Episode 13 | Lucky #13-Asylum 13 & Widow Jane Lucky 13

Yo yo yo yo yo. Welcome back to the Sticks and Stones podcast. Sticks and Stones is where we bring serious cigar smokers together with serious dealmakers. And today is the Lucky 13 episode. This is our 13th episode and we happen to be shooting on November 13th, 2025. And for this episode, we are going to be smoking the Asylum 13 Connecticut cigar. This thing is 7x70. So it's 70 ring, 7 in long. Don't be weird. This is the Widow Jane Lucky 13 bourbon. And this is aged 13 years in American oak. Pure limestone water from the legendary Rosendale Mines of New York. This is straight bourbon. Straight out of Brooklyn. This distillery is in Brooklyn, New York. And we're about to crack the top on this baby. Oh yeah. Woo. I wish you guys could taste this. Man, this is batch number 43, bottle number 1128, 93 proof, and 46.5 ABV. And I'm going to going to grab me a King Cube. Pow. You know, call it what it is. Say what you want about me. It is a 13-year aaged bourbon, but I'm going to do a King Cube cuz I'll do whatever the [ __ ] I want. As should you. And you know what? I'm going to top that off a little bit more. Got to love that pop. Okay. Lucky 13. The Lucky 13 episode. Do you believe in luck? I don't. I do not believe in luck. I believe in blessings, but I do not believe in the concept or the construct of luck. I don't believe you're lucky. I believe you're blessed. I believe that all blessings come from above. All of your blessings and your provisions are ordained by the Almighty. I think it's cute that people think or believe in luck. That's cute. I remember when I had my first beer. Do I believe in it? Absolutely not. The draw on this thing, baby. Just a dry fire. Holy smokes. All right, let's light her up. The Asylum 13 Connecticut. Let's toast the foot. We're going to toast the foot here. And I like to rotate I like to rotate the the cigar that way it gets an an even amount of of toasting an even amount of fire. Now I'm going to try to give it that puffing motion. All right. Now we're off to the races. Now we're off, baby. Okay. Do you believe in luck? Do you believe in magic? Do you believe in luck? That's a good question. Why do you believe in luck? What is it something? Is it a childhood thing that you've just always believed in luck or is it something I mean, how far how far do you go down the luck rabbit hole? Do you have a lucky rabbit's foot on your keychain? You know, how long have you believed in superstitions? Listen, I'm not saying that I was always this way. I have in in when I was a when I wore a younger man's, I did a couple of superstitious things. I'm not going to say that it was like a ton, but as you get older, you you know, you learn different things and and your belief gets stronger, your faith gets stronger, hopefully, Lord willing, and you start to loosen up on on certain things. I'm going to be very honest with you, that is I mean, Asylum 13 is a great cigar. They make some top tier [ __ ] but I got to tell you, the the 70 ring, you get lock jaw on that [ __ ] That's that's crazy, man. Good stick. I used to put my car in forward before I would put it in reverse. Like if I had to back out of the driveway, I would drive forward first couple feet before I backed up. And the and the belief of that, my grandpa, he told me to always do that. So that way your day always goes forward and not in reverse. I mean, call that what you will, but that's like one of the superstitions that I held on to for like a long time. Other than that, not a whole lot. But like, how far do you go down that rabbit hole? You know, a lot of people believe in luck. I know that a lot of people like have a lucky pair of underwear that they wear on a test. Like every time you go for an exam or you go for any kind of a test or any kind of a big thing, I know I know people that actually have a special pair of underwear that they wear for that type of thing. Lucky rabbit's foot. all sorts of superstitions or different types or versions of luck. And I don't I don't subscribe to it. I really don't. I don't know if you do. I don't know, you know, how deep it goes. I know people that have carried a lucky rabbit's foot forever and ever. I know people that believe in luck in terms of their business. like they do things in order to win business contracts or they will do something that they have a superstitious whatever you want to call it a ritual before they start making their sales calls or their prospecting or their door knocking that gets a little crazy guys. I mean in my in my opinion in my humble opinion that's a little crazy. I don't know where most people sit like where do you sit on the fence with this? I think that um you know we're in November now. We just came out of the Halloween season, which I cannot stand. I don't celebrate Halloween. It is my least favorite holiday in existence. No judgments to anybody who loves Halloween. I know a lot of people that do. October just passed and a lot of people, you know, that's a that's that's a thing for a lot of people. you know, lucky the time of spells. And if you don't believe if you don't believe in black magic and and spells and things like that, I would venture to say that, let's just put