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The lizards pair the Cuban Cohiba Siglo II with Don Julio tequila in both Reposado and Anejo. The guys do a deep dive on all things tequila, discuss some of Cohiba’s interesting history and chat about the increase in counterfeit Cubans.
Released every Tuesday, the LOUNGE LIZARDS podcast helps listeners navigate the experience of finding and enjoying premium cigars (both Cuban and non-Cuban) and quality spirits. Episodes are normally around 90 minutes long and feature a variety of different topics including food, travel, life, sports and work.
The podcast features eight members: Rooster, Poobah, Gizmo, Senator, Pagoda, Chef Ricky, Grinder and Bam Bam.
This is not your typical cigar podcast. We’re a group of friends who love sharing cigars, whiskey and a good laugh.
Join us and become a card-carrying lounge lizard yourself! Email us at hello@loungelizardspod.com to join the conversation and be featured on an upcoming episode!
**Gizmo:** [00:00:00] Welcome to the Lounge Lizards podcast. It's so good to have you here. It's a leisure and lifestyle podcast founded on our love of premium cigars, as well as whiskey, travel, food, work, and whatever else we feel like getting into. My name is Gizmo, and tonight I'm joined by Rooster pba, Senator Pagoda, and bam bam.
And our plan is to smoke a cigar, drink some tequila, talk about life, and of course, have some laughs. So take this as your 24th official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. Plan to meet us here once a week. We're gonna smoke Cubitt cigar tonight, share our thoughts on it, and give you our formal lizard rating.
We'll do a deep dive on all things tequila, discuss some of cohibas interesting history, and we'll chat about the increase in counterfeit Cubans, all among a variety of other things for the next hour. So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar, and enjoy as we pair the Cohiba Siglo two with Don Julio Tequila in both Rapsodo and Anejo.
Our first Cohiba tonight boys. [00:01:00] The Siglo two, a wonderful little stick petite Corona on the uh ha Bonos calls it a marvis. It's 42 ring gauge by five and an eighth. And I, uh, I've been pleasantly surprised by these cigars. I've not been a big cohiba smoker. I don't think any of us really cohiba smokers, but, uh, I, I've had a couple of these since I got 'em, and they are delightful.
So I'm curious what you guys think of it tonight. I'll tell you
**Bam Bam:** if you keep it to your nose for a while. The aromas, delicious, smells great. Sun, a cedar and a, a little actually bit of, you're gonna laugh. I get a little citrus from it, but I
**Gizmo:** always do. I think you're gonna get that in the flavor too. It's really nice.
So, uh, and, and pub and I were talking about the construction and, and you can see at the. How, uh, it's not so densely packed that you can tell already that you're gonna have a decent draw from it, just from how the foot looks, you know? Now you've had this a few
**Bam Bam:** times. I have, yeah. None of us. It, none of us in the
**Gizmo:** room have you guys haven't had it?
I think maybe, uh, [00:02:00] uh, rooster has, I'm not sure. But what hasn't he had That's true. Uh, no, not the size. I don't think so. Maybe a wild pack, but, all right, well, let's cut this thing and see what, uh, we're getting on the cold draw here. Again, it's the Siglo 2 42 ring gauge by five and an eighth. And these cigars are from the Allego factory.
We'll talk about that in a little bit, but they are from exactly, uh, three years ago. So U AO 19, early 19.
**Senator:** Well, if there's one thing I've never criticized Kohe before, it's their construction. And the construction on this is flawless. The draw is excellent.
**Bam Bam:** It is. And the funny thing that what you get on the nose of the wrapper, it's identical to the draw, but you've gotta draw for a little while to get that cedar and a little
**Poobah:** fruity note there.
Yeah, it's sweet. There's some sweet stuff.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, yeah, there is. All right. Let's light this thing boys. Our first cohiba on the pod, I, a lot of folks have been asking us why we haven't done Cohiba. And uh, here we are with the CIG two tonight. [00:03:00] Nice little smoke. This, this shape feels great in your hand. I love this ring gauge too.
We could talk about that.
**Bam Bam:** This better be good. Otherwise, Gizmo's gonna
**Gizmo:** walk out. Yeah, they're not cheap. That's the, you know, the one thing about this premium Havanas brand in Cohiba is these what? Not cheap, 24 bucks a stick.
**Senator:** Oof. Yeah. Gizmo may walk out anyway like he does in the movies.
For, for the, for the record, gizmo walked out of the new Batman movie. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** It, it was not for me. I was not loving it. You were there as an adult with no children. . Yeah. Mrs. Gizmo and I were there. And
**Bam Bam:** who was looking down on you? I know it was really violent. Rightfully so.
**Gizmo:** Actually it was a, listen, it was a good excuse for a date night.
Why not?
**Bam Bam:** This is right off the draw. Right off the bat. Fantastic.
**Poobah:** Wow.
**Gizmo:** It's earthy, citrusy. It's complex. I get dried
**Bam Bam:** fruit. Dried [00:04:00] fruit. I think whenever you have a cigar that can give you the, that complexity of dry fruit earthiness and, and the, and the cedar. That's a complex cigar. I get some floral notes too. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Fantastic.
**Gizmo:** So the, uh, the S two, uh, was released alongside the other SIGs one through five in 1994.
Uh, the sig of six, which is a pretty, uh, revered cigar, uh, was released eight years later in 2002. Uh, so again, these, this, this line of cigars from Cohiba, um, is about what, 30 years old. They've been around for quite some time. What year is this cigar? 19. It's three years old. Early 19 U AO from El Lado. So they come in, uh, varnish, slided boxes, which this came out of, of 25.
They also come in, uh, aluminum, tubo. [00:05:00] Uh, you can get, it's five packs of three and then they also have cardboard, five packs of five. So obviously my choice would either be the two bows or the, uh, the slide wood box, which these came out. So, so what do you guys think so far? Well,
**Bam Bam:** my hand is shaking for a reason.
I like
**Poobah:** it.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Puba. Yep. Very enjoyable. Yeah. Yeah.
**Senator:** So far, pretty good. I'll be honest. I'm, I'm not blown away yet. I, I'm just, I'm liking what I'm smoking, but I'm, I'm yet to be. Oh my goodness. This agreed. This is incredible. Agreed. Agreed. Not there yet.
**Rooster:** You got some hay, cedar, you know. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Nice notes. Grass, grass.
So what's cool, Petro car? . Shout out Grindr. So the, uh, the Segal range, these cigars originally were, uh, developed in 1992 and, uh, they became available, like I said in 94. This is celebrating the 500th anniversary of Columbus Landing in Cuba. So that's what this, this, uh, this, [00:06:00] this line of cigars is. And when you purchase them, it comes with a yellow, classic yellow Havana band.
And it says, uh, Linea 1492 on it, celebrating that, that Columbus date. So this is
**Rooster:** not a petite Corona,
**Gizmo:** it is a petite corona. It is, yeah.
**Poobah:** It's same size is like a, feels like a punch punch to me. It's a part of its capital. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. I really love the, uh, the different flavor I'm getting out of this. I, I've had other cohibas, certainly similar age, but I think they needed more time.
Co cohiba, Boosto. You know, other things, other cigars that I've had. Uh, I had a LAN arrow that was old, that was pretty good. But I feel like these at three years are pretty good. Um, I can, I think even more time they'd be even better, but, um, I guess we'll see how it gets in as we get into the, are you guys getting any
**Rooster:** pepper, like through
**Gizmo:** the retro hail A little bit nose.
Like
**Poobah:** you feel that Yeah. Through the nose. It's not, it's not like a, um,
**Senator:** a white pepper. White pepper is pepper exactly what I was gonna say. [00:07:00] Bingo. Yep.
**Poobah:** Yeah. Yeah. Like it doesn't blow through the nose. Like, um, I'm just gonna throw something out there that blow goes through the nose that's, maybe this is obscure, but like, the aged up and NDOs, those robusto that we have, like, when you blow it out the nose, it's like, it's enjoyable.
It's a cigarette. Yeah. I mean, it's like a, it just, it's like there's no, it's just so smooth. I don't get that. But I don't think that's a, a, um, a bad thing. It has a little bit of. bite. Mm-hmm. , I get the pepper on the finish. A little peppery through the nose. Yeah. But good. I mean, really good.
**Rooster:** Yeah. Good flavor strength is, I think, I would say like mild to medium.
**Senator:** I would agree. Mild, medium,
**Gizmo:** right? Yeah. So Cohiba, as we know, is the flagship haos Marco from Cuba and is certainly their most expensive product, I guess when you say leaf for leaf for versus other cigars of the same size. This small [00:08:00] cigar being 24 bucks is definitely a premium versus other haos. Um, Cohibas got some, some cool history.
