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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 are normally around 90 minutes long and feature a variety of different topics including food, travel, life, sports and work.
The podcast features eight members: Rooster, Poobah, Gizmo, Senator, Pagoda, Chef Ricky, Grinder and Bam Bam.
This is not your typical cigar podcast. We’re a group of friends who love sharing cigars, whiskey and a good laugh.
Join us and become a card-carrying lounge lizard yourself! Email us at hello@loungelizardspod.com to join the conversation and be featured on an upcoming episode!
Ep. #193: Interview with Aging Room Cigars Owner and Blender Rafael Nodal (w/ Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Concerto Maestro & The Dalmore 12 Year Sherry Cask Select, Lizards' Daily Smoking Routines, Senator Attacked on YouTube & Nicaraguan Speed Limits)
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Gizmo: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Lounge Lizards podcast presented by Fabrica five. It's so good to have you here. It's a leisure and lifestyle podcast founded on our love of premium cigars, as well as whiskey, travel, food, work, and whatever else we feel like getting into. My name is Gizmo. Tonight I'm joined by Rooster Uba, Senator, and bam bam.
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 193rd official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge blizzard. I'm gonna meet us here once a week. We're gonna smoke a new world cigar tonight. Share our thoughts on it, and give you our formal lizard rating.
We share our interview with aging room's President and blender Rafael Nodal recorded a PCA 2025, where we discussed his love of music cigars and like Senator, great champagne and caviar, all among a variety of other things for the next two hours. So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar, and enjoy as we pair 12 years age.
Dalmore Sherry Cast. Select single malt Scotch whiskey with the aging room. Quatro [00:01:00] Nicaragua Concerto in my astro, a torpedo from Nicaragua tonight on the pod. And a highly anticipated one,
Rooster: correct?
Gizmo: It's the Aging Room, Quatro Nicaragua Concerto in my Astro Boys. And it's a 52 ring gauge torpedo by six inches long.
And we have a great episode coming up tonight because we have a. Very special interview. We're gonna cut into this episode from PCA, which we'll talk about in a minute. And of course, we have fallen in love with aging room cigars, specifically the Sonata series, the yellow box series, the Quattro Nicaragua Sonata.
So this is the sister to that and to the orange label, the concerto.
Bam Bam: I can't keep my nose off the wrapper.
Gizmo: It smells amazing.
Bam Bam: It's milk chocolate. That's quite good. It is. It's like a Hershey bar. It's awesome.
Gizmo: All right boys, let's cut this thing. See we're getting on the cold draw and the wrapper[00:02:00]
Bam Bam: wide open.
Gizmo: Oh, draw is perfect.
Bam Bam: Only took the slight tip off. Me too. Yeah.
Gizmo: So I've not had this cigar before. I know a couple of you have had the Toro, the Concerto in Toro. Correct. We've not had the maestro, 'cause this one was hard to find because it was impacted by the fire. Mm-hmm. At the AJ Fernandez factory.
So they lost quite a bit of aging room and a lot of those cigars. So I'm glad we, uh, got our hands on 'em
Senator: tonight. Yeah. I'm very concerned about one lizard in this room. Gizmo the cut on that. Too little.
Gizmo: No, it's perfect.
Senator: You're
Gizmo: sure? Yeah. Oh, it's perfect. If I cut more, it would've been too open. Okay. I'm kind of where
Bam Bam: he is.
Mm-hmm.
Senator: Yours looks better.
Rooster: I actually cut even less. Look, look, I
Senator: dunno. Maybe it's the distance. Yeah. I don't think it's that bad. Hey, look, his is, I just say that because obviously I've smoked a ton of the, um, Sonata. I've smoked a ton of the Sonata. If you take too little off, it'll build up, it bites and [00:03:00] you'll get tar.
Gizmo: Okay. Then I'll take another small cut right after we light.
Bam Bam: So I have to say the cold draw, that milk chocolate continues. It's really very, very good.
Gizmo: All right boys, let's light this thing. The aging room, Quatro Nicaragua in Concerto, and again, it's a 52 ring gauge torpedo by six inches long. The exact same size as the maestro we did in the Sonata series.
Bam Bam: Senator, you had, I had the Toro in this. Did you have it as well?
Senator: Yeah. Same size. You did? Yeah. Okay. That was the one, uh, uh, Nadal gave us when we met at PCA. Right, right. But, uh, this is the one I've been really dying to try since we know we love this Ola and the Sonata. Yeah.
Bam Bam: That Toro though was delicious.
Wow. It was very good.
Gizmo: This on the light is fantastic. I'm blown away on the light,
Bam Bam: dude. It's milk [00:04:00] chocolatey.
Gizmo: You've taken one puff, one puff, one puff. That was ama. I'm blown away.
Bam Bam: Are you not getting milk chocolate. Milk
Gizmo: chocolate. It tastes like, uh, what do you bust me for? Hot chocolate. Phar PRUs. That, that is very good.
Yeah. Excellent. Milk chocolate. A little nutty.
Rooster: I have found my exclusive oil replacement. I think you and your head. Oh, that's a bold statement. That is, those are fighting words. Just on the light. You're
Senator: on an odyssey. We with that thing, we'll see how to gizmo one puff and rooster. Two puffs.
Rooster: I mean, it's good so far.
Let's see how it develops. What do you think? Uba? You like it on? The light tastes good.
Poobah: Yeah,
Bam Bam: this is really good. It's awesome.
Rooster: Yeah. I like the fullness.
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Rooster: You know, you get that sweet like milk chocolate. Yeah, but it's, it's on the, you can taste the Nicaragua and tobacco right off the bat. That's correct.
Gizmo: I'm really enjoying how the smoke is just enveloping the palate.
Bam Bam: Yeah, [00:05:00]
Gizmo: completely covering the mouth. It's like a thick smoke.
Bam Bam: Oh yeah. It's velvety. Very velvety. There's like a viscosity to the smoke and already the ceiling is full and there's only
Gizmo: five
Bam Bam: of
Gizmo: us in here.
Bam Bam: We just started.
Gizmo: Ooh,
Rooster: I just tried to retro that's, well you're an amateur.
Try that. You need to practice peppery. You're not ready. Very, very peppery. You're not ready for
Bam Bam: that
Gizmo: baby steps. I actually really like the retro. I haven't done it yet. Mine is silky. Spo a touch of pepper, but this cigar is really off to a great start.
Bam Bam: Oh yeah, there's pepper there. I prefer the traditional draw right now, I will say.
And that Roma, oh, that's milky and chocolatey.
Poobah: There's black pepper in it.
Bam Bam: Have you retro hale
Rooster: for me A little bit.
Bam Bam: Yeah. You get it in there.
Rooster: The pepper that I'm getting is only on the retro hail though. Me too. I'm not getting it on the traditional [00:06:00] draw
Bam Bam: or the aroma.
Rooster: Yeah. Yeah.
Gizmo: So boys, we have a very exciting night.
As I said, we are going to cut in the interview with the president and blender of aging room cigars, Rafa on Nadal Senator's, uh, long lost brother.
Bam Bam: Yep.
Gizmo: Correct. Which they talk about at the end of the interview, which is fantastic. So we're gonna cut that in in the second third. So stay tuned for that. It's
Bam Bam: awesome.
The master of indulgence.
Gizmo: Correct. And his little brother over here. That's right. You gotta live. I have not, I have not seen you follow someone as intently as you do Raphael Nadal's Instagram.
Senator: Well, it's rare that you come across someone that you're like, this could be me. You know, like the way he lives his life.
I appreciate every bit of it. And when he posts photos of champagne in the morning and lobster, caviar and lobster and just all the things that I love and he makes a cigar that I have fallen in love with, um, over the past year, uh, I was just so thrilled we finally got chance. But you're [00:07:00] already doing
Rooster: most of those things.
Senator: Correct, but there's not, I don't have someone to commiserate with.
Bam Bam: Oh, we're nothing. It's okay. Forget about us. We're we're chopped liver.
Senator: I mean, when have any of you guys introduced me to a champagne? I haven't had, you know, like me and him can have that conversation. You know what, there's still time.
There's
Gizmo: still time. So boys, this line was launched at the 2025 PCA show that we were at in New Orleans. The Quatro Nicaragua is an orange box and the aging room sonata, the cuatro, Nicaragua Sonata is the yellow box. This one is the, what'd you call that? Turquoise. Turquoise, uh, on the label and the box. So that's how you separate the three of them out.
They're all called the Quatro Nicaragua, and then two of them have that extra word. So this cigar, like I said, was launched at PCA 2025. We were there. It is made entirely of Nicaragua tobacco, including a hybrid Creole 98 wrapper, grown in Nestle Nicaragua, and filler tobaccos from the first harvest of [00:08:00] AJ Fernandez's Los ESPs farm.
So this comes in six fats. I'll run through those right now. All of them are box pressed, kind of like Padron rooster. So we have the espresso, which is the Ribo 50 by five, the Mastro that we're smoking tonight, the 52 by six, the vibrato. 54 by six a Churchill, the concerto Concerto 50 by seven, a Gordo Grande, 60 by six, and then a, I guess double Fido.
It's double tapered. 52 ring gauge by six. So the same length is this and ring gauge, but it's tapered at both ends.
Bam Bam: Yaa.
Gizmo: So quite a line. Yeah. Coming from Raphael Nadal, six cigars launched in this series.
Bam Bam: A few monster ever told us too.
Gizmo: So all of the cigars are somewhere in the range of between 14 and 18 bucks.
This cigar that we have in our hand tonight, we got for 15.
Bam Bam: Mm hmm. Smell the [00:09:00] burn line. I know it's chocolate, dude. It's insane. I'm loving the
Gizmo: mouthfeel. Me too. And, and and the draw there. Yeah. Tastes great. Uba,
Rooster: above the size. Have you guys had the, the orange boxes? The, the orange label? I,
Gizmo: I've not had it actually since we reviewed it.
I have, it's a bit, uh,
Senator: it's a bit harsh. It's a bit much. So the, the, the irony of this, I think when we first smoked that cigar a while back. I think a number of us felt that, you know, ironically it needed more age in that, like you got a bit of pepper kind of in the back of your throat. I mean, it was meant to be a full-bodied cigar for my palate, it was a little bit much I had gotten, when I met up with the former CEO of, uh, cigar Association of America for lunch, he had brought a bunch of cigars from the different member companies and, uh, one of them was actually that, uh, Quatro we're talking the maestro, and [00:10:00] it had crazy yellow cell.
It was like clear, he got that, like, when they were first released. So I was like, oh, wow, maybe age would really tame that cigar. So I was super pumped to light this up. It, it's still an aggressive cigar. So for my palate it was still a little bit too much, which is why I loved when, when we tried the Sonata that is like the perfect way to tame Nicaraguan tobacco and something that is approachable in the afternoon as it is at night with or without a meal.
And I remember we met, you know, Nadal, he said that this was meant to fall right in between the Sonata and the maestro. So, so far it seems like mission accomplished, right? I would say like the body of this, it's, it's like a sonata on steroids. It's not as full as that maestro, but it's, it, it lets you know it's there while still being approachable.
Bam Bam: Yeah. And you get notes here that you won't ever see in a sonata. I think the chocolate nature of this won't, you won't ever get that in that, that other stick [00:11:00] The milk chocolate. Milk chocolate. Correct. I think you get like dark chocolate. Dark chocolate. Yeah. A little bit. A little bitter, but very sweet.
So
Rooster: I, I also get a little espresso, like a dark. I agree. Yeah, sure. Deep coffee. And may maybe a, I don't know, raisin, maybe, I don't know.
Bam Bam: Mm.
Rooster: Could
Gizmo: not getting that yet. But a home run, I'm definitely getting something sweet. I don't know what it is yet. I, I wanna say it's like a desserty type of sweet. Um, it could just be falling under the milk chocolate thing I think.
So
Rooster: it's like in between a raisin raisin and a blueberry note. Kind of like a, like a current
Bam Bam: current or a chocolate covered raisin possibly. Yeah. That's what I would guess. Right. That's a good call. Yeah.
Gizmo: So do you think that Nadal's accurate, uh, in how he set this one up to fall right in the middle of the other two?
I know that you guys have had the Toro. I've not so far. I, I would think that this is kind of firmly in the middle of both of those original lines
Bam Bam: from the, from the point of view of body and strength. [00:12:00] Yeah,
Senator: I do. I really do. And you know, the funny thing is the Sonata for me is obviously a daily driver, but I always slot that before a padroni.
This cigar I feel like has more body to it that could. Be in my rotation, right where Thei is
Bam Bam: you, you're singing Rooster Song and Rooster is,
Senator: I mean, the funny thing about Rooster shaking his head with a very big smile on his face. When I lit the Toro of this, the first person I thought of that would love this cigar is Rooster actually.
Roos there.
Rooster: Rooster. This is an exclusive or replacement. We found one that's more expensive
Gizmo: and harder to get. Oh shit, that doesn't work. No, it don't. I'm looking for a cheaper alternative. Yeah. This is like three bucks more than an exclusive, right? I mean exclusive or you're getting for 14. This is three bucks cheaper than the average exclusive,
Bam Bam: I think.
Senator: No. How much is an exclusive now? I mean, retail, you're paying 17, 3 70 a box. Like 15 to [00:13:00] 17 bucks. Yeah. Retail. That's about there. It's close. No, like special deals.
Gizmo: Oh, no. Special deals. Yeah. That's what I'm thinking about. Tomato. Tomato. Yeah. Correct. So as we know and we, we talked about in the interview, you'll hear in a little bit.
The concerto is inspired by his love of classical music and specifically classical music compositions. And he says it represents a harmonious collaboration between a solo instrument and orchestral accompaniment. So in this blend, the solo instrument is the exclusive hybrid rapper from one of AJ Fernandez's most exclusive farms, Finca La Lilia, and the selected extra age tobaccos represent the accompaniment to create a concerto of flavors.
So that's a quote from Rafael Nadal that he provided when this came out. And I think he expands on that quite a bit in the, uh, conversation we had with him. Coming up in a little bit question though, any formal
Bam Bam: tasting notes noted,
Poobah: maybe a little cinnamon like, but like a not
Bam Bam: [00:14:00] on the site. Just curious. Oh, if they're calling anything out specifically.
Lemme check. Hold
Poobah: on. I'm not getting cinnamon yet though. It's like kind of a spice. It's like a,
Senator: there is some kind of a baking spice starting to make an appearance. If anything, it's a nutmeg for me.
Poobah: Something like that that's more earthy. Maybe an anise. Something. It's like a point, it's like a, like a, it's like a pointed,
Bam Bam: it's No, I'm looking at your face after you say that you're waiting
Rooster: for me.
You know why? Because my palette is like on like on spot today because I haven't had any cigar. This is the first cigar of the day. Oh, you're always on. Oh, me too. And uh, yeah, unlike senator who's had like six,
Senator: this is my fifth of the day. Fifth.
