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Released every Tuesday, the LOUNGE LIZARDS podcast helps listeners navigate the experience of finding and enjoying premium cigars (both Cuban and non-Cuban) and quality spirits. Episodes are normally around 90 minutes long and feature a variety of different topics including food, travel, life, sports and work.
The podcast features eight members: Rooster, Poobah, Gizmo, Senator, Pagoda, Chef Ricky, Grinder and Bam Bam.
This is not your typical cigar podcast. We’re a group of friends who love sharing cigars, whiskey and a good laugh.
Join us and become a card-carrying lounge lizard yourself! Email us at hello@loungelizardspod.com to join the conversation and be featured on an upcoming episode!
**Gizmo:** [00:00:00] Welcome to the Lounge Lizards podcast presented by Fabrica5. 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, Pagoda, Chef Ricky, and Bam Bam.
And our plan is to smoke a couple cigars, drink some wine, talk about life, and of course, have some laughs. So take this as your 161st Lounge Lizards podcast. Official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard is here once a week. We are going to smoke two short cigars tonight, share our thoughts on them, and give you a formal lizard ratings.
We debate whether non Cuban manufacturers get off easy when raising prices. We answer a listener email on our favorite memories with discontinued cigars. And we learn about two new cigars from Oliva, 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 Bonanza Cabernet Sauvignon with Quintero Favoritas and the Padron 1926 series, number [00:01:00] 35 in Maduro. Our six. Short smoke special on the pod tonight, boys. We're going to do a Cuban cigar and a new world cigar. This is again, the sixth time we're doing this, which is pretty cool. We're going to start with a budget Cuban.
We're starting with a BBF tonight. Just one of us. Someone's got to love the
**Bam Bam:** BBF, not
**Gizmo:** named Gizmo,
**Bam Bam:** clearly.
**Gizmo:** It's alright. Uh, we're going to start with the Quintero. It's called the Favoritas. For the listener,
**Bam Bam:** that's very, very much intended. That move.
**Gizmo:** It's a petite Robusto. 50 ring gauge cigar by four and a half inches long.
And boys, this one For being a budget 7 cigar, comes in a tubo.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, it's a very nice
**Gizmo:** aluminum tubo with a screw top lid on it. How did Bam describe the tubo? Adorable? It's adorable. It's adorable. For a budget cigar, this is a really nice presentation. It seems like that's where they've spent the money.
Yeah, it's pretty rustic. Yeah, this is
**Bam Bam:** very, [00:02:00] a very, very toothy, ugly cigar. Not handsome. What's a gnarly
**Senator:** looking cigar?
**Chef Ricky:** Who said veiny? Yeah. The rapper, I
**Senator:** mean, Christ, there's veins everywhere. So has
**Bam Bam:** anyone in here had a Quintero? I have not. I did once a long time ago. Me too. It was, it came as a bodyguard with an order that I placed a while ago.
Same. It was really old. That was in 1998. Wow. It was Good? Incredible. Really? It was Jesus. Graham cracker and honey, and very, very mellow and smooth.
**Rooster:** I don't think Sal and Brad have the same experience. No. No. Mine
**Senator:** came as a bodyguard with like a Monte Fortuna order back in the day. It
**Bam Bam:** came from one of our friends up in Boston.
Delicious. Anyway, hope this is as good.
**Gizmo:** I hope so. Let's cut this thing, boys. See, we're getting on the cold draw on the wrapper. Slight dimple.
My draw's great. Me too.
**Chef Ricky:** Yep, same here.
**Bam Bam:** Not getting much on the cold [00:03:00] draw. I'm not either. A little cedar, maybe. Mm hmm. It's mellow and pleasant, but nothing specific.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, it just tastes like, uh It tastes fairly aged.
**Bam Bam:** Mm hmm.
**Gizmo:** These cigars are from R. E. M. October 20. So Provincial Factory out in Cienfuegos. Ricky's ready to go. He's he's lit his
**Bam Bam:** cigar. You're out of protocol, man.
**Chef Ricky:** I'm sorry. You gotta go on a pip now. Episode 161. I'm still a lot of a little out of speed over here.
**Pagoda:** I like the way you say out of speed.
**Gizmo:** Unbelievable. All right, boys, let's light this thing. Ricky's already ahead of us, but the rest of us will light it. The Quintero. Favoritas. Again, it's a petite Robusto, 50 ring gauge cigar by four and a half inches long. It's factory name. It's a [00:04:00] Conchas No. 2, and this is the debut for Quintero on the podcast tonight.
**Bam Bam:** You know, the wrapper is very delicate. Yeah, I see that. Easy to burn that wrapper with a torch. That overwhelms the cigar. Single flame, I think, would be ideal.
**Gizmo:** Tastes a little musty to me on the light.
**Senator:** It is super loosely packed. Yeah. You've, you've actually gotta, like, restrict your draw. Oh, boy. Like I took a normal draw and I feel like the amount of air that just came through was insane.
Yeah, I think this cigar
**Rooster:** should have used the punch. Yeah. Kind of nice.
**Bam Bam:** I like it right now.
**Senator:** Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Delicate. It's like you said Senator, you've got to really take your time. But nice flavor.
**Senator:** It's got like a morning smoke flavor. It's very mild. Yeah, very
**Gizmo:** mild. Exactly. Which is what it's intended to be. Yeah.
It's adorable. Mild. [00:05:00] Who said that? You can have this with your blonde roast in the morning. Yeah.
**Pagoda:** What kind of flavor notes you guys getting? For me it's very like, this is uh, the Glucon D, the biscuit.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, biscuit. You know, in the cold draw, I'm getting like a biscuit, maybe a touch of like a cream. There is that little pungent, you know, when cream goes a little sour, but still edible. And I, I kind of like that.
A little culture to it. You get a little, I'm getting a little bit of that maybe. Sour cream? Yeah, not
**Gizmo:** so. It's a little, it's definitely a little musty. Like you can taste that the tobacco has a little bit of age on it.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. That barnyard. Yeah. I wouldn't
**Gizmo:** say that the flavor profile is all that interesting, but it's not a bad cigar.
I kind of like it. Rooster. It's not bad.
**Chef Ricky:** No, I think at 7 that you said, this is a flavor [00:06:00] profile and that I'd be very happy, uh, with and, and how it's delivering so far. Yeah. Gets, uh, some light, sweet honey notes here, creamy smoke with some like sharp, sharp peaks, but.
**Senator:** I also get some nuttiness. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Yeah.
Little almonds. I'm getting a little saltiness too. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Almonds are a pretty good call out. For
**Senator:** as mild as it is, there are distinct flavor notes. And they're all pleasant. So I've got to give it that much.
**Chef Ricky:** I feel like it's a little bit, maybe, uh, stronger than the Coronas Collado. I don't think.
**Senator:** I would put that a little more.
It's a completely different
**Bam Bam:** experience. A little more medium than this. Yeah. It's also different. I wouldn't even, it's not in the same class. Yeah.
**Chef Ricky:** No, for sure. Absolutely not. Yeah. Just feel the delivery here is a little bit, um. I have no complaints right now with this thing
**Bam Bam:** though. I got to tell you, I like it.
**Gizmo:** I'm getting hit with a lot of salt and I really like it right now. Yeah. The salt is really kind of on the front of my [00:07:00] tongue. And then that nuttiness that Senator was talking about, some of that shortbread, or You
**Bam Bam:** pulling that retro hale through yet, or what?
**Gizmo:** Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Creamy, honey Yeah, it's good. Biscuit type thing.
It's good.
Seven bucks. This might
**Gizmo:** be the first and last time we ever do a seven dollar Cuban cigar on this podcast. Because there's not that many left.
**Bam Bam:** That's a myth, actually.
**Rooster:** How do these, how do these come packaged?
**Gizmo:** So these come in display boxes of 15 aluminum tube cigars in five cardboard packs of three. So they're cardboard packs of three, and there's five of them in there.
There's also a display box of 25 cigars in five cardboard packs of five, and there's a cardboard box of 25 cellophane bundled cigars. How long have never, I have never seen that configuration. I've only seen the three pack, uh, aluminum tubos. How long ago did you buy these? I've had these in the tower for about three months.
I have [00:08:00] never
**Bam Bam:** seen these ever come up on the market anywhere.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. We actually got these from a listener, a friend of ours, pine tree land, um, which was awesome of him to hook us up. And again, the box code on these is R E M October 20. So these cigars were launched in 2012 and. I think this might be one of the first ones.
There may have been a New World that we did that uses short filler tobacco, but this is a handmade cigar, but it is not long fill. It's short fill.
**Bam Bam:** Which explains the price. Explains the price.
**Gizmo:** Exactly.
**Rooster:** So short fill It's basically like scraps of tobacco. Yeah, it's like smaller pieces of tobacco. That's like leftover after they roll.
**Bam Bam:** That's right, we're smoking scraps.
**Gizmo:** You know what though, for seven bucks these scraps taste pretty decent right now. Yeah. Pretty damn good.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah. Right? Yep, yep. You guys familiar with Ollie Pops? the probiotic soda. Oh, I've seen [00:09:00] it. I've never tried it. They have it at like Sweetgreen,
**Senator:** I think.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah, we love them in our house.
Um, you know, you buy them now in markets and their sodas, they don't have a ton of sugar. They have pre and probiotics and they have, uh, you know, their own representation of, of specific or popular flavors. Uh, this reminds me of an lollipop cream soda. I'm going to get one tomorrow. Yeah. The thing that's weird with those, isn't there caffeine in like all of them?
Don't, no, I don't think so. They have a vintage cola and that might have caffeine in it. That might be the one, because I,
**Senator:** I picked one up because I had heard about it. I just wanted to try it and then I saw there's like a lot of caffeine in it. I was like, all right. The,
**Chef Ricky:** the, the, no, no, my kids drink it, but they don't have the vintage cola.
They like the crisp apple and some other stuff. But this reminds me of an Alipop. Sort of cream soda. And it has a little bit of a cultured flavor to it without the craziness of like a kombucha or something like that. But this is especially on the retro hill, the retro hill, sweet, creamy, delicious. Yeah.
**Rooster:** The finish is kind
**Chef Ricky:** of dry. Yes.
**Gizmo:** And [00:10:00] short.
**Rooster:** Yes.
**Gizmo:** So boys, like I said, this is the debut of Quintero on the podcast tonight. So let's talk a little bit about their history. The market was founded in 1924 by a guy named Augustin Quintero and his four brothers. The actual name of the brand is Quintero y Germano, of course, Quintero and brother, and the, the brand produced high grade handmade cigars until the 1990s, when it was switched to a brand that was making handmade short filler.
Cigars. Uh, they also made machine made cigars for quite some time. And then when Habanos ended the production of machine made cigars in the early two thousands, of course, those machine made cigars went the way of the Dodo. So what's pretty cool about this. I got a new book. Called the great Habano factories, which was printed a while ago.
And I learned that the Quintero factory is one of the largest Habano's factories that was established outside of, of Havana. It was opened in the South [00:11:00] central province of Cienfuegos, one of the country's traditional tobacco growing regions, which together with the Eastern region are among the oldest in Cuba.
It's founder, Augustin, as I mentioned before, founded it in 1924 and the That he established with his brothers was also located in the city of Cienfuegos. What's wild is this factory when it was founded in the 1920s was located where they were growing a lot of premium tobacco, but Augustin, uh, Quintero demanded that all of his tobacco come from Pinar del Rio.
So they actually imported it from the western part of Cuba to Cienfuegos and did not use the local tobacco primarily. And then. It, this brand became so successful, especially in Spain, outside of Cuba, that they had to move production. It was growing so much that they had to move it out to additional factories as well, which is wild for, you know, a brand.
That's not a mother factory brand [00:12:00] as we would consider it. Now, one of the global brands, of course, now in 2024, a hundred years later, this year is the 100th anniversary of the brand. Now, a hundred years later, it sits alongside Figueros, uh, as one of the volume brands, you know, low price, short filler, you know, not a, not a market that people chase for quality.
What I also love is that the factory is still there. So the original factory is still in use and it's still able to be visited out in Cienfuegos. So it's one of the many factors you see on our factory code document. I wonder how far outside of
**Bam Bam:** Havana that is.
**Gizmo:** I would imagine by car it's probably quite a trip.
Five hours maybe. Probably even more. Wow. I would think, yeah.
**Bam Bam:** You know, I'll trade you one of these for a box of Vigueros. I agree. Okay? That's how much I hate that cigar.
**Senator:** Mm hmm.
**Bam Bam:** That was an awful experience. I'm sorry, gentlemen. Yeah, that was not a great cigar. That was terrible. But this is great.
**Gizmo:** Let's go through some of the other cigars currently in production from Quintero.
The Londres Extra, [00:13:00] which is a Petit Corona, 40 by 4 and 7 eighths inches long. The Brevas, which is a Corona, 40 by 5 and a half. The Panatella, short Panatella, 37 by 5. The Favoritos that we're smoking tonight, the Petit Robusto, 50 by 4 and a half. The Petit Quintero, Which is even smaller than this, which is a petite Corona 43 by four and an eighth.
And finally the tubularis, which is a Corona 42 by five and a quarter. And two of those, the favoritos and the tubularis come in the tubos. So that's, uh, that's pretty much Quintero as we have it now. You know, the slower
**Bam Bam:** I smoke this, the better experience I'm
**Chef Ricky:** getting. I was just gonna say
**Bam Bam:** that.
**Chef Ricky:** If you do the retrohale extremely slow, especially because the finish is short.
**Bam Bam:** But the sequence of taking a draw, in between each draw, if you wait a little longer than usual. Yeah. It settles in. It's a very delicate cigar. I think it needs that. It's, it's, it's very good. A thousand
**Chef Ricky:** percent. Do a super slow retro here. You're going to get so much vanilla and almond
**Pagoda:** [00:14:00] there. Yeah. It's ridiculous.
I'm just surprised for something with a short furrow. It's still holding up on this burn line.
**Bam Bam:** Oh yeah. And the ash is still kind of holding up, right? Yeah, there's a few gaps in the you can see the choppy, the choppiness
**Gizmo:** in the ash. You can see that it's not what we'd expect from a normal long filler cigar from Habanos, you know?
I like the band on it. It's a classic, simple band. Understated, which I like. It's red and gold. Like a dark red and gold with white lettering.
**Chef Ricky:** You don't see italicized font often in cigar bands. It's true. It's pretty interesting.
**Gizmo:** For seven bucks, I gotta say, this is delivering on value.
**Bam Bam:** I would love to find a bunch of these somewhere.
**Rooster:** It's a good, it's a good morning smoke. Absolutely. Cup of coffee, light breakfast. Or on
**Bam Bam:** vacation in the morning when everyone's in the room, just step out and have a cigar. Nice.
**Pagoda:** I think to me it already tastes like Glucon D. All I need is a cup of tea. [00:15:00]
**Bam Bam:** So that's a good, that's a good thing then. It is. Yeah.
**Senator:** That's a good thing. If you understand what that is. They're doing
**Gizmo:** a sub podcast. That's correct. It's a dessert, right? No, no, no. Biscuit
**Senator:** of some kind. Our podcast is disseminated in 47 different languages.
**Pagoda:** I've talked about this so many times. All of which I can't pronounce. There he is. James Bond from Delhi.
It's a cookie, which in England you call biscuit. Right. But it's sweet and salty, right? It's, uh, I'll get it for you guys. Just translate
**Chef Ricky:** in the subtitles, guys. I will. By the way,
**Pagoda:** I've mentioned it before a few times. Yeah. It's got the sweet, salty. It's like a cookie. Yeah. It's, it's very nice.
