My Favorite Cigar
Patrick Mavros • Jewelry Designer
Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo de Rio Seco
Patrick Mavros is a man of adventure, and he gets a taste of it on his vast compound in Zimbabwe on most days. “We had a python catch and eat a duck in our lake,” he mentions during a chat. (A small one, as pythons go, only about a 10-footer.) The wild world that surrounds his home and studio is where the 69-year-old Mavros, a jewelry designer, draws his inspiration. For example, Patrick Mavros cufflinks may come in the shape of lions, crocodiles or rhinos. Typically working in silver, he creates accessories for both men and women, even making ashtrays.
Smoking is another of his adventures. “I’ll smoke two cigars a day—if I’m on holiday, I’ll smoke three,” he says. He begins with a Bolivar Royal Corona, perhaps a Belicoso Fino, but in the evenings, it’s time for his favorite, the Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo de Rio Seco. “It’s my size,” he says of the newer cigar, created by the Cuban cigar industry in 2018. It’s a relatively fat smoke for a Cuban, with a 56 ring gauge and a dark wrapper. “It’s like a glass of wine,” Mavros says. “It’s a marvelous companion. It takes your mind off everything else.”
