Yesterday, in a studio in Fulham, central London, we held the Cigar Sanctum Rogues Gallery shoot. We used a young photographer called Joe Giacomet for the project. His brief was to create a series of portraits of cigar smokers, in black and white, that had a timeless quality. The mood board included portraits by Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, which we liked because of the strong bond that existed between viewer and subject. Joe blew the project out of the water with a series of shots that rival anything we’d looked at for inspiration.  Lighting was crucial and he spent several days tria ..read more

Cabañas was born in the century of Handel and Hogarth, which is quite remarkable considering we view brands like Por Larrañaga (1834) and Punch (1840) as pioneers in the Cuban cigar industry. Cabañas predates these by decades. Officially registered in 1810, Francisco Cabañas actually launched his eponymous brand in 1797, despite the Spanish crown’s prohibition of commercial cigar production at the time. It is generally accepted as the first registered brand of Havanas. In 1848, the Cabañas and Carbajal families re-regi ..read more

On a hot Havana afternoon, midway through the 17th Festival De Habanos, we launched the first official Partagas Jewellery Collection at our villa in Miramar. The launch was the culmination of 11 months of talks and meetings with Habanos S.A., who, I must say, were brilliant throughout. The signatures of Habanos’ two co-presidents appeared on the contract just days before the launch and the afternoon flowed like a mojito-soaked, cigar-filled dream. The setting: Miramar. Beautiful architecture, wide roads and a world away from the hustle and bustle of central Havana. The villa we rent offered th ..read more

Another wonderful discovery that speaks of a Cuba fresh from Revolution and just beginning to feel the full force of the US trade embargo. This barrel (scroll down for images) – almost certainly the only one in existence – was presented to Fidel Castro to commemorate the Campaña Nacional de Alfabetización en Cuba, a year long campaign to abolish illiteracy in Cuba after the Revolution. The Cuban Literacy Campaign ran from January 1 until December 22, 1961 and this gift to Castro, which he signed and dedicated, celebrates a project that lifted the literacy rate on the island to 96%, o ..read more

Pictured here are hard rockers Rick Zsigmond and Richie Sambora, wearing their Cigar Sanctum smoking skull plectrums. We couldn’t ask for cooler brand ambassadors. Richie loves his plectrum, not just because it’s a strong rock image that references cigars – a great combination – and not because it sits comfortably above a host of bead and cross necklaces. No, he loves it because – as he said – if for whatever reason in the middle of a gig he needs a plectrum pronto, he can grab this sterling silver big boy and play on. As a rock ‘n roller once said: ‘Education is important, but playing the gui ..read more

It’s not by chance that the Smoking Skull has become the face – so to speak – of Cigar Sanctum. The gold signet ring that carries this reminder of our mortality was designed for a fraternity of friends on their way to Havana to drink too much rum and smoke too many cigars. When we all met up in the Plaza De San Francisco that first night, I remember breaking open a bottle of Santiago 11, lighting our custom rolls and talking about everything under the stars. Memento Mori, Latin for Remember You Will Die, is the most positive message you can carry with you. It’s not so much Remember Death as Re ..read more

Every so often, an object of historical importance comes along – a piece that relates to and captures a time, while offering an insight into a country’s social and political path. Several months ago, I obtained a small wooden cigar box, gifted to and inscribed by Fidel Castro in 1959, the year of the Revolution. The box is an unlikely survivor of those early years and speaks directly of Cuba’s cigar industry at the time. Please scroll down to see detailed images. Castro’s handwritten dedication appears over a Cuban flag in the box’s interior and can be translated as follows: 30 November 1959 ..read more

We’re proud to announce that Cigar Sanctum has been working with Hunters And Frankau to produce their coveted sterling silver Master Of Havana Cigars lapel pin. Just a very small group of people can say they’ve attained this level of knowledge within the industry; the Master Of Havana Cigars exam represents the highest achievable status of Cuban cigar knowledge in the UK – from agricultural and manufacturing processes through to cutting, lighting and presentation of cigars. A phone call from our friend Jimmy McGhee, Sales and Marketing Exec at Hunters, started the ball rolling and we were soon ..read more

There is a wonderful 1974 Michael Parkinson interview, in which Parkinson asks a cigar smoking Orson Welles about his friendship with Ernest Hemingway. The screen colossus, with signature baritone voice and a twinkle in his eye, recounts how they first met in a screening room in 1937. Hemingway had asked Welles to narrate his film, The Spanish Earth, and unbeknownst to him, Papa sat behind him at the screening. At one point, Welles questioned whether narration was necessary in one of the scenes, to which Hemingway roared from the darkness, commenting on his masculinity. Without missing a beat ..read more

On February 25, in a leafy garden that offered protection from a fierce Havana sun, Cigar Sanctum officially started life. The city was buzzing with more than a thousand cigar smokers who had descended on it for the Festival Del Habano and the week offered the perfect opportunity to launch Cigar Sanctum in the presence of all the top shakers and groovers of the cigar world. More than 60 cigar retailers, importers and journalists attended the launch, sipped mojitos, listened to Coltrane and perused Sanctum’s first collection. Undoubtedly, many who came had no idea what they would encounter; the ..read more