Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
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!
**Gizmo:** [00:00:00] Welcome to the Lounge Lizards podcast presented by Fabrica5. It's so good to have you here. It's a leisure and lifestyle podcast founded on our love of premium cigars, as well as whiskey, travel, food, work, and whatever else we feel like getting into. My name is Gizmo. Tonight I'm joined by Rooster, Senator, Pagoda, Grinder, and Bam Bam.
And our plan is to smoke a couple cigars, drink some bourbon, talk about life, and of course, have some laughs. So take this as your 132nd official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. Plan to meet us here once a week. We're gonna smoke two short cigars tonight. Share our thoughts on them and give you our formal lizard ratings.
We answer a few listener emails. We discuss the rise of generational tobacco bans in towns across America, and we debate the merits of a cigar bib recently launched on Kickstarter, all among a variety of other things for the next two hours. So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar and enjoy.
As we pair 12 year age red breast, single pot still Irish whiskey with San Cristobal de la Habana El Principe and Davidoff [00:01:00] Winston Churchill in Bellicoso. A short smoke special tonight on the pod, a unique one. So we usually do these around fall time and spring time when everybody's getting back to smoking outside, but it might still be a little cool. You know, you're looking for something short to smoke. I love a short
**Rooster:** cigar. Oh, yeah. It's the best. I look forward to a short cigar in the morning. You know, for drive to work, half an hour, 40 minutes, I'm always looking for like, short smokes.
**Bam Bam:** This is perfect. Or, at the end of the evening. Yeah, at the end of the night.
**Rooster:** Yeah, I mean, I'm looking for more short smokes that I can get. Yeah, nice. So, we got two more
**Gizmo:** tonight, boys.
**Bam Bam:** Yep.
**Gizmo:** So, first, let's cut this thing. See, we're gonna, on the cold run, the wrapper, we're gonna start with the Cuban cigar. The San [00:02:00] Cristobal. De La Habana El Principe. It's a 42 ring gauge cigar by four and three quarters inches long. It's our third San Cristobal on the podcast. And if you remember, boys, the other two did not do very well.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, the Punta. No. How can we ever forget? We will never forget. It's fertilizer in my garden now.
**Gizmo:** And, and don't forget the Hiramal Malaya. The Tizione regionale that we did. Oh yeah,
**Rooster:** the
**Gizmo:** Malaysian, uh, regional. That wasn't very good either. You
**Bam Bam:** put that in Nevada water, you can use that as insecticide.
Beautiful box on that. This is wide open. Mine is too, I'm getting a lot of cedar. Yeah. Slight, um, fig type thing maybe in the
**Grinder:** background. Getting a lot of cedar, but my draw, my, uh, my, my draw is definitely tight. Do you want another one? No, no. Okay. It's very pleasant
**Bam Bam:** to call drunk.
**Rooster:** Bam's getting dried fruit already.
**Bam Bam:** I said slight fig. [00:03:00] Correction. What does fig taste like? Describe it for us, Bam. Have you read a book lately? Have you been to the supermarket? What's that? All right,
**Pagoda:** boys,
**Bam Bam:** let's
**Pagoda:** light
**Gizmo:** this thing. The San Cristobal de la Habana. Out of Cuba, it's called the El Principe. Again, it's a 42 ring gauge cigar by four and three eighths inches long.
It's factory name in Cuba is the Minutos and it's been around since 1999.
**Bam Bam:** It's a very handsome little cigar. Nice wrapper.
**Gizmo:** It is.
**Bam Bam:** This is actually quite good off the light here.
**Gizmo:** It's nice on the light.
**Bam Bam:** Very nice.
**Gizmo:** It's very, um, I don't know if I want to use the word earthy, but spicy for me. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** earthy. The retrohale though is very smooth for me and [00:04:00] delicious.
**Rooster:** This has always been one of the better San Cristobal
**Bam Bam:** cigars. You've had it?
**Rooster:** Yeah. I've never had this. Yeah, I have a box of these. Very good.
**Bam Bam:** What are you getting on the retro, Giz?
It's nice.
**Gizmo:** And actually, I like the retro better, I think, than the regular draw right
**Senator:** now, yeah. I'm just surprised how much flavor is in the cigar on the light. Especially as compared to the It's wonderful. The other San Cristobal. And the cold draw, too. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, the San Cristobal, the other two, the La Punta was one of the worst Cuban cigars we've ever done.
**Senator:** Definitely. I just remember there not being much flavor in that cigar. That's
**Bam Bam:** true. This is smoking like a quintessential Cuban right now.
**Senator:** Absolutely.
**Bam Bam:** Very Cuban. A lot of saltiness on my lips.
**Gizmo:** I
**Bam Bam:** like it on the light.
**Gizmo:** That's awesome. Thank you. You're welcome. I'm not getting distinct notes on the retrohale.
What are you, what are you picking out there?
**Bam Bam:** I think I, like we mentioned on the cold draw, I'm getting a little cedar. I do get that fig or some kind of a dried fruit, something in the background. I always get that.
**Rooster:** I know. But
**Bam Bam:** what are you getting on your palate? I'm kind of getting coffee. [00:05:00]
**Gizmo:** Yeah, I got a little cocoa.
**Grinder:** Like an espresso coffee.
**Gizmo:** Oh, I'm almost getting, I'm getting like an earthy, like um, It's like an earthy brown sugar thing or syrupy thing. I'm not getting a hint of that. On your palate? Yeah,
**Senator:** on the palate.
**Gizmo:** Not on the retro.
**Senator:** So you mean you're getting more flavor on your palate than the retro?
**Gizmo:** No, the retro is very good.
I'm just not picking up the smile. I mean, now he's backtracking. It only, it only took five minutes. I don't, I'm not getting anything really out of the retro. Hell no, I didn't say that. I said, I'm not getting distinct. No. So the retro is very pleasant, but
**Senator:** the retro is supposed to help you pull out the notes.
I thought I've just been taking notes as you've been teaching. I'd love to see those notes. Oh, believe me. It's like two hours worth of notes from your monologue about the retro health.
**Bam Bam:** There is like a slight cocoa, creamy coffee thing on the retro hale, like toward the end of it for me. And a little bit of
**Gizmo:** spice like you were talking about.
Definitely some spice. And what I like about it, I like that you're getting the spice through [00:06:00] the retro.
**Bam Bam:** For me, I don't get the spice on the retro, I get the spice on the finish through a traditional cold draw. I'm getting a little
**Gizmo:** spice through the nose and a little bit of salt on the front of my tongue.
**Pagoda:** All the hallmarks of a pretty complex little
**Senator:** cigar, man. Yeah. That's, I mean, my takeaway, look at how many notes we've already called out from this cigar. It's impressive. And it's like things that you don't, awesome. Like there's some dessert notes, some earth notes, some spice. You don't usually get all of that in one Cuban cigar.
No.
**Rooster:** I mean, too bad they can't do this in a larger format. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Yeah. San Cristobal de la Habana, as we mentioned on the two other episodes we've done with their, with the cigars from this, this marca was founded in 1999. There's not a long history. Of, you know, ownership changes and story and, and magnificent, you know, craziness that has happened in some of the other Cuban marcas.
This thing is only 25 years old. And this cigar was one of the original release cigars that came out in [00:07:00] 1999. It's been around ever since. And it's amazing to me how San Cristobal has survived a lot of the changes that were made in the 2000s, 2010s. You think about some of the cigars that were canceled in lines that we love, Lines that smokers really, really enjoyed.
Mm-Hmm. . And to see some of these sun crystal ball cigars survive. It's just interesting how they gave,
**Bam Bam:** yeah.
**Gizmo:** This Mark A. Little bit more of a chance than some of the others really
**Bam Bam:** do we know what factory these came out of?
**Gizmo:** So these came out of, so these are BRT, September 22. So these came out of a provincial factory in Artesa.
**Bam Bam:** Okay.
**Gizmo:** The Via mill factory. Two years age. Yep. With two years of age on it. BRT, September 22. And how much were these. So these are right around 10 bucks, 11 bucks. So right now I'd buy a bushel of
**Bam Bam:** these, the way this is smoking.
**Gizmo:** Rooster,
**Senator:** I'm surprised you never mentioned this. I didn't know that you had these.
I've
**Rooster:** had these. I mean, I thought you have had these. I've seen him smoke these in the lounge before. Really? Yeah. [00:08:00] I don't reach for them that much, but you know, I mean, it's, it is very good. Very nice. For 10. This is great.
**Gizmo:** So let's talk about some of the other cigars currently available from San Cristobal de la Habana.
Of course, the El Principe we have in our hand. The Minutos is a 42 by four and three eighths Petit Corona. The La Fuerza is a Robusto Extra, a Gordito, 50 ring gauge by five and a half inches. The La Punta, as we talked about, is a Pyramid. Factory name is the Campanas. It's a 52 ring gauge cigar by five and a half inches long.
There's a Habano specialist, uh, La Casa Del Habano exclusive does not have an extra band. It's called the Torreon comes in those ceramic jars that are really, really nice presentation. And they also have what's called the Prado released in late 2019, which is a petite pyramid with the second band on it for the La Casa Del Habano special petite pyramid, 50 ring gauge by five inches long.
I do have some, [00:09:00] uh, Discontinued production cigars. This one's interesting simply from the name El Moro, which is obviously the famous. That cigar is sought after. Yeah. That's double Corona.
**Rooster:** Yeah. Yeah. Double Corona.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. That was canceled in 2013, 49 ring gauge by seven and an eighth. And they have some other LCDH releases that were canceled since then.
And then obviously, as we know, This marka is used quite a bit for, uh, regionals, uh, for various markets around the world.
**Bam Bam:** So this is a, one of the bands out of Habanas that I'm not a fan of.
**Gizmo:** I agree.
**Bam Bam:** Brown and kind of muted, nothing interesting about it.
**Gizmo:** Has
**Bam Bam:** it always looked like
**Gizmo:** this? Yeah. I think it's been very, very consistently this since 1999.
Well, they're due for
**Senator:** an update.
**Gizmo:** Yeah.
**Senator:** Yes.
**Gizmo:** And they've been, you know, they've been doing that on all the boxes. I mean, if you look at, uh, you know, an H Upman box, you know, that's a recent really released or a Vegas Robania box, what they're doing is they're making room on the [00:10:00] boxes for those crazy health stickers around the world.
So they've taken those ornate, beautiful drawings and everything. And honestly, when you look at a lot of these boxes now, there's a lot of empty space on both the top and the bottom of the boxes You know, various governments are requiring massive stickers, so they're trying to stick it in the middle of the box to give it the best chance of being visible.
Even now on the back, I've actually had some emails from listeners who say, Hey, my box has two box stamps on the back. Is there something wrong here? And it's actually, they're double stamping a lot of boxes now in various spots on the back of the box to hedge. So if it gets covered by One of those health stickers that you're still able to see what the, uh, what the box code is.
You know, coming out of Mexico, they cover the whole back of the box. So that's always a challenge when you get a, a Mexican box of Cuban cigars, but
**Senator:** That happened to me, but sometimes you get pleasantly surprised when I had ordered the um, Upman Anahatos, there was a giant sticker on the bottom and I had no clue what year or [00:11:00] anything. Then I finally ripped it off and it was the 2011, like the one I was trying to replace. I was like, this is great.
**Bam Bam:** That's
**Senator:** nice.
**Bam Bam:** Could have been out of the Patterson factory. This is true.
**Grinder:** This is really
**Bam Bam:** a delicious cigar. This is a delicious cigar. Yeah, it
**Grinder:** is. Oh,
**Bam Bam:** dude.
**Grinder:** We're in sync
**Pagoda:** tonight. Fantastic. And, uh, medium to long finish. I Yeah. Keep getting the whole flavor. Yeah. Finish just goes on and on. Yeah.
**Rooster:** To me it's a bit like a Ava, like the small Ava, if you remember.
Yeah. It's reminiscent, right?
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. There's reminiscent, we don't, we don't smoke
**Rooster:** a lot of AVAs, but that small, I forget what it's called. The Tintos? No, that's the bigger one. That's the bigger one. The DNOs DNOs.
**Gizmo:** Petite perfecto. It's 43 by four. It's right around the sun. Yeah. I like that cigar.
**Bam Bam:** I've had that.
Yeah. Very nice.
**Gizmo:** That would actually be a good one for a short smoke special. Correct. Because we've had some really good experience with Qba. I know we did one kba, this thing. We have another one. Yeah, we have another one coming up. Yeah, we the Sali. We did the Salamon. Ah, right, okay. We did the Solomon. We have another, uh, KBA coming up, uh, in the coming [00:12:00] months, but I think Dinos might be a good one for a short smoke special over this year.
Absolutely. Early next year. Yeah. But yeah, this is, I'm surprised. This is a very very delicious cigar. Oh, yeah, really really good
**Pagoda:** Yeah, I did get a lot of spiciness now. It was, it was just great. I mean, this is fantastic. I
**Grinder:** love a spicy cigar. It's so delicious. It's not like a, it's like a, it's like a flavorful spice.
It's not like a pepper, right? You're right. Yeah, like a cinnamony kind of spice. Oh, wow.
**Bam Bam:** So the aroma on the burn line? That's pretty special. I get like an anise type of a thing, just a slight hint of it.
**Gizmo:** And there is like a potpourri type of scent there. Yeah, that's what it is.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Senator:** Yeah. Very nice. Great draw.
I'm just shocked. Honestly, I'm like kind of at a loss for words. I, I like everything about this cigar right now. And we're calling out so much of it. It's crazy. And the big thing. You might give it a 10.
**Grinder:** I might. Heaven forbid. [00:13:00] Here it comes. If it were to leave a V, you would too.
**Rooster:** That
**Grinder:** was a
**Rooster:** 10.
**Senator:** That's a good spot.
Here we go.
**Gizmo:** You know, it's interesting talking about Coaba, you know, Coaba came out, I think it was, that was founded in 1996. So we're talking about two of the more recent Cuban brands that have been released, you know, 1999 and 1996 respectively.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** You know, so, It's, you know, it's great. I mean, we've obviously had better experience overall with cowabba, but this is really delicious.
Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** it's surprising how
**Gizmo:** good
**Bam Bam:** it
**Pagoda:** is. For a cigar to last that long, this is fantastic. Yeah. You know, they're doing something right with this one at least.
**Bam Bam:** Well, the one you're holding isn't from 1999,
**Pagoda:** by the way. No, but you know, for, for a particular cigar for the market itself. Yeah, I got it. It feels like it's from 99.
It's really good.
