Smoke and Steel

Walt White
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Smoke & Steel is what happens when a group of cigar-smoking degenerates grab a mic and let the conversation roll. Born in a garage, raised in a lounge, and fueled by good cigars and unfiltered stories — this podcast is part hangout, part therapy session, and part "what the hell did he just say?" We don’t take ourselves too seriously, and we don’t expect you to either. Expect real talk, ridiculous laughs, and the kind of banter that usually stays behind lounge doors. Sometimes it’s deep, sometimes it’s dumb, but it’s always real. Hosted by a rotating crew of misfits from all walks of life

  1. 6d ago

    [E060] A Week-Old Discord Member Shared Something We Won't Forget

    A guy named Heath had been in our Discord for about a week. None of us knew him. Then he asked if he could share something he'd written a while back, an essay about nearly dying from a series of infections, starting dialysis, and how the cigar community showed up for him in the hospital when things were darkest. We read part of it out loud, and it turned into one of the more honest conversations we've had in this garage.Before that, it's a pretty normal Tuesday. Mark's on the Isla del Sol Crocodilo, Eric's got an Ashton VSG paired with a vintage zoo ashtray his dad found him, and Walt's working through a Lampert Platino in the A size that ends up climbing the Top 25 list by the end of the night. There's talk about the Scandinavian Tobacco Group price increase hitting shelves in August, why retailer markups sting more than the tariffs themselves, and how Rob's pulled back from Fuente in favor of cigars that don't punish you for enjoying them. La Flor Dominicana's Carbon Flower cigars are finally landing, the Atabey Black Ritos nearly knocks the Padron 1964 off the top spot, and there's an update on a Trade Craft Cigars guest coming to the garage in two weeks. Read the full blog post: https://stogiereview.com/2026/08/10/smoke-and-steel-podcast-060/ Check out Heath's Full Story https://heathsnow.substack.com/p/more-than-smoke?r=8x21k9&utm_medium=ios 👉 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 📧 Email: Walt@StogieReview.com CHAPTERS0:00 Clapper and Cold Open 0:13 Welcome to the Garage 1:57 What Everyone's Smoking Tonight 3:40 Catching Up and Weekly Buys 13:05 Discord Numbers Are Exploding 23:05 Why We Won't Push Self-Promotion 29:04 Tags, Collabs, and Reposts 36:57 Merch, Troy, and a Coming Raffle 44:24 Catching Up on Other Cigar Podcasts 48:51 Trade Craft Cigars Coming to the Garage 52:47 Breaking Sports Corner 55:59 Price Increases and Retailer Markups 1:05:00 New Releases Landing This Week 1:19:12 The Top 25 List Shifts1: 24:39 Heath's Story 1:33:15 Wrapping Up the Night

  2. Sep 2

    [E059] We Found a Conspiracy Hiding Inside a Cigar Name

    Walt found a lyric in an old country song, went down a rabbit hole, and came out the other side connecting two Crowned Heads cigars to a trademark dispute. Then the crew told him the real story, and it was better than the conspiracy. This week it's Roman night in the garage courtesy of a few Tradecraft blends, and the Atabey Black Ritos is back on the table for a real conversation about whether it still earns its spot at number two on our list. We get into an old Scotsman who picked a half-smoked cigar out of an ashtray at Chartwell, the ongoing mystery of what happens when a brand like HDA moves factories, and a debate about whether Moonflower actually lives up to the hype it's getting online right now. Somewhere in the middle of all that we build our dream five-pack, argue about music, and start planning a cigar lounge none of us can afford yet. Check out the full blog post: https://stogiereview.com/2026/08/01/smoke-and-steel-podcast-059/ 👉 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 📧 Email: Walt@StogieReview.com CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold Open and Lighting Up 15:17 The Ashtray Incident and Other Hustles 30:01 Ranking the Atabey Black Ritos 39:39 Fan Generosity and Lounge Mishaps 48:39 HDA Moves From Black Label 57:00 Blending, Rolling, and Frankenstein Cigars 1:11:41 Cigar Conspiracy Corner 1:17:11 Is Moonflower Cigar of the Year 1:21:04 New Cigars and the Black Card 1:26:02 Building the Dream Five Pack 1:33:00 What We're Listening To 1:43:09 Designing Our Own Lounge 1:54:08 Merch Store Update 1:57:51 Wrapping Up

