He did what he came for. Hauke Walter from Germany lived up to expectations when he defended his title and became the first person ever to win three cigar smoking world championships. But it wasn’t just smooth sailing for “The Iceman”.
Hauke Walter entered the venue at Rixos Hotel in Dubrovnik as a two-time Cigar Smoking World Champion winner, as well as the reigning champion, and “The Iceman” felt the pressure right away, a much needed pressure.
“As I was going in I was intercepted for an interview,” he laughs. “I was completely unprepared, but I had a few words to say. So the pressure was a bit higher than usual, but I also need to feel that pressure. You just have to control it, and I’m used to it. It was basically the same thing last year.”
The main reason for the increased sense of pressure was the possibility of doing not just one, but two things nobody’s done before; to defend a world champion title and win three of them.
“Before the competition started I told myself that this is a chance to become unique,” Walter says.
As always, the key to achieve this was a good start, and this year it wasn’t. In order to cut down the length of the competition, the CSWC had decided to keep the cigars at a lower humidity. So the challenges arose even before the cigars were lit.
“Many people damaged their cigars when they cut it, including me,” he explains. “The wrapper behind the ring was completely damaged, but it was still very good in front of the cigar so I kept it.”
While many of his competitors never really recovered from the rough start, Walter adapted to the situation. It’s not to say he didn’t have his own problems, though. … into the race, he actually received his first ever yellow card when he broke the rule of keeping the cigar visible for the judges at all time.
“This is an old rule, but this year the judges were stricter about it,” he says. “At one point I asked judge Sarah Saunders if it was ok for me to hold the cigar a certain way and she said yes.”
However, when main judge Marija Marovic walked past on the other side of the table, she wasn’t able to see the cigar.
“As the cigar was not visible to all judges at all times the rule was technically broken,” Saunders explains.
Covering the cigar makes it easier to see the glow, indicating when a new puff is needed. When that’s not possible the participants rely more on the surrounding environment. According to Walter, at least the conditions were better compared to the 2023 grand finale in Split.
“The spotlights last year were horrible,” he laughs. “It was better this time, at least the first hour and a half. Then the lights changed for some reason and I had to try to find new shade for my cigar.”
It didn’t shake him up too much, though. After an hour he calmed down and as the cigars of his fellow slow smokers went out, one by one, Walter kept his cool. Mostly thanks to a spectacular secret weapon.
“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.”
“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,” visitor Gino Iannillo laughs. “The Iceman!”
This is despite having problems of his own.
“In the beginning my heart beats about 150 beats per minute. At the end, the pressure increased again when the cigar drew on one side and became very difficult to pull. It felt better after Borys Szkodziak was out, though.”
Shortly after, the only remaining competitor, Anastasya Arsenova, burned the ring, and the deal was done.
“By that time I had about half a centimeter left before reaching the ring. I asked Sarah if I had won, and when she said yes it just felt stupid to risk anything.”
After 2 hours 51 minutes and 43 seconds Walter raised his hand, and the competition was over. Walter had achieved what he came for.
“The feeling of being the first person ever to both defend a world champion title in slow smoking and win three of them is fantastic,” he says with a big smile. “I’m really, really happy.”
