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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 seven members: Rooster, Poobah, Gizmo, Senator, Pagoda, Grinder and Bam Bam.
This is not your typical cigar podcast. We’re a group of friends who love sharing cigars, whiskey and a good laugh.
Join us and become a card-carrying lounge lizard yourself! Email us at hello@loungelizardspod.com to join the conversation and be featured on an upcoming episode!
**Gizmo:** [00:00:00] Welcome to the Lounge Lizards podcast presented by Fabrica5. 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, Chef Ricky, Pagoda, and Bam Bam, and our plan is to smoke a cigar, drink some cognac, talk about life, and of course, have some laughs.
So take this as your 153rd official invitation to join us and become a card carrying Lounge Lizard. We're gonna smoke a Cuban cigar tonight, share our thoughts on it, and give you our formal lizard rating. We review yet another La Casa Del Habano release. We recap our night with the Buena Vista Social Orchestra Live, and we answer a listener email on when to smoke aging cigars, all among a variety of other things for the next two hours.
So sit back, get your favorite drink, light up a cigar, and enjoy, as we pair Remy Martin Tercet with the H. Upmann Royal Robusto. LCDH a Cuban Robusto tonight on the pod from H [00:01:00] Upmann. It's the Royal Robusto, La Casa Del Habano release, and it's a little bigger than what we know from a Cuban Robusto, 52 ring gauge, by 5 and 3 eighths inches long, and boys, this has a second LCDH band, which in this room, has not, uh, Yielded success thus far.
And I pulled all the ratings, not only on the other Upmanns we've done, but the other LCD H's and I'm hoping for some redemption tonight.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah, us too. It's a gorgeous cigar.
**Gizmo:** I'm not excited. Nervous, not excited. I will say, and Bam pointed this out when we opened the box, these cigars do smell incredible.
Just at the foot. The foot smells great. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Very aromatic. You gotta put it right to your nostril. It's really quite delicious.
**Pagoda:** Uh, Bam's love for the feet continues.
**Gizmo:** Dr. Scholl's. Alright boys, let's cut this thing. See we're getting on the cold draw on the wrapper.[00:02:00]
**Chef Ricky:** Nice open draw. I'm hopeful.
**Gizmo:** Mine's nice.
**Senator:** Lots of cedar.
**Gizmo:** Just a slight bit of resistance here for me. Me too.
**Senator:** I've got more resistance than I would like but the cold draw is extremely flavorful. What are you getting? I'm getting cedar and cinnamon. Cinnamon for sure. Baking
**Bam Bam:** spice generally.
**Gizmo:** I'm not getting as much cedar which I'm actually happy about.
Me too. I have to say it's
**Bam Bam:** some dried fruit.
**Gizmo:** There's
**Bam Bam:** definitely
**Gizmo:** dried fruit there.
**Bam Bam:** And a biscuit type thing happening. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** We've called this out before, it's almost like a fig newton y type of thing.
**Bam Bam:** Raisin fig
**Gizmo:** newton type thing. With a little bit of, like shortbread, like
**Senator:** you're saying. Taste the wrapper, it's like they sprinkled cinnamon on it.
Don't start with the coatings!
**Bam Bam:** Let's not start with the coatings!
**Gizmo:** I sprayed them before I brought them here. Did
**Bam Bam:** you? It's a gingerbread. Did you do a grinder spritz? I did, I did a
**Gizmo:** spritz with a little cinnamon water. [00:03:00] This is good.
**Chef Ricky:** All right. That's
**Gizmo:** a nice preview guys. It
**Chef Ricky:** feels like it's a good Christmas cigar so far.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys. Let's light this thing. The H Upmann Royal Robusto, La Casa Del Habano release. Again, it's a 52 ring gauge Robusto by five and three eighths inches long.
**Bam Bam:** What's the box date and code on this?
**Gizmo:** This is a good one. Bam. B R E June, 2019
**Bam Bam:** excellent code.
**Gizmo:** So B R E is the up in factory. And the reason why we highlight that is because very similar to the run of lub 13, 14, early Which we experienced on the Upmann 2 and is very, you know, celebrated across the collectors out there, love codes.
Worldwide. BRE, five years behind it, is proving to be a very, very good code for cigars coming out of the Upmann factory.
**Bam Bam:** I gotta say, as I toast the foot [00:04:00] on this, the aroma is It's really nice. I mean, it is very, very good. I haven't taken a draw yet. It's outstanding so far.
**Gizmo:** Ooh, the first draw. Fantastic.
**Bam Bam:** Is it floral?
Are you getting a, I'm getting floral just on the aroma.
**Gizmo:** I, I think my first impression right now is I can taste the aged tobacco. I can take, taste a little bit of mustiness on the, on the light. I love that. You know?
**Senator:** I've just gotta say, I'm incredibly happy on the light because this actually tastes more Partagas than Upmin to me on the light.
Mm. If I were blind, to me this could taste like Some aged D4s that I've had that are like very cinnamon forward. I love the flavor.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Senator:** Although
**Bam Bam:** I'm getting a lot of nuttiness in this. Um, which balances that baking spice for me nicely. Agreed. I get a lot of nuts as well. Yeah. Wow. This is shocking.
**Gizmo:** The smell at the head of the cigar, I mean the foot of the cigar smells great too, but the head of the [00:05:00] cigar smells fantastic.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** It mimics the
**Bam Bam:** aroma on the foot, I
**Gizmo:** think. So the factory name on this cigar, boys, is an Edmundo. Obviously, it shares the exact same size as the Monte Cristo Edmundo we did quite a few episodes back. And this size is not, it doesn't exist elsewhere in regular production outside of that Monte Cristo in this Royal Robusto.
However, there are a ton of regionals and special editions that have been done with this size over the years. But the reason why I find this interesting is that H. Upmann didn't have a Robusto in regular production until this cigar was released in 2011. Like, it's weird that there's not an Upmann Robusto, just standard production Robusto.
You know, and like when you order the, uh, the combination on us, they call it the combination of the, the global brands, the five global brands, there is an Upmann Robusto in there. That's a five by 50 like the [00:06:00] others, which I guess is just made for that specific box. So the whole decision making process here with a global brand, not having a Robusto, only having one with this second LCD age band on it, obviously charging a premium.
It's, it's a little odd.
**Pagoda:** I always find it very strange because sometimes I look at the 52 ring gauge and it seems so big, I don't know
**Bam Bam:** why. Pagoda, this has got to be up your power alley. This is previewing to me a very strong, medium cigar. Right. No, definitely. You know, full flavored right now. Well, I'd say medium, medium, medium to full.
Yeah. At the moment.
**Senator:** Pagoda's last comment. I'm looking at his cigar. Someone did a bad job rolling. That's bigger than 52 ring gauge. It
**Chef Ricky:** does look a little bigger than the others. It's bigger than everyone's
**Senator:** cigar. It almost, it looks, that's definitely 53. It looks like a 54 from afar. Cuba being Cuba.
**Gizmo:** Senator, are you questioning Cuban quality control? [00:07:00]
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** Senator, very astute. That's, you're, I need to get those prescriptions that you're wearing because that is, he's not wrong. It's definitely bigger. It's honestly almost a 16th of an inch, which is a lot. Wow. That's a lot.
**Senator:** No, I was wondering because it didn't look big.
I thought it was so strange when Pagoda said that because he used to love like Toro's and larger ring aged cigars. But when I looked over, I'm like, it looks like he's smoking a Toro. We've all got a Robusta. How weird is that?
**Bam Bam:** That's
**Pagoda:** kind of cool. Hey, listen, more to enjoy today, so no complaints. Correct.
**Gizmo:** Well, there is, you know, in, in Cuban quality control, there is a tolerance, I think, of a few, you know, degrees in the ring gauge either way. So that sometimes, even if you, you'll get a box of D4, which obviously is in a wider production, they make way more of them than they do of these, but you can get D4s that are pretty thin, you get others that are a little bigger, you can find a variety even in a box.
The color matching is there, but you can see a varietal in the, in the size, so. Makes sense. You know. I guess Pagoda [00:08:00] got the better end of that tonight. We'll see how his smokes.
**Pagoda:** Absolutely. And it's a very, very flavorful, you know, baking spices into cinnamon, leaving, leaving with the cinnamon and it's, it's really, it's really.
**Chef Ricky:** It's a very handsome cigar. The wrapper looks beautiful. It's very clean. And then you have this LCDH kind of maroon band on it. And it gives the rapper this light, slight, almost, uh, maroonish color. Rosado. Yeah, rosado, yeah.
**Gizmo:** I will say when, when I opened this box, and I've had this box kind of keyed away for the podcast probably for about two years.
Because I wanted to give that BRE 19 a little bit of time. You know, I didn't want to smoke them too soon because, because Senator and I specifically have smoked some Kanye's with the same exact code. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Leading up to, I think, a few months ago, you had good experience reaching into that box again.
But for me, mine have been a little more difficult. And the reason why I compare them is, I was nervous, Senator, that the [00:09:00] wrapper on this does seem a little thick. Thick, yeah. Right, compared to other, Cuban reboosted. You're not wrong.
**Bam Bam:** Absolutely. You're right about that. The seams are pretty visible. Although It's got a rustic look.
Yeah,
**Pagoda:** mine looks like the surface of the moon. It's like, it's like, you know, I'm hearing chefs saying very smooth wrapper and all. I said, all right, look at mine. It's like Mine is super rustic.
**Chef Ricky:** Mine looks great. I don't see any seams really on mine or, you know.
**Bam Bam:** Although I like cigars that are kind of rustic.
Interesting in character.
**Gizmo:** I'm just happy that this is burning and smoking the way it is because some of those thicker wrapper cigars, even from BRE, uh, you know, in the 19, 18, 19 range have been, I've been fighting the combustion on those fighting the, the, the burn. So we'll see how this does tonight.
**Senator:** I've just got to say, I'm so pleasantly surprised.
If I had to rate this cigar right now, it would score very high. I completely agree. This is [00:10:00] exactly the flavor profile that I love and pursue. I can't believe how this is the first, uh, LZDH banded cigar that I feel like is really made for me. Let's hope it continues.
**Gizmo:** So boys, this is the 10th cigar we're doing tonight from H Uppen on the pod.
We'll go through the list of those and the ratings towards the end of the program. This is our sixth banded LCDH cigar. We'll also go through those. We've done five others. And then, Technically, this is our seventh LCDH cigar because the connoisseur A from H Upmann, as we know, is an LCDH and Habano specialist release, but it does not have this LCDH band on it.
So this is our seventh LCDH on the pod. So hopefully, like you're saying, Senator, this is going to perform more in line with what we expect from a premium Habano's Robusto.
**Bam Bam:** It's an awful lot of LCDH cigars that we don't like.
**Gizmo:** I'd argue almost all of them. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** a lot of [00:11:00] hopeful expectations there.
**Pagoda:** I'm glad I don't have any memory.
It's like Groundhog Day, if I were given one today, it'd taste new. The finish on this is very long. It is very long, and I think it becomes very, uh, Cuban esque, you know, I like, I like, there's a certain Cuban quality, I think, which was very different from the way we described it, but it lingers on, on the top of my palate, which is very different from the sweetness I get in the front.
For
**Bam Bam:** me, the finish is
**Pagoda:** very floral, and it
**Bam Bam:** extends for quite a while. Yeah, it's called a floral salty. Do you remember? Yeah.
**Gizmo:** This is off to a fantastic start for me. Oh yeah, me too. And I, again, I just love that you can really taste the aged tobacco in a cigar that was not sold as being aged. Like this aged in my tower. Over the last few years, I put it aside, like I said, about two years ago to not smoke and do it on the pod.
And doing it tonight, it's like, this is the fruit of buying a box at a reasonable [00:12:00] price, putting it aside for a few years. And you're, you know, you're tasting that now, as opposed to having to pay for it.
**Bam Bam:** It's called elite humidity management.
**Pagoda:** It's been through all stages.
**Gizmo:** So for any listener out there who is interested in the history of H Upmann, like I said, this is the 10th H Upmann we've done on the podcast tonight.
You can go back and find on our ratings guide on the website, all of the different cigars we've done and throughout that, especially in the earlier episodes, we covered a lot of H Upmann history. We're not going to do that tonight, but if you're interested in H Upmann history, just go visit one of those other episodes.
**Bam Bam:** Do we know how many particles we've done in comparison to H up? It's right
**Gizmo:** around 10.
**Bam Bam:** Isn't that incredible?
**Gizmo:** Yeah. We've done quite a few.
**Bam Bam:** We can't stay in those two markers, man.
**Senator:** Sounds like we haven't done enough. I also like that for a cigar with some age, it starts firmly medium. Like, there's no mild mediums start to this cigar [00:13:00] like some I feel like that we've had where, you know, they're aged, they're smooth, they're nice, but they, we kind of are waiting for them to build up to what we typically like to smoke, and this starts right there, which I like.
Jeff, what's going on over there?
**Chef Ricky:** I, uh, You look disgruntled. No, I'm not. I'm not. It's, so, it's a little bit of what, you know, you nailed it, uh, Senator, in that, like, right off the light, you nailed it. It's, it's, it's something to like, dive into, and I've been accustomed, I've grown accustomed to lighting a cigar, allowing it to develop, and seeing, you know, how it changes, and, and what's going on, it hasn't changed a whole lot for me just yet, and I'm not upset about it, but I've, I've, I'm kind of waiting for that to happen, and I don't know that it's really going to happen on this cigar this early on.
It's going to happen later, but, you know, I'm, I, to start, I got some sweet notes, I got some baking spice, and now I'm getting sort of more [00:14:00] savory, like the baking spice isn't lasting as long, the cinnamon's not as present, uh, so I'm just, I'm sitting here and I'm doing some serious retrohaling and some playing around with the smoke on my palate, just trying to get.
Something else out of it. And for me that savoriness
**Bam Bam:** comes through in the nutty note that yeah. Yeah, I agree Oh, it's almost like a walnut almond thing. Yeah for me completely. Yeah, you know, it's not the almonds or that's it It's not the sweeter. Yeah, it's not the Yeah, exactly
**Chef Ricky:** It's kind of a tannic like, you know walnuts a little bit astringent and tannic.
That's kind of very satisfying
**Senator:** and very up and ask Very open. Yeah.
**Pagoda:** I'll tell you, it's, uh, it's really interesting because this cigar, like, there are not many cigars that leave a very, even like, um, a sweetness on my lips for some reason. I feel that it's like, it is very pronounced. It's, it's excellent.