I'm, I'm sure you guys know a quite a bit of this, but, uh, I found some cool notes that I, I thought were really interesting. So in 1963, Eduardo Rivera, he was a torso door or a cigar roller at a Cuban cigar factory, gave an unbranded cigar that he had rolled to one of, uh, Fidel Castro's bodyguards. And Fidel noticed the aroma coming off the cigar.
and said, you know, what is this? Where'd you get it? Track the, uh, the, the roller down asked them to roll more. And then this was Fidel's Private, uh, cigar from 1963 to 1966. And then they formally, uh, created the brand Cohiba in 1966. Uh, and then those cigars were a private label to Fidel government officials, friends and family and whatnot.
And Copa was actually not commercially available until 1984. So they [00:09:00] had a 18 to 20 year run of just existing as a private label cigar for Fidel, his friends and for the dictator. And Exactly.
**Senator:** And now we're rescuing this cigar from communism. This is great.
**Gizmo:** paying a premium to do it. And the perfect group
**Bam Bam:** to do so.
**Rooster:** Wasn't Trinidad also one of his, uh
**Senator:** oh yeah. .
**Rooster:** It was exclusively
**Senator:** made for him in the beginning. Yeah. I mean the fundi, I, I think that's the case. Right. And that would, the, the funded Doris was, uh, a diplomatic gift that Castro would give diplomats who came in traditionally a box of Fundies. Right. Did not know that he had the man had good tastes and cigars.
I'll give him that. Yes.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Yeah. That
**Poobah:** was the what he one of, yeah. That was one of the ones he would give away to, to diplomats.
**Rooster:** Can you imagine being in Cuba in like 1960s and smoking like ?
**Senator:** Yeah. These guys is still the same. I was just gonna say, yeah, [00:10:00] we, it's not, I can't imagine it. Let's go right now.
Well, I wanna
**Gizmo:** know. I
**Rooster:** haven't been there yet and we were
**Gizmo:** hoping for a trip soon. Oh yeah. We're going keep you posted. Yep.
**Rooster:** For the Parus
**Gizmo:** Festival. Maybe That's right. Lizard trip on the horizon. So there are four, uh, lines, uh, of Cohiba, the Classica Linea. Uh, so that's the, the original three cigars, including the Lancer.
There's this, uh, line, uh, the Linea 1492, also known as the SLOs. Uh, then there's the Maduro five, which are the Maduro cigars that they've released. And then there's the Behi case, which are obviously the most premium product that Havanas, that's the budget line. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** that line is a myth.
**Pagoda:** So do they have a Maduro line as well?
**Gizmo:** They do.
**Senator:** That's one of the few Cuban
**Gizmo:** Maduros. Maduros, yeah. Yeah. They, I guess they started with that. And then, uh, RGUs obviously has the Yes sec secret hose. I think they're call 'em. Yeah. And there's magic hose as well, I believe. Magico there? Yeah.[00:11:00]
So the, uh, tobacco from this comes from the famed Weta Abajo region. And what's cool about Cohiba cigars that's exclusive to them is the seco and lag guro filler leaf. Is given, uh, a third fermentation. All the others are only given two. This is given a, a third round of fermentation in the, uh, in the sacco and, uh, lag guro filler leaf.
So
**Bam Bam:** what's interesting, it's that the peppers ramping up for me and I'm still getting the floral and some of the dried fruit
**Poobah:** early on. It's a very pleasurable cigar, there's no doubt about it.
**Gizmo:** The cigar, construction,
**Rooster:** construction, it has a lot of potential. I'm sorry, potential to age as well.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, guess would,
**Senator:** yeah, I have to say smooth out the notes.
I, if I'm being honest, through just, I don't know, maybe a quarter of this or even a little bit less than that. Uh, this is a very smooth, very easy smoking cigar. Um, and, uh, as I'm thinking of where this was slotted, maybe this will pick up in [00:12:00] flavor. So I'm curious where this goes, but just early on for me, this is like a morning smoke.
Like I would have this with a cup of coffee and that would be enjoyable, but I can't imagine having this like most evenings so
**Gizmo:** far. I agree with you. I agree with you. You know, this line is, is supposed to be medium or medium full according to Havanas. And I certainly think it falls in that zone where it, to me, this is a morning or afternoon smoke.
Like where I, where I'm very excited that I have a bunch of these is when Summer comes sitting out on the deck. It's a great summer cigar, you know, doing a little of work. This is gonna be a, you know, it's gonna slot in there. But at 24 bucks, you know, some of the other cigars that, you know, the, the El Ray Delmondo, schwa Supreme, which is coming, you know, which, which we did.
Um, uh, and then the Coronas sc claros from, uh, Kai Oh yeah. Which we haven't done yet, which we have to do. Um, this kind of falls in that zone for me of where I would slot it, you know?
**Bam Bam:** I agree. That's a good point. That yeah, very good point.
**Poobah:** Yeah. I think if you like those cigars, you'll like the [00:13:00] cigar. Um, in terms of flavor profile. There's, it's, it's, it's got those, it's got floral notes and a little bit of like honey and sweetness and a little nuttiness. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's certainly there's a level of complexity in the body of, uh, of the smoke so far.
And it's enjoyable. And
**Senator:** I'll say what I like about this more than the, the few other limited cohibas I've had. Um, there are some cohibas, and I've gotten this out of the cohiba ra buso that have a really dominant grassy flavor like in, in earthiness that I don't like. Not an earthiness that you would get in a petron or some others, but like on the complete other side of that, like freshly cut grass, almost and hay and hay barnyard.
And I, I don't love those flavors to be so dominant. So I like in. That it, it's playing in the background, not the foreground. And so this is more my speed than some of the other cohibas I've had.
**Poobah:** [00:14:00] I agree. When you've got a lot of filler involved in the cigars is probably the, the larger ring gauge siglo, uh, the larger ring gauge talisman that I've had, have had, and they haven't had a ton and ton of age on 'em, have been, have I, kind of a agree with you, Senator.
For me, some of those notes, you know, you're not, when you put that bigger ring gauge cigar in your mouth and you go, that's like a six or the talisman or, and, and you smoke it and you go, you're, you have these expectations, you have an expectation of something that's gonna really give you, like, like blow your hair back.
Like, I'll be honest, like an E too would blow my hair back. Like, remember when we smoked the, we smoked the 2015 E two s on, on, on my deck last summer. Yep. And we were like, wow. Yeah, yeah. Like off the light. You were like, wow. Off the charts. Off the charts. You're kind of just like, this [00:15:00] is incredible. So I, you know, now I ha again, I, I, I haven't had a lot of age cohibas.
Uh, maybe they change, I, I, I can't really speak to that. I think
**Senator:** they do. And the reason I say that, so I was saying that, you know, a lot of the younger cohiba bustos don't really fit my, my flavor profile, what I normally like, but I was lucky enough to get gifted a 2005 Cohiba Buso, and it was like a completely different cigar.
It was creamy and just delicious. So I. . You know, I, this is one of my frustrations with Cohiba. It's also a blessing, you know, for the brand they age really well. But it does frustrate me sometimes as a consumer that you've gotta wait so long to, for that cohiba to develop the kind of flavor profile you want, where I can have some younger Parus or even Ahman that sooner will deliver a lot more of what I'm looking for.
So it, it's a, you know, give and
**Poobah:** take a and there is a narrative out there, um, within agreed. And, and I feel the same way. Um, [00:16:00] and there's a narrative out there about these, the smaller ring gauge cohibas. There's a following of the, of, of people who really, really adore the two who adore some of these smaller ring gauge cohibas, cuz the rapper's involved and you get more of the rapper and you're getting just a different experience.
And my hypothesis is that you can smoke these younger than some of those. Bigger ring gauge cigars that have a lot of the heroin in 'em, and they just need, they need a, they just need more time. Like many larger ring gauge cigars do to just kind of marry up and, and, and settle in. It, it, it's almost like, you know, it's like smoking a young P two, like a young P two, no, an up, young up and two not the greatest for me.
Uh, they seem to really get better with about five years on them, four years on 'em. Um, you know, they really do get better, uh, a lot [00:17:00] better. Uh, and maybe that's the case. I think maybe cohibas just need to sit the larger ring gauges and these are really approachable, maybe younger.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, and I think that's a great point because, you know, with a lot of cigars, you're, you're making an investment and, and you can get some stuff with a little bit of age on it, and it's still a reasonable price.
I mean, with Cohiba, you're not only investing the money in the cigar, you're investing a significant amount of time. in aging them, if that's what you choose to do. It's, it's a, it's, it's a lot of patience and it's not a, not a little bit of money. It's a process. Yeah,
**Poobah:** yeah, yeah. It's a process. This is real good.
People love, these people really do adore, um, these smaller ring gauges. It's these little hidden, hidden gems. Yeah. But then, uh, well, it,
**Bam Bam:** it delivers flavor quicker right. Than a larger
**Gizmo:** ring gates cigar. Yeah. And the thing I like about these too, to pub's point about people enjoying them, is that what I think about doing this as our first cohiba [00:18:00] on the pod is I've, I feel like these are some of the most, uh, easy, easy to actually find and, and purchase, uh, versus, you know, even the cohiba ra robusto is people chase that cigar and they're, they're fairly scarce right now.
