CSWC comes to Kuala Lumpur
CSWC comes to Kuala Lumpur. On Thursday, September 16 at the Chime bar Sheraton Hotel Petaling Jaya. Due to Covid-19 regulations, only fully vaccinated persons can attend the event. Malaysia is one of the leading countries in South East Asia when it comes to covid vaccinations with a rate of over 50%. Many other countries in the region, such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand have vaccination rates below 15%. Singapore, with a vaccination rate of 80% doesn’t allow mass gatherings nor cigar events and thus the CSWC Qualifier in Kuala Lumpur will be the only one in the region. Just like last year, when it was one of the only live qualifiers.
Trinidad Cigar Company
The local organization lies in the hand of Trinidad Cigar Company. It’s the third time that the company hosts the event in collaboration with Marko Bilic, the founder of CSWC. “It is an honor for Trinidad Cigar Company to host the 3rd edition of KL’s CSWC Qualification round,” says company spokesman Hazely Harun. “Malaysia’s cigar community is excited about this event as this will be the first time they can enjoy cigars together after a lengthy lockdown.”
One of the issues that Trinidad Cigar Company and the team of the CSWC had to solve was the judge. In 2019, Marko Bilic flew to Kuala Lumpur to be the judge. With travel restrictions, that wasn’t an option last year and this year. Last year’s judge, Samuel Spurr (Unico Desde 1979/Cigar Journal) moved back to Australia from Malaysia so he couldn’t be the judge for this event. The other members of the CSWC Judge Association in the region could also not travel due to restrictions so the hunt for a reliable local judge was on.
The founder of the Kuala Lumpur cigar club, Mr. Andreas Vogiatzakis, came to the rescue. He will be this year’s judge. “As the founder of Kuala Lumpur’s The Cigar Club, he is a familiar face in the local cigar scene and with his experience and charisma, we hope it will further enhance the evening,” says Harun. “It is a privilege to be the judge of the 3rd CSWC qualifying event in KL,” adds Vogiatzakis. “The CSWC competition has grown to be one of the most respected global cigar events. After being a participant and a 3rd place winner at the inaugural event in Kuala Lumpur in 2019, I am thrilled to be the judge this time around. Even more so, when Cigar Journal, the global leading must-read publication for all cigar lovers, and Trinidad Cigar Company, a cigar authority in the Malaysian cigar scene, are partnering up to bring the CSWC challenge to KL. This is slated to be a wonderful event not to miss, and I am truly looking forward to judging it this year.”
