Cigar Hacks

We dial things back a bit this week with a three member OG panel for a quiet evening, that is until Nashville Dave calls in. N-D is at the Nashville Fervor Festival VIP party where he puts Candice on the phone. Who knew where that would go. The Hidden Herf is also dialed back a … Continue reading "Episode 394: Dialing it Back – Local Spotlight: Smokers Abbey / Fervor Festival; Nashville, TN"

Castro’s in Bedford is changing hands and The Hacks are on top of the situation with the latest public information. The Hidden Herf is a deliberate repeat and a bit of a test to see how the cigar has changed or how the panel perceives it more than a year latter. Local Spotlight – Castro’s … Continue reading "Episode 393: Hidden Herf Retest – Local Spotlight: Castro’s Backroom; Bedford, NH"

It’s a relatively small crew of six this week around the firepit for our first outdoor episode of the season. The mailbag sends us in a couple different directions. The Hidden Herf looks like an old familiar friend and garners a decent rating. Ricky tells us about Ashtray Condoms? Local Spotlight – Granite State Cigar … Continue reading "Episode 392: Firepit Etiquette – Granite State Cigar Shop; Laconia, NH"

It was inevitable that the Hacks bring in some Artificial Intelligence outside of Conspiracy Corner. Don’t worry, there are still way too many Hacks to make this a fully AI show. We have a newly minted participant and a couple of folks we haven’t heard from in quite a while. The Hidden Herf is a … Continue reading "Episode 391: A Chat with “Pat-GPT” – The Tobacco Shack; Rowley, MA"

Back home in Plaistow where this all began, we check out the new lounge seating, Dennis mans the bar, and we hear from the Maltese Falcon. The Hidden Herf fools some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all of the time. Local Spotlight – Plaistow Cigar Co; Plaistow, NH … Continue reading "Episode 390: Have a Cup of Shut the F-Up – Plaistow Cigar Co; Plaistow, NH"

The Hacks sit down with the Amanda and Lauren from Micallef Cigars to get the latest details on the Color Series. Things go off the rails early because we have been sitting in the lounge for a couple hours with the podcast juice flowing while the technical issues were resolved. This is an educational and … Continue reading "Episode 389: Red and Blue Make Purple – Twins Smoke Shop; Londonderry, NH"

The crew is back from New Orleans and PCA 2025, where we get a couple of perspectives from their PCA experiences. This month marks the end of an era for Castro’s in Concord. The mail bag is full and Nurse Rick takes a beating from Miserable Nick. The Hidden Herf receives ratings at both ends … Continue reading "Episode 388: PCA 2025 Recap – Local Spotlight: Castro’s Backroom; Concord, NH"

The annual Masters event is in full swing in Plaistow Cigar and we are here for another year with 3Leaf Cigars. The lounge is shaping up now that the new bar is in. The Hidden Herf has aged well. Local Spotlight – Plaistow Cigar Co; Plaistow, NH Conspiracy Corner – Tartaria

We are at the Tobacco Shack’s “Party for the Hell of it 4.0” and it’s a fuller house than last year. We are joined by Mike the Cop, our local Rocky Patel rep who conspires with one of our own on the Hidden Herf. It turns out to be a good one! Local Spotlight – … Continue reading "Episode 386: Party for the Hell of it 4.0 – Local Spotlight: The Tobacco Shack; Rowley, MA"

It’s a six-pack of Hacks this week in the Mustang Barn. It’s time for low keyed recording but it turns out to be a very funny episode with a few surprise gifts. Sure, alcohol was a factor. The Hidden Herf falls “short” but still gets a good rating. Local Spotlight – The Cigar Authority; Salem, … Continue reading "Episode 385: The Gifts – Local Spotlight: The Cigar Authority; Salem, NH"