**Gizmo:** And actually, you know, honestly, if, if I didn't know what the age on it, do you have a liquid lunch?[00:14:00]
**Pagoda:** I'm having a liquid dinner right now.
**Gizmo:** If I didn't know what the age on this cigar was, I would have guessed that this is five or six years old. I
**Bam Bam:** agree. It does smoke like there's some age on this thing.
**Senator:** Cause there's complexity, there's no harshness, you don't taste any youth in this, at
**Bam Bam:** this point at least.
Yep.
**Pagoda:** The smoke output is great. That's true. For a small cigar.
**Rooster:** Yeah, I mean there's so many times you just want a small cigar, like could be the end of the day, could be the beginning of the day, and this just, hits the spot. Hits the spot. Yep.
**Gizmo:** And I know we talked a little bit about coffee, but, you know, knowing how you choose to smoke in the morning, obviously, having a cup of coffee, I think this is a cigar that would pair brilliantly with a great cup of coffee.
It
**Senator:** is. I actually have a little espresso with me, and I've been taking a drop.
**Rooster:** Decaf, decaf espresso doesn't count. I'm sorry. Another demerit.
**Senator:** Can we mute his mic? Hey, that's my line. It's going to be the whole night.
**Rooster:** What's the point of a decaf espresso? I'm sorry. [00:15:00]
**Senator:** For the same taste without caffeine. It's pretty self explanatory, Rooster.
No, they remove the caffeine, not the taste.
**Rooster:** That's like drinking a non alcoholic beer. Which you do.
**Bam Bam:** Oh boy.
**Gizmo:** I think, yeah, I mean, this, this has got to be great with an espresso, right? I mean. The notes are, have got that earthy thing. It's very mild. It's touching on medium, I would say.
**Senator:** Yeah. It's hard to restrain yourself. I'd call this medium in flavor. I actually think there's a good amount of flavor. I don't think this is mild.
Like the thing I really like about this cigar to me, it's really versatile where you could have this with coffee in the morning, but this also, you could close out a knife with just a little smoke with this
**Bam Bam:** thing. Yeah. Especially in the long sit where you've had four to six cigars. This is a nice gentle ending.
With a lot of flavor.
**Gizmo:** So cigar number seven, you pull the That's right. Oh, Prince of Pain, that's right. San Cristobal.
**Bam Bam:** You know what? There's often a lot of pressure with you jackasses. Like, [00:16:00] I want to go home, but I can't. Let me light this thing. This is a perfect candidate. You're not wrong. You've been very guilty of that.
A lot of pressure on us, too. No, well,
**Grinder:** correct,
**Gizmo:** old boy. I am very impressed with this cigar right now. I, you know Uh, so we have to say this came from a listener, Lizard Kamal, who has been devastated as have a lot of other listeners who have been really, really bummed with our response to an art experience with San Cristobal.
So he sent these saying, Hey, please give the El Principe a chance. I've actually had some other listeners asked to send the El Principe to give it a shot, but I told them that Lizard Kamal had already sent them. But, you know. This is definitely more in line. I wish the rest of the line was like
**Bam Bam:** this. Yeah, correct.
Correct.
**Gizmo:** You know, like Yeah, it's
**Bam Bam:** a shame.
**Gizmo:** But, you know, Lizard Kamal and some of the other guys who've really pushed back on our feelings about San Cristobal, I would say They're right on this one. Come on.
**Bam Bam:** Thank you. This is a
**Gizmo:** [00:17:00] fantastic cigar.
**Rooster:** Is there any other San Cristobal that they have recommended?
Cause I know the El Moro. I mean, it's, it's very hard to find, but that's the one cigar that a lot of guys, um, pursue. And if, you know, if there's a chance you can find him in 2013, I think, right. It was discontinued.
**Bam Bam:** What's the Vitola?
**Rooster:** It's a double Corona. It's a double Corona. Oh Lord. I would
**Gizmo:** love to try that.
That was discontinued in 13. You know what the problem for that, like that cigar with me. I've never even seen
**Bam Bam:** a photograph of that. They don't ever come up.
**Gizmo:** They never come up and also it's like you're going to pay such a premium. To me, that's a high gamble, like high gamble cigar for me. How many boxes does Rooster have?
Except
**Rooster:** on Bond Roberts, they do. They have come up in the list.
**Gizmo:** I
**Rooster:** don't have any El Morros. How many have you bid on? They hardly come up. I haven't seen them in like a couple of years. So sure, Tuxedo Timmy might have one. He might have some. A
**Bam Bam:** box. Hint, hint, hint. I better get in his good graces. [00:18:00]
**Rooster:** That's too late for that.
**Bam Bam:** Oh, correct.
**Gizmo:** So we have to shout out, speaking of Bon Roberts, very exciting. Bon Roberts has, uh, launched its own cigar brand. We've obviously talked about this. The cigars are made by our presenting sponsor Fabrica 5 in Honduras and Rob Isla, Rob Fox, and Hamlet Parities were in Miami a couple of weeks ago, launching the new.
Bond Roberts cigars. Of course, the first one is a petite 109, as we talked about recently. We're going to do that cigar, I think, at some point. 50 ring gauge by 5 and 7 eighths inches. And probably the best cigar I smoked last year is the actual 109, the Bond Roberts 109 from Fabrica 5, 50 ring gauge by 7 and a quarter.
**Bam Bam:** The best cigar you smoked the entire year? 2023. That is very high praise.
**Gizmo:** If you want to look at my review, it's on the FOH forum. No, no, best, best cigar out of fabric of five. No, no cigar of the year. Best cigar in 2020. Right. Right.
**Senator:** That's as definitive of a statement as we've ever heard.
**Bam Bam:** [00:19:00] Really, really high praise.
**Senator:** Did you retro him?
**Bam Bam:** Of course. Wow. So you
**Gizmo:** could find my review. My username there is Lizard Gizmo. You could find the review. That's high. That's high praise. Yeah, it was high. It was unbelievable. I was devastated. I couldn't go to this event. I had some stuff going on, but congratulations to Rob Hamlet and the team at Fabrica 5 and Bon Roberts.
Those cigars will be coming out later this year. I think international folks will get them in the beginning of July. And then, uh, United States distribution is expected in November. So, sometime in the summer or early fall, we're gonna be talking about the, uh, the Bon Roberts 109s. Let's go, Rob. We need those.
Yeah, Robby. Right away. Looking forward to it. I've been asked, every time I talk to them, I ask for them. But, if you wanna see more on that, uh, Cigar Aficionado published an article on the Bon Roberts launch. So, um, congratulations to all those guys. And of course, thanks to, uh, Thanks to Fabrica 5 for, uh, supporting the podcast.
And
**Rooster:** this one actually has a band on it.
**Gizmo:** It does. Yeah, this is a whole different, [00:20:00] separate thing from the MoFo and the, uh, Cool. Puro Desnudos that we, uh, we talk about. I've got an excellent ash.
**Bam Bam:** Mm. Yes, you do. Senator as well.
**Gizmo:** I gotta say the burn on this is And the combustion. Yeah, the combustion is great.
The room is full of smoke and these are little four inch cigars. Yeah, there's little babies Very impressive pretty impressive. So these cigars come in boxes of 25. That's it That's the only way you can get them dress box. Yep dress box of 25 So they do have some other minutos that they offer In the Habanos catalog, the most popular one, I would say, is the Bolivar Corona's Jr.,
which I have seen some guys smoke. There is another one from the value brand Guantanamera, the Minutos, came out in 2005. And then, of course, the most famous Minutos, especially in this room, is the Partiga Short.
**Bam Bam:** Oh yeah.
**Gizmo:** Which is we'd love that cigar, a phenomenal [00:21:00] cigar. And then finally the Ramon Ionis small club Corona's, which is another cigar.
We did another house favorite special, incredible cigar. They've actually used this Vitola in quite a few regionals and special releases over the years, but those are the ones that are currently available. So, I mean, we'll see how this one does tonight. I know, you know, we love the Ramon. We love the Partagas.
I've not had the, uh, Bolivar Corona's jr. But, um, the Vitola performs well across the lines. Yeah, man. Sorry,
**Senator:** there have been regional releases in this Vitola? Yeah. That's weird. Isn't that so bizarre? It is. For such a small cigar. It's
**Rooster:** unusual. There's been a Limitada of the club, uh, uh, the Ramon. That's so odd.
Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** You know, I'll, give me this cigar for 10, I'm good. I'm good. I mean, just,
**Senator:** sorry, like, the reason this is so crazy to me, you know, Not interesting. You think of the occasions that people will light up a Limitada or a regional, you know, It's usually, you know, an occasion of some sort to pull out a cigar.
This small for an occasion is just such an odd choice.
**Gizmo:** I [00:22:00] wonder why they did that. Were they looking for a low price offering or? So there have been four regional releases in this Vitola. The first was in 2005, which was the Punch Superfinos, which was an Italian regional. The. Juan Lopez Minutos in 2013, and then they put out two regionals in 2014.
One from La La Lalo Deano called the Sonet for Canada and the Vegas, Romania Short Robia for Andorra. Both of those came out in 2014. So, yeah. Uh, it is interesting. I don't understand the logic of putting out a, like a really tiny cigar as a regional, like I would think you'd want something that's substantial and correct.
Requires a real sit. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** I mean, for us even, like, this doesn't even make an episode. Like, we have to do two cigars, because the
**Bam Bam:** episode
**Gizmo:** would be 35
**Bam Bam:** minutes long. And aren't the regionals and limitadas a bit more expensive than the standard production? Of course. So at this Vitola, for a higher price point, it makes no sense.
Yeah, it's like, what, are you going to pay 30 for a little short smoke? I
**Grinder:** mean, that [00:23:00] seems excessive. Yeah. This is the aroma combined with the, uh, the retrohale. It's like, it's like a really good cologne. It's like, I want to, I want to bottle it. You know what it is? It's just so
**Bam Bam:** satisfying. It's satiating almost.
It's rich. It's so rich. It's such a great little guy. Yeah. This is a nice
**Gizmo:** little cigar.
**Bam Bam:** I'm smoking it way
**Grinder:** too fast. I think I'm, you, you are very almost It's ridiculous.
**Gizmo:** Bam's gonna do a three cigar short smoke special tonight.
**Bam Bam:** You know, I would love another one of these right now. It's so good. Really. Yeah, I think we need two for this.
**Gizmo:** I'm, I'm shocked. I, I, I remain shocked. Surprising. Just blown away. How available are these? I see them all the time. I always see guys moving boxes on the, on various forums and, you know, on Facebook and stuff. I'm sure they come up. I haven't seen them. I don't remember seeing them on, uh, 2424 on FOH, but I have seen [00:24:00] them on iHavanas.
**Bam Bam:** Worth getting.
**Gizmo:** None of you guys have had this before? Never.
**Pagoda:** It's a Cuban, so I definitely did not have this before. I don't know what that means.
**Gizmo:** You need to get some cigars in your tower, Pagoda.
**Bam Bam:** I think there's an atonement hour coming on this one.
**Senator:** Look at Pagoda pretending he doesn't hear anybody. His headphones just went out.
Intentionally.
**Rooster:** You know what, just go over to Bam's house and just take some. Oh yeah, come on over. He's
**Gizmo:** got
**Rooster:** like
**Gizmo:** Tupperware. Correct. He did say that his cigars are your cigars.
**Pagoda:** Yeah, he did offer them to me as well. Correct. Yeah, alright.
**Bam Bam:** Double, demo, double MSRP, you got it dude. Does he live in New Jersey?
Because I have no idea where he lives.
**Gizmo:** Me
**Bam Bam:** neither. Bam Bam has multiple chalets at secret locations. Shillay. Shillay? Not a shallay. Whatever.
**Grinder:** It's a shillay. For a reason. A shillay. [00:25:00] Anyway. I don't like this. Shillay. The shillay.
**Gizmo:** Grindr just tried to fist bump Bam and Bam didn't. Revolted. Swiftly pulled away my fist. Swiftly pulled away my fist. That was
**Grinder:** something my toddler would do.
Have you guys, um, how do you guys like the, the flavor with the, uh, the accompaniment of the liquor tonight? It's nice. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, let's talk about our pairing tonight, boys. It's very nice. 12 year aged red breast. We, uh, we did this on episode 7, which is crazy. It's almost 125 episodes ago. Those are the garage outtakes.
Those are the garage outtakes. We did that with a blind cigar, actually. But yes, we have the 12 year old red breast aged, single pot, still Irish whiskey. And, uh, returning to this, because we didn't do a rating all that time ago. Doing it tonight on the Short Spoke Special.
**Rooster:** Is that the original packing of [00:26:00] the bottle, or has that been changed?
I think it's always been in a green bottle. Yeah, green, yes, but the shape. Yeah, always that, yeah. The cool bottle, I like the green bottle.
**Grinder:** I find it really, I think it accompanies it very well. I don't think it adds too much, or it takes away too much. I think it's just kind of, it provides a nice equilibrium.
Wow. With ice, it does that well.
**Bam Bam:** I think without it, it'd be a little tough with this. Oh yeah, I'm drinking with ice. For sure. I think we all are.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. I think it's really nice with the Cuban. It's very pleasant. I think if this actually was in kind of line with what I was expecting from San Cristobal tonight,
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** I think the whiskey would have overpowered it. But thankfully, that's not the case. I think it's performing very well. I
**Bam Bam:** get a very slight caramel and vanilla on this scotch that we're drinking today. The Irish Whiskey? Whiskey, yes. Edit that please.
**Gizmo:** I'm going to leave that in, I want some listener emails about that.
That gaffe.
**Pagoda:** Along with the chalet. We've had
**Gizmo:** some [00:27:00] Scottish listeners like, Can you stop calling American Whiskey Scotch please?
**Pagoda:** Actually I'm really enjoying this today. The Red Breasts? We actually
**Bam Bam:** are.
**Senator:** I don't know why you, uh, You were down on this when we started. It's always been a staple, I think. This is
**Rooster:** Puba's favorite.
**Bam Bam:** Oh, it is. It is.
**Senator:** One of, yeah. I think he just never remembers it when we're at the North Lounge. Yeah, I don't. That's true.
**Pagoda:** That's true. That's probably the case. But, um, I remember, um, I really enjoyed it in the North Lounge. And I think when we had it after that, I don't know. Um, it's something I've never really reached for.
Although I have a couple of bottles at home. Um, I'm really enjoying it though.
**Gizmo:** Oh, wow. This is a very, very good Irish whiskey. And I just love the versatility. I mean, how many times have we been at that North Lounge drinking Red Breast because it's an Irish restaurant bar, and it's one of the most accessible, accessibly priced, and you know, you're at an Irish bar, you get Irish whiskey, right?
You [00:28:00] drink the Red Breast. I don't think there's ever been a cigar there of any origin that I've had sipping a Red Breast that I've, It's true. A couple chips of ice. Yeah. It just works.
