curious as to your responses. Hope you're all doing well. Talk to you again soon.
Gizmo:So congratulations to our friend Lizard John from Boise, again, a 10 count box of cigars from our friends at Bon Roberts. Great question from him. Where are you guys at in your frequency and the volume of cigars you're smoking? Obviously, chef's doing about a cigar and a half in seven hours as we just heard. Correct.
Gizmo:And how has that changed Changed
Chef Ricky:on that night.
Gizmo:Over the years from being a novice to maybe when we started the podcast to today?
Rooster:I'll go first. I'm up to about, I would say about 10 to 12 a week. A lot of times it's just one cigar at the end of the night and then go to bed. But usually on the weekends and Saturdays, Sundays, it's more if I'm hanging out with you guys. Obviously, it's three, four cigars.
Rooster:Pod nights is usually about three cigars. So it averages about 10 to 12. But before I knew you guys, I think I was at least I was still smoking at least one a day. So it's been a while, but a smoking habit has definitely changed. Definitely smoking more cigars now.
Bam Bam:Yeah. So I'm smoking less overall. When we were at the North Korea lounge, I was smoking quite a lot because it was very convenient. Then we moved to the garage lounge, and, you know, the more often we were getting together a lot. I haven't been recently because I've been preoccupied with life stuff, a little business stuff, but mostly life stuff.
Bam Bam:So my smoking has dissipated, not that I want it to. So on average per week, maybe I'm smoking six to eight cigars, maybe.
Gizmo:I think that number's wrong.
Bam Bam:You think?
Gizmo:If you're smoking every day, and you're smoking three or four with us, I think Well, that number's
Senator:this is like BAM's tower math. Yeah. Hate those cigars.
Bam Bam:Tower math is good.
Senator:I don't smoke in the afternoon.
Gizmo:I only did photos this week smoking this afternoon.
Bam Bam:I only did that.
Senator:I don't take a sip of the spirit before we record.
Gizmo:I mean, I could keep going.
Bam Bam:So I don't know. I don't smoke every day. That's for sure. I used to smoke almost every day and a lot. I remember five, six, seven cigar sets as a group.
Bam Bam:I haven't done that in a long time.
Rooster:But I think your weekly cigar consumption is about the same. You Because How you'll have like one night, you'll smoke like five or six.
Bam Bam:That's true sometimes. There are those moments where I'll do five cigars and I'll send a photo of every cigar. Once you get into that flow state, it's actually one of the most enjoyable aspects of what we do. Once you get into that mindset of smoking, you just keep going. And I haven't had that and I'm kind of jonesing to do that sooner again.
Bam Bam:Haven't done it in a while.
Gizmo:I feel like mine has kind of dropped a little bit since its peak during COVID. But from overall, I would say I'm definitely smoking at least a cigar a day. Probably two is my average per day now. And then when we're together, it's between four and six, I would say. So if we do the math on that, it's probably I don't know.
Gizmo:So average of 130 cigars, a week.
Bam Bam:And you have your garage?
Gizmo:A week. Yeah. Fifteen, sixteen cigars a week.
Bam Bam:I don't have a cold weather space to smoke in right now. I haven't, and my house is in disarray right now.
Senator:Do you have a lounge membership? I do. You actually have multiple lounge members. We have big box.
Bam Bam:You're right. That's correct. I just don't get a chance to get out as often as I did. Hopefully that changes soon.
Rooster:Chef?
Chef Ricky:I'd say I've definitely dropped a little bit. I used to come to the lounge a lot more frequently a couple years ago. And right now my lounge visits are maybe the pod plus maybe one day every other week or so. So I think for me it's probably about five a week. Okay.
Chef Ricky:Most of those happen in the car on the way to work or on the way back. Usually on the way back from work to home helps just keep me engaged during the drive after a long day and all of that.
Gizmo:Senator, you would say what? Yours has stayed the same?
Senator:Yeah. Once a week when we record the pod.
Gizmo:There you go. Well said. Alright, boys. We are coming to the end of our evening now with the Ass Pocket Whiskey. The APW Original seven year blend Correct.
Gizmo:Straight bourbon whiskey, and the C. E. Maduro five by 50. Any final thoughts before we get into our ratings? And don't forget to text me Yeah.
Gizmo:Your ratings for both, please.
Bam Bam:Well, I'm gonna choose not to rate tonight. Oh. I wanna be secretive too, like so.
Chef Ricky:My phone died, so you're just gonna hear my ratings.
Gizmo:I'll just have to trust For
Rooster:the first time, yeah. Just whisper.
Gizmo:Are we good? Yeah. Okay. Alright, boys. It's time now for the formal liquorating tonight on the ass pocket whiskey.