**Senator:** It's that cinnamon dusted on that wrap. Yeah, it
**Chef Ricky:** definitely [00:15:00] is. Fairy dust. My, my research has led me to nothing. I have yet to find anything about, you know, spraying tobacco. I know I mentioned it a few pods ago. Um, and I can't find anything about adding flavoring or, or some kind of, you know, substance to create more smoke.
It's all pretty tight lipped. I'm going to talk to 60 Minutes about doing a special on this. We need to get to the bottom of this. You play that law and order music and it really inspired me to find something. And I just like the first unsolved case on law and order.
**Gizmo:** So boys, let's talk about a little news.
I always like the look of these, the Spanish jars that, uh, Taba Clara, who's the Spanish distributor for Habano's SA always puts out a, they have like a series of jars that they do. Oh, those are gorgeous. Ceramic jars. And what's interesting about it and the reason why I bring it up first, I have never had one.
Uh, I, I think that they're beautiful pieces. They're kind of very classic old school [00:16:00] ceramic, almost looks like it's hand painted in a way. But what's cool is, so they've done this. This is going to be their eighth time, but this time they're releasing a cigar jar with an, with 19 Hoya de Monterrey Epicure number twos.
This release is specifically made for Spain and it's called the Siri Sevilla. So it's a line of limited edition pottery from the kilns of La Cueva. Cartuja de Sabia in Spain, and they make 2000 of these pieces, which are replicas of the Partagas and Ramon Iones jars that were manufactured in the mid 1900s.
But I just think that's so cool. I know that, you know, it's a regular production cigar. They simply put another band on the foot of them. Let's say series Sabia.
**Senator:** I just love the look at those, you know, they always look beautiful, but my problem is the price on those is always crazy. And at that point you're literally paying for the jar.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. What's interesting though, Senator, to your point on this one, the [00:17:00] suggested retail price, and I don't know what the markup is and I don't know how crazy the Spanish market or collectors out there chase these. But the price on these is 475 euros, which works out to about 530 bucks. So on those 19 cigars, it puts each cigar at about 28.
So compared to what you're paying on a normal Epi, you're probably paying, what, 5 to 6 more a cigar for the jar? Which, all in all, isn't as crazy as a lot of these other special quote unquote releases that You know that are coming out.
**Senator:** I hope we can actually find them at that price point. Because I just feel like years ago when I used to see those jars pop up, the prices were silly.
That's true. At that point you're literally paying for the jar. By the way, don't get, why are there 19 sticks in that? That's also, I think what
**Gizmo:** they're trying to do is just keep those jars identical. So if you collect all eight of them, they're sitting on your shelf and they're, you know, identical in size and just have the different.
**Bam Bam:** And it's branding on the identical cigar in every jar.
**Gizmo:** Yeah. So, well, Uh, you know, each year, that's also disappointing. , [00:18:00] we've already established
**Pagoda:** that they, they don't roll it in the same size every time.
**Gizmo:** some jars you could fit 2020.
**Pagoda:** Yeah.
**Gizmo:** No. So every year they do a different cigar, so, okay. I believe, uh, last year's Sebi jar was the Vagus Rubo Unos.
Uh, there was a Ramona Onus jar. Oh. Prior to, that's a Parus jar. I think they had p twos in them to compliment you. So there were quite a bit
**Bam Bam:** to excellent pronunciation on all of that. Oh, thank you. No one fo pa.
**Gizmo:** Oh,
**Bam Bam:** very impressed. Listened up, Hank. It's true. Can
**Gizmo:** we, can we mark that down on the, uh, the ledger, please?
I wouldn't mind listening to it again. Let's just say you've got one lizard's approval. It was pretty good. I didn't say it well. You said it pretty well. It's progress. You're
**Chef Ricky:** doing, you're
**Gizmo:** doing great,
**Chef Ricky:** guys.
**Gizmo:** The only native Spanish speaker in the room says that I'm doing well, so
**Chef Ricky:** I'll take it. I think that.
Third note, if you will, that I was kind of hoping to come through is coming through now, which is, um, it's just a, a, a deeper, more fuller. I'm getting a little bit more sweetness now. It feels a little bit rounder. The [00:19:00] finish is much longer and it's, it's feels more bready. Uh, I was missing that. Oh, I agree with that.
Yeah, I was missing that before and it was really bothering me.
**Bam Bam:** I also have to say, I'm looking at everyone's cigar. The burn line's beautiful, I think. The ash is structural. It's such a great, great cigar. It's beautifully made.
**Chef Ricky:** Yep, so I'm getting now to that yeasty note that I've called out often in cigars prior.
Uh, and it's a note that I really enjoy. I also now, on
**Senator:** the finish, just get a little faint bit of cocoa. Is anybody else getting that? Yeah, that's it. I'm not
**Gizmo:** getting cocoa yet.
**Bam Bam:** I'm getting pretty heavy floral on the, on the very tail end of the, of the, of the finish. Yeah. Yeah. Which is really unique. Usually you get that on the front.
**Senator:** Like, this is going to sound weird. Like cocoa powder.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. Like it's
**Senator:** very, that's very specific. And I know
**Bam Bam:** what that is because I used to love cocoa powder. It's just
**Senator:** like, it's just like a faint, it's just in the background. It's not like, uh, dude, I was sniffing cocoa
**Bam Bam:** powder when I [00:20:00] was a kid. I loved it so much.
Well, now you're
**Chef Ricky:** sniffing something else. Ben was in love with the
**Gizmo:** cocoa. I think that the way I would describe the smoke, and I'm curious if you guys agree with this, like the smoke in your mouth, it feels very leathery to me. It feels thick, like you said, the long finish, but there is like a hint of like that leather thing coats your mouth about it, which I like, we all like, you know, because it, it adds value to a cigar.
I think when the draw lingers. And you can
**Chef Ricky:** take time between draws. So that, that's what I was missing early on. And it just, you know, I, I was waiting for it to come through and, and, and really good cigars prior. It's, it usually happens after a few, a few draws. Um, here it took a little bit longer for me. It, you know, I've also never sat in this area of the room.
Not to be that specific, but I think that has something to do with it sometimes. Are you saying
**Gizmo:** Rooster's taste buds might be thrown off by where he sits?
**Pagoda:** Well, you do look like the emperor. The [00:21:00] emperor chef. Sitting alone on that big, nice little love seat.
**Chef Ricky:** Wow, yeah, I'm getting so much yeast and cinnamon now, it's crazy.
I think for Rooster, he's always in this seat, so he may not notice. But, you know, I've bounced around a little bit in, uh, around the room. So I think every position. Provides a different experience.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, let's do our pairing a little early on the episode tonight, but I think this cigar calls for a really high quality pairing, and I'm hoping we have one in the Remy Martin Terset, which is a, not a cheap spirit and doesn't have a specific age statement on it.
Like a typical cognac would have a VS, VSOP XL. My feeling is this is kind of just a step above the 1738, certainly in price. And it's, it's a little bit hotter at, uh, 84 proof, 42%.
**Bam Bam:** So I've got to say something prior to recording, put your nose to the spirit. It would singe your nose hairs. [00:22:00] It is settled. Yeah.
Chef. Yep. I'm getting a little cocoa. It's opened up. Hmm.
**Gizmo:** That's a really nice cognac. On the nose. Just a touch of cocoa. The nose is still aggressive for me. I don't know. It's, it's gotten a little bit, it's cooled off a little bit. It has cooled off.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Chef Ricky:** I like it. Wow. I like it. I got to say, this is a one of probably the first cognac I've ever had where I could actually taste grapes.
I could actually, I get, I'm getting, it's very wine forward. I'm getting, wow. Well, it says the wine master was involved
**Senator:** in this.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah. So apparently there's three different people, uh, that have their hands in this. There's a wine master, a master distiller, and forgot who the third guy, the cellar master. What are you
**Bam Bam:** getting on the finish?
Any cocoa at all because it's pretty cocoa y for me. I'm getting a little So unusual.
**Chef Ricky:** I get cocoa, I get pineapple, I get cinnamon. Pineapple, yes. I [00:23:00] get cinnamon a lot. I'm not getting, like, caramel. I'm not getting vanilla or any of those things, but Who
**Bam Bam:** thought about this? Because the pairing is almost Perfect.
**Gizmo:** Honestly, it was an accidental pairing. I walked into, um, I didn't know what we were going to do with the cigar tonight. And I walked into the liquor store and we were looking, you know, you had suggested a cognac of some sort or an Armagnac and I saw this Remy and we haven't done Remy, if you believe it.
The, we did the 1738 almost a hundred episodes ago. So it's been almost two years on this podcast since we did Remy. So I was like, you know, it's time to revisit it. And this bottle, you know, Senator was finding at 140 price point. I got it at my local liquor store for 114, had a pretty compelling story.
And I thought with what I was hoping was going to be a higher quality, higher end Cuban cigar experience tonight in this Royal Robusto.
**Chef Ricky:** Dude, I was hoping it was
**Gizmo:** going to be good and it seems like it's working.
**Chef Ricky:** That finish goes on for days. I
**Senator:** mean, I'm sorry, to [00:24:00] Bam's point, the pairing is outrageously fitting.
Yeah. Wow. Like the notes in both, we started the cigar talking about having a long finish. The flavor notes match up. They do. I'm shocked how well this pairs.
**Bam Bam:** What's really nice is a small sip. Let it curl in your mouth, take it down, and then take a draw of your cigar right away. That is really a delicious pairing.
**Chef Ricky:** And you know what, this is the beauty of high proof spirits. They're, that, you know, so, it's a little spicy, it's a little, you know, burn your nose hair in the beginning. But there's body to it, right? Exactly, there's body to it, but it really, when, when you have that high of a alcohol level, and it's not extremely high, but I think this is Remy's, uh, highest ABV cognac.
It allows for a lot of flavor to come through. And, you know, it's, it's why I'm, I'm a big proponent of, of Blanco tequilas and, and unaged mezcals and, and no ice and spirits because I, I want all that flavor. And this is delivering [00:25:00] that with a super long finish. And I think it has obviously everything to do with the blending and, and the three guys that are involved, but also the fact that, you know, the decision to go at 84, uh, proof.
Uh, was a good one here
**Senator:** and I think the thing that's great, I mean, for as aggressive as the nose was at first, especially when it was early on, just sitting in the glass when you drink it, it doesn't drink nearly as hot as it smells on the nose.
**Gizmo:** There's no burn in the throat despite what you're getting on the nose.
**Senator:** It's agreed. There
**Bam Bam:** is a warming
**Senator:** effect. It's a warming effect. There's a warming in the chest, but like a nice warm. Like sometimes I say warming and it's like a little unpleasant warming. This is like just. Perfect. This is cozy warming. Honestly,
**Bam Bam:** this would be perfect. This pairing is perfect for fall. I was gonna say it'd be great during the holidays.
Yeah, I think between Christmas and Thanksgiving This would be an
**Chef Ricky:** exquisite pairing. I called it earlier with the Christmas cigar and this spirit. This is yeah, I agree. Do we have more of these cigars? [00:26:00] We can get more. Merry Christmas. Pagoda, I'm curious, did you end up putting ice in yours? No, not yet. The ice is so bloody far away from me.
**Pagoda:** That's on purpose. I will say, I will say. But I am enjoying it. I must say, I don't think it needs ice. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** And credit to us and for the Discussion we've had and we've joked about the ice thing, but all of us sniffed this, we didn't sip it before we came on air and everybody kind of gave it, you know, we gave each other this wide eyed, like, holy shit, this is going to be hot and I'm glad we resisted throwing the ice in it because it really has paid off, I think, because the, the, the weather, the, the long finished on the, on the cigar paired with this long finished cognac.
But I, I always talk about the battling of the senses. Like they're not battling at all.
**Bam Bam:** No.
**Gizmo:** Like they're very complimentary and it's almost like they were made for one another. Well, they
**Bam Bam:** have similar notes. Yeah. There's coco. Similar both. There's cinnamon in both Cocoa. Cinnamon. Yeah. You mentioned pineapple.
There is like that faint pineapple that [00:27:00] you get in the front for me on this cognac
**Pagoda:** and no, I'm getting cocoa like in the cigar. Right. Of course. I think it's enhanced a co flavor right in the front. It's like as soon as you have that sip, it's like. Oh, it's so good, but it's so pronounced because it's only then I recognize.
**Gizmo:** So boys, I know we're talking about it, but we're coming to the end of the first third here on the Royal Robusto from H Upmann. I'm finding the development that's happening, you know, aside from the sipping the cognac, which we just, just, we had the way this is developing, just slightly elevating and body slightly elevating and strength and the way the flavors are really coming together.
I'm finding this to be a very refined smoke, very refined.
**Bam Bam:** Outstanding.
**Pagoda:** Well, this is a refined evening.
**Bam Bam:** I think the smoothness and the creaminess is, uh, it's elevating as you're getting into it. So it's becoming more of a, it's like you said, it's definitely a sophisticated, complex cigar. And it's previewing that way now.
Yeah. It
**Chef Ricky:** just, it just eased into the right lane for me. Like,
**Senator:** yeah. I mean, [00:28:00] I think like Ricky was mentioning for Remy, this is their highest proof cognac they make. And definitely the fullest experience and finish. I think this is the fullest Upmann I've ever had. I can't think of an Upmann that has as lingering a finish as this cigar.
**Gizmo:** The only cigar I would compare this to Dude, I think
**Senator:** he's right, man. I
**Gizmo:** would agree. I think the Sir Winston is There's a sister component to this in the leathery. I don't see that. In the leathery thing. In the flavor note. In the flavor note. But I don't think
**Senator:** the finish is as long. I agree
**Gizmo:** with you on that.
I totally agree. Totally.
**Senator:** This has as long of a finish as some like fuller new world cigars,
**Bam Bam:** which is why I'm just surprised. Yeah. Honestly, that Maduro one from Parus has a very similar, long, deep finish. This is, but this is a much more elegant cigar.
