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Released every Tuesday, the LOUNGE LIZARDS podcast helps listeners navigate the experience of finding and enjoying premium cigars (both Cuban and non-Cuban) and quality spirits. Episodes range from 60 to 90 minutes and feature a variety of different topics including food, travel, life, sports and work.
The podcast features seven members: Rooster, Poobah, Gizmo, Senator, Pagoda, Grinder and Bam Bam.
This is not your typical cigar podcast. We’re a group of friends who love sharing cigars, whiskey and a good laugh.
Join us and become a card-carrying lounge lizard yourself! Email us at hello@loungelizardspod.com to join the conversation and be featured on an upcoming episode!
**Gizmo:** [00:00:00] Welcome to the Lounge Lizards podcast. 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 Puba, Senator Pagoda grinder, and bam bam, a full house of lizards.
And our plan is to smoke a cigar, drink some scotch, talk about life, and of course, have some laughs. So take this as your 77th official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. Plan to meet us here once a week. We are gonna smoke a new world cigar tonight. Share our thoughts on it and give you our formal lizard rating.
We discussed the story behind the Norteno cigar line. We enter a YouTube vortex on Nomad van life, and we share our favorite warm weather cigars, all among a variety of other things for the next hour. So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar, and enjoy as we pair the Macallan 12 year age.
Sherry Oak Cas Scotch Withdrew Estate. Herrera Est Norteno in Lonsdale. Lonsdale [00:01:00] tonight from Drew Estate on the pod. It's called the Norteno. It's 44 ring gauge by six and a half. And uh, you know, it doesn't really look like Lonsdale to me. No. It looks almost more like, um, it reminds me of how the padron hammer looks Exactly right.
The 50 year, I think you're right. It almost looks more like a, not a Torah, but like a REO extra or something like Yeah. The box press, it just does not feel like mm-hmm. Looks like a xi. Yes. Like a longer exclusive,
**Bam Bam:** another inch. The truthiness is also reminiscent of Ani. I think
**Senator:** it's, uh,
**Grinder:** not in the same way.
A bit, it's a def It's definitely a bigger reengage Lonsdale, right?
**Gizmo:** Yeah. Yeah. They They're usually 42, 43. Yeah. Right. And this one's 44. And what's interesting too, you know, we've had some listeners, you know, we're in the block of Lances and Lonsdale long skins, as I've said, and. The lance is a much more strict 38 ring gauge.
That's a lanzaro. Anything more than that? It's not a lanzaro [00:02:00] for Lonsdale, it's a little bit more of a, kind of a gap on, on what they can do. Um, and like I said, this just doesn't feel like one, but let's see how it's,
**Poobah:** it's cuz there's a little bit of a box press to it. Yeah,
**Gizmo:** it's,
**Senator:** I have to say, that stands out to me.
Um, so the, the wrapper smells great. I'll start there with something positive, but the. I'm glad you brought that up. Rapper. Yeah. See that? Cause Bam said it. Oh, it reminds him of like an exi in, in kind of the wrapper and how toothy is, and it, and it does not for me in the sense that in some, for some reason the way this is rolled, it's very lumpy.
Yeah. Like you can see the tobe. No, no, no. There's when a rapper's toothy, which some drones even can be toothy in the wrapper. The wrapper itself is a little rough, but it is still smooth in that you don't see any, any tobacco pro protruding from it. Yeah. Look how smooth you
**Bam Bam:** can actually see it from here.
It's so
**Gizmo:** true. But when you
**Senator:** look at this, the tobacco is literally like protruding more from parts of the [00:03:00] cigars. So I just have to say for whoever rolls these or whoever rolled this cigar, I mean, this could have been done better.
**Gizmo:** Absolutely. I'm definitely concerned about constructions lumpy.
**Poobah:** Try
**Gizmo:** lumpy.
**Bam Bam:** The cold
**Gizmo:** draw is delicious though. Well, we haven't cut it yet. Bam. Let's do that. Oh, I'm so sorry.
Hmm. What are you getting? I'm getting a little fruit. Mm-hmm. Mild cocoa. Maybe
**Bam Bam:** I get raisin. Raisins raisin. Raisin raisin. Like a leg nine, honestly. Yeah. Sun made. So Grindr and I are probably the only two guys in this room that have had this cigar. I've never had it. It is for me, reminiscent of a leg. Nine.
Hmm.
**Grinder:** I don't, I I definitely get that leg of Maduro. Yeah. But it's for, it's, uh, well, I'll, I'll preserve my, my commentary. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, let's light this thing. The Drew Estate Norteno Lonsdale. Again, it's 44 ring gauge by six and a half. Box pressed little [00:04:00] lumpy,
**Bam Bam:** uh, oatmeal. Like,
**Senator:** it's like the difference between steel cut and rolled
**Gizmo:** oats.
I mean, it's just, this is the kind you get from Starbucks. Yeah. The lumpy cut.
**Bam Bam:** I do stand corrected. Well, like many cigars. It's delicious on the light.
**Gizmo:** Yep. That's the classic tale, isn't it? Yeah, definitely. Ta I mean, it just, it, it definitely is a Drew Estate. You know, drew Estate has that fingerprint on it, that Nicaraguan thing.
Um, Uh, there's definitely a d n A that, a, a line of dna, n a that runs through their cigars. That's very consistent, illegal, all the way down to the underground. Um, it's, you know, it's definitely there. So it's definitely present. This one, it's, uh, you know,
**Grinder:** the fillers are, um, from Halala and Estle, so the heart of the rich Nicaragua growing like very volcanic and very mini, you know, just very intense soil.[00:05:00]
Uh, the, the binder is Honduran, which is a little different. And then, uh, there's a San Andreas Medo wrapper over the top.
**Gizmo:** Hmm. We'll see how this thing performs tonight.
**Senator:** Two observations. One, this feels great in the hand. This literally reminds me of just holding an exi. I love a box press. Like this is perfect in the hand.
And, uh, I will say the flavor is actually really nice to start. It is just, yeah.
**Bam Bam:** I think you're getting a lot of the dried fruit here, but it's also very rich earth tone and coffee. And raisin for me is standing
**Gizmo:** out front and it doesn't have that, you know, we've talked about this, uh, it's been a revelation, I would say in 2023 with Nicaraguan cigars we've had, right, where it's not kicking in the face, but even though it's a Nicaraguan Piro, it's gonna probably get there, I would assume, but.
It's really, really smooth on the light. I would say fully medium. That's about it.
**Bam Bam:** Medium. I do. I will tell you that if you [00:06:00] smoke this very quickly, it will back right up
**Gizmo:** into you. So you're talking to yourself there, aren't you? Yeah, I am.
**Bam Bam:** Thank you.
**Gizmo:** The other thing I wanted to say, uh, to Senator's point is I do wish that they made the Xi in this exact size.
Yeah. If the ex Siva had another inch on it, oh dude, I'd love it 10 times more. Do you know
**Bam Bam:** how many jokes you jokes I can make with that?
**Gizmo:** Anyone playing Bam bam. Bingo. You had your innuendo card.
**Senator:** I mean, even the flavor profile. There are, there are Pedro notes in this cigar, which I
**Gizmo:** really like. You're, you're, you're,
**Poobah:** you're reading my mind a little bit and I, I, like, I was just kind of thinking, um, like if this was blind, I would be like, you know, is this aro?
I mean, maybe some of those construction things, if I looked closely enough, would throw me off. But I would be like [00:07:00] kinda, I would be in that, in leaning towards that. I mean, I wouldn't guess. I don't know so many, I don't know these Nicaragua new worlds as well, outside of Patron, like the brands to be able to tell.
Mm-hmm. Sure. But I'd be leaning towards those, what,
**Gizmo:** what Senator said. I mean, just on the light, it's got some of that dna. I know we're on the light, but that's a huge compliment, right? It is.
**Bam Bam:** It is. But, but there is a tanginess, I think, in this cigar that you don't get in any, so that I think distinguishes it from what a Pedro is.
**Gizmo:** I haven't
**Senator:** had enough of it yet. I'm not saying it's a carbon copy. Oh, no. But what I'm getting at, I think Puba is, I mean, if you were to just have this blind. And take a few puffs. Mm-hmm. The closest, most familiar flavor profile to this would probably be Patron. Sure, sure.
**Gizmo:** There's something on the
**Pagoda:** VSO than the Yeah.
It doesn't download
**Bam Bam:** more than, you know, what you go what is right on the money. Absolutely.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. And it, you know, I think, I think Senator said it, somebody said it, but [00:08:00] it has something on the front of the tongue that is not Pedro. Like, that was me. That's a little different. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Bam. Said that, that Tanginess, I think is it's, it distinguishes it from
**Poobah:** what that is, but it's, well, there's more, Coco, if you were to compare this like head-to-head against the exi, there's more coco in that exi, like off the bat.
There's more of that chocolate. Those chocolate notes. A hundred percent.
**Gizmo:** I
**Senator:** think there's more coffee though in this than this. There's definitely some
**Gizmo:** coffee in this.
**Grinder:** Yeah. I would say more coffee
**Gizmo:** than I'm finding myself too. When I draw it, then I'm kind of like, not chewing it, but like I'm, it's my, the smoke is like filling my mouth and coating it.
Yeah. In an interesting way that I'm kind of like, Wanting to chew it like a, like a horse or something. I do think
**Bam Bam:** pagoda is on the money. It's, it's un it's not like anything like a leg nine
**Gizmo:** a clean horse. Oh
**Poobah:** boy.
**Bam Bam:** I dunno. The Innu
**Gizmo:** windows are potentially flying around this room. Grindr, here's my question.
We're talking about patron drone comparisons. How much did this cost? Oh, I
**Grinder:** bought, I [00:09:00] bought these before I bought these in like 20,
**Gizmo:** 21 maybe. So these are a couple years old? Yeah. Okay.
**Grinder:** Uh, and the, I know that tobacco's aged already, but you know, they're, they're, they, they had some time
**Bam Bam:** in the box, I'm gonna say about their
**Gizmo:** $11 each.
Uh, yeah. I, I would think they're between 1115. Mm-hmm. Um, depending on where you're in the tax and all that. In New York, probably 20, I will say off of the, the, the head of the cigar where the smoke is coming off. That's very petro like to me. They're 13 bucks. 13 bucks. Yeah. That's very petro like to me.
Have
**Bam Bam:** you taken the whiff and a line?
**Gizmo:** Yeah, the burn line's. Very nice. It's delicious. Yeah, it's very
**Senator:** nice. Yeah. Yeah. I'm just gonna say very definitively, I'm sorry. We always talk about cigars that kind of build themselves as the padron killer or this is padron. Like this to me is the closest thing I've had to a patron that is not a patron in flavor
**Pagoda:** profile, including the ash.
Meaning if you just
**Senator:** look at it, that's bright whites, box press, bright white ash, cuz the Nicaraguan soil. Sure. The flavor profile, cocoa, coffee, [00:10:00] all the, I mean, it, it's
**Gizmo:** this Yeah.
**Poobah:** Blind. It's like I was, as you said that I'm going, if, if this was blind, I'd be leaning towards. What Patron is this? Maybe? Yeah.
Yeah.
**Grinder:** The, the he uh, Willie Herrera. This is like this, I think this came out, I remember when this came out cuz I was in the lo the form, a former lounge of ours. I think it was like 2017 or something like that. And he had a cigar previously that I loved the, uh, Herrera. Esteli. And I love that cigar. I love it in, uh, like they had like a nice Toro size that wasn't really as long as a Toro, but it was a little thicker.
It was like a bigger, um, uh, it was, it was a perfect size cigar and the flavor was out of this world. And I said, whatever this guy's doing, he's doing great. And then he came out with this, and they build it as a very intense and rich cigar. I remember when I had it, it knocked me off my, my feet the first time I had it.
Mm-hmm.
**Poobah:** Now you're talking about the red and white band.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, exactly. [00:11:00] Yeah. And by the way, we did that, uh, we did the Herrera, Estee Hao, uh, Rob Robusto Grande. It didn't on episode 29, didn't do very well with this. It did not perform as well as I think this might. No. Mm-hmm. This is much fuller than that show.
Oh yeah.
