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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 seven members: Rooster, Poobah, Gizmo, Senator, Pagoda, Grinder and Bam Bam.
This is not your typical cigar podcast. We’re a group of friends who love sharing cigars, whiskey and a good laugh.
Join us and become a card-carrying lounge lizard yourself! Email us at hello@loungelizardspod.com to join the conversation and be featured on an upcoming episode!
Welcome to the Lounge Lizards Podcast recorded live at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association Convention and International Trade Show in Las Vegas. 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 My name is Gizmo. Tonight, I'm joined by Senator, Pagoda, Grinder, and Bam Bam.
Gizmo:And our plan is to smoke a cigar, drink some rum, talk about life, and of course, have some laughs. So take this as your 126th official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. Plan to meet us here once a week. We're gonna smoke a New World Cigar tonight, share our thoughts on it, and give you our formal lizard rating. We share some of our favorite moments from the PCA show, including opening day presentations from Foundation, Padron, and La Aurora, our impressions of the trade show floor, and we talk about meeting a few lizard listeners at an after party, all among a variety of other things for the next 90 minutes.
Gizmo:So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar and enjoy as we pair 20 year aged horticana rum with the Ipicadillo allegiance in sidekick. A Nicaraguan Robusto tonight on the pod live from Las Vegas, the PCA Show 2024 from EPCarrillo. It's called the Allegiance in Sidekick. It's a 50 ring gauge cigar by 5 inches long. And boys, we are live from Las Vegas.
Bam Bam:Yes. We are. Viva
Grinder:Las Vegas.
Pagoda:Yeah. Viva Las Vegas. I like that one.
Bam Bam:Gotta get that wig on, senator.
Senator:So this
Gizmo:is the 4th EP career we've done on the podcast tonight. And, boys, this is our first location recording with a review, And, it's nice to be here at PCA 2024.
Bam Bam:Yes, sir. Phenomenal. Phenomenal experience so far.
Gizmo:We have a lot to get to today, boys. But first, let's cut this thing. See, we're getting on the cold draw on the wrapper. The cold draw is really, really interesting. Different.
Gizmo:I can't pick I can't pick out what that one. Is that cinnamon? Major note I'm getting.
Bam Bam:Something like that.
Senator:I get cedar, barnyard, and cinnamon.
Gizmo:Yeah.
Grinder:Definitely cedar.
Bam Bam:Cinnamon's there for me.
Grinder:I don't get the cinnamon.
Bam Bam:Oh, it's there.
Senator:It is there. You're right.
Grinder:I don't know what I'm getting.
Senator:Oh, boy. I'm looking at a gizmo cut. Bam bam. What happened?
Grinder:Uh-oh. Oh, wow. He took about 3 quarters of an inch off.
Bam Bam:And it's crooked.
Grinder:I was in a hurry to catch. It is a cutter. It is a cutter. I think that's Oh. Alright.
Grinder:Alright. Oh. I think it is.
Pagoda:You know, we
Grinder:we blame it on the cutter this time, please. No.
Bam Bam:Actually, I was in a hurry
Grinder:to catch up with you guys. He's just tired.
Gizmo:It's been a long week. Kind of. Yeah. Hard week, smoking cigars, drinking rum.
Bam Bam:But the the the draw is wide open. Beautiful. It is beautiful.
Gizmo:Alright, boys. Let's light this thing. The Epicarillo Allegiance, the Sidekick. Again, it's a Robusto 50 ring gauge cigar by 5 inches long. And this is the 4th line from Epicarillo.
Gizmo:In addition to the pledge, the encore, and the La Historia, they added the allegiance to the to the wine, and it's a Ecuadorian sumatra seed wrapper, and the binder and filler are both from Nicaragua, made in the Oliva factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.
Grinder:I'll tell you. Right off the light, it's really quite delicious. It really is.
Bam Bam:Yeah. It's, the the the wrapper is is interesting. About to say
Senator:it's got
Bam Bam:this light dark brown marbling.
Grinder:It's marbling. Yeah.
Bam Bam:Really unique. A slight toothiness, but interesting wrapper.
Grinder:Hey. Like, we we like everything with the allegiance in it.
Gizmo:This, it has a very good flavor. Yeah. I would say it's like a medium body, and it has a hint of, like, a Cuban type of, not I don't wanna use the word twang, but there's a little bit of a bite on the front of my tongue that is similar to some good Cohiba that I've had, some like, there there there is a little bit of that there.
Grinder:There's definitely there's definitely a twang when you first even on the cold draw, I got twang on just on the the the, the flavor of the wrapper. And, you know, it's it's not even a salty kind. It's like a spicy twang.
Senator:It is
Bam Bam:there's a bit of a spice. It it could be if this if you smoke through this a little too quickly, it's definitely going to back up on you, I think. It's nicotine forward for me. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Gizmo:So this line has 4 sizes. Like I said, we're smoking the sidekick tonight, which is the 50 ring gauge by 5. There's also the Confidant, 52 ring gauge by 6 inch Toro. The Wingman, a 54 ring gauge by 6 and 7 eighths inches. That's a big cigar.
Gizmo:And the chaperone, which is the biggest of them all, 58 ring gauge by 6 and a quarter. And the intention was that they made each vitola to reflect what they view as the characters in an allegiance. Right. So when a group of friends, the sidekick, the confidant, the wingman, and the chaperone. So that's the idea here with this, with this blend.
Bam Bam:We probably don't know what the cost is on this yet, do we? Mhmm.
Gizmo:Yeah. These are about $12. Okay. Very ornate band on them, unique to the Allegiance. This one's green where there's I think the pledge line is blue.
Gizmo:The La Historia is Gold. Gold and red.
Grinder:Gold and
Gizmo:red, and then the Encore is a little different as well. Mhmm. But this one is all green custom to this cigar. Really ornate. Very nice very nice bands on this cigar.
Grinder:He has he always has beautiful bands.
Senator:The thing I also like about all those cigars and lines that you mentioned, just the the box press, they always feel great in the hands. That's one thing with EP Carrillo I just love.
Gizmo:It's like a smooth box press. It's not like a rigid like you'd find on a Padron or Correct. Even some of the Oliva cigars.
Grinder:It's it's
Gizmo:it's like a smoother box press Yeah. On these. So, boys, as we mentioned, we are in Las Vegas. We have a lot going on here at PCA 2024. We're set up in the back of the trade hall where all of the business is happening behind us.
Gizmo:We kind of stole a table and a bunch of chairs and set up our stuff.
Bam Bam:Lizards always make do.
Gizmo:Making it happen.
Senator:Correct.
Gizmo:And I think the biggest piece of breaking news, boys, is that I'm wearing a sport coat. I'm looking sharp.
Grinder:Looking sharp.
Bam Bam:Honestly, I I wanted to
Gizmo:I want it on the record, Bam.
Bam Bam:I am extremely impressed with your wardrobe this entire experience.
Senator:Gizmo is properly adulting. I'm I'm very happy and impressed.
Gizmo:I'm not I'm not enjoying it. I'll be honest with you.
Bam Bam:Although that Kanye hoodie made it very similar
Gizmo:to how Not at the show. Not at the show.
Bam Bam:Correct. That's true.
Gizmo:Yeah. We we have to
Senator:start with our flight out here where
Grinder:The whole
Senator:that bam has Gizmo get out of his seat and says, just take a couple steps back and say, see, look. He's dressed like Kanye West. Yeah.
Grinder:I had you set it up. His sneakers.
Senator:And then Gizmo got to the show, and he, he cleaned up well.
Bam Bam:Snapped up very quickly. Beautiful.
Grinder:Bam certainly made his presence known on that flight for sure.
Gizmo:Oh, he did. Yeah. We met a we met someone from the show who was 2 rows behind him.
Senator:And said, were you on a united flight to Vegas on Thursday?
Bam Bam:It's a little scary that people recognize me. It's I don't like that. I'm not sure if I like it.
Gizmo:You look like Alex Baldwin. Correct.
Bam Bam:I hear that many times. I don't I'm not sure if I like that either.
Pagoda:And who was the other guy? Javier,
Gizmo:Oh, Javier Javier Bardem is another
Grinder:one that people were saying. Right.
Gizmo:Right. These
Grinder:are very quality, you know, comparisons. Yeah.
Gizmo:So you're saying, like, mister Peterson. I
Bam Bam:appreciate that.
Pagoda:Like, we Thank you. We like to say he's aging well.
Bam Bam:Yes. I am. I I would like to think so.
Gizmo:So, boys, we are here in Vegas, and and I think the consensus among the group here, and we've all been to Vegas before, is that, Vegas is not great. No. It's not great. It's cold as shit right now. There's no question about that.
Gizmo:But just I I just I don't feel good when I come here. I mean, when we come to the show and we're we're smoking cigars, that's all great. But the other stuff in Las Vegas, it's just not my scene. Yeah. You know?
Grinder:It it makes me sad, you know, just like the whole setup, the the development of the strip, and everything around it that that suits the, you know, how we you know, what what goes on and gone goes on here and, even in the the developments around the city where we're kinda staying.
Senator:It's just
Bam Bam:a little sad.
Senator:Yeah. It's just like the dichotomy of being at PCA where we've had so many genuine, real, authentic conversations with great people throughout this industry, and then the complete opposite outside of here where everything in Vegas is just manufactured
Grinder:Right.
Senator:And fake and overpriced. It doesn't feel real. Very ironic. And it's just it's so hard to enjoy that. It's like, you know, any restaurant, you're spending a silly amount of money just to get a decent meal here.
Senator:There's not a whole lot to do here, you know, besides gamble and and drink and smoke. I, like, I I just I'll never be a big Vegas guy.
Bam Bam:No. No.
Grinder:I I come out here at least once a year for various, you know, other professional, endeavors, and it's always this thing where that I dread. You know? It's one of these things that I dread because I I feel you know, as as Giz mentioned, I feel bad when I when I'm here and when I leave, and I'm I'm happy to be home.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Pagoda:Well, I guess I'm the only outlier there.
Bam Bam:Waiting for you to say that.
Pagoda:Yeah. Love the casinos. Love the vibe. Love the people. Hang around, you know, in casinos, at the bars.
Pagoda:It's, March Madness and
Bam Bam:It's always better when you win, though.
Grinder:You know? I did win.
Pagoda:You know? But, hey, listen. Vegas was Vegas.
Gizmo:Grinder mentioned something that, that he I wanted to talk about that. You said how interesting it was to see how much of the year's business gets done at this trade show for the cigar industry.
Grinder:Oh, absolutely. So I I was you know, we visited a lot of the booths, and, you know, we're just inquiring about, you know, commerce. We're all we all have business minds. And all of the all of the, sales associates I spoke to, the even, like, the head personas, to see a guy like Rocky Patel hustle his ass off
Bam Bam:Oh, yeah.
Grinder:To make a fucking sale Yeah. At you know, back to back to back. We were we were hanging out at his booth for a little bit. He had a he had a fantastic booth with music, live music, and and some, beer for us.
Senator:Yeah.
Grinder:And the guy is just and this is a ubiquitous across all the all the, you know, the operators and all the brands. People are working hard.
Gizmo:Oh, yeah.
Grinder:And, you know, you ask the questions, like, where what's going on here? These guys are taking orders. You know? They're they have their iPads out. They're talking business.
Grinder:They're talking about new products. And I said, well, what's what's going on? Like, is how many how much of your business? He said, honestly, we set up the entire year here. We get everything lined up.
Grinder:We introduce the products. We make sure we have our orders, and we we take it in. We and this is our forecast. We have our forecast, and we and then it sets our inventory, and this sets our whole entire year. If we have a good show, we have a good year.
Bam Bam:It's exciting to see, honestly.
Gizmo:With all that happening that Grindr just detailed, with all of the business that's being done, the kindness and the generosity with time and the the warmth of the reception And
Bam Bam:the open conversations.
Gizmo:Yeah. When you walk in the generosity of their time. Talking with Jorge Padrone, and you're talking with Carlito Fuente, Rocky Patel, and all of these guys, it's it's really amazing.