**Chef Ricky:** Agree. So, I've had one Sir Winston, that Rooster gave me a couple years ago now at this point, and I, yeah, I [00:29:00] had an outer body experience with that thing.
What is it? What was it? ?
**Pagoda:** Is that the one where you poured water? No, no, no. This was before
**Chef Ricky:** the water games and, and all that stuff. Um, we were drinking a mole pichuga. I brought a bottle of mole pichuga. Uh, he gave me the sir. I think it was a 2014. Was it maybe? Sir Winston? Yeah. Um. Motherfucker. And it was.
Where is he? It was. He got off easy tonight. He did. And it was a very long finish for me, but a lot more baking spice in this, leaned a little bit sweeter. I wasn't getting a whole lot of leather in that. Um, but I just remember like, I was like, wow, look, okay, this is, this is what, what the guys are talking about.
You know, It's one of the holy grail cigars. Yeah. Honestly. Yeah. Uh, that's pretty cool. And it's, to this day, it's probably the greatest cigar I've ever smoked. And I, all of you guys were there at the lounge, you were [00:30:00] all having a conversation, and I was just sitting against the wall by myself. I was with you guys, but I wasn't paying attention to any of you.
Rooster probably told you to
**Senator:** do that so that none of us asked him for a 2014. Yeah, where'd you get that?
**Bam Bam:** That's exactly
**Chef Ricky:** right. Well, he gave it to me after he came to the restaurant. So I guess, I guess he had a very good experience at the restaurant. That was his thank you. All right, I'll have Rooster over for dinner.
**Gizmo:** So boys, we've talked about Remy's history. We did three other Remy's on the podcast, but let's talk specifically about this release because I found it very interesting when I was reaching for it in the store. It has a really interesting story. So let's talk about that. It was, this is the Ter set again from Remy Martin.
It was launched globally in 2019. It's made from a blend of Grand Champagne and Petite Champagne Eau De Vie. And we'll talk about O to V in a second. The tercet was created to be a more contemporary expression of cognac, designed with a lighter, fruitier profile, compared to the brand's more traditional offerings.
The [00:31:00] name tercet refers to a trio, or a group of three, representing the collaboration between three key figures at Remy Martin. The cellar master, Bap, here we go with the pronunciations, Baptiste Lazeau, the winemaster Francis Nadeau, and you. And the distillation master, Jean Marie Bernard, the whole project is designed to highlight the craftsmanship and expertise that each of these three men brought to the creation of Tercet.
It's produced using the same copper pot stills as the brand's other Cognac, but with a focus on amplifying the fruit forward character of the Cognac, emphasizing a fresh grape aroma. As with most Remy Martin Cognacs, Tercet is aged in French oak barrels, but the focus again is more. On preserving the freshness of the eau de vie, rather than heavily emphasizing the oak flavors.
So the flavor notes they provide, described as having a bright, fresh, and fruity profile, with notes of apricot, citrus, and tropical fruits, which [00:32:00] could call out there on the pineapple. Chef Ricky? Balanced by subtle vanilla and toasted oak from the aging process.
**Chef Ricky:** I'm not getting a lot of vanilla. I'm not getting the vanilla either.
I'm not getting much vanilla. What I do get, you know what, on the aroma when I first, uh, got into this after it aired out a bit, Uh, I did mention how for me it was still very wine forward. And so, yeah, it seems like that's what they, uh, you know, that's what they, uh, That, that was one of their goals in developing this and they nailed it.
**Gizmo:** So I think like we're seeing with a lot of manufacturers of spirits and scotches in whiskeys in, in variety of things, including Cognac, this is Remy Martin's attempt to broaden their reach from what I think traditional spirit drinkers think of Cognac who don't reach for Cognac. Maybe they're trying to reach a younger audience.
So their whole idea here is maintaining tradition. Well, attracting a new, more contemporary audience. So let's talk about O to V. We've talked, we've mentioned that word before. I have to interrupt you. I had no [00:33:00] idea what it was. If you don't mind. Go ahead.
**Bam Bam:** This is such a,
**Gizmo:** first of all, what's, did we talk price on this bottle?
So it retails for 140 based on what Senator was finding. Right. However, tonight I got lucky. We got this for 114.
**Bam Bam:** Extraordinarily lucky, but let's assume it's 140. So it's expensive. It's very rich and viscous, and it drinks like a very sophisticated Cognac. Probably the most sophisticated Cognac I've ever had, and I've only had Cognacs in this room.
I don't see a younger generation pursuing this. this type of cognac, where like the Remy 1738, which is really smooth, super, super easy to drink and much more affordable. I kind of see that as the entry point. And I, not this.
**Chef Ricky:** I think it's because the 1738 is more vanilla sort of caramel over forward. And this is more of a, they're focusing more on the grape.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Chef Ricky:** And you're really getting that, especially, you know, So I think part of the reason why the nose. [00:34:00] is sort of more subdued now is because we've taken some in, right? Like now we're drinking the spirit. So our nasal passages aren't reacting to just the aroma. So once you get, once you get your nose back in that glass after sipping, you get a lot less heat and spice and just more of the, the fruity, Sort of great forward.
What's kind of
**Bam Bam:** funky is like right at the tip of the finish It's like a tannin like you get in some wines. It's like exactly. Just that tannin. Yeah, it's very faint It comes and goes very quickly. I think it's amazing. They're able to do that with an
**Chef Ricky:** 84 proof spirit
**Bam Bam:** I'm saying I kind of disagree with their description as the Pursuit of pursuing the younger generation.
Not sure if it's for them. Oh, I missed that.
**Chef Ricky:** Did they say they're, they're aiming for the younger generation? Yeah, they're
**Gizmo:** trying to maintain tradition and reach from a more contemporary audience.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah. Contemporary, typically younger. No, I think the younger audience wants the sort of, Typical cognac, which is just kind of sweet forward and yeah
**Gizmo:** So we've used the phrase [00:35:00] eau de vie before but we've never talked about what it is The word is french and means waters of life And they are clear colorless fruit brandies distilled from fermented fruit juice or wine in the context of this cognac We're drinking tonight and brandy as well Eau de vie refers to the raw spirit that is distilled from the wine before it undergoes aging So let's talk about the production process.
Eau de Vie are the high proof distilled spirits created from the fermentation and distillation of white grapes, primarily Uni Blanc, as we've talked about before in the Cognac region of France, after distillation, these Eau de Vie are clear and unaged, almost like a Blanco. That's what I'm thinking about when I was reading this prior to coming here.
It reminds me of Tequila Blanco, which is just the raw spirit distilled before it enters an aging process. The Eau de Vie are clear and unaged, often having a sharp, fruity character. In Cognac, the Eau de Vie are aged in French oak barrels, like we talked about, for at least two years, and often much longer.
I'm curious what Senator [00:36:00] would think the age on this is. But it's where they slowly develop color, complexity, and flavors. Over time, the oak then imparts characteristics like vanilla, Caramel and spice, transforming the fresh fruit forward eau de vie into cognac. Outside of cognac, eau de vie can be made from various fruits, such as pears, plums, cherries, or raspberries, creating fruit brandies like Kirsch, which is cherry brandy, or Poor Williams, which is a pear brandy.
These spirits are often consumed unaged and maintain the pure essence of the fruit. So that is what we're talking about when we say Odavi, which you have to say that with your pinky out, Pam. Correct. Odavi. You didn't have your pinky out. And thank you.
**Chef Ricky:** Thank you for that. Cause that was curious to know what that was.
Well, we
**Gizmo:** had mentioned it before and I think I butchered the pronunciation of that word previously on another episode. So I wanted to come in a little bit more educated about it. You've redeemed yourself. I'm trying to. He's been hard at work. I'm trying to. I'm trying to. And, and here's Senator with the rebuttal.
Go ahead. How many years did it say [00:37:00] that? It said that cognac is like, so I, VS at least two years, I would assume, but I don't know what it would be on this. I don't have any information.
**Bam Bam:** No age statement at all. No, no. They
**Gizmo:** did say two years, right? Minimum two years is what they're saying most cognacs go through.
Hmm. Most cognacs, but they're not talking about
**Senator:** this cognac. Yeah, I was gonna say, there's nothing that's two years in this. That's the minimum on
**Gizmo:** cognac. Minimum cognac in general, two years. Hmm. So, my question for you is, Senator, what do you think the age on this is compared to what we know about VSOP or EXO?
**Senator:** I mean, I think If you take the Remy 1738, for example, it's meant to be between essentially a VSOP and an XO. So maybe some of what's in there is VSOP, which would be four years. Some I'm sure plenty, six, eight, and some even 10. I think this has got to be similar to that, but skew even older. I mean, I think this has got to be mostly.
I [00:38:00] think the minimum probably in here is like six years. I, I don't see how, okay. I don't, there's no way. A majority of this is four years. If you look at every VSOP cognac we've ever done on this pod Witness?
**Bam Bam:** Witness, yep. I called between
**Senator:** five and seven. Five and seven. Oh, there you go. . There you go. That's six.
I say that just because there's not a single VSOP cognac we've done on this pod, and we've done every major VSOP that is anywhere near it. The body that this has, and you need AIDS for that. I mean, if you think of the XO cognacs we've done, which have minimum 10 years of age, all of those are rich, full bodied, full flavor experiences.
And that's what you're getting here. So like, to me, the minimum. Um, in the bottle has got to be six, but I think a lot of this is eight and there's definitely 10 plus years. And I
**Gizmo:** think the price point aligns with that. So if you, you know, what we know of Remy 1738, you're generally finding that what, between 15 and 60 somewhere in there, I
**Senator:** think usually
**Gizmo:** 60, 60 ish, you know, if you find a deal, you may get a 55.[00:39:00]
This is 140 bottle. We got it at a steep discount at one 14. You know, how much is a Remy XO? Do you remember how much that was? 200. Okay. So this is definitely skewing closer to the XO. But what's interesting for 140, 115 spirit that we have tonight, they don't put an age statement on it. I think that's interesting that they're leaning on this story of these three guys being a part of this process.
Obviously the, it tracks cause it performs very well. We're happy with it. But it's interesting that for that price point. Three digit price point. They're not putting age on.
**Senator:** I was just gonna say, I mean, it's funny. You know, this is where Cognac and tequila are kind of boxed in because you know, they've set up this system where there's two years with the vs There's four years with the vsop.
There's 10 years with the xo There's not a name for something in between and they don't use numbers Right. It's not like scotch where you buy a 15 year scotch, you know, everything in there is [00:40:00] minimum 15 years. So there's just not really a lane for them to name it anything other than to come up with a story.
It's clearly a blend of cognac from a variety of different years. and harvest, but that's the best that they can do. I mean, that's why the 1738, it was very confused at first, but I get what they're doing. Like there is no in between and they had to create that because there is no designation that exists for something that is mostly between a four and 10 year age, you know, cognac.
And that's a widespread,
**Gizmo:** as far as what that age does to a spirit like this.
**Bam Bam:** I'll say as good as that Remy XL was, This has given it a run for its money. I agree. I mean, it's really exquisite.
**Gizmo:** I love the XO. We rated that very, very high. If you remember, we'll go through that later. To me, I'll say this. I think that as far as pairing with a Cuban cigar, I think that this, this expression we have tonight is some of the best cognac we've had as far as pairing with a Cuban.
**Bam Bam:** The [00:41:00] only ding is maybe it's not as refined and as exceptionally smooth as that XO was. That's it. Sure. That's really about it. Right. But the flavor that you're getting. Honestly, if we're going to rate it for what we're pairing it with tonight, the pairing couldn't get better. It couldn't be any better.
**Senator:** I agree that that perfectly describes the difference.
Like a lot of the flavor notes in here are present in the Remy XO. But it's the smoothness. It's the refined nature of all of that being minimum 10 years. That is the big difference. And that's what you're paying for. Exactly.
**Pagoda:** I also think that it's really working well with this particular Cuban cigar. I agree.
You know, uh, I'd be curious to see how it would pair with the other Cubans as well.
**Gizmo:** The other one that's coming to mind, because it's fairly recent, I don't know if it was four weeks ago or six weeks ago, is the Partagas that we did. Oh yeah. That, that, like, that's where my brain is going, like, I wish I had another one of those to smoke after this.
I think that would hold up. To drink with this. I think it'd do well.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah. I wish we had 1738 to drink side by side with [00:42:00] this. I have it in my
**Pagoda:** locker. You want to get it?
**Senator:** I mean, I'll just say this. I think if you put 1738 nexus, I think you're going to really be disappointed. I agree. 1738. I agree. You think so?
Yeah. 100%. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think so.
**Chef Ricky:** Let's leave the disappointment for later. I'm having a hard time trying to understand why they wouldn't put an age statement or at least the minimum age on this. You know, I'm like, man, I got, I really got to venture out of agave distillates because I agree. So it's a beautiful, dark, rich, amber color, very viscous spirit.
Right. And to me that comes with age and dare I say additives, but again, I don't know what that is in cognac and what's allowed and sort of what's, what's, you know, you know, Acceptable versus not but yeah to me this could only happen with age But yet I don't get much oak like if there's any oak here.
It's a it's a it's a [00:43:00] very light kiss of oak instead I'm just getting like a ton of plum some pineapple a lot of grapes nuts, right? So To me, those are all kind of fresh flavors, which would then make me say, okay, well, maybe there's not a whole lot of age on this, but then where the hell's the color and the viscosity coming from?
**Gizmo:** And the, and the refined flavor. Yeah. Yeah. This is clearly something that is.
**Bam Bam:** Well, if they're an aged oak barrels, there's some color that it's going to draw from that over the years. Yeah. Yeah. But comparing this to the 1738, it's like we said earlier, if I'm introducing someone to cognac, that's what I'm going to give them.
Absolutely. This is not what they're going to drink. And that's,
**Gizmo:** that's an everyday drink, right? That that's, that's a, that's a cognac that you're not going to be afraid to stock a few bottles and pull it out at will at 140, 115, whatever. Once you hit three digits, it's a special occasion cognac. I don't care who you are.
And what you have, this is a special occasion cognac, you're not going [00:44:00] to be reaching for this every day. And what's
**Chef Ricky:** 1738, 70 something bucks? It's like 60 ish. Yeah, 60 ish. Yeah, like 58,
**Bam Bam:** 60 bucks. Okay. Excellent value. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** So boys, we're coming to the halfway point now on the H Up and Royal Robusto. Any additional flavor notes?
