Cigar Hacks Podcast

A new Hack name is coined – “Comedy Chris”. We smoke a Cuban Lonsdale for this episode’s Hidden-Herf – thanks to Larry on the Cape. The general theme is scattered around firearms, the Nürburgring (not the Nuremberg Ring), your brother-in-law’s uncle’s cousin, The Retrohale, “Twins, Twins, Twins”, Candelas for St. Patrick’s Day. “Marc from Maryland” is introduced as a new remote corespondent to cover the Maryland area. He joins us for a segment and gives a live report from Social Cigar in Windsor Mill, MD as well as his recent trip to Atlanta lounges.

Current Events: We report on events at a dozen lounges: Twins, Carlo Rose, Federal Epping, Federal Dover, Cigar Shenanigans, O’Shea’s, Castro’s Nashua, Castro’s Keene. Cloud Palace, Michael’s, Victory Bar & Cigar, Tinos.

Local Spotlight: Social Cigar Factory & Lounge – Windsor Mill, MD A relatively new lounge that has been open for about three months.

Social Cigar Factory and Lounge; Windsor Mill, MD

Hidden Herf 17 – a Cuban

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We are joined by Bret and Mark, hosts of the Retrohale Podcast,  for a Special Edition of the Cigar Hacks. The script quickly goes out the window as we ad-lib our way through a two hour collaboration with the Fort Collins, Colorado based Retrohale. Arguably our “most fun” episode to date.

The Special Edition “remote” format leads us down a different path for some of our regular segments including Current Events, Local Spotlight, and Conspiracy Corner but we somehow get it all covered. The Hidden Herf is almost guessed long distance and provides for another great reveal.

A sampling of topics: Hammer & Sickle sampler pack; Avalanche vs. Bruins; Denver Airport – conspiracy; Hockey trivia challenge; There should be an app for that; Bottled hose water; Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival; Curling has no checking; Cigars, Cigars, Cigars; Arnold trivia and a lot more.

Current Events: Cigars for warriors at Shenanigans, April 14

Local Spotlight: Edward’s vs. Twins vs. Shenanigans – Edward’s in Fort Collins, Colorado is now under new management since the last visit so your mileage may vary.

The Retohale Podcast / “Hand rolling is not easy”

Hidden Herf 17 with a 40 minute, 4 inch ash

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Two firsts for us this episode; a mobile session from Dom’s Asylum and a remote call-in from our first regional corespondent, Rhode Island Mike. With the new capability we will be able to do sessions direct from the lounge we are reviewing while interviewing the owners and staff as well as have remote call-ins from special guests and/or regional corespondents .

The topics are a bit scattered; Olympic Curling, Bourbons and Whiskies, electric cigar lighters, limousines, finding cigar events, pipe smoking, starter cigars, Free Masons, Boveda 30-day bags. La Faraona Cigars, The Dudley, fire pits, etc.

Current Events: A recap of the My Fathers Steak and Cigar Dinner. Victory Bar & Cigar wins an award, Cigar Explorations tours Atlanta. Perdomo’s YouTube Channel is on-line. The March Madness sale is this week at Two Guys. East vs. West Pint Night at Twins. Cigars for Warriors  at Cigar Shenanigans. Hiram & Solomon Cigars at Castro’s Nashua. An Evening with Miami Cigar Co. at the Ale House Cigar Bar.

Local Spotlight: S&A Cigars – Watertown MA. Another candidate for the Hidden Gem Series. A great selection of high-end and unusual finds. A friendly shop with a great customers and staff.

Conspiracy Corner: A recap of a variety of topics by Nick.

S&A Cigars; Watertown MA

Hidden Herf 16 / My Father Cigars, Cigar Dinner Menu

Electric Cigar Lighter

 

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We have another maduro for the Hidden Herf and again it’s not a heavy cigar proving that color is not a reliable indication of strength. Dark cigars being heavy cigars is fake news. A discussion around two unique cigar events: Cigar Explorations Cigar Crawl and Cigars After Hours Business Networking. The cigar crawl gets us thinking about a bus of our own.

