Episode 35 | Blackbird Cuco Lancero

Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo. We're back for another episode of the Sticks and Stones podcast. Sticks and Stones is where we talk about life, we talk about love, we talk about the brotherhood of the leaf, premium tobacco products. So, what are we talking about today, this morning? Hello. Cherry-o, guv'nor. Yes, I am enjoying my morning espresso with a cigar. And lanceros have become really, really popular in the cigar world. And I mean, there is reason for it, but it's not for everybody, you know, putting that out there. I mean, me in particular just gave that a snippy, snippy, by the way. It's not for everybody. It's not my cup of tea. I don't gravitate toward lanceros or any of the thinner diameter cigars. However, people love these things because they are, quote unquote, full of flavor or flavor bombs. That's because there's not a whole lot of filler in this thing, right? You get a lot of There's a lot of binder and wrapper, very little filler, so it makes it more powerful, makes it more flavorful, it makes it makes the world go round, I guess, for a lot of people. I am smoking the Blackbird Cigar Company Cuco, and this is a criollo leaf, mainly. I mean, Blackbird is a really cool company, met the guys. This This has actually been sitting in my humidor since October, by the way. At the At the time of this filming, it is currently March of 2026. So, this has been in my humidor for a while. Just haven't had the time to smoke it. Like I said, it's not my cup of tea, so it's not like one that I Lancero is not something that I run to to go smoke. But we're going to We're going to dance this around the flame. Dancing around the flame. How you doing? Shout out to the Team USA FIFA World Cup coming to Houston. That's a nice draw. That is a nice draw, which is kind of odd because lanceros are known for a tight draw, not a very loose draw. This is actually a really This is a sweet draw. Wow, that is like effortless to pull. Hmm. So, like I said, there's a lot of the good [ __ ] in this, not a lot of filler, right? So, if you think about it, a filler tobacco is exactly what it sounds like. I mean, it's self-explanatory. It It fills the gaps. It fills the space. It's kind of like not the greatest tobacco of the plant or not the greatest tobacco in the house. That's why they use it to fill the vitola. They use it to fill the space. So, you know, your powerhouse The powerhouse stuff is the binder and the wrapper. And this is very little, if at all, any filler and all binder and wrapper. Which the wrapper is like the pretty [ __ ] I mean, that's the That's the good [ __ ] that looks the best. Nobody wants a ratchet-ass leaf to be wrapping the outside of your cigar. I'm not going to lie, guys, this thing is pretty [ __ ] good. The experts say that the lancero burns slower and cooler, which if you're not a fan of of hitting that hot smoke, this would probably be something you might want to look into, a lancero or something of a thinner gauge, smaller ring. A lancero is also a lot tougher to to roll, right? So, you're It's a lot easier rolling a cigar that's, you know, a 60 a 60 ring or a 52 ring or 54 ring. There's a lot more space. There's a lot more forgiveness in in the roll, you know, when when they're rolling the the cigar. You have a lot more forgiveness when it's a bigger ring. You don't You don't have that much room for error when you're when you're rolling a a little guy like that. For those of you watching on YouTube, little guy like that. I mean, this This one cigar is changing my mind about lanceros. I might just buy a box of these and stick with these for my go-to lancero. I mean, that's That's how good this is, guys. So, if you didn't know, Fidel Castro actually preferred lanceros post anything else. So, he was a big lancero fan. Let's see. Let me search something on the Google machine. Most popular lancero cigars. Let's see what pops up. The Oliva Serie V lancero. Okay, I get that. Tatuaje Black Label lancero. I get that. Padron 1964 Anniversary lancero version, which, honestly, I'm a huge Padron fan. If we're going to go, you know, top echelon Padron, I usually go the Family Reserve 1926, not the 64. I didn't even know that they made a lancero. That just goes to show you how how much I like lanceros. Joya de Nicaragua Antaño That comes in at number four. Number five is the Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro lancero. And other highly mentioned lanceros, the My Father El Centurion lancero, the Crowned Heads Four Kicks lancero. And if you guys know, I love Crowned Heads. Love that brand. Love that company. They make some good [ __ ] Alec Bradley Coyol Petit lancero. I didn't know that Alec Bradley made a lancero. The goat and Castro's favorite cigar, the Cohiba Cohiba lancero. For those of you that don't know, the Cohiba [clears throat] is the original, the originator of the lancero size, but apparently is legendary status. Very interesting. Very, very interesting. I'm very excited for the PCA show, guys. I can't wait for April 17th to roll around. So, big news in the cigar world. Cuba postpones its annual cigar fair as US oil siege causes severe fuel shortages and blackouts. So, for anybody who doesn't know who's living under a rock, there's a lot of [ __ ] going on right now in the the Arabian Peninsula and all of, you know, the Arabian countries and like Iran and Iraq and the UAE, so it's causing a lot of shortages of crude oil, which, you know, stunts the production of petroleum products like gasoline and diesel. So, that has put a halt or a postponement to the Cuba Cigar Festival or cigar fair, called the Habanos Festival. So, it's one of