Rooster: It was close. Is it really? It was close. It's, I
Senator: had four cigars before this.
Oh. I took, I took
Rooster: BA's advice today. Keep your palate fresh from the pod. Correct.
Gizmo: So, bam, to answer your question about tasting notes provided, I'm finding this on JR Cigars because on the original press release Oh wow. There were no formal notes presented. But it says delicious tasting [00:15:00] notes of white pepper, nuts, spice, earth, and espresso, accented by a rich tobacco sweetness.
Bam Bam: Not a call out of chocolate at all. Yeah. I'm surprised by That's a mistake.
Gizmo: This cigar right now is probably more in line for me of what I'm looking for and where this would slot, call it that vo slot than the Sonata that you buy. Oh, for sure.
Senator: That's what I'm saying. I always slot the Sonata before.
Gizmo: Yeah.
So this, you know, I don't smoke as many of those as you do by far. I maybe smoke a couple every month. I'm not smoking a ton of them, but this one, this
Bam Bam: a couple a month. Well, you remember the trade that we made, right?
Gizmo: That's right. We did trade all Dinos for, uh,
Bam Bam: that's correct. I give him a box of the Eno.
Seros The classicals. Yep. And I took a box of his, um, sonatas.
Senator: Well, I'm glad that you reminded me of this. So now I know who's invited to the, uh, Nadal and Senator Caviar tasting right here, baby bam. Bam. You're in. I don't,
Rooster: I don't like these side trades. And I'll bring
Bam Bam: the lobster.
Rooster: I'll bring the non-alcoholic [00:16:00] champagne
Bam Bam: rooster's out.
You're not invited.
Rooster: And for that reason,
Poobah: you're, would you pick it up over an vo? I would, I don't know if I would, but
Gizmo: I think if I'm, I think if I'm looking for something different, I mean, I, I definitely am enjoying this cigar right now.
Senator: I think the thing I like about having the option now, assuming that this, you know, persists all the way through the exvivo is earthier than this.
Yeah. And this is sweeter than the Exactly. Right. And so I like being able to have the choice with like, kind of the same strength and body profile. With similar notes, but just dialed up in different ways. Like if I want something a little sweeter, I'd reach for this. If I want something a little earthier, I'd reach for thei.
I do find the exvivo from
Bam Bam: time to time does have that nice dark chocolate almost oh molasses type thing happening in the background. You don't get that at all here. This is, I think this is Morey, this is more milky than the, I think that's how the XVA [00:17:00] distinguishes itself. Honestly. I don't know. I mean, they're different blends.
I just think they they are, they're trying to do different things. Yeah.
Poobah: Yeah. And this is, this has more spice to it for me than ancova, but maybe that's because it's the, is more familiar.
Senator: I actually think I agree with that.
Rooster: Mm-hmm.
Senator: Yeah. I don't disagree.
Rooster: I think the pepper is not present on the exclusive that you're getting on this.
That's, that, that's
Poobah: what I'm, that's, that's what I'm trying to say. Which is why I'm kind of, I'm not a huge, 'cause this is more of a, they say white pepper, but it's not, I don't think it's white
Bam Bam: pepper at all.
Poobah: It's black pepper.
Bam Bam: You think it's black? Yeah. Yeah,
Poobah: yeah. And for me, that's a little bit,
Bam Bam: I'm not there yet.
Senator: Yeah. I don't, I don't know. I I, it's a touch of information. It's
Rooster: on the retro hale more so than on a traditional draw and right at the front of the tunnel. No, I get
Bam Bam: on the draw for sure. But if you retro hale three or four times it adjusts
Senator: and that pepper goes away. But to me it is more white pepper. And I just say that because [00:18:00] when I have like a cigar that is peppery in like a black pepper sense.
I'm slower in like how often I draw that cigar, like the pepper lingers on your palette. White pepper just kind of lets you know it's there. Mm-hmm. And then it's gone. It's delightful. It's like just a lighter version. And for me with this, like, it lets me know it's there and it's gone. It doesn't like linger to the point that like, you know, I'm getting like almost black pepper in the back of my throat.
Or like something that requires me to maybe slow down the pace I'm smoking it. So I, me, I mean,
Rooster: I, I, I think it kind of compliments the cigar. I do. I agree. Pepper with the, with the milk chocolate and, uh, espresso retro. It's complimentary.
Bam Bam: Just do the retro a few times. You'll see it in a nice adjustment.
Easier.
Gizmo: The burn line right now is very unique. It's almost like, um,
Bam Bam: well, it's razor sharp.
Gizmo: The aroma is, is different.
Senator: Yeah, I agree.
Gizmo: It's almost like, uh, I wanna use the word like [00:19:00] sour in a way. Not, but not bad.
Senator: I don't think sour. I'm getting like either a citrus maybe, or like, almost like a licorice. Like licorice
Rooster: is anise, right?
Yeah.
Senator: That's what I get on the burn line.
Bam Bam: I find it delightful. I'm like, ated by this. It's like,
Rooster: have you ever had, have you ever had Sambuca? Right. Which I
Senator: can't stand. I will say though, when you get
three quarters of an inch of ash into this, it's awesome. The flavor is spectacular. It's awesome. It's rich.
Poobah: Well, it rounds out.
Senator: Yeah,
Poobah: that's for sure.
Senator: We talked about at PCA with, you know, klos, Kelner, like full palate coverage. Like my entire palate right now is like super stimulated with flavor and I'm loving everything I'm getting from like the sweetness.
There's a little bit of saltiness, there's a little bit of spice. Like it's hitting everything. It's hitting every, every note. I think that
Bam Bam: saltiness is there too now. Yeah,
Senator: yeah,
Bam Bam: yeah.
Senator: Which, that's a commonality with this And the sonata. [00:20:00] The sonata also has a saltiness, a touch. A touch like you're getting here, which I really like.
Rooster: Like certain cigars you smoke and there's something lacking. This is full. How is he doing this, man?
Bam Bam: I mean, I think, I just think he is just so unique. These cigars are so unique. They are. I,
Gizmo: I think he's one of those guys. It's insane. That just has a, a great passion and flair for it obviously has great taste and he himself is
Senator: the
Gizmo: blender.
Senator: I think the wildest part of his story, I mean our listeners will hear this in detail in the interview, but you know, this is not a guy who had a ton of exper or really any meaningful experience blending cigars. No. He was in healthcare. He was right. Correct. He was just passion. He, he was passionate about cigars, wanted to learn about it and like to produce something like this.
I mean, it, it's really impressive. And the sonata, you know, is kind of the one cigar of his that I think we all really love and appreciate and smoke a lot of. He kind comes out with something new and you're kind of [00:21:00] hoping like, can he do it again so far? Yeah, he's done it again.
Gizmo: It's a cool story. All right, boys, let's go to a news story.
Now, another brand that we are loving, stoic Cigars has announced there's these equanimity and it's going to feature all of the four Olas that we know from the original stoic line, the courage, the moderation, the justice, and the wisdom. And it's going to use an Ecuadorian Rojo wrapper over a Dominican Creole 98 binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador.
And like we learned when Henri Retail brought in the stoic the first time an undisclosed South American country as well as the us. So these are gonna be made by Kloss Kelner, who we talk about a lot, and his interview is gonna be coming up in a few weeks, as well as Vance Taylor Equanimity
Poobah: is a state of calmness and composure.
Yeah, I like [00:22:00] that. There you go. Especially in a difficult situation,
Bam Bam: describes gizmo to the T.
Poobah: It's a spelling bee word. Yeah, it's true. Equanimity. E-Q-U-A-N-I. Can you use it in a sentence? Y
Gizmo: can you tell us its origin? I equ I display
Bam Bam: great equanimity. Wanna deal with my kids?
Senator: No. Equanimity was an amazing, uh, Chappelle, uh, uh, especially he put out on Netflix.
Gizmo: So our friend Vance Taylor from Stoic says equanimity has been a labor of love and in development for over a year.
Achieving equanimity is the ultimate ambition of stoic practice. So it was imperative that we invest the time, energy, and resources to ensure this blend not only impresses new levels of intensity and complexity upon our customers, but that it maintains a delicate and harmonious balance throughout.
Bam Bam: Hmm.
Gizmo: So I'm looking forward to that because we've really been enjoying the stoic, I know [00:23:00] our listeners have as well. Mm. It's been a great new find. And also we have an interview with Vance Taylor and Klaus Kelner coming up, uh, later this summer that we're gonna put out from PCA. So should be uh, should be awesome.
So I have another news store story for you boys. This one's outta left field, but I saw it on half wheel and I had to share it. The Nicaragua government has decided to cut the highway speed to a maximum of 31 miles per hour. So any vehicle traveling on a highway in Nicaragua can only travel 30 miles an hour.
So what it's going to do, what was it to make it
Senator: easier to get stopped and mugged? No, I mean like what kind of, what was it before?
Rooster: 35.
Gizmo: So this, this is the second cut that they've made, I guess since either there wasn't one or it was a pretty high number, but now it's down to a maximum of 30 miles an hour.
So for folks outside the US, I guess that you would call that 50 kilometers an hour, but 30 miles an hour is really kind of what you're doing. Is suburban driving. Suburban driving, is that for cars
Rooster: or like, uh, ox [00:24:00] driven?
Bam Bam: Do they have radar
Gizmo: guns down there? I guess so. So the president of Nicaragua said that the country needs to cut down on traffic related deaths.
In addition to these changes, the government has lowered the maximum speed for motorcycles. Makes sense. Take 25 miles per hour and will no longer allow children to ride on motorcycles.
Bam Bam: Nailed it. Traffic. That's the problem with crime in Nicaragua. Correct. And don't put your kid on a motorcycle. That'd be a good move.
Gizmo: You know, you talk about moving cigars, moving tobacco over around Nicaragua. Mo getting from a. An airport to the fee, you know, tobacco fields to the factories. I mean, this is gonna be doubling and tripling that time for people in Nicaragua. I mean, imagine being on the Garden State Parkway or Interstate 80 and doing 30 miles an hour.
Senator: Yeah, no good. I mean, this has gotta be a revenue play. No one's following this in Nicaragua. This has gotta be an easy excuse for cops to pull people over. Yeah. Collect some money, move on with their day. Correct. I mean, Siri, come on. You really believe on highways in [00:25:00] Nicaragua, people are gonna adhere to exactly 30 miles per hour.
Don't think so. All way. No way. No way. No way. Next time we see Adele. Well, I, he's in Nicaragua all the time.
Bam Bam: Yeah. How fast do you drive
Senator: in the airport to the farm at and like I would say he'll respond. My driver drives as I sip my pole. Roge. Correct.
Gizmo: I got another one for you. It's so weird. I know. It's so weird, right?
It's, it's like, it's a logical, it makes no sense. This also makes no sense to me. I saw this a couple different places. This I'm looking at on Cigar, Fido Trinidad, the New World Trinidad brand has announced a new partnership with Tommy Bahama. Good. Oh my goodness. Good
Bam Bam: luck to them.
Gizmo: The manufacturer of beachy don't, they make clothing.
Beach. Beach chairs, beach chairs, beach clothing. And they have now. Paired with Trinidad to put out a new,
Bam Bam: you get a free cigar with every lawn chair.
Gizmo: So Tommy Bahama is known for their [00:26:00] splashy island inspired clothing and cigar accessories according to cigar. Aficionado Trinidad, on the other hand, has been cultivated to represent refinement in the world of premium cigars in new world cigars. I would argue that in qubit cigars. I would agree. But we'll let that stay on the sideline tonight.
So they're, uh, yeah, so they're putting out a fancy, colorful Tommy Bahama box to match your new wow yacht rock shirt. Yeah, that was
Senator: a, your, uh, Tommy
Bam Bam: Bahama Hawaiian shirt.
Gizmo: Yeah.
Bam Bam: Can somebody, that's the crap they make. Can you hand me my Tommy Bahama cutters please?
Gizmo: So they're gonna come in three island themed sizes, boys.
The harbor is 52 ring gauge by five breeze. All right. 50 54 by six. And the Marlin 60 by six.
Bam Bam: Go ahead, say it. Uba. Oh, it's what? Marketing.
Gizmo: Well, it's just, you know, so when you're on your boat down in Florida, UBA, do you expect to be pulling out some Tommy [00:27:00] Bahama by Trinidad? I can't wait. Are you gonna go for the marlin, the breeze or the harbor?
Um,
Bam Bam: they're coming out with the swordfish next year. Think i'll And the eel the followed you.
Gizmo: I think I'll stay in the harbor. Probably
Rooster: the big
Gizmo: kahuna. Alright boys, it's time now to go to our pairing before we go to our interview with Rafael Nodal. And I actually had a little bit of a panic senator because on the rating sheet, after we decided to do this today, I looked at it and I saw that we did the Damore 12.
That's right. Correct. In fact, we did the Damore 12, but this is not that. Damore 12. Alright. Right. This is the Dalmore, 12 years age cherry cask. Select single malt scotch from Dalmore. This is the third dalmore we're doing on the pod tonight. Let's try this boys. Cheers. Salud. See how it pairs with this aging room tonight.
Hmm. That's nice.
Bam Bam: I think it's very nice.
Gizmo: I think that's very nice. So do you have ice in yours or no? No. Are [00:28:00] you, I'm drinking my need. Are you sending it? So
Senator: I had my need at first. I just like it for whatever reason with a little ice temperature, but I'm curious what people think. I've had this before.
Lizard. Uh, Felix, uh, who's a big scotch guy. Mm-hmm. He drinks this often and it's a, it's a new release. They just came out with this in 2021.
Bam Bam: I love it. Um. As you sip it more and more, your palate adjusts. I think it's delicious. On the nose, actually, if you put your nose, it lingers a little. Maybe I'm crazy.
It's a little bit of cocoa. Um, nice finish. I think it's great.
Gizmo: Yeah. I'm loving it. I, I think it's actually for having no ice in it. Even on my first sip, it's been sitting here a little while kind of opening up, but I think it's very smooth. The perfect amount of heat on the back of your throat. I think the flavor profile is really nice with the, with this Nicaraguan cigar we have.
I think it's matching up very well to this cigar.
Bam Bam: Yeah. The initials two or th two sips, three sips are a little, you know, they're a little [00:29:00] hot, but honestly, as you get into it, I'm getting on the finish almost like an apricot type of thing happening for me.
Poobah: Yeah. A good hot for me. Yeah. Outta the gate. But you just tried it.
We'll see what happens. Yeah.
Gizmo: How much is that bottle? So this bottle is 90 bucks. Hello. So comparing that to the other Dalmore 12 that we did ages ago, the other 12 year single malt scotch is 70 bucks. So this has a $20 $90 premium for the sherry cask select. Did you guys do the The cigar one? Yes. So we did the cigar.