Gizmo:It's weird saying that APW Yeah. The seven years aged straight bourbon whiskey. Bam bam. You're up.
Bam Bam:I love this bourbon. I love the flavor. The aroma on the nose for me is all pear. I think the finish is deliciously long. It's very well made.
Bam Bam:I think the flavor is fantastic. I do wanna buy this. Yeah. The presentation's a little, you know, very humble. Let's let's use that terminology.
Bam Bam:But I think it's interesting. I do like that cardboard kind of very low key, very humble presentation. It doesn't lend itself well, like you said, senator, to a group setting, but the flavor on this, I think, is just off the charts. So easy to drink. So I'm at a very, very strong nine on this.
Rooster:Alright, chef. I'm at an eight.
Chef Ricky:Look, the bourbon's great, You know? I I agree with you, Bam. There's a lot of pear there. I love the orange. You I get in many bourbons, but here it was delivered really nicely.
Chef Ricky:I just have a hard time. So we're looking at a cardboard box with three small bottles. I mean, even if they would have thrown like a metal cap on the bottle or something, I just have a hard time trying to figure out where to fit this in, how to have it, when to share it, how to share it.
Bam Bam:But how does it taste?
Chef Ricky:It tastes good. It tastes good. I can't I can't knock it for that.
Gizmo:So how is it an eight?
Chef Ricky:Because I I I would never pick this up. If it wasn't for this pot, I wouldn't have picked it up. I wouldn't known about it. I would have never tried it.
Bam Bam:I think flavors can You know?
Chef Ricky:This case. But, yes, the flavor is good. The flavor is good. But I think that there's just a lot of misses. And look, I'm all for its seasonality, you know, me over anybody with the whole tequila movement and everything.
Chef Ricky:But I think there could have been other ways to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish without sort of selling out on this packaging and making it so difficult to share and just to distribute and market overall.
Rooster:So if the bourbon was in a regular bottle, it would be a much higher score.
Gizmo:Yeah. Yeah. I would have given it a nine for sure.
Chef Ricky:I hate that. Without a doubt.
Bam Bam:Yeah. I'm not sure if I'm like
Chef Ricky:I hate that. Without a doubt, I would have given it a nine. Yeah. So for me, it's an eight.
Gizmo:So you're knocking it for packaging? Yeah. I'm knocking it for
Chef Ricky:packaging and for what that means for price point.
Gizmo:From being a juice guy. Agave guy. Agave. Knocking for knocking for packaging.
Chef Ricky:You took
Gizmo:a point off for packaging?
Bam Bam:It's pretty good juice in these little three little bottles.
Chef Ricky:There's a lot more that goes since it's producing the juice tequila and mezcal than there is in bourbon, so there's always that for me. Yeah, I just I think that
Bam Bam:An eight's a nice score.
Chef Ricky:I think Yeah. Again, it's not a seven. I think an eight is a great score. I think it's serviceable. I'd probably buy this, but I probably wouldn't bring it out around many people.
Chef Ricky:I'd bring it around specific people that I could sort of explain it to and share it with. And, you know, it couldn't be, you know, at a party, you'd have to bring like three of these three packs.
Gizmo:You can bring it to
Rooster:your buddy's house four minutes away.
Bam Bam:That's correct, and down the whole thing. Think it's a very
Rooster:I'd bring easy two six packs.
Bam Bam:I love how easy drinking it is.
Chef Ricky:It is easy to drink, especially if they're 92 proof. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That, I'll give it.
Chef Ricky:It's a great drink. It really is a great drink. And I don't think an eight is a bad score. I liked it with thought ice. So yeah, I'm at
Gizmo:an eight. So I'm not gonna knock it for packaging. I think what's in that bottle is excellent. I think it's a nine. I really enjoyed the spirit.
Gizmo:I think senator pointing out that it doesn't drink like a 46. It drinks it doesn't drink that hot for us. I I I thought it drank closer to a 40. As far as bourbon goes, I thought this was really accessible for us and this room. We've had difficulty finding bourbon that we love, finding American whiskey that we love.
Gizmo:I think that's been a challenge. I think this is really interesting. I love the story here. Of course, I love Derek Trucks and and that whole thing. I love trying to separate separate away from the the what has become of the bourbon industry with collecting and scarcity and crazy prices and everything else.
Gizmo:I I I really enjoyed it. I think it's cool. I think having it in your back pocket at a concert or whatever might be cool. I'm not rating it for packaging. I'm rating it for the juice.
Gizmo:I I think it was a really, really excellent bourbon tonight. So for me, it's a nine. Senator?
