travel: germany
Mirko Pettene跟兒子Rico （右） 於歐洲最大的保濕煙室內。Max Zechbauer煙草店仍然由家族經營，客人包括歐洲的皇室貴族。 Mirko Pettene and his son Rico (right), stand in the largest humidor in Europe in the Max Zechbauer tobacco shop, which has been family run for centuries. It still attracts the kings and queens of Europe’s royal court.
導遊推開重重的木門，我們一同走進煙草店，著裝整潔的年輕人 Rico Pettene立即向我們問好。他是家族第七代成員，煙草店於1830 年開業，由1886年起開始向皇室供應上等雪茄、煙斗及威士忌。 過去數個世紀，店內的客人名單全是歐洲各國的皇室貴冑，瑞 典及英國的皇室成員至今仍有光顧。英國皇室亦會向一些當地的優 質商店授予Royal Warrant的皇室認證，准許他們在門外展示刻有By Appointment of Her Majesty The Queen字樣的英女皇盾形紋章。 即將出發來到加拿大入讀大學的Rico及其父親Mirko，興奮地帶我 們走入全歐洲只此一家的步入式的「雪茄盒」。 這個大型雪茄盒是一個保濕煙室，裡面充滿煙草香，層架上放滿 一盒盒名牌手工製雪茄。由Sir Winston Churchill曾經吸食過的大雪 茄，以至看起來像嬰兒手指的迷你雪茄都一應俱全。所有雪茄有一個 共通點，就是價值不菲。 Mirko Pettene說︰「我們最貴的一支雪茄售210歐元（約加幣 $325），數日前才有一位華裔客人買了一整盒。」。他更驕傲表示其店 被業界刊物及雪茄專家一致評為「歐洲最佳的煙草店」。 煙草店吸引了很多華裔富豪及俄羅斯客人，亦有荷李活名人。 Rico說：「阿諾舒華辛力加及摩根費曼也是我們的熟客。著名球會拜仁 慕尼黑的球員間中亦會光顧。」 我以為最優質的雪茄都來自古巴，Mirko立即糾正我。「古巴近年 出現土壤侵蝕問題，現時最優質的雪茄都來自多明尼加共和國及尼加 拉瓜。」 我跟著兩父子走，經過多個酒桶，裡面釀製的是罕見的單一麥芽 威士忌，還有一桶桶冰用來冷凍魚子醬。沿窄窄的樓梯向下走，便來 到展示人手製煙斗的陳列室。 「煙斗又再次成為熱潮，華人對此更特別感興趣。」Mirko拿著一支 造工精緻的煙斗說：「這支售一萬歐元（約加幣$13,500）。」 Rico亦急不及待展示他父親私人珍藏的雪茄盒。這些雪茄盒由來 自美國、被譽為業界搖滾明星的Daniel Marshall設計。
108 E L I T E G E N. C A
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M AY / J U N E
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2019
My guide pushes open the large wooden door guarding the tobacco shop entrance and on the opposite side, a nattily-attired young man named Rico Pettene greets us. He’s the seventh generation of his family to welcome people to the shop, which officially opened in 1830. It started delivering top quality cigars, pipes and whiskies to the royal doorstep in 1886. Over the centuries, a Who’s Who of European royals have crossed the distinguished shop’s threshold and still come today from kingdoms like Sweden and Great Britain. The latter recognizes similar British shops who sell high quality items and awards them a Royal Warrant, permitting them to display the Queen’s Coat of Arms under which is engraved the familiar words: “By Appointment of Her Majesty The Queen.” Rico, who is about to head off to a Canadian university is joined by his father, Mirko. The two excitedly lead us into “the only walk-in humidor in Europe.” The sweet smell of quality cigar tobacco fills the giant humidor whose shelves are crammed with boxes of handmade cigars bearing world famous labels. There’s big ones—the size Sir Winston Churchill once smoked—and small ones that look like stubby baby fingers. All have one thing in common—a high price tag. “Our most expensive cigar sells for 210 euros (about Cdn$325) each and a Chinese customer bought a whole box of those a few days ago,” says Mirko, who proudly proclaims “our shop is regularly voted the best of its kind in Europe” by industry publications and cigar experts. The cigar shop attracts a lot of wealthy Chinese and Russian customers, along with Hollywood royalty. “Arnold Schwarzenegger and Morgan Freeman are regular visitors,” says Rico, who adds that members of the city’s world-renowned soccer club, Bayern Munich, also drop by from time to time. When I presume the best cigars come from Cuba, Mirko quickly corrects me. “Cuba has actually been having a lot of problems with soil erosion in recent years so the best cigars are now produced in places like the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.” The pair leads me past crates of rare single malt whiskies and giant bowls of ice, where the world’s best caviar is being chilled, to a narrow staircase. In a room below is where the shop’s collection of beautiful handmade pipes are displayed.