My Biography

CIGARS AND TIME
By Manny Brefin, June 2016

When people ask me what in my opinion the biggest luxury of all in the world is then I only ever have one answer. It is time! Time is something nobody has more off than anyone else. Time is the equaliser of everything and all people. When they then ask me how I most like to spend that limited spare time then my answer is also always the same smoke and share a delicious Cuban cigar with great friends.

My love for Cuban cigars started many years ago in my in my mid-teens when I nicked (yes I am not proud of that terrible action, but yet so glad I did it) a handful of them from one of my fathers cherished humidors. To be smoked in the woods behind our family home back in Switzerland with a couple of equally naughty but good friends. None of us really knew what to do with these beautifully hand rolled Cuban Davidoffs other than we had to cut it in the back and light in the front. We did not know anything about the difference between Cuban or new world cigars, construction, rolling, blends, brands or ageing. But we quickly, almost instantly knew that we had started something special here. At that point I could have never guessed that by lighting this cigar I would enter a completely new and fascinating world. A world that over time has allowed me meeting and spending quality time with and in the process getting to know some fantastic people of all ages and cultures, many of which have become great friends around the globe. It was the beginning of, of a yes I would go as far as calling it a love story and a passion that has been a large part of my life ever since.

It really does not matter where one smokes cigars be it an elegant five star hotel such as the Bulgari , reputable shops like Davidoff of London run by the always knowledgeable and wonderful Edward and Eddie Sahakian, a casual and comfortable lounge like Sautters or Enfuegos in Las Vegas or on your yellow brick wall balcony at home looking at the boats passing by on the Thames river. So or so you are very likely to be able to relax and to be with or encounter like-minded cigar aficionados. The conversations normally start about where the cigars one is smoking is from, how they taste and then often leads into enjoying another cigar or more together. I have rarely met a cigar smoker that does not like to experience and share their cigars with other people. There is a very good chance when you meet a person who is a brother or sister of the tobacco leaf that they are half way ok, very sociable and most likely are perfect gentlemen.

Smoking cigars could really be looked at as the modern equivalent of sitting around a camp fire with your close friends and family, while talking about your and the worlds current and past problems, often finding solutions in a smokey, relaxed, calm and gentlemanly way. Unfortunately over the last few years cigars have become much more of a status and show off symbol. For a growing number of us it is often much more important how much a cigar cost, what and how many labels it carries. We sometimes forget about that smoking these fine cigars should be about one thing and one thing only. Enjoyment! It really doesn't matter where the cigar comes from, what age it has, if it's potentially a 'fake' or what someone paid for it. It is only about how one likes it and how we want to enjoy the greatest luxury we all have and with whom we want to spend it - that it's time.