Lounge Lizards - a Cigar and Lifestyle Podcast

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Recorded at Ten86 Cigars in Hawthorne, New Jersey, the Lizards pair Davidoff Winston Churchill The Original Series in Churchill with Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon Whiskey. The guys discuss St. Louis trying to attract future PCA shows, they share another Hemingway offshoot shipping soon from Fuente and they discuss cigar brands not disclosing their blenders.
PLUS: Aging Tobacco in Bales vs. Rolled Cigars in Bundles, Brands That Have Done a 180°, Cigar Smoking Hygiene, Cigars/Movies/Music for Dark Times, Price's Effect on Lizard Ratings, Where Else to Find Cohiba's Grassy Profile?, New Asylum 90x9, Raching's New Portable Draw Machine, Solera Aging + Dave Pickerill, Does Padron Thousand Series With Age Become Anniversary 1964?, Bam's Recency Bias & More

Join the Lounge Lizards for a weekly discussion on all things cigars (both Cuban and non-Cuban), whiskey, food, travel, life and work. This is your formal invitation to join us in a relaxing discussion amongst friends and become a card-carrying Lounge Lizard yourself. This is not your typical cigar podcast. We’re a group of friends who love sharing cigars, whiskey and a good laugh.

website/merch/rating archive: loungelizardspod.com
email: hello@loungelizardspod.com to join the conversation and be featured on an upcoming episode!
instagram: @loungelizardspod
Gizmo HQ: LizardGizmo.com

What is Lounge Lizards - a Cigar and Lifestyle Podcast?

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:

Welcome to the Lounge Lizards podcast presented by Fabrica Five. It's so good to have you here. It's a leisure and lifestyle podcast founded on our love of premium cigars as well as whiskey travel, food, work, and whatever else we feel like getting into. My name is Gizmo. Tonight, I'm joined by Rooster, Senator, Pagoda, chef Ricky, and Bam Bam.

Gizmo:

And our plan is to smoke a cigar, drink some bourbon, talk about life, and, of course, have some laughs. So take this as your two hundred and twenty ninth official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. Play the news here once a week. We're gonna smoke a Dominican cigar tonight, share our thoughts on it, and give you our formal lizard rating. We discuss Saint Louis trying to attract future PCA shows.

Gizmo:

We share another Hemingway offshoot from Fuente, and we discussed cigar brands not disclosing their blenders, all among a variety of other things for the next two hours. So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar, enjoy as we pair Hillrock Solera aged bourbon whiskey with Davidoff the original series Winston Churchill in Churchill. A Churchill on the pod tonight, boys, from the Dominican Republic, and we are back to Davidoff.

Bam Bam:

I am very happy

Gizmo:

that we

Bam Bam:

knew you were tonight.

Gizmo:

This is the Davidoff Winston Churchill, the original series in Churchill, and it's a '47 regained And

Rooster:

nobody else had

Gizmo:

the cigar. By six and seven eights inches.

Senator:

Someone here has had it.

Gizmo:

Oh, yeah. He's the one that he's the reason that we got

Bam Bam:

it. That's why I'm happy we're doing it.

Gizmo:

Yeah. I've never had it. I've been waiting a long time

Senator:

to try this cigar.

Bam Bam:

I mean, maybe 40 or 50 of these I've had. I mean, they're Wow. Over the years? I mean,

Senator:

Oh, for the years.

Gizmo:

I appreciate you trying this one.

Senator:

Just last month. Every time, Deb's like, we gotta do this, it's such a great smoke. I'm like, I'd love to try one.

Bam Bam:

You know the funny thing though, I haven't ever purchased a box of these. It's always at a place. Down the street, my meanderings around the state. I'll usually pick this up during my travels. I love this cigar.

Gizmo:

This is quite a cigar though, to be just picking up when you sit down somewhere. Like this is a commitment. No. What, do you just burn through

Rooster:

it?

Bam Bam:

I do go through it. It's really quite good.

Pagoda:

What do pay, 60 No,

Bam Bam:

these are 32.

Gizmo:

Now they're about $28.

Bam Bam:

$28.

Gizmo:

Yeah. In the city, of course,

Bam Bam:

they're good. It's the same cost as a Davidoff Millennium Pyramid, more or less.

Pagoda:

No, no, in a store, like because you have them outside in

Bam Bam:

the You know, honestly, I don't even look.

Pagoda:

Oh, you don't even know?

Bam Bam:

I buy a nice book.

Pagoda:

I would imagine with 70% taxes in New York,

Gizmo:

that's probably 50 Yeah.

Rooster:

It's the same price for eggs and milk.

Gizmo:

All right, boys. Let's cut this thing. See what we're getting on the cold draw and the wrapper. I gotta say, I love the construction on this. It feels to me like a Sir Winston from Cuba feels in your hand.

Gizmo:

It has that kind of weight I

Bam Bam:

totally agree.

Gizmo:

It's like it feels like that. Yeah. And it kind of has a similar the wrapper's gorgeous. Properly filled.

Bam Bam:

Somewhat rustic but beautiful wrapper. The Sir Winston wrappers, though, are really pristine. There isn't a single divot in that. This has some movement to the surface.

Gizmo:

Draw is perfect.

Pagoda:

Psychological as well. Well, it's just

Bam Bam:

That's true.

Senator:

I mean, I'm a little surprised. I have a very veiny wrapper, which you don't see often from Davidoff. Mhmm.

Pagoda:

Me too.

Senator:

It's it's well rolled, well constructed. Ironically, got a little dimple like we were talking about Cuban cigars.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. You get that.

Senator:

The draw is perfect.

Bam Bam:

And a little berry, a little graham cracker on the cold draw.

Gizmo:

No. Berry's what? Raisin. Raisin.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah. Berry dried fruit there came through

Rooster:

for me.

Chef Ricky:

Very faint though. Not as intense as it's been in the past for some other states.

Bam Bam:

Such a good cigar.

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. Let's light this thing. The Davidoff Winston Churchill, the original series in Churchill.

Bam Bam:

I am unprepared yet again.

Gizmo:

That's week number five, Bam. Oh, you can't this. Didn't get another one. I was rushing.

Bam Bam:

You're keeping track.

Gizmo:

47 ring gauge cigar by six and seven eights inches long.

Bam Bam:

Look at this motherfucker. Shit. Woah. I can't prepare for Bam. It's got like a 10 inches torch.

Senator:

Just hold out your cigar pad.

Rooster:

He can

Senator:

light it

Bam Bam:

from across the room. And send your eyebrows off. Thank you. Thank you, Pagoda. So has anyone else had this cigar?

Bam Bam:

No.

Gizmo:

Really? Thanks. Thanks. Thanks, Pam.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Oh, wow. Only one. Okay. Rooster, I find it hard to believe that you haven't had this.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Might have.

Pagoda:

Davidoff's out of my price range, so

Gizmo:

Oh, yeah. This is very pleasant on the way.

Rooster:

If I've had, I've only had one

Bam Bam:

and it was pretty good. There's some sweetness there. A little weather? Not so much leather for me. It's more of like a sweet coffee and cream.

Rooster:

Coffee. I even got that on the cold run inside,

Bam Bam:

but yeah, there was a little Coffee and cream and the sweetness could be like a sweet cream kind of a thing. And you'll get that all the way through from my experience.

Senator:

Coffee and cream is spot on. That's exactly what I'm getting.

Bam Bam:

It's really quite good.

Gizmo:

This is very sophisticated on the light.

Bam Bam:

There's a little spice there. Touch. I just got a little nice little pop of it. These are ubiquitous. You'll find them almost everywhere.

Chef Ricky:

Oh, that's delicious.

Bam Bam:

Right?

Gizmo:

It's really nice.

Chef Ricky:

Creamy baking spice. Very, very, very creamy. Nutty.

Bam Bam:

I've had this in the Toro. It's also very good, surprisingly.

Gizmo:

Standing by my brother-in-law.

Rooster:

You had the Robusta on this?

Bam Bam:

Robusta, I have not.

Rooster:

How much were these? Like, what do

Gizmo:

$28.

Rooster:

It is 28.

Gizmo:

Yeah. So I think a box of 20 MSRP is, like, $5.65, which is just a ridiculously crazy number.

Senator:

It's expensive.

Gizmo:

To think about dropping on a box of 20 cigars.

Rooster:

They need to come out with boxes of 10

Chef Ricky:

of these.

Gizmo:

Well, they have the they do have the four packs. You can get the cardboard packs of four, I believe, of these. Yeah. And most have enough cigars, but they do not have these in tens from my understanding. I think it's twenties and fours.

Bam Bam:

So all of these that I've had over the years, I've had two very bad experiences. Really? All down the street. Overly humidified humidor. Like tremendously over humid overly humidified.

Gizmo:

I I just work off the assumption now that any humidor that I am not in control of is I over just I don't I don't have great experiences when I buy a cigar at a shop and sit down and smoke it, rarely.

Bam Bam:

Well, when you're desperate like me, when you're traveling around the area, you kind of need a smoke. So I grab one and smoke it right away.

Gizmo:

You know the one marker though that does well? I don't know why, I don't know if it's that mysterious South African No, stoic. Works well in a higher humidity environment.

Bam Bam:

So does Padron, man. I've never had a bad Padron on the road.

Senator:

I do think Padron can withstand higher humidity. I agree

Bam Bam:

with that. I think

Rooster:

the wrap is so thick.

Gizmo:

I certainly prefer them a

Bam Bam:

little lower. Of course. So this is off to a great start.

Gizmo:

Yeah. Pigar, what do you think?

Pagoda:

Yeah, no, really enjoying it for me. Similar notes, very creamy. Any sweetness? A little coffee. I get like the sweetness on my lips really, actually.

Pagoda:

It's

Bam Bam:

really interesting. The retro's outstanding. Mhmm.

Rooster:

Lips and

Pagoda:

sugar. I've been trying, by the way. Has

Bam Bam:

the retro. His nickname is Sugar Lips.

Gizmo:

Wow.

Senator:

Do you know that, man?

Pagoda:

Oh, my lord.

Bam Bam:

I've heard some of the girls say it around town.

Pagoda:

Oh, can't get bam really started with momentum going into New Orleans.

Senator:

Yeah. But to your point, the sweetness, it's like it's that brings the sweetness out in the cigar. Cream and at the tip of your tongue and your lips like Pagoda's talking about.

Rooster:

It's like

Senator:

right at the front. Yep.

Bam Bam:

Surprising, isn't it?

Senator:

It's really good.

Gizmo:

Yeah. What do you guys think? I know we just left, but what do you think of the $28 price point for this cigar?

Senator:

That's the thing I just that's

Gizmo:

little No, tough for

Pagoda:

but for Davidoff, that's normal. Come on, think about it. The late hour had reached 20 eight, three years ago.

Bam Bam:

Can I say something? I'd pay $28 for this over paying the same price for my Millennium Pyramid that I also love.

Senator:

Oh, agree with that.

Bam Bam:

But I think the Millennium Pyramid's overpriced, I think, by at least $5 minimum.

Gizmo:

I think their entire line is, but this

Bam Bam:

one's this

Gizmo:

doesn't this should be in in line with the Padron Diplomatico.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. It should be like $18. In price?

Gizmo:

$18.20. 20.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. What was that, Rooster?

Rooster:

You used to love the Millennium Pyramid.

Bam Bam:

I still do.

Rooster:

Have you ever had bad experiences lately? Is that why it's fallen off right now?

Bam Bam:

No. I haven't reached for it. In fact, I'm a little lazy because I don't have enough storage, so they're in tupper doors. Don't want to dig. They're kind of at the bottom.

Senator:

Bam, you always Allegedly.

Chef Ricky:

Always have satellite storage available in my home, and just let me know.

Gizmo:

The annex.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Need another tower, dude. I hate digging through tupendores.

Senator:

Crazy. I just love we went from bam, I have nothing to When eat another

Bam Bam:

did I say I had nothing? Oh, really? We really have to the That was years ago.

Pagoda:

I I can see Bam actually carrying the other tower on his back again. Uh-huh.

Bam Bam:

That was a bitch.

Chef Ricky:

While shoveling snow.

Gizmo:

So, boys, let's talk about the line. This is actually the first cigar from the classic line

Pagoda:

Mhmm.

Gizmo:

With the white label on it that we're doing on the podcast. Of course, we've done a a couple of the late hour series, which is the Isn't

Senator:

the bellicose part of this line?

Bam Bam:

It is.

Gizmo:

I would say, yeah.

Senator:

Okay. The same band.

Bam Bam:

Correct.

Gizmo:

Isn't that short filler?

Bam Bam:

Yes. I don't know, but it's part

Senator:

of the line.

Bam Bam:

It's the

Gizmo:

white label truth We've done the bellicose.

Bam Bam:

It is part of the But

Gizmo:

I kinda consider that like a a diminutive kind of Because of

Chef Ricky:

the short filler. Yeah. It's kind of

Pagoda:

like But the don't

Bam Bam:

you think this is kind of like the big brother to that cigar?

Rooster:

Yeah,

Bam Bam:

I do. Is better,

Rooster:

but Similar. Yeah. It's like similar flavor amounts.

Bam Bam:

There are similar Some similarities.

Chef Ricky:

It's probably the clippings from the cigar that go into

Gizmo:

that one.

Pagoda:

But, you know, like, the bellicose, I find it a little more sweeter just overall in the

Bam Bam:

Really? I don't know about that.

Senator:

I know about that. I find the the short bellicose will be like nuttier Yeah. A little more cedar.

Bam Bam:

Mhmm. It is a touch sweet, but not like this.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah. Not like much creamier Agreed. Than the bellicose. Creamier.

Bam Bam:

See, I like the way you're smoking. I'm surprised you're not you're you take I I what I like to when I take that drawing and I hold, I curl that smoke in my mouth and let it go slowly, I'm surprised you're not getting the sweetness that the rest of us are getting because of the way you're smoking. You're not rushing through it.

Pagoda:

No. No. I am getting it in the front.

Rooster:

Okay. He's telling you what you're doing wrong.

Bam Bam:

No. I'm not. Don't forget that.

Senator:

Sugar He said he's getting it on his lips.

Bam Bam:

Sugar lips is smoking very well tonight. I like the technique. No.

Pagoda:

No. Oh my lord. I'm being observed.

Gizmo:

Yeah. You always are.

Bam Bam:

Well, I think I think, you know what? I I need to switch seats. Ricky. Oh,

Pagoda:

sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Chef.

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. Let's talk about the makeup of these cigars and a little bit of the story here. So first up, the wrapper on this is Ecuadorian Rojiza. The binder is Mexican San Andres, and the filler is from both Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. The Dominican Republic's tobacco is the Piloto Mejerado secco, Piloto secco, hybrid Allure Piloto secco, and the Nicaraguan secco is from Condega and Esteli.

Gizmo:

Jeez. So there's a lot going on in here. Mhmm. And some of the other cigars in the line, like we just mentioned, the Bellicoso. The other one that has short filler similar similar in size to that 38 by four inches long is the petite Panatella.

Gizmo:

The Bellicoso that we reviewed quite some time ago and we loved is 46 by four and a half. Both of those, again, are short filler. Then you get into the long filler cigars. The petite Corona, 41 by four and a half. The Robusto, 52, interesting size, by five and

Bam Bam:

a quarter. So a little bigger

Gizmo:

than what you'd normally expect from a traditional Robusto. And the Toro, right on the money, 54 by six. And the Churchill weave have in our hand tonight, 47 by six and seven eights inches long. So in 2007, and shout out to Halfwheel for this information, Davidoff unveiled the original version of this line. So this line originally used an Ecuadorian sun grown wrapper along with binder and filler tobaccos from both Doctor and Nicaragua.

Gizmo:

And then in 2014, they did a complete makeover of the line.

Bam Bam:

Really?

Gizmo:

And that's when they brought in these other tobaccos, including notably the Ecuadorian Mojiza wrapper and the Mexican San Andres binder. So those came in seven or eight years after the wine was launched.

Bam Bam:

You know, didn't realize this has some Nicaraguan component to this.

Gizmo:

A little bit.

Bam Bam:

This was all Dominican I would

Senator:

have thought the same.

Bam Bam:

Are you getting a touch of spice? Just a really nice I said that earlier.

Rooster:

It's perfect. It's a perfect amount of spice. It's very nice.

Chef Ricky:

A baking spice. It's not like pepper.

Bam Bam:

I agree.

Senator:

Cinnamon. It's

Rooster:

like a sweeter spice.

Bam Bam:

Maybe you're getting that from the Nicaraguan leaf in there possibly.

Gizmo:

It's fantastic, whatever it is.

Bam Bam:

How are you liking the retrohale? Amazing. It is, right?

Gizmo:

That's where I'm getting the leather, Bam. I can't believe nobody else is calling that out. I'm definitely getting leather. Absolutely.

Chef Ricky:

At the very, very end of the retro is where I see some leather.

Gizmo:

To me, the leather is tying the whole thing together. Really? That is adding a level of sophistication here that I think makes this flavor, this blend stand out. It's really, really good.

Bam Bam:

It's a good note. I mean, we get that in some of the Padrons, but I'm not getting it

Senator:

in this. Time.

Rooster:

Have you tasted leather?

Bam Bam:

Yeah. I chew on it every night. Well, you call out cedar. Have you had cedar recently?

Rooster:

Well, my deck is cedar, you smell that cedar wood.

Bam Bam:

That's true. Aroma. Aroma.

Pagoda:

Is that what beef jerky is? I'm just I'm just kidding.