And for Ra Robusto, it's 35 bucks. with no age on it. Wow. Right. That's absurd. You're talking, you're talking 110 bucks for a three pack. That's
**Senator:** too much. And, and the reality is I'd be willing to pay 35 bucks for a young Cobra Boosto if they were good young. Mm-hmm. . But they're not. Right. That's not been my experience with a young Cobra Boosto.
They're not great. They need age. Yeah. So where like a D four or an Epi two that's on the younger side, you're not gonna have a bad one that's young. It's only gonna get better with time. There's no question. But I have actively not enjoyed a young Cohi Buso. Right. And,
**Gizmo:** and for one third of the price. Right.
Yeah, that's true. Exactly right. That's true.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. Giz, how did these come, what kind of a, how would
**Gizmo:** they package? These are in the, uh, varnished, uh, sliding with you said that. Okay, great. Yeah, it's a wonderful presentation. I [00:19:00] mean, you know, Cohiba being their flagship, they certainly package and present them well.
Um, so I can't, you know, knock 'em for that. But, you know, it's still pricey. At 24 bucks a stick for this. I will
**Bam Bam:** say it's pairing well with our
**Gizmo:** drink tonight. Yeah, let's talk about that. Yeah, let's get into that. Let's get in to our Don Julio Tequilas plural. So, uh, Senator was so kind to bring us not only Don Julio re uh, Rapsodo, but also Don Julio and Ajo, which I have recently
So
**Senator:** I, I I have to give a quick,
**Poobah:** that's your, that's your morning blue. Have you been under a rock ?
**Senator:** I, I have to give a quick tequila update for the listener, but also for, for some lizards that have, uh, have been traveling recently and haven't been, uh, have been around for a bit. Um, pub and I were really the only lizards for a very long time that enjoyed tequila with cigars.
I mean, I was happy when I met you because none of the other guys really ever drank tequila with a stick. [00:20:00] And, uh, while you were away, I was doing the Lord's work. . And really, uh, bless evangelizing .
**Bam Bam:** The lizard Lord ,
**Senator:** really preaching about the virtue of tequila with cigars. And so bam, one night had had some with me when we were at Gizmo's place and he really liked it.
That was the Anejo I brought a bottle of. And more recently, when we were at our clubhouse, I gave some forcibly, if you recall, those that were there. Gizmo actively said he did not want me to pour it. Did not want to try it. That's right. Forced him to try it. Yep. And pagoda. Yeah. And ever since that day, pagoda said he really liked it and Gizmo, I think the next day bought a handle of it.
Two, two handles of it, two 1.75 or 1.5 liters. Crazy. So now I think he's a corn.
**Poobah:** But you know why
**Rooster:** he didn't want to try it? Because it's not Kirkland .
**Gizmo:** No. The real reason why I didn't want to try it was I had a very bad experience. In 2016 at a [00:21:00] David Gilmore concert at Madison Square Garden, I, oh, we all had five days
I, I overdid it, man. It was not good. You
**Senator:** were, and you were
**Gizmo:** probably drinking shitty tequila. I was drinking really shitty. It wasn't tequila. It was the shrooms. . It was . It was really bad. It was a really bad
**Senator:** day. I say that because tequila, I feel like really gets a bad rap, and I, I'm guilty of this as someone who, there were two spirits that I categorically had no interest in drinking basically after college, and that was gin and tequila.
Right. I had horrible experiences with both of. . Now granted when you're young, you're having shitty tequila. It's not until you get older and you starts spending some money on tequila and you realize, wow, there's actually great tequila that tastes smooth. There's no bite like that. You know, Jose Quervo crap.
I, it's just a totally different experience. So, um, it took a, a trip to Mexico with some friends for me to, uh, I was running outta steam at the end of that trip and, uh, my buddy was drinking tequila the whole time and he said, Senator, just just try a glass. And it was Don Julio Anejo. And, uh, boy, I have never looked back
**Poobah:** since.
Oh, yeah. Um, [00:22:00] I love, you guys know when I, when I first met you guys at the lounge at this Don Julio Nijo, um, I've been drinking it for, since time in Memorial. Um, and I love it. It's, I always have it around and I think they, I think, um, Either, either the, the, the Reso or the Anejo pair. They both pair great with cigars because there's a level of, um, particularly in the Reto, it kind of, there's a little salt forward.
Um, and that, that marries up well with the, with kind of the minerally, um, salty and sweet taste of a Cuban cigar. And, um, they just, they pair wonderfully. There's just, it's, well, it's not even an argument. It by any aficionado will tell you that a tequila and a cigar is not a divergent thing. It's very convergent in terms of them marrying up why it's kind of sweet and salty.
And, um, and Don [00:23:00] Julio owns specifically makes a very, very, it's a real spirit. They don't add sugar. Um, like a lot of these other, uh, Tequila hip new release. There's a, there's been a, a boom happening for 15, 10, 15 years.
**Gizmo:** A lot of celebrities are into tequila now. Is that right? Oh, yeah. You've got renewables.
George Clooney's a billionaire because of, uh, because of, that's true tequila,
**Poobah:** naval celebrity. You
**Senator:** even have, uh, one of the, one of the Kardashian girls, uh, has their own tequila line now.
**Poobah:** Yes, I've had that. It's called three. Yes. It's called 300 something, three, whatever it is. And I've had that, and you know what that is?
It's a, it's that tequila. You'd have to look it up. Uh, giz. I will, that particular tequila is almost like a clone flavor profile wise of classic the Rapsodo. So it's super sweet. It's super sweet, and it's got that kind of vanilla. But what I'm noticing is, is that, um, it's called eight 18. Eight 18. Yeah. I knew there was a number involved.
[00:24:00] Eight 18. And, um, I've had a lot of that. Um, I have a friend of mine who has more tequila in his house than you could imagine. I mean, like hundreds of bottles. I actually had some ultra classes of ultra the other night I sent you guys a picture. It's like 1800 bucks a bottle, which is a crazy bottle with tequila.
Um, tastes more like whiskey. And that's, that stuff was great. I, but I digress. The, what my point is though, is even classic, and I may get beat up for this in comments or whatever, but the, I, I'm not a huge fan of class. Azu Rapsodo. I think it's too sweet. Um, There was a time where I was maybe like mystified by the hype of it and everything.
It's a like, it's almost in the bottle. And the bottle was beautiful. It's almost like an after dinner drink. Like if you were to have one just, and you don't even really need ice in it and you just had one. It's got that vanilla of forward flavor. But these Don Julio, either Repad or the Ina, I [00:25:00] mean, they both work great in a, in a, in a mar if you were to make a traditional margarita with, with just, if you, you know, I make a margarita where it's one part tequila and then a little bit of simple syrup and then, and fresh lime juice.
And that's it. Basically, it's on the rocks. You just squeeze a bunch of, I just squeeze a bunch of limes in a little shot of simple syrup, tequila, and then just shake it up and pour it over ice. And that to me, that's a margarita. I don't, I don't need anything else. Uh, or in a little coin trout maybe, um, uh, you know, just a little touch of coin tr a little orange.
Laur. But, um, I really, to be honest, I don't, I don't drink tequila. I don't feel like this needs anything.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. That's the point. I agree. I totally agree. You know, and when Senator handed me that glass at Gizmo's place, that was the first time I've ever had a cigar in tequila together in my life. And, you know, I've been smoking cigars for 16 years and I've been to very, you know, [00:26:00] many cigar gatherings.
Both, both, you know, very high level cigar guys and low level, you know, guys that are just starting out. Right. I've never ever seen anyone have a tequila with a cigar. Yeah. It's usually bourbon or scotch, right? Yeah, exactly. And it's, that's a very traditional combination. Right. But I have to say, it's a revelation for me, me too.
Well,
**Gizmo:** total revelation
**Senator:** I want to pick up. So, you know, GIS said it's usually bourbon or scotch. And this is what fascinated me about tequila because I was very confused as to why I suddenly liked age tequila so much. And the reason is, if you just, and understanding the difference is between a blanco, a Reposo and an an ajo tequila.
a Blanco tequila, which is just clear, right? That is bottled immediately after it's distilled. It's not aged. And if it is aged at all, it's just aged in the. Reto what we're drinking. And Anejo is aged a lot of times in ex bourbon barrels. Ah. So the flavor that it imparts has some of those like whiskey, like notes that we all really like and [00:27:00] appreciated.
And that's when I was piecing together. That's why I like this stuff so much. And so a rep and then
**Poobah:** Sherry casks? Yes. They also age Sherry. Yes. Interesting. Yes. Yeah. Interesting.
**Senator:** And so a reso is aged up to 12 months and uh, and an aho is usually one to three years. And an extra Aho can be even beyond that, um, which is fascinating to me because.