it this way, if it did not exist, why would so many people be out there trying to disprove it? Or why would people be out there trying to disprove the people that say it does exist? So, that's another issue for another episode. But, I know that October just passed. I know a lot of people believe, you know, Friday the 13th, Halloween, you know, all that stuff. A lot of people believe in superstitions and a lot of people believe in luck and a lot of people do some crazy things for luck, superstition, for a lot of things, their love life, their business. It's it's amazing some of the things that people will do or or how they think about their life and their future and what will happen in their future. Like what if I do this? Am I going to get this contract? If I do this, am I going to marry this woman? If I do this, am I going to marry this man? There's a lot of things that I can say about that. However, let's keep it light. You know, my podcast is about living life, loving life, smoking good cigars, drinking good booze like the Widow Jane Lucky 13. Holy snikes. This [ __ ] is amazing. Have I been lucky in life? I've been blessed. I'm blessed to have air in my lungs every morning. I thank God every morning that I have air in my lungs and I'm 6 feet above ground. Every day above ground. I know it's it's cliche. I know it's corny. Whatever. Every day above ground is a good day. There are people in hospitals right now fighting for their lives. Wishing that they would see another day. Not caring about they didn't get the promotion. Not caring about they didn't get that sale. not caring about they can't buy the car they want or the outfit that they want or whatever it may be. There are people in hospitals, there are people in war zones right now that won't see tomorrow. So, I'm thankful every day that I get to open my eyes and I get another opportunity to walk prostrate, to walk on my own two feet and to do what I get to do on a daily basis and do what I love. I am very blessed for that. Do I believe in luck? I've I said it in the beginning. No, I don't believe in luck. Have Have I been blessed in my life to the point where some may think that it's luck? Oh, he's lucky, man. He lucked out. Really? My dad's dog is missing out on the whole thing. She wants to be filmed for the podcast. Have there been instances where people are like, "Oh, yeah. He's so lucky. He lucked out." Yeah, I I would imagine that people have said that. You know, it's every walk, every step that you walk in this lifetime, I believe, is meant for your life. Whatever happens to you, whatever school you go to or went to, whatever person you end up with, whatever job you end up in, I think it's all meant for you. I don't think there's any luck about it. I think that you are given gifts and talents and abilities, and those gifts, talents, and abilities will show themselves in the things that you do. What does that say for me? Because I've done so many damn things in my life. I've been in so many industries. I think that I have the gifts, talents, and abilities to provide solutions to people that otherwise would not see a solution somewhere. The majority of the businesses that I've done, built, sold, you know, whatever, they've provided solutions, products or services that offered solutions to people that otherwise had some pretty big problems. I think that's my gift, talent, and ability. I'm able to God has given me the ability to find solutions to look at a problem and find a solution for it. It doesn't always work out. I'm not always lucky, but the good out the good favor the bad. The the good outpace the bad. Let's just put it that way. But I know a lot of people believe in luck. I know they do. And that's that's okay for you. I mean, that's awesome. No judgments. No whatever whatever floats your boat, man. Um, I'm not here to to disparrage you in one way, shape, or form. I just I believe what's good for me. You believe what's good for you. That's awesome. Do I think that um you Let's Let's transition that to, you know, the cigar world. AJ Fernandez, one of my favorites. Has he just gotten lucky? No way. There's no way. You can get lucky by, you know, one hit wonder. you you hit something. It was crazy. Could not replicate it. Could not duplicate it. Couldn't make it better. Couldn't Couldn't come up with something else after AJ Fernandez. Freaking guy shits gold nuggets. I'm telling you. I That's what I think. I think the guy shits gold nuggets. Everything he comes up with is phenomenal. Even the cigar that I thought was bad. I gave a second look the other day. Nope. It's phenomenal. Did he get lucky? No, I don't think so. The guy is so good that he made a bet with Caldwell on one of Caldwell's bestselling cigars. I bet you I can make your cigar better than you did. Caldwell lost. You know, I tried to find a cigar for this episode that had, you know, luck in the name. Luck. That's why, you know, I landed on the Asylum 13 because of the the number 13. I think there's a lot of people out there that do believe in luck. And I would love to know and I would love to make a follow-up podcast episode for someone who does believe in luck to have a guest on that does believe in luck cuz I would love to interview somebody