It has been 5 years to the week since we’ve done an episode at Federal Cigar and The Slow Burn Lounge in Dover. With the new management, a Hack behind the bar, and Jim from the Great Cigars Podcast in town the stars aligned in Dover. The lounge is full and the jokes are almost … Continue reading "Episode 384: Great Cigars – Local Spotlight: Federal Cigar; Dover, NH"

Jonathan Carney joins the Hacks this week to talk about his new venture; Bentley Tobacco | USA and Bentley Cigars. We start out be going to the beginning and telling stories around our collective cigar adventures. This is a long one so we smoke two different cigars, both are well received by the panel. Somehow … Continue reading "Episode 383: Story Time with Special Guest: Jonathan Carney – Local Spotlight: Twins Smoke Shop; Londonderry, NH"

Nurse Rick, Pat McGroin, and Mustang Mike return from Florida with tall tales. This week we record in the 7-20-4 Lounge at Twins Smoke Shop in Londonderry, NH where Nick Goss is holding an HVC Cigars event. The Hidden Herf is an unusual novelty cigar. Three new Hacks are sworn in. Local Spotlight – Cigar … Continue reading "Episode 382: Back from Florida – Local Spotlight: Cigar Castle; Tampa, FL"

The crew drops in to Grumpy’s Cigar & Lounge for the Oliva Cigar event this week and we seem to win the majority of the swag. We have to wait until after the event to do the recording because it was just too busy in the lounge. There is a contingent of half a dozen … Continue reading "Episode 381: Not Tired of Winning – Local Spotlight: Grumpy’s Cigars & Lounge; Hudson, NH"

We return to the The Mustang Barn for another panel stumping Hidden Herf. This week it’s cars and driving related stories along with our cigars and bourbon. Ricky and Pat are in Florida this week and leave us a few voice mail messages. Detroit Steve reports on his travels and the cigar lounges he stopped … Continue reading "Episode 380: Fast Car and Auto-Driving Stories – Local Spotlight: Elite Cigar and Smoke; Rochester, NY"

Here is a Valentines Day we won’t soon forget! Nick Goss joins The Hacks for an episode on 2/14 after the Black Label Trading Company Cigar Event at Plaistow Cigar. We try a new format for the Florida Report with Nurse Rick. The Hidden Herf receives high marks. Local Spotlight – Plaistow Cigar Company – … Continue reading "Episode 379: Random Voice Mail with Nick Goss – Local Spotlight: Plaistow Cigar Company – Bar and Lounge; Plaistow, NH"

Hackapalooza 7.0 is all over but the shouting. We run down what happened after we recorded last week’s episode. The Hidden Herf is an old friend that no one recognizes, I guess it’s been too long. We spark up a second Herf and do some comparisons. Local Spotlight – The Mustang Barn Conspiracy Corner – … Continue reading "Episode 378: Out in the Cold – Local Spotlight: The Mustang Barn"

It’s the second day of Hackapalooza 7.0 with a cast of so many that we split the panel into two halves. We talk about the first 24 hours of the three day annual event and the six lounges we have visited so far. We add a couple new Hacks. Conspiracy Corner is back, no more … Continue reading "Episode 377: Hackapalooza 7.0 – Local Spotlight: Castro’s Backroom; Bedford, NH"

We bring a few first-timers to the infamous “Undisclosed Location” for this week’s episode. We have a couple of brief call-ins ahead of Hackapalooza. Pat McGroin give us a run down of his adventure to the White Ash event with Mike the Cop from Rocky Patel Cigars. The Hidden Herf is easy to determine by … Continue reading "Episode 376: Back at the Undisclosed Location – Local Spotlight: White Ash Cigar Lounge; Pawtucket, RI"

We are back at Shack for the Hackapalooza pregame and rum tasting. Ricky calls in with the Florida report and another Hack is sworn in. The Hidden Herf is picked off early and receives both high and low marks with about an even split. Local Spotlight – The Tobacco Shack; Rowley, MA Controversy Corner – … Continue reading "Episode 375: Rum and Cigar Pairings – Local Spotlight: The Tobacco Shack; Rowley, MA"