I think anyone drinking this would say it's extraordinarily smooth. And it just amazes me. You think of in scotch, you know, it really takes about 10, 12 years for a lot of single malts to really mellow out and get nice and smooth, and the flavors develop. But in tequilas, that maturation process is a lot faster, I guess, with agave.
So just something that's always
**Gizmo:** fascinating. Yeah, it's really good. Yeah, it's amazing. I, so, I, I've only tried the, uh, Rapsodo here tonight with the Cohiba, and it is, it's a perfect, a perfect
**Poobah:** match. It really is. Well, it's a little more salt forward than, than the, uh, you can taste. There's like a little bit of that saltiness.
Um, an old tequila used to drink, [00:28:00] um, which was more inexpensive, uh, horns, um, which is a good mixing tequila, like if you're gonna mix, you recommended that to me over the summer. Who makes that, um, oh, I'm forgetting who makes it Podio or No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Anyway, you'd have to Google it. I will, uh, the horns, like if you're blending up margaritas, , like, um, you can, uh, there's plenty of serviceable tequilas that can go in.
You don't need to use, uh, a 40 or $50 bottle. Um, there, there's so many good ones out there now that are that, and by the way, and like by the pool, um, and like it's hot and like the ice melts into it. Even something like horns, like you can, it's very drinkable. There's so many drinkable tequilas out there that aren't gonna break the bank.
Um, now that have come out over the past 20 years or so, where it was really [00:29:00] Cuervo and then there's tequila boom happen over the past 20 years. And there's like a lot of Goodman's, like rul. I have a lot of people who love rul. Um, saa. Saa, yeah. Saa. So Salza salza horns. So that's like, like. You could buy a big bottle of that.
And when chicks are like, I want a margarita, you know, and the, and you just blend it up and you put it in a blender, like,
**Gizmo:** dude, by the way, this summer, my wife and her sister wanted margaritas. I called Puba. I said, what do I get? He said, get horns, , don't go crazy. Right.
**Poobah:** Get horn now. Is it a great, would I drink it like on the rocks and a glass and a bar?
No, but like in a, in like a Dixie cup, in a pool, like, you know, and the ice is melting away. Like, yeah, I, I like pound on that a little. It's not gonna like, in, not like a form, not a formal situation, but it would, it's not something, you know, the ice melts in it and it's, and you put a line, a [00:30:00] couple limes in it, and it's like perfectly good.
Squeeze up like two lime wedges, pour it in a Dixie cup, hang out in the pool and talk to people. The ice melts in it and you're like, you're good to go. Like, , perfect , you know, it's drinkable.
**Senator:** I'm glad you brought up the, the sort of hot weather and pool analogy because the reason I intentionally, and this is probably the only episode we've done this, wanted to have us try both the Reto and the in Ajo together is because for me, and I'm curious what everyone's reaction to it is, there's a time and place for each, and I say that because Cuba's example of by the pool when it's hot, that's when I reach for a Rapsodo that is, it's.
It's lighter in body and flavor. It's so easy drinking. And an an AHO has more flavor in it. I reach for that in the evening when I'm having a more robust cigar. Um, it can hold up in a way that a RESO would not with a really full flavored cigar, but with this cohiba that's very mild, medium. That's perfect.
I think the
**Gizmo:** rep, the rep's [00:31:00] working way better. Fantastic. Yeah. It's,
**Poobah:** I'll tell you because it's salty. Do you notice the salt? Yes. Mm-hmm. , like, there's a little bit of this salty thing that's happening, which is why when you put salt on the rim of a, you
**Bam Bam:** know, I also, I also get a little sweetness in the repad.
Yeah. That it'll get ine as much. Yeah. Yes, that's correct. Yeah. And that works well
**Gizmo:** with this particular salt. So I just did both. I, I, I tried to reto, cleared my pallet with my seltzer, and then I did the anjo i'll, the reto matches with the cigar. Way better for me, for me now, I've been drinking a ton of anjo as I, as as senator just said, a lot of the times, I'm picking that up later.
Toward the end of my cigar smoking with either a heavy, uh, a, a Beco Sophos or a a p two or, or, uh, moving into patrons or something like that. And it's perfect there. But for this, I think the Rapsodo is a much better fit. Yeah.
**Poobah:** Yeah. I, I mean with, for me it's like either one's like Mother's milk, it's sure I can drink him anytime, be honest.
But, but a couple [00:32:00] other brands notable just to reach for one is Herradura. Uh, you should, if you're into tequila, I think Herradura is very good. It's got the horseshoe on it. Herradura Ona Herradura, uh, the, even the Rapsodo is good. And also Trace Trace Generos, um, they changed the bottle. It used to have like that copper kind of top to it, and they've changed the design.
So, um, but look for that trace Generos in, in, in either Rapsodo or Anejo also very, very good. Um, I generally drink trace, um, I drink Trace Herradura, Don Julio, um, as you know, and they're, they're priced about in the same range. Trace a little bit lower, Herradura a little bit lower, but Herradura
**Senator:** is good. It was funny that you mentioned Rio Zul before, cuz I actually wasn't familiar with that.
But a buddy of mine who's big into tequila, he had just brought, he said it's a very accessible bottle. He brought it to our clubhouse the other day and we tried [00:33:00] it and it was a rep episode, so it's on the slee, uh, the sweeter side. But it was pretty good. I actually enjoyed it. Um, and, and funny enough, I hope listeners will share with us what tequila they're drinking.
Say that because Absolutely. Uh, we had one listener reach out who, um, uh, runs a, a tequila bar, uh, in Manhattan and where they have over 200 distinct types of tequila. And, uh, I think the, uh, the lizards have been invited for a tequila tasting there. Uh, so we're gonna gonna have a lot more to report back on, on tequila and what makes this spirit so special, but I would love to hear what other people are out there drinking.
Giddy
**Gizmo:** up.
**Poobah:** Yeah. And the, there's a lot, I mean, there's a, I've had a lot of different tequilas. Um, there's a lot out there, so it's really just comes down to what you like. I mean, like the Rio and Ye, it's, oh, I know a lot of people who like it, but it's like a little bit medicine-y for me, a little bit heavier.
And they, there's so many brands out there. There's so many, like, like as exemplified by what you just said. You know, if you go down to, [00:34:00] um, I was in Florida recently, Rocko's Tacos. Rocco's Tacos is, is a small franchise. They have one location in Brooklyn if it's still there. And then they have others in, mostly in Florida.
And if you, you know, they're, they, their food's very good there and they have hundreds of tequilas in there. And. I believe, you know, so you can do a lot, you can explore, there's a lot to explore. There's, so it's not like scotch, like scotch is kind of, you know, you talk about single malt scotch, like it's a very kind of narrow window of stuff that's been, that's kind of like established in the past 20 years.
There's hundreds of tequila brands. So let
**Gizmo:** me ask a question about that. Is it, uh, maybe it, it's a matter of the processor that scotch has to come from certain regions, but why is tequila so attractive to these, to marketing folks? To celebrity? Why is that? Because it's easy to drink
**Poobah:** now. Got it. And, and like vodka [00:35:00] think if you think back to the nineties, like vodka, gray, goose, ca and Belvedere and came onto the scene and everybody was drinking martinis and like ultra premium liquor like about 20 years ago, kind of.
Pagoda. You remember this in the city, like everybody was drinking, what was it? Belvedere and Gray Goose and, uh, kettle. And even Kettle. Kettle was not like an established brand 30 years ago, 25 years
**Bam Bam:** ago. Big about 10 years ago. Kettle One. Long time,
**Poobah:** well before that. Oh, is that right? Long before that. Oh, okay.
Yeah. And people was like, well, kettle One and Velvet, and people were drinking these like ultra premium spirits and uh, where before it was like absolute and stoley and like people drank. Absolutely. In the eighties, people drank Stoley. You'd go, by the way, Stoley is pretty good. . The, the Russian stoley is pretty good.
There's two, there's a 12 trademark thing [00:36:00] going on there. Oh, is that right? Anyway, that's why there's two different prices. There's two different things, but, but I'll still drink a stole. But anyway, that notwithstanding, but that then there was this like ultra premium spirit where you transitioned. out of like absolute and stoley and these ultra premium vodka started to hit the market.
And then these tequila F and there were these al these, these premium tequilas that kind of just started hap they, I mean there was no, in the mid nineties, there wasn't a ton of ultra premium, ultra premium tequila was like Cuervo 1800, or Quavo, what was it called? Cuervo 1800. You know, that was all you really had.
And that sucked. You know, that wasn't a very good tequila. So everyone, most people were kind of like, think associating tequila with Quavo and bad stuff. And, and, and now all, now there's hundreds of brands. Well, this,
**Gizmo:** this is making me, this is making me really want to dive into [00:37:00] understanding more about tequila.
You know, I think that's a, that's a good opportunity, you know, um, to try a bunch. So one, one brand you haven't
**Rooster:** mentioned is a patro. Isn't that pretty rude? Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Not bullish. Not bullish. No.
