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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!
Welcome to the Lounge Lizards podcast recorded live at the twenty twenty five Premium Cigar Association Convention and International Trade Show in New Orleans 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 Senator, Pagoda, and Bam Bam, and our plan is to smoke a cigar, drink some rum, talk about life, and, of course, have some laughs.
Gizmo:So take this as your one hundred and eighty first official invitation to join us and become a card carrying lounge lizard. Planet Meat is 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 impressions and favorite moments from the PCA show. We detail our appreciation for New Orleans cuisine and hospitality, and we discuss our new obsession with a famous sandwich all among a variety of other things for the next ninety minutes.
Gizmo:So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar, enjoy as we pair Ilion Jimenez nineteen o three rum with the La Aurora family creed, Fuerte Sol in Robusto. Live from New Orleans, it's PCA twenty twenty five, and we are here tonight, boys, with a brand new Robusto from The Dominican Republic, the La Aurora family creed series in Fuerte, Sol.
Bam Bam:Nice looking cigar.
Gizmo:It is. It's a 50 ring gauge Robusto by five inches long. And boys, it is so good to be back at PCA recording another live episode, this time in a fantastic media room, actually. We have a little bit of privacy. We have kind of a consistent setup here that we're able to record in.
Bam Bam:Well, you know, we're pretty celebrities now.
Gizmo:We deserve our own space. Our own dream.
Senator:And thanks to Josh and PCA. Mean, it's fully walled in, perfectly set up for exactly what we're
Gizmo:here to do. Exactly right. So we have this brand new Robusto from La Aurora. Again, it's called the Family Creed Fuerte Sol. And we had this cigar the other night, boys, and it's time to have it again here under the microscope on the pod tonight.
Gizmo:Correct. So we're hoping for good things. But first, boys, let's cut this thing, see what we're getting on the cold draw and the wrapper.
Bam Bam:Wide open draw.
Gizmo:Yeah. Mine's perfect.
Bam Bam:And very pleasant.
Gizmo:Yeah. The flavor on it is very good. Wow. Very good.
Bam Bam:Wow. I'm getting a hint of floral.
Gizmo:I'm getting that figgy thing. And fig. Yeah.
Senator:Dare I say dried fruit?
Gizmo:Yeah, it's a dried fruit,
Pagoda:for sure.
Bam Bam:I'm glad I didn't say it.
Gizmo:This is very good.
Bam Bam:Oh, it's delicious. Nice cold draw. Yeah. The aroma in the wrapper is very nice as well.
Gizmo:Yeah. Alright, boys. Let's light this thing. The La Aurora Family Creed Fuerte Sol in box pressed Robusto. 50 ring gauge cigar by five inches long, and it's a unique combination of tobaccos on this thing.
Gizmo:The wrapper is Mexican San Andres. The binder is Nicaraguan, and the filler is a combo of Pennsylvanian, Nicaraguan, and Dominican Republic tobaccos. The MSRP on this cigar is going to be just north of $15.
Bam Bam:Okay. I'm getting a lot of sweet fruit, almost like a berry thing for me.
Senator:I'm getting a lot of cocoa and earth.
Bam Bam:Yeah. I see the cocoa not getting the earth yet, but very berry forward right now.
Gizmo:This is very nice. Yes. I like it a lot. You know, I will say in your hand, it does feel small. You know, what you would expect, I guess, from a Robusto.
Gizmo:Sure. You know, even when we have, like, a Padron Exclusivo in our hand, you know, a different Robusto from a different manufacturer, it feels more smaller than I
Senator:think the reason is, if you look at the box press on this, it's like a perfect square where a Padron box press is more rectangular, so it's a little bit wider True. And thinner. True.
Gizmo:So this cigar comes with a footband on it. Mhmm. Again, talking about the family creed as they're calling it, and the translation is we are proudly a family of passionate origins forged through persistent work and strong sunshine. And this is a new line from La Aurora that they're launching at PCA twenty twenty five. So the Leon family, founders, of course, of La Aurora cigars, has built a legacy on their unwavering commitment to quality craftsmanship and tradition.
Gizmo:We've heard those three words before, boys, from Kirby Allison. The reason can be found in the Leon family creed, a set of principles that has guided and continues to guide every Leon family member and employee at La Aurora. So the each of the blends in this series taking its name directly from the family creed just as the sun represents power and endurance, Fortesol captures the strength and resilience inherent in the Leon family values. So that's what we have tonight, boys, a $16 ish, $15 ish Robusto from La Aurora. It's
Bam Bam:very good right now.
Gizmo:It is. It's very nice. Yeah. I forgot the mic.
Pagoda:Oh, my Lord.
Gizmo:We've gotta
Pagoda:carry the Chevy mic, by the way.
Gizmo:I'm sorry.
Pagoda:I'm sorry. No, no, no. This is No. Work is good. Work is good.
Pagoda:I think my biceps are finally getting workout over here. Yeah. But yeah, no, great smoke out, but And yeah, I was I'm getting more of the little saltiness with a little bit of I thought a little bit more floral on my palate. Left a very pleasant feeling on the top of my palate. It's really good.
Gizmo:Yeah. I'm really enjoying the cigar. So, boys, it is very good to be in New Orleans. I know last year, our listeners will remember that we were in Las Vegas for PCA twenty twenty four, and this year, we are very happy to not be in Las Vegas and happy to be in New Orleans because this is such a better scene, a better setup, better food, better vibes. Everything is better as far as I'm concerned having the trade show in New Orleans.
Bam Bam:I didn't know any better. I've never been to New Orleans. So Vegas for me was a great time because of the show and hanging out with the guys. But this place is a revelation. New Orleans has left an imprint on me.
Bam Bam:I want to come back here as often as I can, man. No doubt.
Senator:I mean, I could not have been more excited when they announced this was gonna be in New Orleans. This is a city that I've spent a lot of time in. I've always had amazing meals, met amazing people, great experiences, and I'm glad we got to share this together. I mean, I think nothing's excited me more than seeing all of you guys experience some of my favorite things here for the first time and loving them just as much,
Gizmo:which is Absolutely.
Pagoda:Yeah, no, New Orleans is definitely, I think, outdone Vegas in all manner of the And thanks to Senator again and his stewardship. Yeah. We've been experiencing everything he's experienced.
Gizmo:Some amazing stuff.
Pagoda:Yeah. It's been great from restaurants to, you know, just local bars, and it's just been a lot of fun. Loving New Orleans. I
Gizmo:will say, and and not to rag on Vegas too much. Okay? But I will say that being in New Orleans makes me realize how soulless Las Vegas is, how transactional, how money driven and focused it is, whereas here, I mean, we've had some amazing meals that we're gonna talk about in a little bit. At some of the most reasonable prices that I've ever spent on food, it's actually been shocking. The drinks are reasonably priced.
Gizmo:Everybody's happy
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:To be serving, you know, whatever they're serving and the people that they're serving it to. It's just been overall hospitality, the vibe, the welcoming of this cigar culture that's moved, you know, several thousand people into the city for this event. I mean, it's just been so warm.
Bam Bam:You know, for me, the visuals of the city made a big impact architecturally, the history of it. You know, you're almost, you could drive down any road. There are homes that are over 180 years old, plus most are renovated. That garden district that Senator took us through, I can't tell you how beautiful that neighborhood is. It is outstanding.
Pagoda:We have seen Bam Bam walk down many streets multiple times.
Bam Bam:Making my round.
Gizmo:I must say too, and for anyone who hasn't been to New Orleans, this was a pretty cool thing for me. Outside of many homes here in New Orleans is an actual gas lamp.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:Like, it looks like a flickering light bulb, but you realize that it is a gas lamp that is on, I guess, almost all day long in front of most of the homes here in New Orleans. I just those little things that are are held over from, you know, the days of old, I guess, are, you know, is an example of something keeping tradition alive in this city and keeping the soul alive.
Bam Bam:Historic details that catch your eye.
Gizmo:And like you're saying, the architecture, the restoration of some of these old-
Bam Bam:Oh, it's
Gizmo:incredible. Properties. I mean, it's really, really impressive.
Senator:I mean, all of that is huge in the South, and I think New Orleans embodies arguably better than any city in the South true Southern hospitality. I mean, every person that we've met, half the time we're walking around with our PCA lanyards on, we don't even realize it, and people are thrilled to see tourists here. They want you to have a great time. They want you to have a nice experience. They want to get to know a little bit more about you, and I think use the word transactional in Vegas, and that's what most things feel like there.
Senator:It's, I'm paying for this good or service, and enjoy it and leave.
Bam Bam:Oh,
Senator:yeah. And here, it's stay as long as you want. I mean, we had a dinner the other night and literally the owner said, Stay as long as you want. Do whatever you want.
Gizmo:Exactly. They were just so happy to have us there.
Bam Bam:Yep. It was incredible.
Gizmo:And by the way, we were already done with our meal. We had already paid. We were finished. We were in a terrace eating outside. We'll talk about it in a little bit, but just the way that this woman walked up to us and said, You are welcome here as long as you'd like to be here and do whatever you want was pretty incredible.
Gizmo:By the way, we were smoking cigars while she said that Exactly.
Bam Bam:A single complaint.
Gizmo:She was deadly serious. Yeah. Do whatever you want.
Bam Bam:It was awesome.
Gizmo:Pretty cool. So boys, we have been very blessed as well by the weather here. I mean, I gotta imagine that New Orleans gets to be pretty brutal. A lot of parts of the year.
Senator:The summers are super humid and hot as can be.
Gizmo:This April weather has been outstanding, not only for walking around and and experiencing all that New Orleans has to offer. Even you know, we're inside the trade show most of the day, but we've been able to venture out, as much as we can here. But the weather for smoking, for enjoying cigars outside, enjoying a glass of rum.
Bam Bam:Walking around with your jacket on. Yeah. Completely comfortable. It's
Gizmo:been amazing.
Senator:There's been no humidity. No. Highs of high seventies, at most 80 degrees. Flawless smoking weather.
Bam Bam:So you've been here during the holidays. What's the weather like at that time of Oh,
Senator:the weather actually is similar to this. To this. Really?
Gizmo:Yeah. So it doesn't get cold?
Senator:At night, it can. Yes. At night, it gets chilly. Not super cold. Not not anything like we're used to up the No.
Senator:Like, me complaining on our at our Airbnb at night that, like, it's a little cold, like that that kind of cold.
Gizmo:Oh, we'll get there. Correct.
Pagoda:Senators turn soft. It's all right.
Bam Bam:It's all right.
Gizmo:So, boys, as we always do when we come to the trade show, we try to attend all of the opening seminars and educational stuff because we always learn something new. We are introduced to new people. And this year, thankfully, we went because we met some folks we actually got to interview. We'll talk about that in a little bit. But we opened our time here at the trade show on Friday afternoon with some educational seminars, and the first one was actually the newest release from the people who make the hand rolled cigar documentaries, and some listeners out there will remember some of those hand rolled documentaries that have come out.