**Senator:** Absolutely. That cigar didn't have enough flavor for
**Grinder:** me. That was That's right. It's a different, it's not, it's very different.
**Gizmo:** Sakara. Yeah. I gotta say I really like the band on this cigar, and I think we talked about it when we did some other Drew Estate cigars. Um, I love how all of the different bands for the different lines that they have are all completely different.
Mm-hmm. They're all different. Looks like the Ramona Ramon. Yeah. This has, I was gonna say, this has a little rooster. Rooster mentioned that too. I agree. The old school Ramon, it's very cool. The green and cream color beige.
**Poobah:** Yeah. That's where it's being inspired from. I mean mm-hmm. There's no
**Gizmo:** doubt about it.
Yeah. There's a bird on it. I guess that's the norteno and some words about your estate.
**Grinder:** Norteno actually means northerner. Northerner. I'm trying to find this story. That's what we backstory of why it's Northerner, but.
There's actually
**Pagoda:** another cigar by Drew State, which is a very similar band. Uh, [00:12:00] I'm trying to think of it, but as you know, I have no memories.
**Grinder:** So, so the, the phrase the Norteno rephrased to is a, it pays an m homage to Esteli home of, uh, Herrera. And norteno means northerners in Spanish. So Estellis in the northern part of Nicaragua.
**Gizmo:** Got it.
**Rooster:** So to me, this is like a spicy padro
**Poobah:** exclusive. It
**Bam Bam:** is more, it is spicy. Yeah. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Accurate.
**Poobah:** Yeah. It doesn't have the dessert flavors that are as pronounced as the, as the exi does, that are very forward, particularly at the, particularly at the beginning of, of, of a Petron. Exi. Yeah.
There's very dessert like flavors. There's a lot of coco. They're very, very forward. He's right. This has some of that dna. N but you're right, it does have that.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. It has some spice. Mm-hmm. You're right. Yeah. This is not a Maduro, right? It is a wrapper. It is, it is a Maduro. Yeah. I, I, it's actually [00:13:00] on the, on the label here, it says, uh, cured black cigar leaf.
**Poobah:** Hmm. You know, but that could be a merit, whether you like it or not, that could be a merit in this, in this blend. Mm-hmm. If that's your jam. Oh, we love a Maduro rabbit. Sure. No, I mean, I mean, the spicy part. Oh, yeah. As opposed to, you know, we keep comparing it to the Exclu
**Gizmo:** because they're, I'm gonna say something crazy.
**Poobah:** Someone
**Gizmo:** may like that. You know what I mean? I think this might be closer from me to what the Padron Diplomatico delivers in the 1964 line even than the Exo. Cuz I, when I light up that Churchill from them, it does give me a little bit more. I think the flavor profile is a little closer to this cuz I think the EXI is a little more earthy.
Yeah. I feel like this is a little bit more diplomatico. So the,
**Senator:** the only I, I'm not sure that I agree. The reason I say that the diplomatico to me always smokes sweeter than the EXI does. And so to me it's more exi like in that [00:14:00] the EXI is a little drier. And what's driving that is those like earthy notes you're talking about.
And I think here the earthy notes are just replaced by some spice, but the rest of it is very similar. Mm-hmm.
**Gizmo:** Yeah.
**Rooster:** It's, it's, to me it's more like the padron 90th
**Gizmo:** really The spice, that's a huge compliment. The
**Rooster:** 90th shirt is 90th is like typical Padrone DNA
**Gizmo:** with spice. Yeah.
**Poobah:** But there's more, way more coffee in that.
Yeah. There's way more. It's like a espresso
**Grinder:** plus. I really love this by the way, because. I've been talking about the cigar for years.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. By the way, this has been on the list for like four months. Yeah.
**Senator:** I'll be honest. So I, I'm really glad we are doing this. Like you have talked about this for a very long time and I think you had mentioned the Herrera Stelli one, and I didn't love that cigar, so I'll be honest, I was a little skeptical of this.
I was like, maybe this Drew estate, like is not outside of like league or the League of nine is not really in my wheelhouse, but [00:15:00] this is like a totally different experience. Sure. Um, but yeah. I'm glad we're
**Bam Bam:** doing this. Yeah. Honestly, no one's mentioned the performance of this thing. The, the, it's burning great.
The, the burn is razor sharp. Yeah, the draw is fantastic. The combustion's great. It's a smoky room and it's really quite delicious.
**Gizmo:** You know what I love about the draw though is it's not completely open. No, it is a little tight. Just there just a touch. Exactly. Bit of resistance. That's perfect for the cigar and I don't want to
**Bam Bam:** jump ahead.
But the pairing tonight, you're jumping ahead dude. It
**Gizmo:** is incredible. So before we get there, I just wanna tell the listener Yeah. Who's maybe uninitiated with us. So we talk a lot about padron. Mm-hmm. Especially when we do a new world that's kind of in that same flavor, flavor profile. Well, the drone is a lizard standard.
It's a lizard standard. And it's kind of our benchmark for really well performing Nicaraguan cigars. And to have this be even in a conversation with some of the patron drones we've mentioned. I mean, the 90th that the roofs are just mentioned, that's an expensive, it's a worldclass premium cigar. It's a worldclass cigar, world-class cigar and, and obviously we smoke a [00:16:00] lot of exclusive on diplomatico.
So to have that in the conversation for us is just, it's a huge compliment to this cigar. Sure. You
**Bam Bam:** know, I hope it continues to perform as well as it is
**Poobah:** now. I hope so too. So I'm getting that thing that
**Gizmo:** you're satisfied well
**Poobah:** mm-hmm. The relaxation factor. Yeah. Where you're kind of like slowing down.
You're, you're breathing, you're like, not fighting. I'm not in a fight with this. Yep. I'm not in a fight with it. Like I'm, well, we've been in fights with cigars before. Do you know what I'm saying
**Gizmo:** on this? Oh, you, oh, you don't say know
**Bam Bam:** we're, I'm kinda holding my breath right now. I don't know what he is gonna fucking
**Poobah:** say.
No, no, no, no. We've been in fights with cigars, like where you're like, you're battling something. I'm not battling anything right now. And we've been
**Gizmo:** in fights, by the way. You what? I'm, I'm We've in battl in fights with expensive cigars. This is a $13 cigar that's delivering that. I'm not in a battle right now.
Yeah.
**Rooster:** But this, this cigar has sat in Grindr's Humidor for about three years now.
**Gizmo:** [00:17:00] Yeah. It's definitely helped. That has helped. Oh, sure. That helps potentially.
**Poobah:** Yeah. Are you, are, are you in a fight with this?
**Gizmo:** Not
**Senator:** in the fight. Not at all. No. I, I'll just say flat out, I'm not in a fight. I am extremely happy with this cigar right now.
Agreed. If this can stay like this, agreed. It's gonna get a very high score from me. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** You know, the beauty of the EXI has stay so consistent from beginning to end. That consistency is, it's, it's world class construction, right? Yep. Let's see how
**Gizmo:** this does. I hope so. Yeah. All right. Bam. Tee us up. Your favorite thing?
Wow, this is my favorite thing. You're the master of this. I
**Bam Bam:** don't know, but every, every episode. What about that pairing?
**Gizmo:** What, you know, I love that you're giving the people what they want. I'm
**Bam Bam:** getting goosebumps about this
**Gizmo:** pairing. I, I am very excited that we are doing this tonight. Senator
**Bam Bam:** can talk. Eons about that Macallan 12 that we're drinking right now.
But it is really pairing beautifully with this guy.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. It's as as much of a staple, right? I'm sorry, Senator. It's as much of a staple to us as the patron Xi. Absolutely.
**Senator:** That's the thing. So honestly, when we broke out Macallan for this, I wasn't [00:18:00] familiar with this cigar having not tried it before. And all I could think of at the back of my head is, oh man, we were just reviewing up a drone and pair perfectly with a Macallan 12 sherry, which is what we're drinking right now.
Yeah. And lighting this cigar. We're all sitting here splitting hairs about, is it the xi, is it the Diplomatico? The 90th. The 90th. I mean, all these Pedro notes we're getting, there is nothing better to pair that with than Macallan 12, Sherry Cas
**Poobah:** the finish. Um, so I'm just finding the, the finish is long. Um, on this cigar.
I think, um, for me at least, yeah, say it's, it's got a long finish, so I'm finding myself not, you know, going back to it and going back to it and kind of like chasing flavor. I'm kind of just, I mean, along for the ride. Yeah. Along for the ride and what,
**Bam Bam:** so I think that's a merit. What's interesting about the Macallan 12, it also has a very long finish for me.
I was gonna say
**Gizmo:** that. Yeah. It pairs perfectly with the
**Bam Bam:** long finish. It, it just gives you, [00:19:00] it's, it sustains your, your, your palate for the night. It's really beautiful.
**Gizmo:** And they're very complimentary because when you take that draw and it's, it, it, it stays in your mouth and you take a small sip Oh, just a small sip.
The, the flavors are just really dancing together. It's off the charts. It's really perfect. I, I think
**Poobah:** of, um, this reminds me of like, uh, I'm sitting here and I'm thinking about like good cigar experiences that I have outside of, just outside of this group. You know, my wife's uncle, like. I smoke cigars with him like around the holidays.
Like this is the type of, of a cigar that he would give me. Mm-hmm. And it's like a drew a estate or, or a liga, you know, cuz that's his wheelhouse, you know what I mean? And it reminds me of him. That's good. And, um, it's like relaxing. Mm-hmm. Like, you know what, like I'm not in a rush with this. Like it's got this long finish.
It's got it, it, it, it, it's, it's, [00:20:00] I'm cool with it. You know what I mean? I'm cool with the cigar. Like, this is not, this is, this is the beauty. I don't need to rush it. It's like, it's, it's,
**Bam Bam:** it's, it's a great point because it's, he's making a fabulous point because we've talked about other new worlds that we've reviewed.
What would you give to a guest Yes. That comes to your house. Oh, yeah. And you want to give him a high quality cigar. You know, I know a story that Senator told. He gave several boxes of exclusives away, and it, it could be painful, depending on the crowd. Yeah. Just a little. A little bit. This is a fantastic candidate for
**Gizmo:** that type of institution.
But you know what, you know what I love about what's happening right now is we're talking about a $13 cigar, right? Mm-hmm. A Drew estate. Um, and we've had hit or miss experiences on the pod. This is certainly a hit so far, but the fact that, that this is delivering that satisfaction or, or even, or even priming his memory to someone that he appreciates, that he enjoys smoking cigars with.
That's what's beautiful, beautiful about this thing that we do is like, If this cigar was $50 or $10, [00:21:00] or it's 13, it's delivering a really wonderful experience
**Poobah:** right now. It's perfectly good. It's, it's like I, this reminds me of sitting on the porch with Uncle Mark and talking. I. You know what I mean? And having like a smoke like in on, at the hour, you know, Christmas Eve, like, Hey, come on, come on side, let's sneak out.
Let's, let's sneak out. Let's, let's, let's sit on the front porch. You know? Let's be in wizards.
**Gizmo:** Let's be
**Grinder:** wizards. Right. You know how visual that is
**Bam Bam:** for me? I
**Poobah:** sit down, I love it. I love it. And it's, and it's like, it's like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and, and he was in the cigar business before he retired and had access, and he had access to a lot of cigars, like these, like Drew Estates and Liga and like, this is the type of cigar he'd give me.
And they'd always be good. Sometimes I didn't know, wasn't always familiar with what they were, but this is the type of cigar cuz he liked Nicaragua tobacco and it's like, this is good. It's really good. It's like kind of relaxing. I like it. This really liked
**Grinder:** the cigar of, of [00:22:00] smoking on like a good spring day as well.
Mm-hmm. Like just, you know, when the birds start chirping, the sun is out, the leaves are coming to bloom and the trees, flowers are coming out. Great Spring cigar. Mm. It's got some body, it's got, you know, it's got that Melo tone. Uh, not mein, but Melo tone. And you know, you can just, you can just, to your point, you don't have to fight it.
And,
**Bam Bam:** uh, here smoke out bud. Here's a question for the dads in the room. So, you know, I often. Project ahead and when I'm gonna have a cigar with my son for the first time that's gonna happen. I often think about what cigar I'm gonna introduce my son to. And you know, when you have a newbie that's near you and you're gonna have a cigar with that person, you give that guy or girl, whomever a cigar to experience and you have a conversation with them.
