"OGT Cigar Society Feat. Onyx Knight." Ep. 42 7/11/26

It's OGT Cigar Society night, and Eric and Mallory take a closer look at the newest release, the Onyx Knight, the Shadow Ranger. Blended by Lee Marsh of Stolen Throne Cigars, this special blend has a lot going on with it. Let's take a closer look!

Onyx Knight LINK: https://oakglentobacconist.com/product/stolen-throne-x-ogt-cigars-onyx-knight-maduro-toro-6x52/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome to OGT Cigars Live Podcast, your neighborhood virtual cigar lounge. Each week we share the cigar experience with the OGT Cigars community. Join Mallory and I as we explore the world of boutique and unique premium cigars. I'm Eric, founder of Oakland Tobacconist and the OGT Cigar Society. I have a deep passion, and some might say obsession, with cigars and cigar culture. Working as an artistic theater director previously inspires me to infuse entertainment into the crafts I love. Learning never stops. And I invite you to follow in our cigar journey.

SPEAKER_05 0:43

I'm Mallory. While I don't ever claim cigar expertise, I've always been a foodie who's obsessed with scent and flavor. I can be counted on to provide bizarre tasting notes, such as the Home Depot Garden Center or Grandma's Basement, which always leads to good conversation. And good conversation is truly my favorite part of enjoying cigars with friends.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Welcome to OGT Cigars Live, where conversation lights up. Hello everybody. Let's have another great night here at the OGT Cigar Virtual Lounge. Uh, thank you for jumping on for another podcast. As usual, I am Eric with OGT Cigars, and joining me, my co-host, my lovely wife, Mallory.

SPEAKER_05 1:21

Hi, everybody.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

We are excited for tonight's show because every Thursday, and I still feel like a lot of people don't fully understand this, but the first Thursday of every month, we try our hardest. And we're still on a good roll, but we try our hardest to have it as OGT Cigar Society Night.

SPEAKER_05 1:35

Yes, the Society meeting.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

It is the meetup. It is. And this is the this is the tradition that has started like way back when we started the society back at the shop. We would meet and then out also host it live with all members. Uh, and so we want to continue that because that's what makes it so special. Every cigar that we release is something really special to us and also to the membership, and it's time to highlight that.

SPEAKER_05 1:55

Yeah, and we like to compare notes with you and hear what you have to say about it.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Exactly, exactly. And and with uh having Society Night, it's also heavily reliant, I will say, on your feedback and your comments. So, as usual, I encourage you to drop those comments down. Let us know if you're lighting up the Onyx night or if you are part of the society and you've had the experience. What do you think of the blend and see where it lands? Can't wait to hear. Because I know, especially like some people like to quote in the comments, like Mallory when she says like grandma's basement or flavor notes and such like that. But that actually came from when we would meet as a society group in the shop and start talking about stuff like that. That's how that came about.

SPEAKER_04 2:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

So it's always good to it's great to get that going, those juices flowing. So that being said, welcome, welcome. If you're jumping on now, we're gonna be lighting up the Onyx night very shortly. I encourage you to get comfortable, grab a cigar, drop down your comments, let us know what you're enjoying because it's time to pull those up.

SPEAKER_05 2:53

All right.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

First of which is from Daniel Frazier.

SPEAKER_05 2:56

It says evening, fam, an easy night for me. Wore out during yard work doing yard work. So it's just rest and water for me tonight. Well, that's good too. Okay, yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Rest up, yeah, enjoy the cigar on the weekend, yeah. That sort of thing. Um, and also like last week was interesting because a lot of our group seemed like they were going getting over a cold.

SPEAKER_05 3:15

Yeah, there's a lot of that going around. So it was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

So good to have you back, uh, Daniel. Good to have you on. Uh, rest up and enjoy the show. Uh RJ's on as well.

SPEAKER_05 3:24

Saying hello, everyone. Smoked an onyx night earlier today while watching the torrential downpour. It's nice and relaxing watching the rain with a cigar. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

That it is.

SPEAKER_05 3:33

Yes, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

I feel like it's even extra if you're able to have like be on a front porch or something with like a tin roof so you can hear the rain coming. Picturesque.

SPEAKER_05 3:41

Specifically, the shop in O'Glen did have a tin roof in the front. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

So maybe it's like reminiscent.

SPEAKER_05 3:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Let's see, you're notorious, H-A-N.

SPEAKER_05 3:50

Uh, haven't tried an Onyx cigar. Is it made by AJ?

SPEAKER_00 3:53

It's not made by AJ. Um, it is made actually by Lee Marsh of Stolen Throne Cigars. So uh Lee is a great dude. I love all the cigars that he does. And this, I believe, is our third, third exclusive collaboration with him.

SPEAKER_05 4:07

Okay, it seems like more than that, but it must be that we had some of his limiteds or something with those.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Yes, yeah, limited drops. We did uh Doctor's Orders one, and then there was, I think, a two-year, two and a half year like gap between that and Doctor's Orders two. So it was a while. Daniel Frazier's on as well, saying Stolen Throne. Yes, saying that. Chandler, 98.

SPEAKER_05 4:28

Uh, nothing tonight, fighting a sinus infection. See, I guess yeah, something.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

I had something, something going on a couple of days ago. Yeah, it felt like it was in the sinuses. Weird stuff. Uh, let's see here. RJ saying, Eric, the variety club spot sold out quick. That was unprecedented.

SPEAKER_05 4:45

It was a very quick month for the variety.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

It was crazy. So we actually we we cut it, we had a we sold out. Yeah. Uh, we actually unfortunately oversold a little bit.

SPEAKER_05 4:55

I think this might be the first time is this the first time we've had a wait list on the variety?

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Not the first time, but it's been a little while. Yeah. Um, and I attribute that to El Mago Cigars, Crown Head Cigars, Domain Cigars, and the Shadow Factory.

SPEAKER_05 5:09

Pretty incredible lineup.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

It's a it's a really cool uh lineup, I have to say. Let's let's pull up that picture really quick. So this is the sold-out pack. Um, it is such a like pound for pound amazing variety drop uh this time, and we're gonna be smoking them on Cigars and Cinema Podcast. But such talented cigar makers with our new and some limited releases, so really cool. Keep those comments coming, guys. I'm gonna pull those up, but I think it is time that we get our own cigar going before it goes too late. So uh as we had mentioned, we are smoking tonight, the Onyx night, uh, for the OGT Cigar Society. Um, for those who are unaware, this cigar is made by Lee Marsh Stolen Throne Cigars. Um, the wrapper on it is a Mexican San Andreas, and it's a six by 50 uh two Toro. It's got the signature like Stolen Throne, like mid uh foot. It's almost like it's almost a closed foot, but not completely a close foot.

SPEAKER_06 6:07

Alright.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

I'm getting a little bit of mustiness, a little bit of earth on the cold draw. I don't know. Do you guys cold draw? I definitely think you guys should. If you haven't tried cold drawing, you should do it.

SPEAKER_05 6:17

I always forget. You're really good about reminding me, but I've forgotten on the podcast before. You're like, oh, you're already smoking. I'm like, all right.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

It's it's a part of the experience.

SPEAKER_05 6:27

I have not stuck to protocol as often as you should.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Really good open draw.

unknown 6:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Really good open draw.

SPEAKER_05 6:33

It is earthy and a little chocolatey or a little cocoa-y.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Yeah, I can see that. All right. Yes. Well, we're gonna light up the the onyx night. As I say, keep those comments coming and we're gonna be back with first impression. Today's cigar is brought to you by the OGT Cigar Society membership. Enjoy a five-pack of premium custom cigars each month at an undeniable price. Join the community and smoke with us on the Oakland Tobacconist YouTube channel as we delve into the rich experience of boutique and craft cigars. You can find out all about the subscription and a whole host of amazing blends by following us on social media. Look for us at Oakland Tobacconist or OGT Cigars. All right, really good start off the bag. I I will say a signature flavor note that I get from Stone Throne is that there's some pepper and spice involved, but while it's there, there's this like clean smoothness on all their pepper notes. Sometimes when you have pepper, it's like so much it's burning you, or it's it's really like gritty and dirty on the peppery. It's always a clean pepper. I don't know if that makes sense or not.

