The art of the quick smoke

In 2010, the first Cigar Smoking World Championship was held in Split, Croatia, founded by Croatian Marko Bilic, who is also president and founder of the private cigar club, Club Mareva. For the 2023 season, there are qualifiers in more than 30 countries with the grand finale happening in September.

It may seem counterintuitive because there is consensus around estimated burn times depending on length and ring gauge for cigars, but the winner is the person who smokes their cigar the longest without relighting. There are time penalties for falling or shaking off of ash and the cigar has to be held for the duration.

Everyone smokes the same cigar, which has been the Rocky Patel mareva since 2019. It was created specifically for the CSWC, with a Mexican San Andres wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder and a blended Nicaraguan and Honduran filler. It has a 42-ring gauge, a length of 5 1/8 inches. The world record is 3 hours and 52 minutes, set in 2019 by Igor Kovacic.

When sitting alone, I tend to go through a cigar quicker than when sitting with people. On average, a robusto will take me about 45 minutes when alone and a toro about an hour. And I generally ash regularly and don’t have to relight. The challenge comes travelling either between appointments in the car or on layover, between airports or when I just want a quick smoke before the afternoon school run. When that happens, through experimentation, I have found a few cigars that work well.

GPC Cachitos by 1502 Cigars

A 4.5 inch by 50-ring gauge Petit Robusto, it was created by master blender Enrique Sanchez and produced at the Plasencia factory in Nicaragua, it has a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper, a Honduran binder and a blend of aged Nicaraguan and Honduran long fillers. Billed as a medium-body cigar, it is packed with flavours including pepper, wood, chocolate and coffee that hit you from the first draw. It comes in a bundle of 20 with five wrapped in brown paper, which is convenient for travel and is great bang for buck.

My Way by Oscar Valladares & Company

The My Way by Bayron Duarte, head blender at Oscar’s cigar company is a luscious and creamy smoke that doesn’t skimp on flavour, despite its more compact size, making up for the short length of 4 inches with a 60-ring gauge. It comes with a Mexican San Andres wrapper, a Honduran binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran filler. The flavour notes include cocoa, spice, earth and leather.

2012 Maduro Short Robusto by Oscar Valladares & Company

While I prefer the 2012 Maduro Toro, the 2012 Maduro Short Robusto is a suitable substitute when time is limited. It is box pressed with a ring gauge of 54 and a length of 101 and, like the My Way, has a Mexican San Andres wrapper and Honduran binder. The filler though is only Nicaraguan. It is produced at Valladares’ factory in Danli, Honduras and named after the year Valladares started the factory. The Corojo version has Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers and a Nicaraguan binder wrapped in a sun grown Honduran Corojo wrapper. While also flavourful, with notes of coffee, pepper and spice, it is a bit light for me.

Oliva Serie V Melanio No 4 Petit Corona

As one can expect from an Oliva Serie V cigar, of which I am a huge fan, the box pressed Melanio No 4 Petit Corona is complex, full-bodied with strong flavours including black pepper, coffee and cocoa, that come from the Ecuadorean Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers.

It is 4.5 inches in length and has a 46-ring gauge and, depending on how you smoke, can be a quick smoke that leaves long-lasting satisfaction.