Gizmo:And this year, it was on the Ehiroa family who we know as the people who manufacture Aladino cigars and the importance of Honduras in the cigar story and the cigar community, which was, I guess, kind of overlooked in these, you know, first iterations of the the first episodes of the Handrolled series. So it was awesome. The first thing we experienced was this brand that we've recently fallen in love with telling the story of of the, you know, the patriarch of the family, his, you know, beginnings in Cuba, Honduras, and then a plane crashed that unfortunately took his mobility away from him.
Bam Bam:It's an incredible story.
Gizmo:I mean, it was really amazing. So what are your what are your what were your impressions of the hand rolled documentary about the Airoa family?
Bam Bam:You know, this is only our our second show. Last story on the Padron family was very emotional, talking about his sons, then George himself talking about his sons, the whole generational shepherd and stewardship of the Padron label. And this story was also very emotional. You know, most of us here are dads and we have, you know, families. It just, for me, I got emotional here again, as I did in Vegas.
Bam Bam:The stories just have a great impact and that the way they worked so hard, they started with nothing and they've built themselves incredible businesses is very inspirational.
Senator:Yeah, I think for me, similar to last year, I remain amazed that the Cuban story that is really the founding of many of these families that are huge in the new world cigar business, that that story still gets told in a really impactful way, and kind of how their lives in Cuba and what they learned there shaped and influenced generations forward their family members who today run and lead these businesses in these different companies. And I just thought it was really cool to hear and see the multiple generations in that film that they made just talking about how all these kind of key moments and inflection points in their lives really influenced who they are and what they do today, and I say it because, you know, one thing I don't love in the industry, and I say this globally more so, there's kind of presented this divide between Cuban and new world cigars, and I think when you better appreciate the history of even every New World brand, they are one in the same, right? The style of blending and product and flavor profile may be different, and that's obviously a reflection of the soil and the terroir, but the commitment to craftsmanship and the passion that these folks have is a common bond globally, whether you're manufacturing in Nicaragua, Cuba, The Dominican, Honduras, you name it.
Senator:And I just think that's really cool that the last two years we've been here, I think that story's been told loud and clear. And celebrated. Exactly.
Pagoda:Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, what I feel is obviously, like said, I'd mentioned, the origins are, you know, somewhat the same. Many, many of the families have a very similar story in the sense that they've all left Cuba. They've been through extreme struggle.
Pagoda:They've been very entrepreneurial in nature. They've had a sense of resiliency in them and, you know, gone on to develop and maintain a craft which they truly appreciate and the family values. You know, the family has been a consistent theme in all of these, you know, manufacturers, producers, you know, enthusiasts of cigars, families, you know, concurrently through all of these houses. It's been fantastic learning.
Bam Bam:I find interesting, you know, of course, the families that have come from Cuba, they've got the advantage of time being here in The States. Arrived here so long ago, so they developed their brands over generations. So they're in stellar positions in the business. What's cool to see is you've got the other smaller boutique brands that are up and coming that are being inspired by those families. I find that very cool, see that inspirational approach that they're taking.
Senator:No, I agree. I think the family point is huge. Mean, it's always amazing to see the Euroa family, the Padron family. Mean,
Gizmo:Perez Carrillo.
Pagoda:Perez Carrillo.
Bam Bam:Oh yeah.
Senator:Nadal? Nadal, even Stoic Cigars who we spent some time with here. I mean, his wife is here supporting that business 100%, and it's a true family affair that makes this possible, these products that we love and appreciate so much, and I think it's really cool. I've certainly not experienced that. I'm not in business with my wife or, you know, certainly my kid's too young.
Bam Bam:I'm glad I'm not. But Mrs. Bam Bam, I love you. But I know you don't wanna work for me, and you're not gonna work for me.
Senator:Notice Bam said four, not with.
Gizmo:Yeah, Correct.
Senator:But I say that because, again, that's just It's not an experience I've had, but it's really cool to see an entire family working toward the same professional goal every single day, and each of them playing such an integral role. So I think it's just been really cool to experience So
Gizmo:definitely check out the documentary on the Airoa family from the folks who make hand rolled when that comes out. I think they're gonna tweak it a little bit from what we saw, make a couple adjustments, and then they'll finally put it out to the public sometime, I'm assuming, before the end of this year. And then pretty wild boys, right after that finished, the governor of Louisiana shows up with a cigar in his hand, lights it on stage, and gives a fantastic ten, fifteen minute speech in front of the, you know, trade show conference opening afternoon. And I was honestly, like, I'm not a politics guy. You know?
Gizmo:It's not something that I celebrate
Bam Bam:come We have some in that world.
Gizmo:But, you know, El Senador will certainly share his thoughts on it. But I I just I was blown away that a governor showed up to a cigar trade show twenty twenty five.
Pagoda:Thought it was very And
Gizmo:cigar. And up a cigar. And I thought that was very good for our
Bam Bam:industry. Yeah. I don't know much about him, but he seems very genuine, down to earth, easy to talk to. He's got a good sense of humor, loves cigars. Yeah.
Bam Bam:Not you know, not much you can say We
Pagoda:need more of these politicians around.
Gizmo:I agree. Well.
Senator:I mean, I think Governor Landry is the embodiment of Southern hospitality, right? This is a guy who clearly is so passionate about bringing and driving tourism in the state of Louisiana, and obviously New Orleans especially, and I think it was so cool and a really nice touch by Josh and the PCA team to be able to get him to come in, talk about what he loves about New Orleans and Louisiana and hopes for everyone here to share in an experience and for him to very explicitly acknowledge and recognize, you know, the beauty of this product that we're all here at this trade show to celebrate, and I thought it was a really, really nice touch.
Gizmo:Yeah, certainly the governor of Nevada did not show up last year, So
Senator:Correct.
Gizmo:It was a it was a nice thing to see here in Louisiana. So, boys, let's talk about the trade show a little bit. What were some of your first impressions? Obviously, know, in comparison to Las Vegas last year being in New Orleans, a totally different setting, new conference center this year. What were some of your first impressions as we began to walk the trade floor?
Bam Bam:If I can start, initially, I think the sheer size of it is impressive compared to Nevada. It seems much bigger. I love the space. Most of the booths from the point of view of design and installation are kind of similar.
Gizmo:Yeah, pretty much the But
Bam Bam:I do love the way they organize the entire room, how you can meander through. It's very comfortable. Yeah, I mean, initially it's a pretty cool place to be.
Senator:Yeah, I think the venue was perfect for this trade show. I mean, just the amenities that this building, the convention center here in New Orleans has, I mean, when we got to Vegas, I feel like you kind of felt like you're walking into an empty warehouse, right? There's no like formal areas that seem well set up for concessions and bathrooms and all these different things. You're kind of just free roaming this open warehouse like space. And I think you get to the convention center here, and you have like a nice check-in area, a food court, very easy access to bathrooms.
Senator:I don't remember that being the case.
Gizmo:That's not the case in Vegas.
Pagoda:Not at all. And
Senator:then, you know, like Bam was saying, just when you walk in the actual trade show floor, I mean, there's definitely more people here than there were last year.
Pagoda:Yeah.
Senator:I think they said, what, 5,000?
Gizmo:Yeah, I think it's touching 5,000, yeah.
Senator:It's amazing.
Bam Bam:And it seems to be, from the point of view of the color of the room overall, it's a darker color, so it makes it a bit more comfortable. Little warmer. Warmer, yes. The carpeting- It feel sterile. The carpeting throughout is plush, very comfortable to walk and meander through.
Bam Bam:Completely different than what we experienced in Vegas.
Pagoda:What I really liked about it is as soon as you walked in at eight in the morning, there was a bar ride outside.
Bam Bam:He's not wrong. That's true. But you know, there aren't enough beer steins. Not enough beer steins.
Gizmo:By the there is a disturbing lack of beer, and I've noticed Pagoda has looked a little depressed this year- Oh, With the fact that he has not had much beer
Bam Bam:in French He hasn't had his 17 beers yet.
Senator:He's looking trimmer though.
Pagoda:Yeah. Hey, listen, you know, sometimes we have to sacrifice. It
Gizmo:is. It's work.
Pagoda:We're just working It work. It is work.
Gizmo:It's hard work.
Pagoda:But, you know, we have, there's been some rum, but not, you know, like last year you had the float of Kanye stands and then you had access to beer. It was just a lot more free flowing from that sense.
Gizmo:This is
Pagoda:true. But overall, I think just the way, like everybody's mentioned, this, you know, convention center makes it feel cozier, warmer, and you feel you have access to everything just around the corner and seems a lot more It's well organized to put it in, you know, to summarize it, of course.
Gizmo:I find it very easy to find all the booths you need, the people you need. Like, I feel like Vegas felt more like a maze, and this feels very linear and just a couple, you know, three or four aisles, everything you need to find is very easy. So
Senator:think the other cool thing, I mean, with the weather so amazing here, the fact that in front of the entire convention center, PCA has set up an outdoor cafe lounge. As you walk in. As you walk in where you can sit. I mean, show up At 9AM. Exactly.
Senator:People are sitting there smoking cigars, they're having coffee, having breakfast, some having a drink, and then you get to go into the trade show and obviously smoke here and do all that. So I just think the kind of indooroutdoor piece is nice. In Vegas, you just kind of felt like you completely lost sense of time. You were just stuck in that trade show floor the entire time where here it's easy to just pop out, get a little fresh air, enjoy a cigar, come back inside, which I really like.
Bam Bam:What's also cool, you don't seem limited here, right? We all poured ourselves a beer, and we walked out of the convention center.
Gizmo:Yeah. We to lunch.
Bam Bam:Walked three blocks with beer in our hand. It was great.
Gizmo:Yeah. The open container was
Bam Bam:pretty I haven't ever experienced that.
Gizmo:Yeah. It was a nice thing. Dakota liked that.
Pagoda:I think culturally, it's a fit.
Gizmo:For the listener out there who's not familiar with the trade show, this is not an end user trade show. This trade show exists to make connections and relationship management and sales between retailers, wholesalers, and, of course, the manufacturers who are making all this stuff. So we come here as media to kind of report on what's going on here, but you're not missing out on anything if you're listening to this going, how did I not hear about this? And how can I get a ticket for next year? It's not that type of trade show.
Gizmo:It is for the retailers, the manufacturers, and the wholesalers. And thankfully, we're able to attend and report on everything and give you our impressions. And what's awesome this year, and again, shouting out Josh, we have this amazing media space where we've literally sat all of our stuff here. We're set up, ready to go. We hold court here.
Gizmo:We can, you know, do an interview on demand, which we'll you get to in a little bit, talk about what we've been able to accomplish while we've been here, but it's been so conducive to, you know, productivity for us and getting great content for our listeners, so I'm very, very happy with the media space for sure.
Senator:I agree, and it's really important for the industry. I mean, I think some of the interviewees we've had have mentioned, you know, we are the bridge between them and the consumer, and because consumers can't be here, this is where new products are released every single year, and us being able to talk about those and try them and experience them and share that with our listeners is really important. So I'm just very grateful that we have a better space and setup to do that this year than we've certainly had last And
Bam Bam:I'm proud to say that we've made another great impression in this trip. We walk around, we're a lizard mafia. Pan
Gizmo:Am loves this.
Bam Bam:I do love this because people take notice. We're good looking guys. We look great. We're serious. We're here to conduct business.