Senator:So I'm at an eight, and that is not factoring in packaging. I I I don't think with any review, it's it should be a factor of the packaging. I mean, I don't like the band on the cigar that we're smoking tonight, and I'm not gonna take off a point for that.
Chef Ricky:That's just a band though.
Senator:But That's the packaging for the cigar. Sure.
Gizmo:Yeah. I'm
Chef Ricky:I'm in my shoes. Band.
Senator:The bourbon itself I think is very good. I think it pairs really well with cigars. I actually think that it's super versatile. I could see pairing this with many different cigars. It doesn't need to be a full bodied Maduro.
Senator:I could even see, like, there's a cinnamon note that you get in this. Like, I could literally have a D four with this bourbon.
Rooster:That is correct.
Gizmo:That's a good point.
Senator:Yeah. That is correct. I didn't think
Gizmo:about Cuban cigars with this.
Senator:I think there are some You like the
Gizmo:Bellicoso Fino? Schwa.
Bam Bam:I would do a schwa with this, I would do the Ras.
Gizmo:I don't know about Schwa. Ras, yes.
Senator:Yeah. Paracas, yes. So it's definitely very versatile. The reason that I did not give it the nine is the price point. I have a problem with with this ridiculous packaging and this notion of like, we want ills to for those the packaging.
Senator:I I can criticize it, but I'm saying it's not I'm
Chef Ricky:just it's
Gizmo:Let me criticize it,
Rooster:but I'm not
Gizmo:gonna knock it back to the packaging. No.
Senator:It's not factoring into my rating. Right. I'm just making sure I'm clear.
Bam Bam:Very clear.
Senator:I hate the packaging. It's not factoring into my rating. I hate the band. It's not gonna factor into my rating.
Bam Bam:I still like the comedy of this.
Chef Ricky:So You said you're giving it an eight because
Bam Bam:Here we
Chef Ricky:go. Price point that led to the Thank you.
Senator:Someone has ears. The price is the problem. Ding ding ding. So the the whole point is it's put in this silly packaging because it's meant to be accessible. It's meant to be no frills.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Senator:I'm gonna speak slower so everyone hears me, particularly bam. Oh, give me a break. The price point is what doesn't match that ethos. $65 is not for a bourbon, a standard base bourbon, not an accessible price point. Eagle rare, when you find it at regular price, that's a ten year bourbon, not at some, you know, crazy markup, you can find for $40.
Senator:Weller is a 30 something dollar bottle. Even the special reserve with markup, can get for $65. I think that's a better bourbon
Gizmo:than this. Yeah.
Senator:So the price is really the only reason that I took off a whole point. I just think like that conflicts with this ethos of like, this is the every man's bourbon.
Gizmo:That's a fair point.
Senator:In the bourbon category, the every man's bourbon is a 30 to $40 bottle of bourbon across every product line.
Gizmo:And I wanna make just a quick notation for the listener. If you look at this website and you see this package, you're gonna see $50. What senator is referencing is my math earlier Mhmm. Comparing this apples to apples with seven fifty Right. Milliliter presentation.
Gizmo:What's in here
Senator:is 600 milliliters.
Gizmo:I did the 200. So that ends up at around $62.50. Zero. So that is what Senator is referencing. Don't want a listener going to the website and seeing 50 and thinking that we're crazy.
Gizmo:That's what you're referencing. It Exactly. Let me just put it in
Rooster:is a touch over price.
Chef Ricky:That's exactly what I meant. You just said it better.
Gizmo:Okay.
Senator:But that's my big frustration like
Gizmo:I You know, that is a good point though about the accessibility thing on that price. It does
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:It does put
Senator:us And that's I'm pointing to the packaging.
Gizmo:Like, if
Senator:this was actually in like a nice bottle, then like, okay, maybe they don't care about accessibility. But the whole ethos is we put this in this silly packaging because we want this to be for the everyman, and we want it to be accessible. I just think the price completely
Bam Bam:Conflicts
Gizmo:not Yeah.
Senator:Align with that.
Bam Bam:You got a point. You got a point.
Senator:It's very fair. You see when you let me explain, Ben.
Bam Bam:Makes sense.
Gizmo:All right, boys, the formal liquor rating tonight on the APW seven years age straight bourbon whiskey is an 8.5. A nice score. I think it's perfect.
Bam Bam:That's a nice score.
Gizmo:Honestly, I think if if the price was closer to what it should be, $30.40 dollars, think it'd be a nine. And I think that's right. So I think, you know, composite taking half a point off.
Bam Bam:It works.
Gizmo:I think it actually works out
Bam Bam:there. Correct.
