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The lizards pair the Davidoff Late Hour in Churchill with 15 year aged Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch. The lizards discuss the legacy of Winston Churchill, Davidoff’s history of innovation, and the guys debate the hype surrounding regional and limited edition cigars.
Released every Tuesday, the LOUNGE LIZARDS podcast helps listeners navigate the experience of finding and enjoying premium cigars (both Cuban and non-Cuban) and quality spirits. Episodes are normally around 90 minutes long and feature a variety of different topics including food, travel, life, sports and work.
The podcast features eight members: Rooster, Poobah, Gizmo, Senator, Pagoda, Chef Ricky, Grinder and Bam Bam.
This is not your typical cigar podcast. We’re a group of friends who love sharing cigars, whiskey and a good laugh.
Join us and become a card-carrying lounge lizard yourself! Email us at hello@loungelizardspod.com to join the conversation and be featured on an upcoming episode!
**Gizmo:** [00:00:00] Welcome to the Lounge Liz's podcast. It's so good to have you here. It's a leisure and lifestyle podcast founded on our love of premium cigars, as well as whiskey, travel, food, work, and whatever else we feel like getting into. My name is Gizmo, and tonight I'm joined by Puba, Senator Pagoda, Grindr, and bam bam.
And our plan is to smoke a cigar, drink sub scotch, talk about life, and of course, have some laughs. So take this as your 27th official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. Plan to meet us here once a week. We're gonna smoke a new world cigar tonight. Share our thoughts on it, and give you our formal lizard rating.
We chat about the legacy of Winston Churchill. David, it off's history of innovation, and we debate the hypes surrounding regional and limited edition cigars, all among a variety of other things for the next hour. So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar, and. As we pair 15 year age Glen Fitch Scotch with Davidoff late hour in Church Hill, a lizard favored on the pod [00:01:00] tonight, the Davidoff late hour in Church Hill, A 48 ring gauge by seven inch cigar.
This cigar is well loved in this group. Mm-hmm. pagoda especially, I think he smokes about six of these a week. a day. It, it's love them and they're so great. And, uh, we've all been smoking them for quite some time now. Certainly since as long as I can remember of this group being together and, uh, some special stories about it.
We'll get into that, but just in the construction and, and the cigar in your hand. It is a really, really elegant cigar in the
**Bam Bam:** hand. Yeah, it's a baller cigar. It
**Gizmo:** is, yeah. It's got the, it's got the cool black and gold. Yep. Two bands.
**Bam Bam:** It looks beautiful. Um, Looks expensive.
**Senator:** Yeah. I mean, I'll just say right off the bat, I remember the first time I saw one of these cigars.
I think it's the sexiest Churchill absolutely ever made. Yeah, absolutely. I would literally go that far. Yeah. From the, the [00:02:00] beautiful design of just the bands that are on this to the dark, perfectly constructed rapper. I, I, I just love looking at this cigar. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** The davidoff quality comes through on this particular stick.
Right? Absolutely.
**Poobah:** It's hard to deny Yeah. Power. It's power. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's really powerful. I want to, I'd rather be in a pin blue pin stripe in a, in, that's at the, at the, you know, at the grand of Anna room Yep. Smoking this thin, you know, in jeans. Yeah. But because it is, it makes you feel that way.
Yeah. I mean, it really is sophisticated, sophisticated. , like, like you feel when I when you light up the Sir Winston. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, when you put a really good Churchill in, in, in your hand, and I think the Sir Winston and this Churchill here are my two favorite. Oof.
**Gizmo:** Absolutely. Yeah. Churchills. And you know what to, what you said about the Sir Winston, just like that cigar from [00:03:00] Huppman in Cuba, this cigar is also in honor mm-hmm.
of Winston Churchill, to the point that they have a silhouette of Churchill on the band right above the Ddo logo, cigar and mouth and all. Yes, sir.
**Poobah:** Absolutely. In, so in all of his brilliance
**Gizmo:** and power. And what's cool about this is this cigar, uh, is in, uh, collaboration with the Davidoff, or excuse me, with the Churchill Estate.
Oh. So his family has actually not only. Approved the use of his likeness, but also has been involved in his development over the years. So I did not know that. I didn't know that either. Yeah. It's a pretty cool story. His, uh, I guess his great grandson or something is kind of the, the, uh, executor or the, or the, the head of his trust, uh, and his, you know, in charge of his likeness and they've worked, they've collaborated alongside Davidoff to put these cigars out.
Well, clearly he's a lizard.
**Senator:** Yeah, absolutely.
**Grinder:** Is it the spend, the benefits? I think it's, or the,
**Gizmo:** I think it may be, yeah. I think you're correct on that. I
**Bam Bam:** think it's easy to, to say that this is a flagship cigar for the Ddo
**Gizmo:** line. Absolutely.
**Senator:** Right. Absolutely. It's so oily. I mean, which is amazing though, because this is [00:04:00] not, they haven't made this for
**Gizmo:** that long.
No, no. It's only a few years old. Yeah. Yeah. And I guess they really spent a lot of time designing it and, and, and developing it and blending it. So let's, uh, let's see what we get into, uh, here, boys, let's cut this thing. See, we're getting on the cold. Draw this dark, oily wrapper really well constructed.
I've never had an issue with a, with a late hour. No. It tastes
**Poobah:** like a davit off when you. on the cold draw. It has that distinct flavor.
**Bam Bam:** And honestly, other than the, the Millennium Toro, I've never had an issue with any ddo other than that cigar. Yeah. For me personally. I agree. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. This is a, an exquisite cigar, dark oily wrapper.
The seams are perfect. Mm-hmm. cedar, the construction's
**Bam Bam:** just great. A ton of cedar on a cold
**Gizmo:** draw
**Senator:** too. Yeah, I got a lot of cedar and dark chocolate and a little leather on the cold draw. Leather. Yeah.
**Poobah:** There you go.
**Gizmo:** Definitely. This is a great cigar. All right, boy, let's get into it. Let's light this thing again.
[00:05:00] It's a, uh, the Davi off late hour in Churchill, seven inches, uh, with a 48 ring gauge cigar.
**Poobah:** So, oh, I've been looking forward to this all day. Actually, ,
**Bam Bam:** just to piggyback on what Puba just said, this is such a substantial cigar and full of flavor from tip to end. . It's almost, it's a very rewarding experience at the end of the day.
**Senator:** I completely agree. Yeah. I reach for this stick when, if I've had a long day. Yeah. And I just wanna really immerse myself in a cigar. This is one of a few that I would pick up. And if I've had a fantastic day that I just want to cap with a, a great long smoke. The other reason I would pick this up, yeah.
**Grinder:** There's, there's
**Bam Bam:** luxury attached to this.
**Gizmo:** So this is the second part of David Off's tribute to Winston Churchill in collaboration with the family. So they have the white label, uh, uh, Churchill series, and this is the late [00:06:00] hour. So what, what this is designed for pairing with spirits, which obviously we're gonna do, and it's also designed to kind of have later in the day, uh, in that the rapper is aged in.
Scotch single malt whiskey barrels. Cool. Which is
**Senator:** pretty cool. Wow. One of the only cigars I've ever seen do that. And they did a hell of a job cuz it's, it's a delicious stick. It is, yeah.
**Gizmo:** And it's, it sounds gimmicky, but the execution's great, right? It's,
**Poobah:** yeah. I was gonna thank you for saying that because, um, I, I, this make no mistake, uh, for the listener, if you've not had this cigar, this is not a flavored cigar.
This is not, this is all tobacco with nothing added. The, the, the, the I and, and maybe pico, you can elaborate on this because I know that you how much you love this, this particular cigar. But I, I think the wrapper is, is aged in scotch barrels. [00:07:00] But this isn't infused, this isn't, no.
**Gizmo:** All
**Senator:** the, all the tobacco is aged in
**Poobah:** single mo barrels.
All the tobacco, the fill filler and the binder. Everything
**Gizmo:** or
**Pagoda:** No, I thought it was just a bi uh, it was just a filler. I think a portion of the filler was aged in. Squash barrels, uh, you know, which was mixed with the, uh, the Nicaragua and the Dominican filler as well. I believe. Uh, I know I read about it a while back, but, uh, I'm just trying to think about in memory.
I'll confirm it shortly.
**Senator:** It, it's the filler.
**Poobah:** Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the filler that's, yeah. So,
**Gizmo:** excuse me, I said the rapper, but it's the filler.
**Bam Bam:** Sorry about Yeah. Am I crazy? But I'm getting a little anis, black licorice type of thing happening. Very sure. Very slightly. Fantastic. An
**Poobah:** ANS type thing. Shit. Yeah.
Yeah. Very complex. Smoke. Current and
**Gizmo:** current. Yeah. Current leather, A little weather, a little woody. The current is accurate. Yeah. Yeah,
**Pagoda:** definitely. No. Did any of you guys get a bit of sweetness and ch chocolate in the beginning when you lighted out?
**Senator:** I did dark chocolate right on the light.
**Pagoda:** Yep. It is. You know, it's [00:08:00] really interesting, Mickey.
I've had a few friends smoke in the Toro and this, and, uh, so I think in the cold draw you get a little bit of, uh, the saltiness. The woodiness, a little bit of leather, but you don't get a lot of sweetness. But as soon as you light it up, it's like, gives you a sudden burst of like sweetness and chocolate and Yeah.
I'll tell you, it just tarts
**Bam Bam:** what's complex just makes me smile. Yeah, it's complex because, uh, I get the cocoa and that chocolate on the finish for me, initially, I get that little bit of that black licorice, that anise type of, uh, uh, note. It's, it's
**Poobah:** really something. Yeah. In the, in the beginning, if you blow it out your nose a little bit, which you can do at this point of the cigar, you'll get that just what you're talking about.
**Bam Bam:** I have a, I have a question for all of you. So you've all smoked cigars a lot longer than I have. Um, how long into your smoking career, quote unquote. Did you pick the
**Grinder:** cigar up? 2000. I was it early?
**Bam Bam:** It picked it up. I was early in Your cigar. Smoking.
**Senator:** Middle late. Keep mind. This hasn't been around that long.
Yeah, that's true. Limits this
**Bam Bam:** incident. No, that's true. That's true. [00:09:00] Yeah.
**Poobah:** Maybe it's a move. No, I think at our, at our, at our old lounge, this was one of the cigars that our, that we would pick up on allocation because why not?