Bam Bam:And it's, you know,
Gizmo:it's gone noticed. And I think our listeners are gonna be very, very happy with the content that is gonna be coming over the next few weeks off
Pagoda:of this
Bam Bam:Off the charts.
Gizmo:PCA show. We have done some fantastic interviews with some amazing folks here, so very, very excited about that. So, boys, we're coming to the end of the first third here on the La Aurora family creed, Fuerte Sol, the Robusto. What's everybody thinking right now?
Senator:So I like the flavor profile. I still get cocoa, earth, dried fruit, a little bit of salty kind of minerality in the background. The first time I smoked this, I actually got a lot of salt and minerality. This time I'm getting less of that. It's in the background, not the foreground, but I think it's actually a really nice blend.
Senator:I think it's very smooth, despite how full flavored this is, it's not full strength. No, it's kicking you around in any way. So I think it's off to a really good start.
Bam Bam:Yeah, it's a pleasant cigar. I'm getting Berry still with an infusion of cocoa, as you mentioned, and some coffee.
Pagoda:Yeah. So I'm getting a little more saltiness in this one. You know, like I said, like a floral minerality. Just a very interesting flavor of saltiness, but in the back end, I'm getting like bitter cocoa. I don't know what it is.
Pagoda:There's a little bit of bitterness to this Yeah,
Bam Bam:dark chocolate. But it
Pagoda:was, yeah.
Senator:But very dark.
Pagoda:Very dark. And I wish there was a little bit more sweetness in this to just, you know, get everything together. So that's what I'm seeking, and hopefully it comes through.
Bam Bam:You're a big dessert guy.
Senator:I am. I will say though, to Pagoda's point, this is very dry, so I do agree. You know, I would hope maybe midway through that the sweetness picks up a little bit to add a little more balance.
Gizmo:I am getting a little bit of I I don't wanna say citrus, but that feeling of sour that is causing me to salivate a little bit. But it's good because it for me, it's countering some of the elements of dryness that you've mentioned. Like, it's actually, you know, balanced right now for me. I love the flavor. Definitely getting the dark, bitter ish chocolate flavors, a little bit of coffee, but right now, very, very pleasant cigar.
Gizmo:Yeah. Very good. So, boys, let's talk about our pairing tonight. We're gonna stick with La Aurora, their sister brand, the Elion Jimenez nineteen oh three rum from The Dominican Republic. Oh, finally.
Gizmo:This is an eight year aged Dominican rum, and its MSRP on this bottle, boys, which I love, is $40.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:Pretty awesome.
Bam Bam:Mhmm.
Gizmo:It's aged eight years. First six and a half are spent in ex bourbon American white oak barrels, and the final one and a half years in ex Sherry Oloroso barrels. And the aging process is natural versus the Solara method, So there's no blending. It's a linear aging of eight years of this rum. And like I said, it's $40 a bottle.
Gizmo:So if you remember, on episode 154, we did another La Aurora cigar, the one hundred and twentieth anniversary in Robusto, and we also paired that with an Elion Jimenez rum, a much more expensive one, which was the one hundred and tenth anniversary. So we'll go through those ratings later. So we are back to a full pairing from La Aurora and Elion Jimenez. What do you guys think of the rum?
Bam Bam:I love the pairing. You know, you go back and forth with the draw and a sip. It's really, really delicious. It's very good. I'm getting vanilla on the nose and caramel on a particularly the finish.
Pagoda:Yeah. You know, for me, vanilla, caramel, like when I was smelling the aroma, it felt like it's more akin to like a bourbon or, you know, some other kind of spirit. You know, like for the rums we specifically have, you know, there's a distinct note which you can actually just smell. It's This is interesting, though. I'm really enjoying it.
Pagoda:It's smooth. It's very smooth for a rum.
Senator:Yeah, I think it's smooth. I think it You know, what I like about it, it leans drier than a lot of rums, especially out of the Dominican, which I like, and I think pairs well with this cigar. I think if this were, you know, a really overly sweet rum with this type of cigar, it would, I think, clash a little bit. So I think it's really nice, and I think at the price point, I mean, you know, this is a great sipping rum, and how can you complain about a $40 spirit that you can enjoy Yep.
Gizmo:I really love that it's not overly sweet.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:You know? And it's also not harsh in any way. Goes down very Nice balance. Yeah. It's balanced.
Gizmo:It feels natural. It doesn't feel like processed or fake, you know, in its ingredients. Like, just, it drinks very easily. And again, at $40, I really like the flavor of this.
Pagoda:I'm glad we're preparing also feel that it comes across as a more aged rum, like a 12 for some reason. It seems refined. Yeah. Right? Yeah.
Pagoda:It's really good. So, boys, after the first night here, we had
Gizmo:a welcome reception, and I was shocked when, you know, you see it on paper and it says, oh, it's outside a couple blocks away. You know? Okay. Let's go see what's up. It was quite literally in a public park.
Gizmo:They blocked off the entire public park outdoors, set up tons of food and cigar you know, some of the manufacturers were here handing out cigars and alcohol and everything else, and we literally, you know, I don't know, a thousand of the attendees or 500 showed up and smoked cigars outdoors in the middle of New Orleans. I was totally blown away
Senator:that we were allowed to do It was awesome. It was like they tried to build outdoor lounge. I mean, there was couches and nice chairs. I love that they had local food vendors. I mean, you think the welcome reception in Vegas, and it was like nachos and Cheez Whiz, basically.
Senator:Mean, it was serious. Those are Las Vegas delicacies. Yeah. Where here, you know, they had po'boys and muffalada and gumbo and all the local stuff that, you know, this place is so proud of, so I thought that was cool. Lot of stands as far as, you know, I think the alcohol sponsor was Buffalo Trace.
Senator:Yep. So plenty of options to try, stuff in their product line. Some of the cigar manufacturers that had sponsors were handing out some good sticks that we got a chance to try. So I thought altogether it was really well done, and, you know, we even People that were near us, I feel like we met new folks that we hadn't in the past, and it's nice to have those conversations where I don't remember that happening as much
Bam Bam:That's true.
Senator:Last year in Vegas.
Gizmo:Yeah. The whole event just feels more friendly to me. Yes. It feels warmer.
Bam Bam:Yes.
Gizmo:I think those things that we detailed earlier, even, you know, the color, the lighting, the layout, all of those things ease everyone and lower everyone's guard, and I think that I feel that we're having better conversations. Even with strangers that we're meeting, we that we're not intending to interview or even in the industry, you know, just just folks that we're spending time with. It just seems like a more rewarding experience.
Bam Bam:Definitely a byproduct of the environment that we're in. There's no doubt about it.
Pagoda:Yeah. The great weather, the outdoors, meaning it was like just a beautiful It seemed like an outdoor reception of a wedding, meaning in the sense that
Bam Bam:That's true.
Pagoda:People were hanging out with alcohol, smoking cigars, and walking around. You had Guy Fieri cooking in his live kitchen. No, I'm just kidding. You know, he did release
Gizmo:He was cooking up knuckle sandwiches. Yeah.
Pagoda:He was there.
Senator:He was there.
Pagoda:He was there. Yeah. And it just a wonderful light experience and the weather, weather really, really was so good. It was just a fantastic evening.
Gizmo:So, also, we have to say too, you know, shout out to PCA because they've set up two separate locations in New Orleans for after show smoking where these restaurants have quite literally shut down to the public, I guess, from the hours of somewhere around 8PM until 2AM, both of them, and just allow all of the attendees, anybody who has a badge to go over there and smoke and and enjoy the evening. There is no way in hell if this conference was in New York, New Jersey, anywhere up by where we are that any of this would be happening.
Pagoda:Or Vegas.
Gizmo:Even Vegas. Even Vegas.
Senator:Right. Because they would charge a wedding budget just to rent out a place for a few hours. Mean, it would be cost prohibitive.
Bam Bam:That's right.
Gizmo:It's a good point. So it's awesome that we feel so welcomed here. So boys, let's talk a little bit about New Orleans, and then we'll get back to some of the conversations that we had at PCA this year. We'll share with the listeners our takeaways from some of our interviews. But I have to shout out, senator, on the food selection because New Orleans has completely blown my mind when it comes to food.
Gizmo:And I know that it's a hyped up place to to eat. The food is celebrated here. It's unique. It's special. It's homey.
Gizmo:But, we have had some phenomenal
Bam Bam:Incredible meals.
Gizmo:Incredible. That might even be the highlight over some of the cigars. I mean, the food here Yeah. Has been really special.
Bam Bam:Agreed.
Senator:I think it's one of the greatest food cities in America, hands down. And the thing that just shocks me, it's like, you know, for a fancier, you know, nice dinner, you know, come into that with expectations. I'm blown away in my time here, you know, simple things like a sandwich for lunch could be like the star of the show even.
Gizmo:I think it was.
Bam Bam:Oh, I think so too.
Senator:I've talked up this Muffalada from Central Grocery for a long time leading up to this trip.
Bam Bam:I was very skeptical. I was too. I mean-
Gizmo:because we have good sandwiches in New Jersey. We thought we did. We did.
Senator:We thought we did. We were wrong. It's me. And then this was such a revelation, and someone I used to work with who is from New Orleans, went to college in New Orleans, all of that, he, I give credit, really kind of showed me the ropes of what you should see and do when you're here, and I remember him saying, You gotta hit Central Grocery for lunch and get the muffaletta there. I had no clue what a muffaletta even was at the time, and that was so life changing when I had that.
Senator:When the COVID pandemic hit, I ordered on Goldbelly. So Central Grocery is on Goldbelly, which has like most of the most famous restaurants around the country that you can literally overnight ship their food to your doorstep and experience that restaurant. I paid a hundred dollars just for this sandwich during the pandemic. That's how obsessed I was with this, and depressed during COVID. I'm like, I just need something that I would normally be able to travel in
Gizmo:the Takes me back. Correct.
Senator:And the Muffalata was it. And then we all went there for the first time, and I got a lot of quick gizmo. What kind of sandwich is it? What's in it? What's this?
Senator:And I said, Just try it.
Bam Bam:I wanna know. Of course.
Gizmo:I mean, it's a fair question.
Senator:And the hilarious part, I warned all these guys. I said, these sandwiches are massive, and Bam is looking at this like, oh, I can eat an entire one. Don't worry about it. Gizmo's like, oh, give me half of one. No problem.
Senator:And we ordered a whole one. We each had a quarter of it, and we was overwhelming,
Bam Bam:honestly, but so delicious.
Gizmo:Oh, the flavor's
Bam Bam:so
Pagoda:It
Bam Bam:was so good. That olive Tapenade. Tapenade, off the charts.
Gizmo:How would you describe to listeners what a muffuletta is? Can explain that?
Senator:Way I would describe a muffuletta, it's basically the meat that's inside the sandwich is very much like you'd experience in a lot of different, like, Italian subs or heroes, but what makes it special is there's like this olive tapenade. They sell it by the jar even, you can take it home with you, that's kind of spread on the roll, and it's this really large circular round roll that I'm not sure if they bake in house or they get from some special bakery here that's very different from like a hero roll or something tougher. It's like very soft
Bam Bam:Sesame seeds on
Senator:Sesame seeds on Delicious. Exactly. There's like this oil kind of vinaigrette that they drizzle all over it that adds to the flavor and experience, and it's so simple when you look at it, but for some reason, the flavor is just off the charts.
