Smoke and Steel

[E047] Eight Years Sober. He Saved the Opus X for Tonight

Eric came in Tuesday night with an Opus X Forbidden X he'd been holding onto for the right occasion. That occasion was eight years of sobriety. The crew gave him a hard time about it. That's how you know it meant something.Episode 047 from the garage in Gilbertsville, PA. We talked about the Don Carlos Blood of the Bull and the retailer pricing conversation that never really gets resolved, ran through a strong batch of fan questions covering cigar recommendations, lounge memberships, and whether boutique hype is losing ground to value buying right now. El Mago came up more than once, the old lounge came up more than anyone planned, and Joe Macko's Cigar Page haul ruined Rob's night in the best possible way.Also on the table: what a Smoke and Steel booth at PCA would actually look like, which member of the extended crew you'd want stranded on a desert island with you, and the Fuente Toast Across America being the one release where the packaging is half the point.For more visit: https://stogiereview.com/2026/05/25/smoke-and-steel-episode-047/👉 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👕 Check out our NEW MERCH: https://www.stickermule.com/stogiereview📧 Email: Walt@StogieReview.comCHAPTERS0:00 We're Rolling, Sort Of1:20 Welcome to the Garage3:48 Last Week's Fan Appreciation Show6:45 Burnable Hats and Sean's Site8:00 What Did You Buy This Week8:34 Don Carlos Blood of the Bull9:13 The MSRP Conversation Nobody Wins14:25 LACC Two-Year Anniversary and the Wrong Order19:38 New Shop Outside Coatsville21:08 Smoking Festival This Weekend22:18 Outdoor Smoking Season Setup24:10 Fans of the Week26:17 Daily Discussion Topics and AI's Limits29:28 El Mago by Band Color32:22 Hulk Hogan Documentary Tangent37:38 Sister Wives and Scientology Tangent39:27 Fan Questions Begin39:38 How Many Chances Do You Give a Cigar44:22 Taking Recommendations From the Wrong Person47:00 The Smoke and Steel PCA Booth49:50 Boutique Hype vs. Value Buying56:11 Desert Island with the Extended Crew58:31 How Do You Kill Cigar Breath59:48 Smoke a Cigar With Anyone, Living or Dead1:08:32 Angelo's and the Michelin Cheesesteak1:09:36 Philly John Italian Market Coming to Town1:13:32 Lounge in Memphis Segment1:15:17 Lounge Membership Pricing1:20:06 The Old Lounge and What It Actually Was1:25:07 Joe Macko's Cigar Page Haul Ruins Rob's Night1:27:34 Cigar Packaging and What Might Have Legs1:31:37 What Cigar Would Your Personality Be1:36:29 Eric's Eight Years1:37:17 Eagles on Thanksgiving, Sports Clock Burns1:38:06 Outro