the biggest cigar events in the world. Cause being fuel shorted shortages and blackouts. I know Cuba is not one of the most reliable countries when it comes to grid, their power supply and power sources and stuff. Okay, so 2026 packed with all kinds of new blends and limited editions. Here's some of the big recent drops. Davidoff Puro Dominicano comeback. The Casa Carrillo Deep Blue LE 2026. The Bolivar Aniversario Limited Edition. I just bought two of those yesterday, gave one to my old man. He said the draw was really tight on his cigar, but really tasty. I'm looking forward to lighting that bad boy up. I have that in my personal travel stash right now. I have a couple of different travel humidors. One I keep in my car, one in my desk drawer in my office, and then one I have for just like an emergency stash. So, that is in my personal my high-end stash of cigars. Cohiba Serie Reserva Plata. So, those are dropping in 2026. Other big news, the premium cigar boom continues. Over 400 million premium cigars produced recently. Growth is driven by boutique brands, Nicaraguan and Dominican cigars, and people trading up to higher-end sticks. Now, there's also some things going on about cigars being investments. Guys, if you hold on to the right sticks, they appreciate tremendously. So, that's like a thing that's going on now. There's, you know, all kinds of pre-embargo sticks that are selling for thousands and thousands of dollars and specialized humidors that were filled, you know, special run of cigars are selling for like 50,000 or more. I mean, you can't You can't get that kind of return and Look, wealth managers and stock people, don't come after me, but you can't get that kind of return in the stock market or the bond market. Uh let's see. Big companies shifting strategy. Good Times Tobacco, it's a huge US company, is moving into premium handmade cigars. So, events and industry culture, the ProCigar Festival 2026, huge turnout, auction raised over 500K. So, one of the biggest trends right now is limited editions and small batch cigars. I mean, duh. Nicaraguan heavy blends dominating flavor profiles, aged tobaccos, and unique wrappers like Sumatra, Habano, Maduro. Let's see Let's see what the Google machine says what's actually worth buying right now. Best overall, the Oliva Serie V lancero. This is This is back on lanceros. Yeah, we already did that. Okay. So, I got to stop saying so so much cuz I just I just found out recently that so is a filler word. I just I use it a lot. I guess so is a good like pivot word. You can jump off of so to anything, really. Having said that, best overall benchmark cigar is the Oliva Serie V with a flavor profile of espresso, dark chocolate, spice, and nuts. Built with aged Nicaraguan ligero, which is the strongest of the leaf of the tobacco plant. And then the best premium grade is the Oliva Serie V Melanio, which won number one cigar of the year, which is a big deal in our world. More refined and balanced than the regular Serie V. Still rich, but smoother and more elegant. I like elegant. I've been I've been called elegant. Best serious smoker brands, always worth it. My Father Cigars. I'm not going to argue with that. Highly respected Nicaraguan cigar known for craftsmanship, bold flavor and consistency run by Don Pepin Garcia, one of the most respected blenders. I agree with that. Rich, peppery Nicaraguan profiles, excellent construction. Agreed. Best everyday premium value plus quality. Oliva in general. So, the Series V, the Series O, and the Series G are up there. One of the most trusted tobacco families in the industry, great balance of price, flavor, and consistency. Oliva's killing it right now. It's It's in every category. And Oliva is known for the medium-to-full body cigars, which I love. That's That's my home. That's my lane. That's my alley. What is not worth it right now? Random limited editions with no track record. Uh overpriced boutique cigars. I I really don't go by the price. I don't go by, you know, boutique-y or a $100 stick. Not about it. Really don't care. Giant ring gauge cigars, 60 ring plus that mute flavor. Don't agree with that. I beg to differ there. Cuban cigars that in at inflated prices. I definitely agree. Definitely agree with that. My two favorite Cuban cigars, and I've I've tried a lot of them, is the Montecristo number two and the Partagas Series 4. I love those cigars. Cubans anyway. This is a I wouldn't say a low slow burn. I would say it's a cooler burn. To me, it's kind of like on pace with some of the 60 gauges that I smoke. So, I wouldn't say that it's slower, but I I do I do see that it's cooler, which is a more enjoyable smoke. For some reason, that hot smoke amplifies the the chances of of hitting that uh nicotine poison. Which if if you've ever gotten it, it's a not an enjoyable experience. You get dizzy, you get cold sweats, you feel nauseous, sometimes you call Ralph. I've done it multiple times. There is a way to get out of nicotine poison quickly, and that is a [ __ ] ton of sugar. So, if you ever smoking a cigar and you start to get light-headed, you start to get dizzy, some people get the jitters, and you start to feel nauseous and whatever, grab yourself a sugary soda or some kind of a drink like that, and pound that back, and it doesn't hurt to have like a hard candy, like a a Werther's caramel or piece of hard candy or chocolate. You know, like a milk chocolate. Flush your system with sugar. That'll straighten your ass right up. Life, let's talk life. So, PCA, the Premium Cigar Association Show, is going down in New Orleans. Very excited about that. It's going to be my first PCA. Very excited about that. I am headed back home for New