We also did the cigar. Mal cigar. Mal malt. Correct.
Poobah: That was, I think I just gotta cut. That was really good.
Gizmo: So what's Crazy boys is, that was on episode two. It was the first. Thing we brought in to pair with a cigar and we did not rate it
Senator: right. Oh man, that would've gotten a
Gizmo: killer
Senator: rating. Killer rating.
Gizmo: We should do that again.
That was in the olden days when we were newbies. But, uh, episode two and the other one we did the Dalmore 12, [00:30:00] the other 12 year version of this, uh, we did on episode 22. So today being episode 193. Unbelievable. It's like 170 episodes ago. Wow. Pretty wild.
Senator: Yeah. I just think like Dalmore, the regular 12 has a drier finish.
And finishing this in Sherry, I think it says like the last couple years they throw it in sherry cast before that's in American, uh, oak barrels. It, it just imparts more sweetness. And I feel like with a cigar like this, that's really what you want.
Bam Bam: Yeah. I, I get a fruit type finish on this thing. Agree.
Yeah. And on the front, savory little caramel maybe.
Gizmo: I love the, uh, Royal Stag logo of Delmore. I know that we talked about that on that episode long ago, but it stems all the way back, according to them, to 1263. Which was the first chieftain of clan Mackenzie. Hey, rooster. Was that a good year by the [00:31:00] King of Scotland?
Poobah: What do for new,
Bam Bam: oh, I don't know why that's so funny. But it is.
Gizmo: I just love that. Every time it's more, and now it's at a thousand years
Bam Bam: I had a hard day, so I'm gonna laugh about that.
Poobah: He like slaughtered a lamb and wrote by hand and then rode it, you know, packed it and rode it down a mountain and then, and then then barbecued it for his family in a ditch, and he lit it next to sea.
Rooster: I rolled it myself.
Gizmo: Oh man. So the 12 point royal stag that you see on every bottle of Delmore became the proud emblem of the delmore [00:32:00] when the Mackenzie brothers took over the distillery in 1867. So they've been making. Scotch whiskey for 180 years. And apparently they've set the standard in multicast maturation, combining their carefully composed spirit with hand selected cast from the world's finest bodegas and wineries.
So, like Senator said, this one was released in 2021 right around the time that we did that, uh, review of the other 12 year. So it's good to have this one in tonight. So this has matured in American White Oak and fin finished in Roso and Pedro Jimenez, Sherry casks. What do you think of the price? I think it's a little high.
Senator: It, it's a little high. And, you know, this is the reality of today with Sherry cast. I, I mean, I've said this a thousand times, this global shortage has really screwed up pricing of single malt scotch. You look at Macallan, you know, they came out with the double cast the 12 year because they couldn't produce enough in, in just [00:33:00] sherry cast.
That's the blue box, the blue one and the black box. The sherry won, the price of that went up. Now it's like 85, 90 bucks. Same deal here. I mean, they were producing the, the other uh, regular 12 dalmore comes in a red box. Yep. And that was at a more reasonable price point. And now for them to get these sherry casts and produce this, I mean, they, they have to charge a premium and it's not like outta step with what a lot of the other guys are doing.
So I'm not happy about it. But I get it in that this is happening across the board. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Gizmo: And for the listener, this box is Royal Purple. Yeah. So if you're looking for this 12 years, this is the Royal Purple Box, the one that we did ages ago, the other 12, we'll talk about the rating later.
That's not Sherry cast select. That's in the red box. As Senator said,
Poobah: I think both of the, the spirit and the cigar are both on its front foot in terms of they're, they're a little bit pointed. They're a little bit, um, I'm not saying [00:34:00] aggressive, but they're, they're on the, they're forward. I kind of agree with that.
They've got, they got their, yeah, they weight over their front foot and let's, they, they both let you know you're there where like, let's say you were smoking, I don't know, an up mani and like a love alvey, well, Caribbean, Caribbean cask or something like that, where it's a much the 14 year aged. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, this is, this is way more, both the cigar and the spirit are, or are just, they're just more in your face. And that's fine. I mean, the cigar is very smooth now. It's very balanced. It's, it's rounded out. Rounded off. And
Senator: I think the scotch is too. I agree. I'm, I'm just curious, uh, how many have put ice in the scotch at this point?
Poobah: I haven't. I, I think just
Senator: you,
Poobah: I mean, and maybe I'll try that. No,
Senator: no. I'm dead serious. For some reason, this particular single malt. So the funny thing is like my ice has melted it. I don't know what it does. [00:35:00] It is like Macallan 12, sherry esque. I highly recommend just trying. It just indulge me for a poor, okay.
I think Chef Ricky's not here.
Bam Bam: Well, I, you know I'm gonna need a refill to do that. Well, that's why I even mentioned this, correct? He was here.
Gizmo: Alright, so Pui, you put some ice in the drink. Has it affected? Well, it just went in your feeling about it?
Poobah: Yeah, it opened up a little bit. I actually got get a little bit of citrus.
Gizmo: What's interesting on the flavor notes on the box, they're saying that the aroma is caramelized orange.
Bam Bam: Ginger. Oh dude. So the orange peel or caramelized orange. I get that in my first sip with the ice that's there.
Gizmo: So caramelized orange, ginger and saltana. I don't know what that is. All waste with honey on the pallet they're saying dark chocolate and crushed almonds with a dusting of cinnamon.
The finishing notes, sweet mangoes, pretty accurate. Panna cotta and lemon sponge cake. Mm-hmm. Okay. The most. So you nailed
Senator: it. The most [00:36:00] important note on there, it mentions dark chocolate. The only single malt scotch that I consistently on the finish get a chocolate note is Macal 12. 12 sherry 12. Nothing else.
What drew me to this the first time I had this with lizard Felix. When you put ice and it opens up and the problem is actually ice is really not what you need in this. It's really just some water. Mm-hmm. When you initially put the ice and it gets super cold, you don't really get all the notes. When it comes down in temperature, all of a sudden you get this cocoa note on the finish.
That is absolutely delicious.
Bam Bam: This may improve the rating in my mind.
Senator: Oh, it should. I'm telling you, when you have it like this, it's really, really good. It is cold. Let it come down. Yeah.
Gizmo: So boys, we are coming to the end of the first third here on the aging room. Quatro Nicaragua Concerto in Maestro. What's everybody thinking?
Rooster: It is delicious. [00:37:00] It's whatcha getting? Whatcha
Bam Bam: getting specifically? It's
Rooster: very Es I must say. You know, the flavors have really rounded off. I'm not quite getting that pepper anymore that we were getting earlier. I think it's really well balanced. You're still getting that espresso note with the, like a milk chocolate thing.
Chocolate is still there for chocolate. Thing is still going on. No doubt. Um, you do get that. Uh, like the Raisin Black current note as well. Mm-hmm. And maybe in hint of like anise I mentioned, you know, that's still coming through
Bam Bam: very accurate, but it's,
Rooster: it's well balanced and it's really gotten smooth.
Agreed.
Senator: I, I agree on like the, the smooth piece, so I still get the pepper, but it's super faint. And to Rooster's point about it smoothing out, it's like, because I think in the first, the early parts of the first third, you're getting more of the pepper along with the sweet notes and the saltiness. And I think as you get further along to the end of the first third and, and toward the second [00:38:00] third, that's where the pepper dies down, the sweetness picks up, the saltiness stays there.
And because of that, it's, it's like such a smooth delivery of a ton of flavor. We talk about a smooth delivery of a lot of flavor being a petron placebo, and that's where the parallels are. It's
Rooster: very satisfying.
Senator: Yes.
Rooster: I don't know what it is, but it's, that's the word that comes to me. Bam. Uses the word for this
Senator: a lot.
Bam Bam: Nourishing. That's very, that's also correct.
Gizmo: Yeah.
Bam Bam: I'm there. I think everything that, that senator and Rooster said are right on the money for me.
Gizmo: I agree. And I love how rich and creamy the smoke is, but it's
Bam Bam: And are you retro hailing comfortably now?
Gizmo: Very comfortably. I have been since the beginning. Yeah.
I, I've, I didn't have a bite
Bam Bam: initially. I did, but now it's really exquisite.
Gizmo: The retro since I lit has been, yeah, exquisite.
Bam Bam: It's a lights out cigar. This is a home run.
Gizmo: It's really
Senator: good. Yeah. And similar to exi, the smoke output is excellent. Yeah.
Rooster: If you're gonna have just one cigar in the day. Yeah. This checks the box.
Poobah: This, this, this would do. It definitely checks the box. All the, all the flavor [00:39:00] notes that everyone's been able to call out. It says a lot about the blend. It, it, we're calling out all these different notes. Um, how many cigars have we reviewed? New World Cigars and Cubans. Some Cubans for that matter, that are just, that are just flat muddled.
They just, they muddled. Mm-hmm. You can't really pick anything out. And we're hearing, I don't know, 6, 7, 8, 9 notes getting called out. That's,
Rooster: yeah. The notes are very distinct. Yeah. Yeah.
Poobah: They're
Rooster: easy to pick out. Yep.
Gizmo: Alright boys, it's time now to go to our interview from PCA 2025 from New Orleans with Rafa on the Dao, the President and Master Blender of Aging Room cigars.
And he is also a vice president at Tab Clara USA Altus. And we had a great conversation with him and I was so happy we actually found him at PCA and talked to him and then did the interview because we were looking for days. Dude, he's a hard, hard dude. It was not optional, hard it was gonna happen. [00:40:00]
Poobah: He's also, he's also a great clay court tennis player.
Bam Bam: Really? Oh yes, I
Senator: missed that. He does share a name. I love that. He's a man of so many talents that everyone kind of sat there and said like, really?
Bam Bam: Like, I believed you for a second. These are French open champion.
Gizmo: Alright boys. So let's go to the interview now. I hope everybody enjoys it and uh, we will be back to you at the end of the second, third.
Alright, we are live again at PCA 2025 with a very, very special guest. Rafael Nadal, the Vice President of product capabilities at tab Clara USA EDUs. And most importantly, and the reason why we needed to sit down with this man today is because he is the president. The blender, the man behind Aging Room cigars.
That's correct.
Rafael Nodal: Oh, wow. That's a lot of titles. I hope, uh, I get paid for each one of those letters and I'll be making a lot of money. Unfortunately, I don't. But anyway, thank you for having me here. It's an amazing [00:41:00] time and exciting time here at the PCA, um, in, uh, in New Orleans. And uh, by the way, for those listening, if you hear the, the accent, don't call Immigration guys.
I I do, I do have papers. So don't, don't worry. Thank you.
Gizmo: So thank you for being here with us. Uh, we are big, big fans of your cigars, especially the aging room. A couple of the guys right now are smoking the aging room, Sonata Sonata in Maestro that we love so very much and we rate, we rated so highly. And I know, Senator, you were telling us how many boxes of these cigars do you think you've gone through since we found that cigar?
Since
Senator: we found them at least 20. I had no exaggeration. Thi this cigar. Wow.
Rafael Nodal: You are the one buying those. Thank you. That's right. Thank you. On behalf of my family, it's us, a family. It's a lot of us. Yeah. It's all of us.
Senator: But he actually, inactually first discovered this and we smoked this. Uh, I, we smoked this together in, uh, Panama.
Panama.
Rafael Nodal: No kidding. Wow. I love Panama, by the way. Oh, it's
Senator: a beautiful [00:42:00] country.
Pagoda: Yeah. Have good tobacco in Panama as well.
Senator: Yeah.
Pagoda: We loved it so much. I think we both said, wow, this is just out of our mind. And we came back and we just got in this whole chain where the whole lounge got into it and everybody was buying boxes.
Oh yeah. And everybody loved the cigar, and it's been fantastic, fantastic introduction. That is,
Rafael Nodal: that is great to hear because, you know, we create these projects in a vacuum many years before it comes out, you know, and we are hoping that people like what, um, what we are doing. Because a long time ago when I started, I had a brand called Eros, and we had a transition from Eros swag to finally agent's room back in 2011.
The thing is, uh, I used to make cigar for everybody. Okay. You mild cigars, LA, la, la, la, la. And, you know, I was not very successful. I was not doing very well. And one day I said, well, if I'm gonna go down, at least I'm gonna smoke the cigars that I like. So I started creating cigars that I like. And from that day on we started selling more [00:43:00] and we got noticed it, and we got the ratings and we got the rankings.
So, as I have heard from many people before, but of course I didn't follow, um, is, you know, do what you like, do how you like it and let it, you know, be, because if it didn't go successful, I was gonna have a lot of cigars to smoke anyway. That's correct. But, uh, it changed my life and, uh, now I, you know, obviously the palace do expand, do change, do elevate, do, uh, progress.
And, um, and I'm glad a lot of people have progressed and changed and elevate with me. So that's a, that's a fantastic thing. You know, I was in healthcare before, I'm a musician, and then I got into healthcare. I got this. I love this industry because believe it or not, a cigar is not just a cigar. A cigar is creating a moment, creating an experience, creating the time, and for this busy and crazy times.
And I say that like, uh, you know, it's very crazy at the time. You see that with yourself, a cigar, friends alone, whatever. And that is, is different. [00:44:00] So I feel proud that, you know, to contribute to, uh, to a lot of memories and a lot of moments. Yes,
Bam Bam: absolutely.
Rafael Nodal: I'd love to
Senator: hear a little bit just on the Sonata, since we've reviewed this.
It scored very highly on our podcast, what went into this blend? And I say that because. There's something unique about, I think one, the ability to tame Nicaraguan tobacco that's full bodied STR has strength and we even get notes there. There's like a citrus note almost that's true that you get in the Sonata that we rarely see in Nicaraguan tobacco.
So I'm just curious what went into this blend.
Rafael Nodal: Well, they, room line from the beginning has been about, uh. About different experiences that I, I always said it was for me, a laboratory, uh, to create different blends. And, uh, so we have been really, really working with this, uh, this, uh, rapper. Uh, because the Sonata is a musical term, normally for a solo instrument.
You have piano, you have Beethoven, uh, clear de loon, which is, uh, um, moonlight [00:45:00] sonata. And, uh, so it has to be something subtle. Uh, this came after in the hills of the, uh, Adrian Quarter, Nicaragua, which was a full air body. You got the number one, so you got al very high rating. And then we wanted to go to the extreme.
We want the sonata. We wanted to be able to get subtle subtleness, so we knew what we wanted to do because sometimes in the blending process, you go in a discovery and you don't know what you're going to have. There are no preconceived ideas. It's like composing a, a, a musical piece. Sometimes you know what you want.
Sometimes you, you just let explore. And this, we knew what we wanted. So it makes it actually more difficult thing because you already have a preconceived ideas and you know, you need to match that in the reality. But we started with a rapper that we have seen a, a, um, develop this, uh, seed. And it's a hybrid seed, and it's a hybrid seed of two, um, uh, of two seed.