that has strong deep beliefs in luck and superstition and all that kind of thing because I believe that if you have faith and you work hard and you're always looking to better yourself, read a book, crack a book, take a course, I think that amazing things can happen to you. You know, I'm I'm gonna be very honest. I didn't go to college. I didn't graduate high school. I have a GE and I have done some of the craziest things professionally that you could ever imagine. I created a an FAA certificated 145 part 145 repair station. You want to say something? You got something to say? Go away. Go away, bug house. Go away. Go away. Get her away. Get her away from the door. I created a part 145 repair station certificated by the Federal Aviation Administration in 11 months. I repaired commercial turbine engines on commercial jetliners. Well, not not me. You don't want you don't want me repairing [ __ ] I am not mechanical at all. But I did that in 11 months, which is like unheard of. That's a gift of talent and and it's God-given. I don't take any credit for it. the ability to understand information, translate it, and be able to apply it is and and I'm not the best person at it. I've I'm not the best at doing this. I've seen people that are way better at doing this. But can I do it? Yeah, I can do it. I don't think it's luck. I don't think I'm lucky, you know, to to say that my primary inspector told me after we got certificated, the reason why it took so long and why we had so many complications was because he wasn't prepared for how quickly I made changes and rearranged and and did what he asked. He wasn't prepared for that. His exact comment was the average turnaround for certification, and I know what you mean. I know I know what you're thinking. Certification as far as the FAA is concerned. It's certification is like two and a half years. And the timeline in which me and my team did it was from application to certification was 11 months when the average the average not the not the shortest not the longest the average is 2 and a half years. Is that lucky? I don't think so. Would other people think it's lucky? Maybe. What do you feel luck is like? How would you categorize? How would you define how [snorts] would you define luck or being lucky? That's a good one. You know, because as a person who doesn't believe in luck, I really wouldn't know how to define luck. And I would venture to say that most people would not know how to define the word luck. How do you define the word luck? Is it happen stance or I just by sheer luck I was walking down the street and I ran into this specific person and that person needed something that I sell. I don't know. By sheer luck, I went to the I went to lounge that night. I went to the bar that night. I went to the club that night and I ran into my dream girl, my dream guy. Is that luck? First of all, meeting people in bars and clubs and stuff. I don't think that's a good idea. Might be fun, but I don't I don't think it's a good idea. Just saying, not no judgments. When does it get to a point that it's not luck? It's not it's not the magic eightball. It's not the rabbit's foot. When does it come to a point that let let's just say take take spirituality out of it completely. We're not even talking about spirituality. We're not talking about the heavenlies. We're not talking about God or whatever. When does it get to a point that we're talking about realworld situations? We're talking about matter. We're talking about real life [ __ ] I know I know a lot of people that base their entire being on luck. And to me, that seems like a trap. Like, doesn't that seem like a trap to you, guys? The draw in this cigar. And the taste of this bourbon is [ __ ] crazy. You know, it's a it's a Thursday night. And uh I don't know about you guys. I don't know where you are in the world, in the country. As I'm getting older, you know, every every revolution around the sun, for some reason, this year, I don't know why, this is a total sidebar, has nothing to do with luck or being lucky or lucky. Number 13, this daylight savings time change, going back to daylight standard time, is kicking my ass. I'm up at like 2 3:00 in the morning every night. I can't adjust to the time. It seemed like almost over. [ __ ] night. Sun is going down at 9:00 900 p.m. It It went from that to overnight it's 5:30 pitch black. It's 7:17 central time right now and it feels like 2:00 in the morning. I digress. I'm just I don't know if you feel the same. Please let me know. Please let me know that I'm not alone in this. I just thought that, you know, this would be a good subject. It's it's November 13th. We just got through Halloween. We're getting into the most magical season that will ever exist. The holiday season. Thanksgiving is coming up. Christmas is coming up. New Year's is coming up. We have a chance to to reset reset the clocks. Reset everything. Reset your your business models. Reset your goals. This is such an exciting season. Like, I can't wait. My my Christmas tree should have been up by now. I usually put my tree up in October because I dislike Halloween so much, but it's not up yet. I really want to put my Christmas tree up, but I want to I want to have the whole feeling, you know? I