Edward Sahakian Crowned “Havana Man Of The Year”

Last month the 2017 Habanos Festival took place in Cuba and as well as the new cigars that launched news also came from our friends at Hnters & Frankau that Edward Sahakian, proprietor of Davidoff of London, won the coveted Habanos Man of the Year Award for Business (Premio Habano Hombre del Año en Negocios) at the 2017 Festival del Habanos in Cuba.

Pretty cool award huh? The Habanos Man of the Year award is among the most prestigious and illustrious prizes in the cigar world and has been given to Edward in recognition of his involvement in Havana cigar sales over the past four decades.

Edward Sahakian-Habanos

Edward moved to the UK aged 35 and first opened the doors to his shop, located at 35 St James’s Street, in May 1980. Since then he has gone on to earn global reputation for providing the very best cigar service, with style, warmth and highly valued advice.

The word icon is perhaps overused in modern culture, but no one better deserves the title than Edward Sahakian, a warm and modest man who towers over our business like very few others.

While it is impossible to quantify Edward’s impact on the cigar industry, suffice it to say that it is rare to meet a Cuban cigar smoker anywhere in the world, who hasn’t heard of Edward Sahakian, or who hasn’t met him in person and experienced his hospitality, shared in his extensive knowledge, benefitted from his advice and enjoyed a cigar a little bit more as a result.

Edward Sahakian-Habanos2

Each year the Habano Hombre del Año award is split into three categories; for business, production and for communications. The two other winners this year were;

Gordon Mott (Cigar Aficionado Magazine) Communication
Josefa Acosta (Tabacuba) Production

Previous UK winners of this award are;

2012 – Jemma Freeman (Hunters & Frankau Limited) Business
2007 – Nicholas Foulkes (Journalist) Communication
1998 – Simon Chase (Hunters & Frankau Limited) Communication

Davidoff of London can be found at 35 St James’s St, St. James’s, London SW1A 1HD