And, uh, it takes [00:46:00] about, I don't know. Eight, 19 years to develop this case was 10 years to develop the seed. Wow. Wow.
Gizmo: Wow. So
Rafael Nodal: I saw that from the whole process. And because, you know, you get the, you get two seeds together and you get female and males and you have babies, and these are the plants you plant and you get the stronger one, the flavors, and then you plant it in the, in the, in the different soils to get the stronger one.
It's a natural selection process and the flavors and all that. So an interesting process. I was there from the beginning and then we aged these 10 years. So these actual processes started 20 years ago. And, uh, we didn't know it was gonna be for this by the way, but, uh, what we decided to do, uh, uh, this blend for the sonata since we knew what it was, and we knew that that specific wrapper was, uh, was a star because we had the flavor, had the aroma, and then the challenge, it was the type of tobacco that we put inside.
Huh. That was, uh, that was the difficult thing because we didn't wanna overpower [00:47:00] the, the, the sweetness and, and what it has and the notes, subtle notes. And so it, it was a more difficult one. But I think, uh, the result, uh, is a cigar, like I mentioned with so notes. And, uh, it's, if you listen to a sonata, a piano sonata, then you'll see that this goes very well with that because it's have different changes, uh, but always in a.
In a more relaxed way, you know? Yeah. Mm-hmm. It's, uh, this is a, it's a cigar that I advise people to sit down and take your time to enjoy. You know, Harry, don't smoke the cigar, get something else. Uh, that'll give you that fast forward blend with flavor from the beginning. This is not gonna be that, but it develops and it changes.
And that's what, uh, by the way, we always try to do that. Sometimes it doesn't work, but in this case, I very happy with the work.
Senator: It's incredibly balanced.
Bam Bam: Yeah. It's an exquisite cigar, honestly. Thank you. It's something that's entered our weekly rotation, and we've always been in search of something to find and [00:48:00] keep in our rotation.
It's been an incredible edition.
Rafael Nodal: Yeah. So the Quadron Nicaragua is stronger, fuller body. Uh, from the beginning you got some explosion of flavor. This is more subtle. Yeah. And now we just came out with the new agent room, uh, quadron, Nicaragua Concerto, which is in the middle of those two. So this was even more difficult to do it because concerto, normally in the musical term, normally you got an instrument, right?
Mm-hmm. That, uh, is the soloist, and then you have the orchestra that put that. So sometimes the instrument is the one that shine. Sometimes it's the orchestra that, uh, uh, a company, but sometimes it's just the, the main voice, and this is what we wanted to do. That. So these three projects have been some of the most difficult for me as a, as a blender to develop, because again.
I knew what I wanted. And this saw the concerto. Now, um, the Star is also a rapper from Finca Lia, the most well known, most famous, most amazing farmer, agent [00:49:00] Fernandez. And, uh, we took that rapper has been a tremendous amount of years. And then I had seen a, a, a filler, uh, from, uh, Los La PEs, which is one of his farm that when he acquired that it was Virgin.
Nothing had been grown there for years and years, and the first one and two years of the crop, it was amazing. And he had kept that almost 12 years. And that my friend was amazing. So combining now those things too that we wanted, it's always a challenging part, you know, more idea more of that. So now we have the Quadro, uh, Quadro, Nicaragua, the stronger, fuller body.
Then you have the concerto right in the middle, and the Sonata right on the bottom. Hmm. And that, uh, I, you know, I, I wasn't sure whether we're gonna continue expanding and working in Cobol Bros. But you know, when things are good, sometimes it's better not to mess with it. And I don't know, we're gonna leave it there, but that's what we have so far.
Senator: No, it's really smart. I think Nicaragua tobacco can be intimidating for smokers, particularly novice cigar smokers that are [00:50:00] just kind of getting into it. And I think. The Sonata we view as a gateway into Nicaragua tobacco for folks who are used to a more mild or medium bodied smoke. And then it sounds like you're taking people on that journey all the way up to the, uh, the maestro
Rafael Nodal: and the journey is correct.
Because, you know, at the end of the day, what are we trying to do? Or at least what I'm trying to do is take consumers in a journey of flavors and aromas and a different cigar for different moment where you are. Because sometimes even if you are a stronger, uh, a smoker that likes a fuller body cigar, um, but there are moments in your day, moments in your time that you wanted something a little bit more subtle.
And uh, but it has to be flavorful. It has to have the technical component. It has to be well made. The tobacco inside well positioned and then extremely well fermented and well aged. And, uh, we have been working with different blends for a long time, but you have, from the beginning, the tagline of the company was blend.
Uh, blending is sort DNA because that's what I like to do because as a musician [00:51:00] creating music, you only have seven notes, right? And so much music we have. Right. And you play with time, with, uh, with the tempo and the, the different combinational notes. And that, I think is even more possible in awa in cigars to make more, more different, uh, flavors and complexity and, and spaces.
Yeah.
Senator: Yeah. I, I'd love to hear a little bit about your story. We've talked to a number of, of blenders and how did you get into blending? Kind of, how did you find your, your niche in this business?
Rafael Nodal: Well, funny because I used campus to say hello to Nick Perdomo, and this is, Nick is responsible for me getting into this business.
I came from Cuba in 1980. The, it was a big, uh, boat, uh, uh, a leaf that came from Cuba was, uh, 15 years old. And, uh, I came with a boat for. 300 people. And, um, and I went to New York to start, continue my musical location. I played violin as say, in Cuba since I was six. I started, uh, studying and then came here, went to New York City, continued my, uh, music education.
I expanded to [00:52:00] conducting to, uh, uh, uh, composition. I took piano as well for the composition. And I thought since I was six years old, I thought my life was gonna be a musician, you
Senator: know?
Rafael Nodal: But life, life happens sometimes just,
Senator: just like, uh, gizmo over here. Yeah, exactly. He was in the music business for a while.
Yes, exactly.
Rafael Nodal: And, uh. And life, you know, changes. It's, you know, your things changes and the reality. We, my family wanted to come in 83 to Miami and, um, because, you know, the mecca, you know, you get everybody wants, all the Cubans want to go to Miami. And I hated it. I hated Miami. It was is, you know, I New York, some more cultural opera, ballet, all these things.
And I go to Miami with nothing. So I got very difficult. I started on opera group, didn't go anywhere. So I, my first job was cleaning floors in a hospital when I was 19 years old. So that led me into a journey into, uh, healthcare. I went from that to, uh, the director of finance, CFO of a hospital, and then the administrator of the hospital and the administrator of [00:53:00] psychiatric unit of the hospitals and psychiatric hospital.
And then one of my employee, Hank Bishop, um, say, you know, you're Cuban, you smoke cigar because when, you know, when you are Cuban, everybody think that you know how to dance salsa, which I do. And, uh, Rosa Port on Bourbon Street. Yeah, yeah, I did. Rosa, I could use a
Bam Bam: lesser too.
Rafael Nodal: Oh, well. Well, and uh, like I told my wife, you know, you cannot take lessons.
You, this has to be feeling, put my, put your hand on the, in my heart and feel the music. The, I was very romantic. I was gonna say very romantic. And, uh, so I, um, I say, no, I don't smoke. You know, he did. And he said, well, I'm gonna buy some cigars in little Havana. It took me to see. Where he bought his cigars.
And I make ni perdomo February 23rd, 1999. And, um, uh, I had, I bought my first box of cigars, mocked my first cigar with Nick, his father, his see is his wife, everybody. And I went that evening and I [00:54:00] told my wife, I know what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life and my wife. What, you know, what do you wanna do?
She say, I'm gonna make cigars. I'm gonna be on the cigar business. I didn't know what, but I was a cigar business. I felt so attracted by the passion that need, you know, and healthcare is hard to be passionate about numbers and this and this and that. And, uh, although you're saving people life, but I, I'm in the, I was in the business section and my wife being a psychiatrist, she say, yeah, honey, you can do whatever.
You know, she thought in two, you know, two weeks, this is, was gonna disappear. And I went to the cigar business and with Hank Bishop, my partner. And, um, that's how I ended up in the Sea Guard business. Amazing.
Gizmo: What a journey.
Rafael Nodal: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I, uh, now in music, I combine my music, love for music. I, you know.
Uh, all the names for the, the, the spits are my, they have the musical term, the concerto sonata. I just released the agent's room re-release. I had it from 2014. Uh, the agent's room lab. [00:55:00] Um, it's an opera and, uh, so everything that I do is based on my musical background so far, and that's been fantastic. You know, not
Pagoda: healthcare at all.
Yeah. Had no healthcare terms coming up? No, no.
Rafael Nodal: Especially these days, you know. No, no, no. But you know, I combined those two and then I was, you know, I had a cigar called Romeo by Romeo and Juliet, which, uh, came out, I believe in the 12. In 13, got the number, number 1213. Number 13. In 13 they got a number two, three cigar of bicycle ci.
Another the year I fell in love. Uh, then I got mine number, the first agent room, quad five, five, got the number two that year fell in love. And I said, you know, I'm gonna talk to Alto this, I gonna tell them I wanna do a robo by agent room and everybody okay, you crazy. You know, you know, it's a big company.
I don't wanna listen to you. But they did 'cause you, first you have to dream it. Nothing gonna happen unless you dream it. And I went and I showed them and I said, I wanna do this. And they were, [00:56:00] okay, go ahead and do it. And, uh, we did it, it got in the top 25. So Israel and one thing led to another, and then I, I, uh, came out with, uh, I launched, uh.
Um, A Short Man by Aja Fernandez, which is became very popular. I even put a blue, I love blues, although I'm wearing, uh, red glasses, normally wear blue and a
Gizmo: fantastic, uh, oh
Rafael Nodal: yeah,
Gizmo: blazer. Pink blazer. Yes.
Rafael Nodal: Thank you. Thank you. Very nice. Very well dressed. It's, it's, you know, this shows is great that it's Vegas or New Orleans, you know, so you can, you know, you're ready colors, you can, you can do it all.
And I come from Miami, so Miami what heck also happens, you know, but it happened. One led to another and they said, listen, we can, you, we can do the distribution of your brand and, uh, if you comes and make all the blanks for us. And, uh, here I am, uh, this is like a, um, a child, you know, being in a chocolate factory, you know, before I will do Blend for our age room, but we do a couple of years or something [00:57:00] like that.
Now. We put over 20 blends every year, and I'm working in things that we're gonna do 3, 5, 6 years from now. Uh, and it's, uh, oh, just so happy, man. I, hopefully, well, I don't know in my, uh, the president company, but listening to this because I, I get amazed that I'm getting paid for doing this. I'll not do it, frankly, for free.
Okay. For cis. We'll cut that back. Thank you. Thank you. Please, please. You know, at the end of the day, my kids eat too much. I need to do,
Gizmo: so we must share some parallels here with our friend senator and you, with he, you know, his shepherding of us and our listeners into the world of champagne. And caviar and watches and good clothing.
This is our, our version of Rafael Nadal. Correct. And I know that you see a lot of Instagram.
Senator: Our introduction to you was Aging room and your Cigars, and then we start following you on social media, and I'm looking at these photos saying, somehow we must be related. I have never seen anything [00:58:00] like this.
And for a lot of these guys and our listeners, you know, we always pair some sort of, uh, a spirit of wine, a champagne with a cigar that we're smoking. And for a lot, champagne in particular is kind of an intimidating space for those who are not familiar with it. Correct. People have had bad sparkling wine and they've thought all champagne is sweet and terrible.
I don't feel great after drinking it. And, um, the gateway for, for me and a lot of these guys was, uh, Paul Roge, a champagne that I love, Winston Churchill's favorite champagne, and, uh, scored incredibly high on the pod. And we've done so many different ones. And caviar, another thing very intimidating for people, a higher price point.
And I've, I've joked on the podcast that, you know, part of my life's mission is democratizing caviar in some of these things that people are a little intimidated by. And I see in your life the role that food and fantastic spirits and wines and champagnes play. And so I'm, I'm curious, where did your love for some of these finer things come from and kind of what role does that play in your daily life?
Rafael Nodal: Everything has been [00:59:00] related to the cigar industry. You know, just to understand, I come from Cuba in a small town, you know. Uh, never dreamed of something, but then I went directly to New York City. For me, it was like, wow, you know, amazing taste. Then I come to Miami. Miami has grown to be a very international thing, for sure, a city.
And, um, but then I start traveling. So I remember first time I went to Russia with my distributor there. The first thing is, you know, let's have caviar. You know, like, oh my God. And then, you know, one thing, you know, in other culture, you know, you not never disrespectful, disrespecting them by not eating it.
So I start eating like, oh my God, this is like huge, uh, uh, cans of caviar. Oh my God. And they will do it with sometimes with nothing around just a vodka caviar. Uh, and they actually gave me the first time, uh, uh, a caviar, um, a can of caviar was amazing. That's probably what I cost $10,000 today. And I brought it home.
I didn't even put in the refrigerator. You actually, [01:00:00] I have no idea. And that's it. I would die there. And then I start traveling to other places. I start to, uh, to love, you know, learning because, uh, one thing that you have the opportunity coming from a communist country like me, that you didn't have any opportunity to expand yourself.
So here I said it's my goal, it's my duty to travel. Because I couldn't travel there. I had to escape in a boat. Uh, it's my duty to learn, uh, and to enjoy the finest things. So I wish for the first part of my life, I couldn't do it. And that is a hard work. And I start traveling and, and sometimes, you know, you don't.
I try, I tell people you need, you know, these are acquired takes, right? So you need to try it. But if you know you, you do this. And then obviously with my love for music went to the opera and all these things, I have developed a, a, a love for just finest things in life, right? Uh, sometimes it doesn't have to be too expensive.
Sometimes they are more expensive than other. But, uh, then in Miami, a lot of, uh, right. Russian [01:01:00] immigrants in our area. And, you know, you can buy, you can buy caviar in some of these supermarkets around me. Like you buy bread. It's just is amazing. Every little places. And I remember someone from, uh, France, I was in Paris and, you know, let's have a cigar.
And normally, you know, I, I started drinking rum because rum, cigars and coffee come from the same, the same land, right? And uh, same soil. And uh, that was, yeah, rum. And then okay with sco, you know, and, uh, this person say, oh, have champagne. I said like, champagne. A cigar. You crazy. Lemme tell you. Subtle notes, um, just enhances.
And, and it's, it makes sense because when we do blending, we use, uh, um, uh, sparkling waters to clean our pallets. And this is a, it is a complete process. You have the sugar, you have the things, and I think it balances very well. And then I discover champagne and caviar together. Mm-hmm. Which is like a, you know, [01:02:00] made it made right.
