James and Jimmy welcome Privada Cigar Club owner and founder, Brian Desind, back to the podcast. The two catch up with Brian and find out what he, Privada Cigar Club, and the LCA have been up to. Brian discusses being passionate about cigars and the industry, as well as being good at marketing. Brian talks…
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James, Jimmy, and Tim opine on the recent news of How Bout That Cigar, a cigar media outlet, closing their business. What does this mean for the cigar industry? What is “cigar media?” Who’s responsibility is it to define “cigar media?” The three give their opinions and thoughts on what all of this means for…
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James and Nick welcome Zack Van Ginkel of HDA Cigars to the program. The trio discuss how Zack and his business partner, Andray, got into the cigar industry. We find out that Zack is a good ‘ole Iowa boy who is making his way in the cigar industry. We discuss Iowa retailers and retailers in…
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With Nick Syris on vacation, James welcomes Jimmy Dailing to the show. In addition to being a reviewer at simplystogies.com, James announces that Jimmy is a new host at Simply Stogies Podcast. Jimmy also manages a brick & mortar called The Drawing Room in Davenport, Iowa. The duo discuss the cigar industry, cigar lounges, the…
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James and Nick welcome Aaron Paoletta of LaVega Cigars to the show. Aaron tells us how he went from culinary school, to chef, to music producer, to a heavy metal band, and then the cigar industry. We discuss LaVega Cigars, The LaVega lounge, the industry, and Aaron’s views on all of it. We find out…
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James and Tim kick off National Service Dog Month by welcoming Sean Brown and Jillian Hinton of Dogs Inc. to the show. Jillian and Sean share their stories and how Dogs Inc. helped them during some of the toughest times in their lives. Dogs Inc. provides guide dogs, service dogs, therapy dogs, and companion dogs…
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James and Nick welcome the Zino Cigars Brand Ambassador, Law Ream, to the show. The former host of the Republic of Debauchery talks cigar media and content creation. We pick his brain and get his thoughts on comedy in the cigar space, how news is covered, and his transition from content creator to brand ambassador….
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James and Nick welcome Les Mann from ST Dupont to the show. Les discusses how he came to work for ST Dupont and the challenges that came with it. We ask Les how he’s developed the relationships in the cigar industry and the importance of trust with each of his clients. Les gives us his…
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James and Nick welcome Robert Caldwell of Caldwell Cigars to the podcast. We find out about the friendship between Robert and Nick. We discuss the pitfall of the overconsumption of information without context, that leads some “cigar geeks” to make false assumptions. We discuss if “a cigar made is a cigar sold” still holds true,…
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James and Tim (Nick is on assignment) sit down with the Pospiech National Sales Manager Mike “BDP” Palmer. We find out how Mike got the nickname “BDP,” the name of his cigar. We talk about how Mike got involved with Postawnie CIgars and Mike “Mikey” Szczepankewicz. This leads us into talking about their podcast “Cigar…
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Stay smoky, friends.