Simon Chase †

Acknowledged by the New York Times as “a British cigar sage”, Simon Chase worked for the London-based, UK Habanos distributor Hunters & Frankau from 1977 until he retired in 2009. Over this period he accumulated extensive knowledge of the cigar industry, past and present, particularly in Cuba. Today he runs his own consultancy, Simon Chase Limited, which specialises in cigar marketing and tobacco legislation. He remains on the board of Hunters & Frankau as a non-Executive Director. In 1998 he was awarded by Habanos S.A. the Hombre Habano del Año (Habanos Man of the Year) trophy for Communications. Since then he has become well-known as the auctioneer at the Gala Dinner that marks the end of the Festival del Habano every year.