Bam Bam:Yeah. The amount of surprising.
Gizmo:Yeah. It it really, really is.
Grinder:To have the that amount of access with you know?
Bam Bam:Yeah. You you look at
Grinder:a guy like George Padron, who's so you know, he's, you know, he's got a lot of demand on his time. He he, you know, he took time just to speak to us, to tell us what what, you know, the the cigars he's has coming out this year. We had a a wonderful presentation for, a new a new cigar he's releasing this year, and even across all the different brands, Carlito, EP Carrillo. These Ernesto, you know, we've spoke to Ernesto for 10 minutes yesterday. This is wonderful access.
Grinder:These guys are a salt of the earth. They're working hard. It's a blue collar business, but a but a a luxury good, and you have to understand that.
Senator:Yeah. Yeah. I think the thing that's remarkable is, clearly, all of these guys have not forgotten the opportunity that this trade show years ago provided for them that they, to this day, take so seriously and have never taken for granted. I mean, you hear stories of even brands that are large now and we respect like Padron and them coming to this trade show and, you know, hoping that they would break even and not lose money coming to it and get just enough sales out of it for it to be worthwhile. It's not cheap to have a booth at a trade show like this, and it's just incredible.
Senator:Like, some of even these small boutique brands that we were able to meet as we're walking through, you know, I hope 5, 10 years from now that those brands are tell telling a similar story of, if it wasn't for a trade show like this, we wouldn't be where we are today. And so I just love the opportunity it provides for small brands and the largest of brands, how they haven't forgotten where they came from and how seriously they take this and how generous they are with their time and everything that they share.
Gizmo:Up here.
Pagoda:You know, they all show up here. You know, as owners of businesses, especially the larger brands, you know, they don't need to show up here. They could sell to the sales team. Yeah. But they all show up here, and they personally guide.
Pagoda:They take the retail, outlets very, very seriously, and that's the way of distribution. And, it's it's fantastic to see all of them come and work hard and hustle Yeah. Like Grind Dimension earlier.
Bam Bam:And for me, personally, I haven't ever been to an event like this that centers around something that we love so much. It's very inspirational. And to have the access of the the conversations, that alone completely took me by surprise. And and you've all said it, how impressive it is to see someone like George and Epicarillo and a few of the other major retailers working their asses off. It's just I wasn't expecting it, honestly.
Pagoda:Beautiful boots, guys. We're gonna talk about the boots. Oh, yeah. Let's talk about our favorite boots. Yeah.
Pagoda:Where it's, the amount of time and effort that has gone into some of these beautiful displays, amazing. Yeah. It's not like, you know, cookie cutter, you know, trade shows where you have one stall after the other. No. They're elaborate.
Grinder:That's not fantastic.
Bam Bam:I could certainly comment on design and craftsmanship. Like, everything is uniquely designed. Everything is custom made. My question is, are they using it from show to show to the show, or are they doing a new booth at every every event? That's a big question because it's so expensive.
Gizmo:I would imagine that there's no way that the like, the Padron booth, which is the central booth
Grinder:It is.
Gizmo:In the trade show Yeah. There's no way they're scrapping that every year and starting fresh.
Grinder:I I
Gizmo:think they're using that booth as the construct of their, you know, of their presentation each year. They they
Senator:are. And we we've heard that George Padron actually mentioned that most of what's there, they have used trade show to trade show. Obviously, there's some new elements. I mean, they have a new cigar release with the 60th. Obviously, that whole display is brand new.
Senator:You know, in the Fuente booth, the the Padron Fuente collaboration, that part of that is certainly new. But I think the thing that was so cool, you think about the the first day that the trade show opened. As media, we were allowed to come in actually before any of the retailers were by about 2 hours.
Bam Bam:Early in the morning.
Senator:Yeah. Us literally being some of the first people to walk through this and just you could see them still making final preparations for that 10 AM opening time and vacuuming the rugs in their booth and making sure everything is perfectly aligned the way they want it and the stress that that comes with that. There's so much pride that these brands take in displaying their product and telling their story. And, for me, like Bam said, the inspirational part of this, I Yeah. That was just so exciting to see.
Bam Bam:Yeah. I was tired yesterday, tired today, but as we walked into the space, kinda invigorated me. And it, you know, it's just so so cool to see.
Gizmo:So much smells so great. Uh-huh. I mean I mean, we're we're walking around with hundreds of people or thousands of people. I guess there's about 7,000 attendees
Grinder:this year.
Bam Bam:Is ridiculous.
Gizmo:And the aroma is amazing, but the ventilation is very good.
Senator:Ventilation is a plus. I have to say, I literally expected to leave this trade show with every item of clothing that I wore reeking of cigar smoke. And somehow I mean, the high ceilings have to help at this big convention center here in Vegas. Every night, I've come back to our place, and my clothes don't smell that much of cigar smoke. The ventilation in here, honestly, is better than the ventilation at any cigar lounge I've ever been at anywhere.
Gizmo:Absolutely. You think they light like a big lamp or j at the end
Senator:of the show?
Grinder:It's the size of a car.
Gizmo:Thousand gallon lamp or j. So before the whole trade show and exhibition floor opened on Saturday and Sunday, there and Monday are the 3 days that the actual trade show is open. On Friday was a pre, event, which started with a documentary, I guess, which was kinda highlighted by Pete Johnson of Tatawaihi. He was in it quite a bit, on Friday around noon. And, senator, you said you you really had some nice takeaways from
Senator:I was just really shocked. I mean, for me, coming to a trade show like this for the first time, I expected there to be such a huge divide between New World Cigars, which is represented at this trade show, and Cuban cigars that, obviously, you know, we review equally. And I was just shocked that the first thing we walk in this big convention hall, and they have these huge, screens running this kind of documentary, and video talking about Cuban tobacco and Cuban refugees and the role that Cubans have played in the cigar the history of of just cigar production and then, obviously, even new world production today. And I just was shocked. I I I felt like there would almost be a concerted effort to kind of box out any mention of the role that Cuba and Cubans have played in this since they're competing, obviously, with that product in many respects.
Senator:And I was just so gratified to see them embracing Yeah. The true history and the role that Cuba's played in this product that we all love. So, for me, that was just, like, as great of a start to this as possible, where it was bringing together these 2 worlds that we try to do on this podcast that I don't think happens enough
Bam Bam:outside. Probably not a coincidence that, you know, there are a handful of marcas that began in Cuba and that have transitioned to the new world, and they happen to also be the most elite cigars that we all pursue.
Grinder:Yeah.
Bam Bam:Why is that?
Grinder:You also I mean, you can't disregard the fact that a lot of the great brands we have in the new world kind of series, new the new world divide here are, you know, families, Cuban families Yeah. That started their business. They They brought it over longevity. Yeah. To to other parts of the Caribbean, to the United States, and that that rich heritage is is still there.
Grinder:You know? It's something they're proud of. It's something we're so happy to embrace. And, as as, senator mentioned, it was beautiful to see.
Pagoda:There's one large community, guys. It's one community at the end of the day, and, you know, it's omnipresent at least at the straight shows.
Gizmo:So following that documentary premiere was the pairing that La Aurora presented with the La Aurora a 120th anniversary cigar with the rum that they have, which is e Leon Jimenez. And that I was shocked, honestly. I I came into that thinking it was gonna be potentially a dud, and I was shocked how good both the cigar and the rum were.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Very impressive.
Senator:We're gonna do those on the podcast for sure. Absolutely. Gizmo's point, my my interaction with La Aurora as a brand has been relatively limited. I can't say that in my limited interaction, it's been particularly good one. And so I had the same healthy skepticism that you did about that and, also, the idea of this rum being developed by La Aurora that the family, that is, that started La Aurora, I just was shocking to me.
Senator:I don't know of really any other cigar brand or company that has gotten into this business.
Bam Bam:There's another marker that's doing that.
Senator:Yeah. And to your point, both were excellent.
Grinder:Yeah. Can we talk about that cigar? 120. It was so delicious.
Gizmo:It was very it was shocking, honestly.
Bam Bam:I've had La Aurora in my past. That is absolutely the very best cigar that they've ever made that I've ever had.
Grinder:You know, all of
Bam Bam:the all of the other experiences that I've had were fairly mediocre.
Grinder:You you know what's what's fantastic to see is we, you know, we have some we have we had access. We're talking about access. We're talking to the CEO of La Roa North America, and we're talking about our podcast, how much we love cigars, how we have a truth. We, you know, we have integrity. We we we're very serious about rating cigars to our palate, and we have honesty with our audience.
Grinder:For Ed to for Ed to come up to us and say, listen. I think I know what you guys would like. You you're really not gonna like a lot of this stuff on the on this wall for the booth. Let me show you the goods because he knows that they have different, you know, they have a different market profile for every different customer and different cigars that fit different palates. And to to have that access to the CEO of North America, basically, put put a cigar in our hands and say, this is what you really guys you know, this is what you want.
Bam Bam:And he knows a lizard when he sees you.
Senator:He knows a lizard.
Gizmo:So following that event was an incredible presentation from Nick Molelo of Foundation Cigars on the Connecticut River Valley and Connecticut Tobacco. It was eye opening.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:He spent 48 minutes or 50 minutes or something just deep diving, really with no notes aside from the PowerPoint that he was that he had up. Deep diving into the history of tobacco going back 250,000 years, then to 14000 years up to the present. I mean, really, really went deep. And I learned a lot about not just Connecticut tobacco, but tobacco in general And and certainly the approach of the Connecticut farmers. And now in Ecuador, the people who are growing Connecticut tobacco and how that impacts all, you know, all of the brands that we smoke.
Gizmo:Right. Potentially, including Cuban cigars.
Pagoda:It's good to see. It's actually really, really good to see, how committed they are to their craft and how knowledgeable they are about their craft.
Bam Bam:Nick Nick is a technician. And when we sat there and he went through slide after slide, just the level of detail in the presentation itself was just so incredibly impressive and very technical in detail. I think we can all appreciate that. I for what I do visually, it was just incredibly well presented.
Senator:Yeah. I I agree. I I think it's just so fascinating that, you know, you think of a lot of the individuals who lead and run these big cigar brands, And, you know, they're at heart they're business people. They're manufacturers, but they're not necessarily experts on the growing process. They're not farmers by trade.
Senator:Right? They have folks who run that. Even in Cuba, when we've talked about this, you know, we've gone out to the farms to talk to those people and learn more about the growing process. And when we're in Havana, we're learning more about the manufacturing and production process. For Nick Mulillo to have so much depth as to the growing process Yeah.
Senator:As well as the manufacturing process. I learned a ton from
Bam Bam:it. Incredible.
Senator:I was shocked at how knowledgeable he is about all of this. And for him to stand up there and say that this is the first time he's actually given that presentation, I mean, it was so well done. You would have thought he does this every week.
Bam Bam:Oh, absolutely.
Gizmo:Yeah. So it was the first time.
Senator:Yeah.
Gizmo:It's crazy.
Bam Bam:He's fully integrated in every step of the way with his company. Oh, very deep. Absolutely.
Grinder:He he I mean, he talked about his story. Right? And he's been in it for a long time. Mhmm. And he's and he's played a lot of different roles, and he has so much, intimacy with the farming process.
Grinder:And you can tell you can see that passion. He talks about the people. He's talking about, obviously, very specific growing, climates and acclimating different seed to different climates. He knows what the hell he's talking about.
Senator:And he's lived it. He lived in Esteli for a few years at a very young age.
Bam Bam:And did he start in a cigar shop when he was a kid?
Gizmo:Yeah. He had incredible history.
Bam Bam:He was
Grinder:his first
Bam Bam:15 years old into the business. Yeah.
Senator:The the best part is I'm excited for when we have Nick Melillo come on the pod. You know, we've obviously we had some nice conversations with him after his presentation, and I'm excited about some opportunities to have him share with our listeners, you know, more of his story. And more broadly, I think, a lot of education around the product that we we all love and smoke.
Gizmo:So, boys, we're well into the first third here on the EP Carrillo Allegiance sidekick. What are you guys thinking? I this is a pretty damn good cigar.