This cigar is fantastic because of everything that you guys have said about it. It because there's parallels to the cigar that we all love the PE drone line. Yeah. There's so much to talk about. And they'll learn a lot just from that experience,
**Grinder:** I think. And [00:23:00] the, the aroma in this room right now is really great.
It's
**Gizmo:** so good. It's intoxicating. It's everyone's the cigar. Yeah. This is burning wonderfully. And I think that's for all seven of us. Like it's really, it is performing remarkably
**Bam Bam:** right now. Yeah. Yeah. And just to go back to that, I think it's a great, it's a great starter. Could be a great starter for. Those few newbies.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. I think if, uh, you know, taboo's point, you have a nice dinner. Yeah. It's a spring day to Grindr's point. Mm-hmm. And you're, you're able to go outside, you know, this is gonna smoke great. Even if there's a little bit of wind, it's gonna smoke great.
**Bam Bam:** This'll do great in the fall. It's gonna do great early winter.
It's got great body. This take a, a great
**Gizmo:** all purpose cigar. I think
**Grinder:** the adaptability of a, of an.
**Gizmo:** And as pub says, you can smoke it in a tornado,
**Rooster:** but would you smoke this during the daytime or do you see yourself smoking? I don't think
**Gizmo:** I would after dinner. Of course. Why wouldn't you? I I could smoke this after lunch.
Like you have a nice, like a salmon salad and chicken, chicken salad or something. I, I wanna be clear. Okay, here we go. [00:24:00] Oh, Jesus. In the
**Bam Bam:** car. Oh Jesus. Every, everybody turn off their microphones
**Poobah:** while driving. Have a nice salmon salad, chicken salad. Get the Volkswagen and just, And just strap the bucket to your neck.
**Gizmo:** I just, I just, I just saw
**Rooster:** they, they make an accessory for the
**Gizmo:** car. I, I think it's for Tesla's. See now this is a friend, a salad shelf. This is a
**Bam Bam:** friend.
**Gizmo:** It's, it's literally a, yeah, it's a's a table
**Senator:** that he's a good friend. He's recommending you
**Gizmo:** get a Tesla. I have one friend in the room who's recommending me dinner accessories for my car.
It's like a hot plate. It's a table that attaches to your
**Rooster:** wheel. Wow. So while you're sitting down, you have a plate
**Gizmo:** to, for, you know, there's
**Poobah:** another if you're, if you're a new listener, oh God, gizmo. There we go. If you're a new listener, the, the, the back, the backdrop here is that Gizmo eats salads, uh, while doing his 70 miles an hour in his vehicle.
**Gizmo:** Uh, not just salads, [00:25:00] not, not chicken
**Poobah:** pot pies. Chicken pot pie, not chicken pot pies, salads, odd food items while driving. Uh, if you're out there and you know, you also eat salad while driving, please write us, um, I need, I need some defense. Deel help me. I doubt we'll find anybody. But, uh, you know, it's odd behavior.
Uh, but we love you and we don't recommend
**Gizmo:** it. I love you.
**Poobah:** You know what though? It's not a mixel, it's not like a crunch wrap Supreme from Taco Bell, which is meant to be held in your hand, or like a McDonald's cheeseburger. And you just mall it while you drive. Like that's designed for eating and driving one handed.
**Gizmo:** You know, this cigar has how you secure the bowl. This cigar has been how secure the bowl so relaxed that I'm not even taking the bait. It doesn't
**Bam Bam:** matter what he says.
**Gizmo:** This cigar is so good right now, by the way. I have a great method, but I'll uh, I'll share it on the [00:26:00] website. Put the car on autopilot. Put
**Rooster:** the tray down.
Put the salad. Just go
**Gizmo:** to go to town. Let's go. There's even a
**Senator:** mattress you could put in the back of a Tesla, model Y or model X. You could just live outta your car going
**Gizmo:** forward, g I could just live right in the park. We gotta get you on the Tesla train. I like that. You know what
**Poobah:** I'm into, I'm into, I've been watching these videos.
It's just weird, you know, you go into like a YouTube vortex. Vortex. Yeah. I don't know if you can, he
**Gizmo:** said YouTube, by the way. How I know Ohoh, I'm very relaxed. I'm not on the attack. I'll get there. So, like,
**Poobah:** about the vortex? Yeah. So like, you know, you, you wa I don't know if you guys watch YouTube at night or whatever to fall asleep.
Rooster does.
**Gizmo:** I do. Rooster watches it to wake up. Research, sleep shop.
**Poobah:** So like I, I, I've watched a couple videos and then of course once you watch a couple, you get 'em in your feet or whatever of these people who live in Vans. Oh boy. It's called like Van Life. Yeah. Oh yeah. I I came into this hall [00:27:00] too. I was in the foxhole with you.
Did you, did you go, did you see this? Yeah, I see it all the time. So they're these people. And down
**Bam Bam:** by the river, some of them. Well, no, they, they,
**Grinder:** they live like these awesome lives,
**Poobah:** apparently. Well, that's what it looks like. Yeah. You know. Um, but they live in like these Mercedes Sprinter vans. Yeah. And they go all over the place.
Hmm.
**Gizmo:** And they.
**Senator:** And they, they own music schools? No.
**Gizmo:** Well, only I present the implication. No,
**Poobah:** but it, but it's just interesting, like, like, like, uh, they, they, they go in these sprinter vans and they go all over. They go like long distances and they, they sleep in them and they have these like heaters and stuff.
Have you seen these? Yeah, I've seen all of this. I watched the ski bums. The ski bums are the, the best. Yeah. The ski bums and, and they're like eating, they're eating eggs and they're doing their, their, their pullups in the, in the van and, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
**Gizmo:** Lemme tell you something. These people have a very simple life and I bet they're [00:28:00] super happy.
Yeah. You
**Poobah:** know, well, well that's the fantasy you, so you look at this and you go, wow. Like if I could just like simplify my life, you know, cuz you gotta wake up and like, actually. Be a real human being. Mm-hmm. Like the next day. So this is like an escape. You have to like actually wake up and like go to meetings and be responsible and feed your family.
Yeah. Put together cohesive sentences and thoughts and recommendations and, you know, be like a real human. These, these guys are so, you know, you watch this and you're like, well look at these people. Like, they don't have to do any of that. They just like whittle. They get whitt together, they live off the lands and they, and they're in these vans.
You've seen this in, yeah. It's
**Gizmo:** the best. It's the best. There's this guy, like,
**Grinder:** you know, they're taking showers in the, in the van and then, and then the shower breaks down and then they can't, they have to like go to the Y M C A to get a shower and you know, they're making bacon in the morning and, and saving the bacon grease for
**Poobah:** later.
It's great. Oh, and they're sending up drones so they, so Oh [00:29:00] yeah. You'd, you'd appreciate this gizz from a production standpoint. So like production, yeah. From a production standpoint, since you're a producer, they put drones up. So they take these drones and they'll be, they'll, they'll fly the drone up and then the drone's following the van.
Oh,
**Gizmo:** that's pretty cool. You know what I'm saying? Like an aerial
**Poobah:** view. Aerial view. So they're going to these really, like, I'm gonna
**Gizmo:** get a drone for the pod.
**Poobah:** You should, let's talk about that. All right. See if it's in the budget. The um,
**Gizmo:** uh, but we don't have any other cameras, but we're gonna get drone
**Bam Bam:** poop's alive right now.
Okay. He's
**Poobah:** alive. But they throw the drone up and then the drone like go, they'll send it up over like where they have the van parked and it'll show the vista. Cuz they're doing this in beautiful places. Yeah. They're going to the best places. They're going to the most beautiful place. They're in Wyoming, they're in Oregon anyway, so YouTube, vortex,
**Senator:** rabbit hole.
We should do this in, uh, we should do this
**Gizmo:** in Este. Oh, that would go well. It would go
**Poobah:** well. I If you brought a drone to Cuba though, you definitely wouldn't get that drone out. [00:30:00] Oh, you may not get the drone even in. No, I br
**Gizmo:** let, lemme tell you something, going to Cuba, I brought a Bluetooth speaker. I got just a Bluetooth speaker, like a little Bose.
They had a panic attack coming into customs thinking that I was bringing recording equipment. And obviously we do the podcast so that I was sensitive to that and I was like, oh, you know, leading up to it. I'm like, should we all bring Mike? Should we all do it? Mm-hmm. Yeah. I wonder who was saying that, that would be a terrible idea.
It was me, senator anyway. Uh, yeah, they, they flagged me. But yeah, that would not fly. You cannot p show up with a drone in Cuba. No, there's, there's no way That would not go well. Oh, that would not go well by the way. So my wife is really into the same YouTube vortex, and she turned me onto a film that was very in line with what you're talking about with this, you know, the amazing actress, uh, Francis McDermott.
Yeah. She's awesome. Incredible actress. Yeah. Love her. She was, she did a movie called Noman Land. Heard exactly this. Yes, yes. And let me tell you, it's a phenomenal film. Yeah. What need, [00:31:00] watch it. It, it's about exactly this Van Life. So it's about,
**Grinder:** so this, this woman, um, had a life at, and she was, they all worked at a factory or she worked with her husband.
Yeah. I forget
**Gizmo:** it was some sort of blue collar gig. Yeah.
**Grinder:** She got laid off and maybe her husband died or mm-hmm. I forget. And she and, and am and the, I think Amazon left the, the location and then it took all the indi there, took all the jobs away, and then she didn't know what else to do. So she. Lived in her van and started traveling and doing like, uh, like odd jobs day.
Yeah. Odd jobs day gigs. And, and then there's a community that develops around these people who live in their vans and just, they're nomads. They, they're, they're laborers. They're migrant workers, but they have a van. Yeah. You know, they just go to where the workers is. It's an Amer, it's a, it's a, it's, I don't know if it's uniquely American, but it's a very American concept that you, one, you're a migrant worker, you have some.
Fees. You have some ability to, to get, you know, garner a, a vehicle and you need the vehicle because America's so [00:32:00] fucking big. So, you know, you, you
**Gizmo:** live in your van. It's a great, great movie. I really recommend it. No Van, not an Oscar, but it did. But,
**Poobah:** but, but do these vans that in this movie, or are they like the vans I'm talking
**Gizmo:** about?
They're not like noted out. No, these are pretty, pretty basic. Yeah. It's, it's, it's like they don't have like, not a sprint. They don't have a, it not, they have like a Chevy Astro. It's not in,
**Bam Bam:** it's not influencer
**Poobah:** are like running air fryers inside the van and like making chicken teriyaki and shit. You're looking at
**Gizmo:** these are,
**Grinder:** these are, these are not, these are not
**Gizmo:** influencers.
Yeah. These are No, you're, you're watching nomad influencers, but drones, like, the people in this movie are like, they're like, they're not, they're not like that level Instagram. Yeah. These are like Scooby-Doo vans. Yeah, exactly.
**Bam Bam:** He's right. I love the Scooby.
**Poobah:** Hey, listen, I'd shack up with uh oh. Yeah, I'd shack up with, what's her name, you?
Velma.
**Bam Bam:** Velma. Velma.
**Gizmo:** Oh yeah. I don't think he meant Velma. Daphne. Daphne. Daphne. Velma. The first. I don't think he meant Velma. Sorry.
**Bam Bam:** Love, love [00:33:00]
**Gizmo:** Jesus man. Bam.
**Poobah:** Never fail us. Yeah. Ba ba ba bam. AKA the human hormone.
**Bam Bam:** Turn off
my
**Gizmo:** mic. Yeah, turn off. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, boys, I gotta tell you. We're coming up, I guess on the end of the first third here on this cigar.
Come on, kids. It's unbelievable.
**Bam Bam:** It's, it's a
**Gizmo:** very good cigar for thir for 13 bucks. Yeah. For this size. Yeah. Yeah. I've been saying it for years. You have? Yeah. I gotta give it to you, grinder. This is really damn good, man. Yeah,
**Senator:** it's excellent. Really is. Honestly, I mean, I, I have not one single complaint about any part of this.
No.