Jersey for a little bit on a business trip first week in April. So, very excited about that. Very excited to see my friends, some of my family, visit some clients, and hit as many cigar shops as I possibly can, lounges. Definitely going to be hitting Sticks Cigars in Somerville and Rahway, New Jersey, definitely. I land in New York, so most definitely going to hit the Carnegie Club. Yeah, as far as big, you know, life things, that's that's pretty much it. You know, with my life, everything is new and expanding every single day. New things pop up, new opportunities, kind of like every single day. But, those are the biggest things, the PCA Show. I'm always doing, you know, different networking events and different speaking opportunities and stuff like that. So, that is uh you know, that's love. Just the love of my children and the love of these things. I'm going to say something that might be controversial or might get a little bit of backlash, but I don't necessarily believe in a like whimsical true love story, deep, love at first sight kind of love, right? I believe that relationships are built over time. There needs to be a mutual respect, which can grow into a form of love. I do believe that relationships, you know, romantic relationships have a There has to be a balance, right? Each Each person gets something out of a relationship, and when one or both people don't, that's when [ __ ] goes bad. And I think I read a statistic somewhere that people in long-term relationships, marriages, you want to however you want to call that in 2026, right? Because there's all types of relationships now and people identifying as so many different [ __ ] things. But, I think this statistic said it was a high percentage of relationships and one of the partners passes away. If the woman passes away first, there's like a high percentage that the men don't ever get married again, and in a subset of that, don't even date again. But, conversely, on the female side, it's really quick on how quickly a woman will start dating again or marry again. I will pull all the data for another podcast specifically on that, but I just found that very, very interesting. So, basically what that study said is men fall in love quicker and deeper than women do. So, I mean, we all know this. Men are visual, and women are mental. I mean, not to No joke. I mean, No pun No pun intended. So, and I'm I'm not general This is not a This is not pointed at anyone in particular, and it's not going after anyone. I'm just, you know, talking, speaking what pops in my head. And basically what the study says, not me. I mean, I didn't do the study. I didn't I don't have the data. I I didn't, you know, pull all of this and interview all these people. But, basically what the study said is men fall in love, and they stay in love. And when their partner's gone, they're so [ __ ] up about it that some don't even see other people, and a huge majority never get married again. Now, not to say that all men are saints. Some of these men, they don't get married again because they they lose their damn minds. They just go out and date every kind of just anything with a pulse. And they love that life so much that they just they never want to do it. They never want to get married again. Which I think we all know some people like that, especially people men who were in marriages that ended very badly in divorce. Those guys, a lot of them don't get married again. And, you know, it's the it's like the number the number one thing they'll say, "Why why should I do that again, right? Give half my [ __ ] to to someone else that, you know, quote unquote didn't deserve it." But, it's amazing how quickly a woman will move on. And I I'm not just saying specifically upon death. I'm saying it's Study show, women move on rapidly rapidly from a relationship. So, what does that mean? Like, I don't know. I'm not a I'm not a professional, you know, I'm not a couple's counselor or psychologist, psychiatrist, or anything like that. But, I just find that I find that very interesting. I find it very interesting that women will move on rapidly and men don't. Kind of deep [ __ ] over a cup of coffee. I know. Tell me about it. Any hoozer, this thing is holding It's holding in really good really, really well. I have noticed the smoke production go down considerably, which means it's kind of dying out. Cuz I mean, when I up until right now, which is a huge part of the cigar, this thing was billowing with smoke. And now it's just like trickling out. Yeah, this thing's about to die. I'm going to take the take the band off. Which all of the Blackbird bands, I mean, their story's really, really cool. All of their All of their cigars have these big wide bands. All their cigars are named after a bird. Which if anybody follows Tim at Cigars Daily in Arizona, I met the guy, really really nice guy. They just did a collaboration. Cigars Daily and Blackbird did a collaboration, and his cigar is called [ __ ] of the Walk, and there's like a big rooster on the box. It's really cool. It's a really cool box. Cool art. I'd love Can't wait to get my hands on that one. Yeah, there we go. Now it's smoking. But, yeah, great company. I met the guys in October at Blackbird. Really cool really cool company, cool concept. Uh premium cigars, not ridiculously priced. Two brothers started the company. I like it. I enjoy it. And this is packed with the flavor. It's It's full of flavor. You don't get any pulls that are like blah, no flavor. So, for Sticks and Stones, this episode, that's all I got. So, I wish you all the best, and I pray nothing but health and happiness for you. But, above all else, keep it rolling, baby. Sticks and Stones, we out.