Pagoda:Really enjoying it. You know, you talk about a little bit of the twang. I'm experiencing it. I think the finish is, I think, medium to long and for me, and I'm not, I'm like, it's just
Bam Bam:it's a clean it's a clean finish.
Grinder:Yeah.
Bam Bam:It's very nice.
Senator:It is. There's an odd Cuban esque quality. Like, that clean finish Right. For me, you know, fuller new world cigars, the finish really lingers in a way that hours after after smoking that cigar, I I can still vividly taste and and remember what I was smoking. With a Cuban cigar, it's usually a lighter, cleaner finish, where an hour later, it's like I have a clean palate, and I'm I'm on to the next thing.
Senator:This has a lot of that, which is really nice. I've had one of these before. One thing I'm actually impressed with here, we talk about humidity, obviously, a lot. And, you know, usually, cigars you get are are pretty wet. Even at many retailers, we complain about how they're storing them at 70 r h, and it's too high.
Senator:I'm even 72, some of these retailers. And, this clearly is well maintained because the allegiance I had prior to this, I'm certain was wet, and I did not have the same experience flavor wise that I'm getting out of this cigar now. So I'm really glad, that we're doing this and that this was clearly kept well because it's a whole different experience.
Grinder:Wait. Wait. I mean, I've I've been retrohailing this whole time.
Bam Bam:Me too.
Grinder:And Me. 3. The the the Yeah. Me 4.
Senator:You talk
Bam Bam:We need we need a review on it.
Grinder:I'm the outlier again. You you you talk about clean finish. Sometimes the retrohale really hits you. This is a rich cigar with a lot of flavor, but a clean finish, and and you feel that in your in your retrohale.
Bam Bam:For me, I am getting very slight dessert qual
Pagoda:I tried retrohale. Don't do that.
Grinder:I think the sinuses don't help.
Bam Bam:No. For me, I am getting a slight dessert quality to this cigar.
Gizmo:I agree. Just a touch. Did you get like a almost like a tart. Like a tart dessert.
Bam Bam:I I can't put my finger on it. That's pretty accurate. It's really very good. Very good.
Gizmo:Alright, boys. Let's try our pairing tonight. We are very lucky to be sitting with Luis Baez, the global ambassador of floridicana, and we have an amazing 20 year aged rum.
Luis Baez:You guys are gonna you're in for a treat. I think this 20 year is fantastic, and I think it's gonna pair beautifully with the cigar that you guys have. It's that Nicaraguan terra. Right? It's, it's Esteli.
Luis Baez:It's Chinandega. It's Nicaragua. It's just a beautiful smoke and a beautiful sip to go along with it.
Senator:Excellent. I'm so excited about this. Pagoda and I were walking around the trade show, and we happened to start we happened to hit the the rum in the back of the trade show, and we were so generous to meet, Luis, who shared a little bit about the brand. I would love for him to talk more about it for our listeners. But as we, with the cigar podcast, looking to pair something, we had tried the 12 year expression, the 18 year, and the 25.
Senator:And Luis pulled a little something out from behind the bar and said
Grinder:I have the special stuff for Luis. Right.
Luis Baez:Plus, it makes you feel that much
Grinder:more special. Right? It's
Senator:like we
Bam Bam:did. Alright.
Luis Baez:Out from
Bam Bam:I think we've overstayed your booth, and we've Anyways,
Luis Baez:my my booth is happy that you're happy.
Bam Bam:So We are very happy. Yes.
Grinder:And we
Senator:because I like a crowd around it.
Pagoda:And we're typically happier once we leave.
Bam Bam:Oh, yeah.
Grinder:Well, that's
Luis Baez:the great thing about rum. Right? Rum is fun. And at the end of the day and, I I think that every spirit has a different buzz to it. And I think the buzz of rum is just the best one you're gonna have.
Luis Baez:So Absolutely. Enjoy.
Gizmo:I wanna try this thing, boys. Let's sip it.
Luis Baez:Cheers. Cheers.
Gizmo:Cheers, everybody. Thanks, Luis.
Luis Baez:So what you're gonna find with this 20 year, it's an, I was telling you guys before, I love it because it stands out so much, across the portfolio. Right? So we have the 12, the 18, the 25. They're all 80 proof. This 20 year is 90 proof.
Luis Baez:So it has a little bit more bite, and it's the only one that I feel in our portfolio has those little spicy notes that you're probably picking up right now.
Grinder:Yeah.
Luis Baez:Yeah. And I love those with a cigar. Right? It just makes that cigar stand out as well. I think it's a perfect pairing for cigar smokers.
Bam Bam:Honestly, the bite for me is not that harsh. It's very smooth, and because it's so delicious and flavorful, it goes down very easily.
Senator:Yeah. That that's what I said to Luis. When we first tried this, what's remarkable is with 90 proof, it has more structure, which which pairs nicely with a a fuller body Nicaraguan cigar, but there's not an aggressive bite. It's still very smooth. It's still a great sipping rum.
Senator:So I'm just really impressed. And I think for Luis' context, you know, when we look for spirits, we're often looking for spirits that are additive free. There's not a sugar added in the process, and it's hard to find, especially in the rum world where I'm not sure that there's as much kind of regulation around what constitutes a rum based on the countries that are producing it in the way that tequila's trying to move closer to that. Obviously, you have tons of additives in a number of tequila brands. So I was really intrigued when I started to hear you talk a little bit about the story.
Senator:So I'd love for you to share with our listeners just a little bit about how florida cana approaches.
Luis Baez:Florida cana has been around since 18/90. So that's a 134 years of rum making. Okay? It's still family owned, and we control the whole production process. So from field to bottle, we control everything.
Luis Baez:We have 35,000 acres of sugarcane, and imagine cutting down 35,000 acres, going it through a grinder, getting that juice out. We also own a sugar mill, so we we separate the sugar. We separate the molasses or final honeys. That gets fermented in the fermentation process. We capture all the c o two emissions.
Luis Baez:We bottle that up, sell it to the carbonated drink in the Sri and Nicaragua.
Grinder:It's a
Luis Baez:zero waste, process of Wow. Yeah. Then after fermentation, it goes to distillation. It's a 5, column stills, 5, time distilled. Then, it goes into aging.
Luis Baez:And our age statements are real. When you see a 20 year, it means every drop in that bottle is 20 years old.
Bam Bam:That's nice.
Luis Baez:Same for the 12, same for the 18, same for the 25. You also have a 30 year that's super exclusive. We don't have it here to taste. Sorry, guys. But but it but it's it's It's illegal.
Luis Baez:Yeah. I know. Next PCA in New Orleans.
Bam Bam:Right? PCA. Oh, we will be there.
Gizmo:Oh, we will be there.
Luis Baez:And, and then, you know, then it goes through the bottling, and it reaches you guys. And we used to have one thing. When I say 0 waste, we have one thing that was wasteful. And it's if you've ever had sugarcane and you've chewed on it, you have that fiber. Right?
Luis Baez:That's left over. Well, we use that fiber as biofuel, And that's how we power our plant. A 100% renewable energy, that powers our plant. So it's not only sustainable. It's not only delicious, but it's also sustainable.
Pagoda:ESG, folks.
Luis Baez:ESG. Yeah. And here's the great thing. And you were talking about it. No additives, no sugar.
Luis Baez:And we always do the test. I did it with you guys. Right? Pour a little bit on your hands. Rub your hands together.
Luis Baez:Is there a sticky sensation? There is not. Wow. Because there's no sugar added to verdicanha. Everything is natural.
Luis Baez:The color, the aroma, the flavor, all natural.
Bam Bam:So going to the aroma, I get a buttery, almost a slight caramel note on the nose. Yeah. Really fantastic and unique.
Luis Baez:It it's beautiful. And we're aged in ex bourbon barrels, so you're gonna pick up a lot of those bourbon notes Yeah. Because that's that's where we're aging for, you know, 30 or, in this case, 20 years. And the great thing about aging in Nicaragua is that, I don't know if you guys have been, but the climate is really hot and humid. Right?
Luis Baez:And so just like if you guys go down to Miami Beach and lay down on the, you know, on the ocean, your guys are gonna start sweating Mhmm.
Grinder:A
Luis Baez:little bit, maybe just a little bit. Well, the same kind of thing happens to the wood. Right? It expands because of the heat and there's that much more interaction. And because the weather doesn't change in Nicaragua very often, we have continuous and and, It's
Bam Bam:very consistent.
Luis Baez:Yeah. It's very consistent. It doesn't stop and go, stop and go. Right? The weather is 80 to 90 degrees all
Bam Bam:year long. Amazing.
Luis Baez:Yep.
Senator:Do you
Grinder:do you, how do you control the climb? Do you have these these aging barrels indoors that you're controlling the climate for?
Luis Baez:We have them indoors, and we try to keep it at a certain temperature. The master distiller decides what the temperature is gonna be. It's usually around 28, 29 degrees that we keep it, all year long.
Pagoda:Yeah. You know, I remember you mentioning, yesterday, that, you had no sugar. And then, you know, we were talking about a different rum and, you know, I think it was aged in, 2 different types of barrels. And you said in fact, you came and you said, oh, you since it, sweetness, it aids in 2 different barrels. Yes.
Pagoda:And could you elaborate a little bit more on that in terms of just sticking to 1 barrel as opposed to
Grinder:It's
Luis Baez:just it's just the the traditional way that we've done it, you know, throughout the 134 years of of, company history. Nothing wrong with aging in different barrels. I think it's just different profiles. Again, nothing wrong with adding sugar. I mean, it goes to whatever someone's palate is.
Luis Baez:I'm sure that if you have younger rums that have a little bit more heat, you want to make that a little bit more palatable, and so you add the sugar to make it nicer to drink. At Protecanha, we don't need to do that. The rum is delicious just the way it is.
Pagoda:That's excellent.
Bam Bam:It does drink very sophisticated. Yeah.
Senator:It does. And and I think there's just such a universal appeal to a spirit like this. We have many listeners who are huge bourbon fans. I think the aging in bourbon barrels makes this really accessible to someone who loves bourbon, to folks like us who love rum. I can just see so many people who would appreciate a spirit like this, and I'm really glad we're
Grinder:trying it.
Luis Baez:This 20 year is I I I call it, like, within our office, I call it the bourbon converter because a bourbon drinker is gonna like the 20 year. If they're look because they're looking for a little bit more punch than the, the traditional 80 proof that we have, but this 90 proof is delicious and it's it's outstanding. We'll get some converts
Bam Bam:out there. Yeah. I could have this with
Grinder:breakfast with my eggs. Wow. It's that good. I'll tell
Luis Baez:you I'll tell you what. It's a funny story. I, I make my own syrup at home, right, to make it like an old fashioned, which is goes fantastic with this one.
Bam Bam:Sure.
Luis Baez:And what I do is I reuse the bottles to store the syrup. Mhmm. And so, you know, it might have happened at some point where I pour the quote unquote syrup and it's not really syrup on the pancakes, and so
Grinder:I think I might have had a rummage fluff. Rubbish fluff. We're we're
Senator:coming to Luis's for breakfast.
Grinder:That's right.
Luis Baez:Yes, sir. That's true. We already tried dessert with the 25 and the chocolate. So
Grinder:Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's a great idea.
Pagoda:That chocolate is fantastic.
Grinder:Oh, yeah. Oh, it is. Beautiful.
Gizmo:It is. So what is the MSRP on this bottle if someone were to find this at a retail shop?
Luis Baez:This one, is probably running somewhere between a $100120 in the US. Yeah. For 20 years aged.
Senator:I mean, it's a great price.
Bam Bam:It's worth every dollar.
Luis Baez:Yeah. Delicious.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And, do you mix this for yourself personally when you make a cocktail?
Luis Baez:I I I've had a daiquiri made
Bam Bam:Really? With this. Wow.
Luis Baez:And in Austin, Texas, there's a bar that has them on the menu, and they call it the baller dak. Baller. Love it. So that's that that's for ballers. Right?
Luis Baez:But I would just have it over Nicaragua, like I said before, is really hot. So I just have it over ice, a little bit of an orange peel to freshen it up.