I mean, this is just an
**Bam Bam:** excellent experience. I don't think I've seen a senator go through a cigar faster than he's going through tonight. This is ridiculous. This is outstanding. Like, uh,
**Senator:** what's going on? I love this cigar. I just, I have not one complaint. I feel like I'm behind.
**Bam Bam:** I'm trying to puff through it.
No,
**Senator:** don't, don't. I had to put it down on my cigar rest because I was heating up. I was really just powering through it. So I'm trying to slow down, but it's hard. It's delicious.
**Gizmo:** I'm finding it to be very consistent. I don't know if I would say this is a two or three act play. It might be like a two act play or developing into a second act, but I'm very happy with the act that's given me so far.
Like, I'm very happy with everything so far, and if it doesn't change, I'm gonna be a happy camper.
**Bam Bam:** I agree with that. It's a one act play for [00:45:00] me so far. Yeah,
**Senator:** and to me, this is a one act play, like, most great. Cuban REOs, correct. I mean, a D four is a great one. Act play a RA is a great one. Act play. Correct. I don't think there's really many Cuban REOs that have two acts or need them.
Mm-Hmm. . Yeah.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah. For me it's like a one and a half, right? So I started and, and rare plus half . I'm never gonna escape the rare plus. And it just developed into something a little bit richer and rounder for me at about the halfway point. So it took a little bit longer than I was expecting. So I wouldn't say it's a complete second act, but it's definitely evolved, uh, for the better.
**Gizmo:** So boys, we must share with the listeners. We had a little lounge outing over the weekend and we went to see The famous and fantastic Buena Vista Social Orchestra, of course, playing the music made famous by [00:46:00] the Buena Vista Social Club, the movie, the album, the live album at Carnegie in the late 90s, early 2000s, celebrating the classic Cuban music that has been made famous all over the world now because of that record.
But man, what a treat. That was incredible. That concert was.
**Chef Ricky:** Outstanding. I had no idea what to expect and I went into that. And I came out just very happy. It was an amazing event. The music was great. It just, you know, gets you moving and it's feel good. And everyone, you know, from the instruments played to the dancing to the singing, they did a phenomenal job.
Do we remember the name of the vocalist? Yes.
**Gizmo:** What her name was? So, the, well, the, the name of the vocalist I don't have. Because she's not one of the original members of the Social Club. I only have the original members. She was incredible. But the singer was amazing. Yeah, she did a great job. So, the band is led by Jesus Aguaje Ramos, which is the, he's the trombonist, musical director, and conductor.
On piano, this guy probably impressed me the most out of anybody, was [00:47:00] Emilio Señor Morales Ruiz. I can't pronounce that. Oh, you did great. You did better than Ramos. On bass, uh, Fabian Garcia and on congas and bongo was Luis Betun Mariano Valiente Marin.
**Bam Bam:** So those four, four original
**Gizmo:** members of the Buena Vista Social Club performed alongside, I would say four or five other instrumentalists and vocalists.
And it was a fantastic show.
**Bam Bam:** The young trumpet player up front. Oh, he was great. He was really, he was killing it. Oh yeah. Hit those notes beautifully.
**Senator:** That was Tiburon when the show started.
**Gizmo:** So they played for, they started about eight Oh five. They went until, and we'll talk about this. They got cut off around 10 30.
We'll talk about that. Which caused some frustration among the group. But as, as chef Ricky said, well, with you two,
**Bam Bam:** not the group, you're putting that very mildly.
**Gizmo:** Yeah, it took it. It took it down a little bit of a notch. We'll talk about that in a minute. [00:48:00] But as chef Ricky was saying, the performance was great.
They went through so many of the songs we know and love. And honestly, most of them, aside from some changing of arrangements, it sounded exactly like the record. Yeah. Like they really sounded great. There were some arrangement changes. They did some other things with the songs, but. Even the improvisation, some of the other things they did inside the construct of the songs we know and love.
I mean, it was really awesome. I'm glad we did it.
**Chef Ricky:** I haven't done many live shows. In fact, this is probably my first one as, as an adult, right? And I'm in my forties. Uh, but one of my favorite things when I, if I watch shows, live shows on YouTube or, you know, or see performances on television, One of my favorite things is seeing how the band communicates with one another within the set.
And, you know, I, some, it might have been, uh, actually I think it was you, Ben. You were just very impressed at how, uh, in sync they were [00:49:00] with, with the ending of every song, that, you know, and just, there was never any miscommunication. It was crisp. And the musicianship was on point. Yeah. And they, yeah, they were just always in sync with one another.
And the way they
**Bam Bam:** transitioned was awesome.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah. Yep. It's just very elegantly walking off stage. You'd always take the singer by the hand. You know, they cross arms and walk off stage and then just show up right on time. And yeah, very professional, very well done. It was very classy. Yeah.
**Senator:** I just love that, you know, you go to certain shows and there's always kind of like a star that really shines brighter than the group and I felt like with them, there was not one weak link.
I mean, everybody was just amazing. Like I was just so surprised and I like how at different moments they like featured, you know, each of them kind of individually to really give them a chance to shine. And yeah, it was really cool. And then fascinating to see, you know, there were two, uh, trombonists there and the main guy who kind of.
He's the maestro. [00:50:00] Exactly. Aguaje. His, uh, daughter also plays the same instrument he does. That was very cool to see. That was her daughter? That was his daughter, yeah.
**Bam Bam:** She was very good. Yeah,
**Gizmo:** incredible. And she was also singing, and so was, uh, Tiburon was also the trumpet player when they don't play they sing and I'll tell you that was a really impressive part when they had these five part harmonies on some of the, you know, the vocal moments that we all know and love.
They sounded perfect. No mistakes. There were no mistakes.
**Bam Bam:** And to Senator's point. Every individual on that stage could be a headliner in any band. Absolutely. Yeah. They
**Gizmo:** were
**Bam Bam:** excellent. Yeah. So I
**Gizmo:** mean, if any listener out there, if you get a chance to go see the Buena Vista social orchestra, get a chance to touring around the United States right now, I think they have a bunch of dates left and hopefully they'll come back around next year so that we can finally see the song that we went to see.
And we did not get to see,
**Chef Ricky:** I'm going to turn my mic off now,
**Bam Bam:** the
**Chef Ricky:** only one, the only one who needs their mic on is Senator. [00:51:00] Correct. It was, uh,
**Senator:** it was not good. To use a word that Puba would use, it's lunacy. You go to see Buena Vista social club, the most famous song, which is chon chon. We
**Gizmo:** fucking love that song.
**Senator:** We play it all the time. When that
**Bam Bam:** song goes on, it's like our mindset changes in Cuba,
**Senator:** every morning when we have breakfast. That song plays. We all sit together. We have breakfast, we start our game and we don't say a word exactly. We line up a cigar. That's awesome.
**Chef Ricky:** Wow. The morning, that sounds crazy. Oh, oh yeah.
Wow. Oh yeah. You guys have starting morning, we start early, eight o'clock we have a cigar on. Oh
**Senator:** yeah. And it's just the fact that they covered every other song. I mean, there, there wasn't anything else that was like a really notable song that you said, oh, they didn't play that. They didn't do that, including a song No one
**Chef Ricky:** asked for.
**Senator:** Yeah. Yeah. So this is a problem. To set this up for the listener. We, they start to show, I think like the first two songs were a little slow. I was honestly a little bit nervous. So was I. Yeah. Then they really picked it up. [00:52:00] They went to a Cuarto de Tulo like right away. I was like, okay, energy picked up. The vocalist came out.
She was a lot of fun. Everything from there was perfect. And then the show ends and we're like, okay, no chan chan, no candela. Yeah. Yeah. They, they come back, Encore, wonderful. They do this duet. I don't know if it was Silencio or one of these other songs and it was good, but nobody cares about that song. I mean, that's not what they're famous for.
And then they do Candela, which is huge, a huge song of theirs, a hit and okay, that was exciting. That was great. And then they left. And everyone is sitting there. I mean, we were literally chanting John, John, John, John, and there are other people in the crowd saying the same thing and the show was over. And I'm just sitting there and saying to myself, if they would have just started with Sean, Sean and made it a five minute thing, I would have been happier than sitting through every other song, but the song I actually came to hear them perform, you know,
**Gizmo:** it's funny when they came out, they actually started for about 30 seconds.
They did like a little, Chon [00:53:00] chon like thing with just the instrumentalists, right? And then when the, the vocalist, you know, they went into another song, then the vocalist came out like Senator said. But I think what happened here is the band mistimed their set and planned for a 10 minute intermission and the venue that we were at with 1300 people.
It was packed. There was no way to turn over that venue. And I'm talking as a former. This is what I used to do, right? Music business stuff. They mistimed turning that venue over for a bathroom break and getting drinks. There's no way it could have ever been 10 minutes and it's on the venue for not telling the artists that they should have planned more appropriately for a 20 or 30 minute intermission.
They came back out. They did what Senator said at the encore, they did this song nobody wanted, they extended it, they were dancing around, then they did Candela, and then they got the kill because they had hit the 10. 30 curfew at the venue, which I'm assuming is a union labor thing. But ultimately, what happened was, they [00:54:00] were planning to play Chan Chan, and they got cut off by whoever the stage manager was.
And they had to leave the stage, which is terribly
**Senator:** disappointing as I was giving this more thought. And I think someone we were with mentioned this that night, and I was too frustrated. I didn't really process it until later. Senator was seeing red. Oh, I was, I was, I was furious. I'm just like, this is why I came here and I didn't get what I paid for.
What the hell is this?
**Chef Ricky:** Meanwhile, EDF shows off an hour and a half. He gets the one song he wanted.
**Senator:** Well, he's the one who mentioned this and he's, I have to think he's right. He was, this is a little odd. How are they going to do Chan Chan without a guitarist? No, there's,
**Gizmo:** there's, I've seen many arrangements without guitar on piano.
I've actually seen them do it. And he came out and said, Chan Chan displace. He did. He did say it was coming. And when he came out for the encore, I think he was saying like, Hey, we know you're here for Chan Chan. We want, we know you want to hear it. We're going to get there. And then they got killed by the, by the curfew.
So I think most of the folks that see this [00:55:00] tour are going to see Chan Chan. Of course, the date that the lizards go to, we got burned. I know.
**Senator:** And I'm sorry. Like I hear what you're saying with the venue. I still have to blame them. And the only reason it's like, no one wanted to hear that duet. No one. I mean, can anyone name, can anyone name the song?
Nope. No
**Bam Bam:** idea. No one even knows it
**Senator:** was well done. There's no reason on when you go out for an encore to do a song that no one's even heard of, like cut that and Candela is great. But if you're not, if you're going to like be pressed for time, Don't do two songs and just do chan chan and we all would have been thrilled.
Yeah.
**Chef Ricky:** Do the hit. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** You got
**Senator:** to do the hit.
**Chef Ricky:** I got to say for me, one of the impressive things with, with the Buena Vista orchestra, um, you know, obviously Cuban culture is very well rooted or deeply rooted in, in, In Afro Cuban religious ceremony and things like that. And there's a few songs there where they pay homage to some of the deities in Cuban culture.
[00:56:00] Uh, and I thought that was pretty cool. Yeah,
**Bam Bam:** you mentioned that.
**Chef Ricky:** I was sitting next to you. And a lot of the, a lot of the, the concerts done in Spanish, obviously. So, you know, they kindly asked that whoever speaks Spanish. Translates to the person next to them who doesn't thank you. But I was doing some of that, uh, uh, for BAM.
Uh, and I thought that, you know, that was really neat. Um, you know, and they had a little homage to Celia Cruz who's obviously a Cuban legend. Um, and yeah, I, I think it's great that, you know, we were present for that. And, and we, you know, obviously as Cuban cigar smokers and lovers of the Cuban culture. I think that's, you know, it's a good, it's a great thing to see.
It's a great thing to be a part of.
**Pagoda:** But Jeff, no, Chon Chon.
**Chef Ricky:** I had an 18 minute drive home and I had chon chon on repeat just to get it out of my system.
**Senator:** We were so upset in our car that someone requested it and then the group was like, I can't even hear it right now. We were just too worked up.
**Gizmo:** We were so distressed. We did it right too. I mean, I got [00:57:00] to tell the listeners.
So we came to our lounge prior. So this is Senator me and a bunch of other. Uh, lizards at our lounge here, chef Ricky and Bam drove separately to the event. They had some other stuff going on, but, uh, about six of us came here and we were smoking cigars a couple hours before the show. And then we ordered from a casual Habana cafe, which is a great restaurant, local.
They have two locations. I think, what is it? Hackensack and New Milford in New Jersey here. And we all ordered Ropa Vieja and we had Tostadas and, and we had the rice and beans and we had our cigars and it was just, it was such a fantastic setup to this great concert that I love watching you
**Bam Bam:** talk about this.
And then we
**Gizmo:** were smoking in my truck on the way there. Cause I have the big truck. We were smoking and we had cigar. It was, we were transported to Havana. It was perfect. We were set up.
**Senator:** They just missed one important detail.
**Gizmo:** So again, for any of the listeners out there, you know, Google point of it's a social orchestra.
See if there's any tour dates coming around near you. The tickets were very, very reasonable. I mean, we [00:58:00] had great seats. I think we paid 78 50 all in for our seats. It was a great night. Um, despite like we're, we're joking about Chan Chan not being played, but, um, definitely go see them if you can. It was a wonderful experience, especially if you love.
That music, you love Cuban culture and, and, and they were just so positive. Like I felt good being there. It was the, the venue was great. And there were people from all walks of life in that room that night. It was, it was just a fun time. Yeah. I mean,
**Senator:** that's what stood out. Just the diversity of the crowd was unbelievable.
It's like you saw, I mean, younger, older, every race. Like it just, it's cool to see, you know, a Cuban group that has spanned time and time again. and geography and so much and, uh, especially, you know, the time we've spent in Cuba for anyone to be able to build the profile that they have coming from a place like Cuba
**Chef Ricky:** is really remarkable.
Just one correction, Senator. I don't think there was anyone younger than me. That's fine. [00:59:00] No, there were a few, we made some friends. That's making me
**Bam Bam:** rich. No, they were definitely older than us. Lizard Mafia needs to make a surprise in stone.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, we're coming to the last third now in the H Upmann Royal Robusta release from Cuba.