**Senator:** Really ? No. So I, I, I don't mind Patron, I'm not gonna sit, uh, patron. I'm not gonna sit here and say like, I hate their tequila or anything like that.
Cuz I don't think it's bad. Um, but I don't, what I don't like, and this is probably what I suspect Puba probably feels the same way. I don't love at all their reto or Anejo in the way that I do Don Julio and other brands. Oh, for the silver? Yeah. They're, they're just Silver Blanco, like, it's incredibly easy drinking.
It's great mixed it, it, it's even fine, you know, on ice. Um, so like for their Blanco, I don't have any complaints, but for their other more aged tequilas, it just doesn't impart the flavor that some of these other brands do that I'm, I'm
**Poobah:** looking for and create. So that, so Petron was like an earlier. Into the US market that penetrated and, [00:38:00] and I drank a lot of patron patron early on, but then once, like, once Don Julio started to gain more popularity, it was just, there was n for me, there was no comparison.
And then all this, then the, then the category just got so crowded. Yeah. It's,
**Gizmo:** well, to me it's overwhelming. I mean, had I not had you guys, anytime I walk by tequila in a liquor store, it's like, it, it's, it's a massive, massive shelf of stuff. Yeah, yeah. True. It's, it's overwhelming. It is. It's buying, it's like buying red wine.
**Pagoda:** Yeah. Other than one the chocolate tequila.
**Senator:** Xo, xo, . No, and that's exactly the kind of stuff. Exactly the kind of stuff that I, I don't appreciate about Patron. I, I mean that's just like a shit ton of sugar. It's mixed with some, honestly coffee of some sort. Yeah. And, and a little, some a little tequila and you know, it's, it, sure it goes down fine, but mm-hmm.
you drink that stuff, a few of those and you're gonna have the worst hangover your life. Yeah. The amount of sugar that's in that bottle and the
**Poobah:** sugar, the added sugar's a problem. I agree. But it
**Rooster:** might be, you know, it's probably being catered [00:39:00] to a lot more women,
**Senator:** the chocolate and I'm sure just young people that can't appreciate, you know, drinking alcohol the way we do need or on the rocks.
Right, right.
**Pagoda:** Including me, because I remember my experiences with tequila was just shots. I'd go to a bar, let's do a tequila shot and a couple of shots later. It was so bad. It was like . No. And you know, I stopped drinking tequila for years and uh, a senator was offering, uh, Don Julio the other day and I was like, oh, should I even bothered to try it?
But I'm glad I did. It was very, very flavorful and very light to me. It's
**Bam Bam:** nice to me. The Don Julio is, is like a refined spirit. It's, it's elegant compared to a lot of these others. Gimme key type of tequilas.
**Poobah:** Oh,
**Gizmo:** guess my,
**Rooster:** you gotta tell us how you feel in the morning. Have tequila, ,
**Gizmo:** it's tequila. Very clean spirit.
Yeah. There is something about, you know, I don't, I'm lucky even in my worst nights some have been with you guys. We can, we don't, we can gloss right over that, but, uh, I, I'm very, [00:40:00] I, I've never been hungover in my life, even on my worst nights. I wake up in the morning and I'm fine. But when it's crazy, I don't know why.
Yeah. You know, but I want your jeans . He, he's,
**Senator:** he's a robot. Of course he doesn't, he's a robot. Robot .
**Gizmo:** But when I drink Don Julio Anejo, uh, well, even in quantity, when I wake up in the morning, I feel like the Kool-Aid man, I can run through a wall. Like I, I have energy. I'm, I, I don't know what it is about it that, that just clicks for me.
But I'm on it because I feel great of every time's laced . It might be, it might be, it might be laced. Do you
**Pagoda:** feel like, uh, dipping, uh, US agar and tequila? No. I,
**Gizmo:** I'm not, I'm not that far yet, but No, I guess we'll see that. Please don't do that. So, uh, we're about halfway through these Sig two here, boys. Yeah.
Great start. I, uh, I'm really enjoying it. I am too. I'm enjoying it with Rapsodo. What is, uh, what is everybody feeling about right there with you? It's picked
**Senator:** up in flavor. Yeah, absolutely. Which I'm happy about.
**Gizmo:** This is like the
**Rooster:** sweet spot of the cigar right now, you know, right in the middle. [00:41:00] Yeah, I
**Gizmo:** agree.
You're getting a little bit of sweet sweetness and uh, it's delicious. Yeah, yeah.
**Poobah:** Oh yeah. Yeah. What do you think of a puba? Yeah, I like it. . Yeah.
**Pagoda:** I dunno whether it's a cigar or the tequila. . I'm enjoying the boats. .
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Poobah:** Yeah, go ahead.
**Gizmo:** I mean, it's profound word. Go. Go ahead. Pba
**Poobah:** This is a, in my opinion, this is very nice. Yeah. Somebody get pba spitting bucket, please. , what, what do you, why do my wife, why do I need to spit? This is very nice. I mean, the, this, this cigar, uh, with a tequila, it's very, it pairs up really, really well. It's very relaxing. It's very nice. It's a good pairing and, uh, It's just very enjoyable.
I mean, I'm not gonna dissect the flavors of this thing. It's picked up in strength, like Senator said, and, and, and, and, and [00:42:00] everybody's agree. It's really, it's hitting its stride right now halfway through and a little bit of a two act play I think happening here that's quite, quite enjoyable. Yeah, and there's
**Bam Bam:** something velvety about the smoke coming off.
It's fantastic.
**Poobah:** The building, construction and combustion are just, are just wonderful. That's fantastic.
**Gizmo:** It does feel like a, a, a very high quality premium cigar. Oh, it is. I can't, you know, in, in my, in my, again, my time with Cohiba on young stuff, I've had a, uh, probably a very unfair negative opinion of the, of the market.
But, uh, having had these, I had a good land zero a couple weeks ago, I'm, I'm starting to want to dig into Cohiba a little bit more. Um, probably not in quantity because I can't afford, you know, a 25 count box of five to seven year age single sixes. I mean, that's crazy. But, um, I, I'd like to get a couple singles of and, and see what.
see what else is in the, uh, in the marker. That's right. Just let Rooster by them. Yeah. Rooster can grab him for us. .
**Poobah:** Yeah. It, it's, it's [00:43:00] like, so it doesn't have the, it they're different. It, it's not a parus, it's not an up, and it's like something all on its own of its own. And you just have to decide if you really, like how much you want to chase that.
I guess. And maybe for, this is f the se the profile was like more f kind of floral and it's a little bit more, um, like there's dried fruit and pepper and floral where like if you, if you, if you go in the other direction, maybe towards like an UPK or something like that, if that's your, if that's your bag.
Um, and I loveman. ,
**Senator:** um, where you get more baking spice, you know? Yeah. Like nuttiness and dessert flavor flavors. Yeah.
**Poobah:** It's different. So it's different. Right. So, so it just depends on really what you like. Forget about the band. Sure. Forget about the price Sure. And all that stuff. [00:44:00] Do you really like this? And I, and I I do.
And I think it's a really great change of pace. And would I like these in my humidor? For sure. Yeah. But I, you can take price outta of the equation.
**Senator:** Yeah. Uh, you read my mind the way you put that because you do have to make that decision. And, and for me, even as much as I'm enjoying this stick, I know my palette and, and this still isn't my sweet spot of something that I would pick up every day.
Right. That would crack the daily rotation the way that Parus certainly does. Ahman. . That's just what my palate craves. It's not a knock on this cigar. That's just what I prefer flavor-wise. Now, as I liked how you put it when you said, for a change of paste, would I smoke another one of these? Absolutely.
But you have to decide, and there are some people who love cohiba so much. This is exactly the flavor profile that their palate craves that they want on a daily basis. For me, even going through this, as much as I'm enjoying [00:45:00] this cigar, it still doesn't crack my daily rotation because this is still not the sweet spot of what I look for
**Bam Bam:** flavor-wise.
So what is, I want, I want to hear what
**Gizmo:** your
**Poobah:** flavor profile is kind of. I'm kind of with you, but because what is we? We have the same kind of thing we do that
**Bam Bam:** we like. So the two of you don't pursue the floral dried fruit, a little bit of pepper. You don't look for that
**Senator:** for a change of pace. Yes. And I'll give you an example of some cigars like that and Gizmo mentioned them.
I think the cigars that fall into that category that are cigars that I would wanna smoke every now and then, but I'm not gonna have every day. Uh, those are the schwa supreme. Yep. That, that we smoked that has floral, dried fruit. All of those notes. It's a great cigar on a summer day. Is it something that I'm gonna smoke year round, 365 days?
No. But is it a cigar that I'm gonna pick up every now and then and I'm gonna enjoy? No question. I
**Bam Bam:** have the complete opposite take. Because those three notes for a particular cigar are what? That's what you chase. That's what I pursue. Yeah. Especially the dry fruit in a Cuban, for me, that's the ultimate [00:46:00] Cuban profile for me.
