Three American CSWC Qualifiers in Seven Days

The dates are set for the US Cigar Smoking World Championship qualifiers, and things are a bit different this time. After going from 17 pre-qualifiers in 2022 to four pre-qualifiers on the same day in 2023 and just one single event in 2024, this year they are going back up to three, but no national final.

“After several years of building momentum across the country, the CSWC by Oliva Cigars is now entering a new strategic phase in the United States,” CSWC founder Marko Bilic says. One with quality, not quantity, as the guiding principle. Instead of focusing on a large number of qualifiers, the championship has shifted to fewer, higher-profile events, carefully selected to offer the best possible competition experience. Over time, this model will enable the CSWC to expand organically, bringing elite-level slow-smoking events to new corners of the US cigar community, but always with top standards in place.”

The winner with the best time out of the three will be the US national champion of slow smoking.

“This way, every draw, every second, and every venue will matter,” he says.

It starts on June 18, at the Alamo Naples Indoor Gun Range in Naples, Florida, a venue that has already gained legendary status within the American slow-smoking community. Two days later another group of slow smokers will gather in Lincoln, Nebraska, and the highly regarded Capital Cigar Lounge.

“Known for its deep community roots and fierce competitor base, the Nebraska qualifier promises to deliver another display of endurance and focus,” Bilic says.

On June 25, the US circuit will finish off at At Earth’s End in Princeton, New Jersey, and that’s when we’ll know if Drew Emch will have claimed his fourth title in a row, or if someone has been able to beat “The Silent Hunter”. Maybe even a former champion. Last year a former American champion from the Macanudo era, Christina Bartinowski, made a spectacular comeback, finishing second, just half a minute behind Emch. Who knows who will master the new Oliva competition cigar better.

“As a CSWC ambassador and organizer, former American champion and vice champion, she’s a competitor whose knowledge and competitive fire are well known on both sides of the Atlantic,” Bilic says.