Gizmo:Yep. Alright, boys. It's time now to go into the formal lizard rating tonight on the C. L. E.
Gizmo:Maduro five by 50 Roost E. R. U.
Rooster:S. So I was actually I mean, I I didn't know anything about the cigar. A Honduran Maduro. I was very pleasantly surprised on the on the light. It was a delicious smoke, well constructed cigar.
Rooster:The aroma was good, the smoke output. It started off really nice. I mean, it had a little bit of hint of mint, little chocolate notes. It was a delicious cigar. About the halfway, the cigar got a bit muted and muddled.
Rooster:And I think a lot of guys would kind of put that cigar down thinking that, well, this is not going to come around. Hence, you should smoke the cigar till the end. And I'm glad we all did because the cigar really picked up. It got better. It got sweeter.
Rooster:The chocolate cocoa note, picked up on that. So I'm at an eight on this. And I think if the middle of the cigar was more like the last third or the first third, this would score much higher. This is a value cigar at $8 but it smokes much better than that. So I think there's definitely a merit to this cigar.
Rooster:I don't know if
Gizmo:I would buy a whole box,
Rooster:but I would definitely buy some to have because it's very versatile too. You can smoke the cigar in the daytime and the morning with a cup of coffee, the afternoon maybe even the last cigar of the day. So I'm at an eight. Alright, Senator.
Senator:So I'm also at an eight, and I think that's a product of each third delivered a very different experience for me. I think the first third was an eight. I got the fruit notes with the cocoa. I thought it got off to a very nice start. The second third for me was a seven.
Senator:That's when the flavor really took a dip. It got pretty monotone, you lost the sweetness, you lost the fruit. It was just tobacco. Had some flavor, it just wasn't enough, it wasn't what it was. The last stir for me was excellent.
Senator:That was a nine.
Lizard Rob:Oh,
Senator:yeah. I enjoyed the final third more than any part of that cigar, and so that's why when you average it out, my eight, seven, nine, like, that's where I land at an eight. I think for $8, it's a very good cigar. Like, you know, Rooster said, it's a value cigar. It's a budget priced cigar.
Senator:If I was in a retailer, you know, needing to buy from them, and I was looking for a cigar and I saw that, I would definitely pick it up and smoke it. Is it a box purchase for me? No. Because I of that disappointment in the middle of the cigar. If I'm gonna buy a box, I want it to be a cigar that all the way through is delivering exactly what I'm looking for.
Senator:But again, at that price point, it becomes a little forgivable where would I, you know, pick up a single here and there? Absolutely. So I think it's definitely worth trying, definitely worth smoking, but not necessarily something I would load up in in quantity.
Rooster:Yeah. Maybe a five pack.
Gizmo:Yeah. So for me, it's a nine. I think that for this $8 Honduran Maduro, the experience it gave us tonight was excellent. It wasn't perfect, but it was excellent. Now, because of that price, I'm gonna discount that middle 15 that we've complained about.
Gizmo:I'm gonna discount that out. At $8, you compare this to some of the more expensive Maduros, Hondurans, cigars we've smoked that don't have the construction this does, the smoke output this does, the flavor in the first and last third that this does. I thought it was really good. I am gonna buy a box of these because I'm also curious how these are gonna end up with some rest. With some time.
Gizmo:I think this cigar has legs. I think there are real moments of excellence in here that I think with some time could even be better. I've only had these two or three months. They've only been out a year. I'm really curious to see what's gonna happen with these.
Gizmo:Again, construction great. They burn great. I don't think most of us pulled out a lighter, if at all, maybe once or twice throughout the cigar. Don't know. I'm very, very happy with the cigar.
Gizmo:I think it was awesome. It was a little different. It packed a ton of flavor. Think for someone who likes a Maduro, I think it gives you what you want, but it doesn't punch you in the face. Very, very happy with the cigar tonight, so for me it's a nine.
Rooster:Were you happy with the construction
Gizmo:of the cigar? I know. Listen, I have an iPad.
Senator:I'm Bam has grown realized that with a photo.
Gizmo:I know. I have a lot ash on the floor. Like to apologize to everyone.
Bam Bam:Not at all.
Gizmo:I'm I'm gonna atone after we stop recording tonight. Get that vacuum out. Get the
Rooster:vacuum out.
Senator:It's like Pagoda's here.
Rooster:Yeah. Exactly.
Gizmo:Oh, yeah. It's not on me though. It's on the floor.
Bam Bam:That's a merit.
Gizmo:Alright, chef.
Chef Ricky:I'm also at a nine. I was actually more like an 8.7. Right? We don't do decimals. This is my thing on it.
