Episode 4 | Legends, Lessons & Lighters

Welcome back. This is Sticks and Stones, the podcast where cigar lovers and dealmakers meet. Today's episode is called Legends, Lessons, and Lighters. What am I smoking today? Today is a little bit of a very interesting episode because today we are doing reviews on a couple of different things. So, what am I smoking today? Today I am smoking new for 2025 is foundation cigars the wise men in the Maduro. So this is new for 2025. So we're going to do a review on this cigar. We're also going to do I'm excited about this doing a review on the Kagan limited release Japanese blended scotch. So, shout out to David at Total Wine and More. Let's light this thing up. I'm going to give you a review of this as I smoke it. Toast a foot. Get a little puffing action going there. More. See how it's holding up fire. I mean, it's not a not a tremendous sign when a cigar won't hold. Give it a shot. Okay. It's almost like a a fire cured. It's got good flavor. So that's what I'm smoking today and I will continue smoking that and give you my feedback on that as we go. So some of the biggest personalities in history and in real estate had a cigar in their hands. We'll talk legends, lessons, and what we can learn. So who are some icons that come to mind when you think cigar smoking? Well, one of the most notable, Winston Churchill. I actually I used to visit the UK twice a year and every time I'd go uh I'd go to the Dunhill store. I would go and that's on St. James and there's a cigar shop and I'm and I'm drawing a blank on the name of the cigar shop, but it's where Churchill used to get his cigars and um they have a big red velvet armchair in the front of the store. It was his chair and you can sit in it and take pictures and whatever. and I did. So that was that was a pretty memorable moment. But yeah, Church Hill is a notable mention of someone who was a cigar lover. John F. Kennedy also when you speak of, you know, real estate personalities, Grant Cardone is a cigar smoker. Manny Koshbin, so people know him for his car collection. They know him for, you know, being a a big-time real estate mogul. He also loves he loves his cigars. So, you know, those those are those are some of the legends, man. And although I have been kicked out of cigar shops twice because MJ was there shopping, Michael Jordan. Um, so not a huge fan of his, but he is a very notable cigar smoker. So, here's the Kagan. Give that a shot. Got to love that sound. Oh, it's got a nice It's got a nice aroma. Wow, that does not disappoint. So Dave at Total Wine and More is two for two, man. Really good. Really good stuff. It has a um that has like a sweetness to it almost like um I'm not going to say as sweet as like a cherry, but but so what do cigars mean to people? Like what do they mean to you? Is there something that they signify? Is it a is it a symbol? What does it mean? Is it is it status? Do you think it's a a ritual of relaxation? A symbol of power? Um for me, it is a symbol of relaxation. There's a lot of reasons that I smoke cigars. They do mellow me out. They do provide a pastime. So, you know, this will happen. You know, if you have if you have a big meal, the only thing that really settles my stomach is, you know, a good a good cigar, good, you know, medium to full bodied cigar. You know, back when I used to drive a um I used to drive a Chevy Suburban. Shout out to Chevy. loved loved that vehicle. I had a 20 2018 Chevy Suburban and I I was in that vehicle so much because I would drive the entire state of New Jersey. I had clients from south to north and everywhere in between. So, I was always driving in the car and it got to a point where I just didn't care anymore and I just started smoking in my car. And when I started smoking in the car, it was just really convenient. So then I was smoking all the time in the car and eventually it got to a point where I smoked so much in the car that nobody wanted to get in the car because of how it smelled. I mean, cigar smoke was stuck in the headliner, in the seats, just all over the vehicle. But, you know, it was comforting. It was relaxing, which, you know, I'm a commercial real estate broker. I have a stressful job. I'm constantly driving, constantly on the phone, constantly sending emails, text messages, deals to be made, deals going south, you know, always looking for a stress relief. And cigars really, you know, really do that. And I think that uh to some cigars could be a symbol of power, which is why there's that very very distinct parallel to business. If you have seen the movie Wanted with Angelina Jolie and John Malavoy, James Malavoy, there's one scene where he's out to contract kill this this big- time business guy mogul and he's, you know, drives in a limousine every day. He was smoking a cigar in that scene, you know. So, it's it's kind of synonymous that someone who smokes cigars is, you know, wealthy, big businessman doing or businesswoman doing big deals. And I guess that's because cigars are are notably expensive. You know, especially when you're talking about, you know, hand rolled premium products, you know, they're $20 or more, 30, 40. You know, now they've got cigars that are 100 plus for one stick. And not everybody has disposable income that you literally burn up. You're literally lighting it on fire to smoke it. So, not a lot of people have that sort of income. And you know, people see that as disposable income and it's kind of frivolous to a lot of people. And the people that have that type money are most of the time in business for themselves either, you know, self-employed or or in the seauite, you know, COO, CFO, CEO. Why are there parallels to cigar smoking and business or success? I