Episode 198 Recap: The Cigar Guys Are in Trouble, and This Time It’s Our Fault
Episode 198 of The Cigar Guys Podcast was supposed to be a regular Saturday hang. Then, in the guys’ own words, they were “literally about to hit record, and BAM… we get an email.” That’s how this one turned into an emergency episode. The good news: it’s nothing serious, and the crew still found time to light up some Sans Pareil, spot AI-written text, relive a chaotic road trip and tease a big November.
Here’s everything you need to know about Episode 198: “The Cigar Guys are in trouble, this time it’s our fault,” which premiered on YouTube on Saturday, October 24, 2026.
Episode 198 at a Glance
- Episode: 198, “The Cigar Guys are in trouble, this time it’s our fault”
- Released: Saturday, October 24, 2026
- Length: About 48 minutes
- Cigar smoked: Sans Pareil Green Belvederes
- Guests: None this week, just the crew
The Email That Started It All
The title says it all: this time, the trouble was on us. The guys had already planned to call this an emergency podcast, and then an actual emergency landed in the inbox minutes before recording. They walk through what happened, how they’re handling it, and why it’s already been sorted out. We’ll let them tell that story themselves, so hit play above for the full version. The short answer is that no harm was meant, it’s an easy fix, and everyone’s in good spirits about it.
On the Table: Sans Pareil Green Belvederes
The cigar of the day was the Sans Pareil Green Belvederes. One of them even took a tumble off the table mid-conversation, and it survived without cracking and stayed lit. As the guys put it, that’s “good construction, solid construction.” Later in the show, Mark called the Sans Pareil Green line one of his favorites and said he hadn’t had one in a while, so this was a welcome return.
If you want more on the brand, check out our look at how Sans Pareil redesigned its Gold Line with the Super Lancero and Jeddo, and our story on Sans Pareil arriving at Cigar Hustler in Deltona, Florida.
Can You Spot AI-Written Text?
The episode opens mid-conversation on a surprisingly useful topic: how AI-generated content gets detected. The crew talks about C2PA, the content-labeling approach big tech companies use to tag images, video and text as AI-generated. Images and video are the easier case because the label can live in the file’s metadata. Text is trickier, and the answer is pattern recognition.
The tells they call out will sound familiar to anyone who’s read a chatbot answer: the long em dash, and the “curly” apostrophes and quotes that look like a font choice but are actually different characters from the straight ones on your keyboard. The workaround one of the guys uses is to feed in a few samples of his own writing and tell the AI to write like him, then clean it up himself.
Acquired Tastes: Beer, Whiskey and the IPA Debate
From there it’s a classic Cigar Guys detour into acquired tastes. Does anyone actually like their first sip of beer or whiskey? Half the table says no. One host says his first whiskey was Jack Daniels and he didn’t mind it at all. Then comes the IPA debate, where one host loves a bitter, hoppy beer and another is convinced everyone is just pretending. The verdict on “really hoppy” beer: nobody can explain what it means, but they’ll all keep saying it. In the end, the consensus is simple: stick to cigars, whiskey and a beer you actually enjoy.
Off-Season Travel, Zoos and a Very Slow Train
The middle of the episode turns into a travel swap. The guys trade stories about catching Miami, New York City and Magic Kingdom on unexpectedly empty days, which is the best way to see any of them. That leads to a spirited zoo debate (one host would rather watch animals on TV “without the smell”), a Gatorland train ride that a toddler could apparently outpace, and childhood memories of riding Thomas the Tank Engine and pulling the sword from the stone at Disney.
The Road Trip That Almost Wasn’t
The best story of the episode is the drive up to a wedding in North Carolina. Picture downed trees, a day spent clearing about 20 of them, a 4 a.m. alarm that went off for ten minutes without waking anyone, a hotel that said it had no rooms until a manager stepped in, a second hotel in Savannah whose booking system was down, and no cell service for long stretches while friends up north wondered if the guys had vanished. Their verdict? A rough trip, a great time, and Charlotte was a beautiful safe haven along the way, with coffee, waffles, art and a flea market.
AI Tools, a Children’s Book and a Time-Travel Bit
There’s also a fun stretch comparing AI tools the crew uses day to day, from writing help to images and video, plus an update on a children’s book one of the hosts has published. The sample copy came back with images in different sizes, so he’s fixing the layout before it gets promoted. And the guys lean into a running joke that they’re “time travelers” who predict what happens on the show before it happens.
Looking Ahead: The November 7 Episode
Speaking of predictions, the guys made a few for the November 7 episode, with tongues firmly in cheek. Jared is “predicted” to be smoking a Sans Pareil Gold, and Mark’s call is a Besa Maduro. If you want to get ahead of him, Besa is our own brand, and you can find it at BesaCigars.com, where the code cigarguys takes 10% off your order. Tune in on November 7 to see whether the time travelers were right.
The Cigar Guys Awards 2026: Nominations Are Open
The episode closes with a reminder that the Cigar Guys Awards for 2026 are officially underway. You can nominate your favorite cigars, brands and industry representatives until November 30. In December, the top four nominees in each category go head to head, with winners decided by a panel of judges plus your input. Categories include Cigar of the Year, Brand of the Year and Industry Representative of the Year, and one category, the People’s Choice cigar of 2026, is 100% consumer voted. For more on why we started the awards, read Cigar Culture and Recognition.
Where to Listen
Catch Episode 198 wherever you get your podcasts:
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