want to have the whole experience of Christmas and trimming the tree and decorating my house. I just I don't have any time right now. It's it's a very busy time for me professionally, personally. I just don't have the time to dedicate it dedicate to it right now. Guys, are you seeing the smoke output of this son of a [ __ ] This is crazy. I don't think that things happen for just no reason. I don't think that beautiful, wonderful things happen out of the clear blue sky. People that you don't think you ever would have met and just out of nowhere you cross their path. And that person could stimulate something in you, help you, guide you. It may not even be professional. It may be somebody that you run into that is helping you along, giving you some mentoring advice, giving you some coaching, being there as your friend, being the person that you need at that time to get through something, being your comic relief. You know, you just have that friend that makes you piss your pants, like you meet that person out of nowhere. Do I think that that's just happen stance? No. I think everything happens for you in your life for a reason. And again, if you do believe in happen stance, if you believe in good juju, if you believe in luck and lucky charms, and if you believe in witch doctors or whatever you believe in. I'm not here to disparage you at all. I'm just stating what my beliefs are. And I'm telling you what I believe in. And I'm telling you that I think that everything happens for a beautiful reason. I think that everything happens for a purpose. And I think that nothing is just out of chance. I think that things happen and people are put in in your path for a reason. Now, I also believe that sometimes we are not in tune with call it the right frequencies, we're not in tune with the right plans or purpose, sometimes we mess some [ __ ] up. Sometimes the person that was meant to guide you into something, you end up doing the wrong [ __ ] with that person. Use your imagination. I feel that, you know, just my thoughts, somebody that was meant to help you along with something, somebody that was meant to mentor you into something or somebody who was there just to see you through something to be uh a support system for you. Maybe you turned them into an enemy. Maybe you turn them into, you know, maybe that person wasn't a drinker, partier, and you got them into drinking and partying and whatever. What I'm saying is is maybe somebody that was intended to be in your life for a specific purpose and reason, you didn't take it for that. Maybe you didn't realize that and maybe it ended up differently the way than it was supposed to end up. I believe that that happens sometimes, too. Not saying that that that's good, bad, or indifferent. I'm just saying that sometimes that happens. So, what does it all mean? Where do we all go? What do we all do? I think there are reasons for all the things that we do. I think that there are times and place places there are. But do we know what those things are? Do we know when that time is? I don't know. You know, I'm I'm I'm going to be very honest. If anyone doesn't know, I'm a commercial real estate broker. I got my license in real estate in the state of New Jersey in 2008, and I always wanted to have multiple licenses in multiple states to help people in multiple states. And I now have my Texas license. And one of my goals in life, and I said this at at one of the groups that I'm a part of, one of my goals in life, I think I made this goal in I think 2020, I wanted to have three deals going simultaneously in three different states. And I mean, we're in 2025 and I'm I'm about to take the test for my third state license, you know? So, it's it doesn't always happen when you want it to happen. You know, I thought I was going to have multiple real estate licenses right out of the gate and I didn't. And maybe that's my fault. Maybe I didn't do what I needed to do. Maybe I needed to mature. Maybe I needed to be ready for it. Or maybe I needed to learn some [ __ ] first. I don't know. You know, I'm never going to tell you that I have all the answers cuz I don't. I know what I know and I know what I don't know. That's what I can tell you. I know what I know and I know what I don't know. this episode, the lucky 13. I'm I'm just so grateful that I can do this, you know? I'm grateful that even even though I don't have a professional podcast studio yet that is smoke friendly because this thing is is all about cigars. Even though I don't have that yet, working on that, I'm just so happy that I get to do this and I get to share my thoughts and I get to share some of the things that happened in my career and in my life with you guys. And I believe like, you know what? What better what better time to crack this beautiful bottle than our 13th episode. You know, I'm looking forward to shooting 130 episodes, 1500 episodes, 15,000 episodes hopefully. I'm very much looking forward to it. I I want to share this platform with as many people as I possibly can. I want to talk to as many people as I possibly can. I I think that the travesty of life would be going through life and not doing what you love. going through life, walking through life, and not being able to do the things