Cigar Hacks Podcast

We get back on track with our standard format. RI Mike joins the panel on the remote. The Hidden-Herf is another mystery until the reveal. Smokey and the Bandit gets tied in. We report on the limo search. Cigar Craig is starting a new podcast.

Current Events: See CigarPlanner.com for more details, filter by your state or city.

Local Spotlight: Primings Cigar Lounge & Bar – Nashville, TN. Comedy Chris travels to Nashville and brings back a review of this upscale establishment.

Conspiracy Corner: The FBI plants a mole in the Trump campaign. Schneiderman, Muller, and North Korea are tied in. The Simpsons predict the future.

Primings Cigar Lounge & Bar – Nashville, TN

 

Hidden Herf 26 / Cigar Craig

 

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After fighting with a bad cable and few “blunder-ific” false starts we finally get the episode going. Mark and Bret from The Retrohale join us (via a spotty Skype connection) for another off-the-rails episode. Departing from our usual format we just relax, smoke cigars, and drink plenty of podcast juice as we move from one topic to another. Here’s a sample of where we go for 75 minutes: Boston sports trivia challenge, NH & Colorado connections, Stonehenge, rock bands and artists, cigars good vs. bad – it’s subjective, Gingers have no souls. Nobody is cutting Nick in the deli line. Presidential trivia. Same birthday coincidences. Hitting the beaver (on 125). Homemade spirits, public hanging and roadkill. Deer crossing radio caller. Moose and elk dead or alive. Too much podcast juice in my cup. Sex in the car with frosty. The mystery $1 figurado and the Chinese Finger Trap.

Current Events: See CigarPlanner.com for more details, filter by your state or city.

Local Spotlight: The Gatlin-Burlier & Hoggs Upstairs Taverne – Gatlinburg, TN. Nurse Rick travels to Gatlinburg and combines these two establishments to come up with a cigar lounge where there is none in the traditional sense.

Conspiracy Corner – a recap of last week’s topic.

The Gatlin-Burlier / Hoggs Upstairs Taverne

 

Hidden Herf 25 / There’s a bear at the pool / Moose in the road

 

The Retohale Podcast

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The Hidden Herf is a special treat for the panel, it also demonstrates how individual palates change over time. We take our time with the events and discuss other topics related to each lounge or event. Cow Tongue and Aganorsa tobaccos work their way in to the talk. A few anecdotes from Comedy Chris keep us in stitches. Everything from boiled peanuts to an exploding charcoal grill is open for discussion. We add a new member to the Cigar Hacks; The Bearded Blunder, and he fits right in.

Current Events: See CigarPlanner.com for more details, filter by your state or city.

Local Spotlight: Twins Smoke Shop – Hookset, NH. A compact but friendly lounge and smoke shop that carries cigars, pipes and coffee.

Conspiracy Corner: In lieu of conspiracy corner (no conspiracy Hacks are with us for this episode) we go is a few different directions. Nurse Rick uses power tools!

An actual DIY “Cigar Hack” – how to make a lighter purge tool for free.

Twins Smoke Shop – Hookset, NH

Hidden Herf 24 / DIY Lighter Purge Tool / Kickstarter Purge Tool

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Matty returns after a hiatus from the show and the Hidden-Herf is picked just for the occasion. We cover far too many topics to list them all but the theme seems to be a lot of laughing. There are lots of events coming up and we have commentary on just about every one. We took a road trip to Dover, NH to see the new lounge that Federal Cigar has recently opened.

Bonus Content: Nurse Rick calls us from TN while on vacation and a technical disaster ensues as we try to insert him into the show on-the-fly. This eight minute debacle was good for an out-take and is tacked on to the end of the regular show.

Current Events: See CigarPlanner.com for more details, filter by your state or city.

Local Spotlight: Federal Cigar Bar – Dover, NH. A newly renovated new location for the this long time establishment with a large retail section and a much improved lounge.

Conspiracy Corner: Matty decodes Mustang Mike’s notes front the road relating to the DNC and speculates on what’s about to happen in the world of the DC power brokers.

Federal Cigar Bar – Dover, NH

Hidden Herf 23

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This week we have a slightly different format and an introduction to a new Cigar Hack; The Brooklyn Chic. With just two of us recording live the Hidden Herf is not much of a secret so the regular feature is modified. Instead of Conspiracy corner we adapt a segment recorded after hours with the boys from Colorado, Bret and Mark of The Retrohale Podcast, which turns out to be more comedy than cigars.

Current Events: See CigarPlanner.com for more details, filter by your state or city.

Local Spotlight: En Fuego Tobacco Shop – Rockwall, TX. An indoor/outdoor lounge with a very large walk-in.

Mentioned on the episode: Cigar Cutters By Jim

En Fuego Tobacco Shop – Rockwall, TX

Hidden Herf 22 / The Retohale Podcast

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This episode’s Hidden Herf is universally liked by the panel, but still no guesses on what it is are in the ball park. The discussion, as usual, is a bit random and includes chasing mice, dogs, Laugh-In, Harleys, etc. Bonus material; Jeep Week – Moab UT and King of the Hammers – Johnson Valley CA

Current Events: See CigarPlanner.com for more details, filter by your state or city.

Local Spotlight: Two Guys Smoke Shop – Seabrook, NH. A great shop with an excellent lounge arrangement.

Conspiracy corner: We cover all topics “Kennedy” from Chappaquiddick to JFK Jr. About half the episode is consumed by Kennedy related conspiracy theories, including connections to the Clintons and the Bushs.

Two Guys Smoke Shop – Seabrook, NH

Jeep Week / Hidden Herf 21

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More nonsense from Nicks Novelty Hut and Marc from Maryland calls in. This sounds like episode 18 all over again but we have a different panel. There are a lot of events this week and we get into plenty of cigar stuff. CLE and JRE, what’s the relation? J.C. Newman and Fuente, are they the same?
The Hidden Herf gets a low rating. Another First – most of the panel switches to new cigars after the reveal.

Current Events: See CigarPlanner.com for more details, filter by your state or city.

Local Spotlight 1: Smokey Joe’s Cigar House – Worcester MA. A compact lounge, bar and walk-in attached to a huge night club.

Local Spotlight 2: Puff & Quill Smokery – Randallstown, MD. An upscale lounge with many regular and special events.

Conspiracy Corner: Fresh News – Assange communications restricted; History repeats itself – the gun debate; Spies poisoned in England; DNC email; Facebook and Amazon under scrutiny; “Q” theories; Kim Jung-Un goes to China.

Smokey Joe’s Cigar House – Worcester MA

Hidden Herf 20 / The Super Punch

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We smoke another great Lancero this episode and somehow that leads to a discussion on starting a Cigar Hacks HR department. We also discuss bloom, or is it plume, vs. mold; Warner Brothers vs. Disney; piggly tails and shaggy feet; there’s an App with ads for that; iHeart, Kiss 108, & XM Radio; river beer & hidden hops; Cigar Craig and his dog Macha;  limos; and bagpipes.

In the second half the Hidden-Herf Reveal stumps the panel and we go to large ring gauge cigars; Girl Scout cookies; vodka; and curling one more time.

Current Events: CigarPlanner.com now covers most of the events we talk about, filter by state to see events in your area. It’s already more up to date than the episode.

Local Spotlight: Cigar and Lounge – Watertown MA. A lounge with a walk-in humidor that contains a collection of some unique brands, multiple rooms, and a locker system.

Conspiracy corner: We finally get to the Denver International Airport – thanks to Jimmy from Colorado for all the research.

Cigar and Lounge – Watertown MA

Hidden Herf 19

 

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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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