Last night, in the packed hall of the Radisson Blu Hotel, an award ceremony was held for the 7th Cigar Smoking World Championship. The competition included 89 participants from 25 countries.
After 4 months of qualification rounds, the finale for the world championships of cigar smoking was finally held in Split last night, Sunday September 4.
The victory was given to Mirko Giotto from Switzerland with a time of 2:32:08, while runner-up was Tomasz Žotadkiewicz from Poland with a time of 2:27:01. Third place was won by one of this year’s favorites, Darren Cioffi from the United States – sealing third with a time of 2:26:10. This year’s second favorite and current holder of the world record (with a time of 2:47:45) was Oleg Pedan, who dropped out of the competition after just 28 minutes. His girlfriend Anna Plato, on the other hand, won fifth place with a time of 1:51:30 and qualified as the best woman in the competition.
The winners, in front of 150 guests, were given handmade plaques made out of Brač stone, and were also given an exclusive bottle of Chivas Regal 25, amongst other gifts.
The festival began last Friday with a glamorous dinner at Hotel Park, and continued through the weekend with cigar rolling and rum tasting workshops. On Sunday, guests even got to enjoy Brač.
The festival was attended by numerous dignitaries from around Europe and the world, and the 3-day program was filled with superb Mediterranean cuisine, and Croatian wines from Ilok cellars, Rizman, Matošević and Vukoje.
This festival is rated 4th amongst the most prestigious festivals in the world for cigars, just behind Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.