Gizmo:

Kinda. It's kinda leathery.

Bam Bam:

Love beef jerky.

Gizmo:

So a little bit more on this line. According to Davidoff, the aim was to craft this new range of exceptional cigars, as they say here, as uniquely diverse as the man who inspired them. Of course, sir Winston Churchill. The Davidoff master blenders, as they say, this is way back when, have embraced and accomplished an exciting challenge, blending cigars of a complex character with a rich mixture of fine qualities drawing on and harmonizing the tobaccos of Nicaragua, Mexico, Ecuador, and the Doctor. Pretty cool.

Bam Bam:

We'll never know who they are.

Gizmo:

Well, we did know then. This was a lot of ideas in Henke Kellner. Correct. Certainly now things are different. Yeah.

Gizmo:

And I would assume next year Being the twentieth anniversary of the original Winston Churchill line, obviously a little different than this one, but same band, white band. I would imagine they're going to do a twenty year release of this, a limited edition or something, something like that.

Bam Bam:

I hope they don't change this recipe.

Senator:

I have to give Davidoff credit. They know how to make a great Churchill. We used to love the late hour.

Bam Bam:

Yeah, that's true.

Senator:

This is excellent. Refined, smooth, creamy. Mean, it's got like everything

Bam Bam:

checks you could all the boxes.

Rooster:

I mean, the chef's editions.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. I have this in the afternoon typically. Has I haven't this is the first time I'm actually having it after sundown. I do love the afternoon with this thing. It's really

Chef Ricky:

quite afternoon smoke.

Bam Bam:

If you have the time. Or if you're on vacation in the morning,

Chef Ricky:

great morning smoke.

Bam Bam:

If you have the time.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah.

Bam Bam:

Yeah.

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. Let's get into some news while we settle into our cigar tonight. First up, I always like highlighting these as does Half Wheels, so shout out to Charlie over there. Appreciate him keeping tabs on this stuff for us. South Dakota, The governor there has signed a law allowing for new cigar bars.

Gizmo:

There you go.

Bam Bam:

There. Finally,

Gizmo:

I'm talking. Good.

Pagoda:

That must be

Rooster:

old move.

Senator:

Oh, great. We're all gonna visit South Dakota. Yeah.

Bam Bam:

Well

Gizmo:

Could we just be optimistic for

Bam Bam:

a minutes? I was actually thinking you were gonna say something opposite.

Gizmo:

Of course. That's

Bam Bam:

all we've

Gizmo:

been talking about.

Bam Bam:

That's great.

Gizmo:

That's all we've been talking about. Good. It's negative stuff.

Bam Bam:

Correct. It's not

Rooster:

the least populated stuff.

Chef Ricky:

What else is

Bam Bam:

out I think

Pagoda:

the Dakotas have been calling me. Think, wasn't fracking there?

Gizmo:

Dakotas are calling

Rooster:

Hey, Pagoda. Come to Dakota.

Gizmo:

So this one's interesting as well. The city of Saint Louis is working to get the PCA show to come to St. Louis. Boo. So what they're trying to do

Bam Bam:

You know, I've never been there, but I hear it's a desert. Like, there is nothing to do there. Uninteresting.

Senator:

It's not terrible, but it's not great. I mean, that would really not be a good movie.

Rooster:

How about in New York?

Bam Bam:

Just Well, about New keep it in New Orleans, dude.

Senator:

Why do we have to?

Bam Bam:

Here's the problem.

Rooster:

What's the problem?

Gizmo:

And I wanted to talk about this. This is the problem for me. I think I'd rather go to St. Louis than Las Vegas.

Bam Bam:

Well, I'd rather go to New Orleans than either location. Of course. So what's the problem?

Gizmo:

Why can't you just keep The next two years, bam, after this, '27, '28 are back in Vegas.

Bam Bam:

That's not good.

Gizmo:

And I really don't know if I wanna do that. Well, we're gonna go. You know, I just I don't love Vegas, man. No. It's overpriced.

Gizmo:

It's sterile. Yep. It's kinda like the Davidoff booth at PCA.

Bam Bam:

Correct. I don't even remember. Did we find a proper cigar?

Pagoda:

What? We're smoking the Davidoff.

Gizmo:

I know. It's a BMW dealership.

Senator:

Yeah. I mean, we smoked in that casino, and then there's that nice lounge eight that's there.

Bam Bam:

I don't think I went to that.

Senator:

We didn't go. We should have. I don't know why we didn't. I've been there. It's really nice.

Bam Bam:

Did we smoke in a casino while we were there?

Pagoda:

Yeah. We were.

Senator:

Yeah. Remember? That's where we we had the the listener meetup.

Bam Bam:

The one

Senator:

where you handed out the one you handed out all those cigars out.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Yeah.

Gizmo:

Yeah. Famously. Back to stepping

Chef Ricky:

foot in that place.

Gizmo:

Back to Saint Louis here. So the city of Saint Louis is considering a smoking ban exemption to try to attract the PCA convention and trade show.

Bam Bam:

Is there currently a ban, I guess?

Gizmo:

Yes. So the St. Louis Board of Aldermen voted eight to six with one member abstaining to advance a bill that would create an event specific exemption that would allow smoking in certain parts of the America Center Convention Complex in the city's convention center. It's interesting that they are trying this hard to

Bam Bam:

They're gonna

Gizmo:

Is this like, senator, the way this is presented here, is is PCA trying to angle this to get a better deal? Is it do you really think the city is leading this charge? Why did they pick the cigar, you know, trade show of

Senator:

I all of think for sure that PCA has put out feelers with basically any major city that they think could be a decent site or location to host the trade show. And, I mean, New Orleans, the same thing had to happen. You know? In any city, you can't smoke in a giant convention center, I mean, for legitimate reason. So they have to pass a law to create an exemption for it.

Senator:

PCA lobbied for that in New Orleans because they actually wanted to go to New Orleans, and they got it for two years, guess. And then obviously, we're gonna be back in Vegas after that. But I think if you're St. Louis, you're you're like dying to have

Gizmo:

Something.

Senator:

Any kind of significant economic activity. Well, don't forget, I'm

Gizmo:

not being facetious, St. Louis has really suffered since that football team left. Mhmm. Since the Rams bailed out of town to Los Angeles.

Senator:

Well, there's that. I'm gonna

Gizmo:

give you

Senator:

a stat about St. Louis. St. Louis has the highest murder rate per capita in The United States Of America.

Bam Bam:

A great place to smoke a cigar.

Senator:

Sounds like No

Gizmo:

joke. Higher

Senator:

than Chicago. All put Higher than Camden.

Bam Bam:

Higher than Camden. Yes.

Senator:

I've actually

Gizmo:

done done a lot better.

Bam Bam:

That's true.

Gizmo:

But yeah, that is an interesting stat. I do know some folks that live around St. Louis.

Bam Bam:

Oh, Lord.

Gizmo:

And there has been a lot of that.

Senator:

I learned this just once when I was there, and an Uber driver was warning me about going to a bar in St. Louis, and he's like, oh, are you guys gonna stick together tonight while you're going to grab a drink? And I'm like, yeah. Why? And he's like, you just gotta be careful here.

Senator:

People carry. Crazy things happen. People get shot. I'm like, what? So I Google what the crime rate is there, and I see Saint Louis has the highest murder rate in the entire country.

Bam Bam:

I didn't know they can carry there.

Senator:

Insane.

Bam Bam:

Like, so open carry?

Senator:

I don't know if they're legally carrying or not, but from what this guy described

Gizmo:

I think if you're killing someone, you're not really worried if the gun is legal.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah. That's true. Open carry states usually have very low murder rates because you know everyone has a gun.

Bam Bam:

That's also correct.

Pagoda:

Wow, you sound like a Republican.

Bam Bam:

Good timing, old boy.

Rooster:

So, I mean, they have big smokes, CAs, big smokes in a lot of different cities. So they

Pagoda:

Do they?

Rooster:

There's got be some convention center.

Gizmo:

I think big smoke is generally Vegas. Florida and Yeah.

Rooster:

Just two? They've had it in New York.

Gizmo:

I think they stopped in New York because New York

Rooster:

Miami, I think they've had it in Miami.

Gizmo:

Yeah. They had it in Florida for sure.

Rooster:

Florida would be ideal for a PCA. Maybe Tampa, Miami.

Bam Bam:

Tampa? Of No,

Senator:

please not Tampa.

Bam Bam:

I've never been there.

Gizmo:

Miami?

Bam Bam:

It's like the cigar capital Miami. Of

Gizmo:

Yeah. That's true. Yeah. So as part of the proposal, the convention center would need to have both permanent and temporary filtration and exhaust systems put in. They have to set up physical barriers between the smoking and nonsmoking areas.

Bam Bam:

We could put those in.

Gizmo:

And they have to and BAM can do it. And signage to designate which areas are smoking and not smoking. So they already do that at all the trade shows anyway.

Bam Bam:

Right.

Rooster:

You're coming to the PCA. Mean, do you need

Bam Bam:

a non smoking area? I don't get that. You don't.

Rooster:

You have to be you're affiliated obviously with this with something to do with cigars.

Gizmo:

Well, think they're worried about in the in the areas that are not designated, that don't have filtration, they're worried about that scent lingering, I guess, for

Bam Bam:

Oh, yeah.

Gizmo:

You know, the trade show that comes in the next week or week after that.

Senator:

Even like in New Orleans, you know, we could smoke inside of that convention hall. Mhmm. But once you went into those hallways that fed into other rooms in the convention center, you couldn't because there was nothing to take care of smoke out over there. Now in Vegas, it was different. Vegas, you could pretty much smoke anywhere.

Senator:

We're smoking in the halls. It really didn't matter. Wild West out there. But Vegas is set up for that kind of thing. They've had casinos that you can smoke in for God knows how long.

Senator:

They're built for that kind of

Rooster:

But even in casinos,

Bam Bam:

you can only smoke by the bar area, believe. Right?

Gizmo:

And at some slot machines.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah. There's smoking sections. I was there for a tortilla convention

Senator:

a few

Bam Bam:

years ago. Wow.

Pagoda:

Is there a convention for tortillas? Wow. Yeah. We should go about it.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Right?

Gizmo:

That sounds like a very boring convention. Like, is there a, like, a keynote speaker who's up there, like, rallying everybody about Salsa for you. The

Rooster:

next Salsa for you.

Gizmo:

The year of tortillas?

Pagoda:

They all bring their rolling pins on the belts, on the tool belts.

Chef Ricky:

At the

Gizmo:

They have a flower off.

Chef Ricky:

I was in it one year, I was in the business for a year, so anything I could and everything I could learn, I just try it and this was one way to not only learn some things but meet a lot of people in the industry. Yeah. Tap on some

Bam Bam:

some others, some knowledge of others. There must be a convention for everything.

Gizmo:

Yeah. My buddy just got back from a fence convention. Puts fences

Bam Bam:

in. Interesting.

Gizmo:

And there was a fence convention. So now fences and tortillas, they must have everything.

Bam Bam:

Wow. I'm on the fence about that. Well, they've got porn hub conventions. They do.

Gizmo:

Brad Dean, is the president and CEO of a firm called Explore St. Louis, I guess they operate the convention center. They've been working really hard to get the show to the city. I like this stat too. He said it would create over 1,200 jobs.

Gizmo:

Sounds like a high number.

Pagoda:

For four days.

Chef Ricky:

For four days.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Pagoda's on fire today. He's on point.

Gizmo:

So if this works out with St. Louis, it wouldn't be at least until 2030 at the earliest. However, I think that based on member reaction that we saw last year at New Orleans, everybody was pretty overwhelmingly thrilled about being in New Orleans. I mean, it's just such a great scene. The food, as we talked about, if you missed that, we do the recap episode.

Gizmo:

We'll certainly do it again this year. Yeah. You know, it's it's really a special place. And I would argue that Las Vegas isn't.

Pagoda:

No. The governor showed up.

Gizmo:

Yeah. The governor showed up.

Senator:

Yeah. Landry.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. New Orleans was great. You know? Having that barbecue in the park.

Senator:

Oh, That was cool.

Bam Bam:

The Aurora party down the road in this

Rooster:

It was

Chef Ricky:

like kind an

Senator:

distillery. Yeah.

Bam Bam:

But the whole area was fairly unpopulated. Buildings came down from that hurricane that they had years and years ago so it was like an area that's kind of coming back. Very cool environment, I would say. New Orleans can't be can't be beat. No.

Bam Bam:

They've got great little pockets of

Senator:

And the only reason I mean PCA couldn't do that long term is they hadn't had it in New Orleans in so long. It was a question mark how it would go, so you you basically have to sign for a minimum of two years. So they did that to see, and obviously, I mean, we were talking to Josh at the end of the last trade show. Yeah. All the feedback was incredible.

Senator:

So the hope is to have it returned, but mean How they know it?

Gizmo:

Keep it there, why does it keep needing to move around?

Senator:

Never That's what I'm saying. Couldn't line it in because what if it didn't go well? Yeah. You know, it's like having other venues that we can smoke at, though. There was that Cuban creations or whatever it's called that was like the home base where you could smoke down in the French Quarter, that other amazing place with the outdoor courtyard that we smoke cigars at.

Gizmo:

Don't forget the park that PCA took over, which was

Bam Bam:

That was cool. I'm trying to remember those two spots, dude.

Senator:

I mean, you definitely remember one of them, Bam. Spent

Pagoda:

a lot

Senator:

of time chatting at one of them.

Bam Bam:

That was I love that spot.

Rooster:

I

Bam Bam:

mean, I'm being serious. Havana. Oh. Fantastic spot. The band was playing.

Bam Bam:

The bar the bar was fantastic. It's separate structure from the humidor. It was really very cool. I think it was called Havana Havana and Socal. Something like that.

Bam Bam:

Well done, old boy.

Gizmo:

Let's go on to another one now, boys. This one is just shocking. The brand Asylum has announced their April fools release is a 90 by nine.

Rooster:

Oh my lord.

Bam Bam:

It's a baseball bat. You know what? We were

Gizmo:

90 by nine Honduran portal. Jeez. We might like it.

Rooster:

What are we doing?

Bam Bam:

90 by nine.

Gizmo:

90 by nine.

Bam Bam:

Asylum? Asylum. Never even heard.

Gizmo:

47 MSRP on that. Boxes of six. And I guess they release this

Chef Ricky:

It's a fucking nightstick.

Gizmo:

Every year. I mean, this is just wild. It's true.

Bam Bam:

April Fools. Yes. Would love

Gizmo:

to of the horse.

Pagoda:

I'd love to see you smoke that. I'd love

Gizmo:

It's never gonna happen, Pagoda.

Pagoda:

I'd love to see it. At least a photograph.

Chef Ricky:

Sugar lips, it seems like you're

Bam Bam:

the one that should be on that cigar. Oh, god.

Gizmo:

I just don't I don't understand. Is it it's gotta be a novelty. Right? Like, there's no way.

Chef Ricky:

Asylum is known for making massive I mean, that's like a biker cigar. That's right up We were having this conversation the other day about Neanderthal, I think I mistook my brands. I think I meant Asylum actually.

Senator:

Mean, let's not forget, there used to be a crazy member of this lounge here

Bam Bam:

Oh, I was thinking of

Senator:

hearing who would literally smoke cigars with even a larger ring age than

Bam Bam:

that. Yeah.

Gizmo:

And you know what was wild? He'd go home, smoking the car on the way home. He would still have the cigar. He would leave it outside on the windowsill. Mhmm.

Gizmo:

Go in the house, have dinner, shower, go to bed, get up the next morning

Bam Bam:

And finish the cigar.

Gizmo:

And come out, take the cigar off the windowsill, light it, get in the car, and drive. And smoke

Chef Ricky:

it. Big value guy.

Bam Bam:

Big time.

Gizmo:

Alright. Let's do one more and then we'll go to our pairing. This one was is really interesting as I don't understand this at all. And I'm hoping you guys can help me understand. Raching who is they make those really kind of fancy humidors.

Gizmo:

Yeah. Right? A lot of guys love those. Mhmm.

Senator:

They were at PCA last year.

Chef Ricky:

They are. Yep. How do you say?

Gizmo:

They were. Raching, r a c h I n g.

Rooster:

It's a Chinese company.

Gizmo:

Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. Raching company has announced the portable draw analyzer, which is a pocket draw machine to test the draw of your cigar. So this is what it looks like.

Pagoda:

You do you have to cut the head of the cigar

Bam Bam:

for it to test?

Gizmo:

Well, here's the thing though. If I wanna test the draw of a cigar, I just cut. And I put it in my mouth.

Bam Bam:

Correct. Right. What is the point of this?

Gizmo:

This seems like this is only useful for like a manufacturer of cigars who's walking through his factory floor and wants to spot test draw. Like, I can't think of another use.

Bam Bam:

Or taking advantage of novice cigar smokers that find this kitschy or interesting.

Pagoda:

Or a really high end cigar stool. Maybe. You know where they charge two, three times.

Gizmo:

Do you have

Rooster:

to cut the cigar

Gizmo:

to use it? Of course, you do. There's no airflow if you don't cut the cigar.

Rooster:

No. No. I mean, does it have, like, a probe that you stick in?

Gizmo:

No. You stick the whole cigar in it.

Bam Bam:

After you cut it.

Gizmo:

What are we talking about? And by the way, up to 70 ring gauge.

Bam Bam:

Look at this. Ridiculous.