What's everybody thinking?
**Bam Bam:** Am I crazy to say that the cocoa for me has ramped up pretty dramatically? I'm definitely getting the cocoa now. There's no doubt about it. The cocoa bomb. I,
**Senator:** I just have to say it's very funny. that. On the retro hell that, you know, some of you weren't able to pick that cocoa up sooner than I was without the retro hell.
Just have to throw that out there.
**Bam Bam:** It's unusual because I, I, he's not wrong. I'm getting it on a traditional draw. I'm not
**Gizmo:** getting it through the retro. But the
**Bam Bam:** retro I'm, I'm getting more, a little earthiness. Yes. And little floral. Yeah. And the baking spice. Exactly. But the traditional draw is very cocoa heavy.
**Gizmo:** Honestly, the traditional draw on this cigar like punches the, the, the, the retro hell out for me. [01:00:00] I'm actually only retro hailing maybe once every eight or 10 draws. It's, it's all the traditional draw for me. It's really
**Bam Bam:** excellent and shocking how good this LCDH is right now. It's unbelievable.
**Gizmo:** And I can't stop smelling the burn line.
I mean, I know I do that a lot, but even as we're speaking, I'm smelling the burn line more than I'm drawing the cigar. It's really aromatic.
**Bam Bam:** You know, it could be the consumption of alcohol, copious amounts, but I don't think we're even drinking. I don't think we've had that much. Yeah. This is only our first glass.
Where it is just growing in sweetness as it's pairing with this thing. It's really a special pairing.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah. So
**Bam Bam:** that was for
**Chef Ricky:** me, Coco's not. Usually a note I pick up on the retro. Cocoa is usually the first, one of the first notes I get. The retro hill for me highlights more of the, um, softer notes. So that's where I get more bready baking spice, um, or more of the delicate baking spices, those yeasty notes that I often pick out.
That's where I get them on the retro hill. [01:01:00] Um, so cocoa is not, not if it were maybe like white chocolate or something that might come through for me on a retro, but not on a traditional. Yeah.
**Bam Bam:** It's a rich experience as you're sipping and taking a draw. It's remarkable.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, it's time to do Lizard of the Week.
Let's go to an email from listener Lizard Kobe. And he writes, Hey guys, new to the podcast, and I cannot wait to listen on my way to and from work every week. I was and now have renewed adding to my collection, mostly Cubans. He says there's a price shock, of course, after not ordering for four years. My question is, and this is actually very appropriate for the cigar we're smoking tonight.
Thank you. My question is, how do you decide when to smoke older, aging cigars in your collection? Most of my cigars are in the 2014 to 2017 range, and some boxes getting lower than I would like. Just want to hear your strategy to this quandary. Thanks, guys. Wizard Kobe. Yeah, the strategy
**Bam Bam:** is to buy New World cigars.
Yeah, I [01:02:00] mean,
**Gizmo:** you're 100 percent right.
**Bam Bam:** You've got to listen to this pod and go to the New Worlds that we fell in love with and stock up on those and just distribute your, your selection more democratically. Don't focus on those age sticks.
**Gizmo:** And I'll piggyback on that, Bam. I think since the price shock and the cost of replacement, I mean, that to me is that's the trio of words, cost of replacement that factors into my decision making.
And I'm assuming the rest of the room here, the cost of replacing those aged cigars, going to bond Roberts or find them from a private seller has astronomically increased. However, it's important. And I think about this a lot with my collection. Some of the oldest stuff I have, I do, I do get concerned that they're past their peak.
You know, there are these peaks and valleys, especially in Cuban cigars, where, you know, they are going to hit a moment where they're amazing. And they're going to start to tail off from there. Every cigar is different. So that's really the question for me and my collection is. How do I regulate [01:03:00] making sure I don't miss the mark on these and save them just for the sake of it, just for the sake of the cost of replacement, like, how do I regulate making sure I'm touching each of these boxes every once in a while?
And that's really what I struggle with as a, as a, as a collector.
**Senator:** So I'll say this, I, Um, I'm somewhat of an outlier in that I, I'm definitely not saving Cuban cigars in the way that some are in this room. I think things are meant to be smoked. The cost of replacement is what it is. I would never want to sacrifice my experience just because I'm thinking about, well, two years from now when I'm out of them, now I'm going to have to pay more.
My advice would be, at least what I've done for cigars that are not in production anymore. Or are limited production in some way, a limitada, a regional, even though I don't buy regionals, some other thing like that. If I have a [01:04:00] box after let's say they've sat for two years, I'll smoke one every year. And when I, it hits, I keep smoking it because you know, when something is exactly what you'd hope for and want in the experience, I'm not waiting, thinking, Oh, maybe it can get a little bit better.
If this hits every note, I want. The odds that it's going to get any better than that. And when you smoke cigars long enough, you know, when something is really peaking and I'll use as an example of this, this is a cigar I brought on the pot and we reviewed the Ramon Ionis, uh, 2019 limitada, the number two, the number two, that's right.
When I first bought that cigar, I mean, it was not great and I let it sit and I did the kind of one a year and it was getting better. And then I just pulled one one year and I was like, this is unbearable. Believable
**Bam Bam:** time to do a deep dive into that box, .
**Senator:** And we talk about a deep dive. I freaking handed out what, like seven of them a year.
I mean, I basically killed my box and we rated [01:05:00] that a 10 or close to it. It was very highly, I think it was a 10. Yeah. It was outstanding. And that only had a few years of age. Mm-Hmm. And so my point is like, you know, this notion that we have to hold every cigar for 10 years or something crazy to have an amazing experience.
I think when we spend time with Danilo in Havana, the production manager at Cohiba. I mean, he very declaratively said, you know, most cigars, you don't want to have past like three to five years of age to deliver their intended experience. So I really think you've got to try one a year. And I think as soon as your light, the light bulb goes off and you say, this is what I wanted out of that cigar.
I wasn't getting it before. Now I am.
**Gizmo:** That's the time to enjoy it. And the important thing to add on to what you're saying, Senator, is that there's five of us in the room, right? We may have the same box, same code, same age. Sure. We have five different palettes in the room. Obviously that defines what this podcast is.
But for you, that may be a [01:06:00] different trigger point of saying, this is where exactly where I need it. That might be different from me or Bam or Pagoda or Ricky. So for the listener out there, you can't be completely reliant as far as age goes, defining when a cigar is at the moment it needs to be smoked.
It's up to you and your box and your palate to determine when a cigar is hitting and then to start diving into smoking. You
**Bam Bam:** also need to. Sample from your collection, and it's one thing I'm not very good at I'll be honest the common sense approach that senator made it's spot on But I'm guilty of not going through my entire collection because I've got the tower we can help you with it.
Yeah, no problem Then I have Tupper doors with stuff just crammed in there I actually don't even know what I have because I've been buying and it's just sticking in there It makes me a little nervous how those cigars are doing. So I think that's a great idea. Grab a stick and see how it's doing. And then if it's
**Gizmo:** not great, wait again.
Exactly.
**Bam Bam:** And what I'll do is if I [01:07:00] find a box in my collection out there somewhere that I like, I'll take it and put it in my tower because it's more easily accessible. So then I'll start frequenting it more. I'm in
**Pagoda:** Senator's camp, by the way. My philosophy is, Oh, we know. If it's good, go through. Oh, yeah. I say, go with your feel.
Yeah. Right? Yeah. A cigar in hand is worth two in the humidor. Oh,
**Bam Bam:** we have a literary giant among us, ladies and gentlemen.
**Pagoda:** Edgar Allan Pagoda.
Oh my gosh. Enjoy it. Life is short.
**Gizmo:** No, I, you know, I think too, the other thing and, and, and Senator touched on this, obviously, if you're talking about a cigar that's been discontinued out of production, or it was a limited run, certain, uh, You know, regionals obviously are a one time thing. Certain limitadas obviously are exclusive, but if you're talking about a cigar that's still in regular production, it's about, and we've talked about this a lot.
It's about finding those runs of cigars. So if we were to talk about the Upmann two, and we're going to talk about the one we did [01:08:00] on the podcast later, when we review the ratings, you talk about that lub 14 Upmann two, that was a great run of cigars, but now similar to this cigar, we have the BRE run of 18, 19.
Is performing very, very well. Obviously, it doesn't have 10 years of age like the Lubs do. These cigars that we have and the Upmann 2s I have with BREs and some of the others, they're previewing that in five years. They may match or even beat the run that Lubb was on in 2014. So
**Chef Ricky:** I know this from visiting your humidor, Giz.
Um, you know, one way to sort of, uh, get deeper into the hobby and maybe help your cigars last a little longer. Uh, is to, uh, record what you have. You know, have a great spreadsheet where you know what you have so you're not falling into BamBam's case where he's not be updating that spreadsheet.
**Bam Bam:** But I am not updating the spreadsheet.
**Gizmo:** He's
**Bam Bam:** not even
**Gizmo:** creating it.
**Bam Bam:** It's already there and it's He did create one, he sent it to all of us, that's
**Senator:** how the whole [01:09:00] accountability era started. I'm gonna
**Bam Bam:** update
**Chef Ricky:** it, but privately.
But no, you have that spreadsheet and every time you smoke one, maybe you journal what you're having, you know, the notes you're getting, and you have some notes to review, and just kind of make the hobby a little bit more, uh, Uh, fool for your, for yourself and, and have, have a little bit more fun with it.
And maybe it slows down the cigar smoking a little bit. So the cigars last a little longer, or at least just helps you make a more calculated decision.
**Pagoda:** That'd be like a 20 minute assignment. Every day we spoke for five
**Bam Bam:** minutes, like homework. What's his name? This is Lizard Kobe. Lizard Kobe. Lizard Kobe, you've got a, clearly it sounds like you've got an impressive collection.
I like the advice that's being distributed here. Just sample them and see where they're at, and if they're good, I think you'd start using, you know, going through them.
**Senator:** And the only other thing I would add, just on standard production Cuban cigars, For standard production stuff [01:10:00] that smokes really well young, that's the stuff you shouldn't be afraid to go through.
If you're enjoying something, even it's got some age, you know that you can buy it young and it's still going to deliver a really satisfying experience. We've talked about D4s, RAS, some of the usual suspects. They're great young.
**Bam Bam:** They are.
**Senator:** Now for Cuban cigars that suck young and really need time. Yeah, those are the ones you don't want to go through very quickly.
Those are the ones I think I would never power through a box of Sir Winston's. Like, that needs age. It needs time. There's, you know, I'm not going to power through a box of Partagas 898. That needs age. It needs time.
**Gizmo:** And there's also an element of scarcity that comes, even though those, both of those that you just named are quote unquote regular production.
They don't come up very much. We're not talking. They're not in the same class of production as up into money. I was going to say that if you're, if you're stocked on D4 money to up into the RAS, the classic stuff that you love, that's one thing. If you're talking about cigars that come up once a year in a [01:11:00] limited quantity, that also has to factor into it.
There is a scarcity of replacing that even with fresh boxes. You know, it's very difficult. So all of those cigars you just named, I, in my view, even regardless of age, need to be special occasion smokes. They're not regular rotation smokes. They're limited rotation smokes. And the cost. And the cost, yeah. I mean, it's crazy.
So congratulations to Lizard Kobe on winning Lizard of the Week. Of course, any listener out there can win Lizard of the Week. We've been doing this now about two months. You're gonna win something from us, and you can win it simply by doing exactly what Lizard Kobe and the other lizards who've won this have done, which is send us an email, send us a voice memo, a comment.
Something great on Instagram, YouTube. We don't care how you get it to us. Send a carrier pigeon to Bam's house. We don't care. Correct. You can win Lizard of the Week and you'll get some free stuff from us. So, congratulations to Lizard Kobe. Thank you for the great email and prompting that great discussion.
[01:12:00] On, uh, smoking aged Cuban cigars.
**Pagoda:** Hey, Giz, I want to be a lizard of the week.
**Gizmo:** You have to write us an email. Do you know, let me ask you this. Do you know what our email is, Pagoda? Go ahead. Uh, no.
**Pagoda:** He does not.
**Gizmo:** I would love to hear this. And honestly, neither do I.
**Bam Bam:** It's gizatlowslizards. com Exactly. gizatgiz. com
**Gizmo:** Let's move on to another email. This is from lizard. Sean. Hey, lizards got a question for the group. Whenever I bring in my car for service, I always bring a cigar since it usually takes a good hour and a half for service. It's the perfect time for a smoke. Can you guys name something that is the perfect time to light up a smoke?
Similar to taking your car in for service. I'll give you one anytime I'm in my car. Yeah, that's true. I'll give you another conference calls. Conference calls. There you go.
**Bam Bam:** I haven't tried either.
**Gizmo:** What's nice about our lounge here is [01:13:00] you can come here and take a conference call here and open your laptop and smoke.
No problem. You know, you don't have to be outside, but obviously we're coming into the colder months now, but you know, I, for me, I, I'm lucky. I smoke in my car. You know, I, every time I get in my car, I'm usually lighting up unless I have the family or the dogs with me, you know, I'm, I'm lighting up when I'm, when I'm driving, that's my solo peace time, you know, and I find, by the way, when I'm driving with a cigar in my hand, I'm so much more relaxed.
It's like, cut me off. I don't care. Run around me. I don't care. You know, we're in New Jersey, so we got some crazy drivers around here.
**Pagoda:** Lee, Lee, look, uh, Early every day,
**Bam Bam:** smoke one before
**Chef Ricky:** you get home. That's the rule of life pagoda. Number one, you know, for me as a Yankee fan, I, you know, I love West coast games because they start later. So usually at that time, my kids are in bed. I get to go sit out on the deck. I do a little roving. I bring the Rover out there with the television.
I put the baseball game on. I sit at my table, bring on my laptop, try to [01:14:00] get some work done at the same time. And there's no better time for me. I, you know, I, I love that. That particular set up where I could watch a baseball game, bang out some scheduling or some costing or whatever, and then just enjoy a smoke at the same time.
