The 15th anniversary of the Cigar Smoking World Championship delivered on many levels. A new venue in a new city at a fantastic location, a record-breaking amount of participating countries and people during the season following up to the grand finale in Dubrovnik, and two historic achievements by the same person.
“Hauke Walter was simply the most focused,” CSWC founder Marko Bilić says. “That’s what he’s famous for.”
All eyes were on last year’s world champion when the CSWC debuted at the Rixos Hotel in Dubrovnik, on the last weekend of August. Hauke “The Iceman” Walter was the clear favorite. He had the two best times of the year, unless you count Oleg Pedan’s winning time in Belarus without the 15-minute penalty he received, and he’s been very confident in his slow smoking.
This is all good, but a final is always a final, and this year the CSWC organization made a decision which would further shake things up.
“The grand finale is very hard to organize,” Bilić continues. “It’s like tennis. You never know how many sets they will play, so we decided to see what happened if we provided a competition cigar which was more on the dry side.”
Instead of 69 percent’s humidity, the cigars were kept, unbeknownst to the competitors, at 65 percent. They found out quickly, though.
“Many people damaged their cigars when they cut it, including me,” Walter says. “The wrapper behind the ring was completely damaged, but it was still very good in front of the cigar so I kept it.”
As the competitors tried to adapt to the lower humidity, top contenders dropped out one by one.
“The Italian champion, Marian Nedela, and the British one, Etan Patel, were out early,” visitor and former Italian champion Gino Iannillo, says. “But Hauke once again showed how cool he can be.”
The Swedish and American champion, Igor Kovačić and Drew Emch, were also among those who struggled.
“Drew was one of the leaders for a long time, but when he started having problems he had to pull a bit more,” Bilić says. “Igor’s cigar was doing heavy tunneling, so one part of the cigar was completely unburned, and it was very hard for him to fix it.”
With every puff the cigar burns more the dryer it is, but even though the was shorter than earlier years, the excitement was more present than ever.
After the 2022 world champion, Borys Szkodzik, was out at 2 hours 49 minutes and 17 seconds, only two competitors remained; Walter, who had about half a centimeter left to the ring, and last year’s second runner-up Anastasya Arsenova, who was already smoking under the ring.
“I’ve never seen Hauke’s hands shake before,” Bilić laughs. “Anastasya’s too, and all around them there were people cheering.
“The situation around the final three competitors has never been as crowded as this year,” Dino Tomic, head of marketing at the CSWC, adds. “Almost all the 220 people present surrounded them and cheered them on.”
“Under that pressure I don’t think Anastasya was able to keep the focus necessary, so she burnt the ring,” Bilić continues”
Walter, on the other hand, kept his cool.
“Even when Marko in the last five minutes kept shouting “Hauke is out, Hauke is out”, Walter just looked at him and took a small puff,” Iannillo laughs. “The Iceman!”
“Since it was more difficult than earlier years, I took my glasses off at the end, to do my own thing,” Walter says. “You don’t want to focus more on others than yourself, but every now and then, when Marko shouted ‘she’s out’ or ‘he’s having problems’, I’d put them on and take a quick look.”
When Arsenova received her 15-minute penalty the game was over. Not wanting to risk anything, Walter let his cigar burn out, thereby becoming the first person ever to not just defend a world champion, but also win three of them.
“Before the competition started I told myself that this is a chance to become unique,” Walter continues. “So it was fantastic.”
Just like last year, the final was live streamed, this time with moving cameras and all, and Bilić is happy with the result.
“Again people were following the final from cigar lounges around the world, cheering on their countrymen like they were watching the Champion’s League or something.”
He’s also happy with the move to Dubrovnik.
“The location was stunning and the Rixos hotel was very cigar-friendly. There were even people not there for the CSWC who asked me where the final will be held next year, so they can come and watch.”
That is still to be disclosed, though.
“All the fantastic feedback pushes us to go out of our comfort zone,” Bilić concludes. “The people at Rixos Hotel want us back, and we want to come back, but who knows? Maybe we even move the final outside of Croatia?”
- Hauke Walter GER 02:51:43
- Borys Szkodziak POL 02:49:17
- Dejan Pažin SLO 02:41:19
- Marcin Sekowski POL 02:37:21
- Anastasya Arsenova KAZ 02:35:48
- Rafael Solano DOM.REP. 02:35:41
- Felix Kozlovski GER 02:29:02
- Igor Kovačić SWE 02:18:39
- Klaudia Ide POL 02:14:43
- Ivan Žižić CRO 02:14:32
