A whirlwind adventure

He has vivid memories of the day it all began. A two-man trip to the Dominican Republic, an adventure between father and son, a month crisscrossing the island, from tobacco plantations to cigar factories. It was around 15 years ago, when I was 22,” recalls Yann Monbaron. We’d just finished a tour of the Davidoff factory in Santiago, when a torsador suggested we do a tasting. He rolled a light cigar in front of my eyes, which I smoked while recounting the world with my father. That first cigar was a revelation: I knew immediately what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.”

Back in Montreux, Yann joined his father, Patrick Monbaron, in the Tabashop store the latter had bought in 1996. “Up until then, I’d been a fan of extreme sports and had done an apprenticeship as a landscaper. It wasn’t easy to make my mark in this milieu of connoisseurs,” he admits. So I started by traveling, visiting tobacco growers and meeting collectors. To train myself, I had to immerse myself in this world and discover all its riches. A journey of initiation into the heart of the vast world of cigars, which he has since cultivated as an art of living, punctuated by encounters and moments of sharing.

Quality first and foremost
Alongside his father, Patrick, and sister, Rachel, Yann Monbaron now passes on his love of vitolas as a family, offering his enthusiastic clientele a wide and highly specialized selection of 1,200 cigar references. Cuban cigars, of course, with the unmissable Cohiba, Montecristo or Romeo y Julieta, but also a very fine assortment of hand-rolled cigars from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua or Honduras, including the famous Arturo Fuente or Davidoff. Not to mention a host of ultra-exclusive limited editions negotiated on site at the most prestigious cigar factories. We only work with brands that own a factory,” stresses Yann Monbaron. Until last year, I continued to travel the world to see how cigars are made, the conditions under which people work, their energy. Of course, I’m also interested in the specificities of the terroir, the quality of the cigar, the color of the wrapper, the respect for tobacco aging. I’ll also smell the cigar, which allows me to perceive a huge range of aromas. I have a notebook in which I record all my tastings. In the end, out of the nearly 250 cigar brands that a factory can produce, I always choose my favorites.”

Epicurean pleasures
Le coup de cœur. That’s how this epicurean who only smokes for pleasure works. For me, it’s mainly a moment of relaxation that I allow myself when I’ve had a good day or achieved something,” he confides. It’s an opportunity to take time for myself, to take a break, to ask myself the right questions. A kind of therapy. Because, in the end, cigar enthusiasts appreciate cigars best from the heart. For Yann Monbaron, it’s above all a world of adventure and discovery. The passion for cigars wouldn’t have the same flavour if it weren’t for the “sharing and encounters” that thrill vitola enthusiasts.

http://www.tabashop.ch/

YANN MONBARON’S FAVORITES

The cigar: “At the moment, I’m particularly fond of smoking God of Fire vitolas, a limited series from Arturo Fuente produced with Prometheus. Each box is numbered and comes with a certificate of authenticity. I fell in love with this Arturo Fuente series back in 2008, but for a very long time, these cigars were only available on the American market. We had to insist a lot to get them.”

The terroir: “I’m a fan of Nicaraguan cigars, which I particularly enjoy in the Lancero module. It’s a terroir that’s very similar to Cuba. It’s very interesting in terms of character. There are aromas of cocoa, earthy notes of humus and roasted coffee. The quality is incredible, they are extremely well rolled and the tirage is perfect. It’s a unique experience every time.”