SPEAKER_05 7:36

Yeah, it doesn't taste like uh like black pepper, it tastes like um maybe even a chili powder of some kind, like uh I can see that cayenne.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Yeah, a little bit of cayenne pepper, yeah. Um, I definitely get some of those earthy tones that was on the cold draw, as well as some leathery notes coming through as well. And I believe, because I've smoked this a lot, and I want to see what you guys think. What are some of the notes you've gotten? But I feel like the sweetness of the cigar really doesn't come forward as much until we hit the second third.

SPEAKER_05 8:07

No, I would agree with that. Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, I think a little bit of leather, a little bit of like um oh man, this cigar is so tasty.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

This is my flavor profile.

SPEAKER_05 8:21

Something sort of herbal a little bit too, but I'll get back on that because I'm trying to figure out what it is. Yeah, I don't know oregano.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Oregano. Okay. I feel like those like herbal notes, vegetable notes, and uh like baking spices are always the ones like okay, but which one? It's not as easy to baker.

SPEAKER_05 8:39

Things kind of blend together in your head, usually because you're using things in combination with each other when you're baking or cooking. So it's kind of hard to identify.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

This is a smokestack right now.

SPEAKER_05 8:49

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Um, I will also say what's really cool about this particular Onyx Knight drop. Uh, one, we're gonna talk about the blend, we're gonna talk about uh the art, but this was also on purpose because it is stolen thrown. This was our biggest number in terms of like cigars produced because it's stolen thrown, and I've learned my lesson.

SPEAKER_05 9:10

Yes, you have. Finally, after all these years.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Um, so I will say, guys, tonight uh it is available at OGT. Um, and if you're looking to uh pick up any more while it's still available, I would definitely say uh check it out at OGT. And tonight, if you're watching the podcast, this is not advertised anywhere else, but uh especially for a uh 10 pack, a 10 count pack, uh, we're doing a pretty darn good deal going on. Um, so check that out. If you guys want to stock up on Onyx Night, tonight's the perfect night because we're we're running a very small special deal going on during the podcast, and you guys are the only one to know. So check it out. Uh let's pull up some comments here. Let's see here.

SPEAKER_05 9:53

Chef Rudy says smoking Olympo.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Okay, nice. I'm don't think I've tried that.

SPEAKER_05 9:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

I'm gonna have to look into it. Olympo. What is uh who's the manufacturer of that? Because that's a little fresh.

SPEAKER_05 10:05

Who is the manufacturer Olympic?

SPEAKER_00 10:07

It could be, yeah. All right, let's see. This is something unfamiliar. Okay, Daniel Fraser.

SPEAKER_05 10:14

With the onyx, at least for me. It was crazy what I got. Okay, I have water right here.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

All right, we're gonna have to try this. You you take a sip of water and then I will, so it's not completely dead space. All right. And see what you think. Pairing, we talk about a lot, but water pairing, not as much. So I'm interested.

SPEAKER_05 10:35

Yeah, it might be that it is a little uh uh initially a little more dry on the palate. So if you add water or I guess any beverage, but water since it doesn't really taste like anything, it just like moistens the palate a little bit, makes it a little more I could see, yeah, yeah, adds a little bit of juiciness to it.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Yeah, yeah. Uh let's see here. Shirley is on the Shirley, how you doing?

SPEAKER_05 10:58

says hello, Eric and Mallory, just finished a round. Golf fired up an round of golf, fired up an Emerald Knight, but I love the Onyx Knight. Okay. Nice.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Very cool. And that's actually a question that we're gonna have to go through once we get through some of the blend. We I need to know by vote which is the night.

SPEAKER_05 11:13

Who is your knight? It's like in uh medieval times.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_05 11:16

Which knight do you root for? Which night are they fighting each other there all together?

SPEAKER_00 11:20

They're they're we're banding them together, we're getting them back so that they can go on their quest.

SPEAKER_05 11:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Um, let's see here. Chandler 98 says Emerald Knight is awesome.

SPEAKER_05 11:28

It is.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

Glad to hear. That's still that's Andrew's favorite still.

SPEAKER_05 11:31

It it it might be your favorite. I don't know. I I don't want to call it yet. I'm still the jury's still out, but you know.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

The votes will come. Okay, so let's see here.

SPEAKER_05 11:40

Wild Side says you also did the five-year anniversary with Stone Throat.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Oh, you're right.

SPEAKER_05 11:45

See, I knew there was more than yes. Five-year anniversary was the one of the quickest sellouts that we've ever had. That's where I learned my lesson. That yeah, that was that was the beginning of the lesson. Yes.

SPEAKER_07 11:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 11:56

Uh, we've got from RJ, it's a banger of a lineup, though.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Ashram, thank you.

SPEAKER_05 12:01

And Daniel Frazier says, Real excited for this variety box. Can't wait for others to try the blue butterfly.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Yes. Now, I will I will say uh we're we're still in works with that. I'm excited to see what people think about that as well. It's our second installment from the Shadow Factory. So super excited to see what people think about it. Uh RJ saying, also, Eric, glad to be a part of the OGT Facebook group. First time joining the group. Awesome. Welcome to the group. Good. It's funny because even though we are, I mean, we're on Instagram, we're on Facebook and Discord, I feel like each specific platform has its own type of like style and uniqueness.

SPEAKER_05 12:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

So like it uh I feel like education and more of like what's new is kind of at the forefront of Instagram most of the time. Facebook, especially the group, is what is everybody smoking?

SPEAKER_06 12:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

And Discord is sort of it's growing, it's still on the smaller side, but it's like a hub of that. It has like blogs, it has what people are smoking, and then it's also you get alerts. So if you're on Discord, then you will get a like a pinged alert of like this is what just dropped.

SPEAKER_06 13:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

So certain things throughout the week you kind of get to hear firsthand. Uh let's see here. Chandler.

SPEAKER_05 13:10

Uh, I got so excited about what I'm smoking and forgot to cold drop. That's me all the time. That's Mallory. I agree. I'm there.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

An interesting one just. I mean, hey, there's nothing wrong with it.

SPEAKER_05 13:20

I just think it's an added layer of like yeah, it's the same where you get annoyed when people snack on the way to the table, but I have to I have to taste it and make sure it tastes good.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

I yeah, I have a pet peeve if like if there is a buffet line and people are going to be able to do it. Okay, I guess snacking in a buffet is different to grab food, and then they finally you you know, this especially happens at PCA trade show. It's like, okay, you get your plate of food, and like, okay, now we need to make sure we keep moving so the people behind us are getting food and people will stop and start eating before they get to the table. I'm like, you couldn't wait another two minutes.

SPEAKER_05 13:52

Okay, that's fine. But when I'm cooking, I have to taste it.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 13:55

Got a double time.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Oh, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 13:57

Faceless orchestra says, I'm down to my last three, saving one for my father-in-law. I love this cigar. Awesome. Glad to hear it.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Glad you like it. Glad to hear it. Uh, okay. Shirley says Onyx is uh is her favorite. Glad I bought stock in Emerald too. Okay. Very nice. Very nice. Uh, is it just me? Water brought out more of a savory smoky meat.

SPEAKER_05 14:18

Okay, I've got to keep trying this. I'm gonna keep going throughout the the podcast, but I'm I'm intrigued.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

I definitely think it it freshened the palate and brought more of that like leatheriness forward, but I'm I'm interested.

SPEAKER_05 14:30

I feel like meat and leather are only a degree removed.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

True. I mean, somewhat you think about it. I think it's time we send out a refresher of our flavor wheel. Yes, the one that you made. We I think we need to send that out.

SPEAKER_05 14:45

Yeah, I feel like that needs to be. There's so many new society and variety members that I feel like we need the flavor wheel on here so we can really cool design. It's it's a good visual reminder.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

Let's see here. Charlie saying, just finished an Onyx night, started out about an hour ago. Yes, this is unique. Well, it's down to the nub. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 15:04

Good to know. Okay, good to know that it's good enough to smoke.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

All the way down to the nub using a nub tool. Um, so yeah, let's talk a little bit about this blend. We uh in full disclosure, as it was pointed out, we've done four blends with Lee Marsh. First one was a Sumatra, Doctor's Orders. Second was a Habano risotto, technically a risotto, Box Press, which was our anniversary. Then we did the Mexican San Andreas, which was the take took the longest to like finalize and make sure that's what we wanted to do. Once a year, uh Lee Marsh releases a limited cigar known as Argos, and Argos is in sort of like memoriam of his can of corso, Argos, that passed away, and now we know what that feels like. Yeah, because our can of corso just passed away about a month, month or so, month ago. However, it's once a month, and also what's really cool is once a year. Sorry, once a year he releases this cigar, and it's some of the proceeds go to like animal shelters.