**Gizmo:** Is that something you have with coffee, or is it something you have with tea?
With tea in
**Pagoda:** India. In India, they'll have the biscuits, they'll dunk it in, and then they have it.
**Chef Ricky:** Interesting. Yeah, the cigar, the flavor profile is very creamy and sweet. [00:16:00]
**Gizmo:** Yeah. What's making it interesting for me is the salt. Mm hmm. Is the, the That's in the
**Bam Bam:** fore, it's in the front. Yeah, and it's keeping my,
**Gizmo:** it's keeping my interest every draw.
In something that I think without that, it probably would be a little bit more boring to me. But that's kind of adding a layer that's, you know, keeping me tuned in.
**Chef Ricky:** Now I know you said you got these three months ago. What was the age?
**Gizmo:** These are from October 2020. Okay. So they're just over four years old.
Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** They can't be 7 now, if they're on the market.
**Gizmo:** That's how much I paid for them. So I'd imagine that they're no more than 10 or 12. Even still, I mean, this is pretty decent at that price. Damn
**Bam Bam:** big bargain, yeah.
**Rooster:** Yeah. For a Cuban cigar, it is a bargain. But if you compare it to New World, there's a lot of cigars under 10 that deliver more than this.
**Gizmo:** Sure.
**Rooster:** Flavor wise.
**Gizmo:** How about that Aladino we did to, you know, last week? Oh, yeah. So speaking of the Aladino, I want to do some quick [00:17:00] housekeeping stuff. So first, I want to shout out two people that, uh, I totally forgot to mention on the podcast last week who were crucial in recommending the Aladino. If you did not tune in to the Aladino episode last week, because like us, we had no idea about that brand until we smoked that cigar.
We rated it a 10. It was so incredible, and I wanted to shout out two people. Lizard Luigi, who's one of the listeners that has won Lizard of the Week. He writes us emails all the time. He was the first listener to recommend that about a year and a half ago. And also, my friend John McTavish, Cigar surgeon from Developing Pallets, uh, on YouTube, check them out.
He was another guy who listed this in his top five when he did the FOH member deep dive with Rob Iowa, like I did. Um, he was the first one, I think I was the second, and he listed this in his top five cigars. So I, you know, I saw that. And I tied it all together with a bunch of the listener emails. We think we got two or three listener emails, including Luigi's.
So I just wanted to shout those [00:18:00] guys out. Uh, and also last week we did the Kirkland 16 years aged single malt scotch. We already shouted out, uh, Costco. Correct. We did shoot it. We did shut
**Bam Bam:** down rooster. Never enough.
**Gizmo:** And I had a shout out lizard fortune who hooked us up with that bottle.
**Bam Bam:** Oh, he
**Gizmo:** was actually the one that got us that bottle.
I didn't
**Bam Bam:** remember that.
**Gizmo:** And was at the night. We have to shout out because we didn't mention it. His amazing pizza night. That's
**Bam Bam:** right. Oh, yeah. Always fortune
**Gizmo:** is a pizza connoisseur. Like I think Dave Portnoy, the pizza guy.
**Bam Bam:** Yes.
**Gizmo:** He would give this guy easily like an eight nine or a nine one, like a, like a legendary score.
The pizza's that good. So we have to shout out those guys. Thanks so much. So one other bit of housekeeping here, boys, the best of 2024 episode is coming up. We've released that around Christmas each year and for listeners out there who are as tuned in as ours are, I could really use their help in pointing out moments from this year, from 2024 that they love to make my job a little easier.
You know, [00:19:00] contribute some, uh, some stuff you loved from the year. So please shoot me an email and, and tell us some of the items that you liked from this year to make my job a little easier, putting together the very, very extended best of 2024. I
**Rooster:** have an idea. You do? What's yours? BAM's accountability hour.
That was two years ago. Yeah, just keep doing it every year.
**Bam Bam:** It's over. Move on. No. Move
**Gizmo:** it along. And finally, referencing last week, Lizard Mitch wrote us that amazing email. Remember he wrote us that he had had a a child around the time the senator did, went off, he was deployed for nine months, found out Between recording that episode last week and this week, his wife just had his other baby.
So he was writing that he was having a second last week in the lizard of the week email. So congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Lizard Mitch on the, on the birth of their, their baby girl. So new lizards everywhere. All right, boys, we're coming up to the halfway point here [00:20:00] on the Quintero. Favoritas. What are you guys thinking?
**Bam Bam:** I don't think it's changed much. It's still very enjoyable. No complaints. Um, I think early on we were able to pull distinct flavor notes. I think they've merged a little bit for me. But still, it's more what I like. Creamy and a little sweeter and salty for me, I think a hallmark of a nice Cuban cigar.
It's
**Rooster:** not bad, but it's, it's not wowing me. It's not like great, you know, it's not, I'm not. Yeah, well, our socks not getting knocked off, but it's enjoyable. The initial, like the first third was better than, than than it is right now. Really? It's, it's a little muddled now. It's, I don't like the dry finish. Hmm.
**Bam Bam:** Well, you're not drinking anything either. Yeah, that espresso. It's always a challenge. Yeah, he has the Kirkland Scotch. That's why your ratings are a little bit affected. He didn't bring his thermos.
**Senator:** He pounded the
**Bam Bam:** thermos
**Senator:** in [00:21:00] his car before he came in. Pagoda got what I said. He got what I said. I missed it.
**Bam Bam:** What'd you say? That's why your ratings are a little bit skewed. Let's pay back for that atomic comment.
**Gizmo:** You know, I gotta give, I gotta give Rooster some, uh, some joy here. Since last week's episode we had two listeners write us asking what episode numbers the Bam Bam accountability hours were. For fuck's sake, why?
I swear to you. Yeah, because I guess they were referenced by, you know, who over here to my left, I've been
**Bam Bam:** hoping that they wouldn't even be mentioned. It's a year old, two years old. Let's go.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, this Cody, right? There was lizard. Cody was one. And we had, I think tuxedo Timmy actually. Yeah, Cody and Timmy
**Bam Bam:** are out.
By the
**Gizmo:** way, for any listener wanting to listen to those at 62 and 63. About a hundred episodes ago.
**Bam Bam:** Thanks, Ciz. You're welcome.
**Pagoda:** It was one right after the other.
**Rooster:** Yeah, back to back. We couldn't fit it all on one episode. [00:22:00]
**Bam Bam:** Well, no, remember we gave him homework to do. As I've always said, my generosity knows no bounds, so.
There you go.
**Gizmo:** All
**Senator:** right,
**Gizmo:** boys. Let's talk about our pairing tonight. We have some red wine, the Bonanza Cabernet Sauvignon, and I don't know much about this. I've only had this here at the lounge as have I from lizard. George is a member here, loves this wine. And from my understanding. Very much in line with the cigar we're smoking.
This is a very reasonably priced cab, correct?
**Senator:** Yeah, it's 20 bucks flat. 20
**Gizmo:** bucks. Okay.
**Senator:** Nice. Is it, it's not a blend, yeah? Uh, no. It's, it's all cab. Uh, this wine, so, Lizard George at our lounge is how I first tried it. Actually, last year we were at, uh, Fortune's, uh, pizza, uh, event. And, This wine has just like taken off.
It's, I, just when I was in D. C. traveling, it's multiple hotels now, [00:23:00] it's um, in their mini bars, I'm just seeing it everywhere, like hotel bars, airports, places like that, um, I've had a funny experience with this wine, and now just doing a little bit of homework, I'm not crazy. And it all makes sense now. So, I, the first bottle I drank, uh, with Lizard George, I actually thought it was pretty good for 20 bucks.
I was like, wow. I mean, this is, so, just a little backstory. This is made by, um, Chuck Wagner, the guy who, uh, him and his family made Caymus. So. Which is
**Gizmo:** one of the most popular wines in the world, right? For sure.
**Senator:** Um, at least in the U. S. So. People got really excited because the price point of Caymus is high, right?
Like an entry level bottle of Caymus right now is probably like 65 bucks a bottle. Some places even more than that. So to make a Wagner, um, cab at 20 bucks, people were really excited about what that would taste like. Now, my first experience with this was good. When I was traveling a few weeks ago, I tried a [00:24:00] bottle and it was really smoky, to the point that I didn't enjoy it.
I was very confused how I thought it was pretty decent the first time and didn't like it the second. What I've read, these bottles are non vintage. Which is really weird. You never see this with red wine. I mean, if you buy even a really cheap bottle of red wine, there's a year on the bottle.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Senator:** They mix vintages of cab, and their goal with this is to actually try to be able to replicate the same flavor profile year over year.
But the challenge becomes within a year because they're blending grapes from different years and they're all from different sources. It's not from like a single vineyard or estate. There can be a red variation in how certain some bottles were drink versus others. You would think so. So I'm not crazy because I couldn't figure out it was such a big departure.
I mean, It's possible that any bottle could taste a little bit different, but [00:25:00] if it's from the same vineyard in the same year, the odds of that are very, very low for me, just having two bottles. And one of the two is very different from what I thought this should taste like. It's because they're coming from all over the place.
So it's a blessing and a curse in that five years from now, you should be able to get the same exact drinking experience you're getting here. But within a year, Or even another bottle five years from now, you could get that off bottle that just was blended a little differently and doesn't quite taste the same.
So it's very unique. Really interesting. I feel
**Gizmo:** like it's like buying a box of cigars. If you buy a case of wine, you should, you're saying if you're saying, if I go out and buy a case of this, those bottles might taste different from each other inside that case. It's possible. Now they should all taste
**Senator:** now.
Now just keep mine. It's no different than spirits, right? So when you buy a 12 year spirit, Whether we're talking about scotch rum, you name it, that's going to taste consistent year in and year out, right? It's they're taking [00:26:00] different sink. Let's say scotch, like single malt from a variety of different ages, right?
12 year, 15 year, and blending that they're all minimum 12 year, but they're doing that to recreate the same exact flavor profile every single time. Is it possible that something could be slightly off? Of course. Now in wine, wine just rejects that entirely and says every year it's going to taste a little bit different.
Right. That's the whole point of vintages. The 2022 bottle is going to taste different from the 2024 bottle. Um, with this, they're trying like a spirit to make it consistent. So most of the time you're going to get a consistent experience, but you can just have that off experience. And I just got unlucky that one time and I noticed the difference, but it's cool because it's very against the grain.
I mean, in wine, I, like I said, I've never seen a non vintage bottle of red wine.
**Bam Bam:** I know you've got more to read there, but honestly, this is, This is, I'm enjoying this.
**Chef Ricky:** Very drinkable. It's very, very drinkable. [00:27:00]
**Bam Bam:** Slightly sweet.
**Chef Ricky:** Little plum cherry notes. Yeah. Enjoying it. It's a good drink right now. This with the cigar, it's almost like cherry pie.
Is it comparable
**Rooster:** to the other 20? Um, Oberon. I mean, we'll see if
**Senator:** jury's out, we're just starting to try it, but I think by the end of our rating, we'll certainly answer that. Um, I think with this wine also, I mean, Caymus is known as being a really bold cab, I argue too bold. And this is meant to be still full bodied, but more silky and easier in its delivery.
So it's just a lot more accessible and more versatile in terms of when you can drink it or what you can pair it with.
**Bam Bam:** There is versatility here. I could have this with a steak. I can have it alone with dessert and a cigar. This is
**Gizmo:** one of those, if you're at a restaurant, you're looking to just get a, uh, a bottle for the table and nothing fancy.
Yeah. This is very serviceable. And
**Chef Ricky:** everyone's gonna enjoy
**Bam Bam:** it. Yeah. You can have it at lunch and dinner. Where Oberon, I think is, I honestly, to me, it's [00:28:00] a bit more sophisticated, and it's a bit bolder for me, just a little bit. I would probably have that at dinner.
**Pagoda:** You know, for a cab, this does not Not have
**Bam Bam:** it whenever I want, like this guy.
Yeah. Finish as dry.
**Gizmo:** I agree with you, Pagoda. It's not super
**Chef Ricky:** tannic. Yeah, it's
**Gizmo:** And it's helping with, it's actually helping this, this dry Cuban cigar. It's just gonna say, that's what makes it great. It complements the cigar. It does.
**Bam Bam:** I don't think it, it's helping. I think it's complimenting.
**Gizmo:** And you talk about diversity, and I guess we'll see how this does with the Padron.
We're going to, You know, follow this cigar with, but this is working really well with a very mild, you know, Cuban cigar. Yeah. Like it's, it doesn't overwhelm it at all. I think it's pairing very nicely right now.
**Senator:** The thing I'm happiest about with this wine, the Wagner family, obviously very famous for Caymus and they have a number of different, uh, brands that they make as well.
They're known for a super traditional, uh, California cab, which is sweet and jammy, and I don't like overly sweet or jammy wine. So, there's some Wagner wines, like, they make a [00:29:00] Pinot Noir, it's called, uh, Bowen. It is so sweet and jammy, I mean, I think it's disgusting, honestly, I can't drink it. Um, I think
**Bam Bam:** we agree with you on that.
Yeah,
**Senator:** so, I mean, I was worried with this, and I think even Caymus can be a little too intense, so I was very skeptical, but I think they've done a very good job of, like, finally having a cab that's, Dial down. This is nicely balanced.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Yeah. I just don't like that. If you get in, you know, if you fall in love with this, I know that you might end up feeling like you have the same thing.
And every time you open it, it's a little different.
**Pagoda:** But guess, haven't you heard life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you get to
**Bam Bam:** go to rule of life. Edgar Allan Pagoda returns.
**Rooster:** The name is kind of odd. Bonanza. Yeah. So
**Senator:** actually there's a story behind that. So
**Bam Bam:** TV show, right? It is way back in the forties or I don't know when it was. No, [00:30:00] it was fifties, sixties, seventies. Who knows?
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah. Seventies, eighties. I love that show. And I was a kid. My uncle would watch it all the time. Hey, Hoss, it's still on TV. Get that bale of hay over here.
**Senator:** They're intent behind it was, uh, bonanza, meaning like the fortune of finding something. And in their case, uh, land in California where gray cab is made. And so they source from a number of different locations, but they think. All great grapes that make something that they can produce consistently. That's going to be satisfying.
And the inspiration for this particular wine at like a 20 price point as a cab, which is not common in kind of the Wagner line, apparently Chuck jr. Who runs, uh, Caymus was inspired by his father, Chuck senior, who would always have Caymus cab with lunch. And that is not an accessibly priced wine to be born with lunch every day.
**Gizmo:** If you own the thing.
**Senator:** Well, yeah. If you own a thing.
**Gizmo:** I mean, it's pretty [00:31:00] accessible
**Senator:** if you own it. Correct. So his thinking was to try to bring to market something that could be similarly satisfying, but at a reasonable price point that someone would be very comfortable opening this at lunch or really any occasion and not thinking twice about it.
Yeah,
**Chef Ricky:** I gotta say I'm loving the retro here on the cigar with the wine here. I agree. It's lovely It is
**Bam Bam:** great pairing
**Chef Ricky:** and what was the temperature intentional because I think the temps perfect but go to my need ice
**Pagoda:** Go ahead. Oh my lord chef You know, this
**Senator:** is wine You only get ice in your wine at Rooster's favorite Italian restaurant in New Jersey, Belmont Tavern. Oh, that's true. The place is a thump. For the listener, Rooster's obsessed with this place. It's a complete hole in the wall. Gizmo will back me up on this.