Yeah. And if not only pre, what would preclude me from putting this in my weekly daily rotation is the price. Sure. That's the only barrier for me. Otherwise, I would have this two to three times a week
**Senator:** Easy. Which can I just quickly say for me on, on price, I'm, I'm not gonna lie. You know, one thing I will always fault Kohi before, and it does piss me off, is the price.
Yeah. And I say that, and I have no apologies for it, because if every other brand out of Cuba can make cigars at a, you know, 12, 13 to $20 price point that are fantastic, whether we're talking about D four s or up in twos or, you know, Besos pheno, or we can go on and on, if they can do that, there's no reason that Cohiba can't do the same.
Totally agree. And so, you know, I, I can only imagine their margins and credit to them as a business. Mm-hmm. , but as a consumer, It's frustrating. Very. They're the only brand, they're, they're a big outlier among the Cuban
**Gizmo:** place. I agree. Yeah, sure.
**Rooster:** I mean, talking about floral notes and dried fruit and all of that.
I think the Lgc MD oh
**Gizmo:** four Oh [00:47:00] yes. Fits that bill.
**Senator:** This is within that profile. Who does? But there's something about it that's close, very complex profile that
**Gizmo:** I'd like. Yeah. It's really a complex take. It's a great, it's very, so
**Rooster:** to me, like Cohiba is kind of like the dat off of Cuban cigars. Yes. Because they're very consistent.
They, you rarely, I think, get a bad cohi. I've never really heard of, you know, like cohiba getting, uh, plugged or the construction is great, the factories that it's made at, I mean, they're some of the topnotch factories that you know, and the top rollers.
**Poobah:** So, yeah, you read my mind, uh, rooster. I I was about to say, this is like the David off of, it's a, it's the Davi off of Cuba.
Yeah. It, it, it kind of, when you a a as you smoke through this, um, I've only had to touch mine up cuz I've been letting it sit not smoking thousand enough. But it's exactly right. You're exactly right. It's, it, it, the construction, the build, the com, [00:48:00] the combustion of the, of the smoke. It's a premium cigar.
There's just no doubt about it. You just have to, we smoke it and, and ask yourself, am I gonna chase this? Or you know, and is it worth the money for me to chase. Would I like a box of these in my humidor? Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah. Hell
**Gizmo:** yeah. Would I, that's why I, that's why I bought hell one. I had two cigars and I bought
**Bam Bam:** another, I have two Boxees.
You know, it's, it's a nice special occasion cigar.
**Poobah:** It is, I think so. You know, in the right spot. It's really good. Yeah. Um, but is it, but I'm a Boulevard Parus up. Happy you said the boulevard guy. Very
**Gizmo:** happy that, that's my sweet spot.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. Yeah. I'm happy You said
**Poobah:** the boulevard. It's, it's, it's kind of that in, yeah.
Some punch.
**Bam Bam:** Now you go look, if you go, hold on, hold on. Let's
**Poobah:** not go crazy.
**Bam Bam:** What I'm gonna, I'm gonna ignore poop. Turn his mic off. the punch. Punch has a ton of that. Dry fruit. Floral. The short
**Gizmo:** punch, the [00:49:00] punch. No, no. The one we did on the punch. The punch, punch. Punch. The punch. Punch. Oh the punch. Ses a good cigar.
**Senator:** Let's think about where do you slot that punch. Punch in. And I, I like that cigar. I rated that highly. We all love it, but I'll say this, every single time I have a punch punch, there is one place and one place only. It fits in my rotation
**Bam Bam:** from the point of view of time of day.
**Gizmo:** In the rotation. In the
**Senator:** rotation.
I see. It's always the first cigar. So it's, it's a relatively mild smoke. Yes. So, you know, for me it's a great afternoon
**Rooster:** smoke. Yes. I mean, there's so much cedar in that
**Gizmo:** cigar now. You know what's funny? Hold on. You know what's funny about you saying that though quick? Is that tonight I packed a punch. Punch.
I was thinking bring it one that we, knowing that we were having this,
**Bam Bam:** that's gonna be Oh, my next cigar. I was thinking of bringing one. This has a higher, for me, a more flavor than that. That's cigar. Interesting. I agree with that.
**Poobah:** Interesting. Absolutely. You know, like, I like the little bit of a slap across the face that like a part us will give you something That's true.
Ab Yeah. We all love it, you know, and I love that. Like, and it's a boulevard fucking anywhere when it, when it, when it hits you. Yeah. And you're like, dude, this thing's just a full [00:50:00] flavored piece. Yeah. Like that. B B F I
**Gizmo:** had a beco pheno yesterday that I swear guys kicked my ass. Yeah. It kicked my ass. And I loved every second of it, but Wow.
It's a, it's a, it, it was, it was full. It was full. I'm surpris here. Say I've never had it. Yeah. It was the first time I ever had it. It got me. Yeah. It got
**Poobah:** me going. Well, I've had a petite, I've had the ovar, petite Corona, knock me around. Knocked around. That's a stronger cigar than, than, than you'd ever.
Here's
**Bam Bam:** an interesting thing about our tequila pairing. So as the cigar started, right, the reso worked beautifully with it. Now that I'm past the halfway point on this, the aha, the Yeah. Has working better. It really works well. Very well. Laid into the cigar. Very
**Poobah:** nice. I agree. So, so these floral notes that you're either into that.
Oh, and that's your
**Bam Bam:** thing. You know, I've said this before, but my pants are coming down on that floral note, right. . You like keep it together, ma
**Gizmo:** Poop Poopa just booked another flight to Florida. I
**Bam Bam:** like stumping. I like stumping him. I like stumping him by with that . Are you trying to turn me off?
**Gizmo:** senator's [00:51:00] his hand?
Yeah, he's
**Bam Bam:** pointing the remote at me. I'm hitting the mute button.
**Gizmo:** Oh
**Bam Bam:** gosh. That's it for me. Thank you very
**Gizmo:** much. So are you guys
**Poobah:** ready to do the, uh, that's for Renee and, uh, .
**Gizmo:** Are you guys ready to do the, uh, formal liquor rating on the, uh, on the Don Julio?
**Senator:** I think so. And we've gotta rate each one, the Rapsodo and the Anejo separately. Separately. Ooh,
**Gizmo:** that's tough. This
**Poobah:** is gonna be easy.
Oh, come on.
**Gizmo:** I mean, that's, well, it's easy, but it's, to me, they're the same. I mean, I, I love them both.
**Senator:** So we should start with the Rapsodo and then we'll do the Anejo. Okay.
**Bam Bam:** So I'll give the, the Reto a nine. Okay. And I'm giving the idea, hang on, hang on.
**Senator:** Let, let, let's go Rapsodo first. Oh,
**Bam Bam:** good. Go nine for me.
I'll give it an eight.
**Senator:** This is tough.
**Bam Bam:** This is tough.
**Senator:** I'll give it a nine.
**Gizmo:** I'm gonna give it a nine because I love it. [00:52:00]
**Poobah:** Uh, I'll give it an eight.
**Pagoda:** It did pair really well with that, with Cigar. It did.
**Bam Bam:** Absolutely. The first
**Senator:** half that puts the reto at an 8.6. Fantastic. Very good. Fantastic. I think it's very fair.
**Gizmo:** All right, let's do now. Ajo.
**Bam Bam:** Bam. Bam. I'm giving it a 10. Okay.
**Pagoda:** I'll give
**Senator:** it an eight,
**Poobah:** 10. I'm all day
**Gizmo:** on a nine. Uh, it's a pah.
**Senator:** This is easy for you.
How could you dare?
**Gizmo:** It's, it's a 10.
**Bam Bam:** I was gonna say, come
**Gizmo:** on.
**Bam Bam:** There we go. We both have at a boy, at a boy.
**Poobah:** 10. It's a 10. It's a 10. It's a 10 for me because Desert Island take, uh, it's anywhere on that in the. , I'm ordering that. And, uh, for me, the, the 1942, which is the cousin, uh, uh, would be, I'd give it that, [00:53:00] I'd give that a 10.9.
**Gizmo:** Uh, that's, that's the more premium one,
**Poobah:** correct? Yeah. Okay. It's the cousin, but, uh, the big brother. But that's a 10. That's a 10 for me. To me, it's, it's my favorite tequila.
**Senator:** So our composite score on the Don Julio Ajo 9.4
**Gizmo:** F. Wow. So an eight, 8.6 for the Rapsodo and Amazing. A 9.4 for the Anejo. Wow. Very. I'm gonna say if
**Senator:** I could give decimals on these Yeah, that's right.
Around where I probably would've landed. I'm very pleased with the agreed
**Gizmo:** Great score. Totally agree. That's great. So we're coming into the, uh, the last third here, boys of the Jibo SIG two. And, uh, how's everybody feeling about the, is it a two act play? Three act play? How's everybody feeling? Yeah. Two, I'd say two I think right in the middle.
