Simon Chase, friend of Forest, RIP

I was very sorry to hear that cigar expert Simon Chase had died earlier this month.

For those who don’t know, Simon was a bit of a legend in cigar circles. He worked for Hunters and Frankau, importers of Cuban cigars, for over 30 years and even after his retirement in 2009 he continued to be a significant figure in the industry.

I can’t remember when we first met but I think it was in 2000 when Forest organised an event at a Cuban-themed bar off Leicester Square called Little Havana.

In those days you could hand out free cigarettes and cigars to guests (a practice that has since been outlawed) and we must have approached Hunters to donate some cigars for the occasion.

Simon went one better and arranged for them to be handed out by ‘cigar girls’. I know, I know, it sounds a bit sexist now but at the time it was a nice touch and brought a bit of glamour to the event.

In truth, Simon was a bit of a cigar snob. He didn’t much care for cigarettes and would do his best to distance the two.

Nevertheless when we celebrated Forest’s 30th anniversary in 2009 he was there to support us and very kindly presented us with a box of 30 Cuban cigars.

He attended several other Forest events but the last time I spoke to him at any length was in Cuba in 2013. We were there for the Habanos Cigar Festival and were staying at the same hotel.

On the final night there was a gala dinner in a large exhibition hall and at 11.00pm - following guest appearances by the likes of Boris Becker and Hollywood actor Danny Glover - I was surprised when this very dapper Englishman took to the vast stage to conduct what was described as the "traditional humidor auction".

I described it thus:

There were six humidors up for grabs, each one designed specially for the occasion and capable of storing hundreds of cigars of different shapes and sizes.

Encouraged by Simon, the first went to someone from the Middle East who paid €100,000. The second was bought by a man from the Far East for a similar sum.

The third and fourth humidors attracted even higher bids before the fifth went for €300,000.

After the sixth humidor had been auctioned the total stood at over one million euros, all proceeds going to the Cuban public health system.

In recent years Simon suffered from serious ill health but I was hoping he would be able to join us for Forest’s 40th anniversary dinner in June.

Sadly he won’t be with us. Instead we will raise a glass to a lovely man who dedicated his working life to tobacco and was a fantastic ambassador for Cuban cigars.

See also: Cuban expert Simon Chase, 74, dies (Cigar Aficionado)

Image above courtesy UK Cigar Scene magazine