**Gizmo:** And I find the flavor to be really interesting,
**Bam Bam:** isn't it? Getting a little sweet for me. I'm getting a little sweetness. There's
**Gizmo:** definitely sweetness
**Bam Bam:** there. Yeah, absolutely.
**Pagoda:** Macallans are elevating the, it really, it
**Bam Bam:** is a little bit, but I have to say the, the fruit notes in this are, are strong with the cocoa and earth notes.
It's a complex cigar.
**Gizmo:** I think this is a cigar to Pagodas point, I think it pairs perfectly with Macallan 12 because, a hundred hundred percent. [00:34:00] Because sometimes I think you can have Macallan 12 with, let's say a Cuban cigar that's a little lighter. And doesn't have as much oomph to it. Mm-hmm. And it really can, it can overpower any, any single malt scotch can.
Yeah. But I think the cigar is really, really putting up a good fight. It is for attention. Mm-hmm. Versus this excellent scotch we have that there's a,
**Bam Bam:** this is, this is great. There's a good dance between the two. And we haven't talked enough about the Macallan 12 that Sherry Cas, it's a lizard staple. How important it is for us in this group to have that, that bottle in our lockers.
It's a must.
**Gizmo:** And for longtime listeners who know that, you know, who've listened to every episode, I mean, we did Macallan 12 very, very early on. And the reason why we're doing it again is we, we did, we, we didn't start rating, uh, liquor until episode 13 or 14 or something. And Grindr brought it up and we did it on a whim.
And we've continued. So we're revisiting some of those early SCOs and early pairings, um, to give them a rating, which we're gonna do tonight. But that's why we brought it back. And I'm so glad we did tonight because it's really working. [00:35:00] It's really, really working. We, we should also
**Senator:** be clear, the listener.
Yes, yes. Mail it. Checking is the Macallan 12, Sherry Cas. The
**Gizmo:** black box,
**Senator:** white box right there is another Macallan 12 in a blue box that's called the Double Cask. Mm-hmm. And there are, I'm sure listeners that enjoy it, so I will try to be polite. It's serviceable. But not like this. My big frustration with it is that that was, that product was not made out of some desire to create this new wonderful experience for the consumer.
It was created out of desperation because it was a global shortage Yeah. Of sherry cast that they aged the black box. Mm-hmm. But we're drinking in, and so they had to get clever and they started using, Half the aging process in X bourbon barrels and only then the other half in sherry barrels so they could produce more of this without having to wait 12 years.
In these sherry cast, they have, so li such a limited amount of, I think if you put them side by side and drink [00:36:00] them, the Macallan 12 sherry cast just completely blows out of the water's.
**Gizmo:** Gas's true. What's, so the price delta on the black box versus the blue box is probably 20 or $30. No, I don't think so.
No, it's close. It's close. It's very close. 10 to 12 bucks. Yeah. So I think, uh, whatever rating we give this tonight, I think you subtract 20 points from it and that's the blue box. That's probably about accurate. Right. Okay. I mean the one
**Poobah:** thing about the, um, when you order Macallan 12, um, and then when I was in, when was I, when I was in DC I guess.
Wow. It was October. Um, uh, for some meetings and, uh,
**Gizmo:** In your van? No,
**Poobah:** no, no, no, no. I traveled by ACC Excel Motherfucking.
**Bam Bam:** I
**Poobah:** love it. Teresa Lak. There you go. Come on. Everybody
**Gizmo:** knows the, did you save the bacon grease for later? No. Every,
**Poobah:** everybody, his senator knows my jam.
**Gizmo:** He [00:37:00] takes the I know, I know, I know. Um, uh, I've been taking that route a lot.
**Poobah:** That's right. It's a lizard approved route. Yeah. Yeah. It's a lizard approved route. You ride the high life, the baroni chicken's a little bit, a little bit spicy,
**Grinder:** but it's good
**Bam Bam:** chicken piccata on this barbecue for
**Poobah:** That's incredible. I know, I know. Anyway, that notwithstanding the, uh, well, I, I just remember specifically, um, being at a couple different, two different, actually two different establishments in DC ordering, uh, McCannon 12 and then looking.
Right. And you look and watch what they pull. Well, yeah. And looking at what they pull and then what they pour, and then, you know, they pour the, the, they have this, the blue, right? Mm-hmm. The, the, you could, because the bottle, the labeling and the bottle towards the top is different. Mm-hmm. And they charge you kind of the same amount.
You're kind of like, eh, fuck off. But you know, you're doing your thing, but in your mind you're saying, so maybe it's rude, rude. Well, no, hold on. [00:38:00] I'm just hold. I'm just saying if you're out, uh, and if you're out, it, it is worth mentioning if you're gonna order Macallan and you want Macallan Sherry Cask ask, is it Sherry Kas or is it the whatever the other fuck thing is, which I know Double.
Double cast. Double cast. Mm-hmm. Um, it's worth asking the question again. The thing is, in the restaurants, they charge the same amount for it. That's true. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** They don't even know.
**Senator:** And don't just ask. Also, once they bring it, try it because I can't count how many times. I specifically asked, you have Macallan 12, Sherry?
Yes. Yeah, Sherry Cass. It's a black bo uh, black box. There's no, nothing blue on the label. Yes, sir. That's exactly what we have. And then they pour it and they bring it and you can taste immediately. It's not that, and then you get frustrated.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, yeah. One specific
**Poobah:** happens. You have to take it on the chin and just accept it.
It's, there's sounds like you're gonna raise Holy
**Gizmo:** hell. But
**Senator:** there is no, I'm gonna make them take it back and pour me
**Gizmo:** there.
**Bam Bam:** There's a, I'm talking about Senator. Yeah, of course. There's a workaround to all this. So I've come into the habit of asking them to bring the [00:39:00] bottle to the table and pouring it at the table so I can get, I get to see the label.
Mm-hmm. Just to make sure that I'm getting what I'm asking for. I do that with this. And I also do with the Vinny stuff. Did we just meet
**Gizmo:** bougie band? That's so
**Bam Bam:** extra. Was that, is so extra? No. Nice. That's a little bougie. Ba That's not bougie. That's you're, you're getting what you're paying for. You're getting what you're
**Senator:** paying for.
I don't disagree, but even I don't ask them to make a model to the table.
**Bam Bam:** I don't. It's Jesus, it's a simple ask and they're always accommodating. I don't know if I'd have the balls to do that. Oh, no, no, no. They'll do it. It's, they're very accommodating. I'm with you. That reminds me of your story.
**Pagoda:** Tequila, you guys.
**Gizmo:** I did that with tequila.
**Bam Bam:** You gotta grow rough. You gotta get some dick game and you gotta ask for your bottle to be brought to the table. That's
**Gizmo:** bougie. Ba there's a, there's a trust factor
**Senator:** involved. I trust no one with a bartender, with anyone that you're dealing you trust goes both
**Grinder:** ways too to
**Senator:** the, you're busy to the listener telling them, I don't trust you to pour what I asked you for, so I need you to
**Bam Bam:** do in front of me.
That's okay. But to the listener, I mean, I think you, I've learned from everyone in this [00:40:00] room. You want to get what you pay for. You make sure you get what you pay for.
**Gizmo:** I had that experience as pagoda just mentioned. I remember that, but I didn't call for the bottle. I just knew what I, you know, I, we reach for this so much.
Well, your palette is so developing, you know, but we reach for this so much. You know what this tastes like. That's true. Okay. Yeah. Everybody in this room, of course, if, if we did a blind tasting of 10 single moth scotches, we could pick this out because we drink this, this is our number one. Probably in line with Bal 12.
It's right there for most of us with the scotch we drink the most. Mm-hmm. Sure. So if this is poured for us and it doesn't taste like we're having it tonight, we all know. So I had that experience at a casino in Pennsylvania. Yeah. And I called them out on the tequila and it was wrong, and I knew it, but I think your taste buds are gonna, you know Sure.
They're not gonna lie to you. It could be a
**Bam Bam:** question of, you know, social norms. But when I, I challenge a listener, if they're looking for a specific spirit, nail it, ask
**Gizmo:** them to bring the bottle. Especially if you're buying it in a metro area like New York. Yeah. DC, la, [00:41:00] Nashville, Miami. Right. You, you gotta, you gotta be getting what you're paying for.
Exactly. No doubt
**Bam Bam:** about it. Thank you. Pub's ruminating in the corner over
**Gizmo:** there. I think he's just about bougie. Bam.
**Poobah:** Just don't do it with mirror.
**Bam Bam:** Oh, you got it. It's just, it's, it's, it's an, you know, I'll do it out. Especially when you're
**Grinder:** around. It's an aggressive, it's an aggressive card to play.
**Poobah:** Yeah. Me and Grinder are out on that and mean you do that.
We're, you know, it's, you're out out. Yeah. You just get the bill.
**Bam Bam:** You know what, ki And I'll enjoy a great drink on my own. There you go. I'm good. You'll be okay. Oh yeah.
**Poobah:** You can do whatever you want. Just, just describe the tab at the end. Yeah, sure. I
**Bam Bam:** got it. I wanna behave like that. Behave like that.
**Gizmo:** Oh boy.
So boys, we're about halfway through here on the Drew Estate Herrera. Estelle Norteno in Lonsdale. Wow. I want
**Bam Bam:** to hear from Pagoda. What a surprise.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, dude,
**Bam Bam:** I'm
**Pagoda:** really enjoying it, but I'm seeking a bit more of, uh, the Coke and, and maybe because [00:42:00] we, we, we talked a little bit about the exclusive O I'm just seeking a bit more really.
That's it. Yeah. But overall, really enjoyable.
**Bam Bam:** It's hitting me. Right, right. Where accounts
**Gizmo:** to, to, to what Puba talked about earlier. Mm-hmm. I'm totally in line with that. Obviously, you know, it's, it's, I'm, I'm happy to be here tonight. Happy to be recording, but the cigar is just adding that extra 10% on the evening for me that it's like I am really in the zone right now with the cigar.
Totally.
**Pagoda:** But, but on the other hand, I must say that every time I take a sip of Macallan, then have a low
**Grinder:** puff. It's
**Gizmo:** excellent. By the way, we gave you the blue box.
**Bam Bam:** Was it a blue pill or red pill? I'll take it.
**Gizmo:** Ask for the bottle next time.
**Bam Bam:** You better take it. The bottle. I can drink anything for sure.
**Pagoda:** No, but the blue box, the, the, I think the issue with that is just got a, so much of a bite in that Macallan that's like, it's, uh, very noticeable.
Yeah.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. I mean, [00:43:00] this cigar is also a. Much better
**Rooster:** than the one I had like a couple of years ago when they first came out. Maybe it was fresh. And since this has been sitting in your humidor, I think this has really,
**Gizmo:** did you have it in the same viola? I
**Rooster:** did. They have
**Gizmo:** another one that came
**Grinder:** out? They have several.
They have, they have four or five. I think they have four violas.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, they probably have a robusto at Toro. They have a
**Grinder:** big, they have a big ring gauge too. Uh, I think they have a, this might be the most narrow. No, I think there's another narrow one actually. Hmm.
**Gizmo:** Um, it was even look this size or bigger.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
**Grinder:** No, it's, it's, I think it, you know, um,
I, when I first, when I first grabbed these, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't realize that I had another box, so I ordered some more from Atlantic. Um, and that's a great segue into, you know, buying cigars. But, um, This past week before I left on my business trip.
**Senator:** Sorry. You can't tell yourself. That was a [00:44:00] great segue.
We
**Gizmo:** have to tell you. That was a bougie bam move.
**Bam Bam:** Since when is bam bamboo? Oh,
**Gizmo:** tonight. Every day. Tonight's the night. Oh, episode 77. That's not
**Bam Bam:** moron. I, um, but I ba there's a bougie band, Baab. This is, this is Bam. Don't say band. This is
**Grinder:** Baab. Um, but I, I, I got these cigars, uh, from Atlantic and then I was looking through in my humidor before I left on my trip.
Because I was going to a cigar lounge and I wanted to bring some, some cigars to it. And, um, I found this box that was sitting in the bottom of my humidor, right. Where it should be in the perfect spot. And, um, it's, I forgot it. And it was like, did you ever have those moments where you're like, you're digging in your humidor and you're like, holy shit, I totally forgot about this.