It's a New Jersey
**Bam Bam:** staple.
**Senator:** It's the worst.
**Bam Bam:** It's a staple.
**Gizmo:** They have what's called the Chicken Savoy. Okay, it's the dish. Everybody in North Jersey talks about this stupid chicken dish. [00:32:00] You go there, and it's as if they rolled out Play Doh, okay, to the, to the, to the thickness of How disrespectful. You know, a piece of paper, and overcooked it, and then it's like a, it's like a rubber band.
**Senator:** Yeah, it's the driest chicken you'll ever eat. Am I,
**Gizmo:** Senator, am I wrong? No, not at all. Rubber, rubber. Rubber
**Rooster:** plus. Yeah, rubber plus. It was an off night.
**Bam Bam:** No, honestly, I've had that chicken
**Rooster:** Savoy
**Bam Bam:** multiple occasions. It is
**Rooster:** inconsistent. There
**Senator:** are multiple times with rooster at both times. It sucked. Thank you. But the wine story there.
So we're sitting at the, we're standing, I should say at the bar waiting for a table to open up. So we're ordering a drink. So I order a glass of red wine. The guy goes behind the bar. Takes a wine glass, fills it with ice. And I'm like, surely that must be someone else's drink. Next thing I know, he takes some bottle of red wine, screws the top off, and starts to pour.
I go, no, no, do not pour the wine on the ice. He goes, you don't want ice with your wine? I [00:33:00] said, of course not. I just want it in a glass by itself. He thought I was nuts. I, what a bizarre place.
**Gizmo:** It's classic, you know, Italian family bullshit, old school.
**Bam Bam:** They, they, it's like, how's the Spumante on tap over there with sugar cubes?
That's the kind of a place. It is. But
**Gizmo:** here's the thing. The family members who, who, who own this place hate each other. So there's one family member who owns the bar and there's another who owns the restaurant. So you have to do everything separately, even though the place is the size of a shoe box
**Bam Bam:** and roosters, a rooster is a silent partner.
But how
**Gizmo:** many times have you been there? Three. Two with you.
**Rooster:** Oh, you went on your own? No, I was, I was forced to You liked it that much? Yeah, it was so good.
**Pagoda:** I think you have to take Chef Ricky there now, so that he can experience Wait, who'd you pick? My friend Tom.
**Gizmo:** He wasn't my friend Tommy.
**Senator:** He loved it.
**Gizmo:** No,
**Senator:** he hated it.
Giz, you left out the, the best part for, or the part that you hated the most. They only take cash. Yeah. I'm not kidding. That's always Gizmo must've spent a half hour talking to these people about [00:34:00] how ridiculous it is that they don't take cash in the year 20, 20 cards. I'm sorry. They don't take credit cards.
And he's literally trying to convince this woman how easy it would be to set up a credit card processor there. How ridiculous it is that you have to pay separate at the bar, separate at the restaurant. I was dying. I mean, a hundred years from now, that place is going to operate exactly. Actually,
**Bam Bam:** I'd heard him say, I can come down and do it for you.
It's comical.
**Gizmo:** It's just comical how the place operates. I don't understand. The place
**Rooster:** is so old school. They don't even have a phone in the, in the. Correct. If you call that place, the phone rings in the phone booth. It literally does. Yeah, because they don't exist. They don't pay
**Gizmo:** taxes. It sounds like Tony Soprano's hangout.
Exactly. It's not a recommend. So boys,
**Chef Ricky:** we're into the
**Gizmo:** last third now on the Quintero Favoritas. I feel like mine is, it's heating up a little bit. I'm getting more salt, getting a little more oomph. And I think to use Rooster's word, it's kind of
**Rooster:** dry,
**Gizmo:** muddled, and it's definitely dry. [00:35:00] The wine's helping, but it's a little more muddled for me.
And I don't like how it's heated up. And I don't really think I've been smoking it fast. I think I'm probably because of the short filler.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah, I think I'm at about the halfway point. I feel like I'm smoking a little bit slower than you guys. I'm not, I'm not getting quite muddled flavors yet or super hot.
Uh, flavors. You're, you're taking a good pace. So yeah. Yeah. I'm still enjoying it, but let's see where it goes, but I feel like I need to speed up.
**Senator:** I'm in the same boat as, as, uh, Ricky. I feel like, uh, if you take your time with it, it definitely helps flavor wise, but it is frustrating that you have to be so intentional about it because the draw is so insanely open.
It's easy to let it heat up. My only complaint though, I will say is the construction. I mean, obviously it's, the draw is way too open, that's what we're talking about now, but also the wrapper, all Cuban wrappers are thin, but this is like insanely paper thin. Yes. Where, it's like just from smoking this, like.
**Bam Bam:** Are there little fissures that are opening? [00:36:00] Yeah. Mine too. And then
**Senator:** like right around the head of the cigar, it's, it's starting to unravel a little bit.
**Rooster:** Just a touch. It could also be an R. H. issue. Here
**Senator:** we go.
**Rooster:** My head's going to explode. Ruth
**Bam Bam:** is on fire today. Fire, fire. As Gizmo looks up to the ceiling.
Serenity now. Serenity now. Are those
**Gizmo:** fans working good? Actually, you know, I was so diligent with these and, and this is a good note for the listener because we just experienced this when we came home with mag 46 tubos that Pagoda lost in his case, as we discussed last week, but that has to be mentioned the rest of us.
That was a great deflection from the humidity.
**Bam Bam:** The rest of us. Pagoda, you get no break in the, no break.
**Gizmo:** The rest of us who were in Cuba brought home some mag 46 tubos who, you know, a Senator tried one in Cuba performed very well, definitely was humid. And a [00:37:00] bunch of them inside the tubo had some, uh, some mold on them.
Just a little bit that you can wipe off. Right. So we did that. We
**Senator:** brought them home. Forget about the mold. I went through, cause with mag 46, can be really tightly packed. Yeah. I made the woman get me every box that they had in the humidor downstairs. I opened each box and every single individual two ball.
I must've went through 50 plus of these cigars and hand picked out the ones that look like they would draw great. And then we split them up and how much we watched him
**Bam Bam:** do all this rooster. Out of these guys were
**Senator:** drinking Nevada club. I'm sitting there slaving away with these cigars. How many do you think we kept out of those 50 you pulled?
20, 25, more than that. So honestly, I probably went through maybe 60 and about half of them were poorly constructed and half were good. So we probably split about 30 of them up.
**Gizmo:** So when we brought them home, we froze them of course, because when you buy cigars in Cuba, they've not gone through the Habano's freezing process.
They've, you know, they've not been prepared to leave the island. So very similar to this, when I got these cigars, I actually [00:38:00] put them in my tower. I took the. And I took the caps off the two bows. So for listeners out there, when you get two bows, generally those two bows are going to be able to hold humidity better than obviously others, you know, boxes, cardboard boxes, slide lid boxes, cedar boxes, whatever they're going to, there's more air transfer in those than a sealed screw cap to bow here.
So if you get these, my recommendation, putting them in your tower to bring them down. Take the cap off because otherwise you're going to delay that process quite a bit. So that was my MO. So I think that it's definitely helped here because these are all smoking pretty decently.
**Senator:** Very good. I'll also say just on that same point, whenever you get tubos, take them out and look at them because there's almost always a little bit of mold.
Yeah. On those cigars just because it holds the humidity so well. Even when I took this out of this tubo, there was a little bit, I was just able to wipe it off with my finger. Um, it does happen more. Go ahead, say it.
**Gizmo:** What?
So, boys, we have some news out of [00:39:00] Oliva that I thought was really interesting, especially because Pagoda's here, who's Mr. Carnegie Club. They've just announced a new Oliva cigar exclusive for the Carnegie Club in New York City. So the famous Cigar Lounge. Really close to central park and times square and cigar fish in auto notes here has been a part of the New York city smoking scene since 1996.
Of course, Pagoda goes there all the time and they have announced a box press torpedo 52 ring gauge by six all Nicaraguan blend with a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and what Aliva is saying is a medium bodied smoke and it's going to be exclusively available at Pagoda's Carnegie club. They should have called the cigar, the Pagoda, the Pagoda, right?
I think he should have had Pagoda on the tasting panel for this. Yeah, they should have.
**Bam Bam:** I think he had something to do with this.
**Gizmo:** Now here's the problem. Guess what? The price is 60 bucks, 38 bucks a piece.
**Senator:** It's steep.
**Bam Bam:** That's a
**Gizmo:** lot. It's a little pricey.
**Senator:** Essentially like a house [00:40:00] blend cigar. Now
**Bam Bam:** the question is what's Pagoda's commission per stick.
That's a very good question. How,
**Pagoda:** how involved were you in this? There are a few things that cannot be disclosed. I've signed an NDA.
**Gizmo:** So those are gonna be available soon, but that's pretty cool. Like, is that something you, uh, you, you would try when you're there?
**Pagoda:** Of course, I'll get, I'll get a few of them over here.
But yeah, 38 is a bit steep, but you know, the average prices over there are around 30 bucks anyway. I
**Chef Ricky:** was gonna say, even for Carnegie Club, because I know Soho Cigar Bar, the prices are pretty steep. 8 38 seems like a bargain out. A out. A out a city. I would bet
**Gizmo:** that's why they priced it there. Because if you go get like a padron 1964.
Yeah. You cigar 70 bucks. Yeah. You're 50, 60, $70. Have a question. You know
**Bam Bam:** what's, isn't that cut fee at Carnegie? About 12 bucks? 15 bucks?
**Gizmo:** I think it's 2020 bucks for cutting fee. Yeah. If you don't buy a cigar, I think it's 20. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** I'd rather pay the $20 and never buy a cigar there, . It's not gonna happen.
Their selection's awful. [00:41:00] Nothing's interesting there. I'll bring my own sticks. Pay 20 bucks. Go to your thoughts. No, no. I think the cutting fee is
**Pagoda:** 15 bucks. Just come even better. This hang with me. No one told you. I like that. VIP. No, I'm just kidding.
**Gizmo:** He shows up there. It's he's like the mayor,
**Pagoda:** dude. I'm not kidding.
The red carpet rolls.
**Gizmo:** We walk in with him. Like they all, everybody knows him cause he's there a lot. He's obviously, you know, Mr. Personality. broads. Think of how many cigar cases they have from him. I'm telling you. Two or three Sotolos on the, uh, on the, uh, On the display?
**Rooster:** On the price list. You should probably rent a locker there.
Leave your, uh, leave your case in the locker.
**Pagoda:** I should. It's not bad actually. It's just about 800 bucks or something. Per month? For the year.
**Senator:** Per day.
**Gizmo:** So boys, Peace. Another one coming from Oliva, the Siri V Roaring 20s is a new cigar coming from Oliva, and this one is wild. It's a [00:42:00] 60x6 double perfecto, similar blend to the rest of the Siri's V line, Ecuadorian wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and filler.
And the price is 300 a cigar. Get the heck out of
**Senator:** here. What is going on? Oliva?
**Gizmo:** Oliva.
**Senator:** Jeez.
**Gizmo:** I was shocked when I saw this. The presentation's really nice. There's like a gold foil on the bottom. The bands are very ornate. But 300 a cigar to see Oliva now jumping into this. Oh yeah. Ludicrous price thing.
**Bam Bam:** Give me the Lencero
**Gizmo:** for 8.
I'm a happy
**Bam Bam:** man.
**Gizmo:** And how do you have a cigar in the same line? Just, just hear me out. You have a cigar in the same line that's 6, 8, 5. I've got, I'll leave a VLAN service for it. You have a Siri V roaring twenties for 300 a cigar. Same blend? I I, it's gotta be similar. Maybe a little more aged or something. I, I, they, they, uh, did say that they're going to donate the revenue from the sale of the cigar to [00:43:00] charity.
You live the Oliva helping hands foundation, but still 300 a cigar. Like, I'm sorry, I don't understand.
**Senator:** This really pisses me off that lately a lot of these new world manufacturers come out with these absurdly priced cigars and then they say it's all in the name of charity as if like they're not keeping obviously the lion's share of the proceeds from that.
You want to raise money for charity. How about you make an excessively priced cigar that you sell at crazy volume and actually therefore, uh, collect a lot more money for charity than how many people are realistically going to pay that price for an Oliva V. And you're going to barely raise any
**Bam Bam:** money.
How transparent are these is this effort and the money actually going to charity? Who sees that? Where, where is it publicized? Right.
**Rooster:** And, and even. The point that an Oliva smoker is not going to buy a 300 Oliva. Oliva smoker is a budget smoker. If that, and they're not going to spend 300. I mean, I can understand like, [00:44:00] you know, Davidoff or Padrone coming out with a top end, you know, even, even Padrone doesn't have that.
Their most expensive cigar is like 75. They never came out with a 300 one, but if they ever did, maybe somebody might try that, but not an Oliva.
**Senator:** Now, I mean, at this rate, Kintero is going to have a 300 cigar. I mean, this is ridiculous. It's like everybody's getting it on this short filler scraps, gold
**Rooster:** tubes, mold on the cigar.
Why
**Gizmo:** not? This
**Senator:** is
**Gizmo:** insanity. So I want to read a quote here. Fred. V, I can't pronounce his last name. The CEO of the holding company for Oliva said, we're so excited to present the cigar to the world. Finally, after 18 months, the idea was born before a worldwide pandemic took people's freedoms away. I see it much more.
I don't know how that's relevant. I see it much more as an artwork than a product to smoke, especially when such an ode contributes to a better future. For [00:45:00] the local communities that make it all happen. Uh, so I guess they're gonna be donating this to an elementary school in Esteli, Nicaragua. Again, I just don't understand a business of this size, you know, and this volume, I believe, is one of the biggest manufacturers in the world.
I, I just don't understand putting out a cigar at 300 a piece for a brand and a line, just the V, that is really created to be a delicious cigar. That's very accessibly priced for the, for the average smoker
**Chef Ricky:** at that price point for that brand. They're going to need a charity for the charity. Cause they're not going to raise any money for those.
Unfortunately,
**Pagoda:** the school will never be built.
**Rooster:** They're selling school might get like 250 for the whole year.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. So I was, uh, I was pretty surprised to see that. I think the, you know, this is again, another entry into the cigar industry's insanity. With pricing, um, and it's, it's really disappointing. So we'll come back to pricing.
I want to talk a little bit about, uh, cigar pricing in a little bit here, boys. But we're coming to the end of the [00:46:00] Quintero Favoritas. Any final thoughts here before we move into our rating and then move on to the Padron?
**Chef Ricky:** It's getting muddled.
**Bam Bam:** It's um, it's definitely flatlined for me. It's not interesting.
And the fibers of the tobacco are starting to fall apart. In your mouth? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's happening.
**Senator:** In the last third, this is where There's really no way to avoid the heat. It's so loosely packed. It was like, I was able to smoke it slowly. The first two thirds, that's where Ricky and I weren't getting any of that, um, kind of harsh muddled flavor, but in the last third, it's just impossible.
It's, it's hot and it's just completely muddled. Correct.
**Chef Ricky:** Falling harsh, harsh medicinal. It's, it's not, it's not fun to smoke anymore.
**Rooster:** Yeah. Throughout the cigar, I kind of got. Like dry cedar as the dominant note. I didn't, I don't, I didn't get any almond or
**Bam Bam:** no creaminess at all. A little bit of the sweet cream, just a little bit, a little bit in the beginning.
Look, I'm down to an inch up to this point. It was pretty [00:47:00] enjoyable. And at this point it's pretty unsmokable.