**Bam Bam:** Yep. It does need ice though. I think. Yeah. Yeah. This is also great on a spring day outside. It's pretty refreshing.
**Gizmo:** So we're into the second half now of the cigar.
This is excellent. Yeah. Excellent. I'd like to get some of these. I think that the, honestly, I think that the pairing is enhancing the cigar for me. I think it's bringing out notes. I'm getting a little bit more cedar now. A little bit more fruit. The spiciness has tamed down a little bit as I've coated my palate with it.
**Senator:** This may sound odd, but for a short smoke, this has one of the longest finishes. Oh yeah. Honestly, the Club Corona's also got a very nice long finish. That does too, but I just say that because, I mean, I know you're smoking yours fast. I feel like I'm taking more time and the only reason is because The finish is long that like satisfying enjoying it just after [00:29:00] that draw.
And I'm not wanting to immediately go back because it's just lingering in a really nice way. Like I said earlier, it's very satiating, right? Like, I feel like when I light a part of your short and I like that cigar a lot, I'm kind of aggressively pulling at that just to keep the flavor going. And it is a flavorful cigar, but this, the finish is just lengthier than really any other Cuban outs.
Maybe that Ramona, as you mentioned, but outside of that, I can't think of another with as long of a finish.
**Pagoda:** It's really interesting if you look at each other's cigars. I think, uh, Abuelo over there is just somewhat started. Whereas I'm close to done. He's got a whole bloody cigar there. He does. I take my time.
No, that's
**Bam Bam:** awesome, man. That's a big merit. It's
**Rooster:** no
**Bam Bam:** need to rush. No,
**Rooster:** correct.
**Bam Bam:** The yoga is really paying off, man. With
**Pagoda:** your breathing exercises. Look, he's
**Senator:** about to hit his daily quota. We're doing two cigars in one episode.
**Rooster:** He's done after that. He's out of here. Yeah, that's right.
**Gizmo:** You know what is nice though?
When you pick up a cigar for this price and you look at it and you expect it to smoke real fast. [00:30:00] Because there are some cigars, I mean, that Oliva V Lancero we mentioned earlier. That thing I blew through in 45 minutes. I feel like I can get that. 45 or 50 minutes out of the cigar pacing it the right way.
So that's a real value. That's exactly what I'm trying to do.
**Pagoda:** For the
**Grinder:** price you're paying,
**Bam Bam:** it's
**Pagoda:** I think I might need one more and I'll try and pace that one.
**Grinder:** I think my draw just was like slightly, slightly tight. And that's like prohibiting me from coming down as fast as you other guys. But I'm loving it.
You know, I'm enjoying it. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Do you wish it was a little more open?
**Grinder:** I don't mind it. I think yes, of course, but it's okay. I mean, I'm still getting plenty of flavor. The finish is still super long, plenty of smoke. I think it's just a touch, a touch tight.
**Gizmo:** So boys, let's talk about some bad news. I know that we were talking about this on the chat a little bit today.
This really, really pissed me off. And I know you guys too, Massachusetts, there've been some, [00:31:00] Towns across Massachusetts who have picked up on what some countries have been doing overseas and have been introducing and passing generational tobacco bans, which means there are going to be people who it will never be legal for them at any age to ever smoke.
Purchase a cigar and it's happening in several towns in Massachusetts in 2024. How is this possible?
**Senator:** It's lunacy in this day and age. I mean, the sad thing is this is happening in Massachusetts. This is so fitting. This is a state that to this day has outlawed happy hours. This Puritan laws that they've never changed.
There cannot be a period of discounted drinking in the entire state of Massachusetts. It's insanity. Wow. And now to be doing this and like, they're doing this in like Prominent towns and suburbs of Boston. Like it started in Brookline, uh, Newton, a very nice town, apparently is considering this actively right now.
[00:32:00] This is absurd, I mean, for these little town governments to say that adults cannot make their own decisions is just
**Pagoda:** outrageous. It's un American. Yeah, they should move to China, I think. If you're going to start passing these laws, this is how it begins. It's like if
**Senator:** you're in a certain generation, you can't ever use this website or ever use this social media platform.
I mean, this is insane. What are we talking about here? What's
**Gizmo:** crazy, so it started in Brookline, Massachusetts. They have a population, this is a suburb of Boston, by the way. So we're not talking in the, in the sticks. This is right outside Boston. Population 60, 000. Past a generational tobacco ban. Making it illegal for anyone born after January 1st, 2000 to ever purchase tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, and vaping related products for their entire lifetime.
**Pagoda:** So what are they going to do? They're going to end up in prison if they do? No, I think it's illegal
**Gizmo:** to sell, you know, there's going to be no shops selling them. You can't buy, but you can smoke.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, they'll ID you, they'll [00:33:00] take your ID, they'll check your birth date, and they won't sell you a tobacco based product.
**Gizmo:** So the law went in effect in Brookline in 2021, 2021. And this is the craziest thing. It's had many legal challenges, but it went all the way up to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and was upheld. So, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the SJC, ruled it legal, and then other towns have followed, including Stoneham, Massachusetts.
Wakefield, Massachusetts, Melrose, Massachusetts, and they're expecting that there's going to be many more towns in Massachusetts following suit After the Supreme Judicial Court approved it.
**Rooster:** I know, I know somebody lives in Melrose. Is that what you said? Melrose?
**Grinder:** Melrose.
**Rooster:** Melrose. Yeah.
**Grinder:** So are there just not like, I mean, these are elected officials, right?
**Gizmo:** Yeah.
**Grinder:** That are supposedly at the whim of their, you know, constituents, right? I guess if that's what they want, they can do whatever [00:34:00] the hell they want.
**Pagoda:** No, but on the other hand, when a governing body starts deciding what you should be doing and not doing, and generationally, I think there's something to be said about that.
Oh, it's, it's,
**Grinder:** it's abhorrent for
**Pagoda:** sure. Yeah, of course. It's
**Grinder:** abhorrent,
**Gizmo:** but it's
**Grinder:** still legal.
**Gizmo:** It just bothers me that, that this, we've talked about this ad nauseum, so I don't want to. Drag the listener through another lizard discussion of cutting out handmade premium cigars, but we're not smoking cigarettes We're not smoking a vape product.
We're not inhaling. This is not an addictive product I mean certainly we enjoy the the lifestyle we've developed around smoking cigars together But it's not the root of if you don't have it you're you're not You get jittery, like, it's not like that, you know. I think a band similar
**Grinder:** to like a broad based country band, what you see in the UK is so out of line.
But for little towns and boroughs to do whatever, you know, for whatever they want to do. If that's what they're, you know, that that constituency wants. [00:35:00] And even if it's not what they want, then it's, the onus is on them to have elected officials that change that. Right. And I
**Rooster:** guess they're going after the vaping that the kids are getting into cigarettes.
Is that the whole, whole process? Yeah. But the problem is that they're not carving
**Senator:** out handmade cigars. No, they're not. They bundle
**Rooster:** everything together. That's, that's, that's what the problem is. Sure. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** And the idea that someone who's in their forties and says, you know what? I'm getting married. I'm having a child, I'm celebrating something.
Oh, I can't hand out cigars. I can't go have a cigar. You can't buy a cigar. Yeah. And of course, what this means is that the local shops are going to close. Obviously. Sure. The. Local lounges are gonna close. Mm-Hmm. . So you, you're, you know, they're effectively eliminating cigar smoking from the cultures.
Exactly.
**Grinder:** I would, the way it is now, if it, if it has, if it, it's, if it stays here, if it, if there's a stasis, if it's not pervasive, it doesn't catch on like wildfire. It's similar to how you have some dry towns versus non dry towns. Like you go to the Jersey Shore. Yeah. Ocean City, New Jersey is a dry town.
You [00:36:00] go over the bridge and there's like massive liquor marts where people will go from Ocean City. That's right. Across the bridge, get all their booze and then come back. We do it every summer. Yeah. I mean, you know, that's what they choose.
**Rooster:** So the towns are losing out. For sure. They're losing out on tax, on revenue.
**Grinder:** Yeah. And, you know, shame on the business owners that are selling this too, right? Like, not shame on, but sorry for, rather.
**Gizmo:** Right. By the way, I wanted to say they legalized marijuana statewide in 2016. Oh, there you go.
**Grinder:** That's
**Gizmo:** interesting. I mean, it's, I'm the Jones of the state of mind. So you can buy a joint.
Yeah, you can buy a joint, smoke it on the street. But you can't buy a cigar. You can't as a 40 year old buys a joint. Which like,
**Senator:** you're not supposed to obviously smoke a joint and operate a vehicle. Yeah. Yet you can safely operate a vehicle after having a cigar, but the cigars, the real danger, the rest of the society, the
**Pagoda:** state of mind, unbelievable
**Grinder:** lunacy.
**Gizmo:** It's crazy. So it looks like there's a lot more [00:37:00] towns now that are coming up. Having seen the success of this, that are introducing public forums and discussions about it. It looks like there's five to 10 more towns that are going to be, you know, around that Boston area. That is going to, uh, to be coming up on it.
**Senator:** In Massachusetts and in some states like it, localities can come up with their own patchwork of laws around stuff like this, even if the state permits it. There are a number of states that actually prohibit localities from coming up with their own regulation that could, contradicts whatever the state law is.
So like, in a number of states, if the state permits the purchase of tobacco products for anyone 21 plus, A locality can't go ahead and do that. So like, one of the things I know the cigar industry is trying to do is getting more states to prohibit localities from coming up with their own insanely restrictive laws that contradict whatever the state has decided.
So there's like this whole battle between like, what, you know, local government should be able to do versus the state government. But [00:38:00] I just hope that more states, um, pass restrictions on these localities coming up with these laws. Because this is just, you know, Way beyond anything reasonable.
**Grinder:** I think they disavow the spirit of the founding of the colony.
**Senator:** And then the other thing, even at the state level, the crazy thing. So California has introduced a bill for a statewide ban. Oh, Jesus. Um, a generational ban. It has failed so far, but they're pushing it, and New York has been considering a bill like it, which would be insane.
**Bam Bam:** That's lunacy.
**Senator:** Insane.
**Grinder:** What
**Pagoda:** are we doing here?
Yeah, this is I think we all are moving to Cuba, buddy.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, I just, I can't believe the, the, the success this is having. I mean, obviously, People in government that, you know, they're not educated on what we do. I'm not expecting them to be, but to just do these blanket, you can never make a choice at any age.
I mean, even if they push it to 25 where your frontal cortex is at least developed to make educated [00:39:00] decisions about what you want. But here's also why it's stupid, right? This
**Senator:** is just a handful of towns. What that means is that someone can just go into the city of Boston or some other town and purchase a tobacco product at the age of 21 plus.
So if the intent of the law is to actually stop. People from smoking, that's not going to achieve anything. Right. They could just go to a neighboring town and get it. Now, if a state were to ban it, obviously that would be different. It's a lot harder. If you, you know, it's not as easy to drive to another state to go get a tobacco product.
I can understand that. And no state, not one has outlawed the sale of tobacco to adults. So obviously that's not what most people want to happen or be the case. So I, the only solution here is at some point states like this, just passing laws that prohibit. Localities from doing this, but
**Rooster:** something needs to be done where they can separate cigars from rest of the tobacco.
That would be ideal, right?
**Grinder:** For a cigar smoker. I don't even think the carve out is, is is the, the issue. I think [00:40:00] having a group of bureaucrats legislate liberty and freedom of choice is very fucked up. Oh, it's, I agree with you. It is, of course. Forget about the carve out. Yeah, just, just the fact that there's these people that are so high and mighty that they feel they have to have the paternalistic instinct to proctor everything that.
a constituency does is, is obscene and insane. Yeah. And it sounds like it's gaining traction nation nationally. I mean,
**Gizmo:** thankfully, you know, we've talked about some other states and municipalities that have, you know, opened up, you know, the ability to open lounges. Some recent things have happened, which have been progress.
But to see some of these, these things happening, certainly in states close to us, we're in New Jersey. Yeah. You know, on the Eastern seaboard here. I mean, it's just it's not a good thing. No. And, you know, how prohibitive it is to even purchase a cigar in New York. The prices, the taxes, I mean, it's, it's just crazy how things have gone.
**Bam Bam:** I want my son to be able to buy a cigar when he's of age. Of course. Of course.
**Gizmo:** I want him to have that freedom. When he's an [00:41:00] adult who's, you know, Of course, why does he have to buy one?
**Rooster:** Well, he doesn't walk downstairs.
**Bam Bam:** He's got to earn his own cigars. Bam Bam won't even share with his own son. It's not just us.
Hey, Bam Jr. My cigars are your cigars.
**Gizmo:** We've heard that before. I
**Pagoda:** don't know. He'll be trying to figure out which chalet it is.
**Grinder:** Correct.
**Gizmo:** So boys, we're coming to the end here of our first cigar tonight. The San Cristobal de la Habana El Principe. What are you guys thinking?
**Bam Bam:** Fantastic cigar. Truly. Yeah. Finished. I'm done. Great experience.
**Gizmo:** I forgot to finish about 10 minutes ago. This is uh, this is surprising. Honestly, it picked up really nicely.
Fully medium now for me. As we're coming to the end here. Got a good 40 something minutes out of this cigar tonight, which is shocking, you know, [00:42:00] for a cigar that's under five inches.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** You know, um, I'm, I'm really, really impressed with it. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** With only two years of age, there's
**Senator:** no harshness at all.
Nothing. No edges. That's what surprised me in the final third. I was expecting some more youth to show and Maybe there's a little bit, but not much. This is still just as enjoyable in the final third as it was in the first two. I
**Gizmo:** haven't gotten a hint of youth.
**Senator:** No, no.
**Gizmo:** Nowhere have I gotten a hint of youth.
I'm not
**Grinder:** getting youth, but I'm coming down the end here. And I'm definitely, it's definitely picking up in, I don't want to say harsh, like it's some vigor that isn't representative of the smoothness and the flavor that was in the first two thirds. You know what?
**Bam Bam:** I'll finish it for you. Hand it over. Are you, are you purging?
**Grinder:** No.
**Bam Bam:** I should do that, I guess. All
**Gizmo:** right, boys, you guys ready to do the formal lizard rating tonight on Nissan Cristobal de la Habana El Principe? All right, Rooster, you're up.
**Rooster:** I'm going to give it a solid nine. It's a, it's a, you know, for a small stick. Um, I mean, it's, it's definitely, I'm always [00:43:00] looking for like small cigars and this absolutely fits what I'm looking for in the morning, or even at the end of the night, if I'm going to have not one, but two cigars.
Yeah. Ooh. Don't push yourself. Yeah. Take it easy. Big night. So it's, it's good. Yeah. It's a good, it's a good cigar. Good flavor. Solid nine. Yeah.