Bam Bam:Yeah. I see an orange peel now.
Luis Baez:Yep. And it is it is delicious. Very nice. But it does go incredibly well with an old fashioned.
Pagoda:Wow. Incredibly well. You're not gonna try that because I love old fashioned. We all do love. We all love,
Senator:but you're the king of all. You are the king
Grinder:of all. A little more. That's correct. Just a little more.
Luis Baez:Well, try a chocolate bitter dash as well as the the regular
Pagoda:Oh, this is sounding like heaven already. Oh my gosh.
Gizmo:Big dessert guy. Yep.
Grinder:When when you, when you when you drink, obviously, Florida cano at home, and you're smoking a cigar, how best do you like to pair this? How best what? How best do you like to pair the cigar?
Luis Baez:I try to go strong on strong. So if I'm having a really bold cigar, I'll have the 20 year. When I'm having a little bit lighter body cigar, I'll go with our 12 or our 18, which is super smooth. And when I have one of those, like, really, really, really special cigars, then I go with the 25. Yeah.
Bam Bam:There you go. Yeah.
Senator:And as we wrap up, one thing I wanna say, we started to really get into rum when we visited Cuba, a couple years ago, and we love Cuban rum and that kinda softer style, but still full flavored. And I think that your brand very much aligns with some of that. The the thing that's shocking still you know, we're here in Las Vegas. There everybody there are drinkers all over the city. We're at a very large casino hotel yesterday.
Gizmo:A new casino hotel? A brand new bell.
Senator:And there are 3 rums to choose from on the entire bar selection there. And it's just outrageous. And so I'm so encouraged seeing brands like for fordicanha, who are at PCA, getting the word out because I think that the the rum market as a whole hasn't, told its story enough, and I think there are so many more consumers that would appreciate this. And had we not visited Cuba and, by chance, stumbled into rum
Bam Bam:That's exactly right.
Senator:That we have and have now been down this rabbit hole of really pursuing other brands that kind of fit the flavor profile of the cigars that we like to review and what our listeners' palates are looking for. And I think you guys are just such a great expression of that. So we we're so grateful to have
Bam Bam:you here.
Luis Baez:Well, I I I would recommend, to those bar owners, bring in Flor de Cana and lots
Bam Bam:of it.
Luis Baez:And I would recommend to your listeners, you know, just like you went to Cuba, we have the Nicaraguan Cigar Festival in January every year. And it's a great opportunity to go see some of the best cigar factories in the world and try the the rum is prevalent all week long. And if you get a chance, you know, you come by our distillery. We have a tour. Everything's very open.
Luis Baez:Everything's very, transparent, and you get to see our whole production process with with your own eyes.
Bam Bam:Sounds wonderful.
Senator:Alright. Sounds like we're going to Nicaragua, Jenny. I'll see you in a second. We'll book
Bam Bam:it in the office.
Gizmo:Thanks, Luis.
Luis Baez:Thank you very
Pagoda:much. Thank you.
Gizmo:So following the Nick Malillo presentation was the annual Premium Cigar Association meeting, which is boring enough that we're not gonna recap it. And then we went into the keynote address from the Padron family, which was beyond impressive.
Senator:I mean, even before that started, we had bumped into George Padron himself in the back of the room and had a great conversation with him. And he had said to us, wait until you see this video that I'm gonna show of my father, this interview that they did years ago. And at the time, I expected it to be, you know, a few minutes and something that, was just a small part of the presentation, but it was, you know, almost a documentary short film style, presentation of what they did and just so incredible and compelling, telling his father being able to really share from, firsthand, some of the things that are so important to him and that clearly to this day live on in how his son runs and operates Padron.
Bam Bam:Yeah. You know, honestly, as they were playing that film, you know, we all have kids. If you don't have kids, you've got nieces and nephews. You've got some younger individuals in your family, and I got a little emotional. You know, I've got a son at home, and I envision that path.
Bam Bam:And what if I had that with my son? And it was really very inspirational. It moved me. It was very moving.
Grinder:I was choking back tears
Bam Bam:one time. Me too. A little bit. There was a little it was it was really quite something.
Grinder:It makes you think about the thing that really tied it all together is is the fact that George George brought his whole family. They're all here. Yeah. And they're all class, and their presence is so professional. Yeah.
Bam Bam:And we've said this the other day that they look and act and behave like the first family of the cigar world. Right?
Grinder:Yeah. And everything is clean. Right? There's nothing gaudy. It's every it's traditional.
Grinder:They they and, you know, that's the way they conduct their business. Everything is is tied to integrity. Everything is tied to humility. They have all the kids taking orders, hustling. Oh, man.
Grinder:And what he brought his whole family up on stage, and he was so proud. And to have that kind of, you know, the the the video and then the family, it was just it was all
Senator:been wonderful. For the listener, when when Grinder is saying the whole family, we're not just talking about his immediate family, like his wife and kids. We're talking wife, kids, grandchildren. I mean, little Rico, they had on the stage. She's gotta be all of, what, you know, 7 years old maybe?
Senator:Yeah.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Senator:And talking about how he's the future. Right? They're they're already thinking that far ahead of he's gotta learn these lessons at such a young age like, George Padron was able to from his father is just so incredible. And and to Bam's point earlier, so inspirational, and I think I I felt the exact same thing. I mean, literally, fighting back tears just there was so much in there of how I try and aspire to live my life and I think many of us on a daily basis.
Senator:And to hear that all just brought together so neatly in a a little, you know, documentary like that
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Senator:Was, was really, really moving. And I think the pursuit of of truth and honesty and not being afraid I mean, you know, there was mention in there, the commitment to quality is so great. Padron is never going to apologize for at a point saying, maybe right now we need to scale back production a little bit because we cannot maintain quality based on some unforeseen challenge.
Bam Bam:Right.
Senator:Right? Whether it's weather climate, whether whether it's something happening in the market, whether it's labor, you know, things that are happening in Cuba. We talk about the labor shortage during the pandemic, and, you know, those are the times that honest businesses need to be willing to say, we've gotta pull things back temporarily in order to preserve the integrity of our product and to hear firsthand from Jose Padron, his father Yeah. That being so critical to the ethos of the company and brand that he built. And then later on, obviously, George Padron, you know, being the steward of that, And, clearly, those kids and that future generation will hopefully uphold that as well.
Pagoda:Yeah. The team was totally family. Like, it was really interesting from George Padron and his father, Jose Padron. When we saw the video, Adeinco, there are 2 things to be said. Right?
Pagoda:Obviously, there's a commitment to quality, which they don't compromise on, and family. I think they were the 2 recurring themes between everything they do and the fact that they brought their family on the stage and, the way they're holding themselves and everybody's involved in the business, this is a true family business, guys.
Bam Bam:Yeah. You know, I think from the point of view of of the legitimacy of the market, we all pursue the market. It's an incredible market. We love Padron. But Jose came here with absolutely nothing in his pockets.
Bam Bam:He started from nothing. True self made man. And I think George, the reason one of the reasons why he reveres his father so much is because he knows his dad started from absolutely nothing, went through hell for years years years. A lot of guys at this table started from nothing as well. We try to build our businesses on our own.
Bam Bam:There's a lot of identity there that we we can identify with. And I think George has done an incredible job just bringing that through, and it comes through in his in his product, in the way he holds himself, in the way his entire family holds himself. Regardless of how elegant they look and how successful they are, there's a true there's a strong backbone there.
Grinder:Well, it's, you know, this business is hard. That's one of the things we learned, even more so. This business is hard. And but there's so many family businesses, family brands within the industry. And to have such an anchor as a family and George kept referencing, this is not about me.
Grinder:Everyone has a role. I'm no more than the other, you know, to have that kind of leadership. And and and, you know, that's what that's what family is about too, guys. Right? This is what we we have our presence.
Grinder:Everyone has a role. Yeah. No one is is you know, we we each play our certain role, and everyone has our own different kind of accountability. How many times did we talk about accountability?
Senator:Too many times. How many times? Too many goddamn times.
Bam Bam:That's a topic for another day, boys.
Grinder:But but in all honestly, everyone holds each other accountable to to to delivering the family, the, you know, value and and staying together. For to be together for so long and to still have that bond, family businesses are hard. We're all around family businesses. Oh, sure. You know, and to it it's hard to keep it together, but that American story, it's so inspirational.
Grinder:We're all patriots here. We love America. We love cigars, and we love our families, and it was just so inspiring.
Senator:The other thing that really stood out is just the reverence for history and tradition. I think we've talked about in the past how Padron is one of those few brands that they don't come out with a flashy new release for every single holiday or every single thing happening like some brands do. And some do it well, many don't. And you heard him talk about how his father you know, he told the funny story of going into mustering up the courage, his words, to go into his father's office with a business idea, wanting to change the bans on Padrones from those brown, very simple bands that I think are basically like what's on the 1,000 series. Yeah.
Gizmo:They're still there.
Bam Bam:That's right. Yep.
Senator:And thinking that they need something more ornate that better represents the quality, the high quality that they seek to deliver. And his father just kinda he he he actually said he went on for about 30 minutes straight talking without his father saying a word. And he said, are you done? And when George said he was done, his father said, how many cigars have you sold? And at that point, obviously, the answer was pretty much 0.
Senator:And his father said, I've sold x 1000000 cigars.
Gizmo:80,000,000. 80,000,000
Senator:cigars with those shitty bans on them.
Grinder:Yeah.
Senator:And you're telling me that we need to change the bans on the cigar.
Gizmo:Get out of my office.
Senator:Get out of my office. And, you know, George said for him, it was a lesson, not that the idea itself was a bad one, but that the way he approached it was without reverence for the history and the tradition and making sure that that doesn't get lost
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Senator:If they're going to make a change. And and to me, you know, I just think that that has carried through throughout its history, and, you know, it's their 60th anniversary. And he's talking about looking ahead to the next 60 years. And I just think that, there are so many brands out there in cigars, but also other products that we consume that at one point or another, we've said, wow. I used to love that brand, and they've just gone in such a radically different direction.
Senator:I no longer identify with it anymore, and, therefore, I don't buy it. And it gave me just, a lot of comfort in knowing that that's always going to be front and center, and I'm not gonna have to worry that, you know, the day I hand my son up a drone, it's going to be a radical departure from what we're experiencing. And another just quick anecdote that I think illustrates that, he talked about how the strength of the Padron cigar, how he went to his father and said, we're getting feedback that these cigars are just too strong for consumers. Maybe we need to change the blend. And his father said, we need to wait for the consumer to catch up to where we are.
Senator:And the foresight that he had that now you look at all these years later, he was right. I mean, the pursuit of a fuller flavor experience with a smooth delivery, I mean, that's the signature of Padron. That's what's built them to where they are, and it's also true of many brands that we pursue.
Grinder:Yeah. And I think George learned a
Bam Bam:lesson in how to protect your tradition. Jose was protecting that from the point of view of of really high level seriousness because he did it alone, on his own, without any help for years years years.
Grinder:With that little hammer. Exactly right.
Gizmo:So these conversations that, senator just detailed that George was talking about his presentation, this this all happened in 1993, 1994, shortly after George was instrumental in launching the 1964 anniversary series with the aged tobacco and and all the things that have come since. It's it's really an incredible journey that they've been on while always reflecting and and and and keeping really, really close to the in their in their hand, the the history and the the legacy of the company.
Senator:I'm sorry. But for any NBA fans, I just have to point out. As we're recording this
Grinder:Oh, there he is.
Senator:Bert, no. There's there's 2. You're gonna be shocked when you hear the second one. Number 1, 4 time NBA champion, John Salley, who has his own cigars here, and he's brought a buddy of his, Ron Harper, from the Chicago Bulls. Guys.
Bam Bam:I gotta go. Take it easy.
Grinder:They are they are 20 yards from us right now.
Bam Bam:Oh my gosh.
Gizmo:Incredible. So speaking of new releases, boys, Padron, through the keynote and through the celebration of of the history of the company, is celebrating their 60 years in business with the launch of the Padron 60th, which is a perfecto 56 ring gauge at its widest point by 6 and a half inches long. It's rolled by one person at their factory in Esteli, and looks like it's gonna be coming out in September, which is
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:Incredible. It's a beauty beautiful cigar.
