Smoke and Steel

This week the ReXilient came up, and it turned into the best conversation we've had on the show in a while. Half the table thought Fuente's 9/11 tribute release was a genuinely good gesture. The other half wasn't sure $11 a box was enough. Then it got personal.

We started with a blind sampler from Padre that nobody could identify until the end, worked through what everybody bought this week, and landed on the ReXilient conversation almost by accident. Rob's old fire department responded on 9/11, and what started as an argument about pricing turned into something about whether people still remember at all. From there we got into Xikar's recent price cuts, a Chartwell visit that turned into a full spread of free food, word that Suburban Tavern might be getting a second life under new ownership, and a rotation that ran from the Tatuaje El Triumphador to the Atabey Black Ritos to a cigar with a name we're not putting in this description.

Smoke and Steel records every Tuesday night in a garage in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. Same crew, same cigars, same conversations we were already having before the cameras turned on.

Read the Full Blog Post: https://stogiereview.com/2026/09/13/smoke-and-steel-podcast-065/

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Blind Samplers From Padre

2:17 Guessing What We're Smoking

5:01 What Everybody Bought This Week

19:00 Rob's Facebook Bidding War Story

33:30 The OpusX ReXilient Comes Up

38:00 Rob's Fire Department and 9/11

43:07 Channel Numbers and Virtual Lounge

50:07 Top Fans and Discord Shoutouts

54:46 Airing Grievances: The Farmers Market

59:47 Airing Grievances: The Car Show

1:02:03 The Blind Cigar Gets Revealed

1:08:28 Xikar's Price Cut, Explained

1:18:00 Lighter Talk Keeps Going

1:22:40 Merch Store and Contest Winner

1:24:35 Rest of the Rotation

1:30:11 Eric's Brother's Charity Night

We spent a good part of Episode 64 arguing about a cigar that costs about three dollars and sixty cents a stick, and whether that's disqualifying or exactly the point. Grievance Corner kicks things off with the Crowned Heads Moonflower not living up to the hype, and by the end of the night we're deciding if the Zino Nicaragua has earned a spot on the Smoke and Steel Top 25 Cigars of 2026.

Along the way we get into new releases from Crowned Heads and Drew Estate, talk through what's too much to pay for a cigar festival ticket, and cover a local story about a Pennsylvania state trooper whose cigar collection was auctioned off for a good cause. We also read some of your comments from the last few episodes and kick around ideas for what's next on the show, including whether a Secret Santa event is worth doing this year.

Read the full Blog Post on Stogie Review: https://stogiereview.com/2026/09/05/smoke-and-steel-podcast-064/

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Cold Open and Episode Kickoff

1:20 What's Everyone Smoking Tonight

7:10 This Week's Cigar Purchases

15:30 Fans of the Week and Discord Shoutouts

20:53 Grievance Corner Starts With the Moonflower

24:14 New Releases and a Local Trooper's Story

33:38 Talking Cigar Festivals and Event Pricing

41:29 What Everyone's Smoking This Week

56:05 Reading Viewer Comments

1:01:05 The Tinderbox Subscription Debate

1:05:59 How We Decide What to Post

1:16:07 Celebrity Cigar Lines

1:19:42 Kicking Around New Show Ideas

1:34:06 Does the Zino Nicaragua Make the List

1:44:47 Wrapping Up in the Rain

We found out this week that apparently there are two versions of one of us: the guy who won't shut up on the mic, and the guy who says almost nothing standing in a cigar shop. Eric brought the story back from Chartwell, and it turned into one of the more honest conversations we've had on this show.We also went back for round two on Le Flambeaux No. 3, the latest from LACC, and got some split opinions on where it lands. From there we got into a Skip Martin interview with Creekside that kicked off a real debate about shop loyalty, whether a retailer should cut a regular customer a deal to keep him coming in the door, and what actually separates a cigar shop that's thriving from one that's quietly falling apart. Padron, Davidoff, new brands trying to break through, and a Villiger that didn't change anyone's mind all made it in too.Read the full blog post on Stogie Review: https://stogiereview.com/2026/08/28/smoke-and-steel-podcast-063/👉 If you enjoy this video, please like, comment, and subscribe for more cigar talk every week.🔗 Connect With Us:🌐 Website: https://stogiereview.com/📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StogieReview/📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stogiereview/💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/8h5tuYaqJV☕ Support us on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/stogiereview📧 Email: [email protected]