SPEAKER_05 16:04

That's really cool.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

Specifically for canicorso. So it's a really good Habano cigar, it's stronger, it's heavier. So I got a call from Lee Marsh last year, and he said, We had a bit of a mix-up at the factory, but you're the first person I thought about. And so I was like, Okay, well, I'm always interested. And he's like, You know, our Argos uh cigar, we it has a little bit, it's not the exact same blend, it's a little bit tweaking, but they accidentally put a San Andreas Maduro wrapper on it, but it's the same size, it doesn't have a pigtail, but it's a very like minimum run. I'm wondering if you're interested. And I was like, sign me up, like I sign me up, but I want to try it first. Like, if I can sample it, go through it. Nothing, uh, not to say that I didn't have full confidence in Lee, but I just if make sure it's society worthy. The thing about companies like Black Label and Stone Throne and um Stallone is that I already know construction's gonna be there. I think the trust is there, the history is there. Um, but it's more of just like flavor profiles. I think it's gonna hit, and of course it did. And so we they had done that that cigar, I think, at the beginning of the year, and then we got a hold of it actually back in February, I believe, January or February.

SPEAKER_05 17:15

Yeah, I think that's right.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

So we we had been resting it in our humidor. I think overall it's got about a year and a half by of age, and then of course it was released as the Onyx night. Um, I think that it's most fitting to be this night because first off, the appearance of the cigar, it's dark. Um, it's almost midnight. I really like the shade of this San Andreas. Um, and I also felt like when we were gonna go for the Onyx night, it needed to be a stronger cigar. Do you find the cigar overwhelming at all?

SPEAKER_05 17:43

No, okay, but it's delicious, yeah. Deliciously overwhelming, overwhelmingly delicious.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

There you go. Overwhelmingly delicious.

SPEAKER_05 17:51

It's overwhelmingly delicious.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

If you were to put a strength level, would you say medium, medium plus, full?

SPEAKER_05 17:56

I would say that it is probably full.

SPEAKER_00 17:59

I would say so. I'd say like the top end of medium plus, everything's medium plus to you, though. Well, no, no. If we were talking to Rob, he would be like, this is a mild to medium cigar. Uh let's see here. A few more comments coming down here. Chandler said, That's awesome. I loved the Argos, says Charlie. Nice, Brian Silva.

SPEAKER_05 18:17

I love the Onyx night. It is a special stick.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Awesome, awesome. So I have to give a shout out to Lee for contacting us. Um, but also this was like a happy happenstance that happened.

SPEAKER_05 18:29

Yeah. Um feel very, very honored. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

And so I'm not gonna sit here and be like, yes, when we were blending the cigar, it's like that's more the journey what Doctor's orders to had. This cigar was actually something that happened at the factory, and uh the relationship was basically something where it came out to be this. Yeah, pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05 18:50

Very grateful to Lee.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Let's see, magically delicious?

SPEAKER_05 18:54

I would say magically delicious, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

So overall, we we uh this is the third night, and as I had mentioned, there's gonna be a bit of a break, a short bit of a break, because we have something special coming this month, and the next month is the anniversary of OGT cigars, which is the seventh anniversary. Crazy. Um let's see here. What do we have here?

SPEAKER_05 19:15

Uh Richard Great White Rev uh says having a RP Emerald tonight.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Nice. Oh, Rocket Battle Emerald. Ah, so not an emerald night, but an emerald cigar. There you go. Very nice. Um, so there is gonna be a bit of a break, seven-year anniversary stick coming up for OGT. We are super excited about it. We can't disclose too much, but that is why there's gonna be a short break in the night series, and then it will be back. That being said, put down in the comments so far out of the crimson, the emerald, and the onyx, which takes the slot for number one favorite out of those. Now, Mallory, I know we were talking about that. Do you have a favorite?

SPEAKER_05 19:58

Not yet. I refuse to disclose. No, I really love the emeralds, but the onyx is very close for me. I think that the only way I'll really know is what I end up gravitating towards out of the humidor over time. Because I think that that's more how I end up determining my favorites, is that it's like I tend to be like yeah, rewatch value. Um if I tend to be like, oh, I really feel like that over and over and over again. Because like with all the no-propes last year, yeah, it was like the original was my favorite, it's still always my favorite. So it and maybe it is just because it's green on the label. I don't know. I can't, I can't, I don't know if I'm giving myself too much credit for the differences in taste or if I'm just a sucker for green. I'll give you that.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

I think Emerald Knight has the coolest label out of the three.

SPEAKER_05 20:49

Oh, I really like the Onyx Knight label, actually.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Really? Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_05 20:52

Crimson Knight was tricky for us because nothing is ever quite red enough, in your opinion. You like a bright, bright red.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

True. So, okay, so if I get this straight, you would say if you were gonna rank them, you'd say emerald, then onyx, then crimson.

SPEAKER_05 21:08

I'm I'm not ready for that yet. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

You are I've been ranking them since the beginning. Now, all of which I think are really, really special. But for me, we've had this conversation for something to have a certain amount of value. I have to compare it to something.

SPEAKER_05 21:22

Yeah, no, I can be like they all win, they're all good.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

There's no participant trophies in the night series.

SPEAKER_05 21:28

There's lots of participation trophies in my book.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

So I will say presentation, I think the Emerald Knight is my favorite. Uh-huh. Um, but in terms of ranking them, I would say Onyx Knight takes number one for me.

SPEAKER_06 21:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

And then it would be Crimson Knight and then Emerald Knight.

SPEAKER_05 21:44

And why is that Crimson over Emerald?

SPEAKER_00 21:47

Everyone knows, I think, at this point, that I have somewhat of a weakness for like a good spicy peppery note.

SPEAKER_06 21:53

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

And Crimson has that in spades.

SPEAKER_06 21:55

Uh huh.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

And I also really like that six by fifty box press size.

SPEAKER_06 21:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

And the the thing that I will say is difficult when it goes to I think re-watch value, like you were saying, re-smoking value, uh, is big for me when it comes to how do I rank the cigar. But I also think uniqueness plays a big factor too. So it's hard because Emerald Knight is so unique because it's a Brazilian habano. Yes, but Crimson also is a I've never had a cameroon that I felt that aggressive.

SPEAKER_05 22:25

Okay. Which was just the fact that it was able to achieve that too.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Yeah, that was so so different for it.

SPEAKER_05 22:31

Oh, we have some answers here.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Okay, Daniel Fraser says emerald.

SPEAKER_05 22:34

Okay. And Dapper Prof says red is my favorite so far.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

Nice.

SPEAKER_05 22:39

And then Shirley says, How long were the Emerald Knights aged for? My wrappers are very brown.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

So I don't know a specific time, but I do know what I was told from the factory was uh no less than two years, is what I was saying.

SPEAKER_06 22:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:53

So you have it. Now I will also say, um, it seems like Brazilian tobacco, especially if you have Brazilian Corojo, even Nicaraguan Corojo tobacco, these tend to be really oil oily like wrappers, leaves. And so they tend to impart, I don't know, some call bronzing, some call it like copper, but that kind of like tint on it that that I think will hurry up. But definitely that cigar, I feel like probably was a lot more aggressive and harsh. And so the two years really like just it just mellowed it. Yeah, mellowed complexity. Yeah, it works really well for sure. All right, uh let's see here.

SPEAKER_05 23:29

Charlie says when the Onyx Knight were delivered in the society drop, it was hotter than the hinges on the gates of hell here in Middle Tennessee. The band adhesive failed and popped off. No problem, you don't bands. Oh, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

I'm sorry about that. I think too, part of that, the reason is is because Stone Throne doesn't uh ship their cigars in cello. Okay. I think it's more susceptible to that. So I am sorry. I will also say, Charlie, you're not the first person to report that to me. So it was a pretty warm week for but I think that's partly where that comes from. Yeah, yeah, the cellophane helps like hold everything together for sure. Yeah, Dapper Prof.