that you want to do, do the things you love to do, be with the people that you want to be with, share experiences with those people, I think it's this thing we call life is a is a crazy ride. It's a crazy experience. I think if you if you discount the spiritual realm, you are at a severe disadvantage. Like I said, and I always will say, nothing happens for happen stance. Everything happens for a reason. Lucky things just don't happen. There are things in place and things that are meant to happen for you. Events will happen. People will come into into your life. Everything is h happening to you, for you in its own time. You know, it's it's it's no coincidence that you don't start driving at 8 years old. You know, everything happens in a time, in a place. You're born and then you are nursed and you're weaned off of that and then there's stages of life and you go into like elementary school, you know, like preschool, elementary school, and then you go into middle school, high school, college, whatever. And you live life, you walk through life, you mature through life, you learn stuff, and then hopefully you impart that knowledge to others, whether it be friends, family, children, offspring, whatever you want to call them, gremlins, or your mentees if you're a mentor. I think that life is a beautiful thing, and I know that life is worth living. And I know there's a lot of people tonight that are contemplating doing some stupid things. And I don't think it's luck. I don't think it's luck that you're here. I don't think it's, you know, bad luck, good luck. I don't believe in that either. You know, oh, I just have bad luck. Or if if I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any. To me, that's such a copout. I think if bad things are happening to you repeatedly, I think you need to look in retrospect at your life and what are you doing? What are you doing that you can change? What are you doing that may be affecting other people and maybe that's why things are happening to you? Maybe that's why things are happening through you. I think there's a lot of reasons why a lot of things happen, but I don't believe in that good luck, bad luck situation. And I know there are people out there that believe in the magics, you know, white magic, good magic, bad magic, black magic, whatever you want to call it. And I do believe that there are people that practice it. I mean there are books there books on it. I I don't want to go down this rabbit hole. Uh but there are some famous people that say it exists and you know talk about it and talk about the tarot and you know a lot of a lot of weird crazy [ __ ] like if how do you how do you say that that person is sane? that person's okay that deals with, you know, always has a a a a deck of tarot cards in in their purse and practices spells and stuff like that. How do you say that that person is right and okay, but then dispel the whole magic thing altogether? Like, oh, that's crazy. That doesn't exist. I think that, you know, maybe maybe some people misconstrue luck or being lucky with some form of magic, you know, and I think that uh I think that this would be such an awesome subject speaking with other people and knowing their thoughts and how they feel on the subject cuz there's a lot of subject matter about it. I can tell you that. But I will tell you, I am thoroughly enjoying this thing. It is. It's not heavy at all. It's Connecticut, so it's it's it's very light. It's very mild, but the draw is just delightful. I mean, absolutely delightful. Tried to retro hail, and that's what I just lit my sinuses on fire. Lord Jesus, it's a fire. It's a I mean, I I'm glad I picked this cigar. I I really am. I mean, this [ __ ] is like gold, man. Would I say this was a good pairing? Yeah. I definitely think this is a good pairing. Now, I think that with this particular bourbon, I think you could you could pair it with something a little stronger like a Padron or a Placencia, the Alma Fora. I think you could you could pair this with a lot of different things. A Johnny Tobacon. Oh, a Johnny Tobacon would be great with this. [clears throat] I think I don't see enough people give Widow Jane the props it deserves. I think that cuz I mean, I'm a I'm a new bourbon guy. I have been drinking scotch for a long time. I don't think that Widow Jane gets enough love. I mean, this this is this is phenomenal [ __ ] I mean, you know, and I and I will say that this is podcast is only going to get bigger, better. We're going to do awesome stuff. I've got some plans for for 2026, shooting content, capturing content that I don't think a lot of people in the cigar space are doing right now. I would hope you you guys stay tuned for what we're going to be shooting. And I will just say to give you a hint, sometimes you have to go to the mountain. Sometimes you can't expect the mountain to come to you. So, let me think like what what else would be a good smoke with this. The Maduro Lounge House Maduro cigar would be fantastic with this. Shout out to my to my good friend Fred Milansson at Maduros. Phenomenal phenomenal guy. And he doesn't like being on on camera. So hopefully one day maybe I can get him on on an audio only podcast, but I could talk to that guy for hours. I