**Senator:** Senator. I'm in the same camp. It's a nine. I've enjoyed it all the way through. I would definitely smoke this again. I would source some of these to have in my tower.
Um, the only reason I didn't give it a 10 for me, the final third, there is a little bit of youth that shows, but not in an offensive way. It's just, it is what it is. And, um, the biggest thing I'll remember at this cigar for such a small stick to have as much complexity as this cigar. I honestly, I'd go as far as saying, I don't know another short smoke.
Of this size, that's as complex as the cigar.
**Gizmo:** Not even the Partagas Short. No, I think this has
**Senator:** This is better than the Partagas Short, I
**Bam Bam:** think. I agree with you, I think it's akin to the Club [00:44:00] Corona. Club, yeah.
**Senator:** For me. And I'm not even going as far as, I'm not saying better or worse, for me it's more just, what I'm comparing is, I don't pull out as many distinct flavor notes in the Partagas Short as I do in this cigar.
And that's a huge testament to what they've done with this stick.
**Gizmo:** Okay, so for me it's also a nine. I thought the cigar was excellent. It didn't get into ten territory for me at any point. It's not a cigar that I'm going to chase down. I don't smoke a lot of cigars of this size. For what it is, I think it's very, very good.
Um, I thought it was a very good Cuban cigar. I don't think it was a great Cuban cigar. Cuban cigar.
**Bam Bam:** Bro, a nine is an elite score. I totally that's totally score,
**Gizmo:** you know, um, so I'm very happy with a nine So nine is usually a great cigar. Yeah, it is a great cigar. Yeah, it is Pagoda.
**Pagoda:** It's a 10 for me, man. Wow.
All right. And, and I'll give you the reasons. Long finish, great smoke output, really good draw, very flavorful, very, very flavorful. [00:45:00] Um, I'm seeking more. I want another one right now. Yeah, same. And
if you feel that way, it's a 10. There's nothing that, you know, wants me to put this, and I smoke a lot of short cigars, you know? Um, you know, towards the end of the night, in the beginning, in the middle, uh, this is fantastic. It's a 10 for me. Is it
**Rooster:** better than the Dominicana?
**Pagoda:** No, Dominicana is a completely different animal, right?
Meaning you, like, I'm, I'm thinking when I think of short cigars, I think of the half Corona, right? Which is the HF and half Corona is one of my favorites. That's a great cigar. And, you know, so for me, like, that's something I really, really, really like. Enjoy. And you know, this is right there and there's no question about it.
It's a 10 for me. Damn. I also,
**Senator:** I also want to just clarify in defense of pagodas 10 and obviously I didn't give it a 10, but I have roosters clearly getting very skeptical around when 10s get thrown out. His eyebrows got curled a little bit lately. [00:46:00] Lately, for some reason, everything with a pigtail, you've given a 10 and somehow the, uh, Oliva V Lancero.
**Rooster:** Well, this would have gotten a 10 if it had a pig. Oh, I
**Senator:** know it would have, but that's what I want to make the point. Like your immediate question to him was, well, how does it compare to the, um, because he loves the, he loves the Dominican, I know, but I just want to clarify for probably his 10 and I'll certainly speak for any cigar I've ever given a 10 when I'm reading a cigar, a 10, I'm reading this cigar for what It's category is and what it's trying to do.
Is he defending the 10 he gave like a few months ago? Yes. I'm defending Pagoda's 10. My 10, no. All
**Bam Bam:** right, go ahead. We don't get too many
**Rooster:** chances, Senator. We don't get too many chances. I'll wait till you're
**Senator:** done.
**Bam Bam:** All right, old boy.
**Senator:** I'll wait. I think it's an important point because honestly, it factors into all of our ratings.
Like Pagoda's rating this cigar, For its class, which is short smokes. Yeah, right. So when you rate a cigar [00:47:00] 10, it's not competing against a double Corona. It's not competing against the Nicaraguan or Dominican cigar. And I just think that sometimes that's getting lost here. So I just want to bring that back to the discussion because I do think it's important.
And so any tent like You're Oliva V Lancero, like that category is Lanceros. I'm not sitting here saying, how could you give that a 10? If you gave a aged, you know, Upman a 10, like those are not competing. Those are totally different cigars. If I have an issue with your 10 on that, I'm going to compare it to Lanceros and say, well, is it really better than next Lancero?
So. I just think sometimes that gets lost and I just want us to.
**Bam Bam:** It does. And I feel like I'm hoping that we're rating the cigars for the experience tonight. What we're going through now. It's hard not to compare. We've been through this debate for, I don't know, how many years have we been doing this damn podcast?
It's a pervasive, um, kind of a, uh, an argument for us, right?
**Gizmo:** Yeah. And listen, we take it seriously. Yeah. Hey, listen,
**Pagoda:** the fact that you gave it a nine to the 10 for me. Anyway, I agree. So [00:48:00] the
**Grinder:** first two thirds for me were, I would say home runs tens big times. Uh, I'll take it. I'll take the last third. The last third was definitely a little.
I think it has something to do with the, you know, the ring gauge. There's just, it's very concentrated. When you're that close to the burn, it gets a little hot. It gets a little warm and maybe has something to do with the tightness I have on this. I don't know. I'm giving it a nine plus if they were a nine plus.
Oh, don't pull it. Are we back in the rare plus rare? How am I taking heat?
**Senator:** This must be some Pennsylvania thing. We can't take these two anywhere. Fucking coal miners.
**Grinder:** Rednecks. You have no idea. I, I'm giving it a nine. Okay. And, uh, the flavor was phenomenal. And, uh, I want more of that first two thirds, but I think just, you know, I've had, I've had those, those shorter Coronas, uh, before where, you know, The consistency remained throughout.
And that was just a small, [00:49:00] a small little demerit in that category. But very strong cigar. I love it. Your ratings have been going
**Rooster:** up
**Grinder:** lately. Yeah, very enthusiastic.
**Senator:** Brewster's keeping tabs on everybody. He's been on the website. You gave something a
**Rooster:** 10 last time, right? It was a great cigar.
**Bam Bam:** He does. He gives about himself, but he hates when anyone else does.
He hates tens and he hates fruit notes. Just, just
**Rooster:** dried
**Grinder:** fruit.
**Bam Bam:** Citrus, citrus. Citrus
**Pagoda:** and dried fruit. Listen, some people, some
**Grinder:** people are, are super tasters of that. different things. And Bam is a, is a citrus guy. He's a super, you know, I'm a dried fruit guy. Yeah. Citrus is, I don't know where
**Bam Bam:** that came from.
He's kind of fruity. He's a fruity.
Bam Bam, you're up. Oh boy. So I think a nine is a fair score. I, what I loved about this little cigar was it's so satisfying. And I said earlier, it's satiating. It's the flavor is just fantastic from the beginning to end. I didn't get any harsh notes. I didn't get any pepper. Um, the, [00:50:00] the retro hair was.
Luxurious at nine all day. Yeah. I'll tell you,
**Pagoda:** the smokeout burn, you know, the, the, even the flavor profile, even the, even, even the spiciness wasn't no pepper ish at all. It was like the very flavor. It was like cinnamon. Was it? It was, yeah. And such a long finish. I think
**Grinder:** I got like Mond ish. Yeah.
**Pagoda:** Tell you it reminded me.
I it was, it was great. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Alright, boys, that puts the formal gizzard rating on the son, Cristobal Dela Habana. El Principe at a 9. 2. That is ridiculous. Lizard
**Senator:** Kamal has saved the Thank you. San Cristobal marca.
**Gizmo:** So let's talk about the other two San Cristobals we've done. We'll compare it to that. And we'll also talk about the other two Minutos we did.
The other two short smoke Cubans we've done on the podcast. First, we'll start with the other San Cristobals, the La Punta. Did not perform well. Episode 32. I can't believe how long ago that we almost got into
**Bam Bam:** a fight over. And I know that it was, that was a
**Gizmo:** 5. 9. Wow. And on episode 94, the [00:51:00] Hiram Al Malaya edition region L got a 5.
8 actually performed worse than the little Punta and a programming note. We did have one of our listeners, tuxedo. Timmy sent us lapoontas with some age. And so please, you have to put these in the rotation for the future here. Correct. To give that another shot. So we will be doing another Laputa down the road.
But, uh, let's talk about the other Minutos we've done on the podcast. The Partagas short we did on episode 16 got an 8. 0 and the Ramon Iones small club Corona we did on episode 55 got a 9. 0. So this edged out the other two short smokes we've done on the pod.
**Bam Bam:** For Cubans. That's pretty amazing.
**Gizmo:** Pretty wild.
Thank you. Pretty
**Bam Bam:** wild.
**Rooster:** It's pretty amazing for a Psalm crystal ball to get a 9's Shocking.
**Bam Bam:** 9 2. Crazy. Kamal, Habibi, we love you, man. Thank you. Habibi. Awesome.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys. So let's take a bit of a palate break for a couple minutes here I want to talk about uh, red breast. I'm loving the spirit tonight [00:52:00] I'm glad we're doing this again having not rated it on episode seven his uh senator I know you have a little bit of history on the brand I don't even know if we covered it way back then we weren't really diving deep into spirits So
**Senator:** i'm not sure and if we did it was probably pretty brief because even going on the website There's not a lot.
There's not much there. No I finally found one site that actually had, I think, things that are interesting about the brand. One, it's got a long history. Red Breast has been around for over a century. And it's funny because we've done Jameson, I think, on the pod at some point. We have. Yeah. And, um, the, the brand history of Red Breast is actually very intertwined with Jameson, which I never knew.
Um, so in 1903, the Dublin branch of London based importers W& A Gilby released a 12 year old whisky known as John Jameson and Sons Castle. A few years later in 1912, the red breast branding first appeared in marketing materials. So it wasn't called red breast to start, but that's became what we know as red breast, uh, 12 that we're drinking tonight.
Um, the ownership of the brand has changed [00:53:00] hands a bunch of times over the, the years, uh, currently. It's owned by Irish Distillers, which is a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard that owns everything under the sun, basically. Redbreast, the name, comes from the European robin, known as robin redbreast. It's a bird that's native to Ireland and known for its distinctive red orange plumage.
Is there a redbreast on the bottle, I assume? Yes. On their label? There it is. Okay. Yeah. There's the bird. And so the chairman of Gilby's around the early 1900s was a, a big bird enthusiast. And so he's the one that thought that would be the perfect symbol for, um, the whiskey.
**Pagoda:** I met a lot of
**Senator:** red
**Pagoda:** birds from Ireland, by the way.
No, I'm just, all right. Redhead birds. Were they redheaded? Jesus. All right. Please.
**Senator:** Cut that out. Um, and then true to kind of their, their brand history and the chairman being a bird enthusiast, they actually do a lot of stuff for like bird conservation in Ireland. So in 2021, they teamed up with, um, birdlife international, um, to [00:54:00] raise funds to protect common Irish birds.
They, interestingly, the red breast 12 packaging at one point. Could actually, it came in a functional bird feeder. Can you imagine this? You buy a bottle of whiskey and you could convert basically the box into a bird feeder and I guess, put seed and throw it in your yard.
**Rooster:** Um, so they're
**Senator:** very serious about their birds.
Um,
**Gizmo:** that's coming down about two points for me tonight on the rating. You don't like birds? No, I'm fine with birds, but what are we doing here? Sorry, Senator. Go ahead.
**Senator:** Oh no, that's fine. I love it. And Irish whiskey, as most of us know, is really famous for blended whiskeys, right? They're softer, smoother, uh, whiskeys, but, um, Red Breast style with single, uh, a single pot still that they make this in, um, is really unique to the brand and, and kind of, you know, core to their ethos.
Um, In terms of what it means to be a single pot still whiskey, producers are required to use a combination of malted and unmalted barley, and the spirit has to be distilled by one [00:55:00] distillery using a copper pot still. So most Irish blended whiskeys, they're coming from multiple places, right? They don't all need to be from the same place.
Um, so that's kind of what makes Red Breast unique. Um, the Red Breast 12 is the best selling, um, Irish single pot still whiskey in the world. And, um, I mean, that's, you know, our North lounge is really how we found it. And honestly, before that, I, I hadn't had Redbreast until I went to the North lounge. And then the last thing I'll say, I mentioned that the history of Redbreast is really intertwined with Jamison.
Um, and basically Gilby's the company responsible for creating the brand, um, originally sourced all of its whiskey from the Bow street distillery in Dublin, which is where Jamison was made. So Jamison effectively was making Redbreast to start. And then by the mid 20th century, um, the whiskey production was reduced to three distilleries and hang on a sec.[00:56:00]
And then in 1966, um,
so bizarre in 1966, they basically combined their resources and became Irish distillers, um, which continues to manufacture all of red breast. And so the operation is in some ways separate, um, but still made in basically the same area that, Jameson is that we've obviously tried before so a pretty cool history and they do something I think that's very unique and Differentiated among Irish whiskeys that are the rest.
I think pretty similar in style. Does the box call out any specific
**Bam Bam:** notes?
**Gizmo:** I do have the tasting notes here for you. Yeah, please
**Bam Bam:** please
**Gizmo:** so they say Oh, I'm
**Senator:** sorry. Can I read the box ones? Bam's going to love this. Oh brother. Don't don't go there. Bam's going to love this. Oh my goodness. Bam wrote this. An intriguing nose of dried fruit.
fruit, spice and toasted wood. Everybody turn off your mics. [00:57:00] Cedar, a full, a full flavored balance of fruit, spice, and Sherry follows with a complex and lingering finish. And one of the things that's cool about red breast, they age this in a Sherry cast, but they do. And a lot of, you know, Scotch whiskeys do.
And so I think it's pretty cool to see an Irish whiskey doing that. And it's drinking deliciously tonight.
**Pagoda:** It is. Really, really good. By the way, I've not enjoyed Red Breast as much as I'm enjoying it tonight. It's because you're
**Senator:** with us. Yeah, it's the company.
**Pagoda:** Correct. It is.
**Senator:** Pagoda could be on to something.
My experience with Red Breast, so, actually, Bam, we've said this before. When we go to the North Lounge and drink Red Breast, we've both said, For some reason, it's, it feels like it drinks better there. Yeah. And I remember after trying it there the first time, I bought some red breast in a liquor store. And I didn't feel like it drank the same.
It had more of a bite than I remembered it having there. Good point. I think you're right. And what's funny is tonight, this drinks more like the one, the, the, the, Red [00:58:00] breasts were accustomed to at the North Lounge, which I think is why we're enjoying it. So I don't know if there's some inconsistencies in kind of the batches of these that maybe we've had better runs and worse ones.
But this is, I think, you know, as good of an expression as it has, which is what we normally get when we're drinking at the North Lounge.