**Rooster:** Yeah. I'm afraid to even relight this at this point.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, let's move into the formal lizard rating now on the Quintero favoritas from Cuba. Huh? Rooster, you're up. I'm at a six.
**Rooster:** That's it.
Okay.
**Gizmo:** Senator.
**Senator:** Well, you take it easy. You're saying way too much Rooster. I'm going to be generous for some reason. I'm going to give it a seven. The only reason I'm going to give it a seven, a Cuban cigar at a price point like this is really, really hard to find these days. So I have to give them credit and coming in at that price point from a market that is obviously not very celebrated.
I wasn't expecting any of this, honestly, to be enjoyable, and the first two thirds for me, flavor wise, were enjoyable. I could see myself smoking a cigar like this in the morning. The, the thing that was really problematic for me was just the construction, because if this were a long filler, Um, or if this were at least a bit more [00:48:00] densely packed, the last third may have held up like the first two thirds and I wouldn't have had the experience I did down the stretch.
Um, but construction's what completely precluded an eight, nine, or a ten. Um, yeah, I think for anyone looking for a budget priced morning smoke. Rarely
**Bam Bam:** priced. That, you know,
**Senator:** this would fit the bill and wouldn't break the bank to do it.
**Rooster:** I mean, it might be possible that because it's a short filler cigar that they can't really pack it.
Maybe. Is that possible? Sure.
**Senator:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, I think they would have to be mindful of that, right? I also think,
**Senator:** someone said this in the beginning, this is exactly the kind of cigar that a punch would help a lot. Yes. Because even with the problems heating up down the stretch, it's like we all did a straight cut on this cigar.
There's no way to avoid that heat at that point. You could also punch.
**Bam Bam:** It could help keep the fibers within the cigar as well, right? That's a good idea. Yeah, keep the structure maybe in place
**Rooster:** or maybe a pigtail. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** here we go Send a letter[00:49:00]
**Pagoda:** Then it'd be rated on the rooster letterhead To
**Rooster:** whom it may concern
**Pagoda:** rooster
**Bam Bam:** This is a rooster
**Gizmo:** Mr. Quintero. So for me, it's also a seven. I think there, you know, a couple of things play into the seven. I enjoyed most of the flavor profile almost all the way through. I think it got a little muddled, but I can forgive that.
I enjoyed the saltiness. I enjoyed the, the nuttiness that, that Senator mentioned. I was getting a lot of that. There was a little shortbread thing. You know, I, I, I think it's really would be a great, like, Hey, I have 45 minutes on a Saturday morning with a cup of coffee outside. Like, I think it's a great cigar for that for seven bucks.
And if the price was double or triple what it is, like a lot of the other Cuban cigars that we smoke, even this size, it would definitely be a six, but I have to factor in value here for what it is, what it's trying to be. I love the tubo. It's a seven.
**Pagoda:** I got a seven for me as well. I enjoyed the flavor in the [00:50:00] beginning.
It reminded me of my glucose D biscuit, which I really like from England. That's going to be added from India from India. That's
**Senator:** going to be added to the bingo card. Very soon.
**Pagoda:** And, uh, yeah, no, overall, like for me, I like, It did smoke throughout. It, it held up pretty well in terms of even the ash and overall the flavor profile.
I think in the second half I was getting a bit more of a sweet cream kind of a note. Uh, not bad. Uh, good smoke output. Did get really hot in the end because of the, I think, the loosely packed nature of it. Seven for me.
**Senator:** Pagoda actually mentioned a good point there about the ash. For a short filler cigar, the ash held up pretty well.
Yes, it did. It did. We've had long filler cigars that the ash is flaking all over your pants. You're getting frustrated while you're smoking. That didn't happen here. So I add that to merit.
**Bam Bam:** There's a lot of tobacco on his lap though, right now.
You're not getting a break today, buddy. [00:51:00]
**Gizmo:** Chef Ricky.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah, you know, I've been, I've been, Following back and forth between a six and a seven. And, um, right now my wrapper's pretty tore up here. Um, maybe it was my cut. Maybe that wouldn't happen if I used the punch instead. But you know, with that aside, I'm gonna go ahead and be generous with a seven, I think because the price point is you, it, it can't, you can't be beat.
You know, first third for me, I was getting cream soda. Second third, I was getting like an almond croissant happening here. Final third started to get a little muddled, started to get hot. The short filler started getting a little annoying because of the ash, uh, just kind of falling apart. So I was able to fix the muddling of, of the flavor a little bit by purging.
But because it is a short filler cigar, you get A little bit of ash falling off as you're blowing out. Uh, but with that being said, I think this is, you know, I give it a soft recommend and I think it's worth a shot and, you know, stocking some of these in your humidor. I think they're great [00:52:00] cigars to give to guests, um, introduce them to a Cuban, especially at this price point.
That's a good point. Um, and I think it's a great morning smoke, you know. So yeah, you know what I was
**Pagoda:** thinking? I've seen these in different airports, like if you go to the duty free duty free, you see the you see this brand. I mean, it makes
**Gizmo:** sense given the price, right? A casual someone walking by. Oh, I want a couple Cuban cigars.
That's the right. That's the right one to get. You know, if you're not familiar with it, and it's smart for them to stock it.
**Bam Bam:** Bam Bam. So I'm at a seven. I started off the first two thirds at an eight. I really enjoyed it. I think we all did, except for Rooster. Um,
**Rooster:** I did. The first third was good. Yeah, it was really enjoyable.
The first third was a seven.
**Bam Bam:** As I noted earlier, down to the final inch, it was unsmokable. Um, it didn't get hot for me, but it started to fall apart. Um, and it was bitter. So I think a seven is the right score here.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, that puts the formal lizard rating on the Quintero Favoritas at a 6. 8. [00:53:00] I think that's a fair score for the performance tonight.
All right, boys, it's time to move into our New World Cigar tonight. We have a Padron.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah. So, this is my first short smoke special, so I have to wait for you to say let's cut again?
**Gizmo:** Yeah, we go through the whole thing again. And especially, let's light. Yeah. Yeah, that's the one of the important one.
**Bam Bam:** You and Puba are going on a Pipsu.
Well, he is sitting on
**Senator:** Puba's, it's this chair guys, it's this chair.
**Gizmo:** So we have a Petit Robusto from Padron tonight in their 1926 series. This is the number 35 in Maduro. This is one of our group's favorite short smokes. This is a lizard classic. And I think it's crazy that it's taken us this long and six short smoke specials to get to the Padron number
**Bam Bam:** 35.
Here's a question for all of you. We used to love this. This was a weekly thing. I'm not going to say that it's fallen out of favor, but when was the last time anyone in this room had this? It's been a long time for me, probably two years.
**Senator:** So it's not that it's fallen out of favor. It's no price went up big time.
[00:54:00] Yes. Well, we're going to go over that. Yeah.
**Rooster:** Yeah. It's also the fact that I mean, I like smoking these more in the winter time. If you have a less time and you want to smoke in the car or whatever, like it's, it's a quick, it's a half an hour smoke, but it's robust. It's very robust. Yeah, it's, it's, I'm surprised.
I mean, this is a 1926 series. I'm surprised. Is there a 1964 like in this size? It's called the Prince Pay. It's close in size.
**Gizmo:** The, it's also a nice cigar. I think it's a, I think it might be a touch longer. Eighth of an inch or quarter inch longer than this. Yeah. Yes.
**Senator:** This is the only vila in the 1926 series that is not.
Super aggressive with nicotine or like gonna knock you around. It's like a very easygoing delivery for the amount of flavor that it has.
**Gizmo:** Alright boys, let's cut this thing. Should we get another cold draw on the wrapper?
**Chef Ricky:** Would you say this is adorable?
**Bam Bam:** It is, look at it. Come on. That is a beautiful, adorable little cigar.
**Gizmo:** So as Rooster mentioned while the guys are [00:55:00] cutting, We do these short smoke specials in the cold months here in the U. S. And of course, for anyone listening, when it's cold around them, to give good options for cigars that you can smoke outside in under 45 minutes when it's cold or not ideal summer conditions.
So that's the, uh, that's the purpose here. Cause I have to
**Rooster:** say I like this cutter. You like that? I like that with the back. You can't fuck it up. Yeah? No giz cut. Yeah. There you go. He learned. Yeah, it's
**Senator:** like training wheels for Giz. Can I keep it?
**Pagoda:** Baby got back. Abuelo's really aging now. He needs assistance.
**Bam Bam:** It's a quick cut. It's easy. Chocolatey on the cold draw. Um, velvety, delicious cold draw. Really
**Gizmo:** nice cold draw on these. It's been a long time. I haven't had one of these in about two years, honestly. Is this short filler?
Nice and open. Yeah. But there's, it's just that. Slight touch of [00:56:00] resistance, unlike the Quintero we just had, that this is like exactly the kind of draw I want in a cigar like this, you know? Alright boys, let's light this thing. The Padron 1926 series, number 35 in Maduro. Again, it's a petite Robusto 48 ring gauge box press cigar.
By four inches long, it was launched in 2002 as part of the original 10 sizes of the 1926 series from Padron. It was released to celebrate Jose Padron's 75th birthday. Obviously, he was born in 1926. And the entire line, as we've detailed before when we've done 1926 series, namely the 80th, all of the tobacco in this is aged five years, at
**Bam Bam:** least five years.
So I picked these up earlier today. 16. 50 per stick.
**Chef Ricky:** Wow.
**Bam Bam:** That's my point. That's expensive for a
**Senator:** little cigar.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, [00:57:00] that's very expensive for a cigar this size.
**Senator:** When we were getting these, we were paying like 8 to 10 bucks a stick. That's right,
**Gizmo:** yeah.
**Senator:** And I vividly remember this, because for me this wasn't a discovery because of cold weather or anything like that.
This is when we were at our former lounge, militantly closed at 10pm on the dot. And you could not stay a minute past that. And I remember for the first time I'm sitting there saying like, I need to find, you know, obviously I used to usually smoke an Exclusivo there. Like I need to find a cigar that is shorter so I can time it better before I'm forced to leave this place.
So I actually searched and found some Reddit Like thread, I guess that's what they call it. And, um, just cigar smokers talking about their favorite short smokes and a bunch of guys were recommending this. And I was skeptical because I don't love the 26 line, but I think I bought like a fiver this on maybe Atlantic and really loved it.
And then with the pricing, it was great. So I started buying a bunch of boxes. Then you fast forward, maybe, you know, a [00:58:00] year, maybe a year and a half later. The prices went up big time and I'm doing the math and I'm saying to myself, it is cheaper for me to smoke half of an Exclusivo at the full price I'm paying for it and ditch it than to smoke all of this at the price that it went up to.
So I stopped buying them. I mean, I have some and I've aged them now for several years. Remind us what an Exclusivo costs right now. Well, at the time I was saying this, it was like 10 bucks. Yeah. Now it's like 14,
**Bam Bam:** 14, 15. For an Exclusivo. Yeah. How much is this again? 16. 50, man. Thank you.
**Pagoda:** For half of a Robusto.
It's
**Bam Bam:** insane
**Pagoda:** what they're doing. No, but that's an online price. 14. 50, right? Because you're paying 21, and you
**Gizmo:** Yeah, I mean, if you're paying the tax, and you're working order But even an
**Senator:** Exclusivo with a retailer, you're paying like 17. max. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** and I paid 16. 50 for this at a retailer. So that is really crazy.
**Chef Ricky:** What are Exclusivos here at our lounge? Aren't they like 22. 00 or something? Oh, no, I think like 18. I think. Yeah, it's a car. 18. 00. [00:59:00]
**Gizmo:** So boys, what are you getting on the light here?
**Chef Ricky:** You know, I always get this interesting note with Padrones, especially the, the first two or three initial draws. They're a little smoky for me, not smoky in the sense of, uh, Well, you are smoking a cigar.
No, but not so, to my point, not in the cigar sense of smoke, but in like the, the burning of wood. You're burning a cigar.
**Gizmo:** No, I agree with you. I get what you're saying. Yeah,
**Chef Ricky:** the first couple, and I think a while back, I forget what cigar it was, but I had a call out of like a smoked herring or something like that.
I'm not saying this is that, but I definitely get, a smoky note here. Uh, but I will say with the wine, you know, you get the cocoa from here, you get that wine. It's, it's, it's delicious. It's like chocolate covered cherries happening over here.
**Bam Bam:** Getting a touch of leather. It's a little leathery. Yeah. Um, there's definitely earthiness and minerality for me in this initial.
A few [01:00:00] draws. And on the retrohale, that's a robust retrohale. Yeah, it's all,
**Gizmo:** it's too much. You can't do that.
**Bam Bam:** Maybe one every four draws. I agree. No,
**Senator:** no, just do it every draw. It enhances the experience.
**Pagoda:** Don't stop now. Yeah.
**Chef Ricky:** It'll definitely clear out the loser. The smoke
**Pagoda:** output in these is just, it reminds me of a liga for some reason.
These
**Gizmo:** little
**Bam Bam:** cigars. So, you know, other similar format cigars, I think, for me, are the reason why I kind of moved away from this. And mostly Cuban, the A. Chupman Half Corona, the Monte Cristo Media Corona. Even the Papas Fritas kind of out seeded this for a while for me. Um, and I just forgot about this cigar.
That's a quarter of the price. Yeah. Yeah. Papas
**Senator:** Fritas is real cheap. And delicious. The thing I'll say why I really, really appreciated this cigar, and still do, for a short smoke, the short smokes that excite me the [01:01:00] most are the ones that feel in your hand just like a Robusto does, just shorter. Like, the ring gauge on this is just like a Robusto.
It doesn't feel like you're holding this small, diminutive cigar. The, uh, Davidoff, uh, Bobcat, uh, Bellicoso that we've done the church show that feels like a normal substantial cigar. Yeah. There are a lot of other short smokes like that. Tatuaje, Petit Cazadores. It's so thin, the ring gauge on that. You feel like you're almost holding a cigarette.
It's such a tiny cigar. And there are so many other short smokes that even the, um, The upman half Corona that we'd love. That's a small ring gauge. It feels like such a small cigar. So I just love, like, if I could design my ideal short smoke, it's the ones that feel in your hand, just like a full size Robusto, but are just shorter for
**Rooster:** time.
There is one cigar. I don't know if you guys have had this. It's the Davidoff millennium short Robusto. I've had that. That feels like what you're, what [01:02:00] you're talking about.
**Bam Bam:** I would imagine that's another one priced like this. That's like 24, that cigar,
**Rooster:** I
**Bam Bam:** think. Twenty
**Gizmo:** two? It's gotta be up there. It's up there.
That much?
**Rooster:** I thought it'd be closer to this price. Actually, yeah, it has to
**Senator:** because The Millennium Petit Corona, which is also a small cigar. That's
**Rooster:** 17, right? Ah,
**Senator:** I think like 18, 19.
**Rooster:** So maybe that's more.
**Senator:** Yeah.
**Rooster:** Yeah. But you can, you can find that cigar on some sites a little bit cheaper. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** What's interesting is that this is so satisfying because of its strength profile.
You can have this. And be pretty satisfied if you don't have the time. Um, We used to end with this, if you remember, all of our cigars. This was our final cigar of the night. Yeah, this was for a long time.
**Senator:** Even with this, we'd be sitting out on the sidewalk in like the restaurant chairs. At 1am. When
**Bam Bam:** we're
**Senator:** kicked out of the lounge at 10.
**Bam Bam:** Correct. Right outside. Very satisfying.
**Chef Ricky:** I will say I'm, I love the box press on this. I love the way it sits in between. You know, those knuckles on your finger there. I love it. Love it. [01:03:00] That's the slightly tighter ring gauge here. It just, it fits perfectly.
