Episode 032 of the Smoke and Steel Podcast had a little bit of everything. We cracked into a fresh boutique cigar review of the Don Emmanuel – a brand with serious Davidoff lineage behind it. We launched our Discord box pass, and ended up deep in a conversation about keeping your humidor alive when the temperatures outside are trying to kill it. It was one of those nights in the garage where the conversation just kept going. Grab a cigar and catch up.

A Boutique Cigar Review Worth Paying Attention To: The Don Emanuel

The Don Emmanuel was sent to us by Gabriel from Creativas Group, the PR Agency behind Plasencia and Miami Cigar. The cigars landed in our laps right before the show, so we were going in completely cold. No flavor notes, no price research. Just lighters and an open mind.

Turns out the man behind the blend (Eladio Diaz) spent 40 of his 60 years in the tobacco industry at Davidoff. He served as master blender, production chief, and head of quality control before going independent in 2021. That’s not a small resume. When a cigar comes from someone with that kind of background, you pay attention.

The wrapper looked solid and the burn was impressive right out of the gate. Really impressive, actually. It straightened itself out without any touchups, which is always a good sign on a first smoke. The blend is Dominican filler and wrapper with a Mexican binder, and the strength comes in at medium.

Walt was dealing with a head cold during the taping. Every retrohale cleared the sinuses right out. Even congested, he picked up a lot of spice. Good aggressive spice through the nose. Walt noted it was a little on the lighter side overall but liked it. Jim called it a win by the second third.

The real question, as always: would you buy it? The consensus was yes – at $15 and under, no hesitation. The smaller corona size runs about $34.99 for a five-pack and the larger Corona Gordos go for around $70 for five, which puts them right around $12–$14 a stick. That’s fair for the pedigree you’re getting. If you want to check them out, Small Batch Cigar has them in stock. You can also look for them locally.

The Smoke and Steel Discord Box Pass Is Live

If you’ve been hanging out in our Discord, you already know the trade train has been rolling. About two weeks in and we’ve already seen eight or nine trades between members. People are into it. So Walt and Eric put their heads together and asked, what’s next?

The answer was a box pass. For anyone who hasn’t been part of one before, here’s how it works. We put together a starting box with 10 to 15 cigars in it. The box gets mailed to whoever is first on the list. When it shows up at your door, you open it, look through what’s inside, and take whatever you want. The only rule is that you replace what you take with something of equal or greater value. Snap a photo, send it to Eric for approval, then find out who’s next on the list and ship it off.

The starting box had some real highlights. A 2014 La Gloria Cubana that came out of a Domino set. A Warped Nicotina single. A Priciple Cigars Haberdasher. A God of Fire Series B from 2011. Crowned heads Tennessee Waltz. Among other things. That’s a box with some age and some range to it.

The goal was never to pack it with $80 Limited Editions that most guys can’t match. It’s meant to be accessible. Something for the guy who smokes every night on the porch as much as the guy who saves the special stuff for the weekend. Nice sticks. Smokeable sticks. Sticks that cover the whole spectrum.

The best part is you don’t have to jump in right now. The list stays open. If you catch this episode two months from now and want in, just hit the Discord and we’ll put you at the bottom. The circle keeps going. Not your thing this time around? Maybe next time the box comes through it’ll have exactly what you’re looking for.

Jump into the Smoke and Steel Discord and get on the list. It’s free. It’s fun. And you might end up with a 2011 God of Fire in your humidor.

Winter Humidor Problems Nobody Talks About Until It’s Too Late

Eric came into the episode with a humidor story that every cigar smoker will recognize at some point. He went down to grab a cigar one night, glanced at the reservoir in his tower humidor, and realized it was bone dry. The gauge was reading 40. His second gauge confirmed it. Not good.

He filled it back up and waited. And waited. And it barely moved. That’s when the real detective work started.

Turns out it wasn’t just one thing. It was three things happening at once. First, his whole-house humidifier had gone down and he hadn’t noticed. The humidity inside his home had dropped way low. Exactly the kind of dry air that will drain a humidor fast, especially during a stretch of single-digit temperatures outside. Second, there was an HVAC vent blowing directly toward the unit. Hot dry air, constantly. Third, he just hadn’t been watching it as closely as he should have in winter.

Once he repaired the house humidifier, redirected the vent, and got the indoor humidity back up above 30%, the tower started recovering. It took almost a week to get back into the mid-60s. That’s a long time for your sticks to be sitting in dry air.

Walt has been burning through Boveda packs at a pace he’s never seen before this winter. Swapping out as many as 10 packs at a time, sometimes every week. Eric is going through close to a gallon of distilled water every week and a half. It’s a dry season and the cold just makes it worse.

A few things worth keeping in mind going into the rest of winter:

Know where your HVAC vents are relative to your humidor. A vent blowing toward it is a slow leak you might not notice for weeks. Check your indoor humidity, not just the humidity inside the humidor. If your house is running at 20% because the heat is cranking, your humidor is fighting a losing battle. Open the door less often if you can. Every time you open a big tower unit, the humidity drops and has to climb back. It adds up. And for electric humidification, it might be time. Walt is considering the upgrade. The set-it-and-forget-it appeal is real when you’re manually babysitting things through January and February.

If you’re restocking your Boveda packs or looking to upgrade your humidor setup, check out Cigar Page for humidor accessories. They carry a solid range of everything you need to keep your stash in good shape through the cold months.

Also in Episode 032

The guys stopped by Smokies Cigar Lounge on Lancaster Avenue in Reading, Pennsylvania for an Eddie and Eric on the Streets segment. Owner Amed was a gracious host. Great lounge with a lofted mezzanine, solid cigar wall, and cappuccino that got mentioned more than once. Smokies is coming up on five years, and from what we saw on the visit, they’ve built something worth checking out if you’re anywhere near Reading.

The Smoke-onos Festival in the Poconos also came up. It’s a new(ish) three-day cigar festival with general admission starting at $225, which gets you 35 cigars, an ashtray, a tactical bag, and lunch. The sponsor list reads like a who’s-who of the cigar world. Tickets go on sale soon, and the guys are already talking about making it a group trip. Worth keeping an eye on.

And a quick farewell was given to Jim Cronin and Top Shelf Cigars, which is closing after 23 years. Jim’s earned his retirement. Walt and Eddie made sure to clear out some of the remaining stock on the way out — 20 Padron 1926s and some 64s at $13 a stick. A great shop and a great guy.

Listen, Watch, and Share Episode 032

If you enjoyed this episode, the best thing you can do is share it. Text it to a buddy. Drop it in a Facebook group. Toss it on your Instagram story – honestly, that’s where the views are these days. We’re not going to beg, but our community has been carrying the show to new ears and we genuinely appreciate every share.

New episodes drop every week. Catch us on YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and in the Discord where the real conversation happens between episodes. And if you’re shopping for cigars, clicking through our affiliate links at Cigar Page and JR Cigars helps keep the garage lights on.

Thanks for listening. See you next week.