SPEAKER_05 24:04

So I feel like Eric might have an Excel spreadsheet where every cigar of all time is ranked, along with notes about humidity and age, in their own little columns. I can speak to this, it's all here. I don't know how he does it. Like it, I I keep saying I need a cigar notebook um so I can keep better track of what I've smoked because I'm I'm going all on vibes all the time. Like that's our balance is that you are so technical and you remember everything. And with me, I'm like, I remember feeling great about that. Now, can I tell you why? Or or can I remember down to the like all the construction? No. For the most part, I have to have a reminder of some kind, and then like it'll come back to me. But it's just all vibes, and you're like, it I can ask you about any cigar that's ever been in our humidor, and pretty much any cigar you've ever heard of, and you do this, but it's all it's all here. There's no spreadsheet at all.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

I will say as I get older, the the the drops in like the uh what we released in 2022 and the order of which we did is starting to get fuzzy to me.

SPEAKER_03 25:07

Okay, it's been a lot, it's been a lot, it's been a it's a lot in seven days.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

I mean, I feel very thankful to say that it's been a lot, which is really cool. Like, but um, like I for the most part can remember last year's like monthly drops.

SPEAKER_05 25:18

Um and then okay, so okay, so what I'm saying is though, if I told you any one of the drops we've ever done, you would know. It would come back to you immediately. Yeah, but it's more like if you had to list everything ever that we've ever done, that might take a minute.

SPEAKER_04 25:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 25:32

But if I asked you what the construction was on whatever it was, well, yeah, then you would know.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

I I mean, I think so.

SPEAKER_05 25:41

Yeah, like no, like immediately though, you'd be able to rattle off like 10 facts about that cigar.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

I I don't know about 10 facts, but there's some things I remember about it. Okay, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 25:49

I feel like I should quiz you here or something.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

You could okay. I don't know if that's it's gonna put everyone to sleep.

SPEAKER_05 25:55

No, all right. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

That's your uh Charlie, no problem.

SPEAKER_05 25:59

Yeah, thank you for understanding. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

Rader Dave is on.

SPEAKER_05 26:03

I like all three for different reasons. So I'll say this is like this. I like the emerald with coffee, crimson with rye whiskey, and onyx with high-proof bourbon. That is a lovely pairing list. We need to upload that somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

That's a good way, and that's also a kind of a cheat code, a good way to also memorize cigars of like what do you normally like to smoke with? What's the experience you normally have with okay for sure? And that rye whiskey is a good choice. I'm on that same wavelength with you, Rader Dave, because rye sometimes you have that like barrel spice to rye, and you you can kind of have that harmonize, but you also get some good sweetness from rye too. So that might mellow some of the spiciness on that end.

SPEAKER_06 26:42

That makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Also, I have to say, because Rader, Dave, and I were texting the other day. I did get a hold of the orphan barrel, the new Canadian whiskey 25 year. It's good, it's definitely Canadian whiskey.

SPEAKER_05 26:53

Um, does that one have a butterfly on it?

SPEAKER_00 26:55

That's what does it have on it? No, it's the owl.

SPEAKER_05 26:57

It's the owl.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Similar color scheme. The the one with the butterfly is uh that was indigo's hour. Speaking of vibes, one of my favorites.

SPEAKER_05 27:04

I feel like we should pair just on label one of these days, like do a random pairing kind of roulette where it's like we just match just the label to just the label and see if it works out.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

We could try that.

SPEAKER_05 27:19

It'd be chaotic.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

So you're thinking indigo's hour with the butterfly. Could be. The problem is getting a hold of an indigo hour. It's a good excuse. Could be. Let's see. Daniel Fraser.

SPEAKER_05 27:32

Same. I need a notebook to write things down, otherwise, I won't remember. Yes. Notebook buddies.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Chandler, cigar nerd. Um, I I will say before when I was getting into this hobby, they used to allow apps. I had an app on my phone.

SPEAKER_05 27:44

You did have it, you had two apps.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

I had two, yeah. They they this is going way back. Um, what year was this? This was maybe 2000 and I mean, I say way back. It was about 10 years ago, maybe 12 years ago. And there was an app that was like Instagram, it was engineered like into Instagram called Cigar Boss. And it was just like probably 20 users posting pictures of cigars, and I was one of them.

SPEAKER_05 28:08

And your only Instagram handle you've ever had, which I'm not gonna out you, other than OGT, was had to do with that.

SPEAKER_00 28:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's all it was. It was just like, all right, cigars. So for sure. Hey, there's Robert is on saying, Miss you guys, miss you too. Hope you've been doing well. Hope you've been doing good. Um, yeah, we have a bit to talk about with California, but I also want to talk a little bit about the art. Now, unfortunately, my brother Andrew couldn't join us tonight uh in terms of talking about the art, but I will say this was the second iteration of the Onyx Knight. There was another one that he had done.

SPEAKER_05 28:42

We have we had two options, and it was kind of excruciating trying to choose which one.

SPEAKER_00 28:47

It was, and I personally I really love this one. I also really love the other one, but as like a decision voted upon with the group, everyone went with this one, and I think it's still an amazing one. I really enjoy the cape like striking in the back.

SPEAKER_05 29:02

It's beautiful. I also think this was an idea I had originally, is that I think there should be one alt poster printed that we do as a raffle later on when more of the uh nights are out. I I think it would be really fun to raffle off the other version.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

True. Because it can't be like a variant, like a comic. It's a variant, yeah. Yeah, yeah. But and I think too, what's really difficult, it's it's hard to get on a small like label such as this to still be able to show like the uh the depth of the art when you're just working with black and white.

SPEAKER_05 29:34

Yeah, the values are really tricky, and Andrew's done such a great job of making it. Like I said, I don't even know what the word would be for art because with text, with type, it's legible. If something is legible from a great distance or legible at a small size, that's like, okay, you've done a fairly good job with creating that label or creating that billboard or whatever. But with art, I feel like it would be a lot the rules of typography make it a little easier to be like, okay, this is how you know what's gonna be legible. But with art, it really takes a very specific sense of the space. And I think that it's really cool what he's done with that.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Yes, because like uh Curtis is a graphic design artist, and he's used verbiage like uh the legibility of an image.

SPEAKER_05 30:22

Okay, so maybe that's the right term.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Um if legibility is a word, legibility is a word. Okay, no, I'm saying I meant maybe we quoted them.

SPEAKER_05 30:31

No, I think legibility is now you're gonna make legible is a word.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

I'm seeing what Daniel's talking about. About I'm definitely getting some of that smoke.

SPEAKER_05 30:39

Okay, we have to keep doing this. No, I got it earlier. I didn't mention it, but I was like, okay, I don't know if it's power suggestion again, but I do see that I can see it. But it maybe you add water and the leather becomes smoked meat.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

It's like opening the bouquet on a whiskey. Yeah, so overall, I would say flavor notes that I get from the Onyx Knight, I definitely get some spiciness, like the cayenne on the retro. Uh, there is definitely still some leather, some oakiness, and a little bit of like mesquite wood, like a smoky wood mixed with that savory, smoked meatiness, um, and a hint of like umami, like I like that like a mushroom brings. Not so much like wow, it's intense mushroom flavor, but it's like it rounds it up.

SPEAKER_05 31:18

There's some mushroom. I mean, with the earthiness, I think that there's a lot of overlap between earth and umami. So yeah, I would agree with that.

SPEAKER_00 31:25

So overall, I will say part of what makes this cigar so special to me is that it's not an easy task to bring a well-rounded palette to a cigar like Stolen Throne does.

SPEAKER_06 31:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 31:37

I I would say as much as I love Emerald Knight and Crimson Knight, the reason this takes the like top slot for me is because I feel like it's a mature cigar, it it doesn't pull you in too many different directions, it knows what it wants to be, and it's so well-rounded on the palette that it covers all those points.

SPEAKER_05 31:54

Yeah, and it's a really tricky balance to be bold and elegant, and I think that Lee always delivers that. So yeah, I'm really yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

It's such a good cigar. Uh, let's see here. Uh Candler.