**Bam Bam:** So that Petit Cazadores you mentioned earlier, it does feel diminutive in the hand, but also very satisfying.
It's got a great strength profile on that. And a very
**Gizmo:** unique flavor.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. Rare to get a little guy like this, that satisfies you.
**Rooster:** And
**Gizmo:** one fourth
**Rooster:** the price of this. That's
**Bam Bam:** true.
**Rooster:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** So as you're smoking this now for the first time, most of us, For the first time in a while, how does price factor into your enjoyment of what we're having?
Because for how I'm really enjoying the cigar, but it does make me think like, when's the next time I'm going to have this cigar, you know, and it's probably going to be in limited situations. Like Senator was saying for how delicious it is. I mean, if you're a guy who's in, you know, in a very cold temperature and you really need a Padron and you really want something that has oomph, this is the perfect cigar for that setting.
We're fortunate. You know, in, in the way that we smoke, a lot of what we do is indoors. We're not [01:04:00] smoking outdoors a lot. And like Senator said, you know, we're lighting, you know, robustos like the Padrona Exclusivo at a lower price point or close to price point on this, getting a lot more cigar for it.
**Senator:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** I just don't know if the, the, the value is here anymore for me.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, at the time, Senator, when you mentioned this earlier, when the price was lower, it was a, not to coin the name of the wine, it was a Bonanza. Yeah. Right? We really went after these.
**Senator:** Yeah, I mean, I would close with this almost every day at that price point.
It felt perfect. It was awesome. I will say, as frustrated as I am with the price point, and I feel similarly about like the Millennium Petit Corona, to me it's silly to spend like 20 on a little short smoke. This cigar, the only thing I have to say in its defense, I think it is the best. Constructed, best looking, best feel in the hand, like Ricky was talking about, short smoke of New World cigars that exists.
And so, You [01:05:00] know, for me, it's easy to dismiss and get frustrated with the Davidoff Millennium Petit Corona, because to me, that's not in my top three of like short smokes, but this thing, it's so perfect that even though the price frustrates me, I'll, it'll always have a special place in my heart where like, I'll always want to have them.
**Bam Bam:** It's like an old friend. The
**Senator:** cigar.
**Rooster:** Yeah. It's pretty versatile too. I mean, you could have this as your last cigar, which we've done
**Bam Bam:** many times,
**Rooster:** or if you have You know, a little bit of time, but you kind of want that full flavor. This just satisfies. Yeah, it
**Pagoda:** does satisfy. The only thing I'm wondering is like, if you're standing out in the cold and smoking this, I think the propensity to smoke quicker would be just, you know, I think somewhat enhanced.
So this cigar would smoke pretty quick. I'll say this. It, I
**Senator:** think you'll be shocked. It really doesn't because. Because it's so full flavored. Well, it's also just like the way it's got a lot of tobacco for a little cigar. And I mean, I remember going back to getting [01:06:00] kicked out at 10 PM at that lounge. I mean, there were so many times where I was trying to smoke this quickly because I didn't want to waste it.
I wanted to enjoy it there. And you really can't, even when you tried, there's so much tobacco, it actually takes a while to get through it. Which is a huge merit. There's a lot of nicotine. Also, I'll say this on this one. I really don't feel that way. I'm sensitive to the entire rest of the 26 line where I feel like if I haven't had a super heavy meal, I don't even want to smoke it.
This is the only one where. It feels smooth despite all the flavor. I don't get any nicotine buzz. I feel like I could smoke two of these back to back and feel great. I will say that. It's like an outlier.
**Bam Bam:** It's stronger than I remember it to be. I haven't had this in a very long time. I think that
**Chef Ricky:** the
**Bam Bam:** spice for me comes from nicotine.
But in a delicious, in a delicious, it's almost creamy. It's very velvety. Um. Airflow's great on this. These lizards have gone,
**Gizmo:** these lizards have gone soft. They're soft, yeah. A little bit, a little bit. I, I'm finding the flavor profile [01:07:00] to be very satisfying. Absolutely. It's, it's, you know, quintessential Padron.
Yeah, it feels like home. Yeah, it tastes like these cigars that we've smoked so many times on and off this podcast. I mean, this, I think this, this is the eighth Padron we've done on the podcast tonight. You know, it's just a cigar that every time you reach for it, you know exactly what you're going to get.
You know, and that's really, that's where the value play is with Padron for me, is Reliability. Yeah, reliability. There is a value in that. I don't know if at this size that's worth, you know, 16. 50, 17 to me. It plays into how I feel about these cigars because they're just so damn consistent. I wonder if they're less, they've got to be less expensive online.
I've looked at them. They're not, they're
**Chef Ricky:** not much less. They're not much less. I'm looking on Atlantic right now. If they're available. With the VIP price. Yeah. If they're available.
**Senator:** The other thing I'll say about the strength comments, keep in mind, we are smoking this after a Quintero that was very mild.
[01:08:00] Yeah. This is a huge step up.
**Bam Bam:** Correct. Can we, uh, call Garcon for a new bottle?
Bam Bam's out.
**Rooster:** This cigar is very good.
**Bam Bam:** It's really good. It's delicious. Hey, Senator, pass your class.
You're very patient with your drinking. I knew that's all we have, so I'm trying to Actually, I thought we were going to drink something else after with this cigar. You don't have a long straw? No, right? I
**Pagoda:** drink
**Bam Bam:** your milkshake! I drink it up!
**Gizmo:** That's a great movie. There will be blood. Oh yeah. Daniel Day Lewis.
It's called drainage. So boys, I want to go back to the price conversation for a minute here because you know, I think Cubans and, and this is a perfect episode. These short smoke specials are a perfect episode to kind of do the compare and contrast cause we're smoking a Cuban cigar and a new world cigar.
We're hitting our entire demographic of smokers out there. You know, Cuban cigars have gotten a real rap for [01:09:00] the, the crazy. And I think the speed of the price increases, how quickly things have gone 300, 400 percent what they were, you know, in COVID, you know, in the COVID years, 2021 and obviously they've gone bonkers.
But I got to tell you, you know, these stories we've talked about with Fuente, Padron, Davidoff, now Oliva tonight, this cigar being 16 now. I just. It is crazy to me the direction that the entire cigar industry is going price wise, you know, and, and I think Cubans have taken the rap because of the speed of those price increases.
And obviously there's always a question of quality controlling Cuban cigars that in a Padron, you're not questioning that, right? You're not questioning that in a Davidoff. You know, so I think Cuba's gotten a little bit of an unfair rap comparatively, because I was at a. Fuente event the other day in Philadelphia.[01:10:00]
And I couldn't believe the prices at this event, how much people were paying for Opus X, for Don Carlos, for these cigars, and they've also doubled and tripled in just a few years. You know, people are paying. 75 for an Opus Robusto. You know, they had, they had a Don Carlos there that's apparently limited that was 75 for a cigar just a little bigger than this.
Limited because they say it's limited. Yeah, it's like at the, at the end of the day, Obviously, blending is a factor, marketing's a factor, aging's a factor, but at the end of the day, it's, it's all the same black tobacco plant. You know, it's, it's, it's, there's not some crazy ingredient going into these cigars.
I just don't understand the justification and I don't understand why the industry is moving this way. It's really disappointing.
**Bam Bam:** You know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go ahead and say, look, companies like Fabrica 5. They're [01:11:00] taking an intelligent approach. They're pricing their cigars right. It's a smart move. From the point of view of business, it's a smart move.
They'll move a ton of inventory. Their stuff's incredible. You know, companies like that are going to do well. They're finding a marketplace now because of what's happening overall. I think.
**Gizmo:** Do you think it's fair the rap that Cuban cigars have gotten, including on this podcast, when you compare it to what's happening in non Cuban cigars?
In, in some of the lines we just talked about. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** I'm sorry. It's still expensive.
**Gizmo:** It is, but it's all expensive. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** it's becoming an ultra luxury item regardless of where it's coming from. And that's my problem. Yeah, of course. And that's why the companies that are intelligent, smart, taking the right market approach are under that, under that veil of high pricing and they're, they're gonna do great.
**Gizmo:** Like you look at that Aladino we smoked last week. We gave it a 10. How much is that cigar? Gave it a 10. It was an 8 cigar. Correct. Correct. It's an 8 cigar. [01:12:00] And I think we all, all went ahead and ordered boxes. We all ordered boxes and got them the next day from Atlantic. But I, you know, I was shocked at the Fuente event in Philly.
It really hit me how much I was watching guys put cigars in their tray. You know, you got a tray. It was kind of like a cattle call event. There were so many people. They were so protective of people stealing and stuff. So you got a tray with a number and you called out what you wanted. And I was watching guys put stuff in the tray.
And then when they got to the register there, the price shock is hitting them. And they're putting stuff back, you know, and saying, Oh my God, I used to buy these for a third of that price just a few years ago. Why
**Rooster:** did they not know the price before they were putting it?
**Gizmo:** It was pretty chaotic. And the price is, you know, and, you know, in a brick and mortar in the case, you know, the prices are small.
They're not. You know, really in your face, but it was kind of a bummer in a way. Like how much is a short story now? Probably 12, 13 bucks. I would think
**Rooster:** that it used to be like a 6 smoke. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** [01:13:00] Papa's fritas are still affordable.
**Rooster:** Yeah. So I think more and more people are going to look for stuff that really.
delivers, like the Aladino, the Oliva, Lancero, the Fabrica 5,
**Bam Bam:** the Dunks. Don't forget the Dunbarton series of cigars, which are still well priced, and they're all incredible.
**Rooster:** Yeah, the Steve Saka cigars, um, you know, the, uh, the Warped Lonsdales. Yeah. Well, they're not going to,
**Gizmo:** or they're not going to smoke as frequently.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Or they're, you know, or people are being pushed out of the hobby.
**Bam Bam:** That Maestro del Tempo is an excellent cigar. It is. I can't help but say, Rooster looks like an illusion right now. The amount of smoke in this room. Well, he's always an
**Senator:** optical illusion from one degree to lamp over there. I mean, this is like we're smoking a, you said a Liga.
Like, this is literally the smoke output I believe in this room right now. It's true. Looking
**Chef Ricky:** like the genie.
**Pagoda:** What is beanie on? [01:14:00] For a tiny little to got this shoulders. We, you know, um, this is just off topic. Uber, everything, prices are going up in everything. Uber from the city went from 60 to 100.
**Chef Ricky:** Eggs. We
**Pagoda:** paid, we paid like what?
270 from Carnegie to New Jersey. To town, yeah. Wow. One way? Yeah. Plus the cost
**Rooster:** of sort of low case.
**Bam Bam:** Oh, yeah. Oh, and don't forget those three Cuban up men's.
**Gizmo:** You know, and, and the one thing I do want to bring up and we mentioned it, you guys were busting my balls at the beginning of the episode. We were talking about the, uh, Bellicosas Finos from Bolivar and that come up because we got, we all got an email today from, or the other day, I guess, from I Havana's, uh, with their, they were announcing that they had Pellicosos Finos available from Bolivar.
And the price of the box was 695 for 25, putting the price of those cigars at 28 [01:15:00] apiece. And I remember when we had this conversation, you know, when the price armageddon started and we were kind of panicking, where's it going to go? What's it going to be? You know, I remember talking about the idea that Cuban Robustos approaching 30 would start to turn A lot of us off in the room here to purchasing them and they're going that way.
You know, a bellicose os finos is not that much bigger than a Cuban Robusto at 28 D fours are creeping up that far has, has, have you guys moved the goalposts in your thinking there with the price of cigars that you're willing to put in your regular rotation?
**Senator:** Yeah. I mean, I'll say this. I, I think I have, uh, the way I've rationalized this as frustrating as the price increases are to me.
Now, Cuban cigars are priced like Davidoff. Most Davidoff, like the millennium pyramid that we smoke. That's like a 28 cigar bucks, right? That's a pyramid. That's the same size as that Pelicoso's Phenos that we're talking about. [01:16:00] They're both charging 28 bucks for the same thing. So I, you know, We're conditioned to know and expect Cuban cigars to always have been, historically, so much cheaper than, like, higher end, new world cigars that we would purchase.
Now, they're pricing them just as aggressively. I don't like it, but I have been able to rationalize for a Cuban cigar that I really like. Like a bellicose os finos, like a D four, some of those kinds of staples, if it's going to be basically the same as a Davidoff, I get just as much satisfaction smoking it, if not more than a Davidoff.
And so, yeah, I'm still going to do it. Am I going to stock up in the volume that I used to? No, but do I want to have these always in my humidor for when I want to reach for it? I do.
**Bam Bam:** So I replied back to that. To chat, I'd say, if you need them, get them.
**Gizmo:** Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** And I check my inventory, because I wanted a BBF tonight.
I have none left. None. So I'll be buying a box and I have. Because I need them. I want them in my [01:17:00] rotation.
**Gizmo:** And 28 is, is a price for you that, that works?
**Bam Bam:** It's only because I want them. I rationalize it like anything else. If I'm low or empty on a particular Vitola and Marca, I want that box. Just so that I know it's in my mind.
I can reach for it whenever I want it.
**Senator:** And like my goalpost now is if they're way higher than Davidoff pricing, then it's hard for me. It just doesn't make sense. It's like the enjoyment I'm going to get for a 28 Millennium Pyramid over a 40 Bellicose Osvinos, that doesn't equate. But if they're both 28 bucks, they're distinct flavor profiles.
I really like both. Yeah, I'd still get it.
**Bam Bam:** But what he said earlier was also true. I won't buy three boxes like I used to back in the day when something was available, I'd get four or five boxes, three boxes of it. And you were also
**Gizmo:** pulling for it several times a week. I was. Yeah. I might do one a month.
Right.
**Rooster:** They're like, what? 12, 15 before. Now they're 28. It's crazy. So if you were smoking, you know, like two, three BBFs a week, now [01:18:00] maybe you're smoking one. Yeah. You're trying to fill it. Yep. You know, with some other New World smokes. There's more
**Bam Bam:** distraction now. We've learned so much in our exploration, right?
In the New World category. There's more options. Sure. And they all satisfy. Absolutely.
**Senator:** The other thing, though, it's not even that we're only. Pulling for some of these Cuban cigars less because of price, our range has grown exponentially because of this podcast. I mean, my rotation, when we all first met back that former lounge, you know, I'd smoke an Exclusivo, a D4 and a Davidoff.
Like that was the rotation. Now there's so many great options we found. So that's also why I'm not reaching for some of these as often. Price for sure is part of it. Yeah. But it's just because there's so many things I want to, you know, regularly try and enjoy. And I think all of us
**Rooster:** are smoking the same quantity.
Right. We're not, not you. [01:19:00] Well, I haven't changed. No, same as before. That's what I mean. I mean, like if you, if I smoke like two a day, I still smoke two a day, right? Sometimes maybe it's just one cigar a day. If that's all the time I have. But if you're smoking like three or four a day, you're probably still smoking three or four.
And you're not smoking three or four, you know, 30 smokes. You're filling it up with some of the, uh, some of the other new world smokes, because I don't think we discount, we want cigars with flavor. We want them to satisfy our palate, our craving, whatever we want. We want that. We want what we want, but we're not going to smoke 30 cigars for like four or five a day, every single day.