think because in both things, you have to have patience. You have to have patience with smoking a cigar that could take you an hour or more to smoke. You have to have patience in business. And you definitely have to have patience in real estate because commercial real estate deals could take two or four or more years to complete to close. That's a long time. That is a lot of patience. So I think that's one of the parallels that they draw together. I believe that confidence for the most part timid people don't necessarily or timid people are not necessarily drawn to cigar smoking. It does take a level of confidence to smoke cigars, you know, regularly. It's sort of that IDGF mentality like, you know, this is what I like and I don't care. You know, I don't give a damn what you think. This is what I like and it's what I'm going to do. You have to have that level of confidence when you want to be a mogul, when you want to be successful, when you want to be in business and you want to, you know, dominate and, you know, run the boardroom and things like that. So, I think that's why there are a lot of similarities. And cigar smoking, you know, you you have to have some money to do it. You know, I'm not saying you have to be, you know, filthy rich on the Forbes list, but, you know, if you're going to smoke cigars regularly, you got to have a couple of hundred bucks to burn a week. You know, that's that's not chump change. And if you want to get into real estate, if you want to develop real estate, you want to buy and flip, you want to do anything in real estate, and that doesn't even have to be commercial. But if you're going to buy single family homes, renovate, you know, fix and flip or buy and hold, you got to have some money. You know, even even if you're financing, even if you're you're getting mortgages on these properties that you're you're buying and holding, you still need the down payment money for each of these homes, however many, you know, you intend on buying. So, that is another similarity to cigars and business, specifically real estate. This, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, this is a pretty phenomenal smoke. Again, I'm going to preface this with this is not my typical preferred size. I prefer a 60 ring or larger. Um, you know, I would I would go 56 or 58 ring on a bare bare minimum, but I typically like 60 or larger. 70 is cool. Anything over 70 gets a little crazy, but for a cigar that's not my desired size, I think it's great. It's got a It's got a good taste. It's It's medium. It's definitely mediumbodied. It's got good smoke output. It's got a great draw. I mean, you can see for those of you watching this podcast, the burn is pretty even. I mean, it's not crazy. Staying lit. That's awesome. So, cigars do carry across generational lines. You know, for instance, my dad and I smoke together all the time. It's something that you can It's very synonymous with fathers and sons. you know, you're you're going hunting with your dad, fishing with your dad, golfing with your dad. Usually, there are cigars involved. I would say it's almost traditional. And why do traditions matter? Because it means you stand for something. It means that you're willing to do something repetitively in a set amount of recurrence. You know, we do this every year, we do this every month, we do this every week, we do this every quarter, we do this every, you know, semiannually. The one the one I mean there are many takeaways from my European trips and my trips to the UK but one of the things that shocked me is their traditions. They have so many traditions. They have traditions of holidays and parades and you know events that have taken place for thousands of years and they are still conducted till this very day. I found that very impressive, you know, because they keeping those traditions, they stand for something. Those traditions mean something to the British. It's very admirable. It's very, very admirable. And you know, what what traditions do you hold close to? You know, what is your idea of a family tradition or a father and son tradition? You know, my my dad and I, we smoke cigars all the time. I mean, on a weekly basis, my dad and I probably get together three, four times a week to smoke cigars and hang out and whatever. And it's it's not just the cigar smoking. It's not just the the act of smoking a tobacco product. It's the quality time. It's the camaraderie with your dad, your cousin, your brothers, your friends, whatever. You're spending time with them because cigar smoking does take time. You're spending time with someone you care about, someone you love enough to share that time with them and talk about your day, talk about your week, you know, talk about things that are going on, things that you're concerned about, you're worried about, you're happy about, you know, whatever. There's a lot to say about that. There's a lot to say about tradition. There's a lot to say about your pastimes and who you're spending them with, you know. So to draw comparisons or a highlight of legacy versus newcomer or legacy versus rookie, I would say one of the legends and I'm not a huge Cuban fan. Like that's that's not really my thing, but I do. And and I've I've smoked plenty. I've I've smoked the the Kohiba Behik. Not a huge fan. Smoked a lot of them, a lot of different ones. And my two go-to Cuban cigars are the Partigus number four and the Monte Cristo number two. I think you can't beat those two Cuban cigars. Monte Cristo is an OG. It's a legend. Been around forever. Great stick. You know, the the blend doesn't change. Nothing about that cigar changes and it doesn't have to. It is a legend. There's so many newcomers that I could speak