Pagoda:Yeah. You gotta talk about the size. How big is that?
Gizmo:I mean- It's gotta be a foot
Bam Bam:It was about, circumference. I'd say about thirteen, fourteen inches in diameter. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And at least three and a half to four inches thick.
Gizmo:Yeah, it's ridiculous. It's massive.
Pagoda:And it was so good that a couple of the lizards over here inhaled- Oh, yeah. More than one- Oh, yeah. Quarter in less than like twenty minutes. So I'm just telling you. I have to say.
Pagoda:It's really good.
Bam Bam:I regretted doing it the moment I finished it, but then a half hour later I was on cloud nine. Yeah. I felt great. It gave me all the energy I needed. It
Senator:was This sandwich is so good. Almost every day we've been here, we've eaten lunch at this time.
Bam Bam:Oh, yeah.
Gizmo:Yeah. It's the only place that I wanna have lunch.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:It's phenomenal.
Pagoda:No, definitely. It's on repeat order.
Senator:So if you're a lizard that is not able to visit New Orleans easily, they are on Goldbelly, You can have this delivered. I've called it the greatest sandwich of all time. I believe I heard Gizmo say the same.
Bam Bam:Yes, he
Gizmo:did. It's it's it's probably the greatest sandwich I've ever heard.
Bam Bam:Come on, dude.
Gizmo:Know, I do love I do love I'm a little I'm a little you know, I I have a home town allegiance to Katz's Deli in New York. I do love their pastrami on rye, but this, for me, in flavor, edged out Katz's Deli. I mean, is it is really special. It's light, and they're not angry with you when you order it like they are at Katz's Deli. It's like a little soup Nazi action over there.
Gizmo:You know, they were happy to see us here. So that added to the experience, but Yeah. It was phenomenal.
Bam Bam:The ingredients are simple, but when they come together, it makes for a great experience, man.
Pagoda:So good. And once again, you talk about the efficiency within the place. What's it called, general marketplace?
Senator:Central Grocery.
Pagoda:Oh, central grocery. Oh.
Gizmo:Yeah, general marketplace. I have no idea.
Pagoda:I don't know. Close enough, please.
Gizmo:I'm closing. The banker's in the room.
Pagoda:Go ahead. No. But you know what? It was so efficient, you know, while you're standing in line, I think. Before Senator ordered, I think it was already there by the till.
Pagoda:It was just great. I think the efficiency's great, obviously. And then you go and you start eating this. Even if you eat it within the grocery store, they have a certain area where you can all be standing and just, or they have a couple of like these bar benches and you can just set a knead, and the vibe is just very, very nice. It's an excellent sandwich, you know, from a great place.
Senator:And that's the funny thing. You think, you know, everything operates slower in the South. Like, this place runs like a machine. It's militant. I mean, no matter how long the line is, when you get to the front of the line, you place your order, which all they make there is the muffuletta.
Senator:Outside of that, it's like an Italian market. You can buy different meats, cheeses, stuff like that, but that is the only kind of prepared menu item that you can get there. They've got like five or six people behind that counter just making one after another after another, and they're just selling them, I mean, by this second, it's insane. So even if you go there and there's a long line, wait because you're not gonna be there very long.
Bam Bam:That's It moves
Senator:inordinately quickly.
Pagoda:And then right after that, you can go for a quick dessert
Bam Bam:right across the street.
Gizmo:Right across the street. Pagoda was so happy.
Senator:For some beignets.
Pagoda:Cafe du
Gizmo:Monde. We went to Cafe du Monde, and we had the famous beignets over there, which are covered in the most finely filtered powdered sugar. I mean, it is chaotic. Oh, yeah. The people walking around there with powdered sugar, they look like they're out straight out of Scarface, like Al Pacino, okay, just shoved his face in a pile of, you know, and it was It's pretty wild how all over the place that powdered sugar was.
Bam Bam:Yeah. That was also delicious with the coffee that I had. It was fantastic. Yeah.
Senator:You guys had New Orleans coffee for the
Gizmo:first time. First time.
Senator:Brewed that with chicory.
Gizmo:Excellent. I'll be honest, the caffeine down here in New Orleans has knocked me on my ass. I drink a lot of espresso. I'm a coffee guy.
Bam Bam:No. You're delicate.
Gizmo:And I was it knocked me on my ass yesterday. I had way too much espresso here, and I don't know if it's the chicory or the beans they use here, but whatever it is, I was wide awake, wired at about three in the morning, could not sleep, and it's just because of the caffeine. I just overdid it or the caffeine is just strong here. I'm not sure. But Cafe Du Monde was amazing.
Gizmo:The beignets, can you tell folks what a beignet is for someone who is not familiar with it?
Senator:Yeah. It's very simple. I mean, it's basically fried dough. It's, you know, like a zeppole that folks will get at a carnival or a funnel cake.
Gizmo:Funnel cake, yeah.
Senator:Anything like that, but it's always been very popular in France, and it's been something that has become part of the culture here in New Orleans. And despite how fried dough is usually pretty heavy, you know, the way they do this, it's actually like each one is relatively light. You get in trouble after you have three of them.
Gizmo:Oh
Senator:yeah. But if you were to have one, you'd be just fine.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:Especially after the muffuletta.
Bam Bam:Oh man.
Senator:Yeah.
Pagoda:It's excellent. You know, I think we need to revisit that whole Muffulada Cafe du Monde right before we leave in Monde. Yes. Yes.
Gizmo:So boys, I wasn't at this dinner. I know we're gonna have dinner there later tonight, but Pesche Seafood, was the first restaurant you had dinner with upon arrival. I got here a little later than you guys, and you guys were raving about the seafood, the oysters What was your experience at Pesch?
Senator:Yeah. So the funny thing is the first time I went to Pesch was years ago, like 2018 or 2019. I took my family actually down to New Orleans for Thanksgiving, and my wife, my parents, none had been to New Orleans before, so I really wanted them to experience it. I didn't wanna host Thanksgiving, and so I said, What a better place to do it than here? And one of the restaurants that we went to was Pesch, and this was shortly after it had opened, so it was starting to get really good reviews.
Senator:I was hearing it's an excellent place for seafood, but now fast forward, it is like the top place for seafood in New Orleans. Their oysters, raw oysters are out of this world, and I say that because I prefer West Coast oysters to East Coast oysters. When you're getting oysters here, they're all pretty much from The Gulf, And the wild thing was, I had asked our waitress, we wanted to get I think we got maybe two dozen oysters. Do you have any on the creamier side that are more akin to a West Coast oyster? And this one that she recommended, which we will get tonight, honestly, it rivals Kushi, Kumamoto.
Senator:I mean, some of the best West Coast oysters I've had. It was incredible.
Pagoda:It was the Adderall.
Senator:Yeah. Exactly.
Bam Bam:We ordered two types and proceeded to get two dozen.
Gizmo:Well, let's get three dozen tonight, please. It was excellent. Excellent. I love a good oyster.
Senator:Everything. We got fish after that. I think Bam got some fresh caught drum beer in the was excellent.
Bam Bam:Very good.
Senator:Pagoda and I got some tuna. I mean, everything we had there.
Pagoda:And cocktails, the cocktails Yeah,
Bam Bam:was about to say, fair warning, the martinis are dangerous. They are dangerous.
Pagoda:We have some lightweights out here. Well,
Bam Bam:follow my footsteps tonight, young man. I wanna see how you do. Okay? I actually look forward to that.
Gizmo:So then my first night here, we had dinner at a steakhouse called Doris Marketplace, which I guess you had found. Had you been there before?
Senator:No, so I had not, and it's definitely a newer steakhouse in New Orleans. They actually have a couple other locations. They're in Houston, Costa Rica, and New Orleans, and just doing a little bit of homework here to try to find somewhere that I haven't eaten before that might be good. Doris has been getting rave reviews. Now, the thing that's controversial about Doris Marketplace is the service at most nice restaurants in New Orleans is unparalleled.
Senator:I would put it up against the service you can experience in any city around the country. Doris, whatever reason, I mean, even just the decor, like it's very modern, it could be in New York, it's not like your typical New Orleans restaurant, and unfortunately with that, it doesn't have your typical New Orleans Southern kind of service and hospitality, so you kind of have to know that going in, which luckily we did. It did make it feel better, the service we had. I was furious. But the food is really the star there, and the food was excellent.
Bam Bam:Tough guy to please over here.
Gizmo:No, I'm an easy guy to please. It's very easy.
Bam Bam:Incorrect. That's correct. He is incorrect.
Pagoda:That's correct. He's incorrect.
Bam Bam:That's a
Senator:good one. Bev, this is Bev.
Gizmo:I correct. It's incorrect. I was furious at the service at this place. The the food was good. And listen.
Gizmo:I don't expect a lot. I just want I want attention. I wanna order quickly. I don't wanna wait for my check. It's a very simple experience I'm looking for.
Gizmo:I'm not looking to have my ass kissed. I just want water, wine, steak, speed. Get me in and out at the pace I wanna move at. This place was not doing that, and I got a little angry. Just a little.
Gizmo:Not with anybody else, but I was teeing off to you guys.
Senator:You've never been known to do that. No.
Pagoda:I don't do
Gizmo:that. I don't
Pagoda:do that. Not
Gizmo:ever. But the food was very good. We have to say that.
Bam Bam:Great steak.
Senator:It was good. Think Giz and I got a couple of fillets with bone marrow. Oh, the bone marrow
Gizmo:was very good. That was unique. Awesome.
Senator:Yeah.
Gizmo:Very unique.
Bam Bam:Had the rib eye, very nice.
Pagoda:And I had the lamb chops. Right. They
Senator:looked great.
Pagoda:Yeah. No. They were great. And this restaurant has a couple of Mediterranean, you know, dishes, so I thought might as well try the lamb chops. They were fantastic.
Bam Bam:Carpaccio, the food was good. It was very good.
Senator:Yeah. Beef carpaccio was
Bam Bam:great. Yep.
Gizmo:And now, boys, it's time to talk about the highlight meal potentially of my life.
Bam Bam:I submitted an application to work here, by the way. Go ahead. Proceed.
Gizmo:We were so fortunate that Senator thought ahead, knew we were coming to New Orleans. Around the same time we actually booked the Airbnb, he was booking the reservation at this phenomenal, historic, legendary restaurant. There's not enough superlatives I can use about this place. Commander's Palace. Absolute perfection on every level.
Bam Bam:It was off the charts from beginning to end.
Gizmo:It's the best dining experience I've ever had in my life, and I didn't even feel great coming in there because of my caffeine experience. Let me tell you, by the time I walked out, I felt like a brand new man. Of course. It was really, really special.
Bam Bam:The service was off the charts. They were so attentive, and they kept coming, checking on you, but I observed all the other tables, and they were all being doted on. It was very, very unusual to see. I've never experienced anything like that before.