Yeah, and it was an extra box and you know, I, it's, the rapper was still on it and it's been there for, you know, I haven't touched it for two years, so, um, but, or two or three years, I forget. [00:45:00] Um, but wow. I, I'm, I'm a of a different opinion, um, about nicker ROK cigars. I, I think they need to age a lot more to get that, that more nuance or the, the softer flavor, uh, post.
Post packaging, right? Because like Cuban cigars post packaging, there's some more aging that could happen. Nick, these are already aged a little bit and then they're packaged. I'm, I, this is not a hypothesis that I contest by any means, but I, I would say that the, the variability of, of flavor profile and Nicaraguan cigars, especially as rich as these are, is, is de minimus.
You know,
**Gizmo:** for Mac, you're totally right. I mean, you know, when you talk about, if you think about if you smoke this fresh, like you do a Cuban cigar, the marginal difference with, with a year or three years, a hundred percent with this, with let's say four or five years with an additional three, that difference is marginal, right?
Mo most, most of the ch, most of
**Grinder:** the changing in, in the aging process is [00:46:00] happening in the polos in that very specific setting in the warehouse, you know? Um, that's where that, that all the chemical reactions happen. It's not really in the box. Well,
**Bam Bam:** the only thing the, I mean, may, I may dispute that a little bit with the 80th that we smoked, right.
Where
**Grinder:** senator aged his cigar. That's fine. That was a great success for four years. And
**Bam Bam:** they sat in his towers and they were just,
**Gizmo:** that was an amazing cigar. It was. But would you say it was a hundred percent better than it was? I don't know. Senator, what do you think? I would say they were probably 20% better than any of the eighties we
**Bam Bam:** have.
I think. I think they're much,
**Grinder:** they were much better than that. I know. I,
**Senator:** I, I mean just, I, I won't even. Use my opinion here. I heard guys sit here and tell me that, dude, I ruined the 80th for them. You, that's cool. Because it was so much better than the regular 80th. They're like, no, I can't even smoke the regular one.
Right. It
**Bam Bam:** may, it may depend on the cigar. Uh, totally. For all we
**Gizmo:** know. Totally. Right. But I think Reiner's got a good point here.
**Bam Bam:** No, he does. Of course. That's a great point. Oh,
**Gizmo:** a hundred percent. Yeah.
**Rooster:** Yeah. But I just remember having this cigar, like when it first came out and it was [00:47:00]
**Gizmo:** Mm. It wasn't like this.
Yeah. You know,
**Rooster:** this is very pleasant. It's kind of
**Gizmo:** smoothed off a little bit. Yep. I have a harsh
**Grinder:** thing. I, you know, we can tell, we can get some, we can go and procure some more boxes and just sit on pressure and, and or, or not and say, hold on, let's smoke this.
**Gizmo:** That's, no, it could have also been a different
**Rooster:** viola, so
**Gizmo:** I don't, you know, you know
what
**Grinder:** I mean?
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I
**Bam Bam:** had this cigar a month ago and it was sitting in my desktop and it wasn't as good as this. Hmm. I will tell you that.
**Gizmo:** Hmm. So how much better is this? It's much
**Bam Bam:** better. Yeah. It's a real, A 50%. Wow. 60% better than my experience originally.
**Gizmo:** Really? Okay. So there you go. All right.
**Senator:** So it needs some H, but what's encouraging is I'm enjoying this so much, it's worth that time.
Agreed. Like I would just buy a box, just tuck it in the back of my tower and forget about it and not touch it for a year
**Gizmo:** or two. And you know what? The thing that adds to that for me, Senator, is something you said very early on, I think before we lit it, is how good it feels in the hand. Even down to past the halfway point now I'm like, it's just very comfortable to hold with the [00:48:00] box, press with the size.
It just feels really good in the hand. Yeah. On top of how well it's smoking. You look great with that cigar. Thanks Pam.
**Senator:** Also, the combustion
**Gizmo:** out of this thing, it's incredible. Look at the room. It's incredible. Look at the room. Yeah, it's
**Senator:** like a velvety smoke and it just, I mean, Puba earlier said long finish.
It's so satisfying each puff.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah,
**Pagoda:** I think the velvety smokes also inside the mouth, right? Like when you, when you have it, like you get a good smoke output, it, it just fills your mouth back. And
**Bam Bam:** GI said earlier how it coats your mouth beautifully. It really
**Gizmo:** does the job. And the Macallan is really helping
**Bam Bam:** that too.
And the long finish on the Macallan as well. Yeah. Works
**Gizmo:** great. Yeah, it's a great pair for sure. Yeah. So Griner was talking earlier. I just wanna touch on this really quick cuz it sparks something. He was talking about, um, smoking this in the springtime. We're, we're in that time. Now obviously we're in April.
Right? What are some of the cigars you like to smoke as we're, you know, we're getting into the summer? Well,
**Bam Bam:** we know, I mean, Theo, of course, the Q the
**Gizmo:** QD for me is the QD is really Corona. The [00:49:00] Kdo se Coronas claros from Cuba. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** I also like the QD 54 this time of year. For me, that's a home run. Those two cigars, different time of day.
The Claro and the 54 are
**Grinder:** outstanding into the spring. So I, I lay like when, when I, my springtime cigars, I, I have a lighter, you know, taste. I have a lighter palette. But when springtime comes around, I intrinsically, in my mind, I'm thinking of new fresh cigars because it's. Springtime. And, uh, I always turn to Cubans at that time and dab it off and I'll put away my nicaraguas.
And oddly enough, we're smoking a Nicaragua now, but I'll usually put away my nicaraguas and then it's Cuban season and that lasts pretty much all summer for me. And then fall is when I get back in the Nicaraguas. A little harsher climate, harsher cigar, not harsher, but you know, a little stronger, more fuller bodied.
Mm-hmm. Stuff like that. So when springtime rolls around, I'm cutie 54, that's when I whip them [00:50:00] out. And then I'm smoking them all day every day. But that Claro though, and, and, and Claros great. And I'm, and I'm back and then I'm going deep in the Davi off the very traditional, there's like a very distinct AOL flavor with a lot of cigars in their lines.
Smoking, all of those. I won't go into the, into the late hour, you know, I won't go into the, the Davidoff Nicaragua, but I'll stick to the very traditional white label cigars and, and, uh, QD 54. Um, and um, the ra I'll, you know, RAs is an all-time cigar for Love the ra.
**Gizmo:** So close. Especially
**Grinder:** selected. Yeah. And, um, the, the claros you mentioned as well, obviously fantastic.
So that's, that's what I think of springtime
**Poobah:** cigars. Yeah. Uh, I'm, I'm with you there. The, um, the Ramona is the, the, the, the, the, the RAs is, is so versatile. Um, uh, love it. So yeah, I'm with you on that. So [00:51:00] two things, the thei for me outside. So I'm smoking a lot outside. So there's two cigars that I find myself going to really.
One is the exi. Because I'm outside and if I'm gonna smoke on my porch between the combustion, the flavor, whatever, I go to that cigar more actually outdoors, uh, during a round, a particularly during a round, a golf for this wood slot. Um, cuz you got a golf cart, you're driving around or you're, you know, you're handling it.
The, the rapper's tough enough that it can take some abuse. You can kind of drop, actually you'll drop it in the grass. You know what I mean? You
**Bam Bam:** know? Yeah. Just leave it to
**Gizmo:** grass. I mean, I'll get it later. There's so much. That's what you do. There's so much drop in te Grass. Can I help you please? No, no, no, no.
Buy you in accessory. No, no, no. When you're playing golf, you don't
**Grinder:** have time for accessories. Oh, you got,
**Senator:** he'll have a holder for your pot
**Bam Bam:** pie in the golf cart. The [00:52:00] golf cart has a great little platform. Did you
**Poobah:** the cigar on? Yeah. Wait, sorry to interrupt. Sorry to interrupt. Pba, but Well
**Gizmo:** you've seen Caddy Shack where Dangerfield is Dangerfield.
Rodney
**Bam Bam:** Dangerfield. Rodney Dangerfield.
**Poobah:** Yeah. Yeah. Pulls out the Kea beer, the music
**Gizmo:** that is Gizmo on a golf. A golf, yes. If I golfed you're shooting that's,
**Bam Bam:** yeah. You're shooting on one 50 that day.
**Poobah:** Yeah. So it, it, it slots there for me, the, the, the Ramon alone, especially selected like as a daytime cigar or literally like anytime, I mean, um, is so good, right.
And then, and then for me, h up and, um, the up and two absolutely. In particular, in the summertime, during the day, for me, those, those dessert flavors work. Um, but I'm also like, it's a tough question for me too, cuz I really only smoke certain things. Do you know what I mean? I, I, I, I really, I like D four s I like up and twos.
I like RAs. I like the [00:53:00] Corona. Claros. Yeah. I like an exi. Mm-hmm. And if that's all I had to live on for the rest of my life, like I'll be, I'd probably just
**Bam Bam:** fucking, he's all set if that's the case. You know what I mean? Yeah. So
**Poobah:** like, I don't
**Bam Bam:** know.
**Pagoda:** That's all I smoke as well. So
I'm
**Senator:** glad Puba brought up the exi in the springtime because I'm more in the camp.
Um, I definitely don't put away Nicaraguans for the spring or even summer. Mm-hmm. No. And especially spring. The thing with spring, like the weather is very unpredictable in the spring. That's true. Yeah. Right. It gets breezy sometimes the nights can actually get very cool. It it, it's a wild card. So for me, like the summer is where I can more reliably trust lighting up a Cuban where it's very still, it's warm, it's not very breezy.
That smoke stays near me. I can, yeah. The humidity's helping. Yeah. Yeah. I can appreciate the aroma, which like is why you, most of the time you really prefer a Cuban cigar indoors because they're not full flavored cigars. They're usually medium [00:54:00] and so you kind of need that full experience to appreciate it.
Where I more readily reach for and like I would reach for this norteno or an EXI or, or some other Nicaraguans. Mm-hmm. In the spring when it's breezier, that smoke's not gonna stay right there necessarily. It's gonna go with the breeze and there's so much flavor in it that I'm still being satisfied without having that complete experience.
So I do reach for these a lot. I'll kind of in the afternoon start with a lot of the Cubans that have been mentioned, but definitely in the evening, or if it's a breezy afternoon mm-hmm. I'll pull for a Nicaraguan that can withstand Sure, yeah. All of that.
**Grinder:** It
**Bam Bam:** really depends on your setting. Personally for me, where my little smoking area is on the side of the house, it's kind of contained, so I don't get a lot of breeze or wind.
I'll often go for the cutie line, and honestly, the boulevard line for me works great in the spring, but it's like Senator said, you have to really watch and see what the weather's like. Yeah. If you've got a breeze. Absolutely. I agree with p uh, Puba. [00:55:00] Go for thei. Even honestly, the D four on a, on a slightly warmer summer day with a slight breeze.
Yeah. I think works great. Yep. Yeah, it really does work. Great. We
**Poobah:** wouldn't
**Rooster:** know about that spot, Ben.
**Gizmo:** Well, you,
**Bam Bam:** you've been there. Well played. Uh, what's I just, oh my God. All there once I, I am out.
**Grinder:** I wanna interject. He's
**Senator:** still
**Grinder:** working on the string lights. I am.
**Gizmo:** What the fuck? By the way, I just want to tell the listener, uh, I've never been to BA's house grinder.
Go ahead.
**Bam Bam:** You know what, neither Spak, Mrs. Ba, bam. We'll be very hospitable to you that day. Oh, excellent. But not bam. Not
**Gizmo:** bam.
**Bam Bam:** No. Bams busy. I'm ignored at home. I am ignored.
**Grinder:** Uh, I, I, I want to correct myself this I, the, the price that I just quoted earlier was incorrect. It's actually 2 25 is agar, or 10 25 is cigar.
Wow. 10 25.
**Gizmo:** Wow. Dude, this is, this is a $10 cigar. Yeah, it's a steal.
**Grinder:** Wow. You can buy, you can buy a [00:56:00] box of 25 for 2 55. Wow. And
**Bam Bam:** ci it's, it's,
**Gizmo:** it's crazy. So, so for me, springtime, summer, I, I'm lucky. I, I smoke in my garage. I'm not smoking outside as much anymore, but as the warmer weather comes in, I'm reaching so much for the El Ray del Mundo, schwa Supreme.