Senator:

Yeah. That's a waste of What's the point? It's not like it can fix the draw.

Bam Bam:

Waste of money.

Senator:

You can cut a cigar and tell if the draw is good or if it sucks yourself.

Rooster:

So that's a great idea. If they came out with something that actually can fix the draw.

Bam Bam:

There you go.

Rooster:

Other than the, you know, the perfect

Gizmo:

draw. It'll

Chef Ricky:

It'll kind of a just have a motorized perfect draw in it, almost like a corkscrew for a wine bottle.

Pagoda:

Well, I'm really disappointed the 90 ring gauge asylum won't fit in that.

Gizmo:

No, it won't. It does go up to 70, though. I

Rooster:

don't think you'll have a draw issue

Pagoda:

with that one.

Gizmo:

The portable draw analyzer simulates the suction of a cigar smoker, and it measures the draw resistance in Pascals.

Bam Bam:

Unbelievable.

Gizmo:

And the scientists at Raging have decided that the ideal range of a cigar draw, perfect range, is between 501,000 Pascals. Okay? So less than 300 Pascals is too loose. 300 to 500 slightly loose, acceptable for a large ring gauge cigar. Mhmm.

Gizmo:

500 to a thousand Pascals is the Goldilocks zone. 1,000 to 1,400 pascals, slightly tight, acceptable for small ring gauge, and more than 1,400 pascals is too tight. And you guys, I could see the Raging portable draw analyzer has an MSRP of $699.

Rooster:

What? My goodness. If

Senator:

they sell more than five of these, I will be floored.

Chef Ricky:

The person buying this has one of those Cigar.

Rooster:

Cigar bibs.

Bam Bam:

I I don't know what to say. That is just outrageous. It's a you know what it is? It's a disgrace to the cigar community.

Rooster:

So go and you buy a cigar, and then you put it in the draw machine.

Bam Bam:

And you're 600 some odd dollars.

Rooster:

Yeah. It tells you that the draw's not good, so now what?

Pagoda:

It's probably the same person.

Senator:

Sir, no purchase.

Gizmo:

That's what I'm saying. Think about my example again. Think of one useful example is a cigar manufacturer walking through the floor and spot testing folks as they're rolling. Yeah. That's the only application where this would make sense.

Gizmo:

Then you have the machines. But he could just pick up the cigar, draw it. How much did that cigar cost him to make? 30¢? Yeah.

Gizmo:

He could do that. You could you could do that with what? Like a thousand cigars

Bam Bam:

Of course.

Gizmo:

Before you even come close to $700

Bam Bam:

Oh, no, man. Tobacco. It's the same guys who came up

Pagoda:

with the cigar, babe. I'm telling you.

Senator:

I mean, that actually has utility. This doesn't.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah. This doesn't And this is made in China.

Gizmo:

It is. Wow. I don't get it, but we'll see if Did you

Senator:

expect it to be made elsewhere?

Bam Bam:

No. I just the price point is

Chef Ricky:

fucking absurd.

Gizmo:

Everything's made there. It's crazy.

Bam Bam:

Let me try 500 Pascals right now, guys.

Gizmo:

I think this cigar, I would say this cigar, we had it, this is in the Goldilocks zone.

Bam Bam:

I think so too.

Gizmo:

Very nice. Alright, boys. It's time now to go to our pairing. We have a bourbon tonight. We have the Hillrock Solera aged bourbon whiskey coming out of New York.

Gizmo:

This is the second Hillrock we've done on the podcast. We did the cask rye whiskey

Bam Bam:

Hold on.

Gizmo:

Quite some time ago.

Bam Bam:

You've gotta get the aroma before you take a sip. It's outrageous.

Gizmo:

When I opened it, it smelled amazing.

Bam Bam:

On the nose, it's really, really quite good.

Pagoda:

Do we need ice?

Bam Bam:

I mean, it's very aromatic. I'm almost getting And there's like no a

Gizmo:

heat on the nose. No.

Bam Bam:

It's almost like a pudding type thing I'm getting on the aroma.

Gizmo:

Weird. It has like a dessert. Yes.

Bam Bam:

Yes. Brown sugar.

Gizmo:

Yeah, brown sugar.

Bam Bam:

I think that's it. There you go. Cheers.

Gizmo:

Almost like creme brulee.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Cheers, boys. Also,

Gizmo:

like with the little like the the burnt. Yep. Sugar on top. Little hotter going down than I expected. Holy smokes.

Gizmo:

But it's nice. I think it's just gonna be an adjustment.

Rooster:

It is.

Gizmo:

Should take a big gulp.

Senator:

No. It is. I I This is, like, I I tried

Bam Bam:

it 100 pascals right now. Yeah.

Senator:

I tried it first, and Giz will attest. I had the same reaction that Bam did when I took the first sip, but you will adjust.

Pagoda:

It gets I

Bam Bam:

have to say it is really quite good.

Gizmo:

Bam, get your handkerchief out. Your eyes are watering.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. I know. It's delicious. The finish is really outstanding, but it's really hot on the front.

Pagoda:

Hey. I think we need some accountability hour over here for Bam.

Bam Bam:

And? No lighter, gulping. Know.

Pagoda:

Meaning, what's going on over here?

Bam Bam:

He's just totally Bam, I'm right there with you, man.

Chef Ricky:

This thing caught me off guard.

Bam Bam:

It did.

Chef Ricky:

It it's and and and it took him it was very delayed because it starts off like salted butter, brown sugar, and you were looking forward to

Bam Bam:

Everything you're describing, I'm getting on the finish. You have to admit it's delicious.

Senator:

I got

Chef Ricky:

it in I got it at the start, and then at the sides of my tongue just got overwhelmed by heat. Yeah. And now it's dissipated, and now I get the flavors again.

Pagoda:

Quite good.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah. What's the proof on this thing?

Senator:

Yeah, right. 92.

Gizmo:

Okay. Okay. 46%. So let's talk about the story here. So apparently, according to the people who make it, and one is notably the godfather of distilled spirits here in The United States, Dave Pickerel, who passed away in 2018.

Gizmo:

He's very famous for working with Maker's Mark. Was going to say his name came

Chef Ricky:

from this pod before.

Gizmo:

Yeah. And he also made the Metallica whiskey with those guys before he passed away. So we've actually had a couple of his spirits before. So this firm is based in New York founded by Jeffrey Baker, Kathy Franklin, and Dave Pickrell. It's a family owned business, which is pretty cool.

Gizmo:

I love that it comes out of New York. It comes out of the Hudson Valley. So the Hillrock Solera aged bourbon is the first American whiskey to be aged in the centuries old Solera method using traditionally used traditionally to create exceptional cherries, ports, Madeiras, and cognacs. Madeira's. Madeira's.

Gizmo:

I did that. I I as soon as it came out of my mouth,

Bam Bam:

I Well, knew

Gizmo:

what Why don't bring on Madeira

Senator:

in here?

Pagoda:

$252.29,

Gizmo:

Pagoda. Recognized internationally, the award winning whiskey is finished in 20 old Oloroso Sherry casks, which give the bourbon floral notes layered with fig bam, roasted walnuts, candied fruit, and spicy rye. Solera aging involves the pyramid of barrels where a small portion of whiskey is removed periodically from the lowest tier of barrels and an equal measure of new whiskey is added to the top barrels. No barrel in the Solera is ever emptied, and over time, the older whiskey in the Solera mingles with the younger whiskeys to create unmatched depth and complexity. Didn't Pooba bring a bottle of headluck?

Gizmo:

That's where we got this. He brought the first one in. So

Bam Bam:

my initial take, I think it's delicious, but it overpowers the cigar, in my opinion. I'm having a hard time

Gizmo:

I just took my third sip. I don't agree that it's Yeah.

Senator:

I think your palate has to adjust. The first sip is shocking. None of us were prepared for that. But like you said, after your third sip, I do think your palate adjusts.

Gizmo:

So apparently, the current average age of the Solera Bourbon is over six years, and the rye content in it is approximately 37 to 40%.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah. To me, I almost thought it was a weeded bourbon slightly, and it's because of the the amount of rye. There is no wheat in here, but the rye is giving it that sort of kick, like enzyme enzymatic flavor, like this, like a spice, almost like a yeastiness. Okay.

Senator:

Enzymatic flavor. Look at this.

Bam Bam:

Oh my I'm a chemist. Like, I don't even know what to say. I think

Pagoda:

grind Grindr has been replaced by chef.

Gizmo:

There you go. Competitor to enzymatic. Chef's theme music.

Chef Ricky:

Now I'm a Republican chemist. So

Gizmo:

I just wanna talk really quick about Dave Pickrell again. It's been quite some time since we've had one of his spirits. So again, he is considered the founding father of craft distilling. He was in the Army, left in 1989, and then he became a chemical engineer and distilling consultant in Louisville. And then in 1994, he joined Maker's Mark Bourbon as a corporate VP and master distiller and was with the company for fourteen years.

Gizmo:

Over Pickrell's fourteen years at Maker's Mark, annual sales moved from a 175,000 cases to nearly 1,000,000.

Bam Bam:

Wow. Pretty cool. That's cool.

Gizmo:

So then after leaving Maker's Mark, he became a consultant where he worked with hundreds of distilleries, and his wide ranging influences, it says here on his Wiki, gave him the nickname the founding father of the craft distilling movement and the Johnny Appleseed of craft distilling. He's also worked with Whistle Pig, Watershed Distillery, Copper Fox Distillery, Garrison Brothers, and Metallica. And that was his final release. He passed away on 11/01/2018 of heart failure, and he was only 62. That's young.

Gizmo:

So Wow. It was terribly unfortunate, but certainly left his mark on the whiskey industry here in The United States.

Bam Bam:

How much is this bottle? $120. Oh, yowza. Woah.

Rooster:

How much?

Gizmo:

$1.20.

Bam Bam:

Alright. That's a lot.

Rooster:

You wanna rate it now?

Gizmo:

We have an email coming up about that.

Pagoda:

I can rate it right now.

Gizmo:

No, you know what though? I think this is pretty cool bourbon.

Bam Bam:

It's good bourbon. I agree. It's very good.

Gizmo:

It's cool.

Chef Ricky:

Think it's distinct. It's different.

Gizmo:

It's different.

Chef Ricky:

There's a depth there. I think the mixture of casks help. The color's beautiful. The bottle's gorgeous.

Bam Bam:

It is delicious.

Gizmo:

And you know what? I think it's really nice for cigar smoking.

Pagoda:

Prefer the aroma though. I prefer the aroma.

Chef Ricky:

I will say this, you know, I'm a little bit in line with BAM here. It's not that the bourbon is overpowering. You need a few draws of your cigar to get back into that realm of the cigar. Couldn't agree more. This isn't a spirit where like if it were a lighter, a lighter reposado tequila tequila or something along those lines where you could sip and draw, sip and draw.

Chef Ricky:

This is more of a sip, take a few draws, go back for your sip because otherwise you will overwhelm your palate.

Senator:

Don't disagree, but what I've noticed is with this being higher proof, you need smaller sips of it.

Bam Bam:

Oh, just tiny ones. Yeah. When you

Senator:

take smaller sips, it doesn't overpower the cigar. But when I have accidentally taken a larger sip, and then I take a draw of the cigar, my palate's shot and needs to The bourbon needs to dissipate.

Bam Bam:

That's correct.

Senator:

I think you just have to be conscious about it with this.

Pagoda:

I think this might just be better with the chip of ice.

Chef Ricky:

I disagree. I do love the salted caramel notes here. It's like salted butterscotch.

Senator:

I kind of do wanna try it with a little water. Really?

Bam Bam:

Just a splash. Put

Senator:

a I splash wanna try it.

Chef Ricky:

Oh, senator, if you were here last week.

Pagoda:

Oh, boy. What happened

Senator:

last week?

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Chef

Gizmo:

put Has ice in his

Bam Bam:

to come. Wow.

Senator:

What was the drink?

Gizmo:

I don't remember. I don't remember.

Senator:

Oh, sounds great.

Gizmo:

Was it the was it the The

Pagoda:

Jack Daniel.

Gizmo:

Jack Daniel's? Yes. Single barrel Single barrel. Heritage barrel. Toasted barrel is the name of

Bam Bam:

it. Yeah. I'm gonna go with this blush.

Gizmo:

So while he's doing that, boys, we're coming to the end of the first third here on Davidoff Winston Churchill, the original series in Churchill. What's everybody thinking?

Bam Bam:

It's it's kinda going fast. That's the thing.

Gizmo:

I don't know though. They say on their website that this is a sixty I minute

Bam Bam:

don't disagree with Rooster.

Senator:

I've 60. I'm sure.

Bam Bam:

Well, by

Gizmo:

the way, it does go fast. No. The way, we're forty some odd minutes in.

Senator:

If any Churchill is sixty minutes, that's a fast smoke for a Churchill.

Bam Bam:

It's been

Rooster:

like an hour and a half. Yeah, minutes. Ninety minutes.

Gizmo:

I think we're going get to 90, guys. We're already forty some odd minutes in.

Bam Bam:

I don't know. It's a fairly lighter packed cigar. I've never had this for more than an hour. I feel like that's

Rooster:

I don't spot think it has changed that much. Like, so far it's been like a one act.

Bam Bam:

I think it's gotten a bit But that is most Davidoff's. Yeah. The sweetness has dissipated a little bit, and I like that because it's getting a little nuttier.

Pagoda:

Nuttier, yes.

Bam Bam:

Which I love, but the sweetness is still there.

Rooster:

It's still creamy, and the

Gizmo:

baking spice is coming through. Definitely.

Senator:

The flavor profile right now is more similar to the little bellicoso that we smoke.

Bam Bam:

I agree.

Senator:

Because that nuttiness is always very present there.

Bam Bam:

Still very, very good.

Chef Ricky:

It's still sweeter than that though. It's leading a little bit sweeter than Oh,

Bam Bam:

I agree. Still. Yeah.

Rooster:

But that's an $8 bellicose. Right?

Bam Bam:

I know. Even less. Think about that. Even less.

Gizmo:

You can find it cheaper than that too.

Bam Bam:

Think about that. Right?

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. Let's go into another news story now. This one's an exciting one. We talked about this late last year, but now Arturo Fuente is shipping the rare pink black pink line.

Bam Bam:

Is that a color? The

Gizmo:

black pink is different because it uses a Habano seed wrapper grown in Connecticut over a blend of Dominican fillers. The line is only offered to stores that are members of the Tobacco Association of America, TAA, so only 80 retailers will have it now, and then it will expand to about 200 after that.

Rooster:

I feel like Arturo Fuente is becoming like Taco Bell.

Bam Bam:

It's too much.

Rooster:

You know why?

Bam Bam:

It's just too much.

Rooster:

Taco Bell takes the same seven ingredients, and they come up with new items.

Bam Bam:

It's brilliant.

Gizmo:

Yeah. I mean, they take the

Rooster:

tortilla, wrap it into a square thing and call it Crunch wrap. Crunch wrap.

Gizmo:

Did you see that at the tortilla conference that you went to?

Bam Bam:

No, That's because of

Pagoda:

the insights.

Senator:

No, there's a lot of innovation there. They take Doritos and make They tacos out of

Bam Bam:

take Doritos Their food is not made in a kitchen. It's made laboratory.

Chef Ricky:

Now they have edible sauce packets. Do you guys see this?

Bam Bam:

What does that mean?

Senator:

That's disgusting.

Rooster:

You need the packet?

Chef Ricky:

Yeah, I don't know what it's made out of food I think. It's some kind of dough No food. No food. Well, yeah, use that term.

Bam Bam:

It's edible food product.

Chef Ricky:

You could, you know, take a bite off of Holy cow.

Senator:

Like some worker just like digs their hands in there and grabs a bunch of them and throws them in a bag, then you just put that right in your mouth? I mean,

Bam Bam:

that's No. Tasted.

Gizmo:

Do you really care at 2AM when you're But they they come

Rooster:

out with new stuff. Right? They create new stuff out of the same ingredients.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. It's called a chemistry experiment.

Rooster:

And that's what Fuentes is doing, like, kind of renaming their cigars by changing the, you know,

Gizmo:

changing the blends of that Rob Ila actually pinned that he picked out, and I thought it was hilarious that Charlie put in the article about the rare pink. It says Arturo Fuente will offer retailers who are members of TAA the first shipments of of its upcoming Arturo Fuente rare pink vintage nineteen sixties black pink line, a darker spin on the existing rare pink line, which itself is a spin off

Bam Bam:

Yeah.

Gizmo:

Of the company's Hemingway series. So you are exactly right, Brewster. It's just iterating on the same stuff here.

Rooster:

Light pink, dark pink. And pink.

Gizmo:

It's gonna come in four vitola, the signature, the work of art, the happy ending, and the Black Panther, which are the same sizes as what you would find in

Bam Bam:

Don't they have one called the Happy Hooker or something like that?

Senator:

I don't know. They do or something like that. Some cigar with the name Hooker in

Bam Bam:

it. Yeah. Street.

Rooster:

And how much is this amazing cigar?

Gizmo:

What is the MSRP going on? On the smallest one is gonna be 3 $13.50, And the biggest one, the Black Panther, 55 ring gauge by six and five in five eighths inch.

Bam Bam:

Which is the biggest one gonna be the Black Panther?

Pagoda:

That is good.

Gizmo:

The the smallest one, the signature, 46 by $613 and 50¢. The work of art, which is 46, and it obviously tapers to sixty four and seven eights. Big Black Panther. 14. And the Big Black Panther, the biggest one is 55 by six and five eight inches long.