And, uh, amazing. So now I try to do what dishes I can do with caviar. I can incorporate it. I love crab. So I do eggs with, crap with this. And then in the pandemic also, I used to go to restaurant traveling all the time, but then in the pandemic, I couldn't travel. Said what I gonna do. Two weeks into this, I told my wife, I'm gonna cook.
Started cooking every day. As a matter of fact, the first time two weeks into this that I started cooking at this, you know, we had that, we were at Panamas, at home, we have the, the chores and you know, like everybody else, I told my wife, no, no, no, let's dress up for dinner, candlelight dinners. Oh, I like that.
You are a romantic. I like that. Well, yes, yes. I like it. Fridays were, I will play the piano. And it was, it's, it was actually black tie. Wow. You know, black tie. Wow. Black tie. Wow. We did an invite
Senator: for dinner. Oh, exactly right.
Bam Bam: Well come exactly right. I wonder what GIZ will wear. I'm sorry. [01:03:00]
Rafael Nodal: No hoodies. And that's how I continue cooking, which I had never done before.
And continue developing the thing because I, you know, go to the good restaurants and the nice presentation. But, you know, sometimes at home you don't think about presentation. You know, it's just, I put two eggs with this and that and No, no, I, and it's by the way, my regular thing. So I start my day every day, every day with a, uh, I start with a small one.
Uh, now I half a bottle champagne. 'cause sometimes hard to find half bottles unless it's like one Oh, we talked about this. Yeah, we talked about
Senator: that. Yeah. Wow. Right. And honestly, you, you were an inspiration for me on that because as much as I love champagne, I, I usually just have full-size bottles. And when you just want for yourself into sitting to maybe just enjoy a glass or two, you don't wanna open a bottle and have it sit and waste and things like that.
And so I noticed for. My experience prior to seeing your photos was that for a lot of good champagnes, it's hard to find those kind of half bottles. And I was seeing some great champagnes that you have these smaller bottles. I said, where is he getting these from? [01:04:00] So we started doing a little digging, finding more, but I'm gonna be picking your brain after for some more recommendations.
Yes.
Rafael Nodal: And I started finding that somewhere I go and I'm buy 40 at the time, sometimes not easy to find. So 40 at the times, and it's okay, this lasts me for X amount of days and 40 days, a few days, 40 days. No, no, no, no. Not 40 a week ast. I do fall by. Oh.
So it's, uh, yeah, I just developed a love for it. And uh, we just have breakfast this morning and started with amazing champagne and uh oh, we have a lot to learn. Oh yeah. We have a lot to learn. We're not doing the right, we're not doing it right. No, no, no. It's, I'm sure you guys do, but it's this process of learning of experiences.
And sometimes you may like someone like, no, but for me it is idea what else can enhance my moment, you know, and with a cigar or prior to getting, so my cigar experience is a, it is like four hours because that the breakfast and the things and the that and then the cigar is continuous. So it's, uh, it's [01:05:00] um, life is so hard.
Life is so hard. So it's, that is, yeah. Your life does seem very good. Oh yeah.
Gizmo: So I have a question for you. Since you started cooking, how has that changed your, has it changed your palate at all, or your appreciation for certain flavors and how has that affected. Your blending decision?
Rafael Nodal: Yes. Uh, so I, I think the music has affected my, uh, my decision blending, uh, uh, process more.
But I always believe that, um, you cannot develop a good palace if you always drink and eat the same. It's just doesn't happen because, you know, uh, the test bots are, are muscle, like a muscle. It needs to be practiced and needs, needs to be things. I was in India one day and uh, and I was smoking a cigar in New Delhi outside the restaurant.
And, um, and we go inside the restaurant. We, they, they give us, uh, as, uh, you know, when other places they give you bread. They gave us, uh, onion, raw onion cut with a little bit of spices [01:06:00] and, uh Wow. So I eat that.
Pagoda: Spa's favorite, correct? Yeah. Yeah. Meaning it's a part of our thing. We always order onions and green chilies
Rafael Nodal: Yes.
On the side of the food. Yeah. The, they gave us on the food on table before, but, and I told my wife, I'll be right back. She said, are you sick? No, no. I'll be right back. I went back and I got the cigar. That was still light because you, you'll see that, and I, I tried the cigar new amazing flavors and knows that I never tested on the cigar because it does open your text box.
Right. And those, so what I tell everybody. Taste box need to be, need to be practiced. If you eat the same thing, I have, you know, maybe seeing friends always drink the same scars, always eat the same food as my friend. You don't know what you miss. You need to experience some, you gonna like it, some, you're not gonna like it.
Right. Um, but how would you know?
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Rafael Nodal: So, yeah. Yeah. So, uh, that I think then they, so my, my, my, uh, search for flavors have always been [01:07:00] there. I actually, I think, you know, I not, I, I like to cook, but I'm not a, you know, a chef. And so, um, but what I do is flavors are already, like, I incorporate it and then there's process of, uh, for different things, mixing different things.
Experimenting, yeah. Yeah. That you're not never done. And sometimes it's gonna be good, but, so I think more my blending style have affected my cooking compared to the other way around. Oh, okay. To the way around, because, uh, sometimes I know what I want, so I try that and sometimes I have no idea what is gonna come out and that's what is gonna come out.
Yeah, so it's an interesting, but you know, as sure everything goes in a, in a circle process, you know, so you have the music, the love for food and New flavors experience, which is the same thing that I look for the cigar. So that's, uh, that's I think one of, you know, they all influence, uh, each other.
Amazing. What a story. Yeah. Incredible. I'm
Gizmo: totally blown away by this. You know what's funny, we did tell a little bit about your history when we reviewed the Sonata, [01:08:00] your, you know, coming from Cuba and whatnot, but to learn some of this extra detail about who you are and where you've been and. Really where you're going.
Um, it's pretty amazing. And that's really where I, I, I wanna wrap up with you is what, what's the future for you with Aging Room? What, what's, what's in the pipeline as far as your vision and, and where do you see things in the next couple years?
Rafael Nodal: Let me just tell you, I think it's, uh, like everything in life, I think the best is here to come.
Hmm. I'm working some amazing project because the next year is the 15th anniversary of, uh, agent room, which officially started in 2011. Although from 2005 I've been creating different blends under the, uh, I used to put numbers and. 3, 5, 6, uh, F five five, you know, because that was my accounting part of, uh, of my healthcare days.
You know, so I mix my life. It's all about, you know, a mix of things, you know, very eclectic. Um, so we working on some amazing project that's gonna come out in October of this year. Then couple of next pro, uh, for this year, uh, we're gonna continue elevating [01:09:00] the experience. We're gonna continue elevating the type of blends, always looking.
I, I search for the best tobaccos, the best variety. And a partner like, uh, like AJ Fernanda has allowed me to, uh, to experiment. Uh, that's fantastic. So we have some great things coming next, uh, the end of the year and next year.
Senator: Mm-hmm. And so the Sonata will continue to be part of the core line. We'll be able to find this.
Rafael Nodal: It's gonna be, it's a very impressive, uh, uh, performance so far.
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Rafael Nodal: And, uh, not like the Beethoven Sonatas, but I think it's, uh, on the way. Listen, as a musician, I, I'm creating all these things. I couldn't create, you know, Sonata Concerto I, I've created now with musical notes, but, uh, with tobacco leaf, and, uh, and that's what we are doing.
That's a great point. We were worried at one point that this was a limited production. No. Fantastic. Oh, that's good to hear. And then Concerto as well. They share to the same, the same we, so that will remain in the portfolio. These three are gonna be the core line and then that Excellent. Continue expanding.
Oh, fantastic. Although we may continue expanding the core, [01:10:00] but we also thinking about some limited edition because some tobacco that are, that, that we try for these ones, but so limited that those, we have to do limited issues. Mm-hmm. So that's what we'll do from time to time. Okay. But this is the core. We have plenty of this tobacco and uh, we continue aging.
Outstanding. Wonderful. So you don't need to hoard boxes, Senator. No, no, no. Buy it. It gets better by the way. It gets better by the way. No, it's, I swear. Oh, they do get better it time. Of course, for sure. And mace. Yeah. You see, guys, I need to sell to you. No, nobody's true, but it's the true, the true. Any good cigar or any good, good tobacco gets better with time.
Yep. Yeah. You know, maybe like people or not, but, um, the good tobacco doesn't get better with time. It get worse with time. Yeah. You know, because the, there, there is a core, a curve like this that goes higher, uh, based on the development of the, of the tobacco and the mer of the flavor. It, it will change.
Sometimes it goes down in terms of, uh, complexity will mellow [01:11:00] out. That's when you continue to be getting even nuts that you didn't have before. Wow. So, yeah. So do it because of this, uh, we work on this on Blend, uh, we started working about five years ago and I have some of those cigars. Uh, lemme tell you.
It's, I wish they, you know, they, they, they taste now like they will be tasting five ci five years. Uh, it's, it's an amazing, amazing, well, it's amazing.
Gizmo: Well, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it. And more importantly, thank you. For these brilliant cigars. Absolutely. No
Rafael Nodal: thank you guys for what you do.
At the end of the day, if it wasn't for support, you're listening for people like you that, uh, are liaison between what we do and um, and, and what people Smoke is a, is a vehicle to, to tell the story, to tell our story. So I appreciate it. Thank you for having me here. Um, you guys are doing a fantastic job and I appreciate it and please continue to the support of the industry.
Thank you so much. Of course. Champagne and
Senator: Caviar in Miami next time.
Rafael Nodal: Correct. Now Champagne, caviar and Cigar next time. That's right. [01:12:00] Hey, that's right. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Gizmo: All right. Again, we have to thank Rafa on the dial for sitting down with us at PCA 2025. We really enjoyed our conversation with him and I mean, going from his origin story and the conversation about blending aging room, which is of course why we wanted to interview and meet Raphael in the Dallas, how much we love the aging room stuff.
Obviously he blends a lot of things for Altus and, you know, tab Clara USA. But the aging room stuff has been great and of of course, obviously tonight we're seeing that again, coming from Cuba, being a musician, a violinist since age six, getting into healthcare, ending up in cigars and where he is now and the product that he's making with this great Nicaragua tobacco.
It's crazy. I'm totally impressed by this guy. That's,
Bam Bam: it's insane.
Gizmo: We talked about the future of aging room. Obviously next year, 2026 [01:13:00] is the 15th anniversary, so we tease that a little bit. I'm thinking that there's probably a 15th anniversary cigar coming. Obviously a lot of stuff in front of that. And then of course, we have to finish our recap here with the man love that occurred, the mutual admiration between Rafael Nadal and our friend here.
Senator who share very similar lifestyles.
Senator: That's correct. I mean, we are, we are men who appreciate great champagne, not just in the evening, but in the morning. I mean, Winston Churchill woke up every single morning and he had a glass of Paul Roget. That's a, that's a way to live. That's true. Winston
Gizmo: Churchill, correct.
Rafael
Senator: Nadal.
Gizmo: Yep. Senator.
Senator: Yes. I mean, I'm, I pale in comparison, but the point is that's, that's one thing that we share of, of nothing else, but Correct.
Poobah: You're one step away of saving all of Western civiliz by democratizing caviar and
Gizmo: champagne. Correct. That's right. So it was a lot of fun sitting down with him.
I hope you enjoyed our [01:14:00] interview. Please send us any emails or comments you have on it. We would love to hear from you.
Senator: I, I think the other thing that's just awesome about him, you know, we've all been fortunate to, I think, meet a number of Cuban Americans and, you know, a mentor of mine is kind of similar story to Rafael.
Nadal came here with nothing and you know, was wildly successful in his field. You know, it, it's, it's so inspiring to be around someone like Rafael Nadal, who. You know, he was born in Cuba. He is as passionate about America as anyone you will ever meet in your life. I think of, you know, Hamlet per is obviously who we've spent a ton of time with.
Same thing guy who talked about the day he got his American passport. Hamlet said he slept with his passport under his pillow for about a week. And there's just something, you know, we are all so fortunate, you know, we grew up here and have had access to everything at our fingertips from the day we were born.
By nature of this country,
Rooster: gratitude. Yeah, exactly.
Senator: Yeah. And it's for people who know what it's like to not [01:15:00] have any of those luxuries and even basic necessities that we have, and to appreciate that so much that they are so inspired and achieve amazing things that people who had far more resources here mm-hmm.
That could have and should have done those things didn't. And they did it. It, it's, when I'm around people like that, it, it really inspires me and motivates me and, you know, the, the things that I pursue and do and just chatting with him was really, really awesome. And, you know, for me, again, I'm not someone, I didn't grow up drinking cavi or, uh, drinking champagne or eating caviar.
These are things that I acquired in my adult life. For him. I mean, I at least, you know, had seen these things when I was younger. They weren't things that I consumed for him to come outta Cuba and have such a tremendous appreciation. I mean, me and him are trading, you know, we, we talked about in the podcast, champagne is amazing, but [01:16:00] you've gotta buy a full bottle of it.
And if you just wanna enjoy a glass yourself, it's really frustrating. I mean, you're gonna have one glass, you have to let, you have to save the rest. Hope that it doesn't, you know, lose too much of the carbonation. Finding these little mini splits and half bottles so that you can just singularly enjoy champagne when you don't have company and you just wake up on a Saturday morning and you wanna kind of start in a festive way.
Um, just awesome to be able to trade stories and recommendations and things like that with a guy who had zero access to stuff like this for his entire childhood until he came here. Um, just really, really cool. And, um, his, his social media is easily the most fun for me to just follow and watch. 'cause he's a guy who lives every single day.
Like it could be his last. And I think that's, you know, how everybody should live. That's why, you know, I talk about cigars. Like, you know, many of us say they're meant to be smoked. You know, who knows what life has in store for all of us. [01:17:00] I just love his philosophy and the way this guy blends a plus. It almost mimics the way he lives.
Exactly right. Like Rooster said, if you're gonna have one cigar, this ought to be it. Yeah. It's true. It leaves nothing aside, nothing to
Rooster: be desired. It's all there. It's the, it's, it's there. Yep.
Bam Bam: And as an, as the owner of this brand, he, like we said earlier, the cigar mimics his life and his lifestyle and how he wants everyone to experience.
Right. So I find that fascinating.
Rooster: It's an art form. Yeah. What's unique about him is that he's also a blender, so he knows Right,
Bam Bam: right.
Rooster: What he's looking for in a cigar and he can go out and blend it Exactly. To his needs and specifications. This is what he's looking for. Yeah. This is what satisfies,
Senator: I mean, Teresa's point.
How many blenders have their own brand?
Rooster: I don't, I don't know of many.
Senator: They work for someone typically. Yeah. How many, I mean, [01:18:00] we really don't know many at all. No. We talked to Klaus Kelner about, you know, maybe that's in his future. I mean there, this is few and far between to be able to understand both sides of that coin.
That's right. To blend produce market. And he was brilliant to partner up with, you know, AJ Fernandez for the production side. And uh, it's I'm sure paid dividends for him. Yeah.