**Senator:** So I am not, not immediately. No, I, you'll,
**Bam Bam:** you'll remember this, so, so I'm going, this is exactly where I'm going.
Yeah. For me, I was always a bit intimidated by the cigar. A little bit. You remember why you
**Senator:** picked this up? Because of you? Yes. . Yes, . So tell the story and I, I'm not saying that as then I discovered it, I discovered from someone else, but then I just Sure that I love this cigar. Another lizard started smoking it.
So ironically enough, a non lizard was smoking this at one of our lounges at one point, and I would always just stare at how beautiful that cigar was. It's beautiful. It's so beautiful. And I was on a business trip in Detroit of all places. Mm-hmm. . And all I had on my mind was, I really wanna try that late hour that I, I would always see someone smoking in the, in our lounge.
And I found, to my complete surprise, this great cigar lounge in Detroit that actually had one of the best collections of Davidoff I've seen [00:10:00] anywhere. They had the late hour Churchill. I was there with another colleague of mine, so I bought two of them so he could try one. And I did. And I fell in love with that cigar.
And so I came back and the very next month at our lounge for our allocation, I had bought a box and I remember bam. And another friend of ours walk in and they just saw the box. I had it sitting on the coffee table cause I just bought it downstairs. That's right. And he immediately goes, what's in that box?
Because it's a beautiful box. Really? It's like this black, like, like varnished beautiful. And he's like, what's in that, what's in that box? And I was like, it's the late hour. They're fantastic. and on Blind faith. Bam just goes downstairs. I I want a box in those . Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he bought one and so did the other guy look.
And we've loved them ever since.
**Bam Bam:** The beauty of the box and the cigar, it makes you wanna buy it. I, it really does.
**Grinder:** His great presentation. I'll always remember when I first got this box, I think it was, I, I, I first got it when it first came out. Um, I think it was 2017, correct me if I'm wrong. It's somewhere around there.
Yeah, somewhere around there. Um, I remember because it was at the lounge and I was like, oh, that looks really [00:11:00] interesting. And then I found it online for the same price and it, and had had a gift set with it. And it had this like Tumblr and like, you know, this, uh, bourbon box that you can use as like a, a makeshift humidor and like coasters,
And it was little gimmicky, but I still have 'em to this day. Uh, like I got two boxes of, of Churchill late hours. and I have these like very nice dat off glasses and, and stuff that came with it. It's, and, and I always remember that.
**Gizmo:** And I think to your point about presentation, I, I just love the silhouette of Winston Churchill on these cigars.
It just, it, it makes it, I don't know, serious, formidable. It's, it's a, it's, it's really cool, but also
**Bam Bam:** taking it, I love Winston Church. You're just taking it a step further. I'm looking at all of you holding the cigar. It looks really sexy. I mean, I'm not, it just looks very sophisticated and elegant, honestly.
You hold,
**Grinder:** hold great in your hands. It's,
**Senator:** it's hot's. It's amazing. Even the colors, the, the black and gold on the band. It, it's just, it's one of the most [00:12:00] beautiful bands and cigars I've seen. And
**Gizmo:** for a Churchill, by the way, for only to be, you know, somewhere between 20 and 24 bucks. I think that's a, i I think that's a fair price for the experience that the cigar
**Grinder:** gives.
Yeah. I re I, I like, I like, sorry, uh, Senator, I was gonna say I like smoking this with others more than I do independently because for, for me, The aroma from others smoking. This is actually better than the taste I get. And the taste is phenomenal. But the aroma of this cigar and being around others who are smoking it, it just kind of, I don't know.
It, it fills the room. It, it, it's, it's so overpowering and it, and it's, it's, it's wonderful. Yeah.
**Pagoda:** Can we give the formal Liz rating? ?
**Bam Bam:** It's a 10. It's a 10. It's a 10. It's a 10. Yeah. Let me tell you, ,
**Gizmo:** what were we gonna say? Pba?
**Poobah:** Well, it's, it's when you, when you light it and you hold it, it, it gives me the similar, first of all, I, I, if I'm smoking a Sir Winston Byman, [00:13:00] one of my favorite cigars.
I think we can all agree if we're gonna, if we're gonna smoke a church, if you're gonna smoke a Churchill, that's the hell of a Churchill to smoke. And you feel, I feel like this cigar, the Sir Winston, when you smoke it, you almost, I always kind of like, I'm a big, uh, Winston Churchill fan, and, uh, you know, you could argue, uh, that he actually like saved Western civilization.
I mean, in the early part of World War ii, he was really instrumental in, uh, uh, in shoring us up, uh, uh, in Europe. I mean, he really had the balls to do it and, uh, and really led, uh, led Europe out of that. Um, and the, he's just, he's was just a, such a complicated man, not the way he grew up. the way, [00:14:00] just everything, everything about him, you know, uh, uh, you know, he would, he would have Paul Roge at, you know, at lunch and, and, you know, and j his whole, his demeanor, he had a stutter.
He had a speech impediment, which he overcame. He was an aristocrat, but like, and he had this respect for the aristocracy in a way that was good. Not in a way that was kind of pompous and arrogant, because he really, he was for the, the, what you would call the common man. But, um, but he had respect for the hierarchy within the aristocracy as he, as he navigated through it, because his father was an aristocrat and he had a very rough childhood.
Um, and his mother was an. And his mother. Yes, his mother was an American and sh and that create, that presented its own problems. Um, for him, he had a, he had a tough time, um, without going into his whole life, because they're volumes of, [00:15:00] of, of, of, of, you know, written on him. But, but it's really the way he, you know, the signature when you see it in his mouth and the hat and it's just, it's his, his special.
It's just, he, he really saved the world. I mean, he saved the world would not have been the same without Winston Churchill, the way we live everything. I mean, Roosevelt was like, come at the beginning of the war. I kind of, Hey, listen, I can't help you right now. You're, you know, you're on your own. and he really rallied Europe.
We, we need a
**Grinder:** Winston Churchill in Ukraine.
**Poobah:** Yeah. Yeah. And it's, you know, I was just thinking that we may have a Winston Churchill in Ukraine, . We, we may, I might. Yeah. You know, somebody needs to stand up and, uh, you know, he really did. He stood up and he used, uh, and he used his voice and he used language in a way that was so unique.
You know, he spoke in stanza, he, like, when he delivered his speech, he was very, his, his speeches, he was very [00:16:00] meticulous in terms of how he delivered, you know, um, I don't have it verbatim, but you know, we, he would say, he would say, well, uh, you know, we will beat them in the landing grounds. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. In the sea.
But all of it was done. It was rhythmic on purpose. Yeah. He spoke in stanza. Yeah. Cuz he knew the power. It
**Grinder:** was, he was very, he was very deliberate, I would say, in his language. And having been such an accomplished person, such a learned. Person at such a young age, by the age, by the time of 20, he was 24, he was more accomplished than 99.99, nine 9% of everyone who ever lived in the world.
And, um, he had that kind of education that was somewhat aite and that upbringing, but he didn't convey that when he spoke to the people, he spoke very deliberately, very simple words. You contrast that with someone like Boris Johnson, who's a bumbling idiot and uses these complex words that people don't understand
[00:17:00] And you know, the, the contrast is tremendous. , right? I mean, not to, you know, slam Boris Johnson. Cause I think he's awesome. I think he's hilarious. He's also a little bit of an idiot. But, you know, it's, the contrast is, is in leadership is, is very
**Poobah:** unique. Well, it's hard to compare Winston Churchill to anyone, anyone ever.
Right. Anyone
**Gizmo:** ever. Uh, and, and I'll say this, for any of the listeners out there who may have a pedestrian understanding of Winston Churchill as I did uh, a few years ago, the, the movie with Gold, uh, Gary Oldman, uh, the Darkest Hour Oh, is a fantastic riveting film biography on, on fantastic film on the, the journey into World War ii.
And it led me into, uh, reading his autobi, not his autobio, his biography, which is a wonderful read. It's very, as you said, it's long, it's so long. It's very dense. Yeah. Oh, it's so dense. But an incredible story and an incredible life that the guy lived
**Grinder:** Princess Di was a descendant of, of Winston Churchill.
I didn't know that. Yeah. Wow. Diana Spencer. Diana Spencer Churchill [00:18:00] was her. Is her. Wow. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** There you go. . So we are enjoying the davidoff late hour here in celebration of Winston Churchill. What are you guys getting so far? We're about, I would say, three quarters of an inch in, I think it's so delicious.
**Grinder:** It's Someone said leather. Yeah, leather, leathery, spicy. But that's
**Senator:** really spot on. And, and I say that because it, it's one of the, it's one of the few cigars. There's leather notes in a number of sticks that I don't appreciate it. It it's got like a harsh artificial taste to it. Yep. Almost amonia, like, yeah.
Yeah. It's done so well. Like, I, I never seek out leather in a cigar , except this, like, they, it's done so well. It's just perfect. But the,
**Grinder:** the, the look when you're not in, when you're not puffing on it and it's just got that slight smoke billowing out of it. Dude, it's awesome coming up the, the long Churchill length.
It's really, it's really kind of pretty. It's like, it's like one of those montages [00:19:00] you see at the beginning of a, a cigar YouTube video. You know? It's
**Gizmo:** mesmerizing. Yeah. And you know what, I think that's interesting, and I think we talked about this cuz we did the Davidoff Chef's edition. I think it was episode two or three or something.
I think it was episode two, um, when we started the pod. What's interesting about a Churchill is when you pull this out of your travel case or your humidor, your, or whatever it may be, you're really committing to an extended period of time. A a sit. It's a sit down. It's a sit down with the cigar. And I think that it, it demands something of you.
**Senator:** Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I think Churchill's, as of Viola were made for lizards. , like, let's just be real. Right? Like, you know, Winston Churchill's a guy who sat down and smoked many cigars, who built time into his day to really enjoy and appreciate his cigar and. Think and, and just decompress and all of that.