We walked into Chartwell Cigar Club this week and the owner knew Jim's name before he even introduced himself. That one moment turned into a bigger conversation about what actually makes a cigar shop worth going back to, and what makes one worth walking out of for good.

Canimao sent us their Refinados for this one, a big 6x60 we hadn't smoked in years, and it kicks off a night that covers a lot of ground: a shop that gets hospitality right, one that really doesn't, our usual fight over draw tools, a humidification debate, Rob's golf trip to the Poconos with a bear wandering up to the porch, and an update on our buddy Khong, who moved back to Vietnam and is loving it. Somewhere in there we also get into new releases from Room 101, Rocky Patel, Tradecraft, and a Miles Davis tribute cigar from Ferio Tego.

Smoke and Steel records every Tuesday night in a garage in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. Same crew, same cigars, same conversations we were already having before the cameras turned on.

Read the Full Blog Post on Stogie Review: https://stogiereview.com/2026/08/17/smoke-and-steel-podcast-061/

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Cold Open and Mic Chaos

2:10 Lighting Up the Canimao Refinados

4:44 Listener Shoutouts and a Fall Guest Tease

8:00 What We Bought This Week

13:16 A Walk Through Chartwell Cigar Club

18:32 Will Already Knew Jim's Name

22:39 Back to the Canimao and an Orange Juice Tangent

26:41 Spotify, Watch Hours, and Community Love

33:02 New Releases and a Sampler Idea

44:09 Reading Listener Comments

50:42 Rob's Poconos Trip and Summer Wrap-Up

59:11 Humidity, Draw Tools, and Smoking Pace

1:13:16 Daily Drivers and the Le Flambeaux Green Light

1:20:00 What Giving People Water Actually Means

1:25:32 Then There's the Other Shop

1:34:19 Khong, Living the Dream in Saigon

1:37:59 Wrapping Up Episode 61

A guy named Heath had been in our Discord for about a week. None of us knew him. Then he asked if he could share something he'd written a while back, an essay about nearly dying from a series of infections, starting dialysis, and how the cigar community showed up for him in the hospital when things were darkest. We read part of it out loud, and it turned into one of the more honest conversations we've had in this garage.Before that, it's a pretty normal Tuesday.

Mark's on the Isla del Sol Crocodilo, Eric's got an Ashton VSG paired with a vintage zoo ashtray his dad found him, and Walt's working through a Lampert Platino in the A size that ends up climbing the Top 25 list by the end of the night. There's talk about the Scandinavian Tobacco Group price increase hitting shelves in August, why retailer markups sting more than the tariffs themselves, and how Rob's pulled back from Fuente in favor of cigars that don't punish you for enjoying them.

La Flor Dominicana's Carbon Flower cigars are finally landing, the Atabey Black Ritos nearly knocks the Padron 1964 off the top spot, and there's an update on a Trade Craft Cigars guest coming to the garage in two weeks.

Read the full blog post: https://stogiereview.com/2026/08/10/smoke-and-steel-podcast-060/

Check out Heath's Full Story

https://heathsnow.substack.com/p/more-than-smoke?r=8x21k9&utm_medium=ios

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CHAPTERS0:00 Clapper and Cold Open

0:13 Welcome to the Garage

1:57 What Everyone's Smoking Tonight

3:40 Catching Up and Weekly Buys

13:05 Discord Numbers Are Exploding

23:05 Why We Won't Push Self-Promotion

29:04 Tags, Collabs, and Reposts

36:57 Merch, Troy, and a Coming Raffle

44:24 Catching Up on Other Cigar Podcasts

48:51 Trade Craft Cigars Coming to the Garage

52:47 Breaking Sports Corner

55:59 Price Increases and Retailer Markups

1:05:00 New Releases Landing This Week

1:19:12 The Top 25 List Shifts1:

24:39 Heath's Story

1:33:15 Wrapping Up the Night

Walt found a lyric in an old country song, went down a rabbit hole, and came out the other side connecting two Crowned Heads cigars to a trademark dispute. Then the crew told him the real story, and it was better than the conspiracy.