Oh yeah, that's another good, I forgot about that cigar. Now I can't smoke that when it's, if there's any wind conditions, I can't do it. No. But that and the Coronas sclero, the, the QD we've just talked about, that absolutely will start my day. I don't reach for the 50 or 54. I know you guys do that sometimes earlier in the day.
Mm-hmm. The fifties in outstanding. I always go for the qd, uh, Coronas Claros or the, the Schwa Supreme. But I, I love reaching for the EXI in the spring and summer, especially outside if I have some time outside and I'm always reaching for the, for the exi. And by the way, when I go to Florida for as long as I do in the summer, I'm almost exclusively, uh, smoking Nicaraguans because of the unpredictability, the level of humidity.
Mm-hmm. I'm [00:57:00] always reaching for that.
**Senator:** I'm glad that you mentioned the QD 50. So BA was mentioning the QD 54 earlier. For any listener who likes the QD in line, What has become one of my absolute favorite morning smokes. The QD 50, that little short smoke in the morning with coffee when we were in Cuba. You saw me like that most mornings.
Oh yeah. Yep. I springtime out on the deck with a coffee. It's
**Grinder:** perfect. I'm so, I'm so happy that I was able to
**Gizmo:** introduce qd.
**Bam Bam:** Does he take credit
**Gizmo:** for that? He's taking credit. I'll take credit because I,
**Grinder:** I didn't, I didn't. I like, I, my, I was a very hardcore, hard line Nicaraguan cigar smoker. And then the, my, I talk about this guy all the time. He's a real lizard. Uh, my mentor, my colleague boss, um, and he loves line. Yeah, he introduced me to QD and then I fell in love and that's kind of shifted, that shifted my palate to a lighter cigar.
And then I was really deep into Cubans as well, [00:58:00] obviously with you guys as well. And the qd, you know, I like, I, it, it influenced me so much that I, like, in the summertime, I like to eat, you know, do the, uh, the Monte Crista White label in Churchill all the time. Mm-hmm. Uh, in the summertime, not necessarily in the spring, but I morph like spring is the start of summer to me.
Yep. You know, which is a difference philosophy from what I'm hearing from you guys, because I'm thinking like, okay, warmer weather is here, let's just dive into it. Um, but I'm so happy to hear you guys embrace qd because it just warms my heart. Oh yeah. And Senator
**Bam Bam:** introduced me to the 50 and I, I, I'm in lockstep with what he said that morning.
Smoke for that with that little guy. It's perfect. It's perfect. It's a perfect cigar. Spring and summer. It's fantastic. Now, in the summer you mentioned thei. I like it as dusk comes and it gets darker. Yeah. A little cooler with a fire. It is. Unbeatable. It's perfect. It's
**Gizmo:** unbeatable. So the other, the other thing I wanna say too is, you know, sometimes in the morning before I start work or in the afternoon [00:59:00] around lunch, I love a couple short smokes.
Two specifically in the spring and summer that work for me perfectly. The parus short with a cup of coffee. I haven't had that in a while. Cuba, the Parus short from Cuba, is that
**Poobah:** punches its weight class? Yeah. In such
**Gizmo:** a good way. Unbelievable for its price. And the other one that we've mentioned a few times recently, actually the half Corona is the Tawa.
Hey. Oh, petite Kaza Kaza dos. That works for me so well in the springtime. So Rooster turned
**Bam Bam:** me on. I'm not sure if he turned the rest of you on. Same. You introduced me to Nas cigar. I am. I'm very thankful. It's an excellent cigar actually,
**Poobah:** you who gave me that. I've been waiting to, I'm sorry. I've been waiting to say three cigars for barbecuing.
Go. If my three go-to cigars with I go out to Cook, are. Depending on like what I've eaten or whatever. Are you making chicken french eggs on? The stronger, on the stronger side would be the part of the short, because it actually punches, it does, it punches above its weight class. It works so well with such [01:00:00] apresso and they, they age great and they come in a cabinet for a reason because they're, it's a, it's a, it's actually a premium short cigar.
Yeah, it is. Yes. Okay. It's premium short cigar. Yep. So the, you've got the parus short, you've got the, the H up in half Corona, which is a great smoke. Yep. If you're out. Doing that. And then the third one is, is is the, the Ramona. Um, yeah. Uh, uh, small Club Corona, the Small Club Corona, which is a fantastic short cigar.
What a line Those are the three, those three short cigars, the Short Club Corona, the Club Corona, the short and the Upk. Uh, uh, half Corona are, to me, the three best. It's the Legion
**Gizmo:** of Doom. Short Legion really is to doom
**Poobah:** short cigars that are really outstanding.
**Bam Bam:** I know Senator, I know senators going somewhere, but I have to say, I have to, I'm also gonna thank Puba for introducing me to that Ramona on Club Corona.
That is really a delicious great, great cigar. Oh, it's [01:01:00] so
**Gizmo:** good. Yeah. So I just wanna say like, Yeah. Cigars in
**Rooster:** general. I don't think I have a seasonal preference to certain cigars
**Gizmo:** that I only
**Bam Bam:** smoke. Yeah. He does a 90th at breakfast.
**Rooster:** Yeah, no, but I mean like you don't smoke like certain cigars in the spring that I don't smoke in the wintertime.
Mm-hmm. Maybe exception would be the late hour. Yeah. I agree with, with that and I that I tend to smoke more, more
**Gizmo:** in the winter. That's a
**Senator:** great point. I, I agree with you. I think it's more, for me
**Gizmo:** it's the size and you know,
**Rooster:** breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So start off with a lighter cigar, then go a little bit heavier and then a little bit more fuller
**Gizmo:** bodied like after
**Senator:** dinner.
But that aside for me, I'm kind of in the middle of like, obviously like Gizz has, it sounds like very strong preferences for certain sticks in certain seasons. Obviously for Rooster it's kind of all year round for me. I'm somewhere in between where. I'm smoke, everything that's been named, I'm smoking at some point year round.
There's not like a season where I say I won't touch that cigar. Right. Yeah. But what happens is I do [01:02:00] pull more for certain cigars during certain seasons. Mm-hmm. So I'll
**Gizmo:** smoke. I think that's a fair comment. That's fair. Otherwise, the
**Senator:** point is like the re the, um, the qd kross claros perfect example. I'll smoke that cigar year round, but I do pull for it more in the spring or summertime because those, like floral notes just are perfect for that season.
But you've seen me smoke 'em in the fall. The winter. I mean, I love that cigar.
**Rooster:** That, that's an exception. I think that in the late hour, more in the wintertime and, uh, Corona's Claro in the more, in the summer.
**Gizmo:** So this actually tees up a really interesting question that, uh, a lizard listener. Emailed us about, uh, lizard Keith.
The subject was where to start, and he started by saying, lizards, I am a lizard light division. He said, I have so many questions for you guys. Um, really the most important thing, um, is have you thought about a, doing a [01:03:00] podcast to address help us newbies, which obviously, you know, we're always trying to help newbies out.
Obviously email us if you have any questions and whatnot. But the biggest thing he had was, can you give us some tips on the best sources to procure cigars, both New World and Cuban? So I think that that's something that we've named a lot of cigars that we love Cuban and non-urban. What are some of the places that, that you currently, we're talking about April 23 here, right?
What are some of the places that you're reaching out to, to find the cigars that you love? Cuban and non Cuban. So, Grinda, go ahead. I, I think I'll go
**Grinder:** first because Keith, I, I met, uh, lizard Keith, um, on a, on a fairly recent trip that I was on, and he was so gracious and, and, um, you know, tried to share some, some cigars, which I think may have been lost in transit or, or something.
But, um, uh, pagoda smoke them. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** you can narc them on the way
**Grinder:** financial. I, I think, I think for, for a new World, I think there's [01:04:00] different sources and, and I think we can bifurcate them adequately across New World and Cuban, because there's different sites. Um, the the New World side. I will always, I recommend one site, first and foremost for all, all lizards or aspiring lizards, and that's Atlantic Cigar.
And I recommend, if you are truly a lizard, try to get the v i p because it pays for itself. It's so worth it so quickly. Uh, especially if you, you can buy a, maybe a couple cigars or one shipment or whatever, and it pays for itself.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. I mean, I think it's what, 60 bucks a year or something? Yes, that's right.
That's right. So it's like if you spend, if you buy a box or two, it pays
**Grinder:** for itself. Now. Now it's, but you're, you're saving money, not just on the shipping costs. But also at the actual price of this car, the price, there's a v i P pricing that is also discounted, and the discount, the, the regular price is, is already discounted.
So, um, and this, the customer service there is fantastic. Literally, I can, I can recount stories of how many times they were so gracious where whereby [01:05:00] lost a, a cigar box and they sent me an extra one the day after. It's very prompt. Um, and there's been times where I didn't get a cigar, a box delivered, and it's been lost and supposedly lost.
They sent me another box and then the, the, the other original one came e eventually anyway, and they said, Hey, just keep it, it's on us. Yeah. Like the customer service there is phenomenal, amazing customer service. Um, it's, it pales in comparison to an experience like ci, um,
**Gizmo:** which is that Cigars International for the us, which
**Grinder:** is, you know, it's, it's actually, they have a great.
They have, they have a lot of cigars. They're, they actually are very discounted and you can get, you can get access to a lot of good cigars there and they give away so many cigars. So as a new, as a newbie, I, I went to CI a lot and I got exposed to a lot of different cigars because they would, I would take advantage of the deals that they were offering.
Yep. And they would just throw cigars at you in these sample packs, these free fibers or something like that. [01:06:00] And, um, that's a great place to get introduced to. But once you get settled and you know what you're smoking, move to Atlantic. Mm-hmm. Um,
**Senator:** and yeah, and you, you really gotta take the leap of faith there.
It's not like you can see the v i p prices until before you've actually purchased the VI ip. Just trust us. It's a significant savings. Awesome. Your first order, it's will much more than pay for the, it's
**Grinder:** tremendous. I would say the lizards in this room are all very. Scrupulous diligent and have a high attention to detail.
We've done the tests of, of looking at the price, we've done the work for
**Gizmo:** you. Regular, regular people,
**Grinder:** just going through the website and then going to v i p and this. The discounts are significant. I've
**Gizmo:** actually put stuff in my cart, not logged in and been like, oh wow, this is a great price. And then I log in and I'm like, oh my God, I wasn't logged in.
And the price drops like significantly. Atlantic is a tremendous, because of vip, it also also helps that they're out of PA Atlantic, so it's like no tobacco tax, but you know. [01:07:00] Yeah. Florida, Florida, pa, states like that. The tobacco tax helps, but also the fact that I'll place an order at 11:00 PM and by 5:00 AM I have a shipping.
Yeah. That shipping's, that's the thing. Confirmation, that's Sure.
**Senator:** Shipping is unmatched. It's unbelievable. Yeah. How quick the orders are fulfilled. If you even purchased during business hours, I've pur placed an order at two o'clock in the afternoon. At two 15, I'm getting a shipment notification. It's gone out with a trick.
It's
**Gizmo:** like the Amazon love cigar. It is, it's true.
**Senator:** It's true. It's fantastic. So I think universally Atlantic is number one for all of us in this room. Agree, agreed. Um, I mean, some of the others, like you were talking about places that like send samplers or other free kind of goodies when you place an order.
I was surprised there was some something I was looking for. Maybe it was like a box of patron drones and everyone was sold out for some reason. And Fox Cigar, Fox
**Gizmo:** cigars. Yeah. They're unbelievable with the gifts. You're, they're crazy. And they write you a hand handwritten written note. Note every, every order.
Not your first order, not your 10th. Every single order they write. That's you. A [01:08:00] handwritten note. What do you mean gifts? So they
just
**Senator:** a bunch of free, it's like bodyguards, but like by the dozens. It almost feels like, I mean you get so much stuff. I just remember I couldn't find everyone was sold out. Some Pedro drone box.