And I wish that there were more brands that made great Churchills because [00:20:00] Absolutely. I think all of us can count on one hand, right? The number of great Churchills that exist, both new and old worlds. Yep. Yeah. And it, it pains me cuz I love this viola. Mm-hmm. , I wish there were a lot more. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** There's a sophistication to this particular vitola
**Gizmo:** and I, I think the execution here, like we've talked about with Davidoff and what they've done in this specific line, in this specific viola is unmatched almost anywhere that I've had in, in this size.
You know? Cuz I don't reach for a cigar of the size unless I really know what I'm getting. Well it's,
**Poobah:** they have a say what you want about Davidoff and there's a lot of people who think Davids. , they have a lot of different opinions that it's, they're overpriced and that this and that and the other thing, the one thing that, that you can, that they do have a commitment to tradition in terms of, I think the, the, the Winston Churchill line, um, not necessarily just the late hour, but you know, the, the other more milder, [00:21:00] they make a milder Winston Churchill, which says the white, the white rapper on it.
Um, and if this is too much for someone, you know, give that a try. But I, but these, you know, when you sit down and your light went up, you, you put your four fingers on it. Yeah. And it's like, you know, and you, that's substantial. You feel it in your hand and it just feels great. I mean, um,
**Grinder:** I really, I really enjoy the white label, actually.
And it's gotta, it's got, it's, it's very, it is very mild. Mm-hmm. , but it's, it's not, it's not a typical Davet off mild. A lot of the davet off cigars. The mild cigars, they have a very unique davidoff taste that they carry through, through all their, you know, their different cigars to some degree. That one is, is different.
It stands apart. Um, and as it should, how
**Bam Bam:** much we should compare are these, compare the
**Gizmo:** weight? They're between 20 and 24, so, you know, I, I think in, in New Jersey, let's say, or where you're paying tax, you're gonna be closer to 24. [00:22:00] Okay. So a box of, they come in boxes of 20. So you're looking somewhere between the four 30 to four 80 range, depending on
**Bam Bam:** where you're buy, you know, I don't, I paid $27 for me.
Yeah. For me personally, that's not expensive for what you're getting in this, in this vi
**Senator:** really. Yeah. The way I would rationalize this, so I, I've never paid more than 25 bucks for a late hour, and I think it's one of the best values, ironically, within the Davidoff line and how I've even rationalized this.
I've had some friends who don't smoke as often as we do, who have said, oh, well I don't know that I'm gonna spend $25 on this late hour. And I've given them one to try and they say it's great, but they're, it's just not in their wheelhouse to spend 25 bucks on a stick. That's not normally what they do.
How I always rationalize is it, it it's two cigars. Yeah. Yeah. There's value. It's so when you do the math, you're talking 12 something, a stick, it's two cigars. You're, you're,
**Grinder:** you're, you, you can spend $17 on a very good re robusto or $25 on a Churchill and get double the smoke
**Poobah:** out of it. Shit. Yeah. [00:23:00] I, I, I think the mil, I think the petite, the millennium in petite Corona is like 16
**Bam Bam:** bucks.
Yeah. It's, it's outrageous. These That's a good point. Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good
**Poobah:** point. Yeah. So, I mean, that's a tiny cigar. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** yeah, yeah. For whatever reason, these are
**Grinder:** priced cheaper and it's top of the line. Absolutely. Why do
**Pagoda:** you think I like it? ? I'm a value man. You know, ,
**Grinder:** you know, honestly
**Senator:** I value investor.
I'm glad it is because it, it's one of the few cigars in the Davi off line that like, gave me a little hope for Davidoff in, in that I criticized Davidoff so heavily in that. I think it's absurd to have to spend $30 a stick to have a good cigar. I think most of the stuff that we actually love and smoke is way less than $30 a stick, right?
If we're talking a D four or RAs, I mean, we could keep going on and on and on. And so when I picked this up, I said, okay, thank God they've actually made I think, a fairly priced stick that is outstanding in flavor and taste. So there, there's, I I This helps their [00:24:00] brand. It did for
**Poobah:** me. No doubt. Yeah, no doubt.
And it's differentiated. Which is cool cuz it, there's nothing really around that tastes like this. No. You may like it. Maybe some. I'm sure some people have tried it and said maybe it's not for me. Which is perfectly okay. But it's different. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** I agree. What, what distinguishes it for me is that I still get a little bit of that black liquidation current with a cocoa, kind of a cocoa finish.
And with a little spice. Yeah. And spice, that's an extraordinary flavor combination, right? Yeah.
**Poobah:** Think about that. But it's extraordinarily smooth and smooth. Yeah. This is a smooth cigar. It's ridiculous. Um, now when it gets down towards the end, as we know it can ramp knock your ramps. It ramps up and we'll get there.
But, um,
**Grinder:** it's oily. It's got that oily wrapper mm-hmm. and it coats your, you know, it kind of coats your muzzle. .
**Poobah:** Yeah. Yeah. And these have been the, this stick [00:25:00] has been in my humidor for, uh, this was probably one of the last boxes I bought from, uh, um, the old spot, the old. So I don't know how long ago. It's been a while, but that's over
**Gizmo:** a year ago.
It's
**Bam Bam:** beening over a year. Yeah. It'd be interesting to see what they taste like. Red out of a box and then kept in your
**Gizmo:** humidor for a year. So what's funny about you saying that is Senator actually, uh, had the reason why we actually kind of threw this into the rotation, aside from it being pagodas.
Absolute favorite cigar. Yeah. Is Senator had a revelation recently about, about
**Senator:** it. Let's talk. So I, obviously this has always been part of my regular rotation. I love this cigar, but what's funny is when I was smoking so many of them, I was going through them before I was going through every box before they had a chance to age at all, any extra in my humidor.
And finally, as I've been really ramping up my just appreciation for Cubans over the last few years, I finally have not been smoking these as often. And so I realized [00:26:00] this was maybe a few weeks ago, I said to Gizmo, I haven't picked up a late hour in at least six months. and that box that I have that I'll pull this out of is sat in my humidor for well over a year, which I've never been able to say before.
And I picked one up, not expecting it to smoke any differently. And it was a very different experience in a great way. I think the lane hours when you get them young, when they're, you know, you go to your local tobacco shop and you pick them up and they're, they're aged of course, but fresh in that they were just delivered and you're getting 'em out of the box.
Um, they have all the flavors that they do with some extra age, but there are some rough edges in the sense that, um, you know, it, it's not a cigar for the faint of heart. Like it, it's got a lot of flavor. It lets you know it's there. You're never gonna forget this cigar once you first smoke that light that up as it sits a little bit.
I couldn't believe I got not one rough edge all the way through. It had actually developed a little sweeter of flavor profile where when it's younger that like [00:27:00] leather and like dark, dark chocolate flavor that dominates. Develops into like a semi sweet chocolate leather that's just faint in the background, but not so dominant.
And it, I used to think of this as a cigar that I would only slot in when I'm looking for power, uh, powerful smoke or after a, a heavy meal and with a little extra age, I could slot this in
**Bam Bam:** almost. Anyway, you know, it's funny you're saying that the last time I had this was, uh, let's say at least a year ago.
I didn't enjoy it really? I really didn't like it. Hmm. I got halfway through and I got a ton of ammonia. I put it down. This is a totally different experience. So I think what Senator is saying may, I think it may make some sense. You buy him and let him sit for a few months. Yeah. I'll
**Senator:** say though, even young, if they're stored at the right humidity, I saw humidity placed.
That's the
**Bam Bam:** problem. That probably the problem with the cigar that I
**Gizmo:** had. I think humidity. I, I think these of course, are humid. I think you're gonna, yeah, you're gonna get blasted a little
**Pagoda:** bit. Yeah. Because I have a load of days. I've never had, uh, any
**Poobah:** pneumonia. Me neither. I've [00:28:00] never experienced that. Uh,
But, um, this is fantastic. I've experienced like some, maybe in the last third, some harshness in the past where you're like, Ooh, this thing's really kind of kicking me around. It's peppers. Yeah, yeah. Peppery. But, um, but I mean, the ra, this is, see this is davidoff. Like you hold the cigars up. I mean, it's just, they burned so razor sharp, wonderful ash.
I think you have to have respect for the construction and build of a cigar like this. Respect ash. And, and, and you gotta, I mean, look, you have to respect it. Yeah. It's just, they're so well made.
**Senator:** Now. The only thing I will say, we intentionally chose this late hour in Churchill, having had all the violas. It comes in a Toro, the Churchill, and the Rubo.
Um, I think we all also like the Rubo. I think it's a very good cigar. I think that almost all of us, if not all of us, think that. This is at its [00:29:00] best in the Churchill format, but I will warn the Toro, I, I think, does not do justice to this cigar in the way that the other two
**Bam Bam:** had told us. Do hey. Yeah, I, I, I kind of agree and going back to my, the, the millennium discussion that we've had over and over the Toro, when that guy as well, awful.
Yeah.
**Senator:** The Toro ruins that millennium. It's almost
**Bam Bam:** smokable.
**Pagoda:** I, I must say that, um, uh, my first introduction to the Churchill, uh, in the late hour, well, because the senator, uh, I remember being in the lounge. I think I might have been smoking the Torah. You were, because Torah is one of my favorite sizes. And, and you did recommend the Churchill.
And since then, I typically smoke only Churchill. In fact, that's what I typically buy. But I still have enough tos because I ended up buying a lot of these , which now have been in my humidor for a long time, around a year, uh, that I'm still getting, um, You know, I'm smoking them slowly. And in fact, last week at the Lounge when I was smoking a Toro, uh, [00:30:00] I remember you mentioning that I, you're glad that GIZ is known that , because Gizz absolutely hates the Toro.
**Gizmo:** I think I did not enjoy the Toro. I did not enjoy it. And actually, Grindr gave me the Toro when we were discussing this. Do you remember that? At the old clubhouse? And, uh, cuz I was smoking the Churchill, he gave me a Toro. I didn't hate it. I didn't love it, let's put it that way. But it is, is a far inferior experience, I think, to both the ch the Churchill and the Ribo.
