Gilbert De Montsalvat Cigars

Gilbert de Montsalvat was born in 1920 in Burgundy. He left France for Cuba in 1955, and started extensive tobacco related studies there and was dubbed Minister of Tobacco. He returned to Europe for a few years and settled in Geneva, that was to be the place where he stayed between travels to America.

During one of his stays in Cuba, he established the great cigar encyclopedia. He developed his understanding of tobacco and its growing, and started writing his book on the art of smoking. In 1987, he was awarded the Cuban solidarity price for his contribution to social development. He fell seriously ill in 1988 and moved to St Galle (Switzerland) where he resides incognito today and writes his memoirs.