Fox had just started to carry not just the thousand series, but all the other stuff and I had ordered from them. It's just a simple order. I don't, maybe a box, maybe two, and I get all this extra free stuff. That's very cool. Some of them were actually like decent smokes. And the handwritten note, like this said, just customer service, everything
**Gizmo:** topnotch.
The other two that I like, uh, for new worlds are cigars Direct. Mm-hmm. Yeah. They always have great, great promos. You can always get a great promo. I like smoke in. Which is out of Florida. Yep. Run by this guy by Honest Abe is his name. Good website. Great website. Yep. But they have a ton of stuff and for stuff that's hard to find, like, like nuanced stuff like, uh, boutiquey stuff, small batch cigars.
Bingo. Excellent. Excellent retailer. I have never looked at that site. Yeah. They're very, very good. We've actually gotten, uh, a lot of the landeros that we're, [01:09:00] we've done and are will be doing in the next few weeks from there, from, I've gotten from small batch. Cool. Oh cool. That's cool. Yeah, they're very, there's
**Pagoda:** one where I, I'd like to suggest it's Cigar Page.
Cigar page for New Worlds is great because they don't charge for shipping at all. Mm. Oh. And the prices are very, very competitive. Yes. So I know a lot of people who just used the garbage page. In fact, you know, um, they can be as competitive as Atlantic after the v i p.
**Grinder:** So, and I'll round it out one more time here.
The, there's a, there's a site that's also based out of pa I think it's based out of Philly actually. Um, Holtz Holtz cigars. Holtz has some good deals sometimes. Yeah, they do. They do. Yeah, they
**Gizmo:** do. That's a good one. Another one in p is, uh, BES cigar prices. Yep. I don't, I don't know that one. Yeah, they're a good one too.
**Senator:** Yeah. And Holt shipping is very, very fast. Yeah. Well,
**Gizmo:** they're out of Philly, I think, because of where we live. Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So before, so before we get to Cuban, uh, cuz we have some Cuban recommendations mm-hmm. Let's touch on, we're coming into the last third here on the Norteno Lonsdale.
**Bam Bam:** Honestly, [01:10:00] it's as consistent as many of the patron drones that I've had.
Yeah. It's, it's
**Gizmo:** consistent, delivered. Very excellent Nicaragua cigar experience tonight. Sure. I am, I am shocked. Honestly. I'm I'll be, I'm, I'm
**Bam Bam:** shocked.
**Poobah:** Yeah. Puba, what are you thinking? Oh, I'm, I enjoyed it. Yeah. Yeah. Very, very much. Yeah. Very relaxing. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** This has been really good. All right. So let's talk about Cuban cigars.
That's a little tougher for Cuban cigars. It's a bit of a rat's nest. And the most important thing to remember when you're trying to procure Cuban cigars in the United States is that if it's too good to be true, it is 100% for every single authentic, good, decent, well run Cuban cigar retailer that sells to people in the United States, there are a hundred that are trying to steal your money, steal your identity, steal your credit card.
It's very important. Okay? So we're gonna name some of the [01:11:00] retailers that we appreciate and have done well right by us and sell authentic Cuban cigars. And if they do not have what you want, stop looking and wait for these retailers to have what you want. If you find something on a site that you're kind of, your gut is, you know, your, your, your antenna are going up and saying, Hey, I don't know about this.
Email me, email us and we will tell you if it's authentic or not, because you will get screwed even on a box of D four s, even on a box of Monte four s. Even on the stuff you can find everywhere, you will get screwed. So I'm gonna name some of the ones that I can think of off the top of my head that I appreciate and we'll go from there.
Number one, I love f o H. Friends of a Bonos, friends of El Havana now out of Australia. I Havanas Gray market dealer. They are. If you're a newbie looking to buy Cuban cigars, i havanas.com is the place [01:12:00] to go. It's a very easy website to navigate. Easy website. Yep. And if they don't have what you want, give it a day, give it a two, give it a week, give it two.
Just wait because it will pop up. And free shipping. And free shipping on everything.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. F o h requires a membership
**Gizmo:** though. Right? It doesn't require a membership. You just gotta be on their forum. You gotta know how to find, because you gotta navigate through that process. Just if, if you're a little bit diligent, you'll find out how to figure it out.
Mm-hmm. But, uh, f o h and I havanas are number one and two for me for sure. Some of the others that we can go through. Cigar Terminal is very good. That's true. Piro Express is very good. Cigar of Cuba. Is that, is that one? C H C h. C o h c h. Cigars. Cigar of Havanas. Yeah. It's c o h cigars now. Mm. Um, what are some of the others that I'm missing here, guys?
Promo. Promo cigar. Promo cigar, which has just started shipping again. Yep. They
**Rooster:** have one. They have decent prices,
**Gizmo:** but they're, that's tough. Packaging is, uh, yeah. What, you know, listen. With any of these, where are they at of
**Bam Bam:** now? Pr. They're C Cypress.
**Gizmo:** They're [01:13:00] a Cyprus. With any of these. Just, you just have to remember when you place that order, it's not Amazon Prime.
Right. It's gonna take a while. It's gonna take a while. Another one that we really like is EGM Cigars. Uh, and Bellhop a little bit on the higher side. Bellhop is cool. Bellhop. Bellhop is out of Canada. Yeah, they're, but
**Senator:** they're prices because the Canadian tax can get That's true.
**Grinder:** Rough. That's
**Gizmo:** true.
**Poobah:** And also, uh, customs through is not easy.
Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Tough there. Well, I didn't want to go there, but
**Gizmo:** that's true. Yeah. The other one too is rsvp. They have a lot of good stuff. Mm-hmm. Sometimes their prices are okay. Um, but really, uh, you know, there's not a ton of, of good Cuban retailers that ship to the United States that can be trusted. There is a
**Bam Bam:** bit of a
**Gizmo:** risk, regardless of where you're buying from.
And by the way, if you go on our Instagram, At Lounge Lizards pod, if you click under, if you go into our page, you click one of the little circles, it'll say Trusted retailers. There's a full list of lounge lizards approved, trusted retailers that you can [01:14:00] find Cuban cigars at. So if you don't see a site you're about to buy cigars from on that list, do not buy them.
Hmm? Do not buy them. Very, very
**Senator:** simple. The other thing I'll flag for listeners is that if you are ordering from anywhere that is gonna sell single Cuban cigars, a hundred percent do not buy it. Yeah. If it is a Facebook group, right. If it is some website that sell an individual you, an individual that, yeah, yeah.
They can give you five D four s or whatever Cuban cigar. You can think, if you're not getting a box that you can verify and you can listen to certainly other episodes, to know some of the tells of box codes and seals and all of those things. If you don't have that, there is absolutely no way to be certain.
And 99, if not a hundred percent of the time, they're fake.
**Grinder:** Yeah. It
**Bam Bam:** requires an education to purchase and procure Cuban
**Gizmo:** cigars and we, we have done the homework. Yeah. We have gone through the process, so we have more. And if you patient [01:15:00] mistakes and if you're patient and you trust us, which if you're listening to this podcast, I hope you do.
You have to be aware that Google is not your friend. Here. We are your friends, trust us. And if they do not have what you want, that's because it's not available. Yeah. And I would
**Poobah:** also, um, to, to, just to add to that, if you're, if you're on social media, um, and there are, there are predatory, um, groups or predatory people, um, you know, within Facebook groups that will, um, take advantage of, of, of, of, of newbies.
They'll take advantage of new people. Absolutely. And any, and, and, and if you have, uh, an individual that's out there that's selling singles, um, I think that that's, that's. That's something that's, that you need to really look out [01:16:00] for. They're singles that aren't color matched singles that they're claiming are vintage mm-hmm.
And aged. Uh, you need to actually stay away from that. Mm-hmm. Because, um, what ends up happening is, uh, uh, any singles, if there's someone who's selling, uh, selling cigars out there and they're selling them as singles and they only sell singles and they only sell loose cigars, that's a real tell, real res a reason.
That's a real tell for a reason because there's no box codes, there's no they're not right. You're buying by the're, not cover bashed. And, and you, you gotta really buy Cuban cigars by the box. By the box. Or if you're part of a really trusted group that takes, uh, you know, that takes, uh, uh, that's really monitored because, uh, there are a lot of Cuban cigar groups out on social media that are predatory.
Yep. And you will be ripped off. Yep. Um, badly. Uh,
**Gizmo:** some of the, some of the [01:17:00] greatest fraudsters that I've ever seen are in the Cuban cigar. Mm-hmm. Business because it's easy. It's easy for these people to prey on the fact that we are all us included, we are all desperate to get these cigars in our hands and cut them and light them and smoke them.
They know this. They will take your money and they will run with it. So yeah, you have to, you have to really like unlike anything else really. So
**Rooster:** also the fact that we named some of these, uh, Sites, they actually guarantee delivery. Yes. So if, if a box does
**Gizmo:** get contact snagged, let's call it snagged. Yeah.
They will. You,
**Rooster:** you give, you send them an email and they
**Gizmo:** will replace it, right? Or, or refund it. Here's a, here's
**Bam Bam:** a question from the perspective of a new Cuban guy that, or girl is this from Bam. Yeah. This is from bam.
**Grinder:** This bam, you know, with
**Bam Bam:** the full tower. Go ahead. Are, are you, are you, every marker is [01:18:00] targeted as far as a counterfeit cigar and being cautious.
Currently
**Gizmo:** with the current prices, every single marker with the current prices, you have to assume that even at a D four, let's say, or a Monte four or a bva, Royal Corona, yes. You're, anything, anything right now is so easy for them to get an, an authentic band or close to it and throw it on a cigar. That looks very good.
It's very easy for these folks Yeah. To steal money from you. Cuz they're buying them for pennies and they're selling to selling them for you, you know, to you, at a 10000% markup. And they're making a lot of money on Yeah. Well, especially
**Rooster:** Cohibas and Trinidads because,
**Gizmo:** because of the price point. I didn't want to go there, but it's everything.
But that's everything's, everything's everything. Do you know how many listeners I've had?
**Bam Bam:** That's why I asked the question. Right, right. So is is it Marcus specific or is it really
**Gizmo:** across the board?
**Senator:** It's cross. It's everything. You know how many listeners I've had send me photos of boulevards that someone gave them?
They were at a cigar lounge and some nice person that they started chatting with. Oh, well, we're here. We were here. No, no, no. Not here. Not here. Oh, okay. This is [01:19:00] in Texas. I'm talking about, ah, well-intentioned handed someone a cigar. You should try this as a Cuban. I got these. They're, they're great. And he sends me a photo and you can immediately, I can tell from the band, it's totally fake now, like Bam is saying, we've also seen this here in New Jersey.
Sure. But this happens everywhere. So even when someone hands you a cigar and tells you it's a Cuban, they may be well intentioned, but a lot of the time, yeah, if you do the homework, even those are
**Bam Bam:** fake. There are telltale sale, um, signs that a, a Cuban is
**Gizmo:** not what it's you, you have to assume. If anyone is trying, as Puba said, singles out of the question, but if anyone is DMing you on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter, you have to assume that anyone that is doing business by DM on social media is a fraudster.
You have to make that assumption, and if you are willing to ignore what we're saying. So be it. Good luck. But those stories do not end well. It's
**Bam Bam:** a tough conversation ever. This is a very tough conversation. It's a dire prophe. [01:20:00] Yeah, ismo.
**Poobah:** It's true. No, no, it's very tough. And the, and, and, and look out for like, you know, uh, I think one tell is the chest pounding.
So, you know, you have people, I have this, you know, the too good to be true thing. Like, I have this and this is this and I'm gonna sell cigar. I'm gonna, we're having a sale, or I'm doing the, you know, this is all bullshit. Yep. You know, if got collectors tr you know, selling cigars between each other, uh, real.
Collectors, people who are who, who are maybe, you know, who have had cigars on hand, and maybe they need to monetize those and move those out. Those are the type of people, like real people who, so you have to find the real people who are, you know, who, who are legitimate and, and, and, and aren't looking to actually um mm.
Take advantage of people and, and that's hard to navigate. So I would [01:21:00] just
**Gizmo:** suggest, and, and if you're a newbie and if you're a newbie, that's not the place to start. Yeah. The place to start is, is online the trusted retailers that we've named, that we've listed on that little circle that I mentioned mentioned on our Instagram page.