Pagoda:Very efficient. Think we had three servers that were constantly catering to us, you know, with each with different responsibilities, and they were at it from the very beginning to the end, and it was fantastic.
Senator:I just, to paint a picture for the listener, I mean, this restaurant, I've been eating there probably fifteen years ago, it was the first meal I had there, and every time I'm in New Orleans, it's always on my list. I always try to go back there for a meal. I mean, we get there, we get seated. They've got a beautiful main dining room, really nicely decorated, and we sit down, and there's white napkins on each of our place settings, and they look at the color pants that you're wearing, and if you have dark pants on, they swap that out, and not even just hand you a black napkin, they will drape it over your lap for you. Mean, every imaginable detail at this restaurant, they have thought through to make your experience so effortless and seamless.
Senator:I mean, to take our order and even get our wine brought to the table. I mean, first someone came over, we said, We need a few minutes. This place has one of the most extensive wine lists I've ever seen in a restaurant.
Gizmo:It's like a Bible.
Senator:It is. It's literally almost a hundred pages long, and it's like small font, like everything in there. You feel like you're reading in a
Gizmo:single Bam Bam definitely would not be able to read it.
Bam Bam:I need my readers. His readers. And a magnifying glass.
Senator:And his flashlight. Correct. And it's like, you know, to Gizmo's frustration at the prior restaurant where a simple thing like water even took ten years, you know, half the time someone comes to take a drink order, and you're gonna order wine, you say, oh, we need a few more minutes, you kind of regret it after because you lose the server for like another twenty minutes. They never come back, and then you've gotta flag them down.
Gizmo:That drives me insane.
Senator:This person exactly a few minutes later comes back, No, we need a few more, comes back again, took our order. We had some excellent wine, a great meal there. I had told these guys, you know, kind of a delicacy in New Orleans is turtle soup.
Bam Bam:I fell in love with the soup. Had to I got seconds.
Gizmo:I came into that a little hesitant. I was nervous. I'm like, we're gonna eat turtles today? It was
Bam Bam:so good.
Gizmo:Yeah. And it was phenomenal.
Bam Bam:It good. It good.
Gizmo:It set the tone. It set the tone for the whole meal.
Bam Bam:Yeah. I was just impressed how they rotated the staff to your table. Like, it's like you said, your water's being filled right after she leaves, someone else comes to ask about this and ask about that. It was great.
Senator:Oh, one of you guys commented- Very unusual. The waters even.
Gizmo:Yeah, the waters.
Bam Bam:Oh, they switch, yeah, they switch out an entire glass. Glass.
Gizmo:Yeah, they're
Senator:like- don't just fill the same water glass to refill your water. They take the glass away and give you an
Bam Bam:entire refresh.
Gizmo:I asked the server
Bam Bam:who was That's right.
Gizmo:Her only job is water. And I said to her, I said, what is the purpose of taking the glass as opposed to refilling it? She said, well, what if the ice melts while you're having dinner?
Bam Bam:So she said,
Pagoda:We're giving you I looked
Bam Bam:at her. I'm like She said, We like to give you a fresh glass of water. I was very impressed. It awesome.
Gizmo:So we then went into our entrees. I know that Senator and I had pecan crusted fish, I believe it was.
Senator:Yeah. It was drum.
Gizmo:Yeah. It was phenomenal. Bam had the White shrimp and grits. Shrimp and grits. The pork chop.
Gizmo:Yeah. Pagoda had a pork chop, and everything was perfect. And what I love to, just to paint a picture for the listener here, when it's time for dinner to be put on the table, four people show up. Yeah. And like simultaneously, like an Olympic swimming team.
Gizmo:Like synchronized swimming. Synchronized swimming. That's correct. They put the, like each of the four plates hits the table at the exact same millisecond. Yeah.
Gizmo:It's like they must practice this like Michael Phelps getting in the pool. I'm sure
Bam Bam:the training is extremely robust there.
Gizmo:It's pretty incredible. Yeah. And the plate, everybody's plate hits the table at the same time, and the service was just impeccable. And here's the button I wanna put on this whole experience. This was probably the least expensive meal that we had in all of New Orleans.
Pagoda:Yeah.
Gizmo:Certainly at PCA in Venice. This is one of the least expensive meals we've ever had as a group, and it was easily the best. Hands down, no question about it. So the value we always talk about value on this podcast with cigars, with rum, with everything else, champagne, with tequila, everything else we we review, we always talk about value. That is the button on this for me is the value in the experience there.
Bam Bam:That's true.
Gizmo:Shocking. Yeah. Shocking.
Bam Bam:You know, I have had grits in years. I fell in love again with grits. That was just such an experience, the shrimp was perfect. Perfect. What a great meal.
Pagoda:That was a great meal.
Bam Bam:Now can I get turtle soup up by us, man?
Senator:Sadly, you can't. Sadly, you can't. And it's weird because it's really a New Orleans thing. Like you go to other cities in the South, like Charleston, you name it, it's just kind of a delicacy here. I don't know why, but it's good stuff.
Senator:And just the service, I mean, everybody comments when you go to the restaurants here, how amazing it is. And the reason for that is, again, people in this area take so much pride in this city. They're so proud to be from here and they want other people to see and learn and understand what makes this place so great. And so at these restaurants, I mean, Commander's Palace, if you're a waiter at that restaurant, you are at the top, you reach the That's as prestigious a place as you can possibly have the honor of serving guests. And because of that, I mean, how easy it would be to replace someone at a restaurant like that, the demand that they have to work there is off the charts, that there's no room for error.
Senator:Yeah. You can't repeatedly make mistakes and survive there.
Gizmo:Yeah. It's gotta be like, you know, like, I don't know, a metaphor that I could explain to the listener, but it's almost like secret service level of detail and Like if you screw
Senator:it up, like Except for the last few years. Secret Service has not been so good.
Gizmo:Really was that level of detail, attention, and perfection in the service. And then the food, of course, was perfect. We learned that Emeril Lagasse, of course, the famous Food Network star, that's really where he came up. He became the executive chef there at what age?
Senator:He was the executive chef when he was only 23 years old.
Gizmo:Yeah. That's crazy.
Bam Bam:And I think he was there for seven years.
Senator:Yeah. Yeah. And that's where he made a name for himself and then got so well known, he went out on his own, opened his own restaurant, Emeralds, which is still here to this day, also as a reputation for making fantastic food. The food scene and culture here is just unmatched.
Gizmo:And it's elevated our entire experience, even inside the four walls of this massive convention center. We feel that in here. It's true.
Bam Bam:It's true.
Gizmo:I feel it right now. I agree with feel great to be here. I don't wanna leave. I don't wanna go home.
Bam Bam:You know, I can walk through here and just start up a conversation with anyone at any time.
Pagoda:Absolutely. Yeah.
Gizmo:It's a great community.
Senator:We've asked every single person that we've met here, Vegas or New Orleans, where do you prefer this trade show to be? Every single person without fail has said New Orleans.
Gizmo:And they don't even think about it. It's instant.
Bam Bam:That's right.
Gizmo:So boys, before we left Commander's Palace, we discovered that there was an opportunity
Senator:on the smoke some cigars.
Gizmo:To have some cigars.
Senator:So I very nicely asked our waitress if it would be possible for us to light up some cigars on their patio. You know, times change, there's different preferences, you never know. I mean, New Orleans is very smoking friendly, particularly on outdoor patios. She looked at me and laughed and said, Of course you can smoke cigars on our patio.
Pagoda:How could you
Bam Bam:think otherwise?
Gizmo:By the way, we didn't believe her, so we asked two more times.
Bam Bam:We did, that's also true.
Senator:And then the best part, to get to their patio, you actually walk through the middle of their kitchen, and there's one table. It's like a semicircular booth that you can sit and dine, and you're just watching all the food being prepared. And then you go through there, there's a bar around the other side to get drinks. Then there's this big, really nice patio, and then beyond that, beyond the patio is the garden room, which is kind of the premier room to be able to dine in at Commander's Palace. It took me maybe four or five times until finally, actually Thanksgiving eve, they put my family and I in the garden room, which was really cool.
Gizmo:By the way, the next time we come, we're putting the reservation under senator.
Bam Bam:That's correct. Even if he's not here.
Gizmo:Even if he's not here.
Senator:The problem this time, they knew I was bringing you guys, and so we were not in the garden room.
Gizmo:They put us they put us in the basement. So we get
Senator:on this patio. There's a bunch of people, and especially if you're like, you know, they'll try and accommodate some walk ins if they are able to. It's obviously not super common. Or if for some reason you're there early and your table's being prepared, people go to that bar back there, they get a drink, they sit out on the patio, they relax, they call your name, and we're just sitting there puffing away on cigars. No one is bothered, concerned, annoyed.
Senator:It was unbelievable.
Gizmo:Even the other guests, normally, like in New York Oh. In where we live up in the Northeast Of The United States, I mean, even if you're sitting outside at a patio and you're allowed to smoke, somebody's always giving you
Bam Bam:An evil eye.
Gizmo:An evil eye. Correct. Like, somebody's always making sure that you understand that they are unhappy, that you're smoking in their presence, that they can maybe smell your smoke, or the fact that you're enjoying yourself. I don't know what it is about the Northeast in The United States, but it is the polar opposite of the experience yesterday. True.
Gizmo:To the point where there were a couple sitting there pre dinner near us, certainly smelling our four cigars.
Bam Bam:Sure.
Gizmo:Didn't even bat an eye at the fact that we were enjoying ourselves having a drink.
Bam Bam:Wait staff going back and forth, giving us a smile.
Gizmo:Everybody saying hello as
Bam Bam:they walk Great pleasant.
Gizmo:The chefs, the servers.
Senator:Yeah. I mean, you're talking about people batting eye in the Northeast. Even in Vegas, are plenty of places, parts of casinos that they'll allow cigarette smoking, but not cigars.
Gizmo:Yeah. Outrageous. Which crazy. Outrageous. Here we are smoking in, I would assume, what would be, you know, classified as like a perfect restaurant, a three Michelin star restaurant, And they're saying the owner walks up to us and goes, Stay as long as you want, and quite literally, Do whatever you want.
Bam Bam:That's a dangerous invitation for us.
Gizmo:Especially when Bam Bam's in town. Oh, correct.
Senator:Bam's next question was, Can we rent out this entire patio?
Bam Bam:But honestly, that was a great experience. That bar, just, you walk through, get your drink, and you come back and sit down and continue to smoke. It was fantastic. Very convenient. Beautiful.
Gizmo:Yeah. Very comfortable too. Oh, And again, going back to the value prop there, you know, you went over, BAM, and kindly got us four drinks. It was $60. 60 bucks for four drinks.
Gizmo:We each had a premium drink. I think the three of us ex Pagoda had Glenfiddich 12.
Bam Bam:Correct.
Gizmo:Pagoda had a mixed drink.
Bam Bam:Sazerac Rye.
Gizmo:Sazerac Rye. And it was $60 for four In New York, that would have easily clipped $100
Bam Bam:for sure.
Gizmo:Easily.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:At the Carnegie Club in New York where you go every, you know, every day when you're supposed to be working, what's the price there?