**Grinder:** So, so I, I, I have a box of Toros. I have a bo, I have a Toro in my travel humidor right here. And I, I, I like it. Um, I'm curious why I, I would say the rub robusto is phenomen. . Um, I do like the Touro. I'm curious why you guys think it's, it's less, it's inferior. So I'll
**Senator:** give my perspective and, and, and my perspective on the late hour Touro is identical to how I would describe the problems I have with the Millennium Touro.
For some reason, when Davidoff makes those touros, and both of those, the late hour and the [00:31:00] millennium, the flavors are completely muddled, completely muddled to the point that I'm not getting a, as much flavor as I'm used to getting out of the smaller format with a smaller ring gauge of, of this. And, and B, um, I, I, I'm not, I, I'm getting a rougher experience with that cigar than I do.
There are smaller ring gauge, whether it's the re robusto or the Churchill. So that's my issue. And then the last thing I'll say is from a construction standpoint, I'm not sure why this is, I mean, there are plenty of Touros that I think are well constructed and that burn well, but on the Millennium Touro and the late hour Touro, I have real, like how, how Puba held up his cigar and you saw that beautiful razor sharp burn and the perfect ash.
I never experienced that on the Toro in either the millennium or late hour, the construction for some reason. So it burns very unevenly. It's funny
**Bam Bam:** because the ash on the millennium Toro is dark and [00:32:00] it's not as crisp as it is on the pyramid because on the pyramid it's beautiful, bright white like this guy here that we're holding.
Yep. It's, there's something different about it. The draw is different. You said The flavors are muddled with no doubt about it. And also I think the wrapper's tooth here. Where
**Pagoda:** to be fair? Yeah, to be fair. So I like, I enjoyed the Touro, in fact, last week when I was having the Toro. Now mind you that these have been in my Humo for about a year.
It was excellent. I really enjoyed, in fact, I, I did mention it to you that, you know, I'm really enjoying the Torah. It's not like, because I remember having tours in the beginning last year, like, which I was buying directly from the store and having them, and I could see that, um, you know, it was slightly different.
I didn't know whether it was that much different. But when I, uh, held a Churchill, I just enjoyed it so much more. I remember that feeling and that experience, and definitely I think in the [00:33:00] beginning of last year I felt a lot of that. But since then, now that. Had the Toro, which was aged. I don't know whether it's fair to say by default for a year because you know, I haven't been buying a lot of these and I haven't been smoking as many of the toros.
It was really good. I really
**Gizmo:** enjoyed it last week. Well that, that certainly makes me interested on going off of your, your opinion on, on how they're smoking now. It does make me want to give it another shot because I found the Toro that I had to be very harsh and, and in a lot of ways very different than the rub robusto and the Churchill that I had.
Correct. In not a good way. Like I, I feel like this smoke, the flavor, the, the complexity, it's, it's, it's, it's just, it wasn't there in
**Grinder:** the Toro. So, so I would, I, I would posit a, a hypothesis here that because of the Toro as a bigger ring gauge, and for piggybacking off what Pagoda said earlier, that the binder is what is soaked or mar, you know, kind of marinated and that, that those cast [00:34:00] barrels, I wonder if, because there's more of that, In that, in that Toro that it kind of overpowers and makes it a little rougher on the smoke.
Very well.
**Senator:** Could that
**Gizmo:** very well Steve Point
the
**Pagoda:** case? Good point. But, but you know, I gotta tell you another thing that I've recently tried the Dominicans is it, uh, you know, David do Yeah. We reviewed that really, I really enjoyed the Robusto and that, and for some reason I don't enjoy the Toros as much.
And once again, you know, we are back to the Toros with Dedos and uh, maybe, you know, they need to be aged a bit more. But I have a few of, uh, both of them lying, uh, in my humidor and I'd like to see
**Gizmo:** how they develop. This may be a stupid comment, but to me, the Toro in my hand, it's just not as comfortable or it doesn't feel as elegant.
Like I just preferred the Churchill Vito. Mm-hmm. Or even the Rub Robusto Robusto Rub Robusto, yeah. Over the, over the Toro in my hand.
**Poobah:** And it's a bit of a brute. Yeah, it's a bit of a brute. It's a good way of putting it. You know, you, it's just, It's average. [00:35:00] It's not, it's not a, a cigar, you know, a cigar that's closer to that size for me, like a, like an E two needs to deliver more of a, of a, of a, there's that much filler there.
I just want qua a more, there's something that's missing, like not a mellow, maybe it's a Melo wear experience with that much filler that you need something that's just, that's not just gonna hit you in the face with all that filler and strength like that. It's just not, doesn't work.
**Senator:** I also want to point out, I, I mean, I'm, I'm not a huge fan of Toro Vitola generally, period, but where I'll be charitable to it, and I think we should recognize is that, you know, in every cigar, no matter what brand we're talking about, even taking David off out of this equation, , we all feel that some cigars smoke best in a certain vitola and it really differs [00:36:00] by cigar.
Yep. I mean, I think when we really think about it, like, you know, we love the parus line, we've talked about that, and they have the D in the series line, right? The D four, the D five, the D six, all those, I think universally, all of us prefer the D four. It's like the perfect proportion of rapper and filler and, and all of that stuff.
I think in, you know, the late August, were saying that most of us, if not all of us, prefer the Churchill to the other Violas. Um, you know, the millennium. , I prefer that. Like Bam does, that's one of his favorite cigars period in the pyramid than I do any other vitola. Not saying the others are bad, but I think that that performs best in that pyramid.
So each cigar, it, it, it really just depends that ratio of the, the wrapper to the filler. It, it's really very dependent on each
**Poobah:** individual stick. That's right. And, and, and, and it goes back to to when we, when we, when you talk about Trinidad and you talk about the smaller Violas really exemplified the brand and the, and, [00:37:00] and, and express the brand in a way that that's, I think represents it the best.
The smaller Violas seem to do to, seemed to perform better than, let's say the Vigia. Uh, so. It's true. You're right. It it, it really depends on just the blend, what in Cuba, what the ratios are and with these different, with the new world blends, what the blends are and how they set up, because you've got a toro is the, the comparing the Toro to this.
Even though the tobacco's kind of aged the same way. It's treated the same way from the start. It's, it's really the ratio. I was about to say that It's the ratio of, of, of, of, of filler to to, to rapper that that's gonna set up and just deliver a different experience. I
**Grinder:** mean, why So it, it comes back to, I, I, I personally, I like the thinner ring gage because there's so much more flavor from the [00:38:00] wrapper.
The Churchill is a longer stick, but it's not that big of a
**Bam Bam:** ring gauge. It's a smaller ring gauge than not Toro. So, and there's, there's something to be said about that. Piggybacking on what, what Puba said, that ratio. Really works perfectly with this longer cigar. Yeah. And which,
**Grinder:** what makes me dumbfounded?
When you see these massive, you know, 80 ring gauge cigars that, that gives, gives smokes every once in a while. I have never,
**Gizmo:** let me say, so I want it on the Lizard ledger record that I have never smoked an 80 ring gauge cigar. Hey, junior. Junior .
**Grinder:** However, having said that, calm down Jr. Like, I like the, I like the series R, uh, LA Cubana.
Sorry. Lari.
**Senator:** Cubana. Yeah. Yes. Series. Series. Which
**Bam Bam:** is a big, it's a thick ring
**Grinder:** Gauge the number five, and another, but it doesn't, it doesn't overpower. It doesn't not overpower. It's a, it's actually a mild cigar.
**Pagoda:** No, but this is interesting, right? Because in this particular, uh, cigar, um, you know, the rappers Ecuadorian, uh, the binder is Mexican [00:39:00] and the fellas are Dominican and the car.
You know, and obviously to add to the complexity, the binder of, some of it is in scotch barrels, which in itself is an interesting, uh, you know, combination, uh, trying to construct the cigar. And so coming back to the ratios, I think considering that they're all, the tobaccos are coming from so many different regions to form this one particular cigar, thes could matter a lot.
And, and that could explain, um, at least some of, you know, the experiences with, uh, the different, uh,
**Bam Bam:** engages know, and it, it provides a full flavored experience. Just piggybacking what Pagoda just said, which actually I have to say the, the Glen Fit 15 that we're drinking Yeah. I was just gonna go there. To me it's a full-bodied scotch.
You need a full-bodied spirit to go with this full-bodied cigar. It works Great.
**Gizmo:** So as you said that, I just took my first sip Yeah. Of the 15. Yeah. And I obviously, . If we weren't pairing a, a scotch, we'd be remiss. Sure. [00:40:00] Having a Churchill, of course, celebrating Winston Churchill without a spirit. But we are lucky to have the Glen Fit 15 with us tonight.
Mm-hmm. . And this is really nice. It's, it's lighter than I expected for being a 15.
**Bam Bam:** I found it to be a fuller flavored. I, yeah. I, I, it's, I think it's good. It is good. I, I drank, I drank mine. You drank it all. . Um,
**Grinder:** I think it's, I think it's really
**Senator:** good. Welcome back then. .
**Grinder:** I love being a father . Um, but to be honest, it's, it's, um, it's, it's, it's really, it's really, it's a really good scotch.
Lot of flavor. Well balanced to your point. It doesn't blow me away. Um, but I, but a lot of times I'm not looking for a scotch to do that. You know, I. , you know, I like a normal run of the mill. Sometimes I would just like a blended scotch, like the Kirk, like we talk about the Kirkland. Yep. This is obviously not a blended scotch, but it's still delicious.
But it, it's, it's, it's, it's really, really good. And it's nothing too extraordinary that it's overpowering the [00:41:00] flavor of the cigar.
**Gizmo:** Absolutely. It's very complimentary to the cigar that we are smoking. And I, you know, to Bogota's point about, you know, uh, the, the binder being aged in scotch barrels, you know, it, it really pairs perfectly with obviously, uh, with, with a, with a scotch
**Senator:** spirit.
But even taking that a step further, so again, I had only sig you know, my role here, obviously Grindr is the scotch expert. I, I just am wor training to be a sommelier at some point when I retire. So I just help with pairings here, . But why I had suggested us pair this with this cigar, this scotch is aged in three different barrels.
