A look at adult cigar culture and entrepreneurship, focusing on people aged 21 and older.
Young adults are making a name for themselves in the cigar industry through podcasts, digital media, and independent brands. The Cigar Guys illustrate that development: their work combines cigar coverage with firsthand experience developing Besa Cigars. Their story offers a concrete way to explore the conversation around Gen Z and cigars, even as research calls for caution about claims of a widespread surge in Gen Z cigar smoking.
The changing role of younger adults matters beyond consumption. It affects who tells the industry’s stories, how audiences encounter cigar culture, and who gets the opportunity to develop a brand of their own.
What the research says about Gen Z cigar smoking
The idea of a younger generation taking an interest in cigars has some basis in research, but the findings need context. A 2024 study of adults in England found that exclusive use of non-cigarette smoked tobacco increased between 2013 and 2023, with the largest increases among younger adults. The category included products such as cigars, pipes, and shisha. It did not measure premium cigar smoking alone. Read the UCL study.
More recent evidence complicates the picture. A follow-up study published in June 2026 found that exclusive non-cigarette tobacco smoking in England peaked at about 2.0% of adults in August 2022, then declined to 1.2% by February 2025. Younger adults experienced a particularly pronounced rise and subsequent decline. Read the updated research.
These studies help explain the headlines about Gen Z and cigars, but they do not establish an ongoing American Gen Z premium cigar boom. Online visibility, interest in cigar culture, and the percentage of people who smoke are different measures. A successful cigar podcast can demonstrate an audience for its content without establishing the age or smoking habits of everyone watching.
How digital media gives younger voices a platform
Digital publishing gives independent cigar commentators a way to build an audience through their own work. A podcast can host a detailed conversation with a manufacturer, while a short video can capture a single observation or an exchange between friends. Written articles give those conversations a searchable record.
The Cigar Guys’ approach suggests one explanation for the visibility of younger participants in cigar culture. Their content places the hosts’ personalities alongside the subject itself. Someone can become interested in the conversation, the people involved, or the business story as well as the cigar being discussed.
Community also helps explain the format’s appeal. Returning to a weekly show allows viewers to become familiar with the hosts and their different perspectives. Questions, disagreements, and humor give the audience reasons to follow an ongoing conversation. For adult enthusiasts, that creates another point of contact with cigar culture beyond a local lounge.
The Cigar Guys are building a name in cigar media
The Cigar Guys Podcast brings together Alexander J. Gonzalez, Jared Burrows, Mark Nikollaj, and Zachary Nikollaj. Its coverage includes cigar reviews, industry news, lounge culture, and conversations with guests. The company publishes weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube, alongside written coverage on its website. About The Cigar Guys.
Their backgrounds also show how skills developed outside tobacco can contribute to cigar media. Alexander’s experience in marketing, SEO, social media, and websites informs the work of producing and distributing content. Jared brings a background in software engineering. The combination reflects a practical route into the industry through communication and technology, alongside developing cigar knowledge. Meet the hosts.
The company reported more than 1.3 million YouTube views and nearly 3 million views across its platforms and accounts for 2026 in a July 14 update. That update described an expansion into short videos, interviews, event reporting, and lifestyle content, including coverage of PCA 2026 in New Orleans. Read the July audience update.
Consistent publishing creates a body of work that potential guests, industry partners, and audiences can evaluate. Interviews and event coverage also put the creators in direct conversation with people who make and sell cigars, giving their media work a connection to the wider business.
Creating Besa Cigars
The Cigar Guys’ involvement in Besa adds another dimension to their story. According to Eleven 02 Cigars’ account of its founding, brothers Mark and Zach joined their friend Alex to create their own cigar venture with help from friends and partners. The brothers wanted their first cigar to reflect their Albanian heritage. The Eleven 02 Cigars team.
Besa’s identity draws on that heritage. The brand explains the Albanian concept of besa in terms of keeping a promise and honoring one’s word, and its story references the Albanian historical figure Skanderbeg. Those elements give the brand a personal narrative that the founders can explain through their media work. The story behind Besa.
Their experience also extends beyond presenting a finished product on camera. In a January 2024 account of their appearance on A Cigar Hustlers Podcast, The Cigar Guys discussed Besa alongside stories about prospecting, travel, and their media venture. That account offers a glimpse of the relationship building involved in developing the brand. Read about the guest appearance.
The podcast and Besa show two connected forms of industry participation. Media gives the founders a place to explain their work and meet other participants. Developing a brand gives them business experience to bring back into those conversations. Their work gives audiences a view of the industry from the perspective of both hosts and brand founders.
What younger cigar entrepreneurs contribute
The Cigar Guys’ experience points to the value of combining an existing professional skill with sustained participation in a specialist field. Producing useful coverage takes preparation. Building relationships takes follow-through. Developing a cigar brand adds questions about product identity, partners, and how the business will operate.
For Gen Z adults interested in the industry, there are roles in production, design, writing, and business development as well as opportunities on camera. Those contributions can be evaluated through the work itself. The Cigar Guys and Besa provide an example of younger participants taking on that work and establishing a recognizable presence through both media and brand ownership.
Frequently asked questions
Is cigar smoking increasing among Gen Z
Research in England documented an earlier increase in a broader category of non-cigarette smoking among young adults, followed by a decline. It does not establish a current rise in premium cigar smoking specifically among American Gen Z adults. See the 2026 study.
Who created Besa Cigars
Eleven 02 Cigars identifies Mark Nikollaj, Zachary Nikollaj, and Alexander J. Gonzalez as the team behind the venture, supported by friends and partners. Besa’s identity reflects the Nikollaj brothers’ Albanian heritage. Read the founding account.
How do The Cigar Guys contribute to the cigar industry
They produce a weekly podcast and other cigar media, including articles, interviews, and event coverage. Members of the team also helped create the venture behind Besa, connecting their publishing work with experience developing a cigar brand. Explore their media work.
