T H E S P E C TAT OR C IGA R S MOK E R O F T H E Y E A R Cigar aficionados from all over the world gathered at Boisdale’s in Canary Wharf on 19 November for the inaugural Spectator Cigar Smoker of the Year award. Hooman Bahmandaji flew in from Chicago, saying, ‘There’s a great community of cigar smokers and I think events like this are a very good way of bringing people together.’ The celebrated society photographer Richard Young, one of the nominees, said that he had been smoking cigars since the early 1980s. ‘It came from my father who was a market trader and would always have a cigar in his mouth!’ Christopher Gilmour told me of his love of Havana and its most famous product. ‘I think it’s a wonderful city. I have a great affection for cigars.’ It was good to see female smokers indulging too. Judy Piggott puffed happily away at a White Churchill. ‘I smoke around four or five cigars a day. I love them! I have never smoked cigarettes, only cigars.’ Judy also told me of her plan to open
W H E R E T O S MOK E C IGA R S I N L O N D O N Boisdale of Belgravia Proprietor Ranald MacDonald has created a mecca for cigar smokers. Boisdale has a cigar terrace which seats around 40 people and where one can smoke to one’s heart content. 15 Ecclestone Street, London SW1W 9LX Tel: 020 7730 6922
abko/ the kobal collection
THE RITZ Smoking terrace is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so if you feel the urge to light up a Monte Cristo No. 4 at four in the morning, this is the place to go. 150 Piccadilly, London W1J 9BR Tel: 020 7499 1818 May Fair Hotel Offers a wide range of cigars including Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagas, Trinidad, Bolivar, Hoyo de Monterrey, and Santa Damiana, to be smoked in a stylish, intimate outdoor ‘room’. Also holds monthly cigar master-classes. 70 Stratton Street, London W1J 8LW, Tel: 020 7915 3894
up a private cigar bar where people could smoke from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. ‘Cigar smokers like myself have nowhere to go at these hours.’ I asked Nancy Dell’Olio what she found attractive about cigar smoking. ‘I don’t smoke, but I love the smell of cigars. I also think it’s very sexy when a woman smokes a cigar,’ she said. After the reception, we went upstairs for a fabulous three-course meal, with a main course of roast dry-aged fillet of Aberdeen Angus beef. Among the lots in the silent auction were a Partagas 165th anniversary humidor (reserve price £5,000) and Lionel Messi’s signed football shirt (reserve price £850). The Spectator’s chairman Andrew Neil took to the podium to present the awards. There were 15 nominees for the Cigar Smoker of the Year, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jeremy Irons. The prize went to Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon who received a humidor. ‘Remember, we’re the Wild Boys, not the mild boys,’ he joked. It was a great evening and I’m sure we’ll all be back again for more next year. Neil Clark
Latvia goes beyond her third match, but is allowed to continue. She remains in the competition a long time but after an hour fewer than half of the contestants are still puffing. In the end the prize goes to Igor from St Petersburg, the reigning world champion, who sets a new world record time. Next morning we are taken by coach and ferry to the lovely island of Saaremaa, for the next stage of the festivities. Tonight’s contest, held alongside a disco on the beach, is the longest ash competition for the longest day of the year. I have achieved ash of about 3cm when I make one false move on the dance floor and the British chance of glory in an international event is gone once more. (Close, but no cigar.) Once again, Igor triumphs, producing ash 10.5cm long. How does the man do it? Next day, it’s back to Tallinn for the third and final contest. Jan’s delightful Panamanian wife shows us to how roll cigars from dried leaves and how to press them and then we all have a go, Generation Gamestyle. I’m reasonably satisfied with my effort, but Toni from Croatia dazzles us with his expertise. After a farewell meal, it’s time to say our goodbyes. Thanks to events like these, people are being united around their love of a tightly rolled bundle of tobacco leaves. I leave Estonia convinced that if more people smoked cigars and adopted the hedonistic philosophy of Jan Vistisen, the world would be a much better place. Roll on the next Big Smoke.
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