The largest cigar collection in the world

Have you ever wondered where the largest cigar collection in the world is, and who owns it? You may already have some idea, or a few names in mind. This article lifts the veil on who holds the greatest number of cigars on the planet and where that hoard is kept.

Fifty years spent around the cigar

Can you even picture it? The largest cigar collection runs to no fewer than 6,000 vitolas, among them a great many sought-after names. And that is not all: add to those cigars 1,500 collector’s items, then more than 5,000 informative and historical works on cigars, and finally tens of thousands of bands and vistas. This is the collection of a single man, who devoted 15 years of his life to gathering all these objects.

But who owns it?

Let us end the suspense: he is a wealthy Italian heir with Milanese and Swiss roots, Paolo Jucker. A smoker with an interest in cigars, he ended up gathering all manner of objects connected with them. He bought his first Palmas Reales from Partagas at the age of 15, for his own use. He still has a few of them, which have become collector’s items since they are no longer made at all.

Comfortably off though he was, Paolo Jucker continued his studies and kept up an unquenchable appetite for learning. He came to Paris in 1968, cigar in hand, to attend philosophy classes. His interest in cigars took him to Cuba, where he also grew attached to the country, its culture and its people.

This unusual Milanese is now in his seventies and his appetite for cigars is as strong as ever. His palate has become more demanding, however. The Palmas have given way to Cohiba Lanceros or the Partagas Série du Connaisseur. He still smokes one cigar a day, in the evening.

A collection that started by chance

Until 2002, Paolo Jucker only bought cigars for his own use as a smoker. It was after buying an old case at a Cuban flea market that he developed an irresistible urge to collect ever more related items and rare cigars. Since then he has kept acquiring anything he sees that appears to have value, provided it comes from the world of the cigar. In 2017 his collection of objects attracted the attention of the keenest enthusiasts. It was assessed by the specialist Arnaud Thomasson, who divided it into 4 areas:

• the cigars, with 6,000 Havanas dating from 1850 to the present day
• the various objects, 1,500 pieces in all (humidors, display cases, accessories, and so on
• the books and other documents, 900 works of which the oldest date from the end of the 16th century
• the bands and vistas, numbering 50,000.

The end of a legendary collection?

Paolo Jucker believes he has been through every possible object connected with the cigar. He feels he owns quite enough pieces and is gradually losing the appetite for tracking down others. He now wonders what will become of his collection. His only son takes no interest in cigars and has no wish to take the venture over.

He is considering selling it, but is aware that with an estimated value of 1.2 million euros he may not find a buyer any time soon. Apart from the bands and vistas, which are stored with a friend who lives near Lake Como, his finds all sit in the large basement of his home in Milan. Perhaps he will turn them into a museum.