about. I mean, like, you know, Drew Estates is kind of kind of new. They've been around probably 20 or so years, but lots of good stuff comes out of Drew Estates. Warped Cigars is on the newer side. Lot of good stuff comes out of warped, you know, Cloud Hopper and Comida and a, you know, lot of good stuff comes out of there, out of that chateau, out of that that company. one recent that I just discovered. I've mentioned a couple times, Crowned Heads. Phenomenal. And you know, you there's so many other mentions. There's so many other mentions that I could that I could mention on newer type cigars. I mean, you know, the OGs, the legends, you know, Arturo Fuente, of course, Monte Cristo David off, Zeno David was the only non-Cuban person allowed to continue factory operations in Cuba after the embargo, after Fidel Castro took over the country and turned it into a dictatorship. That says a lot. It says a lot to the quality of the Davidoff brand. So, David off legend I would say the Padron company also legendary the Patron 3000 5000 7000 the 7000 was a daily driver for me I would smoke one of those every day usually like in the morning with coffee great stick phenomenal but then they got into the family reserve the 1964 the 1926 which both of those are related to and and I'll go into that later. We'll we'll do a podcast on that later uh in the future. 19 uh 1964 and 1926 are very um monumental for the Padron family. One sneaky one is the placencia. That is technically if if you want to get technical, it is a newcomer, but not really because that is the rolling factory that would grow seeds for for companies that you know didn't have their own seed operations, their own grow operations. So they would grow for everyone. They would roll for a lot of people including Fuente. So there's some certain things that Fuente didn't want to do. Placencia would do that for them. The Placencia family would roll for them. Rocky Patel, as far as I know, from beginning to end, from seedling to, you know, mass production, you know, shipping of full boxes of cigars is all done by Placencia. So they they work for everybody in the industry. So to say that they're a newcomer, they're not a newcomer, but their name is new. So they've rolled for everybody under the sun, but the name Placencia is not known by a lot of people who are not in the industry. So you know, that's that's another, you know, technical newcomer. So like to say to compare a newer cigar with an older, you know, legendary cigar. You know, you've got Arturo Fuente, the red and gold band. This thing died on me. It sure did. Wow. Here we go. Had a little spark left in there. Did not need to relight. Just pointing that out. Did not need to relight. So, what I can say about the Legends are the brands really don't change much. You know, it's the same bands. It's the same look. It's the same branding. Also the same flavors. It's the same taste. It's the same body. Very consistent. So I I'll just say that it's very consistent when you're talking about OG legendary cigars. You know, the newer the newcomers like let's take Alec and Bradley. Alec and Bradley Drew Estates. They have a ton of cigars, you know. So Alec and Bradley kind of made a splash on the scene. One of their first cigars out made cigar afficionados like scale which is super duper high. The Pretzado Pretzado made a huge splash after that. I mean they've got Black Market, they've got Magic Toast, they've got the Gatekeeper, and I can go on and on and on and on. You know, the Monte Cristo, it's like a handful of cigars. They have a handful of cigars. Fuente has a lot, but know it's it's it they're kind of across the board similar. Padron, I mean, they have the numbered cigars, the 3,000, the 5,000, 7,000, and then they've got the family reserve. They have a couple of uh they have a shade one now, and they have a couple now, but for a long time, they've, you know, run the same the same sticks. This did die now. David off has several, but David off I've seen as of recently, they're they just keep buying everybody. And not to say that that's a bad thing because they bought Kamacho a few years ago and Kamacho was a very crude cigar. I smoked it before David off bought them and then I've smoked it several times since since you know postacquisition and it's a great cigar. I mean it's it's a great cigar now and there's you know so many different band colors that all mean different things strength and you know body and all that kind of thing. But I will say about the the OG legendary cigar companies, very consistent, very very consistent with the tobacco quality and the aging and the rolling and you know the draw and smoke output and burn and everything else. Ash quality all very consistent across the board. Some of these newer newcomers very inconsistent. You could in in crack a box open and you may not get the same quality smoke in, you know, half and half. You know, you get a box of 10. You know, you may have five that are great and you may have five that aren't so great. So, it's about a 50% rate of consistent quality. Don't get me wrong, I like them all. I like them all. It's very very hard for me to find a cigar that I don't like and like would never smoke again, but some of the some of the legendary cigars are very very consistent. And that's something that you can take to the bank. you can lean on that that if you get a David off, if you get a Monte Cristo, it's going to be solid. So, one great mention I will say and this guy is one of the greatest master blenders ever. AJ Fernandez, that guy has the mightest touch. Everything he touches turns to gold. Even down to he took a Caldwell cigar on a bet. He bet the the owner of Caldwell that he could make one