Slowest Race on the Planet

Bertie Hong Kong recently had the honour of welcoming the “Cigar Smoking World Championship”, aka “The Slow Smoking Competition”, for the second year; an evening filled with adrenaline and good sportsmanship.

Marko Bilić, creator of the “Slowest race on the planet”, was there in person, bringing his charisma and immense showmanship to the “Best Cigar Lounge in Asia” (Cigar Trophy 2024). The event was nicely fuelled by Samai Rum, the first Cambodian rum brand, a perfect match with the competition cigar especially created by Oliva.

The ‘first out’ happened early on, within 10 minutes of the start. At 1 hour, only 7 people were still in the race (out of 26), and the last 3 held on tight until the last 20 minutes.

Hong Kong record is officially 1 hour 43 minutes and 55 seconds, held by Ms Mutia F Chaniago, who beat Mr Tim Tsang by only 20 seconds! Mutia is already a serial winner of the CSWC, having scored first place in Thailand and Indonesia in the past few years.

Eric Piras said, “I am hugely proud for Bertie to welcome such an exciting worldwide competition!”

Marko Bilić said, “I am so happy to be back in Hong Kong and witness this fierce competition in the city that I am starting to really adore!”

This was the second edition of the CSWC for Bertie as well as for several competitors… we can safely guess it will be followed by many more in the coming years!