Rooster: There, there is a, the blender for Davidoff, um, EIO Diaz. He has his own, he has his own line. That's right. But nothing, you know, nothing big.
Right, right. Yeah. I haven't had that either. Have you tried it? I have not, no. Okay.
Gizmo: And let's not forget Hamlin Perretti Yeah. Who has had his own wine Oh, sure. With Rocky Patel and now, and now is doing his own blending for Fabrica five and Bon Roberts and special clients, and it's all brilliant and he's doing a great job.
It's so good. It's awesome to see these guys and their history, like Senator said, you know, creating these incredible products and great companies and things that we're all able to enjoy. It's awesome.
Senator: Yeah. It's [01:19:00] like, as we're talking about this, I, I, I hope this is almost like a, a rallying cry for master blenders in the sense that if you think about the few people that we've named that are blenders, that have actually brought a product themselves to market in some way, there is an authenticity in those brands.
It's not marketing bullshit. Right. Like we talk about, you know, fabric of five, no boxes, no bands, no bullshit. Like there's an authenticity about what they're doing. It's not a coincidence that like there's a blender, you know, there with, with Rob Isla that like really understands and appreciates what they're trying to do there.
The same thing with Raphael Nadal. Like he doesn't put out a bunch of special limited releases and all these silly gimmicky marketing things. Like he has a few core lines that he believes in and that we really enjoy and appreciate. So I actually hope that there's a lot more blenders that go out on their own and pursue stuff like this.
Because, you know, the, the flip side of that is you have guys that are great [01:20:00] marketers, but you know, know nothing about blending and aren't necessarily doing this just to satisfy in every single line. It's more about what can I market? Sure. How do I hit every imagin? It's imaginable. Exact commerce.
Poobah: Well, it's commer, it's, it's about the, because so many just having worked in the commercial arts world and communications, there's so many artists out there who can.
Manifests something brilliant and can and, and can take a vision and bring it to life and do it in a way that's differentiating and special. Whether that's in a communication, whether that's in a movie or an advertisement. But it's very hard that you kind of, that you find these triple threats. Someone who's articulate, someone who can manage people, and someone who can, who's also a good artist.
Yeah. We would always in That's a great point in advertising, uh, my father would call them a triple threat. Yeah. And, and those are the guys who made it up through, up through management. Well, you, you could have a great [01:21:00] artist, but many of the times an artist or somebody like that has the certain level of eccentricity to them, certain personality type that makes the, and Raphael has that, that makes the creative person creative.
Yeah. Um, but that also often comes with that personality archetype sometimes comes with drawbacks. They can't manage people. They can't, they can't manage a p and l they don't understand the commercial aspects of marketing. They underst they as, but they're commercial arts. The parallel I'm drawing though is that you, you really have to be good at a lot of different things to be able to, I think, do all those things, right?
Yeah. Get it to market, get funding, raise money, but also what you're also gonna blend market. It's an market created a great product's doing it, commercialize it. But let's, could
Bam Bam: we talk two seconds about the value? How incredibly. Affordable. This line of cigars are, it's incredible. You can get this almost anywhere.
It's very affordable and everything you've said, you [01:22:00] know, if you're chasing a brand, this is a brand to chase because of everything you guys have talked about, but it just also happens to be a very affordable product. Yeah. And
Rooster: also you have to give some credit to AJ Fernandez.
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Rooster: I mean, it's, the tobacco is coming from his farm.
Yep. So they're also doing something right? I mean, yes, Rafa and the hybrid creation is
Gizmo: 12 years in developing some of these tobaccos. It's a lot of work that goes into this. Absolutely. It's a lot of time
Poobah: and
Gizmo: work. It's like Rafael has a, has access to a huge pallet of tobacco.
Poobah: Yeah.
Gizmo: So, so it's like an
Poobah: artist with their, with their, with their p and then, well then how do you, how do you source the raw material and get it to production, all these different and, and maintain your, your QC and your QA and all that kind of stuff?
It's, it's no different than, than manufacturing. Uh, I mean, it's different. It's less complicated than man manufacturing, like a pharmaceutical product or other complicated and like highly technical things, but [01:23:00] still be from, from batch to batch, from box to box, being able to, to do everything has to line up and everybody's has to, has be in the right, right seat on the bus to be able to, to get it done.
And, and, and for someone to do that as a blender who they're generally more. Leaning towards the, the artist side. Sure. Um, is, is is a merit.
Senator: Yeah. And I mean, this is where you need both. I've had some ha Fernandez cigars. I haven't found anything that would ever crack my rotation. You pair his raw material with a guy like Raphael Nadal that clearly knows how to blend and you produce greatness.
Yeah. And that's where, you know, everybody's kind of gotta have a role in, in Elaine. You know, I don't consider AJ Fernandez to be, you know, a particularly spectacular blender, but clearly his product. Yeah, his raw, his raw, raw material. Raw materials are excellent. Yes. And [01:24:00] that's where you need, you know, someone who really knows how to just bring that together and, and produce a complete experience.
Gizmo: Well, it was awesome sitting down with him. We learned a lot. And boys, we are coming into the final third. Actually, we're well into the final third now in the aging room. Quatro Nicaragua Concerto in Maestro. What's everybody thinking now as we get into the last third?
Bam Bam: You know, I continue to get a delicious milk chocolate experience from beginning to end.
Um, right now there's a touch of Maple for me that's starting to develop and it's still very smooth. Retro hale's delicious. Now very easy. Um, like I said, for what a $14 cigar, which you may be able to find deals online for. This is an incredible cigar. For everything we discussed tonight. It just keeps getting better.
It does get better. And that milk chocolate doesn't dissipate. It's gotten a little more savory though. Not yet. For me, it's still on the
Gizmo: sweeter side, but my sweetness is dialed down Really? And it's a little more savory now [01:25:00] for me.
Senator: Wow. So I agree that it's gotten more savory, but what I really like is I still do get a, a good amount of sweetness.
Like I think the two are marrying
Bam Bam: nicely.
Senator: Yeah. I think, you know, before it leaned a lot sweeter than it did savory. And I think right now there's like a perfect balance of like 50 50. Um, but the thing I really appreciate, and this is true of the sonata and it's true of the exvivo and you know, for us to even be still talking about an exvivo in this context, speaks volumes to how spectacular this cigar is.
There is a consistent thread all the way through and you know, some cigars you want and you love when they transition, sometimes even dramatically when you're getting everything you want in that first third and that second third. You don't want there to be a big transition in an ex placebo. There is no major transitions.
You're just getting such a complete experience all the way through. And getting into [01:26:00] the final third of this, I feel the exact same way. All those great notes that I was loving in the first two thirds, are there certain things are dialed up more, certain things are dialed back a little. And that's the beauty of, I feel like a really just complete pallet covering.
Mm-hmm. Cigar. Mm-hmm. Yep. And that's what this does. Did you say earthy?
Gizmo: I did not say earthy.
Senator: Okay. I said a little more savory.
Bam Bam: Okay. Because I'm getting a little bit of minerality in a nice way that's marrying with that maple and still chocolate that I think
Rooster: we mentioned earlier that the exclusive O lean is earthy is much earthier.
Oh yeah. At least the Maduro version. Sure, sure. Yeah. Yeah. I mean that's predominantly what we smoke is Yeah. Mostly maduros. Yep. And they tend, tend to be mostly, yeah, they're a lot earthier than this is. Right. Yeah.
Senator: And I'll say about this size, having smoked the Toro first before this, the Toro for me in the final third got a bit strong, a bit fuller than I would [01:27:00] normally appreciate, and it's a bigger cigar.
So you're getting all this flavor, but for a longer period of time. And then that last third toward the end, yeah, kind of the nicotine even picked up a bit. The, the torpedo in the Sonata and now similar in this concerto, it never gets too aggressive. And I love that again, you know, for some guys that are only gonna smoke one cigar and wanna very full experience in this, is it this, I'd probably say to have the Toro, if you're just gonna have like one 'cause and you a strong cigar, even this, even this would, this would satisfy for sure.
This would, sure, right. Yeah. But this never like kicks me around at all nicotine wise, where I couldn't also have, I mean, I. Obviously candidly said, I had four cigars before, earlier today, before I started this. We know candidly,
Gizmo: candidly, he said candidly or openly. No, I could sit here and pretend, oh, this is my first cigar of the
Senator: day.
My palate is, you know, I, I had four sticks before this, but I could have find my
Poobah: time.
Senator: I
Poobah: could. [01:28:00]
Senator: We have a listener emo coming up about exactly that you smoke while you work. That's true. But I could have four more cigars after this and still feel great. And that's what I love about this cigar. It's
Gizmo: a normal Monday.
Senator: Correct.
Gizmo: So I want to share for listeners, you're referencing the Toro, the name, you would find that under on retailers Online. It's the vibrato. Okay. 54 by six. Mm Does he May, is there
Rooster: a petite Corona?
Gizmo: There is not. The smallest cigar in the wine is the espressivo on all three wines. They share the same name.
Uh, it's 50 by five. Wow. I would love a small,
Bam Bam: it'd be interesting cigar in this would, it would be interesting to see what it's like.
Rooster: You know, like a Padron number 35. Oh
Bam Bam: wow.
Rooster: Like a short, that's
Bam Bam: interesting.
Poobah: Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think the names are creative as well. They are. I think it, I think it ladders back to, um.
The brand quite nicely, like the concerto in a concerto, you've got a lot of pointed, um, solos and, and, and, and, and it's, it's, it's not, [01:29:00] it's not an orchestra concerto is, is what, four pieces or something like that. GIZ gives you no gizmos domain. That's your domain. But I believe it's four pieces and it's, it's very staccato.
And I think that, and, and there's different notes that are jumping out all the time. And I think you get that with the cigar and he's, it, it, it ladders back. It's aply named. It's aptly named. And I think that him naming these after, um, would you
Bam Bam: say it's good marketing?
Gizmo: I would say that it's good marketing.
Very good
Bam Bam: marketing.
Gizmo: So at Concerto, I wanted to be specific. I actually pulled this up on Wikipedia. It's from the late Baroque era. It's mostly understood as an instrumental composition written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or an ensemble. Okay, gotcha. So, but it's focused on the soloist.
So like you said, pointed that there is a focal point. Yeah. Focal point. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm loving the cigar and I'm loving the scotch with it, boys. All right. Let's go to some listener email. Now we got [01:30:00] some feedback on our episode from two weeks ago. We did the Fuente Fuente Opus X Auto in rib Robusto, which was not great.
And uh, this one's from Sonic Stag. On FOH, he said, fantastic. Listen, as usual, it was interesting to learn about rum and additives. The French losing their minds, banning smoking where kids are, but not vapes. Cuban cigars are expensive now, but so too are many new world cigars. Our Arturo Fuente cigars and Padron are some of the most expensive new world cigars in the uk.
I look forward to the pod to get ideas of what to go for to try to limit cast wa cash wastage. Padron never had an issue, but at a 50 pound plus for a decent one, they're a treat. The 80th Maduro in the UK are, are you serious? Is 65 pounds.
Bam Bam: My Lord, that is expensive. The taxes are brutal. Oh, that's
Gizmo: crazy.
65 plus. And then he says, and then you have the Arturo Fuente Opus X at 50 pounds plus, and having had quite a [01:31:00] few letdowns with Fuente already, I won't chase them. After listening to this episode. I would much rather pay the premium for Cuban tobacco than we have to pay and play Cuban roulette. Listener RKP Stogie replied to Sonic Sta.
He said, I agree with Sonics Stag. It was another amazing episode. In my humble opinion, the Arturo Fuente Anejo line blows Opus X out of the water. Hopefully the lizard crew will try it on the pod sometimes. So we
Bam Bam: haven't had that, have
Gizmo: we? We have not. I love the Don Carlos. I mean, that's kind of, if I go Fuente, that's where I go.
You know, you had the,
Senator: I have. I used to love that cigar. I've had a lot of it. You don't love it. It's strong. It's very full flavored. I had Anejo Shark. Yeah, it's full flavored dude. It, it's, it, it was too much. Yum. It's a lot. I smoked it on my deck. I still remember it like it was yesterday and this was years ago.
They do mellow out. It was too much. They mellow out over time.
Gizmo: But you need
Senator: a few
Gizmo: years. Our friend Manny Solow, who makes those great cases, I have one right here. Solow [01:32:00] replied saying Always a great listen. And Pagoda has four on the New Jersey transit. Exactly. He just and seven others
Bam Bam: elsewhere.
Gizmo: I love this comment from El Nino.
He wrote, Opus is truly one of the cigars of all time. All right boys, here's another one. Senator's not gonna like this one. This on YouTube is from Lizard Ant.
Bam Bam: Buckle up everybody.
Gizmo: He said Alma Fuer. Excellent. Now that GIZ said, Rob from FOH likes it, senator's going to buy boxes. LOL. Haha. Senator, how's the retro hailing going?
We love crybaby. Senator.
Bam Bam: Oh boy. Oh yeah. I
Gizmo: love a little
Senator: war here. That's so the irony of this, this is not, that's a pagoda shank. This is, this is not an indictment on me. Many babies. How many lizards in here was smoking Alma fuerte? None. None. Zero. None. So, I'm sorry, ant is on an island on this one with Rob, because Rob said they're smoking well and they're retro hailing on that island, so, yeah.
Correct. They're on, [01:33:00] they're, they're both living
Gizmo: in Australia. Alright boys, before we get to more email, I wanna do a quick news story which ties to our next listener email. This one I saw that Aino, Cameroon Reserva is coming back in 2025. I guess it's a special release. It's gonna be a 52 ring gauge Toro by six inches long.
Senator, I'm curious for you, having loved the Cameroon and re robusto as much as you did, we all love that. I mean, you've been the cheerleader on that one 10 boxes. Is this a cigar that you're interested in?
Senator: The
Gizmo: Reserva?
Senator: So, I'll be honest, I'm, I'm not particularly excited because the regular Cameroon re robusto for me checks all the boxes, does everything I needed to do.
I've never been searching for more. So I'll try it where I guess I have some optimism that, you know, maybe it will provide something, you know, interesting and, and that I might pursue. I've been starting to go through more of the Lino, uh, [01:34:00] catalog and they make a roho, which I didn't have the greatest experience with, but there's a Roho Reserva that they came out with that was also limited production.
It's like out on every site. They don't have it anymore. But I read people's reviews of this cigar from about a year ago, I guess maybe when it first came out, or closer to it. People loved this cigar, and I don't love the roho, but this Roho reserva, they really loved. I mean, there were, there were, uh, people talking on Reddit.
I'm a Cuban cigar smoker. This is one of like the most Cubans cigars I've had. I loved it. So I, I'll definitely try it for that reason. But it's not like the Cameroon doesn't deliver, you know, something I'm looking for more of.