So, and, and we know like there's so many cigars that are good that a new world that are. That really satisfy you. So thank God for this podcast. I mean, we, we got to, you know, discover so many good smokes and we still do every single week. I can't believe what
**Gizmo:** happened last week with the Aladino. [01:20:00]
**Bam Bam:** Oh yeah.
**Gizmo:** I mean, home run.
I, I, I still am shocked at how good that cigar is and was on that podcast. And I've smoked them since we all ordered boxes. I ordered two other Vitola on top of the
**Rooster:** three, uh, I ordered the Robusto, the Corona and the, uh, and the
**Gizmo:** Lancero. You know, I'm hoping that they, they, they deliver in the same way the Lancero did, but you know, it's just, it, it is hard, you know, there's two, there's two components to this, right?
There's the price component and there's the flavor and rotation component, which certainly has expanded. And I think in the interest of reason, we have to all acknowledge, and we've done this in the past, but for the listener right now, we all acknowledged that while we were getting. Part of his D four is from Cuba for eight or 10 bucks.
That was not a reasonable price for what that cigar was delivering us, right? That cigar at 15, 18, that is a very fair price for that cigar. And probably where it should have been priced. It's just the ketchup that they did to that and then gone [01:21:00] beyond it now, because the market has been willing to bear the price adjusted upward.
Yeah. And it's, it's, it's just interesting how, you know, how the new world manufacturers have followed suit as well. You know, which is just really disappointing for me. There needs to be a correction.
**Rooster:** It won't. It's a
**Gizmo:** cigar bubble. There won't. Well, that's the thing. I constantly see everywhere on Facebook, on Reddit, on other threads about people saying, should I buy now?
Or should I wait for the prices to go down? And we're talking about Cuban cigars, but let's talk about everything. There is no situation in which Cuban cigar prices are going to go down. I'm sorry.
**Bam Bam:** That's right. You
**Gizmo:** might find a sale here or there. You might find a little softening and a certain Marca or Vitola that's not performing well.
When these cigars go up, they're selling. They're still selling maybe to more people who are smoking less. I don't know. You can
**Bam Bam:** thank the Asian market for that.
**Gizmo:** Of course. But I think, you know, there's a lot of, a lot of people buying less cigars, but I don't [01:22:00] know, maybe there's more entrance. I don't know what it is.
But you're
**Rooster:** seeing more inventory available for sure. I mean, for a while they were like, you know, you couldn't even find anything on these web, on these sites, but now you, at least you see them.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Well, the
**Rooster:** supply is catching up a little bit coming out of Cuba. It's either that, or maybe people are just not buying it.
Those prices, people are
**Senator:** not, there's no question because I mean, you know, when you go back to when we were procuring a lot of Cuban cigars, I mean, I remember having to set alarms at four in the morning on cigar terminal to try to land like a 50 cab of Lucy. I mean, crazy things. We think, honey, I gotta
**Bam Bam:** go.
I gotta get out of bed.
**Senator:** It would literally go that fast. I mean, if you were a minute late on these sites, gone, people were scooping up every really desirable cigar. Now I'll see, you know, like a really, uh, great box of cigars on I have, and I'll come back to it a month later and it's still sitting there that would never have been the case years ago.
[01:23:00] So the demand has definitely softened a bit. People can't keep up with these prices at the same rate.
**Pagoda:** I also wonder because. from next year on, I think at least in New York, I think a lot of the companies are going to request their employees to start coming four to five times a week. So things are changing.
And as people go to work a lot more, you don't have as much, you know, free time, or, you know, you may not be able to get as many days off or go to lounge after work. So, you know, different people obviously have different situations, but, COVID of course, it was very different. We all were just hanging out at home.
And even now we can still, you know, Hang out at home and smoke. I think things may, may change, you know, from a demand perspective, it's going to be interesting to see.
**Gizmo:** So boys, we're coming to the end of the first third here on the Padron 1926 series, number 35 in Maduro. What's everybody thinking?
**Bam Bam:** Delicious. Great. What a chimney this little cigar is, right? And the retro hails more, you know, it's a bit softer. It's, yeah, it's, it's definitely softened. So your [01:24:00] palate's adjusted and taking that, the retro is sweet and chocolatey.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, what a different cigar experience this is versus the Kintero. I was just thinking.
Right? I mean, we went from like, Good morning to good night. Just like that. You said that way better than I was going to. Oh, yeah.
**Senator:** This is wild. It's just a flavor bomb. This, of any padron that we would regularly smoke, just the concentration of flavor in this little thing is unbelievable. Yeah, it's unmatched.
It's like an exclusivo on
**Rooster:** steroids.
**Pagoda:** Yeah, it is. And you're right, it doesn't have the harshness of the, because I like the number nine in the 1926 series, but it doesn't have the same harshness. Uh, you know, as you go up, uh, in terms of size,
**Gizmo:** I feel like the other one, the other outlier in the line that we've talked about, of course, is the 80 years.
You know, I, I, mm-hmm. That is a 1926 series cigar. Of course, we love, I don't feel that's a very elegant, sophisticated experience, of course, but I feel very similar [01:25:00] to this one. Unlike those others in the line. I don't feel like that has a punch to it. There's certainly nicotine in that. It's not a cigar to having an empty stomach in the morning per, you know, maybe.
It's not like the others in that line where it's going to knock you around quite a bit.
**Senator:** Rooster just threw his hands in the air, he couldn't believe. His eyebrows are furled.
**Gizmo:** So for the listener out there who's thinking about, should I buy cigars right now or should I wait for the prices to go down? Right now is the best time to buy.
**Bam Bam:** Yes.
**Gizmo:** That's always going to be the answer. Correct. It's right now. You're going to see less sales, especially on Cuban cigars. You're going to see less price corrections.
You're going to see less deals. Now is the time to buy. And unfortunately, I mean, it seems the way that things are going, especially with Cuban cigars, that the prices are just going to continue to go up. And I don't think that it's crazy in the next couple of years that we see a 35, 40 D4. I think that's a very.
reasonable [01:26:00] expectation to happen in the next few years. Am I crazy? God forbid.
**Senator:** No, I will say on the new world side, when you say now is the time to buy, as we're getting into the holidays, the new year, uh, definitely the time to buy is now particularly things, uh, brands like Padrone and Davidoff that normally on a lot of these new world sites.
Those, uh, coupons or deals they have will exclude brands like drone and Davidoff. And I remember, I don't think it like, I'm not sure that they still do it. I'm going to check of course, for new year's, but the one time a year on Atlantic that they would do is like 10 or 15 percent off site wide. On top of the VIP price and it would not exclude Padron or Davidoff.
And I'd order like 10 boxes for New Year. It was amazing.
**Bam Bam:** He'll be up to 4 a. m. Waiting for that.
**Senator:** So it's just a good time. I feel like for listeners to really try to restock their human doors for new world cigars, because you get a lot of good deals. Now he would load up and then he would [01:27:00] tell us, I know you guys go to
**Gizmo:** they were sold out.
Oops. All right, boys, let's move to some listener email. This one's from Lizard Rick. He says, Lizards, I come to you with a question because I believe you have the experience to be authoritative. I am sure you are aware that there are other podcasts discussing cigars. Some of them claim to know what they're talking about.
So, on one of those, they were asked how to spot counterfeit Cuban cigars. They said the first and most obvious thing was if it is wrapped in cellophane. They claim no, no, no. Legitimate Cuban cigar comes in a cellophane wrapper. So is that true? It seems to me in my extremely limited experience, I have been in legit shops in the Caribbean that had Cuban cigars and cellophane.
Keep up the good work. Lizard Rick. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** no cellophane.
**Gizmo:** No, they used to. So, yeah, so the cellophane answered, I have a couple answers to this and we can go back when you were
**Bam Bam:** smoking in the forties. Yeah, that's [01:28:00] exactly right. Only rooster has Cuban cigars. You're only
**Gizmo:** a decade out a decade off 1926.
**Senator:** All right,
**Gizmo:** so Cuban cigars came in cellophane Legitimate Cuban cigars came in cellophane from the 1930s until 1992.
Then machine made cigars from 1992 for about 10 years until the early 2000s. They also were in cellophane right now. Legitimate Cuban cigars in cellophane are only in the little puritos, which are short filler machine made cigars. Uh, there are no legitimate cigars coming out of Cuba. With cellophane on them.
Now, to answer your question, that is certainly not the first spot to know if you have an authentic Cuban cigar or not. I think number one is knowing where you're buying from. And if you're buying at a shop in the Caribbean that is not a La Casa del Habano, You are probably buying fake cigars. Correct.
There are a few outliers. Cayman Islands. There's a great shop called Old Havana Cigars. Our [01:29:00] friend Juan Moya owns. Our boy Juan. We love Juan. Those are legit, but they're few and far between. So yes, if you see cellophane on a beach in Punta Cana or, you know, somewhere in the Bahamas, you are purchasing fake Cuban cigars.
And you got to research what you're going to be buying before you buy them. Don't impulse buy them. But the number one tell of buying authentic Cuban cigars is knowing your, knowing your vendor, knowing where you're buying from. And you want to be purchasing from a very few online sites for sure. Or at a La Casa Del Home.
And know your prices.
**Rooster:** Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Rooster:** You know, if it's too good to be true, it's probably
**Bam Bam:** a
**Rooster:** fake.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. It's funny. Um, at the gym today. A buddy of mine, he's a cigar guy. Bam. We got Monty Christo's, $11 a stick. Yeah. Monty, Monty Twos. I said, okay, dude, enjoy. Uh, you know, I didn't want to break his heart and tell him that it wasn't fake, but I just thought to myself, that's completely impossible.
Not. Yeah. We had a
**Senator:** guy, not possible. We had a guy at our lounge here this week [01:30:00] talking about he got a box of D fours for 400. Telling other guys, Oh, I can get you a box of D4s for 400. They're obviously fake. Of course. I mean, Jesus Christ. If they're really 400, everyone would clear that place out in a heartbeat.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. It's interesting. Also in the club, a few guys have had D4s and we'd looked at the band. Yeah. There's some dimensional differences from what a true. Part of this band looks like to a counterfeit. Some of the horizontal striping is a little thicker. The ink, the proportions. You have to know what you're looking at.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. And if you don't know, you need to reach, you know, research. You can go online. Authentic, you know, Cuban cigar retailers. You can email us, ask us. I'm happy to provide you a list of legitimate sources for Cuban cigars. We obviously mentioned quite a few of them here all the time, but you know, don't go out and be impulsive because something's available and you think it's a great price.
You're probably buying fake cigars. And the other thing that, that a lot of people say too, especially cigars that [01:31:00] are, you know, a Rass for example, Ramon Iones or Jose Piedra. Those cigars are priced. Now, you know, going back to our earlier conversation, they're priced now that it's worth it for the counterfeiters to make counterfeits of them where in the past that wasn't the case.
So everything
**Bam Bam:** is up for grabs is
**Gizmo:** on the table for these counterfeiters. It's not just Behika anymore. It's not just Cohiba and Saros. It's not just, you know, Trinidad funda Doris and sir Winston from H upman. Everything is on the table from the entire Habano's catalog as far as counterfeits. So you really need to be diligent where you're buying.
And if you have a buddy who says he has a connect in Cuba at the factory or he knows somebody in Miami who has friends and family in Cuba and you can get they are fake. Do not buy them. I got a big EK for 20.
**Senator:** My favorite counterfeit band is when you see a counterfeit Bolivar. Oh, they're great. I mean, Bolivar is one of the few markets that has a person on the band.
I guess Simone [01:32:00] Bolivar's face is melting. Oh my God. The worst, for some reason, it's like the shade of I think it's orange. Yeah, the like shade of orange, whatever shirt he's wearing in it, I guess must be hard to replicate because I've seen two different fake Bolivar bands, one here and another lizard friend of mine in Texas.
And it's like Simon Bolivar changed his clothes. Like it doesn't look anything like the authentic band does. It's unbelievable. That's a provincial cigar.
**Chef Ricky:** And a great resource too is El Habano Moderno, because they have images of every cigar and you, you know, and, and dimensions and whatnot. So it's a great source.
That's important to study
**Bam Bam:** dimensions and the graphics on the band. Get to know that stuff.
**Gizmo:** So just for the listener out there who's not initiated on what Ricky just mentioned, Alex Groom, the, you know, curator, proprietor of cubancigarwebsite. com, which I'm literally looking at right now, you know, as we go through a Cuban cigar episode, it [01:33:00] is the premier resource online.
He put out a printed version of that called El Habano Moderno. You can say it in Spanish one more time, Ricky.
**Chef Ricky:** El Habano Moderno.
**Gizmo:** So he put that book out and you can find it online through cubancigarwebsite. com. Get a copy of it. If you are a Cuban cigar smoker, you enjoy Cuban cigars, or you're just curious about them.
Even maybe you even haven't purchased a Cuban cigar yet. Go buy that book for yourself for Christmas. It's worth it. It's a great buy great price and the resource in that you'll learn so much. And you hear us talking about it all the time. So beautiful gift. Yeah, it's a great, great resource, um, to understand, uh, authentic Cuban cigars.
And of course the story behind each of them. All right, boys, let's go now to our lizard of the week. Lizard Cody. Writes, hey there lizards. I was just curious as someone somewhat new to the hobby I was wondering what it's like to find a cigar you love and for it to get discontinued I'm just curious if you guys have any special memories with cigars You either know don't [01:34:00] have any more that you don't have any more Or you may still have them, but you know you can't get them anymore.
Thanks very much. Oh, well. Lizard, Cody. The Vegas Robana Classico. Yeah, he's gonna have us in tears this time. I know. This is an emotional conversation. That's a
**Bam Bam:** very emotional cigar for us all.
**Gizmo:** So the Vegas Robana Classico was discontinued, probably going on 12 or 13 years now. We were very lucky when we got, you know, into our, Early years of, of purchasing Cuban cigars.
So Puba found these cigars, the Vegas Rebenia Classicos that were vintage. He had got a reference from, uh, you know, somebody online who knew what they were talking about and purchased them. And man, it started making the way through this group. And each of us, I think, has a mind blowing experience with the Vegas Rebenia Classico.
**Senator:** It's the single biggest regret I have in cigars, period. We all do that. We were so dumb to only buy one box and we'll never be able to get another.
**Chef Ricky:** They they smoke beautifully. Even when what [01:35:00] There's also one. Yeah. Ricky ran his
**Bam Bam:** underwater. I can't put my thumb on the markup, but it's, um, look, Gloria, l juicy number, number two number,
**Rooster:** actually the number one, number two and number three are, are all discontinued.
**Bam Bam:** I haven't had the one or the three, but the two, I have four of those left. Yeah, boxes,
**Rooster:** boxes. No,
**Bam Bam:** that is an incredibly delicious cigar. It is such a experience to have that. Very unique, very rare.
**Rooster:** So I'm going to go back to the Bolivar. We were talking about Boli's. The Bolivar Corona's Extra. I think it was discontinued in 2012, maybe.
That is a phenomenal smoke smoke. I think, I think I gave you one
**Bam Bam:** connoisseur corner. So have you seen the same? I think you had one. It seems all the really good cigars are being discontinued. The Monte Cristo 85th anniversary. Remember that? Oh yeah. That is, that was really, really sweet and creamy. Yeah.
[01:36:00] Great presentation.
**Gizmo:** I gotta say, you know, going back to the Classico, I mean, that is one of the moments with, with a cigar that is forever imprinted in my brain. I remember where I was sitting, I had gotten it from Rooster for the first time at our old lounge. I know where I was sitting, what I was wearing, Jeopardy was on the TV, I remember every detail about it.