Bam Bam:And we'll know what the cost is roughly July, I'm told.
Gizmo:Exactly. Yeah. And you know what I found interesting about it too? We were just talking about the anecdote that that senator was sharing that George said about the band, is the band on this cigar is a new band for Padron, but it's really just a slightly nicer looking version of the 1,000 series band. It is brown with the outline of Cuba, very similar to the 1,000 series.
Bam Bam:And a secondary band.
Gizmo:And there's a secondary band on it as well, but the primary band is just a glossy brown band.
Grinder:It actually looks like a hybrid of the original thousand series and the and the and the more, you know, the modern pad Padron band. It's a perfect hybrid.
Gizmo:The packaging and presentation of this new sixtieth celebration cigar from Padron is really fantastic, and it's so different. Each of the cigars comes in a little cedar coffin inside a very, very ornate box, which comes then in another ornate box. This thing is not gonna be cheap, boys.
Bam Bam:If I'm not mistaken, every coffer or coffin is lacquer finished.
Gizmo:Oh, wow. I didn't notice that.
Bam Bam:And the box itself that it's contained in is also high gloss lacquer finished. Extremely expensive to produce. Stunningly beautiful.
Senator:I mean, also hard to make.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Not easy.
Senator:When we were we were talking with George Padron right before he went on to give the keynote to kick everything off, He was talking about how actually, number 1, talking about figurados, the Pedrone 80th that we love so much. It was so funny to hear him say that his father did not want to make the 80th. It's too hard to roll. He had a number of concerns about it, and, you know, that's where, clearly, George, you know, has made his mark on on the brand in pushing for it and, obviously, having it produced and it becoming easily a a crowd favorite as far as anything that they produce. As many of us would argue, it's one of the greatest cigars of all time.
Bam Bam:Absolutely.
Senator:And then talking about how with the 80th, obviously, it tapers at the the head and the foot of the cigar, but in between that, it's pretty much a consistent ring gauge for most of the way through. With the 60th anniversary cigar, he was talking about how it actually flares out as you get closer to the foot and how the proportion of tobacco that's inside is obviously changing as you gradually get closer and closer to that foot and how extraordinarily difficult that is as a result for someone to roll and how hard it was for them to find someone who's actually capable of rolling that consistently at scale. It it
Grinder:it wasn't it's not just one guy rolling it. It's one guy who had to practice for months. Yeah. He said it took him about 6 months to actually get it down Wow. To the point where he he it was a it was a readily available cigar.
Grinder:And that's that's amazing. Right? This guy this one guy who who's so skilled still had to spend so much time perfecting this.
Pagoda:So I'm assuming it's not gonna be a large volume
Senator:We we asked him actually how many cigars an average roller, rolls a day. He said 300.
Gizmo:Yeah. He said this guy's doing about 300 a day because he's in such in practice. He only rolls this.
Bam Bam:That's incredible.
Gizmo:And I think, honestly, I think they've been backlogging that 300 a day for quite some time, probably going back to the end of last year. So by the time this comes out in September, there's gonna be a good amount to get it on the shelves and then to continue to supply it as it's, you know, as it's gonna be needed. And and George told us that it is going to be an ongoing release. It's not limited edition like the Padron Fuente collaboration or some of the other things. It's gonna keep being made, so it will be available for a very, very
Senator:long time.
Grinder:Looking forward to it.
Gizmo:So staying in the Padron booth, the other big news coming out, Saturday of the show at 4 PM was the launch of the collaboration between ST DuPont lighters and cigar accessories with Padron. So now there's going to be all of the high end, ST DuPont lighters and accessories are gonna have Padron branding. The hammer is gonna be on them, the Cuban logo. I mean, it's really, really beautiful.
Bam Bam:It's off the charts, really. Beautiful. And the intimate presentation with the 2 owners of both companies there was just really special. It's a special moment.
Senator:I mean, the funny thing is we were in the Padron booth with George talking about this before the formal launch
Bam Bam:Right.
Senator:Of the product, and him saying he's like, you know, I've seen countless prototypes, obviously, of everything that they were doing with SD DuPont. They said he's he's actually never held the the finished product in his hands. So even he was a little excited and nervous. He was like, wow. This is this is all gonna be real.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Senator:And when they unveiled it, him talking about how his father never would have dreamed or imagined a luxury iconic brand like SD DuPont partnering with Padron on something like this and how proud, you know, I'm sure he would be.
Bam Bam:Yeah. It was fun to see Elon, the CEO of SD DuPont, take out the lighter itself, transition it from the soft flame to the jet, and everyone was oohing and aahing. It was really It was I
Gizmo:I was one of the ooze and aahing. I didn't know that product existed. Correct. Unbelievable. I can't remember.
Gizmo:I need to get one of them.
Senator:Yeah. I think they've
Grinder:they've had that around for some time. I've never seen it. I remember when they released that maybe, like, 5 years ago.
Bam Bam:Why did I get a gift? I Where's my lighter?
Gizmo:This is
Grinder:back in the old days. Okay.
Senator:Some of us are a little cheap, man. Right.
Grinder:The the the fast the the thing that was so cool to see was, George accepting the gift and seeing the visage of his father on the on the on the, on the finish of the lighter, and you could tell it meant a lot to him.
Senator:Yeah.
Grinder:And and knowing you know, talking to Elaine as well, knowing how rich of a history they have with gifting. This is something that's timeless, that's classic, that's meant to last, a long time, and you can see the legacy that Padron the Padron family continuously imbues within their product.
Bam Bam:And the evolution of it.
Grinder:As it
Bam Bam:merges with another global brand.
Pagoda:I caught it in
Grinder:that one.
Bam Bam:Yeah. It's really impressive to see that in their the future projection this is really incredible.
Senator:And like everything they do, the entire Padron family was there front and center for that release. We were standing next to him chatting with George Junior, George Padron's son, sort of laughing about there wasn't quite a microphone set up. So Gizmo was frustrated watching this unfold where he couldn't just jump in and fix it. But I think, next year, there'll probably be microphones at all of these Yeah.
Gizmo:We're gonna have a little production conversation about that next year because, you know, with the trade show, it's very, very loud. You know, we brought some good equipment this time. So, hopefully, for the listener out there, it's not an unbearable experience hearing the crowd noise behind us and whatnot. But in the booth that, you know, it is so loud. There's so many booths playing music of different kinds.
Gizmo:And for for George and Alain to be presenting this and just speaking without a microphone setup or any speakers, most of the folks I think in that booth didn't hear much of what they had to say and are gonna rely on the the the close-up video and microphones that are gonna come out on social media later. So They
Bam Bam:don't have a Gizmo.
Gizmo:They need a Gizmo.
Grinder:They need a Gizmo.
Gizmo:I'm hey. Listen. I'm for hire, but I'm the problem is here's the problem, boys, is I don't think the hoodie thing is gonna work
Senator:with the
Pagoda:drone family.
Gizmo:That's correct. I I don't think that's gonna work
Senator:with thanking us at this table.
Grinder:You'll need you'll need more of those jackets. Alright? We we we were we that was a perfect segue. We are talking about evolution. And to see the evolution Of Gizmo.
Bam Bam:Of Gizmo. To the
Grinder:jacket and and and really
Bam Bam:taking on He looks like the CEO himself. You look you look great. Well done.
Gizmo:I can't wait to get a hoodie back on.
Pagoda:That's a weird produce in his hair as well.
Senator:Equity in whatever business you start as a result of you wearing all this.
Grinder:Exactly right.
Bam Bam:Well said.
Gizmo:So, boys, let's talk about some of the other booths that really, really impressed us as Pagoda was mentioning earlier. I think one that we we absolutely have to point to just because, again, the the the tying to the lineage and the family history and the celebration of of the patriarch of the family, the Arturo Fuente booth is just really incredible. You know, there's pictures of the family everywhere. There's it's it's almost like a it's like a museum of the family's history But more so than cigars in the
Bam Bam:Going back to the craftsmanship of some of these booths, his entire installation is black lacquer millwork with glass inlay panel and glass shelving. It's really that is not easy to make.
Gizmo:Glad you're here. I'll be honest. No. Because I would have been like, hey. The booth's great.
Gizmo:You sound?
Pagoda:You sound Yeah. Them sounds like giz. Do I?
Gizmo:You're the giz of Millworm.
Bam Bam:I'm trying not to geek out. Millworm.
Gizmo:Yeah. No. Please geek out. I I please tell us more.
Bam Bam:It's just it's just impressive. And if they're doing this you you mentioned that they likely use these over and over. If they're doing this one off and they're doing it at every show, first, the investment and the design, it's all it just takes so much time and effort and an entire team Yeah.
Senator:I mean produce this. They even had a life-sized caricature of Carlito. That's true. And And Pagoda took some photos in front of
Grinder:And that's
Pagoda:and and Grindr gave him a hug.
Senator:By the way,
Bam Bam:that's made that's that's a porcelain figure.
Senator:I I gave him a hug in real life. Really?
Pagoda:Yeah. Yeah. You did. Instead of giving him a a hug in real life, and, yeah, that was it was a lot of fun.
Bam Bam:Yeah. It's not glass. It's not plastic. That's porcelain.
Gizmo:That's gonna be hard
Bam Bam:to ship. Very, very expensive.
Senator:It's great. They had a little cart there, for, like, Cuban coffee and, some ramen stuff. It was a great setup.
Gizmo:And we must mention it was fantastic to meet Carlito Fuente himself. It was a fun first time meeting him. He was so warm and welcoming, and and we had a great conversation.
Grinder:Oh, yes.
Senator:Bright yellow. Yellow blazer. And
Bam Bam:he was
Senator:just his magnetic self as always. So just, just really kind He is with his time.
Bam Bam:Such a cool cat. I would love to just sit with him with a cigar and a drink and just chat.
Grinder:He's a smooth operator.
Bam Bam:Very smooth operator.
Grinder:You might say he has dick game.
Bam Bam:Oh, yeah.
Gizmo:Oh, he definitely has dick game.
Bam Bam:That guy's a lizard. He's probably.
Pagoda:Oh, yeah. Very warm. Very warm.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Senator:We'll we'll be doing that soon enough. We had a great chat with him, and, he's excited to come on the pod. So looking
Gizmo:forward to
Senator:when we set that up. Yep.
Gizmo:So, of course, the DuPont booth, as we mentioned a few times here, they had their own separate booth. Very, very ornate. They had a, one of the 5 production thrones for Game of Thrones. They made 5 for the show. 1 of them are is in the booth here at the show.
Bam Bam:Yep. From the point of view of the visual aesthetics of that installation, it not as ornate, but very minimal and modern. A lot of steel, a lot of glass, and the perimeters laid out with presentation, stantions that are
Pagoda:Bam, can we have you sit over there in the game of Thrones
Grinder:like the king?
Pagoda:Yeah. That'd be great. Sure.
Bam Bam:Now Bam. And, again, the the the precision of ST DuPont comes through in their booth presentation and
Grinder:construction.
Gizmo:Oh, it's very, very
Bam Bam:enlightening with them.
Grinder:Yeah. Obviously, their partnership with Coles of London, they know how to do retail, right, and and point of sale retail. And just the presence was it was really class again to see you know, there's a lot of different brands here. Some are over the top. Some are gaudy.
Grinder:Some are class. They all have their own different fit within the, you know, the this industry and with the spectrum of people who enjoy different different tastes. We obviously have a have a certain palette for these things that for cigars, for everything else in the brand to talk to him about, you know, craftsmanship and and the amount of work that goes into these into these products, and to see that showcase so beautifully and elegantly, it was it was really something to see.
Gizmo:So, boys, let's talk about the cigar and the pairing. What are you guys thinking?
Bam Bam:It's quite nice.
Gizmo:I think this is a very, very good cigar.
Bam Bam:It's a good cigar.
