THE CIGAR TWIST — NEW OLIVA MAREVA AS THE 2025 COMPETITION CIGAR - WHAT IT SHOWED

Every season of the Cigar Smoking World Championship carries its own story, but 2025 will be remembered as the year of the cigar twist.

After 5 years of Rocky Patel, the championship introduced a new official competition cigar — the Oliva Mareva, created exclusively for CSWC by Oliva Cigars, one of the world’s most respected premium cigar houses.

The announcement immediately sent waves of intrigue and excitement throughout the global cigar community. Competitors who had mastered the delicate art of slow smoking with the previous CSWC cigar suddenly found themselves back at square one. The game changed overnight.

The Oliva Mareva is a masterpiece — elegant in construction, rich in character, and carefully crafted to deliver both complexity and balance. But it is also a test of adaptability. Its burn characteristics, draw, and flavor profile are different from the cigar that shaped the strategies of past champions. The smallest mistake, the tiniest miscalculation, can make the difference between victory and defeat.

Throughout the 2025 qualification season, competitors across the globe have been searching for the perfect rhythm with this new cigar. The results have been fascinating: new records set, unexpected names rising, and seasoned legends struggling to adjust. Already, the Oliva Mareva has reshuffled the hierarchy of the slow-smoking world.

One of the most dramatic examples came from Anastasya Arsenova, who now holds the season record with the new cigar — proving that the Oliva Mareva rewards precision, patience, and innovation. Meanwhile, returning champions like Henrik Kristensson, Tomasz, and Igor Kovačić have been quietly refining their strategies, preparing for Split where every puff will count.

The new cigar has also created opportunities for fresh challengers. Rising stars like Ivan Krišto from Croatia and Ethan Patel from London have already used the Oliva Mareva to post world-class times, sending a clear message that this Grand Final could belong to a new generation.

This sudden shift has injected even more unpredictability into the upcoming championship. For the first time in years, the playing field feels truly level — the legends do not hold all the answers, and the newcomers are coming armed with confidence and hunger.

As the world turns its eyes to Split on August 30, one thing is certain: the Oliva Mareva has changed everything. The cigar itself has become part of the competition, an unpredictable opponent that will challenge every competitor equally.

The story of 2025 will not just be written by the hands that hold the cigar, but by the cigar itself.