Did you have a Bruchard? No. No. But that's He was on his seventh. Yeah. That, that cigar changed everything for me. Oh, of course. It That was mind blowing and really sent me on the journey alongside you guys. But really, to the depth of which I go into things when I'm impacted like that, I'll never forget that.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** I will never forget that first Vegas Ribboni Classico with Rooster.
**Bam Bam:** You know, it also feels like the Partagus 898 is a discontinued cigar because it just never comes up. Yeah, it's so rare. It's so rare.
**Gizmo:** It's still in regular production. I know, I know, but you'll never see
**Bam Bam:** those.
**Gizmo:** So, very much in line with what I just said about the Vegas Rubeni Classico.
What was that cigar for you [01:37:00] guys that's discontinued? Is it the Classico? Is it something else? What's that kind of mind blowing experience with a discontinued cigar that we can't get anymore that changed your perspective on Cuban cigars? If I
**Bam Bam:** may. Senator and I were alone in his garage. I think we were waiting for everyone else to show up, I think,
**Gizmo:** for a
**Senator:** recording.
**Bam Bam:** You handed me a Vegas Urbana Classico.
**Senator:** Oh no, that was the caviar night I handed you that. You probably barely remember it. We all went down to my tower in the man cave. That I remember. I said, pick any cigar and you picked the Vegas Urbana Classico. That was your first one
**Bam Bam:** that night. You and I smoked one of those together before everyone showed up.
We probably had another. That experience. I was really the first time I experienced what savory and sweet, earthy and dessert like was like in a very creamy, smooth, buttermilk biscuit experience. Like, I haven't had that. It's unlike anything else. Anything. The [01:38:00] closest thing is that number two from, from LaGloria, the LaGloria, uh, Vitola.
That's the closest
**Senator:** one for me. That was also such a revelation. I mean, I'll never forget. I, when Puba got in the box as a first to try, we're sitting in my garage and he just says, I have a cigar. You have to try. And none of us were really big on Vegas Urbana. We weren't smoking many there. I don't think any of us.
None of us were smoking any of those. So it's like, it was a marker that was not that familiar to me. Um, it was a Lonsdale, which none of us at that time, um, We're smoking as many smaller ring gauge cigars as we do now. So even the shape, I'm like, this isn't normally what I would pick up. Robusto was, and always still is my, my favorite Vittola.
So I was so skeptical of this cigar. I was even questioning why he was giving it to me. And I'll never forget the first draw of that cigar. I, it did like, is that it was like life changing. I had never had such enjoyment from a single puff of a cigar in my entire life. And that [01:39:00] still holds true these years later.
I
**Rooster:** mean, for me, it was the, it was the La Gloria Cubana. It was actually the number four, which is still in production, but I got a box on Bond Roberts, which had a lot of age on it. And I took one out and I smoked it in the afternoon. And it was like. Amazing cigar, so floral, like I had not had floral notes out of any other cigar like that.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, well that entire mark is known for that floral category, that floral notes. Yeah, but in
**Rooster:** such a creamy way, incredible, you know, it's like very delicate flavors. And such a small ring gauge, it's like a 38 ring gauge or even less. Very sophisticated. But, oh my God, it blew me away. I was like, this is so
**Gizmo:** good.
I remember there's another one that we all smoked together and actually, I believe Chef Ricky had one separate later. But do you guys remember when I got that box of [01:40:00] H. U. P. and Sir Winston's from 2002? Yes. And we cracked them together?
**Rooster:** Yep.
**Gizmo:** That
**Rooster:** What a cigar. Cigar
**Gizmo:** at 20 years aged was, you know, it didn't have the Seminal impact that the Vegas Rebellion Classico did on me, but the memory of that and the flavor profile, how unique that cigar was and is, I mean, it's so special.
I was going
**Rooster:** to say, I think Pagoda is going to vouch for this, the 898 that we had. That was fantastic. That was also incredible. Out of the world.
**Bam Bam:** The interesting thing about the Sir Winston, it's not a small cigar. But it smokes like a very delicate, velvety, creamy stick. Very ironic.
**Chef Ricky:** You know, having the Classical and the Sir Winston, you know, I mean, unfortunately at the time I didn't know that the Classical was discontinued.
It smoked beautifully. It was an amazing cigar. But the Sir Winston experience for me was, that changed my life. Like, I remember, that was one of the, the most, [01:41:00] Prolific nights for me. And, and let me, you know, there were so many people in the lounge that night, but yet I felt like I was sitting alone in that chair.
No one could knock me out of the trance I was in. Oh,
**Senator:** I remembered. You kept talking about how much you wanted to eat the cigar.
**Bam Bam:** So you're giving me goosebumps because honestly, that's the ultimate cigar experience. If you can be in a room full of people, smoky, and you're going through something that No one else is experiencing, and you're experiencing it for the first time?
That's the ultimate experience in what we're doing.
**Chef Ricky:** And that was pretty early on in getting to know you guys. That was like year one. And the lounge was so packed that we weren't even in our typical seats. We were over in a corner, um, that we never sit in. But, you know, there was no other seats available.
And there was music playing, and I brought a bottle of Pechuga, which we all killed, and everyone enjoyed as well. But holy shit, man. I just, I didn't want to, I was just there, and, and, you know, It was, it was a, uh, out of, uh, out of body experience. It's the [01:42:00] first time I've heard
**Bam Bam:** you talk like this. I'm very, uh, shocked.
I actually got to take you serious now.
I do. If a man can go through that experience, he's elevated himself. That's,
**Senator:** that's something. I'll also say on the question, I think it's not only cigars that have been discontinued. This is what's fun about cigars. Very much like wine. There's years there's vintages and you can never get that year again.
Once everyone has smoked through them all and they're all sold and done, gone. That's it. And I think when Puba introduced us to like the love 14 upman number two, that's also true. I mean, we did on the podcast. That's also true. That was game changing. I mean, we've had upman number twos of varying years.
They're all very good. But that love 14 code and year just leaps and bounds ahead of all the rest. And once everybody smokes through those, that's it. We'll [01:43:00] never have that experience again. So I'm telling
**Rooster:** you, it's something about the 2014 and 2015. Well, every conversation that Puba has, he
**Bam Bam:** starts with, Hey, love 14.
How are you doing?
**Gizmo:** So boys, we're into the last third here on the Pedro 1926 series. Number 35 in Maduro. What's everybody thinking about the cigar?
**Chef Ricky:** Smoke output is
**Bam Bam:** ridiculous. It's still delicious. It still keeps your attention. Look at, for the size, it's so satisfying. This'll last another half hour easy, if we want to. And I'm about an inch and a half.
It's really something else.
**Rooster:** You know, it's so unlike the Quintero that we had when we were at this. You know, where we are right now at this, we almost everyone like put it down. And this thing is just keeps getting better. Yeah, we're not stopping. No, no, no.
**Chef Ricky:** The construction is perfect. The wrapper's not unraveling.
You know, even at this point, it's, it's just, it's great. Yeah, I mean, that's
**Rooster:** the thing about Padrones. I mean, they're so consistent, they're just
**Senator:** flawless. And that's the other thing, [01:44:00] like, we talk about cigars that transition, and like, cigars that are the same all the way through, and this is the perfect example of, You know, the type of cigar that I don't want it to change.
The flavor we're getting at this point is identical to the first third, and it's so delicious. And the fact that it can deliver it just as consistently when it's naturally burning hotter as we're getting closer to the end, but still so distinct. I mean, it's as good as it gets. Here's
**Bam Bam:** what's interesting.
That came out of a fresh box right out of a retailer. And it's, it's smoking like a champ.
**Gizmo:** This, I feel like this was kept very well though. Well, you know, I don't feel like it was, it's super wet.
**Bam Bam:** I bought this at one of the big box cigar retailers. They're almost always over humidifying their massive room.
But the robustness of this, it keeps its form.
**Gizmo:** So I know that only a few of us have wine left. I was curious how the wine is doing with this, with this cigar. Cause I'm finding it very much like the Quintero. To be a perfect pairing for this [01:45:00] cigar. I'll tell you as soon as Senator passes his glass. What do you think,
**Senator:** Senator?
I think it's perfect. I think a lot of Padrones, how flavorful they are, go really great with fuller bodied reds like a cab. So for me, this is an excellent pairing.
**Gizmo:** That's a very versatile wine, just given the experience we had tonight. Yeah. Right? With, think about the, the It worked with the Quintero. The mild Quintero and the very full Padron here.
Yeah. I mean, it's, it's really held its own and it's, it didn't overpower. The Cuban, and it's not standing, you know, week next to this full Padron. It's pretty amazing actually for a 20 bottle. And I think a lot of cabs like the Caymus is a good example. Or
**Bam Bam:** the
**Gizmo:** Oberon would do great with this guy. I think like, I think some of them though, I don't, I don't think it would do very well with that Cuban cigar.
Maybe the Caymus with that
**Senator:** Quintero, we wouldn't have tasted a single flavor note out of that Quintero. Right. Way [01:46:00] overpowered
**Gizmo:** it. All right, boys. One final. Lizard email tonight from Lizard Whalen if you remember he wrote us a few weeks back about Golf and smoking cigars with golf. He wrote us another one He said he sent me an email from the New York Times about those Zinn nicotine patches, you know, the salt nicotine patches.
And he said, uh, I came across this article tonight. It's interesting because earlier today I was reading a thread on Reddit where someone posted that they had smoked their first cigar and they got really sick from the nicotine. Somebody replied that they used the nicotine patches, like the little pouches from time to time, in order to build up a resistance to the nicotine in cigars.
And he mentioned that he could enjoy strong cigars now as well. I thought this was quite an interesting take, especially for someone that doesn't smoke often, but wants to build up tolerance. I don't really have a question, but I thought it might be an interesting topic for you guys to discuss on the pod.
Cheers, Lizard. He'll get addicted to the Zin packs.
**Bam Bam:** Let me chemically enhance myself before I have my cigar. [01:47:00]
**Gizmo:** You know, there's a lot of guys, listen, there's a lot of guys doing this. Wow. Uh, putting Zin packs in, and I mean, they're, they're not just doing the Zin, they're doing the Zin pack. They're doing like the off brand ones where instead of getting six milligrams, they're in the twenties, thirties, four, like they're crazy into the nicotine addiction.
And there's, they're putting it in their mouth and smoking the cigar while the packs are in. I told
**Senator:** you I was with a friend in Canada when I was up in Muskoka. Who had a Zen in while we were smoking cigars. I couldn't believe it. Wow. A bit much.
**Bam Bam:** You know, I want to chew tobacco while I'm smoking a cigar.
**Gizmo:** I want to try that.
You know, what terrifies me, just my personality, but I've never tried Zen. I don't want to. I thought about it, you know, when I can't have a cigar, but I'm afraid of like getting addicted to the nicotine hit. Like, I feel like trying to build up a tolerance to nicotine in an You know, I call it unnatural as opposed to smoking, just smoking cigars, but trying to build up your tolerance for it to then smoke stronger cigars.
Like, I think you just need to pace yourself, smoke [01:48:00] slowly. Certainly don't inhale, you know, smoke on a full stomach. I just find it completely unnecessary. I agree.
**Chef Ricky:** And listen, when, when that happens. So what I've been told is that nicotine poisoning, your body thinks your blood sugar is dropping, right? So the.
Uh, at least for me, the ideal solution is just have a small candy on hand, you know, small candy. Wow. Look at this. Or, uh, Pooh Pooh boat with a can of Coke. Yeah. Exactly. A can of Coke, a soda or something, a Dr. Pepper, like whatever floats your boat when you're smoking a stick and just have a small candy on fire.
**Bam Bam:** Chef is on fire tonight. Medical science. Dr. Ricky. And culinary arts. Dr. Chef Ricky. What is going on tonight? Chef doctor. Chef Dr.
**Rooster:** Ricky. Dr. Ricky. Dr. Ricky. Dr. Ricky. I mean, if you want a lot of nicotine, go through a box of Padron 90 at the night in a week, but it doesn't
**Chef Ricky:** seem like they want a lot of nicotine there.
I think there he's trying to build up a tolerance and I think over time you'll get [01:49:00] used to it, you know, and, and when I want a cigar, I don't say, Oh, I need nicotine. So I don't think a nicotine patch will fix that for me. I want a cigar to relax. I want a cigar, a former
**Senator:** cigarette. Uh, cigarette smoker. That could be.
Yeah. I'm just going to say, we may have to test Rooster for performance enhancers. Oh yeah. The 90th's in the morning, he may have been popping some zins to build up that tolerance. You might be shooting something up, man. What's going on over there?
**Chef Ricky:** Only zin. Drug test before the next pop. Correct. The only zin Rooster's popping is a zino, come on guys.
**Senator:** Oh yeah,
**Bam Bam:** yeah. I think you go through Pagoda's power alley of cigar choices and you'll be fine. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** I also think, uh, you know, I think we benefit in this room. Obviously we smoke. Together, you know, once a week on the podcast, but we're also smoking, you know, nearly every day. I think for someone who's smoking every couple of weeks and is reaching for a very, very strong cigar when they do, you're not going to be able to build up the tolerance.
So maybe this is a [01:50:00] substitute for being able to smoke more. You know, obviously if you're at work or driving in the car or something, putting a Zen pouch in, I, I just, I think that there's a more natural way to do it and just smoke more. Good cigars. For sure. It's no more enjoyable way to do it. Yeah.
**Senator:** Yeah.
No different than alcohol.
**Gizmo:** Yeah.
**Senator:** If you don't drink for a month and then you start drinking alcohol, your tolerance, I mean, you have a few drinks and you're like, Whoa, what's going on here? I mean, If you, you know, you consume alcohol, you know, regularly, you've built up a tolerance. You can have a few drinks, you'll feel fine.
It's no different with cigars. Very true.
**Gizmo:** And I think also putting yourself in a position where your body is requiring significant quantities of nicotine to feel normal. Well, you know, there are
**Bam Bam:** times we jones for a cigar.
**Gizmo:** There's no question. But I don't think I jones for a cigar for the nicotine. For the nicotine, no.
I'm jonesing for how I feel when I smoke that cigar, which is relaxed. Of course. You know, which nicotine is not a relaxing cigarette. You know, it's a, that's an upper, that's not a downer, you know? So I don't know when I hear this [01:51:00] Zen thing, it's, it's, it doesn't fit into what my understanding of this lifestyle is.
Yeah. And
**Chef Ricky:** to that point, like I don't want to smoke a cigar in a chaotic environment. Right. So to your point of nicotine being an upper, like why get myself that riled up to then it's, it's, it seems counterintuitive.
**Gizmo:** Well, thanks to everybody for writing in. And again, congratulations to Lizard Cody who won Lizard of the Week this week.
He's going to win a package of stuff from us and anybody out there can win. All you have to do is write us an email, send us a voice memo, whatever it may be. Just tell us what you're thinking. Send us something and you can win Lizard of the Week. So boys, it's time to move into the final two ratings on our program tonight.
We're going to start first with the Bonanza Cabernet Sauvignon. Bam, bam, you're up. Look.
**Bam Bam:** I don't know much about wine. I'm not a wine connoisseur. I know when I drink something and I like it. This, I really enjoyed this tonight. And we've rated some incredible wines here very [01:52:00] highly, but I may get laughed out of the room, but I'm going to give this a nine.
I was debating a 10 because of how easy it is to drink, the versatility. Price point. The price, um, it was, it was the, A bit of sweetness, but it wasn't overly sweet. Um, it was a little sophisticated, nice finish. A little on the dry side, which I love. So I'm at a nine. Okay. Chef Ricky.