I think right in the middle. It kind of changed
**Bam Bam:** for me. I'm very surprised cuz I wasn't expecting much from this cigar, from any cohiba. I'm not a Cohiba fan. Yeah. Admittedly, I don't know enough
**Poobah:** about Cohiba, so I'm getting my coffee notes down towards the end here. I'm not as far along, I'm getting Yeah, there's a little bit of espresso, a little bit of like, [00:54:00] yeah.
It's complex. That's more my speed. Yeah. It's just getting there now, honestly. It's
**Bam Bam:** wonderful. Um,
**Gizmo:** gizmo well done as it heats up. I'm glad you guys are enjoying it. You know, the one thing I will say, who you got? Love the band. Yeah. The band is great. Give the band some. The, the one thing I will say about when I picked these out, uh, tonight to bring, unlike other cigars that, that we've smoked from Havanas, I, I, I had no concern that anyone in this room was gonna have a draw, construction or burn issue.
I have to say that like, it, it just is. Even when you look at the, the, the, the feet, I guess you call it in, in the, the 25, uh, cabinet. They just all look just so well made and consistent. Everything, you know, they're not dense. You can see the, they better be sure for 24 bucks a piece. But, you know, there's a lot of other high-end havanas that I can't say that about and
**Bam Bam:** I'll, I'll go out on a limb.
This combination of the two tequilas in this cigar for me is a very high [00:55:00] quality experience. I agree. Really everything from the flavor profiles I'm getting with this, with the liquor and the cigar itself. You're right. It's ridiculous. It's,
**Poobah:** it's very nice. It's ridiculous. It's very nice. Yeah. It's a very
**Gizmo:** nice cigar.
Impressed. So the one thing I thought, uh, was interesting and we, we were talking about reservers and grand reserves, uh, in the past few weeks, cuz we got, uh, we, we had some fakes put in front of us that were comical of, uh, you would've loved this. Oh, you would've died Pula. Oh gosh. Uh, tell
**Senator:** him, Senator. Okay, so we're, we're, we're at our clubhouse.
I, I have to say, I'm glad you brought this up because I, I said this, I wanted to talk about Canada. Oh. This gonna be, for whatever reason, I'm not exaggerating, within the last two weeks. I've got, I've encountered more fake Cubans than I've ever encountered in my life. At our new clubhouse. Yeah. No, no, not just there.
So I, I had a listener and friend reach out to me who was gifted a boulevard and he sent me a photo of it and he said, does it, is this real cuz this something looks funny about this. The construction was not very impressive and I'm [00:56:00] looking at the, the Boulevard Band on it, and I just happened by chance to be smoking A B B F as he sent it in.
I sent him a photo of the, what the band should look like, and oh my God, it was the worst fake I've ever seen in my life. So that was like a moment saved of God knows what he would've been smoking if he lit that up. But we were at our clubhouse. Then fast forward a few days later and some clown walks in there and claims that he.
A box of bva.
**Gizmo:** Reservas. Reserva, uh, Beso. Reservas. So the, he said they were grand reserves? No, they were, I think, well, it, who knows. Who cares? Who cares? Regardless, they were reservas, I believe. Not grand.
**Senator:** They were reservers either way. And the best part is this guy claims that he paid $400 for the box.
**Gizmo:** I mean, amazing.
Amazing. That was just for the box though, right?
**Poobah:** you mean compared to the four 90? I just paid for 2018. Dead giveaway. Normal. Normal
**Gizmo:** bbf, regular. Regular bbs. Yeah. I mean, that box nor that box normally is what, two [00:57:00] grand? 2,500 bucks. Two to three grand. It's crazy. Please. It's crazy.
**Senator:** Two to three grand for a box minimum.
So, and the best part is, once again, you look at the band and I happen to have in my, uh, in my cigar case, a, B B F, and I pull up the band side by side. They're supposed to, this band was so bad. It's supposed to say, obviously Havana and Cuba is underneath. They completely omitted the Cuba. That was like the first tell as we're looking at the two bad side by side and the rest of it, like the color of, you know, Simon Boulevard's like jacket or, or shirt.
Whatever he is wearing is completely off. It was a fucking
**Gizmo:** joke. And the shape, but hold on, don't
**Bam Bam:** forget the shape was way off. Don't forget the
**Gizmo:** razor sharp tip. Yeah, it was really bad. It was really bad. Yeah, they looked
**Poobah:** like, uh, um, yeah, that's the darts, that's the tell, tell sign when they look like darts.
Like absolutely
**Gizmo:** darts. It was, you could have stab somebody with with that. Oh yeah. Yeah. You know, the, the, and and what's interesting about parlay that into a cohiba discussion is obviously cohiba being the, the, the marketer that is the, the brand name that it is [00:58:00] worldwide is the most counterfeited cigar in the world by far.
So my caution to the. is be very, very careful that who you're purchasing, uh, cohiba from cigars certainly, but especially Cohiba, some of these other high level, uh, uh, Cuban markets. Be really trust the retailer that you're buying from or the individual because there are so many fakes
**Poobah:** out there. There are, and, and, and there was a, uh, kind of a, a PSA that was done within our circle of acquaintance, which was very informative, which I think we all watched.
It was amazing. Uh, this psa. Um, and what's happening now is you're getting, um, uh, what they call, uh, um, they. The boxes are legitimate, the serial numbers are legitimate, the bands are legitimate, but the cigars in the box are, are, [00:59:00] are, are not. And um, and that's, and that's what's, that's some of what's going on.
So you really need to be careful about. And then, but within that, the seals and there's certain tells within, you know, the, the, the factory code, the, the factory code and the. need to align with the serial number. And, uh, not to dive, I don't want to dive too deep into this vortex, but there's a lot of things with cohiba that have to line up, particularly when you're talking about ques.
If anyone, for the listener out there, if you're pursuing Bahi case's and somebody says that they have them right now, they're probably, uh, because especially a retailer, nobody has them right now. Retailers don't have them. And then, and you just gotta be careful out there because there're things in the factory seal, um, bogus numbers where the, where the, the, the numbers within the seal under black light don't match, but the, the bands are [01:00:00] actually checking out.
So you really gotta be careful, uh, with Cohiba, uh, because it's highly counterfeited in their counterfeiters are getting more sophisticated. Um, and we're seeing it actually trickle down to some other, uh, Brands and, and lines of cigars that aren't counterfeited in the past as often. So
**Gizmo:** there's a lot of fake money twos out there.
I've seen a, I've seen a lot of, there's always
**Poobah:** been a lot of fake money too.
**Gizmo:** Fake money. Twos the thing that I would tell the listener, um, if it seems too good to be true, it is. So if, if you're seeing something that's somebody has a, a quantity of boxes that's unreasonable of bks. If, if the price is even remotely close to, or lower than what a, a reasonable retailer would be selling it for, and you're getting that second or third hand, 99% of the time you're dealing with, if it's too good to be true, yeah, you really gotta trust your gut and don't pull a, don't pull a, uh, you know, a uh, an [01:01:00] impulsive.
on buying cigars. That, that you gotta
**Poobah:** be very careful. Yeah. And if anyone says, uh, I have a connection in Cuba, that's the first tell. Or my, or my, that's the first tell, that's the first tell. I have a connection in Cuba, or I got these from because from Cuba. Or like, it's like, that's actually your, you know, they're, they're actually retailers on the island who are actually one you can get ripped off in Cuba.
Oh yeah. Don't kid yourself. Absolutely. And two, uh, there are peop that's the biggest bullshit line you'll ever hear in your life is, I've got a so and so from Cuba. That's bullshit. The
**Senator:** old adage applies here more than anywhere. If it sounds too good to be true, it is absolutely is not true. I it's that simple.
**Gizmo:** And what's terrible about it too, there's a lot of, you know, people will stay in high-end resorts in Dominican and other areas, and they go down to the cigar shop there and they have fake cohibas. I mean, you really have to know who you're dealing with and you have to trust it. Yeah. Plus you have
**Rooster:** to understand the price.
I mean, if, if, uh, Real [01:02:00] behi is, you know, when they started out they were like at least 50 bucks. Now you can't touch them for under a hundred dollars a stick. So if somebody's selling them to you for like 40 bucks, you know, they're fakes.
**Poobah:** Yep. That and also the serial numbers, the, the, the particularly the front end, the prefix of the serial numbers really need to match.
It could be a legitimate serial number, but it needs to match the box date. And the box date needs to match the factory code for that date. So, unless you know, if you're gonna play in this kind of, in this, in this world, you need to familiarize yourself with, with the right serial numbers that are matching the right dates for the right box codes during that time period.