Gizmo:I am certainly enjoying this more than the pledge prequel that we did. It's right there in line as far as my enjoyment with the law history of El Senador that we've done. And, of course, the the highlight, I think, for the from the brand that we've loved is the pledge of allegiance.
Bam Bam:Yes. We did very well. An inch and a half from the bottom. You guys may be a bit ahead of me. I'm getting pretty heavy cedar and earth notes.
Bam Bam:That slight dessert note that I had earlier has dissipated slightly, but still, it's very, very smooth. Very smooth.
Grinder:I'm I'm buying a box. That's good. It's delicious. Yeah. I can definitely slot it in at, various times of my day.
Senator:Right.
Grinder:I would love to give this I would be proud to give it to somebody. Sure. And it's it it's it seems like a unique cigar. You know, we were talking about the the look of it is is kind of The wrapper's interesting.
Gizmo:The fact
Grinder:it's very interesting. Yeah. That marble flavor is fantastic. It's got it packs a punch, but not, you know, as we were saying on the retrohale. Not so much that you've that it it it knocks you on your knees.
Senator:Yeah. Not aggressive at all. I agree. The thing I'm just amazed by, to me, it's a firmly medium cigar, and it slots honestly where a lot of Cuban cigars would for me. Like I agree.
Senator:The fact that there's, you know, Nicaraguan tobacco in this, most Nicaraguans, I slot later in the evening, really, you know, when I'm looking for a fuller bodied experience. And I tend to slot Cubans early evening or even afternoon. I'd smoke this happily during the afternoon. I think the flavor's great. I love the baking spice on the finish Right.
Senator:In this cigar. There's a lot of merit to what they've done with this.
Pagoda:Yeah. No. It's been fantastic. I I I think what I've really enjoyed about it is you're getting a little bit of, I guess, the Cuban esque, twang, but it's been medium. And I think, towards the end, it it it does become a little more, stronger for me, which is great.
Pagoda:I'm really enjoying it.
Gizmo:So, boys, let's talk about some other booths that we've seen. Certainly, one that is impressive in its own right, but a little loud and, I don't I I hesitate to use the word gaudy, but
Senator:Yeah.
Gizmo:It's it's it's pretty loud.
Grinder:It's a little rock and roll.
Gizmo:It's a little rock and roll. The Drew Estate booth is massive.
Bam Bam:It is.
Gizmo:Highlighting, certainly, the collaboration with James Hetfield from Metallica. They have the new shade to black cigars they're releasing with him. Obviously, we did the m eighty one series on the podcast, and they have a wonderful booth there where they're handing out blackened, bourbon whiskey. Right.
Senator:Oh, they've got a full bar.
Gizmo:Which was Oh, yeah. Awesome.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:And we had I believe it was a blended. Right, senator? We had the blended, and it was very, very good. Very, very much in line with the the one we did on the podcast.
Senator:They they had that and then a single barrel higher proof spirit, which I think at the time we walked through there, it must have been noon. I think it was, like, 94 proof or 95 proof. A little aggressive for that time of day, but we enjoyed the the one that we reviewed on the pod. It was just as delicious
Grinder:as I remember. Yeah. Walking through this this entire
Bam Bam:space, they're one of the 6, I think, presenters that have the larger footprints. They're definitely a prominent presenter here.
Gizmo:Oh, yeah. Big time player.
Bam Bam:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Senator:So another booth that we randomly stumbled upon very early on the 1st day in the morning when we got here was humidify group. And the funny thing is we're just looking at the product, and they had some cases, these, like, nice, glossy, cigar, boxes at their booth. And we just struck up a conversation with 1 of the guys there, and I knew nothing about this brand. I don't think any of us knew anything about this brand or their product.
Gizmo:Mhmm.
Senator:And it was stunning, and it kinda goes back to when we talked about the very first video that shocked me when we arrived at PCA and the tie in of Cuba and Cuban tobacco and Cuban cigar production. And the guy sitting there telling us that the overwhelming majority of these high end lacquer gloss, cigar boxes that are part of these really special Cuban cigar releases are all made by this company. Yeah. That's a shocking detail.
Grinder:He was
Senator:talking about the Bahique boxes.
Gizmo:Yeah. They do Bahique.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Yeah.
Senator:All the new Bahique boxes when we had Danilo on the podcast, and we're talking about how they're microchipping the boxes because the boxes even, obviously, are being counterfeited so much.
Bam Bam:So the conversation I had with the COO is that they've had long history, over 30 years of business. Wow. And they've made boxes for you name the market, they've made it. Cuban and New World. Really impressive.
Senator:Yeah.
Bam Bam:I had no idea.
Senator:I thought the thing I was impressed by is just the innovation. You know, this is a company that makes high end glossy, nice looking boxes. Mhmm. I hate to say it, but you you struggle to imagine how much innovation can really happen with a product like that. And to hear him say that the approach for most of their competitors is essentially, to, you know, wait until the consumer or the retailer asks or sorry, the manufacturer asks them for something, and then they go and manufacture it and customize it to their specific needs.
Senator:And how they saw a market opportunity just starting with the microchipping piece of counterfeit boxes and what can they do. And they built this microchip technology and then went to these brands and said, this can help solve for your challenge, and it got bought and adopted. And so I'm just really impressed with the amount of innovation even at this company's here.
Pagoda:To see, the amount of work that goes in the background. Of course. You know, he was talking about the hinges on those boxes Yeah. You know, to every little detail. And even in certain boxes, certain branding, you know, in those boxes, it's fantastic.
Pagoda:You know, it's an industry. You know, we oftentimes will go buy a box or buy a cigar. There's so much behind it. It is really
Bam Bam:interesting to learn. Yeah.
Senator:Yeah. And they have an office right in Havana, he was telling us about, which, again, just shocked me. I did not think I'd meet anyone at PCA that would say they have a physical presence in Cuba.
Bam Bam:From the point of view of innovation, just to take off from where you from where you stopped, they have a pack that changes in color as the ratio of humidity decreases. So if you buy a typical pack, you don't know how much humidity is there and how it dissipates. This thing will tell you as it's dissipating. But it's
Gizmo:it's even clearer. It's it's almost like a throwaway ziplock Yeah.
Bam Bam:It's incredible.
Gizmo:That that has a little, dial.
Senator:A dial. Hydrometer, essentially. So I wanna be clear. The the thing that's different here, there are actually other, brands that make products that are similar that have a dot that tells you by color if the humidity is too low Mhmm. Or the humidity is just right.
Senator:But you have no clue by relative humidity percentage From the percentage point it actually is at.
Bam Bam:Exactly right.
Senator:What they've done is literally made, like, a disposable hydrometer Mhmm. That based on the color shade tells you if it's between 60 and 70, 50 and 60, how low or how high it is, which I don't think any of us had ever seen before.
Bam Bam:It was very cool. Fascinating.
Gizmo:Yeah. It's amazing how many brands they work with, and and the innovation, like you said, that they're that they're doing Yep. It's it's it's pretty incredible.
Pagoda:Yeah. It's been fantastic from the perspective that, you know, just this trade show has been such an educational experience for us, and, you know, hopefully, you know, we are able to communicate that with you you guys. Yeah.
Grinder:One of the one of the things I was so happy to see here, we're we're literally staring at Prestige Import Group right now. Prestige Import Group, the maker, manufacturer, and distributor through their online website of my my cabinet, Hubidor, some of the other cabinet, Hubidors, the lizards in here.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Grinder:I remember when I first went to that website, I'm thinking this rinky dink, Like, where it's gonna come from? I had to get it specially shipped, and it's been phenomenal. It's like it's a beautiful master. It's a it's a it's like like a centerpiece in my in my great room now to see them there, to have some representation here, and be like, you know what? Yeah.
Grinder:This is great high quality to have, you know, the to talk to the salespeople about all the the innovation they have, forthcoming in their in their different showcases.
Bam Bam:We've seen you do your spritzing in that thing.
Grinder:I have seen so
Senator:I Big spritzer.
Grinder:Oh, yeah. This is this is this is where I lay my cards on the table. I have, at times, various
Gizmo:Accountability, Bam. It was malefeat.
Grinder:I will say malfeasance on my part to to just give a little spritz in the air of the humidor.
Bam Bam:To each his own.
Grinder:You don't you don't spritz the cigars. Just spritz the side of the cedar just to just to kinda dampen it a little bit.
Bam Bam:There you go.
Grinder:You know, because I don't you know, it's a big cabinet.
Bam Bam:It is.
Grinder:And and Lot of wood there. The Oasis that I had at the time could only go certain parts. It was it was split in half.
Bam Bam:So I
Grinder:would just give a little spritz on the side of the cedar just to give it a little juice and, you know, you know, ensure the humidity is there. So hey. Hand up accountability. I'm not gonna, you know, I'm not gonna lie there. I I get a lot of I get a lot of, slack for that kind of thing.
Grinder:Rooster is
Senator:gonna be very happy to hear this because Correct. He was by far the most perturbed when he saw the spritzing.
Grinder:Well, come on now. It's not that far gone, though, is it?
Bam Bam:It's not.
Grinder:Let's to each
Bam Bam:his own.
Senator:It may be, but we
Bam Bam:forgive you. When
Grinder:you get an when you get a new humidor, you dampen the side of this of the seater. Right? Yep. Sometimes where where my where my humidor is, it gets a little dried out, so I just gotta, you know, keep things fresh.
Gizmo:Yep. So speaking of Cigar Oasis and humidification, it was nice to go to the
Grinder:Cigar Oasis booth because we are all Cigar Oasis people. Yeah.
Gizmo:We love their product.
Bam Bam:And their staff there was fantastic.
Senator:It's great that we all eventually came around on Cigar
Gizmo:Oasis. Wings. Now it's time for my accountability. Yeah. No.
Gizmo:That was great to see, and and there were so many other booths that were absolutely excellent. I think Oliva's booth was very, very impressive.
Senator:Yeah. Very impressive. Another great booth. Yeah. Huge installation, beautifully done.
Bam Bam:Very well crafted.
Senator:Some of the the other, you know, markets or brands that they clearly owned, Alioto's had its own setup. They were serving beer. Just I think they did a really nice job all around.
Gizmo:Pagoda, did you happen to see the, Alieto's beer cart?
Pagoda:Listen. I love Did I see it?
Grinder:I love it. It.
Senator:Yeah. How many times did you visit it, but No.
Pagoda:No. It was just that because, you know, I really appreciate hospitality. 4 times.
Gizmo:And He had a full case of Stella from the Alioto's booth.
Bam Bam:One cup at a time,
Pagoda:but they were very hospitable.
Grinder:Every time we looked around as
Senator:we're we're we're walking through the trade show floor, and we'd go, where's Pagoda's? He's getting another beer.
Gizmo:And then we found out that Rocky Patel had beer, so there wasn't as much guilt.
Senator:Yeah. But go to the frozen light.
Bam Bam:He's practicing his lizard training very well here.
Gizmo:I gotta shout out the Alioto's people too. They were very, very helpful. We went over to get a beer, and I had a tag in the back of this dumb dress shirt that I'm wearing.
Bam Bam:Oh, they do that.
Gizmo:Okay. They were killing me.
Pagoda:No. That's an excellent shirt.
Gizmo:The other one. It was Yeah. I had to cut the tag out.
Grinder:Yeah.
Gizmo:And Grindr so masterfully masterfully saw the the bottle opener with the little, you know, with the little knife on it. Yep. And cut it out right in front of the Alioto's booth. It was really great. The girls were impressed.
Bam Bam:They were very impressed.
Pagoda:Grinder could be a surgeon. His,
Grinder:precision too far. Precision knows no bounds. Yeah. Absolutely.
Gizmo:His hands. Practice on you first, Peter.
Grinder:There was no tremor in his hands. Let's put it this way.
Gizmo:So what were some of the other booths that we saw that that we enjoyed, or were there any disappointing booths that that you guys saw?
Bam Bam:Well, you know, the Gurkha booth is substantial. It's sizable. It's all nicely done. I can't speak to the market itself, though.
Senator:Can we talk about Gurkha for a second?
Gizmo:Yeah. Sure. I think we have to.