Start there and start discovering for yourself, educating yourself on what? Having a real box of Cuban cigars, a D four box, A RAs box, a a a box of UND twos or Monte twos, what that feels like, what it looks like, what it smells like, but for. What those cigars taste like. Start there. Do not start on social media, but from the, from the
**Bam Bam:** realistic point of view of a, of a new guy or girl getting into Cuban cigars.
You mentioned, I have, you mentioned Cigar terminal. These are easy places to go and buy. So easy. They're very easy. Now there's another other sites that go, should go unmentioned in this room, I guess. Yep. You know, you have to, I, I personally would probably question how are they reviewing their cigars in comparison to other sites?
Can we are.
**Senator:** Can we let the record [01:22:00] reflect? Go ahead. That bam, bam just said, it's so easy to buy from these websites. Well, it is. How many orders have
**Gizmo:** you placed?
**Grinder:** Okay.
**Gizmo:** It's so easy for bam, to trust Gizmo.
**Bam Bam:** To the listener. To the listener. I rely on my lizard brothers. And there's, and you know what? There's nothing wrong.
There's nothing wrong that there's nothing wrong with it. You know what it is? It's brotherly
**Poobah:** love. There you go. Make it happen. By the way, when are the books coming from? Uh, that's a great
**Gizmo:** question. That's a great question. So that, uh, you know, I, I actually talked to Alex Groom. So, uh, Puba asked about El Havana Moderna, which is a new book coming out, uh, which details the current entire range of the Havana's catalog from Cuba.
Uh, it's the follow up to Mira's book, the Encyclopedia of Post Revolution, Cuban Cigars. It was supposed to come out in, uh, November. I believe it's now April. I think we're coming up on March or. Uh, excuse me, may or June they will be delivered. Are we ever getting this money back [01:23:00] yet? What? I actually talked to the author the other day.
It's, it's, he's a great guy. It's Cuban. He's the, he runs, um, he runs Cuban Cigar website, which is the absolute website, absolute authority.
**Poobah:** We cub, right? Cuban. So I wanted to mention Cuban cigar website because it's cubans cigar website.com. Um, that's a very, very, very reliable place to go. Um, For, for research, for reference, and for, and for reference and validation, because Can you say that Cuban cigar website.com.
Cuban cigar website.com. Ah, that because it, it, it, because if you, if you're buying vi whether you're buying vintage cigars or new, it has all of the bands. It has all of the violas in, it's a very educational site, and it's all validated. So Cuban cigar website.com has a lot of the things in, you know, that you should
**Gizmo:** look at that.
Yeah. And by the way, for the listener to, to piggyback on what pub is saying, every other week we smoke a Cuban cigar, and before the episode [01:24:00] starts, I open Cuban cigar website. I pull up the Vitola information, the size, the dimensions, everything from Cuban cigar website.com. Every single time we do a Cuban cigar, it is the absolute encyclopedia reference online for Cuban cigars.
You're just, I love it. You're just telling me now. Everybody else knows. I think I did not know that. We
**Senator:** all knew that.
**Grinder:** What, where have
**Gizmo:** you been? Episode 77, folks. Episode 76. Not, I'm not a procurement expert. This is bougie, bam. This, I admit, it's not a site that sells signal. Yes. No, no. It's not for procurement.
It's for education. No, it's for education. Informational. Yeah. I will be
**Bam Bam:** heavily diving into that.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. I can't. What do you mean? We've talked about that a hundred times?
**Senator:** No, when are you putting out the audiobook of it so that for the
**Grinder:** listener, listen to this is the first
**Bam Bam:** time that was ever mentioned, and
**Gizmo:** like that is, is not true.
It is true. We're gonna have 10, 10 listeners emailing us. That's patently false. And also like,
**Rooster:** bam. [01:25:00] Every time we, every time we review a Cuban cigar. Yeah, he brings it up on his phone and he reads from that.
**Gizmo:** That's, I didn't
**Bam Bam:** know that.
**Poobah:** What do you think he's been doing?
**Gizmo:** Oh God. Where's not ci for Christ's sake?
He's like, He's, wait, I'm just guessing when,
**Senator:** when did Gizmo get an iPhone? I was never told about this. That's right.
**Gizmo:** Wait, you have an iPhone. All right, boys. This a tough group. We're coming to the end of the Drew Estate Herrera Est Norteno in Lonsdale. Any final thoughts before we do the uh, liquor rating on the Macallan?
Excellent cigar. Great cigar. Yeah. Great pairing. Excellent cigar. Yeah. The thing that
**Senator:** stands out for me is we were so amazed and impressed with the cigar early on, and the question is always, will it continue and hold up. And the final third is consistent with the flavor profile. The first two thirds, it's held up all the way through.
I'm really happy yet. Absolutely. It
**Gizmo:** hasn't changed. No, it hasn't. It is a one act place, which is great.
**Bam Bam:** It's a one act play now, honestly. So That's [01:26:00] great. That's what I want. Yeah. And Theo is also a one act play. It goes all the
**Gizmo:** way through. Yep. Yeah. Very well blended. Absolutely. And, and you know, we talked about it was lumpy.
We were joking about that before we Oh, the rapper. Sure. No, but we, you know, we thought there might be a construction issue. Mm-hmm. But the seven of us, I think consistently, all of us had a really Love it, good experience tonight with this thing. Yeah. Wow. All right. So Macallan 12 boys, the perfect pairing, I guess for most cigars.
Let me take a sip. Yeah. Okay. Take a sip. My final sip. Take a sip, bam. Before you rate this thing, are you ready? Do the, uh, formal liquor rating on this thing? I think it needs a more, all right. You want a little more?
**Bam Bam:** No, this is my second glass. I'm good. Alright, good. So I am debating between a nine and a 10, the history of this spirit, how much we love it.
Yep. It's a lizard standard. It's a staple. I'll go a 9, 9,
**Gizmo:** 9 grinder.
**Grinder:** So, um, I'm actually a hard grade. I, so we never [01:27:00] graded this. We never graded this much. Um, and I'm typically a very hard grader, but I have so much fondness for this. And, um, I was also be between a nine and 10. Yeah. I'm going the other side.
There you go. Ooh, there you go. Because I, I don't, I don't drink as much scotch as I used to, but when I reach for scotch, it's always a Macallan 12. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, that's, that's, that's my power alley. Yeah. So I, I'm a 10. All right. There you go. And I don't, I don't think I've ever given a 10 on a liquor
**Bam Bam:** rating, but you're, you're a tough guy.
**Grinder:** Um, and, and I, and I certainly love good Scotch, other SCOs as well. I probably not rated a 10, uh, or, but from a nostalgia perspective, between a nine and a 10 in, in this moment, it's, it's a 10 for me.
**Gizmo:** All right. Pagoda.
**Pagoda:** Uh, for me it's a 10. It's all about experiences. Uh, uh, the two, uh, bottles I always reach for is either the Vinny 12 or the Macallan 12, and the Sherry Cas, [01:28:00] and it's just a 10.
All
**Gizmo:** right, Senator, do I, all right. Let me skip, Senator.
I know what that rating is. I bam,
**Senator:** I'm surprised. Yeah, I'm surprised. I'm a little hurt. I won't lie. Well,
**Gizmo:** well, I won't, I saw it, by the way, when you gave that nine I saw the daggers. I saw
**Bam Bam:** that. I know, I know. Well, it was contemplating between a, I was between a nine and a 10. There are a few tens in there that, that are for me.
**Senator:** I just, the thing for me, dollar for dollar, it is the best 12 year single malt scotch on the market, period. Yeah. In my opinion, um, I've even said this before, I will any day of the week reach for a Macallan 12, even over a Macallan 18. Macallan 18 is a fantastic spirit. I don't take anything away from that.
What you pay for, what you get with this bottle is, is hard to beat. It's a 10 every
**Gizmo:** day of the week. I'm right there with you. A hundred percent. It's a 10. I, I kind of fell off Macallan. I don't know for what [01:29:00] reason, but I know it's 10 all day. I got
**Senator:** you into tequila. You were dabbling with
**Gizmo:** some other stuff.
Cognac. Thank you. Thank you. Very good point. Yep. It's a 10 all day. Yep. It's the best single mal scotch out there for the money. No question. It's a 10 for me. There you go. Pba. Yeah. Been
**Poobah:** been drinking it for like over 30 years. Uh, my, my, my, it's a shower. My, my dad, I mean, my dad's cat is named Macallan. Um, it's a, you know, so just on, its, you know, on its own, the merits of it are speak for itself.
Mm-hmm. And then plus you throw in the fact that just the, how close I am to it, you know, it's just so many experiences, so many conversations, so many. So many great nights, so many times, so many times in solitude too, where, you know, it's like [01:30:00] you come home from a hard day of work or something like that.
What am I, what? What am I gonna pour? It's Macallan 12 and uh, that's it. So it's a 10 off day every day and twice on Sunday. All right.
**Pagoda:** You mean to say it's a 10? It's a 10.
**Bam Bam:** It's a 10. Well, it's a 10.
**Gizmo:** It's a 10 because of bam. It's not a 10. 10, 10. And I'll tell you why. Always there is the formal liquidating board.
There is nothing.
**Bam Bam:** The formal
**Gizmo:** is perfection. The formal liquid rating on their point level is a 9.8.
**Bam Bam:** As close to perfection as
**Gizmo:** you can get. Wait, the Senator is ready to kill you right now, aren't we? Rounding up. It shouldn't be a 9.8. No, it's a 9.83. 9.8. Okay. There you go. 9.8 boys. That's an incredible 12, Sherry.
And now for the Drew Estate Herrera, Este Norteno in Lonsdale. I'm very interested to see how this scores tonight. Yeah, me too. Rooster, you're up. It's a [01:31:00] nine. All right.
**Poobah:** Puba? Yeah, it's a
**Gizmo:** nine for me. It's a nine for me too. Senator. Easy Nine. All right. Yeah, it, yeah. Pagoda. It's an eight for me. Oh, oh. Grindr.
Nine for me.
**Bam Bam:** Nine. Honestly, for the price point and for what it is and the consistency and how similar is it is to a patron. I have been debating between a nine and a 10, but I am at a nine. I'm at a nine. At a nine.
**Gizmo:** All right. The formal lizard rating on the Drew Estate, Herrera. Estee Norteno in Lonsdale is an 8.9 excellent score.
Let me tell you something. For a $13 cigar, which I thought it was $10, the 10, wow, ten four for a $13 cigar, which I thought it was for most of the podcast to then be revealed that it was a $10 go. Totally.
**Bam Bam:** Let's see it. Total bi,
**Gizmo:** total BN boys. Total an 8.9 [01:32:00] for a $10 cigar tonight. That is unbelievable. Yeah, it's awesome. That's unbelievable. Well,
**Poobah:** think about a patron drone thousand series cost. How much.
**Gizmo:** It's about that. Seven bucks. Yeah. I, I'd rather, but that's like that size though. I thinks a little more,
**Grinder:** you get a little, it's like an ex placebo, but you get a little extra.
You
**Gizmo:** little you
**Bam Bam:** get an extra more, yeah. You do. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. I'd rather reach for this than any of this South thousand Series.
**Gizmo:** I hundred percent agree. Absolutely. 100%. It was just for the price
**Poobah:** comparison. I just, yeah.
**Bam Bam:** All right. Puba, pipe down.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys. So a 9.8 for the Macallan, 12 year in Sherry Cas and an 8.9 for the Drew Estate Herrera, Estee Norteno in Lonsdale.
What an excellent night and an excellent pairing. Great pairing. Great pairing. Well done. Great pairing. Well done. Well done. Well done Grindr. Thank you for the cigar Puba. Thank you for the uh, Macallan 12. Yes, sir. We're gonna expect this every week, by the way. A pleasure. [01:33:00] Even
**Bam Bam:** when you're in Florida. Yeah, no, we just send us a bottle.
We need you here more often than not.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, great night. We'll see y'all next week. Keep smoke. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Thanks for joining us. You could find our merch store and ratings archive at our brand new website, lounge lizards pod.com. That's lounge lizards p od.com. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.
If you have any comments, questions, do you wanna reach out? Say hello, tell us what you're smoking, email us hello lounge lizards pod.com. You can also find us on Instagram at Lounge Lizards Pod. We really appreciate your time and we'll, uh, we'll see you next week.