Episodes

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 ye...

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.

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 blast from the past, but still does fine. Local Spotlight – The Tobacco Shack; Rowley, MA Conspiracy Corner – Start your own Conspiracy Theory

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 Conspiracy Corner – The Flim-Flam Scam

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 entertaining episode with a high rating for the Hidden Herf. Local Spotlight – Twins Smoke Shop; Londonderry, NH Conspiracy Corner – Who Lived in Argentina?

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 of the spectrum. Local Spotlight – Castro’s Backroom; Concord, NH Conspiracy Corner – 3D Chess with the EU

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!

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.

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.

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 we manage to get the peanut gallery on the the show and there’s a lightning round of questions at the end. Local Spotlight – Twins Smoke Shop; Londonderry, NH Conspiracy Corner – The Twin...

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 Castle; Tampa, FL Conspiracy Corner – The Velocity of Money FYI – this episode dropped on Mario Day.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 gives us a run down of his adventure to the White Ash event with Mike the Cop from Rocky P...

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 – We Didn’t Start the Fire and Other Political Commentary

We arranged to meet our special guest, Varnell, at Grumpy’s for an introduction to Orisha Cigars, a Haitian brand. Nurse Rick calls in for the Florida Report. We have a few new voices, some fun and games, and a swearing-in to round out the episode.

We’re back at Castro’s in Manchester for another fun-filled episode and a sequel to Episode 354, “Drink the Rainbow”. The crew is in rare form this week with lots of jokes and poking fun at each other. Ricky’s call-in is a fail.

As 2024 comes to a close we have a special guest, Jennifer Thorson, the SVP of Marketing for the Molon Labe brands. It’s a large crew and a very busy lounge this week but we have a lot of laughs and learn about brand marketing. The Hidden Herf is identified early. Local Spotlight – Ash Cigar Lounge; Kingston, NH Controversy Corner – Massachusetts is at it Again

Direct from The Tobacco Shack in Rowley, MA it’s the 2024 Hackie Awards Show. Everyone braved the first snow storm of the season for The Tobacco Shack Christmas Party and to do this episode. We get the RI run-down from Pat McGroin.

We return to the Two Guys Christmas Party at the Seabrook location for the fourth time. Returning to the Christmas Party series are Steve DeOssie of the NFL (Episode 267) and Jarrid Trudeau EVP of Kristoff Cigars (Episode 319). Our first time guest is John Cena Sr. AKA Johnny Fabulous of Pro Wrestling. Also see Episode 162 from 2020 for our first Two Guys Christmas Party podcast. We talk about Pro Wrestling, Football and how cigars cross over to both. Who knew that Johnny Fabulous has his own ci...