Gizmo:

Twenty two seventy. Wow. On those. That's not crazy. That's a box of 25 of those would be $455.

Gizmo:

Yeah. But, you know, like like you're saying, Rooster, I mean, I I've just got Fuente fatigue. You know? I I I am not excited

Rooster:

about they keep up with this.

Gizmo:

Like

Bam Bam:

Yeah. How many different It's many different blends they have.

Senator:

I would love for Carlito to be able to actually name, like No. Every single line

Bam Bam:

He won't be able to do

Senator:

and all the different vitolas within

Rooster:

this whole

Bam Bam:

impossible. No. It's impossible.

Gizmo:

I I I am confused with their their plan here. It it it seems like it's like like you said, it's just the same ingredients over and over and over. It's not exciting. See, this is why Padron makes so much sense to everyone. They stick with what they know and they do it well.

Rooster:

They're consistent. They know what they're doing. They don't come out with new stuff all the time.

Bam Bam:

You know what's funny? I'm at a bunch of lounges almost every week, and the topic of I'm smoking a Padron, and I'm some stranger. We're chatting, and I show him my cigar. This is the best made cigar in the world. It's the best cigar in the world.

Bam Bam:

Everyone agrees in the room, but not a single person smoking a Padron.

Gizmo:

Yeah. It's unusual. Why do you think that is?

Pagoda:

Yeah. It's

Bam Bam:

They feel it's an expensive cigar.

Rooster:

What are they smoking?

Bam Bam:

I mean Ashton's, they're smoking

Pagoda:

La Aurora's.

Chef Ricky:

A lot

Bam Bam:

of La Aurora's. They're not good. Rocky Patel's. Yeah, it's true. So it's unusual to see people commenting on how incredible Padron's are, and when I'm smoking one, it's rare to see someone else smoking because they assume it's too strong and it's too expensive.

Pagoda:

By the way

Bam Bam:

But they'll say it's an incredible sellout.

Pagoda:

A lot of stores don't even carry Padrons.

Gizmo:

Well, that's also they are selective about where they

Bam Bam:

Yeah. As they should be.

Rooster:

As they should be. But they make the thousand series.

Bam Bam:

Are also

Rooster:

actually 2,000. Those are very well priced.

Bam Bam:

You never told us Senator, how was that 2,000 series that you had?

Senator:

Great.

Bam Bam:

How many years have you had that? Four, three, four years?

Senator:

Four at least. Dude.

Gizmo:

Did it taste like a '64?

Pagoda:

Did it grow up?

Senator:

No, but much better.

Gizmo:

Really? Much better than without

Senator:

the age? Without the age, exactly.

Bam Bam:

I think this thousand series cigars are such a great bargain, and they have excellent

Rooster:

To age them.

Bam Bam:

Aging potential. I've had some older thousand series, the 4,000, 2,000 from somebody else and the Presidente or something, they make one that's got an unusual name. This guy had it in his tower for seven years. Smoked it on his porch. No lie, it's one of the best cigars I've ever had.

Rooster:

Wow. Wow.

Bam Bam:

That's high praise. And these are incredibly affordable cigars. It's pretty cool inside intel, honestly.

Gizmo:

People have always said that the Padron series, or the thousand series as we're calling it, that if you give it four, five, six years, it's gonna move into the territory of the '64. Senator St. Closure to it, but

Senator:

I honestly, I disagree with people who say it can actually morph into becoming very, very close to a 1964 line cigar. It doesn't.

Bam Bam:

I don't think

Gizmo:

let's get closer to it. But let's also think about the difference in the aging process, right? On the 64 series, that tobacco is aged in bales for four or five years or whatever it is. Then it's rolled, and it's blended based on the aged tobacco and rolled. And when we get it, it was recently rolled.

Gizmo:

The tobacco is aged accordingly. What you're smoking in a Padron series, a thousand series that's four or five years old, you're smoking tobacco that matured more when it was with its other tobaccos.

Bam Bam:

Rolled.

Gizmo:

You know, rolled up. So it's just a different type of aging affecting the flavor and the blend and and ultimately what ends up happening at the, you couple years out.

Bam Bam:

I think it would be good advice for guys and girls out there to grab a bunch of these boxes, hold onto them, give it a year or two or three and try them

Rooster:

out.

Gizmo:

Well listen, also we've said this before, the price isn't going down.

Bam Bam:

That's

Gizmo:

true. So anything you have, it's better to buy it now than in the future because the price is only going to go up. So this brings me to a thought that I had and I wanted to bring it to you guys. I was thinking a lot about this. I think that Fuente and in some ways Davidoff are two brands that I think have done a complete one eighty from my perception of them and in some cases flavor as we've talked ad nauseam about both of these brands.

Gizmo:

Five years ago, four years ago, when I started smoking cigars in 2014, I kinda had them all on a pedestal, and Davidoff still kinda sits there for me. But do you guys have the similar experience to what I'm describing? I think in some ways you do, that things have kind of changed, but also, are there any other brands that have done the same or the opposite for you?

Bam Bam:

Well, with Davidoff, we're talking about the fact that we don't know who's blending right now, and they've become And

Gizmo:

the marketing?

Bam Bam:

And yeah. And through the marketing, they've become anonymous through their beautiful imagery. I don't know any other maker that's doing that.

Gizmo:

I think the only one that I can explicitly say doesn't expose their blenders is Habanos. Correct. Cubans, you know, Cuban cigars, but pretty much everybody else, you kinda have an idea. Yeah.

Rooster:

Well, Padron

Gizmo:

doesn't. Well, George Padron's the blender.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. And those blends are set in stone.

Rooster:

Yeah. They don't really come out with with a lot of new stuff.

Bam Bam:

So Yeah. You know? Thankfully.

Rooster:

Yeah. It's a good thing.

Bam Bam:

Correct.

Gizmo:

Do you guys have a similar perception as to what I'm describing on these brands?

Senator:

Yes and no. I mean, Davidoff for sure. I feel like years ago, even some of the kind of gimmicky releases that Davidoff would come out with, there were some that I I remember enjoying. There was this one larger ring gauge Davidoff. It was called like the Pequant.

Gizmo:

I don't know

Senator:

if you remember this. I don't four or five

Rooster:

years secondary white band.

Senator:

I think so. Yeah. And that was actually very good. And it was a random kinda limited release. Like, there were every now and then, you'd, like, find these, like, little gens that were, like, enjoyable, and that's when I used to really hold Davidoff in high regard.

Senator:

Like, there was interesting variety and then, like, kind of the staples. You know, we smoked the millennium, the late hour stuff like that. In recent years, I mean, the number of times that we're smoking a Davidoff, that's dramatically decreased. So and I think these limited releases they put out have just become average. There there's there's not much special that they put out for limited production.

Bam Bam:

And they're so expensive.

Senator:

So my perception of Davidoff has definitely taken a nosedive. And then you add to it, like, these absurd releases. I mean, the Oro Blanco or whatever it's called, $500 a cigar. Like Combined age? The combined age statements.

Senator:

I mean, it's just like pure stupidity at this point. So I've lost a lot of respect from that. Fuente for me, for whatever reason, and any of you will remember early on when you first met me, I was never a Fuente guy. I mean, you never saw me smoke Fuente

Bam Bam:

I don't think that one either does.

Senator:

Earliest days with cigars. Like, I remember ordering sampler packs, and, like, Chateau Fuente would be in there, like, milder stuff they make. None of them ever grabbed me. For whatever reason, my palate like, you guys have talked about the short story. That was even never

Gizmo:

Oh, I like that. Love of really like that.

Senator:

Any point in my journey.

Bam Bam:

Hemingways are nice.

Gizmo:

But it's funny, I actually reached for a short story. I picked it up when I was in Florida when I was down visiting my father-in-law, and it was not Really? The cigar I remember.

Senator:

Okay. Because we did it on the pod, and it was not bad, and I actually bought a

Gizmo:

box It was okay on was okay when we reviewed it.

Senator:

And when I've gone back to that box, and I still probably have some, I don't like it. I actively don't enjoy

Rooster:

it. I think the blend has changed

Senator:

over the years. Like, initially, the

Rooster:

first that was one of my first cigars cigar that I ever had, was the short story, and it was a fantastic smoke.

Gizmo:

I don't know

Rooster:

if it's the wrapper or the blend or whatever. Even the Hemingway series, even the Don Carlos

Bam Bam:

line, that

Rooster:

has changed.

Gizmo:

It used to be so good.

Bam Bam:

Haven't had one of those in a while, but I fell in love with the Don Carlos number two, the pyramid, for a long time.

Rooster:

That's the thing.

Gizmo:

I've

Senator:

come to prefer Don Carlos over any

Gizmo:

the That's their best wine taste. I agree. Shark is in the eye of the sharks in that one

Bam Bam:

too. Correct.

Gizmo:

Which is one of the best cigars that we've smoked on this podcast.

Bam Bam:

Best in the world.

Gizmo:

Now, I haven't smoked a more recent run of the Shark. I still am smoking the box that I was smoking out of four years ago or

Bam Bam:

whatever I it

Gizmo:

haven't had a recent one, so I can't comment if that's changed.

Bam Bam:

I've had a few recent ones. They're still very, very good. Creamy, buttery with that incredible structure.

Rooster:

But I feel like they're not aging the tobaccos like they used to. They're kind of rushing it.

Senator:

Right? Rushing the hands of time. Yeah.

Gizmo:

Yeah. So I want to be I want to switch now to optimism. I'll give you one that and we had the experience in this room. Blew my mind was Perdomo. That legacy cigar from Perdomo

Bam Bam:

It shocking.

Gizmo:

Was the opposite. Yeah. Not only of what I had smoked in the champagne years ago and and surprise some others in my early days. That was one of the best cigars I've had in recent memory. I think was excellent.

Chef Ricky:

I'll need a couple more Prodonos before that could happen for me. I mean, to me, they built their brand on value and and sort of the budget smoke.

Bam Bam:

You were in the room that night.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah, I was. And that was an It was an outstanding start.

Gizmo:

And it was for all of us.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. It

Senator:

was. Just think that showed that they have arranged Exactly. In a way that we didn't

Gizmo:

My perception changed is what I'm saying. You know? And I think Pagoda, we've talked about this. Some of the Liga stuff in the early days of Liga versus now.

Bam Bam:

That's another great point.

Gizmo:

Right? I think that has changed quite a bit from what it used to be. Right?

Pagoda:

Yeah. Dramatically.

Gizmo:

Because I remember when we pulled out, we did the t fifty two, we did the league of nine, we did a couple of them, and I think on every single one of those episodes you said something similar to this is

Bam Bam:

not the way it used to be. Nope.

Gizmo:

So how would you describe the change?

Bam Bam:

Although he said that, we rated those pretty nicely.

Gizmo:

They were okay. I don't I don't think anything clipped more than like a Eights? Mid eight.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Which is a great score.

Pagoda:

But they used to be fabulous. Everywhere you went and whoever you spoke

Bam Bam:

And to, loved

Pagoda:

think-

Bam Bam:

And there was a shortage on Illegalize for a while.

Pagoda:

Yeah, for quite some time.

Chef Ricky:

It was actually after that shortage that the dip started happening, right? So who knows what they did to end that shortage.

Senator:

I really wonder what Liga's sales look like over the last five, ten years.

Gizmo:

And I wonder if they care though, because I think

Pagoda:

They a captured audience.

Gizmo:

I think they have so much volume happening with acid and all like, they are one of the biggest sellers out there. I mean

Senator:

I just mean like the the main Liga line. Yeah. I feel like years ago, I used to see in cigar lounges several people smoking a Liga cigar.

Bam Bam:

Yeah.

Senator:

I, in recent years Same. I can't remember the last time I've been in the lounge. I even saw one person light a Liga cigar.

Bam Bam:

Same. Same here.

Gizmo:

The other one I wanna point out, Pagoda, because we just experienced this at PCN. I think all of us in the room have experienced this change over the last couple of years is La Aurora. You know, coming into For the better. For the way better.

Bam Bam:

Oh, Way better.

Gizmo:

When I came into, you know, getting to know those guys and getting to know their new American operation and having visited them, I went in with a perception and it was totally changed, not because they were great people but by flavor. And I think what they did with that hundred years, the 01/2007, then the 01/20, then the Fuerte Sol, the cigars that we were smoking when we were down there again, I think that they are moving into, or they have moved into a real premium competitor to the cigars that

Bam Bam:

That's we've correct.

Pagoda:

Think we mentioned, we were talking about this. I really enjoyed the 120 there.

Senator:

Well, that's what did it for us in the first place.

Bam Bam:

That's right.

Gizmo:

If we

Senator:

remember, we were in Vegas at PCA.

Bam Bam:

They had

Senator:

a session, and they handed out the one twenty. And we all smoked that for the first time, exactly. That's when we sought We them were like, wow, this is a great cigar we would have not have expected. I saw it for

Pagoda:

the first time after a long time, the 120s, and you know, I want to age them. I think I just am just gonna let them sit for a while and see, because that experience in Santiago was fabulous.

Gizmo:

Yeah, the cigars were great. And this is like, there's nothing happening here. They're not a sponsor or anything else. Obviously we went down there and spent some time with them. Was amazing, but I think they've really changed into the more premium they're going down a more premium route than they've been on before.

Bam Bam:

Also, their presentation has escalated.

Gizmo:

100%.

Bam Bam:

Their website's really stunning, and their booth at PCA is fantastic.

Gizmo:

Well, and

Senator:

I also think they have more range now in their line.

Bam Bam:

Mhmm.

Senator:

When we were in New Orleans, that new cigar that they had put out, that was like a Nicaraguan blend.

Gizmo:

There was some Nicaraguan in that. The Fuerte Sol Family Creed.

Senator:

That's the one. And we were smoking this, and we like, oh, wow. There's some Padron esque qualities about this that we would have never expected from a La Aurora cigar. So I think they've really broadened kind of the range and appeal that they have for different types of smokers who like a medium full experience, a medium experience, a mild medium experience. So I think they've done a nice job.

Bam Bam:

Oh, yeah.

Gizmo:

So if any listener out there has another brand that has done a one eighty for them, I'd love to hear it because, you know, of course, with time, businesses change. You know, people change. Things change in business. So I'm curious out there if if you have experienced a cigar that you used to love and now, you know, just does not resonate or

Bam Bam:

Great question.

Gizmo:

Other way around

Bam Bam:

Great question.

Gizmo:

Something in the past that disappointed you, and now you smoked one recently and it's blowing your mind. I mean, that for me is Perdomo. I can easily say for me, Perdomo is that. I was blown away by that. I've had a couple since then since we recorded that episode, and they've been excellent.

Pagoda:

You know, I don't think I've ever had a podoma.

Gizmo:

Never? You got to have the legacy, man. It was awesome.

Pagoda:

I'll try it.

Gizmo:

Yeah. It was awesome. Alright, boys. Let's go into some listener email now.

Bam Bam:

I must say though, as many of these that that I've had, this experience right now is, for me, exquisite. That nuttiness has kinda gone away, but now that's like a sweeter cocoa for me. Hard to beat this sometimes.

Gizmo:

For me, the cigar is very good, but it's not blowing my mind. Right. I I think it's a really rock solid

Bam Bam:

Interesting.

Gizmo:

Really good cigar.

Bam Bam:

Are you smoking it quickly?

Gizmo:

No. Okay. It's pretty quick. He's further along than I am.

Senator:

No. Yes, is. He's got the band on.

Gizmo:

I took the band off.

Pagoda:

Oh, it's unbanded now.

Senator:

No. You're further than he is.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. You're further.

Senator:

You gotta check that prescription, Giz.

Gizmo:

I haven't been to the eye doctor in a while.

Chef Ricky:

That was half an inch.

Pagoda:

About two.

Chef Ricky:

He got you by half an inch.

Gizmo:

He always does.

Rooster:

I don't know.

Bam Bam:

I'm really loving this cigar right now.

Rooster:

Good, but I think it's a bit one dimensional. It hasn't really changed all that much. And to pay $28 and especially when it's a Churchill, you kind of want to change.

Bam Bam:

What would you be? It becomes a bit I want to hear what you'd be looking for right now.

Rooster:

I'm looking for a bit more oomph. I'm looking for a bit more

Bam Bam:

A bit of a punch?

Rooster:

A more of a punch, a little bit more cocoa forward cigar.

Gizmo:

A little bit more sweetness. I will say the spice evaporated for me and I kind of miss it. Yeah. There was that little like kind of like just a dash of pepper that was working really well and it's gone. And I think that the complexity that I was describing early on is not it's not as present, and I think that's what's missing.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Don't know Sorry. I don't think it's an overly complex cigar.

Rooster:

No, but for $28 I think it should deliver a bit more than it is right now. Interesting. Okay.

Senator:

I mean, I'll say this. For me, it's like a tale of two halves. I think the first half I actually would describe as complex. That's what I was really impressed by. We got so many distinct flavor notes in the first half that hit different parts of your palate, and I feel like the second half, half those notes are gone, half of them mostly remain, and it's just now a pretty straightforward

Bam Bam:

It is.

Senator:

Flavor profile.

Bam Bam:

It is.

Senator:

And so, like, when you start with such complexity, you're expecting that to hold. And the fact that it doesn't, I think that's where there's a little bit of a, like, drop off or disappointment in terms of what you're expecting from the cigar.