[E046] We Designed Our Own Cigar and It Got Weird Fast

It's Cinco de Mayo in the garage, and instead of a normal episode we brought the fans in. Jason from Connecticut, Joe from Louisiana, Sean from the Burnable, Brad from Jackson Tennessee, and Matt all joined us to talk about what got them into cigars, how they found the show, and - somewhere in the back half - what it would look like if Smoke and Steel ever blended its own cigar.That last conversation started with a Discord message from Brad and ended with Walt calling for a 6x60 candela culebra in multiple colors. Jim had a different answer. So did Eric the Elder. Nobody fully agreed and that's kind of the point.Along the way we got into what Joe and Sean saw at PCA - including a packed-out Definition Cigars event at LA Cigar Collective, the new LFD Carbon Flower, and a brand new line called Pariah Cigars out of the Domaine factory. We talked about Rob's first ever bad Ashton VSG, why Padron almost never misses and what actually goes into making that consistent, the Cuban cigar counterfeit problem nobody wants to admit is real, and what it means when a brand changes a blend that wasn't broken. Plus the crew weighs in on Abbina Craft Sipping Soda, Definition's Big Iron making the top 25, and one listener whose wife calls us "his friends on the internet."Cigars in the garage tonight: Santa Muerte by Black Label, Olmec by Foundation, Ave Maria, Tatuaje Tuxtla, Tabernacle Knight Commander by Foundation.Read the Full Post Here: https://stogiereview.com/2026/06/10/smoke-and-steel-episode-046/👉 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👕 Check out our NEW MERCH: https://www.stickermule.com/stogiereview📧 Email: Walt@StogieReview.comCHAPTERS0:00 Welcome to Cinco de Mayo Night1:12 The Garage Crew and Tonight's Cigars3:17 Joe Macko Sent Us Cigars — A Thank You4:32 Jason Bashard: How He Found the Show8:44 Sean from the Burnable Joins In13:34 Joe at PCA: New Deals and Big News17:25 Sean's Role at PCA: Scouting for LACC20:00 Abbina Craft Sipping Soda at the Show24:30 What Do You Want Us to Do Better31:24 Brad Wiggly Calls In from Tennessee38:28 Foundation, Definition, and New Smokes45:00 Definition Cigars: The Jamond Story57:42 Big Iron, Pariah, and the Carbon Flower1:08:24 Rob's First Bad VSG1:11:44 Price Points and Trusting a Brand1:15:55 The Smoke and Steel House Blend1:20:25 Cubans: Worth Chasing or Not1:32:00 What You Mean to Us

[E045] The Box Pass Gets a Kelner 80th

It was a Definition Cigars night in the garage and Joe Macko showed up before we even lit anything. He put together a cigar pack for every member of the crew and sent it over with no warning and no ask. That set the tone for the whole episode.We spent time going through the new releases out of PCA 2026 - the Crown Heads Moonflower has everyone talking after Sean from The Burnable came back raving, the Drew Estate Undercrown El Tigre Dominicano is already showing up at brick and mortars, and a German company called AKUT showed up with cigars packaged in blister packs like pills. We also got into what PCA actually is, how the economics work for new exhibitors, and why some first-timers don't make it to year two.The box pass is three stops from home and it's been one of the better things we've done as a show. A first-timer just dropped a Kelner 80th Anniversary into it without being asked. Joe Macko is up next. We couldn't have scripted it better.🌐 Read the full blog post: https://stogiereview.com/2026/05/23/smoke-and-steel-episode-045/👉 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👕 Check out our NEW MERCH: https://www.stickermule.com/stogiereview📧 Email: Walt@StogieReview.comCAHPTERS0:00 Welcome to Episode 0450:41 What Everyone Is Smoking Tonight3:23 Joe Macko Gets His Shoutout5:10 Listeners of the Week6:12 The Smoke and Steel Spotify Playlist7:19 New Releases From PCA 202614:00 New Exhibitors and Why Most Don't Survive23:08 What PCA Is Actually For27:36 The Press Pass Question30:19 Pocono Cigar Festival Preview32:07 Definition Cigars — First Impressions33:04 Box Pass Update39:52 Anybody Buy Anything This Week43:35 The Tabernacle Pyramid Situation47:51 Johnny Tobacconaut Makes the List53:19 Merch Store Update54:05 Cinco de Mayo Episode Preview56:04 Eric's Streak and the Pre-Show Episode59:45 Prison TikTok Tangent1:05:15 Deck Season and Fire Pit Talk1:10:23 Mark's Tuesday and Oxygen Deliveries1:12:00 Cluster Headaches and Oxygen Cures1:15:05 Elephant Cigar Lounge Visit1:16:19 Back to the Smokes1:19:18 Coffee Corner1:26:17 Sergeant Major's Dental Situation1:29:01 Remembering Chief1:31:19 Closing Arguments

[E044] Are Cigar Subscription Clubs Actually Worth It?