Very efficient. Yeah. I always have to be doing, it's hard, the only time I could just sit and smoke is when I'm at the lounge with you guys. Yeah, me too. But if I'm at home, I have to be doing something else while I'm smoking. Just helps me feel a little bit more productive. I'll
**Senator:** never forget when I had a newborn just trying to fit in a cigar.
I had it timed to the second when my kid would go down for one of his naps. I'd like quickly slip out, have a cigar, shower, He's back up because at night, the problem is, you know, they don't sleep through the night. So it's not like I could just come to the lounge and hang out with you guys. You know, me and my wife were splitting that up.
And so, um, oh man, naps. That that's what kept me going in the afternoon. Nothing better. Well, what was your perfect cigar for [01:15:00] nap time? Oh, a D four. Yeah. Yeah. It was like, I would have it in an hour. Like 10, 15 minutes, just shower change and I'm set. It was perfect.
**Gizmo:** The kid doesn't know, he doesn't know any different now.
So we have just done a refill of our Remy Martin Ter set. And each of us have, has put one single chip of ice in the Cognac.
**Chef Ricky:** Yes, me too.
**Gizmo:** Including Chef Ricky, which
**Chef Ricky:** Pagoda
**Gizmo:** was thrilled to see.
**Senator:** And Senator, what are you, uh, what are you finding? I gotta say, it's outstanding. So the thing I noticed immediately, the aggressive heat on the nose.
Not obviously, you know, when you drink it, but just on the nose, completely dissipated. It's like it's opened up and any of that has gone away. And I think the flavors I was getting before, I'm getting the same. Arguably even more pronounced. Yeah, I'm thrilled. And again, these are this is not even like a [01:16:00] standard ice cube.
Like these are really small cubes. They're little squares like like three quarter inch square. Exactly. Exactly. Well done. Good. Thank you. Put one. So, you know, it's very little we're talking about, but I actually think in this case, it's, um, it's even helped and not that it needed it. Didn't need help. I didn't need it at all.
I think it's just taken away any. Edge that this had that in some cases, maybe a little much chef is very
**Bam Bam:** fucking unhappy right now.
**Gizmo:** I will say the other thing too, before we let chef do his rebuttal is I actually like the spirit a little cooler in temperature. I like the ice impacting the temperature of it.
That is the point. It does matter. It's a touch cooler.
**Bam Bam:** Honestly, though, for me, the cocoa has become more pronounced. Pronounced, right? It has. It has. Cocoa and cognac, I mean, when have we ever experienced that really, truly like this?
**Gizmo:** And now, from our yin to the yang. Chef Ricky.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah, I Shit, what are [01:17:00] we doing?
It's alright. Agreement is allowed. Agreed. Agreed. This is tough because, no, I, I, it's an acquired taste. It really is. It is. And for me personally, I don't think the ice added to the spirit. I think, um, it's a little less right off the bat, but before I added the cube of ice, I took a sip and I really enjoyed it.
then, more so than now. What happens is for me, the ice took away the viscosity. It's like the richness away. Uh, it took away the complexity of sort of that fresh plum and grape. Uh, feeling, aroma that I was getting in the beginning. Um, and when I took the sip prior to adding the ice, I really just love the richness of it.
**Pagoda:** No, I, I agree with you. I think the richness just, it does dissipate a bit.
**Chef Ricky:** It, it, yeah, it dilutes it all around, right? So [01:18:00] yeah, it dissipates the heat a little bit, but for me, it, it also, Tucked down. Yeah. What are you talking about, dude? No, I'm
**Bam Bam:** just looking at the legs on my glass. Bam is staring at him with his glass in the air.
I've got legs like I'm at a cabaret
**Chef Ricky:** show here. Pagoda poured yours, right? So I had, I added, I added, I added maybe an ounce. That was probably an ounce and a half pour that I put in mine. You probably have someone with something like three to four ounces in your glass. And so obviously the chip affected mine a lot more than it would have yours.
Um, did, did you get, uh, some flavors or, I mean, you could even see that my color is even lighter. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So, yeah. And the
**Gizmo:** viscosity's down too. Yeah.
**Chef Ricky:** It just really fucked up though. Spiritually. They're just a bit more of
**Pagoda:** why you have .
**Chef Ricky:** Thank you. Thank you for proving me. Right, .
**Pagoda:** Oh.
**Bam Bam:** So this debate will never end.
**Gizmo:** Never end. This is never gonna end. We're going to be in episode 600. This is still going to be happening.
**Chef Ricky:** So yeah, if you drink your, your cognac at four ounces at a time, sure, a chip [01:19:00] of ice won't do much.
**Bam Bam:** I'll be walking in here with a cane. Yeah.
**Chef Ricky:** And full gray
**Bam Bam:** hair. And
**Gizmo:** they'll still be going at it. Still be going at it.
We had a, we had a major argument in the lounge the other night after the Buena Vista Social Orchestra. I think, I think it might've been, what was it, Senator? Maybe an hour, hour and a half. These two. Just oh,
**Senator:** two
**Chef Ricky:** hours.
**Gizmo:** Constant. It was,
**Chef Ricky:** I, I left the lounge, didn't it stop? I left the lounge that night. Like I really gotta drop the ice thing and that, you know, I saw the look of disappointment on Senator.
It looks like you really accomplished that . The, but after tonight, I'm like, no, I don't need to drop it. The maverick of the group. The
**Bam Bam:** maverick. Oh my lord. He could not stop arguing about the ice.
**Pagoda:** Pagoda. Yeah. I, you know, I was drunk. I was drinking from 3 p. m. that day. Oh, we know. How is that different from any other day for you?
Well, a weekday I do work.
**Gizmo:** That was a weekend. Sometimes. Yeah. All right, boys, let's go to our last Lizard email before we go into our ratings [01:20:00] tonight. This one is from Lizard Donnie, a little bit of a tech question. Hey, Lizards, I just wanted to say congratulations on 150 episodes. It feels like I found the podcast around episode 25, but it was yesterday.
You guys are a familiar friend to me, as you sometimes say about cigars. And I really appreciate what you do very much. This might be a question only for Gizmo, but I'm curious how you guys make the podcast sound as good as it does. Obviously, sometimes the guys don't speak into the mic, and mic levels are off a little bit, and he puts in parentheses, cough, pooba, and chef Ricky.
Yeah. But overall, your podcast is one of the highest production quality podcasts I've heard. I work for a large tech company out here in Seattle, and I listen to my AirPod six to seven hours a day, various podcasts, yours being one of them. And having high quality audio really makes the work experience bearable for me.
There's nothing worse than when I hear a good podcast that sounds bad. Anyway, I'm an audio geek on the side, and I'm very [01:21:00] curious what stuff you guys use to make the show sound so great. I'd appreciate any, any insight. Thanks again, guys. Lizard Donnie. Firstly, we should say go kids go. No, before we say you go,
**Senator:** Bev and I are looking at each other.
Gizmo wrote this email.
**Gizmo:** Exactly
**Bam Bam:** right.
**Senator:** Are you,
**Bam Bam:** are you the lizard of the week? I wish. Did I just win lizard of the week? By the way, everybody shut your mic off except for Gizgo. I knew I was going to get my
**Gizmo:** balls busted. Holy
**Bam Bam:** cow.
**Gizmo:** So how to answer that. So, you know, we're in a difficult situation here room wise, because you have to factor in the fact that we're smoking cigars, right?
So any other podcasts out there that you see or hear, they're not smoking cigars most of the time. So we have air filtration. We have, you know, air conditioning, HVAC. You're also
**Bam Bam:** in an open room. We're in
**Gizmo:** an open room with no sound treatment. So multiple
**Bam Bam:** cavities and entry way, a golf simulator behind us.
It's tough. So
**Chef Ricky:** we're just saying how fucking awesome you are. Yeah. Yeah. I'm just expanding on what
**Gizmo:** Lizardani said [01:22:00] here. So the easy answer to the question is each of us use a Shure SM7B mic and we record into a great Interface from universal audio. And we record into Apple's logic pro and I have a bunch of plugins running.
I'm not going to detail all those for the listeners now, but I will send some more info to lizard Donnie. But the biggest thing for us is just trying to maintain a consistent experience when we record. Every time we set up, it's the same. We're all in the same spots, except chef Ricky. He kind of floats around here depending on who's here and who's not.
But yeah, I mean, that's the biggest thing. We all wear headphones. That was important, actually, as we started the podcast was introducing headphones. If you remember, not having our headphones in actually impacted the experience quite a bit. But yeah, so it's just high quality stuff and running the plugins that I do to try to eliminate noise and other things.
And just trying to get the guys like Chef Ricky to speak into the mic. That's really the biggest thing. I have so much
**Bam Bam:** pride for you right now. Yeah, you know, you get [01:23:00] production engineer of the year. I'm not joking. I'm looking at you with eyes wide open now. I don't know just so just that very brief description of the equipment.
Yeah, I like it. I like the the shallow dive. Yeah, I'm
**Chef Ricky:** impressed. What was the lizards name again? This is lizard Donnie. Lizardani, let me tell you, Gizmo does not let anyone touch anything. Oh, no. He has to set up the room and break it down all by himself. You can't touch a fucking cable. The only thing you could do is maybe break down the mic stand.
And but this guy, you know, it's, you know, yeah. I mean, he hears it all the time. Well,
**Bam Bam:** look, let's just say it, OK? This podcast wouldn't exist without his knowledge. Yeah. And it, honestly, it comes together beautifully.
**Senator:** Not on cigars, just the audio.
**Bam Bam:** Okay. Well, I'm kidding. Those are my two
**Gizmo:** expertises.
**Bam Bam:** But I'm in, I, I, [01:24:00] I'm going to, I'm in awe of your ability to put all of this equipment together and make it work beautifully, honestly.
**Chef Ricky:** Yeah. Well, I'm anywhere, anywhere from a
**Senator:** garage to this room, forget a garage or this room from a backyard in Havana, Cuba, interviewing the production manager at the PCA that gizmo. I mean, instead of these, these big shore mics that there's no way we would bring into Cuba without. A problem is finding these like, you know, Lavalier style mics that wouldn't be a problem with customs there and bringing all this crate.
We're downloading apps to capture the individual audio. I mean, the level of detail that gives goes through to make sure that this, no matter where we're recording, even in as outrageous of a environment as in the outdoors in someone's yard in Havana. I mean, he deserves a world of credit. All hail
**Bam Bam:** Sirius.
I don't know what to say. I'm just looking at you in awe. I am. Thank
**Senator:** you,
**Bam Bam:** [01:25:00] Bam. Bro. I love you, man.
**Senator:** I love you. This is, this is why we tolerate the, you know, salads in the car.
**Bam Bam:** At 70 miles an hour. You know, the, the belt. Smoking a cigar in between each bite. That's right.
**Senator:** The 40 gallons of seltzer and belching during the pot.
You know, we tolerate it all because of this. The Bouchard's early on. That's right. The chocolates.
**Gizmo:** So any listener out there who wants to hear, you know, you, you can hear the progress of the improvement of audio over the years. If you listen to the early episodes, you can hear the difference in the quality of audio as, as I've improved at what we're doing and tried to make it sound as good as possible.
You know, my goal of course, is that any listener who's listening in AirPods with an airtight, you know, uh, noise canceling situation is. It's as if they're sitting in the room with us. That's my goal. So for me, it's like, I need to make it sound as good as it can be, you know, so that even for the listener out there, who's not as tuned into it as Lizard Donnie, you know, when you hear something that's not great, you know, audio, [01:26:00] audio production wise, like you may not know why, but you know, it sounds like shit.
And then, you know, when you hear something great, you may not know why. But you know, it sounds great. So I try to lean that way to give every listener out there the experience that they're sitting in the room with us. So that's, that's my goal here.
**Chef Ricky:** And I like Liz, like Lizard Dawn, I listen to a lot of podcasts and this is by far the best produced podcast that I listened to.
Content wise as well. And yeah, you know, and even, even dealing with my mic issues early on, which have improved. Oh yeah. I like,
**Gizmo:** by the way, you leaned into the mic as you said that.
**Chef Ricky:** Correct. Uh, no, you do a freaking phenomenal job, man.
**Gizmo:** Thank you boys. And thank you to lizard Donnie out there. Like I said, any listener out there who wants to know a little bit more of the nuts and bolts of what we're doing.
I'm not going to go through all that now. I'll send Donnie some notes on the plugins and stuff that I use to make it sound good. But, uh, you know, it's a work in progress. Every, every episode, I'm constantly trying to tweak what we're [01:27:00] doing and, and try to make it sound as good as possible. And of course I love the feedback.
I've gotten feedback from listeners. Who are blind. I've gotten listeners from, uh, who have hearing impairments and I've gotten a lot of comments about that, about transcripts and other things. So any listener out there who has those kinds of sensitivities or is hearing other things than even what we spoke about tonight, we love to hear from you because we really want to make this an experience that's, uh, The welcoming of all the wizards out there, no matter the situation.
Leather
**Pagoda:** Donnie, I don't know what you've done, because Chef Ricky is right by the microphone now, and we don't want an injury over here, you know. His spinal cord is finally straight. We don't want no injuries here, you know.
**Bam Bam:** Before we go into the ratings, Yes, I don't think I've ever seen Senator let his cigar during the recording.
Yeah, so he has finished his H up and what is he smoking now? That is the gizmo special. That's a P2 part of his gizmo special. That's
**Gizmo:** a gizmo special. He has shit on that cigar. He's heard from [01:28:00] Lizard Donnie. He's feeling good about Gizmo. In fairness, he let a p shit in fairness. His fairness. No. No, because that's
**Senator:** not accurate.
I've never shit on the cigar and, and that if I've shit on a cigar, I say it's a bad cigar. I never, Hey, I'm a propaganda machine. Okay, well, that's fair. I've never said a P two is a bad cigar. I've just said a pales in comparison to A grade E two, which I'll always stand behind. I will say. This is a box.
I've tucked away. Wow. Really? I'm sure it's awesome. What is
**Gizmo:** the box code on this P2 before we get to the ratings? I don't even
**Senator:** remember. I just know it's a 2019 box. Oh, great. And man, these are good. Awesome.
**Bam Bam:** I'm just impressed that he took our LCDH tonight. Down to the end. Yeah. To the nub. The thing
**Senator:** is, this will definitely be reflected in my brain.
I enjoyed that cigar so much. I would die to smoke another one back to back. And so my next best option was, I told you that this reminded me of a part of this was to just pull a part of this and just keep smoking. It's true.