Rooster:

But don't you think if you have not had this cigar before, so you did not know what to expect from the cigar. So when you first light the cigar, you're like, wow, this is actually really good. But when it's a Churchill, it's a long cigar. So initially, you're getting some good flavor out of it. But it kind of becomes one dimensional after the halfway point.

Rooster:

At least I start losing interest in that. Know? No.

Senator:

I agree. I mean, for me, if the second half would have actually been identical to the first half, not even changed, I don't even need multiple acts for this, I would be very pleased because it was so complex and so flavorful. The fact that half those flavors are kinda lost at this point, that's where I I agree. Mhmm. You you you become a bit disappointed.

Senator:

The notes

Rooster:

are not that distinct as they were in the beginning.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. I'm getting an opposite experience tonight. Cocoa. Still getting cocoa.

Gizmo:

Is there like a familiarity bias that you're having?

Bam Bam:

Because you're

Gizmo:

just so in love with the cigar.

Bam Bam:

I do love the cigar, and I've had so many of them.

Senator:

And I mean, your cocoa callout, like, I do get cocoa in the second half in a way that I wasn't as much in the first half. The first half for me was coffee. Right. Right. The second half, I'm getting more cocoa than I am coffee.

Senator:

But the problem is I'm only getting some cocoa and some nuttiness, and that's pretty much it.

Gizmo:

Yeah. There's not much else going on.

Senator:

The fruit's gone. The spice is gone. I agree

Pagoda:

with it.

Senator:

It's not as creamy. Like, it's lost

Rooster:

a lot.

Bam Bam:

Cream is a simple experience.

Rooster:

Is it is a very easy smoke. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's effortless.

Bam Bam:

Sure.

Rooster:

It's very easy to smoke.

Gizmo:

Listen. But I can I can get an effortless Churchill in the Cabo Iguan from Tatuahe

Rooster:

from That's what I'm eight saying? That's why that's why the $28 price point is a That's true.

Gizmo:

A bit

Rooster:

high to what this is delivering. I agree.

Gizmo:

We'll see how it finishes here, boys. But let's go on to some listener email now. We're gonna start with some listener feedback. I'm gonna start with this one. This one's from n y Guido on f o h.

Gizmo:

She says, guys, I absolutely love this episode, and it really gave me a lift during a very tough week in my world. I have to say Idiav seems like my kind of guy. Like someone who'd wear a Hawaiian shirt anytime the temp gets above 75 and is the life of the party whether people want him to be or not. Yeah. Comments on the the question about what Giz is like off air.

Gizmo:

He says, I'll also say in the limited interactions I've been fortunate enough to have with Lizard Gizmo, he's been nothing but kind, funny, and gentles of a spirit even when busting balls. Seems like the kind of guy anyone would be happy to have as a friend. I'm super disappointed that the cigar didn't perform. I've been trying to like Placencia, but I haven't connected with any yet. It doesn't seem like this is gonna change that.

Gizmo:

Of course, we're talking about the Alma del Cielo. Appreciate you guys saving me $25 and a few hours of time. It also seems like I have to find a way to get to pro cigar one of these days, Pagoda. I want to go to one of these events. And even I'm thinking of seeing if there's some angle I can use to get into PCA.

Gizmo:

As always, it's a great show. Thanks for the laughs and the fun and the info. Long live wizard nation. Let's go to another one now. This one's from our friend Lizard Luigi also commenting on the same episode.

Gizmo:

He says, hello, Lizards. Just listen to your Placentia Alma del Cielo episode. I'm not surprised you guys had the opinion you did. Placentia is a brand that seems to make better stuff for other people than they make for themselves. That being said, they do have an all Honduran line made at their other factory in Honduras.

Gizmo:

It's called the one five one. We talked about that, Senator. It's the white label. He says, I think you will be happy with it. My preferred size is the La Tradicion Blizzard Luigi.

Senator:

Is that the one we had at PCA? I The white legged Yeah.

Gizmo:

I think so. It's okay.

Bam Bam:

I don't

Senator:

remember that. The problem. Like, it was good, but it wasn't great. Forgetful. Yeah.

Gizmo:

Yeah. Here's another one. This one's from Lizard Kristoff. He says, hi, Lizards. I'm sorry, but I have to correct you on your most recent episode.

Gizmo:

Someone mentioned that you guys smoked the green banded Placencia, which was identified as the Alma del Campo. However, this is not the del Campo, but it's the Alma Fuerte. Same name, but a different blend from the black gold banded one which you've reviewed. The Alma del Campo has a gray band with white lettering, and I will go to my grave saying it is Placentia's best offering. I also think it's the one which even none of you seem to have tried it would align best with your flavor profiles.

Gizmo:

It's creamy, complex, and full of baking spice with a long finish, but it doesn't get too bold. I'm in no way paid by Placencia for the record. I don't go nuts for their other lines, and I think they're becoming overpriced. But I have some emotional attachment to that stick similar to your story with the Padron Exclusivo. It's the first stick that blew my mind from a flavor perspective and got me into premium cigars.

Gizmo:

And I'd hate for people to skip it.

Senator:

Well, I'm gonna go to my grave without ever having another Placencia cigar.

Gizmo:

I feel like we have to have one more. We have to give them one more chance. No. I mean, in 02/2029 episodes, we've only done two. I think we need to give them one more shot.

Gizmo:

Yeah. Maybe. Alright. This one I like for rooster here. This one is from Lizard Andrew.

Bam Bam:

The rooster.

Gizmo:

If we remember Lizard Rooster over here, made some promises. Hey, Giz. I'm a couple days behind on the pod, but I just heard my email read again. You guys are amazing. Totally blown away by Rooster's generosity.

Gizmo:

Please thank him for me. If I've learned one thing from my time in cigars, it's how generous everyone is. Out where I live in Pennsylvania, there are no lounges. So much so that I joke with the wife about starting one myself, and he sent his address. Again, your generosity is amazing.

Gizmo:

It really means a lot. Thank you so much, Lizard Andrew. And then he followed up. He said, I sent that with an incomplete thought. What I was trying to say was there aren't any lounges in my area, so the pod is what keeps me company while I smoke in my garage.

Gizmo:

It makes me feel like I am part of you guys. So thank you for all the work that all of you put into it on a weekly basis. Lizard Andrew from Pennsylvania.

Bam Bam:

That's tough. Andrew. It's tough not having a place to go.

Gizmo:

I mean, we are very lucky. We are. I mean, I you know, I think about, like, places that don't have what we're lucky to have. Like, it's amazing, though, that we're in New Jersey and we have this, and there's some places that

Bam Bam:

Mhmm.

Gizmo:

You would think it's, a no brainer that they'd have it, and and there's just no options.

Bam Bam:

Now in PA, they've got Cigars International. Don't they have several locations?

Rooster:

Well, it depends where

Gizmo:

PA is a big state, man.

Bam Bam:

Know. I

Gizmo:

know. PA is a big state.

Bam Bam:

That's true.

Gizmo:

I mean, border to border, left to right. I mean, you're talking probably eight hours. Well, if he's near Nine hours?

Bam Bam:

If he's near Pittsburgh, there's plenty of places to smoke. Well, two. And if you're near Ohio, well still, those are two great spots.

Pagoda:

He can always move to South Dakota.

Senator:

That's right.

Gizmo:

There's more coming there.

Chef Ricky:

Or St. Louis. Go ahead and open your own lounges. Probably guys that have the same thoughts

Rooster:

or Oh yeah. Just do that.

Chef Ricky:

You'd be surprised. Correct. Pop up a barn or something.

Gizmo:

Yeah. We need more lounges, Ben.

Chef Ricky:

See what happens.

Gizmo:

Alright. Let's go to another one now. This one is from Lizard Jose, and he says, dear lizards, in your recent episode, you guys discussed various methods to alleviate sinus problems. So, of course, we were talking about the Navaj, which I will go on record for the seventeenth time. It changed my life.

Gizmo:

Did you order it, Pam?

Bam Bam:

I gotta remind missus Bam Pam.

Gizmo:

Oh, god. Can you by the way, when you do this, can you have her get you a lighter, some fuel I have a lighter. And a cutter.

Bam Bam:

Don't insult me that way.

Rooster:

And more more hankies.

Chef Ricky:

And and Giza cigar case.

Bam Bam:

Honey, order the Navaj, please. Oh, fuck. Yeah.

Gizmo:

You just did that on air talking to Siri.

Bam Bam:

I need that.

Gizmo:

He says, I'm curious to know your daily routine for maintaining good cigar smokers' hygiene. As a daily smoker, I'm sure to I I make sure to as a daily smoker, I make sure to brush, floss, and rinse my mouth with, mouthwash. I also shower at night before bed to remove any lingering smoke odor. Can you recommend some effective products for this purpose? Shampoo and soap.

Gizmo:

I'm also wondering if there's a way to protect my clothes from smoke smell. We were talking about it earlier, the cigar bib potentially, especially during the day if I smoke before a meeting. I understand the historical significance of the smoking jacket. Is there a modern garment similar to it? Regards Lizard Jose

Bam Bam:

for d r.

Gizmo:

A robe. A robe. Put yourself in plastic. I mean, listen. If you're smoking cigars, I don't care what you do.

Chef Ricky:

It's part of the

Gizmo:

You walk into someone who's not a smoker and they know in an instant. Instant. Correct. I walk into meetings sometimes wearing the jeans Uh-oh. That I've smoked in at some point in

Senator:

the last

Gizmo:

few days.

Bam Bam:

I've done that too.

Gizmo:

People are like, what what is that smell? What is that? And I'm like, it's a cigar. Don't get nervous.

Rooster:

You can always say It's you, not me.

Gizmo:

It's you.

Chef Ricky:

And these are the jeans you wear every day. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. So

Gizmo:

but But you know, it's like, you can't escape that. You

Senator:

can't The only the only way is if you smoke outdoors. Indoors, it's impossible.

Gizmo:

No. And a full wardrobe change has to happen.

Senator:

If you smoke indoors. If you smoke outdoors, I'm telling you, there are plenty of times I've had a cigar outdoors, you would never know I

Gizmo:

smoked That's a true.

Bam Bam:

But hygiene wise, mouthwash, everything he's described is fine.

Gizmo:

I don't do mouthwash. I'm not a mouthwash guy. I I know

Senator:

mouthwash is key.

Gizmo:

I do the water pick. I floss. I brush. And then I do the nivage for the sinuses.

Bam Bam:

Every day?

Gizmo:

Every night. Really? If I smoke every night, I do it every night. And of course, after I smoke, I shower, change everything. You know, I don't share any clothes.

Gizmo:

But aside from that, I don't really know of any products that I would be willing to endorse or share here that really have changed the game as far as the hygiene goes. I mean, there are certainly plenty of products out there, but I don't think they're any different from what you get at the shelf at the local pharmacy. Know? Is there anything that you guys have? Mean

Pagoda:

No, maybe the tongue cleaner once in a while.

Gizmo:

The tongue cleaner. Oh, the tongue scraper, you mean?

Pagoda:

Yeah. Scraper. Yes.

Rooster:

Alright.

Bam Bam:

I'm noticing Pagoda's lap is peculiarly it's very peculiar in that it's clean and not a single ash on it.

Gizmo:

The observation continues.

Pagoda:

Just stab it off.

Bam Bam:

I'm very impressed. Although, I see one little speck. Yeah.

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. Let's go to some more feedback now. This one is

Bam Bam:

As Rooster checks himself.

Gizmo:

The Cohiba Ambar episode. Of course, we didn't realize that that was a $130 cigar coming in. I say we, meaning I had no idea. And this one is from Lizard Banos. He says, I'm about a third of the way into the episode, but I don't have an ombar, unfortunately.

Gizmo:

I was keen to hear your take on the rum more than the cigar, to be honest, because it's in my ignore list due to price. Anyways, Abuelo 12. I tried this at my local esteemed cigar sampling store along with a punch punch punch. It was too sweet. So he's saying the 12 is too sweet.

Gizmo:

I didn't know that much about it, had a look and saw the added sugar that you guys discussed. Shame. Distillates obviously have zero sugar, and after aging, say no. Add sugar. Is this what happens?

Gizmo:

Why else would they add sugar than to mask bad taste? I will add the sweetness was enough to overpower the spirit character for me. What do think about that?

Senator:

We agree that the twelve year is sweeter, that's why none of us prefer it. We all think that the seven year is much better than the twelve. That's correct.

Chef Ricky:

I don't know that it's so much to mask all flavors, but I think it's more so to attract a mass market. People obviously, you know, they

Gizmo:

What? Coming from other rums?

Chef Ricky:

Yeah, just rum in general. I mean, you know, there's a lot of rums that I mean, when you think of most rums on the market, they have tons of added sugar, right? You actually have to go out there and seek non additive rums to experience that the the authentic, you know, experience. Otherwise, you're probably drinking a rum that has added sugar as we saw on, you know, those lists.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. So Yeah. Which we're gonna keep I

Senator:

mean, we've seen guys here take out a bottle of that Ron's a copa. I mean, that stuff is so sweet. It's disgusting.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah. But it's not just rum. Right? I mean, you think of what are the the most popular tequilas now. I mean, sure, you know, everyone, you know, with all the information available to us now, we have a lot of nerds in different areas.

Chef Ricky:

But honestly, class also class amigos, you know, Don Julio, like all these things, all these tequilas have tons of added sugars and, you know, they're the most popular, you know, the highest sold product. So I think it's just appealing the mass market, giving people that's that quote unquote smooth experience that they're seeking. And yeah, I don't you know, I don't know that so much. I mean, it it sure is masking some off flavors in the tequila world, especially, you know, there's a lot of shortcuts taken with those mass producers. So, yeah, adding the sugar definitely helps, but it's

Rooster:

yeah.

Chef Ricky:

I I don't think it's so much covering all flavors and more so just attracting to a broader audience.

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. We'll go back to comments in a moment. We're coming to the end of the second third now. Davidoff Winston Churchill, the original series I can't see in Churchill.

Bam Bam:

I can't see the other end of the room.

Gizmo:

And the Hillrock Solera aged bourbon whiskey. I am kind of on a downward trend right now.

Senator:

Really? Yeah. I'm sorry. The cigar for me right now is exactly what Rooster was describing before when he said like, the flavor's like muddled. Like, I'm bored.

Senator:

I I

Gizmo:

Me too. I I'm if if we weren't recording right now and reviewing, I'd put this down.

Bam Bam:

Would I Is it that bad?

Gizmo:

Yeah. It's not that it's bad. It's boring. It's not intriguing. It's not interesting right now.

Rooster:

Okay.

Chef Ricky:

It's boring especially for a smoker at this time of night.

Senator:

I don't care if it was morning I put this down.

Chef Ricky:

I just think it's interesting how the first half was better than the white label bellicose and the second half is not. Right now I'd rather have the White Label bellicoso

Bam Bam:

Interesting. Than

Gizmo:

the

Bam Bam:

I will say though, this bourbon, it's actually quite good.

Rooster:

Yeah? We're talking about the cigar.

Bam Bam:

I know that. But he mentioned the bourbon.

Gizmo:

I always say the bourbon too, but it's just funny that it takes you an hour to come around.

Bam Bam:

Well I did put a little bit Turpentine. Well, I didn't say that today.

Gizmo:

And he's crying over there. His eyes are watering.

Bam Bam:

Well, that first drink was rough, but I did put a splash of water. It's really beautifully balanced. The flavors, I think the finish is off the charts. Delicious.

Pagoda:

See, I'm getting the opposite.

Bam Bam:

Really?

Pagoda:

Yeah. I'm not really enjoying the bourbon at all.

Gizmo:

You don't like the bourbon? Honestly I'll I'll be honest with you, Pagoda. No bullshit. I'm surprised because if there's a sweet tooth in the room, it's you. And I think this bourbon not only talks to that kind of palate, I also think it talks to a smoker's palate.

Gizmo:

I think this is a perfect bourbon for cigar smoking. So I'm honestly, I'm genuinely surprised to hear you say that.

Bam Bam:

With either a chip or a little

Senator:

bit of water. Did you put any water in?

Pagoda:

Yeah, put a little bit of water in. It did open it up a bit. Started enjoying it a bit more. But for what I'm finding is I find a little bit of sweetness come through in the front of my palate, but in the back Wow.

Bam Bam:

It's a little Total opposite for me. Just I getting

Chef Ricky:

haven't added water, and I'm honestly shocked at how much, how long it's sticking my palate to adjust. I haven't added any to this glass. I haven't poured again, but it's still really spicy. I'm afraid if I add water, I'm going to lose all of that spice and just end up with

Bam Bam:

No? It depends on the amount, but I just put a little bit in that. Spice is there, the body's It's still

Chef Ricky:

still there.

Bam Bam:

And that long, extremely long finish, that's so good, it's still there. Vanilla, a little maple.

Pagoda:

See, generally I find that in bourbons all the time. In fact, in most bourbons I'll review, I feel like I love the flavor profile of bourbons. But I always find that they're a bit too Hot. Hot for me.

Bam Bam:

Mhmm.

Pagoda:

This case, I'm like, I don't know, it's just none. Sit well with me for whatever reason. It could have been something I ate, or I'm not sure. It's just not working.

Chef Ricky:

Guess can I recommend some this might all be an edit and this is a complete coincidence? Butter pot first. So I have these cannolis here. Right? And I'm not Cannoli.

Chef Ricky:

Cannoli. This isn't a wife plug because she's not selling this to mass market or whatever

Bam Bam:

level up.

