Helmut Bührle never allowed himself to be diverted from his goal. When everyone told him that the market for cigars was already over-saturated, he created the “Laura Chavin”. This particular cigar is today one of the best and most successful cigars in the world. Manufactured in Central America, its creator stores them in the climate-controlled cellars of his castle in Hochdorf near Stuttgart.

“Laura Chavin” – the name is atypical: it’s rather unusual in the trade to give a cigar a female name. Helmut Bührle named it after his 17-year old daughter – in his own words, the apple of his eye. The ‘Laura Chavin’ comes in around 20 different varieties costing between 25 and 40 euros each ($30-$50; £17-£27). Connoisseurs describe them as sweet but not cloying, full of flavor but not heavy, well-balanced and aromatic.

The tobacco for the quality cigar for those special moments comes from either the Dominican Republic or Cuba, while the wrapper comes from Mexico. The wrapper leaves are stored for several years before they are ready to be used. Bührle readily admits that his “Laura Chavin” cigar is a luxury item, but he keeps his company’s turnover and profit figures close to his chest. The cigars are stored in the vaulted cellars of Hochdorf Castle close to Stuttgart – kept at the perfect temperature and humidity. Herr Bührle’s company headquarters are fitted out with some sophisticated security devices; he himself describes his castle as “Fort Knox“.

Helmut Bührle’s love of cigars didn’t come out of the blue. His mother owned the first cigar shop in Stuttgart – blazing the trail for her son, so to speak. She used to refer to cigars as “brown gold”. But her son Helmut – now 57 – didn’t follow in her footsteps to begin with. His first career was as a fashion designer – and a successful one at that. But in 1992 he gave it up and began his “second, real life”, as he likes to say when interviewed. In fact he doesn’t see his “Laura Chavin” enterprise as being all that different from design.

Bührle is not concerned with quantity, with the number of cigars sold. He sees them as a cult brand, as representative of a whole attitude to life. Not without a touch of immodesty, he says simply that there are people like himself who are accustomed to getting the best out of life. He sees the people who buy his cigars as kindred spirits. It doesn’t trouble him at all that many regarded him as a pig-headed visionary who wouldn’t take advice from anyone else when he began marketing his first cigar in 1998. He proved them all wrong. To take just one example: all the experts advised him to stay away from the Swiss market, which they said was over-saturated with Cuban cigars. It’s a market which Bührle’s “Laura Chavin” now dominates, and has done for some time already.

Laura Chavin Cigars GmbH
Head Office Schloss Hochdorf
71735 Hochdorf . Germany
Geschäftsführer: Helmut Bührle
Fon +49 (0) 70 42-7 80 01
Fax +49 (0) 70 42-7 88 76
cigar@laura-chavin.com
www.laura-chavin.com