Senator:Yeah. I
Grinder:mean, not a not a brand that
Pagoda:I Let's be positive.
Grinder:Let's be positive.
Senator:I'm getting there. I know where we're going. Go there.
Grinder:Not a not a brand that I think
Senator:any of us, consume regularly, but, they had a special guest we we heard announced over the loudspeaker
Gizmo:Three times.
Senator:On the trade show floor that Mike Tyson himself, Iron Mike, Iron Mike was going to be at the Gurkha booth, because he has his own cigar lined through Gurkha. And, we did get to see Mike, which was very cool. He's in phenomenal shape. So everyone waiting for that fight that's coming up.
Bam Bam:I think Jake Paul's Jake Paul's gonna have a problem.
Senator:I agree.
Gizmo:Oh, he looks ripped. Dude.
Pagoda:Yeah. Mike Tyson. He is Oh, yeah. Really, really in shape. Let's put
Bam Bam:it this way.
Gizmo:I I tried to get Pagoda to go over and pick a fight with him, but he wouldn't do it.
Grinder:I I don't understand why. That'll do it.
Gizmo:He doesn't know. I know karate.
Bam Bam:Do it.
Pagoda:He doesn't know. I know karate.
Grinder:Karate.
Gizmo:So, you
Senator:know, you mentioned, you know, any booths are disappointing. I I think, you know, credit to everybody. Obviously, you know, they did I think everybody did what they could within the resources that they have here. But one notable absence, I think we're all kinda surprised to see, is there was no Davidoff booth. Correct?
Gizmo:Yeah. I guess they're not a member of this, of, premium cigars, but it is odd, especially with how many brands they represent. You know? To to not see them have a presence at this show, it's it's a weird absence to me that that that they have no presence. And that maybe not even Davidoff itself, but their smaller brands that they represent are not even here.
Gizmo:What we're talking Camacho. We're talking Avvo. We're talking Davidoff proper. Yeah. Like, it's weird that none of them are here
Pagoda:Really upsetting.
Gizmo:In any way.
Pagoda:That's really upsetting. No free samples for me.
Senator:That's just bizarre because when you think of premium cigars, I mean, you always think of Davidoff in that conversation, so I'm just shocked. I know they're a CAA member, Cigar Association of America, but, I'm
Bam Bam:not sure what what's going on, why they're not here at PCA. Yeah. You know, we're parked in back of this convention. I'm looking down the entire length here. To the right, senator and I walked down.
Bam Bam:There are cigars that we've never heard of that have really beautifully, impeccably installed installations. Very small, but really well done. And I think this goes to what you said earlier. We hope for some of the better cigars that are starting out will improve and just get a bigger footprint here for sure.
Gizmo:And and like we were talking about, Nick Nick Molello from Foundation Cigars was talking about how he started here 10 years ago
Grinder:Yeah.
Gizmo:Launched Foundation at PCA in the back right corner by the food court With a desk. With a desk. And now he has a fantastic booth.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:And I would argue, maybe aside from Padron and Rocky Patel, he might have the busiest booth that I've seen at the show.
Senator:Oh, yeah. And I would even say the most unique booth. I mean, it's funny. You look at a lot of these, and they're going for this, like, luxury, refined kind of experience. And you look at the foundation booth, and they've got, like, wooden benches and what almost looks like picnic tables, and It's just a very rustic, kinda outdoorsy style that stands out, really, from any of the boots.
Bam Bam:All that material is white oak in combination with pine, and it's it's finished with just a clear lacquer. It does give you the sense of that working man, working type of a brand, and it just it's it perfectly suits Nick's approach, Bert, because he's like we said, he's ingrained in every step of the way. Visually, that comes through in his booth. It's very well done.
Gizmo:And he must be doing something right to the point that every single time we were near or around that booth in 2 days
Bam Bam:Well, that presentation was off the charts.
Gizmo:I I can't imagine that hurt. But
Senator:Right.
Gizmo:Still, they must be doing something right as far as dealer support or deals that they're doing at the show here or that consumers out there are just chasing down Foundation Cigars Yeah. That every single table, every single time we went through is full of retailers and people's, you know, people working for Foundation selling cigars. Of course, Nick had his own little kinda cubby office that he was working his ass off in. The the booth was really, really busy. It was rocking.
Gizmo:Yeah. Alright, boys. What are you guys thinking about the cigar and the rum pairing tonight?
Senator:I I just have to say, I I think we're having so much conversation. I had to relight this because I I hadn't tended to it for a while. I'm well into the last 3rd, and the relight is spectacular. Yeah. Pagoda was talking about how it picks up a bit in strength in the last 3rd.
Senator:It's, like, just the right amount. It's still smooth. I'm getting all the same flavor notes I got initially in a really defined way Really? That I can still pick out. I'm very happy with this cigar.
Bam Bam:Yeah. That early cinnamon does continue to carry through, but I'm getting a slight white pepper, which I happen to love. I do love that if it's delivered in a smooth manner, which this does very well.
Senator:And, also, look at the smoke output on this thing.
Gizmo:It's incredible. The combustion's
Pagoda:great. It's fantastic.
Grinder:And we're
Bam Bam:in a huge room, and it's there's a cloud over us.
Pagoda:And it feels like it's such a great medium cigar. Yeah. It doesn't it's not overpowering.
Bam Bam:Not at all.
Pagoda:It's not strong. So you can actually slot it, like,
Grinder:for me, like, early in
Pagoda:the morning or afternoon. I'm more than happy to pick one up. Or even if you wanna start the evening, it's, you know, something I look forward to doing.
Bam Bam:The retrohale all the way down has been glorious.
Senator:And I have to say, the rum pairing with this, this florida cana, the the sweet rum notes that you get just accentuate, I feel like, the baking spice that you get in this cigar. So for me, it's a perfect pairing because the cigar is not overly sweet. So I feel like rum actually helps bring out some of the dessert notes even more in a cigar like this and pairs perfectly.
Gizmo:I think that it because the cigar to me, I would say, is tart forward. That's kind of the the word that I'm using to describe the flavor profile.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:Pairing it with a sweet rum like this, a refined rum like this, it's really yeah. It's a perfect balance.
Grinder:Yeah. Can
Senator:we talk about that though? I'm not sure that I agree that this is a tart forward cigar. To me, this is extremely well balanced. It is I just say that because, like, I think, like, maybe the tartness you're describing, for me, it's like the cedar is, like, what does that, but the baking spice is prominent enough that I feel like they're almost equally dancing as I'm smoking the cigar.
Bam Bam:Now for
Senator:me for me,
Bam Bam:that baking spices is more cinnamon for me. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Yeah.
Pagoda:And, you know, something to say about, the pairing. The rum is got, like, a medium finish, so it's not really lingering in your mouth and overpowering the cigar as well. I think, in its own right, they've been reasonably complimentary.
Senator:By the way, what happened to the rum? We drank it.
Gizmo:I don't think so. Bam Bam's hiding
Grinder:it over there.
Senator:Bam Bam's hiding it over there.
Gizmo:Alright. Accountability.
Bam Bam:Oh, boy.
Gizmo:So this is not a consumer show. As we we mentioned on our preview episodes a couple times, this is not a show for the end user. This is for members of the Premium Cigar Association, which are mainly retailers and distributors
Bam Bam:Yep.
Gizmo:As well as exhibitors or manufacturers, and and media, which we are. You know? And there's a couple media outlets here. I saw Half Wheel. Developing Pallets was here.
Gizmo:Cigar Coup was here. You know, there there's quite a few media here, which is nice to see, you know, covering the event and and celebrating premium cigars. But I really have to point to our listeners who put together, unbeknownst to us, a little event that they invited us to pretty pretty last minute over at Resorts World. And we went over there and met some of the listeners, specifically Tuxedo Timmy as he calls himself, out of, out of Denver, Denver, Pine Tree Land, and a few other friends. And we had a fantastic night with with some of the listeners of
Bam Bam:our podcast. Time.
Senator:It was a proper lizard meet and greet. Absolutely. I mean, some of these people who write us regularly, clearly listen to the podcast, and are bought in on everything that we try to espouse, the time we got to spend with them, honestly, was as enjoyable as the time we've spent with any of the biggest names in this industry. I'm really, really glad that we got to do that.
Grinder:Yeah. One of the things that I was so floored with was it was so affirming to what we do, to hear, you know, almost word for words some of the tasting references we've had. Yeah. To talk to to hear the editorialization of various episodes, they knew they knew episodes better than we did. True.
Grinder:You know, Giz was talking about Well, they
Bam Bam:when they identify with an episode that rings true to them, they'll remember that.
Grinder:They remembered they remembered literally specific conversations.
Gizmo:That I did not remember. Yeah. And I listened to this more than anybody because
Grinder:I edit
Gizmo:it, you know, everything. Yeah. And it just, like, once it's done, it leaves my brain. And I said something I think I was saying to senator, did we do the cigar?
Grinder:And Tuxedo Timmy jumped in and goes, oh, yeah. You did it. And here's the
Gizmo:episode he did. And it it was amazing. You know? It's it's it was really pretty powerful for me.
Bam Bam:I I was also very impressed, I have to say, the cigar selections. I like to observe what guys are smoking in a sit like this, and they were really pulling out some very impressive states.
Senator:That was some heavyweight
Grinder:stuff. Absolutely. And the
Senator:thing that was the most shocking to me talking to these listeners was asking how long they've been smoking cigars.
Grinder:Oh, yeah.
Senator:And I couldn't believe that the overwhelming majority of people we met really got into this hobby during the pandemic Yeah. In the early days when we started this podcast.
Bam Bam:Or earlier, maybe only 2 years
Senator:for you
Gizmo:or for
Bam Bam:most of them.
Senator:And how we've been literally along with them on this journey from their start was just shocking to me.
Grinder:Oh, yeah.
Senator:And I I couldn't believe too. It's like, you know, I think some of us at this table have been really quick students of this hobby. Mhmm. I mean, Gizmo certainly stands
Gizmo:out as well. Wardrobe and fashion.
Senator:Correct. That that too. Well I
Pagoda:mean, the lights are.
Senator:Not quick on that. It only
Grinder:took it only took
Senator:2 and a half years to get Gizmo to go with
Bam Bam:a blazer. Your pride, I'm I'm back. I'm behind you all the way.
Gizmo:Listen. It's our 1st trade show. I nailed the 1st trade show. It's not like we've gone to other trade shows, and I wore a hoodie, man.
Senator:100%. We've gone to some nice restaurants, and Gizmo's basically shown up in a hoodie, but we'll let it go.
Grinder:Yeah. These things take time. These things take it's part of it's part of the narrative. Correct. Right?
Grinder:Brick by brick. We're talking about brick you have to build this thing brick by brick. Yes, sir. He started off with nicer shoes. He got himself some nice pants.
Grinder:He got himself a shirt.
Bam Bam:But the jacket was the icing on a cake.
Grinder:Now he's a full man. Oh, yeah.
Pagoda:So this is natural evolution.
Gizmo:Yeah. Full on lizarding now, boys.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:So we have to thank the listeners again for
Bam Bam:Thank you so much. For that event.
Pagoda:Very enjoyable. It was a lot of fun. We were having some good laughs. I went with one of the guys, and we placed some bets. It was a lot of fun.
Bam Bam:Yeah, man.
Gizmo:I I must say, I gotta give, I gotta give credit to Tuxedo Timmy who showed up with some amazing gifts for us.
Grinder:So generous.
Gizmo:By the way, not even knowing if we were gonna be able to make it there, really came prepared.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Tuxedo Tim, thank you so much. Generous.
Gizmo:But the big one was for senator here. He was you you were blown away.
Senator:I mean, I was floored. It's just the fact that he had labeled these gifts for each of us by name Yeah. And curated some of them were cigars for us to review on the podcast, which we're really excited to do, in upcoming episodes.
Gizmo:There's there's some killers. Oh, yeah. We have some good ones
Bam Bam:coming up.