It's ex bourbon ex sherry and New Oak that has had nothing in it before. And I thought that that was interesting in that this cigar, you know, as Pagoda talked about, you have the Ecuadorian rapper, you have the filler, that's San Andreas, and you have the, you have the binder from San Andreas and the filler from, uh, Dominican and, and Nicaragua.
I, I just thought that [00:42:00] there's something that marries well there, and I think I agree a hundred percent with Grindr and Gizmo's point that it doesn't overpower this very complex cigar, which you don't want it to. This has a lot of flavor on its own. We're not looking for something to compete against it, but it has enough flavor to hold up to a cigar.
I
**Bam Bam:** stand, it's up to the cigar.
**Grinder:** That's a nice, that's a nice little nugget. Like the, the, you know, uh, uh, Puba talks about the triple threat. There's a triple threat in the cigar and a triple threat in the, in the scotch is very different origins of each of these, and
**Poobah:** it's pretty cool. Yeah. And, and I think when you, when you talk about these things, The, the amount of hands and the amount of material that has to go into the creation of, of some of these things.
And we talk about, well, $25 for the cigar. But I mean, like, think about from like a supply chain perspective and like with the materials and everything that goes into making all this, the, either the scotch, the cigar, like how much [00:43:00] time it takes and how much effort, the artistry and the product, the artistry and the organic nature.
I think I've said this before, touched on it, it's like there's are an organic nature. These are like natural products that are like, that are cultivated by men and women and by man and it's pretty, it's these are the, so to appreciate these things, I think having the background and knowing what goes into the amount of effort that goes into creating a, a cigar that's got.
That, that, that has a binder aged in scotch barrels. And then you, you, you have all the, all the filler and the wrapper coming from these different regions and, and a master blender who get, who, who, who for blends the cigar. You got a, you got, you have a distiller who's aging scotch for 15 years in, in, in multiple barrels.
I mean, this takes a lot of time and effort to do so. Um, and it's reflected in, in the, in the [00:44:00] expression of, of, of what these things are. So it, they should be enjoyed. Yeah. And
**Grinder:** let, unless we forget, you know, it's Davidoff does age their cigars longer than every, you know, just pretty much everyone else on the market save for padron and.
you know, Opus X. Right, right, right. So, um, obviously the, the, it's gonna match very well with another spirit that has that comparable or compatible aging sequence, you know, over the course of
**Senator:** time. Yeah. I think also something I, I, you know, I have to give Davidoff credit for is you think about a lot of the cigars we smoke, right?
Any of the Cubans were smoking everything in that cigars from Cuba, everything. Sapiro Sapiro. Yeah. You think of Patron drones and some other, you know, Nicaraguan Piros that we've had before. Davidoff is one of, I, I think on another episode, we probably talked about this in the context of, uh, maybe was Liga and the guy who runs Liga and how he has all these crazy wild blends and things from all these different regions and, and even countries.
And I will give Davidoff credit. I mean, the fact that we're [00:45:00] talking about four different countries that have contributed to this cigar and that they've blended in such an impressive way. It, it's actually very, it's very innovative. I feel like Davidoff is. Kind of viewed as a old stodgy brand in some ways.
But when you think about it, Davidoff is actually really innovative and progressive in, in that blending sense of like bringing all these wildly different things and even, you know, materials from different countries together in a cigar and doing a really good way.
**Grinder:** You could argue that, that, sorry, uh, Puba.
Yeah. You could argue that Davidoff is just as adventurous in their vault selections as Rocky Patella is and his aggrandizement of marketing campaign. Oh boy. Well, well, no, no, no. In, in a certain way. I mean, obviously David,
**Senator:** no, I'm only joking. Davidoff Rooster. Rooster just rolled over in bed right now. . No, but
**Bam Bam:** I think Grinder's making a really good correlation and that Rocky really does diversify their marketing and their product placement and how they place it.
And there's a progressive well notion
**Grinder:** there, right? So, but Rocky [00:46:00] does it on a marketing basis. Yeah. Davidoff actually fucking
**Bam Bam:** does
**Poobah:** it. Exactly. Here's it. But, but, but, but a hundred percent. But the thing, what I wanted to, so I hear where you're going, but. . The thing with Davidoff is that makes it special and unique is that for some reason they're able to, they're able to be creative, but still, but still maintain their foundational kind of flavor profile.
In other words, this tastes, this tastes like a davidoff. Okay. When you go through, damn, I've had DDoS that I've loved, I've had DDoS that I've not liked so much. I've had some that are overrated. , all the, but they're, they're, they're always, they always seem to, they have that distinctive davidoff flavor profile, so they're able to do these things, but they almost stick to the foundational elements of who they are.
And for that, I give them a lot of respect. They, if this is not a huge deviation, it it, is it different than anything you'll have? Yes. But if you, you, [00:47:00] you can't make an argument that this is a d this is like a com, like completely off the Mac. When you go into a humidor, a davad off humidor, and you take anything out of there, you're like, it tastes like a ddo.
It's a davad off, tastes like a ddo. Now it may not be your favorite smoke, it may be overpriced, but they stick to their guns to a certain degree in terms of like what they make. And for that to be creative and to go out and they do try to stretch to all the things you guys talked about. They, they only go so far.
Yeah. Where Rocky Patels all over the place. They are all over. Yeah. Well, you know, Liga, Bravada is kind of all over the place. Mm-hmm. in, in terms of what they put out. Davidov doesn't do that. Ro
**Senator:** Rocky is, I'm not sure that we would say Li is all over the place then. I think there's a distinct character about Li
**Bam Bam:** there is and the, the artistry of what Liga does because of the way they combine their fillers and their rappers and how they're sourcing.
It's, it is very unique and it's a little different. It's, it is reminiscent to what you were touching on how many countries went into making this cigar that we're smoking tonight. There's a creativity
**Gizmo:** there. Right. And I, I [00:48:00] gotta say too, the fact that, you know, you talk about a departure for davidov to, to take leaves and age them in, in, in, in scotch barrels or scotch, you know, in, in ex scotch, uh, uh, uh, barrels is, is pretty innovative to not try to infuse something, but to augment or change or improve or make different, that fermentation process that then ends up in this delicious complex.
unique cigar. I mean, it's really, it's remarkable.
**Senator:** It's, it really, I just say all this because I really think like Daven Off's brand, what they're known for is kind of this old guard, old school, you know, way. And I, I think that daven off is actually the opposite. I think what we're all saying, right, like they're actually really innovative, I think.
I think, I think what're
**Grinder:** known. They do stick to it. They do. Which is great. I think what happened was they, the old, maybe, I think maybe use the word stodgy. That old image was cultivated when [00:49:00] it was a Cuban brand and then post, you know, post-revolution that when they moved to Dominican Republic. , they had to get a little creative.
And in that, you know, in because of those hard times, they, it, it imbued and required a sense of creativity, but they didn't, they didn't go, they weren't excessive in it, you know? Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** To, to pub's point, it's within the framework of Davidoff, which is remarkable. It is,
**Gizmo:** it really is remarkable. And to comment too on, on Dave's pricing structure, their marketing, how they, how they deliver things to us as consumers.
They are on the high end of, you know, as you mentioned, what is it a petite Corona in, in millennium is $16. Yeah. Yeah. I mean 17, even 17 bucks, you're, you're talking, you know, you're talking about a brand that is not, there's, there's not budget in their main line.
**Grinder:** They, they, they do not allow price dilution, discounting, you know, they're very, very strict about managing that pricing in the marketplace because it affects their brand image.[00:50:00]
And also, you know, because they, they believe there's value in that and they're not, they're not. You know, going through distributors that are discounting their, their products heavily, which they, and
**Gizmo:** they're very discerning about their, their retailers as well.
**Senator:** Totally. Which make no mistake about, I hate some of that.
Like, I, I think cigars are meant to be accessible. Like, I think what's beautiful about this podcast is we review cigars that we think the world of, and we've had the luxury of being able to smoke cigars that cost 50, 60, even $70 a stick, which is outrageous to cigars that cost $7 a stick. And I think what we found is that the vast majority of the cigars that we love are at a very accessible price point of as little as 10 to 15, $20.
You know, I hate that so much of David Off's line, I feel like is, is just grossly overpriced. I'm, I'm never gonna get off of that. But this cigar, I. is a wonderful thing for their brand. And then I think for $25 maximum, yeah. You can even find this for 20 bucks. Mm-hmm. for a church hold that's worth's basically two sticks.
It's [00:51:00] worth every dollar. And I think that that is yeah. Within, you know, reach for most, uh, cigar smokers that we hope will enjoy cigars.
**Poobah:** Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And then they come out with like, like, like, like cigars, like the chef this year, which was just, ah, I mean that was great. It was univer. I don't off the charts.
I'm, I don't care who you are. That, that cigar was, I think well received by, by most cigar smokers. I mean, what a great cigar. Now it was like the best release,
**Bam Bam:** they rated that at a 9.4. It was very high. Yeah, it was very high. Absolutely. The
**Grinder:** original. Uh, the original Chef's Edition. So I have, I've tried the first, the second.
I haven't tried the third yet. Uh, gizmo has given me one, I just haven't smoked it yet. And I wasn't here for that particular pod. The original chefs was so phenomenal, like literally knocked the socks off really fantastic. The Davidoff Macau still stands as one of the best CARSs I've ever had in my life, and you can't, I can't find it anywhere.
I don't even think they make 'em anymore, but that was one of those like [00:52:00] limited editions. The blender, I think it was, maybe it was probably hanky at the time, was just getting creative and said, wow, this is really fucking good. I'm going to make a, make a a few batches of them and then stop and then stick to the normal run line, you know, and he's just adventurous in that creativity.
And the fact that there's a Chef's Edition one, two and three speaks volumes to that as well. He's changing it up, but he's still, you know, he's, there's still some continuity, I'm sure, across
**Gizmo:** each, but, and, and you talk about, you talk about innovation too in the Chef's Edition, bringing in. Chefs, quite literal chefs to, you know, uh, to, to work on the blend with the master blender hanky at the time.
