English actor Rafe Sall was named ‘cigar smoker of the year’ at a London event earlier this month where attendees sipped on wines from Chile’s Viña Carmen.
Food writer Tom Parker Bowles returned as the host of the awards ceremony on 6 December, which was held at the Canary Wharf branch of Boisdale, which has hosted the event since 2013.
Parker Bowles and Boisdale founder Ranald Macdonald jointly awarded The Viña Carmen Cigar Smoker of the Year 2021 to Sall, who gave a brilliant and heartfelt speech on the joys of cigar smoking and the wonders of the industry that crafts this hand-made product.
The celebration began with a cocktail reception on Boisdale’s Cigar Terrace, followed by dinner accompanied by wines from Viña Carmen.
Then, the original cast members of the West End’s best-selling show of all time, The Definitive Rat Pack, took to the stage to portray the greatest crooners of all time.
This particular year celebrated the 200th anniversary of the independence of two great cigar producing nations, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Boisdale welcomed the evening’s guests of honour Her Excellency Guisell Morales-Echaverry, the Nicaraguan Ambassador to the United Kingdom and His Excellency Ivan Romero-Martinez, the Honduran Ambassador of the United Kingdom.
Also in attendance were the Ambassadors of the other two great tobacco producing nations of the world, Her Excellency Bárbara Montalvo Álvarez, the Cuban Ambassador to the United Kingdom and His Excellency Elnio Manuel Duran, the Dominican Ambassador to United Kingdom.
An eclectic collection of cigar lovers joined in the celebrations, including Sall, veteran film star James Cosmo MBE, Ella Vaday of the BBC Ru Paul’s Drag Race, film producers Stephen Evans and Jonathan Sothcott, singing sensation Rebecca Fergusson, it-girl Georgia Toffolo and Czechoslovakian super model Hana Jirickova, as well as, musicians, politicians and business leaders, all of whom share a common interest in their fondness for cigars.