  3. Aug 26

    [058] A Discord Gift Just Cracked Our Top 25 Cigar of 2026 List

    A Discord member sent the whole crew a box of smokes, and one of them, the Atabey Black Ritos, ended up in a real debate for a spot on our Top 25 Cigars of 2026 list. Smoke and Steel records every Tuesday night in a garage in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. Same crew, same cigars, same conversations they were already having before the cameras turned on. This week's episode covers a lot of ground. There's a father's thank-you gift of OpusX and Don Carlos cigars from the Dominican Republic, a growing debate over the upcoming Le Flambeaux out of the Kelner factory, and an update on LA Cigar Collective's Membership. One of the crew goes down a rabbit hole trying to figure out how many cigar lounges actually exist across the country, and the show wraps with a conversation about Ireland's new smoking restrictions and the old story about JFK stockpiling Cubans before the embargo. The Atabey Black Ritos was sent to the show by a member of our Discord community, not a sponsor. Just a genuinely generous gift that turned into one of the best cigars of the year. Read the full blog post: https://stogiereview.com/2026/08/06/smoke-and-steel-podcast-058/ 👉 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 📧 Email: Walt@StogieReview.com CHAPTERS 0:00 Welcome Back to the Garage 1:09 What We're Smoking and Buying This Week 9:29 The Hunt for the Johnny Tobacconaught 19:38 Community Shoutouts and the Virtual Lounge 25:24 A Text From Abe Flores at PDR 27:00 Flambeaux Hype and the Collective Pack's Growth 37:20 The Atabey Black Ritos Joins the List 43:53 A Gift Box and a Comedian Tangent 48:05 The Croc, and a Shoutout to Smokin' Sounds 52:27 An Update on the Garage Build 54:45 The LFD Project Carbon Flower 58:21 Conspiracy Corner: Counting Cigar Lounges 1:04:33 Fan Questions: Letdowns and Consistency 1:11:34 One Year In, and the Merch Store Blows Up 1:17:10 Smoking Bans, From Ireland to JFK's Cuba

  4. Aug 21

    [062] Rob Blumenthal Joins Us to Talk Tradecraft Cigars

    Rob Blumenthal joined us in the garage this week to talk about Tradecraft Cigars, the brand he launched on his own outside the family business. He walked us through the Gladius, the Azorian, and the Vitruvian, and by the end of the night the Gladius had the whole table talking. We got into how Rob built three completely different blends instead of one house line with different wrappers, why he lowered his prices while most of the industry is raising theirs, and the story behind naming a cigar after a Cold War CIA mission. Rob also broke down his family's history in the cigar business going back five generations, his partnership with blender Wiber Ventura, and what's coming next for the brand, including a fourth line called Shinobi. We picked these cigars up ourselves at Chartwell Cigar Club and smoked them live on the show. Check out the full blog post on Stogie Review: https://stogiereview.com/2026/08/19/smoke-and-steel-podcast-062/ 👉 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 📧 Email: Walt@StogieReview.com CHAPTERS 0:00 Before We Officially Start 0:19 Meet Rob Blumenthal 2:38 How Tradecraft Came Together 6:14 Building Three Distinct Blends 14:02 Cutting Prices While Everyone Raises Theirs 18:46 Box Press Launch and Chartwell Shoutout 23:01 Blending for a Split Room 29:08 The Half Wheel Review Story 35:13 Five Generations of Cigar History 41:01 Running a Brand vs a Shop 44:53 Naming Gladius, Azorian, and Vitruvian 52:20 Shinobi and Finding Wiber Ventura 1:00:23 The Gladius Wins the Table 1:03:08 Digging Into the Vitruvian 1:07:46 Tobacco Supply and Industry Relationships 1:16:47 What's Next and Smaller Boxes