Chef Ricky:

She just gave she gave it to me for the guy. She say, here, honey, this is for the guys. It just so happens that I think that is going to pair beautifully with this bourbon and bring some interest to the cigar. But I know we don't usually eat on the pot after this

Gizmo:

I don't if I want to. I think I wanna wait till after.

Bam Bam:

Okay. Alright.

Senator:

I mean, personally, I want to, but I think for the sake of the rating, we

Gizmo:

have to wait. Yeah. I think we have to wait for the rating because I agree to like positively influence Yeah.

Chef Ricky:

It's gonna be fucking perfect. That's all I'm saying.

Rooster:

Is there any added sugar?

Gizmo:

So you're you're saying you're saying with the bourbon, it's gonna be perfect.

Chef Ricky:

With the bourbon and the cigar. I think it'll

Bam Bam:

bring the

Chef Ricky:

cigar back to life. Good timing,

Bam Bam:

old boy.

Chef Ricky:

And it'll it'll

Gizmo:

If you think that it's gonna be life, I think it'll

Senator:

It's be not about back I'm sorry. You can't No food can no resurrecting this shit. No. No. No.

Senator:

It's not about resurrecting it. I mean, it's just masking the the the shitty flavor of the cigar. Like, you can't bring back a cigar with food. That's not even possible is what I'm getting at.

Gizmo:

Chef just dropped his cigar, by the way. Correct.

Senator:

Where I'm with chef is that

Bam Bam:

I'm not even sure that

Chef Ricky:

I care to find it.

Bam Bam:

And he can't find it.

Pagoda:

Oh, you don't wanna find it. That's another one.

Gizmo:

So, boys, let's continue on here with some comments on our Ambar episode. This one's from El Nino on f o h. He says, haven't made it too far into the episode, but I'm loving this one so far. It's such a good vibe when you guys are really loving your cigars. A question immediately sprang to mind.

Gizmo:

Can anyone name some examples of cigars that have the grassy sweet cream note that you'd find in Cohiba? I absolutely adore that flavor, but man, they are expensive. I have a box of Cigar three, but I really don't want to burn through those very quickly. Everyone says they're magical at the seven to ten year mark, so I'll bide my time and be patient. Cohiba shorts can stand in here and there, but I'd really love some more sticks with some grass to them.

Pagoda:

Cheers. This is Elizabeth patience.

Gizmo:

Yeah. Seven to ten years is a long time, especially with that kind of money.

Bam Bam:

That's quite specific.

Gizmo:

But seriously though, as far as the Cohiba profile generally,

Rooster:

it's very unique.

Gizmo:

I don't think there's anything that kind of performs that way.

Bam Bam:

Right? You'll be hard pressed in the new world to find something.

Gizmo:

Yeah. Is there anything grassy?

Senator:

There's nothing overtly grassy that at all comes to mind, but the the one cigar that I just think, like, there are moments in it that you get, like, some earthiness that's similar and a lot of cream is like the Aladino eighty fifth anniversary. That's the only cigar that I think there are moments. I'm not saying it's Cohiba esque all the way through. I just think you get these little blasts every now and then that are a little reminiscent.

Bam Bam:

The Grand Cru.

Gizmo:

Yeah. I was I was So that's Davidoff.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Davidoff Grand Cru number two, which is one I had that weekend.

Rooster:

That is creamy and has

Bam Bam:

little A little bit of hay, grassy thing, just a touch of it maybe.

Gizmo:

So which vitola are we talking? The two or the three? Oh, he had the Grand

Rooster:

Cru number two.

Bam Bam:

That's correct. Yeah. Very, very,

Rooster:

very Grand Cru number three more than the two, but

Bam Bam:

they're I'm going both to try that. Yeah. So I would say that.

Rooster:

Alright. But it leans creamier than grassy.

Bam Bam:

That's true.

Chef Ricky:

Bam's palate is on fire. I just chat GPT that. That was chat GPT's

Gizmo:

No way. Come on.

Rooster:

That's right.

Gizmo:

Are you serious? Yeah. Bam doesn't know how to use chat GPT, so I know that his opinion was authentic.

Chef Ricky:

He said the first

Gizmo:

He's a Siri

Pagoda:

guy.

Chef Ricky:

The first Dominican cigar that came up was a Davidoff signature Grand Cru. Wow.

Rooster:

Look at

Bam Bam:

you, Bam. Out of here.

Pagoda:

I mean,

Gizmo:

honestly, I'm impressed, dude.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. But let me tell you

Gizmo:

I remain impressed.

Bam Bam:

Alright. But ChatGPT hasn't been known to Where the talent? You're the manager. Correct.

Gizmo:

That's my new favorite clip by the way.

Chef Ricky:

I mean, there's some others on here. I haven't had them. Maybe you guys have. It says the Ashton Classic Connecticut shade, the LFD Connecticut seems like the Connecticut wrapper Not in The Dominican

Bam Bam:

an LFD, no way.

Chef Ricky:

Perdomo Champagne.

Gizmo:

That does not taste like a Cohiba. I promise you that.

Pagoda:

Or champagne. Babe, what do you think?

Bam Bam:

I've never had that one.

Chef Ricky:

So this is less exact, but some overlap. The first category was closest non Cuban match.

Bam Bam:

Interesting.

Chef Ricky:

And then for Cuban matches, it has Oyo de Monterey, the RYJ, and H. Upman.

Pagoda:

What's your birthday, Bam?

Bam Bam:

I'm a July kid.

Chef Ricky:

He's a July guy.

Bam Bam:

He's a cancer. Correct.

Pagoda:

The champagne's coming.

Bam Bam:

Well done, chef.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah. It's because I'm a cancer too.

Bam Bam:

There you go. Alright,

Gizmo:

boys. Another one here from Lizard Sonic Stag on FOH. Oh my god. Bam. Yet again never fails to bring true entertainment value to this podcast.

Rooster:

What's that?

Gizmo:

I think he's referencing

Bam Bam:

the What's that?

Gizmo:

Okay. You and your disgusting habit.

Bam Bam:

Yep. I love that handkerchief.

Gizmo:

By the way, you didn't mention that we were talking about hygiene earlier. You did not mention your handkerchief as far as keeping your sinuses clear.

Bam Bam:

Wow. My nose is constantly running.

Rooster:

It's unhygienic. Disgusting.

Bam Bam:

Wow. It helps. It's disgusting.

Gizmo:

Alright. Yet another accountability hour. You total cheapskate.

Bam Bam:

About?

Gizmo:

Handkerchiefs should be banned. Who's this? Lizard sonic stag.

Bam Bam:

Sonic stag, you're out.

Gizmo:

They're totally disgusting. And just exactly how do tissues fall apart on you?

Bam Bam:

Yeah. Well, when I blow my nose, they fall apart. I do blow my nose very hard. Like you said, like a

Senator:

French horn. Exactly.

Bam Bam:

I do, I do, but it's the only thing I can do to get it It

Chef Ricky:

is a deviated septum, so it's essentially one It

Gizmo:

is deviated, a lot of things. When you had babies, did you use reusable reusable nappies?

Bam Bam:

No.

Gizmo:

That's a good question.

Bam Bam:

Well, that's an old school thing. They used to do that, I guess.

Pagoda:

Wash them. Right? The cloth ones.

Bam Bam:

That's right.

Gizmo:

Or did you use disposable diapers?

Bam Bam:

All disposable.

Rooster:

You could just use a hanky.

Senator:

I'm sorry. By your logic, you should be advocating for

Bam Bam:

No. So I'm not doing it for the environmental reasons, which is very environmental, but I just find them they're more durable and more convenient.

Rooster:

Eco friendly system.

Gizmo:

Your pocket moist now.

Pagoda:

The question is, do you hand wash them?

Bam Bam:

Hand wash? No. The go in the machine.

Gizmo:

Thank you. Alright, boys. Another one now. This one's from Lizard Chris. It says, dear Lizards, I know you talk often about the cigar community and the friends we make during our journey, and I wanted to share a story that has reinforced that for me.

Gizmo:

I was diagnosed with epilepsy around twenty years ago, but I'm now really well controlled with medication. For most of the past twelve years, I've had a wonderful seizure dog named Finn who has saved my life a time or two for sure. Unfortunately, my family and I had to say goodbye to our dear Finn earlier this week. I'm so sorry. To say I'm devastated is an understatement.

Gizmo:

Listen.

Bam Bam:

That's awful.

Gizmo:

I am such a dog guy. There is no greater gift than a dog.

Senator:

No one's a bigger dog guy than Pagoda, but you're a close second. Correct.

Pagoda:

Yeah, but in this case, I'm really sorry.

Senator:

Yeah. In this case.

Gizmo:

Am That's awful. I can't imagine again losing dogs. I've done it in the past. There's no worse feeling, man. Like they're a part of the family.

Bam Bam:

You know I didn't know there was such a thing as a seizure dog.

Gizmo:

Yeah, so they sense it before it happens.

Bam Bam:

Oh really?

Gizmo:

Yeah, it's brilliant. Wow. They're trained to sense it and protect the person. If they fall, the dog will help them not hit their head. Dogs are amazing, man.

Bam Bam:

So the loss for him is profound. That's a big one. Profound.

Gizmo:

Oh, yeah. If it's, you know, Finn saved his Terrible. Life and now he's lost them. I mean, just wish dogs lived longer. He says here, I connected with a group of FOH members during last year's US Christmas split, and we have a group chat.

Gizmo:

After telling them about my departed friend, they have been beyond wonderful and supportive. They've posted photos of a drink or a cigar they're having in his memory, sending words of kindness and really being wonderful. Mind you, I've never met a single one of them in person. Isn't that cool? And we all connect virtually over our love of cigars and these fine people have helped me with this burden in a way that I can't explain.

Gizmo:

If they're listening to you guys, thank you. It means a lot. This brings me to my question. As I am grieving, my wife and I watched our, quote, break glass in case of emergency movie, Tropic Thunder. Hilarious movie.

Gizmo:

Robert Downey Junior is amazing. No matter what happens, I can't help laughing at nearly every scene. I smoked a Kellner eightieth that night.

Bam Bam:

I

Gizmo:

followed it up the next night with another farce, cocaine bear. That's the bear that gets into cocaine, that movie.

Chef Ricky:

I have see that.

Bam Bam:

Hope not

Gizmo:

see it. That is a trip. While smoking a 2017 Cohiba Talisman. Wow. Big dog.

Gizmo:

Okay. Which I got from a brother of the leaf. The movies were comforting and the cigars a fitting tribute to my dear friend, Finn. Do you guys have movies or cigars or music or drinks that you turn to when things get difficult? Do you reach for comfortable things, or do you break out the truly special parts of your collection?

Gizmo:

I know we try to keep it light, but I'd love to hear how and what you smoke and enjoy when things get dark. Thank you as always for all you do for this community, and long live lizard nation, Lizard

Senator:

Chris.

Bam Bam:

Interesting question.

Rooster:

I wonder how he was smoking a cigar and watching a movie. I assume it was outdoors.

Gizmo:

Or in a garage or something maybe like I do or you do?

Bam Bam:

Or he may be as lucky as you, Rooster. Yeah. Maybe. Living room guy.

Gizmo:

He may have a cigar lounge in his house.

Bam Bam:

Could be. Who knows? Yeah. Yeah.

Gizmo:

So what do you guys go to when things aren't on the up and up as far as movies, cigars, TV? What is it?

Rooster:

I think a cigar in general just lightens your mood.

Bam Bam:

That's true.

Senator:

I

Rooster:

agree. More so than a movie, I think it's a cigar. When you smoke a cigar, it kind of slows time down. You know, you can get into it and

Gizmo:

Yep. Is there a specific cigar in an instance you can think about that would pull you to that place? Is there a cigar you reach for or it's all the same

Bam Bam:

stuff? Personally, just the act of smoking. Mhmm. Cigar that I love is enough for me.

Rooster:

Yeah. I mean, a cigar that we have reviewed on the pod that has gotten a very high rating

Senator:

Mhmm.

Rooster:

Always kinda sets things right for me.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah, I don't know. Maybe I haven't had anything catch me in that manner yet, right? Like, you know, grandparents recently passed away, but they were older. You know, they live a long life. You know, my dad was a little bit shorter, but I kind of knew what the path he was on.

Chef Ricky:

It wouldn't last very long. Just being around friends with a cigar, maybe a drink. A movie without a cigar would be tough for me because I don't know that I could just kind of sit still. I'd be completely distracted and wouldn't really pay much mind to the movie. I wouldn't with the cigar, but at least a cigar would hold my attention and make that okay.

Chef Ricky:

But I can't say that there is a specific cigar I would go to unless, know, the tragedy was somehow linked, you know, to that cigar. Like, God forbid, was an uncle of mine and I had a cigar that he gave me or something like that. But outside of that, can't say I have

Rooster:

You know, like a Padron fifty year, the LE. Mean, that cigar is phenomenal. Whether you're having a bad day or a good day, it's a celebratory cigar or

Gizmo:

put your Eddieoff smokes that Monday morning before school.

Bam Bam:

That's correct.

Pagoda:

Hear the It most bad

Bam Bam:

would need to be a fuller cigar, something to distract me. Honestly, our staple, the Exclusivo, that's like a Band Aid for almost any situation.

Chef Ricky:

But it would need to be like two or three of those.

Bam Bam:

If I'm coming here, I'm going to do three anyway, four maybe. I'll either end the night with that, or if I need to begin the night, I'll begin the night with that depending on the day or if something awful happened. Yeah. No. It's a that's

Gizmo:

It's an interesting question.

Bam Bam:

Like yeah.

Senator:

For for me, it's anything that's in my rotation. If I've had a bad day, like, checks the box. And I'm I don't know if this is odd, but, you know, Rooster mentioned like a Padron 50 or like for me, I would never like that on a bad day. For me, I only like a more expensive cigar, a more celebratory cigar That's correct. When I'm celebrating something.

Senator:

Totally. So, like, I actively like, sometimes if I've had a rough day, like, I'll I'll almost go to reach for something that's, like, a bit pricier. I'm like, this is just not a celebratory occasion, so I just gravitate toward my general rotation, and it, like, kinda just brings me back to my normal routine of, like, not the end of the world. Yeah. Business as usual, like, everything's fine.

Chef Ricky:

True.

Senator:

So I I intentionally steer away from like, I would not pick up a Kellner 80, like, in a bad situation. Now if I'm honoring someone, I guess, you know, if you're experiencing a loss or something like that, that's a bit different. Mhmm. But I mean, just generally, like, you're going through a rough time. Like, I I pull for staples, not for like special sticks in those moments.

Rooster:

I just meant like the rough day is over, and then we are moving forward.

Bam Bam:

You're experiencing a loss, which is specific to his question, we lost Lizard John here. And he loved that Partigus. Super partigus. He had that. We've seen him smoke that.

Bam Bam:

I can see having that cigar in that space and kinda thinking of him and we're chatting about him and chatting about all the great conversations we've had with him. He was such a wonderful guy. That kind of thing, a celebration, it's but kind of it is of his life. And if you're smoking what he liked, it's in honor of him. I can see that,

Pagoda:

you know? Yeah. I think it seems like the overwhelming response, least, with all of us as cigars, is a solution to either a good day or a bad day. Yeah, but what I love doing is I just prefer coming to the lounge or, you know, catch up with friends and just smoke a cigar I like because being around people smoking cigar and distract myself and just move forward. But yeah, in terms of any particular kind of cigar, no.

Pagoda:

Anything within my rotation kind of works. But a nice drink would always

Bam Bam:

Oh, yeah. Help, you know? Yeah.

Gizmo:

Yeah. It always takes the edge off.

Pagoda:

And, yeah, to, I guess, Lizard Finn, you know, God bless.

Gizmo:

Yeah. It's tough. You know, I feel lucky in that I feel like I have a lot of different kind of variants or options in this. Like, you know, when my mom died, like, we talked about this a lot. Like, you know, the podcast was kind of like a, you know, was a heartbeat for me that it was like it was a constant, you know, routine.

Gizmo:

But there's also, like, you know, by yourself watching a movie you love. You know, if it's Godfather Casino or some kind of classic that just, you know, you're so familiar with, it's kinda like an old friend, you know, with a great cigar. And then, you know, sitting there with a with with a cigar and listening to some, you know, great music like Keith Jarrett or, you know, something that, you know, takes you, you know, on a little bit of a journey without that, you know, visual stimulation kind of thing, you know. Guess I have a lot of different options and whatever calls me in the moment is kind of where I'm pulled. I don't have a defined this is what I'm going to do.

Gizmo:

More

Rooster:

than movie, it's music and cigar kind of sets you in the right mood.

Bam Bam:

That's true.

Senator:

I agree. Yeah.

Chef Ricky:

I'd say before I found cigars, for me it was work. Just drawing yourself from work and some type of routine or something.

Bam Bam:

Making tortillas. Cooking helps. Cooking helps. But if

Chef Ricky:

I'm cooking and I need a comfort meal, it's It's a distraction.

Pagoda:

Rolling the dough, I could see that.

Chef Ricky:

Apparently Pagoda thinks I roll all my tortillas.

Pagoda:

No, I'm just kidding.

Chef Ricky:

By hand. By hand with the fucking roll with a rolling pin.

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. Let's go to another one now. This one's from Lizard Johnny the Greek, our resident lizard philosopher. He says, hey, boys. I hope you're all doing well.

Gizmo:

I wanted to share a quick perspective that might stir the pot a little. But I think it's worth the conversation especially when it comes to how price factors into your ratings. In my view, price really belongs to the person who actually buys the cigar. If the cigar is provided at no cost, letting price drag down the rating feels a bit off. It introduces a factor that isn't being experienced in that moment.