**Pagoda:** Listen, it's a positive energy. It's all going into the bloody liquor. So serious. Look at him. I love
**Senator:** it. Just, uh, open up your arms, because abundance. Abundance.
**Rooster:** I guess there's always something about having a Guinness at an Irish bar.
It just tastes better. It's
**Bam Bam:** true. Yeah.
**Rooster:** Yeah, it's just like Cuban rum and Cuban cigars in Cuba. Yeah,
**Senator:** especially a non alcoholic one, right? Those are very good. Those taste good.
**Gizmo:** They're excellent. Yeah, just like a decaf espresso rooster. He's so judgy. I'm sorry. All right, boys, let's move into the second cigar of our pairing tonight.
This is the Davidoff [00:59:00] Winston Churchill The white label in Bellicoso. It's a 46 ring gauge cigar by four and a half inches long. And this cigar has become a real, real favorite of our group. It's a staple
**Senator:** in our rotation. All of us. This is another listener recommendation. That's right. Yes. Lizard Ediath.
Correct. Here at our lounge. Ediath! Uh, was basically just handing these out to everybody. You have to try this cigar and I think we're in for a treat. Oh yeah. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** This has been, uh, this is the last, I would say four to six months. This has really entered all of our rotations. Yeah. So I'm curious how it's going to rate tonight under the microscope.
So before you cut, like you really, except for Pagoda, cause he just did go ahead. But
**Bam Bam:** you really just need to take off the extreme tip. Yes. Very little. It
**Senator:** performs very well. No, no, it's not even just performs. Well, it's a necessity with this cigar. So I'm, I'm very serious. However, we score this. And if any listener goes out and tries this cigar as a result of it, for some reason, the way that Davidoff rolls this [01:00:00] cigar, you have to take off.
The tiniest bit off the head of the cigar when you, when you cut it. And I say that because if you cut this the way you would normally any sort of bellicose torpedo pyramid, the filler literally starts just falling out of the cigar. You'll lose the experience. You're going to have a mouthful of filler as you're trying to smoke it.
So no jokes, right? For some reason with this stick in particular, just a tiny bit is all you need. The draw is always wide open. And you'll have a good experience. Which it is. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, with that in mind, let's cut this thing. So we're getting on the cold draw on the wrapper. Wide open. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Again, maybe an eighth of an inch taken off.
Oh, very little. And it's drawing beautifully. Yeah.
**Pagoda:** Just the tip, correct?
**Bam Bam:** Correct.
**Pagoda:** Just twist off the pigtail. Pretty much. What are you getting on the cold draw, boys? Just a question, Russo. Did you finish the other cigar? Just [01:01:00] put it down. All right.
**Bam Bam:** I get a very faint hint of cocoa. Cocoa. Yep. Yep. You know. Definitely. A little, I get like a biscuity type thing as well.
**Gizmo:** And I'll say it for you. I am getting a little dried fruit. I'm not going
**Bam Bam:** to say that ever again.
**Senator:** I
**Bam Bam:** think it must
**Senator:** be fig. And there's a little cedar on this. Yeah, like every Davidoff, right?
**Gizmo:** Alright boys, let's light this thing. The Davidoff Winston Churchill in Bellicoso. Again, it's a 46 ring gauge cigar. Love that Dupont baby.
**Bam Bam:** Love the ping. Oh yeah, that Dupont ping.
A new
**Gizmo:** lizard favorite.
These come in really, really wonderful presentations in a four pack tin. Four cigars in a tin.
**Bam Bam:** It's a very faint, beautifully colored, very light lavender color. Beautiful tin. Great presentation.[01:02:00]
**Gizmo:** Oh, the light is just so good on these guys. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** we all know what to expect from this because we've had so many of these. Honestly, this is really probably The most Cuban esque New World cigar that I've ever had. Mmm. In my opinion.
**Gizmo:** I love too, as soon as you light it, you get that blast of just medium
**Bam Bam:** Mm hmm.
**Gizmo:** Flavor that's excellent, little sweet, little tangy, and the combustion, that first
**Bam Bam:** That's excellent.
**Gizmo:** That first draw just puts smoke, so much smoke in your mouth, it's immediately satisfying.
**Senator:** Smooth, smooth and velvety. To, to your point about the combustion giz, We were saying how the last Cuban obviously for that little ring gauge produces a lot of smoke.
I think the combustion on this is as chimney like as a short smoke gets, period.
**Pagoda:** Totally agree, meaning this is wide open.
**Rooster:** Dude, how much did you cut off [01:03:00] of that?
**Bam Bam:** Oh, my Lord. That is a lot. So he didn't hear a word that
**Gizmo:** Senator said. He completely cut the bellicoso off the cigar. It's now a Parejo.
**Pagoda:** Listen, I did the gizz cut, alright?
I did the gizz cut.
**Gizmo:** Don't tell me it's a
**Senator:** gizz cut. Look at mine. Pagoda is a big, uh, chewing tobacco fan. That's how he's, that's what he's going to be doing. This is the
**Rooster:** reason Massachusetts is
**Gizmo:** putting all these laws
**Rooster:** in. Look at, look at mine. I really cut the least. Yeah. And it's fine. It's totally draws.
Look at that. I have very
**Pagoda:** little as well. You know, I totally agree because, uh, Eddie have to tell me that I should barely, uh, you know, correct. Cut into it, but Hey.
**Gizmo:** So this cigar has a unique makeup. As do all the cigars in the white label, Winston Churchill line. And I keep saying white label because we've done the late hour, which a lot of cigar smokers know is the black label with the Winston Churchill silhouette on it,
**Rooster:** right?
**Gizmo:** This cigar has an interesting makeup. The wrapper is Ecuadorian. [01:04:00] The binder is Peruvian. And the filler is from Dominican Republic. Wow. Peruvian. Peruvian. Peruvian. The whole line is, has that Peruvian binder. So I, I always just assume, because this is the first white label Davidoff were doing on the pod. I always assumed that this was a Dominican Puro.
But clearly, whatever they've put together with these, you know, various origins of tobacco.
**Senator:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** It's working really well in these cigars. Oh
**Senator:** yeah. This has to be the first Peruvian tobacco we've done on the pod too. I love Peruvian food. That's true.
**Grinder:** So back to the cut, I think there's something to be said about doing that short cut.
because it concentrates the smoke in your mouth in such a way that it hits your palate with so much pungent, you know, flavor. It's really delicious. And
**Gizmo:** it pulls that 46 ring gauge cigar at its widest point, probably down to what you would say is like a low 30s ring gauge cigar. You know, almost like what I would expect from, uh, you know, like a, [01:05:00] like a little panatella or something like Right.
You know, one of the, uh, or the la kuana from Cuba, the MBO number. Mm-Hmm. or a cigar. That's really what you're, or a cigarillo, you know, that's your mouth feel is really. It's almost like a low 30s, high 20s
**Bam Bam:** ring
**Gizmo:** gauge.
**Bam Bam:** What's surprising is how smooth and velvety this is and how, again, I'm going to go back to it, you know, it's very Cuban esque for me.
**Rooster:** It's very
**Grinder:** creamy. And creamy. It is. I have like an oily, almost like an oily coating in my mouth because of it. It's kind of like a Maduro almost.
**Gizmo:** I just love the, The, how this is rounded out with a little coffee and there's a really nice touch of sweetness
**Rooster:** on the finish, right?
**Gizmo:** And I think it pairs to what you're saying about it feeling very creamy.
I just, it's, it's, this to me is an excellent finisher at the end of the night as a dessert stick or, you know, as we were talking about earlier, something in the car when you, you go for a ride for 40 minutes or a half [01:06:00] hour.
**Rooster:** Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** You know, it's really perfect in all those applications. One thing that's surprising for a Davidoff product, there is some inconsistency in the wrapper color.
I've got tens of these. This is a quite a dark. I mean, Bam's literally looks like a Maduro. Yeah. And I handed a few. I've never seen that before. Yours is lighter. I've got lighter ones. It just, there's a variety of wrappers here. As far as the color is concerned, that's unusual for a Davidoff. Very. Yeah.
**Rooster:** Well, the wrapper is, uh, what is it? Ecuador?
**Gizmo:** Ecuadorian. Yeah. So, like we said, these come in these really nice tins of four, they, it pops open from the bottom, kind of away from you, four cigars in it, they're all wrapped in cellophane, and they retail for 39. 50, so you're talking about ten bucks a cigar.
Excellent price. So, like we were talking about with that cigar, you know, with the Saint Cristobal we just finished. At 10 bucks ish, you know, if you can get 40 minutes out of a cigar like this, I think this is going to smoke faster than that one. It still ends up being a good value, especially when you look at a lot of the other Davidoff prices being [01:07:00] in the 20s
**Bam Bam:** and 30s.
Everyone ends their night with this cigar in this room. I've seen it done multiple times, but You can have this in a car. This would be great in the morning. Yeah. Very versatile cigar.
**Senator:** Indeed. And you can even find these online as cheap as 7 a stick. It's incredible. Yeah. It's incredible.
**Gizmo:** So this is the seventh Davidoff we've done on the podcast.
Certainly we've done quite a few. We haven't done one in about, I would say 45 or 50 episodes now. Uh, but we haven't, we have a couple coming up because we've had some listeners asking. And I know the one cigar I wanted to mention, cause it's kind of hot news right now, is that Davidoff re released the Maduro line.
Which, unlike this cigar, comes at a very, very high price. I mean, we're talking between 35 and 50. We're seeing 50. I've seen them 50. The re BoostA was 50. 50, 50.
**Bam Bam:** It's insane.
**Rooster:** It's a thousand dollars box
**Bam Bam:** Now. Has anyone in here had this?
**Rooster:** Yeah. Grinder Grinder's had it. Well, do tell. Not good.
**Grinder:** I mean, I don't want to spoil a future rating, but it was, it was, it felt like it.
D off was trying to be something. It's not. And it was. It was. [01:08:00] It was. It was stronger than I expected. And there's certain, there's a D off. In my view, there's a Davidoff flavor that, that kind of, it threads itself along every one of their cigars. And it lost it. It didn't have that Davidoff flavor that I was looking for.
When I light a Davidoff, I know there's something familiar that I'm looking for. Yeah. And it, and it wasn't there. And it was, it was a little strong. It was, you know, stronger than I was expecting.
**Gizmo:** Would you say it was like Nicaraguan Strong, like
**Grinder:** I would Yeah. Family Reserve from Patron Strong. Yeah. But I don't, I strong don't think there's any Nicaraguan in it.
Uh, um, I wouldn't say it's Family Reserve strong. Okay. Yeah. But I think, I think just the expectation or the hope that it was a different flavor, different per permutation of that d it off, uh, palette that I was looking for was just kind of a let down. But you, I think we should, I think we should review it.
You know, I think we should. Yeah. We'll
**Gizmo:** review it down the road. Yeah. The thing I hate about it is the price point. I just think releasing a regular production, you know, even if it's a limited production, whatever you want to call it, from Davidoff, [01:09:00] they release so many cigars each year, but putting a Robusto at 35, 40, 50 MSRP before tax, it's just so unreasonable to me.
And I got
**Grinder:** the Toro, by the way, so maybe that Toros typically don't do well. Yeah, Davidoff Toros don't do well. That may have something to do with it.
**Senator:** It's just crazy to me, the best Robustos in the world are not 50 a stick.
**Gizmo:** Yep. It's insane. Yeah, I'm, I'm really, really impressed with how the cigar performs.
And, and again, you know, you smoke the cigar in a lounge, you smoke it in the car. You don't expect it when you come in under the microscope that you're going to have that exact experience or even an enhanced experience. And it's really amazing.
**Bam Bam:** This has been such a
**Senator:** consistent cigar. You absolutely know what you're going to get with this guy.
Here's the other thing about this cigar. I've been struggling to figure out how to put this into words. This cigar in your hand feels like a regular cigar. Like, you know, when you, when you pick up a short [01:10:00] smoke, a little cigar. It feels diminutive in your hand. You know, it's just meant for that short time and occasion that you have, but you kind of wish that in your hand, it felt like you were smoking a regular cigar, but it was just much smaller because of the time.
And what I really like about this cigar, because the ring gauge, For most of the cigar is I'm forgetting what you had said. It was gives 46 by four and a half 46 to sit there. A little like you're holding a 46 ring gauge cigar, but something that's small enough that you can really enjoy this in 30, 40 minutes.
It's kind of like an in between size, which I really like. Like, you know, I I've expressed this sometimes with short smokes. You know, I don't love how even the last Cuban cigar that we just did, I don't love how that feels in my hand. It was delicious, very flavorful, but. It just, it doesn't feel like a full, like, like a cigar should write.
It feels like a cigarette almost the same thing with a part of his short or anything of that size. What I love about this [01:11:00] cigar in addition to all the great flavor is just, it feels perfect in your hand. Like you're smoking a full size cigar, but in a short format. Yeah.
**Pagoda:** It does feel very loosely packed.
Like, I think the draw is so wide open. But having said that, the ash is so great. Like, you get these rings. It's burning
**Senator:** pretty fast. And that's the thing. Like, for a smaller ring gauge cigar, it's harder for it to hold the ash for long. You smoke a Lancero, you can't have a long ash on that cigar. Nope. And the same thing with the Partagas Short, same thing with the cigar that we just had.
With a cigar at 46 ring gauge, I mean, this thing, I've smoked, you may not have to ash until you're halfway through the cigar. So,
**Bam Bam:** the next closest small cigar, from the point of view of that experience, I think would be the Half Corona H Alpen. It's got a little bit of a diameter. It doesn't have the length of this, but it does have some meat to it.
And it keeps it attached nicely. I think those two kind of from the dimensional point of view are very close. Well, the
**Rooster:** Montecristo Medio Colonna, that's a great cigar. It's like a short [01:12:00] Robusto almost,
**Senator:** but both of those cigars are still smaller. And they are, yeah. They're a step above the others, like a Partiga short or the definitely the Club Corona as well.
For sure. Yeah. But it's still not as substantial as this in the end. I agree.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, this is a real treat. And I know Pagoda was just showing me his ash. The ash really, really holds on on these cigars. So I'm curious what, um, how we're gonna do with that tonight. I've had some, some, some of these that have landed on my lap, and I've had others that have just completely Lasted the entire cigar almost.
I hear
**Senator:** there's a new solution for you for that, Gizmo.
**Gizmo:** I knew you were gonna, you know, it's funny, I wasn't trying to seg, I wasn't trying to segway, but we have to talk about it. Perfect
**Bam Bam:** segway.
**Gizmo:** We have to talk about it. So boys, there's a new product coming to market.
**Bam Bam:** I think it's, I think we need that around here in this club for sure.
I need it. A few guys. For one of us. For a few guys, yes.