This week it's Roman night in the garage courtesy of a few Tradecraft blends, and the Atabey Black Ritos is back on the table for a real conversation about whether it still earns its spot at number two on our list.

We get into an old Scotsman who picked a half-smoked cigar out of an ashtray at Chartwell, the ongoing mystery of what happens when a brand like HDA moves factories, and a debate about whether Moonflower actually lives up to the hype it's getting online right now.

Somewhere in the middle of all that we build our dream five-pack, argue about music, and start planning a cigar lounge none of us can afford yet.

Check out the full blog post: https://stogiereview.com/2026/08/01/smoke-and-steel-podcast-059/

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Cold Open and Lighting Up

15:17 The Ashtray Incident and Other Hustles

30:01 Ranking the Atabey Black Ritos

39:39 Fan Generosity and Lounge Mishaps

48:39 HDA Moves From Black Label

57:00 Blending, Rolling, and Frankenstein Cigars

1:11:41 Cigar Conspiracy Corner

1:17:11 Is Moonflower Cigar of the Year

1:21:04 New Cigars and the Black Card

1:26:02 Building the Dream Five Pack

1:33:00 What We're Listening To

1:43:09 Designing Our Own Lounge

1:54:08 Merch Store Update

1:57:51 Wrapping Up

A Discord member sent the whole crew a box of smokes, and one of them, the Atabey Black Ritos, ended up in a real debate for a spot on our Top 25 Cigars of 2026 list.

Smoke and Steel records every Tuesday night in a garage in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. Same crew, same cigars, same conversations they were already having before the cameras turned on.

This week's episode covers a lot of ground. There's a father's thank-you gift of OpusX and Don Carlos cigars from the Dominican Republic, a growing debate over the upcoming Le Flambeaux out of the Kelner factory, and an update on LA Cigar Collective's Membership.

One of the crew goes down a rabbit hole trying to figure out how many cigar lounges actually exist across the country, and the show wraps with a conversation about Ireland's new smoking restrictions and the old story about JFK stockpiling Cubans before the embargo.

The Atabey Black Ritos was sent to the show by a member of our Discord community, not a sponsor. Just a genuinely generous gift that turned into one of the best cigars of the year.

Read the full blog post: https://stogiereview.com/2026/08/06/smoke-and-steel-podcast-058/

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Welcome Back to the Garage

1:09 What We're Smoking and Buying This Week

9:29 The Hunt for the Johnny Tobacconaught

19:38 Community Shoutouts and the Virtual Lounge

25:24 A Text From Abe Flores at PDR

27:00 Flambeaux Hype and the Collective Pack's Growth

37:20 The Atabey Black Ritos Joins the List

43:53 A Gift Box and a Comedian Tangent

48:05 The Croc, and a Shoutout to Smokin' Sounds

52:27 An Update on the Garage Build

54:45 The LFD Project Carbon Flower

58:21 Conspiracy Corner: Counting Cigar Lounges

1:04:33 Fan Questions: Letdowns and Consistency

1:11:34 One Year In, and the Merch Store Blows Up

1:17:10 Smoking Bans, From Ireland to JFK's Cuba

Rob Blumenthal joined us in the garage this week to talk about Tradecraft Cigars, the brand he launched on his own outside the family business. He walked us through the Gladius, the Azorian, and the Vitruvian, and by the end of the night the Gladius had the whole table talking.

