The ramblings of a mad man? In this bonus 'podette', if you will, author Nick Hammond asks if he’s mad to stick his neck out with his latest Crowdfunding campaign instead of just playing it safe and doing the same old things everyone else has done for donkeys years. In explaining his reasoning for zigging when the rest of the world is zagging, Nick also tells us why a tiny fenced off plot in a slum village outside León, Nicaragua, shines like a beacon for a handful of impoverished schoolchildren there - and why he is determined to put some of them through school using this latest campaign . Happy Friday, folks.

Nick’s Crowdfunding Campaign can be found HERE.

Some exciting news for lovers of Around The World in 80 Cigars brings Nick back in this special, one-off sneak preview episode. As well as giving us news of a fantastic project about to launch, Nick also lets us eavesdrop on a smoky conversation with Ed Hough of The Safari Series, which took place in the middle of the Kenyan bush, by the campfire on a starry, starry night. On an incredible safari expedition, Nick and Ed wandered, Maasai style, wherever the wind blew them. During their fascinating conversation, Nick and Ed discuss Cuban and New World cigars; how smoke, fire and spirituality are intrinsically linked; the ethos behind The Safari Series; local land for local people; and Nick's burgeoning elephant dung fetish. What other pod offers you all that, plus live elephant dung burning on the campfire?! Safe travels, folks.

This week’s guest on the Around The World in 80 Cigars podcast is a young man in an old business; one who is taking on the pressure of continuing, and innovating within, a tobacco dynasty. In 2016, the world of the handrolled cigar was open-mouthed to learn that Oliva – one of the oldest and most respected tobacco growing and cigarmaking companies in Nicaragua - had been bought by J Cortés – a European firm best known for its longstanding production of quality machine-made cigars. Since then, Cortés – and the Vandermarliere Cigar Family, of which it is part – has become a pioneering force in the industry. Latest incumbent is Fred Vandermarliere – the latest in a line of Vandermarlieres charged with taken this prestigious old form in a new direction. Fred joins Nick from Estelí in Nicaragua in a wide-ranging discussion which forms the last episode of Season Two. Happy Friday, folks.

In this week's episode of Around The World in 80 Cigars - The podcast, the dynamic duo behind Davidoff of London make a return visit for a chat with the epicurious Nick Hammond. All three taste test the Davidoff Year of The Ox blend while discussing all sorts of shenanigans; walnuts in Tehran; cooking Persian rice; the advent of online events; buying weird confectionery in Japan and more chat around the wonder of the shop that is Davidoff on the corner of St James's and Jermyn Streets in Mayfair, London. As we near the conclusion of Season 2, the pod is also nearing it's 20,000th listener in more than 80 countries around the world - thank you all for your support. Happy Friday, folks...

You may not have heard from him yet – but you'll hear of him again.

Matt Chatfield is convinced there’s another way to ‘do’ farming. He isn’t convinced by the increasing clamour to stop raising livestock and for humanity to become vegans in order to prevent the destruction of the planet. Matt joins Nick on this week’s show to discuss how he intends to make his small family farm famous the world over. He tells how his flock of sheep – many of whom have names, by the way – have been given a new lease of life and in turn have shown what nature can do with the right environment. Soil has improved. Water retention and drainage has improved. New plants, birds and animals are being spotted. And the meat from the sheep themselves is being clamoured over by London’s top chefs. All in all, Matt is a remarkable man who, until a couple of years back, was running pubs and living on a barge on the Thames. Now he's found his calling. And this week’s show is a wonderful, enlightening, emotional listen. Happy Friday, folks.

Not your usual fella, is Matt Booth. Nick Hammond's guest this week has forged an utterly unique path in both the jewellery and cigar businesses. He's not one for the limelight - preferring to skirt around the outside of the spotlight, content to be getting on with things in his own, very personal, way. A former US Marine and someone who deep dives into the cultures and traditions of different nations, Matt turned a love for unusual design and creation into a subversive, dynamic, cool and aspirational cigar range over the past couple of decades. This is one for the cognoscenti. Happy Friday, folks.

Today’s guest spent much of his working lifetime as curator of a national treasure. The former Producer of the much-loved BBC Test Match Special travelled the world with the likes of Aggers, Blowers, John Arlott, CMJ, Johnners et al, without the modern luxuries of high-tech audio innovation, sensible travel arrangements, a working phoneline or even a hotel room worthy of the name. Many of the cricket lover’s favourite radio moments came under Peter Baxter’s watch; World Cups, Ashes series, historic innings, the game’s greatest practitioners – and even the legendary Legover commentary. In a lovely interview with Nick, Peter talks about those early years, some of the memorable characters, tales on the road from far-flung places, technical bodge jobs, changing access to players and cricket during Covid. Happy Friday, folks.

This one is a monster pod. A guest I’ve been working to ‘get in front of’ since we launched the podcast, and a much-requested interview, this week’s guest is the biggest mover and shaker in the handmade cigar industry in generations. He’s a New Yorker who’s brought graffiti to a traditional industry and a man who has an unerring eye for raw talent plus a relentless work ethic. The business he created now makes more than a third of the world’s entire stock of handmade, premium cigars every year. Hard to pin down, a whirlwind of motion, this trailblazer continues to plot, plan and put into practice projects which continue to shape the luxury product market, particularly in America. In a fascinating deep dive, he talks to host Nick Hammond about the Life of a Factory; the cigar boom and being among it; Nicaragua immediately after civil war; challenging the established culture; the creation of cigar tourism; hip hop; street art, daily regimes and bringing himself to breaking point on the road. It’s the one and only Jonathan Drew, co-founder of the might Drew Estate. Happy Friday, Folks.