Pagoda:Oh, see, let's know what I'm talking about.
Gizmo:What's the price of a drink at Carnegie? I'm being serious.
Pagoda:It's, you know, it can range from 22 to $28.29 bucks for a regular single malt. That's crazy. Plus tax and then, you know, whatever.
Gizmo:That's double what we about
Pagoda:$25 average.
Gizmo:That's one of the best restaurants. And Senator, I want you to share one quick story about New Orleans, which, you know, covers everything. You were telling us while we were eating that this restaurant, for how perfect it is, it gets wine spectators top list of wines every year, going on fifteen, twenty years, I'm not sure, but they don't allow or haven't allowed, I think that's changing, you were saying, they have not allowed restaurants to be Michelin star rated in all of New Orleans.
Senator:Yeah. So the city has to invite Michelin in to dine at these restaurants and consider them for a star. New Orleans for ages has completely shunned Michelin and said, we have absolutely no interest in you coming in here. We believe and know that we make some of the best food in America, we don't need your validation of that, which is really, really powerful.
Bam Bam:That's a pretty powerful statement. Kinda like Really careful,
Senator:and they lived up to it because, I mean, look at every meal we've had here. Top notch what you're able to get What I've been hearing is that right now there are talks for Michelin to be able to come in for the first time, and they actually wanna start recognizing, not these restaurants in that they feel like they need that validation, but these chefs, for them to be able to have that honor of earning a star. And so the funny thing is like Emeralds is a great example where I'm pretty certain years ago that Emeralds, you could order off the menu a la carte. Now at Emerald's, my goodness, it's gotten super high on it. It's like a $250 a person tasting menu.
Senator:Oh, wow. It's only prefix. I've heard the food is amazing there, and word is like Emerald's really going for a star or two at that restaurant. Wow. So from what I've heard, likely early next year, they should announce that there are some restaurants here that get some Michelin stars, which will be well deserved recognition.
Gizmo:And I hope Commander's Palace gets like three or seven Michelin stars or whatever, then
Senator:max number It'll be a prime difference.
Gizmo:Yeah, I
Bam Bam:hope the pricing stays the same.
Gizmo:Probably not,
Senator:but hope over the show. This is also part of the thing with Michelin for New Orleans, why they haven't been as excited about it. Southern cuisine and Southern food has always been looked down upon or frowned upon in some way by people who are big on fine dining, right? It's not the tiny portions with the outrageously adorned plates with a mediocre meal that's actually on that plate. And their fear is they don't wanna be part of a system that is pretty much designed for them not to perform well.
Senator:And so, you know, the irony is like Emeralds has actually gone in that direction because clearly they're going for a star.
Gizmo:It's a pivot.
Senator:And it will be very telling. Like to me, if the Michelin guide actually gave commanders a star, I'd have a world of respect for it because the food you're getting at Commander's Palace is traditional Southern food. I mean, we're talking turtle soup, we're talking gumbo, we're grits, all of that. I can very easily see a world in which they get absolutely no recognition because the food isn't this Instagrammable, ridiculous looking plate with the tiniest portion of all time and 10 courses. So it'll be telling what happens.
Senator:But for folks who love that kind of fine dining experience, there's Emeralds and a number of other places that have opened up the last several years that have world class in terms of fine dining, but for my style, I'm not a huge fine dining guy. I can count on one hand the number of fine dining tasting menu places I've been to that have been memorable meals for me as opposed to disappointments for the ridiculous price I paid, where restaurants like Commanders are always the ones that are more memorable, that you don't need to spend an arm and a leg to have an unbelievable meal and experience that you'll never forget.
Gizmo:I will never forget that place.
Bam Bam:Neither will I, and I hope they get the recognition that they deserve, but I also hope that not a thing changes.
Gizmo:I hope so too. Yeah. Alright, boys. We're coming into the last third now on the La Aurora Family Creed Fuerte Sol and the Ilion Jimenez 19 o three rum from The Dominican Republic. What's everybody thinking?
Bam Bam:I'm enjoying the cigar. I love the cigar. I love that it's pretty well balanced. There's a sweetness there and savoriness. It's very smooth.
Bam Bam:Touch of pepper, which I'm enjoying.
Gizmo:Just a little bit.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Very Very pleasurable. Very good cigar.
Pagoda:Yeah. For me, felt, you know, it got a bit too dry for me, and I was looking for a little more sweetness, which I didn't get through in this cigar.
Bam Bam:Well, are a big dessert guy.
Pagoda:But, you know, I think the rum really complemented it really well. And so when I would have a sip of rum with the thing, it was like a perfect pairing inside my palate. So yeah, but, you know, looking forward to the last third.
Senator:Yeah, I completely agree. I think the rum pairs extremely well with this and helps in the sense that the cigar is definitely on the drier side. The rum brings out a little more sweetness, which is nice. I think Bam mentioned the spice you get in the last third, just the right amount. It's pleasant.
Senator:It's not in any way overwhelming or overpowering, and the flavor profile is relatively consistent all the way through, and I actually think it's a good thing because it starts complex. I mean, we all called out a number of distinct flavor notes. And for me so far, I mean, this is among some of the best I've tried out of the La Aurora line, and I know, you know, when we went to the event talking about this cigar and even met with the guy who blended it- Yeah, Manuel. You know, he mentioned this is a cigar that if you smoked blind, you wouldn't expect it to be from La Aurora, and having smoked now, this is my second one of these, I think they ought to be making more stuff like this in addition to their core line and some of the stuff they do. Agree.
Senator:There's tons of palettes out there that are chasing full Nicaraguan flavor, but delivered in a very smooth, easy, approachable way like Padron, like some of the other Nicaraguan manufacturers that we love, And so I think there's a ton of merit to what they're doing with this cigar.
Gizmo:This is a fully premium experience.
Bam Bam:For a pretty fresh cigar. For yeah. Absolutely. You know? That's surprising.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Yeah.
Gizmo:So, boys, it's time now to talk about what the listeners wanna hear, which is one of Bam Bam's favorite conversation pieces. Have had some
Senator:really This is going many directions.
Bam Bam:Yeah, I'm leaving.
Gizmo:We have had some really memorable conversations, and we have to shout out our listeners for the impact that they have made on the manufacturers and the people at this show on our behalf, listening to this podcast, consuming what we do, loving what we do, sharing it. We have been able to have some incredible conversations over the last couple of days on, you know, behalf of our listeners through this podcast with some of the people that we have been targeting since day one of this podcast. And as we've fallen in love with new cigars and more cigars, we were able to talk to some of them. So I wanna share some of the you know, a little bit of a preview of some of the conversations we had, boys. And first up, of course, is we started our show on Saturday morning with a long form interview with Mr.
Gizmo:George Padron.
Bam Bam:Incredible talk from beginning to end.
Gizmo:So let's set up for the listener. We walked into the Padron booth, and Senator and Bam actually quarterbacked this because I was getting the gear. Mhmm. But talk a little bit about the preamble to getting the conversation started on the actual interview.
Senator:Yeah. Mean, we had a great conversation. Obviously, you know, we've met him before and we spent a good amount of time with him last year at PCA, but, you know, I think last year he was so slammed and just busy in the sense that they were releasing the Padron sixtieth anniversary cigar, a huge release for the family. They announced their first partnership ever with DuPont. They had that going, so it was very hard for us to have enough time to really do a more in-depth interview like we wanted, and this time- Vegas was extremely busy for them.
Senator:For sure. Yeah. Yeah. And this time, you know, he was thrilled to build in the time first thing in the morning when the trade show
Gizmo:opens. The trade show opens at ten. We were starting the interview at ten.
Bam Bam:At ten. It was a casual conversation. He's like, why don't we do it now? We were kinda silent for two seconds, and yeah, let's do it. It was it was incredible.
Gizmo:Yeah. And we did a full forty, forty five minute interview with George. It was a great, you know, all encompassing conversation about the past, present, and future of Padron. Mhmm. And I think you, the listener out there, are really going to love the conversation we had with him, and I'm feeling that it's just the start of a fantastic relationship with the Padron family Oh, yeah.
Gizmo:As we move into the future here. You know, we've talked about going to Miami and spending some time there, going to Nicaragua, spending some time with the Padron family in So I think that this is just gonna be just the beginning- Unreal. With the Padrons.
Senator:And the thing I appreciate the most with him, his candor, and you'll see that throughout the entire interview. You know, this is not We're setting out to become the biggest cigar, you know, manufacturer in the world, and we have these outrageous and lofty goals. What he's trying to do is incredibly focused, never veers or deviates from that. At a controlled pace. Exactly.
Senator:Yeah. And is unapologetic and brutally honest about what it takes to be able to do that, and why even his own competitors all always happily admit there's no more consistent cigar that is made than Padron.
Bam Bam:Yeah. Amazing. In every one of their wines too. And he talked about one of the little cigars that he makes that we've all have fallen in love with, how that came to be. I won't say what it is, but I think when that episode comes out, that's a great part of the talk.
Pagoda:Yeah. No, I just wanted to mention his attention to detail from the way he was dressed and his expectations of everybody around him, including his family.
Bam Bam:He's a pro.
Pagoda:To be dressed appropriately. Yeah. And present themselves in a certain way, you know, just highlighting the family legacy values.
Bam Bam:Pagoda, where's your tie?
Senator:Oh, where's mine? Forget Pagoda's tie. I needed him to meet Gizmo like five years ago.
Gizmo:Oh, correct. I think if I showed up in the hoodie, I don't think the conversation would have gone the
Bam Bam:same five years to get him where he is now.
Gizmo:I am wearing the sport coat, by the way,
Bam Bam:all the listeners.
Gizmo:That's true.
Pagoda:But this is a man who takes everything very seriously and does it really well and presents himself really well to the highest image, you know, always revering his father and family, and it's amazing. It's a conversation you guys will look forward to. It's a must listen.
Senator:And the wildest part for me, going back to our earlier conversation around family, you know, last year with the release of the sixtieth anniversary, it made sense. The entire Padron family was there for that. They had the video tribute to his father. You wouldn't have expected anything less.
Gizmo:And not just the people who work for the company. The entire family. Everyone. The wives, the children, the siblings, the grandkids, every age range, everybody was at the show last year.
Senator:And so this year, before we hit record, we were chatting with George and, you know, said, oh, you know, how much of the family is here? And he goes, All of them. There's no milestone release this year. You know, this is a normal PCA for them, and still the entire family is here contributing, helping drive and push the brand forward, and I think that's a really cool thing.
Bam Bam:That's very impressive.
Gizmo:So next up after that, we were introduced actually at one of these seminar panels on Friday to Klaus Kellner, who, of course, anybody who knows Davidoff and the Kellner name, you know, legendary blending family, tobacco family. And Kloss is now the fourth generation, I believe, of the Kellners producing tobacco and actually produces stoic cigars, which is, you know, one of the blind cigar we did a few weeks ago, we rated it a perfect 10, and Kloss is a scientist. Yes. An intellectual blender and manufacturer.
Senator:A mad scientist.
Gizmo:A mad scientist.
Bam Bam:Hyper focused, serious, intelligent. And I think it's something, his approach to making cigars is something we all appreciate.