SPEAKER_05 32:08

Candler.

SPEAKER_00 32:09

Oh, sorry, Candler.

SPEAKER_05 32:10

I use cigar scanner to keep track of my cigars. Okay, so there is an app.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Okay, nice. Maybe it was brought back. Cigar scanner might have been the one I was using.

SPEAKER_05 32:18

I mean it could have been Android versus Apple too.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Two. It might just be an Apple situation.

SPEAKER_05 32:24

I think it might be Apple.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Uh 005.

SPEAKER_05 32:26

Enjoyed all the nights so far. Haven't tried too many pairings, but no complaints with makers.

SPEAKER_00 32:31

Okay, okay. Kind of a good standby. Yeah. Good standby with that. Nice. Uh, Robert is saying the artwork is great. I I think so as well. You did an amazing job. Once again, uh, really cool. The element we didn't talk about that I really personally like is the the actual title, Onyx Knight. I really like that X. I think it looks really cool on the label.

SPEAKER_05 32:52

You want to know the story of that X?

SPEAKER_00 32:54

What is the story of?

SPEAKER_05 32:55

Am I am I taking like am I pulling back the curtain too much to explain the story on the X? Okay. So that kind of gothic font has an X that isn't immediately recognizable or legible as an X. So I kind of broke the rules on that X because it works. Yeah, because I I put it in and I was like, that looks kind of like a Z or a G. And at a small size, it wasn't gonna work. So we substituted in.

SPEAKER_00 33:25

And I think it works. Okay, it it stands out and it it kind of like gives the stamp of like onyx that I really like. Yeah, I'm glad. Uh double O five.

SPEAKER_05 33:36

Uh, does your brother make your other bands and stickers? They are always so cool.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Thank you. Uh, yes, the artwork is typically my brother.

SPEAKER_05 33:43

Uh so all the monsters, yes.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

Um all the monster stuff, all the night stuff. Um he's done a few, like the doctor's order stuff.

SPEAKER_05 33:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

Um, that's all that's all.

SPEAKER_05 33:54

Most of the illustrated stuff, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

And then if it's not his band, it's either directly from the manufacturer that designed or Mallory normally does it. Like the nope ropes and the smokey lizard, the naysayer.

SPEAKER_05 34:07

Though I tend I'm not I am not a uh artist in the sense of being able to draw or paint very well. So a lot of the time what I do is I work with like ephemera and like old like public domain illustrations and stuff. Like I'll go on archive and just download books and take these like amazing illustrations.

SPEAKER_00 34:28

I mean it's you can see it in the artwork, so but it's fun.

SPEAKER_05 34:30

Um, but I can't take credit for the snakes, but I did source them from uh some really cool old like zoological prints.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

So yeah, yeah, so that's typically where the art is coming from for sure. Uh Daniel.

SPEAKER_05 34:44

Say yes, the leather melted away and came in came like smoky wood and savory meat. Yes, I I would agree with that. And this is a really savory cigar. I feel like we tend to pull like a combo of savory and sweet cigars, but this first third is definitely all savory.

SPEAKER_00 35:01

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's not your typical espresso kind of chocolatey, nothing wrong with those. I love those flavors, but I like this brings something a little bit different. Um, and also there's I've coined well, I don't I didn't coin a term, but I use the term a lot. I find myself talking mostly in like our groups, uh, when it's like when it's a really good effortless draw, and when there's a lot of smoke production and it's really burning really even, it's like this to me is a dream to smoke, and that's what the cigar is. The smoke output, the draw, and I haven't touched this thing up once, like it's just no hassle. It's giving you what you want amongst all this complexity, it's what raises the bar and putting it in the society, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 35:42

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

Uh, let's see here.

SPEAKER_05 35:43

Robert is saying my favorite is the crimson night.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

Nice, and it was too for me until until this came on board, but it is an excellent cigar.

SPEAKER_05 35:51

Uh, are we as we are doing all these nights, will we be getting the rabbit of I can never say the care carabinog this year? Also, I think there's been a couple like this holy hand grenade. I was like, I really would like a Tim cigar.

SPEAKER_03 36:10

Yeah, there you go. Some call me Tim.

SPEAKER_05 36:14

I would like, I would like the Tim cigar.

SPEAKER_03 36:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 36:17

I'm putting in my request for that now. I can't be like, do we get like a wizard? Do we get it? Would be Tim would be nice. And just have just Tim.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

When we were really going through this, I mean the main thing is that there will be five nights in total. That's what's gonna make it up. But I was like, you know, if we ever did like a spin-off on like a small corona, you could have it like the page, the page, or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 36:39

Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 36:40

It's it, but then you just don't want to go too far.

SPEAKER_01 36:42

I really, really want to put out the some call me Tim.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

Some call me Tim. Yeah. I mean, there's a whole Monty Pirate Python thing to grow from there. I mean, you can go endless. Okay, so uh let's talk a little bit about news. Uh some interesting and really exciting things on the horizon. So let's talk a little bit about that and also some news from California. So let's get into it. There are thousands of podcasts dedicated to world, national, and even local news. But the best part about sitting at your favorite local lounge is asking that friend what's new with you this week, or what are you smoking? And that's exactly what we want to know. Drop in the comments something notable that happened to you this week. A promotion of work, a cool vacation, or even that new burger joint you tried. We want to know. Get your commenting figures and put it down now. All right, so first and foremost, uh, this is big news for any black label trading company uh lover. It has been big news all week here at OGT, uh, and that is the newest Bishop's Blend tenure that just released. So I decided we need to talk about this as a bit of news because it's really exciting, and it's also a different Bishops Blend than you might be used to. You'll notice that's a barber pole right there. So Bishops Blend, I think, was the second or third limited edition cigar ever to come out of Oveja Negra. And it's also potentially the most popular. So it's the one of the most repeated. It didn't come out last year. We missed one year, so last time was 2024. This is 2026. This is the 10th iteration, and so James Brown updated it with taking a the original. Well, I won't say the original, the last version was an Ecuadorian Habano Maduro wrapper. Now it is mixed with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, which is music to my ears. Like, this is potentially, I would I will go on record with saying out of all the limited drops, Bishops has always been my favorite.

SPEAKER_07 38:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 38:39

And it was the original limited black label cigar that like I was hunting, I found, I smoked it, and I was like, now I get it. So it's an incredible cigar. We dropped the pre-release earlier this week, and it's shipping tomorrow and over the weekend. So either tomorrow or Saturday, that's when all these will be going out. Um, mostly tomorrow. And I will say it's also going very, very quick. In fact, we're almost sold out. So uh, guys, don't sleep on this. If you enjoy black label trading cigars, this one I will definitely say moving very fast. Yes, for good reason. It's such a fantastic cigar. And it's like, what could be better than a limited cigar from Black Label? Throw some broadleaf on it. Like that makes it even better. So I'm so excited for that. Uh, this has been kind of the big cigar that hit this week. Super excited. It's at OGT, it's almost gone. So I highly encourage you guys to check that out while you can. Um, let's see here. Let's take a few more comments before we get to the next story.

SPEAKER_05 39:37

Uh, Christopher Costman says starting my 30th year teaching history and booked my wedding venue for May 27th. Congratulations. That's exciting.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

That is awesome. Everyone in the community also saying congratulations. Uh there you go. Teachers are my heroes. Well, congratulations. My sister is a teacher, too. That's awesome. Good to hear. Congratulations on that. Okay, uh, a bit of news from the California front. We've left California a little over a year ago. When I left, uh tobacco tax, I believe, was at almost 55%. I believe. The crazy story when we started the company in 2019, we launched, got our license, and we launched in August of 2019. And tax was I believe 28%. And then a month later it shot up to 62, I believe it was.

SPEAKER_04 40:30

63, I think.

SPEAKER_00 40:31

63. It was wild.

SPEAKER_04 40:32

Yeah. Like it was just like, oh, by the way, here's an alert from the we got a lot of we got a lot of uh the first year there was a lot.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

And I I used to think when I didn't really understand taxes, and I'd go into a cigar shop, I'd be like, I can get the cigar cheaper somewhere else. And then learning, like, oh, it's because of buying it on site.

