World’s Best Cigar Club?

THE Place de Casino basks in the morning sun.

Ornate coral pink and lemon-yellow buildings dress the square, and in the far corner, beyond the magnificent Casino, the Mediterranean glitters seductively.

To one side of that gloriously over-the-top Casino is a subtle terrace. This oasis forms the beating heart of a brand-new cigar club which is setting the Gold Standard for the genre. It’s a place of serenity, beauty, peace and friendship. This is the Monte Carlo Cigar Club.

“We have a simple aim,” says the urbane Club Directeur, Jean Thomas. “To be the best Cigar Club in the world.”

This is a familiar refrain from one of the companies behind the Club. Dominique London, European cigar specialist retailer, has long espoused a similar aim – to be the world’s best cigar merchant. From humble beginnings and a small shop in 2001, founder Dominique Gyselinck and husband Frédéric Dechamps have built a multi-national cigar juggernaut.

And they show no signs of stopping.

Dominque London has opened the Monte Carlo Cigar Club in collaboration with the Société des Bains de Mers, the Monaco Government-owned organisation responsible for managing a host of businesses in the Place de Casino and beyond.

Time spent in the Club and on the terrace is ethereal; a wonderful mix of sophistication, knowledge and fun. Membership is strictly limited, expensive and in-demand. Club Sommelier Adrien Dalang is exacting when selecting smokes and drinks for his Members (‘What flavours do you like? Nutty? Sweet? Spicy?”)

He has plenty to choose from. The incredible walk-in humidor is like something you’d find – appropriately enough in this sailor’s paradise – aboard one of the yachts in the nearby marina. It was meticulously crafted by world-renowned humidor specialist, DeArt of Bergamot and is, as you might imagine, heavily weighted towards Cuba. But plenty of smokes from elsewhere in the cigar-making universe are represented here; Oliva, Davidoff, Rocky Patel, Fuente and Padron among them.

Snacks are quietly placed at hand and, protected by the fierce sun of southern France by smart overhead canopies, you are free to enjoy a wide range of libations from the bar. There are, of course, perfectly ventilated and cooling rooms inside in which to meet, talk and enjoy your smoke. But it is this terrace that is the focal point of the Club. Prince Albert II of Monaco is a Founding Member and regular visitor to the terrace, where he is able to enjoy a smoke in peace like any other Member.

An incredible wine list is available from the cellars of one of the world’s grand old hotels, the Hôtel De Paris, itself just a short stroll across the Avenue de Monte Carlo – across the very road that F1 drivers preposterously race along at speeds in excess of 120mph at the annual Monaco Grand Prix.

“We have been open a matter of weeks, and we already are not far away from fulfilling our desired Membership total,” Frédéric Dechamps tells me over lunch.

“We want cigar people; people who will use the facilities, enjoy their cigars and their lockers and who can simply sit in peace or meet up with other Members and their guests. We will be holding Club events of course and will offer the sort of benefits you would expect from a Club of this magnitude. The feedback we’ve had so far has been excellent – and we are only just beginning to bed in. Working with the Société des Bains de Mers has been a joy.”

If becoming a Member – there are several varying categories – is something you’d like to explore further, you are advised to make contact sooner rather than later. There is no shortage of cigar lovers in this part of the world – and the chance to join a Club of this calibre doesn’t come around very often.

Monte Carlo Cigar Club – Tel: +377 980 622 21, email: montecarlocigarclub@sbm.mc