Gizmo:And it was awesome to sit down with someone who's on the younger side of their career, who's just started out. He opened his factory two years ago, making cigars that we already love, clearly, and that's stoic, and we had a fantastic conversation with him. Yeah. And even after the fact, I can't wait to share this with the listeners as we package that interview into an episode, he sat down on my iPad and opened up with the pencil and drew out a tongue- Incredible. And the different flavor zones and how he draws out this map of the tongue for each cigar that he blends, each iteration that he blends, and stores it so that he can reference it later and compare and contrast you know, what aspects of the tongue are being hit to create a full palate covering experience.
Bam Bam:I don't think there's another manufacturer in the world that's looking at blending in that way and approaching the making of cigars the way he does.
Senator:And I think it was really cool to see, I mean, you know, our first introduction to him was the panel on Friday, and that panel was him, Lisette Carrillo, and who was the third from Los
Gizmo:Jose Luis from Los Sensia.
Senator:Exactly. That's right.
Gizmo:And
Senator:they're all young, and they've played critical roles in kind of their family's business and operation, and to hear from someone from the younger generation in this business that is making an impact, and bringing their own creativity and their own perspective to how they approach blending and manufacturing and production is just really cool and gave me a world of confidence in what the future will look like for this industry after some of the patriarchs and even the next generation that we've been so accustomed to trusting to deliver experiences that our palate's gonna enjoy and appreciate, I think we have every reason to be excited about the future and what we'll smoke years from now, and even, you know, our kids will.
Bam Bam:It's a good point. The way he approaches the manufacturing of his cigars, you have to respect it, and it's the trust factor that develops through that discipline, right?
Pagoda:What I liked about him is, you know, he came through, by the way, he's young, but so knowledgeable, so incredibly knowledgeable. But more importantly, he's an educator. And, you know, I think his approach to the tobacco industry brings a fresh perspective and an educational perspective. So it's gonna be a great lesson for you guys. You'll walk away learning something, not only about the manufacturing process, but also, you know, the taste profiles and the palates, and it's gonna be incredible.
Pagoda:So it's once again a must listen.
Senator:And I think to Pagoda's point, you know, we've maybe mentioned this a little bit in the past, the blending side of the industry is often overlooked.
Gizmo:It's a
Bam Bam:mystery for most of us.
Gizmo:Yes. Most of it's marketing.
Bam Bam:Yeah, exactly.
Gizmo:And we could see that. Look around at these big Sure, exactly. That conversation's not being had.
Senator:It's not at all. I mean, in the new world space, like you said, it's more marketing driven and focused on, you know, new releases and not kinda how they came to be, and on the Cuban side, I mean, we'll never know Master Blenders at any of the
Gizmo:Yeah, they're hidden away in the
Bam Bam:back room. Exactly.
Senator:It's really cool to hear him
Bam Bam:Yeah, and I know we'll get to Lisette's conversation, but like her father, the masters for each of these marcus, they focus on the blend, and that's all they care about. You guys handle everything else. I wanna focus on the blend. That's what matters.
Gizmo:And what I love about Koss, just like Ernesto that you're just referencing to Lisette's father, is he's rooted in tradition. He knows how important the legacy and the family name of Kellner is, but he's an innovator, and he's a scientist about it. He's very meticulous about how he tries things and tastes things, and that experience, for you, the listener, to hear that, I'm hoping you had the same experience that we did sitting here with him. It was really eye opening.
Senator:Yeah, and the thing I really loved, and you'll hear him talk extensively about this, is how bespoke his approach is to blending. I mean, there's a lot of blenders in the cigar world who come up with a variety of different blends. They put them on a shelf. Someone comes in and says that they wanna launch a new product or line, and they try these boxed blends that have already been made and produced. They pick one, and they say, Okay, let's slap a label on it, and we're gonna sell it.
Senator:And for him, it's meeting with that partner who is gonna entrust him to produce that cigar, understanding the palette and flavor profile that their target consumer is looking for, and then reverse engineering everything from there. Sure. And I think that's so refreshing when you think about what we hope for all brands to be doing in the future, which is really understanding what we as consumers are looking for, and building a blend based on that, not just here's some great blends that maybe I think people might like, or I enjoy, and you just choose from those.
Bam Bam:Yeah. It's truly an artisanal, bespoke approach that he's taken.
Gizmo:And I think, too, the thing I love about Klaus, and this is actually taking us into the next interview that we had with Vance Taylor,
Pagoda:who
Gizmo:is the founder, owner, and is blending with Klaus Stoic cigars. We did a wonderful interview with him and learned about Stoic, but I think the thing in exactly what you just said about Klas blending with Vance Mhmm. Is also the element of surprise. You know, it's this tradition. It's understanding the consumer, but also finding new ways to surprise the palate.
Gizmo:To create a cigar like we said about Stoic that we told both Klaus and Vance, this is unlike any other flavor profile that we've had, and there's very specific reasons for that that we learned in the And that element of surprise is what's going to push the industry forward.
Bam Bam:Oh,
Gizmo:yeah. You know, it's maintaining tradition and legacy, but also creating new varietals and new hybrids, new blend decisions that advance the industry and these great cigars that
Bam Bam:we've Yeah. And you also have to respect Vance's also his intellectual approach to his cigar making.
Gizmo:So I think the listeners are gonna love our conversation with Vance Taylor. We sat down with him. Of course, we had to after the experience we had. He's just launching the brand to retailers at this PCA show. Did a soft launch last year in November.
Senator:Yeah. We we mistakenly sold him out a little bit before PCA with that episode.
Gizmo:Yeah. He told us that the Robustos were pretty much sold out countrywide here in The US after our conversation Oops. And review of that cigar. So we're very, very happy to have sat down with him, and, you know, the word that I take away of our conversation with Vance, as that comes up in a few weeks here for the listeners, is believability. Mhmm.
Gizmo:And I said that to Vance as we were sitting with him. You know, a lot of cigar manufacturers that we look at at this show, we look at a lot of booths. It's all marketing. We joke about that word on this podcast. Yep.
Gizmo:But I believe him. His story about stoic, his appreciation for stoicism, Marcus Aurelius, we were actually walking by his booth. He had a free moment. He was literally reading a book on stoicism. Nobody was looking at him.
Gizmo:He was doing it for his own, you know, enjoyment and education, and I just love his story. Obviously, his cigar is fantastic, and I can't wait for listeners to hear that conversation. Huge. Great, great episode.
Pagoda:No, so deeply ingrained in the value system. Think for us as cigar consumers as well, there's a lot of new, exciting cigars which are gonna be in the market, you know, coming through a lot of the young, fresh perspectives of either the younger generation, and it's just, you know, something to look forward to. So then we interviewed Lisette Perez Calillo, the daughter of Ernesto,
Gizmo:the, you know, legend. I mean, he's a cigar blending god in this industry. We were so fortunate to sit down with Lisette and talk to her about their rebranding as Casa Carrillo and the story behind that and the why. And what another great we had a great conversation with her. That was actually the first long form conversation we've had in any any meaningful way with Lisette, and thankfully we were able to hit record and sit down with her.
Bam Bam:She's wonderful, and the conversation was very poignant, very clear and crisp.
Senator:And I think she's incredible as a woman leader in this industry that has been male dominated, you know, since time immemorial, and the role that she currently plays for Casa Carrillo
Bam Bam:is She does everything. Substantial. Crazy.
Gizmo:I don't know how she has the time and the day.
Bam Bam:Yeah, it's true.
Senator:Unbelievable, and it's just so, you know, cool you hear these stories. They talked about in the panel with kind of the next generation of the industry how young some of them, all of them were when they first got exposed to this business. I mean, Klas talked about being four years old when he had his first cigar from his That's right.
Gizmo:I think she was seven.
Bam Bam:Yeah, seven or eight?
Gizmo:She was saying at the panel.
Bam Bam:She was banding cigars in the factory. Yeah.
Senator:Yeah. And it's so funny you see them, you know, as they've grown up, and they've learned so much more, and now the tremendous impact that she's able to have across their business, and there are other women like her, and I hope that even starts to inspire other ones in the future, because it's these different perspectives and experiences that folks have that I think help push forward the entire category of premium cigars
Bam Bam:and Yes, they do.
Pagoda:And you know, once again, adding to Sandra's point, you know, you think about women leaders in this industry. She's bringing a completely fresh perspective as well, focusing even on the women demographics and trying to understand what is it that they like. So, you know, for the women cigar listeners here, I think you'll hear some interesting things from her perspective
Bam Bam:and what she
Pagoda:Good point. Plans to bring, you know, in the next coming years.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:And I think it's really nice to hear a manufacturer, be it a woman or a man, thinking about other elements of the potential demographic to improve and increase the experience for new entrants to cigar smoking, you know, across all genders, all ages, everything. It's nice to hear this diversification and this focus on those things. So it's a great conversation we have coming with Lisette Perez Carrillo. And finally, boys, as of now, there may be one or two more we'll see because we're recording on Sunday afternoon here at the PCA show. We're gonna wrap up our evening here tonight.
Gizmo:So there might be another conversation or two, but the final one we have as of right this moment was our conversation with senator's best friend and brother from another mother, Rafael Nadal, the head of Aging Room Cigars, the blender president, owner of that, and he also is the vice president of product capabilities at Altidus. You know, he does a lot of stuff for them. But of course, our focus is the aging room cigars that Senator and all of us love so very much.
Bam Bam:Oh, yeah.
Senator:I mean, what a conversation. We've been trying to find him at this trade show for the last couple years. He's a busy man,
Gizmo:I mean. Even with that bright jacket, he couldn't see him anywhere.
Senator:And it's funny because when we finally saw him in the booth, and we had a chance to talk to him, and he was very gracious with his time and wanted to set up an interview with us. I mean, you just watch this man walk around the trade show floor, everyone knows him. Sure. Everyone stops him and has a conversation with him. I mean, he's blended across countless different brands and lines, and then he's got his own and aging room.
Senator:And we're a cigar and lifestyle podcast, and what I really love about him, and I think we've all grown to appreciate is this is a man who has a tremendous appreciation for how a cigar fits into and enhances your lifestyle. It's zest for life.
Pagoda:He is a man. Exactly. He the
Bam Bam:principle of smoking cigars, ingratiating yourself with your friends, having great conversations, having great food, great life experiences. It's all wrapped into his brand beautifully.
Pagoda:You know, a lively, lively interview that one you know, and then his inspiration being music and how he ties it all up together, I think, once again, for all of the aging room and the Rafael Nadel followers and people who are inspired by him, it's gonna be a fantastic time.
Bam Bam:He's got that kind of personality that makes you wanna be around him.
Senator:Yeah. Yeah.
Bam Bam:He's larger than life. Very magnetic. Oh, so Very friendly.
Pagoda:So social.
Bam Bam:I think he says he to
Pagoda:everybody between here while we walked him to and And he's genuine.
Bam Bam:Yeah. He's genuine. I also think everyone's running up to him
Gizmo:because of Yes. He's like a celebrity.