of Caldwell's cigars better than he could. And on that bet he won. I believe it was the King is dead or long live the King. I'm I'm I don't remember. Um he bet that he could make that cigar better than Caldwell did. And Caldwell took that bet and Caldwell lost on that one because the AJ Fernandez version sold way more than the Caldwell did. Other than this thing dying about close to the end of the first third, I mean, it's pretty solid. It's a great taste. So, cigar smoking is obviously very important to me. I mean, I carry cigars wherever I go cuz you never know when you're going to want a cigar and go to an outdoor area or somewhere that allows smoking indoors, which is very, very seldom these days. But in the event that you find some place, yeah, you just, you know, light up. But I carry them with me. I have mobile humidors. I've got a refrigerator type humidor in the house that keeps anywhere from 300 to probably 375 cigars depending on you know vital size etc. I'm interested to know anyone who listens to this podcast, you know, what your what your habits are. You know, how often are you smoking? Do you have a mobile humidor? Do you carry them with you? How often do you smoke? Do you only smoke at home or do you only smoke at a lounge? Do you, you know, smoke outdoors? Do you smoke, you know, like where are you smoking? What are you doing? How often? Are you a mix and variety person where it depends on, you know, the day depends on the mood which dictates the cigar or are you that one single cigar person and that's all you smoke? I'm interested to find that out. Also interested to learn new techniques. Is there something that you do differently in on on your lightup? Is there something you do differently in storing your cigars? You know, in in I have a new air model, humidor. So, you have to keep a bowl of either distilled water or glycol. I choose glycol and I keep a little bowl in there and that's kind of what humidifies the interior of that unit. Interested to find out what everyone's using. I mean, prior to that, I had a humidor that I bought in Tampa, Florida that held probably 150 cigars. Uh maybe less, maybe maybe it was about 100 scars, 7,500 scars. And I bought something called an Oasis where I filled up the sponge with glycol and it had an automatic blower that it would keep a constant humidity inside the humidor. I love that little thing. But yeah, I've I've I've had humidors of all kinds and I'll probably do a podcast just on humidors. Maybe do some reviews and some testing and whatnot. But yeah, I'm interested. I'm interested to know the people that follow us on Facebook or Instagram or the podcast to interact with us. You know, love to hear from you, know what you're doing, what you're smoking. Um, if it's something that I've not tried, I would love to try it. Uh, again, new new brand that I was just I just discovered, Roundheads. Can't speak enough about them, man. So, this cigar, like I said, the Wise Man is new for 2025 for foundation cigars. I gotta say, pretty good. I mean, there's nothing other than that, you know, it died on me. Nothing bad about this thing. I mean, the flavor profiles really haven't changed throughout the smoke, so that's, you know, consistency. Also, what do you do with your bands? I have some, in my opinion, some weird things I do with the bands, but I'd like to know what you do with your bands. I I'll actually have probably some content on the bands and what I do with them later on, of course. But yeah, I'd love to know what you do with the bands. Did you just throw them away or burn them up or save them for something like, you know, I'd love to know that. This is This is a pretty solid stick, man. Humidity was was on point. This scotch is also really solid. I'd also like to know when you started smoking cigars, you know, were you late teens, early 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s? I was probably in my late 20s when I started smoking cigars, which is probably around the same time that I started drinking scotch. What's your drink of choice? You know, that's that's a big one. That's a big discussion because a lot of people have their own preferences and their own, you know, flavor profiles and things like that. I, however, was spoiled. I started drinking scotch. I started off with Glen Livit 18-year-old single malt scotch, which is a phenomenal bottle. probably not the best way to start off because that's a very nice bottle and then you know once you start there where do you go from there right you're not gonna you're not going to go smoke doers or drink doers after that you know not not there's anything wrong with doers but you know you don't go from from a Glen live at 18 to to do but there's so many today so many scotches so many bourbons and for some reason I don't know why but I can't get into bourbon like I got into scotch. There's only a couple of bottles that I can actually drink and enjoy. Not like scotch. Scotch, you know, I can pick up relatively any bottle and kind of enjoy it. I don't like the overly overly pey scotches, but for the most part, they're all great and enjoyable. Got to say this this review of this cigar pretty pretty good. I'm, you know, I'm impressed. That is Legends of Cigars, Lessons Learned, Value of Tradition. It looks like we're out of time. In both cigars and real estate, it's about presence, patience, and playing the game. You know, stay tuned. We're going to be coming out with content every week, a new podcast every week. I'd love to answer some questions from you guys. So, you know, keep them coming. And uh, you know, more more reviews. I think I'm going to do a podcast on a full review of the Girka Fat Boy. So until next time, keep it rolling.