SPEAKER_05 40:51

So then it's like tax is something we usually had to kind of explain at the register. It's it's it's rough for sure.

SPEAKER_00 40:57

And if anyone doesn't understand the math, it essentially takes uh, let's say you have a $10 cigar. Um, that you that's normal retail cost of that ten dollar cigar. Well, after you add California tax, the cheapest retail cost for you to still be able to survive off that margin would be about $13.20. So it's a hefty amount. But I will say it's not amazing news, but it's a little bit better. Uh, California lowered its tobacco tax by like three percent.

SPEAKER_01 41:24

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 41:25

So I know for me as a retailer in California, whenever I'd get that July or June uh email saying California tax has uh changed, tobacco tax has changed, I would always be like, and then I was like, oh, it's only gone up a couple percent. Well, this time it's gone a little bit down, so that's a little bit good. Yeah, had to kind of give a shout-out to California. It's not amazing news, but a decrease is better than an increase. So there you go. And then uh, last bit of news, this is really exciting. I posted a picture today, I think it was today, and a little while ago, of this cigar here. This is a project, believe it or not, we have been working on before we left California. Now, I won't say the blend specifically, but starting in talks, uh, starting in getting samples with the manufacturer. This is a company we have not worked with on an exclusive yet. And this will be the first time we have. It is a phenomenal cigar. This will be coming for the society and uh availability later. This will be our official Halloween cigar. So it comes with a little bit of like, yeah, I know we won't have Renfield again this year. So I'm just setting the the uh preparing that right now.

SPEAKER_05 42:40

Yeah, but we got some good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

But I will say this is more than worthy. Yes, and it's in this and it's a similar vein, and I can say I don't know, I don't want to compare it to Renfield, but it's it's easily like when my first sampled this, I want to say six months ago, maybe it was late last year. I was like, this is going to be one of the better cigars of the year. It's just incredible stuff. So super excited for it. This is what I can show you. We got Oakland Tobacchinist exclusive six by fifty six, beautiful bundle right there. So super excited for that coming, um, which is gonna be our Halloween cigar, which is really exciting.

SPEAKER_05 43:21

Um got some comments here. Notorious AJN says, I'm in SoCal, it's tough out here. Yep. Yes, it is we know.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

What would you say? And when it comes to California, what is one of the biggest struggles that you remember us kind of going through having a business there?

SPEAKER_05 43:39

I mean, I think the tax was definitely a little prohibitive. I think the other part was going to places like PCA or TPE and having people as soon as you say where you're from, some some retail uh not retailers, but some um manufacturers don't even really want to work with you as a California retailer. Um Um, so that's why we ended up getting our distributor license at one point, right? Because it was um not necessarily guaranteed that you could work directly as a retailer with the manufacturers. Certain ones just did not want to do that, which is understandable, but and especially so now, but it is too bad.

SPEAKER_00 44:18

Well, and I will say, like, shout out to um American Viking Cigars with Tim Swanson. That's one of the main brands that pushed us to grab the license because we couldn't do it eitherwise.

SPEAKER_05 44:29

Yeah, for sure. We had a couple more comments here. Uh let's see here.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

Scott.

SPEAKER_05 44:34

Scott Peters says, Hey Yang, finally able to join live. These blends are nothing short of amazing. It's got to be the agriculture or something. I never remember blends tasting so good. So glad you're enjoying that. Glad to hear that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:46

Glad to hear that. Um, yeah, and I do think that there's a lot of truth to be said of like this is such a cool time to be a cigar smoker because of the amount of quality from smaller brands, um, and the access to quality, and it's not just you know, new brand launches is basically a bundle stick.

SPEAKER_05 45:05

So yeah, and not just that, but yeah, the innovation, like the things that we're getting to see out of the industry now. Um last week, uh talking with uh Daniel Lance. Um Daniel Lance, right? Yeah, from Domain. Um, that was really, really cool. And he just is just a wealth of knowledge on the whole process. So it was really you you learn something new every time.

SPEAKER_00 45:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 45:27

Um, but yeah, it's just so cool to see this stuff happen.

SPEAKER_00 45:30

And I will definitely say if you guys were unable to join us last week uh when we were talking with Daniel, um, check us out on the podcast, or you can even watch the show what's here on uh YouTube. It is a wealth of knowledge and education, and it's always so cool to talk to people like him or talk to people like uh Nick Melillo from Foundation or Steve Saka, when it's just you really get into the nitty-gritty of like tobacco and such. And he brought up the point that I never really even like thought about or questioned was like, yeah, there are different qualities and like seed varietal uh versions of a Connecticut cigar. We tend to think of just like, oh, it's a Connecticut, it's a Connecticut. Yeah, and I mean if if you think about it in terms of like, okay, it's a Habano wrapper, well, that could be a Habano from Brazil, from Nicaragua, from the Dominican, from Ecuador, and so finding like this new uh we even have it in the uh variety pack, but this new Connecticut, the attenuation, uh, which comes from, I believe as he pronounced it, Cayuca, which is only a thousand acres in Ecuador, and it's a very select few of people to get their hands on it, and he's one of them. So it's like that level of quality is just so beautiful scar, too.

SPEAKER_05 46:40

And um just yeah, his his understanding of like really what makes a Connecticut amazing and and can make a Connecticut amazing, a lot of people don't even really realize, you know.

SPEAKER_06 46:52

Me too, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 46:52

Um, and that you can do it leaning into what it should be, as opposed to just making, like he was saying, a contrarian Connecticut. Right. I really appreciated that. So, yes, definitely like if you want to like cigar nerd out, yes, that is an excellent deep dive. Um, for sure. We've got okay, a whole bunch to catch up on here. Let's see. OG says, Love me some OGT Halloween cigar drop.

SPEAKER_00 47:15

This one's gonna be really special, very, very special.

SPEAKER_05 47:18

Daniel says the spirits are moving at OGT.

SPEAKER_00 47:21

Yes, they have been for some time.

SPEAKER_05 47:22

And Christopher Costman says, You gotta name it something Halloween y. Okay, I feel like this is a great time for community to chime in. What do you hope to see from a Halloween cigar? What would you hope yes we would call it? What would what would you hope the theme of the OGT Halloween cigar is?

SPEAKER_00 47:40

Because bearing in mind Halloween, especially for cigars, when trying to uh kind of navigate like names and such, um there are a lot of trademarks out there. There are, and so it's it's a little bit tricky to navigate. Hence, we went with uh Renfield. Now that character has always had something special for me, um, but also like really hasn't been used. Yeah, and I am surprised too. We've seen I we're like the only one I've seen do a Nosferatu cigar. So I'd be interested to see if that's down the line, especially with like the movie kind of that came out, but that's why we went with Nosferatu instead of Dracula.

SPEAKER_05 48:16

Yeah, but yeah, there's a lot of corner on the market of the different monsters. Um so what haven't you seen from a Halloween cigar? What scary character would you like to see as a cigar? I don't know. I feel like I'd like to hear what people think.

SPEAKER_00 48:33

Yeah, drop it down in the comments. What are your thoughts on a good Halloween themed named cigar? It's here, 005.

SPEAKER_05 48:41

Uh, I always enjoy visiting Los Angeles, but can't ever imagine living anywhere but Texas.

SPEAKER_00 48:46

Nice.

SPEAKER_05 48:47

I've never been to Texas.

SPEAKER_00 48:48

No, we even driving out here, we didn't get through.

SPEAKER_05 48:51

We did, yeah, we ended up going up the other way.

SPEAKER_00 48:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 48:53

Uh Charlie says my attenuation box arrived today. I think my weekend will be marvelous. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 48:59

Nice. Have that cigar if you can with a fresh palette. Um, because it's very like rich and full in flavor. I would say mild to medium in strength, but I feel like it's that much more impactful when it's the first cigar of the day. It even appears stronger to me on the palette. So it's really good. Well, let's see here.

SPEAKER_05 49:18

Uh Dabraprof says candy corn cigar and it has notes of marmite.

SPEAKER_00 49:24

Actually, I have seen a candy corn cigar. Oh, really? Yeah, uh, let's see, Charlie.

SPEAKER_05 49:29

It says thanks for the quick shipping.