mean, this is just an enjoyable night. I mean, the weather's gorgeous. I've got a beautiful drink. I've got a beautiful cigar. Life doesn't get any better than this, guys. Like, if you want to call that lucky, that's lucky. You can't you can't get any better than this. You know, I I get to I was out at at a project today where they're kicking off printing 3D houses, 3D concrete printing. You know, I got to see that today. I get to work with people that I love. I get to work with people that I enjoy. I get to do the things that I really, really like to do. I get to help people make their business or investment dreams come true. You know, I I connect people. I'm not just, you know, a commercial real estate broker. I connect people and I help them achieve their goals, their dreams. And it's not, like I said, it's not just real estate. Some sometimes I connect people that want to get into investing in businesses and I help them and I connect them with small businesses and these two groups of people make something beautiful come out of that. You know, they build a beautiful business out of it and I get to do that. Like that's it doesn't get any better than that. I am lucky even though I don't believe in luck but you know call it what it is. I'm blessed that I get to do that on a daily basis. I get to do a job that I absolutely love with people that I absolutely love doing it with. It doesn't get any better than that. And then and then I get to be with you guys and I get to shoot content for you guys and I get to smoke cigars on a daily basis and I get to give you my input on what I think about a certain cigar or a certain drink cocktail. It doesn't get any better than that. I mean, maybe I'm just easily impressed. I don't know. But how many people get to do what they love? How many people are doing what they love? I'd venture to say not very many. If you are one of the lucky few, if you are one of the blessed few that get to do it, pay that forward, man. You know, like pay that forward. Help someone else out. Help a brother out. If you get to do something that you love doing, why don't you impart your knowledge? Teach someone about the things that you love and maybe it'll catch on to someone else. You know, because the things that you don't continually teach to the newer generation or or other people, it dies out. You know, like blacksmithing. Blacksmithing, if you were a blacksmith, that was a really popular trade way back in the day. How many blacksmiths are in the world today? Not very many. You know, like cobblers. People made shoes back in the day by hand and they were solid solid footwear that lasted forever and the cobbler would repair them and resole them and they're very there are very few shoe repair people if you would even call them cobblers today probably can't. So if you're not teaching your passions, if you're not teaching what you love, your profession, your you know, whatever your your hobby, your instrument, your the things that you love, if you're not teaching that to other people, whether it be your children, whether it be, you know, friends, whatever, don't you think that that's going to die? Don't you think that that'll die out eventually? So, I think it's it's up to us that if we're doing something that we love, if we're doing the things that we like to do, love to do, are passionate about, shouldn't we teach others to do those things? So that way when we're not, no one lives forever regardless of what Ricky Bobby says. You're not living 300 years. You're going to die one day. And don't you think that having other people on the earth doing the things that you like, first of all, it kind of imparts a little bit of you in into the world, but it ensures that the things that you love and the things you love to do will last for years and years and centuries to come. I think that's super cool. I mean, I just could be a nut, but you know, that that's that's my thought. But I think that this was a very retrospective episode. I think that this was like very chill, kind of ad hoc, I'm not going to lie. Very enjoyable, great cigar, great booze. What a wonderful Sticks and Stones episode. I loved every second of this, guys. I'm looking forward to a part two to this with somebody who would love to chime in on this subject. I loved every second of it. I think this was a little bit slower paced. I think this was a little bit less on the professional and more on the personal, which, you know, sometimes we got to change things up a little bit, but this was a great change of pace for me. I I loved every bit of this. I loved the the Lucky 13. I love this Connecticut. This is actually the first time I've smoked this this particular one. I've smoked a lot of Asylums, but this this is a good one. The Koho is is a good really, really good stick. The Big Time Tommy is another good one. I get to do what I love doing every single day, guys. And I could not be more blessed because of it. So, I hope you really enjoyed this this episode because I did like I loved shooting it and I love giving you my perspectives and my thoughts, my viewpoints. I think that's all I have for tonight. So, please stay blessed and above all else, keep it rolling, baby. until the next episode of Sticks and Stones.