Gizmo: So we'll see. You know what's interesting about the Reserva, by the way, boys, is the tobacco in this cigar is entirely made of Cameroon seed tobaccos grown by the aro of family in Honduras.
So obviously [01:35:00] the Cameroon re robusto, the Cameroon re robusto that Senator was talking about that we reviewed, that we all gave a few weeks ago, a 10. By the way, we rated it a perfect 10 that does not have. Only Cameroon in it. So this one, the Reserva has it's fully Cameroon. It'll be
Bam Bam: different.
Gizmo: It'll definitely be different.
Yeah. So boys, this ties to our next email. This one is from Lizard John in Cleveland and he says, thanks for your recent review of the Cameroon Ribos. I happened upon a JR cigars tobacco during my travels, and lo and behold, they had a box of the original Ribos, not the Cameroon. I typically don't smoke a lot of non Cubans and I haven't bought a box of non Cuban cigars in years.
Whatever all Dino is doing over there, they are earning the acclaim. The first one I smoked was rolled perfectly. None of the annoying construction issues I'm accustomed to. It's just a fantastic cigar. The box was on sale for a hundred bucks. Wow. Which is $5 a cigar. Wow. Actually it's less than that 'cause they're 24 in that.
[01:36:00] Right.
Bam Bam: That's insane. I'm
Gizmo: sitting here smoking a $5 rib robusto feeling like it's high time to take a break from Cuban cigars. Oh
Bam Bam: yeah.
Gizmo: When you get a chance, please explore more of what they're up to at Adino. I'll definitely be buying another box for them. Thanks for everything you guys are doing. Lizard John in Cleveland.
Wow.
Bam Bam: The work is working.
Gizmo: Absolutely. So we will keep going on Aldino. We keep trying those cigars as we get into the later part of the year. Here's another one from Lizard Ken, who's a first time writer on the pod here, says, hello lizards. This is Lizard Ken. It's a first time email for me. I have been in the cigar hobby for a few years now, and I came across the podcast last year.
I'm in the middle of the country and sourcing Cuban cigars can be challenging and quite expensive. I personally smoke new worlds and I must say I love them. I really enjoy listening to the reviews of many sticks I may never get to enjoy. For myself. Listening gives me the chance to live vicariously through the pod.
I love the banter and I want to thank the lizards for pointing me towards some really [01:37:00] fine pairings of new world's and liquor. I just wanted to say thank you for giving us fellow cigar smokers, an avenue to explore various sticks and pairings. Thanks for all that you do, and keep up the great work lizard.
Ken, the work is working. Lizard Lizard, Ken.
Bam Bam: It's working.
Gizmo: God love lizard, Ken, it's awesome. Great email from him.
Bam Bam: Yeah,
Gizmo: and we have another one here, boys. This is gonna be our lizard of the week. This is from Lizard Blake, who is a question for us. He writes us all the time, and of course, any lizard out there can win Lizard of the Week.
All you have to do is send us an email, a comment, YouTube, Instagram, whatever you choose. Just get in touch with us and you can win. Lizard. Blake says, what's up fellas? Lizard Blake here. I got a question for you guys. Do you have a daily routine for smoking or is it a day by day type of thing? Depending on your schedule.
Judging from, I know where we're going with this. Judging from your guys' banter, it sounds like you have multiple a day. I was just curious how you fit them in around your day jobs. I usually don't get [01:38:00] home from work until nine ish, so weekday smokes are kind of out of the picture for me. I try to set aside some time on the weekends, but it seems like we're always doing something anyways.
I'm just curious how or when you boys fit your cigars in. Keep up the good work. Lizard Blake. Nice email. Great email.
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Gizmo: So Senator, how did you manage five cigars today? Five cigars today?
Senator: What do you mean? How I woke up? I had a Connecticut shade cigar stepped up CI ago. A ni nice mild cigar on my patio.
Then lunchtime, had another cigar after lunch. Another cigar. Another cigar. Wait, another cigar. Then at the lounge. Another cigar and now I'm here.
Bam Bam: All right.
Senator: For your fifth, it's all for by way. I love
Gizmo: that you act like this is completely normal. It should
Senator: be. Well, I mean it should be, but on now look you as far as what's different, I [01:39:00] have question far.
Like if I'm traveling or I'm in meetings, obviously I can't do that. Of course, yes. But on a day that I'm working remotely, I mean, there's no reason that I can't be smoking while I'm working. That's
Bam Bam: where I'm going. So did you have your laptop tell?
Senator: Oh yeah.
Bam Bam: Okay. And when you came to the, to the club, you had to The club had my laptop.
Senator: Oh, yeah. Yeah. So you can, there were a couple guys here. You know, there were, uh, you know, times I need to be just silent and couldn't engage in conversation, was getting a bunch of work done and then times I could chat a little bit. But there's no reason you can't go in your mouth the whole time you're doing it.
That's true. What a lot
Bam Bam: of us are fortunate, we're home a lot, you know, um, guys that have nine to five jobs and if they're married with little kids on the weekends, I can see his challenge. Yeah, that's
Senator: tough. That's, that's
Bam Bam: hard.
Senator: And my big thing and my advice to any lizard is you gotta make it count when you can.
So it's like, you know, when I'm on the road for a full week, I mean, sometimes I'm lucky if I get in one cigar that whole week, that's just how busy the schedule is at that time. But when I'm home, if, and I don't need to, you know, be on camera, on Zoom as often or something like that. I'm gonna take [01:40:00] advantage of every moment and a cigar for me.
It enhances my creativity, it gets me focused. So those are the moments that I definitely try to take advantage of that.
Bam Bam: Yeah,
Rooster: I mean, ideally for me, one after breakfast, one after lunch, and one after dinner is absolutely a perfect day. That's perfect. On, on my day off. In the summers, I'm usually a bit busier, so I look forward to that cigar that I'm gonna have at the end of the day.
Bam Bam: Right.
Rooster: And which is typically a fuller cigar that I look for. And the aging room concerto would absolutely do the job.
Bam Bam: Yeah, no. Contrary to my AI image, I am not smoking on the job site. That doesn't happen. But he's,
Rooster: he's so tweaked. I'm just by his AI image. He's very sensitive.
Bam Bam: But, uh, you know, I go to sites twice a week and I'm home the rest of the week. And like Senator, we have our laptops in tow and smoke in between. Exactly.
Poobah: Yeah. Yeah. And I'm in an [01:41:00] office all day long, every day. So that's the thing. So when you're,
Bam Bam: look, when you're in an office all day long, you're not Yeah.
You can't do it. You can't. Yeah. You have to. Like junior soprano once said, you take your pleasures when you can.
Gizmo: That's right. That's right. So what I do during the day, most of the time if I don't come to the lounge, which I haven't been coming to the lounge during the day, is I'm smoking in my truck as I'm driving around.
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Gizmo: So I'm fortunate that I can smoke in my car. I have a great setup in the truck. Balancing
Bam Bam: a Caesar salad on your dashboard, a Caesar salad,
Gizmo: a drink, some Bouchard chocolates. Chocolates a little dessert. Everything is my cigar. Arms length. Everything's right there. I, it's got a buffet. I gotta tell you that, that, that
Poobah: was, I was, I couldn't stop laughing when I think I called Gizmo.
I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, he's like, I'm driving. I'm like, no, but what are you, what are you eating? I'm having lunch. He's like, I'm eating. I'm having my lunch. I'm having salad, salad, salad with
Bam Bam: salad while you drive. I know. It's not that hard, boys. It's, oh, it's fucking hard. It's not like
Poobah: I'm using chopsticks.
All right. Well it's not like a crunch wrap supreme from, you know, that's just like a like [01:42:00] Yeah. It's not like a burrito. It's like a
Senator: burrito. Correct. It's not like he's in a Tesla autopilot where he's like, has to do nothing. Also True. Can have a tray and he's like eating properly. That's like, he's like driving and eating a salad and having a cigar
Bam Bam: at the same time.
That's also correct.
Senator: I love to have a cigar while I eat.
Bam Bam: That's talent. Oh.
Gizmo: Can
Senator: you imagine the day he gets pulled over while he's eating a salad by some cup? The top will crack up.
Gizmo: Yeah. I did get pulled over recently while I was smoking a cigar. No salad. No salad. It was at night. Alright. And I got pulled over because I have tents on my car and there's no front plate in New Jersey, here in the States.
We have to have a front plate. Were you
Poobah: asking for your, that's like,
Gizmo: no, it's the first time in like 10 years I've been pulled over for, I, I, I refuse to put the front plate on my car. Me too. And I like tents. How did that go? Fine. I got off. But I felt bad because I was smoking a great cigar and I didn't wanna put it out all
Senator: arrogant.
Gizmo: So no, it wasn't arrogant. I, I literally, as I rolled the window down, I apologized and I saw the smoke. Excuse me, officer. This
Senator: is, uh, Cohiba, CILO five.
Bam Bam: The moment he cracked the window, it was like five guys from Jamaica [01:43:00] smoking Doobies in there with, can I see license by the way,
Gizmo: I swear to you, I rolled down the window and I saw the smoke just crawl out and smack the trooper in the face and he shook his head.
He is like, what? I was like, ah, do you have your license and registration? I felt terrible. I really funny. I apologize profusely. He asked for
Senator: license registration. G was, gizmo is after I get through the first third. Yeah, it's like at the end of the second, third. It's like when Correct.
Poobah: The ole and uh, Eric Stoltz fall out of the van in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Just all of the smoke.
Gizmo: All smoke. Yeah. That's really what it was like. But I wasn't gonna let the cigar go out. I don't remember what it was, but it was fantastic. I was driving to Pennsylvania. So thanks again to Lizard Blake, our lizard of the re, our Lizard of the week for writing that great email and asking us about our daily routine for smoking.
If, uh, any of the other lizards have any updates on this, uh, in future episodes, I'll, I'll tee up, uh, pagoda who's routine is hilarious every day, how his [01:44:00] routine goes. So we gotta get him to chime in on this. And, uh, chef Ricky as well, and Grindr. So, uh, we'll, uh, we'll bring that up to the boys in a future episode.
And now boys, we're coming to the end of our evening tonight with the Dalmore, 12 years aged Sherry Cas Select single Malt Scotch and the Aging Room. Quatro Nicaragua Concerto in Maestro. What's everybody thinking before we get to the ratings?
Senator: Delicious pairing tonight. So I'm curious on the Delmore, when you added water, a little bit of ice and let it come down in temperature.
Not when it's super cold. 'cause that's when the flavor actually gets a little bit muddled. Did you get like a cocoa note? Yeah, I did on the finish. I did.
Gizmo: I I was getting that without the ice though, Senator. I was
Bam Bam: too, but the water amplified it. I noted that earlier. My old, I wish I would've poured just a little bit of water from the bottle and not put the Cuban.
So that's what I did. I agree. I know I did that. My
Senator: second or third pour however many I'm on Yeah. With the water bottle. Yeah. Yeah. And it was perfect. There's
Poobah: could a dent put in that by somebody? Oh yeah. And it wasn't Mick
Bam Bam: usually is, [01:45:00] usually is It was not Mick. I'm right behind you though.
Gizmo: Isn't that called a sploosh
Bam Bam: by somebody?
Yeah, the water
Gizmo: sploosh. Yeah.
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Gizmo: All right, boys, it's time now to do the formal liquor rating tonight on the dalmore, 12 years age, sherry cast, select single mal scotch. Bam, bam, you're up.
Bam Bam: It's gonna be a high rating, but I'm having a difficult time. You know, I'm going back and forth between a nine and a 10.
I, I'm probably gonna land on a nine. As delicious as this was. Um, very unique with the cocoa finish and without the cube. It, I, I did get a little apricot, a little bit of a fruit. Um, not too sweet, though, not overtly sweet, but it was a pretty unique scotch, uh, to have. So I'm at a firm nine with this. All right.
Poobah: Uba. Yeah, I liked it a lot. I'm in a nine too. It, it had some citrus notes. It had some ch chocolate notes. It balanced out WW without, without the ice or, or a little bit of of water to just open it up. [01:46:00] Um, it was hot at first for me and I was a little bit like, I'm not getting what everyone's talking about.
Um, and then once it opened up, it really, it really opened up.
Gizmo: So it's a nine for me. So for me it's also a nine. I really enjoyed the scotch. I don't know though, if I compare this to other 12-year-old scotch or other 14-year-old scotch, if it's gonna enter my bar, I don't think it's going to, I don't think I'm gonna reach for this.
However, it's excellent and I don't love the price for what I'm getting here. I do think some of those other scotches priced around the same amount are delivering a little bit more. So that's what keeps it from getting the 10 from me. But with that being said, nine's a great score as Bam always says.
Correct. And this is a great scotch. It's a great scotch. So I'm very, very happy at a nine. Yeah, and
Poobah: people are creatures of habit. I mean, there are things that I can appreciate this for what it's representing That's true. And give it a nine, but not, not necessarily have to grab for it all the time.
Senator: Senator, I agree with all the commentary. I'm at a strong nine. [01:47:00] Um, the price is really the only thing that precluded the 10. What I love about this and why I will happily drink this again. That cocoa note on the finish. The only other single malt scotch I get that from is Macallan 12, Sherry. I was shocked to find something else that delivers that same experience.
I think it's really well balanced. You know, we talk about scotches that are finished in sherry cast, you use Avalara as an example. I mean, that's just a sherry bomb that I would not describe as balanced. That's just very sweet. Still a great scotch. This is balance like, you know, there's a lot of D more that has like some woody slightly Petey notes, but then with a good amount of sweetness that balances out, I think this dials up to sweetness more than, uh, some of those other more savory notes.
It, it delivers a, a complete experience. I think a little water helps open it up and that flavor becomes even more robust. You know, you talk about some spirits where you [01:48:00] add water or you add ice and it like dilutes the flavor. I actually think in this, it really opens it up in a nice way. Um, so I'm at a strong nine and you know, really the only thing that precluded the 10 is the value.
$90 is a steep price for a daily driver of a spirit. Oh yeah. Um, but I'm thrilled to have found it because, you know, we're, we're all at different, you're at a bar, you're in a airport, you're in so many places and sometimes they don't have what you normally reach for. And if I see a bottle of this on a shelf, there's no question, I would order it and be incredibly satisfied.
So a strong nine for
Bam Bam: me, it's
Senator: another good
Gizmo: option. Boys, the formal liquor rating on the dalmore 12 years age, Sherry cast select single malt scotch whiskey is a 9.0. So let's compare that to the other two dalmore. We did, of course, like I said, the Dalmore cigar malt, we did on episode two with the Davidov Chefs edition 2021, if you can believe it.
We didn't rate that one. And the other dalmore 12, the non sherry cask [01:49:00] version, $20 less, we rated a 6.2.
Bam Bam: Wow.