SPEAKER_00 49:30

Well, thank you for the support for sure. 100%.

SPEAKER_05 49:33

Uh Notorious H A N says Beetlejuice.

SPEAKER_00 49:35

Beetlejuice. We have not seen that one.

SPEAKER_05 49:37

I haven't seen a Beetlejuice cigar.

SPEAKER_00 49:38

I'm a little conflicted after the other movie came out of Beetlejuice. I kind of avoided it, but wait, what movie? I don't know, the resurgence, the second Beetlejuice that came out. Oh, I didn't see that. But it wasn't great.

SPEAKER_05 49:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:50

Uh here, Daniel Frazier.

SPEAKER_05 49:52

Uh, could always pivot to more generic monster spirits, the banshee, Wraith, Ghoul. I like, I like a Banshee. I feel like a Banshee would be really, really cool.

SPEAKER_00 50:01

I have seen Ghoul and Wraith, uh, but I have not seen Banshee. That would be cool. That would be very cool. And I yeah, I think he doesn't have to be so specific, which is not a bad idea. Mike Ross says spooky. There you go. Uh, another uh oh, yeah, yeah. Enjoy saying Beetlejuice. All right.

SPEAKER_05 50:17

Uh RJ says maybe for the Halloween cigar you can get some neon or glow in the dark band. That would be cool.

SPEAKER_00 50:23

That would be cool.

SPEAKER_05 50:24

I don't think I've seen that happen.

SPEAKER_00 50:26

I don't think I have either.

SPEAKER_05 50:27

That would be a new thing for the industry.

SPEAKER_00 50:29

Innovation. That is not a bad idea, RJ. Not a bad idea at all.

SPEAKER_05 50:35

Uh RJ says a Michael Myers band.

SPEAKER_00 50:37

There you go.

SPEAKER_05 50:38

Uh Robert says Chucky.

SPEAKER_00 50:40

There is a Chucky cigar out there. Oh, there is. Oh, okay. Uh Tatawahe does it's called the Chuck. Oh, they haven't released one in a while.

SPEAKER_05 50:48

Uh, my palette is like yours, Eric. I love bold and spicy blends. That's from Scott Peters.

SPEAKER_00 50:52

Nice. I actually, it's funny because um the Crimson Night, when we were working with that, uh, I was sent uh uh several different samples, and I had talked to Nimmer at Valakari, and I was like, This I'm really liking this uh Cameroon. And he's like, Really, that surprises me. I'm like, why? He's like, Well, because it's not a pretty cigar, and I'm like, honestly, I feel like if it has more texture and more, you like a gritty, like you like a rustic looking cigar for sure. Yes, and and I told him that, and I was like, and honestly, a lot of our society members like the same, yeah, that kind of toothy, yeah. And he's like, Oh, so you have real cigar smokers, and he's like, Most of the time, people just want to see that like no seams, super like shiny, smooth, which is nothing bad with it about that, but he's like, Normally you get a lot more things going on and sometimes uglier rappers. So he's like, That's that's cool, but also surprised me. I'm like, Yeah, that's what people like for sure.

SPEAKER_05 51:48

We've got Chandler says the woman in black, that would be cool, and Charlie says Hellboy.

SPEAKER_00 51:54

That has not been done either.

SPEAKER_05 51:56

That hasn't been done, and then uh I'm probably not saying it right, but Balor, a Celtic demon.

SPEAKER_00 52:02

There you go. What about Bellrock from Lord of the Rings? It'll just be called You Shall Not Pass.

SPEAKER_03 52:11

I actually like that. I like that idea. I feel like Andrew could drive.

SPEAKER_06 52:17

That would be pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05 52:19

We've just been doing a whole nother Lord of the Rings marathon. There you go. We do it every summer, so it's on the mind.

SPEAKER_00 52:25

Um, okay, so let's feature a few pictures.

SPEAKER_05 52:28

All right.

SPEAKER_00 52:28

Uh, this last week we were able to release a small amount of what we had in the variety, and so first picture uh that we're gonna talk about uh is from our Discord from Garth Reynolds, and that is with the chaos theory. Look at that V cut, very nice, deep V cut. Uh, but it was made me happy for uh to see this out in the wild, people smoking it, because then this is a second one, but two LTC Chicken also posted this also with a V cut. It's a cool looking ash.

SPEAKER_05 52:56

I think that must be the way to go with the chaos theory, and it goes with the wings, yeah, and the antenna, it's very symmetrical.

SPEAKER_00 53:03

But it seems like people really, really dug this cigar. Yeah, I really dug this cigar. Um, yeah, and definitely exceptional for a six by sixty. So, really cool pictures. Shout out to uh Garth and uh Chicken for those pictures. Thanks for posting those. Uh, as always, if you guys are in our Facebook group or if you're in the Discord, or even if you tag us on social media elsewhere, uh, we kind of look through the photos and try to find one that we post and feature. So, shout out to the community. So cool for uh dropping that in there.

SPEAKER_05 53:33

Uh Candler says the soul would be good.

SPEAKER_00 53:35

That would be good. So similar, I like that idea. In fact, so much that we did the soul collector. We did a couple like two years ago. Yeah, two different blends. It was a dual dual.

SPEAKER_05 53:45

Maybe it's time to ring Soul Collector, but Soul Collector was pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 53:48

But I will say too, and I kind of disclosed this when we released those, is that they were they were like I think three and a half by 60 like flying pig size. Um, but the broadly version was the Renfield blend in that size. So honestly, that Renfield blend has kind of dominated the Halloween drop.

SPEAKER_06 54:05

It really has. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:06

I love that cigar. But this will be a little bit different. But like I said, this is a year in the making, super excited for it.

SPEAKER_05 54:13

Uh per Michael says, if money were no object, what cigar would you buy to smoke?

SPEAKER_00 54:22

What would you buy to smoke? I think I'm the wrong person to ask this question.

SPEAKER_05 54:28

I know, I think, I think because the emphasis would be so high on like, is this great? It's like trying Pappy Van Winkle. You're like, this should be the best thing I've ever had. Right? This should be the best bourbon I've ever had in my life.

SPEAKER_02 54:46

Sure.

SPEAKER_05 54:46

Because of the price tag. So I feel like it's hard because a price tag almost poisons the well when you're going in.

SPEAKER_00 54:54

And as much as people don't believe it, I think on some level, price tag will affect the experience.

SPEAKER_05 54:59

I think out of curiosity, I would like to smoke the unicorn.

SPEAKER_00 55:04

Okay, from Dunbarton.

SPEAKER_05 55:06

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 55:06

I think a hundred dollar unicorn.

SPEAKER_05 55:08

Yeah, I think I think that that's always been one that's made me curious. Any of them, I've been like Okay, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:17

Oddly enough, so the reason I say I'm kind of the wrong person to ask is because a lot of times when we go to like cigar functions or the PCA, I'm not really one to like, I'm pull out this expensive cigar. I normally like to pull out what I like to smoke. And a lot of the time, it'll be a black label, it'll be a stolen throne, it'll be a stallone, it'll be an exclusive we've done. I like AJ stuff. So it's normally that. I will say, not so much money, but like scarcity. I would like to try one of Miritfell's like really expensive Cameroon cigars for the education process.

SPEAKER_06 55:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:53

To smoke something where like true authentic Cameroon is not just comes from there, but that's where it's blended. It is created by the family who has basically founded that farm.

SPEAKER_05 56:03

I think that's a good answer.

SPEAKER_00 56:05

That'd be interesting.

SPEAKER_05 56:05

That's a good answer, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:07

And you're not gonna get a Cuban answer. That's yeah. Uh, let's see here. Oh, good.

SPEAKER_05 56:11

Chris Cossman says just started the Black Knight. Holy crap! Good holy crap.

SPEAKER_00 56:16

Yeah, hopefully that's a holy crap in a good way.

SPEAKER_05 56:18

Uh once OGT Halloween cigar drops, the rest of the year drops are straight fire.

SPEAKER_00 56:24

It's funny you mentioned that because honestly, a lot of our my favorite drops normally come during the cold weather as well. Um, but I think this year's kind of an outlier, not to say they're not also gonna be amazing, but I I feel like this has been one of the most like straight out the gate from the beginning of this year with um things like Bruno the Butcher, Nay Sayer, Doctor's Orders to like they've just been yes, and I don't want I'm not trying to toot my own horn. I mean, that's all because we've gone with the talents of those people.