**Senator:** I wonder who that is. You. So actually we needed this product back when we
**Gizmo:** [01:13:00] were recording in my garage, . All right, so let's tell the listeners about it. So this is Lu, Joe and Co Inc. Has launched a Kickstarter campaign for what they're calling and has a re.
They have a registered trademark and they have the little R with the circle.
**Bam Bam:** Nice
**Gizmo:** for cigar, bips. Which are. Is the American Academy of Pediatrics approve this? Can I use one of these? So they've put together a product. It's a cloth product, a fireproof piece of fabric with ornate writing and various colors and whatnot to put on your lap so that if you accidentally ash while you're smoking your cigar.
You don't burn a hole when you're very fancy or expensive clothes.
**Bam Bam:** Nice.
**Gizmo:** So, by the way, and so Half Wheel put this up. I've never seen more comments on something on Half Wheel, uh, on a Half Wheel post than I did on this one. So, it's on Kickstarter. It's called The Cigar Bib by Lujo Co. What I found interesting is [01:14:00] that the prices Are wild.
Are they customizable? They are customizable. You can get different colors, different fonts and whatnot, but the price I believe is supposed to have an MSRP of 469. No way. I swear to God.
**Bam Bam:** Excuse me.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. You're off
**Rooster:** by a zero. I think
**Gizmo:** so. When you, if you support early, if you're an early champion, as they call it on Kickstarter, you can get the cigar bib 40 percent off retail for 281 bucks and they're offering it classic font, contemporary font, blue, green, all different colors.
And, uh, yeah, so they're trying to raise 30 grand on Kickstarter. For the cigar bibs.
**Pagoda:** I really want to see Al Sharpton and Michael Jordan wear these around. Hahahahaha!
**Gizmo:** I'll take a towel. I just, um, listen, I am, I am definitely [01:15:00] notorious for dropping ash on myself. Sometimes, Senator. Not all the time.
**Pagoda:** That's fair.
**Gizmo:** Every once in a while.
**Pagoda:** We'll launder the next day.
**Gizmo:** So yeah, and it comes with a drawstring tote bag so you can transport them to be used anywhere you desire to smoke.
**Senator:** Ah, that explains the price. Wow. The
**Gizmo:** tote bag. I mean, I just can't imagine walking into a cigar lounge and you have your Putting a bib on.
You put your cigar bib on. I would pay to see Gizmo in one of these. It would be
**Senator:** so funny.
**Pagoda:** I would definitely judge. I think it seems like the only people who are going to be contributing to this campaign is Lou and Joe. I'm sorry. So they
**Gizmo:** say that the cigar bibs allow you to protect the threads from the surprise of unexpected hot ashes falling on you while smoking cigars.
Which often occurs while distracted, conversing, or entertaining others. These handmade, that's what I've been doing, see? Distracting conversation, I get ash all over myself. These handmade semi custom cigar bibs give you peace of mind, so you can relax and thoroughly enjoy your smoke, without worrying about hot ashes damaging your [01:16:00] skin, clothing, furniture, vehicle, interior, or any other valuable And possibly irreplaceable personal.
I
**Pagoda:** lose my peace of mind when I have to pay the credit card bill.
**Gizmo:** Coming in hot. I'm sorry. The goal and design of this luxury accessory was to create an elegant talking piece that not only protects your investments, but also serves as a fashion accessory statement piece that expresses your personality.
Their tagline is expressive accessories for living boldly.
**Bam Bam:** Very bold price.
**Gizmo:** I'm wait I'm
**Senator:** waiting for Pagoda to ash on himself. This is like this is like Oh yeah, Pagoda's got a full couple inches of ash.
**Pagoda:** I'm trying to give Lou and Joe every reason to be successful. It ain't happening with this cigar because, uh, the ash is holding strong.
**Senator:** I can count the rooms. Can we check their kickstarter to see how much they raised? Can we check Pergoda? Oh, shit!
**Rooster:** No, no, it's
**Senator:** on you! He doesn't even realize it! It
**Bam Bam:** [01:17:00] actually happened! Oh
**Senator:** my lord. I thought it was Pergoda! Can I just recap that for a second?
**Rooster:** Oh no! You'd
**Senator:** think we planned this. Oh God. So, uh, grinder and I immediately react because we see Gizmo's ash fall right on his lap.
And as we go, Oh no, Gizmo looks up and looks at pagoda thinking he's got ash on him saying, Oh no. And has no clue that the ash is actually in his lap. Amazing. Shit.
**Grinder:** You gotta get the bib. You
**Senator:** gotta
**Gizmo:** spend the 400.
**Pagoda:** 500, 500. I
**Gizmo:** guess I need it. So I think it launched on May 2nd. Um, as of recording this, they have about 1, 300 but I don't think it officially launched yet.
They're trying to raise about 29, 000. Wow.
**Grinder:** Yeah. They're lucky if they get 2, 000. Have you ever had ash? Actually burn like not an ash, but it
**Rooster:** could be a spark, you know, from, uh, I won't lie. And [01:18:00] I,
**Senator:** I don't ash on myself often, but I mean, I've seen it, but
**Gizmo:** what do I, uh,
**Senator:** another
**Bam Bam:** check,
**Senator:** but I did, uh, I remember a few years ago, uh, I was in, uh, dress clothes and like some pair of trousers, I think like a spark like you're talking about, and it burned a hole in my pants.
I was so pissed. And I, they were like pants I bought a while ago that I couldn't replace. I was, I was very agitated about this. It is annoying when it happens. It happens to all of us.
**Pagoda:** You're sure you weren't doing spandex? I mean, it's I could see, like, ash on, like, you know, that kind of material really just burning a hole through for sure.
**Gizmo:** No, just, uh, you know, a pair of trousers will, uh, easily will burn a hole through. Tuxedo Timmy sent me a message today and said, you should have brought the cigar bib to, uh, Laguito when you were with Oscar so you didn't burn the couch. That's right. Remember I was almost dropping the ash on the couch last year.
**Bam Bam:** He gave you a look. Yeah. I should have brought the cigar bib. I think that would have been a nice
**Gizmo:** talking piece with Oscar and. Right. Lay it out on the couch at Leguito and [01:19:00] prevent any sort of errors.
**Bam Bam:** Could have put it on. I can't
**Gizmo:** believe I just ashed all over myself talking about that. I'm like embarrassed because I'm looking at my iPad, like talking about what we're doing here, you know?
And of course I ash all over myself. So they offer, uh, wrapping this up, they offer luxury protection, safeguarding skin and attire. From unexpected hot ashes and they certify safety, functional design. They say that their style meets versatility, diverse colors and styles designed to compliment any cigar aficionados taste and elevate your cigar experience, seamless portability.
You can protect your investment, experience true relaxation, and they say it's the ultimate cigar companion.
**Bam Bam:** I can relax, I'll just ash right on my belly. Forget the ashtray.
**Pagoda:** I think Lou and Joe should focus on marketing because their language has been fantastic. A
**Rooster:** company that's trying to raise 29, 000? I mean,
**Pagoda:** yeah, for a rag that you're going to put on yourself.
I mean, it's ridiculous. And you're charging 500 [01:20:00] bucks for a little rag. The price
**Senator:** is a little bit, uh, egregious. Can you ask them if they've tested it with new world and Cuban ash? I mean, the R and D costs must be so high that they need to charge 500. So I'm really curious about how they've tested. It must be
**Gizmo:** the fireproof material or something.
**Bam Bam:** Walking around the beds. Can we get like eighties? Uh, Garcon, we need a breathalyzer test over here.
**Gizmo:** Liquid lunch. Oh yeah. So boys, we're about halfway through here on the Davidoff Winston Churchill in Bellicoso. What do you think?
**Bam Bam:** This cigar is always a home run. Never disappoints. Never.
**Rooster:** I think it's very creamy and nutty.
Earthy too.
**Bam Bam:** But Gizmo mentioned something earlier. There is that slight sweetness there that's always there. And for me, that's
**Gizmo:** very accurate. It makes it a dessert cigar for me. I agree. And it's
**Grinder:** on the finish. I love it. Oh yeah. I get raisin, like definitely a little raisin flavor. That's [01:21:00] the dessert flavor.
**Bam Bam:** Now the aroma on the foot's cocoa all the way for me.
**Gizmo:** The retro hail has a little bit more spice than sweetness for me. So I don't retro this cigar as much as I do others. I enjoy the regular draw more than I do the retro. It's interesting. Is the blend in the white label very similar? I think the blends are nearly identical across the entire line.
**Rooster:** So you guys have had the other, like a Churchill white label or?
**Senator:** One Churchill, and it, the flavor is different to me. Really? Totally is. Yeah. Like, the, the Churchill I've had is more cedar forward and not as sweet and dessert like as this cigar. How long ago was that? Within the past 12 months. I had one last week,
**Bam Bam:** and I think it's absolutely worth a try for everyone in the room.
Yeah, I mean, you guys I'm not saying it's bad. Oh, no, no. I'm just saying that it's different in flavor. It is. It's a little reminiscent now that the, the recent batches, and I've had that Robusto size and the Churchill size. They're They're both very, very good. But it's
**Rooster:** more cedar forward, would you say, or?
**Bam Bam:** Not for me, but, you know, palates are different. I [01:22:00] get a very similar experience to this.
**Senator:** And I don't mean super dominant, it's just like, for me, the cedar initially, and this was very, very, very faint. Agreed. And then that is a little more pronounced. Yeah. And it's like an earthier delivery where this is more of like a sweet dessert
**Bam Bam:** like delivery.
Isn't
**Senator:** that part
**Bam Bam:** of, Davidoff's overall DNA.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. I mean, you know, we've, we've experienced that across most of their minds
**Senator:** and something I enjoy. Yeah. Well, the other thing that's just kind of shocking to me, I don't know of another Davidoff cigar that I at all would say is dessert. That's not what they're known for.
So this to me stands out as very unique within their entire line. It's an outlier. How
**Bam Bam:** would you describe the Colorado Claro though? I've never had it. I've had it. The double R Colorado Claro. That's
**Grinder:** No,
**Senator:** I don't like that cigar. Yeah,
**Grinder:** I like it a lot. I think it's, I think that it's got a lot of merit to it.
I think this, um, this cigar to me is, it's actually a little spicier than the, [01:23:00] uh, Robusto. On the retrohale. Yes. And the, uh, yeah, yeah. Probably. For sure on the
**Bam Bam:** retrohale. I agree with Giz. I think that's very accurate. Cause
**Grinder:** I actually smoke quite a few of the, the Churchills and I love them. I do too. And, um, yeah.
It's funny because when we first, when this first line came out, when this line first came out, everyone gravitated towards the, the late hour and almost kind of didn't give the white, the white label the, the, the, the attention it deserved. But I think like, you know, everyone, you know, we've all kind of shifted our attention towards this, the cigar and it's, it's definitely kind of rounded out the roster.
To me, it's
**Rooster:** something about the name late hour. It kind of makes you want to just have it like in the fall or like, you know, plus the tobacco's
**Senator:** aged in, uh, you know, X scotch barrels, which is very unique. It's a much
**Bam Bam:** richer experience and it lends itself more toward those colder month experiences. I think.
**Gizmo:** I think that this cigar, certainly with our experience, we wanted to do this one first in the line, but it's certainly pointing us that [01:24:00] we definitely need to try some of the bigger, we should. Bigger Patol was in the line, because especially the Robusto and the Churchill, because. You know, I, I, I just, if I can get this, or close to this in a reboost over a Churchill experience.
Yeah. It, it has a good shot of, of cracking the rotation. Agreed.
**Senator:** I'd love to do the Churchill just because it's hard to find great Churchills. There's just not that many.
**Bam Bam:** I had one last week. It was outstanding.
**Gizmo:** So boys, we had some listener emails come in. I wanted to start with this one from Lizard Stewart.
No, Bam, you're in the clear tonight. So Lizard Stewart writes, Hello, Lizards. I've really enjoyed your podcast, and I have binged all of your episodes over the last four months. My man. Wow. I can stop right there. That is unbelievable. That's incredible. Hundred and 30 episodes in four months. That's amazing.
Thank you. Lizard Stewart. We get a lot of emails like that. People going back to the entire catalog and kind of listening as, as we develop as podcasters and broadcasters, [01:25:00] and also as our palates develop, you know, so it's
**Senator:** Davidoff would say time, beautifully filled, beautifully
**Gizmo:** filled. So he says here. I love smoking a cigar, listening to your tasting notes and trying to see if I can pick out the same notes as you guys.
Your podcast also keeps me entertained on my commute to work. Can you go over a little more detailed the meaning of Cuban twang and also the meaning or purpose of a dimple? Also I've been smoking a lot more Cubans over the past couple of months. I've found it has changed my taste towards new worlds.
Thank you for your podcast. Appreciate it. Lizard Stewart. Awesome. Great email. Great email. Great email. So we did talk a little bit about the saltiness in Cuban cigars and that thing that we've called Cuban twang over the years. Uh, so we can start with that. How would you guys describe Cuban twang and why is it unique to
**Rooster:** Cuban tobacco?
Well, smoke a Monty too, and you'll realize, I mean, that's really the, the one cigar that really sticks out where you get that Cuban twang.
**Bam Bam:** Thank you.
**Rooster:** So I [01:26:00] think the Cuban twang, to me, it's like the saltiness that you get on the tip of your tongue. And that's basically The floral
**Pagoda:** saltiness. There's
**Bam Bam:** something floral about it.
So for me, it's that saltiness for sure. But if you get an experience where you've got a little savory and a little sweetness with that saltiness, That's
**Rooster:** like a sour. That's what I,
**Bam Bam:** for me, that defines that Cuban twang experience.
**Pagoda:** So it's not very earthy. It's floral. I don't know. For me,
**Senator:** I don't, I don't, I don't agree with the floral piece for me.
For
**Pagoda:** me,
**Senator:** it is, it's like a salty, We can find a way to argue about anything, by the way. Of course we can. Senator, go ahead.
**Gizmo:** Senator, you're on. Speaking of arguing, Senator, go. Garcon, breathalyzer, please. I mean, do you get floral in the Cuban twang? I think, well, I think that floral is such a strong component of most Cuban cigars.
But not a Monty II. No. Monty II, not Monty
**Pagoda:** II, but, you know, [01:27:00] like, if you have a
**Senator:** Ras. that, that Rooster's saying. Rooster, Senator, you're
**Pagoda:** absolutely correct. That's like, that's like a ras.
**Rooster:** Pagoda, you're absolutely wrong.
**Pagoda:** I did. There's something which I, I call it the floral saltiness. Very different from a very earthiness saltiness, which comes in the caraguins, very different.