Gizmo:

It's kind of like enjoying a great steak dinner and then criticizing the cost when you never saw the bill. The evaluation shifts away from the actual experience. Now if someone goes out and buys that cigar, they have every right to factor in price. That's real world context and it makes sense. But if it's a free smoke, I think the most honest approach is to focus on what's in front of you, construction, flavor, balance, and overall enjoyment.

Gizmo:

Take something like that Cohiba ombar you recently reviewed. Everybody knows it's priced high, but if you're sitting there enjoying it and it delivers, then that experience should stand on its own without being weighed down by price. Just my 2¢. Feel free to deduct points from my opinion as it was free advice. All the best, Johnny the Greek.

Rooster:

Well, price is not the factor. It's one of the factors that we consider Mhmm.

Gizmo:

On the pod. I think for us, I think that as we try to put a number to value and experience and taste and all those things in a in one quick number, price cannot be ignored. In that, we're telling a listener price you know, we're not naming the price on the on the guide, on on the rating sheet. It has to factor in because we're telling the listener, smoke the cigar or don't smoke the cigar. And the factors of that.

Senator:

I'm sorry. I mean, it factors into everything.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah.

Senator:

That's like saying that you can compare a Ford to a Ferrari. You cannot. They're in two dramatically different price points. So your expectations for a Ferrari and what it should deliver at that price point are dramatically different from a Ford. The same thing in food, like, you know, someone says like, oh, I love McDonald's.

Senator:

They're not comparing McDonald's to, you know, a three Michelin star restaurant, and, oh, well, it's not as good as that, so now McDonald's, I'll never eat at. It's like, for its category, for fast food, however you feel about McDonald's is how you feel. For that three Michelin star restaurant for its category, that's how you feel about it. So I think it's impossible to separate out price from those conversations. I mean, if that were the case, like, every premium version of any product would just wipe out our ability to appreciate something at a lower price point.

Senator:

The reason we have so much respect for certain things at a low price point, because for that category, they're punching so much above their weight class.

Gizmo:

That's true. Mean, when when you smoke

Rooster:

a cigar, let's say the stoic, it's a $10 cigar, but it over delivers for what it is. And you could smoke a $30.40, $50 cigar, and it way under delivers.

Bam Bam:

That's correct.

Rooster:

So the price does And

Bam Bam:

it has to factor in.

Rooster:

It has to factor.

Bam Bam:

And the two of you have mentioned it. When we have a cigar that's sub $10 and it's performing

Gizmo:

It's a 10.

Bam Bam:

A luxury item.

Rooster:

Right.

Gizmo:

It factors factor that

Bam Bam:

factors so positively. Yeah.

Senator:

That's like saying, sorry. You know, we talked about watches. I'm a watch guy. That's like saying like, oh, you know, every Citizen watch or Seiko watch is shit because it's not a Rolex. It's like, no.

Senator:

Like, for its price point

Bam Bam:

Yeah.

Senator:

They're quality watches. Like you just can't possibly separate those things out.

Pagoda:

And we're constantly doing relative comparisons, Meaning if you're smoking a $50 cigar, then just inherently because we've smoked so many cigars, and quite a few of them being around 50, we're immediately comparing them with all other $50 cigars.

Gizmo:

Of course. Well,

Bam Bam:

we're comparing them to sub-ten dollars cigars most of

Pagoda:

the And when you go down and you're comparing them to way lower priced cigars

Bam Bam:

than you already know, that it's not a 10 It

Gizmo:

has to factor, yeah. Correct. We're trying to create this amalgamation that they can't be specifically defined because we all throw a number at it of apples to apples across all of this, of all cigars, of all price points, of all value, of all taste. That's what we're trying to do. Yeah.

Gizmo:

And I don't think you can eliminate price from that.

Senator:

Yeah. And when we rate a high price cigar really highly Like the Cohiba Ambar. Right. We're saying it's worth paying that premium.

Bam Bam:

Or the Kellner.

Senator:

But when we don't, we're sitting there saying like, sorry, you can actually get a cigar for a fifth of the price that's better, which is why that rating is gonna be that much lower. I mean, it's absurd. It should never be the case. I've I've said this many times, like, you should pay more for more.

Bam Bam:

Yep. Yep.

Senator:

If I'm paying $50, it should deliver more than something that only costs someone $10. Mhmm. And when it doesn't, you you have to take points off for that.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. And the value of what we're doing, listeners are getting that advantage. If I had that list ten years ago, fifteen, twenty years ago

Gizmo:

It saves a lot of suffering

Bam Bam:

Oh, and absolutely.

Gizmo:

And time.

Bam Bam:

Absolutely. Yep. Such a huge advantage to have that access to that info.

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. It's time now to go into our lizard of the week presented by our friends at Bonnge Robert Cigars. And our lizard of the week this week is Lizard Yorkshire Mhmm. From across the pond. Yorkshire pudding?

Gizmo:

And he's gonna win a 10 count box of cigars from our friends at Bond Roberts.

Bam Bam:

We're like sweet lips.

Gizmo:

Sugar lips. Sugar

Bam Bam:

lips. Sugar lips. Sweet lips.

Gizmo:

It's hey. It still works. Even better. He says, hi, guys. Longtime listener, first time writer.

Gizmo:

Just wanted to say how much I genuinely appreciate the podcast. I don't have many friends who smoke cigars, and I don't have a local lounge to go to. Like, we were talking about Andrew in Pennsylvania. So the hobby can feel a bit solitary at times. This is exactly why your podcast has become such an important part of my week.

Gizmo:

Every time I light up while listening, it honestly feels like I'm sitting down with a group of mates, sharing a cigar, hearing different perspectives, and just enjoying that easy familiar conversation. There's a real sense of camaraderie that comes through, and it never feels forced or overly polished, just authentic, just like being part of a proper lounge session. It's become a bit of a ritual for me now, setting aside the time, picking out a cigar, and putting on the latest episode. In those moments, it doesn't feel like I'm smoking alone at all. It feels shared.

Gizmo:

That sense of connection even from across The Atlantic is something I really value, and it's not something that's easy to come by over here. So I just wanted to say thank you for creating that space, for the consistency, and for making listeners like me feel like we're part of something even from afar. That's a pretty powerful statement.

Pagoda:

Very powerful.

Gizmo:

Feeling part of something. I love that. One of the things I enjoy most is the variety of cigars you review. That said, I have to admit I'm very jealous of the selection you have access to in The US, especially the non Cuban cigars. Over here, while we do have access to Cuban cigars, the tax situation has made them ridiculously expensive.

Gizmo:

After nearly twenty years of primarily smoking Cubans in the last three years, I've really been branching out into non Cuban cigars, and I've been loving the journey. I usually pick them up when I travel. I rely on kind friends to bring some back for me to avoid paying extortionate UK prices. Also, have to say the pricing of cigars in The US is just absolutely wild from our perspective. Sometimes it genuinely feels like certain retailers like Cigar Page are basically giving them away compared to what we have to pay over here.

Gizmo:

I wanted to touch on the Placencia Alma del Cielo. I completely agree with your take. I tried it in both Toro and Robusto right after release and honestly found it pretty underwhelming at the time. I did pick up a hexagono to give it another shot, but after hearing your review, I'm not going in with the highest of expectations. That said, I'm hoping the Toro and Robusto I've had resting for over a year now might have actually improved with some age.

Gizmo:

I'm planning to revisit them this year and see how they've developed. On the other hand, for my palate, the Placencia Alma del Fuego is an absolute standout. So now we've been told the Alma del Fuego and the Alma del Campo. Senator, get ready for those. We have two coming up.

Gizmo:

In my humble opinion, it's one of the best in their lineup. I found the Toro and especially the Panatella to be the ideal formats. The Toro gives a great balance and progression while the Panatella really seems to concentrate those rich, spicy, and slightly sweet notes in a fantastic way. That's the one I keep coming back to. I'd highly recommend you guys give the Alma del Fuego a try on a few per on a future episode if you haven't already.

Gizmo:

I would love to hear your take on it. Senator, how are feeling about that?

Rooster:

He's traveling.

Senator:

Anything with Alma, I'm out.

Pagoda:

I think we should do a double episode.

Gizmo:

Yeah. Do both at the same time. One of each end. Thanks again for all the effort you guys put into the show. It really makes a difference for listeners like me.

Gizmo:

Keep up the great work, and I'm looking forward to many more episodes. Best regards, Yorkshire Lizard.

Bam Bam:

Very nice. Great email.

Gizmo:

Yorkie. I love hearing comments like that. That, you know, we've come into, you know, his routine, his smoking each week, his ritual, if you wanna call it that, that he sits among, you know, us here and and he's sitting in the room with us.

Rooster:

And I

Gizmo:

I love hearing that from him. That's awesome.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. I'd be curious what new worlds you can get access to in The UK.

Pagoda:

Rocky Patel.

Bam Bam:

Is that right? No. I'm just kidding. No. I don't know.

Gizmo:

I would assume Drew Estate definitely. Placencia, obviously, he's talking about

Bam Bam:

a listener to write in

Gizmo:

and Yeah. So Yorkshire Lizard, like, write in and tell us, you know, what cigars you actually have access to. And I'm curious. I would love a little comparison point. What are you seeing on the Internet that we can buy them for?

Gizmo:

Mhmm. And what are you buying them for in Yorkshire, the same cigar? That that'd be an interesting talking point here because for for you, you're seeing our prices and laughing. And for us, I think we're gonna see your prices and probably chuckle as well. So I would love to make that comparison.

Gizmo:

So congratulations again to him. He's gonna be our lizard of the week this week, winning a 10 count box of cigars from Bon Roberts. And boys

Bam Bam:

Oh, he's gonna love that.

Gizmo:

I know it. And it's time to go into our ratings tonight on the bourbon and the cigar. And before we do, boys, please send your ratings to me. The ratings are in, and it's time now to move to our formal liquorating tonight on the Hillrock Solera aged bourbon whiskey from New York. Bam bam, you're up.

Bam Bam:

So this grew on me tremendously. I think there's great value in the fact that a single glass is so totally satisfying. For me, it did require a drop or two of water, but the finish is so extremely long, and I think it would actually pair, Giz, as you said, with almost any cigar. Almost. So I'm at a firm nine.

Bam Bam:

I think it's delicious. I'm getting very deep notes of maple, butterscotch, vanilla delivered beautifully. Now I will admit that first drink did make me tear up, the first sip. It was just very strong, and I wasn't actually ready for it. But as the night went on, it just became this extraordinarily satisfying drink and so flavorful.

Bam Bam:

I think for all those reasons, I'm a really firm nine. Loving it.

Gizmo:

Alright,

Chef Ricky:

chef. So I'm agreeing with Bam and that this is a very fulfilling drink. I don't think in fact, I don't think any of us have refilled since the initial pour.

Gizmo:

That's true.

Chef Ricky:

So but it's still, you know, while that the Sherry character is very present, the spice is a is a little it's not as cohesive as I would like. The spice really sticks out just a bit. And so, look, it's not a bad bourbon, but at $120 a bottle, I would have appreciated a slightly more balanced expression as BAM reaches for the refill. So for me, it's an eight.

Gizmo:

Alright. Pigarro.

Pagoda:

Yeah. I think I'm really at the low end for this, and I'm sure it can get controversial, but I'm at a seven. I, firstly, did not throughout the whole experience, I did not really enjoy it as much. I did feel that it was a bit sweeter in the front and it was a little spicier in the back, which I think a lot of the guys were getting a completely opposite experience. My thing is $120 a bottle.

Pagoda:

I, like, you know, like a spirit like this with, you know, the rye content of being around 30 percent, I think this would really do well for a Manhattan. You know? Think it should be great in Manhattan. So but 100 and It's bucks Manhattan. Yeah, you're not gonna That's use correct.

Pagoda:

It for I'm never gonna go and pay $120 for this bourbon, regardless. There's no way. And if it's there, it's not going to be something I'll gravitate towards. Yeah, so for all those multiple reasons, I think it's a seven for me. Like, I can't recommend this, you know, with eight being what I would like to ideally recommend.

Pagoda:

I can't come together to recommend this at $120 a bottle. Yeah.

Gizmo:

So for me, it's a nine. Since the first sip, I've loved this bourbon. Absolutely loved it. I think that the nose on this initially was brilliant. Then the flavor just followed right behind that.

Gizmo:

I think this is a perfect bourbon for pairing cigars. And I love the sweetness of it. I think that it was complex. It wasn't medicinal. It wasn't forced.

Gizmo:

I really think what they're doing here is excellent for what we do in smoking cigars. The price point is high. There's no question about it. Mhmm. But I feel like I'm not a bourbon guy, and I feel like this tonight kind of pulls me in the direction of reaching for something like this.

Gizmo:

The price is a challenge. There's no question about it. But I really, really like this drink tonight. Yeah. And I really actually thought it was the star of the show for me.

Bam Bam:

You said something interesting. The lack of that medicinal quality, I get that on a lot of spirits like this.

Gizmo:

Me too.

Bam Bam:

I got it on that one that we had the last time that

Pagoda:

The Jack Daniel's.

Bam Bam:

Oh, yeah. I don't get a shred of that here.

Gizmo:

That's why I gave it the nine, man. It feels really refined.

Bam Bam:

It's a merit for something like this that is on a sweeter side because those usually taste like cough medicine. I didn't get anything like that. Quite good.

Gizmo:

Alright, senator. So I'm at

Senator:

an eight. I really enjoyed the bourbon. I think the nose is intoxicating. It immediately draws you in. The flavor profile of it is complex, and I think it's notable because, you know, we don't like most higher proof bourbons with a cigar because they can overpower the cigar.

Senator:

And I think for listeners that are, you know, so into bourbon, that's where they're finding the complexity and the tremendous amount of flavor, and so I know that must be frustrating. What I love about this is like this isn't overpowering yet has real complexity. Like, I the the sherry cask, like, you can taste

Bam Bam:

Mhmm.

Senator:

That sherry finish on the bourbon, and I think it's probably helped, like, smooth it out or round it out a bit even though, obviously, this still packs, you know, some heat.

Bam Bam:

But it's not over the top.

Senator:

It's not. And, like, the finish is so long and so delicious that, you know, none of us needed a refill. I I mean, I was taking small sips all the way through

Bam Bam:

Yep.

Senator:

And it it the amount of flavor delivered, it was like I took, like, a full sip of a spirit I normally would. So there's a ton of merit. I would definitely drink this again. The only reason for me I didn't give it a nine, and I would have otherwise, is just I do think the price point is aggressive. I mean, a $120, like, the reason I'm not gonna go buy this is because at a $120 price point, there's so many other spirits that are half that that I think are as good or better.

Senator:

And so that's really the

Gizmo:

I think that's the New York tax on this versus the Kentucky tax.

Bam Bam:

I may buy this bottle.

Gizmo:

I think it's good, man.

Bam Bam:

I just think it's so unique. And the comment on the Sherry cask, if it were a higher expression of Sherry, I don't think this would be good. I think you'd be getting cough medicine all fucking day long. Because it's controlled and it's only at a certain point.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah. You're not wrong.

Bam Bam:

It keeps its sophistication and drinkability. I think too much sherry makes a drink tough to drink sometimes.

Gizmo:

I wanna ask you a quick question. At what price point, if we're talking about value, referencing Johnny the Greek, would this have put you know, would have pushed you to a 9 on this? 60. So half the price.

Senator:

Yeah. And that's why, like, it's such a delta. You know?

Bam Bam:

That's a big delta.

Senator:

I would have said 20 Yeah. That's a big I don't need to shell out delta. Double the money Yeah. To have a satisfying bourbon to pair with a cigar. And so that's the reason I couldn't go to the nine, but I give them a ton of credit.

Senator:

Like, they've done an excellent job. It's unique. It's differentiated. It's incredibly flavorful and rich. You know, it's almost like a meal unto itself, which is why I think they've done such an excellent job.

Senator:

So I'm at a very strong eight, but I just wish there was some way that they can scale and maybe come down on the price point because that's aggressive.

Chef Ricky:

Is that a seven fifty

Bam Bam:

milliliter bottle?

Chef Ricky:

It looks a little brolic. Brolic?

Gizmo:

What was that word?

Chef Ricky:

Brolic. Sorry. That's the brolic.

Bam Bam:

Is that is that a convention?

Pagoda:

Hold on. That's toilet paper. Has been replaced.

Bam Bam:

That's a toilet paper word. Right?

Gizmo:

That's a handkerchief word. Alright, boys. The formal liquor rating tonight on the Hillrock Solera aged bourbon whiskey is an 8.2.

Bam Bam:

Very brolic.

Gizmo:

Let's compare that to the other Hillrock we did on episode 104. We did it with a Rocky Patel. The cask rye whiskey scored a 7.3. It's almost 10 points higher on this tonight. And now, boys, it's time to move into the formal lizard rating on the Davidoff Winston Churchill, the original series in Churchill.

Gizmo:

Rooster, you're up.

Rooster:

So it was a beautiful cigar. I mean, it was well constructed. The combustion was beyond the cigar started off really nice. I enjoyed it. I mean, the flavors that we were getting from the first half, I would say, that is what I was expecting from a Davidoff cigar at a $28 price point.

Rooster:

It was creamy. It was nutty. It had a little bit of spice. It had a sweet note. But then, it is a Churchill, so you're expecting it to at least be like a two act play, if not a three act play.