SPEAKER_05 56:54

Yeah, there's been a lot of pretty amazing stuff this year.

SPEAKER_00 56:57

Yes, 005.

SPEAKER_05 56:59

So, what do you recommend to pair with the chaos theory? I've been waiting to smoke it.

SPEAKER_00 57:03

I would say, out of what I have paired it with, I really, really liked um bourbon. Widow Jane Lucky13. It's really good. It's a little expensive, so that was a really good one that went well. If if you don't go with that, um I would say go with like a Calumet 15. That's a bit, that's about half the price. Either of those were worked really, really well. And then if you can't get your hands on that, something that's more just like cherry vanilla forward bourbon. I tried it with a rye, didn't like it as much as than that. So I would say those are the things that I really enjoyed pairing it with.

SPEAKER_05 57:46

Uh Daniel says, Man, all this talk I need to dig into the box and pull out of Renfield.

SPEAKER_00 57:51

It's I I believe me, I I really wanted to bring it back. Um, but this cigar was just too good. Yeah, and it's just so I I totally understand. Renfield has always been like one of my number one picks.

SPEAKER_05 58:03

So Charlie said, I believe you said Mallory is Greek. There are many Greek mythical creatures. I've been pushing for Medusa, but I don't know. Is there a Medusa cigar already?

SPEAKER_00 58:10

Medusa.

SPEAKER_05 58:11

Yeah, see, we gotta and there's already a Cerberus.

SPEAKER_00 58:14

What's the name of the dude that uh helps uh people cross on the river?

SPEAKER_05 58:18

Uh is it Karen? Charon?

SPEAKER_00 58:22

Yeah, they call them like sticks or something like that.

SPEAKER_05 58:24

The river is sticks, yes.

SPEAKER_00 58:26

So me and Andrew have been working on concept art for that. Yes, is that that's Greek, right?

SPEAKER_05 58:30

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:31

Who knows? Who knows? That's not a bad idea. Andrew Prazer.

SPEAKER_05 58:35

Speaking of unicorn, any word on those chubby unicorns?

SPEAKER_00 58:38

The thing is, is when it comes to uh I will say from favorite companies like Dunbarton and Foundation, when they normally say this is going to be coming in September or this is becoming in August, my response is so we'll see it late November, and that's just basically how it is. You they you they never rush anything. Um, it will be at some point. I haven't heard anything yet, but hopefully in the fall.

SPEAKER_05 58:58

And with a cigar, when it's ready, it's ready. We can't do it before. So exactly.

SPEAKER_00 59:02

So hopefully coming in the fall, from what I understand.

SPEAKER_05 59:05

Shirley says, How many in a box of Bishop Blend?

SPEAKER_00 59:08

So in the Robusto and the Corona Larga, those are 20 count boxes. In the Lancero, it's a 12 count box.

SPEAKER_05 59:14

I am so excited for the Lancero.

SPEAKER_00 59:16

Yeah, that Lancero. I always like the Corona Larga as well. I will say if you're looking for something on the more bolder side, heavier hitter, go with the Robusto for sure. That's always traditionally the stronger one.

SPEAKER_05 59:25

Christopher Cossman, in reference to the Onyx, says it's a good god I'm in love. Holy crap. Oh, good.

SPEAKER_00 59:31

Nice, good to hear it. Awesome. Candler says Old Forester 1920 Prohibition was good with it. Nice.

SPEAKER_05 59:37

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 59:38

Old Forster was on the list. Yeah, nice.

SPEAKER_05 59:40

Uh, Raider Dave says cherry vanilla bourbon go with Russell's reserve or anything wild turkey. All right, good recommendations.

SPEAKER_00 59:46

Now see, here's why it's a really good idea to be in a cigar uh community. So there's a person we uh who is my co-host on Tuesdays, Curtis. We called him Whiskey Batman because he has such an extensive knowledge. But I will also say Raider Dave, and these are only the people I know like that we've talked about as well, like about these subjects. Raider Dave has a library of bourbons. So if you guys have any questions about bourbon, Raider Dave's kind of the dude to go to. Yes, he's got a lot of knowledge, and his collection is really uh extensive. And I will also say, Dave, if you're up for it, send me a picture or two of your whiskey collection. I would like to feature it on the podcast. People can kind of see firsthand the obsession, I mean collection of your bourbons because it's very impressive.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:29

Uh 505 Cigar Review Show says, What's up, everybody?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:32

Hi, good to have you on. Uh, let's see here, Chris.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:36

Christopher says, uh Penelope weeded readily available in under 40 bucks, was great with chaos theory.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:42

Nice. That sounds good.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:44

Well, guys, I think we are coming to the end here. Um, Onyx Knight is just it gets more savory, I feel like, towards the end. Beautiful cigar.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:54

And I mean, I smoke fast and I'm still like working through the second third, probably. So that's a that's got to be some kind of record for the show.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:06

Yes. Shout out to Lee Marsh. Uh, once again, if you guys are looking for Onyx night uh tonight, and we haven't publicized anywhere else. We're running a really good deal on a 10-pack. If you want to kind of up your humidor collection with it while it's still available, check that out. And don't sleep on Bishop Splend. It's almost completely gone. Uh, so excited for this. It starts shipping this weekend. But thank you guys so much for hanging out with us. Um, and thanks for jumping on. Let's take uh one more question and then uh we'll sign off here.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:38

Okay, so per Michael Jarnberg says, What brands of cigars would you recommend to beginners that are going to try?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:46

The hard part is that it all depends. I think for beginner cigars, it really depends on the individual. There are, of course, some like generalizations you can stick to. Um, but I really think it depends on where your palate is. And I've said this before. Someone in the shop would be like, I've never had a cigar. What do you recommend? And I normally need to figure out like, how do you take your coffee? How do you drink your whiskey? Is it on the rocks? Do you put a lot of sugar and cream in your coffee? Do you straight drink it to straight black coffee? Like those things will help dictate.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:14

Um, yeah, because it's not necessarily that as long as you're smoking correctly, because I think what so many people have a bad experience with their first cigar is that they don't realize they shouldn't inhale, which we all, I mean, we all here know that, but um, it doesn't always, it's not always intuitive for people, right? You know, especially if you smoked a cigarette or something before, there's a tendency to want to just fully inhale and then you get sick. Right. Um, so I think that that's why people tend to be like, here's a milder cigar, when really technique makes all the difference. I did all of my learning backwards because everything you smoked, it was like big and bold. And um, so I didn't even really try Connecticut's until later on. And I I've I have a developed an enjoyment of them. I love Corojo, I love you know, Maduro, I love all of it. Um, but I would say that like yeah, if you like intense flavor in other things, you're gonna like it in a cigar as well. And that might make your first experience better. If you're like, oh, this is just black to me, right? Then you might not come back for a different one, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:17

Yes. Um, no, I would agree. I would agree.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:20

Though I would say if you were starting with the Connecticut, we always do the porcelain with black label. That was a huge, like everybody's first-time cigar at the shop. If they were looking for something a little light, but it's not light, it's in in the sense of flavor, it's just incredible. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:36

And if we're talking about like specifically brands, if I were to look at a brand, I feel like for the most part, Agonorsa is not a bad brand.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:46

It was like right there.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:48

And here's what's a little deceptive is that they have a stronger-ish Connecticut than most Connecticut's out there, it's still more medium, but like their Maduros aren't like crazy heavy full. Um as a in general, like over, I would say like HVC or Agonorsa are like good brands to maybe check out for sure. Um but okay, so thank you guys. Let's take one more comment here.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:12

Are a female demon that personifies curses, usually placed by the dead upon their murder up the dead upon their murderers, they would leave the underworld to fulfill the curse.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:21

Interesting.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:22

That's we've got some great suggestions here.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:26

Definitely.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:27

We're excited about Halloween.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:29

All right, guys. Well, thank you guys so much for hanging out with us, smoking the Onyx night, um, and uh being a part of the uh society. And we will be back next week for another show. Uh, so everyone have a great weekend coming up. Thank you for hanging out. Uh, and we'll see you next time.