Episode 200 Recap: 200 Episodes In and We’re Still Roasting Each Other
Two hundred episodes. That’s how many times Alex, Jared, Mark and Zach have pulled up chairs, lit something good and hit record, and Episode 200 of The Cigar Guys Podcast proves the formula hasn’t changed: celebratory cigars, big debates over small things and plenty of roasting.
Here’s everything you need to know about Episode 200: “200 Episodes In… and We’re Still Roasting Each Other”, which premiered on YouTube on Saturday, November 7, 2026.
Episode 200 at a Glance
- Episode: 200, “200 Episodes In… and We’re Still Roasting Each Other”
- Released: Saturday, November 7, 2026
- Length: About 85 minutes
- Hosts: Alex, Jared, Mark and Zach
- Cigars smoked: Sans Pareil Gold (Jared), Besa Maduro (Mark), Notorious Unapologetic (Zach) and Atabey (Alex)
- Guests: None this week, just the crew
What the Guys Smoked for Episode 200
The assignment was simple: bring a good cigar. Everyone took it a little differently.
Jared lit up the Sans Pareil Gold, which earned an early “I think Jared won this round.” If you want the backstory on the line, read how Sans Pareil redesigned its Gold Line with the Super Lancero and Jeddo.
Mark brought a cigar “with a purpose”: the Besa Maduro from the newest batch. Besa got its start in 2022, right around the time the podcast did, so it felt like the right stick for a milestone. The final-thoughts verdict: always great, and it tasted amazing. Besa is our own brand, and you can find it at BesaCigars.com, where the code cigarguys takes 10% off your order.
Zach went with the Notorious Unapologetic and joked that he apologizes to absolutely nobody for 200 episodes. By the end of the show, the verdict on it was “fantastic” and a great morning smoke.
Alex (Alexander Gonzalez) smoked an Atabey, picked to honor the most-showcased company on the podcast outside our own: Oliver and United Cigars. The verdict was that it was a perfect choice for a celebration and a morning session, especially without five other cigars beforehand to dull the palate. Catch up on the line with our look at the Atabey Ritos gift set and its five years of aging.
Morning Show Energy: Matcha, Espresso and Nitro Cold Brew
Episode 200 was a rare morning recording, and it showed. The crew spent the opening minutes arguing over matcha (one host hadn’t had one in two weeks, another has never tried it), daily espresso habits and whether a Starbucks nitro cold brew is a legitimate choice or strictly an on-the-road emergency. One confession that surprised the table: a couple of the guys actually like Starbucks matcha.
200 Episodes and Still No YouTube Plaque
Two hundred episodes is a milestone for any podcast, and the guys took a moment to soak it in, sort of. Asked whether they’re tired of doing the show, the answers ranged from “no” to “I get more tired of you than anything.” The real complaint? YouTube hasn’t sent them a play button plaque yet. The solution, naturally, is to make their own, along with a gold version of the crew’s mascot figure.
There was also a theory floated that big shifts come in seven-year cycles and that the next seven years are going to be a lot better than the last. The crew is choosing to believe it.
A Puff-by-Puff Rating Video?
After a quick detour through Florida news, the conversation turned to a viral video series where a creator rates every sip of coffee from “good” to “mid” to “goated,” with a palate cleanser in between. The guys want to do it with cigars, rating every puff from the first draw to the nub. As they pointed out, the first puff is rarely the best one, and a cigar can open up three or four puffs in or halfway through. That led to a debate about the “virgin puff” and Alex’s habit of lighting a little before he cuts. One idea for the venue: Nelson Alfonso’s new space in Spain, which you can read about in our coverage of Selected Tobacco’s new Madrid facility.
Who Mogs in the Cigar World?
With the internet’s favorite word in heavy rotation, the guys asked which cigar brands “mog,” meaning which ones win on the total package of band, box and cigar. The nominations:
- Besa: the home team vote, with its band getting plenty of love, including a shout-out to Albanian hero Skanderbeg.
- Foundation Cigars: if you say Besa, you have to say Foundation, with the Tabernacle getting a mention.
- Selected Tobacco: great presentation from the box to the cigar, with the Alfonso singled out as a great cigar, even if the band didn’t quite make the cut.
- Davidoff Puro d’Oro: that all-gold band got respect, even though the line is no longer around (Davidoff discontinued it in 2016).
- Notorious Mink: a good-looking band with gold foil, though not everyone was convinced it mogs. Zach smoked the Notorious Unapologetic, not The Mink; his cigar got a strong recommendation at the end of the show.
- Opus X: the clear winner for some. The crew remembered smoking the 20th anniversary Opus X and called it fantastic.
The segment also sparked an idea for The Cigar Guys Awards: some fun side prizes on top of the main categories, which will stay. The guys want to hear which awards you’d swap out. For more on the Opus X story, see The Opus X Legacy: Pioneering the Dominican Puro.
DJ Khaled’s Cigar Era
The crew has noticed DJ Khaled leaning hard into cigars lately. He has always smoked, but he’s practically a cigar influencer now, posting some seriously hard-to-find smokes, Cubans included.
Kitchen Renovations and Borrowed vs. Stolen Shirts
The back half of the episode is pure Cigar Guys. Mark’s kitchen renovation got the full story, from early-morning phone calls to Zach handling the electrical work (and the maze of wires behind the walls), with a chandelier over the island possibly next on the list.
That turned into a surprisingly heated debate: where’s the line between borrowed and stolen? The rule the crew landed on: borrowed is a shirt that ends up in someone else’s laundry and comes back eventually. Stolen is a shirt someone wears in a proposal photo, because you can never ask for that one back.
Custom Wedding Suits
With a wedding on the horizon, the guys talked suits: tailoring that actually fits instead of oversized “how they wore it back in the day” cuts, a possible Brooks Brothers suit, double-breasted jackets and a Ralph Lauren custom suit and tux experience in New York that sounds like a perfect excuse for a guys’ trip. The leading color plan? All black, with two of the guys in white.
Where to Listen
Catch Episode 200 wherever you get your podcasts:
Missed last week? Read our Episode 199 recap on cheap vs. expensive cigars. Want to rep the show? Grab some Cigar Guys gear at cigarguys.shop.
Thank you for being part of 200 episodes. Tell us in the YouTube comments: which cigar brand mogs the hardest? Subscribe on YouTube and hit the notification bell so you never miss a Saturday episode. Here’s to the next 200.