I, and they're both a salty. I mean, you get,
**Rooster:** you get a floral note out of a lot of the Cuban cigars, but I don't think that's the twang. It's a separate note. Yeah, I
**Senator:** completely agree. Agreed. So for me, just the notes, it's the saltiness everyone's describing, I think it's like a minerality and like a little faint sweetness all kind
**Pagoda:** of mixed together.
Yeah, so the minerality is what I'd be calling floral in my, in my thing. To me those are very different notes.
**Gizmo:** To me, like, what's interesting about Cuban cigars, and we've talked about a few different ones. Pagoda mentioned the Ras, which I think has a little bit more of an earthy thing. The Mani too, which is,
**Pagoda:** I have a very [01:28:00] specific, I'm sorry.
He's right for the listener. Bam is petting.
**Grinder:** Trying to console him. Like a lap dog. Trying to
**Senator:** calm him down before he breaks out the breathalyzer.
**Pagoda:** No, but I, I like, so for me, like, I did a very distinct flavor in saltiness in terms of, Earthiness, saltiness, and Nicaraguans and the saltiness and Cubans, very, very different.
Absolutely different. And I think it's more lighter. There's something very flavorful, floral. Like I get those kind of notes, which is very specific to me. But I can recognize like that's a Cuban,
**Rooster:** but you don't, you don't get a floral note on the Monty two at all.
**Senator:** I don't get floral notes on most upman's either.
Like it's in some Cuban cigars, but not the twang is not, it is a
**Gizmo:** uniquely Cuban flavor that is experienced in some Cuban cigars. And it's, it comes along with the, A variety of different [01:29:00] things in the money too. It comes with that kind of cocoa or chocolatey thing that you experienced in the money too.
In Cohiba, you get it sometimes, but it's, it's combined with that barnyard type of grassy type of flavor. But there's this thing that happens on the front of your tongue that is so unique to Cuban tobacco. And to me, the reason why we've talked about it, joked about it, even kind of gave it a name of Cuban twang is It's, it's inherently unique to Cuban tobacco and it makes Cuban tobacco very intriguing.
It's something that you chase in Cuban, Cuban cigars. You can't find anywhere else. No. And, you know, to Pagoda's point with RAS, to, uh, Rooster and Senator's point, uh, with the Monty too. And you talk about some of those part of the cigars are up in cigars. You're getting very different vehicles of delivery that then end.
With that saltiness on the front of your tongue that you find in no other tobacco anywhere else in the world.
**Bam Bam:** Very well said.
**Gizmo:** So I don't know if there's something about the soil, [01:30:00] the way that it's grown, the lack of fertilizer. I don't know what's going on in Cuba that it's so prolific almost without them trying.
When you find Cuban twang, to me, it just rings a bell that no other tobacco rings, uh, and makes Cuban tobacco. Like I said, very, very intriguing and exciting and you chase
**Bam Bam:** it and unique.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. And you chase that. So to answer lizards, do it. I think you just need to keep smoking those Cuban cigars and try to sense that tingling on the front of your tongue.
Now that that's salty thing. That's what you're. That's what we call Cuban twang. But
**Bam Bam:** also go, try to go through the catalog and if you can go through Monty and Upman and Partagus and you'll experience that twang in different ways, then you'll come up with a consensus as to what you think for you Cuban twang is.
Sure. I don't
**Rooster:** think Upman has a Cuban twang. No, not when you get a lot of like dessert. Not as nodes. The baking spices. Absolutely. Yeah. Monty Line, you know that's quintessential, quintessential Correct. Cuban tank. Correct. If that's what you're looking [01:31:00] for. Yeah. Pick up a Monty two and it's a classic. Yeah, classic.
**Gizmo:** And the petite number two for Monte Cristo, which is the baby version. A cigar. A little bit less of a price. A little bit less of a price. Mm-Hmm. . A little bit less of a time commitment. That's another cigar you're gonna find that in for sure. Yeah. So to answer Lizard Stewart's second question, what is the importance of the dimple?
Why do we talk? Why do we get excited when we cut a cigar
**Bam Bam:** and
**Gizmo:** we see a dimple? So let me explain what that is for. Sometimes when you, you cut a Cuban cigar, you'll see at the head of the cigar, right under the cut line, quite honestly, a dimple, a depression, a depression in the center of the roll, which we've always known to be the sign of a well Constructed well rolled Cuban cigar,
**Senator:** and sometimes you won't even see it immediately.
You'll cut it, you'll look at it, and then the middle, a little piece of tobacco, it just kind of falls out and you see the dimples been created. That's right.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. So it's just a product of a great role. I think it's some component of construction in a [01:32:00] really. You know, in, in a classy roller, who's making great Cupid cigars.
You'll see those dimples. And when you find one, you're often going to then note that in your brain after you smoke that cigar and go, Oh my God, that was an unbelievable experience. Then you start chasing dimples.
**Rooster:** And you rarely find a dimple on a new world cigar.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. Yeah.
**Rooster:** It's true, you know, it's usually on a Cuban cigar and maybe it's the rollers stamp on that particular cigar, like the trademark could be.
**Gizmo:** So that's the, uh, that's the answer on Cuban twang and dimples in Cuban cigars for you, Lizard Stewart. We appreciate you emailing and Obviously, we always appreciate listeners reaching out to us. That's a great email. I do like
**Senator:** dimples on cheeks. If you really want to find the twang, you should start by getting a Got Twang shirt on our website.
And then you're really going to be dialed in. Product placement.
**Gizmo:** He's good at that. Yeah. He's very good at that. All right, boys. So we're into the last third here on the [01:33:00] Davidoff, Winston Churchill, and Bellicoso. What are you guys thinking?
**Bam Bam:** Outstanding smoke. It's a
**Gizmo:** 10. It's very good. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** What do you guys think with the Red Breast?
We haven't talked about the pairing with this, uh, with the cigar tonight. I think it's drinking beautifully
**Bam Bam:** together. Yeah. With this guy. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** I think it's interesting drinking the same thing. And we've done this the third time now, drinking the same thing as we've done a Cuban and a New World. And it's nice that we have a pairing tonight that is working for both.
Yeah. Quite nicely.
**Pagoda:** Agreed.
**Gizmo:** You know, I think it's enhancing both.
**Pagoda:** I've never enjoyed the red breast as much. That's true.
**Bam Bam:** Excellent tonight.
**Pagoda:** We've
**Bam Bam:** never
**Pagoda:** enjoyed you as much.
**Bam Bam:** Oh, yeah. I think we have. That's the definitive statement of the evening.
**Gizmo:** All right, so we have one more great email before we get to our ratings tonight, boys.
This one is from Lizard John. He says, hi there lizards. I recently started tuning into your podcast after Rob at FOH recommended it. Thank you Rob I really enjoy it the vibe you've got going on and it's inspired me to recreate similar [01:34:00] hangouts with my buddies at home It's refreshing to hear guys just being guys sharing cigars drinks and laughter Especially at a time where many men feel isolated.
**Grinder:** Great
**Gizmo:** point. I mean.
**Grinder:** Great point. Come on. I, I've made that comment before about how this is, this is like about men just sharing, you know, finding brotherhood and sharing what they love and talking about things that sometimes they can't just bullshit about, you know, and it's great to, to share that with, with the listeners.
**Gizmo:** And I love the lizard. John and his friends are starting to do this. I love that they're sitting down and, and we've heard this before. There's, you know, lizard communities around the world doing this. And it's nice that. You know, um, guys who smoke along with us and they put the, put us in their headphones or they, they build on what we're doing and do it in their own communities and their own lounges.
That's exactly what this is about. And women too.
**Senator:** And
**Gizmo:** women, the
**Senator:** reason I say that we've talked about Shelly's backroom in DC. I that's the one place without fail that I'm always pleasantly surprised when I walk in, there'll be like a group of women all enjoying a [01:35:00] cigar together. So it cuts across, you know, both genders.
I think I might need to
**Grinder:** go
**Senator:** to Shelly's. All right. Cut it out.
**Grinder:** I was going to say there's, there's lizard layers everywhere. Let us know what your lizard layer is and how you enjoy it with your, with your other, your fellow, your fellow lizards and share the community.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, we love, we love hearing from listeners.
So, Lizard John had a question for us and he says, I'm curious though, are you guys intentionally keeping things anonymous by not having a visual feed, like a video? And using nicknames. If so, I totally get it and respect that decision. Either way, keep up the great work and I'll definitely keep listening.
Lizard John. So Lizard John, that's a great email. Thanks so much. So the question of anonymity and our nicknames, we've covered this, I guess a few times, but maybe not as pointed as this question is asking us, I think there's a couple of components to anonymity. I think there's three really that I've thought about over the years.
It originally started with a bunch of us in the room here, uh, have [01:36:00] various Types of professions. I would say that, uh, being in the public eye doing what we do here would not be, uh,
**Bam Bam:** correct.
**Gizmo:** Helpful.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Let's say to our professional lives. Um, so that was number one. Number two, I think has been our journey to Cuba unintentionally when we developed this thing using Pseudonyms and nicknames like we do, uh, going to Cuba, the talking about Cuba as honestly as we do what's going on there.
It's nice that we don't have to worry about going through an airport, having published what we say and what we feel with our real names, like we're not worried about going through an airport. Yeah, we can
**Bam Bam:** be completely honest.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, we can be completely honest about what's going on in Cuba, what happens there without fear of a repercussion, because they have no idea what we look like and we don't use our real name.
So that's very, very helpful too. Uh, and that was unintentional. I mean, when we started the podcast, it was really, um, Hey, we have these nicknames, which we had before we even started the podcast, uh, that ended up being our, our lizard names here. [01:37:00] And then finally, I think the third component to this for me is, and this is when I was growing up as a kid in Pennsylvania, driving, you know, riding the school bus to school.
I would listen, you know, they'd have the radio on and the school bus. And I always had this construct in my mind of what everybody looked like that I was listening to on the radio. And I kind of put this thing together in my mind of what everybody kind of was and looked like. And I had this group of friends that I listened to all the time.
And then when I finally figured out what these people looked like, it kind of disappointed me in a
**Rooster:** way, you know, it was
**Gizmo:** different than what my expectation was. Not that they looked bad or anything, but it was just different. So I think for us, we
**Bam Bam:** look bad.
**Gizmo:** Hey, we all have faces for
**Bam Bam:** we do.
**Gizmo:** But, you know, for us, it's like the idea that, like you said here, a lizard, john, that you're able to put us on, enjoy it and, and share this with your friends.
You know, everybody is creating their own construct of what lizard life is and what the lounge lizards are. And we celebrate that. So yeah. You know, for us, it's really, um, the anonymity thing has worked out to be a real nice thing and we can kind of enjoy this and, and just share how we feel [01:38:00] honestly and openly and, uh, you know, that's really our intention with the, uh, with the anonymity.
**Grinder:** I think, I think another thing to point out is that we're not doing this for, necessarily for attention. We didn't. Notoriety. Yeah. We didn't start this to, to. To, to, you know, get our names out there and, and glamorize it. Yeah, we're just, we're
**Senator:** just trying to stay out
**Grinder:** of jail.
**Senator:** We're just trying to stay out of jail.
In Cuba
**Grinder:** and in Massachusetts. Yeah. Yeah, so, so we, you know, we, we just wanted to, you know, To share our love of cigars, but not have it, you know, not have personalities dominate certain, uh, certain projections within the public eye. And also I think we, a lot of us are very well aware of the internet, of the internet world.
And that's, that's kind of like a shtick to like, go and present yourself as something else or as a different name just to, just to kind of behind that. Be behind that wall. I think
**Senator:** I think [01:39:00] clearly every, every lizard needs a nickname. So correct.
**Grinder:** It's like a, it's like a
**Senator:** fraternity,
**Grinder:** right? When you go, when you join a fraternity, you get a pledge name, get a name.
Who, who gets to
**Bam Bam:** hit the paddle?
**Pagoda:** Thank you, sir. May I have another if you want to flatten out the dimple, I
**Bam Bam:** administer the paddle.
**Gizmo:** So that, I hope that answers the, uh, the question. I mean, certainly video for us ties all that together. If we had any sort of video component, it wouldn't work. It's obviously a lot more intensive work wise, but you know, like Rinder said, we're not trying to be influencers.
We're just trying to, we get together. Listen, this is not hard work, right? We sit down. We bullshit, we smoke cigars, we drink something with it, and we tell you how we honestly feel, and the protection of anonymity with that is, is, we can really kind of keep our house in order. And be brutally honest. And be brutally honest.
Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** and that's very important for what we're doing. That's the most important thing. Absolutely.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, and you know, too, like, we talked about Cuba. [01:40:00] We went to PCA, had a great show. It's not like we walked in there and anybody would recognize us or know who we were. We're able to really control those conversations and those introductions and, and being kind of in, in.
in, uh, in charge of, of who we're talking to and when. Yeah. And we had prosthetics and masks on. Yeah, of course. We need to get better masks for next year. So I hope that answers your question, Lizard John. Thank you for writing in. And like I said, we love hearing from listeners. We have some voice memos coming up in the next few weeks.
So if you have a voice memo you want to send us instead of an email, feel free to do that. But we love hearing from listeners. Tell us what you're smoking and who you're smoking with. Like Lizard John did tonight. I love the emails.
**Senator:** It's
**Gizmo:** awesome.
**Senator:** I think the most shocking thing at PCA is. I mean, we were all there when we weren't wearing any lounge lizards gear or anything that would have identified us.
And people were just coming up to us and we were recording saying, are you guys the lounge lizards? So clearly lizards know when they have found each other without even knowing what they look
**Gizmo:** like. Oh yeah. All right, boys, we're coming to the end of [01:41:00] our evening here tonight. We've obviously already rated the San Cristobal de la Habana El Principe.
It's now time to move into our ratings on the Red Breast 12 year aged Irish whiskey. And the
**Rooster:** Davidoff
**Gizmo:** Winston Churchill in Bellicoso.
**Rooster:** All right.
**Gizmo:** All right. So let's do the formal liquor rating on the Red Breast 12. Bam Bam, you're up. What's the price of this? Uh, total wine, usually
**Bam Bam:** like 65 a bottle. Yeah. Uh, this drank so deliciously today.
I think for me, this is a nine. Um, it was just very good, smooth, easy to drink, paired beautifully with both cigars tonight, clear nine.
**Grinder:** Grindr. I'm also a nine. Delicious. Very smooth. It didn't, it didn't, it wasn't overbearing with the pairing at all. It's something I can definitely drink by its own with to its own merit.
Um, and pairs very nicely with the cigar. I found the flavor profiles to not dominate one or the other. And, um, you know, they complimented it just enough, right? Not so, you know, these are, these are very [01:42:00] flavorful, flavorful cigars. So, um, yeah, definitely a nine, solid nine. Delicious.