You know, it's, it's very similar to this in, in, in an innovative way. They're creating new, unique blends. Some are gonna miss, some are gonna hit and, and be great. But, you know, to your point, I mean, it, it really, it to everybody's point here, Davidoff is doing a great job trying to expand beyond offering [00:53:00] run-of-the-mill normal cigars.
Some are gonna miss, some are gonna hit. Sure. This
**Poobah:** is, this is a big hit though. This is a hit. Yeah. This is be, because this is now, this is a regular production cigar for, for Davidoff. Yeah. And it's a recent, you know, entry and it, I this in the, in the, in the millennial, yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Uh, pyramid, millennial pyramid.
Yeah. Yeah.
**Poobah:** You know,
**Bam Bam:** Boosto good too, by the way. If we had a camera in the room, pagoda and I just looked at each other and was shaking our hands. , I have to admit that I, I stepped away from this cigar. I just didn't want it anymore. I really didn't. This is a revelation for me. It really is. It kind of goes back to what you said earlier, Senator, where you let your cigar, these sit for a while and you revisit it again.
They're amazing. It's a, yeah. It's kind of a game changer. Late in
**Grinder:** the game. I, I was kind of heartbroken today to learn that one of my favorite cigars, David Itdo cigars David Itdo 7 0 2, they don't make it anymore. Mm. They stop production of the 7 0 2. Really? Wow. Love that. Love that I do. Yeah. Wow. I like that cigar.
Can't find him anywhere sold [00:54:00] out and they're not making him.
**Gizmo:** Wow. Well, hopefully they bring it back at some point. Yeah. And
**Poobah:** Rooster loves the grand crew. Yep.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. And the Dominican, he was the reason that we did the, uh, the do that
**Bam Bam:** was a great, I
**Poobah:** think, uh, we all love that cigar. Yeah. That's a good scar and Absolutely.
And by the way, the Nicaragua Box press cigar mm-hmm. Is a good cigar. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** That's great. I kind of like what all of you have said tonight as far as from the point of view of the listener cigar should be accessible. Um, they level the playing field, depending on the room that you're in. I don't care who you are, every walk of life can enjoy a cigar.
And we we're all the same. We're just men in a room and women enjoying a cigar together. You know, we've reviewed cigars here that were $7 that knocked our fucking socks off, and we're smoking a $25 cigar. Just, I mean, really, just as impressive. And, and
**Senator:** on that point, I mean, that's where we're obviously, we're, we're heaping a ton of praise on Davidoff, which is deserved , especially on the innovation front.
Like I, I truly, I I bring up this dichotomy, but I'm willing to
**Poobah:** shit on them too. No, well, that, that's, I, I, I just shit all over 'em [00:55:00] too. . I,
**Senator:** I just say the reason I just am, I'm caveating and I'm tempering just a, just a little bit, is, you know, I don't want, I don't want any listener to hear this and think because we're praising all these innovative blends from Davidoff, that they're all great, that they should go out and try everything.
No, and I say that because. Where I think Davidoff Falls short is these ridiculously priced when they come out with the year of the ox, the year of the rat, the tiger, the year of this, the tiger. Yeah. I spent $56 on that year of the tiger to try this year. Just cuz I'm a sucker for trying like, you know, a new cigar that's only gonna be around for a little bit.
I just wanna see what it was all about. It was, uh, it was a good cigar. It wasn't a great cigar, it wasn't, it was at best worth half of what I paid for it. Right. It's absurd to charge that. The same with the year of the odds. It's so interesting because, so you just have to be careful. I like, for me the rule of thumb with davidoff, anything over $30 a stick like I have no interest in, cuz I know the odds are not in my favor for that to be a good cigar.[00:56:00]
The exception to that rule is whenever they come out with the chef's edition by that cigar, doesn't matter what it costs.
**Gizmo:** I
**Bam Bam:** find it interesting that you all have the argument for, let's talk about Cubans for a while, right. Regionals and the, the special cigars that come out and we're all astounding to the fact that the, the standard production Cubans are incredible.
Going back to the new worlds, we're holding a standard production, elite cigars. Great point. It's a, it's an elite cigar and we're always going back to the standard production
**Poobah:** lines. Well, well, there's a reason for that. Yeah. It's marketing, you know, so as a marketer, I, it's, this is what you do. You know, you, you want to, you, you want to put some releases out and sometimes they miss, but this is marketing.
The regionals, a lot of the regionals outta Cuba are, are strictly marketing or they're just, they're, it, they're a limited release. They, they push 'em out. They, they mark those boxes up and sometimes they're great. Sometimes they're, you know, they're, they're not, I would venture
**Grinder:** you to guess poba that [00:57:00] they, that maybe they didn't hit the mark for a standard release and they're say, well, what are we gonna do with
**Bam Bam:** maybe, you know, maybe you gotta put '
**Poobah:** em out.
Yeah,
**Gizmo:** yeah. Let's make it regional special. I were, and let, and let's make a point too, there is a, and I've seen it kind of popping around on Instagram. People are smoking them. There's that $500. Special. Forget about it. Special edition. Dave it up. What is it? The oral? Yeah. And it's like every review of this is people saying, this is not worth, oh God.
A 10th of it.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. You know, it's, it's interesting. If I were a listener and I'm a novice cigar smoker, I would learn a lot from this particular recording how you, you really need to start with the standard production. You'll probably end up coming back to it and staying there over the years.
**Poobah:** Yeah. And there's a reason they're selling a lot of those, a lot of the standard production cigars live on.
Yeah. Because people are just buying them. You know, you need to, you need to sell the, the whatever the standard line, it's like Porsche. Porsche needs to sell the, what's it called? The McCann. Mm-hmm. The, or [00:58:00] whatever, which is Cayenne too. No, it's the mc. It's like a, it's like a downgraded, uh, suv. Suv. It's
**Bam Bam:** a downgrade to the
**Poobah:** Cayenne.
Yes. Yeah. It's called like a McCann Right. Or something like that. They gotta make that car so they can make nine 11 s. They gotta sell that. Mm-hmm. . So, I mean, Yeah, so they got, they gotta get it right on the standard production stuff. Yeah. Because that's what people are gonna go back for, back, for back, for you wanna, you wanna go in and buy and buy a Davidoff Royal, I've gone in there and just been like, I have everything that it and picked up one of those and smoke.
I think I smoked one sitting right over there. Was it good? Certainly. Is it 80 bucks? No. , like No. No. Like, it's not $80 at all. I'm not sure if it was 30 bucks. Yeah. So
**Bam Bam:** it's a great lesson.
**Poobah:** It's a great lesson. You know, is it a good cigar? Certainly. But you know, it's just marketing and, and, and that's, that's the part of Davidoff where, [00:59:00] uh, they draw people in who just want to smoke, sit, and be in, you know, they want to smoke a fancy cigar and look cool.
**Gizmo:** Well, boys, the, uh, Glen finish 15. , I'm curious what everybody's thinking about pairing with the cigar. And certainly as we're coming into the last third here, um, I'm really, really enjoying this.
**Senator:** I am, I, I think flavor notes wise, um, there's a lot of sherry in this. Yeah. So of the three casts, the sherry comes through most by far, which we love.
I think almost all of us, the sherry forward, Scott. So I do like that I get a little bit of spice also that kind of dances with the sweetness from the sherry. Um, but other than that, I think a pretty straightforward scotch.
**Gizmo:** And I think for a 15 year scotch to be 80 bucks or 85 bucks, you know, pretty fair price for it, I think.
I don't know if I would run out and buy this again, per se, but it's good. It's good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [01:00:00] It is. Good. Are you guys ready to do a, uh, formal liquor rating on this thing? Sure. Let's make it formal. All right. Bam. You're up seven.
**Pagoda:** I'd give it an eight.
**Gizmo:** Eight. I'd give an eight. Senator? Eight. I am gonna go with an eight as well.
**Poobah:** Yeah, I'm an eight.
**Gizmo:** Okay. I'm a seven. Seven
**Senator:** composite score. A 7.7. Okay.
**Gizmo:** I think very fair for it. Fair. I agree. Yeah. Mm-hmm. , I think I enjoyed it when I first sipped it cuz I was really enjoying the pairing with the, uh, with the cigar. But yeah, I think as I kind of got into it, I, I was wanting a little more. I still
**Bam Bam:** like it. Yeah. You know, it's fine.
It's, it's a likable cigar. Uh, sorry. Lot's a likable scotch. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
Yeah.
**Grinder:** I
**Senator:** think the thing that dinged it for me, I mean, I gave it an eight because there's nothing offensive about this scotch. Like, there's nothing I actively said like, Ooh, I really don't like that about it. It's just, it, it, it doesn't gravitate [01:01:00] in to earn a higher score in that there just wasn't enough complexity.
That's really what it was lacking for me. And at 15 years, you would've hoped by then that there would've been some more complexity about it. But nothing I actively disliked at all about it.
**Poobah:** It just didn't have the body for me.
**Gizmo:** Yeah,
**Pagoda:** correct. The viscosity was very like, it wasn't like,
**Gizmo:** uh, yeah, I would've expected it to be enough.
A little bit more viscous than it
**Bam Bam:** is honestly. I think a seven is a more accurate, a seven would've
**Pagoda:** more accurate. I, I kind of agree, but, you know, it's Stacy, it's going well with the cigar. Yes, it is. Um, it's a simple drink. I would drink it. It's not one of the cigars I'd put away. Oh, sorry. Scotches, which I would put away, and it's around 80, 85 bucks.
So, yeah. I,
I
**Poobah:** really complain. Honestly, I think like an oven. would pair really nicely with this cigar
**Pagoda:** or even Abel, like my, my favorite go to
**Senator:** or Macallan. Honestly, my, my favorite Mac pairing with this cigar is always Macallan. Macallan. Yeah. Go to, I have like such a vivid memory, . It was, uh, a, [01:02:00] a couple years ago, I, it was during the pandemic, this is why this is like really burned in my head.
When, uh, everything was like actually shut down. Like our, our lounge in town was completely, had to close, forcibly, all of that. And I remember sitting out on my deck, it was cold. I got one of those, uh, heaters that Rooster had recommended from, uh, gizmo and Rooster's. Favorite place? Costco. Costco baby. And um, I was sitting out there and I was just dying for a cigar cause I wasn't able to enjoy sticks as often as we normally did.