Current Events: Federal Cigar Dover has moved to the new location; 97th Anniversary party Portsmouth, 3/2. Carlo Rose – Right Off The Bat – 3/31. O’Shea’s Irish Tavern – Live entertainment Thu-Sat, March 1-3, Mando and the Goat, Jenni Lynn Duo and Thunderstruck. Castro’s Nashua – Ashton 3/2, Monday Happy Hour Series, Dunstable Cigar, 3/12. Michael’s – Fellowship of the King on 3/9.

Local Spotlight; Puff The Magic – Hyannis MA. A cigar lounge, piano bar, and oasis in a downtown location. Conspiracy Corner: Hunting Hitler – Corresponenet Mike give an account of the History Channel’s series. His interest in history and this topic fits right in to this segment.

Puff The Magic; Hyannis MA

Hidden Herf 15

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We start out by renaming “Conspiracy Corner” to “Alternative Theory”. The Hidden-Herf gets off to a questionable start but recovers quickly, especially after the reveal. Just another indication of how a band effects perception and more proof that a dark cigar must be a heavy cigar is fake news. Starman gets another mention – briefly, as does the goat.
Current Events: Twins – Drew Estate event on 2/23. Federal Cigar – My Father Cigars Steak & Cigar Dinner at Tino’s in Hampton, NH on 2/22; Federal Dover has moved to the new location; 97th Anniversary party Portsmouth, 3/2. Carlo Rose –  Right Off The Bat – 3/31. O’Shea’s Irish Tavern – Live entertainment Wed-Sat, 2/21-24. Castro’s Nashua –Ashton 3/2, Monday Happy Hour Series, Dunstable Cigar, 3/12. Michael’s – Fellowship of the King on 3/9.
Local Spotlight; Plaistow Cigar Company – Plaistow NH. Another lounge in our Hidden Gem series. A mid-sized lounge with a wide selection of cigars in the large walk-in and stand-up cases. The best lounge chairs in the area are at this location.
Alternative Theory [Conspiracy Corner]: The derivation of the term “Conspiracy Theory”. Current events drive the discussion which centers on gun control theories. MK-Ultra get a mention and is tied into the theory of the day.
We discus Ligero, Seco, and Viso during the Hidden-Herf Recap.

Plaistow Cigar Company

 

Hidden Herf 14

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For this episode we have almost the entire cast of characters with six panelists and a live audience of about the same. An overflow crowd causes us to use two Hidden Herf cigar sets to accommodate all who wanted to participate. Another pair of surprises on the Hidden Herf reveal. We visit Twins to pickup the H&S engraved lighter where we met “Doc Cigar”.
Current Events: Twins – Valentines Day Wine & Cigar paring, Drew Estate event on 2/23. We do a recon mission prior to the My Father Cigars Steak & Cigar Dinner at Tino’s in Hampton, NH on 2/22. O’Shea’s – live music series continues. Victory Bar & Cigar in Worcester, MA – Corona Beach Party 2/16. Casto’s Nashua, NH – Monday Happy Hour Series continues.
Local Spotlight; El Toro Lounge & Cigar – Hudson NH. Another lounge in our Hidden Gem series. A small, intimate setting with a decent selection of cigars in the walk-in and a nice top-shelf bar.
Conspiracy Corner: A potpourri of topics; The Patriots’ loss, Tesla drives to Mars, Hillary the “hack” is back, The Democratic Memo, Q and QAnon, the swamp is getting drained soon.
Corespondent Mike’s new segment on Reality TV earns him the Fake-News title. A breaking news flash from QAnon comes in at the end of the show.

