Cigars: A Biography by Aaron Sigmond

Aaron Sigmond’s fifth book on the subject of cigars is unlike any other: part 600 year historical tale, part global travelogue, part luxury textbook. This multilayered monograph, penned by Sigmond and lavishly photographed by Ian Spanier, takes the reader on an odyssey that traverses the Old World (Spain, Great Britain, France and Switzerland) and the New (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico, as well as up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States from Florida to New York City and Connecticut).

CIGARS: a biography brims with colourful characters and fascinating details, as well as first hand observations gathered during Sigmond’s decades as a cigar doyen, during which his travels have taken him (often accompanied by Spanier) to cigar factories, tobacco farms and the world’s finest cigar merchants and lounges. CIGARS: a biography is an educated, entertaining tour de force.

This limited edition, with a foreword by The Rake editor Tom Chamberlin, comes from award-winning boutique book publisher Mad/Dash Press in a cigar case-inspired slip case.

Ian Spanier and the Mad/Dash Press design team lead by creative director Liliana Guia, have just been recognized as a ‘Chosen Winner’ in the 2025 AI-AP American Photography AP41 competition for their forthcoming book, CIGARS: a biography. This recognition was awarded out of 7,000 submissions.

This achievement is a testament to Ian Spanier’s remarkable fortitude and perseverance. Since 2007, beginning with The Cigar Report he has been building an archive nonpareil of portraits and landscape images shot across North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe capturing the unique world of cigars.