Episode 044 of Smoke and Steel gets into something a lot of cigar guys have opinions about - cigar subscription clubs. Which ones are actually worth your money, which ones are padding boxes with whatever they couldn't sell, and how do you tell the difference before you're three months in and canceling? We've been running the LA Cigar Collective and Small Batch packs for a while now, and we give you our honest take. Beyond the club conversation, Eric just got back from the Dominican Republic with stories from the Don Lucas factory floor, a Cuban he handed his brother on the beach, and some thoughts on the guys trying to sell cellophane Cohibas for five bucks on the shoreline. We also get into the Discord crackdown that wiped out some of the biggest cigar communities online. The box pass is almost home, the merch store is coming along, and the Smoke-onos Festival in the Poconos is three weeks out. Sticks around the garage include the LFD 30th Anniversary, Plasencia Alma Fuerte, H. Upmann Heritage by AJ Fernandez, Stolen Throne Yorktown Fleet, and a new upstart called El Mago that had some things to prove and didn't quite get there. 👉 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 👕 Check out our NEW MERCH: https://www.stickermule.com/stogiereview 📧 Email: Walt@StogieReview.com CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro & What We're Smoking 1:25 El Mago First Impressions 3:32 LFD 30th and the Night's Lineup 4:08 H. Upmann Heritage by AJ Fernandez 4:40 Sean from The Burnable Returns 9:42 Merch Store Is Happening 15:09 Fans of the Week 17:54 Discord Box Pass Update 25:06 Eric Won an LACC Lotto 29:40 Discord Crackdown — What Happened 35:58 Eric's Dominican Republic Trip 39:04 Smoke-onos Festival Preview 41:24 PCA Recap and Definition Cigars 42:08 Charlie from Abbina at PCA 44:00 YouTube Shorts and Channel Updates 48:51 What Everyone's Been Buying 1:05:29 Cigar Subscription Clubs — Worth It? 1:13:21 Sports Corner 1:13:51 Gris Gris Lonsdale vs. Toro Debate 1:16:29 Rare Smokes — Do You Smoke Them or Save Them? 1:23:43 Second Cigars and Tatuaje Talk 1:24:29 West Tampa Devil Crab 1:28:07 Vitola Pricing — Do You Buy Up or Stay True? 1:36:06 Wrap-Up

[043] PCA Week, Pipe Memories, and $22 Vegas Coffee

PCA is in New Orleans this week, and Mark, Jim, and Walt have thoughts - on who's there, what's being launched, and where the show goes next. But like most weeks in the garage, the conversation refuses to stay in one lane.From dealing email FOMO on expired cigar deals, to pipe smoking war stories, to the uncomfortable reality of $22 Starbucks coffee in Vegas, this one covers a lot of ground. The guys talk PCA industry news including Espinosa, Rojas's Cinco de Mayo street taco release, and the ongoing Cigar Page brick-and-mortar build-out before going deep on Crown Heads, La Flor Dominicana, Ave Maria Requintista, and the Plasencia Alma Fuerte line. There's also a legitimate debate about whether torpedoes are worth the trouble, a salsa analogy for cigar aging that actually makes perfect sense, and a fond look back at pipe smoking - including a corn cob pipe incident that did not end well.Fair warning: they also spend a meaningful amount of time on SOS, red-eye gravy, Longacre's milkshakes, and Butcher Bill's jalapeño cheddar hot dogs. No apologies.👉 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👕 Check out our NEW MERCH: https://www.stickermule.com/stogiereview📧 Email: Walt@StogieReview.comCHAPTERS0:00 Cold Open: Expired Cigar Deal Emails1:33 Box Pass Update3:49 PCA New Orleans — Industry News5:10 Community Shoutouts5:51 Santa Clara at PCA & Vegas vs. New Orleans9:17 Vegas Food Prices & Sticker Shock12:04 Longacre's, Diners & Cheap Eats Nostalgia18:33 Back to Cigars: Morning Smokes & Connecticuts21:41 Smoking Cigars at Work25:32 LFD, Crown Heads & Cigar Aging Talk38:47 Crown Heads Lineup43:44 Grilling Season & Butcher Bill's Hot Dogs48:27 Rojas Street Tacos & Cinco de Mayo Release51:36 Cigar Page Brick-and-Mortar Update53:42 Pipes, Meerschaum & Corn Cob War Stories57:33 Wrap-Up