Because counterfeiters are generally, you know, particularly when you get into like maybe some of the standard line cigars, that's an easy thing to pick up on. If you see 0, 0, 0, uh, four, but the box code is like 20. Like [01:03:00] 19. That's not, it doesn't, that doesn't line up. It doesn't line up. It's 0 0 0 3. So you, you know, they're things that you just need to look at and be careful of and, and, and try and do a little bit of homework, or at least have, uh, you know, try and cultivate some relationships with people who were, who were procuring legitimate cigars.
**Gizmo:** So just be careful. The final thing I'll say, uh, on this topic, uh, as far as purchasing counterfeit is again, to the listener. I would avoid purchasing stuff on Instagram. I think that is a cesspool of counterfeit. They are very good at, at putting up really nice images of, of really fake cigars. And I've seen a lot of people via Reddit, other forums that I'm on that have purchased stuff on Instagram, they look amazing and they show up and they've burned thousands and thousands of dollars on cigars that are just full of rat shit and filler from the floor.
And. They're horrible. So just be careful out there, folks. So, um, let's get back to, [01:04:00] yeah. . So ours,
**Bam Bam:** I'm noticing pagoda and I and Gizmo we're burning our fingertips here. Yeah. I'm getting close to the end. Pagoda. How are you feeling about this thing?
**Pagoda:** Much, much better than I thought. Uh, uh, really, really enjoyed it and smoked right to the tip.
Yeah. It was like really, really
**Gizmo:** enjoyed it. I'm end. I'm what? I'm finding you said burning your fingers. I'm down here pretty far and I'm not feeling a lot of heat. I've been trying to smoke reasonably. I'm good at exaggerating by, but it's, but it isn't really, it isn't. And I mean, that's a, that's a compliment to the construction of eventually will, but it's, it's, I'm down pretty far and it's not heating up too much, which is nice.
And it's very,
**Bam Bam:** very good. Yeah. It's very nice. Fantastic flavor all the way down.
**Gizmo:** How you feel
**Poobah:** about a pbo? I, I, I, I feel good about it. Okay. Um, I, I, it's a really nice cigar. Uh, I'd like to, I'd like to have a box of these in my hu in my humidor. Um, I'm, I'm
**Senator:** with you on your, I, I know what's holding you back. I mean, I, I already know my score and I'm not, I'm not burning my fingers because [01:05:00] I've gotten enough out of this cigar.
It was a good cigar. Um, there was some stuff I liked, but you know, I'm not gonna lie, it's not my perfect flavor profile that I would be looking for.
**Gizmo:** Neith Rooster. It has, it has some positive things.
**Poobah:** There's another saying out there, right. Great construction. It has some very positive things. It does,
**Rooster:** yeah.
Great. Construction flavor is good. Burn was good, you know, um, didn't really have to relight it.
**Gizmo:** Uh, not at all. You know, so, I
**Rooster:** mean, I, I mean, it's a great cigar, but, you know, it's probably not in our daily, like yeah. Weekly rotation per se, but for once in a while in a, like on an afternoon or a morning stick with coffee or, uh, you know, I think, I think it fits right
**Gizmo:** in.
Yeah. So you guys ready to do the, uh, formal lizard rating on this thing? Yep, I'm ready. All right. Rooster, you're up. So I'm gonna give it a solid eight.
**Poobah:** I'm gonna give it a seven, eight.
**Gizmo:** Okay. I'm gonna give the scar an eight as well. I'm also at an eight. Okay. [01:06:00]
**Pagoda:** Pagoda a very, very strong aid, and I'm surprised with that because it's, uh, a much milder cigar, but I kind of really enjoyed it and maybe with the pairings and, uh, it's been a very pleasant experience.
Strong eight for me. Awesome.
**Bam Bam:** Eight, huh? Yeah. Hmm.
**Poobah:** What are you going with?
**Bam Bam:** I'll give it an eight. All
**Gizmo:** right. So that's a rookie score from us tonight, gentlemen. 8.0 8.0 on
**Poobah:** the cohesive. Yeah. It just didn't, for, you know, just to give a little color. I don't know if we should do a little Yeah, yeah. I want to hear what you guys think.
But, but for me, it just, um, like it definitely changed along the, the, the way, um, but just doesn't deliver for me exactly what. I like, and, and, and, and that's a little bit more dessert. Flavors a little bit more like Parus kind of gives you that cinnamon. It gives you a little bit more of that coffee. It gives you a little bit, [01:07:00] this doesn't do that, but on the positive side, if you really like a floral, kind of a floral cigar, there's sweetness in there.
I, I, it's, I can see how people can chase this. I really legitimately, and the construction build and the, and the combustion are really exemplary. So I can see it's a premium cigar. It's just not my wheelhouse. Never
**Senator:** profile wise, I'll just quickly build on that by saying I think the positives are very clearly.
The construction was outstanding, draw was perfect, combustion was great. I have zero complaints there on the flavor. The reason I can't, I couldn't even entertain the thought of giving this a nine or a 10. There was never a moment in this cigar that I. , you know, put my head back and said, wow, there wasn't that like wow moment for me with this cigar.
Like a simple cigar like a D four. I mean, even on the light on a D four I, I just sit back in my chair and say, oh my goodness, this, this is exactly what I need [01:08:00] right now. Um, on, on a petron, on, uh, a besos pheno on so many Cubans that I love that fit my flavor profile, and I'm only speaking for what I like, even a RAs a RAs another great example.
That's where I, my chair and say, oh my goodness, the flavor's incredible. So for me, it just didn't have that wow factor to ever reach a nine or a 10. But to pub's point, I can see why someone would, would pursue these. Um, and I say this as someone who I do like, uh, cigar, um, even more regularly that has floral notes in that, the punch, punch reviewed, I, I did like, I, I know I, I think Puba was not a huge fan of that ci.
For me that that did work well, and it's always a first cigar for me, but with, with cohiba, it's those grassy notes that, and hay that are part of that flavor profile they look to deliver. And there's nothing wrong with that if that's what you want, if that's what you like, by all means. But for my palate, that's what even I would, I would honestly, like a punch, punch is even more in my wheelhouse [01:09:00] than this cigar is.
And I give this, gave this the same score I did that mm-hmm. because the construction actually is much better on this. Yes,
**Bam Bam:** that's true. That's definitely true. You know, honestly, I was on a cusp of giving this a nine, but the only thing that kept me back was the price point. Sure. Otherwise, this is right in my wheelhouse.
Yeah. This cigar, it's right there. And I would have this, like I said, two or three times a week. If it wasn't $25 a stick,
**Gizmo:** I, I'll be, that's it. I'll be honest, I I was a little hesitant when, and
**Bam Bam:** by the way, sorry. No, go ahead. I didn't for this cigar, if the cohiba has that typical hay gra, I didn't get any of that here on this cigar.
I personally, I didn't get
**Gizmo:** it then the, the, the thing that about this cigar when I was picking them, and I smoked them and I thought, man, this would be great on the pod, our first, fuck it, I'm changing my score. You can't, you're stuck.
**Bam Bam:** I'm joking. And and eight is an elite score. That's
**Gizmo:** an elite score. It's a great score.
It's a, it's a great score. And, and there's two points I have on it. Number one, I, I was, I wouldn't have been surprised if this scored lower. Having smoked it a few times, I wasn't sure what this group was gonna think of it. Uh, it, it's certainly scored higher than I expected. And number [01:10:00] two, I can't wait to see what this same cigar, these same boxes is like in two to three years.
So I think that's something to look forward to. Yeah, I'm gonna keep a bunch of these for us on the pod. We're gonna do them again in, in a couple years and we'll see how they compare to right now. And, and that'll be an interesting, uh,
**Senator:** and giz, I, I, I'll also have to say and give credit here, I mean, I think, you know, I was very skeptical about this Gar.
Absolutely. Because before Gizmo, you know, provided these. , I was categorical. I was out on cohiba, like I had no interest in smoking. Cohiba, same here. Same here. Not that I think they make bad cigars or anything like that, it's just not what I want. Having tried this and I'm glad I tried this and giving it an eight, would I smoke another one of these if someone gave me one?
Absolutely. Would I Even, every now and then, you know, could I see this fitting in somewhere? No doubt about it. So it, it's at least expanded my horizons a bit in that I'm not all out on cohiba like I used to be. There's a time and a place for some of the stuff [01:11:00] for my palette that they make.
**Bam Bam:** It's a great finishing note.
Yep, definitely
**Gizmo:** like that. All right boys, what a fantastic evening here. Two great tequilas. Thank you, Senator. And uh, thank you Gizmo. A really good co. And we'll see where, how it FARs in a couple years with a little more age and we can be even more critical at that time. Um, but yeah, any 0.0 on the Save two boys, you're very good, star, very enjoyable.
Definitely. Definitely. All right boys, we'll see you next week. Keep smoke. Thanks so much for joining us tonight. Hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. If you have any comments, questions, if you wanna reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking, email us Lounge Lizards pod, p o d, that's lounge lizards pod gmail.com.
You can also find us on Instagram at Lounge Lizards Pod. We really appreciate your time and we'll, uh, we'll see you next week.