  5. Aug 19

    [E056] We Finally Gave a Cigar a Perfect Score

    We built our own cigar rating system this week and used it for the first time. Five swords, one through five, no half points. By the end of the night, one cigar walked away with a perfect score. Plasencia sent us two boxes to open on camera, each one loaded with a magnetic lid, matching lighter, and cutter. One stayed with the crew, the other went to Eric, who's been running our social media all year and finally got something back for it. From there we worked through what everyone smoked, talked through the price increases hitting some of our go-to sticks like Tatuaje's Monster Series and Black Label's Bishop Blends, and got sidetracked into a long conversation about AI tracking, toll cameras, and how much of your day gets logged without you noticing. Bruce also joins partway through and tells us about his move from Cigar Mojo to Chartwell Cigar Club. Smoke and Steel records every Tuesday night in a garage in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. Same crew, same cigars, same conversations they were already having before the cameras turned on. Read the full blog post here: https://stogiereview.com/2026/07/22/smoke-and-steel-podcast-056/ 👉 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 Episode 56 Rolls In Late 6:20 Plasencia Surprises Eric With a Box 10:45 Bruce Joins and Lights the Farce 13:01 What Everybody Picked Up This Week 22:03 The Sword Rating System Is Born 24:57 Fans of the Week and Growing Numbers 29:41 Grading the Don Emmanuel So Far 31:25 Monster Series and Bishop Blends Get Pricier 36:04 AI Tracking and Toll Road Paranoia 48:50 Titans of Tobacco and the UK Tobacco Ban 53:31 Walt Lights the Fratello 59:40 Bruce Makes the Move to Chartwell 1:03:59 The Great Plasencia Burn Debate 1:11:01 Rob's Cafe Racer Rebuild 1:18:36 An Old Crowned Heads Court Resurfaces 1:29:57 Life on the Road and Slowing Down 1:43:05 One Year of Smoke and Steel 1:46:19 Final Sword Scores of the Night

  6. Aug 12

    [055] We Left Mark Out of an Online Herf and Never Heard the End of It

    0:00 Welcome to the Garage 4:04 Mark Finds Out About the Herf 8:03 What We Bought This Week 15:06 Remembering Drew Estate's Glenn Wolfson 16:39 Fan Questions: Show Changes and Newcomers 24:42 Cigar Bands and Ash, Stash, or Trash 34:15 The Opus X Baby Shark Price Debate 38:38 Rebranded Blends and Honest Reviews 56:00 Tasting Notes and Reference Points 59:35 Connecticut vs Maduro Showdown 1:04:58 LACC, HDA, and the Collective Pack 1:09:53 Seasonal and Limited Edition Cigars 1:17:19 List Talk: Liga Privada, Bishop's Blend, and Alma Fuerte 1:30:18 Cigar Sizes and Easy Blind Buys 1:34:38 Fans and Discord Shoutouts 1:37:57 Walt's Movie and TV Remake Rant 1:48:35 Rob's Package Mix-Up and Closing Out