El Toro Lounge & Cigar; Hudson, NH

Tino’s Venue – Indoor/Outdoor 2nd Level Deck

Telsa drives to Mars / Hidden Herf 13A & 13B

 

 

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The Memo was released this week and it’s football time in America, our special guest, Mustang Mike, takes us through it. The Hidden-Herf stumps the panel again. How to properly light a cigar. Our website links out to a large number of Perdomo Factory tour videos.  If you want to learn about what goes into your cigar this is what you want to see.  Cigar Press publishes the article on Kurt and Twins that we stumbled into back on episode 2.
Current events: The Jenni Lynn Duo is back at O’shea’s in Nashua this week and Victory Bar & Cigar in Worcester is holding a Corona Beach Party.
Local Spotlight; Castro’s Back Room – Nashua. An authentic antique building in a downtown location. Barber chairs, a large upstairs room, and a new Monday Happy Hour Series.
Conspiracy Corner: The Memo – We bring in an expert, Mustang Mike, to guide us through the memo and related topics. If you want to learn about “the memo” this episode is for you.

Castro’s Back Room; Nashua, NH

Hidden Herf #12

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The panel is all over the map with their Hidden-Herf guesses – again.
The Steve Saka cigar temperature test comes up in discussion.
Current events: Elvis has really left the building but you can see Fellowship of the King (Elvis tribute), Oscar Valladares, metal bands and go to a steak & cigar dinner.
Open discussion gets Nick in trouble with fake news when Matty decides to fact-check him. A shout-out to the Facebook group “FRIENDS WHO LOVES A GREAT Cigar and a Great CUP OF COFFEE” and to Sean the coffee barista at Studio 21 Podcast Cafe. NO LAST NAMES! Nurse Rick is also called out for Fake-News on a VSG topic. Nick has his ash right down to the band. The reveal is yet another surprise. The Culebra is not the wedding cigar. Cigar Craig on Culebra. Even more fake news from Nick – hence the episode title.
Local Spotlight; O’Shea’s Irish Tavern & Cigar Bar, the recon crew landed on the right day and time, we saw The Jenni Lynn Duo and The Hallorans during our visit. Guinness, a large humidor of cigars, pool, hookah, and great live music – another unique destination we enjoyed.
Conspiracy Corner: Cryptocurrencies. A fake-news Ponzi Scheme. Block chain crypto-mining might be an AI ploy to take over the world.
The hack scale – a new rating scheme, a letter rating system? The Fonzi rating – AAAAAaaaa… converting to/from Hacks, letters and GPA. Release the memo.

O’Shea’s Irish Tavern & Cigar Bar; Nashua, NH

Hidden Herf #11

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How to comment on an episode. The “Mail-Bag”. We are Skype ready. More states have come on-line. Many new events for 2018  are listed for our local spotlight locations. Correspondent Mike has been rehired but almost gets canned again. Nurse Rick jumps the gun after the Gunslinger Shootout. Federal in Dover is moving to a new location. My Father Cigars Steak & Cigar Dinner at Tito’s Hampton, NH. Hammer Cryptocurrency. The Hidden-Herf provides another surprising reveal. Adventure Suites comes up again.
Local Spotlight; Carlo Rose Cigar Bar & Lounge, the recon crew had a great time at this location. Cigars, Hookah, pool tables, a vape shop, a music venue and a bar; what else do you need?
Conspiracy Corner; Elvis has left the building, Paul is dead, and Hitler lives in Argentina. There’s a storm coming; release the memo. Release the memo.
A shout out and congratulations to Andy.

Carlos Rose Cigar Bar & Lounge; Pelham, NH

Hidden Herf # 10

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With Matty recovering from a recent illness we tone it down a bit for a relaxing episode. Food poisoning vs. cigar poisoning. River camping and cigars. Nurse Rick stops in mid-smoke. Last week’s episode almost wasn’t. Facebook links for all our lounge listings. 2018 events are starting to line up at local establishments. Rolling Stogies mobile shop is a different concept. One day I’ll learn to count. Hammer & Sickle at Twins, Oscar Valladares at Cigar Shenanigans, Men in Motion at Cloud Palace. Our first spot-on guess for the Hidden Herf goes to Nurse Rick. Cigars at the fire pit in below zero weather.
Local Spotlight; Cloud Palace, our first foray into the Cigar & Hookah concept – but not out last. Belly and Tap Dancing. The Retrohale Podcast reaches out to us. Conspiracy Corner talks about “Hollow Earth” and “Flat Earth” theories.
We are now officially listened to nationwide.

Cloud Palace; Salem, NH

Hidden Herf 9

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