The first official qualification tournament with the new official Rocky Patel cigar was held in Riga, Latvia on February 29. Many were anxious to see how slow the new cigar could be smoked. Here is what happened:
Sergey Galevskiy from St. Petersburg, Russia who is on 8th place of the top 20 list of the slowest smokers (his best time is 188 minutes), won the tournament in Riga with 170:40 minutes. The Riga qualifier was the first occasion for him to smoke this cigar. All participants also commented that the cigar is incredibly tasty, pleasant and with flawless construction. The 2nd place went to Anastasiya Arsenova with 107 minutes. Her name is also on top 20 list worldwide. The 3rd place went to Dmitry Smirnov from Latvia with 92 minutes.
The Latvian CSWC qualifier was open to international competitors. Guests from Germany, Russia, Azerbaijan and Lithuania participated in the competition. Marko Bilić, president of the Cigar Smoking World Championship says: “I am happy that this new official CSWC cigar, the Rocky Patel Cigar Smoking World Championship Mareva, fulfilled the expectations and left great first impressions with some of the top smokers who were present in Latvia. This proofs that we can keep all records and times from previous years and, the main criteria for the winning will be the skills and strategy of the competitors. Definitely, we have great season in front of us.”
The official partners and sponsors of the Cigar Smoking World Championship are Les Fines Lames cigar knife cutters, Cuervo y Sobrinos Swiss watches, Boveda, Cigar Journal and, of course Rocky Patel Premium Cigars.
Photo (from left to right): Kolja Kukuk (Rocky Patel Premium Cigars), Dmitry Smirnov (3rd place), Anastasiya Arsenova (2nd place), Sergey Galevskiy (1st place), Marko Bilić