It was cold so we couldn't go to the lounge. And I said, I don't care how cold it is, I remember the Yankees were in the playoffs and I just wanted a late hour churchi. and a Macallan and I was in
heaven.
**Poobah:** Yeah. Yeah, I can see that.
**Gizmo:** And you know, to your point about it being cold, I find this to be a really, really nice smoke when it's cold out.
I don't know why Summer I don't think about it as much or as fondly as I do when it's cold. I really like it when it's kind of got a little bite. I don't know why that is. Oh yeah. I don't
**Senator:** think you're crazy at all. I, I think the reason is [01:03:00] just, it's so full flavored. It's just so nice to have on like a cold, you know, it's like when, when we're talking about scotch, even when it's cold, you want a scotch that has some body that is gonna provide a little warmth.
You know, you're not looking for a light scotch during the winter. So I agree. This full flavored stick when it's cold fall, even in the spring when it still gets a little chilly at. It's great. A hundred, a
**Gizmo:** hundred percent agree. And sitting by a fire too. You know, like I, to me, like sitting by a fire, having the cigar, like, like, like, uh, Senator, describe,
**Poobah:** where's the ker?
Where is it? ? Where's the log of one? I was looking over at the selection. I'm saying, where's the oven? Gimme a little, uh, gimme a little something. Yeah. Because yeah, it, I think the hold up to the full flavored body of this, the, the pairing. The pairing could have been, um, something a little bit with a little bit more heft.
Yeah. The coen, I mean, has a more heft Yes, it does. Uh, than this, this did,
**Bam Bam:** you know, you know, one cool memory I have about the cigar in our old lounge, I was in, I was working late. It was almost the closing time. I [01:04:00] came an hour before closing. I was alone, and I, I did light up one of these soon after you introduced me to his senator.
You walked out with it? No
**Gizmo:** smoking on the sidewalk band. Man, we used to
**Poobah:** smoke in the sidewalk there. Yeah, we did that a couple times. We've done it
**Bam Bam:** a couple times at that fucking place, but, I felt really special having the cigar alone. It was really a treat, you know? Yeah. With the fire. Yeah. But, but also around a group, you know, everyone's pulling out the cigars and you pull out this Mac daddy, it's a Mac daddy cigar.
**Grinder:** Yeah. In a group. Yeah. I wonder how this would I, I wonder how this would pair with like a good bourbon.
**Poobah:** I think it would pair well. Yeah. Okay. So I'm doing that right now. .
**Bam Bam:** So you're double fisting. Double fisting. We
**Gizmo:** should. What you got in that Thermo?
**Poobah:** It's really funny you said that because I actually wasn't gonna go there cause I didn't wanna create any kind of controversy.
But it does go well with the higher proof . Uh, no
**Gizmo:** doubt spirit. I'm not serious. What are you having? Tell us, tell us what you're having. Um,
**Senator:** in your
**Poobah:** second cup. Oh, in the second cup, the side cup [01:05:00] the backup in the, out of the thermos. It's a bullet
**Bam Bam:** bullet. Oh, there you go. Excellent. That's got a kick there.
**Grinder:** We should break into the makers and, and find a pair for that.
Ooh, yeah. That's a good bourbon. That, that uh, it's like the upgrade level from the standard production maker's, mark. Yeah.
**Poobah:** Very smooth. You know, makers, we spoke about this. Did we, we spoke about this recently when we mentioned. Maybe, or maybe it was in conversation and not on the pod. I can't remember. But we were talking about, we were discussing bourbon and I and I, I'm not sure who brought it up.
Somebody brought up Makers and I said, you know, I don't buy that as often as I should. And I like
**Senator:** it. Well, I I, we were talking about this. Were we talking about this? I Guilty. I love Makers. Yes. I will always love Makers. I will tolerate no criticism of Makers . It's just like one of those drinks that like you drank at a younger age that still satisfies.
Yeah. It's a staple, not proper adult. It's
**Bam Bam:** a staple. I agree. I mean,
**Grinder:** yeah. I, it's just, I love the, I love the wax, you know,
**Senator:** I [01:06:00] love everything about Makers and just like that Woody, like ta. It's the most gizmo. Grab that bottle. Grab it. ,
**Poobah:** grab the bottle. No,
**Senator:** no. We need, we need to pair. We we're running outta shit to pair.
Honestly. We can we,
**Poobah:** why do you think we need, I'll buy another bottle. That's fine. Yeah, let's do it. Buy, put the maker, just taste the maker's Mark with this thing. We'll do it live. Do it. Fuck it. We'll do it live . Let's try some Maker's. Mark in the, in the last, this
**Senator:** is nice gizmo. Someone do the honors. I'll do it.
I'll do it. All right. Puba is gonna grinders garone
**Poobah:** garone. Now, this is, now this is, which bottle is this maker? This, the, that's
**Gizmo:** the, that's the 46, not the
**Senator:** regular one. It's
**Poobah:** a beautiful bottle. I'll backfill that.
**Senator:** Grindr will hate me. I'm curious to try this, but I, I, I, this is gonna sound strange. I actually like the regular makers more than the 46. Really
**Gizmo:** hate you. [01:07:00]
**Poobah:** Why would you hate? There's no hate. Hate. We don't hate anything. I need a, I I'm gonna need, but I'm curious. You're gonna garone, you gotta, you gotta a really gar, full garone.
You gotta lay out all the, so ladies and gentlemen, they're laying out the cup. Oh yeah. You
**Senator:** need ice for that. You definitely need ice. Yeah, you
**Poobah:** need a couple, couple cubes in this.
**Senator:** Less. Less. Yeah. Yeah. Just grinder. Less light for me. Light for me. Light for me as well. Pba. Take the first one. Everyone else
**Poobah:** take the other
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. What are you talking about?
**Bam Bam:** Hey, wait. He resents the connotation. , the, the implication.
**Gizmo:** Implication. .
**Poobah:** Ah. This is very exciting. It is. You see, it's, it's an impromptu. There you go. Look at that
grinder and gizmo. I see that, that that's gonna hold up. We call teamwork
**Senator:** voice. Thank you, sir. Look at this. It takes two to do this. Garone. I can do this by myself.
**Poobah:** What is this? Yes, yes, I know. We know. We [01:08:00] know. Pierre ,
**Bam Bam:** Pierre Peppi. Lip
**Pagoda:** I think it'd be great to see him in a beret, Wow.
**Poobah:** Strip
**Bam Bam:** t-shirt. This maker smells delicious. Ah, great. On the nose.
**Gizmo:** All right, so we're into, uh, makers 46. Let's try it. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cellos Makers 46.
**Poobah:** Oh, see the alcohol content . That's
**Gizmo:** really good. It's good. Yeah, it's really good. Ooh,
**Bam Bam:** ah, it's fantastic.
One thing we haven't talked about is the combustion on this. The smoke output is very
**Poobah:** impressive. I think it's,
**Gizmo:** honestly, I think's impressives perfect in that it's not too much. No. Well, I think it's just right. I agree. Yeah, it's, I agree. It's, it's not like the room is not smoke filled. I agree. With six of us smoking, it's just Right.
I completely agree. Yeah. It's re it's really
**Pagoda:** perfect. Everything about the cigar is just destroyed. . I mean, we,
**Grinder:** we, we smoked, [01:09:00] uh, a, um, colonial Alice on a, on a prior pod that was filling up the room and those were Coronas.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Little smokes
**Bam Bam:** says a lot
**Gizmo:** about that guy. So we're coming into the last third here, boys on the late hour.
Churchill. . I, I must say, I, you know, and I, and this has been a common experience. Every time I've smoked one of these, I'm enjoying it more as it comes down to the end. Almost more than I did in the first or second, third, zero harshness. Yeah. None. It's wonderfully smooth delivery. Yes, it's
**Pagoda:** really good. It leaves my palate to like a little bit of, there's a bit of sweetness, which is just left in my palate, and I love it
And I feel like talking about
**Gizmo:** it in the last third here, I'm finding it, it, it's, uh, it's almost coating my mouth in a way that's a little different and a little, it's almost like it's velvety in a way. It wasn't in the first two thirds.
**Senator:** I agree with that. And I, I think of this cigar, like, you know, it, it's almost like a meal, like it, it's so substantial in flavor and has a long finish that you taste after [01:10:00] each puff, like really lingers on your palate, which when I'm looking for that really flavorful cigar, that's gonna satisfy me.
If I can only have one and I'm just gonna pull a Churchill for a nice two hour like session. It's perfect. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Really
**Poobah:** nice. Yeah, it is. It's, uh, and you can take your time with it. It, it's, it's not gonna tunnel on you. It's not gonna, you could smoke it slow and, you know, if you don't heat it up and it's gonna smoke, I, I could see
**Bam Bam:** Puba in a boardroom three piece suit with this thing in his hand.
Absolutely. No doubt
**Gizmo:** about it. Or Senator snapping his fingers,
**Bam Bam:** and the soldier making decision. Soldiers are snapping to attention. .
**Gizmo:** You know, the one thing I will say, this is
**Poobah:** unacceptable, unacceptable.
**Gizmo:** Uh,
**Senator:** I'm feeling, I'm feeling a little projection from some of you of, of your own work styles. , not mine.
**Gizmo:** grinder. I gotta, I gotta say[01:11:00]
I, I gotta say, you know, we, we, we talked about this briefly. Um, , this cigar is wonderful. When you're by yourself and you're by a fire maybe, or you're, you want a nice, elegant, you're watching the Yankees like Senator said. Mm-hmm. . But there's something about when you're smoking this cigar with a group of friends Yeah.
Or a bunch of folks at a lounge, it, it really is a wonderful experience. Yeah. You know, in a way that I think some other cigars, this, this kind of is elevated above. Yeah, yeah. You know, it, it, there's something about it, you know, and,
**Senator:** and it's just, it's also, it's the Churchill Viola. Yeah. That's right. Like, it's a cigar that you, when you walk in a cigar lounge and you light up a Churchill, you're not just there to quickly smoke a cigar and leave.