  7. Aug 5

    [E054] Eddie Bought Out a Vape Shop's Whole Cigar Case

    Eddie walked into a vape shop looking for nothing in particular and walked out having bought every Plasencia they had in stock. Old Plasencia short fillers sitting next to current Alma Fuerte hexagons, priced like nobody behind the counter knew what they had. The price has already gone up since we recorded this. Smoke and Steel records every Tuesday night in a garage in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. Same crew, same cigars, same conversations we were already having before the cameras turned on. This week the table gets into a $1,200 spinning humidor that showed up on Rob's porch, a full rundown of what everybody bought during the Father's Day sales, and a debate about who we'd actually pick to blend a cigar if we ever made one. Crown Heads and LFD both come up more than once. Later on we get into the economics of why a cigar that costs a couple bucks to make can sell for twenty, why an Opus X gets flipped for triple retail and nobody seems mad about it, and the ongoing argument about buying by the box versus buying five-packs. Check out the blog post here: https://stogiereview.com/2026/07/18/smoke-and-steel-podcast-054/ 👉 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 Back In The Chair After Five Weeks 2:26 What's Burning Tonight 7:29 Fans Of The Week And Discord Points 11:33 The Father's Day Sale Damage Report 14:12 A Vape Shop Turns Up Old Plasencia 17:47 The Rest Of The Shopping List 20:55 Walt's Porch Full Of Boxes 21:58 New Releases On The Horizon 29:00 Would We Ever Make Our Own Cigar 34:36 The $1,200 Spinning Humidor 38:40 Giving Bruce Grief And Old Episodes 44:04 Picking A Blender For Our Cigar 53:36 Nicaragua Versus Dominican Tobacco 58:58 Bike Updates And Backwards Uploads 1:00:57 Ranking The Avowed Lineup 1:09:49 Black Card Clubs And Boogeyman Cigars 1:13:07 Where The Real Discounts Live 1:20:35 The Mark Episode And What A Cigar's Worth 1:26:17 Spoiled By Having Four Lounges 1:34:14 Boxes Versus Five Packs 1:44:57 Closing Out Episode 54

  8. Jul 29

    [E053] The Saint Who Asked for a Cigar Instead of Anesthesia

    Bruce heard a saint story this week that stopped the whole table. A Polish soldier asked for a cigar instead of anesthesia before his leg was amputated in 1863, and he ended up canonized. We also get a full report on the new Chartwell Cigar Club, a mystery grudge nine years in the making, and way too much talk about Connecticut wrappers. Smoke and Steel records every Tuesday night in a garage in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. Same crew, same cigars, same conversations we were already having before the cameras turned on. Tonight it's Mark, Bruce, Eric the Elder, Jim, and Walt, with Eric Drumheller out for his daughter's birthday. We talk shipping horror stories, SiriusXM negotiating tactics, the etiquette of bringing your own cigar box into a shop, and the Kelner 80th out of the LACC Collective Pack. Somewhere in there Bruce gets badmouthed by a stranger at his own cigar lounge, and nobody can figure out why. Check out the full blog post: https://stogiereview.com/2026/07/11/smoke-and-steel-podcast-053/ 👉 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 Cold open and what's in the ashtray tonight 2:53 Package problems and cigar shipping stories 9:55 Bruce breaks down the new Chartwell Cigar Club 24:27 The sword wall, the motorcycle lift, and Walton PA 29:14 Retirement, budgets, and the SiriusXM haggle 34:33 Why the whole crew went Connecticut crazy 43:07 The Goosebumps guy badmouths Bruce 49:28 New cigars on the table tonight 54:20 Missing Eric and running into reps in the wild 57:22 Sports Corner 1:02:00 What international soccer taught us about cleanup 1:05:37 The saint who chose a cigar over anesthesia 1:09:05 Big Boy train, anniversary, and merch update 1:20:01 Remembering the beer garden cigar events 1:24:51 New cigars and the etiquette of bringing your own box 1:38:31 The Kelner 80th and the LACC Collective Pack 1:41:53 Winding down and closing out

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About

Smoke & Steel is what happens when a group of cigar-smoking degenerates grab a mic and let the conversation roll. Born in a garage, raised in a lounge, and fueled by good cigars and unfiltered stories — this podcast is part hangout, part therapy session, and part "what the hell did he just say?" We don’t take ourselves too seriously, and we don’t expect you to either. Expect real talk, ridiculous laughs, and the kind of banter that usually stays behind lounge doors. Sometimes it’s deep, sometimes it’s dumb, but it’s always real. Hosted by a rotating crew of misfits from all walks of life

Information

  • Creator
    Walt White
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    72
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Walt White
  • Show Website
    Smoke and Steel

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