**Chef Ricky:** Do you have four more? So we can start the second
**Gizmo:** episode. [01:29:00] We'll
**Senator:** just keep it rolling.
Rooster has them.
**Gizmo:** So thanks again to lizard Donnie, of course, thanks to lizard Sean and our lizard of the week, lizard Kobe. Thank you guys so much for writing us. We really appreciate it. And boys, it's time to move into the ratings portion of our program tonight. We're going to start with the Remy Martin Turset cognac.
Bam Bam, you're up.
**Bam Bam:** So I'll, I'll go out on a limb and say this is probably the best Konek I've ever had. Really? I think, for me, from my experience tonight, um, the price is difficult at 140, but, um, The richness that it has, uh, because it's so rich, common sense will say, and I know for myself, one or two glasses and I'm done for the night after dinner, I'm fully satisfied.
Especially if Pagoda pours. But the, yeah, but the versatility is limited because it's so rich and it's so expensive. Um, [01:30:00] I was playing between a 10, but I'm gonna give this a 9. Um, I think it's outstanding. I think, I don't think I've ever had anything like this that was so cocoa forward. 9 for me. This is outrageous.
That's a crime?
**Senator:** Is that a I mean, you started it by saying it's the best cognac you've ever had. I thought it was gonna be 20. And I'm pretty sure you've given Cognacs a 10 before. So how could the nine be better than your 10? Because of the
**Bam Bam:** versatility. Can you drink this every single day for the price and the richness that it has?
I tell you what, if
**Chef Ricky:** you never added ice, you would have gave it a 10.
**Bam Bam:** No, no, no, no. I think it was for me, it was nine and 10 all the way through. But I don't see myself drinking this all year long, every week. Yeah, absolutely. Special occasion. I'm just going to say.
**Senator:** We've done several exo cognacs. There are 200 to 250 a bottle.
There's none of us that are drinking that daily. But we've given countless tens because they're unbelievable spirits.
**Bam Bam:** They are. [01:31:00] Turn your mic off, Pagoda. I'll give it a ten. Oh!
**Gizmo:** No, no, no, no. I've been lobbied. I'm sorry. You can't change it. Nope. I'm going to give it a 10. If Pagoda wasn't here, I would say maybe, but I can't, I can't fight with Pagoda tonight.
Pagoda,
**Pagoda:** can he just change it? Nope. That's not right.
**Gizmo:** Okay. Chef
**Chef Ricky:** Ricky.
**Bam Bam:** Nice transition there, guys.
**Chef Ricky:** Couldn't wait for this. So. Yeah, I don't have a whole lot of, uh, cognac experience either outside of 1738 and maybe some BS's in my younger years. Um, no ice, neat. This was a 9. With ice, a 7. Oh, wow. Oh, that's brutal.
Yeah, well. Again, take into account the pour I had with the, you know, how much, how much the ice impacted that, uh, it really took it down for me. It muted a lot of the flavor that I was getting that made it special. So I'm, I'm not going to focus on the ice, although it's what I'm currently drinking. So that's where my head went.
You didn't
**Senator:** [01:32:00] properly pour for yourself there.
**Chef Ricky:** Um, well, but, but, but, but if I have to pour more to compensate for the ice and I didn't need the ice in the first place, which is, you know, What I always tell this, he's talking to you. Um, so yes, it was, uh, my, my, my first round was a nine, you know, this, this cognac was rich.
Uh, I really loved how, how the spirit of wine came through, uh, just a lot of plum and, and almost, uh, just kind of musty grape that was there. I appreciated that it wasn't super toffee, butterscotch, or vanilla forward, which is what I think some people would expect out of a cognac, um, but it still had richness and body, even though it didn't have those other components, uh, with it.
Uh, so I did love the fact that it was a complex cognac and it brought something new for me to the table. Um, so with that, I'll give it a nine with Iso 7. Okay, Pagoda.
**Pagoda:** So, I've been between a nine [01:33:00] and ten and I, I'll tell you the real reason why because I think it's really interesting because I really enjoyed this cognac, uh, without ice, but I also felt that it's not something I would go and get another pour because it was so rich.
It was very satisfying. It, you know, it just, it's like one of the liquors where you take your time after dinner, Have a nice cigar. And have a reasonable pour, you know, and, you know, one and done should be good enough. This is so satisfying.
**Chef Ricky:** And at 140 a bottle, you don't want any, that's great, right? You're echoing my sentiments.
**Pagoda:** Yeah, no, absolutely. I totally agree. I totally agree with you. I think what the ice did for me is, yes, uh, Chef Ricky's right. It did mute a little bit of We need a soundbite for this. Some of the, some of the flavors, but, but for me, the cocoa got pronounced. And, you know, it was. With a [01:34:00] chip of ice, I think I could drink a couple more glasses, right?
So it's, it's really, um, I think I'm going to rate it a nine just because of that. Uh, but it's been a fantastic cognac.
**Gizmo:** So for me, it's a 10. I think that this cognac is the perfect in between between what my experience has been with VSOP and with XO. I, I think it's absolutely fantastic. Perfect. I think that, of course, this is a special occasion cigar pairing for me.
It's a special occasion cognac, but I am going to buy a bottle because I think at this price point, it's a little bit more reasonable for me than some of the XOs and the way it performed tonight.
**Bam Bam:** That's
**Gizmo:** true. It was really special to me and it really hit my palate perfectly, both with ice and even better without.
And I think that the final note that I'll say on this is that. If they were to market this as the cigar Cognac [01:35:00] from Remy Martin, it would be the perfect moniker for this Cognac. I think this is the perfect pairing for cigars, for Cuban cigars, even for some New World cigars that we smoke. I think it would perform brilliantly, and I think It would, it would step above the Remy Martin in its performance.
Of course, obviously I'm giving this a 10. I might've given the 1738 a nine or a 10. I don't remember factoring in price. Of course, that's going to play there, but this is a 10 for me. It's a 10 for the pairing. It's a 10 with cigars. It's a really, really brilliant spirit. So I'm very, very happy with it. And, uh, I, I can't believe how good this performed on a whim tonight.
Never having heard of it. It's just a fantastic
**Bam Bam:** cognac. Is it a 10 from the point of view of versatility and frequency of consumption?
**Gizmo:** It's a 10 in the way it's going to slot. It's a special occasion at 140, but it's, it's [01:36:00] in that middle point between. VSOP and XO, which is, that's the right price, 130 to 160, let's say.
Yeah, I'm sorry. That's the right price for that. It's true, it's true. It's
**Senator:** perfect for that. I just need to quickly on the price thing, and then I'll say the rest when I rate this. On the price thing, I mean, we've reviewed cigars that are 100 a friggin cigar, that we burn through in an hour. A bottle of any spirit is gonna last you months.
**Gizmo:** Yeah.
**Senator:** Right. I'm talking like a high end spirit. You're not going to just, you know, plow through that night. So this whole notion that like 140, I mean, I'm sorry. Like we burn that in an hour sometimes. It's not
**Bam Bam:** so much the cost. It's the richness of it that I can't see myself doing this on a daily basis.
Yeah, it's
**Gizmo:** not a daily basis. It's a high, it's a high price spirit, but for what it is, what it's, what it's trying to be. It's incredible. I think it's an incredible
**Bam Bam:** cognac.
**Gizmo:** I'll be honest. I think it reaches above what it's trying to be. I think it reaches above what Remy intended it to be. That's a good point.
And as a pairing to cigars, which is what we do [01:37:00] here and how I rate, I think this is a perfect special occasion cognac for cigars. Can I change my rating? I'm just kidding. Nope. No,
**Bam Bam:** no. I'm good with a nine. I
**Chef Ricky:** gotta say, as a chef, this is a perfect way to end a meal. Well, this is beautiful. This is dessert.
Without ice. It's dessert. You know, it's, it's, yeah.
**Senator:** All right, Senator, you're up. I'm just going to start by saying, let the
**Bam Bam:** politician
**Senator:** in the room
**Bam Bam:** now begin.
**Senator:** Gizmo is my Lizard of the Week. Hey! Wait, is it because the podcast sounds good or because of the cognac commentary? I mean, both, but really right now, the cognac.
I mean, I'm sorry, like, this is outrageous. I'm very disappointed. I say this because, obviously, I've pushed cognac hard. And this group has embraced it, but this rating, this is unbelievable to me. Look, we have done every XO that we've rated has gotten at least one 10. If not, almost everyone has [01:38:00] given it a 10.
Those are 200 to 250 bottles. There are not bottles that we're going to drink every week. Even every month. There's special occasion bottles. But if we had, you know, a billion dollars, sure. It'd be nice to be able to drink that every day. We, that's just not how any of us live. That's right. So I, I, this notion that if you can't drink it every day, it somehow can't get a 10.
I mean, we've never rated that way. I'll start with that or once a week. Number two, you know, I've always admitted, I don't pursue higher proof spirits, and I'm not saying that, you know, there's a right or wrong. That's just my personal preference because with a cigar, I don't like things overpowering it.
This at a, you know, slightly higher proof, it's not a crazy proof. It's so delicious. I mean, I could drink, I'm sorry, several glasses. And why I needed to put the ice in this is just to see if it could just tamp down a little bit. Um, Of the heat while [01:39:00] maintaining still a lot of flavor and with a healthier poor, it absolutely can.
I had a healthier poor. I totally get with chef Ricky had a small poor. That ice is going to definitely dilute it so much. Chef Ricky doesn't like to drink
**Pagoda:** by the way.
**Gizmo:** I'm kidding. Can I say by the way, the one thing that my intention with the ice, maybe this is parallel to what you're saying. It was accelerating the opening that we experienced over.
Let's say 20, 25 minutes of the beginning of the podcast. We poured, started the podcast. We didn't even go to the drink until 20, 25 minutes. My intention with the ice was just to accelerate that because we were moving into our second glass in the rating. So that, that's where I was going with the chip of ice.
**Chef Ricky:** But for me, that wasn't even needed because the bottle was already opened. So a lot of that, you know, by the time we were done with our initial pours, there was half a bottle. So that space was replaced with oxygen. So it wasn't as, it wouldn't come through. as hot. That's fair. Was it,
**Bam Bam:** was it oxidizing? Yes.[01:40:00]
Ladies and
**Gizmo:** gentlemen, bam, bam is playing the hits. Yes. All right, Senator, go ahead. I'm sorry. Oxygen
**Senator:** oxidizes. All I'll say is there have been other higher proof spirits that we've done that I've really enjoyed and appreciated. And I have said. For me though, I'd only have one or two glasses in a sitting and I'm good.
I don't need any more. I'm sorry. I could, if we had a whole other bottle of this, I could drink this the rest of the night. That's how much I enjoy this. And that's very characteristic of Cognac. I don't disagree with that. Cognac is never this like overwhelming, aggressive experience. Like, You know, certain high proof bourbons, they're meant to like really overwhelm the palate in such a satisfying way that you just need a glass or two in a sitting.
Cognac is the complete opposite of that. And that's why for me, even this at like a slightly higher proof, there's nothing that is so overwhelming about this cognac. We're pairing this cognac with a Cuban cigar. I mean, well, this is a [01:41:00] different, it's a different Cuban cigar, but it's not a Padrone. It's not a full model stick.
It's a medium cigar, just with a lot of flavor. And so for even versatility for me, the fact that this can pair with a Cuban cigar, I would drink this with a D four with any standard fair Cuban, just as much as I would drink it with a new world fuller cigar. The price point I actually think is fantastic.
Now, not fantastic in the sense that I'm going to drink this every day. The high end of cognac, like scotch and every other spirit out there, you're talking a 200 price point to really Enjoy some of the best stuff that any of these brands put out. What I loved about Remy's 1738 is that they understood it's obviously too much to ask a consumer to spend 200 a bottle.
People are not going to drink that often. And the VSOP and Remy is good, but it's nothing special. And to create something in between that [01:42:00] obviously skews closer to the VSOP side at 60 bucks, I thought was brilliant to do this, even at 140. And save the 60 and having to shell out 200 bucks for a special occasion.
I think is awesome. I would drink this any special occasion. And it's so good and a little lower in price that I wouldn't feel as guilty. Indulging outside of a holiday when I just want something special. So for all of those reasons, I think it's complex. I think it's rich and full in flavor. Um, I think it's balanced.
I think, you know, chef Ricky called this out. It's not an overly sweet cognac. It doesn't. Just deliver some of the obvious traditional notes that you get in a lot of cognac. So, and the
**Gizmo:** Oak, it's not Oak crazy. It's not for sure. There's just, like he said, there's a kiss of it.
**Senator:** Yeah. And for me, you know, what this reminds me of, and I'll, I'll, it's Balvinian in a way, [01:43:00] not in the same exact flavor profile, but When you compare the Balvenie 12, the standard run of the mill that we all love and appreciate, Balvenie 17, which is a bottle that I routinely break out for special occasions.
Thanksgiving is usually one of the bottles that I have there. And that runs between 160 and 180 a bottle. Balvenie 17 is Balvenie 12 on steroids. It's just fuller, richer, more viscous, more intense, similar notes to me, this cognac it's fuller, richer, more viscous, more intense than the 1738 we love. And at 140 bucks, I do think that that's a fair price point for it.
So for all those reasons, I am at a strong 10. By the way, Senator,
**Pagoda:** you made such a great case. If you had gone before me, I think I would have rated it. No, not
**Bam Bam:** because
**Pagoda:** of anything. Peer pressure is not allowed. You know what it is? I'll be very honest. It is, like Bam said, it is [01:44:00] one of the most, flavorful, and one of the best tasting cognacs I've had.
Not because of anything. I like the cocoa. Yeah, yeah, of course. And it's a cigar. And it did a lot of really wonderful things. I was just thinking to myself, can I have another two or three of these? That's the thought process which was making me debated a bit. But you know, you're right. Maybe, you know, this is one of those ratings where you could, you know, I could have either gone 10 or nine.
Well, we were all at a nine and, and, you know, so it's, it's a very, very, very good cognac. And I think, you know, the other side of it is I'm going to buy it. There you go. And not only that, we finished a bottle between five of us.