Gizmo: So that is a 28 point
Bam Bam: departure. Departure
Gizmo: from the spirit we had tonight. So that $20 and the sherry casks aren't, you know, clearly doing something for the delmore single malt because clearly we hated the 12th.
Senator: The delta there tells you why there's a global shortage of sherry casks. What happens when a spirit is in a sherry barrel is just game changing. It's magical, like transforms it. It's the same scotch. They're just finishing it in the final two years in a sherry cask. And look at the difference in how we all perceive that.
Dramatic. How you get the cocoa in this thing though, that is just so unusual.
Bam Bam: It's the bouchard mentally. Yes. This is the gizmo cast. That's correct.
Gizmo: Very rare boys. It's time to do the formal lizard rating tonight on the aging room. Quatro [01:50:00] Nicaragua Concerto in Maestro. You're up.
Rooster: This cigar is an absolute, brilliantly blended from the, when you smell the wrapper in the beginning, that aroma on the wrapper, you knew that this cigar is going to be something special.
It was even chocolatey at that point. Yeah. That milk chocolate note coming through all the way from the beginning to the end, that little bit of pepper, that was a very nice compliment to the cigar. Um, I mean, like I said, the, the blending is just, just amazing and. What a cigar. I mean, um, I've always been looking for a cigar that I can not replace the exclusive O but that would also compliment an exclusive.
So you wanna have an exclusive, or you have, you have this to go, go to. Um, I mean, I mean this cigar is absolutely worth buying multiple boxes of if you're gonna have just one cigar [01:51:00] in the day, this, or five or five in your case. So, I mean, this cigar for my palette, it completely satisfies me. Like I don't, I don't, there's nothing else I would add to this blend to make it any more than it is already.
So for all of that, those reasons, I'm at an 11. Alright, look at that. I have to call pagoda and make sure that's okay.
Gizmo: Where is he? So solids, he's,
Rooster: he's, he's the head of the audit committee? Exactly. He, he's the numbers guy. That's correct. If I could give it an 11, I mean this would be an 11. So this cigar is completely satisfying.
I mean, you don't need anything else. It's a home run. Great, great blend. Good review, man. Yeah, this is a solid 10.
Senator: Alright, Senator. I'm in the same camp and I'm a little surprised because the Touro, I would not have rated a 10, but this torpedo I agree with that is perfect. Absolutely [01:52:00] perfect, and you're down to the nub.
To the nub. I mean, fingers burning. It's a rare
Bam Bam: occurrence.
Senator: This is spectacular. It has. It's a full sensory experience. The construction, just when you look at the cigar, it's a handsome cigar. The wrapper, there's no veins, invisible seams, beautifully constructed, perfect draw, great smoke output, great combustion, razor sharp burn.
The smell rooster talked about the aroma before you even light the cigar, mm-hmm. Is intoxicating. You light it and from the first few puffs, I mean every single person, immediately you smoke some cigars and you light the cigar and you say, I'm not really sure. We'll see where this goes. You light this cigar and you immediately know, wow, there's something great about this blend.
The first third, the spice is more prominent, but is still really well balanced with all the sweet notes that you get from the milk [01:53:00] chocolate, the savory notes you get from the saltiness that is, is present in the cigar. The second third, the pepper dies down. It's so smooth, so flavorful, and the last third, it gets more savory in a really great way, but the sweetness still stays there and lingers.
It's got a, a long, full finish. It's so satisfying. I think anybody who enjoys, uh, a medium and medium full cigar would be thrilled with this as much as anyone who also enjoys a full cigar. There's so much flavor in this, I think they would love it. Yeah. Um, what Raphael Nadal did with this is spectacular.
Uh, it's a strong 10. I can't wait to order a box of these. And like Rooster said, I mean, you know, for me, the brilliance of the Sonata is, I don't know that I ever had a cigar that was like, as perfect a transition to an VO and finding [01:54:00] that was game changing, but I had still not found anything that could slot in that vo position, in the rotation.
And this absolutely could. And I love that now I have two cigars to choose from at that moment in a, in a sitting when I'm smoking. And so, um, I, I, I'm just so grateful that this came out and I can't wait to smoke another.
Gizmo: So before I give my review, the fact that you are saying that you have found a cigar that can slot where the exclusive does, that's a
Bam Bam: rare
Gizmo: comment.
That has never happened. No. Since I've known you, it has not happened on this podcast. That's right. Up until episode 193. That is a big compliment. Absolutely. From Senator to Al, I think,
Rooster: I think anybody who smokes PO drones, especially the, the Family Reserve. Oh, they'll love the cigar. Oh, they're the entire 1964 series.
Yeah. Whether it's Maduro or Naturals, you will love the cigar.
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Gizmo: I'll be honest, I think that this gives you a little bit of the family [01:55:00] reserve profile with less of the punch in the face. Correct. Sometimes I have that family reserve, the 90th that I know you love, or some of those others that we've rated very well.
They
Bam Bam: do punch you a little bit, but
Gizmo: I don't reach for them because they have a little bit of a, a little bit punch. Yeah. Like a Mike Tyson thing going on.
Bam Bam: But
Gizmo: you know, the
Bam Bam: creaminess here, levels that experience out a
Gizmo: hundred percent.
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Gizmo: So my rating boys, I, I was blown away on the light. As I said, it never stopped.
It was milk chocolate from the light, and it was balanced all the way through. As you said, rooster, I wouldn't change a damn thing about this cigar. Nadal in a torpedo is a slam dunk. It's a perfect match. Absolutely. Nadal in a torpedo, correct. Any of his stuff in a torpedo. I'm a buyer, I'll buy a box.
Having not even tasted it at this point, yeah, I'd go as that's how confident I
Senator: am. I'd go as far as saying that Raphael Nadal makes the best new world torpedo of any one period. I would completely agree with that. Put your
Poobah: helmet on. Start your engines. But at, [01:56:00]
Bam Bam: but don't forget, the price point is also amazing.
Mm-hmm. For him to be able to do this at what he's charging, it's, it's, I think it's game changing,
Gizmo: so it burned perfectly the whole way through. I think, I don't know if any of us touched it up at all, maybe once or twice. Great Combustion, I love the value on this at 15 bucks. I think this gave us immense value tonight.
I mean, even when we stopped recording and we smoked through the second, third, not recording, we were just chatting amongst ourselves. It was so pleasurable. Even as we were sitting here, like it really delivered the entire way through. I was completely blown away. You know, a, as senator said in the interview, Nadal has tamed Nicaraguan tobacco in a way that I think is unique, and I think it's D extremely
Bam Bam: unique.
Absolutely.
Gizmo: We've pointed to Padron and we love Padron. We've pointed to them and their ability to be as consistent as they are, as reliable as they are, and the flavor profile. It's a little one dimensional, [01:57:00] but we've always appreciated that. Mm-hmm. This cigar. Is not one dimensional. No. This cigar is dynamic
Bam Bam: and it evolves, but there's a consistent strain with this particular cigar.
For me, it's that milk chocolate that just stays consistent for this.
Gizmo: Exactly. And I, with the, you know, comparing this to the exclusive, when you light an exclusive, you know what you're gonna get The first third, the second third, the final third, you know what you're getting. There's no surprises there.
It's going to give you what you want and it's gonna keep rolling for an hour. This does have those dynamic changes that we appreciate in a great Cuban cigar. It has a first, third, a second third, a last third that is unique to Nicaragua tobacco for me, sure. In great Nicaragua cigars we've had before that hasn't been present, so I have to give Rafael Nadal at 10 on this cigar tonight.
I really, really enjoyed it. I can't wait to get a box. Yeah. I'm completely blown away and I agree with Senator and everybody's comments that this could absolutely slot in. Where the exclusive does in any of our [01:58:00] rotations. So it's a 10 for me. Uba.
Poobah: Yeah. It was, well it was a concerto. You had, you, you, you had the orchestra in the background with the chocolate kind of, you know, playing the music the whole time through creating this kind of balance.
But then you had these notes that would pop out in these like little solos of where you're saying, well, I'm getting this, I'm getting that. That's really a good thing, especially when what, what jumps out and surprises you is, is pleasurable. Obviously there's been some surprises where you're like, that's a tar blast, or something like that.
That's not what I'm referring to. Uh, when, but, but when it is hitting all the notes. So for, for me personally, I, I, I thought that this was a really nice, um, concerto of sorts and, uh, it, it, it really brought out some, some great interesting flavors, which were, which were, which was un I was not expecting. So I, given the value, the build, the construction, the draw, uh, the unique flavor profile,
Gizmo: um, I'll give [01:59:00] it a 10.
Nice. Awesome. Before we get to bam. Yeah. Does anybody have a first aid kit for Senator? His finger is on fire
Bam Bam: and his lips are about to burn.
Senator: This is insane. I, I, there are very, very, very few cigars I've ever smoked to the point that, I mean, I've smoked where my fingers are slightly burning, but I have what, half an inch?
Less than that. Yeah. You're about where I am now. Like that. This is the first time I actually believe in the merits of like a roach clip, the roach clip. Or using a perfect draw to keep this going. Yeah.
Gizmo: This is a monumental life for senator. Yeah. The thing that's crazy,
Senator: I lit, I re-lit this when there was about half an inch.
It's still is not in any way, shape or form. Harsh. Nope. And all the flavor is still there. It's insanity. Yeah.
Bam Bam: I, yeah, I was gonna, so I'll start my review with that, because there aren't many cigars that you can take down that far. There are a few, especially
Gizmo: Nicaraguan.
Bam Bam: That's exactly right. And there it's a huge merit as to how he's making his cigars.
I'm at a 10 obviously, but, um, I, [02:00:00] I'm not sure how many times I said milk chocolate tonight, maybe 12, 13 times 25. And that just look, it's consistent. I'm gonna get even now at the very end, so I'm at a clear 10.
Gizmo: Boys, the formal lizard rating tonight, it's a very easy one on the aging room. Quatro Nicaragua Concerto in Maestro.
It's a perfect 10.0. And I wanna point out, aside from the other anomalies that we've experienced tonight in the room together, I don't know the last time and I'm even including Padron 'cause there's often a dissenter in the room on Padron who doesn't give it the full 10. There's been several, but some of the Padron's, even the ones we loved, an exclusive, does not have a perfect tent.
A lot of them don't. For a Nicaraguan cigar, which is on the more full scale ver, you know, versus what we smoke, Cuban, Honduran, Dominican, some of the others, and Nicaragua for all of us in the room with our varying degrees of palate to agree on this cigar at a 10, it's rare. I think that even puts an [02:01:00] like an exclamation point on that 10 for this cigar tonight.
Yeah.
Bam Bam: Big merit to Raphael.
Gizmo: I'm
Rooster: curious, who didn't give exclusive a 10
Senator: oh oh oh. Thank you rooster. Remind me who is out for the holidays?
Gizmo: So the Padron exclusive O Maduro that we've been talking about all night on episode three, rated a 9.6 because of who. You're not gonna like this. Not me rooster. I
Rooster: hope
Gizmo: it grinder, rooster, and bam. Bam. No. Gave him nine something. I think must have been wrong with that box
Senator: rooster. Holy. I've been smoking before Senator.
12, 12, 10. Bam. Does this settle my debate? Well, he was on Gibraltar's. You can't ask him. He rated it a nine too. That's
Bam Bam: true. How is that possible? I don't know.
Rooster: I all I'll say is it was early. It was early on the
Bam Bam: pod in our career.
Senator: Yeah, it was early. Oh yeah. But you've been smoking them since 12 the years.
1260. 12 according
Rooster: to Bam. [02:02:00] 1263.
Senator: You were
Bam Bam: in the Azore smoking this thing.
Rooster: We need to change that rating. Yeah, we do. Immediately.
Gizmo: Well, boys, I am completely blown away by this cigar tonight. Let's compare it to the other two aging room cigars we've done on the pod. We did the aging Room, Quatro, Nicaragua, and Espressivo.
That's the rib Robusto, 50 by five on episode 35, long time ago, scored an 8.8. And the aging room, Quatro Nicaragua Sonata in maestro, same size as this. But the Sonata, the yellow box on episode 130 scored a 9.5. So it, you know, aging room is during doing very well on the pod. But like I said, to get that 10 tonight, I think is a real highlight for a $15 cigar.
Because the, the tens that we get outta Nicaragua are high dollar pad drones. We're talking the 60th, we're talking the hammer. We're talking the. 80th. The 80th. Sure. We're talking about a $15 cigar today. Sure. Yeah. That hasn't happened. That value's [02:03:00] incredible. That has not happened outta Nicaragua.
Senator: I'm shocked.
I mean, even me, as much as I love aging room, I just, based on my experience with the Toro, thought I'd probably give this a nine. I This is flawless, absolutely flawless.
Gizmo: It's such a sin that some of the cigars were lost in that fire because it, it's created a shortage that is really unfortunate for such a great cigar.
So hopefully we and the lizards out there can find these cigars in, uh, plentiful amounts. Thank God very
Rooster: fernandez's stockpile of tobacco that, you know, that's also true.
Gizmo: And their ability to recover. Yeah. Mm-hmm. They got back on their feet so fast after that fire. Very impressive. Yeah.
Senator: Rafael Al, he had posted video of how quick they like, created a makeshift version of the factory that they were rolling all these out of.
That's right. To just keep production going. Clearly production didn't miss a beat. It's not like they did that and the quality suffered. I mean, this was outstanding.
Bam Bam: Yeah.
Gizmo: What a great [02:04:00] night, boys. Let's go through our ratings one more time on the Dalmore, 12 years age, single malt Scotch. The Sherry Cask Select, we had a 9.0 and on the aging room, Quattro Nicaragua Concerto in Maestro, we had a perfect 10.
We have to congratulate our friend Lizard Blake again for winning Lizard of the Week. Like I said, any lizard out there can win. All you have to do is email us whatever you choose, Instagram, YouTube, email, whatever you like. Send us something and you can win Lizard of the Week. Of course, we have to thank our sponsor.
Fabrica five. Fabrica five is making great Cigars Boys. Oh
Bam Bam: yeah.
Gizmo: Including the Bon Roberts Cigars, the 1 0 9, the Petite 1 0 9, the entire line of Fabrica five cigars, and they've got 50 cabs. 50 cabs. Baby. Do not forget to use our code when you go to fabrica zero zero five.com and buy some of their cigars when you support them.
You are supporting us boys. What a great night tonight. Thank you so much. We really love the interview with Rafael [02:05:00] and Nadal at PCA. I'm hyped. I can't wait to have another cigar. I might light one tonight and we'll see everybody next week. Keep smoking. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Thanks for joining us.
You can find our merch store and ratings archive at our brand new website. Lounge Lizards pod.com. That's Lounge lizards, PO d.com. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. If you have any comments, questions, if you wanna reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking, email us hello@loungelizardspod.com.
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