No. Yeah. You, you're there are there to spend time. Yeah. You're there to chat with other people that are there. Like, it, it, it, it's just all part of that experience that you're looking for. When you
**Poobah:** pull a cigar like that, it, it's a special shape. Yeah. It's a la it's a lounge cigar. Yeah. You know, last night, last night, I, I smoked a Lucy.
Uh, [01:12:00] and uh, when you pull that cigar out, you know, even among us who all smoked that cigar, you know, Uh, G says, Ooh, baller. You know, you baller tonight. Baller. It's like, well, because, but it's, it's perfect because we were watching sports and it was, we had a game on and, and it was the perfect cigar for the whole game.
**Gizmo:** You were dressed up too. Let's not forget. Yes. You were dressed up. I was, I was dressed up. He had a scarf, is that right? He did have a start. He did have a scarf. He had a scarf. Wow. Oh man.
**Poobah:** Oh yeah. Oh yes, I do wear a scarf. .
**Senator:** Well done. Pierre. Yes. No, no, no, no.
**Gizmo:** Puppet, pep, Leke. All, all Puma was missing was the Beret.
Peppi
**Poobah:** Le . Hi, Hickey Freeman.
**Gizmo:** Uh, yeah, I mean, it, it, yeah. When you pull out a substantial cigar like that, it, it, it really is, it grabs your attention. Yeah,
**Poobah:** absolutely. Yeah. And you're in the mood to do that. Like, you know, you pull, you pull out a double Corona or a Yep. Or a, or a Churchill, [01:13:00] you know, you're in that mood.
You know, you want to, you got nowhere to be. , you got nowhere to be. And, and it feels substantial. And, and that's what you want, you know, out of an experience sometime, you know, sometimes the re robusto is a great size. Yeah. But it's, but it's so popular because of time or because of the lack thereof. Uh, the REO is so popular and it's so versatile, you know, it's really versatile.
You can, you can get in and out of it when you light up a, a a a double Corona or a, or a Churchill, you're saying that like, I really like this cigar and I'm gonna, I'm gonna sit and, and, and, and, and, and smoke it. You know
**Gizmo:** what's an interesting comment about the Churchill size and, and Senator and I actually had this conversation the other day about in the Cuban Mar, uh, in, in, in with Havanas, how few Churchills are in regular production.
There's only three. And what I wonder is, and, and I'm gonna throw this out, you may as well name them. Okay. So there's the Sir Winston, which is the upk. , [01:14:00] you have the, uh, Cohiba esp Splendido. Yep. And you have the, uh, the Romeo and Juliet Rome Church. Rome Romeo, and Julietta, uh, Churchill. So I'm curious, you know, cuz they've canceled a lot of those Ha Bonos has, and I'm wondering if that's just a reaction to, I guess, the world that we live in or, or the, uh, available time.
It's like they're going the way of the dodo. Which, which,
**Senator:** I'm sorry. Fuck that. Like, I, I hope over time I really genuinely hope that Havanas starts making more Churchills that other Cuban brands start bringing those back. And I say that because it's wonderful to have robos because a lot of times we are short on time.
Those will always, I mean, I, I still, I smoke more boosto than any stick and that will never change. But I really, really enjoy a Churchill. And there are many times that we get together, just like plenty of listeners out there who. Plan a night, they're gonna meet up with their friends, they're gonna smoke cigars and you know you're gonna be there for [01:15:00] hours and to be lighting a different cigar every hour.
You don't need to do that. I would love to have a few Churchills Yeah. That I could go through in that sitting. I wish there were more. Yeah.
**Poobah:** In, in, in the utopia. That would be possible. I think the rate limiting factor on it with havanas, the, their catalog is that, is the RA is the limited availability of the quality rapidly to put that out.
Definitely. So I, the, you know, the wrap leaf is an important component and you need the right size rapidly leaf to roll that properly. Um, The ro and we all know the Romeo and the, the, the Romeo and Julietta Churchill has hit or miss a lot of times it's mess. Uh, and so that leaves your piano with the Sir Winstons, which are not a liata, but they're not, they're hard to find.
They're hard to find. Same with the ESP splendido and the ESP mendo. So I think it's the not ra it's, it is, it's the rapidly beef availability that's that they're gonna put out to maintain the high enough
**Grinder:** quality. So I think it's the, I think that's [01:16:00] a, a part of it. I wouldn't be surprised if it, if it's also comes down to pricing.
You know, your, your, they, they are with a smaller cigar, they're able to charge a higher margin Sure. For us, for fewer grams of, of tobacco leaf. Whereas the Churchill, there's more, there's more, you know, grams of tobacco leaf in there and the margins are probably slimmer. and the rapper is scarcer, you
**Gizmo:** know?
So, but you know what, you know what my counter to that argument, and I'm not arguing it, but I'm questioning, is in Havanas specifically, there are significantly more double Coronas, which is a bigger leaf, is a bigger cigar, is a more robust cigar than
**Poobah:** they're, but there True, but they're not as ubiquitous.
Even the, you're, you're not wrong. But even those are, so you've got the Lucy, you've got the Hoyo DC Ramon. Right. But punch. They're [01:17:00] not, that's four already. Yeah, I understand. But I don't, I I just, the loosies were. For a long time Yeah. And really weren't around.
**Senator:** Oh no. No one's disputing. Like they won't be as readily available, but I wanna see them make them.
I want to pursue them. Yeah. The same way I pursue double Coronas.
**Poobah:** I think there's things with the demand too. I think that that, that, you know, in the world of cigar smokers, um, it takes a certain type of man who, who wants that? Who wants that? And the re robusto is for the mass market. Yeah. It's the
**Senator:** same, same guy who wants to, or, or gal who wants to buy a double Corona.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Same consumer. Yeah. But I, I think, you know, your point about time is the time thing. Listen, we are lucky that, that we're in a situation where we could smoke as many cigars as we do. We have as much time to do it as we do. A lot of folks aren't in that position. And, you know, it's a, it's a great argument and, and what Grindr said about if they could sell [01:18:00] twice as many robusto, or three times as many robusto.
They're certainly gonna make more money on that. So I, I understand the economics of it and the time, but I just wish that there was more of a commitment to the viola that I guess that's my, my a hundred percent hard
**Senator:** stop. That's my argument. At least to Gizmo's point, at least as much of a commitment to the Churchill as there is the double capital.
Absolutely. I think
**Gizmo:** absolutely.
**Poobah:** Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And it's maybe it comes down to demand.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Very well. There's also
**Bam Bam:** a greater versatility with the rub robusto, if you're Sure. Of course. Yeah. And we love that. I don't think anyone can argue that
**Gizmo:** every cigar maker has a rub robusto,
**Bam Bam:** there's no question.
But in one sitting, you can have three or four robos and enjoy the, you know, the, the difference between each cigar in one night. Yeah. There's something to that.
**Poobah:** Yeah. And, and the filler too. I mean, you know, you gotta roll 'em right. You gotta have the right, it's, it's, they're a little bit hard. Those longer, bigger cigars are a little bit harder to make.
And they're the, you know, and the, and ev all the components that go into it are just a little bit harder to source, cuz the [01:19:00] long filler that goes inside too. I mean, that's. That's no easy task either. Yeah. You know, you have to have the right leaf. Yeah. So, you know, they're just gonna be, I think, less, and I think that in combination with, uh, with the popularity and the demand and the, just the general cigar smoking world, that some of these smaller smokes just, you know, they're gonna be more ubiquitous.
But I, I'm with you. Yeah. I wish more, I wish there were more
**Gizmo:** Churchills. I mean, well, and I'll say this, I'll, I'll call out to the listener right now. If you have a Churchill that you love that we haven't mentioned or haven't smoked, I would love to hear from you because we love this fat. We'd love to smoke more quality new world.
Churchills obviously we just went through the Havanas Churchills, we've all had them, but, and, and we'll review them at some point. But please, if you're smoking a great Churchill, please let us know. Email us and, and, and, and we'll smoke it on the pot at some point. It's such a great size. Yeah. All right, boys, we're coming to the end here of the late hour Churchill.[01:20:00]
a fantastic, elegant smoke. I'm curious what this rating is gonna be. I can't predict it. Normally I can predict it, but I have no idea what to, what to expect. So Grindr, you are up. What do you give it? I'm giving it a nine. Nine.
**Poobah:** Excellent. Puba. I'm the same. It's a nine for me.
**Gizmo:** It is a nine for me as well. I, I, it's perfect.
Perfect. Score,
**Senator:** no disagreement. Nine. Excellent.
**Pagoda:** It's a 10. It's a 10. It's a 10. .
**Gizmo:** He
**Bam Bam:** stays on brand.
**Pagoda:** No surprise. It's the connection, it's the experience. Um, you know, uh, it's a familiar friend. Mm. So it's a 10. Excellent.
**Gizmo:** I'm at a nine. Okay.
**Senator:** Compass score. A 9.2.
**Gizmo:** Wow. Perfect. Score for the score. Wow. Wow.
**Bam Bam:** Perfect score.
Yeah. Great. Perfect.
**Gizmo:** Yep. Very strong. Recommend hard and like, listen as we talked about for 20, 25 bucks, 27 bucks, whatever you get 'em for. Absolutely worth the time. And, you know, to go back to David Off's. Tagline, time beautifully filled. [01:21:00] I think. They nailed it with the cigar. Yes.
**Poobah:** Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely.
And if it, the Churchills too much, try the riba. Yep. Mm-hmm. , get yourself a five pack, that's a, that this cigar will deliver some of those same flavor notes in that ribo size, I believe. Yes. Yeah. That's, that's, that's pretty
**Gizmo:** noteworthy. Absolutely. All right boys, a great score for the late hour Churchill, a wonderful experience, wonderful cigar, and, uh, great.
We'll see you next week. Keep smoking. Thanks so much for joining us tonight. Hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. If you have any comments, questions, if you wanna reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking. Email us Lounge lizards pod, p o d, that's lounge lizards pod gmail.com.
You can also find us on Instagram at Lounge Lizards Pod. We really appreciate your time and we'll, uh, we'll see you next [01:22:00] week.