**Bam Bam:** That's true. And we will all be buying one more.
**Pagoda:** And so, you know, my thought is, uh, it's one of those ratings.
I'm kind of damn, I wish I had rated 10. Uh, it's fantastic guys. Uh, if you get a chance, at least try it. Pagoda, you've redeemed yourself. Alright, thank you. [01:45:00] No, but I, I do feel that way. It was, I, I think I was very, very close and I was debating and, and, uh, it's, uh, fantastic. It is. It's fantastic.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys.
So that puts the formal liquor rating tonight on the Remy Martin Ter set at 9. 4, which for how great that rating is, I think it's a little low. I'll be honest. It's a touch
**Bam Bam:** low. We could have 10 in the room to get that up to a 9. 6 maybe. I agree. Yeah. So
**Gizmo:** let's compare that to the other Remy Martin spirits that we've done on the podcast.
There were three. We'll start with the Remy Martin VSOP on episode 40 scored an 8. 4. We did that cigar. We did, we did that cognac with the H Upmann number two, the Lubb 14 that we'll talk about in a minute. The Remy 1738 on episode 53 scored a 9. 3 and the highest rated Remy we did was the XO On episode 42 scored a 10.[01:46:00]
**Pagoda:** 0. No, but you know, it's pretty accurate. So it's pretty
**Gizmo:** accurate. I think a 9.
**Pagoda:** 6 would be
**Bam Bam:** more appropriate. I think between me and Bambi were very close to 10s. I'm surprised that the 1738 got a point below the 9. 3. Of course it deserves below this. Yeah. Yeah. Especially at the price. But it is, that's why this
**Senator:** should be higher.
It should be higher.
**Bam Bam:** It should. The versatility of the 70. It is higher. Then I, you guys know I killed a bottle of that last week. I drank that almost every time I walked into the club. Yeah. I don't see myself doing that with, as much as I love this, you guys know how much I love this cognac tonight. I can't do this.
Two, three nights a week. 'cause it's also 140 a bottle. I don't forget the price. Hold on. The price for me, me is not the factor. It's the richness of it. It's not just
**Senator:** that. The Remy xo, every single lizard gave a 10. It got a perfect tent. Yeah, that's a bottle that, that's true. None of us have drank since then or because the price point is high.
But that doesn't change that it is outstanding and that cognac. [01:47:00] Is super rich.
**Bam Bam:** That's a good
**Senator:** point. And it's for special
**Pagoda:** occasions. But you know what it is? It's a good point. It's a bit smoother. It is. And to what ends up happening, it is like one of those where you don't mind saying, Hey, pour me more. Pour me more.
It is your drink. With this, I felt like, damn, this was so satisfying that I could have been done with one. One and done. One or two. Like I said, I needed
**Bam Bam:** more. Yeah.
**Pagoda:** I do need more now. You're a hardcore drinker, dude. Damn, I shouldn't have poured you this much. I'm with an excellent spirit. Yeah. It was an excellent spirit.
I, you know, I think, as you know, we've discussed this, I think between Bam and I, one of us could have gone one way or the other, and it would have been definitely, I think so too. But a
**Chef Ricky:** 94 reflects that it's an excellent spirit. Of course. It does. I just,
**Senator:** the last thing I'll say for me, this is one of the most exciting spirits we've done.
I agree. In a long time. Outside of like some of the eye opening, like, Mezcals and tequilas, which I'm less familiar. So for me, a lot of them are very exciting, but for this stuff, we've done a ton of [01:48:00] like scotch Cognac in that category, I haven't been this excited about one of those types of spirits in a long time.
Yeah. It's a bit
**Bam Bam:** of a game changer from the point of view of Cognac consumption. No doubt about it.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, let's move now into the formal lizard rating tonight on the H Upmann Royal Robusto, La Casa Del Habano release from Cuba. Senator, you're up first tonight.
**Bam Bam:** Wow. Oh, yeah. Pressure, baby. Can everyone just stare at him, please?
Well,
**Senator:** I'm glad I'm going to be able to set the tone this time. I wish I got to go first. Here we go. That's an indictment. Oh, yes, it is. Two said, can I switch my ratings? So, I was, you know, you didn't sound
**Pagoda:** it at the time. I wasn't. I wasn't at all. Uh,
**Gizmo:** quick question before I rate, what was the price point on this cigar again?
So these range, there's a wide range of these. They come in 10 count boxes. They range anywhere between 40 [01:49:00] and 50 bucks a cigar. Oh my lord. Geez. I mean,
**Senator:** that, that is honestly, it's heartbreaking to hear that. Yeah. I know. Truly heartbreaking because absent that, this 10.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah.
**Senator:** I can't. I can't give it a 10 because there are other cigars that deliver a similar experience at $20 at most, $25 a stick.
So I'm gonna have to give it a really, really strong nine. I wanted to give this a 10 so badly. I say that because for me, obviously anyone who's listened to this podcast knows I'm obsessed with Parus and, and I love up, man. That's my second favorite. Cuban Marco. This was the closest up man to Parus I've ever had.
It was so flavorful and satisfying. It held up against a higher proof cognac the entire way. Never bat an eye. I just, a D4 I can get at, you know, 20 bucks. I can't give this a 10 if it's going to [01:50:00] cost me 40, 50 for this cigar. So what I'll say is anyone who loves Upmann. Part of this, this is a must try. I will definitely smoke this again, even at the price point that, you know, makes me cringe a little bit.
Um, at 40, 50 bucks, it's not something that I'm going to buy a lot of because I can replicate this experience with other cigars, you know, the cognac for me, there's not another cognac that will deliver this exact same experience at a lower price point. There's not, but with this cigar, there is. And so I'm at a strong nine.
And like I said, anybody who loves either of those marcas needs to try it.
**Gizmo:** So for me, the cigar is a 10. I've been there almost since the light. I am shocked by the cigar. I was shocked at its performance tonight at its flavor and how robust it was. It's difficult not to give it a 10. It really, it's challenging for me.
And, and the thing I think about, [01:51:00] why is it a 10 over a nine? And for me, it's because I. I am depressed that I don't have another box in my tower. And I want to go find another, even if it's a different age, I want to go find another box of 10 of these cigars and just hold onto them and smoke them as regular special occasion cigars.
If that makes any sense, regular special occasions. This is one of those cigars that really surprised me. From start to finish. I came in tonight expecting like, here we go again. Another LCD edge release from Habanos. It's going to be a six or a seven. We're all very, it's going to be a torturous night where the pairing is going to out outdo it out, duel it.
And it wasn't the case. This cigar really was excellent. I enjoyed every single puff of it. I took it all the way down to the knob. I was burning my finger. Very, very happy with it. The flavors are right in my wheelhouse. That weather thing is a constant for me with great Cuban cigars. I think about the, the Sir Winston, I think about [01:52:00] some of the Partagas I love as Senator mentioned, it really, really rang my bell.
So for me, it's a 10. Pagoda.
**Pagoda:** Um, it's a nine for me. I, you know, this is uh, another one I struggled with today in terms of between nine and ten because I really love the flavor profile. You know, I like the cocoa in any, any cigar. That's really my flavor profile. Started off medium and I, I think it smoked between a medium and I, I thought of in a little, Medium plus, you know, throughout, uh, you know, uh, what was that medium plus that that's a reference against, of course, but you know, the, It was such an excellent cigar in terms of smoking it.
I think where, why I'm rating it a nine, and I just want to listen to know is, my particular cigar was very, very soft in the middle. So I had to touch it up at least like ten times. Uh, unfortunately. If I would have had a [01:53:00] better stick, maybe I would have rated it ten. I counted
**Bam Bam:** six times, but that's okay.
Yeah. I was counting. Uh, but you know,
**Senator:** his cigar was almost 60 ringage.
**Pagoda:** It's true, but, but, uh, one of the most, uh, uh, flavorful Cuban cigars I've had, which I really enjoy and I, I didn't like to buy it except for the price point. Sure. You know, having said that, um, it's, it was a tough one for me because I do know that if it was, If it was smoked all the way through, it would have been a 10 for me, but it's a 9, unfortunately.
**Gizmo:** All right, Chef
**Chef Ricky:** Ricky. Yeah, for me, it's a, it's a 9. Um, I think you guys saw maybe early on, I was somewhat, uh, I don't know, give me a, a, a great vocabulary word here. I guess there was some trepidation, maybe for me. Woo! That's a 5 word.
**Bam Bam:** That's a 5 word. That's a toilet paper word. I'm
**Pagoda:** sorry, let's call Grindr.
You want me to call Grindr? But I can
**Bam Bam:** do that.
**Chef Ricky:** [01:54:00] Yeah, so it started, I wasn't getting all of the flavors that you guys had started with. It did come for me, you know, maybe at the start of the second, third. And it started to develop, I did have some burn issues, you know, I had to touch it up twice, uh, or three times maybe.
Uh, but it was a delicious cigar. I'd say medium full, I agree with you a hundred percent on that Pagoda. Uh, just kind of touching the full spectrum, not, not hanging there. Yeah. Uh, but it was amazing. It great flavor. It paired amazingly well with the cognac, especially when there was no ice in there. Um, I gotta, I gotta say, I think with ice, this cognac would go even well on the cognac.
Cause I, I did want to say it earlier, but it was so heat. The conversation was so heated. I didn't find a time to step in. So you just needed something to cool down. No, I think this cognac with a chip of ice would even go well with a lighter. [01:55:00] Yeah. Um, but it did, it did really well, uh, just no ice with this cigar.
Did amazingly well. It was a pleasurable experience. Uh, it wasn't the perfect experience for me, which is why I can't give it a 10, but I think a nine is well warranted for this.
**Bam Bam:** All right. Bam Bam. Yeah. This is difficult. Um. There aren't many cigars that I would have had with this cognac. The Madura 1, the 3, and maybe the Rass.
Yeah. And probably a very heavily aged D4, which are rare to find. Um, but this cigar was so cocoa forward, it complimented what we drank beautifully today. I'm dying to give it a 10. I am dying. Do you know exactly what you paid for this? Because you gave us a range of between 40 and 50. So the
**Gizmo:** problem is, when I purchased it a few years ago, um, It was before the price Armageddon, so I probably paid 25, 30 a stick, but for any listener hearing this right now or [01:56:00] us going out to purchase it again, the actual market price today is between 40 and 50.
So I'm
**Bam Bam:** not
**Gizmo:** going to tell you.
**Bam Bam:** We all know at 25, this would have been a 10, 10, 10.
**Gizmo:** But at today's price, I don't feel comfortable saying 25. Let me ask
**Bam Bam:** another question. How available are these? I have never seen these come up anywhere. You
**Gizmo:** can get 10 counts here and there. They're, it's not crazy. So I,
**Bam Bam:** I gotta give it a nine.
Okay. Honestly, because of the price, but I don't think I've ever had such a cocoa forward experience in any cigar like I've had tonight. I wouldn't say any cigar, but any Cuban cigar. And to this, that's a good point. But for me, the degree of cocoa that I got was just unusual from my experience tonight. So I am at a nine because of the price.
**Gizmo:** All right, boys, that puts the formal wizard rating tonight. On the H Ahman Royal Sto la Casa del Hano from Cuba at a 9.2. So let's compare that to the other LCDH releases and the h ahman releases we've done on the podcast .
**Bam Bam:** This is gonna be a landslide , [01:57:00]
**Gizmo:** it's a landslide victory. We'll start with the LCD Hs, the Ramon Ionis Superioris, LCDH.
On episode 54, scored a 5.7. The Hoyo elegantes LCDH episode 74 scored a 4. 8. The part the gas Eliados LCDH on episode 133 scored a 5. 7. The LA Gloria Cubana LCDH glorious on episode 137. Scored a 7. 7 and the H Upmann connoisseur B. So the sister cigar to this with an actual LCD band on it on episode 111 scored a 7.
2 so landslide for sure on LCD H's. Now let's compare it to the other H Upmann's we've done on the pod on episode six, we did the, uh, H Upmann Magnum 46 scored a. 8. 1 on episode 40, the famous love 14 number two [01:58:00] scored a 9. 8 on episode 62. The Magnum 50 scored a 7. 6. That's the famous bam, bam accountability, our episode, which I know he loves for when I repeat that.
**Bam Bam:** Oh, sure.
**Gizmo:** H Upmann Robustos Anahatos on episode 72 scored a 9. 6 the connoisseur number a, which is technically an LCD release unbanded on episode 86 scored a 9. 2. That did very well on episode 96. The connoisseur number one scored an 8. 6 and on episode 125, the connoisseur number two rated a 9. 0 and finally on episode 135, the H Upmann Half Corona Scored a 9.7.
Wow. So tonight at a 9.2, this matches with the connoisseur A and is only beat by the half Corona
**Bam Bam:** and the Ana.
**Gizmo:** And the OSes Anaro. And the number
**Bam Bam:** two. And the number two. Yeah. Antos was incredible. But the reason again. that [01:59:00] half Corona scored so well is because we have a lot of it and we can smoke that literally every day.
**Gizmo:** And, and we talked about this. Versatility matters. But we talked about this on that episode with the half Corona BAM. That cigar from Habanos, I think collectively in the room is probably the only Habanos cigar that none of us have ever had an issue with any of them. That's true. Right? I mean, And it's the best, it's
**Pagoda:** the best short cigar there is.
It's the best short cigar, yeah. Fantastic.
**Gizmo:** So that's it for tonight, boys. Again, on the podcast, the Remy Martin Tercet scored a 9. 4 and the H. Upmann Royal Robusto LCDH scored a 9. 2. I will say, What a great night tonight. Fantastic pairing.
**Bam Bam:** Yeah. Incredibly delicious. Very rich experience overall.
Absolutely. Yeah.
**Gizmo:** I completely agree. Congratulations again to lizard Kobe who won lizard of the week. Again, if you out there want to win lizard of the week, all you have to do is send us some feedback, a note, an email, [02:00:00] whatever you choose. You're going to win some stuff from us. We'd like to thank all of our listeners for writing out to us each week.
We always love to hear from you. Thanks to Fabrica5, our partner. They've been fantastic. Go check out their cigars. Use our code, of course, LizardPod. And, uh, we'll see everybody next week. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Thanks for joining us. You can find our merch store and ratings archive at our brand new website.
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