Chef Ricky:It started sweet. It started off with a lot of flavor. We were all praising the cigar in the beginning, maybe not senator, but we were really happy with what it was delivering early on. There was a short period there where it it it sort of I wouldn't say it was muddled for me. It was definitely muted, but it was still giving something.
Chef Ricky:It wasn't completely, you know, I think I said brown paper bag on one pod. I wasn't getting that. There was still some flavor. There was still some muted flavor that was there. But then coming into the last 30, it really picked up again.
Chef Ricky:It started getting creamy. We were getting more of that cocoa, almost smoke alike creaminess, then some of the dried fruit coming back, know, whereas earlier on, it was more fresh fruit like raspberry. Dry fruit. Towards the final third for me,
Gizmo:yeah. Interesting.
Chef Ricky:So it was great. I enjoyed it. The smoke apple was insane. Know, sure the band was
Gizmo:ugly. Packaging. There's a point.
Chef Ricky:Band was ugly. Yeah, overall, listen, I enjoyed the cigar. I love the price point. I could totally see myself getting a good amount of these to stock behemoth or multiple boxes. Yeah.
Chef Ricky:Not multiple, but yeah. I'll definitely get a box and see what happens.
Bam Bam:Alright, Bam. I love the way we're rating now. It's honest. It's unaffected by anyone else. I had a strong eight.
Bam Bam:I did like the cigar. I mean, I echo what everyone else has said. The first third was fantastic. The the final third was incredible, but that middle is what affected my rating. It was it was boring.
Bam Bam:It wasn't interesting. I had to you have to fight through that. Like you said, Rooster, most people would probably put that cigar down. I think everyone should always smoke through the entire cigar, whatever they're smoking.
Gizmo:To the best of their ability.
Bam Bam:To the best of their ability, take it all the way down because you're gonna capture something special, and we did that tonight. I think that chocolate, that I finally got that brownie at that final third. It was a there was a ton of coffee, a touch of leather. It was it was just delicious, but that middle third was a problem for me. So I'm at an eight.
Gizmo:Alright, boys. The formal lizard rating tonight on the C. L. E. Maduro five by 50 is an 8.4.
Bam Bam:Okay. Good score.
Gizmo:That's a great score for that. Right. Honestly, I think that's a perfect score for that cigar.
Rooster:Okay. I agree. Well deserved.
Gizmo:Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. So, of course, both of those are debuts tonight, boys, so we don't have any other scores to compare them to. We have to congratulate again our lizard of the week, Lizard John from Boise, who writes us a lot.
Gizmo:Great voice memo tonight. We appreciate him writing in. And, of course, we have to thank Bond Roberts who's gonna send Wizard John from Boise a 10 count box of cigars. We appreciate them. Of course, boys, we have to thank our sponsor, Small Batch Cigar.
Gizmo:We were fortunate to run into those guys at PCA. It was so great to see them.
Bam Bam:They're awesome.
Gizmo:They're awesome dudes. Use our code lizard 15 for 15% off your entire order. Our sampler pack is in stock, so go check it out. Buy it. It's excellent.
Gizmo:All six cigars are great in it and it's a great value.
Bam Bam:It's gonna go
Gizmo:with the discounts.
Bam Bam:It's gonna go quick.
Gizmo:You know, always free and fast shipping from those guys, so they're excellent. So we appreciate them. And, of course, boys, our presenting sponsor, Fabrica Five. They've been with us so long. Great Honduran cigars, a little bit of Nicaraguan tobacco like we talked about tonight.
Gizmo:Try them out. Excellent flavor like we've heard from so many of our listeners tonight. Use our code lizard pod for 10% off your entire order. One more time tonight, boys. The APW, seven years age, straight bourbon whiskey scored an 8.5 tonight, and the C.
Gizmo:L. E. Maduro five by 50 scored an 8.4. I'm pretty impressed with both, honestly.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Yeah.
Gizmo:I just wish the price was lower on this APW, and I wish True. That the middle third was better on the CLE. Those two things happening. And I think we would have had a little bit more of an electric night.
Bam Bam:But I will say the flavor on this spirit carried that middle third, which regardless if you were drinking something else, may not have had that experience. They appeared beautifully tonight. I think it was a delicious overall pairing.
Gizmo:I agree with you. And stay tuned folks. So next week and in the coming weeks, we're going have a lot of PCA content coming for you, a lot of great interviews, a lot of great stuff coming, and we'll see everybody next week. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Thanks for joining us.
Gizmo:You could find our merch store and ratings archive at our brand new website, loungelizardspod.com. That's loungelizardspod.com. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. If you have any comments, questions, you wanna reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking, email us. Hello at loungelizardspod.com.
Gizmo: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.