Episode 137 – Willy’s Wonderland (2021), Herrera Estelí Miami cigar, Beers

Welcome back to this sweat-soaked tidal wave of hardbodied insanity we like to call The Tuesday Night Cigar Club!

Tut had some major problems with the unique sci-fi western that I selected for our last episode, so I thought I would make him happy tonight by picking something brand spanking new to watch and discuss. But, as you’ll soon learn, some folks just can’t be pleased. At least we had a wonderful cigar and some delicious, powerhouse beers so 2 out of 3 ain’t too shabby!

THE CIGAR – HERRERA ESTELÍ MIAMI PIRAMIDE FINO by DREW ESTATE

Size: 6 1/2 x 54
Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano Oscuro)
Binder: Ecuador (Sumatra)
Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
Price: $12.75 (and please remember when purchasing some fine Drew Estate cigars or other brands from FamousSmokeShop.com to use your new favorite promo code TNCC20 at checkout where it will knock $20 off your purchase of $100 or more)

The lavish Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper unleashes a very nice, gloriously rich cedar aroma once the cello is slid off and the cold draw reveals some fig-like sweetness. Upon ignition there’s a medium-strength spice through the nose and that cedar that was alluded to earlier comes through loud and proud on the draw. It’s a beautiful, pronounced cedar that deserves to stand alone on the main stage.

Tut and Yak Boy also picked up on a very subtle toasted marshmallow note on the retrohale in the first half but, quite sadly, I was unable to detect it. Dammit. Smores flavor in a cigar? It’s master blender Willy Herrera’s Wonderland and we’re all just thankfully living in it! He’s the hardest working master blending mofo in the business and we are constantly in awe of his mad skills…

In the second half, a leather flavor joins the warm spice via the retrohale and it’s still all cedar all day long on the draw. While Yaks and Tut continued to get hints of that sought after sweetness, the toasted marshmallow, I regrettably never picked up on it. What this cigar lacks in complexity or transitions, it more than makes up for in high quality, well pronounced flavors. The long-lasting finish on the Herrera Estelí Miami is both impressive and memorable. This is a consistent cigar from start to finish and we easily awarded it THREE THUMBS UP!

TNCC FINAL GRADE: 90

THE BEERS

Once again folks, usually (before this mini apocalypse was thrust upon all of us) we would carefully – some of you have said “expertly” – pair our evening’s beer with the cigar and movie and we’d all drink that same beer and compare notes. But since this whole COVID-19 shitshow has happened, each member of the TNCC is now solely responsible for risking their lives out in the wild and acquiring their own beers for each episode…

TUTTLE’S BEER – TRAVELIN’ MAN IPA by ADELBERT’S BREWERY

This 6.4% ABV, medium range IBU beer is a lighter, New England style IPA. With very little bitterness, non-IPA drinker Tut found this beer to be a little too harmless to bring anything interesting to his cigar tonight. He wanted more malts or more bitterness, more something!, to aid his cigar along the path this evening and the Travelin’ Man wasn’t it. But the movie we discuss does have a traveling man in it so all was not lost.
TUT’s PAIRING GRADE = C-

CADE’S BEER – THE WALDO’S TRIPLE IPA by LAGUNITAS BREWERY

This fucking 11.7% powerhouse has malts out of the wazoo and that maltiness really brings out the underlying sweetness in tonight’s cigar. The malts and bold hop characteristics in particular really help tonight’s cigar shine to its full potential. Lagunitas advertises this beer as having 100+ IBUs and I’d actually put that number closer to 77 tops BUT that’s not a bad thing! This IPA is delicious and a dream as far as cigar pairings go…
CADE’S PAIRING GRADE = A

THE DOCTOR’S BEER – SUMMER PILS by SAINT ARNOLD’S BREWERY

Doc really enjoyed this fresh, crisp 4.9% summer beer and he could clearly imagine himself chugging a bunch of these out on his beloved golf course. The 20 IBUs were negligent but The Doctor’s appreciation for this beer was not. The Summer Pils can is very brightly colored and tonight’s film features some bold, vibrant color schemes as well but… c’mon Doc… you can do better than this.
THE DOCTOR’S PAIRING GRADE = D

YAK BOY’S BEER – ELECTRIC JELLYFISH IPA by PINTHOUSE PIZZA

This 6.5% ABV hazy IPA with the quirky name is straight outta quirky Austin, TX and Yak Boy loved it. While tonight’s film has many electric animatronic creatures in it, there’s no electric jellyfish so the only thing that Yaks accomplished with this cloudy, light beer pairing is that he made The Doctor’s beer selection look a little less terrible pairing-wise. He said it went “really well” with his cigar but whatever…
YAK BOY’S PAIRING GRADE = D-

THE FILM – WILLY’S WONDERLAND (2021)

The poster doesn’t lie, much like the year 2020 this movie should be forgotten as soon as possible…

Willy’s Wonderland is written by G.O. Parsons and it’s directed by a dude named Kevin Lewis who has helmed a few things prior to tonight’s movie but the only one I’ve seen is 2003’s Malibu Spring Break which, as you can probably guess by the title, I was drinking heavily while watching that film so I don’t remember anything about it…

Nicolas Cage meets Willy The Weasel

Our very own Yak Boy has a brilliant theory as far as Nicolas Cage’s character in Willy’s Wonderland, because we get nothing as far as backstory or motivation for his “Janitor” character whatsoever in the actual film. It’s as if Cage’s character from Mandy climbed in a muscle car at the conclusion of that movie and just ended up at Willy’s Wonderland fun center. He shrugs, he’s obviously dealt with a lot weirder shit than he’s presented with here, and then Cage silently slaughters an entire pizzeria filled with homicidal fuzzy animatronic characters without delivering so much as a catchy one-liner. He’s seen worse, he’s seen EVERYTHING in that much better film, this is just another stop for him on the bizarre journey that is his life. So if you choose to watch Willy’s Wonderland, perhaps go in to it with this mindset because the actual screenplay is total nonsensical horseshit.

At a certain point as an audience member, very early on, you just want to raise your hands and give up…

So do you to want to know how we REALLY felt about this movie? Well click the links below NOW!!!

THE NUB

Please leave us comments on the YouTube episode page and subscribe while you’re there, provide us with a review on iTunes, or be a real stud and do both! All these seemingly small gestures would be greatly appreciated as they let us know exactly what you’re thinking about this sweat-soaked tidal wave of hardbodied insanity we like to call The Tuesday Night Cigar Club.

Sayonara motherfuckers!!!

Below is tonight’s full episode for both your viewing and listening pleasure. Thank you for checking out The Tuesday Night Cigar Club and we’ll see you next time when we review another cigar, adult beverage, and film. May the wings of liberty never lose a feather…

 

 

 

 

 

 

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TNCC Podcast

Brother of the Leaf, Filmmaker, Prophet, former Mr. South Dakota 1996. I was a bouncer on the child beauty pageant circuit until one too many juice boxes went missing and somebody had to take the fall. I was set up. Ok, I was thirsty. All that hairspray in the air dries out your throat like a motherfu... I apologize to no man. Now I host the Tuesday Night Cigar Club podcast.

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