New UK Cigar Smoking World Championship Record Made by Havana House Director Paresh Patel

We certainly know a thing or two about smoking cigars here at Havana House, and with a new UK record for slow smoking at the CSWC qualifiers under our belt thanks to our Director, Paresh Patel, it’s safe to say we’re pros!

We’re excited to share that Havana House Director, Paresh Patel, has set a new UK record at the Cigar Smoking World Championship qualifier! Paresh managed to enjoy his cigar for an impressive 2 hours 10 minutes and 59 seconds at the qualifying event held in Windsor in July 2022.

Not only is this a new record for the UK, but it also meant that Paresh was in the top 20 competitors in the world, coming in at position 13 in the slow smoking qualifiers, meaning he was able to compete in the Cigar Smoking World Championship final.

Paresh beat out last year’s UK World Champion competitor, Etan Patel, who qualified in 2021 with a time of 1 hour 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

What is the Cigar Smoking World Championship?

The Cigar Smoking World Championship (CSWC) was first held on the 10th November 2010 in Split, Croatia. The Championship intends to celebrate passion and love for great cigars, and has only grown in popularity since its conception by Mark Bilic.

Since the first World Championship, the CSWC has been headed by Mark Bilic alongside Mareva Vice President Ivana Vrdoljak to bring cigar lovers together across the world.

Unlike other races of competitions, the aim of the CSWC is to see who can smoke a cigar for the longest time, meaning that the slowest smoker wins!

CSWC Rules

To keep the competition fair, there are a few rules that need to be followed for the CSWC:

1. All participants receive the same cigar that they picked themselves from the box.
2. Participants may only use items provided by the organiser. These items include a cigar cutter and a box with two long matches.
3. The winner of the competition is the person who smokes the cigar for the longest period of time without having to relight it.
4. The competition will be judged by two judges and penalty points may be awarded throughout.

CSWC World Champion of 2022

The winner of the CSWC for 2022 is Borys Szkodzik from Poland, who smoked the competition cigar in 3 hours 20 minutes and 3 seconds.