Bam Bam:Absolutely. We
Gizmo:had a wide ranging conversation with him like we did everybody else. I think, you know, with these five interviews we're talking about now, have a lot of great content coming out of PCA. We're gonna weave this into upcoming New World episodes here for you listeners out there, and I think you're really going to enjoy the content that we've been able to create and put together here at PCA twenty twenty five. And maybe we'll have a few more. We'll see what happens after we stop recording today, boys.
Bam Bam:Alright.
Gizmo:Alright. We're coming to the end of our evening here with the La Aurora Family Creed Fuerte Sol and the Ilion Jimenez 19 o three rum. Any final thoughts here, boys, before we move into the ratings portion of our program?
Bam Bam:Just overall a delicious pairing.
Gizmo:Yeah, I was very, very happy with this.
Senator:Yeah, and for me, a consistent experience. Think all the way through, even into the last half an inch, didn't lose any of that flavor. Still smooth and enjoyable, never felt like it overheated, and I lost or the flavor got muddled. So really pleased with what I had today.
Bam Bam:Yeah, you know, I'd like to see how this performs three to four to five weeks in our tower, letting it season for a little bit.
Pagoda:I completely agree. Think for me, I would really love to age in and try it. Just a few Yeah. Because the last third, I think, was less drier. Like I think the second third was pretty dry for me.
Pagoda:And so I really, really started enjoying it again. So for me, it was once again, and you can see I'm right back to the nub. Yeah, it's a good journey. Yeah, it's been a good journey. And from a flavor perspective, I think it fits within our flavor profile.
Senator:I'm glad you mentioned the kind of difference for you and it getting sweeter down the stretch because I agree. I think the final third for me got sweeter and saltier. Yeah.
Bam Bam:Oh, And
Senator:it's like just a great palate stimulating profile to have so much sweetness and That's correct. I I really love the last That's correct.
Gizmo:Alright, boys. Let's go now to our formal rating tonight on the Elyon Jimenez nineteen oh three rum. Bam, bam, you're up.
Bam Bam:I'm at a nine with this. I think this is delicious from beginning to end. Very easy to drink. Like I said, on the nose, I got a ton of vanilla, caramel on the finish on the palate. Really exquisite.
Bam Bam:Nine.
Gizmo:Okay. Pagoda.
Pagoda:I think it's a nine for me. I think they had me at Sherry. No, I'm just kidding. No, but you know what it is. I tend to like, you know, any kind of liquor which are Agent Cherry and it's-
Bam Bam:Any kind of liquor at all.
Pagoda:Well, liquors are rated nine. So from henceforth, I retire. No, but, you know, it's a fantastic rum, very smooth, really, you know, very flavorful, and it was an excellent, excellent pairing with the cigar we had. So, you know, it just really made it pretty buoyant. So I think it's a nine for me.
Gizmo:All right. So it's also a nine for me. I thought the flavor was fantastic. I love the value on this rum at $40. I would be very happy to have this stocked in my cabinet at home.
Gizmo:I loved, as I mentioned earlier, it was not too sweet. It tasted very natural. You know, some rums we've talked about, you know, kinda have that hint of, you know, false sweetness or that chemical kind reduced sweetness. Very nicely balanced, and it wasn't harsh at all. You know, even for an eight years aged rum, we often talk about double digit aged spirits on this podcast.
Gizmo:You know, it was really, really excellent. So I'm very, very happy with this, and I'm very, very happy with a nine. Senator.
Senator:So I'm in lockstep with the group. I'm I'm at a strong nine, and, you know, for me, the fact that this leans drier than most rums is a huge merit. I think the fact that La Aurora very cleverly has focused on creating and blending rum that pairs specifically with cigars is awesome for us and every other cigar smoker out there. Mean, the rums that we love are the ones that we say are not overpowering, are not too sweet, don't detract from the smoking experience we're having, and this one only enhanced it, I think, all the way through. I think it's very versatile.
Senator:I can see pairing this rum with, honestly, most cigars I smoke.
Gizmo:Almost anything, including Cuban. Agreed.
Bam Bam:Oh, yeah.
Gizmo:Including Cuban I struggle
Senator:to think of, you know, a cigar. I think the only thing I wouldn't pair this with is maybe the fullest of full bodied, because this is, you know, pretty smooth and easy drinking, not as full or robust as, you know, a rum with maybe some more age, but at its price point at is it eight years? Seven years?
Gizmo:Yeah. Eight years aged.
Senator:At eight years bucks.
Bam Bam:Tough to beat.
Senator:For $40, I think it's a great pairing with almost any cigar. Yeah.
Gizmo:Totally agree. Alright, boys. That puts the formal liquor rating tonight on the Elyon Jimenez nineteen o three rum at a nine point zero. Great rating. Let's compare that to the one hundred and tenth anniversary rum we've done from Ilion Jimenez on episode 154.
Gizmo:Edge that out just a little bit. That scored an 8.8. So just two points higher than that at a nine point zero. And now it's time to move into the formal lizard rating on the La Aurora family creed in Fuerte, Sol. Senator, you're up.
Gizmo:Normally we're saying rooster, but tonight is Senator. The pressure's on. I don't love this position.
Senator:Where's rooster when
Bam Bam:I need him?
Gizmo:Phone a friend.
Senator:Correct. So I think I'm in lockstep with the rum. I'm gonna give this a nine. I think for me, La Aurora is never a brand that I've associated with full bodied cigars. I think they're more firmly medium bodied, and to see La Aurora produce something that is full flavored, but still true to kind of their DNA and who they are, that I think it's a medium bodied experience, is never easy to do with Nicaraguan tobacco.
Senator:That's by its nature really powerful, and you've gotta work in blending to tame that, and I think they've done a really nice job of that here. I think for a lot of Nicaraguan cigars, or mostly Nicaraguan in this case, they either skew very sweet and cocoa forward or very dry and earthy, and for me, this was a really nice balance between the two, which is why I'm at a strong nine. So it's definitely something I would smoke again. I mean, this is my second one, and I think this is for a wide range of smokers in the sense that- I
Gizmo:agree with that.
Senator:If you like a fuller bodied, fuller flavored experience, there's something to enjoy here. But even if you're someone that normally only goes for a medium bodied cigar, and you don't necessarily pursue, you know, a Maduro that's got more flavor, the delivery on this is so smooth, I think this is a great gateway into those types of cigars, so I'm at a strong nine.
Gizmo:So I'm also at a nine. I loved this cigar tonight. I thought it was really excellent, well constructed. The combustion was fantastic. I love the chocolate notes, that bitter dark chocolate, a little bit of coffee, and I'm not gonna call it citrus.
Gizmo:I'm gonna call it a citric note, like almost like an acidic type of citrus that increased the, you know, saliva in my mouth, balanced out that dryness for me. And I think we have to shout out Mexican San Andres wrapper. We've talked about, you know, other cigars that we love that have the Mexican San Andres wrapper. It's really working on this cigar. I think the blend on this is excellent.
Gizmo:And like you guys just said, I wonder, with a little bit of time, how this cigar is even gonna just, you know, rest out, you know, develop. I think this has some legs. I'd be very happy to have a box of these in my humidor, especially at a price of between $15 and $16 MSRP. I'm assuming even gonna be able to find that pretty reasonably, probably lower than that online as these cigars finally come to market. But very, very happy with this cigar tonight.
Gizmo:I'm glad we chose this, so it's a nine for me. Pagoda.
Pagoda:I'm at an eight, and the reason is, once again, I would say the second, which was really, really dry for me. But having said that, I'm in lockstep in terms of overall the flavor profile and what they're trying to achieve with this, and I think they've done it very successfully. What I do feel is that, hey, I think maybe in a couple of weeks or a couple of months, you know, I'm gonna get a box. I'm gonna age it and see how it develops. And I'm sure that I think the one thing I was really just seeking with a little more sweetness in the beginning and in the second third, it would have really helped.
Pagoda:But towards the last third, I'll tell you, if I could have got this cigar what it was in the last third, I think it would have definitely be nine, maybe even higher. You know? But for this particular cigar that I've smoked today, it's an eight.
Bam Bam:Alright. Bam bam. I'm at a nine. I think the word journey is very accurate. The middle third was a little flat, but honestly, I kind of liked the way it began.
Bam Bam:It was very berry forward. It's delicious. Got a little flat in the middle, but I didn't hate it. But this final third, this is where I'm getting the deep cocoa and a lot of deep dark chocolate here. Very, very unique and still very smooth.
Bam Bam:So I'm at a nine.
Gizmo:Alright, boys. That puts the formal lizard rating tonight on the La Aurora Family Creed Fuerte Sol, the Robusto at an 8.8. So let's compare that to the other Robusto we've done Very fair score. From La Aurora, the one hundred and twentieth anniversary Robusto on episode 154. This edged that out by just one point, scored an 8.7.
Gizmo:So an 8.8 tonight. So what a great pairing, boys.
Bam Bam:Yeah, fantastic.
Gizmo:Another solid double pairing from the La Aurora family, Ilion Jimenez, tonight on the pod.
Bam Bam:I'm having a hard time putting this last piece of You're down
Pagoda:to the nub.
Bam Bam:It's very, very good.
Pagoda:Yeah. Yeah, same here. I think the last, think it's delicious right now.
Gizmo:Great cigar. And I think, again, at that price point, I think we're talking about a very premium experience at a very fair price point. So I'm looking forward to seeing these come to market and to get our hands on some of these. So boys, another great PCA show.
Bam Bam:Think A good one,
Gizmo:good I think we outdid ourselves this year.
Bam Bam:Yeah.
Gizmo:I'm very happy with the experience, very happy with New Orleans, very thankful to PCA, the leadership team there, Josh Habersky, of course, who's the president of PCA, as well as the manufacturers and the retailers that have been so friendly and kind to us over the last couple days, and of course, especially to the folks who have given us their time to put these great interviews together for our listeners. And I'm telling you, if you are a listener of this podcast, stay tuned because we have some fantastic content coming your way over the next few weeks and probably months at this point with all the stuff we have coming of great conversations with some really, really amazing people in the cigar industry. All right, boys. Fantastic night.
Bam Bam:Well done, guys.
Gizmo:A great pairing. Yeah. A great show. I'm so glad we did this. I can't wait to come back to New Orleans next year.
Gizmo:It's gonna be a lot of fun.
Senator:Bourbon Street is gonna miss BAM.
Gizmo:I know that's right.
Bam Bam:I did my
Gizmo:best. All right, boys. We have to thank our sponsor, of course, Fabrica Five. They're great partners to us. They make things like us coming to PCA possible, so we're very appreciative to them.
Gizmo:We have to thank all of our lizards out there who write us all the time. There's no lizard of the week this week. We didn't get any, get to any lizard email, but we will save that for next week. And, of course, everybody, we will see you next week. Hope you enjoyed this episode.
Gizmo:Thanks for joining us. You could find our merch store and ratings archive at our brand new website, loungelizardspod.com. That's loungelizardsp0d.com. Don't forget to leave us a rating and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. If you have any comments, questions, do you wanna reach out, say hello, tell us what you're smoking?
Gizmo:Email us. Hello at LoungeLizardsPod.com. You can also find us on Instagram at Lounge Lizards Pod. We really appreciate your time, and we'll, we'll see you next week.