Rooster:

But this was really more of a one act play for me. At the halfway point, the flavors kind of got muted and muddled and it didn't quite deliver for what I was hoping for a Churchill and at this price point. Having said that, I mean you can have a tin of the Bellicosos which will cost you less than this whole cigar and I would be way more satisfied maybe even smoking two of those back to back and be only like $12 in. So because of those reasons, I'm at a seven. Oh, wow.

Gizmo:

All right, Senator.

Bam Bam:

That's brutal. Sorry.

Senator:

Rooster, you nailed it. I'm at the exact same. I'm at a seven.

Bam Bam:

Holy smokes.

Gizmo:

For me That's harsh, guys. I'm I'm shocked.

Senator:

No. No. I'm sorry. I I feel this is a seven

Bam Bam:

with conviction.

Rooster:

Half a point, it was it was really good. You know, it started off great, but after the half a point, it really, you know, disappointed.

Senator:

My my frustration is the first half of this cigar was excellent. I was it could have been a nine. I don't even view this as like

Rooster:

I think it was a nine, the half. For sure. Yeah.

Senator:

For sure. I don't even view this as like a two act play. To me, this was like I'll I'll go on the movies we're talking about.

Gizmo:

Titanic?

Senator:

This was like

Gizmo:

Hitting the iceberg. This was like two

Chef Ricky:

I love that you have a movie metaphor because I have one too.

Senator:

No. It's just like it was two separate movies. It wasn't acts of the same play. It was two separate movies. The first half was the prequel and the second half was the sequel that sucked, totally different.

Senator:

The first half, complex, refined, so many different notes, full palette coverage we talk about. The second half of it, I mean, the final third, I didn't enjoy it at all. Like, that's how frustrated I was with this cigar. Like, it was monotone. It was one or two notes maximum.

Senator:

It was muddled. I don't understand. Like, you know, when you make a Churchill, if there's ever a vitola that you have to be so conscious that you're able to deliver complex flavor all the way through the cigar, it's a cigar of that length. I think they just completely failed to do that here. So the reason I give it to seven is the first half I thought was excellent.

Senator:

The second half is smokeable, but I don't think particularly enjoyable. The construction was very good. Mhmm. The combustion was great, but I think for this white label Winston Churchill line, you know, we love that little bellicoso. I'd be more interested to try this in Robusto.

Rooster:

Shorter format.

Senator:

Yeah. Than I would this Churchill. And the the last thing that I again think has to be factored in, $28 It's crazy.

Gizmo:

To have a cigar price.

Senator:

Where basically only half of it, I think, was really enjoyable, that's a huge problem. Yeah. And the second half for me was so disappointing, honestly, that even if this cigar were half that price, I still would have given it to 7. So it's not like price, you know, dramatically dropped down the rating for me. I think there are cigars that are half this price that smoke better than this does, and so I still would have given it exactly the same thing.

Senator:

I'm at a seven. I think if you're in a cigar shop, you're looking for something to smoke, it's a fine cigar. There are gonna be moments that you really enjoy that are spectacular, and I think the second half, you're gonna be pretty disappointed with. So for that reason, I'm at a seven.

Rooster:

Yeah. You have to keep the smoker engaged when it's this large a format of a cigar.

Bam Bam:

Interesting, guys.

Chef Ricky:

It's almost as if your seven was generous because if you took the 02:00, the

Senator:

This price second half, it ruined my energy. I'm just I was so tired of it. It was just boring.

Pagoda:

Yeah. Do you think that it was paired with something slightly different, like on the lighter, you know, spirit, lighter

Rooster:

I flavor gave it the same school.

Senator:

Yeah, and he didn't have any spirit, and I honestly, I don't think there's any spirit that could have made this experience any different for me. I mean, that second half just lacked so much. I don't think anything could have really changed that that much.

Gizmo:

Yeah. So for me, it's an eight. I do think the sevens are a little harsh. The last third, no question, definitely fell off the end of the second third. Mhmm.

Gizmo:

But, I mean, the first third was awesome. It it was great complexity. The sweetness it was built by sweetness, nuttiness, and then it was delivered with this leather and spice thing that I thought was really interesting, intriguing, and delicious. And it just fell off at the end of the second, third into the last third. And like we were saying, I had an inch and a half left.

Gizmo:

If I put it down, I would have felt the same as I do about it now. It didn't really come back as I finished. I got pretty, you know, I got down pretty far.

Bam Bam:

Mhmm. Same.

Gizmo:

But I got to give it credit. It was a great, you know, a great smoking cigar, great combustion, great drug. You know, all of that worked. I enjoyed how it felt in the hand. It had a lot of merit to it, but that last third for me, I wouldn't give it the second half.

Gizmo:

I think the last third for me really fell off from where I was thinking it was gonna get to. I really enjoyed where it was. I didn't love where it got to, so that's

Rooster:

you buy these?

Gizmo:

I would buy a fiver potentially and let them sit.

Rooster:

So you think they would get better I do. With with some age?

Gizmo:

I do.

Bam Bam:

How long have you had these? Three months. Oh, that's a long time. Yeah.

Gizmo:

Three months, I think. Alright. Something like that. So for me, it's an eight.

Bam Bam:

Okay.

Gizmo:

Pergarno?

Pagoda:

Yeah. It's an eight for me as well. And I was debating between a seven and eight, I mean, with this. I like, and the reason why I kind of upped it a bit was just overall, I think for me the construction was great. The smoke up, it was great.

Pagoda:

And you know what? I smoked it to the nub. So

Gizmo:

did I. I usually Yeah. Don't And do

Pagoda:

so it did not become harsh at all. You know, and it was, the flavors did kind of dissipate towards the end, you know, but I I still kept getting a little bit of the nuttiness. So, you know, it kept me reasonably engaged, you know, I was debating between a seven and an eight, I think. But, yeah, I really did enjoy the first half. There were moments in even the second, third, like, you know, where I got a little bit of spice, just a few puffs.

Pagoda:

You know, it was interesting in the sense that I was getting those few different bursts of flavors at different points in time, which, you know, kept the cigar going. And overall, like with Davidoff's, I always think in terms of price, Churchill's are between 25 and 35 typically, And they've been around that price for a very long time. And maybe that's because of the premium Davidoff demand. So for me, price wasn't much of a factor in this because of the expectation that that's what they deliver. But the smoke output, very easy to smoke.

Pagoda:

And overall very, very, you know, it's one of the cigars that if somebody handed to me, I would definitely have it. No question about it. Probably, you know, earlier during the day with coffee or something, you know, a something something to that effect. Like, more for me, more of a day cigar than Mhmm. A night cigar.

Pagoda:

And, yeah, it's an eight.

Chef Ricky:

Alright, chef. Yeah. Maybe it's this side of the room, but I'm at a seven also.

Gizmo:

Something in the water over there.

Bam Bam:

That's brutal.

Chef Ricky:

Listen. The truth is in the water over here.

Bam Bam:

Wow. In your opinion.

Chef Ricky:

For me, is what happened. Right?

Rooster:

The cigar was enzymatic though. Yeah.

Chef Ricky:

Know, look, ultimately this cigar got me excited. The cold draw was very forward. It was exciting. You light it and there wasn't a whole lot of spice or any of that, like an initial burn that you get from lighting a cigar, especially a Churchill maybe. So I had a lot to look forward to in that first third delivered.

Chef Ricky:

It gave some cream, gave some baking spice, it gave some nuttiness. There were, you know, even Brewster, sorry, even Gizz's call out of the leather that kind of tied it all together was fun and exciting. And then it just all disappeared. It all just fell off a cliff. It got, you know, sort of one dimensional muddled, if you will, but not in a bitter way.

Chef Ricky:

It was just like you couldn't pull out individual notes and everything that made it exciting and interesting in the beginning just disappeared. Know, look to the point that I dropped it maybe at the last third and I almost didn't want to find it, right, just so I collect my next cigar.

Bam Bam:

Enough of the

Gizmo:

drama. Alright.

Chef Ricky:

And I didn't smoke this to the nub.

Gizmo:

Let's get to BAM's 11.

Chef Ricky:

I didn't smoke this to the nub not because it was backing up or getting harsh, but just because I was bored. So I just needed to put it down because it wasn't delivering anything. And, know, sure, maybe there's the argument that the spirit overwhelmed it. But if the spirit was any milder, definitely would have not brought any interesting aspects to the cigar. So I don't know that, you know, I think for me this is kind of a, and I hate to say it, but maybe kind of like a mindless smoke, but it's hard to put that to associate that with a Churchill because a Churchill is such a commitment.

Chef Ricky:

So yeah, that's why for me, I'm at a seven even price point aside, you know, that, you know, Pagoda brought up a good point. It's a Davidoff, right? You're not expecting a budget. But then on the other side of this, there's the Bella Coastal white label Churchill, and that delivers at a great price. I would rather smoke two of those

Bam Bam:

than commit

Chef Ricky:

to that one Churchill.

Bam Bam:

Okay. For sure.

Gizmo:

All right, Bam, go for it.

Bam Bam:

Yeah, I couldn't disagree more. If there was I'm

Gizmo:

gonna say familiarity bias Maybe. On this

Bam Bam:

But if there was a way for me to disagree more, I would. If it were possible.

Chef Ricky:

So you're out of 10? No.

Rooster:

Six.

Bam Bam:

I like, of course, the first half. I agree with the commentary overall. The first half is always a better experience on this cigar. But for me, and I got that experience tonight as I have in the past, it distilled down to a single note that I happen to love, and it's that for me, I got a lot of cocoa in that second half, and it was consistent for me. I didn't experience anything that any of you sevens in the room.

Chef Ricky:

I couldn't pull out a Cocoa

Senator:

Note

Bam Bam:

from I that did not either. Yeah, I was right there. As I said with the spirit, I actually thought it went very well with it. It didn't overwhelm it as I thought early on in the recording because my palate adjusted. And I did reduce my rate of consumption of this as I smoked it.

Bam Bam:

It could have been the extreme long finish that I was experiencing along with the smoke for me to get that cocoa experience, but I've gotten that before. I happen to love that cocoa, the creaminess and ease of smoke on this cigar because of the time commitment.

Chef Ricky:

It it is an easy smoke.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. And for me, this has always been an afternoon cigar. Never had this is the first time I'm having it in the evening. I probably wouldn't do an evening smoke for this. This is a great afternoon cigar.

Bam Bam:

And I think for me, for all those reasons, I'm in a nine.

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. The formal wizard rating tonight on the Davidoff Winston Churchill, the original series in Churchill is a 7.7.

Bam Bam:

You motherfuckers.

Rooster:

So mind

Chef Ricky:

boggling to me.

Bam Bam:

That is

Chef Ricky:

there's a tragedy. Five tobaccos in here.

Gizmo:

Right? It might have even been six.

Chef Ricky:

And there was just not much complexity there after the first third. That bothers me.

Rooster:

The Nicaraguan tobacco does not come through

Bam Bam:

at all.

Chef Ricky:

No, that's true. Or the other five tobaccos.

Gizmo:

Alright boys, let's compare this to the other Tranquilo. 10 Davidoff cigars we've done on the pod. I'm gonna try to sum them up. So the highest rated cigar we did on the podcast was the sister to this, the Winston Churchill in Bellicoso on a short smoke special. Episode 132 scored a 10.

Gizmo:

Perfect 10.

Pagoda:

Yeah.

Gizmo:

Right behind that on episode 138 was the Maduro in Robusto scored a 9.9. Then we had three nine point twos on episode two, chef's edition twenty twenty one. On episode eight, the Dominicana in Robusto Pagoda. And on episode 27, the late hour in Churchill. All three of those were a 9.2.

Gizmo:

Then we had a 9.1 on episode 79, the Millennium Lancero, Addision Limitada.

Bam Bam:

Good cigar.

Gizmo:

Scored a 9.1. We had two flat nines. On episode 33 was the Millennium Pyramides, and the sister to that Mhmm. On episode 45, the Millennium in Robusto. Mhmm.

Gizmo:

Both scored a nine. Then on episode 165, the late hour in Robusto scored an 8.5. And all of these scoring better than tonight, the final one, just a touch above this on episode 203, the chef's edition twenty twenty five scored a 7.9, which I'm actually surprised about that one specifically. Yeah. Because we were not happy about that cigar, and it scored two points higher than this.

Gizmo:

Yeah. But I think this one disappointed for sure in last

Bam Bam:

Everything that the three sevens described in this room about the cigar tonight is how I felt about that chef's edition. How much was that cigar? $35? More than that. More.

Bam Bam:

That is a colossal disappointment. And for the price of what you experienced tonight, that for me was a 7. I don't remember when I rated it. And I was actually depressed that night, if you remember.

Chef Ricky:

If it makes you feel better, I'm a little depressed today.

Bam Bam:

Yeah. I think you're being I'm

Senator:

super depressed.

Pagoda:

You guys are dramatic. Hey. So you know what? Just let

Bam Bam:

it Too much drama.

Gizmo:

And I I did.

Bam Bam:

So you see that corner over there? That's like the soap opera happening tonight.

Senator:

Can tell I'm sorry. When every third

Bam Bam:

is worse The younger than the restless.

Senator:

Correct. When each third is worse than the last, that's a depressing cigar.

Bam Bam:

I don't know. I didn't get that.

Rooster:

I could use a

Senator:

Xanax, Wade. One person here said that the best part of the cigar was the finish, the last third. Not one.

Pagoda:

Not one.

Senator:

And when we talk about great cigars, we all say, like, wow. It gets better and better and better. And this was the complete opposite of that.

Rooster:

It got worse and worse.

Bam Bam:

Not for me. And worse. Not for me at all.

Rooster:

And worse. Okay. Shits Creek.

Chef Ricky:

That's the show that comes

Bam Bam:

Oh, from boy.

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. A great night tonight. Let's review again. The Hillrock Solera aged bourbon whiskey scored an 8.2 in the Davidoff Winston Churchill. The original series in Churchill scored a 7.7.

Gizmo:

Of course, we have to congratulate again Yorkshire Lizard, our lizard of the week, who's gonna win a 10 count box of cigars from our friends at Bon Roberts. We love those guys. We're very appreciative. And, of course, boys, small batch cigar. Yeah.

Gizmo:

Use our code lizard 15 to save 50% off every order. Free shipping all the time. Plus, you get 5% back on every order. You can't beat small batch. They are the best.

Gizmo:

Correct. And finally, boys, our presenting sponsor, Fabrica Five. They've been with us a long time. They're fantastic. And

Chef Ricky:

I just happen to have lit a Trinity Robusto after this shit show.

Bam Bam:

And you're getting grass apparently? Preach.

Chef Ricky:

Yeah. So, you know, we we just had the listener the lizard email that he was asking for other cigars where you could find a grassy hay note, and the initial light on this Trinity Robusto

Bam Bam:

gave me that. I would like to take your poll in the room right now.

Chef Ricky:

The cold Are

Gizmo:

you

Bam Bam:

drawers getting grass on that cigar ever?

Rooster:

I would have to try another one.

Gizmo:

You know what's funny actually?

Senator:

Pass them out for us and we'll let you know.

Bam Bam:

I wish I had

Chef Ricky:

them, I said grassy hay no at the very beginning. I'd say the first three to four draws. After that, it becomes purely sweet cream, divine

Bam Bam:

I think you had too many tacos today. Actually, I

Gizmo:

did. Too many tortillas.

Bam Bam:

I wasn't at a restaurant. Tonight.

Gizmo:

Try that cigar that chef, and we are talking about. Use code lizard pod at fabrica005.com for 10% off your entire order. And boys, what a great night tonight.

Bam Bam:

Very good night.

Gizmo:

Lot of fun. I wish the cigar was better, man.

Bam Bam:

Correct.

Chef Ricky:

You know, I totally forgot my movie metaphor. I totally forgot to bring it up. Good.

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. A great night.

Bam Bam:

No. Bring it up. Bring it up.

Chef Ricky:

Anyone here ever seen I'm gonna get you sucker 1988 movie?

Bam Bam:

I've heard of it.

Chef Ricky:

It had Damon Damon Waynes in it.

Bam Bam:

I've heard of it. I've heard of So

Chef Ricky:

he takes his hot chick home. Uh-huh. Right? He's gonna get her into bed and Yep. Have a great night, have a great time with her.

Chef Ricky:

Just as he's you know, just as they're getting ready to do the deed, she starts kind of getting comfortable. Right? She pops off a leg.

Rooster:

Right?

Chef Ricky:

Then she pops off. Oh. She pops off butt implants. Then she takes off her wig. By the time he's all done,

Bam Bam:

It's a man.

Chef Ricky:

He's like, No, it's not.

Bam Bam:

It's not a man, but it's not something he wants to lay in bed with.

Chef Ricky:

That's how I felt about the cigar.

Bam Bam:

It was

Chef Ricky:

like the first hit was like, Okay,

Gizmo:

all right. What the hell?

Bam Bam:

And then as you just kind of

Chef Ricky:

got further into the experience,

Bam Bam:

oh, what what what are we doing here? I'm having one of these tomorrow, motherfucker. Watch that movie while you have it. You're gonna laugh.

Gizmo:

Alright, boys. A great night, and 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.

Gizmo:

That's loungelizardspod.com. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. If you have any comments, questions, if you wanna reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking, email us. Hello at loungelizardspod.com. You can also find us on Instagram at Lounge Lizards Pod.

Gizmo:

We really appreciate your time, and we'll, we'll see you next week.