**Pagoda:** Pagoda. Um, it's a nine for me, and surprisingly a nine, because
**Gizmo:** You've been talking about a ten all episode pretty much.
**Pagoda:** Yeah, I know, but uh, you know, for me, you know, walking into uh, the episode knowing that we're gonna be drinking red breasts, I wasn't sure where I'd be with that. Um, It's been a very pleasurable experience and, you know, the sweetness coming out from the slight vanilla caramelly notes and, and, uh, the sherry finishing, you know, anything in sherry I always enjoy in any case.
Uh, but, uh, you know, with a couple of cubes of ice, um, and maybe that's what it is, right? Like, I don't know whether I'd enjoy this. It is neat, but you know, with a couple of cubes of ice, it was fantastic. And today has been one of those bottles, which has just really delivered and it's a nine for me.
**Gizmo:** So it's also a [01:43:00] nine for me.
Very, very happy with it. I'm glad we revisited it. Um, I actually haven't had some in quite some time. It's definitely been in between, you know, episode seven and now, but I've definitely had a little bit, um, probably about six or eight months ago. It was very, very good, but it, it really points me to want to revisit it.
I thought it was an excellent Irish whiskey and I, I loved how it paired with both the Cuban and the New World tonight. And I think that's a real merit for a whiskey. It's kind of
**Bam Bam:** a revisited revelation. I haven't had this in a long time as well. I think it's something I'll buy again and again.
**Gizmo:** I agree.
Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. Uh, whiskey tonight. Senator.
**Senator:** He's trying it neat right now. So I have to say, I wanted to try this neat before I rated it. It's good neat. And this goes back to, I think, the, the times that I have felt, I can't drink this neat. It's been that, like, off, harsher bottle. Um, this is really, honestly, Pagoda, you have to try this neat.
I think you'll love [01:44:00] it. I think he's had enough.
**Pagoda:** Maybe tomorrow morning. Save it for tomorrow. Before golf. Right
**Rooster:** before golf. I can only
**Senator:** help. But for me, uh, I'm in lockstep with all the other guys. It's a definite nine. I think Giz mentioned this early on and I couldn't agree more. The thing that stands out to me, it's super versatile. Like Giz was saying how we've smoked so many different types of cigars at our North lounge while drinking this and never once did it clash or was it not enough, um, or too much it's really well balanced, flavorful, the Sherry finish really helps, um, and still relatively smooth.
And I think. It's just, it's a unique flavor profile, despite coming out of a, you know, being matured in sherry, which obviously we've, we have so many spirits that we've reviewed that, that we fall in that category. I [01:45:00] wouldn't compare it yet still to say, I wouldn't say like, Oh, you know, the red breast 12 drinks really similarly to X.
There's nothing quite like it. So I think it's also differentiated, which I always look for in any spirit because there's so much to choose from. So, um, definitely a nine. And I think anyone who enjoys Irish whiskey will obviously love this, but I think anyone who's a Scotch drinker will appreciate it. I think even, you know, someone who's a bourbon drinker might find something to like in this.
So it checks a lot of boxes.
**Gizmo:** So boys, that puts the formal liquor rating tonight on the Red Breast 12 Year Aged Irish Whiskey at a 9. 0.
**Pagoda:** Great rating. Excellent.
**Gizmo:** Excellent rating. What was Jameson's? What was Jameson's? So Jameson A little higher, I think. No, Jameson on episode 124 scored an 8. 3. We also did the Lamb Bay Irish Whiskey on episode 103.
Which was a 6. 2. We did obviously this on episode seven, we didn't rate it. And I think [01:46:00] that's it for Irish whiskey. So it might be a time to dive in, try some more Irish whiskeys, especially with how this performed tonight. I certainly want to try some of their others. That's the thing.
**Senator:** They have some premium bottles.
They have a 15 year. That's like a hundred and something, a bottle. And then I think their most coveted bottle is like a, it's an odd year. I think it's a 27 year that they make, which is crazy.
**Gizmo:** I wonder how much that is a little pricey. It's a 500 BAMs paying for it. Yeah. BAM will get it for us. No problem.
All right, boys, it's time to move into the formal lizard rating of our second cigar tonight. The Davidoff Winston Churchill in Bellicoso Pagoda.
**Pagoda:** I'm at a 10.
**Rooster:** Rooster, you're out. So I want to give a shout out to EDF for recommending this cigar.
**Bam Bam:** Yes, sir.
**Rooster:** It's an excellent smoke. Um, I love the Davidoff DNA.
That comes through. Uh, it's creamy, nutty. It starts off with a little bit of a spice for me, and then it becomes creamy and nutty [01:47:00] and earthy as well. And it's a short smoke, but it's not really that short of a smoke. It's a 46 ring gauge, uh, even though it does not have a punch Pigtail. I'm giving it a 10.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. Wow. Good rating. Wow. What's your end? Uh, you know, I can't
**Grinder:** rate more than a 10. How could you? How dare you? Very sus.
**Rooster:** Imagine if it had a pin. Pig tail. How
**Gizmo:** do I keep taking heat on this plus Senator? You're up.
**Senator:** I can't believe I'm in agreement with yeah, yeah,
I'll make the definitive statement that I think it's the best short smoke period. And, um, there's another Cuban short smoke that we'll do. That's right up there with it for me. But the format, in addition to the flavor, If every short smoke could have, could come in this exact same size, [01:48:00] I would be so happy because again, when we talk about these nights where we're smoking a bunch of cigars, you know, you want your night to end with something short, but still substantial.
And I'm just always feeling, I have this little diminutive cigar and it like reinforces it's the end of my night and you know, it's time to go home. And when you have this cigar, I feel like this in particular, I've been at the end of the night. I've had one of these and then you kind of want to just keep smoking because you feel like you're still in that mode.
I've lit one of these back to back. I mean, they're just delicious. They are. I think it's complex. I think there's something to liken this cigar truly for anybody. I don't know that there's a smoker that would hate this cigar. Absolutely. Um, and, uh, the construction I've smoked probably 60 of these at this point.
**Bam Bam:** So I just order another four. We don't know how many we've smoked
**Senator:** and the price, the price is incredible. The price is great. It's incredible. I mean, you know, short smokes that are smaller than this retail for the same price at 10. And the fact that [01:49:00] at this size, you can get that kind of value and find it even cheaper at, at other websites online.
It's, um, it's really a home run and I'm super grateful to EDF for recommending this. Would have probably never even found this. And I think I'd be remissed. Not to mention the packaging on this is some of the best packaging that any cigar comes in. It's great. We love tins. The oven half Corona comes in tins, their other cigars.
But the design of this is just so beautiful. The presentation at an affordable price point. Um, I can't say enough good things about this cigar. This will be in my rotation. I hope they never discontinued this. But let's move on to the presentation. My intent is to smoke this as long as I'm smoking cigars.
**Gizmo:** I thought I might've been the only 10, but now I'm the third 10 tonight. I
**Senator:** think there's
**Gizmo:** more, you know, this cigar has entered my rotation in a way. I might be smoking more of these than any cigar right now, just because I'm in the car a lot, driving around to meetings, doing things. It's finishing almost every, it's finishing almost after your
**Bam Bam:** Caesar [01:50:00] salad.
**Gizmo:** I was
**Pagoda:** wondering what Gibbs was smoking when he said he was the only one who was going to be a dad.
**Gizmo:** It's just been, it's really, really been a powerhouse in my rotation. Like I said, I think I'm smoking more of these than any other cigar right now, simply because of how easy it is to fit in at any point during the day.
It works in the morning. It works at night. It works whenever. Um, you know, to all of Senator's points, the packaging, the presentation, how it feels in the hand, the consistency of it. I think, you know, we talk about even, I know what cigar you're talking about, we'll, we'll look at it in a future episode, that Cuban cigar, um, the short smoke, but the consistency of this is unmatched.
**Rooster:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** You know, there, there is not another cigar that I've had every single one be an absolute home run. And I'm, I'm glad tonight.
**Bam Bam:** That's a Davidoff product that consistently comes through.
**Gizmo:** And I'm glad tonight that it performed so well. And I think that the final point on it, as you mentioned, I think if this was priced like most Davidoffs are, even for its size, I don't think I would have [01:51:00] rated it a 10 on value, but at seven bucks, as you found it, 10 bucks, whatever you can get it
**Bam Bam:** for.
**Gizmo:** You can't beat the value on this cigar. And we got quite a bit of time out of it tonight. So it's a 10 for me all day. I think it's a home run. I think every lizard listen, listener. of any palette should have this in their rotation. It's a slam dunk home run cigar from Davidoff. Well done. I'm impressed. So it's a 10.
**Pagoda:** Pagoda. 10 10 wins. And what I mean by that is in the previous, uh, smoke from me was a 10. This is a 10. 10 10 wins. Um, I do have the Puppet Streeters
**Gizmo:** that for about an hour, I think. I, I
**Pagoda:** I love my Papa's Frieda's as well, by the way. Uh, but this is fantastic. Let's get
**Rooster:** back to the cigar.
**Pagoda:** Guys, just buy it and smoke it.
That's all I can say. It's a 10. Everybody said it's a 10.
**Grinder:** Griner. I think I'm a sucker for Davidoff. I love that Davidoff DNA. And the wonderful thing about this cigar, uh, [01:52:00] compared to some of those other, you know, shorter smokes in the shorter, uh, ring gauge. This one, the consistency remained throughout. The flavor remained throughout.
I didn't get any harshness at the end. It was still a lighter burn. It didn't get, it didn't overwhelm me with heat in the, on the end there. And that flavor profile was consistent throughout. Um, and I loved every bit of it. It's a 10 for me.
**Gizmo:** All right, bam.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, I really can't add much to all of your commentary.
You know, honestly, a cigar that makes our rotation on a daily basis that smoke so beautifully, that's so affordable. It's an absolute 10.
**Gizmo:** Wow.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** That is a rare one on the podcast here, boys. For
**Bam Bam:** such a little cigar. It's
**Gizmo:** unreal. Do you know how upset
**Senator:** rooster
**Gizmo:** must be right now? Furious. Let me tell them rooster, the formal lizard rating on the Davidoff, Winston Churchill, and bellicoso.
Is it 10.0 my damnit .
**Rooster:** 10
**Gizmo:** Ru. Is that your first 10?
**Rooster:** What's, what's wrong with you guys? .
**Gizmo:** That's one of the best cigars we've ever done [01:53:00] on the podcast. Oh, yeah. . I'm, I'm really impressed. I think the only other cigar that's ever day of the vacation, a flat 10.0. Correct. Is the Padron 80th anniversary in Maduro?
Mm-Hmm. . Um, we've had some cigars get close, but this cigar. Is only the second in 131 episodes. That's incredible. I thought the chef's edition was a 10. So let's go through good tea up there. Rooster, let's go through some of the other Davidoff's we've done on the podcast on episode two, to your point, rooster, the chef's edition, 2021 got a 9.
2 episode two. That's crazy. Yeah. Episode eight. We did. The Davidoff Dominicana in Robusto, that also got a 9. 2. On episode 27, we did the Late Hour Churchill, the sister line to this cigar. As, uh, Senator mentioned, the wrappers, I believe, are the all the tobacco, I don't remember, is aged in ex Scotch barrels.
**Bam Bam:** Correct.
**Gizmo:** Uh, got a 9. 2 as well. The Millennium Pyramides on episode 33 got a 9. 0. Then we [01:54:00] went through the Millennium line on episode 45, the Robusto also got a 9. 0 and on episode 79, the Millennium Lancero got a 9. 1. So we've never had a Davidoff go under 9. 0. Did you mention
**Bam Bam:** the Dominicana? Yes,
**Gizmo:** the Dominicana Robusto episode eight, we got a 9.
2. 9. 2. Okay. So we've not had a Davidoff. Rate under a 9. 0 we've done seven of
**Bam Bam:** them. It's outstanding.
**Gizmo:** We've done seven and every cigar has rated 9. 0 or higher. Obviously tonight being edged quite a bit with this Bella Cosa from Winston Churchill at a 10. 0. So unbelievable pretty damn good. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** it's amazing
**Gizmo:** credit to Eddie of on this one.
That was that was really really impressive. So credit
**Bam Bam:** to Davidoff. Yeah, credit
**Gizmo:** to Davidoff. Come
**Bam Bam:** on.
**Gizmo:** So we'll have to stay away from that Maduro, you smoked a grinder. So we don't, uh, we don't pull the composite down below a nine. Let me tell you, I'm,
**Grinder:** I'm actually, I'm, I'm excited. I'm also terrified to review it because I, if you guys come in and love it.[01:55:00]
I'm going to look like such an idiot. No, it might've been, you
**Rooster:** know, red or something. It's your palette. It's a Davidoff though. They're all consistent. Yeah, they are. It's your palette. It's your palette. It's your palette.
**Pagoda:** It doesn't matter. It's trash. Whatever. No, it's not trash. It is, uh, strong. It is what it is.
It is
**Bam Bam:** what
**Pagoda:** it is.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys. So we had a great night tonight on all three. I mean, unbelievable,
**Bam Bam:** a lot of fun
**Gizmo:** on the red breast, 12 year aged Irish whiskey. We've got a 9. 0 on the San Cristobal de la Habana El Principe from Cuba. We had a 9. 2 and on a Davidoff Winston Churchill in Bellicoso. We had a 10.
Point
**Bam Bam:** zero. So it's rare to have such a rich experience with everything that we've tried tonight. It's really worth pursuing everything that we smoked and drink. And
**Gizmo:** what's great, Ben, when we talked about this individually, but overall think about the value we got out of this stuff tonight.
**Bam Bam:** Two great cigars, two 10 cigars.
This particular Davidoff, you can get sub [01:56:00] 10 and that 65 bottle of whiskey. Fantastic. Split
**Gizmo:** with friends. I mean, you're talking a 30 night, two hours, three hours of great experience. Like, it's just
**Bam Bam:** incredible.
**Gizmo:** Great value night. Great ratings. I mean, everything was a slam dunk. So we have to thank of course, lizard Kamal for sending us the San Cristobal El Principes.
And like we said a couple of times, we have to thank EDI for providing us, leading us to the Davidoff Winston Churchill and Bellicoso at a 10. 0. Shocking night boys. Awesome.
**Grinder:** Great.
**Gizmo:** And, uh, thanks of course, to our presenting sponsor, Fabrica5. And, uh, we'll see everybody next week. Hope you enjoyed this episode.
Thanks for joining us. You can find our merch store and ratings archive at our brand new website. LoungeLizardsPod. com That's LoungeLizards P O D dot com. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. If you have any comments, questions, if you want to reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking, we'd Email us hello at lounge lizards pod.
com. You can also find us on Instagram [01:57:00] at lounge lizards pod. We really appreciate your time and we'll, uh, we'll see you next week.