**Chef Ricky:** I'm at a
**Bam Bam:** 10
**Chef Ricky:** here. Yeah.
Yeah. I'm not surprised. Yeah. Super. And I thought you were going to give it a 10. I thought you were going for a 10. I'm not surprised. But I'm at a 10 here. Super drinkable. Um, You know, I think, you know, you make it laugh out of the room. That's fine. You know, I, I hate the label. I hate the name, but I like the juice inside of it.
Um, I love the price point. I love, uh, you know, how approachable it is, how versatile it is. You know, we smoked it with a Cuban. We're now smoking with a Padron. It's doing well. I wish I had more, um, and I, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Uh, I think it's a great buy. I think [01:53:00] it's a great, uh, pairing with the cigar.
And if you're maybe someone who has a, a, a, you know, a little nicotine intolerance and you find yourself, this might be a good pairing because I think the sweetness in the wine, the little bit that it has there, I think it does beautifully with, with your smoke. So I'm at a 10.
**Gizmo:** Okay,
**Pagoda:** Pagoda. It's a nine for me.
I really enjoyed the cab. What I was really pleasantly surprised was it felt lighter bodied in its own right. And I thought it was a bit sweeter than typically what I find in cabs, which tend to be very, very dry. And it really helped me with both the cigars, I think, although I ran out of the wine very quickly when we started smoking the Padron.
So did I. Yeah, I know. Uh, I I'm sure that if I had another glass, it might've been a 10. That's a nine for me. Duly noted for Garcon.
**Senator:** All right, Senator. So I'm at an eight. I think it's a very approachable, [01:54:00] um, very accessibly priced wine. I think it's one of the few Wagner wines that I appreciate what they're doing.
I think it's much more balanced than a lot of their wines are. A cab, typically, Pagoda, especially a California cab, is usually very sweet. That's, is that what it is? Yeah, that's the typical profile. If you find a dry cab, that's actually very rare, especially out of California. Um, but I do think this is much more balanced than most, which is good.
I'm so glad that Ricky said, I am. Cannot stand the bottle, the design, the artwork is literally some of the worst I've ever seen on a bottle of wine. It's true. It looks like a gimmick. It's true. It's true. I mean, this looks like a child's created this. Yeah. And this is like one of the most respected, you know, winemakers in the country.
If not the world, they've got tons of resources. I don't get how they arrived at it. So. For me, I just hate that it cheapens it, it it cheapens the experience that you're having because you drink what's [01:55:00] inside of it and you say, wow, this is actually a pretty good wine. And you look at it and you'd think like, if I brought this to someone's house, they would laugh that had never drank this thing.
I'd be like, percent, you picked this up for $5 at a supermarket. He put
**Bam Bam:** that right in a closet. .
**Senator:** Exactly. And so that, it does such a disservice. I really hope that they completely rebrand this, um, 'cause it desperately needs it for me. Um, the reasons I can't give it a nine or a 10. It's very straightforward.
There's nothing to me that's complex about it. It's a little thin for a cab, but they're trying to make something very easy drinking. A lot of different situations, very versatile, so I get that. Um, so, you know, there are aspects where I definitely want more, and that's the only reason I couldn't go 9 or a 10, but I think they've mission accomplished to their credit.
This is something that, Almost anybody who likes red wine, especially a cab, is going to find something enjoyable enough about it.
**Bam Bam:** A rating of an 8 from a guy that knows his wine, that says a lot. That says a lot. And
**Senator:** I'll say also, I'm [01:56:00] shocked I gave it an 8 because thank God this was a good bottle. The last bottle I had would have definitely been a 7 and that would have honestly been generous, maybe even a 6.
But two of the three bottles I've had now, both round up to an eight. It was just one outlier. So I think it could have been improperly stored. I mean, there's so many factors. It may not actually be the vineyard and consistency they are known for. So, um, yeah, I'm glad this one worked out.
**Gizmo:** So for me, it's a nine.
I thought that for a 20 bottle, how it paired alongside the Cuban cigar so well, and then how it paired alongside this very full. Nicaraguan cigar. I just thought it performed brilliantly. I think for a cigar wine, this is right in the, in the power alley of what I think someone needs. Very excessively priced, works very well across the gamut.
I can't imagine how great this would taste with a great Honduran cigar or a Dominican cigar, like You, you, you think about all the boxes that this wine can check for a cigar smoker. I [01:57:00] think it was perfect. I liked it. It was a little thinner. I liked it. It, it wasn't as flavor, you know, same power as some of the other, some of the others that we've had.
I just, I thought it was really good. And I think at 20, I think it's a very fair price, but again, like, like, like Senator and Ricky said, it, it looks like a, a, a. You know, a two buck Chuck, you know, Trader Joe's wine that you buy for two dollars. The
**Senator:** label on two buck Chuck looks way
**Gizmo:** better than this. Is two buck
**Bam Bam:** Chuck actually a wine?
That's a thing. Oh yeah. Is it ripple? They
**Gizmo:** have it at Trader Joe's. Oh
**Bam Bam:** man.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys. That puts the formal liquor rating tonight on the Bonanza Cabernet Sauvignon at a 9. 0. All right. And now it's time to move into our third and final rating tonight on this short smoke special, the Padron. 1926 series number 35 in Maduro rooster.
You're up.
**Rooster:** This cigar is so good. So good. I mean, in that size, what it delivers, [01:58:00] it's amazing that the dark espresso, deep espresso notes, the cocoa that the, all the Padron's are known for. I mean, this 1926 series, I do like the 1926 series. I am smoking a lot more of the 1964, like the exclusive was now, but once in a while, when you, when you.
When you want a little bit more, the 1926 just delivers, but this size, you know, you'd think it's a, it's a quick smoke, but it's a good 45 minutes smoke, I think. Yeah. Even an hour. Yeah. I think we did an hour on it. Yeah. So, um, I'm at a solid nine on this. I would have given this a 10 had the, I have to kind of consider what the price point is right now.
Prices have gone up so much. So to pay 1650 for this size, it's a bit much. So, I mean, I'm at, I'm at a nine, but it is a very satisfying smoke and, uh, definitely worth having a box of these because on those rare [01:59:00] occasions that you want a full flavored experience in a short smoke, uh, which is not that short.
I mean, 45 minutes to an hour is not a short smoke. So, so I'm at a nine.
**Senator:** All right, Senator. I'm in lockstep with Rooster at a nine. I think, like I said earlier, it is one of the best new world short smokes that exists. You will be hard pressed to find a short smoke that can deliver as much flavor as smoothly and elegantly as this cigar is able to.
I also think you'd be hard pressed to find a short smoke with the level of smoke output that this has. If someone walked in this room with the amount of smoke, they would think we smoked a full size, you'd even think someone lit up a Churchill from Liga in here. Crazy, crazy smoke output, and I never associate a little cigar as like something when you want to be a chimney.
So it's pretty cool that you can do that with something in this kind of short format. Um, the construction, I mean, it's Padron, but especially with this [02:00:00] little cigar, I've had a lot of these. A plus. Um, I've never had a problem with one of these. The only reason I couldn't do, give it the 10 is the price.
The price. Yep. And if there weren't other short smokes that are really enjoyable at a much lower price point, then sure, it would be a 10. But the fact that there are, that's the only thing that I think is a little bit misaligned. Um, but outside of that, there's not one thing I would point to as a flaw in this cigar.
It's excellent.
**Bam Bam:** I've got to ask a question. So. I think everything that both you and Rooster have said about this cigar, I'm not rating it yet, but the value you're getting, because that'll take you an hour most times to get through that little cigar. So the dimension is deceiving because of how powerful it is.
**Senator:** I agree, but there are other short smokes. I could smoke two of them for less than the price. Sure.
**Bam Bam:** That's true. That has to
**Senator:** factor in. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** No, it's,
**Senator:** it's true. [02:01:00] And it's really the only thing that precludes me from smoking this every day.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Senator:** It's price.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Senator:** It's the only reason.
**Gizmo:** Tough one. So I'm also at a nine.
I thought the flavor on the cigar is excellent. It is a great little powerhouse of a cigar. I mean, Padron delivers every time we know this, it, the flavor is great. Combustion was great. I do think there's a value issue here at 1650. You know, Senator mentioned last week when we were talking about the Aladino and he was saying, you know, when he gives a cigar a 10 it's cause he can't find anything wrong with it.
And I think that does apply here for me, except for one factor. And I've realized that, that all the cigars that I've rated a 10 on this podcast, including the Aladino last week, I wake up in the morning thinking about that cigar. I dream about that cigar. I wake up in the morning, I can't wait to have it.
And this cigar has never been one of those for me. I do not wake up thinking about this cigar. [02:02:00] I wouldn't say it's forgettable, but it doesn't hit me in the way that a Padron Exclusivo does at a larger format, you know, lower price. I wake up, I need to have an Exclusivo today. I need to have it. And that happens across, you know, all of the cigars that I, that I smoke regularly.
So that would probably be my only complaint here. That and value at 16. 50, I think that is just, unfortunately, an unreasonable price for this format. And I think that, um, it, it prices a lot of folks out. But, um, you know, I, I thought it was a very good cigar, so I'm happy at a nine. Pagoda, good points.
**Pagoda:** Yeah, same here.
Uh, actually, I haven't even smoked a lot of these. I've just smoked a couple a long time back. And I've never really gone back. And, uh, bought these, uh, ever. Uh, for me, it's a nine because it does really fit in my flavor profile. I love Padrones. It's home. It would be a 10 except for the price. There's no question about it.
What I was really impressed about it was I had a doubt whether, you know, this would smoke very quickly, but it didn't. It did really [02:03:00] hold its own. You know, it lasted much longer than I thought it would. I think I still might have been the first one to finish it, but still, it was fantastic. You know, Padron for me always delivers, typically most Padrons are tenths for me.
Um, but at that price, you're right. I would rather pick up an exclusive, you know, even leave it, you know, uh, which I would never leave it, but you know, I just, you always find more time. I just find more time for a Padron. I just found through my kids can wait. My only question is, is the Principe in the 64 line, is the price around the same, you would think?
No, it's quite a bit less. Oh, it is? All right. That's
**Gizmo:** probably a 10 or 11. Oh, really? So, you know,
**Pagoda:** that's definitely something we should try on, uh. But it's also not
**Bam Bam:** as robust as the Cigar. Yeah. It's a completely different experience. Different, yeah.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Yeah, definitely. I would say more medium full. This I think is fully full.
I
**Pagoda:** really enjoyed it. So, uh, but it's a nine for me today.
**Gizmo:** All right, Chef Ricky.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah, I'm at a nine. [02:04:00] Um, you know, kudos to Padron for delivering consistency with every cigar they make. Construction's beautiful. It feels great in the hand. Um, and it, it was a deceivingly long smoke. Right. I think coming into this, I've smoked a principate before.
I've never had this one, but yeah, if I walked by it and I saw the price for the size, it would be a tough pickup, but now having it, I'm like, you know, It took longer to smoke, it delivered a ton of smoke output, it delivered a ton of flavor, strength, was great. Um, so am I that upset at the price point? No, but not knowing the cigar and walking past it and seeing the price, do you think it's going to deliver what it did for the price point?
It's kind of tough to imagine that it would, but it did. Um, so with all that, you know, I'll, I'll, I'm, I'm good with a nine.
**Bam Bam:** Okay. Bam Bam. There's not much else I can say. You guys made a great case. I think I'm also at a nine. I was playing with a ten because of how [02:05:00] robust the experience was for such a little cigar.
And I said it earlier, it'll take me an hour to get through this. And there's the value of time. I mean, if you're paying 16. 50, regardless of the size, if I'm getting an hour experience out of that cigar, it's not that expensive. But for the size of it, the value case you're making, it makes sense. Um, I love this cigar.
I've always have, and I think I owe as well. Nine.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys. That puts the formal lizard rating tonight on the Padron 1926 series. Number 35 in Maduro at a flat 9. 0. I think that's a very fair score for the cigar. It's an awesome, great score. And I'll
**Senator:** say like, bam, I also toyed with a 10 and for me, what, like really tempted me to do it.
And it still pains me that I couldn't, there's no short smoke that feels better in my hand than this. I wish I could light this every day as my closer. I love that Davidoff Bellicoso. We obviously have another number of other short smokes, but nothing feels so perfect. Like this little cigar
**Bam Bam:** used to be our closer.
**Senator:** [02:06:00] Yeah. As a group. So, so
**Rooster:** years. So what price do you think this would, uh, get a 10? If this was like 12 bucks, that's
**Bam Bam:** exactly 12 bucks.
**Rooster:** I was just looking at some, uh, prices online around like 14, you know, that's not bad. 9. 5. Here's
**Senator:** my problem. So the light bulb goes off for me. That's cheaper than the Exclusivo.
Yes. And so the problem for me becomes if I'm going to pay the same price as a cigar, that's double the size and just as enjoyable. I'm like, why wouldn't I just light up the bigger cigar for the same price? Whether I finished it or not, who cares?
**Bam Bam:** I think everything you're saying is it's a, it's, I don't want to say that they're making a mistake.
But from the point of view of their business, this price is just a little too much.
**Pagoda:** But you know, the 26 line is aged one more year, right? Yeah. So still, they may have a reason for it. But
**Chef Ricky:** to its credit, Exclusivo is double the size, but it's not delivering double the, uh, the, the length of time. [02:07:00] The
**Rooster:** flavor is spot on.
I mean, I mean, it really satisfies you.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah.
**Rooster:** There's so, so often, I mean, I pick up an Exclusivo at least like three times a week. So, I mean, if you want a little bit more, you go the 1926 route, but you're not smoking these every day. That's a bit much.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys. So that was our eighth Padron we've done on the podcast.
I'm not going to go through the other seven ratings like I normally do, because we did three ratings tonight. Anybody who wants to see the other Padron ratings or any of the other ratings we've done on the podcast, go to our website, loungelizardspod. com. You can look at not only. The individual ratings for the cigars, but also what each lizard rated it.
You can see our composite ratings and whatnot. So we'll skip that tonight. So let's go through our ratings one more time. Boys on the Bonanza Cabernet Savignon. We had a 9. 0 on the Quintero Favoritas from Cuba. We had a 6. 8 and on the Padron 1926 series, number 35 in Maduro. We had another 9. 0. Yeah. Great night [02:08:00] tonight.
And I think we, I think all three of those ratings. Perfect for the experience. I think they're spot on. Please turn the air on. My eyes are tearing. All right. Of course, we want to say congratulations again to lizard Cody for winning lizard of the week. We want to thank all of our listeners for writing in.
Please continue to do so. Like I said earlier in the episode, please send us some ideas for best of 2024. Anything you enjoyed during the year, please send it over so I can include it in our, Best of the year episode and, and send some more dried fruit platters. . Oh please, lizard Luigi. We gave them dried fruit.
That was great. That was delicious. It was delicious. The entire lounge hammered that thing. And of course, thanks to our partner, Fabrica five, they're a great partner to us. Go check out some of their cigars. Use our code, of course, and a great night, boys. We'll see everybody next week. Hope you enjoyed this episode.
Thanks for joining us. You can find our merch store and ratings archive at our brand new website, LoungeLizardsPod. com. That's [02:09:00] LoungeLizardsPOD. com. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. If you have any comments, questions, If you want to reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking.
Email us hello at lounge lizards pod. com. You can also find us on Instagram at lounge lizards pod. We really appreciate your time and we'll, uh, we'll see you next week.