Senator:But there was also stuff in there that was meant to smoke and enjoy with him there, and he knew our palates so well. And in mine, I mean, one was a a 2014 Partagas Limitada. To see a Partagas in there at just that alone Sure. To know how much I love and appreciate that brand, and that Limitada was one of the best Partagas cigars I've ever had. It was outstanding.
Grinder:I I I came in, and I I lit up a a QD 54. That's you guys know. That's my pallet. He he gave you a QD. Me a QD.
Grinder:He's like, this is a
Bam Bam:great night.
Senator:And he knew He knew.
Bam Bam:Based on the podcast.
Gizmo:So that one was a little more surprising. I mean, Senator talks about his love of Partagas every episode.
Bam Bam:That's true.
Gizmo:Let's just be honest.
Bam Bam:Even in sleep.
Gizmo:I mean, he's constantly talking
Senator:about case anyone forgets how great Partagas is.
Grinder:We sat down at dinner the dinner the other day because, you know,
Gizmo:my favorite brand is Partagas. I'll have the Caesar salad in his way.
Bam Bam:Text message with part of this, and then he goes into whatever he wants
Grinder:to talk about.
Senator:The same the same with Pedro nonetheless. That's true.
Gizmo:That's very, very true. So, yeah, that was great. And, you know, for us, I think it reaffirmed our, our desire, you know, to really put some great listener events together. So we're seriously considering doing that and and maybe even some trips to Cuba at some point with listeners. So it really, for me, solidified a lot of that, listener experience stuff that we can we can spend time with our listeners who have been so generous and great.
Bam Bam:Potential future planning of those events. Exactly.
Gizmo:So we are full on gonna be doing that
Grinder:Awesome.
Gizmo:At some point in the future.
Grinder:I
Senator:think the thing also that's remarkable is, you know, lizard nation is so strong that lizards travel. The folks that we actually met here, these listeners, they're they don't live in Vegas.
Gizmo:Oh, no. And they're not coming to the show because it's not a consumer show. Correct.
Senator:They were here to meet up and be able to enjoy cigars with us and and others that are like minded, and I was really impressed to see that. Absolutely.
Grinder:Lizards fly. Let it be known. Lizards can fly. And we saw lizards from Ohio, Pennsylvania
Bam Bam:Denver.
Grinder:Colorado, all over the map. And, you know, obviously, to have that reception, and enjoy their time and to have you know, we had some really fascinating conversations, and these these are the conversations that we have with each other in our in our lounge. Yeah. And to have that again and share the experience, that's that's what it's all about. Yeah.
Grinder:And
Bam Bam:that's why we're doing it. This thing of ours is really that's the beauty of what we're doing. It just that conversation just
Grinder:comes out naturally. You know?
Gizmo:So, boys, we're coming to the end of our evening here with the EP Carrillo allegiance in sidekick. Any final thoughts before we move into our, cigar rating here tonight?
Bam Bam:Just a wonderful pairing.
Senator:I'm getting on the very tail end of this now, like, a salty minerality in
Bam Bam:the cigar
Senator:Yes. Yes. That I really, really like. Oh, yeah. And that note took until I have, what, half an inch left on an inch at most, 3 quarters of inch left on this cigar.
Senator:Yeah. I can't believe this far down I'm getting something new that I didn't get in the rest of the stick.
Bam Bam:I want to walk down and hug mister Carrillo for this cigar.
Gizmo:Let's do it.
Bam Bam:Let's do that. I'll I'll send
Gizmo:a picture out to the listeners. Bam. Just totally covering
Grinder:He's right there.
Gizmo:Ernesto Carrillo. Alright, boys. It's time to move into the formal lizard rating tonight of the EP Carrillo allegiance in sidekick. Senator, I think for the first time, you're up first.
Senator:Giddy up. I'm glad this is an easy one. Absolute nine. I have not wavered one bit throughout this cigar. When this started, I said to myself, if this can finish like this, this is gonna get a high score.
Senator:And the fact that down the stretch in the last third, I'm enjoying this even more than it started, a solid 9. I think that this is a cigar that has really broad appeal. This is not a cigar that is filled with Nicaraguan tobacco that I would say is just for some smokers that like a full bodied experience. It's medium. But even for those who like a full bodied experience, it has enough legs to it that that I think it will satisfy someone who's looking for that.
Senator:For someone who likes a milder cigar and wants to just dabble with something with a little more flavor, I actually think that they could potentially enjoy this cigar too. And the versatility of this cigar, I would smoke this at almost any time of day. I'll definitely smoke one of these again. It's a strong 9 for me.
Gizmo:So I'm also gonna give this a 9. I'm amazed at at how, Ernesto Carrillo and his family have blended cigars that are so different. You think about how different this is from the La Historia El Senador, from the pledge series
Bam Bam:It is unique.
Gizmo:People love, and, obviously, cigar fish are not rated so high. The pledge of allegiance, which is a little bit of a diversion with the American Tobacco, I'm I'm really, really impressed with this cigar tonight. I came in a little hesitant. I'll be honest. I didn't know about the humidity like senator talked about.
Gizmo:Thankfully, in those bags, it was stored well and and and it was ready to be smoked. And tonight, it gave us a fantastic fantastic experience. So I'm very, very happy with that. Pagoda.
Pagoda:Wow. I think I like everything in Allegiance. The pledge of allegiance was fantastic. This is allegiance. It's fantastic.
Pagoda:Like I mentioned, you had the Cuban twang. And I think I was I think I was experiencing the salty minerality, which is what I call the Cuban twangish throughout the cigar. And you're right. Towards the end of the cigar, you know, it did pick up in strength and, you know, brought about those flavors. I think it highlighted some of them.
Pagoda:It was very, very good. It's excellent smoking experience. The smoking output was fantastic. The construction was good. I really enjoyed it, through and through.
Pagoda:It's a definite 9 for me. Alright, Grider.
Grinder:I think if I were to describe the cigar in one word, I would say Epicurean because I think this cigar would pair well with the various spectrum of dishes because I feel like this would be great with the fish dish.
Bam Bam:It'd be great with the steak?
Grinder:The the the saltiness, like, much like you season a fine dish, there's so many different parts of my palate on my tongue that were getting hit. And, you know, going through it, their smoking experience was phenomenal. I think if, you know, with the sweetness of the rum, the depth of the rum, the richness, it certainly elevated and enhanced that. It you know, the whole experience, it's a 9 for me. Yeah.
Grinder:I can't argue with any
Bam Bam:of the ratings. I'm at a 9 as well. I think this cigar showed itself to be a very complex cigar. Initially, right on a light, the dessert notes hit you right in the face, heavy cinnamon, and some beautiful earth notes in the back. But as it evolved, I got a little bit of coffee and cocoa.
Bam Bam:But toward the end, as senator mentioned, that minerality, that saltness, and for me, a little white pepper. But the entire thing was delivered in this creamy delivery, Very complex, very complicated, sophisticated cigar.
Grinder:I'm I'm I'm I'm curious to you know, I would love to to hear senator see how he would pair it with a with a well balanced wine.
Bam Bam:A wine. Yeah.
Grinder:You know? Because I think it would grow go
Bam Bam:great with the wine as well. As a novice, a dry finish wine, a dry wine would be beautiful with this thing.
Senator:Yeah. I agree. I actually think this cigar would pair really well with, like, a Bordeaux style blend. I think, like, just dry enough, but not overly dry.
Bam Bam:Mhmm. You know,
Senator:it it the reason the rum worked really well with this is because Floridicanha, as as we heard, Luis talk about, doesn't add sugar to their products. So this is just from the natural sugarcane in the distillation process, It's just the right amount, and it helped accentuate some of those dessert notes that we got. Sure.
Luis Baez:But it
Senator:wasn't so much that it was overpowering the cigar. And I think with wine, like, a California Cab that's gonna skew much sweeter would probably overpower the cigar, and that's where I think, like, some sort of Bordeaux style blend that's really balanced, is a bit dry, but not too dry, has just enough sweetness like this rum does to bring out some of those dessert notes, I think would pair perfectly.
Bam Bam:Yeah. We'll have to do that. Absolutely.
Gizmo:So, boys, that puts the formal lizard rating. Very easy math tonight here in Vegas at a 9.0.
Bam Bam:Well done, boys.
Gizmo:So let's compare that to the 3 other EP Carrillo cigars we've done on the podcast. First up was the cigar of the year 2 years ago, the pledge prequel. We did that on episode 5. We gave it a 6.5. It did not perform well at all.
Gizmo:On episode 19, we did the law historia, El Senador, namesake of our friend here, the senator, that got an 8.8. So this slightly edged that cigar, and I I agree with that.
Grinder:I agree.
Bam Bam:I think it's accurate.
Gizmo:I think the last 3rd really, really solidified that 9, edging it out a little bit.
Bam Bam:Agreed.
Senator:I would pinpoint, I think, what sets this a bit apart from that La Historia, it's more complex.
Gizmo:I agree.
Bam Bam:And sophisticated.
Gizmo:Yeah. And finally, boys, on episode 87 around July 4, 2023, Of course, we did the pledge of allegiance. This America.
Grinder:We can't remember that. Every day is the 4th July for Bamberg. Absolutely. With especially
Gizmo:That's exciting.
Pagoda:I'll make sure I'll get a few books. Yeah.
Grinder:We're gonna
Gizmo:not give them to us.
Senator:We're gonna have to tell him when we have him on the pod, which he's very excited to to come on. Yeah. We we we we're gonna need to smoke one of those again. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Gizmo:So on episode 87, we did that cigar. It was a 9.6. That was one of the best cigars. Reviewed all
Bam Bam:Delicious. Cigar.
Gizmo:Absolutely. Yeah. So, again, we have to give a very special shout out to Luis Baez, the global ambassador of floridicana, rum, and, you know, giving us this amazing bottle of of 20 year age rum tonight.
Bam Bam:Great guy.
Gizmo:Very versed.
Bam Bam:For that. What a great
Gizmo:pairing. Excellent. Certainly encourage all listeners to go out. If you're a rum person, go out and and buy a bottle of this for somewhere between a $100120. Yep.
Gizmo:It's a great, great rum. Okay.
Grinder:And a final thank you to the listeners because we would not be here as part of the media, had we not had the following that that we're so grateful to have.
Bam Bam:Absolutely.
Grinder:And that's a theme. We're very grateful for your participate our you know, your participation in this passion of ours, to share it with listeners here, to share it with all these professionals in the industry and for us to see it firsthand. Thank you to the listener.
Bam Bam:It's a blessing.
Grinder:It is a blessing. Yeah.
Senator:And just one other thank you I definitely wanna mention is just a thank you to the Premium Cigar Association who's been very hospitable to us here as media to be able to do this and who clearly runs an excellent trade show. I mean, we were chatting with a few of the PCA staff members, early on when we got here. One of the guys, this is his 18th trade show Wow. That he's been at and, just had nothing but, you know, great stories to share about what the experience has been like. And I think the proof's in the pudding for us to hear from so many big cigar brands talking about how they started as a little mom and pop operation here, the the Nick Mallillo's with a table in the back, who's now got one of the biggest booths here right up front when you walk in the trade show, is a testament to what PCA is doing here.
Senator:Agreed.
Gizmo:Absolutely, boys. And what a great night. What a great weekend. And in 2 weeks, we're gonna continue maybe some final thoughts of PCA, takeaways as we kinda distilled and synthesized and digested what we what our experience has been here this weekend. So we'll share a little bit more about that.
Gizmo:And I think it's important to know we have a ton of content coming up because of this PCA show. We have a lot of interviews lined up. We're excited to share those with you.
Bam Bam:Extraordinarily exciting.
Gizmo:Yeah. We have a lot a lot of great stuff coming because of this weekend at PCA, so we can't be thankful enough. So again, boys, tonight on the podcast, the Ipicarillo, allegiance in sidekick got a 9.0, And it was a great night and a great trade show, boys. I'm so happy that we we were able to do this together. And we'll see everybody next week.
Gizmo: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 loungelizards pod.com. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.
Gizmo:If you have any comments, questions, do you wanna reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking, email us hello atloungelizardspod.com. You can also find us on Instagram atloungelizardspod. We really appreciate your time, and we'll, we'll see you next week.