We got into how Rob built three completely different blends instead of one house line with different wrappers, why he lowered his prices while most of the industry is raising theirs, and the story behind naming a cigar after a Cold War CIA mission. Rob also broke down his family's history in the cigar business going back five generations, his partnership with blender Wiber Ventura, and what's coming next for the brand, including a fourth line called Shinobi. We picked these cigars up ourselves at Chartwell Cigar Club and smoked them live on the show.

Check out the full blog post on Stogie Review: https://stogiereview.com/2026/08/19/smoke-and-steel-podcast-062/

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Before We Officially Start

0:19 Meet Rob Blumenthal

2:38 How Tradecraft Came Together

6:14 Building Three Distinct Blends

14:02 Cutting Prices While Everyone Raises Theirs

18:46 Box Press Launch and Chartwell Shoutout

23:01 Blending for a Split Room

29:08 The Half Wheel Review Story

35:13 Five Generations of Cigar History

41:01 Running a Brand vs a Shop

44:53 Naming Gladius, Azorian, and Vitruvian

52:20 Shinobi and Finding Wiber Ventura

1:00:23 The Gladius Wins the Table

1:03:08 Digging Into the Vitruvian

1:07:46 Tobacco Supply and Industry Relationships

1:16:47 What's Next and Smaller Boxes

We built our own cigar rating system this week and used it for the first time. Five swords, one through five, no half points. By the end of the night, one cigar walked away with a perfect score.

Plasencia sent us two boxes to open on camera, each one loaded with a magnetic lid, matching lighter, and cutter. One stayed with the crew, the other went to Eric, who's been running our social media all year and finally got something back for it.

From there we worked through what everyone smoked, talked through the price increases hitting some of our go-to sticks like Tatuaje's Monster Series and Black Label's Bishop Blends, and got sidetracked into a long conversation about AI tracking, toll cameras, and how much of your day gets logged without you noticing.

Bruce also joins partway through and tells us about his move from Cigar Mojo to Chartwell Cigar Club.

Smoke and Steel records every Tuesday night in a garage in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. Same crew, same cigars, same conversations they were already having before the cameras turned on.

Read the full blog post here: https://stogiereview.com/2026/07/22/smoke-and-steel-podcast-056/

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Episode 56 Rolls In Late

6:20 Plasencia Surprises Eric With a Box

10:45 Bruce Joins and Lights the Farce

13:01 What Everybody Picked Up This Week

22:03 The Sword Rating System Is Born

24:57 Fans of the Week and Growing Numbers

29:41 Grading the Don Emmanuel So Far

31:25 Monster Series and Bishop Blends Get Pricier

36:04 AI Tracking and Toll Road Paranoia

48:50 Titans of Tobacco and the UK Tobacco Ban

53:31 Walt Lights the Fratello

59:40 Bruce Makes the Move to Chartwell

1:03:59 The Great Plasencia Burn Debate

1:11:01 Rob's Cafe Racer Rebuild

1:18:36 An Old Crowned Heads Court Resurfaces

1:29:57 Life on the Road and Slowing Down

1:43:05 One Year of Smoke and Steel

1:46:19 Final Sword Scores of the Night

0:00 Welcome to the Garage

4:04 Mark Finds Out About the Herf

8:03 What We Bought This Week

15:06 Remembering Drew Estate's Glenn Wolfson

16:39 Fan Questions: Show Changes and Newcomers

24:42 Cigar Bands and Ash, Stash, or Trash

34:15 The Opus X Baby Shark Price Debate

38:38 Rebranded Blends and Honest Reviews

56:00 Tasting Notes and Reference Points

59:35 Connecticut vs Maduro Showdown

1:04:58 LACC, HDA, and the Collective Pack

1:09:53 Seasonal and Limited Edition Cigars

1:17:19 List Talk: Liga Privada, Bishop's Blend, and Alma Fuerte

1:30:18 Cigar Sizes and Easy Blind Buys

1:34:38 Fans and Discord Shoutouts

1:37:57 Walt's Movie and TV Remake Rant

1:48:35 Rob's Package Mix-Up and Closing Out