Today the Cigar Community Lost a Great Man

Cigar icon and jazz musician Avo Uvezian has died today, just three days after his 91st birthday. 

Avo was well known in the cigar community for his Avo branded cigars and sharp sense of style. A showman and a cigar lover, Avo was still touring in support of his cigars at 90 years of age, In fact it was common to see him play piano at a cigar event while puffing away at one of his beloved cigars and talking about the joys of smoking.


(Photo/Domingo Batista)

Always a wonderful and mellow cigar, the Avo was one of my first favorites. Today I smoke one in his honor. 

Uvezian was born 1926 in Beirut, Lebanon. After WWII in 1945, He formed a musical group and quickly made a name for himself as a pianist. Avo moved to New York in 1947 and spent 2 years in the US Army then found himself in the jewelry business up until 1974 when music called him back. 

While playing at various clubs he made the observation that people not only came to hear his music, but to enjoy cigars. Avo would purchase a few local smokes each night and place them on his piano for anyone to smoke. Friends and family would write him, asking for the cigars, that's what he said to himself I better start getting serious about this. Uvezian was introduced to Davidoff’s cigar maker in 1987 and launched his own brand in 1988. 

Davidoff purchased the distribution rights in 1995, Avo saw his brand grow from 5,000 annual cigars to 3.2 million in just 2 years. 

“People always ask me, Avo, what’s your secret? And I tell them that every time you smoke cigars, you have given yourself another day of life.”