They do it the right way.

No shortcuts.
No calendar cheating.
No pretending December 15th is “close enough.”

On this Happy Hour episode of Eat Drink Smoke, Tony Katz and Fingers Malloy kick off their Cigars of the Year conversation — after a full year of reviews, arguments, surprises, and more than a few humidor debates.

Along the way:

• Why Eat Drink Smoke isn’t just a bourbon show (and never really was)

• The only real rule for Cigars of the Year — did it move you?

• Why price, size, wrapper, and hype don’t decide the list

• A deep pour of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked and why it’s an always-there bottle

• Cream, caramel, dried fruit, crème brûlée… and whether any of us know what dessert we’re actually talking about

• How a $9 cigar nearly stole Cigar of the Year

• Why surprise matters more than pedigree

• Tony’s early reveal of his #3 cigar of the year

• Fingers’ philosophy: value first, enjoyment always

• And a brief, spirited disagreement over whether America could ever fall out of love with pizza

This is the relaxed, wandering version of the show — part cigar talk, part spirits talk, part food world detour — exactly how Happy Hour is supposed to be.

Light something up.
Pour something you like.
They'll take it from there.

More episodes, cigar reviews, and show info are available at EatDrinkSmokeShow.com.

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